AVANT Volume IV, Number 2/2013 www.avant.edu.pl/en 81 AVANT, Vol. IV, No. 2/2013 ISSN: 2082-6710 avant.edu.pl/en DOI: 10.12849/40202013.0709.0005 How the “Extended Mind” Thesis Helps to Solve a Fundamental Dilemma of Literacy Theory Marcin Trybulec Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin marcin.trybulec[]umcs.pl Received 25 June 2013; accepted 7 September 2013; published Autumn 2013. Abstract The aim of the paper is to outline the basic theoretical reasons for applying the concept of extended mind to literacy theory. In order to explicate theoreti- cal difficulties faced by literacy theory, one needs to take into account the de- bate regarding technological determinism. Using this debate as an example, one can observe two basic strategies applied to defining the concept of a me- dium. On the one hand, there exists a strategy to formulate a narrow defini- tion of a medium in terms of material artifacts. On the other hand, one can observe a strategy which relies on creating a wide definition of a medium. According to this definition, a medium is understood as a social institution which denotes a particular way of behaving and thinking. The paper aims at justifying the hypothesis that both interpretational strategies employed in defining a medium and the related concept of technology are inaccurate in certain important respects. If the argumentation presented here proves cor- rect, literacy theory will be faced with a serious dilemma: a choice between two equally unsuitable definitions of technology/media. However, the theoret- ical dilemma pertaining to the question of media can be elucidated by appeal- ing to the conceptual framework of the extended mind hypothesis. Keywords: Literacy Theory; Toronto School of Communication; Definition of Media; Extended Mind Thesis; Technological Determinism.