Ideas and Ideals

From the end of 2019 to the present day, the world lives in a constant confrontation with the epidemic caused by coronavirus infection. The first country to experience COVID-19 attack was China. The data on the number of cases and deaths from this disease are tens, and sometimes hundreds of times less than in most developed countries, especially if we take into account the huge population of the PRC. During 2021, mortality caused by coronavirus remains practically zero, and the number of cases per day varies from a few persons to two dozen, and they always came from abroad. To achieve this, it required mobilization of all medical and administrative resources on the part of the authorities, as well as the observance of discipline and complete loyalty to the activities carried out on the part of the population. Many observers – journalists and then scientists – suggested that moral values articulated within the framework of Confucian ideology should be singled out among the factors that contributed to the establishment of control over the epidemic. Not all specialists agree with this approach. But it seems to us quite justified, since a similar picture can be observed in those countries of East and Southeast Asia, whose civilization was formed under the strong influence of Confucianism. Among the socio-cultural factors contributing to the successful fight against COVID-19 and its consequences, one can also name the active use of the methods of traditional Chinese medicine, especially Qigong and Taijiquan complexes. We suppose the Chinese experience in this sphere could be useful for other nations.

Participants in the shadow 2020 presidential campaign openly admitted to forming a secret conspiracy alliance against candidate Trump and funding actions that violate existing electoral laws. The author analyzes the term «shadow campaign«, as well as the real goals of the shadow campaign of 2020. The article shows that the Democratic Party is gradually losing significant segments of its social base and is taking extraordinary measures to win the support of new population groups, in particular «the new American majority«. A third political force, distinct from the two leading parties, has realized that the Democrats can win elections only by seizing control over the electoral process and reformatting their electorate. A third political force has assumed a mandate to correct the electoral system under the pretext of saving democracy. In the context of the epidemic, the shadow campaign of 2020 with money from private business has imposed new rules and methods of work in the election campaign with money from private capital. There was actually an act of privatization of elections by big business. The article analyzes, using the example of the state of Wisconsin, a number of actions of the shadow campaign that went beyond the framework of the current electoral laws. The Wisconsin case study shows that left-wing organizations have carried out a historically unprecedented takeover of county election commissions by activists from nominally non-partisan but overtly ideological organizations in key counties amid the chaos caused by the abrupt shift to absentee voting. The mechanism of the destructive influence of oligarchs and activists on the institution of elections in Wisconsin is described: the issuance of grants under the conditions of changing the rules of elections, party bias in the issuance of private grants, the weakening of the system of control over the quality of voting, the infiltration of election commissions by political activists, the admission to vote of persons who do not have the right to vote. The shadow campaign was operating to seize control over the elections, but this has nothing to do with saving democracy.

This article is devoted to solving the problem of epistemological and ontological insufficiency of traditional scientific approaches applied to the comprehension of social phenomena presented in their disordered, chaotic multidisciplinary theoretical images (interpretations). A comprehensive and in-depth analysis of disciplinary strategies / programs for comprehending social phenomena that serve as the object of scientific views of a number of scientific fields has shown that they demonstrate a pronounced methodological approach, lack of clarity of which description language describes / is able to fully describe their object of scientific knowledge.

The key specificity of the problematization of the article is determined by the fact that the focus is on the process / result of reconstructing / constructing theoretical interpretations of a social phenomenon taken in the coordinates of space and time. It is proposed to correlate the following processes with the process of understanding the theoretical interpretations of the studied social phenomenon: reconstruction (past, present) and scenario construction (present, future). The author's analytical position is determined by the fact that theoretical interpretations of the perceived social phenomenon will always belong exclusively to the past and future of its plans, but not to the present. This implicit, but very important facet, unfortunately, escapes in the dominant and well-established theoretical reflection of social phenomena today.

The main purpose of this publication is to overcome the above-mentioned difficulties, relying on the proposed universal concept of comprehension of multidisciplinary social phenomena. The author's approach proposed in the publication, based on the idea of understanding the theoretical interpretations of the social phenomenon under study belonging to the world of the past (reconstruction - for understanding the theorizations of its past events) and the future (scenario construction - for reflection on the theoretical pictures of its future events), is designed to overcome the discovered problem. Summarizing, the paper formulated the principles for determining the optimal way to comprehend social phenomena and the key prohibitions dictated by the author's concept of comprehending social phenomena revealed to the researcher in their multidisciplinary interpretations /theorizations.

The article is devoted to the analysis of imagination as a philosophical and sociological concept that played a significant role in the development of social theory in the middle of the 20th century. Exploring the premises of the contradictory relationship between science and society, it is easy to find a connection between the development of science and social change. Currently, it is generally accepted that scientific, including social theories, through the transfer of ideas, transform the social order and, on the contrary, social practices transform knowledge about the world. The article proves that imagination plays a key role in this process. An excursion into the theory of ideas reveals the connection between imagination and irrational and experiential knowledge. The author of the article refers to the works of P. Berger and T. Luckmann, C. Castoriadis and C. Taylor, who showed a direct connection between theoretical ideas and the world of "social imaginary", collective imaginary and social changes. For the first time in the history of mankind, thanks to imagination, society does not see the social order as something immutable. Methodological cases are presented that illustrate the specific role of the concept of imagination as a source of the formation of new research strategies that allow for a new look at the problem of nationalism (social constructivism) and the study of public expectations from the implementation of technological innovations (STS). For decades, Benedict Anderson's work “Imagined Communities” predetermined the interest of researchers of nationalism in social imagination and the collective ideas based on it about the national identity of modern societies, their history and geography. The research of Sheila Jasanoff and Sang-Hyun Kim has formed a new track for the study of science as a collective product of public expectations of an imaginary social order, embodied in technological projects. The conclusion is made about the contradictory nature of social expectations based on collective imagination: on the one hand, they strengthen the authority of science in society, on the other hand, they provoke the growth of negative expectations from the introduction of scientific discoveries. The article substantiates the opinion that imagination is an effective tool for assessing the risks of introducing innovations.

Digital technologies, ubiquitous in our daily life, have radically changed the way we work, communicate, and consume in a short period of time. They affect all components of quality of life: well-being, work, health, education, social connections, environmental quality, the ability to participate and govern civil society, and so on.

Digital transformation creates both opportunities and serious risks to the well-being of people. Researchers and statistical agencies around the world are facing a major challenge to develop new tools to analyze the impact of digital transformation on the well-being of the population.

The risks are very diverse in nature and it is very difficult to identify the key factor. All researchers conclude that secure digital technologies significantly improve the lives of those who have the skills to use them and pose a serious risk of inequality for society, as they introduce a digital divide between those who have the skills to use them and those who do not.

In the article, the author examines the risks created by digital technologies for some components of the quality of life (digital component of the quality of life), which are six main components: the digital quality of the population, providing the population with digital benefits, the labor market in the digital economy, the impact of digitalization on the social sphere, state electronic services for the population and the security of information activities. The study was carried out on the basis of the available statistical base and the results of research by scientists from different countries of the world.

The risks of the digital economy cannot be ignored when pursuing state social policy. Attention is paid to government regulation aimed at reducing the negative consequences of digitalization through the prism of national, federal projects and other events.

The collective monograph, along with the classical themes of V.A. Kutyrev, contains new themes of his co-authors V.V. Slyusarev and T.M. Khusyainov: transformation of social structures, problems of interaction with virtual assistants, personal self-identification in the information society, labor resources in the context of globalization, opposition to humanism and efficiency in the market. The second theme is the increasing complexity of the information society through speed, data volumes, convergence, and dialogue. Religious differences that have fundamentally differentiated ethnic groups for so many centuries are a thing of the past. Differentiation of consumption styles, the ecological load on the biosphere and the capacity of the habitat; these are the current antinomies of man and technology. The paper deals with the effects of current social dynamics, in particular, the increasing processes of precarization, the accelerating pace of life and population growth. Stable employment, sustainable development, wisdom, conservative values; all of this is offered as a sacrifice to civilization, gamification, informatization and together constitutes a society of risk. Can we talk about human consumption by Technos? Isn't this black slug on the cover of the monograph yet another philosophical hypostatized metaphor? It would be correct to say that in conditions of overproduction of people, we need equipment for more efficient production. Without it, we cannot remain human. Technology helped us to leave a purely biological state and become sapient, civilized. Artificial intelligence, neural networks, robotics, blockchain (data processing distribution), 5G standard, big data, internet of things, cloud computing, 3D printing, augmented reality; these are not monster technologies, transhumanist actors, but something that can provide promising employment to millions of people. The problem of unemployment in post-industrial society is already becoming global, because humanity has reached the limits of development. The rapid precarization of the population is proof of this. The mass of people on the planet cannot find normal employment with social guarantees. So maybe we need to thank tech? The review ends with such an ambiguous conclusion.

Abstract

The article analyzes the dynamics of the development of medical models of treatment of deviations from the health norm, discusses the issue of changing ideas about the human health in medicine.  It is shown that as a result of changes in the conceptual understanding of health and the process of its restoration, the principle of achieving a commercially profitable, fast and controlled result is introduced into modern medicine, as a result of that the process of medical treatment is standardized and regulated. But the preservation of object optics of views in the medical industry, as shown in the article, becomes ineffective, moreover, risky in a situation of moving boundaries of the human health norm. To overcome the existing risks, new institutes and practices of ethical examination of health standards are being introduced into medicine. It is shown that the accepted deliberative practices of ethical expertise only introduce a procedure for taking into account the patient’s position regarding the boundaries of their health standards and the limits of medical intervention. At the same time, the patient’s position is considered as something ready, initially given, in other words, the classic “human project” continues to be defended in medicine.

The article presents a philosophical and psychological analysis of the psychodynamics of deceit, as a specific phenomenon determined by personal qualities. The results of the study are presented on the basis of a questionnaire developed by the authors to self-evaluate the admissibility of a lie. Students of both sexes participated (156 people between the age of 17-25). Three groups of subjects were identified, 30 people in each: group 1, with a negative attitude to lies; group 2: people who admit to lying in some cases, and group 3: people who admit to lying in all its manifestations. Personality factors in these groups were compared using the Kattel 16 PF questionnaire. People with different permissibility of lying and falsehood have different psychotypes. People who categorically deny and do not tolerate lies and deceit have high self-control of their behavior, severity and rigidity, while they are internally timid, aloof, tense, overly careful, avoid stress, and have a narrow life perspective. A person who admits falsehood in some cases and situations is conformal, dependent, not always confident in himself, often preoccupied with problems, emotionally unstable, often tense. There is a struggle between conscientiousness and falsehood; provoked by emotional instability and the lack of a “moral core” that does not allow the expression of one’s own opinion. Respondents representing the openly deceitful type reveal emotional balance, flexible intelligence, sociability, good memory and variable creative thinking. In the selected groups, there are different ways of resisting stress. It is shown that the adaptability of people from group 3 is higher than that of people from 1 and 2. The permissibility of lying is positively correlated with resilience to stress, and the inadmissibility of lying is associated with low stress tolerance. It follows from this that falsehood is embedded in the structure of the personality as an adaptive strategy. The authors state that falsehood is an adaptive phenomenon that facilitates survival in society.

The article explores the idea of social progress in the context of the history of human society. The author considers the concept of progress in interrelation with the three revolutions. The first revolution was an agrarian one, which established the dominant religious consciousness and dependence on the divine intervention. Accordingly, the idea of progress as opposed to the perfection of God was not dominant. The world of nature is born, develops, and dies. This approach prevailed for about seven thousand years: from the first civilizations to the XV - XVIII centuries. According to the Judeo-Christian tradition, after the fall, the world fell away from God. This understanding corresponds to the primordial approach and is also opposite to the idea of progress. In the Renaissance, the secularization of consciousness and culture begins. Culture and values are formed on the basis of religious Judeo-Christian values, but a man becomes the bearer and guarantor of these values. The ideas of humanism and worshipping of a human being as the main creator are reflected in philosophy, art, and painting. In accordance with this approach, the idea of progress is born. The idea of progress is fully formed and takes possession of the masses in the age of Enlightenment. During this period, the industrial revolution is taking place. In European culture, the primacy of rationality, machine labor and equality is asserted. But at the same time, the industrial revolution entailed many social crises that are still relevant today. The United States and Europe were gradually able to overcome the challenges of the industrial revolution and create a system of “capitalism with a human face”, while partially imposing their system on other countries where production is cheaper. Therefore, the problems of the so-called “wild capitalism” still take place in the third world countries.

By the middle of the XX century, science became the leading factor in manufacturing. Society is changing from industrial to post-industrial. The article focuses on the problems and opportunities of the modern post-industrial society with all the accumulated baggage of the previous stages of development. Humanity has achieved great technological success, and the scientific and technological revolution has brought material benefits to society. But at the same time, the consumer society creates many problems. What is progress in the context of modern discourse? The answer to this question is the purpose of this article.

Pandemic COVID-19 affected the crisis in many areas of public life – in the economy, politics, family, consumer relations, and culture. It has become a challenge for social sciences, especially for sociology. If in other areas of social research, the meaningful gaps can still be compensated by speculations, the increase in sociological knowledge without empirical research is simply impossible. But in the face of restriction of full-time communications, the use of a number of methods and techniques is either completely impracticable or requires significant procedural correction. In addition, the need to correct the content of sociological representation of the total and local objects becomes obvious. The way, the society as a whole, its subsystems, institutes and cohorts, face the pandemic, requires reformulating the axiomatics, and hypothesis of sociological research. Within the frames of this article, the author focuses on several themes, which relevance is aggravated with shifts in social life caused by the pandemic. The first theoretical and methodological “lesson” is the need to rethink the paradigmatic ratio of illusion / objectivity of social law, since there is no secret that the objective contamination of the population is in close connection with the intensity of generating the spread of various prejudices in the public consciousness. The second “lesson” affects the disciplinary status of sociology of medicine, the significance of which in the regulation of social functioning has immeasurably increased. In this regard, the perception of people as a population is a kind of demand for the paradigm status in terms of the sociology of medicine. The third “lesson” is associated with the problem of the rationality of social behavior of a person, because the social design of the pandemic stroke seriously shakes confidence in the sanity of a man. The fourth “lesson” is an attempt to bring in methodological character into the suspicion of the scenario nature of the unfolding global pandemic. Any scenario has its own scriptwriter who has something to say about social laws in general and about the nature of human capital in particular