Ideas and Ideals

The article attempts to analyze philosophically the vulnerability of conversation in online communication. The purpose of the article is to analyze the factors that weaken conversation as one of the key genres of communication. The author notes that the effects of online communication mediated in the format of social networks and instant messengers on direct interpersonal connections have not yet been fully studied, as the emphasis is already shifting to a high-tech novelty – neural networks. The role of the smartphone as a key cultural artifact is noted, turning the ‘good old’ social networks into immersive media platforms with functionality that intensifi es the process of destruction of the genre of conversation in real time and co-presence. The article posits the thesis that technologically mediated electronic interaction – whether in messengers and social networks or with a neural network – constitutes one of the fundamental communicative mythologemes of the age of universal connectivity. It is substantiated that the activity occurring in all the listed formats is not a conversation, despite the prevailing perception as such. The mythologem is born from a stable feeling of communicative well-being against the background of an increasing number of virtually continuous connections (superfi cial online communication with its own specifi cs), while in fact, due to the almost constant technological mediation of interaction, the fullness of the conversation as a communicative act and the fullness of communication in general are truncated. The author reveals the substitution of the corresponding concepts: in the case of a messenger, this is just correspondence, in the case of a social network, correspondence in the context of constructing an identity. As for the interaction with the neural network, carried out through prompts - whether it is communication –  is a debatable issue, the author comes to the conclusion that, rather, it is a complex imitation of communication through elements of dialogicity. The study used methods of statistical and structural analysis.

The crisis of the neoliberal model of capitalism that we observe today, and the transition to a platform-based economy is accompanied by a profound ideological transformation. The article provides a critical analysis of posthumanistic and transhumanistic concepts, which are considered as the ideological foundations of the emerging order of digital capitalism. It argues that, despite their declared rhetoric of liberation, these philosophical movements become tools for legitimizing new forms of exploitation, alienation, and control. Methodologically grounded in critical theory and the Marxist tradition, the work demonstrates how the interests of digital capital are objectively served by ideas of human deconstruction (R. Braidotti) and techno-utopianism/transhumanism (N. Bostrom). The philosophical concepts examined in this work effectively camoufl age the real social and economic problems arising from the rapid development of digital technologies, namely: the hyper-concentration of capital and power, the precarization of labor, and the destruction of human subjectivity. By manifesting a radical rethinking and alteration of human nature, these ideologies create a philosophical basis for the formation of a plastic and manageable ‘new human’, stripped of identity and critical consciousness. This ‘new human’ as a construct is a necessary and systemic condition for the existence and development of digital capitalism.

The article examines the impact of digitalization on the social structure of modern society. As a result of digital technologies taking center stage in the functioning of public institutions, the position of the individual in society is changing. Modern people exist both in the world of digital networks and in the real world, “online” and “offl ine.” At the same time, they can play different roles and have different statuses in the real world and the digital environment. Thus, a kind of dualism of human existence is formed. Under the infl uence of digital technologies, the social structure is undergoing a transformation. This is refl ected in the emergence of new social groups whose activities are either related to the functioning of digital structures or are modifi ed under the infl uence of changes taking place in society. Entire social groups are formed and function in the digital environment, creating the phenomenon of “network societies” with their own norms. A relationship is emerging between the transformation of the social structure and the modifi cation of the political system of society. Political actors are evolving. For example, political parties are being modifi ed into electoral clubs. Changes in the social organism caused by digitalization have led to a loss of support from the traditional social groups and strata that parties previously targeted. Under the new conditions, the moods and needs of new social strata and groups must be taken into account. As a result, political forces are forced to adapt to the new conditions, which leads to the erosion of the political spectrum. Thanks to the widespread introduction of digital technologies, the voices of individuals and entire groups have become noticeable. Social networks are largely replacing traditional media, actively competing with them and becoming a signifi cant force in public life. All of this is becoming an important factor in politics that must be taken into account by participants in political action. In a digital society, politics is becoming more complex. As a result, the political system is gradually transforming and acquiring new features. 

The article is a continuation of the author’s publications on the topic of posthumanism, published in the previous issues of the journal and dedicated to the theory and practice of this ideological trend of social thought. In this article, the author systematized and identifi ed three directions of the
predecessors of posthumanism: geographical determinism, the theory of local civilizations and Russian cosmism. The fi rst predecessor, geographical determinism, is presented in the article by Johann Herder, Elise Reclus, Pyotr Alekseevich
Kropotkin and Lev Ilyich Mechnikov. The author shows that thanks to this trend of social thought, the ideas of humanism, based on ideas about a single history of mankind along the path of progress, began to be questioned. The second predecessor, the theory of local civilizations, is analyzed based on the works of N.Ya. Danilevsky, O. Spengler, A. Toynbee and L.N. Gumilyov.
The author analyzes in particular detail the legacy of the latter. The third predecessor of posthumanism, according to the author, is Russian cosmism, associated with the names of not only Russian scientists N.F. Fedorov, K.E. Tsiolkovsky and .L. Chizhevsky, but also with French philosophers such as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Jules Deleuze. The article concludes that the three predecessors of posthumanism prepared public consciousness and social sciences for an adequate perception of posthumanism.

The genesis of modern technogenic culture is determined by the impact of global trends of the era of ‘Industry 4.0’, marking the advent of smart technologies actively developing within the framework of a digital ecosystem. This article
investigates the infl uence of artifi cial neural networks on contemporary sociocultural spaces and social institutions. It provides a retrospective analysis of the evolutionary path of neurotechnologies from early experimental studies of
mid-last century to current advanced achievements such as multilayer artifi cial neural networks and deep machine learning technologies. The author notes that the current stages of transformational processes differ signifi cantly from previous phases of industrial evolution due to the total spread of intelligent machines and network information infrastructures, which exert a decisive infl uence on all
spheres of human activity, ranging from production cycles to everyday life patterns of population.
A detailed study of the effects of these methods on key areas of human activities, including state governance sector, industry, healthcare, commercial activities, education process, and creative industries allows considering positive impacts of wide-scale introduction of neuroalgorithms, among them an increase in decision-making effi ciency, improvement of diagnostics and therapy of diseases, optimization of manufacturing processes, and expansion of possibilities for obtaining quality educational services. However, potential threats and risks associated with large-scale use of neurotechnologies are also highlighted, such as issues related to personal data protection, compliance with bioethical norms and legal regulations. There is a need for a comprehensive approach to further deve lopment of this fi eld of knowledge, involving integration of efforts from representatives of various scientifi c disciplines, development of strict regulatory legal acts, and implementation of reliable technical means for ensuring information security aimed at minimizing risks and providing reliable functioning of neurotechnology solutions. These trends pose before the scientifi c community several urgent problems concerning cybersecurity risk assessment, development of technical
ethics standards, and evaluation of long-term socio-economic effects of innovative technological revolution.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies emerged in the United States in the 1990s. Presidential administrations from Kennedy to Biden issued executive orders strengthening affi rmative action (AA) policies, and these policies
were further developed through legislation and court decisions. The dissemination of AA policies occurred in two directions: from the top down, through government, and from the bottom up, through organized minorities. Large organizations created equal employment opportunity and AA departments, which became the precursors to modern DEI departments. Conceived as a temporary measure with limited scope, AA policies eventually evolved into permanent policies
encompassing all of society. Throughout its history, these policies have been criticized, with questions raised about their effectiveness and constitutionality. DEI and the associated reverse discrimination are viewed by the Trump administration as a problem that must be addressed immediately. Trump has issued executive orders aimed at ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs,
ending discrimination, and restoring merit-based opportunities. This article analyzes AA as a complex phenomenon that exists in several forms: a social movement
and its ideology, policies and social practices, a subject of sociology and organizational psychology, a body of law and case law, and an institutionalized profession. DEI is often referred to as a “diversity-industrial complex”. It represents
a complex structure that includes, in addition to DEI departments in organizations, training and consulting centers, online resources, think tanks, law fi rms, and much more. This article describes the DEI movement’s seizure of
power in organizations. It analyzes how DEI is being dismantled and the obstacles these efforts face. DEI, like the voke activism movement at large, when its existence is threatened, creates “backup airfi elds” – front organizations where they can operate and where funds can be funneled for the lean years. Each element of the diversity-industrial complex must be dismantled in its own way. To effectively and irreversibly abolish DEI, it is necessary to identify the full range of social forces and mini-institutions that underpin this ideology and policy, and fi nd ways to counter them.

The article offers an analysis of the basic principles and history of the development of the philosophy of machinism. In the fi rst paragraph, the socio-cultural and communicative-discursive conditions for the maximum expansion of the scope of the ‘machine’ concept are considered. The fi rst task is related to the differentiation of the worldview position in relation to the specifi cs, development and problems of the relationship between a man and a machine with the philosophical trend of machinism. The semantic spectrum of the word ‘μηχανή’ and the functional of the conceptual metaphor machina mundi, as well as their role in the formation of machinism, are analyzed. The second paragraph is devoted to the principles of formation of modern mechanicism and modern machinism. The author analyzes the specifi cs of machinism, its connection, similarities and differences with the philosophy of mechanicism. It is shown that the conceptual metaphor of machina mundi can represent opposite ontological constructions depending on the image of the machine. It is shown that this image depends not so much on the characteristics of exemplary technical devices as on the expectations of philosophy regarding human activity. The author considers the infl uence of psychoanalytic discourse and schizoanalysis on the formation of a new image of the machine; the contribution of Z. Freud, J. Lacan, F. Guattari and J. Deleuze. It is shown that machinism can be an integral characteristic even of those concepts that oppose each other in their basic ideas. The thesis that machinism is primarily an ontological construct is substantiated. Machinism offers such conditions for the clarity of experience, which, on the one hand, radically break with the Modern philosophy, but, on the other, act as a variant of an ancient ontological construct – the myth of a “sick reality”. In the third paragraph, a brief analysis of the futurological positions of machinism is given. It is shown that as a projection of the future, the role of machinism is associated with various options for human surrender. The positions of L. Bryant, N. Land and others are briefl y analyzed.

In this article, the author considers the issues that the generations “Z” and “Alpha” face in the context of rapidly developing digitalization and the growing role of artifi cial intelligence in human life. This paper considers the ways of comprehension of being, which were once developed and presented by the famous German philosopher Martin Heidegger. The author analyzes the classical comprehension of being taking into account the changes that have occurred due to the widespread digitalization of society. The author considers the impact of digitalization on the state of development of modern society, namely, on the fundamental issues of ethics: free will, the meaning of life and the purpose of man. New technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for people, such as universal access to information, entertainment services, but the author emphasizes that these opportunities have a downside, which is expressed fi rst of all in the limitation of personal autonomy, and secondly by the negative impact on the cognitive functions of a person.

In conclusion of the article the author comes to the opinion that at the present moment of time there are two categories by means of which in the modern world one can be included in the real world while trying to preserve freedom and striving for independence from the system, namely, creativity and cognition.

The author shows that humanism as an ideological direction has reached a dead end and has turned into a set of slogans that are far from life. Against the backdrop of these slogans, massive crimes against people are being committed, and the destruction of the surrounding nature continues. Posthumanism began with evidence that man is not the pinnacle of the universe.  These evidences, according to the author, fi rst appeared in the 19th century in the works of A. Schopenhauer and F. Nietzsche. For a long time, posthumanism was developing as a direction in literary criticism, as an analysis of individual features of changes in social consciousness using the example of characters in works of art. At the next stage, posthumanism moved into the sphere of philosophy and the formation of its own special theory of posthumanism. In parallel, the direction of posthumanism began to develop, as close as possible to the practice and achievements of scientifi c and technological progress, called transhumanism. The world of the future in the concept of transhumanism is seen as evolution, the consistent generation of new generations of cyborgs. The article also examines examples of descriptions of the future by the followers of literary and philosophical posthumanism.

Many modern researchers reject Weber’s hypothesis about the connection between the Reformation and the formation of rational capitalism. It is worth agreeing with critics that Weber did not present a complete theory of the origin of capitalism. Nevertheless, the Weber hypothesis provides indications of a necessary (but not suffi cient) condition for the formation of modern capitalism. At the same time, it explains not so much the formation of the capitalist spirit in principle – as something unchangeable and uniform for all countries and centuries – as one, but historically a key episode in the development of capitalism. For the fi rst time, Protestantism successfully fulfi lled the task of forming the spirit of capitalism, since it is a manifestation of anti-traditionalism and individualism. It is also more open to social innovations and contributes to the destruction of community ties. The Reformation created the ideological and psychological prerequisites for the initial accumulation of capital and contributed to the formation of capitalistically motivated classes of entrepreneurs and the proletariat.