Philosophical Aspects of the Relations Between the Human and Technology in the Space of Culture

The article proposes a view of culture as a space requiring a certain “cybernetic foresight”, evolving with the development of means of technical reproducibility and helping us to orientate ourselves in the surrounding reality. It explores the classic theme of man and his expansion, resulting in a space of culture and technology — a world of exemplars and paradigms, a world of tools, doppelgangers, and human assistants. Relating oneself to this world is one of the main ways of human development, in the course of which a special virtual, i.e. force, energy field is created. On this basis, the system “man — culture” can be understood as a virtual reality. In this perspective, the life of an individual appears as a process of transformation, when he finds himself in correlation or even merging with the virtual image. At the same time, it is important for him to maintain a balance between the internal and the external in order to maintain himself as a subject of action. The paper conceptualizes the notions of synthetic and synthesized culture, and traces their relationship with “hot” and “cold” virtuality, in M. McLuhan’s terms. The type of culture that allows maintaining this balance is labelled as synthetic culture. When man “leaves” himself, forgetting himself in external activity, it loses its unity and becomes a culture synthesized from random, somewhat alien elements. In such a culture, the individual runs the risk of being replaced by his or her doppelgangers — machines, of ceasing to be the master of the house he or she has built, and even of being expelled from it. Attempts to get this home in many ways resemble ghettoization, inevitable confinement within the network space, which is a symptom of a synthesized culture with a “hot” level of virtuality.

1. Nietzsche F. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Sochineniya v 2 t. [Works in 2 Volumes]. Moscow, Mysl’ Publ., 1990, vol. 2, pp. 5—237 (in Russ.).

2. Benjamin W. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Uchenie o podobii. Mediaehsteticheskie proizvedeniya: sbornik statei [Doctrine of the Similar: Media Aesthetic Works: collected articles]. Moscow, RGGU Publ., 2012, pp. 190—235 (in Russ.).

3. Astafyeva O.N., Nikonorova E.V., Shlykova O.V. Culture in the Digital Civilization: A New Stage in Understanding the Future Strategy for Sustainable Development, Observatoriya kul’tury [Observatory of Culture], 2018, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 516—531. DOI: 10.25281/2072-3156-2018-15-5-516-531 (in Russ.).

4. Sokolova N.L. Digital Culture or Culture in the Digital Age? Mezhdunarodnyi zhurnal issledovanii kul’tury [International Journal of Cultural Research], 2012, no. 3 (8), pp. 6—10 (in Russ.).

5. Taisina E.A. Artificial Intelligence as Artificial Dementia, Osnovy ehkonomiki, upravleniya i prava [Economy, Governance and Law Basis], 2024, no. 3 (42), pp. 7—12 (in Russ.).

6. Farina M., Lavazza A. Chat GPT in Society: Emerging Issues, Front Artificial Intelligence, 2023, vol. 6, 1130913. DOI: 10.3389/frai.2023.1130913.

7. Alexander J. The Sacred and Profane Information Machine: Discourse About the Computer as Ideology, Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions, 1990, no. 69, pp. 161—171.

8. Pelevin V.O. iPhuck 10. Moscow, Ehksmo Publ., 2017, 416 p. (in Russ.).

9. Bokhorov K. Supernatural Insight as a By-Product of the Artistic Use of Artificial Intelligence, Logos: filosofsko-literaturnyi zhurnal [Logos: Philosophical and Literary Journal], 2024, no. 1 (158), pp. 115—130. DOI: 10.17323/0869-5377-2024-1-115-128 (in Russ.).

10. Shulman C., Bostrom N. Sharing the World with Digital Minds, Rethinking Moral Status. Oxford, OUP Publ., 2021, pp. 306—326. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780192894076.003.0018.

11. Bostrom N, Yudkowsky E. The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, The Cambridge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Publ., 2014, pp. 316—334. DOI: 10.1017/cbo9781139046855.020.

12. Yudkowsky E. Zombies! Zombies? LESSWRONG. 2008, April 4. Available at: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/fdEWWr8St59bXLbQr/zombies-zombies (accessed 17.03.2025).

13. Chalmers D.J. The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory. New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press Publ., 1997, 414 p.

14. Plato. Republic, Sobranie sochinenii v 4 t. [Collected Works in 4 Volumes]. St. Petersburg, Izdatel’stvo Sankt-Peterburgskogo Universiteta, Izdatel’stvo Olega Abyshko, 2007, vol. 3, part 1, pp. 97—493 (in Russ.).

15. Aristotle. Metaphysics, Sochineniya v 4 t. [Works in 4 Volumes]. Moscow, Mysl’ Publ., 1976, vol. 1, pp. 63—367 (in Russ.).

16. Pronin M.A. Virtualistika v Institute cheloveka RAN [Virtuality at the Human Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. Moscow, IFRAN Publ., 2015, 179 p.

17. Rozanov V.V. O ponimanii: Opyt issledovaniya prirody, granits i vnutrennego stroeniya nauki kak tsel’nogo znaniya [Toward Understanding: The Experience of Studying the Nature, Boundaries and Internal Structure of Science as a Whole]. Moscow, Institut Filosofii, Teologii i Istorii Svyatogo Fomy Publ., 2006, 640 p.

18. Pelevin V.O. Chisla [Numbers]. St. Petersburg, Azbuka Publ., 2017, 288 p.

19. Cicero M.T. On Moral Duties, On Old Age, On Friendship. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1974, 247 p. (in Russ.).

20. Thomas Aquinas. Summary of Theology. Moscow, Izdatel’ Savin S.A., 2006, part 1, questions 1—64, 817 p. (in Russ.).

21. John Duns Scotus. A Treatise on God as First Principle. Moscow, Izdatel’stvo Frantsiskantsev, 2001, 182 p. (in Russ.).

22. Nosov N.A. Virtual’naya psikhologiya [Virtual Psychology]. Moscow, Agraf Publ., 2000, 432 p.

23. Plotinus. Traktaty 1—11 [The Enneads]. Moscow, Greko-Latinskii Kabinet Yu.A. Shichalina Publ., 2007, 444 p.

24. McLuhan M. Understanding Media. The Extensions of Man. Gingko Press Publ., 2013, 336 p.

25. Starosielski N. Media Hot and Cold. Durham, NC, Duke University Press Publ., 2021, 296 p.

26. Lévi-Strauss C. La Pensée Sauvage. Paris, Plon Publ., 1962, 397 p.

27. Li Q. Research on McLuhan’s Media Theory, Communications in Humanities Research, 2024, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 100—105. DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/36/20240043.

28. Lourie V.M. Istoriya Vizantiiskoi filosofii. Formativnyi period [The History of Byzantine Philosophy: A Formative Period]. St. Petersburg, Axiōma Publ., 2006, 553 p.

29. Savchuk V.V., Taratuta E.E. Virtual Reality as a Prerequisite of Media Reality, Mediareal’nost’: kontsepty i kul’turnye praktiki: uchebnoe posobie [Media Reality: Concepts and Cultural Practices: textbook]. St. Petersburg, Fond Razvitiya Konfliktologii Publ., 2017, pp. 9—19 (in Russ.).

30. Vavilova Zh.E. Cyber Inclusion vs Isolation: A Way Out of the Virtual Ghetto, Dialogue and Universalism, 2023, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 77—90. DOI: 10.5840/du20233315.

31. Minnullina E.B. Transformation of Communicative System in the Era of Mass Hermeneutics, Filosofiya v politsentrichnom mire: VIII Rossiiskii filosofskii kongress. Sektsiya II: sbornik nauchnykh statei [Philosophy in a Polycentric World: The 8th Russian Philosophical Congress. Section 2: collected articles]. Moscow, Logos; Novye Pechatnye Tekhnologii Publ., 2020, pp. 2352—2354 (in Russ.).

32. Mead M. Culture and Commitment. Doubleday, American Museum of Natural History Publ., Natural History Press Publ., 1970, 79 p.