The crisis of human freedom as an element of the anthropological crisis in a technical society

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of freedom in the period of the anthropological crisis in connection with the development of the so-called post-industrial (information) society. The field of freedom is a combination of obstacles and opportunities. In this regard, freedom is viewed from the perspective of its external and internal orientation as negative and positive. In accordance with this distinction, a distinction is also made between the notion of opportunity that accompanies freedom.

The integrative nature of man, including bio-socio-spiritual aspects, allows us to talk about freedom of action, freedom of choice and freedom of wish. Opportunities associated with negative freedom are external and relate to the biological and social spheres. In this respect, modern society, which is characterized as liberal-democratic (politically) and post-industrial, informational in economic terms, gives a person more opportunities, and therefore freedoms, as a biological and social entity. Despite this, fears that the modern man is losing freedom are becoming more and more alarming. What is the reason?

The space of possible actions which was provided by negative freedom, makes freedom of choice possible, while maintaining outward orientation when considering the essence of freedom, since the one chosen is either already outside or is embodied outside. This allows us to talk about freedom of action and freedom of choice as forms of empirical freedom.

Opportunities associated with positive freedom have an internal character and directly related to the understanding of what is the essence of a person and how it is manifested through his will. This is the spiritual level of freedom. In modern reasoning about a person, he is often declared metaphysical. The possibilities associated with this level are becoming metaphysical.

 increase the negative aspects of such an approach to the spiritual essence of man that in the «technical and rationalistic world» the main criterion for the benefit is benefit. This leads to the mechanization of all spheres of human life and to a certain image of a person, like a cog in a mechanism. There are two main threats to human freedom in a technogenic society coming from interfering in his inner world. The direct threat is associated with the expansion of the neurobiological sciences which fully objectifying the person. The indirect threat comes from his stay in an aggressive information environment, which would have been impossible without the development of the technosmedia. A new kind of non-freedom is born here - the technology of manipulation of human actions.

The substitution of opportunities associated with "positive" freedom by opportunities associated with "negative" freedom, leads to the loss of freedom in modern society.