The Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series "Theory of Culture and Philosophy of Science"

THE QUESTION OF ALIENATION: THE PROBLEM OF ONTOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF A FRAGMENTED CONCEPT

2025-07-23T19:00:24+00:00

The proposed work is devoted to the problem of philosophical reconstruction of alienation as a fundamental phenomenon of human existence. The main attention is focused on an attempt to understand alienation not only as a socio-cultural or psychological phenomenon, but as an ontological category that should reveal the essential structures of human being. The main complexity of the problem of alienation lies in its ontic immediacy – with the simultaneous extreme complexity of its identification and explication in a strict conceptual representation. Alienation is not just an object of thought, but also a way of revealing the essence. The question of the possibility of reconstructing a holistic vision of the phenomenon of alienation on the basis of existing interpretations, their integration into a single conceptual representation is relevant. To answer this question, the key stages of the evolution of the concept of alienation in philosophical thought of the last two centuries are retrospectively traced. It is shown that, despite their number, most of them consider the problem of alienation not as such, but as a derivative of other problems of human existence by reducing the problem of alienation to specific negative manifestations of the economic, political, social, cultural, and psychological fields of human practice. A general model is proposed to clarify the reasons for such reductionism. The only solution may be the ontological reconstruction of alienation as a universal and essential aspect of Dasein. It is shown that the ideas of Hegel, Marx, and Heidegger are of fundamental importance for such a conceptualization of the problem of alienation. Despite the fundamental ontological and methodological differences, they not only proceed from the understanding of alienation as a key problem of human existence, but also reconstruct its ontological necessity. The similarity of the views of Marx and Heidegger in this context seems particularly productive, especially considering the fundamental differences in their theoretical dispositions. Both thinkers, although in different ways, come to the conclusion that the fundamental determination of alienation is the very way in which a person reveals his essence - despite the obvious divergence in the understanding of both this essence and the ways of its disclosure. Understanding the extreme incompatibility of historical materialism and phenomenological ontology only emphasizes the interesting paradox of this coincidence, which clearly indicates the fundamental nature of alienation. The main goal of the article is to demonstrate the potential of the philosophical interpretation of alienation in the context of the dialogue between these two traditions.

RECONCEPTUALIZING PROPAGANDA: THE SHIFT FROM RHETORIC OF PERSUASION TO ALGORITHMIC CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY

2025-07-23T19:00:54+00:00

The transformation of propaganda technologies within digital culture presents a fundamental problem for contemporary socio-philosophical thought, necessitating in-depth interdisciplinary analysis. From a diachronic perspective, one can trace the evolutionary trajectory of propaganda: from explicit linguistic mechanisms of influence studied by Victor Klemperer, through the conceptualization of "total propaganda" in Jacques Ellul's philosophical legacy, to the implicit, algorithmically mediated structures that characterize the era of digimodernism. Contemporary digital propaganda transcends the realm of rhetorical persuasion, transforming into an immanent element within the very ontology of the media environment. It evolves into a metastructure that not only transmits messages but constitutes fundamental modes of access to information, determining the very possibility of cognition and interpretation of social reality. This epistemological shift correlates with the formation of a special configuration of cultural space in which technologically mediated forms of interactivity become dominant factors in the constitution of subjectivity and social relations. Analysis of the transformation of propaganda mechanisms reveals a fundamental shift from the modification of cognitive structures via linguistically mediated argumentation to the programming of behavioral patterns through algorithmically organized systems of rewards, filtering, and nudges. The complex effects of this transformation are evident at the level of individual and collective consciousness, including the fragmentation of identities, the polarization of socio-political discourse, the erosion of epistemological trust in institutional sources of knowledge, and the instrumentalization of emotional reactions in electoral processes. This creates unprecedented challenges for democratic systems historically based on principles of rational discourse and informed civic participation. Studying these complex phenomena requires an integrative methodology that combines the tools of rhetoric, linguistic-semiotic analysis, systems-theoretical modeling, and research into algorithmic structures of the digital environment. Such methodological convergence enables a comprehensive understanding of digital propaganda as a multidimensional phenomenon functioning at technological, social, cognitive, and affective levels, forming a holistic ecosystem of informational influence on contemporary subjectivity in both its individual and collective dimensions.

THE TRANSDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH OF POLITICS, OR THE PHILOSOPHY AS THE EXPERIMENTAL ADVENTURE

2025-07-23T19:01:25+00:00

This article offers a philosophical elaboration of the transdisciplinary approach to the study of politics, framing it as a complex cultural and ontological phenomenon that calls for a rethinking of both philosophy itself and the foundations of scientific knowledge. The author argues that traditional interdisciplinary frameworks, though epistemically fruitful, are insufficient to capture the full multidimensionality of the political — a field where logical, aesthetic, linguistic, religious, corporeal, and sacral dimensions of being intersect. Therefore, political philosophy must unfold as a transdisciplinary endeavor that does not merely cross

disciplinary boundaries but transforms the very structure of cognition, situating the philosopher as a participant in a living knowledge process — in vivo. In this sense, politics ceases to be a static object of analysis and becomes a situation of existential insight, requiring critical openness and a capacity to think through the logic of the included middle. Drawing on the ideas of J. Piaget, B. Nicolescu, J. Brenner, and L. Greenacre, as well as the philosophical heritage of Plato, Aristotle, Dante, and Aquinas, the article traces the historical continuity of transdisciplinary political thought. Special emphasis is placed on critiquing the naturalist assumptions in Nicolescu’s theory and supplementing them with alternatives from philosophy of language (Wittgenstein, Austin), analytical logic, phenomenology, and possible worlds semantics. The article highlights the relevance of non-classical logics (particularly the logic of the included middle) as philosophical tools for engaging with ontological pluralism. It also examines the intersections between transdisciplinary political philosophy and fields such as holist epistemology, actor-network theory, transdisciplinary management, and experimental philosophy. Transdisciplinarity is envisioned as a heuristic journey — a theoria — which is both a mode of being and a mode of reflection, wherein philosophical discourse becomes an experimental construct. In this perspective, politics is no longer reducible to ideology or managerial technique, but is rediscovered as a transcendental-phenomenological event wherein the subjectivity of the researcher is situated on the threshold between worlds. The article concludes by reflecting on the significance of transdisciplinary vision for engaging with the European intellectual tradition in the context of civilizational crisis marked by postmodern relativism, technocratic reductionism, and emergent forms of authoritarianism.

DIGITAL VISIBILITY AND PRIVACY IN CONTEMPORARY URBAN SPACES

2025-07-23T19:01:53+00:00

The presented research conducts a thorough epistemological analysis of the total digital visibility phenomenon in the context of the modern urban paradigm and its implications for privacy and subjective autonomy of urban residents. The relevance of this problematic is determined by the exponential acceleration of digital transformation in urban agglomerations, accompanied by the implementation of pan-continual monitoring technologies, holistic big data analytics, and integrated smart city infrastructure. These processes constitute unprecedented regimes of socio-technical control, where perceptive, locomotor, and social patterns of residents are subject to multimodal fixation through hybrid systems of sensors, video analytics, mobile interfaces, and machine learning algorithms.

Applying a multi-methodological approach, the author explicates the genesis of the "digital visibility" concept in the interdisciplinary field, tracing its semantic correlations with surveillance studies in the works of David Lyon and Zygmunt Bauman, critical analytics of surveillance capitalism in Shoshana Zuboff's research, exploration of algorithmic sovereignty in Taina Bucher's works, and urban metamorphoses in the interpretation of Rob Kitchin and Sharon Zukin. Special analytical attention is paid to the architectonics of digital surveillance in urban space, which transforms residents into "datafied citizens" deprived of epistemic sovereignty over their own data.

Through systematization of empirical and theoretical data, a triad of fundamental privacy threats in the conditions of digital urbanization is identified: algorithmic reduction of privacy, asymmetry of visibility, and formation of "behavioral surplus." Extrapolating these issues to the Ukrainian context, the author demonstrates the discrepancy between the pace of urban digitalization and the level of regulatory framework and cyber literacy of citizens. Based on a critical analysis of domestic researchers' works, the necessity of constructing a digital presence ethics as a hybrid normative matrix is argued, integrating legal mechanisms of data protection with humanistic principles of intersubjective interaction in the digital continuum.

The comparative analysis concludes with the formulation of a triad of axiological principles for digital urban studies: algorithmic transparency, the right to digital invisibility, and the development of digital literacy. The research creates new epistemological perspectives for transdisciplinary discourse at the intersection of philosophical anthropology, social theory, urban studies, and digital studies.

VISUAL HERMENEUTICS IN THE DIGITAL AGE

2025-09-18T08:37:06+00:00

The article examines the emergence of visual hermeneutics as an independent field of philosophical inquiry in the context of digital cultural transformation. The relevance of the research is driven by the unprecedented dominance of visual forms of communication and the development of algorithmic technologies that radically transform traditional practices of understanding and interpretation. The author analyzes the theoretical and methodological foundations of visual hermeneutics, which are formed at the intersection of classical hermeneutic tradition, semiotics, media theory, and innovative approaches of Digital Humanities.

Special attention is given to the analysis of key epistemological shifts: overcoming textcentrism, establishing multimodal ontology, and developing algorithmic hermeneutics. The processes of transformation of classical hermeneutic categories in the digital environment are examined, where algorithms become invisible co-authors of meaning, shaping the understanding of the contemporary interpreter. The specificity of visual rhetoric as an autonomous mode of meaning-making is analyzed, characterized by simultaneity, polysemy, affectivity, and a particular form of indexicality.

The empirical basis of the research consists of a critical analysis of the TikTok platform as a paradigmatic example of visual-algorithmic media and the phenomenon of internet memes as the quintessence of digital meaning-making. The fundamental ambivalence of contemporary digital environments is revealed, which simultaneously expand the hermeneutic horizon and create new forms of limitation of interpretive experience. TikTok's platform architecture demonstrates mechanisms for reducing hermeneutic complexity through algorithmic mediation and temporal compression, creating a paradoxical situation of pseudo-participatority. The analysis of memes reveals the phenomenon of «condensed meaning», where complex semantic constructions are reduced to minimalist visual forms through processes of semiotic compression and metonymic reduction. The article substantiates the need to develop new methodological strategies: synoptic reading, affective hermeneutics, and algorithmic literacy. It is argued that visual hermeneutics in the digital media era requires a fundamental rethinking of basic categories of interpretation, where meaning is not so much «deciphered» as «lived» through immersive interaction with media artifacts, and technology transforms from a neutral intermediary into an active co-author of meaning.

RHETORIC OF DIGITAL SUBJECTIVITY: NEO, SHREK, AND THE EVOLUTION OF AGENCY IN THE AGE OF ALGORITHMS

2025-09-18T08:39:17+00:00

The article examines the ontological transformations of rhetorical subjectivation under conditions of digital mediation. Through hermeneutic analysis of the archetypal figures of Neo («The Matrix») and Shrek (the eponymous animated narrative), the study conceptualizes paradigmatic modes of constituting subjectivity in the post-digital era. The research articulates the transition from post-structuralist deconstruction of the Cartesian cogito to emergent forms of distributed agency in hybrid human-machine assemblages.

The work identifies three distinctive epistemological models: techno-gnostic (represented by Neo), post-ironic (embodied in Shrek), and post-anthropological (manifested by algorithmic actors). The first model explicates the modernist project of emancipation through vertical transcendence and binary oppositions of real/simulative. The second demonstrates the postmodernist strategy of horizontal immanence, where irony functions as an ontological category. The third reveals the radical deterritorialization of rhetorical agency under conditions of algorithmic governance.

The study analyzes the fundamental reconfiguration of the classical rhetorical triad (ethos, pathos, logos) in digital space. Pathos transforms from affective disposition into performative practice through mechanisms of participation. Logos is reduced to probabilistic algorithms of machine learning. Ethos is constituted as a hybrid phenomenon at the intersection of human and non-human.

The crisis of authenticity in the context of generative technologies is examined, problematizing traditional epistemological dichotomies of true/false. A concept of new rhetorical ethics is proposed, founded on principles of algorithmic transparency and conscious hybridity of communicative acts.

The article articulates perspectives for further research on post-anthropological forms of rhetorical subjectivation, particularly post-ironic gnosticism (synthesis of transcendental and ironic modes) and techno-memetic agency (algorithmic production of discursive presence) as possible ontological frameworks for conceptualizing rhetoric within the posthumanist turn.