Digitalized Life During the Pandemic in Anthropocene Epoch

INTRODUCTION

One of the cornerstones of Western philosophical civilization is Greek – Socratic – quest to examine one’s life (Plat. Apol. 38a). Our condition is deeply changed – technologically, also because of our historical experience, scientific knowledge, etc. The everyday life presents evermore new challenges as well – it is enough to remember the current pandemic. Still, it can be said that the core motivating element of philosophy is the same. Let us see the current variants and versions of this quest: further I overview and shortly present the contents of this issue of Filosofija. Sociologija.

OVERVIEW

One of the most popular and important concepts recently is that of Anthropocene, designating the geological epoch when the activity of industrialised humanity becomes one of the crucial factors on a geological scale. Increasingly known are the destructive consequences of industrial activity such as destruction of environment and biodiversity, pollution, changes of the climate, etc. (Crutzen, Stoermer 2000). Lilija Duoblienė and Justina Garbauskaitė-Jakimovska in their article (2022) argue that this knowledge must be integrated into educational practices and asks how much this idea is covered in recent Lithuanian public discussions about education.

It could be said that education is a form of communication. Nerijus Stasiulis in his article (2022), relying on I. Kant, as well as G. Agamben and L. Wittgenstein, ruminates more general ontological conditions of successful communication.

The recent period was, of course, also marked by the pandemic – unfortunately often with totalitarianist tendencies in its management. The issue that Vaida Asakavičiūtė and colleagues deal with is that of distant education during the pandemic. In the article (2022), they analyse the technologically mediated education process via Buber’s philosophy of dialogue.

In a sense, the next article and section continue the latter theme of technological mediation. Lei Chen and Chengbing Wang in their article (2022) contemplate how contemporary computer and internet technologies influence our grasp of identity.

Of course, one of the most important trends in the development of computing technologies are the attempts at the creation of artificial intelligence. Huiren Bai (2022) reflects the epistemological issues concerned with artificial knowledge-producing systems and outlines the prospect of possible human and machine knowledge combination.

The next section continues this theme of epistemology broadly defined. Epistemological inquiry might as well be applied to the sphere of morality and ethics: how to know how to act? Which action is moral? Indeed, these are original Socratic questions. Vitaliy Nadurak (2022) presents the criteria for efficient moral decision making. The prospect of automatised algorithmic moral decision making naturally arising from this attempt is mentioned which is also connected to the aforementioned development of artificial thinking systems. Vladimir Belov and Anastasia Lebedeva (2022) analyse the history of reception of one of the grandest examples of epistemological inquiry – Immanuel Kant’s transcendental philosophy – in the shapes of Neo-Kantianism and Post-Neo-Kantianism.

In the last section dedicated more to political problems, Yin Wang (2022) engages in the discussion about Marxism and, believing this is an ideology suitable for contemporary practical problems as well as leading towards more humane future, presents new conceptual means to develop Marxism in current times. Béla Mester (2022) analyses the differences between illustrations of public intellectual and political figures in private and public spheres in 19th century Hungary. Perhaps it could be said that this historical analysis also contributes to the more general discussion of the role of aesthetics in politics.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the articles demonstrate the unceasing quest to philosophically reflect the past, present and future of our lives. As was mentioned, this quest is even more complicated than in its origins in Ancient Greece – nowadays we have to incorporate more knowledge, nuances and aspects in our ruminations. Still, hopefully, this issue of Filosofija. Sociologija will inspire this quest even further.

References

TOMAS NEMUNAS MICKEVIČIUS

Skaitmenizuotas pandeminis gyvenimas antropoceno epochoje