INFORMATION SOCIETY: THE TENDENCY TOWARDS MINIATURIZATION, THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Objective of the study is to analyze the phenomenon of miniaturization of the information society and to find out the specifics of the corresponding theoretical and methodological principles for studying this phenomenon. To achieve this goal, the article formulates a number of tasks: to reveal the essence of the process of miniaturization of society; find out the reasons for this process; explain why it was not characteristic of the industrial society; to show the differentiation of the specifics of the structures of social groups created by individuals in the industrial and informational societies; to study the nature of ties that unite people into social groups in both societies; find out the theoretical and methodological features of the study of the phenomenon of miniaturization of society. The methodology of the research. In the process of studying the phenomenon of miniaturization of the information society, methods of reconstruction, modeling, classification, analogy, comparative analysis were used. These methods made it possible to consider the problems of the specifics of the theoretical and methodological principles of explaining the nature of social ties of individuals in industrial and informational societies, which did not receive a wide discussion; find out what changes in theoretical and methodological attitudes are proposed by representatives of the American philosophy of pragmatism, in particular R. Rorty, to explain the problems of the formation of social groups in information society, tending to miniaturization, and consider how these changes correlate with that understanding of human nature, which is adhered to by representatives of the American philosophy of pragmatism; to give a critical assessment of the ideas formulated by R. Rorty in the course of using the Humean concept of morality (sympathy) as a theoretical and methodological setting for studying the structures of social groups in the information society. Research results. First, it is shown that the essence of the phenomenon of miniaturization of the information society consists in replacing large communities of people (class, nation, people) inherent in industrial societies with small social groups, and among the reasons for this phenomenon, the growing tendency to assert the value of individualism is highlighted. Secondly, it has been proved that the tendency towards the assertion of the value of individualism in Europe was formed not in the 60-90s of the twentieth century, as F.&nbsp;Fukuyama believes, who called these years the "Great Break", but during the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, and explained why the process of affirming the value of individualism, which began after the French Revolution, was not a trigger for the miniaturization of industrial production society, focused, on the contrary, at the formation of large social communities, such as a class, for example, and also considered those theoretical and methodological principles, on which the explanation of the possibility of the existence of stable ties between individuals in large social groups was based. Thirdly, the reasons for the dominance of the value of individualism in the information society are revealed and the role of this value in its miniaturization is shown, as well as difficulties in using theoretical and methodological principles based on the idea of ​​reason as the core of the human self and explaining the nature of ties of individuals in large social communities are investigated, to explain the nature of ties in small social communities. Fourth, the connection between the understanding of human nature by representatives of the American philosophy of pragmatism, for example, R. Rorty, and their appeal to the Humean concept of morality (sympathy), as a kind of methodological setting for explaining the nature of ties between individuals in small social groups of the information society. Fifth, a critical assessment is given of the ideas of the deification of man and the end of the era of social theories, formulated by R. Rorty in the process of using the Humean concept of morality. Prospects of the study. &nbsp;&nbsp;The study of the tendency of the information society to miniaturization can be used to theoretically solve problems related to the prospects for the development of European social, political and moral practice.