The Phenomenon of a Thing in the Transformational Manifestations of Mass Culture
Authors: Petrenko V. 
Published: October 2021

The research deals with a different understanding of things in the context of culture. An attempt was made to analyze the phenomenon of a thing through the scientific­methodological approach of Lacan, Marx, and Heidegger. The article also attempts to answer the main question: what does a thing mean in modern society, and what transformations of this concept took place in a historical perspective. The article analyzes such order of things in which things at different levels (physical, social, axiological, etc.) manifest themselves in different ways, as well as possess different qualities and characteristics, which gives us the opportunity to talk about a new understanding of a thing in the context of an information society, in which the physical thing is nullified and the symbolic thing appears. To distinguish these two concepts, we need to understand how the thing is realized in the desire, because the desire itself is the direction that motivates a person to make a choice, and this is what a person is deprived of the XXI century.
The purpose of this article is a thorough consideration of thing in the context of mass culture. Designation of connections between human “I” and a thing in the context of the new information society.
The relevance of this article consists in the fact that in modern Western societies there is a loss of the value of a thing as a value that is not only inside the thing itself, but also goes beyond the material world. This is primarily due to mass production and the emergence of a consumer society.
The methodology: the author uses a systematic approach and the analytics is made from the point of view of materialism, existentialism, and psychoanalysis.
The results: the author identifies ten points that characterize the thing in the context of mass culture. The emphasis is on mediocrity as the main agent of consumerism. A broad analysis of the subject is given in the context of social criticism of the USSR and Western societies of the modern type.
The topicality. This article for the first time specifies a correlation between things in popular culture and mediocrity as an extra class phenomenon that significantly affects social processes. It also for the first time analyzes things on the basis of the fundamental philosophical teachings of the XX century and makes connection between Marxism, phenomenology and psychoanalysis, which for a long time have been considered methodological antagonists. The removal of this conflict leads to the discovery of new methodological studies in the field of culture, since they can study human activity from different sides (each with its own), but also closely cooperating with each other.
Practical value. Research in this area using philosophical methodology gives us the opportunity to comprehend the concept of mediocrity and trace its connection with the thing, which in its turn opens up opportunities for us for a deeper understanding of the processes that began to take place after the Second World War. For a modern person, it is very important to ask yourself questions about the relationship between me and things. Questions like these are just as important in the educational process.