Virtualization of the Lifeworld: To the Contours of a New Paradigm
Authors:   Southern Federal University (Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation), Leshkevich Tatiana G. , Kataeva Olga V. ,   Southern Federal University (Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation)
Published: March 2021

The article discusses the changing of the lifeworld under the influence of virtualization, the dominant tendency of the modern digital era. The main aim is to analyze the transformations of the lifeworld in the virtualization of human being, which determines the formation of a new sociocultural paradigm. The authors solve a twofold problem. Firstly, the semantic connotations of the concept “lifeworld” are restored from the point of view of the historical and philosophical tradition. A significant place is given to the conceptual analysis of the positions of E. Husserl, M. Heidegger, A. Schütz, J. Habermas and others. Secondly, they reveal the ontological, anthropological and axiological refractions of the lifeworld due to its fusion with the virtual environment. The methodological strategy is based on the potential of multivariate analysis, which includes a quadriga that combines objectivity, processuality, projectivity and environmental characteristics. The specific features of a virtualized lifeworld are analyzed taking into account the findings of both modern Western researchers: J. Sullins, S. Mehdizadeh, V. Miller, A. Clark, and Russian ones: M. Antipov, A. Voiskunsky, V. Volkov, I. Kasavin, N. Motroshilova, D. Martyanov, N. Smirnova, Zh. Toshchenko, V. Fedotova et al. The focus is on such phenomena of the virtualized lifeworld as “content viewers”, “digital skills”, knowledge rental, “double update”. In describing the contours of the new paradigm, attention is drawn to the replacing of being with its virtual counterparts, creating quasi-events that accompany the constitution of a “different order” of reality. The authors substantiate an ambivalent assessment of the virtualization of the lifeworld, taking into account its positive and negative effects. An analysis of the transformations of the lifeworld in modern conditions is concretized by considering the impact of networked computer games on human consciousness, and shows a decrease in the meaningfulness of actions, the violation of identity and the illusion of the denial of mortality. The authors come to the conclusion that the virtualization of the lifeworld sets other sociocodes, transforming the entire system of connections and relations. Its ontological projection indicates the construction of a “different being” rather than an “everyday life” with significant temporal changes and a new kind of digital alienation. Anthropological transformations are caused by the emergence of a new form of sociality – the sociality of the network, a request to improve digital skills that ensure existence in the digital world. A digital person is associated with the need for a “double upgrade” and can position a completely different identity. Axiological transformations testify to the deformation of conceptual thinking, to the design of new criteria for success and forms of motivation, to the self-sufficiency of network communication.