Technosophy: methodological resources

Pluzhnikova Natalia Nikolaevna ORCID: 0000-0002-4143-1216 PhD in Philosophy Associate Professor; Department of Humanities; Moscow Polytechnic University 140050, Russia, Moscow region, village. Kraskovo, Shkolnaya str., 2/3, sq. 98 pluzhnikova@bk.ru Other publications by this author

Saenko Natalya Ryafikovna ORCID: 0000-0002-9422-064X Doctor of Philosophy Professor; Department of Humanities; Moscow Polytechnic University Pavel Karchagin str., 22, Moscow, 107023, Russia rilke@list.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The second half of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first century were marked by an extremely accelerated growth and complexity of the technosphere surrounding man. During this period, the constantly expanding range of problems of interaction with the new reality itself becomes the object of close social, cultural, scientific, general philosophical reflection, within which whole areas of knowledge are gradually emerging, taking shape and consolidating, including technosophy.

The term "Technosophy" (technosophy, from the Greek. techne – "art", "craft" and Greek. Sophia – "wisdom", "skill" ^[1]) can be considered as a phenomenon designating in an individual's thinking a special cognitive-ontological structure – the structure of knowledge about the inner essence of the world of technology – phenomenology, processes, features, roles and functions, laws – in fact, a new ontology positioned as an independent object of social- cultural and scientific-philosophical reflection, theoretical study and subsequent practical implementation. M. N. Epstein, who actively introduces the concept of "technosophy" into philosophical discourse, writes: "Now we understand that technology is not steel and fuel oil, not "soulless", "oppressive" mechanisms, as they tell us childhood impressions of the industrial age. Technique is a thought and feeling that reign not only in our brain and body, but also propagate around us and between us at the speed of light or sound" ^{[2, C. 775]}.

The cognitive, conceptual, terminological and categorical apparatus of technosophy can be represented as a conceptual and methodological dualism of one's own human attitude and the humanitarian dimension of a new, techno-technological and virtual-digital reality. As a result, the need to address existing problems, as well as to solve emerging issues in the world of technology, has determined the relevance of this study.

The purpose of the research is to study and comprehensively analyze existing and newly created methodological approaches to the study of the private and general phenomenology of the world of technology, the processes taking place inside this world, the disclosure and cognition of the meaningful side of its own laws of functioning in their specifically highlighted relation to man. The realization of this goal is impossible without the main object of research, which acts as one of these approaches – technosophy.

Research and discussion

The philosophical analysis of the term "technosophy" cannot be carried out exclusively as a process of purposeful cognition and disclosure of the essence of something specific (the world of technology ^[3]), but it represents a specifically human attitude to this process itself, a necessary part of which, in this regard, the method of cognition also becomes. In this regard, not only "technosophy" itself can be positioned as a new, independent branch of philosophy, but also the methodology of technosophy in connection with the same, it is impossible to deny the right to be presented in the form of a private cognitive or philosophical methodology. This is so, since the historical circumstances and causes of the emergence of "technosophy" in its modern form are such that within this new field of knowledge not only about the world of technology itself, but also about the place and role of man within this world, the theoretical problems of the development of this knowledge are inseparably connected with the solution of a number of specific and practical issues ^[4].

The need to develop and further practical approbation of the methodological resources of technosophy necessary to solve both theoretical and practical problems is currently determined by three interrelated aspects of changes, the nature of which, based on the modern features of human interaction with the world of technology, simply cannot be denied objectivity:

1. Changing the place and role of man in the world of technology ^[5].

2. Changing the purpose of technology and the technosphere in the human world ^[6].

3. The change in the general character of modern civilization, which is becoming more and more man-made ^[7].

The pragmatic nature of modern culture tries to channel possible approaches to the development of the methodological apparatus of modern technosophy, shifting the emphasis towards interpretations and understanding of the role of technology in the development of civilization as one of the most powerful adaptation tools created artificially. Not only the former reality surrounding a person and being changed through technology, but also the new virtual reality created by it, naturally lead to a dualism of the ontology of man and society, since within this newly created reality the ontological status of human existence definitely goes beyond the physical in its traditional sense, and receives a new, metaphysical dimension, quite definitely It is not related only to the former philosophical metaphysics of man in its traditional interpretations ^[8].

The latter thoroughly and purposefully forms a number of new requirements within the processes of creating certain methodological resources of modern technosophy, addressing the results of these processes. In this regard, modern technical devices and equipment have ceased to be just a "tool for adapting" a person to the new realities of his own being, now trying more and more actively on the role of new means of explicating human essence into the multiplying spaces of the modern technosphere, on the one hand, as well as knowledge of the world around a person and his previously hidden, deep features through such methods, the implementation of which would be impossible without the participation of modern technology, on the other hand. Within the modern philosophy of technology, both the range of directions of related research and the subsequent discourse of discussing their results are expanding precisely in connection with these fundamentally new views, which, first of all, indicates precisely the transition to the conceptualization and systematization of a number of previously disparate views, judgments, opinions and positions within the philosophical and epistemological tradition.

In this regard, modern technosophy, together with its own methodology being created, becomes a natural result of the reaction of traditional philosophical thought to those actual changes not only in relation to the study of the world of technology (cognitive ontology), but also in the human gnosis of rethinking a new role and a new purpose of the world, which has long gone far ahead of the initial mechanistic and early positivist interpretations techniques as a means of defining skills and significant human experience in transforming the external world based on the forces of nature and its laws used by technical devices ^[8],[9].

In modern technology, to a much greater extent, a variety of human knowledge is "objectified" in one way or another, and it is precisely the very knowledge that arises in the modern world after the commission of increasingly fundamental scientific discoveries. This fundamental change in the nature of the technosphere within the framework of the modern culture of post-industrial society increasingly translates the newly created elements of the technosphere from the category of mechanical devices and devices to the category of a tool for the application, development and improvement of human intelligence ^[10].

Modern society can be defined as a society of transition from technology to "technology technology". Technology is becoming a crucial and fundamental characteristic of society, through the study of which it is possible to determine the complex human attitude towards technology itself. In particular, the phenomenon of rationalization and ordering of human behavior. To study these aspects, one can turn to the views of such theorists of science as E. Biglehol ^[11], L. Bernard ^[12], M. Crozier ^[13], D. Fried ^[14], L. Goodman ^[15] The work of J. The article "Presence in the Modern World" contains an up-to-date criticism of the progress of technology in Western society and the consequences of the technologization of life. The author points out that the idea of "technique" as a technology or specific practices (primarily spiritual) came from the East. Such activity was interpreted, in particular, in Platonic thought, as an activity less significant than intellectual contemplation. Nevertheless, J. Ellul shows that the intellectual contribution of the ancient Greeks, the development of universal and abstract scientific laws, allowed a simple human action that turns a natural object into an artificial (technical) one to become a comprehensive paradigm of technology, technology and progress. The researcher points out that, admittedly, the machine enriched man as much as it changed him. The senses and organs of the machine multiplied the possibilities of human senses and organs, allowing man to penetrate into a new environment and opening up to him unknown types of freedom and slavery. Thus, man was freed from physical limitations, but even more so he became a slave to abstract limitations. He acts through intermediaries and, therefore, has lost contact with reality. Man, as a worker, has lost touch with the primary element of life and the environment, the main material from which he does what he does. He no longer knows wood, iron, or wool. He's only familiar with the car. His ability to become a mechanic replaced his knowledge of his material; this development caused profound mental transformations, which, of course, we still have to overestimate ^[16].

It can be said that in the course of the development of human history, technology and technology as a whole have transformed from "just" practical applications into a rationalization of human existence, it is difficult to connect the meanings and goals of action and thinking. Despite the fact that Plato belittled techne, he provided the means by which technological practices could be abstracted and rationalized, making possible "methods of technology" ^{[17, p. 3]}.

The result of thinking about technology was technical rationality, which began its formation as a broader social, political and economic paradigm before the 18th century, transforming the structure and purpose of the disciplines of science, engineering, politics, economics and education. The goal of each sphere was the technically rationalized deployment of the means of production of goods to achieve the goals of efficient production and socio-economic progress. Simple "technical methods" of influencing the world have become "technical phenomena", articulated as central to the current development of a progressive society. As such, the technology sector has acquired a certain "self-legitimizing presence."

Moreover, the value and status of technical phenomena rested on the legitimacy of technical experimentation and classification. The very practice of developing new technologies was an articulation of technological value – a technological epistemology arose in which one needs to know how to influence the world by resorting to technical rationalization ^[18].

Not understanding what the rule of technology does to him and to the world, modern man is gripped by anxiety and a sense of insecurity. He is trying to adapt to changes that he cannot understand. The conflict of propaganda replaces the debate about ideas. Technology silences ideas that question its rule and filters out for public discussion only those ideas that are largely consistent with the values created by the technical civilization. Social criticism is denied because there is only limited access to the technical means necessary to reach a large number of people. J. Ellul writes that "in a world where technology demands the maximum from people, this maximum cannot be achieved, maintained or surpassed — as is sometimes required — except with the help of the will, which is always stable and tense. Man by nature does not have such a will. He is by no means prepared by nature for such an exalted state, and if sometimes he reaches it naturally, then the exaltation lasts only a few moments. However, it should be extended. It is necessary to create psychological conditions that would allow an individual to give all his strength to war (or peace) and resist prostration and despondency in the face of the terrible living conditions into which technology has driven him" ^[18].

One of the confirmations of the objective nature of such changes in the modern world is that the modes of control and operator work with modern technology are becoming more intelligent for a person and require less physical and mechanical effort from him. In addition, the balance between the number of technical devices for ensuring human interaction with physical reality and the number of the same ones operating with virtual, digital reality is progressively shifting towards the latter. This can only mean one thing: modern technology works less and less with matter, with matter – and more and more operates with "numbers" and with information. I. G. Fichte, who once proclaimed in "Science Studies" that there is actually mediation between "I" and "Not-I" in the form of synthesis of the first with the second, apparently, he did not predict that after only a couple of centuries this synthesis would begin to acquire a distinctly technical, and even technologized character ^[19].

However, the same influence extends to the emerging methodology of modern technosophy, which, paradoxically, is most facilitated by man himself. The former main purpose of technology as a means of ridding a person of heavy muscular, mainly monotonous labor is increasingly becoming a thing of the past, while modern scientific and technical equipment is noticeably and definitely reoriented to meet the new spiritual needs of the individual and society, which the latest technical devices themselves form, and this cannot but have an impact on practical the methodology of technosophy.

First of all, this refers to the methodological support of the process of human interaction through the latest technical devices with digital and virtual models and images of the world surrounding modern man. The depth and scale of this influence are now such that it begins to reshape and shuffle the descriptive and regulatory (legal ^[20]) aspects of possible forms of professional activity of an individual within the rapidly technologizing space of modern social reality, and this is expressed in the disappearance of some professions from the list of necessary for society, the appearance of new (often fundamentally new) ones instead of deactivated ones ^[20]) professions and in changing the actual operational and functional content of the third. The profound reform of the educational system of society in the direction of expanding opportunities for continuous professional improvement and retraining to another professional field only confirms the reality and relevance of all these changes ^[20].

The other side of the technical and technological renewal of the world surrounding modern man turns out to be even deeper in content, namely, one of the most noticeable processes in modern culture - the process of globalization in the field of organizing information exchange and establishing contacts between all interested parties – is expressed in the emergence of such informational and synthetic (techno–biological ^[19]) by nature phenomena such as "collective intelligence", "self-organizing neural network", "artificial intelligence", "neurospace of modern society", "neurocosm of the modern individual", "development programming", "algorithmization of human existence", etc. ^[19]. "Technosophy studies how technology responds to the spiritual needs of a person, and at the same time creates new spiritual aspirations, opens the way to the creation of a collective mind, a neurocosm and a neurosocium..." ^{[2, p. 775]}.

Conclusion

Thus, we can conclude that modern man and humanity, tightly surrounded by the technosphere they created from all sides, are entering an era of radical revision and changes in all the basic parameters of optimizing their own existence. In this regard, technosophy can act as a new branch of scientific and philosophical knowledge, describing not only these changes, but also the thinking of modern man.

However, human culture cannot exist without its own axiology, in relation to which all the most recently oriented technical changes leave the most unresolved questions, neither methodologically nor meaningfully. First of all, it concerns the spiritual dimension of this rapidly transforming and retreating new cultural axiology.

It is not only man himself who constantly balances between the "natural" and the "technical" – his entire culture, of which he is the subject and object, is also desperately balancing. This non-pathological and massive ambivalence is increasingly becoming one of the most striking and paradoxical features of human existence in the universe of modern culture.

The processes, the results of which are all these new phenomena, cannot be carried out on the basis of the old, "traditional" methodology. Society and civilization in their modern form have already gone beyond the purely anthropological and social descriptions and moderation of their own historical development, since the latter is increasingly beginning to be determined and adjusted by technology.

In this regard, technology forms its own ontological space filled with cognitive meanings, its own technosphere, the understanding of which goes beyond the limits of classical methodology, in which technology was considered exclusively as the sphere of "post-existence" of a person, as something derivative and dependent on a person. The technosphere has become an effect of the evolution of human thinking structures and can be considered today as alienated from his thinking, therefore it requires a new research methodology based on the formulation of the phenomenon of technology in the center of scientific and philosophical analysis.

Not only existing next to man, but also gradually expanding the space of this existence, the modern technosphere is increasingly beginning to accustom its creator to its own laws, to its own logic, to its own forms of interaction with it, and to its "technical" language, which internally differs from the grammar and vocabulary of the former "traditional" language methodologies. Technology insists on using a programming language, including here, in this case, far-reaching consequences arise from this in terms of the necessary correction of the prospects for human development and civilization. This program can be preserved, but only under one condition – a person "in its pure form" ceases to be the exclusive goal of this development, because he must be replaced by a person who is variously technically mediated, "technologized" ^[19],[20]. Thus, since the issues and problems of development cannot be "canceled", the specified program will remain, but it must be reprogrammed, and reprogrammed in two ways – both meaningfully and methodologically, precisely so that in the future it can be implemented practically.

The created methodological resources of technosophy should preserve the character of the main object of its research in all its objectively determined complexity and heterogeneity, namely, they should meet the requirements of multidimensionality, multimodality, and interdisciplinarity ^[19]. Modern man and humanity, tightly surrounded by the technosphere they have created from all sides, are entering an era of radical revision and changes in all the basic parameters of optimizing their own being, which is gaining an increasing number of measurements directly or indirectly related to the technique ^[21]. For example, modern man no longer has the opportunity to neglect the indicators of design, ergonomics, and technical efficiency, which are increasingly closely associated with him and mediated by his joint humanitarian and technical existence. Progress in this area is incredibly rapid, but for its analysis a new methodological position is needed, taking into account the needs of modern man and the features of thinking changing under the influence of technology. Technosophy stands today as such a methodological position that includes the sphere of knowledge and the essence of the world of technology (cognitive-ontological).