Philosophical Aspect of Social Escapism in the Age of Virtuality
The article discusses the phenomenon of social escapism, developing in connection with virtualization of human being. Its distribution is accompanied by the transformation of subjective human relationship to reality and to the penetration of modern information and communication technologies in everyday life. The article includes description of this phenomenon and comparison of its forms in different social contexts. The paper presents an analysis of the phenomenon of social escapism, called «hikikomori», which exists in Japanese society and has a tendency to expand the number of individuals whose behavior is characterized by extreme social escapism and sociopathy. Transformation of social reality occurs in close association with the level of economic development, when there are formed the conditions of autonomous existence for a large number of people not participating in the social and economic reproduction. The increasing development of informatization of everyday life creates the conditions for weakening or rupture of real social interactions. It is argued that the study of the phenomenon of social escapism gives the opportunity to identify and adequately explicate the latent characteristics of human existence in the era of progressive autonomy and fragmentation of the whole being. The relevance of philosophical methodology of the study of this phenomenon allows explicating its causes and finding ways to overcome the negative effects of its development.