The Social Nature of Authority

Aim. To reflect the specifics of the phenomenon of authority, its significance in history, its manifestation in different eras. To analyze the perception by society of the dominant functions through which submission to leaders was manifested in the old days. To update the reason for the transformation of the phenomenon of authority in modern times. To identify the inextricable connection between society and the emergence of the phenomenon of authority.

Methodology. The final conclusions of the article are based on the principles of, first, philosophical, general scientific, and then interdisciplinary approach. The materials of the article are examined through comparative analysis from the prism of perception of the interpretation of the phenomenon of authority in philosophy, politics, religious studies, as well as authors of antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the present day.

Results. Factors have been identified that indicate a continuous connection between society and the emergence of the phenomenon of authority, and the danger of deprivation of this phenomenon through the digital world and Internet communications. Using reliable sources, the risks of global problems in modern society are identified, when public trust, recognition, imitation and the authority phenomenon itself are focused not on a living carrier of information as an expert in the field of study or a confirmed specialist, but rather on digital virtual personalities , artificial voice assistants, artificial intelligence, which places the entire social practice into the Internet space which might create humanitarian risks of historically shaped human values and life goal priorities.

Research implications. The article describes the features of the development of the phenomenon of authority, its perception by society of different times, and the transformation of the object of the phenomenon with the coming of any new era. The necessity of living social communication in society is proven as the basis for human development and humanitarian value in society. Attention is also focused on the loss of the values, historically established throughout centuries, that are the basis for development and progress of humanity.

1. Bobyreva E. V. [Religious Discourse: Values and Genres]. In: Filosofiya, etika, religiovedenie [Philosophy, Ethics, Religious Studies], 2008, no. 1, pp. 162–167.

2. Buldakov V. P. Krasnaya Smuta: priroda i posledstviya revolyucionnogo nasiliya [The Red Troubles: The Nature and Consequences of Revolutionary Violence]. Moscow, ROSSPEN Publ., Prezidentsky centr B. E. Elcina Publ., 2010. 957 p.

3. Weber M. Politics as a Vocation and Profession (Rus. ed.: Politika kak prizvanie i professiya. In: Weber M. Izbrannoe: Protestantskaya etika i duh kapitalizma [Selected Works: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism]. Moscow, St. Petersburg, Centr gumanitarnyh iniciativ Publ., 2012, pp. 485–528).

4. Voltaire. Edifying Sermons Delivered in a Private Meeting in London in 1765. Sermon One: On Atheism (Rus. ed.: Sheinman-Topshtein Ts. Ya., transl. Nazidatel’nye propovedi, prochitannye v privatnom sobranii v Londone v 1765 godu. Propoved’ pervaya: ob ateizme. In: Voltaire. Filosofskie sochineniya [Philosophic Essays]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1988, pp. 374–390).

5. Descartes R. Discourse on the Method of Correctly Directing One’s Reason and Finding Truth in the Sciences and Other Philosophical Works (Rus. ed.: Slyusarev G. G., Sheinman-Topshtein Ts. Ya., transls. Rassuzhdenie o metode, chtoby verno napravlyat’ svoj razum i otyskivat’ istinu v naukah i drugie filosofskie raboty. Moscow, Akademicheskij proekt Publ., 2011. 335 p.).

6. Deleuze J., Guattari F. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (Rus. ed.: Svirskoy Ya. I., transl. Tysyacha plato: Kapitalizm i shizofreniya. Ekaterinburg, U-Faktoriya Publ., Moscow, Astrel Publ., 2010. 895 p.).

7. Kamad I. M. Obryadovaya storona kul’tov Drevnej Grecii [Ritual side of the cults of Ancient Greece]. Moscow, Institute of General Humanitarian Research Publ., 2006. 176 p.

8. Kant I. Works (Rus. ed.: Asmus V. F., ed. Sochineniya. T. 4. Ch. I. Moscow, Mysl Publ., 1965. 544 p.).

9. Luther M. 95 theses. Dispute on the clarification of the effectiveness of indulgences (Rus. ed.: Ruban A. I., transl. 95 tezisov. Disput o proyasnenii dejstvennosti indul’gencij. St. Petersburg, Germenevt Publ., 1996. 62 p.).

10. Mandeville B. The fable of the bees, or the vices of individuals are benefits for society (Rus. ed.: Mal’ceva S. A., transl. Basnya o pchyolah, ili poroki chastnyh lic – blaga dlya obshchestva. In: Antiseri D., Reale J. Zapadnaya filosofiya ot istokov do nashih dnej. Т. 3 [Western philosophy from its origins to the present day. Vol. 3]. St. Petersburg, Petropolis Publ., 1997, pp. 724–727.).

11. Montesquieu Ch. L. Selected Works (Rus. ed.: Baskin M. P., ed. Izbrannye proizvedeniya. Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo politicheskoj literatury Publ., 1955. 800 p.).

12. Sun Tzu. Treatise on the Art of War (Rus. ed.: Konrad N. I., transl. Traktat o voennom iskusstve. St. Petersburg, Azbuka Publ., Azbuka-Attikus Publ., 2015. 480 p.).

13. Hume D. Treatise on Human Nature (Rus. ed.: Cereteli S., transl. Traktat o chelovecheskoj prirode. Moscow, AST Publ., 2022. 799 p.).