HUMANITY IN THE CHALLENGES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A PHILOSOPHICALANTHROPOLOGICAL AND SOCIOANTHROPOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF SPACE AND TIME

Abstract

The urgency of the research is determined by the pressing need to understand the evolution of perceptions regarding the experience of time, temporality, and the disruption of spatial and temporal structures in the process of self-organization of individuals and society during changes caused by such a macrosocial factor as COVID-19. Throughout its historical development, humanity has repeatedly faced various crises. COVID-19, without exaggeration, has led to massive changes in societal activities, mentality, and the reevaluation of spatial-temporal categories experienced during quarantine measures. This study aims to offer a socio-philosophical generalization of subjective perceptions of time, the construction and reconstruction of space, and its modulation under the influence of the pandemic. Understanding the socio-anthropological and philosophical-anthropological interpretations of space and time during the pandemic requires referring to the works of D. Agamben, H. Arendt, F. Braudel, T. Vüller, S. Galloway, F. Zakaria, H. Jonas, S. Žižek, P. Tillich, V. Frankl, M. Honigsbaum, and M. Schnitzer. The objective of this study is the philosophical-anthropological and socioanthropological conceptualization of the interpretation of the spatial-temporal continuum during the COVID-19 pandemic. This involves considering the policy of voluntary social distancing, communicative practices, the restrictions and reorganization of living space, and the transformations facilitated by digital technologies and virtual reality. The issue of the coronavirus epidemic initially drew attention from virologists, epidemiologists, pharmacists, and physicians, emphasizing its medical aspect. Subsequently, the problem acquired a sociocultural and socio-anthropological dimension. Philosophers addressing the pandemic have noted that it has transformed the world and revealed the crisis of the current phase of globalization. The pandemic and its consequences have induced changes in various spheres of social reality and communication, highlighting issues in biopolitics. These include the introduction of quarantine, new rules related to socio-biological safety, and the risks of socio-political conflicts, increased disintegration, atomization, and the rise of authoritarianism within the socio-anthropological field. The conducted study outlines the scope of the problem regarding the philosophicalanthropological and socio-anthropological interpretation of space and time in the context of reevaluating numerous structures of individual and collective life during the COVID-19 pandemic.