The impact of COVID-19 pandemic upon changes of temporality and sociality: socio-philosophical analysis

Abstract

The relevance of the problem of perception of time in the context of permanent changes in modern social life is undeniable. In addition to that, the emergence of such macrosocial factor as COVID-19 has imposed a particular urgency upon the sciences of mind. From the perspective of social philosophy, the authors examine the changes in modern temporality and sociality, which took place under the influence of COVID-19 pandemic. Special attention is turned to the problem of time. The evolution of representations of the perception of time is being followed from antiquity to the present, which constitutes the idea of temporality as such. Another significant aspect is sociality. The specificity and non-triviality of this article predetermined the development of theoretical-methodological foundations of research based on the combination of classical and modern scientific works of the Russian and foreign authors. The novelty of this article consists in the socio-philosophical level of the conducted generalization of precise empirical facts that comprise a holistic picture and adequate understanding of temporality and sociality that have changed under the influence of COVID-19 pandemic. The authors’ special contribution consists in describing the structure of temporality that have transformed in the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic, which incorporates the “palette of temporalities” and includes the postindustrial variant alongside other ways of subjective sense of time up until the the turn of the late Middle Ages – early Renaissance. Applicable to sociality, the authors underline the aggravation of issues in the ordinary social life exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic; under the influence of pandemic, they become not just the risks and threats, but also entail the transformative potential of changes in the traditional practices and remodeling of the entire institutions.