Socio-philosophical critique of information technology: the case of television

This paper comments on Anton N. Fortunatov's article about the nature of modern television. Sharing his socio-critical intention, the author identifies three concepts that facilitate comprehension of the suggested topic in a philosophical and theoretical way. These are conceptual pairs “virtuality – reality”, “construction – representation” and “social technologies – social practices”. On the case of television as a specific cultural phenomenon and a specific technology the author demonstrates how modernity is rooted in history, knowledge – in activity, and technology – in science. The thesis that mediality has swallowed the entire modern world seems justified not so much in its universalistic version, but rather as a characteristic of everyday life. The power of information technology deserves both a critical evaluation and comprehension in terms of the alternatives generated by philosophy and the humanities.