Sevastianiv U. Virtual reality as a factor of transformation of the religiosity forms of a modern man

The dissertation deals with the complex philosophical and religious studies analysis of virtual reality as a factor of transformation of the existing and emergence of new forms of religiosity of a modern man. The retrospective analysis of the "virtual" concept in the historical and philosophical discourse has been conducted as well as its transformation into the oxymoron "virtual reality" traced. The definition of virtual reality has been proposed by the author. It has been identified that mass media, television and new media are the important elements of the emerging of new virtual space. It has been researched that the formation of human spirituality, and therefore - religiosity depends on the environment, and that is the reason to consider the importance of virtual reality influence on the formation of these components of human mind. Transformations of certain traditional religious practices are revealed, as well as innovations within the religious institutions as a natural consequence of the popularity and global impact of virtual reality on a modern individual. The fundamentally opposite researchers and scholars views toward the sacral virtualization tendency are shown. The concept of "virtualized religiosity" is presented to define the sacralized segment of virtual space and the concept in the context of postmodern religiosity is substantiated. New forms of religiosity, namely cyberreligies have been investigated such as virtual churches, online worships, cyberrituals, virtual pilgrimages, online prayers etc. The dissertation proves that such form of deviant behavior in the network, as trolling of religion is not only the one that shows social aggression, but the response of the society to negative phenomena in the activities of religious institutions. The attitude of the Ukrainian Christian churches to the digital technologies of modern world in particular the Internet is considered. The analysis of official documents of Ukrainian Christian churches, including social doctrines, appeals, edicts of church officials was made. It has been determined that most of the Ukrainian Christian churches consider the Internet as an additional but important area for informing, communicating with the adherents and their spiritual education. Cautions and recommendations about the dangers, threats and impact of virtual reality on the Institute of Religion and the person are presented.