Vasyliev O. Sociocultural Syntheses in the Practices of Life-Creation

The dissertation “Sociocultural Syntheses in the Practices of Life-Creation” presents a philosophical and anthropological study of sociocultural syntheses as procedural mechanisms for integrating cultural meanings, values, and practices into the human lifeworld. The relevance of the research is determined by the necessity of comprehending life-creation under conditions of globalization, digitalization, the hybridization of sociocultural space, and the existential challenges of contemporary society. It is substantiated that life-creation is not only a means of individual self-realization but also a fundamental anthropocultural practice through which a person constructs their own lifeworld by integrating individual experience with sociocultural processes. The first chapter, “Theoretical and Methodological Foundations for the Study of Sociocultural Syntheses in the Practices of Life-Creation,” examines the principal approaches to understanding life-creation within contemporary philosophical anthropology. The heuristic potential of philosophical- anthropological, hermeneutic, phenomenological, and historical-anthropological approaches is analyzed. Particular attention is devoted to cultural archetypes as factors shaping human life strategies and mechanisms of cultural transmission. The possibilities of the biographical method and biographical hermeneutics in the study of life-creation are revealed, while the methodological relevance of the concept of “patchwork biographies” for analyzing contemporary models of life experience is substantiated. It is demonstrated that an interdisciplinary approach makes it possible to consider life-creation as a complex process of interaction among personal, cultural, and social factors. The second chapter, “Sociocultural Syntheses in Static Models of Life- Creation,” investigates the basic forms of life-creation that ensure the stability and reproduction of cultural experience. The relationship between mystical and rational components in traditional models of life-creation is examined. The anthropological models of Homo sacer and Homo faber are analyzed as different modes of human self-construction. The significance of mimetic rationality as a mechanism for the assimilation of cultural norms and values is substantiated. Particular attention is paid to the problem of the agency of life-creation, defined as the human capacity for self-determination, reflection, and the responsible choice of life strategies. An ambivalent model of life-creation within the framework of positive and negative anthropology is proposed, making it possible to analyze both constructive and destructive forms of human self-realization. The third chapter, “Dynamic Practices of Life-Creation in Glocal Sociocultural Contexts,” explores the transformations of life-creation under the influence of globalization processes. It is shown that contemporary individuals function within the interaction of local and global cultural influences, which contributes to the emergence of new sociocultural syntheses. The specific features of organic sociocultural syntheses, formed through the natural integration of cultural traditions, and mechanical syntheses, emerging under conditions of external coercion or crisis circumstances, are revealed. The influence of war, social instability, and forced mobility on practices of life-creation is analyzed. Special attention is given to the role of media and digital technologies in shaping contemporary models of self-realization. It is demonstrated that the digital environment creates new opportunities for identity construction while simultaneously generating risks of simulacral forms of life-creation and inauthentic self-representation. The study substantiates that sociocultural syntheses are important mechanisms for integrating individual and collective experience, ensuring the preservation of cultural continuity and the formation of new models of human existence. The scientific novelty of the dissertation lies in the philosophical-anthropological conceptualization of sociocultural syntheses in the practices of life-creation, the substantiation of their procedural nature, and the development of ambivalent anthropological models of human self-construction. The practical significance of the research results lies in the possibility of their application in further studies in philosophical anthropology, philosophy of culture, philosophy of education, personality psychology, as well as in the development of academic courses and educational programs aimed at fostering life-creative competencies and a humanistic-reflective culture of thinking.