Ontological foundations of changes in value orientations in the light of synergetics and systems theory approaches

The article deals with the ontological foundations underlying the crisis of traditional values. The accelerating informatization process, accompanied by an exponential growth in the volume of information and, at the same time, the increasing dysfunctionality of traditional institutions of socialization, inevitably leads to a crisis of man and system of values. According to the authors, synergetics and systems theory can offer their own vision for judging about the objective foundations of value relations in society. The concept of chaos has particular importance in this approach. The authors interpret the constructive role of chaos («order from chaos») as a dialectically understood ability of an individual to realize spiritual unity with humanity and highlight in a new way the practical role of the institution of morality. A certain degree of chaotization implemented by a subject becomes the determining principle of development for any person living in the information age. It allows one to overcome the limitations of routinized, reproductive activity in all its manifestations. It is an element of chaos that leads man and society to innovative activity. Spiritual values are aimed, among other things, at mitigating the risks of innovations. Being the bearers of new values, «chaotizing personalities» act as implementers of bifurcation turning points of development, including the development of value systems. The Marxist theory of alienation is used as a key explanation for the disappearance of previously dominant value connections. In such crisis eras, there occurs devaluation of material and ideal (value-based) connections in work, thinking, and communication. However, the contemporary crisis is specific in that the «chaotizing subject» risks disappearing as such, the «technicalization» of a person occurs, and a quasi-subject is formed. The probability of using a person as a living instrument, including for the implementation of the most destructive goals, increases sharply.