Rationalization of Social Production and Devaluation of Morality as Indicators of the Age of Consumption

The authors analyze the peculiarities of ethical worldview in some philosophical concepts of the twentieth century and its reflection on the spiritual state of today’s Russian society. The research aims to determine the impact of scientific and technological progress on the spiritual and moral aspects of personal existence. When conducting the research, the authors rely on the key ethical and philosophical positions of thinkers of the twentieth century and correlate their points of view among themselves and with the actual state of the value worldview of today’s Russian society. As a result of the research, the authors conclude that the formation of moral consciousness based on the fundamental principles of humanistic ethics cannot be realized in a society where the central worldview doctrine is the pursuit of individual success and personal gain. According to the research findings, the idea of the collective good and cooperation as necessary conditions for social and cultural development is replaced by the values of pragmatism that cultivate selfishness and lead to the spiritual devastation of the individual. Society has significantly transformed values due to ideological and socio-economic reasons. The focus on achieving the required level of material well-being has led to a gradual leveling of the significance of the spiritual and moral development of the individual. As a result, the main criterion for the acceptability of certain actions is their assessment not from the position of conscience, honor, duty, or justice but from the position of personal gain. This is largely facilitated by contemporary means of marketing communication, which replace the concepts of goodness and benefit with commercial benefit and social advantage.