The category of virtual reality in the social and philosophic discourse

The article presents the results of social and philosophical comprehension of a new kind of social reality - virtual reality. The main approaches to the determination of the essence of virtual reality are represented by the technological, symbolic and sociopsychological approaches. The analysis of the various concepts of virtuality allows to refer the categories of virtual space, virtual community, virtual social action, virtual property, virtual personality and virtual values to the basic concepts of this phenomenon. In the context of this research the virtual space is considered not as a synonym but as an attribute of virtual reality. The space and time in the virtual reality are substantially transformed - the process of the human localization in these conditions loses its historical, geographical and cultural importance. The special attention is paid to the problem of transformation of value foundations of contemporary culture. It is noted that the virtual reality leads to the destruction of internal integrity of culture based on a hierarchy of values. The loss of identity and global alienation of a man/woman from their own essence and reality in general are also attributed to the negative trends of virtualization person.