Metaphysics and apophatics of digital voices: possibilities of philosophical and religious understanding

The article deals with the problem of philosophical and religious understanding of such phenomena of the digital world as the voices of virtual assistants. Within the framework of the established requirements for the scientific discipline to be new, the consideration of digital voices seems justified and relevant for discovering new realities of knowledge of the Divine. The key principle in spiritual epistemological strategies is the construction of sign-symbolic systems that determine the relationship between cognizing consciousness and the world. Today, digital reality offers a completely original cognitive paradigm embodied in the iconic symbolism of digital voices. Considering digital voices from a philosophical and religious position allows us to model in the conditions of digital realities those spiritual challenges that have not lost their relevance for modernity. Voice, from a philosophical and religious point of view, involves the activation of a metaphysical approach, which reveals the inextricable connection of the voice with the existential-metaphysical level; the adoption of the voice as a unique platform where the opposition of polar concepts of the metaphysical ideal is removed; the formation of a spiritual anthropology of digital voices, including potential transcendence, identification and overcoming the danger of devaluation of spiritual meanings in digital voices. Of all the variety of voice interpretations in philosophical and religious paradigms, the article considers one of the most paradoxical - the theme of apophatic silence in digital voices. The reasonableness expressed in the voice indelibly contains the hidden meanings of silence, and therefore the apophatic approach seems justified and effective. The specifics of the digital voice presentation, devoid of an obvious carrier; digital-mathematical extraverbality, the presence of zones of silence; the construction of a vocal “anthropology of silence”; spiritual challenges of silence substitution, simulacra of silence, entailing a gap in effective communication - all this determines the relevance of the apophatic approach in understanding digital voices. Provided that a metaphysical worldview and apophatic silence are accepted, the digital voice acquires the qualities of a religious (meta-intellectual) act capable of a spiritual transformation of reality.