The Social Nature of Authority

Aim. To reflect the specifics of the phenomenon of authority, its significance in history, its manifestation in different eras. To analyze the perception by society of the dominant functions through which submission to leaders was manifested in the old days. To update the reason for the transformation of the phenomenon of authority in modern times. To identify the inextricable connection between society and the emergence of the phenomenon of authority.Methodology. The final conclusions of the article are based on the principles of, first, philosophical, general scientific, and then interdisciplinary approach. The materials of the article are examined through comparative analysis from the prism of perception of the interpretation of the phenomenon of authority in philosophy, politics, religious studies, as well as authors of antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the present day.Results. Factors have been identified that indicate a continuous connection between society and the emergence of the phenomenon of authority, and the danger of deprivation of this phenomenon through the digital world and Internet communications. Using reliable sources, the risks of global problems in modern society are identified, when public trust, recognition, imitation and the authority phenomenon itself are focused not on a living carrier of information as an expert in the field of study or a confirmed specialist, but rather on digital virtual personalities , artificial voice assistants, artificial intelligence, which places the entire social practice into the Internet space which might create humanitarian risks of historically shaped human values and life goal priorities.Research implications. The article describes the features of the development of the phenomenon of authority, its perception by society of different times, and the transformation of the object of the phenomenon with the coming of any new era. The necessity of living social communication in society is proven as the basis for human development and humanitarian value in society. Attention is also focused on the loss of the values, historically established throughout centuries, that are the basis for development and progress of humanity.