The Transformation of Rationalism in the Digital Society: A Sociological Reinterpretation of Human Reason, Algorithmic Mediation, and Technological Rationality

This study investigates the transformation of rationalism in the context of the contemporary digital society, where human reason is increasingly intertwined with algorithmic systems and data-driven decision processes.Rationality, historically grounded in Enlightenment ideals of logic, coherence, and autonomy, now operates within a networked environment dominated by artificial intelligence, big data, and automated information flows.Drawing on the sociological perspectives of Dobrinskaya (2020), Spahn (2020), Priadi and Thariq (2023), and Popkova (2020), this paper examines how digital rationality reconfigures human agency and redefines communicative interaction.It argues that rationality in the digital age no longer functions as a purely cognitive act of individuals but is increasingly mediated through algorithms that filter, predict, and optimize human choices.Consequently, rationality becomes a hybrid formation-part human, part computational-shaped by technological infrastructures and the capitalist logic embedded in digital platforms.The study analyzes how algorithmic decision-making, automation, and digital communication environments challenge the foundations of sociological rationality by transforming deliberation, ethics, and public discourse.It further identifies the dual effects of digital rationality: while it enhances efficiency and access to information, it simultaneously risks producing algorithmic bias, echo chambers, and a reduction of critical judgment.The findings suggest that the new rationalism emerging from digital society embodies both emancipation and controlempowering individuals with technological agency while subtly subordinating them to algorithmic logic.The paper concludes that the sociological understanding of rationality must evolve toward a post-human framework that integrates human values, ethics, and algorithmic governance.