©2023 Published by LUMEN Publishing. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience ISSN: 2068-0473 | e-ISSN: 2067-3957 Covered in: Web of Science (WOS); PubMed.gov; IndexCopernicus; The Linguist List; Google Academic; Ulrichs; getCITED; Genamics JournalSeek; J-Gate; SHERPA/RoMEO; Dayang Journal System; Public Knowledge Project; BIUM; NewJour; ArticleReach Direct; Link+; CSB; CiteSeerX; Socolar; KVK; WorldCat; CrossRef; Ideas RePeC; Econpapers; Socionet. 2023, Volume 14, Issue 1, pages: 628-646 | https://doi.org/10.18662/brain/14.1/438 Submitted: November 23rd, 2022 | Accepted for publication: February 28th, 2023 The Impact of Decentralization on the Development of Civil Society in the Context of the Philosophy of Reason Volodymyr ZABLOTSKYI1, Nadiia BABARYKINA2, Tetiana SYCH3, Olga PTAKHINA4, Yevhen IVANOV5, Nadiia VASYNOVA6 1 Doctor of Science in State Administration, Professor of the Department of Civil Service and Management of Educational and Social Institutions, State Institution ,,Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University'', Starobilsk, Ukraine, zablotskiivv@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1032-8993 2 Candidate of Political Science, Associate Professor of the Department of General Legal and Political Sciences, National University «Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic», Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, aidcrash@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6167-3693 3 Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Public Service and Management of Educational and Social Institutions, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, Poltava, Ukraine, tatynasych@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0230-3374 4 Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Public Service and Management of Educational and Social Institutions, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, Poltava, Ukraine, olga.pth@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9672-4593 5 Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Public Service and Management of Educational and Social Institutions, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, Poltava, Ukraine, yugene35@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6511-2474 Abstract: The authors have attempted a philosophical essay to comprehend the phenomenon of statehood, society, decentralization and culture in the context of the philosophy of mind and (partially) the neuroscientific paradigm. The authors used a number of theoretical methods: from historical analysis and reconstruction of the phenomenon of philosophy of mind and establishing the role of human subjectivity and "selfhood" in sociopolitical processes, to philosophical reflection and essayistic parascientific author interpretations. The main result is a new view of decentralization in the context of postmodernist consciousness, where the background (postmodern) and sociopolitical result (decentralization) are the synergistic result of human social networks' realization of neurocognitive natural ability to parallel coexistence of personal and social. As a result, the virtual and material manifestations of the globalized informatized post-industrial society, which has received postmodernist experience, have conditioned total decentralization. At the same time, politically administrative is only a partial manifestation of it, while civil society seeks to diversify its needs and ways of solving them as much as possible. The international significance of the article lies in its universality: it complementarily analyzes the neuroscientific, cultural-mystetic, philosophical, social, and political dimensions of a civil postmodern society that seeks maximum decentralization of all superstructures and maximum delegation of managerial functions to its members and groups. Keywords: neurosociology; mind-body-sense interaction; vertical and horizontal decentralization; correlation of neurocognitive capacity; postmodernity and decentralization; cognitive and behavioral divergence of postmodernity. How to cite: Zablotskyi, V., Babarykina, N., Sych, T., Ptakhina, O., Ivanov, Y., & Vasynova, N. (2023). The Impact of Decentralization on the Development of Civil Society in the Context of the Philosophy of Reason. BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, 14(4), 628-646. https://doi.org/10.18662/brain/14.1/438 https://doi.org/10.18662/brain/14.1/438 mailto:zablotskiivv@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1032-8993 mailto:aidcrash@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6167-3693 mailto:tatynasych@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0230-3374 mailto:olga.pth@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9672-4593 mailto:yugene35@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6511-2474 https://doi.org/10.18662/brain/14.1/438 6 Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Public Service and Management of Educational and Social Institutions, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, Poltava, Ukraine, ned1235@ukr.net, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7019-0247 mailto:ned1235@ukr.net https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7019-0247 Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience March 2023 Volume 14, Issue 1 630 Introduction Now the neurocognitive sciences have reached such a level that phenomena of the social, attitudinal, and sociopolitical spectrum, which were considered fully complete in the classical descriptive-analytical interpretation, we can reconsider in a new way from the perspective of the cognitive-behavioral approach from the position of philosophy of mind. Philosophy of mind, broadly understood, is a sphere of social consciousness that studies itself: cognition, thinking, activity in the context of interaction with cognitive-behavioral patterns. They manifest themselves at the highest level of human practice, its bodily component and mental reflection (Sellars, Rorty, & Brandom, 1997). It can be said that it is precisely the reflection by the higher nervous activity of its partial but key intensions of how we perceive the world, understand it, and how we interact with it. In this article, therefore, we will explore the social phenomenon of postmodern decentralization in the context of notions of free will, intention, activity, and mind-body interaction. Obviously, we will need to apply interdisciplinary methods and theories, including studies of social psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience in general. Relevance of the article We were interested in the processes of state decentralization, which in the Ukrainian context have acquired extremely surprising socio-mass behavioral and value-cognitive metamorphoses. We decided to press the positive assumption that behavioral and cognitive mechanisms of self- attraction to participation in redistribution of material and spiritual resources played the leading role in this phenomenon, neuroscientific rudiments of which we found in the works of E. Coleman (2014). First, let us return to the object of the study. More than 20 years ago, the idea of decentralization of power in Ukraine was first proposed, which was not supported at the time. From the moment the idea of decentralization was announced, political speculations, counter-propaganda, accusations of separatism and humiliation of the topic of decentralization began to occur, which led to devaluation of the very idea of decentralization of power in Ukraine. The combination of these factors certainly affected the subjective consciousness and social behavior of citizens and, as a consequence, led to the non-acceptance of the decentralization reform. However, since 2014 (with the beginning of the war with Russia) there has been an expressive mass-social neuroplasticity in the Ukrainian The Impact of Decentralization on the Development of Civil Society in the ... Volodymyr ZABLOTSKYI, et al. 631 society: there is a frantic growth of democratic tendencies, comprehension of postmodernist experience and, as a result, new reflections on decentralization both state and political, and social and cultural process amid globalization tendencies. The current historical and cultural epoch is characterized by total informatization, post-industrialism, frontier and seemingly final ways of cultural and artistic exploration of the world, to which the human mind responds with new modulations of social self-image. This means that the conscious subjects of the young state suddenly find themselves in the context of post-modernity, post-culture, and post-truth, but their welcome adaptability has allowed them to redistribute resourcefulness and modulate subjective realization in horizontal planes. Therefore, in this article we will focus on postmodernism as a way of thinking and social practice that has expanded far beyond culture and defines economic, political, social and other kinds of consciousness and picture of the world. We were prompted to this essayistic reflection by an absentee discussion, primarily in the pages of the native scientific discourse. We examined the native Ukrainian-language content of scholarly works on postmodernism in society and saw that it expands into neurophilosophical discourse, but does not fulfill it. Thus, Ukrainians look for the causes of socially significant behavior in the fields of mass, social communication, and gender (Chornodon, Verbytska, Haladzhun, Ivanytska, & Mudrokha, 2021); problems of identity, modes of human genius and anthropology in a broad sense (Nerubasska, Maksymchuk, 2020); critical postmodernist approaches in science and metacognition are realized (Kiryachok, & Melnyk, 2019). The article by D. Shevchuk on interdisciplinary postmodern dimensions of political philosophy seemed to us the most relevant in our academic space, Shevchuk (2011). However, the Ukrainian discourse lacks systematic works on decentralization, which is induced "from below" as a result of the synergistic network interaction of the human brain and neurosocial laws of horizontalization and localization of society. Purpose of the article These considerations inspired us to write an article in which we would trace the roots of decentralization in the depths of historical and synchronic philosophy of mind and outline as much as possible the correlation "mind-postmodernism-decentralization" on the basis of authoritative works and our own reflections. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience March 2023 Volume 14, Issue 1 632 The methods used in the article We employed methods relevant to neurosocial, sociocultural, and political-historical research, namely, the method of historical-cultural and historiosophic reconstruction and the determinant method (establishing causal relations between social and neurocognitive phenomena). The method of reflection, neuroscientific extrapolation of social phenomena, and essayistic generalization allowed us to cement and holistically generalize relatively heteromorphic phenomena of civil society. The international relevance of the article Many well-known scientists in Europe and beyond try to explain the decentralization of the postmodern era by an explosion of possibilities for identities on different levels (from personal to national), leading to federalization, Marchildon G. (2016). Other scholars see European "political postmodernism" as the only and newest phenomenon so far (Anderson, J. & Goodman, J. (1995), but they do not address the historical roots of decentralization in a broad sense. Our article has international relevance because it continues the scholarly trend of integrating different aspects of decentralization into a single synergistic process. It explores a unified picture of decentralization, well described in terms of individual aspects: ecology and environmental management, Zhang Li (2022); racial and demographic policies (Felix, & Trinidad, 2020), and the organization of educational space (Raimundo, & Rosário, 2021). We also continued to form and verify an integrative model of decentralization according to the Ukrainian national model, which complements the range of nuances and varieties of regional forms of decentralization, well described on the material of Asian countries (Wu, Hao, & Ren, 2020) and European countries in certain areas of public activity in different years (Rico, 1996; Andersson, Quigley, & Wilhelmson, 2004). We will try to take into account the experience of transitional democracies to expand the range of possible marginal decentralizing modalities in recent decades, which T. Talitha, T. Firman, and D. Hudalah (2020). Also note that the authors of the article have seen that there is a lack of research in the international scholarly space that combines a historical- typological approach and the synchronic determinants of decentralization as a total phenomenon of modernity in the context of postmodernist consciousness. The Impact of Decentralization on the Development of Civil Society in the ... Volodymyr ZABLOTSKYI, et al. 633 However, there is an increasing role of neuroscientific (neurosocial) practical and theoretical-philosophical research, which opens new perspectives for interpreting social-moral and political phenomena on the basis of patterns of personal and collective behavior, Meloni (2013). We adhere to the inductive way of applying neuroscience philosophy to the interpretation of decentralization phenomena, which we found among the thoughts of N. Verploegen (1978) (drawing analogies with cybernetic systems as correlates of human neurosystems in the practice of control and self-organization). However, there is a counter opinion among scientists that argues: the obstacles to social activity, equality and participation lie in neurobiological constraints on social behavior: sexual dominance, maternal instinct, primordial hierarchies, territorial and ecological constraints on personal activity. This sort of minimizes the neurocausal factors of social realization of subjectivity, Shkurko (2018). At the intersection of these relevant but controversial trends, the international relevance of our study is heightened. From classical philosophy of mind to neurosociology The historical relationship between the formation of human social and political subjectivity and the philosophy of mind is complex and developed in the context of rational philosophy. One key aspect of this connection can be traced back to the Enlightenment period of the eighteenth century, when thinkers began to question traditional assumptions about the nature of power, the influence of the individual on the environment, and the social and political nature of knowledge. E. Cassirer (1951), looking back on the experience of the classical Enlightenment, saw the phenomenon of doubt as a watershed step toward the understanding that concrete consciousness, corporeality and their syncretic activity were instruments of co-creation through personal participation. During the Enlightenment, new notions of the human mind and will emerged as immanent factors of autonomy and individual freedom. One of the greatest philosophers in this regard was Immanuel Kant, who argued that human beings have the capacity to reason and make decisions for themselves, and that this capacity is fundamental to their dignity and ability to practically realize natural and cultural values (Kant, Kehrbach, 1913). This idea has become a key part of the philosophical foundations of modern democratic theory, which regards individual autonomy as the cornerstone of a free and just society. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the connection between democratization and the philosophy of mind became even clearer as social movements for social and political reform began to Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience March 2023 Volume 14, Issue 1 634 rely on ideas about human consciousness and cognition rather than an extra- anthropological absolutization of power. Society began to realize that human diversity does not interfere with humanity's overall sociopolitical and cultural capacity, but rather the opposite. This is why mass civil rights movements of the socially and politically vulnerable have emerged since the mid-20th century. For example, we still have not overcome the obsessive but correct leadership about the equal moral and intellectual capacity of African Americans, who should have the same political and social rights as white Americans. This latest social philosophy of mind and body in the mid-20th century was heavily influenced by the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1986), who drew on his education in theology and philosophy to rationalize the inherent worth and dignity of human beings regardless of their race or ethnicity. In recent years, the connection between democratization and the philosophy of mind has continued to evolve thanks to new technologies that have created online forms of political participation and social interaction. For example, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have allowed people to organize and mobilize in ways that were not possible before, and have created new opportunities for dialogue and debate. At the same time, these platforms have also raised new questions about the nature of communication, identity and freedom in the digital age. Overall, the connection between democratization and the philosophy of mind is deep and multifaceted, reflecting the complex interplay between ideas and social change over time. As our understanding of the human mind continues to evolve, it is possible that this connection will continue to form the contours of democratic theory and practice in new and unexpected ways. Now let us look into the philosophy of mind of postmodernism. Postmodernism, as a rhizomatic set of "personal philosophies" of mind and body (reflection-performance), asserts that reality is a social construct, created through language, discourse, and power relations, rather than an objective independent entity. This rejection of objective reality has significant implications for philosophy of mind, since it challenges traditional views according to which consciousness and mental processes are based on objective physical reality. Postmodernism argues that the mind is shaped by cultural and social factors, and that our perceptions and experiences are influenced by the language and discourse that surrounds us. Thus, Richard Rorty, in his book Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (2009), argues that traditional philosophical approaches to reason were based on the assumption of objective reality, and that this assumption led to an erroneous search for objective, fundamental knowledge. Rorty argues that The Impact of Decentralization on the Development of Civil Society in the ... Volodymyr ZABLOTSKYI, et al. 635 postmodernism offers an alternative approach to philosophy of mind, emphasizing the importance of language and discourse in forming our understanding of mind. According to Rorty, speech and discourse are key factors in shaping our perception of the world, including ideas about our own mental state. Jean-François Lyotard made a significant contribution to objectifying the connection between postmodernism and philosophy of mind. In his book Postmodern Conditions (1979), he argues that the postmodern rejection of objective reality has important implications for the way we think about the mind. According to Lyotard, the mind is not a fixed, stable entity, but rather a constantly changing, contingent phenomenon formed by social and cultural factors. These humanitarian advances, combined with advances in neurobiology, have become predictors for neurosocial research, so we will briefly examine them. The neurobiological reason for the democratic movements of the 20th century has now become apparent. For example, the women's suffrage movement was already based on ideas of women's rationality and free will, whose behavior and consciousness were really not determined by total maternal instinct alone, Pitts-Taylor (2015). The basic idea was that women should have the same political rights as men, so that social reflection and subjectivity are determined not by differential but by shared natural energies. Scholars search for the ideological origins of decentralization in the philosophy of mind based on humanity's attempt to find a balance of "head, heart, and hands," Verploegen (1978). The divergence of mind, feelings and actions (behavior) seems to have entailed the destruction of the relationship between humans, the natural and technological environment, so that neuroethics, ecology and sustainability have now become basic for further human evolution. Scientists are now convinced: neurosociology, in particular the role of neurocognitive and behavioral mechanisms of social activity, is based on neurophysiological structures that feed and regulate social emotionally colored information. Social, political, and cultural commitment are shaped on a conditionally reflexive principle: individuals avoid uncertainty and anxiety and modulate modes of social commitment, satisfaction, and structure (Vrtička, & Vuilleumier, 2012). Consequently, the connection between brain activity and social commitment becomes apparent. And the reverse is also true: sociocultural activity also affects the brain, forming new neural connections based on neurosensitivity and neuroplasticity. Sociocultural activity and neuromodulation occurs through a variety of tools, from signs and meanings to systemic adherence to values and holistic Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience March 2023 Volume 14, Issue 1 636 behavior in pursuit of collective goals. Therefore, agree with the bold general proposition: Historically and globally, human cultures play a leading role in the reorganization and restructuring of bodily sensations into symbolically and linguistically specific feelings and emotions, Burkitt (2019, p. 5). Research on mirror neurons in primates demonstrates that social creatures satisfy a higher cognitive instinct if in social opposition and self- Other communication they engage in mutual observation and learn to adapt to constantly new social conditions, the most plastic in the living world (Barresi, & Moore, 2008). Similarly, an article by L. Schilbach and colleagues, "The Brain Basis of Human Social Interaction" (2012), argues for an objectification of the neural basis of human social interaction. The authors argue that social interaction is a fundamental aspect of human behavior and that understanding the brain basis of social interaction is essential to understanding social behavior and its disorders. The study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) to examine participants' neural activity during various social tasks. The study also revealed that neural activity in these regions was modulated by different factors, such as the type of social task, social context, and personality traits of the individual. Thus, we came close to advances in neurophysiology, which already hardware shows: the right somatosensory cortex, left frontal fate, and anterior cingulate cortex are directly involved in acts of social self-regulation, volitional acts, leadership, and social emotional reactions, Adolphs (2003). These and other empirical findings bring sociology closer to the neurosciences and become the natural basis for a neurosociology that promises a new collaboration between biologists, sociologists and philosophers. Looking for correlations between intelligence, decentralization, and the development of postmodern society Before our own reflections, generalizations, and conclusions, let us turn our attention to the views of recent scholars who have rationalized the role of the "separate mind" and the subject in the decentralizing processes of the postmodern. In particular, to understand the role of decentralization in postmodernism (or vice versa), it is important to recall some personal socially oriented theories. For example, post-Fordism implies a rejection of the hierarchical conveyor belt in the production of both products and goods, and small-scale, cluster-based creation is considered the basis of the postmodern socio-economic system. Scholars call such convergence "fragmented post-Fordism," Albertsen (1988, p. 339). Interestingly, post- The Impact of Decentralization on the Development of Civil Society in the ... Volodymyr ZABLOTSKYI, et al. 637 Fordists are not concerned with why industrialism and hierarchies have lost their credibility in the social economy: they focus on local alliances that are self-sufficient and systemic in the larger alliance of globalism. The basis of this understanding is the democratic and neoliberal openness of contingent centers to peripheral and even marginal sense- and social-forming connections. Among the author's concepts it is necessary to mention the phenomenon of neotribalism, which in postmodernism was formed on the basis of the concept of tribalism - anti-colonial theory with elements of ethnic anarchism and cultural and domestic isolation. This term was first used by M. Maffesoli when he sensed that postmodernist longing and uncertainty would direct people to search for existential and organizational aspects of life in the primary patrimonial inheritance: instead of connections of mass and administrative controllability, tribal and clan networks. Consequently, society as a microgroup in its context can only be seen as an association of microgroups, Maffesoli (1996), and the network of subjects associated with irrational values undoubtedly stimulates them to produce material, corporeal, and activity-based self-organizations. Neotraibalism, as well as postmodern decentralization, we propose to consider on several levels (from the state to the individual and the domestic). However, the very essence of neotraibalism in relation to postmodernism is interesting in the opposition between individuality (postmodernism) and personhood (neotraibalism). Personality can be either an individual or move to a higher, microgroup level of self-identity (Afonin, & Plyushch, 2017). Consequently, if we project neotribalism on decentralization, we can recognize it as a destructive and reductive form of decentralization. However, this concept and this phenomenon has not so much a decentralizing potential as an interpretative one, capable of filling in "stratification gaps" and having a place in the conceptual paradigm of postmodernity. We have also drawn attention to decentralization not as a sociopolitical phenomenon, but as an element of postmodern artistic discourse. M. Mojaveri Agah, M. Alyari, and H. Shairi believes that the dichotomy of global and local in postmodern discourse always generates a movement toward any decentralization (Mojaveri Agah, Alyari, & Shairi, 2019). One can speak of the decentralization of discourses, narratives, and texts in general as a strategy of postmodern creation, or one can speak of the decentralization of individuals with their intention to interact rather than self-concentrate. Among the tools of this centrifugal movement the authors include double orientation and multiple orientations, narrative structures, dynamic imagination, temporal and spatial expansion, which lead to interactions in current Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience March 2023 Volume 14, Issue 1 638 postmodern discourse and pave the way for philosophical questions and research (Mojaveri Agah, Alyari, & Shairi, 2019, р. 213). The most general conclusion is this: the decentralization of individualities leads to postmodern communication with other individualities on one of the aspects relevant at the time, the intertwining (rather, contact) of individual rhizomatic ramifications for instant communication and the generation of new meaning. Finally, we must talk about the specifics of decentralization of the postmodern information society in the pandemic and already post-pandemic era. The specificity of the course of the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn even more attention to the region as a separate social and global unit. At this time, regionalism reaches its apogee. Decentralization as a political- philosophical category includes a) the growing importance of regional constructivist models (the construction of space, interactions and effective alliances); b) the intensification of traditional models of cooperation at lower association levels (the evolution of locales); c) global attention to the regions; d) the interaction of close associations (neighboring states, regions, ethnic groups). Some of the authors of our article and their colleagues have already written about this and noted that world regionalism is characterized by both convergent and divergent properties: it is much easier for us to explain decentralization within post-industrial Europe than outside of it (Prymakova, Shulga, Manuilova, Novoselskyi, & Hololobov, 2021). We will now reflect more autonomously. To understand the administrative and political impact of postmodernism as maximizing the possibilities for an individualistic philosophy of mind, we should consider it not as an artistic and cultural phenomenon, but as a transversal anthropological paradigm. It has not seriously touched only the exact sciences with their absolutely structural-logical basis. Expressive proof of the influence of postmodernism on the material, urban and spatial sphere is postmodern architecture and postmodernists' criticism of such convenient and understandable architectural forms of modernism. P. Galison even dared to call the Empire State Building "the dead point of New York," Galison P. (2001), which could only stand for half a century. D. Harvey even drew arguable parallels between modernist urban design/architecture and the rapid development of parallel self-management relationships in large cities, which led to the decline of external management and the rise to the forefront of self-organization of small and medium-sized enterprises, Harvey D. (1989, р. 4). Let us first turn our attention to decentralization in the political sense. The current level of political activity and the concentration of citizens on direct political participation indicates a gradual shift toward an activist The Impact of Decentralization on the Development of Civil Society in the ... Volodymyr ZABLOTSKYI, et al. 639 culture based on post-material values. And at the same time, the analysis of statistics shows a decrease in the level of trust in the authorities. Currently there is a complex system of mutual influence of political culture and the process of self-organization of civil society, civil society remains the strongest element of the democratic transition of present-day Ukraine, which has a powerful self-organizing potential. The democratization of territorial development management processes also implies broad involvement of the public, public organizations in cooperation with local governments and representatives of state power in solving local development issues. Decentralization of governance opens up a wide space for local governments to take initiatives in implementing strategic objectives for community development. Decentralization of power is a basic condition for establishing effective dialogue between the community and the district, the district and the region, and the region and the state. The introduction of participatory mechanisms in the community will contribute to the self-organization of the community in order to streamline its own life and development, unite around the desire to solve common problems. As a result, through the formation of a common position of citizens on important issues, the influence of the community on the local council will be strengthened. Thus clear and transparent procedure of realization of rights of citizens on participation in management of society allows to regulate relations of power and community and is an effective way of selection of initiatives. To be implemented, the proposal or initiative must be substantive and useful to society. Otherwise, it will be impossible to fulfill all the requirements of a properly prescribed procedure, and especially to obtain the support of fellow citizens. And the most important thing is the effect of residents' involvement in community affairs, which is a direct result of the introduction and use of mechanisms of citizens' involvement in community management. Participation in the affairs of the community allows people to soberly assess the problems, to better understand them, to see the objective difficulties and obstacles faced by the government. The projection of the contradictions of postmodern society onto the binary nature of the human brain, which is equally naturally and permanently oriented both to itself (autonomy) and to other subjects (networking) allowed us to classify social phenomena according to the dichotomy principle (Table 1). Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience March 2023 Volume 14, Issue 1 640 Table 1: The cognitive and behavioral divergence of postmodernism and its implications Postmodernism of the first type (signs) Postmodernism of the second type (signs) Loyalty Cultural explosion directed inward Denial of avant-gardism New social hierarchies Emergence of a new middle class Consumerism Individualism Ornamentalism and historical reconstruction Opposition Cultural explosion directed outward Pragmatism, use of reality Subjective openness and polymodality Diversification of the middle class Decentralization of social actors Communities Urban poly-structuring on the model of "medieval labyrinths" Source: The table was compiled by the authors after analyzing S. Lash's monograph, Lash (2014). Thus, S. Lash, in our opinion, has most fully described the social and cultural dimensions of postmodernism according to the dichotomous principle. In our opinion, he bypassed only virtual information structures, which play a huge role in social communication and political decentralization. They can be classified as postmodern manifestations of the "second type". We would like to mention the activation of postmodernist narratives produced by the concepts Man-World, City-World, Structure-World. Here, on the one hand, we see the universal rhizomatic regularity of J. Deleuze (1980) and, on the other hand, the deeply historical and semi-mythological concept of Hermes Trismegisto about the principal repetition of large structures and systems in small ones, Trismegisto (2021). Let's dwell on this global historical parallel in more detail. On the one hand, H. Trismegisto's (2021) concept is docent: it shows that the micro is a hologram of the macro, and the structural elements are capable of carrying information about the system. However, such a concept lends itself well to the decentralist principles of postmodernity, where horizontally dispersed carriers of discourses and meanings are able to touch the main thing, to reproduce it if necessary. The absence of hierarchy in, for example, J. Deleuze and dispersion of small structures from the center can be extrapolated to the peculiar microsemantics and microsystematics of Trismegisto. Thus, we can assume: to a certain extent the evolution of monadic decentralization is inherently natural. The Impact of Decentralization on the Development of Civil Society in the ... Volodymyr ZABLOTSKYI, et al. 641 We come to an important conclusion, or rather observation: postmodernism is a kind of "hodgepodge" of historical attempts and manifestations of individualism, locality, and segmented civil society, so it sometimes seems that decentralization is primary relative to postmodern consciousness. To illustrate the determinant links between forms of decentralization (on the one hand) and the neurosocial attributes of a civil postmodern "society of reason" (on the other hand), we have compiled a corresponding table. (Table 2). Table 2: Correlations between the experience of decentralization and signs of a postmodern society Binary correlations Postmodernism Decentralization Interdiscursivity Play Irony Horizontality of connections Individualism World as text (connectedness) Narrativity "Death of author/work." Polycentrism Context "Flowing," impermanence Disappointment in values Demythologization Tolerance Interaction, networking Social activism Rejection of institutions and dogmas Social self-organization Subjectivity Society as a network Political/societal ideas Deinstitutionalization Decentralization proper Environment Mobility Distrust of social dogmas Loss of statist ideals, cults Equality Source: The table was compiled independently by the authors of the article based on the analysis On the other hand, we see that there is a dilemma: society, socium, administrative structure, etc., even in conditions of maximum decentralization, assume a stable community, sustainability, structuredness, and therefore resist the anti-hierarchy and full horizontal organization of postmodernism. If a member of postmodern society tries to be as individualized as possible in his dynamic intension and set of values, meanings and actions, and communications, then it should be recognized that the individual seems to "go" to society and culture when he needs to. We should note the instability of social ties and relations, except for natural (family), temporary (education) or one-time (participation in elections). So, centralization is not so much a new minimalist type of structure as it is a Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience March 2023 Volume 14, Issue 1 642 flexible state of society and politics at the minimal level of each personal mind. We conclude that there are multidimensional manifestations of decentralization in the era of postmodernism, realized in real (administrative decentralization, personal involvement and participation, freedom) and virtual (social networks, art, interdiscursiveness) dimensions. These manifestations require a new, or at least a working and broader definition of decentralization. We have come to believe that political-administrative decentralization is a partial manifestation of global restratification in solving social problems, which is horizontal in nature, covers all spheres, and reaches the lowest level of clustering - the individual, his cognitive and motor activity. Conclusions An analysis of the relevant literature of recent decades has shown that there are both generally accepted and alternative theories of decentralization and its determinant links with postmodernism. We would also like to note the depth and conceptuality of the works of P. Galisson (2001), M. Maffesoli (1995), J. Anderson (1995; 1996), who have interpreted well the social role of postmodernism as a major resource of the "war against the center" (P. Galisson's term (Galisson, 2001). Thus, since the late 1980s neuroscience has reached such an even greater flowering that along with computer systems it has become possible to simulate the neural networks of the human brain. social networks. We present the main results of the article below. We have formulated a new view of decentralization and theoretically, based on a polymodal analysis of the phenomenon of postmodernism (method) and human mind (tool), proved: socio-political and administrative decentralization is a partial manifestation of postmodernism, or more correctly, a manifestation and result of postmodernist mass. It should also be noted that the Internet and online communication have become living instruments of decentralization and self-organization, because they have a direct correlation with neural networks. They have replaced institutional connections that have traditionally been bureaucratic and offline. We have also once again proved that postmodernism is not only a qualitatively new state of culture and society, but (as a consequence) also of the political, economic and social spheres. The new scientific-theoretical progress in the field under study may conclude about the "flickering" or pulsating nature of individualistic and group beginnings in the organization of societal management. This also The Impact of Decentralization on the Development of Civil Society in the ... Volodymyr ZABLOTSKYI, et al. 643 correlates with the biorhythmological nature of the human brain and bodily activity. The whole history of culture, as well as of forms of government, is a peculiar alternation, or at least a "flickering" between the dominance of individualistic attempts and their group mimicry. For example, recall the underlying essence of the main cultural paradigms: Antiquity (individual) - Middle Ages (collective) - Renaissance (individual) - Baroque (collective), etc. And so up to modernity, where artists and figures, despite the rush to individuality, still clearly fit into general currents, groups, movements, parties, etc. Naturally, this reflexion is metaphysical and too philosophical to pretend to a clear classification and episteme. An important general-scientific result of our article is the proven thesis about the cumulative effect of individualistic, microgroup and other segmental manifestations of self-organization. We believe that with each epoch, paradigm, direction, sociocultural segmentation has increased, and the experience of acquiring identities and breaking with any organizing center has had a cumulative effect, which has led to total decentralization. It now permeates and is realized in all forms of social consciousness, as well as in social practice and state administration. Thus, we can now assert that there is not just some kind of maximum decentralization, but a restratification of society, where, first, the state plays a very small role, and second, we observe not a dispersion of administrative functions on the ground, but a kind of dichotomy and pragmatic synergy. locality and mobility. Mobility is most vividly observed in the activity of already individual actors. We can talk about a public policy of mobility, which state structures do not practically manage, but only stimulate (or do not stimulate) with resources. Acknowledgements Limitation of the study. The patterns described by the authors can be applied to specific regional models. Sociometric and experimental neurosociological studies of decentralization and its postmodern dimensions require special attention. Because the article is theoretical and sometimes philosophical, the authors had to integrate partial advances and reflections into one text. the AUTHOR 1, who studied domestic and foreign literature, collaborated closely with the AUTHOR 2 (conducting historical and comparative- historical analysis), with the AUTHOR 3, who extrapolated the traditional notion of decentralization and postmodernism to the neuroscientific plane. The AUTHOR 4 was engaged in expedient reconstruction, making parallels and correlations between different theories; the AUTHOR 5 modeled Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience March 2023 Volume 14, Issue 1 644 philosophy of mind as a determinant of decentralization in the context of the postmodern, while the AUTHOR 6 comprehensively argued the main theses at different levels of social being - neurosocial, political, philosophical, economic, etc. References Adolphs, R. (2003). Cognitive neuroscience of human social behaviour. Nat Rev Neurosci, 4, 165–178 https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1056 Afonin, E., & Plyushch, V. (2017). Neotraybalizm i suchasna polityka detsentralizatsiyi: analiz idey profesora Sorbonny Mishelya Maffesoli [Neotribalism and the present-day politics of decentralization: an analysis of the ideas of Sorbonne professor Michel Maffesoli]. Public Administration, 4(9), 34-47. http://journals.maup.com.ua/index.php/public- management/article/view/589 Albertsen, N. (1988). Postmodernism, post-Fordism, and critical social theory. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 6(3), 339-365. https://doi.org/10.1068/d060339 Anderson, J. (1996). The shifting stage of politics: new medieval and postmodern territorialities?. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 14(2), 133-153. https://doi.org/10.1068/d140133 Anderson, J., & Goodman, J. (1995). Regions, states and the European Union: modernist reaction or postmodern adaptation?. Review of International Political Economy, 2(4), 600-631. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692299508434335 Andersson, R., Quigley, J. M., & Wilhelmson, M. (2004). University decentralization as regional policy: the Swedish experiment. Journal of Economic Geography, 4(4), 371-388. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnlecg/lbh031 Barresi, J., & Moore, C. (2008). The neuroscience of social understanding. The shared mind: Perspectives on intersubjectivity, 39-66. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9e7c 0437c2c53e99884fa54370d1fa53e0042006 Burkitt, I. (2019). Emotions, social activity and neuroscience: The cultural-historical formation of emotion. New Ideas in Psychology, 54, 1-7. Cassirer, E. (1951). Philosophy of the enlightenment (Vol. 7). Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.11.001 Chornodon, M., Verbytska, K., Haladzhun, Z., Ivanytska, B., & Mudrokha, V. (2021). The Conceptual Framework of Postmodern Gender-Labelled Periodicals in Ukraine. Postmodern Openings, 12(1Sup1), 149-163. https://doi.org/10.18662/po/12.1Sup1/276 https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1056 http://journals.maup.com.ua/index.php/public-management/article/view/589 http://journals.maup.com.ua/index.php/public-management/article/view/589 https://doi.org/10.1068/d060339 https://doi.org/10.1068/d140133 https://doi.org/10.1080/09692299508434335 https://doi.org/10.1093/jnlecg/lbh031 https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9e7c0437c2c53e99884fa54370d1fa53e0042006 https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=9e7c0437c2c53e99884fa54370d1fa53e0042006 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.11.001 https://doi.org/10.18662/po/12.1Sup1/276 The Impact of Decentralization on the Development of Civil Society in the ... Volodymyr ZABLOTSKYI, et al. 645 Coleman, E. A. (2014). Behavioral determinants of citizen involvement: Evidence from natural resource decentralization policy. Public Administration Review, 74(5), 642-654. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12249 Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1980). A Thousand Plateaus. Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Trans Brian Massumi. USA, Minneapolis. Felix, E. R., & Trinidad, A. (2020). The decentralization of race: Tracing the dilution of racial equity in educational policy. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 33(4), 465-490. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1681538 Galison, P. (2001). War against the Center. Grey Room, 4, 6-33. http://www.placemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/galison-.- war_against_the_center.pdf Harvey, D. (1989). From managerialism to entrepreneurialism: the transformation in urban governance in late capitalism. Geografiska Annaler: series B, human geography, 71(1), 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.1989.11879583 Kant, I., & Kehrbach, K. (1913). Kritik der praktischen Vernunft (Vol. 4). Reclam. Kiryachok, M., & Melnyk, A. (2019). Naukovo-krytychnyy dyskurs ukrayinsʹkoho postmodernizmu [The scientific and critical discourse of Ukrainian postmodernism]. Perspectives of science and education, 371. http://dspace.wunu.edu.ua/bitstream/316497/35804/1/NEW_YORK_2 7092019.pdf#page=371 Lash, S. (2014). Sociology of postmodernism. Routledge.Maffesoli, M. (1995). The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society. SAGE. Lyotard, J. F. (1979). La condition postmoderne. Collection Critique Maffesoli, M. (1996). The Time of the Tribes. The Decline of Individualism in the Mass Society. M. – London: SAGE Publications; Thousand Oaks, New Delhi Marchildon, G. (2016). Postmodern federalism and sub-state nationalism. In The Ashgate research companion to federalism (pp. 459-474). Routledge. Meloni, M. (2013). On the growing intellectual authority of neuroscience for political and moral theory. In Vander Valk F. (ed.), Essays on Neuroscience and Political Theory: Thinking the Body Politic (pp. 25-49). Routledge. Mojaveri Agah, M., Alyari, M., & Shairi, H. (2019). The study of decentralization component in postmodern illustrative narrative work. Journal of Literary Criticism, 3(6), 213-185. DOI: 20.1001.1.25886495.1398.3.2.8.1 Nerubasska, A., & Maksymchuk, B. (2020). The Demarkation of Creativity, Talent and Genius in Humans: a Systemic Aspect. Postmodern Openings, 11(2), 240- 255. https://www.lumenpublishing.com/journals/index.php/po/article/view/ 2625 https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12249 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1681538 http://www.placemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/galison-.-war_against_the_center.pdf http://www.placemakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/galison-.-war_against_the_center.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.1989.11879583 http://dspace.wunu.edu.ua/bitstream/316497/35804/1/NEW_YORK_27092019.pdf#page=371 http://dspace.wunu.edu.ua/bitstream/316497/35804/1/NEW_YORK_27092019.pdf#page=371 https://www.lumenpublishing.com/journals/index.php/po/article/view/2625 https://www.lumenpublishing.com/journals/index.php/po/article/view/2625 Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience March 2023 Volume 14, Issue 1 646 Pitts-Taylor, V. (2015). A feminist carnal sociology?: Embodiment in sociology, feminism, and naturalized philosophy. Qualitative Sociology, 38, 19-25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-014-9298-4 Raimundo, R., & Rosário, A. (2021). Blockchain system in the higher education. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 11(1), 276- 293. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe11010021 Rorty, R. (2009). Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Princeton University Press. Schilbach, L., Eickhoff, S. B., Mojzisch, A., & Vogeley, K. (2008). What's in a smile? Neural correlates of facial embodiment during social interaction. Social neuroscience, 3(1), 37-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470910701563228 Sellars, W., Rorty, R., & Brandom, R. B. (1997). Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind (Vol. 1). Harvard University Press. King, M. L. (1986). I have a dream (p. 860). MPI Home Video. Shevchuk, D. (2011). Postmoderni vymiry politychnoyi filosofiyi. Filosofiya. Pedahohika. Suspilʹstvo [Postmodern dimensions of political philosophy. Philosophy. Pedagogy. Society.] Collection of scientific works of Rivne State University for the Humanities, 1, 76-89. http://eprints.oa.edu.ua/id/eprint/3748 Shkurko, Y. S. (2018). Development of Evolutionary Neurosociology: Behavioral Biograms and Biological Predisposition to Social Inequality. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya, (9), 23-29. 10.31857/S013216250001955-3 Trismegisto, H. (2021). Corpus hermeticum. EDAF. Verploegen, N. (1978). "... A Balance of Head, Heart, and Hand": The Philosophy of Decentralization in the Works of Ivan Illich, EF Schumacher, and John Todd (Doctoral dissertation). https://scholars.carroll.edu/handle/20.500.12647/3746 Vrtička, P., & Vuilleumier, P. (2012). Neuroscience of human social interactions and adult attachment style. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 6, 212. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00212 Zhang, W., & Li, G. (2022). Environmental decentralization, environmental protection investment, and green technology innovation. Environ Sci Pollut Res, 29, 12740–12755. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09849-z https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-014-9298-4 https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe11010021 https://doi.org/10.1080/17470910701563228 http://eprints.oa.edu.ua/id/eprint/3748 https://scholars.carroll.edu/handle/20.500.12647/3746 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00212 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09849-z