Discrediting the subject in the digital age: an experience of conceptualization

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore the discrediting influence on individuals and conceptualize the notion of "discreditation". The author argues that discreditation is a primary phenomenon preceding discrimination and is particularly relevant in terms of the development of Deepfake technologies. The article examines the genealogy of the concept of discreditation, its emergence theological and economic conditions, as well as the psychoanalytic and philosophical teachings of J. Lacan and L. Althusser on interpellation and discourses. The author shows that desacralized discreditation precedes discrimination and is subject to paradoxes. The conclusion is drawn that a subject, increasingly vulnerable to discreditation, needs strategies for possible and subsequent accreditation.