authors: Valentyna Voronkova, Olga Kyvliuk, Vìtalina Nikitenko
Abstract.
Relevance of the research. The relevance of this study lies in the necessity to rethink the role of law and ethics in ensuring sustainable development under conditions of ecological crisis, technogenic pressure, and spiritual degradation. It emphasizes the integration of scientific, ethical, and legal knowledge within the philosophy of the noosphere—the highest form of human interaction with the biosphere. This approach involves the formation of a new legal and ethical consciousness based on harmony, responsibility, complicity, and coexistence, as well as the development of new legal paradigms that consider not only human rights but also the rights of nature, the planet, and future generations.
Problem statement. In the 21st century, humanity faces unprecedented global challenges: ecological disasters, moral crises, technological transformations, and the growing gap between scientific progress and spiritual values. Traditional approaches to ethics and law are increasingly inadequate for addressing problems that affect not only humanity but also the biosphere as a whole. Existing legal systems, which are largely anthropocentric, remain unprepared for the demands of global environmental responsibility, cybernetics, bioethics, and digital justice. The key issue is that the modern legal and ethical paradigm does not fully account for the integrity of existence, the interdependence of all forms of life, and the necessity of long-term evolutionary harmony between humans, nature, and the technosphere. At the same time, contemporary scholarship insufficiently explores noospheric law and ethics as independent phenomena of legal culture and global ethical consciousness. There are no systematic approaches to their conceptual definition, interconnection, institutionalization in human rights practices, or practical implementation. Consequently, there is a pressing need to develop a new philosophical and legal model that combines the ethics of responsibility, environmental awareness, and the values of sustainable development within a noospheric worldview.
Analysis of recent research and publications. In this context, it is relevant to turn to the concepts of noospheric law and noospheric ethics. Based on V. Vernadsky’s ideas about the noosphere as the sphere of reason and conscious human activity, these concepts allow for a rethinking of the moral and legal foundations of human interaction with the world. In contemporary Ukrainian philosophical and legal thought, these issues are elaborated by V. Andrushchenko, R. Andryukaytene, O. Voznyuk, V. Voronkova, N. Verlos, H. Hubenko, O. Kyviuk, V. Nikitenko, B. Chuprynsʹkyy, who emphasize the significance of the spiritual and moral factor in the value system of modern civilization and highlight the necessity of renewing legal culture through the integration of noospheric values into human rights practices. A fundamental theoretical and methodological basis is provided by Vernadsky’s understanding of the noosphere as a sphere of morality, reason, and justice, where knowledge, information, and intellect play a decisive role in planetary development.
Research task. This study aims to conceptualize noospheric ethics and law as a new humanistic and ecological paradigm for human rights protection and for the formation of a legal culture responsive to the challenges of globalization, digitalization, and ecological crisis. The objectives are as follows: to analyze noospheric ethics and law as a humanistic paradigm of human rights activity; to identify an integral model of law as a factor of sustainable development, cultural evolution, and the preservation of civilizational balance in a globalized world; to investigate noospheric advocacy as an expression of humanism, ecological responsibility, and social justice.
Main material presentation. The role of noospheric ethics as a source of humanistic value orientation in law is examined, with emphasis on the interrelation of human rights, environmental responsibility, and global solidarity. The article explores the concept of noospheric law and ethics as an innovative paradigm capable of transforming contemporary human rights activity and legal culture. This paradigm is grounded in Vernadsky’s vision of the noosphere as a sphere of reason, where knowledge, moral values, and spiritual responsibility foster a new civilizational consciousness.
Conclusions. The study theoretically substantiates the need to move beyond a technocratic and formal-legal approach toward an ethical-value-based and integral vision of law as a tool for harmonizing relations among humans, society, nature, and the technological environment.
Keywords: noospheric ethics, noospheric law, legal ethics, human rights protection, human rights advocacy, protection of human rights and freedoms.
References:
- Vernadskyi, VI 2011, ‘Vybrani naukovi pratsi akademika V. I. Vernadskoho (Selected Science Works Academician VI Vernadsky)’, T. 1: Volodymyr Ivanovych Vernadskyi i Ukraina, Kn. 2: Vybrani pratsi. Red. Zahorodnii, AH ta in., Kyiv : Drukarnia NBUV.
- Verlos, N. 2020, ‘Konstytutsionalizatsiya tsyfrovykh prav lyudyny: vitchyznyana praktyka ta zarubizhnyy dosvid (Constitutionalization of Digital Human Rights: Domestic Practice and Foreign Experience)’, Zhurnal Kyyivsʹkoho Universytetu Prava, (2), 129-133. https://doi.org/10.36695/2219-5521.2.2020.21.
- Vozniuk, OV 2023, ‘Fenomenolohichni instrumenty vzaiemodii liudyny z noosferoiu ta yii riznobichni implikatsii (Phenomenological Instruments of Human Interaction with the Noosphere and its Versatile Implications)’, u kn. Noosfera Vernadskoho, suchasna osvita i nauka: pid chas vyprobuvan i nadali. Kolektyvna monohrafiia do 160-richchia vid dnia narodzhennia V.Vernadskoho; za zah red. Samodrina, AP, T. 3, Kyiv-Kremenchuk: Vyd-vo “NOVABUK”, s. 274–345.
- Voronkova, V, Kyvliuk, O & Andriukaitene, R 2023, ‘Evoliutsiia vid aktyvnoho vidpovidalnoho hromadianstva do tsyfrovoho v konteksti krytychnoho myslennia: dosvid krain YeS (Evolution from Active Responsible Citizenship to Digital in the Context of Critical Thinking: the Experience of EU Countries)’, Humanities studies: Collection of Scientific Papers, 14(91), s. 23–34.
- Voronkova, VH, Kyvliuk, OP & Andriukaitene, R 2017, ‘Kontseptualizatsiia modeli noosfernoho rozvytku suchasnoho sotsiumu ta osvity informatsiinoho suspilstva (Conceptualization of the Model of Noospheric Development of Modern Society and Education of the Information Society)’, Humanitarnyi visnyk Zaporizkoi derzhavnoi inzhenernoi akademii: zbirnyk naukovykh prats, (68), s. 33-48.
- Voronkova, V & Nikitenko, V 2023, ‘Problema transformatsii liudyny u konteksti transhumanizmu: metodolohiia tsyfrovoi antropolohii (The Problem of Human Transformation in the Context of Transhumanism: Methodology of Digital Anthropology)’, Humanities studies: Collection of Scientific Papers, 16(93), s. 9-17. Dostupno: <https://doi.org/10.32782/hst-2023-16-93-0>. [2 Traven 2025].
- Hubenko, H 2014, ‘Suchasna moralna kryza tsyvilizatsii, rol bioetyky ta nauk noosfernoho klasu v yii vyrishenni (The Modern Moral Crisis of Civilization, the Role of Bioethics and Sciences of the Noospheric Class in its Solution)’, Naukovi zapysky Natsionalnoho universytetu “Ostrozka akademiia”. Seriia “Filosofiia”, (16), s. 122-127.
- Yonas, H 2001, ‘Pryntsyp vidpovidalʹnosti. U poshukakh etyky dlya tekhnolohichnoyi tsyvilizatsiyi’. Pereklad z nimetsʹkoyi. K.: Libra, 400 s.
- Kyvliuk, OP, Voronkova, VH & Nikitenko, VO 2023, ‘Tsyfrovi prava liudyny yak vyrazhennia tsyfrovykh atrybutiv: sotsialno-filosofske obgruntuvannia (Digital Human Rights as an Expression of Digital Attributes: Socio-Philosophical Justification)’, Osvitnii dyskurs: zbirnyk naukovykh prats, 44(4-6), s. 7-23.
- Noosfera Vernadskoho, suchasna osvita i nauka: pid chas vyprobuvan i nadali (Noosphere Vernadsky, Modern Education and Science: During the Tests and Further) 2024, Kolektyvna monohrafiia do 161-richchia vid dnia narodzhennia V. I. Vernadskoho; za red. Rybalky, VV, T. 4, Kyiv–Kremenchuk : Vyd-vo “NovaBook”, 534 s.
- Noosferna paradyhma v publichnomu upravlinni: teoriia, istoriia, suchasnist (Noospheric Paradigm in Public Administration: Theory, History, Modernity) 2017, Materialy naukovo-praktychnoi konferentsii (15 bereznia 2017 r.), Kharkiv: Vyd-vo KharRI NADU “Mahistr”, 208 s.
- Chuprynskyi, BO 2012, Filosofsko-pravovi aspekty formuvannia profesiinoi kultury maibutnikh yurystiv (Philosophical and Legal Aspects of the Formation of Professional Culture of Future Lawyers). Monohrafiia, nats. un-t im. Lesi Ukrainky, Lutsk: Zakharchuk V. V., 140 s.
