<![CDATA[This research aims to explain that in the digital age, society is confronted with a flexing society. This phenomenon occurs because the moral and value system governing social life has been reduced to mere commodities measured primarily by the ownership of goods. This study identifies an interconnectedness between contemporary capitalism, social media, and consumerism and their collective role in eroding moral foundations and individual self-determination. A primary consequence of consumerism is the erosion of moral standards and the emergence of a culture of conspicuous consumption. This flexing society, facilitated by social media, subsequently degrades morality and autonomy, as individuals become trapped in the pursuit of illusory goals shrouded within a world of hyper-reality. Through the lens of Jean Baudrillard’s simulacra and the moral philosophy of Sir Muhammad Iqbal, this study specifically constructs a unique normative philosophical argument regarding the restoration of existential selfhood amidst the encroachment of hyper-reality. Using qualitative methods and hermeneutic interpretation of Gadamer’s philosophy, this study demonstrates that Iqbal’s concept of khudī is not merely a theological idea, but rather an instrument of ontological resistance capable of deconstructing the entrapment of individuals within the algorithmic image, as their lives are trapped in the pursuit of an illusory reality veiled within the world of hyperreality. This research concludes the importance of a moral framework that is holistic, integral, and objective through Iqbal’s framework, which offers a solution to digital alienation while repositioning the autonomous human being as a creator of meaning, not merely an object of simulated consumption.]]>
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