Ideas and Ideals

The subject of this issue is a question on a substance of every being, its specific features and conditions of its cognition and existence. This is an attempt to systematize Aristotle's point of view about this problem, presented in different fragments of his treatises "Physics", "Metaphysics", "Categories", "On the Soul". Aristotle pointed out the fallacy of identifying the substance and any beings. He explained, that not any being can be considered as a substance, though sometimes it's rather difficult to distinguish them. Aristotle offered different classifications of kinds of substance and examined their main features and conditions of their being. Two approaches about comprehension of substances are compared in this article. Socrates and Plato’s position is based on the principle of the direct speculative comprehension. Aristotle offered the system of categories as the universal way for description and cognition of the essence of any substance. To be means to be as a definite "what" in a completeness of its "whatness". Everything can exist only as a definite something. Instead, a problem of possibility of changes and movement of substances is discussed in a comparison of positions of Aristotle and Plato. After all we can see the being of substances not to be a simple static presence of empty pure forms, no having any material substratum. They presented a unity of the intention to achieve its entelecheia and achievement of one, i.e. a unity of the goal, process and result.

The article deals with the problem of co-existential intercourse and the problem of nothingness. Co-existential intercourse is defined as the universal mode of subjects’ coexistence in their fundamental opportunity. The main problem of the study can be defined as follows: is it possible to express irrational content of co-existential experience using rational concepts? The author suggests the solution to this problem: on the one hand, the unique content of co-existential experience is expressed using the logical concepts, but on the other hand, there is an opposition between "existential" thinking and validity of rational concepts. The author deliberately goes beyond the scientific discourse with the aim of a deeper penetration into the existential logic "of discussing" ancestral forms and methods of co-existence. Thus, the existential method is used in order to reproduce a unique content experience of co-existence in thinking in the aspects available to rationalization. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the role and meaning of “nothingness” in close connection with subjects’ freedom. Nothingness becomes the principal condition of subjects’ freedom and choice. The main attribute of nothingness is the negation of unique coexistential experience. Besides, nothingness is defined as the ultimate meaning of negation of coexistential experience. The global meaning of nothingness becomes evident through a great variety of “private negations” which tend to be its concrete and finite forms. A solitary coexistential act may be considered as the act of negation of nothingness. Moreover, due to nothingness existential intercourse as the primary mode of communication may transform into unique co-existential experience.

The article is devoted to the problem of an alliance of a man and a machine. We find this motive in the texts by such theorists as Gilbert Simondon, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt, Manuel DeLanda and others. To clarify the idea of machine enslavement and the modeled way of emancipation by constituting the transindividual collectives or technical exodus, we appeal to Robert M. Pirsig’s novel “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” which content appears to be close to the mentioned theorists’ ideas. Pirsig, as well as James Graham Ballard, the author of a brilliant novel "Crash," where an original model of perverse machine sexuality was presented, denies a suspicious glance at the techniques and rethinks the relationship between a man and a machine. In this sense, his work can refer to anti-Heideggerian trend. Gilbert Simondon is a bright representative of this trend in philosophy. The ideas of the authors, whose concepts are considered in this paper, urge us to take into account a relatively simple idea: not the technical objects are a source of human alienation at all; a lot depends on the approach to the car.

The article examines the impact of the development of the Internet technologies on the ways of communication and social interaction in a society. The increasing of information flows and the speed of information exchange stimulate people to search for new forms of self-organization. Among these forms, there are some significant ones like virtual communities in social networks. This process intensifies different effects for all users of the network groups. Users in search of a circle of "friends" and personal identification resort to various methods of self-categorization experiencing the affect of different methods of influence and manipulation (both positive and negative). To maintain the balance of interests it is necessary to increase media literacy, mastering critical perception and analysis.

The article considers the problem of citizen participation in the political process associated with social communication difficulties. An individual is moving away from the social system, due to the obtained negative experiences after the confrontation with the latent component of political participation. The author analyzes the historical characteristics of the personal identity and public opinion ratio. He also highlights the relationship of political participation and family traditions. State pressure on the individual consciousness turns into a hidden form of social loneliness. The more radical a political doctrine is the more negative attitude to social loneliness it demonstrates. Enforcement of social lifestyle, active participation in mutual social activities form settled fear before the State, a group, possessing the right to coercion, the world view regulation, and to the invasion of privacy. Political changes transform the kinds of social participation, values and meanings of social activities. Social distance may be considered as a potential prerequisite of a conflict between an individual and a society. We can speak about a new phenomenon, hidden social loneliness, i.e. a gap between intrinsic beliefs and demonstrated behavior. The feeling of hidden social loneliness transforms a person into an ostentatious performer; it makes a person feel forced publicity. A political system in some cases can hinder the development of social communication.

Representatives of the Russian Neo-Eurasianism, trying to root this intellectual tradition, turned to the identification and analysis of the Eurasian motives in the Russian classical literature of XIX century. This research assumes the presence of the structural components in literary texts that correspond to the Eurasian vision of Russia as the "Middle World" in the East-West dichotomy. The author of the article, using the method of structural analysis, reveals the presence of such components in Nikolai Chernyshevsky novel "What Is to Be Done?" One of them is represented in the structural core of the novel in the form of clear anthropological oppositions using two narrative functions: appearance and character (temperament) of the heroes. Another component is Rakhmetov, one of the main characters of the novel. The author comes to the conclusion that Rakhmetov is the first image of a Eurasian in Russian literature. At the same time, the ideology of this image, imposed to the reader by the author, appears to be inconsistent with the art material used for its construction.This is due to the fact that Chernyshevsky himself was not a Eurasian, he was a typical Westerner, who believed that oriental components in Russian culture hinder the development of Russia and they have to be suppressed.

The Input-Output (IO) analysis is a powerful analytical tool. The problems of construction and use of the IO models are widely discussed by researchers. The national IO models have been developed in many ways to cover more aspects of economic, social, ecological and other fields. The use of the IO models at the regional level has become topical, as the IO analysis still has a good explanatory potential. Improving the methods of regionalization of national input-output tables (IOTs) continues to be a topic of debates. Different types of models are based on the IOTs. Regional dynamic input-output models can be a usefultool for economic growth analysis and forecasting. Single-region and multi-regional models are used for analysis of different intraregional economic effects as well as interrelationships between regions. The article discusses some problems related to construction and use of IOTs and IO models. The authors review some publications discussing the use of interindustry models for the regional analysis and forecasting. The regionalization methods of national IOTs and several different types of interindustry models including some commercial IO models are also reviewed in the article as well as national and foreign experience in developing and applying these models.

The paper analyzes the practical experience, features and problems of trustees in bankruptcy (TB) training in the Russian Federation. It is noted that from the perspective of the Ministry of Education officials, training and education programs of trustees in bankruptcy are programs of additional education and must meet the requirements for such programs. Thus, the integrated training program of trustees in bankruptcy should be viewed as a program of professional retraining with a "package" of a number of competences, passing a dozen of tests and examinations and giving out diplomas, issued by the university itself as an outcome of professional retraining. However, these actions completely violate the requirements of the Federal Legislation on the training of trustees in bankruptcy, which a university has to abide, having signed the corresponding Agreement with Rosreestr. And the actual implementation of these actions is very problematic, as there is no demand on such type of diploma on the market. Using the multiple-factor analysis, the authors revealed the fundamental laws of the market demand curve for the training service of TB on the example of a concrete University Center. They also made conclusions and recommendations for successful activities in the field of anti-crisis business education.

The paper analyzes issues of how regional studies and allied disciplines react upon each other, and what are the main objectives and principles of economic zoning and classifying regions of various sizes accepted in economic science. From the economic point of view, regions are classified mostly proceeding from the purposes of management and analytics. The paper discusses the reasons of economic imperialism, i.e. invasion of economists into the adjacent fields of science. The major feature of an economic approach in historical - economic studies and regional ones is application of economic models, quantitative methods, and their own definitions. The paper presents a brief analysis of the studies concerning Siberia and its regions made by the Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science in the Soviet and post-Soviet time. Siberia has been an object of cross-disciplinary research at least for two hundred years. The paper also compares the key ideas and approaches of the recent Siberia case-studies carried out by specialists of various sciences. The concept of megaregion from the point of view of economical science is discussed, and the corresponding directions of further research of Siberia are set.

Concept of megaregion Siberia suggests the observation of this enormous territory from the Urals up to the Pacific Ocean as the genuine entity of its basic characteristics, i.e. space, history and culture. The offered approach allows us anew to build up the geopolitical strategy of Russia towards the countries of Asian-Pacific Region. Resource abundance of megaregion Siberia and its close proximity to emerging powers of Asian-Pacific Region create the premises for fruitful economic cooperation and bring benefits for geopolitical strategy of Russia. The realization of national interests chiefly depends on several factors such as quickness of intervention, market scale, dynamics of investments and ability to set up multi-sector coalitions. Energy sustainability allows Russia to use the dynamics of rapidly changing energy world, i.e. constraints of fossil fuel supply from the Middle East, globalization of gas supply, issues of climate change, etc. All these give an opportunity to provide security for our country, give an impulse to the Russian economy to catch up with the wave of growth, and preserve the unique nature of megaregion Siberia.

There is a whole area of demographic studies – the chronoecology. It is connected with the cyclical nature of virtually all processes in the evolution of the population. In addition to the vector process (a constant growth of the world's population), which has created a strong concern and this phenomenon has been included into the list of the global environmental problems of mankind; cyclic processes of the population change were also revealed.   The paper considers the cyclical birth-rate index in Fennoscandian countries during the long - term investigations. There is a steady negative trend of the birth-rate index, especially in Sweden. The spectra of periodic components, that form the long-term dynamics of the birth rate, are built. Specific to these countries, 170-, 50-60- and 15-17- year cycles are determined. The author speculates upon the internal causes and possible external pacemakers of these fluctuations. A comparison of the spectra of the periodic constituents of the birth-rate indices in Fennoskandia and Romania, as a more southern country, has been made. For the population cycles of fertility, the time external sensors can be manifested in individual fluctuations of the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO) in Scandinavia, as well as the harmonic components of the spectrum of the Nordic index (SCAND), the primary focus of which is situated over Scandinavia. The first oscillation of this global climate index can maintain the stability of the 170-year cycle of birth-rate; and the second one is responsible for the 60- and 40-year rhythms that function in Scandinavian countries, but they are absent in southern Europe (Romania).

The main scope of this study is the metamorphosis of the set of objects into the set of symbols in fine arts and literature of Art Nouveau. This article overviews the use of artifacts in the literature of Art Nouveau, in particular, in critical essays and literary works by Oscar Wilde. The study intends to elucidate why the process of “sacralization” of beauty expressed in specific artifacts is reflected in the literature of Art Nouveau in the form of “aesthetic game.” The main objectives of this study are: to provide a brief background behind the emergence of “neomythological” aspirations in the culture of Art Nouveau, to show how the pursuit of aestheticizing life and turning it into art leads to destruction of traditional boundaries of the aesthetic space, since canons and rules of high creative art are being transferred to everyday objects, to identify the main principles of the “aesthetic game” in the literary texts of Art Nouveau, and to explain how the “destruction” of the artifact, that is, the transition from describing a real thing to the emblem-symbol which expands the semantic boundaries of artistic space, occurs in the literature of Art Nouveau. The article provides a brief overview of the aesthetic movement in England in the context of the general development of European “panaesteticism.” The author shows how the cult of beautiful things constitutes the basis of the worldview of Art Nouveau and results in the desire of writers and artists to endow everyday objects with aesthetic functions. The majority of the writers and artists, striving to rich “aesthetic autocracy,” created the space (of text, canvas, or real room), which was oversaturated with the description of beautiful things. Such space very quickly begins to be perceived as aestheticized banality. Objects of everyday life, perceived as the objects of art overwhelm not only the real space, but also the artistic space. Their ekphrasis becomes an important part of the literary text. The literature of Art Nouveau quickly came to exhaustion of the expressive capacities of such an ekphrasis which was based on the external quality of things. The example of J.-K. Huysmans can be a good illustration of this point. Oscar Wilde was one of the few writers of Art Nouveau who continued to provoke a continuous interest on the part of the following generations. Considering himself to be a disciple of Huysmans, Oscar Wilde also gave great importance to describing things, but at the same time he insisted on the fundamental importance of the symbolic (secret, profound) meaning, inherent in things. This is why the ekphrasis of Oscar Wilde does not lose its literary relevance, since in addition to aesthetic autocracy it is saturated with the interplay of various meanings of the thing, extending and deepening the artistic space of the text.

This article is a continuation of the article "Russian Universities and the Russian Intelligentsia" Part 1, published in this journal, №3, 2016. The author discusses the problem of the Russian intelligentsia formation and the role, which the Russian university community played in the process. He also demonstrated the origins of the "groundlessness", which has always distinguished the Russian intelligentsia, and analyzed the reasons for its invariable opposition to any authority. The author proves the thesis that the revolutionaries of all stripes represented a semi-intelligentsia: instead of thick books, these people read the brochures, and they replaced the philosophy with the party ideology. Semi-intelligentsia played a leading role in all French Revolutions, and later in the Russian one. The article analyzes the destiny of Russian universities during the years of Soviet power. The years of "stagnation" meant already the agony of Russian universities, which had lost all the impulses to scientific activities. The experimenters were without instruments, theorists were without books ─ they were isolated from the world; they were under a bureaucratic ban. The author gives a brilliant analysis of the role and significance of the Russian intelligentsia in the Russian and world history. In his opinion, the main distinctive characteristic of the Russian intelligentsia was unselfishness. In the West, “freedom” and “equality” meant protecting group and class interests; in Russia, however, these words were understood as “brotherhood” with all oppressed people without any self-interest.

In the interview Professor S. D. Valentey talks about the importance and perpetual exigency of Marxism as a major scientific direction. He also speaks about the loss of our Marxist school and the related to this loss issues in economic science and economic education. The author analyzes the problems of thrifty production, the new quality of economic growth, sociology of population. He also points out the importance of the conducted studies in this field during the Soviet period and characterizes the specifics of Russian capitalism. The interview also touches upon the issue of the pseudo-education and purchase of diplomas. Professor highlights the necessity of a new generation of economists coming to office, free from neo-liberal and other clichés. S. D. Valentey argues that economic science cannot be based on the reading of books and journal articles only, though it is also very important, without it there is no science. Economics is based on field studies. The task today is a field research of the specific real economy, real economic processes.

The published material is an interview of the famous Russian economist, Professor G.I. Khanin, to the journalist D. Peretolchin. It is based on the discussion of the monograph "Economic History of Russia in Modern Times" (in 3 vol.), published in 2008-2014 by the NSTU. The author shows a deep disappointment with the course of economic reforms in the 90-ies of the last century and insists on the necessity of finding alternatives. The main novelty of the monograph is to rethink the economic development in the Soviet period, based on alternative macroeconomic and sectoral assessments. To obtain the most objective and reliable picture of the economic results of the country since the 30-ies of the last century to modern times, the author used a combination of economic and socio-political analysis, a variety of sources, from economic and historical literature, statistical guides to memoirs and media publications. Estimates of national income growth from 1928 to 1989 made by G.I. Khanin are at odds with the official ones in more than 10 times: instead of the 90 times growth there was the 6.9 times growth. In the post-Soviet period the value of assets was significantly distorted, much more, than during the Soviet period. The recovery value of fixed assets, in current prices, at the beginning of the 21st century almost 8 times exceeded the registered value. These distortions result in the distortions of many other macroeconomic indicators. G.I. Khanin evaluates the current situation in the Russian economy as tragic due to the gradual exhaustion of physical and human capital. He also gives a somewhat paradoxical positive assessment of the command system in the Soviet Union due to the impressive economic performance, particularly in the 50-ies.

The monograph is devoted to the research of an international order problem as the most exigent for the theory and practice of international relations. The work has been performed at the intersection of subject fields of International Relations Theory, International Law and World Politics. The authors consider this range of problems conventional for all international relations schools - from classical political realism and political idealism to liberal institutionalism and neo-Marxism. The paper studied the ideas of T. Hobbes and I. Kant about the world order in detail. It has been shown that they formulated the classical approaches to the understanding of international security, which are also relevant to the contemporary political theory. The choice of the world political discourse predetermined an integrated approach to the study of this subject: the world order is studied in its relation to the evolution of the modern system of international relations and in connection with the main basis of foreign policy planning – security dilemma. The authors propose a classification of the world order, aimed at both the theoretical study of international relations and the understanding of the dynamics of the modern system of international cooperation after the Cold War.

"The book is dedicated to the memory of an outstanding Russian philosopher Aleksandr Pavlovich Ogurtsov (1936 - 2014); his friends, colleagues and students, with whom he felt free to live and think, contributed to this book. Philosophy for A. P. Ogurtsov was the ultimate method of the relationship between a man and the world, themes meanings of this attitude to the world, society, and culture, to himself and to the Other. He paid special attention to the Philosophy of Science, which, as his friends say, did not even slightly resemble the positivist universal taxonomy which has been rediscovered anew today and students, undergraduates and graduate students are forced to study it. The main idea was the sense of a "mainland layer", the historical position of any fundamental scientific knowledge, which manifests itself in logic, and it might be open to the philosopher and closed to the classifier. The way of A. P. Ogurtsov’s thoughts was the way of his life ─ it is not by chance that many of his articles are devoted to his being a philosopher. "