The Pythagorean Argument of the Intelligent Design of the Universe and Its Critique. Part II: Pythagorean Strategy of Physics
Alexey Burov,  Alexey Tsvelik
DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2023-15.4.2-306-335
Abstract:

Since the time of Galileo and Newton, physics has been engineered as a mathematical discipline, seeking its axioms, laws of nature, by means of specially organized experiments. The motivation of specifi cally this mode of cognizing nature was explored in the fi rst paper of this series, in which Christian Platonism and the Pythagorean crede of the founding fathers of modernity’s physics were discussed. The present article aims to lay out the cognitive strategy of physics as revealed by refl ecting upon its seminal discoveries. One central inquiry concerning physics is how exactly it has mined its axioms. Merely pointing to experimentation is insuffi cient. Experiments are conceived and executed as verifi cation of an already-formulated hypothesis, without which it would be indeterminate what should be observed and what there is to do with those observations. A hypothesis for a law is not derived from an experiment; on the contrary, it defi nes the experiment in order to be rigorously scrutinized by it.

The objective of this article is to demonstrate on facts that the strategy for hypothesizing physical laws has invariably emanated from the same wellspring as the originating metaphysical credo. This Pythagorean strategy is founded on the belief in mathematical elegance, high precision, and the universality of the sought-after axioms of matter. The quest for hypotheses went along the pathways of universal mathematical symmetries, equivalencies, invariances, correspondences, and analogies–complex enough to account for a plethora of relevant phenomena, yet simple enough to facilitate scientifi c discovery.

We are not the fi rst to propound this Pythagorean understanding of physics. This concept, as well as the term ‘Pythagorean strategy,’ was a quarter-century ago formulated and developed by the American-Israeli philosopher Mark Steiner (1942–2020) in his monograph, “The Applicability of Mathematics as a Philosophical Problem.” The present article serves as a free contemplation in the footsteps of that brilliant and still largely unparalleled tome.

The Pythagorean Argument of the Intelligent Design of the Universe and Its Critique. Part I: Dual Structure of the Pythagorean Argument
Alexey Burov,  Alexey Tsvelik
DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2023-15.3.2-290-313
Abstract:

This article is first in a series of publications on the problem of a special character of fundamental physical laws, which combine two opposite qualities: they are complex enough to allow fine-tuning to life,  yet simple enough to be discoverable by emerging intelligent life. In other words, the laws permit the emergence of not just living beings, but those capable of discovering these very laws. How could this be possible?

Known laws can be looked at from both logical, objective, and historical, subjective, perspectives. On the one hand – the logical – the successes achieved by physics testify to the adequacy of physical theories, to their conformity to the fabric of the Universe itself. This conformity is fundamentally different from fitting complex formulas to facts, like those implemented by the algorithms of Ptolemy, Copernicus or artificial intelligence. Fits describe only what is already embedded in them, whereas physical theories allow to predict phenomena that have never been observed, often unbeknownst  even to the authors of those theories. This predictive power  stems from the same qualities  as the ability to unambiguously falsify physical theories: the simplicity, universality, precision, and completeness of their mathematical principles. In addition to these qualities, and in addition to the fact that the fundamental physical laws possess numerous symmetries, invariants, and equivalences, they also permit that constructive richness of stable material configurations, that is chemistry, which is a necessary condition of life as we know it. Research of recent decades shows how finely tuned the physical constants are to meet this requirement: even small changes in their values would make chemistry impossible.  What is the reason for these amazing Pythagorean qualities of the Universe? Purposeful design of this rational elegance of nature, that is, the intelligent design of the Universe, appears to be the only passable answer to this question, as we intend to demonstrate in this series of publications.

On the other hand, the history of science testifies that the belief in the mathematical perfection of nature’s arrangement lies at the origin of modern physics, indicating both the possibility and, without exaggeration, the sacredness of cognition of the Universe. This belief is clearly visible in the worldview of the founders of mathematical physics, as a special, emotionally intense Pythagorean credo, a variant of Christian Platonism. The initial presumption of perfect design may not be recognized by the masses of scientists and philosophers who came later, and it may even be rejected by them verbally, but this does not cancel its status as the foundation of physics: there has been and is no other answer to the question of why the understanding of the Universe is possible and important for humanity.

The justification of the assumption of intelligent design as the cause of such specific laws of nature, on the one hand, and, on the other hand,  discerning and contemplating the meaning of the Pythagorean credo by granting it the status of a metaphysical working hypothesis, together form a dual objective-subjective logical structure, which the authors designate as the Pythagorean argument, as presented in this article.

Unfulfilled Identity
Egor Yurchenko
DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2023-15.2.2-476-493
Abstract:

This article examines unfulfilled identity, which is expressed in the subject’s inability to actualize his or her identity due to internal complexes or social pressures. First, the main types of mistakes that can lead to erroneous actions and processes are highlighted. These processes, form an unfulfilled identity. The first type of mistake is the misunderstanding of one’s own natural state and social expectations. In this case, the subject cannot relate his or her abilities, characteristics and functional properties to reality. As a result, there is a tendency to form only the apparent integrity of an identity that can easily collapse. As a result, the subject is unable to be fully established as a person. This kind of identity has been called a ‘failed’ identity. The second mistake is to shift perception to external factors, disregarding internal experiences and attitudes. Thus, one’s interests, needs, and desires are replaced by others that are taken from the environment. A substituted identity is formed, which also does not have the property of completeness because of the lack of systemic connections between the personality and reality. Such an identity is called ‘substituted’. The author discusses the main reasons for the formation of an unfulfilled identity. The reasons are divided into different systems: global, local-social and individual. Thus, the first cause is identified as globalization. Its influence covers all subsequent systems. Globalization leads to the blurring of norms, differentiation and separation of values and attitudes. The processes of upbringing within different social institutions are included in the local-social system. The author outlines the main problems of upbringing and growing up, which affect the formation of identity. Subjective distortions are on the next level, complexes and mistakes that lead to unfulfillment. They include the inability to concentrate and accept the consequences of choices, associated with a lack of responsibility; denial of biological determinants and the narrative of one’s own existence, a lack of life resources.

Luoshu Magic Square: Register of Truth
Andrey Krushinskiy
DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2023-15.2.1-223-244
Abstract:

The world’s oldest 3x3 magic square, discovered/invented in Ancient China and now known as Luoshu 洛書/ ‘Document [from the River] Luo’, was endowed by Chinese tradition with unprecedented dignity and placed at the very heart of Chinese thought. The bewitching geometric-numerical imagery of Luoshu, open to a great many different visions, when reading-interpretation becomes the final moment of the very act of perception, turns this Chinese mandala into a real eye trap. With its disturbing persistence, it resembles the magically attractive ‘Zahir’ from Borges’ short story of the same name.

   Among the most diverse ritual and ideological instrumentalizations of the Luoshu magic square (from the sacred emblem of cosmic harmony to the requisite of a geomancer), the mobilization of this esoteric figure for the arithmetization of the cornerstone of all Chinese philosophy, the fundamentally non-verbalizable Tao, is dominant. The coding of the dao by the number 15 is reinforced by its spatialization, so that the entire “Document [from the river] Lo” appears as a map of the various trajectories of the Tao within this nine-field square. Moreover, the coincidence (in number 15) of differently composed sums appears as an inscrutable variety of paths leading to the same goal - the final implementation of Tao.

     By virtue of the validity of the equality 15 =mod10 5 the magic sum of the Luoshu square (Const15) immutably, although covertly (in the form of a number 5), centers the entire Luoshu configuration. This secrecy of the magical constant (the latter is absent in the entire observable space of the “Document [from the river] Lo”) refers to the hidden “back-side” of Luoshu numbers, represented by the number 10 (in its role as a modulus of comparison in the arithmetic of residues modulo 10).

      Judging by the directly visible, so to speak, ‘front’ part of the magic square of order 3, it is allowed to count only up to nine in it. But the already absent-present magic sum (number 15), breaking the seemingly inescapable circle of arithmetic of residues, brings to light the comparison module (number 10) as Luosh’s hidden ‘truth’, which alone gives meaning to the entire nine-cell construction. Awareness of this truth is the first step in the transition to the ‘register of truth’ of this extraordinary gestalt. The subsequent connection to it of problems focused by the Pythagorean theorem radically expands Luoshu’s ‘register of truth’.

      The geometrized arithmetic of the Luoshu magic square, which is a unique spatial-numerical fixation of the seemingly fundamentally non-objectivable Tao (i.e., combining the apparently incompatible) marks the possibility of a paradoxical union of Heraclitus with Pythagoras, successfully realized by the Chinese tradition.

Mathematics: Formation, Substantiation, Resolution of the Crisis
Vadim Rozin
DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2023-15.1.2-372-387
Abstract:

The article discusses the current situation in mathematics, which is interpreted as a crisis. The problems that allow making such a conclusion are considered: the question of the scientific status of mathematics, the possibility of its substantiation, the mental or experimental nature of mathematics, the time of its formation. The author presents the results of the genesis of geometry, the generalization of which makes it possible to assert that mathematics, on the one hand, can be considered a kind of empirical science, on the other, a constructive scientific discipline, in which more complex ideal objects are created on the basis of initial ideal objects and knowledge. Two different understandings of the foundations of mathematics are considered - general scientific and David Hilbert’s, as well as what paradoxes are in science and how they are removed. The author is inclined to believe that antinomies in mathematics cannot be eliminated once and for all, their source is attributing inconsistent characteristics to objects of mathematics, which is due to the very structure of mathematics. The fact is that the construction of ideal objects of mathematics proceeds under the influence of at least four areas: the empirical area, describing which mathematicians create initial ideal objects and knowledge; areas of design based on the original more complex ideal objects; areas of geometric theorem proofs; area of ​​construction of the theory of geometry. In addition, here it is necessary to add the concept of the foundation of mathematics by D. Hilbert, and also take into account that there are different concepts of the foundation of mathematics. At the end of the article, the features of the current crisis in mathematics and the possible direction of its resolution are discussed.

Religious Extremism as a Socio-Cultural Phenomenon: The Problem of the Ontological Boundary
Vyacheslav Dolin
DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2022-14.2.2-395-410
Abstract:

The subject of the article is the problem of the ontological boundary of religious extremism as a socio-cultural phenomenon. The methodological basis of the research is the non-classical linguistic semantics of Frege – Russell. Within its framework, meaning, concept and sign are distinguished for the subject of thought. This methodology complements the predominance of the activity approach in the research of religious extremism. Such methodological unilateralism creates the illusion of the scholastic nature of the investigated problem, when the scientific result is expected to comment, clarify and systematize the known knowledge about religious extremism. As a result, religious extremism is considered metaphysically as an unchanging phenomenon that has no spatial and temporal boundaries. This research was conducted in two stages. The first one highlights the essential signs of religious extremism. The traditional triad of signs “subjects, sphere of activity, implementation methods” is supplemented by the fourth: “the purpose of activity”. Based on the analysis, religious extremism is defined as extreme actions of religious elements in the political life of society, aimed against the structural elements and ideology of secular society. The article rejects the provisions on uncritical identification with religious extremism of the following social phenomena: violation of national legislation on freedom of conscience and religious associations; religious fanaticism; religious sectarianism; nationalism. At the second stage of the research, the spatial and temporal boundaries of religious extremism are comprehended. Spatially religious extremism is typical for both post-industrial and traditional societies of the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The article puts forward historical-religious arguments and an argument against the thesis of the timeless nature of the existence of religious extremism. Based on the formation of a secular society on the economic basis of an industrial society since the second half of the XIX century, four factors of the emergence of religious extremism have been identified: secularization of public consciousness; desacralization of power; inversion of violence; limited support. As a result of the conducted research, the metaphysical consideration of religious extremism as an unchangeable phenomenon has been overcome and its conceptual understanding has been deepened.

Philosophy of Love: Analytical Approach of Raja Halwani
Ivan Diatlov
DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2022-14.2.2-283-301
Abstract:

Philosophy of love as a subfield of moral philosophy and history of philosophy questions the very foundations of how people love each other. Within the philosophical debate, not only the sources of love but forms and types are questioned. Does the source of love correspond to a concrete form of love? What is the difference between parental love and friendship love? What is the main difference between romantic love and the abovementioned? A philosopher from Chicago, Raja Halwani made a methodological and pithy impact in the debate. On the one hand, his main achievement in the recent debates is the distinction between two kinds of love: romantic love 1 and romantic love 2. Halwani notes that the main disagreement among philosophers stems from the fact that philosophers usually don’t see this difference. And if philosophers would keep this difference in mind, it would clarify our debates. On the other hand, professor Halwani doesn’t propose a conceptual novelty but interestingly refines the current debates on love’s aspects. These debates are debates concerning the main characteristics of love and how we can defend these characteristics. Halwani clarifies the central concepts of romantic love such as “constancy”, “exclusivity”, “uniqueness”, “irreplaceability”. The philosopher devoted special attention to reflections upon how exactly we can apply existing moral theories to love. At the end of the article, an attempt is made to compound many of Halwani’s statements about RL1 and RL2 in a unified table.

The Ontological Foundations of Musical Creativity
Ilya Makarov
DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2022-14.2.2-320-337
Abstract:

In the system of classical arts, music has always been perceived as a human actional breakthrough to understanding the Universe. The musical language, considered as a cultural universal, is the basis of intuitive cognition, a felt view of the axiological unity of Truth, Goodness and Beauty. The article offers an analysis of the formation of the main philosophical theories of the ontological nature of musical creativity in their historical continuity.

In the history of ideas, the phenomenon of musical creativity has been perceived as a special kind of revelation. This reveals the obvious importance of the aesthetic approach in understanding the transcendental world; the objectified connection of man with ontological processes. Modern theories of universal evolutionism represent the development of the Universe as a single system based on the unity of its laws. It is in our time that comprehension of the essence of musical creativity opens a fundamentally new page in the philosophical understanding of the centuries-old history of music. The key point is the idea of the Μελῳδός aspiration to the Λόγος, the tendency to move from particular theoretical constructions and critical assessments to considering the phenomenological foundations of music, fundamentally presented, in particular, in the works of A. Losev and T. Adorno.

In the XX century, there was an obvious surge in the formulation of generalizing musicological concepts, and it was in the XX century that the philosophy of music received qualitatively new worldview foundations for its comprehensive interpretation. In this respect, the study of the epistemological nature of musical creativity has reached, it would seem, its peak.

However, comprehension of the investigated theories allows us to draw conclusions only about the possible approximation of a true understanding of the essence of musical creativity as a special cognitive practice. This turns out to be possible on the methodological basis of cumulative generalization, taking into account the religious, aesthetic, cultural, psychological, educational and other approaches in comprehending the value of the “world of sound”.

From the Being of Culture to the Culture of Being: About Perspective Possibility of Constructing Positive Ontologies
Baizhol Karipbayev,  Alibek Sharipov
DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2022-14.2.1-56-67
Abstract:

The article presents a historical and philosophical retrospective aimed at establishing strict conceptual boundaries that prevent uncontrolled extrapolation of modern terms and concepts to realities that are not included in the meanings of modern humanitarian discourse. The philosophical definition of the “culture” concept is substantiated, which includes specific characteristics that have a chronologically factual origin. The authors give a general conceptual overview of current intellectual trends dealing with the theming of the phenomenon of culture; and highlight their pluralistic character. The article analyzes the polysemicity of the postmodern situation as an intersubjective disposition within cultural communication and as a special way of understanding the current state of affairs that exist under the sign of fundamental complexity. Criticism of destructive attitudes in understanding and predicting possible outcomes and solutions of pressing culturological problems is carried out. In particular, it points to the moment of subjective psychologizing in some pessimistic expert assessments, when personal disorder in new circumstances is presented as an objectively negative state of affairs. The principles of constructivism ontology are introduced and defended, which constitute an alternative to the traditional understanding of philosophy as delayed evidence (the owl of Minerva flying out into the twilight). A fundamental replacement of the descriptive (passive-contemplative) approach is proposed with a projective (active-creative) one. The authors present a substantial version of constructing a positive ontology based on a historical precedent in the form of the ideology of classical humanism. The philosophy of postmodernism is interpreted as hyperreflection of Modernity, that is, not as a negation, but as overcoming the traditional structures of rationality to form more complex (sophisticated) types of reflective thinking. The authors substantiate the need to connect a volitional resource, intentionalized in the direction of creating semantic configurations of social reality. This eliminates the reductionist possibility of interpreting such a call by appealing to complex contexts that require the development of complimentary discourses and narratives.

The authors adhere to the position according to which any extreme is false, and the truth is found in the zone of balance between the extremes, considering the completeness of the experience knowledge of both extremes. Classical history passed under the sign of speculation, the 20th century - under the sign of thoughtless activism. In the 21st century, it is necessary to learn how to combine these extremes.

Critical Attitudes among the Soviet Scientific and Academic Intelligentsia in the Historical and Socio-Cultural Context of 1960-1990s
Sergey Filippov
DOI: 10.17212/2075-0862-2022-14.2.1-68-85
Abstract:

The article deals with investigating into the conditions of the critical attitude spread among scientists and academicians during the period of 1960s–1990s towards some aspects of domestic and foreign state policy of that time. At the same time, the motives for such a criticism seem not to be obvious, since the social status and well-being of the scientific and academic intelligentsia, as well as its public prestige, was one of the highest among the socio-professional groups of Soviet society. To perceive criticism of Soviet scientists as a form of struggle against the regime does not seem entirely correct, since the critically thinking Soviet scientists did not seek to popularize their socio-political ideas and attract supporters from other social groups. On the contrary, the discussion on “complex” political and socio-economic aspects of the Soviet society took place within closed communities. In addition, the Soviet scientific intelligentsia of that time, unlike the pre-revolutionary intellectuals, did not idealize people; they did not have a sense of “guilt” towards it, as well as the idea of selfless “serving the people”. Soviet scientists perceived themselves as an elite, even aristocratic group, and this idea found expression in the science-fiction novel “Hard to Be a God” by the Soviet writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The main character of the novel is the historian Anton, who was sent to the Arkanar Kingdom on an alien planet and assumed the role of an aristocrat named Don Rumata. He masterfully uses a sword, enjoys phenomenal success with women and contributes to the progress of local humanity. The Soviet intellectuals of that time constructed their own elite professional and social identity using the practices of prestigious consumption and behavior and pursuing specific socialization strategies that were alternative to the official Soviet norms and rules of behavior. The self-identification of scientists as an elite group within the Soviet society was based on the social conditions for the development of science in the USSR in the 1950s–1960s such as a high level of prestige of scientific and academic activities, high expectations from science as well as creating relatively autonomous scientific centers (“Academic Town” or ZATO (‘closed administrative-territorial formation’) – closed towns with secret research installations). Such settlements were quite independent from the local and regional authorities being subordinated directly to Moscow. Besides, secrecy of closed cities or facilities limited the possibilities of the direct control and interference from regional party and state authorities in the activities of scientific institutions and scientists.