Ideas and Ideals

Profound changes have taken place in the society of the XXI century. In culture and civilization, the determining role (dominance) passes from science and education to technology and technic. Against the background of the decline in the authority of science and education in society, the situation with the status of philosophy, as well as methodology, has worsened. This provision is due to the fact that the subject of philosophy is knowledge, and for methodology it is scientific knowledge. It is proposed to consider knowledge according to K. Popper’s concept of three worlds. With the giving of a substantial status to knowledge, its origin should no longer be represented as the result of a reflection of reality. Let us define knowledge as an addition to the physical and mental beginnings of a three-component being. In order to show the productivity of the proposed change, a system-cybernetic model of contradiction is given. In the interests of developing an effective methodology, we turn to the concepts of mono- and multi-aspect approaches to any creative work. The situations of ‘not meaningful incompleteness’ are shown, when the researcher does not even think about the varieties of aspects that open up to the specialist when he starts working with the name of the study, and ‘meaningful incompleteness’, when knowing that it is impossible to consider all the variants of the topic, he justifies why he preferred this trajectory. The technologies of the formation of the names of creative works are presented, taking into account the installation on a single-aspect or multi-aspect study. In the course of solving the task of improving the effectiveness of the methodology, the issues of ontological and epistemic characteristics of the subject are touched upon, which is supplemented by direct indications of the division of knowledge into those that form a controlled subsystem – concepts, and those that form a controlling subsystem – categories. Methods for working with categories are formed – categorical system methodology (CSM), theory of dynamic information systems (TDIS, DIS), DIS-technology. CSM and TDIS are not only bases for the development of effective methodological projects, but they are focused on solving the problems of knowledge synthesis, which, in turn, should focus not only on interdisciplinarity, but also on the multi-aspect of the studied. The proposals outlined here are implemented in practice and in the educational process.

The article defines the features of understanding critical thinking and the features of its formation. The need for its formation is determined by the requirements of the labor market, the demand for a new type of ‘knowledge’ worker, as well as the criteria and goals of higher education. Successful formation of critical thinking involves specifying its understanding and highlighting its main characteristics.

The main lines of understanding critical thinking are defined: critical thinking in the broad and narrow senses; critical thinking in accordance with ‘frontier’ publications; critical thinking depending on the professional field of study and application. Based on a critical analysis of English-language literature, including review articles, the main approaches to understanding critical thinking are identified and systematized: philosophical, psychological, pedagogical, media. The features of each of the approaches are determined. The philosophical approach is focused on the dominance of the logical component of critical thinking. Within the framework of the philosophical approach, the ideal image of a critical thinker is considered. Accordingly, the specific circumstances of solving the problem, the essence of the problem, and the participants are not taken into account. The psychological approach concentrates on identifying specific operations of critical thinking. It takes into account circumstances, behavior, participants, motives, etc. The pedagogical approach is based on empirical data. It aims to address issues related to the definition of specific methods for teaching critical thinking and ways to check the results. In recent decades, the media approach to understanding and the development of critical thinking has been actively developing. It emphasizes such a component of critical thinking as working with information. It has been determined that the best option for understanding critical thinking is the so-called ‘compromise options’, including the ‘Delphi’ report. It integrates cognitive skills and dispositions. The former includes: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, conclusion, explanation, self-reflection and self-examination. The second: the desire for truth, openness of thinking, analytic, systematic thinking.

The digitalization of higher education is an objectively necessary process caused by the market needs for specialists with digital competencies and state support. Digitalization of higher education opens both new opportunities and creates new risks. Opportunities are associated with greater accessibility and flexibility of education, as well as its integration into the global educational space. The risks are associated with a market orientation to momentary market demands, a decrease in the content and fundamental nature of education, the fragmentation of knowledge and the replacement of full-fledged socialization with simple training of the workforce. Digitalization makes education more accessible, flexible and global. At the same time, education becomes more fragmented, opportunistic, reducing socialization to the formation of a labor force. The digital university, with its focus on individual educational trajectories and distance learning, implies project-thinking and individual work of the student, who builds his own curriculum to a large extent. An urgent task is to find and test a balanced educational model that combines a holistic approach to knowledge acquisition with a modular structure that allows a high degree of student autonomy in choosing courses, directions and specializations. In more concrete terms, this means connecting the hierarchical structure of knowledge acquisition with horizontal specialization - in other words, expanding the opportunities available to students should be accompanied by their integration into a unified concept of higher education. The article proposes the contours of such a model for building a university: expanding the list of courses available to students through distance learning, and not all courses offered may be limited to the current year of study; reconceptualization of the mission of the university; synergetic interaction of various universities for the implementation of joint educational programs. For Russia, where digitalization is proceeding at a fairly high pace, the search for an optimal strategy for the development of digital universities in different regions is a difficult task that requires not only financial injections, but, above all, managerial flexibility at different levels.

The article highlights the main trends and factors of transforming the dominant cultural space at the present stage of information technologies development, accompanied by a permanent crisis in all spheres of public life. The subject of research is considered in the context of object-oriented ontology from the perspective of understanding the phenomenon of information culture, that, implementing to the space of modern culture, stimulates globalization and heterogeneity, forming ‘cyberspace’ territory that determines heteropolar dynamics of cultural transformation vectors: those which are created by a person, and those which are socially dangerous. The authors interpret the problems of transformations and risks of the formation of the information society cultural space as a dilemma of technologies (regulations) and value meanings of creating culture as a reality of human existence. The article notes the position of object-oriented philosophy and speculative realism in the problem field of philosophical thought and in the theoretical understanding of the socio-cultural aspects of contemporary digital space. The paper also focuses on fixation and comprehension of real and sensory objects as simulacra, foundations and origins of simulation in digital and non-digital cultural space and applications of certain social practices. Cultural space in a rapidly developing information technology society is fundamentally changing its axiological, cognitive and regulative coordinates.

In conclusion, we systematize important factors of cultural transformations considered in the paper, and associated with the object-oriented comprehension of new variable possibilities of information and communication technologies in a digital society: interactivity of networks, virtualization of reality, ontologization and objectification of medial constructions of the image of the world, “cyber-performatization” of society, the dominance of digital mass culture, as well as challenges to man, new forms of alienations manifested in the location of the ‘interactive infosphere’ of cultural space.

The article deals with the philosophical problem of the formation of the moral environment of scientific management. The absolutization of the technocratic, bureaucratic approach to scientific management is criticized. The author introduces the concepts of ‘moral environment of scientific management’, ‘inspiratory management’. The moral environment of scientific management is studied on the basis of dialectical, synergetic methods. In the historical and philosophical context, ideas about higher values as the spiritual basis of scientific management are considered. Based on the concept of psychoenergetics by A. A. Bogdanov, the SMD methodology of G. P. Shchedrovitsky, the ideas of existential management by I. Nonaka, enlightened management by A. Maslow, the necessity of purposeful formation of the moral environment of scientific management in the process of communication in the system ‘man - society – organization’ is substantiated. The author notes that inspirational management as inspiration by higher meanings in the process of communication forms the moral environment of scientific management. The moral environment of scientific management is a metasystem that creates the conditions for the progressive development of society on the basis of the moral improvement of man, the development of his capabilities. The moral environment of scientific management orients a scientist towards the pursuit of truth, the labor meaning of life, professional development, civic activity, moral meanings. The author states that it is necessary to form a team of like-minded people, the collective subject of scientific management can be characterized as a learning organization. The development of applied technologies imbued with the pathos of moral feeling is carried out. The moral environment of scientific management contributes to the popularization of scientific knowledge.

The author comes to the conclusion that the basis of the moral environment of scientific management is a social idealized project, which includes rational and irrational elements of philosophy, science, religion, art, ideology. The modern social idealized project is based on the meritocratic project of the knowledge society, the moral ideal of a person - a professional and a citizen. The moral environment of scientific management, which includes symbolic media communications of knowledge, such as truth, the common good, knowledge, creates the basis for successful scientific management. In the absence of a unified moral environment for scientific management, the world community turns into an object of management by illegitimate structures of the global society. The moral environment of scientific management ensures the security of modern society.