Ideas and Ideals

The article analyzes the discourse of normalization as a specific form of social regulation. The aim of the research is to reveal the historical prerequisites and theoretical foundations of the formation of the discourse of normalization. To achieve this aim, the following objectives are addressed: to analyze the sociohistorical prerequisites for the emergence of the discourse of normalization in the 17th–18th centuries, when a transition took place from traditional repressive forms of power to rationally organized systems of managing the population, knowledge and the formation of subjectivity; to differentiate related concepts (norm, normative rule, normation, standardization, normalization); to compare normalization and normativity as different mechanisms of social regulation. The methodology combines historical and philosophical analysis with the conceptual approaches of Michel Foucault, the theory of normalism of Jürgen Link and the phenomenology of the “own” and the “alien” of Bernhard Waldenfels, and also relies on contemporary studies of norm and normality (M. Haloun, M. Spina, D. Taylor).

Five key prerequisites for the formation of the discourse of normalization are highlighted: the scientifi c revolution of the 17th century, which laid down a mechanistic vision of the world and man as an object of rational analysis; the philosophy of rationalism and the Enlightenment, which established the ideal of a rational subject and the need for normalization through education and socialization; state building and bureaucracy, which gave rise to biopolitics and disciplinary institutions (schools, hospitals, prisons, the army); the development of medicine, psychiatry and social sciences (statistics, demography), which established the norm as a statistically averaged indicator; the secularization of the Christian heritage, which transformed the ideas of sin and correction into secular practices of social control.

Special attention is paid to the differentiation of the concepts of norm, normative rule, normation, standardization and normalization, as well as to their interaction. Normalization appears as a multi-layered process – epistemological, institutional, cultural and bodily. The author analyzes its difference from normativity in terms of the character of functioning (external – internal), the direction of action (top-down – bottom-up) and the temporal structure (preceding action – emerging from practice). Normalization integrates rationalization, biopolitics and disciplinary practices, ensuring the transition from external coercion to the internal self-organization of society, turning rule into habit, power into consent, and deviation into a potential for renewal.

The results of the study show that normalization is a fundamental mechanism for the formation of governed subjectivity, the reproduction of social order and the maintenance of a balance between stability and adaptation. The study of this phenomenon is of key importance for socio-political philosophy, allowing us to understand the nature of modern power and the self-regulation of society.

This paper highlights the latest ideas related to metaphor studies already conducted and currently being conducted by Western English-speaking authors. What metaphor is, how it is generated and perceived, and what the process of metaphorization means for cognition and consciousness – everyday, scientific, and poetic. The processes associated with understanding metaphors are now receiving increased attention, since they are directly related to the processes occurring in the brain and determining our cognition. Researchers working to explain the essence of metaphor and the mechanisms of metaphorization cite dozens of names of their predecessors and opponents in their works, so an exhaustive review is impossible. But there are names in the literature on metaphor that cannot be ignored. In this paper, such personalities are considered by J. Lakoff and M. Johnson, as well as M. Turner. All authors agree that a metaphor is a mapping of one subject or area of life (Source Domain) to another subject or area (Target Domain). All theories also agree that the Source Domain is not fully mapped to the Target Domain – one feature, a bunch of features, or a system of reflections is displayed. Similarly, the Target Domain takes on not only what is displayed from the Source Domain. The mechanism of metaphorization is seen differently by different authors, and this paper presents several different visions. The paper shows that metaphorization is based not on comparison, but on categorization and the creation of an emergent conceptual space in which metaphor exists.

The article highlights the main semantic and contextual features of the use of the concepts ῥυθμός and ἁρμονία. The author traces the path of these terms from their early uses in poetry and prose to the formation of music-theoretical systems of the classical period. The main focus is on how the change in the meanings of these words refl ects a shift in the ancient perception of the world as a whole: from the search for objective cosmic laws to the analysis of the structure of human perception. The article shows that these concepts originally had different orientations: while harmony was conceived as an objective principle associated with natural laws and mathematical laws, rhythm was more related to humans, for example, the form of movement of their bodies and character. Examples from ancient medical teachings demonstrate how the rhythm of 

the heart and musical harmonies connected the microcosm of man with the macrocosm of the universe.

An important argument in favor of the hypothesis of a semantic shift in concepts is Plato’s critical position. The author emphasizes that it was during this period that the active differentiation of the musical arts began, leading to the disintegration of their archaic unity. Plato expresses conservative criticism of the separation of words, melody, and dance, but the very fact of this controversy only confi rms the process of the autonomization of music. The expansion and concretization of musical terminology at this time indicate that rhythm and harmony are being transformed into specialized tools of analysis.

A special place in the article is given to the comparison of the Pythagorean and Aristoxenian approaches. While for the Pythagoreans harmony was an ontological term expressing the structure of the cosmos, Aristoxenus transfers the study to the fi eld of psychophysiology. The author concludes that in his theory, rhythm becomes a subjective scheme that is superimposed on melody to make it accessible to human comprehension. Thus, the evolution of concepts marks the transition from a cosmological to a phenomenological description of music.

The presented study has two objectives: the first is to analyze the interpretations of Z. Freud’s works by 20th-century thinkers in the context of the linguistic component of the unconscious; the second is to determine the influence of the unconscious on the construction and transformation of narrative identity. It is hypothesized that the pragmatic approach and hermeneutic method structuring the linguistic expression of the unconscious is one of the key foundations for the construction and transformation of narrative identity. The unconscious is analyzed based on its philosophical interpretation by P. Ricoeur, J. Lacan and R. Rorty from the point of view of its connection with the symbolic and linguistic horizon. It demonstrates that the hermeneutic approach to understanding the unconscious is a key epistemological and practical tool for explicating the connection of the unconscious with the process of constructing personal identity through narrative. Understanding and integrating previously unconscious experiences into the conscious sphere through language and interpretation allows the individual to gain a more coherent and conscious understanding of their “I”, transforming the previously “inexpressible” into part of a meaningful personal history. This shifts the focus from the search for the “objective biological truth” of the unconscious to the process of semiosis and narrative construction of identity. It is argued that new “vocabularies” (the vocabulary used) and meanings (the meanings of the symbolic) allow the unconscious to be interpreted in such a way that it becomes understandable and integrated into the autobiographical narrative. Narrative identity thus acts as a mechanism for assimilating previously inexpressible or unacceptable (repressed) experiences, making them part of the conscious personal identity.

The article explores the ideas of concept, trope, and tropology, which, in the author’s view, change notions of what the Word is and how it differs from a name or language, which is unwilling or unable to convey the realities of not only another era, another region, but even its own culture. Modernity inherited this problem from the Middle Ages, with its idea of the creation of the world by the Word, which taught about the diverse and constant changes, even transformations, not only of the oral and written linguistic environment, but of style and way of life itself. The Word is presented in its duality: divine and human, natural and artifi cial. It exists in itself, the change of its meaning depends on the context in which it is placed. For the Middle Ages, a trope is not just a turn of phrase that enhances its expressiveness, it is a way of speech existence, its ontological characteristic; tropo-logic is the logic of being, not even the “scaffolding of the world,” as L. Wittgenstein believed, but its expression, presented in change. A concept is a grasp of a thing, how it “came into being,” something we have not yet dealt with and which is born before our eyes, changing form and outlines, breaking old terminology, introducing new content into it, giving terms new meaning, while remaining within the old language, who reluctantly part with his conquests, presenting statements as a kind of palimpsest. Tropes-turns instantly reveal the state of affairs that has befallen a person, capturing their ideological and even reputational level. The word itself becomes an expression of the inseparability of name and action.

This article attempts to discover the origins of medieval thinking not only in Greek Antiquity but also in Judaism.

This article presents a philosophical and psychological analysis of the nature of creativity, conducted at the intersection of several disciplines: classical philosophy, the psychoanalytic tradition, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence theory. The study is motivated by two circumstances: first, a debate with the concept of ‘impersonal’ creativity, which derives from M. Tsvetaeva’s ideas about the poet as a ‘receiver’ of higher powers, as well as the views of G.P. Shchedrovitsky. Secondly, the creation and development of large AI language models that demonstrate abilities previously considered the exclusive prerogative of humans – generating new knowledge and creating semiotic constructs. The central problem of the article is formulated as a question of the relationship between conscious and unconscious mechanisms in creative processes, as well as the extent to which a person is a subject, and to what extent a ‘medium’ or anthropological condition of the generated meanings. To solve this problem, a methodological approach is proposed that combines the author’s concept of dreams (which is generalized and corrected) and the author’s concept of ‘schematology’ (the theory of inventing complex signs that allow for the resolution of problematic situations). Three diverse cases are chosen as an empirical base: 1) the adolescent visionary work of C.G. Jung, in which the author analyzes the mechanism of the “psyche’s response” to a latent conflict with subsequent conscious schematization;2) the religious crisis of the God-seeker Akimushka, demonstrating the cyclical shift in paradigms (“God exists” / “God does not exist”) as a means of survival in an existential vacuum; 3) the metaphysical construction of worlds by E. Swedenborg, where scientific thinking and spiritual ‘visions’ intertwine in a hybrid process of constructing a new reality. Of particular interest is the comparison of the works of Swedenborg and Kant, as well as the parallels drawn with the work of neural networks. The author concludes that creativity is not reducible to the pure spontaneity of “Nothing” (S. Neretina) nor to the compilation of data. Creativity is interpreted as a complex hybrid process, where unconscious activity (the execution of blocked programs, hallucinations, daydreams) supplies the ‘raw material’—images and visions—while consciousness (intellect, logic, cultural norms) performs the function of correction and schematization, transforming this material into generally valid knowledge or a work of art. The article essentially substantiates the hypothesis that AI innovation is structurally similar to human creativity. A neural network operates with hidden connections (‘weights’), learning from huge datasets (which can be compared to unconscious natural processes and conscious activity), but lacks the existential experience of problematic situations, which fundamentally distinguishes machine generation from the anthropological creative act.

The article addresses the limitations of classical vector models of semantic space, which neglect reflexivity, anticipation, and the subject’s self-development. Meaning is conceptualized as reflexive “knowledge about knowledge,” requiring continuous assessment of its subjective significance in evolving life situations. Grounded in post-non-classical methodology, the semantic space of a self-developing subject—integrating existing and prospective knowledge—functions simultaneously as the instrument, result, and process of semiosis, ensuring the inseparable coupling of knowledge and meaning within a unified cognitive structure. Tensor formalization relies on three mathematical characteristics: dimensionality, rank, and the transformation law. In cognitive terms, dimensionality defines the instrument’s “resolution capacity,” rank determines the number of the researcher’s reflexive positions, and the transformation law operates as an active cognitive operator that integrates multiple descriptions and positions into a single act of understanding. This act realizes the dialectical unity of content, context, and communication. In the proposed model, semantic space, serving as an instrument, is structured not as a point continuum but as an accumulated network of three-dimensional discrete cells that encode rules for meaning actualization based on the instrument’s pre-givenness, the author’s position, and the future application of the result. As an anticipated outcome, it is modeled as a rank-3 tensor specifying three subject-positions: actualized, constructed, and future-continuing. As a process, semantic space unfolds through the cyclic reduction of the tensor network’s potential states, generating new topologies and driving the co-evolution of instrument, author, and meaning. The tensor organization of the semantic space enables meaning to be conceptualized as a dynamic activation pattern within the network, where it is distributed, context-dependent, and evolves over time. The self-developing subject serves as the topological locus of self-reference, leveraging fractal recursion to increase mental organizational complexity. Ultimately, the approach endows semiosis with existential significance, transforming semantic space into an instrument for future-building and continuous self-development, thereby enabling the establishment of dynamic orientations under uncertainty.

The article analyzes the psychologization of Western esotericism through the intellectual biography and oeuvre of Israel Regardie (1907–1985). Addressing the need to reconceptualize the boundaries between magical and scientific discourses in modern culture, the study draws on theoretical frameworks from leading scholars of esotericism (W. Hanegraaff, E. Asprem, M. Pasi, C. Partridge) and employs C. Plaisance’s typology of psychologization (terminological, idealist, reductive, compensatory) as its primary analytic tool. Tracing the evolution of Regardie’s thought – from his collaboration with Aleister Crowley and involvement in the Stella Matutina order to his engagement with Jungian psychoanalysis and Wilhelm Reich’s body-oriented therapy – the analysis demonstrates that his turn to psychology was not a mere act of reductionism. Through close reading of key works (The Middle Pillar, The Philosopher’s Stone, The Art of True Healing, etc.), the author argues that Regardie’s project of psychologization of magic constituted a complex strategy for modernizing esoteric practice. Regardie’s early writings exhibit terminological psychologization, translating Kabbalistic concepts into psychoanalytic language. His later works advance idealist and compensatory models, reinterpreting deities, and alchemical processes as archetypes of the collective unconscious and framing ritual as a psychotechnique for individuation and realization of the Self (in Jungian terms). Particular attention is paid to his incorporation of bodywork and relaxation techniques (influenced by Reich) into magical practice. The study concludes that psychologization in Regardie’s legacy served to legitimize magic within a secular society, relocating the sacred from the external cosmos to the individual’s inner world. Consequently, magic is transformed into a system of personal integration and therapeutic self-development. Regardie’s work thus exemplifies the theoretical paradigm of esoteric psychologization, illustrating how the confluence of esotericism and psychology does not negate magic but reconstitutes it as a viable framework for therapeutic self-knowledge within contemporary secular and scientific worldview.

This article introduces a hermeneutic model of triple meaning encoding developed on post-nonclassical methodology. The model aims to overcome the static nature of structural-semantic approaches that describe understanding as extracting ready-made meaning. The organization logic of sign-based text – text, author, intention – lets the reader view it as a trinity of spaces with increasing organizational complexity: the space of signs, the semiotic space of knowledge, and the semantic space of subjectively significant meanings. As a mental construct, the semantic space reproduces this organizational logic and simultaneously takes on three forms: 1) sign-based, 2) social, and 3) subjective. Knowledge is a constructed model of the subject’s life-world, while meanings imply a reflective evaluation of the reconstructed knowledge that holds subjective significance. Our model treats understanding as a recursive meaning-generating process where readers circulate meaning between three functional word modes: concept (within the reader’s discourse), category (a trigger that starts context restructuring for the reader), and meta-category (a semantic tuning fork that aligns interpretation with the author’s intention). This process unfolds as movement along a hermeneutic spiral: from pre-understanding through contextual analysis to anticipating the author’s design with subsequent interpretation correction. Each spiral turn transforms the subject’s semantic space, which simultaneously serves as tool, process, and result of understanding. The model’s scientific novelty lies in moving from static meaning reconstruction to dynamic, pragmatic-hermeneutic processuality. This approach shows that understanding produces not only extracted meaning but also subject self-development through reflexive restructuring of their semantic space. Thus, the focus shifts from reconstructing text content to developing the reader’s semantic competence – their ability to anticipate meaning and, consequently, to achieve reflexive self-development by improving their understanding tool.

This article presents an analysis of the emergence and development of the concept of transgression in philosophy, particularly in relation to the formation of the subject. The author explores the main factors that contributed to the emergence of this concept. Drawing on the ideas of Georges Bataille and Michel Foucault, the author examines how transgression connects to notions of prohibition, limits, and the sacred. The article delineates the relationship between transgression and fundamental aspects of human existence, such as eroticism and death, suggesting that familiarity with these themes illuminates the discontinuities in human life. It highlights both the continuity and distinctions in the approaches of Bataille and Foucault regarding transgression: for Bataille, it is associated with a temporary lifting of prohibitions, whereas for Foucault, it signifies a definitive overcoming of limits. The author concludes that Bataille’s and Foucault’s approaches can be viewed as two different perspectives: the cultura lanthropological and the ontological. The article also discusses the ‘bestial’ aspect that Bataille describes as the ‘Other’ within the self, proposing that authenticity in existence may be achieved through acts of transgression. Additionally, the article reveals the connection between transgression and the phenomenon of ‘guilty pleasure,’ emphasizing the social significance of transgressive acts as violations of prohibitions in the presence of the Other. For the first time, the role of the unconscious in transgression is considered, with transgression being described as foundational to the development of the subject. The author proposes a novel way of conceptualizing the subject, suggesting that individuals can redefine their foundations through acts of transgression. The central role of metanoia – changes in consciousness – is elucidated as a crucial event in transgression and its enabling conditions. Furthermore, the potential application of the concept of transgression to human cognitive development theory is explored. Ultimately, the author concludes that the concept of transgression can be utilized in various ways, underscoring its complexity and heuristic potential within contemporary philosophical discourse.