Ideas and Ideals

The paper examines Aristotle’s place in one of the most signifi cant public education projects in late 19th to early 20th century Russia – the “Home Reading Programs” (1894–1914), published by the Moscow Commission for Self-Education.
The University Extension movement emerged as an attempt to overcome the class, geographic, and fi nancial barriers that prevented broad segments of the population from accessing systematic university knowledge. The “Programs”
offered readers structured courses in core academic disciplines, accompanied by recommended literature, methodological materials, and a system for assessing comprehension. Contrary to the widespread view that Aristotelian philosophy had weak reception in Russia, within the “Programs,” Aristotle’s philosophy occupies a central position in logic, psychology, political theory, law, history, literature, and aesthetics. Logic essentially in its Aristotelian version is treated as
the foundation of philosophical and scientifi c thinking. His political treatises are
used in the study of history and law, providing criteria for analyzing contemporary
political developments, patterns of political evolution, causes of coup-d’etat,
and actual governmental mechanisms. The Poetics serves as a basis for analyzing
literary forms and aesthetic theories. In the context of the “Programs,” Aristotle
appears not merely as an ancient author but as a relevant source of theoretical
models used to analyze both classical and modern sociocultural experience.
The “Programs” shaped an image of Aristotle as a universal thinker, a systematizer
of knowledge, the founder of scientifi c rationality, and the creator of
a scholarly tradition that retains methodological signifi cance for modernity.
Plato’s role is far more modest – he is portrayed as a mere philosopher of the past,
a dreamy author of idealistic doctrines that align philosophy with religion, and
of utopian political models. His philosophy is inferior to Aristotle’s in terms of
maturity and analytical rigor. The paper’s results demonstrate the signifi cance
of Aristotle’s philosophy in promoting models of intellectual culture through
the popularization and democratization of university education. They also offer
a new perspective on the scale and nature of the reception of Aristotelianism in
Russian culture within the context of educational initiatives of the time, and contribute
to a deeper understanding of the history of national education.

The article is devoted to the consideration of the problem of the relationship
between M. Heidegger’s ‘anti-metaphysical’ project and the so-called ‘indictment’,
which, with the assistance of a signifi cant part of representatives of
modern Western philosophy, seeks to present his philosophy as a metapolitical
project of affi rming the priority signifi cance of German’s ideas ‘soil’, ‘blood’,
‘destiny’, ‘spirit’ for world history. The author of the article presents the thesis
that the ‘anti-metaphysical’ project is a marker of the fact that accusations of the
national-socialist character of M. Heidegger’s philosophical thinking are groundless
and may relate only to his personal views, which had a more or less long-term
nature. The development of this thesis is based on the consideration of the criticism
of the fundamental ontology of M. Heidegger by the French phenomenologists
J. -L. Marion and M. Henry.
In the fi rst part of the article the author presents a historical-philosophical
view of M. Heidegger’s ontology of intentionality as an ecstatic sphere of the being
of the beings, or ‘Logos’, which acts as the main element in the structure of
the fundamental ontology and metaphysics of fi nitude “Being-Logos-Beings”.
The second part of the article proposes to examine M. Heidegger’s Dasein
in the context of his doctrine of the ‘human-guardian’ of beings in its being.
This doctrine serves as a basis for radically questioning the assertions regarding
the metaphysical content implicitly present in the philosophy of M. Heidegger.
This allows us to remove accusations from fundamental ontology, the metaphysics
of fi nitude and the philosophy of the event in the presence of “national-socialist”
contents in them and to point out the inaccuracies contained in the criticism
of M. Heidegger by J. -L. Marion and M. Henry..

The article attempts to theoretically comprehend Gnostic worldview as an intellectual phenomenon that accompanies the history of mankind from ancient times to the present. Gnosticism will be presented as a real participant in social
progress, paradoxically guiding its trajectory along the path of improving the social system through the denial of life-affi rming teachings and practices. Determining the essence of Gnosticism, you can probably repeat after the classic that
he has always been part of the force that “wanting evil, does good.” However, here, of course, one should take into account the shades of this mysterious phenomenon,
which, if desired, can be counted more than a dozen. Some of them are initially painted in more or less noble tones, while some look ominous and destructive. Therefore, it is necessary to state the immense scope of the circulation
of Gnostic ideas that require accurate and thorough identifi cation and verifi cation in order to develop an adequate attitude to the state of affairs in the spectrum
from politics and economics, culture and religion to science and philosophy, mass media and everyday activities of people. Note that the insuffi cient recognition of Gnosticism as an agent of serious transformations in various fi elds, as well as its weak conceptualization, primarily in secular science, create a tempting horizon for promising research. However, it is worth warning against a superfi cial attitude towards Gnosticism as a cultural spasm or religious scam with Eastern characteristics, which fl ared up brightly and
quickly disappeared two thousand years ago. This approach makes it diffi cult to see the essential characteristics of some important processes that are developing
before our eyes today.

A characteristic feature of the consumer society is the cult of the body, which has replaced the cult of the soul. (J. Baudrillard). The author, wondering about the reasons for such a transformation, sees the explanation in the Hesychast controversies of the 14th century, the core of which was the famous theological controversy between Gregory Palama and Varlaam the Calabrian, the starting point for such a fi nale. The essence of this controversy was the question of the possibility of God’s Knowledge and its ways. The position of Varlaam the Calabrian was reduced to the impossibility of Knowledge of God due to Its absolute transcendence, while Gregory Palama, without denying this, in fact, defended the real possibility of living, direct communication with God, unthinkable for the Calabrian monk. To substantiate his position, G. Palama, based on the thoughts of previous fathers and teachers of the Church, as well as appealing to the experience of the Athonite hesychasts, wrote a number of works, primarily “Triads in Defense of the Sacred Silent” and “The One Hundred and Fifty Chapters”, which are the subject of analysis in this article. The theological discussion, having raised deep philosophical problems related to man’s place in the world, his destiny, and his relationship with God, revealed serious disagreements between the opponents. During the discussion, G. Palama turns to Orthodox anthropology, which goes back to the biblical understanding of man, whose purpose is theosis or restoring his original integrity. Varlaam the Calabrian, being a fan of ancient philosophy, adhered to the dualistic concept of man, which contrasted soul and body, in fact, reducing man to a rational principle. At the same time, both the dogmas of faith and the conclusions of ancient philosophers are equally authoritative and equally legitimate for him. V. the Calabrian, becoming one of the fathers of the Western Renaissance, thus opened the way to a secular New Age. The cult of the human mind and the autonomy of the human personality have brought the desacralization of the soul to its logical conclusion: replacing the cult of the soul with the cult of the body.

This article introduces and analyzes the “thanatological argument” in order to reveal and analyze the mechanisms that make it possible for a person to justify
his or her own fi nitude. The thanatological argument is understood as a philosophical justifi cation of the conditions under which a person is able to come to the conclusion about his or her own mortality. The author seeks to identify
how knowledge of death is included in the structure of human experience and to demonstrate that the introduction of this argument serves as a heuristically signifi cant conceptual optics that allows us to determine the various bases for
the formation of knowledge about death, both in the intersubjective dimension (through the experience of another, loss, empathy) and at the level of a priori structures of individual consciousness. The purpose of this article is the introduction and philosophical development of the “thanatological argument” within the framework of the analysis of epistemological and ontological ways of justifying
human fi nitude. Methodologically, the article combines philosophical interpretation with elements of conceptual analysis, which allows us to reconstruct the logic of how various authors justify the fi nitude of human existence.
The research is based on two mutually exclusive trajectories: the a priori and the inductive. Proponents of the a priori approach (M. Scheler, G. Simmel, M. Heidegger, M. Conche, E. Fink) identify knowledge of death as intrinsically
inherent to human existence, not requiring external experience of the death of another. Advocates of the inductive approach (J. Derrida, G. Marcel, J.-P. Sartre,
P.-L. Landsberg) argue that a clear recognition of one’s own fi nitude arises only through the perception of the death of the other, where the “gift of death” of the other becomes a necessary condition for the justifi cation of one’s own
fi nite existence. As a result of the conducted study, the author concludes that the introduction of the “thanatological argument” highlights its heuristic value as a
concept potentially useful not only for the development of philosophical thanatology, but also for interdisciplinary research in the fi elds of anthropology, psychoanalysis,
cultural studies, and other disciplines in which the theme of death occupies a central place.tology, but also for interdisciplinary research in the fi elds of anthropology, psychoanalysis, cultural studies, and other disciplines in which the theme of death occupies a central place. 

Frame analysis, which examines the biased nature of our ways of using signs in communicative processes and which is relevant to the modern synergetic picture
of the world, continues the long-standing traditions of hermeneutics and medieval exegesis. In acts of communication, frames of perception and presentation
are permanently converted: response presentations are formed on the basis of received and understood messages. Conversion processes generate an abundance of connotations with which the original meanings are overgrown. Sometimes they are destructive, often banal. But it is the competition of connotations that serves as a source of development. Perceptual frames are always
based on hidden premises (prejudices). The cultural and personal codes of thi bias are invisible to its bearers. In the lexicon of frame analysis, these initial dispositions
of perceptions can be presented as expectation frames. The clash of expectation frames with reality awakens emotions, with which the comprehension of the world begins. The possible cultural shocks in this connection constitute
the empirical material for identifying and criticizing the hidden prerequisites of perception, the features of its “optics”.
After Wittgenstein, researchers prefer the concept of a “door” to the frame of a dispassionate “mirror” as a generally accepted metaphor of cognitive relations in the New Age. It is set in motion by acts of doubt, but the lower door hinge, with its immobility, symbolizes bias as the absence of any doubts regarding preconceived contents, that is, frames of expectations. Now the world behind the looking glass is of interest, the door to which still needs to be discovered.
In connection with the modern emphasis on pragmatic aspirations, presentation frames have been better studied. Brands are of particular interest: they noisily claim the generally signifi cant value of presentations and are effective for manipulative purposes. Meanwhile, the lexicon of frame analysis should be introduced with a whisper of expectation frames. Lively games of frames of perceptions
and presentations constitute the main communicative body, while brands only close the lexicon from the side opposite to the original preconceived expectations.

The relationship between the unconscious and narrative identity remains unresolved within Russian philosophy. This study seeks to rectify this situation. The work’s scientifi c novelty is also determined by its interdisciplinary approach,
which integrates the traditions of phenomenology (E. Husserl), psychoanalysis (S. Freud), and philosophical hermeneutics (P. Ricoeur). This article conceptualizes
the unconscious as a noumenal source of subjectivity, inaccessible to direct signifi cation but manifesting itself through symptoms and affects. As a noumenon, the unconscious is inaccessible to direct reference, precedes symbolization, and serves as a space for the accumulation of “pre-refl ective” experience A hypothesis is advanced and substantiated regarding the dual function of the
unconscious in the structure of narrative identity: on the one hand, it serves as a “reservoir” for the formation of counternarratives that challenge established
self-narratives, while on the other, it constitutes the foundation of pre-reflective experience, ensuring the continuity of the pre-refl ective and the affective content
of implicit memory. It is demonstrated that the process of constructing narrative identity is linked not only to the symbolic horizon but also to affective experience
rooted in pre-refl ective experience, opening new perspectives for understanding the dynamics of personal identity construction.

The article discusses the position expressed by Peter Engelmeyer, the fi rst Russian philosopher of technology, that signs, language and thinking can be subsumed under the concept of technology. The author shows that there is indeed a problem here, to solve the problem it is necessary to understand and distinguish between the concept of technology and non-technology, represented by signs, language and thinking. Based on his studies of the nature and genesis of technology, he characterizes the latter as a cultural and historical formation, a solution to unsolvable problems and tasks, as an artifact that allows solving such problems and creating new natural processes that were previously unobservable and even non-existent, and fi nally, as a conceptualization of technology. Characterizing signs, the author shows that the meaning and the sign as a whole, as a concept, in contrast to the artifact, as a product of activity, relate to the inner, to the life world of a man. For a better understanding of this thesis, a case is considered – a story told by K. Jung in his last book, on the material of which the concept of the life world and the scheme explaining Jung’s act are introduced. Regarding language and thinking, two cases are distinguished: in one they are not technology, in the other, if rules and methodology are used, they can be considered as intellectual technology. The last part of the article discusses hybrid types of technology, specifi cally neural computers. The author shows that in a neurocomputer, due to technical imitation of the neural network and training, a model is created that allows, at the request of a person, to take information from the Internet, construct written speech according to the rules of language and reason according to the rules of logic. At the same time, this model does not replace natural intelligence, which lives and unfolds in people and in social communications. Since people are constantly improving computer technology and trying to replace natural intelligence with artifi cial intelligence, the neurocomputer as a model becomes more and more perfect in terms of the product (the results of linguistic communication and thinking).

In the 20th century, philosophy saw a number of rediscoveries of the idea of culture and, accordingly, the formation of approaches to its study. Given the extremely “confused and ambiguous social history” (T. Eagleton) of this idea, the article reveals its presence in the thoughts of different generations of Russian philosophers. The article is based on the materials of the book “Philosophical Generations” (Moscow, 2022), which contains a collection of autobiographical narratives of Russian philosophers of the mid-20th – early 21st centuries. Based on the memoirs and thoughts of philosophers about their time, the development of the concept of “culture”, its semantic emphases and fl uctuations in the second half of the 20th century are studied. The rich material presented in this “chronicle of the Moscow philosophical community” allows us to trace the specifi cs of philosophical solutions to the “problem of culture” and the reverse impact of structural transformations of culture, art, and aesthetics on philosophy. The search for a relevant philosophical language to describe cultural dynamics in an era of constant and multiple crises deserves special attention. The author of the article suggests looking for ways to place the problem of culture in a philosophical context associated with tradition, modernity and new methodologies in the humanities.

In search of the specifi cs of the domestic approach to the phenomenon of culture, the author turns to the analysis of discussions around the ‘philosophy of culture’, ‘cultural studies’, ‘cultural research’, ‘dialogue of cultures’. Particular attention is paid to the humanitarian discussions of the 1980-1990s, in particular, the discussion around the relevance of the Silver Age, the ‘cult’ of which fell precisely on these years, is reconstructed. The conducted research made it possible to identify, on the one hand, the generational specifi city of the theoretical positions and formulations of the issue of culture presented in the book (fi xing points of misunderstanding and breaks), and on the other, to catch traces of their interactions.

The article is devoted to the consideration of the problem of the relationship between M. Heidegger’s ‘anti-metaphysical’ project and the so-called ‘indictment’, which, with the assistance of a signifi cant part of representatives of modern Western philosophy, seeks to present his philosophy as a metapolitical project of affi rming the priority signifi cance of German ‘soil’, ‘blood’, ‘destiny’, ‘spirit’ for the world history. Appeals to the meaning of M. Heidegger’s philosophy of the event as a refl ection on the historicity of the accomplishment of the truth of Being itself, which has nothing in common with the will to power, which is the apogee of the metaphysical style of thinking, are rejected by these representatives as false and bewitching concepts designed to obscure and hide the ‘true’ intentions of the philosopher. The author of the article presents the thesis that the ‘anti-metaphysical’ project is a marker of the fact that accusations of the national-socialist character of M. Heidegger’s philosophical thinking are groundless and may relate only to his personal views, which had a more or less longterm nature. The development of this thesis is based on the consideration of the criticism of the fundamental ontology of M. Heidegger by the French phenomenologists J. -L. Marion and M. Henry. In analyzing the views of the abovementioned authors, the fi rst part of the article presents a historical-philosophical view of M. Heidegger’s ontology of intentionality as an ecstatic sphere of the being of the beings, or ‘Logos’, which acts as a main element in the structure of the fundamental ontology and metaphysics of fi nitude “Being-Logos-Beings”.