Ideas and Ideals

The article examines the potential of the library as a possible active participant in the interaction of science and society. The situation with the library nowadays can be described as the search for its new niche in the readers’ space. The purpose of the article is to analyze the possibilities of libraries for the development of communications between science and society. The first part of the article presents the history and analysis of the modern participation of libraries in the communication of science and society, the second part analyses the potential of libraries in this process. The authors come to the following conclusion: libraries can become one of the conditions for rational communication between science and society, which should act not only in the usual system of documentary communication, but also in the system of data communication, interpersonal communication. Libraries should expand their role in the society: to be an intermediary and serve not only “scientist to scientist” communication, but also “scientist to the society” communication. The study showed that various forms both one-time and repetitive mass events of a popular scientific nature have not yet become systemic. The practice of libraries’ participation in other facets of communication between science and society (increasing public understanding of science; involving the public in science) is not yet visible at all. The weak influence of libraries on the development of communications between science and society is also evidenced by the analysis of their activities presented on their websites. This practice is confirmed not only by the analysis of websites, but also by publications: their number is not large (31), and by the way, the authors tackle this topic only once. The paper suggests solving of the above-mentioned problems using huge potential of the libraries.

In the second half of the 18th century, an antique market flourished in Rome. That was largely due to the increased interest in the culture of the Ancient World, associated with excavations in Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as with the activities of the German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who was convinced of the need to turn to the art of antiquity, which, in his opinion, had ideal beauty and was capable of cultivating a noble artistic taste. In European countries and in Russia, collections of antiques were formed during that period. Travelers who came to Rome tended to buy ancient sculptures, gems, vases. They turned to antique dealers working in this art market. A special place among the antique dealers belonged to the British, such as Gavin Hamilton, Thomas Jenkins and James Byres. It is largely thanks to their efforts that excellent private collections of ancient art have been formed in Great Britain and interest in art in general has been developing. The article examines the activities of these antique dealers on the examples of two English collectors depicted in the portraits of the Italian artist Pompeo Batoni: William Weddell and Peter Beckford.

The article discusses the methods of constructing an invariant in musical art. The problem of the invariant in its final form is formulated as the problem of the limits of music. The answer to the question “what is music?” requires the formulation of its invariable properties, which are preserved in any form of acoustic realization of a musical concept. The comparison of three influential models of the invariant of music presented in the works of E. Kurt, G. Schenker and Yu.N. Kholopov allows us to draw a conclusion about a unified method for constructing the invariant of music. It is based on the idea of ​​primary energy, which reveals itself in the course of the embodiment of an artistic conception and appears to us through the acoustic realization of a piece of music. Invariant properties permeate the structure of the musical fabric and then ascend to the most important principles of musical expressiveness, which allow the very possibility of perceiving music as a meaningful sound, in contrast to acoustic phenomena of a different origin. Therefore, the construction of the invariant of musical art requires taking into account its features at hierarchically correlated large-scale levels of organization of musical creativity, perception and thinking. This requirement remains the most general and conventional, uniting strategies for finding an invariant even in those cases when they try to search for the area of ​​limiting invariant properties in various existential and conceptual spheres.

The era of Peter the Great was a time of fundamental changes. New reforms and orders were very unfamiliar to Russians, which is why the new Russian state required comprehensive means of glorification of new cultural and political reforms. Planning of new architecture, urban space and composition in pieces of fine art were based on a system of concepts: the concept of glorification of battles and wars won by the Russian army and navy, introducing European traditions in fine arts, introducing the Table of Ranks for service, and bringing European science to Russia. In other words, the creation of art, architecture and country residences was not random. The glorification of new reforms in Russia was the basis for new art. Conceptuality as a basic element of creative culture was founded in the beginning of the XVIII century. It determined the evolution of fine arts for the next several centuries. This is the reason why analysis of architecture and fine arts in the culture of Peter the Great’s era in terms of conceptual art is important. In conceptual art the conception is crucial, not the form.

Many prints were made in the first quarter of the XVIII century, dedicated to military victories and the new flourishing city: Saint-Petersburg. These prints were created by invited artists from Europe (A. Schoonebeek, P. Picart) and their Russian apprentices (A. Zubov and I. Zubov). J. Tannauer, L. Caravaque and G. Gzel created conceptual paintings dedicated to Peter the Great’s deeds. The “Petrine Baroque” style of architecture and regular urban planning has determined the evolution of Saint-Petersburg as a European city.

The “ruins” of cultural institutions have become the subject of sustained academic interest today. Traditional ideas about the educational mission of museums, the principles of museum exhibits are a thing of the past, are essentially rethought, replaced by new formats. The article aims to analyze the trends that have emerged in museum practice in the last decade. One of them is the actualization of the principles of museum criticism as a developing interdisciplinary field.

The gap between museum theory and practice has been considered and discussed many times. The 3rd issue of the journal “Ideas and Ideals” for 2021 published texts united in the heading “Museum in Contemporary Culture” and allowed to speak about the unity of views [3, 8, 16]. One cannot but agree with the opinion of the authors that museum criticism, along with criticism of art, literature, music (as, finally, restaurant or sports), predetermines various cultural priorities and extremely problematizes the sphere of taste preferences. In this regard, the need for critically informed practice takes on a pragmatic aspect. It is on this basis that a new idea is formulated about the possibilities of interaction between a professional museum worker and a modern visitor. The postulation of the significance of the “critical approach” in the professional self-determination of the museum is of fundamental importance. It is internal criticism as a necessary corrective factor that makes it possible to maintain the academic status of museology as an independent field of scientific activity.

The article reconstructs the framework of S.S. Averintsev’s culturology and outlines the contexts that make this theoretical model especially relevant today. The theory of the three stages of the word state, where, in addition to the poles in the traditional ‘sacred/reflexive (scientific, pluralistic)’ dichotomy is proclaimed an intermediate state, sacral-reflexive, and is interesting not only out of historical curiosity, it has significant heuristic potential. The current relevance of Averintsev’s culturology is ensured by the fact that his model is consistently and fundamentally realistic. A distinctive feature of this variant of culturology is the reliance on literary studies, on the typology of the word of M.M. Bakhtin. But this is culturology, the historical typology of culture, which leads to large-scale generalizations and universal models. In the late 1980s, Averintsev’s typology acquired the status of a historical model of types of rationality. This typology of culture turned out to be a ‘strong’ theory with many not only ontological implications, but also consequences important for epistemology and philosophy of science. Philosophers, art historians, historians and literary critics had reason thirty years ago to consider the challenges of such culturology provocative and nihilistic. It makes revolutionary demands on all humanities disciplines. But at the same time: the whole revolutionary nature of Averintsev’s theory remained precisely in the implications. The theory, which was ‘loud’ by the scale of universal claims, was pronounced in the published texts more than ‘quietly’, almost ‘in a whisper’. Perhaps, this antinomy is fundamental.

The article is devoted to the role of modern culture in the situation of permanent reforms. This is an understanding of the problem identified by Orekhovsky P. A. and Razumov V. I. in the journal “Ideas and Ideals” at the end of 2021. The author continues the discussion about the consequences of the spread of “narcissistic culture” in different areas of life. The author of the article studies the problem from the standpoint of a systematic approach. This methodology allows us to see the built-in social changes in the structure of the social system, the stabilizing role of culture as a “supersystem”. Such a methodological position excludes the possibility of criticizing the system from within, being one of its structures. Instead of critical analysis, a humanistic-semantic one is proposed, based on understanding, explanation, prognostication.

The methodological complex is built on the combinatorics of the humanistic-semantic, constructivist, systemic approach. The author proves the thesis of the all-penetrating nature and the stabilizing role of culture in modern managerial processes of updating the subsystems of society. The methods of the constructivist approach help to explain the distribution of new social roles. Society is differentiated into reformers (dominant actors) and those who are subject to reform (statistical actors). The theatrical terminology of the dramatic approach explains the playful meaning of social actions. The main game of the reformers is a “mousetrap”. It reveals the ‘pure’ qualities of the initiators of the reforms. The author studies the social roles and the specifics of their distribution in the processes of reformation.

The article considers the processes of reforming and reformation. Differences in the meanings, goals and tools of these processes are shown. Reforming is a social process based on the principles of humanism and justice. Reformation is a game which action takes place on the ‘fields of attraction’of discourses. Reformism is defined as a fashion for reform, for novelty, a trend for constant renewal of the structures of the society system. The goal is to receive benefits and advantages from the social position of the reformers. This is a game of dominant actors defending the right to change the rules of the game, access to resources. Reformation does not lead to the solution of social problems, exacerbates the course of socio-cultural processes. The risks from the consequences of reformation are anomie, social changes of a traumatic nature which all relevant actors feel, regardless of their dominance in the ‘fields of attraction’.

The system is brought into balance by culture with its system-forming functions that provide normative order. Using the techniques of integral sociology, the author shows the stabilizing role of the value core of culture in the life of the ‘society’ system.

This research in the area of social philosophy is a creation of an integrative theory, which addresses the question of what makes a marriage a lasting marriage. Sources of information are scientific results of different specialists in the field of close relationships and marriage. In the process of research and reflection, the following social-scientific theory arose: the dynamic of a lasting marriage is realised through such drivers as Meaning, Love, Commitment, Trust and Ritual. This dynamic is realised by interaction of these drivers. Love constitutes the foundation for all close relationships. The metaphysical basis, meaning, is necessary for the emergence and existence of commitment. Commitment fosters and encourages love as an attitude. Ritual is commitment expressed by actions and is responsible for loving actions. The most vivid and experimental of them is the sex act, in which all drivers of the dynamic of a lasting marriage are realised practically. It takes meaning from the highest purposes, such as morals, expediency, duty. Sex is an expression of love, and its repetition again and again is indeed a ritual. And in order to support the exclusivity, frequency and custom of this love and ritual commitment is crucial. For full realisation of sexual intimacy, which arises from love, ritual and commitment, we need trust. This way the sex act is an existential means for the interaction of all drivers of a lasting marriage.

            Contribution of this work consists in unifying already studied and known drivers into a joint structure, where each of them in its own right contributes to emergence, maintenance and strengthening of close relationships.

The newness of this research consists in the dynamics of interaction which creates an existential structure which maintains and fosters a lasting marriage, as an emerging property.

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.

This article examines the texts of the Indo-European tradition, which narrate about the myths of the origin of peoples. Thus, a segment of the Anglo-Saxon runic series correlates with Tacitus’s description of the origin of the Ingevon tribe. As a result, the parameters of the ethnically derived text are reconstructed. The parameters explain the choice of the sequence of the runes of the Anglo-Saxon Futhark. The restored text testifies that the Ingevons, who had the totem deity Ing, lived on the shores of the Ocean, and this was their homeland. Ethnogonic texts also tell about the correlation of totem and ethnonym in past eras. The German influence on the choice of the ethnonym Rus, determined by the alliterative connection of the name of the country with the name of Rurikovich, has been explained. The Rurikovich themselves came from the name of the Rhos tribe.

Many ethnogonic texts are associated with sacrificial rituals. In this context, of interest is the name Italia, which takes its origin in the sacred texts of the high sacred style. The most ancient Indo-European inscription in the Lusitanian language, written in a high style and telling about the origin of the Veaminikori tribe, is analyzed. The choice of the names of sacred animals is contrasted with the profane names of the Latin prayer to the god Mars. The suouetaurilia prayer bears witness to the repertoire of sacrificial texts about dairy animals. As a result, it becomes clear that the name Italy is derived from the name uitulus in a high sacred style.

Thus, the thematic contours of Indo-European texts containing ethnogonic myths about the origin of peoples are revealed. The boundaries between cultures are erased, and the Indo-European prototext comes to the fore, giving impetus to the genesis of ethnonyms, the naming of totems, as well as the names of their own tribal leaders.

Thus, we can conclude that the sacred names of young dairy animals are represented in the Lusitanian language. In the rite of sacrifice, the scale of high style is attested. The name Italia refers precisely to the solemn sacred layer of vocabulary, but already as the implicit name of a Latin prayer to the god Mars.

In the proportions of a proper name, rules for handling a name are incorporated, which vary from tradition to tradition. Attention is drawn to the special nature of ethnogonic texts that shed light on the origin of peoples. Cultural boundaries can be the limit that generates recognizable patterns that migrate from culture to culture.