Ideas and Ideals

The article deals with the problem of correlation between the theory and practice of Russian federalism. The author shows the relationship between sovereignization and the formation of a new Russian statehood at the beginning of the 1990s. The author also highlights the cyclicality of fluctuations from decentralization to over-centralization in relations between the center and the region. Federalism is seen as an institution, as a normative model, and as a practice. The paper draws particular attention to the historical context of the formation of the Russian statehood: “the parade of sovereignties”, the collapse of the USSR, the adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Federative Treaty on the authority demarcation with the Republic of Tatarstan. The author suggests that the inertia of decentralization after the collapse of the USSR not overcome by the Russian Federation in the 1990s prompted the federal center to borrow elements of unitarism. In the 2000s negotiability inability of elites in all authority levels was forcibly compensating by construction of “power vertical”. However, already by the mid-2000s the management centralization turns into a self-sufficient trend. The comprehension of the phenomenon of Russian federalism, the compliances of institutional practices with constitutional principles, the search for its optimal model and other issues served as a starting point for an interdisciplinary discussion. To date, several directions have been formed, each of which has its own argumentation in the dispute between supporters and opponents of federalism, who believe, that the unitary model of Russia's structure to be more optimal. It has been suggested that the negative experience of decentralization of the 1990s is associated in academic and everyday discourse with federalization. Such a setup prevents the objective understanding of this phenomenon as a factor that has played a positive role in the formation of the new post-Soviet statehood of Russia. The thesis is substantiated by the fact that with the entry of the Crimea into Russia, the federalist discourse acquired a new breath. To prove this argument, the author refers to cases illustrating the desire of individual subjects to use the institutions of federalism to build parity relations with the center to solve issues that are under the joint jurisdiction of Moscow and the regions. The author comes to the conclusion about maturing of prerequisites for a new cycle in the development of federal relations. The lack of budgetary funds, which the majority of subjects is experiencing now, makes them exercise their authorities, pushes regions to the need to expand the scope of their rights. The strategies of interaction between the federal center and the subjects of the Russian Federation are proposed to be described in the metaphors of bargaining and partnership.

The main object of imagological research is perception of the ‘other’ by representations of various cultures. The question is ‘what’ and not ‘who’ represents a culture. The key concept in imagology is that of ‘archetype’, which is fixated through centuries in folklore (fairytales, mythology and epics). It is exactly the archetype which predetermines the images dominant in this or that folk. Imagologists presume that an image is not static and constantly changes. The change in the spiritual condition of a folk, stipulated by certain events, triggers the respective archetypes. A phenotype, just like an image, does not remain unchanged, either; it changes under the influence of natural forces, such as genetics and environment. An image, on the other hand, evolves under the influence of three main characteristics of sapiens: the capability of creative thinking, speech, and creative activity (the capability of creating essential objects). In the self-consciousness of every nation, there are certain elements of nature (landscape types, rivers, mountain peaks, steppes etc.) which represent an integral part of archetype. They occupy a particular place in songs, poems and legends (e.g. Rhine for the Germans, Volga for the Russians or the Carpathian basin for the Hungarians). The individual and collective perception of the ‘other’ is often selective, i.e. when only a certain part of the whole is scrutinized, which naturally results in the appearance of prejudices and stereotypes, even given a careful study of this isolated element. The ‘other’, is, according to imagology, not synonymous to ‘hostile’, it all depends upon the individual characteristics (content) of the ‘other’. Realization of the contours of one’s own and foreign cultures allows better communication with the ‘other’. In his article, the author illustrates the potentially useful nature of imagological applications, in order to clarify the inalienable discrepancy between interests and values in the field of inter-ethnic and inter-national relations.

The article considers the problem of modern terrorism, which has been attracting the attention of researchers for several decades. Despite the worldwide actualization of this issue, the number of terrorist attacks is becoming more and more every day. The failure of counter-terrorism activities rests, first of all, in misunderstanding of the essence of this social phenomenon.The usual estimation of different sorts of actions in terms of “good” or “bad” distracts researchers from understanding the deeper causes of the origin of this phenomenon. The author pays special attention to the fact that terrorism, in its basis, is a complex phenomenon, which includes the elements of other events close to it. The paper provides a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of terrorism, which allows to identify its various aspects as well as to show the interrelation between them (violence, fear, etc.). The author also draws an analogy between terrorism and such phenomena as terror, war and extremism. This interdisciplinary analysis allowed to expand the understanding of this “violence of the XXI century” without demonizing its main actors. The paper draws special attention to the problem of mutual influence of the mass media system and terrorist organizations. Is it possible for terrorism to exist outside the media? This issue affects a huge layer of modern problems: from the journalism ethics to the legitimacy of restrictions in the use of the Internet. The answers to these questions will help us to look at terrorism not just as a negative phenomenon of modernity, but as a self-regulating social symbolic space existing in the context of globalization.

First appeared in the ancient world as the temple of the Muses, the museum became an expression of the idea to preserve the unique objects of the natural and artificial world necessary to satisfy the spiritual needs of a man. Historically, the reality of the museum has been repeatedly changing; it has been able to easily adapt to changing conditions. We find different ideas about the museum in antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the new and modern times. At the moment there are various approaches to understanding the museum as a phenomenon. The museum is presented as a symbol, sign, core, instrument, mechanism, intermediary, reflection, translator, generator, potential, center, project, producer, field, space, keeper, part, element, result, clipboard, value, category of culture. At the same time, the museum acts as a social institution, a social object of management, a form of social memory, social information, a mechanism for fixing social experience, achievements of the epoch. The museum has close relations with culture and society and it is considered to be their product and reflection, allowing to travel through centuries and territories. The author considers the museum as a category of thinking, basing on P. Findlen’s thought about a museum as a mental category (intellectual experience of collecting and preserving “the past in the mirror of the present”), the thought close to understanding of the museum by Z. Stránský as one of the forms of a person’s specific relationship to reality, and the author also applies categories of the system methodology and the theory of dynamic information systems of V. Razumov and V. Sizikov. The author considers the museum as a category of thinking; using the triadic method. The system of interrelated concepts has been formed, reflecting the basis for the creation and existence of the museum. The paper creates the foundation for further discussions on the essence of this socio-cultural phenomenon.

The nature of Western civilization has been interpreted in many ways in the majority of non-European societies, which faced it. This process was mostly pronounced in British India. The representatives of the new, colonialist-built elites had to reflect upon not only their own and European living principles, but also to discuss the topics concerning their submissive and fairly complicated position in that political system. The paper analyzes the personal views of a famous Bengali writer of the XIX century Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. He was not only a famous writer, but also an extremely successful person in the Bengali society of those times. After getting a perfect education, he achieved the highest point of his career. Then he started sharing his opinions in public, which, considering his social status and Bengali social structure of that time, was fairly venturous. Entering a public epistolary intercourse with one prominent European figure, he began to protect the Hindu religion from the outside attacks and he even questioned the well-known idea of Europe’s intellectual supremacy. With the help of his satiric writers, e.g. «Kamalakanta», he actually poured ridicule not only on the colonial position of his country, but also on the Western system of International Law. Remaining a bearer of Western world view and values, he did not challenge the key achievements of the European world, Bankim Chandra tried to reveal its various problems. Thereby the writer proposed his own way of overcoming one of the most essential colonial state questions – the dilemma between westernization and the drive for their own identity.

This article deals with various historical treatments of the problem of impassibility or passibility of God. The author demonstrates connection of passibilism as the view admitting divine suffering with the sociocultural context of modernity, and also points out different attitudes throughout history to whatever is considered to be worthy of God. Standard concept of ancient philosophical theology held absolute impassibility of God. While Christian thought of Late Antiquity likewise considered God to be impassible, it did not exclude discourse of the suffering of God the Son. This opinion transpired throughout medieval period as well as Reformation, although Luther’s theology of the cross made an emphasis on divine revelation in the suffering of Christ. It was the dialectical approach of Hegel’s philosophy of religion that laid foundation for the option of theological passibilism. Such views came into being in the late 19^th – early 20^th century in Germany, England, and Russia. N. Berdyaev especially made an influence on subsequent thought. Among principal reasons for the passibilist development one can name popular view of uncritical reception of ancient Greek philosophy by the early Christian thought, process theology, apologetic need in new approaches to theodicy in view of global cataclysms of the 20^th century that caused massive suffering of people, and, finally, democratization of political life as compared to absolutist monarchies of old. The author observes peculiar approaches in contexts of Japan, Korea, and African continent. While modern passibilism holds that only the concept of the suffering God is capable of alleviating human suffering, representatives of the classical Christian framework tended to find consolation rather God’s impassibility. Considering shift in view on impassibility of God as an integral part of historical-philosophical development, the author highlights possible incompatibility of the frameworks of Antiquity and modernity and does not find grounds for critique of the concept of Antiquity from the perspective of modern metaphysical sensitivities.

Philosophy (as the world-view) was not the first way to create a description of the world. Before that there was a whole sequence of other descriptions.It is very important that the epos gradually displaced the myth, and logos displaced epos.By the 5 century BC, the truth was sought philosophically, and it is the Logos that becomes the language of philosophy and the new worldview.The author analyzes the words of Plato from the fourth book of “The Republic”, in which he talks about the subtle power structure of a person. We are talking about those forces - dunamis - which determine to which part of the society this or that person belongs. Those who rule must develop the logisticon - the power of the mind or, more precisely, the reason; defenders and guards - the power of thumos (spirit). But the rest of the free citizens of the city-state live on the force, called epithumia, that is, desire. The article discusses the movement back: from the change of worldview and revolutions to the very first coup - the battle of the Titans and Gods. Why philosophers, who in general do not recognize the gods, were on their side? The particular outrage of the Greek philosophers was caused by the way of thinking, used by the people of manual labor. The insignificance of manual labor is a serious ideological attitude, manifested through the public opinion of the ruling class, because it is manual labor that is a sign of the majority of society: farmers, artisans and merchants. In other words, we can interpret the revolution that took place in the world of the gods and raised Olympus over the Earth as the struggle of the previous cults with the new, with the cult of gods of the military aristocracy. But the author is convinced that the struggle for Olympus is not over yet. If you listen, you will hear that there is a battle for the Mind, changing the nature of man. Because we have made the choice: to be with the gods, to be their creation – Homo sapiens.

The author puts forward proposals for reforming domestic education on the eve of global changes in the global social system. The paper does not give concrete practical recommendations, but rather the methodology of such reforms, criticizing the competence-based approach. The author was guided by the idea that the new does not arise by the eradication or destruction of the old, but next to the old, gradually expanding and displacing the old. The article consists of three parts. In the first part, the author shares his thoughts on the transformation of the competence-based approach in order to bring it in line with the domestic theory and practice of education, which will combine the best achievements of the national tradition with Western experience. The second part is devoted to the guidelines of the reforming of education process. In the context of global transformations of the entire socio-cultural system, a new version of the cultural revolution in Russian society can become a reference point, which will prepare new industrialization, which is possible, however, only in favorable conditions. At the present time, it is necessary to at least keep all the best that we have in the educational system from further destruction. The third part of the article is devoted to the reflection on the reformation of the system of postgraduate education. The idea is to stimulate the process of networking between scientists from central and provincial universities, resulting in a mutual reinforcement effect: provincial scientists and educators will have access to the latest achievements of science, and scientists from capitals will get new opportunities to influence civil society in Russia.

The philosophical heritage of the great French philosopher Gilbert Simondon is being slowly but steadily mastered by domestic philosophy. In the present article, we will try to make out one of the important issues related to the key problem raised by Simondon – the problem of individuation, namely, the origin of individualized beings in the light of such concept – important for Simondon's philosophical strategy – as transduction, drawing also other concomitant ideas. In the course of the narration, it will be considered how transduction was understood in the psychological studies of the French scientist Jean Piaget. Also it will be shown that although Simondon wrote before the advent of studies relating to complexity, chaos and self-organization and did not speak directly about interdisciplinarity, it can nevertheless be said that his work can be considered as a direct precursor of these trends in science. Moreover, his work can offer them a kind of ontology, which substantiates the conclusions reached by these disciplines, given Simondon’s continued interest in cybernetics and thermodynamics, as precursors to these scientific strategies. An example of this is the specifically interpreted theory of phase transitions proposed by Simondon. Besides, Simondon believes that there are no permanent organizations, but there are only organizational processes. Transduction forms a link between such processes. It keeps the latter in a metastable state, which persists for a long time. Simultaneously, the mechanisms of transduction influence on organization and cause, at times, significant changes in it. Therefore, Simondon's reflections on transduction (in inanimate, living and social formations) are very important and modern.