Ideas and Ideals

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.

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.

The research attempts at solving the problem of tolerance compatibility with Orthodox values. The concept of tolerance arouses ambiguous feelings in Russia. A fairly common point of view is that tolerance is recognized exclusively as a Western value, being completely foreign to the Orthodox tradition. The article analyzes different approaches to the concept of tolerance and reveals its key meanings. As for the very concept of tolerance, the author agrees with those researchers who argue for this term to be clarified, since tolerance cannot be reduced only to being patient. Patience must be supplemented by the recognition of the ‘other’ as an equal. The analysis substantiates the argument that the real recognition of the ‘other’ and a different system of values as well as otherness as such is possible only in the format of a dialogue.  The article reveals the ontological essence of love and examines the Orthodox understanding of love, which is opposed to tolerance by its critics. For the analysis of the Orthodox viewpoint the author relies on the patristic heritage, primarily on the works of the pillar of Orthodoxy, the monk Maximus the Confessor as well as St. Theophan the Recluse and others. The process of comparing a tolerant position with a love-based strategy of behavior reveals some points of convergence, such as: respect for the other, recognition of his right to be himself, refusal of violence against the individual, refusal to look at a person as a means to solve their own problems, irreducibility of a person to his beliefs or behavior. At the same time, the research leads to the conclusion that there is a significant difference between tolerance and love, with this difference being related to a diverse view of human nature.  From the Orthodox point of view, love as a life position is a view of a person as a being endowed with spirituality that determines one’s essence. This is a view of man as a potentially divine being, while tolerance views man as a representative of the human race whose life is limited to the earthly matters. The author substantiates the conclusion about the meaninglessness of contrasting tolerance and love, since these concepts reflect the stages of a person’s spiritual ascent, whose top is love.

The COVID-19 pandemic refreshes the view of urban spaces as objects of consumption. The article describes the constituent elements of urban space and the process of human interaction with it, mediated by sign-symbolic perception. The socio-philosophical analysis of the phenomenon of consumption as a phenomenon developing within the framework of understanding the praxeological relationship of human to world is presented. The study contains a synthesis of several modern concepts based on a sociocultural approach. Based on the concept of A. Warde, the author proposes that consumption be seen as a process that is a moment in the many practices of everyday life which is characterized by evaluation, use and appropriation. The act of consumption is viewed as an internally-oriented, goal-rational human behavior aimed at achieving emotional experiences, as a part of the self-determination of the individual (G. Schulze). The conceptual link explaining the articulation between emotion and consumption is to be found in the notion of “imagination”, understood, following E. Illouz, as the socially situated deployment of cultural fantasies. In everyday practices of the development of urban spaces by man, a combination of creation and use is found, which seems to be possible to conceptualize through the moment of appropriation, in the course of the act of consumption, considered as secondary production (M. de Certeau). Changes in everyday practices and human attitudes towards urban spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic are analyzed based on domestic and foreign research. The possibility of consolidating new forms of everyday practices is comprehended. Strengthening of a person's intrasubjective orientation is stated.

The sociopolitical circumstances of people's lives are constantly changing, which is studied by science, philosophy and art. The twentieth century is a time of great upheavals that changed the approach to the concept of man and the field of his existence. Philosophers of the second half of the twentieth century pay attention to the destructive nature of state power, its institutions are interpreted as suppressing freedom and consolidating violence as an ideology (the Frankfurt School, J. Baudrillard, S. Zizek, etc.). Another important concept is the interpretation of destructive impulses as a normal component of a person (J. Bataille, Z. Freud, E. Fromm, J. Deleuze, etc.). This idea creates a pattern of behavior that is considered psychopathic in the article. Psychopathy is a genetically determined type of antisocial personality. The phenomenon of psychopathy is a subject not only of scientific study, but also of art: the psychopath became a central character in many works of literature and cinema in the second half of the twentieth century. The article analyzes the novels "A Clockwork Orange" by E. Burgess (1962) and "The Wasp Factory" by I. Banks (1984), where the main characters are teenage psychopaths. The article concludes that these works complement each other, exploring two main areas of human life (the world of the state and the world of the family). It is suggested that by referring to the psychopathic hero, writers describe the changes that take place in society, these changes are also analyzed by philosophers. The fact that psychopathic traits in novels are concentrated in the images of teenagers indicates the possibility of psychopathy developing and spreading in the future.

The most plausible hypotheses explaining the breakthrough of our distant ancestors to articulate speech and consciousness include: rituals of solidarity (singing, grooming, facial expressions, gestures), the role of "labor", teaching children, changes in gender relations, recruiting (mobilization for collective action), laryngeal transformation, brain growth, mirror neurons, neuronal overlap; dominance of coalitions over loners, self-domestication, the need to coordinate decisions; joint intentionality, development of normativity. The concretization of the principle of "cultural drive" leads to the following concept: new environmental, social and communicative challenges and concerns lead to multiple trials; successful behavior is consolidated in group practices, mental structures of participants, and hereditary inclinations with multilevel selection and change of many generations. Overcoming the "language Rubicon" took place in several steps, or stages, in which the structures that have developed to provide concerns lead to new concerns that require new structures. Such concerns as pacifying social order in the group, signaling general discontent, coordinating actions, etc., the following structures emerged: egalitarian coalitions with collective practices of intimidation, sound signals uttered in unison, training and self-training, self-domestication, shared intentionality, and normative rituals. The most plausible versions supplement this concept. Сhoral singing as a ritual of solidarity promoted the ability to imitate and articulate. Mirror neurons and neural overlaps have played the role of providing mechanisms for imitation and association processes. The connection between "labor" and speech was complex and interdependent, mediated by normativity. Recruiting as signals of mobilization for collective action also made its contribution but only under the already established normative order. Social learning is in fact a special ritual of constant trial and adjustment which has grown out of a normative ritual. The establishment of a new order of sexual relations also played a role: under the prohibition of violence and rape it was necessary to involve partners. Speech replaced grooming, and those who spoke clearly, convincingly and/or sang beautifully received benefits in sexual selection. The totality of all these processes reinforced the concerns of mutual understanding which were provided by the rituals of naming with the following multiplication of protowords and further growth of linguistic complexity.

The article draws attention to the fact that the phenomenon of marginality is the formation of one's own environment, although not completely dissolving into it. Traditional culture goes into the "basements" of society or manifests itself in the life and mentality of marginals. In a society affected by crisis, several cultural trajectories collide: descending, ascending and, for the marginalized, breaking traditional ties and creating their own, completely different world. In fact, marginality is the third culture, a special socio-cultural state. The article discusses its corresponding components.

The prerequisites of global transformation are considered. The situation in Europe begins to change fundamentally at the turn of the I-II millennia. The formation of the era of European Transformation can begin with the XI-XIII centuries, when "Catholic" Europe appears. Phenomenal in its results was the "Renaissance of the XII century", the first truly pan-European Revival at the origins of the era of Transformation. With this, the movement towards a High Renaissance began. The Crusades (XI-XIII centuries) are particularly highlighted. After the Crusades, two variants of capitalism become promising and predominant in Europe and North America, and then their slow convergence continues.

The XIII century became a milestone for contemporaries. On the one hand, Europe, it would seem, reached the end of history by creating some kind of optimal model. On the other hand, the reverse side of the idea of the "end of history" became clearly visible. The Mongols, having captured most of Eurasia, reformatted the ethno-political space. In this century, capitalist Europe is born, in fact, as a special development option.

Highlighting the era of transformation does not mean that we should abandon the usual division of European history into known periods: antiquity, the Middle Ages, modern times. This periodization successfully emphasizes social and economic aspects and provides a chronological understanding of transitional processes. The era of Transformation is more voluminous, since we are talking about the transition from a centuries-old traditional society to a new stage of human development.

Neither the Renaissance nor the Reformation created a new culture, the so-called bourgeois culture will have many faces, both international and national. The main thing is seen in the liberation of man from the former powerful civilizational model, Latin-Christian, i.e. Imperial-ecclesiastical, and ultimately - in the formation of a new type of man.