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Философия. Язык. Культура (Вып.3)
In this work two philosophical concepts are being examined: “world-picture” of Ludwig Wittgenstein and “lifeworld” of Edmund Husserl. The aim of this work is to show that these two concepts have much in common.
This paper considers the theory of objects of Alexius Meinong (1853–1920) in the light of discussions between himself and Bertrand Russell at the beginning of XX century. Meinong’s conception has made significant contribution into the problem of nonexistent objects that still remains one of the most debated in contemporary philosophy. Here author aims to show how theory of objects as such came into being and how its main ideas were discussed and criticized in subsequent philosophical thought.
Edward Zalta's axiomatic metaphysics or Theory of abstract objects is a philosophical theory with powerful logical unit which enables us to analyze a lot of ontological categories, such as non-existent objects, properties and relationships, possible worlds, states of affairs and many others that are in focus of modern analytic philosophy. Rich expressive power of the Theory are directly related to its fundamental premise — the distinction between the two modes of predication: exemplification and encoding. The main concern of the paper is to clarify the structure of the universe which arise on the ground of that distinction and to demonstrate some of its problematic consequences.
The article examines ways of describing human experience and behavior from the first, the second and the third-person perspectives and their applicability for people with schizophrenia. It is quite difficult to describe the experience of such people from the third-person perspective, hence there is a great need in address to other methods and paying attention at prospects connected with them. Moreover, the article presents the changeability of conceptual framework depending on whose experience and behavior we investigate.
The problem of free will remains one of the primary unsolved problems of John Sealre’s philosophy. In his book ‘Freedom and Neurobilology’ (2007) Searle proposes two alternative hypothesis that would allow one to make sense of the nature of freedom, but ultimately finds both of them unsatisfactory. In this paper we propose a modified version of Searle’s argument, which attempts to reconcile the common sense intuitions with physiological determinism on the basis of Kahneman’s theory of cognitive systems. Specifically, we focus on the collision between the fast and the slow cognitive system as the basis for the experience of freedom.
In this paper, the author analyzes theories of free will proposed by neurophysiologist Benjamin Libet and psychologist Daniel Wegner, and also engages with criticism of both theories by philosopher Daniel Dennett. In the end the author gives her own evaluation of these theories.
This paper is aimed to show crucial points of Quine’s language acquisition conception that were criticized by Noam Chomsky. Willard Van Orman Quine tried to build a language theory in a behavioristic way using such terms as: stimulus, reaction and reinforcement. He thought that language acquisition by children could be explained as the process of ontogenesis of reference. N. Chomsky mainly objected to behaviorism and showed its weak explanatory force in language theory.
This paper provides some comparison of Herzen’s and Hegel’s notions on philosophy of history and claims to represent Herzen, anatomizing the situation of European riots of the mid. 19th century, as а thinker of current interest. While Herzen asserts that history is a development process with no predetermined goal, Hegel (whose works were very important for Russian intellectuals of Herzen’s generation) proclaims that history has already ended with the Napoleon’s Empire and his own — Hegel’s — philosophy.
This paper is devoted to the problem of cultural crisis and those points of view on this problem that were maintained by russian and western philosophers. It was written a lot of books concerning this subject. At the beginning of XX century many philosophers within different philosophical tradition and schools began to reason about the crisis of culture. For some of them it was important to stress religious aspect of crisis: the mankind has lost the belief in God — this is the reason of crisis. For others it was importatt to understand the social aspect of cultural crisis.
Cultural crisis is the crisis of values: human and freedom. In the first half of the XXth century the culture has not found answers for two questions: what is freedom and what is human?
The idea of “The Third Rome” has appeared in Russian thought at the beginning of ХVI century. Monk Filofey has concretized this theory. The theme of Rome has come in the culture of St. Petersburg with the help of Peter the Great. Since nineteenth century the theme of Rome has become the main theme between noble youth. It was maintained practically by every Russian thinker. There were two main tendencies of the development of the Third Rome’s idea: the theme of Russia as “The real third Rome”, successor of Christian values of Roman and Byzantine Empires, and also the theme “Decline of Rome” and “Collapse of Empire”.
The article discusses the process of formation and evolution of the concept of Free will in the period of late Anquity and Middle Ages and also reasons of the fact that this concept became a foundation of European interpretation of personality and social teaching of the Catholic Church. The analysis was conducted on the basis of official legal documents of the Catholic Church, as well as on the basis of writings of Doctor of the Church. The compilation of theological and legal approaches makes it possible to assess influence of the catholic teaching on the formation of legal doctrine and West European mental model in comparative perspective.
Empedocles is one of the main representatives of Early Greek philosophy in Magna Graecia, as well as Parmenides. While speaking about the early period of the history of Greek philosophy we must make a strict division between the Western tradition and the other ones (for instance, Milesian school). One of the grounds for this division is the language of Greek epic as a form of expression of philosophical doctrines. The poems of Parmenides and Empedocles may be considered as a part of Early Greek epic tradition. There is no strict terminology in the philosophical poetry of Empedocles, sometimes he uses poetical images in order to describe the world physical processes. That is why the main aim of the research of the Empedocles’ language is to analyze his word usage and his style in each fragment.
The paper deals with the creative works of an outstanding German philosopher-anthropologist Helmut Plessner. He addresses to an existential structure of individuality as to a social existence and considers it as the carrier of roles. He proves that social identification is based on the idea of the person possessing a social role, but not defined by it. Plessner starts with the idea of a duality of the role relation in which the performer identifies himself. Such identification appears as the only condition in the basic relation of a social role and a human nature. On this basis in the structure of duality of the human existence, a role connecting the carrier and its figure, Plessner finds a constant of sociality. Plessner addresses to an ontologic structure of the person, an eccentric pozitionality, within social subject and defines it as “duality structure in which the carrier of a role and a figure of a role are connected”. Plessner believes that what we find exactly in this structure is "a constant" which is the condition of “human generalization”, and considers it in a quality of “the unique constant in the basic relation of a social role and a human nature”.
Transhumanism is the brand-new term, which appears only in the beginning of the 21st century. The adherents of this term consider further development of humanity in a close contact with nanotechnology. People were always interested in how to improve the quality of life and prolong it. Medieval alchemists didn’t find the philosopher’s stone, the Holy Grail is still a legend. The Third Reich scientist’s experiments influenced in the development of medicine, but didn’t reveal the secret of immortality. In the 21st century scientists came more than ever closer to the creation of perfect man with the help of nanotechnology. How do philosophers consider this breakthrough in philosophy of technics?
This paper outlines peculiarities of the use of organicistic allegories by representatives of the German historical school of law — F.K. Savigny and G.F. Puchta. On the wide range of texts on the philosophy of history and the history of law written by contemporaries (Fichte, Hegel) and precursors (Herder, Vico) it is shown how the comparison between history with human life can perform different functions depending on the methodological presumptions of the authors.
Cataclysms of the twentieth century enabled to speak about the cultural paradigm shift: the New Middle Ages began to crystallize. In this paper the rethinking process (mainly in economic but also philosophical discourse) of the meaning of labour is sketched. The importance of noneconomic sense of labour (which can be understood as Service) has been realized even in some branches of political economy. Self-centred homo economicus is regarded as secondary to unselfish homo faber. Different reasons of standing for this ideal are outlined.
This paper aims to show that Alfred Kroeber played a very important role in developing the concept of culture in American anthropological tradition and that his influence can be traced in the following concepts and methods. American anthropological school, in contrast to European tradition, is associated with Kroeber’s understanding of culture as an independent extrasomatic reality which grows according to its own laws irreducible to the laws of organic world and society. Kroeber contributed significantly to the institutionalization of cultural anthropology. The results of his field work and his numerous theoretical works laid the foundation of American cultural anthropology, progressive and authoritative school we know today.
An attempt of research of a ratio of the theory and practice in François Guizot scientific and public work is undertaken in this article. Guizot is the central figure of the French liberalism of the first half of the XIX century. The theory and practice of this thinker synthesized liberalism and conservatism.
The paper outlines key concepts of Hanna Arendt’s political philosophy. The main purpose of the work is to analyze the political virtues — courage, pride and respect, as well as the fundamental abilities (powers) to forgive and to promise. Besides, it’s important to pay attention to Arendt’s understanding of political sphere (as the Web of Relationships) and the role of language in political life. Taking these into account, the main political virtues and abilities of ζῷον πολιτικόν bind together past, present and future of political body into one space of history (ἱστορία).
The article deals with the Malcolm’s version of the ontological argument and its variation proposed by Hartshorne. It also highlights some "eternal" problems which are to be faced by everyone who wish to consider the ontological argument as a purely logical proof.
The object of study in this article is the socialization of the Freudian subject (individual) in the philosophical theories of French poststructuralists. The paper focuses primarily on the postfreudianism of Jacques Lacan, the desexualization of libido in his theory of symbolic, and the desidentification of I in the schizoanalysis created by Gilles Deleuze.
This paper points on the notion of the mental language in the W. Ockham`s system. It outlines two main paradigms of its analysis and gives a description of the connection between mental language and conventional languages. This paper also offers the short basis of the Ockham`s concept theory and the analysis of the notion of ‘signification’.

The article deals with the clauses or preconditions of language and culture acquisition. Following G. G. Shpet, A. A. Uchtomsky, M. Heidegger, N. A. Bernshtein and V. V. Bibikhin, the author qualifies them as «pre-experiential origin». This «origin» is regarded as direct intelligible intuition, spiritual integral, non-differentiated unity: I understand, I think, I can. Spontaneous character of this origin does not mean its primitiveness. Non-mediated pre-experiential origin develops in its differentiation that comes to life in joint activity, in interflowing communication giving birth to multiple forms of culture-mediated behavior. Development of these forms hampers perception and understanding of the world in its immediacy but also enriches these acts. Interchange and interaction of the immediate and the mediated is regarded as a necessary condition of human development and productive activity. The author questions the idea of division psychological functions into natural and cultural (higher), assumed in cultural-historical psychology.
It turns out, however, that in spite of one basic difference there runs between these two systems a deep and striking parallelism. This parallelism is so close indeed that it makes possible the construction of a vocabulary which would transform characteristic propositions of Wittgenstein's ontology into Aristotelian ones, and conversely. To show in some detail the workings of that transformation will be the subject of this paper.
The article considers the Views of L. N. Tolstoy not only as a representative, but also as a accomplisher of the Enlightenment. A comparison of his philosophy with the ideas of Spinoza and Diderot made it possible to clarify some aspects of the transition to the unique Tolstoy’s religious and philosophical doctrine. The comparison of General and specific features of the three philosophers was subjected to a special analysis. Special attention is paid to the way of thinking, the relation to science and the specifics of the worldview by Tolstoy and Diderot. An important aspect is researched the contradiction between the way of thinking and the way of life of the three philosophers.
Tolstoy's transition from rational perception of life to its religious and existential bases is shown. Tolstoy gradually moves away from the idea of a natural man to the idea of a man, who living the commandments of Christ. Starting from the educational worldview, Tolstoy ended by creation of religious and philosophical doctrine, which were relevant for the 20th century.
This important new book offers the first full-length interpretation of the thought of Martin Heidegger with respect to irony. In a radical reading of Heidegger's major works (from Being and Time through the ‘Rector's Address' and the ‘Letter on Humanism' to ‘The Origin of the Work of Art' and the Spiegel interview), Andrew Haas does not claim that Heidegger is simply being ironic. Rather he argues that Heidegger's writings make such an interpretation possible - perhaps even necessary.
Heidegger begins Being and Time with a quote from Plato, a thinker famous for his insistence upon Socratic irony. The Irony of Heidegger takes seriously the apparently curious decision to introduce the threat of irony even as philosophy begins in earnest to raise the question of the meaning of being. Through a detailed and thorough reading of Heidegger's major texts and the fundamental questions they raise, Haas reveals that one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century can be read with as much irony as earnestness. The Irony of Heidegger attempts to show that the essence of this irony lies in uncertainty, and that the entire project of onto-heno-chrono-phenomenology, therefore needs to be called into question.
The article is concerned with the notions of technology in essays of Ernst and Friedrich Georg Jünger. The special problem of the connection between technology and freedom is discussed in the broader context of the criticism of culture and technocracy discussion in the German intellectual history of the first half of the 20th century.