DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2021.4.35905

Abstract: The scale of persona of Rene Descartes, who was the founder of several trends of philosophical thought, often overshadows the intellectual life of the era and the environment that gave rise to Cartesianism. At the same time, we observe a unique situation, when the philosophical doctrine being seized by the secular educated society, rather than the intellectual elite. The key condition for such impact of the philosophical system consists in the fact that the philosophy should meet the demands the era and the environment it is proliferated within. Therefore, the author places Rene Descartes and some aspects of his philosophy in a specific historical context, pursuing correlation with the thoughts and ideas of his contemporaries. This method indicates how the philosophy of Descartes completes and structures the mental transformation that have already taken place or were taking place in French society. Descartes’ perception of his mission, his appeal to future generations, should not deceive or allow to forget that Descartes is not just philosopher with whom the finest minds of the next centuries are engaged into a dialogue or debate , but also a nobleman of the XVII, who responded to the demands of his time. It were not the complicated philosophical tasks that he tried to solve, but the particular answers that influenced and formed the European mentality of the Modern Age without the fact that the perception of his philosophy by the contemporaries would of fully correspond to its essence, and the impact correspond to the letter. Affected by the philosophy of Descartes, the society develops new behavioral norms that underlie the subconscious of modern culture; and from this space of the unsconsious affect the life of modern society.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2021.4.35987

Abstract: This paper discusses the concept of ultimate ontology and the mechanism of its projection upon reality. The article consists of two thematic parts: the first analyzes the general cultural processes of the establishment of ultimate ontology and worldview, while the second traces the evolution of representations of the reality and ultimate ontology in the Moscow Methodological Circle. The article discusses the example of representation of nature, which fulfills the functions of ultimate ontology and worldview of the European Art Nouveau. Leaning on the personal research, the author outlines the following stages of the establishment of ultimate ontology: construction of narratives (i.e., initially these were schemes only, and thus, virtual semantic reality); perception and proliferation of these narratives (acquisition in the course of communication); practicing the acquired narratives (schemes) with behavioral transformations of the individuals; functioning of the new social reality, including its examination, and in some instances, attempts to make changes therein, Not every ultimate ontology is recognized in culture as the worldview, it pertains only to such that allows explicating the practices (including epistemic), which determine the core processes of functionality and development of the culture. The article also offers a reconstruction of the history of the Moscow Methodological Circle, which with time has replaced the three ultimate ontologies – attitude, activity, and mental activity. In the first two cases, these ontologies were suggested for the role of the worldviews (namely the category of activity); in the third case, G. P. Shchedrovitsky, who created the scheme of mental activity, for the most part considered it as a method of configuration of other methodological schemes, rather than a unified ontological reality. The article explores the reasons that impeded Shchedrovitsky and the members of the Moscow Methodological Circle to comprehend the essence of thinking, forgo the interpretation of the worldview as an activity, and shift towards the development of the theory of mental activity.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2021.4.36069

Abstract: This article discusses the topic of identity in the religious philosophy of N. Berdyaev. The author emphasizes the importance of this topic for the philosopher alongside the problematic of freedom and creativity. Emphasis is placed on the existential-religious traditions of Berdyaev’s philosophy, which views a particular individual in his relation to the society and history. According to Berdyaev, an individual is a puzzle not as an organism or social being, but as the identity; the spiritual aspect alone does not depend or determined by the society, which indicates its freedom, although not absolute. The conclusion is made on the relevance of philosophical reflections of N. Berdyaev for the modern state of social development. The author comes into line with the prophetic ideas of the philosopher on the approaching process of dehumanization in spheres of cultural and social life, and namely, dehumanization of moral consciousness. A human fades out as an integral, internally centered, spiritually focused being, who retains cohesion and unity. The author is forced to acknowledge the transformation of moral and ethical values of society, loss of innate thinking, increasing dependence on popular culture and consumer ideology, undermined faith in the future and self-confidence.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2021.4.36040

Abstract: This article analyzes the elements of the concept of  subject traced in the philosophy of Edmund Husserl throughout all his works. The author follows the transformation of the views of German philosopher on the idea of subject. As well as their implementation in the context of phenomenological thought. Special attention is given to correlation between the works of Husserl of the early period and the later period.  It is noted that unlike the Cartesian or Kantian model of subjectivity, the egological subject for the first time conceptualizes intersubjectivity as the foundation for the development of the fundamentally new concept of understanding a human as a subject endowed with self-consciousness. The main conclusions consist in the following theses: despite the fact that the key role in the egological concept of subject belongs to the definition of evidence, intentionality, and reduction, the problem of cognition, considered in this article, is developed by Husserl as further complication of the Kantian approach; the egological concept of subject implements the concept of intersubjectivity, which demarcates the ideas of E. Husserl among other approaches towards the concept of subject. understanding the subject. On the one hand, intersubjectivity weakens the position of the idea of absolute autonomy of the subject’ while on the other hand, it is the new mechanism for legitimizing the subjective process of cognition and the truth itself, due to recognition of ego behind the figure of the Other.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2021.4.36112

Abstract: This article describes the capabilities of methodology of studying art in the three interrelated scientific fields – sociology, culturology, and art history. Emphasis is placed on determination of the key criteria of comprehensive approach towards the analysis of art: each of the three scientific fields may have its own unique criteria for such analysis, but there also universal criteria that allow most fully assessing the essence and purpose of art, considering the general trends of its development in modern reality. The subject of this research is the methodology of comprehensive analysis of art using the instruments of sociology, culturology, and art history. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) disclosure of the content of the methodology of studying art; 2) determination of various criteria for comprehensive analysis of art within the framework of sociology, culturology, and art history; 3) demonstration of capabilities of using certain criteria in analyzing the essence of art and artworks; 4) focus on the social dimension of art, touching upon the heuristic value of the methods of applied sociological research; 5) characteristics of the capabilities of studying the symbolic nature of art in the context of culturology; 6) assessment of the development trends of the methodology of modern art history.