Fundamentality or fundamentalism? About some aspects of higher education in Russia and terminology

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of fundamentalism and the crisis of the education system in Russia. The authors demonstrate the subjective perception of the crisis of education either as a public institution in general or as a specific education system in specific historical circumstances. The study aims to establish or refute the existence of fundamentalist tendencies in the contemporary Russian educational discourse, as well as to identify the validity of using the term “fundamentalism” with regard to the philosophy of education and pedagogy. The research methods included case studies, comparative textual analysis, as well as historical-cultural and comparative methods. The authors note that the term “fundamentalism” was coined in science at the end of the 19th century. It had a completely different meaning, namely, a literal interpretation of a religious text within the framework of a particular tradition. The authors analyze a set of specific situations associated at first glance with the erroneous use of the term “fundamentalism” in Russian scientific articles to mean a generalization of the fundamental and academic nature of education, as well as substantiate the attitude according to which the application of this characteristic is not erroneous at all, but is a manifestation of some features of a specific form of fundamentalism, namely, academic fundamentalism.