The Semiotic Method as an Aspect of the Methodology of Social Philosophy: the Experience of S.S. Averintsev

Abstract

The subject of the study is the correlation of the application of the semiotic method by S.S. Averintsev with social philosophy. The aim of the work is to demonstrate how and to what extent S.S. Averintsev applied the semiotic method and to identify the belonging of this method to the socio-philosophical field. The author identifies and concretizes the specifically semiotic features of Averintsev's methodology. The role of the sign in the worldview of early Byzantine society, the formation of this worldview and its adequate presentation, the sign as a reflection of the life of society and at the same time as a factor influencing it is revealed. The problem of the sign's ability to convey philosophical and theological meaning is considered. The material for the study is the work of S.S.Averintsev "Poetics of Early Byzantine literature". As a result of the work, the specifically semiotic features of Averintsev's methodology were identified and concretized. In his research, Sergey Sergeevich uses the terms "semiotics", "sign", "sign system", "structure", "context", "representation", "meaning", the concept of "word function" with varying degrees of intensity, which are characteristic of semiotics as a science. S.S. Averintsev touches on philosophical and ideological themes. It concerns such philosophical concepts and topics as being, ontology, anthropology, goodness, transcendence, otherness, meaning. The novelty of the research is due to the fact that the semiotic aspect of Averintsev's works has not been investigated, and there are also no scientific texts devoted to the relationship of the semiotic method and social philosophy in Averintsev's works. Averintsev reveals the correlation of the existence of society with the iconic universe. Being itself is a philosophical concept. Averintsev's work shows how meanings affect signs and the life of society, and at the same time, how signs themselves create new meanings.The Christian worldview presupposes such a view of man and society, in which a person in his unity with God is thought of as a being with the highest value and dignity in the created world.