Philosophical Origins Research Articles

Ernst Bloch’s Concept of Non-Simultaneity (Preface to Translation)

The proposed translation of selected fragments of the work of the German philosopher Ernst Bloch (1885–1977) “The Heritage of Our Times” (1934) and the introductory article to it analyze the relationship between the temporal dimensions of German society in the early twentieth century and the characteristics of various social groups. The Legacy of Our Time is an encyclopedia of social life in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. The paper shows the successive conceptual connection between the early work “The Spirit of Utopia” (1918) and the ideas of “The Heritage of Our Times”. The author describes temporality using the concept of non-simultaneity (non-coincidence with the present) and considers its economic, socio-psychological, cultural, and anthropological aspects. The analysis of nonsimultaneity, according to Bloch, should clarify the origins of the popularity of Nazi ideas in the German population. Bloch focuses on various forms of life — “remnants of the past”, which continue to exist in modern society in one form or another. The combination of these “remnants” Bloch marks with the term “heritage”. It shows the connection between the spatial factor (the population of the suburbs), the social factor (the petty bourgeoisie, mostly rural), and the preservation of the gestalts of experience in the minds of certain social groups. Bloch built his analysis of non-simultaneity on Hegel’s and Marxist ideas but developed it within the framework of his original philosophy. Compared to other scholars studying the processes of modernization of various societies in the 19th–20th centuries, he suggested inscribing non-simultaneous contradictions in the analysis of the existing capitalist society. He develops the concepts of the dialectics of time, introducing objectively non-simultaneous and subjectively non-simultaneous contradictions. The author forwards the thesis about the applicability of the non-simultaneity concept to Russian society. The translator characterizes Bloch’s peculiar style of presenting his ideas as being rich in language play and metaphors.

ПОЛИТИЧЕСКАЯ ПРОБЛЕМАТИКА НАСЛЕДИЯ Ф.М. ДОСТОЕВСКОГО: АМЕРИКАНСКАЯ РЕЦЕПЦИЯ

The article explores the American reception of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s political ideology. The relevance of the study is due to the interdisciplinary character of modern literary criticism and perception of Dostoevsky not only as a talented writer, but also as an original philosopher and political thinker. It is for the first time when the reception of Dostoevsky’s political ideology is revealed on the basis of works by American philologists and political analysts; namely, the study unveils the image of Dostoevsky as a political thinker formed within American scientific discourse. In addition, the analysis of the reception of Dostoevsky’s writings in a foreign scientific culture contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of cultural interaction. The analysis of literary works on the basis of comparative-historical and comparative-cultural approaches, as well as modern semiotic concepts, reveals the basic periods and trends in the reception of Dostoevsky’s writings on political issues in the USA in the 20th and the 21st centuries. The evolution of scholars’ views on the writer’s political ideology is disclosed. In the 1950s–1960s, Dostoevsky’s political philosophy is primarily analyzed in terms of its fictional representation. In the context of cultural interaction, this period can be termed as a preliminary one followed by the period of active transmission of the texts that explore the essence of Dostoevsky’s political ideology. Indeed, an intensive study of political views of the writer started in the 1970s–1980s. At this time, scholars addressed Dostoevsky’s opinion journalism, incorporating the writer’s political ideology into his social and religious views. A new period started in the 2000s. It is characterized by the synthesis of the most characteristic features of Dostoevsky’s artistic method, his philosophical and political ideas. Thus, the image of Dostoevsky as a political thinker in American literary studies is characterized by analyzing the writer’s political philosophy within his religious and social thoughts and considering Russian literature closely connected with the state policy. The most negative evaluation of Dostoevsky’s political ideology, accusatory statements on writer’s nationalism, imperialism, and chauvinism are found in the works whose authors investigate Dostoevsky’s political ideology beyond his religious views. The interest of American scholars in Dostoevsky’s political ideology is registered at all stages of Dostoevsky studies development. The changes in diplomatic relations between Russia and the Western world stimulate American scholars to address political issues in Dostoevsky’s writings. However, besides pure political circumstances, the alteration of periods in addressing political issues in Dostoevsky’s writings is due to the mechanisms of cultural interaction when the period of passive saturation with new semiotic material is followed by the period of active transmission of new texts.

РУССКИЙ НАРОД И ГОСУДАРСТВО: ПОЛЕМИКА В. В. РОЗАНОВА И Н. А. БЕРДЯЕВА

V. V. Rozanov (1856-1919) and N. A. Berdyaev (1874-1948) were original Russian philosophers and publicists, despite the age difference, they were familiar both personally and with each other's works. Comments on each other's ideas are scattered through various works of philosophers, but there was also a brief period of active mutual polemics in journalism. Despite the contradictory assessment of mutual creativity and the specifics of each person's religious worldview, they addressed common themes. Russian thinkers pointed out the specific features of the Russian national character-the priority of the spiritual principle over the material, the compliance and sacrifice of the Russian person, a special attitude to social and political activity, but each of them interpreted this specificity in their own way. Rozanov and Berdyaev expressed similar opinions about the role and functions of state power in society, in their opinion, it should first of all protect people from arbitrariness and reduce the amount of evil in the world. Their political ideals were also close - as conservative philosophers, they preferred the monarchy. However, Rozanov and Berdyaev had different views on the tasks and goals facing the Russian people, and also had different opinions on the causes and consequences of the First World War for Russia.

Adoption and Adaptation: English Translation of Two Folk Songs in Enshi Tujia Ethnic Region

Civilization is the internal value of culture, and culture is the external manifestation of civilization. Exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations is an important driving force to promote the progress of human civilization and world peace and development. Folk songs in Enshi Ethnic Region are rooted in the very land rich in Chinese culture and reflect the local conditions and customs of the region. It is beneficial to explore the translation, introduction and evaluation of the folk songs in the area so as to promote the development of Chinese minority culture. Based on the English translation of <i>Laborers’ Song (抬工號子)</i> and <i>A Song for My Lover（唱起山歌送情郎）</i>, this paper discusses principles and techniques in the English translation of Enshi folk songs. It holds that the background, cultural connotation and language style of the two types of folk songs are quite different. We should return to the philosophical origin of translation. We should not only focus on Enshi language and culture, but also use English as the carrier to interpret the corresponding folk songs accurately, comprehensively and appropriately through representing the semantic and cultural connotation of lyrics. In short, both adoption and adaptation are intertwined in the translation process.

Искусство второй половины XX — начала XXI веков как визуальная философия

Introduction. The article is focused on studying the area of intersection of contemporary art and philosophy, it is a continuation of the research project on conceptual art and its intersection with philosophy, which we started earlier. By conceptual art, we mean art aimed at intellectual comprehen- sion of what has been seen, art that appeals to thinking and generates philosophical meanings. But if earlier we explored conceptual cinema and mainly visual art of the early 20 th century, then in this article we want to turn to the visual art of the second half of the 20 th century — the beginning of the 21 st century, which is also called contemporary art by art critics. The empirical material of the study was the works of such contemporary artists as E. Warhol, D. Koons, D. Hirst, J. Ono, F. Bacon, I. Kabakov, D. Kos- suth, the movement of “new realists” and photo- realists, the movement of Moscow conceptualists and etc. Contemporary art is one of the ways of understanding the world, visual philosophy, which is of interest for philosophical understanding. The purpose of the article is to conduct a philo- sophical analysis of visual art of the second half of the 20 th — early 21 st I centuries in order to identify its philosophical sources and content. Methods. The author uses the following gen- eral scientific methods: analysis and synthesis, induction, deduction, abstraction. When analyzing works of conceptual art, we use hermeneutic and phenomenological methods, a semiotic approach. We also use the symbolic-contextual method of analyzing exhibition concepts, which is based on identifying the philosophical meanings and ideas of exhibitions of contemporary art. Scientific novelty of the study. We regard con- temporary art as a visual philosophy. Philosophiz- ing, in our opinion, can exist in various forms and forms from everyday practical (the so-called naive philosophizing) to artistic-figurative, that is, visual. Philosophical ideas or concepts are born not only from professional thinkers, but also from artists. The artistic concepts of contemporary artists are similar to the concepts of philosophers, since the goal of both is to cognize the world and grasp be- ing. We find and describe the area of intersection of modern philosophy and contemporary art, each of which is in a situation of crisis separately and continuous dialogue together. Results. In the course of our research, we identify and describe the philosophical origins of visual art in the second half of the twentieth century - early twenty-first century: postmodern philosophical consciousness, conceptualism, the idea of “death of the author” and “death of art”, simulacrum, kitsch and camp, the method of deconstruction and its application in modern art. Conclusions. Visual art of the second half of the 20 th century — early 21 st century is a visual form of philosophical questioning about the essence of art itself, about the existence of a person and be- ing in general. The works of contemporary artists are based on philosophical problems: meaning, speech and meaning, the ratio of the rational and the irrational, the problem of abandonment and loneliness of a person, the problem of the “death of the author” and the alienation of the creator from his work, the idea of the impossibility of objective knowledge of reality.

«Об одном символе»: истоки и параллели. Статья вторая: Достоевский как символист

The article is devoted to the literary and philosophical origins of Sergei Durylin’s report “On a Symbol in Dostoevsky” (the report was read in 1926 at a meeting of the Commission for the Study of Dostoevsky at the Literary Section of GAKhN). The history of the report in the context of the Literary Section is considered. Аbstracts and debates on the report are published for the first time. The relationship of Durylin’s ideas with the complex of Dostoevsky’s interpretations, developed by both the Symbolists (G.I. Chulkov) and Russian religious philosophers (P.A. Florensky, A.F. Losev) is shown. Both the report “On a Symbol in Dostoevsky’s” and the subsequent report “Landscape in Dostoevsky’s” are devoted to an anthropological and Christological story, connected with the symbolism of the setting sun, the symbolism of “oblique rays”, and its embodiment in Dostoevsky’s novels. Both texts are a continuation and a development of the same theme. A landscape is an artist’s mapping of nature, the created world; interiors are the artist’s image of the anthropomorphic world, the human space. The ontological symbol receives its sociocultural projection: a landscape or an interior. The problem of the relationship between the mapping/image and the object of the image, the problem of the ontological status of reality and its embodiment in the artistic/mythopoetic language, reflected in the report, corresponded to the focus of GAKhN on the development of a new “language of things” and a new concept of the humanitarian knowledge. The article is timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of F.M. Dostoevsky, the 135th anniversary of S.N. Durylin, and the 100th anniversary of GAKhN.

习近平教育思想的哲学渊源

习近平教育思想的哲学渊源

«Об одном символе»: истоки и параллели. Статья вторая: Достоевский как символист

The article is devoted to the literary and philosophical origins of Sergei Durylin’s report “On a Symbol in Dostoevsky” (the report was read in 1926 at a meeting of the Commission for the Study of Dostoevsky at the Literary Section of GAKhN). The history of the report in the context of the Literary Section is considered. Аbstracts and debates on the report are published for the first time. The relationship of Durylin’s ideas with the complex of Dostoevsky’s interpretations, developed by both the Symbolists (G.I. Chulkov) and Russian religious philosophers (P.A. Florensky, A.F. Losev) is shown. Both the report “On a Symbol in Dostoevsky’s” and the subsequent report “Landscape in Dostoevsky’s” are devoted to an anthropological and Christological story, connected with the symbolism of the setting sun, the symbolism of “oblique rays”, and its embodiment in Dostoevsky’s novels. Both texts are a continuation and a development of the same theme. A landscape is an artist’s mapping of nature, the created world; interiors are the artist’s image of the anthropomorphic world, the human space. The ontological symbol receives its sociocultural projection: a landscape or an interior. The problem of the relationship between the mapping/image and the object of the image, the problem of the ontological status of reality and its embodiment in the artistic/mythopoetic language, reflected in the report, corresponded to the focus of GAKhN on the development of a new “language of things” and a new concept of the humanitarian knowledge. The article is timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of F.M. Dostoevsky, the 135th anniversary of S.N. Durylin, and the 100th anniversary of GAKhN.

Il problema di Dio e la religione in Zubiri

The problem of God is addressed by Zubiri on the basis of anthropological, epistemological and metaphysical assumptions. A central role is represented by the atheistic and agnostic attitudes with which Zubiri confronts himself in the light of an original philosophy of religion.

CONCEPT OF PRACTICES OF JEWISH AND EARLY CHRISTIAN MEDICINE

The article examines the theological and philosophical origins of Jewish and early Christian medicine. We have shown that the basis of the medical practice of the ancient Jews and early Christians were the books of the Old Testament. The principles of nutrition, sanitation and hygiene have been considered in detail in the context of the topic. We also have analyzed the rules of care for sick people and the means used by the Jewish people in the treatment of infectious diseases. It has been shown that in order to prevent the spread of an infectious disease, Jews isolated an infected person from close contact with other people, thus avoiding the spread of various diseases and epidemics. Some Jewish works of the post-biblical period contain a description of the development of philosophy and ethics in medicine; the main ones are the Midrash, the Mishnah and the Talmud. In the article we also have analyzed conceptual medical foundations set forth in the Pentateuch of the Moses and the Talmud. It has been shown that the main attention of Jewish treatment practitioners was focused on disease prevention, as they attached great importance to the principles of ritual purity, which in turn was directly related to public hygiene. We also have studied a number of works of the early church fathers, who initiated the practice of caring for the physically ill. As a result, it was found that in the writings of the church fathers there are many mentions of surgery and treatment of mental illness.

Научная элита Московского университета: П.И. Новгородцев и И.А. Ильин

П.И. Новгородцев и И.А. Ильин – видные представители научной школы Московского университета, которые проявили свои лидерские качества в переломный момент в истории России. Вся политическая биография этих мыслителей подтверждает данный факт. Особенно важно, что идеи П.И. Новгородцева и И.А. Ильина актуальны и по сей день, а это представляет огромный научный интерес для изучения их философии. Основной акцент в данной работе делается на определении и сопоставлении научной методологии мыслителей, определяется научной база, формирующая оригинальные идеи мыслителей, а также влияние творческого наследия П.И. Новгородцева на создания оригинальной философии И.А. Ильина. Нужно отметить, что И.А. Ильин являлся одним из лучших учеников П.И. Новгородцева, но нисколько не дублировал взгляды своего научного наставника, а развивал и дополнял их. В результате исследования, автор доказывает, что собственная философия П.И. Новгородцева и И.А. Ильина основана не только на идеях немецкой классической философии (Канта и Гегеля), но и на идеях отечественных предшественников (Б.Н. Чичерина и В.С. Соловьева). В ходе исследования автор использовал методологический плюрализм, а преимущественно общенаучные методы анализа и синтеза, дедукции и индукции, классификации и аналогии, приемы и средства исторического анализа, элементы герменевтики, а всё исследование выполнено в сравнительном ключе. Данную работу можно считать одной из первых, где рассматривается такой узкий сравнительный сегмент, позволяющий определить оригинальность и фундаментальность политико-правовой философии П.И. Новгородцева и И.А. Ильина, как одних из ярчайших представителей юридического факультета Московского университета.

Beyond secularism and religion: Jean-Luc Nancy on global monotheism

Known for its recent treatment of theological themes, contemporary European philosophy has been at the forefront of critical inquiry into the interface between religion and secular discourse. One of the most original philosophers within this movement is Jean-Luc Nancy, whose deconstruction of Christianity project frames an intertwining of religion and secular modernity beyond the binary opposition between theism and atheism. In this article, I tease out the hitherto under-acknowledged references to Judaism and Islam within Nancy’s project in order to lay out more clearly his philosophical vision of the contemporary landscape of secular modernity and the place of the three main monotheistic faiths within it. In doing so, I elucidate the original contribution Nancy’s philosophy can make to a rethinking of the debate between secularism and religion more broadly.

Origins: Colonies and Statistics

AbstractIn this address, I examine the lexical, geographic, temporal and philosophical origins of two key concepts in modern political thought: colonies and statistics. Beginning with the Latin word colonia, I argue that the modern ideology of settler colonialism is anchored in the claim of “improvement” of both people and land via agrarian labour in John Locke's labour theory of property in seventeenth-century America, through which he sought to provide an ideological justification for both the assimilation and dispossession of Indigenous peoples. This same ideology of colonialism was turned inward a century later by Sir John Sinclair to justify domestic colonies on “waste” land in Scotland—specifically Caithness (the county within which my own grandparents were tenant farmers). Domestic colonialism understood as “improvement” of people (the “idle” poor and mentally ill and disabled) through engagement in agrarian labour on waste land inside explicitly named colonies within the borders of one's own country was first championed not only by Sinclair but also his famous correspondent, Jeremy Bentham, in England. Sinclair simultaneously coined the word statistics and was the first to use it in the English language. He defined it as the scientific gathering of mass survey data to shape state policies. Bentham embraced statistics as well. In both cases, statistics were developed and deployed to support their domestic colony schemes by creating a benchmark and roadmap for the improvement of people and land as well as a tool to measure the colony's capacity to achieve both over time. I conclude that settler colonialism along with the intertwined origins of domestic colonies and statistics have important implications for the study of political science in Canada, the history of colonialism as distinct from imperialism in modern political thought and the role played by intersecting colonialisms in the Canadian polity.

Investigating the Philosophical Origin of Community Education in the Citizen Participation Process from the Perspective of Islamic Realism

Investigating the Philosophical Origin of Community Education in the Citizen Participation Process from the Perspective of Islamic Realism

Human Being in History vs History in Human Being – Part 2: Recipe of Unity of History and Life from Benedetto Croce

This article continues the author’s study initiated in the previous number of a given collection. It also regards the specific problem of interconnection between history and psychology. However, in this sequel the main accent is on the style of thinking and value criteria of Benedetto Croce, who is an outstanding European theoretician and methodologist in the sphere of History, original philosopher, authoritative connoisseur of Culture and Arts, an unswerving supporter of high ideals of Italian Risorgimento. The concept of absolute historicity, grounded by the scholar on the basis of deep philosophic probation into mechanisms of historic thinking, had a significant impact both on further development of historic theory and on the formation of new understanding of a role of historic experience for social practice of a full-fledged democracy. Croce’s works help to comprehend the paradoxy of a phenomenon of historic consciousness, which is always modern by its nature. It remains modern irrespective of whatever temporal layers it resurrects at each particular moment of human life. Historic consciousness is an important component of psychologic reality of any human being and that is why it requires a subtle feeling of profound homogeneity. It’s important not to forget that historic consciousness preserves a considerable potentiality of an actual impact on human behaviour in particular and on communicative processes within the frames of society in general. It proves the fact that history is always with the human being and within him. That is why historic policy on the stage of democratic transformation should be especially grounded and should be characterized by a high level of psychologic culture

A Child is a Human Being Now. Responsible Parenthood in the Light of Janusz Korczak’s Pedagogy

The author extracts from the Humanae Vitae encylical the thread of responsible parenthood. He asks about the situation of a child in family half a century after the publication of the papal document. He points towards a number of threats and disruptions in the adult-child relations, which result from an improper understanding of who a child is from the philosophical perspective. He opts for a development of philosophical reflection on a child and enriching it with new aspects. He reaches out for inspiration to the works by Janusz Korczak, which present an outline of the original philosophy of a child. What deserves particular recognition is the perception of a child as a “a project of a future man,” and not as a full-valued person who deserves appreciation of the contemporary ontic and social status. In the conclusion the author develops and clarifies Korczak’s controversial postulate of the “children’s right to death,” giving it a contemporary interpretation.

HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS IN THE RENEWAL OF THE LANGUAGE OF CHURCH MONUMENTAL PAINTING IN FRANCE AT THE TURN OF THE 20th CENTURY ON THE EXAMPLE OF PAINTINGS BY MAURICE DENIS

The study analyzes the historical and philosophical origins of the renewal in church monumental art in French culture at the turn of the 20th century. The crisis that broke out in the second half of the 19th century within the philosophical knowledge and classical religion and an attempt to rethink the evolution of Christianity entailed significant changes in artistic creativity devoted to the sacred theme. The author explores the topic based on the church mural paintings of the French painter Maurice Denis, who stood at the origins of the transformation of the language of religious painting and whose role is significant for the further history of European art. The relevance of the work lies in the fact that all previous studies on this topic were primarily art criticisms. They paid special attention to the analysis of the artistic language and pictorial and expressive means. At the same time, questions of historical and philosophical nature and their role in the formation of new European religious painting were analyzed to a much lesser extent.

The Great escape? A liberal perspective on assisted suicide for prisoners

Summary Do prisoners evade punishment should they voluntarily end their lives while serving a prison sentence? In order to provide a meaningful answer to this question, one must first carefully unpack what is meant by sentence evasion, why it is wrong, and what its philosophical underpinnings are. To this purpose, I draw insights from liberal political philosophy and turn to the ideas of John Stuart Mill and John Rawls. I argue that the philosophical origins of the contemporary argument that prisoners evade their sentences through suicide can be found in Mill's argument against the abolition of capital punishment. Mill's argument rests on the assumption that death is preferable to life-long incarceration. I argue that this assumption is incompatible with a political conception of justice because it cannot be held in accordance with the tenets of public reason, an idea put forward by Rawls but also tacitly endorsed by Mill. To do so, I argue that the argument of sentence evasion concerns what Rawls calls a constitutional essential; a fundamental element that orders political institutions and their subsequent distribution of rights and liberties. In virtue of their fundamental character, constitutional essentials are to be decided through the use of public reasons; reasons that lie outside of citizens’ particular comprehensive worldviews. I show that the assumption that death is preferable to incarceration cannot be sustained outside of a particularistic doctrine regarding the nature of death. The argument must therefore be rejected and cannot constitute a basis for denying suicide assistance to inmates.

A philosophy of cultural modernity: Márkus’s contribution to the philosophy of culture

As Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney for over 20 years (1978–2001), György Márkus exerted a profound influence on a generation of philosophers and students from many disciplinary backgrounds. His legendary lecture courses, spanning the history of modern philosophy from the Enlightenment through to the late 20th century, were memorable for their breadth, erudition, and philosophical drama. Always modest despite his mastery of the tradition, Márkus’s approach to this history of philosophy never failed to emphasize its continuing role in shaping our inherited understanding of philosophy as ‘its own time comprehended in thoughts’ (Hegel). This is especially true of his contribution to the philosophical discourse of modernity, which we could summarize as comprising an original philosophy of cultural modernity. In what follows, I briefly reconstruct Márkus’s account of the adventures of the concept of culture, focusing on his definitive essay ‘The Path of Culture: From the Refined to the High, From the Popular to Mass Culture’ (2013) but also referring to other relevant Márkus texts, offering some critical remarks on his account of culture and its relationship with modern aesthetics, both classical and contemporary.

Culture at work: European American and Taiwanese parental socialization of children’s learning

In this article, we highlight three assumptions about culture that guide our research: (1) culture is lived but often implicitly; (2) philosophical origins illuminate cultural core values in the here and now; and (3) cultures differ. We focus on learning both in European-heritage and in Confucian-heritage cultures. To address the central question “how does the cultural become the personal?” we take three steps. First, we explain the importance of each assumption and the relations between them. Next, we trace the philosophical origins of which establish the foundations of core cultural values for two sets of cultures, European-heritage and Confucian-heritage cultures. We then present empirical research that illustrate sociocultural learning models (SCLMs) in the two sets of cultures. Finally, we discuss the notions of joint intentionality and intersubjectivity as the process by which parents draw on a given SCLM to socialize their young, which is how the cultural becomes the personal. We use discourse analysis of two segments of mother-child conversations, (one European American and one Taiwanese), to demonstrate culture at work. Our detailed analysis reveals the cultural embeddedness of daily living that otherwise remains implicit. We conclude with applied implications of our theory and research for childrearing and human learning.