The typology of rationality is one of major issues of modern philosophy. In an attempt to provide a typology to Oriental materials, a researcher faces additional problems. The diversity of the Orient as such poses a major challenge. When we say “Oriental,” we mean several cultures for which we cannot find a common denominator. The concept of “Orient” involves Arabic, Indian, Chinese, Turkish and other cultures, and the only thing they share is that they are “non-Western.” Moreover, even if we (...) focus just on Islamic culture and look into rationality in this context, we have to deal with a conglomerate of various trends, which does not let us define, with full confidence, a common theoretical basis and treat them as a unity. Nevertheless, we have to go on trying to find common directions in thought development, so as to draw conclusions about types of rationality possible in Islamic culture. A basis for such a typology of rationality in the context of the Islamic world was recently suggested in A.V. Smirnov’s logic of sense theory. However, actual empiric material cannot always fit theoretical models, and the cases that do not fit the common scheme are interesting per se. On the one hand, examination of such cases gives an opportunity to specify certain provisions of the theory and, on the other hand, to define the limits of its applicability. (shrink)

Despite the declarations about the possibility of rationalities that are alternative to Western European, despite the reasoning about philosophical multipolarity, the multiplicity of ways of thinking, etc., nowadays, the Western European paradigm of rationality (and concepts that corresponds to it), which is derived from Hellenic thought, continues to claim the status of ideological neutrality and transcend any intercivilizational differences. The Western European rationality in all its diversity is now acting as rationality as such. The indispensability of the reference to the (...) Greek conceptual apparatus in contemporary philosophizing manifests itself most openly in the form of comparativism. Thus, there is the focus on carrying out explicit parallels between, on the one hand, the studied non-European intellectual phenomena and, on the other hand, their supposed European counterparts. An example of the cross-cultural and methodologically sound research of the problems of rationality is an analysis of the Dao through the prism of the Logos. The statement of the uniqueness of the Greek Logos does not imply the prohibition of the existence of its original counterparts in the so-called “non-Western” civilizations with an ancient and distinctive culture. The assumption of the existence of their own analogues of the Logos and rationality in various non-European civilizations presumes the most interesting question about the pluralism of rationalities – the question about the existence of rationalities in the past that could be considered as an alternative to the now prevailing Western European standard of rationality. (shrink)

Article is dedicated to the description and analysis of metaphilosophical and scientific contexts of the McTaggart paper ‘The Unreality of Time’ (1908) and drawing connections to the ‘analytical’ style of his pupils – B. Russell and G.E. Moore. Main line of argument against the reality of time is presented and analyzed. By the positive relation of McTaggart to the work on ethics by G.E. Moore and negative – to philosophical implications of the special theory of relativity author shows the movement (...) for the autonomy of philosophy or ‘antipsychologism’. Question of a different understanding of the term ‘reality’ in Moore and McTaggart is posed and resolved. (shrink)

M.I. Mikeshin’s article continues to develop existing works in the epistemology of technoscience, presented on the Gornyi Zhurnal Journal pages as part of an informal “project”. The purpose of the “project” was to discover points of real interaction between technical scientists (mining and, partly, metallurgical sciences) and academic philosophy. Therefore, it is advisable to present in chronological order published research carried out outside philosophical institutions and professional epistemological periodicals.

We consider two-sorted theories of vector spaces and prove a criterion for the assertion that such a theory allows elimination of quantifiers over vector variables.

The article presents a critical semantic analysis of the so-called analytical truths as they were discussed by R. Carnap and building on some new empirical data that are not fully satisfactorily explained by Carnap’s theory. A theoretical reconstruction of Carnap’s theory of analytical truths is proposed. It is demonstrated how his understanding of analytical truths, as statements that are true in all possible worlds and amenable to a quite obvious definition on a par with the concepts of sense (meaning) and (...) synonymy, applies exclusively to artificial languages of logic. Therefore, Carnap’s theory remains unreachable for the well-known criticism of W. Quine, who, in turn, pointed out the difficulties in defining these concepts for natural languages. A theoretical reconstruction of Carnap’s explication of the mentioned concepts in the theory of meaning for natural languages is carried out. The connection of Carnap’s approach with the perspective of contemporary formal semantics is established. Subsequently, problematic cases and the difficulties they pose for Carnap’s concept are examined. An explanation is proposed for analytical truths as containing in their logical form an (unpronounced) quantifier over possible worlds (situations). (shrink)

Solar energy has become an integral part of the economy of developed countries, so it is important to monitor the pace of its development, prospects, as well as the largest companies that produce solar panels since the supply of solar energy in a particular country directly depends on them. The study analyzes the shares of Canadian Solar Inc. and First Solar Inc. The purpose of the study is to study the possibility of forecasting the stock price of solar energy companies (...) using neural networks for the purpose of subsequent investment. The recurrent neural network LSTM is used in the article and this approach is based on complexity theory. Machine learning technologies are now being actively implemented in various sectors of the economy and are considered effective. The program used assigns different significance to the data of the last months and the data for the first months of the 1st year. The first year of the last 5 years of the company’s activity is taken as the first year since more distant data no longer have significant significance for the forecast. In the course of the study, a forecast of the stock price of Canadian Solar Inc. and First Solar Inc. for 245 days was obtained. Based on the results obtained, the following conclusions were made: 20 neurons of the network is not enough to make an accurate forecast, but the level of confidence in such a forecast is high enough, neural network forecasts are applicable in investing and are accurate enough to determine medium- and long-term trends, but these forecasts are not applicable for traders. The direction of improving the accuracy of neural network predictions is promising for further research. (shrink)

The Cartesian cogito ergo sum is a major milestone for modern European philosophy, which shaped its mainstream for centuries. This dictum states that consciousness is the only reliable object of in...

The article presents a verbal and mathematical model of medium-term business cycles (with a characteristic period of 7–11 years) known as Juglar cycles. The model takes into account a number of approaches to the analysis of such cycles; in the meantime it also takes into account some of the authors' own generalizations and additions that are important for understanding the internal logic of the cycle, its variability and its peculiarities in the present-time conditions. The authors argue that the most important (...) cause of cyclical crises stems from strong structural disproportions that develop during economic booms. These are not only disproportions between different economic sectors, but also disproportions between different societal subsystems; at present these are also disproportions within the World System as a whole. The proposed model of business cycle is based on its subdivision into four phases: – recovery phase (which could be subdivided into the start sub-phase and the acceleration sub-phase); – upswing/prosperity/expansion phase (which could be subdivided into the growth sub-phase and the boom/overheating sub-phase); – recession phase (within which one may single out the crash/bust/acute crisis subphase and the downswing sub-phase); – depression/stagnation phase (which we could subdivide into the stabilization subphase and the breakthrough sub-phase). The article provides a detailed qualitative description of macroeconomic dynamics at all the phases; it specifies driving forces of cyclical dynamics and the causes of transition from one phase to another (including psychological causes); a special attention is paid to the turning point from the peak of overheating to the acute crisis, as well as to the turning point from the downswing to recovery. The proposed mathematical model of Juglar cycle takes into account the following effects that are typical for the market economy: • positive feedbacks between various economic processes; • presence of a certain inertia, time lags in reactions of the economic subsystem to the change in conditions; • amplification by the financial subsystem of positive feedbacks and time lags in the economic subsystem; • excessive reaction to changing conditions during the acute crisis sub-phase. The authors suggest that the current crisis turns out to be rather similar to classical Juglar crises; however, there is also a significant difference, as the current crisis occurs at a truly global scale. Yet, due to this truly global scale of the current crisis, the possibilities of regulation with the national state's measures have turned out to be ineffective,whereas the suprastate regulation of financial processes hardly exists. It is shown that all these have led to the reproduction of the current crisis according to a classical Juglar scenario. (shrink)

Cohesive powersof computable structures are effective analogs of ultrapowers, where cohesive sets play the role of ultrafilters. Let$\omega $,$\zeta $, and$\eta $denote the respective order-types of the natural numbers, the integers, and the rationals when thought of as linear orders. We investigate the cohesive powers of computable linear orders, with special emphasis on computable copies of$\omega $. If$\mathcal {L}$is a computable copy of$\omega $that is computably isomorphic to the usual presentation of$\omega $, then every cohesive power of$\mathcal {L}$has order-type$\omega + (...) \zeta \eta $. However, there are computable copies of$\omega $, necessarily not computably isomorphic to the usual presentation, having cohesive powers not elementarily equivalent to$\omega + \zeta \eta $. For example, we show that there is a computable copy of$\omega $with a cohesive power of order-type$\omega + \eta $. Our most general result is that if$X \subseteq \mathbb {N} \setminus \{0\}$is a Boolean combination of$\Sigma _2$sets, thought of as a set of finite order-types, then there is a computable copy of$\omega $with a cohesive power of order-type$\omega + \boldsymbol {\sigma }(X \cup \{\omega + \zeta \eta + \omega ^*\})$, where$\boldsymbol {\sigma }(X \cup \{\omega + \zeta \eta + \omega ^*\})$denotes the shuffle of the order-types inXand the order-type$\omega + \zeta \eta + \omega ^*$. Furthermore, ifXis finite and non-empty, then there is a computable copy of$\omega $with a cohesive power of order-type$\omega + \boldsymbol {\sigma }(X)$. (shrink)

Numerous species use different forms of communication in order to successfully interact in their respective environment. This article seeks to elucidate limitations of the classical conduit metaphor by investigating communication from the perspectives of biology and artificial neural networks. First, communication is a biological natural phenomenon, found to be fruitfully grounded in an organism’s embodied structures and memory system, where specific abilities are tied to procedural, semantic, and episodic long-term memory as well as to working memory. Second, the account explicates (...) differences between non-verbal and verbal communication and shows how artificial neural networks can communicate by means of ontologically non-committal modelling. This approach enables new perspectives of communication to emerge regarding both sender and receiver. It is further shown that communication features gradient properties that are plausibly divided into a reflexive and a reflective form, parallel to knowledge and reflection. (shrink)

The article offers a logical reconstruction of Marx's theory of history. On the basis of an analysis of the concept of labor, the author presents and discusses the four main socioeconomic formations of human history. The author challenges the Marxian project of the elimination of both division of labor and private property pointing to its theoretical and practical shortcomings.

This article, written by a Russian cultural historian, analyzes the concept of "ideology" in the work of Clifford Geertz. and his role in understanding the figurative nature of ideology as a cultural system. The author compares Geertz's semiotic approach to culture with thesemiotics of culture developed by Russian theorists, particularly Yuri Lotman, showing the convergence and divergence of the two differentnational traditions. This understanding of the nature and functions of ideology opens new possibilities for discussing the tortured relations of ideology (...) and literature, showing the way fiction can affect the formation of ideological systems and influence practical politics. The analysis is illustrated by examples from Russian political life of the 1990s, when revolutionary changes demanded new sets of ideological metaphors that in their turn shaped the direction of events. (shrink)

One cannot be responsible for a generic truth, argues Badiou in his critical rejoinder to Sartre; one can only be its militant. Challenging Badiou’s formulation, I propose that his plea for a new stage of the communist hypothesis, which unfolds in the wake of subjective decomposition of the Left, must draw upon the Sartrean notion of collective responsibility to affirm interminable inscription of the egalitarian axiom in a novel political sequence without forcing a violent realisation of equality. Encapsulated in an (...) enigmatic formula, ‘one and one make one,’ Sartrean ethics of the Same compel the Badiouian militant subject to heed the excluded demands of the new proletariat insofar as the latter occupies ‘a point of exile where it is possible that something, finally, might happen.’. (shrink)

The article discusses whether there is an equivalent of the concept of "reflexion" in the philosophy of India as developed independently of the European one. The author comes to the conclusion that there is none. The concept of reflexion is unique to the West. If it does not exist in Indian thought, is it possible to find Indian examples of what a European or Russian philosopher would call reflexion, the application of reflexion? How homogeneous are they and how highly valued (...) are they in the Indian tradition? It turns out that examples of Indian reflexivity are very diverse and are found in such areas as reflexivity in reasoning, reflexivity of mental processes, reflexive closure of epistemology to ontology, and, finally, in the fact that the limit of reflexivity, which can be realized by a thinkeras a metaphysical practitioner, is nothing but the inadequately formulated liberation by Europeans as an "Indian religious ideal". (shrink)

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is developed in a population of somatic mammalian cells in vivo or in vitro when they are selected for resistance to each of a large group of drugs (colchicine, adriamycin, actinomycin D, etc.). It is produced by the amplification of some unknown gene(s) whose product(s) evidently change(s) the plasma membrane permeability of a cell to a selective agent and to other unrelated compounds. A large specific genomic region (150–250 kbp) undergoes amplification in MDR cells selected for the (...) resistance to different drugs. Amplified DNA is located in homogeneously staining regions of chromosomes, double minute chromosomes and small chromatin bodies – episome‐like structures that replicate out of the S‐phase of a cell cycle. The selection of MDR cell variants is accompanied by regular karyotypic evolution specific for this type of drug resistance. (shrink)

Racism cannot be ousted by external social manipulations without philosophical reflection on distinguishing between the structure of this phenomenon and the possibilities of its cultural overcoming. This essay analyzes Russian traveler Nicolai Miklouho-Maclay’s heroic struggle against racism. His nap on the outskirts of a Papuan village is presented as an existential act of throwing off any objectivities of one’s personal “I” in an effort to overcome racist insanity using a universal dialogue between accepting each other as equals. As a xenophobic (...) obstacle to a dialogue with the Other, racism generates a global demarcation of humanity that passes through the subjective core of each person’s identity. It is this subjectivity that should be brought to its utmost flexibility for the sake of a dialogue with the Other. The vanishing objectivity of the “I,” according to Karl Jaspers, can be defined as energeticism. It is the strife for achieving the universal “I” which is indefinite but still IS there. (shrink)

The great disputants within the Islamic tradition, the Mutakallimūn, laid down the basis for rational discussion of causality by affirming the right of reason to engage in independent research. This affirmation could not be absolute; it took the form of a division of the spheres of competence belonging, respectively, to reason and Law. Reason was declared to be the judge in ontological and epistemological questions, whereas the sphere of ethics and legislation were left subject to religious Law. Certainly, this division (...) should not be understood too rigidly. The Mutakallimūn often remained loyal to the Law and did not permit reason to execute its rights to the full even when disputing ontological problems. On the other hand, in the sphere of legislation they asserted the rights of reason to define new norms, not established in Revelation, on the basis of rational analysis of revealed Law, thus defying the Zāhiriyya, “people of the manifest,” who denied the legitimacy of rational procedures for determining new norms of law. (shrink)

This study provides a critical examination of biopolitics and the process of the subjectification of Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Estonia. The authors analyze multiple overlapping regimes of belonging, performativity, and debordering.

The paper presents the reflection on philosophical foundations of contemporary physical concepts of global history and global structure of Universe. It shows that Democritus's dualism of "matter and void" is changed now in dualism of "matter and energy" in the frame of the strings theory, where anything what looks like "a void" is absent. At the same time the Poincare-Perelman's theorem calls to rethink Democritus's philosophy in the light of "space and hole" discourse and call it to come back. On (...) the level of philosophy doctrines for contemporary fundamental physics it in necessary to combine dialectically the concept of "matter and void/hole" and the concept "matter and energy" (or "matter and singular conditions"). It is possible to do on the way of rethinking of H. Bergson's ideas presented in his book "Matter and memory". The conclusion is that fundamental dualism consists the relation "visible matter - invisible historical memory" inside of Universe. (shrink)

This review covers the content of reports and discussions at the 12th Kant Readings Conference held in April 2019 and organised by the research unit of the Academia Kantiana of the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Kaliningrad. Traditionally, Kant Readings have been thematically universal, embracing all the areas of Kant’s legacy. This time the conference focused on practical philosophy, i.e. the historical grounds and modern significance of Kant’s ethical thought as compared to other philosophical projects of the Enlightenment era. Due (...) attention was paid to the reception of the ethics of Kant and the Enlightenment by philosophers in Russia and the West. Breakout groups discussed aspects of interconnection between the Enlightenment ethics and esthetics as well as interdisciplinary problems at the interface of philosophy of politics and philosophy of education, including ways to counter various forms of intellectual enslavement. The possibilities of applying Kant’s ethical principles were discussed in close connection with the interpretation of the latest trends in the development of science and technology. It was noted that the intellectual and social communication environment of today has much in common with that of the Enlightenment era, which makes the philosophical strategy proposed during that era amenable to adaptation and development. (shrink)

Context: Linguists and philosophers, as well as psychologists, have not yet offered a coherent explanation of the logic behind the intricate grammar of counterfactuals, the meaning of irreality and….

In this article, I present a sociological approach to the problem of meaningful work that dwells on its broad social and cultural sources, as opposed to the focus on subjective and organizational factors currently prevailing in the field. Specifically, I consider two sociological perspectives, those of community and autonomy, as important conceptual tools for understanding the ambivalent character of modern culture in providing individuals with a sense of meaningfulness of their activities. I also review some of the existing research on (...) meaningful work and interpret it through this conceptual distinction, both to show the latter’s relevance for the field and to identify the gaps it might help fill. As a result, based on the sociological perspectives, I propose a general conceptual model and discuss five directions to further advance the theoretical comprehension of meaningful work, and I suggest some implications of these perspectives for normative business ethics. (shrink)

The starting point of my study is Kant’s remark to the effect that Garve in his treatise on the connection between morality and politics presents arguments in defence of unjust principles. Recognition of these principles is, according to Kant, an inadvisable concession to those who are inclined to abuse it. I interpret this judgement by making a detailed comparison of the texts of the two treatises. I demonstrate that Garve’s work is an eclectic attempt to combine in one concept the (...) lessons of historical experience with the ideas drawn from British empiricism and German rationalism. These ideas were criticised by Kant in his “critical” period. There is a consensus among researchers that Garve condoned the expansionist policy of Frederick II of Prussia, totally denied that legality in international relations was possible and in general deserved the reputation of an conservative. From that point of view the key values for Garve were the security and well-being of the state. I offer an alternative interpretation of Garve’s position because I believe that the value of political stability plays an important role in it. Such an interpretation makes it possible to treat Garve’s narrative as it was assessed by Kant, i.e. as a concession to the common principles of political practice as a result of a failure to find the guiding theory. My study has established that the role of Garve’s work in the writing of Kant’s treatise Toward Perpetual Peace was more significant than Kant’s own words suggest. Besides, I show that it was under Garve’s influence that Kant turned to the problem of excessive complexity of the principles involved in the search for concrete political decisions. Garve obviously laments this complexity and yet makes these principles still more complex. Kant offers a simpler solution of the problem on the basis of his theory of morals and right. (shrink)

This paper addresses the problem of human–computer interactions when the computer can interpret and express a kind of human-like behavior, offering natural communication. A conceptual framework for incorporating emotions with rationality is proposed. A model of affective social interactions is described. The model utilizes the SAIBA framework, which distinguishes among several stages of processing of information. The SAIBA framework is extended, and a model is realized in human behavior detection, human behavior interpretation, intention planning, attention tracking behavior planning, and behavior (...) realization components. Two models of incorporating emotions with rationality into a virtual artifact are presented. The first one uses an implicit implementation of emotions. The second one has an explicit realization of a three-layered model of emotions, which is highly interconnected with other components of the system. Details of the model with implicit implementation of emotional behavior are shown as well as evaluation methodology and results. Discussions about the extended model of an agent are given in the final part of the paper. (shrink)

The paradigm of enfolded-unfolded introduced by Nicolas of Cusa, poses a puzzling question: why and how are the enfolded and unfolded equal to itself and to each other (coi...

For a long time, leading European thinkers have denied systematic, theoretical and rational nature of Chinese traditional thinking, unpretentiously reading it as banal moralizing, not supported by any proper philosophical discourse. However, the habitual socioethical label conceals a much deeper problematic of strategic thinking. At its center, there is the question of choosing all sorts of strategies: from everyday life to special technical ones, from personal existential choice to fateful state decisions. The concept of a winning strategy is emblematized by (...) the dramatic plot of a deadly risk but under certain conditions with guaranteed happy end. The strategy of harmony, which is miraculous in its effectiveness, is proposed as a exemplary strategy. It allows you to “step on the tiger’s tail” with impunity. From the point of view of strategic thinking, the criterion of cognitive value of reasoning is its effectiveness, and the most effective is unmistakable prediction, i.e. the ability to predict the outcome of future developments with the help of reasoning. In the ideal case, prognostic reasoning becomes not just plausible but 100% reliable that is an apodictic true inference. Therefore, the highest cognitive status in the Chinese intellectual tradition is endowed with guaranteed error-free prognostic reasoning. This type of reasoning, where the reliability of foresight is guaranteed by the implementation of a certain winning strategy, can be called the prognostic form of deduction. As a result, the dynamism of Chinese logic, which relies on a deliberate staging of the future, is strikingly different from the static nature of the classical image of logic, where logic is no more than a static guardian of correctness of reasoning. On the contrary, the Chinese concept of logic focuses on deriving consequences from strategic considerations regarding the future, actively and purposefully shaped by the subject who at the same time constructing both himself and the world around him. (shrink)

The article gives an overview of works on philosophy published in the 19 th and 20 th centuries in Belarus, widely influenced by the reception of philosophical views and trends of leading Western European thinkers. The main philosophical ideas of German philosophers (I. Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, K. Marx, F. Nietzsche and others) found creative reflections among the intellectuals of the Northwestern Krai (Region) of the Russian Empire, which included Belarus in the 19 th century. The authors analyze the role of (...) foreign ideas in the first third of the 20 th century on the example of one of the first textbooks on dialectical materialism published by S.Ya. Wolfson in the 1920s (has undergone seven editions). On the basis of the analysis of dissertations (over 800 dissertation of the 1950s–1980s), the authors demonstrate the significance of Western socio-philosophical ideas for the development of philosophical culture in Belarus. Considering the content and features of the processes of transfer of foreign philosophical ideas for two centuries, it can be concluded that is the dominance of the conceptions of German philosophy, especially in the 19 th century. Interest in German philosophy also prevailed in pre-war Soviet philosophy, while the focus was on Marxism and materialistic philosophy in general. Another trend is the significant role of works on the history of philosophy, including personalities and approaches. All this demonstrates that national Belarusian thought developed in the context of European philosophical culture. (shrink)

There are very significant conceptual links between theories of social macroevolution and theories of the World System development. It is shown that the growth of the World System complexity and integrity can be traced through a system of phase transitions of macroevolution. The first set of phase transition is connected with the agrarian, industrial, and information-scientific revolutions (that are interpreted as changes of “production principles”). The second set consists of phase transitions within one production principle. These phase transitions are analyzed (...) on the basis of the World System urbanization dynamics, but they can be traced with respect to the other (cultural, economic, technological, demographic, political, etc.) dimensions of the World System development. (shrink)

Classical Eurasianism is a multifaceted set of teachings centered around ideas introduced by Nikolai S. Trubetskoy. Out of...

In this paper we prove general exact unprovability results that show how a threshold between provability and unprovability of a finite well-quasi-orderedness assertion of a combinatorial class is transformed by the sequence-construction, multiset-construction, cycle-construction and labeled-tree-construction. Provability proofs use the asymptotic pigeonhole principle, unprovability proofs use Weiermann-style compression techniques and results from analytic combinatorics.

Introduction. The complexity of the modern world causes a person to be overloaded with information and a desire to automate and simplify all these processes. Such a reaction is a natural response of the psyche, which strives to prevent excessive stress. At the same time, this natural defensive reaction is manipulated by forces that have the ability to control information and pursue their own narrowly focused goals. This is how the phenomenon of information warfare appeared and developed. The purpose of (...) the study is to consider information as a way of negative impact in the context of modern information wars. Methods. The author uses an axiological approach that reveals the importance of studying war not only from a materialistic perspective, but also from a spiritual, value-based one; the method of systematization allows us to consider at first glance disparate phenomena and events as part of a single system; using the structural and functional method, the phenomenon of information is comprehensively studied and the key mechanisms of its influence on humans and society are pointed out. Scientific novelty of the research. The paper examines the features of information that allow it to be used both in a positive and negative direction. The author provides current data on information wars and analyzes the involvement of modern Russia in all these processes. Information warfare is considered from the standpoint of a predominantly axiological approach, while exploring the possibilities of the influence of new types of information warfare on the processes of changing value orientations and spiritual traditions. It also reveals the importance of the ideology of “Western values” in the context of information warfare, which represents a new stage in the long process of civilizational confrontation. Results. Information is studied as a philosophical category, its functions and other characteristics are highlighted. Various approaches to studying information warfare are presented. The distinctive features of information warfare as a type of new generation wars are highlighted. Special attention is paid to the disclosure of the axiology of information warfare, as well as ways to counter information aggression. Conclusions. A successful society in the 21st century should be able to use the latest technologies to preserve its uniqueness, identity, and national identity to counter the information wars of modernity. (shrink)

The authors consider the phenomenon of overcoming and examines the culture of overcoming in Marxist dialectics. As the core thread for dealing with this issue in the writings of Karl Marx, the authors follows the research on the socio-biological problem carried out by Vladimir I. Plotnikov, a Russian representative of the Marxist dialectics. Examining Marx’s standpoint on the subject, Plotnikov provides an outline of the issue of overcoming. This issue is described as the issue of mankind overcoming its species’ boundaries (...) and divided into the problems of the first and second overcoming. The first overcoming is defined as breaking out beyond the boundaries of instinctual activity, while the second—as the problem of removing the self-restrictions by an alienated person. (shrink)

The article focuses on two lecture courses - The Idea of time and The History of the Idea of Time - delivered by the French philosopher Henri Bergson at Collge de France in 1901-1903. While these courses cannot replace Bergsons published works for understanding his philosophy, they can shed new light on Bergsons popularity. Due to the requirements of the genre, Bergson presents his views in a most succinct and convincing manner and showcases his most original ideas. In these lectures (...) Bergson reinterprets traditional philosophical categories such as the absolute and the relative, the infinite and the finite, and explores two major modes of cognition - conceptual and intuitive knowledge. Major thrust of Bergsons arguments is targeted at conceptual cognition because it is incapable of grasping the duration. Conceptual cognition relies on signs to operate representations of reality. Bergson demonstrates that signs, including concepts, are general, fixating and they appeal to action. Conceptual cognition, therefore, is based on fragmenting continuous processes in reality. However, when discussing intuitive cognition Bergson provides but an outline by referring to intellectual sympathy, plunging into the thing in itself. Despite this apophatic description of the alternative - intuitive - mode of cognition Bergson insists on fundamental transformation of philosophy. We conclude that already in the early 1900s Bergson has in mind an entire project of reconstituting metaphysics and reorienting it towards the problem of time, what might be described as temporal turn in philosophy of the twentieth century. (shrink)

Gene transcription in eukaryotes is associated with conformational changes of a large area of chromatin adjacent to a gene. This rearrangement may involve the whole loop (topological domain) to which a given gene belongs.Regulatory events associated with activation or inactivation of transcription are found to act through relatively short nucleotide sequences, often located several thousand base pairs apart from gene. These sequences, termed enhancers may act independently on their distance from or orientation with respect to the gene.Both long‐range conformational rearrangements (...) of chromatin and any long distance effects of enhancers may be associated with elastic torsional strain in DNA, arising in transcriptionally active chromatin loops. Enhancer effects, in particular, may be associated with conformational transitions in DNA competing for the energy deposited in the elastic spring of the DNA. (shrink)

Today a natural ball lightning (BL) phenomenon has not yet correct physical and philosophical explanation. This article is directed on a new exotic version of the occurrence and behavior of ball lightning. BL consists of a bulk air mixture—neutral air molecules, negative and positive aero ions. BL arise on linear lightning tracks due to the primary ionization of the atmosphere and the secondary effects of atmospheric light aero ions arisen. The emerging electrostatic surface tension forces form a volumetric gas drop, (...) in which the significant electrical energy of the “ball capacitor” is concentrated. The long lifetime of aero ions provides time stability of gas ball. As a rule, a BL gradually discharges and disappears due to recombination processes, emitting a weak cold glow. The explosion of BL occurs with an external destabilizing effect on its structure. First of all, this is contact with a source of free electrons—any conductive objects and surfaces, including the human body. The impulse powerful discharge of “ball capacitor” is very dangerous for human. Some other properties of BL are also discussing in this philosophical note. (shrink)

The construct of moral intensity, proposed by Jones (1991), was used to predict the extent to which individuals were able to recognize moral issues. We tested for the effects of the six dimensions of moral intensity: social consensus, proximity, concentration of effect, probability of effect, temporal immediacy and magnitude of consequences. A scenario-based study, conducted among business individuals in Singapore, revealed that social consensus and magnitude of consequences influenced the recognition of moral issues. The study provided evidence for the effects (...) of temporal immediacy. There was marginal support for the impact of proximity and probability of effect but no evidence that concentration of effect influenced recognition of moral issues. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these results for researchers and organisational practitioners. (shrink)

The paper considers the philosophical component of the approach to the time as an emergent phenomenon absent at the fundamental level. The anthropic principle is shown as arising from the time emergence. Consciousness is shown as an epiphenomenon in such a model, although it is more fundamental than matter in this case. An answer to the question about the prime cause is suggested.

Meaning is not a ready-made entity found in dictionaries as signified by a language sign, but rather something which is manufactured through a sense-positing procedure that starts with an initial i...