Intracellular bacteria were recently shown to employ eukaryotic prenylation system for modifying activity and ensuring proper intracellular localization of their own proteins. Following the same logic, the proteins of viruses may also serve as prenylation substrates. Using extensively validated high-confidence prenylation predictions by PrePS with a cut-off for experimentally confirmed farnesylation of hepatitis delta virus antigen, we compiled in silico evidence for several new prenylation candidates, including IRL9 and few other proteins encoded by Herpesviridae, Nef, E1A, NS5A, PB2, HN, L83L, (...) MC155R, other Poxviridae proteins, and some bacteriophages of human associated bacteria. If confirmed experimentally, these findings may aid in dissection of molecular functions of uncharacterized viral proteins and provide a novel rationale for statin and FT/GGT1-based inhibition of viral infections. Prenylation of bacteriophage proteins may aid in moderation of microbial infections. Many human viruses, including HCV, HIV1, ASFV, and a number of Adeno-, Pox-, and herpesviruses, including CMV, encode the substrates for mammalian prenylation enzymes. Prenylation is advantageous for viral infection; its suppression by FT/GGT and FPPS inhibitors has antiviral effects. In bacteriophages, prenylation may aid in moderation of microbial infections. (shrink)

The article focuses on those paragraphs of the famous text Spiritual Situation of our Time by Karl Jaspers in which he approaches the problem of time from the perspective of philosophical anthropology. This text was published in 1931 and saw multiple editions, including the reprint in 1947, which followed the lecture The Question of Guilt. We surmise from this juxtaposition of texts in the new publication that Jaspers believed in the necessity to revisit the problem of the spiritual situation, but (...) he also regarded his conceptualization of temporality viable in the new context and applicable to analyzing this new situation. We corroborate this hypothesis by close reading of the version of the 1947 text. As there exists a wealth of studies of Jasperss philosophy, we aim to explicate his interpretation of personal historicity and to find a reply to the question why it seems necessary to emphasize the appropriation of time. We demonstrate that the existentialist approach Jaspers offers is a universal model for living in the spiritual situation and for appropriating time. The need to appropriate time is inherent in human nature but the capacity to make sense of it and unravel the potential for authentic existence is not. Human beings are often unaware of their choice of certain time appropriation; moreover, human beings lack consistency in constructing the context of their own historicity. We elaborate in greater detail on the meaning of such concepts as spiritual situation, knowledge of the totality, philosophical life. (shrink)

The authors explore Carnap’s (1931) famous critique of Heidegger’s metaphysics and argue that, from the perspective of contemporary formal semantics of natural language, Carnap’s criticism is not convincing. Moreover, they provide direct empirical objections to Carnap’s criticism. In particular, using empirical evidence from languages like Russian that have negative concord, they show that Heidegger cannot be accused of assigning illegitimate logical forms to his sentences about Nothing because terms like “Nothing” can be used non-quantificationally and the fact that it is (...) not clear how their reference is established cannot be the reason why the corresponding sentences are ungrammatical (as Carnap seemed to suggest). The authors also critically discuss the view that natural language is insensitive to meaninglessness or contradiction. With reference to the work of J. Gajewsky, they show that this view is not true either. As a result of this investigation, they arrive at a position that an appeal to ungrammaticality like the one proposed by Carnap does not provide legitimate evidence against metaphysics. This conclusion relates to some recent criticism of the so-called non-analytical philosophers that can be traced back to Carnap’s paper. (shrink)

This paper addresses the question of understanding of language expressions. We argue that understanding of language expressions can be successfully studied within a general approach of formal semantics and pragmatics. We show how three types of meanings of expressions (truth conditional meaning, presuppositional component and implicatures) contribute to our general understanding of what was said and how those meanings can be studied within the formal approach.

In this article, we examine the key ideas of Wilhelm von Humboldt about language and their relevance to the contemporary research in the field of linguistics. In his works, N. Chomsky describes Humboldt as a key predecessor of the generative approach. The authors discuss the concrete aspects of Humboldt’s influence on generative linguistics drawing special attention to his notion of Form. The authors also observe that Humboldt’s works also contain statements about the deep differences that exist between different languages, as (...) well as statements that different languages can form different pictures of the world. These ideas resonate with philosophical ideas about linguistic relativity (the famous Sapir – Whorf hypothesis), which are incompatible with generative linguistics. The authors try to reconcile an apparent contradiction by appealing to two different perspectives on language that they call the dynamic and the static one. They provide arguments in favor of the former and explore existing arguments against the later, which is associated with the aforementioned hypothesis. The authors conclude by pointing out that Humboldt’s legacy has so many facets that it introduces to incompatible views on language each of which had a serious impact on the studies of language in the 20th century. (shrink)

The paper explores the contextualist approach towards the semantics of knowledge ascriptions. The authors discuss the relevance of these studies in semantics for the major issues in virtue epistemology. It is argued that despite the advantages that contextualism has over its alternatives (in particular, relativism and subject sensitive invariablisism), it still requires a more elaborated compositional semantics that it currently has. We review several concrete contextualsit proposals to the semantics of the verb know in light of their applicability to the (...) well-known type of examples known as the fake barn example, point out some of their particular shortcomings, and propose a revision, which represents a variant of D. Lewis’s general approach to the semantics of know. (shrink)

Background Autism self-advocates’ views regarding genetic tests for autism are important, but critical questions about their perspectives arise.Methods We interviewed 11 autism self-advocates, recruited through autism self-advocacy websites, for 1 h each.Results Interviewees viewed genetic testing and its potential pros and cons through the lens of their own indiviudal perceived challenges, needs and struggles, especially concerning stigma and discrimination, lack of accommodations and misunderstandings from society about autism, their particular needs for services, and being blamed by others and by themselves (...) for autistic traits. Their views of genetic testing tended not to be binary, but rather depended on how the genetic test results would be used. Interviewees perceived pros of genetic testing both in general and with regard to themselves (e.g., by providing “scientific proof” of autism as a diagnosis and possibly increasing availability of services). But they also perceived disadvantages and limitations of testing (e.g., possible eugenic applications). Participants distinguished between what they felt would be best for themselves and for the autistic community as a whole. When asked if they would undergo testing for themselves, if offered, interviewees added several considerations (e.g., undergoing testing because they support science in general). Interviewees were divided whether a genetic diagnosis would or should reduce self-blame, and several were wary of testing unless treatment, prevention or societal attitudes changed. Weighing these competing pros and cons could be difficult.Conclusions This study, the first to use in-depth qualitative interviews to assess views of autism self-advocates regarding genetic testing, highlights key complexities. Respondents felt that such testing is neither wholly good or bad in itself, but rather may be acceptable depending on how it is used, and should be employed in beneficial, not harmful ways. These findings have important implications for practice, education of multiple stakeholders, research, and policy. (shrink)

The summary focuses on topical educational and methodological issues discussed at the meeting of the presidium of the Federal Educational and Methodological Association held in November 2019 in Saint Petersburg. The authors reviews the process of realization of new federal educational standards. Special attention is paid to applied ethics education, the specifics and current problems of teaching it in Russia. The authors also discuss the current state of philosophical education in Belarus, its current problems and possible ways for further development. (...) In addition, the summary outlines various issues related to the work of higher education institutions in Russia. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Philosophy and Rhetoric 37.1 (2004) 1-20 [Access article in PDF] Endoxa, Epistemological Optimism, and Aristotle's Rhetorical Project Ekaterina V. Haskins Communication Department Boston College Aristotle's crucial role in institutionalizing the art of rhetoric in the fourth century BCE is beyond dispute, but the significance of Aristotle's rhetorical project remains a point of lively controversy among philosophers and rhetoricians alike. There are many ways of reading and evaluating Aristotle's (...) Rhetoric that depend on the philosophical, theoretical, and pedagogical purposes of the scholar.1 Most philosophical and rhetorical exegeses of the Rhetoric, however, while focusing on the text's connections to Aristotle's corpus and to the rhetorical tradition before and after Aristotle, seem to lack a critical perspective on Aristotle's relationship with his cultural context. Yet, like other parts of Aristotle's encyclopedic intellectual endeavor, much of Rhetoric 's cultural content was provided by endoxa, "reputable or received opinions."Since G. E. L. Owen's essay "Tithenai ta phainomena" (1961) many scholars have accepted the claim that endoxa, rather than empirical observations, are the source of Aristotle's own philosophical principles. The "linguistic" turn within Aristotelian studies has drawn attention to the role of "facts" of language and ordinary experience within Aristotle's philosophical method. As a result, a view of Aristotle as a hard-core empiricist has given way to a picture of a humanist who is attuned to the nuances of his cultural milieu. Still, this new portrait fails to take into account that Aristotle's manner of selecting and categorizing his linguistic resources allows him to transform what we would consider cultural beliefs into natural, and hence, atemporal premises. This pattern can be explained by Aristotle's "epistemological optimism," in itself a blend of several cultural assumptions about perception in general and vision in particular, the function of language, and the cyclical nature of human history. Part of this essay's objective, then, will be an explanation of these components of Aristotle's epistemological optimism. By appreciating Aristotle's difference [End Page 1] on these issues from our modern assumptions, we will be in a better position to understand why Aristotle relies on endoxa on all three levels of philosophical discourse (theoretical science, moral philosophy, and productive arts of poetics and rhetoric). Aristotle remains consistent in his treatment of endoxa throughout; rhetoric, however, presents a major challenge to Aristotle's epistemological optimism and his conception of language. I shall argue that Aristotle recognized this challenge and that he answered it by isolating proofs and rhetorical genres from their linguistic medium (lexis ), and postulating linguistic transparency (sapheneia ) as a stylistic norm. I. Aristotle's openness to appearances (phainomena ) and opinions (endoxa ) was accorded prominence especially thanks to the work of G. E. L. Owen and Martha Nussbaum. Owen was first to defend a linguistic translation of Aristotle's phainomena as "ordinary beliefs" and "appearances" against the then-prevalent rendition "observed facts." In so doing he asserted the crucial impact of the philosopher's cultural context on the formation of speculative discourse. Owen (1961) nonetheless demanded that phainomena be understood as empirical observations in Aristotle' treatises on biology and meteorology (84-86), so as to preserve the methodological and epistemological distinctions between inquiries into the natural world, on the one hand, and the world inhabited by human agents, on the other. Nussbaum (1986) went much further than Owen in asserting the role of phainomena and endoxa in Aristotle's inquiry. Unlike Owen, Nussbaum sees no fundamental difference between "experiences" of a philosopher and linguistic expressions of cultural beliefs and interpretations—his discursive data—from which Aristotle constructs his philosophical accounts. Nussbaum's chief (and highly influential) claim is that Aristotle's method is marked by a deep concern for the experiential world of his fellow men and their language. Aristotle's philosophical insights into the human condition, on this reading, echo and amplify classical Greek tragedy, despite the austere diction of Aristotle's extant treatises.Owing to this openness to the world of ordinary beliefs, Aristotle seems to depart from the Eleatic and Platonic distrust of human... (shrink)

In the late 1920s – early 1930s, the Russian poet and novelist Konstantin Vaginov (1899–1934) wrote four novels which reproduce various discourses pertainingto the Russian humanities (philosophy, psychology, linguistics, study of literature) of that time. Trying to go back to the source of the corresponding theories and “hidden” quotations by identifying their authors allows us to include Vaginov’s prose in the general intellectual context of his epoch. Analysing Vaginov’s prose in the light of the history of ideas enables us to (...) understand how a number of philological and philosophical trends were interpreted by particular groups of Soviet intellectuals (for instance, writers and poets who were Vaginov’s contemporaries). Besides, it allows us to propose a new interpretation of Vaginov’s novels and their evolution which corresponds to his perception of humanities around him: their many tendencies and peculiarities become unacceptable for the writer in the 1930s. (shrink)

We show that for every computable limit ordinal α, there is a computable structure A that is $\Delta _\alpha ^0 $ categorical, but not relatively $\Delta _\alpha ^0 $ categorical (equivalently. it does not have a formally $\Sigma _\alpha ^0 $ Scott family). We also show that for every computable limit ordinal a, there is a computable structure A with an additional relation R that is intrinsically $\Sigma _\alpha ^0 $ on A. but not relatively intrinsically $\Sigma _\alpha ^0 $ (...) on A (equivalently, it is not definable by a computable $\Sigma _\alpha $ formula with finitely many parameters). Earlier results in [7], [10], and [8] establish the same facts for computable successor ordinals α. (shrink)

The article analyzes the background and dynamics of Lev S. Vygotsky’s notions of smysl. Drawing on the data of archival records...

Is there a unique way to de-idealize models? If not, how might the possible ways of reducing the distortion between models and reality differ from each other? Based on an empirical case study conducted in financial markets, this paper discusses how a popular valuation model (the Discounted Cash Flow model) idealizes reality and how the market participants de-idealize it in concrete market situations. In contrast to Cartwright's view that economic models are generally over-constrained, this paper suggests that valuation models are (...) under-constrained. This serves as the reason why the relaxation of simplifying assumptions and concretization do not work as methods of de-idealization. The paper finds that financial market participants de-idealize models using commentary that takes the form of judgment. As a conclusion, a hypothesis is formulated that proposes that the more underdetermined the model is the bigger role narrative and other pragmatic elements play in the process of model application. (shrink)

Social robots are gradually entering children’s lives in a period when children learn about social relationships and exercise prosocial behaviors with parents, peers, and teachers. Designed for long-term emotional engagement and to take the roles of friends, teachers, and babysitters, such robots have the potential to influence how children develop empathy. This article presents a review of the literature in the fields of human–robot interaction, psychology, neuropsychology, and roboethics, discussing the potential impact of communication with social robots on children’s social (...) and emotional development. The critical analysis of evidence behind these discussions shows that, although robots theoretically have high chances of influencing the development of empathy in children, depending on their design, intensity, and context of use, there is no certainty about the kind of effect they might have. Most of the analyzed studies, which showed the ability of robots to improve empathy levels in children, were not longitudinal, while the studies observing and arguing for the negative effect of robots on children’s empathy were either purely theoretical or dependent on the specific design of the robot and the situation. Therefore, there is a need for studies investigating the effects on children’s social and emotional development of long-term regular and consistent communication with robots of various designs and in different situations. (shrink)

The term dunamis, by which Aristotle defines rhetoric in the first chapter of The Art of Rhetoric, is a "power" term, as its various meanings in Aristotle's corpus—from vernacular ones like "political influence" to strictly philosophical ones like "potentiality"—attest.1 In the Rhetoric, however, dunamis is usually translated as "ability" or "faculty," a designation that, compared to other terms that describe persuasion in ancient Greek poetics and rhetoric (such as "bia" ["force"] or "eros" ["seduction"]), marks rhetoric as a neutral human capacity (...) rather than the use of language entangled in the vagaries of violence and desire.2 John Kirby calls Aristotle's definition "one of the boldest moves in the history of .. (shrink)

The present study aims to elucidate whether insight problem solving could be facilitated by the cognitive component of humour. The authors take interest in whether the logical mechanisms of humour can affect how fast insight problems are solved. To that end, the authors conducted two experiments where participants solved insight problems after watching visual humorous stimuli such as videos and slideshows. The first experiment demonstrated the overall impact of facilitation by humour on insight problem solving; however, it did not show (...) any difference in how particular logical mechanisms of humour affect the solution time of insight problems. The second experiment showed that the cognitive component of humour could selectively affect insight problems whose difficulty stems from different sources. These results suggest that the cognitive component of humour, when operationalised as logical mechanisms and schema switching, contributes to solving insight problems. (shrink)

In this paper, the year names on two tablets from the reign of Naramsin of Akkad are mutually restored and their contribution to understanding the development of Old Akkadian royal iconography is considered.

Andrei Platonov’s The Foundation Pit contains its own interpretation of the interaction between life and death. Scholars are usually focused on the influence of Nikolai Fedorov’s philosophy, but re...

This is a review of the book by E.G. Dragalina-Chyornaya “Informal notes on logical form". The review discusses the structure and the main ideas of the book. The review focuses on the author's arguments in favor of the dynamic regulatory model of logic and provides a critical analysis of them.

Criticizing the works of "Western" specialists in semantics, Soviet academician M. M. Pokrovskij (1868-1942) comes to the conclusion that social factors are essential for semantic evolution, while psychological factors constitute an intermediate link between the "external" life of a society and the semantics of the corresponding language. This conception resembles the general explanations of semantic evolution proposed by N. Ja. Marr (1864-1934). Nevertheless, despite a number of common points in the semantic theories of these two researchers, Pokrovskij's attitude towards Marr (...) was negative: in particular, he disagreed with the thesis of the chronological primacy of Marr's discoveries in the domain of semantics. The article investigates why Pokrovskij had for a long time constituted an intermediate link between Russian and "Western" "traditions" in the field of semantics. (shrink)

On the basis of both published and unpublished manuscripts written from 1914 to 1917, this article gives an overview of Lev Vygotsky’s early ideas. It turns out that Vygotsky was very much involved in issues of Jewish culture and politics. Rather surprisingly, the young Vygotsky rejected all contemporary ideas to save the Jewish people from discrimination and persecution by creating an autonomous state in Palestine or elsewhere. Instead, until well into 1917, Vygotsky proposed the rather traditional option of strengthening the (...) spiritual roots of the Jews by returning to the religious writings. Socialism was rejected, because it merely envisioned the compulsory redistribution of material goods and ‘man lives not by bread alone’. It was only after the October Revolution that Vygotsky switched from arguments in favour of the religious faith in the Kingship of God to the communist belief in a Radiant Future. (shrink)

The study of Borel equivalence relations under Borel reducibility has developed into an important area of descriptive set theory. The dichotomies of Silver [20] and Harrington, Kechris and Louveau [6] show that with respect to Borel reducibility, any Borel equivalence relation strictly above equality on ω is above equality on , the power set of ω, and any Borel equivalence relation strictly above equality on the reals is above equality modulo finite on . In this article we examine the effective (...) content of these and related results by studying effectively Borel equivalence relations under effectively Borel reducibility. The resulting structure is complex, even for equivalence relations with finitely many equivalence classes. However use of Kleene’s O as a parameter is sufficient to restore the picture from the noneffective setting. A key lemma is that of the existence of two effectively Borel sets of reals, neither of which contains the range of the other under any effectively Borel function; the proof of this result applies Barwise compactness to a deep theorem of Harrington establishing for any recursive ordinal α the existence of singletons whose α-jumps are Turing incomparable. (shrink)

Aging is associated with decreased functional connectivity in the main brain networks, which can underlie changes in cognitive and emotional processing. Neurofeedback is a promising non-pharmacological approach for the enhancement of brain connectivity. Previously, we showed that a single session of infra-low frequency neurofeedback results in increased connectivity between sensory processing networks in healthy young adults. In the current pilot study, we aimed to evaluate the possibility of enhancing brain connectivity during aging with the use of infra-low frequency neurofeedback. Nine (...) females aged 52 ± 7 years with subclinical signs of emotional dysregulation, including anxiety, mild depression, and somatoform symptoms, underwent 15 sessions of training. A resting-state functional MRI scan was acquired before and after the training. A hypothesis-free intrinsic connectivity analysis showed increased connectivity in regions in the bilateral temporal fusiform cortex, right supplementary motor area, left amygdala, left temporal pole, and cerebellum. Next, a seed-to-voxel analysis for the revealed regions was performed using the post- vs. pre-neurofeedback contrast. Finally, to explore the whole network of neurofeedback-related connectivity changes, the regions revealed by the intrinsic connectivity and seed-to-voxel analyses were entered into a network-based statistical analysis. An extended network was revealed, including the temporal and occipital fusiform cortex, multiple areas from the visual cortex, the right posterior superior temporal sulcus, the amygdala, the temporal poles, the superior parietal lobule, and the supplementary motor cortex. Clinically, decreases in alexithymia, depression, and anxiety levels were observed. Thus, infra-low frequency neurofeedback appears to be a promising method for enhancing brain connectivity during aging, and subsequent sham-controlled studies utilizing larger samples are feasible. (shrink)

Introduction. Digital transformation transforms all spheres of society. Digital technologies are gradually changing the interaction between producers and consumers, creating new forms of communication. The priorities of individual consumption have become of greater importance for public relations. Consumption is being individualized as the consumption of meanings, and not just the functions of things and services. Prosumers are being emerged, joint and responsible consumer practices — sharing, recycling, etc. are being spread. In the context of digitalization, the need for a person (...) to create a “demand for himself” in order to be recognized / to be let into social relations (work, family, friendship, hobbies, etc.) is actualized. A brand as a sociocultural phenomenon and its functions are undergoing significant changes under the influence of digitalization. The purpose of the study is to identify and characterize the social functions of the brand in a situation of total digitalization. Methods. The author uses general scientific methods — analysis, comparison, generalization, classification. Classification of the brand function is carried out on the basis of structural and functional analysis and a systematic approach. Scientific novelty of the study. The article presents the specifics of functioning of the brand as a sociocultural phenomenon of the consumer society in the context of digitalization. The author identifies and characterizes social functions of the brand in the digital space. Results. Consumption in the digital space is characterized by the growing importance of not only the manufacturer’s activity, but also the cultural-creative practices of consumers that set trends in the digital and material market, determine and create Web 2.0 Internet content. Brands, due to their symbolic nature, have actualized their functions in the digital environment. Conclusion. Brand research from the standpoint of social, humanitarian and philosophical sciences can reveal its humanistic potential for developing man and society in the digital age. The social functions of the brand in the digital space contribute to the self-development of a person and the evolution of social relations due to the focus on individuality and creativity. (shrink)

Im Denken Nietzsches stellt der Begriff des intellektuellen Gewissens die äußerste Konsequenz der europäischen Moral dar und paradoxiert sie zugleich. Dieser Begriff kann somit nicht bloß als Ausdruck der Verehrung des alten moralischen Ideals verstanden werden, sondern sollte bei Nietzsche gerande die Ummöglichkeit einer allgemeingültigen moralisch richtenden Instanz demonstrieren. um dies nachzuweisen, wird in der Abhandlung ein weiterer Begriff untersucht, in dem der des Gewissens tief verwrzelt ist - der Begriff des Glaubens. Seine christlich-reformatorische Deutung und seine Umdeutung in der (...) Moralphilosophie Kants zeigen sich als Tragödie der verzweifelten Suche nach Sicherheit im Füwahrhalten. Den neuen Mut zur Ungewissheit in sich zu entdecken und den tiesfsten Wünschen "des Herzen" zu widerstehen wird Nietzsche hingegen zum Gebot der neuen, fröhlichen Weisheit.The concept of "intellectual conscience" is for Nietzsche the end product of European mortality and exhibitis that morality's paradoxial nature. Nietzche's notion cannot however be regarded as an expression of an adoration of the old moral ideal. It should on the contrary show the impossibility that a single system of moral evaluation can be valid for all. In order to demonstrate this, the article deals with another notion - the notion of faith/belief - which is implied by the notion of conscience. Its Christian-protestant interpretation and its reinterpretation in Kantian moral philosophy reveal the tragedy of a desperate search for the guarantee of the holding-for-true. The task to discover a new courage for the unknown, the courage to side against the deepest wishes of "the heart" is presented by Nietzsche as a command of a new, joyful wisdom. (shrink)

I assert that Bulgarian journalists recruited during communism to also serve the government as intelligence agents had the opportunity to make moral choices despite the country's dictatorship. Post-communist discussions in Bulgarian media focused on the extent of guilt of journalists who acted as spies. The three possibilities of forgetting the past, punishing those who spied, or forgiving them, are considered. The article concludes that the spy/journalists cannot be forgiven because they violated moral principles that had been vital in Eastern Europe (...) even during the communist regimes; a democratic society should rely on journalists with no history of deceiving audiences. (shrink)

The interview with one of the founders of the Tartu–Moscow school, semiotician Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov (b. 1929) from August 2010, describes V. V. Ivanov’s opinions of several scholars and their work (including Evgenij Polivanov, Mikhail Bakhtin, Andrej Kolmogorov, Nikolaj Marr etc.), his relationships with his father Vsevolod Ivanov, as well as V. V. Ivanov’s views on the past and future of semiotics, with some emphasis on neurosemiotics, zoosemiotics, semiotics of culture, cybernetics, history of linguistics, study and protection of small languages. (...) The interview also deals with V. V. Ivanov’s book Even and Odd. (shrink)

Does George Berkeley provide an argument for the existence of the Judeo-Christian God at Principles of Human Knowledge, part I, section 29? The standard answer is that he does. In this paper, we challenge that interpretation. First, we look at section 29 in the context of its preceding sections and argue that the most the argument establishes is that there are at least two minds, that is, that the thesis of solipsism is false. Next, we examine the argument in section (...) 29 in light of the conclusions Berkeley draws in sections 30–33. There Berkeley concludes that there is one cause of the ordered world of ideas, a cause he calls the "Author of Nature." We argue that Berkeley's Author of Nature is conceptually distinct from, although numerically identical with, the Judeo-Christian God, for whose existence Berkeley argues in section 146. Finally, we ask whether, if our conclusion is correct, it is significant that Berkeley drew a conceptual distinction between the Author of Nature and the Judeo-Christian God. (shrink)

The aim of the present paper is to introduce a system, where the epistemic state of an agent is represented truth-functionally. In order to obtain this system, we propose a four-valued logic, that we call the logic of rational agent, where the fact of knowing something is formalized at the level of valuations, without the explicit use of epistemic knowledge operator. On the basis of this semantics, a sound and complete system with two distinct truth-functional negations is provided. These negations (...) allow us to express the statements about knowing or not knowing something at the syntactic level. Moreover, such a system is applied to the analysis of knowability paradox. In particular, we show that the paradox is not derivable in terms of the logic of rational agent. (shrink)

In this article, we examine two philosophical theories of recognition: those of Paul Ricoeur and Alexandre Kojève. We trace this line of development in the theory of recognition as a return from Ricoeur to Kojève. Our hypothesis is that over the past twenty years, the theory of recognition has undergone a change in content and has transformed into a theory of misrecognition. In turn, the theory of misrecognition is grounded in the struggle between subjects and brings us back to the (...) discourse of the struggle between the Slave and the Master. This transformation from struggle to reciprocity and vice versa, we argue, suggests that a theory of identity formation as a process of resistance to assujettissement is in demand at this moment in history. In the 2010s, as the theory of misrecognition took shape primarily in the English‑speaking world, the constitution of the subject began to be understood once again as the outcome of struggles within feminist, Marxist, and other emancipatory theories. We examine both Ricoeur’s arguments against Kojève, Althusser, and the theory of misrecognition in general, as well as the «return» of Kojève’s arguments in the contemporary theory of misrecognition. (shrink)

Introduction. The rapid dynamics of the present world results in its complication and construction. Reality turns out to be woven from many quote fragments, representing a collage that a person creates and comprehends through the prism of various texts. Constantly transformable forms come to the fore and, as a result, there exists a plurality of meanings. Models of the world are continuously generated, replacing the actual reality with a multi- tude of spectacular simulacra. The search for ways to comprehend reality (...) through the identification of markers of its transformations is noted, and under- standing becomes the basis of ontology and one of the dominants of consciousness in the last quarter of the 20th and first quarter of the 21st centuries. Signs and symbols of subculture, determined by the context of culture and presented by various means, become one of the markers of the social reality transformations. The purpose of the study is to show the markers of the transformation of the total communication society. Methods. Methodological framework is in G. Gadamer’s hermeneutic approach and the provi- sions of M. Halliday’s social semiotics to coding/de- coding the meanings of operators-markers of social transformations. In addition, other methods were used in the work - methods of analogy, analysis and synthesis. Fragments of the study devoted to the study of chanson as a creolized text required the use of a systematic method. Scientific novelty of the research. The authors re- vealed the specificity of the chanson as a creolized text and present understanding of the subculture as a marker of the social reality transformations, which is manifested by sign-symbolic forms of con- tinuously generated creolized texts, thanks to the technique and technologies of communication. Results. Markers of social reality transformations represent them in the format of creolized texts. What is broadcast in them is filled with a person and, consequently, his responsibility for their con- tent is growing. Semiotic methodology based on the synthesis of the intellectual capital of hermeneutics and linguistics makes it possible for us to consider them as a product of human sign-symbolic activity and decode the content. Conclusions. The specificity of human existence is determined by the existence of a person in the lin- guistic aspect of the world around him - the world is given by language, which involves the search for meaning and understanding of the world. Thinking and language are ontologically connected: mean- ing is expressed by linguistic means. Although the nature of the markers of social reality transforma- tions is different, nevertheless, it is presented and framed as a text, the understanding of which is one of the ways to comprehend social reality. (shrink)

The article is devoted to an anthropological study of psychotherapeutic discourse adaptation by religious specialists within the Catholic practice of spiritual exercises. Grounded in the therapeutic culture's notion that an individual's roots lie deeply within their family history and childhood experiences, this article examines how issues related to family relationships may surface during the development of psychotherapeutic techniques by religious groups. It also investigates the childhood images upon which these "syncretic" projects might be based. Considering the Catholic practice of spiritual (...) exercise allows us to explore the historical roots of the "personal relationship with God". This concept appears in various spiritual movements from the late Middle Ages and early Modern period, which emphasized emotional religiosity, meditation, and imaginative practices. In the present context, the interpretation of the relationship with God and other agents of divine nature in psychotherapeutic terms is based on a combination of traditional Jesuit spiritual direction practices with ideas from psychodynamic theories found in American spiritual direction manuals of the 1970s-1990s. From this angle, the image of God is interpreted as a projection of an authoritative adult image internalized in childhood, and problems in the "relationship with God" are seen as a consequence of unresolved issues with significant others. Using one of the most important therapeutic tropes of the "inner child" as the basis for meditation practice, spiritual directors invite participants to envision a scene where a child version of their personality receives unconditional love. However, unlike the therapeutic version of the practice of "inner child work,” in the Catholic paradigm, the individual should neither become the agent of their own healing nor reparent themselves. The logic of personal responsibility and "parenthood” as its metaphor is replaced by the logic of humility and surrendering oneself to the divine will, i.e., true childhood. The article highlights the need to closely examine imaginative techniques in religious cultures and psychotherapeutic contexts, and questions the commonality in their epistemological stance on the nature and function of imagination. (shrink)

The subject of this research is the works of Kazimir Malevich of the period 1913–1914. Despite numerous scientific works and articles dedicated to the works of K. Malevich, the period of his becoming requires clarification. The object of this research is the Russian avant-garde art of 1913 – 1914. The author dwells on the compositional principles in the painter’s works of this period. Special attention is given to the colorful shapes and geometric elements underlying the compositions of his paintings. Analysis (...) is conducted on the the path of Kazimir Severinovich, the transition from Futurism and Cubo-Futurism through Fevralism to the original style – suprematism. The philosophical and art history analysis in combination with the general scientific methods of research allowed developing a representation on the transformation the artistic pursuits of Kazimir Malevich towards the dominant of the black geometric colorful shape, which subsequently led to the creation of the “Black Square” and the formation of suprematism. The article examines and compares the paintings of the period 1913–1914, when Malevich had moved from being a mentee to creating his own artistic language. The study of the paintings by Kazimir Malevich and determination of large group of works similar in the techniques and colors used allows broadening and complementing the knowledge on the period prior to suprematism. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis article deals with Dostoevsky’s controversial concept of love and its relation to that of Nietzsche. Despite many parallels, Dostoevsky’s thought on love can be viewed as a criticism, avant la letter, of Nietzsche’s claim to having unmasked the Christian idea of neighbour-love ‘for God’s sake’ as an illusion. Yet, in addition to neighbour-love, Dostoevsky also entertains the idea of ‘furthest love’, love for the Übermensch of the future. The article examines Dostoevsky’s experiments with love’s different forms and argues that (...) the question underlying these explorations is whether Christian love can positively impact the world or whether it is doomed to be ineffectual, even destructive. It is argued that, while Dostoevsky’s novels often expose love’s fallibility and even its impotence, they nonetheless manifest the quest for a love capable of redeeming the world. It is shown how Dostoevsky considered one’s understanding of love to hinge on anthropological views, such as belief in the immortality of the soul or the degree of human freedom and responsibility; and how the reality and practice of love, in turn, influences both who we are and understand ourselves to be.​. (shrink)

Man is a biosocial entity, so, in the study of his adaptive peculiarities two directions, that is, biologic and social, can be determined. Within the biological framework it is possible to combine evolutionary, genetic, medical-biological and ecological investigations. Recently, the problem of man’s adaptation to profound changes taking place in the environment, under the impact of man’s activity, becomes of growing importance. The second direction of the man adaptation research may be called social or socio-cultural. In the course of social (...) adaptation man acts as an adaptively-adapting entity, inasmuch as, unlike animals, he does not only adapt himself to the environment, but also transforms it in course of his activity, sometimes creating a new environment. The complex study of human being makes necessary a synthesis of natural-scientific and socialhumanitariansides of the man’s adaptation problem. The analysis of the above mentioned directions, of social and biological man’s adaptations research, enables us tocome to the conclusion that no one direction, taking separately, can resolve the problem of man’s adaptation, which has a complicated pattern with many aspects. The man’s adaptation problem emerged within the framework of biology, and during a long time it was of evolutionary-biological character. However, in the course of the development of science it has become an interdisciplinary issue. It may be conceived profoundly and with all aspects only by means of an interdisciplinary synthetic analysis. (shrink)

The article treats the problem of interpretation in its respect to reality by example of Umberto Eco’s moderate ‚realistic‘ position and his criticism of Friedrich Nietzsche, the “father” of postmodernism. Here the strongest arguments on both sides are evaluated: Eco’s “negative realism” pointing out the impossibility of some interpretations and Nietzsche’s thinking out the absolute absence of a privileged position proceeding from which it would be possible to unequivocally identify what is real. The article argues that the crucial point why (...) some interpretations may prove to be stronger or weaker is best described in terms of the concept of power. One however should avoid misconceptions, since power itself is interpretation which nevertheless allows for the gradation of reality, the mobility of its horizons, their shifting and even their potential availability. A much-disputed question of prehistoric times as well as that of death as a limit of interpretability is inter alia included in the analysis. Both classical anti-realistic positions, such as that of Wittgenstein, and the argumentation of contemporary advocates of realism, such as Quentin Meillassoux, are taken into consideration. (shrink)

The research is devoted to a discussion of social and humanitarian problems associated with tectonic changes in human life against the backdrop of total digitalization. The author's attention is focused on the uniqueness of the modern situation: never before have innovative technologies had the ability to penetrate so rapidly and deeply into the foundation of modern society, have they become so widespread and accessible to almost all peoples and cultures. At the same time, the undeniable public good and the most (...) serious threats to society that digital reality technologies bring with them are in a very close relationship. This is especially true for artificial intelligence systems. Innovations transform the entire world order, bringing radical changes not only to the material sphere of life, but also to the spiritual and moral state of a person. The research notes that the introduction of information and communication technologies into the life of modern society occurs without reliable support on the results of preliminary experimental research, without taking into account a deep professional and responsible assessment of the social and psychological consequences of their impact on the individual and on society as a whole. As a result, at this stage, society is constantly faced with many negative aspects of the impact of high-tech means. The work examines some of them: a decrease in cognitive and analytical abilities, the devaluation of human labor, the criminalization of cyberspace, the spread of Deepfake technology. Particular attention is paid to the problem associated with the possibility of using information technology as a tool of psychological influence. Information and psychological warfare is implemented on the basis of social networks and artificial intelligence technologies, which provides the enemy with the opportunity to achieve superiority without the use of military force. Information and humanitarian actions in cyberspace, carried out by Western countries in order to destabilize our society, destroy its value foundations, reformat the consciousness, worldview and spiritual and moral qualities of citizens, are becoming increasingly large-scale and aggressive. The work notes that digitalization is gaining momentum, plunging society deeper into new circumstances and requiring decisive action aimed at overcoming the many threats specific to the modern high-tech era. (shrink)

Jaan Kaplinski (1941–2021), Estonian poet, essayist and public intellectual, sadly passed away earlier this year. To commemorate him, we publish some excerpts from a conversation with him that was recorded in 2018 and in which, among other topics, we also talked about Kaplinski’s relationship with semiotics and his personal contacts with eminent scholars of the Tartu-Moscow School.

RESUMO O uso de linguagem codificada e esópica nos trabalhos dos semioticistas que integraram a Escola Semiótica de Tártu-Mosou foi motivado pelo desejo de serem compreendidos pelo círculo e não compreendidos por possíveis intrusos indesejáveis dos órgãos de controle soviéticos. Um dos termos centrais utilizados pela Escola - os “sistemas modelizantes secundários” - foi sugerido por Vladímir Uspiénski com o objetivo de substituir a palavra "semiótica", associada à semiótica ocidental. Ao cotejar o artigo de Iúri Lotman Sobre o problema da (...) tipologia da cultura, de 1967, com a tradução para o português do Brasil de Lucy Seki, que integrou a coletânea Semiótica Russa, organizada por Boris Schnaiderman, objetivo verificar se as peculiaridades do texto original, que surgiram devido às condições histórico-políticos da sua criação, foram preservadas na tradução. ABSTRACT The use of codified and Aesopian language in the works of the semioticians who were members of the Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School was motivated by the desire to be understood by the School members and notunderstood by possible unwanted intruders from Soviet control organizations. One of the key terms they used was secondary modeling systems, which Vladimir Uspensky suggested to replace the word semiotics, associated with Western semiotics. By comparing Yuri Lotman’s essay Problems in the Typology of Culture to Lucy Seki’s translation of the essay into Brazilian Portuguese, which is part of the book Semiótica Russa [Russian Semiotics], edited by Boris Schnaiderman, I intend to verify if particularities of the original text, which resulted from the historical and political context in which the essay was produced, were maintained in the translation. (shrink)

The article aims to show that the task of grounding categorial constituents in the specific founded acts of perception yields the problem field of phenomenological inquiry, within the framework of which remains Heidegger’s project of fundamental ontology. To achieve this goal the article reconstructs, first, the problem of the possibility of a priori correspondence between meaning and intuition of the intentional act; second, the phenomenological justification of extension of the traditional concept of truth, as a result of which truth characteristic (...) expands to intentional acts structured in a certain way, namely acts of total agreement between meaning and intuition (identification acts); third, the problem of the “categorial” in the phenomenological analysis of perception, which includes the extension of the concept of perception, limited in transcendental philosophy to the area of sensible intuitions, and justification of the specific categorial acts. On this basis, the article demonstrates that (1) phenomenology in a certain sense continues the project of transcendental philosophy, but the idea of a priori correspondence between notion and intuition within the framework of structural analysis of intentionality forms a new research problem. (2) The phenomenological understanding of truth in terms of the dynamics of empty and filled meaning intention is significant for the concept of truth presented by Heidegger in Being and Time. Heidegger explicates the concept of the truth in fundamental ontology based on the idea of identification. (3) The extension of the concept of object to its categorial constitution justified by Husserl provides fundamental ontology with the research subject. Heidegger interprets the categories, phenomenally represented in acts of categorial intuition, as a priori structures of the being of beings. The study also ascertains that new concepts of Husserl’s phenomenology saturate the conceptual framework of fundamental ontology. However, Heidegger also rethinks the key concepts of phenomenology in accordance with objectives which are different from the original objectives of the project of phenomenology designed by Husserl. (shrink)

The rapid uptake of digital technologies is constantly transforming the modern culture of sports spectating; however, relatively little is known about the impact of digitalization on the changing face of global sports-consuming audiences, particularly from a qualitative perspective. In this article, the relationship between modern mass digital technologies and audiences of sports spectators is described and explained by taking a customer-centric approach to grounded theory using a literature review and in-depth qualitative semi-structured interviews with sports marketing, management, and technology professionals. (...) The qualitative approach permits the gathering of in-depth insights into a problem, generates new concepts through data synthesis and analysis, and captures changing attitudes within the sports industry. Moreover, the qualitative approach to research is not bound by the limitations of quantitative methods and focuses on the primary questions of “how” and “why” digital technology’s mass deployment and diffusion have transformed content consumption in the sports industry. The analysis first systematizes and codes the collected data. Second, all the materials are iteratively read and the key points are outlined. Using the iterative analysis, the theoretical and empirical insights and findings are synthesized in order to achieve the results. Finally, dimensions of the transformation of sports spectators’ consumption are identified and explained. The research implications highlight “how” and “why” modern digital technologies have changed the sports-consuming audience by making it more inclusive in terms of age, gender, demographics, social and health status. These findings are useful for sport managers to better understand their audiences and processes in an ever-changing global society. (shrink)

The aim of this contribution is to provide an overview of conceptual approaches to incorporating a decision maker’s non-knowledge into economic theory. We will focus here on the particular kind of non-knowledge which we consider to be one of the most important for economic discussions: non-knowledge of possible consequence-relevant uncertain events which a decision maker would have to take into account when selecting between different strategies.

Introduction. The article is focused on possibilities of measuring the efficiency of organizational culture, which is relevant when planning and justifying the expenditures for personnel management. The aim of the study is to formulate an algorithm of actions which makes it possible to move from assessing the existing organizational culture to assessing the expected economic effects from measures to maintain or develop it. Methods. In the course of the research, the methods of comparative analysis, system analysis, functional analysis, desk research (...) were used. Scientific novelty. In works devoted to measuring organizational culture, the emphasis is made on diagnosing its state, its features in any specific organizations, recorded, as a rule, on the basis of a number of well-known author’s methods. Researches on HR analytics and practical recommendations are focused on building a system of HR metrics and identifying their correlation with an organization economic performance in order to see solutions - “insights” in human resource management. At the same time, there are no works reflecting the relationship between the characteristics of organizational culture and the expected economic effects of its functioning, which would justify the necessity of expenditures for managing organizational culture for each specific organization. The article describes the possibility of transition from measuring the culture characteristics to the indicator of return on investment in human capital. Conclusions. The practice of assessing the economic efficiency of decisions related to the expenditures for organizational culture is accompanied by a number of difficulties in justifying the expected results. In our opinion, the variant of measuring the effectiveness of organizational culture described in the article has the right to exist. It should be noted that the correlations between culture indicators, HR metrics and economic effects can vary for different organizations, which is established empirically by observing changes in all indicators and their relationships over time. (shrink)

Ausgehend von zwei Aphorismen Nietzsches aus der Götzen-Dämmerung und einer Nachlass-Notiz zur "Bosheit" der Russen stellt die Abhandlung Nietzsches Moralkritik der russischen gegenüber, der Kritik Dostojewkis und Tolstojs and der 'westeuropäischen' "vernünfrigen' Moral, die wiederum aus Nietzsches Genealogie der Gegensätze der Werte, seiner Deutung der Moral, unter der Optik des Künstlers' und der Musik als 'Vorgeschichte' der Moral interpretiert wird. Aus Nietzsches Sicht auf Russland einerseits und der russischen Deutung Nietzsches als dem 'Russen' unter den 'westlichen' Philosophen andererseits erschließt sich (...) der 'gute' Sinn von Nietzsches Aphorismus - und werden die Berührungs- und Reibungspunkte der 'weslichen' und der russischen philosophischen Traditionen sichtbar.The article focuses on two of Nietzsche's aphorisms from Twilight of the Idols and an unpublished note where the "evil" of Russians is mentioned. Two critical points are juxtaposed: Nietzsche's critique of morals and Russian critique of the 'western' 'reasonable' morality by Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. The latter in its turn is to be interpreted in the context of Nietzsche's geneological analysis of the oppositions of values, his view on morals 'in the perspective of the artist' and on music as 'prehistory' of morals. The research aims at demonstrating the 'good' sense of Nietzsche's aphorisms about Russians, as well as the points of accordance and misunderstanding between Nietzsche's concept of Russia, on the one hand, and the Russian reception of Nietzsche as a 'Russian' among 'western' philosophers, on the other. (shrink)