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The paper analyses Albert Camus' literary work as a form of alternative politics of resistance. Although Camus' arguments for the evidence of the absurd are not philosophically convincing, his literary work can teach us how to resist the absurd that humans themselves tend to create. In opposition to Camus, the paper argues that the experience of the absurd is not a universal phenomenon. Rather, the absurd is a culturally and historically conditioned experience of anxiety which results from the failure of the positivist Weltanschauung. The paper explores some of the philosophical consequences of this conclusion.
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From legacy exile diplomacy. War corespondence
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This article analyzes the conflict that broke out in the early 1930's between the top leadership of the Lithuanian Peasant Populist Union (LPPU) and one of the party's leaders, Vincas Kvieska, and his followers named "kvieskininkai". At that time the LPPU was experiencing a difficult period. The party's positions were weakened by the authoritarian regime of Antanas Smetona; its activities at the level of party sections were paralyzed; several leaders began quarrelling among themselves. Vincas Kvieska, a deputy of the First, Second and Third Lithuanian Seimas (1922—1927) and vice-chairman of the party since 1931, tried to revitalize the activities of the LPPU by criticizing such famous party leaders as Mykolas Sleževičius and Kazys Grinius. He set out to reorganize the LPPU. By profession a pedagogue, Kvieska stopped working as a teacher after his election to Parliament. He considered himself a politician and also made a carrier in the field of banking. Kvieska proposed that leaders of the LPPU cooperate with the Lithuanian Nationalist Union (LNU), in effect transforming the LPPU into a pro-government party. But leaders of the LPPU did not agree with the proposal and issued warnings to Kvieska. Kvieska did not heed them; as a result he was excluded from the party in 1934. Internal conflicts did not end there. In 1934—1935, opposition to party leadership increased within the ranks of the LPPU; such rebels as Vaclovas Statkevičius, Kazys Šaltenis, Vincas Cibulskis, Emilis Zaleskis, Balys Žygelis sympathized with Kvieska's proposals. Kvieska's followers, the "kvieskininkai", endeavored to have Kvieska return to the LPPU; they planned to elect him as party chairman and eliminate M. Sleževičius from the party. They allied themselves with the LNU, elected their own central committee with Vaclovas Statkevičius as chairman and in 1935 began publishing a newspaper named "Radikal-demokratas". The original leadership of the LPPU eliminated "kvieskininkai" from the party; the LPPU congress called in June 1935 condemned Kvieska and his followers and approved M. Sleževičius' position. This signaled the victory of the original LPPU leadership against "kvieskininkai". The article concludes that the conflict that broke out in the fourth decade of the 20th century between the central committee of the LPPU and "kvieskininkai" indicates the presence of ideological crises within party. Clearly, the LPPU faced internal problems that stemmed from ideological and generational differences among party members as well as the loss of authority by the original leadership of the LPPU. The main activities of the LPPU in the 1930's focused on the need to suppress inner conflicts rather than oppose Smetonas authoritarian regime. Dissociating themselves from Kvieska and his followers, the leadership of the LPPU was able to maintain the party's independence and traditions. However, many members of the party faced penalties from the government.
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In this article the author attempts to reflect on the origin of the concept „ought to be happy" and the ways in which the concept is revealed in social, political and philosophical contexts. The concept of happiness is discussed as part and parcel of the relationship between the individual and society. The article also asks what ideals of happiness shape contemporary social and cultural systems of consumption and the degree to which they meet the needs of the individual. The emphasis is on power mechanisms which reinforce the "ought" aspect of happiness not via panopticum (M. Foucault), but via sinopticum (Z. Bauman, J. Baudrillard), which is less direct and more sophisticated. Furthermore, the article calls attention to the issues of contemporary democracy, which is said to free the individual and grant him the possibility for self-realization, whereas in actual social reality, the individual find himself entangled in various social, political and economic networks of power this type of context shapes the contemporary ideology of happiness. In our secular reality there are no unequivocal ideals and no purposeful directions that have clearly defined ends and aims. We thus end up being in a liquid condition (Z. Bauman). Finally, the author draws a parallel between consumer society and the artistic „road" (J. Ker-ouac's On the Road), thus highlighting the idea of the existence of two different modes of being "on the road": the road that leads to the pursuit and consumption happiness and the road that frees contemporary man from social restraints and norms.
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The article discusses the philosophical ideas in the works of one of the most popular contemporary Russian writers, Boris Akunin (pen name of the outstanding Russian humanitarian Grigory Chkhartishvili). His success in Russia is particularly startling since none of his books contains the ingredients said to be the sine qua non of popularity in a post-authoritarian, post-censorship literary market. They contain little sex, language is not just clean but pristinely old-fashioned, fights, while brutal and explicitly portrayed, are infrequent. Akunin's texts are tastefully and carefully crafted in the manner of the classic 19th-century Russian prose of Nikolai Leskov, Ivan Goncharov and Sergei Aksakov, with echoes reminiscent of Nikolai Gogol and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Although Akunin insists that the main purpose of his works is to provide enjoyment for the readers, a careful look at his texts reveals the presence of important ideas of political philosophy beneath the surface. Akunin has created heroes who are the existential refutation of the traditional stereotypes of Russian intelligentsia. They are rational and honorable, they exercise self-restraint and remain fairly critical of political authority, thus demonstrating the possibility of living by one's principles. The writer does not impose his ideas on the reader, but rather encourages him to think critically and raise questions. The main thesis of the article argues that Akunin's fiction includes the idea of the liberal Utopia. His liberalism entails the following features: centrality of human choice, the conviction that human dignity is the foundation of a liberal society, the idea that if we want to change society, we must first and foremost change ourselves. His conception of political philosophy can be called Utopian because the writer believes that it can be accepted not because of its theoretical strength, but rather its attractiveness to free and self confident men and women. Akunin believes that such men and women will certainly appear in Russia.Furthermore, the article argues that Akunin's works may have a greater influence on contemporary Russian society than the activities of liberal politics or the heavy treatises of political theory.
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In this article relationships between totalitarian propaganda in Lithuanian literature are analyzed from functional and symbolic perspectives. The emphasis is on critical, mimetic, mythographical, model and falsification functions of propaganda evident in the official Lithuanian Soviet literature from 1940 to 1953- Two types of propaganda are singled out in the article, the ideological and the pragmatic. Since Soviet propaganda emphasized in particular the pragmatic purposes of systematic persuasion, ideological beliefs and routine public propaganda were more important to writers and propagandists than creative thinking about the tasks of literature or the need to engage in persuasion. Most writers of the totalitarian period simply imitated the more effective rhetorical models or patterns and disguises, competing among themselves in matters of loyalty to the regime in power. In the case of Stalinist propaganda, mimesis had not only persuasive but first of all ritualistic purposes, akin ro games played in accordance with very strict rules. At the same time, Soviet propagandists and litterateurs had to be careful to remember what type of propaganda campaign was being waged by the party's official institutions, first of all by the party leader himself (Stalin), also the Central committee of the Communist party and the Party Congress. Thus mimetic propaganda required that one follow three kinds of rules: ideological, campaign-related and creative. By contrast, genuinely autonomous literature follows only its own mimetic traditions and seeks to perform its own inherent tasks. The creative function of Soviet propaganda literature can be defined by two different processes, persuasive mythography and artistic creativity. The former seeks to create symbols and legends and to propose original interpretations of historical events. The latter contains elements that could be interpreted from traditional literary perspectives characteristic of stylistic, rhetorical, genre, narrative or linguistic analyses. Pamphlets, poems, novels are legitimate genres that can be used for propaganda purposes. Pamphlets offer particularly convenient venues of criticism for the purpose of propaganda and the denunciation of hostile "enemy smiles" or intents. Propaganda verses are used to support or create new myths and symbols for use by a totalitarian society. Novels, however, can be used for the purpose of systematic persuasion only if they are included in the educational programs for schools, colleges and universities or are related to popular interpretations of historical legends. Stalinist epic novels often strove to create new legends surrounding historical events, class struggle and the role of the party in the advance of the proletariat.
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