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In this paper I try to sketch a brief history of new realism. Starting from nineteenth century idealism, I then move on to discuss twentieth century postmodernism, which, I argue, is the heir of idealism and the theoretical enemy of new realism. Finally, I offer a reconstruction of how and why contemporary new realism came into being and propose a few remarks on its future perspectives.
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The aim of this paper is the presentation of W. James’ concept of religious experience. The main problem is whether a religious experience has the same certainty as a sensual one and what it refers to, i.e. what its object is: a fictitious realm of being or a kind of other reality – unknown for an ordinary experience. Another problem consists in whether the qualities of religious experience (as James says) such as unexaminability and incommunicatibility can be a philosophical issue or rather the object of psychiatry.
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In this article I examine the interpretation of Nicholas of Cusa’s thoughts proposed by Ernst Cassirer. In his historical and philosophical research on the philosophy of this medieval thinker, the disciple of Hermann Cohen and Paul Natorp combines, in a creative manner, cultural symbolism with epistemological foundations of neo-Kantianism of the Marburg school. His image of Cusanus is that of a person infatuated with science, especially mathematical geometry, a theologian, part of the canon of the medieval epoch and also the precursor of the ideas of the Renaissance.
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Giacomo Leopardi’s poetics is intertwined with a number elements from romanticism and classicism, with the classical influence being a lot less familiar to the public, and also neglected by the literary critics. This influence, especially present during poet’s early years, appears within the thematic, technical and philosophical aspect of his poetry. Leopardi’s poetry is permeated with the contrast between the “old ones” and the “new ones“, i.e. the antique period whose great names served as inspiration to the poet in many of his poems, and his contemporaries. This paper will show that acceptance of Romanticism, as the dominant choice that his poetry refers to, is a product of a long journey of self-reflecting and development of a complex thought, whose base, from the poet’s early beginnings until the very end, relies on the deep conviction of a personal philosophy that never completely rejects classicism, and which he develops through his biographical element, which is dominant in his rich literal opus.
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This article attempts to radically reconsider Marx's philosophy as a philosophy of complete material and spiritual social activity of human being (Praxis). Unlike all previous interpretations focusing on the materialistic interpretation, the author emphasizes the effectiveness of the Praxis: at different stages of historical development as the most efficient motive powers appear either material (nature, technics) factors of human activity, or ideal (technology, the organization, a science, the information), or their synthesis. Therefore in K. Marx's philosophy takes place the efficacious-praxeological interpretation of history, in which the author reveals social-production, anthropological and existential levels of historicity.
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One of the most important tasks of Dasein-analytical work is the task to help the person to learn to be oneself. The question of how is it possible to find oneself, to find “the most my ability to be” is one of the major issues in Heidegger’s Being and Time. However, Heidegger works not in a vacuum.Before him this issue explores S. Kierkegaard. M. Heidegger is obliged to this author very much;even the concept of Dasein has a prototype in Kierkegaard’s Tilværelse. In this article we analyze how S. Kierkegaard understands what it means to be oneself, revealing Kierkegaard’s understanding of human beind as Selv (danish word that is difficult to translate into Russian; in the article we will leave it without translation, arguing in favor of this). Understanding Selv in accordance with S. Kierkegaard as “positive third” in a human being as the synthesis of opposites, we trace how a fixation on one term of synthesis in prejudice of the other leads to going away from being oneself.We take such pairs of opposites as the finite and the infinite, the temporal and the eternal. Further we speak on how the self-attitude as belonging to the self-consciousness is rooted in the attitude to oneself, carried out in acting, and describe three ways of giving up being oneself (three ways to despair), that are analyzed by S. Kierkegaard in terms of self-awareness. Finally, we show that,according to S. Kierkegaard, there is no continual transition from the state of alienation from the real being oneself (the state, that is initial for each human being) to the authentic being oneself; and that the transition from one to the other requires, in the Kierkegaard’s terms, a “jump”, associated with the coming to believe. This “jump” at the same time leads to the change of attitude to the other. In conclusion of the paper we set a problem of possibility of such a “jump” in psychotherapy.
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René Descartes je bio prvi kojemu se bivstvenost bivstvujućeg (ono po čemu i u čemu bivstvujuće jest to što jest) otvorila kao subjektivitet odlikovanog i zapravo jedinog subjekta među bivstvujućim, čovjeka.1 Čim je čovjek bio uspostavljen kao jedini subjekt (sub-iectum) posred bivstvujućeg, bogu je već bila dosuđena posljednja ura, a time i posljednja ura filozofije kao onto-teologije: dvostruko-jedinstvenom nauku o bivstvujućem kao takvom i u cjelini, odnosno nauku o bivstvovanju i nauku o vrhovnom bivstvujućem, bogu kao uzroku bivstvovanja. S Descartesom je čovjek kao subjekt ustao protiv boga, jer se uputio prema vlastitu ustanku. Kakav je bio čovjekov put prema konačnoj uspostavi samoga sebe kao subjekta bezuvjetne subjektivnosti? To se pitanje zapravo podudara s pitanjem kakav je bio put do smrti boga, jer s uspostavom čovjeka kao subjekta bezuvjetnog subjektiviteta bog jest mrtav.
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The article analyzes the reception of works of Nietzsche in Lithuania before 1937. It states that great Lithuanian artists were the first to experience the positive influence of Nietzsche’s ideas. It was in 1912, when Nietzsche was first mentioned in a published philosophical article. It was the article of Pranas Dovydaitis „Knowledge and Faith“. The article looks into the critical attitude on the philosophy of morals of Nietzsche presented in the works of Pranas Kuraitis, Valentinas Gustainis, Izidorius Tamo aitis, Antanas Miliauskis, Juozas Grinius and other Lithuanian authors. The interpretations of Juozas Čepėnas and Kazys Daukša on the Nietzsche’s ideas receive a more positive evaluation. A conclusion is drawn that, compared to the studies of Nietzschean moral criticism and the meaning of the re-evaluation of values carried on in Germany, serious studies of the philosophy of Nietzsche in Lithuania have been lagging behind.
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This paper investigates the similarities and differences of existential and mystical experience. The Knight of Faith, a main figure of Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling, is compared with the concept of a man of faith in mysticism (Zhuangzi, The Cloud of Unknowing, the texts of Meister Eckhart and Teresa of Avila). The article estimates critically Kierkegaard’s relation to “mysticism”, reveals the ambiguity of the concept and draws an analogy between Kierkegaard’s and mystics’ style. The analogy between existentialism and mysticism is found in the central role of experience. Experience influences the person’s whole existence, manifests itself in everyday life and generates an experiential knowledge. The main differences between existentialism and mysticism are highlighted in an analysis of individual consciousness and its importance before an experience and after it. The research will show that the mystical experience neither contradicts nor negates existential experience, but embraces and transcends it as existential experience embraces and transcends the everyday experience.
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The article deals with the relationship between the philosophy of life of Wilhelm Dilthey and Friedrich Nietzsche. It investigates the gnoseological problematics of these authors as it is closely related to ontological problematics. The author analyzes and interprets the concepts of life of Dilthey and Nietzsche and their influence on the cognitive theory.
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This paper is dedicated to the interpretation of the works of Leonarda Jekentaitë (1946-2008), in which she analyses the views of non-classical philosophers. They speak about the reality and the human existence and the style of their writings is more artistic than theoretical. The first article is about the philosophy of Kant. Although it has been two hundred years since this thinker, the main ideas of his anthropology continue to be urgent, makes us to go back to the categorical imperative of Kant and rethink it in the epoch of jazz. The impact of A. Schopenhauer's philosophy is felt in the writings of contemporary French postmodernists, particularly in those of Gilles Deleuze. As most important among the non-classical philosophers is considered S. Kierkegaard. One of the most significant trends of Lithuanian art can be characterised using Kierkegaardan terminology, as demonic aestheticism. The force of expression rises from mental experiments and self-destruction which are signs of longing after the lost sense of the certainty of reality and faith in God. Interpreting F. Nietzsche's philosophy she emphasizes the uncompromising critique by him of the theoretical attitude to life and proclamation of the will to power. Nietzsche saw a descrepancy between two levels of consciousness in European mentality: the superficial level of Judeo-Christian virtues and Pagan values, authentic but condemned.
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The article considers how the concept of “positive” metaphysics of Henri Bergson is related to the tradition of classical as well as non-classical philosophy. It also analyzes the leading ideas and doctrins of intuitivistic philosophy. The influence of the main leading philosophers on Bergson’s thinking and teaching is concisely discussed, focussing attention on such non-classical thinkers as Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. Relaying on the analysis of Bergson’s philosophical texts, the peculiarities of his “positive” metaphysics is shown.
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The article is intended to discussion of life apologia of important non-classical philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The leading attention is focussed on various connotations of the notion of “life”, of its origins and historical metamorphoses in development of ideas of non-classical philosophy. Appealing to fundamental texts of Nietzsche the author highlights some functions of the term “life” in the whole of standpoints of the philosopher and exhibits basic aspects of its interpretation. In the article the author pays particular attention to relations of life, as unique exsistential experience that is heavily defined with words, with the rationalistic mind celebrated by the classical metaphysical philosophy. At the end of research is the Superman, one of central ideas of the conception of Nietzsche’s philosophy, as a prophet of the new form of our life.
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The article is intended to discussion of life apologia of important non-classical philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The leading attention is focussed on various connotations of the notion of “life”, of its origins and historical metamorphoses in development of ideas of non-classical philosophy. Appealing to fundamental texts of Nietzsche the author highlights some functions of the term “life” in the whole of standpoints of the philosopher and exhibits basic aspects of its interpretation. In the article the author pays particular attention to relations of life, as unique exsistential experience that is heavily defined with words, with the rationalistic mind celebrated by the classical metaphysical philosophy. At the end of research is the Superman, one of central ideas of the conception of Nietzsche’s philosophy, as a prophet of the new form of our life.
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This paper attempts to analyze realist philosophy as the way of knowing reality in the thought of Étienne Gilson. The French Philosopher was a defender of philosophical realism who rationally justified the thesis about knowing things existing in the world independently of the knowing subject. Philosophical inquiry, carried out in a realist way, should start with the being which really exists. The basic philosophical method aims to rationally understand reality as well as explain the multifaceted cognition of reality. Gilson’s contribution to the development of philosophical realism includes the promotion of a realist philosophical awareness and the opposition to idealistic philosophies (Cartesianism, Kantianism).
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John Stuart Mill, one of the most prominent thinkers of Utilitarianism, has provided a proof in his book Utilitarianism for the principle of utility underlying his ethical theory. According to many thinkers, George Edward Moore is one of them, this proof is problematic in many aspects. Moore argues that Mill has made a mistake called the naturalistic fallacy in his proof. The Naturalistic fallacy is based on the claim that the good is indefinable. Moore argues that Mill has defined the good as desirable so he has made a naturalistic fallacy in his proof. This criticism and the responses given by the thinkers constitute the subject of this article. The main argument put forward in the article is that Moore is not right in his criticism.Summary: Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are the most important philosophers in the classical utilitarian tradition. There is usually a consensus between these two important thinkers on many issues related to the principle of utility. However there are also some points which they do not agree with each other. The proof of the principle of utility can be considered as one of them. What is meant by the principle of utility is the principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question. On the principle of utility, Bentham argues that this principle is the ultimate ethical principle and it is not susceptible of any direct proof, since a chain of proofs must begin somewhere. Yet Mill is not agree with him on this point. In contrast to Bentham, he claims that this principle can be proved and he has provided a proof in the fourth chapter of Utilitarianism, his one of the most famous books. With this proof, Mill submits three propositions:(i) Happiness is desirable.(ii) The general happiness is desirable.(iii) The only thing desirable is happiness.Having stated that these three propositions are considered problematic in many aspects by some commentators, what we shall discuss in this paper will be the first proposition. George Edward Moore is one of the most eminent philosophers who think that this proposition is problematic. He accuses Mill of making a mistake about the goodness called as a naturalistic fallacy in his famous book, Principia Ethica. The naturalistic fallacy is based on the claim that the good is indefinable. For Moore, Mill has identified the concept of the good as desired and then has argued that the pleasure is desired and finally has reached the conclusion that the good is pleasure in his proof. However according to Moore, notions are divided into simple and complex and only the complex ones can be definable. The good is not a complex notion, it is a simple notion and so it cannot be definable. In addition to this, Moore thinks that there is “is-ought problem” which implies that it cannot be derived an “ought” from “is”, in Mill’s proof. Hence, Mill claims that the good is desired on the basis of desirable.In accordance with many other thinkers we also think that Moore is not right about his accusation. There are several reasons for our claim. But before discussing those reasons, we have to make clear that Moore is right about his is-ought problem. Indeed, Mill has made the mistake by saying that the pleasure is good. For the pleasure is a factual concept (about what is) and the good is a normative one (about what ought to be). So if we describe the pleasure with the good, it means that we simply derive ought from is, namely we make the mistake called “is-ought problem”.Our first reason why Moore is not right about his accusation of Mill is that Mill’s proof is not a strict one as William K. Frankena has claimed. So his proof cannot pass the test of the strict logical rules. For these arguments contains suppressed propositions. In this argument the suppressed proposition is “what is sought by all men is good.” If this suppressed proposition is added to the argument, the argument is valid and it does not contains any logical error:(i) Pleasure is sought by all men.(ii) What is sought by all men is good.(iii) Therefore, pleasure is good. Secondly, Mill’s aim is not to define the good, if he aimed to do so then he would be more careful, since an acceptable definition should not lead to any open question. Namely as Roger Crisp has stated, once the definition is made, there should be no need to ask any further questions about it. For example, when we define the triangle as a plane figure bounded by three straight sides our definition has succeeded because there is not any open question whether triangles are plane figures bounded by three straight sides or not. But the definition of the good as the desired does not provide the necessary conditions for a strict definition. For there is an open question whether what is desired is good or not. And the last reason is that, as Necip Fikri Alican has stated, Moore has commented on Mill’s proof in a wrong way, especially the analogy between the concepts of visible, audible and desirable. In this analogy Mill does not argue that desirable means what is ought to be desired but it means what is able to be desired. But Moore accepts that Mill has used desirable in the first sense. Therefore he thinks that Mill has defined the good as the desired. There is something that needs to be expressed here. Mill’s proof is problematic and this leads to misunderstandings. Hence this problematic aspect of the argument also has an important role in Moore's misinterpretation of Mill's proof. In conclusion, according to our opinion, due to the fact that Moore was not able to understand Mill’s proof properly he has accused Mill of making naturalistic fallacy in his proof, yet his accusation is not valid.
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In the article, the interrelation of empirical, psychological, religious and metaphysical ideas of the German scientist of the 19th century G. T. Fechner is considered. In particular, its concept of a general animation and its consequence for cosmology, for treatment of concepts of causality, the natural law, evolution is considered, and also mutual conditionality of a psychophysical functionalism and empirical research of thresholds of feelings with justification of the metaphysical concept of rooting of individual consciousnesses in general consciousness and original outlook on life of soul after death is tracked.
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In this article, we try to draw a new aspect of the importance of Nikolay Fedorov’s “The Philosophy of Common Task”. This philosophy became the milestone in the base of the new field of modern science — the civilization’s fundamental security. The researchers in this field continue the Fedorov’s work on the problems of salvation and security of humanity and every human being.
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The problem of achieving happiness and harmony is always important. The development of ideas about the world and people from the mythological to the theoretical level inevitably contains the idea of original harmony of the universe, but an understanding of harmony is usually associated with a reflection on the tragedy and limitations of human being. This reflection leads to deviations from the positive interpretation of everyday human existence and emphasizes the need of difficult path to self-improvement for getting lost "naturality" and thus harmony. Therefore, the concept of harmony presents two variants – original harmony and new-found harmony as a result of improving and finding the highest wisdom. Harmony in each case (the first – as the beginning and conclusion, and the second – as the very process) turns removing the duality and contradictions of the world, fixed by the consciousness of civilized human. Ataraxia as perception and support of harmony turns to be removing a deep reflection on the double, contradictory, twin foundations of the universe. It is human nature to wonder and explore the truth. So, when a person is released of the normal needs and concerns, tries to see, hear and learn what is giving knowledge to it, both of implicit and explicit things needed for a blissful life. Kierkegaard believed that to calm a man down, to give him peace of mind can only despair, which is completely free mental act that leads him to the knowledge of the absolute. True despair, helping people to understand themselves makes them feel the love for humanity and life. Slowly despair destroys in man everything superfluous, unnecessary, vain and leads him to the realization of eternal significance. Particularly some philosophers impressed Kierkegaard, whose opinion carried to the highest degree of the objective peace, and they lived in despair. They, in his opinion, entertained themselves with pure objective thought, which is the most intoxicating of all the ways and means to which a person applies for fun: abstract thinking requires depersonalization of man. A feeling of eternal life and the universe was appropriate to Einstein, who stated that he merged with the laws of the universe so much, that personal death does not seem a great event to him. Hegel's philosophy, as any ingenious construction, is a kind of game of beads. His work "The Science of Logic" purifies the soul and the mind of everything accidental and superficial, including it to the harmony of cosmos. "All reasonable is real. Everything real is reasonable" – this expression reaches the position of Descartes "think, therefore I exist". But for Descartes this is a confirmation of self-worth thoughts and of his own existence. For Hegel, this idea is not only confirmation, but the excuse of being. The philosopher really considered that everything real is reasonable, everything real is reasonable. Although we usually see that being is foolish or absurd. But we should remember that as being Hegel considered only immortal. It is in this sense "the being determines the consciousness". To philosophize, according to Hegel, is the same as live forever. To whom it is available for life, he understands the dialectics of Hegel and metametafora. As for metametaphor K. O. Kedrov wrote in details. Only in the state of ataraxia we can come to metametaphor. Metametaphor is a description of contortion – inside-out. Space is known not by stars, but because of human love. Fullness of love is a spiritualized body and spirit, incarnated in the flesh or human-space – Homo cosmicus. We have to recollect the stoic doctrine of amor fati and its cosmopolitism and all of these due to ataraxial state of a thinking person. Turning out should not be considered as a psychedelic illusion or other ideologem. Turning out is not achieved by some meditation and other elements of self-encoding. This is a natural point of spiritual maturation that comes as a revelation, spontaneously and involuntarily. It can only be in love. For turning out the love is needed. For Nirvana is a renunciation of the senses. There are zero people, people of Nirvana and people of indefinity, people of contortion. For some people ataraxia is a goal for the other – means. Thus, the embodiment of the values of harmony, proportion and eurhythmy in the life of the individual and society affects processes such as: support of natural balance, balance of relationships with the environment; the most effective adaptation to the conditions of external reality; environmental philosophy, environmental activities; conservatism in the environmental and social spheres, avoiding innovations that qualitatively alter the environment and the nature of relationship with it. In this context we can include the value of the state of ataraxia to major stabilizing values of individuals who contribute to an optimal interaction with the environment: nature and society. So ataraxia is the special value of individual and social life, which promotes removal of life meaning problems of death, absurdity, alienation of the world. Existential contradiction "fear – suffering – ignorance – loneliness" is resolved internally, through the formation of a positive attitude towards oneself and the outside world – ataraxia. It is like the peace of mind that is the source of bliss, serenity, is, according to the philosophers, the supreme value. So, ataraxia as harmonious, reasonable and eurhythmic relationship of the individual with the world is a value that is essential for a positive attitude to the world.
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The author explores the concept of symbol and symbolism in the context of fine art through the concept of G.-W.-F. Hegel, who identified three historical forms of life art: the symbolic, classical and romantic. Attempting to critically rethink the existing scheme and offer their vision of the phenomenon of symbolism in the bosom of European fine art. The timeliness of the investigation is a clarification of key peculiarities of historical forms of art’s existence, which were proposed by Hegel, in the context of widening them and by rethinking from the modern studies perspective that are focused on the interpretation of symbolism and symbol. The scientific development level of the problem: S. S. Аverintsev, V. V. Bychkov, М. А. Lifshitz, А. F. Losev, and others developed and analyzed the historical forms of art’s existence, including the symbolic one, in the context of the Hegel’s concept. The object of the article is to study the essential Hegel’s ideas concerning the interpretation of symbol and symbolism that were set out in his work "Lectures on Esthetics" in the light of critical analysis. In his grading of the main stages of the self-opening of absolute spirit G. W. F. Hegel determines the art as the first and the most imperfect form hierarchically followed by religion and philosophy. The philosopher’s work "Esthetics" proposes to consider the art development in the light of three main forms – symbolic, classical and romantic ones. Hegel considers the change of the historical forms of art’s existence in the light of historical dynamics because the movement from one art form to another is determined by the change of cultural priorities, or in general by the alterity of West and East forms. As Hegel notes, at the first symbolic stage the content cannot find the appropriate form of expression and that is why the discrepancy appears between them. "The idea is still searching its real art expression" [3, 9], but, as the philosopher notes, the search is not finishing in an appropriate way, leading to the fact that "it distorts and deforms the discovered images" [3, 9]. In the context of our investigation the analysis of the Hegel’s interpretation of symbol that he applies either in the consideration of the symbolic form of art or out of its bounds, describing the difference of these meanings, is an important thing. According to Hegel the East symbolism is not the art for a real understanding of it (as in classical form). East symbolism acts only as preparatory phase in the further development and improvement of art form. It is difficult to admit because of impossible absolutization of the West-European criteria for the assessment of the art in relation to other cultures with their originality and in imitable artistic expression. In addition, Hegel justly remarks that the decoding of symbol can be possible only when the person, who perceives it, is there in an appropriate coordinate system, including the cultural ones, allowing for adequately understanding the inner component of symbol, which is concealed from the representatives of other cultural spaces, or those, who have no relevance to the contents represented by this symbol. Such kind of understanding the symbolic according to Hegel does not fully provide the involvement of so-called "free individuality" [3, 23], if it is there in the content and form, on the philosopher’s opinion, the symbolic immediately stops existing. In other words, any art freedom makes the Hegel’s symbolic form of art impossible for existence, because according to his opinion, in the individualistic piece of art the symbolic components can be used only as secondary details and come down to the level of simple signs, for example, in distinction from Egyptian images, referring to which Egyptians "believed that they could see the God in Apis" [3, 24]. In addition, Hegel underlines several development stages of the symbolic: from the unconscious symbolics to the sublime symbolics and conscious symbolics of relative form of art. However, in the Hegel’s interpretation the description of the symbolic form of art concerning the pictorial art does not go outside the bounds of the unconscious symbolics because the following stages directly concern literary activity. Finishing the analysis of symbolic form of art the philosopher comes to the dialectical necessity of the replacement of one form of art by another one. It is explained by the exhaustion of previous one. Therefore, the disappearance of symbolic form of art and the creation of classical one become the next necessary stage. Overcoming the discrepancy and achieving the relevant ratio between the form and content are maximum achievable in the classical form of art, which according to the opinion of Hegel is the top of human art achievements, and the destruction of which happens in the next romantic form.
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