Abstract: The article is devoted to the analysis of the aesthetic ideas of the German philosopher, psychologist and educator Eduard Spranger. Last year his book «Types of men: the psychology and ethics of personality» was fully published for the first time in the Russian language. Among six human types Eduard Spranger singls out the aesthetic man. Reconstructing this type, he turns to aesthetics and exposes his opinions about the nature of the beautiful and aesthetics as a psychological character. A special role belongs to his ideas about prominent philosophers and poets who, he believes, represent the aesthetic type. The author of the article uses methods and techniques of aesthetic analysis of works of art. The typology of forms of life is deduced from a comprehensive picture of the philosophy of spirit. The article is based on hermeneutic analysis of artistic creation and aesthetic practice. The aesthetic man in the works of Eduard Spranger is analyzed for the first time in Russian literature. The author of the article points out that an aesthetician as Soren Kierkegaard understands it and the aesthetic man of Eduard Spranger are not similar by their conceptual interpretation. The expressionist and impressionist forms of existence are being compared and analyzed. In his article Gurevich underlies that certain provisions of the aesthetic theory of Spranger are not new and sometimes require critical assessment.

Keywords: beauty, literature, forms of life, aesthetic man, art, artistic image, fantasy, imagination, poetry, beautiful

Abstract: This article contains the author's thoughts on patriotism of Mikhail Lermontov in terms of universal values. The declared topic is isomorphic by definition: two bodies, personality and society, are involved in the universal context of the development of the integral information epoch. Initially, the article is focused on the importance and relevancy of the integral patriotism of Lermontov that involves not only his love for the homelands, Russia and Scotland, but also love for the homelands of all nations on earth. The author bases his research on the analysis of Mikhail Lermontov's personality, life path and poetry as well as philosophical researches thereof. The topic is important because it shows the keyness (i.e. combination of key words) of Lermontov's works that reflects both individual and national content and cosmism. Analyzing the topic of love for homeland, the author differentiates the terms 'nativeland', 'fatherland', 'Russia' and touches upon the controversial poem 'Farewell! - unwashed, indigent Russia' (1841). The author corrects the mistake, in his opinion, Lermontov meant 'nemotnaya' (from the Russian 'nemota' - 'voicelessness') instead of 'nemytaya' which means 'unwashed'. The author also analyzes the terms 'love for God', 'duel' and 'cosmic patriotism' in Lermontov's works. 

Keywords: philology, Lermontov, patriotism, matrix, love, truth, compatriot, love for homeland, ignorance

Abstract: The article is devoted to the phenomenon of death these days. In this article Storozhenko performs the successive analysis of an individual's attitude to death based on classical works written by Arthur Schopenhauer, Philippe Ariès, Erich Fromm, etc. and a number of research articles written by contemporary authors. The purpose of the present research is to define factors of modern reality that regulate the development of a specific attitude of an individual to the phenomenon of death as well as further prospects of these factors. Considering the fact that this issue is of philosophical and anthropological nature, the analysis of the present article touches upon advanced technologies as the element of human experience. As a result of the research, Storozhenko finds out that there are specific relationships between the phenomenon of death and progress and phantasm, describes specific features of the symbolism of death in a modern world, extends the list of immortalization moduses and outlines the prospects for the further development of the phenomenon. From the philosophical point of view, the phenomenon of death constitutes one of human existentials, therefore there is a wide scope of practical fields the results of the research may be applied to. 

Keywords: progress, fear, symbolic, immortalization, individual, death, phenomenon, phantasm, existentialism, life

Abstract: The problem of English borrowings in the German language has grown especially important in recent decades as a result of globalization proceses and intense development of different aspects of language interaction. The article is devoted to the comprehensive research of the process of borrowing of English words by the German language. As a result of the analysis carried out, Zinchuk also tries to define the time periods when Anglicisms first appeared, to describe their role and place in the vocabulary of modern German, to create a classification of English borrowings and to understand the attitude of German society to this problem. The main purpose of the research is to analyze the advertising language and activity performed by organizations and public figures dealing with the issues of the integrity of the German language. The topic of borrowed foreign words have always provoked rough discussions in the society and academic community. The main question of these discussions has always been whether there is a real threat to the German language. In this article Zinchuk analyzes views of the researchers and progressive representatives of the German community on the problem of borrowed Anglicisms in German and concludes that some of them consider Anglicisms to be useful. In the present research Zinchuk analyzes peculiarities of the functioning of Anglicisms in the German language which allows to describe particular tendencies of linguistic changes. This is an important research in terms of studying the tendencies of the development of the language system at the end of the XXth - beginning of the XXIst centuries as well as peculiarities of the process of borrowing of English words by the German language. 

Keywords: borrowing, Anglicism (English loan word), public sentiment, purism, purism, society of the German language, language error, prohibition of Anglicisms, state regulation, advertising language

Abstract: The aim of this article is to explicate the ontological characteristics of the monarch’s power represented in the historical novel of Ivan Lazhechnikov “The House of Ice”. In the article the author offers the interpretation of Lazhechnikov’s ideas and images in terms of contemporary political and philosophical doctrines. Involving the theoretical studies of Alexandre Kojève, Georges Bataille, Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, Ernst Kantorowicz, Mikhail Iampolski and other researchers into the analysis, the author reveals a variety of forms and ways of power represented in the novel. Particular attention is paid to the phenomena of monarch’s body, discourse of power and ways of power transgression. Along with the general scientific methods of research the author uses the hermeneutic and poststructuralist methodology as well as elements of comparative literary studies. The most important result of the research is the explication by the author of four levels of power being represented in the novel "The House of Ice ". The crisis of the metaphysical foundation of the power expressed in the inability of Empress Anna Ivanovna to represent the transcendence is compounded by the crisis of representation of the collective body in public space. The special contribution of the author consists in explanation of the specific characteristics of the discourse of power as well as the interpretation of laughter as one of the elements of the discourse of power.

Keywords: Lazhechnikov, power, discourse, ontology, transcendence, transgression, body, jester, space, “The House of Ice”

Abstract: The article is devoted to the problem of the opposition between personality and society in literature based on the example of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel 'Heart of a Dog' and Abe Kobo's short story 'Tinnyusia'. The emphasis is made on the socio-cultural environment when those works were written because they were written at critical epochs of the paradigm shift accompanied with the total chaos of values. Those were the periods of Russia's becoming socialist USSR and Japan's 'turn' to demilitarization and democratization after the Second World War. In both cases psychology and behavior of people during social cataclysms were viewed and interpreted by Abe and Bulgakov through fantastic allegory and grotesque. In their research the authors of the present article have applied the empirical-hermeneutic method, i.e. the method of the correct description and interpretation of particular sources, as well as the dialectic method combined with the complementarity principle. This article is the first one in the history of Russian literary studies and Japanese studies to compare and analyze creative work of Abe Kobo and Mikhail Bulgakov from the cultural, sociological and philosophical points of view. For the first time in the academic literature the authors have also referred to foreign philosophical, socio-psychological and cultural sources including original Japanese texts. 

Keywords: totalitarianism, allegory, crowd, Bulgakov, Abe, personality, society, Japan, Japanese literature, culture

Abstract: Particular attention is paid to the author's attempts to find the key to explaining “dark places” in our knowledge about the personality and doctrine of the legendary Orpheus. Since the days of Aristotle, scientists began to express doubts about the historical reality of Orpheus. He was too heterogenous to the Greek world to be recognized as really lived among the Greeks. Many elements of the Orphic doctrine were so uncommon for the ancient Greek thought that since the time of Herodotus they were believed to be imported (from Egypt, Iran, Phoenicia, Asia Minor, Hittite Empire). Some researchers of the XXth century were inclined to seek the origins of Orphism even further, to the north of the Eurasian continent, in the territories of shamanism. Either way, the Orphic doctrine is likely to be of northern origin which can be indirectly proved by the non-Greek (north-Balkan) origin of the name of Orpheus. In his research the author has used the methods of drawing analogies, parallels and conducting a dialogue to describe the similarities and differences of philosophical cultures as well as the mechanism of their interaction. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author has attempted to draw parallels between the figure of Orpheus and archetypal ancient Russian Grand Guslar embodied in the images of Sadko, Bojan and the hero of “The Book of Doves”, tsar David Evseevich. All these figures have the following features in common: their ability to influence nature and natural forces with their music, cosmological nature of their activity, magical nature of their instruments (lyre and gusli), traditionally recognized syncretism of the images of the sage and musician. The researcher also draws the parallels between the epics of Sadko, hymn of Varuna and Vasistha of the Rigveda and Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes. The proximity of plots, similarity of the figures of wizard singers may prove that they originate from the same source, in particular, the tradition of the times of the Indo-European community. The main conclusion of the study is that there are reasonable grounds to speak about the origin of the Indo-European image of Orpheus and his doctrine (if we cannot yet speak of him as a real historical figure) and put forward a hypothesis about their invasion into Greece in the second half of the 2d millennium BC.

Keywords: mythology, cosmogony, music, Ancient Greece, Orpheus, Orphics, shamanism, philosophy, Indo-Europeans, ancient Slavs

Abstract: In his review Gurevich analyzes different grotesque revelations of human existence expressed in art. The review provides a thorough introduction into the book of Natalya Nolde-Lurie on the creative work of a famous modern sculptor Vadim Sidur. As it is known, sculpture may have the form of symbolic plastics, sculpture in the round and reliefs. Vadim Sidur is more inclined to symbols which he uses to express the grotesque of human existence. His creative imagination relates human and universal suffering to an instrument or mechanism. This is how the threats of the world of machines are expressed. Even erotica has grotesque features in his creative work. Sigmund Freud's selected works 'Psyhoanalysis. Religion. Culture' published by Canon+ present an analysis of different aspects of human existence, too. In particular, Freud viewed religion as a special form of collective neurosis. Yulia Melentieva's work 'On Reading. Thoughts About Theoretical Aspects of Reading' shows a great role of books in the development of civilization. Hermann Hesse once stated that without book there was no history. Therefore, the decline of the reading culture has a certain negative influence on human mentality and human existence. In his review Gurevich has ued the methods of aesthetical analysis allowing to assess achievements of arts. Gurevich also bases his research on the methodology of philosophical anthropology which allows to demonstrate a complex and contradictory human nature. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the researcher tries to reveal the grotesqueness of human existence based on the example of the three books selected for the review. According to psyhoanalysis, nearly at birth a child faces the world of absurdity offered by culture. Instinctive desires are repressed, inherent motivation is suppressed which creates the feeling of dissatisfaction with culture. Human existence is absurd by nature because the actual history does not correspond to rationality principles. Moreover, human himself is the victim of internal conflicts between concious and unconsious, instinct and culture. One of the forms of 'dissatisfaction with culture' is the growing elimination of books from our life. For half a century Gutenberg's invention has been creating the modern culture that loses reading skills and forgets theoretical aspects of reading.   

Keywords: poetry, sculpture, art, grotesque, human nature, reading, creativity, tragedy, catharsis, personality