Abstract: The subject of this research is the philosophy of Shūzō Kuki, which is usually associated with his original concept, built around the concept of iki that simultaneously denotes taste, wealth, sensibility, dignity, reserve, and spontaneity, as well as embodies the aesthetic ideal formed in urban culture of the Edo period (1603 – 1868). The Japanese philosopher is also notable for a number of other intellectual insights. For depicting a holistic image on the philosophical views of Shūzō Kuki, a more extensive array of his works is introduced into the scientific discourse. A significant part of these work have not been translated into the Russian or other foreign languages. This article explores the problems of time and space, which are cross-cutting in the works of Shūzō Kuki  using examples of such philosophical writings as the “Theory of Time”, “What is Anthropology?”, “Problems of Time. Bergson and Heidegger”, “Metaphysical Time”, "Problems of Casualty”. The research employs the method of historical-philosophical reconstruction and sequential textual analysis of sources. Special attention is given to the problems of cyclical time, correlation between the infinite and the finite, and its reflection in the literary or art works, existential-anthropological landscape of space and time, spatial-temporal aspect of casualty and relevance. The conclusion is made on the contribution of Shūzō Kuki to elaboration of the problems of space and time, namely his cross-cultural approach that allows viewing the general philosophical problems from the perspective of both Western and Eastern thought, as well as a distinct  “interdisciplinary” approach towards analysis of the phenomena of space and time, which are viewed from different perspective and acquire different characteristics depending on the angle and aspect of reality of the corresponding context. Thus, there is a variety of concepts of time, which do not eliminate, but complement each other.

Keywords: cyclic time, existence, spatiality, temporality, space, time, Heidegger, Kuki Shuzo, contingency, necessity

Abstract: Based on the example of Plato’s political philosophy, this article explores the phenomenon of supremacy of theoretical thought over practical thought, which is a universal trait of the classical Ancient Greek philosophical systems. The first part of the articled indicates the conceptual similarity of the two-level systems of knowledge of Plato and Aristotle in the role that theory plays in relation to practical thought. The second part of the article reconstructs the concept of Plato's philosophy of politics, outlines the key political strategies he dealt with, and provides analytical reconstruction of the democratic theory of politics, oligarchic and civil-political, where the latter is the reflection of Plato’s original political views. The final part is dedicated to the method of Plato's political philosophy. Analysis of the context of using the term “theory” by Plato allows reconstructing the key methodological characteristic of Plato's model of theoretical philosophy. The article also provides the typology of practical knowledge, and substantiates the reasons according to which the political philosophy, as one of the types of practical knowledge, had to adhere to the theoretical prescriptions that fully determined the content of political reflection. The paper reveals the central practical task of philosophical theory, which by Plato's plan was intended to cease the political strife in Athens using true knowledge. The thesis is substantiated that using theory, Plato sought to complete the history of practical politics and subsequently shift towards building the “ideal state” based on the laws that are mandatory for all citizens of the polis. The article also discloses the principles of complex interrelation of the three Socratic methods: irony, dialectics and maieutics, which in Plato's political philosophy manifested as a single complex method. It is demonstrated that the method fulfills a bonding function between theory and practice, which allows transferring the theoretical truth to the sphere of practical problems of politics.

Keywords: Theory, Socratic methods, History of political science, Practical philosophy, Theoretical philosophy, Political philosophy, Socrates, Plato, Politics, Ancient Greek philosophy

Abstract: This article examines the capabilities of protolanguage as the object of philosophy. The subject of this research is the protolanguage viewed from different perspectives: as the ideal construct, as retrotopic plot, as key to the golden age, etc. Within the framework of the philosophy of language, protolanguage largely correlates with the Adamic language, which can be considered as disappeared or subtly preserved in national languages. The search for protolanguage in the Middle Ages (and later period) requires the method of philosophical etymology that proves the closeness of the selected language to the historical primary source - the point of the origin of history. The context of protolanguage intersects not only with linguo-philosophical problematic, but also with the problem of historical consciousness. Protolanguage can be perceived as a type of internal language, or inner form of language; therefore the theme of internal form becomes the plotline for searching the language that encompasses antiquity as the criterion of truth and the ideal comprehension, when the disappearing language remains in silence, indicating the very things. The article advances an idea that the genealogical classification of languages, which includes one protolanguage underlying the linguistic family, may have such classification, which is founded not only on the comparative-historical method, but also the peculiarities of historical consciousness suggesting, for example, that for philhellene culture such protolanguage would be considered the Greek language. The question of protolanguage is attributed to not only the sphere of comparative-historical linguistics, but virtually being the question of the origin of history and human, lies in the realm of the philosophy of history, ontology, and gnoseology.

Keywords: historical consciousness, hierotopos, Grecophile cultures, lingua adamica, retrotopia, golden age, proto-language, inner form, mythopoetic discourse, philosophical etymology

Abstract: The subject of this research is certain informative principles of functionality of human nervous system. In the limelight is the interdependence of consciousness and information, as well as the question in the spirit of anti-physicalist arguments: whether the conscious processes are informative, and thus physical, or require a categorical apparatus for description? The first part of the article discusses possible wording of some informative principles of functionality of nervous system that answer the question “why” rather than “how”. The second part is dedicated to the general classification of causal environments, as well as description of conscious processes within the framework of new possible terminology. A number of hypotheses is advanced on the informative mechanisms of involuntary and voluntary attention. With regards to involuntary attention, the author examines the mechanism for resource conservation, or filtering information, which suggests that the nervous system tends to consume resources for processing the rarer – and more information capacious messages. Such position complies with the law of conservation of energy. Voluntary attention is viewed on the basis of information interpretation of the Le Chatelier’s principle. Voluntary attention, resulting conscious actions, and responses of the nervous system (including creativity) are considered as informational messages aimed at alleviation of the impact of external environment, namely the level of information uncertainty. Such information approach prompts to view consciousness as a non-system or causal environment, within which causality is transmitted without transmitting information. The article provides the variant of classification of causal environments that may contribute to further development of non-informative (non-physicalist) approach towards the problem of consciousness.

Keywords: causal environment, Le Chatelier's principle, sensory information, filtering of sensory information, attention, nervous system, information principles, systems approach, non-system, non-information

Abstract: The subject of this research is the history of the development of the concept of “ideology” in the European sociopolitical theory. Emphasis is placed on constructivism as the general concept that incorporates a range of methodological approaches towards tracing the evolution of the phenomenon of ideology in the XX –XXI centuries. The study of the latest methodologies is part of the project of returning the concept of ideology to the modern sociopolitical discourse, which complies with the current standards of political knowledge. The used methodological approaches employ cultural-historical, comparative, critical-analytical and narrative methods. Special attention is given to narrative approach as an object of study and method used in the course of research. The conclusion is made on the dependence of certain aspects of the concept of ideology depend on the cultural-historical circumstances of its origin (i.e. the specificity of the Western European civilizational context). Substantiation is given to the special role of the principle of individualism as a fundamental characteristic, which distinguishes between the Western European ideology and its Russian alternative. The author determines the theoretical source that has the capacity for the development of relevant (corresponding to the theoretical inquiry of the XXI century) Russian project of ideology. The aforementioned statements define the scientific contribution and novelty of this work.

Keywords: political philosophy, narrative approach, individualism, history of Western European modernity, socio-political discourse, constructivist approach, ideology, monologism,, theory of dialogue, bakhtinianism

Abstract: This article represents a polemical response to the critical of poly-civilizational research article by D. E. Letnyakov, who offers to shift away from the essentialist attitudes in the context of studying the phenomenon of civilization, and rather focus on the mechanisms of formation of civilizational identity. In contradiction of the aforementioned point of view, the author of this article argues the inferiority and one-sidedness of the attempts to limit the multi-paradigm vector of research to a single methodological approach, substantiates the philosophical grounds of such multi-paradigmality, and on the example of gender studies, indicates the discrepancies that emerge due to neglecting the essential approach by the researchers. The subject of this article is the methodology of civilizational research. The author does not intent to refute the provisions of social constructivism completely, since its adherents made a considerable contribution to social knowledge, but rather demonstrate that in a number of multi-paradigm vectors (to which civilizational research belong to), this methodological approach cannot be limited to just one. It is substantiated that for philosophy, the criticism of civilizational theory from the perspective of social constructivism, is the phenomenon similar to refutation of Lobachevsky’s geometry from the standpoint of Euclidean geometry, or the laws of quantum mechanics based on the Newton laws. These are different worlds, different set of coordinates, with fundamentally different laws effective therein.

Keywords: identity, essentialism, social constructivism, nominalism, holism, civilization, gender, community, nation, myth

Abstract: This article attempts to “objectify” and conceptualize the concept of “Eurasia”, determine its ontological characteristics as the sociopolitical space of development of the Russian civilizational project, as well as delineates the contours of this space within the framework of a project-constructive methodological orientation. The author refers to the history of formation of holistic representations on Eurasia within the scientific thought, giving special attention to the contribution of geopoliticians, and emphasizing the implementation of theoretical provisions in real politics. The empirical basis relies on the two megaprojects that are implemented in practice: the Silk Road Economic Belt initiated by China and the Eurasian Economic Union (which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Russia), as well as the “Greater Eurasia” as a potential way of their interlink and development of the space for cross-civilizational dialogue on the continent. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) Eurasia is determined both as the goal of the Russian project of civilizational development and as the space it can be realized within. At the same time, the space for the development of Russia-Eurasia is described as the natural environment of the Russian civilizational project, the space of the “primary circle”. Special role is played by the creation and development of the Eurasian Economic Union, which unites the countries that have faced the escalation of nationalist sentiment after the dissolution of the Soviet Union; 2) The “Greater Eurasia” is designated as the “secondary circle” of the Russian civilizational project, a space for continental cooperation, determines by new political reality.  3) Certain zones of civilizational confrontation and contradictions on the continent have been identified. The author believes that the need for conceptualization of the concept at hand lies in the significant sociopolitical formative potential.

Keywords: Great Eurasia, EAEU, Eurasian economic union, civilization, Russian Civilizational Project, conceptualization, Eurasia, Economic Belt, Silk Road, geopolitics

Abstract: Military clergy was one of the core translators of military norms and regulations in the Russian army during the early XX century. The goal of this article is to examine the concepts of Orthodox culture within the ethics of war of the military chaplains. Leaning on the memoirs of A. Turundaevsky and archival documents of the Orenburg and Siberian Cossack troops, the article reconstructs the mission of the military chaplain on the battlefield, analyzes the structure of concepts of Orthodox ethics therein. The study of the structure of the elements of Orthodox ethics in the mission of the military chaplain reveals the key ethical principles that are fundamental to military conflicts, when one of the parties grounds its military regulations on the Orthodox culture. It is determined that in the conditions of new requirements established for military clergy during the World War I (1914–1918), there were instances that the norms of the Orthodox ethics contradicted the mission of the chaplain on the battlefield. The acquired results reveal that the underlying principle of the mission of military chaplain, as the representative of the “militant church”, on the battlefield was “love for one's neighbor”. The understanding of Russia as the center of Orthodox culture and the perception of soldiers as “warriors of the church” prompted the clergy to implement the concept of “meekness” in their actions, as well as the concepts of “recumbence”, “Divine Providence”, etc. for comprehension of their actions.

Keywords: Russian orthodox church, orthodox culture, war ethics, priest mission, priest ethos, military priest, militant clergy, World War I, cossack troop, orthodox ethics