Abstract: This article examines the design thinking as a potentially progressive style and method of philosophizing. The object of this research is the methods and terms of philosophical inquiry, while the subject is the design thinking as a style and method of philosophizing. The goal lies in determining whether there exists the conceptual limitations of application of the design thinking in philosophical practice, as well as finding out the value of such instrument for a modern philosopher. The author sees the design thinking as a potentially valuable heuristic instrument. The used in the course of this work conceptual analysis is understood as explication of the latent meanings of language; the logical methods are interpreted in a traditional way. The author concludes that the design thinking as a method should be acknowledged as a private case of hypothetical-deductive method, while as a style of philosophizing cannot be reduced to the already existing style and has significant novelty. Design thinking exists as a created and exercised by the Stanford School of Design algorithm for solving the creative tasks, but simultaneously can be applied by the philosophers outside this rigid form as a common research approach. The distinct features of such approach towards the philosophical practice imply the following: pragmatic focus, creation of hypothetical models, and carrying out of mental experiment for solution primarily not the intradisciplinary, but rather extradisciplinary problems. It could potentially become an effective step towards identification of crisis of the modern academic philosophy.

Keywords: design, synthesis, analysis, creativity, philosophical method, methodology, scientific method, thinking, mind, cognition

Abstract: In the focus of this research is the phenomenon of digital society, which is being the object of multiple scientific disciplines, yet remains outside the philosophical analysis. Relevance of this work is dictated by the need for holistic study of the phenomenon and its panoramic representation in light of the modern social transformations. Alongside the “digital society”, the article also analyzes the concepts of “numerical society”, “numerical world” and “digital world”, “digital measurement”, establishes their generic interconnection with the notions of “number” and “digit”, as well as examines the worldview foundations, peculiarities, and boundaries of their application. The theoretical methodological base contains the works of the ancient, medieval, and modern mathematicians and philosophers on the number as instrument for cognizing the world and society. A conclusion is formulated that digital society is modern state of information society, while the predicate “digital” reflects the complete, ultimate state in development of the society and world as a whole. Thus, a modern human comes to the antinomy – a desire to measure the immeasurable.

Keywords: ordering, numerical world, digital world, measurement, harmonization, digit, number, numerical society, digital society, cosmos

Abstract: The author attempts to answer the question “Why Russians are so different?” form the sociopolitical and economic points of view. He advances the idea that the major role in formation of peculiarities of Russians’ identity was played by some cultural aspects of the pre-Communist era, but also the political institutions influence of the Soviet Union. The author compares distinctive traits of Russians’ identity with those of the people of developed countries. The author considers such topics of Russians’ cultural identity as: destruction of social capital under the Soviet Union and its influence upon the current social conditions; causes of the problems with establishment of democratic institutions, as well as protection of human rights; historical background of the economic development and influence of the legacy of the Communist regime upon current economic conditions.

Keywords: mentality, identity, Russia, Russian, features, policy, sociology, cultural studies, philosophy, history

Abstract: Historical time is one of the varieties of time used by the historians for creating an image of the past. Its peculiarities are defined by the object history – the past, as well as the theoretical specificities of structuring an image of the past into a certain worldview era. Time, same as space, serves for the allocation of events in historian’s mind. Historical time, subjectively, forms for arranging the historical transformations on human consciousness and build an image of the past. In idealistic approach, time is a characteristic of consciousness, rather than an external world, and is meant for arranging the chaos of the objective and subjective reality in human mind. A historian needs historical time for creating a single, noncontradictory and convincing image of the past, where each event is assigned to its unique place. Historical time depends on the key worldview ideas of the era, which is a creation period for one or another historian. Historical time can be of various length in the context of formal equality of the time intervals. The category of time is closely related with the concept of era and period, which are known for their characteristic formed mostly by the dominant in the society ideas.

Keywords: ways of creating the past, ideology, subjectivism, idealistic approach, historical time, time, past, idealism in history, future, present

Abstract: Shamanism is the traditional religion of Buryats; it is the foundation of cultural space of the Buryat people. One of the peculiarities of Buryat shamanism is its dualistic character, existence of the two parallel confessions – “white” and “black”. For the majority of world religions is not common the emergence, development, and existence of two traditions in form of the two different branches, thus the study of genesis of such phenomenon in the Buryat shamanism represents great interest. The article makes an attempt to determine the factors that affected the division of main religion of the Buryats into the indicated coexisting branches. The religious theories originate and integrate into the cultural space in the course of the socio-historical evolution of the ethnos; therefore, these processes should be considered in retrospective of the history of particular nation. The method of this research is defined by the analysis of the historical path of development of the diverse ethnic groups that are a part of the Buryat people, as well as determination of discrepancies and similarities in their religious views. The author formulates a hypothesis of genesis of the dualistic nature of shamanism of the Buryats as a reflection of the cultural-historical evolution of the polyethnic Buryat nation. A suggestion is put forward that the identification of the two types of shamanism could reflect the views Bulagad ethnos that characterized their variant of religion as “white” in contrast to the views of Ekhired and Khori ethnic groups marked as “black” shamanism. Subsequently the aforementioned point of view was recognized as generally accepted.

Keywords: Ekhired, Ethnogenesis of Buryats, Geser epos, Black shamanism, Khori, Traditional culture, Rituals, Buryats, Bulagad, White shamanism

Abstract: This article attempts to compare the views of I. V. Kireyevsky and E. N. Trubetskoy on some fundamental philosophical-historical questions. Based on the example of their works, the author substantiates a thought that the major source of chiliastic vector of the Russian religious-philosophical thought of the XIX-XX centuries became the Old Russian religious culture with the worldview center – the myth of Kitezh. It is argued that in foundation of the gnoseological, ontological and social constructs of the representative of “Moscow school” lies the idea of spiritualization of a human and the world. The author determines the messianic features of Kireyevsky’s historiosophy, who wrote about the special calling of Russia and associated its revival with the beginning of the new ontological turn in world history. Having analyzed the philosophical-historical ideas of I. V. Kireyevsky and E. N. Trubetskoy, the author applies the dialogical paradigm, which allows comparing their views between not only each other, but also the views of other thinkers. It is underlined that Trubetskoy had ancestral ties with Slavophiles. It is also highlighted that if in the post-revolutionary period he became closer with the chiliastic ideal, he had never accepted the messianic ideas. The author also notes the particular interest of both philosophers to the problem of the freedom of will that was correlated in their works with the question about the role of personality in history. A conclusion is formulated, to which alongside with Kireyevsky and Trubetskoy had come the majority of Russian thinkers of the XIX century: “fascination” by the ideal is justified only through work and life achievement.

Keywords: primordial indivisibility, free will, missionism, chiliasm, messianism, Holy Rus, Kitezh, life achievement, island, theocracy

Abstract: This article argues the need for joining the efforts of the scholars of various disciplines aimed at examination of liturgical practices and cults arts of different confessions. The main challenge of such goal-setting serves the fact of inextricable connection between the social and confessional life of the society, presence of the universal issues regarding the existence of the liturgical canons, methods of their renewal, capabilities and status of the cult arts included into the ritual activities. The relevance of solution of the artistic problems is substantiated by the increasing number of temples being built, as well as emergence of the new forms of ritual practices. Describing the diverse approaches and methods necessary for cognizing the nominated humanitarian sphere, the authors point at certain advantages in acquiring the new knowledge upon the condition of the synchronized and complex examination of the liturgical practices and cult arts of various confessions and comparative-typological approach in studying the sacral and secular arts. The scientific novelty consists in declaring the new area of humanitarian research – hieroartology, which is the study of art included into the liturgical practices that forms and assists the sanctity and sacredness of these practices. The new research area will allow revealing the common and specific in using the canonic texts in the religious and secular arts; overcome the inconsistencies in studying the liturgical practices of different confessions; initiate research of the modern liturgical canon and cult arts of the Buddhist, Judaists, and Muslims that are currently have been studied fragmentary; acquire new knowledge about the authors engaged in the sphere of cult art or referring to it as private method in the contexts of secular.

Keywords: traditional beliefs, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, cult arts, liturgical practices, traditional cult practices, comparative typological method, hieroartology

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the morphogenic element of culture and analyzes its transformation within passage of time. The author demonstrates the interaction between the creating force of the archetype and secularizing force of the simulacrum on the specific examples of transformations of the cultural phenomena and orientations. Ethnic dance and traditional ornaments are viewed as the archetypes of culture; the tendency of their transformation into simulacrums is subjected to analysis. The comparison of “archetype – simulacrum” is based on the close relation of these two concepts with Plato’s Idea, but the author make an accent on the positive aspect of simulacrum marked by G. Deleuze. The author applies poly-paradigm approach that includes dialectical and phenomenological methods, and considers archetype as a phenomenon and soul of the culture. The article also uses the principles of hermeneutic analysis that reveals the nonverbal languages of manifestation of the culture. The scientific novelty consists in introduction of the pair of opposing forces of the archetype and simulacrum as an instrument for analyzing the cultural phenomena. It application demonstrates the effectiveness of referring to the cultural unconscious for positive influence upon the development and preservation of the uniqueness of culture. It is suggested to examine the activation of archetype underlying the foundation of cultural phenomena as a method of counteracting simulation and thoughtless imitation.

Keywords: postmodernism, culture, ethnic jewelry, ethnoculture, globalization, dance, simulation, simulacrum, archetype, cultural unconscious