Abstract: This review examines the main problems of the XX International Likhachev Scientific Readings held in June 2022 at the St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions. The readings took place after a two-year break and their problems shifted from the traditional question of the dialogue of cultures to the question of modern conflict tension in the world. Within the framework of the Readings, a number of breakout sessions were held on various aspects of humanitarian knowledge in the context of the current political situation. The subject of the study is the discussion held during the plenary session, as well as the topic of the section, in which ethical and cultural issues were analyzed. The author of the review paid special attention to the opinions expressed by foreign participants of the conference regarding the conflict situation in the world and their assumptions about the ways to resolve it. The general idea of these reports is the idea of a desirable political multipolarity of the global space and criticism of changes in the structure of understanding of liberal values in the modern Western world. The topics of the reports of domestic researchers, humanities scientists dealing with these value transformations were also described. The author made critical remarks about the general tone of the discussion and the conclusions drawn by the speakers, since, criticizing the Western "cancellation culture", the participants mostly tended to the idea of a mirror response - and thus also to the idea of "cancellation", which makes this answer indistinguishable from what he criticizes, and only contributing to the escalation of tension.

Abstract: This article examines and analyzes the main conceptual moments of the discussion unfolded in May 2019 at the annual International Likhachov Scientific Conference. This year the forum was dedicated to the problem of predictability and manageability in modern global development. The author notes that the majority of reporters determine the crisis character of current situation, in which the global world has reached the moment of unpredictability, stands at the threshold of multiple possible vectors, including catastrophic development. Therefore, the need for in-depth theoretical comprehension of the ongoing processes becomes essential. The article reviews a number of key topics approached in many reports, which carry either general philosophical character or refer to the analysis of current situation. The author concludes that the common idea of the majority of reports became the criticism of political trends of the global world, acknowledgement of internal contradictions in the actions of Western countries, caused by the escalating conflict between the values of the Enlightenment and the idea of world hegemony that actually takes roots in consolidation of such values. This drives the need for reconsideration of some basic paradigms of the global world, repudiation of the idea of hegemony and transition towards the more complex system of organization. At the same time, many reporters showed their preference towards one or another type of projects, which may seem utopic at first sight, finding a regulative idea for the political action within them.

Abstract: The goal of this article is to provide an overview of the latest International Likhachev Scientific Readings that took place at Saint-Petersburg University of the Humanities and Social Sciences in May 2018, as well as analyze the major questions associated with the philosophical-culturological problematic being raised in the course of the Readings. The author examines the relevance of the raised question, scientific novelty of the proposed solutions, as well as suggests an interpretation of the possible conclusions. Special attention is given to the problem of intercultural communication, which is a leitmotif of the Readings, and the difficulties experienced by the modern Russian culturology in this regard. Another important topic is the idea of Marxist interpretation of culture due to the anniversary of Karl Marx, The research is structure as a theoretical and comparative analysis of a number of the remarkable and polemical reports presented within the framework of the aforementioned scientific forum, as well as the contextual analysis of the ongoing discussion. The main conclusion lies in the thesis that the modern Russian culturology has a development potential for expansion of its problematic and theoretical field. The analysis of the causes of the rejection of Marxism in post-Soviet culturological tradition especially clearly indicates the possibility of such expansion by including the experience of most recent foreign research, particularly in the area of Marxist and Neo-Marxist theory of culture and theory of media. It is proven that the Marxist concept gives lots of room for the interpretation of culture.

Abstract: This article analyzes the results and conclusions of the discussion that took place at 17th Likhachov International Scientific Conference that took place on May 18-20 of 2017 at the St. Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences. The Conference was devoted to the problem of civilizational crisis. The subject of the research lies in comparison of the two provided in the reports approaches towards the problem of crisis. The concept of civilizational crises is being problematized; the author examines its origins in the context of specificity of the modern global world, analyzes difficulties emerging in the path of overcoming the crisis. Two approaches to the crisis presented in the reports of the participants of the discussion are subject to comparison with certain trends of the philosophical-historical descriptions alongside the problems common to the concepts of the Western philosophy of history. The main conclusions of the research can be summarized as follows: there are two opposing understandings of the crisis of civilization – the crisis as transformation and the crisis as stagnation and impossibility of transformation – which are interconnected in their origins; both, the sense of stagnation and the sense of  inevitability of breakage are caused by the awareness of the absence of alternative to the selected path of development, homogenization and unification of the modern world; the desire to overcome the crisis in the way of rationalization of society remains on the existing path of development that leads to crisis; therefore, overcoming the crisis can be associated only with catastrophic events and assumption of a certain irrationality of the action; such irrationality, leading to destruction transformation, manifests as the result of rationalization itself that appears to be self-destructive and causing the sense of crisis.

Abstract:  
This article is dedicated to the reviews of the annual international forum, which takes place in the Saint-Petersburg University of the Humanities and Social Sciences. At attempt is conducted to examine the types and trends of humanitarian thought, as well as designate the characteristics of the direction that is presented in Likhachev Readings. The author gives characteristics to the general topics of the latest forum discussion: the problem of mission of the philosophy and humanitarian thought in the modern world, and possibility of the universal unity; as well as reviews the presented approaches towards the solution of international conflicts. It is demonstrated how all the reporters, despite the discordance of opinions, support the common idea of humanitarization of the modern culture. The relevance of the general topic of the forum consists in the problems of the dialogue of culture in the global world, which is substantiated based on the general ethical ideas, as well as structural-historical grounds, i.e. the result of development of a certain type of thinking, which simultaneously leads to universalization of culture, and recognition of cultural differences. The modern humanitarian thought is classified by the two types of relation to the aforementioned conflict. On one hand, it can be understood as the source of specificity of the modern culture based on such conflict. Such thought is called “paradoxical” and contain the radical critical movements of the present time. On the other hand, we can suggest that the understanding of the conflict creates the conditions for its overcoming, as well as humanitarization of the existing type of culture. Such though is called “humanitarian” in the article. The academic community of Likhachev Readings leans namely to the latter type of interpretation of the modern processes.
 

Abstract: The article is devoted to the review of the International Likhachov Scientific Conference held on 14-15 May 2015 in St. Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences. The main problem of the conference was the global challenges of the modern world and national interests. The author of the article analyzes the main questions of the reports and speeches and makes conclusions about the main trends of the discussion. As a key moment of the discussion the idea of the nation is revealed. This idea is complex and self-contradictory due to the specifics of its formation and history of the development in modern society. The article includes a description and analysis of selected reports and synthesizes them to identify the problems of the dominant ideas. The main conclusion of this review is that the main idea of all the reports and approaches is the idea of internal instability, and contradictions of the idea of nation which requires a thorough theoretical analysis of all situations connected with national interests.

Abstract: The subject of this research is the possibility of political influence upon the situation of crisis of metaphysical foundations of the political order. In order to analyze the new foundations of the political action, we use the notion of the “aesthetic individual” as an expresser of the metaphysical paradigm, which has been formed due to the critical change taking place within the Kantian system. The author demonstrates that despite the antinomicity of the political position of the aesthetic individual, the critical analysis itself can become the foundation for political action ans overcome the relativistic crisis of the modern political thought. The concepts of Leo Strauss, Hannah Arendt,Slavoj Žižek, and Alain Badiou are used as the basis of this research. The conclusion consists in the ability to analyze the processes that take place in the modern political philosophy by the virtue of aesthetics; it is namely the aesthetics that can thoroughly describe the foundations of the world outlook crisis within the modern culture. It is also demonstrated, how the aesthetic position can serve as the foundation for the new type of political action.  

Abstract: In her article Nikonova discusses the problems associated with the idea of the dialogue of cultures in the modern world. These problems are associated with the origin of the idea of the dialogue of cultures from the foundations of modern European individualism and subjectivist conception of cognition. Western European way of thinking is characterized by internal contradictions. According to the author, development of the humanistic ideal and recognizing the value of a unique human being according to the structural conditions of its formation have depersonalization, dehumanization and violence as its reverse side. On the basis of a number of papers presented at the XIV International Likhachev Scientific Conference, an overview of the different positions in relation to the possibility of the dialogue between cultures is provided. The author analyzes the changing views on the dialogue of cultures in the light of the growing tension in modern society, and also examines the philosophical foundation of the current situation. As a result, the dialogue of cultures in the modern world is shown as the possibility that is still to be opened which causes the extreme urgency of the ongoing philosophical debate on this topic.