Abstract: French author and philosopher Ablert Camus is often called the ‘artist of absurdity’. Albert Camus wrote that the feeling of absurdity awaits us at every corner. This feeling cannot be clearly defined but it is real. Mid XX century faced a new question about the meaning of beauty. Indeed, the Second World War caused enormous deaths and destructions and made us think about the fortune and purpose of art. There was even a thought that it would be impossible to come back to the usual beauty concepts after the horror of detention camps.

Keywords: philosophy, absurd, beautiful, beauty, Surrealism, fantasy, inspiration, creativity, automatic writing, author.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the peculiarities of functioning of the family as the most significant factor of the cultural development of the society. The author of the article also studies the socio-philosophical concept of the comprehension of interdependence of the cultural processes in the society and the family from the point of view of the axiological approach. The author also analyzes the influence of objective factors of social development on the cultural content of the family in this day and age. The author focuses on the relevance and importance of the designated problems taking into account socio-cultural transformations. The problem is viewed through the prism of spirituality, the latter performing the role of the original basis in the methodology of studying humans and society.

Keywords: philosophy, family, culture, cultural process, value, spirituality, indicator, being, good morals, form.

Abstract: The origins of scientific research globally planetary processes date back to V.I. Vernadsky, who considered scientific thought as a “planetary” (global) phenomenon. The development of modern globalistics and global studies, including an evolutionary perspective, is deployed in the light of scientific ideas, and in his writings the doctrine of the noosphere from the very beginning was formed in planetary perspective as a world noospheric globalism and in connection with this article discusses the modern transformation of the doctrine with the concept of sustainable development. The scientist predicted a fundamentally new process — the globalization of science, which is considered in the context of development and globalistics and global studies. The author of the article also discusses the status and location of global research in modern and future science.

Keywords: global development, globalism, globalization of science, global issues, global processes, global studies, noosphere, evolutionary globalistics.

Abstract: The article demonstrates a certain stage in development of system, dialectical and synergetic views on the post-human and the theory and practice of revolutionary, major transformations of human and society. High tech solutions (biotechnologies, cyborg technologies, information technologies, virtual reality, artificial intelligence) provide an increasing number of opportunities for achieving post-human goals: the Prometheus’ line (from mythology to Russian cosmism and trans-humanism) is in the focus of modern post-human researches. Analysis of the post-human in mythology and arts, the Orpheus’ line, enriches and specifies the general interpretation of the post-human. The relative value of post-human aspects in mythology can be identified by people’s attempts. Post-human mythologies are removed by the means of art. Today’s post-humanity is mostly represented in science fiction and fantasy. The relative value of science fiction is compared to scientific knowledge about the future. Fantasy world can be viewed as the ideal form of achievement of post-human freedom and the pleasure principle. Demonstrated cultural shift from the reality principle to the pleasure principle is another significant factor creating numerous problems for the post-human future.

Keywords: philosophy, futurology, Russian cosmism, trans-humanism, mythology, art, high tech, science fiction, fantasy, the pleasure principle.

Abstract: Researches of the social and political role of a holiday raised a question abut whether there are major regulators of social opinions other than the methods creating fear? Can a holiday with all its ‘emotional’ attributes such as laughter, joy and celebrating, become such a method of influence in certain life situations? Is it possible that some day the humankid will build their relations solely based on the grounds of humanity and mutual protection and care…

Keywords: philosophy, holiday, laughter, fear, death, political, power, culture, social, shared joy.

Abstract: Modern post-industrial modernization is viewed as an integrated dialectic contradictory process of revolutionary reformation in all social spheres — revolution in human’s methods of influence on the environment (technological revolution) that deeply changed the entire variety of social relations and transformed our system of views regarding our place and role in nature and society (world perception).

Keywords: philosophy, technological revolution, post-industrialism, modernization, revolution, evolution, world perception, society, human, development.

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to view the communication nature of social management. For this purpose, the author of the article describes different approaches to interpreting the term ‘management’, the latter being viewed from the point of view of general philosophy, information approaches and the classical management theory. The following conclusions were made based on the analysis conducted in the article: 1. As one of the attributes of existence, management appears at all levels of existence from inanimate nature to highly organized biological organisms and social systems. 2. The most important goal of social management is to solve the contradictions between the subject and object of management. 3. All fundamental properties of management at all levels remain when the system is moved to the social level but they take more complicated shape and become to based on new, specific properties of social management. 4. Under conditions of post-industrial information society, it is the convincing communication which comes to the fore among all other methods of social management. It naturally causes a drastic development of communication technologies aimed at a more efficient solution of tasks related to convincing the object of management. The practical relevance of this research is the insight into possible directions of the development of social communication as the mechanism regulating society’s life.

Keywords: philosophy, system, management, object, inter-subjectivity, communication abilities, subjectivity, entropy, principle, theory.

Abstract: The first part of this publication contains the overview of F. Laruelle’s speech ‘Toward Philosophy Recognized as Modern’ and its discussion during the Russian-French seminar held in Jerusalem in March 2013. The second part contains L. A. Gogotishvili’s article ‘Losev’s Philosophy of Language and Laruelle’s Non-Philosophy of Language’. A. Losev’s and F. Laruelle’s language conceptions are compared against the problem of operational-thematic expressions in philosophy. The question about whether there is a certain cause and effect relationship between viewing the language as the central operational source and the decrease of philosophy thematism is deemed to have no solution because the linguistic operationality and direct thematism have different purposes of discursive strategies. Based on the comparison of Losev’s and Laruelle’s operational principles (clipped monism and one-sided dualism), Gogotishvili reconstructs discursive strategies established by the two philosophers.

Keywords: philosophy, Laruelle, Losev, thematic invention, operationality, one-sided dualism, monism, discursive strategies, eidetic language, transcendent language.

Abstract: The first part of this publication contains the overview of F. Laruelle’s speech ‘Toward Philosophy Recognized as Modern’ and its discussion during the Russian-French seminar held in Jerusalem in March 2013. The second part contains L. A. Gogotishvili’s article ‘Losev’s Philosophy of Language and Laruelle’s Non-Philosophy of Language’. A. Losev’s and F. Laruelle’s language conceptions are compared against the problem of operational-thematic expressions in philosophy. The question about whether there is a certain cause and effect relationship between viewing the language as the central operational source and the decrease of philosophy thematism is deemed to have no solution because the linguistic operationality and direct thematism have different purposes of discursive strategies. Based on the comparison of Losev’s and Laruelle’s operational principles (clipped monism and one-sided dualism), Gogotishvili reconstructs discursive strategies established by the two philosophers.

Keywords: philosophy, Laruelle, Losev, thematic invention, operationality, one-sided dualism, monism, discursive strategies, eidetic language, transcendent language.

Abstract: The article departs from the usual treatment of hermeneutics as applied to the written form and instead considers it in application to the spoken word of the popular culture. The hermeneutic tool used preferentially is the notion of genotext introduced by Julia Kristeva on the basis of Russian semiotics. The article shows the significance of the ideas put forward by Mikhail Bakhtin and Vladimir Bibler. The general definition of culture is borrowed from the works of Pavel Gurevich. The liberation of the genotext from the shell of the phenotext exposed the role of cultural sacrality and the titanic component in the self-definition of the human being. Those are the starting points of the behavioral traits in long-lived populations. The author considers the example of the Abkhaz culture which he had studied for many years.

Keywords: philosophy, hermeneutics, genotext, myth, kinesics, legs, chthonism, Titans, long-lived people, Abkhaz.

Abstract: Religious context of Kant’s philosophy of morals is shown as an essential part of philosophy. Morals do not necessarily mean religion but they do lead to religion sooner or later. The first part of the article offers a general description of Kant’s approaches while the second part talks about the meaning and purpose of Kant criticizing speculative theology. The third part touches upon the ideal of humankind loved by God. The impulse towards the eternal progress of the ideal of our own history is awaken in actual meetings with people who dealt with the good morals, followed it and admitted the God’s ideal by trying t achieve the saintliness in their lives. In this respect, Kant’s morally definite monotheism can be called ‘christological’.

Keywords: philosophy, morals, duty, law, will, blessing, perfection, love, faith, theology.

Abstract: The author of the article traces back the formation and development of the concept of freedom in Antique and Medieval European philosophy. Based on his research, the author clearly states that the modern understanding of the concept of freedom have their roots in Ancient and Medieval philosophy. Following philosophical and political ideas only developed further such theoretical categories as ‘applied’ aspects of this concept and created the basis for modern democratic states.

Keywords: philosophy, concept of freedom, ancient world, Middle Ages, free will, human, society, blessing, God, choice.

Abstract: The author attempts to introduce an idea of potentiality of human being to actualize the spiritual component of his nature in the contemporary discourse on human identity. He argues that on the basis of this idea it becomes possible to identify not only “present’ human identity but also “possible” one. The author specifies properties and needs of human being, which take place not due to his representation as a physical and mental being. The very existence of them, in author’s opinion, is an indication of opportunities that are often not taken into account in the study of human identity.

Keywords: philosophy, identity, essence, existence, human, needs, properties, succession, value, spirituality.