Abstract: The subject of our article is the identification of cultural codes of Eastern European shtetl towns in the play by Grigory Gorin "Memorial Prayer", the libretto of which was written by the author based on the works of the famous Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem. The author of the article describes the history and conditions of localization of Jewish culture in Eastern Europe and the Russian Empire, the peculiarities of its transformation, the tragic history of the Jewish theater in the first third of the twentieth century. After the disappearance of the towns and the disuse of the Yiddish language, the preservation of the history of the characteristic everyday and philosophical way of life of the shtetls became the goal of museum figures, historians, writers, playwrights, and artists. In the work, using the example of Tevye the milkman, his family and environment, characteristic images of the inhabitants of small towns, their habitat, types of thinking and actions are revealed.  The article uses the methods of historicism in the retrospective of the culture of Shtetl towns, the method of analysis in the identification of Shtetl archetypes, the method of synthesis in the generalization of a set of characteristic cultural codes. The main conclusions of the study are: 1. Eastern European Jewish shtetl towns are small urban-type settlements with a predominantly Jewish population, whose unique culture was determined by the Jewish faith, everyday and religious traditions, the Yiddish language, as well as the localization of residence in a small area. 2. During the period of large-scale social upheavals of the early twentieth century and the subsequent expansion beyond the boundaries of the towns, their unique culture became a mythologeme, the foundation for writers, artists, musicians, and theater figures who emerged from it. One of the milestones in the preservation of this culture was the Jewish theater GOSET, whose existence was tragically cut short in the middle of the twentieth century. 3. The play "Memorial Prayer", written by Grigory Gorin based on the works of Sholem Aleichem and staged at the Lenkom Theater by Mark Zakharov, became the quintessence of the characteristic images of the shtetl, and at the same time the revival of authentic Jewish culture. The author's special contribution is to highlight in the play the images-the archetypes of the Shtetl, which have become cultural markers, or codes of Jewish Yiddish culture.

Keywords: Memorial prayer, Grigory Israelevich Gorin, Sholom Aleichem, a Jewish place, Yiddish culture, Judaism, shtetl, Cultural code, GOSET, Lenkom

Abstract: The relevance of the research is due to the fact that the musical and folklore heritage of V. F. Odoevsky is of great value for modern musicology, since it contains many unique recordings of Russian folk songs and songs of 26 other ethnic groups. V. F. Odoevsky is the first folklorist who recorded song folklore in a scientific way. His recordings are the first reliable examples of folklore in the history of Russian musicology. At the same time, the archives of V. F. Odoevsky are practically not studied. The article examines the publications of B. B. Granovsky, since this scientist has been deciphering materials from the archive of V. F. Odoevsky for many years and introducing them into scientific circulation. The article considers that these publications reveal the style of the scientific method of V. F. Odoevsky, which is of great value in the study of the history and development of Russian ethnomusicology. Thanks to the works of B. B. Granovsky, rare songs of the peoples of Russia, which were recorded by V. F. Odoevsky, have been studied. In addition, the article shows that B. B. Granovsky not only deciphered many archival recordings of V. F. Odoevsky, but also published them in a musical collection of Russian folk songs.

Keywords: preservation of folk culture, actualization of Russian song folklore, history of ethnomusicology, song folklore of the peoples of Russia, music archive of Odoevsky, Granovsky, Russian folk songs, Odoevsky, collection of Russian songs, music culture of Russia

Abstract: This work is devoted to the terracotta army of Qin Shihuang and its reflection in the works of modern Chinese masters of watercolor. The article consists of three parts. The first part analyzes the genesis and history of Qin Shihuang's clay army. In the second, the terracotta army is regarded as a cultural and artistic symbol of China, which stimulated humanitarian contacts between Russia and China and contributed to mutual understanding between the two peoples. In the third part, through the prism of the artistic experience and creative process of three watercolor artists, the current state of research of watercolor creativity on the theme of the terracotta army is analyzed.   The author's special contribution to the development of the problem is to determine the connection between the ancient cultural heritage of China and the nature of its interpretation in the works of modern watercolor artists. The novelty of the study can be recognized as the introduction into the scientific circulation of Russian art history of the names of Chinese artists and their paintings dedicated to the terracotta army of Emperor Qin Shihuang. Within the framework of the work, an appeal is made to the issue of Chinese-Russian cultural cooperation, the development of which is realized through touching this most representative monument of antiquity. Through the art criticism analysis of watercolor paintings by Chinese masters — Huang Zhongyang, Lin Shaolin, Zuo Xinmin — approaches to the reflection of this historical monument in the works of modern masters are determined, the connection between ancient and modern, traditional and innovative in their paintings is established.

Keywords: antiquity and modernity, symbol, creative concepts, Russia and China, cultural and artistic contacts, watercolor painting, chinese civilization, Qin Shihuang, terracotta army, the connection of times

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to identify a close, "polyphonic" connection, consolidation of ancient forms and techniques of compositional writing of the twentieth century. The subject of the study is the choral creativity of Alexander Vustin. The object of the study is the consideration of polyphonic works of techniques in A. Vustin's composition "Veni Sancte Spiritus". The musical language of A. Vustin is characterized by extreme restraint, depth, semantic concentration. The appeal to ancient polyphonic genres, forms and techniques of writing in A. Vustin's choral compositions is characterized by an individual approach to solving a creative idea. The nature of the presentation of the original source, the methods of working with it acquires uniqueness in accordance with the new artistic tasks of modern music. Through the synthesis of research methods, including musicology, poetics and choral studies, the parameters of a musical composition are revealed: a musical-text source is attributed, genre specifics and musical form are analyzed. The author examines in detail such an aspect of the topic as the dialectical interaction of constructive and destructive formants of the architectonics of the musical form of polyphonic compositions for chorus. Special attention is paid to the ancient technique of writing on the cantus firmus in its refraction in modern choral composition.The main conclusion of the conducted research is the paradigm of artistic connections of genres, forms and techniques of ancient polyphony with modern means of compositional writing (sonorica, aleatorica and others). Attention is focused on the need to study the issues related to the architectonics of modern choral composition, due not only to the general artistic and historical potential of choral culture as a whole, but especially its great importance in modern musical art. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time polyphonic techniques in modern choral composition are analyzed from the standpoint of musicology and choral studies. A special contribution of the author to the disclosure of the topic is the study of the composition "Veni Sancte Spiritus" by A. Vustin, which has not previously been the object of special research, and its introduction into modern scientific usage.

Keywords: polyphonic form, polyphonic genre, polyphony, concert piece, creative method, choral art, modern music, Wustin, writing technique, contemporary music art

Abstract: This article examines the milestones in the development of cinematography as a phenomenon in Bashkortostan. The author traces the path from the emergence of very first films to the present state of local film production in the republic. Research methodology leans on the methods of systematization and analysis of scientific literature, written and cinematographic sources, historical-typological (analysis of the historical and cultural grounds of Bashkir cinematography), interpretation of written and cinematographic material. The peculiarities of the establishment and development of Bashkir cinematography are revealed. The theoretical importance of this article lies in systematization of knowledge and description of the ethnocultural characteristics of the development of cinematography in the context of Bashkir cultural field. Cultural tradition as an example that is being reflexively used by people within the framework of a particular culture for solution of life tasks underlies the national cinematography. The models of lifestyle and perception of the world in a given cultural era are realized in the national cinematographic works and represent cultural paradigm of the nation. The author notes the ethnic peculiarities of the development of the phenomenon of cinematography in the region. Prevalence of the elements of traditional national culture (plotlines and images) in the films determines the peculiar nature of Bashkir cinematography and impacts the ethnocultural identity of the recipient. The scientific novelty lies in revealing the historiographical and culturological aspects of Bashkir cinematographic works, as well as outlining its role in modern art culture. The study was conducted on the basis of semiotic and interpretational methods of art history analysis.

Keywords: histiry, cinematography, film-director, bashkir directors, national culture, history of cinema, cinematograph, bashkir, cinema, Bashkortostan

Abstract: This article is a historical foray into participation of the Ural and the Chelyabinsk regions in the World Expos in the context of cross-cultural communication, in which the interaction between the exhibiting countries on the global questions of modernity takes place through the dialogue of cultures. In the broad sense, exhibition first and foremost is a significant attribute of culture and cultural life of a particular environment, and form of distribution of culture. The scientific literature features the following definition: “…exhibitions are the key presentation instrument of cultural policy of the country”. The real scientific achievements are concentrated in a single space. Each exhibition promotes different cultural traditions and contributes to the enrichment of cultures. As pertains to the participation of Ural, it is too early to speak of the full-fledged participation in the dialogue of cultures at World Expos; however, the region has made decent steps towards it. There is no doubt that the World Expo is an remarkable international event. Each host country makes every effort to ensure an immense scale of the event, attract wide audience of visitors and exhibitors. Therefore, the exhibition should be viewed from the global perspective.

Keywords: different forms of dialogue, world universal exhibitions, wealth of the Ural culture, dialogue of cultures, EXPO, social-cultural activities, exposition, culture, arts and crafts, the idea of the continuity of civilizations

Abstract: The object of this research is the concept of evolutionary development of the universe of P. Teilhard de Chardin and the concept of “liquid” reality” of Z. Bauman. The subject is the methodology of P. Teilhard de Chardin and his idea of the future of social development, as well as Z. Bauman’s description of the key characteristics of globalization. Emphasis is placed on the methodology of P. Teilhard de Chardin (interaction of tangential and radial energies), as within the framework his concept, the social, biological and physical phenomena do not have fundamental differences and abide the general universal laws. In broad outlines, the article reconstructs the idea of P. Teilhard de Chardin on social development and the theses of Z. Bauman about the key characteristics of modern globalization. The novelty of the research lies in the attempt to present the methodology of P. Teilhard de Chardin as acceptable for modern science and highlight its predictive power; as well as in comparative analysis of the ideas of Z. Bauman and P. Teilhard de Chardin on the processes of global social integration. The following conclusions are made: both scholars advance the idea on the progressing polarization of society; 2) globalization in their works correlates with the process of individualization of social actors, and defense of own identity.

Keywords: methodology, falsifiability, teilhardisme, social polarization, globalization, Zygmunt Bauman, Teilhard de Chardin, society, tangential energy, radial energy

Abstract: The subject of this article is the evolution of Marxism in our country. Reflecting on the problems articulated by V. I. Tolstykh, the author discusses the professional convention as one of the mechanisms for transforming Marxist doctrine from the theory of revolutionary reform of society into the ideology, which justifies the totalitarian regime. This convention implies the right to misunderstanding and the right to ignorance. The first has two key tasks: 1) isolate the narration from profane interest, and 2) isolate the narration from “theoretical and political mistakes”. Misunderstanding as a latent component of social cognition and fundamental ignorance as limitation of the subject horizon of the theory of the “developed socialism” played a crucial role in metamorphoses of the Marxist thought in Russia. The following conclusions were made: either the philosopher confronts the world as a cognizing subject subordinated only to the interests of cognition, or he subordinates cognition to the interests of the world, primarily social. In the first case, the language must appropriately express what did not exist in mentality, language, and culture prior to it, while in the second case, the language is a means to safely glide over the surface of being, ensuring the faultlessly built theoretical scheme. In this case, philosophy, without explaining the world, gives the recipes for adaptation, survival, apology, and acceptance. The conflict of benefits and principles is resolved by aligning them, so that the theoretician formulates his position as sincerely ministering to the interests (of the party, doctrine, fundamental principles) of power. The author outlines two positions in defending the right to misunderstanding: the first suggest complication of language for preserving the authorial position; the second is the creation of theoretical schemes focused not on the real problems, but own logic. Misunderstanding as one of the strongholds of the thought is bounded up with ignorance. This allowed narrowing down the object horizon of science (theory), excluding the urgent problematic arbitrarily.

Keywords: humanism., theory, socialism, Marxism, ignorance, misunderstanding, utopia, ideology, science, illusion

Abstract: This article analyzes the fundamental principles of the concept of "aesthetic education" of F. Schiller, which remain relevant in solving the crisis challenges of the modern era. The subject of this research is the concept of “aesthetic education” described in Friedrich Schiller's “Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man”. The goal consists on analysis of the concept of “aesthetic education” for more profound understanding of the development paths of German philosophy, as well as in assessment of the philosophical and sociopolitical importance of the philosopher’s ideas in the current context. Detailed analysis is conducted on F. Schiller's “Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man”, highlighting the key features and major contradictions the concept of “aesthetic education”. The novelty of the research lies in the relevant analysis of the concept of “aesthetic education”, and assessment of its value for the development of philosophy and society. The central concept of aesthetic theory becomes the concept of play drive, which balances the sense drive and the form drive, which ensures the ability of perception in all kinds of interaction between a human and the world, and the rational independence from perception. The aesthetic freedom, on the one hand, is determined as state of harmony between the sensual instincts and the laws of reason; while on the other hand, it is the freedom that arises from the sense of exalted belonging to the category of pure spirit and revealing the absolute moral power beyond feelings. According to modern philosophers, the aesthetic way of creating the “composition of the world" lies in the sphere of transcendental. The advantage of Schiller’s concepts is the expansion of its boundaries from the sphere of art to sociopolitical sphere. In addition to intellectual and ethical path of human development, Schiller offers the aesthetic path. The idea of “aesthetic education” implies the communicative and societal power of art, which is capable to comprehend the overall nature of modern politics.

Keywords: art, German philosophy, beauty, the instinct of play, the aesthetic education, Schiller, aesthetic state, aesthetics, culture, freedom

Abstract: This article examines the problems of representation of images of the past in modern historical fiction film and TV series. The relevance of the topic is substantiated by current popularity of this genre of cinematography among audience. The younger generation refers to the historical fiction films as an easy-to-grasp source of information on the historical facts, events, processes and personalities. However, such trend carries a threat of disorientation of mass audience regarding the historical past. The article analyzes the concept of “image”, “artistic image”, “image of the past” and their specific features in the context of the subject of research. Attention is turned to complexity of interrelation of the concept of “historical film” and the introduced into mass media terminology stable lexical construct “pseudohistorical film”. The combination of two approaches became the foundation for this research: culturological approach allowed viewing the degree of representation of images of the mast in historical fiction cinematography; while multifaceted nature of the subject of research and versatility of theoretical and empirical materials suggest referring to interdisciplinary approach. Based on the analysis of modern historical fiction feature films and TV series, the author highlights the criteria that allows assessing the adequacy of image of the past and historical reality depicted on the screen. Such criteria include: veracity of reconstruction of material culture of a specific historical period; events and occurrences, social and historical processes of the reproduced historical time; accuracy of interpretation of mentality of a particular cultural-historical period; original view of the film creators upon history; original understanding and interpretation of historical processes, events and phenomena, etc. Within the framework of this article, emphasis is made on the first two criteria.

Keywords: television series, pseudo-historical film, historical film, fiction film, representation, image of the past, art image, image, interpretation, historical reality

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: The article is devoted to the philosophical analysis of the archetypes of Russian culture. The author focuses on the archetypes of Hero and anti-Hero in their various guises. The texts of folk fairy tales is used as the primary source for analysis of the archetypes. The archetype of the Hero is regarded by the author out of the gender bind, as a symbol of spiritual growth and self-realization in a particular ethno-cultural tradition. Special attention is paid to the archetype of the Shadow, symbolically embodied in the images of fabulous anti-Heroes, as an essential element of integrity of national identity. The article is based on the methodology of analytical psychology, semantic and genetic analysis of myths and fairy tales of folk culture and methodological principles of philosophical comparative studies.Based on the study of the archetype of the Hero in the Russian tradition the author comes to the conclusion about the influence of archetypal stories of national culture on the processes of self-realization and spiritual development. The article shows considerable heuristic potential of the analysis of the plots of folk fairy tales to identify the archetypes of the national culture.

Keywords: symbol, spiritual development, fairy tale, myth, Carl Jung, culture, archetype, hero, Aurobindo Ghosh, philosophical comparative studies

Abstract: The problem of employment is one of the most fundamental in the development and functioning of human society. Therefore, the concept of "work" as a specific kind of human activity is rightfully occupies a central place in the most philosophical, sociological and economic theories. This article discusses the problem of correlation between the concepts of "work" and "employment" and their place in human activities. For many centuries, the concept of "work" and invest in its value has changed significantly, it transformed itself with human labor. In this work, the author, using a variety of sources, makes an attempt to define the conceptual and terminological apparatus. Through comparison of general scientific methods, the author divides the concept of "work" and "employment". Based on the analysis of classical and non-classical labor theory is the assumption that the transformation of society in the labor employment society. While the society of the past could be described as the labor society, at the more recent stage it became an employment society. In addition, the author suggests perceiving the work acitivy  from three different perspectives: socio-philosophical, sociological, and economic.

Keywords: transformation of society, social-labor structure, employment society, labour society, employment, labour relations, work, social processes, social dynamics, social institutions

Abstract: The subject of this research is the key positions of Plato’s philosophy of creativity in its relation to science. The author examines the basis categories of this theory alongside the definition of creativity, as well as analyzes the structure of creation of cosmos, structure of origination of innovations, and establishment of innovation in academic discussions. The interrelation of the modern academic programs in natural science with Plato’s philosophy of creativity is determined. The article conducts a comparative analysis of the paradigm of global evolutionism and creativity, as well as reveals the information communication mechanism of origination of innovations in science leaning on the conceptual analysis of Plato’s theory. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that the aforementioned theory of Plato contains and reconstructs the main principles of creativity, which play an important role in formation and development of research programs of the modern science. It is demonstrated that the origination and evolution of all objects takes place due to the existence of specific information programs that express the fundamental creativity of the nature. It is stated that Plato’s philosophy of creativity remains relevant, because it allows modelling and correcting the modern forms of collective discussions, considering constant expansion of their scale based on the new technical opportunities of the means of communication.

Keywords: information, being, discussion, analysis, programs, paradigm, creativity, method, evolution, science

Abstract: The subject of this research is the ethical philosophy of John Dewey as a foundation of his liberal sociopolitical philosophy. The American thinker considered morality not a combination of the set norm, but rather a flexible, changeable instrument for creating the value judgments that are capable of making the society better. In Dewey’s opinion, the value judgments are pragmatic and exceptionally practical, and his metaethics is based on the precise demarcation of values and beliefs. Special attention is given to examination of the structure, essence, and functions of the value judgments and beliefs, as well as the role of ethical philosophy within the system of liberal sociopolitical philosophy of the American thinker. The authors also analyze the ethical epistemology of Dewey, which carries pragmatic and contextual character. The following conclusions were made during the course of this work: Dewey believed that the main issue of ethics in the contemporary to him world is associated with the way of structuring the society, rather than the personal decisions; and thus, his ethical philosophy is not an independent system, but a foundation of sociopolitical philosophy. His instrumentalist and exceptionally pragmatic ethical philosophy is focused on structuring of the social institutions, which affect the ability of people to render the reasonable moral judgments. The latter, according to Dewey, is in need for constant restructuring, and therefore, necessitates the development of “experimental intelligence”. Hence, Dewey’s ethical philosophy manifests as a foundation of his liberal sociopolitical philosophy, and is necessary for comprehending the fundamental bases of the English-American liberal socio-philosophical discourse of the XX century.

Keywords: political philosophy, social philosophy, instrumentalism, Dewey, pragmatism, liberalism, ethics, judgment, value, contextualism

Abstract:   The object of this article is the phenomenon of fashion, while the subject is fashion as a social phenomenon. Fashion is presented in various aspects – as a social institution; as a factor of prestige, social differentiation and identification; as an instruments of alleviation of social inequalities; as a phenomenon that forms the image and worldview orientations. The author examines the contradictory nature of fashion, impact of the specificity of social processes and social structure upon the evolution of fashion trends, as well as traces the inclusivity, variability, and consistence of fashion, its place and role in the consumer society. The methodological basis of the article consists in ontological and gnoseological principles of dialectics, which allowed revealing the complicated nature of fashion. The scientific novelty lies in the analysis of fashion as a social phenomenon in the context of requirements of the consumer society, which “makes” fashion an extremely relevant phenomenon. The author specifies the vision of fashion as a factor of social differentiation, an instrument that mitigates the risks of social polarization. The role of fashion in formation of illusions of social equality is being examined.  

Keywords: social layer, symbolic consumption, social group, identification, differentiation, prestige, individual fashion, fashion, image, unification

Abstract: The subject of this research is the key positions of Aristotle’s metaphysics. The work reconstructs the important rational creative approaches of Aristotle’s teaching from the perspective of their influence upon the modern philosophy and science. The author highlights the methodological, ontological, and epistemological creative approaches, which played a big role in development of the philosophy and science. The importance of entelechian causality and its interpretation in science is particularly underlined. Out of the four known causes (beginnings) of existence, entelechy is perceived as the inner strength (energy), which contains a goal and dispositionally suggests the result. The work applies the method of historical reconstruction of the conceptual and meaningful core of Aristotle’s theory, as well as the method of hermeneutic interpretation of its main positions in light of the modern science. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that in Aristotle’s teaching the author determines and reconstructs the new influential creative approaches to rationality – the structural stages of establishing the analytical discourse, systemic causational substantiation of the universe and purposeful programs of its development. It is demonstrated that in modern science the information approach that is directly associated with the interpretation of Aristotle’s purposeful causality gains ever increasing value.

Keywords: science, method, causes, hermeneutics, programs, analysis, creative approaches, metaphysics, rationality, entelechy

Abstract: The subject of this research is the created by Thomas More method of “indirect approach” (ductus obliquus) reasoning in his work “Utopia”, which applies irony and fantasy. This method is characteristic to the eccentric intertwinement of fiction and fact that subsequently became the foundation for the utopian genre and form of creativity. The article follows the correlation between these elements in accordance with the three main positions: real and fictional characters, toposes and events in the first book of “Utopia”; authenticity and fiction in the documental sources and materials on the New World; accent on the idea and fact in creation of the image of the ideal state in second part of the book. The author introduces into the scientific circulation the new sources based on the original translations, as well as claims that the fictional component of “Utopia” was substantiated by the attributable to the era of Renaissance and Great Geographical Discoveries “captivation by America” (J. Borges). But “Utopia” does not mirror the New World realities: More is far from “idealization of the savage”, which is characteristic for a later period. The article expresses a suggestion that More perceived America as a fragment of the historical past of humanity, and believed that further progress of people of the continents depends on their familiarization with the world cultural values.

Keywords: Amerigo Vespucci, Christopher Columbus, The Discovery Of America, fiction and fact, imagination, New World, Thomas More, Utopia, social ideal, method

Abstract: Is there progress in the history of philosophical thought? Have the previous philosophical ideas and systems within the coordinates of the current state of philosophy been overcome, or we should talk only about the multiple variations of one and the same, on the grand scale, content? The subject of this research is the Hellenistic philosophy in its correlation with the modern epistemological constructs. The object is the philosophical ideas of the Epicurean school considered as a remote predecessor of positivism of the brink of the modern era and contemporary history.  Special attention is given to the comparative and cross-cultural analysis of reflection of the theoretical knowledge on Epicureanism and positivism. The main conclusion consists in the complex of statements, according to which the philosophical constructs that most certainly historically belong to modern era and contemporary history, have been created and expressed approximately two thousand years earlier. The antique Epicureanism not just supersedes the positivistic tradition in the history of philosophy, the beginning of which is traditionally attributed to the origin of the modern era, but it also fairly thoroughly covers it, not yielding in its philosophical content to the “genuine” positivism.

Keywords: Truth, Theoretical level of cognition, Empirical level of cognition, Minimalism, Epicureans, Scientific thinking, Positivism, Philosophy of science, Hellenistic civilization, Antique skepticism

Abstract: This article represents a research of anthropological content of the “living metaphor” associated with hermeneutics of the “world of texts” in the theory of a prominent French scholar and philosopher Paul Ricœur. The subject of the research is the intelligible nature of the “living metaphor” delivered by the narrative intrigue, the anthropological vector of which is interpreted in the timely correspondence. Thus the article makes an attempt to introduce the anthropological importance of the “living metaphor” through the number of symbolic episodes in the texts of Paul Ricœur, in which the problematics of the world and the essences are suggested as an interpreting subject. The methodology of the research consists in the modern perspective and philosophical interpretation of the additional conceptual meanings of the text with regards to the anthropological understanding of the “living metaphor” phenomenon within the Paul Ricœur’s heritage. The author comes to the conclusion about the anthropological priorities in the “living metaphor” study in the aspect, where the metaphoric discourse is a referential moment between the initial understanding of the world of action which complies with the acquired by civilization human experience, and refiguration of the daily reality by the virtue of fluent language activity in a form of intrigue.

Keywords: distancing, symbolism of evil, infinity, split of light, narrative identity, historicity, intentionality, temporal resistance, metaphoric reference, idea of plot

Abstract: The object of this article is the problem of correlation between universal and individual on the example of dystopian novels emerged within the framework of cultural modernity. Special attention is given to the interpretation of the stated topic through the problem of controversy of the social progress, which is evident in almost all dystopias. The author thoroughly examines such aspects of the topic as rejection of identity and freedom, individuality and independence, in subordination to the sacral “Universal”. The main conclusions of the conducted research consist in the ideas that social happiness and welfare society within the reality of dystopia is achieved via deindividuation of identity, and devaluing it to atom, just a “bolt” in the mass social organism. The author demonstrates that the absence of social harmony, its tilt towards “universal” to the detriment of individual, originates in dystopias antagonism as a “revolt of an individual” leading to destruction in its various forms.  

Keywords: Individualization, Anthropological catastrophe, Depersonification, Freedom, Dystopia, Individuality, Universality, Unification, Totality, Social harmony

Abstract: Philosophy of history usually considers differences between epicurean, stoic and skeptical directions in Hellenistic philosophy whereas ancient skepticism localized in Pyrrho;s teaching and his followers’ doctrine is often viewed as a certain kind of relativism and agnosticism. The author makes an original attempt to pay attention to their common features that, probably without being critical for their epoch, become essential in historical perspective and allow us to view an interesting dialogue of epochs partitioned by about two millenniums. Taking into account that ancient world is the origin of Neo-European mankind, contemporary society, being is built on post-modernistic truth demonopolization, is rooted in Hellenistic epoch, the undoubted philosophic merit of which was the review of the relationship between thought and reality, nature and criteria of true knowledge. Hellenistic philosophy, being characterized first of all by “internal emigration”, out-of-the-way, even not anthropological, but “existential” turn of philosophical thought, individualistic and eudemonistic directions, in many ways anticipated modern epistemological, ethical and socio-philosophical ideas. Meanwhile its representatives viewed in broad historical context will turn out to be not “marginal” thinkers of their epoch but true prophets of the world’s philosophical thought.

Keywords: post-modernism, Hellenistic epoch, phyrrhonism, skepticism, stoicism, epicureanism, epistemology, philosophy of science, contemporary society, identity

Abstract: The subject under research is the phenomenon of the Beginning as part of the development of cultural self-organization. According to the author, at the turn of the century life and in the age of the mega shift, life draws a cordon around the cultural development directing the development of science and personal spiritual searches towards the Beginning and rediscovery of the initial meanings of contemporary phenomena and processes. In her article Balakina offers her own concept of essence of the phenomenon of the Beginning and its role in culture based on the comparison of scientific ideas of various spheres of knowledge and the main theses of the contemporary nonlinear probabilistic picture of the world. The Beginning is presented as the fundamental category which condensed in itself the sense and dynamics of Existential development. The author finds semantic resonances of ideas on the phenomenon of the Beginning in the sacral and secular culture field: from mythological and religious models, the most ancient scientific ideas of the world to modern discoveries in psychoanalysis, synergetics and cultural studies. Revolutionary theories of modern science have allowed to reveal new aspects of the phenomenon of the Beginning, its paradoxical complementarity as it is the purpose and the source at the same time. Through the concept of the "structure-attractor" and on the basis of I. Prigozhin's and E. Knyazeva's findings and Yu. Lotman's semotics theory, the author proves a unique conceptual provision on the key role of the Beginning (initial idea) for comprehension of the logic of self-development of culture and all elements constituting it (which include art, human and all possible forms of human manifestation in the world) within the borders of the nonlinear probabilistic picture of the world. It is the Beginning that stores all the opportunities for development of any cultural phenomenon as well as its extreme potentials. 

Keywords: meaning, culture, phenomenon of the Beginning, origins, paradoxical complementarity, essence, archetype, nonlinearity, attractor, self-organization

Abstract: In her article Sokolskaya studies the role of acculturation as a form of cross-cultural contact in the historical process. Historical process is defined as a progressive process of the development of culture from the lowest to the highest forms. Historical reality confined in particular spatial and time limits is being studied by the researcher as a complex structural integrity determined by the interaction of the variety of cultural phenomena and processes. Providing that the process of the development and functioning of culture of any community is the interaction of cultural achievements with cultural elements of other nations than acculturation is the trigger of cultural sustainability and self-development. In her research Sokolskaya has applied general and specific scientific methods such as analysis and synthesis, comparative, structure-functional, historical, systems and synergetic methods. According to the researcher, the cross-cultural communication of different societies and communities is in fact unlimited. It can unfold as a neverending development and creation of new meanings in the mind of everyone who gets in contact with a representative of this or that cultural community. Based on the results of the research, the author of the article concludes that acculturation is a durable cross-cultural interaction of different societies when cultural systems take each other's features, become somewhat 'alike' and create a new integrity with absolutely new features. 

Keywords: culture-historical process, cross-cultural contacts, acculturation, cultural interaction, assimilation, separation, marginalization, integration, culture, culture of a community

Abstract: The article is devoted to the life and creative work of a Persian Ismaili philosopher Nasir Khusraw (1004 - 1088). Nasir Khusraw was the author of the selection of poems excessing thousands of lines and the book about travels 'Safarnama'. Nasir Khusraw made a great contribution to the development of Persian literature and influenced the development of the poetic language. The author of the present article analyzes Nasir Khusraw's creative work and shows that the original nature of the poet's poetic heritage was determined by the missionary tasks the poet and the follower of Ismailism faced. Special attention is paid to the philosophical writings of the Persian philosopher that gave the insight into the philosopher's ideology and views on Ismaili teachings. The present article is based on the analysis of scientific researches of Nasir Khusraw's poetry, philosophical views and works on the history of Ismailism. The author of the article also makes an attempt to summarize available data about Nasir Khusraw as well as to show the mutual dependence of his life and creative work. Nasir Khusraw's life path defined the direction and special features of his creativity. Propagation tasks determined not only the themes but also the images of his poems as well as the fact that the philosopher chose to write his philosophical works in Persian. Researchers mostly focus on Nasir Khusraw's poetry while there have been no researches of his philosophical works in the Russian academic literature over the past decades. In the present article the author tries to analyze and evaluate Nasir Khusraw's heritage and to define possible directions for further researches of his creative work. 

Keywords: Nasir Khusraw, Ismailism, Arabic philosophy, Safarnama, didactic religious poem, didactic predicatory qasida, Universal Mind, Universal Spirit, the hidden and the obvious, Ismaili propagation

Abstract: The article is devoted to the main city planning concepts since the Renaissance till the 20th century (on the example of works of such architects and public officials as Andrea Palladio, Leon Battista Alberti, Vincenzo Scamozzi, Domenico Fontana, Carlo Maderna, Claude Nicolas Ledoux, François Mansard, Baron Haussmann, etc.) which had an impact on the formation of modern cities of Western Europe such as Rome, Paris and London. In order to understand the preconditions of formation of modern cities of Western Europe it is necessary to address to the history of the urban development theory and to highlight the most important and significant phenomena of theoretical thinking, not only in the chronological way, but also according to the logic of development of urban planning ideas, many of which have emerged at the dawn of the formation of urban civilization and confirmed the ability for many centuries to come again and again, each time regenerating at a new higher level. The importance of urban studies is defined as the fundamental theoretical issues of academic science and tasks set by the scientific-applied analysis of modern social and cultural processes and practices. Under the conditions of contemporary culture distinguished by the diversity, it is growing especially important to find the ways and principles of building of the cultural space at all numerous levels. A contemporary city planner again faces the problem of creation of comfortable living conditions for citizens and preservation of their historical heritage.

Keywords: city planning concepts, philosophy of architecture, Andrea Palladio, Leon Battista Alberti, Vincenzo Scamozzi, Domenico Fontana, Carlo Maderna, Claude Nicolas Ledoux, François Mansard, Baron Haussmann.

Abstract: The present article is an introduction to Cholanyuk’s final thesis ‘Anthropological Meaning of the ‘Living Metaphor’ in Paul Ricoeur’s heritage’. The subject under research is the ‘living’ basis of a metaphor which anthropological meaning is being interpreted in terms of Paul Ricouer’s hermeneutics. Special attention is also paid to the provision of a general insight into the history of creation of the ‘living metaphor’ for which cause the polysemanticity of the anthropological knowledge has been substantiated and evaluated in the similarly named author’s work. Therefore, the researcher makes an attempt to describe the anthropological meaning of the living metaphor ‘in action’ by using a famous strategy of a discourse during which both communicative and transferring functions are perceived by a person who does the interpreting. Methodological and theoretical grounds of the research consist of the provisions of philosophical hermeneutics. Thus, the main research method is the hermeneutic method that involves a modern anthropological and philosophical interpretation of additional meanings of a text with reference to the ‘living metaphor’ described by Paul Ricoeur. The scientific novelty of the research and the main theoretical concept thereto are based on the following provisions: 1) the present research article is the first one in Russian philosophy to trace back the development of a diversified anthropological definition of the phenomenon of the ‘living metaphor’ in Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics; 2) the researcher establishes to which degree the phenomenological concept of the metaphor interpretation relates to the traditional anthropological tradition and constitutes an original approach to understanding the human nature during the second half of the 20th century; 3) the researcher analyzes the theoretical basis of the philosophical and scientific popular literature that can be related to the ‘living metaphor’ from the point of view of modern anthropology; 4) the researcher also makes his own attempt to study the metaphor taking into account the anthropological meaning of the ‘living metaphor’; 5) the researcher provides philosophical grounds for the poetics of the metaphor and describes the role of the metaphor in human communication and mutual understanding. At the end of the article the researcher comes to the conclusion about the dialectic singularity of a metaphoric discourse that is performed by our imagination even if we realize that a reader or a listener may have quite different interpretations of what they read or hear. Paul Ricoeur expressively relates an interpretation of a metaphor to a ‘living basis’ of such a metaphor, thus giving to a reader or a listener an opportunity to ‘think more’ based on a metaphoric plot as a previous and future imitation of human activity. Critical anthropological evaluation of the living metaphor model assumes that its living nature isn’t the only condition for the heuristic hermeneutics of the metaphoric discourse. Being a mean of expression and distribution of an idea in general anthropological terms, the living metaphor contains the reference of its author just like any other metaphor in a typical metaphoric communication.

Keywords: metaphoric communication, living metaphor, polysemanticity (multiple meaning) of understanding, mimesis, mythos, transferences, references, vision as, imagination, death of an author.

Abstract: Throughout centuries anthropological issues of European philosophy has been having a rather invariant nature. By comparing anthropological views of Chrysippus as a famous author of Early Stoa and Posidonius as a leading philosopher of Middle Stoa (as stated by one of the major ancient surgeon and philosopher), the author demonstrates that their opinions on human nature and mental organization of human are still important and popular today. However, the author of the article underlines the specific features of the mental schemes, range of problems and intellectual environment of those times as well as takes into account the incommensurability of the ‘amount’ of philosophical experience in those times and today. Thisallowstobetterunderstandthecontinuitybetweenancient philosophy and modern philosophy as well as the connection between anthropological, psychological and ethic issues. The author makes an assumption that both Chrysippus and Posidonius wanted to create the harmony between an ‘integral’ individual (as they thought) and the universe and to give that individual the kind of skills and capabilities that would help him to overcome life troubles. The major part of sources provided by the author to illustrate the peculiarities of anthropological reflection in the ancient times is brought to the notice of the Russian audience for the first time.

Keywords: historical and philosophical comparative studies, anthropology, psychology, ethics, ancient philosophy, Early Stoa, Middle Stoa, Chrysippus, Posidonius, Galen.

Abstract: The author of the article views and analyzes the main approaches to the definition of the term ‘value’. The author describes the structure, hierarchy and methods of classification of values as well as problems and methods of their diagnostics in the historical retrospective. The system of values is a rather flexible structure in constant development and transformations of this structure is closely connected with the processes happening in the society. Methods for diagnostics of explorable values and elements of the value structure are chosen based on the nature of the above mentioned transformations. A particular representation of individual’s value orientations can be created with the help of a test or a method of deliberate influence and registration of results of such influence. Diagnostics of a supraindividual element include analysis of an individual element, selection of a particular research period and diagnostics of group values. In conclusion the author states that life values are the common element in all diagnostic methods that have been viewed and reflect peculiarities of value researches in the historical retrospective.

Keywords: history, culture, philosophy, life values, diagnostics of values, methods used for diagnostics of values, value structure, stages of social development, succession of values, historical retrospective.

Abstract: The present research is devoted to the topical issue in modern socio-humanistic studies. This issue has a cross-disciplinary nature and is a logical follow-up and development of the fundamental scientific ideas presented by Russian and foreign philosophers, cryptographers, historians and cultural researchers. The important part of the article is devoted to the role of heraldry and philosophical interpretation of the symbol in Russia during the period of 240-year dependence of Russian land on Mongol Empire. Each national culture is peculiar from other cultures. Semiotics allow to create a special view on social life of Russia during the Mongol-Tatar Yoke and define signs and symbols lying in the basis of Russian material and spiritual life back in those times. Semiotics also show what signs and symbols of the society influence individual consciousness and behavior. An important tool of semiotic analysis is the concept about connection between a symbol and a referent and how this connection influences individual consciousness and behavior.

Keywords: socio-cultural space, symbolism, heraldic symbols, national mentality, symbol, referent, ‘nationality’ of culture, heraldry, coat of arms, sign.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the process of hanging axiological range of the society in Eastern Siberia at the turn of XIX-XX centuries. The author touches upon the issue of the break in succession of values between generations. According to the author, it started to change the cause and role of values in history researches and studies of the main influencing factors and diagnostics of values.

Keywords: philosophy, history, values, changes, diagnostics, succession, Eastern Siberia, XIX — XX centuries, generations.

Abstract: This article provides that neither history, nor social philosophy predefine the laws of development of the society. They are no different from other sciences, which provide for unique non-repeating events and processes. The author thinks that the thought that history is aimed to formulate the laws, which the development of the society is meant to follow is wrong and does not fall within the modern understanding of historical study.