Ontology of the Language of Education: a Philosophical Mosaic and the Dictate of the Time

The article attempts to study the ontology of the language of education through the optics of philosophical and cultural research. The relevance of the topic is primarily concerned with the desire to comprehend the consistent universalization of some ideas and concepts in modern pedagogical practices as eternal and unchanging — against the backdrop of rapidly changing means and methods of cognition and communication in modern society. The purpose of the study is to offer a reasoned reconstruction of the ontology of the modern language of education for resolving this contradiction. The objectives of the study involve 1) to use examples of science, philosophy and fiction to describe the main approaches of new European culture to the language of education; 2) to identify the key challenges of our time that determine the need to turn to the construction of the ontology of the language of education; 3) to highlight the axiological component of the language of education; 4) to investigate its aesthetic and moral aspects. The main research method is categorical analysis. The research materials of the study are philosophical and literary works touching upon the topic of the language of education and allowing the tracing of possible models of the corresponding ontologies, to describe the conditions of their identification, as well as the possibilities and limitations of their application in pedagogical practice. As a result of the undertaken research, the ontology of the modern language of education was reconstructed. It paradoxically combines the idea of eternal values and the dynamic approach to the ontology of culture. It is shown that approaches to the language of education were formed as a result of understanding the connection between symbolism expressed in language and the ideas of constructivism, defining culture as a way of meaning-making. It was established that the key challenges of our time, which required turning to the construction of the ontology of the language of education, include the problems of communication in modern society associated with changes in socio-cultural reality. Among them are multiculturalism, inclusivity and the pursuit of stability in an unstable world, with a focus on the concept of "eternal values”. Thus, the axiological component of the language of education appears as the main (and eternal) question, to which a historically specific cultural answer is sought (and found), which has a moral and aesthetic dimension. This question represents the ontology of the language of education, adapting the mechanism of transmission of cultural heritage, and response of horizontal communication to the dictate of the time.

1. Afanasyeva, V. V. and Anisimov, N. S. (2015) ‘Postnonclassical ontology’, Voprosy Filosofii, (8), pp. 28–41. (In Russian).

2. Amonashvili, Sh. (2019) Pedagogicheskaya simfoniya [Pedagogical Symphony]. Moscow: Amrita-Rus` Publ. .

3. Badiou, A. and Tarby, F. (2010) La Philosophie et l’Événement, entretiens avec Fabien Tarby. Paris: Germina. (Russ. ed.: (2013) Filosofiya i sobytiye. Besedy s kratkim vnedreniyem v filosofiyu Alena Bad’yu. Moscow: ION Publ.).

4. Berwick, R. C. and Chomsky, N. (2017) Why Only Us: Language and Evolution. Cambridge: The MIT Press. (Russ. ed.: (2019) Chelovek govoryashhij. E`volyuciya i yazy`k. Saint Petersburg: Piter Publ.).

5. Bickerton, D. (2009) Adam’s Tongue: How Humans Made Language, How Language Made Humans. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (Russ. ed.: (2012) YAzyk Adama: kak lyudi sozdali yazyk, kak yazyk sozdal lyudey. Moscow: YAzyki slavyanskikh kul’tur Publ.).

6. Chomsky, N. (1999) The essential Chomsky: Essays on Freedom and Democracy. London: Pluto Press. (Russ. ed.: (2016) Izbrannoe. Moscow: E`nciklopediya-ru Publ.).

7. Christian, D., Stokes Brown, C. and Benjamin, C. (2014) Big History: Between Nothing and Everything. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. (Russ. ed.: (2019) Bol’shaya istoriya: s chego vse nachinalos’ i chto budet dal’she. Moscow: Colibry Publ.).

8. Dennett, D. C. (2017) From bacteria to bach and back: The Evolution of Minds. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. (Russ. ed.: (2021) Razum: ot nachala do koncza. Moscow: Exmo Publ.).

9. Dolto, F. (1977) Lorsque l’enfant paraît. Paris: Le Seuil. (Russ. ed.: (2015) Zapovedny`j mir detstva. Ekaterinburg: Rama Publ.).

10. Dolto, F. (1995) Tout esr langage. Paris: Gallimard. (Russ. ed.: (2024) Vse eto yazyk. Saint Petersburg: Piter Publ.).

11. Everett, D. L. (2017) How language began. New York: W. W. Norton. (Russ. ed.: (2019) Kak nachinalsya yazy`k: Istoriya velichajshego izobreteniya. Moscow: Al`pina non-fikshn Publ.).

12. Fitch, W. T. (2011) The Evolution of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Russ. ed.: (2013) E`volyuciya yazy`ka. Moscow: YAzyki slavyanskikh kul’tur Publ.).

13. Fodor, J. A. (2008) LOT 2: The Language of Thought Revisited. Oxford: Oxford University PressOxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548774.001.0001

14. Fukuyama, F. (2002) Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (Russ. ed.: (2008) Nashe postchelovecheskoe budushhee: posledstviya biotexnologicheskoj revolyucii. Moscow: AST Publ.).

15. Gadamer, H. G. (1977) Die Aktualität des Schönen: Kunst als Spiel, Symbol u. Fest. Stuttgart: Reclan. (Russ. ed.: (1991) Aktualnost’ prekrasnogo. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ.).

16. Galperin, P. Ya. (1998) Psikhologiia kak ob"ektivnaia nauka [Psychology as an objective science]. Moscow: Institut prakticheskoi psikhologii Publ.; Voronezh: MODEK Publ. (In Russian).

17. Golovko, N. V. (2013) ‘Scientific realism and naturalization of semantics’, Cennosti i smysly, (3), pp. 75–87. (In Russian).

18. Guruleva, T. (2009) ‘Pedagogical paradigm of language education’, Vestnik Čitinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, (5), pp. 58–67. (In Russian).

19. Harari, Yu. N. (2016) Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. London: Vintage. (Russ. ed.: (2020) Homo Deus: kratkaya istoriya budushchego. Moscow: Sindbad Publ.).

20. Heidegger, M. (1927) Sein und Zeit. Halle: Max Niemeyer. (Russ. ed.: (1993) Vremya i bytie: stat’i i vystupleniya. Moscow: Respublika Publ.).

21. Husserl, E. (1976) Die Krisis der europäischen Wissenschaften und die transzendentale Phänomenologie.

22. Dordrecht: Springer. (Russ. ed.: (2013) Krizis yevropeyskoy nauki i transtsendental’naya fenomenologiya: Vvedeniye v fenomenologicheskuyu filosofiyu. Saint Petersburg: Nauka Publ.).

23. Korczak, Ya. (1990) Kak lyubit` rebyonka [How to love a child]. Moscow: Politizdat Publ. (In Russian).

24. Krasikov, V. I. (2020) ‘Ontological schemes’, Lomonosov philosophy journal, (5), pp. 3–19. (In Russian).

25. Kyznecova, A. and Omelchenko, E. (2017) ‘Modern paradigms of education in the context of scientific revolutions theory’, Koncept, (11), pp. 24–33. (In Russian).

26. Lakoff, G. (1987) Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Russ. ed.: (2004) Zhenshchiny, ogon’ i opasnye veshchi. Chto kategorii iazyka govoriat nam o myshlenii. Moscow: YAzyki slavyanskikh kul’tur Publ.).

27. Levinas, E. (1961) Totalité et Infini. Essai sur l’extériorité. La Haye: Martinus Nijhoff. (Russ. ed.: (2000) ‘Total`nost` i beskonechnoe’, in Izbrannoe. Total`nost` i beskonechnoe. Moscow: Kul’tur. intsitativa Publ.; Saint Petersburg: Universitet kn. Publ., pp. 66–291.).

28. Levinas, E. (1995) ‘Ethics of the infinite’, in R. Kearney (ed.) States of mind: dialogues with contemporary thinkers. New York: New York University Press, pp. 177–199. (Russ. ed.: (2002) ‘Etika beskonechnogo ’, in R. Kearney (ed.) Dialogi o Yevrope. Moscow: Ves’ Mir Publ., pp. 191–212.).

29. Likhachev, D. S. (2006) Pis`ma o dobrom i prekrasnom [Letters about the good and the beautiful]. Moscow: Nauka; Saint Petersburg: Logos Publ. (In Russian).

30. Lyotard, J.-F. (1995) ‘What is Just? (On Justesse) ’, in R. Kearney (ed.) States of mind: dialogues with contemporary thinkers. New York: New York University Press, pp. 290–304. (Russ. ed.: (2002) ‘Chto yest’ istina?’, in R. Kearney (ed.) Dialogi o Yevrope. Moscow: Ves’ Mir Publ., pp. 296–310.).

31. Makarenko, A. S. (2023) Kniga dlya roditelej [Book for parents]. Moscow: Konceptual. Publ. (In Russian).

32. Marcel, G. (1968) Pour une sagesse tragique et son au-delà. Paris: Plon. (Russ. ed.: (1995) Tragicheskaya mudrost` filosofii. Moscow: Izdatel`stvo gumanitarnoj literatury Publ.).

33. Muravyova, O. S. (2021) Kak vospity`vali russkogo dvoryanina: Opy`t znamenity`x semej Rossii – sovremenny`m roditelyam [How a Russian Nobleman Was Raised: Experiences of Famous Russian Families for Modern Parents]. Moscow: Exmo Publ. (In Russian).

34. Musika, O. A. and Kholina, O. A. (2020) ‘Сoncept of inclusion in the context of the philosophyof instrumentalism’, Sociologiâ, (3), pp. 348–352. (In Russian).

35. Neill, A. (1960) Summerhill: a radical approach to child rearing. New York: Hart Publishing Company. (Russ. ed.: (2019) Vospitaniye svobodoy. Shkola Sammerkhill. Moscow: AST Publ.).

36. Neufeld, G. and Mate, G. (2005) Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. New York: Ballantine Books. (Russ. ed.: (2018) Ne upuskajte svoix detej. Moscow: Resurs Publ.).

37. Piaget, J. (1923) Le Langage et la pensée chez l’enfant. Paris: Delachaux et Niestlé. (Russ. ed.: (1994) Rech’ i myshleniye rebonka. Moscow: Pedagogika-Press.).

38. Pinker, S. (1994) The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. New York: Morrow. (Russ. ed.: (2016) Iazyk kak instinct. Moscow: URSS Publ.).

39. Quine, W. van O. (1990) Pursuit of truth. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. (Russ. ed.: (2014) Presleduya istinu. Moscow: Kanon+ Publ.).

40. Ricoeur, P. (1995) ‘The creativity of language’, in R. Kearney (ed.) States of mind: dialogues with contemporary thinkers. New York: New York University Press, pp. 216–245. (Russ. ed.: (2002) ‘Tvorcheskie vozmozhnosti yazy`ka ’, in R. Kearney (ed.) Dialogi o Yevrope. Moscow: Ves’ Mir Publ., pp. 228–255.).

41. Rzheutsky, V. S. (2018) Ideal vospitaniya dvoryanstva v Evrope. XVII-XIX veka [The ideal of education of the nobility in Europe. XVII–XIX centuries]. Moscow: NLO Publ. (In Russian).

42. Smirnov, A. V. (2014) ‘Mind as a sense generating vehicle’, Philosophy journal, (1), pp. 35–57. (In Russian).

43. Smirnov, A. V. (2017) ‘The collective cognitive unconscious and its role in logic, language, and culture’, Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences, (10), pp. 867–878. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.7868/ S0869587317100012

44. Stepin, V. S. (2015) ‘Historical types of scientifi c rationality: issues of demarcation and succession’, Filosofiya, metodologiya i istoriya nauki, (1), pp. 6–27(In Russian). https://doi.org/10.17720/2413-3809.2015. t1.1.s01

45. Sudakova, N. E. (2018) ‘Inclusion as the value core of the philosophy of humanism’, Observatory of

46. Culture, 15(1), pp. 21–31. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.25281/2072-3156-2018-15-1-21-31

47. Sukhomlinsky, V. A. (2019) Serdce otdayu detyam [I give my heart to children]. Ьщысщц: Konceptual Publ. (In Russian).

48. Sulima, I. I. (2019) ‘The ontological status of language in education’, Vestnik of Minin University, 7(4), p. 16. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.26795/2307-1281-2019-7-4-16

49. Testov, V. A. (2013) ‘O ponyatii pedagogicheskoy paradigmy [On the concept of a pedagogical paradigm]’, Innovative projects and programs in education, (5), pp. 16–20. (In Russian).

50. Tomasello, M. (2008) Origins of human communication. Cambridge; London: MIT press. (Russ. ed.: (2011) Istoki chelovecheskogo obshcheniia. Moscow: YAzyki slavyanskikh kul’tur Publ.).

51. Vygotsky, L. S. (2000) Psixologiya [Psychology]. Moscow: Exmo Press. (In Russian).