The article discusses postmodernist approaches to the problem of nuclear weapons, taking as an example Jacques Derrida’s paper No Apocalypse, Not Now. Proceeding from the widespread conception of postmodernism as relativism, the author hypothesizes that postmodernist philosophers would either try to demonstrate the non-absolute nature of the nuclear threat or suggest relativist ways of countering it. If we agree with Boris Groys’ interpretation of Derrida’s work, then it perfectly conforms to such expectations. However, a careful reading of the paper in question proves both our hypothesis and Groys’ interpretation to be wrong. Although No Apocalypse, Not Now does contain a number of relativist theses (for instance, Derrida portrays nuclear war as a textual phenomenon, a non-event, the absent referent that finally blurs all the distinction between knowledge and opinion, doxa and episteme), they play a minor role in the overall argument. Firstly, Derrida acknowledges the absolute nature of nuclear weapons: for him, they threaten the destruction of the entire archive and all symbolic capacity, that is, of culture as a social mechanism for coping with death, if not the destruction of the whole humanity as a biological species. Secondly, the philosopher criticizes the strategy of deterrence for relying on the logic of escalation and being prone to chance and accident. Thirdly, Derrida emphasizes that a nuclear war, which would destroy all the values and ideals that might legitimate starting it, would in fact be fought (should it happen) in the name of the name, and of nothing else, thus of nothing. To counter such urges, at the same time fundamentalist and nihilistic, the philosopher invites us to fall in love with life. In the later works of Derrida this invitation develops into a principle of responsibility for the life of the other, one of the central tenets of his ethical and political thought. However, since Derrida chooses to focus on individual instead of collective survival, questions remain as to whether his philosophy is able to meet the challenges of the nuclear age.

The article describes the formation of bioethics — a complex scientific discipline — in our country. The emergence of bioethics in the world dates back to the 1970s of the 20th century, in the Soviet Union it began to take shape during the period of perestroika as part of the activities of Academician Ivan Timofeevich Frolov (1929–1999). Bioethics deals with ethical issues that arise during the introduction of the latest biomedical technologies into practice, the solution of which can have various medical, cultural, legal, and financial consequences. The latest biomedical technologies open up new possibilities for a person (heredity management, genetic passport, etc.) and put a person in a situation of choice. Their future depends on what choice people will make, and this choice is determined by the state of the culture of society. In the field of bioethics, regulation is crucial and should be comprehensive and multi-stage. Philosophers, culturologists, and ethicists formulate general principles of regulation based on the ideology of humanism. Further on, scientists consider these recommendations and develop appropriate codes of conduct, while lawyers consolidate the new understanding within the legal system. The formation of such an integrated approach in Russia took place within the framework of scientific structures created by Academician I. T. Frolov, — the AllUnion Interdepartmental Center for Human Sciences, the Institute of Man of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian National Committee on Bioethics (RNKB), the Russian Committee on Bioethics under the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO. In these structures, expert work was carried out on the main documents related to the interaction of the Russian Federation with the Council of Europe in the field of bioethics. RNKB prepared expert opinions for the Department of European Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Department for International Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation regarding Russia's accession to international conventions on bioethics. 

Over the past decades orientalism as an approach adopted in Western studies of nonWestern cultures has been subject to major philosophical analysis. The critical impulse that was transmitted by Edward Said to the scientific community in 1978 was powerful enough to create a universal framework. This conceptual framework makes possible both a revisionist point of view toward the West and a Western offensive discourse toward the so-called internal colonization. When we decompose Orientalism into components, for example through hermeneutic analysis, this phenomenon turns out to be one of the justifiably commonplace problems of the representation of nonWestern cultures in Western academic studies. Orientalists and researchers of non-Western cultures are criticized for mechanistic constructivism applied to the Other, but at the same time, conservative ideologists (René Guénon, Oswald Spengler, etc.) tend to draw attention to the fundamental crisis of Western science, its epistemological dysfunction and unnecessitated plurality that does not bring us closer to understanding the essence. However, both approaches unfairly overlook the factor of already exerted constructive influence on non-Western cultures. Orientalism can be seen not only as a form of exploitation, but also as a form of providing a language of self-interpretation, which have had a visible effect on non-Western cultures' understanding of themselves. This article examines the evolution of perceptions of the possibility and necessity of representations of non-Western cultures, as interpreted by the authors who are commonly classified as equally leftand right-wing ones.

Until 2006, Nepal was the only Hindu state in the world. During the abolition of the monarchy, the country was proclaimed secular, but this step was opposed by certain segments of the country's population. The article analyses the relationship between Hinduism and state in Nepal, examines the arguments of supporters and opponents of the proclamation of a secular state. The author comes to the conclusion that for centuries Nepalese kings had used Hinduism for the legitimization of their rule and the creation of national identity. As a result, the process of eliminating the institution of the monarchy necessitated the proclamation of a secular state. At the same time, the discussion about the status of Hinduism itself began long before 2006 and was caused by dissatisfaction with the state religious policy on the part of the representatives of lower castes and non-Hindus. Now, however, the opponents of Nepal's status as a secular state begin to set the tone in the discussion. They are trying to understand the consequences of this step. On the one hand, the functions of the king, including religious ones, were taken over by the president of the country, interpretation of a secular state in the Constitution is rather favorable for Hindus. On the other hand, the popularity of other religions, especially Christianity, increases in Nepal. There is still an ongoing debate, and lack of closure in the discussion on the subject is also evidenced by the fact that not only individual activists, but also representatives of the largest political forces of the country bring up the topic of Hinduism in Nepal in their speeches.

The published document is a report on the New York Deanery of the Aleutian and Alaskan Diocese in 1898 submitted by the Dean John Nedzelnitsky to Bishop Tikhon (Bellavin). It is deposited in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division as a part of Alaskan Russian Church Archives (Cont. D 452–453, New York, N.Y. Nedzelnitskii, John, 1896–1899). Father Nedzelnitsky (1866–1946) is not widely known thus the paper provides his short biography. The Dean John Nedzelinsky was a dedicated Russian Orthodox missionary whose observations are a valuable source for the study of history of Russian Church in America. The document provides a vivid picture of the Russian Church activities in continental United States during the period of its rapid development due to influx of many new converts from Austria-Hungarian empire. The report has a traditional structure and follows the instructions issued by Bishop Tikhon. It touches upon all major aspects of managing the Diocese and runs about its activities and troubles in a frank and realistic manner. It can be seen from the report that in the given period the issues a Diocese was facing could be solved through reorganizing its management and far-sighted recruitment and allocation policy, with the key role of an honest and laborious person to be in charge of its further implementation. Moreover, the document gives a picture of the period as seen by two distinguished Orthodox missionaries since the report also contains interesting recommendations on the church activities that were later adopted by Bishop Tikhon. Tikhon’s own commentary and notes accompanying the report are of special interest revealing his colorful and engaging personality (in the text of the publication they are given in square brackets). The publication is unabridged and is provided by the introduction and reference information, including an estimate of the report’s significance for further research in the field.

The article deals with philosophic and religious study of the heritage of Mutazili Ibrāhīm ibn Sayyār al-Naẓẓām (d. about 845), a prominent scholar of Baṣran School of Kalām (Arab-Jewish Rational Theology). The study is based on two newly discovered treatises: A Study in Arguments by Mutazili thinker ʾAbū al-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī (d. 1085; published by S. Schmidtke and W. Madelung in 2006) and an outstanding encyclopedical work The Commentary on ‘Sources of Questions and Answers’ (pt. IV) by Zaydi philosopher and publicist al-Ḥākim al-Ǧiššamī (d. 1101; published by F. Nofal in 2021). The author specifies a number of provisions of the doctrine of the medieval Arab thinker, known to specialists for the late doxographic works of the classical era (10-17 A.) to complement his fundamental study published in 2015. The first part of the issue represents the bibliographical history of sources the study is based on. The second part is devoted to the most important elements of al-Naẓẓām’s physical and theological doctrines. In particular, there is theoretical substantiation of the thesis of absolute divine justice developed by him. Additionally, details of his reasoning about being are revealed, a new passage is published, explaining the al-Naẓẓām theory of the leap — the first Arab physical theory, opposed to autochthonous Muslim atomism. Furthermore, for the first time in the history of world oriental studies, the doctrine of al-Naẓẓām about cognition and sensory perception is being reconstructed. The nature of existence, according to al-Naẓẓām, is determined by a separate attribute created by God and merged with sustainable thing (ʻayn). On the other side, all phenomena of created being are available to the person due to the sense of the soul which examines existed things simultaneously and forcefully. Therefore, he believed that perceptive and discursive types of knowledge can be mutually convertible or created by the human or God. Particular attention in the article is paid to the physical and anthropological views of the philosopher. The author concludes: al-Naẓẓām rejected an abstract paradigm of his predecessors (al-ʿAllāf's, in particular) and tried to construct a totally physic-based anthropology, pronounced in material union between the slim substance of the soul and the rough substance of the body — two necessary elements of human being. The connection between early Muslim philosophical schools is also considered: the given material enables us to discuss real relations between al-Naẓẓām’s theories and Ghaylanite doctrine, as well as assume its influence on al-Fārābī and al-Naǧǧār ontological and gnoseological teachings.

Conceptual analysis of the mechanism of information distortion in the political domain of public life and the issue of lies in politics undertaken in this study stems from the work of the American psychologist, Professor Paul Ekman Telling lies (1985). As the research question raised concerns about the cultural determination of these phenomena in politics, the authors attempted to determine whether deception and lies in public life depend on cultural background. In his work, Ekman presents the interconnection between personal meanings, emotional perception, self-censorship, features of human memory, metaphors, and narratives with the manipulation of public opinion. The paper indicates factors that may affect the study of intentional distortion of information and increase the possibility of error. The methods proposed in Telling Lies coupled with vivid examples enable us to identify patterns of political lies and investigate the meaning of lies as a specific cultural strategy. Specifically, this essay compares Ekman’s arguments with the ideas of the cultural and historical approach of Soviet psychology, as well as with the ideas of prominent foreign authors concerning the acceptability of using lies in certain political cultures. In particular, the authors are interested in considering political metaphor and group thinking in studying reasons goals, and results of employing lies to create political clout. According to research, personal meaning is closely related to group values and meanings. Based on the example of American foreign policy in the second half of the 20th century, it is shown that across cultures there are some manipulation techniques and patterns. Accordingly, the authors conclude that intentional and unintended deception is typical of politicians despite their cultural background.

The topic of lies is of considerable interest in linguocultural analysis. The article discusses the role of lies in the language behavior of the Japanese in connection with the most important Japanese socio-cultural attitudes. Lying in Japanese culture is characterized as a social phenomenon without negative components. Japanese culture, which reflects the main features of traditional societies of the Far East, has its own special socio-cultural space with the dominant role of Shinto beliefs. Shinto is characterized by following the natural and traditional order of things and the absence of a firm scale of assessment of good and evil. Lies for the Japanese do not create a rejecting effect: they are not condemned harshly and are not punished and lying is not a source of internal experiences and torment. The morality of the Japanese is situational and intuitive, moral virtues are often replaced by a sense of shame, and the Japanese need to maintain harmony, so lies are allowed and accepted favorably. A lie is even necessary as an element of etiquette, polite (decent) behavior to preserve harmony in the group. The Japanese tend to behave relating to the surrounding group members, so the use of easy, inconspicuous, and kind lies may be caused by a specific situation, by the rules of group behavior. In addition, the Japanese are not characterized by the anguish of conscience, internal awareness of their guilt, or reasoning about immorality — the main motivating point for them is what others will say. And people around them will recognize it as acceptable and necessary. Lying is closely related to the concept of tatemae — an external model of behavior demonstrated before another person. A person, hiding behind a facade, under a mask, says what the listener wants to hear. That behavior seems a little insincere or duplicitous but is usually used to avoid conflict and ensure smooth social communication, rather than to trick or deceive. One who does not use the rules of tatemae may hurt the feelings of the person he or she is talking to or make the conversation unpleasant by revealing too much. Lying can take the form of polite and socially acceptable silence when the speaker hides his disagreement and true thoughts from the listener.

The article is dedicated to the research into the problem of historical and cultural heritage, the preservation of which is especially important for the survival and development of small nations. The relevance of the chosen topic is justified by the search for a comprehensive mechanism for the preservation of cultural heritage, which is underrepresented in cultural theory and practice. The research subject is the development of this mechanism. The article aims to determine the strategic directions for the preservation and prospective development of the small nations’ cultural heritage on the example of the Republic of Abkhazia. The methodological basis of the study is the cultural and system-level approaches. A set of methods, including comparative and SWOT analysis are used to achieve the goal. The novelty lies in defining for the first time a system-level mechanism for the preservation of historical heritage as non-material cultural legacy. The authors have identified the basic levels in the system of measures for the preservation and prospective development of the cultural heritage of Abkhazia, which consist of international, multi-country, state, individual (humanitarian). The individual level allows us to consider the studied problem taking into account a wide sociocultural and socio-political field. To sum up, in this article the authors substantiate the role and place of the system-level mechanism in the development of promising directions for a unified Strategy for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, which is still missing in the socio-cultural discourse.

The article examines the work of the famous Russian sculptor and architect Dashi Namdakov. It is suggested that the origins of his talent lie in the depths of Buryat traditional art. The roots of Buryat art date back to the Paleolithic era, which is confirmed by the images of female figurines that were found by A. P. Okladnikov during the excavations of the prehistoric sites of the Baikal region. On the small sculptures made of mammoth bone, the lines of the face are finely worked out and the faces are framed in hair in the form of rays and snakes. Hats and clothes in these figurines are decorated with animal elements, which are considered to denote the native archaic culture which later appeared in a shamanic worldview. The basis of ancient art was syncretic and synthesized religious cult and myths. Later on ancient art, beliefs and ideas about the universe were incorporated in the cult images of the Buryat Mongols and today are communicated in a combination of archaic beliefs and esotery. This peculiarity of Buryat art leaves an original and unique imprint on modern art culture. Visitors of Dashi Namdakov's exhibitions get the feeling of an amazing connection between modernity and mythological antiquity. The article includes a short interview with the master jeweler Dashi Namdakov, in which he speaks about his work, about its origins and his future expectations.

The subject of this study is the works of modern Christian painting, graphics and sculpture on the example of the collection that became part of the Yenisei Museum-Reserve in 2021. The relevance lies in the clarification of a number of theoretical aspects of the dialogue between contemporary art and religion on the example of the interaction of the priest Andrei Yurevich with Siberian artists. The novelty lies in the description of the socio-cultural context of the formation of the collection in the 2000s. In order to identify the main trends in Christian art, the typology method was applied, and an interview was also conducted with the founder of the collection, priest Andrei Yurevich, and with art historian M. V. Moskalyuk, the original works in the Yenisei Museum-Reserve were examined. The theoretical results include the reconstruction of the history of the formation of the collection, the stages of its development (from the private initiative of the priest to the parish museum, later to the diocesan museum and, finally, inclusion in the state museum). Based on the analysis of individual works from the collection, a typology of the main trends in contemporary Christian art is developed. In the last part of the article, various options for updating the considered works in the exhibition activities of the Yenisei Museum-Reserve were developed. In particular, the special significance of paintings that reveal the local history of Eastern Siberia is shown, the possibility of a comparative demonstration of the collection's works with the works of artists of the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries is assessed. In conclusion, the regularity of the collection entering the state museum is emphasized in connection with the new approach to the definition of the concept of museum, which involves working with different communities, including believers.

The reality in the works of H. P. Lovecraft is described as strange, inhumanistic, and alien to the mankind but it is not mystical. On the contrary, the creations and events described by the writer are presented as material facts of the world. In modern philosophy following Graham Harman this view of the world is called weird-realism or weird-materialism. This paper explores one of the media used in building Lovecraft’s ontology and proposes a philosophical and cultural analysis of the new concept of The Sound Out of Space in Lovecraft studies to describe the audial medium of the weirdontology and weird-epistemology of H. P. Lovecraft. The name of the concept should refer to the headline of the famous work of the writer The Colour Out of Space (1927). The concept in the text is presented through the poetics of sound, which is the whole set of ways of representing the audial field. The article consists of the introduction with a brief historical overview, the methodological study of sound as an otherworldly medium, sound mapping of the story The Outsider (1921), the analysis of the narrative meaning of sound, discussion of the results gathered and the conclusion. The research hypothesis assumes that different media of the Lovecraftian weird-materialism have different properties and implement different modes of access to the truth of weird-reality, and their understanding can add something new to the knowledge about the strange ontology of the writer. The authors develop a phenomenological typology of sound adapting the methodology of Michel Chion and embedding it into the context of the poetics of the Lovecraftian universe. The resulting three groups of sounds represented by six types of sounds are used to describe the concept and are applied to the story The Outsider. The results show a remarkable distribution of certain types of referenced sounds within the plot composition of the story. This makes it possible to supplement the ideas about the features of the world of the story and the internal state of the protagonist, as well as to interpret the denouement of the plot more fully in the context of Lovecraft's epistemology. The poetics of Lovecraft's sound is closely connected with other means of representing the strangeness of reality, its weird-materiality. At the same time, sound as a unique medium offers specific opportunities for creating artistic images, an atmosphere, and displaying the writer's philosophical intention. This strategy of sound research of a literary text can be applied to other literary works.

The article analyzes the image of a dervish, a character of traditional Sufi lyrics and didactics, that is a key image for poetry by Parvin Etesami (1907-1941). In the only collection of the poet published in literary translation in Russian (The Journey of the Tear, 1984), Sufi motives are almost not revealed. On the basis of new philological translations, the article analyzes the spiritual ideal of the poet, her reflections on the path to the Truth, which she trusts to her beloved hero – a sage, ascetic, dervish, a guide to the knowledge of God. The paper reveals the medieval origins of the image of the dervish of Parvin Etesami, its connection with the Persian classical poetry of the religious and didactic direction, as well as the reasons for the extraordinary stability of the motives grouped around the image of the dervish. On the example of poems of different genre forms (masnavi, monazere, kasida), in which this image is present (or its substitutes — a sage-mystic, a madman, a beggar), its conceptual role for Parvin Etesami is shown. The image of the dervish, in its two hypostases deployed in the Persian classics, appears original in her poems: the dominant features of the dervish are ascetic, mystic, detached from the world, at the same time extremely alien to the men of ordinary consciousness and despised by them. In Parvin's poetic sermon the dervish appears as the highest manifestation of human personality, the bearer of universal moral truths and at the same time deep mystical insights; thus, the poet engages every reader in the ongoing life of a centuries-old religious and mystical tradition.

The newly published book by a well-known expert in Hispanic studies Tatiana I. Pigariova presents a truly personal look on Spain. Its nine chapters, or acts, invite readers to join the author and set off on a fascinating journey across Spain from S to N. The very cover of the book suggests a notion of the adventure the readers are about to treat themselves to. As an art critic T. Pigariova reads deeply into fine art, poetry and historical events and comes up with advanced and original symbolic interpretations. She turns to the art of metaphor elaborated by the masters of Spanish Baroque yet does so with great care: at one time a metaphor highlighting scattered pieces helps outline the entire puzzle, but at times its light can be misleading. One of the most elysian lines and pages of the book are devoted to Diego Velázquez. For instance, the author reflects on what is hidden in his paintings and why his works are at the heart of the Museo Nacional del Prado. This exquisite and gripping reading carries the audience through a gallery of portraits and mysteries. Tatiana Pigariova skillfully navigates archives and museums, leading excited readers to their treasures — artifacts, documents, and photos. Illustrations make the story feel real and so does the dialogue of the author and her readers. As we turn the pages and find ourselves on the streets of nowadays Moscow and Madrid, together with the author we fall in love with Spain, its unique culture and art.

This year AST published The New Dark Age the first ever translation into Russian of James Bridle, contemporary British writer, artist, and computer technology expert. Sprinkling a fascinating narrative with interesting and often frightening facts from various fields and references to philosophy, the author created a convincing and sobering picture of the world in which we live, not even suspecting its ever-growing complexity and inhumanity. Despite the modern trend on cultural literacy, Bridle focuses on our blindness and arrogance regarding pervasive technological systems. Bridle encourages his readers to engage in critical thinking, see the reality for what it is and embrace it in its overwhelming complexity and fragility. Questioning the linearity of progress, he posits that we might have already passed our peak knowledge. It means that ongoing calculations and the resulting additional data only make the world a less understandable place to live in. Instead of an elegant and working picture of the world, we are surrounded by darkness, pervasive chaos under the guise of calculated order. Bridle’s zeal to trace back the hard basis of cyber reality takes him on a journey from the electric cables in the depths of the ocean to the contrails-lined sky. Electricity, unpredictable weather and climate change, the first computers and secret inventions, the works of great mathematicians and stock market crashes, satellite maps, world aviation, Concordes and short-term turbulence, unsuccessful GPS journeys, computer games, social networks and entertainment videos on the Internet, scientific research errors caused by a variety of factors from measuring instrument deficiency to dubious publishing ethics in the modern scientific community, permafrost, history and time machine, biodiversity and plague... Technology is a black box and it clouds our vision. With more data available (and increasingly hard to digest) we are less apt to good decision-making and are likely to be taking a leap of faith in the dark of the black box of omnipresent technologies. Are we standing at the edge of an abyss? In this fascinating read, Bridle invites us to admit and possibly bridge the gap between our understanding of reality and the reality.

In the beginning of March the 27th annual scientific and practical conference took place in the Moscow State Pedagogical University in association with the Herzen State Pedagogical University and School No. 1561. This year the conference was devoted to the topic of Language and Person. As usual, the two-day conference was divided into two parts: one started with the opening of the Conference and reports made by university students, while in the second part the floor was given to school students who participated in nine sections. On the 2nd of March, participance of the conference were greeted by distinguished professors, such as academician A. V. Lubkov, rector of the Herzen University S. V. Tarasov, director of the Institute of Philology Ye. G. Chernysheva, and professor I. S. Uryupin. The conference was anchored by O. Ye. Drozdova and its jury included scholars of leading universities and schoolteachers. Dozens of university and school students from Russia and abroad took part in the Conference. They presented thirty reports on a variety of topics: language portrayal of people and characters of literature; language of different social groups; language worldview; linguistical influence on people; language as a professional tool, etc. More than a hundred participants joined discussion panels — person in language worldviews now and then; language portrayal of characters in literature; and the language of communication of teachers and students in social networks — hosted by Ye. B. Yakovenko, A. I. Dunev, G. D. Polyakova, respectively. Discussion panels were followed by a linguistic game. Participants of the conference were awarded diplomas. Discussion of reports, communication of students with jury members, famous philologists, answers to questions from conference participants create an atmosphere of creativity and make students want to continue searching for new knowledge, logical connections, and linguistic discoveries.