Matsne. - Proceeding of the Georgian Academy of Sciences. Series in Philosophy. - N 1 - Tbilisi - 2002 - in Georgian.
The volume is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Academician Angia Bochorishvili.
The volume opens with biographical notes reflecting the most important dates of acad. A. Bochrishvili's life and scientific activities.
S. Nadirashvili. "Angia Bochorishvili - an outstanding Georgian psychologist and philosopher". The article shows the influence of A. Bochorishvili's philosophical and psychological views on the development of the psychological thought in Georgia. A. Bochorishvili's views serve as a basis understanding of differentiated levels of psychic activity, of specific regularities of individual's, subject's and person's psychic activity. The author asserts that working out of anthropic theory of set is considered as a further strengthening and deepening of Uznadze's theory of set. Though it develops the trend worked out by D. Uznadze, the methodological requirements that A. Bochorishvili put forward concerning psychology and the theory of set in particular, serve as an important basis for its perfection.
M. Maghradze. "Angia Bochorishvili on set as a specific sphere of reality". D. Uznadze's set theory aims at solving the problem of purposiveness of behaviour. Set as a readiness for action in which subject and object are given in one integral unit fills the gulf between physical and psychic realities that seemed insurmountable without such intermediary ring. A. Bochorishvili assumed that detecting of a new sphere that was neither psychic nor physical and as such could serve as an instance connecting both of them was the main achievement of Uznadze's theory. That is why A. Bochorishvili strongly opposed all attempts of considering set as an unconscious psychic phenomenon. He believed that such attitude left the set theory face to face with the danger of assimilation with different theories of the unconscious.
R. Balanchivadze. "Angia Bochorishvili on the place of unconscious in D. Uznadze's theory of set". The experimental investigation of the set attitude began as soon as the set theory was developed, but study of philosophical aspects of this theory was neglected. Angia Bochorishvili gave full and comprehensive analyses of the philosophical aspects of D. Uznadze's set theory. On the basis of Uznadze's theory's analysis A. Bochorishvili stated that its interpretation as a theory of the unconscious was logically untenable and showed that D. Uznadze's set psychology is individual's psychology.
G. Tevzadze. "Academician A. Bochorishvili on the conditions of adequate cognition". Since the twenties of the XX century the theory of cognition was substituted by the theory of science. But it still could not manage the problem that conditioned the collapse of the Newkantianism. Because of that since the eighties the interest towards the theory of cognition has been increased. A new term - newnewkantianism was born. In 1965 Acad. Angia Bochorishvili tried to change the dominating view on the cognition understood as reflection. This point was prepared by his scientific research. His understanding of differences between psychics and consciousness, cognition and consciousness, of the problems of subject-activity was original and created fruitful basis for the further consideration of the problem. In the article the criterion of cognition is analyzed as the criterion of analytical, selfprooved propositions and social practice, as the involvement in the active communication, achieved in the process of cultural development.
A. Bregadze. "Angia Bochorishvili - the founder of philosophical anthropology in Georgia". Academician Angia Bochorishvili was the initiator of founding the department of philosophical anthropology at the Institute of philosophy of the Georgian academy of sciences in1967. It was the first and the only such department in the former Soviet Union. Foundation of this new branch of philosophy was met with serious opposition from the official dogmatic ideology. Philosophical anthropology was declared a pseudo-science. In 1977, All-Union discussion on "The problem of man" was held in Tbilisi. In result of intense discussions philosophical anthropology gained its own place among other branches of philosophy. Angia Bochorishvili was the central figure of all serious and dangerous battles, genuine philosophical talent and great erudition helped him to accept ideological challenges of the antagonists of the philosophical anthropology. Angia Bochorishvili's many fundamental works are dedicated to cardinal problems of philosophical anthropology.
A. Bakradze. "Problems of relation of Ed. Husserl's phenomenology and philosophical anthropology in Angia Bochorishvili's works". Analysis of Ed. Husserl's phenomenology occupies an important place in academician Angia Bochorishvili's scientific heritage. Ed. Husserl's phenomenology was important for Angia Bochoroshvili not only in connection with establishing the object of psychology or of studying gnosiological problems but from the viewpoint of establishing philosophical anthropology as well. According to Husserl, philosophy does not study the sphere of empirical facts, of real existence. Its object is the realm of transcendental species, of pure possibilities as the necessary conditions of existence and life. Academician Angia Bochorishvili showed that in the process of philosophical study of man phenomenological method could perform a limiting role and show what cannot be ascribed to man, what contradicts his essence, though many problems crucial for philosophical anthropology are left out of phenomenological analyzes.
R. Gordeziani. "Ways of philosophic-anthropologic search for human in existent-philosophy of Karl Jaspers". The leitmotif of Karl Jaspers' "existence-philosophy" is the philosophic anthropologic investigation of human being. According to Jaspers, an individual seeks oneself in joint action of three poles: world-being, in which a human immediately finds oneself; being-in-itself (transcendence); and being-for-itself, i.e. human being. None of these poles separately, is the genuine being. On Jasper's view, logical-scientific cognition concerns only world-objects, while conceiving of the transcendent and the being-for-itself is achieved exclusively through overcoming discursive cognition. Self-cognition and self-perfection of the "existence" happens only through "illumination of the existence", when a human, through inner spiritual creative activity, reaches genuine "not-knowing", that is, the limit of knowable. In this moment man "makes a leap" by which he enters the sphere of existential freedom, gains an instant consciousness of primordial relation with the transcendence.
N. Mshvenieradze. "Essence of the philosophical anthropology".One of the main aims of philosophical anthropology is to give philosophical explanation to those facts of man's nature and conditions of his life that are discovered by other sciences. The author shows that development of the philosophical anthropology was greatly fostered by such schools of thought as philosophy of life, phenomenology, existentialism, and psychoanalysis. The philosophical anthropology answers the question about the essence of man. Different special sciences study particular aspects of man, but man is not a mechanical sum of separate features and properties. Man is a whole. The philosophical anthropology enables us to speak about man's place in the world, his structure, his attitude to the nature, animal world, other people, to the society, culture, to discuss his creative activity, free choice and specific features of man's being in general.
Two reviews, one by N. Chavchavadze "A monograph on Kant's aesthetics" and the second by Z. Kakabadze "An interesting work on Kant's aesthetics" on acad. A. Bochorishvili's monograph "Kant's Aesthetics" are reprinted in the volume.
A bibliography of acad. A. Bochorishvili's scientific works and memoirs of his life and scientific activities are published.
In the section "Scientific Life" accounts of scientific sessions, conferences and other events organized by the S. Tsereteli Institute of philosophy are given.
Section "New Translations" offers chapters from "On Democracy in America" by A. de Toequeville translated from French by D. Labuchidze.
Matsne. - Proceeding of the Georgian Academy of Sciences. Series in Philosophy. - N 2 - Tbilisi - 2002 - in Georgian.
Chapters from the unpublished book "What is philosophy?" by Archil Begiashvili are printed in the volume.
V. Makhniashvili. "Heidegger's being and the metaphilosophy of contingency of Richard Rorty". The article is a commentary on R. Rorty's work "On Heidegger's Nazism" based on Rortian immanent reading of early and late Heidegger.
D. Betchvaia. "Kant and axiology". The article is an attempt to answer the question whether Kant was the founder of axiology. Some of the scientists think that the basis of the problem of values I given in Kant's theoretical philosophy. Others see a more solid foundation of axiology in his practical philosophy. According to Kant if the moral demands cannot be based on rules and needs of this world, they must have their source in some other world. Value does not yield to scientific analysis: it is "irrational". This is a step made by Kant towards the extramundial "ought" world that has no connections with the reality. The result according to Kant is that man exists in two worlds: the world of reality and the world of "ought".
I. Tsereteli. "On some aspects of the concept of freedom in Schelling's philosophy". The attempt to state the essence of the concept of freedom is a very important aim of Schelling's philosophy. According to Schelling idealism gives us a general and formal concept of freedom but a real and lively concept of freedom supposes the possibility of good and evil. The problem of the essence of freedom in Schelling's philosophy is connected to the problem of existence of the Absolute, the problem of relation of freedom and necessity. The author demonstrates that according to Schelling absolute freedom means acting in accordance with the laws of one's own inherent essence. In relation to God man's freedom is relative though it does not eliminate his individuality and freedom.
N. Pipia. "Kant's "thing-in-itself" in B. Russell's philosophy". According to Russell the question whether we can know that some objects inferable from objects of sense but not necessarily resembling them exist either when we perceive the objects of sense or at any other time arises as the problem of the "thing-in-itself" in philosophy and as the problem of matter in science. In sprite of evident disagreement with Kant, Russell thinks that the theory of "thing-in-itself" (as well as the theory of "matter") is the one upon which physical science and physiology are built and it must, therefore, be susceptible of a true interpretation. Russell introduces the concept "sensibilia" as a hypothesis necessary for building scientific systems. There is a deep distinction between Russell's "sensibilia" and Kant's "thing-in-itself". The author states that in spite of distinction between Russell and Kant, Russell's conception was influenced by Kant's view and, in a sense, was a new theory formed on the basis of neopositivistic interpretation of Kant's conception.
A. Bregadze. "On the problem of anthropogenesis". According to the data of anthropology and other sciences the date of man's origin is constantly shifted to earlier stages. There arises a question whether it is possible to realize a Godlike creature in a body-soul form.The essential feature differentiating an animal and a human being is spirit. His essence and purposivness will make us answer the above question affirmatively.
I. Kalandia. "Activity of person and culture". Culture is a process of realization of spiritual values. Culture serves as a basis for forming definite views, ideas, theories concerning the existing reality and man himself. The structure of spiritual values is determined by the interrelation of forms of spiritual assimilation of the reality by man. There are the following forms of spiritual assimilation of the reality by man: theoretical-cognitive (the highest form of which is science), axiological-practical (moral norms, morality) and creative work (the highest form of which is art). The foundation of man's activity and, respectively, of the wholeness of culture is consciousness which on its part, is united and whole. Social activity of person is characterized by a certain degree and intensity of his participation in every sphere.
N. Mshvenieradze. "Problem of man in cultural philosophical anthropology". According to the main thesis of cultural philosophical anthropology man's world is the world of culture. It is due to the culture that man manages to overcome his "biological imperfection". In order to survive man had to create an artificial world. Man from the state of biologically determined being became a "being open to the world" and thus can define the means of his activity and thus he is a free creative being. In difference from animal he is not governed by instincts and therefore, he is in a constant need of creating his own self and his own environment. Creativeness is man's necessary characteristic defining his existence.
T. Mtibelashvili. "Role of philosophy in the history of culture". Certain harmony between man and the outside world achieved by the Greek mythological culture ensured the mental integrity and balance of man formed by that culture. The result of the crisis of the mythological culture was the loss of balance between man and the outside world that could be overcome only by forming a new understanding of the reality on the basis of philosophical principles and postulates. This task most effectively was realized in the philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
E. Jgerenaia. "The genesis of utopia and the stages of its development". Utopia and utopic thought originate from myth. Utopia is the criticism of the existing society and offering of an alternative. The author distinguishes five stages of the development of utopia: 1. the beginning of the Hellenistic age; 2. the Hellenism; 3. late Antiquity; 4. the Renaissance and 5. the New age. The author thinks that at the last stage utopia loses its force and attractiveness as a result of the formation of the genre of anti-utopia.
E. Jgerenaia. "Discourses on future and utopia". There are forms of narrative and thought that stand quite close to utopia: prognosis, planning and science fiction. These discourses are directed towards the future: planning aiming at execution of a concrete task includes in itself the means by which the aim will be realized: prognosis presupposes prediction of possible future events; science fiction attempts to show how the social, political and economic structures of society can be changed by a scientific-technical innovation. Utopia can be understood as a mega-type of the discourse on future that unifies the three above-mentioned discourses.
E. Topuridze. "Antonen Arto's aesthetic conception". The article aims at the analysis of the aesthetic conception of Antonen Arto - a famous French playwright and actor, the author of the book "Theatre and its Double". It is shown that Arto considered existence of doubles in men's souls the cause of all misfortunes of people. These doubles creating dark-black fear cause social disasters and determine dehumanization of the society and culture. Arto attempted to reform the old theatre and to establish so-called theatre of cruelty that as he thought could save the mankind from destruction. The source of the cruelty dominating in the world Arto under the influence of Freidism seeks in the dark unconscious sphere of psyches. Showing cruelty the actor makes spectators look into their own dark black consciousness and fight it. Such "purification" looks like a kind of psychotherapy that frees man of fears and cruelty. Arto considered theatre a metaphysical, magic, religious and alchemic phenomenon. The author of the article concludes that Arto's attempt to save the world from cruelty with the help of cruelty was condemned to failure, but his book is extremely popular among the modernists.
M. Ambokadze. "Platonic and neoplatonic motives in Shaftesbury's aesthetic conception". It is shown that Plato's and Plotinus' philosophy and aesthetics sufficiently influenced Shaftesbury's aesthetic views. The controversial style of platonic philosophy and its unended quest had undoubtful significance for Shaftesbury who demonstrated his unmasked admiration for Plato's conception. The author shows that the influence of Plato's and Plotinus' philosophical and aesthetic thought on Shaftesbury's conception is especially evident in his interpretation of beauty. The author also gives a brief account of interpretation of Shaftesbury's and Goethe's world outlooks by W. Diltey and O. Walzel and states that similar positions of thinkers belonging to different cultures and epochs is an excellent evidence of constant development of thought.
B. Barateli. "Essence of the areopagitical aesthetics". The areopagitical doctrine is discussed as an object of the aesthetic vision. In order to reveal the essential aspects of the areopagitical aesthetics the issues of the theory of hierarchy are put forward: the rules, order and aim of the hierarchy are shown. The areopagitical theories of light, symbol, colour are analyzed as well as the problems of harmony, contrast and fancy that in whole compose the essence of the areopagitical aesthetic doctrine.
B. Barateli. "The problem of triad in the areopagitical theory and its aesthetic aspects".One of the most important problems of the areopagitical aesthetics connected with the triad is discussed in the article. The characteristic features of the aesthetic triad and its content in the areopagitical aesthetics are shown. They are conditioned by the unity of the three aspects in the first cause and contain ontological, ethical and aesthetic aspects. The so-called members of the areopagitical triad are understood as the aspects of the same highest values in difference from the theories of Plato and Hegel where the One is analyzed as a special stage of development. The areopagitical principle of triad is also a basis for the concept of beauty, evolution of symbols, aspects of the understanding of symbols and consequently, of the functions of these aspects.
M. Tsutskiridze. "Principles of journalistic ethics". The objective basis of the journalistic ethics is journalists' professional work. The essence of the journalistic activity is the journalist's relation to publishers, readers, colleagues, with the characters of his articles, with people supplying him with the necessary information. This system of relationship is specific so far as the journalist gets in contact not only with separate individuals but also with the mass audience. The second specific feature of this relationship is its impersonality and anonymity. The character of this relationship requires specification of general moral values, it changes their usual order that is reflected in the principles of professional ethics of journalist. The principles of duty and responsibility acquire new content in the journalistic ethics. The third specific feature of the journalist's activity is the demand of creative attitude to his work. Journalist aims not merely on supplying his audience with information, but he at the same time enhances formation of society's moral consciousness and establishment of democratic values in the society.
D. Zakaraia. "On naming the contemporary highly developed society". The social transformations begun in fifties of the 20th century changed radically the look of the contemporary civilization.Trying to contemplate the large-scale changes and to create the possible picture of future, the thinkers have elaborated many original conceptions. The author analyses Daniel Bell's theory who showed that in result of growing technologization there was formed the society in which the industrial sector would by and by yield its leading position and the theoretical knowledge would appear as the moving force of the society. He named this new state of society after-industrial or post-industrial. The approach to this phenomenon by Bell had a broad resonance within the scientific circles. The content of the concept "post industrialism" is criticized from different positions: it is thought to be saturated by radical-ideological antagonism. Loyal critic main attention pays to the etymological aspect of the term and considers the concept not well justified.
L. Chantladze. "Unique possibility". The author of the article states that constant reasoning on the essence of human existence is one of the main conditions on man's way to being human. It seems impossible to understand life and existence without contemplation of the problems of death and not being. The author thinks that to come nearer to death while man is alive using philosophic contemplation, ("to train in death" according to Socrates) is a basis for getting ready for the real meeting with it.
Reviews "From the history of the 19th century Georgian philosophical-social thought" by L. Zakaradze, "On the Georgian translation of "The Rules of the Sociological Method" by E. Durkheim" by A. Berdzenishvili, "Review of "The History of the 20th Century Philosophy" by G. Tevzadze" by G. Shushanashvili are published in the section Reviews.
Section "Scientific Life" offers accounts of different events conducted by the Institute of philosophy.
Chapters from "On Democracy in America" by A. de Toequeville translated from French by D. Labuchidze and R. Rorty's "On Heidegger's Nazism" translated from English by V. Makhniashvili are published in the section "New Translations".