The Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Series Philosophy. Philosophical Peripeteias

TRANSCULTURALITY. A WORLD OF MIXTURES

Wolfgang Welsch — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The paper tries to make evident that transculturality is by no means only a characteristic of the present but has de facto determined the cut of cultures since time immemorial. This is demonstrated via examples of the arts across all cultures and continents.

Examples are the Egyptian origins of Greek sculpture, the Greco-Roman inspiration of the East-Asian figurations of Buddha, the transfer of Bizet's Carmen to South Africa, Dürerʼs entanglement with Venice, Zuckmayer's demonstration of the manifold origins of a `people', the genetic and cultural transformation of Europe by migrants from the Near East about 7,500 years ago, a contemporary alliance between Death Metal and Buddhism, the national appreciation of the transnational Cloud Gate Dance Theater in Taiwan, and, finally, the transculturality of our menus.

In conclusion: Transculturality, not cultural separation has been the rule in history and across countries and cultures. Our present life is transcultural to the highest degree. Transculturality is the order of the day. The problems we are facing worldwide (economic and ecological challenges, problems of poverty and human rights) can only be solved if we achieve an understanding with one another across all state and national borders. Transcultural understanding is not a pious wish or a faded idea – it is an elementary necessity of our time.

BETWEEN IMAGE AND GESTURE: GROUPE μ VISUAL RHETORIC WITHIN THE METAMODERN HORIZON

Andrii Artemenko, Margaret Kravchenko — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article explores the evolution of Groupe μ visual rhetoric within the context of metamodern aesthetics. The foundational tenets of their work, Traité du signe visuel (1992), are analyzed as the theoretical basis for an affective semiotics of the image. The paper clarifies the notion of post-figurativity as a metamodern gesture that enables a sensuous-affective interaction between the image and the viewer. It is demonstrated that post-figurative thinking shapes a new rhetoric of co-being, where the image functions not as a representation, but as an event of shared affect.

The phenomenon of the post-figurative image is analyzed within the context of metamodernism's aesthetics. The authors consider post-figurativity as a form of visual gesture that embodies doubt, affect, and an invitation to co-being. Through examples of contemporary visual images, it is shown how the post-figurative emerges not as a representation, but as an affective event open to mutual interpretation.

Furthermore, the authors analyze the phenomenon of screenality (or écranité) in metamodern culture and explain the methodological significance of Groupe μ contribution for understanding this feature of contemporary life. Screenality is interpreted as a condition of shared presence, where affect becomes a new type of communicative action, and the screen functions as a space of co-presence. Metamodern culture is defined not merely as a culture of images, but as a screen culture in which screenality transforms into a new ontology of vision, forming an interface of empathy where the spectator becomes a co-participant in the visual.

The conclusion asserts that Groupe μ conception of visual rhetoric established the groundwork for understanding the image as a structural system of signs where form possesses cognitive status. This concept resonates with the logic of metamodern culture, engaging it in communication and creating not an image as a message, but an image as an echo of co-being.

THE IMAGINATION OF METAMODERNISM: LONELINESS, HAPPINESS, AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Olga Dobrodum — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article explores the phenomenon of metamodern imagination as the cultural logic of the 21st century, which shapes new approaches to understanding human rights through the lens of emotional states – particularly loneliness and happiness. In the context of metamodernism, which combines modernist faith in progress with postmodern irony, happiness ceases to be merely a private emotion and acquires the status of a social construct that actively shapes normative expectations in society. At the same time, loneliness, traditionally viewed as an individual experience, increasingly appears as a structural emotion caused by digital fragmentation, urbanization, and the breakdown of traditional forms of community. These emotional states not only affect personal well-being but also become the subject of legal regulation, necessitating a reconsideration of the conceptual foundations of human rights.

The aim of the study is to identify how the imagination of metamodernism transforms legal discourse by institutionalizing emotional states as objects of legal protection. Methodologically, the article relies on an interdisciplinary approach that combines philosophy of law, sociology of emotions, digital anthropology, and cultural hermeneutics. Particular attention is paid to analyzing how algorithmic platforms, media narratives, and welfare policies influence conceptions of happiness as a right and loneliness as a social problem. In this context, happiness increasingly emerges as a normative demand that shapes standardized images of a 'successful life,' while loneliness is seen as a social pathology requiring institutional intervention.

As a result, it has been substantiated that in the era of metamodernism, human rights require rethinking as a dynamic, affectively-rich, and culturally sensitive phenomenon. Happiness and loneliness are no longer merely psychological states – they are becoming normative categories that define new horizons of legal thought. This opens up prospects for the formation of an ethics of care, mutual vulnerability, and digital dignity as components of a contemporary human rights agenda. The Ukrainian context, particularly in conditions of war, digital transformation, and emotional turbulence, demonstrates the particular relevance of such approaches, requiring the adaptation of human rights to new forms of subjectivity and social reality.

CRIES AND WHISPERS ABOUT LOVE IN METAMODERNISM: A CORPUS-BASED APPROACH

Illia Ilin, Olena Nihmatova — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article develops an interdisciplinary investigation into how contemporary metamodern philosophy conceptualizes love by integrating corpus linguistics with socio-philosophical analysis. While scholars of metamodernism often posit a cultural “return of love” grounded in renewed sensitivity, relationality, and ethical openness, we argue that these claims require empirical verification. Drawing on the work of 12 leading thinkers associated with speculative realism, new materialism, and accelerationism, we conduct a systematic examination of explicit references to love across their published works. Our findings reveal a far more heterogeneous and uneven landscape than is typically assumed: only a minority of philosophers – most notably Graham Harman, Rosi Braidotti, Jane Bennett, and Maya B. Kronic – develop robust or conceptually rich accounts of love, whereas others mention the term only in passing, metaphorically, or not at all.

Methodologically, the article combines four approaches: postcritical “reading as love,” corpus-linguistic analysis through concordances, collocations, and dispersion plots, theoretical, methodological and sociological triangulation, and also an interpretive model of philosophy as “talking to oneself.” This multi-layered design allows us to reconstruct how various metamodernist philosophical perspectives imagine love as an ontological, ethical, aesthetic, or political force. The range spans from posthuman, zoe-centered vitality (Braidotti), ecological enchantment and material kinship (Bennett), and dantean object-love grounded in autonomy (Harman), to darker visions of dissolution, erotic catastrophe, and cosmic decay (Nick Land, Reza Negarestani).

To contextualize these philosophical positions, we triangulate them with large-scale sociological data on romantic satisfaction, loneliness, parasocial bonds, and “social love” as defined in global indices. This reveals that metamodernist reconfigurations of love resonate with shifting affective structures worldwide, yet remain conceptually fragmented. We conclude by proposing a “metamodern formula of love” as a wide spectrum – from indifference and destructive passion to a balanced, responsible, post-anthropocentric ethos of care – while arguing that such models must be supplemented by explicitly political and institutional forms of solidarity necessary for ecological and planetary survival.

PHILOSOPHY IN THE WAR MODE: TOWARDS THE PROBLEM OF META-ANALYTICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTICES

Vitalii Mudrakov, Svitlana Kozachenko, Olena Hapchenko — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article outlines the problem and proposes an initial development of meta-analytical approaches to the study of philosophical practices in the war mode, focusing on the contemporary Ukrainian and Russian contexts. The point of departure is the recognition that war constitutes a specific form of international relations and, at the same time, a radical social upheaval in which tensions between philosophy and ideology manifest themselves with renewed force. Under such conditions, philosophical reflections may acquire a public character and begin to function as interpretive frameworks through which societies comprehend their place in the world, the nature of the conflict, and the possibility of future coexistence. In this situation, philosophy is considered as a “rational element” in the formation of social consciousness, capable of signaling the ideological needs or demands of a society’s internal cultural and political regime. The authors concentrate on constructing a meta-position that would allow for the formulation of criteria for analyzing philosophical practices. Criticality and ethicality are proposed as fundamental meta-analytical principles, rooted in Kant’s project of disciplining reason and moral autonomy. Criticality is described as the institutional responsibility of reason for its own limits and as resistance to dogmatism and ideological pressure; ethicality – as an orientation toward human dignity, the inadmissibility of instrumentalizing the other, and the maintenance of thought within the horizon of responsibility. Taken together, these dimensions also make it possible to evaluate philosophical positions not only by their content or argumentation, but by the extent to which they preserve the autonomy of thought and contribute to the development of humanistic foundations within a society experiencing war. The proposed framework is intended to serve as a conceptual basis for further studies of philosophical texts or positions in general and in the war mode in particular, including the analysis of philosophy’s participation in wartime confrontation as a certain instrument, as well as for the comparative study of the philosophical landscapes of Ukraine and Russia.

EDUCATION AS HUMAN PRODUCTION: TOWARDS THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF SERVICE SERVITUDE

Sergey Golikov, Alexander Golikov — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article is devoted to a complex philosophical and sociological analysis of the essential transformation of education as an institution under the dominance of neoliberal rationality. The authors analyze the deep ontological and axiological shifts that lead to a fundamental change in the purpose of the educational process - from the “production of the human” to the production of simulacra. The article proves the thesis that modern education, subordinated to the logic of the market, undergoes a radical reduction: from the process of forming a free, autonomous and critically thinking subjectivity (Bildung) it is transformed into a mechanism for producing “human capital”, and later – into a factory for the production of signs and imitations of knowledge. It describes how the university, which historically was an agora for the search for truth, is transformed into an integral part of the “society of the spectacle”, where the real content of education is supplanted by its denunciatory representation. The authors analyze the specific mechanisms of this transformation. The article argues that these mechanisms lead to the formation of a new anthropological figure – the “consumer student”, whose subjectivity is captured and redefined by the powerful “apparatus” of neoliberal power. The authors pay special attention to the deconstruction of the hegemonic discourse of educational reforms, which operates with the categories of “efficiency”, “competitiveness” and “quality”. The authors contrast it with the strategy of “weak thought” (pensiero debole) of G. Vattimo. In conclusion, the authors argue that the attempt to subordinate education to the logic of service servitude is ontologically impossible and leads to anthropological catastrophe. This impossibility is based on four fundamental principles highlighted by the authors. The article is a call for the revival of the ontological mission of education as a practice of freedom, openness and shared existence, aimed at the production of the human in its existential fullness.

PHILOSOPHY. THE PROBLEM OF TRANSMISSION

Ihor Minakov — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article explores the possibility and limits of thinking itself: what thinking is, and what occurs when it takes place. It asks how one can reflect on the conditions and means through which one thinks, and what happens when thought itself becomes the object of reflection – that is, when philosophizing occurs. This is not a matter of introspection or self-reflection; rather, it aims to distinguish between the concept of thought and thought itself, attempting to remain at the level of pure thought – a “thought without me” – in pursuit of one’s own possible thinking.

Here, the term transmission is understood beyond the usual horizon of teaching or academic presentation. It primarily denotes the “encounter” of thinking with Thinking itself and is treated as an ontological term–a term of philosophical event or philosophy as event. The theme of teaching or schooling is presented as one possible framework for witnessing this event, resisting the conventional academic transmission of philosophy.

Transmission in philosophy cannot be content-based, hermeneutic, logical, or metaphorical; it is exclusively evental and actual. Philosophy in practice reveals a distinction between what the philosopher says and the conditions that make this saying possible.

This article does not focus on Badiou’s own treatment of «transmission», although his work exemplifies how a concept can generate the conditions for its own transmission. The author maintains that the encounter of thought with truth is defined more by «act» than «concept», emphasizing philosophical rigor and the pursuit of genuine thinking over truth itself.

FREUDISM AND PSYCHOANALYTICAL SCHOOLS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

Hanna Yemelianenko, Svitlana Siechka — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article investigates the impact of Freudian ideas on the development of the psychological approach within educational theory and practice. It demonstrates that the psychoanalytic concept of the unconscious, introduced by Sigmund Freud, contributed to the formation of a new paradigm of humanistic activity, in which special attention is paid to the inner world of the individual, their unconscious motives, emotions, values, and moral guidelines. The findings demonstrate that the use of psychoanalytic approaches in educational practice allows for the formation of a holistic personality, self-awareness, and the individual’s moral potential. It is emphasized that the unconscious is an active, substantial part of the psychic space, where the mental and somatic are intertwined. This is where deep sympathies and antipathies arise, the causes of conflicts, as well as the impulses toward heroic or criminal actions that the person themselves is not aware of are formed. It is shown that psychoanalysis, unlike traditional experimental psychology, views a person as a holistic personality, and the method of analyzing free associations, dreams, reservations and transferences makes mental phenomena that were previously hidden even from self-analysis accessible for observation. The contribution of Freud’s students, in particular C. Jung and A. Adler, who developed psychoanalysis in the direction of analytical and individual psychology, has been studied. C. Jung introduced the concepts of the collective unconscious and archetypes, which reflect universal human experience, while A. Adler emphasized the feeling of inferiority and the mechanisms of compensation and overcompensation as factors in character formation. Special consideration is given to neo-Freudianism, whose representatives (E. Fromm, K. Horney, H. Marcuse) combined psychoanalysis with sociological theories, focusing on interpersonal relationships, social anxiety, and processes of alienation in society. It is shown that E. Fromm viewed personality as the result of the interaction of the existential and historical components of being, proposing humanistic planning of society and the development of psycho-spiritual orientations. H. Marcuse used Freudian metapsychology to analyze social constraints, proposing the harmonization of labour and creative activity as a way to overcome alienation. It is concluded that Freudianism and psychoanalytic concepts play a key role in shaping the anthropocentric paradigm of social cognition and a humanistic worldview. They allow us to view humans as spiritual and psychological entities capable of self-knowledge, self-realization, and harmonisation of the inner world, and also provide a scientific and philosophical foundation for the development of humanistic social and anthropological practices in the 20th and 21st centuries.

COMPLEX NET DIAGRAM: TRANSGRESSION – MODIFICATION – TRANSMOGRIFICATION

Oleh Perepelytsia, Vladyslav Mohylat — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article offers a philosophical analysis of transformations of the human being in the context of the development of contemporary technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI). It argues that a post-anthropological situation has emerged in which traditional notions of the autonomous subject, the boundaries of the human body, and the space of cognitive activity are undergoing radical reconsideration. A conceptual diagram is proposed that outlines three levels of (post-/trans-)human transformation – transgression, modification and transmogrification – allowing for the conceptualization of diverse bodily, networked and cultural practices of contemporary society. It is demonstrated that transgression does not abolish the distinctions between the internal and the external, the human and the technological, but rather renders these boundaries mobile and nomadic. It is precisely within the field of transgressed boundaries that human–machine interaction takes place, particularly through neurointerfaces and algorithmic systems, which simultaneously erode the figure of the classical anthropocentric autonomous subject. Modification is interpreted as the main trajectory of transformation, embodied in various transhumanist programs, ideologemes, and practices aimed at the functional enhancement of the body and psyche, especially at the neurocognitive level in interaction with AI. By contrast, transmogrification is understood as a radical form of technogenic deformation that exceeds any formal normativity, image, or stable form, while not altering the already transgressed “essence.” Accordingly, the article argues that contemporary technologies give rise to the figure of the trans(in)dividual – a multiple, decentered being that acts and thinks within networks of human and non-human actors. This perspective opens the possibility of rethinking key modern concepts such as subjectivity, property, and creativity. At the same time, it is concluded that a crucial issue for the human today concerns the relationship between technological development and practices of emancipation.

ASTÉISM 2.0: A CULTURAL BRIDGE BETWEEN THE SOPHISTS AND CHATBOTS

Nataliia Popova, Vladyslav Prokopenko — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study examines the radical transformation of rhetorical structures in the era of digital ontology, focusing on the phenomenon of algorithmic asteism as a key symptom of the crisis of subjectivity in contemporary discourse. The authors employ an interdisciplinary methodological framework combining the archaeological analysis of discursive formations (Foucault), the phenomenological reduction of intentional structures (Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Hegel), ontological inquiry (Heidegger, Searle), and deconstructive critique of logocentrism (Derrida). They demonstrate how the classical rhetorical figure of asteism – a delicate balancing of praise and blame – undergoes an ontological mutation under conditions of algorithmic mediation of communication, for instance, in interactions with chatbots like ChatGPT.

The central thesis posits that algorithmic asteism constitutes a paradoxical ontological event: a rhetorical form without a rhetorician, irony without an ironist, recognition without a subject of recognition. This phenomenon reveals the autonomy of linguistic structures as a self-sufficient ontological process that generates semantic tensions beyond the scope of human intentionality. The research traces the genealogy of asteism from its origins as a sophistic technique related to ambivalence (Gorgias, Protagoras) through Socratic irony as purification (Plato), Aristotelian eutrapelia as an ethical measure of wit, to contemporary algorithmic simulations. It demonstrates how digital rhetoric emerges not as a continuation of the classical tradition but as its radical deconstruction: a pharmakon – simultaneously remedy and poison, a «game» without a player, where statistical patterns mimic ambivalence but are devoid of genuine interlocutor psychology.

Particular attention is paid to the phenomenological analysis of quasi-dialogical structures in human-algorithm interaction, where the absence of genuine machine intentionality is compensated for by an excess of user interpretation, creating an illusion of mutual understanding as a «conversation with one's own echo, mediated by code». This shapes the ambivalent nature of the phenomenon as a pharmakon of modernity: simultaneously a stimulant for metacognitive development and the democratization of wit, and a threat of atrophy of authentic dialogue and a dependency on simulated interactions.

The theoretical significance of the work lies in articulating a new problematic for post-subjective philosophy: the possibility of phenomenology without noesis, ethics without the Other (following Levinas), and rhetoric without an addressee. Practical implications concern the development of new approaches to digital ethics and reflection on the transformation of cultural communication practices under conditions of total algorithmization of discourse. Asteism emerges as a cultural bridge between eras with a Trojan potential: it connects ancient sophistry with algorithmic chatbots, but risks eroding the essence of human communication.

THE AMBIGUITY OF POST-TRUTH: FROM MODAL POWER TO THE INSTABILITY OF THE POSSIBLE

Oleksandr Makarov — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The study develops a conceptual framework of post-truth ambiguïté to make sense of epistemological transformations in the digital age. In classical rhetoric, ambiguity was considered a stylistic flaw, whereas in 20th-century phenomenology it became a condition of human experience. The article argues that under the conditions of post-truth, ambiguity is transformed into an operational logic of knowledge, defining the structure of reality. Drawing on Steve Fuller's theory of modal power, which interprets post-truth as a competition between internally consistent discourses to establish the boundaries of the necessary, the work reveals the limits of this approach: its inability to explain the internal ambivalence of discourses where the boundary between fact and fiction loses its clarity. The concept of post-truth ambiguïté is introduced as an epistemological regime that emphasizes the instability of knowledge, where every discourse combines the necessary with the possible. The relevance of the study is driven by the crisis of traditional epistemological categories, caused by digital technologies – deepfakes, large language models (LLMs), personalization algorithms – which fragment reality, making instability its defining characteristic. In contrast to Fuller's understanding of post-truth as a competition for modal power, ambiguïté emphasizes the internal indeterminacy of discourses, offering a new analytical perspective. The scientific novelty lies in creating a typology of modal power regimes – Platonic (monopolization of the necessary), Fullerian (pluralization of the possible), and ambiguïté (instability of the possible) – which systematizes the logics of knowledge without historical linearity. The study offers an original interpretation of the «Botul» hoax (1999) as a paradigmatic manifestation of ambiguïté, where fiction generates productive knowledge, as well as an analysis of digital technologies as generators of internal ambivalence within discourses. The methodology synthesizes Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological approach with post-truth theory to analyze digital phenomena. The work reconstructs Fuller's vision of modal power, critically assesses its limitations, and proposes ambiguïté as an optic that reveals the instability of discourses. The goal is to develop a conceptual foundation of post-truth ambiguïté that explains contemporary epistemological challenges and their philosophical and ethical consequences.

PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN AND MACHINE MORALITY IN THE CONTEXT OF ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Illia Shein — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article deals with a comprehensive analysis of the problem of the correlation between human and machine morality in the context of rapid development and spread of artificial intelligence technologies. It addresses the ethical challenges facing modern society regarding the emergence of algorithms capable of making decisions that have moral consequences, and outlines the potential role of machines as moral agents.

The article provides a comparative review of leading foreign concepts of machine ethics, covering classical reflections on the total nature of technologies and contemporary research focusing on the artificial intelligence moral status, machine intentionality, the risks of algorithm self-improvement, and the need to introduce ethical regulation mechanisms. There is an emphasis on the impossibility of machine morality due to the lack of subjective experiences in AI.

The paper highlights the peculiarities of Ukrainian academic discourse, which combines a normative-applied approach to artificial intelligence ethics with fundamental philosophical categories, including subjectivity, consciousness, and responsibility. The analysis allows one to conclude that national scientists focus mainly on the practical aspects of the artificial intelligence application, the development of ethical standards, institutional control mechanisms, and the improvement of users' ethical literacy.

There is an attempt to outline the prospects for integrating classical and modern philosophical approaches to machine ethics with the practical requirements of the national regulation of artificial intelligence, to identify theoretical guidelines and current tasks for further research in the field of machine ethics.

The article proves the importance of creating a national model of artificial intelligence ethics, identifies and characterizes its main components. It describes the practical application of the philosophical foundations of the national model of artificial intelligence, defines tasks, and emphasizes the importance of combining international experience with local cultural and ethical characteristics.

DIGITAL CULTURE IN MODERN UKRAINE: PHILOSOPHICAL DIMENSIONS OF THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN THE CONTEXT OF NATIONAL IDENTITY PROBLEMS

Olena Tytar, Oksana Bulgakova — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A new approach to the analysis of the digital culture of modern Ukraine is proposed as a space of intersection of technological modernization, conditioned by the logic of the fourth industrial revolution, and state-building practices of Ukrainian national identity. The purpose of the study is to consider the philosophical dimensions of the digital culture of Ukraine in the logic of the fourth industrial revolution through the problem of national identity, in particular, the characteristics of how digital infrastructures transform belonging, how digital social solidarity arises and consists of what ethical challenges accompany this process. Methods: analytical method, synergistic principle, holistic approaches to society, socio-philosophical analysis, theories of information and information society, elements of discourse analysis of digital media. Scientific novelty. It is proved that digitalization in Ukraine cannot be reduced to a technocratic upgrade of services: it forms new modes of belonging, solidarity, trust, and autonomy, which become part of the normative core of the national idea. Through the prism of the phenomena of digital nationalism, data as a resource of power, technological sovereignty and information warfare, it is argued that the Ukrainian case demonstrates a special type of «digital modernity under pressure»: institutional resilience and civic engagement are strengthened by digital infrastructures, but at the same time the risks of external dependence, «data colonization» and algorithmic inequality are increasing. The latest research shows how digital public services and the co-production of public services in a crisis support the trust and subjectivity of citizens; network identities in social media during war tend to strengthen intra-group solidarity; information security and regulation become an element of the political ethics of the nation. The concept of a “digital national idea” is proposed as a combination of dignity, freedom, solidarity, technological sovereignty, the rule of law and openness. Conclusions. A philosophical framework is proposed that combines: the concepts of «digitalization» and «platformization» of cultural production and the mediation of social ties; the ethics of digital governance and «soft ethics» as a tool for regulating technological systems; the issues of digital sovereignty and «data» as a resource of power; the anthropological challenges of Industry 4.0 (reformatting of labor, corporeality, agency, trust, and solidarity). Ukraine demonstrates a special type of digital modernization, where the war acted as a «critical turning point» and an accelerator of digital cooperation between the state, local communities, and civil society. It is argued that Ukraine’s digital culture is not reduced purely to «technical progress», but is a field of ethical identity choices, where national identity acquires the features of network solidarity and symbolic defense.

PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTIONS ON OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE MEASURE

Volodymyr Shapoval — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article attempts to analyze the problem of the correlation between objective and subjective measure as a form of human attitude toward the world, as well as the value orientations on which one must rely in the course of life activity. Practice shows that theoretical and practical activity can be successful only if it corresponds to a certain objective measure or to the order and regularities of the world itself. On the other hand, a person’s absolute adherence to the objective measure leads to passive adaptation and excludes purposeful cognition, creativity, and the creation of the new. When a person relies exclusively on the subjective measure, they fall into the opposite extreme, plunging either into mythological superstitions or into reason-abandoned arbitrariness. If we speak of free will as an expression of subjective measure, this freedom is quite relative. A person may confidently believe that they act on the basis of their free will, but the negative results of their actions will soon reveal the fallacy of such assumptions. External reality, with all its insistence, will force a person to rebuild their strategy in accordance with objective reality if they wish to achieve the desired result. Most likely, only when a person’s subjective measure comes into a certain resonance with the objective measure of the world does something new emerge – something previously unseen in nature.

Having received reason and free will, a human being brings their subjective measure into any form of activity, transforming the world according to their interests and aims. Although their actions do not always yield the desired result, they have no other scale or mode of action except acting in accordance with their subjective measure. If we are to be consistent, we must acknowledge that in order for humanity to preserve itself and continue to move along the path of progress, it is necessary to maintain a balance between the objective and subjective measure and to make this principle the foundation of one’s worldview and the methodology of practical activity aimed at transforming the world. There are serious grounds to believe that nature exists independently, absolutely indifferent to humans, their interests and needs – alien and hostile to reason and life in general. Entropy in the world as a whole increases. However, in certain segments of it, order increases, and a person – endowed with reason and subjective measure – must comprehensively sustain and develop this order, seeing in this their highest purpose and the meaning of life.

(RE)SEARCH FOR THE DOCTOR IN HEALTH POLICY

Michael Shilman, Kyrylo Shyrokov — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article offers an analysis of the «position of the doctor» in the context of the healthcare system, where he acts as a trusted professional who must operate according to the principles of approved and institutionally supported models of doctor-patient relationships (DPR) in accordance with current health policy, as well as in the context of ordinary medical practice, where doctors are bound to deal directly with patients – usually abnormal, incompetent and disobedient – who always have their own ideas about «health», «the goals of medicine», «well-being», etc., and, as consumers, demand solutions to issues and problems «related to health». According to the authors, the general problem context is the uncertainty and impossibility of a monistic definition of the concept of «health», which, however, does not prevent it from occupying a central place in normative communication between doctor and patient, appearing in it as their common goal and as the subject of constructive discussions of mutually acceptable solutions for achieving it. At the same time, the «common language», which is the key to reaching agreement on the scope, methods, and expected results of medical intervention through a certain distribution of power and responsibility between the doctor and the patient, cannot be imagined as a given, ready-to-use, licensed utility, but comes from negotiations and dotted conspiracies between the doctor and a specific patient, that is, through the formation of their power relations. The latter (in terms of Foucault's micro-physics of power) are understood as special, individual, uncertain «low» tactics, which are finalised and formalised at the «upper echelons» of health policy using DPR regulatory models. Thus, a true practising physician should be understood as someone who, in each case (patient), must arbitrarily determine the level of their «power conductivity».

TRANSFORMATIONS OF FRENCH PHILOSOPHY OF THE BODY AT THE TURN OF THE 20TH–21ST CENTURIES

Vitalii Hetman — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In recent decades, French philosophy of the body has taken shape at the intersection of the phenomenology of lived experience, an intersubjective ontology, and the historical–cultural regimes of discipline. As digital interfaces, exosomatic memory carriers, and new regimes of visibility reshape practices of attention, care, and interaction, there is a need for a framework that explains not only what embodiment is, but how and why its interpretations change. This article surveys contemporary French approaches that combine phenomenology of experience, intersubjective ontology, and historical – cultural/social reconstructions. Key authors and corpora include Michel Henry, Jean-Luc Nancy, Jean-Luc Marion, and – foundationally – Maurice Merleau-Ponty; as well as Michel Foucault, Georges Vigarello, Pierre Bourdieu, Bernard Stiegler, Catherine Malabou, Paul Virilio, and interdisciplinary work in media philosophy, cultural history, and the sociology of the body (David Le Breton, among others). To reconstruct and theorize transformations in French philosophy of the body from the late 20th to early 21st century by integrating affective-phenomenological, intersubjective, and event-phenomenological approaches with historical–cultural and techno-mediated conditions; to identify mechanisms of conceptual evolution; and to propose an operative model of “medial embodiment.” Despite a large literature, the field still lacks an integrated frame linking the “first-person” of bodily experience with intercorporeal address and institutional mechanisms of normalization. As a result, accounts remain fragmented – either “from within” experience or “from without” via norms, techniques, and interfaces. The proposed model of medial embodiment combines phenomenological description with empirical protocols, opening paths to comparative analyses of cultural “economies of attention” and to ethical–legal reflection on prosthetic forms of embodiment. An interdisciplinary approach combining phenomenology with the historical– cultural genealogy of discipline/self-discipline and a media-philosophical analysis of exosomatic memory, plasticity, and interfaces. French concepts are compared with Anglophone embodiment studies to align theory with empirical work. Methods include content and discourse analysis, media-archaeological mapping, and close reading of philosophical texts, historical–political documents, and materials of media culture.

THE PHENOMENON OF LANGUAGE IN ONTOLOGICAL, GNOSEOLOGICAL AND AXIOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Lesya Blyzniuk, Ivan Tolstov, Victor Chernyshov — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article presents a comprehensive philosophical analysis of language as a multidimensional phenomenon, integrating ontological, gnoseological, and axiological aspects closely connected to human existence, social reality, and cultural identity. Language is viewed not merely as a tool of communication but as a fundamental element shaping cognition, thought, perception, and social interaction. The study traces the evolution of philosophical reflection on language: from Plato and Aristotle’s inquiries into names, meaning, and the connection between language and thought, through medieval disputes between realism and nominalism concerning universals, to the twentieth century ‘linguistic turn’, which positioned language at the centre of philosophical investigation. Particular attention is given to contemporary interdisciplinary approaches, including cognitive linguistics and the analysis of relations between human language and artificial intelligence, highlighting the uniqueness of human linguistic activity and the ontological significance of grammatical categories such as person, tense, and relational structures. Ukrainian scholars’ contributions are examined, treating language as a bridge between ontology and gnoseology, emphasising its axiological dimension manifested in cultural value transmission, socialisation, and identity formation. Ontological analysis employs theories of meaning; gnoseological analysis examines the language/speech dichotomy and linguistic relativity; axiological analysis demonstrates language’s role in preserving and transmitting cultural, moral, and social norms. Language is concluded to constitute a universal semiotic space uniting being, knowledge, and values, whose integrated study enables deeper understanding of human cognition, communication, culture, and sociality, and opens avenues for further interdisciplinary inquiry.

ABSOLUTIZATION OF POETRY: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TREND

Oleksandr Loiko — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article examines the intellectual tendency that, in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, fostered an intensified convergence between poetry and philosophical thought, gradually granting poetic practice the status of a universal form of knowledge. The study considers both the historical preconditions of this process and the conceptual shifts through which the poetic began to be perceived not merely as an aesthetic phenomenon, but as a distinctive mode of thinking capable of revealing truths inaccessible to traditional philosophical methods. The author analyzes how changes in the intellectual climate influenced the interpretation of poetry within the Western humanities tradition and offers a reconstruction of this shift.

A significant part of the article is devoted to the analysis of how Jean-Paul Sartre conceptualized poetic writing in the context of his critique of «surrealism». Sartre views poetry as a linguistic mode that does not submit to logic and thus destabilizes the usual structure of meaning-making. He emphasizes that the poetic word is freed from the desire to accurately fix events or objects, and therefore inevitably disrupts classical notions of the «order of objectivity» or subject–object relations. Sartre’s warnings about the «poeticization» of prose demonstrate how threatening he considered the mixing of generic and semantic regimes to be, especially when language loses transparency and shifts into the realm of ambiguity. In this reading, Sartre appears not only as a critic of a particular artistic movement but also as a thinker who was among the first to grasp the broader cultural turn toward a poetic mode of thinking.

Sartre’s diagnosis is juxtaposed with the position of Jean Paulhan. The latter characterizes the cultural situation through the opposition of «rhetoricians» and «terrorists», showing how the poetic gradually came to occupy a place that had previously belonged to philosophical discourse. The article highlights that both conceptual frameworks help to clarify the principles that facilitated the expanding power of the poetic word.

Part of the study is devoted to Alain Badiou’s theory, according to which the «age of the poets» is the period in which philosophy transfers its prerogatives concerning truth to art. The author argues that, although Badiou assigns a central role to Heidegger, the origins of this shift should be sought earlier – in Nietzsche’s interpretation of poetry as a universal mode of apprehending life. An analysis of The Birth of Tragedy shows that poetry, for Nietzsche, arises at the intersection of the Apollonian and the Dionysian, forming a space of productive tension between individuation and self-forgetting.

The article concludes that postmodern forms of philosophical writing emerged largely under the influence of Nietzsche’s understanding of poetry as a privileged model of knowledge. It was Nietzsche’s reconceptualization of the poetic in The Birth of Tragedy that created the conditions under which authors of philosophical texts could abandon linear argumentation and turn toward fragmentary, metaphorical, and multilayered styles of exposition. In this sense, postmodern theory follows Nietzsche’s gesture, radicalizing it in its own experimental linguistic practices.

THE AMBIVALENCE OF PLAY: PAIDIA VS LUDUS

Anton Alekseenko — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the philosophical and cultural understanding of play with an emphasis on her ambivalent nature and dual modes of expression. Central is the distinction between paidia and ludus – spontaneous, creative playfulness versus structured, institutionalized play. In history of philosophy context drawing on classical works by Roger Caillois and Johan Huizinga key characteristics of games, such as freedom, limitation, uncertainty of outcome, non-productivity, regularity, and fictiveness, as well as the classification of game types (agon, alea, mimicry, ilinx) are analyzed. These categories often interact and sometimes conflict, highlighting the complexity and multifaceted character of play. The article situates ludus within a historical philosophical tradition from Plato and Aristotle to Huizinga and Caillois, where play is treated as organized practice, while paidia represents an ontological concept in Heraclitus, Nietzsche, and Deleuze, where play embodies fluidity, creativity, and self-affirmation. Special attention is given to the impact of video games on contemporary ludology: their widespread popularity reinforces the perception of play as ludus, yet the authors argue that the true nature of play also encompasses paidia – spontaneous imagination and freedom of action. The study stresses the need to understand play as a complex phenomenon combining rules and creativity, structure and randomness, institutionalization and individual freedom, and as an inseparable aspect of culture and human existence. In conclusion, the authors suggest that contemporary ludology and philosophical studies of video games gain the greatest insight when they account for the dual nature of play, enabling humans to be both participants within systems and creators of their own experience.

CULTURE OF LIFE CREATIVITY AS A PHENOMENON OF PERSONAL BEING IN THE MODERN WORLD

Nataliia Bohdanova — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article examines the culture of life-creation as a phenomenon of personal existence in the context of globalization and civilizational transformations of the modern world, covering the socio-cultural, economic, spiritual-value and technological spheres. The relevance of the study is due to the growing need of modern man for conscious self-creation, reflective understanding of his own life experience, and the formation of an individual life strategy in conditions of postmodern uncertainty, fragmentation of meanings, and changes in axiological guidelines.

The focus of scientific attention is on the problem of the culture of life creativity, which is interpreted as an integrative characteristic of the personality and combines value-ideological, activity-creative, and reflexive-semantic components. The author emphasizes that the modern humanitarian paradigm – in philosophy, psychology, and pedagogy – requires a rethinking of creativity not only as a professional or artistic competence, but as a universal way of being human, aimed at a harmonious combination of freedom, responsibility, and self-realization.

The purpose of the study is to theoretically substantiate the culture of life-creativity as a holistic phenomenon that forms the basis for self-determination, moral and value choices, and the construction of life meaning. The methodological basis of the article is formed by cultural, phenomenological, person-centered and psychological approaches, which ensure the interdisciplinary nature of the analysis. In the process of research, the leading scientific concepts of life creation were generalized, and a conceptual and categorical basis was formed for further empirical explorations.

The result of the study was the identification of key components of the culture of life creativity as: the ability to make value choices, reflect on life, self-determination, as well as the ability to create meaning and transform the environment. The importance of creating educational and social conditions for stimulating the life-creating activity of the individual is emphasized.

The conclusions substantiate that the formation of a culture of life-creating should become a priority direction of modern educational, psychological and socio-cultural policy. Prospects for further research are seen in the creation of diagnostic tools for measuring the level of a person's life-creating culture, as well as in the development of programs for the development of life-creating potential in the educational environment, professional training, and personal growth practices.

COEXISTENCE AS A FORM OF EXISTENCE: THE ANCIENT ORIGINS OF ECOLOGICAL THINKING

Yuliia Taglina, Volodymyr Liutyi — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article explores the concept of co-being as a form of existence rooted in ancient philosophy, particularly in the thought of Heraclitus. The authors argue that the problem of co-being – namely, the mutual existence of the human being, nature, society, and the cosmos – belongs to the sphere of fundamental ontological questions, as it reflects the mode of human existence in the world and its relation to the whole. The study traces how the ancient notion of φύσις in the philosophy of the Milesian school, Anaximander, and Heraclitus shaped an understanding of being as a dynamic, self-unfolding process that maintains the unity of all forms of existence. Heraclitus’s principle of the unity of opposites, according to which conflict and tension constitute the condition of harmony, is interpreted as the first philosophical formulation of the idea of co-being.

Drawing on interpretations by modern scholars of ancient philosophy (E. Theodossiou, V. Manimanis, R. Neels, K. Begley, N.-L. Cordero) the authors demonstrate that early Greek thought on phýsis presupposes a relational ontology, in which being is conceived not as a set of isolated entities but as a network of interrelations and mutual dependencies. This ontology of wholeness and interpenetration provides the philosophical foundations for contemporary ecological thinking. Within this context, co-being signifies not merely an ethical demand for coexistence but the very mode of human existence in which the individual is inseparable from the natural and cosmic whole.

The ancient conception of world unity expressed through phýsis and logos is interpreted as a philosophical prototype of the modern ecosystemic model of being. The authors emphasize that a return to this worldview principle may offer a way to overcome technocratic and anthropocentric modes of thought that have contributed to the current ecological and spiritual crises. The restoration of co-being thus appears as an ontological precondition for the formation of a new ecological culture and an ethics of responsibility for the integrity of life. Therefore, the philosophy of co-being is understood not only as a rethinking of ancient heritage but also as a conceptual response to the challenges of modern civilization, which urgently requires the harmonization of the relations between humanity, nature, and the cosmos.

THE SEARCH FOR RELIGION AS AN EXISTENTIAL NEED OF A HUMAN

Roman Kharchenko — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In today's world, on the one hand, there are negative and positive aspects of globalisation processes that affect the crisis of culture, traditional values, national identity, and on the other hand, there is a search for identity, attempts to form a new identity based on national and religious identity. The substantive aspect of the concept of ‘religious search’ is considered, which may mean the creation of associations of believers beyond the framework of religious tradition, and the functional aspect, which includes the search for religious identity in collective or individual forms. It is shown that religious search is based on an existential need and a deep individualisation of religious meanings. The gnoseological status of the religious phenomenon can be determined for an individual in different ways, although these ways are largely determined by the personal characteristics of the subject and the sociocultural context of religious search. It has been established that the driving force behind the search for a worldview is not the need for meaning in life itself, but the frustration of the need that arises from the lack of knowledge, without which an individual cannot function normally. Internal conflict exhausts and enslaves a person, pushing them to seek certainty through the search for information that can lead to knowledge, in which they find new meanings necessary for themselves. The existential need to seek religion is preceded by a more or less profound and prolonged crisis associated with the experience of one's own imperfection and the imperfection of the surrounding world, when a person encounters the impossibility of continuing to perceive the world within the horizon of previous horizons, of adapting existing ideas to what has unexpectedly opened up through an extraordinary event or realisation. It is argued that the time of the emergence of worldview crises is determined by the logic of the development of an individual's consciousness in ontogenesis. In general terms, the mechanisms of cognition and awareness of oneself as a single whole capable of striving for active self-expression are analysed. The dominance of the need for meaning in life is aimed at social inclusion, social realisation and ‘social service’. Accordingly, a worldview crisis associated with an individual's loss of meaning in life most often develops on the basis of frustration of the need to be in demand by society. A worldview crisis and disappointment in the social world can lead to the most dramatic mental states and even suicidal behaviour. It is emphasised that, in addition to an individual's predisposition to faith, the search for religion is influenced by sociocultural factors and the existential needs of the individual.

NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI IN THE GENERATION OF IDEAS ON PERSONALITY SELF-PRESENTATION

Lidiya Komkova — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article notes that under conditions of information-communicative transformations, philosophers are increasingly focused on the thorough study of models for managing social relations and organizing human interactions – from everyday life to the digital sphere – by examining those cultural and civilizational coordinates that rely not on coercion but on persuasion, symbolic communication, and socio-psychological mechanisms. It is shown that among such practices a special place is occupied by the phenomenon of personal representation, not only in terms of an external “wrapper,” but in terms of creating a complex semiotic system through which institutions, collectives, and individuals – as visual agents and actors – interact with one another, generating trust, strong reliability, and a sense of security in response to their activity. In contemporary discursive practices, this refers to image. It is noted that today image is increasingly regarded as symbolic personal capital: a resource that provides opportunities for advancement, access to social prestige, and effectiveness of activity in the political, economic, and scientific spheres. In this sense, image ceases to be a secondary episode of PR practices and becomes an element of professional competence: the ability to communicate and maintain a reputation becomes a component of the qualification of managers, politicians, and specialists in various fields, where the presentation of a socially active individual occupies a defining place. In the article, it is demonstrated that the ideas of the outstanding Renaissance thinker Niccolò Machiavelli gain renewed relevance, alongside the interpretation of his thoughts within the new realities of the digitalization of social space. Additionally, it is emphasized that the analysis of image in the context of contemporary transformations goes beyond purely communicative studies and becomes part of a broader humanitarian problematics, related to personal self-identification, mechanisms of social recognition, and ways in which individuals interact with visually saturated environments. It is also argued that image, as an element of social presence, shapes a particular type of cultural sensitivity, in which rational strategies of impression management are combined with the emotional responses of audiences. In this context, it is also important to consider the dynamics of institutional roles, which influence the formation of social expectations and interaction practices. This combination facilitates a rethinking of Machiavelli’s classical political concepts, opening the possibility for their adaptation to the mediatized culture of the 21st century and new forms of digital communication.

MORAL AND ETHICAL GUIDELINES OF SPIRITUAL SELF-IMPROVEMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN UKRAINIAN MEDIEVAL THOUGHT

Olena Hudzenko — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the moral and ethical guidelines of spiritual self-improvement of the individual in Ukrainian medieval thought, which developed within the context of the Christian tradition and the cultural-historical transformations of the epoch. The study analyzes the concepts of self-perfection presented in the works of thinkers of the Kyivan Rus period and later authors, who constructed their understanding of the spiritual nature of the human being through a synthesis of anthropological, ethical, and religious-philosophical factors. Particular attention is paid to such moral orientations as inner responsibility, temperance, doing good, and the ability for self-transformation through asceticism, prayer, inner peace, and work on one’s shortcomings. The research emphasizes the connection between a person’s spiritual experience and the socio-cultural conditions that shaped moral ideals significant for the Ukrainian intellectual tradition. The role of mystical experience is highlighted separately, especially practices of concentration and silent contemplation, which were viewed as a path to a deeper comprehension of the meaning of existence and moral truth. Based on an analysis of historical-philosophical sources, it is shown that Ukrainian medieval thought offers a holistic model of spiritual development, in which moral norms function not as external regulators of behavior but as an internal foundation for forming a mature, responsible, and harmonious personality. The results of the study make it possible to reconsider the role of the moral and ethical heritage of the Middle Ages in contemporary humanitarian discourse and outline prospects for its application in shaping today’s value culture

NOODYNAMICS AND NOOGENETIC NEUROSIS THROUGH THE PRISM OF KLEIN'S PSYCHOANALYSIS: ALPHA FUNCTION, SELF-REGULATION AND CRISIS OF MEANING

Anastasiya Shcherbakova — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this article is to reconstruct the logotherapeutic concept of noodynamics and noogenetic symptoms using the theoretical achievements of the Klein school of psychoanalysis in the context of cognitive processes and sensemaking. The subject of the study is noodynamics and symptoms of noogenetic neurosis, as they are presented in the existential analysis of V. Frankl, and the object is the structural organization of those driving forces that determine the dynamics of the life of the mind/individual sensemaking, as presented in the theoretical apparatus of the representatives of the Klein school (M. Klein, W. Bion, R. Laing). The concept of noodynamics in the context of individual self-regulation is analyzed. Klein's concept of anxiety containment is researched in the context of the individual's ability to conscious self-regulation and sensemaking. The role that M. Klein assigns to gratitude in the context of the internal ability to produce and maintain holistic meanings and the formation of connections with the world, as well as thinking itself, is considered. The dichotomy of the depressive/schizoid position in Klein's psychoanalysis is analyzed in the context of the individual's ability to form and maintain holistic meanings, and accordingly, his ability to noodynamics. The idea of R. Laing's ontological security/insecurity is researched in the context of Klein's depressive/schizoid position. The concept of Bion's alpha function in the context of the possibility of thinking and self-reflection in connection with the individual's ability to conscious self-regulation is analyzed. The idea of Bion's beta elements is explored in the context of the existential (S. Kierkegaard, P. Tillich, I. Yalom) and logotherapeutic (Frankl) ideas about anxiety - that is, the ontological indispensability of the opposition of the internal conceptual apparatus of sense-making of the individual to the noogenetic urgency of death anxiety. The connection of gratitude and thinking in Arendt's philosophy is analyzed in the context of the structural role of gratitude in a depressive position.

GERMAN AESTHETICS IN THE KHARKIV WORKS OF STEPAN FEDCHYSHYN (1899–1971)

Volodymyr Abashnik — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article analyzes the aesthetic position of the forgotten Ukrainian philosopher, critic and theorist of aesthetics Stepan Fedchyshyn (1899–1971). In this context, his biographical and creative path is reconstructed for the first time, within which two periods of scientific and creative activity are distinguished: 1) the Kharkiv period (1926–1933) and 2) the Lviv period (1945–1971). The first period covers the formation of his aesthetic position, particularly during his postgraduate studies at the Ukrainian Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Kharkiv, his subsequent teaching at various higher education institutions in Kharkiv, and his management of the Institute of Red Professors. Separately mentioned are Stepan Fedchyshyn's accusation by the Stalinist regime of Ukrainian nationalism and his subsequent two arrests and imprisonment in Soviet concentration camps in northern russia (1933–1941). The second period covers Stepan Fedchyshyn's teaching in Zhytomyr and Lviv, including at Lviv University until 1970, where he influenced the development of aesthetic thought and had his own students and supporters.

The main part of this article focuses on a selective analysis of Stepan Fedchyshyn's aesthetic works during his Kharkiv period. Firstly, we discuss his publication “Hegel's Aesthetics” (1928), and secondly, his works on Marxist aesthetics, in particular “Marxism and Aesthetics” (1928) and “Plekhanov as the Founder of Marxist Aesthetics” (1928). In the first publication, at the beginning he analyzed the features of Hegel's philosophical system, the place of aesthetics in it, and turned to German predecessors in aesthetics (Baumgarten, Lessing, Winkelmann, Sulzer), as well as touching on the aesthetic views of Kant and Schiller. The Kharkiv author then focused his attention on Schelling's lectures on the philosophy of art, which the latter first gave at the University of Jena in the winter semester of 1802/1803 and which were later published by his son (1859). Fedchyshyn then moves on to analyze the peculiarities of Hegel's aesthetic concept, although he focuses specifically on the first volume of Hegel's “Lectures on Aesthetics”, citing both the first (1835) and second (1842) editions edited by his student H. G. Hotho. Here, the Kharkiv author refers to Marx and Engels, pointing to Hegel's achievements in aesthetics, but at the same time criticizing him and considering his aesthetics as an intermediate stage to Marxist aesthetics, to which he devoted the two aforementioned works. The conclusions point to the role of Stepan Fedchyshyn in the formation of early Ukrainian Marxist aesthetics in the 1920s and early 1930s, although his position was influenced by the Soviet ideology of the time.