WAR AND NATION (A ETUDE ON THE EXISTENTIAL ANALYTICS OF THE EXISTENCE "UKRAINE")

Abstract

The subject of the next text will be war. The topic of war, the situation of war, war as a "reality" and as a "possibility" can be considered in a wide variety of perspectives - from "material-technical", "historical-ethnic", "ethical-cultural", etc. etc. The variety, which is hardly possible to exhaust here, and has even been outlined. But, at least as an attempt to begin, we can collect and distribute the latter under the titles of "technos", "pathos", "usia" and "ontos". From this, we are interested in the perspective and the way to consider the matter from the point of view of philosophy. Under the title "pathos" we will leave mental states and psychological aporias in the situation when the war is going on. Under the title "technos" we will leave the region of resources, means, methods and structures of war. Knowing that the title "usia" (in the classical sounding "substance") and the corresponding region of thinking has always been at the disposal of philosophy, we, however, do not want to move in the space and style of "metaphysics of war". That is, we do not want to interpret why war came into the world, how this coming is connected with the question of good and evil, what is the "metaphysical" basis and essence of war, etc. At the same time, we will have to retain some metaphysical meanings and fix some metaphysical perspectives - "metaphysical" not from the point of view of the "method", but from the point of view of the "dimensions of the subjects» to be considered.

We will move in the horizon outlined by two postulates. First: war is the fulfillment of some essential possibility. Second: as such, this possibility is an essential possibility of human presence. We also accept one limitation here. Namely, we will talk about Ukraine and the war in Ukraine. And about the current war in Ukraine as about, so to speak, a "case of thinking" and/or a "case of entry" of the "what" and the "how" of "Ukraine" as a thing-that-exists. It is clear that this consideration will have the character of no more than a sketch to the above. We will talk about this war as something that does not belong to the order of local things and affairs, but to the order of the mentioned opportunity to be present belonging to being. Therefore, we have to connect the war to this "what" and this "how" of "Ukraine".

Since this war is "external aggression", is an aggressive invasion of Russia - at least in this respect (but not only in this respect) - we will have to talk about "Russia". Quotation marks are used to separate any "quasi-natural" reminiscences here. "Russia" in this discourse is not a country, but also a certain being possibility and way of presence.