Matsne. - Proceedings of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, Series in Philosophy. – Tbilisi. – 2003.- N1-2. – In Georgian lang.
Publication of "What is philosophy?" by Archil Begiashvili is continued.
I. Kalandia. Civil society and culture. Civil society is one of the ideals of our contemporary mankind. Demand of control of functioning of state, the officials and the bureaucracy by public organizations is an important specificity of the civil society. Culture as a value phenomenon reflects the process of humanization of man and as such it is a basis for formation of man as a tolerant being, a person who realizes himself in accordance with the highest values common to all mankind. Civil society is the proper field for such activity of man.
A. Berdzenishvili. Informative society and power. The aim of the article is to analyze the scientific theory that stresses the principal importance of knowledge and information while characterizing the contemporary social situation. Development of society depends on the development of information and knowledge. The process of informatization of society causes destruction of the borders of the national states, harms their originality and legitimacy within a certain geographic area, as the new leading society is a society of global nets. Accordingly power undergoes a strong metamorphosis. Its centre as well as its sources is shifted. Neither violence, nor wealth, but knowledge - information turns the main source of power.
R. Gordeziani. Karl Jaspers on historicity. K. Jaspers sharply distinguishes between two notions of history and historicity. In the second sense history refers to theoretical knowledge about history realized in historical sciences. In this scope man is represented as restrained "public consciousness" (in Kantian sense), enclosed within the limits of theoretical knowledge. As to historicity, in it man is engaged in the process of free existential becoming. In exalted existential flashes eternity is revealed to an individual. In such flashes man is a paradoxical unity of temporal and eternal. It is not theoretical cognition of Deity, but conviction in existence of Deity through listening to metaphysical language of codes.
S. Ratiani. Possible constitutions of existentz on the background of Kierkegaard's philosophy. The article deals with the history of existentz on the background of Kierkegaard's philosophy. Therefore it is necessary to "translate" traditional philosophy, which is conceptual reasoning into "the language" of characters and plots. Kierkegaard does not attempt at creating a system, as the system is already formed. His aim is to find and reconstruct the lost individuality. He is in search of characters, talks to them and among them he talks to the creator of the system i.e. the knowing man. Stages of "development" of man's existentz given by the Danish philosopher are represented in this context.
T. Mtibelashvili. Symbols of culture and their function in the system of being. In our historical life and culture there is always present such element that is unyielding to a thorough analysis and can be understood only with the help of symbols. Such cultural symbols-forms penetrate mysteriously into man's inner world and generate corresponding forms in him. These forms reside in him in their "pure" aspect and then our existence becomes wholly similar to the "sphere" in which there are no "privileged spots". This must be considered the ultimate aim of man's cultural development as such "spherical" condition of our existence includes in itself not only the personified "I" of this or that culture, but the wholeness of "not-I" – all really existing or possible in future cultures.
A. Bakradze. Life of Father Pavel Florenskii and the problem of truth in his religious philosophy. The article deals with the principal issues of life and creative work of the famous Russian religious philosopher and scientist. The author emphasizes the specific understanding of the problem of truth by Florenskii.
L. Dalakishvili. On the validity of Gregori Skovoroda's philosophy. The aim of the article is to find out how the classical philosophic tradition of the European Enlightenment can be used in our epoch of global lack of fitness for coexistence.
L. Tsertsvadze. Meaning of art and artist in N.Berdiaev's philosophy. According to N.Berdiaev's philosophy man's essence is revealed trough his creative activity. The principal premise of his philosophy is the creative act freely performed by the creator. The tragedy of creation — incompatibility of the given and the realized — is revealed in artistic creation. N.Berdiaev asserted that the modern art emphasized the tragedy of an individual fate.
N. Mshvenieradze. M.Landman on the essence of man. According to M.Landman's conception man is an active creative being. This activity is conditioned not by "the biological state", but by vital-existential demands. In order to understand man's essence M.Lamdman suggests the concept of "creative historicity". Man is a not determined, "open to the world" being. He himself states the rules of his own behavior. Creative power is the basic feature of man's existence. Man is determined by the culture of his own creation. The power of self-recreation is man's main characteristic feature.
M. Ambokadze. Function of the internal sense in Shaftesbury's and Hutcheson's aesthetic conceptions. The author shows that in Shaftesbury's and Hutcheson's conceptions the problem of taste is discussed in a form of the internal sense theory. Internal sense is understood as a man's faculty to grasp and apprehend beauty both in external things and man's inner world.The author analysis interpretations of the function and peculiarities of the internal sense given by Shaftesbury and Hutcheson and agrees with the authors interpreting the internal sense as a kind of instinct. The author admits that there is a certain possibility of rationalistic interpretation of the internal sense though it is evident that Shaftesbury and Hutcheson purposely stressed its instinctive and irrational character in order to demonstrate the immediacy.
T. Pantsulaia. Peculiarities of Maimonide's comments. Maimonides (Rambam) is one of the most important figures of Judaism, the first-rate galachian authority of the epoch. Maimonides set as his aim to unite galacha with the study and realization of the principles of faith. It is his basic principle. He is convinced that complete set of galacha principles, containing the basic concepts of faith and explanation of the sense of the Decalogue is necessary for education of the nation.
T. Imerlishvili. Problems of the essence of art and its destination in Fr. Schelling's philosophical works. Art occupies an important place in Fr.Schelling's philosophical heritage. Schelling's work "System of Transcendental Philosophy" is completed by philosophy of art, though not due to the Kantian tradition. It is conditioned by the necessity of the immanent development of his system. According to Schelling art is to complete his system. It is the coincidence of object-subject or the realization of the spirit's self-contemplation. This shows that founding of art is conditioned by the aim of Schelling's system — solving of the metaphysical contradictions. Thus art acquires the function of science, philosophy, as it represents the highest stage of the development of the Absolute. Accordingly, art and beauty acquire such content and importance, that they are declared the highest aim of the world and it in its turn is the beginning the process of the aesthetization of the philosophical thought.
A. Barateli. World outlook of Gregory of Nyssa in the old Georgian literature. The article deals with the creative impulses and scientific background of the old Georgian literature at the Athenian school. Special attention is paid to Giorgi Mtatsmideli as the translator of Cappadocian philosophical-theological treatises. One of the most famous works by Gregory of Nyssa "Treatise on the Work of the Six Days " translated by Giorgi Mtatsmideli is analyzed in the article.
M. Lobzhanidze. On the sources of C.Kapaneli's world outlook. Philosophy of life, namely certain aspects of Nietzsche's, Guio's, Bergson's philosophy sufficiently influenced C.Kapaneli's world outlook. Kapaneli did not accept panlogical reduction of the universe that hypertrophied reason and abstract rationalism and turned out untenable when faced with the actual demands. The principal pathos of Kapaneli's philosophy is the opposition of life itself with its irrationality, immediacy and essential unattainability for the rational understanding to reason. The fundamental principle of Kapaneli's world outlook is the general tendency of the philosophy of life: irrationality, nihilism, and reappraisal of the traditional values.
B. Barateli. The basic issue of the areopagitical aesthetics. The aim of the article is to analyze the basic problem of the areopagitical aesthetics, namely the interrelation of the world and the first cause. The stress is made on the importance of the first cause as the principal concept. It is shown that the creative act is connected with the first cause. The structure of the first cause is determined by the absolute beauty, goodness and truth. The relation of the first cause to the world is of triad nature and includes ontological, ethical and aesthetic aspects.
M. Tsutskiridze. Nonviolence as a moral principle. In spite of theoretical and practical difficulties nonviolence as a moral principle has its power in ideal and actual reality, in the spheres of ethics of virtue and ethics of behaviour. Its influence extends from narrow personal relationships to economic, political, state, ethnic, social relationships. It is necessary to give a value foundation to moral virtue that regulates and directs human behaviour. This makes possible to reveal the nature of nonviolence, to show that it is an effective and promising means to overcome human conflicts that in its turn is a guarantee of peace on the earth.
N. Tomashvili. Popper on the critical method. It is shown that according to a famous representative of the critical rationalism K.Popper philosophical theories are irrefutable. But it does not mean that their critical analysis is impossible. Popper thinks that it is necessary t use a correct method in the process of philosophical cognition that means critical discussion of the results given by a theory and their comparison on order to reveal the most tenable. This broadens the intellectual carcass, enlarges knowledge. The result of the philosophical research, i.e. the answer of a theory to some philosophical problem is nearing the truth bit not its comprehension. Thus comparison of results of different philosophical theories is ascertainment of degrees of verisimilitude.
T. Tskhadadze. Popper's conceptions of scientific rationality and realism. The article deals with the relationship between Popper's conceptions of scientific rationality and realism. Popper's conception of rationality is analyzed into three components: fallibilism, criticism or negativism and the metaphysical underpinning of the latter - antiessencialism. Popper's rationale for proposing negativism as methodologically adequate to the aim of science is seen in his view of the reality as the infinite sequence of equally real layers of increasing "depth". The author discusses Popper's notion of verisimilitude. Popper attempts to identify two notions of verisimilitude: one in terms of empirical content, which is epistemological but has no connection to truth as correspondence; and the other in terms of logical content which though connected with truth is inadequate for providing any effective criterion. The author shows that the attempt of connecting the two notions is doomed to failure.
M. Bezhanishvili. Semantic categories of logic's language. In the article the system of categories of Aristotle is discussed from the viewpoint of the modern symbolic logic. The system of categories of Aristotle given in his treatise "Categories" is an attempt to classify terms that have independent meanings. None of the commentators of Aristotle considers his classification faultless. Linguistic-grammatical, ontological and logical-semantic interpretations are most widely spread. Foundations for each of them can be found in Aristotle's treatise. This can be explained by the fact that Aristotle did not differentiate distinctly between the logical structure of language and its grammatical structure. The author supposes that the most adequate is the logical-semantic interpretation and that, therefore it was not by a mere accidence that the treatise "Categories" was included into the corpus of "Organon".
L. Ramishvili. Once more on language. In the article some fundamental problems of the philosophical anthropology are discussed from the viewpoint of the Humboldtian understanding of language as one of the most important conditions of realization of human existence that means participation of language in the process of formation of spiritual-cultural world by means characteristic for man only. In the article a short summary of E.Cassirer's views is given. Relying on Humboldt's conception of language and his own "Philosophy of Symbolic Forms" Cassirer arrived at the definition of man as an "animal symbolicum". This enabled him to make important contribution to filling gaps in the theory of knowledge in general and in Kant's critical philosophy in particular. Interpretations of certain principal concepts of Humboldt's theory by the Georgian scientist Guram Ramishvili are given in the article.
D. Labuchidze. The problem of polysemy in the process of translation of philosophical texts from French into Georgian. Translation of philosophical texts is always intense search of the most adequate correspondence of what is transferred from one language into another. The range of possibilities of a language is revealed in the process of translation on example of such lexical relations as polysemy. Choice of this or that meaning of a polysemantic word in the process of translation of a philosophical text from French into Georgian requires careful and differentiated approach. This is conditioned by the semantic demands of a context as well as by semantic-stylistic correspondence of the Georgian language into which a text is translated. Polysemy of the vocabulary of the Georgian language and abundance and variety of abstract terms in it make it possible to translate the most difficult philosophical ideas and it is confirmed by the pragmatic criterion of the adequate translation.
In section "Polemics" articles by B. Mamulashvili and G. Shushanashvili are published. In her article "Phenomenon of bioethics" B. Mamulashvili shows that bioethics as a science was formed in the 70-ies of the 20th century in USA. Formation of the principles of scientific research and of moral regulations of treatment of the patients, maintaining freedom of science, but ensuring projection of the rights and interests of the citizens is regarded as the basic aim of bioethics. In the article "Notes on bioethics" G. Shushanashvili shows that bioethics is a branch of professional ethics. Therefore the distinctions between philosophical ethics and bioethics must not be blurred out as it happens when bioethics is characterized as "generalized philosophical ideological science". G. Shushanashvili states that a clear and definite answer must be given to the question: what is bioethics? And the problems of bioethics can be defined only in accordance with the answer received.
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 "Two dogmas of empiricism" by W.V.O. Quine translated from English by T. Tskadadze are published in the section "New Translations".