G.W.F. Hegel on the Beginning of Philosophy

The article grounds today’s significance of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s his­tory of philosophy and describes his understanding of the beginning of philosophy. In the author’s opinion, the way Hegel considers the beginning of philosophy lets one turn to the works of the most famous classical scholars and trace the transformation of views on the genesis of the Greek philosophy and the European thought in general, as well as to consider issues arising in this regard. Among them, the author highlights the Eurocentric interpretation of the formula Vom Mythos zum Logos and the inconsis­tency of Hegel’s understanding of the historical development of philosophy. The au­thor reviews H. Glockner’s views on Phänomenologie des Geistes that turns into Abenteuer des Geistes. The author finds additional arguments in modern interpreta­tions of logos and myth as the path from logos to myth. Hegel’s confidence in the sci­entific progress was based on the idea of dialectical self-movement and was fraught with the retrospection concept. In Hegel’s concept of the substance-subject, human as a creative being was lost. The destruction of confidence in the historical progress ex­posed the irrational foundations of development and places the understanding of the historical and philosophical process in the context of a polycentric dialogue.

Dialectics of Sobornost in the Works of S.N. Bulgakov and V.N. Lossky

The paper is dedicated to the philosophical debate on the notion of sobornost in the Russian religious philosophy of Sergei Nikolaevich Bulgakov and Vladimir Nikolaevich Lossky. As a universal concept it grasps the state-of-being-joined, the unity in both religious and civil, societal aspects. Both these forms of sociality are also rooted in personal attitudes and are manifested in the sphere of reflection and in the spiritual. The extent to which both views on sobornost differ lies on the level of individual and group aspirations, in various schemes of the sobornost formation, in the religious—secular dichotomy. In this way the concept of dialectics arises. All the aforenamed controversies and the historical development of collective forms (e.g. a conflict of sobornost in the social field of a secular society) (see Bulgakov) can be seen as the dialectical self-development of sobornost as the very being, being mediated by the essence (Lossky). It is found that the dialectics inevitably lead to personal, social and divine integrity, thus illustrating the inherent unity of sobornost as essence and as being. Conflicts and misunderstandings are only due to personal misinterpretations and sacred quest. Only in a threefold form can sobornost thrive, which is more profoundly reflected in the works of Bulgakov.

Collaboration between East and West: influence of consumer dialectical self on attitude towards co-brand personality traits

PurposeWith rising globalization, Western and Eastern brands are increasingly collaborating and co-branding. Drawing on the theory of dialectical self that captures the degree of cognitive tendency to tolerate conflicts, inconsistencies and ambiguities in self-concept, this paper investigates the effect of consumer dialectical self on co-branding that encompasses Western and East Asian cultural brand personality traits.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies were conducted using Chinese participants to examine the effects of the dialectical self on co-brand evaluation under single-and dual-personality conditions and to explore the mediating role of ideal social self-congruence and the moderating role of product type (high vs low conspicuous).FindingsThe findings suggest that counterintuitive to the received wisdom, the dialectical self negatively influences one's attitude towards a co-brand in the dual-personality condition only. Further, ideal social self-congruence mediates the relationship between the dialectical self and dual-personality co-brand evaluation in the high conspicuous product condition only.Practical implicationsImportant implications are offered to international marketing managers for managing the dialectical self that lead to positive co-brand evaluations. Moreover, managers should highlight ideal social self-congruence for co-branding success for particular product types.Originality/valueThis paper examines co-branding from a novel perspective of consumer dialectical self and shows the pivotal role it plays when brands carry varying cultural traits engage in co-branding. By identifying the role of the dialectical self and the important mediator and moderator, the paper fulfils an important gap in co-branding literature and offers key implications.

Sociocultural Influences on Psychopathy Traits: A Cross-National Investigation

It is important to consider cultural implications in the development and manifestation of psychopathy because this construct is often understood in reference to behavioral deviance from social norms. This study examined the construct of psychopathy as it relates to three psychological constructs that are shaped by sociocultural contexts: collectivism-individualism, Zhongyong thinking, and dialectical self-concept. The authors recruited 636 participants from four nations and examined differences between Western English-speaking populations and East Asian Chinese-speaking populations. The results showed that collectivism and Zhongyong thinking negatively correlated with the maladaptive aspects of psychopathy (affective/interpersonal and behavioral), whereas individualism and dialectical self-concept positively correlated with the behavioral aspect of psychopathy. Dialectical self-concept also negatively correlated with Boldness. The majority of these associations did not differ significantly between the Western and East Asian samples. This finding suggests the potential universality of the psychological processes of psychopathy in relation to cultural values and thinking styles.