Market Socialism: The Impossible Socialism

The idea of combining some form of social equality with markets goes back to the very origins of socialist tradition and also underlies most of the proposals currently being presented as “alternatives” to the capitalist social order. However, taking as its axis the organic relationship between commodity circulation and capital, as revealed by Marx, it is possible to offer a critique of market socialism (choosing David Schweickart's version of Economic Democracy as a generic textual reference) to demonstrate its inconsistency as a project for social emancipation alternative to the capitalist mode of production. And this for reasons of: i) economy: due to market inefficiency in allocation, and its tendency toward social polarization; ii) politics: because markets prevent citizen self-government and block the free development of human capacities; and iii) ecology: the market is incompatible with a social metabolism that is sustainable with nature. The conclusion is that a market-based production structure is incompatible with the conscious, rational, and democratic regulation of the economy.

Mediatization of the Media as Industrial Transformation

The article implements the idea of mediatization as a process of transformation of the mass communication industry. Nowadays, the current system of mass communication is under the pressure of digital transit, which is transgressive in nature and breaks traditional business patterns, requires business administration to make mental changes in thinking and management practices, and creates the highest level of tension among media managers. The article attempts to conceptualize (through the analysis of industrial points of tension: between television and online video - players of the cross-media dimension) some aspects of the digital transformation of the media industry and industrial management practices. Behind this transformation is the conflict between the digital environment generated by the relatively free development of the Internet and the purposefully organized and institutionalized state-controlled media.

An Interpretation of the Relationship between Man and Nature in Wei Jins’ Metaphysics: Based on the Confucian Ethical Code of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and Nature

“Nature” and “the Confucian ethical code” are two of Wei Jins’ most important metaphysics. The ethical restrictions of “the Confucian ethical code” and the conflict of free development lie behind this pair of diametrically opposed philosophical conceptions. The Seven Sages proposed the concept of “transcending the realities and embracing our nature,” which was strongly influenced by Lao-Tze and Chuang-tzu. They advocated for the tremendous liberation of man’s nature, as well as a new explanation for man’s relationship with nature: human nature is also nature, enlightening future generations to maintain a harmonious relationship with nature.

Ersatz Rigor

The natural evolution of language that can capture nature’s varied behaviors in effective terms frequently encourages descriptive practices that encode physical data in deviously complex ways. Often this complexity sets in without being overtly noticed by the agents in question. When this happens, “small metaphysics” conundrums frequently arise in the form “what is this bit of language actually telling us about the world beyond?” Historically, many of the familiar systems of grander metaphysics arose from these puzzling seeds, and these same schemes frequently place unacceptable restrictions upon the free development of science. To cast off the oppressive yoke often encouraged by this vein of philosophical musing, Rudolf Carnap and others developed a logicized conception of “theory” that claimed to liberate science (and philosophy) from any concern with “metaphysics” whatsoever. This point of view will be called “theory T thinking” in this book. But Carnap’s proposed remedy represents a diagnostic mistake; the real-life complexities of efficient data registration demand direct examinations of the strategic assumptions that underlie the effective forms of word-to-world alignment. The present book rejects the misleading conceptions of “methodological rigor” that Carnap’s conception of “theory” encourages.

Energy Efficiency in the Industry 4.0 Era: Attributes of Teal Organisations

The rapid development of innovations in the industry 4.0 era led to new or evolved companies. At the same time, the accepted concept of carbon-free development requires building a new philosophy for the company’s management. The paper aims to analyse the key attributes of teal organisations (as a new type of a company) from the energy sector (as a core sector for carbon-free transformation). The paper summarises the core features of teal organisations and their attributes. In the paper, three hypotheses are tested: innovations and technologies are the most used attributes among teal organisations from the energy sector; organisational and corporate culture are the least used attributes among teal organisations from the energy sector; in the energy sector, the companies that have the attributes of teal organisations primarily work in countries with a high level of innovation and information technologies (as a core indicator of Industry 4.0) and economic development. For testing the hypotheses, the following methods are applied: a Friedman test, a paired-samples t-test, the principal components analysis, a correlation analysis, an ANOVA test (analysis of variance), and a regression analysis. The online survey generates the data for analysis. The object of the research is the workers from the energy sector companies from five countries (Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, Slovakia, and Romania). The findings of the statistical analysis confirm the first and second hypotheses. Companies in the energy sector mostly use innovations and technologies as the attributes of teal organisations. The regression analysis results show that an increase of 1% of patent applications leads to an increased energy efficiency of 1.29%. Additionally, the implemented features of teal organisations in the energy sector allow for improving the country’s energy efficiency, which, as a consequence, then boosts carbon-free development.

The Caucasus in the History of Russia

The monograph defines the origins, essence and content of the Caucasian policy of Russia, its main stages, its significance for the development of Russian statehood and the peoples of the region. The monograph pays special attention to the Caucasian wars of Russia, the experience of suppressing anti-Russian and anti-Soviet armed demonstrations in the region. The historical and modern experience of the development of the Caucasus region shows that the weakening of Russia's position in the region naturally leads to an escalation of tension and conflict, aggravation of inter-ethnic contradictions, manifestations of extremism and other forms of destructive activities that threaten the life of citizens and peoples of the Caucasus. As a result, the strength of Russia's position in the Caucasus is a guarantee of the safe and free development of the peoples of the region. The author's conclusions and suggestions presented in the monograph can be used in the process of implementing a balanced and verified policy in order to ensure the national security and interests of the Russian Federation in the North Caucasus, building relations with neighboring states in the region, as well as other international actors positioning their involvement in the political processes of the South Caucasus. It is addressed to researchers, teachers, students, a wide range of readers.

Alternatywy wobec jednowymiarowości. Fenomen polskiej kultury niezależnej w PRL

In this article devoted to the independent culture in Polish People’s Republic, I put into dichotomic doubt the concept based on the clear division between the official and independent culture. The forms of creative activity that escaped the state censorship between 1976 and 1989 radically disrespected the directives of the state’s cultural policy, yet many years before the emergence of ‘the second circulation’, there were already numerous initiatives that sparked a rich spectrum of independent activity. The authors’ strategies to remain independent changed over time, to varying extent distanced the authors from the official artistic life and differed depending on the character of the authors’ intellectual activity. In the article, I attempt to prove the relatively weak influence of the ‘official dependent culture’ that fully respected the authorities’ instructions, and I propose a classification of creative strategies that also emerged in the official culture and allowed for a relatively free development of art and science. Using multiple examples from literature, cinema, visual arts, music and science, I discuss ‘controlled culture escaping the ideological instructions’, ‘official niche culture’, ‘culture confronting the limitations’, ‘licensed Catholic culture’, ‘second circulation culture’ and ‘third circulation culture.’ The practice of searching for a way out of the official one-dimensionality allowed Polish cultural identity to continue and save its most valuable intellectual and artistic values.

"Humanism" and "Humanness": Dissolution and Reconstruction of Human Subjectivity in the Horizon of Technological Alienation

The inquiry into the nature of modern science and technology is an in-depth discussion of the relationship between science and technology and human lifestyles, and the alienation of science and technology is a problem area that occupies an important position in this discussion. From a philosophical point of view, the humanistic and moral consideration of the alienation of science and technology, the comprehensive study and overview of the dialectical relationship between man and science and technology, are helpful to clarify the constructive relationship between the essence of science and technology and the true subjectivity of man. The essence of science and technology lies in the essence of human beings, and the root of the alienation of science and technology lies in the alienation of human nature. Therefore, from the perspective of "being human", through the liberation of modern science and technology, we can achieve the weakening of the alienation of science and technology, in order to realize the reconstruction of human subjectivity, and provide for the weakening of the shackles brought by the development of modern science and technology and the realization of free development of human beings. The theoretical perspective of philosophy.

Fostering a Values-Based Attitude towards a Person in Secondary Schools in the Post-Soviet Space

The article justifies the idea that a child is at the heart of educational activity. Subsequently, an educational activity aims to increase the creative potential and social activity of humane personality and recognize the priority of the free development of personality, the value of human beings and preserve their environment. Accordingly, the article aims to develop and verify the conceptual and methodological principles of the scientific and methodical system for cultivating a values-based attitude towards personality in students and introduce the technologies that will enhance their social decency. The article analyzes theoretical foundations, defines the principles and pedagogical conditions for developing the system of values-based orientations in students from the post-Soviet space on the example of Ukraine and verifies the effectiveness of these conditions experimentally. The experimental stage of the research employs the following methods to obtain the initial data: brainstorming, questionnaires, the methodology of unfinished sentences, “Q-sorting”, diagnosing the socio-psychological adaptation, diagnosing indicators and forms of aggression, empathic abilities, revealing the ability of effective cooperation and constructive communication, assertive behaviour (Diagnosis of accepting others, Goodwill scale, Express trust diagnostics, Express diagnostics of the level of person’s social isolation); a methodology for identifying the attitude “altruism-egoism” of the personality, value orientations, the integral person’s self-esteem, the assessment of moral development. Through all the parts of the experiment, the positive moves in learning the basic humanistic values were done in the value structure of the personality. The analysis of the data gathered during the investigation gives reasons to state, that during the experiment systematic changes of the educational process were made, the level of fostering a values-based attitude to a person among students has increased.

Web System Reactiva TEC

This article presents the development and application of a web system that allows the registration of data from small businesses, in order to publicize their products and services, as well as their opening hours, type of payment received, location, social networks and telephone. There are three types of users: the administrator, the business owner, and the customer. The SCRUM methodology is applied for its development. Only the Execution and Adaptation phases will be presented in this article. In addition, its improvements and application in businesses in the San Martín Texmelucan región are visualized, an MVC architecture (Model-View-Controller) and free development technologies were used.