Gorgo: Sparta’s Woman of Autonomy, Authority, and Agency

Claims that Herodotus reveals himself as a proto-biographer, let alone as a proto-feminist, are not yet widely accepted. To advance these claims, I have selected one remarkable woman from one side of the Greco-Persian Wars whose activities are recounted in his Histories. Critically it is to a near contemporary, Heraclitus, to whom we attribute the maxim êthos anthropôi daimôn (ἦθος ἀνθρώπῳ δαίμων) —character is human destiny. It is the truth of this maxim—which implies effective human agency—that makes Herodotus’ creation of historical narrative even possible. Herodotus is often read for his vignettes, which, without advancing the narrative, color-in the character of the individuals he depicts in his Histories. No matter, if these fall short of the cradle to grave accounts given by Plutarch, by hop-scotching through the nine books, we can assemble a partially continuous narrative, and thus through their exploits, gauge their character, permitting us to attribute both credit and moral responsibility. Arguably this implied causation demonstrates that Herodotus’ writings include much that amounts to proto-biography and in several instances—one of which is given here—proto-feminism.

Turturica ‒ the Bird of Existential Predestination in the Short-Story Epic

This article analyzes the ballad Amărâta turturică (The Embittered Dove) in accordance with the symbolism of this bird in folk environments, being presented in different situations and existential hypostases, in accordance with the allegory of human destiny. The image-symbol "embtittered dove" is put at the service of remedying different contradictory states and feelings, depicting the drama of an existential destiny, marked by falls and inner collapses. The ballad about the widowed dove is related to a series of motifs and renders a "synthesis of symbols", tangent to the archetypal significance of some bird topos in our ritual folklore, to foreshadow the culmination of serious existential feelings. As metaphors of predestination, both the hunter and the dove express some tragic entities of human life, outline the meaning of a polarized destiny, marked by inner contradictions, deepen the idea of nostalgic loneliness in the face of irreversible passage.

The duality of Vladimir Vysotsky's “creating soul”

The “creating soul” of the poet and actor Vysotsky is divided into angelic and demonic. Early showing up demonic more and more captures the power over the poet's self and his work, taking different looks. The choice between creative and destructive forces determines not only the creative, but also the human destiny of Vysotsky.

Alexander of Macedon: An Early Biography

Claims that Herodotus reveals himself as a proto-biographer are not yet widely accepted. To advance this claim, I have selected one man, Alexander I, who finds himself and his kingdom caught in the middle of the Greco-Persian Wars and whose activities are recounted in the Histories. It is to a near contemporary, Heraclitus, to whom we attribute the maxim—character is human destiny. It is the truth of this maxim—which implies effective human agency—that makes Herodotus’ creation of historical narrative possible. He is often read for his off-topic vignettes, which colour-in the character of the individuals depicted without necessarily advancing his narrative. But by hop scotching through five of the nine books of the Histories, we can assemble a largely continuous narrative for this remarkable individual. This narrative permits us to attribute both credit and moral responsibility for his actions. Arguably, this implied causation demonstrates that Herodotus’ writings include much that amounts to proto-biography.

THE NOTION OF FREE WILL AND ETHICAL CHOICE IN THE WORK “SHARH AL- 'AQA'ID” OF SA'AD AD-DIN TAFTAZANI

The article provides an in-depth analysis of Sa’ad ad-Din Taftazani’s philosophical and ethical views on kalam (a popular speculative discipline of medieval Muslim literature that provides any reasoning on religious and philosophical topics) based on rational thinking. In particular, it aims at looking through one of the puzzling issues of kalam philosophy – freedom of will and ethical (moral) choice of a man discussed in “Sharh al- ‘Aqa’id” written by the great thinker. The work of Taftazani describes some features of the Creator as kindness and good deeds originally appeared from His creativity and instructs people to refrain from various actions that may occur due to undesirable human behavior. In this article, we analyze the conceptual ideas and views on the freedom of will and ethical (moral) choice of a man. We presented them as the biggest problems in the outstanding thinker’s spiritual heritage based on the philosophy of time and space. To be specific, the thinker considers the inadequacy of sin and apostasy as the features of disrespectful behavior and social morality. Furthermore, various religious and moral guidelines for testing people through their actions prohibited by socio-moral norms have been substantiated based on intellectual and metaphorical sources. Taftazani perfectly illustrated that the Creator has always commanded the human community to do only good deeds. Next, He commanded to be abstinent from restricted things and actions. He kept the freedom of man under moral criteria as obedience or disobedience to Shari’ah commands. The research discusses the harmony and disproportions in modern philosophy with the philosophical views of the thinker Taftazani in the management of human destiny and freedom of will. It thoroughly compares the notions of voluntarism and fatalism existing in modern philosophical terminology with Taftazani’s views on the issue related to freedom of will and moral choice. Additionally, I provide a comparative analysis on the interrelationship and differences between European philosophers’ views on the subject and Taftazani’s ideas. We have tried to express our views on the issue of freedom of will and ethical (moral) choice using the copy of “Sharh al- ‘Aqa’id” published in Great Britain.

PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE: TWO TYPES OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OF HUMANITY (ARTICLE 1)

Философию и эпические формы литературы единит «миссия» - «человечность» освоения гуманитарных сюжетов. Но различает «орудие» тематизации судьбы человечности. Философия преодолевает предметную детализацию мысли, вырывается из стесняющих обстоятельственных границ, расторгает условность жизненного материала, не налагает на себя поведенческих уз. Преодолевает она и каноны жанровых систем, композиционных конструкций, тенденции стилевого самовыражения. В отличие от литературы философия добивается универсальности трактовок универсальных возможностей, данных не в образах, а в идеях, не в сценах, а в отвлечениях. Philosophy and epic forms of literature are united by the «mission» - the «humanity» of mastering humanitarian subjects. But they are distinguished by the «tool» of the human destiny thematization. Philosophy overcomes the objective details of thought, breaks out of the confining circumstantial boundaries, breaks the conventionality of the material of life, and does not impose behavioral ties on itself. It also overcomes the canons of genre systems, compositional structures, and trends in stylistic self-expression. Unlike literature, philosophy strives for the universality of interpretations of universal possibilities, given not in images, but in ideas, not in scenes, but in distractions.