The return of metaphysics as a subject matter of historical ontology: analytical review (ending)

The second part of the article continues the analytical and historiographical overview of the problems that are substantively related to the question of the role, meaning and historical fate of metaphysics. The author focuses on the phenomenon of the return of metaphysics to the philosophy of our time. The author traces the gradual rehabilitation of metaphysical problems in post-positivist studies of sci-ence. An attempt is made to differentiate these studies from the viewpoint of the opposition between internalism and externalism. The author shows the limits of this differentia-tion and highlights the mixed type of re-search, which focuses on the interaction of “external” and “internal” determinants of knowledge. It is shown that the postpositivist idea of the background knowledge extends not only to scientific (empirical) knowledge, but also to its philosophical (theoretical) justification, which is recognized by many re-searchers as historically and culturally conditioned. This opens up the possibility of a historical critique of the ontological presuppositions of the epistemological (transcendental) justification of science. Such presuppositions are considered in relation to the dis-course of negative ontology, which prohibits the cognitive experience of transcendent be-ing. The author shows that the criticism of these assumptions is carried out in the form of a regressive transcendental argument, which, comparing them with a new, philo-sophically revised scientific ontology, reveals their historically limited character. Thus, the regressive transcendental argument allows us to go beyond the negative ontology of the transcendental justification of science. This leads to the replacement of historical epistemology, whose subject matter is limited to knowledge and its historically mobile structures, with historical ontology, which returns to the description and explanation of reality. The author considers the concepts of new re-alism in the context of historical ontology and traces the connection of the new realism with the post-metaphysical and metametaphysical discourses.

Digital footprints in the university space

This work considers the use of digital traces in the educational environment and the specifics of their collection and analysis at the university. One way or another, all participants in the educational process, as well as those who can potentially become them, for example, applicants, leave digital traces in the digital environments of the university and the Global Network in general, and these traces can be analyzed. At the same time, even the university itself as an organization leaves a certain digital footprint on the Internet. At the moment, most researchers are very optimistic, contemplating on what positive changes can be brought by the analysis of digital traces of applicants, students and teachers for the development of the university itself, the educa-tional process, and the formation of individual learning paths. In contrast to this, the author identifies a number of possible prospects for the analysis of Big Data and the use of Artificial Intelligence for education at the university of the future. Attention is focused on how this can affect the safety of the environment and conflict with ethical standards. Participants in the educational process, falling under the analysis of their digital traces, can both suffer because of them, even if their activities have not been in any way connected with the university, and begin to hide their true digital identity, creating «false» digital traces and becoming anon-ymous. The author assumes that an increase in such control covering actions, thoughts and emotions naturally results in the emergence of the concept of a «Dark» University, which distances itself as much as possible from such methods of analyzing personal data.

Philosophical consideration of social risks of intellectual automation of social management

The digital transformation of processes and control systems in the last decade has been accompanied by the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the conditions for the safe use of intelligent technologies and tools for managing social infrastructure. The research methodology bases on an integrated approach, comparative analysis, and logical synthesis. The author suggests a philosophical analysis of existential risks of intellectual automation of social management and the mechanisms of their implementation, and also investigates the conditions for a safer use of technologies for intelligent automation of socially significant decisions. Generalized measures and search directions are proposed to reduce a number of risks associated with intelligent automation of control.

Information privacy: protecting freedom and individual autonomy

The article examines the individual’s right to information privacy as an opportunity to have a non-public area of life. It is argued that a person, being a vulnerable creature, feels the need for secrecy, closeness and opacity of his or her personality. The right to information privacy does not mean complete concealment of private life, but the possibility of regulating access, when individuals can choose whom, when and to what extent to reveal the details of their lives. This presupposes both a person who feels him or herself to be an autonomous person and a society that respects his or her rights and freedoms. There is a duty of restraint and tact, which prohibits violating someone else’s privacy. As one of the aspects of privacy, in addition to the inviolability of the body and home, the human right to information protection is recognized. The theoretical foundation of the right to privacy is the philosophy of liberalism, which protects the individual from unwanted interference from the state and society. The need for private space has evolved in human history along with the growth of individualism. Currently, the right to information privacy is gaining special relevance in connection with the development of digital technologies that allow collecting, storing and processing large amounts of data. As a result, a person, on the one hand, does not know who, when and for what purpose collects his or her data, and, on the other hand, he or she often voluntarily, in connection with the need for social recognition, leaves information about him or herself on social networks. As a result of such actions, the loss of control over personal information can lead to undesirable consequences.

Why did Mendeleev not go to university? (Educational policy of Nicholas I)

The article examines the educational policy of the Russian Empire during the reign of Nicholas I. In particular, the history of the appearance of the order of Nicholas I on limiting the number of students at universities is considered. According to this order, the staff of students at the universities was “limited to 300 in each, with the prohibition of enrollment in students until the available number is not included in this legalized amount.” An exception was made only for medical faculties, since the army needed qualified doctors. This meant that in most universities in Russia the admission of students should be (and actually was) closed for several years. A particularly difficult situation has developed in the St. Petersburg and Moscow universities. That is why many talented young people, including D. I. Mendeleev, could not get a university education. The study shows that the educational policy in Nicholas Russia was ambiguous and contradictory. The emperor simultaneously wanted to get highly qualified officials and specialists who met the highest European requirements, but at the same time, considering universities as a source of social destabilization and ideological danger, he took measures that hindered the normal development of higher education (in primarily civic) in the country.

“Biocapitalism” without “bio-...”: the vanishing vitality and three dimensions of desynchronization

The term “biocapitalism” commonly means “commodification of life”. As a critical tool, it is an important part of the rhetorical apparatus that denounces the “neoliberal (bio)economy” and relations of its elements: human bodies, cells and tissues, biotech companies and stock markets. However, sociologists K. Birch and D. Tyfield in a series of studies attempted to discover the mass practices denoted by this term – “biocapital” practices dealing with materiality of living objects, as well as the observed bio-economic processes. As a result, they failed to form a consistent idea of biocapitalism and related bio-concepts (bioeconomics and biovalue). This article makes an attempt to reveal this inconsistency through the conceptualization of contradictions of biocapitalism. These contradictions seem to have emerged most acutely in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, they are described as three types of desynchronization: between the public and the private, between capi-talism and the “free market”, and between “internal” and “external” biological threats. Desynchronization in the general sense is understood as a produced lack of simultaneity, a fabricated anachronism. For example, “private” life of people looks like anachronism in the background of the “public” dimension of the pandemic, etc. At the same time, within the framework of desynchronization, it is impossible to detect directly either “commodification of life” or what could be called the expectations of a capitalist society from the biotechnology. In this regard, we can say that biocapitalism is realized through the exclusion of both life itself (vitality) and a good human life. I am trying to demonstrate this by pointing out two cases that can be designated as the falling out of “bio-...” from “biocapitalism”.

The phoenix problem of social philosophy: to the question about the hypothesis of social progress

This paper considers various aspects of pro-gress, as a problem touched upon in the article by A.L. Nikiforov. The author suggests an assumption about the heuristic significance of the idea of progress in social philosophy as a kind of research tool, which is effective in the analysis of various social processes and allows to trace their directed development accord-ing to some criterion. It is argued that in this case, it is necessary to comply with a number of conditions: one requirement (a clear formulation of the criterion) and three prohibitions – a prohibition on subjective assess-ment, on discussion about criteria, and on absolutizing a criterion.

Social critique as a scientific virtue: an external scientific ethos in the making

The article discusses the possibility of using the external ethics of science to formulate a new social contract between science and the state (society). To do this, it is necessary to re-think the value thesaurus inherited from the cold war and the arms race, when the state gave scientists a social order, concentrated resources and allowed the scientists them-selves to distribute them on the basis of anonymous (secret) expert reviewing and refereeing. The resulting model of relationships within the scientific community can be called Pareto-competition, in which the winner re-ceives everything and the vanquished are screened to the periphery. The current situation of Big Science and Distributed Knowledge puts on the agenda the question of transition to a different relationship in the style of Pare-to-collaboration. In it, both victory and defeat are common cause, each group is prescribed its share of obligations and advantages, and all scientists have a chance to move in the sys-tem of epistemic virtues and sins. The new state of the scientific community, described by the term “full constituency” (S. Fuller), not only leads to internal democratic consensus, but also allows for social criticism. Its desirable result is such a restructuring of the whole society, in which cognitive and moral values come to the fore.

The concept of progress and the progress of philosophical vocabulary

The article is a response to the arguments by A.L. Nikiforov on the theoretical foundations of the philosophical concept of progress. It focuses on the analysis of the terminological apparatus’ formation within Russian academic philosophy in the 18th century – the time when both Russian science and philosophy emerged. Based on historical material, the author analyses (1) two possible ways of development of philosophical terminology in Russian language; (2) the general position of the Russian language in science and its prospects; (3) the possibility of assessing the changes that have taken place with the philosophical language during this period in the framework of the progressive paradigm. The author identifies the criteria for which the process of the formation of philosophical terminology can be characterized as progressive for Russian philosophy and the Russian language as a whole.

Digitalization challenges for technogenic civilization

Based on the comparison of technogenic civilization and traditional society, the article argues that the desire for change is a major feature of technogenic civilization. The latter tends to focus on the practice of writing and data recording. At the same time, the new European scientific knowledge, a key element of the technogenic civilization, emerged not only as the practice of mathematized experimental research of nature, but also as the practice of fixing new data and results and disseminating them among scientists. Management practitioners also actively use data capture. The active introduction of digital technologies has contributed to progress in all areas of public life. The analysis of these processes leads to the conclusion that they pose at least two fundamental challenges to the technogenic civilization associated with new methods of recording and processing data. First, the formation of a person's digital footprint raises the question of the specifics of her or his identity in the digital world and its connection with corporeality, and creates new existential challenges. Secondly, the ever-growing array of data and their active inclusion in the scientific turnover results in a huge number of data processing techniques and technologies. On their basis, research practices are constructed that focus on the search for correlations, rather than the formation of “bold hypotheses” that allow describing the world in a new way.