Vol 4, No 1 (2024)
- Year: 2024
- Articles: 13
- URL: https://journals.ssau.ru/semiotic/issue/view/646
Full Issue
PHILOSOPHY
Bolzano on sense and reference
Abstract
In the present article author examines the concept of B. Bolzano's sign, its place in the “Theory of Science” and the philosophical premises that determine its specificity. The closest attention is paid to the concepts of “sign”, “sense” and “meaning”. The author provides a comparative analysis of the use of these concepts by B. Bolzano and G. Frege and demonstrates the fundamental difference between G. Frege's understanding of sense and meaning and B. Bolzano's ideas. The ontological premises are demonstrated that don’t allow to derive one conception from another. The author reviews the hypothesis of E. Casari that proposes an alternative way for comparing the conceptions of B. Bolzano and G. Frege. The author analyses the conceptual structure of the hypothesis, compares it with the conceptual structure of the “Theory of Science”, and demonstrates presuppositions introduced by E. Casari. It is concluded that these presuppositions are not typical for the work of B. Bolzano and are not compatible with the premises of the “Theory of Science”. The author shows that the statements of E. Casari’s hypothesis that coincide with G. Frege’s statements about meaning and significance are direct implications of the presuppositions introduced by E. Casari, and cannot be deduced from B. Bolzano’s conception without them.
8-14
Game without game: to Gilles Deleuze’s game concept
Abstract
The article provides a critical analysis of the "ideal game" concept by Gilles Deleuze. The problematic type of Deleuze's judgments about the game leads to the fact that the game is understood by him as a logical subject devoid of the predicate. The consequence of this is the concept of the game, which is devoid of the real game signs. Ultimately, the game is understood by Deleuze as the non-game. The article shows that the logical basis of this approach is "infinite judgment". In this regard, the authors undertake a logical and ontological analysis of negative and infinite judgments. At the same time, the authors not only reveal the internal problematic nature of such judgments, but also point out the social effects and consequences of their application in practice.
15-23
Artificial intelligence ethics: from principles to the critical approach
Abstract
The article discusses the problem of determining the methodological and conceptual foundations of the artificial intelligence ethics. It is shown that the principled approach is based on the theory of value embedding, which assumes that technical objects can either be the carriers of values themselves, or at least contribute to the realization of certain values. At the same time, it is highly dependent on stakeholders, and it rather declares ethics than ensures it. The person-centered approach is based on the idea of personal moral responsibility. The main problems of the personality-oriented approach are the gap in responsibility and the unpredictability of the actions of artificial intelligence. A critical approach is proposed, according to which the subject of artificial intelligence ethics is the impact of technology on people's ideas and values, their behavior and decision-making. The work introduces and discusses the concept of the scale paradox, resulting from the artificial intelligence use. This concept states that many ethically correct cases of using technology can lead to ethically unacceptable consequences. It is shown that one of the options for applying a critical approach can be the study of attitudes and stereotypes associated with artificial intelligence in the mass consciousness.
24-30
LITERATURE STUDIES
The rainbow as a "sign of the covenant" in I.A. Bunin's spiritual lyrics: semiotics of the sacred. Article 2. "The arch of the rainbow – the Creator's favor...", "Two rainbows – and a golden, rare Spring rain"
Abstract
I.A. Bunin's poems "Two Rainbows" and "Rainbow" comprise the sacred and the values, which denote it, arising as a manifestation of biblical memory and liturgical recollection of the writer. The first source: "I place my rainbow in the cloud for it to be a sign of the everlasting covenant between me and the earth" (The Bible). The second source is the prayer of Bunin's childhood "Quiet Light". The correlation of the "sunset light" of the experience subject with the eternal joy of the liturgical chant "Silent Light" reveals the deep layer of the author's hidden hope to be similar, "to transform", or, if we mean the vocation of the "Quiet Light", "to co-rise". The person himself, "Filled with the Lord's grace," becomes the "place" of the covenant. Bunin's poems about the rainbow as a sign of the covenant are a statement that denotes and embodies the connection with the "ontology" of perception and interpretation of the "signs" of the Divine presence "here and now". The poems reflect a special sphere of a human spiritual world perception, express the depths and heights of national consciousness, having not broken with the experience of religious experience yet and having realized in a "health-improving" artistic form (in spiritual lyrics). According to C.G. Jung, the liberation of the person from the "prejudices" of the sacred opens the gates to the "underworld" of the subconscious, puts him under the power of the psychic "hell", where it returns from being "abolished" and abolishing "sign".
31-42
Elements of decorative prose in the novel by Alexander Sobolev “Griffins guard the lyre”
Abstract
The topic of the article is relevant because it considers the specific poetics of the modern neo-modernist work. It is worth noting that the novel “Griffins Guard the Lyre” is a part of a new wave of modernism that has emerged in the Russian literature over the past few decades. In addition to A. Sobolev, this wave includes such writers as E. Vodolazkin, S. Bolmat, A. Varlamov and others. The purpose of the article is to describe the functions of the ornamental prose elements in A. Sobolev’s work “Griffins Guard the Lyre.” The main research methods used in the article are semiotic and intertextual analyses. Besides A. Sobolev's novel, the works of V. Nabokov, Y. Olesha, and F. Sologub served as the empirical materials. In the course of considering the work of A. Sobolev from the point of view of the criteria applied to the ornamental prose, it was found that the novel has the following features: a) an organic fusion of the epic and lyrical principles; b) destruction and deconstruction of genre forms. The fairy tale principle is also present in A. Sobolev’s novel, but it performs completely different functions. The author seems to use the tale as an object of manipulation. We can conclude that A. Sobolev borrowed some techniques from domestic postmodernists/conceptualists. Since the elements of the ornamental writing in the novel “The Griffins Guard the Lyre” have not been considered before, we can confidently state that all the obtained scientific results are new.
43-50
The celestial ferry: Elena Shvarts’s ekphrasis as the sum of readerly experience
Abstract
The article analyzes Elena Shvarts's late poem "Chinese Toy", where the poet describes the Kunstkamera exhibit in an unusual way, turning the mechanical principles of the ship motion and Chinese mythological imagery into a tool for blurring the boundaries between conception and givenness. The aim is to find how this magical realism, which reconceptualizes reading, is embedded in the understanding of reading that Elena Shvarts offers in the post-Soviet period of her work. With methodological reference to classical semiotic positions, Lotman's theory of oppositions and Jakobson's theory of shifters, it is ascertained that we are facing a reverse ekphrasis: the artifact itself demonstrates the principles of the animation of the static. Turning to Chinese mythology and Chinese mechanics allows us to reject the Western understanding of ekphrasis as a situative enlivening of the depicted and to accept the reinvention of cosmogony in China, which is expressed in the artifact mentioned in the poem. Shvarts performs a reduction of the sublime experience in order to overcome the persistent ideas about reading as constructive imagination and to show alternative mechanisms of reading. The new way of reading, implied by the poem, turns out to be a metacriticism of the former figure of the reader as a flaneur, an observer of the various fatal mechanics of the universe. Both in the lyrics and prose of the late Shvarts, a unified mechanics of the universe appears, in relation to which the reader's experience looks like a game, and the reader's imaginary is one of the toys in this game.
51-57
A novel in verse: poetics of intermediate form
Abstract
At the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, the genre system restructuring and the leading role of the novel in the literary process leads to the novelization of genres and the emergence of hybrid forms, the internal measure of which is determined by the interaction of different kinds of strategies and techniques. The object of the article is a novel in verse as a result of the novelization of the lyric epic poem, whose status since its emergence has been problematic for both literature and literary studies. The article provides a brief overview of the novel in verse history, the variety of its definitions and themes, it analyses its leading genre features, and attempts to show how the novel and lyric transform each other within this form. The novel in verse is regarded as a literary genre, where the complex multilevel interaction of the prose and poetic word under the influence of the processes of the ready-made word decay and novelization becomes a genre-forming principle. It is concluded that the result of such complex inter-genre interaction is a change in the understanding of the poetic, and the phenomenon of the genre itself accompanies the novel formation, participating in its search for its internal measure, and reflects literature large-scale search for a “reconciliatory” form in the conditions of the value crisis.
58-68
SOCIOLOGY
The concept of women's entrepreneurship as a mechanism of social lift
Abstract
The work is relevant as it is aimed at a comprehensive disclosure of the female entrepreneurship potential and substantiation of its importance for the development of society, achieving gender equality, as well as creating favorable conditions for the economic growth and female social mobility. The author analyzes current trends in the field feminine entrepreneurship and its impact on economic development. It is noted that opportunities for women's business are expanding, and entrepreneurship is becoming an effective social elevator for women. The key goal of the article is to substantiate the concept of female entrepreneurship as an effective mechanism of social mobility and achievement of gender equality.
Objectives: to analyze female entrepreneurship as a means of expanding women's rights and opportunities, increasing their social status and overcoming gender barriers; based on statistics and facts, to demonstrate the strengthening of the position of women's business in Russia and the world; to substantiate the potential of female entrepreneurship in solving social problems and promoting progressive changes. The paper uses methods of comparative analysis, generalization, secondary analysis of research results conducted by specialists in the development of female entrepreneurship. Particular attention is paid to the role of women entrepreneurs in politics and their ability to influence decision-making. It is noted that opportunities for women's business are expanding, and entrepreneurship is becoming an effective social elevator for women.
Conclusions are drawn about the importance of developing female entrepreneurship as a tool for progressive transformations and achieving gender equality in society, and the need for a purposeful state policy to stimulate and support female entrepreneurship.
69-75
Analysis of the expert assessment of the development of corporate competencies among the heads of the operational level of the Russian Railways company
Abstract
The article presents the results of one of the empirical stages within the framework of the dissertation research on the topic: "The role of the employer in increasing the level of competence of Russian Railways operating managers". Russian Railways Company, which is one of the largest holdings in Russia, pays special attention to the development of its employees, since the level of personnel competence, including different executives, determines the quality of their work functions and, as a result, the safety of passenger and freight transportation. The objective of the of the research stage presented in the article is to analyze the HR assessment of the effectiveness of the system for improving the level of corporate competencies of the operating managers of the Kuibyshev Railway traffic management. This study applied a method of an expert survey in the format of an individual interview with the traffic management personnel unit. The experts are 9 specialists of the directorate HR department, who are responsible for creating conditions for improving the level of managers' corporate competencies. The results of the study show practical recommendations developed together with the staff of the human resources department to modernize the existing system for the development of corporate competencies among operating managers. The practical significance of the study lies in the implementation of the developed recommendations in the work of the traffic management directorate. In case of successful implementation of practical recommendations, the experience will be applied in other Kuibyshev Railway directorates.
76-81
Assessment of the trade union activity information system by the members of the Samara University trade union
Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of the mechanisms of trade union information dissemination in modern digitalization conditions. The authors give an overview of the latest research on the transformation processes taking place in trade union organizations, including those, working in the domestic higher education system, and also provide data from their own empirical research conducted in the fall of 2023 among the members of the Samara University workers' union. The performed research, based on the data of the questionnaire survey of the university trade union ordinary members (N=107) and semi-formalized interviews with the chairmen of trade union bureaus (N=10), made it possible to analyze the way the university employees assess the quality of the Samara University trade union information work. Conclusions are drawn about the main existing information sources for the trade union ordinary members about its activities, the employees' preferences in the used information channels and the assessment of its reliability, as well as the greater need to obtain information on the protection of labor rights, improvement of working conditions and the collective agreement management. Based on the study results, practical recommendations are formulated for the trade union committee on improving the effectiveness of information work and operational feedback between the trade union leadership and its ordinary members.
82-96
Single-industry cities: social aspects of urban planning policy (as exemplified by the gold-mining city Bodaibo, Irkutsk region)
Abstract
The article raises the issue of Russian single-industry cities, the social situation and social policy in the city as part of urban planning policy. The main attention is paid to the analysis of the situation at the single-industry cities: social aspects of urban planning policy (as illustrated by the gold-mining city of Bodaibo, Irkutsk region). More than 60 % of the city population is directly or indirectly connected with the gold mining industry. Consequently, Bodaibo can be considered as a single-industry gold-mining city that requires attention from the authorities and a special approach to the urban policy development. The relevance of the study is explained by the fact that there are no systematic comprehensive (including sociological) studies on gold mining cities and settlements in Russia. Purpose of the study: studying the needs of residents of the city of Bodaibo to improve the quality of life in terms of solving social problems and developing proposals to determine the directions of urban planning policy. Research results: in October 2022, the authors of the article conducted a sociological survey of the city Bodaibo residents to identify the satisfaction of citizens with living and working conditions, and to assess the comfort of the environment. It was found that the social conditions in the city are deteriorating: 30 % of citizens noted the quality of life as the worst, more than 60 % of respondents rated the state of social infrastructure as unsatisfactory. Conclusions: weaknesses in the city urban planning policy - lack of comfortable housing, high prices for rental housing for newcomers, poor condition of transport infrastructure, low quality of medical and cultural services. Due to the unresolved social problems, part of the population is leaving the city, the demographic situation is deteriorating. The authors analyzed studies on single-industry towns in other regions of the Russian Federation, got acquainted with the proposed models for solving urgent problems, also relying upon foreign experience. Based on the sociological survey results and acquaintance with the developed concepts for the reorganization of single-industry towns, the authors proposed some steps to improve the urban planning policy in the city of Bodaibo
97-107
РЕЦЕНЗИИ
The philosophy of Stanislaw Lem through the eyes of Professor Okolovsky. Review of the book “Stanislaw Lem and reason. Philosophical studies"
Abstract
The article is a review of the publication: Okolovsky P. Stanislav Lem and reason. Philosophical studies. Minsk: Galiafi, 2022. 224 p. The author is a professor at the University of Warsaw, researching the philosophical legacy of Stanislaw Lem. The book is a collection of essays and interviews that reveal Lem's vision of resolving ontological, epistemological and axiological questions. The Russian-speaking reader is offered an analysis of the philosophy of the mature Lem: it is little known and does not fit into the canonical approaches expressing the history of philosophy of the 20th century. This publication makes a significant contribution to Lemology, allowing one to get an idea of the principles and approaches of Lem as a philosopher, and to look at his philosophical heritage against the background of the ancient classics.
108-111
Information. News. Events
112-119