Filosofija. Sociologija

Title

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Living in ‘Interesting Times’ as the Imperative of Asking Unimagined Questions

Aušra Kaziliūnaitė — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

This article serves as an overview and introduction to the current issue of ‘Philosophy. Sociology’, which is thematically divided into five sections: epistemology, phenomenology, social philosophy, ethics, logic and the historical development of philosophical thought. The author provides a brief description of each of the twelve texts, emphasising that, despite addressing various topics, they all reflect the spirit of the present time.
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, large language models, and technology, along with political and social turmoil, including the war in Ukraine, have played significant roles in the emergence of the texts featured in this issue. Even when these topics are not explicitly addressed, the historical context in which these discussions unfold shapes the intellectual atmosphere and influences how scholars deal with pressing philosophical questions. Topics include cognition, language games, human enhancement and its ethical implications, the concept of knowledge, the nature of education, the axiology of military leadership, conspiracy theories, the phenomenology of evil, technological morality, the postmodern urban context, and more.

The Myth of Rationality and the Dualistic Concept of Knowledge on the Example of the Formation of the Concept of Information Literacy

Michal Černý — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

This study analyses the approaches discursively applied in conceptualising information literacy in modern society on the model of two ideal pure types – Enlightenment and Neo-Romanticism. The study places these approaches at the core of contemporary society as competing and complementary approaches. It analytically reviews each historical approach and analyses its influence on the formation of educational theories using information literacy as a model. The hypothesis is that if the conceptualisation of the new is not to remain unsatisfactory and problematic, it will be necessary to find a way to overcome the incompleteness of modernity and abandon efforts to renew both the Enlightenment and Neo-Romanticism.

Large Language Models and the Enhancement of Human Cognition: Some Theoretical Insights

Aistė Diržytė — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

This essay explores the possible contribution of Large Language Models (LLMs) to human cognition. It investigates whether human cognition can be enhanced by advanced AI systems such as LLMs. Can LLMs make people as learners smarter, or, on the contrary, make them reason/think less? The author discusses the concepts of human and artificial intelligence and examines LLMs as advanced AI systems, which use deep learning techniques and can be considered as excelling in neural network architectures, data volume, generalisation and scalability. The author suggests that while LLMs can assist in facilitating numerous cognitive tasks, more research and philosophical inquiry is needed to understand whether such kind of AI assistance would make people cultivate human intelligence more, and not less. Presumably, Large Language Models (LLMs) can contribute to human intelligence and cognition just under strict (addressed existing limitations, questioning prompting, time-sensitivity, etc.) conditions. However, it is important that these theoretical considerations could be verified by experimental research.

Cognitive Connotations of Discourse Subjectivity from the Philosophic Perspective

Bingzhuan Peng, Xinyue Wang — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Discourse serves as a medium through which speakers (or writers) express their stance, affect and intentions, that is, subjectivity. Subjectivity in discourse is omnipresent, meaning that it manifests whenever discourse is generated. Nevertheless, current research lacks a thorough exploration of discourse subjectivity (DS) and its particular cognitive connotations. A framework for analysing the cognitive connotations of DS from the philosophic perspective was constructed to delve deeper into the cognitive aspects of DS. This approach utilised qualitative research and conceptual analysis methods. Using this framework, the cognitive connotations of DS were meticulously examined from two perspectives: speakers’ self-ascription to objective events and speakers’ concern over the ‘self’ of the hearers (or readers). The findings reveal that: (1) the constructed framework facilitates a comprehensive analysis of the cognitive connotations of DS, uncovering the inherent links among discourse, speakers, hearers, context and subjectivity; (2) speakers’ self-ascription to objective events encompasses their stance, affect and intentions; (3) speakers’ concern over the hearers’ ‘self’ specifically includes the hearers’ self-image, cognitive state and social identity. This study provides a framework and perspective for further research into DS and discourse analysis, offering insights for exploring subjective phenomena in discourse more deeply.

The Enaction of Embodied Metaphors in Dante’s Phenomenology of Evil

Mindaugas Briedis, Mariano Navarro — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Recent developments in metaphor theory stress its embodied character. This article brings together these transformational insights and considers them through the lenses of Dante’s approach, which we may call proto-phenomenological, to the phenomenon of evil. Despite the substantial work on different aspects of Dante’s oeuvre, concerning philosophy, theology and poetry, there has been little reflection on his specific phenomenological hermeneutics of the body and its importance for the whole poetic project. The article responds to this neglect with an analysis of the logic of embodied metaphor in relation to a specific, pre-modern context. Hence, the conceptual apparatus of embodied cognition and enactive phenomenology is used here as a method to support the thesis that the language of embodied metaphors grounds a new approach to ontological, epistemological and ethical aspects regarding the phenomenon of evil, which are already apparent in Dante’s work. Therefore, another important outcome of this research is the validation of the primacy of poetry on the grounds of this new (embodied) epistemology.

Heideggerian Notes on Education: Learning and Being-in-the-world

Nerijus Stasiulis — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The article discusses issues, trends and possibilities of current education in Heideggerian terms. The situation of education is related to the broader situation of our time. Thus, enframing brings both danger and possibility to education. The latter should also be concerned with learning to think Being. Education shares in the fundamental character of being-in-the-world and the double possibility of authenticity or inauthenticity as well as dangers of deworlding and detemporalising. This article will be followed by the second part, which will discuss how currently education, like current sciences, supervenes on a Being-forgetful notion of ratio, thus, an ‘other’ relation to language (logos) is relevant.

Fashioning Society: An Exploration of Collective Behaviour and Cultural Change Through Symbolic Interactionism

Gabriela Ambás, Paula Gárgoles — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The intersection of fashion, collective behaviour and the philosophical tradition of symbolic interactionism (SI) is explored through this article, highlighting how fashion serves as a key mechanism in social interaction and cultural change. Drawing from the intellectual tradition of SI, developed by Mead and Blumer, this study demonstrates how fashion facilitates collective adaptation and construction of meaning in a cultural landscape that is continually changing. Fashion is analysed not only as a vehicle for individual expression but as a significant social object that embodies symbols, signs and shared meanings. Through social interaction, these meanings are constructed, deconstructed, and continuously reshaped, influencing both personal identities and broader social structures. By analysing fashion’s role in collective selection and its potential for societal transformation, the findings of this article reveal fashion’s capacity to introduce new cultural models, challenge established norms, and guide upcoming social dynamics. These insights highlight how fashion holds a relevant influence in shaping cultural imaginaries, constructing collective meanings, and driving social change.

On the Conspiracy Theories as Irony and Language Games (with Continual Reference to Richard Rorty’s Philosophy)

Lina Vidauskytė — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Using the ideas of early German Romantics and their modern interpretation in the thinking of the philosopher Richard Rorty, the article analyses conspiracy theories regarding them as irony and language games. Through the prism of these analogies, conspiracy theorists and their followers are treated as workers of the imagination (i.e. poets), even though they do not fit properly within the framework of the concept of a liberal or poetic society, developed by Rorty. The concept of poetic culture, initially proposed by the German romantic Friedrich Schlegel, describes a culture in which the poetic element prevails, strongly complemented by the mystery element. The mystery in conspiracy theories would correspond to a distrust of rationality that drew criticism from the Romantics as well. Rorty’s emphasis on the contingency of language is a good argument to see that conspiracy theorists also do not rely on transcendence. In this way, the aspect of truth as creation rather than discovery is also expressed. Irony in the article appears as an appropriate way to understand history and reality.

Urban Community in the Postmodern Urban Context

Vaidas Jakutis — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Society faces various daily urban living problems – cities are becoming denser, green spaces and recreation areas for citizens are at the bottom of the policymakers’ priority list, and infrastructure decisions mainly satisfy business interests. We stand in traffic jams for hours. At the same time, climate change makes it increasingly difficult for cities to live in every summer. To understand how society should operate these challenges to shift the urban environment in the desired direction, empowering city dwellers and allowing them to participate in this multi-layered phenomenon entirely, we must fundamentally understand the importance of the urban community. The central thesis of this paper is that in urban studies, it is necessary to discuss what an urban community is and in what critical dimensions it shapes the identity of a city, or vice versa, the city shapes it. This article presents an interdisciplinary scientific literature analysis conducted using the method of comparative analysis to identify critical dimensions of a contemporary urban community.

Evolution of the Axiology of Military Leadership: Historical and Philosophical Aspect in the Context of the russian-Ukrainian War

Vadym Dyiak, Vladyslav Volobuiev — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

The theses of our research are the following: 1) the ideal of a military leader depends on the axiological field of culture and evolves from taking into account only military prowess to prioritising moral values; 2) this ideal is significantly modified under the influence of Christianity; 3) the current russian-Ukrainian war has demonstrated a conflict of axiologies and different understandings of military leadership.
The article demonstrates how the ideal of a military leader has changed. This makes it possible to understand the value conflict that is the basis of the russian-Ukrainian war: the Ukrainian military leader is oriented towards the Western paradigm, while the russian military leader is drawn to archaic ideals of warfare with their inherent cruelty and desire to win at any cost.

Toward Datafied Human Enhancement: Concept, Functional Classifications and Ethical Issues

Zheng Liu — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

This article presents a robust defense of the concept of ‘datafied enhancement’ as a subset of human enhancement. Firstly, the author notes that the widespread development of ICT and AI technologies has made it possible to collect and analyse human biometric data, thus integrating data into the concept of embodiment. Secondly, the author explores the cultural and intellectual history of datafied enhancement, highlighting the significant role that data has played in human evolution. Thirdly, the author examines the functional classifications of datafied enhancement, arguing that conversational, wearable, ingestible and embeddable technological devices can enhance physical, cognitive, emotional and moral capacities of individuals by collecting body data. Fourthly, the author underscores the importance of distinguishing datafied enhancement from dataism to avoid misconceptions. Finally, the author addresses potential ethical issues, such as data exclusivity, the uncontrollable data self, and privacy invasion. By acknowledging these risks, datafied enhancement can be guided to become a technology that respects human dignity and promotes the common good.

The First Age of Logic in Lithuania: Propositio as Such and the Necessary Propositions

Vytis Valatka — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

This article continues the series of publications dedicated to the scholastic logic in Lithuania in the 16th century, i.e. the first century of logic in Lithuania. The author of the article focuses on the explanation of the second operation of human intellect, that is, proposition or judgement (propositio sive judicium). The article comes to the conclusion that Lithuanian scholiasts adhered to the traditional Aristotelian-scholastic definition of a proposition. Namely, the proposition was defined as a true or false sentence. In the same traditional way, opposition, equivalence (aequipollentia) and conversion were considered the main properties (propria) of the intellect’s second operation. One more conclusion is that Lithuanian logicians of the16th century traditionally regarded necessary, or always true, propositions as the main elements of scientific knowledge (scientia). Nevertheless, while analysing terms of the necessary proposition, they presented an approach certainly close to modern logic. More concretely, both the subject and the predicate of the necessary proposition were considered not to require their actual existence in the real world.

The Three Elements Involved in Causality and Their Correspondence

Sherman Xie — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Causality is the most basic connection, rule, logic and fact of the phenomenal world, so finding the causal connection between things and utilising it to achieve the goal of avoiding harm and ultimately attaining happiness are the fundamental motivation for all human intellectual activities. This paper first points out that any causal inference in any field can and should be analysed from three dimensions: cause, condition and result. And then it introduces the six-causes doctrine, ten-causes doctrine, four-conditions doctrine and five-effects doctrine in Buddhist philosophy. This provides a complete analytical framework for causal reasoning, and any causal analysis in any field can be integrated into this comprehensive framework for study.