The article analyzes modern theoretical and methodological assumptions underlying the approaches to the problem of the ontological status of free will. The main focus is on the possibility of using the naturalistic premise in modern discussions on the ontological status of free will. It is concluded that the attempts to use the naturalistic premise in discussions on the ontological status of free will do not correspond to the modern level of reception of the problem of reality in the philosophy of science, and the problem of the ontological status of free will remains relevant. An alternative approach to the problem is proposed and its basic principles are formulated.

The article considers the problem of formation of mental and psychic processes in human consciousness. A comparison of the features of human thinking and the cognitive functions of artificial intelligence systems leads to the conclusion that it is necessary to pay special attention to the processes of reception of thinking, adaptive self-learning, regarding fixed knowledge. The authors study social interactions aimed at the reproduction of human thinking, taking into account the factors of the organization of individual social life. The main methods of synergetics, cognitive science, the concept of universal evolutionism, nonlinearity, holism, complexity, self-organization are considered and applied. The necessity is emphasized of considering subjective, mental and social components of consciousness. The conclusion is made that there are prerequisites for the transition to a new stage in the development of artificial intelligence systems and modeling of consciousness.

Based mainly on the Kazan spiritual and academic tradition, this study attempts at revealing genetic continuity between such phenomena of the Neo-European culture as mesmerism, ecclesiastical and extra-church mysticism, materialistic and transformist philosophical and religious currents. An episode describing the coincidence of the Western European Christian and Gnostic traditions is considered. A direct connection between the doctrinal provisions of the Catholic Church and the secular direction in the development of the European culture is traced. The purpose of the work is to study the phenomenon of mesmerism, established in France at the turn of the 18th -19th centuries, as a pan-European reaction to the paradigm change.

The purpose of the study consists in detecting the peculiarities of the development of military safety of the advanced western countries. The author made an attempt to study the views of foreign experts on the problem under consideration. The carried-out analysis showed that the features of development of military safety of the advanced western countries reflect contradictory schemes of practice, aspiration to distort the roots of emerging dangers, achievement of purposes through the abundent use of mainly violent means.

The article considers the possible weakening of the regulatory function of mass media (MM) in mass communication society. The author analyzes the weakening of the legitimacy of MM as the “fourth power” and as a reliable source of information, as a result of which the satisfaction of the information needs acquires a contradictory, chaotic, and at times distorted and personality deforming character. The author proposes the solution for the current situation, which consists in the need to follow the model of social media responsibility and return them to the ideal of independent and universally recognized sources of information. A method of socio-philosophical analysis was used, which included a theoretical and empirical analysis.

The purpose of the article is to reveal synesthetic connections in sign language and to identify aesthetic peculiarities of language of the deaf. The authors analyzed the views of researchers on the problem of synesthesia in language, and in sign language in particular. The study is essentially based on sign language analysis. In conclusion the auhors revealed the value of synesthetic connections for sign language and thinking of the deaf. The groundbreaking idea was to consider sign language not as a linguistic phenomenon, but as aesthetic category.

The article investigates the factors that increase the rationality of an actor of the post-industrial society and the reflection of this rationality in identification of modern middle class and social management technologies. The research draws on the works of Russian and foreign scholars and the data of the surveys of the second decade of the 21st century. It is shown that the rationality of an actor develops in order to perform his/her own life strategy and under the influence of digital technologies, which is true for the Russian society as well. The increase in rationality is associated with such criteria for the identification of the middle class as ability to analyze information and to be informed about what is happening in the society, independence in assessments, interest in the development of the society, and involvement in the innovative sectors of economy and social life. The author proposes the principles of designing rational social technologies for public administration and the algorithms for their implementation.

The aim of the article is a philosophical analysis of the views of Russian religious thinkers of the 19th-20th centuries on the economic life of the society. The research is generally based on the analysis of the texts of V.S. Solovyev, S.N. Bulgakov, P.A. Florensky in comparison with the studies of business ethics by foreign scientists - M. Weber, W. Sombart, L. Erhard. The analysis showed that the Russian religious thinkers of the turn of the 19th-20th centuries argued that spiritual and moral values had determining influence on the economic life of the society and criticized the theories of economism and sociologism as manifestations of anti-human (technocratic) tendencies in the development of an individual and the society fetishizing production at the expense of personality development. As an alternative the Russian religious thinkers considered the idea of Christian socialism and proved that the Orthodox Christian ethics of economy should have been a foundation of Russia’s unique development, thus rejecting bourgeois-liberal and socialist options for social reforming. The authors of the article managed to find a new treatment of the problem of moral legitimacy of the market economy by combining pragmatic motivation with traditional ethics of service and reviewing the works of modern philosophers and economists.

The article deals with the original ideas of justice of the early Slavophiles, mainly A.S. Khomyakov, I.V. Kireyevsky, K.S. Aksakov, in the context of their philosophical and legal views. It is noted that their religious and ethical ideas: autonomous jurisdiction on the Orthodox base, inner truth, justice, mercy, compassion were popular and became part and parcel of the principles of the post-reform jurisdiction in the second half of the 19th century. The conclusion is made about the relevance of the legal and philosophical teachings of the Slavophiles in our days.

The purpose of the article is to study the concept of evil presented in the early works of V.V. Rozanov in its connection with the subsequent ideological evolution of the thinker. The article discusses the question of how Rozanov’s ideas on the origin and significance of evil are connected with his concept of the expediency of all things, which plays a defining role in his early writings. The article demonstrates the peculiarity of Rozanov’s views on human nature in comparison with the classical philosophical tradition. The author also discusses philosophical foundations of Rozanov’s doctrine of necessity of evil for the actualization of good. Besides that the article analyzes Rozanov’s argument against F.M. Dostoevsky on the issue of moral justification of human suffering. The author argues that it was difference in the treatment of the significance of evil that led to Rozanov’s disengagement from Dostoevsky’s ideological heritage. The article substantiates the conclusion about the essential connection between Rozanov’s doctrine of the nature of good and evil and the emerging ideas of the “new religious consciousness”.

The article considers the views of the Russian philosophers Slavophiles. The author introduced the notion of ontological holism as designation of their worldview. The article emphasizes that the strong feeling of the world’s unity became an internal starting point for spiritual quest of Slavophiles, and the searching for an alternative European worldview became an external starting point for them. Suchworldview was embodied, in their opinion, most fully in the Russian consciousness. This consciousness brought to life the Russian culture which is the embodiment of integrity. The article substantiates Slavophiles’ rejecting the so called “autonomous mind” in the West European sense. Using historical, analytical, dialectical and systemic methods of inquiry the author comes to the conclusion that holistic thinking is the cornerstone not only of the Slavophiles’ worldview, but also of the paradigm that determined the development of Russian philosophy.

This research is devoted to consideration of the essence, basic principles and bases for the interpretation of Scripture; analysis of the most important aspects of the impact of early Christian, antique and Hellenistic traditions on the philosophical and theological thought; the main hermeneutic techniques and methods of study and interpretation used by St. Basil the Great. The author of the article revealed the characteristic tendencies and peculiarities of the interpretation of the Holy Scripture by the great Cappadocians and St. Basil the Great in particular by using general logical methods of theoretical knowledge and such methods of scientific research as comparative analysis and synthesis, generalization, analogy and systemic approach. The main procedures of this research are explication, interpretation and explanation. In conclusion, the author argues the importance of identifying, determining and choosing exegetical and hermeneutical techniques of biblical interpretation.

This study aims at revealing basic principles and main trends in the development of philosophical and theological views on the acceptable methods of the Holy Scripture interpretation; the Cappadocian Fathers’ polemics with heretical movements within Christianity, and their apologetics of the foundations of Christianity. The author considers and analyzes the characteristic features in the interpretation of the Holy Scripture by the Cappadocians and St. Basil the Great. As a result of the research, the author made important conclusions concerning the importance of identifying, determining and choosing methods of exegesis and hermeneutics of biblical texts.