Aim. Based on philosophical methodology, consider in detail the content of some general scientific (philosophical) categories “separate”, “individual”, “special”, “universal” (that is, categories reflecting the delimitation of some phenomena from others), the categories “identity”, “difference”, “opposite”, “contradiction”, “struggle” (categories reflecting the process of comparing the characteristics of phenomena), “change”, “movement”, “development”, “progress”, “regression” (categories reflecting the transition from one qualitative state of being to another) and define them in a modern edition.

Methodology. The work was carried out based on a systematic approach using classification methods and comparative analysis.

Results. Research within the framework of the system of philosophical categories because of cognitive activity, which is a systematization of information about a phenomenon and the naming of this phenomenon, is still relevant today. The categories reflect the characteristics of phenomena of a certain class, record the essential properties of the phenomena and the connections between them. In addition, based on the content of general scientific categories, methods of cognition are formed. They also have a general scientific character and participate in all scientific research without exception. This fact gives special importance to understanding the essence of general scientific (philosophical) categories, which, working to solve problems of scientific research, are transformed into methods of scientific research. This circumstance determines the need for a detailed presentation of the content of general scientific (philosophical) categories in their modern edition.

Research implications.  The results of the study can be used to improve the methodological competencies of both teachers of philosophical disciplines and students.

Aim. The aim of this research is to identify the ontological content of the metaphor “the Divine hand” in various philosophical and religious contexts.

Methodology. As a methodological foundation in the work, a philosophical-ontological approach is utilized. Within this framework, a comparison is made, specifically, between two ontological models: the hierarchy of layers of being and the triadic structure of reality. Dialectical methodology is utilized to examine the metaphor’s usage, contrasting it with an antithesis symbolizing negative forces opposing the benevolent manifestations of the “the Divine hand” Contextual analysis of the metaphor’s usage in diverse philosophical and religious sources is applied in the research.

Results. The study clarifies the usage of the metaphorical expression “the Divine hand” in religious contexts to denote the influence of Divine power on human events beyond predictability and human control, indicating a profound connection between humans and a higher order of reality. A correlation between the concept of the “the Divine hand” and religious and philosophical ideas is identified. The concept is compared to the idea of Divine Providence in St. Thomas Aquinas’s philosophy and N. Hartmann’s hierarchical ontology, where higher layers influence lower ones, manifesting as a unique impact of a higher power on various aspects of reality. The study uncovers the connection between the concept of the “the Divine hand” and the ontological model developed by V. N. Sagatovsky, describing the triadic structure of being (objective, subjective, and transcendental reality). In this model, the integrity of being surpasses the ontological status of each type, allowing the interpretation of such integrity as a kind of “the Divine hand”. Perspectives for the scientific interpretation of the metaphor “the Divine hand” are outlined based on the principles of contemporary postclassical science, including synergistic studies in the realms of chaos and complexity.

Research implications. Theoretical and practical significance lies in conceptualizing the ontological content of the metaphor, expanding philosophical notions about the relationship between humans and the transcendental. The results can serve as a foundation for further development of understanding in the realm of the spiritual aspects of human life, contributing to the broadening of the horizon in contemporary philosophical discourse on causality, determinism, and randomness.

Aim. To determine scientific and methodological approaches which can be used in the Orthodox theology as an academic discipline to obtain scientific results.

Methodology. Using the search method and the method of critical analysis, a review of the modern authors’ works devoted to general methodology and the methodology of theology in particular was carried out.

Results. Systemic, structural, categorical, narratological, post-structural approaches for theological research relating to methodology of science are formulated and described. Source study method, hermeneutic, biographical method are described as possible for application.

Research implications. The current study facilitates scientific research in the field of theology during the planning and defining the research agenda.

Aim. To explore the formation and existence of humans’ individual representations of things and their connection to linguistic categories.

Methodology. The research incorporates analysis of data on the activity of individual brain neurons, ideas from the cognitome theory and exemplar theories of categorization, as well as the philosophical concept of unicepts.

Results. Scientific evidence suggests the uniqueness of each individual’s representations of objects. Distributed hypernetworks of neurons correspond to specific elements of subjective experience for each person. Linguistic categories are based on subjective experience of interacting with specific exemplars. Communication is based not on universal concepts, but rather on unique individual representations – unicepts.

Research implications. For the first time, this study presents, in a generalized form, the idea of distributed coding of meaning, which combines the understanding of meaning encoding in neuropsychology, categorization theories, and the notion of unicepts.

Aim. To conduct a historical and philosophical research to substantiate the relevance of the problem of a violent attitude of a person to his own body as an idealized image of the Other symbolically constituted ¹in time, which, as its impersonal counterpart, is recognized and experienced in the form of accumulated and incompletely realized in all its frustrated essence – capital.

Methodology. The results of this study were obtained based on the use of systemic and historical-philosophical analyses, using an interdisciplinary approach and a dialectical method, which together made it possible to comprehend the non-classical idea of the body as a fundamental source of a full-fledged self-determination of a person.

Results. According to the results of the study, it was revealed that in the process of capitalist self-actualization, a person, alienated from his own body, loses contact with it as a fundamental source of ensuring his holistic individuation, finding it in a symbolically contradictory and impersonal image of the Other, with whom he identifies himself, and thus dooms to a frustrated search for his full value in himself.

Research implications. The relevance of the analysis of various philosophical concepts of the 20th century lies in the non-classical approach to comprehending the formation of a person’s deconstructed idea of his own body as a utilitarian source of explication of economically self-sufficient existence.

Aim. To substantiate the presence of such an essential element as the philosophical foundations of science in the structure of metatheoretical knowledge of science. To show the necessity of their correspondence to the real content of science in its historical development. To reconstruct the philosophical foundations of the last three stages of its development: classical, non-classical and post-non-classical science.

Methodology. Comparative analysis of the philosophical foundations of classical, non-classical and post-non-classical science.

Results. The variability of the philosophical foundations of science in the process of its development and their correspondence to the real content of science is proved.

Research implications. The pluralistic nature of philosophical foundations and the need to link them to the real content of science are substantiated.

Aim. The formation of any science is a difficult and often thorny path, starting with its official recognition both at the state level and among the academic community, and ending with the definition of its subject field, as well as the development of a special research methodology. Even more difficult is the formation of theology as a science, the subject field of which is not easy to define, since its object goes far beyond rational understanding, and the methods of cognition of the Ultimate often cross the demarcation line between the scientific and metaphysical. One of the ways of convergence of the secular and sacred, in our opinion, is the possibility of incorporating the main components of the “Principle of Flexibility of Methodological Rationality” proposed by Paul Tillich in his three-volume book “Systematic Theology” into the scientific field of theology, which will allow us to resolve not only the issues of scientificity / unscientificity of theology, but also to overcome the disagreements within the theological community, observed between “theological philosophers” and “highly educated preachers”.

Methodology. On the basis of the analysis of the “Principle of methodological rationality”, the present article attempts to identify and systematize the indicators of flexibility of methodological rationality, divided by us into two groups singled out on the basis of their semantic orientation.

Results. The first group includes indicators concerning the role and place of reason in theology and its specific features, among which are: the presence of different levels of consciousness, including levels of interiority, the highest of which indicates the possibility of the theologian to reach his meta-level; several types of reason – formal (technical), involved in the construction of theological systems and ontological (ecstatic), the reason inherent in faith and having a special dimension of depth - the foundation of reason, thanks to which the union of cognitive and aesthetic is possible. The second group of indicators is identified on the basis of analyzing the concepts of P. Tillich, B. Lonergan and D. V. Shmonin. This group includes the representation of groups of theologians who are in the same theological circle, but who fulfill somewhat different functions, which is reflected in the predominance of one or another level of consciousness and type of reason in the representatives of each group, as well as types of theology, the first of which is given the role of carrying “living knowledge of the transcendent”, the second is assigned the role of preserving and disseminating dogmatics and ritualism, the third is related to the correlation of theological concepts with modern scientific knowledge.

Research implications. Based on the conducted research, the article concludes that the inclusion of the “Principle of Flexibility of Methodological Rationality” in theological research contributes not only to the resolution of the problem of scientificity / unscientificity of theological knowledge, but also contributes to the removal of some of the contradictions observed in the contemporary theological space.

Aim. To identify the role and place of military technologies in the process of NBIC transformation of society.

Methodology. Interdisciplinary and systemic approaches, hypothetical-deductive method were used in the assessment of the current state and prospects for the development of convergent technologies in military affairs.

Results. The hypothesis is put forward that the revolution in military affairs (due to the rapid development of NBIC technologies) and potential armament race, similar to the Cold War era, will lead to a change in the scientific and technological foundations of modern civilization, will affect the development of dual-use and civilian technologies and will largely determine the shape of the technosphere of the second quarter of the XXI century. The study substantiates that on many grounds the leap to its new qualitative state has already occurred, and the scientific community will have to characterize the technological reality that has signs of singularity.

Research implications. The author’s version of the concept of technological singularity is proposed. The problem of humanity of military technologies is actualized taking into account the dynamics of development of new means of armed struggle. Proposals to mitigate the threats of increasing NBIC convergence are formulated, including the introduction of unified global standards of social and humanitarian expertise of modern technologies.

Aim. To reveal the essence of the psychophysiological problem from the position of the unity of the material and the ideal in the human brain activity.

Methodology. In the process of research, the theoretical method of scientific knowledge, the general philosophical dialectical method, as well as methods of abstraction, induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, and mental modeling of material and ideal processes in the activity of the human brain were used.

Results.  The author proposes a three-level model of understanding and reflection of reality, which distinguishes automatic unconscious processes of biological reflection, partially conscious subjective processes of the lower consciousness, and fully conscious and understood processes of the highest consciousness. In the activity of the human brain, according to this model, the subjective component of reflex acts and dual transitional material-ideal and ideal-material processes are distinguished, which are considered as objective reality. In the article, the author connects the material-physiological action, accompanied by subjective personal experiences, with the ideal mental one. Evidence is provided of the influence of the ideal-material on the physical. In this regard, the article presents the idea of Y. M. Rinpoche on the relationship between mind and body, the ideas of the physicalist D. Chalmers related to the relationship between the mind and the body are analyzed, the views of D. Dennett on the equivalence of the mental and physical, and the ideas of D. V. Ivanov on the awareness of mental states. The work also evaluates the possibility of the influence of mental states on bodily processes and the “transition” of the ideal into material motor actions. To prove the unity of the material and the ideal in the human brain activity, a thought experiment called “Brain outside the body” is presented, which idealizes the work of the brain outside the body. In conclusion, the author draws attention to the unity of the material and the ideal from the perspective of the evolutionary approach and at the same time emphasizes the distinctive feature of the material process from the ideal..

Research implications. The work is the first to rethink the psychophysiological problem and the process of mental reflection of the external world from the position of the unity of the material and the ideal in the activity of the human brain. An attempt has been made to show the true essence and nature of the mental reflection of objects and phenomena of the external world based on the systemic organization of mental activity of the brain.

Aim. To establish the prerequisites for the implementation of the principle of conciliarity through network communication in a mass information society.

Methodology. The methodological basis for the research is the social and philosophical analysis of the urgent problems of modern social consciousness, the institutional ties of society and ensuring the sustainability of social life.

Results.  The relevance of the principle of conciliarity in the search for a model of development of modern Russian society is established. The relevance of this principle is presented in connection with its goal-setting, which contains both positive development tasks and the imperative of preserving individual freedom. The contradictory nature of the network communication environment is revealed, which presupposes the protection of the information space from destructive destructive actors and meanings. It is proposed to protect the discussion network space from extremist influences, first of all, relying on the conciliar opinion of the majority to identify a real effective social norm and attitude.

Research implications. The appeal to the principle of conciliarity in connection with determining the parameters of activity in the space of the network communication environment will contribute to the search for a national consensus, finding effective positive social goal-setting, as well as the creation of such mechanisms for regulating the information space that would not be reduced to certain restrictions on freedom of expression.

Aim. To trace the evolution and characterize the specifics of the leading human technotypes, including the images Homo Computeris, Homo Informaticus and Homo Network.

Methodology. In accordance with the stated purpose, the concept of “technotype” is explicated in the research, the main human technotypes are distinguished and characterized, the sequence of their formation is traced, their complementarity in terms of the modern human characteristics of and his technologized being is proved. The research applies methods of analysis and synthesis, comparative and descriptive, historical, and logical methods. A predictive method is also used to characterize the features of human techno-bio-evolution and to realize its potential consequences, both positive and negative.

Results. The research substantiates the concept of an anthropological “technotype”. The authors propose to understand “technotypes” as the new formats of human beings that have developed as a result of the impact on them of a complex of innovative achievements in the field of modern technics and technology. The evolution of anthropological technotypes is traced, starting with the type of Homo Computeris, including the type of Homo Informaticus and ending with the type of Homo Network. These technological types are characterized in the context of the type of society that determines them (information society, network society). The existential models determining technotypes are identified and analyzed, including the “Human / Machine” and “Human / Network” models.

Research implications. The theoretical significance of the study is related to the explication of the concept of “technotype” in an anthropological way, as well as to the identification and later characterization of the leading human technotypes in the context of the processes of computerization, informatization, and network development that determine them. The practical significance of the research lies in the fact that its provisions and conclusions can be used to clarify the identity of humans in a technologized world, coordinate their behavior and activities in an exponential growth of technical innovations and technological solutions.

Aim. To explicate the representative properties of the educational process based on the methods of intensive analysis of subject meanings worked out by semantics.

Methodology. Supersyntactic informal techniques for clarifying the nature of representative phenomena (empirical interpretation, objectification, verification).

Results. It is shown that education as a humanitarian human-creating resource cultivates a person (not competence!) who adapts realities to himself. On this basis, the platforms of technocratization and instrumentalization of education in the modern post-industrial world are rejected, allegedly subordinating personal and social self-affirmation to the imperatives of the knowledge economy, the service industry, and spiritless consumerism.

Research implications. A meaningfully verified view of the essence of educational training inspires an adequate model of cultivating a comprehensive, harmoniously developed personality. Instilling the ability to work creatively – this is the solid ground of educational policy, the pathos of updating the work of secondary and higher schools.

Aim. To substantiate the need for educational work with the population of the Russian Federation by preserving and maintaining in constant activity the significant component of sociality – historical memory.

Methodology. The phenomena of the current national history – the all-Russian patriotic action “Immortal Regiment” and architectural project “The Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces” – were subjected to cultural, hermeneutical, socio-philosophical analysis.

Results. A conclusion is drawn about the exceptional symbolic and historical significance of these phenomena, and the peculiarities of the national mentality revealed in these implemented concepts.

Research implications. The hierotopic peculiarities of modern national history  phenomena on the example of the “Immortal Regiment” action and The Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces were for the first time analyzed from the social and philosophical, hermeneutical and axiological perspectives in the following study.