Abstract: This article is dedicated to solution of the crucial problems of the philosophy of war – the paradox of David and Goliath. The weaker, technically inferior side of military confrontation often defeats the stronger one, which is equipped with the latest technology by the world political actors. The author describes the heterogeneous and asymmetric nature of modern wars, which involve state and non-state actors, and combine regular and irregular combat practices. It is indicated that the mobile and flexible strategy of partisan war, which is more effective than the actions of regular army, is now being adopted by them. Therefore, if an irregular soldier, a partisan, in the conditions of classical inter-state war possessed the status of “unlawful combatant”, in modern wars, the soldiers of regular army must prove their superiority over the partisans. The scientific novelty of this research lies in determination of the two paradigms of warfare relevant to the current situation in the society, which correspond to the strategies of David and Goliath. The first is characteristic to high-tech societies, which have entered the post-heroic era losing imperative of sacrifice. The conclusion is made that the military activity of modern Goliaths is being transformed in accordance with transhumanistic and poshumanistic scenarios. The natural outcome of high-tech warfare of the future should become a post-human war waged by artificial intelligence. The response to high-tech challenges of the leading world political actors is the guerrilla warfare strategy of modern David, which is founded on the idea of sacrifice and willingness to take lethal risks, and debunks the key role of the factor of technological superiority in achieving victory.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-7144.2021.4.32652

Abstract: This author substantiates the thesis on the importance of spatial factors for conducting warfare. The article traces the evolution of warfare associated with the involvement of new territories and new types of spaces in the orbit of military activity. If the warfare of the past demonstrated a direct dependence on the geographical territory and the related “tensions” (C. von Clausewitz), the modern warfare are emancipated from the geographical shell of the Earth. The article explicates the factors that justify the need for arranging the new warfare spaces. Special attention is given to cyberspace, its structure, and conflicts unfolding therein. The scientific novelty of consists in the interpretation of cyberspace as an expected result of the spatial evolution of warfare. The conclusion is drawn that the emergence of cyberspace contributes to solution of the problem of information vagueness and creation of the stability zones for the military leaders, but at the same is a source of problems not less dangerous for the humanity. The cyberwar winner faces a tempting challenge of establishing global control over the territory of the plane using cyberweapon, or in most pessimistic scenario, its total destruction.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-7144.2019.12.31227

Abstract: The subject of this research is the transformation of war in the conditions of establishment of hi-tech information society. Currently, military technologies, which serve as a crucial indicator of social development, expanded far beyond military sphere and became an inseparable element of lifeworld of a modern human. The author substantiates the thesis that the prospect of a military observer becomes the daily prospect of world perception. The article compares the organizational principles of military activity in modern time with the new types of war; examines the transformation of social space that is a result of the currently prevailing low-intensity armed conflicts. The main conclusion consists in the thesis that in modern era the war ceases to be an exceptional and extraordinary event of social life; it becomes a persistent form of social relations to the point that the conditions of war and peace cannot be clearly demarcated. The author believes that dissolving the boundaries between the sovereign state, which takes place in the modern world, dos not lead to restriction f military violence, but on the contrary, contributes to its legitimation.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2018.9.27422

Abstract: This article is dedicated to examination of the observable spaces established by authorities since modernity and existing in modern society. Leaning on the works of Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, Gilles Deleuze, Patrick Joyce and others, the author explicates the potential and boundaries of impact of the visual means used by authorities overall, and Panopticon as one of such means in particular. Visual methods of exercising of power are viewed in the context of other sensory modalities of a human. The author determines the perceptive spaces of power, which serve as alternative to Panopticon of Jeremy Bentham. Along with the general scientific methods of research, the author also applies the methodological principles and paradigms of post-structuralism, social constructivism, and interdisciplinary approach. A conclusion is made that the principle of Panopticism is not the universal principle of organization of space of the power in modern society. The mechanism of power within the Panoptic space is realized due to the implicit metaphysical orientations that the enclosed within it individuals are guided by. The author’s main contribution lies in explication of the alternative to Panipticon perceptive spaces of power. The article introduces the term “Panaudion” for designating the acoustic space of the power, designed by Athanasius Kircher. The analysis contains the theoretical sources that are not translated into Russian.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8728.2018.2.22208

Abstract: The article deals with the study of the phenomenon of the masses which is constituted in the contemporary social space. The author explicates a number of factors that impede the unequivocal social and philosophical definition of masses. Basing on the researches of Oswald Spengler, Gustave Le Bon, Gabriel Tarde, Elias Canetti, Herbert Marcuse, Jean Baudrillard and other thinkers, the author identifies two main trends in the interpretation of the mass phenomenon. According to the first of them, the mass is treated as an amorphous unorganized multitude, which has a transgressive character. In the context of the second trend mass forms of social life are considered as structured and orderly. Particular attention is paid to the peculiarities of the constitution of the masses, interaction of masses and power in the technological society.The study is based on the poststructuralist methodology that allows to interpret masses and power using such categories as "transgression", ontological "rest" and "excess". In addition, the author uses the method of comparative analysis and the interdisciplinary approach.The novelty of the research lies in explication of the dependence of masses characteristics on the specific of the social space which causes the masses constitution. The author introduces the concepts of "internal transgression topos" and "excess topoi", applying them to the analysis of social space elements. If the first of these elements are produced by a system of power relations with the aim of its self-preservation; the latter are used for the implementation of the strategy of eluding the mass forms of social existence.

DOI: 10.7256/2409-8728.2017.2.18715

Abstract: The subject of this article is the war concept of Carl von Clausewitz, presented in his work "On War" ("Vom Kriege"). The article explains the importance of the theoretical heritage of the German General for philosophical discourse. The article contains detailed review of such elements of Clausewitz's theory, as the relationship of war and politics, structure and characteristics of war activity. Particular attention is paid to the temporal aspects of war activity, as well as the analysis of its subject. Based on the numerous, including non-translated into Russian theoretical sources (R. Aron, H. Münkler, U. Kleemeier, W. Palaver, R. Girard, M. Foucault, J. Law et al.), the author explicates heuristic potential and methodological significance of Clausewitz's ideas with regard to the current state of society.Along with the general theoretical research methods the author uses poststructuralist and hermeneutical methodology as well as the method of comparative analysis of philosophical doctrines.The novelty of the study lies in the detection of the variety of philosophical issues (including methodological) implicitly represented in Clausewitz’ war theory. The author comes to the conclusion that the relationship between war and politics analyzed in "Vom Kriege" is complex and controversial. The special contribution of the author consists in the explication of biopolitical ideas in the teaching of the German theorist, as well as in the explanation of the relevance of the category of subject in Clausewitz’ interpretation to modern management philosophy.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2016.10.17301

Abstract: The aim of the present article is to study essentialist and post-essentialist approaches towards the subject of power. Modern political philosophy has revealed methodological inconsistency of essentialist interpretation of the ruler which was regarded as a phenomenon determined by supreme metaphysical essence (Wesen). Unsound is today the classical subject-object model of power in general. Using the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche, Alexandre Kojeve, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault and other thinkers, the author examines in detail the causes of the crisis and heuristic incompleteness of essentialism in political philosophy. The article considers the attempts to overcome it. The author makes explicit ambiguity of the ways of describing and characterizing of the power subject represented in classical and modern concepts.Along with general scientific research methodology the author uses constructivist and poststructuralist approaches, hermeneutic methodology as well as the method of comparative analysis of philosophical doctrines.The novelty of the research lies in the comprehensive and systematic characterization of essentialist theories of power, explication of methodological "problem areas" of essentialism and constructivism. The author concludes the methodological fruitless using of classical Cartesian subject category in modern political and philosophical studies. However, the total elimination of this category from the arsenal of the modern political and philosophical thought demonstrating a broad conceptual apparatus for the expression of subjectivity is also untenable. The special contribution of the author consists in non-classical interpretation of the category of power subject in the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Carl von Clausewitz.

DOI: 10.7256/2409-7144.2016.10.2075

Abstract: This article examines the main political and philosophical ideas of Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin presented in his works "Letters of a Russian Traveler", "Historical Eulogy of Catherine II", "Memoir on Ancient and Modern Russia" and others. The author traces the evolution of the thinker's views on the phenomenon of cosmopolitanism, explores the interpretation of monarch’s power in his works, considers the ways of preventing the transformation of form of state government from monarchy into tyranny suggested of the author. The ideas of Russian historiographer were considered in the context of the concepts of Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, Charles-Louis de Montesquieu, Immanuel Kant, Ulrich Beck, Christopher Lasсh, Mikhail Iampolski and other representatives of classical and modern political-philosophical and socio-philosophical thought.Along with the general scientific methodology the author uses the dialectic method, the hermeneutic approach and the poststructuralist methodology as well as the method of comparative analysis of philosophical doctrines.The novelty of this study lies in the explication of the philosophical ideas in the works of N.M. Karamzin, who contributed not only to historical science, but also to political philosophy. The author reveals the dialectic of the universal and the particular in the structure of Russian identity in the works of the Russian thinker, tracing its transformation in different periods of creativity of Karamzin. The special contribution of the author consists in explication in Karamzin’s works of such characteristics of the subject of history and the scientist-historian as his "prejudice" due to the close fusion of personal and civic identification of the subject.

DOI: 10.7256/2409-7144.2016.3.18050

Abstract: This article discusses the philosophical concepts of nuclear war. The socio-ontological foundations of the threat of nuclear war are disclosed in the teachings of Oswald Spengler, Martin Heidegger, Jean Baudrillard, Carl Gustav Jung and Friedrich Nietzsche. By analyzing the ideas presented in the works of these thinkers, the authors examine various possibilities of philosophical understanding of the dangers of nuclear weapons and the threat of the total annihilation of mankind. The research problem is considered by involving into the analysis the theory of historical pseudomorphosis, the concept of simulacra and the concept of the archetypes of the collective unconscious. The authors use the methodological principles of hermeneutical philosophy and the principle of deconstruction, as well as the genealogical method. The most important result of the study is the comprehension of the nuclear war as an absolute transgression. The perspective of the absolute transgression is considered by the authors as the integral component of contemporary socio-cultural reality. It is shown that the threat of the nuclear war has appeared because at certain moment in the history the mankind has chosen its way of life. However, this danger of an absolute transgression contains an opportunity to choose another way of development of mankind.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0684.2015.7.15740

Abstract: The subject of the present study is the phenomenon of the partisan presented in Carl Schmitt’s “Theory of the Partisan”. The gestalt of the partisan is analysed in the context of the ideas of E. Junger, G. Münkler, I. Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, G. Bataille, F. Nietzsche, W. Sombart and others. The follow ing major social and political characteristics of the partisan are disclosed: irregularity, political engagement, increased mobility, telluric character. The author explicates the heuristic potential of C. Schmitt’s concept of the Partisan in conditions of depoliticisation of modern society, erasing borders between the conditions of war and peace, levelling the differences between regular and irregular armed groups. Along with the general scientific research methodology the author uses systems and anthropological approaches to the analysis of political phenomena, as well as the principle of methodological holism.The scientific novelty of the research lies in the interpretation of the Gestalt of the Partisan as a transgressive element of social space that exists in the semantic field between the poles of “combatant” and “terrorist”, but does not merge completely with any of them. In the author's interpretation the Gestalt of the Partisan is treated as anti-discourse element of social space, an element of resistance to the dominant discourse of power, therefore, it represents the greatest threat to the unifying power mechanisms in the globalised world.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2015.6.15070

Abstract: The subject of this paper is to study the concept of organ projection presented in Ernst Kapp’s “Principles of a philosophy of technology”, the book that has never been fully translated into Russian. The author of the article examines the foundations of Ernst Kapp’s concepts from the point of view of socio-cultural and technological dynamics of the modern society and pays particular attention to the phenomena of the body, power and transgression. Using the receptions of the idea of the organ projection presented in the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Pavel Florensky, Ernst Cassirer and Marshal McLuhan, the author explicates its heuristic potential and significance for contemporary philosophy and culture. Along with the general scientific research methodology the author also uses dialectical, hermeneutic, psychoanalytic methods and the method of the comparative analysis of philosophical doctrines. The novelty of the research lies in the interpretation of organ projection as a transgressive process that leads to the blurring of the boundaries between the inside and the outside. Ernst Kapp’s concept of organ projection implicitly contains the ontology of transgression which will be developed further in the non-classical philosophy. As a result of transgression, the borders of human body expand beyond their own limits and extend its power to the external space, assimilating and absorbing it. The special contribution of the author consists in explication of the characteristics of the phenomenon of the body represented in the organ projection concept, in particular its gender characteristics.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2015.2.15475

Abstract: The aim of this article is to explicate the ontological characteristics of the monarch’s power represented in the historical novel of Ivan Lazhechnikov “The House of Ice”. In the article the author offers the interpretation of Lazhechnikov’s ideas and images in terms of contemporary political and philosophical doctrines. Involving the theoretical studies of Alexandre Kojève, Georges Bataille, Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, Ernst Kantorowicz, Mikhail Iampolski and other researchers into the analysis, the author reveals a variety of forms and ways of power represented in the novel. Particular attention is paid to the phenomena of monarch’s body, discourse of power and ways of power transgression. Along with the general scientific methods of research the author uses the hermeneutic and poststructuralist methodology as well as elements of comparative literary studies. The most important result of the research is the explication by the author of four levels of power being represented in the novel "The House of Ice ". The crisis of the metaphysical foundation of the power expressed in the inability of Empress Anna Ivanovna to represent the transcendence is compounded by the crisis of representation of the collective body in public space. The special contribution of the author consists in explanation of the specific characteristics of the discourse of power as well as the interpretation of laughter as one of the elements of the discourse of power.