Vol 29, No 4 (2025): IN SEARCH OF A STRATEGY FOR TEACHING PHILOSOPHY: RUSSIAN AND WORLD EXPERIENCE

The research is devoted to the analysis and understanding of the role of philosophy in the modern system of Bulgarian education. The problem of the relevance of philosophy to education, the special significance and value of studying philosophy for the formation of education is considered on the basis of the views of the metacognitive foundation, which provides this mental activity for the expansion of human knowledge, in addition, it is refracted through the prism of two fundamental patterns, accepted in the modern scientific discourse, which aim to reaffirm the usefulness and effectiveness of applying of philosophy in the educational continuum in the conditions of the modern socio-cultural situation. The main focus is placed on tracing the features of the implementation of philosophy in the field of education in Bulgaria, which is undoubtedly determined by the peculiarity of the historical way of the country’s development, its educational traditions and the specificity of the socio-cultural context. The potential of philosophy in the Bulgarian educational system is assessed through the prism of the development of key competencies.

The research is devoted to the analysis of the relationship between the state of ideological security and the content of the educational process in society. It is proved that it is the institute of education in modern conditions that is responsible for the spiritual stability of society. This article is based on the fact that the current curricula have an ambiguous attitude towards the discipline of philosophy. In the study of the consequences of attempts to “compress” the philosophy course in higher education, an analysis of two trends is undertaken - the replacement of philosophy with the concept of critical thinking and the displacement of the history of philosophy from the philosophy curriculum. Special attention is paid to the semantic evolution of the concept of “critical thinking”. A comparative analysis of the approaches reveals a common feature - the demarcation of thinking and meaning. This allows us to conclude that philosophy is beginning to be thought of as a practical technology of thinking. An attempt is made to reveal the reasons for the introduction of the special term “epistemologically dubious beliefs” as characteristics of the Ratio Serviens phenomenon. The article traces the interdependence of the formation of “conspiracy thinking” and the tendency to deny the importance of philosophy in the educational process. In this logic, the foundations of a person’s ideological alienation are revealed. It is shown that only philosophical heritage can make a truly effective CDIO strategy in education. In the context of the theory of the Good, the author criticizes the concept of the “global Good” and reveals the futility of attempts to eliminate the history of philosophy as an integral part of the discipline of philosophy. The importance of the philosophical heritage for both philosophy itself and the educational process as a whole has been proved. Special attention is paid to the connection between a person’s knowledge of the wealth of philosophy and the state of the axiological sphere of society. The facts of destruction in society due to the lack of a value-based worldview are specifically emphasized. In this regard, attention is drawn to the fact that the value of the history of philosophy lies not in history itself, but in philosophy, that is, in the logic of man’s comprehension of himself.

The research deals with discussions in the academic environment around the teaching of philosophy at a Russian higher school, which take place in 2023-2025 due to the ongoing fundamental reforms of the entire education system. The features of this reform are clear from official documents such as the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 12.05.2023 № 343 “On some issues of improvement of higher education system” and discussion of the forthcoming “Strategy for the development of Russian education until 2036”. It is about the current transition to “basic” and “specialized” higher education, about close attention to education as a person’s upbringing, oriented on traditional Russian spiritual and moral values, about the formation of nationwide civic identity. The appearance within the framework of the mega-project “DNA of Russia” of a new compulsory university academic discipline “Foundations of Russian statehood” in 2023-2024, the updated version of “History of Russia”, the upcoming introduction “History of religions of Russia” is a fundamentally important context for discussions around the discipline “Philosophy”. The proposed study demonstrates two conceptual projects of an educational and methodical complex and a teaching manual on philosophy for non-philosophical specialties, claiming to be of Russian-wide status. The first was developed by a working group of the Institute of Philosophy of St. Petersburg State University under the leadership of N.V. Kuznetsov. It is proposed to look at philosophical problems, grouped into eight thematic sections, as eternal and existential, getting acquainted with the main answers to philosophical questions of various thinkers - Western, Russian, Eastern. The course is logically based on historical-philosophical material and introduces students not only to philosophical concepts, but also to traditional values, many of which are comprehensively revealed in this course. The second approach is a widely discussed project of the collective study guide “Philosophy for non-specialists of natural-scientific and technical fields of training”, carried out under the editorship of I.M. Chubarov and ready to be printed. Here, the basis is a peculiarly understood active approach and philosophy presented as “practice-oriented” discipline. This study critically examines the concept of I.M. Chubarov and discusses the importance of philosophy in the system of higher education as a humanitarian, value-based and ideological course that can play an important role in the formation of moral guidelines and Russian civic identity.

The study is devoted to the consideration of different ways of meaningful presentation of philosophical knowledge in its teaching in a modern university. At the beginning, the author captures the not very honorable place of philosophy in the modern educational process aimed at practical applied tasks and taking place in corporate universities that require profitability from teaching. Further, we are talking about the fact that philosophy is still needed in the educational process, and not only for professional teachers, but primarily for students, as well as for the state, which is raising new generations. The author emphasizes that the approach to choosing subjects for teaching in limited programs can be “utopian”, that is, dreamy, but unable to really arouse students’ interest in the subject, and realistic, addressing the lively interests of today’s young people. The author considers the utopian attitude towards teaching philosophy to be the desire to immerse the audience as much as possible in the historical and philosophical process or in specialized epistemological and methodological issues. Both the distant past and narrowly epistemological issues are far from the “average student” who is essentially taking a survey course. The author considers it a realistic approach to address, first of all, anthropological-existential and axiological-ideological issues. This latter is really in demand by the state, which pays for education and is interested in the education of young citizens who are called upon to fully build the future. If anthropological and existential issues answer students’ personal questions, then the question of social and cultural values meets the interests of society. At the end of the study, it is emphasized that the models of realistic philosophy teaching may be different, depending on the academic freedom of the teacher and his personal choice.

Philosophy is one of the oldest disciplines in human history, and its birth originated from humanity’s rational exploration of the essence of the world. With the progress of human civilisation, philosophy has continuously developed its own system, responding to the particular questions raised by the era with the thinking of its own time, and profoundly influencing the development of individuals and society. At present, the importance of teaching philosophy has aroused concern in more and more countries around the world. This paper realistically explores the educational potential of philosophy teaching. Taking the development of contemporary Chinese philosophical resources as an example, this discussion on the Chinese plan for philosophy teaching and proposes key points for optimization.

The study aims to summarize the experience of teaching philosophy in French culture of the 19th century. The relevance of the topic is connected with the fact that many of the prerequisites of modern culture were laid precisely in the “age of miracles”, which brought many outstanding scientific discoveries, significantly changed the appearance of the communication system and industrial production, as well as witnessed a fierce social confrontation. To reveal the patterns inherent in the pedagogical practice of this important period of world history is one of the ways to realize the origins of what is happening in the field of philosophy today. As materials was used the content of textbooks and lecture courses popular at that time, which had a significant impact on visitors to university classrooms. The following methods were used in the study: hermeneutic, phenomenological, comparative historical. As dominant models of teaching philosophy, the approaches of the school of “ideologists”, eclecticism, and various versions of spiritualism are considered. These approaches were directly associated with political conflicts that accompanied the fall of the dictatorship of the Montagnards, the establishment of a consulate regime, the proclamation of the Empire, and then the Restoration, the July Monarchy, the Second Republic, and finally the Second Empire and the Third Republic. The study substantiates the conclusion that the pedagogical experience associated with the emphasis of worldview ideas in the field of higher education cannot be considered tracing paper from the historical and philosophical process. Mainly because not all areas of philosophical thought got the opportunity to promote their ideas in the academic sphere. At the same time, the philosophical model prevailing in the educational sphere had to both respond to the challenges of the era and respond to the very fact of the existence of opponents. For all the certainty of the pluralistic nature of philosophy in its past history, in the field of education, the tendency to unify worldview problems manifested itself quite eloquently. At the same time, the teaching of philosophy was by no means reduced to a set of opportunistic slogans, since the very sphere of worldview knowledge was inherent in immanent laws, which significantly influenced, among other things, the nature of its teaching. An important feature of pedagogical practice was also that the differentiation and deepening of the ways of presenting philosophical content to students of educational institutions served as one of the tools to strengthen cultural identity.

Within the context of the education system, the opportunity for schoolchildren to acquire fundamental philosophical knowledge is intrinsically linked to the school social studies curriculum. The teaching of social studies disciplines poses modern teachers with a number of challenges in terms of interdisciplinarity and the necessity to harmonize the theoretical material of the disciplines and to consider current social issues in their dynamics. Social studies, as a system of social science disciplines, represents a complex body of knowledge that is fundamentally integral in nature. It discusses issues of anthropology, law, political science, economic theory, sociology and social philosophy, religious studies, axiology, and a number of philosophical disciplines. In order to successfully master social studies, it is necessary to delve into the origins of many issues (for example, theories of the origin of the state and law, for example, through understanding the connection between the genesis of law as a constitutive element of the state structure from the perspective of social philosophy). Conversely, in order to track transformations in legislation and identify those events in the modern world that clearly illustrate the mechanisms for implementing theoretical principles, is also necessary. However, it is imperative to recognize that a comprehensive understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the processes and phenomena that define the discipline of social studies is fundamental to achieving a profound comprehension of the intricacies inherent in the study and interpretation of society and its constituents. A systematic understanding of society is of particular importance for life in the future: the search for patterns of social development is linked to the possibilities of choosing one’s own educational and professional development path and, furthermore, understanding the cause-and-effect relationships in society as a system can become a starting point for the formation of one’s own personal qualities in harmony with the generally accepted goals of society. Philosophy, as a meta-subject area, is well-positioned to facilitate the formulation of answers (or the elucidation of extant questions) that underpin the formation of a worldview, so this worldview is predicated on the integration of diverse perspectives on the perception of reality, thereby rendering this reality more vivid and accentuating its problematic aspects.

This study is devoted to the conceptualization of philosophical education in Kazakhstan as an academic project shaped by global transformations in science and education and integrated into broader cultural and intellectual contexts. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to analyze how the national system of philosophical education responds to the challenges of modernization, internationalization, and digitalization, while at the same time maintaining its role in fostering critical thinking, cultural identity, and preserving the traditions of domestic philosophical thought. The aim of the study is to identify the stages of transformation of philosophical education in contemporary Kazakhstan, to determine its institutional characteristics and methodological foundations, as well as to compare the national experience with international practices of philosophical training. The methodological framework is based on historical-philosophical analysis and a comparative approach, which enable the integration of local data with global trends in the development of academic programs. The study demonstrates that philosophical education in Kazakhstan has undergone a structural shift - from the formal implementation of isolated reforms to a modern model oriented toward academic autonomy, a competence-based approach, and interdisciplinarity. The paper provides examples of the dynamics of changes in the forms and content of philosophical education at the country’s leading national university - Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, which has become the primary platform for the introduction and testing of national reforms, experimental educational programs, state standards, and new academic formats. The authors emphasize that the uniqueness of the Kazakhstani experience lies in the combination of universal academic standards with the preservation of national philosophical traditions, including the development of Farabi studies, as well as Kazakh and Turkic spiritual culture. Unlike similar research, this study interprets philosophical education not merely as a component of curricula, but as a distinct academic project that ensures the formation of intellectual autonomy, critical thinking, and civic maturity within the context of the global educational space. This approach allows philosophical education in Kazakhstan to be considered as a significant factor in both academic and cultural development of modern society.

The research explores the problem of rethinking the divine in the transition from secular to post-secular discourse in Western European thought. The author applies to J.D. Caputo’s theology, who is considering the possibility of religion without dogmas and theology “after God”, using comparative historical and systematic research methods. Special attention is paid to the analysis of Caputo’s basic discursive principles and strategies, through which he tries to return theological thought from ideal theoretical constructions to the everyday life experience of a secular person. The author focuses on analyzing the reinterpretation of the problem of God in Caputo’s hermeneutical-phenomenological project from a historical perspective and in a post-secular context. The study reveals that following M. Heidegger’s phenomenology of the event and J. Derrida’s strategy of deconstruction., Caputo brakes the boundaries between faith and reason, philosophy and theology, knowledge and activity, immanent and transcendent, the world and God, which leads not only to relativism, but also to agnosticism. Вy declaring the hermeneutical character of truth, Caputo arbitrarily chooses representatives of Western European philosophical and theological thought and arbitrarily interprets their ideas, integrating them into his concept. The work is characterized by an original interpretation of Caputo’s attempt to interact with the “decline of metanarratives” by F. Lyotard, “deconstruction” and “desire beyond desire” by J. Derrida, the “plane of immanence” by J. Deleuze. The study reveals the ethical content of the concept of a weak God as the essence of Caputo’s theology. The author argues that although Caputo’s attempt to bring God back into the daily lives of post-secular Western European society is somewhat utopian, his concept of a weak God or event theology is aimed at revival of traditional Christian values, such as faith, hope, love, justice and responsibility. Caputo’s theology is directed against challenges of totalitarian ideologies, of religious radicalism and fundamentalism.

In historical, philosophical and legal scientific studies considerable attention is paid to the political and normative doctrine of J. Locke and, to a lesser extent, his criminal-legal views. At the same time, in both cases, the focus is shifted to the content of the author’s manuscripts without the context of personal development in a specific social environment and in isolation from the plays he occupies in the system of historical and biographical coordinates. In this regard, the objectives of this article: 1) to analyze the factors that contributed to the ontogenesis of J. Locke’s fundamental ideas, 2) to demonstrate the inseparable connection of the philosopher’s general criminal worldviews with his natural-humanitarian reception, 3) to identify the stages of transformation of his beliefs taking into account significant public events. To achieve these goals, scientific theoretical (historical, hypothetical, generalization) and logical (analysis, synthesis, analogy, deduction) methods are used. The archival materials, works of foreign scientists on the study of English legislation and key milestones of the Enlightenment, medical records and essays by J. Locke, representatives of the school of naturalists and theologians were used.

Western philosophy has profoundly shaped global civilization, influencing understanding of the world. This dominance, however, presents both opportunities and challenges. This paper argues that the current paradigm of Western philosophy, rooted in modern philosophy’s emphasis on rationality, has become dogmatic and ultimately self-defeating. The pursuit of scientific knowledge, while valuable, has been driven by a narrow conception of rationality that prioritizes logic and empirical evidence while neglecting other crucial dimensions of human experience. This overemphasis on scientification, as Nietzsche argued, has led to a dehumanization of existence by reducing human life to mere rationality, disregarding the importance of narrative, historical memory, and contextual understanding. This paper will critically examine the limitations of this dominant paradigm through a review of Western philosophical thought. By highlighting internal contradictions within modern philosophy itself, we aim to demonstrate how the current emphasis on scientification has stifled the diversity and richness of philosophical inquiry. Ultimately, we argue for a more nuanced and inclusive approach to philosophy that recognizes the multifaceted nature of human experience and embraces a broader range of perspectives.

The challenges of education in the modern information society are closely linked to the key trends of the transition to a new technological paradigm. The diversification process contributes to the expansion of the modern digital educational environment. In light of the accelerating digitalization, a search is underway for a new educational paradigm that places greater emphasis on developing students’ capacity for constant adaptation, mastering new information technologies within the educational environment, and shifting values in both professional and everyday life. The theoretical objective of this research is to identify the needs for a new educational paradigm during the Fourth Industrial Revolution and to analyze the functions and characteristics of the new digital educational environment. The practical objective is to identify new opportunities offered by the digital format for all participants in the educational process. The analysis concludes that the organization of the educational process requires the development of methodological frameworks for educators, as well as the creation of enhanced professional development courses on implementing distance learning. It is necessary to improve the teacher’s practice in selecting the most optimal teaching methods and tools aimed at reducing student overload and neuro-psychological stress, thereby enhancing learning productivity. Furthermore, there is a need to develop distance learning methodologies focused on cultivating students’ skills in critical scientific analysis of data obtained from the information environment.

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