Part II the faculty of philosophy

The Faculty of Philosophy is composed of nine departments:

• Department of Dialectics and Methodology;

• Department of the History of Philosophy;

• Department of the Philosophy of Religion;

• Department of the Theory of Culture, Ethics and Aesthetics.

• Department of Theory of Sociology;

• Department of Applied Sociology;

• Department of Political Sociology;

• Department of Political Science

• Department of Social Work.

Philosophy

The subject of philosophy has changed through thousands of years in close connection with the development of all aspects of spiritual life in society along with the development of science and philosophical thought. The term “philosophy” is derived from the two Greek words: phile - loving and sophia - wisdom. Thus, philosophy is love of wisdom.

Philosophy arose at the dawn of civilization in ancient India, China and Egypt, but it first achieved classical form in ancient Greece.

The most ancient form of world outlook which preceded philosophy in history was religion.

The emergence of philosophy coincides with the beginnings of scientific knowledge, with the need for theoretical inquiry. Philosophy was the first historical form of theoretical knowledge. It was based on a theoretical analysis that was in accord with logic and practical experience.

The early Greek thinkers were mainly interested in understanding the origin of the diverse phenomena of nature. Natural philosophy was the first historical thought.

As specialized scientific knowledge was accumulated and thinkers began to develop specific methods of inquiry, a process of differentiation of theoretical and applied knowledge occured, and mathematics, medicine, astronomy and other disciplines broke away and formed separate branches of knowledge. Greeks were the first to point the way. Among them were Pythagoras, who was the first to use the term of Philosophy, Thales, Zenon, Diogenes, Aristotles, Plato and others.

Philosophy has studied the laws of cognition and, primarily, its highest form - science. According to Plato, knowledge only becomes science when it contains a complete survey of all possible objects within a particular domain and reveals the essential systematic connections between them.

For Aristotle knowledge has an unquestioned Supremacy.

The age of the Renaissance and particularly the 17^th and 18^th centuries accelerated the process of differentiation of scientific knowledge. This progressive division brought about a qualitative change in the role and place of philosophy in the system of knowledge and its relationship to the specialized sciences.

The interrelationships between philosophy and specialized sciences have been extremely complex and contradictory.

The success of the specialized sciences, particularly mathematics and mechanics prompted philosophers to study their methods, so that they could find out whether these methods could be used in philosophy.

The differentiation and specialization of science has demonstrated that there are problems that cannot be solved within the frame of specialized knowledge, that some problems have to be dealt with by philosophy as well as by the sciences. In fact, such problems can be solved only by their joint efforts. There are also some specific philosophical problems that philosophy alone can solve, but even here a solution can be obtained only if philosophy relies on scientific data and advanced social practice.

In conclusion, it should be noted that philosophy is not only a science about the general laws of the development of nature, society and consciousness; it is a way of looking at the world and a dialectical method. Thus, philosophy is a very broad science, and knowledge of philosophy helps one to better understand the world, its laws and ones’ interpersonal relations. Moreover it helps one to penetrate the depths of the human mind.

Culturology

The Department of Culturology as a special department 0f the Faculty of Philosophy was founded in 1993.

This department provides students with the opportunity to explore a number of subjects sometimes in areas students may not have known about before coming to the university.

In the curriculum of the department there are a number of fundamental academic subjects such as history of world culture, history of Russian culture, politology, and social psychology that are to form the qualities of a future specialist. These subjects focus on the course of students so that student could graduate with a thorough knowledge of the chosen discipline.

In close relation with the major subjects, the department offers a number of supporting and optional courses. They broaden the students’ mind and, thus, take them well beyond the general introductory level. The curriculum is not limited by narrow specialization. As a result, one can find such additional courses as logic, history of religion, design and the like which offer students a chance to explore the field much better.

All the traditional areas such as comparative culturology or history of culture are covered by the scholars of the department in the lectures and also in their publications.

During the academic year, the students are given lectures and seminars. The curriculum also includes practicals in foreign languages. In the course of study, students acquire command both of English grammar and spoken English. Through the teaching of English, the lessons strive to deepen the students’ knowledge in contemporary culture of the English speaking countries and their national cultural heritage and traditions.

By the end of the academic year, students are to write a project paper on the problem they are interested in. Students’ projects focus on a variety of problems, some of them are interdisciplinary and include topics in philosophy, comparative culture, history of culture, modern literature, social sciences and psychology.

All the students of the department have an opportunity to know their profession through practical experience. This experience can give students valuable assistance in making a career choices.

Education at the Culturology Department provides students with the opportunities to explore the subject of culture as deeply and effectively as possible. This training may lead to a number of careers in different cultural institutions, businesses or to future research as postgraduates.