International Congress of Philosophy as a Self-Consciousness of Philosophy

Abstract

The author suggests rethinking the institutional status of philosophy in the con­text of the analysis of International philosophical congresses as collective forms of expression of thought. It is stated that communication platforms for philo­sophical debates such as seminars, conferences, congresses, etc. largely deter­mine the content of philosophical knowledge, therefore it is impossible to raise the question of “pure” philosophy, free from the sphere of conversation (Tatiana G. Shchedrina), in which philosophy is produced as an event. Science and phi­losophy as communicative phenomena require collective forms of work. Scien­tific communities are an indispensable attribute of the existence of science, just like philosophy is the presence of a philosophical school, college, lyceum, acad­emy. Even if science and philosophy are done “armchairly”, then the “armchair” format also presupposes a communication platform, a network of communica­tion between different authors. In this sense, any conferences, congresses, and round tables – with a successful coincidence of academic circumstances – be­come not just a continuation of philosophy but also a direct part. On them, not only and not so much the “philosophical result” is presented, but the process of philosophizing is going on. This indisputable significance of World congresses as collective forms of philosophy and as its self-consciousness was recorded by the famous Russian logician N.A. Vasiliev when he was thinking about the re­sults of the Third World Congress of Philosophy.