Philosophical Anthropology of Mikhail Konstantinovich Petrov: Culture and Sociocode. To the 100th Anniversary of the Birth

Abstract

The article, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Konstanti­novich Petrov (1923–1987), an outstanding Russian philosopher, cultural theo­rist, science scholar, evaluates his contribution to the philosophy of the second half of the 20th century. The problems of mutual influence, communication and the formation of cultures are investigated, the genesis and ways of identifying different universals of culture – sociocodes are traced: personal-nominal, profes­sional-nominal and universal-conceptual. Language, sign, culture are the central themes and main concepts of all Petrov’s works (and the title of one of the fun­damental books). These terms are used to express the specific characteristics of a person who has necessarily become a social being due to biological insuffi­ciency. Translation, transmutation and communication are the main types of com­munication. Culture is considered due to such a means of communication as lan­guage and a sign, understood as a gene of social heredity, a carrier of meaning, a keeper of knowledge and meaning. Petrov’s position is compared with the po­sition of Clifford Geertz, for whom human nature is both a cultural and biologi­cal product. Complementing and developing the organic abilities of a person, culture is “an integral part of these abilities themselves”. Despite the difference in positions, the logic of the discussion of problems by both authors turned out to be similar stylistically and in terms of the formulation of problems.