Department of Contemporary Western Philosophy

Head of the Department D. Sc., Leading Research Fellow Igor Dzhokhadze

Main Research Areas

Ideas, works, and intellectual biographies of leading figures in Western philosophy from the late 19th to the early 21st century;
Traditions and schools of Western philosophical thought of the late 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries: phenomenology, hermeneutics, philosophical anthropology, spiritualism, pragmatism, existentialism, personalism, analytic philosophy, psychoanalysis, and others;
Mutual influences and interconnections between various philosophical trends and movements;
Early origins and historical roots of 20th- and 21st-century Western philosophical traditions and schools;
Methodological problems of the history of philosophy as an academic discipline.

Staff:

Dzhokhadze Igor Davidovich, D.Sc. in philosophy, Leading Research Fellow, Acting Head of the Department
Blauberg Irina Igorevna, D.Sc. in Philosophy, Leading Research Fellow
Vdovina Galina Vladimirovna, DSc in Philosophy, Leading Research Fellow
Vdovina Irena Sergeevna, D.Sc. in Philosophy, Main Research Fellow
Vizgin Viktor Pavlovich, D.Sc. in Philosophy, Main Research Fellow
Alexey M. Gaginsky, PhD in Philosophy, Senior Research Fellow
Lokosova Maria Vyacheslavovna, Junior Research Fellow
Korostichenko Ekaterina Igorevna, Ph.D., Research Fellow
Machulskaya Olga Igorevna, Research Fellow
Rossius Julia Gennadievna, Junior Research Fellow
Starovoitov Vladimir Vasiljevich, Ph.D, Senior Research Fellow
Sysoev Matvey Sergeevich, Research Fellow

Publications:

Books Published by Sector Members in the Last Three Years

Blauberg I. I. Epistemology of the History of Philosophy in 20th-Century France. Moscow; St. Petersburg: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, 2025. 202 p. (Series “Tree of Meanings”). ISBN 978-5-98712-992-0
Korostichenko E. I. From Free Religion to Atheism: Organized Secularism in Germany, 19th–21st Centuries. Moscow: Academic Project, 2025. 277 p. ISBN 978-5-8291-4426-5
Gilson É. The Philosophy of Saint Bonaventure. Translated from French by G. V. Vdovina. Moscow: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, 2025. 608 p.
British School of Psychoanalysis. Vol. 2. General editor V. V. Starovoitov; translated from English by V. V. Starovoitov and K. V. Yagnyuk. Moscow: Canon+ ROOI “Rehabilitation”, 2024. 352 p., illus. ISBN 978-5-88373-834-9
Vizgin V. P. Loneliness and Freedom: Essays on the History of Swiss Philosophy in the 19th Century. Moscow; St. Petersburg: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, 2024. 370 p.
The Beginnings of Intentional Philosophy: From Late Scholastics to Meinong. Scientific editor G. V. Vdovina. Moscow; St. Petersburg: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, 2024. (Series “Humanitas”). 444 p. ISBN 978-5-98712-935-7
Mounier E. Introduction to Existentialisms. Translated from French by I. S. Vdovina. Moscow; St. Petersburg: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, 2023. (Series “Lumen culturae”). 144 p. ISBN 978-5-98712-385-0
Philosophers of the 20th Century: Nomina Incognita. Ed. by I. D. Dzokhadze and A. M. Gaginsky. Moscow; St. Petersburg: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, 2023. (Series “Tree of Meanings”). 210 p. ISBN 978-5-98712-394-2
Ferenczi S. Thalassa: A Theory of Genitality. Translated from English by V. V. Starovoitov. Moscow: Canon+ ROOI “Rehabilitation”, 2023. 240 p. ISBN 978-5-88373-762-5
Ferenczi S. Trauma and the Work of Imagination: Selected Papers. Translated from English by V. V. Starovoitov. Moscow: Canon+ ROOI “Rehabilitation”, 2023. 320 p. ISBN 978-5-88373-761-8

Journals

Sector members serve on the editorial boards of the journals History of Philosophy, Philosophy Journal, Questions of Theology, and Philosophical Sciences, and actively participate in preparing new issues for publication.Conferences and Seminars

The Sector currently runs three permanent seminars:

“French Philosophy in Russia”
“Western Philosophical Thought of the 20th–21st Centuries: History of Ideas and Doctrines”
“Philosophy of Mind: Metaphysics and Cognitive Sciences”

Major events organized by the Sector:

22–23 October 2024 – All-Russian scholarly conference “The Problem of Experience in Contemporary Philosophy”
22 November 2022 – All-Russian scholarly conference “Logical Positivism in the Mirror of the History of Philosophy and Science”
19 October 2021 – All-Russian scholarly conference “Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus in the History of Western Philosophy: On the Centenary of Its Publication”
27 October 2020 – International conference “Psychoanalysis and Society”
22–23 October 2019 – International conference “Metaphysics and Post-Metaphysical Thinking”
30–31 October 2018 – International scholarly conference “150 Years of Pragmatism: History and the Present”

Awards and Honors

G. V. Vdovina – 1st Prize, Best Book of the Institute of Philosophy RAS, for the translation Gilson É. The Philosophy of Saint Bonaventure (category “Translation of Philosophical Classics”)
I. D. Dzokhadze – 1st Prize, Best Book of the Institute of Philosophy RAS, for the monograph Contemporary American Pragmatism (category “Monograph”)
V. P. Vizgin – 1st Prize, Best Book of the Institute of Philosophy RAS, for the monograph From Pyramids to the Jungle: Western Thought in Search of Identity
G. V. Vdovina – 2nd Prize, Best Book of the Institute of Philosophy RAS (category “Individual Monographs”): Chimeras in the Forests of Scholasticism: Ens rationis and Objective Being
V. V. Starovoitov – 1st Prize, Best Book of the Institute of Philosophy RAS (category “Publication of Philosophical Classics”) for the translation Ferenczi S. The Clinical Diary
G. V. Vdovina – 1st Prize, Best Book of the Institute of Philosophy RAS (category “Publication of Philosophical Classics”) for the book Millán-Puelles A. The Structure of Subjectivity
G. V. Vdovina – 1st Prize, Best Book of the Institute of Philosophy RAS (category “Individual Monographs”): Intentionality and Life: Philosophical Psychology of Post-Medieval Scholasticism
Collective volume 150 Years of Pragmatism: History and the Present – 1st Prize (category “Collective Works”)
V. P. Vizgin – 1st Prize (category “Publication of Philosophical Classics”) for Marcel G. People against the Human
I. S. Vdovina – 1st Prize (category “Publication of Philosophical Classics”) for Ricoeur P. Philosophical Anthropology (trans.)
V. P. Vizgin – 1st Prize for the monograph Prishvin and Philosophy
Medal “For Contribution to the Development of Philosophy” (Resolution of the Academic Council No. 1, 12 February 2015) – I. S. Vdovina
I. I. Blauberg – 1st Prize for the book The Origins of Bergsonism: The Philosophy of Félix Ravaisson

Media and Scholarly Reviews

Loginov E. Review of Dzokhadze I. Contemporary American Pragmatism // Studies in the History of Philosophy Yearbook. 2024. Vol. 39. Pp. 484–502.
Baboshin D. Review of Mounier E. Introduction to Existentialisms (trans. I. Vdovina) // Studies in the History of Philosophy Yearbook. 2024. Vol. 39. Pp. 468–474.
Tselishcheva O. Richard Rorty’s Syncretism: Are There Any “Pure” Pragmatists at All? // Logos. 2024. Vol. 34. No. 2. Pp. 287–304.
Zhukova A. A. A Philosophical Encounter across a Century. Review of Bergson A. Spiritual Energy… // Philosophical Letters: Russian-European Dialogue. 2023. Vol. 6. No. 3. Pp. 247–253.
Bystrov P. I. Review of Starovoitov V. V. Psychoanalysis in Portraits // History of Philosophy. 2023. Vol. 28. No. 1. Pp. 136–139.
Makarova A. F., Simonyan A. V. Reviews of Lossky V. N. Negative Theology and Knowledge of God in Meister Eckhart (trans. G. V. Vdovina) // Russian Philosophy and Studies in the History of Philosophy Yearbook. 2023.

International Collaboration

Ongoing cooperation with the Fonds Ricoeur (founded 2005): provision of materials related to Paul Ricoeur’s activities in Russia (lecture texts, interviews, information on translations and studies); participation in Fonds Ricoeur conferences and organization of Ricoeur-related events at the Institute of Philosophy RAS.
Long-term collaboration (since 1993) with the Association Internationale Gabriel Marcel (Paris): contribution to the annual Bulletin, participation in congresses and conferences devoted to Marcel’s philosophical and literary legacy.

Contacts:

Adress: Goncharnaya 12/1, Moscow, 109240, Russian Federation

Tel. (495) 697-73-26.Office attendance hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 14.00-18.00 p.m.;

Secretary: Monday to Friday, 11.00–18.45 p.m.