Philosophical Alternatives 4/2025

Nina Dimitrova (Professor, DSc at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Debating Bulgarian Culture: The First Half of the Twentieth Century
https://doi.org/10.58945/IIEZ5737
Abstract: The article examines the debates on the relationship between the national and the universal in Bulgarian culture that took place on the pages of humanitarian periodicals in the first half of the 20th century. Three distinct periods are examined, each with its own specific emphasis, showing the gradual development of nationalism in the desire for an original
Bulgarian culture. The positions of those who advocate cultural self-sufficiency and those who advocate a balance between the national and the universal are presented. Special attention is paid
to the concrete proposals of Bulgarian cultural achievements of that time – as examples of national originality.
Keywords: Bulgaria in the first half of the 20th century; universal and national in Bulgarian culture; national-distinctive culture; Bulgarian national philosophy

Stanul Grozev (Chief Assistant Professor, PhD at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Dimitar Michalchev оn Pragmatism
https://doi.org/10.58945/HARC5203
Abstract: This article is part of a broader project examining the history of pragmatism in Bulgaria and presents Dimitar Michaltchev's study on pragmatism “Pragmatism as a
New Theory of Truth” from 1939. In this study, Michaltchev offers his own distinctive interpretation of pragmatism and undertakes a critical analysis of its fundamental premises from the perspectives of Rehmkean philosophy and his personal standpoint. Michalchev's primary areas of emphasis include an examination of the parallels between Peirce and Rehmke, an assessment of the parallels between James's new psychology and Michachev's conceptions, a discussion on the relativity of truth, and a strong rejection of the supposed utility of religion. Despite his objections to pragmatism, Michalchev concedes the validity of many of its underlying tenets. The primary rationales for his critique can be categorized as follows: terminological, ontological and epistemological, social and scientific. Michaltchev's study occupies a significant position in the history of pragmatism in Bulgaria, underscoring the necessity for its thorough examination.
Keywords: pragmatism; pragmatism in Bulgaria; Dimitar Michalchev; Ivan Sarailiev

Tsvetanka Goranova (Chief Assistant Professor, PhD at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
The Project of Building the Bulgarian National Science from the End of the 19th century to the Middle of the 20th century
https://doi.org/10.58945/VDFL9185
Abstract: The dominant ethnoscientific paradigm in Bulgaria, as articulated by prominent scholars such as Ivan Shishmanov, Mikhail Arnaudov, and Hristo Vakarelski, posits the integration of ethnology with other interdisciplinary fields within the broader context of Bulgarian studies. This approach transcends the boundaries of individual academic disciplines, and embraces a holistic and synergistic approach to the study of ethnology. It is not identified with individual disciplines such as ethnography, folklore, linguistics, anthropogeography, and others, but is considered as an integrative, synthetic, and specific field of ethnological knowledge. The comprehensive reconstruction of the traditional culture, ethnic history, national psychology, and the living conditions of the Bulgarian people is briefly outlined in the research. The delicate balance between patriotic motivation and the strict requirements of scientific objectivity is also taken into account.
Keywords: interdisciplinary project Bulgarian National Science; complex Bulgarian study; scientific school; scientific ethos; history of science

Tatyana Batuleva (Professor, DSc at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
On the Various Readings of the Concept of Philosophical Culture
https://doi.org/10.58945/WGQY8768
Abstract: The article examines the concept of philosophical culture in its various interpretations in Bulgarian and international contexts. A brief review of authors using this concept and contributing to its enrichment, development and interpretation, is made. Special attention is paid to the thesis on the difference between philosophical theory and philosophical culture (M. Bаchvarov); methodological guide and reterritorialization of philosophy (Bаchvarov's followers); the distinction between philosophical culture and sociology of philosophy, which is based on reflexivity as a differentia specifica of philosophy (V. Oittinen); a system uniting philosophical experience, philosophical thinking and philosophical activity (I. Tsvetkova); consolidating factor for the philosophical community and intra-philosophical ideology (O.Ershova); reconstructive improvisation and unique ontological creation expressing the universality of philosophical thought (A. Kolesnikov).The conclusion about its viability in modern conditions, its dialogical nature and its role as a valuable methodological guide in the study of the national philosophical heritage is substantiated.
Keywords: philosophical culture; reflexivity; intercultural dialog; philosophical receptions

Kamelia Zhabilova (Associate Professor, PhD at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
The Reincarnations of the Übermensch. Bulgarian Readings
https://doi.org/10.58945/SVRC8386
Abstract: The text explores the metamorphoses of the Übermensch in the Bulgarian cultural space. Both the different concepts of the Übermensch in Nietzsche and the reception of this image by Bulgarian authors are traced, in order to highlight the specific reading. Such a view of the fate of Nietzsche's philosophical legacy is valuable and productive in two ways. On the one hand, tracing the transformations of Nietzsche's ideas in different philosophical cultures and traditions is important for the study of these cultures, and on the other hand, this
perspective contributes to the understanding of Nietzsche.
Keywords: Nietzsche; Übermensch; Bulgarian philosophical culture; reception

Silviya Serafimova (Associate Professor, PhD at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
On the Moral Concerns about Green AI within the Framework of Digital Humanism
https://doi.org/10.58945/MENX6751
Abstract: The major objective of this article is to clarify how one can build a holistic philosophical approach to Green AI that can foster human-centered synergy with technology in moral terms within the framework of the so-called Digital Humanism. Specifically, I examine both the origin and the implications of some moral concerns about Green AI as a multi-agent system by focusing on the complex understanding of AI sustainability. In this context, the latter is recognized as resulting from the cultivation of intra- and intergenerational environmental justice, when one is guided by the Digital Humanim’s core principle of prioritizing human values over these of technologies.
Keywords: green AI; digital humanism; the fifth industrial revolution; intra- and intergenerational environmental justice

Nikolay Pavlov (Chief Assistant Professor, PhD at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
The Question of the Technical – from Alienation to Mediation
https://doi.org/10.58945/XZRG9723
Abstract: The following article addresses one of the important topics for the contemporary continental philosophy – the problem of the relationship between man and technology,
which has gained a new relevance in the light of the increasingly dynamic development of digital technologies. The main goal of the text is to derive and defend a transition from the perception
of technology as an alienating agent to a constitutive element of the human existence. From Marx and Heidegger to the idea of the technical as a mediator, argued through the texts of Gilbert Simondon, Pierre Lévy and Michel Serres.
Keywords: technique; technical object; alienation; mediation

Georgi Donev (Associate Professor, PhD at Southwestern University “Neofit Rilski”, Blagoevgrad)
Metaphysical Rationality as the Basis of the Rationality of Transcendental Consciousness
https://doi.org/10.58945/MRPL9668
Abstract: The article substantiates the thesis that a transcendent rational explication of the rational language of consciousness is possible. The justification of the thesis shows the logical genesis of the truth of possible interpretations of consciousness. The truth of consciousness is determined by the a priori logical form of metaphysical thinking, which is equivalent to its transcendent function. Metaphysical language is a subjectless logical language that does not contain negation and a priori eliminates the emergence of contradictions in ontological
models of “existence”. In this sense, metaphysical thinking is the fundamental rational necessity for understanding the rationality of consciousness in the form of a universal a priori synthesis of ontological interpretations. The logical relationship between metaphysical thinking and transcendental thinking of consciousness is expressed through an asymmetric implication, the consequence of which is the phenomenologization of “existence”. On this basis, the logical language of metaphysical thinking defines the limits for proving "existence" through classical and non-classical logical languages in transcendental consciousness.
Keywords: transcendence; metaphysical thinking; transcendental consciousness; ontological models; phenomenology

Yana Stefanova (Chief Assistant Professor, PhD at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
The Absolute and Emptiness and Their Re-interpretation in Relation to Traditional Schemes of Conceptualization in India and China Abstract
https://doi.org/10.58945/BZTE3604
Abstract: The paper aims to provide a more detailed understanding of the differences in the perception of the Absolute in the Buddhist traditions of China and India. It offers
an outline of Nagarjuna's or Sunya-vada or 'doctrine of emptiness' based on the Buddhist theory of 'dependentorigination' (pratitya-samutpada) and some insights into how this doctrine is perceived and ultimately modified according to some indigenous traditional patterns of thought and philosophy in the course of the Absolute and Emptiness and their reinterpretation in relation to traditional conceptualization schemes in India and China.
Keywords: East; West; Sunyata; Tathata; India; China

Plamen Antov (Professor, DSc at Institute for Literature, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Barbarians in the Museum
https://doi.org/10.58945/YVFX6360

Vitan Stefanov (Professor, Dr. at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”)
For “Irreversible” by Dilyan Benev
https://doi.org/10.58945/FAES5137

Stefan Penov (Professor, DSc at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
The Divine Absolute as a Philosophical Problem
https://doi.org/10.58945/IRXM3850