“End times” and “End of the World”: philosophical interpretation of post-apocalyptic fiction

«Конец света» и «конец мира»: философская интерпретация постапокалиптической фантастики

Dydrov, Artur (Дыдров, Артур) () and Neveleva, Vera (Невелева, Вера) ()
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Dydrov, Artur (Дыдров, Артур): South Ural State University
Neveleva, Vera (Невелева, Вера): Chelyabinsk State Institute of Culture and Arts

Sotsium i vlast / Society and power, 2018, 100-108

Abstract: Introduction. At the end of the last and at the beginning of this century, the popularity of literary and cinematographic works on the topic of end times has increased. Unlike religious apocalyptic plots, post-apocalyptic fiction in an artistic and figurative form expresses a crisis of values and ideals of scientific rationality. To comprehend the causes of this crisis, a philosophical and, in particular, philosophical-anthropological interpretation of the doomsday phenomenon is required. The importance of philosophical and anthropological interpretation is due to the fact that in the center of any modern post-apocalyptic composition there is a person relating to the world in a special way. The aim of the work is to carry out a philosophical and anthropological interpretation of the phenomenon of the end times on the material of post-apocalyptic fiction and to identify the anthropological basis of the crisis of the human life world. Methods. The study uses general scientific methods — analysis and synthesis, induction, deduction, abstraction. In addition, the comparativehistorical method, the method of interpretation, the philosophical-anthropological and hermeneutic approaches are applied. Scientific novelty of the study. A philosophicalanthropological interpretation of the doomsday phenomenon and post-apocalyptic fiction has been carried out; philosophical basis of the crisis of the life of the human world has been revealed. Results. The phenomenon of the end times is interpreted as the end of the world of mind. The cause of the global catastrophe should be sought in the special attitude of a person to the world — hostility in alliance with a riotous consumer policy. This attitude naturally resulted from the dominance of scientific rationality, presupposing that the only genuine light is the light of mind. Conclusions. The philosophical-anthropological interpretation of the phenomenon of the end times gave rise to an invitation to discuss the axiological foundations of post-apocalyptic fiction. The opinion that the works of the dystopia genre contribute to the formation of a destructive attitude towards the world was called into question. The authors claim that post-apocalyptic fiction has humanistic potential. It can give a reason for reflection over the attitude of man to the world and to himself.

Keywords: philosophic anthropology; future; post-apocalyptic fiction; the end times; scientific rationality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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