M. Bakhtin and G. Shpet in the context of Hermeneutics and Communication Theory: legacy and research prospects

Abstract

M. M. Bakhtin and G. G. Shpet play an important role in the history of the humanities in Russia. Their philosophical views correspond to the time of their lives and generally reflect the tendencies in the development of the humanities in the first half of the twentieth century. The authors of the article demonstrate a close connection and a certain continuity of philosophical views and principled positions in the theoretical concepts of G. G. Shpet and M. M. Bakhtin. This concerns not only common scientific origins and common preferences in their contemporary scientific research, but, above all, conceptual convergence in a number of fundamental issues that unite both scientists by the framework of hermeneutics and, more specifically, the hermeneutical model of communication. This concerns common views on the methodology of humanitarian knowledge, the methodology of cognition, the intersubjectivity of understanding, an interest in the dynamics of development, co-being and deed, an attitude to the word as a sign, to contextualization as a condition of finding meaning, an attitude to speech as a deed, its belonging to the author, in general - an interest in the practice of social interaction between people, etc. The theories of G.G. Shpet and M.M. Bakhtin, each in its own way, are valuable, multifaceted and not fully exhausted in terms of scientific potential, projection and influence on modern humanitarian science. The authors insist on the need to consider the hermeneutic component of the works of M.M. Bakhtin and G.G. Shpet in tandem, using the methodology of comparative and comparative analysis. Particular emphasis is placed on the way in which M.M. Bakhtin developed and used in his works the principles of H.G. Shpet's hermeneutics, in particular his hermeneutic model of communication, extending it with the cultural component and extending "to all the sign phenomena of intellectual life". Of great scientific interest is the comprehensive (comparative) study of all the scientific works of M.M. Bakhtin and G.G. Shpet as an aggregate phenomenon in the history of Russian (Soviet) philosophy, including its relationship to communicativism. Such a study, in the opinion of the authors, is extremely needed and could yield useful results right now. The key concepts of G.G. Shpet and M.M. Bakhtin's theories - personality, uniqueness, identity, individuality, word, value, deed, responsibility, understanding, dialogue - become more than relevant scientific categories and targets of the dynamics of world and society development from the perspective of all forms and aspects of globalization we are experiencing, in conditions of radical nationalism and populism, with regard to modern trends in international relations and social interaction.