Main Methods in Philosophy

This graduate-level certificate program is designed to develop a comprehensive understanding of philosophy and to train the “technical” skills required to practice this challenging discipline. Unlike in the special sciences, where method itself is the principal concern, in philosophy the method should organically emerge from the subject matter. However, it would be imprecise to depict philosophy (as Heidegger sometimes does) as a kind of anarchic contemplation or poetic creativity. Philosophy has its own methodologies, which are alternative to the scientific method. 

Director: 

Artemy Magun (Institute for Global Reconstitution, Smolny Beyond Borders).

This small program focuses on four approaches: Dialectics, Phenomenology, Psychoanalysis, and the Analytic-Pragmatic constellation, originally developed in the English-speaking world. The program is designed for students with at least some philosophical background and knowledge of logic. It aims to help them become professionals in the field while also exposing them to the divergent and often conflicting methodological perspectives that currently dominate philosophy. Additionally, the program familiarizes students with the geographical diversity of philosophical practice, paying particular attention, among others, to Soviet and post-Soviet schools of thought.