Studia Philosophica Estonica

Philosophy and Current Affairs: The Russia-Ukraine War

Aaron James Wendland — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Few academic philosophy journals are dedicated to the analysis of historically contingent current affairs. Therefore, to explain why I decided to edit a publicly accessible special issue of Studia Philosophica Estonica on the Russia-Ukraine war, I use this editorial introduction to: (a) detail my involvement in the protracted conflict between Russia and Ukraine; (b) describe the connection between my philosophical commitments and my recent civic engagement in Kyiv; and (c) elucidate the dialectical relation between academic and public philosophy, generally

Grappling With Evil Amidst Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Mychailo Wynnyckyj — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this article, Mychailo Wynnyckyj details his experience of Russia’s attack on Kyiv in the spring of 2022 and then he argues that the notion of individual rights that lies at the foundation of Western legal and political institutions is incapable of dealing with the collective evil exhibited by the Russian army during their invasion of Ukraine.

Thinking About Freedom in Wartime Ukraine

Timothy Snyder — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this article, Timothy Snyder recounts his meeting with President Zelensky shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Snyder explores the philosophical implications of Zelensky’s decision to stay in Kyiv as Russian troops marched on the Ukrainian capital. Specifically, Snyder explains what Zelensky’s bravery during the first few days of the full-scale invasion shows us about the relations between freedom and speech, freedom and risk, freedom and obligation, and freedom and security.

The Sword is Mightier Than the Pen: An Interview with Margaret Atwood

Aaron James Wendland — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this article, Aaron James Wendland asks world-renowned author, Margaret Atwood, about: the power of poetry and literature; the relationship between fiction and political commentary; the social and political impact of her dystopian and anti-authoritarian work; modern utopias and the role of hope in utopian writing; her undergraduate studies in logic and the history of philosophy; and the ancient quarrel between poetry and philosophy.

Thinking in Dark Times: Life, Death, and Social Solidarity

Volodymyr Yermolenko — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this article, Volodymyr Yermolenko examines the power of ideas to shape social and political events. He is particularly interested in the way misguided or false ideas about Russian and Ukrainian history and politics have contributed to the current Russia-Ukraine war. He also reflects on the way this war has transformed his understanding of some key philosophical concepts, including life, death, and social solidarity.

Just War Theory and the Russia-Ukraine War

Jeff McMahan — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This article deploys what has come to be known as revisionist just war theory to analyze the morality of action by both sides in the current Russia-Ukraine war. Among the conclusions of this analysis are: (i) that virtually all uses of force by the Russian military in Ukraine are impermissible; (ii) that Ukrainian forces are bound by moral constraints, such as the requirement of proportionality, which requires the most careful attention to risks of escalation to the use of nuclear weapons and which may make it impermissible for Ukraine to achieve all of its just goals, and (iii) that some Russian civilians are liable to some harms, so that the imposition of economic sanctions is permissible, though only if they have a sufficiently high probability of being effective.

Against the Odds: Defending Defensive Wars

Gerald Lang — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Most people think that Ukrainian violent resistance to the Russian invasion is morally justified, even if it turns out to be costly: it can’t be straightforwardly impermissible to resist aggression. But this verdict can be questioned. This essay looks at the ‘reasonable prospect of success’ condition in just war theory and the ‘problem of bloodless invasion’ to see whether they present the Ukrainian resistance with justificatory headaches. It is concluded that there is no principled barrier to Ukraine’s resistance, but that civilian and combatant casualties must be taken into consideration. The essay also engages with the more general question of how philosophizing can help us to think about war. On this score, philosophy can help precisely for the reasons that are often the subject of complaint: it keeps a cool head, and it appeals to abstract principles.

What Is This Thing Called Peace?

Fabio Lampert — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This article scrutinizes discourse surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war in Western nations, where, despite widespread support for Ukraine, a contingent advocates for peace by rejecting military aid. This “pacifist” stance gains traction through public demonstrations in European countries and political endorsement. However, by opposing military aid while advocating peace, these messages, while ostensibly altruistic, distort genuine efforts for establishing peace in Ukraine. The article argues that recent developments from the philosophy of language, combined with the realities of Russia’s invasion and main war objectives, provide clarity on this phenomenon, making a case for considering such calls for peace as propagandistic, perverting the meaning of the word.

Nationalisms: Purification, Privilege, Pride, and Protection

Jonathan Wolff — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In the aftermath of WW2, nationalism was regarded by many political philosophers as an afront to civilized values. Yet at the same time nationalism has been an important means by which former colonies have attained and protected their independence. Once this distinction is made, it is clear that there are different types of nationalism, used in different circumstances, and for different purposes, and many political theorists have attempted to distinguish acceptable and unacceptable forms of nationalism. In this paper, I contribute to this debate by distinguishing four functions of nationalism: purification, privilege, pride, and protection. These functions can be mixed together in different ways, and I claim that purification and privilege are both highly problematic, while pride, and especially protection, are far more defensible.

The Antinomies of the Russia-Ukraine War and Its Challenges to Feminist Theory

Irina Zherebkina — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The article analyzes responses to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine by philosophers on the left, like Balibar and Zizek, and feminist philosophers, such as Butler and Hark. A large-scale war in Europe proved to be a challenge for a number of feminist, pacifist, and leftist certainties, and this challenge was presented in philosophy and feminist theory as a series of antinomies that do not imply a simple solution. Some leading contemporary philosophers believe that Ukraine should stop resisting aggression in the face of the threat of a world nuclear war or if the conflict turns into a war of extermination. An alternative solution was suggested by some left and feminist philosophers who argued that a true Ukrainian victory over an authoritarian aggressor would amount to preserving and empowering democracy in Ukraine, and that this was possible only on the basis of building broad transnational anti-Putin alliances, including alliances with the representatives of all forces opposing Putin in Russia and Belarus.

The Russia-Ukraine War and the Sediments of Time

Siobhan Kattago — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The fragility of the post-war international order is threatened not only by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but even more tellingly, by the decisions that Western nations, the European Union, and NATO make in response to Russian aggression. This paper frames Western responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine within what Reinhart Koselleck calls ‘the sediments of time’ or Zeitschichten that contain different temporalities, speeds, and directions. Koselleck’s approach of parsing the ‘sediments of time’ is a heuristic device for understanding how Western responses to the war in Ukraine are framed by very different historical markers. Just as one might parse the grammatical components of a sentence in order to understand its meaning, so one might parse Western responses within different historical timescales that include Zeitenwende, déjà vu, interregnum, and Never Again.

Putin’s Use and Abuse of History as a Political Weapon

Cynthia Nielsen — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This essay discusses Vladimir Putin’s use and abuse of “History” in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. It takes as its point of departure Sergey Radchenko’s essay, “Putin’s Histories,” in which he charts three important strands of Putin’s Historical Narrative, which are summarized as (1) Putin’s (imperialist) History of Russia, (2), the “Great Patriotic War” narrative, and (3) Putin’s NATO ressentiment. The essay examines and expands each of these in turn, analyzing how they are used in Russia’s war against Ukraine and how they help us to see that a central factor driving this war is Russia’s inability to see it itself as anything other than an empire.

To Cancel or Not to Cancel? – Questioning the Russian Idea

George Pattison — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Taking its cue from Vladimir Putin’s use of Dostoevsky to support his critical view of Western culture, the article challenges the view that Dostoevsky can be straightforwardly corralled into the Russian President’s nationalistic and imperialistic agenda. Instead, it follows the approach taken by George Lukacs in response to National Socialism’s self-representation as the authentic inheritor of the German cultural tradition, namely, to show that any great cultural work is going to be resistant to the kind of one-dimensional interpretations typical of authoritarian regimes. Particularly, the article focusses on much-debated passages of Dostoevsky’s The Possessed (aka Demons) to show that the writer has a more nuanced view and that his work contains resources to resist today’s ultra-nationalism.

Academic Dialogue Against the Background of War

Nataliia Viatkina — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This essay considers calls to boycott working with the Russian academy after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Against the view that such a boycott would prevent Western academics from working with their Russian colleagues to counter Kremlin propaganda and to co-produced Western-Russian research that may benefit everyone, I argue that the Russian censorship and policing of the academy combined with Russian ideology means that there are currently no conversation partners for Western academics within the Russian academy.

Utopia, Dystopia, and Democracy: Teaching Philosophy in Wartime Ukraine

Orysya Bila, Joshua Duclos — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this essay we explore a variety of instrumental and intrinsic values associated with teaching philosophy in wartime Ukraine. Duclos, an American, argues that teaching philosophy in Ukraine can cultivate habits of thought and action that promote democratic citizenship while opposing authoritarian dogmatism. Duclos further argues that the intrinsic joy associated with philosophical activity should not be overlooked, even in times of crisis. Conscious of Ukraine’s Soviet past, Bila, a Ukrainian, cautions against using philosophers and philosophy departments as an ideological arm of any political party. She then argues that philosophy has value as a distinct form of thinking with the power to provide consolation. Finally, she identifies philosophical activity as agent of creative change. To teach philosophy in wartime Ukraine is to advance these instrumental and intrinsic values with an eye towards influencing the Ukrainian society that will emerge after the war.

Ukrainian Civil Society: Past Lessons and Future Possibilities

Nataliia Volovchuk — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In Ukrainian academia, the last decades have seen growing interest in the concept of civil society, which has been studied from different disciplinary angles. Commentators disagree on the level of development it has reached in Ukraine. They emphasize its absence in Soviet times, and the general lack of organizational initiative in contemporary Ukraine. In this essay, I show that, although these critiques of Ukrainian civil society are crucial for comprehending its historical evolution, the history of Ukrainian civil society can also help us understand how it might evolve in the future, both during and, hopefully after, the current war. In my analysis, I focus on two particular lines. The first is the interaction between civil society and the state, which shifted from an anti-state attitude to a model of partnership. The second, which operates in the background, is how civil society has struggled with different utopian ideas, over the 20^th and early 21^st centuries. Analyzing this relationship to different utopian ideas helps us understand how the relations between civil society and the state changed over time. I conclude with a question about European challenges.