Faculty of Philosophy

Dean: Corresponding Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Vladimir V. Mironov

The Faculty of Philosophy is one of the first three faculties founded by M.V. Lomonosov in 1755. The faculty has contributed greatly to the development of Russian philosophy. Among professors of the MSU were eminent Russian philosophers, such as V.S. Solov?ev, M.M. Troitsky, P.D. Yurkevich, L.M. Lopatin, S.N. Troubetskoy and E.N. Troubetzkoy, I.A. Il?in, G.I. Chelpanov, G.G. Shpet, N.Ya. Grot and other representatives of the Russian school of social and political thought, such as A.I. Gertsen, N.P. Ogariov, V. G. Belinsky. Philosophical aspects of science and humanities were developed in a great measure due to such university scholars as M.G. Pavlov, K. Roulier, K.A. Timiryazev, I.M. Sechenov, V.I. Vernadsky and many others.

In 1941 the Faculty of Philosophy was re-established at MSU on the basis of the faculty of the Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature and History. Leading Soviet philosophers, such as A.F. Losev, B.A. Fokht, A.V. Koubitsky, V.F. Asmous, B.C. Chernishov, P.S. Popov, O.V. Trakhenberg taught at the faculty after its re-establishment. Later amongst our professors and lecturers were such scholars as A.S. Bogomolov, Yu.K. Melvil?, A.F. Gryaznov, T.V. Vasilyeva, V.A. Smirnov, A.S. Akhmanov, I.S. Narsky, A.S. Panarin. The best traditions of philosophical education, politology and religious studies are continued by professors and lecturers working at the faculty now. New faculties have branched off the Faculty of Philosophy: the Faculty of Psychology (1966), the Faculty of Sociology (1989) and the Faculty of Politology (2008).

In 1996, the Department of Religious Studies was established. In 2000, the Public Relations Program enrolled the first students, and in 2003 the Economic Policy program was opened. In 2005 the first students entered the Department of Cultural Studies. In 2009 a few new departments appeared, namely, the Department of Philosophy of Education, the Department of Philosophy of Language and Mass Communication, the Department of Philosophy of Politics and Law.

Amongst our lectures are Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professors V.S. Stepin, A.A. Gousejnov, N.Ya. Petrakov and other notable Russian scholars. The faculty regularly invites leading professors and lecturers from abroad. The Honorary Doctors of our faculty are G. Reale and D. Antiseri, authors of the well-known textbook ?The Western philosophy from its origin up to the present day?.

Our students are given thorough and comprehensive knowledge of philosophy, religious studies, cultural studies, politology, Public Relations.

There are 17 departments at the faculty.

We offer a few specializations, according to the division of the faculty the student chooses.

The Division of Philosophy. Qualification to be conferred: Philosopher. Instructor in Philosophy

The Division of Philosophy includes the following departments: ontology and cognitive theory; social philosophy; logic; philosophy and methodology of science; history of foreign philosophy; history of Russian philosophy; ethics; esthetics; philosophical anthropology and integrated study of human nature; history and theory of world culture; philosophy for humanities students; philosophy for science students; philosophy of education; philosophy of language and mass communication; philosophy of politics and law.

The students start with the Liberal Arts, science and philosophical disciplines and continue their studies to specialize in specific philosophical areas of interest. Studying basic philosophical disciplines starts in the first year; the subjects being divided in three groups. The first group is the disciplines concerning general philosophical problems, as well as logic, philosophical anthropology, philosophical aspects of humanities and science. The second group is disciplines based on detailed study of the history of philosophy, both foreign and Russian, and the history and theory of world culture. Axiological issues are touched upon while studying disciplines of the third group, such as ethics, esthetics, philosophy of religion and religious studies. In their second year students choose their specialization in branches of philosophy offered by particular departments, choosing the subject of their research.

The Division of Religious Studies. Qualification to be conferred: Specialist in Religious Studies. Instructor in Religious Studies

The Division of Religious Studies includes the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies as well as the laboratory for research of modern religious processes. Along with general philosophical disciplines the department offers courses in Philosophy of Religion, Sociology of Religion, Psychology of Religion, Phenomenology of Religion, History of Religion, Science and Religion, Religious arts, Esoteric Practices, New Religious Movements, Religious Ethics, History of Free Thinking, etc.

An important part of the curriculum is classical languages, namely, Latin and Greek. Students can also learn Japanese, Arabic, Old Church Slavonic as an option, according to the specialization they choose.

The Division of Cultural Studies. Qualification to be conferred: Specialist in Cultural Studies

The curriculum includes two groups of disciplines: first, the Liberal Arts , science and compulsory general philosophical disciplines; second, culturological disciplines related to art history, history and philology, such as Theory and History of World Culture, Theory and History of Literature and Art, Esthetics, History of Religions, Semiotics and Linguistics. Besides, students have courses of special culturological disciplines , namely, Cultural anthropology, Culture of Daily Life and Applied Cultural Studies. This specialization requires learning classical (Latin and Greek) and Oriental languages (Sanskrit, Pali, Japanese). The specialization in Cultural Studies also requires doing folk-ethnological and area studies. Senior students choose their areas of interest and the subject of research.

The Division of Public Relations. Qualification to be conferred: Specialist in Public Relations

The curriculum is unique in the sense that it gives the students profound and systematic knowledge of current issues thus allowing our graduates to meet the requirements of modern employers. Within the division students specialize in ?Public Relations in Business Companies?, ?Public Relations in Government and Public Organizations? and ?Communication Management?. Combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills allows students to become highly-qualified Public Relations specialists.

The curriculum includes Science, the Liberal Arts and relevant philosophical disciplines, namely, Russian history, World History, Basics of Law, Psychology and Pedagogy, Sociology, Philosophy, the Russian language and Rhetoric, mathematics and IT, History of World Literature and Art, Concepts of Modern Science, Conflictology, Economics and Politics. The courses are delivered by the best lecturers from the Faculty of Philosophy and other MSU faculties. Our elective courses have been chosen and compiled in collaboration with foremost authorities on communication theory and practical PR. An important part of studies is field placements and externships in the Russian Presidential Administration, the Federation Council of Russia, the State Duma, local branches of political parties, PR-agencies, PR- departments of large companies, research departments of local government. Students have an opportunity to take part in the student exchange program, taking some of their courses while in partner institutions abroad, or to receive an additional PR training at international summer schools.

The Division of Politology. Qualification to be conferred: Political analyst, Specialist in Economic Politics

The program ?Strategic Management and Economic Politics? was based on the earlier program ?Economic politics? developed in 2003 at the Department of Economic Politics. We have managed to balance the knowledge of cybernetics, economics, politics and humanities to implement an effective system of strategic management of economic and political processes. Our graduates work in the Bank of Russia, the Ministry of Finance, the RF Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, state-owned corporations and international consulting centers. Many of them have continued their research at MSU and the Russian Academy of Sciences. Realizing this program we developed an innovative management training methodology. The core of the methodology is strategic planning to ensure efficient functioning in governmental bodies as well as corporations and interstate coalitions. Strengthening of the role of the State or global institutions in economic regulation without strategic planning will not allow to overcome the current global economic crisis. Our program ?Strategic management and economic politics? is oriented on creating a crisis-free strategy of development for the global community; this approach has every reason to become a solution , thus taking us to leading positions in the global competition of educational institutions.

The curriculum includes Logic, History of Political Doctrines, International Relations, Political Psychology, etc. The disciplines were chosen and the courses compiled in collaboration with foremost authorities on economic theory, consulting and management.

An important part of training is field placements and externships in the Presidential Administration, the State Duma, the Accounts Chamber, the Ministry of Economic Development , the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Anti-monopoly Service, Sberbank, Gasprom, Vneshtorgbank, VTB24, UniCredit Bank, OGK-1 OAO, Rosoboronexport, Mosenergo, Pottinger (Austria), ALROSA, Price Water House Coopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG Russia.

Master?s degree program

The faculty offers three Master?s degree programs.

International Master?s degree program ?Philosophy and History of European Culture?.

It is a unique international project in collaboration with the University of Karlsruhe (Germany), one of the three elite universities of Germany. We train specialists on modern European culture and the history of its formation, seen from philosophical, literary, artistic and sociological points of view. Master?s degree students study the factors which determined the development of Europe as a world leader in science , technology and culture.

Master?s degree program ?Philosophy of decision making in management?.

The program trains executives who are able to make correct decisions and perform their duties efficiently. The program is a product of cooperative creative work of professors from several MSU faculties. It combines theories of management, practical philosophy, psychology, economics and history.

Master?s degree program ?Philosophy of language and mass communication?.

This is the first program in the history of Russian education that combines courses on different aspects of linguistic philosophy in the context of modern practice of mass communication. Studying philosophical approaches to correlation of language and consciousness allows students to become specialists on modern communication technologies and their implementation for advertising and Mass Media.

Graduates are awarded Master?s degree in Philosophy from MSU.

Our Master?s degree programs are based on the latest scientific and methodological achievements of our faculty.

Our Master?s students have their field placements in the government offices, analytical and research centers, leading Moscow PR-agencies, Mass Media, intergovernmental and international organizations.