Suchergebnisse

This article examines Russian nurses' reflections about their individual moral experience of the armed conflicts in Afghanistan (1979–1989) and in Chechnya (1994–1996; 1999–2009). The study relies on published documents and interviews featured in various online sources. The study aims to shed light on the main value orientations that influence present-day evaluations of these events and to show how the values systems of those participating in war had become transformed under the influence of wartime experiences. The concept of charity plays a crucial role in the nurses' reflection as it enables them to emphasise their special mission in war: not only to provide people with health care but also with moral support. This concept also underpins the practises of justification of moral choice. The article demonstrates that the discrepancy between established commemorative practises and the personal inability to make sense of death in war makes any justification of casualties impossible on the level of individual reflection relative to the events of the WWII. The circumstances of war's 'trauma epidemics' remain significant within these women's personal moral experience. In addition to the paralysis or passivity in the face of death that they experienced, in their civilian lives, they become acutely aware of the impossibility of finding any meaning in the death toll that is war's inevitable result. The nurses' memoirs lay a special emphasis on their attitudes toward the enemy. On one hand, they remember the feelings they experienced toward the enemies in Chechnya or Afghanistan; on the other hand, from a more recent perspective, it becomes clear that these armed conflicts require new interpretations and evaluations.

The article focuses on the philosophical aspect of the third part of the novel The Sleepwalkers (Die Schlaf-wandler, 1930–1932) by Austrian writer Hermann Broch (1886–1951). Broch's views were shaped by Aus-trian literary impressionism; in his youth, Broch was also much influenced by Otto Weininger, admired Karl Kraus and Sigmund Freud. In Broch's later works, researchers discover the legacies of Plato and Leibniz and claim that these philosophical schools were typical reference points for the Austrian thought. Analysis of literary works can help gain a better understanding of Austrian philosophy of the inter-war period. Not only do Broch's novels mirror the versatile spiritual life of that period but they also show the development of a whole range of philosophical ideas and concepts. The style and language of The Sleepwalkers reflect the experimentation with new modes of expression in art as well as the author's own attempts to create a new language and way of philosophizing in contrast to positivism. In the third part of the novel, Broch shows how difficult is the existence of a person who has lost their faith and the ability to comprehend com-plex metaphysical matters. The article outlines Broch's vision of the new tasks that literature is facing in the conditions of the moral crisis he describes. Broch was mostly interested in axiological issues, around which he builds his novel. He also includes in his text extended philosophical interludes about the role of religion in the development of value orientations of his contemporaries. A special emphasis in the article is made on the concept of Sachlichkeit — practicality, which is also discussed by Karl Jaspers in his book The Spiritual Condition of the Age (Die geistige Situation der Zeit, 1932).