"And that's all about him..."

Colleagues, friends, students about V.A. Saleev

Man is the universe
M. Gorky

A person, as if in a mirror of the world, has many faces.
He is insignificant – and he is immensely great!
O. Khayyam

You have to go through a lot to become a man
A. Saint-Exupery

 
Man is the truth of the world, the crown,
Not everyone knows this, but only a wise man...
O. Hayam
A person should be evaluated not only by his deeds, but also by his aspirations
Democritus
A man is what he believes
in A.P. Chekhov

The philosophical discourse of Vadim Alekseevich Saleev
     The name of the famous Belarusian philosopher, cultural critic, art critic, axiologist V.A. Saleev is known not only in our country, but also far beyond its borders.  Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Belarus, member of a number of public academies (including the Belarusian Academy of Architecture and the Petrovsky Academy of Sciences and Arts in St. Petersburg), four creative unions, laureate of the prize of the Union of Literary and Art Critics, vice-president of the Belarusian Aesthetic Association, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor - this is not a complete list of titles, degrees and titles, which were deservedly awarded to V.A. Saleev for his multifaceted creative activity in the field of philosophy and aesthetics, art, culture and education. 
     The problems of aesthetics and axiology are considered in detail by V.A. Saleev in his dissertations: candidate's thesis "On the problem of the formation of artistic appreciation" (1972) and doctoral thesis "Axiological foundations of national artistic culture" (1992). This remarkable man has created more than 300 scientific papers in the field of history and theory of aesthetics and cultural thought. In the 1970s, Vadim Alekseevich wrote a number of monographs on aesthetic issues, among which a special place is occupied by the conceptual theoretical work "Art and its assessment" (1977), where the author explores the nature of art using an integrated approach in understanding a rather complex and relevant topic. Harmoniously combining philosophical, sociological and psychological aspects in understanding the problem of the relationship between man and art, building a typology of the mass recipient of art, researching the structure of human aesthetic consciousness (aesthetic ideal, aesthetic and artistic tastes, their content level and specifics of functioning), the process of artistic appreciation formation, the author strives to preserve the aesthetic ideal as the dominant one.
Art is considered by the researcher as a reflective and creative process, as a given and a necessity for human improvement. Analyzing the specifics of the essence of artistic creativity, creative processes of perception and evaluation of works of art, V.A. Saleev draws attention to the problem of criteria for evaluating art in both ethetic and practical-methodological terms, as well as the issue of differentiation of artistic and aesthetic. The author's interpretation of this problem is consonant with the research positions of L. Stolovich, D. Lukach, M. Nauman, L. Vygotsky.
Taking into account the undeniable fact that art accumulates aesthetic, moral, ideological and other values, V. A. Saleev postulates the need for an integrated approach to analysis and will remain faithful to this principle throughout his scientific activity: "Only by considering art in all its richness of manifestations, exploring its social nature, its diverse connections with other social phenomena, the specifics of its reflection of the world, the laws by which it is created and, being perceived, mastered, remains in the minds and feelings of people, it is possible to ensure comprehension of the multifaceted world of art" [1, p. 137]. This position was actualized in the studies of M. F. Ovsyannikov, M. S. Kagan, Yu. B. Borev and other specialists in the field of aesthetics.
An important milestone in the history of Russian aesthetic thought was V. A. Saleev's monograph "Modern Aesthetics of Belarus" (1979), which presents the development of Belarusian aesthetics of the Soviet period on a broad theoretical basis, analyzes its historical origins and stages, various aspects of aesthetic and artistic education, and the development of technical aesthetics. The author undertakes a thorough analysis of the main conceptual works of Belarusian scientists in the field of aesthetics and comes to the conclusion that by the end of the 1970s. There is a situation characterized by two main directions. On the one hand, "the traditional direction, which sets as its central task the study of the problems of art, its genesis, nature, functional orientation, its perception and evaluation (A. Ladygina, K. Ostrovsky, V. Saleev, etc.)". On the other hand, the direction headed by N. Kryukovsky "develops the problems of aesthetic categories, their interrelation, interaction (A. Pavlovich, O. Kukrak, etc.)" [2, pp. 150-151].
Analyzing the specifics of the development of technical aesthetics, the author states that "the theoretical direction of the Belarusian design school successfully overcomes the concepts of "total design", scientifically argues for the need for an aesthetic approach in the designer's work, explores its components" [2, p. 201].
In the early 1990s, the researcher came to the attention of the problem of the functioning of language as a phenomenon of national culture, which was reflected in the work "Language in national culture" (1992). Using the theoretical developments of F. Fortunatov, V. Humbolt, A. Leontiev, R. Budagov, A. Potebni, the scientist considers the problem of the relationship between language and thinking, the functionality of language, the specifics of the manifestation in language of three interrelated spheres: general emotional, general creative and aesthetic proper. Touching, for example, on the actual problem of bilingualism, V. A. Saleev convincingly emphasizes the positive essence of bilingualism, which should be based on real equality, "taking into account the real state in the sphere of action of the national language, conditions that recreate its real equality, excluding deformation in its use" [3, p. 13]. The same position regarding bilingualism is reflected in the works of A. Vakhemets, O. Trubachev and other researchers.
From the point of view of V. A. Saleev, language as a phenomenon of national artistic culture can be considered: a) as a carrier of figurative general artistic information in the system of a given ethnic group; b) as a carrier of a specific material-forming principle in verbal (literary) art in the system of a given ethnic group; c) as an integrator of the artistic substrate of national (primarily national identity and national character) [3, p. 19].
This formulation of the question does not lose its relevance to this day, having its closest connection with the problem of spirituality, to which modern research thought is once again addressed. V. A. Saleev in scientific publications of recent years, addressing this issue, pays special attention to the differentiation of the concepts of "spiritual" and "spiritual", indicates their the closest relationship and the specifics of manifestation in man [4, p. 40].
How acute the issue of this terminological distinction is now can be judged by a rather polemical article by V. I. Chueshov, which convincingly states that "spirituality and spirituality are not only the highest, but also the most complex, by virtue of their integrity and universality, subjects of both human experience and art, science and philosophy" [5, p. 45].
It should be noted that V. A. Saleev in almost every work draws attention to the inadmissibility of categorical confusion, terminological inaccuracy and indeterminacy. For example, in the manual on aesthetics, the author points out that "the conceptual system of aesthetic consciousness has recently become one of the most problematic in modern aesthetic theory" [6, p. 91]. Such an approach in understanding the fundamental problems of aesthetic science testifies to the high level of theoretical knowledge of the scientist, his desire for objectivity of conclusions and judgments. Scientific works of V. A. Saleev's works are based on a well-founded, logically verified scientific and conceptual apparatus, creatively complement the conceptual developments of authoritative representatives of world philosophical thought.
Vadim Alekseevich's great contribution to modern humanitarianism should be noted. First of all, this lies in the original concept of neoaxiology developed by him, which, in the words of the scientist, is "a bridge between being and cognition." And in this sense, the idea that "neoaxiology not only reveals the deep connections of a person with the world and carries out a "feedback link" between being and cognitive processes in human life is extremely important. It opens up new possibilities for philosophizing, expresses in the act of comprehension (associated with the process of experiencing) judgments that immanently contain both concepts of the significance of conclusions and standards for evaluating the corresponding system of knowledge." This approach opens up new possibilities for both philosophy and axiology. 
Another significant result of the scientist's scientific research was the development of such an aesthetic direction as "ethnoesthetics", which is understood as the field of aesthetic science that studies aesthetic experience in connection with the development of an ethnic group. This concept emphasizes the uniqueness of the manifestation of an ethnic group in the universal system of aesthetic ideas and values. 
In conclusion, I would like to cite V.A. Saleev's statement about the humanitarian component of philosophical knowledge and its connection with the deep foundations of the human spirit, which is currently gaining special relevance: "Modern philosophizing involves not just philosophical argumentation, but spiritual experience of metaphysical phenomena that arise in philosophical discourse." 
I would like to thank Vadim Alekseevich Saleev very much for his philosophical discourse, made according to the inimitable norms of personal spiritual experience! 

Literature: