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Philosophical Feelings (2014)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2014). Philosophical Feelings. Philosophy Now,

“A sensitive heart is a rich source of ideas” – Nikolai Karamzin We’ve got used to identifying philosophy with thinking. The collocation ‘philosophical thought’ seems to be axiomatic, nearly tautological: indeed, philosophy is thought in its highest... Read More about Philosophical Feelings.

Lyrical Philosophy, or How to Sing with Mind (2014)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2014). Lyrical Philosophy, or How to Sing with Mind. Common Knowledge, 20(2), 204-213. https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754x-2422890

The article suggests that, contrary to widespread opinions and standard encyclopedic definitions, philosophy is a domain not only of thoughts and ideas but also of feelings. Philosophy as (etymologically) love for wisdom includes emotions in both of... Read More about Lyrical Philosophy, or How to Sing with Mind.

The Art of World–Making (2013)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2013). The Art of World–Making. Philosophy Now, 95, 22-24

“Numerous universes might have been botched and bungled throughout an eternity, ere this system was struck out; much labor lost, many fruitless trials made, and a slow but continual improvement carried out during infinite ages in the art of world-mak... Read More about The Art of World–Making.

Idées Fixes and Fausses Idées Claires (2013)
Journal Article
Epstein, M., & Perl, J. (2013). Idées Fixes and Fausses Idées Claires. Common Knowledge, 19(2), 217-223. https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754x-2073215

This essay, coauthored by the editor and a member of the editorial board of Common Knowledge, introduces the fifth installment of the journal's symposium “Fuzzy Studies,” which is about the “consequence of blur.” Beginning with a review of Enlightenm... Read More about Idées Fixes and Fausses Idées Claires.

A Dialogue On Creative Thinking and the Future of the Humanities (2011)
Journal Article
Epstein, M., & Crumey, A. (2011). A Dialogue On Creative Thinking and the Future of the Humanities. Insights (Durham), 4, Article 12

A writer and a scholar discuss the future of the humanities and their evolution in a new, practical direction. What is the connection between creativity and education and how can the academy embrace programs not only in creative writing but also crea... Read More about A Dialogue On Creative Thinking and the Future of the Humanities.

On the Future of the Humanities (2011)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2011). On the Future of the Humanities. Insights (Durham), 4, Article 13

How can the humanities change what they study? How can literary manifestos transform literature, while philosophy produces new alternative worlds? This article offers a fresh look at the old division between theoretical and practical fields of knowle... Read More about On the Future of the Humanities.

" " (2010)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2010). " ". Common Knowledge, 16(3), 367-403. https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754x-2010-001

In this guest column, Epstein offers “a new sign” that, he argues, resolves difficulties that have arisen in many theories and practices, including linguistics, semiotics, literary theory, poetics, aesthetics, ecology, ecophilology, eco-ethics, metap... Read More about " ".

The Philosophical Implications of Russian Conceptualism (2010)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2010). The Philosophical Implications of Russian Conceptualism. Journal of Eurasian Studies, 1(1), 64-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euras.2009.11.008

The formation of Russian postmodernist thought can be traced to the theoretical works of Andrei Siniavsky, in particular to his treatise “On Socialist Realism” (1959). Instead of praising socialist realism as the “truthful reflection of life” (as did... Read More about The Philosophical Implications of Russian Conceptualism.

Fatherhood: A Diary for Olga (2009)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2009). Fatherhood: A Diary for Olga. Journal of family life (Atlanta, Ga.),

This book, two chapters of which are offered here, traces the relationship between a father and daughter from the baby’s first stirring in the mother’s womb to her first words and steps, at about fourteen months. The father tries to fill the baby’s s... Read More about Fatherhood: A Diary for Olga.

Transculture: A Broad Way Between Globalism and Multiculturalism (2009)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2009). Transculture: A Broad Way Between Globalism and Multiculturalism. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 68(1), 327-351. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2008.00626.x

This paper develops a concept of transculture as a model of cultural development that differs from both leveling globalism and isolating pluralism. While culture frees humans from the material dependencies of nature, it also creates new, symbolic dep... Read More about Transculture: A Broad Way Between Globalism and Multiculturalism.

Hyperauthorship in Mikhail Bakhtin: The Primary Author and Conceptual Personae (2008)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2008). Hyperauthorship in Mikhail Bakhtin: The Primary Author and Conceptual Personae. Russian journal of communication, 1(3), 80-90

This article explores the phemenon of hyperauthorship in intellectual writing: a primary author (hyperauthor) creates a number of secondary authors (hypoauthors), and develops possible conceptual systems on their behalf. The case under consideration... Read More about Hyperauthorship in Mikhail Bakhtin: The Primary Author and Conceptual Personae.

Semiurgy: from Language Analysis to Language Synthesis (2008)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2008). Semiurgy: from Language Analysis to Language Synthesis. Russian journal of communication, 1(1), 24-41

The article focuses on the transition from language analysis to language synthesis as a new strategy in the performative humanities of the early 21st century. In addition to semiotics, the practical discipline of semiurgy (signformation) is described... Read More about Semiurgy: from Language Analysis to Language Synthesis.

The Demise of the First Secularization: the Church of Gogol and the Church of Belinsky (2006)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2006). The Demise of the First Secularization: the Church of Gogol and the Church of Belinsky. Studies in East European Thought, 58(2), 95-105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-005-4621-y

The article presents Gogol as marking the end of a century-long phase of secularism in Russian culture, from Peter the Great to Pushkin, and as the first writer to represent the cultural phenomenon of the ‘New Middle Ages’ and renewed religious zeal,... Read More about The Demise of the First Secularization: the Church of Gogol and the Church of Belinsky.

On the Totalitarianism of Ideas (2002)
Journal Article
Epstein, M. (2002). On the Totalitarianism of Ideas. New England review (Middlebury, Vt. Online), 23(2),