There is one common and absolutely essential thing for philosophy, advertisement and propaganda simultaneously: all of them boil down to only one main question formed by Immanuel Kant: “What is the human being?‘. The difference between them is how and for what purpose they answer.
As a marketer with 7 years of experience, I devoted a long time to the study of society — human behavior, needs, decision logic, emotions and motivation. This practical experience has shown how easily some evil-minded specialists can mislead a person with advertising and propaganda, and how critical thinking skills and the ability to reflect independently are important nowadays. Also, I’ve concluded that there are eternal questions at the heart of our modern problems: to what extent human beings are actually free or determined by the circumstances, including the information agenda; how much a person is responsible for what happens to him or her and can influence it; how much we can know the world, ourselves and others.
During my bachelor's study when I was studying philology, especially how people communicate and know, and also which restrictions and opportunities to know are provided by natural language, I understood that my real passion is philosophy. I remember that in the “language-game” conception and ideas described in “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” by Ludwig Wittgenstein I found a potential to resolve the fundamental and practical issues of our society because, following Socrates, I suppose, that most ethics and social issues are related to lack of knowledge, and expanding the boundaries of knowledge would allow overcoming many social contradictions.
With this passion I have been living for the last 7 years, working as a marketer, trying in a practical way to answer what human beings are, saving up money for making my dream come true — to study philosophy, and research at a university with a strong academic environment.
I believe that sensational philosophical research and publications at the intersection of epistemology, ethics and social philosophy can have a great impact on shifting public consciousness and contribute to the prevention of many social conflicts. A striking example of a problem that could have been resolved is mass support among Russians for military aggression against Ukraine. I see that this support is significantly related to propaganda, which is fed by people’s existential anxiety associated with a lack of self-determination, positive national identity and answers to basic existential questions. These thoughts, for instance, resonate with some conclusions of Erich Fromm, described in one of his key texts “The fear of Freedom'', and philosophy is exactly one thing, which is designed to answer the most fundamental questions.
At Katholieke Universiteit Leuven I am planning to improve my skills and knowledge in these areas thanks to courses such as Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, Logic, Philosophy of Mind, Modern Philosophy, Philosophy and the Contemporary World, Analytic Philosophy and Philosophy of Language, Research and Writing in Philosophy.
I especially look forward to the chance of working with Associate Professor Lorenz Demey, whose article “Duality in Logic and Language” has helped me to understand deeper the duality of the natural language through the prism of logic, and thus to understand better some mechanisms of thinking and ways of their articulation.
Moreover, I believe that Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a great platform to build international relations and networking. Coupled with my professional experience as a marketer, it will allow me not only to make deep philosophical research, but also to spread effectively the ideas of enlightenment, popularise critical thinking and promote the development of consciousness both among Russians and around the world.
