Yevhen Bystrytsky. The Birth of Contemporary War from the Worlds of Culture, 2026.
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THE BIRTH OF CONTEMPORARY WAR FROM THE WORLDS OF CULTURE,
European Centre for Philosophy of Culture, 18.05.2026
https://youtu.be/4dtOMsFO-7I?si=IYlZBexo1CrZ0Qee
Yevhen Bystrytsky. The Birth of Contemporary War from the Worlds of Culture
European Centre for Philosophy of Culture, 18.05.2026. Recorded October 10, 2025
Yevhen Bystrytsky in conversation with Marcin Rychter and Jan Molina
Russia’s brutal invasion on Ukraine still poses a challenge to our thinking. How are we to understand and conceptualize it philosophically? Yevhen Bystrytsky claims that the key concept here is that of existential war, that is, a war whose aim is not territorial conquest, but rather the destruction of the very existence of a particular nation and culture. The latter, seen through the lens of Heidegger’s fundamental ontology, is conceived as “being-of-the-cultural-world” – that is, a specifically determined way of living. Following Taylor, MacIntyre and Hegel we can understand the cultural world in terms of a localized ethical life constituted by concrete values and norms. In this perspective the Russian war against Ukraine is to be understood as a war between the cultural worlds – a clash of cultures. This perspective clearly challenges (post)Kantian liberal dream of a cosmopolitan community of nations and peoples based on mutual recognition.
Yehven Bystrytsky: Leading Fellow and Professor in the Department of Philosophy of Culture, Ethics, and Aesthetics at the Institute of Philosophy, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. His research interests include the theory of knowledge, phenomenology, and ontology, all of which are reflected in his work on philosophy of culture.
Authors: Przemysław Bursztyka, Marcin Rychter, Jan Molina