UDC

[101.1/101.3:165]+551

DOI

10.37482/2687-1505-V183

Authors

Vladimir S. Varakin
Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov; nab. Severnoy Dviny 17, Arkhangelsk, 163002, Russian Federation;
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2229-0283 e-mail: s.varakin@narfu.ru
Mikhail Yu. Openkov
Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov; nab. Severnoy Dviny 17, Arkhangelsk, 163002, Russian Federation;
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1500-0401 e-mail: m.openkov@narfu.ru

Abstract

In the second part of the article, the authors “collect” the non-classical model of epistemology of caves, determining its paradigmatic specificity and characterizing the analytical approach that is fundamental to it. It is argued that the origins of this type of epistemology of caves can be found in antiquity as well, namely, in book 13 of Homer’s Odyssey and in the exegesis On the Cave of the Nymphs by Porphyry of Tyre, dedicated to a fragment in this book. In contrast to the classical, the non-classical model is defined as a glance-into-the-Beyond. From the authors’ point of view, the sensual Homeric cave turns the “darkness of the mystery” into the basic symbol of the non-classical epistemology of caves. Mystery is understood as the unrevealed or the unresolved, that is, something that transforms darkness into the “charming darkness”, i.e. into the synergy of the visible and the intelligible. As a result of the cognizer’s transitions into the depths of the “dark zone” of the cave, the latter loses its status as the Beyond, since darkness ceases to be the limit of cognition. Thus, the apophatic approach inevitably becomes the fundamental approach of the non-classical model. It is associated with the cognitive sciences, such as glaciospeleology and astrobiology. The authors step-by-step reveal the anthropological and spelestological dimensions of the non-classical epistemology of caves, focusing on the dominant – speleological and (more broadly) geological – dimension, which expands to the cosmic dimension. Caves and other cavities inside the Earth’s crust, primarily under the ocean floor and glacial layers, are considered not just as keepers of the mystery of the origin of life on Earth, but as models of such keepers on other planets of the Solar System and analogues of molecular clouds. It is emphasized that, due to the fixation on the search for the first principle of the nature of all matter, the non-classical model is rather close to early Greek philosophy, e.g. to the theories of Heraclitus of Ephesus. A conclusion for the two parts of the article is formulated: the anthropological dimension, which is key to both the classical and non-classical epistemology of caves, indicates the dynamics of redefining the role of the cave in human life.

Keywords

epistemology of caves, Homer’s cave, the Beyond, darkness of the mystery, origin of life, cosmos, apophatic approach, speleology

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