Gasparyan Diana
Abstract. The outstanding feature of M. Mamardashvili`s approach to philosophy is his skill of the oral performance. This should not come as a surprise, considering the importance of the concept of consciousness in his philosophical conversations. The very notion of “talking about consciousness” is problematic. This phrase makes no sense, since one cannot speak about consciousness. Contrary to various naturalistic approaches, consciousness is not “something”. However, how does the process of cognition works? Misguided by the ambiguity of the concept, one may consider the consciousness as the transparent medium, which one may not notice being fascinated by the things. Then, as an afterthought, one may try to think about it as an object. Nevertheless, consciousness is never an object, and it does not appear to us at all, although it allows things and the world to exist. The intention of modern philosophical tradition is to convey this intuition. Mamardashvili’s philosophical method where the method of performance presentation is never just a formality, can be regarded as special kind of transcendentalism, which develops essential concepts to supplement this philosophical tradition.
Keywords: Merab Mamardashvili’s philosophy; consciousness; transcendentalism; criticism of naturalism; reflection; criticism of dualism.