9th Sadykov Readings dedicated to philosopher Alexander Zinoviev

The forum’s tagline is ‘Yawning Heights – In Memoriam of Alexander Zinoviev’.

The event is organized by Kazan Federal University, Russian Philosophical Society, and Tatarstan Academy of Sciences. The Sadykov Readings title refers to Marat Sadykov (1932 – 2009), one of prominent KFU philosophy lecturers and beloved mentor of many generations of local students. He was at the origins of the Division of Philosophy, now part of the Institute of Social and Philosophical Sciences and Mass Communications, which first enrolled students in 2000; now, there are over a hundred philosophy students at our university. Sadykov also led the Department of Philosophy here from 1980 till 1998.

The conference itself was dedicated to Alexander Zinoviev (1922 – 2006), a philosopher and émigré who espoused original views on the nature of society and Marxist interpretations of social structure. His books have been translated into 28 languages. ‘Yawning Heights’ is the title of one of his most well-known works; it’s a hybrid fiction/non-fiction novel about the specifics of Soviet socialism. Another of his magnum opuses, ‘The Global Hum-Ant Hill’, covers the problems of capitalist societies.

Among the reports presented at the conference were Alexander Zinoviev’s biographical remarks, his views on Marxism and social philosophy, cognitive practices, Zinovievian anthropology, logic, and much more.

The conference also included a section for young scientists.