About the Community
Sententiae Community emerged as a natural continuation of long-standing work around the history-of-philosophy journal of the same name. Its public history began on April 29, 2023, with the journal’s first presentation and the Community’s inaugural meeting – the beginning of regular gatherings of researchers, lecturers, translators, editors, young scholars, authors, readers, and patrons united by a shared responsibility for the development of Ukrainian philosophy.
The Community’s Roots: the journal Sententiae
The journal Sententiae was founded in 2000 by the Modern philosophy’s research group (Pascalian Society). Over more than two decades of its history, it became a leading Ukrainian history-of-philosophy journal and a platform around which a community of researchers, translators, editors, and lecturers took shape, united by high academic standards and a shared research culture.
This environment eventually grew into the Sententiae Community – an open space for new research, publishing, educational, and public initiatives.
Research, Education, Publishing, Outreach
The Community’s work spans the full cycle of developing contemporary philosophical culture – from education and intellectual formation to academic research, publishing projects, and public communication. We create an environment in which young researchers gain practical experience, work within research centers, contribute to long-term academic projects, and take part in academic philosophical discussion. The results of this work include new studies, translations, published books, open-access archival resources, seminars, podcasts, and other public initiatives.
Principles That Unite Us
For us, academic integrity, culture of research, and openness to academic discussion are not merely formal requirements, but part of our everyday practice. We believe these principles provide the foundation for high-quality scholarship, trust within the academic community, and the development of contemporary Ukrainian philosophy. They guide every area of the Community’s work.
A Community Where a New Generation Takes Shape
The future of Ukraine’s intellectual culture depends not only on strong institutions, but also on whether young researchers have the opportunities they need for professional development. That is why the Sententiae Community creates a space where they can grow through education, collaboration, and hands-on research.
We aim to ensure that new generations of Ukrainian academic and public intellectuals can realise their potential and contribute responsibly to Ukraine’s intellectual life.
Manifesto
Intellect and Society
I
The Sententiae Community
The Sententiae Community (hereinafter, the Community) is an association that supports the development of intellectual culture in Ukraine.
II
The Community’s Purpose
The purpose of the Community is to create the conditions necessary for new generations of Ukrainian academic and public intellectuals to realise their potential effectively. We envision generations distinguished by a sound ethos, strong professional qualifications, and public influence.
III
The Transitional Nature of Ukrainian Society
The Community’s purpose is shaped by the transitional nature of Ukrainian society.
- Many of the institutions within which productive activity is expected to take place continue to operate largely through the inertia of the Ukrainian SSR era in which they were created. Unable to renew themselves fundamentally, they tend to preserve their own existence rather than foster development. Effective institutional transformation is itself a form of social creativity and can take a very long time. Frequent but ineffective attempts at reform, by contrast, only make the situation worse.
- Transitional societies can become trapped by their own ineffective institutions: without institutions, chaos emerges immediately; ineffective institutions, however, obstruct development and encourage decline, making the path towards inevitable chaos longer and more painful.
- History offers successful examples of entirely new institutions being created, such as the French Academy or the kindergarten. It also provides examples of successful institutional transformation. The medieval university, after the crisis of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that might have led to its disappearance, acquired an effective modern form in the early nineteenth century.
- The contemporary Ukrainian university, like the education system as a whole, is undergoing a crisis no less serious than that faced by Western universities in the eighteenth century. How long effective reform will take, and whether it is possible at all, are questions to which only hypothetical answers can currently be given.
- While this civilisational pause continues, society suffers irreparable intellectual losses: year after year, entire generations that might have become productive generations of intellectuals are lost. Institutions can still prepare a certain number of promising individuals. Yet in many intellectual fields there are no conditions in which they can realise their potential – still less the potential of entire generations.
- The threat of intellectual impoverishment is too serious for society to ignore. Yet society does not currently have the resources to counter it on its own.
- In this situation, it is natural for communities to emerge that can identify intellectually promising young people already studying at Ukrainian universities and provide them with a productive and competitive environment in which to grow. The aim is to create the conditions in which new generations of professionals can develop – people who will shape Ukraine’s intellectual landscape in the near future.
IV
Operating Principles
- Academic integrity. Membership in the Community is incompatible with any involvement in academic misconduct.
- Intellectual development through the practice of discovery.
- Commitment to leading global research and intellectual standards, particularly in research focused on specifically Ukrainian contexts.
- Professional development of young intellectuals through hands-on research.
- Public impact of research achievements and responsibility for the quality of public intellectual discussion.
MAP: Community Members
Partners
Cowo.guru – середовище мислення та дієвості
Інститут практичної етики
How to Join
There are several ways to become involved in the Community: through patron support, study at the Sententiae Academy, or research collaboration. Choose the form of participation that best matches your interests and experience.
To learn more or discuss opportunities to get involved, write to us at: community@sententiae.com.ua.
As a Patron
Support the development of intellectual culture in Ukraine. Patron support enables the Community to develop educational programmes, research projects, publications, and public initiatives, while helping young researchers gain experience and realise their potential.
As a Student
Begin your journey with the Community through the Sententiae Academy — a year-long educational and intellectual formation programme for philosophy students, graduates, and PhD candidates. It combines courses in research, editing, and teaching with hands-on work and meetings with researchers and public intellectuals.
Applications open in September, and the academic cycle begins in November.
As a Young Researcher
If you are already engaged in philosophical research, we would be glad to hear from you. You can contribute to the work of the Research and Archive Centre “Archivum Sententiarum” or the Kyiv Center for Practical Ethics, or propose a research project of your own. We are open to collaboration and support promising initiatives across a wide range of philosophical fields.