Abstract

One of the little-studied problems in philosophy is the study of the phenomenon of gift exchange. In the history of philosophical thought, this problem has not received sufficient attention. However, in each philosophical concept, many philosophers, depending on the needs of the historical time, addressed this problem. In modern conditions, a few representatives of structuralist and post-structuralist, and then postmodernist philosophy began to pay attention to this problem, such as: J. Baudrillard, M. Foucault, J. Deleuze and others, who consider the gift not only as a form of social connection, but also as a tool for undermining existing structures of power, subjectivity and cultural norms. The authors of this article ask themselves why this is happening. According to the article's authors, to understand this phenomenon, it is necessary to turn to philosophical interpretations of the gift and gift exchange. This approach not only allows for the analysis of the evolution of this concept in the Western intellectual tradition (from T. More and G. Hegel to post-structuralism) but also enables the identification of its critical potential in understanding modern social processes.

The authors of this article consider various philosophical aspects of the study of the phenomenon of gift exchange, ranging from the utopian and Enlightenment understanding of the gift as an act of service to society to the poststructuralist vision of the gift as a symbolic gesture that undermines the system of equivalent exchange. The philosophical concepts of gift are analyzed by T. Mora, G. W. F. Hegel, D. Diderot, C. Lévi-Strauss, M. Foucault, J. Baudrillard, J. Deleuze, and F. Jullien. Special attention is paid to the various functions of the gift, including epistemological, social, moral, political, and deconstructive aspects.

Keywords: gift exchange; recognition; structure; symbolic exchange; economic exchange; power; schizoanalysis