COGNITIVE INSTITUTIONALIZATION AS A CONCEPTUAL INSTRUMENT FOR UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNIVERSITY PHILOSOPHY

The article explores the process of institutionalization in university philosophy, which is viewed as a result of the interaction between social and cognitive mechanisms. The author proposes a conceptual distinction between social and cognitive institutionalization, emphasizing their impact on the development of philosophical thought in the academic environment. Social institutionalization is examined in connection with the formation of organizational structures (departments, faculties, research schools) that regulate philosophical activity, while cognitive institutionalization pertains to the systematization, production, and transmission of philosophical knowledge. The author analyzes how these processes interact, particularly under conditions of state regulation, ideological pressure, or, conversely, academic freedom. Special attention is given to contemporary challenges, such as the influence of artificial intelligence, the formalization of the educational process, and distance learning, which may lead to the loss of philosophy's creative potential. The author tries to explore cognitive institutionalization as the original figure in the formation of university philosophy. Moreover, in the context of the process, the author postulates a philosopher as a subject, who is humanly and existentially oriented towards philosophical truth, which is ontologically rooted and effectively independent in philosophical researches. The university philosophy itself explores how it occurs in specific human contexts, real and valuable, discursive and speech, ethical and political, historical and biographical. The author focuses on the process of formation in the minds of a democratic university, a self-reliant and self-regulatory educational middle ground, as an official of the social institution of philosophy. The role of the philosopher as a subject who not only reproduces knowledge but also critically reflects on it, ensuring societal development, is emphasized. The article concludes by highlighting the need for a balanced approach to institutionalization, one that combines structural organization with creative freedom, allowing university philosophy to remain dynamic, relevant, and truth-oriented.