Американский Научный Журнал A DOLL AS A SPECIFIC FORM OF INTERACTION OF PEOPLE IN THE PROCESS OF THEIR COGNITIVE ACTIVITY (19-24)

American Scientific Journal № ( 41) / 2020 19

ФИЛОСОФСКИЕ НАУКИ

A DOLL AS A SPECIFIC FORM OF INTERACTION OF PEOPLE IN THE PROCESS
OF THEIR COGNITIVE ACTIVITY

Shipovskaya Lyudmila Pavlovna
Doctor of Philosophy, Pr ofessor,
Professor of the Department of Philosophy of Moscow Automobile
and Road Construction State Technical University;
64, Leningradsky prospect, Moscow, 125319
+7(499) 155 -03-97

Lyudmil a Shipovskaya,
Moscow Automobile and Road Construction University


Abstract . Between a person and a doll there have been established certain peculiarities of the space in which
a doll app ears as a representative of another world, different from the wo rld of the real life, as a being «different»
from a person. A doll is one of the main symbols in life, which carries a rather deep philosophical meaning. A doll
has always been used by humans for entertainment and educational purposes, and it is a specific form of human
interaction. A doll has always been a product of fantasy and reality, that is, an existing reality – protective,
inspiring, entertaining and developing.
Keywords : the phenomenon of a doll, rituals and dolls, aesthetic need, a doll is one of the main symbols in
human life, a doll is a cultural mediator, a chronotope, a doll is a symbolic mediator in the aesthetic aspect, a
folklore doll is a meta -sign, a mechanical d oll.

Imitating a human being, a doll is connected with
him through phys ical, psychological and philosophical
links. The first dolls, as we know, are associated with
the rituals that express the worldview of a primitive
society. The phenomenon of a do ll is one of the
mysterious pages in the history of culture, as a whole.
“A d oll reflected and reflects the inner female spirit, the
voice of the inner mind. For centuries people have
experienced that dolls can have both sanctity and
frightening effect on a person, changing human’s
spiritual essence.” A doll is a symbol which embod ies
mysterious aspects of mankind, and it represents a
visible intermediary between the world of childhood
and the world of adults. Even up to this day, it has
played a significan t entertaining and cult role in human
culture. Throughout history, dolls have always been
associated with philosophy. Puppet shows existed in all
major countries of Europe and Asia hundreds of years
ago. The puppet theater has appeared from the rituals.
Th e puppets portrayed folk legends, heroic stories,
performed acrobatic and cir cus acts and satirical
scenes. Vietnamese water dolls were invented
thousands of years ago. The dolls were cut out of a fig
tree (sung), which does not sink, and they looked quite
realistic. They served either as the images of the
peasants themselves and o f the animals, or as the
images of various mythical characters, such as dragons,
phoenix, and unicorns. Performances were usually
organized at the places of ponds, lakes or floode d rice
fields. Reference to the water dolls (1010 -1400) can be
found in the w ritings of ancient scientists Nguyen Kong
Bat and Fang Chung Nguyen. At the beginning of the
play, the dolls would float to the surface of the water,
and at the end of the play th ey would dive back. The
life of such doll is short – just about 3 -4 months. T he
puppeteers spend the entire performance waist -to-waist
in the water, and they are hidden from the audience by
a green bamboo curtain. The dolls are firmly attached
to the long bamboo rods and are controlled by the ropes.
In the evening, with limited vis ibility, it looks as if the
dolls are actually walking on water. The performance is
accompanied by playing on national instruments:
single -string bau, two -string – nguet (type of lute),
bamboo xylophones, wooden flutes, wind henthai and
henmeu – their soun d is reminiscent of «wind noise in
dry bamboo bush», gongs, drums.
In India, even nowadays, the main theme of
puppet shows are the hero gods from the main epic
monuments -poems «Mahabharata» and «Ramayana».
The plot of «Mahabharati» is connected with the
struggle for power within the royal family. The main
plot of «Ramayana» is the story of life of Rama – ideal
son and ideal ruler. These performances have
philosop hical meaning: the puppet master in the play
symbolizes the creator – Brahma, and the puppet
theater itself represents the world. For a long time, India
has been considered the cradle of human civilization, a
so-called fairy -tale country. In some parts of India,
dolls are still sacrificed to gods and at the same time
admired and worshipped. It is a n old custom to hold a
homemade puppet exhibition at home on holidays. In
the south of India, they make «dancing dolls»
consisting of movable parts. In the north, there are
decorative dolls dressed in beautiful costumes, in
compliance with the traditions o f different states of
India. Dolls made from clay or various types of wood
depict mythical heroes, household scenes. The bronze
figures that are made in Central I ndia can also be
realistic. Braided dolls represent one of the oldest forms
of art. Sikki gras s and straw [3] are used for their
weaving. In the Catholic churches of Italy and Spain,
along with a variety of painted sculptures, there can

20 American Scientific Journal № ( 41) / 2020
also be found dolls depicting the Virgin Mary with the
infant and apostles. Both clothes and faces are stunning
with their naturalism, elegance and aesthetic taste. It is
also customary for Catholics to have a Bethlehem
manger near each church. Typically, the characters of
this biblical plot are human -sized dolls equipped with
primitive mechanisms to simulate movemen ts. The
clothes on the dolls correspond to the time, it is simple
and aesthetic [1].
The Christmas tradition from Europe through
Ukraine and Belarus has come to Russia as well,
embodied in a doll nativity scene. The doll nativity
scene is a portable litt le puppet theater with two scenes
placed one on top of the other. The upper stage is the
Bethlehem manger, and the lower stage is the palace of
Herod. The first h istorical mention of a puppet theater
in Russia dates back to 1636. The Russian folklore
puppe t hero Petrushka is a small glove doll in red silk
or satin coat and velvet trousers. On his head there is a
traditional red cap with a tassel. The scenes with hi s
participation were performed by wandering actors -
buffons. It is difficult to say when Petrus hka first
appeared in front of the public, but it is known that
already in the 17th century puppet performances with
Petrushka were very popular among the people. The
Petrushka Theatre is still functioning today and brings
joy to the audience. The most pop ular character in
Roman puppet shows was Maccus, an ugly,
hunchbacked character with a huge stomach and a long
nose. He always made the audience laugh with his
grimace and his shouts. His popular given name
Pulcinello was slightly changed and transferred l ater on
to the heroes of theatres in France, Spain and England.
In Indonesia, the dolls were flat, carved from
buffalo thin, transparent, and colored leather. Th e doll
figures were moving, or rather sliding, on the screen
illuminated from behind. The doll s moved to music and
reading the text. The play began with sunset and
sometimes continued until the dawn. In Ancient Rome
satirical puppet performances were very popular. The
Romans appreciated the dolls not only for their «comic
talent», their ability to ridicule ugly phenomena of life
and human flaws, such as greed, hypocrisy, stupidity;
but also, for their beautiful clothes that reminded of
Roman dresses. After a political satire, the puppets
were soon punished: Julius Caesar, who was ridiculed
by them, forbade the dolls from speaking. The puppets
were allowed to explain the content of the play only
through body movements, signs and facial expressions
[2].
Since the middle of the 19th century, there have
been sensational discoveries in archaeology. In th e
caves of France and Spain, scientists encountered
perfect wall images of the Paleolithic era. These
masterpieces have long been mistaken for late
forgeries. Cav e imagery – in painting, graphics and fine
plastic – indicates the unknown and inexplicable in itial
human need to duplicate the object. The study of the
graves suggests that the concept of the border between
the dead and the living was already highly devel oped.
The ancient man was much more tied with the doll than
we can imagine today. The oldest E gyptian dolls served
as funerary gifts and had the purpose to make the
loneliness of the deceased person more pleasant. Back
then it was believed that death marks the transition to
«eternal life». In ancient Slavic traditions, funeral
rituals were connecte d with belief in the afterlife, they
thought that souls of ancestors are somewhere in the
middle sky «aere». It was believed that human images
could come to life and affect people’s destinies. For
ancient consciousness there was no difference between
a scu lpture and a doll, an idol or a totem (ancestral
animal). The deceased people were honorably escorted
to «next world», so that they would provide help to their
descendants, stand for them before the gods, assist in
the agricultural cycle, for example, "cau se" rain for a
good harvest.
There were also puppets -alternates that duplicated
a particular person. If someone left the family (for
example, husbands or sons we nt on war campaigns),
substitute dolls were mastered. Such dolls (usually they
were made from fabrics) were stored in the house. It
was considered a bad omen if suddenly something bad
happened to a doll (the image of a person). It had a
meaning that a misf ortune happened to a prototype, of
a doll, and the family began to prepare for the worst.
Up to this day, there are still a variety of funeral
rituals involving dolls. For instance, we can look at the
traditions of the tribe torajans, in translation
“inha bitants of mountains”, “mountain people”, who
live in the mountain area of Sulawesi (one of th e
Indonesian islands). In order to perform the ritual, the
torajans make a doll that represents the accurate copy
of a deceased person, place it in a specially bu ilt cabin
to make it watch a day -long, colorful funeral ceremony
until the end. The adult tora jans are buried in the caves
of lava slices and slopes surrounding mountains.
Coffins are carried to the depth of the cave, and special
windows of doll -images of the deceased are placed in
the front of the cave. Grave care includes changing the
outfits of these dolls. African tribes also use dolls in
funerary rituals as images of the dead. The doll, as a
communicator between the dead and the gods, has
conquered all continents, from Asia, through Europe
and Africa, to America. For example, one amber doll
and four ivory dolls (III -IV century) were found in the
necropolis of Spain.
In ancient Egypt, large moving dolls were used
during religious ceremonies. Such dolls were endowed
with divine properties. Today, as in the past, there are
carnival marches in many countries, attended not only
by well -dressed giant dolls, but also by people. The
game is a leading human activity in which mental,
physical, aesthetic and moral principles of a person are
formed. The specific historical conditions of each
epoch and the a esthetic content of the dolls have a
direct influence on the direction of the games. «At each
stage of its development, in each ethnicity and social
layer of the same nation, a doll creates an exact portrait
of the given type of culture» [6]. In Japan, in the VI
century A.D., there appeared a doll which people
consciously designed using the principle of stable
balance - it’s a tumbler doll. Russian tumbler dolls
appeared in the beginning of the XIX century, they
were called «kuvyrkan» and depicted either cl owns or
merchants. At the end of the XIX century, from Honshu

American Scientific Journal № ( 41) / 2020 21

Island, there was brought a figure of a Buddhist monk
Fukuruma, containing several pieces embedded i n each
other – this served as a prototype of famous Russian
“Matryoshka doll”. The first talki ng doll in the world
was invented with the help of Thomas Edison’s
invention of the phonograph. In 1890, the phonograph
was placed inside the doll, but the projec t did not work
because the dolls were fragile and the records were very
short. In 1959, the Ba rbie doll was created, which
became one of the best -selling toys in history.
The idea of the world is acquired in the childhood
by playing with and looking at v arious toys (dolls, toy
tools and weapons, barbie dolls, pieces of furniture,
clothes, puppets etc.). The cultural development of a
person consists of the acquiring the knowledge of a
language, symbols, images, words, signs, letters,
counting system, games , etc. One of the special ways in
which people view reality is through feelings. The
game cont ributes to the formation of the first
emotional -aesthetic assessments, the development of
artistic taste. It can be assumed that the master of art
acts as a beare r of ancient culture, connecting the past
with the present. The need for aesthetic expression can
be found in anyone from the earliest childhood. The
evidence to that can be found in different cultures at any
stage of human development, beginning with the
primordial human being. Culture, its subject -matter
relations, its spiritual meaning, as well as the human
community as a whole, can serve as carriers of various
forms of feelings and thoughts. A traditional doll,
whether it’s a rag doll or a clay whistle in the form of a
bird, always carries a national ideal that shapes the
national aesthetic cons ciousness for the new
generation. Sensual properties of a human being are
developed and improved only in the context of culture
and human community, which already has material and
spiritual values. By acquiring social experience, a
person develops feelings that contribute to the
development of spiritual needs and abilities. Aesthetic
needs are closely intertwined with conative, and with
cognitive needs; their clear and precise delineation or
differentiation is impossible. Therefore, a toy,
including a doll created by adults, is an object that
should, by organizing and accompanying the game,
serve the aesthetic and intellectual development of a
human being; it is an object that, from early childhood,
gradually introduces a person into the material and
spiritu al culture of his or her society. However, a toy,
such as a doll, can only introduce a new generation into
the material and spiritual values of a culture only if a
toy itself depicts these values. In usual (traditional)
representation, spirituality consist s of three elements:
cognitive, moral and aesthetic. Three domains of
spiritual values are truth, good, beauty. Aesthetic
feelings are human. They’re based on the experience of
the mind, and they’re thought -provoking. Aesthetic
feelings are called worldvie ws. Aesthetic sense as a
peculiar human experience arising from the perception
of specific lenses: beauty of nature, works of art,
objects of work, toys, etc. is not given to a person from
birth. The most beloved doll of a person will always be
the one tha t is made with his or her own hands,
«animated» by his or her own inspired fantasy. This is
the main value of the traditional folklore doll. Feelings
stimulate so cial activity, regulate behavior and shape
aesthetic and moral ideals. Aesthetically, the real ity is
neutral, because the source of beauty lies in the soul of
the individual. It is a matter of culture. Beauty is the
result of a certain perception of phenom ena of reality,
«judgements of taste», «feelings», «projection of
spiritual wealth on reality» , as many subjectivist trends
in aesthetics assumed (romanticism, modernism). A
beautiful doll is one of the most essential needs of the
female half of humanity. In Russia, the first foreign
fashionistas with charming wax faces and wonderfully
lush wigs ca me from England, France and Germany.
These were very expensive «trinkets» in natural silks
and lace -thin weave. In the XVII - XIX centuries,
Russian craftsmen mas tered the manufacture of
porcelain beauties, the sophistication and durability of
which has ea rned the worldwide recognition. Such
parlor dolls were not the object of play, but were
intended to cultivate good taste and to teach thrift. The
need for beauty and harmony constitutes the ideal basic
human needs. A basic need is the one the dissatisfacti on
of which leads to serious impairment of vital functions.
Artistic organization of the household of all traditional
cultures confirms the importance of aestheti c
experiences in human life. The clothes of all people of
the world have been decorated with c loth patterns,
embroidery, gold sewing, etc. Household utensils,
dishes, furniture, walls, ceilings and doors are painted
with floral patterns and singing birds. Folk music,
poetic folklore, proverbs, lullabies, fairy tales are an
artistically organized wo rd and sound (music). Folklore
dance is an artistically organized movement [3].
The opinions of scientists differ regarding the
question of emergence of dolls. S ome scientists believe
that dolls, like other toys, appeared at the same time as
the origin of humanity. Modern children like to play
with the forms of toys that already existed back in
ancient civilizations – Ancient Greece and Ancient
Rome – such as ball s, spinners, skipping ropes,
puppets, etc. The dolls and various toys of the Ancient
Greeks, w hich have come to our time, are characterized
by the elegance of style, beauty of covering, ingenuity.
The toy “flying dove”, which is a prototype of future
aircr aft, is exhibited in one of the archaeological
museums of Greece. This is a stunning mechanica l
figure of very delicate workmanship for that time,
striking perfection. Amazing finds were also
discovered during excavations of ancient cities in
Egypt. Variou s household items, utensils, statuettes,
including many specially made and painted toys and
do lls that amazed archaeological scientists. Excavating
the city of Pompeii after the eruption of Mount
Vesuvius in 79 A.D., archaeologists also found a large
numbe r of children's toys. At the excavation site, they
discovered toys for children of those times : a rattle with
metal parts inside, toy dishes and small clay -filled little
dolls. In the collection of the British Museum today
there is such an exhibit as a rag doll belonging to a
small Roman, who lived in 300 B.C. The oldest
Egyptian dolls are about 4, 000 years old, the oldest
Indian toys, including dolls, are about 5,000 years old.
The findings of archaeologists are sometimes simply

22 American Scientific Journal № ( 41) / 2020
rough chumps with no arms, no legs. The heads of such
dolls were decorated with wigs made of wooden and
threaded beads. T he dolls were not intended for
children but for adults and were associated with
different forms of religion [4].
It is commonly believed that human life consists
of two main lines of development. One line is the
natural course of action closely linked to socio -
biological processes, physical maturation and its
maturity. The other line is the cultural improvement of
psychological functions, the formation of individu al
consciousness, new ways of thinking, mastering
cultural, moral, ethical and aesthetic means of behavior.
All human forms and activities have three periods: past,
present and future. The key time -frame concepts of life
and death. In addition, life and de ath are linked to the
relationship between man and time: eternity and time;
the past, the pres ent and the future; the past and the
destiny. According to S.L. Rubinstein, human existence
is characterized by activity, which is always the attitude
of man to t he world, conscious and purposeful. In
archaeological perspective, a doll was born along with
a man. After all, dolls are indeed essential ancient
amulets of primitive people and idols of pagan times.
Created as a symbol of a person, a doll often «comes to
life»; it is endowed with human traits and passions, and
seems to be able to live its own spe cial life. It is a
mystery that we might never be able to fully
comprehend. Therefore, a doll is probably one of the
most important symbols in life that carries i mportant
philosophical meaning. A doll was used by man for
play and education, and was used as a facilitator of
pagan rituals and healing, for the purpose of protection
and worship. It has always been a product of fantasy
and an obvious reality – performin g protective,
inspiring, entertaining and developing functions.
Throughout the history, manki nd has invented
only four mediators (a sign, a word, a symbol, a myth)
linking the inner world of man to the spiritual culture
of the world. It is very difficult to expect that humanity
will discover anything new in the foreseeable historical
period. Cultu ral mediators are the products of the
history of all human culture. Today, there are many
incomprehensible and unexplored aspects in this field.
A doll served and serves as a symbol of transition from
one state to another, changes of time and space. “In
Ru ssia, the farewell to Winter was accompanied by the
burning of the stuffed with straw doll called
“Maslenitsa”, representing all the old, - the destruction
of the old signified the birth of the new. And after
harvest, at the border of Summer and Autumn, th ey
buried the straw doll “Andropouska” and organized a
common meal for all the people – that was the magical
way to keep the strength hidden in a grain of bread u ntil
Spring» [6]. A doll has always been considered as a
different form for any level of consc iousness: both for
the “archaic” consciousness, which perceives a doll as
a spiritualized object, and for the “enlightened”
consciousness, “animating” a doll only in the aesthetic
aspect.
People exchange information in a specific way –
through the process of transferring emotional and
intellectual content, or communication. A doll is a
symbolic mediator or intermedium. A symbol is one of
the most important categor ies of art, philosophy and
psychology. Viewing a symbol as a mediator with
which the mutual tr ansformation of an idea into a
matter and a thing into an idea is possible, Florence
P.A. believed that the mediating function of a symbol
can be explained by the concept that a symbol is, by
itself, a matter and an idea. Let us mention that a
symbol is al so energy. The word is the result of a
complex inner life experience of a person, it is the word
that helps to organize the internal life, making it
possible for other people to understand. The image
contains a subjective representation of the world or its
fragments, including the subject itself, other people, the
spatial environment and the time sequence of events. In
traditional culture, a folklore doll is a meta -sign [5].
The doll reflects a person’s knowledge of the world on
an ordinary level – worldvie w, life paradigm, system of
beliefs, regional affiliation and social status of a person.
Between a person and a doll there have been established
certain peculiari ties of the space in which a doll appears
as a representative of another world, different from the
world of the real life, as a being «different» from a
person. While playing with a doll, a person activates his
own body. Directing the doll’s movements, a p erson
interacts with it on kinesthetic, emotional, and
interpersonal levels. He moves doll and moves himself,
changing the intonation and timbre of his voice while
talking to it, and while «answering» for it. Therefore,
the maximum involvement in the game allows the
person to differentiate his own states and «states» of a
doll. An imaginary doll is a doll that lives in our minds
as an image and can be made into reality (for example,
in a drawing or made by hand).
In Russia the dolls appeared in the IX cent ury and
were called «poteshki». They were believed to have
medical properties and to be protec tive for infants, so
from ancient times they were placed in the nursery. The
traditional rag dolls of our ancestors carried good
meaning and were faceless. A face less doll was
considered an inanimate object that was not accessible
to the doll’s dangerous, evil powers, and therefore
harmless to the child. The purpose of the doll was to
give a child well -being, health and joy. The only thing
that puppeteers were allo wed to mark was a cross (an
ancient powerful solar sign). In some cases, it was
precisely the cross that gave the textile or straw figure
the magical status of the protector, excluding the eyes,
nose and mouth. The doll, which the Slavs believed had
a face , was endowed with a soul, and could be used in
witchcraft purposes and for purpose of disease
induction. In Russia only women made dolls. Men were
not allowed to watch dolls being made. It was believed
that the quality of the work of a woman influenced th e
fate of the whole family. Before starting this
responsible work, a woman had to read special ritual
spells. The first doll was made by a girl when she was
around the age of 12 or 13. The most beautiful hand -
made dolls were stored in a closet and were par t of a
bride’s dowry. A doll is a reflection of a person; with
its help we search for our own self. For example, a
puppet was meant to be played, loved, hugged. The
neutral expression on the doll's face allowed the

American Scientific Journal № ( 41) / 2020 23

person's imagination to activate and imag ine the doll
smiling, crying or sleeping, depending on the mood of
the player. The minimalism in the facial features of the
doll does not act aggressively on the child's fantasy,
allowing to develop freely, actively during the game.
The child is free to sp eculate on certain features of the
doll’s face, facial expressions, emotions. The mood is
not fixed on the face of the doll in the form of a
permanent smile, it can change at will of the child.
Psychologically such a doll is emotionally neutral [6].
In the XVI century, Catholics began to visualize the
Holy Scripture, and in 1672 in England created the first
art doll made of papier -mâché, a nun doll, with a
circulation of 12 copies, which had a face. The Russian
word «doll» is related to the Greek «kiklos» ( «circle»)
and means something folded. To differentiate between
the doll and the idol is almost impossible in early
history. It was used as a personification of deity in
religious rituals. Of course, ceremonial dolls are not
children’s toys. From the ancien t times, people have
always presented the world as a whole. Every element
of the world in man’ s imagination was connected to
something else. To know the good without knowing the
evil was impossible. There are also dolls in the world
that were made with mal icious intent. These dolls are
usually made of wax. Such a doll is called the Voodoo
doll or V olt, which is a duplicate of the object of
magical manipulation, a resemblance of human. The
purpose of making a Volt is to visualize the victim, that
is, to faci litate the identification of the doll with the
victim, a tool for witchcraft. The sorcerer doe s not
perform good deeds, his hidden action is usually aimed
at causing harm to a person. As a result of a special
curse of the doll, it has a connection to a cer tain person.
Once a special connection is established through the
law of similarity, it become s possible for the doll owner
to act destructively through it on the person whom it
symbolizes. The doll was painted with eyes and mouth,
thus making it resemblin g a human being, and was
given a certain name. After that, the damage done to the
doll inevita bly extended to its living counterpart. Over
the time, the dolls were no longer exclusively
associated with cults and rituals. Since the second half
of the XVII c entury, France has set the trend throughout
Europe, not only in politics, economics, spiritual ity, but
also in fashion. Fashion magazines were not published
at the time, but all the fashionable women of Europe
wanted to learn about new trends in French fas hion.
French entrepreneurs recalled that, in ancient Rome,
painted clay figures (figurines) fr om 8 to 25 cm tall
were sent to the province for a fashion demonstration.
And in France, they make descendants of figurines –
beautiful Pandoras. Indeed, the Pand ora dolls were true
works of art, demonstrating beauty and grace. Pandora
dolls were porcelain , medium -sized, had approximate
proportions of an adult woman and were dressed in the
latest fashion. The doll was accompanied by an entire
wardrobe, as well as c hests with perfume novelties, a
huge number of accessories. In Russia, the doll
manufacturing business was also respected. Empress
Alexandra Fedorovna raised the children, teaching
them life at a «puppet scale»: ivory doll furniture, doll
dresses according to Parisian fashion, musical
instruments. At the end of the XVII century, Pandora
had unique brothers, android mechanisms. The
mystical component of puppet life became particularly
popular in the era of alchemists and scientists. The idea
of creating an a rtificial person, «Golem», did not give
them rest. In the XVIII century, they learned to make
puppet copies of people. The golden age of mechanical
androids takes place in the era of the peculiar and
unique synthesis of the new European culture. The
most f amous of the inventors of mechanical dolls
Jacques de Vaucanson (1709 -1782) started his career at
the salon of Le Rischde la Pupliner in Paris, where
Voltaire, Grimm, Duke of Hornier, Van Loo La Tour,
Buffon and Rameau were among the visitors. They
were th e first ones to see the Vaucanson machine «Flute
Player». Each of the visitors – philosopher, artist,
biologist, composer – saw in this machine the
embodiment of principles fundamental to their spheres.
This doll, the size of a human, could do 12 melodies.
And as she played the flute, her fingers moved through
the holes of the flute, the air came o ut of her mouth, her
lips moved like a human. «Flute Player» by Vaucanson
was considered to be the first successful attempt to
create an artificial person. No won der, Jacques
Vaucanson was patronized by Louis XV himself, and
the state kept his work in secr et. The idea of creating an
artificial person had a 100 -year history in France and
dated back to the philosophical treatises of Descartes.
Viewing mechanics as a metascience, Descartes
modeled the laws of nature according to the law of
mechanics. During th e XVIII century, an
unprecedented number of mechanical dolls were
created. It is «The Scribe» and «The Painter» by Pierre
Jacques Droz (1721 -1790), mechanical ani mals, and
famous «The Musician», who was dressed in crinoline
with a corsage decorated with bo ws. The toy woman sat
behind the very real, only very tiny, harpsichord and
could perform five musical compositions - there were
notes in front of her. These melo dies were written by
the master’s son, Henri -Louis Jacques -Droz, who was
not only a skilled me chanic, but also a gifted musician.
The most famous artistic mechanism in Russia is a
peacock clock from the hermitage collection. The
uniqueness of these clocks is that they are still in
working condition (the clocks work and the peacock
himself starts ev ery Wednesday at 13:00). From 1797
to the present day, the peacock clock has been one of
the most famous exhibits of the Hermitage. In addition,
it is the world’s only large 18th century submachine
gun that has survived to our time without change and in
its current state.
Children’s dolls are known to have been made a
long time ago. But since it was hand -made and each
doll was unique in its own way, and, of course ,
expensive, thus, not every family had the opportunity
to have such a doll. In the middle of the 19th century,
along with the industrial rise and economic flourishing
in Europe, a special interest in the spiritual needs of the
human being was awakened, an d factories for the
production of toys for children and dolls specifically,
began to open.
Ha ving briefly reviewed the history of the doll, we
can come to conclusion that it is an integral part of the

24 American Scientific Journal № ( 41) / 2020
culture. The doll tends to replicate the person, to
consolidate his appearance, tries to imitate human
movements, that is, to become a kind of a dup licate.
Despite this, the doll is a thing, therefore it represents a
simulation of a person. Nevertheless, during the
movement of an inanimate object, there is a miracle of
revival: if the figure moves, then it is alive, therefore
capable of thinking, and further - if it thinks, it has will
and desires. Thus, the doll, being related to the world
of things, is at the same time involved in some «virtual
world. On the one hand, it is materially perceptible, on
the other, its image slips away, it is mysterious and
incomprehensible. Therefore, the study of the nature of
a doll provides an opportunity to approximate the
mechanism of occurrence of all kinds of virtual imag es.
The doll is in some intermediate position between an
ordinary thing and a virtual image. H owever, unlike
many reproducing virtual images, which often mean
nothing, the doll is almost always a sign of the creative
and life -building state of the human be ing.

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Last name/ First name Shipovskaya Lyudmila Pavlovna
Information
(place of work, position)
Professor of the Department of Philosophy, Moscow
Automobile and Road Construction State Technical University
(MADI)
Academic degree, academic title Doctor of Philosophy, Professor
Address Apt.34, Build.5, Vasilievs kaya street, Moscow, 123056
Contact phone and fax (with area code) +7 916 203 80 88
Scientific field of the article Philosophical Sciences