The development of the social sciences needs to rely on precise methods. The nomological model of explanation adopted in the natural sciences is ill-suited for the social sciences. An algorithmic model of society can be a promising solution to existing problems. In its most general form, an algorithm is a generally understood prescription for what actions to perform and in what order to achieve the desired result. Any algorithm can be represented as a set of rules of the form «If (...) A, do D to get P». People are the bearers of this kind of rules that apply in different areas of their activities. The rules are subject to change based on personal and collective experience. There is a special mathematical discipline that studies the laws of evolution of such rules. This discipline is called genetic programming. Contrary to the threatening name, the algorithmic model does not imply the deprivation of a person’s right to free choice, but it needs this right as a necessary condition for the evolution of social algorithms. These algorithms allow us to give a non-causal, but law-like explanation of many well-known social phenomena, as well as to effectively model the future, which is critically important today. A retrospective look at the evolution of social algorithms shows that the current global crisis of human society is associated with the approach to the point of singularity in their evolution. This is due to the fact that there is no need for direct human participation in the implementation of social algorithms, which is reflected in a fundamental change in the sphere of employment and less need for further development of the sciences. (shrink)

An analytical overview of researches carried out abroad, where the relationship between individual’s assertiveness and their psychological health, depression and dangerous addictions were studied, is given in the article. It is stated that assertiveness supports psychological health, psychological maturity, adequate self-esteem; it helps to get rid of low self-reliance; decreases anxiety level and fears; boosts self-esteem and self-respect; protects from emotional problems; helps to overcome stress, to give up smoking and generally to be more successful and less prone to depression. (...) For medical workers, it helps to improve treatment of their patients. (shrink)

Tоday there is a strong tendency to incorporate the bioethical principle of social justice in healthcare in cross-cultural communication. Considering cultural differences makes it possible to ensure that the human right to medical care and wellbeing is fully respected. Several types of most vulnerable populations were identified – immigrants and social minorities. When seeking medical care they face a number of problems such as culture and language barriers, lower socio-economic status, lack of literacy, which impede effective communication and care provision. (...) The most promising ways of coping with the problem are developing cultural competence and practicing a patient-centered approach. New curricula aiming at raising cultural awareness have been elaborated for practical use in medical schools. (shrink)

Teyyar eschatology, as a doctrine of the ultimate destiny of mankind, is deeply rooted in the concept of the ultimate goal, which is regarded as a true result, though it emerges as a tool designed to fill some of the emptiness created by humanity in the course of natural science practice. Teillard felt that the deplorable state of modern mankind was the result of his neglect of eschatology, his inability to adapt to the needs of his activities, and his lack (...) of courage in further design. "A lighter skyscraper of hope is being constructed," G. Grespi notes. The belief that the Earth is exhausting its limited resources necessarily leads to the thought of the destruction of the Earth. (shrink)

The policy adopted by the Twenty-fifth Congress of the CPSU on raising the quality of work and the effectiveness of social production means that work must be more highly organized and disciplined and that initiative and creative searching must be fostered. "The country sets as its goal enlargement of the real opportunities for citizens to apply their creative powers, abilities, and gifts and for comprehensive development of the individual.".

The Stoics, who advocated the extirpation of the passions, the sufficiency of virtue for happiness, and the equality of sins, embodied their radical doctrines in the figure of the sage, provoking both ancient and modern critics of Stoicism to dismiss this exemplar as an impracticable and unappealing ideal. This paper attempts to add depth and richness to an understanding of the sage by highlighting the sage's more human qualities and by examining how the Stoics’ idealized paradigm derives from, or maps (...) onto, the figure of Socrates, with special attention paid to the iconic philosopher's characteristic irony and erotic playfulness. (shrink)

Книга представляет собой собрание работ, посвященных различным русским философам и ученым от В.А.Жуковского до Георгия Гачева. В ранее изданных книгах автора эти работы не публиковались. Книга состоит из двух частей, разделенных по хронологическому принципу. Первая часть посвящена представителям русской мысли золотого и серебряного веков. Во второй части представлены работы о лицах и сюжетах философии советского и постсоветского периодов русской истории. Значительное место в книге уделено проблеме соотношения платонизма и экзистенциальной ориентации философии, в которой, по мнению автора, кроется один из главных (...) концептуальных "узлов" русской мысли. В ней также раскрывается значение русской религиозно-философской мысли для возникновения европейского экзистенциализма. Русская мысль, подобно французской, по мнению автора, развивается традиционно в тесной связи, прежде всего, с литературой, выступающей ресурсом ее экзистенциальной направленности. Книги на русском языке #ReadRussia. (shrink)

Among the heretical movements, certain interest attracts worship, which for five centuries was essentially the main oppositional religious-philosophical movement to orthodox Christianity, which influenced the spiritual life of a number of European countries, including Kievan Rus.

In my opinion, the so-called revolution in science and technology has virtually no influence on art.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the relationship between right and law. The author identifies four types of understanding of right: positivist, natural-legal, general social, and the point of view of educational literature. These four types belong to different paradigms of understanding: the philosophical one (theory of natural right) and the legal one (three other points of view). The philosophy of right as a purely philosophical and not a legal discipline uses a philosophical approach to the substantiation of (...) the essence of right. Its fundamental thesis: it is impossible to prove the claims of the right to general validity and obligation if we use the framework of jurisprudence only. In this regard, the statist positivism is subjected to sharp criticism as a theory that rejects the essential difference between right and law and identifies right and law with the activities of the state alone. In philosophy, the right is understood as a system of values that includes fundamental moral and legal ideas and principles. The difference between right and law, their necessary dualism lies in the difference in their genetic nature. The right consists mainly of values that are inherently regulative, whereas the law is a set of norms that have a constitutive essence. This distinction between values and norms and, therefore, between the regulative as such and the constitutive is precisely the philosophical basis for the distinction between right and law. The essence of the regulative as such is based on ontological attitudes of consciousness, which are a priori in their origin. The article concludes with a classification of the functions of right with regard to law. (shrink)

Russia is a country of extremes, as everyone knows. No matter what we do we are driven, as a rule, now to the extreme left and then to the extreme right. In the contemporary historiography of Soviet philosophy, such extreme turns lie at the surface. Among such extremes, I would include, in particular, the article "The Suppression of Philosophy in the USSR" [Podavlenie filosofii v SSSR], which appeared in Russian Philosophy. A Concise Encyclopedic Dictionary [Russkaia filosofiia. Malyi entsiklopedicheskii slovar'] . (...) I do not wish to say that one should not write about the suppression of Soviet philosophy. The problem is to maintain the necessary proportions. (shrink)

The article proposes a methodological scheme, on the one hand, describing the process of the formation of a new reality, which can later be constituted as an object (cognition or ideal), on the other hand, including logical “stops” interpreted as schemes, concepts and metaphors. The author presents a point of view on the distinction between the scheme and the concept of A. P. Ogurtsov, as well as his study of the development of metaphor in political discourse. On the material of (...) the reconstruction of Plato's “Feast” and some statements of philosophers, the concepts of schema, concept and metaphor are characterized. It is argued that within the framework of the Aristotelian and Cartesian traditions of thinking, metaphors can be eliminated, and in creativity they are an integral element of any work. (shrink)