Contents and abstracts

Theory

Ivan A. Gobozov. The Meaning of Life as an Existential Issue (рр. 5–20).

The article is devoted to the topical issues of the meaning of life. It describes the most important aspects of the meaning of human life, economic, spiritual, moral, etc.

Keywords: the meaning of life, purpose of life, time, labor, hedonism, immortality, altruism, conscience, virtue.

Yuri I. Semenov. People. Ethnos. Nation. Article 1. Society, Population, Ethnos (рр. 21–55).

The article analyzes the most urgent issues of the contemporary epoch. The author emphasizes that ethnos is a self-identifying cultural and linguistic community and not a community in general. The article also provides a profound analysis of the notions of population and society.

Keywords: society, a geosocial organism, territory, population, people, ethnos, genetic and cultural community.

Vladimir Ch. Belenkiy. How to Define Socialism? (рр. 56–68).

The purpose of the article is to define socialism within the framework of the dialectical logic. The author summarizes Leninist experience of decision-making process and pays special attention to the methodology of defining socialism. He also critically analyzes one of the existing definitions of socialism. The circumstance and factors are identified that should be taken into account when defining socialism.

Keywords: determination, determination as a process and as a result of this process, methodology, Leninist practice of determination of socialism, algorithm of Lenin's approach to determination of socialism, terms of making and value of definition of socialism.

Mikhail V. Igolkin. Power and Management (рр. 69–85).

The article studies the urgent issues of social management. The author clearly distinguishes the notions of “ruling”, “governance”, “control” and “management”. Much attention is paid to the issues of management in contemporary Russia.

Keywords: management, governance, control, power, efficiency of power, technological determinism.

Mikhail М. Prokhorov. Science and Modernity (рр. 86–104).

This paper is devoted to the peculiar features of science in the post-nonclassical era. The author shows that, in comparison with classical and non-classical science, the ideal of postnonclassical science is constituted not only by the search for truth, but also by the implementation of humanistic values. The author distinguishes between genuine thinking and its simulation. Science represents the thinking of a human who cognizes the being. The simulation only means an imitation of such activities without learning life and its development. Religion is presented in the article as a variant of simulation. Philosophy brings to the contrast between the simulation and the real thinking. Thus, the author fills with new content Bertrand Russell's long-standing view of the philosophy as of “the land” between science and religion.

Keywords: culture, anti-culture, science, classic-nonclassic-postnonclassic, true-false, misleading, objectivity and humanism thinking, simulacrum, hypostasis, the dialectics of the positive and negative.

Vladimir V. Denisov. The Role of Geopolitical Factor in the History of Russia (рр. 105–119).

The article analyzes the role of geopolitical factors in the social life of Russia and humankind in general, as well as the regularities of territorial transformations.

Keywords: Geopolitics, geographical space, territorial transformations, natural opportunities, national interests.

Stanislav V. Borzykh. The Consuming Man (рр. 120–127).

The article examines the relationship between an individual and society in terms of the concepts of consumption and production. An individual characterized by social meanings represents a matter from which society produces its own structure. Within the latter a man appears as a consumer, and society itself – as a producer.

Keywords: man, society, consumption, production, social meanings.

Irina A. Avdeeva. Global Ethics and Local Egoism (рр. 128–135).

The article considers the issues associated with the emergence of global ethics. In particular, the author notes that in spite of the most people's negative attitude towards selfishness, it is just the variant of a “reasonable self-love” that can considerably support the struggle for the maintaining the ethics of solidarity and cooperation. Besides, the author justifies the necessity of proselytism in the moral education of the youths as well as the leading role of ethics in contemporary environment in the historically formed link “ethics-law”.

Keywords: global ethics, moral norms, social morals, global community.

Anzhela A. Chuprina. The Mechanisms of the Family's Influence on the Development of the Man's Inner World in Contemporary Environment (рр. 136–145).

In the article the author pursues a social-philosophical comprehension of the peculiar nature of mechanisms of the family's influence on the process of the formation of an individual’s inner world in the current situation of social and civilizational development. The cause-effect relationships are considered, which determine the contradictions and imbalances of the inner world of the person and family in the system of social relations. In terms of contemporary trends, the author emphasizes the necessity to revive traditional spiritual and moral values to ensure social solidarity in the main spheres of human life and society.

Keywords: family, spiritual world, personality, morals, mechanism, the value, the present.

Dmitri M. Koshlakov. Reason and Mind in the Context Development of Culture (рр. 146–158).

The article shows the urgency of the problem of relationship between mind and reason in the outlook and culture. The main stages of development of the world civilization (a pre-modern, modern and postmodern stage) are considered and the peculiar relations between the rational and the reasonable are revealed with respect to these stages. The problem of understanding the postmodern culture is discussed.

Keywords: beauty, blessing, counter-modern, mind, modern times, postmodern times, pre-modern times, reason, truth, virtue.

History of Philosophy

Alexander V. Kucherenko. Kant, Neo-Kantian and Phenomenological Concepts Regulative and Constitutive (рр. 159–172).

The article considers the divergences between Kant and Neo-Kantian philosophers together with phenomenology concerning the usage of concepts of regulativity and constitutivity. Modern philosophic thinking departs from Kant's vision of problem of their differentiation, tending more and more to the concept of Neo-Kantian philosophers and phenomenology. In the given historical process, there are becoming more and more evident the losses in defining the way, capable to give direct evidence.

Keywords: transcendental, a method, regulativity, constitutivity, reason.

Philosophy in Kazakhstan

Seraly Sh. Tleubaev, Balzhan S. Tleubaeva. The Quasi-game elements in Culture (Mathematical game theory and conflict theory) (рр. 173–187).

The article analyzes the mathematical theory of games and the conflict theory. Games as the 20^th century phenomena are nevertheless very unusual and that is why, in our opinion, deserve the quasi-game status. Since the end of the 1920s a certain branch appeared within Mathematics and later developed into its separate field. It was entitled as the game theory. The founders of the game theory, having noticed the analogy between some games of a competitive character, turned this analogy into supposedly an essence of a game. Thus, in the game theory and the mathematical theory of conflict the competitive element of a game proved to be reduced to the conflict. So they turned the quasi-game they created into the models allowing, from their point of view, to interpret real social processes as supposedly game phenomena.

Keywords: game, culture, quasi-game, phenomenon, Mathematics, theory, conflict.

Reviews

M. M. Epstein. A new book on the Philosophy of Education. Puzyrevsky V. Yu. The Essays on the Philosophy of Humanistic Education. St.-Petersburg, 2011. – 230 pp. (рр. 188–192).

In memoriam

V. S. Shevelukha. In memoriam of an outstanding philosopher. Mikhail Vasilievich Igolkin (7.10.1935–30.03.2012) (рр. 193–194).

Contents and abstracts (рp. 195–197)