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THE RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHICAL GAZETTE

March 2008 – No 3

FEATURES

Confucius: “The Way does not expand Man, it’s Man who expands the Way”

Confucius was the first and, perhaps, most ardent and consistent advocate of culture in human history. He is still considered to be the greatest teaching philosopher of all times. Over the centuries his name has become a synonym of wisdom. For the Chinese and other people of the Far East and South-East Asia, his teaching has been a basis of ideology, culture and good moral character for over two and a half thousand years. The article particularly highlights the moral side of Confucius’ teaching.

BY NATALIYA LOGINOVA

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Civil Society: A Phantom or Reality?

A state based on principles of systemic organization of society will be able to provide governance capable of adequate reaction to any man’s problems. In such social environment all men will rightly be called cives or citizens and the society will by the same token be called civilis or civil.

One cannot formulate systemic principles with respect to people including those who hold offices under government without knowing the specificity of thinking of each and everyone. The use of the objective assessment methods (i.e. the evaluation of educational and aesthetic development of an individual) we have so often referred to in this Gazette can turn out to be a starting point for the social policy, optimal for the people.

The concept of the moral evolution of human thinking of which we have been speaking incessantly through this Gazette is exactly the basis for such an organization of social life. With due respect for the importance of the subject the article unfolds the content of this concept.

BY ARNOLD KAZMIN

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English

It takes two to tango in Argentina

We have got used to a woman in power as a reality of political life, yet a wife succeeding her husband as president in a large state is something we will have to get used to and accept. A “he-plus-she”, “alternating spouse” or “family” model may seem strange from the democratic perspective of western political scientists. But the yardsticks they use are other than those suitable for Argentina. The point is that in Argentina unlike Western Europe but similar to Russia a national scope personality is perceived as one standing higher than other government and political institutions. This is no ideology but a special pattern of power culture, a model showing special relations between the state, the government and the people.

BY VLADIMIR ROSCHUPKIN

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Earth’s Glowing Meteor

This article is about Marie Curie who happens to be the first and only woman interred in the French Pantheon where men of great deed and achievement rest in peace. In fact, she was re-interred there in 1995 by order of Francois Mitterrand. But even if mankind had something like the World Pantheon, Marie Sklodowska-Curie would still be first and inimitable just as her first milligrams of pure radium she extracted with her own hand from several tons of the radioactive broth.

BY YULIA GORJALTSAN

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The Son of the Earth and the Universe

This March is special because of its two dates: one – global and optimistic – Earth Day; the other – doleful that makes us think philosophically about the frailty of life and the eternity of the universe – March 27 – the day when Yuri Gagarin crossed the Great Divide. This is an interview of our observer with Pavel Popovich, a friend and a colleague of the first man-in-space, a veteran of Gagarin’s team of cosmonauts, and twice hero of the Soviet Union. Contains many facts about Gagarin that have been little known or unknown at all to broad audience.

INTERVIEW BY VLADIMIR ROSCHUPKIN

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The Tragedy and Triumph of Rudolf Diesel?

In 1878, Rudolf Diesel was attending the Polytechnic High School of Germany when he learned about the low efficiency of gasoline and steam engines. This inspired him to create an engine with a higher efficiency, which he did and called it a "Combustion Power Engine." By 1892 Diesel had obtained a patent for what we now call the diesel engine. Despite the patent controversy Rudolf Diesel is considered to be the inventor of the major engine of the 20th century. This engine is known to everyone – from schoolchildren to railroaders, truck drivers, seamen and so on. People gave Diesel a special and rare honor – they started to write his name with a small letter.

BY NATALIYA LOGINOVA

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The Problem of Dogmatism

This is our answer to the letter of our reader disagreeing with the author of the article ‘Is There an Alternative to Science?’ in our January issue.  There are many people who think that religion is not at variance with science. The reason why we are so concerned about it is that the problem itself and degree of the clericalization of our society is more than just topical, it is urgent. It is definitely not the problem of freedom of thought but that of lack of scientific knowledge and common sense. Well, erare humanum est, but the fewer mistakes we make the better.

BY LEONID PETRYAKOV

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UFO: facts and acts

The French National Space Center (CNES) has recently declassified and made public about 400 of its UFO files collected over the period of 40 years by the French UFO Research Group (GEIPAN). Now those who wish to ponder over the presence or absence of extraterrestrial life can find relevant information at the CNES official site. The article is focused on two different approaches to the problem in France and Britain. While many French specialists think that these unexplained appearances have relevance with the development of new types of weapons, their British counterparts tend to believe that mainly they have to do with the manifestations of either well-known or yet unexplained natural phenomena. The follow-up editorial column highlights our view of the problem.

BY VLADIMIR TIMOFEYEV + EDITORIAL STAFF

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