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THE RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHICAL GAZETTE

August 2008 – No 8

FEATURES

Life Is Not Endless But That Does Not Mean It Is Senseless

Academician Vladimir Zaharov is a holder of the world’s greatest awards for his outstanding achievements in the field of theoretical physics. Also, he may be the most widely cited physicist of all Russian theoreticians in the world of science. But the story is not as much about science as about his poetic talents. Poetry has always been a hobby to him, but to him only for he is definitely one of the most significant Russian poets of our time. Everything he says or writes is deep, crystal clear, refined and to the point. Just read this: “There is an intimate connection between poetry and the future as well as the past because poetry is a bold desire to know the world transcended but in no way separated from the one we live in.” Well?

INTERVIEW BY SERGEI SHARAKSHANE

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A House of Your Own

Housing… A place to live… Who can afford buying a home in Russia? The housing problem has always been the most painful issue in this country. Prices for houses and flats are practically unaffordable as they are among the highest in the world. This article is both a review and a comparable analysis of the current housing situation in a number of countries such as Great Britain, Sweden, the United States, France and Russia. The data presented gives the reader essential insights into the problem.

BY EVGENIY POLUEKTOV

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Lawlessness in Lawfulness

The article is a response to certain unseemly events that took place in Pavlov Posad’s secondary school, Moscow region. The events had to do with corruption at school – a shameful case of extortion. Schoolchildren were allowed to attend regular classes, even PT, but… for money. Those teachers who quietly disagreed with such practices or openly protested against the outrage were asked to seek employment elsewhere. Those who refused to take that ‘generous’ offer were gradually squeezed out as the school administration did everything to make their life and work unbearable. Such insolent practices took place only because school authorities were overconfident in their impunity as they had connections with the local police and other law-enforcement agencies, such as the Pavlov Posad Prosecutor’s Office. Well, strange things happen, of course, but this is strange enough.

BY NADEZHDA KUZNETSOVA

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Will Carp Go Upstream?

This story has an intriguing subtitle “The Secrets of Longevity and Fortitude from Vsevolod Ovchinnikov” who is a prominent Russian writer and a former TV correspondent. Some say he is also a philosopher. An outstanding orientalist, Ovchinnikov spent many years in China and Japan and wrote lost of books and essays on oriental traditions, mentality and the way of life. His language is simple and easy to read. In this article Ovchinnikov focuses on the problem of making conscious choices in everyday life.

INTERVIEW BY OLGA DOBROMYSLOVA

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The Olympic and Political Games

The whole world is waiting impatiently for the opening of the Beijing Olympics. There is no doubt that this is going to be an event of global significance not only in the sense of sports but also in terms of international relations and politics. The article is an essay on the history of the Olympic Games with a focus on the political aspect the Olympic movement has played at all times. No one will dispute that contesting for the right to host the Olympics and competing for the “Olympic gold” have now become part of big politics in the international arena where the stakes have recently been running extremely high.

BY NATALIYA LOGINOVA

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Large Hadron Collider: a glance into the depth of time

The European Nuclear Research Center is going to launch a Large Hadron Collider, (LHC) this year. From the technical point of view LHC is perhaps the most complex technological achievement ever made on this planet. It took about ten years to build it. Now it is ready for trials. Those who want to know the purpose of LHC, its capabilities and what scientists hope to use it for should read the article by all means. This article is also an answer to many sensational reports in both foreign and national media about the ‘dangers’ this new creation of man allegedly constitutes to humanity.

BY ANTON SMIRNOV

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A Thorny Path to Truth

This is a story about a project aimed to confirm that the remains of Russia’s first printer Ivan Fyodorov are indeed those kept at the Onufriev Monastery in Lvov, Ukraine.  Ivan Fyoderov was the initiator of printing in Muscovy and Ukraine, and was a printer also in Belarus.
Born sometime around 1510 in Muscovy, he studied at Krakow University, where he received training in Greek and Latin, and from which he graduated in 1532. Subsequently, he worked as deacon in the St. Nikola Gostunsky church in the Moscow Kremlin until 1565. He was selected by Tsar Ivan IV "Grozny" to initiate an official printing press in Moscow where, together with his partner Petr Mstislavets, he printed books that were needed for the Russian Orthodox Church.  He produced the first dated Russian imprint, the Apostol of 1563 – 1564, the first printed Church Slavonic Bible (1580), and the first Russian textbook (1574). He was an accomplished craftsman in numerous trades, and a man of broad vision and great persistence.

BY YURI KIRILLOV

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