Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646 – 1716) was a German philosopher, polymath and mathematician. When he was baptized, he looked into the world his eyes wide open and it was then that his father gave him the name of Gottfried, which stands for German “god” and “world”. He thought that his child was destined for great deeds. The boy did live up to his father’s expectations.

Leibniz occupies a grand place in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathematics. He invented infinitesimal calculus independently of Newton, and his notation has been in general use since then. He also invented the binary system, foundation of virtually all modern computer architectures. In philosophy, he is mostly remembered for optimism, i.e. his conclusion that our universe is, in a restricted sense, the best possible one God could have made. He was, along with Rene Descartes and Baruch Spinoza, one of the three greatest 17th-century rationalists and contributors to modern logic and analysis, but his philosophy also looks back to the scholastic tradition, in which logic was an important part. Leibniz also made major contributions to physics and technology, and anticipated notions that surfaced much later in biology, medicine, geology, probability theory, psychology, linguistics, and information science. He also wrote on politics, law, ethics, theology, history, philosophy and philology, even occasional verse.

BY NATALYA LOGINOVA

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Humaneness is a Resource of Civilization

Humaneness is intertwined with morality: “to act humanely” means to do something good, something moral. But hardly can we find a politician who would not say that everything he does is in the name of humaneness, his actions often being far from good morals. Such a mismatch cannot have been left without a philosophical scrutiny then, nor has it lost its topicality today. So, can one be humane without being wise?

By rejecting wisdom as a criterion for screening individuals as candidates for government, we are turning into a society of suicides. As a first step to build a true civilization, we are to understand the entirely new value of its basis because such an understanding will serve a platform for laying down absolutely new conditions of life on Earth. Wisdom in social government is thus a creative tool of state and society for attaining a decent life for each and everyone. This is not something we should dream of. This is what we should fight for: In truth there is the strength.

BY ARNOLD KAZMIN

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English

Youth Policy: An Obscure Outline So Far

The problem is as old as the hills. It was coined as far back as thousands of years ago by the King of Shumer Hammurabi IV. This is true, but with a reservation that it might first have been raised even earlier by someone else.

President Medvedev has declared 2009 to be the Year of the Youth. It is good that there is an all-out awareness of the increasing responsibility over the future of our youth. What we do not have today is a workable action plan to turn around the present situation. The public concern is all the more so acute if we look at the youth problem against the present-day demographics.

This article gives a comprehensive account of how this problem is being solved in the developed West: Germany, Canada, Sweden and Britain.

BY EVGENI POLUEKTOV

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Innovation: Tears and Applause

What is the role of academic science in innovation? The answer to this question and many others are given by the Vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Aldoshin.

The interview covers a wide range of problems such as why with increasing funding the payback or the contribution of the RAS to the country’s economy is insignificant, what barriers do not allow the RAS to get on the track of innovation, why it is still difficult to implement scientific achievements and discoveries and many others.

The material seems also to be interesting because it is focused on the present-day bottlenecks in Russian science and gives a reader an objective picture of the general situation with science in the country.

INTERVIEW BY SERGEI SHARAKSHANE

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Will Common Sense Win?

September 1 is when the school year starts in Russia. But this time it is going to be special because of the ongoing serious reform in education. RPhG has always paid great attention to education and problems associated with it because this field is generally perceived to be one of the key areas of our social life. Ancient Greeks however were the first to understand the importance of education and it is noteworthy that they placed teaching at the top of their list of their governments’ all-time priorities followed by healing and defending.

The article gives insights into what innovations have been made recently in the education system, whether they have been effective and, if they have, to what measure.

BY ANTON SMIRNOV

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Religion as a School Subject? – A Big Mistake!

In accordance with the decision of the Russian President, Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism and so on will be taught as a compulsory secondary school subject, effective September 1. Parents will have to choose for their children between Elements of World Religions and Secular Ethics. It is very appropriate to mention though that before that decision school had been separated from church by the 1918 Soviet Decree and also – by the current Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Yet, there are many people who believe that such ‘innovation’ may do more harm than good and think that implanting religion into school curriculum is a big mistake.

BY SERGEI SHARAKSHANE

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