СОВМЕСТНЫЙ ПРОЕКТ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФИЛОСОФСКОЙ ОБЩЕСТВЕННОСТИ И ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВА «СИДИПРЕСС»

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THE RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHICAL GAZETTE

May 2010 – No 5

FEATURES

Thales of Miletus: “Ignorance is a heavy burden.”

Thales of Miletus (c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from the city of Miletus in Asia Minor, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition. There is a well-established opinion that philosophy itself begins with Thales. Thales attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythology and was tremendously influential in this respect. Almost all of the other pre-Socratic philosophers followed him in attempting to provide an explanation of ultimate substance, change, and the existence of the world – without reference to mythology. Eventually Thales’ rejection of mythological explanations became an essential idea for the scientific revolution. He was also the first to define general principles and set forth hypotheses, and as a result has been dubbed the "Father of Science".

“Thales, the Milesian, was decidedly the foremost of the celebrated seven wise men ; for he was the first discoverer of geometry among the Greeks, a sure explorer of nature, and a skilful observer of the stars ; by means of small lines he discovered vast things, the circuits of the seasons, the courses of the winds, the paths of the stars, the sonorous marvels of the thunder, the oblique courses of the constellations, the annual revolution of the sun; likewise, the increase of the new moon, the waning of the old, and the obstacles that cause her light to fail,” – this is what Apuleius said about Thales in his famous Florida.

BY NATALIYA LOGINOVA

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The Sin of Narrow-gauge Professional Reclusion

 

This time the Gazette invites its readers to read an interview with the RAS Member Mikhail Ugryumov who is best known for his contributions to medical science and happens to be the founder of one the scientific schools of neuroendocrinology. The article is extremely interesting as it covers a very wide range of subjects and problems with a focus on the role of philosophy in today’s science. Among many other things, such as, for example, the revival of the three approaches of methodology – comparative, historical and systemic – Mikhail Ugtyumov strongly believes that both philosophers and scientists, RAS members in particular, should be more active in promoting scientific truths and values as well as their views on all kinds of problems including social. He is firmly convinced that they should speak before broad audiences rather than engage in arguments in the narrow circles of the like-minded.

 

 

INTERVIEW BY SERGEI SHARAKSHANE

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Non-acquisitiveness v Corruption

 

As is already known, the Russian Philosophical Gazette has begun to lay open to the public some extracts from the works of the winners of the philosophical project contest on the general subject “The Philosophy of Civil Service and Countering Corruption”. This article comes to you as the summary of another research paper that the judges of the contest have considered to be quite noteworthy. The paper views corruption as a symptom of both the dissipation of state and the moral degeneration of an individual. It also analyses the corporate, nation-wide, culture-and-information-related causes of Russian corruption. The concluding part of the paper suggests explicit, as the author believes, ways to counter corruption in this country.

BY ANDREI IVANOV

 

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Two Societies in One

 

This article is also an extract from another philosophical essay written within the framework of the best philosophical project contest and it is too about corruption. It proceeds on the premise that corruption is inherent in a state and therefore will continue to exist as long as a state does. It is like a state’s birthmark: we just have to live with it. Notwithstanding a gloomy beginning, the author goes on to explain his idea of what should be done. In his opinion, we can minimize and check the harmful effects and intensity of corruption by improving a state’s democratic ‘superstructures’. Aside from the fact that the essay, among other things, is an obvious attack on Marx’s views on the inevitable change or succession of socio-economic formations, it comes in perfect line with our strong belief that all those in authority despite their standing should be wise and highly moral people. Moreover so, being quite bold in expression, if not extravagant sometimes, the essay is by no means boring. In fact, it is rather interesting. So don’t miss it.

 

BY NICHOLAI LAPAEV

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In the Early Days of the Great War

As time goes by, a spoken or written description of the events by the veterans of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 becomes more and more precious. In this issue RPhG invites you to read some of the reminiscences of Vasily Sokolov’s who happens to be both a war veteran and a philosopher. On completion of his three years at the History Department of Moscow University, he changed his profile to become a student with the Philosophy Department. Then the war broke out and ruined his plans… but only for a time: he went to fight the Nazis in 1941 as crew commander of an anti-tank gun and fought bravely until he was wounded in 1943. It is obviously striking that he graduated from the Philosophy Department of Moscow University while still in hospital. Today Vasily Sokolov holds the title of MGU’s distinguished Professor and is a great authority in the field of history of philosophy. RPhG is happy to bring his reminiscences to our readers on the eve of the 65th anniversary of the Victory Day. The article, among other things, is an account of how Vasily Sokolov was battle-christened defending Moscow.

BY VASILY SOKOLOV

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This Deeply Moving Voice of His…

This is about Alphonse Daudet, a French writer and novelist, remembered for his Lettres de mon moulin (1866), light stories of southern France, and his egocentric hero Tartarin from Tartarin de Tarascon (1872).

Daudet, who has been called “the French Dickens” (being which he himself strongly denied), published also perhaps under some influence of the Goncourt brothers and Zola such serious books as Fromont jeune et risler (1874), Jack (1876), and Sapho (1884). Daudet is widely known and read in Russia for his true talent of a story-teller. He possessed the gift of putting laughter and tears on paper; he was not only sensible to pathos and sorrow, but also moral beauty. His characters are real and typical. He is remembered for his humorous, sentimental portrayals of the life and ordinary people of southern France, inspired by his experiences at several social levels. Daudet wrote some charming stories for children, among which La belle Nivernaise, the story of an old boat and her crew, is worth mentioning first and foremost.

 

BY NATALIA LOGINOVA

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