English version Đóńńęŕ˙ âĺđńč˙
Saint Petersburg Branch of the Russian Humanist Society
"Zdraviy Smysl" ("Common Sense") Magazine Elected Articles
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Issue 56

MAIN FEATURE

  • Valery Kuvakin. The Petrik Case – What’s Next?
    Are fraudsters strong in Russia? Yes, they are. They are also quite dangerous and influential. Even the Russian Academy of Science pendulated for four months or so before it produced a sterile and cowardly document, with the only statement that “the activities of Mr. Viktor Petrik lie not in the sphere of science but in the sphere of business and invention”. The Academy dared not call a faker a faker.

IN DEFENSE OF RUSSIAN SCIENCE

  • Yevgeny Onishchenko. Scientists have sent their letter to the RF President
    The public address to the RF President concerning the critical condition of Russian science was signed by more than 2,200 people including more than 1,000 Doctors of Science and some 60 members of the Russian Academy of Science…
  • Public Address to the Russian Federation President
    Whatever the government does in the field of science is very far from what it says. Key decisions are taken in a clandestine manner, driven by bureaucratic and personal interests. Whatever scientists suggest is not accepted, despite the promises. Claims that the government’s science policy is transparent are simply wrong. Temporary solutions serve as a substitute for systemic management and financing mechanisms. The situation in science is disastrous and continues to deteriorate.

The ABC of Humanism

  • Alexander Kruglov. The Conviction
    The author addresses the following questions: What is conviction? How is it different from faith? What is special about scientific, ethical and religious conviction? How is conviction conceptually related to dogma?

DEBATE ON ETHICS: SHALL WE TEACH IT OR LEAVE IT WELL ALONE?

  • Maxim Borisov. The Kids Will Just Get Irritated
    Why should we try to create something (i.e. moral education) out of nothing? [It could be possible] if we had a proper tradition of teaching or, at least, of studying this discipline, if the subject itself were interesting … but trying to make something in such a haste, staging this strange experiment – teaching Ethics (something which does not exist) to children throughout Russia – is nonsense!
  • Valery Kuvakin. More on Ethical Ignorance
    It is through ethical education that moral sense encounters reason and science. This is of vital importance, as new behavioral codes, lifestyles, new ethical values and problems are emerging that require continual scientific reasoning and debate.

HUMANS – AN EPISODE IN TERRESTRIAL EVOLUTION?

  • Boris Rodoman. We Are More than Apes, but Not Yet Humans
    History is gaining speed leaving us no time for procrastination. Unless we subhumans enter the phase of intellectual, moral and ecological maturity, the demise of our race will be logical and well-deserved .

QUACKERY TODAY

  • Consumer Rights NGO Takes Viktor Petrik, the “Nanofilter” Inventor, to Court
    The Consumer Rights Protection Society call on the authorities to ban the production and sale of “Golden Formula ZF” water filters in Russia as illegal.

SOCIAL DISEASES

  • Mukhtar Yakhyaev. On Extremism, Religiosity, Spirituality and Ethics in Northern Caucasus Republics
    Any state that gives preference to “traditional” religious convictions, will sooner or later resort to violence against its citizens. According to the constitutional principle of freedom of conscience, the Russian government should not be distinguishing between believers and non-believers, or between “traditional” and “non-traditional” believers. The choice of worldview must remain a strictly personal matter.
  • Yuri Antonyan. Extremism and its Sources in Russia
    The gap between the rich and the poor is widening in Russia. Wages remain low, while small and medium-sized business remains suppressed and unable to drive the economy. The vast majority of the population live in poverty – the perfect background for the development and expansion of extremist and even nazi feelings. The situation in Russia is somewhat similar to that of Germany just before Adolf Hitler came to power.

FOR THE FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE

  • Yuri Samodurov’s final statement at the “Forbidden Art – 2006” trial on June 21, 2010
    The organizers of the exhibition, including Yuri Samodurov, were convicted for “incitement of ethnic hatred”. According to Samodurov, the controversy around the earlier exhibition entitled “Careful, Religion!” which became even stronger in the case of “Forbidden Art-2006”, is actually a conflict between religious and non-religious thinking, religious and non-religious ideology, religious and non-religious morality, religious and non-religious understanding of government’s policy in the field of culture.

SECULAR HUMANISM: HISTORY AND MODERNITY

  • Zarina Trofimova. Felix Adler’s Ethical Humanism
    The work and personal experience of American Humanists of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Felix Adler, laid a strong moral and intellectual foundation for today’s humanity in its difficult search for planetary peace and prosperity.
  • Alexander Sushansky. Humanism and Humanist Thinking
    Humanism as a planetary civilization is very unlikely to develop, however for many centuries it has been a beacon that helps the humanity to find its way to happiness and justice. Today Humanism is reality - as an idea and worldview, and an expanding civic movement.

HACK WORK IN SCIENCE

  • Rudolf Livshits. About Ignorance and Incompetence in Social Sciences
    The author tries to understand the reasons behind deteriorating quality of humanities research, and describes some typical mistakes and fraud cases.

OPPONENT’S ROSTRUM

  • Vsevolod Lyashenko. In Defense of RHS
    The author is very critical of pessimistic views on the prospects of Humanism in Russia, saying we should be courageous and realistic, and value any type of Humanist work.

LETTERS ON HUMANISM

  • Vladimir Bogoyavlensky. What is RHS for?
    What is the tactics and strategy of Russian Humanist movement? How can it be financed? In discussing these questions, Bogoyavlensky, RHS member, argues for a stronger educational effort on the part of Russian Humanists.

BOOK REVIEWS

  • Vitaly Ogvozdin. Francis Collins on Science and God
    The author looks into the arguments of F. Collins in favor of â çŕůčňó ńîţçŕ đĺëčăčč č íŕóęč, and finds them unconvincing and mistaken.

LITERARY PAGES

  • Alexander Loktev. The Word About Kindness. A sonnet sequence.

EVENTS

  • “Philosophy of Education and Modern Enlightenment”, June 18-20, 2010
    A review of the academic conference organized by RHS and hosted by the Center for Inquiry.
  • Meeting of the Russian Humanist Society
    Report on the meeting of regional RHS branches’ representatives that took place at the RHS Center for Inquiry on June 19, 2010.