English version Đóńńęŕ˙ âĺđńč˙
Saint Petersburg Branch of the Russian Humanist Society
"Zdraviy Smysl" ("Common Sense") Magazine Elected Articles
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Issue 57

EDITOR’S COLUMN

  • Valery Kuvakin. Resources of Modern Humanism The Russian Humanist Society is running short of funds to maintain its quarterly publication. But we are far from being pessimistic and playing funeral music. The 15 years of effort to promote Humanism, reason and critical thinking seem a long time for modern Russia. As before, RHS is determined to pursue a variety of educational activities, in particular, within the premises of the Home of Humanism and Scientific Education opened a year ago. We will also maintain international contacts and publish books on Humanism, scientific skepticism and Atheism.

HUMANIST DOCUMENTS

  • A Neo-Humanist Statement of Secular Principles and Values: Personal, Progressive, and Planetary This Neo-Humanist Statement aims to provide an agenda for those who are skeptical of the traditional forms of religious belief, yet maintain that there is a critical need to bring together the varieties of belief and unbelief and provide a positive outlook for the benefit of the planetary community.

IN MEMORY OF VITALY GINZBURG

  • Valery Kuvakin. How the Physicist Met the Philosopher Vitaly Ginzburg belonged to a new Russia. His optimism has been major support for democracy, science, reason and enlightenment. His voice and his actions helped introduce the concept of Secular Humanism in the Russian language and culture. By openly declaring himself an Atheist he encouraged hundreds of thousand or even millions of Russians faced with mounting clericalism; those people are already feeling themselves outsiders, or second-rate citizens, just like believers did in the Soviet Union.

THE ABC OF HUMANISM

  • Alexander Kruglov. Hierarchy of Values Life is essentially the only moral value, the author argues, so the hierarchy of values can be presented as consisting of the general and the particular, or the principal and the subordinate, i.e. Life and anything that supports it, makes it more enjoyable, etc.. This approach helps in answering many traditional questions, such as whether the end can justify the means.

THE GREAT FREE-THINKERS

  • Zulfiya Tazhurizina. Creative Work by Jean-Marie Guyau in the Context of French Freethought of the Second Half of 19th Century The remarkable destiny of works created by Guyau, the outstanding Atheist, freethinker and philosopher, could be explained by his being a truly happy individual. All that he wrote is permeated with a feeling of abundant life, and a willingness to work. Guyau believed that one should remain young – even a child – as long as possible, and keep something that is “light, cheerful, and volant” deep within one’s soul.

WHAT IS HUMANISM?

  • Valery Finogenov. On Grand Inquisitor’s “Humanism” In what sense can the Grand Inquisitor be called a Humanist? What kind of Humanism was the center of so heated debate that involved N. Lossky, S. Frank, S. Bulgakov and other Russian religious philosophers? The article covers these questions… It is easy to show that, in most cases, the religious thinkers were criticizing a particular variety of Humanism, i. e. quasi-religious, utopian Humanism, which modern secular Humanism has left behind.

THE PEDAGOGY OF HUMANISM

  • Teachers and scholars share experiences with teaching secular Ethics in Moscow schools.
  • Erast Kozlov, Antonina Negriy. Ethics as a New Education Area
  • Dmitry Mikhailov. The Unity of Formal and Informal in Moral Education
  • Tatyana Ivannikova. The Future is Ours!
  • Irina Dianova. Organizing Experiential Activities at School
  • Natalia Simonova. Teaching Moral and Legal Knowledge Through Ethics Lessons in Grades 1 – 2
  • Svetlana Simonova. Teaching Moral and Legal Knowledge Through Ethics Lessons in Grades 3 – 4

AGAINST QUACKERY

  • Sergei Mamontov. Amateurism in Place of Science? The article is a reflection of concerns shared by many newspaper readers and TV viewers: Why are we indoctrinated to unscientific beliefs about the world, based on biblical myths which are 4 thousand years old? Why do pseudo-scientists like Trofim Lysenko still find supporters attempting to prove their “services” to Russian science?

RUSSIA TODAY

  • Vera Vysotina. Economics and Morality The 20th century failed to harmonize private enterprise and free market with social justice. This is why it was a century of social shocks, revolutions and world wars. The author examines the most recent trends in Russia’s economy, psychology and ethics in an attempt to find a way towards normal human relations, associating it primarily with general human values and the development of civil society and democracy.
  • Vsevolod Lyashenko. Top-Down Humanization The author comments upon the dismissal of the Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, pointing to the controversial role that the former democrat, married to Russia’s wealthiest woman, played in national politics and economics of the capital.

WAY OF LIFE

  • Yaroslav Golovin. Humanists in Sweden The essay is a review of the recent history of Humanism in Sweden and the lifestyle of Swedish Humanists.

EPIPHANY WATER: YESTERDAY’S LESSON FOR TOMORROW

  • Last winter many Irkutsk residents were poisoned after drinking “holy” Epiphany water. As the new Epiphany approaches, Zdravy Smysl shares some reporters’ investigation findings. Details of the Mass-Scale Poisoning Attributed to Sanctified Water.
  • Irkutsk Epiphany Water Poisoning: Many New Victims.
  • Epiphany Water and Epiphany Frost: the Truth and the Myth.