"Zdravyj Smysl" №49. Table of contents and abstracts

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Сайт «Разум или вера?», 10.11.2008, http://razumru.ru/humanism/journal/49/abstracts.htm

ЗДРАВЫЙ СМЫСЛ Осень 2008 № 4 (49)

TABLE OF CONTENTS AND ABSTRACTS

ZDRAVYJ SMYSL, Autumn 2008 № 4 (49)

TABLE OF CONTENTS AND ABSTRACTS

EDITOR'S CORNER
2	Valery Kuvakin. Science, How Are You Feeling? “Does the scientific community possess enough civic power to say a definite 'no' to the defamation of reason and truth – its most cherished values?..”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
3	RF President Dmitry Medvedev: Greetings Telegram to acad. Vitaly Ginzburg: “Please accept birthday greetings…”
EVENTS
4	The First Congress of Russia's Educational Organizations: “National Educational Movement: Its Role and Place in the Country's Innovation-Based Development”. Internal News. RHS and Center for Inquiry members attended the panel session “Building an Information Society. Challenges and Current Opportunities of Education Activities”.
SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
6	World Science on Creationism and Evolution, by academician Eduard Kruglyakov. “It has never been the author's intention to fight against religion. He just does not want the laws of the secular country called Russia to be violated; he wants this country to have a real chance of becoming one of the world's leaders. The author supports PACE Resolution 1580 (2007) and believes it should be made known to the broader Russian public”.
8	The Dangers of Creationism in Education. Resolution 1580 (2007) adopted on October 4, 2007, by the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.
10	Address to the President, signed by 1,700. Russian scientists speak up for secular education. Their address to the Russian President was signed by more than 1,700 people, including 1,172 Doctors of Science and Candidates, 18 full members of the Russian Academy of Science, and 5 Directors of research institutes.
11	An Open Letter to the RF President. Cunning and shameless propaganda by clerics mightgenerate an impression that the scientific community approvesthe teaching of “Basics of Orthodox Culture” in general education schools and the official recognition of Theology as an academic discipline. Russian scientists protest in response.
RELIGION AND EDUCATION
12	So What's the Point? Professor Sergei Mamontov reflects on the January 17, 2008, televised debate, “Should Darwinism Be Revisited?” Mamontov, who was himself participating, throws some lightonthe issues raised in the discussion. “You often hear: 'Secular does not mean Atheistic'. This is a substitution of concepts. The secular nature of education means just this: thatthe content of curricula is determined by the state only, and not by any religious organizations”.
HUMANIST ANTOLOGY
23	Richard Dawkins. A Deeply Religious Non-Believer. Deserved Respect. The Russian translation of The God Delusion by the celebrated evolutionist R. Dawkins, which was to be published in the spring of 2008, for some reason never appeared. We are carrying an excerpt from Chapter 1.
28	Charles Darwin: Religious Belief. From Autobiography. “…But I had gradually come… to see thatthe Old Testament from its manifestly false history of the world, with the Tower of Babel, the rainbow at sign, etc., etc., and from its attributing to God the feelings of a revengeful tyrant, was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindoos, orthe beliefs of any barbarian”.
AGAINST CHARLATANISM
32	Nonsense Generator Plays a Winning Game: “Computer-assisted” Postmodernism is a blessing for Russian sham writers. –
32	Mikhail Zhukov. The Rootdozer: Algorithm of Typical Unification…
33	Mikhail Gelfand. Ostap Bender's Scam # 401. A “bait” fabricated with SCIgen (software generating pseudo-scientific texts) was offered to the Journal of Academic Papers by Post-Graduate and Doctorship Students, a publication reviewed by the Higher Certification Commission. The bait was eagerly swallowed!
WHAT IS HUMANISM?
38	Human Values. Vladimir Yefimov and Valety Talanov identify three types of generally-accepted human values: personal, humanity-shared, and societal. “We must dismiss the claim that there exist only universal human values, and anything else is eitherdelusion or subjective whim; same way as we dismiss the claim that human values are a myth or deception, that values can only be individual or nation-specific. The world of values is much more complex and exciting…”
44	Karl Marx's Humanist Ideas, by Pyotr Kondrashov and Konstantin Lyubutin. In 2008 philosophers mark the 190^th anniversary of the outstanding thinker. Time has proven that Marx's theoretical legacy is far from being buried in academic textbooks on the History of Philosophy, Economics and Political Science; more than that, it still provokes heated debate.
HUMANIST DICTIONARY
49	Alexander Kruglov. The Goal and the Means. Does the good purpose justify a bad (cruel) means? For Russia, a country which survived an experiment in Communism, the question is extremely controversial. One cannot do good by being cruel, if only because cruelty is the worst of evils. However, in the case of a dilemma, when one has to make a choice ofthe lesser of evils, the end does justify (“excuse”) the means.
THE SACRED AND THE WORLDLY
52	The Holy Flame: a Skeptic View, by Igor Dobrokhotov. A detailed review of 19^th – 20^th cc. eyewitness (including Orthodox Christian) reports of “miraculous” ignition ofthe fire on Easter night at the Church ofthe Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem.
MIRACLES THAT DON'T HOLD WATER
57	Gennady Shevelyov. Fantasies About Human Self-Ignition. Exposure of fantasies and false reports of spontaneous self-ignition of people, supposedly caused by some kind of miniature “black holes”. “Truth is not as eagerly bought nowadays as bold lie, including one based on pseudo-science…”
REVIEWS
59	Yuri Dyubenok. “I had never 'twofold' opinions…” Response to Clarity Is Needed. Training and Education in Russian Schools by Valery Kuvakin (ZS # 47). “The inspiring and up-to-date message of the article, and the way Valery speaks from the heart, demand an equally honest comment…”
FROM READERS' LETTERS
63	Valentin Sokolov. “So God Has Nothing to Do with It…” Extracts from an essay by an ex-believer – Five Proofs of God's Non-existence, and The Present Status of Orthodox Christian Faith. “We hope (ZS Editorial Board remarks) this letter will not offend believers but will instead provide an additional argument for the key idea: that we are human beings in the first place, whether we are believers or non-believers, democrats, liberals, conservatives…”
HUMANIST SUMMER SCHOOLS
67	Yulia Senchikhina. 21^st Century: Ethics and Human Science. The 5^th International Summer School “Humanism, Bioethicsand Human Behavior: Naturalistic and Neuropsychological Perspective” was in session between September 28 and August 8, 2008, at the Moscow State University. The Summer School co-directors were: Prof. V. Mironov, Correspondent Member of RAS and Dean of the Department of Philosophy, Moscow State University; Paul Kurtz, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, N. Y., and Chairman of the Center for Inquiry in Amherst, NY: A. Kostikova, Department of Philosophy Vice-Dean, MSU. Lectures were delivered by Prof. V. Kuvakin and Prof. V. Razin, Elaine M. Hull, and Richard T. Hull (Center for Inquiry Transnational).
70	Olga Pastushkova. Traveling from Religion to Science. Between September 20 and August 10, 2008, the Center for Inquiry Transnational in Amherst, NY, was hosting the annual Summer School, whose title reflects the nature of work done by this research and education institution. Attendees included people of different countries (Germany, Poland, China, Russia, USA), occupations (journalists, managers, doctors, lawyers, architects) and age groups (from university students to pensioners). Lectures were delivered by Robert Price, Ibn Warraq, Joyce Salisbury, John Kaag, John Shook, Ronald A. Lindsay, Ronald Giere, Judith B. Walker, John Shook, Nathan Bupp, Jessica Wahman.
BILLBOARD
72	Administrative Department of the Russian Academy of Science (RAS): Tender Announcement…
OUR ADS
THE AUTHORS OF THE ISSUE
Fourth side of cover. Centerfor Inquiry-Russia starts to build the first stage of the summer residence in Moscow suburb (jpg, 156 kb).
Перевод на английский Андрея Семёнова