It was my good fortune to work on the journal Voprosy filosofii for five and a half years, from mid-1962 to the end of 1967. I underscore "good fortune" because this was an interesting and, as it became clear later on, quite an important period in the journal's history; the team on which I worked was full of life, active, industrious, full of good will, and did everything to make Voprosy filosofii a truly professional philosophical journal; and, finally, all of (...) us who worked at that time on the editorial staff were thirty-five years younger than we are now. (shrink)

From the 16th through the 31st of May 1985, a Soviet delegation consisting of eight research associates from the State Committee on Science and Technology and the USSR Academy of Sciences participated in the Soviet-American Symposium on the Foundations of Cybernetics and Systems Theory and the Thirty-fourth Annual Conference of the Society for General Systems Research. During their stay in the USA, the Soviet researchers gave twenty-one lectures and visited a number of American scientific research centers in Washington, New York, (...) and Los Angeles. (shrink)

The systems approach and systems research as a whole are currently experiencing a period of intensive development, which is due both to widening of their areas of application and incorporation into this area of various kinds of practical activity connected with science and technology and to a more intensive treatment of certain aspects of this approach. All of this inevitably demands further development of the philosophical range of inquiry into the systems approach.

This text consists of two parts. The first part is an interview given by Aleksandr Moiseevich Piatigorskii to Vadim Nikolaevich Sadovskii. Both are graduates of the Department of Philosophy at Moscow State University in the first postwar years. Meeting in London in 1992, they decided to discuss how they studied philosophy at that time. As time was short, for all practical purposes only Piatigorskii's reflections were recorded on tape. Hence, on the suggestion of the editorial board, a second part, (...) containing Sadovskii's account of these same topics, was produced—written in Moscow, of course. (shrink)

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Smirnov was born on March 2, 1931. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1954. From 1957 till 1961 he was a lecturer in philosophy and logic at the Tomsk University. Since 1961 his scientific activity continued in Moscow at the Institute of Philosophy of Academy of Sciences of the USSR. From 1970 and till the last days of his life V. A. Smirnov was lecturer and then Professor at the Chair of Logic at Moscow State University. V. (...) A. Smirnov played an important role at the Institute of Philosophy of Russian Academy of Sciences being the Head of Department of Epistemology, Logic and Philosophy of Science and Technology, and the Head of Section of Logic. Last years he was the leader of the Centre of Logical Investigations of Russsian Academy of Sciences. In 1990-91 he founded a new non-goverment Institute of Logic, Cognitive Sciences and Development of Personality for performing research, teaching, editorial and organization activity in the field of humanities. At the Department of Philosophy of Moscow State University and at the Institute of Philosophy V. A. Smirnov and his close colleagues have founded a Russian logical school which brought up many talented researchers who work at several scientific centres in various countries. (shrink)

'This book is a masterpiece of theoretical thought. It anticipates the actual achievements of much of what we now call sociolinguistics.

Although research into the biosemiotic mechanisms underlying the purposeful behavior of brainless living systems is extensive, researchers have not adequately described biosemiosis among neurons. As the conscious use of signs is well-covered by the various fields of semiotics, we focus on subconscious sign action. Subconscious semiotic habits, both functional and dysfunctional, may be created and reinforced in the brain not necessarily in a logical manner and not necessarily through repeated reinforcement. We review literature that suggests hypnosis may be effective in (...) changing subconscious dysfunctional habits, and we offer a biosemiotic framework for understanding these results. If it has been difficult to evaluate any psychological approach, including hypnosis, this may be because contemporary neuroscience lacks a theory of the sign. We argue that understanding the fluid nature of representation in biological organisms is prerequisite to understanding the nature of the subconscious and may lead to more effective of treatments for dysfunctional habits developed through personal experience or culture. (shrink)

The Party's strategic orientation toward an acceleration of socioeconomic development has posed a number of extremely important problems for Soviet society, of which the problem of activating the human factor has priority. When current tasks become more complex and new, more complicated tasks arise, it is inevitable that attention should turn to man.

Contributed research papers chiefly on various aspects of Indic philosophy, Vedic literature, etc.

Contributed research papers chiefly on various aspects of Indic philosophy, Vedic literature, etc.

The association of Berdiaev's name with the phenomenon of perestroika seems strange at first glance and even illogical. But perestroika, which is proceeding—or, more precisely, is trying to proceed—under the sign of an intellectual renaissance, has naturally aroused interest in the names of Russian philosophers who have undeservedly been forgotten. One of these is N.A. Berdiaev . He was a Russian patriot and was profoundly concerned with Russia's fate. Living in a critical period, Berdiaev reflected a great deal over the (...) past, present, and future of his Motherland, advanced the idea of its transformation, and even used the term "perestroika" in doing so. His thoughts concerning Russia's political renewal are profound, and some of them are applicable to the present life of our society. (shrink)

The current status of explanation worked out by Physics for the Periodic Law is considered from philosophical and methodological points of view. The principle gnosiological role of approximations and models in providing interpretation for complicated systems is emphasized. The achievements, deficiencies and perspectives of the existing quantum mechanical interpretation of the Periodic Table are discussed. The mainstream ab initio theory is based on analysis of selfconsistent one-electron effective potential. Alternative approaches employing symmetry considerations and applying group theory usually require some (...) empirical information. The approximate dynamic symmetry of one-electron potential casts light on the secondary periodicity phenomenon. The periodicity patterns found in various multiparticle systems (atoms in special situations, atomic nuclei, clusters, particles in the traps, etc) comprise a field for comparative study of the Periodic Laws found in nature. (shrink)