В статті експлікується концепт «інженерія», розглядається його фундаментальне тлумачення. Сучасні модуси поняття «інженерія» виходять за технічно-інструменталістське коло тлумачень. Інженерія – це когнітивно-перетворювальна практика. Дослідження ставить наголос на тому, що інженер ХХІ ст. змінює вектор своїх інтенцій з природи на саму людину. Інженерія «розумних» речей є частиною соціальної інженерії. Сучасні технології, які необхідно входять в інженерію «розумних речей, мають величезне соціально-антропологічне значення. Створена інженерією ХХІ ст. антропотехносфера є «розумним» середовищем. Ця природа-для-людини за багатьма напрямками детермінує поведінку людини. Людина зіштовхується з проблемою (...) аутопоезису сучасної техніки, яка, в певних аспектах, може сама себе відтворювати і функціонувати поза втручанням людини. Частина, яку займає техніка в процесах трансформації природи людини, має тенденцію збільшуватися. Інженерія «розумних» речей розглядається як інженерія природи людини. (shrink)

In 2017, Ukraine’s Parliament passed legislation establishing a single health benefit package for the entire population called the Programme of Medical Guarantees,‎ financed through general taxes and administered by a single national purchasing agency. This legislation was in line with key principles for financing universal health coverage. However, health professionals and some policymakers have been critical of elements of the reform, including its reliance on general taxes as the source of funding. Using qualitative methods and drawing on deliberative democratic theory (...) and criteria for procedural fairness, this study argues that the acceptance and sustainability of these reforms could have been strengthened by making the decision-making process fairer. It suggests that three factors limited the extent of stakeholders’ participation in this process: first, a perception among reformers that fast-paced decision-making was required because there was only a short political window for much needed reforms; second, a lack of trust among reformers in the motives, representativeness, and knowledge of some stakeholders; and third, an under-appreciation of the importance of dialogic engagement with the public. These findings highlight a profound challenge for policymakers. In retrospect, some of those involved in the reform’s design and implementation believe that a more meaningful engagement with the public and stakeholders who opposed the reform might have strengthened its legitimacy and durability. At the same time, the study shows how difficult it is to have an inclusive process in settings where some actors may be driven by unconstrained self-interest or lack the capacity to be representative or knowledgeable interlocutors. It suggests that investments in deliberative capital (the attitudes and behaviours that facilitate good deliberation) and in civil society capacity may help overcome this difficulty. (shrink)

В статті досліджуються механізми виникнення концептосфери Інтернету «розумних» речей. Представлено розуміння процесів трансферу з ментального плану людини у простір культури концептів. Дослідження вказує на важливість еволюції ментального плану людини для процесів трансформації когнітивно перетворювальної практики людини. Такий феномен техніки, як ІРР, сформував нове ментальне середовище – концептосферу «ІРР», яка має важливе значення для формування ментального плану людини. Концептосфера «ІРР» має вплив у всіх сферах діяльності людини: науці, техніці, культурі, медицині, економіці, побуті тощо. Концептосфера «ІРР», як і сама техносфера ІРР, характеризується (...) аутопоезисом та автономністю. (shrink)

Рецензія на монографію: Лизун М. В. Глобальні виклики регіональної валютної інтеграції: монографія. Тернопіль: Економічна думка ТНЕУ, 2017. 453 с.

The present paper is a practical supplement to an earlier theoretical work by the author, published in a preceding issue, on methodological foundations of the European philosophizing in the aspect of sophical synthesis. Building upon understanding of general philosophical methodologies and their ‘epochal’ implementations as presented there, the author makes use of a cross-cutting example, to show ‘zones of responsibility’ and onto-gnoseo-epistemological limits for every mentioned ‘way towards the thing.’ Six marker packages should be of special professional interest as proposed (...) by the author to identify methodological attitudes and ‘edge’ cases ranging from Antiquity to nowadays. Validity of each and all of these packages has been illustrated with proper textual material, i. e. fragments from essays by renowned European philosophers.In § 1, the naturalistic methodological attitude is considered, as focused on the proper vital aspect of sophical synthesis; its characteristic reliance on experience, fact, belief, opinion, and authority, and thereby on the rhetorical aspect of philosophizing, is explained.In § 2, the phenomenological methodological attitude is considered, as focused on the proper knowledge aspect of sophical synthesis; its characteristic reliance on knowledge and sense beyond any non-essential per se factual ways things are given, is explained.In § 3, the transcendental methodological attitude is considered, as focused on the synthesis of knowledge and life by means of knowledge in the aspect of logos of the logos per se; its characteristic reliance on sense being a sense in the making, and on fact as the bearer of a sense, with their integration in a common logical-conceptual thing structure, is explained.In § 4, the dialectic methodological attitude is considered, as focused on the synthesis of knowledge and life by means of knowledge in the aspect of logos of the eidos; its characteristic reliance on intelligent thing as a unit of sense and a product of senseful self-development wherein not only the thing is posited, but the entire otherness as defined by it as well, is explained.In § 5, the mythological methodological attitude is considered, as focused on the synthesis of knowledge and life in the aspect of their integral arrangement as vivid mind; its characteristic reliance on intelligent thing as a real and self-evident in its unicity live being, is explained.In § 6, the hermeneutical methodological attitude, as focused on the synthesis of knowledge and life in the aspect of its naming as an intelligent expression of thing for the other; its characteristic reliance on the name and text as a full expression of sense and a full knowledge of fact being revealed in the truth of thing, is explained. (shrink)

The present paper is a continuation of the previous publication by the author in this journal devoted to the cultural-symbolic world picture of the Latin Christian Middle Ages. Unlike the previous one, this second text reproduces the historical “picture” of the era with an emphasis not on the ontological, but on its proper cultural expression. The author as a philosopher is not so much focused on the “fact” (this is the business of historians) as on the “meaning”, taking care of (...) the meaningful modeling of the age as a cultural phenomenon. The first part of the study is presented, devoted to the medieval culture of governance as a symbolic culture of powerful social relations.In the Preamble, considering the “fabric-textual” mythologem of “human–text–world”, the conceptual background of the study is outlined, the author’s latest revision of the general formula of the medieval cultural-symbolic picture of the world as a picture of the history of personal salvation culture is proposed, the study subject is specified, and the circle of “guides”-predecessors is defined.In § 1, the role and significance of the “vertical salvation” and its sacred nature for the Christian consciousness are considered. The creation fundamentals for transformation of the vertical into a symbolic hierarchy of medieval society are determined. With respect to a few of key philosophical and by itself jural monuments of the era, the concept of the Middle Ages as an age of absolutization of the pure Idea, therefore, of the absolutization of personal existence, is illustrated.§ 2 examines the questions of hierarchy, power, and freedom in view of their levels and options of realization in medieval society. The problems of social personalization of the “upper” and the “lower” inhabitants of the symbolic hierarchical ladder, the relationship between the hierarchical rungs, the logic of their “filling” and the per-level freedom of a medieval person on the scale of “domination–submission” have been solved. The “epochal” status of a Christian as a spiritually free person has been captured. (shrink)

The article presents the results of the analysis of international legal regulation of the protection of freedom of speech, the right to freedom of expression within the UN and the Council of Europe. A comparative analysis of the definition of the right to express views and beliefs in various international legal acts was made. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights in cases related to the exercise of the right to express one's views and beliefs on the (...) Internet was considered. The analysis of the legislation of foreign countries regulating the right to express views and beliefs online was carried out. The materials of the article are of practical value for scientists and practitioners dealing with the issues of legal regulation of freedom of speech, the right to express views and beliefs, for forecasting and planning scientific research, improving legislation, for higher education teachers in educational activities, as well as for all interested persons. (shrink)

The neo-Vygotskian approach to child development is introduced to English-speaking readers. Russian followers of Vygotsky have elaborated his ideas into a theory that integrates cognitive, motivational, and social aspects of child development with an emphasis on the role of children's activity as mediated by adults in their development. This theory has become the basis for an innovative analysis of periods in child development and of the mechanism of children's transitions from one period to the next. In this book, the discussion (...) of the neo-Vygotskians' approach to child development is supported by a review of their empirical data, much of which has never before been available to English-speaking readers. The discussion is also supported by a review of recent empirical findings of Western researchers, which are highly consistent with the neo-Vygotskian analysis of child development. (shrink)

The article is focused on the author’s understand- ing of the phenomena that are the basis of the ideological picture of the world of different social group categories. The author presents the histori- cal stage-by-stage development of the fundamental ideas that are the essence of social identity and, consequently, influence the legitimization of power throughout the organized history of mankind and in modern times. This understanding of archetypes in political science is presented for the first time. The article is built (...) around the concept of “arche- type” and expands its meaning to political and ideological dimensions. Thus, using the methodolo- gy of categories of archetypes, the following forms prevailing in the organized history of mankind were identified: archetypes of the Sun, Church, Nation and Law. Such forms can be a convenient meth- odology in conflictology, political science, and the science of international relations. The presented approach opens a new theoretical direction in these sciences. (shrink)

For centuries in Catholic theology there is a hidden or open struggle between the tendencies of Augustinian and Tomistic. Augustinovtsi - optimists in epistemology and pessimism in anthropology and social science. Tomies, on the contrary, consider the possibilities of cognition to be limited, but they are cautious optimists in anthropology and social science. The social doctrine of the Catholic Church has long relied on the notion of natural law and the common good, as they are developed in the teachings of (...) Thomas Aquinas. Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclicals returned to the Augustinian theology of love as the only force that can help humanity today, at a time when all the negative aspects of human nature, which were so well known by Augustine, were revealed. (shrink)

This book is a collection of the selected proceedings of the 4th International Conference "Human Being in Contemporary Philosophical Conceptions," which was held under the patronage of UNESCO at Volgograd State University (Russia) on May 28-31, 2007. In the letter to the organizers, Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura wrote: "I should like to congratulate you on this important initiative to promote philosophical reflection, which is one of the central objectives of UNESCO's Intersectoral Strategy on Philosophy." There is an interesting fact: the 19th (...) World Congress of Philosophy in Moscow (1993) had no session on philosophical anthropology, the next Congress in Boston (1998) had one such session, the 21st Congress of Philosophy in Istanbul (2003) had already four sessions, and the 22nd World Congress of Philosophy in Seoul (2008) had six sessions on philosophical anthropology. Obviously, we may observe a new anthropological renaissance in contemporary thought. This book serves the philosophical anthropology becoming as well. Perhaps an idea of integral studies is the most attractive trend in the contemporary philosophy and science. The book presents an experience in integral philosophy of human being. Also, the development of philosophical anthropology is closely connected with practical tasks. Our political activities, welfare projects and educational programs can become really useful only when we are guided by knowledge of what human being is, what we are able to do, what are own needs, and what we must become. Philosophical anthropology could correctly define the research purposes of all human sciences. This volume includes various reflexions and styles of thinking. By this, all the papers demonstrate metaphysics of respect for human being. The contributors, scholars from the different countries, are open for free discussions and fresh ideas. (shrink)

The human is a microcosm, a child of Natura naturans; and so the human is primordially not only a creature but also a creative being: Homo creans. The predestination of philosophy consists in co-clarifying and co-creating the essence (logos) of being. One of the main purposes of philosophical education is to affirm and develop an original thinking of a personality. -/- .

There is a problem of incision of rivers. To solve it, it is necessary to obtain and analyze objective information about the processes of incision and related processes of changes in morphology, structure, functioning of the flow-channel system, the young river landscape. The next step in solving the problem is an objective analysis of possible factors of incision. The main factor in the studied objects is the extraction of river alluvium for many decades. It is also important to identify and (...) study the consequences and extent of changes in the young river landscape, to assess its condition. We propose a method of analysis of processes and factors of incision that can be applied to other rivers, it can also be supplemented and developed. It allows to put in perspective the situation and justify the necessary solutions in the process of planning integrated management of the young river landscape as an important component of the river basin system. Significantly anthropogenically altered sections of rivers, their channels and floodplains may occur as a result of incision. They need special public attention to restore the environmental properties of capacity building. This is an integral part of the culture of interaction between society and rivers, which primarily includes objective quality monitoring, availability and quality of all necessary information as a basis for effective decision-making. An important conclusion is the feasibility of monitoring changes in the vertical position of channels and floodplains, as well as changes in alluvial deposits as part of hydromorphological monitoring in general. In particular, conducting GPS surveillance. (shrink)

The article considers each case of using words with the stem ‘yoga’, as well as other yogic vocabulary found in the first part of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. In total, there are the following ten words: yoga, bhaktiyoga, yogin, yogeśvara, mahāyogin, kuyogin, yoganidrā, kriyāyogа, viyoga and yama. They are used 30 times altogether. This vocabulary forms not only the yoga glossary of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, but also the Vaiṣṇava understanding of yogic teaching. The analysis of these terms takes into account several (...) contexts, in particular: compositional, linguistic, religious and philosophical, and statistical. It has been found out that the whole vocabulary is somehow subordinated to the semantic vertical yogeśvara → mahāyogin → yogin and in various ways forms the Vaiṣṇava understanding of yoga, i.e. bhakti-yoga. The last is believed to be a human response to the challenges of the Highest reality (Heaven). This semantic vertical is conceived of as set by the Lord, who in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa appears under various names, including Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa, Adhokṣaja, as well as Yogeśvara, and Mahāyogin. Extraordinary people, who are called mahāyogins (Śukadeva Gosvāmī), and also yogins (Vyāsa, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, nameless yogins), are able to accept the challenge of Heaven. They are those who can achieve the highest goal of human life; they practice bhaktiyoga. The context of bhaktiyoga is present in most cases of the word yoga, and in all cases of the words yoganidra, kriyayoga, viyoga, as well as other friendly vocabulary (for example, seva), whereas the word yama does not apply to bhaktiyoga. The use of the rare word kuyogin reflects the fact that bad yogins are also mentioned in the text. The term yoga might be also considered to be a gender marker, as the yogins are exclusively men in the first part. The compositional peculiarities of the use of this yogic vocabulary include the fact that the first part begins and ends with chapters containing terms which are derived from the stem yoga (Is this some kind of semantic framing?). Moreover, the first chapter ends with the śloka, that contains the important word yogeśvara (Is it a kind of summarizing semantic marker?). (shrink)

Philosophy is deeply rooted in human nature. On the one hand, thinking of an infinite essence of the universe may actualize an infinite essence of humans themselves and thus root them in the Cosmos infinity. On the other hand, to think of infinity is to acquire the power of infinity, i.e., an infinite power. In short, thinking in terms of infinity fills us with infinity. Philosophy allows individuals to overstep the limits of the lived experience, transcends their Selves beyond daily (...) occurrence. Obviously, just this human transcendence into metaphysical reality, into the world of essential relationships ensures a therapeutic effect of philosophy. (shrink)

In the article "Everyday religious practices as part of social interaction" by Yuri Boreyko the religious practices were analyzed in terms of everyday life. Alleged that understanding religious practices in social categories involves clarifying their characteristics as a type of social action. The basis of the daily religious practices defined religious action that is subjective.

The author proves the inadequacy of previous studies of Maximus the Confessor’s theological system. These studies paid little attention to the originality of transformation of Cappadocian Fathers’ teaching by this thinker. The paper demonstrates that Maximus turned out to be ahead of his time in his ontological reinterpretation of the previous patristic tradition. A revolutionary version of Christian Platonism created by Maximus the Confessor, requires new stu-dies, especially in comparison with the ancient philosophers.

The article is devoted to assessing the reasons and meaning of amendments to the Russian Federation Constitution made by the current political regime. The manner in which the amendments were adopted together with their content demonstrates inability of the state and the political system as a whole to govern and rule in accordance with the principles and norms of democracy and law. The concept of “unworthy governing” is used to characterize the existing mechanism of power and management of society in (...) Russia. (shrink)

We need a metaphysics of respect for nature in order to establish the foundation for a humanistic philosophical anthropology. A metaphysics of respect for human beings will assist us in overcoming the human crisis. Genuine metaphysical respect for nature and for humans needs no supernatural substance. Matter is realized as causa sui and can be also defined as Natura sapiens. Humans are not the only intelligent life forms in the universe. Man is primordial a creative being: Homo creans. The predestination (...) of philosophical anthropology consists in clearing and co‐creating the essence (logos) of human being. (shrink)

This paper presents current debates on an anthropological principle in linguistics that Russian scholars are involved in. It presents as important the consideration of traditional issues in linguistics from the position of anthropologism. Also, it is fruitful to understand the lingual personality as an object of study in linguistics, to interpret the meaning of words from an anthropocentric position, and to anthropologically interpret ways of the world conceptualization in semantics of the lingual and textual units. It is especially important to (...) consider an anthropological approach in relation to human creativity. (shrink)

The paper discusses a possibility of integral combination of various approaches for the adequate understanding of human being. In this regard, I analyze the feeling of love in the context of rational cognition and also suggest a secular interpretation of religious images and symbols that allow us to understand well-known heuristic and moral notions in a new light.

Successful formulation and implementation of end-of-life care requires ongoing communication with the patient. When patients, for reasons of general medical or psychiatric illness, fail to verbally communicate, providers must be receptive to messages conveyed through alternate avenues of communication. We present the narrative of a man with schizophrenia who wished to forgo hemodialysis as a study in the ethical importance of attention to nonverbal communication. A multilayered understanding of the patient, as may be provided by both behavioral and motivational models, (...) can inform the provider’s ability to receive, process, and represent communicated content to the patient or his or her surrogate decision-maker. (shrink)

Стаття присвячена порівняльному ідейно-концептологічному аналізу соціально-філософського підходу до суспільних аспектів милосердя. Феномен милосердя досліджується автором крізь призму різноманітних західних соціально-етичних учень. У розрізі еволюціонізму милосердя набуває значення альтруїзму. Окрема увага приділяється концепції взаємодопомоги П. Кропоткіна. В утилітаризмі милосердя розглядається крізь призму індивідуальної та суспільної користі. У свою чергу, у контексті лібералізму милосердя втрачає свою суспільну цінність, адже в центрі уваги постає вільна особистість з її власним моральним вибором. Автор аналізує окремим чином концепцію розумного егоїзму А. Ренд. Крізь призму суспільно-прикладних досліджень (...) неомарксизму та постмарксизму милосердя постає фактором активності суб'єкта щодо оточуючого його середовища та подальшого впливу на розвиток суспільства. (shrink)

Присвячено ролі та місцю цінності милосердя в сучасних глобалізаційних процесах. Проведено аналіз понять “глобалізація” та “глобалізм”, надано характеристику сучасних глобалізаційних процесів, зокрема, щодо зростання ролі індивідуалізму та ціннісного релятивізму. Розглянуто концепції “нового гуманізму” як альтернативу негативним тенденціям сучасних процесів глобалізації, а також “революційного гуманізму” А. Печчеї. Здійснено аналіз феномену милосердя крізь призму взаємності, любові до ближнього, солідарності та співстраждання. Підкреслено релігійний та світський характер милосердя, що надалі може забезпечити об’єднання віруючих та невіруючих людей щодо спільної діяльності на благо суспільства. Обґрунтовано (...) ідею щодо формування відповідних об’єднань віруючих та невіруючих як на локальному, так і на глобальному рівнях. Ключові слова: глобалізація, цінність, новий гуманізм, взаємність, індивідуалізм. (shrink)

The use of the capacity method of rare events analysis [1,2] for the historical events analysis is demonstrated using the example of the Russian-Turkish wars. Modeling rare events as events of overflow of a certain capacity, for example, a cup of patience, it turns out to recover from these rare events the resulting function of the difference between incoming and outgoing disturbance flows. For different variants of representing the effect of an event, different functions were obtained, which were given an (...) interesting interpretation, as example the speed of preparation for the next war. (shrink)

Today, the church community perceives secularization as an external challenge to the Church and does not perceive it as an internal problem. There is a lot of talk about means for identifying a person, about juvenile justice, homosexuality, geopolitical choice, etc., rather than the internal secularization that exists in modern Orthodoxy. This is precisely what determines the relevance of our research. The author of the article proposes to combine the external challenges of secularism with the two groups discussed below, to (...) study the problem, taking into account the existing consequences of its study. (shrink)

The processes of reform and crisis phenomena in the Ukrainian society at the end of the XX - the beginning of the XXI century suggest that a stable ideological and theoretical foundation is lacking for the stable functioning of the modern Ukrainian state and the formation of civil society. On the basis of this, the state-building concepts of the prominent Ukrainian thinkers of the 20th century become very important. The personal place among them is the creative heritage of Vyacheslav Lypynsky, (...) who, despite the dominant socialist approaches to the transformation of Ukrainian society at that time, advocated an alternative conservative-monastic idea of ​​state-building in Ukraine. (shrink)

Автор вважає, що в сучасній філософії не існує єдиних понять онтології і буття, а є різні типи онтологічних систем, в яких поняття буття має різні інтерпретації. Відмінності в інтерпретаціях не випадкові, бо є наслідком тих настанов свідомості, які лежать в основі нашого розуміння дійсності і присутні в ньому, як правило, «за умовчанням». Наші онтологічні орієнтації визначаються глибинними ментальними структурами і смислами, які далеко не завжди для нас самих є очевидними і раціонально доказовими. Тобто сам вибір онтології виявляється процедурою, що виходить (...) за межі раціонального дискурсу і аргументації. Автор констатує, що дані установки не вводяться довільно мислителем, а обґрунтовуються і схвалюються науковим співтовариством, відіграють роль певних абсолютних передумов, що, як правило, не артикулюються і явно не визначаються. (shrink)

One of the unsolved problems for the historical and philosophical thought of Ukraine is the lack of reflection on the phenomenon of Ukrainian neo-Thomism. Today, there has not been reconstructed the history of this trend, which had been actively developing in the interwar Western Ukraine since the time of socio-ethical letters by Andrei Sheptytsky in the early XX century, gained new connotations in the diaspora from 1940s to 1990s and acquired new forms in Roman Catholic thought in Ukraine at the (...) beginning of the XXI century. Moreover, a comprehensive historical and philosophical assessment of the achievements and shortcomings of Ukrainian neo-Thomism at different stages of its development has not been made. Meanwhile, Ukrainian neo-Thomism is experiencing a crisis, which it is trying to overcome by translating controversial works devoted mainly to the history of moral theology. The main feature of the proposed works is the oscillation between the need to recognize the presence of a person’s spiritual-intellectual and moral-volitional intuitions and the reluctance to recognize it openly, because it would be contrary to the very principles of Thomism. Modern Ukrainian neo-Thomism inherits this contradiction, and therefore the choice of classic books for translation reflects the dialectic of the struggle of different tendencies, which objectively cannot contribute to the legitimization of neo-Thomism in the Ukrainian philosophical discourse. Especially significant in this regard was the translation of the book by the classic of Polish neo-Thomism Mieczysław Krąmpiec “Why evil?”, because this monograph shows the contradiction of neo-Thomistic thought in the key issues about the possibility of person’s moral intuition, moral responsibility and dignity. The very refusal of Krąmpiec to recognize the existence of a person’s spiritual-intellectual and moral-volitional intuitions, despite all the prerequisites for such recognition, leads the monograph Why evil? to failure and to inability to answer the question stated in the title of the monograph. All this justifies that in the time of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis moral theology and social doctrine moved to neo-Augustinianism, which unequivocally recognizes that the person has spiritual-intellectual and moral-volitional intuitions. (shrink)

The review analyzes philosophy and theology of Thomism as presented in the book of the leading of the Ukrainian Thomistic philosopher of today. The article mostly deals with the theory of knowledge of God in philosophy and theology of Thomas and neo-Thomism of Andrii Baumeister. The article shows that the project of transcendental neoThomism of Andrii Baumeister contains numerous aporias and contradictions. The article argues that phenomeno-logical way of theological and philosophical thinking is fully consistent with the nature of mind, (...) world and its ideal cause (God). Transcendental neo-Thomism always is a "raving metaphysics", without providing direct apodictic knowledge of their subjects hypothetical thinking, even in the works of such prominent neo-Thomist Andrii Baumeister. (shrink)

Existing theoretical interpretations contend that modernization is a global but diverse and multidimensional process. Yet, a systematic analysis of multiple forms of modernity and modernization ‘is the major challenge to current social and political theory’ (Wagner). The paper aims at revealing limitations of current theoretical interpretations of modernization and demonstrating systematically essential features of modernity. I describe the crucial criteria of modernization and suggest an integrated approach within which the most influential theories are simultaneously applied as coherent explanations. Such a (...) synergic application allows identifying concomitant dimensions of modernity and modernization. The proposed approach significantly differs from a prevailing theoretical discourse on modernity and modernization. It demonstrates universal features of modernization along with civilization variability and uniqueness of cultural programs, antinomic emancipation trends, permanence of change and innovations, increase of efficiency, competitiveness and the quality of life. All these dimensions relate to a set of consistent interpretations of a complex multi-effects phenomenon, which minimizes the existing conceptual contradictions. The elaborated model supports the notion of modernization as a continuous transition to novel forms of social order which respond to emerging challenges and global competition while an invariant criterion of modernization is the boost in the capabilities of people to make their choices. (shrink)