Fruitful Ideas Research Articles

Theism and the Future of Philosophy of Religion: Three Questions

Three interconnected issues are addressed: whether philosophy of religion needs to move away from theism; what could replace it; and how nontheistic conceptions of the divine should be incorporated in the field’s future discussions. Among the central points made are these: that attention to theism should diminish as a large number of nontheistic topics receive discussion in the philosophy of religion; that theism’s dominance in the structuring of our discussions should be replaced by a more deliberate focus on the aims of philosophy of religion, including in particular certain higher-level aims involving the resolution of problems in other areas of philosophy and the evaluation of religious practice; and that some of the most potentially fruitful ideas of the divine are not alternative conceptions of it per se, but rather are quite general ideas offering a framework for the discussion of alternative conceptions including theism.

Lessons for global microfinance from . . . the United States?

Abstract Questions about the future of global microfinance, and specifically the future of policy and subsidy for microfinance, abounded even before the pandemic. Competing policy priorities and limited budgets mean key questions must be answered. How should funders and policy-makers approach subsidy to sustain or increase the reach of microfinance? How do policy-makers find a balance between consumer protection and minimizing the costs of regulation for providers who attempt to serve low-income (and often unprofitable) customers? Can technology be a solution to long-standing challenges, increasing reach and lowering costs? Insight into these questions can be gained from an unlikely place: the United States. For decades, global microfinance advocates have suggested the US has much to learn from the innovations and successes of the global microfinance movement. However, the financial system in the US is best understood not as the result of an absence of microfinance, but an example of how a financial system evolves, and the enduring challenges, even when it includes microfinance. Microfinance has been historically present in the United States, since at least Benjamin Franklin, and extending through the present. A clear-eyed and informed view of that history provides several important lessons, including the necessity for on-going subsidy, the never-ending challenge of consumer protection, the rising costs that can come with robust market competition, and the inability of technology to fix systemic challenges. Policy-makers and funders the world over can benefit from learning from each other, particularly if the conversations start from a different point: the challenges are shared and fruitful ideas and valuable lessons can come from all parties.

Pedagogical Legacy of K. D. Ushynskyi as a Factor of State and Nation Building

In the article, on the basis of a critical systematic analysis of historical and pedagogical sources, retrospective and modern socio-humanitarian studies, an attempt is made to highlight the important components of the scientific and pedagogical legacy of K. D. Ushynskyi in the context of Ukrainian and European identity and the deepening of European integration processes. The ideas and principles of dialectics, systematic, interdisciplinary approaches to pedagogical and sociocultural phenomena, and processes of retrospective and modern Ukrainian reality were used as methodological tools in the study.An important component of the cultural and historical legacy of Ukraine is the creative legacy of an outstanding educator of the second half of the 19th century. Konstantin Ushynskyi. It was the Ukrainian K. Ushynskyi who became the founder of scientific pedagogy and folk schools in the imperial era (19th – early 20th centuries). The theoretical basis of his own innovative pedagogical concept became the properly substantiated and practically implemented idea of nationhood, which involved the education of a politically conscious individual, a patriot, and a citizen in a state that is national in form and content. The educational and scientific legacy of the coruphaeus of Ukrainian pedagogy covers all the most important issues of pedagogical knowledge, in particular the forms and methods of teaching and upbringing, the theory and practice of developmental education, the problems of national-patriotic, moral, labour, and family education, and the education of women.The fruitful ideas of Konstantin Dmytrovych had a significant impact on the formation and development of Ukrainian pedagogy and socio-humanitarian studies. Relying on his considerable scientific authority, the domestic professional public, in the conditions of the ban and persecution of Ukrainian education and culture, chose the right of their own people to a national school and to the formation of a modern Ukrainian political nation. The multifaceted, intellectually powerful pedagogical legacy of the classics of Ukrainian pedagogy belongs to the treasury of European culture and therefore should become a matter of national pride for Ukrainians. Modern researchers should give a comprehensive, unbiased, and balanced assessment of the place and role of Konstantin Dmytrovych Ushynskyi in the development of modern pedagogical and psychological science, his deep innovative works as an important component of the multifaceted cultural and historical heritage of both Ukraine and Europe.

Pedagogical Views of V. Zenkivskyi

The article deals with the pedagogical interpretation of the leading meanings of education in V. Zenkivskyi's pedagogy. The purpose of the article is to analyze and characterize the pedagogical views of V. Zenkivskyi. The research methods used are the following decisive ones: analysis and generalization of scientific and methodical sources for the theoretical substantiation of the research problem, modelling, obtained data synthesis. Results. In the pedagogy of V. Zenkivskyi, special attention is paid to the interpretation of education and to setting the purpose and objectives of education in the light of the divine predestination, as well as the influence of the idea of the divine predestination in the development of the pupil’s personality. The providential nature of education in the pedagogy of V. Zenkivskyi subordinated both learning and all areas of child development. Thanks to the providentialist understanding of education, V. Zenkivskyi overcomes pedagogical relativism, which consists in a mistaken understanding of the «freedom» of choice presented to a student who cannot use it. The author of the article also states that orientation to providential principles in education is a necessary condition for accepting the V. Zenkivskyi’s educational concept, which cannot be separated into components and used in line with other pedagogical currents, it cannot be analyzed «biased» from the point of view of other philosophical and religious attitudes. Conclusions. The benefit of this study is rtghe author’s conclusion that the pedagogical views of V. Zenkivskyi are conductively oriented and based on the spirituality and creative potential of the individual, which helps to reproduce and philosophically understand the integrity of the pedagogical existence, as well as to comprehend the diversity of pedagogical interpretations of the history of world and national culture. Thus, the concept of education built by V. Zenkivskyi in the light of divine providence is of unconditional scientific and practical interest as one of the highly value sources of fruitful ideas, valuable methodological technologies, the creative understanding of theoretical and practical potential of which can contribute to the further development of pedagogical science.

Perturbative Asymptotic Safety and Its Phenomenological Applications

Asymptotic safety is a remarkable example when fruitful ideas borrowed from statistical physics proliferate to high-energy physics. The concept of asymptotic safety is tightly connected to fixed points (FPs) of the renormalization-group (RG) flow, and generalize well-known asymptotic freedom to a scale-invariant ultraviolet completion with non-vanishing interactions. In this review, we discuss the key ideas behind asymptotic safety, a mechanism for achieving it, and the conditions it imposes on general gauge–Yukawa field theories. We also pay special attention to possible phenomenological applications and provide an overview of standard model (SM) extensions potentially exhibiting asymptotic safety.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Post COVID-19 Period

The paper offers some initial examination on how Covid-19 pandemic has influenced the developments of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The researcher argues that Covid-19 pandemic offers a great opportunity for businesses to shift towards more genuine and authentic CSR and contribute to address urgent global social and environmental challenges. The research study focuses on post COVID impact on CSR by the selected iron and steel industry to the societal development. For the study nine companies were selected namely, Godawari Power & Ispat Ltd., Jindal Power and Steel Limited, Hira Steel Limited, Jayaswal Neco Industries Limited, Shri Bajrang Power, and Ispat Limited, Prakash Industries Limited, Real Ispat, Sarda Energy & Minerals Limited, and Shivalay Ispat and Power Private Limited. The study also includes post COVID impact on CSR in Indian context. The study helps one identify some potentially fruitful research ideas. In terms of CSR, this paper encompasses its impact on CSR opportunities, trends, and consumer ethical decision making.

Is it all about medals? Meaning and purpose in elite sport through the eyes of Olympic athletes

Recently, (Olympic) athletes’ mental health and well-being have become the hot topic in sport psychology. Empirical evidence on athletes’ poor mental health and reduced well-being in the context of the Olympic Games (Küttel & Larsen, 2020; Reardon et al., 2019) is complemented by anecdotal accounts of famous competitors (e.g., multiple Olympic medalist Simone Biles at the Tokyo 2022 Olympic Games). While the recognition that these topics need to be addressed is shared within the wider sport psychology community, the growing body of research has led to the adoption of diverse theoretical perspectives on mental health and well-being in elite sport (Lundqvist & Andersson, 2021). Surprisingly, a “flagship indicator of well-being” (Steger et al., 2013), namely meaning in life, has thus far escaped scholarly attention in the context of elite sport to a large extent (Luzzeri & Chow, 2020). This gap in knowledge is unfortunate, since athletes seem to become attuned to fundamental questions such as meaning and purpose in sport and life more broadly at critical moments in their career (Ronkainen & Nesti, 2019). One potentially critical moment when athletes talk about feeling lost and void and lacking a sense of direction is encountered upon the return from the Olympic Games, during the post-Olympic phase. Even though existential themes of meaning and purpose have been discussed by scholars and addressed by practitioners within the area of sport psychology (Nesti, 2004; Porter et al., 2021), a more nuanced understanding of how Olympic athletes define meaning and purpose in their sport and life more broadly is missing to date. The study therefore seeks to examine empirically how Olympic athletes experience meaning and purpose by addressing these themes during the post-Olympic phase. To this end, semi-structured interviews with 13 international Olympic athletes were conducted online after their participation at the Beijing Winter Games 2022. Interviews lasted 55 minutes on average and were thematically analysed. The presentation will offer preliminary results of the analysis and elucidate, for example, on how the Olympians perceive goals as subordinate to their personal meaning and purpose in sport. Athletes in the study varied in the degree to which they engaged in various and diverse sources of meaning. This enabled some to realise multiple identities (Thoits, 2003) and to story themselves multidimensionally, while others drew exclusively on achievement-oriented types of meaning and performance-based narratives (Douglas & Carless, 2015). Critical moments in participants’ careers (e.g., injury, the pandemic, previous post-Olympic phases, and medaling at the Olympic Games) led to an existential crisis in some cases, resulting in deeper reflections on the relationship they hold with their sport. By providing insights into the lived experience of meaning and purpose in (Olympic) athletes’ lives, the study seeks to contribute fruitful ideas on how to promote athletes’ well-being and mental health in high performance contexts. Ultimately, a more layered understanding of the concept of (existential) meaning and purpose can serve to inform the applied practice in sport psychology.

Всеобщность эстетического отношения к миру – творческий принцип Н.И. Киященко

The article is devoted to the discussion of the philosophical and methodological potential of one of the fruitful ideas of N.I. Kiyashchenko – the principle of the universality of a person’s aesthetic attitude to the world. In contrast to the rather widespread Hegelian point of view, according to which the aesthetic attitude to the world is limited mainly to the sphere of art, he, relying on the ac­tivity approach developed in Russian philosophy, insisted on the presence and essential role of the aesthetic attitude to the world in all spheres of human life and society in general. Through out Kiyashchenko’s creative life, this interpreta­tion of the role of the aesthetic acted as a connecting thematic line that united the diversity of scientific interests and conceptual incarnations of both himself and his fellow specialists in various fields and directions of research of the modern culture. The team headed by Kiyashchenko discussed the aesthetic aspects of un­derstanding both humanitarian and natural reality (including such fields of sci­ence as genetics, synergetics, neuroscience, etc.). The result of this collective work was a series of works associated, according to the plan of N.I. Kiya­shchenko, with the transformation of modern aesthetic ideas in their concep­tual expression. And in essence, these works represent the ideological heritage of Nikolai Ivanovich Kiyashchenko.

Reform of legal regulation of intellectual property in the conditions of European integration

The article examines the legal basis for the protection of intellectual property rights in the EU and in Ukraine. The main aspects of the development of intellectual property rights in Ukraine in accordance with EU requirements have been identified. The analysis of the basic normative-legal acts in the certain sphere is carried out. The nearest prospects of further development of the domestic legislation in the field of protection of the intellectual property right are outlined. The task of creating conditions for proper and effective protection of intellectual property rights in Ukraine is analyzed.
 EU law is a unique independent legal system that develops slightly differently than the legal systems of individual states that are integrated into it, other than the system of international law, which provides fruitful ideas for the development of European law. That is why it seems quite interesting to study the branches of the EU legal system, which is based on the «constitutional» ideas of a new, supranational nature. The EU’s integration law, which has been formed for more than half a century, represents a complex set of legal instruments regulating and directing the processes of comprehensive integration carried out within the European legal space. Eu enlargement processes lead to the fact that its harmonized and unified law gradually and naturally, directly and indirectly, affects the legal systems of European countries. The right to «truly invok» the new galuzz of the law of the US, so it remains an hour to allow the «intensively to realize» that in the same way the legal pre-member of the Region in the spheres of legal life is still in the area. for the same standards of law, the buli is an important official to the bottling of the national legality of the real rights.
 I look at those who voted in one of the strategic areas. the beginning of the adaptation of the adaptation of the law of Ukraine to the legality of the «S» in the spheres of the «intellectual» ‘The yaku z Viconanny’s mzhnarny gobov’yazan Ukraine that zadda gusda about the partnership that spivrobnittvo in Ukraine EU.

The Assessment of the Need of Online Education during COVID-19 Pandemic for Medical Imaging Students at Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Science

Background: Currently, India is witnessing another wave of COVID pandemic, where it has drastically disrupted most of the important aspects of human life including education. It has created an unparalleled education test, where campuses are closing and institutions have been transferred to online study protocols at numerous educational institutions worldwide. Internationalization has significantly slowed down. Some 32 crore students in India stopped moving to schools, and all educational practices are temporarily ended. The Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have responded constructively, despite all of those difficulties, ensuring the consistency of teaching, study and contribution to society using those methods, and techniques during the pandemic. This survey study focuses on COVID-19's important impacts on India's HEIs. Some steps are taken to provide smooth education services during the crisis by HEIs, and education authorities in India have been addressed herein. Aim/Objectives: This study aimed to assess the need of online education during COVID-19 pandemic for Bachelor of Medical Radiology and Imaging Technology (MRIT) students at Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Science (DMIMS). Methodology: A total number of 60 students (includes only MRIT students under Allied Health Science at DMIMS) will be participating in this survey by means of answering the questionnaires, which include open-ended and closed-ended type of question patterns with signed consent from each student, and based on answers, we will be analyzing and interpreting the data for understanding the views of MRIT students. Expected Results: The offline mode of study for the Indian education system is more convenient than the online mode of study; however, during the COVID pandemic, Indian education system has adopted the online mode of study. Conclusions: Generally speaking, the offline mode of education is preferable than the online mode; however, in this pandemic, students prefer the online mode. There have been several new ways of learning introduced, as well as new prospects and new trends, which have allowed for the development of new ways of teaching learners, which has resulted in the generation of fruitful ideas for educational work in the pandemic.

A new formulation of minimum risk fixed-width confidence interval (MRFWCI) estimation problems for a normal mean with illustrations and simulations: Applications to air quality data

Research on classical fixed-width confidence interval (FWCI) estimation problems for a normal mean when the variance remains unknown have steadily moved along under a zero-one loss function. On the other hand, minimum risk point estimation (MRPE) problems have grown largely under a squared error loss function plus sampling cost. However, the FWCI problems customarily do not take into account any sampling cost in their formulations. This fundamental difference between the two treatments has led the literature on the FWCI and MRPE problems to grow in multiple directions in their own separate ways from one another. In this article, we introduce a new formulation combining both MRPE and FWCI methodologies with desired asymptotic first-order (Theorems 2.1–2.2) and asymptotic second-order characteristics (Theorem 2.3) under a single unified structure, allowing us to develop a genuine minimum risk fixed-width confidence interval (MRFWCI) estimation strategy. Fruitful ideas are proposed by incorporating illustrations from purely sequential and other multistage MRFWCI problems with an explicit presence of a cost function incurred due to sampling. We supplement the general theory and methodology by means of illustrations and analyses from simulated data along with applications to air quality data.

Women's Progress and Challengage: A Feminist Study of Chuadanga District

Women are very inferior in every sector of the sphere of human life. Illiterate mothers or fathers cannot make well-decision and cannot contribute fruitful ideas at the family, society, national and international levels as well. Women are identified as men’s names. They are not, according to recognition, normal beings in the patriarchal society; women have accepted their fate and many of them started enjoying this status as well. Although they carry and flourish their lord’s name being empowered and developed, they are not out of greedy sight of men who are women’s fathers, brothers, and sons as well. Continuously women are violated, depressed, and victimized for sex even though they are young or old; child or daughter; it does not matter to the men except lust. The underestimation to women affects the confidence of women and under-scales women’s educational inspiration. The article attempts how women and adolescent girls are underestimated and considered a matter of nothing in the civilized modern world by physical torture like single rape, seduction, and gang rape; the result is to be death for the safety of males. The scope of this work is to recheck Bangladeshi women’s contribution in feminism through literature and to unfold the untold challenges among students of educational institutes in Bangladesh. The article aimed to term ‘feminism as F-independence’ and ‘M-independance’.

The Practice of Experimental Psychology: An Inevitably Postmodern Endeavor.

The aim of psychology is to understand the human mind and behavior. In contemporary psychology, the method of choice to accomplish this incredibly complex endeavor is the experiment. This dominance has shaped the whole discipline from the self-concept as an empirical science and its very epistemological and theoretical foundations, via research practice and the scientific discourse to teaching. Experimental psychology is grounded in the scientific method and positivism, and these principles, which are characteristic for modern thinking, are still upheld. Despite this apparently stalwart adherence to modern principles, experimental psychology exhibits a number of aspects which can best be described as facets of postmodern thinking although they are hardly acknowledged as such. Many psychologists take pride in being “real natural scientists” because they conduct experiments, but it is particularly difficult for psychologists to evade certain elements of postmodern thinking in view of the specific nature of their subject matter. Postmodernism as a philosophy emerged in the 20th century as a response to the perceived inadequacy of the modern approach and as a means to understand the complexities, ambiguities, and contradictions of the times. Therefore, postmodernism offers both valuable insights into the very nature of experimental psychology and fruitful ideas on improving experimental practice to better reflect the complexities and ambiguities of human mind and behavior. Analyzing experimental psychology along postmodern lines begins by discussing the implications of transferring the scientific method from fields with rather narrowly defined phenomena—the natural sciences—to a much broader and more heterogeneous class of complex phenomena, namely the human mind and behavior. This ostensibly modern experimental approach is, however, per se riddled with postmodern elements: (re-)creating phenomena in an experimental setting, including the hermeneutic processes of generating hypotheses and interpreting results, is no carbon copy of “reality” but rather an active construction which reflects irrevocably the pre-existing ideas of the investigator. These aspects, analyzed by using postmodern concepts like hyperreality and simulacra, did not seep in gradually but have been present since the very inception of experimental psychology, and they are necessarily inherent in its philosophy of science. We illustrate this theoretical analysis with the help of two examples, namely experiments on free will and visual working memory. The postmodern perspective reveals some pitfalls in the practice of experimental psychology. Furthermore, we suggest that accepting the inherently fuzzy nature of theoretical constructs in psychology and thinking more along postmodern lines would actually clarify many theoretical problems in experimental psychology.

Деятельность неправительственных международных организаций как предпосылка совершенствования законодательства об охране озера Байкал

The reported study aims to analyze the instruments adopted by international environmental non-governmental organizations in the sphere of protection and sustainable use of water resources. The structure of the World Water Council and its principal outcomes are reviewed. The practice of holding the World Water Forum is analyzed due to its rare coverage in Russian legal literature. Primary attention is paid to the outcomes of the Forum in the form of declarations. The activities of the International Water Resources Association are reviewed, particularly the outcomes of the 16th World Water Congress. The above mentioned international experience is extrapolated to the problems of Baikal’s legal protection. The documents adopted by the mentioned forums are proposed to be used as an inspiration and model for the legislative improvements in Baikal’s legal regime. For instance, the Ministerial Declaration “An urgent call for decisive action on water”, adopted at the 8th World Water Forum stresses the public attention on the issues of climate change and encourages the states to take into account this global problem in national water strategies. However, due to various reasons, the climate change issues are completely out of the legal discourse of Baikal protection. The Sustainability Declaration of the Forum has a significant potential for legislative and political improvements. Its 8th recommendation calls for business to value and mainstream water into its strategies, materiality and decision making process and share good practices in water management. Baikal’s business community’s commitment to the goals of sustainable development (in the form of Declaration) would be a useful politico-legal instrument within the lake’s legal regime. The outcomes of the 16th World Water Council in Cancun hosted by International Water Resources Association may also be a premise for the improvement of environmental policy and legislation in Baikal region. Among the most fruitful ideas of the forum is the acknowledgment of the pivotal role of scientific expertise in the environmental policy-making. The management system of Lake Baikal clearly needs an expert council, exercising advisory powers in respect to all the regulatory instruments concerning the ecosystem of the lake.

ВНЕСОК ПЕДАГОГІВ-ПРОСВІТНИКІВ У СТАНОВЛЕННЯ ТА РОЗВИТОК ЄЛИСАВЕТГРАДСЬКОГО БЛАГОДІЙНОГО ТОВАРИСТВА ПОШИРЕННЯ ГРАМОТИ ТА РЕМЕСЕЛ

The article reveals the contribution of educators in the formation and development of the Yelisavetgrad Charitable Society for the Dissemination of Literacy and Crafts in the second half of the ХІХ – XX twentieth century. Public and educational activities of the society were carried out in various forms through scientific, publishing, organizational and pedagogical work. During the period from 1873 to 1914 the company underwent many changes in its structure and activities, which are associated with the development of the company and the difficult political and social situation in this period: change in the quantitative and qualitative composition of the company, the spread of geography, popularization of the activity of the society and its individual members. The atmosphere of search among the Yelisavetgrad Charitable Society for the dissemination of literacy and crafts, exchange of views, results of observations, experience at meetings of the society influenced the formation of pedagogical views of members of the society of the period under study. The members of the society held theatrical performances, concerts, art exhibitions, took part in various congresses and congresses, and involved teachers of educational institutions in the activities of the society. Through the efforts of the society's members, a shelter for homeless children, the first kindergartens (1913; 1915), a free public library-reading room (1895) and a public library (1899) were opened in the city. Historically formed regional experience of members of educational societies is a valuable source of fruitful pedagogical ideas, original innovative forms of their practical implementation. Constructively rethought in terms of current problems of today, they will contribute to the modernization of modern educational societies, a more effective solution of modern educational problems. We see the prospects for further explorations in elucidating the influence of regional factors on the effectiveness of educational societies in Yelisavetgrad region in the second half of the XIX – early XX century. We see prospects for further research in elucidating the influence of regional factors on the effectiveness of educational societies in Yelisavetgrad region in the second half of the XIX – early XX century.

Analysis of a two-layer neural network via displacement convexity

Fitting a function by using linear combinations of a large number $N$ of “simple” components is one of the most fruitful ideas in statistical learning. This idea lies at the core of a variety of methods, from two-layer neural networks to kernel regression, to boosting. In general, the resulting risk minimization problem is nonconvex and is solved by gradient descent or its variants. Unfortunately, little is known about global convergence properties of these approaches. Here, we consider the problem of learning a concave function $f$ on a compact convex domain $\Omega \subset {\mathbb{R}}^{d}$, using linear combinations of “bump-like” components (neurons). The parameters to be fitted are the centers of $N$ bumps, and the resulting empirical risk minimization problem is highly nonconvex. We prove that, in the limit in which the number of neurons diverges, the evolution of gradient descent converges to a Wasserstein gradient flow in the space of probability distributions over $\Omega $. Further, when the bump width $\delta $ tends to $0$, this gradient flow has a limit which is a viscous porous medium equation. Remarkably, the cost function optimized by this gradient flow exhibits a special property known as displacement convexity, which implies exponential convergence rates for $N\to \infty $, $\delta \to 0$. Surprisingly, this asymptotic theory appears to capture well the behavior for moderate values of $\delta $, $N$. Explaining this phenomenon, and understanding the dependence on $\delta $, $N$ in a quantitative manner remains an outstanding challenge.

ПСИХОЛОГІЧНІ АСПЕКТИ ПРОБЛЕМИ СУПЕРЕЧНОСТЕЙ І КОНФЛІКТІВ У ПРАЦЯХ МИСЛИТЕЛІВ СТАРОДАВНЬОГО СВІТУ

Introduction. The history of humankind has shown the imminence of conflicts since ancient times. They existed and will exist everywhere as long as exist the collaboration between people. The great amount of different works, written by psychologists, philosophers and sociologists are devoted to the research of conflicts. Long ago, people have realized the connection between the attempt of conflicts explanation and understanding of human and society essence. Thus, roots of conflictology reach the sources of social philosophy. Purpose. The purpose of this article is the coverage of main psychological conflict problems in the works of Ancient world thinkers.Methods. In the process of work theoretical analysis and systematization of scientific-theoretical and methodical sources were used.Results. The present issue finds justification in works of both national and international scientists. Researchers are trying to formulate the main paras of conflict situations appearing in the system of legal relations, to classify them, and to explain their active solving necessity. These scientists should be pointed out: Baieva, Barabasha, Bobrovnyk, Herasinu, Yezerov, Zerkina, Krivtsovu, Nebrat, Novikovu, Svyrydiuk, Senyk, Tykhomyrova, Skakun, Stavytskoi, Tsvika.Originality. It’s impossible to avoid the conflicts, but there are different ways of mitigating their devastating impact on collaboration between people, shipments, social groups of different levels, including countries. There is way to learn how to choose effective strategies of solving conflict situations that even allow to develop constructive relations. Thus, development of conflictological issue, thinking on nature and functions of social conflicts, their specialties of determination, impact of different objective and subjective conditions, explanation of the methods of their effective prevention, resolving take great importance and value.Conclusion Despite the fruitful ideas about the nature of conflict, formulated by classic philosophy, there used to be serious gaps in the examination of the conflict core till the end of ХІХ century:Conflicts were considered only in general, with philosophical ideas, like a struggle between good and evil as natural being;Only conflicts of macro-level were considered. It means between classes, countries, nations. Conflicts in small groups remained beyond scientist’s attention.Main assets of conflict as the phenomenon of social life weren’t considered, resulting in absence of own conflict theory and conflictology.

European Paradoxes of Humanness: Discussing Etienne Balibar's Work on Europe

European Paradoxes of HumannessDiscussing Etienne Balibar's Work on Europe Michalis Bartsidis (bio) This essay's purpose is to explore Etienne Balibar's four books on Europe as a whole.1 Such a retrospective overview enhances the possibility for a historical appraisal of the philosopher's positions, their particular kind of unity, and the formations of his views, as well as, although not in any teleological sense, an account that may vindicate his political ingenuity as well as the efficiency of his analyses. Balibar himself describes his propositions as moving "between realism and utopia," implying a relation between the state of things and inventive imagination. What emerges as we follow his thought in this overall examination is the figure of a radical heir of Euro-communism, one who surpasses this tradition to offer particularly fruitful ideas, delving deeply into the notion of Europe as an ethical-political program of our times. The curve of his ideological and emotional commitment to the European project reaches a climax during the period of discussions about the European Constitution, to gradually deescalate by 2015, although none of his initial interest in this project is lost in the process. We will be examining in outline Balibar's four books on Europe as a paradigm, as a historical and theoretical experiment2 regarding the composition of a unity-civitas and, simultaneously, of its subjects: a double process referring to the "constitution of citizenship," city and citizens at the same time. In other words, the term "constitution" here designates the notion of consolidation or configuration of a historical phenomenon; only in the case of the European Constitution of 2005 will it be used to designate the notion of a set of rules governing citizenship. Balibar's work propounds the hypothesis that this constitution raises the issue of a new ethics: can Europe, despite being historically accustomed to divisions and wars, become a regulatory ideal, instituting [End Page 155] an ethics of resolving its social strife and cultural divisions? In other words, can we render a new model of inclusion feasible in Europe, taking into account the complex political and ethical issues raised by this configuration? Can we think of a way to eradicate the multiple exclusions, the inequalities, and, ultimately, the anthropological differences that allocate and prioritize in humankind the strata of the human and the unhuman, of citizens and noncitizens? Can Europe constitute an ethical but not moral ideal, a universal that, even when it is not perceived as convincing enough, despite all opposition, figures out means and possibilities (spaces, institutions, movements) of establishing political integration? There is a great abundance of evidence in favor of reclaiming such a confrontational universal in the European tradition, that of contradictory modernization processes and of a conflictual democracy. Can this ideal function as a compass for historically orienting both individuals and the masses through its contribution to a new representation and a new rationality of history? This argument demonstrates the depth of Balibar's philosophical problematic on Europe and on the demand for a new political ethics. In essence, what is under examination here is whether the experiment and the idea of Europe jointly suggest a locus for the invention of a new politics at the service of an "integral" humanity. As we will show, the concept of "humanity"/humanness in Balibar's thought refers not to the simple signification provided by theoretical humanism but to a complex, composite notion according to which humanity is and has always been divided; most important, the recognition of the "human" quality has been—and still is—the stake and outcome of conflicts and struggles, that is, a political result. And yet, the demand for human integration or for a unification of divided humanity is still, for Balibar, on the agenda. Methodologically, the French philosopher deconstructs the concept and at the same time contributes to its reconstruction with a relational content, always and only consolidated for a given period. The name we give this philosophic strategy here, applying it to the European issue, is "Europe as method."3 europe as an ethical and political question In the context of a generalized discussion on Europe as a process and a problem of political...

Christopher Alexander’s Battle for Beauty in a World Turning Ugly: The Inception of a Science of Architecture?

Christopher Alexander has been a leading pioneer of academic research on architectural and urban design since the early 1960s. He is also a practicing architect and builder with a passion for creating and restoring life and beauty to our physical environment. In this essay I review, evaluate, and reflect on some of his particularly fruitful, promising, or problematic ideas. I will put forth some ideas of my own for clarification, and to indicate avenues for future research. I argue that Alexander’s notion of patterns (a verbal medium for capturing and conveying design knowledge in a systematic, reusable form) is in need of conceptual development along lines I suggest, even though Alexander downplayed the significance of patterns as he moved on to other theoretical ideas (mainly about aesthetics) later in his career. While I go into some detail about selected parts of Alexander’s work, the intended readership of this essay is not restricted to specialists. I have made an effort to provide guidance and background information to readers not already familiar with Alexander’s comprehensive body of theory.

Precedent as a Core Component of Anglo-American Law and Its Penetration into the Legal System of Ukraine

The Anglo-American law have a considerable amount of accomplishments, which have become a worldwide asset. In terms of globalization and interaction, to use these achievements would be beneficial for further development of Ukrainian legal system. However, the very philosophy and reasoning behind the precedent-based common law is different from that in the civil law tradition of which the Ukrainian law is a part. This paper is intended to contribute to the examination how the mechanism of Anglo-American law operates in view of the expediency to introduce some of its elements into the Ukrainian jurisdiction. The initial part devoted to the emergence of, and formation of, the common law. It is noted that in the case of common law the influence of Roman law should not be denied. Relying mostly on praetorium ius experience, it has manifested itself in other directions and forms compare to civil law system. Therefore, the both, common law and civil law, despite their differences have been formed on the common ground – the Roman legal tradition. Taking into consideration that throughout their history they exchanged fruitful ideas, there is no irreconcilable, "genetic" incompatibility between them. Thus, it would allow to successfully implant certain common law elements, first of all precedent as a source of law, in the body of Ukrainian law, a part of civil law system. The paper notes that issues of common law mechanism have never been a priority for scholarly research in Ukraine as in a country of civil law tradition. The inertial influence of the Soviet law has also contributed to this situation. According to the communist ideology and the positivist visions on which the Soviet law was based, the precedent has not been considered as an acceptable legal instrument. In order to clarify how the mechanism works, the paper provides an overview of precedent and stare decisis doctrine as key components of common law. While a principle of stare decisis binding courts to follow legal precedents in cases with similar circumstances is in the core of Anglo-American law, in civil law systems precedent is not considered as binding. This discussion is followed by an analysis of judicial lawmaking. The paper specifies that in the common law systems, courts are not absolutely bound by precedents. In terms of radical changes in political, social or legal areas, they are entitled to re-examine and apply the law differently without legislative intervention, to adapt it to new circumstances. Thus, the Anglo-American legal tradition provides much broader scope for judicial lawmaking than Romano-German law. However, there is no consensus on the range to which it should be extended and to which extent it should rely on precedent. Within the framework of this controversial issue judicial activism and judicial restraint, two opposite philosophies of making a ruling in common law, are addressed. In order to examine the multifaceted nature of correlation between stare decisis principle and judicial lawmaking, the latest experience of the Supreme Court of the United States' on overruling precedents is considered. The paper summarizes that, most likely, mixed legal system associated with Nordic countries should be set as the reference point for the movement of Ukraine in this area. Such approach would provide rather broad scope for the operation of the common law elements, while safeguarding its omissions such as unjustified judicial activism.