Abstract: Analyzing the specificity of perception of the Slavic world, this article demonstrates that after accepting Christianity, the Russian culture as if froze in the religious captivity. All the development was taking place within the framework of the religious, namely Christian Orthodox tradition. The authors examine the shift of the spiritual dominants in transition from Paganism to Christianity. If Paganism taught a man to live in harmony with nature, Christianity teaches how to live in society. Christianity has its own peculiarities; it was never abstract or theoretical, but practical, ethical, and educational. The work also reviews the human relation to nature and society in the context of Eastern and Western worldview paradigms. For East it is characteristic to be in accordance with the voice of nature, while the West struggles against the nature, and imposes a feeling of a supernatural being. Rationalism dominates in the West, and irrationalism – in the East. The authors attempt to determine to which type of world and life perception the Eastern Slavic community can be referred to. Based on the views of C. Jung and A. Schweitzer, the conclusion is made that the Western culture is more extravert, while the Eastern culture is introvert. The West is progressive, and the East is conservative. For Orthodoxy, it is more characteristic to deny the world and life; it is more valuable to realize how to live a life properly, understanding the meaning and goal of life, rather than study the question of how this world is structured. Analyzing the dispute between the Westerners and Slavophiles, we should note that the viewed the dilemma of East and West in the context of differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and not in a broader sense as the differences between the Eastern and Western worldview paradigms.

Abstract: The article gives the analysis of reforms in higher education which were performed in the Russian Federation and also in Israel, the USA and France. The main aim of the article is to clarify paradigm principles, main purposes and objectives of reforms being conducted. Attention is paid to the necessity not to destroy previous achievements and avoid coping the experience of other countries and nations but to save best achievements of our nation in the sphere of education and to multiply them. It is underlined in the article that cutting down humanitarian cycles and socially-oriented blocs will inevitably lead to spiritually poor personality with low potential of social activity. Western European countries orientation on specialist and professional is only one side of education, the other one is educational, spiritually enriching and personality forming side of the process of education. The Western model can be defined as empiric-rational with the stress on professionalism. The main task which is stated is to create a person-function, person of wish. The aim of our system of higher education is to develop an intellectual human-creator. The research methodology is based on the comparative philosophical and religious analysis. The main research method is the comparative analytical method. General scientific methods such as analysis, synthesis, generalization and individualization have been also applied. It is stated in the article that the prospect for our development is the formation of mature personality with philosophical and cultural outlook and breadth of thinking but not a person- “small screw”, not a professional of narrow sphere. Political, ideological and economic problems of the modern world are often concealed in the destruction of the system of education, its orientation not on statement of universal principals and norms but on search of particular, narrow professionally oriented, pragmatic factors of growth. The authors believe that when one conducts reforms he should be moderate which supposes the harmony of common and particular, scientific and humanitarian knowledge and preparation of the person creator and person-professional and performer. It is concluded that pre-revolutionary as well as the Soviet system of education in Russia had humanitarian character of upbringing of intellectual and paid insufficient attention to the formation of professional while the Western model is vice versa has always been considered to be successful in creating professional, person-function but both models have their own disadvantages. Educational reforms are performed everywhere but tasks are different. So, it is important to save everything valuable that our secondary and higher schools have always had.