Abstract: The subject of this research is the public relations associated with the constitutional-interpretational role of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (CCRF) within the Russian legal system. In addition to that, the author examines the process of institutionalization of the traditional family values by the Constitutional Court in the context of opposition to the forming “gender-tolerant” social trend in the Western countries. In justification of his hypothesis, the author suggests an extensive sociological material, which representatively reflects an attitude of the Russian citizens towards various issues pertaining to family, motherhood, fatherhood, and childhood. Examination of the presented sociological material is correlated to the analysis of jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court. The scientific novelty consists in explanation of the presence of a traditional (conservative) value trend in the area of family among the citizens of Russia, as well as in determination of an institutionalization mechanism of this trend by the CCRF. The author is first to analyze such sociological data from the perspective of the constitutional legal science.

Keywords: same-sex marriages, gender equality, traditional family, constitutional values, Constitutional Court, human rights, democracy, Constitution of Russia, globalization, modernity

Abstract: The subject of this research is the separate aspects of constitutional law on application of proportional electoral system at municipal elections. The issues of application of proportional electoral system at municipal elections are characterized by especially high relevance. The questions of bases, conditions and limitations of the application of this electoral system on the local level is the subject heated debates in the scientific community, the participants of which hold diametrically counterpoising points of view. The very possibility of application of such electoral system on the local level is often being doubted due to its potential discord with the nature of local self-governance and its inability to reflect the maximal spectrum of interests of the local community within the representative branch. At the same time, the recent changes to the legislative base that regulates the order of application of proportional electoral system at the local elections, carried a brightly expressed multi-vector character, which often did not have sufficient conceptual justification. This work offers a brief overview of the process of establishment of the proportional electoral system as the channel of formation of public authority at the local level, and provides characteristics of its current status and analyzes the legislative base and the corresponding legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. Among the main conclusions of the conducted research are the criteria formulated based on the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation that determine the allowability of the application of proportional electoral system at the local level, as well as possible directions and specific measures on improvements to the Russian model of the application of proportional electoral system at municipal elections.

Keywords: Local self-government, Political parties, Elections, Constitutional Court, Proportional electoral system, Local elections, Electoral process, Municipal law, Electoral coalitions, Electoral law

Abstract: The object of this research is the youth of the modern Russia. The subject of this research is the attitude and interest of the youth towards politics as a whole, including political parties and federal level elections. The author examines the importance of political sphere for the young generation, as well as specificity of their interest towards the political processes and political parties, which at the present stage are one of the active conduits of political ideas. Special attention is given to the analysis of youth’s perception of the upcoming elections into the State Duma of Federal Assembly of Russia along with the Presidential elections. Scientific novelty lies in the comparative analysis that is based on sociological snapshots right before the federal electoral cycles of 2011-2012 and 2016-2018 with regards to the attitude of the young generation towards politics, political parties, and elections. The following trends are highlighted: the number of youth interested in political life of society on the permanent basis is decreasing; portion of those who is randomly shows interest in politics alongside those who do not show any interest in politics is increasing; the growing sympathy of the youth towards the political parties, etc. The conclusion is made that there is no significant changes are observed in the views, orientations, and interest of youth towards politics, political parties, and elections.

Keywords: Russian Presidential elections, elections to the State Duma, political party, electoral cycle, interest, politics, attitude, political socialization, political sphere, youth

Abstract: gThe subject of this research is the role of religion in determination of the meaning of life of the modern believers in Russia and Ukraine. Religion, and Christianity in particular, has always been (and should be) the source of the meaning of life for its followers. The realization of such sense-making and sense-transmitting function by religion is an important condition of social importance and impact of religion. In modern societies, the scales of the social role of religion are not evident and are subjected to discussion. A comprehensive analysis of involvement of religion into the social processes and public consciousness is necessary for a more precise understanding of functionality of religion for modern societies. One of the possible features of such analysis is the assessment of religion’s involvement into conceptual structures of mass consciousness. The conclusion is made that the ability of Orthodoxy to become a real alternative to the dominant in modern societies “Western” values is significantly limited, because the values transmitted by Orthodoxy (particularly the orientation towards connection of the life values with the transcendent source) do not find public response. It is demonstrated that for the majority of Russian and Ukrainian believers, the religion ceased to be the foundation of conceptual structure. This, in turn, alongside the low level of spirituality, familiarization with the Orthodox dogma and readiness to independently form the meanings of own religion and include the elements from other religions and secular ideologies into these meanings, extremely limits the orientation towards the meanings and values transmitted by the Church.

Keywords: values, specificities of perception of the meanings, Russia, spiritual crisis of society, Ukraine, meaning of life, Orthodoxy, social functions of religion, religion, wholeness of perception of the meaning

Abstract: The paper discusses problems that arise regarding the relationships between the brain and subjective experience. Can robots create in humans a full-scale illusion of subjective experience? Can a person tell the difference between simulated consciousness and authentic subjective experience? What is better: to enjoy life in the world of illusions, or to live the life of hardships in the world of true reality? The analysis has shown that even if the computer technologies in the future became incommensurably more powerful than the technologies of today, we can’t expect that people with the help of computers, not to mention computers in their own right, would be able to create an authentic copy of human subjective experiences. The reason is that subjective experience is a magical phenomenon. This phenomenon is not determined by physical causes, cannot be logically deduced from more general premises, and therefore, cannot be simulated on a full-scale. The altered states of consciousness such as hallucinations or virtual reality are imitations and not authentic subjective experiences. A person immersed in these altered states of the mind is aware, during the altered states of shortly after, that they are nothing but illusions. Neuroscience and cybernetics will be creating increasingly complex interfaces between machines and subjective reality of consciousness, but the gap between simulations of mental processes and authentic subjective experience will never be bridged.

Keywords: double-consciousness, brain mechanisms, authentic subjective experience, magical thinking, simulated subjective experience, computer models, subjective experience, consciousness, free will, physical reality

Abstract: The object of this research is the process of clericalization of the modern Russian society, as well as the main features of clericalism as a theoretical worldview and sociopolitical platform. The subject of this research is the relevant discussion within the sociopolitical space of modern Russia on theological education and possibility of a worldview synthesis based on the ideological platform of postsecularism. The authors carefully examine the relations between theologism and clericalism, tracing deep ideological and historical roots of the latter. A special attention is given to the prospects of theological education, the supporters of which, proclaiming postsecular thought as their ideological platform, secretly stand on the positions of clericalism, thus attempting to obtrude the “new Middle Ages” upon the society under the disguise of social democracy. Among the main conclusions of the conducted research are claims that the theological education, which bases itself upon the ideological platform of clericalism, promotes blurring of the borders between the scientific and unscientific knowledge, and to a certain extent the loss of the heuristic-rational potential and status of science and philosophy. In the current Russian political and sociocultural situation, the task of the representative of both, the scientific and philosophical thought, perhaps lies in taking up the “Occam’s razor” and attempt to “cleanse” the problematic field of the modern Russian socio-humanitarian thought from “essences” that are “exaggerated” by clericalism, in order to prevent the danger of its transformation into the “new maid” of theology.

Keywords: postsecular thought, secularization, scientific discourse, clericalism, religious worldview, secular culture, Russian society, atheism, pantheism, ideological synthesis