Abstract: Due to the global expansion of international connections in modern world, any person commanding a foreign language occasionally in one or another way acts as an interpreter. As a result, the popularity of involving the non-professional interpreters in translation process reduces the reputation of the interpreters, as well as the very quality of their work. The goal of this article consist in search for the answers regarding the issues that the modern translation studies are faced with: language problem, various translations or validity/invalidity of translation of the source, and absolute criterion for good translation, etc. This work is based on the writings of José Ortega y Gasset, Paul Ricœur, and Friedrich Schleiermacher. The results of this article could be useful for professional and amateur translators and interpreters, as they consist in clarification of the key goals of translation studies, determination of problems of text translations, determination of criteria for assessment of translation, as well as discovery of the translation methods of “rephrasing” and “retelling”, skillful application of which will allows increasing the qualification of the translator and avoid dangerous moments.

Keywords: criteria for assessment of translation, teaching methods, method of retelling, method of paraphrase, linguistic hermeneutics, translation studies, interpreter, author, reader, language

Abstract: This article examines the provisions of the Federal Law No. 323-FZ "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation on the improvement of the grounds and order of exemption from criminal responsibility" in terms of making changes to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on decriminalization of battery and default in paying money for maintenance of children and physically disabled parents, establishment of criminal liability for minor larceny (Article 158.1), and introduction of such ground for exemption from criminal responsibility as the release from criminal liability in connection with the infliction of judicial fine (Article 76.2). The scientific novelty consists in the comprehensive research of provision of the aforementioned federal law regarding the adoption of amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Analyzing the new law, the author focuses attention on its positive and negative aspects, as well as makes a number of remarks, which can be applied by a legislator for further improvements in the criminal legislation.

Keywords: criminal responsibility, administrative responsibility, liberalization, humanization, decriminalization, minor larceny, battery, Criminal Code, Supreme Court, punishment

Abstract: This article analyzes the issues pertaining to participation of citizens in the work of the civil institution. Attention is given to the level of demand for various social formations among citizens, as well as motivation of people’s participation in them. A special attention is allocated to the prospects of development of various models of civil society in Russia and issues of formation of middle class, called to become the social foundation of the civil society. The statistical data on the state of the civil society in Russia testifies to the loss of influence of the formalized structures of civil society upon the citizens. This trend is further aggravated by the state’s imposition of the so-called pseudo structures of civil society, which introduce typical bureaucratic flaws of the state apparatus. There are additional independent problems in form of uncontrollability and irresponsibility that also arise. The author proposes original legal approaches towards solution of the issues of debureaucratization of the civil society and development of promising and demanded vectors of its development in Russia, which include volunteering, philanthropy, and work of socially-oriented nonprofit organizations (NPOs). Author’s separate proposals and assessments pertain to the role and importance of the informal manifestations of civil society.

Keywords: organizations, nonprofit, activity, social, society, civil, prospects, development, problems, Russia

Abstract: This article examines the following questions: why do people believe in God if there is no proof; is it possible to live without faith; where is the correlation between religious faith, belief in science, and belief in magic in the consciousness of modern people. The conclusion is made that the belief in the supernatural world occurs as a result of emergence of the cognitive abilities in primeval human (such as powerful imagination) and deep grieving over the death of a congener. The souls of the ancestors, who populated the mystical world, became the first gods. Religion has gradually separated from magic, but retained its connection to magic trough belief in the supernatural. The psychological experiments of the recent decades demonstrated that despite the joint efforts of the official religion and science to uproot the belief in magic from modern Western society, the belief in the supernatural remained on the subconscious level. Presence of phenomena that cannot be explained by science confirms that belief in the supernatural is not strictly atavistic remnants of the human psychology of past historical eras, but has certain empirical foundation. The scientific novelty of this research consists in the following: religious belief is examined in the context of modern experimental research of magic though for the first time; a new claim is made on the agreement between science and official religion in the fight against magic. Among the main conclusions are the following: religion historically and psychologically emanates from earlier human belief in magic; having separated from magic, religion begins to view magic as an adversary in the struggle from human conscience; religion becomes antagonistic towards magic and views it as manifestation of dark forces.

Keywords: spirits of the dead, participation, illusion of control, mysticism, miracles, paranormal phenomena, magic thought, religious beliefs, changed states of consciousness, parapsychology

Abstract: Religiousness is rooted in the mental nature of a human. Initially, the nonreligious belief forms from the complex of the original intentions in hum consciousness. This can be the source for religious belief, as well as other spiritual forms. Transformation of the original intentions into religious belief is justified by the peculiarities of initial alienation alongside the processes of personalization. As a result, emerges a special mental world and special ontology of religion. The author believes that the constant renewal of religions in form of continuous manifestation of the new cults and sects is a sustained historical process. Its intensity rapidly grows in the era of drastic changes as a sign of their profoundness. Religiogenesis is a mental symptom of the epochal revolutionary changes in people’s relation towards the environment, which signifies a global adjustment of their lifestyle. Such eras create the new values and behavior, which transcend the routine, and mobilize people towards the radical transformations of their life. They originate the revolutionary idealists, reformers, and Charismatics, as well as capture attention of large audience over the short time. The first of them is the “Axial Age” (K. Jaspers). Then, the outburst of religious Protestantism (XVI-XVII centuries). It can be called the “Second Axial Age”, which creates a new system of values of the radical individualism. Humanity enters the third era of the Axial Age in the second half of the XX century. Current events in the religious sphere represent the best proof of radicalism of what is taking place. The renewal of religiousness is the “laboratory” of the new feelings and values, and later leads to conceptualization of the other spiritual abilities of a human.

Keywords: peculiarities of religious alienation, charisma, transcending, Axial Age, renewal of religions, intentions, new religion, personalization, religious ontologies, crisis of traditional religions