At present, as the paper states, social philosophy and philosophy of history – are generally considered to be independent domains. This is evidenced by the fact that each of the above‐named domains has to be discussed in a separate congress section, the practice which was common for previous congresses as well. It is argued in the paper, that social philosophy and philosophy of history are the two most important aspects of the integral philosophical study of society. It is impossible to (...) say which aspect is dominating. The report contains a number of arguments to support this point of view. Possible reasons for such a “division of labor” in European philosophical thought and its consequences are exposed. The question arises: why are social philosophers incline to discuss a correlation between social philosophy and theoretical sociology and don’t like to discuss a correlation between social philosophy and philosophy of history? And why are philosophers of history so reluctant to discuss ontological issues of society? (shrink)

A little more than half a year remains before the Twenty-seventh Congress of the CPSU. As was stressed at the April Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, the coming congress will be a landmark stage in the development of the country. Its significance is determined by the character of the period being experienced and the scale of the tasks before us, which give special significance to the pre-Congress work of the Party. All this demands a profound scientific study of the (...) realities of the present day and a thorough comprehension of the prospects of socialist and communist construction, in particular of the profound qualitative shifts in the development and functioning of the economy and the social relations of developed socialism. (shrink)

Our present cheerless existence compels us involuntarily to doubt the correctness of many of the propositions of the Soviet "social philosophy" that for many years, under the title "historical materialism," was officially proclaimed to be the "only correct" and "truly scientific" theory of social development, a theory that demonstrated the inevitability of the replacement of capitalism by socialism.

When the Nineteenth All-Union Party Conference was taking place, tens of millions of people followed its course. Literally the entire country was drawn into those heated debates in the congress hall. One can say without exaggeration that the conference was a revelation. It showed that it is possible to live differently from the way we have been accustomed, or the way we have learned over many decades, i.e., to say what we think and what we want to say, not somewhere (...) in a back corridor but in public, even at a top Party forum. All this is the result of that mighty revolution in consciousness that began in people's minds that memorable April of 1985. And the press is today playing a special role in that revolution. (shrink)

1. Perestroika, the revolutionary renewal of Soviet society, has posed quite a few difficult tasks for the social sciences, one of which is a reexamination of dogmas and stereotypes of thought considered absolutely correct for decades, and hence never discussed, especially publicly. But today, on the pages of newspapers and magazines, on radio and television, a broad and open discussion has been unfolding of practically all the basic questions of history and of the theory and practice of socialism—a discussion such (...) as our country has never known since perhaps the 1920s. The main purpose of these discussions, as M. S. Gorbachev has pointed out, is to obtain results reflecting the contemporary dialectics of life. But this can be done only in an atmosphere of creativity, of a free, impartial, yet serious and responsible quest for truth. (shrink)