The Armenian State Pedagogical University after Khachatur Abovyan, in joint cooperation with the International Research Institute of Metaphilosophy, Transformational Logic and
Theory of Argumentation, as well as the International Academy of Philosophy, and the Armenian Academy of Philosophy, organized an international conference headed “Theoretical and Practical Problems of Development of Transforming Society /philosophic and psychological aspects/” from 16-17 April.
The official opening ceremony of the conference took place at the Conference Hall of the “Ani Plaza” Hotel on 16 April.
The opening speech of the ceremony was made by the Academician of the RA NAS, President of the International Academy of Philosophy, the Director of the International Research Institute of Metaphilosophy, Transformational Logic and Theory of Argumentation at the ASPU after Khachatur Abovyan, Gevorg Brutyan.
The latter welcomed all the guests among who were the RA Prime Minister, the RA Minister of Science and Education, and mentioned that one of the most important problems of the transforming society is without throwing away the older values to inherit them which will stimulate the development of our nation.
Gevorg Brutyan also added that nowadays, through the internal laws of science, attempts should be made to support the country’s economic development.
Afterward, the participants of the conference were greeted by the RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, who is also the Head of the Armenian State Pedagogical University Council, in the name of the RA Government.
“The subject of the conference organized by the Pedagogical University is up-to-date not only among the scientists but also for the executive power operating in any country. We have worked out quite an ambitious programme for the University’s development, to increase and improve its quality up to the level of the best universities all over the world.
I am especially pleased to see the world-class scientists next to our native scientists, and this will definitely favour the cooperation of the Pedagogical University’s specialists with the world-class scientists”.
Besides, the RA Prime Minister pointed out that the world economic recession showed the problems of transforming society in a sharper way and demanded that political figures found such solutions which would not allow the decrease and deterioration of the common people’s standards of living.
“On the other hand, science is unable to come up with answers to a number of questions yet. We are living in a world with a number one characteristic feature that is its fast-changing nature, and this significantly affected the increased mutual influences and made the world a more open place. And now, a qualitatively new postindustrial type of a society is forming about our ears, the basic process of which is the production of knowledge rather than goods. The society that is able to produce the contemporary type of knowledge is itself considered up to date,” Tigran Sargsyan said; besides, he added that the government’s obligation was to create such infrastructures that will enable a thinking person to create new knowledge.
Upon the end of his speech, the head of the Executive Body assured that further on more attention will be given to the sphere of science, and that the results of the current conference would be in the center of the Government.
Next, at the plenary session, the Doctor of Philosophy, Academician, the Honorary Chancellor of the Athens University, the President of the International Academy of Philosophy Yevangelos Moutsopoulos made his report headed “Education as a Lasting Value” and expressed his strong belief that values generate ideas rising from the subconscious level.
“The beauty, truth and kindness, which are absolute values for human beings, imply ideals which should be aspired for and reached through human consciousness.
The human’s external area, together with its virtues and shortcomings, parallel to its expansion has to come across the merciless rules of the Space. Will it finally be rescued due to the continuous readjustments or will it forcefully be expelled and deported by the Earth? The previous perspective can predominate only in case it implies exclusion of avarice from the human nature,” the Doctor of Philosophy is convinced.
Afterwards, the Professor of Philosophy, the Head of the Department of Philosophy at Innsbruck University, the Co-President of the International Academy of Philosophy Hans Kohler presented his report on the subject “Contemporary Multicultural Society and Intercultural Relationship Hermeneutics”.
In his report he outlined the fact that complicated relations between the local, regional and world platforms of cultural identity present new challenges to the increasing
multicultural societies.
The Doctor of Philosophy also considers that the future of countries’ stability will to the great extent depend on the attitude towards cultural diversification.
During the report, an attempt was made to delineate the dynamics of intercultural relationship parallel to the development of global political consciousness in the context of modern discourse of “dialogue of civilizations”.
Soon after, the Professor of the Aarhus University in Copenhagen, the Director of the Center of Ethics and Law of the Department of Education, the President of the International Federation of the Philosophic Societies (FISP), the Academician of the International Academy of Philosophy, Peter Camp introduced his report with the topic “Cosmopolitism in Our Times”. He then mentioned the following in his speech, “Nowadays, the World faces a great number of major problems which can be solved only through joint efforts.
Today, being a citizen of the World, in other words being a “cosmopolitan”, suggests accepting the common essential problems which even the most powerful nations cannot solve on their own. As human beings, we have only two memberships in the world- citizens of the World and citizens of a country. And in this case, the citizen of the World should not act against the citizen of a country, while common way of thinking and acting should be directed towards the preservation of individual, local, and national way of life”.
At the end of the plenary session, the Professor of the Forensic Clinical Psychology of the Glasgow Caledonian University, the President of the European Association of Psychology and Law, David Cook presented his report headed as “Psychopathy: Connections with the Transforming Society”.
The Professor of Forensic Clinical Psychology introduced the modern ways of manifestation of Psychopathy and the outcomes of his thirty-years-work.
David Cook assured that Psychopathy was a concept that had been established and fixed by people ages ago. “Psychopathy has its subjective and objective factors. Superciliousness is the main component that leads to it,” David Cook concluded.
And last but not least, during the conference, the Academician of the RA NAS, the President of the International Academy of Philosophy, Gevorg Brutyan conferred the Prime Minister the title of Honorary Doctor of the International Academy of Science. In his turn, Tigran Sargsyan expressed his gratitude for the high appraisal and considered it quite a binding duty.
The conference proceeded with its operations at the ASPU in five sections in parallel.
