«Crime and Punishment»: mystical novel about the birth of the Savior in the world of the evil Demiurge

The article proposes a new interpretation of F.M. Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment”. It is shown that in addition to realistic and socio-psychological plans, the novel contains a symbolic and mystical plan, which is the main one. A detailed analysis of the text of the novel and the preparatory manuscripts for it suggests that Dostoevsky used as the basis of the novel the Gnostic myth of our world as the creation of the evil God the Demiurge and of the fallen Sophia (lower divine aeon), who was captured by matter and awaiting the Savior (Jesus Christ), who is to be born in the world itself, to realize his destiny and, having found Sophia, unite with her in an act of mystical love (syzygy). The mythological image of the Savior, Jesus Christ, expresses Raskolnikov, the main character of the novel. The article proves that the murder committed by a hero can be explained as an inevitable and tragic consequence of the dual nature of any person: he has not only a higher principle, arising from a connection with the good God the Father, but also a lower, dark beginning, created by the evil Demiurge. Therefore, in his action, man inevitably brings not only good, but also evil. Raskolnikov in his fate reveals the tragedy of a man who seeks to change the world of evil by his actions, and shows a universal way out of this tragedy - the acceptance of the full responsibility for what is happening in the world and the all suffering. In this sense, it exactly matches the image of Jesus Christ in its Gnostic understanding.

Racism and Discrimination: Let's practice what we preach

With the world in turmoil, an unexpected and tragic consequence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been its disproportionate impact on the British Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities. The pandemic led to an excessive number of deaths in these populations and revealed long-standing inequalities that began many years ago. This indictment raises questions about the extent to which racism and discrimination remain deeply rooted in British society. Have the diverse groups that together constitute the rich fabric of British society not heard, or do they choose to be deaf and blind to the suffering caused by racism and discrimination?

Between Madness and Self-redemption: A Foucaultian Study of Jessie’s Committing Suicide in ’night, Mother

Having been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play and won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, ’night, Mother is well-received for its realism, honesty and a universal demonstration of man’s living dilemma. Jessie’s emptiness and loneliness is strengthened not only by her epilepsy but also by her life out of control. Behind her firmness in committing suicide, there are her alienation from the outside forces, desperation and hysteria under her calmness, and the discipline of as well as resistance towards existence. She confesses that her intention of killing herself is for “protection” and she chooses committing suicide as the tragic consequence of madness in both her mind and body, at the same time, she makes the first and last free choice for her self-redemption.

Reformatorskie koncepcje działań oświatowych i opiekuńczo- -wychowawczych wobec dzieci zaniedbanych w Królestwie Polskim na przełomie XIX i XX wieku na tle rozwiązań europejskich

Reformative Concepts of Education and Protective Activities Toward Neglected Children in the Kingdom of Poland at the Turn of the XIX-th Century in Comparison with European SolutionsAfter the January Uprising in the Kingdom of Poland, across half of the following century, industrial development was mostly connected with social reforms. One tragic consequence of it was the increase in the number of children without parental protection, juvenile beggars, tramps, young criminals and prostitutes. During the last thirty years of the 19th century it became a priority in the Kingdom of Poland to pay attention to the education and protection of children and teenagers from the poorest families. Numerous innovative and educational concepts were formulated at that time; some of them were used in centres for socially maladjusted young people, for instance in Studzieniec, Mariańska Wilderness or Struga, in centres for young prostitutes. The activity of educational centres and societies which organised the protection of children (for example, The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) was given as an example.

Addressing the Global Tragedy of Needless Pain: Rethinking the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs

Important medical advances over the last several decades have vastly improved the technical capacity to control human pain. Millions of patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other conditions have been able to find relief from incapacitating chronic and acute pain. However, despite these developments, pain remains severely under treated worldwide, particularly in developing countries. The tragic consequence is that for millions of people around the globe, excruciating pain is an inescapable reality of life.

The detention of suspected terrorists in the British Islands

Ever since November 1974, when the Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins, announced his ‘Draconian’ Prevention of Terrorism Bill, strong emotions have been aroused by the legislation. On the one hand, ardent supporters claim that the Acts have been ‘increasingly useful and necessary for the police’ and ‘the most powerful weapon in our counter-terrorist armoury’. On the other hand, there have been strident critics who not only denounce the Acts as a ‘flagrant violation of basic civil liberties’ but also support ‘the struggle against British imperialism [even if it] inflicts violence on citizens and can have tragic consequence’. This clash of opinions has persisted during the most recent re-enactment of the legislation in Parliamentary session 1988–89.