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This study examines the productivity and efficiency spillovers in the presence of trade linkages in 27 European Union countries from 1990 to 2019. The European Union is one of the largest trading blocs in the world and has implemented costly policies and reforms to improve productivity growth. Meanwhile, trade induced productivity and efficiency spillovers have often been overlooked in the literature, and examining them could provide further clarity to the productivity puzzle. Using a spatial Durbin model and a bilateral trade matrix, this study estimates a spatial stochastic production frontier model using data from the Penn World Table and the World Integrated Trade Solution. We decompose production frontier estimates to obtain the spillover effects of total factor productivity growth and technical efficiency from a network of bilateral trading partners. Our results provide evidence of productivity and efficiency spillovers; however, the gains are uneven. Policy implications are discussed. Keywords: European union (EU); Eurozone; spillovers; total factor productivity (TFP); spatial Durbin model.

Šiame straipsnyje aptariami tarptautinio taikomojo mokslinių tyrimų projekto „Universitetai įvairovės link“ rezultatai. Jo metu buvo tiriama, kokios diskriminacinės nuostatos, įsitikinimai ir elgesys dėl seksualinės orientacijos, lytinės tapatybės ar lyties požymių (SOGISC) egzistuoja Lietuvos, Graikijos ir Italijos akademinėje aplinkoje. Analizuojant, kaip LGBTI+ asmenys supranta įvairias diskriminacijos formas Lietuvos akademinėje aplinkoje, straipsnyje pateikiama naujų duomenų ir teorinių įžvalgų apie LGBTI+ asmenų netoleranciją ir diskriminaciją Lietuvos aukštosiose mokyklose. Apklausos ir fokus (diskusinės) grupės interviu būdu surinkti duomenys interpretuojami tiek sociopolitinio konteksto, tiek teorinių diskusijų apie heteronormatyvias nuostatas kontekste. Straipsnyje teigiama, kad Lietuvos universitetuose egzistuoja nemažas atotrūkis tarp deklaratyvaus atvirumo LGBTI+ asmenims ir išliekančių stereotipų bei diskriminacinių nuostatų jų atžvilgiu. Raktažodžiai: socialinė atskirtis, LGBTI+, SOGISC, aukštasis mokslas, heteronormatyvumas, homofobija. This paper discusses the results of the international applied research project ‘UniDiversity – Universities Towards Diversity’ that examined what discriminatory attitudes, beliefs and behaviours based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics (SOGISC) exist in the Lithuanian, Greek and Italian academic environment. Specifically, this paper analyses how LGBTI+ individuals conceive of different forms of discrimination in the Lithuanian academic environment. The paper fills the knowledge gap in terms of intolerance and discrimination against LGBTI+ individuals at Lithuanian higher education institutions and provides its theoretical explanation. By focusing on the empirical data collected from survey and focus group interviews, the paper interprets them within the framework of both the sociopolitical context and theoretical debates about heteronormative attitudes. The paper argues that there exists a gap between the declarative openness to LGBTI+ people within Lithuanian universities and persisting stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes towards them. Keywords: social exclusion, LGBTI+, SOGISC, higher education, heteronormativity, homophobia.

Energy policy affects the functioning of the economic and financial systems of countries worldwide. This paper provides a theoretical overview of the economy–energy nexus and discusses the particular cases of the energy policy dynamics amid the sustainability goals. This paper integrates multiple perspectives on the energy–economy nexus, with a particular focus on the energy trilemma, 4As of energy security and PESTEL approach. This allows the development of a comprehensive framework for the analysis of energy security and the sustainability interaction. A review of manifestations of the different dimensions of energy security and sustainability is carried out to identify the most topical facets of the issue. Then, the cases of the selected European Union countries (Ireland, Greece, Denmark and Lithuania) are presented to highlight the effects and features of the recent energy policy changes there. Indeed, these countries apply a PSO levy mechanism on electricity tariffs and are diverse in their geopolitical situation, economic development, geographical situation and energy dependency level. The analysis of the situations of such different countries applying the PSO levy mechanism makes it possible to perform a broader and more in-depth assessment and comparison of electricity tariff regulations. Thus, the developed theoretical model is applied to identify the major outcomes of the energy policy regimes (with a focus on tariff regulation) in the selected countries.

Constant innovations in finance and technology and different levels of their development worldwide necessitate investigating universal integrated indexes. It will enable a general assessment of the digitization of financial services and allow carrying out a comparative inter-nation analysis. The authors proposed to evaluate the level of digitalization of financial services (DFSI) based on three components: digital inclusion, financial inclusion, and digital financial services. The suggested approach includes several steps: 1) forming an array of input data by eight indicators; 2) establishing the priority of indicators and calculating their weights by using the Fishburne formula; 3) calculating the integral index of digitization of financial services by using the weighted sum method. According to the obtained DFSI values, the European countries were divided into four groups: with a high, medium, low, and critically low level of digitalization of financial services. Countries with a high level of DFSI are considered to be Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Most countries experience low (Greece, Hungary, Italy, Croatia, Portugal, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Malta, Lithuania) or medium (Estonia, Ireland, Belgium, Latvia, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Austria, Spain) levels of DFSI. Critically low level of digitization of financial services is observed in Bulgaria, and Romania.

The article analyses the topic of e-trade assessment in a global environment. To achieve the objective, a de-tailed analysis of scientific works was carried out in order to identify the importance of e-trade assessment in a global environment and, by removing the identified limitations, to develop a model of e-trade evaluation applicable to a global environment. The empirical research was based on the developed e-trade evaluation model to test its effectiveness and applicability in a global environment. Based on the data collected, a multi-criteria assessment of e-trade was carried out, dividing the factors into five dimensions: emotional (consumer satisfaction and trust), technological (internet ac-cessibility, data security and privacy), financial (e-GDP, e-trade sales, impact of e-trade on overall company turnover), social (internet usage and purchasing volumes) and tax environment (VAT), and a comparative analysis of the coun-tries to compare the results of economically similar countries, to find out why the market leaders are performing so well in the e-trade sector, and to identify the methodologies and practices used in these countries, so as to identify the most effective methods and practices that can be applied in other countries. The results of the multi-criteria assessment al-lowed European countries to be classified into three groups: from market leaders to the most laggard countries. The strongest growth rates are found in Ro-mania and Bulgaria. It is worth noting that e-trade is also unpopular in South-ern European countries: Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Malta, Cyprus.

Straipsnyje analizuojamas ir vertinamas maisto produktų ir gėrimų eksporto konkurencingumas Europos Sąjungos valstybėse. Tyrimas atliekamas 2012–2018 m., naudojantis atskleistojo santykinio pranašumo indekso metodu. Remiantis tyrimo rezultatais galima teigti, kad daugiau nei pusė Europos Sąjungos valstybių yra konkurencingos maisto produktų ir gėrimų eksporto sektoriuje. Maisto produktų ir gėrimų sektorius dažniausiai nereikalauja daug ir išmanių technologijų, išskirtinių sąlygų, geografinių ar ekonominių galimybių, todėl dauguma Europos Sąjungos valstybių yra konkurencingos eksportuodamos maisto produktus ir gėrimus, šią poziciją išlaiko, o per ilgąjį laikotarpį – ją gerina. Maisto produktų ir gėrimų sektoriuje iš visų Europos Sąjungos valstybių konkurencingiausios – Latvija, Graikija, Danija, Ispanija, Lietuva, o atlikus išsamesnį šių valstybių eksporto konkurencingumo tyrimą pastebėta, kad valstybės labiausiai specializuojasi eksportuoti tuos maisto produktus, kuriems gaminti ar kitaip išgauti turi palankiausias sąlygas. Kita vertus, tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad konkurencingos maisto produktų ir gėrimų sektoriaus valstybės, eksportuodamos tam tikrus maisto produktus ir gėrimus, gali būti ir nekonkurencingos. Export competitiveness of European Union countries in the food and beverages sector is analyzed and assessed in the article. Research is carried out using the revealed comparative advantage index method for the period of 2012-2018. Research results showed that more than a half of European Union countries are competitive in the export of goods in the food and beverage sector. Food and beverage sector often does not require many or smart technologies, exceptional arrangements, geographic or economic opportunities thus making most of the European Union countries competitive in the food and beverage sector. Those countries also maintain their position in the long run and improve it. The most competitive of all European Union countries were found to be Latvia, Greece, Denmark, Spain and Lithuania, while having done the more comprehensive research of the export competitiveness of these countries it was noticed that the countries specialize most in the export of those food products and beverages, the production or procurement of which, they have, likely, the best possible conditions. On the other hand, research results showed that even those countries that are competitive in the export of goods in the food and beverage sector may not remain such in the export of particular food products and beverages.

Naujojo žmogaus sukūrimo idėjos užuomazgų galima rasti senovės Graikijoje ir Romoje, taip pat utopistų, švietėjų kūriniuose, teologiniuose tekstuose, tačiau ši ideologema galutinai susiformavo XIX a. pabaigoje, o bandymai ją realizuoti praktiškai sietini su (para)totalitarizmo įsigalėjimu. Vienas iš žinomiausių tokių bandymų pavyzdžių – siekis sukurti Naująjį sovietinį žmogų. Šis bandymas nuo kitų skiriasi komunistine ideologija, kuri kiekvienam reiškiniui suteikia „papildomų reikšmių ar funkcijų“ (Prozorov, 2013, p. 210). Kitaip tariant, visus dalykus SSRS galima suprasti ir paaiškinti tik diktatūros tikslu – utopinė ateities visuomenė „komunizmas“, kurios vardu valstybė viską ir visus reguliavo. Atsisakius siekių sukurti tobulą biologinį individą, ilgainiui susitelkta į ideologiškai teisingo naujojo žmogaus, komunizmo statytojo, formavimą. Švietimas buvo vienas iš pagrindinių šio uždavinio vykdytojų. Siekdami išsiaiškinti, kaip naujojo žmogaus vaizdinys atsispindėjo ugdymo (ypač pradinio) turinyje, išanalizavome 36 vadovėlius, išleistus 1925–1985 m. ir naudotus sovietinės Rusijos ir Baltijos valstybių mokyklose. Nors sąvoka „naujasis žmogus“ apima ir vyriškos, ir moteriškos lyties asmenį, vis dėlto dažniausiai omenyje turimas vyras. Šiame straipsnyje mes siekėme aptarti, kaip vadovėliuose pateiktas sovietinės moters paveikslas atkreipdami dėmesį į šiuos aspektus: kas būdinga naujajam sovietiniam vyrui ar moteriai? Ko sovietinis režimas tikėjosi iš moters „Naujojo sovietinio žmogaus“ projekto kontekste? Kaip „Naujojo sovietinio žmogaus“ projektas atspindėjo lyčių lygybės idėją? The “New Man” is a utopian concept that involves creating an ideal man and replacing the imperfect human being. The beginning of the ideas of creating the new man can be found in ancient Greece and Rome, in the works of utopians and educators, as well as in theological texts. Although this ideologeme as one of the constructs of modernity was fully formed by the end of the 19th century, the efforts to practically implement it are connected with the establishment of (para)totalitarianism. One of the best-known examples of such an attempt was the ambition to create the New Soviet Man. After giving up aspirations to create a perfect biological individual, in the long-term perfective, the main focus was laid on forming an ideologically correct New Man, a builder of communism. Education was seen as one of the key means of achieving this objective. Seeking to identify how the image of the New Man was reflected in the curriculum (primary in particular), 36 textbooks published between 1925–1985 and used in the state schools of Soviet Russia and the Baltic States were analysed. Although the concept of the New Man includes both the male and female person, the most frequently considered is a male. This article aims to discuss how textbooks represent the Soviet woman by considering the following aspects: what was specific to the New Soviet Man – Woman? What did the Soviet regime expect from women in the context of the New Soviet Man project? How did the project of New Man reflect the gender equality idea?

Background The COVID-19 pandemic exposes individuals to multiple stressors, such as quarantine, physical distancing, job loss, risk of infection, and loss of loved ones. Such a complex array of stressors potentially lead to symptoms of adjustment disorder. Objective This cross-sectional exploratory study examined relationships between risk and protective factors, stressors, and symptoms of adjustment disorder during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Data from the first wave of the European Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) longitudinal ADJUST Study were used. N = 15,563 participants aged 18 years and above were recruited in eleven countries (Austria, Croatia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden) from June to November 2020. Associations between risk and protective factors (e.g. gender, diagnosis of a mental health disorder), stressors (e.g. fear of infection, restricted face-to-face contact), and symptoms of adjustment disorder (ADNM-8) were examined using multivariate linear regression. Results The prevalence of self-reported probable adjustment disorder was 18.2%. Risk factors associated with higher levels of symptoms of adjustment disorder were female gender, older age, being at risk for severe COVID-19 illness, poorer general health status, current or previous trauma exposure, a current or previous mental health disorder, and longer exposure to COVID-19 news. Protective factors related to lower levels of symptoms of adjustment disorder were higher income, being retired, and having more face-to-face contact with loved ones or friends. Pandemic-related stressors associated with higher levels of symptoms of adjustment disorder included fear of infection, governmental crisis management, restricted social contact, work-related problems, restricted activity, and difficult housing conditions. Conclusions We identified stressors, risk, and protective factors that may help identify individuals at higher risk for adjustment disorder., HIGHLIGHTS We examined symptoms of adjustment disorder in 15,563 adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.The prevalence of probable adjustment disorder was 18.2%.We identified stressors, risk, and protective factors that may help identify individuals at higher risk for adjustment disorder.

The object of the paper is to research the celebration of calendar festivals within Finnish-Lithuanian and Greek-Lithuanian families in Finland and Greece respectively. The subject was approached mainly from the Lithuanian women’s perspective, since most of the mixed marriages involved Lithuanian females and rarely Lithuanian men in the countries chosen. Six main Lithuanian calendar festivals of different origins were in focus of the study. Three festivals belong to the Christian calendar: Christmas Eve (Kūčios), Christmas (Šv. Kalėdos) and Easter Day (Šv. Velykos); and the other three are national festivals significant for the State of Lithuania historically: 16th February (Day of Reinstating of the State of Lithuania), 11th March (Day of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania) and 6th July (Statehood Day). The aim of the research is to reveal how the calendar festivals referred to above are celebrated in the particular context of emigration: within mixed marriages. Available transnational connections suggest different forms of celebrating, which are shaped following certain strategies.

Dailėtyrininkės Rūtos JANONIENĖS ir vertėjos Almantės TRIANTAFYLLIDOU straipsnis skirtas paminėti graikų nepriklausomybės kovų pradžios 200-ąsias metines ir apžvelgti, kokį atgarsį 1821 m. įvykiai sukėlė Lietuvoje, anuomet buvusioje Rusijos imperijos sudėty. Tuometinės Lietuvos visuomenės požiūris į graikų sukilimą aptariamas remiantis 1821–1822 m. aukų graikams rinkimo sąrašais ir pranešimais apie graikų išsivadavimo kovas, skelbtais spaudoje, visų pirma Vilniuje leistame laikraštyje „Kuryer Litewski“. The article by the art historian Rūta JANONIENĖ and the translator Almantė TRIANTAFYLLIDOU commemorates the bicentenary of the Greek War of Independence, and reflects on the impact the events of 1821 had in Lithuania, which was th en part of the Russian Empire. The Lithuanian outlook on the Greek uprising is assessed by looking at 1821–1822 lists of donations for the people of Greece, and the available press reports of battles, first published in the Vilnius-based newspaper Kuryer Litewski (The Lithuanian Courier).

A comparative analysis of energy poverty transitions and persistence can provide valuable suggestions for long-term policy actions. This study examines the dynamics of energy poverty in 17 European countries based on the longitudinal household data from the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions, waves 2015–2018. The study pursues two goals. First, we explore households’ chances of transitioning in and out of energy poverty in each country following the discrete-time Markov process. On average, the probability to stay in energy poverty is 51.5%, and there is a lot of heterogeneity across countries. Households in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Lithuania are quite close to the energy poverty trap. Second, we identify factors that help energy-poor households leave energy poverty. Demographic, technical, and socio-economic factors are the drivers in escaping energy poverty, which suggests common EU policy. Keywords: energy poverty; persistence; dynamics; subjective indicator; mixed effect model; European countries.

Remdamiesi istoriniais šaltinias bei kritiniais tyrinėjimais, šiame darbe glaustai apžvelgsime komparatyvistikos raidą Vakarų indologinių tyrinėjimų kontekste, atkreipdami dėmesį į esmingesnius šios tarpkultūrinės sąveikos raidos procesus, metamorfozes ir išryškinsime metodologinių komparatyvizmo principų formavimosi dinamiką. Kaip formavosi klasikinė religinės-filosofinės Indijos kultūros regmė Vakaruose? Kokias prieštaras, transformacijas ir lūžius ši vizija patyrė? Kokius metodologinius lyginamųjų kultūrologinių tyrimų principus ji iškėlė? Present research gives a brief survey of the development of comparative studies in the context of the history of Indology, and deals with an analysis of the main models of reciprocity of the Western and Indian philosophical epistemes. The development of Indian studies reflects the main changes in the methodological approaches to comparative studies. Our investigation leads us to the following four main conceptual generalisations of these approaches. The first model of the superiority of Western culture goes back to the time of ancient Greece and appears in new conceptual forms.The most rigid background to it was shaped by Hegel’s conception of the progressive development of human history and philosophy. For that reason, comparative studies were considered as meaningless and worthless. The second comparative model, contrary to the first, was a eulogy and laudation of Indian intellectual and spiritual culture. Such an antiscientistic approach can be seen in the works of the Romantic Age and later as the attitude of the representatives of the various New Age movements and the new traditionalists. The third model has flourished since the middle of the 20th century, putting an emphasis on the contrasting characteristics of Western and Indian thought. So the cultural East-West dichotomy was overly stressed. The fourth model is based on the concept of "parallel developments" and insists on the fact that in different areas of the world similar intellectual problems and philosophical ideas emerge at certain stages of cultural development. It becomes clear that the old East-West cultural dichotomy is simply inadequate, and that the East is not a cultural unit. According to a representative of this comparative model, H.Nakamura, the history of ideas in each cultural area has undergone a similar development with respect to intellectual problems. The conclusion is drawn that India almost always served as a screen for the projection of the predominant conceptual attitudes of the West and as an area for its ideological manipulation. Allegedly neutral, the purely theoretical and objective scientific approach itself is the result of the particular historical and cultural development of the West. And this explains why India and the West still cannot meet as equal cultural partners.

2020 m. pradžioje COVID-19 virusui sukėlus pandemiją, jos sukeltus ekonominius nuostolius netruko pajusti visos šalys. Tampa aktualu įvertinti globalios ekonominės krizės mastą. Straipsnyje naudojami, lyginami ir analizuojami naujausi Pasaulio banko, Tarptautinio valiutos fondo, Europos bendradarbiavimo ir plėtros organizacijos, Pasaulio turizmo organizacijos, Europos Komisijos ir kt. institucijų duomenys bei ekspertinė analizė, siekiant nustatyti pasaulio ekonomikos bei turizmo tendencijas pandemijos metu. Atskiras dėmesys skiriamas pasaulinėms turizmo tendencijoms, kadangi pandemija privertė valstybes uždaryti sienas ir / arba taikyti kitus judėjimo apribojimus, kas nulėmė tai, jog turizmas tapo labiausiai nukentėjusiu ekonomikos sektoriumi krizės metu. COVID-19 pandemijos sukelta globali ekonominė krizė įvardijama kaip unikali dėl nuosmukio staigumo, „statumo“ ir gylio. Išsivysčiusių šalių ekonomika patiria didesnių ekonominių nuostolių nei likęs pasaulis, tačiau ir jų atsigavimas / augimas prognozuojamas spartesnis. Lietuvos ekonomika nuo pandemijos nukentėjo viena mažiausiai iš Europos Sąjungos šalių. Manoma, kad turizmo ekonomika pasauliniu mastu 2020 m. susitrauks 60 % ir tai 6–7 kartus didesnis nuosmukis nei bendro ekonomikos rodiklio BVP. Šalys, kuriose turizmo sektorius turi didžiausią ekonominę įtaką pagal šalies BVP (8–14 %) ir dirbančiųjų skaičių (7–10 %), patenka tarp didžiausius bendrus ekonominius nuostolius patyrusių šalių (13–20 %) skaičių. Tai Ispanija, Jungtinė Karalystė, Kroatija, Italija, Graikija, Portugalija, Prancūzija, Vokietija. Lietuvoje turizmo sektorius turi ženkliai menkesnę ekonominę įtaką (produkcijos vertė nuo BVP 3 %, darbuotojų skaičius – 4,8%) ir tai sutampa su mažesniais bendrais ekonominiais nuostoliais (1,5–5,5 %). Susidūrusios su didžiuliu ir staigiu ekonomikos susitraukimu, Europos Sąjungos šalys skubiai ėmėsi ekonomikos gaivinimo. Fiskalinės drausmės saugikliai (3 % biudžeto deficito nuo BVP bei 60 % valstybės skolos nuo BVP) buvo suspenduoti, tačiau gelbėjimo planai turės įtakos valstybių biudžeto tvarumui. Lietuvos ekonominės pagalbos planas (5 milijardai eurų, apie 10 % nuo BVP), valstybės skolos (41,4 % nuo BVP pandemijos metu ir 50,2 % 2021 m.), biudžeto deficito (7,0 % pandemijos metu ir 5,5 % 2021 m.) rodikliai išlieka vieni mažiausių ES. When the COVID-19 virus caused a pandemic at the beginning of 2020, all countries felt the economic damage soon. It is essential to assess the extent of the global economic crisis. The article uses, compares and analyses the latest data from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Tourism Organization, the European Commission and others, as well as their expert analysis to identify global economic and tourism trends during a pandemic. Particular attention is paid to global tourism trends, as the pandemic has forced countries to close borders and/or impose other restrictions on the movement of people, which has led to tourism being identified as the most affected economic sector during the crisis. The global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is described as unique due to the “fastest and steepest” of the recession. The economies of developed countries are suffering more significant economic losses than the rest of the world, but their recovery/growth is also projected to be faster. The Lithuanian economy has been hit the least of the European Union countries since the pandemic. The global tourism economy is expected to shrink by 60% in 2020, which is a 6-7 times larger decline than the general economic drop (GDP). The countries where the tourism sector has the most considerable economic impact in terms of the country’s GDP (8-14%) and employment (7-10%) are among the countries with the highest total economic losses (13-20%). These are Spain, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Italy, Greece, Portugal, France, Germany. In Lithuania, the tourism sector has a significantly lower economic impact (3% of GDP, 4.8% of total workers) and this coincides with lower total financial losses (1.5-5.5% of GDP). In the face of a severe and sharp economic contraction, the countries of the European Union have embarked on an urgent help for economic recovery. Safeguards on fiscal discipline (3% of GDP deficit and 60% of government debt to GDP) have been suspended; however, rescue plans will have an impact on the sustainability of public finances. Lithuania’s economic aid plan (EUR 5 billion, which consists of about 10% of GDP), public debt (41.4% of GDP during the pandemic and 50.2% in 2021), the budget deficit (7.0% during the pandemic and 5.5% in 2021) provide indicators that remain among the lowest in the EU.

Pagrindinis straipsnyje atliktos filosofinės analizės tikslas – apibrėžti darnaus vystymosi koncepcijos filosofinius pagrindus. Esminį probleminį analizės lauką sudaro darnaus vystymosi koncepcijos filosofinės prasmės analizė, siekiant atskleisti šios sąvokos metafizinių, etinių ir ekologinių parametrų sinergiją. Šiame straipsnyje keliama problema – teigiama, kad tvaraus vystymosi koncepcija susijusi ne tik su žmonių, bet ir su pasaulio, kuriame jie gyvena, gerove, tad darnaus vystymosi koncepcija gali būti suprantama kaip holistinė filosofija, apimanti klasikines filosofines perspektyvas, taip pat harmonizuojanti ir integruojanti ekonominės, sociopolitinės ir ekologinės sistemų veiklą. Siekiama išanalizuoti ir atskleisti darnaus vystymosi koncepcijos formavimosi filosofinį kontekstą, išanalizuoti klasikinių etinių filosofijos teorijų reikšmę darnaus vystymosi koncepcijai, holistinį filosofinį požiūrį ir pagrįsti jo reikšmę darnaus vystymosi koncepcijai. Teigiama, kad darnaus vystymosi koncepcija, tapusi konkrečiu šių laikų gerovės atskaitos tašku, kyla iš senovės Graikijos filosofų vartotos arche sąvokos ir išlaiko jai būdingą archajišką prasminį kontekstą. Problemos, su kuriomis susiduria darnaus vystymosi koncepcija, tokios kaip žmogaus veiksmų pasekmės ir vertinimas pasaulyje arba požiūris į gamtos išteklius ir jų išsaugojimą ateities kartoms, atsakingas buvimas pasaulyje ir kitos, iš esmės yra filosofinės, glaudžiai susijusios su klasikinėmis filosofijos teorijomis. Šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjamos klasikinės etinės filosofijos teorijos, atskleidžiamas jų ryšys su darnaus vystymosi koncepcija. Siekiant geriau suvokti etinių filosofijos teorijų principų reikšmę darnaus vystymosi koncepcijai, analizuojama klasikinių utilitarinės ir deontologinės etinių teorijų vertybių bei posūkio į holizmo filosofiją įtaka ir reikšmė. Holistinė filosofinė prieiga įgalina darnaus vystymosi koncepciją suvokti kaip sudėtingą ir daugialypę būties plėtros viziją, įgalinančią darnų ekonominės, politinės, švietimo ir kultūros sričių veikimą, kuris neįmanomas, neįveiklinus klasikinių etinių vertybių, siekiant tvaraus žmonijos klestėjimo. Straipsnyje taikomi teoriniai filosofijos metodai: sisteminė mokslinės literatūros analizė, teorinė lyginamoji analizė, kritinio teksto rekonstravimas, teorinis apibendrinimas. Šie metodai leidžia pasiekti straipsnio tikslą ir įgyvendinti išsikeltus uždavinius. Remiantis atlikta analize, galima teigti, kad klasikinės etinės filosofijos teorijos gali padėti priimti sprendimus, kurie užtikrintų darnų vystymąsi. Laikantis klasikinės etinio utilitarizmo teorijos, kuri įgalina maksimaliai išnaudoti visus turimus išteklius ir padidinti bendrą naudą, galima įžvelgti tiesioginį ryšį su darnaus vystymosi koncepcija. Kadangi utilitarizmas visus žmones, kartais ir nežmogiškas būtybes laiko lygiaverčiais moraliniais agentais, kurie gali būti vienodai naudingi, galima teigti, kad utilitaristinė pasaulėžiūra įpareigoja prisiimti atsakomybę už savo veiksmų pasekmes ir taip užtikrina būsimų pasekmių tvarumą. Remiantis deontologine etine teorija, veiksmai vertinami atsižvelgiant ne į jų pasekmes, o į tai, ar jie atliekami sąmoningai ir ar įmanoma juos universalizuoti. Tokia pasaulėžiūra įgalina apmąstyti ne tik veiksmus ir jų pasekmes, bet ir motyvus, siekiant darnaus žmonijos vystymosi. Filosofiniu požiūriu, darnus vystymasis šiais laikais gali būti suprantamas kaip holistinė etika, grindžiama darnios ekologinės sistemos vertės viršenybe ekonominės sistemos atžvilgiu. Holistinė filosofinė prieiga leidžia darnaus vystymosi koncepciją traktuoti kaip integralią ekonominių, socialinių-politinių ir ekologinių sistemų veiklą, kurios darniam veikimui ir iššūkių įveikimui būtinas vertybinis pagrindas bei atviras filosofinis dialogas. The main aim of the research is to reveal the philosophical foundations of the concept of sustainable development. The scope of this research includes an analysis of the philosophical meaning of the concept of sustainable development, focusing on the revealing of the synergy of metaphysical, ethical and ecological parameters of this concept. To give a deeper understanding about different opinions and approaches to sustainable development, there will be an interpretation of some theoretical perspective both about sustainable development and also about different philosophical theories and how they are related sustainable development. The concept of sustainable development is not only concerned with the well-being of people but also of the world where human live, therefore the concept of sustainable development can be understood as holistic philosophy that includes classical philosophical prospects as well as harmonizes and integrates the activities of economic, sociopolitical and ecological system. Therefore, in this article are raised concrete tasks: to analyze the literature and reveal the philosophical context of the formation of the concept of sustainable development; to analyze classical ethical philosophical theories and argue their significance for the concept of sustainable development; to analyze a holistic philosophical approach and to argue its significance for the concept of sustainable development.

The informational age is marked by the Internet and the media as key factors, with complex mutual interactions. However, they are recognized to increasingly produce negative consequences, such as Problematic Internet Use (PIU) and its inadequate media portrayal. This study represents a comprehensive approach on the media portrayal of PIU via content analysis of national daily newspapers in eight countries from the Eurasian continent. The cross-sectional research included predefined intervals in 2014 and 2018. The search retrieved 212 articles with balanced distribution for designated periods, and predominant publishing in the largest countries. The results revealed that the articles with neutral narratives and national scopes are the most frequent, while the coverage on youth risks (like cyberbullying and excessive social media use) is predominant. This study is a pioneer attempt to give multinational and multi-layered portrayal on the stories that grab the media attention, dictate public interest and guide health policies. Key words: Problematic Internet Use, media portrayal, content analysis, daily newspapers.

Straipsnyje aprašomos trys metaforiškai įvardijamos ugdymo sampratos: antikinė ugdytojo kaip skulptoriaus, naujųjų amžių ugdytojo kaip sodininko ir mūsų laikais besiformuojanti ugdytojo kaip vedlio. Visos ugdymo sampratos pateikia konkretų atsakymą į ugdymo problemą, kuri kyla iš žmogaus apspręstumo būti neapspręstam, todėl nuo ugdytojo priklauso žmogaus formavimas. Ugdytojas kaip skulptorius šią problemą sprendžia priverstinai primesdamas ugdytiniams iš anksto suformuotą ugdymo sampratą. Ugdytojas kaip sodininkas priima kiekvieną mokinį ir jį arba ją ugdo atsižvelgdamas į individualius gabumus. Ugdytojas kaip vedlys suderina skulptoriaus ir sodininko ugdymo būdus: kaip skulptorius turi ugdymo vyksmo viziją, o kaip sodininkas stengiasi, kad kiekvienas mokinys šį kelią nueitų pats. Ugdytojo kaip skulptoriaus ugdymo samprata yra socialistinė, o ugdytojo kaip sodininko - liberali. Ugdytojas kaip vedlys atitinka mūsų laikais besiformuojančią politikos sampratą, kurios uždavinys - suderinti socializmą su liberalizmu. The article attempts to classify the change in the conceptions of education in the Western culture from antiquity to the present day. This is done through the metaphors of the sculptor, the gardener and the guide. The first section of the article, "The Problem of Education", states that each conception of education provides a finite and limited answer to an educational problem while this problem is universal. It consists of the recognition that a human is biologically determined to be undetermined, therefore, what a growing person will become depends on how he or she will be formed by the educators. Therefore, education is not a natural but a cultural completion of the human. In ancient Greece, education παιδεία (paideia) was considered to be one of the main tasks of schools of philosophy and was therefore a discipline of philosophy. Plato formulates the problem of education in the dialogue Republic. In this work, Plato raises a question of what a just state is, and discovers that a just state cannot be created without a proper education of young people. Therefore, another question arises from the question about a just society: "What is the right education for young people?" Plato writes: "Education (paideia) is the art of rotating that tool (namely, the human sight from the opinion to the truth - A.D.) and by tracing how it can be rotated most easily and effectively - not to give the vision, because he or she already has it, but to figure out how to turn it correctly, after it has been turned wrong, and not looking where it should" (Plato, Republic: 518 d). Thus, the human nature, according to Plato, is this: at first a false vision of things is given, and later a person is taught through education to move from the opinion to the truth. The metaphors of the sculptor, gardener, and guide describe a concrete and finite way of human education. The section "Educator as a sculptor" states that, in antiquity, the sculptor method of education prevailed. The human education was understood as a modelling of an adult sculpture. In antiquity, the condition of a child had no independent value, it had to be overcome by modelling an adult sculpture. Here, the child was understood as a future adult who must overcome a child’s condition as quickly as possible by modelling his or her sculpture as an adult. In the case of a sculptor, we start with the universalities of thinking. They are forcibly imposed on the realm of individualities by formation of this sphere. The educator in the process of education often finds himself or herself in a situation where he or she stands in front of a student as a sculptor in front of a piece of marble or clay, having a lesson plan or a more general educational project as a sculptor in his or her mind, and attempting to introduce this knowledge to the pupils to assimilate. Thus, the educator, as a sculptor, has conceived an educational project that specifies how the youth should be educated, and monologically, deductively, without taking into account the individual needs of the learners, introducing them to the educational situation. The section "Educator as a gardener" states that in the case of a gardener, it starts with an insight and in listening to the differences, which in turn form the communality of thinking. The educator in the course of education often finds himself or herself in a situation where he or she cares for a particular learner, developing his or her talents and abilities and compensating for shortcomings. Like a gardener takes care of a specific tree in his or her garden, starting not so much with a general educational model or a project for all learners without exception, but rather with individual educational needs arising from that particular educated individual and his or her uniqueness. With the Christianity, the attitude unprecedented in the Greek culture appeared in the West that only those who are children in their spirit would inherit the otherworld. However, Christianity was still subordinated to the conception of original sin, and it was believed that even a child is born corrupted by sin. Therefore, it was only in the new centuries with the conception of Rousseau's return to nature that a child's condition was inherently privileged and superior in its own way to that of an adult, because the child is born innocent, undamaged and not corrupted by human customs and culture. As a result, for a modern man, a child and a childhood stage in general embody a certain ideal of being. The section "Educator as a guide" states that if an educator wants to perform quality educational work, he or she cannot be merely a sculptor or merely a gardener because these are the two extremes of the educational process. The future educator should be a guide who would harmonise the educational method of the sculptor and the gardener in the course of education. According to the etymology of the Latin word educate - educere, which is a shorter form of the phrase ex ducere, meaning to lead to some new region, the educator is a guide. The purpose of education is to pull a learner out of the field of ignorance to the field of knowledge. The educator as a guide takes the learner from the region of ignorance and guides him or her to the region of knowledge. Therefore, a philosophically understood method of the guide as an educator is to lead the educator to the being. Education is leading young people from the opinion to the truth.

This article, we presented the results of the analysis of donor and recipient countries on the balance of migration movements for the period from 2006 to 2017. As a result, we identified 23 countries that are most attractive to migrants, of which the largest number migrants are: Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Sweden, France, Switzerland. Ten countries that actively leave migrants were withdrawn: Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Greece, Croatia, Portugal, Bulgaria, Estonia, Moldova. It is to these countries that migrants annually spend more than 18 trillion euros to support their families in their former homeland. The study made it possible to identify two key factors contributing to the successful acquisition by pre-term migrants of citizenship in host countries: the level of labor productivity (which depends on education and professional competencies) and the presence of basic or higher basic digital skills. Thus, the level of education, competencies, qualifications, have an impact on the growth of labor productivity and, consequently, contribute to the successful acquisition of citizenship by migrants in receiving countries.

Negausūs mokyklos konsultantų įvairių darbo aspektų tyrimų rezultatai yra nevienaprasmiai, kartais net prieštarauja vieni kitiems, tačiau atskleidžia pakankamai daug nepageidaujamų karjeros / mokyklos konsultantų darbo aspektų. Tyrimo tikslas – išanalizuoti ir palyginti konsultavimo mokykloje profesionalų darbo ypatumų raišką Lietuvoje, Italijoje, Graikijoje ir Airijoje. Tyrimas atliktas vykdant projektą SUCCESS*. Konsultavimo mokykloje profesionalų apklausa vyko 2018 m. vasario ir kovo mėnesiais. Apklausti 289 mokyklos konsultantai iš Lietuvos, Italijos, Airijos ir Graikijos. Duomenims surinkti buvo naudota internetinė apklausa pagal specialiai sukurtą klausimyną. Tyrimas atskleidė, kad tiek karjeros, tiek akademinio konsultavimo funkcijos mokyklose skirtingose šalyse priskiriamos skirtingų kvalifikacijų mokyklose dirbantiems profesionalams. Rezultatai parodė, kad visose šalyse mokyklos konsultantai vykdo įvairias konsultavimo veiklas, bet skiriasi tiek šių konsultavimo veiklų atlikimo dažnis įvairiose šalyse, tiek ir konsultantų pasirengimo konsultuoti lygis. Tyrimas atskleidė, kad konsultavimo mokykloje profesionalų pasitenkinimas darbu aukštesnis nei vidutinis. Nepaisant požiūrio į konsultantų profesinį tobulėjimą skirtumų, visi konsultantai nurodė didesnį nei vidurkis poreikį tobulinti savo profesines kompetencijas. The technological revolution, the ever-changing economic and political conditions, and the resulting changes in life and work environments impede career planning for young people and pose challenges for career counselors in career orientation. Nowadays, career counselors have to not only assist students in planning and implementing individual, social, academic, and career goals, but they must also help the school community to ensure the effective functioning of schools in general. There is a lack of studies focusing on various aspects of career counselors’ professional activities, with the existing studies providing inconsistent or even contradictory results. Another problem lies in the huge gap between the theoretical, methodological, and methodical career counseling models and real counseling experience. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of analyzing and comparing the characteristics of career counselors’ professional activities in Lithuania, Italy, Greece, and Ireland. The study was part of the project “Strategies to Utilise and Cultivate Positive Characteristics & Employability Skills in Schools” (SUCCESS, 2017-12-LT01-KA201-035247). In total, 289 school career counselors from Lithuania, Italy, Ireland, and Greece were surveyed. Most of the participants (90 percent) were female, and their age varied between 25 and 60 years. In all countries, the professional experience of career counseling varied between 1 and 10 years. The results of this study revealed that across different countries, career professionals with different educational backgrounds perform career counseling. In Lithuania, career counselors are mainly psychologists, in Italy – teachers, in Ireland – consultants, and in Greece – teachers, psychologists, and consultants that carry out career counselling. The results have also shown that in all these countries career counselors perform various career counseling activities: career information, career assessment, career education, and career consulting using (non)psychological methods, although the frequency of these activities and the subjective readiness for them is different across countries. The counselors in all countries are satisfied with their jobs. Despite the existing differences in needs for professional development, all counselors expressed a higher-than-average need to develop their career counseling competencies.

Atsižvelgiant į karjeros konsultavimo svarbą moksleivių būsimos karjeros sėkmei (Lindwall & Coleman, 2008), nemažai dėmesio skiriama karjeros konsultantų veiklos efektyvumo prielaidoms analizuoti, daugiausia dėmesio – individualiems karjeros konsultantų ypatumams, ypač saviveiksmingumo svarbai (Sawyer et al., 2013). Tačiau esami tyrimai neatskleidžia mechanizmo, leidžiančio įvardyti, kodėl didesniu saviveiksmingumu pasižymintiems karjeros konsultantams yra būdingi ir geresni veiklos rezultatai. Todėl atliktas tyrimas, kurio tikslas – ištirti mokykloje dirbančių karjeros konsultantų saviveiksmingumo vaidmenį darbo išteklių (galimybės tobulėti ir grįžtamojo ryšio) ir pasitenkinimo karjeros konsultanto veikla bei tikslų pasiekimo sąsajoms. Tyrimas atliktas vykdant projektą SUCCESS*. 246 karjeros konsultavimo mokykloje profesionalai apklausti 2018 m. vasario–kovo mėnesiais keturiose šalyse: Lietuvoje, Italijoje, Airijoje ir Graikijoje. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė saviveiksmingumo svarbą pasitenkinimui karjeros konsultavimo veikla ir tikslams pasiekti. Nustatyta, kad galimybės tobulėti ir grįžtamojo ryšio darbo ištekliai prognozuoja pasitenkinimą, o per jį ir tikslų pasiekimą tik esant dideliam saviveiksmingumui. Taigi galimybė tobulėti ir grįžtamasis ryšys yra svarbesni ir geriau panaudojami tų konsultantų, kurie labiau pasitiki savo profesiniais gebėjimais įveikti netikėtas kliūtis ir problemas darbe, jaučiasi pasirengę susidoroti su darbo reikalavimais ir pasiekti darbo tikslus. Career counsellors working at schools are expected to promote students’ social, emotional, academic, and career development (Lindwall & Coleman, 2008). Despite the importance of career counselling at school (Anctil, Smith, Schenck, & Dahir, 2012; Osborn & Baggerly, 2004), school counsellors face barriers to implementing career counselling, including limited time because of competing demands, negative perceptions about career counselling from parents, teachers, and administration, and low school counsellor self-efficacy (Sanders, Welfare, & Culver, 2017). Considering the importance of career counselling and challenging working conditions, studies usually focus on individual antecedents of effective career counselling (Sawyer et al., 2013). Existing research reveals that self-efficacious consultants provide higher-quality career consulting services to various groups of employees (Bodenhorn & Skaggs, 2005; Larson & Daniels, 1998), are more satisfied with their job and experience less stress (Lent & Hackett, 1987). According to Larson and Daniels (1998), self-efficacy is the essential factor of successful career counselling. However, existing studies do not disclose the mechanism of why career consultants with higher self-efficacy perform consulting activities better. Therefore, this study is aimed to analyse the role of self-efficacy in the relationship between job resources (opportunity to develop and feedback), satisfaction with career counselling and goal attainment among career counsellors working at schools. The study was part of the project “Strategies to Utilise and Cultivate Positive Characteristics & Employability Skills in Schools” (SUCCESS, 2017-12-LT01- KA201-035247). In total, 246 school career counsellors from Lithuania, Italy, Ireland, and Greece were surveyed online. Most of the participants (88.6 percent) were female, and their age varied between 25 and 60 years. In all countries, the professional experience of career counselling varied between 1 and more than 10 years. The results of the study revealed the importance of self-efficacy for satisfaction with career counselling and goal attainment. Self-efficacy moderated the relationship between the opportunity for development and feedback and satisfaction with career counselling, i. e. the opportunity for development and feedback and satisfaction predicted satisfaction with career counselling only when self-efficacy was high. Furthermore, the opportunity for development and feedback were indirectly related to goal attainment through satisfaction with career counselling only when self-efficacy was high. In other words, job resources are more important and better used by those career counsellors who rely on their abilities, can remain calm when facing difficulties in their job and find solutions when confronted with a problem. The limitations of the study together with practical implications are discussed.

Visos pastangos paaiškinti kitą nuolat nueina perniek. Bet koks bandymas sukurti išbaigtą kito įvaizdį atskleidžia tik tai, kad tas kitas pasirodo esąs daugiau, nei bet koks įvaizdis ar paaiškinimas gali aprėpti. Tokios aplinkybės, net ir kito neigimo atveju, reikalauja dialogiško santykio, apimančio tiek aiškintoją, tiek ir kitą. Sokratiškoji Vakarų civilizacijos pradžia buvo giliai dialogiška, tačiau tokios tendencijos, pavydžiui, kaip mokslai ar teologija, pasuko šią kultūrą monologiškų doktrinų link. Nepriklausomai nuo monologiškumo rūšies, kiekviena doktrina tvirtina apimanti kitą savąja logika, savo ruožtu atimdama iš to kito lygiavertį balsą. Vis dėlto tokie kultūrų užkariavimo pavyzdžiai kaip rasizmas ar kolonializmas atskleidžia, kad kito balsas niekur nedingsta, net jei jis ir paneigiamas. Tačiau pačią ryškiausią monologišką logiką atskleidžia mokslinis redukcionizmas, kuris viską suprastina į vieną ontologinį pagrindą – fragmentuojančią materializmo logiką. Efforts to explain the other constantly fail. The creation of images reveals the presence of the other who appears both as an excess of any explanation and as a condition for the understanding of the diversity of such images. Even in its denial, such presence demands a dialogical dimension which includes both the explainer and the other. The birth of Western civilization, in its Socratic mode, was profoundly dialogical. Various trends, such as scientism and theology, shifted discourse to monological doctrines. Regardless of the kind of monologue, each claimed to subsume the other in its own logic, depriving the other of equal voice. Yet what is significant is that such a voice was always present – even in its denial. Good examples come from cultural conquests, racisms and colonialisms. Yet the most pronounced monological logic is scientific reductionism to a single ontological base: the fragmenting logic of materialism.

This paper has aimed to consider how government expenditure contributes to economic growth by focusing on both the level and composition of government spending, in connection to the dynamics of GDP per capita growth. The investigation covers the period from 1997 to 2017. The authors have applied total expenditure approach analyzing interrelationships between government expenditure and economic growth and division approach examining and comparing the distributions of government expenditure in the selected European Union countries. The authors have applied descriptive statistics, the Pearson’s correlation, intensity rate of structural changes and Finger-Kreinin indicator. The findings have suggested the following: 1) there is no evidence on the relationship between General government expenditure and economic development in the European Union countries; 2) the countries with a greater proportion of productive spending, such as Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Hungary, Estonia, Slovakia have a low GDP per capita indicator. Economically strong countries, such as Denmark, France and Sweden have relatively low level of productive expenditure; 3) economically stronger countries have more stable compositions of government expenditure than economically weaker ones; 4) the countries with a similar real GDP per capita have been characterized by more similar government spending structures. As the economic gap between countries grows, divergence in allocation of government spending increases. The findings of this research could provide important guideline for the managing of government expenditure in the European Union countries. Moreover, it can serve as a guideline to a public budget management in the countries under consideration.

The aim of the research is to assess and discuss the diversity of energy production and consumption in European Union countries. The time scope covers the years 2007 and 2016. The diversity of EU countries was examined using the cluster analysis. The following diagnostic features were adopted for the analysis: energy dependency rate (in %), gross inland consumption of energy per 10,000 inhabitants (toe/10,000 inhabitants), primary production of energy (all products) per 10,000 inhabitants (toe/10,000 inhabitants), primary production of renewable energies per 10,000 inhabitants (toe/10,000 inhabitants), primary production of energy (without renewable energy) per 10,000 inhabitants (toe/10,000 inhabitants). Comparing the included indicators from 2016 to 2007 for all EU countries, an increase was recorded only for the primary production of renewable energies per 10,000 inhabitants,. Based on the cluster analysis, the examined countries were divided into six groups. According to the results of the research carried out, Northern and Eastern European countries are characterized by low energy dependence. However, according to the analysis carried out, this dependence is guaranteed based on various energy sources. The Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Finland) owe their high independence to the production of large amounts of energy from renewable sources. On the other hand, countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia and the whole of Eastern Europe are based on primary energy sources such as: coal, oil and gas. Southern Europe countries (Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta) are characterized by high energy dependence, as evidenced by low rates in the area of energy production, both in total and renewable and non-renewable energy production.

While analysing constitutions of various countries in the legal literature, typically not only the form and the content but also the structure of the constitution is discussed. The structure of the constitution is an internal organisational order of the norms of the constitution. Although every state’s constitution has a unique structure, certain regularities can be discerned. The analysis of the structure of various constitutions leads to the conclusion that normally each constitution consists of the following standard structural parts: the preamble, the main part, the final, transitional or additional provisions, and in some constitutions there can also be annexes. The article confirms that most constitutions begin with an introductory part, the preamble. Only the constitutions of several countries (e.g. Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Greece) contain no preamble. The preamble reflects the historical context and the circumstances of the adoption of a constitution, names the goals of the constitutional regulation, fortifies the values to be attained, declares the key political principles or even the fundamental human rights and freedoms, etc. Often the preamble reveals the methods of adoption of a constitution. The preamble is an important structural part of the constitution that helps to understand the established constitutional regulation. The principles enshrined in it can be considered a significant argument for the constitutional justice institutions while solving the case of whether the law or any other legal act in question contradicts the constitution. The preamble is not only a political, ideological, and/or philosophical category; it undoubtedly also carries a legal burden, therefore it is considered to have legal validity. Preambles are characterized as having a so-called higher style; they are usually formulated not in compliance with the requirements of legal technique.

Europos Sąjunga pastaraisiais metais patyrė didžiausią pabėgėlių ir prieglobsčio prašytojų antplūdį, kuris tęsiasi iki šiol. Ši tema aktuali ir Lietuvai, nes valstybė įsipareigojo priimti 1105 prieglobsčio prašytojus iš Graikijos ir Turkijos, o jų sėkminga integracija priklauso nuo Vyriausybės priimtų įstatymų. Šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjama tarptautinės prieglobsčio teisės koncepcija, analizuojami prieglobsčio gavėjų integracijos sistemos teisinio reguliavimo ypatumai Lietuvoje. Teisinių dokumentų analizė ir patirtis, dirbant su pabėgėliais, parodė esamos teorinės sistemos ir jos praktinio įgyvendinimo neatitikimą. Autorė atskleidžia pabėgėlių integracijos problemas, kai būtina reguliuoti visuomeninius santykius, tačiau nėra atitinkamos konkrečiam atvejui taikytinos teisinės normos. Kartu aptariami Lietuvos integracijos politikos prioritetai ir teisiniai dokumentai, tačiau pagrindinis dėmesys skiriamas valstybės paramos prieglobsčio gavėjų integracijai, teikimo tvarkos aprašo teorinei analizei ir, remiantis praktine patirtimi, jo įgyvendinimo priemonėms. Analizė atskleidė, kad pabėgėlių integracijos priemonių įgyvendinimas apsunkinamas dėl ilgalaikės pabėgėlių integracijos politikos Lietuvoje nebuvimo, valstybinio ir privačiojo sektoriaus bendradarbiavimo stokos bei visuomenėje vyraujančių neigiamų nuostatų, todėl nebėra ryšio tarp teisinių normų ir visuomeninių santykių, tai būtina reguliuoti. In recent years the European Union has experienced an unprecedented influx of refugees and asylum seekers that has continued up until now. This issue is relevant to Lithuania as well, since the country has committed to host 1105 asylum seekers from Greece and Turkey, and their successful integration to large extent depends on legislation adopted by the Government. The present article analyses the concept of the international asylum law and the peculiarities of legal regulation of the refugee integration system in Lithuania. Both the analysis of legislative documents and experience in working with refugees has disclosed a gap between the existing theoretical system and its implementation in practice. The author discloses the problems of the refugee integration, when regulation of the social relationships is required; however there is no relevant legal norm that could be applicable in a particular case. The article also discusses the priorities and regulatory documents of the Lithuanian policy on integration; however the main focus is made on the theoretical analysis of the Description of the Procedure for Providing State Support for the Refugee Integration and – referring to the practical experience – on insights into its implementation measures. The analysis has disclosed that implementation of the refugee integration measures is hindered due to lack of a long-term policy on the refugee integration in Lithuania, lack of collaboration between the state and private sector and prevalent negative attitudes in the society; the above factors result in loss of interrelation between the legal norms and the social relationships that are to be regulated.

Playfulness is an integral part of pedagogy of play and includes elements such as humour, teasing, mimicry, riddles and rhymes, singing and chanting, shared activity in different contexts and with different resources (human and material), laughter, clowning, fooling around, inventing rules and rituals to begin, maintain and end play, wit, spontaneity, telling and laughing at jokes. Development of pre-school education in Lithuania and Greece has similarities and differences. The research was carried out in February/September, 2014 in pre-school education institutions of Lithuania and Greece. The chosen method of a research is a questionnaire, which was quantitatively analysed. 186 teachers in Lithuania and 197 teachers in Greece filled in a questionnaire. When analysing the data regarding the playful atmosphere teachers attempted to foster in kindergarten, the differences between the countries were statistically highly significant in all cases but one. In order to understand and maintain a playful education/learning, it is very important to observe children’s reactions, moods during both spontaneous and teacher-initiated activities for children (Broadhead, Wood, Howard, 2010). Teacher-initiated activities must be not less playful than the children’s spontaneous activity.

Recenzijoje aptariama Irenos Vaišvilaitės knyga „Pasivaikščiojimai po krikščioniškąjį Vilnių“, kurią išleido Baltų lankų leidykla 2017 m. Knygoje nubrėžiami šeši krikščioniškieji maršrutai – keturi pirmieji skiriami katalikiškajam (lotynų) Vilniui, po vieną – Rytų krikščionims (stačiatikiams, unitams, sentikiams) ir evangelikams. I. Vaišvilaitė nedėsto istorijos, bet, pristatydama vieną ar kitą šventovę, paaiškina jos sukūrimo peripetijas ir tolesnį likimą, iš fragmentų susidėliodama istorinį kontekstą. Pirmasis pasivaikščiojimas pradedamas nuo Katedros, kuri išaugusi ant keliasluoksnio istorinio pamato, pradedant hipotetine pagonių šventykla ar Mindaugo katedra. Per antrąjį pasivaikščiojimą gidė veda į Šv. Jono bažnyčią, įaugusią į senojo Vilniaus universiteto kompleksą. Trečiąjį pasivaikščiojimą autorė skiria pranciškoniškajam Vilniui, pasakoja apie vienuoliją. Ketvirtą pasivaikščiojimą po katalikišką Vilnių autorė skiria senosioms katalikiškoms vienuolijoms ir jų bažnyčioms. Penktasis pasivaikščiojimas skirtas Rytų bažnyčioms. Šeštasis pasivaikščiojimas po Evangelikų bažnyčias yra pats trumpiausias. Dėl kai kurių teiginių galima preištarauti ne tiek autorei, kiek mūsų valstybei – turto restitucija religinėms bendruomenėms buvo pernelyg plati, neatsižvelgta, kad šiandien religinis gyvenimas smarkiai susiaurėjęs. Knyga praturtina krikščioniškojo Vilniaus vaizdą, punktyrais nusibrėždama ir keliasluoksnį istorinį Lietuvos kontekstą.

Straipsnis skirtas muzikos problematikai kūrybos visuomenėje, svarstomos muzikos ir žaidimo intersekcijos. Šis tyrimas sutelktas ties aktualia abipusių muzikos ir lyderystės sąsajų tematika. Tiek muzikos galimybės bei privalumai, tiek jos pavojai, jei muzika naudojama manipuliacijos tikslais, traukia filosofų ir sociologų dėmesį. Autoriai nagrinėja, kokia muzikos įtaka tiek savikūros, tiek savęs naikinimo procesuose. Tyrimas pradedamas glausta apžvalga iš filosofijos istorijos perspektyvos, primenama, kad jau antikinės Graikijos filosofas Platonas vertino muzikos vaidmenį edukaciniais tikslais, ugdant lyderystės savybes, taip pat pastebėjo ir jos pavojus, kai netinkamai naudojama gali pakenkti jaunimo protams, tapti nedorų lyderių piktnaudžiavimo įrankiu. Analizuojamas modernizmo filosofų F. Nietzsche’s bei M. Heideggerio požiūriai į muziką ir jos vaidmenį ugdant lyderio savybes. Autoriai prieina prie išvadų, kad muzikos pasaulyje tikėtini esminiai pokyčiai, o jos reikšmė ir įtaka visuomenei dar labiau augs. Muzika, tikslingai naudojama, taps veiksmingu įrankiu ugdant asmens lyderio savybes. Present research deals with the topic of music in creative society, analyses various intersections between music and game. The research is focused on the relevant topic of mutual relations between music and leadership. Both, possibilities and advantages of music, as well as its dangers, when used for the purposes of manipulation, attract interest of scholars, philosophers and sociologists. The authors deal with the influence of music in the process of self-creation, or opposite – self-destruction. The research begins with a brief philosophical review of possible advantages and disadvantages of music and its influence on the process of education of youths and formation of the qualities of leaders. As said, this research is focused on a stream (trend) which is evaluated between leadership and music. A picture from a probable scenario and future is presented which has not sensed till now. This mentioned picture can be considered as a weak signal from a bigger universal image. The hermeneutic approach and trend analysis were the main methods of this research, and finally the authors come to the conclusion that in the world of music one may expect fundamental changes and their influence would even grow. When properly used, music will become an effective tool in the process of development of leadership skills.

Straipsnyje analizuojama individualaus verslo teisinio reglamentavimo Lietuvoje raida ir šio verslo reikšmė šalies ekonomikai. Daroma išvada, kad, vertinant istoriniu požiūriu, individuali įmonė yra pirmoji teisinė verslo forma. Tinkamas individualaus verslo teisinis reglamentavimas skatina visuomenės verslumą, jos konkurencingumą, visuomenės vidurinio sluoksnio susiformavimą ir stiprėjimą. Article is prepared during the performance of the scientific research "The convergence and divergence of legal forms of business: does Lithuanian legal regulation is attractive in international context", which is financed by the Research Council of Lithuania. The article deals with the evolution of legal regulation of individual business in Lithuania and with the present legal forms of business – individual entrepreneurship and individual enterprise. The legal regulation of individual entrepreneurship is analysed from the historical, statistical and comparative point of view. The conclusion is made that the number of individual enterprises and peoples, involved in individual entrepreneurship reflects entrepreneurship of all society. According to the official statistics the number of self-employed workers in Lithuania is about 13 percent of the total number of working-age population. The European Union average is 16.5 percent. According to this indicator, Lithuania is ahead of Finland (13.5 percent.), United Kingdom (14.5 percent.), Belgium (15.1 percent.), Slovakia (15.6 percent.), Netherlands (15.9 percent), Slovenia (16.9 percent.), Ireland (17.1 percent.), Czech Republic (17.9 percent.), Spain (17.9 percent.), Poland (21.8 percent.) Portugal (22.1 percent.), Italy (25.1 percent.), Greece (36.9 percent.). At present, there are four forms of individual business in Lithuania: 1) the individual enterprise having the status of legal person and functioning according to the Law on individual companies and the Civil Code; 2) agriculture farm (farmer), which does not have the status of legal person, acting on the basis of the Law on farmer‘s farm; 3) a natural person engaged in individual business activities on the basis of individual activity certificate; 4) a natural person engaged in individual business activities on the basis business certificate. The change of legal status of individual enterprise and their becoming a legal person can be considered to be one of the reasons behind the decline in their numbers in Lithuania. A legal person status granted to an individual enterprise is to be regarded negatively for several reasons. First, it has become more complex to start business, because of the need to prepare the articles of association, and take other actions necessary for the establishment of legal persons (Art. 4 of the Law on individual enterprises). It also increases the costs and length of the establishment of business. Secondly, it has become more complex the liquidation procedure of individual enterprise. Third, the taxpayer is not only the natural person – the owner of the individual enterprise, but also the individual enterprise, as legal person, which is subject of corporate taxes, such as profit tax, real estate tax, etc.

This article defines the process of transcending and reveals its role in the European context from Ancient Greece to the present day. In all of the spheres of human existence – philosophy, culture, science and religion included – this process manifested itself as a drive for criticism and creativity, forming the very essence of being European. The fundamental role played by Christianity in consolidation of transcendence was also revealed: the notion of a human being as a person arose from Jewish-Christian theology that regards human being, the image of God as an essentially relative substance and that is why it is always forced to transcend the hitherto boundaries to be oneself. However, the transcendence can operate in different ways as well as result in different reasoning paradigms. Until the present day, the rational reasoning paradigm was dominant in Europe. Rationality means “breaking away” (Jan Patočka) from mythological reasoning and hence consolidation of reliance on logic, one’s own autonomy, criticism and creativity in one’s relation to reality. However, rationality can easily turn into “rationalisation” (Edgar Morin) of reality, i.e. its enclosure in a certain conceptual system or ideology. It is claimed that this particular unauthentic and dangerous version of rationality was dominant until the present day, as evidenced by the triumph of globalised technology that also brought deadly problems for itself in the fields of ethics, politics and ecology. The old, purely rational reasoning paradigm has exhausted itself.Today, a new type of paradigm becomes imminent, meaning a new perception of intellectuality, as well as new configuration of rationality and intuition. This is a change of the way transcendence works: instead of accepting reality in human consciousness according to dichotomy principles of subject/object, it is perceived as if from within itself, intus legere, where discursive cognition stays essential but subordinate process. This new paradigm of reasoning reveals itself in the texts of philosophers, such as Henri Bergson and Martin Heidegger, and brings out a particular resonance with some branches of the Eastern philosophy. Straipsnyje apibrėžiamas transcendavimo judesys ir parodomas jo veikimas Europos erdvėje nuo senovės Graikijos iki mūsų laikų. Filosofijoje, kultūroje, moksle, religijoje – visuose žmogaus egzistencijos laukuose transcendavimas reiškėsi kaip kritikos ir kūrybos variklis, sudarydama pačią europietiškumo esmę. Tačiau transcendavimo procesas gali veikti skirtingais būdais ir lemti skirtingas mąstymo paradigmas. Iki mūsų laikų Europoje vyravo racionalioji mąstymo paradigma, lengvai virsdavusi į tikrovės „racionalizaciją“, t. y. jos uždarymą tam tikroje konceptualioje sistemoje, ideologijoje. Šiandien bręsta naujo tipo paradigma, kylanti iš tam tikros intelektualumo sampratos, labiau akcentuojančios intuityvią tikrovės pagavą ir jai subordinuojančios ratio diskursą.

Straipsnyje kvestionuojamos tiek neoklasikinė, tiek biheivioristinė ekonomikos perspektyvos ir kritikuojama nuomonė, kad žmogaus ekonominiai sprendimai gali būti skirstomi universaliai. Straipsnio tikslas yra nustatyti, ar teisingumo sąvoką galima universaliai taikyti visose kultūrose, atliekant tyrimą Lietuvoje ir palyginant jį su tokiais pat tyrimais atliktais kitose šalyse. Studijoje pateikiamas tyrimas, kaip teisingumo sąvoką supranta studentai Lietuvoje. Apibendrinant tyrimo rezultatus galima teigti, kad lietuviai yra labiau linkę laikyti kainą ar darbo užmokesčio pokyčius teisingais, jei kainos pokytis pagrindžiamas makroekonomiškai. Tyrimo rezultatus galima pritaikyti tiek ekonomikos, tiek politikos srityje Lietuvoje ir kitose panašiose šalyse. Ekonomistams būtų protingiau nustoti koncentruotis į universalius principus, nes jie yra per daug platūs ir negalima tikėtis, kad tiks visiems žmonėms. Taip tas pats vaistas nebūtų siūlomas tokioms skirtingoms šalims kaip Graikija ir Lietuva, kur ekonomikos veikėjai labai skirtingai sureagavo į vienodą ekonominę politiką. Remiantis tyrimo rezultatais galima teigti, kad griežto taupymo ir vidinės devalvacijos politika gyventojų būtų laikoma teisinga. Tyrimo rezultatai rodo, kad respondentai gana liberaliai supranta laisvę nustatant darbo užmokestį ir kainas. Kitaip sakant, visi ekonomikos veikėjai paklūsta pasiūlos ir paklausos sąlygoms ir turi prie jų prisitaikyti. This paper deals with the concept of fairness as it is applied to economic decision making in different cultures. The objective of the research is to determine whether the concept of fairness can be applied universally throughout all cultures by doing a study in Lithuania and comparing it to similar studies done in other countries. Lithuania was chosen because it belongs to the group of the Baltic advanced transition countries with their own unique form of capitalism. We find that Lithuanians are more apt to consider price or wage changes as fair as long as there is an underlying macroeconomic reasoning for the price change. These effects were found to hold true in spite of the framing effects of loss aversion found in previous studies.

Our bodies affect the attitude of others towards us. A century ago the shape of one’s face and head could become a decisive factor in her/his career, destiny, or even death. In the nineteenth – early twentieth century scientists believed that the shape and dimensions of a skull indicated the intellectual potential of its owner. In ancient Greece Aristotle (384–322 BC) in his opus Historia Animalium asserted that a high forehead indicates a slow person, a low forehead is characteristic of a wobbler, and lunatics have a wide forehead. The theories of physiognomy and eugenics based on skull studies were used to justify ethnic cleansings and the attempts to create a superhuman race. Though theories like these have been recognised as a pseudoscience already long ago, even today one can encounter assessments based on a person’s appearance and a desire to create an ideal human individual. In painting self-portraits based on the skull dimensions of other persons as well as adopting facial reconstruction methods used by criminal investigators, I created hybrids of Lithuanian historical personalities: the poet Kristijonas Donelaitis, the politician and composer Mykolas Kleopas Oginskis, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus. In my essay I briefly reveal the process and the method of ‘portraying’ the poet Kristijonas Donelaitis, referring to Graham Harman’s idea of ‘the third table’ on the third, parallel, reality of objects that lingers beyond realities as defined both by natural sciences and the humanities.

Ankstesniuose straipsniuose jau išsamiai aptarti aukojimo ritualai, kuriuose dievui, dievams, mirusiems protėviams paskiriamas ožys (ožiukas, ožka) arba jautis (veršiukas, karvė)1, kai pasirenkamas ypatingas aukos perdavimo dievams būdas2. XIII–XVIII a. rašytiniuose šaltiniuose fiksuotos medžiagos analizė parodė, kad aukojimo apeigų, kuriose dievui / dievams / mirusiems protėviams paskiriamas jautis (karvė, veršis) arba ožys (ožka, ožiukas), parametrai (adresatas, aukojimo tikslai, aukojimo būdai) įvairuoja, tad darytina prielaida, jog vien aukos turinys nėra svarbiausias dalykas, aukos turinys (šiuo atveju gyvulys) nėra susietas tik su kuria nors viena dievybe, ir atvirkščiai – vienai (konkrečiai) dievybei gali būti aukojami įvairūs gyvuliai. Kiaulė daugumos tyrinėtojų siejama su žemės dievybėmis, žemės derlumu. Tokia tradicija greičiausiai susiklostė žiūrint į baltiškų aukojimų, apeigų ryšį su klasikinės Graikijos religija, kur kiaulė glaudžiai susijusi su deive Demetra ir jai skirta švente – tesmoforijomis. Lietuviams priskiriamuose rašytiniuose šaltiniuose (Jonas Lasickis, XVI a. pabaiga) minimos net trys kiaules globojusios dievybės: Krukis (Krukis), Kremata (Kremata) ir Priparšis (Priparscis). Iki šiol sistemingai netirta, kam, kokiu tikslu ir kaip lietuviai bei prūsai kiaulę aukojo, kokios tokio aukojimo refleksijos išliko XIX–XX a. papročiuose, tikėjimuose, tautosakoje. In previous articles I have described in detail the sacrificial rites, in which a he-goat (kid, she-goat) or a bull (calf, cow) are sacrificed to God, the gods or the dead ancestors when a special way of sacrifice to them is chosen. The analysis of the written sources of the 13th–17th century showed that the parameters (addressee, sacrificial targets and sacrifice techniques) of the sacrificial rites, during which a bull (cow, calf) or he-goat (she-goat, kid) were sacrificed to God / gods / dead ancestors, varied so it may be assumed that the sacrifice is not the most important thing, the sacrifice (in this case an animal) is not connected exclusively to any one deity, and vice versa, various animals may be sacrificed to one deity. The pig by majority of researchers is associated with the earth deities and land fertility. This tradition probably arose speaking about the connection between the Baltic sacrifices and ceremonial rites, and ancient Greek religion, where the pig was closely connected with the goddess Demeter and her festival Thesmophoria. In the written sources attributed to Lithuania (Jan Łasicki, the end of the 16th century) are mentioned even three deities connected with the pigs: Krukis (Krukis), Kremata (Kremata) and Priparšis (Priparscis). Up to now, it has not been studied systematically to whom, for what purpose and how the Lithuanians and Prussians sacrificed pigs and what the sacrificial reflections remained in the 19th and 20th-century customs, beliefs and folklore.

From 2008, we have been witnessing an economic phenomenon which has been shaking capitalism and which has serious economic, political, and social consequences. Some of the problems that occurred included a panic on financial markets, media hysteria, rising unemployment, loss of homes by millions of people, chain bankruptcies, anti-Wall Street demonstrations in the United States of America, anti-government protests and anti-EU street protests in many European countries, and a debt crisis in some of the Southern European and Central Eastern European economies. What is the effect of this major economic event on the subjective well-being of Southern and Central Eastern Europeans? The ‘Easterlin paradox’ suggests that there is no link between society’s economic development and its average level of happiness. I re-assessed this paradox by analysing multiple rich datasets from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS 2007–2008 and EQLS 2011–2012). I selected several countries both from Southern and Central Eastern Europe: Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Using a multiple linear regression analysis, I tested the influence of different economic indicators (GDP per capita in PPS, long-term unemployment rate, Corruption Perceptions Index, Gini coefficient, absolute and relative income), social indicators (religious participation and self-perceived health) and socio-demographic variables (gender, age, marital status, education, size of place of residence) on both the cognitive (satisfaction with life) and the hedonic (happiness) component of subjective well-being. My conclusion is that GDP per capita is not a significant predictor of neither life satisfaction nor happiness. The main predictors of satisfaction with life are the perceived standard of living, health, marital status, education level, and religious church attendance. The main predictors of happiness are the perceived standard of living, health, marital status, and education level.

Straipsnyje bandoma susieti kritinį mąstymą su retorinės išraiškos ugdymo ypatybėmis. Retorika, kaip įtikinimo menas, kuris veikia emocijas, gali būti traktuojama dviem aspektais. Ji gali būti suprantama ir tik kaip įtikinėjimo menas, kurį naudoja retorikai, politikai, pamokslininkai. Žvelgiant į retoriką šiuo aspektu, jos ribos susiaurėja iki praktinių nuorodų, kaip įtikinti žmones. Šiuo požiūriu retorika netenka teorinio aspekto. Teorinis aspektas atsiranda tada, kai keliame klausimą, koks jos santykis su filosofija ir teorine kalba. Ar teorinė mintis privalo įgyti retorinę formą, kad būtų išreikšta ir suprasta? Ar retorika yra būtinas, imanentinis, neišvengiamas teorinės minties išraiškos būdas ar tik fakultatyvus, nebūtinas, tačiau galimas jos palydovas? Pagaliau lieka atviras klausimas: ar retorinio meistriškumo ugdymas neslopina kritinio mąstymo galių? Ugdymo filosofijos istorijoje atsakymų į šiuos klausimus galima rasti labai įvairių. Article deals with the problem of a paradoxical opposition between critical thinking and the art of rhetorics in upbringing. Is it neccessary for the formation of critical thinking to stress also its exterior form? For example, is it necessary to pay tribute to its rherotical expression? Or maybe rhetorics is only secondary, not necessary in critical thinking? Is it possible for rhetorics to substitute critical thinking or to suspend its power? These questions are raised in the article for the reason that rhetorics in Lithuania is not included into programmes of developing critical thinking or is suggested as an additional issue only in the teaching of literature. The author of the article reflects upon the sceptical attitude towards rhetoric in ancient Greece, discussed in Plato’s works, mentions also doubts about the value of rhetorics in Descartes’ and locke’s works, describes also the Kantian attitude. On the other hand, the article reveals the positive aspects of rhetoric, noted by philosophers of Ancient rome by and Italian humanists. A special note is given to Italian philosopher Grassi’s conceptions. The author agrees with Grassi that reasoning is not able to avoid the rhetorical form, that even the concepts of “axiom” or “reasons” are metaphors. The author concludes that metaphors do not negate or oppose critical thinking, but extend its power of knowledge. On the other hand, a metaphor is not able to substitute critical thinking. So, these two epistemic powers should be formed and educated as parallel and autonomous capacities. In the case when the metaphorical vision and critical thinking are educated as separate capacities, the result is not sutisfactory. A metaphorical rhetorical accent in education without critical thinking forms a too chaotic, lyrical, undisciplined thinking, stressing the subjective self-expression based on the presupposition that rhetroical expression is more important than truth. On the other hand, stressing only critical thinking in education results in a too formal reasoning neglecting reality and the meaning of contingency. [...]

Straipsnyje apžvelgta, kaip arabų kraštų istorija yra pristatoma Bendrosiose programose - mokymo turinį reglamentuojančiame dokumente. Taip pat aptariama, kaip arabų valstybių istorija pristatoma trijų leidyklų išleistuose istorijos vadovėliuose. Apžvalgai pasirinkti leidyklų "Briedis", "Kronta" ir "Šviesa" vadovėliai, kadangi jie buvo ir yra plačiai naudojami mokykloje. Pirmiausia apžvelgti vadovėliai 6 klasei, skirti įžanginiam (skaitinių) kursui "Pasaulio istorija". Senovės istorijos vadovėliai nėra nagrinėjami, kadangi juose yra pateikta informacija apie laikotarpį iki arabų užkariavimų ir islamo atsiradimo. Taip pat yra apžvelgti vadovėliai, skirti 8 klasei (vidurinių amžių istorija), 9 klasei (naujųjų amžių istorija), 10 klasei (XX-XXI a. pr. istorija). Aptariant minėtos temos pristatymą vadovėliuose yra nagrinėjama vadovėlių autorių tekstas, kiek mažiau - iliustracijos (žemėlapiai, nuotraukos, piešiniai), o apie mokiniams skirtas užduotis tik užsimenama. The article reviews how the history of Arab countries is represented in the curriculum of history (which is called the General Curriculum Framework) and history textbooks published by three distinct publishing houses. The curriculum of history states that it should be focused on the history of Lithuania and Europe. Less attention is given to the history of the other continents - America, Africa, and Asia. Most of the history of the Middle East and Northern African countries is presented in the course of Ancient History in the seventh grade as there are chapters on Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece, and Rome. The History of the Middle Ages includes a separate topic of the Arab state and the emergence of Islam. The courses of the History of the New and Newest Times do not distinguish Arab history as a separate topic, nevertheless, the history of the Arab countries is episodically revealed in the context of the major global events. The textbooks of history published by Kronta, Šviesa and Briedis elaborated most on Arab history in the context of the Middle Ages. Pupils are introduced to this topic in the textbooks for the sixth, eighth and eleventh grades. Most information is given in the history textbooks of the Middle Ages for the eighth grade in which this topic is developed in one to three chapters (lessons). All the textbooks explained the emergence of Islam, Arab conquests, the Arab Caliphate and Arab culture. Arab culture and achievements are covered in a positive way and are highly assessed. There is episodic information about Arabs and Muslims in some other topics as well. The history textbooks for the ninth grade speak about the Arab countries in the contexts of Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign to Egypt and the process of the African colonization. More information is given in the textbooks for the tenth grade which focus on the period after World War I, the military operations in Northern Africa during World War II, the decolonization process of Africa. The textbooks elaborate on the Palestinian-Jewish conflict in the Middle East, the war in Iraq and the increased international terrorism. The authors of the textbooks aimed to provide pupils with a multiperspective view of the recent past events.

Žmonijos etninių muzikos instrumentų pavidalų analizė ir gretinimas su galimais jų pirmavaizdžiais leidžia kelti mintį, kad muzikos instrumentai perteikia gyvūnijos, buities, gyvensenos įvaizdžius, atspindinčius itin senų, greičiausiai priešistorinių laikų gyvenseną, žmonių veiklą bei jų pasaulėžiūrą. Didelė etninių muzikos instrumentų įvaizdžių dalis atspindi ne tik gyvūnijos pasaulį ir buities įrankius, bet ir pirmykštį totemizmą, taip pat ir ritualinės kelionės į „aną“ pasaulį priemones, tarp kurių buvo ir luotai bei jūrų laivai. Sąsajos su vandeniu ir jūra leidžia kelti mintį apie dviejų – žvejų ir jūreivystės – senųjų kultūrų atspindžius bei liekanas, akivaizdžias žmonijos etninių muzikos instrumentų pavidaluose. Tačiau „jūros“ kultūra pastebima tik Egipto, Tarpupio ir Graikijos civilizacijose bei šių civilizacijų dabartinių tautų ir etninių grupių palikime, o „vandens“ kultūra, besisiejanti su žvejyba vidaus vandenyse, akivaizdi daugelio pasaulio tautų tradicijose. Su žvejų kultūra siejasi ir lietuvių bei kitų Baltijos regiono tautų etninių muzikos instrumentų įvaizdžiai. Having analysed the forms of the shapes of the ethnic musical instruments of the mankind, the data of the research leads to the presumption that the musical instruments convey the images of the fauna, mode of life, which reflects on very ancient processes of the humanity. The great part of the images of these instruments shows not only the animal kingdom and tools of everyday life, but also the ancient totemic world outlook and the means of burying – process of traveling to ‘another’ world. These means were canoes, boats and even sea ships. Connection with the water and sea propose the idea about the features concerning two cultures – fishing and shipping. The reflections and relics are evident in the shapes of the ethnic musical instruments of mankind. However, the ‘Sea’ culture is noticeable only in the civilisations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece and in the traditions of using the musical instruments of the current people living in these areas. The ‘Water’ culture relates with fishing in the local rivers and lakes and is evident in the traditions of many nations of the world. The images of the fishing culture are the most noticeable feature of the instruments of the Baltic people.

Straipsnyje aukščiausios kategorijos sienų tapybos restauratorius ir Vilniaus dailės akademijos Paminklotvarkos katedros profesorius Juozas Algirdas Pilipavičius, remdamasis ilgamete profesine ir pedagogine patirtimi, restauravimo darbų dienoraščiuose užfiksuotomis mintimis, pristato Vilniaus Bernardinų bažnyčios šiaurinės sienos XVI a. freskų konservavimo ir restauravimo darbų metodikos pasirinkimo aplinkybes, parodo visus tvarkybos darbų etapus. Pateikiama konteksto analizė, įgyvendinimo galimybių suformavimas, tyrimų pobūdis, projektiniai variantai ir jų įgyvendinimo ypatumai. Vertinimai modeliuojami akcentuojant socialinės aplinkos įtaką. In the article, the top-qualification restorer of mural painting and professor of the Heritage Conservation Department of the Vilnius Academy of Arts Juozas Algirdas Pilipavičius introduces the circumstances of choosing the conservation and restoration methods of the early 16th century frescoes on the northern wall of the Vilnius Bernardine church and describes all stages of the work referring to his long-term professional and teaching experience and his ideas recorded in the diary of restoration works. The restoration context is analysed, the execution possibilities are formulated, and the nature of research, the variants of the project and the features of their implementation are presented. Assessments are made with an emphasis on the influence of the social environment. Frescoes were discovered on the northern wall of the Vilnius Bernardine church during the polychromatic research conducted in 1981. The first restoration works were carried out from 1993 to 1996. Painting was uncovered, the layer of paint was partly secured and fragmentary restoration works were performed. Already at that time it was realised that the main task in restoring these frescoes was the restoration of the destroyed areas. Initially, the aim was to use as little retouching as possible, but severe losses of the layer of paint did not allow to understand the artistic quality of the frescoes or the content of the depicted plots, particularly while looking at them from a distance. In 1996–1997, the fresco “Crucifixion” at the sacristy door in the Bernardine monastery, of similar condition and dating back to the same period, was restored. The experience gained during this work allowed formulating the methods that could prove efficient during the restoration of the frescoes on the northern wall of the church. Although it was not until 2010 that concrete restoration works of the northern wall of the church began, a period of several years was successfully used for preparatory works. During these years specialists in mural painting restoration were trained at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, where they acquired both theoretical knowledge and practical experience; they took additional studies or improved their skills in Italy, Greece, France and elsewhere. Besides, in 2009, a group of restorers went to Italy, where they meticulously analysed the work of Italian restorers on Giotto’s frescoes in Assisi and Piero della Francesca’s frescoes in Arezzo and elsewhere. They found the methods of restoring Giotto’s frescoes in Assisi the most suitable. While referring to the information obtained during this trip and their former experience accumulated in Lithuania, they formulated the methodological approaches to the restoration of the frescoes on the northern wall. From 2010 to 2011, the works were carried out by the restorers Juozas Algirdas Pilipavičius (head of the works), Daumantas Tomas Pilipavičius, Indrė Vaičiūnaitė (today, Valkiūnienė) and Joana Gelažytė.

Etnografinis regionas svarbus konstruojant etninio tapatumo jausmus. Simbolines kitoniškumo ribas gali žymėti ir glaudžiai su tapatumo formavimu susijusios šventės. Straipsnyje, remdamasis asmeninių 1988-2014 metų etnografinių lauko tyrimų metu sukauptais duomenimis, išsikeliu tikslą - atskleisti Lietuvos etnografiniams regionams būdingus ritualinių metų simbolius. Siekdamas šio tikslo išsikeliu uždavinius: atskleisti kiekvienam Lietuvos etnografiniam regionui būdingus, XIX a. pabaigoje - XX a. pirmojoje pusėje gyvavusius kalendorinių švenčių papročius. Istoriniu geografiniu metodu atlikus tyrimą kaip atskiriems etnografiniams regionams būdingiausi, išskiriami: Žemaitijos Užgavėnių, Suvalkijos tarpušvenčio persirengėlių vaikštynės, Aukštaitijos Sekminių sudėtinio alaus Sambūrių paprotys, Dzūkijos Velykų lalavimas ir Mažosios Lietuvos foninių apeiginiai laužai. According to Ingo Schröder, people living in the region made it a significant place. The region as a unique social environment is visible through the operational forms, power relations, social classification and etc. An ethnographic region is very important for the development of feelings, related to ethnic identity. An ethnographic region has a specific meaning and value that raise a spiritual and emotional attachment to the native land, as well as allows maintaining closer ties with the homeland. The symbolic boundaries of versatility can also be marked by holidays, which are closely related to the formation of identity. The question is what is the coherence of these events and how can the holiday mark a regional identity? In the article, based on my personal data of 1988-2014, obtained during the ethnographic studies of the field, my objective is to reveal the symbols of the ritual year that are typical to the ethnographic regions of Lithuania. In order to achieve the objective, I had to reveal the customs of calendar holidays that existed between the end of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century, which were specific to every ethnographic region of Lithuania. It's not easy to distinguish the region's typical symbols. During the interview of the local people in all five ethnographic regions, I received similar answers. The most frequent answer was: “The most favourite holiday is Christmas; meanwhile, the funniest holidays are Shrove (Lith. Užgavėnės) and St. John’s Day”. How to distinguish the specific holidays that are typical to one or another region? My chosen method was to analyse ethnographic material on the basis of advantages of historical and geographical approach, revealing peculiarities that were typical to one or another region. The certain holidays gathered young people together to outdoor fetes (Lithuanian “vaikštynės”), during which young men visited their neighbours’ houses, wished them well and were treated by food and, in some cases, money for the provided entertainment. One form of such outdoor fetes was visits by people wearing traditional masks and costumes. An exclusive festival of the ritual year - Shrove - was important for all farmers in Lithuania; however, festivals when people wore traditional masks and costumes were most typical to Samogitia. In addition to the most frequent characters “Jews”, there were also "beggars", “gypsies”, “soldiers”, “reapers", “devils" and other personifications. They performed such roles that corresponded to a certain character or general roles, corresponding to the spirit of Shrove. During the interwar period, a compact area of this custom coincided with the border of Samogitia ethnographic region. Nowadays, although the customs of Shrove, during which people wear traditional masks and costumes, spread in Lithuania and even in the communities of Lithuanian emigrants (Ireland, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Latvia, Poland, Luxembourg, France, the Russian Federation, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Hungary and Germany), Samogitia has the most traditional features personifying Shrove. People wearing masks and costumes were also typical to Suvalkija. However, here young boys started visiting people from the second day of Christmas and continued it until the Twelfth Night. The main character, which a group of people, wearing costumes, created was a grey horse (Lithuanian “šyvis”), formed from one or, sometimes, two men. For the group of people, wearing costumes, to enter a living house, the horse had to jump over the bench from the place it was standing or to run and jump over the table. During the interwar period, jumping of a grey horse covered a narrow area. Currently, jumping of a grey horse custom was noticed only in Gražiškiai, where people wearing masks and costumes visited several villages from Christmas to the Twelfth Night. Moreover, a person wearing costume is also depicted in the coat of arms of this town. The most difficult task is to distinguish one festival held in Aukštaitija (Highlands). It is the largest ethnographic region of Lithuania, covering almost 40 percent of Lithuania’s territory. According to the descriptions of the 16th century and ethnographic data, collected between the end of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century, I can distinguish the haymaking feasts, which were held during the Pentecost (Lithuanian “Sekminių Sambūriai") and which remained only in Aukštaitija (Highlands) ethnographic region. [...]

Šio straipsnio tikslas – apžvelgti ir interpretuoti lyčių politines, ekonomines, socialines galimybes Europos Sąjungos šalyse. Analizė ir interpretacija pateikiama remiantis žmogaus socialinės raidos perspektyva. Panaudojami Jungtinių Tautų vystymo programos globalinių Pranešimų apie žmogaus socialinę raidą duomenys pabrėžiant žmogaus socialinės raidos ir lyčių socialinės raidos indeksus, didesnių galimybių lytims suteikimo matą ir kitus statistinius rodiklius. Pirmoje straipsnio dalyje yra pateikiama žmogaus socialinės raidos koncepcija ir jos vertinimo metodologija, pabrėžiant lyčių nelygybės matavimą. Antroje dalyje argumentuojamos tezės, jog lyčių lygių galimybių netolygumas būdingas ir ES šalims senbuvėms, ir naujai įstojusioms šalims, kad aukštas ekonominis lygis negarantuoja tolygaus lyčių galimybių užtikrinimo. Pateikiama Europos Sąjungos, įskaitant ir Lietuvą, šalių lyginamoji analizė. This article aims to review and to interpret the gender equity in the political, economical and social areas in the EU. The work is based on Human development perspective and methodology. The article consists of two parts. First part gives an explanation about human development and its measurements methodology such as human development index (HDI), gender-related development index (GDI), gender empowerment measure (GEM). The second part of article argues main thesis: high socioeconomic development automatically does not guarantee equity and equality for both woman and man. According to the data of global Human Development report the greater the gender disparity in basic human development, the lower is a country’s GDI relative to its HDI. Sweden, Latvia, Denmark, Finland have the closest correspondence between HDI and GDI. Ireland, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Greece shows highest gender inequality rates. GEM shows that gender equity gaps in political, economic participation and decision-making and power over economic resources exist in all EU states members. HDI, GDI, GEM shows that Lithuania does not reach the average of EU. Article concludes that gender inequality problems exist in each EU country and does not depend directly from economical achievement. The good experience of Scandinavian countries gender policy indicates that for gender equity it is necessary to mainstream gender policy

This article is about entrepreneurial teacher continuing training, important aspects and tendencies of entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship strategy and good practice examples of entrepreneurial teacher continuing training. The aim of this article is to present an actual aspect for entrepreneurial teacher continuing training, good practice, discuss entrepreneurship education tendencies in Europe, entrepreneurship education challenges. The research problem-there is no systematic analysis of the actual aspects of the development of entrepreneurship teachers’ continuing training. The research methods that were applied: review of literature and strategic documents, legislation analysis, content analysis. This paper deals with two main themes: entrepreneurship education tendencies in Europe, actual aspects for entrepreneurial teacher continuing training and good practices in entrepreneurial teacher continuing training. The article shows that entrepreneurship education is now a part of the national strategy in most countries, but the experience of European countries in the field of entrepreneurship is different. In many European countries (Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey) entrepreneurship education is included in their national programs, but it is not included in most initial teacher education and continuing professional development. The main problems in entrepreneurship education are embedding entrepreneurship into education and training, Curriculum development, entrepreneurial teacher continuing training, provision of methodological tools and professional development, partnership with the private sector. The best practices of entrepreneurial teacher continuing training are in the experiences of the United Kingdom, Norway, Austria, Belgium. These countries are examples of the best practices, because entrepreneurial teachers need systematic improvement of their qualifications, various study methods, forms and course levels for entrepreneurial teacher continuing training. It is emphasized that entrepreneurship teacher continuing training should be targeted, planned, and enabling teachers to develop their skills systematically in various continuing training courses, with innovative methods and with different duration and levels of courses. Targeted training centres for entrepreneurship in educating teachers can be universities, where entrepreneurship education and cooperation with business organizations is a priority. These are recommendations for the improvement of entrepreneurial teacher continuing training in Lithuania. Straipsnyje apžvelgiamos verslumo ugdymo tendencijos Europoje, verslumą ugdančių mokytojų kvalifikacijos tobulinimo aktualijos ir geroji Europos šalių patirtis šiuo aspektu. Tyrimo tikslas – aptarti verslumą ugdančių mokytojų kvalifikacijos tobulinimui aktualius aspektus, gerąją patirtį, apžvelgiant verslumo ugdymo tendencijas Europoje. Mokslinė problema – nėra susisteminta užsienio praktika analizuojant, kokie aktualūs aspektai tobulinant verslumą ugdančių mokytojų kvalifikaciją. Tyrimo metodai: literatūros šaltinių analizė, Europos strateginių dokumentų, teisės aktų verslumo ugdymo tematika turinio (content) analizė. Straipsnyje atskleidžiama, kad Europos šalių patirtis verslumo ugdymo srityje yra skirtinga. Daug Europos šalių verslumo ugdymą įtraukė į nacionalines programas, tačiau nepakankamai dėmesio skiriama verslumą ugdančių mokytojų kvalifikacijos tobulinimui. Šalims, siekiančioms gerų verslumo ugdymo rezultatų, svarbu tobulinti šiuos aspektus: verslumo ugdymas įvairiuose švietimo lygmenyse (pradedamas jau pradiniame), verslumo ugdymo turinys ir procesas, mokytojų rengimas, aprūpinimas metodinėmis priemonėmis ir kvalifikacijos tobulinimas, partnerystė su verslininkais. Atskleidžiama, kad nedaugelyje šalių yra puikios galimybės verslumą ugdantiems mokytojams tobulinti savo kvalifikaciją. Verslumą ugdančių mokytojų kvalifikacijos tobulinimo modeliavimui svarbi Jungtinės Karalystės, Norvegijos, Austrijos, Belgijos patirtis, nes sudarytos sąlygos sistemingai tobulinti kvalifikaciją, įvairūs kvalifikacijos tobulinimo renginiai, metodai. Straipsnyje akcentuojama, kad verslumą ugdančių mokytojų kvalifikacijos tobulinimas turėtų būti tikslingas, planuojamas, sudaromos sąlygos mokytojams sistemingai tobulinti savo kvalifikaciją įvairaus pobūdžio, trukmės ir lygio kvalifikacijos tobulinimo renginiuose. Aptariama, kad kvalifikacijos tobulinimo centrus verslumą ugdantiems mokytojams aktualu būtų kurti universitetuose, kuriuose verslumo ugdymas vienas iš prioritetų, taip pat universitetuose, kuriuose rengiami mokytojai ir vyksta glaudus bendradarbiavimas su verslo organizacijomis. Pateikiamos rekomendacijos, kaip tobulinti verslumą ugdančių mokytojų kvalifikacijos tobulinimą Lietuvoje. Rekomenduojama institucijai, rengiančiai verslumo ugdymo specialistus Lietuvoje, prisiimti nacionalinio verslumą ugdančių mokytojų kvalifikacijos tobulinimo centro funkcijas, kaupti metodinę medžiagą verslumo ugdymo klausimais, organizuoti įvairiomis formomis sistemingus kvalifikacijos tobulinimo renginius, švietimo įstaigų atstovų ir verslininkų susitikimus-diskusijas, teikti užsakomąsias tikslines konsultacijas verslumo ugdymo klausimais.

Paveikiojo diskurso argumentacijos ypatumai straipsnyje analizuojami retoriniu aspektu. Siekiama atskleisti, kaip verbaliniame reklamos lygmenyje funkcionuoja retorinis apeliavimo į laiką argumentas (lot. argumentum ad tempus) – nustatyti pagrindinius apeliacijų raiškos modelius ir jų santykį su reklamos objekto verte. Retorinė tyrimo prieiga grindžiama viena iš pamatinių retorinės tradicijos kategorijų – kairos – tinkamo laiko ir erdvės diskurso įtikimumui skleistis principu: retorikos teorijoje kairos apibrėžiamas kaip teisingo arba tinkamo laiko ir vietos kontekstas paveikiam įrodymui išsakyti. Įtikinamajame diskurse kairos yra argumentum ad tempus išeities taškas: čia aktualizuojamas įprasmintas laikas – adresatui reikšmingi įvykiai, situacijos, jausenos. Tyrimas atskleidžia, kad reklamos kuriamoje pseudotikrovėje dominuoja fragmentuoto laiko samprata: laikas patiriamas kaip išskirtinių akimirkų, simbolizuojančių esminius adresato (ne)pasitenkinimo būtimi ir buitimi momentus, santalka. Reklamos objekto vertę suponuoja jo įlaikinimas ir laiko įdaiktinimas. Pastebėtina, jog apeliavimo į laiką argumentas reklamoje funkcionuoja kaip lankstus manipuliacijos instrumentas, emocinis dirgiklis, aktualizuojantis „čia ir dabar“ efektą. The object of the article is to present arguments of appeal to the time (lat. argumentum ad tempus) in Lithuanian advertising. Time expression in advertising is analysed from the positions of rhetoric. Time is considered as one of the main instruments in the development of persuasive discourse argumentation. The goal of the article is to reason rhetorical approach to time as argumentum ad tempus in persuasive discourse under survey and to describe the main advertising strategies of appeal to time established in the research. The focus is on the representation and imagination of the flow of time and on the value of advertising object presupposed by these processes. The research material consists of advertisings, the object of which is related to such issues as time control, perspective and experience. Time as an argument concept is related to kairos category. In Ancient Greece, kairos was called qualitative nature time, i.e. time of special events, the moment of qualitative process and transformation. In classical rhetoric, kairos is one of the most important categories of sophism; in Aristotle’s theory, it is the foundation of the system of ethos–pathos–logos argumentation: it is a decisive factor in choosing the most persuasive strategy of argumentation. Summarizing the insights of classicist rhetoric, the category of kairos can be described as the appropriate time and space principle for the spreading of persuasive discourse. This offers an opportunity to research the expression of argumentum ad tempus in persuasive discourse. The research has allowed to build an insight which defines the essential argumentum ad tempus principle of functioning in advertising discourse as presented in time representation and imagination: advertising object is temporalized – this is chronos time (time till or after the satisfaction of need); time is materialized – this is kairos time (the moment of decision to satisfy the need). The following dominant argumentum ad tempus models have been revealed: projection into the past, i.e. the value of advertising object is presupposed by something that had already occurred; projection into the future, i.e. the value of advertising object is presupposed by something that will occur in the future; actualization of the present moment; projection to the infinity or eternity, i.e. the value of advertising object is based on disobedience to the laws of time. The culmination of all these models is the moment of the present, advertising motivates the addressee by giving him the perspective to experience kairos – fulfilled, meaningful, perfect time.

Lithuanian deaf basketball players keep continuing on series of impressive victories. In 2013, they became the champions of Deaflympics, which is one more great achievement for the representatives of this social group; it increases the number of victories of Lithuanian basketball school at the international arena (Šatas, Milašius, 2008). Our previous works on deaf basketball players’ preparation (Šatas, Radžiukynas, 2003; Šatas, Milašius, 2008) did not include comparative analysis of Lithuanian deaf basketball national team players’ game in two successful Deaflympic Games. The sport results achieved by Lithuanian deaf basketball players prove ability of this social group people to successfully reach remarkable sport victories. The aim of the work was to investigate the indices of game quality of Lithuanian deaf basketball national team members – Deaflympics champions in 2013, and to compare them with Lithuanian team’s game results in 2009 Deaflympics. Systemic analysis method was employed to carry out analysis of Lithuanian deaf basketball national team players’ game actions in matches played during the 21st and 22nd Deaflympic Games. Official FIBA matches’ statistics were used to register match activity of Lithuanian deaf basketball national team. Methods of mathematical statistics were applied for the research data analysis. The research data show better results in fast breaks indices in Taipei Deaflympics’ matches comparing to the ones demonstrated during the Games in Sofia. This fact shows greater performance level of all the participating teams in 2013 Games. Greater effectiveness of fast breaks in 2013 Sofia Games was also influenced by less number of lost balls (by 1.33 times) and missed shots (up to 1.67 times), as well as by increased number of players in fast breaks (by 2.36 times). Summarized results of the research allow stating that the playing of Lithuanian deaf basketball national team players is effective. Lower level of some indices in the 22nd tournament was covered by more precise threepoints and free throws, as well as by more effective fast breaks comparing to the previous Games. Effectiveness of match activity in 2013 Deaflympics possessed variety in meeting different teams. Worse indices of competitive activity were demonstrated in meeting the teams of similar performance level. During the Deaflympics in 2013, Lithuanian team’s total throws precision was 53.1 percent in meeting Taipei team, 46.7 percent – Argentina team, 45.3 percent – Greece team, 47.1 percent – Russia team, 53.8 percent – Ukraine team, and 49.1 percent – Venezuela team. Lithuanian team demonstrated the least number of turnovers in matches with Argentina and Ukraine teams – 18 and 19 turnovers (respectively), the least number of fouls (13) was achieved during the match with Taipei team. Other indices of game activity used to experience different alterations and were dependent on the opponents’ teams’ technical and tactical condition, as well as on individual skills of the players. Such skills were demonstrated in rebounds, steals and passes, assists and fast breaks.

[...] Tyrimo naujumas pasireiškia tuo, kad ankstesni, akcijų ir obligacijų rinkų tarpusavio priklausomybės tyrimai, dažniausiai buvo atliekami JAV bei keliose kitose, didžiausiose šalyse (dažniausiai priklausančiose G7). Akcijų ir obligacijų rinkų tarpusavio priklausomybė visose Europos Sąjungai (ES) priklausančiose šalyse iki šiol nebuvo tirta. Mokslinis naujumas pasireiškia ir tyrimo metodologijoje: tyrimas apima finansų rinkų tarpusavio priklausomybės vertinimą keliais skirtingais metodais bei periodais. Tyrimo objektas: ES šalių akcijų ir vyriausybių obligacijų rinkos. Tyrimo tikslas: įvertinti ES šalių akcijų ir vyriausybių obligacijų rinkų tarpusavio priklausomybę ir pateikti rekomendacijas investicijų portfeliui diversifikuoti visu tiriamuoju bei ekonomikos nuosmukio laikotarpiu. Tyrimo tikslui pasiekti buvo iškelti šie uždaviniai: išanalizuoti ir apibendrinti ankstesnius akcijų ir vyriausybės obligacijų rinkų tarpusavio priklausomybės tyrimus bei jų rezultatus; sukurti metodologiją akcijų ir vyriausybės obligacijų rinkų tarpusavio priklausomybei vertinti visu tiriamuoju bei ekonomikos nuosmukio laikotarpiu; įvertinti ES šalių akcijų ir vyriausybių obligacijų rinkų tarpusavio priklausomybę tiriamuoju laikotarpiu; įvertinti ES šalių akcijų ir vyriausybių rinkų tarpusavio priklausomybę ekonomikos nuosmukio laikotarpiu; pateikti rekomendacijas investicijoms į skirtingas turto klases diversifikuoti. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė ir sintezė, palyginimo metodas, koreliacinė analizė. Pagrindiniai informacijos šaltiniai: Thomson Reuters, Pasaulio Banko bei Europos vertybinių popierių rinkų federacijos (FESE) duomenų bazės. Tyrimo laikotarpiai: 1993-2013 ir 2008-2013 metai.[...] Tyrimo metodologija sudaryta, siekiant patvirtinti arba paneigti šias iškeltas hipotezes: 1 Hipotezė: ES šalių akcijų ir vyriausybių obligacijų rinkų indeksų tarpusavio priklausomybė yra stipri. Ši hipotezė patvirtinama, jei priklausomybė tarp akcijų ir obligacijų indeksų yra vidutinė ir stipresnė daugiau nei 50 proc. tirtų ES šalių. 2 Hipotezė: ES šalių akcijų ir vyriausybių obligacijų rinkų indeksų tarpusavio priklausomybė sustiprėjo ekonomikos nuosmukio laikotarpiu (2008-2013). Ši hipotezė patvirtinama, jei priklausomybė tarp akcijų ir obligacijų indeksų ekonomikos nuosmukio laikotarpiu sustiprėtų daugiau nei 50 proc. tiriamų ES šalių. [...] Tyrimo rezultatai yra reikšmingi, nes suteikia galimybę palyginti akcijų ir vyriausybės obligacijų rinkų priklausomybę visose ES šalyse. Iš tyrimo pradžioje išsikeltų dviejų hipotezių patvirtinta tik viena. Taigi, ES šalių finansų rinkos yra priklausomos viena nuo kitos mažiau nei buvo tikėtasi ir vis dar egzistuoja galimybė diversifikuoti investicijų portfelį, formuojant jį iš skirtingų finansinio turto klasių. Tokie tyrimo rezultatai iš dalies sutampa su kitų mokslininkų tyrimų rezultatais, tačiau jie turėtų būti interpretuojami atsargiai, nes ne visi naudoti duomenys visiškai atitinka nustatytus kriterijus. This article examines comovements between stock and government bond markets in the EU countries. Previous authors mostly indicated significant highly volatile comovements between the markets. In addition, it was proven in several markets that in times of financial crisis the comovements between financial markets are becoming stronger and negative correlations appear indicating flight-to-quality from stocks to government bonds. Despite of that, there exists a tendency to analyze only financial markets of Eurozone countries leaving the rest of the EU members behind. The aim of this research was to fill this gap by providing insights of co-movements between stocks and government bond markets of al thel EU countries together with recommendations for portfolio diversification. The first stage of the research was implemented by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Logarithmic returns on 52 market indices were used for calculations of correlation coefficients in the period of 1993–2012. The second stage of the research included the estimation of correlations in the period of 2008–2013, commonly referred to as financial crisis. In addition, statistical significance of coefficients was evaluated by testing Fisher’s null hypothesis. The results of the research show that majority of correlation coefficients between stock and government bond indices were rather small and not significant during the full sample period with the exception in financial markets of Greece, Hungary, Lithuania and Romania (weak-medium statistically significant correlations). The results indicate financial markets in the countries mentioned being more related than in the rest of the EU countries, not being suitable for diversification between asset classes. No significant negative correlation between market indices in 1993–2013 was recorded implying that in times of stock market fall government bond markets would not be the safe haven for investors. Analysis of comovements between stock and government bond markets of the EU countries in the period from 2008 resulted in increase of correlation coefficients in 19 of 25 EU countries analyzed indicating strengthened comovements in times of financial stress. Despite of that, most of these correlations were positive. This is not beneficial for investors as diversification effect might disappear when it’s most needed. As exceptions should be mentioned Scandinavian countries where significant negative correlation coefficients obtained between stock and government bond indices indicate an existence of flight-to-quality. This could not be confirmed for the rest of the EU countries’ markets. The results of the research partly comply with the results of previous studies in the topic, mostly confirming the tendencies for biggest EU financial markets. The research can be further implemented towards different directions: inclusion of the US as the major financial market, concentration on the countries with strongest comovements and provision of detailed estimation of them; inclusion of corporate bond indices; choice of other method for estimation of comovements between financial markets of the EU countries. Finally, the analysis needs more focus on the investigation of the reasons for differences in the relationship between financial markets.

"Kresy" – taip lenkų istorinėje sąmonėje ir literatūroje įvardijami rytiniai lenkų socialinės erdvės pakraščiai, apimantys plačias teritorijas, dabar esančias Lietuvoje, Baltarusijoje ir Ukrainoje. Straipsnyje bandoma atskleisti šios "kresų" kategorijos atsiradimo istorišką sąlygotumą, pažymint, kad pakraščių sąvoka nėra vien išskirtinis lenkų sąmonės bruožas. Iki Krėvos unijos lenkams "kresais" tam tikra prasme buvo ne tik Kijevo Rusia, bet netgi etninės rytinės žemės Mazovijoje, kuri į Karūną galutinai buvo įtraukta tik 1529 m. mirus paskutiniams Piastų dinastijos žemės valdovams. "Kresai", suprantant juos kaip valstybės pakraščius, galėjo keistis geografinėje erdvėje, nes keitėsi valstybės sienos. Jogailaičių valdymo epochoje "kresai" de facto buvo ne Lenkijos Karalystės, o LDK rytinės teritorijos, nors tai nereiškia, kad tas terminas tada buvo vartojamas. "Kresų" terminą išpopuliarino romantizmo laikotarpio lenkų literatūra XIX amžiuje, o jo pabaigoje "kresai" lenkų buvo suprantami labai plačiai, kaip visos rytinės buvusios Žečpospolitos žemės. Romantinė literatūra sukūrė mitinį "kresų" įvaizdį, kuris išliko iki mūsų dienų. Tačiau giliau pažiūrėjus "kresų" atitikmenį galima rasti ir kitų kraštų istorijoje, pradedant senovės Graikija ir Roma, taip pat randant analogijų angliškoje, prancūziškoje, Habsburgų Austrijos, Rusijos istorinėje tradicijoje. Ten romantizmas irgi padarė įtaką XIX a. Dėl to "kresų" tradicijos lenkų sąmonėje nereikėtų traktuoti neigiama prasme kaip tai siūlo kai kurie mąstytojai, įžiūrintys lenkų revanšizmo ir dabartinių sienų revizijos pavojų.

Viena esminių dabarties ikimokyklinės pedagogikos tendencijų – skatinti ir palaikyti vaiko žaidimą, kurio pagrindinis komponentas yra žaismingumas. Daugelio mokslininkų teigimu žaismingumas vaiko veikloje atsiskleidžia per spontaniškumą, juokavimus, laisvus judesius veikiant, mimikas, gestus, ir pan. Straipsnyje analizuojama kaip žaismingumą vaikų veiklose supranta ir vertina ikimokyklinio ugdymo raida panašių ir skirtingų šalių (Lietuvos ir Graikijos) ikimokyklinio ugdymo pedagogai. 2014 metų vasario – rugsėjo mėnesiais atlikto tyrimo metu dalyvavusių per 380 pedagogų iš LIetuvos ir Graikijos ikimokyklinio ugdymo įstaigų atsakymai parodė ryškius skirtumus vertinamuoju aspektu. Vienas pagrindinių skirtumų – Lietuvos pedagogai vaikų žaismingumą. Playfulness is an integral part of a pedagogy of play and includes elements such as humour, teasing, mimicry, riddles and rhymes, singing and chanting, shared activity in different contexts and with different resources (human and material), laughter, clowning, fooling around, inventing rules and rituals to begin, maintain and end play, wit, spontaneity, telling and laughing at jokes. Development of pre-school education in Lithuania and Greece has similarities and differences. The research was carried out in February/September, 2014 in pre-school education institutions of Lithuania and Greece. The chosen method of a research is a written survey. 186 teachers in Lithuania and 197 teachers in Greece filled in a questionnaire. When analyzing the data regarding the playful atmosphere teachers attempted to foster in kindergarten, the differences between the countries were statistically highly significant in all cases but one.

This paper presents the characteristics and trends in household debt and assets in Poland and selected European countries (Germany, Ireland, Spain, Greece, Lithuania) over the period of 2005-2012. The empirical analysis presented in this paper aims to support the thesis that although the changes in the level and structure of household debt in those countries were not the primary source of the crisis, they had some impact on its course, and the financial crisis influenced the direction of these changes. Data are taken from the ESA, mainly the Eurostat Database. The analysis is carried out on the basis of a simple measure which is the relation of liabilities (by types of household debt) to assets compared with the relation of savings to the household assets.JEL Classification: G01, E21, E22Keywords: national accounts, saving, accumulation, financial crisis.(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)IntroductionIn the literature concerning the financial crisis that began in 2007 on the U.S. market of riskier loans granted to persons (households) with a low credit rating, much attention is paid to the analysis of changes in financial market, as well as in the whole economy, both those which were the cause of the crisis and those which were its consequence. In most analyses, issues relating to institutional sectors are not considered, particularly for the household sector, whose specific debt in the United States was the direct impulse for the crisis. Lending / borrowing of the sector in European countries with respect to individual segments of financial markets underwent significant changes during their collapse and recovery. This paper presents the characteristics and trends in household debt and assets for the years 2005-2012 in Poland and selected European countries. The analysis was carried out mainly on the basis of the ESA data (European System of Accounts..., 1996). The empirical analysis presented in this paper aims to support the thesis that in Poland, like in other European countries, changes in the level and structure of household debt had influence on the course of the crisis, although they were not its primary source, and that the financial crisis undoubtedly influenced the direction of these changes.The structure of the paper is the following. The first section is a brief description of the financial crisis in Poland, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Lithuania - its origins, phases and effects on the financial markets. It also includes remarks on the whole economy. The second section presents the characteristics of the ESA, especially the financial account as a source of data (mainly Eurostat Database) used for comparative empirical analysis of changes of financial instruments for the selected countries presented in the third section. The assets and liabilities of households divided into the basic instruments of the financial market in the selected countries are analysed. The choice of the countries listed above was dictated by the specific course of the crisis, its determinants and effects in these countries. In section four, the financing of households' wealth with saving and acquisition of liabilities in specified instruments of financial market is widely analysed. Some comments concern the USA as well. This analysis is carried out on the basis of a simple measure, which is the relation of liabilities (by types of household debt, mainly long-term loans) to assets compared with the relation of savings to the wealth of households. A brief summary contains conclusions with reference to the assumed thesis.1. Financial crisis - main data characteristicsThe globalization of the world economy substantially strengthened the linkages among countries. There is not only the increase in the role of trade links, direct investment and the flow of human capital, but the most important was the increase in capital flows and financial markets relations between countries. …

The article discusses the formation of the first political organizations and creation of the first political parties in Lithuania. It focuses on the illegal social movements, political organizations and their legalization processes. The author examines the main feature of regulation of political parties at the beginning of the 20th century, the way and legal procedures of establishing political parties, the formations of political parties, their genesis, development and legal regulation. The article begins with the review of the socio-political processes that took place during the 19th century. It discusses political resurgence, the role of newspapers (“Aušra,” “Varpas,” “Apžvalga,” “Šviesa,” “Ūkininkas,” “Tėvynės Sargas,” “Lietuvos balsas,” “Naujoji gadynė” etc.) and organizations (e.g. “Lietuvos mylėtojų”) in the recovery of independence. Furthermore, the author analyzes the first legal regulation in political parties of the different periods of Lithuania in 1919–1905. It compares the period of the occupation of the Russian Empire and the period of early independence of the Republic of Lithuania. The article discusses the reforms of Russian government, including granting the freedoms of speech and assembly and the legalization of political parties. It takes notes of comparison the existing legal regulation of these different periods of the statehood of Lithuania. It should be noted that the political aspect of the party system in Lithuania has received a lot of attention but the historical—legal aspect has been examined quite superficially of the clerisy of Lithuania. Separate authors highlight one or another historical period of Lithuania’s statehood. Most relevant to the subject of the research were studies conducted by E. Šileikis (“Politinių partijų instucionalizavimas”, 1997), where he analyzed the development of the political parties from the ancient Greece to the present day. Moreover, he presents the historical development of regulation of political parties in Lithuania, and outlines more extensively the significance of modern political parties. The second important research was made by professor M. Romeris. His study of Lithuanian national rebirth and the emergence of political movements is called “Lietuva”. It describes the transformations of the first Lithuanian political parties. In addition, the development of political party system, political organizations in Lithuania are examined in light of democratization after occupation of the Russian Empire. The article considers the development of the regulation of the party system and studies the practical problems of legal and factual mismatch trials. In order to carry out a comprehensive scientific study the article reviews the existing de jure legal framework and the consequent de facto reality. In conclusion, the research proves not only that there were some differences between the existing legal framework and de facto reality in the period of the occupation of the Russian Empire. Also, the article defines the requirements to the general principal of regulation of political parties and determines correspondence of existing legal regulation to basic democratic standards. Straipsnyje analizuojami bendrieji politinių partijų bruožai, jų požymiai. Identifikuojami teisiniai ir politologiniai politinių partijų bruožai. Siekiama atskleisti lietuviškųjų politinių partijų kūrimąsi lėmusius veiksnius: nagrinėjami lietuvių tautinio ir politinio atgimimo etapai, per kuriuos atskleidžiami partinės sistemos vystymosi epizodai, nelegalių visuomeninių judėjimų, organizacijų veikla. Straipsnyje aptariami teisės aktai, priimti Lietuvai atgavus nepriklausomybę, reglamentavę politinių partijų steigimąsi. Jie lyginami su okupantų priimtu teisiniu reglamentavimu bei objektyviąja realybe. Analizuojami teisinio reglamentavimo skirtumai įvairiais XIX a. pab. – XX a. pr. šalies valstybingumo etapais, aptariama valstybės administracinių institucijų ir pareigūnų įtaka formuojamai realybei. Straipsnyje atskleidžiamas politinių partijų statusas de jure ir de facto aspektu. Analizuojamos statuso nesutapimus suponavusios priežastys, aptariama jų įtaka šalies valstybingumui.

Darbe analizuojamas 1924-1940 m. leistame katalikiškos-filosofinės orientacijos žurnale „Židinys“ publikuotuose straipsniuose vyravęs požiūris į aptariamas senovės istorijos problemas. Darbo tekstinėje dalyje žurnalo straipsnius stengiamasi aptarti bendrame tarpukario istorinės literatūros kontekste. Siekiant įvertinti „Židinio“ straipsniuose dėstomų minčių informatyvumą ir originalumą, jie yra lyginami su panašias mintis išsakančiais arba ryškiausiai oponuojančiais to meto visuotinės istorijos žinių teikusiais šaltiniais. Daugelis „Židinio“ publikacijų nebuvo orientuotos į naujos medžiagos pateikimą, tačiau dažnas senovės istorijos procesų siejimas su laikmečio problemomis skatino suvokti nūdienos reiškinių šaknis praeityje, taip įprasminant istorijos žinias. The thesis focuses on the analysis of the ancient times historical awareness presented to the society in 1924-1940 by the catholic-philosophical journal "Židinys". The aim of the thesis is to reveal the character of the published articles in this journal and the dominated attitude towards the discussed historical issues of ancient times. Historical examples provided by the authors determined the spread of the wide general historical awareness. Even though they were not oriented to the presentation of the new material, the relation of historical questions of ancient times to the problems of that time encouraged the perception of today's phenomena roots in the past and gave sense to the general historical awareness. The mentality description of ancient times nations next to the given information led to the perception that both people behaviour and the history process are determined not only by the material but also by the psychological factors. The mentality of Hellenes and Romans attracted a close attention of the authors of publications. That was determined by the large cultural heritage of these nations, which were closely related to contemporary topicalities. Hellenes were evaluated very positively due to their merits for science and art, while evaluation of Romans was not so positive. The main cause of such evaluation was that the authors of "Židinys" publications wrote mostly about the society of Rome disintegration period. The Christianity was described as the connector of ancient times and the Middle world. The scientific articles, written on the basis of dissertation, by the historian Juozas Jakštas were the most significant to the formation of such attitude. By presenting continuity theory developed by Vienna university professor Alfonsas Dopšas, the author presented the new historian science conception which stated that "the so-called Middle Ages are the outcome of the ancient evolution". The Hellenes philosophy was described largely. It was evaluated as the progenitor of all kinds of science. The ideas of Hellenes philosophy were up-to-date according to contemporary relevance, therefore certainly influenced a world-view of reader. Moreover, "Židinys" publications reached the level of contemporary specialized philosophical volumes by the size of spreading philosophical knowledge. However, despite the spread of philosophical information, the size of spreading knowledge of another kinds of science was poor. The publications about ancient literature and art were not so popular in "Židinys" as in the other contemporary periodical journals. Nevertheless, "Židinys" articles informed the reader about the relationship of antiquity literature, the art relation with religion, mythology and politics.

Straipsnyje siekiama apžvelgti pagrindines orderių teorijas nuo Antikos laikų iki XIX a., gilinantis į jų dvasinę esmę, sakralizuotus klasikinio orderio kilmės aiškinimus. Seniausias žinomas veikalas, kuriame išdėstytos architektūros taisyklės, – Vitruvijaus traktatas „Dešimt knygų apie architektūrą“, išleistas I a. pr. Kr. Autorius mėgino apibendrinti graikų architektūrą, nors pats gyveno daugiau kaip dviem šimtmečiams praėjus po klasikinio jų periodo (V-III a. pr. Kr.). Vitruvijus nurodo, kokius orderius dera naudoti įvairių dievų šventykloms. Minervos, Marso, Heraklio šventyklos statomos dorėninės: šių dievų narsumas reikalauja pastatų be puošybos. Veneros, Floros, Prozerpinos ar nimfų šventykloms tinkamiausias būtų korintinis orderis, nes tos dievybės tokios švelnios, jog ir architektūrai dera taikyti lieknas formas, spalvingai papuoštas lapais ir užraitomis. O Junonai, Dianai ir panašioms dievybėms skirtas šventyklas reikėtų statyti pagal jonėninį orderį, kurio šventyklos įsiterptų tarp griežtų dorėninių ir švelnių korintinių pastatų. Klasikinio orderio kilmės teorijas krikščioniškąja kryptimi plėtojo XVI a. Renesanso teoretikas Sebastianas Serlio (1475-1555). Knygose apie architektūrą jis siūlė kitaip naudoti skirtingus orderius ir rekomendavo dorėninį orderį taikyti bažnyčioms, skirtoms Šv. Petrui, Šv. Pauliui, Šv. Jurgiui ar kitiems šventiesiems, kurie turėjo tvirtybės ir jėgos aukoti gyvenimą Kristaus tikėjimui. Serlio sukurta orderių sakralizacija buvo naujas būdas dvasingumui išreikšti. Tai – perėjimas į simbolinę krikščionių šventųjų semantiką. XVI a. italų Renesanso architektų teorinius ieškojimus užbaigė Palladio sekėjas Vincenzo Scamozzi (1552-1616), 1615 m. Venecijoje išleidęs didžiulį traktatą „Apie visuotinės architektūros idėją“. Scamozzi suteikė klasikinei formai dvasinę prasmę, teigdamas, jog orderis architektūroje – tai tos pačios visuotinės Dievo sukurtos tvarkos dalis. Renesanso teoretikų dieviškos kilmės teorijos suformulavo naują požiūrį į orderį kaip į dvasios reiškinį. XVI a. architektūros teorijos darbų pasirodė ir kitose šalyse. 1550 m. Ciuriche išėjo architekto ir medžio raižytojo Hanso Blumo knyga „V Columnae, arba penkių orderių aprašymas ir pritaikymas“. Toskaninės kolonos proporcijas jis lygino su storu valstiečiu ir netgi vadino ją valstietiška. Tai buvo akivaizdus orderio desakralizavimas, atkreipus dėmesį į žemesnį socialinį sluoksnį. XVII a. architektūrinės teorinės minties centras persikėlė į Prancūziją. Po Philibert‘o De L’Orme (1510?-1570) dar 1568 m. sukurto „Pirmojo tomo apie architektūrą“ iškilo naujų talentų. Vienas ryškiausių buvo Roland‘as Frėart‘as de Chambrai (1606-1676), pasižymėjęs kaip vienas pirmųjų helenizmo apologetų, neigusių visa, kas neatitiko antikinės Graikijos formų ir estetinių idealų. XVIII a. orderių sakrališkos simbolikos problema jau nebuvo tokia populiari kaip anksčiau. Teoretikai labiau diskutavo, ar orderis kilęs iš panašumo į žmogaus kūną, ar išsirutuliojo iš medinių konstrukcijų. XVIII-XIX a. archeologų atradimai, tiksliųjų mokslų pasiekimai, pagaliau šviečiamoji filosofija skatino architektūros teoretikus būti tikslesnius, tačiau tai, kas buvo sukurta nuo Vitruvijaus laikų iki klasicizmo, nebuvo pamiršta. Orderių dieviškos kilmės teorijos neaplenkė ir Lietuvos. Jos atėjo su kitų šalių teoretikų darbais, kurie buvo studijuojami ir padėjo formuoti menininkų pažiūras. Vilniaus universiteto architektūros teoretikų darbai akivaizdžiai atskleidžia, kaip sakrališkosios orderio teorijos, perėjusios antropomorfinį etapą, susitelkė ties organine architektūros kilme.

Kinikų filosofija išgarsėjo pirmuoju Vakarų kultūros istorijoje totaliu maištu prieš civilizaciją. Pasak kinikų, civilizacijos įtvirtinta moralės samprata griauna pamatinį žmogiškosios prigimties ir būties principą – saikingumą. Šitaip užkertamas kelias bet kokiai žmogiškosios laimės galimybei. Tad žmonija privalanti grįžti prie prigimtinio saikingumo. Jo pavyzdžius kinikai atranda mitų konstruojamoje tikrovėje: graikų herojų ir legendinių barbarų karžygių ir išminčių gyvenimuose bei Tomo Moro Utopijos atitikmenyje – nuošalioje menamoje saloje „Pera“, kurioje karaliauja radikalusis saikingumas. Realių griežtų sankcijų už prigimtinio saikingumo griovimą atvejai taip pat pateikiami iš mitinio pasaulio. Geriausias to pavyzdys – Prometėjo likimo interpretacija. Pasak kinikų, šis Antikoje taip gerbtas ir garbintas titanas buvo teisingai prikaltas prie uolos, nes jo atneštoji ugnis buvo pirmasis žmonijos nusigręžimas nuo prigimtinio saikingumo ir pirmasis žingsnis į išlepimą, išglebimą ir malonumų perteklių atnešusią civilizaciją. Prigimtinio saikingumo pavyzdžius įžvelgdami mitiniame pasaulyje, kinikai vis dėlto tikėjo, kad šį pasaulį žingsnis po žingsnio galima ir netgi būtina paversti realybe. Vieninteliu patikimu metodu tam pasiekti laikyta askezė – saikingumo pratybos tiek kūnui, tiek sielai. Kinikų įsitikinimu, kūnas privalo nuolat būti stiprinamas gimnastikos, ištvermės pratimais ir fiziniu darbu, o siela – išsilavinimu ir auklėjimu. Antique cynical philosophy earned it‘s fame by the first total anti-civilizational insurrection within the frames of history of Western culture. According to cynics, the concept of morals established by civilization destroys temperance as the fundamental principle of human being and nature, thus precluding every possibility of human happiness. Therefore human race needs to return to primordial temperance. The perfect examples of the latter were traced by cynics in the reality constructed by myths, namely, in lives of ancient Greek heroes and mythological barbarian sages and warriors as well as in equivalent of Thomas More’s Utopia – remote imaginary island "Pera". The cases of sanctions following violation of natural temperance are also taken from mythical world. The best pattern for that is an interpretation of Prometheus’ fate. According to cynics, this titan, so honored and worshiped in Ancient Greece, nevertheless was rightly hammered to a rock, since the fire he brought was the first reversion of mankind from primordial temperance and, eventually, the first step to civilization, which brought with itself effeminacy, laxity and surplus of pleasures. Although patterns of natural temperance were found in mythical world, cynics believed that this world may and should be translated into reality. Continual askesis – practice of temperance for both body and soul – was regarded as the only instrument for such a realization. According to cynics, body must be strengthened by gymnastics, exercises of endurance and manual work whereas soul must be fortified by education.