Readers are invited to a collection of scientific articles “Creation and Development of Society in the 21st century: a View of Science, Philosophy and Theology.”

Religion, philosophy, science and art, represent different views on the nature of creative work, its goals and objectives. However, it is evident that transformation of society and the individual is attainable due to creative work. The origins and the directions of human creative activity characterize the society and its level of civilization.

Authors of this collection view from different points both the fundamental issues related to comprehension of the nature and meaning of creative work and its social and various applied aspects, such as: the problems of formation, development, and utilization of creative potential in modern Russia, the relationship between creative work, the world outlook and morality, the current changes in culture and art, the formation of a creative personality, etc.

The idea of making this book was prompted by the reports that were made at the XVIII Annual Interdisciplinary Conference “Science. Philosophy. Religion”, held on November 17 – 18, 2015 in the science city of Dubna. Conference “Science. Philosophy. Religion” represents a platform for discussions, which gathers representatives of science, philosophy, theology and other humanitarian disciplines for addressing the pressing problems of our time with the aim of finding ways to resolve them.

Apart from the papers of conference participants this edition includes articles written by a number of experts who expressed a desire to share their thoughts about the current problems of human creativity with the readers. Among the authors of the collection one can find the representatives of various fields of science, art, and intellectual thought: physicists, economists, political scientists, historians, psychologists, cultural scholars, philosophers, theologians, artists, icons painters, architects, composers, writers and others.

This edition comprises five thematic sections.

The section on “Global challenges of the 21st century and the development of intellectual potential in Russia” includes a number of articles dealing with the urgent issues facing our country. Competitiveness of Russia as a major geopolitical subject depends on the ability to resolve these issues. Themes presented in this section cover such topics as: humanitarian security issues, development of new technologies, the role of the embedded sets of values; assessment of the factors influencing the creative potential of Russian science; development of national scientific school and indigenous intellectual traditions.

Section on “Creativity and the intellectual human activity from the standpoint of philosophy and psychology,” contains the articles in which philosophers and psychologists conceptualize the nature of creativity, reflect on its sources and analyze various alternatives to creative work including surrogates of creativity.

Authors of the section dealing with “The Understanding of creativity in Orthodox theology” deal on the basis of Christian faith with such topics as: goals of creative work, freedom and moral responsibility of human creators, personal strife for spiritual perfection, etc.

Section on “Problems and perspectives of artistic creativity” includes the articles on secular and religious art, the relationship between them in the past and at present; the transformations that are taking place in them. Authors of the section include: artists, painters, icon painters, architects and composers who reflect on transformations occurring in contemporary religious art: in liturgical singing, in iconography, in architecture. They also discuss the impact of Western art and consumer society on the domestic art scene.

The section about ’’The creative work of physicists” contains the articles about Russian scientists, their contribution to the development of theoretical physics, as well as articles dealing with the specifics of modern physical theories development.

This book offers a wide range of views about the phenomenon of creativity, creative abilities of individuals and on the creative potential of Russian society. This collection of articles will be useful both for specialists and general public, in a word to all the readers interested in the issues of creativity.