Philosophical Notes. Learning the world through philosophy. Andrei Tikhomirov

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СКАЧАТЬ consciousness in the process of a person’s awareness of his attitude to all spheres of reality and to himself.

      Under the methodology should be understood a system of initial, fundamental principles that determine the method of approach to the analysis and evaluation of phenomena, the nature of the relationship to them, the nature and orientation of cognitive and practical activities. These principles comprise ideas expressed in a general form about the essence of the world and man, about the ultimate foundations of their existence, and about man’s attitude to the world and to himself. Of course, in different philosophical systems the interpretation of these initial principles is different. Nevertheless, in these interpretations one can see the desire to understand the specifics of a philosophical understanding of reality and the place of a person in it. Thus, the methodological function of philosophy provides for all forms of social consciousness, for the theoretical and practical activities of man, initial, fundamental principles, the application of which determines the general orientation of the approach to understanding reality, the orientation of cognitive and practical activity. This function suggests that a person’s attitude to the world should proceed from his awareness of the nature and essence of the world and man, the ultimate foundations of their existence, man’s awareness of his place in the world and his attitude to him, awareness of the general structure of the world and the state in which he is.

      The worldview function of philosophy lies in the fact that, arming people with knowledge about the world and about man, about his place in the world and the possibilities of his knowledge and transformation, it influences the formation of life attitudes, the awareness by social subjects of goals and meaning of life.

      Often, when it comes to worldview, its characteristic as a generalized system of ideas and views on the world, a person, on his place in the world, etc. is highlighted. Such an approach is important, since the worldview is always based on a certain mental material, on a certain system of knowledge. However, in this case, the worldview is reduced only to an objective system of knowledge, divorced from the social subject. Often when characterizing a worldview, attention is actually drawn to the etymology of the word – and then it appears as a general view of the world.

      The worldview should be considered not only from the point of view of its content, which is the result of the reflection of reality in the minds of people, but also from the point of view of the relationship of knowledge about the world and about a person with a social subject, with his attitude to reality based on this knowledge. With this approach, the importance of knowledge for human life is highlighted. Therefore, worldview should be understood not only as a system of generalized knowledge about the world and a person, but as a system of knowledge that for a social subject acquires the value of its own way of seeing, understanding, analyzing, evaluating phenomena, determining the nature of a person’s attitude to the world and to himself, consciousness of goals and the meaning of life, the nature of actions and actions. It is a way of spiritual and practical development of the world.

      Philosophy performs a number of cognitive functions related to the functions of science. The immediate goal of science is to describe, explain and predict the processes and phenomena of reality that make up the subject of its study, based on the laws it opens. Philosophy has always, to one degree or another, performed functions of the methodology of cognition and the philosophical interpretation of its results in relation to science. Philosophy is also united with science by the desire for a theoretical form of building knowledge, for the logical proof of its conclusions.

      The European tradition, dating back to antiquity, highly valued the unity of reason and morality, at the same time firmly connected philosophy with science. Even Greek thinkers attached great importance to genuine knowledge and competence, in contrast to the less scientific, and sometimes just lightweight opinion. Such a difference is fundamental in many forms of human activity, including philosophy. So what are the results of the intellectual efforts of philosophers: reliable knowledge or only opinion, a breakdown, a kind of mental game? What are the guarantees of the truth of philosophical generalizations, justifications, forecasts? Is philosophy entitled to claim the status of science, or are such claims groundless? Let’s try to answer these questions, turning to history.

      The first attempt to outline the circle of tasks of philosophy, in the face of the existing and just beginning to take shape specific sciences, was made by Aristotle. In contrast to the private sciences, each of which is engaged in the study of its own field of phenomena, he defined philosophy as a doctrine of the root causes, first principles, the most general principles of life. Her theoretical power seemed to Aristotle incommensurable with the capabilities of private sciences and aroused his admiration. He called this field of knowledge «the mistress of sciences», believing that other sciences, like slaves, could not say a word against her. Aristotle’s reflections reflected the sharp divergence of philosophical thought and special disciplines characteristic of his era in terms of their theoretical maturity. This situation has persisted for many centuries. Aristotle’s approach has been firmly established in the minds of philosophers with the titles «queen of sciences» and «science of sciences».

      In ancient Greece, philosophy was born as a comprehensive science. This science was aimed at everything that was generally capable or seemed capable of becoming an object of knowledge. Being at first a unified and inseparable science, philosophy, with the differentiated state of individual sciences, became partly an organ combining the results of all other sciences and one general knowledge, partly a conductor of moral and religious life. In the 19—20 centuries, at a new stage in the development of knowledge, opposing opinions about the greatness of science and the inferiority of philosophy sounded. At this time, the philosophical current of positivism arose and became influential, casting doubt on the cognitive possibilities of philosophy, its scientific nature, in a word debunking the «queen of sciences» into «maidservants». In positivism, the conclusion was drawn that philosophy is a substitute for science, which has the right to exist in those periods when mature scientific knowledge has not yet developed. At the stages of developed science, the cognitive claims of philosophy are declared insolvent. It is proclaimed that mature science is its own philosophy, that it is up to it to take power and successfully solve the intricate philosophical issues that have been exciting minds for centuries.

      addition, the difference between philosophical knowledge and others is that philosophy – the only one of the sciences that explains what being is, what is its nature, the relationship of material and spiritual in being.

      Let’s see how science and philosophy interact with each other. The scientific and philosophical worldview performs cognitive functions related to the functions of science. Along with such important functions as generalization, integration, synthesis of all possible knowledge, discovery of the most general laws, relationships, interactions of the main subsystems of being, which were already discussed, the theoretical scale, logic of the philosophical mind allows it to carry out the functions of forecasting, forming hypotheses about general principles, development trends, as well as primary hypotheses about the nature of specific phenomena that have not yet been worked out by special scientific methods.

      On the basis of the general principles of rational understanding, philosophical thought groups every day, practical observations of various phenomena, forms general assumptions about their nature and possible ways of cognition. Using the experience of understanding, accumulated in other areas of knowledge, practice, she creates philosophical «sketches» of various natural or social realities, preparing their subsequent concrete scientific study. In this case, speculative thinking through of fundamentally admissible, logically and theoretically possible options is carried out. T.O. Philosophy fulfills the function of intellectual intelligence, which also serves to fill cognitive gaps that constantly arise in connection with the incomplete, varying degree СКАЧАТЬ