Philosophy, like any science, has its own set of concepts and categories that allow it to comprehend the properties and qualities of its subject area.
Categories (from Greek. kategona- statement, evidence, sign) are extremely general, fundamental concepts that reflect the most essential properties, features, as well as natural connections and relationships between the elements of reality and knowledge
Being forms and stable organizing components of the thinking process, categories reflect not only the properties and features of objects in the real world, but also help rational human thinking in cognition to sufficiently and comprehensively identify the nature and essence of these objects, and consolidate them in knowledge. Categories allow humanity to organize and carry out its activities, to form in people a worldview, a culture of thinking and practical action.
There is reason to believe that the doctrine of categories was first presented in Aristotle’s treatise “Categories”, where the philosopher summarized the attempts of various thinkers of his era to identify the most general concepts about the world and ways of knowing it and quite comprehensively examined the following categories: essence, quantity, quality, relation , place, time, position, state, action, suffering.
I. Kant made his contribution to the understanding of categories, practically marking the beginning of a new stage in the study of this phenomenon of science and practice. True, he considered categories as a priori forms of reason that characterize not the world of “things in themselves,” but the cognizing subject, the researcher and the structure of his thinking, i.e. I. Kant will exclude such a property of categories as the ability to reflect the really existing world and its constituent elements.
G. Hegel made a significant contribution to the understanding of categories. Representing the relationships and mutual transitions of categories as the generation of an absolute idea, he reduced them to the following:
- - being - quality, quantity, measure;
- - essence - basis, phenomenon, reality;
- - reality - substance, cause, interaction, as well as subject, absolute idea, object.
Materialist philosophy considers categories as the result of a generalization of the experience of the historical development of knowledge and social practice. In accordance with this approach, we will consider the categories of philosophy.
Categories of philosophy are the basic, most general concepts that reflect the essential properties, features of objects and phenomena of reality, natural connections and relationships of reality, allowing us to cognize and transform it.
Philosophical categories are in a certain connection with each other and represent an open developing system that is built on the basis of unity historical And logical. That is why each philosophical category can be understood only as an element of the entire system of categories. For example, the content of the category “matter” and the reality naturally reflected by it can be revealed using the categories “movement”, “development”, “space”, “time”, “quality”, “quantity”, etc.
True, in contrast to the Hegelian system, which revealed the development of all things on the basis of the initial one, called “world spirit” by G. Hegel, there is no generally accepted system of categories in materialist philosophy yet.
For philosophical categories characteristic opening general laws of origin, formation and development of nature, man and society. Since their object domain is the world, objective reality in all the diversity of its existence, movement and development, these laws of development are inherent in all objects of the real world, although with their own characteristics. From the standpoint of materialist dialectics, such laws of development include the following: a) the law of unity and struggle of opposites; b) the law of mutual transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones; c) the law of negation of negation.
The universal laws of development can also include the “connection of paired” categories of philosophy: a) “essence and phenomena”; b) “causes and effects”; c) “possibility and reality”; d) “necessity and chance”; e) “form and content”; f) “general - special - individual”.
Philosophical categories, reflecting objective reality, allow us to highlight its following features and properties: the unity of existence; structure of the surrounding world; reasons and sources of development of objective reality; way of typology of reality; the nature and level of reflection of reality in human consciousness.
The characteristic feature of the categories of philosophy is that they, accumulating the results of the development of individual sciences, record and reflect the ideological and methodological aspects of the content of philosophical thought. However, since philosophical categories represent the most general or universal concepts, “covering” the entire world visible to the researcher, they are rather “poor” in a meaningful sense. At the same time, they allow us to highlight something general, which is inherent in all phenomena of the real world. Such phenomena are the following: a) the materiality of objective reality; b) the universal connection of all objects of the real world; c) continuous development of all objects of the real world.
The main list of philosophical categories can include the following: “matter”, “consciousness”, “reality”, “being”, “possibility”, “reality”, “development”, “evolution”, “revolution”, “irreversibility”, “ directionality", "substance", "substrate", "universe", "space", "time", "continuum", "single", "special", "general", "cognition", "cause", "effect" , “form”, “content”, “necessity”, “regularity”, “accident”, “nature”, “society”, “man”, “structure”, “component”, “element”, “subject”, “ object", "truth", "reliability", "practice", "concrete", "abstract", etc.
It is advisable to consider the content of philosophical categories sequentially, within the framework of the subject area and structure of philosophy we have identified. However, since penetration into the content of philosophy begins from fixing a phenomenon and represents a continuous process of revealing its essence and nature, we will consider paired categories of philosophy that allow us to comprehend both cognition and development, and the very essence of philosophy, both worldview and methodology.
Essence And phenomenon are philosophical categories that reflect various aspects of objects, processes of objective reality or reality.
Essence expresses the main thing that characterizes objects, their internal, most important qualitative component, which gives objects what they represent. If we exclude this component from a specific object, then the latter will cease to be such, i.e. the essence correlates with the category “quality”, but does not exhaust it.
The essence is also conceived on a global scale. Here it is interpreted as the ultimate basis of the existence of the universe, but within the boundaries of a certain class, species, genus. For example, we can talk about the essence of living organisms, about the essence of man as a representative of the human race, but who is such only because he is a social being. The essence constitutes the common basis of both many different phenomena and a single, unique one. The essence is always specific , no essence at all. The essence of objects is hidden, it cannot be revealed by simple contemplation. So, for example, by simply observing the Sun, one can conclude that it revolves around the planet Earth, although in reality all planets solar system revolve around the Sun.
In reality, the essence is inseparable from its manifestation. Thus, an unlawful act appears in the form of a specific action or inaction of a subject, which is accompanied by a violation of laws established in the country or other types social norms and causing harm to others.
Phenomenon is the outer expression of the essence, external shape, in which objects and processes of reality are on the surface, in the environment of their existence.
In materialistic philosophy, the categories “essence” and “phenomenon” are considered as universal objective characteristics of the objective world. The unity of these categories means the unity of the world and thinking about the world, the unity of ontology and epistemology. However, the unity of essence and phenomenon does not mean their coincidence or identity. Phenomenon is richer than essence, for it includes not only the discovery of internal content, essential internal connections of an object, but also all kinds of random relationships, special features of the latter. Phenomena are dynamic and changeable, while the essence forms something that persists in all changes. Both essence and phenomenon are attributes of any object. In this case, the phenomenon is a function that depends on two quantities: the object and its givenness to the subject. In order to exclude the subjective component that arises when assessing a phenomenon that reflects the essence of an object, for example in criminology, “... from the infinite variety of phenomena that reflect the essence of a crime, we single out those that are causally related to the crime, only those that capture traces of crimes, information about the crime."
By considering phenomena in their totality through the abstracting ability of the mind, a person approaches the essence of the subject. Cognition penetrates into the essence of an object from phenomenon to essence, from first-order essence to second-order essence, etc.
In the activities of lawyers, in the context of identifying the essence of acts and their assessment, correlating this assessment with regulations It is significant to consider the connection between such categories as “cause and effect”, “necessity and chance”, “possibility and reality”, “form and content”, “general - special - individual”.
Cause And consequence - these are two philosophical categories that reflect the universal connection existing in the world between various objects, between essence and phenomenon, between different phenomena.
Reason (lat. causa) - this is the type of interaction of objects that causes, determines, changes, produces or entails some changes in these objects themselves, in the nature of the connections between them, in other objects of the real world or phenomena that express their nature and essence.
All changes occurring in the real world, where the cause has manifested itself, are consequence. There are no causeless phenomena in the world. Every phenomenon in nature, society, and man himself is determined by a specific cause. It is a consequence of one reason or another. Cause and effect interact. The cause gives rise to the effect, but the effect is not passive, but acts on its cause or becomes the cause of other phenomena. In the general interaction of the real world, cause and effect change places. What is a consequence in one connection may become a cause in another connection, etc.
For example, driving while intoxicated is a driver violation traffic. Violation of traffic rules leads, as a consequence, to the occurrence of road accidents. Road traffic accidents cause harm to other people, etc.
There is an internal natural connection between cause and effect. Thus, the interaction between them cannot be considered in isolation from the specific environment in which this interaction occurs. Same reason for different conditions causes different consequences. It is obvious that the same essence of an object can manifest itself differently in different conditions and reasons. In this regard, in judicial activity it is necessary to distinguish the general understanding of the essence and phenomenon, cause and effect from the degree of accuracy that jurisprudence and legal practice has achieved in describing causal relationships, as well as from what facts the investigation provides in a specific case considered in court.
In nature and society, there are countless types and forms of interaction, interconnection and interdependence of objects, structural elements objects that determine cause-and-effect dependencies become the cause of consequences. However, with all the diversity reasons their inner nature is contradiction in the object itself, in those discrepancies of tendencies, aspects, properties that are inherent in the elements of this object.
In philosophy, the classification of cause-and-effect relationships is made on various grounds. For example, if you turn to real On the side of objects of interaction, we can talk about the following types of cause-and-effect relationships: material and ideal, informational and energetic, physical, chemical, biological, social.
By character Manifestations of cause-and-effect relationships can be divided into dynamic and static. By number And connectedness Causes of interactions are divided into simple, compound, single-factor, multi-factor, systemic, and non-systemic. By attitude reasons for the subject can be internal and external. By coverage of the objects of existence of the world, universal, special, and individual causes are distinguished. By " quality “consequences they can be main and non-main.
In the practical activities of a lawyer, turning to the cause-and-effect relationship when considering any act requires the meaningful use of the following paired categories of philosophy: “necessity and chance.”
Historically categories necessity And accidents arose as a result of reflections on human fate, “divine providence,” freedom and will, predestination or spontaneity of human existence.
Necessity is a natural type of connection between phenomena and events, determined by their stable internal basis and the set of conditions for their occurrence, existence and development.
Necessity expresses the basic tendency of development of all components of nature, society, human thinking, and this means that everything significant in the objective world is caused by necessity, i.e. objective laws of development. For example, the rotation of the Earth and other planets, the development of some organic species from others, the replacement of some socio-economic formations by others, changes in technology and technologies from the level basic research- all this is necessary. However, necessity does not reduce to inevitability. Philosophy does not deny accident , which has its share of the “right” to being.
Randomness is a type of connection between phenomena and events that is determined not by their internal nature, but by external, incidental and therefore insignificant reasons.
In other words, randomness is subjectively unexpected, but objectively included in a specific process components of the existence of all things; this is something that in given specific conditions may or may not be, may be realized in one form, or perhaps in some other .
Chance, like necessity, can be external And internal : external - located outside a certain circle of objects; internal - generated by the own nature of a specific object or circle of objects.
Necessity and chance are mutually related. There is reason to believe that chance is only an addition and a form of manifestation of necessity. Behind accidents there is always a necessity that determines the course of development of objects both in nature and in society, and which science is obliged to reveal. This also applies to legal sciences. Quite often in court hearings When considering cases related to the use of means of defense by the victim, when he inflicts injuries incompatible with life on the attacker, the problem of assessing this act arises: whether it was the result of an accidental excess of the necessary defense or a deliberate action.
Of course, in some cases, for example, when a mother takes certain actions to protect her child, it is not possible to reliably determine whether these actions were necessary or committed unconsciously (accidentally), due to the fact that here, in addition to reason, the actions of the mother instincts influence.
Judges should take into account that where the game of chance occurs externally, the latter turns out to be subordinate to internal, not yet discovered objective laws. The task of science is to discover these laws. Thus, in the case under consideration, when the limits of necessary defense are exceeded, the effect of the law of organizing human life activity is necessarily “breaking through” in the absence of strict boundary conditions.
It is significant for human life and the practical activity of a lawyer to comprehend, within the framework of necessity and chance, such a phenomenon as Liberty. It has already been noted that necessity does not reduce to inevitability and that in the development of society not everything is fatally predetermined. IN real life people's needs, interests, passions, will, and ideas cannot but appear as motives for their practical transformative activities. This means that in reality there is a deviation from the objective pattern regarding the independent existence of humans and communities of people in relation to inanimate and living nature. G. Hegel, considering this “deviation” of people’s life activity from the general pattern of development of their history, called it cunning world mind. Without chance, the development of mankind would have been mechanistic in nature.
If we approach the understanding of the manifestation of the activity of an individual person, communities of people in real life from the standpoint of dialectical materialism, then necessity and chance determine the appearance and manifestation of their freedom. It is obvious that freedom is historically specific and relative. It is a product of the historical development of man himself in the context of his socialization, and the level of development of the general culture of human communities, and the ways of being of humanity in relation to inanimate and living nature, i.e. Liberty is specific and characteristic only for a socialized person his way of being , manifesting in the process of making decisions in accordance with their needs, interests, ideas, attitudes, as well as in their implementation in accordance with the known patterns of the existence of communities of people, in relation to the specific conditions of their existence.
If we express the above philosophical understanding of freedom in a legal sense, then human freedom There is field possible manifestations his activities within the framework of his assumed obligations in relation to other members of the community of people and meaningful personal powers.
Freedom is a characteristic of any purposeful, conscious activity of people who inherently have a sense of responsibility for their actions or inactions. This fact is contained in the following thought: freedom is present in necessity or necessity manifests itself only through freedom in the form of the available opportunity to choose goals and ways to achieve it. Ego means that in the existence of people, necessity is not only realized, but also created within the framework of freedom.
However, in order for the identification of the natural and the accidental, freedom and necessity to be actually included in the creative activity of people, as well as in the practice of legal activity, such a pair of categories as “possibility and reality” should be comprehended and introduced into teaching, into the real philosophical training of students. The point is that necessity, chance and freedom are different ways of transforming the possible into the actual. These categories reflect one of the most important patterns of the development process of inanimate and living
nature, sociohistorical organisms. In the process of its development, what arises does not immediately assert itself in reality, appearing at first only as a possibility, i.e. as the first step in the development of the subject.
Opportunity can be presented as objective, but until a certain time hidden trend the emergence and formation of an object as a phenomenon of reality, containing the conditions for its manifestation and approval in reality.
The category “opportunity” is tomorrow in today. It reflects such a state, such a stage in the development of objects, phenomena, people, when the potentialities contained in them have not yet manifested themselves. For example, a graduate of a law school has a high intellectual potential, a methodological culture of thinking and practical action, social maturity and reliability, and professional training - this is his opportunity to prove himself as a qualified specialist, capable and ready to effectively resolve legal problems that arise in his activities.
Reality - it is an already realized possibility, an objectively existing object, phenomenon, process as a result of the embodiment of a certain possibility or set of possibilities into reality, the real existence of the possible.
You can also say this: reality - this is the past in the present, this is the basis of the forms of being of new possibilities. For example, the educational potential of a law school graduate embodied in an acceptable result as an opportunity to resolve a specific legal problem is reality, his experience, which at the same time becomes his opportunity in future professional activity.
Prominent representatives of the judiciary of our country pay attention to this. Thus, the deputy chairman of the now defunct Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, Sergei Mikhailovich Amosov, noted that “directions for improving the quality of justice should be training members of the judiciary and candidates for judges in the ability to deeply, fairly and legally assess the essence of the matter with which the judge will have to operate on each business, education of the judges themselves in the spirit of the best universal human qualities."
Obviously, in order for an opportunity to become a reality, at least two factors must be present: action certain need and Availability appropriate conditions, and perhaps even accidents. If in nature the process of transforming possibility into reality occurs independently of the subject, for example, the transformation of water into ice or steam, then in the life of mankind the transformation of possibility into reality largely depends on the actions and activities of both individuals and communities of people.
For example, opportunity ridding the planet of various types and types of wars and armed conflicts has everything conditions to become a factual reality only through mass anti-war movements capable of strengthening the potential for peace, reason and justice.
An essential characteristic of this opportunity is measure its reality and prospects. Depending on the internal content of the need underlying such a possibility, all possibilities can be divided into several types: a) promising (real); b) unpromising; c) unpromising (formal).
Real , or promising, opportunity is natural the trend of development of objects, phenomena, processes, which is consistently associated with objective necessity. In relation to the problems of armed conflicts and wars, this type of possibility is not possible. The fact is that as long as private property is decisive in the world, which gives rise to social inequality and antagonisms, wars will accompany the existence of humanity.
Unpromising opportunity represents insignificant the tendency of development of objects, phenomena, processes, which only when random coincidence of circumstances can turn into reality. This possibility is only rationally tangible, based on formally conceivable conditions. This is the case for the example we are considering with war and armed conflicts.
Formal opportunity is mentally imagined an irrational tendency that not founded on real concrete conditions and, therefore, cannot be realized, turned into reality.
The range of formal possibilities is enormous. For example, the possibility of living according to conscience never turns into reality. However, a very real opportunity may turn out to be missed or unrealized due to some random circumstances. Then it actually turns into formal. At the same time, a formal opportunity can turn into a real one. For example, the possibility of manned flight to the Moon was not so long ago formal, but then became real.
A lawyer who comprehends the principles of philosophy must avoid both fatalistic ideas that objective laws are capable of themselves determining the necessary trend in the development of mankind, and social pessimism, characterized by a lack of confidence that people will be able to achieve such a level of development when the opportunity arises. , which can be turned into reality.
The point is that opportunity can be transformed into reality if people master the objective law of its development, formulate plans for their activities that correspond to this law, and create the necessary conditions for its transformation into specific objects, phenomena and processes.
They allow us to reveal the process of transforming possibility into reality of the categories “single, special and general”. They reflect the connection, interdependence and mutual transitions of phenomena and objects of the objective world.
We all observe in the real world a huge variety of objects that differ from each other and are unique in their existence. For example,
in the whole world it is impossible to find people who are completely identical in everything, identical to each other, because a huge number of unique conditions and accidents are involved in the creation of an individual. Thus, the dissimilarity of two people, even twins, is due to the fact that in their formation and development there will always be various social, psychological and biological factors. Nature is inexhaustible in individual creativity. Consequently, the individual is a real object (be it a thing, phenomenon, process, formation), taken in its difference from other objects in their unique specificity.
As a certain unit of reality, the individual serves as the objective basis for the quantitative expression of reality, being a real prototype of the unit as the basis of counting. Not only a single object, but also an entire class of objects can be considered as a single object if they are taken as a single whole. A separate feature of objects in the real world can also be unique if it is taken in its individual uniqueness.
The individual is a relatively isolated, discrete thing, phenomenon, process, formation, delimited from each other in space and time, with their inherent specific unique features that make up their unique qualitative and quantitative certainty.
The individual does not exist in isolation, but in connection with each other. Taking into account the fact that it has common sources of origin, and also due to a number of identical features and internal interdependence, certain individual objects are combined into groups and have different commonalities. So, for example, individual plants and animals are combined into corresponding species (“special”) and genera (“general”). Each individual, each object is material, and their common property, that they are material, unites them all into a single whole. This single whole, “common”, is nature.
One cannot but agree that all people, despite their individuality, have a generic essence. Thus, along with their uniqueness and originality, we also highlight something common among them in such a concept as “man”.
In other words, we can say that general - it is one in many ways. At the same time, knowledge and social practice allow us to assert that such individual phenomena that correspond to the development trend are transformed into the general.
General are certain features, connections characteristic of a given object or class of objects, events, formations, as well as the law of existence and development of all individual forms of existence of material and spiritual phenomena.
As the similarity of signs of all phenomena of the real world, the general is accessible to direct perception, and being also an expression of a pattern, it finds expression in concepts, categories and such a form of knowledge as theories. This is important for any specialist in real life. For example, a lawyer engaged in the study of a specific illegal
act, cannot but “rely” on the general laws of the crime mechanism, pa general methodology forensic research, and this allows him to qualitatively identify and evaluate the signs of the act under study, and draw a conclusion that has irrefutable evidence against the subject of the crime.
Although the categories "single" and "general" interconnected and are interdependent, and the general manifests itself only in the individual and through the individual, singularities are distinguishable. This difference of singularities is postulated special , conceived as specificity, something exceptional that arises during the “realization”, embodiment general V specific subject: thing, process, event, phenomenon, education, including social.
The particular is the way and measure of the embodiment of the general into a really existing object as a whole in unity and correlation of its opposite moments - the individual and the general.
We can also say that the particular is the unifying principle of the individual and the general within the framework of the whole. In this regard, the particular is usually considered as something that mediates the relationship between the individual and the general. For example, a lawyer acts as a general concept in relation to everyone who graduated from a law school and as a special concept for the concept of a specialist with higher professional education.
Taking into account the relationship between the individual, the particular and the general is of great cognitive and practical importance. For example, in order to comprehend an object, it is necessary not only to “snatch” it from its general connection with other objects, but also to identify its special features, correlate and compare it with the general characteristics of a certain class of objects.
The dialectic of the individual, the particular and the general is directly manifested in the life of society. So, it is obvious that with all the diversity of individual ways of forming a democratic state power this process is subject to general laws, the main ones of which are:
- - formation of public authorities on the basis of the free expression of all citizens who have the appropriate powers for this;
- - control over the activities of government by the citizens of the country;
- - appointment to public positions of those who have the appropriate competence and are socially and morally mature individuals;
- - multi-party system;
- - available funds mass media(MASS MEDIA);
- - law and order;
- - the possibility of holding referendums on issues that are significant for the country and citizens;
- - regular turnover of the country's leadership.
Thus, the dialectics of the individual, the particular and the general helps not only to reveal the essence of objects in the real world, but also to optimize the practical-transformative activities of people. True, this dialectic will give more effective results if it reaches concretization within the framework content And forms.
Today in philosophy, content is understood as characteristics characteristic of an object, thing, phenomenon, process, formation, which are inherent in all constituent elements of the phenomena under consideration and which, on the one hand, organize the relationships of the elements that form the whole and therefore are directly related to the essence of a particular object, and on the other - manifest themselves in the visibly observable appearance of this object.
It is important to comprehend the following: the constituent elements that form the content can only include those parts of an object as a whole that act as the limit of its divisibility within the framework of its specific qualitative definition. It would be wrong to classify as the contents of the human body the atoms that form molecules, and then the cells that make up specific organs. So we will never be able to determine what a person is.
In other words, the content represents the identity of the elements of the whole with the whole itself, the internal state of the object, the totality of changes within the latter, as well as the connection of its elements with the environment of its existence, which determines the existence, development and replacement of one object by another.
Perception and comprehension of any object occurs through and by means of isolating it from environment being, through and by means of fixing it forms. Being used as an expression of the external appearance of an object, form indicates the difference between a given content and everything else, the connection of a given object with others.
Form is a way of existence and expression of content, the internal organization of the latter, that which connects the elements of content together and without which the content itself is impossible.
The dialectic of form and content presupposes their relative independence with the leading role of content. It is important that the unity of content and form does not exclude, but presupposes contradictions between them. The fact is that the development of all objects of the real world begins with a change in their content, which is their most mobile component, and the ego occurs continuously. As a result, between
At the same time, the form actively influences the content, promoting its development or inhibiting it. This is especially important in the field of organizing and implementing social policy in the country, reforming education, etc. The negative influence of form on content can lead to the most negative consequences. Thus, an inaccurate definition of the form in terms of social policy in our country has given rise to such an ugly component of the content of social management as bureaucracy. The latter, in its forms, practically changes the content of the state’s social responsibilities to citizens, which were included in national projects. As you can see, the form of an organization can discredit even a brilliant idea.
In other words, not a single phenomenon of reality, not a single natural or social phenomenon can be studied overnight; it is not immediately possible to reveal its nature and essence. The process of cognition and scientific research involves the researcher, first of all, using certain methods.
Etymologically, method is defined as follows: “Method (from Greek. methods , lat. method) - in the broad sense of the word, this is a way of activity in any field." Formally, logically, this is not entirely correct, since translated from Latin method - this is the way.
Here it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that when using this concept There are certain disagreements in science. Although almost all scientists recognize that a method is a kind of universal means of scientific knowledge and transformation of reality, they at the same time introduce into the context of its definition a lot of nuances that give rise to many contradictions and even discrepancies.
At one time, G. Hegel rightly noted that “method is knowledge itself, for which the concept is given not only as an object, but also as an instrument and means of cognitive activity.”
The great philosopher pointed out the connection between theoretical forms of knowledge and research and methods and at the same time drew attention to the transformation of these forms of knowledge and research into methods as tools and means of cognitive and research activity.
G. Hegel's thought was developed in the conclusions of scientists who dealt with issues of scientific methodology. In its most general expression, it can be presented as follows: “The method is in inextricable unity with theory: any system of objective knowledge can be a method.”
The idea of a method as a path, method, technique for the theoretical and practical implementation of something is quite widespread. This conclusion is concretized in the statement that the method is a set of techniques and operations for the practical and theoretical development of reality.
In general, if we summarize all the basic definitions of the term “method”, we can identify the following set of concepts through and through which the method is defined. These include: the path to the goal, a way of knowing, a tool, a set of research techniques; technique, method and course of action; theory, teaching, method of achieving a specific goal, method of constructing and justifying a system philosophical knowledge; a set of techniques and operations for the practical and theoretical development of reality; rule, technique, way of knowing; path, a set of techniques and operations; a set of ways of knowing the essence; method, order of foundation; accepted path for moving, achieving something in the form of general rules; a set of tools, research techniques, a method of scientific analysis, a method of data processing.
As you can see, the range of defining concepts from the standpoint of the requirements of logic for the explicit definition of a concept is quite wide and not entirely justified.
Analysis of existing views on the essence and content of the method allows us to assert that the method is a law-like sequence of interdependent and coordinated cognitive operations and practical actions that have been developed by science and social practice and which allow the subject to achieve a goal while moving towards it with a certain personal cultural potential.
Operations are stable forms of integration of actions, manifested in the life of people, determined by their level of culture.
They make it possible to provide a person with the same result or part of it under changed conditions.
Actions are relatively independent, elementary, stable acts of human activity. They allow a person to solve an intermediate problem as one of the components of the final result. One and the same action can be included in the content of different types of activity, providing a person with the solution of the tasks that are necessary for him and motivated in a certain way.
Methods are a specific tool for the cognitive and transformative activity of a person as a subject of cognition and transformation of nature, society and himself. Moreover, methods formed on the basis of the achievements of science and practice manifest themselves in the interests of knowledge and transformation of specific sciences and specific practices. Since each science and real practice is multi-conceptual, a palette of methods is formed based on their content.
Scientific methodology and research methods are unthinkable without methods as means of ensuring knowledge and transformation of nature, society and man himself. Their content is expressed in the principles, rules, techniques, and norms of scientific research, implemented through the skills, abilities and competencies of specific researchers and provided with appropriate tools. A scientific researcher’s adherence to a specific method sets for him a logic, an algorithm for certain actions and operations, provides him with the regulation of cognition or transformation, as well as control of results in research and transformation activities.
Currently, in science there is no generally accepted classification of methods of cognition and scientific research. Each science, along with the universal methods of scientific research used, also creates its own “specific” ones, which to a certain extent are determined by the subject area of research of this particular science.
At the same time philosophical methods, not always clearly recognized by scientists, determine the general direction of the research, the principles of approach to the object under study, and the nature of the interpretation of the results obtained. The most significant among all philosophical methods is dialectical materialist method. Let's consider what its advantage is over other methods and what its essence is.
The dialectical method is a law-like sequence of actions and operations of the researcher, conditioned by the dialectics of the development of nature, society and thinking, which allows him to highlight the main link in the essence of the subject of research on the basis of identifying contradictions in it, which internal source and reason inherently determine and condition all changes in any social formation.
Following the logic of searching for contradictions, their description, and study protects any specialist from subjective arbitrariness in the selection and explanation of facts, from the one-sidedness of their consideration and eliminates as much as possible the possibility of missing the identification of features and properties of an object that characterize its nature and essence.
When studying a specific subject area, the dialectical materialist method guides the researcher towards the following logic and research algorithm:
- - consideration of the subject area as an objective reality contained in practice and in the context of dialectical laws unity and struggle of opposites, mutual transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones, negation of negation:
- - identification of contradictions in the subject area as the source and reason for its development;
identification and description of facts of reality and their translation into scientific facts based on philosophical categories general, special and individual, content and form, essence and phenomenon, possibility and reality, necessary and accidental, cause and effect;
Review and Research scientific facts comprehensively and comprehensively", in the universal connection and interdependence of all phenomena, processes reflected in the facts of reality", in the continuous change of all phenomena, processes reflected in the facts of reality", concretely historically",
verification of received and reflected in various forms in practice knowledge.
Thus, the dialectical method allows the researcher not only to identify the essence of the subject area under study, but also to give a sufficiently substantiated prognostic assessment of its possible development, to formulate specific options for the development management mechanism social situations, based on the “model” of development of elements inherent in a “typical” social situation.
A typical situation is a variant of a social situation selected from a classification of possible situations. In other words, the ego is a variant of social situations that any subject of social relations can find himself in or create if he lives and acts in accordance with the requirements of rational thinking.
As for other methods that university graduates will need to understand legal practice, considering them according to the stages of empirical and theoretical research, three groups can be distinguished:
Forensics: a course of lectures. M., 2003. P. 8. Philosophy / ed. V. N. Lavrinenko. 3rd ed. corr. and additional M.: Yunost, 2007. P. 10.
Introduction
Concept of philosophy
Concept of method
Methods of philosophy
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
The current state of spiritual life Russian society characterized by its radical renewal, a revaluation of the entire heritage we have inherited. It is in such critical epochs that the need for philosophical awareness of both the world as a whole and the social life of man, the meaning of his life, intensifies. Therefore, interest in philosophy is intensifying, and various segments of the population are beginning to search for new values and ideals that could help lead the country out of the protracted crisis.
Today, the importance of philosophy is increasingly assessed by the ideological and methodological role that it plays in introducing a person to an understanding of him as a generic being living in a complex and rapidly changing world. It is this role of philosophy that has always determined its paramount importance in the system of social and humanitarian education of the younger generation.
In the conditions of radical and comprehensive reform of our society, the issues of forming a legal worldview and legal consciousness arise with particular urgency. This circumstance largely determines the specifics of the philosophical education of legal specialists. This is where philosophy comes in handy. Philosophy is a vast field of knowledge, the history of which is measured in thousands of years. It has many directions, schools, trends, problems, theories. The main thing is that philosophy opens up ways for us to understand such grandiose realities as nature, society, the world, spirit, man, and to search for their inner meaning.
The development of philosophy is considered as a complex, multilinear process that takes place in specific cultures created by various historical peoples. The history of philosophy convincingly shows that the development of philosophical knowledge is closely connected with the life of these peoples, with their ups and downs in different eras. Thus, many philosophical concepts, especially in the east, were the basis of government and governance.
One of the most significant and defining functions of philosophy is the worldview and humanistic functions. Historical and philosophical material, rich in its depth and intrinsic value, allows us to obtain not only information about the essence of certain philosophical teachings, but also shapes our worldview.
1.The concept of philosophy
Philosophy (from Greek - love of truth, wisdom) is a form of social consciousness; the doctrine of general principles being and knowledge, about man’s relationship to the world, the science of the universal laws of development of nature, society and thinking. Philosophy develops a generalized system of views on the world, the place of man in it; it explores cognitive values, the socio-political, moral and aesthetic attitude of a person to the world.
The subject of philosophy is the universal properties and connections (relations) of reality - nature, man, the relationship between objective reality and the subjectivism of the world, material and ideal, being and thinking. Where the universal is the properties, connections, relationships inherent in both objective reality and the subjective world of man. Quantitative and qualitative certainty, structural and cause-and-effect relationships and other properties and connections relate to all spheres of reality: nature, consciousness. The subject of philosophy must be distinguished from the problems of philosophy, because the problems of philosophy exist objectively, independently of philosophy. Universal properties and connections (production and time, quantity and quality) existed when the science of philosophy did not yet exist as such.
The main functions of philosophy are: 1) synthesis of knowledge and creation of a unified picture of the world corresponding to a certain level of development of science, culture and historical experience; 2) justification, justification and analysis of worldview; 3) development of a general methodology for human cognition and activity in the surrounding world. Each science studies its own range of problems. To do this, he develops his own concepts that are used in a strictly defined area for a more or less limited range of phenomena.
Philosophy is a specific type of worldview, which is a multidimensional spiritual formation. This multidimensionality is expressed, first of all, in the presence of such levels of reflection of the world in the consciousness of a social person as a worldview and a theoretical worldview. Worldview is represented by the following forms: attitude, worldview and worldview. In theoretically formulated philosophical worldview includes world knowledge, world understanding, world assessment.
The first philosophical level of world reflection is a contemplative worldview, where the aesthetic attitude to the world, the comprehension of the universal, the universal, the holistic, is carried out in the feelings and emotions of a social person. This level is represented in such philosophical directions as philosophy of life, existentialism, phenomenology. For example, in S. Kierkegaard’s book “Fear and Trembling” universal forms The consciousness of every person turns out to be fear, trembling, despair.
The conceptual reflection of the world, associated with abstract thinking and theoretical knowledge, represents the second level, which can be called a rational worldview. It is at the level of conceptual comprehension of the world that the fundamental difference between philosophy and other types of worldview is revealed, and philosophy itself appears as a theoretically formulated, systemically rational worldview. It is intended to reveal the rational meaning and universal laws of existence and development of the world and man, as well as the relationships between them. The rational worldview is represented primarily by such areas as scientific philosophy and hermeneutics.
2. Concept of method
Before clarifying the question of the relationship between philosophy and other forms of social consciousness, in particular with science, it is necessary, at least in an approximate form, to try to determine what the subject of philosophy is in itself, without comparison with other forms of human spiritual activity.
Philosophy is an area of human spiritual activity that is based on a special, philosophical type of thinking, which lies at the basis of philosophical knowledge, and on the independence of the subject of philosophy.
Yes, philosophy really does not have the same subject as, for example, the natural sciences, in the sense that the subject of philosophical knowledge is not localized within one or another specific area of knowledge and reality, such as, for example, physics, biology, etc. However, philosophy has a subject, and the fundamental impossibility of localizing it constitutes its specific feature. So what is included in the concept subject of philosophy ? The subject of philosophy is the universal properties and connections (relations) of reality - nature, societies, man, the relationship of objects of reality and subjects of the world, material and ideal, being and thinking. The universal is the properties, connections, relationships inherent both in the objects of reality and in the subjective world of man. Quantitative and qualitative certainty, structure and cause-and-effect relationships and other properties, connections relate to all spheres of reality: nature, society, consciousness. The subject of philosophy is not the individual subject with his special qualities, but the subject as a general, the subject as a universal category, opposed to the equally universal category of the object. In this sense, philosophy considers not only, say, the problem I", but the problem of the relationship between this I with others I", the problem of understanding, as one of the central problems of the theory of knowledge. The subject of philosophy must be distinguished from the problems of philosophy. The subject of philosophy exists objectively, independently of philosophy. Universal properties and connections (space and time, quantity and quality) existed when philosophy also This is the area of human spiritual activity, which is based on reflection on this activity itself and, consequently, on its meaning, purpose and forms, and ultimately on clarifying the essence of man himself as a subject of culture, that is, the essential relationship of man to the world Man, his unique personality, being, firstly, the subject of philosophy, and secondly, the only subject of any knowledge in general, and especially philosophical, is also an indispensable attribute of philosophy.
Unlike mythology, philosophy as a form of human spiritual activity arose with the advent of a new subject and a new type of thinking - with the shifting of the main attention from the idea of God to man in his relation to the world, that is, to man who knows, transforms and creates this world, or same for a person who cognizes, fulfills or protests the divine idea. Over the course of history, the concrete filling of this general specificity philosophical subject was repeatedly updated, filled with more and more new semantic nuances, but always in the depths of philosophical knowledge lay precisely this initial orientation to clarify the connection between man and the world, that is, to identify internal goals, reasons and ways of knowing and transforming the world by man.
Philosophy, therefore, is not just a special scientific discipline, but also a specific type of thinking and even a kind of philosophical emotional mood, a system of ideological feelings, when a person, as if immersed in it philosophical state of mind, reflects on the universe, about good and evil, the beautiful and the ugly, social justice, truth and lies, the meaning and purpose of human history.
The process of philosophical creativity meets man's deep need for a reasonable justification of his place in the flow of being, the meaning of life, historical destiny, personal freedom and the essence of the environment.
Methods of philosophy
philosophy world reflection consciousness
When solving its problems, philosophy always uses certain methods and means. However, awareness of their specificity and purpose occurred quite late. The problem of method arose with particular urgency in philosophy only in the 17th century. in connection with the need to comprehend the method of philosophizing and an attempt to equip the emerging science with new cognitive tools. Rationalist metaphysics tried to solve traditionally philosophical questions using a strict mathematical method. Thus, Hobbes sought to build ethics on the model of mathematical, “deductive-demonstrative science,” and Spinoza presented his philosophy in a “geometric way,” which was embodied in his work “Ethics.” However, this approach to defining the philosophical method has increasingly come under criticism for its one-sidedness and inadequacy.
Clarification of the specifics of the philosophical method was closely related to the formation of philosophy as a science, first in German classical and then in Marxist philosophy. This movement was started by Kant and Jacobi, who rejected the way of thinking of previous metaphysics and the method it used. When constructing his philosophical system, Kant used the transcendental method he created, the essence of which is the identification of the hidden prerequisites of this or that knowledge, reflection on the foundations of knowledge. Hegel went even further in this direction, declaring that “philosophy, since it must be a science, cannot ... for this purpose borrow its method from such a subordinate science as mathematics.” Realizing that the method of philosophy is not identical to the method of special science, Hegel set about developing it. In his opinion, the method of philosophical science “is awareness of the form of internal self-motion of its content.” At the same time, the justification for the substantive conditionality of the method was given by Hegel on the basis of panlogism. His absolute method manifests itself from its very object, since this method is itself an immanent principle and soul.
Although Hegel calls his way of thinking “speculative,” in fact, Hegel’s method was dialectical, and the style of its functioning in the system of absolute idealism was speculative. Marx wrote that his dialectical method is not only fundamentally different from Hegel's, but also represents its opposite, since it is materialist and not just dialectical. In addition, the Hegelian method is oriented towards the past, while the Marxist method is primarily oriented towards the present and the future. If in Hegelian philosophy the method acts as the construction of the world from an absolute idea, then in Marxist philosophy the method serves as a means, an instrument of knowledge and transformation of reality. At the same time, some common features The dialectical method is inherent in its idealistic and materialistic forms. In particular, this concerns his interpretation of issues of interconnection and development.
The dialectical way of thinking manifests itself in philosophy at a certain stage of its development in the depths of the old, metaphysical method. The transition to a new philosophical method covers an entire historical era. For the first time, the opposition of dialectics to metaphysics as a way of thinking was carried out on an idealistic basis by Hegel. Metaphysics was understood as a method according to which all things and phenomena should be considered without connection with each other and without development.
When characterizing the metaphysical way of thinking, it is important to note that it represents a special historical stage in the development of a logical culture of thinking, a certain meaningful logic corresponding to the predominantly analytical stage of the development of science. The metaphysical method of thinking found its theoretical expression in various philosophical concepts of the 17th-18th centuries. Metaphysical thinking is legitimate and even necessary in certain areas; on its basis, certain successes have been achieved in science. At the same time, having reached the limit, the boundaries of its application, it becomes one-sided and limited.
In Russian philosophy, the problem of philosophical method was developed mainly in terms of studying the opposition of dialectics to metaphysics. Dialectics was considered as a way of thinking most adequate to modern science and social development. At the same time, the nature of the philosophical method was understood as the result, the conclusion of the historical experience of mankind. This experience was accumulated in specific concepts, laws and principles as means of philosophical knowledge.
In its most general form, a method can be defined as a system of regulatory principles and rules of transformative activity, developed by the subject on the basis of the laws of the object being studied. In Russian philosophical literature, the difference between the method of philosophy and the method of science is determined primarily by the nature of the laws on which they are based. The philosophical method, from this point of view, arises as a generalization of all other methods. He is not equal to any of them, including their wealth in himself, just as the universal absorbs the particular and the individual. Without being a sum of special methods, the philosophical method independently arises taking into account their results.
To understand the philosophical method, it seems important to consider such a method of philosophical reasoning as reflection. The method of reflection as the self-awareness of philosophy contributes to a critical understanding of any prerequisites, the degree of their validity and the identification of “ultimate foundations.” The leading techniques of the reflection method are decomposition, dismemberment, comparison, analysis and critical assessment. However, the process of philosophizing also involves synthesis, the creation of new theoretical structures, principles, and concepts. The solution to these problems is facilitated by the method of speculation, the leading technique of which is synthesis, which carries out research mainly on the basis of intuition and creative imagination. The method of theoretical speculation, like reflection, is the same traditional general philosophical method.
Dialectic has never been the only generally accepted method. Along with it, in the history of world philosophy there were other philosophical methods of cognition. These, along with metaphysics, include sophistry, eclecticism, hermeneutics and others.
In modern Western philosophy, hermeneutics is actively used, which is a method of reading and interpreting the meaning of a text. Originating as a way of philosophizing in the Middle Ages, hermeneutics was adopted by modern positivists, who focused their attention on the problems of linguistic, logical and semantic analysis. True, to a certain extent this method was also used in Russian philosophy when studying and interpreting the texts of the classics of Marxism-Leninism. The hermeneutic method is aimed at revealing various texts and their inner meaning. Through the text, the goals, intentions of the author, his inner spiritual world, feelings, attitude towards the world around him, the world of his life, the cultural and historical background of his activities, etc. are revealed.
Today we can talk about the presence of a tendency to re-evaluate eclecticism as a methodological technique. It begins to be viewed as a positive scientific phenomenon with its own specificity. The need for this methodological tool arises in certain conditions and it is used at the initial stage of cognition. It is very important to understand the limits of applicability of this method, since if they are ignored, significant shortcomings and errors may arise in the course of a particular study.
Eclecticism was sometimes resorted to as a special way of moving thoughts when the field of activity had not yet appeared for other methods. Eclecticism dominated in the Alexandrian and late Roman periods of the development of philosophy. It was actively used by Cicero as a special method. Eclecticism mechanically connects all aspects of the subject being studied, without yet being able to highlight essential connections and relationships. An eclectic argues according to the principle: “on the one hand,” “on the other hand,” “on the third side,” etc. Without penetrating into the essence of reality and without revealing its laws, this method replaces the knowledge of laws with an eclectic description of phenomena and facts.
If earlier this term was given a predominantly negative meaning, now eclecticism is seen as the first grandiose attempt to create a unique philosophy. Her merits include the diligent collection of scattered grains of truth in the field of cultural history, the first stage of unification of theses.
It is unlikely that eclecticism should be excluded from the process of cognition, and there are sufficient reasons to consider it as a positive scientific phenomenon. True, the need for this methodological tool arises in certain sociocultural conditions.
By collecting and preserving various things, eclecticism thereby created the opportunity to develop a unified theoretical foundation. She played a positive role in preserving original texts various ancient philosophers, whose originals were destroyed for various reasons. Yes, texts ancient Greek philosophers Sextus Empiricus and Diogenes Laertius represent a wealth of historical information about ancient Greek philosophy.
An important method of philosophical research is sophistry. Sophistry is a set of diverse types of argumentation based on the subjectivist use of the rules of logical inference for the sake of preserving and affirming existing provisions and theories. Sophisms, as Hegel noted, upon closer examination turn out to be the primary form of theoretical development of contradictions, usually appearing in the form of aporias and paradoxes. Being a type of metaphysical thinking, sophistry is rooted in the absolutization of the relativity of knowledge.
Ideas about the philosophical method, which have become widespread in Russian literature, are formulated on the basis of the Hegelian-Marxist tradition. Their certain insufficiency or even obsolescence for solving modern philosophical problems does not mean at all that they should be mechanically discarded. Meanwhile, such attempts have been made both in the past and at present. Thus, K. Popper proposes to replace the dialectical method with the general scientific method of trial and error. Today, such a reduction of the philosophical method to a general scientific one is carried out not only by philosophers, but also by some representatives special sciences. In connection with the development of synergetics, some of its supporters argue that dialectics is a special case of synergetics. One can hardly agree with this approach, since taking into account the specifics of the philosophical and scientific method is extremely necessary.
The philosophical method cannot lead to success in scientific research if, when solving particular problems, it is used in isolation from general scientific and special scientific methods. It is not some kind of universal master key that allows one to make discoveries in particular sciences. The philosophical method, like any method of science, has its own theoretical, epistemological and logical capabilities, beyond which its effectiveness is reduced or eliminated altogether. K. Marx noted that “the dialectical form of presentation is correct only if it knows its limits.” This means that the possibilities of the dialectical, as well as any philosophical scientific method, are limited by the level of development of knowledge.
In modern Western philosophy there are two extreme points view of the method of philosophy. On the one hand, the specifics of philosophy are explained by the use of purely philosophical methods of thinking, and on the other, scientist-oriented philosophers (K. Popper) believe that philosophy cannot use any other methods of research except logic and special sciences. The method of cognition in Marxist philosophy is understood in two ways: along with the specifically philosophical method, the methods of other sciences, including general scientific methods, are also used in the cognitive process. Hence, the uniqueness of understanding philosophical problems lies in the fact that in solving them, along with the application of the philosophical method itself, other methods are also used.
At the same time, both directions in philosophy and philosophical methods are: materialism, idealism, empiricism and rationalism.
With the materialistic method, reality is perceived as really existing, matter as a primary substance, and consciousness - its mode - is a manifestation of the mother. (The materialist-dialectical method dominated in Soviet philosophy, and is widespread in modern Russian philosophy.)
The essence of the idealistic philosophical method is the recognition of the idea as the origin and determining force, and matter as a derivative of the idea, its embodiment. The idealistic method is especially widespread in the United States and in a number of Western European countries (for example, Germany).
Empiricism is a method and direction in cognition, according to which the basis of the cognitive process and knowledge is experience obtained primarily as a result of sensory cognition. (“There is nothing in thoughts that was not previously in experience and sensory sensations.”)
Rationalism is a philosophical method and direction in philosophy, by virtue of which true, absolutely reliable knowledge can be achieved only with the help of reason (that is, derived from reason itself) without the influence of experience and sensations. (Everything can be questioned, and any doubt is already the work of thought, reason.)
Conclusion
The modern world is a complex dynamic integral system, a correct and comprehensive understanding of which is impossible without certain philosophical concepts. They help to better understand reality in the interaction of all spheres, parties and connections, in development, in the unity of all laws and contradictions, the place of use in the modern world, the meaning of its life and a number of other complex problems.
Philosophical culture is an important component of the general human culture, the formation of which is an urgent need of our days. In the context of the ongoing profound changes in modern society, it is extremely necessary to abandon outdated stereotypes, frozen dogmas and speculative schemes not only in thinking, but also in practical activities. One must be able to think and act constructively, critically, creatively, creatively, dialectically. To master this art, you need a lot of independent work for the comprehensive development of the entire wealth of world philosophy as a whole and its most important methods.
The “spirit of novelty,” which is becoming more and more fully established in our reality, makes inertia and stagnation intolerable, promotes human self-improvement, renewal of forms and methods of activity, and the progressive development of society. The new social structures and forms of human life that are taking shape before our eyes can only become viable if they inherit all the best that history has done, absorb all the experience of social development, and fully rely on the achievements of domestic and world culture.
A broad philosophy of generalization and correct methodology help to focus the search on the correct reflection of the latest stage of history, to identify the features of various social entities, to give a person the basics of value and worldview orientation in the current complex world, to predict its further development.
Bibliography
Antonov E.A., Voronina M.V. Philosophy: Tutorial. - Belgorod, 2000. - Topic 1.
Bibler B.C. What is philosophy //Questions of philosophy. - 1995. - No. 1.
Bobkov A.N. Modern approaches to understanding the worldview // Philosophical Sciences. - 2005. - No. 3.
Introduction to philosophy: In 2 vols. T.1. /Ed. I.T. Frolova. - M., 1989. - Chapter 1.
Zotov A. The phenomenon of philosophy: What does the pluralism of philosophical teachings mean // Questions of philosophy. - 1991. - No. 12.
Mamardashvili M.K. How I understand philosophy. - M., 1980.
Ortega y Gasset X. What is philosophy? - M., 1991.
Radugin A.A. Philosophy: Course of lectures. - M., 1996. - Topic 1-2.
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The main methods in this case include:
· dialectics;
· metaphysics;
· dogmatism;
· eclecticism;
· sophistry;
· hermeneutics.
Let us consider these methods of philosophy in more detail.
Dialectics is a method of philosophical research in which phenomena, as well as things, are examined critically, flexibly, and very consistently. That is, with such a study, attention is paid to all the changes that occur. The events that caused the changes are taken into account. A lot of attention is paid to the issue of development.
The method of philosophy, which is the direct opposite of dialectics, is called metaphysics. With it, objects are considered:
· static – that is, changes and development do not play any role during the research;
· separately, independently of other things and phenomena;
· unambiguously – that is, when searching for absolute truth, attention is not paid to contradictions.
Methods of philosophy also include dogmatism. Its essence comes down to the perception of the surrounding world through the prism of peculiar dogmas. These dogmas are accepted beliefs, from which one cannot deviate even one step. They are absolute in nature. Let's note. That this method was inherent primarily in medieval theological philosophy. Today it is almost never used.
Eclecticism, included in the methods of philosophy, is based on an arbitrary combination of various, disparate, completely without common principles facts, concepts, concepts, as a result of which one can come to superficial, but relatively plausible, seemingly reliable conclusions. This method is often used to create private ideas that help change mass consciousness. These ideas have little in common with reality. Previously, this method was used in religion, but today it is very popular among advertisers.
A method that is based on the derivation of false, presented under the guise of true, new premises, which, according to logic, will be true, but with a distorted meaning. The thoughts imprinted in them do not correspond to reality, but are beneficial to those using this method. In other words, the sophists studied ways to mislead a person during a dialogue. Distributed sophistry was in Ancient Greece. Those who understood it were practically invincible in an argument.
The basic methods of philosophy are completed hermeneutics. This method is based on correct reading, as well as interpretation of the meaning of texts. Hermeneutics is the science of understanding. The method has become widespread in Western philosophy.
There are additional methods of philosophy. They are also its directions. We are talking about materialism, idealism, rationalism, empiricism.
3. The structure and content of the spiritual life of society. Individual and social consciousness. Values and Ideals
The spiritual life of society includes ideal phenomena of social life, namely public and individual consciousness, as well as those public institutions that ensure the formation, functioning and development of spiritual life (education system, church, upbringing, cultural institutions, media).
A social institution is a stable form of organization of any sphere of life or type of activity. Social institutions can be formal or informal.
Social consciousness must be considered from three sides:
1) Relationship with individual consciousness. Social consciousness manifests itself only through individual consciousness.
2) From the point of view of the subject or bearer of social consciousness. Carriers of social consciousness – large or massive social groups (national-ethnic, social-class)
Structure of public consciousness:
1) Its levels (levels reflect the way ideas are expressed)
2) Forms of social consciousness (reflects the sphere of public life)
Levels of public consciousness:
1) Theoretical consciousness (types: science and ideology). Ideology is a system of ideas and views that reflects the social status and interests of individuals and groups and expresses their goals and aspirations in politics, economics, and culture. Ideology is created by representatives of the intelligentsia and prominent politicians.
2) Ordinary consciousness. Expressed in the form of mass consciousness, public opinion, feelings, emotions and moods. An essential element of social consciousness is mentality.
1) Political consciousness (political psychology and ideology)
2) Legal consciousness (ideology and social psychology)
3) Morality (psychological level)
4) Religion (religious ideology and psychology)
5) Philosophy (scientific form)
6) Economic consciousness (psychology)
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Philosophical methods, among which the most ancient are dialectical and metaphysical. Essentially, every philosophical concept has a methodological function, is a unique way mental activity. Therefore, philosophical methods are not limited to the two mentioned. These also include methods such as analytical (characteristic of modern analytical philosophy), intuitive, phenomenological, hermeneutic (understanding), etc.
Often philosophical systems (and, accordingly, their methods) were combined and “intertwined” with each other in different “proportions.” Thus, the dialectical method in Hegel was combined with idealism, in Marx (as, by the way, in Heraclitus) - with materialism. Gadamer tried to combine hermeneutics with rationalistic dialectics, etc.
Philosophical methods are not a “set” of rigidly fixed regulations, but a system of “soft” principles, operations, techniques that are general, universal in nature, i.e. located at the highest (ultimate) “floors” of abstraction. Therefore, philosophical methods are not described in strict terms of logic and experiment, and are not amenable to formalization and mathematization.
It should be clearly understood that philosophical methods set only the most general regulations of research, its general strategy, but do not replace special methods and do not directly and directly determine the final result of knowledge. Experience shows that “the more general the method of scientific knowledge is, the more uncertain it is in relation to the prescription of specific steps of knowledge, the greater its ambiguity in defining final results research."
But this does not mean that philosophical methods are not needed at all. As the history of knowledge shows, an error at the highest levels of knowledge can lead an entire research program to a dead end. For example, erroneous general initial attitudes (mechanism-vitalism, empiricism-apriorism) from the very beginning predetermine the distortion of objective truth and lead to a limited metaphysical view of the essence of the object being studied.
The dialectical-materialist methodology plays an ever-increasing role in modern scientific knowledge. It actually functions not as a rigid and unambiguous set of norms, “recipes” and techniques, but as a dialectical and flexible system of universal principles and regulations human activity, including thinking in its integrity.
Therefore, an important task of dialectical-materialist methodology is to develop a universal method of activity, to develop such categorical forms that would be maximally adequate to the universal laws of existence of objective reality itself. However, each such form is not a mirror image of the last, and it does not automatically turn into methodological principle.
To become one, universal dialectical provisions must take the form of normative requirements, specific instructions that (in combination with regulations of other levels) determine the method of action of the subject in cognition and change of the real world. The objective determinacy of dialectical-logical principles, as well as all social norms in general, serves as the basis for their subsequent subjective use as a means of cognition and practical mastery of reality.
The dialectical method cannot, of course, be reduced to universal logical schemes with pre-measured and guaranteed trains of thought. However, scientists are interested, strictly speaking, not in themselves in the categories of “development”, “contradiction”, “causality”, etc., but in the regulatory principles formulated on their basis. At the same time, they want to clearly know how the latter can help in real scientific research, how they can contribute to adequate comprehension of the relevant subject area and knowledge of the truth. That is why we still hear calls from scientists for the creation of applied philosophy - a kind of bridge between universal dialectical principles and methodological experience in solving specific problems in a particular science.
Let us illustrate this using the example of some of the most important principles of the dialectical method:
1. Objectivity is a philosophical, dialectical principle based on the recognition of reality in its real patterns and universal forms. The main content of this principle can be presented in the form of the following requirements:
Proceed from sensory-objective activity (practice) in all its volume and development;
Realize and realize the active role of the subject of cognition and action;
Start from facts in their totality and be able to express the logic of things in the logic of concepts;
Reveal the internal unity (substance) of an object as the deep basis of all its formations;
Skillfully select a system of methods adequate to the given subject and consciously and consistently implement it;
Consider the subject in the appropriate sociocultural context, within the framework of certain ideological orientations;
Approach all processes and phenomena constructively and critically and act in accordance with the logic of the subject.
2. Comprehensiveness - a philosophical, dialectical principle of cognition and other forms of activity, expressing the universal connection of all phenomena of reality. Includes the following basic requirements:
Isolating the subject of research and drawing its boundaries;
Its holistic “multidimensional” consideration;
Study in its pure form each side of the subject;
The implementation of cognition as a process unfolding in depth and breadth, in the unity of its intensive and extensive sides;
Isolation of the essence, the main side of an object, its substantial properties.
The principle of comprehensiveness is most closely related to the philosophical principle of concreteness and the general scientific principle of systematicity.
3. Concrete (concreteness) (from the Latin concretus - condensed) - a philosophical category that expresses a thing or a system of interconnected things in the totality of all its sides and connections, which is reflected as sensually concrete (at the empirical stage) or as mentally concrete (at theoretical stage). Based on this category, a dialectical principle of concreteness is developed, which includes a number of requirements:
“derive” a given phenomenon from its substantial attribute (the main, essential side) and reproduce it as a dialectically dissected whole;
To trace the refraction of the general in the individual, the essence in phenomena, the law in its modifications;
Take into account the diverse conditions of place, time and other circumstances that change the existence of this object;
Identify the specific mechanism of the relationship between the general and the individual;
Consider this object as part of a broader whole, of which it is an element.
4. Historicism is a philosophical, dialectical principle, which is a methodological expression of the self-development of reality in terms of its direction along the time axis in the form of an integral continuous unity of such states (time periods) as the past, present and future. This principle includes the following basic requirements:
Studying the present current state subject of research;
Reconstruction of the past - consideration of the genesis, emergence of the past and its main stages historical movement;
Foreseeing the future, forecasting trends in the further development of the subject.
5. Contradiction principle - a dialectical principle based on real contradictions of things and reduced to the following basic requirements:
Identification of subject contradictions;
A comprehensive analysis of one of the opposite sides of this contradiction;
Exploring another opposite;
Consideration of the subject as a unity (synthesis) of opposites as a whole based on knowledge of each of them;
Determining the place of a contradiction in the system of other contradictions of the subject;
Tracing the stages of development of this contradiction;
Analysis of the mechanism for resolving contradictions as a process and the result of its development and aggravation.
Dialectical contradictions in thinking, which reflect real contradictions, must be distinguished from the so-called “logical” contradictions, which express confusion and inconsistency of thought and are prohibited by the laws of formal logic.
If the principles of dialectics are incorrectly implemented and applied, numerous distortions of their requirements are possible, which means deviations from the path to truth and the emergence of misconceptions. These are, in particular, objectivism and subjectivism (in their diverse forms); one-sidedness or subjectivist unification of randomly “torn out” sides of the subject; ignoring its essence or replacing it with secondary, unimportant aspects; an abstract approach to the subject without taking into account certain conditions of place, time and other circumstances; uncritical consideration of it; modernization or archaization of the past; identification (mixing) of the prerequisites for the emergence of an object with itself; understanding of the resolution of a contradiction as the “neutralization” of its parties and a number of others.
2. General scientific methods
General scientific approaches and research methods that have been widely developed and used in modern science. They act as a kind of “intermediate methodology” between philosophy and the fundamental theoretical and methodological provisions of the special sciences. General scientific concepts most often include such concepts as “information”, “model”, “structure”, “function”, “system”, “element”, “optimality”, “probability”, etc.
The characteristic features of general scientific concepts are, firstly, the “fusion” in their content of individual properties, features, concepts of a number of special sciences and philosophical categories. Secondly, the possibility (unlike the latter) of their formalization and clarification by means of mathematical theory and symbolic logic.
If philosophical categories embody the maximum possible degree of generality - the concrete-universal, then general scientific concepts are characterized for the most part by the abstract-general (identical), which allows them to be expressed by abstract-formal means. An important criterion for the “philosophicality”, “dialecticality” of this or that “mental formation” is its necessary “participation” in solving the main question of philosophy (in its entirety).
On the basis of general scientific concepts and concepts, the corresponding methods and principles of cognition are formulated, which ensure the connection and optimal interaction of philosophy with special scientific knowledge and its methods. General scientific principles and approaches include systemic and structural-functional, cybernetic, probabilistic, modeling, formalization and a number of others.
Such a general scientific discipline as synergetics - the theory of self-organization and development of open integral systems of any nature - natural, social, cognitive (cognitive) - has been developing especially rapidly recently. Among the basic concepts of synergetics are such concepts as “order”, “chaos”, “nonlinearity”, “uncertainty”, “instability”, “dissipative structures”, “bifurcation”, etc. Synergetic concepts are closely related and intertwined with a number of philosophical categories, especially such as “being”, “development”, “becoming”, “time”, “whole”, “accident”, “possibility”, etc.
The important role of general scientific approaches is that, due to their “intermediate nature,” they mediate the mutual transition of philosophical and particular scientific knowledge (as well as corresponding methods). The point is that the first one is not superimposed T one hundred externally, directly to the second. Therefore, attempts to immediately, “point-blank” express special scientific content in the language of philosophical categories are, as a rule, unconstructive and ineffective.
Logic and philosophy
Various philosophical methods. The main methods of philosophy and the means by which philosophical research is carried out are: dialectics; metaphysics; dogmatism; eclecticism; sophistry; hermeneutics. Dialectics is a method of philosophical research in which things, phenomena are considered flexibly, critically, consistently, taking into account their internal contradictions, changes in the development of causes and consequences, unity and struggle of opposites.
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