Bell pepper is a wonderful tasty and healthy vegetable that you can ...
The problem of the method of cognition as
The 17th – 18th centuries is a period that brought major changes to the life of Europe, which were reflected in the new problematic of philosophy. In the culture of the New Age, secular elements prevail over church elements. Liberation from the authority of the church led to the growth of individualism.
The philosophy of the 17th century laid the foundations of modern European philosophy, developed its main directions and concepts. Outstanding representatives of this period are F. Bacon, R. Descartes, B. Spinoza, D. Locke, T. Hobbes.
Features of the philosophy of a particular period always reflect the features of the corresponding period in the development of culture. Rationalistic spirit European culture Modern times was reflected in the main distinctive feature of the philosophy of the New time - rationalism.
The philosophy of the modern era is based on confidence in the limitless possibilities of the human mind in the knowledge and transformation of the world. The essence of man is in the mind, the mind is not divine, but biological or social in nature. Rationalism manifested itself in all branches of philosophical knowledge.
In ontology, rationalism was expressed in the concept of deism.
Deism- the doctrine according to which the divine spirit is reduced to the divine mind: God, having manifested his will only once, creating the world, no longer manifests it. The world order embodies the wisdom of the divine mind. Most of the prominent scientists of modern times were deists.
The rationalistic understanding of being was also expressed in the confidence of the majority of modern philosophers in a harmonious and perfect structure of life, in the rationality of the existing world order. This is reflected in the concept of dualism.
Dualism Is a philosophical concept that reduces all the diversity of being to two substances - material and spiritual, which are related to each other. A parallel change in material and spiritual substance is corrected by God. Extension is an integral, essential property or attribute of material substance, and thinking is spiritual. Dualism declares the principle of the identity of thinking and being.
In epistemology, rationalism was expressed in a firm conviction in the possibility of comprehending the world by the forces of the human mind. Most modern philosophers shared this point of view, believing that it is reasonable and logical arranged world there is nothing that would be inaccessible to the human mind, you just need to find correct method knowledge. Teachings that question or even deny the possibility of comprehending objective reality by the forces of the human mind appear only at the end of the 18th century (D. Berkeley, D. Hume, I. Kant).
In social philosophy, rationalism was most clearly expressed in the form of social utopias. The ideal social structure is the Kingdom of Reason, as a rationally organized order of social life.
Philosophers of modern times were looking for reasonable and just beginnings social development... This was embodied in the concept of "natural law" and in the theory of "social contract" (D. Locke, J.-J. Rousseau), on the basis of which the Enlightenment proclaimed the equality of all citizens before the law, the inalienability of the rights of every person to life, freedom and own.
An important event, which determined the nature and direction of Western philosophical thought in the 17th century, was the scientific revolution, as a result of which a mechanistic scientific picture of the world was formed in the new European culture. According to the mechanistic picture, the world is a certain immutable, once and for all created mechanism, where all material objects move, without undergoing development, in absolute space and time, obeying the laws of mechanics and strict causality.
Of particular relevance in the philosophy of modern times is the problem method scientific knowledge - the problem of the basis of knowledge and the criteria of truth. The problem of the method of cognition was solved within the framework of three main directions: sensationalism, rationalism and empiricism.
The sensationalists believed that the source of all knowledge was the sensations generated in a person by the influence of material objects on his sense organs. The main thesis of sensationalism: "There is nothing in the mind that would not have been in the senses before." The sensationalists include P. Gassendi, T. Hobbes, J. Locke, C. Helvetius, D. Diderot, P. Holbach. The main organ of cognition of reality is the human brain. Denis Diderot(1713 - 1784) compares the brain with a sensitive and living wax, capable of taking all kinds of forms, capturing the effect of external objects.
Sensualism of the 18th century does not contradict the general rationalistic attitude of the philosophy of the Enlightenment. Sensual direct knowledge is only the first step on the path of knowing the essence of reality, which is possible only through reason.
However, there was no unity among the sensationalists. Materialistic sensationalism of modern times is represented by the concept of the English philosopher John Locke(1632-1704). He criticized Plato's theory of "innate ideas" and believed that human consciousness from birth is a "blank slate" that is filled with content through sensations. Locke calls sensations ideas. Ideas are perceived by the soul in itself or are direct objects of perception. The mind can only combine ideas, not produce them.
When the question arises about the reliability of the sensory perception of reality, Locke takes into account the possible subjectivity of feelings, and proposes the concept of primary and secondary qualities. The primary qualities should include the spatio-temporal characteristics of objects: shapes, sizes, positions, etc. Secondary qualities are color, taste, smell, etc.
Locke's philosophical doctrine is opposed by idealistic sensationalism George Berkeley(1685 - 1753) and David Hume(1711 - 1776). D. Berkeley believes that to exist is to be perceived. Things, bodies of nature are complexes of human sensations. Nature is a part of our mind and the last one dictates its own laws to it. The difference between what people call real and what they call illusion is that illusion is a product of human consciousness, and "reality" is generated in the consciousness of God. There is no reality outside of human consciousness.
Rationalism- this is a philosophical concept, the basis of knowledge and the criterion of truth seeing in the mind. In modern times, rationalism is presented in philosophy René Descartes (1596–1650).
Descartes, like Bacon, sets out the task of clearing the mind of the prejudices of medieval science. Calls not to succumb to the charm of beautifully constructed, but false theories and to start searching (experimentally and deductively) for such information about nature that would have a stable and reasonable character. In order for knowledge to become grounded and turn into a science, it must be derived from a single, reliable principle. One way of finding such a principle is through induction and analysis, the other through deduction and synthesis. The second way is preferable for Descartes.
Descartes's method includes four rules. The first rule is the rule of intellectual intuition. Intellectual intuition is a solid and clear idea (so simple and clear that it does not cause any doubt), which is born in a healthy mind through the view of the mind itself, and not sensory knowledge. Thus, as the basis of knowledge, one must take only those truths that seem to the mind extremely clear, obvious, do not require proof. In order to see these truths, Descartes proposes a procedure for universal doubt: only that which can withstand the test of doubt can become the basis of subsequent logical constructions.
The only truth that, as it turned out, the human mind cannot doubt is the fact of the doubt itself. Thus, a person discovers the certainty of his existence not through his body, not through the external world, but through the act of thinking: “I think, therefore, I exist”.
The second rule is the rule of analysis: divide complex problems into simple ones.
The third rule is the rule of deduction: arrange your thoughts in order, starting with the simplest, abstract, and reaching the most complex, concrete. Deduction is such an action of the mind, with the help of which we draw conclusions from certain prerequisites, obtain certain consequences, in other words, it is a definition of the unknown through the previously known and known.
The fourth rule is the rule of completeness and consistency of conclusions: in the process of thinking, do not skip any logical steps, draw all the conclusions that can be obtained.
Empiricism is a fundamentally new concept, the appearance of which corresponded to the intentions of the development of modern European science. The basis of knowledge and the criterion of truth lies in experience. The founder of empiricism is Francis Bacon(1561-1626). To reform science, Bacon proposed to do two types of work: critical and positive. Bacon believed that the main obstacle on the way to cognition of nature was the contamination of people's consciousness with so-called idols - distorted images of reality, false ideas and concepts. He distinguished four types of idols: 1) the idols of the clan; 2) cave idols; 3) idols of the market; 4) theater idols.
A positive component of Bacon's philosophical model is the search correct method knowledge.
Bacon figuratively called his method "the bee method", contrasting it with the "ant method" and the "spider method". The supporters of the first method - sensationalists - "only collect and are content with what is collected." The supporters of the second - the rationalists - "produce a thread of reasoning from themselves." The bee, as F. Bacon writes, "extracts material from garden and wild flowers, but disposes and changes it according to his skill." F. Bacon believes that his method combines the advantages of the first two paths, but is free from the shortcomings of each of them.
Bacon says that feelings are an insufficient basis for knowledge: they either refuse a person to comprehend the truth, or distort reality. That is why a mind is needed that is able to extract truth from sensory experience. He can extract this truth through experiment.
In contrast to sensationalism, based on passive contemplation of nature, empiricism proclaims the need for the subject of cognition to be active. One should not contemplate nature, but ask her questions, that is, set up experiments with the objects under study, actively intervene in natural processes, up to their destruction, if necessary.
In contrast to rationalism, based on the deductive mode of reasoning, empiricism uses inductive: inference from the particular to the general. It should be noted that in the theory and practice of knowledge, the three presented above trends of philosophy of modern times complement each other.
The main questions of the lecture:
1. The main problems and directions of this period.
2. Rationalism and its representatives.
3. Empiricism and its representatives.
4. Philosophy of the Enlightenment: specifics and trends.
І. The main problems and directions of philosophy of modern times.
The philosophy of modern times covers the period of the XVI-XVIII centuries. This is the time of formation and registration natural sciences separated from philosophy. Physics, chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, mechanics are turning into independent sciences. The line outlined in the Renaissance is further developed. At the same time, new tasks and priorities arise in philosophy. In the spotlight new philosophy- the theory of knowledge and the development of a method of knowledge common to all sciences. It is impossible to cognize God, nature, man, society, the philosophers of modern times believe, without first of all having clarified the laws of the cognizing Reason. Unlike other sciences, philosophy must study precisely thinking, its laws and methods, from which the construction of all sciences begins. This issue is dealt with by F. Bacon, T. Hobbes, R. Descartes, J. Locke, G. Leibniz.
The philosophy of this period is characterized by a number of attitudes:
1. Promotion of science to the rank of the most important occupation of mankind. It is science (= reason) that is capable of enriching humanity, saving it from troubles and suffering, raising society to new stage development, provide social progress(F. Bacon).
2. Complete secularization of science. The synthesis of science with religion, faith with reason is impossible. No authorities are recognized, except for the authority of reason itself (T. Hobbes).
3. The development of sciences and the final subordination of man to nature is possible when the main method thinking, the method of "pure reason" capable of acting in all sciences (R. Descartes).
While searching for a new "super method", philosophers were divided into supporters of empiricism ("empirio" - experience) and rationalism ("ration" - mind).
Empiricists (F. Bacon, T. Hobbes, J. Locke and others) believed that the only source of knowledge is experience. Experience is associated with sensations, perceptions, ideas. The content of all human or human knowledge is reduced to experience. "There is nothing in cognition that was not previously contained in sensations" - this is the motto of the empiricists-sensualists ("sense" - feeling, sensation "). There are no innate knowledge, notions or ideas in the soul and mind of a person. The soul and mind of a person are initially pure, like a waxed tablet (tabula rasa - a clean board), and already sensations, perceptions "write" their "letters" on this tablet. Since the senses can be deceiving, we test them through an experiment that corrects the data of the senses. Knowledge should go from the particular, the experienced to the generalizations and the advancement of theories. This inductive method movement of the mind, along with experiment, he is the true method in philosophy and all sciences.
Rationalists (R. Descartes, B. Spinoza, G. Leibniz) believed that experience based on human sensations cannot be the basis of a general scientific method. Perceptions and sensations are illusory. We may feel something that is not there (for example, pain in a lost limb), and we may not feel some sounds, colors, etc. Experimental data, like experimental data, are always dubious. But in the Mind itself there are intuitively clear and distinct ideas. The main thing is that a person undoubtedly thinks. This basic - intuitive (pre-experienced) idea - is this: "I think, therefore I am" (Descartes). Then, according to the rules of deduction (from the general to the particular), we can deduce the possibility of the existence of God, nature and other people. The conclusion of the rationalists: the human mind contains, independently of experience, a number of ideas; these ideas do not exist on the basis of sensations, but prior to sensations. Developing the ideas inherent in the mind, a person can receive true knowledge of the world. Certainly. We draw information about the world from sensations, therefore, both experience and experiment are important components of knowledge about the world, but the basis of the true method must be sought in the mind itself. The true method of all sciences and philosophy is like mathematical methods... The latter are given outside of direct experience; start with general, but extremely clear and precise formulations. Mathematics uses the usual method, following from general ideas to private conclusions, there is no experiment in it.
2. Rationalism and its representatives: R. Descartes, B. Spinoza, G. Leibniz.
R. Descartes is a dualist. The philosopher divides the whole world into two types of substances - spiritual and material. The main property of the spiritual substance is thinking, the material property is extension. The modes of the first: feelings, desires, sensations, etc. The second modes: form, movement, position in space, etc. Man consists of two substances. He is the only being in which they unite and both exist at the same time, which allows him to rise above nature.
However, these are substances with reservations. Substance in philosophy is defined as something that for its existence needs nothing but itself. From this point of view, it is obvious that only God is the true substance - the eternal, indestructible, omnipotent, the source and cause of everything. According to Descartes, it turns out that a substance is something that for its existence only needs the existence of God. Created substances are self-sufficient only in relation to each other, in relation to the highest substance - God
- they are derivative, secondary and depend on it.
Descartes is a rationalist. He tries to find a starting point for human cognition - the first absolutely reliable position, which is the beginning of any science. One can doubt absolutely everything that exists. The only thing that is not questioned is its own existence. It is impossible to consider non-existent that which accomplishes the act of doubt. Doubt is a property of thought. Hence the famous thesis of Descartes: "I think, therefore I am" (Cogito ergo sum). The very fact of doubt and thought is the most obvious and sure thing that a person has at his disposal. Therefore, it is the thought of a person, the mind that constitutes the starting point of knowledge.
Descartes offers deductive (from general to particular) as an ideal scientific method of cognition. Its essence boils down to the following four principles:
1. To admit in the study as the starting points only true, absolutely reliable, proven by reason, not causing any doubts knowledge ("clear and distinct") - axioms;
2. Divide each complex problem into specific tasks;
3. Consistently move from known and proven issues to unknown and unproven;
4. Strictly observe the sequence of research, do not miss a single link in the logical chain of research.
Most knowledge is achieved through knowledge and the method of deduction, but there is a special kind of knowledge that does not need any proof. This knowledge is initially obvious and reliable, always resides in the human mind. Descartes calls them
"Innate ideas" (God, "number", "body", "soul", "structure", etc.)
The ultimate goal of knowledge Descartes defines as the domination of man over nature.
B. Spinoza criticizes R. Descartes. The main disadvantage of the Cartesian theory of substance, Spinoza considered its dualism: on the one hand, substance is an essence that for its existence does not need anything but itself; on the other hand, all essences (substances) that do not need anything except themselves for their existence are nevertheless created by someone else - the highest and only true substance - God - and are completely dependent on him for their existence. Hence, there is a contradiction between the independence of substances and the simultaneous dependence of all of them both in relation to creation and in relation to existence) on another substance - God.
Spinoza believed that this contradiction could be resolved only in the following way: to identify God and nature. There is only one substance - nature, which is the cause of itself (causa sui). Nature, on the one hand, is “creative nature” (God), and “on the other, is“ created nature ”(the world). Nature and God are one. There is no God who is and creates outside of nature, towering over her. God is within nature. Individual things do not exist by themselves, they are just manifestations
- "modes" of a single substance - Nature-God. The external reason for the existence of modes is a single substance, they are entirely dependent on it, are subject to changes, move in time and space, have the beginning and end of their existence. Substance, on the other hand, is infinite in time and space, eternal (uncreate and indestructible), immovable, has an internal cause for itself, has many properties (attributes), the main of which are thinking and extension.
Spinoza's theory of knowledge is rationalistic. The lowest level of knowledge, in his opinion, is knowledge based on imagination. These are representations based on sensory perceptions. outside world... Disadvantage: Sensory experience is messy. The second, higher level is formed by knowledge based on the mind. Truths here are deduced by means of evidence. Truths are reliable, clear and distinct. The limitation of this kind of knowledge is in its mediated character. The third, and highest, kind of knowledge is knowledge, also based on the mind, but not mediated by evidence. These are truths seen in intuition, i.e. direct contemplation of the mind. They are reliable and are distinguished by the greatest clarity and distinctness. The first kind of knowledge is sensory knowledge. The second and third are intellectual knowledge.
G. Leibniz criticized both the Cartesian dualism of substances and Spinoza's doctrine of a single substance. If there was only one substance, then, according to Leibniz, all things would be passive, not active. All things have their own action, hence each thing is a substance. The number of substances is infinite. The whole world consists of huge amount substances. He calls them "monads" (from Greek - "one" "unit"). The monad is not a material, but a spiritual unit of being. At the same time, any monad is both a soul (the leading role here) and a body. Thanks to the monad, matter has the ability to move itself. The monad is simple, indivisible, unique, subject to change, impenetrable ("has no windows"), closed, independent of other monads, inexhaustible, infinite, active. She has four qualities: striving, attraction, perception, representation. However, monads are not absolutely isolated: each monad reflects the whole world, the entire totality. Monad is a "living mirror of the Universe".
Classes of monads (the higher the class of monads, the greater its intelligence and degree of freedom):
"Naked monads" - are the basis of inorganic nature (stones, earth, minerals);
monads of animals - have sensations, but undeveloped self-awareness;
monads of a person (soul) - have consciousness. Memory, the unique ability of the mind to think;
The highest monad is God.
Leibniz tries to reconcile empiricism and rationalism. He divided all knowledge into two types - "truths of reason" and "truths of fact." "Truths of reason" are derived from reason itself, can be proved logically, have a necessary and universal character. "Truths of Fact"
- empirical knowledge (for example, magnetic attraction, boiling point of water). This knowledge only states the fact itself, but does not speak about its causes, it is of a probabilistic nature. Despite this, it cannot be belittled and ignored. experienced knowledge... Cognition is twofold, it can be both reliable (rational knowledge) and probabilistic (empirical).
3. Empiricism and its representatives: F. Bacon and T. Hobbes.
Fr. Bacon - the founder of empiricism, the Lord Chancellor of England. Two main works - "New Organon" and " New atlantis". Bacon set the task of reforming science, opposing his understanding of science and its method to the understanding on which Aristotle relied in his Organon. The philosopher considered criticism of scholasticism as the basis for the transformation of science. Based on the logic of Aristotle, scholasticism constructs knowledge in the form of a syllogism. The syllogism consists of judgments, judgments
- from concepts. Concepts are the result of hasty and insufficient reasoned generalization. The first condition for the reform of science is to improve the methods of generalization, the formation of concepts. A new theory of induction is needed.
F. Bacon criticizes rational knowledge, because it is unreliable and unreliable - the mind brings a lot into knowledge from itself. Such contributions Bacon calls the "idols" of reason. It is necessary to isolate and clear the mind of these idols. There are four types of them - "idols of the cave", "idols of the cave", "idols of the clan", "idols of the square" and "idols of the theater".
"Idols of the clan" are obstacles (delusions) due to the nature common to all people. Man judges nature by analogy with his own properties. "Idols of the Cave" are errors associated with the peculiarities of a cognizing person. Man's prejudices, delusions ("cave") are reflected in his conclusions in the process of cognition. For example, some are inclined to believe in the infallible authority of antiquity, while others, on the contrary, prefer only the new. “Ghosts of the market” is an incorrect inaccurate use of the conceptual apparatus: words, definitions, expressions. "Ghosts of the theater" - influence the process of cognition of existing philosophy. Often, old philosophy interferes with an innovative approach, directs knowledge not always in the right direction (for example, the influence of scholasticism on cognition in the Middle Ages).
Knowing the types of obstacles that lie in wait for a person in the study of nature helps to avoid mistakes. However, this knowledge is only a prerequisite for the creation of a scientific method. It needs to be developed. Studying the history of science, Bacon came to the conclusion that two ways, or methods of research, clearly stand out in it: dogmatic and empirical. A scientist following the dogmatic method begins his work with general speculative propositions and seeks to deduce from them all special cases. The dogmatist is like a spider that weaves its own web out of itself. The scientist following the empirical method seeks only to maximize the accumulation of facts. It looks like an ant, which randomly drags everything that comes its way into the anthill. The true method is to mentally recycle materials that provide experience. This is the path of the "bee", which combines all the virtues of the "path of the spider" and the "path of the ant". It is necessary to collect the entire set of facts, generalizing them (to look at the problem "from the outside"), and, using the power of reason, to look "inside" the problem, to understand its essence. That. the best way of cognition, according to Bacon, is empiricism, based on induction (collection and generalization of facts, accumulation of experience) with the use of rationalistic methods of understanding the inner essence of things and phenomena by reason.
The main tasks of cognition are to help a person achieve practical results in his activities, to contribute to new inventions, the development of the economy, and the domination of man over nature. Hence the famous aphorism of F. Bacon: "Knowledge is power!"
Thomas Hobbes is a materialist and empiricist who continues the teachings of F. Bacon. Hobbes opposes the teachings of R. Descartes about innate ideas. Experience shows that people immersed in dreamless sleep do not think. This means that they have no ideas at this time. Therefore, no idea can be innate: what is innate must always be present. According to Hobbes, the source of knowledge can only be sensory perceptions of the external world. Sensory perceptions in his understanding are signals received by the sense organs from the surrounding world and their subsequent processing. The philosopher calls them "signs." These include: signals - sounds made by animals to express their actions or intentions (birdsong, roar of predators, meows, etc.); labels - various signs invented by a person for communication; natural signs - "signals" of nature (thunder, lightning, etc.); arbitrary signs of communication - words of different languages; signs in the role of "marks" - a special "encoded" speech, understandable to a few (scientific language, the language of religion, jargon); signs of signs are general concepts.
T. Hobbes is known for his doctrine of the origin of the state ("Leviathan", which means "monster").
He distinguishes between two states human society: natural and civil. The philosopher's initial thesis is that the nature of man is inherently evil. Therefore, in the natural state, people act guided by personal gain, selfishness and passions. Everyone believes that they have the right to everything. Here law coincides with force, and neglect of other people's interests leads to a "war of all against all." This war threatens mutual extermination. Therefore, it is necessary to seek peace, for which everyone must give up the "right to everything" (voluntarily restrict his "absolute" freedom). A contract is concluded in a society, and from that moment it passes into a civil state. The institution that guides people towards a common goal and keeps them from actions that disturb the peace is a state of united will. Everyone must subordinate his private will to some one person or group of persons, whose will should be considered the will of all. This is how the state appears. The most perfect form state power T. Hobbes considered absolute monarchy... He calls the state "Leviathan" or a monster that "devours and sweeps away everything in its path", it is omnipotently impossible to resist, but it is necessary to maintain the viability of society, order and justice in it
4. Philosophy of the Enlightenment: specifics and trends.
Control tasks and questions:
1. What is the novelty and features of the philosophy of modern times?
2. Explain the meanings of the terms "empiricism" and "rationalism". What unites these currents of philosophical thought in the 17th century?
3. Explain Descartes's phrase “Cogito ergo sum”.
4. Compare the doctrine of substance B. Spinoza and G. Leibniz.
5. Describe the teaching of F. Bacon about the "idols" of knowledge.
6. What are the main features of the philosophy of the Enlightenment.
During the 16-17 centuries, a new, capitalist mode of production developed in the most advanced countries of Western Europe. The bourgeoisie is becoming an independent class. Feudal owners are beginning to adapt to developing capitalist relations. An example of this is the fencing of pastures in England, as wool is essential for the textile industry.
At this time, a number of bourgeois revolutions took place: Dutch (late 16th century), English (mid-17th century), French (1789-1794).
Natural science is developing. This is due to the needs of developing production.
At this time, the process of secularization of the spiritual life of society takes place.
Education ceases to be ecclesiastical and becomes secular.
By the end of the 16th century, philosophy was faced with the task of overcoming religious dogmatism, scholasticism, scientific interpretation of nature, as well as substantiating the needs of a new stage in the development of society - the stage of the birth, development and establishment of the capitalist mode of production. To solve these problems, philosophy should first of all free itself from the tutelage of theology, re-establish itself as an independent branch of knowledge. She had to take into account the achievements of natural science and at the same time contribute to its development. In these conditions, the problems of the method and means of cognition, questions about the role of experience, feelings, reason in the cognitive process came to the fore.
The main problems of philosophy of modern times:
1.connection of human consciousness with the socio-cultural environment
2.participation of human consciousness in changes in the historical process
3.autonomization of philosophy of history as a special field of knowledge
The philosophers of this period identified themselves with the enlightened classes of enlightened Europe. The social bottom was the passive object of the influence of philosophers.
Philosophy tasks:
1.explaining and then explaining to people their natural ability to cognize, and, consequently, to conquer nature
2.development of methods of cognition of the general foundations of the cognitive process
3.Elimination of ignorance and abstractionism (hostility to science)
4.Elimination of social injustice, poverty and tyranny
In philosophy of the XVII-XVIII centuries. a metaphysical approach to the world took shape and became dominant, when objects of nature and society, as well as the concepts reflecting them, were considered once and for all data, unchanging, subject to study separately from each other. A characteristic feature of this period in the development of philosophy was also a mechanism. Mechanics was the most developed branch of natural science at that time. Therefore, it was assumed that everything that exists lives according to the laws of mechanics.
The main directions of philosophy of modern times are
In the foreground are the problems of epistemology.
1. Empiricism is a trend in the theory of knowledge that recognizes sensory experience as the only source of knowledge.
a) idealistic (Berkin, Hume) Empirical experience - a set of sensations and
representations, the size of the world = the value of experience.
b) materialistic (Bacon, Gobss) - the source of sensory experience n. external world.
sensationalism (the only source of reliable knowledge about the world is sensory perception) Sensualism is a doctrine in epistemology that recognizes sensations as the only source of knowledge. Sensualism is inextricably linked with empiricism - all knowledge is grounded in experience and through experience.
2. rationalism (The source of reliable knowledge about the world is the mind). The rationalism of modern times is characterized by dualism. The two principles of the world are recognized: matter and thinking.
Sensualism uses induction- the movement of thought from the particular to the general.
Rationalism is based on deduction- the movement of thought from the general to the particular.
F. Bacon - the founder of empiricism (knowledge is based exclusively on experience). The main tasks of knowledge and experience are to help a person achieve practical results in activities, to promote new inventions, the development of the economy, his philosophical credo: "Knowledge is power." Bacon created induction - a method of cognition from particular empirical (experimental) data to general conclusions; he made the first attempt to classify sciences, highlighting the historical sciences, poetry, and philosophy.
T. Hobbes is a disciple and continuer of the philosophical tradition of F. Bacon. Rejected theological scholastic philosophy; the goal of philosophy saw the achievement of practical results in human activity, which contributed to scientific and technological progress. In the dispute between empiricism (experimental knowledge) and rationalism (knowledge with the help of reason), he sided with empiricism; considered the most important philosophical problem issues of society and state; developed the theory of the state in his work "Leviathan" ("The Monster"), where he argued that the right of every person to everything and disregard for the interests of others leads to a "war of all against all," therefore it is necessary to limit the freedom of people, saving them from themselves, and this can be done by the state, for this purpose it is necessary to conclude a social (joint) contract.
J. Berkeley (subjective idealism) argued that there is no matter, to exist is to be perceived. The source of all our sensations, behind which there is nothing, is God (we are all removed to God and at the same time to each other). The world consists of spirits and ideas (people and objects). Ideas cannot be the cause of anything, their cause is spirit. There is no idea of the spirit; we learn about the existence of other spirits by the ideas of their actions. Spirit is mind and will. The laws of nature are the connection of ideas. The World Spirit (God) produces ideas that do not depend on us ("Treatise on the principles of human knowledge").
R. Descartes, the founder of rationalism (the basis of both being and cognition is reason), believed that doubts and intellectual intuition lie at the basis of all cognition (“I think, therefore I exist”), the rest is comprehended by the method of deduction (definition of the unknown through previously known). He founded dualism (our mental life is completely autonomous), argued that a person combines two substances (material and spiritual), therefore, is dualistic (dual). Matter and consciousness always exist and are two different manifestations of a single being.
B. Spinoza is a rationalist, a representative of pantheism (God is synonymous with the Universe). The nature of God is comprehensible through his attributes - extension and thinking. They combine and create an infinite variety of aspects (modes). The human mind is one of the modes of infinite Thought, the body is the mode of extension. Through meditation, a person can rise above the illusion of the senses and find peace in union with God. Substance Nature - God has an inner cause of himself, is independent and independent of anyone, infinite in space and time.
Under the influence of such exact sciences as mechanics and mathematics, mechanism became firmly established in philosophy. Within the framework of this type of worldview, nature was viewed as a huge mechanism, and man, as an initiative and active worker.
Philosophy of modern times
The modern era is often referred to as an era scientific revolution... It is marked by significant discoveries in different areas natural sciences, the dominant place is occupied by mechanics. The philosophy of modern times owes its achievements partly to an in-depth study of nature, partly to the ever increasing combination of mathematics with natural science. Responding to the needs of scientific knowledge, the philosophy of this period placed in the center of comprehension the problem of the method of cognition, proceeding from the fact that there is an infinite amount of knowledge, and the method of achieving it should be the same, applicable to any sciences, including philosophy. Ideas about such universal method and divided the philosophers of modern times into a number of different directions.
Rationalism. Rationalists actually proposed a deductive method of cognition (from general to particular). To do this, they had to admit the existence of innate ideas. Any knowledge can be deduced from these ideas, up to the knowledge of the existence of God. Ideas exist prior to and independently of sensations. It is clear that we get information about nature from sensations. Thinking uses experience and experiment, but it is applied to their results and serves as the only criterion of truth. The model "for the methods of all sciences and philosophy are mathematical methods, given outside of experience and proceeding from a priori axioms, on the basis of which mathematical conclusions are drawn.
Empiricists (sensationalists). The main method proposed by the sensationalists is induction. They considered the experience given to us in sensations, perceptions, representations to be the only source of knowledge. A priori innate knowledge is completely denied. The human soul is a tabula rasa (blank board), on which nature puts its letters. Empiricists recognized the possible deception of sensations, but believed that experiment should be used to verify them. Based on verified knowledge gained from experience, we can build theories. They, like the realists, considered their method to be universal for all sciences.
Subjective idealism. Subjective idealists believe that there is no reality behind such concepts, i.e. they are fictions. Proceeding from the basic postulate of subjective idealism, put forward by its main representative J. Berkeley, “to exist is to be perceived”, any objective reality expressed by these fictional concepts does not exist.
But such concepts, which subjective idealists considered fictions, include the main categories of philosophy - matter, substance, etc. Since they lie at the basis of all sciences, are their categories on which the entire building of knowledge is built, subjective idealists considered science in principle impossible, since it was initially built on false foundations.
In addition, we perceive not the things themselves, but only their properties, and therefore, in principle, we cannot "grasp" the very essence of any thing. Human sensations are just mental phenomena. This means that we do not cognize objective things and phenomena, but their subjective images that arise in our perception. In other words, in cognition we are dealing only with the totality of our sensations. The grain of truth in this reasoning lies in the fact that a person's perceptions are really relative and depend on his subjective state.
Agnosticism. The foundations of the position of agnostics in contradiction: knowledge can only be logical, and the objects of research can be taken only from experience that defies logical analysis. Experience is a stream of impressions, the reasons for which are incomprehensible. Causal relationships are formed immanently in our mind and do not correspond to real ones, at least we cannot know anything about the degree of correspondence. Therefore, even to the question "does the external world exist?" Hume replied, "I don't know."
Denying objective causality, agnostics recognized subjective causation in the form of the generation of ideas by sensory impressions. For them, the only source of knowledge can be faith (such as confidence in the rising of the sun). Science and philosophy are possible only as experimental research that does not pretend to derive theoretical laws.
The main representatives of the philosophy of modern times
Francis Bacon (1561-1626). He is the founder of empiricism. Cognition is nothing more than the image of the external world in the mind of a person. It begins with sensory cognitions that need experimental verification. But Bacon was not an extreme empiricist. This is evidenced by the distinction he made between fruitful experience (brings direct benefit to man) and luminous experience (the purpose of which is the knowledge of the laws of phenomena and the properties of things). Experiments should be carried out according to a certain method - induction (the movement of thought from the particular to the general). This method provides for five stages of the study, each of which is recorded in the corresponding table:
1) Table of presence (listing of all cases of a encountered phenomenon)
2) Table of deviation or absence (all cases of the absence of a particular feature, indicator in the subjects presented are entered here)
3) Table of comparison or degrees (comparison of the increase or decrease of a given feature in the same subject)
4) Drop table (exclusion of individual cases that do not occur in this phenomenon, are not typical for it)
5) Table of "fruit dumping" (formation of an output based on what is common in all tables)
He considered the main obstacle on the way to cognition of nature to be the contamination of people's minds with idols - false ideas about the world.
Idols of the Genus - Attribution natural phenomena properties that are not inherent in them.
Cave idols - caused by the subjectivity of human perception of the surrounding world.
Idols of the market or square - spawned misuse words.
Idols of theater - arise from the subordination of the mind to erroneous views.
René Descartes (1596-1650). The basis philosophical worldview Descartes is the dualism of soul and body. There are two substances independent of each other: intangible (property - thinking) and material (property - extension). God rises above both of these substances as the true substance.
In his views on the world, Descartes appears as a materialist. He put forward the idea of the natural development of the planetary system and the development of life on earth in accordance with the laws of nature. He views the bodies of animals and humans as complex mechanical machines... God created the world and by his action preserves in matter the amount of motion and rest that he put into it during creation.
At the same time, in psychology and epistemology, Descartes acts as an idealist. In the theory of knowledge, it takes the position of rationalism. The illusions of the senses make the sensation readings unreliable. Errors of reasoning make the conclusions of reason doubtful. Therefore, it is necessary to start with a universal radical doubt. It is certain that there is doubt. But doubt is an act of thinking. Maybe my body doesn't really exist. But I know directly that as a doubter, a thinker, I exist. I think, therefore I am. All reliable knowledge is in the mind of a person and is innate.
Cognition is based on intellectual intuition, which gives rise to such a simple clear idea in the mind that it does not raise doubts. The mind on the basis of these intuitive views on the basis of deduction must deduce all the necessary consequences.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679). The substance of the world is matter. The movement of bodies occurs along mechanical laws: all movements from body to body are transmitted only by means of a push. People and animals are complex mechanical machines, the actions of which are entirely determined by external influences. Animated automata can store impressions received and compare them with previous ones.
The source of knowledge can only be sensations - ideas. In the future, the initial ideas are processed by the mind.
Identifies two states of human society: natural and civil. The natural state is based on the instinct of self-preservation and is characterized by "the war of all against all." Therefore, it is necessary to seek peace, for which each must give up the right to everything and thereby transfer part of his right to others. This transfer is carried out by means of a natural contract, the conclusion of which leads to the emergence of civil society, that is, the state. The most perfect form of state, Hobbes recognized the absolute monarchy.
Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza (1632-1677) taught that essence is only one substance - nature, which is the cause of itself. Nature is, on the one hand, a creative nature, and on the other, a created nature. As a creative nature, it is a substance, or, which is the same thing, God. Identifying nature and God, Spinoza denies the existence of a supernatural being, dissolves God in nature and thereby substantiates the materialistic understanding of nature. Substantiates an important distinction between essence and existence. The existence of a substance is both necessary and free at the same time. there is no reason that would induce a substance to act other than its own essence. A single thing does not follow from substance as from its immediate cause. It can only follow from another finite thing. Therefore, every single thing has no freedom. The world of concrete things should be distinguished from the substance. Nature exists by itself, independent of the mind and outside the mind. The infinite mind could comprehend the infinity of substances in all its forms and aspects. But our mind is not infinite. Therefore, he comprehends the existence of substance as infinite only in two aspects: as extension and as thinking (attributes of substance). Man as a subject of knowledge was no exception. Man is nature.
John Locke (1632-1704). Human consciousness does not have innate ideas. It is like clean slate, on which knowledge is written. The only source of ideas is experience. Experience is divided into internal and external. The first corresponds to sensation, to the second - reflection. Ideas of sensation arise from the action on the sense organs of things. Reflection ideas arise when considering the inner activity of the soul. Through sensations, a person perceives the qualities of things. The qualities are primary (copies of these qualities themselves - density, length, figure, movement, etc.) and secondary (color, taste, smell, etc.)
Ideas acquired from sensations and reflection are only material for knowledge. To gain knowledge, it is necessary to process this material. Through comparison, combination and distraction (abstraction), the soul transforms simple ideas sensations and reflections in complex.
Locke distinguishes between two types of reliable knowledge: indisputable knowledge, accurate and probable knowledge, or opinion.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), who spoke out in his reflections against the rational idea of God. He wrote: "We comprehend the truth not only with the mind, but also with the heart." Pascal taught that God is unknowable, and human knowledge itself is limited. Man is in a contradictory position, because he is not capable of either complete ignorance or all-embracing knowledge. For a person, truth is always partial, relative.
Man needs not the idea of God, but a living, personal God. This idea of Pascal is briefly and clearly expressed in the famous "Memorial" or "Pascal's Amulet".
A person who cognizes nature inevitably comes to the idea of infinity, to the feeling of his own lost in infinite worlds. Man in the Universe is doomed to live between two abyss - the abyss of infinity and the abyss of nonexistence. As if opposing Descartes, Pascal proposed abandoning the search for reliable knowledge, i.e. scientific truth. Knowledge is limited, the time of human life is short-lived, the very emergence of a person into the world is accidental - for Pascal all this is a reason to think about the highest destiny of a person in front of "the eternal silence of endless spaces."
If a person is only a "repository of delusions", and knowledge is useless for him, then you need to look for a criterion, the true principle of human existence. Pascal to some extent follows the logic of Descartes, from the denial of the vague and illusory to the certain. But, if for Descartes the idea of existence is reliable, then for Pascal the truth is outside of man. The search for God is what gives meaning to human life.
In his search for God, Pascal, first of all, criticizes those philosophers who do not notice the dual position of man. The highest greatness, Pascal believed, can be achieved not in self-blinding with one's own knowledge, but through the gift of Divine grace. A person makes a choice - if he chooses God, he gains confidence, and if he chooses the world and knowledge, then he gains doubts about the truth of what is known. For Pascal, this choice was decided unequivocally - in favor of God.
Having cognized his insignificance, man cognizes God. For people who have purified their hearts, it becomes available Holy Bible, and through him the greatness of Christian teaching. Through the heart, and not through the mind, man finds the way to God. According to Pascal, Christianity consists of two truths:
1.that there is a God, to whom people are able to receive communion;
2. that they are defiled by original sin, they are unworthy of it.
Pascal chose Christianity, not science, believing that everything reasonable, taken together, is not worth the slightest impulse of Christian mercy. However, Pascal, of course, failed to reverse the "wheel of history." The rational direction in philosophy and science became predominant. The apotheosis of rationalism was the system of B. Spinoza.
Similar information.
XVI-XVIII centuries The focus of the new philosophy is the theory of knowledge and the development of a method of knowledge common to all sciences. It is impossible to cognize God, nature, man, society, the philosophers of modern times believe, without first of all having clarified the laws of the cognizing Reason. F. Bacon, T. Hobbes, R. Descartes, J. Locke, G. Leibniz.
What is the surrounding world and what is the place and purpose of man in the world? what is the basis of everything that exists: material or spiritual? is the world subject to any laws? can a person know the world around him, what is this knowledge? The problem of cognition scientific methods, social structure. The problems of epistemology come to the fore. The connection between the sensual and the rational is revealed, the problems of truth and other epistemological issues are investigated.
Two main directions of philosophy of modern times:
1. Empiricism is a trend in the theory of knowledge that recognizes sensory experience as the only source of knowledge.
2. Rationalism (Latin rational) brings to the fore the logical foundation of science, recognizes reason as the source of knowledge and the criterion of its truth.
22. The emergence of a natural-scientific picture of the world: G. Galileo's contribution to the solution of the question of the objectivity of knowledge.
In ontology (starting with G. Galileo) the concept of matter is radically revised.
1) It consists of the smallest particles (atoms) that have certain shapes and speeds. Identification of matter and substance.
2) Matter is a substantial form of nature, which is characterized by spatio-temporal and quantitative attributes (place, time, movement).
3) Matter was equal to itself and unchanged.
In the fight against scholasticism. Aristotelian-Ptolemaic tradition. G. developed the principles of mechanistic. materialism. In his understanding of matter, he was close to atomists, proposed the idea of material substance as a single unchanging basis of nature, possessing determinate. structure and requiring for its description exclusively mechanics and mathematics. means - "figures, numbers and movements."
In epistemology, he developed the idea of the limitlessness of "extensive" knowledge of nature, noting at the same time the possibility of achieving abs. truth, that is, "intensive" knowledge. G. adhered to the then progressive theory of dual truth, seeking to delimit the scientific. research from theology.
The starting point of cognition, according to G., is sensory experience, which, however, in itself does not give reliable knowledge. It is achieved by systematic real or mental experimentation, based on strict quantitative and mathematical. description. G. singled out two mains. the method of experimental research of nature. Analytic. by the method of "resolution" using the means of mathematics, abstractions of idealization and passage to the limit.
As a result, reliable knowledge is realized in the explanatory theoretical. scheme as a unity of the synthetic and the analytic, the sensual and the abstract.
23. The difference between the method of natural sciences and the method of humanitarian. Q 46.
24. German classical philosophy: optional
a) the philosophy of I. Kant;
b) the philosophy of G.V.F. Hegel.
The highest achievement of German classical philosophy was Hegel's dialectic (1770-1831). whose great merit lies in the fact that for the first time he presented the entire natural, historical and spiritual world in the form of a process, i.e. in continuous movement, change, transformation and development, and made an attempt to reveal the internal connection of this movement and development. The significance of Hegel's philosophy lay in the fact that it laid out in a systematic form the dialectical worldview and the dialectical method of research corresponding to it. Three laws of dialectics (the essence of the history of development). 1. The law of transition of quantitative relations into qualitative ones (when the quantitative relations change after a certain stage, the quality changes due to the destruction of the measure). 2. The law of direction of development (negation of negation). Naked negation is something that comes after a given object, completely destroying it. Dialectical negation: something of the first object is preserved - the reproduction of this object, but in a different quality. Water is ice. Development takes place in a spiral. 3. The law of unity and struggle of opposites. The reason for development is the unity and struggle of opposites. Opposites interact, that is, they fight. The struggle leads to three outcomes: mutual destruction, illumination by one of the parties, or compromise.
25. Non-classical European philosophy of the XIX century: by choice
a) A. Schopenhauer's philosophy;
Arthur Schopenhauer(1788-1860) follower of Kant. Supporter of voluntarism (will is the highest principle of being).
b) the philosophy of S. Kierkegaard;
In the views of the founder of existentialism, Kierkegaard, objective being expresses the "fake existence" of man.
c) the philosophy of F. Nietzsche.
Philosophy of life. In phil. life at first. the plan puts forward the non-thinking abilities of a person: feeling, will or intuition. Consciousness is opposed to the unconscious, the deep source of human behavior. Development makes no sense to Nietzsche. Regression. But the formation of a new person is possible. The concept of eternal return. The principle of conservation of force in the universe, energy, etc. Realizing the absurdity of his approach based on science, he uses an allegorical image - an endless road lying behind us, and a gate in front of us with the inscription “moment”. "Knowledge is power." Science can only slide on the surface. The essence is to have an object, not to know. Science is a convenient fallacy; it doesn't need the world as such. Amoralism is a confrontation with traditional (Christian) morality. Christianity overturns the traditional concepts of good and evil. Nietzsche believed that religion should be abolished, and it is actually abolished. A new type of people should appear - the "blond beast". They will behave according to the laws of this race, and in relation to others as they want. Politics is power outside of morality. The patient is a parasite of society. The weak one needs to be pushed, help him fall. Stages spiritual development person. 1. A camel is an agreeable animal. I have to carry everything that they put down and endure all the hardships. 2. In the desert transforms into a lion - I want, I have the right, I can. Destructive character. 3. Further, after satisfying the desire, the lion turns into a child. The child creates. Higher stage. Will come only after the first two - slave dependence and evil inclination. He stands for honesty, health, etc., for the desire of people for art.
