The path of knowledge is the eternal path from ignorance to knowledge, from phenomenon to essence, from first-order essence to second-order essence, etc. Knowledge is surprise. A person is surprised by what he wants to know. Knowledge begins with doubt. Doubt and the unknown coexist with each other. And some philosophers believe that the unknown is man's most precious asset. Plato also wrote that everything in this world is a weak image of the supreme economy, in which there is much that is doubtful and unknowable.
The unknowable when we trust our impressions. And impressions arise when we glide across the surface of phenomena and processes, which we can do with dexterity and speed. Knowledge is not limited to impressions. It unfolds as a very complex process, covering all the acts and phenomena that form and develop the cognitive image. In addition to sensory contemplation and perception of things, imagination, cognition presupposes deep abstract thinking. Cognition is the process of comprehension by thought objective reality.
At the present stage of development of science and society, many problems of epistemology (the doctrine of universal mechanisms and laws of human cognitive activity) require further development.
The theory of knowledge (epistemology) is a branch of philosophy in which problems such as the nature and essence of knowledge, the content of knowledge, the form of knowledge, methods of knowledge, truth, its conditions and criteria, forms of existence and development of knowledge are studied. Each of the listed problems has its own content. Thus, the nature and essence of knowledge includes such issues as the subject of knowledge, the relationship between the subject and the object of knowledge, the relationship between consciousness and knowledge;
the content of cognition - the dialectics of the cognition process (sensual and rational, from phenomenon to essence, from a first-order essence to a second-order essence, etc., the unity of the concrete and abstract), the determination of the cognition process by sociocultural factors; form of knowledge - the logical structure of thinking, the relationship between logical laws and the logical correctness of thinking, the categorical structure of thinking, cognition and language; methods of cognition - the relationship between method and theory, method and methodology, classification of methods according to the degree of subordination and coordination; truth, its conditions and criteria - the relationship between truth and knowledge, the relationship between absolute and relative truth, the concreteness of truth, the diversity of truths, the criteria of truth; forms of existence and development of knowledge - facts of science, essence of the problem, essence of the hypothesis, principles of proof, essence of the theory.
The problems listed above are dealt with exclusively by philosophy. This is explained by the fact that philosophy analyzes the totality of things, reality in all its parts and moments without exception: the material world, ideal phenomena and imaginary objects. Without a theory of knowledge in the broad sense of the word, this cannot be done. Philosophy has developed such means, methods, principles. Private science is not able to do this due to the limitations of its subject and knowledge system. Analyzing them, philosophy relies on other philosophical sections: ontology, dialectical and formal logic. She uses data from anthropology, ethics, cultural studies, sociology, psychology, pedagogy, physiology, neurophysiology, medicine, etc.
It should be emphasized that the problems of epistemology were formed in the process of developing the needs of society and science as a whole. Knowledge itself and its study is not something immutable, given once and for all, but is something that develops according to certain laws. As we know from the history of philosophy, epistemology has a long history, the origins of which go back to ancient philosophy. Let us recall some points.
In ancient philosophy, especially in Greek, deep ideas were raised about the relationship between object and subject, truth and error, the concreteness of truth, the dialectics of the process of cognition, the object of cognition, the structure of human thinking.
Heraclitus, one of the first ancient philosophers, drew attention to epistemology, speaking about the nature of human cognition. He noted some objectively existing aspects of the relationship between subject and object in the process of cognition, distinguished between sensory and logical knowledge, noting that the highest goal of cognition is the knowledge of logos, the knowledge of the highest universe. The object of knowledge for Heraclitus was the world.
Democritus specially developed the problems of epistemology: he posed and solved the question of the subject of knowledge (the subject of knowledge is atoms and emptiness and the relationships between them); posed the problem of the dialectics of the process of cognition (there are two types of cognition - through feelings and through thinking); for the first time gave an analysis in a naive form of the process of reflection (naive materialist theory of “idols”); put forward the problem of the subject of knowledge (the subject of knowledge is the sage - a person enriched with the knowledge of the era); first posed the problem of induction.
Ancient sophistry (Protagoras, Gorgias) put forward a number of rational points in the theory of knowledge. These include: conscious exploration of thinking itself; understanding its power, contradictions and typical mistakes; desire to develop flexibility of thinking; emphasizing the active role of the subject in cognition; analysis of the possibilities of words and language in the process of cognition; the sophists posed the problem of truth and analyzed the content of knowledge.
Socrates brought to the fore the dialectical nature of knowledge as the joint acquisition of truth in the process of comparing various ideas, concepts, their comparison, dissection, definition, etc. At the same time, he emphasized the close connection between knowledge and ethics, method.
The rational content of Plato's philosophy is his dialectics, set out in dialogue logical form, that is, dialectics as the art of polemics. He believed that existence contains contradictions: it is one and multiple, eternal and transitory, immutable and changeable, resting and moving. There is a contradiction necessary condition to awaken the soul to reflection, the most important principle knowledge. Since, according to Plato, any object, any thing in the world “is movement,” then, cognizing the world, we should, out of necessity, and not out of whim and subjective arbitrariness, depict all phenomena as processes, that is, in formation and variability.
Following the Eleatics and Sophists, Plato distinguished opinion (unreliable, often subjective ideas) from reliable knowledge. He divided opinion into guesswork and trust and attributed it to sensual things, in contrast to knowledge, which has spiritual entities as its subject. Plato's epistemology contains the idea of two qualitatively different levels mental activity- reason and intellect, “aimed” at the finite and the infinite, respectively.
Aristotle saw the logic he created as the most important “organon” (tool, instrument) of knowledge. His logic is dual in nature: it laid the foundation for a formal approach to the analysis of knowledge, but at the same time Aristotle sought to determine ways to achieve new knowledge that coincides with the object. He tried to take his logic beyond just formal logic and raised the question of meaningful logic, of dialectics. Thus, Aristotle’s logic and epistemology are closely connected with the doctrine of being, with the concept of truth, since he saw the forms and laws of being in the logical forms and principles of knowledge. For the first time in the history of philosophy, he gives a definition of truth.
Aristotle assigned an important role in the process of cognition to categories - “higher genera”, to which all other genera of truly existing things are reduced. At the same time, he presented categories not as fixed, but as fluid, and gave a systematic analysis of these essential forms of dialectical thinking, considering them to be meaningful forms of being itself.
Having demonstrated faith in the power of reason and emphasizing the objective truth of knowledge, Aristotle formulated a number of methodological requirements for the latter: the need to consider phenomena in their change, the “split of the one,” which he presented not only as the law of the objective world, but also as the law of knowledge, the principle of causality, etc. The merit of Aristotle is also that he gave the first detailed classification of sophistic techniques - subjectivist, pseudo-dialectical trains of thought, testifying only to imaginary wisdom that leads knowledge to the path of error.
A major step in the development of the theory of knowledge was made by European philosophy in the 1980s. (philosophers of the New Age), in which epistemological issues took a central place. Francis Bacon, the founder of experimental science of this time, believed that the sciences that study cognition and thinking are the key to all others, because they contain “mental tools” that give the mind instructions or warn it against errors (“idols”). Raising the question of a new method, of a “different logic,” F. Bacon emphasized that the new logic - in contrast to the purely formal one - should proceed not only from the nature of the mind, but also from the nature of things, not “invent and invent”, but discover and express what nature does, that is, be meaningful, objective.
Bacon distinguished three main ways of knowledge: 1) “the way of the spider” - the derivation of truths from pure consciousness. This path was the main one in scholasticism, which he sharply criticized, noting that the subtlety of nature is many times greater than the subtlety of reasoning; 2) “the path of the ant” - narrow empiricism, the collection of scattered facts without their conceptual generalization; 3) “the path of the bee” - a combination of the first two paths, a combination of the abilities of experience and reason, that is, sensual and rational. While advocating this combination, Bacon, however, gave priority to experimental knowledge. He developed the dialectics of the process of cognition.
Bacon developed a new empirical method of cognition, which for him is induction - a true tool for studying laws (“forms”) natural phenomena, which, in his opinion, make it possible to make the mind adequate to natural things. And this is the main goal of scientific knowledge, and not “entangling the enemy with argumentation.” Bacon’s important merit is the identification and study of global errors of knowledge (“idols”, “ghosts” of the mind). An important means of overcoming them -reliable method, the principles of which must be the laws of existence. A method is an organon (tool, instrument) of knowledge, and it must be constantly adapted to the subject of science, and not vice versa.
The entire philosophy and epistemology of Rene Descartes is permeated by the conviction of the infinity of the human mind, of the enormous power of knowledge, thinking and conceptual insight into the essence of things. For Descartes, the beginning of knowledge is doubt. Everything is doubtful, but the fact of doubt itself is certain. For Descartes, doubt is not sterile skepticism, but something constructive, general and universal.
Much attention is paid to the method. With its help, all generally accepted truths are brought before the court of pure reason, their “credentials” and the validity of their claims to represent the true truth are subjected to careful and merciless verification.
According to Descartes, the mind, armed with such means of thinking as intuition and deduction, can achieve complete certainty in all areas of knowledge, if only it is guided by the true method.
The latter is a set of exact and simple rules, strict observance of which always prevents the false from being accepted as true.
The rules of Descartes' rationalistic method represent an extension to all reliable knowledge of those rational methods and techniques of research that are effectively used in mathematics (in particular, in geometry). This means that you need to think clearly and distinctly, break down each problem into its constituent elements, methodically move from the known and proven to the unknown and unproven, avoid gaps in the logical links of the study, etc.
Descartes contrasted his rationalistic method with both the inductive methodology of Bacon, which he regarded with approval, and the traditional, scholastic formal logic, which he sharply criticized. He considered it necessary to cleanse it of harmful and unnecessary scholastic layers and supplement it with what would lead to the discovery of reliable and new truths. This means is, first of all, intuition.
The productive method of Cartesian philosophy and epistemology is: the formation of the idea of development and the desire to apply this idea as a principle of knowledge of nature, the introduction of dialectics into mathematics through a variable value, an indication of the flexibility of the rules of one’s method of cognition and their connection with moral norms, and a number of others.
So, the philosophy of the New Age pays great attention to epistemology. The following rational aspects can be identified in it:
Epistemology has found its way further development in German classical philosophy. The founder of German classical philosophy, Kant, was the first to try to connect the problems of epistemology with the study of historical forms of human activity: the object as such exists only in the forms of activity of the subject. He posed the problem of cognitive activity and cognition. Kant formulated the main question for his epistemology - about the sources and boundaries of knowledge - as a question about the possibility of a priori synthetic judgments (that is, giving new knowledge) in each of the three main types of knowledge - mathematics, theoretical natural science and metaphysics (speculative knowledge of truly existing things). Kant gave a solution to these three questions in the course of his study of the three basic abilities of cognition - sensibility, reason and reason.
Despite apriorism and elements of dogmatism. Kant believed that dialectics is the natural, factual and obvious state of thinking, because existing logic, according to Kant, can in no way satisfy the urgent needs in the field of solving natural and social problems. In this regard, he divided logic into general (formal) - the logic of reason and transcendental - the logic of reason, which was the beginning of dialectical logic.
Transcendental logic deals not only with the forms of the concept of an object, but also with it itself. It is not distracted from any subject content, but based on it studies the origin and development, volume and objective significance of knowledge. If in general logic the main technique is analysis, then in transcendental logic it is synthesis, to which Kant gave the role and significance of the fundamental operation of thinking, for it is with its help that new ones are formed. scientific concepts about the subject.
Epistemology
Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, ways, sources and methods of knowledge, as well as the relationship between knowledge and reality.
There are two main approaches to the problem of cognition.
1. Epistemological optimism, whose supporters recognize that the world is knowable regardless of whether we can currently explain some phenomena or not.
This position is adhered to by all materialists and some consistent idealists, although their methods of cognition are different.
The basis of cognition is the ability of consciousness to reproduce (reflect) to a certain degree of completeness and accuracy an object existing outside it.
The main premises of the theory of knowledge of dialectical materialism are the following:
1) the source of our knowledge is outside of us, it is objective in relation to us;
2) there is no fundamental difference between “phenomenon” and “thing in itself”, but there is a difference between what is known and what is not yet known;
3) cognition is a continuous process of deepening and even changing our knowledge based on the transformation of reality.
2. Epistemological pessimism. Its essence is doubt about the possibility of knowing the world.
Types of epistemological pessimism:
1) skepticism - a direction that questions the possibility of knowing objective reality (Diogenes, Sextus Empiricus). Philosophical skepticism turns doubt into a principle of knowledge (David Hume);
2) agnosticism is a movement that denies the possibility of reliable knowledge of the essence of the world (I. Kant). The source of knowledge is the external world, the essence of which is unknowable. Any object is a “thing in itself”. We cognize only phenomena with the help of innate a priori forms (space, time, categories of reason), and we organize our experience of sensation.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, a type of agnosticism—conventionalism—was formed. This is the concept that scientific theories and concepts are not a reflection of the objective world, but the product of agreement between scientists.
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The philosophical theory of consciousness is logically connected with the philosophical concept of knowledge and methods of obtaining it (cognition). According to Plato, the need for knowledge is the main motive of human mental activity: “There is nothing stronger than knowledge, it always and in everything surpasses both pleasure and everything else.” So, cognition is the process of obtaining, accumulating, updating and systematizing knowledge about nature, society and the spiritual world of man.
in Greek, knowledge as a phenomenon is expressed by such concepts as “gnosis” and “epistema”. The philosophical tradition, which is based on these concepts, characterizes the doctrine of the cognitive process as epistemology and epistemology. The term "epistemology" is more common in Western English-speaking countries, and is preferred by those scientists who study the nature of scientific knowledge. The concept of “aesthetics” is broader in content; it covers any forms and types of human knowledge of the surrounding world - scientific, pre-scientific, non-scientific.
Epistemology(Greek gnosis - knowledge and logos - teaching) - a branch of philosophy that studies the essence of the cognitive process, its patterns and principles, forms and types of obtaining knowledge about the world in all its diversity.
An important section of philosophical epistemology is the doctrine of the structure and methods of cognition, its levels and methods through which knowledge is obtained, systematized, and formalized into scientific hypotheses, concepts, and theories. Central point epistemology is the problem of truth as a result of adequate reflection in the consciousness of the subject of cognitive activity of the essential properties of the object of research interest. According to G.-V.-F. Hegel, truth is a great word and a great deed; to a greater extent, it is an attitude towards life, a position, from the very progress, the very approach to which, if the spirit and soul of a person are healthy, the chest rises higher, one breathes deeper.
Problems of understanding the surrounding reality have always worried thinkers. However, the developed epistemological problems were comprehended in the New Age, when the need for reliable knowledge about the essence of things, natural and social phenomena became dominant in the motivation of philosophical searches. Social needs have updated questions regarding the experiential nature of obtaining knowledge (empiricism), the ability of the mind to provide knowledge adequate to the objects themselves (rationalism). The problem of the subject’s activity in the cognitive process, his ability to obtain the necessary knowledge as reliable, reasoned information about the world around him, the ability of a person, thanks to his experience, on which her feelings and mind depend, to obtain accurate, true knowledge about nature, social life and about herself, has also become more acute .
Some skeptical philosophers (Pirron, Sextus Empiricus, M.-B. de Montaigne, D. Hume) expressed doubts about the possibility of obtaining true knowledge. Other philosophers, in particular I. Kant, denied man's ability to know the essence of objects ("things in themselves"), agnostics limited knowledge to the realm of phenomena ("for us"). With this they justified the widespread pessimism (lat. - worst) in modern non-classical philosophy of epistemology - disbelief in the ability of the human mind to know the essence of things and processes, as well as the ability to be guided by the acquired knowledge in practical life. their opponents (G. Where-kart, G.-W. Leibniz, G.-W.-F. Hegel, K. Marx) noted the unlimited possibilities of the human mind, its cognitive power, and faith in its ability to comprehend the truth. This is the basis of epistemological optimism (Latin - best) - belief in the omnipotence of the power of reason, its ability to equip humanity with true knowledge, which allows productive and expedient use natural resources and social achievements.
In accordance with the understanding of the nature of the subject, the object of cognitive interest and their interaction, the theory of knowledge in the history of philosophy acquired different forms, shades and directions: idealistic or materialistic, contemplative or active epistemology. Of great importance in this case is the problem of determining the main starting factor of the very “mechanism” of the cognition process.
Sensualist philosophers (J. Locke, T. Hobbes, D. Berkeley) recognize the main factor of cognition human feelings. According to the English philosopher J. Locke, all human knowledge is of a sensual, pre-conscious nature, and human soul- “blank slate” (tabula rasa), “white paper without any signs or ideas”, on which experience leaves its writings. J. Locke's thesis that sensation is the root cause of the emergence of ideas (“all knowledge comes from sensations,” “there is nothing in the mind that is not originally contained in the senses”), his doctrine of the experimental reflection of the material world (empiricism) are one of the central provisions sensationalistic and empirical theories of knowledge.
Rationalist philosophers (R. Descartes, G.-W. Leibniz, B. Spinoza) recognize the leading role of reason in obtaining knowledge and consider it the source of truth. G. Descartes was convinced that only reason shows a reliable way to achieve truth, since feelings can mislead a person. The only certainty for a person is the awareness of the existence of his own mind. “I think, therefore I exist” (Cogito, ergo sum) - Descartes’ formula, which, in his opinion, is the cornerstone of the science of the human I, subjectivity (thinking substance) and all human sciences. Reason, thinking and self-awareness, and not life experience, according to Descartes, are the decisive factors in the process of cognition. Smell, taste, hardness, light, heat are secondary qualities, which are preceded by the primary qualities of a thinking substance: the idea of God as a perfect being, the axioms of mathematics. Ideas that guide the human mind, inherent in man from birth. The fact that a person comprehends the “natural world” of his thinking, using it correctly, is in fact true, Descartes believed.
Thus, in the history of philosophy, the problem of the method of cognition, important for theory, was touched upon - a set of rules, techniques, procedures for cognition and corresponding practical activities. The doctrine of methods (paths, means, techniques of the cognitive process) is one of the main ones in philosophical epistemology.
In the process of cognition the following methods are used:
1) empirical (Greek empeiria - experience, method) - recognition of experience as the basis of knowledge;
2) sensualistic (Latin - feeling, feeling) - a method that recognized sensations as the main means of obtaining knowledge;
3) rationalistic (Latin - smart) - a method that puts the mind, logical thinking over feelings.
Philosophers who prefer empirical and sensationalistic methods perceive logical thinking as a “sixth sense” that organizes the received empirical material. However, any knowledge is a combination of sensory and rational knowledge. Taking this into account, F. Bacon proposed an original metaphor regarding the basic methods of cognition: “the way of the spider” (obtaining truth from “one’s own consciousness”); “the path of the ants” (haphazard collection of factual data); “the way of the bee” (a combination of the abilities of experience - collecting nectar and the work of the mind - turning it into honey (knowledge)).
The forms of sensory knowledge (living contemplation) are:
a) sensation - a reflection of the properties, qualities of objects and phenomena of the objective world, internal states of the body due to their influence on the receptors;
b) perception - a holistic reflection in the human mind of objects and phenomena of objective reality and their influence on the receptor surfaces of the senses;
c) representation - images of objects and phenomena of reality, created as a result of their impact on the senses.
Rational cognition is carried out thanks to thinking at such levels as reason (the initial level of thinking, where the operation of abstractions occurs within a certain unchanging, predetermined scheme) and reason ( highest level rational cognition, which is characterized by creative handling of abstractions and reflection). Its forms are:
a) concept - a form of thinking that reflects objects with their general and essential properties;
b) judgment - a form of thinking in which, by means of affirmation or negation, the connections of objects with their properties or the relationships between objects or their multitude are revealed;
c) inference - a form of thinking through which new thoughts (conclusions) are obtained from certain judgments (premises).
Increasingly, philosophy is affirming the idea that the sensual (sensory) and the mental (rational) in human cognition are not two separate and autonomous degrees, but two moments of a single cognitive process. Even in ancient times, the problem of the relationship between sensory and rational knowledge was discussed. The skeptic and cynic Diogenes of Sinope (c. 412-323 BC) remarked about Plato’s theory of objective ideas, which, according to his teaching, could only be known speculatively: “I see the table and the cup, but there is no “stylishness”, I don’t see any “cups.” To this Plato replied: “To see the table and the cup, you have eyes, but to see the “stylishness” and the “cup”, you lack the mind.” The idea of the unity of the sensory and mental over time acquired the status of a postulate (axiom). In logical form, the idea of the need for a synthesis of the sensual and rational was formulated by I. Kant: “Concepts without feelings are empty, and feelings without concepts are blind.”
The process of cognition is carried out at the scientific and pre-scientific (post-scientific) levels. The pre-scientific (post-scientific) level represents thinking ordinary person, does not burden himself with thoughts about making the right choice the best way knowledge. Ordinary knowledge is based on people’s everyday life experience and appeals to their common sense (“naive realism”). This is how it differs from scientific knowledge (logical realism). However, in any case, a person (an ordinary citizen, a highly qualified scientist) strives to understand the essence of what he observes and talks about. Both at the pre-scientific, everyday level, and on the basis of a consciously chosen method, the subject of cognitive activity always strives for reliable knowledge, seeks the truth.
Central to the classical theory of knowledge is the problem of truth, which is conceptually developed as an independent (within epistemology) topic: clarification of the essence of the concepts of “truth” (as knowledge adequate to things, reality), “objective truth” (the coincidence of the content of cognition with the objectivity of phenomena), "absolute truth" (exhaustive, complete, correct knowledge), “relative truth” (partial, incomplete, situationally variable knowledge), “specific truth” (knowledge regarding a specific selected object of study), “a false, erroneous idea that claims to be true.” In this case, the correspondence or inconsistency of human knowledge with reality, the identity of human thought represented in the content of a judgment regarding truth and reality, is considered to be truth or error. The question of the correspondence of knowledge to reality, the degree of this correspondence is one of the most controversial. This is evidenced, for example, by Pontius Pilate’s question addressed to Christ as the guide and bearer of truth: “What is truth?” The answer to this question has caused significant disagreement between various philosophical movements and schools from ancient times to the present day. In the epistemological theory of truth Special attention focuses on two questions: what are the signs (properties) of truth; What is the criterion (measure, indicator) of truth? The signs of truth are considered to be such invariant (unchangeable) properties as objectivity in content, validity, and persuasiveness of evidence.
Cognition is a multi-stage, complex, deeply contradictory process. This is also inherent in its results, ideas about the essence, correctness, reliability. Such ideas and judgments are provided by a variety of methods, conditioned by the conscious choice of the researcher of the model of cognitive action, the principles of studying the object, expressed in terms of preliminary assumptions (hypotheses).
Epistemology generalizes specific methods of cognition used by various sciences (technical, natural, social, humanities, etc.), highlighting among them a set of general logical and specific methods - induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, analogy, idealization, typologization, comparison (comparative studies). Scientific achievements of recent decades have supplemented the epistemological tools with such new methods as synergetics (clarification of the process of self-organization in the objects under study), modeling (clarification of the properties of things and processes with their sample models), systems method (clarification of the interaction individual parts, which ensures the organic integrity of the object), the method of complementarity (taking into account the effects of side factors), etc.
The modern (post-non-classical stage of the development of science focuses the attention of researchers on the need to use interdisciplinary methods, the theory of self-organization, alternative studies, taking into account the methodological in the epistemological sense of the concepts of “uncertainty”, “probability”, “virtuality”, “randomness”, “nonlinearity”, “bifurcation” and “fluctuation”, which collectively reflect the characteristics of an unstable, complex and moving world (dynamic chaos).
Since the level of development of science and technology makes it possible for human knowledge to delve into the depths of the material world, to carry out observations at both the galactic and subatomic levels, scientific epistemology makes wider use of astrophysical, mathematical, and cybernetic research methods. Thus, with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope, which is located 600 km above the Earth, astronomers can observe star systems 13 billion world years away from Earth. With its help, scientists have clarified the date of birth of the Universe - approximately 13-14 billion years ago. According to Hubble, almost all stars have planetary systems. And where there are planets, with favorable conditions the origin of life is possible (in particular, in the constellation Orion). The hypothesis of an expanding universe is substantiated using complex mathematical methods. According to it, the entire mass of matter in the Universe on the eve of the Big Bang was concentrated at a point with a diameter a million billion times smaller than the diameter of a hydrogen atom. Impressive scientific discovery Astrophysicists have also documented the presence of “dark matter” in the Universe, one of the manifestations of which is “black holes.” "Black holes" are hypothetical celestial objects whose existence is assumed by probability theory; stars in a state of unreversed gravitational collapse. their mass is 3-4 times greater than the mass of the Sun, and the gravitational field is so powerful that even light cannot be emitted.
Science has armed humanity with nanotechnology for the creation and use of materials, devices and various systems with a nanometer structure (1 nanometer is 10-9 meters, or a chain of four iron atoms). In fact, this means controlling matter at the atomic level, which contributes to the creation of fundamentally new materials. New generations of devices - and nanoelectronic molecular devices - will lead to new revolutionary changes in telecommunications, significantly increase the level of safety in transport, and make it possible to obtain energy from new sources and use it economically.
Qualitatively new scientific achievements significantly expand the range of epistemological knowledge, however, they give rise to new problems. One of them is the phenomenon of “instrument agnosticism”. Its essence lies in the fact that scientists, studying the behavior of elementary particles using complex modern instruments, doubt how accurately the instruments reflect the essence of this behavior. In addition, research programs depend on the chosen system for their implementation: the microcosm flares up and disappears thanks to acts of choice. Therefore, in modern epistemology, an important role is played by the method of interpretation - explaining the meanings of the obtained research results, presented in texts. This method becomes important in social cognition. This, in turn, gives rise to the problem of the boundaries of knowledge, including the limitations of interpretation and methods (flaws of the “interpreting mind”). “Essences should not be multiplied beyond measure,” urged the English scholastic philosopher William of Ockham (c. 1285-1349). Kant tried to find out the ultimate capabilities of the “pure” and “practical” mind. At the present stage, this question interests representatives of cognitive psychology. All these difficulties of obtaining true knowledge have given reasons various theories truths:
a) corr. (truth is knowledge adequate to reality);
b) conventionalist (truth is the result of conditional consistency, agreement of scientists);
c) coherent (truth is evidence of the consistency of evidence);
d) pragmatist (truth is everything that is useful). Recently, the information theory of truth has gained popularity, the essence of which is to obtain knowledge that is objective in content by means of messages provided by “artificial intelligence” (computer) as a dynamic model of the external world.
Each theory (version) of truth requires determining the criterion of its reliability (correspondence to reality). Among its many criteria, the most important, in the opinion of many thinkers, is practice - a variety of expedient, purposeful, cognitive-creative, constructive activities of people (scientific, experimental-production, social, spiritual-cultural, etc.). Thanks to such activities, the knowledge about reality obtained in the process of cognition is used by society for practical, vital purposes. It is axiomatic to say that it is human practice that is the source of knowledge, its criterion and goal. In practical cognitive activity, there are hidden motives for the creative activity of the subject, his constant desire to create something new (innovative thinking and activity) or improve the existing one. In addition to practice, the history of philosophy also knows other criteria of truth: logical consistency, experience, divine revelation, intuition. Since practice is the main, but not the only criterion of truth, philosophical epistemology does not strictly connect truth and practice: the practical is not always true, and the true is not necessarily practical. Practice is not something absolute and unchangeable; its content, forms and purpose are largely determined by the circumstances of human existence, the situation in which the human community, society finds itself, and is affected by the “challenges of the time.” However, practical needs initiate the process of cognition; in practical activity, life checks (verifies) its results, applies acquired knowledge in specific, including professional activity. However, there is no doubt that practice often refutes previous “truths” and reveals their limitations, even lies. The identification of truth with social practice (practicality) often caused the vulgarization of truth as a scientific value.
It is no coincidence that non-classical (modern) philosophy radically revises the concept of truth, which is manifested in a decisive refusal to use this concept, statements about pluralism and the relativism (relativity) of truth. Thus, G. Rorty believed that truth is simply the most consistent and “strong theory”, and no correspondence with reality is required to justify it. K.-G. Popper proposed the principle of falsification as an alternative to the principle of verification: if a theory cannot be falsified, then this is evidence of its falsity. Any real test of a theory is first of all an attempt to refute it, to falsify it, he argues. A more flexible position regarding truth is offered by the Russian philosopher V. Fedotova: “Contrary to classical epistemology, truth can be interpreted not as a reflection (cast) of an object in knowledge, but as a characteristic of the way of handling it. Since there can be many such ways, a pluralism of truth is possible and, therefore, a monopoly on truth is excluded."
So, the concepts of “truth”, “meaning”, “meanings” and other categorical units of the theory of knowledge acquire a problematic character. Pluralism of truth, alternative methods of cognition are characteristic features of the situation in which the philosophical theory of cognition finds itself. This circumstance actualizes the problem of overcoming the situation of epistemological and methodological “anarchism” (P.-K. Feyerabend), epistemological pessimism, and focuses the attention of philosophers on developing the concept of neorationality and neorationalism as the dominant principles of the modern theory of knowledge.
In modern science, the role of the universal dialectical philosophical method, which combines many of the indicated features of cognition of the surrounding world, is noticeably strengthened, the problems of interrelations and development, their philosophical understanding are updated, which is the study of dialectics.
One of the options for the new universal method is the interval approach. Its essence lies in the affirmation of the equality of different pictures of the same object under study, subject to the obligatory condition of rational validity of the features of the idea of the object of one’s observation (logical consistency, meaningfulness, ability to be verified, systemic affiliation, usefulness, practical effectiveness).
So, the philosophical theory of knowledge (epistemology) studies the processes, laws, forms and methods of obtaining knowledge about the surrounding reality, outlines ways to achieve objective truth. In rational (scientific) knowledge, not only the final result of knowledge (scientific data), but also the method of obtaining it must be true. An important task of this method is to identify the relationships that provide global integrity, to clarify the underlying reasons for the constant development of all things - nature, society, man and his thinking.
The main problem of epistemology is the search for the meaning of what is happening and the truth. Science also studies knowledge in general - its forms, essence, theories and method. Within the framework of epistemology, religion, art, as well as phenomena of experience, ideology and common sense are considered. The main question of this section is whether it is possible to know the world in principle? Depending on the answers, several epistemological directions are distinguished. In their research, philosophers operate with the concepts of “reason”, “truth”, “feelings”, “intuition”, “consciousness”. Depending on their beliefs, epistemologists prioritize sensory, rational or irrational knowledge - intuition, imagination, etc.
This philosophical discipline is very critical. First of all, she examines the relationship between illusion and reality and criticizes the possibilities of knowledge. Criticism manifests itself in the justification of any direction of epistemology, contrasting subjective ideas about the world with common sense. Another feature of epistemology is normativism. Philosophy implies the presence of some fundamental knowledge, which determines all the norms of human knowledge. For various areas of epistemology, the basis can be an experiment, a formula or an ideal model. Next trait- this is subject-centrism. All currents in this section have in common the presence of a subject of cognition. All differences in philosophical teachings are based on how this subject perceives the picture of the world.
Another feature of epistemology is science-centrism. This section unconditionally accepts the importance of science and conducts its research strictly following scientific facts.
The newest epistemology departs from the classical framework and is characterized by post-criticism, object-centrism and anti-science.
Among the most famous epistemological doctrines are skepticism, agnosticism, rationalism, sensationalism and transcendentalism. Skepticism is one of the earliest trends. Skeptics believe that the main tool of knowledge is doubt. Agnosticism is also found in antiquity, but it finally took shape in modern times.
The first philosopher to consider the problems of epistemology was Parmenides, who lived in Ancient Greece in the 6th-5th centuries BC
Agnostics deny the possibility of knowledge in principle, since subjectivism interferes with the objective understanding of truth. The term “rationalism” was justified by R. Descartes and B. Spinoza. They called reason and common sense a tool for understanding reality. Sensualism, developed by F. Bacon, on the contrary, was based on knowledge through the senses. Transcendentalism was created based on R. Emerson's essay "Nature". The doctrine preached knowledge through intuition and merging with nature.
Word " skepticism" comes from the French skepticisme and the Greek skeptikos, which means examining, considering. At the core skepticism but as philosophical direction there is doubt about the existence of any truth.
Skepticism becomes most popular during periods when social ideals are outdated and new ones are not yet available. He is in the 4th century. BC e., during the crisis of ancient society. Skepticism was a reaction to previous philosophical systems that tried to explain the sensory world through reasoning. At the same time, they often entered into conflict with each other. The first skeptics spoke about the relativity of human knowledge, about its formal unprovability and dependence on various conditions(whether it be life circumstances, health status, influence or habits, etc.). Skepticism reached its peak in the teachings of Pyrrho, Carneades, Arxesilaus, Aenesidemus and others. Doubts about the possibility of generally accepted evidence-based knowledge lay in the ethical concept of the ancient skepticism A. Ancient skeptics called for refraining from judgment. In this way it became possible to achieve the goal - peace of mind and happiness. But they themselves did not refrain from judgment. Ancient skeptics wrote works in which they argued for skepticism and also criticized speculative philosophical dogmas. Montaigne, Charron, Bayle and others in their works questioned theologians, thereby preparing the ground for the assimilation of . At the same time, Pascal, Huma, Kant and others limited the possibilities of reason in general and cleared space for religious faith. In modern philosophy, traditional arguments skepticism and in a peculiar way he adopted positivism, which considers any judgments, hypotheses and generalizations that are not verifiable by experience to be meaningless. In dialectical materialism skepticism is considered an element of knowledge and is not absolutized to the meaning of a philosophical concept.
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Religion and knowledge of the world have always been one of the most discussed subjects in the philosophical sphere. Unfortunately, many of the ignorant do not understand at all the meaning and difference between one or another philosophical movement or concept. Knowledge of the world, religion and agnosticism - how are these terms related and what meaning do they carry?
If you turn to sources such as, you can find something like the following for the query “Agnosticism”:
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Truth is one of the fundamental concepts in philosophy. It is the goal of knowledge and at the same time the subject of research. The process of understanding the world appears as the acquisition of truth, the movement towards it.
The classical philosophical truth belongs to Aristotle: the correspondence of the intellect to the real thing. The very concept of truth was introduced by another ancient Greek philosopher - Parmenides. He contrasted truth with opinion.
Each historical era offered her understanding of the truth, but in general two directions can be distinguished. One of them is associated with the concept of Aristotle - truth as the correspondence of thinking to objective reality. This opinion was shared by Thomas Aquinas, F. Bacon, D. Diderot, P. Holbach, L. Feuerbach.
In another direction, going back to Plato, truth is seen as correspondence to the Absolute, the ideal sphere that precedes the material world. Such views are present in the works of Aurelius Augustine and G. Hegel. Great place This approach takes into account the idea of innate ideas present in the human mind. This was recognized, in particular, by R. Descartes. I. Kant also connects truth with a priori forms of thinking.
Truth in philosophy is not considered as something unified; it can appear in different versions - in particular, as absolute or relative.
Absolute truth is complete knowledge that cannot be refuted. For example, the statement that there is currently no French king is an absolute truth. Relative truth reproduces reality in a limited and approximate manner. Newton's laws are an example of relative truth, because they operate only at a certain level of organization of matter. Science strives to establish absolute values, but this remains an ideal, which is impossible to achieve in practice. The desire for it becomes driving force development of science.
G. Leibniz distinguished between necessary truths of reason and accidental truths of fact. The former can be verified by the principle of contradiction, the latter are based on the principle of sufficient reason. The philosopher considered the mind of God to be the seat of necessary truths.
In ordinary consciousness, recognition by the majority is often considered the criterion of truth, but, as history shows, the majority can also recognize false statements Therefore, universal recognition cannot be a criterion of truth. Democritus also spoke about this.
In the philosophy of R. Descartes, B. Spinoza, G. Leibniz, it is proposed to consider as truth what is clearly and distinctly thought of, for example, “a square has 4 sides.”
Within the framework of the pragmatic approach, truth is considered to be that which has practical benefits. Such views were held, in particular, by the American philosopher W. James.
From the point of view of dialectical materialism, what is confirmed by practice is considered true. Practice can be direct (experiment) or indirect (logical principles formed in the process of practical activity).
The last criterion cannot be called impeccable either. For example, until the end of the 19th century, practice confirmed the indivisibility of the atom. This requires the introduction of an additional concept - “truth for its time.”
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Many students, when writing coursework and dissertations, are faced with such concepts as method and methodology. But if the first term is clear to most, the second raises many questions. But in order to not only include the “Methodology” section in your diploma, but also to actually use it in your work, you need to understand what it is.
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In general, methodology- a system of methods and means used in science or human activity. As follows from the description, at least two main types of methodologies can be distinguished - theoretical and practical. The first includes primarily methods associated with thinking, the second - specific actions to achieve a certain result.
Theoretical methodology most actively used when creating scientific theories and models. One of it is epistemology, a section of philosophy devoted to the specificity and possibility of knowledge. In this type of methodology, one can even distinguish a special subtype - scientific methodology, consisting precisely of methods applicable in a particular science. The complex of methods of scientific methodology includes the creation of theories in the form of a generalization of the scientist’s experience; hypotheses, that is, assumptions that explain a phenomenon, but have not yet been confirmed experimentally; experimental methods, that is, practical testing general provisions, and an observation technique that makes it possible to perceive and record any situation or state witnessed by a scientist.
Also theoretical methodology used in the creation of philosophical works and theories. Dialectics, widely known for its use in the Marxist direction in philosophy, is also classified as a type of similar methodology.
The term matter is a fundamental concept for two sciences: physics and philosophy. The word comes from Latin, where materia means substance. For both sciences these are quite complex concepts, but every person intuitively understands their meaning. Matter is also called fabric.
from Greek gnosis - knowledge, cognition and logos) - the doctrine of knowledge; according to the modern German philosopher Nikolai Hartmann, the founder of critical ontology, epistemology is metaphysical component theories of knowledge along with logical and psychological. Epistemological - related to the process of cognition (see also epistemology).
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Greek gnosis - knowledge, logos - teaching) - a philosophical discipline dealing with research, criticism and theories of knowledge - theory of knowledge. In contrast to epistemology, G. considers the process of cognition from the point of view of the relationship of the subject of cognition (the researcher) to the object of cognition (the object under study) or in the categorical opposition “subject - object.” The basic epistemological scheme for the analysis of cognition includes a subject endowed with consciousness and will, and an object of nature opposing him, independent of the consciousness and will of the subject and connected with him only by a cognitive (or praxeo-cognitive) relationship. The main circle of epistemological problems is outlined through such problems as the interpretation of the subject and object of cognition, the structure of the cognitive process, the problem of truth and its criterion, the problem of forms and methods of cognition, etc. If ancient philosophy is characterized by the idea of the unity of an object and knowledge about it, as well as cognitive process as a meaningful configuration of objects and, accordingly, focusing on the functional transformation of objectivity in the content of knowledge, then within the framework of medieval scholasticism the problematics of G. receive a more differentiated development, many components of the categorical apparatus of classical G. are formalized, and attempts to justify the possibility of combining the teachings of Aristotle with Christian dogmatics lead to the formulation of the concept of dual truth, which actually explicitly forms the idea of the paradigmatic nature of cognitive procedures and the possible plurality of paradigms, and such directions of scholasticism as realism, nominalism and conceptualism set various models cognitive process. The formation of experimental natural science, acutely fixing the problem of the method of achieving true knowledge, inspired the constitution of the opposition “sensualism-rationalism”, and then “empiricism-rationalism” (17-18 centuries). The problem of the subject's activity in the cognitive process acquires the status of relevance (Berkeley, Hume). Gnoseologism, as an orientation given by Kant to highlighting the subjective foundations of knowledge, played an important role in overcoming the value systems of naturalistic epistemology, which affirmed the goal of knowledge to be the achievement of absolute truth, as well as in the criticism of metaphysical philosophical constructions. The distinction between the content and forms of thinking in the works of representatives of German classical philosophy raised the problem of the plurality of the foundations of knowledge and the relativity of truth. The rejection of metaphysics, on the one hand, and the rapid development of the natural sciences, on the other, brought the cognitive attitude towards the world to the center of philosophy. Epistemological issues become decisive for neo-Kantianism and positivism. Classical psychology associates the foundations of cognitive activity with the “isolated subject.” The consciousness of such a subject is transparent to itself and is the last source of reliability. In such assumptions, the reality of knowledge and its content turn out to be limited by the framework of individual consciousness. This prevents the identification of categorical characteristics of knowledge and leads to psychologism (subjectivism). Trying to overcome the limitations of the original abstractions, philosophers were forced either to accept formal ontological assumptions and principles (Descartes’ “innate ideas”, Kant’s “a priori forms”), or to generalize the category of “self-consciousness”, giving it the status of ontology (Fichte, Hegel, Schelling) . Nevertheless, the fundamental limitations of the original epistemological abstractions and assumptions were increasingly realized. A special role in this process was played by the methodological reflection of the development of the humanities, in which the interaction of the researcher with the reality under study is structured fundamentally differently than in natural sciences. Criticism of the foundations of classical philosophy, which began at the end of the 19th century. and continuing to this day, led to a breakdown of traditional ideas of G. and the rejection of the abstractions of a “self-conscious” and “isolated” subject. Modern studies of cognition, fixing the limitations of subject-object schemes, introduce other structural divisions and abstractions as initial ones: objective activity (“practice”), cultural norm (“paradigm”), language, etc. Traditional epistemological problems are included in more a broad sociocultural context, and, accordingly, a broader system of concepts. The central position within the framework of geography is occupied by the methodology of science and epistemology (see also Science, Scientific picture of the world).
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