Scientific knowledge and its specificity. Specifics of scientific knowledge and criteria of scientific character

Purpose of the lecture: To analyze the nature of scientific knowledge and the features of the relationship between religion and philosophy. Show the differences between philosophy and science, the nature of their relationships. Determine the axiological status of science. Reveal the problem of personality in science.

4.1 Science and religion.
4.2 Science and philosophy.

References:

1. Holton J. What is antiscience // Questions of Philosophy. 1992. No. 2.
2. Polanyi M. Personal knowledge. M., 1985.
3. Russell B. History of Western Philosophy: In 2 volumes. Novosibirsk, 1994. Vol. 1.
4. Frank F. Philosophy of Science. M., 1960.
5. Leshkevich G.G. Philosophy. Introductory course. M., 1998.
6. Rorty R. Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Novosibirsk, 1991.

The problem of distinguishing science from other forms of cognitive activity (artistic, religious, everyday, mystical) is a problem of demarcation, i.e. search for criteria for distinguishing between scientific and non-(non-)scientific constructions. Science differs from other spheres of human spiritual activity in that the cognitive component in it is dominant.

Features of scientific knowledge (criteria of scientific character).

1. The main task of scientific knowledge is the discovery of objective laws of reality - natural, social, laws of knowledge itself, thinking, etc. sociocultural knowledge philosophy
2. Based on knowledge of the laws of functioning and development of the objects under study, science predicts the future with the aim of further practical development of reality.
3. The immediate goal and highest value of scientific knowledge is objective truth, comprehended primarily by rational means and methods, as well as by contemplation and non-rational means.
4. An essential feature of cognition is its systematic nature, i.e. a body of knowledge put in order on the basis of certain theoretical principles, which combine individual knowledge into an integral organic system. Science is not only an integral system, but also a developing system; these include specific scientific disciplines, as well as other elements of the structure of science - problems, hypotheses, theories, scientific paradigms, etc.
5. Science is characterized by constant methodological reflection.
6. Scientific knowledge is characterized by strict evidence, validity of the results obtained, and reliability of the conclusions.
7. Scientific knowledge is a complex, contradictory process of production and reproduction of new knowledge, forming an integral and developing system of concepts, theories, hypotheses, laws and other ideal forms, enshrined in language - natural or (more typically) artificial.
8. Knowledge that claims to be scientific must allow the fundamental possibility of empirical verification. The process of establishing the truth of scientific statements through observations and experiments is called verification, and the process of establishing their falsity is called falsification.
9. In the process of scientific knowledge, such specific material means as instruments, instruments, and other “scientific equipment” are used.
10. The subject of scientific activity has specific characteristics - an individual researcher, a scientific community, a “collective subject”. Engaging in science requires special training of the cognizing subject, during which he masters the existing stock of knowledge, means and methods of obtaining it, a system of value orientations and goals specific to scientific knowledge, and its ethical principles.

Worldview is a set of views on the most basic issues of existence in general and man (the essence of existence, the meaning of life, the understanding of good and evil, the existence of God, soul, eternity). Worldview always appears in the form of either religion or philosophy, but not science. Philosophy in its subject and goals differs from science and constitutes a special form of human consciousness, not reducible to any other. Philosophy as a form of consciousness creates a worldview necessary for humanity for all its practical and theoretical activities. The closest social function to philosophy is religion, which also arose as a certain form of worldview.

Religion is one of the forms of human “spiritual production”. It has its own postulates (the existence of God, the immortality of the soul), a special method of cognition (spiritual and moral improvement of the individual), its own criteria for distinguishing truth from error (the correspondence of individual spiritual experience to the unity of the experience of saints), its own goal (knowing God and achieving the eternal in Him life - adoration).

Religion and science are two fundamentally different areas of human life. They have different starting premises, different goals, objectives, methods. These spheres can touch, intersect, but do not refute one another.

Philosophy is a theoretically formulated worldview. This is a system of the most general theoretical views on the world, the place of man in it, and an understanding of the various forms of man’s relationship to the world. Philosophy differs from other forms of worldview not so much in its subject matter as in the way it is conceptualized, the degree of intellectual development of problems and methods of approaching them. Unlike mythological and religious traditions, philosophical thought has chosen as its guide not blind, dogmatic faith, and not supernatural explanations, but free, critical reflection on the world and human life, based on the principles of reason. The main tasks of self-knowing philosophical thought, starting from Socrates, are the search for the highest principle and meaning of life. The uniqueness and meaning of human life in the world, philosophy of history and social philosophy, problems of aesthetics and morality, ideas of knowledge, death and immortality, the idea of the soul, problems of consciousness, man’s relationship to God, as well as the history of philosophy itself - these, in short, are the main problems of philosophical science, such is its substantive self-determination.

Historically, the following stages of the relationship between science and philosophy can be distinguished: natural philosophical, positivist (30-40 years of the 19th century).

The transcendentalist (metaphysical) concept of the relationship between philosophy and science is represented by the formula - “philosophy is the science of sciences”, “philosophy is the queen of sciences”. It articulates the epistemological priority of philosophy as a more fundamental type of knowledge in comparison with specific sciences, the leading role of philosophy in relation to private sciences, the self-sufficiency of philosophy in relation to private scientific knowledge and the essential dependence of private sciences on philosophy, the relativity and particularity of the truths of concrete sciences. The transcendentalist concept was formed in antiquity and existed as a generally accepted, and in fact the only, concept until the mid-19th century. (Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Spinoza, Hegel).

The positivist concept of the relationship between science and philosophy (30s of the 19th century) is represented by such figures as O. Comte, G. Spencer, J. Mill, B. Russell, R. Carnap, L. Wittgenstein and others. The positivist stage took place under slogans: “Philosophy does not give anything concrete to the world, only concrete sciences give us positive knowledge”, “Science itself is philosophy”, “Down with metaphysics, long live physics”, “Philosophy deals with pseudo-problems that are associated with language games”, “Science itself is philosophy”, “Down with metaphysics, long live physics”, “Philosophy deals with pseudo-problems that are associated with language games”, meaning the installation of complete self-sufficiency and independence of natural science from philosophy (“metaphysics”), traditionally understood in as a universal theory of being and knowledge. The positivist concept expressed the strengthening of the role of science in the European culture of modern times and the desire of science for ontological and methodological autonomy not only in relation to religion (which had already been largely achieved by the beginning of the 19th century), but also to philosophy. According to positivists, the benefits of a close connection between natural science and philosophy for science are problematic, and the harm is obvious. For natural science theories, the only, albeit not absolutely reliable, basis and criterion of their truth should be only the degree of their correspondence to experimental data, the results of systematic observation and experiment.

Philosophy played a positive role in the development of science, contributed to the development of abstract (theoretical) thinking, general ideas and hypotheses about the structure of the world (atomism, evolution). Philosophy itself must now be built according to the laws of concrete scientific (positive) thinking. During the evolution of positivism, the role of “scientific philosophy” was put forward by: 1) the general methodology of science as a result of empirical generalization, systematization and description of the real methods of various specific sciences (O. Comte); 2) the logic of science as the doctrine of methods for discovering and proving scientific truths (cause-and-effect relationships) (J. St. Mill); 3) a general scientific picture of the world, obtained by generalizing and integrating knowledge of various natural sciences (O. Spencer); 4) psychology of scientific creativity (E. Mach); 5) general theory of organization (A. Bogdanov); 6) logical analysis of the language of science by means of mathematical logic and logical semantics (R. Carnap and others); 7) theory of the development of science (K. Popper and others); 8) theory, technique and methodology of linguistic analysis (L. Wittgenstein, J. Ryle, J. Austin, etc.).

The anti-interactionist concept preaches dualism in the relationship between philosophy and science, their absolute cultural equality and sovereignty, the lack of interconnection and mutual influence between them in the process of functioning of these most important elements of culture. The development of natural science and philosophy proceeds along parallel courses and, on the whole, independently of each other. Supporters of the anti-interactionist concept (representatives of the philosophy of life, existentialist philosophy, philosophy of culture, etc.) believe that philosophy and natural science have their own, completely dissimilar subjects and methods, which exclude the very possibility of any significant influence of philosophy on the development of natural science and vice versa. Ultimately, they proceed from the idea of dividing human culture into two different cultures: natural science (aimed mainly at fulfilling the pragmatic, utilitarian functions of adaptation and survival of humanity due to the growth of its material power) and humanitarian (aimed at increasing the spiritual potential of humanity, nurturing and improvement of each person's spiritual component). Philosophy in this context refers to humanitarian culture along with art, religion, morality, history and other forms of human self-identification. A person’s attitude to the world and his awareness of the meaning of his existence are in no way derived from knowledge of the world around him, but are set by a certain system of values, ideas about good and evil, meaningful and empty, about the holy, imperishable and perishable. The world of values and reflection on this world, which has nothing to do with the existence and content of the physical world, is the main subject of philosophy from the position of anti-interactionists.

The dialectical concept, the development of which was promoted by Aristotle, R. Descartes, Spinoza, G. Hegel, I. Kant, B. Russell, A. Poincaré, I. Prigogine, is based on the affirmation of the internal, necessary, essential relationship between natural science and philosophy, starting with the moment of their appearance and identification as independent subsystems within the framework of a single knowledge, as well as the dialectically contradictory mechanism of interaction between natural science and philosophical knowledge.

Proof of the internal, necessary connection between natural science and philosophy is found in the analysis of the capabilities and purpose of natural, and more broadly, specific sciences and philosophy, their subjects and the nature of the problems being solved. The subject of philosophy, especially theoretical philosophy, is the universal as such. The ideal universal is the goal and soul of philosophy. At the same time, philosophy proceeds from the possibility of comprehending this universal rationally - logically, in an extra-empirical way. The subject of any particular science is the particular, the individual, a specific “piece” of the world, empirically and theoretically completely controlled, and therefore practically mastered.

The presence of philosophical foundations and philosophical problems in the fundamental sciences is empirical evidence of the real interaction of philosophy and specific sciences. There are different types of philosophical foundations of science - in accordance with the most important sections of philosophy: ontological, epistemological, logical, axiological, praxeological.

Questions for self-control:

1. Reveal the content of the transcendentalist concept of the relationship between science and philosophy.
2. The content of the positivist concept of the relationship between philosophy and science.
3. The content of the dialectical concept of the relationship between philosophy and science.
4. The essence and content of the anti-interactionist concept.
5. Describe the philosophical foundations of science.
6. What is the difference between religion and science and philosophy?

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Introduction

Conclusion

Introduction

Modern science is developing at a very fast pace; currently, the volume of scientific knowledge doubles every 10-15 years. About 90% of all scientists who have ever lived on Earth are our contemporaries. In just 300 years, namely the age of modern science, humanity has made such a huge leap that our ancestors could not even dream of (about 90% of all scientific and technical achievements have been made in our time). The entire world around us shows how much progress humanity has made. It was science that was the main reason for such a rapidly progressing scientific and technological revolution, the transition to a post-industrial society, the widespread introduction of information technology, the emergence of a “new economy” for which the laws of classical economic theory do not apply, the beginning of the transfer of human knowledge into electronic form, so convenient for storage, systematization, search and processing and many others.

All this convincingly proves that the main form of human knowledge - science today is becoming more and more significant and essential part of reality.

However, science would not be so productive if it did not have such a developed system of methods, principles and imperatives of knowledge. It is the correctly chosen method, along with the scientist’s talent, that helps him to understand the deep connection of phenomena, reveal their essence, discover laws and regularities. The number of methods that science is developing to understand reality is constantly increasing. Their exact number is perhaps difficult to determine. After all, there are about 15,000 sciences in the world and each of them has its own specific methods and subject of research.

At the same time, all these methods are in a dialectical connection with general scientific methods, which they, as a rule, contain in various combinations and with the universal, dialectical method. This circumstance is one of the reasons that determine the importance of any scientist having philosophical knowledge.

science philosophy knowledge

1. Scientific knowledge and its features

Cognition is a specific type of human activity aimed at understanding the world around us and oneself in this world. “Knowledge is, conditioned primarily by socio-historical practice, the process of acquiring and developing knowledge, its constant deepening, expansion, and improvement.”

Each form of social consciousness: science, philosophy, mythology, politics, religion, etc. correspond to specific forms of cognition. Usually the following are distinguished: ordinary, playful, mythological, artistic and figurative, philosophical, religious, personal, scientific. The latter, although related, are not identical to one another; each of them has its own specifics.

The main features of scientific knowledge are:

1. The main task of scientific knowledge is the discovery of objective laws of reality - natural, social (public), laws of cognition itself, thinking, etc. Hence the orientation of research mainly on the general, essential properties of an object, its necessary characteristics and their expression in a system of abstractions . “The essence of scientific knowledge lies in the reliable generalization of facts, in the fact that behind the random it finds the necessary, natural, behind the individual - the general, and on this basis carries out the prediction of various phenomena and events.” Scientific knowledge strives to reveal the necessary, objective connections that are recorded as objective laws. If this is not the case, then there is no science, because the very concept of scientificity presupposes the discovery of laws, a deepening into the essence of the phenomena being studied.

2. The immediate goal and highest value of scientific knowledge is objective truth, comprehended primarily by rational means and methods, but, of course, not without the participation of living contemplation. Hence, a characteristic feature of scientific knowledge is objectivity, the elimination, if possible, of subjectivist aspects in many cases in order to realize the “purity” of consideration of one’s subject. Einstein also wrote: “What we call science has its exclusive task of firmly establishing what exists.” Its task is to give a true reflection of processes, an objective picture of what exists. At the same time, we must keep in mind that the activity of the subject is the most important condition and prerequisite for scientific knowledge. The latter is impossible without a constructive-critical attitude to reality, excluding inertia, dogmatism, and apologetics.

3. Science, to a greater extent than other forms of knowledge, is focused on being embodied in practice, being a “guide to action” for changing the surrounding reality and managing real processes. The vital meaning of scientific research can be expressed by the formula: “To know in order to foresee, to foresee in order to practically act” - not only in the present, but also in the future. All progress in scientific knowledge is associated with an increase in the power and range of scientific foresight. It is foresight that makes it possible to control and manage processes. Scientific knowledge opens up the possibility of not only predicting the future, but also consciously shaping it. “The orientation of science towards the study of objects that can be included in activity (either actually or potentially, as possible objects of its future development), and their study as subject to objective laws of functioning and development is one of the most important features of scientific knowledge. This feature distinguishes it from other forms of human cognitive activity.”

An essential feature of modern science is that it has become such a force that predetermines practice. From the daughter of production, science turns into its mother. Many modern manufacturing processes were born in scientific laboratories. Thus, modern science not only serves the needs of production, but also increasingly acts as a prerequisite for the technical revolution. Great discoveries over the past decades in leading fields of knowledge have led to a scientific and technological revolution that has embraced all elements of the production process: comprehensive automation and mechanization, the development of new types of energy, raw materials and materials, penetration into the microworld and into space. As a result, the prerequisites were created for the gigantic development of the productive forces of society.

4. Scientific knowledge in epistemological terms is a complex contradictory process of reproduction of knowledge that forms an integral developing system of concepts, theories, hypotheses, laws and other ideal forms, enshrined in language - natural or - more characteristically - artificial (mathematical symbolism, chemical formulas, etc.). Scientific knowledge does not simply record its elements, but continuously reproduces them on its own basis, forms them in accordance with its norms and principles. In the development of scientific knowledge, revolutionary periods alternate, the so-called scientific revolutions, which lead to a change in theories and principles, and evolutionary, quiet periods, during which knowledge deepens and becomes more detailed. The process of continuous self-renewal by science of its conceptual arsenal is an important indicator of scientific character.

5. In the process of scientific knowledge, such specific material means as instruments, instruments, and other so-called “scientific equipment” are used, often very complex and expensive (synchrophasotrons, radio telescopes, rocket and space technology, etc.). In addition, science, to a greater extent than other forms of knowledge, is characterized by the use of ideal (spiritual) means and methods such as modern logic, mathematical methods, dialectics, systemic, hypothetico-deductive and other general scientific techniques to study its objects and itself. and methods.

6. Scientific knowledge is characterized by strict evidence, validity of the results obtained, and reliability of the conclusions. At the same time, there are many hypotheses, conjectures, assumptions, probabilistic judgments, etc. That is why the logical and methodological training of researchers, their philosophical culture, constant improvement of their thinking, and the ability to correctly apply its laws and principles are of utmost importance.

In modern methodology, various levels of scientific criteria are distinguished, including, in addition to those mentioned, such as the internal consistency of knowledge, its formal consistency, experimental verifiability, reproducibility, openness to criticism, freedom from bias, rigor, etc. In other forms of cognition, the considered criteria may take place (to varying degrees), but there they are not decisive.

2. Scientific knowledge and its specificity. Methods of scientific knowledge

Firstly, scientific knowledge is guided by the principle of objectivity.

Secondly, scientific knowledge, in contrast to blind faith in mythology and religion, has such a feature as rationalistic validity.

Thirdly, science is characterized by a special systematic nature of knowledge.

Fourthly, scientific knowledge is characterized by verifiability.

Theoretical level - generalization of empirical material, expressed in relevant theories, laws and principles; scientific assumptions based on facts, hypotheses that need further verification by experience.

General logical methods:

Analysis is the mental decomposition of an object into its constituent parts or sides.

Synthesis is the mental unification into a single whole of elements dissected by analysis.

Abstraction is the mental isolation of an object in abstraction from its connections with other objects, some property of an object in abstraction from its other properties, any relationship of objects in abstraction from the objects themselves.

Idealization is the mental formation of abstract objects as a result of abstraction from the fundamental impossibility of realizing them practically. (“Point” (no length, no height, no width)).

Generalization is the process of mental transition from the individual to the general, from the less general to the more general (triangle --> polygon). The mental transition from more general to less general is a process of limitation.

Induction is the process of deducing a general proposition from a number of particular (less general) statements, from individual facts.

Deduction is a reasoning process that goes from the general to the particular or less general.

Complete induction is the conclusion of any general judgment about all objects of a certain set (class) based on consideration of each element of this set.

Analogy is a plausible probabilistic conclusion about the similarity of two objects in some characteristic based on their established similarity in other characteristics.

Modeling is a practical or theoretical operation of an object, in which the subject being studied is replaced by some natural or artificial analogue, through the study of which we penetrate into the subject of knowledge.

Empirical level - accumulated factual material (results of observations and experiments). Empirical research corresponds to this level.

Scientific methods:

Observation - purposeful perception of phenomena of objective reality

Empirical description is the recording by means of natural or artificial language of information about objects given in observation.

Comparing objects based on any similar properties or aspects

An experiment

Ordinary knowledge is everyday knowledge that develops under the influence of various forms of activity - productive, political, aesthetic. It is the result of collective experience accumulated by generations of people. Individual everyday cognition is associated with emotional experience and comprehension of the individual’s life experience. The prerequisites for everyday knowledge are rooted in the diverse forms of human activity, which are regulated by customs, rites, holidays and rituals, collective actions, moral and other regulations and prohibitions.

The oldest form of comprehension of reality is myth, the specificity of which lies in the non-distinction between a thing and an image, a body and a property. The myth interprets the similarity or sequence of events as a cause-and-effect relationship. The content of a myth is expressed in symbolic language, which makes its generalizations broad and polysemantic. The characteristic features of mythological knowledge are the principle of plurality, the reflection of all elements of being in interconnection, ambiguity and polysemy, sensory concreteness and anthropomorphism, i.e. transferring human qualities to objects of nature, as well as identifying the image and the object. As a way of comprehending reality, myth models, classifies and interprets a person, society, and the world.

Artistic comprehension of existence is a special form of reflection, which receives specific implementation at all stages of the existence of art. Artistic creativity is the objectification in the language of art of the artist’s thoughts and experiences in inextricable connection with the object of comprehension - the world as a whole. The peculiarity of artistic comprehension of reality is largely explained by the specificity of the language of art. Art transforms cultural languages into means of artistic thinking and communication.

One of the necessary and historically earliest forms of knowledge is religion, the main meaning of which is to determine the meaning of human life, the existence of nature and society. Religion regulates the most important manifestations of human life, substantiates its idea of the ultimate meanings of the universe, which contributes to the understanding of the unity of the world and humanity, and also contains systems of truths that can change a person and his life. Religious doctrines express collective experience and are therefore authoritative for each believer and non-believers alike. Religion has developed its own specific methods of intuitive and mystical awareness of the world and man, which include revelation and meditation.

The area of specialized cognitive activity is science. It owes its emergence and development and impressive achievements to European civilization, which created unique conditions for the formation of scientific rationality.

In its most general form, rationality is understood as a constant appeal to the arguments of reason and reason and the maximum exclusion of emotions, passions, and personal opinions when making decisions regarding the fate of cognitive statements. A prerequisite for scientific rationality is the fact that science masters the world in concepts. Scientific and theoretical thinking is, first of all, characterized as conceptual activity. In terms of rationality, scientific thinking is also characterized by such features as evidence and systematicity, which are based on the logical interdependence of scientific concepts and judgments.

In the history of philosophical thinking, a number of stages can be distinguished in the development of ideas about scientific rationality. At the first stage, starting from antiquity, the deductive model of scientific rationality dominated, in which scientific knowledge was presented in the form of a deductively ordered system of propositions, which was based on general premises, the truth of which was established in an extra-logical and extra-experimental way. All other provisions were deduced from these general premises. The rationality of the scientist in this model consisted of trusting the authority of reason when accepting initial premises and strictly following the rules of deductive logic when deriving and accepting all other judgments. This model underlies Aristotle's metaphysics, Euclid's Elements of Geometry, and R. Descartes' physics.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. f. Bacon and D.S. Mill create an inductivist model of scientific knowledge and the scientific method, in which the determining factor in the evidence or validity of scientific knowledge is experience, facts obtained through observation and experiment, and the functions of logic are reduced to establishing the logical dependence of the provisions of various generalities on the facts. Scientific rationality in this model was identified with the empirical compulsion of scientific thinking, with an appeal to the arguments of experience.

This approach was opposed by D. Hume, who recognized that empirical natural science is based on inductive reasoning, but argued that they do not have a reliable logical justification and that all our experimental knowledge is a kind of “animal faith.” Thus, he recognized that experimental knowledge is fundamentally irrational. Subsequently, a number of attempts were made to overcome the shortcomings of the inductivist model by using the concept of probability. Another way was to develop a hypothetico-deductive model of scientific knowledge and the scientific method.

In the 50s of the XX century. An attempt to solve the problem of rationality was made by K. Popper. From the very beginning, he rejected the possibility of proving the truth of scientific propositions on the basis of facts, since there are no necessary logical means for this. Deductive logic cannot translate truth in an inductive direction, and inductive logic is a myth. The main criterion of scientific rationality is not the provability and confirmability of knowledge, but its falsifiability. Scientific activity retains its rationality as long as the falsification of its products in the form of laws and theories remains. But this is only possible if science maintains a constant critical attitude towards the theoretical hypotheses put forward, and a willingness to discard the theory in the event of its actual falsification.

In the 60-80s. The idea of scientific rationality was developed, in particular, by T. Kuhn and I. Lakatos. T. Kuhn put forward a paradigmatic model of scientific knowledge, within the framework of which scientific activity is rational to the extent that the scientist is guided by a certain disciplinary matrix, or paradigm, accepted by the scientific community. I. Lakatos connected the new understanding of scientific rationality with the concept of a “research program” and argued that a scientist acts rationally if he adheres to a certain research program in his activities, even despite the contradictions and empirical anomalies that arise during its development.

Methods of scientific knowledge can be divided into three groups: special, general scientific, universal. Special methods are applicable only within the framework of individual sciences; the objective basis of these methods is the corresponding special scientific laws and theories. These methods include, in particular, various methods of qualitative analysis in chemistry, the method of spectral analysis in physics and chemistry, and the method of statistical modeling in the study of complex systems. General scientific methods characterize the course of knowledge in all sciences; their objective basis is the general methodological laws of knowledge, which include epistemological principles. Such methods include the methods of experiment and observation, the modeling method, the hypothetico-deductive method, the method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete. Universal methods characterize human thinking as a whole and are applicable in all spheres of human cognitive activity, taking into account their specificity. Their universal basis is the general philosophical laws of understanding the objective world, man himself, his thinking and the process of cognition and transformation of the world by man. These methods include philosophical methods and principles of thinking, in particular, the principle of dialectical inconsistency, the principle of historicism.

Techniques, methods and forms of scientific knowledge can at certain moments transform into each other or coincide with each other. For example, techniques such as analysis, synthesis, and idealization can simultaneously be methods of cognition, and hypotheses act as both a method and a form of scientific knowledge.

Human cognition, thinking, knowledge, reason have been the subject of philosophical research for many centuries. With the advent of cybernetics, computers and computer systems, which began to be called intelligent systems, with the development of such a direction as artificial intelligence, thinking and knowledge became the subject of interest in mathematical and engineering disciplines. During the heated debates of the 60s and 70s. XX century various options for answering the question of who can be the subject of cognition were presented: only humans and, in a limited sense, animals, or a machine. Computer modeling of thinking has given a powerful impetus to research into the mechanisms of cognitive activity within such a direction as cognitive (cognitive) psychology. Here the “computer metaphor” was established, which focuses on the study of human cognitive activity by analogy with the processing of information on a computer. Computer modeling of thinking, the use of methods of mathematical and technical sciences in its research gave rise to hopes for the creation in the near future of rigorous theories of thinking that describe this subject so completely that this makes any philosophical speculation about it unnecessary.

In computer science, noticeable attention has begun to be paid to such a subject, traditionally included in the sphere of philosophy, as knowledge. The word “knowledge” began to be used in the names of areas and components of computer systems. The topic “computer and knowledge” became the subject of discussion in a broader context, where its philosophical, epistemological, social and political-technological aspects came to the fore. The theory of artificial intelligence has sometimes come to be characterized as the science of knowledge, the methods of its extraction and representation in artificial systems, processing within the system and use for solving problems, and the history of artificial intelligence - as the history of research into methods of presenting knowledge. A component of the intelligent system has appeared, such as a knowledge base.

In this regard, three large groups of questions about knowledge arose: technological, existential and metatechnological. The first group of questions concerns, to a large extent, the ways of presenting knowledge and methods of acquiring knowledge, the second group consists of questions about how knowledge exists, what it is, in particular, questions about the relationship of knowledge with opinion or faith, about the structure of knowledge and its types , about the ontology of knowledge, about how cognition occurs, the third group is questions about technological issues and their solutions, in particular, what is a technological approach to knowledge, how technological and existential knowledge relate. Metatechnological issues may be associated with the assessment of technologies for obtaining, storing and processing knowledge in the broader context of human goals and conditions of human well-being; these may be questions about the impact of information technology on the development of knowledge, including the evolution of forms and types of knowledge used in professional activities. In many cases they can be understood as a kind of existential questions about knowledge.

3. The difference between scientific knowledge and other types of knowledge

Throughout their history, people have developed several ways of knowing and mastering the world around them: everyday, mythological, religious, artistic, philosophical, scientific, etc. One of the most important ways of knowing, of course, is science.

With the emergence of science, unique spiritual products accumulate in the treasury of knowledge passed on from generation to generation, which play an increasingly important role in the awareness, understanding and transformation of reality. At a certain stage of human history, science, like other previously emerged elements of culture, develops into a relatively independent form of social consciousness and activity. This is due to the fact that a number of problems facing society can only be solved with the help of science, as a special way of understanding reality.

It seems intuitively clear how science differs from other forms of human cognitive activity.

However, a clear explication of the specific features of science in the form of signs and definitions turns out to be a rather difficult task. This is evidenced by the variety of definitions of science and ongoing discussions on the problem of demarcation between it and other forms of knowledge.

Scientific knowledge, like all forms of spiritual production, is ultimately necessary in order to regulate human activity. Different types of cognition perform this role in different ways, and the analysis of this difference is the first and necessary condition for identifying the characteristics of scientific cognition.

Activity can be considered as a complexly organized network of various acts of transformation of objects, when the products of one activity pass into another and become its components. For example, iron ore, as a product of mining production, becomes an object that is transformed in the activity of a steelmaker; machine tools produced at a plant from the steel mined by a steelmaker become means of activity in another production. Even subjects of activity - people who carry out transformations of objects in accordance with set goals, can to a certain extent be presented as the results of training and education activities, which ensures that the subject masters the necessary patterns of action, knowledge and skills in using certain means in the activity.

A person’s cognitive relationship to the world is carried out in various forms - in the form of everyday knowledge, artistic, religious knowledge, and finally, in the form of scientific knowledge. The first three areas of knowledge are considered, in contrast to science, as non-scientific forms.

Scientific knowledge grew out of everyday knowledge, but at present these two forms of knowledge are quite far apart. What are their main differences?

1. Science has its own, special set of objects of knowledge, in contrast to everyday knowledge. Science is ultimately oriented toward understanding the essence of objects and processes, which is not at all characteristic of everyday knowledge.

2. Scientific knowledge requires the development of special languages of science.

3. Unlike ordinary knowledge, scientific knowledge develops its own methods and forms, its own research tools.

4. Scientific knowledge is characterized by planning, consistency, logical organization, and validity of research results.

5. Finally, the methods of substantiating the truth of knowledge are different in science and everyday knowledge.

We can say that science is the result of knowledge of the world. A system of reliable knowledge tested in practice and at the same time a special area of activity, spiritual production, the production of new knowledge with its own methods, forms, tools of knowledge, with a whole system of organizations and institutions.

All these components of science as a complex social phenomenon have been especially clearly highlighted by our time, when science has become a direct productive force. Today, as in the recent past, it is no longer possible to say that science is what is contained in thick books resting on library shelves, although scientific knowledge remains one of the most important components of science as a system. But this system today represents, firstly, the unity of knowledge and activities to obtain it, and secondly, it acts as a special social institution that in modern conditions occupies an important place in public life.

In science, its division into two large groups of sciences is clearly visible - natural and technical sciences, focused on the study and transformation of natural processes, and social sciences, exploring the change and development of social objects. Social cognition is distinguished by a number of features related both to the specifics of the objects of cognition and to the unique position of the researcher himself.

Science differs from ordinary knowledge primarily in that, firstly, scientific knowledge is always of a substantive and objective nature; secondly, scientific knowledge goes beyond everyday experience; science studies objects regardless of whether there are currently opportunities for their practical development.

Let us highlight a number of other features that allow us to distinguish science from everyday cognitive activity.

Science uses methods of cognitive activity that differ significantly from ordinary cognition. In the process of everyday cognition, the objects to which it is directed, as well as the methods of their cognition, are often not realized and not recorded by the subject. This approach is unacceptable in scientific research. The selection of an object whose properties are subject to further study and the search for appropriate research methods are deliberate in nature and often represent a very complex and interconnected problem. To isolate an object, a scientist must master the methods of its isolation. The specificity of these methods lies in the fact that they are not obvious, since they are not familiar methods of cognition that are repeated many times in everyday practice. The need for awareness of the methods by which science isolates and studies its objects increases as science moves away from the familiar things of everyday experience and moves on to the study of “unusual” objects. In addition, these methods must themselves be scientifically sound. All this has led to the fact that science, along with knowledge about objects, specifically forms knowledge about the methods of scientific activity - methodology as a special branch of scientific research, designed to guide scientific research.

Science uses a special language. The specificity of scientific objects does not allow it to use only natural language. The concepts of everyday language are fuzzy and ambiguous, but science strives to fix its concepts and definitions as clearly as possible. Ordinary language is adapted to describe and foresee objects included in the daily practice of man, but science goes beyond the scope of this practice. Thus, the development, use and further development of a special language by science is a necessary condition for conducting scientific research.

Science uses special equipment. Along with the use of a special language, when conducting scientific research, special equipment can be used: various measuring instruments, instruments. The direct impact of scientific equipment on the object being studied makes it possible to identify its possible states under conditions controlled by the subject. It is special equipment that allows science to experimentally study new types of objects.

Scientific knowledge as a product of scientific activity has its own characteristics. Scientific knowledge is distinguished from the products of ordinary cognitive activity by its validity and consistency. To prove the truth of scientific knowledge, its application in practice is not enough. Science substantiates the truth of its knowledge using special methods: experimental control over the acquired knowledge, the deducibility of some knowledge from others, the truth of which has already been proven. The deducibility of some knowledge from others makes them interconnected and organized into a system.

Scientific research requires special preparation of the subject conducting it. During it, the subject masters the historically established means of scientific knowledge, learns the techniques and methods of their use. In addition, the inclusion of a subject in scientific activity presupposes the assimilation of a certain system of value orientations and goals inherent in science. These attitudes include, first of all, the scientist’s attitude toward the search for objective truth as the highest value of science, and the constant desire to obtain new knowledge. The need for special training of a subject conducting scientific research has led to the emergence of special organizations and institutions that provide training for scientific personnel.

The result of scientific activity can be a description of reality, explanation and prediction of processes and phenomena. This result can be expressed in the form of text, a block diagram, a graphical relationship, a formula, etc. The specific results of scientific activity can be: a single scientific fact, a scientific description, an empirical generalization, a law, a theory.

Conclusion

The concept of science in philosophy occupies one of the most important places. Science is the main form of knowledge of the world. The system of sciences in philosophy is divided into social, natural, humanitarian and technical.

Scientific knowledge acts as a specific form of mastering reality along with everyday, artistic, religious and other ways of studying it. The features of scientific knowledge are largely determined by the goals that science sets for itself. These goals are associated, first of all, with the production of new, true knowledge.

There are three main levels of scientific knowledge: empirical, theoretical and metatheoretical. Characteristic features of the empirical level of knowledge are the collection of facts, their primary generalization, description of observed and experimental data, their systematization, classification and other recording activities. A characteristic feature of theoretical cognition is the study of the cognition process itself, its forms, techniques, methods, and conceptual apparatus. In addition to the empirical and theoretical, recently another, third level of knowledge has been distinguished, metatheoretical. It is above theoretical knowledge and acts as a prerequisite for theoretical activity in science.

The methodology of science develops a multi-level concept of methodological knowledge, distributing all methods of scientific knowledge according to the degree of generality in the sphere of action. With this approach, 5 main groups of methods can be distinguished: philosophical, general scientific, special scientific (or specific scientific), disciplinary and interdisciplinary research methods.

The result of scientific knowledge is scientific knowledge. Depending on the level of scientific knowledge (empirical or theoretical), knowledge can be presented in various forms. The main forms of knowledge are scientific fact and empirical law.

List of sources used

1. Alekseev P.V. Philosophy /Alekseev P.V., Panin A.V. 3rd ed., revised. and additional - M.: TK Welby, Prospect, 2005. - 608 p.

2. Demidov, A.B. Philosophy and methodology of science: a course of lectures / A.B. Demidov., 2009 - 102 p.

3. Kaverin B.I., Demidov I.V. Philosophy: Textbook. / Under. ed. Doctor of Philology, Prof. B.I. Kaverina - M.: Jurisprudence, 2001. - 272 p.

4. Spirkin A.G. Philosophy / Spirkin A.G. 2nd ed. - M.: Gardariki, 2006. - 736 p.

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Science as a unique form of knowledge began to develop relatively independently during the era of the formation of the capitalist mode of production (XVI-XVII centuries). However, independence is not the same as self-isolation. Science has always been connected with practice, received from it more and more new impulses for its development and, in turn, influenced the course of practical activity, was objectified, materialized in it.

SCIENCE is a form of spiritual activity of people that produces knowledge about nature, society and knowledge itself. Its immediate goal is to comprehend the truth and discover the objective laws of the development of the world. Therefore, science as a whole forms a single, interconnected, DEVELOPING SYSTEM OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SUCH LAWS.

At the same time, depending on the study of one or another form of matter, aspects of reality, science is divided into many branches of knowledge (tea sciences). This is the main classification criterion. Other criteria are also used. In particular, BY SUBJECT AND METHOD OF KNOWLEDGE one can distinguish the sciences of nature - natural science and society - social science (humanities, social sciences), knowledge, thinking (logic, epistemology, etc.). Modern mathematics is a very unique science. A separate group consists of technical sciences.

In turn, each group of sciences undergoes a more detailed division. Thus, the natural sciences include mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology, etc., each of which is divided into a number of scientific disciplines - physical chemistry, biophysics, etc. The science of the most general laws of reality is philosophy, which, as we found out in the first lecture, cannot be completely attributed only to science.

Let's take another criterion: ACCORDING TO THEIR REMOTENESS FROM PRACTICE, science can be divided into two large types: FUNDAMENTAL. where there is no direct orientation to practice, and APPLIED - direct application of the results of scientific knowledge to solve production and socio-practical problems. Science as a form of knowledge and a social institution studies itself with the help of a complex of disciplines, which includes the history and logic of science, the psychology of scientific creativity, the sociology of scientific knowledge and science, science studies, etc. Currently, the philosophy of science is rapidly developing (more on this in the next lectures).

With all this, we must always remember that, regardless of the criteria and depth of classification, the boundaries between individual sciences and scientific disciplines are conditional and fluid.

MAIN FEATURES OF SCIENTIFIC COGNITION: 1. The first and main task of scientific knowledge, as we have already found out, is the discovery of objective laws of reality - natural, social (public), laws of knowledge itself, thinking, etc. Hence the orientation of research mainly on the essential properties of the subject and their expression in a system of abstractions. Without this, there can be no science, because the very concept of scientificity presupposes the discovery of laws, deepening into the essence of the phenomena being studied.

2. The immediate goal and highest value of scientific knowledge is objective truth, comprehended primarily by rational means and methods, but, of course, not without the participation of living contemplation. The activity of the subject is the most important condition and prerequisite for scientific knowledge. But priority is given to objectivity. OBJECTIVITY is a characteristic feature of scientific knowledge.

3. Science, to a greater extent than other forms of knowledge, is focused on practical implementation. The vital meaning of scientific research can be expressed by the formula: “To know in order to foresee, to foresee in order to practically act” - not only in the present, but also in the future.

4. Scientific knowledge in epistemological terms is a complex, contradictory process of reproduction of knowledge that forms an integral developing system of concepts, theories, hypotheses, laws and other ideal forms, enshrined in language - natural or, more typically, artificial (mathematical symbolism, chemical formulas, etc.). The process of continuous self-renewal by science of its conceptual arsenal is an important indicator of scientific character.

5. In the process of scientific knowledge, such specific material means as devices, tools, and other so-called materials are used. “scientific equipment”, often very complex and expensive (synchrophasotrons, radio telescopes, rocket and space technology, etc.). In addition, science, to a greater extent than other forms of knowledge, is characterized by the use in research of its objects and itself of such ideal (spiritual) means and methods as modern logic, mathematical methods, dialectics, systemic, cybernetic and other general scientific techniques and methods (more on this below).

6. Scientific knowledge is characterized by strict evidence, validity of the results obtained, and reliability of the conclusions. At the same time, it contains many hypotheses, conjectures, assumptions, and probabilistic judgments. That is why the logical and methodological training of researchers, their philosophical culture, and the ability to correctly use the laws and principles of thinking are of utmost importance here.

In modern methodology, various scientific criteria are distinguished. These include, in addition to those mentioned above, such as the internal consistency of knowledge, its formal consistency, experimental verifiability, reproducibility, openness to criticism, freedom from bias, rigor, etc. In other forms of knowledge, these criteria are manifested to varying degrees, but are not defining.

SPECIFICITY OF COGNITION OF SOCIAL PHENOMENA. For a long time, the analysis of science and scientific knowledge was modeled on natural and mathematical methods of knowledge. Its characteristics were attributed to science as a whole, as clearly demonstrated by positivism. In recent years, interest in social (humanitarian) knowledge has increased sharply. When it comes to social cognition as one of the unique types of scientific knowledge, one should keep in mind two its aspects:

1) any knowledge in each of its forms is always social, because it is a social product and is determined by cultural and historical reasons;

2) one of the types of scientific knowledge, which has as its subject social (public) phenomena and processes - society as a whole or its individual aspects: economics, politics, spiritual sphere, etc.

When researching, it is unacceptable to both reduce social phenomena to natural ones (attempts to explain social processes only by the laws of natural science), and contrast the natural and the social, up to their complete rupture. In the first case, social and humanitarian knowledge is identified with natural science and is mechanically, uncritically reduced (reduced) to it. This is naturalism, appearing in the forms of mechanism, physicalism, biologism, etc. In the second case, there is a contrast between natural science and the cultural sciences, often accompanied by discrediting the “exact” sciences (“humanities”).

Both types of sciences are branches of science as a whole, characterized by unity and difference. Each of them, with a close relationship, has its own characteristics. The specificity of social (humanitarian) knowledge is manifested in the following:

1. His subject is “the world of man,” and not just a thing as such. This means that this subject has a subjective dimension, it includes a person as “the author and performer of his own drama,” he is also its researcher. Humanitarian knowledge deals not with real things and their properties, but with the relationships of people. Here the material and the ideal, the objective and the subjective, the conscious and the spontaneous, etc. are closely intertwined. Here interests and passions collide, certain goals are set and realized, etc.

Since society is the activity of people, social cognition explores its diverse forms, and not its nature. The discovery of the laws of this activity is at the same time the discovery of the laws of society and, on this basis, the laws and principles of cognition and thinking itself.

2. Social cognition is inextricably and constantly connected with objective (evaluation of phenomena from the point of view of good and evil, fair and unfair, etc.) and “subjective” (attitudes, views, norms, goals, etc.) values. They determine the human significance and cultural significance of certain phenomena of reality. These are, in particular, a person’s political, ideological, moral beliefs, his attachments, principles and motives of behavior, etc. All these and similar points are included in the process of social research and inevitably affect the content of the knowledge obtained in this process.

3. A characteristic feature of social cognition is its predominant orientation towards the “qualitative coloring of events.” Here phenomena are studied mainly from the point of view of quality rather than quantity. Therefore, the proportion of quantitative methods in the humanities is much less than in the sciences of the natural and mathematical cycle, although their use is becoming increasingly widespread. In this case, the main attention is paid to the analysis of the individual, individual, but on the renewal of the general, natural.

4. In social cognition, you cannot use a microscope, chemical reagents, or even more complex technical equipment. All this must be replaced by the power of abstraction. Therefore, the role of thinking, its forms, principles and methods is extremely important here. If in natural science the form of comprehension of an object is a monologue (because nature is “silent”), then in humanitarian knowledge it is a dialogue (of individuals, texts, cultures, etc.). The dialogical nature of social cognition is most fully expressed in the procedures of understanding. It is precisely immersion in the “world of meanings” of another person, comprehension and interpretation (interpretation) of his feelings, thoughts and aspirations. Understanding as familiarization with the meanings of human activity and as meaning formation is closely related to self-understanding and occurs in the conditions of communication between people.

5. Due to the above circumstances, “good” philosophy and correct method play an extremely important role in social cognition. Their deep knowledge and skillful application make it possible to adequately comprehend the complex, contradictory, purely dialectical nature of social phenomena and processes, the nature of thinking, its forms and principles, their permeation with value and worldview components and their influence on the results of knowledge, the meaning and life orientations of people, the features of dialogue (inconceivable without posing and resolving contradictions/problems), etc. This is all the more important because social cognition is characterized by the absence of generally accepted paradigms (often leading to “theoretical anarchism”), the mobility and vagueness of its empirical basis, the complex nature of theoretical generalizations (associated primarily with the inclusion of value components and “personal modalities").

This is briefly all about the subject and specifics of scientific knowledge. Now let us dwell on HIS BUILDING.

Scientific knowledge is a process, i.e. developing knowledge system. It includes TWO MAIN LEVELS - empirical and theoretical. Although they are related, they are different from each other, each of them has its own specifics. What is it?

At the EMPIRICAL LEVEL, living contemplation (sensory cognition) predominates; the rational moment and its forms (judgments, concepts, etc.) are present here, but have a subordinate significance. Therefore, an object is studied primarily from the side of its external connections and relationships that are accessible to living contemplation. Collection of facts, their primary generalization, description of observed and experimental data, their systematization, classification and other fact-recording activities are characteristic features of empirical knowledge.

Empirical research is aimed directly (without intermediate links) at its object. It masters it with the help of such techniques and means as comparison, measurement, observation, experiment, analysis, induction (more on these techniques below). However, we should not forget that experience, especially in modern science, is never blind: it is planned, constructed by theory, and facts are always theoretically loaded in one way or another. Therefore, the STARTING POINT, THE BEGINNING OF SCIENCE is, strictly speaking, not the objects themselves, not bare facts (even in their totality), but theoretical schemes, “conceptual frameworks of reality.” They consist of abstract objects ("ideal constructs") of various kinds - postulates, principles, definitions, conceptual models, etc.

It turns out that we ourselves “make” our experience. It is the theorist who shows the way to the experimenter. Moreover, theory dominates experimental work from its initial plan to the final touches in the laboratory. Accordingly, there cannot be a “pure language of observation,” since all languages are “permeated with theories,” and bare facts, taken outside and apart from the conceptual framework, are not the basis of a theory.

The specificity of the THEORETICAL LEVEL of scientific knowledge is determined by the predominance of the rational moment - concepts, theories, laws and other forms and “mental operations”. Living contemplation is not eliminated here, but becomes a subordinate (but very important) aspect of the cognitive process. Theoretical knowledge reflects phenomena and processes from their universal internal connections and patterns, comprehended through rational processing of empirical knowledge data. This processing includes a system of “higher order” abstractions, such as concepts, inferences, laws, categories, principles, etc.

On the basis of empirical data, the objects under study are mentally united, their essence, “internal movement”, the laws of their existence are comprehended, constituting the main content of theories - the “quintessence” of knowledge at a given level.

The most important task of theoretical knowledge is the achievement of objective truth in all its specificity and completeness of content. In this case, such cognitive techniques and means as abstraction are especially widely used - abstraction from a number of properties and relationships of objects, idealization - the process of creating purely mental objects ("point", "ideal gas", etc.), synthesis - the combination of those obtained as a result of analysis elements into a system, deduction - the movement of knowledge from the general to the particular, the ascent from the abstract to the concrete, etc. The presence of idealizations in knowledge serves as an indicator of the development of theoretical knowledge as a set of certain ideal models.

A characteristic feature of theoretical knowledge is its focus on oneself, INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC REFLECTION, i.e. study of the process of cognition itself, its forms, techniques, methods, conceptual apparatus, etc. On the basis of theoretical explanation and known laws, prediction and scientific foresight of the future is carried out.

EMPIRICAL AND THEORETICAL LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE ARE INTERCONNECTED, the boundary between them is conditional and moving. At certain points in the development of science, the empirical turns into the theoretical and vice versa. However, it is unacceptable to absolutize one of these levels to the detriment of the other.

EMPIRISM reduces scientific knowledge as a whole to its empirical level, belittling or completely rejecting theoretical knowledge. “SCHOLASTIC THEORETING” ignores the significance of empirical data, rejects the need for a comprehensive analysis of facts as a source and basis for theoretical constructions, and is divorced from real life. Its product is illusory-utopian, dogmatic constructions, such as, for example, the concept of “the introduction of communism in 1980.” or "theory" of developed socialism.

Considering theoretical knowledge as the highest and most developed, one should first of all determine its structural components. The main ones include: problem, hypothesis and theory ("key points" in the construction and development of knowledge at its theoretical level).

PROBLEM is a form of knowledge, the content of which is something that has not yet been known by man, but that needs to be known. In other words, this is knowledge about ignorance, a question that arose in the course of cognition and requires an answer. A problem is not a frozen form of knowledge, but a process that includes two main points (stages of the movement of knowledge) - its formulation and solution. Correct derivation of problematic knowledge from previous facts and generalizations, the ability to correctly pose a problem is a necessary prerequisite for its successful solution.

Scientific problems should be distinguished from non-scientific (pseudo-problems), for example, the problem of creating a perpetual motion machine. The solution to any specific problem is an essential moment in the development of knowledge, during which new problems arise, as well as new problems, certain conceptual ideas, incl. and hypotheses.

HYPOTHESIS is a form of knowledge containing an assumption formulated on the basis of a number of facts, the true meaning of which is uncertain and requires proof. Hypothetical knowledge is probable, not reliable, and requires verification and justification. In the course of proving the put forward hypotheses, some of them become a true theory, others are modified, clarified and specified, turning into delusions if the test gives a negative result.

The periodic law discovered by D.I. Mendeleev, and the theory of Charles Darwin, etc., have passed the stage of hypothesis. The decisive test of the truth of a hypothesis is practice (the logical criterion of truth plays an auxiliary role in this case). A tested and proven hypothesis becomes a reliable truth and becomes a scientific theory.

THEORY is the most developed form of scientific knowledge, providing a holistic reflection of the natural and essential connections of a certain area of reality. Examples of this form of knowledge are Newton’s classical mechanics, Darwin’s evolutionary theory, Einstein’s theory of relativity, the theory of self-organizing integral systems (synergetics), etc.

In practice, scientific knowledge is successfully implemented only when people are convinced of its truth. Without transforming an idea into a personal conviction, a person’s faith, successful practical implementation of theoretical ideas is impossible.

A person’s cognition of the world around him (and himself in it) can be carried out in different ways and in different cognitive forms. Non-scientific forms of knowledge are, for example, everyday, artistic. The first form of human cognitive activity is everyday everyday experience. It is publicly accessible to all human individuals and represents an unsystematized variety of impressions, experiences, observations, and knowledge. The accumulation of everyday experience occurs, as a rule, outside the sphere of scientific research or acquired ready-made scientific knowledge. It is enough to point out the diversity of knowledge hidden in the depths of natural language. Everyday experience is usually based on a sensory picture of the world. He does not distinguish between phenomena and essence; he perceives appearance as obvious. But he is not a stranger to reflection and self-criticism, especially when his errors are exposed by practice.

Science arises and develops over a long period of time on the basis of data from everyday experience, which establishes facts that subsequently receive a scientific explanation. So, for example, within the framework of everyday experience, without analysis and generalization, the phenomenon of thermal conductivity was identified. The concept of an axiom, formulated by Euclid, etymologically and in content coincides with the ideas of everyday experience. Not only empirically established patterns, but also some very abstract hypotheses are actually based on everyday experimental knowledge. This is the atomism of Leucippus and Democritus. Everyday experience contains not only knowledge, but also misconceptions and illusions. Science has often accepted these misconceptions. Thus, the geocentric picture of the world was based on data from everyday experience, as was the idea of the instantaneous speed of light.

Scientific knowledge, in contrast to everyday knowledge, has its own specific, distinctive features. These include the following:

1. Scientific knowledge is a specialized type of cognitive activity:

This activity is not carried out spontaneously, not by chance;

This is a conscious, purposeful and specially organized activity to obtain knowledge;

With its development and growth in society, it becomes extremely important to train special personnel - scientists, organize this activity, and manage it;

This activity acquires an independent status, and science becomes a social institution. Within the framework of this institute, problems such as: relations between the state and science arise and are solved; freedom of scientific research and social responsibility of a scientist; science and morality; ethical standards of science, etc.

2. Subject of scientific knowledge:

Not every individual and not the entire population;

Specially trained people, scientific communities, scientific schools.

3. Object of scientific knowledge:

Not only existing practice, its phenomena;

Goes beyond current practice;

The objects of scientific knowledge are not reducible to the objects of everyday experience;

They are generally inaccessible to ordinary experience and knowledge.

4. Means of scientific knowledge:

The special language of science, since natural language is adapted only to describe objects of existing practice and its concepts are unclear and ambiguous;

Methods of scientific knowledge that are specially developed. (Comprehension of these methods, their conscious application is considered by the methodology of science);

A system of special tools of cognition, special scientific equipment.

5. The product of scientific knowledge is scientific knowledge:

It is characterized by objectivity and truth. There are also special techniques, ways of justifying the truth of knowledge;

Systematic knowledge, in contrast to everyday knowledge, which is amorphous, fragmented, disjointed in nature:

A theory is formed as a special type of knowledge that ordinary knowledge does not know;

The goals of scientific knowledge are formulated.

6. Conditions of scientific knowledge:

Value orientations of cognition;

Search for objective truth, obtaining new knowledge;

Norms of scientific creativity.

Scientific knowledge is thus characterized by systematicity and structure. And, first of all, in the structure of scientific knowledge it is customary to distinguish two levels: empirical and theoretical.

The question of the primacy or secondary nature of theoretical and empirical knowledge can be considered in different ways, depending on whether in this case we mean: a) the relationship between empirical and theoretical science, or b) the relationship between the empirical basis and the conceptual apparatus of science at a certain stage of its development. In the first case, we can talk about genetic the primacy of the empirical over the theoretical. In the second case, it is unlikely, since the empirical basis and conceptual apparatus mutually presuppose each other, and their relationship does not fit the concept of genetic primacy. Changes in the empirical basis can lead to changes in the conceptual apparatus, but changes in it can occur without direct stimulation from the empirical. And even to orient and direct the empirical research itself.

At the empirical stage of science, the decisive means of forming and developing knowledge are empirical research and subsequent processing of its results in appropriate generalizations and classifications.

At the theoretical stage, scientific principles can be established in relative independence from empiricism, for example, through a thought experiment with an idealized object.

Empirical science, however, cannot be reduced to the mere accumulation of empirical facts; It is also based on certain conceptual constructs. Empirical knowledge is a set of statements about so-called empirical objects. Οʜᴎ are obtained by abstracting from the data in sensory experience of real objects, their sides or properties, and endowing them with the status of independent existence. (For example, length, width, angle, etc.)

Theoretical knowledge is statements about so-called theoretical objects. The main way of their formation is idealization.

There is a qualitative difference in content between theoretical and empirical knowledge, which is determined by the very nature of the objects of theoretical and empirical knowledge. The transition from empiricism to theory cannot be limited to the framework of inductivist summation and combination of experimental data. What is important here is the change in the conceptual composition of knowledge, the isolation of new mental content, the formation of new scientific abstractions (electron, etc.), which are not given directly in observation and are not any combination of empirical data. It is impossible to obtain theoretical knowledge purely logically from empirical data.

So, what are the characteristic features of these two types of knowledge:

At the empirical stage of development of science:

The development of content is expressed primarily in the establishment of new empirical classifications, dependencies and laws, and not in the development of a conceptual apparatus;

Empirical laws are characterized by the fact that their derivation is based on a comparison of experimental data;

The development of a conceptual apparatus does not turn here into the implementation of a theoretical research program that determines the main lines of development of science;

Empirical science is characterized by insufficient reflexivity, a moment of a certain forced uncriticality, borrowing conceptual tools from everyday consciousness.

The theoretical stage of science is characterized by:

Strengthening the activity of theoretical thinking;

Increasing the share of theoretical research methods;

Realization of the ability of scientific thinking to reproduce theoretical knowledge on its own basis; ability to build and improve developing theoretical systems;

The development of theoretical content acts as the implementation of theoretical research programs;

In science, special theoretical models of reality are formed, which can be worked with as idealized theoretical objects (for example, as in geometry, mechanics, physics, etc.);

Theoretical laws are formulated as a result of theoretical reasoning, mainly as a consequence of a thought experiment on an idealized theoretical object.

An important stage in the transition from empirical to theoretical science is the emergence and development of such forms as primary conceptual explanations and typologies. Primary conceptual explanations presuppose the presence of conceptual schemes that allow empirical statements to be considered. Οʜᴎ are close to a theory, but this is not a theory yet, since there is no logical hierarchy within the theoretical structure. Descriptive theories that describe a certain group of objects are also of great importance: their empirical basis is very extensive; their task is to organize the facts relating to them; In them, natural language occupies a large share and specialized terminology - the scientific language itself - is poorly developed.

Theoretical science maintains connection and continuity with empirical science.

The emergence of theoretical concepts, idealized objects and models, ontological schemes is, ultimately, the result of reflection on the original conceptual apparatus available in empirical science.

However, theoretical and empirical knowledge can be considered as an activity for improvement and an activity for the application of the conceptual means of science. The connection between the theoretical conceptual content of science and its empirical basis is resolved through the empirical interpretation of theoretical constructs and, accordingly, the theoretical interpretation of experimental data. Ultimately, their unity is determined by social practice. It generates needs for knowledge of the surrounding world, needs for different levels of knowledge.

We especially emphasize that theoretical knowledge cannot be considered as a simple summation and generalization of empirical information. It is impossible to reduce theoretical knowledge to empirical knowledge, and theoretical language to the language of observation. All this leads to an underestimation of the qualitative uniqueness of theoretical knowledge and a misunderstanding of its specificity.

The question of the specificity of the theoretical form of scientific knowledge also affects the problem of the criterion of this knowledge: can this criterion of the truth of theoretical knowledge still be the same practice as the “universal criterion” of truth, or is the verifiability of theoretical knowledge for truth carried out in other ways? It turns out that many scientific principles are established theoretically, and within the framework of mathematics, for example, there are only logical proofs and deductive conclusions. And logical proof is possible without direct reference to practice. But, without in any way detracting from the importance of theoretical, logical thinking in establishing the truth, it would perhaps be correct to emphasize that in order to verify the truth of what is logically proven and theoretically justified, turning to practice is extremely important.

The criterion of practice is truly fundamental due to the following circumstances:

1. It is practice that is the fundamental form of connection with reality, with the most diverse manifestations of immediate life, not only knowledge, but also culture as a whole.

2. Due to the fact that with a historical approach to the formation of our knowledge, it turns out that the latter arises as a generalization of direct practice. This applies not only to experimental knowledge, but also (for example) to mathematics.

3. In the process of developing experimental sciences, we also constantly generalize the practice of experimental and measurement activities. Data from experimental and measurement practice are the basis for the development of theories, their generalization and modification.

4. Testing of a number of hypotheses that arise in the process of creative development of science is carried out on the basis of methods, the application of which is ultimately based on practice.

5. Theoretical knowledge, on which we rely as a criterion of truth, can itself be clarified and changed on the basis of new practice.

The science– this is a special type of cognitive activity aimed at obtaining objective, systematically organized and substantiated knowledge, as well as the cumulative result of this activity. In addition, science is a social institution that has its own specific social laws, fixed assets, workforce, education system, financing, etc. that regulate its activities.

Scientific knowledge should be distinguished from other methods and forms of cognitive activity: from everyday, philosophical, aesthetic, religious, pseudoscientific, anti-scientific, etc.

The main distinguishing features of science are:

1. Objectivity. Science is meant to give objective knowledge that is impersonal and generally valid, that is, knowledge that is maximally purified from personal likes and dislikes, beliefs and prejudices. In this respect, science is fundamentally different, for example, from art (aesthetic cognition) or from philosophy, where a personal, subjective principle is necessarily present, giving originality and uniqueness to the results of aesthetic or philosophical creativity.

2) Accuracy, unambiguity, logical rigor of scientific knowledge, it must exclude any ambiguity and uncertainty. That's why science uses special concepts, creates his own categorical apparatus. Categories and concepts scientific language have precise meaning and definitions. Unlike science, everyday knowledge uses terms of colloquial language, ambiguous and unclear, changing their meaning depending on the context of live communication and the preferences of the speaker.

3) Systematicity. The various elements of scientific knowledge are not the sum of isolated facts and information, but logically ordered system concepts, principles, laws, theories, scientific tasks, problems, hypotheses, logically interconnected, defining and confirming each other. The systematic nature of scientific knowledge presupposes a logical relationship and unity not only within the framework of individual sciences, but also between them, which creates the basis for the scientific picture of the world as an integral entity.

4) Validity, reproducibility and testability all elements of scientific knowledge. For this, science uses special research methods, logic and methods of substantiating and verifying the truth of knowledge. The type of justification in science is proof. In addition, any researcher, having recreated the conditions under which this or that result was obtained, should be able to verify its truth. For this purpose, as well as to obtain new knowledge, science uses special equipment. Many modern sciences simply cannot exist and develop without special scientific research techniques, on the improvement of which the progress of scientific knowledge in this area largely depends .

5) Objectivity. Scientific knowledge substantively, that is, each specific science does not comprehend all the laws of the object being studied, but only some of them. She is interested in a certain aspect of it, depending on the goals of this science, which is called subject her study. For example, a person as an object of knowledge is the subject of study of a variety of sciences - anatomy, physiology, psychology, anthropology, etc., each of which sets its own goals and objectives, uses its own research methods, and identifies patterns of human existence specific to this science.

6) Abstractness. Science subjects are abstract character, since they are the result of generalization (“elementary particles”, “chemical elements”, “genes”, “biocenosis”, etc.). Abstract objects of scientific research are generalized images of real objects that have only those characteristics that are inherent in all objects of a given class. In contrast to this, for example, ordinary cognition is interested only in specific objects and phenomena necessary for a person in his everyday life.

7) Science has its own ideals and norms of scientific activity. They form the basis ethics of science and regulate scientific activities. For example, the most important norm of scientific research is the prohibition of plagiarism; in the community of scientists, distortion of the truth in the name of political, religious or mercantile goals is condemned. Higher value science is the truth.

8) In this regard, science has a certain rationality– a relatively stable set of rules, norms, standards, standards, values of spiritual and material activity, accepted and equally understood by all members of society. Scientific rationality is of a specific historical nature and, as it were, sets the boundaries of what is considered “scientific” and what is considered “unscientific” in a given period. Thus, in the modern era, “classical rationality” emerged on the basis of classical mechanics; at the beginning of the twentieth century, in connection with the discovery of the microworld based on quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity, “non-classical rationality” arose. Modern science, based on synergetics, has been studying the processes of self-organization and self-regulation of open systems since the 80s. The twentieth century operates within the framework of “post-non-classical rationality”.

9) Science practical, that is, scientific knowledge ultimately presupposes its practical application. There was a period in the history of the development of science (for example, in the era of antiquity) when knowledge was an end in itself, and practical activity was considered a “lower art.” But since the modern era, science has been inextricably linked with practice. Starting from the middle of the 19th century, especially in Western Europe, scientific knowledge began to be produced purposefully for its implementation in life. And this connection between science and production is increasingly increasing today. A certain exception is fundamental scientific research, the practical applicability of the results of which may remain in question for a long time.

10) Science is focused on foresight: By revealing the patterns of functioning and development of the objects under study, it creates the opportunity to predict their further development. In addition, science is focused on obtaining knowledge about future, probable, new objects of research. Such candidates for scientific study are now gravitons, dark matter and dark energy, the biofield, UFOs, etc. Unlike science, ordinary knowledge, based on the everyday life experience of a person, is focused on obtaining basic information about the world, and is not capable of providing fundamental new knowledge. That is why in everyday consciousness there is such great interest in all kinds of “fortune tellers” and “foretellers.”

Thus, although a person receives information about the world from various sources (literature, art, philosophy, everyday life experience, etc.), only science is capable of providing knowledge that is more reliable and reliable than all others.

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All topics in this section:

Fundamentals of Philosophy
Textbook St. Petersburg UDC 1(075.8) Seliverstova N.A. Fundamentals of Philosophy: Textbook / N.A. Seliverstova; P

Subject of philosophy
Philosophy - “love of wisdom” (from the Greek phileo - love, sophia - wisdom) - arose in the 6th century BC. in Ancient India, Ancient China and Ancient Greece - where, due to a number of

Specifics of the philosophical worldview
Worldview is a system of views on the world as a whole and the place of man in it. Worldview is the most general understanding of reality and is associated with responses to such

Structure of philosophical knowledge
In the course of the development of philosophy, various areas of research have historically developed in it, each of which covers certain problems. Over time, these areas of research have evolved into

Worldview function
Worldview, as already noted, is understood as a system of views on the world as a single whole and the place of man in it. People's worldview is formed under the influence of various factors: education,

Methodological function
Method is a way of doing things. The set of methods for carrying out any work is called methodology, and knowledge about methods and techniques is called methodology. In every sphere human

And types of philosophical concepts
The entire history of philosophy is a clash of different points of view, views, and concepts. There is hardly a philosophical problem around which disputes between thinkers would not flare up.

Subjective and objective idealism
The essence of the ontological problem lies, first of all, in the answer to the question about the essence of being (reality, reality). Since ancient times, two types have been distinguished in philosophy

Sensualism, rationalism and irrationalism
The main epistemological problem is the question of the knowability of the world, that is, can a person, in his knowledge, comprehend the essence of objects and phenomena of reality? The answer to this question is section

Questions for self-control
1) What is philosophy and what is the subject of its study? 2) What is the structure of philosophical knowledge? List the main philosophical sciences. 3) How is a philosophical worldview different?

Philosophical concepts of the Ancient East
The oldest centers of world civilization are Babylon and Egypt, in whose culture one can find mythological, religious and rudimentary natural science attitudes. But talk

Specifics of ancient Eastern philosophy
Eastern philosophy differs from Western philosophy in a number of ways, which today is manifested in the existence of two fundamentally different types of cultural and civilizational development (Eastern and Western

Philosophy of Ancient India
The theoretical basis of ancient Indian philosophy is the Vedas - collections of religious and pre-philosophical texts dating back to the second millennium BC

Philosophy of Ancient China
The cultural history of China dates back to the turn of the 3rd–2nd millennium BC, and the emergence of ancient Chinese philosophy dates back to the 7th–6th centuries. BC. During this period, ideas of a natural philosophical nature spread

Confucianism
Confucianism played an extremely important role both in the history of Chinese culture and in the socio-political history of China. For more than two millennia (from the turn of the 1st

Taoism
Taoism, along with the ethical and political teachings of Confucianism and Buddhism that came from India, constitutes the so-called “triad of teachings” that formed the basis of the spiritual culture of China

Mohism and Legalism
Confucianism and Taoism are the most influential philosophical schools of Ancient China, but they are not the only ones. So, in the 5th century. BC. The doctrine developed by Mo Tzu and called

Origins and specifics of ancient philosophy
Ancient philosophy (Latin antiquus - ancient) refers to the philosophical teachings that developed in ancient Greek and then Roman society from the end of the 12th century. BC. until the beginning of the 6th century. AD (Official

Early Greek philosophy (Pre-Socratic schools)
Greek philosophy initially developed not on the territory of mainland Greece, but in the East - in the Ionian cities of Asia Minor (Miletus and Ephesus) and in the West - in the Greek colonies of Southern Italy and Sits

Ancient atomism
Ancient Greek atomism is the pinnacle of the development of materialism in ancient philosophy. It is difficult to attribute it to any one period, since in the development of the atomistic doctrine he took

Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
In the 5th century BC. the development of ancient philosophy moved from the colonial outskirts to mainland Greece, which was primarily due to the flourishing of the Athenian polis. Athens has become the largest

And Neoplatonism (III century BC -VI centuries AD)
Hellenism (Greek Hellen – Hellene, Greek; this term was introduced at the end of the 19th century) is a period in the history of ancient civilization (III - I centuries BC), which began

Origins and specifics of medieval philosophy
Medieval European philosophy is a long stage in the history of philosophy, covering the period from the 2nd century. to the 14th century AD inclusive. It appeared and developed as a religious Christian phil

Patristics. Augustine Aurelius
Patristics (Latin patres - fathers) is a term denoting the set of religious and philosophical teachings of the so-called "church fathers" - Christian thinkers of the 2nd - 8th centuries, who had the main

Medieval scholasticism. Thomas Aquinas
Scholasticism (Greek scholastikos - scientist, school) - a stage in the development of Christian philosophy in the 8th – 14th centuries, when the main religious dogmas were already formulated

And philosophy
Renaissance (French: Renaissance) XV–XVI centuries. - one of the most vibrant and fruitful periods in the history of European philosophical thought. The name of the era is associated with a revival of interest in antiquity

And the religious and philosophical thought of the Renaissance
The humanistic worldview, as a characteristic feature of the entire Renaissance culture, originated in Italy in the late Middle Ages, in the 14th century. Creativity belongs to this period

Renaissance natural philosophy and the development of natural science
As already noted, one of the main doctrines of the Renaissance was pantheism - the depersonalization of God, the idea of him as an impersonal force coinciding with nature. This radically changed the attitude

New European philosophy
In the history of Western Europe, modern times are the 17th and 18th centuries. - the period when the formation of classical philosophy took place. To the main sociocultural prerequisites for the formation of new European philosophy

Empiricism of F. Bacon and mechanistic materialism of T. Hobbes
Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) - an English political and public figure, an outstanding scientist and philosopher, was the first to formulate the basic principles characteristic of the philosophy of the New in

R. Descartes, B. Spinoza, G. Leibniz
Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) - an outstanding French mathematician, physicist, physiologist, central figure of philosophy of the 17th century. Main works - “Discourses on Method” (1637), “Beginnings of Philosophy”

J. Locke, J. Berkeley, D. Hume
The response to Cartesian rationalism and his doctrine of “innate ideas” was the emergence in England of sensationalism, the opposite direction to rationalism in epistemology. Sensualism

Philosophy of the French Enlightenment in the 18th century
Enlightenment is an extremely complex and controversial phenomenon in the cultural and social life of a number of countries in the 18th century (France, Germany, Russia, America). The term "enlightenment"

Questions for self-control
1) Name the main sociocultural premises of the philosophy of the New Age. What is its specificity? 2) What is the essence of the dispute between rationalism and sensationalism? Name the main representatives of these

Objective idealism and dialectics of G. Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770 - 1831) - the largest representative of German classical idealism, the creator of the systematized theory of dialectics, the author of numerous philosophies

Questions for self-control
1) Why are two periods distinguished in I. Kant’s philosophical work – “pre-critical” and “critical”? 2) Why are elements of agnosticism seen in Kant’s teaching? 3) H

Philosophy of Marxism
Marxist philosophy is a holistic system of philosophical, political and economic views developed in the 40-70s. 19th century German thinkers Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) and Fried

Philosophy of positivism
Positivism (lat.positivus - positive) is one of the largest trends in the philosophy of the 19th-20th centuries, whose followers substantiated the fundamental importance of the concrete, the basis

Philosophy of pragmatism in the USA
Pragmatism (Greek pragma - business, action) is a philosophical concept that arose in the USA in the 70s of the 19th century. and proved in the twentieth century. strong influence on the spiritual life of the country. The main preds

A. Schopenhauer and F. Nietzsche
Philosophy of life is one of the most influential trends in Western philosophical thought of the second half of the 19th century. The central concept in the teachings of representatives of this direction is p

Existentialism
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Philosophy of psychoanalysis
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Stages of development and specificity of Russian philosophy
Russian philosophy is understood as a set of philosophical ideas and theories that arose on the territory of the Russian state, that is, they represent intellectual creativity in the Russian language

Philosophical ideas in Russian literature of the 19th century
One of the most significant phenomena in the intellectual life of Russia in the second half of the 19th century should be considered the development of philosophical ideas in Russian literature (L. Tolstoy, F. Dostoevsky), poetry (F. Tyut

Philosophy of the late XIX - early XX centuries. Russian cosmism
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The Soviet period in the development of Russian philosophy
This period has been little studied to date. The existence of philosophy in the USSR was possible only within the framework of the Marxist-Leninist paradigm (although, at the same time, in Russia abroad it was successfully

The Doctrine of Being
Ontology - (Greek ontos - existing and logos - teaching) - the doctrine of being, as already noted (see 1.5.1) is one of the fundamental concepts, the nature of which

Philosophical doctrine of matter
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Movement as an attribute of existence
One of the most important problems of ontology is the question of the movement of both being as a whole and its parts. In philosophy, movement is understood as any change, change in general (change

Space and time as attributes of existence
The doctrine of space and time is one of the most important sections of ontology, since the study of any phenomenon presupposes its spatiotemporal description (in particular, answers to questions

Determinism and regularity
Along with the principle of development, the most important principle of the dialectical understanding of existence is the principle of the universal connection of phenomena, which postulates universal interconnection and interdependence

According to the specifics of determination, laws are divided into dynamic and statistical
Dynamic patterns characterize the behavior of isolated objects and make it possible to establish an exact connection between its states, that is, when a given state of the system is unambiguous

Consciousness as a philosophical problem
The doctrine of consciousness is associated with various sections of philosophical knowledge: the ontological approach to consciousness includes questions of its relationship with matter, essence and structure; epistemological - with

The problem of the emergence of consciousness
Consciousness is one of the basic concepts in philosophy, denoting the highest level of mental activity of a person as a social being. Consciousness is activity-related

Consciousness and language
As already noted, consciousness arose and was formed in the process of people’s labor activity as a necessary condition for its organization, regulation and reproduction. Along with the appearance of

Essence and structure of consciousness
The problem of the essence of consciousness is one of the most complex due to the multidimensional nature of consciousness itself, which is a basic concept not only in philosophy, but also in psychology, physiology, sociology and others.

Epistemology
The problem of cognition of the cognitive process itself has long been the subject of philosophical analysis; its solution is dealt with by the philosophical theory of knowledge - epistemology. As a special section of the philosophy of gnoseo

Subject and object of knowledge
Cognition is a socio-historical process of creative activity of people, forming their knowledge, on the basis of which the goals and motives of people arise

Sensory and rational cognition
One of the important tasks in epistemology has always been the analysis of human cognitive abilities, that is, the search for an answer to the question: how does a person acquire knowledge about the world? Analyzing the process of cognition, the philosopher

The problem of truth. The role of practice in the process of cognition
By studying the world around him, a person not only gains knowledge, but also evaluates it. Information can be assessed according to various parameters: for example, its relevance, practical usefulness, etc. N

Structure of scientific knowledge
In everyday use, the term “science” is most often used to refer to certain branches of scientific knowledge. Analyzing science in this aspect, it can be structured (cla

Patterns of science development
In the course of its development, science not only increases the volume of knowledge it has accumulated, but qualitatively changes its content: new sciences appear, new theories emerge within the framework of existing sciences

Questions for self-control
1) What is the specificity of scientific knowledge, its difference from other types of human cognitive activity? 2) What is the role of the empirical level in scientific knowledge? List

Philosophical anthropology
Understanding man is the central problem of philosophy. Its formulation is already contained in the words of Socrates: “Know yourself.” It is believed that the term “anthropology” (Greek anthropos - man) was introduced into the

Biological and social in man
The presence in a person of two principles - biological and social - testifies to the inconsistency, antinomy of human existence. On the one hand, man is a creation of nature

Main factors of anthropogenesis
How did the above-mentioned inconsistency of human existence arise, how did man manage to break out of the animal state and subordinate his natural existence to the social one? Modern science

The essence of man and the meaning of his existence in the world
The problem of the essence of man has always occupied a significant place in the history of philosophical thought along with ontological and epistemological problems. It remains relevant to this day as in theory

The problem of freedom
Reflecting on the meaning of his existence and making a decision to implement his life plans, a person should not forget about two circumstances: - firstly, that his life and

Basic approaches and concepts
The subject of study of social philosophy is society. However, the meaning of this term is so vague that the Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language gives six of its meanings at once (for example,

Toward coevolutionary interaction
From the point of view of modern science, the formation of human society is a long process that lasted several million years and ended several tens of thousands of years ago.

Main spheres of public life
As already noted, society is a systemic entity. As an extremely complex whole, as a system, society includes subsystems - “spheres of public life” - a concept first introduced by K

Stage and civilizational concepts
The idea that changes are taking place in society arose in ancient times, and was purely evaluative: the development of society was perceived as a simple sequence of events. Only

Questions for self-control
1) How does the materialistic approach to the analysis of social phenomena differ from the idealistic one? What is “geographical determinism”? 2) What role do natural factors play in the development of society?

Cyclicity and linearity of historical development
Philosophy of history (the term was introduced by Voltaire) is a special section of philosophy associated with the interpretation of the historical process and historical knowledge. Where are we from and where are we going?

The Problem of Social Progress
Social progress as a trend of historical development means the movement of humanity forward, from less perfect to more perfect ways and forms of life. General

Prospects for modern civilization
The laws of history are such that predicting the future is always fraught with uncertainty and problems. Futurology - a science that offers forecasts for the future - builds its conclusions, mainly

Questions for self-control
1) What is the fundamental difference between linear and cyclical interpretations of human history? 2) List the basic concepts of cyclical and linear development of society. 3) B

Basic philosophical terms
Abstract (Latin abstrahere - distract) - mentally distract from some properties, relationships, highlighting essential properties for a given class of objects, thereby forming