- Postclassical philosophy: phase of development, main schools and directions. The program of overcoming philosophical classics in modern philosophy.
BASIC LITERATURE Zhdanovsky A.P. An introduction to postclassical philosophy. Minsk, XX05.
Zotov A.F. Modern Western Philosophy. M., XX01.
Mamardashvili M.K., Solovyov E.Yu., Shvyrev V.S. Classics and Modernity: Two Epochs in the Development of Bourgeois Philosophy//Philosophy in modern world. Philosophy and Science. M., 1972.
FURTHER READING Russell B. History of Western European Philosophy. In 2 vol. M., 1993.
Reale J., Antiseri D. Western philosophy from its origins to the present day. SPb., 1997.
Tarnas R. History of Western thinking. M., 1995.
Reader on the history of philosophy. Part 2. Modern Western Philosophy. M., 1994.
STRUCTURAL AND CONTENT SUMMARY
- Classics and postclassics: the problem of chronological demarcation.
The European philosophy of modern and contemporary times is a complex multi-level formation. There are two eras in its development:
- classic - a period covering the evolution of European philosophical thought of the 17th - first half of the 19th centuries. (up to G. Gegel inclusive);
- postclassic - the development of European philosophy from the middle of the 19th century. until now.
To identify the essential characteristics of postclassical philosophizing, one should compare the corresponding positions of the classics and the basic settings of postclassical philosophical thought according to the parameters below.
- Ways of setting ontological problems. Here it is necessary to point out the metaphysical orientation of classical thinking. Classical philosophy strove to develop knowledge that would reveal the deepest, fundamental foundations of being. She claimed systematic integrity, completeness, reflecting the natural orderliness of the world order itself. In the classics, the idea of harmony between the organization of being and the subjective organization of a person was affirmed, when mental acts uniquely correspond to the connections and differentiations of objects.
- Interpretation of the subject-object relationship. The classics proceed from the presumption of an autonomous subject, isolated from the surrounding world and endowed with the ability to mentally penetrate into the structures of being and comprehend their deep essence. Being torn out of the system of everyday socio-economic ties and dependencies, the philosophical subject is endowed with the ability to cognize the world in its ultimate conceivable form. The subject is capable of rational self-observation, correlation of certain mental contents with elements of sensory experience and structures of objective reality. The subject is opposed by the world of objects, which reveal themselves to the cognizing mind and its heuristic abilities.
opposition. It proceeds from the recognition of the fact of the ontological involvement of the subject, the rootedness of his cognitive and practical activities in the structures of historical and cultural tradition up to the complete “dissolution” of the subject in historical existence (the idea of philosophizing without a subject, the concept of “death of the subject”).
- Understanding the regulators of cognitive activity.
overcoming many obstacles on this path and, above all, prejudices caused by the very nature of man, his psychophysical organization, the imperfection of the language and forms of communication, the historical limitations of any kind of practice (recall the "idols" of F. Bacon).
Postclassic interprets knowledge through the identification of its effectiveness, practicality, utility. Truth must first of all harmonize existence with the forms of social organization, "adapt" man to the world.
- Features of the applied categorical tools. Mind is the main tool of knowledge in philosophical classics. The purpose of cognition is to reproduce the fundamental foundations of being in complex systems of consistent knowledge. The pathos of classical philosophizing is the pathos of system-building. The connections of philosophical concepts constructed by the mind reflect the system nature of being itself, and the categories (chance, necessity, causality, form) are filled with objective ontological content.
Blurring the boundaries between philosophy and science, thinkers turn to the use of various literary forms (essays, aphorisms, symbolic poem, play).
- Postclassical philosophy: phase of development, main schools and
The following stages can be distinguished in the development of postclassical philosophical thought.
The first stage was marked by the processes of erosion of the Hegelian system of idealistic dialectics, the desire to rethink the subject and the social role of philosophy. The tendency to liberate philosophy from metaphysics and extreme rationalism has revealed itself. In this regard, we should mention the names of L. Feuerbach, S. Kierkegaard, K. Marx, through whose efforts European philosophy made a radical turn towards the analysis of historical concrete being, turning away from abstract speculative forms of thinking. Impulses of this kind were strengthened in the works of F. Nietzsche, the founder of the philosophy of "life", who replaced the Hegelian absolute reason with the category of "life" as an endless process of world formation. Thus, he continued the development of the philosophical program of A. Schopenhauer, who saw the foundation of the universe.
The trend towards liberation from speculative idealism manifested itself at the second stage of the development of postclassics and in the philosophy of postpositivism. (Comte, Spencer, J.S. Mill), who asserted the need to substantiate knowledge based on a specific given, empirically verifiable factual material. The rethinking of the classics, the adaptation of its thought structures to the changing social reality can be traced in neo-Kantianism (G. Riker, J. Gentile, B. Croce). Neo-Thomism (J. Maritain, E. Gilson) tries to transform the ideological and intellectual potential of the philosophy of F. Aquinas, bringing it into line with the spiritual and religious demands of the modern world. Within the framework of the philosophy of life, the intuitionist philosophy of A. Bergson, the morphological program for the study of civilizations by Oy Spengler, is being formed.
Praxeological aspects of knowledge are explored by pragmatism (C. Pierce, W. James, D. Dewey), psychoanalysis is discussed to the study of the structure of the human psyche, and the secrets of the subconscious (S. Freud. K. G. Jung).
The third stage in the development of postclassical philosophy takes shape by the middle of the 20th century. In its content, the following relatively autonomous programs of philosophizing should be singled out: 1) socio-critical; 2) existentially
phenomenological; 3) analytical.
The socio-critical strategy historically goes back to Marxist philosophy, perceiving its intention to perform the functions of social practice. Proceeding from the recognition of the existence of the phenomenon of alienation as a fundamental characteristic of human existence in pre-communist formations, Marxism associated it with specifically historical forms of social relations based on private property. The positive socio-practical program of Marxism consisted in the idea of transforming the system of social relations, bringing it into line with generic essence man, overcoming historically limited forms of being and the transition to communism as the true history of mankind.
The analytical strategy refers to the analysis of language as a special phenomenon of human existence. Back in the end of the 19th century. G. Frege. Having laid the foundation of logical semantics, he studied the relationship between the signifier and the signified, introduced a generalized idea of the name in logic. Criticizing psychologism and formalism in logic and mathematics, G. Frege gave productive impulses to the study of the problems of linguistic meaning. Seriously influencing the philosophy of the twentieth century.
The logical-analytical stage of the strategy under consideration is characterized by attention to the analysis of the structure of scientific knowledge (G. Frege, B. Russell, A. Tarsky, "early" L. Wittgenstein).
The late analytical stage is characterized by an appeal to the problems of language games, the meaning of words in the context of their use, questions about the nature and functions of speech communications.
An important role in the development of this stage was played by neo-opisitivism (M. Schlick, R. Karnap). The principle of verification he substantiated required the reduction of a scientifically meaningful statement about the world to a set of protocol sentences that fix the data of "pure experience".
The principle of physicalism pointed to the need to unify all sciences on the basis of a universal language (the language of physics was offered as a model).
The principle of conventionalism asserted that arbitrary agreements (conventions) between scientists underlie natural scientific categories.
Having exhausted its heuristic potential, neopositivism was replaced in the 50-70s. 20th century replaced by various concepts of postpositivism, which turned to the study of the evolution of scientific knowledge, its socio-cultural conditioning. Among the most influential theories representing this trend should be called the critical rationalism of K. Popper. D. Armstrong and J. Smart, pragmatic analysis by W. Quine and M. White, epistemological analysis by P. Feyerabend, the concept of implicit knowledge by M. Polanyi.
The existential-phenomenological strategy proceeded from a critical attitude towards the objectivism of classical philosophy. The foundations of this program were laid by the German philosopher E. Husserl. Husserl's phenomenology turned to the study of a special form of existence - human being. The latter, according to Husserl, lies in its special "phenomenal" character in its "irreducibility" to external natural-physical and socio-cultural factors, its "falling out" from the streams of causal determinism. Human existence appears as "attracting itself in itself." and, as such, cannot be known by the means of science and logic. but it requires special categorical means, specific philosophical intuitions for its comprehension. This methodological program of phenomenology was developed in the philosophy of existentialism. Existentialists considered man as a special being, asking questions about the meaning of his existence, striving for creativity, for the realization of his freedom. and a vital vocation to search for one's authentic essence in the context of non-genuine forms of communication imposed by social organization.
In the historical and philosophical periodization, classical, non-classical and post-classical philosophy are distinguished. The beginning of the classics is ancient Greek philosophy, the philosophy of Hegel completes the classics. The non-classical stage - from Marx to Husserl - unfolds until the middle of the 20th century, and the postclassical stage takes shape in the second half of the 20th century and develops in the present. Initially, non-classical, and then post-classical philosophy develops under the sign of an extremely intense polemic with the classical philosophical tradition. And this controversy is conducted in the widest range: from the complete denial of classical philosophical values to attempts to use traditions to solve their own problems. But this is not the destruction of classical philosophy, but only transformations, its continuation into the present and adaptation to the actual problems of the new culture. For a complete understanding of the essence of the controversy and the fundamental differences between classics and postclassics, it is important to define the actual features of classical philosophy.
Classical philosophy constituted itself as a theory oriented towards reason as the highest value. At the same time, reason appeared in this philosophy not only as an essential characteristic of a person, but also as a substantial basis of the world. It was the Greeks who formed the belief that the principles of the structure of the world coincide with the principles of the functioning of the mind, and this coincidence is a guarantee of the possibility of rational knowledge of the world. This ancient idea reaches its logical conclusion in the Hegelian idea of the identity of being and thinking.
Hence another feature of classical philosophy - rationalization of man. The only property that distinguishes a person from all living things is the mind, the ability to think logically. This mind does not recognize any authorities, and its goal is to comprehend the truth. In this regard, classical philosophy considered man exclusively as a rational being whose vocation was cognitive activity. Cognition is not only a need of the mind, but also of the soul, for only knowledge contributes to the expansion of human capabilities in the world, and spiritual liberation.
This understanding of human nature led to epistemology of the relationship between man and the world. Classical philosophy considers these relations exclusively as epistemological, as relations between the subject and the object, where the subject acted as an absolute reference point, and his mind as the only possible way visions of the world. The results of cognitive activity are fixed with the help of precise and unambiguous concepts and exclude any anthropomorphic projections. The noted circumstance also determined the goals of philosophy: the search for the substantial foundations of being, the comprehension of the true essence of the world as a single stable integrity. This philosophy was focused on revealing the fundamental structures of reality, the discovery and understanding of the universal laws of the world. Classical philosophy, therefore, had a pronounced metaphysical character and ontological orientation; it is characterized by objectivism, substantialism, recognition of the identity of being and thinking.
The events of the 19th century revealed the impotence of the human mind in explaining and preventing the disharmony and chaos that became the content of social life. On the one hand, the collapse of Napoleonic France called into question the ideals of the Enlightenment, linking social progress with the progress of reason. A sharp aggravation of the class struggle in Germany and France, which marked irreconcilable positions in society, which resulted in an attempt to radically reorganize the very foundations of economic and social life. But on the other hand, the triumph of chemistry, the creation of the theory of conservation of energy, the discovery of electromagnetic induction by Faraday, the theory of magnetism by Ampère, the discovery of radioactivity, x-rays, etc. And all this against the background of the active application of knowledge for the modernization of production and technical innovations. The world was changing before our eyes: the first Railway, the first automobile, the first experiments in aeronautics, the electric telegraph and the electric light bulb, then the telephone, radio communications, and much more. Science and technology became a more valuable "philosophy" because their use promised new benefits. However, the same science, like the old philosophy, turned out to be absolutely useless in terms of explaining social conflicts, which was the reason for their criticism and the emergence of a new type of philosophical thinking.
The first step towards the formation of non-classical philosophy was a radical restriction of the principle of rationalism. Logistic ontological constructions of classical philosophy have nothing to do with true reality, which is characterized by discreteness, heterogeneity and inconsistency. In the world of reason, there is no more than unreasonable, and the claims of classical philosophy for a system-rational comprehension of nature and man, the assertion of the identity of being and thinking are only a myth. This was not a denial of the mind or its cognitive abilities, but only a limitation of the reasonable and the affirmation of the unreasonable as a constant of being and cognition. This irrational tradition was reinforced by changes in society. The crisis of classical culture and science, mass society with its rejection of traditional values, economic crises, revolutions and wars, the ideologization of social processes gave rise to “crisis consciousness”, “confused mind”, rebelling against science (this incarnation of reason), and the irrationality of human behavior is transferred to the structure of the world, giving irrationalism not only epistemological, but also ontological status. From this point of view, science and reason appear as means of enslaving people and oppressing them.
Under the influence of these factors, derationalization of man. Non-classical philosophy does not deny the reasonableness of man, but does not allow its supremacy. Man is not man because he is intelligent and cognizant, but because he lives. The essence and mode of human existence in the world are determined not by reason, but by the total category of life as a combination of diverse and multi-valued forms of its being. The world can be understood and justified not from the point of view of reason, but from the standpoint of life. Man is born into the world not to know, but to live. And the mind is only one, and not the most essential manifestation of this life. This is how the previously dominant idea of the essence and purpose of man changes.
Along with this, there is a kind of degnoseologization relationship between man and the world. The understanding of the connection between the world and man as a relationship between an object and a subject, which are opposed to each other and independent of each other, which is characteristic of classical philosophy, is unacceptable for postclassical philosophy. This philosophy proceeds from the thesis that every time a person is aware of himself, he is aware of himself here and now, in this place, in this environment. This means that the being of man is being-in-the-world and being-in-time. The world and man are one, they cannot be divided and opposed to each other. A person is not outside the world, but inside it, and only in this way can this world be conceived by him.
Postclassical philosophy can be characterized as a "subjectless philosophy", overcoming the subject-object dichotomy of the classical philosophical tradition. This being-in-the-world-and-in-time is not limited to reason alone, but has as its goal the entirety of existence. Therefore, to describe this being, rational concepts alone are not enough; this requires the widest range of visual means, including the irrational ones. But in this case, the image of philosophy itself also changes: from the means thinking world in the categories of reason, it turns into a way understanding reality, adequate knowledge of which by means of reason alone is impossible. And this reality loses the status of an object, because it is the sphere of our life, in which we always find ourselves not only reasonable and holy, but also stupid and depraved. And the goal of philosophy is to comprehend the meaning and significance of our presence in the world. And since this presence is multi-valued and diverse, philosophy also loses its unity and integrity.
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
The philosophy of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome is called antique; it existed from the 7th century BC. before the 5th century AD characteristic feature of the ancient worldview cosmocentrism: the world was understood as a living, animated cosmos, and a person is only a part of it. The first philosophers were called "physicists" (from the word "fusis" - nature), they were interested in questions of the origin and structure of the world. Thales claimed that everything is made of water, and Pythagoras considered the number, understood mystically, to be the beginning of all things.
Heraclitus introduced the concept of "logos" - this is a world, universal law, to which everything that exists is subject. He considered the main sign of peace to be development, the source of which is the struggle of opposite principles. "You can't step into the same river twice." His contemporaries, the philosophers Parmenides and Zeno, took the opposite position, they argued that there is no movement and development, it is only an illusion, a deception of our feelings.
The study of man and society begins with Socrates. This philosopher believed that it is useless to study nature, it is not subject to us. But we own our soul, we can correct and improve it, our life depends on it. Philosophy should teach a person to live with dignity. And Socrates himself, by his life and death, proved his loyalty to philosophy, truth and goodness.
Read the biography of Socrates and explain why in the history of world culture he is considered the embodiment of wisdom.
Socrates' disciple Plato became the founder of objective idealism. He considered as truly existing eternal, incorporeal, intelligible ideas, which, uniting with dead, inert matter, give rise to our world. The soul of a person is also an idea, which, being in a bodily shell, forgets about its origin, therefore, knowledge is based on the process of remembering. Plato is the author of one of the first utopias: in the treatise "The State" he created a project of an ideal social structure, the main conditions for which are the absence of a family and private property.
Democritus is the founder of atomistic materialism. The world consists of atoms and emptiness. Things arise from a combination of atoms of different shapes and sizes, the human soul also consists of light fiery atoms.
Aristotle in his writings sought to generalize the achievements of ancient thought, classified the sciences, created whole line new (logic). His controversy with Plato on the problems of social structure deserves special attention: Aristotle believed that one should not invent an ideal society, but rather improve the existing one, adapting the state structure to the needs and needs of people.
Antique culture laid the foundation for the entire European civilization, the theories of ancient Greek thinkers were subsequently developed in many areas of life and activity.
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
The Middle Ages in the history of Europe is the period from the 5th to the 15th century, the era of feudalism. Theocentrism- the main feature of the medieval worldview. God is considered the cause of the creation and existence of the world. Relations between religion and philosophy are built according to the formula: "Philosophy is the servant of theology." Medieval philosophy (scholasticism) considers the rational substantiation of the existence of God to be its main task. The most famous philosopher of the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas, put forward five proofs, for example: every thing must have a reason, another thing that acts on it, every reason must have its own reason, and there must be an ultimate cause of all causes - and this is God.
In our time, the word "scholasticism" has a meaning: a teaching divorced from life, far from observation and experience, divorced from life. Give examples of such teachings from various fields.
What philosophical direction underlies medieval philosophy?
PHILOSOPHY OF THE RENAISSANCE
The 15th and 16th centuries in the history of Europe were called the Renaissance. The thinkers of that time believed that they were reviving ancient culture, but in fact they were creating a new worldview, the main feature of which was anthropocentrism. God is relegated to the background, the main attention is paid to man, his abilities and capabilities. At this time, the concept of "humanism" arises. T. Mor creates a work called "Utopia", where he draws his plan for an ideal social structure. New ideas appear in the field of natural sciences, at this time D. Bruno, N. Copernicus, G. Galileo develop their teachings. Many philosophers and scientists in this era identified God with nature. This teaching is called pantheism and it served as a rationale for interest in the study of nature.
What is humanism? What does it express? Did humanism exist before the Renaissance?
Utopia (translated from Latin - “a place that does not exist”) is a fundamentally unrealizable plan for an ideal social order. Think about why utopias are unrealizable?
What is the essence of the teachings of D. Bruno, N. Copernicus, G. Galileo? Why did their scientific ideas have a great influence on the worldview?
PHILOSOPHY OF THE NEW TIME
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the era of bourgeois revolutions began in Europe. Industrial production is replacing handicraft. The role of science is growing, and the natural sciences are beginning to play the main role. There is a process of secularization - liberation from the influence of the church in all areas. The main feature of the worldview in this era is rationalism. Exceptional importance was attributed to the human mind, its development was considered the main reason for the development of society.
The English philosopher F. Bacon considers the main task of philosophy to be assistance to the development of science. To do this, it is necessary to rid the minds of people from delusions and develop the correct method of scientific research, as such, Bacon considers induction. When exploring the world, one must first of all rely on experience (in Latin - empiricism). This direction in epistemology is called empiricism. The system developed by F. Bacon is metaphysical materialism. The world is a clock, it is arranged according to the laws of mechanics, there is movement, but no development. At the same time, God was understood as a watchmaker who created the world, and then does not interfere in its affairs. This position is called deism.
The French philosopher R. Descartes believed that the world has two principles - extension and thinking. In the theory of knowledge, he was a rationalist, i.e. believed that the main source of knowledge is the mind, only it can give us reliable knowledge about the world. Rejecting medieval dogmatism with its blind faith in authorities, Descartes put forward the principle of doubt: you can and should doubt everything, even the data of your own senses, the only thing that is certain is the presence of a doubting thought. "I think, therefore I am."
The Dutch philosopher B. Spinoza argued that the world has only one beginning and that is matter. She is the cause of herself.
The famous German scientist and philosopher G. Leibniz was a supporter of pluralism: the world consists of many indivisible primary elements of being - monads. And these monads have an ideal nature.
Sensationalism- epistemological direction, which considers sensations to be the main source of knowledge of the world. The English philosopher D. Locke said: "There is nothing in the mind that was not previously in the senses." Our consciousness is a “blank slate” on which experience writes its writing.
Not all philosophers at that time were epistemological optimists. The English thinker D. Hume, proceeding from empiricism and sensationalism, comes to skepticism: only my sensations are given to me, and what lies behind them is not known for certain.
The 18th century in the history of Europe was called the Age of Enlightenment. Enlightenment is the ideological movement of the young class of the bourgeoisie against the outdated feudal order. Reason (ontological and anthropological rationalism) was considered the main feature of man and the world, therefore the main way to improve people's lives is supposed to be the dissemination of knowledge, enlightenment.
The thinkers of this time were primarily interested in the problems of a correct, just social order. J.J. Rousseau develops democratic ideas: power must come from the people and act in favor of the people, if it does not, the people have the right to terminate the "social contract" and overthrow such power. Sh.L. Montesquieu posed the question: how to make sure that power does not turn into tyranny? And he put forward the idea: it is necessary to divide power into three branches, so that they limit and control each other.
What three branches did Sh.L. Montesquieu share power?
The English philosopher J. Berkeley considers the fight against materialism to be the main task of his life. There is no matter, this is fiction. Only our sensations really exist, and we are accustomed to calling their various combinations things. "To exist is to be perceived." But the perception of people is always limited. Berkeley finds a way out: the world exists in the perception of the eternal and omnipresent God. Thus, he bases his subjective idealism on the objective one.
What scientists of the 17th-18th centuries do you know? Describe their picture of the world.
Why did the arts and the humanities dominate in the worldview in the Renaissance, while in modern times the leading role is transferred to the natural sciences?
GERMAN CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHY
Germany at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century was the most backward country in Europe, semi-feudal and fragmented, but at that time intensive spiritual development was taking place in it, comprehension and assimilation of those revolutionary changes that were taking place in neighboring countries. Therefore, German classical philosophy has become one of the pinnacles of world philosophy.
I. Kant made a revolution in the theory of knowledge, posing the question: how is the process of knowledge possible in general, how does it occur. At the same time, he considers cognition as an active, creative process, and not just a reflection of the world in a person's head. Although the problems of cognition and organization of the world are very important, they should not be in the foreground - only morality makes a person a person. Therefore, Kant pays great attention to the development of ethical problems.
G.W.F. Hegel created a grandiose and last of its kind system objective idealism. He considers the absolute idea to be the beginning of the world, which, seeking to develop its content, is embodied in nature, and then in human history with all its achievements. Hegel considers development to be the main sign of this process. The philosopher turns dialectics into a coherent and consistent theory, proving that developing world can be studied only by applying the laws and categories of dialectics. In this case, a contradiction arises between the method and the system: according to the dialectical method, the process of development is eternal and endless, and in the system the Absolute Idea, having expanded its content, closes on itself and stops development.
L. Feuerbach rejected dialectics and was a metaphysical materialist. But his teachings also contained valuable and interesting points. He considered man the central philosophical problem, this direction was called "anthropological materialism." This philosopher paid much attention to the study of religion. He considered the reason for its appearance to be the “deification” by people of their unrealizable hopes and desires (for eternal life, absolute justice, infinite goodness, etc.), which are embodied in the images of gods and which people worship. Religion is understood not as the result of deceit, but rather the self-deception of people. It is interpreted as a complex social phenomenon that has both negative and positive sides. As Feuerbach himself said, he was “a materialist below, an idealist above”: he understood nature materialistically, but considered the consciousness of people to be the main reason for the development of society.
In the broad sense of the word, all philosophy is called classical, from ancient to German classical, inclusive. It is characterized by faith in the reasonable structure of the world, the rationality of man (it is believed that only poverty and ignorance prevent people from living well), historical optimism.
What is the meaning of the word "classical"?
MODERN PHILOSOPHY
By the middle of the 19th century, European society was entering a new stage in its development. Capitalism develops on its own basis. The bourgeois revolutions did not bring the expected "freedom, equality and fraternity"; on the contrary, competition, anarchy of production, and cruel exploitation of the working people reign. The contradictions in society are deepening, and the position of a person is even more precarious and unstable than it was in the previous era: under feudalism, a person was a member of a community, workshop, could hope for help and protection, and under capitalism, “every man for himself, one god for all” . The changed attitude is reflected in philosophy. Irrationalism is on the rise. German philosophers A. Schopenhauer and F. Nietzsche consider the world to be a manifestation of a blind and merciless will, Life is chaos, and all our theories are illusions and self-deception.
As a reaction to the dominance of Hegelian idealism, vulgar materialism arises. It was created by biologists and physiologists. They generally denied the existence of the ideal and considered everything to be material, even consciousness.
The French philosopher O. Comte became the founder of positivism. He argued that all unsolvable problems should be thrown out of philosophy (what is primary, what is the meaning of life, etc.), it should, like science, deal with the analysis and systematization of facts. This will be a positive (i.e. positive) philosophy.
But other teachings arose that sought to explain reality on a new level and, at the same time, preserve the achievements of rationalism, which continued to develop the line of humanism and optimism. K. Marx and F. Engels created dialectical materialism, a new stage in the development of the materialistic direction, the most important feature of which was the recognition of the self-development and activity of matter. The most important merit of their teaching was the development of a materialistic understanding of social development. Pre-Marxian materialism was only half materialism, since it considered only nature materialistically, and in explaining society it resorted to the will and consciousness of people as a determining factor. Marx tried to find in people's lives a material, objective principle, which, regardless of their will and consciousness, determines the entire structure of their life activity; he considered material production to be such a principle. Then it turns out that people do not create their history arbitrarily, it has objective laws. Trying to isolate these laws on the material of European history, K. Marx created the theory of socio-economic formations and, on its basis, predicted the inevitable replacement of capitalism by communism.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE XX CENTURY
One of the most important factors in the development of European society is science. Therefore, it looks natural to form a philosophical trend that seeks to put philosophy at the service of science and make philosophy itself scientifically. This direction has become neopositivism. Back in the 19th century, the French philosopher O. Comte created positivism, whose main task was proclaimed the analysis and classification of facts. At the same time, it was proposed to throw out of philosophy "insoluble" problems of the meaning of being, the essence of man, etc. In the 20th century, this direction continued to develop. The English mathematician, logician and philosopher B. Russell and the Austrian philosopher L. Wittgenstein proclaimed the task of philosophy to be the logical analysis of scientific statements, and later expanded it to the analysis of the language not only of science, but also of everyday thinking. This direction, having broken into many schools and teachings, now exists under the name "analytical philosophy" and is especially widespread in English-speaking countries. Indeed, it greatly contributed to the development of science and the solution of many of its problems, such as artificial intelligence, machine language, etc.
On the other hand, the worldview of the 20th century is marked by an intense interest in human problems, because the hopes of thinkers of the Enlightenment that a person is a rational being and, being freed from ignorance and poverty, will live justly and happily, did not come true (one has only to recall the two world wars) .
Existentialism(from the Latin “existence” - existence) believes that traditional philosophy has unreasonably dealt with the abstract problems of the universe, while it is necessary to study everyday life of people. Scientific methods are not sufficient here, since it is possible to understand a person's life only from the inside, having felt it, experienced it. The French philosophers J.P. Sartre, A. Camus, German M. Heidegger, K. Jaspers.
The Austrian psychologist and psychiatrist Z. Freud became the founder of a new direction in anthropological research. He discovered that along with the rational principle in a person there is an unconscious, which is based on the attraction to pleasure and destruction. It is this beginning, unconscious and therefore “invisible” to a person, that guides his life.
In the worldview of the 20th century, one can observe two extreme positions in relation to science. Scientism - the trend that sees science as the solution to all problems recklessly trusts it. anti-scientism- a direction that considers science hostile to man and society, dangerous.
Why in the philosophy of the 20th century is the interest in man so aggravated? What caused it?
Is it possible to give arguments on which scientism and anti-scientism rely?
In the context of the development of European philosophy, two eras can be distinguished: classic(the development of philosophy from ancient times to the middle of the 19th century) and postclassic(development of European philosophy from the middle of the 19th century to the present).
Classical philosophy is a European philosophical tradition from antiquity to G. Hegel inclusive. The term "postclassic" characterizes the state of philosophy "after the classics" and applies to both neoclassical, so on non-classical philosophical directions.
Neoclassical philosophy under new conditions, he continues to develop well-known classical teachings (for example, neo-Thomism, neo-Protestantism).
Non-classical philosophy reveals a break with the previous philosophical tradition, demonstrating not only problem-thematic shifts, but also a new understanding of the essence and tasks of philosophy.
The two eras in the development of European philosophy differ significantly in many ways: this is the attitude to the previous philosophical tradition, and the nature of philosophical knowledge, and the relationship of philosophy with other types of knowledge, and the nature of the problem field.
classical philosophy distinguished by its adherence to metaphysical problems, objectivism, substantialism, the absence of prerequisites for philosophizing, the recognition of the potential identity of being and thinking, thought and language.
Postclassical philosophy makes serious claims to reason, intensifies interest in "man-in-the-world", reveals a desire for analysis various types linguistic reality, is characterized by a significant fragmentation of the problem field.
The development of postclassical philosophy is carried out within the framework of three main strategies: socio-critical, existential-phenomenological and analytical. Each of them overcomes the principles of classical philosophizing in its own way. Thus, the existential-phenomenological strategy rejects the objectivism of the previous philosophical tradition. Criticism of the substantialism of the philosophical classics becomes topical for the analytical strategy. The socio-critical strategy focuses its efforts on overcoming the contemplativeness of classical philosophy.
The diversity of philosophical schools belonging to these strategies largely marks the pluralism of modern philosophical thought. At the same time, various currents of postclassical philosophy, as well as philosophical classics, are united by reflexivity, which manifests itself in the fact that philosophy constantly reveals (explicates) and rethinks the most general ideas, ideas, forms of experience on which this or that particular culture or social the historical life of people in general. Philosophical knowledge and in the new historical era acts as a special self-consciousness of culture, actively influencing its development.
21. Criticism of philosophical classics and irrational philosophy in the work of a. Schopenhauer
One of the most striking figures of irrationalism is Schopenhauer, who, like Feuerbach, was dissatisfied with the optimistic rationalism and dialectics of G. Hegel. But he did not accept the Feuerbachian concept either. Schopenhauer gravitated towards German romanticism, was fond of mysticism. He bowed to the philosophy of I. Kant and philosophical ideas East (in his office there was a bust of Kant and a bronze figure of Buddha).
Schopenhauer not only reduced the role of the mind at the expense of emotions and, most importantly, the absolutized will he understood, he challenged the very concept of the mind as a field of conscious mental activity of human consciousness, introducing unconsciously irrational moments into it. It was no longer the unconscious in Kant's understanding, when the unconscious acted "hand in hand" with the mind and could be recognized by the mind in its structure, it was already the unconscious as a universal irrational element, not subject to any rational methods of research.
The intellect, according to Schopenhauer, without realizing it, functions not according to its rational plan, but according to the instructions of the will, which is recognized as the single energy basis of all personal wills and the objective world itself: for him, the intellect is only an instrument of the will to live, like claws and teeth. beast. The intellect is tired, but the will is indefatigable.
Thus, Schopenhauer, on the one hand, strove, like Feuerbach, to expand our ideas about the world of the human psyche, previously reduced mainly to a rational principle, and on the other hand, he remained on the positions of Hegel’s objective idealism, replacing the “post” of the root causes of the world rational absolute idea to the irrational moment of the human psyche - the metaphysical pervovolya. Only one cosmically enormous will is real, which manifests itself in the entire course of the events of the Universe: the world is only a mirror of this will, acting as a representation.
If the idea of a rational cause of the world was natural for the European consciousness, then the idea of a volitional first impulse, not subject to any rational, ethical and even aesthetic restrictions, was a foreign phenomenon for Europe. It is no coincidence that Schopenhauer himself admitted that among the sources that stimulated his thought, one of the first places was occupied by Buddhist ideas about maya and nirvana.
Defending the primacy of will in relation to reason, the philosopher expressed many subtle and original ideas regarding the features of the volitional and emotional components of the spiritual world of a person and their vital significance. He criticized the erroneous position of the supporters of extreme rationalism, according to which the will is a mere appendage of the mind or is simply identified with it. According to Schopenhauer, the will, i.e. desires, desires, motives for inducing a person to action, and the very processes of its implementation are specific: they largely determine the direction and nature of the implementation of the action and its result. However, Schopenhauer turned the will into a completely free desire, i.e. he absolutized the will, turning it from a component of the spirit into a self-sufficient principle. Moreover, Schopenhauer considered the will as something akin to the "inscrutable forces" of the universe, believing that "volitional impulses" are characteristic of all things. Will for Schopenhauer is the absolute beginning, the root of all things. The world was conceived by him as will and representation. Thus, voluntarism is the basic and universal principle of the entire philosophy of the thinker.
In contrast to Kant, Schopenhauer asserted the knowability of the "thing in itself". He saw the first fact of consciousness in representation. Cognition is carried out either as intuitive, or as abstract, or reflective. Intuition is the first and most important kind of knowledge. The whole world of reflection ultimately rests on intuition. According to Schopenhauer, truly perfect knowledge can only be contemplation, free from any relation to practice and to the interests of the will; scientific thinking is always conscious. It is aware of its principles and actions, and the activity of the artist, on the contrary, is unconscious, irrational: it is not able to understand its own essence.
In the context of the development of European philosophy, two eras can be distinguished: classic(the development of philosophy from ancient times to the middle of the 19th century) and postclassic(development of European philosophy from the middle of the 19th century to the present).
Classical philosophy is a European philosophical tradition from antiquity to G. Hegel inclusive. The term "postclassic" characterizes the state of philosophy "after the classics" and applies to both neoclassical, so on non-classical philosophical directions.
Neoclassical philosophy under new conditions, he continues to develop well-known classical teachings (for example, neo-Thomism, neo-Protestantism).
Non-classical philosophy reveals a break with the previous philosophical tradition, demonstrating not only problem-thematic shifts, but also a new understanding of the essence and tasks of philosophy.
The two eras in the development of European philosophy differ significantly in many ways: this is the attitude to the previous philosophical tradition, and the nature of philosophical knowledge, and the relationship of philosophy with other types of knowledge, and the nature of the problem field.
classical philosophy distinguished by its adherence to metaphysical problems, objectivism, substantialism, the absence of prerequisites for philosophizing, the recognition of the potential identity of being and thinking, thought and language.
Postclassical philosophy makes serious claims to the mind, intensifies interest in the "man-in-the-world", reveals a desire to analyze various types of linguistic reality, and is characterized by a significant fragmentation of the problem field.
The development of postclassical philosophy is carried out within the framework of three main strategies: socio-critical, existential-phenomenological and analytical. Each of them overcomes the principles of classical philosophizing in its own way. Thus, the existential-phenomenological strategy rejects the objectivism of the previous philosophical tradition. Criticism of the substantialism of the philosophical classics becomes topical for the analytical strategy. The socio-critical strategy focuses its efforts on overcoming the contemplativeness of classical philosophy.
The diversity of philosophical schools belonging to these strategies largely marks the pluralism of modern philosophical thought. At the same time, various currents of postclassical philosophy, as well as philosophical classics, are united by reflexivity, which manifests itself in the fact that philosophy constantly reveals (explicates) and rethinks the most general ideas, ideas, forms of experience on which this or that particular culture or social the historical life of people in general. Philosophical knowledge in the new historical era also acts as a special self-consciousness of culture, actively influencing its development.
Criticism of philosophical classics and irrational philosophy in the work of A. Schopenhauer
One of the most striking figures of irrationalism is Schopenhauer, who, like Feuerbach, was dissatisfied with the optimistic rationalism and dialectics of G. Hegel. But he did not accept the Feuerbachian concept either. Schopenhauer gravitated towards German romanticism, was fond of mysticism. He bowed before the philosophy of I. Kant and the philosophical ideas of the East (in his office there was a bust of Kant and a bronze figure of Buddha).
Schopenhauer not only reduced the role of the mind at the expense of emotions and, most importantly, the absolutized will he understood, he challenged the very concept of the mind as a field of conscious mental activity of human consciousness, introducing unconsciously irrational moments into it. It was no longer the unconscious in Kant's understanding, when the unconscious acted "hand in hand" with the mind and could be recognized by the mind in its structure, it was already the unconscious as a universal irrational element, not subject to any rational methods of research.
The intellect, according to Schopenhauer, without realizing it, functions not according to its rational plan, but according to the instructions of the will, which is recognized as the single energy basis of all personal wills and the objective world itself: for him, the intellect is only an instrument of the will to live, like claws and teeth. beast. The intellect is tired, but the will is indefatigable.
Thus, Schopenhauer, on the one hand, strove, like Feuerbach, to expand our ideas about the world of the human psyche, previously reduced mainly to a rational principle, and on the other hand, he remained on the positions of Hegel’s objective idealism, replacing the “post” of the root causes of the world rational absolute idea to the irrational moment of the human psyche - the metaphysical pervovolya. Only one cosmically enormous will is real, which manifests itself in the entire course of the events of the Universe: the world is only a mirror of this will, acting as a representation.
If the idea of a rational cause of the world was natural for the European consciousness, then the idea of a volitional first impulse, not subject to any rational, ethical and even aesthetic restrictions, was a foreign phenomenon for Europe. It is no coincidence that Schopenhauer himself admitted that among the sources that stimulated his thought, one of the first places was occupied by Buddhist ideas about maya and nirvana.
Defending the primacy of the will in relation to the mind, the philosopher expressed many subtle and original ideas regarding the features of the volitional and emotional components of the human spiritual world and their vital significance. He criticized the erroneous position of the supporters of extreme rationalism, according to which the will is a mere appendage of the mind or is simply identified with it. According to Schopenhauer, the will, i.e. desires, desires, motives for inducing a person to action, and the very processes of its implementation are specific: they largely determine the direction and nature of the implementation of the action and its result. However, Schopenhauer turned the will into a completely free desire, i.e. he absolutized the will, turning it from a component of the spirit into a self-sufficient principle. Moreover, Schopenhauer considered the will as something akin to the "inscrutable forces" of the universe, believing that "volitional impulses" are characteristic of all things. Will for Schopenhauer is the absolute beginning, the root of all things. The world was conceived by him as will and representation. Thus, voluntarism is the basic and universal principle of the entire philosophy of the thinker.
In contrast to Kant, Schopenhauer asserted the knowability of the "thing in itself". He saw the first fact of consciousness in representation. Cognition is carried out either as intuitive, or as abstract, or reflective. Intuition is the first and most important kind of knowledge. The whole world of reflection ultimately rests on intuition. According to Schopenhauer, truly perfect knowledge can only be contemplation, free from any relation to practice and to the interests of the will; scientific thinking is always conscious. It is aware of its principles and actions, and the activity of the artist, on the contrary, is unconscious, irrational: it is not able to understand its own essence.
philosophical life F. Nietzsche
Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet. The language of his philosophy is the language of symbols. Nietzsche's central concept is the idea of life. He is the founder of the trend called philosophy of life. In man, he emphasized the principle of corporality and, in general, the biological organismic principle. The intellect is only the highest layer necessary for the preservation of organismic formations, primarily instincts. According to Nietzsche, the intellect does not know, but schematizes the world to the extent necessary for practical needs. Thinking is metaphorical, which most closely connects us with reality. Each person constructs the world in his own way, based on his individual characteristics: each person has his own individual mythology in his head in the conditions of his herd life.
Nietzsche is a slandered, forbidden philosopher. Many today consider Nietzsche the forerunner of fascism. Thomas Mann said:<Не фашизм - создание Ницше, а Ницше - создание фашизма>. Nietzsche foresaw the creation of fascism, the onset of a totalitarian society, and criticized such a democracy that could lead to fascism.
A disservice to the perception of Nietzsche's philosophy was rendered by his sister, who ran the archive (H) after his death. In 1934 Hitler visits the archive (H) and talks with his 90-year-old sister. This had an even greater impact on the identification of philosophy (N) and fascism. And Hitler began to be perceived as<сверхчеловек Ницше>. The main ideas of Nazi ideology are pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism and Slavophobia.
NIETZSCHE considered the following aspects of European culture: Dionysian and Apollonian. Dionysus is the god of war and winemaking in Ancient Greece. The Dionysian beginning is compared with the intoxication that awakens the soul when a person merges with nature and is close to the depths of the origins of life. Apollo is the Greek god of light, sun, harmony, art. Apollo is an aesthetic and ethical deity. The essence of the Apollonian principle is to know thyself and eschew the excessive. Culture should be a harmonious combination of these two principles. (H) believes that European culture failed to fulfill this ideal. Life (N) understands, as any movement, becoming. Every living thing is inherent in the craving for self-affirmation, the subordination of another's will to itself. The basis of everything that exists is the will to power. It asserts the power of the strong over the weak. (H) opposes the equalization of all. (H) tries to overestimate values, especially Christian ones. The morality and ideology of Christianity is the morality of slaves. There was only one Christian, and he died on the cross. Nietzsche reveals the contradiction between the teachings of Jesus and christian church. The Church is the unity of creatures and the creator. Superman (H) - self-destruction of the creature in man for the sake of creation of the creator. Man must constantly overcome the slave in himself. (H) considered Socrates to be his antipode. (H) called himself once<философом неприятных истин>. We must free ourselves from morality in order to live morally.
