1. Answer the most fundamental questions about the world and man.
2. To help you comprehend your place in the world and the meaning of life.
3. To teach a synthetic (philosophical) style of thinking, that is, the ability to deeply and comprehensively see any problem and fruitfully solve it.
4. Teach knowledge of the future.
5. Teach the principles of "wise life", including life without illusions.
6. Strengthen the inner spiritual "core" and develop the ability to steadfastly overcome life's difficulties.
7. To teach the improvement and disclosure of their inner forces.
Questions for self-control
1. What is philosophy?
2. What problems does philosophy begin with?
3. What characterizes the philosophical worldview?
4. What is the specificity of philosophical knowledge and the type of worldview?
5. Define the object and subject of scientific philosophy?
6. What is the structure of philosophy?
7. Formulate the main functions of philosophy and describe them.
8. What is the significance of philosophy for the theoretical and practical activities of man?
9. What is the "Basic Question of Philosophy"?
10. What is the specificity of philosophical reflection?
11. What is the role of philosophy in the development of culture?
Topic 3. Historical types of philosophy
Study questions:
1. Ancient philosophy:
A. Philosophy of Ancient India and China
B. Philosophy of Ancient Greece.
2. Philosophy of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
3. Philosophy of the New Age:
A. Western European philosophy of the 11th century.
B. French materialism of the 111th century.
4. German classical philosophy
5. Domestic philosophical thought
A. Formation of non-classical philosophy of the twentieth century.
B. The main trends and schools in the philosophy of the twentieth century.
Literature:
1. Spirkin A.G. Philosophy. M.: Gardariki, 2006. Section 1.
Purpose: The study of philosophy helps a person
A. Understand the essence and content of the most important problems that have been posed and solved in different ways in philosophy.
B. understand that all philosophical systems are a form of self-awareness of a historically specific era.
B. Present the development of philosophy as an integral and logically coherent process.
D. To see that the entire history of the development of philosophy is characterized by the diversity and difference of the types and directions existing in it, the historical activity of which is the real picture of developing philosophy.
In the centuries-old history of philosophy, the following historical types are distinguished:
· Ancient philosophy;
Philosophy of the Middle Ages;
Philosophy of the Renaissance;
· Philosophy of the New Age;
· German classical philosophy;
· Domestic philosophy;
Modern Philosophical Thought.
The birth of philosophy
· Decomposition of tribal relations, the transition to a class slave-owning society;
Separation of mental labor from physical;
· Development of language and writing.
Written sources that influenced the formation and development of philosophy
ancient indian philosophy
Brahmins
Itihasa
Aranyaki
Epic Poems
· Upanishads
The Vedas are collections of hymns to the gods, chants, rituals, sayings, sacrificial formulas, incantations, and other knowledge.
Philosophical schools of ancient India
Orthodox (astika)
Sankhya (Kapila)
Yoga (Patanjali)
Vedanta (Badarayana)
Nyaya (Gotama)
Vaisheshiha (Canada)
Mimansa (Jaimini)
Unorthodox (nastika)
Jainism (Mahavir)
Buddhism (Buddha)
Charvaka (Brhaspati)
Ajivika (Makhali Gosala)
Some Important Concepts in the Philosophy of Ancient India
1. Atman - the highest subjective spiritual principle of being; the highest spiritual principle of man.
2. Brahman is the highest objective reality; impersonal Absolute beginning of Existence.
3. Jiva - soul, monad, universal life principle.
4. Dharma - moral law, duty, spiritual teaching.
5. Karma - retribution; fate or fate; the law of cause and effect.
7. Samsara - the cycle of constant reincarnations of the soul in the circle of material and spiritual worlds.
8. Moksha (mukti) - liberation from samsara and earthly karma.
9. Nirvana - the highest spiritual state of consciousness associated with the achievement of the sphere of spiritual existence.
10. Prakriti - material nature; material substance.
11. Purusha - spiritual nature; spiritual substance.
Buddhism and its main ideas
Buddhism is a religious and philosophical doctrine that has spread in India, China, and the countries of Southeast Asia.
The founder of the teachings of Gautama Buddha.
1. The main idea of Buddhism is the “Middle path” of life between the two extreme “paths of pleasure” (entertainment, idleness, laziness, physical and moral decay) and “the path of asceticism” (mortification of the flesh, deprivation, suffering, physical and moral exhaustion).
"Middle path" - the path of knowledge, wisdom, rational limitation, contemplation, enlightenment, self-improvement, the ultimate goal of which is Nirvana - the highest grace (bliss).
The foregoing allows us to conclude that philosophy helps a person in understanding himself, other people and the world as a whole. In this case, it performs a number of important functions.
Firstly, philosophy performs an ideological function, since it is always a view of the world as a whole. There is a world, there is a person who lives in the world, trying to comprehend it. Philosophy is an important form of comprehension of the world. It helps a person to realize his place in the world, to formulate his attitude towards him. At the same time, philosophy is a theoretical level of worldview, since it helps to streamline various ideas about the world, to present them in a systematic way.
Secondly, philosophy performs a cognitive (or epistemological) function. Philosophizing, a person learns the essence of things, events, processes taking place in the world. At the same time, philosophy draws attention to the fact that the process of cognition is endless. Acquired knowledge always raises new questions for a person. Socrates understood this well. He owns the words: "I know that I know nothing, but others do not know this either." After Socrates uttered them, his teaching was asked in bewilderment: “Master, you are older than us and know immeasurably more than we do, but you say that you know nothing. We are younger, we know less, but it seems to us that we know a lot.” “There is nothing surprising in this,” Socrates replied and began to draw circles in the sand. He drew a small circle and said: “What is inside the circle is the area of my knowledge, what is outside is the area of my ignorance. And look, the larger the circle, the greater the area of knowledge, but the circle also increases, that is, the area of ignorance. Therefore, it turns out like this: the more a person knows, the more he does not know. In other words, the more a person knows, the more he knows what he does not know. It was at this point that Socrates pointed out.
From this, by the way, an important conclusion arises, which has actual practical significance. When a person becomes a leader, he must be aware that there are many things that he does not know. Therefore, in order to make a responsible decision, he must gather at a meeting experts in various areas of the problem and ask them to express their opinion on the issue and its solution. After listening to everyone, he should say: “Thank you, I listened to everyone. Now listen to what we're going to do." And, relying on reasonable proposals, to show their will. This is the only way to try to avoid big mistakes.
Thirdly, philosophy fulfills methodological function. Method is a way of knowing, a way of solving problems. An important method of studying reality is dialectics. The dialectical method of cognition, assuming the consideration of the subject in development, dialectical negation (with the retention of everything positive), allows you to climb from the abstract to the concrete, ensuring the unity of the historical and logical, analysis and synthesis. In other words, dialectics allows a comprehensive consideration of the problem.
However, the dialectic general method research does not rule out specific methods, allowing to effectively solve certain research problems. So, to study the history of the issue, it is advisable to use the historical-genetic method, which involves considering the issue in its historical perspective. In its turn, this method with the need to be supplemented by comparative historical and systemic analysis. The actualization method, which helps to put certain problems of the past on the “agenda” and ways to solve them, emphasizes their importance for the present moment. For the study of problems, the analogy method is extremely productive, which is supplemented by the extrapolation method, which makes it possible to extend the conclusions drawn from one part of historical material to another part of it. In our opinion, the wide use of various methods makes it possible to enrich philosophical research and solve the tasks posed.
Fourth, philosophy fulfills predictive function. Philosophy helps to foresee the possible course of events, to offer various options for solving problems. This becomes possible because everything is interconnected and interdependent in this world. One does not just exist, but influences the other. Philosophy helps to see the existing causal relationships and thereby model possible scenarios.
Let's take a real life example. A young woman, alone, enters a cafe in the late afternoon, goes to the bar, takes a cup of coffee, and sits at a table. What will happen next? A young man will most likely approach her. Why? Causal relationships! The young woman did everything to make this happen: alone, in the late afternoon, in a cafe - bored! And for sure there will be someone who wants to brighten up her loneliness. If it was necessary for a young lady, then she is doing the right thing, if not, then she will get a problem.
Fifth, pragmatic function. The word "pragmatic" comes from the word "pragma", which means "deed, action". It is important for a person not just knowledge, but knowledge that is beneficial, beneficial, helping him in life. The English thinker T. Hobbes wrote: “The purpose or purpose of philosophy is that, thanks to it, we can use to our advantage the actions we foresee and, based on our knowledge, to the best of our strength and abilities, systematically cause these actions to multiply life good."
Indeed, philosophy can have an applied value in a person's life. Indicative in this respect may be the fact that in August 1998 the 20th World Congress of Philosophy took place in Boston (USA). Its main theme is "Paideia: Philosophy in the Education of Humanity". Paideia in Greek means education, training, growing up. The concept of payeia presupposes at the same time the way of education, training, and the totality of means necessary for this. Paideia is something that "works" for the development of a person - an adult and a child, a professional and the general public. It is no coincidence that the congress was held in the United States, a country that is the ancestor of the philosophy of pragmatism.
Thus, philosophy plays an important role in human life. Through it and thanks to it, a person comprehends himself and the world in which he lives. Philosophizing, a person realizes himself as a cognizing and self-cognizing being. Therefore, it is useful to listen to the words of Epicurus, who wrote more than two thousand years ago: “Let no one in his youth put off the study of philosophy, and in old age do not get tired of studying philosophy; for no one is either immature or overripe for the health of the soul.”
One could answer this question quite banally - philosophy was born as the knowledge and study of nature, later science emerged from it, and science gave us all the devices that make our life comfortable.
But I would like to talk about something completely different. I'll start with the emphasis on the word "benefit". When the requirements of value, utility and profitability are made to philosophy, it looks somewhat strange, despite the fact that the ability of any good or any thing to satisfy human needs, material or psychological, was first comprehended, of course, by philosophers. For example, Jeremy Bentham considered utility increase to be the guiding psychological principle of human behavior in their desire to avoid suffering and increase pleasure.
However, starting to think is a sure way to increase your suffering. Everyday pragmatism will rather lead us to stereotypical, stereotyped behavior than to an attempt to comprehend a certain phenomenon and fully take responsibility for our actions. This is understood or felt both by people who "fear" philosophy, and by philosophers themselves.
The Minister of Public Education Shirinsky-Shikhmatov in 1849 uttered the famous phrase “The benefits of philosophy have not been proven, but harm from it is possible”, after which he excluded philosophy from the number of disciplines taught in Russian universities.
When young people asked to be students of Alexander Pyatigorsky, he considered it his duty to warn about the dangers. After all, you live somehow, Piatigorsky said, so why do you need it? After all, it will only get worse ... The worst thing is to start thinking now. Not tomorrow afternoon, not the day after tomorrow, when you finished your business, but right now, immediately, so are you ready for this? But even if you are ready, if you have already chosen philosophizing, then there is no way back to normal life. And if you try to return, you will find not life, but something that is much lower, worse than life, and this will be the death of you, who made such a choice.
Nevertheless, philosophy is somehow allowed to exist in the mass consciousness. Let this incomprehensible, containing some dark meanings, but still something important, be present somewhere on the periphery of life, full of high-quality consumption and pleasures, and let some gloomy outcasts pose ridiculous questions and answer them themselves. It's unspoken public opinion allows free thinking to persist even under conditions of a rigid ideological monopoly.
Unfortunately, thinking is rarely free, it often takes the form of conviction, takes a rigid position, which becomes intolerant, aggressive, literally orthodox. Common sense requires philosophy to be "scientific" and build a holistic picture of the world to explain everything in the world. Hegel perfectly formulated the answer to this demand: “Philosophy ... is directly opposed to reason and, thus, to an even greater extent, to common sense, which is understood as the limitation of the human race by place and time. In relation to common sense, the world of philosophy in and for itself is a kind of world inside out.
I agree with the most radical interpretation of the usefulness of philosophy - it brings nothing but harm to everyday life. However, among the many functions of free thinking and the love of wisdom, there is one that makes philosophy an absolutely exceptional tool for a person to realize himself. Are we biological machines with a predetermined agenda, or do we have free will? Depending on the answer to this question, we will consider a person a means or an end, justify or reject violence, and in general - to be human or not to realize such a possibility during our life path. Thinking is not the only way to realize the freedom of one's will, but it is the only way to realize the importance of this problem. The philosophy of kindness to people - no matter how it delimits itself from everyday life, it recognizes for every person the opportunity to be free. This is somewhat akin to the Christian concept of salvation - any sinner can repent and be forgiven a moment before death. So it is with thinking, you can begin to think freely and thereby become a person in the last second of your life. But this is absolutely not in a hurry, life is full of joys, pleasures and intense work to increase the usefulness of everything that surrounds us.
"If you cannot change the world, change your attitude towards this world," said Lucius Annei Seneca.
Unfortunately, in the modern world there is an opinion that philosophy is a second-class science, divorced from practice and life in general. This sad fact suggests that the development of philosophy requires its popularization. After all, philosophy is not abstract, not far from real life reasoning, not a mixture of various concepts expressed in abstruse phrases. The tasks of philosophy are, first of all, the transmission of information about the world at a certain point in time and the display of a person's attitude to the world around him.
The concept of philosophy
The philosophy of each era, as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel said, is contained in the minds of each individual who has fixed this era in his thinking, who has managed to bring out the main trends of his era and present them to the public. Philosophy is always in fashion, because it reflects modern look on people's lives. We always philosophize when we ask questions about the universe, our purpose, and so on. As Viktor Frankl wrote in his book Man's Search for Meaning, a person is always in search of his own "I", his meaning of life, because the meaning of life is not something that can be conveyed like chewed gum. Having swallowed such information, you can remain without your own meaning of life. everyone's work on himself is the search for that very cherished meaning, because without it our life is not possible.
Why is philosophy needed?
In everyday life, having taken care of the problem of interpersonal relationships and self-knowledge, we come to the understanding that the tasks of philosophy are realized on our way every day. As Jean-Paul Sartre said, "the other person is always hell for me, because he evaluates me in a way that suits him." In contrast to his pessimistic view, Erich Fromm suggested that only in relationships with others do we know what our "I" is in reality, and this is the greatest blessing.
Understanding
Self-determination and understanding is very important for us. Understanding not only yourself, but also other people. But “how can the heart express itself, how can another understand you?”. Even the ancient philosophy of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle says that only in the dialogue of two thinking people striving for the search for truth can some new knowledge be born. From the theories of modernity, one can cite as an example the “theory of idols” by Francis Bacon, who speaks quite extensively on the topic of idols, that is, prejudices that dominate our consciousness, which prevent us from developing, being ourselves.
Death Theme
A taboo topic that stirs the hearts of many and remains the most mysterious, from ancient times to our present. Even Plato said that human life is a process of dying. In modern dialectics, one can find such a statement that the day of our birth is already the day of our death. Every awakening, action, breath brings us closer to the inevitable end. A person cannot be separated from philosophy, because it is philosophy that builds a person, it is impossible to think of a person outside this system.
Tasks and Methods of Philosophy: Basic Approaches
There are two approaches to understanding philosophy in modern society. According to the first approach, philosophy is an elitist discipline that should be taught only in the faculties of philosophy, which build the elite of an intellectual society, which professionally and scrupulously establish scientific philosophical research and the method of teaching philosophy. Adherents of this approach consider it impossible to independently study philosophy through literature and personal empirical experience. This approach involves the use of primary sources in the language of the authors who write them. Thus, for all other people belonging to some narrow specialization such as mathematics, jurisprudence, etc., it becomes unclear why philosophy is needed, because this knowledge is practically inaccessible to them. Philosophy, according to this approach, only burdens the worldview of representatives of these specialties. Therefore, it should be excluded from their program.
The second approach tells us that a person needs to experience emotions, strong feelings, in order not to lose the feeling that we are alive, we are not robots, that we need to experience the whole gamut of emotions throughout our lives and, of course, think. And here, of course, philosophy is most welcome. No other science will teach a person to think, and at the same time think independently, will not help a person navigate in the boundless sea of those concepts and views that are generously abounding in modern life. Only she is able to discover the inner core of a person, teach him to make an independent choice and not be a victim of manipulation.
It is necessary, it is necessary to study philosophy for people of all specialties, because only through philosophy can one find one's true "I" and remain oneself. It follows from this that it is necessary to avoid difficult-to-understand categorical turns, terms and definitions for other specialties. Which brings us to the main idea of popularizing philosophy in society, which would significantly reduce its mentoring and instructive tone. After all, as Albert Einstein said, any theory passes only one test for viability - it must be understood by a child. All meaning, Einstein said, is lost if the children do not understand your idea.
One of the tasks of philosophy is to explain complex things in simple language. should not remain a dry abstraction, a completely unnecessary theory that can be forgotten after a course of lectures.
Functions
"Philosophy is nothing but the logical clarification of thoughts," writes the Austro-English philosopher in his largest and lifetime published work, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. The main idea of philosophy is to cleanse the mind of all pretense. Nikola Tesla, radio engineer and great inventor of the 20th century, said that in order to think clearly, you need to have common sense. This is one of the most important philosophical functions - to bring clarity to our consciousness. That is, this function can still be called critical - a person learns to think critically, and before accepting someone else's position, he must check its reliability, expediency.
The second function of philosophy is historical and ideological, it always belongs to some period of time. This function helps a person to form one or another type of worldview, thereby creating a different "I" from others, offering a whole bunch of philosophical currents.
The next one is methodological, which considers the reason why the author of the concept comes to it. Philosophy cannot be memorized, it only needs to be understood.
Another function of philosophy is epistemological, or cognitive. Philosophy is the relation of man to this world. It allows you to reveal unusual interesting things that have not yet been verified by any experience due to the lack of scientific knowledge up to a certain period. It has repeatedly happened that ideas outstripped development. Take, for example, the same Immanuel Kant, whose quotes are known to many. His concept that the universe was formed from a gaseous nebula, the concept is completely speculative, after 40 years was confirmed conclusively and lasted for 150 years.
It is worth remembering Nicolaus Copernicus, the Polish philosopher and astronomer, who doubted what he saw. He managed to abandon the obvious - from the Ptolemaic system, in which the Sun revolved around the Earth, which was the motionless center of the universe. It was through his doubt that he brought about the great Copernican revolution. The history of philosophy is rich in such events. So far from practice, reasoning can become a classic of science.
Philosophy is also important - outside the forecast it is impossible today to build any more or less scientific knowledge, that is, in any work, research, we must initially predict the future. That is what philosophy is all about.
For centuries, people have always asked questions about the future arrangement of human life, philosophy and society have always gone toe-to-toe, because the most important thing in a person’s life is to realize himself creatively and socially. Philosophy is the quintessence of those questions that from generation to generation people ask themselves and others, a set of immortal questions that really arise in any person.
The founder of German classical philosophy, Immanuel Kant, whose quotes are full of social networks, asked the very first important question - "What can I know?", Anticipating the question "What things people can most likely tell, what should remain in the field of view of science, and what things should be deprived of the attention of science, what things will always be a riddle?" Kant wanted to outline the boundaries of human knowledge: what is subject to people for knowledge, and what is not given to know. And the third Kantian question - "What should I do?". This is the practical application of previously acquired knowledge, direct experience, a reality created by each of us.
The next question that worries Kant is "What can I hope for?". This question touches upon such philosophical problems as the freedom of the soul, its immortality or mortality. The philosopher says that such questions go rather into the sphere of morality and religion, because it is not possible to prove them. And even after years of teaching philosophical anthropology, the most difficult and insoluble question for Kant is the following: “What is a person?”
According to his views, people are the biggest mysteries of the universe. He said: "Only two things amaze me - this is the starry sky above my head and the moral laws inside me." Why are humans such amazing creatures? Because they belong simultaneously to two worlds - the physical (objective), the world of necessity with its absolutely specific laws, which cannot be circumvented (the law of gravity, the law of conservation of energy), and the world that Kant sometimes calls intelligible (the world of the inner "I", the inner state where we are all absolutely free, do not depend on anything and decide our own destiny).
Kant's questions have undoubtedly added to the treasury of world philosophy. They remain relevant to this day - society and philosophy are inextricably in contact with each other, gradually creating new amazing worlds.
Subject, tasks and functions of philosophy
The very word "philosophy" means "love of wisdom." If you disassemble it, you can see two ancient Greek roots: filia (love), sufia (wisdom), which literally also means “wisdom”. Philosophy originated in the era of ancient Greece, and this term was coined by the poet, philosopher, mathematician Pythagoras, who went down in history with his original teaching. Ancient Greece shows us a completely unique experience: we can observe a departure from mythological thinking. We can observe how people begin to think independently, how they try to disagree with what they see in their lives here and now, do not concentrate their thinking on the philosophical and religious explanation of the universe, but try to be based on their own experience and intellect.
Now there are branches of modern philosophy like neotomy, analytical, integral, etc. They offer us the latest ways to transform information coming from outside. For example, the tasks set by the philosophy of neo-Thomism are to show the duality of being, that everything is dual, but the material world is lost in the grandeur of the triumph of the spiritual world. Yes, the world is material, but this matter is considered only a small fraction of the manifested spiritual world, where God is tested “for strength”. Like Thomas the unbeliever, neo-Thomists yearn for the material manifestation of the supernatural, which by no means seems to them a mutually exclusive and paradoxical phenomenon.
Sections
Considering the main eras of philosophy, it can be noted that in ancient Greece, philosophy became the queen of sciences, which is completely justified, because, like a mother, she takes absolutely all sciences under her wing. Aristotle, being primarily a philosopher, in his famous four-volume collection of works described the tasks of philosophy and all the key sciences that existed at that time. All this constitutes an incredible synthesis of ancient knowledge.
Over time, other disciplines spun off from philosophy and numerous branches of philosophical currents appeared. By itself, regardless of other sciences (law, psychology, mathematics, etc.), philosophy includes many of its own sections and disciplines that raise whole layers of philosophical problems that concern all of humanity as a whole.
The main sections of philosophy include an anthology (the doctrine of being - such questions are raised as: the problem of substance, the problem of the substratum, the problem of being, matter, movement, space), epistemology (the doctrine of knowledge - the sources of knowledge, criteria of truth, concepts that reveal different facets of human knowledge).
The third section is philosophical anthropology, which studies a person in the unity of his socio-cultural and spiritual manifestations, where such questions and problems are considered: the meaning of life, loneliness, love, fate, "I" with a capital letter and many others.
The next section is social philosophy, which considers the problems of the relationship between the individual and society, the problems of power, the problem of manipulating human consciousness as a fundamental issue. This includes social contract theories.
Philosophy of history. A section that considers the tasks, the meaning of history, its movement, its goal, pronouncing the main attitude to history, regressive history, progressive history.
There are a number of sections: aesthetics, ethics, axiology (the doctrine of values), the history of philosophy and some others. In fact, the history of philosophy shows a rather thorny path in the development of philosophical ideas, because philosophers were not always elevated to a pedestal, sometimes they were considered outcasts, sometimes they were sentenced to death, sometimes they were isolated from society, they were not allowed to spread ideas, which only shows us the significance of the ideas for which they fought. Of course, there were not so many such people who defended their position to their deathbed, because during the course of their lives philosophers can change their attitude and worldview.
At the moment, the relationship of philosophy to science is ambiguous. Quite controversial is the fact that philosophy has every reason to be called a science. And this was formed due to the fact that in the middle of the 19th century, one of the founders of Marxism, Friedrich Engels, formulated one of the most common concepts of philosophy. According to Engels, philosophy is the science of the most general laws of the development of thinking, the laws of nature and society. Thus, this status of philosophy as a science was not questioned for a long time. But over time, a new perception of philosophy has appeared, which already imposes a certain obligation on our contemporaries not to call philosophy a science.
Relationship of philosophy with science
Common to philosophy and science is the categorical apparatus, that is, key concepts such as substance, substratum, space, time, matter, movement. These fundamental cornerstone terms are at the disposal of both science and philosophy, that is, both of them operate with them in different contexts, facets. Another feature that characterizes the commonality of both philosophy and science is that such a phenomenon as truth is considered as an absolute cumulative total value in itself. That is, truth is not seen as a means to discover other knowledge. Philosophy and science elevate truth to incredible heights, making it the highest value as such.
Another point that unites philosophy with science is theoretical knowledge. This means that formulas in mathematics and concepts in philosophy (good, evil, justice) cannot be found in our concrete empirical world. These speculative reflections put science and philosophy on the same level. As Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Roman Stoic philosopher and teacher of Emperor Nero, said, it is much more useful to comprehend a few wise rules that can always serve you than to learn a lot of useful things that are useless to you.
Differences between philosophy and science
A significant difference is the rigorous factology inherent in the scientific approach. Any scientific research is guided by a strict foundation of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed and proven. Science, unlike philosophy, is not unfounded, but demonstrative. Philosophical statements are very difficult to prove or disprove. No one has yet been able to invent a formula for happiness or an ideal person. The fundamental difference in these areas still lies in the philosophical pluralism of opinions at the time, as in science there were three milestones around which the general idea of science was twisted: Euclid's system, Newton's system, Einstein's system.
The tasks, methods and goals of philosophy, summarized in this article, show us that philosophy is filled with various currents, opinions, often contradicting each other. The third distinguishing feature is that science is interested in the objective world in itself, as it is, therefore there was an opinion that science is inhuman in the literal sense of the word (excludes a person, his emotions, addictions, etc. from the scope of his analysis ). Philosophy is not an exact science, it is the doctrine of general fundamental principles, thinking and reality.
Probably each of us likes to philosophize from time to time! The activity is interesting, but, in fact, meaningless. Then why does a student need philosophy, why is this subject included in the curriculum in the first or second year?
Despite the fact that philosophy is an optional subject, a poor grade in it can significantly spoil the overall picture in the grade book and even call into question the receipt of a scholarship at the end of the next session.
So do not ignore this couple, especially, as my practice shows, philosophy teachers are overly strict and sometimes picky.
What is philosophy, as a subject at the university
So, philosophy itself is a science that is considered more humanitarian than exact. But again, if you think like philosophers, then this is a moot point.
In any case, the importance of this subject at the university is determined by the chosen specialty and the final test of knowledge: if this is a test, then you can relax a bit, and if you need to take an exam in philosophy, you need to prepare for it in a timely manner.
At one time I studied at a university in a technical specialty, and philosophy appeared in my curriculum only in the second semester of the first year and captured the first semester of the second year.
That's what "worn out" means, because there is simply no other way to call visiting these couples.
My friend studied at the philological department, and she had about 4 semesters of philosophy. So she survived this period lightly, and she also passed the oral exam with excellent marks.
That is why I conclude that a lot depends on the teacher, his manner of presenting information and interest in his subject.
One of my teachers said: “Everything will pass - this will pass”, and in terms of philosophy, I was personally convinced of this.
But after graduating from the university, she nevertheless decided to figure out what the essence of this mysterious science is, and why it is necessary in principle. modern man? Let's try to find out together.
Special Science Philosophy
Today, in a world dominated by the Internet and new technologies, the relevance of philosophy has gradually faded into the background.
A person draws all the necessary information from the World Wide Web, and completely forgot about his reasoning, the benefits of the thought process and the birth of truth in a dispute.
It is much easier to enter the desired phrase into the search engine than to think about the eternal, valuable and global, as great thinkers once did.
In order not to perceive the Internet on such a large scale and not to make it the basis of their existence, each person must return to philosophy from time to time.
But what does this truly significant science give?
1. Allows not only to comprehend everything that is happening around, but also soberly, objectively estimate life situation , its role in it and prospects for the future;
2. Philosophy allows understand your ancestors, that is, to analyze as much as possible all the questions, current topics and eternal reflections on the great things of bygone centuries.
This path will lead to understanding, and a person will be able to feel himself fully developed;
opens his eyes, that is, it allows a person to recognize good and evil, to have his own unbiased opinion, which means integrity of character and inviolability of the spirit.
Accordingly, we conclude that philosophy- this is an in-depth understanding of oneself and the world around, as well as the ability of society to learn from the mistakes of their ancestors, become better and achieve great success.
Directions of modern philosophy
Oddly enough, but in the modern world, philosophy moves along with scientific and technological progress, therefore it is a very valuable component of modern society.
It has a number of directions, each of which contributes to self-development, promotion and success in the end.
The following are detailed descriptions of the common and popular areas of this eternal science:
1. Reflection stands at the origins, and helps to determine not only the methods of existence of civilization, but also the order of life.
2. Upbringing allows you to penetrate into spiritual values, self-determine, choose goals in life and set priorities, as well as expand your horizons and understand the principles of building a modern society.
3. Cognition allows a person, using the colossal experience of his ancestors, to acquire true information about the creation and development of the world, civilization, and also allows him to study a number of cognitive tasks.
4. Ontology- the embodiment of the fundamental teachings of being in a modern interpretation, the search for constructive technologies.
5. Integration allows you to find like-minded people, demonstrates the diversity of social life and human views on seemingly ordinary things.
6. Axiology allows a person to experimentally, by the method of "trial and error" choose his position in life, form views on modern society and its topical problems.
7. prognosis determines the place of a person in modern society, and also studies the formation of society on a historical platform.
8. Sociology- this is the science of polls, that is, it determines the expediency of philosophy, as well as the vision of the people of society, global problems and ways to solve them.
9. Humanism- this is the direction of philosophy that does not need additional introduction, and there are so few people - humanists in society, and their number is rapidly decreasing, as a "rare, endangered species."
Now we can conclude that a modern individual simply will not be able to form as a person, choose his life path and organize his inner world.
It turns out, philosophy- this is that unknown side of the human soul, which, although hidden somewhere deep, takes a direct part in its worldly existence.
If you do not achieve this harmony, then even the greatest success at work or harmony in your personal life will not allow you to become an absolutely happy person; and the feeling of restraint and unfulfillment will return again and again.
And it all starts with philosophy at home, with friends and at university, so don't ignore such an important subject!
Is philosophy really needed at the university?
This is the question many students try to answer. No matter how many friends you ask, everyone grimaces at the mention of this subject.
Probably, in a higher institution there are two most difficult subjects, and one of them is philosophy (and the second is strength of materials).
Even if you are a future engineer, you still won’t be able to get around this pair and the final standings. If you are a humanist, then you will live with philosophy for several years.
Doctor of Philosophical Sciences V.A. Konev is sure: “Philosophy is able to make this world much better than it is; the main thing is to think broader and not get hung up on the ordinary”.
But even this phrase is not clear to everyone, because it is painfully intricately written.
This is the main problem of philosophy - this science is too abstruse, and teachers, as a rule, require the accuracy of facts, the reproduction of various teachings close to the text or even by heart, as well as full awareness of what is happening.
All this is not easy, but if you set a goal, comprehend this science as easy as shelling pears.
History of philosophy
Not everyone knows, but the founder of philosophy is the same Pythagoras, and in translation, this science means "love of wisdom."
It developed especially rapidly in ancient China and ancient India, and every intelligent person considered it his duty to learn and realize several philosophical teachings, thoughts and sayings.
Despite its complex structure, philosophy not only overcame the centuries, but also improved in its structure, and more and more thinkers entered the world stage.
Today, their names are considered legendary, and every negligent student knows them. These are Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Obolensky, Ogarev and others.
In the modern world, not every applicant chooses an in-depth study of philosophy, and there are fewer and fewer certified philosophers.
However, there is an opinion that every person can become a philosopher, and for this it is not at all necessary to enclose oneself in a barrel, like the famous thinker Diogenes. You just need to look at the world with different eyes and think, why is everything happening this way?
Philosophy in the modern world
Today there is no such specialty and position that would not be associated with philosophy. If a person lives in society, then, one way or another, he has to adapt, and this, in fact, is philosophy.
This science helps a lawyer to find a way out of the situation and justify his client, an economist to find points of contact with people at work, an engineer to suggest a new discovery, a teacher and educator to find contact with children and students, and a student to get used to adult life and, finally, discard harmful youthful maximalism.
Through life philosophy is a guidebook, because only a literate person will be able to cope with all the difficulties and draw useful lessons from them for the future.
A real philosopher will not step on the same rake twice, which is why this subject has been introduced into the curriculum.
It is still too early for a schoolboy to comprehend such complex subtleties of life, but for a student, some teachings can become prophetic, and finally shape his future life path.
Conclusion: So maybe it’s enough at the university to ignore this subject in every possible way, considering it unnecessary in life? Maybe philosophy will help you decide in life and finally form as a person?
“Before you give up something, you need to figure it out and prove to yourself that it’s not yours.” By the way, this is another piece of wisdom from my student philosophy pairs. I must remember!
Sincerely, the site team website
P.S. For dessert - a video about what philosophy is.