In the article we will consider the functions of philosophy briefly, its subject and features of the method. All these are fundamental questions in the study of this science. Before designating the functions of philosophy, we will briefly talk about the term itself, denoting the science of interest to us.
The term "philosophy"
Note that philosophy originated about two and a half thousand years ago. It happened in Greece, India, Rome. AT Ancient Greece it has acquired the most developed forms.
The term "philosophy" comes from two Greek words: "love" (phileo) and "wisdom" (sophia), that is, it means "love of wisdom" in translation. The philosophers themselves answered the question of what constitutes wisdom in different ways, and each philosophized in his own way. Related to this is the fact that the concept of "philosophy" is used today in different values. The first to explain this word itself was Pythagoras, who lived in the second half of the sixth - early fifth century BC. e. According to this thinker, the meaning of philosophy lies in the search for truth.
The meaning of philosophy (according to the sophists)
The Sophists held a different opinion about what the functions of philosophy are. Summary their positions on this issue are as follows. The main task of the philosopher is the need to teach the wisdom of his students. At the same time, they identified wisdom not with the achievement of truth, but with the ability to prove what everyone considers beneficial and correct. To do this, any means were recognized as acceptable, up to various tricks and tricks.
Opinions of Plato and Aristotle
Plato, an ancient Greek thinker, also studied the subject and functions of philosophy. The summary of his works allows us to make a number of important notes relating to the topic under consideration. In particular, he believed that the task of philosophy is the knowledge of absolute and eternal truths. And this is only possible for wise men, endowed with a corresponding soul from birth. From his point of view, philosophers are born, not made. Aristotle (pictured below) believed that the task of philosophy is to comprehend the universal in the world, and its subject is the causes and first principles of being. Moreover, it is the only science that exists for its own sake. Philosophy represents understanding and knowledge for their own sake.
Connection of the subject of philosophy with socio-historical conditions
It should be noted that the understanding of the subject of philosophy is also connected with socio-historical conditions. For example, the decomposition of society (medieval, ancient, Greek, etc.), of course, influenced the emergence of concepts according to which this science should free people from suffering and fear of the future, and contribute to the achievement of mental health and happiness.
Philosophy also performs the functions of culture. Briefly explaining this statement, we can say that it ensures the adaptation of a person to the environment, to historical and natural conditions habitat.
What is the subject matter of philosophy?
Philosophy is distinguished by a multitude and variety of understandings and approaches to its subject, which speaks of a pluralistic nature. The subject and functions of philosophy, summarized in this article, really allow us to conclude that this science is far from unambiguous. What has been said, however, does not imply that philosophical concepts do not have a common feature.
There are some essential points inherent in the subject of philosophy:
The study of the questions of being, which are the most general (the very problem of being is understood in this case in the universal sense: the ideal and the material, the being of man, society and nature, being and non-being);
Analysis of general questions of cognition, such as: is this world cognizable or unknowable, what are the goals, methods and possibilities of cognition, what is the essence of cognition as such and what is truth, what is the object and subject of cognition;
Study of general issues of development and functioning of society;
The study of the most essential and general questions of man.
Having studied such topics as the subject, structure and functions of philosophy, one can briefly define this science as the doctrine of general principles knowledge, being and the relationship of man with the world.
Philosophy is always formalized in the form of a theory that formulates certain categories and their system, principles, methods and patterns of research. The specificity of such a theory lies in the fact that its principles, categories and laws are of a universal nature. They simultaneously extend to thinking itself, man, society and nature. The subject of this science includes the question of what philosophy is, as well as the study of its history.
Specific questions
Continuing to cover the topic "The structure and functions of philosophy" briefly, we highlight the specific issues of this science. The fact is that as an established system, the field of knowledge that interests us has its own questions. It must answer them, relying on the methods and functions of philosophy. Let's briefly talk about the main ones.
In any philosophical system there is a main, pivotal question. Its disclosure constitutes its essence and main content. For example, for ancient philosophers it was a question about the fundamental principles of existence, for Socrates - the principle of "know thyself", for the thinkers of modern times - the possibility of knowledge, for modern positivism - what is the essence of the "logic of scientific discovery". However, there are also general questions that reveal the nature of philosophical thinking itself. Among them, first of all, is the question of what is primary: material or ideal, matter or spirit. From decision this issue the understanding of being depends, since the ideal and the material are its limiting characteristics. Depending on its decision, such philosophical directions as idealism and materialism are distinguished.
Method features
Every science has its own method. Philosophy, however, appears as the most general methodology. This is the essence of her method. It can be said that it is a system general techniques practical and theoretical mastering of reality, is a way to substantiate and build a system philosophical knowledge.
It originates, like the methods of other sciences, in the practical activity of man. The philosophical method is at its source a reflection of the laws and logic of the development of objective reality. This, of course, applies only to philosophy based on science. The general principles of research are set by the philosophical method. However, different philosophical trends and schools, in accordance with their understanding of the subject and their specificity, formulate and apply different methods.
Thus, the pluralism of methods corresponds to the pluralism of concepts in this science. These include logical methods (induction, deduction) and experimental (self-observation, reflection, experiment). The general characteristic of all of them is theoretical thinking, which is expressed in philosophical laws, principles and categories.
Idealism and materialism
Idealism and materialism are the most common ways and approaches to the consideration of knowledge and being. From the very beginning, the theory of knowledge is determined largely by what is taken as primary: consciousness or matter, nature or spirit, that is, idealistic or materialistic premises. The general process of cognition in the first case is considered as a reflection of objective reality in consciousness, and in the second it is understood as self-knowledge of consciousness, the absolute idea that is initially present in things (objective idealism) or as an analysis of our own sensations (subjective idealism).
Metaphysics and dialectics
Another aspect of distinguishing the methods of philosophy is metaphysics and dialectics. Dialectics is the doctrine of the general laws governing the development of cognition and being. It also acts as a general method of cognition of reality, which is considered as the unity and struggle of various opposites. In principle, dialectics is compatible with both idealism and materialism. It appears in the first case as an idealistic dialectic (for example, Hegel), and in the second - as materialistic (Engels, Marx).
Dialectics arose and subsequently developed along with metaphysics as a way of knowing and thinking, opposite to it. Its peculiarity is the tendency to create a static, unambiguous picture of the world, as well as the desire for absolutization and consideration of certain fragments of being or moments in isolation.
The metaphysical method considers processes and objects according to one principle: yes or no, black or white, friend or foe, etc. Metaphysics, in the study of motion, tends to reduce various forms to one. For example, it is characteristic of modern materialism to reduce different forms the movement of matter only towards the mechanical (the so-called mechanistic materialism). The error of the method occurs when the moment of rest or some side, the characteristic of the subject of research is raised to the absolute, breaks out of the general interdependence and interconnection.
Other Methods of Philosophy
In addition to these methods in philosophy, there are others. Among them, the following are the most common.
Sensualism is a methodological principle according to which feelings are taken as the basis of knowledge. He seeks to derive all knowledge from the activity of sensations, sense organs, while absolutizing their role in knowledge (Feuerbach, Holbach, Berkeley, Locke, Hobbes, Epicurus). Rationalism is a method according to which the basis of human action and knowledge is reason (Hegel, Leibniz, Spinoza, Descartes). Irrationalism is a methodological principle that denies or at least limits the role of the mind in the cognition. He focuses on irrational ways of comprehending reality (Bergson, Dilthey, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer).
The rapid development of knowledge and science in recent times led to an understanding of methodology as a field of knowledge that is specialized. Within its framework, the internal mechanisms, organization and logic of science (knowledge) are studied. For example, the criteria by which it is possible to determine the scientific nature of knowledge are considered, the language of science, the structure of scientific revolutions are analyzed, growth and logic are traced. scientific knowledge.
Functions of Philosophy
The specificity and subject matter of philosophy cannot be fully disclosed without touching upon the question of the functions of this science. Among them, the following are worth noting.
The worldview is connected with the conceptual, abstract-theoretical explanation of the world. It differs from all other levels and types of worldview (mythological, everyday, religious). The role played by the worldview functions of philosophy can be briefly defined as follows: they contribute to the formation of ideas about the structure of the world, its complete picture, the place of a person in it, as well as the principles by which interaction with the world around us takes place.
The worldview has its own structure: knowledge (scientific and everyday), principles, faith, beliefs. It serves as a means of understanding the world around man. The worldview absorbs the experience of cognition, and philosophy is focused on understanding the general principles of how the world works, what are its the most important characteristics. It solves only the most general worldview questions, and by no means seeks to give its own answer to all cognitive questions.
Methodological consists in the fact that philosophy is a general doctrine of the method, as well as a set of common methods development and knowledge of reality by man. In another way, this function is called search. The methodological function of philosophy can be briefly described as follows: this science formulates the rules of knowledge for all particular sciences.
Continuing to describe the functions of philosophy briefly, we move on to prognostic, hypothesizing about general trends, according to which the world, man, consciousness and matter develop. The degree of probability of the forecast will then be higher to the extent that philosophy relies on science.
This science is a school of wisdom and theoretical thinking, especially in the history of philosophy.
Critical complements other functions of philosophy. We will briefly say the following about it. Since antiquity, many philosophers have preached the principle that says: "Question everything!". This indicates the importance of a critical approach in this science, as well as the presence of a certain amount of skepticism in relation to existing socio-cultural values and knowledge. This principle plays an anti-dogmatic role in their development.
Describing the main functions of philosophy briefly, let's talk about one more, axiological. It is closely related to the critical. Each philosophical system includes the moment of evaluating the object under study in terms of various values: ideological, aesthetic, moral, social. This feature is especially pronounced when social development there is a transitional period when the problem of choosing the path of further movement arises and the question of which of the old values must be discarded and which should be preserved.
Philosophy also has a social function. It consists in the fact that this science must fulfill a dual task. Philosophy must explain social being and at the same time contribute to its spiritual and material change. It should be remembered at the same time that social reforms, experiments, various changes in social life have special meaning and value. Therefore, before trying to change the social world, it is necessary to explain it well. Today it is especially important social functions philosophies outlined above. This science has the prerogative to develop concepts of consolidation and integration of society that are comprehensive.
Let us briefly describe other functions of philosophy in society. Closely connected with the social humanitarian. From this point of view, philosophy should play a life-affirming and adaptive role for individuals, contribute to the formation of humanistic ideals and values in society, the affirmation of the purpose of life and its positive meaning. Thus, it is called upon to fulfill the function of intellectual therapy, which is most important at times when the state of society is unstable, when the existence of people is in a borderline situation and everyone needs to make their own choice.
The main functions of philosophy have been briefly described by us. Each of them is important in its own way, and together they determine what great importance which this science has in the system of knowledge. After all, it describes the functions of consciousness. Philosophy, which we briefly talked about in this article, allows us to get closer to understanding the essence of all things.
Introduction
The emergence of philosophy, as well as science in general, refers to that stage of human history, when the obvious insufficiency of empirical (obtained in practice) knowledge was discovered to adapt to the social and biological environment, and even more so to transform them. It can be assumed that this state of acute cognitive insufficiency was of a protracted nature, since certain objective prerequisites were required for its resolution. Such a historical and existential background for the emergence of theoretical thinking was the era of transition from pre-civilization primitiveness to civilization, which, despite all its maturity, had already carried out the separation of mental labor from physical labor and led to the emergence of a special group of people professionally engaged in the production of scientific knowledge.
Analyzing this era of the birth of science, including philosophy, Karl Jaspers introduced the concept of Axial Time, meaning by it those centuries when the most abrupt turn in history took place - from the mythological era with its calmly stable irrational thinking to the era of scientific and philosophical understanding of the environment. the world and man's place in it.
MYTHOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Myth (Greek “mythos” - legend, legend) is a form of understanding the world and a way of understanding it, characteristic of the early stages of social development. Myths are a universal phenomenon, they are found among all peoples, and this testifies to the universal human need for a comprehensive understanding of the world (how did it arise? how did a person become a Giant - learned to make fire, tamed wild animals, brought out numerous varieties of cultivated plants? what determines the life path man, is our world eternal or is it heading towards inevitable destruction, etc.).Myth is a very peculiar creation of the human spirit, and a creation that does not have a personal author. On the one hand, myth is not scientific or even, as A.F. Losev, is not a primitive scientific construction. And although a certain mythology and a certain science may overlap, in principle they are never identical. Science is not born from myth, but it always contains an element of mythology. and A.F. Losev convincingly showed this in a number of examples, including the example of Euclid's geometry, which in itself is not mythological, but the belief that there really are no other spaces other than the space of Euclidean geometry is already mythology (as is known, later N.I. Lobachevsky, and then B. Riemann created the so-called non-Euclidean geometries). On the other hand, although the myth is not based on scientific experience, it is not an invention or a fiction, it is not a fantastic fiction: it is an object of direct perception of the world 1 .
The myth does not provide true (in the scientific sense) knowledge and at the same time, throughout, in fact, the entire history, it reveals its effectiveness: by prescribing norms of behavior, ideals and life values to a person, at a certain stage it contributes to the cohesion of society; even myths in science, in the history of science, have more than once played a positive role. Science (in unity with philosophy) since its inception has been aimed at obtaining true knowledge of a higher order - it is able, thanks to its growing cognitive apparatus, to penetrate into the essence of things. Another fundamental difference between mythological and scientific-philosophical consciousness is that a myth is often replaced by another myth without any inheritance of meaning and symbolism, while science at each subsequent stage accumulates everything valuable it has obtained at previous stages. Because of this, the world becomes intelligible, and intelligibility becomes the most important dimension of reality.
THE ORIGIN OF SCIENTIFIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Surprisingly, and still far from being explained, the pivotal epoch in question began and proceeded largely independently* almost simultaneously in China, India, and the West (between 800 and 200 BC). At that time, Confucius and Lao Tzu, Mo Tzu, Zhuang Tzu, Le Tzu lived and worked in China, the Upanishads arose in India, and Buddha lived. Together, the thinkers of these two countries considered all the possibilities of philosophical comprehension of reality, up to skepticism, materialism, sophistry and nihilism. In Iran, Zarathustra taught about a world where there is a struggle between good and evil; the prophets Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah spoke in Palestine; in Greece, this is the time of Homer, the philosophers Parmenides, Heraclitus, Plato, the tragedians, Thucydides and Archimedes.“The new that arose in this era,” Jaspers concludes, “is reduced to the fact that a person is aware of being as a whole, of himself and his boundaries. Before him opens the horror of the world and his own helplessness. Standing over the abyss, he raises radical questions, demands liberation and salvation. Realizing his limits, he sets himself the highest goals” 1 .
Thus, even then, at the dawn of civilization, there was an urgent public need for scientific(including philosophical) knowledge about the natural and social world around us and the place of man in it.
Science could initially arise only in an indivisible, syncretic form, without dividing into, say, physics, chemistry, biology, sociology, etc., not to mention more fractional, intra-industry differentiation. The reasons for such integrity are understandable: relatively little knowledge about the world has been accumulated, and besides, penetration into the essence of things was rather superficial. In these historical conditions, science included the entire body of knowledge about the world. Science and philosophy were merged to such an extent that with the same full right one can speak of the inclusion of the entire body of scientific knowledge in the original philosophy.
But from the very beginning of the emergence of science, one of the basic laws of its development began to operate - the law of differentiation of scientific knowledge. The result of differentiation is the consistent allocation of ever new, relatively independent branches of scientific knowledge, including the narrowing of the subject of philosophy. However, branching off from itself, one after another, specific scientific branches, philosophy was by no means like Shakespeare's King Lear, who distributed all his inheritance to his daughters and remained a beggar. The opposite happened with philosophy: the further the budding proceeded, the richer, more fruitful, and more useful for society philosophy became, for it acquired its own own face, its own subject of study, which does not coincide with other sciences, in other words, its own functions.
2. The main functions of philosophy
Aristotle once remarked that there is no science more useless than philosophy, but none more beautiful than it. What two functions must science have to deserve such a paradoxical characterization?
WORLDVIEW FUNCTION
Two main specific the functions of philosophy are ideological and methodological. They are called specific because, in a developed and concentrated form, they are inherent only in philosophy.As a working definition, we can say that outlook is a set of the most general views and ideas about the essence of the world around us and the place of man in it. For a correct understanding of the ideological function of philosophy, it is necessary to take into account at least two points:
1. How is the worldview formed in any person and, in particular, in a person who claims the high title of an intellectual? By its origin, an individual's worldview can be formed as a result of scientific education (including self-education) or formed spontaneously under the influence of the social environment. At the same time, palliative, hybrid options are also possible, when some elements of the individual's worldview turn out to be scientifically verified, while others remain at the level of conventional wisdom with its prejudices and delusions. We will not sin against the truth if we say that no philosophical system, even the most modern and perfect, guarantees the absolute absence of such prejudices and delusions in the views of a person, if only because it itself is not completely free from them. And at the same time, only a systematic philosophical education is able to reduce the “mythological” component of our own worldview to a minimum.
2. Philosophy is not the whole worldview, but “only” its core, since all branches of knowledge, all those academic disciplines that are studied by students at the university (general history, psychology, physics, linguistics, etc.) participate in the formation of a worldview . Each of them implicitly and often explicitly contains worldview conclusions and, accordingly, contributes to the worldview training of the future specialist.
Incidentally, and personal experience teaching, and the experience of numerous colleagues convinces us how highly the pupils and students value this particular worldview aspect of our performances. It is understandable: this aspect is the most fundamental, least perishable layer of knowledge, and the facts that are strung on this rod, on this logical canvas, can be successfully obtained by the listeners themselves. In addition, facts, although a “stubborn thing,” are subject to culling, updating, and refinement as science advances. Let us recall, for example, how the “fact” of the existence of the ether was rejected by the physics of the twentieth century. By the way, the very attitude to the interpretation and to the fate of the fact to a large extent depends on the worldview positions of the researcher.
METHODOLOGICAL FUNCTION
As noted above, along with the ideological function and in close connection with it, philosophy performs a methodological function.philosophical method is a system of the most general principles of approach to the theoretical study of reality. These principles, of course, can be completely different. One can, for example, approach one and the same phenomenon under study as developing, or one can approach it as immutable, given once and for all. Depending on this, both the results of the study and the practical conclusions from it will differ significantly. As A.I. Herzen, "the method in science is not at all a matter of taste or some external convenience... but is the very development of content - the embryology of truth - if you like."
In the history of philosophy, two main philosophical methods can be traced - dialectics and metaphysics . Like comparative analysis they will be discussed below, but the fundamental differences between them as two opposite concepts of interconnection and development can be represented as follows:
1. Dialectics proceeds from the general, universal interconnection of phenomena and processes in the world around us, metaphysics elevates the autonomy, independence of things to an absolute.
2. Dialectics proceeds from the principle of development, qualitative changes in phenomena and processes, metaphysics reduces all changes in the world only to qualitative ones.
3. Dialectics proceeds from the internal inconsistency naturally inherent in any phenomenon or process, while metaphysics believes that internal contradictions are characteristic only of our thinking, but by no means of objective reality itself.
4. Dialectics proceeds from the fact that it is precisely the struggle of opposites inherent in phenomena and processes that represents main source their development, while metaphysics transfers this source outside the object under investigation.
The philosophical method acts as a reflection of a certain level scientific knowledge peace. This becomes obvious as soon as we try to answer the question: why in the history of philosophy did dialectic and metaphysics succeed each other as the dominant philosophical methods? This change occurred naturally, in connection with qualitative changes in the nature of science itself, and above all, natural science. Thus, ancient dialectics, which excelled metaphysics in explaining the world as a whole, was forced to give up its primacy as soon as the specific sciences began a detailed, scrupulous study of each phenomenon separately and in its statics. At this stage (and it lasted for hundreds of years), metaphysics corresponded perfectly to the spirit of the science of that time. But then, by the beginning of the nineteenth century, a new stage began, when scientific knowledge from describing, collecting began to turn into comparing, classifying, systematizing (remember what Carl Linnaeus did in the form of a system of flora and fauna, Darwin his evolutionary theory, Mendeleev - periodic system elements, etc.). Only the dialectical method can correspond to the spirit of such scientific knowledge.
Summing up what has been said, we can single out the following lines of interaction between philosophy and particular sciences:
a) at each stage of the development of science, the philosophical method is synthesized from the achievements of particular specific sciences, reflecting the spirit of the science of its time, its qualitative specifics. In this operation, philosophy is like a bee tirelessly extracting nectar produced by various meadow grasses;
b) then philosophy, in turn, returns the “product” synthesized by it from this nectar to specific sciences as a system of general principles of approach to the study of phenomena and processes of interest to them.
For convenience of presentation, we have clearly and sharply delimited the two functions of philosophy - ideological and methodological. In reality, they interpenetrate, interpenetrate each other. On the one hand, the method is included in the worldview, because our knowledge of the world in the most essential moments will be incomplete if we abstract from the universal interconnection and development in it. On the other hand, worldview principles, by and large, are also part of the philosophical method.
HUMANISTIC FUNCTION
In addition to the main specific functions discussed above, performed only by philosophy, it is necessary to take into account its enormous importance in the implementation of extremely important non-specific functions - humanistic and general cultural. Of course, philosophy also performs these functions in a specific way, inherent only to it - a way of philosophical reflection. Let us also emphasize that the non-specificity of the humanistic and general cultural functions does not at all mean that they are of lesser intra-philosophical, interdisciplinary and social significance compared to the specific ones.The humanistic function of philosophy is aimed at educating a person, in our case - the personality of a student, in the spirit of humanism, real humanism, scientifically substantiating the ways of liberating a person, his further improvement. It seems to us that this humanistic function of philosophy is very well expressed by the famous surgeon and cyberneticist N.M. Amosov in his book “Thoughts and Heart”:
"Meaning of life. Save people. Do complex operations. Develop new - better. To die less. Teach other doctors about honest work. Science, theory - to understand the essence of the matter and benefit. It's my business. I serve them people. Duty.
Other: Lenochka (granddaughter. - S.K.). Everyone has to educate people. It's not just a duty - it's a need. Nicely. Highly.
And there is also my personal business: to understand what all this is for? Why treat the sick, educate people, if the world at any moment may be on the verge of death? Maybe it's already pointless? I really want to believe that it is not. But faith is not that. I want to know. I want to feel the calculations by which the future is predicted.”
Well said: calculations by which the future is predicted. Let us add: since it is truly predicted, then there is the possibility of approaching, creating this future according to the laws that are understandable in their essence, including the laws of justice and beauty. Actually, philosophy began with thinking about the meaning of human life and declared this with the famous ancient aphorism about Man as the measure of all things. Socrates and Plato, Renaissance philosophers, F. Bacon and Hobbes, Spinoza, French materialists of the eighteenth century, Marx and Engels, existentialists - all of them have a person as a feeling, thinking and creative being in the focus of their worldview. Each of the classics of philosophy, developing the doctrine of man, highlighted in a new way and showed some important facet for us: either the attitude of man to the nature opposing him, or the biological origin of man, or his dependence on the social environment, etc. .
In sum, this classical legacy appears before us as an attempt to comprehensively solve the problem of "Man and the world around us", to answer three questions that exhaust this problem, which Kant formulated in the "Critique of Pure Reason" as follows:
1. What can I know?
2. What should I do?
3. What can I hope for?
And Kant was absolutely right in asserting that in these three questions “all the interests of my mind (both speculative and practical) are united” 1 .
GENERAL CULTURAL FUNCTION
Philosophy has performed the general cultural function from the moment of its inception, and if the subject of philosophy narrowed, then most likely the opposite happened with its general cultural function: its role in the life of society continuously increased. Already Cicero rightly declared that "the culture of the spirit is philosophy."This is even more true for our time. It can be said without exaggeration that philosophy is today the most important element of the spiritual culture of mankind. “It seems to me,” wrote a prominent German physicist, Nobel Prize winner Max Laue, “that all sciences should be grouped around philosophy as their common center and that serving it is their own goal. In this way, and only in this way, can the unity of scientific culture be preserved against the irresistibly progressing specialization of the sciences. Without this unity, the whole culture would be doomed to death.”
The roles that philosophy plays in culture are truly multifaceted. Laue focused his attention on one of these roles - integrative: philosophy coordinates and synthesizes the achievements of all types of human experience (practical, scientific, cognitive and value). But after all, philosophy also acts as a constructor of fundamentally new ideas, new pictures of the world, new social ideals, a critic in relation to all sorts of worldview and methodological errors and prejudices; rationalizer of non-philosophical forms of worldview, revealing their "rational grain".
So, when we put before ourselves the question: “What does philosophy give me?”, its general cultural function cannot be discounted. A person who is philosophically uneducated and unprepared has never been considered a cultured person. This is especially true for the time in which we live. On the other hand, in the order of, so to speak, feedback, we note that in relation to philosophy, one can judge both his general and his professional culture. And if he, like Fonvizin's Mitrofanushka, asks: "Why do I need philosophy?", then no additional studies of his cultural level are required.
IS PHILOSOPHY SO PRACTICAL?
Having considered the functions of philosophy, we will try to return to the Aristotelian characterization of philosophy as the most useless and at the same time the most beautiful science.Yes, it is useless in a narrowly utilitarian, pragmatic sense, because philosophy cannot teach how to bake pies, melt metal, shoemaking, etc. Moreover, it cannot replace any of the specific sciences, solving their specific problems for them. It is known from the history of philosophy how fruitless the centuries-old attempts to consider philosophy as a “science of sciences” that squeezed all other sciences into a Procrustean bed and replaced them turned out to be fruitless. And only having acquired its specific functions, philosophy ceases to be useless: it gives the concrete sciences what they themselves are not able to synthesize - a worldview and methodology.
As for the “beautifulness” of philosophy, it is merged with its usefulness in the indicated high sense. Indeed, what could be more beautiful than introducing a person to spiritual values, to understanding the meaning of life, one's place in the world, one's relationships with other people?! And this beauty is realized primarily in the humanistic and general cultural functions of philosophy, which is always the spiritual quintessence of its era.
And if the old maxim is true, according to which “there is nothing more practical than a good theory”, then this applies all the more to such a metatheory* as philosophy. Responding sensitively to the demands and needs of the development of science and society, philosophy subsumes the broadest, philosophical foundations for expedient practical solutions. Philosophy, as it were, suggests to “common sense” the ways of the most rational solution of certain problems.
So, it has long been noticed that the study of the problem of synthesis is deeper, more comprehensive, and more priority for philosophers in a society where the tendency towards synthesis, unity between different social groups, regions is weaker, where there is more disorganization and split. The striving for synthesis in philosophy, therefore, acts as a response to the challenge of history, to the threat of a catastrophe of society as a result of disintegration.
Introduction
The main functions of philosophy
Worldview functions of philosophy
Methodological functions of philosophy
Other functions and classifications
Conclusion
List of used literature
Introduction
From the very beginning of philosophy more than two thousand years ago in ancient Greece, among serious thinkers, there was a conviction that it was necessary to carefully check the rational validity of those views on the world around us and ourselves that we accept. We all perceive a lot of information and a lot of opinions about the material universe and the human world. However, only very few of us ever consider how reliable or significant this data is. Usually we tend to accept without hesitation reports of scientific discoveries, sanctified by the tradition of belief and diversity of view based on personal experience. Likewise, the philosopher insists on a scrupulous critical examination of all this, in order to establish whether these beliefs and views are based on sufficient grounds and whether a thinking person should accept them.
Philosophy (from Greek - love of truth, wisdom) - a form of social consciousness; the doctrine of the general principles of being and cognition, the relationship of man to the world, the science of the universal laws of the development of nature, society and thinking. Philosophy develops a generalized system of views on the world, the place of man in it; it explores cognitive values, socio-political, moral and aesthetic attitude of man to the world.
The subject matter of philosophy is the universal properties and connections (relationships) of reality - nature, man, the relationship of objective reality and subjectivism of the world, material and ideal, being and thinking. Where the universal is the properties, connections, relations inherent in both objective reality and the subjective world of man. Quantitative and qualitative certainty, structural and causal relationships, and other properties, relationships refer to all spheres of reality: nature, consciousness. The subject of philosophy must be distinguished from the problems of philosophy, since the problems of philosophy exist objectively, independently of philosophy. Universal properties and connections (production and time, quantity and quality) existed when the science of philosophy did not yet exist as such.
The main functions of philosophy
Philosophy acts in two guises: 1) as information about the world as a whole and the relationship of a person to this world, and 2) as a set of principles of cognition, as a general method of cognitive activity. This is the basis for the division of a large number of functions of philosophy into two groups: worldview and methodological.
Worldview function contributes to the formation of the integrity of the picture of the world, ideas about its structure, the place of a person in it, the principles of interaction with the outside world.
Methodological function is that philosophy develops the basic methods of cognition of the surrounding reality.
Worldview functions of philosophy
Among the worldview functions is such an important function of philosophy as humanistic. It ranks first among the functions of philosophy in accordance with the priority significance of the human problem.
There is probably not a single person in the world who would not reflect on the question of life and death, of the inevitability of his end. Such thoughts often act depressingly on a person. Here is what the famous Russian philosopher N. A. Berdyaev wrote about this: “The future always brings death in the end, and this cannot but cause melancholy.” Longing, in essence, is always a longing for eternity, the impossibility of reconciling with time.
Longing is directed towards the higher world and is accompanied by a feeling of insignificance, emptiness, and the perishability of this world. Longing is turned to the transcendent, but at the same time it means non-merging with it. “All my life,” testifies N.A. Berdyaev, - melancholy accompanied me. This, however, depended on the periods of life, sometimes it reached greater sharpness and tension, sometimes weakened. Philosophy, on the other hand, is “freed from the melancholy and boredom of “life”. And further, already summarizing the history of the development of human thought, N.A. Berdyaev concluded: "Philosophy has always been a breakthrough from the meaningless, empirical, forcing and violating us from all sides of the world to the world of meaning."
Philosophy, of course, does not give eternity, but it helps to comprehend this life, helps to find its meaning and strengthen your spirit. This is the humanistic function of philosophy.
The next ideological function of philosophy is socio-axiological function. It is divided into a number of subfunctions, among which the most important are constructive value, interpretative and critical subfunctions. The content of the first of them is to develop ideas about values, such as Goodness, Justice, Truth, Beauty; this also includes the formation of ideas about the social (public) ideal.
One of the functions of philosophy is cultural and educational function. Knowledge of philosophy, including the requirements for knowledge, contributes to the formation of important qualities of a cultural personality in a person: orientation towards truth, truth, kindness. Philosophy is able to protect a person from the superficial and narrow framework of the ordinary type of thinking; it dynamizes the theoretical and empirical concepts of particular sciences in order to reflect as adequately as possible the contradictory, changing essence of phenomena.
Along with the functions already considered, philosophy also has explanatory and informational function. One of the main tasks of philosophy is the development of a worldview corresponding to the modern level of science, historical practice and the intellectual requirements of man. In this function, the main purpose of specialized knowledge is modified: to adequately reflect its object, to identify its essential elements, structural connections, patterns; to accumulate and deepen knowledge, to serve as a source of reliable information. Like science, philosophy is a complex dynamic information system designed to collect, analyze and process information in order to obtain new information. Such information is concentrated in philosophical concepts (categories), general principles and laws that form an integral system. Within this system, sections are distinguished: philosophical ontology (the doctrine of being as such), theory of knowledge, dialectics as a universal method, social philosophy, general ethics, theoretical aesthetics, philosophical problems of private sciences, philosophy of religion, history of philosophy, "philosophy of philosophy" (theory philosophical knowledge).
These are the main ideological functions of philosophy.
Methodological functions of philosophy
From the side of its method, philosophy is capable of performing several functions: heuristic, coordinating, integrating and logical-epistemological.
essence heuristic function is to promote the growth of scientific knowledge, including the creation of preconditions for scientific discoveries. The philosophical method, applied in unity with the formal-logical method, provides an increment of knowledge, of course, in the philosophical sphere proper. The result of this is an extensive and intensive change in the system of universal categories. New information may take the form of a forecast.
coordinating function consists in coordinating methods in the process scientific research. At first glance, it seems redundant: if the method is meaningful, due to the nature of the object, then any additional coordination of methods, in addition to their coordination with the object of knowledge, seems unnecessary and even harmful. It is enough for the researcher to focus on the object itself, on the correspondence of the method to this object, in order to have an important prerequisite for effective scientific research. AT general view this argument is correct. But it does not take into account the complex nature of the connection between the method and the object that exists in modern science, the process of growing professionalization of scientists, which mediates the connection between the subject (the method is one of its components) and the object in science.
Integrating function connected with the idea of the unifying role of philosophical knowledge in relation to any set of elements that make up a system or capable of forming an integrity.
Logical-epistemological consists in the development of the philosophical method itself, its normative principles, as well as in the logical and epistemological substantiation of certain conceptual and theoretical structures of scientific knowledge.
Other functions and classifications
In addition to the above, it is customary to single out such functions of philosophy as:
- thinking-theoretical function
- critical function
Thinking-theoretical function It is expressed in the fact that philosophy teaches to think conceptually and theorize - to generalize the surrounding reality to the utmost, to create mental-logical schemes, systems of the surrounding world.
Role critical function- to question the surrounding world and the existing meaning, to look for their new features, qualities, to reveal contradictions. The ultimate goal of this function is to expand the boundaries of knowledge, the destruction of dogmas, the ossification of knowledge, its modernization, and the increase in the reliability of knowledge.
The search for solutions to complex philosophical issues, the formation of a new worldview is usually accompanied by criticism of various kinds of delusions, prejudices, mistakes, stereotypes that stand in the way of true knowledge, correct action. The task of critical philosophical thinking, destruction, loosening of dogmas, obsolete views was emphasized with particular force by F. Bacon, who acutely realized that in all ages philosophy has met “pesky and painful opponents” on its way: superstition, blind, immoderate religious zeal and other kinds of interference . Bacon called them "ghosts", drawing attention to the fact that among the "ghosts" that paralyze knowledge and wise action, every time there is an eternal enemy of a living, inquisitive intellect - an ingrained habit of a dogmatic way of knowing and reasoning, adherence to predetermined concepts, principles, with which they strive to “coordinate” everything else.
According to another classification:
The function of identifying common ideas, ideas, forms of experience
Rationalization function
First of all, philosophy reveals most general ideas, representations, forms of experience, for example, such universal concepts as being, matter, object, phenomenon, process, property, relation, change, development, cause - effect, random - necessary, part - whole, element - structure, etc. In its together they form the basis of all human understanding, intellect. Neither in Everyday life, neither in science nor in various forms practical activity cannot be dispensed with, say, without the concept of cause. Such concepts are present in all thinking; human rationality rests on them. That is why they are referred to as the ultimate foundations, the universal forms of culture. Classical philosophy from Aristotle to Hegel closely connected the concept of philosophy with the doctrine of categories.
Beyond Function identifying"universal" philosophy as a rational-theoretical form of worldview takes on the task rationalization- translation into a logical, conceptual form, as well as systematization, theoretical expression of the total results of human experience in all its forms
Conclusion
The study of philosophy contributes to the improvement of the general culture and the formation of the philosophical culture of the individual. It expands consciousness: for communication, people need a breadth of consciousness, the ability to understand another person or themselves, as if from the outside. Philosophy and the skills of philosophical thinking help with this. The philosopher has to consider points of view different people to think critically about them. Thus, spiritual experience is accumulated, which contributes to the expansion of consciousness.
The study of philosophy is called upon to form the art of living in a deliberately imperfect world. To live without losing personal certainty, individual soul and universal human spirituality. It is possible to resist circumstances only with the ability to maintain spiritual sobriety, self-worth, and one's own dignity. For the individual, the significance of the personal dignity of other people becomes clear. Neither a herd nor an egoistic position is possible for an individual.
“The study of philosophy promotes the ability to concentrate. Personality is impossible without inner composure. Collecting one's own personality is akin to self-purification” (V. F. Shapovalov).
Philosophy makes people think. Bertrand Russell writes in his book A History of Western Philosophy: "It moderates religious and philosophical passions, and its practice makes people more intellectual individuals, which is not so bad for a world in which there is a lot of stupidity." To change the world, he believes, is best possible through moral improvement and self-improvement. Philosophy can do this. Man must act on the basis of his thought and his will. But with one condition: not to encroach on the freedom of others. Having health, well-being and the ability for creative work, he can succeed in spiritual self-improvement and achieve happiness.
The purpose of philosophy is to search for the destiny of man, to ensure the existence of man in a bizarre world. To be or not to be? - that's the question. And if so, what kind? The purpose of philosophy is, ultimately, to elevate man, to provide universal conditions for his improvement. Philosophy is needed to ensure the best possible state of mankind. Philosophy calls every person to nobility, truth, beauty, goodness.
List of used literature
Introduction to Philosophy./Frolov I. -M., 1989
Alekseev P.V., Panin A.V. Philosophy: Textbook. - 3rd ed., revised. and additional - M .: TK Velby, Prospekt Publishing House, 2003.
Philosophical encyclopedic Dictionary(no imprint)
Wikipedia/Philosophy
Worldview function of philosophy
QUESTION 1. Explain what is the ideological function of philosophy
The ideological function of philosophy is that, giving people a general, holistic view of the world, philosophy allows a person to determine his place and role in this world, makes him a conscious participant in this process, sets before him universal goals and tasks of social progress. The core of the worldview is made up of values - these are phenomena human culture acting as selection factors. They set the value attitude of a person to the world, i.e. specifically human scale of world exploration. The central place, for example, in Kant was occupied by the triad "Truth - Goodness - Beauty". It is these values that determine how a person answers himself, in particular, to the questions formulated by Kant. Philosophy uses rational forms of justification of value orientations, while religion appeals to divine authority and miracle. This is one of the reasons for the conflicts that arise between these forms of justification of the worldview.
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I. Functions of Philosophy: 3
worldview
epistemological
Methodological
predictive
sociocultural
Integration
Interpretive
Communicative
critical
heuristic
humanistic
logical
ontological
II. Methods of Philosophy 6
Dialectics
Metaphysics
III. References 8
I. The Functions of Philosophy
Philosophy reveals the most general ideas, ideas; forms of experience on which this or that particular culture or socio-historical life of people as a whole is based.
The specificity of philosophy is manifested in its functions. The main functions of philosophy are:
worldview - main function philosophy, since it coincides with its main content; consists in the formation, systematization, substantiation of the worldview knowledge of a particular era, a particular period; in the possibility of forming the worldview of people through philosophical education.
epistemological The (cognitive-theoretical) function includes the study of the laws and possibilities of cognition, the relationship of knowledge to objective reality, the study of the stages and forms of the cognition process, the conditions and criteria for its reliability and truth. Purpose: to develop and substantiate the main approaches and principles of moral, aesthetic, scientific, socio-political orientation.
Methodological the function acts as a general doctrine of the method and develops a set of the most general methods of cognition and mastering the world by man.
predictive The function of philosophy is that it addresses not only the past and present, but also the future. Philosophy comprehends the strategic directions of human development, its historical perspectives and its culture.
sociocultural function is designed to explain society, the causes of its emergence, evolution, state of the art, its structure, elements, driving forces, as well as it analyzes, criticizes and evaluates the state of culture and predicts the prospects for its development in the future. Philosophy determines the main trends, general character and main directions of development of culture, society and man.
Integration the function is that with the help of philosophy, an organic combination of all components of the content of human culture is carried out - ontological, epistemological, logical, ethical, aesthetic, axiological, vital and practical. It is with the help of philosophy that a person develops universal principles for understanding and explaining the nature of man and the world as a whole, creates extremely generalized ideas and ideas about being. Philosophy unites all spiritual culture into a kind of integral unity within the framework of a given historical era.
Interpretive the function of philosophy is that it serves as the initial intellectual basis for understanding the nature of the still unknown phenomena of the external world, society and thinking. Every time. when a person encounters a new phenomenon - a mysterious, mysterious, paradoxical one, he turns to philosophy and it is in it that he seeks a rational interpretation of objects and processes that have not yet been known. Philosophy is, as it were, the last instance of the human intellect, it is in philosophy that a person receives the starting grounds for spiritual comprehension of the unknown in everything that exists.
Communicative the function is manifested in the fact that through philosophical reflection there is a connection of times, the cultural development of mankind is carried out as a dialogue.
critical the function of philosophy is that it critically comprehends the existing culture and the state in which society and the individual are. Philosophy helps to realize and free oneself from illusions, delusions, prejudices, and mistakes of one's era. Philosophy sensitively catches the moribund life forms, trains public consciousness to the need for change, trying to answer the fundamental questions of being.
heuristic the function of philosophy is that it orients human thought to the discovery of new truths, encourages cognition, to the formation of original interpretations of cognizable phenomena.
humanistic the function of philosophy is actualized in "troubled times", that is, at turning points in history, because it constantly turns to the human in man, raising the problems of humanism with particular acuteness in periods of political reaction, wars, and significant social conflicts. This explains the tragic fate of many philosophers and the fact that such thinkers as Socrates, D. Bruno, A. Schweitzer, F. Dostoevsky and a number of others have become symbols of humanism in the history of world culture.
logical function. Its content is the analysis of concepts, judgments, theories from the point of view of their compliance with the laws of logic.
ontological function is the doctrine of being, its forms and modes.
All functions of philosophy are dialectically interconnected. Each of them presupposes the others in one way or another includes them. Thus, the humanitarian function of philosophy is closely connected with the social function. Philosophy should play an adaptive and life-affirming role for every person, contribute to the formation of humanistic values and ideals, affirmation of the positive meaning and purpose of life. Social and humanitarian functions are called upon to carry out the function of intellectual therapy, which is especially important during periods of unstable state of society, when former idols and ideals disappear, and new ones do not have time to form and gain authority; when the human condition is on the verge of existence and non-existence, and everyone must make their own difficult choice.
II. Philosophy Methods:
The philosophical method is a system of the most general principles and methods of theoretical and practical exploration of the world, as well as a way of constructing and substantiating philosophical knowledge itself. It sets the general principles, guidelines for cognition and activity (F. Bacon “The philosophical method is a torch that illuminates the path”) The philosophical method acts as dialectical and metaphysical.
1. Dialectics(from the Greek dialektike techne - the art of talking, reasoning) - this is a universal connection and development of the world, as well as nature, society, thinking; this is such an understanding of existence, when any object is considered in various connections and relations with others and in its content it is changeable. Dialectics is more meaningful, it also includes metaphysics as a special case.
The most important principles of dialectics are:
The principle of development, according to which the existence of any object will be as the emergence, formation and research. Any development includes movement, which is considered in unity with time, therefore, from the point of view of dialectics, development is absolute.
The principle of universal connection, which is revealed by a group of paired categories (single - general, cause - effect, possibility - reality, content - form, essence - phenomenon).
Historical forms are:
Dialectics of antiquity - Heraclitus Special attention paid attention to the movement and change of things, the transition of opposites into each other, that is, the dialectics of the objective world (“the road in the year is the road down”, “you cannot enter the same river twice”); Socrates and Plato understood dialectic as a dispute, a dialogue in order to clarify the meaning of concepts and achieve truth - the dialectic of thinking (subjective dialectic).
Dialectics can be both materialistic and idealistic. Heraclitus was a materialist and his dialectic creates an essential materialistic component.
idealist dialectics. It was created by representatives of German classical philosophy. Among them, Hegel stands out, who created a system of dialectics, which acted both as a theory and as a method (XVIII-XIX centuries).
materialist dialectics. Created by Marx and Engels in the middle of the 19th century (1846-1851).
2. Metaphysics- it is based on the recognition of an autonomous, independent of anything and unchanging existence. It is the opposite of dialectic method of cognition. Its peculiarity lies in the creation of an unambiguous, static picture of the world, in an exaggerated consideration of certain moments or fragments of being. Examples of metaphysical thinking are arguments: “either yes or no”, “either white or black”.
However, the way of considering things in statics, in isolation from others, has the right to exist in itself. This is a method of abstraction, that is, distraction from the secondary at this stage of the study.
For knowledge, however, exaggeration of both rest and movement is harmful: "there is no rest without movement and movement without relative rest."
IV. List of used literature:
Article "Philosophy (lecture notes, part 1)", www.statya.ru
Frolov I.T., Arab-Ogly E.A., Arefieva G.S. et al., Introduction to Philosophy, Part 1, Moscow, Political Literature Publishing House, 1989
