Renaissance philosophers list of names. The Philosophy of Renaissance Briefly and Clearly

3.1. general characteristics

The philosophy of the Renaissance is a set of philosophical trends that arose and developed in Europe in the XIV-XVII centuries, which were united by an anti-church and anti-scholastic orientation, aspiration to man, faith in his great physical and spiritual potential, life-affirming and optimistic character.

The term Renaissance is associated with the appeal of humanists to ancient sources, the desire to "revive the ancient world." However, the Renaissance is not a simple imitation of ancient models. In this era, both antiquity and Christianity intertwined, giving rise to a peculiar, different from the medieval culture. At this time, there is a new round of development, and not a turn back. The following was taken from antiquity: the revival of the problem of man (anthropocentrism), the revival of natural philosophy, the revival of the importance of sciences and arts. From medieval philosophy, it was retained: monotheistic ideas about the world, that is, the idea of ​​a single God continues to exist, but it is transformed into a new idea of ​​\u200b\u200bGod, which is called pantheism (“all-God”, “God in everything”).

The prerequisites for the emergence of philosophy and culture of the Renaissance were the improvement of tools and production relations; crisis of feudalism; development of crafts and trade; strengthening cities, turning them into trade, craft, military, cultural and political centers, independent of the Church and feudal lords; the emergence of the first parliaments, the strengthening, centralization of European states; raising the level of education in Europe as a whole, the crisis of the Church and scholastic philosophy; great geographical discoveries (Columbus, Vasco de Gama, Magellan); scientific and technical discoveries (invention of gunpowder, firearms, machine tools, microscope, telescope, book printing).

The characteristic features of the philosophy of the Renaissance include such as anthropocentrism and humanism - the predominance of interest in man, faith in his limitless possibilities and dignity; pantheism - the denial of a personal God and his approximation to nature, or their identification; a fundamentally new, scientific and materialistic understanding of the surrounding world (sphericity, and not the plane of the Earth, the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, and not vice versa, the infinities of the Universe, new anatomical knowledge, etc.); great interest in social problems, society and the state; the triumph of individualism; the widespread dissemination of the idea of ​​social equality.

The main directions of the philosophy of the Renaissance were:

humanistic (Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarch) - put a person in the center of attention, justified self-sufficiency, self-worth of a person, glorified his dignity, greatness, power and freedom, independence from divine will.

neoplatonic (Nicholas of Cusa, Paracelsus, etc.) - developed the teachings of Plato, tried to understand nature, the cosmos and man from the point of view of idealism;

natural-philosophical (Nicholas Copernicus, J. Bruno, Galileo Galilei) - refuted the teachings of the Church about God, the Universe, the Cosmos and the foundations of the universe, based on astronomical and scientific discoveries);

political (Nicolo Machiavelli) - studied the problems of government, the behavior of rulers;

reformation (Martin Luther, Erasmus of Rotterdam, etc.) - they sought to radically revise the church ideology and the relationship between believers and the Church;

utopian-socialist (Thomas More, Campanella) - was looking for ideal-fantastic forms of building society and the state, based on the absence of private property and universal equalization, total regulation by state power.

Pantheism of Nicholas of Cusa. N. Kuzansky (1401-1464) was a clergyman, a theologian, but he adhered to philosophical views that were innovative for his time. He gave a new interpretation of being and knowledge, according to which there is no difference between God and His creation (that is, the world is one, and God and the surrounding world, the Universe are one and the same). "One" (God) and "infinite" (His creation) relate to each other as a minimum and maximum (opposites), and since God and His creation coincide, the minimum and maximum coincide.

Proceeding from this, N. Kuzansky deduced the law of the coincidence of opposites: since the opposites coincide, the form and matter coincide, since the idea and matter are one. In reality, there is a Universe that is infinite, has no beginning, no end, no center, the Earth is not the center of the Universe. The Universe is a sensually changeable God, absolute and complete (the world, nature, everything that exists is contained in God, and not God is in the surrounding world). The infinity of the universe, the surrounding world leads to the infinity of knowledge.

Thus, N. Kuzansky, being an idealistic philosopher and theologian, came very close to the materialistic explanation of the surrounding world (the Universe) and paved the way for natural philosophical teachings.

During the Late Renaissance (XIV-XVII centuries), natural-philosophical ideas became widespread in Europe. Representatives of this period were J. Bruno and N. Copernicus. The essence of the Copernican concept is that the Earth is not the center of the Universe (geocentrism is rejected), but the Sun is the center in relation to the Earth (the concept of heliocentrism is introduced).

Naturphilosophy J. Bruno. J. Bruno (1548-1600) built his philosophy using the ideas of N. Cusa, developed and deepened the philosophical ideas of Copernicus. His ideas were not accepted by the Catholic Church and he was burned at the stake in 1600.

The sun, according to the views of the philosopher, is the center only in relation to the Earth, but not the center of the Universe, while the Universe has no center and is infinite, consists of galaxies (clusters of stars). Stars are celestial bodies similar to the Sun and have their own planetary systems, so the number of worlds in the Universe is infinite. Therefore, all celestial bodies - planets, stars, as well as everything that is on them, have the property of motion.

Thus, if Cusa had mystical pantheism, then Bruno had naturalistic pantheism, that is, there is no God, apart from the Universe, the Universe and God are one.

Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) - Italian politician, philosopher and writer - was a prominent representative of political philosophy. Man, according to Machiavelli, has an inherently evil nature; all his actions are driven by his egoism and the desire for profit, therefore the coexistence of people is impossible. To curb the base nature of man, his egoism, a special organization is created - the state; for the leadership of the state there must be a ruler who must look generous and noble, but not be such in reality, since when in contact with reality, these qualities will lead to the opposite result; in addition, the leader should in no case encroach on the property and privacy of people. Therefore, in the struggle for the liberation of the motherland from foreign domination for its independence, all means are permissible, including insidious and immoral. The philosophy of Machiavelli, based on a realistic attitude to the surrounding reality, became a guide to action for many politicians of both the medieval and subsequent eras.

The philosophy of the Renaissance is a phenomenon characteristic of Western Europe in the 14th-17th centuries. The term "Renaissance" (the Italian version is also used - the Renaissance) is associated with the appeal of thinkers to the ideals of antiquity, a kind of revival of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. But the understanding of what antiquity is, among people of the XIV-XV centuries. was somewhat distorted. This is not surprising: a whole millennium separated them from the moment of the fall of Rome, and almost two from the time of the heyday of ancient Greek democracy. Nevertheless, the essence of the philosophy of the Renaissance - anthropocentrism - was drawn from ancient sources and was clearly opposed to medieval asceticism and scholasticism abstracted from all worldly things.

Prerequisites for the emergence

How was the philosophy of the Renaissance born? A brief description of this process can be started by mentioning that there was an interest in the real world and the place of man in it. It was no coincidence that this happened at this time. By the XIV century. the system of feudal relations has outlived itself. City self-government grew and developed rapidly. This was especially noticeable in Italy, where since antiquity the traditions of the economic autonomy of large cities like Rome, Florence, Venice, and Naples have not died out. Other European countries looked up to Italy.

By this time, the dominance of the Catholic Church in all spheres of life began to weigh on people: the monarchs sought to throw off the influence of the Pope and come to absolute power, and the urban population and peasants languished under the unbearable burden of taxes for the needs of the clergy. A little later, this will lead to a movement for the reformation of the Church and the split of Western European Christianity into Catholicism and Protestantism.

XIV-XV centuries - the era of great geographical discoveries, when the world began to become more and more understandable and real, and it fit worse and worse into the Procrustean bed of Christian scholasticism. The need to systematize natural science knowledge became obvious and inevitable. Scientists are louder and louder about the rational structure of the world, the impact on the ongoing processes of the laws of physics and chemistry, and not a divine miracle.

Renaissance philosophy (briefly): basic ideas and basic principles

What determined all these phenomena? The main features of the philosophy of the Renaissance are the desire to know the world through the natural sciences, which originated in ancient Greece and were irreverently forgotten in the dark Middle Ages, attention to the person, to such categories as freedom, equality, to the unique value - human life.

However, the specifics of the era could not but affect the course of development, and in irreconcilable disputes with adherents of the scholastic tradition, a completely new view of the world was born. The philosophy of the Renaissance briefly learned the basics of the ancient heritage, but significantly modified and supplemented them. The new time posed somewhat different questions for a person than 2000 years before, although many of them are relevant in all eras.

social equality

The social philosophy of the Renaissance undermined the foundations of the medieval social hierarchy with a completely simple and natural appeal to Holy Scripture: all people are equal in their rights, for they are equally created in the image of God. The idea of ​​the equality of all people will find more active participation among philosophers in the Enlightenment, but so far it has only been declared, but this was already quite a lot after the feudal Middle Ages. Humanists did not argue with the Church, but believed that the scholastics and demagogues distorted her teachings, and humanistic philosophy, on the contrary, would help to return to the true Christian faith. Suffering and pain are unnatural, and therefore not pleasing to God.

At the second stage of its development, starting from the middle of the 15th century, the philosophy of the Renaissance briefly interprets the teachings of Plato, Aristotle and the Neoplatonist school in a new way in accordance with the realities of modern times.

The main representatives of the idea of ​​social equality

Nicholas of Cusa occupies a special place among the thinkers of this period. He was of the opinion that the movement towards truth is an endless process, that is, it is almost impossible to comprehend the truth. This means that a person is not able to contemplate the world around him to the extent that God allows him to do so. And to understand the divine nature is also beyond human strength. The main features of the philosophy of the Renaissance are summarized in his works “The Simple Man” and “On Scientific Ignorance”, where for the first time the principle of pantheism clearly emerges, since the unity of the world, according to Cusa, lies in God.

The treatise Platonic Theology on the Immortality of the Soul by Marsilio Ficino refers the reader directly to the philosophy of Plato and the Neoplatonists. He, like Nicholas of Cusa, was an adherent of pantheism, identified God and the world in one hierarchical system. The ideas of Renaissance philosophy, which proclaimed that man is beautiful and like God, are also not alien to Ficino.

The pantheistic worldview reached its apogee in the work of the philosopher. The philosopher imagined that God is the highest perfection enclosed in an imperfect world. Similar views already at the beginning of the 15th century. brought to the world the philosophy of the Renaissance. The summary of Mirandola's teaching is that the comprehension of the world is equivalent to the comprehension of God, and this process, although difficult, is final. The perfection of man is also achievable, for he is created in the image of God.

Pantheism. Pietro Pomponazzi

The new philosophy of the Renaissance, briefly described in this article, borrowed Aristotelian principles, which was reflected in the writings of Pietro Pomponazzi. He saw the essence of the world in a constant progressive movement in a circle, in development and repetition. The main features of Renaissance philosophy found a response in his Treatise on the Immortality of the Soul. Here the author gives reasoned evidence of the mortal nature of the soul, thereby arguing that a happy and just existence is possible in earthly life and should be strived for. This is how Pomponazzi briefly looks at the philosophy of the Renaissance. The main ideas that he professed were the responsibility of a person for his life and pantheism. But the last one in a new reading: God is not only one with nature, he is not even free from it, and therefore is not responsible for the evil that occurs in the world, since God cannot violate the predetermined order of things.

Hymn of Erasmus of Rotterdam

In describing such a phenomenon as the philosophy of the Renaissance, it is briefly necessary to touch on creativity. It is deeply Christian in its spirit, but the more it presents a person, and the more effort it requires from him. This gives a huge responsibility for the constant self-development and self-improvement of the individual. Erasmus ruthlessly denounced the limitations of scholastic philosophy and the feudal system as a whole, expounding his ideas on this subject in the treatise Praise of Folly. In the same stupidity, the philosopher saw the causes of all conflicts, wars and strife, which were condemned in the very essence of the philosophy of the Renaissance. Humanism also found a response in the writings of Erasmus of Rotterdam. It was a kind of hymn to the free will of man and his own responsibility for all bad and good deeds.

Utopian ideas of universal equality

The social directions of the philosophy of the Renaissance were most clearly embodied in the teachings of Thomas More, more precisely in his famous work "Utopia", the name of which later became a household name. More preached the rejection of private property and universal equality.

Another representative of the socio-political trend, in the treatise "The Sovereign", outlined his vision of the nature of state power, the rules for conducting politics and the behavior of the ruler. To achieve higher goals, according to Machiavelli, any means are suitable. Someone condemned him for such promiscuity, but he only noticed the existing pattern.

Thus, for the second stage, the most significant issues are: the essence of God and his relationship to the earthly world, human freedom and the ideals of the state system.

Giordano Bruno's bright footprint

At the third stage (from the second half of the 16th century) of its development, the philosophy of the Renaissance turned to the world around man, interpreting the rules of social morality and the laws of natural phenomena in a new way.

The “Experiences” by Michel Montaigne are devoted to moral instructions, in which certain moral situations are analyzed with examples and advice on correct behavior is provided. It is surprising that Montaigne, without rejecting the experience of past generations in the field of such literature, managed to create a lesson that is relevant to this day.

An iconic figure of natural philosophy of the 16th century. was Giordano Bruno. The author of philosophical treatises and scientific works, he, without denying the divine nature, tried to comprehend the essence of cosmogony and the structure of the Universe. In the work “On the Cause, the Beginning and the One,” the philosopher argued that the Universe is one (this was generally the central concept of his teaching), motionless and infinite. The general characteristic of the philosophy of the Renaissance in Giordano Bruno looks like the sum of the ideas of pantheism, natural philosophy and anthropocentrism of scientific research. He argued that nature is endowed with a soul, this is clear from the fact that it is constantly evolving. And God is the same as the Universe - they are infinite and equal to each other. The goal of human search is self-improvement and, ultimately, approaching the contemplation of God.

General conclusions

This form was acquired at the final stage by the philosophy of the Renaissance. Briefly, its representatives described it in their writings as the awakening of the human mind, as its liberation from the darkness of ignorance and the oppression of the powerful of this world. The value of every human life was recognized. This is how the philosophy of the Renaissance can be briefly described. Its representatives were not only philosophers, but worked in the field of natural sciences, like Giordano Bruno mentioned above, as well as Galileo Galilei and Nicolaus Copernicus. Their eyes were fixed on the sky and the pantheism characteristic of previous generations. They identified God no longer simply with nature, but with the infinite universe. Brief description of the philosophy of the Renaissance in the XVI-XVII centuries. includes not only the ideas of pantheism and natural philosophical searches, but also the further development of humanistic views. The period requires from a person constant self-improvement, responsibility and courage in search of the meaning of earthly existence and the divine nature in all things.

For many decades, the philosophy of the Renaissance has been subject to research by the scientific world. A general description is briefly presented in the writings of Dilthey Wilhelm, Russian historians - Buichik, Luchinin, Losev.

The philosophy of the Renaissance is a set of philosophical trends that arose and developed in Europe in the 14th - 17th centuries, which were united by an anti-church and anti-scholastic orientation, aspiration to man, faith in his great physical and spiritual potential, life-affirming and optimistic character.

The prerequisites for the emergence of philosophy and culture of the Renaissance were:

improvement of labor tools and production relations;

crisis of feudalism;

development of crafts and trade;

strengthening cities, turning them into trade, craft, military, cultural and political centers, independent of the feudal lords and the Church;

strengthening, centralization of European states, strengthening of secular power;

the appearance of the first parliaments;

lagging behind life, the crisis of the Church and scholastic (church) philosophy;

raising the level of education in Europe as a whole;

great geographical discoveries (Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan);

scientific and technical discoveries.

The main directions of the philosophy of the Renaissance:

humanistic(XIV - XV centuries, representatives: Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Lorenzo Valli, etc.) - put a person in the center of attention, sang his dignity, greatness and power, ironically over the dogmas of the Church;

neoplatonic ( ser. XV - XVI centuries), whose representatives - Nicholas of Cusa, Pico della Mirandola, Paracelsus and others - developed the teachings of Plato, tried to understand nature, the cosmos and man from the point of view of idealism;

natural philosophical(XVI - early XVII centuries), to which belonged Nicolaus Copernicus, Giordano Bruno, Galileo Galilei and others, who tried to debunk a number of provisions of the teachings of the Church and God, the Universe, the Cosmos and the foundations of the universe, based on astronomical and scientific discoveries;

reformatory(XVI - XVII centuries), whose representatives - Martin Luther, Thomas Montzer, Jean Calvin, John Usenleaf, Erasmus of Rotterdam and others - sought to radically revise the church ideology and the relationship between believers and the Church;

political(XV - XVI centuries, Nicolo Machiavelli) - studied the problems of government, the behavior of rulers;

utopian-socialist(XV - XVII centuries, representatives - Thomas More, Tommaso Campanella, etc.) - was looking for ideal fantastic forms of building society and the state, based on the absence of private property and universal equalization, total regulation by state power.

3. Characteristic features of the philosophy of the Renaissance relate:

anthropocentrism and humanism - the predominance of interest in man, faith in his limitless possibilities and dignity;

opposition to the Church and church ideology (that is, the denial of not religion itself, God, but an organization that has made itself an intermediary between God and believers, as well as a frozen dogmatic philosophy serving the interests of the Church - scholasticism);

moving the main interest from the form of the idea to its content;

a fundamentally new, scientific and materialistic understanding of the surrounding world (sphericity, and not the plane of the Earth, the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, and not vice versa, the infinity of the Universe, new anatomical knowledge, etc.);

great interest in social problems, society and the state;

the triumph of individualism;

the widespread dissemination of the idea of ​​social equality.

Ticket 13 English empiricism of the XVII century. (F. Bacon, T. Hobbes, J. Locke)

Adherents of empiricism (from the Greek empeiria - experience) considered sensory experience (data of the human senses) the only source of knowledge, rightly arguing that the process of cognition begins with sensations. A kind of modification of empiricism is sensationalism (from Latin sensus - feeling). Adherents of sensationalism strove to deduce the entire content of knowledge no longer simply from experience, but from the activity of the sense organs. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. empiricism and sensationalism were developed by Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke

Francis Bacon was sure that the goal of scientific knowledge is not to contemplate nature, and not to comprehend God, but to bring benefits and benefits to mankind. Bacon considered theology to be the direct culprit of the break in unity between theoretical and practical activity, between philosophy and natural science. He believed that only a decisive liberation of scientific knowledge from the shackles of theology would be able to return to the sciences their real power, breathe life into them, kindle the fire of creative inspiration. Science is a means, not an end in itself. Man is the master of nature, such is the leitmotif of Bacon's philosophy. In order to subjugate nature, a person must study its laws and learn how to use his knowledge in real practice. It is Bacon who owns the famous aphorism “KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!”. Bacon focuses science on the search for truth not in books, but in practice, in direct observation and study of nature. Knowledge that does not bear practical fruit, Bacon considers an unnecessary luxury.

“Experience” is the main category in Bacon’s philosophy, because knowledge begins and comes to it, it is in experience that the reliability of knowledge is verified, it is it that gives food to reason. Without sensory assimilation of reality, the mind is dead, because the subject of thought is always drawn from experience. “The best proof of all is experience,” Bacon writes. He singles out the main methods of cognition, “one soars from sensations and particulars to more general axioms ... The other one derives axioms from sensations” This is nothing but induction (from particular to the general) and deduction (from the general to the particular).

The merit of Bacon in the philosophical justification of induction. Francis Bacon believed that the method of induction can give reliable knowledge only when the consciousness is freed from

erroneous judgments (≪idols≫, ≪ghosts≫). He singled out four groups of such idols: "idols of the family", "idols of the cave", "idols of the square", "idols of the theater". “Idols of the kind” are obstacles caused by the nature common to all people, the imperfection of the human mind; "idols of the cave" - ​​distortions, the source of which are the individual characteristics of the mind; "idols of the square" - obstacles arising from the communication of people; "idols of the theatre" are obstacles born of people's blind faith in authorities, their adherence to old traditions, erroneous opinions. It is very difficult for a person to free himself from such idols-mistakes; philosophy should help him in this.

Despite the fact that he attached great importance to science and technology in human life. Bacon believed that the successes of science concern only "secondary causes", behind which stands the almighty and unknowable God. At the same time, Bacon emphasized all the time that the progress of natural science, although it destroys superstition, strengthens faith. He argued that "light sips of philosophy sometimes lead to atheism, but deeper ones return to religion."

Exploring the question of the soul, he divided it into two parts: the divine and the sentient. The "sentient soul" in his opinion has a material origin from material elements and is related to the soul of animals. However, there is a qualitative difference between the soul of animals and the soul of man and the soul of animals: the material feeling soul of a person is an organ of consciousness, an organ of sensation, thought. Reason, imagination, memory, desire, will are the abilities of the sentient soul. Its main location is the human head and nervous system. The nervous system represents the pathways for the activity of the sentient soul.

Bacon's line was continued by Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), whose main ideas are set forth in the works: "Leviathan" (1651), "On the Body" (1655), "On Man" (1658).

Thomas Hobbes created the first complete picture of mechanistic materialism in the history of philosophy, denying the existence of the soul as a special substance of the body. This position led him to a mechanistic understanding of man. According to Hobbes, people, like animals, are complex mechanisms whose actions are determined by external influences.

Developing the empirical tradition laid down by Bacon, Hobbes considered the true source of the knowledge of feeling. But unlike Bacon, Hobbes brought to the fore the problems of scientific understanding of society, the state, law, and religious tolerance. It was these questions that attracted the greatest attention of thinkers in the era of the bourgeois revolution in England.

whose contemporary was the philosopher. The teachings of Thomas Hobbes on the state and law became widely known. This doctrine is based on the difference between the two states of human society - natural and civil. The natural state is the initial one, here anyone has the right to everything that he can seize, that is, the right coincides with force. Therefore, the state of nature is a state of "war of all against all". Thomas Hobbes did not spare colors to depict the cruelty of people in their natural form, expressing this gloomy picture with the famous ancient Roman proverb "Man is a wolf to man". Such a situation, according to Hobbes, threatens a person with self-destruction. From this followed the conclusion that it was necessary for all people to change the state of nature into a civil, state state. People are forced to enter into a social agreement to ensure universal peace and security, on the basis of which the state arises. And although one can hardly agree with the position of Thomas Hobbes on the primary aggressiveness of a person, his ideas about the natural, and not the supernatural, origin of the state have certainly become a step forward in the study of the problem.

The main question of philosophy - the question of the relationship of spirit to nature, thinking to being - Hobbes solved strictly materialistically: the material world, regardless of man, the existing world of bodies is primary, consciousness is secondary. Under the idea, he understood the reflections of material things that are imprinted in our imagination.

The outstanding materialist philosopher of the 17th century tried to deepen and concretize the empirical methodology. John Locke. The problem of the method of cognition and the complex of issues of epistemology is devoted to Locke's main philosophical work "An Essay on Human Understanding".

The treatise begins with a critique of the doctrine of innate ideas. Locke argued that there are no innate ideas either in theoretical thinking or in moral convictions, all human knowledge comes from experience - external (sensations) and internal (reflection).

The idea of ​​sensations is the basis of our knowledge of the world. Locke divided them into two classes: the idea of ​​primary and secondary qualities. The ideas of primary qualities (density, length, fijypa, movement, etc.) are copies of these qualities themselves, while the ideas of secondary qualities (color, smell, taste, sound, etc.) are not similar to the qualities of things themselves. Locke's doctrine of the difference between primary and secondary qualities is based on the opposition of the objective and the subjective. Its development later led to the formation of subjective idealism.

Just like Hobbes, Locke deduced the necessity of state power from the standpoint of the theory of "natural law" and "social agreement", but in his own political philosophy he also expressed a number of fundamentally new, progressive ideas. He was the first to put forward the principles of the division of state power into legislative, executive and federal (foreign relations). Locke's political philosophy became the basis of bourgeois liberalism in England and was reflected in the political theories of the French and American bourgeois revolutions.

Ticket 14 R. Descartes rationalism

Philosophy of Rene Descartes

The founder of rationalism is Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) - a prominent philosopher and mathematician. The merit of Descartes before philosophy is that he:

o substantiated the leading role of the mind in cognition;

o put forward the doctrine of substance, its attributes and modes;

o became the author of the theory of dualism, than he tried to reconcile the materialistic and idealistic directions in philosophy;

o put forward the idea of ​​the scientific method of cognition and of "innate ideas".

"I think, therefore I am"

The basis of being and knowledge, according to Descartes, is the mind, since:

o there are many things and phenomena in the world that are incomprehensible to a person, in any phenomenon, any thing can be doubted => doubt really exists, this fact is obvious and does not need proof;

o doubt is a property of thought, which means that a person, doubting, thinks => thinking is the basis of both being and knowledge;

o since thinking is the work of the mind, then only the mind can lie at the basis of being and knowledge.

In this regard, Descartes became the author of the world-famous aphorism, which is his philosophical credo: "I think, therefore I exist."

Studying the problem of being, Descartes tries to derive a basic, fundamental concept that would characterize the essence of being - this is the concept of substance.

Substance is everything that exists, not needing anything but itself for its existence. Only one substance has such a quality, and it can only be God, who is eternal, uncreated, indestructible, omnipotent, is the source and cause of everything. Being the Creator, God created the world, also consisting of substances. Substances created by God (single things, ideas) also have the main quality of substance - they do not need their existence in anything but themselves. Moreover, the created substances are self-sufficient only in relation to each other. In relation to the highest substance - God, they are derivative, secondary and depend on him (since they were created by him).

All created substances Descartes divides into two kinds:

o material (things);

o spiritual (ideas).

Highlights the fundamental properties (attributes) of each kind of substances:

o extension - for material;

o thinking is for the spiritual.

o This means that all material substances have a common feature for all - extension (in length, width, height, depth) and are divisible to infinity. Nevertheless, spiritual substances have the property of thinking and, on the contrary, are indivisible. The remaining properties of both material and spiritual substances are derived from their fundamental properties (attributes) and were called modes by Descartes. (For example, the modes of extension are the form, movement, position in space, etc.; the modes of thinking are feelings, desires, sensations.) Man, according to Descartes, consists of two substances that are different from each other - material (bodily-extended ) and spiritual (thinking).

o Man is the only being in which both (both material and spiritual) substances are combined and exist, and this allowed him to rise above nature.

When studying the problem of cognition, Descartes places special emphasis on the scientific method. In this capacity, deduction is proposed. The meaning of this method is that in the process of cognition to rely only on absolutely reliable knowledge and with the help of the mind, using completely reliable logical techniques, to obtain (deduce) new, also reliable knowledge. Only using deduction as a method, according to Descartes, the mind can achieve reliable knowledge in all areas of knowledge.

Ticket 15 Spinoza's philosophy

Spinoza's writings

Of the philosophical writings of Spinoza, the main ones are his famous "Ethics", "Treatise on the Improvement of Reason" (c. 1662) and "Theological and Political Treatise" (1670). In the Ethics, Spinoza set out to present such a system of propositions about God, the human spirit and the material world, which, with its unshakableness, would resemble an inextricable chain of mathematical conclusions. That is why Spinoza used the geometric method in his work and, like Euclid, built a whole series of philosophical theorems, one of which relies on the other. He dispassionately analyzes human actions and, alien to any teleology (the doctrine of the active, purposeful leadership of being by a higher power), closes the world in the framework of unconditional necessity. Spinoza had an extraordinary gift for systematization. What he took from the philosophy of Descartes, he developed with courageous consistency and reduced all the diversity of world phenomena to a single substance - God, which, however, is devoid of arbitrary, free will in its usual sense.

Spinoza on substance, its attributes and modes - briefly

The idea of ​​substance is central to Spinoza's philosophical system. Substance is absolute, infinite, independent. She is the cause of herself; it is that which makes things real, that by virtue of which they exist and arise. As the First Cause, it is called God, but Spinoza does not understand this word in the Christian sense. In his philosophy, God is not an overworld personal Spirit, but only the essence of things. The attributes, i.e., the properties of a single substance, are extremely numerous, but of them a person cognizes only those that he finds in himself, namely, thinking and extension. Individual things, according to Spinoza, are devoid of any independence, they are only modes of infinite substance, the changing states of God. Things are not extracted from God either by creation or by emanation (by the successive "outflow" of the higher from the lower). They necessarily follow from the nature of God, just as it follows from the nature of a triangle that the sum of its angles is equal to two right angles.

Spinoza on God - briefly

Things are in God. In Spinoza's philosophy, He is not a transcendent Creator, He is an active, creative nature (natura naturans), as opposed to the totality of finite things, as a passive, created nature (natura naturata). The activity of God, not depending on anything, defining itself, is subject to an inner necessity, which follows from the nature of the Divine. This does not make the substance imperfect; on the contrary, arbitrariness and inconstancy, as defects, must be excluded from the idea of ​​God. Thus, affirming the position: “everything that exists is in God, and without God nothing can exist and cannot be represented,” Spinoza’s philosophy stands on the basis of the most resolute pantheism - the doctrine of the complete unity of the Creator and the World. Everything that happens in the world - this manifestation of God or nature (Deus sive natura) - is strictly determined, and an infinitely long series of causes ends only outside the field of phenomena, ends in the divine First Cause.

(For more details, see the separate article Spinoza's God)

Spinoza on mind and body - briefly

Since extension and thinking in Spinoza are not two separate substances, as in Descartes, but only attributes of a single substance, then the body and spirit, in fact, are not two independent facts, but only two sides of one and the same whole. The soul is nothing but the idea of ​​the body, and the body or movement is an object corresponding to a certain idea. To every idea corresponds something corporeal; every body exists and is conceived as an idea. From this it follows that the order of action of our body is by nature simultaneous with the order of action of the soul; this is how Spinoza solves in his philosophy the problem of the relationship between spirit and matter.

(For more details, see the separate article Psychology of Spinoza)

Spinoza's Ethics - Briefly

In the realm of human morality, Spinoza also sees rational necessity in everything. Ethics for him is the physics of morals. Spinoza rejects free will, he denies even the existence of the will itself, which he identifies with reason. Good and evil do not exist at all in the world process; everything real is perfect in itself: good and evil, activity and passivity, power and impotence - these are only differences in degrees, The basis of virtue is the desire for self-preservation; the content of ethics is indicated by knowledge. Only that activity which is based on cognition can, according to Spinoza's philosophy, be truly moral. Only reason conquers passions, only through intellectual means do we achieve bliss. There are no blind moral instincts, and Spinoza's ethics are built on a rationalistic foundation. The highest good and the highest virtue are the knowledge of God and love for Him, knowledge and love, inextricably linked with each other and in their synthesis forming an intellectual love for God (amor Dei intellectualis). The life of the spirit consists in thinking, in striving for perfect knowledge, for comprehending the rational necessity, according to which we must act if we want to be free in the true sense of the word. Whoever knows himself, his passions, according to the ethical views of Spinoza, is imbued with love for God, and in this joyful love spiritually merges himself with the eternal essence of God, nature, the world.

Ticket 16 Philosophy G. Leibniz.

1. Gottfried Leibniz (1646 - 1716) - German mathematician, lawyer, philosopher - is considered the last prominent representative

philosophy of modern times and the forerunner of German classical philosophy.

Leibniz belonged to the philosophical direction of rationalism. In the field of his research, the main problems were:

Substances;

Knowledge.

2. Having studied the theories of Descartes and Spinoza on substance, Leibniz came to the conclusion that they were imperfect.

Firstly, he did not accept the dualism of Descartes in the sense of his separation of all substances (entities that do not need anyone or anything other than themselves for their existence), on the one hand, to the highest - God and those created by him, but independent substances, on the other - all created ones - into material (extended) and spiritual (thinking).

Secondly, according to Leibniz, Spinoza, having combined all substances into one (Nature-God), did not overcome the dualism of Descartes, since he divided all modes (single things - manifestations of substance) into two classes - extended and thinking; that is, what Descartes saw as two types of substances, in Spinoza became similar types of modes (manifestations) of a single substance.

In contrast to the theory of Descartes and Spinoza, Leibniz put forward the theory of monads (or the plurality of substances). The main provisions of this theory (monadology) are as follows:

The whole world is made up of a huge number of substances,

having a non-dualistic (dual, like Descartes and

Spinoza), but a single nature;

These substances are called monads (translated from Greek - "one", "unit");

The monad is simple, indivisible, has no extension, is not

material and material education;

The monad has four qualities: aspiration, attraction, perception, representation;

At its core, a monad is an activity, a single, continuously changing state;

By virtue of the continuity of its existence, the monad is aware of itself;

Monads are absolutely closed and independent of each other (according to Leibniz: "they have no windows through which something could enter in and out").

Leibniz divides all existing monads into four classes:

"bare monads" - underlie inorganic nature (stones, earth, minerals);

Monads of animals - have sensations, but undeveloped self-consciousness;

Monads of a person (soul) - have consciousness, memory, a unique ability of the mind to think;

The highest monad is God.

The higher the class of a monad, the greater its intelligence and degree of freedom.

3. Another sphere of Leibniz's philosophical interests, along with the problems of being and the doctrine of substances (monads), was epistemology (philosophy of knowledge).

Leibniz attempted to reconcile empiricism and rationalism, and did so in the following way:

He divided all knowledge into two types - "truths of reason" and "truths of fact";

"truths of reason" are derived from reason itself, can be proved logically, are necessary and universal;

"truths of fact" - knowledge obtained empirically (experimentally) (for example, magnetic attraction, the boiling point of water, the melting point of various metals); as a rule, this knowledge only states the fact itself, but does not talk about its causes, they are of a probabilistic nature;

Despite the fact that empirical (empirical, "truths of fact") knowledge is probabilistic and not certain (like "truths of reason"), nevertheless, it cannot be ignored as knowledge. Thus, according to Leibniz, knowledge can be carried out not only by obtaining only one type of knowledge - either rational or experimental, but both of them, and one of them - rational (obtained on the basis of reason) - will be reliable, and the other - empirical (based on experience) - only probabilistic.

Ticket 17 Philosophical views of F. Voltaire, J.J. Rousseau.

Francois Marie Arouet (1694-1778), who, after his first creative triumph (1718), called himself Voltaire. Even in his youth, speaking out against religious fanaticism, the existing social order, he was subjected to persecution and was forced to spend a significant part of his life outside the Motherland.

Works: "Philosophical Letters", "Fundamentals of Newton's Philosophy", "Philosophical Dictionary", "Candide".

The main focus of his works is anti-feudal, in the center of which is anti-clericalism.

The essence of the views.

1. According to Voltaire, the essence of the era that has come (XVIII century) is the mind, the highest embodiment of which was the “Healthy Philosophy”, based on science and art. Reason will increasingly spread its influence over human life.

2. Passionately speaking out against religion (“Crush the vermin!”), he saw the need to recognize the existence of God from a moral and ethical point of view in order to maintain order in society, to keep people in obedience and a rigid framework of morality (under the threat of God's punishment).

3. Nature has a universal pattern, where predominantly causal character prevails.

4. Rejecting the proof of the existence of God, Voltaire recognized the expedient arrangement of the world and the rational creator as the reason for this expediency (deism).

"If God did not exist, he would have to be invented."

5. Consciousness - recognized as an attribute of matter, and explained the diversity of the world by the existence of "universal mind".

6. In cognition, Voltaire accepted Locke's sensationalism and became one of its first popularizers.

7. In his writings, he defended the equality of people, but understood it only as political equality and equality before law and law.

Voltaire considered social and property inequality a prerequisite for maintaining social balance and the normal development of society;

8. Voltaire introduced the term "Philosophy of History", by which he understood the doctrine of the progressive development of mankind, and not as a manifestation of divine will, but as the creativity of the people themselves.

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) is one of the most prominent representatives of the French Enlightenment. The main attention was paid to socio-political philosophy. Born in Geneva in the family of an artisan watchmaker. Major works: "Discourse on the origin and foundations of inequality between people" (1755), "On the social contract" (1762), "Emil, or on education" (1762), etc.

The essence of the views.

1. In philosophical views - a dualist, argued that matter and spirit exist from eternity as two principles.

2. God exists as an impersonal root cause of the universe (deism).

3. Matter is uncreated, passive, dead and always exists.

4. Man consists of a mortal body and an immortal soul.

5. In the theory of knowledge, he stood on the positions of sensationalism, although he was convinced that a person is not able to fully understand the world (the essence of things and phenomena).

6. Considered the main cause of contradictions and inequality in society - private property.

7. The formation of inequality, according to Rousseau, took place in three stages:

the first - when private property arose (when someone fenced off a piece of land and said: "This is mine," and everyone believed it);

the second - from the emergence of the state, when the poor and the rich concluded an agreement between themselves on the formation of state power;

the third is the transition of state power to despotism, which turns subjects into slaves.

9. In a just society, everyone should have equal rights, and private property should be evenly distributed among all citizens.

10. Assuming that the state is the result of an agreement between people, ie. the formation of a collective whole, the people, then the people have supreme power, sovereignty.

11. Rousseau's political ideal is not representative, but direct democracy, in which laws are adopted by a direct assembly of all citizens.

12. In the future state, a significant place should be occupied by the problems of education:

a) start from early childhood;

b) pedagogical influence should be carried out purposefully on the ideas of personal freedom, mutual respect, intolerance towards religion and despotism; to teach professions and knowledge in the sciences;

c) public education should be prescribed by the government;

d) aimed at the formation of love for the Fatherland;

e) any such cases must be proclaimed publicly.

Rousseau was one of the first to reveal the contradictory aspects of the development of civilization.

Ticket 18 Philosophical views of the French materialists (J. O. La Mettrie, K. A. Helvetius, D. Diderot, P. Holbach).

MATERIALISM (from Latin materialis material), a philosophical direction that proceeds from the fact that the world is material, exists objectively, outside and independently of consciousness, that matter is primary, not created by anyone, exists forever, that consciousness, thinking is a property of matter, that the world and its laws are cognizable. Materialism is the opposite of idealism; their struggle is the content of the historical-philosophical process.

Denis Diderot (1713-1784) launched a program for the development of the materialistic philosophy of the Enlightenment. “The vast field of science,” he writes, “I imagine as a huge space, some parts of which are dark, while others are illuminated. Our labors should aim either to expand the boundaries of illuminated places, or to increase the centers of light ... We have three main means at our disposal: observation of nature, reflection and experiment. Observation collects facts, reflection combines them, experience tests the results of combinations. It is necessary that observation of nature be constant, reflection deep, and experience exact.” To achieve this and thereby increase the power of knowledge, the union of physics and metaphysics is necessary - experience and speculative, speculative philosophy. Thinkers must engage in activity with real objects, and the research of experimenters must acquire, with the help of thinking, a common goal, a direction highlighted by the idea of ​​the whole.

Diderot is convinced that our concepts are true only if they correspond to things outside of us, which is established only by experience, or by reasoning based on observation and experiment. But the weakness of human senses and the imperfection of the instruments used by scientists do not allow us to observe everything that exists. Because of this, all judgments made by our thinking are by no means absolute. Each of them is only a guess about what should happen, built on the basis of what has already happened. Therefore, we do not and cannot know the essence of those things and phenomena with which we deal in experience. Our knowledge of nature is only its interpretation, the interpretation is nothing more. According to Diderot, this does not mean at all that we have no right to assume what the essence of nature is and, based on what has been established by experience, to attribute certain properties to this substance. Diderot defines nature as the general result of the combination of heterogeneous elements of inert matter in constant motion. The transmission of motion from one body to another, occurring as a result of their causal relationship, links all natural phenomena together in a great chain. Based on this, Diderot puts forward the hypothesis that the basis of nature is only one substance, necessary and sufficient to explain the world and man - matter. Its universal properties or attributes are the faculties of movement and sensation.

The first attempt at a detailed exposition of materialistic views in the 18th century belongs to Julien Ofray de La Mettrie (1709-1751). Like Diderot, La Mettrie shares Locke's position on the empirical source of all our knowledge and the conviction that the essence of anything is unknowable. Proceeding from general materialistic attitudes, he ascribes to matter, along with extension, the property of motion. Movement is interpreted by him as the ability of matter to actively change its forms and the ability to feel, or feel. La Mettrie believes that all of its modes depend on these attributes of matter, i.e. states of material bodies. The bodily size, figure, rest and position are derived from metaphysical extension. From the driving force - the warmth and coldness of bodies. Not only sensations and perceptions, but also thinking depend on the ability to feel. According to La Mettrie, modes are forms of the existence of matter. Only in their modifications does abstract matter and its attributes act as something sensuously existing, given in sensations and experience, giving any of our statements the force of evidence.

Based on these premises and the most important discoveries of anatomy, physiology and medicine of his time, La Mettrie argues that the soul is extended, since it reveals itself in the growth and movements of organic bodies. The seat of the sentient soul is the brain. It is concentrated in those parts of it that are affected by impulses coming from the senses. The human soul can rise from sensation to perception and thought. However, the very ability to think, like the ability to feel, depends on the physical organization of a person, because it gets upset, weakens and fades away along with his body. Therefore, concludes La Mettrie, our soul is material through and through. From his point of view, the spirit is only a very active and free matter, which differs from its other forms by intangible subtlety and extreme mobility.

Claude Adrian Helvetius (1715-1771) tried to define the nature of the human mind and morality. Disputes about materialism would be much less fierce if the arguing admitted that people themselves created matter, which should be understood only as a set of properties inherent in bodies. Since nature consists of separate things in certain relations with us and with each other, the knowledge of these external relations is what is called the human mind or spirit. In fact, all operations of our mind come down to judgment, i.e. to comparing our sensations with our ideas and finding similarities or differences between them. To judge is to speak of what I feel, says Helvetius. Since the sensations of objects are both pleasant and unpleasant, the judgments of individuals are ultimately dictated by their self-interest, behind which are the attraction to pleasure and the aversion from pain. From these two feelings, rooted in the nature of man, akin to the nature of all other living beings, arises selfishness or egoism. It is egoism, according to Helvetius, that is the primary impulse of all our actions and, therefore, the fundamental principle of human morality.

As the physical world is subject to the law of motion, so the moral world is subject to the law of selfish interest. Driven by selfishness, people strive only for their own good, i.e. Fortunately. Since society, according to Helvetius, is only a collection of individuals, this striving for happiness qualifies either as a virtue if the personal interest of a person is consistent with the interests of society as a whole, or as a crime if it diverges from them. Thus, selfishness and striving for happiness are the natural source of morality, which is able to direct the passions of individuals to the common good without the intervention of religion and the church. To do this, an enlightened sovereign should only issue such laws as would be able to ensure the coincidence of personal and public interests in the largest number of citizens. Ethics is an empty science if it does not merge with politics and legislation. But since the striving for personal well-being operates in a person with necessity, it is impossible to speak of the freedom of the human will. “A virtuous person is not one who sacrifices his habits and the strongest passions for the sake of the general interest, for such a person is impossible,” says Helvetius, “but one whose strong passion is so consistent with the public interest that he is almost always forced to be virtuous .”2

Baron Paul Henri Holbach (1723-1789) came forward with a materialistic doctrine of nature, summarizing the achievements of the natural sciences of his era. He believed that the universe or nature as such is a system, i.e. a whole consisting of parts, each of which is also a whole, a system. These particular systems necessarily depend on the general system of nature, and it depends on its constituents. According to Holbach, the basis of the universal interconnection of phenomena is an uninterrupted chain of material causes and actions, closed in a beginningless and endless cycle of changes that various things, moving, constantly cause in each other. By virtue of motion communicated and received according to the simple mechanical laws of attraction, inertia and repulsion, each thing arises, exists for a certain time and disappears, disintegrating into its constituent parts. They immediately form another thing, subject to the same fate. Thus, in the eternal creation and destruction of its parts, the great whole of nature affirms itself.

The movements of individual bodies depend on the general movement of the universe, and this, in turn, is supported by a mass of these particular movements. Therefore, there is no need to look for some supernatural source of movement or to assume the creation of nature from nothing. According to Holbach, in the universe, this huge conglomerate of everything that exists, there is nothing but matter and motion. In relation to us, matter in general is everything that in any way affects our senses, he argues. Motion is a mode of existence of matter, expressed in the movement of bodies. Since there is nothing outside the universal whole of the universe, nature has no ultimate goal. It also does not contain miracles, accidents and free causes and effects that violate the necessary mechanical connection, i.e. spontaneous movements.

Man, Holbach points out, is a part and a product of nature. It is similar to all its other products and differs from them only in some features of its organization. Thanks to them, a person can not only exist, live and feel, but also think, desire and act, i.e. consciously pursue your goals. What is called the soul of a person, in fact, is his internal organ - the brain. The human brain, due to its specific structure, is able to perceive the effects of the external environment on the sense organs and combine them in its own way. Holbach calls these functions of the brain consciousness and reason. The mind is a combination of various abilities of the brain, and the mind is the ability to demonstrate them. Thinking, therefore, is a way of being of matter, a certain movement in the human head. The spirit, interpreted by metaphysicians as an intangible substance, simply does not exist.

Ticket 19 Philosophical views of I. Kant.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) - the founder of German classical philosophy, the founder of critical, or transcendental, idealism.

Scientist in 1747-1755 - in the "subcritical" period (before 1770) he created the "nebular" cosmogonic hypothesis of the origin of the solar system from the nebula - the hypothesis of a large universe outside our Galaxy - the doctrine of slowing down as a result of tidal friction - the daily rotation of the Earth - the doctrine of the relativity of motion and rest .

These studies, united by the materialistic idea of ​​the natural development of the Universe and the Earth, played an important role in the formation of dialectics. Philosopher in the "pre-critical" period under the influence of empiricism and skepticism of C. Hume:

1) outlined the difference between the real and the logical basis;

2) introduced the concept of negative quantities into philosophy;

3) ridiculed the fascination of contemporaries with mysticism and "spiritual vision".

The role of deductive-formal methods of thinking is limited in favor of experience. In 1770 - the transition of I. Kant to the views of the "critical" period. "Critique of Pure Reason" - 1781, "Critique of Practical Reason" - 1788, "Critique of the Faculty of Judgment" - 1790.

This is the theory of knowledge, ethics, aesthetics and the doctrine of the expediency of nature.

I. Kant opposes the dogmatism of abstract philosophy (metaphysics) - without a preliminary study of the forms of cognition and the limits of cognitive abilities.

He comes to agnosticism: a dualistic doctrine of the unknowability of "things in themselves", which are an objective source of sensations. Only "appearances" are known, through which things reveal themselves. Phenomena form a sphere of infinite possible experience. Reliable theoretical knowledge exists only in mathematics and natural sciences.

It is due to the existence of universally valid a priori forms that streamline the chaos of sensations.

A priori forms of reason (concepts) + a priori forms of connection (synthesis) of feelings and concepts = the basis of laws: constancy, interaction, causality.

I. Kant believed that opposite decisions can equally be justified:

1) the world is both finite and has no limits;

2) there are indivisible particles (atoms) - and there are no such particles;

3) all processes (actions) proceed as causally determined, and are performed freely;

4) there is an unconditionally necessary being - and there is no such being.

So, reason is by nature antinomic - it bifurcates in contradictions. But they seem. The solution lies in limiting knowledge in favor of faith, in distinguishing between "things in themselves" and "appearances", in recognizing "things in themselves" as unknowable. The doctrine of I. Kant about the antinomy of reason became the impetus for the development of positive dialectics in the idealism of German classical philosophy. In the mind lies the desire for knowledge, arising from the highest ethical demands. Under the pressure of this reason tends to solve questions about the processes in the world, about God.

The ideas of God, freedom, immortality, unprovable theoretically, are the postulates of "practical reason", a prerequisite for morality. The central principle of I. Kant's ethics, based on the concept of duty, is a categorical imperative, a rule that, regardless of the morality of an act, could become a universal law of behavior.

Renaissance, or Renaissance XV-XVI Art. (from fr. "renais-samee"- revival), got its name due to the fact that during this period there is a revival of the spiritual culture of antiquity. A feature of the early bourgeois culture was the appeal to the ancient heritage. The main prerequisites for the emergence of the philosophy and culture of the Renaissance were the crisis of feudalism, the improvement of tools and production relations, the development of crafts and trade, the increase in the level of education, the crisis of the church and scholastic philosophy, geographical and scientific and technical discoveries.

The Renaissance as a whole life is focused on art, and the cult of the artist-creator occupies a central place in it. The artist imitates not just the creations of God, but the very divine creativity. A person begins to look for a foothold in himself - in his soul, body, physicality. The cult of beauty comes first. Representatives of this trend were Botticelli, Raphael.

Periodization of the development of the Renaissance:

• XIV - the middle of the XV centuries, - the early period of the Renaissance has a "humanistic" character. Italy was the center of the "humanistic" renaissance. During this period, medieval theocentrism was replaced by an interest in man;
• middle of the 15th - first quarter of the 16th centuries. the second period - Neoplatonic, associated with the formulation of ontological problems;
• the third period is natural-philosophical, the beginning of the 16th - the first half of the 18th century.

The main feature of the ideology of the Renaissance is humanism (from lat. homo- man) is an ideological movement that asserted the value of man and human life. The founder of the ideology of humanism is the poet Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374). In the philosophy of the Renaissance, humanism manifested itself in anthropocentrism (from the Greek. anthropos - man) - a man in the center of everything that exists. A person becomes a creator, he is brilliant, talented. In human relations, the main thing is mutual respect and love. In the philosophy of the Renaissance, the aesthetic (translated from Greek means "related to feeling") attitude to reality dominates, thinkers are more interested in the creativity and beauty of the human person, rather than religious dogmas.

As for philosophy, the separation from theology has now begun. The era of the development of sciences begins, their role is to give true knowledge about nature. A peculiar manifestation of humanism is rationalism, which affirms the priority of reason over faith. A person can independently explore the secrets of being, studying the foundations of the existence of nature. During the Renaissance, the scholastic principles of knowledge were rejected, and experimental, natural science knowledge was resumed. New, anti-religious pictures of the world were created. These include the heliocentric picture of the Universe by Nicolaus Copernicus and the picture of the infinite Universe by Giordano Bruno.

During the Renaissance, a new philosophical worldview was developed. It was a new philosophical area - the philosophy of nature. The representatives were: Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), Galileo Galilei (1564-1642).

Nicholas of Cusa- the first prominent representative of the pantheistic philosophy of the Renaissance. He argued that the possibilities of man in the field of knowledge are unlimited.

Nicholas Copernicus changed the theocentric view of the world. He defeated an artificial system based on geocentric concepts ("geo" - the earth, it is the center of the universe) and created a heliocentric theory (Copernicus proved that the Earth revolves around the sun, so this theory was called heliocentric ("helio" - the sun), according to which the sun is at the center of the universe Let's turn to the diagram (see diagram 21).

"COPERNICAN REVOLUTION"

The greatest genius of this period was Giordano Bruno. He rejected all church dogmas, developed the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus, expressed the idea of ​​the existence of other worlds.

Of great importance for the development of the philosophy of the Renaissance were the works of Galileo Galilei.

Galileo called for the study of nature only by experience, experimentally, on the basis of mathematics and mechanics. He believed that only scientific methods, including experiment, could lead to the truth. The scientific methodology of Galileo, based on mathematics and mechanics, defined his worldview as mechanistic materialism.

In the views on nature in the philosophy of the Renaissance, pantheism dominated (from the Greek "rap" - everything and "teos" - god), a doctrine that identified nature and God. God is poured into all nature.

The natural-philosophical ideas of Renaissance thinkers had a decisive influence on the development of philosophy and natural science in modern times.

Basic concepts and terms

anthropocentrism- a worldview that evaluates the world through a person, considering him the main value of the universe.

heliocentrism belief system that considers the sun to be the center of the universe.

Geocentrism A belief system that considers the Earth to be the center of the universe.

Humanism- a system of views that recognizes the value of a person as a person, his rights to freedom, happiness, equality, the struggle to create conditions for the free development of human creative forces and abilities

From the 14th to the 17th century, new philosophical trends arose and developed in Europe. Gradually, they united into a separate trend - the philosophy of the Renaissance. Its main ideas were taken from antiquity: the apologists of the direction denied the authority of the Church and considered a person as a separate person, endowed with limitless possibilities. The philosophy of the Renaissance is a unique historical stage that launched the development of modern sociological sciences.

How was the philosophy of the Renaissance born?

The Renaissance (its second name is the Renaissance) arose as a natural response to the actual needs of man. In the Middle Ages, the authority of the Church was unshakable. Commoners were forced to pay huge taxes on the maintenance of the clergy, and the monarchs had no right to make any significant decisions without the approval of the Pope. The current situation did not suit either the first or the second.

Thanks to the active development of science in the 14th-15th centuries, people got the opportunity to travel, study natural phenomena, get acquainted with other cultures. New trade ties appeared and strengthened. Society developed: the first parliaments and societies independent of church influence appeared. The level of education of the urban population has increased several times. Together, this led to the formation of a new society that outgrew the forced imposition of dogmatic religion.

The main prerequisites for the development of a new cultural era:

• political crisis - mass protests against feudalism arose in all European countries, and mainly in Italy, the cradle of Christian philosophy;
• technical breakthrough - the invention and improvement of tools, the emergence of firearms, new medical equipment and methods of treatment;
• the strengthening of individual cities - the development of infrastructure turned them into independent commercial, industrial, military and cultural centers.

Faith in Christian postulates began to fade sharply. Church (scholastic) ideals were subjected to increasing skepticism. Technological advances and the triumph of science over religious myths laid the foundation for a new perception of man. At the head of everything was an individual personality - significant and unique. Philosophers did not deny the existence of God, but rejected the idea of ​​his unlimited influence on man.

The essence of philosophy: main ideas and features

The specificity of the new philosophical direction is the rejection of the servile worship of God as the highest Creator, and a return to the ideals of Ancient Rome. It was characterized by humanism - a trend professing the principles of personal freedom, individualism and equality. Man is a new subject of study in the 14th century, and he is also the main source of knowledge.

Fundamentals of the philosophy of the Renaissance:

1. Anthropocentrism, created on the postulates of ancient humanism. Man is the basis of the universe. According to the ideas of humanists, God endowed the first man Adam with free will, the ability to independently determine his own destiny.
2. Priority attention to the development of science. Cognition is a way of understanding the world, its structure and hidden properties. Particular attention was paid to geography, physics, mathematics and literature.
3. Natural philosophy as the only perception of the world. According to her, nature is an integral organism, no object can exist on its own. It is possible to know all natural processes and phenomena only through comparison and opposition. The famous natural philosopher Paracelsus considered nature through the prism of alchemy - an occult direction designed to control the forces of nature with the help of secret knowledge.
4. Pantheism is a religious doctrine according to which God is equal to nature, merges with it into a single whole. It was intended to unite science and the church, which rejected any attempts to question Christian dogmas. Thanks to pantheism, the progressive development of physics, chemistry, and medicine became possible.

The founders of the philosophy of the Renaissance were not recognized philosophers of that time, but representatives of Bohemia: poets, rhetors, teachers, scientists. A new culture was born in communes, patrician houses and street meetings. It spread quickly and was readily accepted by representatives of different segments of the population, despite the active opposition of the Church.

Periods and their key achievements

The Renaissance is divided into 3 periods. Each of these periods of philosophy has its famous followers:

1. humanistic phase. It began in the middle of the 14th century and lasted until the middle of the 15th century. The early age of the development of the philosophy of the Renaissance focuses on man as a creator. He deserves a happy life and should strive for it. The highest task of man is to become like God.
2. Neoplatonic stage. It lasted from the middle of the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century. Philosophers sought to unite the image of God and man in the public mind. Contrary to church ideas about the value of the afterlife, they put forward the idea of ​​the mortality of the soul. Revolutionary calls were made to overthrow the ruling regime and establish social equality.
   Naturphilosophical stage. It began towards the end of the 16th century and ended by
3. Naturphilosophical stage. It began towards the end of the 16th century and ended by the middle of the 17th century. During this period, the natural sciences actively developed. The theory of the infinity of the universe was first put forward.

By the end of the 17th century, the perception of God and the Universe as a whole was finally formed. Attempts by the Church to ban the spread of the new perception have not been successful. The main ideas of the Renaissance philosophy spread despite the appearance of the Inquisition, constant persecution and executions.

Characteristic features of the Renaissance

Among the common features that characterize the periods of the Renaissance, the following features can be distinguished:

1. Theomachism. Philosophers tried to find a compromise between their ideas about the world and the established views dictated by Christianity. They did not dispute the existence of God, but tried to move away from the concept of divine supremacy.
2. Natural science way of knowing the world. The development of science was based on the principle of cognition by the method of experience. First, a hypothesis was put forward, then experiments were carried out, and the result obtained either confirmed or refuted the original version.
3. The rapid spread of new cultural trends. The foundations of the philosophical idea, which originated in Italy, penetrated into all European countries.
4. Charity. Based on the values ​​of humanism, a sharply negative attitude towards financial inequality gradually formed. Charity, as the idea of ​​sharing wealth equally, found a lively response from many public figures.
5. Tolerance. Tolerance for the different is a direct consequence of the acceptance of the uniqueness of the human person.
6. Rejection of demagogy. Any disputes based on theoretical knowledge were considered a waste of time and an attempt to distract the human mind from its true purpose - the active study of the world.
7. Individualism. Self-development was encouraged, the satisfaction of one's personal needs, which might not meet social expectations.

Separate features of the Renaissance supported one common idea - only a free person can be happy.

Ideologies and their followers

The ideologies were based on ancient Greek ideas about the world and man. Among the numerous currents that originated at the beginning of the 15th century, 4 main directions can be distinguished.

Renaissance Ideologies:

1. Humanism. An ethical position that assumed that a person has the right to self-determination.
2. Secularism. A socio-political movement that involved the separation of church and government.
3. Heliocentrism. According to this teaching, the Sun is the center of the system of the world. The earth revolves around him and is subject to his influence. Heliocentrism originated in antiquity, and in the Renaissance it was rethought and became widespread.
4. Neoplatonism. The direction of philosophy based on the teachings of Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher. It is based on the ideas of the cosmic hierarchy and the ascent of the soul to the level of the primary source - God.

Followers

Among the famous philosophers of the Renaissance, there are the following:

1. N. Machiavelli. He became the first philosopher to criticize and reject the idea of ​​theocracy - the direct influence of the Church on the ruling monarchy. According to the ideas of Machiavelli, the state should be based on the secular principle of government. In his opinion, a person is inherently greedy and strives for the selfish satisfaction of his desires. Only a state built on non-violent methods of government, the absence of corruption and developed jurisprudence will make it possible to manage the human essence and improve it.
2. D. Alighieri. Poet, author of The Divine Comedy. In his work, he describes a model of the world, similar to the medieval one. According to her, the center of the universe is the Earth, and the only creator is God. But the main purpose of man was not to serve God's will, but to achieve perfection within the framework of his earthly life. Dante believed in the greatness of man and his limitless possibilities.
3. F. Petrarch. He is called "the first humanist". Petrarch became famous as a lyric writer, author of sonnets, plays and madrigals. He also wrote philosophical treatises in which he promoted humanistic values. Refusing to study at a prestigious scholastic university, Petrarch chose self-education and became one of the most revered thinkers of his time.
4. N. Kuzansky. According to his teaching, God is an unattainable beginning for man. A person is able to comprehend the secrets of nature and learn the true essence of objects and phenomena. Reason is a thread that connects a person with God and with nature. Kazansky outlined his ideas in the essays On Scientific Ignorance and On Assumptions.
5. E. Rotterdam. Known as the author of the doctrine "Philosophy of Christ". He argued that anyone can follow the commandments of Jesus and become a Christian in the true sense of the word. He condemned the feudal system, complacency and war. In his essay "On Free Will", he defended the human right to self-determination. His close friend and colleague T. Mor published the works "Utopia" with similar ideas. In it, More considered a social order based on the principles of public property.
6. M. Montaigne. He explored questions of the human. Montaigne set out his ideas in the essay "Experiments" - a monumental work that affects many aspects of society. His views remain relevant and acceptable in the 21st century.
7. D. Bruno. He wrote several philosophical treatises in which he argued about the unity and infinity of the universe. He is the author of the hypothesis about the continuity of space, time and matter. According to Bruno, the ultimate goal of human knowledge is the contemplation of a deity. It is available only to enthusiasts - active, purposeful people who do not accept hypocrisy and asceticism. Adhered to the ideas of pantheism and heliocentrism. For his views he was convicted and executed as a heretic.
8. G. Galileo. A scientist based on the principles of methodology. Studied geography, physics, chemistry. In his view, philosophy and science are inextricably linked and should develop in parallel. Wrote several scientific works on which scientists of the 18th and 19th centuries relied.

The Renaissance is the heyday of scientific thought. Thanks to him, the perception of human life as the highest value, the rejection of the medieval ascetic worldview, and the desire to create an equal society were born. The achievements of modern science became possible thanks to the discoveries made from the 14th to the 17th century, and the names of their authors are known and revered to this day.