Intuition and its role in cognition. Eidetic intuition - the construction of new visual images based on previously existing concepts

In obtaining new knowledge, logical thinking, methods and techniques for the formation of concepts, and the laws of logic play an important role. But experience cognitive activity testifies that ordinary logic in many cases is insufficient for solving scientific problems; the process of producing new information cannot be reduced to either inductively or deductively unfolded thinking. An important place in this process is occupied by intuition, which gives cognition a new impulse and direction of movement.

Intuition, as a specific cognitive process that directly produces new knowledge, is just as universal, characteristic of all people (albeit to varying degrees), as well as feelings and abstract thinking.

Intuition lends itself to experimental study. Of the works devoted to the study of intuition through experiment, one can single out the works of Ya. A. Ponomarev, (Elton, K-Fakuoara.

The prevalence, universality of intuition is confirmed by numerous observations of people in ordinary, everyday conditions; there are frequent cases when, in a non-standard situation that requires a quick decision in conditions of limited information, the subject makes a choice of his actions, as if “foreseeing” that it is necessary to do just that, and nothing else.

Human culture knows many cases when a scientist, designer, artist or musician achieved something fundamentally new in their field, as it were, by "insight", "on a hunch".

In the history of music, there are often cases when a musical idea came to the composer at the most unexpected this moment let's say in a dream.

The greatest achievements of theoretical science are also connected with the action of intuition.

An interesting view of A. Einstein on the work of a theoretical physicist and his judgments about his own work

Intuition is important in the field philosophical knowledge. Intuition is associated with the idea of ​​Aristotle's syllogisms, the idea of ​​combining philosophy and mathematics by R. Descartes, the idea of ​​I. Kant's antinomies, and many others.

The phenomenon of intuition is extremely wide, not always everything that is considered intuitive really deserves such a name. In thinking, for example, inferences are not uncommon, the premises of which are not formulated explicitly; the result of such inferences is unexpected, but not at all intuitive, as some scientists believe. It is not necessary to take for intuition that which belongs to the realm of instincts, is characterized by automatic reactions in a similar environment and has physiological mechanisms in the subconscious or unconscious sphere of the subject. Sometimes one speaks of "sensory intuition" as perception by the senses ("intuitive" premises of Euclid's geometry, etc.). Although such usage is possible, it is identical to "sensory-sensitive". As a specific phenomenon of cognition, the concept of intuition has many meanings.

We understand by intuition intellectual intuition (lat. intellectus - the mind, the thinking ability of a person), which allows one to penetrate into the essence of things.

And another extremely important feature is characteristic of intuition - its immediacy. It is customary to call direct knowledge (as opposed to indirect) such that is not based on logical proof. Intuition is direct knowledge only in the sense that at the moment a new position is put forward, it does not follow with logical necessity from existing sensory experience and theoretical constructions. If we keep in mind that intuition refers to the intellect and is associated with a reflection of the essence of objects (i.e., if we distinguish it from sensory-sensitive and instinctive), then we can take as its initial definition such a definition:

intuition is the ability to comprehend the truth by direct observation of it without substantiation with the help of evidence.

two traits inherent in intuition: suddenness and unconsciousness. Intuitive "vision" is made not only accidentally and suddenly, but also without obvious awareness of the ways and means leading to this result.

Sometimes the result remains unconscious, and intuition itself, with such an outcome of its action, is destined for only the fate of a possibility that has not become reality. The individual may not retain (or have) any recollection of the experienced act of intuition at all. One remarkable observation was made by the American mathematician Leonard Eugene Dixon. His mother and her sister, who were rivals in geometry at school, spent a long and fruitless evening solving a problem. At night, the mother dreamed of this problem: and she began to solve it aloud in a loud and clear voice; her sister, hearing this, got up and wrote it down. The next morning, she had the right decision in her hands, unknown to Dixon's mother. This example illustrates, among other things, the unconscious nature of the phenomenon called "mathematical dreams" and the operation at the unconscious level of the human psyche.

Thus, the intuitive ability of a person is characterized by: 1) the unexpectedness of the solution of the problem, 2) the unconsciousness of the ways and means of solving it, and 3) the immediacy of comprehending the truth at the essential level of objects.

These signs separate intuition from mental and logical processes close to it. But even within these limits, we are dealing with quite diverse phenomena. In different people, various conditions intuition can have a different degree of remoteness from consciousness, be specific in content, in the nature of the result, in depth of penetration into the essence, in significance for the subject, etc.

Intuition is divided into several types, primarily depending on the specifics of the subject's activity. Features of the forms of material practical activity and spiritual production also determine the features of the intuition of a steelworker, an agronomist, a doctor, and an experimental biologist. There are such types of intuition as technical, scientific, everyday, medical, artistic, etc.

By the nature of novelty, intuition is standardized and heuristic. The first of these is called intuition-reduction. An example is the medical intuition of S. P. Botkin. It is known that while the patient was walking from the door to the chair (the length of the cabinet was 7 meters), S.P. Botkin mentally made a preliminary diagnosis. Most of his intuitive diagnoses turned out to be correct.

Heuristic (creative) intuition differs significantly from standardized intuition: it is associated with the formation of a fundamentally new knowledge, new epistemological images, sensual or conceptual. The same S. P. Botkin, acting as a clinical scientist and developing the theory of medicine, more than once relied on such intuition in his scientific activities. She helped him, for example, in putting forward a hypothesis about the infectious nature of catarrhal jaundice ("Botkin's disease").

The heuristic intuition itself has its subspecies. For us, this division is important on an epistemological basis, i.e. by the nature of the result. Of interest is the point of view according to which the essence of creative intuition lies in a kind of interaction of visual images and abstract concepts, and heuristic intuition itself appears in two forms: eidetic and conceptual. Let's consider this question in more detail.

In principle, the following ways of forming .. sensual times and concepts in human consciousness: 1) sensory-perceptual process, as a result of which sensory images appear; 2) sensory-associative process of transition from one image to another; 3) the process of transition from sensory images to concepts; 4) the process of transition from concepts to sensory images; 5) pro logical mind process conclusion, in which the transition from one concept to another is made.

It is obvious that the first, second and fifth directions of creating epistemological images are not intuitive. Even if we take an “automated”, folded inference (within the framework of the fifth direction), then it will turn out to be nothing essentially different from a complete, expanded inference; here there will be no special way of forming knowledge, as in the first two cases. Therefore, the assumption arises that the formation of intuitive knowledge is associated with processes of the third and fourth types, that is, with the transition from sensory images to concepts and from concepts to sensory images. The legitimacy of such an assumption is confirmed by the fact that the nature of these processes is in good agreement with the most typical features of the intuitive "perception of truth" recorded in phenomenological descriptions of intuition: in them, the transformation of the sensory-visual into the abstract-conceptual and vice versa takes place. Between visual images and concepts there are no intermediate steps different from them; even the most elementary concepts differ from sensory representations. Here arise concepts that are not logically deducible from other concepts, and images that are not generated by other images according to the laws of sensory association, and therefore it is natural that the results obtained seem "directly perceived." This also explains the spasmodic nature of this transformation and the process of obtaining the result.

Examples of eidetic intuition are Kekule's visual representation of the structure of the benzene molecule, or Rutherford's visual representation of the structure of the atom. These representations are not reduced to a simple reproduction of the data of direct sensory experience and are formed with the help of concepts. Examples of conceptual intuition are the emergence of the concept of quaternions in Hamilton or the concept of neutrinos in Pauli. These concepts did not arise through consistent logical reasoning (although this process preceded the discovery), but in leaps and bounds; of great importance in their formation was the combination of the corresponding sensory images ("combinatorial game" with figurative elements of thinking, in the words of A. Einstein).

From the standpoint of such an understanding of creative intuition and its varieties, its definition is also given. Creative intuition is defined as a specific cognitive process, which consists in the interaction of sensory images and abstract concepts and leads to the creation of fundamentally new images and concepts, the content of which is not derived by a simple synthesis of previous perceptions or by only logical operation of existing concepts. The practical nature of man and cognition determines, in our opinion, the creative intuition of a scientist and its division into eidetic and conceptual. We agree that it is in the processes of transition from sensory images to concepts and from concepts to sensory images that one should look for a clue to the mysterious nature of intuitive knowledge.

The future will show how true this idea of ​​the epistemological mechanism of intuition is.

The speed with which intuition operates is mysterious. In the section on the abstract mental ability of a person, we have already paid attention to the existence of non-verbalized thinking and to a significant acceleration of the thought process in this form. An amazing phenomenon is observed: the possibility of processing 10 bits of information per second at the unconscious level, and only 10 at the conscious level. All this is an important prerequisite for the deployment of fast thought processes, for operating with a huge amount of "pure" information in the subconscious (unconscious) sphere. The subconscious mind is capable of a short time a huge amount of work that is beyond the power of consciousness in the same short period of time.

The aesthetic factor also takes part in the process of intuitive decision. With any kind of intuition - eidetic or conceptual - there is, as it were, the completion of a picture (situation) to integrity.

The general conditions for the formation and manifestation of intuition include the following. 1) solid professional training person, deep knowledge of the problem", 2) a search situation, a state of problematicity; 3) the action of a search dominant on the basis of continuous attempts to solve a problem, strenuous efforts to solve a problem or task; 4) the presence of a "hint".

The role of the "hint" is clearly seen from the following experiment. The conditions of creative activity were simulated. A large number of adults (600 people) were asked to solve a problem called "Four points". Her wording:

"Given four points; it is required to draw three straight lines through these four points, without lifting the pencil from the paper, so that the pencil returns to the starting point." The subjects were selected from among those who did not know the principle of solving the problem. The solution time was limited to 10 minutes. All subjects, without exception, after a series of unsuccessful attempts, stopped solving and recognized the problem as unsolvable. To achieve success, it was necessary to "escape" beyond the boundaries of the area of ​​the plane, limited by points, but this did not occur to anyone - everyone remained inside this area. Then the subjects were offered a "hint". They learned the rules of the game of khalma. According to the rules of this game, they must jump over three black pieces in one move of the white piece so that the white piece returns to its original place. While performing this action, the subjects traced with their hands a route that coincided with the scheme for solving the problem, i.e., corresponding to the graphical expression for solving this problem (the subjects were also given other prompts). If such a hint was given before the presentation of the problem, then success was minimal; if, after the subject got into a problem situation and became convinced of the futility of his attempts to solve it, the problem was solved.

This simple experiment suggests that the intrinsic difficulty of the problem arises because its conditions directly reproduce, in the subject's past experience, extremely hardened empirically generalized techniques - the union of points by the shortest distance. The subjects, as it were, are locked in a section of the area, limited by four points, while it is necessary to leave this section. From experience it follows that favorable circumstances develop when the subject, fruitlessly searching for a solution to the problem, exhausts the wrong methods, but has not yet reached the stage at which the search dominant goes out, i.e. when the subject loses interest in the problem, when attempts that have already been made and failed are repeated, when the situation of the problem ceases to change and the subject recognizes the problem as unsolvable. Hence the conclusion that the success of an intuitive solution depends on how much the researcher managed to get rid of the pattern, to be convinced of the unsuitability of previously known paths and at the same time to remain passionate about the problem, not to recognize it as unsolvable. The hint turns out to be decisive in freeing oneself from standard, stereotyped trains of thought. The specific form of the hint, those specific objects and phenomena that are used in this case, are an unimportant circumstance. Its general meaning is important. The idea of ​​a hint should be embodied in some specific phenomena, but which ones exactly - this will not be a decisive factor.

Since the intuitive work of thinking takes place in the subconscious sphere, continues even when the subject is "disconnected" from the problem, it can be concluded that such a temporary disconnection can be useful.

The researchers note that the intuitive ability was formed, apparently, as a result of the long development of living organisms due to the need to make decisions with incomplete information about events, and the ability to intuitively know can be regarded as a probabilistic response to probabilistic environmental conditions. From this point of view, since the scientist is not given all the prerequisites and means to make a discovery, insofar as he makes a probabilistic choice.

The probabilistic nature of intuition means for a person both the possibility of obtaining true knowledge and the danger of having erroneous, untrue knowledge. The English physicist M. Faraday, known for his work in the field of electricity, magnetism and electrochemistry, wrote that no one suspects how many conjectures and theories that arise in the head of a researcher are destroyed by his own criticism and hardly one tenth of all his assumptions and hopes come true. . The conjecture that has arisen in the head of a scientist or designer must be verified. Testing the same hypothesis, as we know, is carried out in the practice of scientific research. "Intuition is enough to discern the truth, but it is not enough to convince others and oneself of this truth. For this, proof is necessary."

Proof (in broad sense) includes an appeal to the sensory perceptions of some physical objects and phenomena, as well as logical reasoning, arguments. In deductive sciences (logic, mathematics, in some sections of theoretical physics), proofs are chains of inferences leading from true premises to provable theses. Without logical reasoning based on the law of sufficient reason, it is impossible to come to the establishment of the truth of the put forward position.

The question is, what does the process of movement of knowledge look like: discontinuous or continuous? If we take the development of science as a whole, then it is obvious that in this general flow of discontinuities, denoted at the individual level by intuitive jumps, do not make themselves felt; here their leaps, called revolutions in science. But for individual scientists, the process of the development of knowledge in their field of scientific research appears differently: knowledge develops spasmodically, intermittently, with "logical vacuums", but, on the other hand, it develops without leaps, since the logical thought that follows each "insight" methodically and purposefully fills the "logical vacuum". From the point of view of the individual, the development of knowledge is the unity of discontinuity and continuity, the unity of gradualness and leap. In this aspect, creativity acts as a unity of the rational and the irrational. Creativity "is not the opposite of rationality, but is its natural and necessary addition. One simply could not exist without the other. Creativity is therefore not irrational, that is, not hostile to rationality, not anti-rational, as many thinkers of the past thought ... On the contrary, creativity , flowing subconsciously or unconsciously, not obeying certain rules and standards, ultimately at the level of results can be consolidated with rational activity, included in it, can become its integral part or, in some cases, lead to the creation of new types of rational activity"

In the history of philosophy the problem of intuition received great attention. Neither Plato nor Aristotle could imagine creativity without it. The difference between them was only in the interpretation of intuition. Philosophers of modern times, who developed methods of rational knowledge of nature, also could not fail to note important intuition. R. Descartes, for example, believed that rational knowledge, having passed through the "purgatory" of methodological doubt, is associated with intuition, which gives the first principles, from which all other knowledge is then deduced by deduction. “Propositions that directly follow from the first principle can be said to be known,” he wrote, “both intuitively and deductively, depending on the way they are considered, while the principles themselves are only intuitive, as well as, on the contrary, their individual consequences - only deductively.

A. Bergson attached great importance to the problem of intuition. In particular, he drew attention to philosophical intuition, devoting a special work to it (published in Russian in 1911). He connected intuition with instinct, with knowledge of the living, changeable, with synthesis, and logical - with intellect, with analysis. In his opinion, logic triumphs in science, which has as its subject solid bodies. Associating intuition with the acquisition of new knowledge in the form of sensory and conceptual images, he made a number of subtle observations; at the same time, one can notice in him his unnecessarily rigid opposition of intuition to logic.

One should neither overestimate intuition nor ignore its role in cognition. Discursive and intuitive are specific and complementary means of cognition.

In the process of cognition, along with rational operations and procedures, non-equal ones also participate. This does not mean that they are incompatible with rationality, i.e., irrational. What is the specificity of irrational mechanisms of cognition? Why are they needed, what role do they play in the process of cognition? To answer these questions, we need to find out what intuition and creativity are.

In real life, people are faced with rapidly changing situations. Therefore, along with decisions based on generally accepted norms of behavior, they have to make non-standard decisions. This process is usually called creativity.

Plato considered creativity to be a divine faculty akin to a special kind of madness. The Christian tradition interpreted creativity as the highest manifestation of the divine in man. Kant saw creativity as a distinctive feature of genius and contrasted creative activity with rational activity. From Kant's point of view, rational activity, for example, scientific activity, is at best the lot of talent, but genuine creativity, accessible to great prophets, philosophers or artists, is always the lot of genius. Great importance was attached to creativity as a special personal characteristics existentialist philosophers. Representatives depth psychology 3. Freud, K. G. Jung, German psychiatrist E. Kretschmer, author of the book “ genius people”, referring creativity entirely to the sphere of the unconscious, exaggerated its uniqueness and irreproducibility and, in essence, recognized its incompatibility with rational cognition.

The mechanisms of creativity are still not well understood. Nevertheless, it can be said with certainty that creativity is a product of human biosocial evolution. Already in the behavior of higher animals, acts of creativity are observed, albeit in an elementary form. Rats, after numerous attempts, found a way out of an extremely confusing maze. Chimpanzees who learned the language of the deaf-mute learned not only several hundred words and grammatical forms, but also sometimes constructed separate, completely new sentences, meeting with a non-standard situation, information about which they wanted to convey to a person. Obviously, the possibility for creativity lies not just in the biophysical and neurophysiological structures of the brain, but in its “functional architectonics”. It is a special system of organized and interconnected operations carried out various sites brain. With their help, sensory images and abstractions are created, sign information is processed, information is stored in the memory system, links are established between individual elements and a memory block, stored information is called from memory, grouping and regrouping (combining) various images and abstract knowledge, etc. Since in its biological and neurophysiological structure the human brain is qualitatively more complex than the brain of all higher animals, its “functional architectonics” is also qualitatively more complex. This provides an extraordinary, almost incalculable possibility of processing new information. Memory plays a special role here, that is, the storage of previously received information. It includes working memory, which is constantly used in cognitive and subject-practical activities, short-term memory, which can be used for short periods of time to solve frequently repeated tasks of the same type; long-term memory, which stores information that may be needed over long periods of time to solve relatively infrequent problems.

What is the relationship between rational and creative processes in cognitive and practical activities? The activity of people is expedient. To achieve a certain goal, it is necessary to solve a number of tasks and subtasks. Some of them can be solved using typical rational methods. To solve others, the creation or invention of non-standard, new rules and techniques is required. This happens when we are faced with fundamentally new situations that do not have exact analogues in the past. This is where creativity is needed. It is a mechanism for human adaptation in an infinitely diverse and changing world, a mechanism that ensures its survival and development. Wherein we are talking not only about the external, objective, but also about the internal, subjective world of a person, the infinite variety of his experiences, mental states, moods, emotions, fantasies, volitional acts, etc. This side of the matter cannot be covered by rationality, which includes in its composition a gigantic, but still a finite number of rules, norms, standards and standards. Therefore, creativity is not the opposite of rationality, but is its natural and necessary addition. One without the other simply could not exist. Therefore, creativity is not irrational, that is, not hostile to rationality, not anti-rational, as many thinkers of the past thought, it is not from God, as Plato thought, and not from the devil, as many medieval theologians and philosophers believed. On the contrary, creativity, proceeding subconsciously or unconsciously, not obeying certain rules and standards, ultimately at the level of results can be consolidated with rational activity, included in it, can become its integral part or, in some cases, lead to the creation of new types of rational activity. This applies to both individual and collective creativity. Thus, the artistic work of Michelangelo, Shostakovich, the scientific work of Galileo, Copernicus, Lobachevsky became an integral part of culture and science, although in its immediate original form it did not correspond to established patterns, standards and standards.

Any person in one way or another has creative abilities, i.e., the ability to develop new methods of activity, acquire new knowledge, formulate problems, and understand the unknown. Each child, learning a new world around him, mastering the language, norms and culture, in essence, is engaged in creativity. But, from the point of view of adults, he masters what is already known, learns what is already open, proven. Therefore, what is new for the individual is not always new for society. Genuine creativity in culture, politics, science and production is determined by the fundamental novelty of the results obtained on the scale of their historical significance.

What forms the mechanism of creativity, its spring, its distinctive features? The most important of these mechanisms is intuition. Ancient thinkers, such as Democritus and especially Plato, considered it as inner vision, a special higher ability of the mind. Unlike ordinary sensory vision, which provides information about transient phenomena that are not of great value, speculation, according to Plato, allows one to rise to the comprehension of immutable and eternal ideas that exist outside and independently of a person. Descartes believed that intuition allows us to clearly see the ideas contained in our soul. But how exactly intuition is "arranged", none of them explained. Despite the fact that subsequent generations of European philosophers interpreted intuition in different ways (Feuerbach, for example, believed that it is rooted not in the perception of higher ideas, but in the very sensibility of a person), we still have made very little progress in understanding its nature and mechanisms. That is why intuition and the creativity associated with it cannot be described in any complete and satisfactory form by a system of rules. However, modern psychology of creativity and neurophysiology allow us to state with confidence that intuition includes a number of specific stages. These include: 1) accumulation and unconscious distribution of images and abstractions in the memory system; 2) unconscious combination and processing of accumulated abstractions, images and rules in order to solve a specific problem; 3) a clear understanding of the task; 4) finding a solution unexpected for a given person (proving a theorem, creating an artistic image, finding a design or military solution, etc.) that satisfies the formulated task. Often such a decision comes at the most unexpected time, when the conscious activity of the brain is focused on solving other problems, or even in a dream. It is known that the famous French mathematician J. A. Poincare found an important mathematical proof while walking along the lake, and Pushkin came up with the poetic line he needed in a dream.

However, there is nothing mysterious in creative activity, and it is subject to scientific study. This activity is carried out by the brain, but it is not identical to the set of operations performed by it. Scientists have discovered the so-called right-left asymmetry of the brain. It has been experimentally proved that in higher mammals the right and left hemispheres of the brain perform different functions. The right mainly processes and stores information leading to the creation of sensory images, while the left carries out abstraction, develops concepts, judgments, gives meaning and meaning to information, develops and stores rational, including logical, rules. The holistic process of cognition is carried out as a result of the interaction of operations and knowledge performed by these hemispheres. If, as a result of illness, injury, or surgery, the connection between them is broken, then the process of cognition becomes incomplete, ineffective, or even impossible. However, right-left asymmetry arises not on a neurophysiological basis, but on a socio-psychological basis in the process of education and training. It is also connected with the nature of subject-practical activity. In children, it is clearly fixed only at the age of four or five years, and in left-handers, the functions of the hemispheres are distributed in the opposite way: the left hemisphere performs the functions of sensory, and the right - of abstract rational cognition.

In the process of creativity and intuition, complex functional transitions are made, in which at some stage the disparate activity of operating with abstract and sensory knowledge, respectively carried out by the left and right hemispheres, suddenly unites, leading to the desired result, to insight, to some kind of creative ignition, which is perceived as a discovery, as a highlight of what was previously in the darkness of unconscious activity.

Now we can turn to the most important cognitive procedures of explanation and understanding.

They are usually viewed as overlapping or overlapping processes. However, the analysis of human cognition, intensively carried out in the second half of the 19th and throughout the 20th century, revealed significant differences between them. Neo-Kantians W. Windelband, G. Rickert and others argued that the knowledge of nature is fundamentally different from the knowledge of society and man. The phenomena of nature, they believed, are subject to objective laws, while the phenomena social life and cultures depend on the completely individual characteristics of people and unique historical situations. Therefore, the knowledge of nature is generalizing, or generalizing, and the knowledge of social phenomena is individualizing. Accordingly, for natural science, the main task is to bring individual facts under general laws, and for social cognition, the main thing is to comprehend the internal attitudes, motives of activity and hidden meanings that determine people's actions. Based on this, V. Dilthey argued that the main method of cognition in the natural sciences is explanation, and in the sciences of culture and man - understanding. Is this true? In fact, there are both right and wrong points in this approach. It is true that modern natural science seeks, first of all, to establish the laws of phenomena and subsume individual empirical knowledge under them. It is not true that the social sciences do not reflect objective laws and do not use them to explain socio-historical phenomena and the activities of individuals. It is true that understanding the views, opinions, beliefs, beliefs, and goals of others is an extremely difficult task, especially since many people misunderstand or misunderstand themselves, and sometimes deliberately seek to mislead. It is not true that understanding is not applicable to the phenomena of nature. Everyone who has studied the natural or technical sciences has repeatedly seen how difficult and how important it is to understand this or that phenomenon, law, or the result of an experiment. Therefore, explanation and understanding are two complementary cognitive processes used in natural science, social, and technical knowledge.

The theory of knowledge distinguishes between: structural explanations that answer the question of how an object works, for example, what is the composition and relationship elementary particles in the atom; functional explanations that answer the question of how an object operates and functions, for example, an animal, an individual person, or a certain production team; causal explanations that answer the question why a given phenomenon arose, why exactly a given set of factors led to such and such a consequence, etc. At the same time, in the process of explanation, we use existing knowledge to explain others. The transition from more general knowledge to more specific and empirical and constitutes the procedure of explanation. Moreover, the same phenomenon can sometimes be explained in different ways, depending on what laws, concepts and theoretical views are the basis of the explanation. Thus, the rotation of the planets around the Sun can be explained - based on classical celestial mechanics - by the action of attractive forces. Based on the general theory of relativity - the curvature of the circumsolar space in its gravitational field. Which of these explanations is more correct, physics decides. The philosophical task is to study the structure of explanation and the conditions under which it provides correct knowledge of the phenomena being explained. This brings us close to the question of the truth of knowledge. Knowledge that serves as the basis for an explanation is called explanatory. The knowledge that they substantiate is called explicable. Not only laws, but also individual facts can act as an explainer. For example, the fact of the catastrophe of a nuclear reactor can provide an explanation for the fact of an increase in the radioactivity of the atmosphere over the nearby territory. Not only facts, but also laws of lesser generality can act as an explainable. Thus, the Ohm's law known from the course of elementary physics can be explained either on the basis of the so-called Lorentz-Drude electron gas model, or on the basis of even more fundamental laws of quantum physics.

What gives us the process of explanation? Firstly, it establishes deeper and stronger links between different systems of knowledge, which allows them to include new knowledge about the laws and individual natural phenomena. Secondly, it allows foreseeing and predicting future situations and processes, since the logical structure of explanation and foresight is generally similar. The difference is that explanation refers to facts, events, processes or patterns that exist or have taken place in the past, while prediction refers to what should happen in the future. Prediction and foresight are a necessary basis for planning and designing social, production and practical activities. The more correct, deeper and more reasonable our prediction of possible events, the more effective our actions can be.

What is the difference between understanding and explanation? It is often said that in order to understand a phenomenon, this phenomenon must be explained. But that

Posadova Ekaterina

Understanding intuition and its role in the works of philosophers; functions and types of intuition, as well as ways of its development.

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MBOU "Average comprehensive school No. 89 with in-depth study of individual subjects "

Section: social studies

Research work

Topic: "The role of intuition in the knowledge of the world"

Completed by: Posadova

Ekaterina Aleksandrovna

Scientific adviser:

Posadova

Lyudmila Anatolyevna

History and social studies teacher

Izhevsk, 2014

1. Introduction. page 3
2. Chapter 1. The concept of intuition in history. page 5
3. Chapter 2. Structure of intuition. page 10

2.1. Types of intuition page 10

2.2. Forms of intuition p.13

2.3. Phases of the Intuitive Process p.14

2.3. Functions of intuition p.15

2.4. The role of intuition p.16

1. Chapter 3 page 17
2. Conclusion. page 25
3. Literature. page 26

Introduction.

For many centuries, the main question of philosophy has been the question of knowing the world. The main problems of cognition can be briefly outlined by the following questions: What is knowledge? How is it possible? What are the ways to achieve it? What is truth and what are its criteria?
Our common sense, as a rule, rests in unshakable confidence in the fundamental cognizability of the surrounding world. But as it turned out in a critical philosophical analysis, it is much easier to logically deduce the unknowability of the world than to prove the opposite.
Philosophy has traditionally singled out two different types in the act of human cognition: sensory cognition and rational cognition. The first is connected with the activity of our sense organs (sight, hearing, touch, etc.). The second implies work - the abstract-conceptual thinking of a person. Although sensory and rational knowledge play a huge role in obtaining new knowledge, nevertheless, in many cases they are not enough to solve any problems. And then intuition acquires an important role in this process.
Relevance of the topicdue to the fact that in modern conditions many philosophical problems are being revised, among which intuition is also included. The growing practical interest in intuition is due to the fact that modern Information society requires fundamentally new qualities and skills from a person. Intuition involves the expansion of cognitive capabilities, the actualization of potential human resources. The paradox of this problem lies in the fact that, despite the abundance of metaphors, direct and indirect analogies, specific definitions given to intuition repeatedly, there is no single generally accepted explanation of the phenomenon. And this is understandable, since intuition, from the point of view of modern science, is not amenable to experimental verification, it is elusive. However, despite the absence of common consolidating guidelines, the problem of intuition continues to attract the attention of representatives of various fields of knowledge. Currently, there is a lot of research on this topic, and I decided to look into it, in addition, I am personally interested in this philosophical phenomenon.
In my work, I will try to address many issues related to intuition, using books on philosophy, psychology, public opinion research and Internet resources.

The purpose of my work is- consideration of the phenomenon of intuition and determination of the role of intuition as an element of the system of human cognitive activity.

Tasks:

Analyze the development of the concept of intuition in the history of philosophy;

Consider intuition and its role in the knowledge of the world;

To reveal the question of the possibility of developing intuition as a phenomenon of consciousness.

CHAPTER 1.

THE CONCEPT OF INTUITION IN HISTORY.

The problem of intuition has a rich philosophical heritage. Perhaps, few philosophical problems in their development have undergone such qualitative changes and have been analyzed by representatives of the most diverse fields of knowledge. The question of intuition often turned out to be the subject of a sharp struggle between representatives of materialism and idealism. A whole cycle of often mutually exclusive concepts formed around him. But without taking into account the historical and philosophical traditions, it would be impossible to comprehend the most complex evolution of views on the nature of intuition and create a scientific dialectical-materialistic idea of ​​it. Thus, the historical and philosophical analysis in the study of the problem of intuition seems to be logically justified. At the same time, it is necessary not only to raise the question of continuity in the historical development of the concepts of intuition, but also to draw important conclusions from such an analysis, both in practical and theoretical terms, allowing us to speak about intuition as one of the urgent problems of modern scientific knowledge.

Various interpretations of intuition.

Intuition - "immediate discretion", i.e. knowledge that arises without awareness of the ways and conditions for obtaining it, a kind of insight that comprehends a person who, as a rule, skillfully, persistently and systematically masters this or that area of ​​reality. Intuition is the source and method of knowledge. In history the concept of intuition or contemplation (intellectual Intuition). The role of intuition in cognition began to be investigated already in ancient times.For the first time, the features of philosophical problems in the question of intuition were outlined in the teachings of Plato and Aristotle. But it was precisely here that the sensory nature of intuitive knowledge was rejected. Intuition was, as it were, transferred to the sphere of abstract thinking and, as a form of theoretical knowledge, acquired the status of an epistemological problem.

Initially, intuition means, of course, perception: it is what we see or perceive when we look at some object or look at it closely. However, starting at least as early as Plato, the opposition between intuition, on the one hand, and discursive thinking, on the other, is developed. In accordance with this, intuition is a divine way of knowing something with just one glance, in an instant, outside of time, and discursive thinking is human way knowledge, which consists in the fact that in the course of some reasoning, which takes time, we develop our argument step by step.

So, argued that the contemplation of ideas (prototypes of things in the sensory world) is a kind of direct knowledge that comes as a sudden insight, involving a long preparation of the mind.

Aristotle connected the problem of intuition with the fundamental nature and infallibility of scientific knowledge. This tradition was continued by medieval authors.

F. Aquinas saw in intuition the realm of "higher truth";
W. Ockham - the basis of abstract or discursive knowledge. But ancient and medieval philosophers have not yet given a scientific definition of the concept of "intuition". Representatives of modern philosophy and German classical philosophy took further significant steps in understanding intuition. In the history of philosophy, sensual forms of cognition and thinking have often been opposed.

A. Sound judgment, phronesis (practical wisdom), insight or penetration: the ability to quickly and correctly assess the importance and significance of a problem, the plausibility of a theory, the applicability and reliability of a method, and the usefulness of an action.

B. Intellectual intuition as a normal way of thinking.

Intuition does not require proof, it does not rely on reasoning. Intuitive thinking proceeds imperceptibly, "naturally", it is not as tiring as logical thinking, involving willpower. But as soon as a person trusts intuition, he loses the thread of logical reasoning, plunges into the elements of internal states, vague sensations and forebodings, images and symbols.

I like the example of Luris from his article “Intuition. Introduction to the problem”, in which he talks about the interaction of consciousness and subconsciousness: “Imagine a pilot in the cockpit of an airplane. Before his eyes is a control panel, where he sees the indicators of all devices, and a fairly large space opens through the glazed cabin. And, guided by his experience and what he sees, he pilots the plane. The dispatcher is on the ground. He cannot directly control the aircraft, but he has colossal information that is inaccessible to the pilot. For example, that there is a storm front ahead, that another plane is moving in the lower corridor outside the coverage of the radar, that the airport has closed the runway for technical reasons. The pilot is consciousness. The manager is the subconscious. It is easy to imagine the whole range of consequences when ignoring the information coming from the dispatcher, and even more so, in case of direct failure to comply with his instructions.

When you feel something that you cannot explain, this is probably intuition. The nature of intuition is such that any of us, without exception, has an intuitive experience at least once in our lives, but it happened. I also experienced this once:

At the beginning of his labor activity I dreamed of going to V. Shatalov in order to generalize his experience. And so, in 1988, my dream came true, a group of teachers was sent from our Tselinograd region to Donetsk, and a departure was scheduled for tomorrow. Suddenly, while packing things for the road, I “heard” a voice that clearly told me: “Don’t fuss, you won’t go anywhere, you’re going in vain.” No, he didn't say it out loud, but he firmly told me the same thing: "You're not going anywhere." I tried to talk to him, asking, “What can prevent me?”, Listed some reasons. There was no answer. The excitement only increased. And then it resounded phone call, I was informed that my fourteen-year-old brother was arrested ...

Analyzing this case, I still wonder: "What is the nature of intuition?" And more and more I come to the conclusion that this inexplicable concept has a spiritual origin. It has something to do with our subconscious. We don't give it of great importance. We automatically say: "he has a well-developed intuition." But even Plato considered intuition highest level human wisdom, because it is thanks to intuition that we comprehend the transcendent essences (ideas) to which all things from our experience owe their existence in space and time.

AT modern world the time has come to free intuition from the mystical aura of "poetic" inspiration, defining it as a purely psychic phenomenon that requires study and description. Intuition is a cognitive ability inherent in sensation, for it arises only on the basis of direct empirical data obtained in sensory experience; at the same time, only sensory perception can provide direct knowledge in cognitive activity.

The nature of intuition manifests itself by some impulses that arise in our head quite spontaneously, unexpectedly, and often we ignore them, or simply simply write them off as our imagination. And only then, after some time has passed, do we understand that these promptings were true, and we should have listened to them.

As you know, creativity is the highest form of the cognitive process. "Creativity is a spiritual activity, the result of which is the creation of original values, the establishment of new, earlier unknown facts, properties and patterns of the material world and spiritual culture "(Spirkin A.G.) How can superintuition be explained? There are people, contactees in the highest sense - these are geniuses, talents, great composers, poets, scientists. They receive this information as- they process it through their brains, and there is nothing humiliating for a person here, because the universal mind, the universal spirit pervades everything.

Cognition is a single monolithic process of reflecting reality, the complexity and versatility of which is expressed in several key points: "From living contemplation to abstract thinking, and from it to practice - this is the dialectical path of knowing the truth" (V.I. Lenin).

Intuition is a specific human ability derived from consciousness. Thanks to the "reduction" of mental processes, there is a colossal gain in time. Calculations show that at the unconscious-psychic level, approximately 10,000,000 times more information is processed per unit of time than at the conscious level. In addition, there are significant energy savings. It has been repeatedly noted that an intuitive act is performed quickly and<легко>, which indicates an excess energy potential.

Intuition usually manifests itself in a state of spiritual and spiritual uplift. physical strength. In intuitive creativity, this state is known as inspiration. In the process of intuitive comprehension, there is an increase in the functional activity of all sense organs, as a result of which memory improves. Very often, an idea, an idea is intuitively formed when a person's attention (and attention is always an expenditure of energy) is focused on a completely different work.

Intuition is helped by a hint, which is often played by a specific object that has many features of the desired solution. When the decision is ripe, sometimes a random clue can play the role of the last push, causing a discharge, explosion, insight. Only people endowed with strong intuition are capable of a holistic perception of complex objects as simple and indecomposable. Their complexity turns into a simple and unified quality.

Intuition is not some mystical ability of clairvoyance, but one of the two main and integral forms of cognitive activity. Along with intelligence, intuition is present in all operations in all areas of knowledge related to productive learning,

People who believe that knowledge can only be obtained by intellectual means are suspicious of intuition, because its results seem to them to fall from heaven like gifts of the gods or influx. To this we can add the dubious assertion that when a situation is thought of as a whole, it always appears as an indivisible, holistic totality, "all or nothing", like a flash of light or insight. In accordance with this belief, the intuitive feeling is not accessible to analysis, and does not require it.

The twentieth century actually translated the concept of "intuition" from sacred concepts into the sphere of scientific research. And the 21st century is likely to be the century of practical training in intuition.

Probably, very soon children will be divided not into gifted and ordinary, but into right-handed, left-handed. Schools will be formed according to completely different criteria: the gymnasium "Right hemisphere for children with developed intuition", the lyceum for "children with extrasensory abilities." Teachers will have to master the paranormal method of teaching "indigo" children, who master educational material and acquire knowledge in completely different ways. It is possible that in the near future innovations in teaching will not consist in the application of new methods, but in the application of psychological and pedagogical teaching methods for the development of intuition.

Be that as it may, we are for scientific intuition, but against intuitive science.

At the entrance to the school, as Dante would say, there should be a demand:

Here it is necessary that the soul be firm,

Here fear should not give advice...

Here intuition alone can never

Give the key to unlocking a scientific secret.

intuition cognition cryptognostics

"Intuitive thinking is a sacred gift,

and rational thinking is a devoted servant.

We have created a society that exalts the servant,

and forgot about the gift"

Albert Einstein

When I say the word "intuition," I imagine a rickety suspension bridge over a deep abyss with a raging river below. The bridge is rather thin, unreliable with missed boards underfoot, but this is the shortest path to the intended goal. Because the very concept of "intuitive feeling", in my opinion, means some kind of elusive boundary between reality and fantasy.

Intuition (intuitio - "contemplation<#"justify">In my opinion, these statements are true, because when indigo children are born, in early childhood they build DNA chains from the designer, talk about the structure of the universe, offer ways to save the earth, i.e. with their whole existence they prove that they have access to the knowledge accumulated earlier by mankind, they not only possess information, but also know how to apply it. For Indigo children, the main channel for obtaining information about the world around them is intuition, and not the traditional methods of logical knowledge, trial and error. With the help of intuition, Indigo children can find the right solution in a particular situation.

The ability of the Indigo to intuitively obtain the necessary information is the reason for the freedom of their behavior and the ease in denying authorities. These traits show up in Indigo children from early childhood.

In some currents of philosophy, "Intuition" is interpreted as a divine revelation, as a completely unconscious process, incompatible with logic and life practice.

Intuitive experience was interpreted as recognition by the immortal soul of its own knowledge acquired during past reincarnations: the soul "remembers" some of this experience in moments of insight (inspiration). Today, 15 centuries after Plato, such "memories" are called "insight".

Many philosophers and eminent scientists have dealt with this topic:

Aristotle (384 - 322 BC), who was a student of Plato, did not share his ideas of a mystical explanation of the phenomenon of intuition. He considered intuition an irrational phenomenon, contrary to logic and common sense: "Sensory knowledge cannot be considered scientific, because no wisdom is possible in sensory perception," Aristotle believed. Is it possible to consider his opinion erroneous? Aristotle laid the foundations of modern rational civilization, having achieved that intuition began to be considered charlatanism and was rejected as a science.

R. Descartes<#"justify">Locke (1632-1704) believed that in terms of reliability and applicability, intuitive knowledge should be recognized as the most perfect.

Depending on the basic human characteristics, intuition is classified into several types and ways of displaying the information received:

• physical (bodily) - based on the feelings of a person (fatigue, stress, apathy, etc.), by which he judges the success of an event;
• emotional - based on the emotional state (at the same time, the upbringing of a person and national characteristics play an important role);
• intellectual - generalizes professional experience and logical thinking (this type of intuition is most typical for creative people with developed erudition);
• · mystical - the most little-studied type of intuition, since so far it has not been possible to identify its driving factors.

Each person is dominated by one of the listed types of intuition, which allows making the right decision in a difficult situation: someone listens to their emotions, someone "scans" the upcoming event using erudition, and someone notes their physical condition.

Intuition is divided into types depending on the sphere of human activity in which it manifests itself:

Professional intuition manifests itself in a person engaged in a particular profession, under the influence of accumulated professional experience, knowledge and skills. When solving the problem, such intuition allows you to save time and use the best methods of expressing answers.

Scientific intuition manifests itself in solving serious cognitive problems that require enormous intellectual, moral and physical strength of a person. Scientific intuition helps to logically substantiate the collected information.

Creative intuition turns on at the moment when the tension of all human forces reaches the limit, and the situation seems hopeless. The basis of creative intuition is insight, thanks to which true masterpieces of art appear.

Intuition is classified according to age and gender: it is believed that it is most developed in women and children.

The connection of babies with mothers, indigo children, children with extraordinary abilities, much of this has a direct bearing on our natural intuition.

Every person is born with a clear mind. Children, especially of preschool age (from 2 to 4 years old), do what they think is the most correct in a given situation. However, they still do not have life experience, knowledge and skills: behavior is determined by intuitive flair. Gradually childish intuition<#"justify">But with the help of intuition, you can make the right decisions in a timely manner. But before trusting intuition, you need to learn how to feel it. Learn to separate truth from lies, sixth sense from fantasy. And how to find access to the truth? This is the main question. What is the key to the magic door, behind which are hidden solutions to many, many problems.

The sixth sense uses information from the future and chooses the best course of action. There are thousands of options here. Here a person finds the path intuitively and consciously and goes in the direction he needs. When intuition starts to work, there is such a strange, but very pleasant feeling that life is responding to your desires.

In the process of intuitive cognition, all the signs by which the conclusion is made, and the methods by which it is made, are not realized. I. does not constitute a special path of knowledge that bypasses sensations, ideas, and thinking. It is a peculiar type of thinking, when individual links of the process of thinking are carried in the mind more or less unconsciously, and it is the result of the thought - the truth - that is most clearly realized. I. is enough to discern the truth, but it is not enough to convince others and oneself of this truth. This requires proof.

In 1926, American researcher Graham Wallace proposed a diagram of the process of creative thinking. He developed it on the basis of self-observation data of outstanding scientists: the German physiologist, physicist and mathematician Hermann Helmholtz and the French mathematician Henri Poincaré. Wallace identified four stages in this process:

Training. It involves collecting the necessary information about the problem, consciously seeking a solution to it, and thinking about it.

Incubation. Carrying out a problem. Period of apparent stagnation. In fact, there is a deep unconscious work on the task, and at the level of consciousness a person may not think about it at all.

Enlightenment. Inspiration, discovery, insight. It always comes unexpectedly, instantly and is like a sharp jump. The decision at this moment is born in the form of a symbol, a thought-image that is difficult to describe in words.

Examination. The image is clothed in words, thoughts are arranged in a logical sequence, the discovery is scientifically substantiated.

Society treats the intuitive qualities of a person with great respect, but the lack of fundamental knowledge in wide layers about the nature of the formation of these abilities, the mechanisms of work, the lack of a methodology for determining the quantitative and qualitative parameters of this phenomenon makes many people treat intuition with caution, do not allow them to rightfully attribute intuition to the main qualities. person. They rely on intuition, as a rule, when there is no other way out, while saying: "As God puts on the soul." Some educators deny intuition and even treat it with contempt. They are sure that the only way to obtain solid and useful knowledge is through intellectual activity.

Psychologists have a poor idea of ​​how intuition works, and even worse - how to study it. Most often use the term "insight" - "enlightenment". The problem of the unconscious is often associated primarily with the school of psychoanalysis and especially with the teachings of Freud. Freud noted that this is "a hidden, unconscious first principle of creativity." Freud's priority lies in the fact that he was the first to investigate the problem of the unconscious mental on the basis of rich clinical material as a pathopsychologist, the first to raise and attempt to resolve the issue of the relationship between the unconscious and consciousness. Many people agree on one thing: Is intuition a product of the subconscious or is it itself?

Modern psychologists believe that the source of intuition is in the Unconscious, or rather, in its well-established interaction with consciousness. Research supports this conclusion. When intuition manifests itself, it works with premonitions, archetypes, symbols. It is no coincidence that intuitive predictions are often born in a dream, half-asleep, or in daydreams. Human intuition uses not only visual images, but also symbols, metaphors, archetypes, it uses extraordinary ways and forms accumulated throughout the history of human development. Therefore, intuition in its capabilities is incomparably richer than all other, more ordinary and more familiar to us, forms of cognition.

Dialectical materialism approved a qualitatively new view of intuition as a form of the cognitive process. Intuition exists only in the closest dialectical relationship with known forms of cognition, while performing an important function of their accelerated flow.

There are also more constructive definitions that reveal some specific features that are unique to intuition. This is a view of intuition as the ability to form visual representations of objects that are not perceived by direct observation (V.P. Bransky, Louis de Broglie). Intuition is also considered as a specific method of cognition, which consists in "jumping" through certain stages of logical reasoning, due to which the illusion of direct direct observation of the desired conclusion arises (IB Mikhailova).

Intuition is also a special insightful ability to pose a problem, to predict the result of a study (S.I. Vavilov). Along with this, intuition is a form of human knowledge, expressed in a specific combination of sensual and rational moments (P.V. Kopnin).

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Introduction

Concept of intuition

Intuition in the process of cognition

Conclusion

Bibliographic list

Introduction

Intuition at the everyday level is characterized as flair, insight, subtle understanding, penetration into the very essence of something. In psychology, intuition is considered as a special kind of knowledge, as a specific ability, as a mechanism for creative activity. Depending on the scope of application, intuition is distinguished in everyday life - "common sense", in science, philosophy, art, professional intuition, etc. There are different explanations for the phenomenon of intuition, but for all the differences, the connection of intuition with unconscious forms is emphasized mental activity. At the intuitive level, all forms of sensibility are involved (sensations, perceptions, memory, imagination, emotions, will and intellect, logical thinking. Intuition usually manifests itself in an inseparable connection with a special state of spiritual and physical strength.

The term "intuition" in the scientific literature has many semantic meanings. These values ​​mainly refer to various aspects of human intellectual activity.

Intuition, if you collect all the statements about it, turns out to be truly omnipresent: it gives directions to research, forms visual mental models of objects, interprets empirical data, constructs fundamental concepts and general principles theory, develops hypotheses, stimulates the choice of effective techniques and research methods. In short, it is difficult to name any cognitive process leading to new scientific results, which the scientists themselves would associate with intuition.

Intuitive components are found in many professions and diverse life situations. First of all, it is practically all artistic creation.

Thus, in the life of every person, regardless of his profession, there are situations when, with a lack of information and time to make a responsible decision, intuitive mechanisms work.

Concept of intuition

intuition encyclopedic Dictionary/ Ch. edition: L.F. Ilyichev, P.N. Fedoseev, S.M. Kovalev, V.G. Panov - M.: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1983. - S.216. .

Intuition is knowledge that arises in an uncertain situation, subjectively perceived as a hunch, premonition, inner feeling, the presence of which is realized.

By intuition, the ancient thinkers understood the direct perception (in the literal sense of the word) of a real-life state of affairs. This kind of knowledge was later called sensible intuition. The simplicity and visual nature of this form of knowledge deprived it of any problems.

In the history of philosophy, the concept of intuition included different content. Intuition was understood as a form of direct intellectual knowledge or contemplation (intellectual intuition).

In most works, intellectual intuition is considered in connection with discoveries that represent significant phenomena in science. Therefore, intellectual intuition refers to conceptual thinking. But the intuition associated with conceptual thinking is manifested not only in large scientific discoveries. The intuitive intellectual process precedes many technical inventions (philosophers and psychologists, unfortunately, pay little attention to inventors, and it is here that they could get the richest experimental material), the result of intuition is sometimes deep philosophical generalizations, aphorisms, even with creativity to pre-planned experiments, many of the generalizations associated with writing a report arise as a result of intuitive "insight".

Thus, Plato argued that the contemplation of ideas (the prototypes of the ideas of the sensory world) is a kind of direct knowledge that occurs as a sudden insight, involving a long preparation of the mind.

R. Descartes is considered the founder of the doctrine of intuition. Descartes singled out two "actions of the mind" with the help of which true knowledge of things is achieved. These actions are intuition and deduction. “By intuition I do not mean the shaky evidence of the senses, and not the deceptive judgment of the wrongly composing imagination, but the understanding of a clear and attentive mind, so easy and distinct that there is absolutely no doubt about what we mean.” Thus, we are talking about intellectual intuition, which is characterized by the simplicity and self-evidence of V.V. Vasiliev, A.A. Krotov and D.V. Bull. History of Philosophy: Textbook for universities. - M.: Academic Project: 2005. - P.275. .

Intuition was also interpreted as an instinct that directly, without prior learning, determines the forms of behavior of an organism (Bergson), and as a hidden, unconscious first principle of creativity (Freud) Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. edition: L.F. Ilyichev, P.N. Fedoseev, S.M. Kovalev, V.G. Panov - M.: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1983. - S.217. .

The basis and source of all knowledge, the way of the most reliable comprehension of reality is intuition for A. Bergson.

Bergson is the ancestor of intuitionism, since he contrasted the rational cognitive abilities with the abilities of intuition. Only intuition is able to grasp the truth - the truth of a whole and changing life. On this basis, Bergson is considered a representative of the so-called academic philosophy of life, which tries to solve the traditional problems of philosophy, based on the fact that the main specific subject of its attention should be the life of V.V. Vasiliev, A.A. Krotov and D.V. Bugai - S. 499.

The simplest type of intuition, sensual intuition, manifests itself most often in activities that are less related to conceptual thinking, in conditions of lack of time for reflection (emergency situation, unusual and rather difficult situation, diagnosis by a doctor in emergency cases, etc.) It can also have a purely conceptual character, for example, as the need to instantly find a witty and accurate answer in a sharp emotionally intense discussion.

I. Kant recognized the reality of sensual intuition and denied that a person has the ability for intellectual intuition.

I. Fichte and F. Schelling, B. Spinoza gave intuition a certain place in their works. For Fichte, intuition is a form of fusion in the act of knowing the subject and the object, the comprehension by the philosopher of himself. In Schelling, intuition also acts as a means of cognition by the acting subject of himself, more precisely, as awareness of his own activity by thinking. B. Spinoza distinguishes three types of knowledge: sensual, giving only vague and untrue ideas, knowledge through reason, giving knowledge about modes, and the highest kind of knowledge - intuition, revealing the truth.

When describing the properties of intuition, an indication of its difference from the analytical, logical method of cognition is characteristic. Another property of intuition, which is emphasized by most authors, is the unconsciousness of the process of the emergence of intuition. The intuition that has arisen is usually manifested through such phenomena as a hunch, a premonition, an inner instinct. Another often distinguished property is the connection of intuition with accumulated experience, both conscious and unconscious.

Intellectual intuition, unlike sensory, is more connected with conceptual thinking and therefore is directly related to scientific discoveries.

In the classical sense, intuition is a non-analytical, non-inferential, direct comprehension of knowledge.

By "intuition" is meant the ability of a person in a short time, "jump" to find a solution to complex problems, and, as a rule, this solution is not preceded by a strictly logical deductive conclusion. But the idea born of intuition does not appear spontaneously - it is preceded by a preliminary conscious intense mental work. At the same time, the result of intuition often has little connection with the direction of preliminary searches for a solution, which further mystifies it.

Intuition, unlike intellect, directly penetrates the object, it finds the path of sympathy, and therefore reveals what is unique and inexpressible in the object.

Intuition in the process of cognition

Intuition (from Latin - look, view) is knowledge that arises without awareness of the ways of the conditions for its receipt - as a result of "direct discretion". It is interpreted both as a specific ability (for example, artistic or scientific intuition), and as a holistic coverage of the conditions of a problem situation (sensual and intellectual intuition), and as a mechanism for creative activity (creative intuition). Intuition is actually a basic, natural gift of a person. A person comprehends a lot through imagination, fantasy, foreboding. And this is also a type of knowledge that was widely represented before the emergence of science.

Intuitive knowledge is an understanding of the essence of the subject, obtained through intuition, direct comprehension the essence of the thing.

The intuitive result includes an affective component. Significance to intuitive knowledge is given by such subjective indicators of intuition as premonition, inner instinct, conjecture.

An intuitive solution to a problem can happen as if suddenly, suddenly, unexpectedly, at a moment when the researcher, it would seem, does not even think about the problem. This happens because thinking is not limited to the conscious form. Analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, other types of mental activity are also carried out at the level of the unconscious.

In obtaining new knowledge, logical thinking, methods and techniques for the formation of concepts, the laws of logic play an important role. But the experience of cognitive activity shows that ordinary logic in many cases is insufficient for solving scientific problems; the process of producing new information cannot be reduced to either inductively or deductively unfolded thinking. An important place in this process is occupied by intuition, which gives cognition a new impetus and direction of movement Alekseev P.V., Panin A.V. Philosophy: textbook. - 3rd ed., revised. and additional - M.: TK Velby, Prospect Publishing House, 2005. - P.321. .

It is believed that the psychological mechanism of intuition is still little studied, but the available experimental data suggest that it is based on the ability of an individual to reflect in the course of information, signal interaction with the environment, along with a direct (conscious) and by-product (unconscious) product. Under certain conditions, this (previously not conscious) part of the result of the action becomes the key to solving the creative problem. The results of intuitive knowledge are logically proved over time and verified by practice.

The prevalence, universality of intuition is confirmed by numerous observations of people in ordinary everyday conditions; there are often cases when, in a non-standard situation that requires a quick decision in conditions of limited information, the subject makes a choice of his actions, as if anticipating that it is necessary to act in this way, and not otherwise Alekseev P.V., Panin A.V. - S. 323. .

The phenomenon of intuition is extremely broad and not always everything that is considered intuitive really deserves such a name. In thinking, for example, inferences are not uncommon, the premises of which are not formulated explicitly, the result of such inferences is unexpected, but not at all intuitive, as some scientists believe. It is not necessary to take for intuition what belongs to the realm of instincts, is characterized by automatic reaction in a similar situation and has physiological mechanisms in the subconscious or unconscious sphere of the subject. Ibid. - P.325. .

Intuition cannot provide ready-made knowledge or a ready-made idea. It leads at best to knowledge or an idea, but no more. The fact is that intuition does not have evidentiary power and, moreover, it does not always “hit the mark”. Intuitive thoughts can be true or false, valuable or useless or even harmful. Therefore, in order to find out which of them are true (valuable) and which are false (useless, harmful), you need to go beyond intuitive thinking and subject them to a logical or empirical / practical test, or both Balashov L. E. Philosophy: Textbook . 2nd edition, with changes and additions. Electronic version - M., 2005. - S. 555. .

Intuition is a kind of semi-instinctive consciousness and, at the same time, standing above ordinary consciousness, which, in its cognitive power, is essentially superconsciousness. She, as if in an instant, running through the parts, through the smallest details of the object, grasps the essence of the whole, as if turning inside out all its ins and outs. There are cases when a person extremely quickly, almost instantly, grasps a difficult situation in his mind, for example, during a military battle, and, clearly realizing what's what, finds the right solution. Intuition is the ability to comprehend the truth by direct observation of it without substantiation with the help of evidence Spirkin A.G. Philosophy: Textbook. -- 2nd ed. - M.: Gardariki, 2006. - P. 469. .

Behind the ability, as it were, to "suddenly" guess the truth, in fact, there are accumulated experience, previously acquired knowledge. The psychological mechanism of I. is still little studied, but the available experimental data suggest that it is based on the ability of an individual to reflect, in the course of information, signal interaction with others, along with a direct (conscious) by-product (unconscious) product. Under certain conditions, this (previously not conscious) part of the result of the action becomes the key to solving the creative problem. The results of intuitive knowledge are logically proved over time and verified by practice.

Intuition grasps the diversity of the features of an object in their unity, looking at the object from somewhere behind the back of the intellect or, more precisely, from the height of superconsciousness. Intuition is an intelligent contemplation, as if piercing the little things of particulars and clinging to the very essence of the object. Ibid. -- P.469. .

Intuition is not only the comprehension of the truth, but also the feeling and understanding that this is the truth. Intuition is an emotionally rich understanding of the essence of the problem and its solution, when a scientist grows into the problem and merges with it to such an extent that even in a dream it haunts him and imperiously demands an answer. -- P.468. .

Intuition is, as it were, a folded, sharply condensed logic of thought. It's the same with logic. external speech to the inner one, where a lot is omitted and fragmentary Ibid. -- P.471. .

Modern psychology of creativity and neurophysiology allow us to state with confidence that intuition includes a number of specific stages. These include: 1) accumulation and unconscious distribution of images and abstractions in the memory system; 2) unconscious combination and processing of accumulated abstractions, images and rules in order to solve a specific problem; 3) a clear understanding of the task; 4) finding a solution unexpected for a given person (proving a theorem, creating an artistic image, finding a design or military solution, etc.) that satisfies the formulated task. Often such a decision comes at the most unexpected time, when the conscious activity of the brain is focused on solving other problems, or even in VV Mironov's dream. Philosophy: Textbook for universities. - M.: Norma, 2005. - S.580. .

Modern researchers of the problem of intuition, regardless of their ideological orientation, are unanimous that intuition is possible on the basis of the unconscious and can be rationally explained within the framework of the theory of the unconscious. Intuition is understood in the broad and narrow sense of the word. In a broad sense, intuition is a link between the unconscious and consciousness, that moment in the interaction of the subject and the object, which, although not itself realized, leads to the transition of certain elements from the area of ​​the unconscious mental to the area of ​​consciousness. In this understanding, intuition is not a gift inherent in individual individuals. It is peculiar to every person, but depending on individual experience, knowledge, interests, needs, goals that a person sets for himself, the tasks that he solves, and the conditions in which he is, manifests itself in different ways. For some, I. manifests itself in solving everyday household issues, for others, it leads to original solutions, inventions, and discoveries. In the latter case, there is a creative I. (or I. in the narrow sense of the word). Creative I. is such a moment in the interaction of subject and object that, being unaware, leads to a qualitatively new knowledge that has not taken place before and does not follow directly from external influences at a given moment. This is the activity of the unconscious directed by the cognitive task realized by the subject.

Depending on objective and subjective factors, intuition in the cognitive process can be represented in different ways. It manifests itself most clearly and powerfully when an actual cognitive task arises before the subject, the solution of which requires from him deep knowledge, extensive experience, and a huge strain of spiritual and physical strength.

It is especially difficult for the subject to find the necessary means and methods of objectification. The problem can be solved at the level of the unconscious, but the subject is not able to objectify the result. The objectification of such a result is creative intuition.

It works most often in extreme conditions, when with high voltage long time sensuality, intellect, human will work. Creative intuition is the highest form of intuition, its highest form.

At its core, intuition is a social product, since it involves mastering the means and methods of objectification. Because of this, one can single out the so-called professional intuition, which is understood as intuition caused by the solution of purely professional problems and associated with the use of specific techniques and means of objectification inherent in this type of activity.

It is also necessary to distinguish between artistic and scientific intuition. Such areas of human activity as literature and art, on the one hand, and science, on the other hand, are characterized by specific, in some components qualitatively different means and methods of objectification.

From the standpoint of understanding intuition as a moment of connection between the unconscious and consciousness, the transition of the first into the second, raising the question of the truth of intuition does not make sense, since it comes down to the problem of truth as such. Intuition can be associated with both adequate and inadequate objectification. Our anxiety may be in vain, our joy may be premature, our presentiment may be false. In the same way, the objective content of consciousness may not be an image of objective reality, but a subjective construction, which only to a small extent corresponds to the objective interconnection of objects and phenomena of the external world. Therefore, the truth of any knowledge must be subjected to logical justification and practical verification.

Intuition is something opposite to intellect. They are interrelated sides of a single, holistic cognitive process. There can be no purely intuitive or purely intellectual knowledge, it is always the unity of both.

The role of intuition is especially great where it is necessary to go beyond the limits of the methods of cognition in order to penetrate into the unknown. But intuition is not something unreasonable or superreasonable. In the process of intuitive cognition, all the signs by which the conclusion is made, and the methods by which it is made, are not realized. Intuition does not leave a special path of cognition that bypasses sensations, ideas and thinking. It is a peculiar type of thinking, when individual links of the process of thinking are carried in the mind more or less unconsciously, and it is the result of the thought - the truth - that is most clearly realized. Intuition is enough to perceive the truth, but it is not enough to convince others and oneself of this truth. This requires proof Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. edition: L.F. Ilyichev, P.N. Fedoseev, S.M. Kovalev, V.G. Panov - M.: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1983. - S. 217. .

Intuition is not only the comprehension of truth, but the feeling and understanding that this is precisely the truth. Intuition is an emotionally rich understanding of the essence of the problem and its solution.

Intuition is actually an aspect and extension of instinct. Like all instincts, it works admirably in the ordinary circumstances that have formed the habits of the animal, but is completely useless as soon as circumstances change and some unusual course of action is required.

In intuition, thinking, feeling and feeling are closely intertwined. It brings scientific knowledge closer to artistic creativity and vice versa.

However, intuition in scientific knowledge occupies a less important place than, for example, in artistic creativity. The main reason is that science is the property of all mankind, while a poet or an artist can create in his own closed world. Any scientist in initial stage of his scientific development, he uses the works of other scientists, expressed in logically built theories and constituting the science of “today”. It is for scientific creativity that one should once again emphasize the importance of the preliminary accumulation of experience and knowledge before intuitive insight and the need for a logical formulation of the results after it.

intuition conceptual thinking truth

Conclusion

Many people know from their own experience how difficult it is sometimes to find a solution to a particular issue in everyday life. But after a while, the answer may come as if by itself. And how many solutions to everyday issues in thinking occur as if by themselves, without visible efforts on our part. Such decisions are examples of intuition.

Today, people have finally stopped giving up on intuition, and have begun to actively use it in life and business.

Ideas, decisions born of intuition are often so original and unexpected that, even if they are strictly justified, they do not always find proper support from those around them, who, from the standpoint of generally accepted views, consider them insane.

Intuition is a qualitative leap that occurs as a result of the fact that some quantitative volume of logical thinking that precedes it moves to a qualitatively new level of intuitive insight. It’s just that new ideas don’t come from nothing, the birth of a new idea is preceded by a long work of the mind.

Intuition helps to make decisions, make choices, solve complex problems with insufficient facts, data or previous experience. Although we use intuition unconsciously, but with sufficient development, it helps us to act reasonably in certain circumstances. Sometimes, intuition is the only thing that can help us survive in difficult circumstances.

For different people, intuition can have a different degree of remoteness from consciousness, be specific in content, the nature of the result, the depth of penetration into the essence of a phenomenon or process. The intuitive work of thinking takes place in the subconscious sphere, sometimes in the state of sleep. Intuition should not be overestimated, just as its role in the process of cognition should not be ignored. Sensory cognition rational cognition and intuition are important and mutually complementary means of cognition.

Bibliographic list

Scientific literature:

1. Alekseev P.V., Panin A.V. Philosophy: textbook. - 3rd ed., revised. and additional - M.: TK Velby, Prospekt Publishing House, 2005. - 608s.

2. Balashov L. E. Philosophy: Textbook . 2nd edition, with changes and additions. Electronic version - M., 2005. - p. 672.

3. History of philosophy: Textbook for universities / Ed. V.V. Vasilyeva, A.A. Krotova and D.V. Bugai. - M.: Academic Project: 2005. - 680 p.

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

5. Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. edition: L.F. Ilyichev, P.N. Fedoseev, S.M. Kovalev, V.G. Panov - M.: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1983. - 840s.

Electronic resources:

1. Academy of intuition. Access mode: http.://academy-intuiti.ucoz.ru

2. Wikipedia. Free encyclopedia. Access mode: http.://ru.wikipedia.org.

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