The emergence and development of the religious worldview. The essence of the religious worldview
Moreover, this is no longer a genetic principle, as in mythology, but an initial principle - a creative, creative, producing. Its characteristic features include: 1 belief in the supernatural beginning - God is the absolute who acts as the Creator of the world; 2 transcendence of the absolute inaccessibility of the outside world of God given to man in revelation; 3 consciousness of the individual I as the principle of the individual's moral responsibility before God for all actions and thoughts; 4 dogmatism the primacy of faith over knowledge strict adherence to the Scriptures the subordination of man to the will of God...
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Page 17
Exercise 1
Religious type of worldview
The second historical type of worldview, after mythology, was religion.Religious worldviewis a way of mastering reality through its doubling into natural, earthly, this-worldly and supernatural, heavenly, other-worldly.The religious worldview differs from the mythological one in the way of spiritual development of reality.. Mythological images and representations were multifunctional: they intertwined cognitive, artistic and evaluative assimilation of reality in an as yet undeveloped form, which created a prerequisite for the emergence of not only religion, but also various types of literature and art on their basis.Religious images and representations perform only one function - evaluative-regulatory. One more a feature of religious images and ideas is that irrationality is hidden in them, which is subject to perception only by faith, and not by reason. The central place in any religious worldview is always occupied by the image or idea of God. God is considered here as the origin and fundamental principle of all that exists. Moreover, this is no longer a genetic principle, as in mythology, but an initial principle - creating, creating, producing. Religion is characterized by the recognition of the primacy of the spiritual over the physical, which is not in mythology. The historical significance of religion consisted in the fact that in both slave-owning and feudal societies it contributed to the formation and strengthening of new social relations, and the formation of strong centralized states.
So, religious worldview (religion) is a set of beliefs accompanied by an emotional experience of a mystical union with God.Its characteristic features include:
1) belief in the supernatural beginning - God, the absolute, who acts as the Creator of the world;
2) the transcendence of the absolute (inaccessibility, outside the world of God, given to man in revelation);
3) consciousness of the individual, I as the principle of the moral responsibility of the individual before God for all actions and thoughts;
4) dogmatism (primacy of faith over knowledge, strict adherence to Scripture, submission of a person to the will of God, obedience).
Task 2
|
Name/years life |
Main Artworks |
Introduced Concepts |
The subject and tasks of philosophy |
Doctrine of Being/Nature |
Theory of knowledge |
The doctrine of man and society |
Understanding God |
|
Socrates |
Socrates expressed his thoughts orally, in conversations with different persons; We have received information about the content of these conversations in the writings of his students, Plato and Xenophon (Memories of Socrates, Defense of Socrates at the trial, Feast, Domostroy), and only in an insignificant proportion in the writings of Aristotle. |
The idea of self-consciousness: "know thyself"; The idea of philosophical modesty: "I know that I know nothing"; The idea of the identity of knowledge and virtue: "virtue is knowledge." Socrates is one of the founders of dialectics, an idealist. |
Socrates, whose teaching marks a turn in philosophy - from considering only inanimate nature and the world to considering nature as a whole, including the nature of man, and Man, including his Personality. |
Socrates opposed the study of nature. The philosopher believed that a person should not interfere with his mind in the creation of the gods, especially since the latter is so diverse and great that it can only be comprehended with the help of fortune-telling - for example, at the Delphic oracle. |
The theory of knowledge was the problem of the relationship between knowledge and opinion, truths and delusions. The main interest of the discussion was to elucidate the process by which an object is brought into a state of knowledge. |
With its method of analyzing concepts (maieutics, dialectics) and identified By ignoring the positive qualities of a person with his knowledge, he directed the attention of philosophers to the importance of the human personality. For the first time he approached the soul as a source of reason and morality. Knowing the difference between good and evil, a person begins to know himself. |
He considered the three principles of all things to be God, matter and ideas. Of God he said, "What He is I do not know; I know what He is not." Matter he defined as a substance that arises and annihilates; ideas - as an indecomposable substance, the thoughts of God. |
|
Aquinas Thomas (1226-1274) |
« Sum of Theology ” and “Sum against the Gentiles” (“ The sum of philosophy"); Comments on: several books of the Bible; 12 treatises Aristotle ; "Sentences" by Peter Lombard; treatises Boe-tion; treatises Pseudo-Dionysius; the anonymous "Book of Causes"; poetic texts for worship, for example, the work "Ethics". |
It was Thomas Aquinas who introduced the concepts of faith, hope and love as the main theological some virtues. They are followed by prudence and justice. valor, courage and moderation, with which the rest of the virtues are connected. |
He was, in fact, the last theologian who paid attention to the psychological and philosophical problem tick. In his system, called Thomism, he sought not only a system- to typify the knowledge accumulated at that time by science, but also to reconcile theology with science, including the science of antiquity, primarily with the theory of Aristotle, whose follower he was. |
God, the supreme principle, is being itself. Thomas Aquinas distinguishes between being (existence) and essence (only in God, being and essence coincide), but does not oppose them, but, following Aristotle, emphasizes their common root. Essences have independent existence in contrast to accidents (properties, qualities) that exist only due to substances. Hence the difference between substantial and accidental forms is derived. The former communicate to every thing a simple being, the latter only qualities. Following Aristotle, distinguishing between the actual and the potential, Thomas Aquinas considers being as the first of the actual states. |
In the theory of knowledge, Thomas Aquinas says that universals really exist in the mind of God before things, and through things they arise in the mind of man. At the same time, the form in cognition does not mean what is known, but through what it is known, that is, the form is the beginning for the knowledge of a thing by an individual. Cognition is born when an image of the object under study is created in the human mind, produced both by the object and by the person. The cognizing subject, in some way, is likened to an object, but perceives not the entire existence of the object, but only that in it that can become like a person, be perceived by him. |
Man, the philosopher asserts in his work "The Sum of Theology", is the unity of the body and soul, as the form of the body; thus enclosing two worlds - material and spiritual. |
Thomas argued - being the root cause of all things, God, at the same time, is the ultimate goal of their aspirations. The ultimate goal of good human actions is the attainment of bliss, which consists in the contemplation of God. All other goals are evaluated depending on their direction to the final goal, the evasion of which is evil. |
|
Spinoza Benedict (1632-1677) |
About God, Man and His Happiness, "A Treatise on the Improvement of the Mind and on the Way in which it is Best to Lead to the True Knowledge of Things" "Fundamentals of the philosophy of Descartes, proved by a geometric method", "Theological-Political Treatise", "Political Treatise" (not finished), "Ethics proven in geometrical orderand divided into five parts, "Hebrew Grammar". |
Spinoza introduced concept of free necessity. |
Spinoza saw the main task of his philosophy in substantiating ethical questions, in the development of the theory of individual behavior. ethical the orientation of Spinoza's philosophical interests is emphasized by himself, the main The philosopher's work is called Ethics. |
Spinoza considered nature in general and human nature in particular. but also impartially - as if they were geometric problems, and tried to eliminate as far as possible the humanly understandable tendency to wishful thinking, for example, to assume the existence of goals or final causes in nature. |
The main problems for the Theory of Knowledge were the problems of the connection between the "I" and the external world, external and internal experience . T. p. acted not only as an analysis of philosophical and metaphysical knowledge, but also as a critical study of scientific knowledge. During this period, the problematic of T. p. occupied a central place in philosophy, being the starting point in the construction of philosophical systems (and sometimes coinciding with these systems) |
Man is a part of nature, therefore he is included in necessity, but he is a creature of a special kind, since in addition to extension he has the attribute of thinking, reason. Thus, the free will of a person is limited, it is essentially reduced to a certain degree of rational behavior. Freedom and necessity in man act as related concepts, conditioning each other. |
Spinoza's monism was pantheistic: he identified God with nature. |
|
Marx Karl (1818-1883) |
Marx K., Engels F., Works « Philosophical and economic manuscripts of 1844». "The Poverty of Philosophy" |
His work has shaped the philosophy dialectic and historical materialism, in economics - theory surplus value, in politics - theory class struggle. These directions became the basis of the communist and socialist movement and ideology, called " Marxism". |
K. Marx wrote: “Philosophers only in a different way explained world, but the point is to change his". Thus, for the first time in history, the task of philosophy was set and formulated in a new way. |
Being determines consciousness (c) K. Marx |
Theory of knowledge in Marxist-Leninist philosophy: rejecting all forms of epistemological idealism, the Marxist-Leninist Theory of Knowledge proceeds from a consistently materialistic solutionfundamental question of philosophy, that is, it considers the cognizable material world, objective reality as existing outside and independent mo from consciousness. From the fundamental thesis about the material conditionality of cognition, it follows that the process of cognition is carried out not by some kind of "pure" consciousness or self-consciousness torn off from a person, but by a real person through his consciousness. Dialectical materialismproceeds from the position that the world is knowable, and resolutely rejects the assertion that it is unknowable, that is, agnosticism. |
Marx talks about the essence of manas an "ensemble of social relations". |
Marx is far from the sweeping, complete, uncompromising denial of religion that his supporters and opponents often ascribe to him., and which was characteristic, in fact, for the French materialists of the 18th century and for the Russian "militant atheists" of the 20s. Of course, Marx, being a materialist, is an opponent of religion, but at the same time, from his statements it directly follows, among other things, the senselessness of the physical persecution of religious people and organized persecution of religion. Marx believes that religion can be defeated only by eliminating its social foundations, such specific relations between people as relations of alienation, alienation to each other, inconsistencies between a person and his own essence, which, according to Marx, give rise to religion. Marx's theoretical and practical struggle with religion is not directed against religion as such, but against social institutions and social phenomena that produce alienation, against the bourgeois state, bourgeois culture, bourgeois morality. “The criticism of heaven is thus transformed into a criticism of the earth, the criticism of religion into a criticism of law, the criticism of theology into a criticism of politics” |
|
Fedorov N.F. (1929-1903) |
"Philosophy of the common cause", Fedorov N. F. Collected works: in 4 vols. |
One of the foundersRussian cosmism». Fedorov laid the foundations worldview capable of openingways to understand the place and role man in the universe. Fedorov can rightfully be considered the forerunner and prophet of the noospheric worldview, the foundations of which are laid in the worksV. I. Vernadsky and P. Teilhard de Chardin. Emerged at the end of the 20th century movement of transhumanism "also considers Fedorov his forerunner |
He sees the tasks of philosophy in one thing: in ideal-forming creativity (however, for the author of the "Philosophy of the Common Cause" religion is in the first place here, active Christian philosophy only specifically explains the essence of the religious ideal, projects directions for the divine-human cause). |
Nature is imperfect, it is dominated by death and disease. The reason for the imperfection of nature is the refusal of man to “own” (manage) the earth("original sin"). Deprived of the guidance of Reason, Nature began to degrade. |
Fedorov decisively opposes his theory of knowledge to the ancient one."Know yourself". He who begins with the knowledge of himself already renounces kinship, sonship. “Know thyself, therefore, do not trust the fathers (i.e., tradition), do not trust the brothers (the witness of others), but trust only yourself, know only yourself (“I recognize, that means I exist”) Fedorov counterposes this individualistic, egoistic theory of cognition with the principle of conciliarity, brotherhood, and sonship in cognition. |
Thought about man as a consciously creative being, as an agent of evolutionresponsible for all life on the planet, the idea of the earth as a “common home” is important in the modern era, when, more than ever, humanity faces questions about the attitude to nature, its resources, to the most imperfect mortal human nature, which gives rise to individual evil and social. The task of man is the regulation and salvation of everything natural from Death. |
N. F. Fedorov was a believerparticipated in the liturgical life of the Church. At the heart of his life position lay the commandment of St.Sergius of Radonezh: "Looking at the unity of the Holy Trinity, overcome the hated division of this world."In the works of Fedorov The Holy Trinity mentioned many timesit was in the Trinity that he saw the root of the future immortality of man |
Task 3
Dualism
Dualism (from lat. dualis - dual) is a philosophical doctrine based on the recognition of the equality and irreducibility to each other of the two main principles of the universe - material and spiritual, physical and mental, body and soul. Dualism can be distinguished:
1) epistemological, emphasizing the opposite of two ways of considering being;
2) ontological, insisting on the heterogeneity and fundamental irreducibility of two substances;
3) anthropological, emphasizing the opposition of the soul and body.
The term was introduced by X. Wolf.R. Descartes is considered the founder of dualism as a philosophical doctrine. He introduced into philosophy the idea of two qualitatively different and irreducible substances - extended (res extensa) and thinking (res cogitans). The properties of a material substance are corporality and extension. The thinking substance is the soul, spirit, consciousness.
In this idea of two qualitatively different substances in the new European culture, the idea of the ontological bifurcation of the universe, of the radical opposition of man and nature, sounded. The material substance, presented as a mechanism where the law of immutability of the momentum dominates, was considered as the opposite of the thinking substance, which is free and autonomous, capable of creatively carrying out intellectual activity.
Dualism in modern European philosophy expressed the active role of the thinking substance, its ability to create ideal schemes and models of the universe.. It was objectively necessary to reveal the possibilities of the rationalistic type of philosophizing and answered the tasks of the formation of science, which was based on the opposition of subject and object. The subject is determined by the ability to think, put forward and substantiate ideas and hypotheses. The object has its inherent properties and qualities that are "transparent" to the cognizing subject.
The ontological duality of the universe also gives rise to epistemological dualism, the opposition of subject and object. Occasionalists, B. Spinoza tried to overcome ontological dualism, considering spirit and matter as attributes of a single substance. G. Leibniz, moving from dualism to pluralism of monads, defined the material as a way of manifestation of the spiritual and introduced the principle of "pre-established harmony".
Philosophy in the 19th and 20th centuries dualism is epistemological rather than ontological. Consideration of the problems of correlation between empiricism and rational schemes, a priori and a posteriori, etc. - all this had as its basis the epistemological dualism of thinking and being. At the same time, if pre-Kantian philosophy was dominated by the idea of the identity of the order and connection of ideas and things, then in the epistemological teaching of I. Kant, attention is drawn to the gap between thinking and things. He already realizes that the nature of things is not given in its immediacy to thinking, whose claims are only accessible to their phenomenal form. Cognition is considered as a constructive process of thinking, coupled with experience. Neo-Kantians (G. Rickert and others) introduce the dualism of "values" and "reality", A.O. Lovejoy, describing the "rebellion against dualism" in the history of philosophy, insists on the need for dualism in thinking and the nature of things.
In modern philosophy (R. Rorty and others) the idea of the need to overcome dualism as a tradition of new European thought is being carried out.
Task 4
- Philosophical anthropology(from philosophy and anthropology ; philosophy of man) in a broad sense - philosophical doctrine of nature and essence human ; in a narrow sense - a direction (school) in Western European philosophy (mainly German ) first half XX century coming from the ideas Dilthey's philosophy of life, Husserl's phenomenology and others, striving to create a holistic doctrine of man through the use and interpretation of data from various sciences - psychology, biology, ethology, sociology, as well as religion, etc.
- The nature and essence of man- a philosophical concept that denotes the essential characteristics of a person that distinguish him and are not reducible to all other forms and genera being , or its natural properties,in one way or another for all people.
- Being - in the broadest sense - Existence .
- The concept of being is the central philosophical concept. Genesis - the subject of study ontology . In a narrower sense, characteristic offundamental ontology M. Heidegger , the concept of "being" captures the aspect of existence existing , unlike his entities . If the essence is determined by the question: “What is the existent?”, then being is the question: “What does it mean that the existent is?”. The concept of being in the Russian philosophical language introduces Grigory Teplov in 1751 as a translation of the Latin term "ens"
- Philosophy of life (German Lebensphilosophie) - irrationalisticcurrent in European philosophy, which received a predominant development in Germany in the late XIX - early XX centuries.
- Wilhelm Dilthey(German Wilhelm Dilthey; November 19, 1833, Biebrich am Rhein - October 1, 1911, Seys) - German cultural historian and idealist philosopher, representative of the philosophy of life, literary critic who first introduced the concept of the so-called sciences of the spirit (German) Geisteswissenschaft), which had a huge impact both on modern historical sciences in Germany (Rikkert, Windelband, Spranger and others), and literary criticism ( Unger, Walzel (German: Oskar Walzel), Gundolf (German: Friedrich Gundolf) and others).
- Phenomenology (German) Phänomenologie - the doctrine of phenomena ) is the direction to philosophy of the 20th century , which defined its task as an unconditional description experience of knowing consciousness and highlighting its essential features.
- Edmund Husserl (German Edmund Husserl; April 8, 1859, Prosnitz, Moravia (Austria) - April 26, 1938, Freiburg) - German philosopher, founder of phenomenology.
- Psychology (from other Greek ψυχή - "soul"; λόγος - "knowledge") - science , studying structures and processes inaccessible to external observation, in order to explain human and animal behavior , as well as the behavior of individuals, groups and collectives. Unites in itself humanitarian and natural scienceapproaches. Includes fundamental psychology, revealing the facts, mechanisms and laws of mental activity,applied psychologywhich studies, based on the data of fundamental psychology, mental phenomena in natural conditions, and practical psychology, which deals with the application of psychological knowledge in practice
- Biology (Greek βιολογία; from other Greek. βίος - life + λόγος - teaching, science ) is a system of sciences, the objects of study of which are living beings and their interaction withenvironment. Biology studies all aspects life in particular the structure, functioning, growth, origin, evolution and distribution of living organisms Earth . Classifies and describes living beings, their origin species , interaction with each other and withenvironment.
- Ethology - field discipline zoology studying genetically determined behavior (instincts) ) animals, including of people . The term was introduced in 1859 by a French zoologistIsidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Closely associated with zoology, evolutionary biology, physiology , genetics , comparative psychology, zoopsychology and is also an integral partcognitive ethology. Founder of ethology, laureateNobel Prize Konrad Lorenz , called ethology "the morphology of animal behavior."
- Konrad Zacharias Lorenz(German Konrad Zacharias Lorenz; November 7, 1903, Vienna - February 27, 1989, Vienna) - an outstanding Austrian scientist, one of the founders ethology – animal behavior sciences, laureateNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine(1973, together with Carl von Frisch and Nicholas Tinbergen).
- Sociology (from lat. societas - society + other Greek λόγος - science) is the science of society, systems , composing it,patternsits functioning and development, social institutions, relationships and communities . Sociology studies society, revealing the internal mechanisms of its structure and dynamics; formation, functioning and development of its structures (structural elements: social communities, institutions, organizations and groups); laws of social actions and mass behavior of people, as well as the relationship between the individual and society.
- Religion - a special form of awareness of the world, due to faith in supernatural, which includes a set moral norms and types of behavior, rites , cult actions and bringing people together in organizations ( church, religious community.
- Max Scheler (German: Max Scheler; August 22, 1874, Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire- May 19, 1928, Frankfurt am Main, German Empire) - German philosopher and sociologist, one of the founders ofphilosophical anthropology
- Helmut Plesner (German Helmuth Plessner, September 4, 1892, Wiesbaden - June 12, 1985, Göttingen) - German philosopher and sociologist , one of the foundersphilosophical anthropology.
- Arnold Gehlen (German Arnold Gehlen, January 29, 1904, Leipzig - January 30, 1976, Hamburg) - German philosopher and sociologist , one of the foundersphilosophical anthropology, representative technocratic conservatism.
- Papoul Ludwig Landsberg(German Landsberg, December 3, 1901, Bonn - April 2, 1944, Oranienburg) - German philosopher, representative philosophical anthropology and personalism.
- Karl Loewit (German Karl Löwith; January 9, 1897, Munich - May 26, 1973, Heidelberg ) is a German philosopher.
- Hans Lipps (German Lipps, November 22, 1889, Pirna - October 10, 1941, Russia) - German philosopher. Since 1911 - a student of Husserl. In 1912 defended his dissertation "On the structural changes of plants in a modified environment." Died in RussiaWorld War II.
- Otto Friedrich Bolnow(German Otto Friedrich Bollnow, March 14, 1903, Stettin - February 7, 1991, Tübingen ) - German philosopher and teacher, continuer of traditions philosophy of life. Works on anthropology, ethics , philosophy of life,existential philosophy, hermeneutics.
Task 5
Pragmatism
One of the directions of philosophy in foreign literature can be called pragmatism , which took shape in the 70s of the 20th century, thanks to the activities of three scientists: Pierce - "Consolidation of beliefs," How to make our ideas clear "; James - "The pattern of faith from the will", "Pragmatism is the beginning of psychology"; Dune - "Principles of Psychology", "Experience and Nature", "Psychology and Pedagogy of Thinking".Today, pragmatism in the United States is the dominant philosophical current. Pragmatism subjugated the philosophy of education, became the semi-official philosophy of the American way of life..
The Americans compared the formation of the concept of pragmatism with the "Capernican coup", a complete reconstruction of philosophy, believing that pragmatism is the ideal key to solving the eternal problems of philosophy.
The central task of pragmatism- lower abstract philosophical concepts to the ground and look for the meaning of philosophical problems in their relation to human life. It is those philosophical problems that are significant that are directly related to human life, so they must be stated and considered in terms of human action and its success.
According to them, a person acts in an irrational world. Attempts to achieve objective truth are meaningless, therefore, any concept, any concept, any theory and social teachings, as well as moral requirements, should be approached instrumentally, from the standpoint of the expediency of specific things. What brings success is true - this is the general concept of this theory.
a). "The Doubt Theory of Faith"
b). "Theory of Meaning"
" Belief Doubt Theory", according to her - this does not reflect reality in the human mind, but the development of innate life instincts, i.e. a biopsychological function aimed at developing the habit of responding to environmental conditions - this habit constitutes belief. And the achievement of stable belief is the only goal of thinking. The movement is not from ignorance to knowledge, but from doubt to firm opinion and stable belief, which is the main function of knowing thinking.Steady belief is achieved in 3 ways and methods: persistence, which involves adhering to a once accepted view.The method of authority - relying on widespread authoritative judgments and views.The method of apriorism - general beliefs, justified by impersonal pre-experimental principles.
The subjectivism of beliefs is allowed by the adoption of Shpotera, and thus unity and universality are ensured.
" Belief Doubt Theory"justifies the rejection of understanding cognitive activity as essentially reflective activity and aimed at achieving true knowledge of objective reality. Cognitive activity is considered by Peirce as a non-cognitive activity that is aimed at providing intellectual comfort. This theory denies that a person has a cognitive interest. Thus. the achievement of faith entails the passivity of the mind, but ensures the activity of the body, because faith, from the point of view of the pragmatist, is a habit of acting.
"Theory of Meaning "- Pierce solved the problem of establishing the meaning of concepts not in the dictionary sense, but in the practical actions of a person, i.e. to understand the idea of a term and make it clear, therefore Pierce correlates the concept with a person. Without this, one cannot speak of "meaning" in meaning is what the content of the concept means for a person as a community of people, i.e. pragmatism has carried out a pragmatic interpretation of concepts with practical consequences of actions.
The concept of truth pierce connects and identifies with success. Truth, in his opinion, is future utility for a purpose. Truth is what we believe, or a firm belief. And in order to be stable, belief must be universal, i.e. be shared by all who are interested in it.
James - puts a person at the center of philosophy, and the significance of all philosophical problems is evaluated by the role that they can play in the life of an individual.
The philosopher should not be interested in the structure of the world, but what significance it has for a person, which follows from his knowledge for him. We incline to one or another philosophical direction not because of its truth, but because it best suits our frame of mind, emotional state, our interests. Truth, according to James, is usefulness or success, and proniaism is the method of settling disputes. Human consciousness is a selective activity aimed at selecting what meets the goals of the individual, their feelings, moods and emotions.
According to James, it is necessary to give preference not to the arguments of reason, but to believe in any hypothesis and take risks. At the center of his concept is the will to faith: on the one hand, faith sets one up for belief, in the perfect irrationality and unknowability of the world around, on the other hand, it helps to live comfortably in the chaos of unrelated events, a pluralistic universe. The will to believe determines a person's success in theory and practice. Because the objects of faith are the essence, the only realities that can be spoken of, but they become objects only when, in this or that faith, they are subjected to stresses or efforts of the will in experience. Experience is characterized as a certain set of sensations, emotions, experiences. In experience, we do not deal with reality, therefore the concept of ideas, theories created in the process of experience are devoid of objective content and must be evaluated pragmatically, i.e. from the point of view of practical consequences, therefore the truth of concepts and ideas lies in their usefulness.
He systematized and turned into a universal doctrine that embraced pedagogy, ethics, sociology, history - that was Dewey. He did this on the basis of science and democracy. He developed the logic of science, the theory of scientific inquiry, and applied the scientific method he created to human problems in all areas of social life. Criticizing the philosophy that existed before him, Dewey insisted that the only way to solve social, practical and theoretical problems is in the method of reason and science, which, in relation to nature and technology, has already given brilliant results known to all. He considered the scientific method not as a method of cognition, but as a method that ensures the successful behavior of a person in the world, objective knowledge, which is impossible. Dewey's scientific method does not recognize objective reality as a subject of study. He argues that it arises in the process of cognition, therefore, knowledge about the subject is regarded as the creation of reality. From his point of view, to be the object of scientific research. Scientific research puts a person in problematic uncertain situations, the task of philosophy is to transform an uncertain situation into a definite, unsolved problem into a solved one. For this purpose, concepts, ideas, laws are created that have instrumental significance. Science is a set of tools that are used in certain circumstances, so some scientists called Dewey's pragmatism instrumentalism. It includes 5 stages of research:
1. feelings of embarrassment
2. awareness of the problem
3. marking her solution (proposing her hypothesis)
4. development of the idea, its solution to imperial consequences
5. observation and experiment that are carried out for the sake of solving a problem
Dewey conclusion: the true solution is the one that most ensures the success of human actions. Dewey understands truth like other representatives of pragmatism, Pierce and James.
Chapter XXIII
SCIENTIFIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL JUSTIFICATION OF ATHEISM
Section Five
The main features of the religious worldview. Religion as a social phenomenon performs the function of a mass worldview in society. K. Marx called religion "a perverse worldview."
The value of worldview in people's lives is due to the social nature of man. The need to navigate in a changing social and natural environment gives rise to the need for each person, for a class, for humanity as a whole in a generalized system of views on the world, on one's place in it, on the meaning and purpose of life. The worldview reflects the attitude of a person, social groups, classes to the world around them, their aspirations and interests. History shows that in antagonistic socio-economic formations the interest of the ruling class is manifested in the planting and consolidation of perverse, illusory worldview systems.
In our country, on the basis of socialist transformations, the scientific-materialist world outlook has been established and for the first time in history has become dominant. The new edition of the Program of the CPSU, adopted by the XXVII Party Congress, notes: "Socialism ensured the dominance in the spiritual life of Soviet society of the scientific worldview, which is based on Marxism-Leninism as an integral and harmonious system of philosophical, economic and socio-political views."
The religious worldview, spontaneously formed in ancient times, changed depending on the general
"Program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union New edition. P. 52
significant changes, remaining dominant in all pre-socialist socio-economic formations. There are many varieties of religious worldview. All of them have, although to varying degrees, some common characteristics and features.
The most essential feature, the main principle of any religious worldview is the recognition of the real existence of supernatural forces and spheres, god or gods. The real existence of nature and society is not questioned, but changes in them, as well as in the fate of people, are explained by the direct or indirect intervention of supernatural, otherworldly forces. Relationships with God or gods are considered as the main fact of being, which determines the fate of people and everything that exists.
The religious worldview is characterized by the recognition of the creation of the world (creationism), the expediency and purposefulness of the phenomena of reality, the beginning and end of which God is recognized (teleology), the idea of a divine guiding force in managing the world (providentialism).
Ideas of the divine creation of the world, present in the ancient myths of all peoples, are dogmatically defended by theologians of our day. Thus, the Judeo-Christian doctrine of the creation by God of everything that exists from nothing is completely contrary to scientific ideas, and yet modern theologians continue to defend it.
With the ideas of creationism is closely connected and characteristic of the religious worldview the doctrine of the expediency and purposefulness of the phenomena of nature and society. Everything in the world from this point of view is created and operates in accordance with a reasonable divine plan. Teleology is an attempt to explain from the religious-idealistic positions the really existing orderliness, regularity and universal connection of phenomena.
Affirmed by a religious worldview providential principle means that God not only created the world for certain purposes, but also constantly controls it, predetermining all the events and destinies of people. The social meaning of theological providentialism lies in the fact that all the disasters and hardships that fall on people are justified by the fact that they supposedly express
the highest, inaccessible to human understanding, divine justice and expediency. Providentialism and teleology have been and remain one of the main methods of religious interpretation of social reality, aimed at justifying all the injustices of class society.
The religious worldview is also distinguished by a special interpretation of the place and role of man in the world, expressed in concept of anthropocentrism. Man is declared the center of the Universe, the crown of divine creation, the image and likeness of God, the link between the divine world and the earthly, created world. Anthropocentrism ignores the actual history of the formation and development of man, and the socially conditioned properties of his consciousness, his thinking, moral, aesthetic and intellectual feelings are declared manifestations of the divine principle. In the light of this concept, there is a shift of human interests from the sphere of public to the sphere of purely personal, individual, among which personal salvation is declared the main one.
The religious worldview reflects and reinforces human lack of freedom, dependence on natural and social forces. It cannot serve as an effective means of transforming the world on the basis of reason in the interests of people, and all attempts by modern theologians to modernize it do not affect its essence.
Idealistic metaphysical essence of religious outlook. To characterize any worldview, the decisive factor is the solution of the question of the relationship between the material and the spiritual. The materialistic worldview, based on the historical practice of mankind and scientific data, affirms the view of nature, matter as primary in relation to consciousness. “... The world is a moving matter - it can and should be endlessly studied in infinitely complex and detailed manifestations and ramifications this movement, movement this matter, but outside of it, outside of the “physical”, external world, familiar to everyone and everyone, nothing can exist”2. There is nothing in the world but moving matter, and the world is one in its materiality. “The real unity of the world,” wrote F. Engels, “consists in its materiality,
2 Lenin V.I. Full coll. op. T. 18. S. 365.
and this latter is proved not by a couple of tricky phrases, but by a long and difficult development of philosophy and natural science. The movement of matter according to its objective laws at a certain stage led to the emergence of life, man and his consciousness, reflecting this world. Other consciousness, besides human, is unknown to science.
Religion proceeds from opposite principles. Recognition of the primacy of the spirit, consciousness in relation to the material world makes it related to all directions philosophical idealism. F. Engels in his work "Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of German Classical Philosophy" showed that the origins of the idealistic solution of the fundamental question of philosophy are rooted in early religious ideas.
There is a close alliance between religion and philosophical idealism, which is based on the coincidence of interests in the struggle against the materialistic worldview. This alliance is constantly supported by the efforts of both sides. Religious ideologists borrow the conclusions and arguments of idealism in favor of the primacy of the spirit, the limitations of human knowledge, use philosophical categories to give a more modern, scientific look to traditional religious views. Modern philosophical idealism, which has broken up into many small schools, sees in religion a more general and broad worldview basis and is becoming more and more closely connected with religious irrationalism.
Religious worldview metaphysical in both senses of this concept: it recognizes that along with the natural, "physical" world, there is a supernatural, supernatural world; it is also metaphysical in the sense of anti-dialectics. The metaphysical nature of the religious worldview is most clearly manifested in its dogmatism in the recognition of divine immutable, absolute truths concerning the principles of the world and human existence. The features of the religious worldview noted above have in religion the meaning of dogmas, that is, unchanging truths given from above. The metaphysical nature of the religious worldview is manifested in the fact that the movement is torn off from matter and the ultimate causes of all changes in the real world are taken out of it; God, the spirit, is declared to be such a cause.
3 Marx K., Engels F. Op. T. 20. S. 43.
In contrast to this scientific outlook considers the world as a variety of forms of moving matter. Matter does not exist outside of motion, motion is the mode of its existence. The basic laws of materialistic dialectics reveal the source of movement, show how and in what direction development takes place. Especially great is the ideological significance of the law of unity and struggle of opposites, which is the essence of dialectics and reveals the inner source of self-movement of matter. Ignorance or deliberate ignorance of this law leads to the fact that "remains in the shadows self movement, his motor strength, its source, its motive (or this source is transferred outside - god, subject, etc.)”4. Defenders of the religious worldview, contrary to scientific data, continue to consider matter as a kind of inert mass that does not have an internal source of self-propulsion and self-development. This is done in order to declare God the source of all development.
The attitude of theologians to the problem patterns, orderliness of the development of the world remains controversial. There was a time when theology did not recognize the existence of regularities in the world, seeing in every single change and event a manifestation of God's creative act. Advances in science have forced theologians to recognize the existence of patterns in nature. But the latter are interpreted by them as divine principles, as the thoughts of God, which first arose in the divine mind and then embodied by his will in nature. However, even such recognition of patterns in the spirit of objective idealism conflicts with the principles of the religious worldview, in particular with the principle of providentialism. Indeed, if we assume that God established laws and allowed the world to develop on their basis, then one should abandon the understanding of God as a providence and miracle worker.
Religion cannot refuse to recognize the divine miracle without striking a blow to its own positions. Therefore, along with the recognition of regularities, theologians insist on the reality of miracles, placing them in the realm of phenomena that have not been sufficiently studied by science. Thus, Protestant and Orthodox ideologists speak of a miracle within
4 Lenin V.I. Full coll. op. T. 29. C 317
morning transformation, which supposedly takes place in the soul of a believer when he “touches” the deity. The followers of Thomas Aquinas try to substantiate the reality of a miracle by referring to random phenomena. Considering chance as something independent of natural causality, they pass it off as a manifestation of the free divine will. Random phenomena are, in their opinion, miracles constantly created by God. In fact, chance is subject to the law of natural causation, it is a form of manifestation of necessity, and what is accidental in one respect may be necessary in another.
The inconsistency of the religious doctrine of the superiority of faith over reason. The opposite of scientific and religious worldviews is also manifested in the solution of the question of the nature and possibilities of the human mind, of the goals and forms of cognition. Materialistic philosophy considers consciousness as a product of highly organized matter - the brain and recognizes the ability of a person to unlimited knowledge of the world. An irrefutable argument in favor of a materialistic understanding of the problems of cognition is the entire history of the development of mankind, the transformation of nature and the revolutionary reorganization of society.
Religion perverts the real aims and methods of knowledge. Based on pre-scientific mythological ideas about the world and man, it orients believers not to an active, creative attitude towards the world, but to obedience to religious principles and prescriptions, not to independent study and knowledge of the world, but to the assimilation of previously created illusions about the world. Theology declares the knowledge of God, that is, a non-existent object, to be the main goal of knowledge. In practice, this means that cognitive efforts are directed to the assimilation of previously created ideas about God. In addition, theologians argue that the human mind is not able to know the essence of God. Consequently, they pose a problem for cognition that turns out to be unsolvable.
Since the knowledge of God appears in religion as the highest and main goal of knowledge, theologians also consider the methods of knowledge of God as the principles of any knowledge, including scientific knowledge. Religion offers two ways of knowing God: the so-called candidly
knowledge and natural knowledge of God. Revelation refers to the belief that God, in a supernatural way, reveals to people the absolute "truths" about himself, the world, about people's attitude to God, the world, to each other. Revelations are awarded only to those who are chosen by God according to their faith. The sacred books of Christianity and Islam are declared the result of such a revelation, and believers are invited to accept all their content on faith in order to know God. As for the natural knowledge of God, it comes down to the prescription to evaluate all the phenomena of reality through the prism of the basic principles of the religious worldview, to see the supernatural, divine behind the natural causes of phenomena. As you can see, theology suggests that you first believe in God and only then get the opportunity to know him. It is no coincidence that religious faith is declared to be the most important category of religious epistemology.
Scientific knowledge of the world is considered by theologians as secondary, aimed at the study of gross matter and incapable of comprehending spiritual processes, and therefore it can supposedly satisfy only the material needs of man. At the same time, they try to belittle the importance of rational knowledge, emphasizing the imperfection of the human senses, the limitations of logical thinking. Theologians consider the highest spiritual value of a person not his ability to think and creative activity, but faith in God, which is declared to be a special form of knowledge, more perfect than rational.
Religious ideologists continue to defend the ancient doctrine of the soul as an organ of knowledge. According to Christian doctrine, the human soul has a divine nature and is capable not only of discursive knowledge, but also of a special, intuitive comprehension of the mysteries of being. Faith as a special form of knowledge, according to theologians, is such an intuition with the help of which the truth is revealed with the greatest completeness without the preliminary work of the mind.
The desire to elevate faith over reason is inherent in all religions. It manifested itself both in the struggle against science and in the condemnation of rationalistic tendencies in religion itself. In Christianity, there is an internal confrontation between frank and refined, rationalized fideism. Outright fideism
completely rejects the claims of reason to true knowledge in favor of faith. This tendency, which arose in early Christianity, found vivid expression in Tertullian's thesis "I believe because it is absurd." Since from the point of view of logic and common sense the trinity of God, the God-manhood of Christ and other dogmas cannot be explained and understood, the followers of Tertullian proposed to abandon reason for the sake of faith. They tried to pass off the incompatibility of these dogmas with the human mind as a sign of their divine origin. In the spirit of this trend, Luther taught that reason interferes with faith in God.
Another trend, initiated by Clement of Alexandria, is characterized by the desire to the reconciliation of faith and knowledge, to the use of reason to justify religion. Developing this line, Thomas Aquinas proclaimed the doctrine of the harmony of faith and reason. According to this doctrine, the human mind, by virtue of its divine nature, cannot contradict divine wisdom, and only because of its limitations and smallness is it unable to accommodate the fullness of the truths contained in revelation. Therefore, according to Thomas, these truths are considered "supramental" and should be taken on faith. Thus, the harmony of faith and reason was only proclaimed, but in reality the demand to subordinate reason to faith remained in force. The concept of Thomas Aquinas on the relationship between faith and reason is fully preserved by modern neo-Thomists. Nowadays, in the conditions of the rapid growth of scientific knowledge, theologians are increasingly resorting to subtle forms of fideism.
The rise of faith over reason and religion over science is called upon to serve and theological concept of truth, which is in conflict with the historical process of increasing human knowledge and with the scientific understanding of truth. The dialectical-materialist doctrine of truth is based on reflection theory: humanity reflects the world in its concepts, hypotheses, theories, and the correct, adequate reflection of this world, verified by practice, represents the truth. There is no other truth but human.
Theologians' statements about truth are contradictory: on the one hand, they continue to defend the traditional idea that truth is God as the embodiment of absolute knowledge about everything; on the other hand, trying to reconcile religion and science, they
go to the concept of a plurality of truths, according to which each sphere of being has its own truths that are inapplicable to another sphere. The exclusive sphere of religion is the supernatural world, the other world, as well as the area of spiritual life and worldview principles. The truths of science are allegedly inapplicable to this sphere. Theologians limit the sphere of science mainly to the problems of natural science, denying it the right to draw worldview conclusions. It turns out that only religion should be recognized as a monopoly on solving worldview issues, as well as issues related to the field of individual and social consciousness (morality, art, psychology, etc.). As you can see, this concept is an attempt to declare religion the only possible and true system of worldview.
Religious ideologists argue that a materialistic worldview based on scientific knowledge allegedly cannot exist, since sciences break up a single cosmos into many systems. Theologians portray the materialistic systems of worldview not as philosophical generalizations of scientific data, but as an arbitrary addition to them, which is essentially alien to them.
The inconsistency of the theological denial of the scientific-materialistic, atheistic worldview is refuted by the very fact of its existence and its ever-wider spread. The outstanding naturalists P. Langevin, F. Joliot-Curie, J. Bernal, and S. I. Vavilov emphasized the great importance of dialectical materialism as the philosophical methodological basis of natural science research. It is also indicative that many scientists in bourgeois countries, who subjectively accept religion, spontaneously promote dialectical-materialist ideas as the only ones capable of ensuring the success of scientific activity. The scientific-materialistic, atheistic worldview is not some kind of arbitrary construction: it is based on dialectical-materialist philosophy, which is a deep generalization of both natural science knowledge and the history of the development of human society, all human culture.
So, an analysis of the basic principles of the religious worldview shows that religion distorts the real picture of the world, puts illusions before people.
nefarious goals and cannot serve as the basis for transformative creative activity.
Atheistic criticism of the idea of God. The idea of God as some kind of mysterious force that determines the fate of the world and every person occupies a central place in modern systems of religious worldview, and all the efforts of the defenders of religion ultimately come down to trying to prove the real existence of God. One of these attempts is the reference to the fact that all peoples had faith in God. Some representatives of monotheistic religions even argue that initially the peoples had faith in a single god. Science has convincing data showing that in the early forms of religion there were no ideas about the gods.
The founders of Marxism revealed the social and epistemological reasons for the emergence of the idea of God. F. Engels pointed out that primitive man mastered the alien and hostile forces of nature through personification: “It was this desire for personification that created gods everywhere ...”5 The sun and wind, thunder and lightning, rivers and seas, etc. during personification turned into special animated beings with will and power. The complication of social relations, the emergence of class inequality led to the fact that these creatures began to be endowed with social characteristics. “Fantastic images,” wrote F. Engels, “which originally reflected only the mysterious forces of nature, now also acquire social attributes and become representatives of historical forces” b. So, the ancient Greek god of fire, Hephaestus, becomes at the same time the patron of crafts, the god Hermes, originally the guardian of herds and shepherds, turned into the patron of merchants and travelers.
With the unification of the tribes, the priority of some gods over others is affirmed, the gods of the ruling tribes become the supreme gods. F. Engels pointed out that the national gods were tailored to the measure of a certain national community and their power did not extend beyond the borders of the peoples worshiping them. National gods existed as long as the nation that created them existed, and perished with it. He noted
5 Marx K., Engels F. Op. T. 20. S. 639.
6 Ibid. S. 329.
also that the tendency to affirm a single god appears only with the emergence of states with a single ruler, monarchies, despotisms.
Fantastic ideas about God have already become the object of criticism in antiquity. The ancient atheists, the freethinkers of the Middle Ages, and the materialists of modern times have shown the inconsistency, the rational lack of proof of the idea of God. Criticism of this basic idea - God forced theologians to look for ways to justify his existence.
Criticism of theological evidence for the existence of God. Each religion, in accordance with the specific historical situation, used various methods to justify the existence of God. For many centuries, when the very conditions of life formed in the masses the need for religion and faith in God, the ministers of religious cults made do with reference to supposedly former miracles, revelations and prophecies. This technique in defense of the existence of God is still in use among the defenders of religion, who argue that the very presence of faith speaks in favor of the existence of God. As before, they refer to revelation, which allegedly contains a truth given from above, in which you only need to believe.
However, in the fight against materialistic, atheistic philosophy, theologians developed methods of rationalistic substantiation of the existence of God. And if earlier, at the previous stages of history, these evidence had a narrow focus, mainly against free-thinkers and atheist philosophers, then as the scientific view of the world developed and the influence of the scientific-materialistic worldview increased, the defenders of religion were forced to use the entire previously accumulated arsenal of evidence in benefit of the existence of God. And although a significant part of modern theologians recognizes the limited value of these proofs, agrees that they do not have the value of strict logical conclusions, they nevertheless use them, considering them as additional means of strengthening religious faith. These most widely used proofs of the existence of God are the following in various modifications: ontological, moral, cosmological and teleological.
ontological proof was advanced in the 4th century. Augustine, developed in the Middle Ages by Anselm
Canterbury. F. Engels, who criticized it, outlined its essence as follows: “This proof says: “When we think of God, we think of him as the totality of all perfections. But to this totality of all perfections belongs, first of all, existence, for a being that does not have existence is necessarily imperfect. Therefore, among the perfections of God, we must include existence. Therefore, God must exist." The ontological proof was criticized immediately after its appearance, and in the Middle Ages, including by Thomas Aquinas, and in modern times, in particular by I. Kant. F. Engels pointed out that this proof is based on an objective-idealistic understanding of the identity of thinking and being, in which being is derived from thought, from consciousness. The logical error of this proof lies in the fact that the existence of God was deduced from the idea of God and the fact that the idea, the idea could be false, perverted was ignored.
Varieties of ontological proof of the existence of God are historical, psychological, anthropological evidence. The historical proof is reduced to the reference to the existence of religion among all peoples, which, according to theologians, cannot all be mistaken, and, therefore, it is necessary to admit that the idea of the existence of God is true. But in reality, this judgment asserts only the fact of the existence of religion, and not God. Psychological proof is an attempt to substantiate the existence of God by referring to the presence of religious faith, which supposedly stands outside rational explanation and is generated by the mystical desire of the soul for God. However, even theologians themselves have always recognized the existence of false beliefs. Anthropological evidence is based on the biblical story of man as the image and likeness of God. A person is endowed with the features of god-likeness, and then this is used as an argument in favor of the existence of a god. In all these proofs, the thesis is replaced: it is said that there is an idea of God, religious faith, religion, and the conclusion is made about the existence of God.
Widely used by theologians cosmological proof of the existence of god, in which God is identified
7 See ibid. S. 42.
joins with the first cause of the world. This proof is found already in Plato, where God is the root cause, in Aristotle it is the prime mover. The proof was already refuted by the ancient atomists - Democritus, Epicurus. I. Kant, revealing its logical inconsistency, noted that in it there is a substitution of the thesis that must be proved.
The cosmological proof of the existence of God is based on a metaphysical understanding of the source of motion, the opposition of matter and motion, the recognition of the finiteness of an infinite causal series, the absolutization of necessity.
Teleological proof of the existence of God comes down to the assertion that universal expediency in the world could be generated only by a higher mind, God. The inconsistency of this proof was revealed by many materialists and atheists, who noted that the order of phenomena in the world is explained by natural regularity. It was also noted (for example, by Holbach) that natural destruction, wars, fires, diseases, and evil are not consistent with teleological principles. The development of natural science and the emergence of Darwinism undermined the foundations of teleology.
Kant, having criticized the ontological, cosmological, teleological proofs, proposed moral proof of the existence of God. He argued that the universal moral law requires a harmonious unity between happiness and virtue. However, in earthly life virtue is not always rewarded, and, by virtue of this law, it could not exist if the otherworldly, divine reward is not recognized. The moral world order can only be established by the highest moral principle - God, which proves supposedly his existence. But this proof loses its meaning in the light of a materialistic understanding of the nature and significance of morality in human life, in the light of the fact that there is neither a universal morality nor a universal moral law.
Modern theologians, despite the logical inconsistency of "rational proofs", consider them useful because they allegedly connect religion with logic, philosophy and other sciences, and can also help strengthen religious ideas among ordinary believers. Therefore, they continue to update these traditional proofs with new ones.
emami. Speculation on unsolved problems of science is one of such techniques. Religion and idealism have always speculated on the unresolved problems of science, and V. I. Lenin perfectly showed this in his work Materialism and Empirio-Criticism.
Especially widely modern theologians use moral arguments in favor of the existence of God. God is proclaimed the only basis of moral behavior, an alternative to immorality and immorality.
The origin and social essence of the idea of God were comprehensively disclosed by K. Marx, F. Engels, V. I. Lenin. K. Marx noted that “the evidence for the existence of God is nothing more than empty tautologies, what "irrationality is the being of God."
The reactionary social role of the idea of God was deeply revealed by V. I. Lenin: “God is (historically and everyday) primarily a complex of ideas generated by the stupid oppression of man and external nature and class oppression - ideas reinforcing this pressure, lulling class struggle." The idea of God in an antagonistic society has always and above all been used to justify and defend exploitative social orders.
Analyzing the essence of God-building and God-seeking, V. I. Lenin pointed out that attempts to revive and approve this idea in a more perfect form actually consolidate and perpetuate the lack of rights and oppression of the working masses, which are beneficial to the exploiting classes. "A million sins, dirty tricks, violence and infections physical much easier to open up by the crowd and therefore much less dangerous than thin, spiritual, dressed up in the most elegant "ideological" costumes, the idea of \u200b\u200bGod" 10.
8 Marx K., Engels F. From early works. M., 1956. S. 97, 98
9 Lenin V.I. Poyan. coll. op. T. 48. S. 232.
Historically, the first type of worldview was the mythological worldview, which was, in addition to everything else, a special kind of knowledge, a syncretic kind, in which ideas and the world order are fragmented and not systematized. It was in the myth, in addition to man's ideas about himself, that the first religious ideas were also contained. Therefore, in some sources, the mythological and religious worldview is considered as one - religious-mythological. However, the specificity of the religious worldview is such that it is appropriate to separate these concepts, because the mythological and religious forms of the worldview have significant differences.
On the one hand, the ways of life presented in myths were closely connected with rituals and, of course, served as an object of faith and religious worship. In and myth are quite similar. But on the other hand, such similarity was manifested only at the earliest stages of coexistence, then the religious worldview takes shape in an independent type of consciousness and worldview, with its own specific features and properties.
The main features of the religious worldview, which distinguish it from the mythological one, are that:
The religious worldview provides for consideration of the universe in its divided state into the natural and supernatural worlds;
Religion, as a form of worldview, as the main worldview structure, presupposes an attitude of faith, not knowledge;
The religious worldview implies the possibility of establishing contact between the two worlds, the natural and the supernatural, with the help of a specific cult system and rituals. A myth becomes a religion only when it is firmly included in the cult system, and, consequently, all mythological ideas, gradually being included in a cult, turn into dogma.
At this level, the formation of religious norms is already taking place, which, in turn, begin to act as regulators and regulators of social life and even consciousness.
The religious worldview acquires significant social functions, the main of which is to help the individual in overcoming life's troubles and rise to something high, eternal. This is also the practical significance of the religious worldview, the impact of which was very tangibly manifested not only in the consciousness of an individual person, but also had a huge impact on the course of world history.
If anthropomorphism is the main parameter of myth, then the religious worldview describes the surrounding world based on its already indicated division into two worlds - the natural and the supernatural. According to religious tradition, both of these worlds were created and controlled by the Lord God, who has the properties of omnipotence, omniscience. In religion, postulates are proclaimed that affirm the supremacy of God not only as a higher being, but also as a higher system of values. God is love. Therefore, the basis of the religious worldview is faith - a special type of concept and acceptance of the values of the religious worldview.
From the point of view of formal logic, everything divine is paradoxical. And from the point of view of religion itself, God, as a substance, requires a different approach from a person to mastering and accepting himself - with the help of faith.
This contradiction, in fact, is one of the most important paradoxes of the religious worldview. Its essence is that the understanding of God became an example of phenomenal idealization, which then only began to be applied in science as a methodological principle. The concept and acceptance of God made it possible for scientists to formulate many tasks and problems of society and man.
In this context, the consideration of God as the main meaningful phenomenon of the religious worldview can even be presented as the most outstanding achievement of Reason.
In its original content, philosophy practically coincides with the religious and mythological worldview.
Mythology- a system of legends, tales, legends, with the help of imagination, explaining the course and origin of natural and social processes. Mythology in its origin was a naive philosophy and science.
Myth- a figurative variation of the artistic epic with a pronounced attraction to the heroic-fantastic reproduction of the phenomena of reality, accompanied by a concrete-sensory personification of a person's mental states.
Myth structure:
- cognitive component- worldview: the origin of things, the etiology of the world, etc.;
- prescriptive-incentive component- principles of life: values, attitudes, instructions, directives, ideals;
- practical component- world action: social interaction, interindividual communication, exchange of activities, self-affirmation, cult and ritual-mystical acts, symbolic rites, spells, etc.
In mythology, for the first time in the history of mankind, a number of philosophical questions are posed:
- how the world came into being;
- how it develops;
- what is life;
- what is death, etc.
Mythology was an attempt to explain the phenomena of nature and human life, the relationship of the earthly and cosmic principles.
The main historical types and essence of the worldview
Mythology is the initial form of worldview, it expressed: naive forms of explanation of natural and social phenomena; moral and aesthetic attitude to the world.
Mythological worldview- a system of views on the objective world and on the place of a person in it, which is based not on theoretical arguments and reasoning, but on the artistic and emotional experience of the world, on public illusions born of inadequate perception by large groups of people (nations, classes) of social processes and their role in them.
Close to mythological religious outlook, it also appeals to fantasy and feelings, but at the same time does not mix the sacred and the earthly.
- attitude and worldview, as well as appropriate behavior, determined by belief in existence God, deities; a sense of dependency, bondage, and obligation to a secret power that provides support and is worthy of worship. The basis of living religiosity is the mythological world action and world outlook.
By , religion- this is the law that lives in us, this is morality, turned to the knowledge of God.
Faith is given by God to man:
- through education in a religious family;
- schooling;
- life experience;
- the power of the mind that comprehends God through the manifestation of his creations.
Freedom of Religious Belief is one of the inalienable human rights. Therefore, it is necessary to be tolerant towards representatives of other religions, atheists who are in disbelief: after all, disbelief in God is also faith, but with a negative sign. Religion is closer to philosophy than mythology. They are characterized by: a look into eternity, the search for higher goals, a valuable perception of life. But religion is mass consciousness, and philosophy is theoretical consciousness, religion does not require proof, and philosophy is always the work of thought.
Mythological worldview
From the moment a person “discovered” himself in the surrounding world, he faced a problem related to his attitude to the world. To do this, it was necessary to look for answers to important questions: what is the essence and nature of the surrounding world, what is the essence and nature of the person himself, what is common between a person and the reality around him and what separates them, how should one behave in this world? Such questions are classified as worldview.
The very posing of such questions became evidence of a certain maturity of a person, the development of his worldview. In the course of his observations, a person began to notice regularities and connections in the phenomena and processes around him. Some of them were perceived as the results of internal activity, relatively hidden, but purposeful activity. The conclusion was that not only a person learns and masters the world, but he himself is an object of research, observation and influence.
Not only animals and plants, but also rivers, mountains, steppes, fire, air, earth, water, celestial bodies turned out to be animated in human understanding. Each of the essences actualized in this way acquired a personal beginning, and with it - will, aspirations, interests, passions. Each such entity, of course, was endowed with a name. In addition, an idea has formed in the human mind about beings that are not seen in ordinary practice, but supposedly play a significant role in the processes of being, capable of exerting a great influence on human life. Various cultural and ethnic systems are distinguished by the totality of their mythological creatures. The integral characters of ancient myths are the Olympian gods, centaurs, griffins, cyclops, sirens; in the Russian tradition, this is Yarilo, goblin, phoenix bird, etc.
Rice. Worldview and its types.
Some of the people turned out to be talented organizers of their fellow tribesmen, courageous and skillful warriors. Others are sages who influenced the consciousness and way of life of many people. Still others have shown themselves to be skilled artists or artisans. All of them remained in human memory and, in the minds of the next generations, acquired the status of heroes endowed with superhuman abilities, demigods. They were credited with incredible feats, they boldly entered into a fight with the elements, in partnership or confrontation with supernatural entities, and often came out victorious in difficult and dangerous situations. In the stories and legends about them, real experience, folk wisdom, imagery, fiction, which acquired fantastic forms, were intertwined.
This is how mythology was born. It is considered the first type of worldview and is a relatively coherent system of myths, as well as an idea of the world and an attitude towards it, based on criteria arising from the content of myths.
Myth in the modern sense, it is a form of a holistic mass experience and interpretation of reality with the help of sensually visual images, which are considered independent phenomena of reality.
Myths reflect the idea of the people of ancient societies about the origin of the world and man, the nature of its functioning, the system of spiritual, ethical, aesthetic values and norms. The myth is distinguished by the simplicity of the plot, according to which a person interacts with humanized nature and fantastic creatures. Everything that was stated in myths could not be criticized, was taken as facts of reality, was a model of worldview, behavior.
In other words, a myth is a manifestation of the worldview of an ancient person, containing certain guidelines and some prescriptions for his daily practice.
The ancient man, realizing his autonomy in nature, has not yet fully isolated himself from it. He seemed to himself an integral, natural and, apparently, quite a vulnerable element of the surrounding world and relied more on feelings than on reason. It should be noted that elements of the mythological perception of the world still exist today, but in ancient times mythology was the only form of world perception. The mythological consciousness is distinguished by the perception of ideal pictures, never observed in reality, born of the creative imagination of a person, as "irrefutable facts of being". It blurs the lines between the natural and the supernatural, the objective and the subjective, and replaces causal relationships with analogies and superficial explanations.
So, mythology(from the Greek. mythos - a legend and logos - a word, concept, thought, mind) - a type of worldview, which is characterized by sensory-figurative uncritical perception of myths by individual and mass consciousness; their content is accepted as sacred, and the norms formulated in them - as requiring strict implementation.
In the course of the development of the mythological worldview and mythology as a system of myths, the conviction in the reality and power of supernatural forces grew stronger in the human mind. whose will determines the processes of reality and the life of the person himself. The element of worship of these forces arose and began to stand out in separate normative-value regulatory systems.
Initially, as an object of worship were totems(as a rule, animals or plants that are considered patrons of a particular group of people - kind) and fetishes(inanimate objects endowed in the beliefs of believers with supernatural properties). However, their sacred properties at a certain moment in the development of human consciousness were devalued, their place was taken by supernatural non-material (often in the minds of people - human-like) omnipotent entities. As a rule, they were not directly connected with nature, but acted as its creators themselves.
A certain hierarchy arose between these beings. People sincerely believed in the ability of these creatures to control the components of nature, both real ones (for example, the ocean) and fictional ones (“the underworld”). Various supernatural entities could "manage" a particular area of human activity or extend their patronage to large areas where people lived. Thus, the whole world surrounding a person was divided between set of deities who, depending on their status, had greater or lesser supernatural powers. This is what polytheism looked like.
But ideas arose about the only powerful god, capable of single-handedly determining absolutely all the processes occurring in nature and society. People undividedly trusted him, endowed him with unquestioned authority. Such a system is called monotheism.
Thus, another type of worldview was formed - religious, in which, as in the mythological, the sensual aspect in relation to reality prevailed over the rational.
Religious worldview
The main difference of religion is the boundless Vera into the supernatural ideal principle — God, into his omnipotence and omnipresence. Religion presupposes the dominance in the soul of a person of a feeling of dependence on God and unconditional worship of him.
It should be noted that the phenomenon of worship of sacred objects, animals arose approximately at the same time as the formation of a system of myths, in many cases it was the same process. Elements of religious worldview were also present in the mythological consciousness. But the final formation of developed religious beliefs is usually associated with monotheism, when the religious worldview began to prevail over the mythological one. Among the early monotheistic religions, the most famous , , formed before our era, at the beginning of the first millennium formed Christianity, and in the middle Islam.
(lat. religio - piety, piety, shrine) - worldview, worldview, attitude, as well as the behavior of people associated with them, determined by the belief in the existence of a supernatural entity - a deity that affects the surrounding world and human life.
The range of problems solved by a religious worldview does not differ significantly from the problems solved by mythology. However, the nature of their decision within the framework of religion is more strict and unambiguous. Religious systems (primarily world religions) are more organic than mythological systems and structurally more perfect than them. They regulate human life more strictly and in detail. In addition to the ontological, ideological, educational functions inherent in mythology, religions perform evaluative, consolidating, comforting and some other functions.
However, the religious worldview was to a large extent contradictory. It `s naturally. The worldview of even an individual person often turns out to be more complicated than the most perfect religious system. It is even more problematic for the developing social consciousness not to go beyond the bounds of religious consciousness. This is due to the uniqueness of individual consciousness, the complexity of the collective, multifactorial and dynamism of social consciousness. The process of mastering the surrounding world is associated with versatile practical experience, the need to deepen a wide variety of applied knowledge, the importance of having accurate data and regularities in the processes of being accessible to observation.
In solving fundamental worldview issues about the world, society, knowledge, a person already in antiquity relied not only on mythological traditions, religious values and norms, but also on rational knowledge. This was due to the improvement of the production of material and spiritual values. The development of rational knowledge was facilitated by the emergence of ever new types of specialized activities - animal husbandry, agriculture, medicine, and the construction of large engineering structures. The development of arts and crafts played an important role. Of considerable importance was the socio-territorial expansion realized in economic, political, cultural and informational relations with neighboring and distant countries. It took various forms - from travel and trading expeditions to wars. Long sea and land campaigns, military confrontation required the organization of the production of various technical devices, vehicles, construction of communications, etc. When solving these problems, many questions arose that could not be resolved within the framework of mythology and religion. At the same time, these processes revealed the contradictions of an uncritical worldview.
As a result, the need to form a rational understanding of reality became more and more obvious. The process of emergence and development of such an approach to reality took place in parallel with the development of inherently "non-critical" types of worldview - mythological and religious. However, at first, rational knowledge was distributed exclusively in the field of practices and, as a rule, did not go beyond the solution of everyday issues. It was more supportive. Mythology and religion, meanwhile, took the form of ideological systems.
New knowledge had a significant impact on social practice, on consciousness. They became the first elements of science and, among other things, required generalization, systematization. Gradually, a conscious desire for a holistic perception of the world was formed on the basis of precisely this knowledge. The perception of the world was increasingly based on an understanding of the essence of the processes and phenomena surrounding a person, on more logical theoretical conclusions, more and more confirmed by empirical experience. Thus, another type of worldview was formed - philosophical.
Philosophical worldview
It is distinguished by a critical position in relation to the surrounding world, in relation to the person himself, as well as in relation to the process of man's cognition of reality. The philosophical worldview is based on logically consistent conclusions about the subject of research. Belief that does not require proof, traditional mythological views in philosophy were pushed aside by the desire to understand the essence of things.
Gradually, philosophy began to occupy more and more strong worldview positions, but did not completely abolish mythology, let alone religion. It should also be noted that in their essence and significance in the life of society, all types of worldview are largely similar to each other. This allows you to determine the essence of the worldview.
outlook- a system of views on the objective world and a person's place in it, value orientations, ideals, life position, beliefs that underlie the relationship of a person (an individual, a group of people, a community) to himself and to the world, his everyday behavior and aspirations.
In the worldview, two levels are usually distinguished: figurative-emotional and conceptual-categorical. Mythological and religious types of worldview are mostly emotional and figurative. In contrast to this, the philosophical type of worldview is based primarily on rational thinking. it is a logically substantiated system of views and assessments of reality, attitudes towards it.
Finally, philosophy turned out to be a more dynamic, capacious and diverse form of worldview. It penetrates deeper into the essence of things and processes, allows you to have a more capacious and versatile idea about them.
In mythology and religion, all this is either absent or does not have the same severity as in philosophy.
Elements of a philosophical outlook have always existed since the time when a person first thought about what surrounds him, how this surrounding world works, how one or another of its elements arose, who he himself is in this world. Mythology and religion also contain fragments of philosophical knowledge as components, since they contain certain generalizations. On the other hand, mythology and religion, to some extent, can be considered variants of a philosophical approach to reality.
So, for mythology, the surrounding world is a certain given, a self-evident receptacle of phenomena and processes that are more or less understandable to man, an arena of dramatic relationships between supernatural entities, in which there was a place for man himself, although the role assigned to him is modest. At the same time, neither the past nor the future in myth often differ significantly from the present, the world is cyclic in its development, the subject of research is not at all concerned about this, evolution for him is rather limited, and sometimes only everyday.
Most well-known religions interpret the world as a creation of God, forbidding to think about whether there is (whether there was) anything outside of this "commodity" (ie created) world. Man is just one of the elements, entirely dependent on the creator of reality, but at the same time the most important and perfect creation, called upon to realize the divine will in this world consciously, in a form accessible to him and within the limits allowed from above.
Philosophy is not satisfied with the simplicity and static nature of the mythological picture of the world, the predestination and predetermination of the religious interpretation of being. Philosophers put forward various, sometimes contradictory, ideas of a substantial nature or rationally substantiate the ontological (for example, cosmological) ideas of myths. So, some early philosophical systems acted from the positions hylozoism(assuming the animation of all material bodies, the nature of the cosmos).
Even within the framework of a religious worldview, philosophy strives for a more complete understanding of being, for a more adequate reflection of it, for cognitive diversity. Apart from polytheism(polytheism, paganism) and monotheism(religion based on belief in one God) philosophical thought, manifesting itself in religion, put forward the concept of deism, pantheism. The position of deism consists in the idea that God created the world and after that did not interfere in its development, giving a person the opportunity to live according to reasonable laws received along with the act of creation. Pantheism identifies God with nature.
However, philosophy goes far beyond religion.
Philosophy seeks to take into account all significant information about reality. It critically examines newly emerging concepts, but also questions previously established ideas about nature. Summing up all the critical experience and the latest achievements of science, philosophy forms a modern idea of the world. This view includes all the questions that arose both at the very beginning of the development of human civilization, and in the course of its entire history. These questions are called philosophical - about the eternal and the temporal, about the infinite and the finite, about the singular and incalculable, about the sublime and the base, about truth and error, about justice and deceit, about perfection and primitiveness. Philosophy is equally interested in the whole universe and the individual. Philosophers talk again and again about what our world is. how it arose and in what direction it develops; about beauty, love, kindness, happiness.
Reality in various philosophical systems, teachings, schools is not the same, but each new concept, as a rule, does not reject the previous one (in any case, it does not reject it absolutely). The next concept, rather, adds new touches to the picture of the world created over the centuries. As a result of the interaction of such systems and ideas, philosophical knowledge seeks to penetrate more deeply into the essence of previously known phenomena and processes that make up our world.
Philosophy aims to formulate universal approaches that allow us to fully and deeply understand the general patterns of being or the essence of its important fragments - the material world around us, society, man. At the same time, philosophy tries to ensure the greatest objectivity of the knowledge contained in it. However, any concept inevitably includes a significant subjective component due to the personality of its author. And just as there are no identical people, so there are no two identical philosophical concepts. However, this does not prevent large groups of philosophers and representatives of society who share their positions from adhering to any general principles, the most fundamental provisions, central, especially significant ideas.
In primitive society, mythology was in close interaction with religion, however, they were not inseparable. Religion has its own specifics, which is not a particular type of worldview. The specificity of religion is due to the fact that the main element of religion is a cult system, that is, a system of ritual actions aimed at establishing certain relations with the supernatural. Therefore, any myth becomes religious to the extent that it is included in the cult system, acts as its content side.
Worldview constructions, being included in the cult system, acquire the character of a dogma. What gives the worldview a special spiritual and practical character. With the help of rituals, religion cultivates human feelings of love. Kindness, tolerance, duty, etc., linking their presence with the sacred, the supernatural.
The main function of religion is to help a person overcome the historically changeable, transient, relative aspects of his being and to elevate a person to something absolute, eternal. In the spiritual and moral sphere, this is manifested in giving the norms, values and ideals the character of an absolute, unchanging character.
Thus, religion gives meaning and meaning, and hence stability to human existence, helps him overcome everyday difficulties.
Within the framework of any religion there is a system (a system of answers to questions). But philosophy formulates its conclusions in a rational form, while in religion the emphasis is on faith. Religion presupposes ready-made answers to questions.
Religious doctrine does not tolerate criticism. Any religion offers a person ideals and is accompanied by rites and rituals (specific actions). Each developed religious doctrine contains imprints of a pronounced systemic character. The religious worldview is also characterized by the following features:
- 1. Symbolism (every significant phenomenon in nature or history is considered as a manifestation of the Divine will), through the symbol, a connection is made between the supernatural and natural worlds;
- 2. It has a value-based attitude towards reality (reality is the spatio-temporal extent of the struggle between good and evil);
- 3. Time is also connected with Sacred history (time before and after the Nativity of Christ);
- 4. Revelation is recognized as the word of God and this leads to the absolutization of the word (logos), the logos becomes the image of God.
Mythological consciousness historically precedes religious consciousness. The religious worldview is more systemic than the mythological one, it is more logically perfect. The systemic nature of religious consciousness presupposes its logical ordering, and continuity with mythological consciousness is ensured by using the image as the main lexical unit.
Religious outlook and religious philosophy are a kind of idealism, i.e. such a direction in the development of social consciousness, in which the original substance, i.e. the foundation of the world is the Spirit, the idea. Varieties of idealism are subjectivism, mysticism, etc. The opposite of a religious worldview is an atheistic worldview.
The first historical type of worldview was mythological, the second historical type of worldview was religion. The religious worldview had many common features with the mythological worldview that preceded it, but it also had its own characteristics. First of all, the religious worldview differs from the mythological one in the way of spiritual assimilation of reality. Mythological images and representations were multifunctional: they intertwined cognitive, artistic and evaluative assimilation of reality in an as yet undeveloped form, which created a prerequisite for the emergence of not only religion, but also various types of literature and art on their basis. Religious images and representations perform only one function - evaluative and regulatory.
An integral feature of religious myths and ideas is their dogmatism. Having arisen, religion retains a certain stock of ideas for several centuries.
Religious images are ambiguous: they allow various interpretations, including absolutely opposite ones. Therefore, on the basis of one system of religious dogmas, there are always many different directions, for example, in Christianity: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism.
Another feature of religious images and ideas is that irrationality is hidden in them, which is subject to perception only by faith, and not by reason. The latter reveals the meaning of the image, but does not refute or destroy it. This feature of the religious image underlies the recognition of the priority of religious faith over reason.
The central place in any religious worldview is always occupied by the image or idea of God. God is considered here as the origin and fundamental principle of all that exists. Moreover, this is no longer a genetic principle, as in mythology, but an initial principle - creating, creating, producing.
The next feature of the religious and ideological way of mastering reality is the universalization of the spiritual-volitional connection, the idea of which is gradually replacing the mythological ideas of universal kinship. From the point of view of the religious worldview, everything that exists and happens in the world depends on the will and desire of God. Everything in the world is governed by divine providence, or a moral law established and controlled by a higher being.
Religion is characterized by the recognition of the primacy of the spiritual over the physical, which is not in mythology. The attitude to reality, determined by the religious worldview, differs significantly from the illusory-praxeological mode of action associated with the mythological worldview. This is a passive attitude towards reality. The dominant position in religion is occupied by propitiatory actions (veneration of various objects endowed with supernatural properties, prayers, sacrifices and other actions).
Thus, the religious worldview is a way of mastering reality through its doubling into natural, earthly, this-worldly and supernatural, heavenly, other-worldly. The religious outlook has passed a long way of development, from primitive to modern (national and world) forms.
The emergence of a religious worldview was a step forward in the development of human self-consciousness. In religion, the unity between different clans and tribes was comprehended, on the basis of which new communities were created - nationalities and nations. World religions, such as Christianity, even rose to the point of realizing the community and proclaiming the equality before God of all people. At the same time, each of them emphasized the special position of their followers.
The historical significance of religion consisted in the fact that in both slave and feudal societies it contributed to the formation and strengthening of new social relations and the formation of strong centralized states. Meanwhile, there have been religious wars in history.
It is impossible to unequivocally assess the cultural significance of religion. On the one hand, it undoubtedly contributed to the spread of education and culture.
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