They do not belong to historical forms of worldview. outlook
Forms of worldview
Philosophy occupies a central place in human culture. Philosophy plays a huge role in shaping the worldview.
outlook- a holistic view of the world and the place of man in it.
In the history of mankind stand out three main mindsets.
1. Mythological worldview is a form of public consciousness of the worldview of ancient society, which combines both fantastic and realistic perception of reality. The features of myths are the humanization of nature, the presence of fantastic gods, their communication, interaction with humans, the absence of abstract reflections, the practical orientation of myths to solving economic problems.
2. Religious worldview - a form of worldview based on the belief in the presence of super natural forces affecting human life and the world. The religious worldview is characterized by a sensual, figurative-emotional perception of reality.
3. The philosophical worldview differs from others in that it is based on knowledge, it is reflexive (has the ability to refer to itself), logically, based on clear concepts and categories. Thus, the philosophical worldview is the highest type of worldview, characterized by rationality, systemic and theoretical design.
There are 4 components in the philosophical worldview:
1) cognitive;
2) value-normative;
3) emotional-volitional;
4) practical.
Philosophical worldview has a certain structure.
1st level (elementary)- a set of worldview concepts, ideas, views that function at the level of everyday consciousness.
2nd level (conceptual) includes various worldviews, problems, concepts aimed at human activity or cognition.
3rd level (methodological)- includes the basic concepts and principles developed on the basis of ideas and knowledge, taking into account the value reflection of the world and man.
The philosophical worldview has gone through three stages of evolution:
1) cosmocentrism;
2) theocentrism;
3) anthropocentrism.
This text is an introductory piece.2. THE STRUCTURE OF THE WORLD VIEW Since the main issue of worldview is the relation of a person to the world, this relation, having connected the world and a person into a subject-object system, presupposes a certain interrelation of the components that make up the structure of this
Mythology and Religion as the First Forms of the World View The student knows the essence of the mythological world view only theoretically; his understanding of religion is more complete, since religious faith and there are believers today. The general scheme of the period of domination of mythology will be
Forms of worldview Philosophy occupies a central place in human culture. Philosophy plays a huge role in shaping the worldview. Worldview is a holistic view of the world and the place of man in it. In the history of mankind, there are three main forms of worldview
Interest-bearing capital and commercial capital in their relation to industrial capital. older forms. Derived forms Trade and interest forms are older than the form of capitalist production, industrial capital, which is the main form
AT THE ORIGINS OF WORLD VIEW Bertrand Arthur William Russell was born on May 18, 1872, into an old English aristocratic family. His father, Viscount Amberley, was the third son of John Russell, Whig leader and British Prime Minister 1846-1852 and 1865-1866.
Types of WORLD VIEW Introduction to metaphysics INTRODUCTION In the boundless ocean of world existence, the human self occupies an insignificant place, but with a bold thought it seeks to embrace the whole world, to be aware of the fundamentals of the structure of the universe, to understand what the world is as a whole,
2) the relation between the development of the relative form of value and the equivalent form The degree of development of the relative form of value corresponds to the degree of development of the equivalent form. However - and this is important to note - the development of an equivalent form is only an expression and
2) Relationship between the development of the relative form of value and the equivalent form The degree of development of the relative form of value corresponds to the degree of development of the equivalent form. However - and this is important to note - the development of an equivalent form is only an expression and
II. THE PROBLEM OF THE OPTIMISTIC WORLD VIEW For us Westerners, culture consists in the fact that we simultaneously work on our own improvement and the improvement of the world. Is there, however, a necessary connection between activity directed outward and
IV. RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL WORLD VIEW Gigantic attempts to come to an ethical worldview are imprinted in world religions. Religious thinkers of China Lao Tzu (born in 604 BC), Confucius (551-479 BC), Meng -zi, (372-289 BC) and Zhuangzi (c. 369-286 BC)
2.2.1. The basis of the "accustomed" worldview
2.2.4. The basis of a correct worldview Mosaic worldview can also differ in the principles of organizing the direction of building relationships of semantic units in a mosaic picture of the world - a mental tree. Previously, a system of limit generalizations was given and
Worldviews of state and process In short, the creation of the concept of flux, or derivative, that is, speed at a given point, led to a change in ideas about the world. When we measure shorter distances and shorter times, the world suddenly changes. We're moving out of the realm
On the creation of a worldview It is difficult to accept something that changes the picture of the world. It is impossible to accept what destroys it. It's not cheap to buy a new one. Only the creator is able to create his own
Historically, the first form of worldview was mythology. Mythology (from the Greek mythos - legend, legend and logos - word, concept, teaching) is a type of consciousness, a way of understanding the world, characteristic of the early stages of the development of society. Myth is the first attempt of ancient people to explain the world, to raise the most fundamental, key questions in relation to man - the world and to find answers to them. In spiritual life primitive people mythology acted as a universal, integral form of their consciousness, as a holistic worldview that contained the rudiments of knowledge, religious beliefs, political views, various arts and philosophies. The myth, as the earliest form of the spiritual culture of mankind, expressed the worldview, worldview and worldview of the people of the era in which it was created, expressed its spirit.
Of course, for the first forms of explaining the world, there was not enough experimental material for generalization, nor strict logic, which is why they were rather naive. In myth, the world is rather not analyzed, but experienced. In it, the understanding of the world is akin to a worldview, based on sensory visual representations. When trying to make sense of the world ancient man naturally exceeded the capabilities of the just emerging intellect, while having, moreover, very meager experience, he was forced to speculate in his thinking, to speculate about the incomprehensible and unknown, sometimes building fantastic images.
A characteristic feature of the mythological type of worldview was anthropomorphism- transfer to the world of one's own, human qualities. The world in its various manifestations was perceived as similar human being turned out to be human. Natural things and phenomena, by analogy with man, were considered just as alive, intelligent, capable of communication and feelings. As a result, a person did not feel his discord with nature, rather he felt himself an inseparable whole with it. In his view of the world, the subjective and the objective, the spiritual and the material, the natural and the supernatural organically merged into one, everything turned out to be permeated with some kind of living, reasonable, but mystical fabric, into which man himself was woven. This feature of the mythological perception of the world as an indivisible whole is called syncretism. One could see in it a vague guess about the interconnectedness of the whole world, about its close unity and kinship of the origins of existence.
The originality of the myth was also manifested in the fact that the thought was expressed in specific emotional, artistic, sometimes poetic images. With the help of an artistic and figurative description, attempts were made to answer the question of the emergence and structure of the surrounding world, the origin of the most important forces and phenomena of nature for a person, world harmony, the origin of people, the mystery of the birth and death of a person, and various tests that arise on his life path. Special place occupied myths about the cultural achievements of people - making fire, the invention of crafts, agriculture, the origin of customs, rituals, etc.
Despite the limitations of mythological thinking, nevertheless, the development of the worldview of ancient people already then began its process of moving from myth to logos, from fiction and various speculations of thinking to comprehending its actual relationships and patterns. This was due to the fact that people in their life and practice could not fail to notice a certain logic in the processes taking place around them, not to grasp the simplest relationships. Along with this, their generalizing and analytical abilities grew. However, gradually the idea of the most important forces of the world and the most general, simplest patterns led to their abstraction into something independent, with the appearance of the force that "rules" the specific processes of the world. So, the gods in mythology were the simplest expression of the original abstractions driving forces nature and society. The initial generalizations could not yet be so strong as to simultaneously embrace the universal content of the world and at the same time be kept on the basis of real processes. Therefore, the universal became the force that opposes the real world, is taken out of it, decides the fate of the world from outside its limits. Indicative here would be the idea of the Greek "Olympus" as a special heavenly kingdom, where the fate of the whole world was decided.
Such ideas directed the further development of the worldview of ancient people in the direction of religiosity. Religion(from lat. religion- religion, holiness, piety, reverence, conscientiousness, worship, etc.) - a special form of awareness of the world, due to belief in the supernatural, which includes a code moral standards and types of behavior, rituals, cult actions and association of people in organizations (church, religious community).
The religious worldview clearly distinguishes between the supernatural and natural worlds, between the miraculous and the earthly. The center of the supernatural world is the god (gods), which determines all its structures and creates the real world. The religious picture of the world proceeds from the fact that the plane of being that we see is not the only one, but is only a shadow, a reflection of its hidden, deep sides.
Such a worldview is uncritical, where the mind stumbles over difficulties in understanding, it gives way to faith. The supernatural, hidden and deep here is the lot of religious faith, and not logical conclusions and justifications. However, it is possible to believe in this way also in something that is absurd, absurd, and at the same time not have any rational evidence in the basis of this belief. The main disadvantage of such a worldview is that religious faith can be blind, based on speculation and suggestion, which means it can motivate a person to completely meaningless, and sometimes harmful efforts. At the same time, you can find positive aspects in it. Belief in higher spiritual forces that monitor the world order and higher justice encourages a person to spiritual development, moral self-improvement, and the fight against his shortcomings and vices. It is able to fill the feeling of the spiritual emptiness of life, help it find meaning, give spiritual and psychological support for a person, clear his mind with pure and bright thoughts, bringing him into a state of peace of mind, harmony, kindness and love. Thus, religious faith acts as a source of energy or spiritual impulse for the believer. Religion, in its best manifestations, encourages a person to break away from the worries of everyday life, awakening lofty feelings in him, directing him to noble thoughts and deeds, inclining him to mutual assistance and mutual support. It consolidates the norms and attitudes of proper behavior in society, indicates moral guidelines for this behavior, which contributes to the harmonization of relations in society. The religious worldview contributes to the unity of people on the basis of spiritual values, moreover, it is able to mobilize society for great achievements and transformations in order to improve life or face the threat of danger.
However, for the material development of society, for deepening the knowledge of the real world, such a worldview cannot be called progressive. In order for religion to play an exclusively positive role, it should not become the dominant form of worldview, but should only be its harmoniously complementary part. Religious faith, which can be acceptable, should be based only on faith in bright and progressive ideals, supported by the results of knowledge and social practice.
An important achievement of the religious worldview can be considered a guess about the existing duality of the world, the difference between the world apparent, visible, being, on the one hand, and the real, deep world, essential- with another. However, this conjecture that has arisen has not yet been supported by a sufficient base of experimental data and the rigor of logical justifications, and therefore, was filled with very poor content that does not carry any serious practical significance.
With the developing tendencies of free-thinking, critically inquisitive, creative thinking, society begins to form philosophical type of outlook. It excludes neither elements of mythological nor elements of religious consciousness. However, the dominant features in it are the desire to search for and substantiate truths, logical reasoning, the development of analytical abilities, as well as self-criticism. It is these features that allow a person not to be content with only the superficial logic of the connection of the observed processes, but to penetrate in his knowledge into the deep, essential aspects of the world, capturing its actual interconnections of various levels of depth and universality. Nevertheless, having a high scientific potential, the philosophical worldview has not lost the shortcomings of its predecessors. Conjectures, inventions, illusions and uncritical faith in convenient, pleasant and beneficial for our thinking, the tendency to take what is wishful thinking, to create comfort for our own way of thinking, to the detriment of understanding the true and objective, and to this day are frequent companions of the modern worldview. At the same time, the modern worldview is largely the result of the achievements of the modern system of upbringing and education, it absorbs knowledge, logic of thinking and wisdom, developed and honed over the centuries, including by the scientific community. Thus, the unlimited potential of the philosophical worldview is used by each of us to the extent of our education, erudition, flexibility and depth of our thinking, commitment to rationalism and the search for objective truth.
Philosophy and life
The importance of philosophy in our life cannot be overestimated. However, in the minds of most modern people, philosophy is opposed to life as something abstract, too abstract, divorced from real life problems and concerns. And it is not difficult to understand why this attitude has developed. Indeed, most of the problems that are considered by great philosophers, at first glance, are not relevant in our daily lives. Nevertheless, it was their ideas and reflections that contributed to the progressive development of society, which was accompanied by the creation of more and more comfortable living conditions for an increasing number of strata of society. It is the ideas of Renaissance humanism, the French Enlightenment, modern rationalism and empiricism, etc. led to the formation of that type of modern civilized society without the comfort of which we can no longer imagine our lives. Moreover, the potential of the ideas and reflections of great philosophers is not limited by the achievements of the past, this invaluable experience of human thought will serve as food for the mind and inspiration for many future generations of brilliant personalities who can change our world for the better for a long time to come.
Philosophy has many faces, it is not limited to truths that contribute to social progress, and also affects aspects of personal existence, including those that will be eternally relevant. However, the problems of the individual are such as the relationships within society are built, and any relationship is a product of the activity and thinking of the people themselves. Therefore, the degree of solving the problems of educating a person, his moral improvement and spiritual growth, the eradication of egoism and selfish orientations will forever serve as an indicator of harmony within society, and hence, ultimately, the quality of life in it. The more spiritually developed and morally perfect the majority of people in society are, the more they ennoble relations in it and the easier it becomes for everyone to fulfill themselves, reveal their talents and abilities for the benefit of the whole society, improving its quality of life. These topics are deeply disclosed in the works of Eastern sages (Confucius, Lao Tzu, Osho Rajanish), Russian thinkers (L.N. Tolstoy, N.A. Berdyaev, V.S. Solovyov, etc.), in Marxism, in works of I. Kant, James Redfield and others.
But the role of philosophy in our life is not limited to this either. Philosophy is not only the wisdom of the great thinkers of the past and research in the field of scientific philosophy, philosophy is also a way of thinking, a worldview of a modern educated person. Any person with a quality education and sufficient life experience is just as capable of philosophical thinking. We all enjoy the fruits of development philosophical thought. In our life, we, without suspecting it, use concepts and judgments, turns of thought that reflect the knowledge that was formed and honed through centuries of philosophical reflection reality. We are born and brought up with a given, ready-made language field (speech structures) and it seems to us that it has always been like this with everyone, that from century to century human speech has remained more or less unchanged, just as adapted to communication and explanation of deep meanings, as now. But it's not. In order to achieve such a sufficiently perfect language, with the help of which we are now able to express the most subtle shades of meaning, humanity has gone through a very complex, contradictory process of its formation. Language is a field for our thinking, everything we think about, we think on the basis of speech structures. Therefore, the quality of our thinking is largely determined by how finely we master modern concepts and judgments, how skillfully we build connections between them. In other words, how much deeper we have absorbed the wisdom of the ages.
Thus, every modern educated person (whether he realizes it or not) has his own philosophy of life, his own philosophical position in life. Everyone strives to comprehend, analyze important situations in their lives, extract valuable experience from them, generalize it, on the basis of which to form certain strategies and principles of behavior. Another thing is that for some it serves as a kind of beacon on their life path, helps them choose the right path, take right decisions avoiding possible problems, while others have their philosophical position, their understanding of life, on the contrary, attracts these problems. The thing is that the more rude, straightforward, simplified a person relates to life, the more illusions and prejudices are formed in him, which means that sooner or later these delusions begin to negatively affect his life (through erroneous decisions). Reality begins to "punish" for its misunderstanding, destroy illusions, "lower a person to the ground." However, a more subtle, deeper, wiser attitude to life, as a rule, makes life easier for a person, especially in its second half, when the results of the path that he chose for himself earlier become more and more noticeable, i.e. when it begins to reap the fruits of what was laid down earlier.
Such a sensitive, wise attitude to life has a more direct connection with philosophy in its original sense. Philosophy in a narrow, literal sense is associated with the desire for wise thoughts and actions. It is this form of philosophy that is closest to the actual, everyday problems of the individual. To be wise, first of all, means to understand the laws of nature, history, life, to grasp the deep relationships in them and to coordinate own life with these laws. Closely related to this is another important characteristic of wisdom - foresight. A far-sighted decision proceeds from the most favorable result not only here and now, but also takes into account the prospects for the development of the situation. As Confucius said: “A person who does not look far is sure to face close troubles.” Today's success quickly becomes yesterday's, and future unresolved problems, no matter how much you put them on tomorrow, sooner or later will become real. A wise person is ready to sacrifice today for the sake of long-term favorable prospects. Wisdom is also associated with the ability to find solutions to the most difficult life situations and problems, to find compromises, to avoid extremes, to find the measure, the golden mean in everything. All these abilities are the result of a deep understanding of the laws and relationships of life.
Wisdom is an important indicator of our mind. Many people who specialize only in the development of intellectual skills miss something very important and cannot always be described as smart. You can spend your whole life addicted to various activities that develop intelligence, be it chess, various puzzles, puzzles or crossword puzzles, etc., but this is not the way that is guaranteed to make a person really smart. The mind is more than just intellectual skills. An intelligent person is one who subtly understands and foresees the course of real life events, and intellectual skills do not yet guarantee this, although they are an important condition for this. The mind is also the ability to think wisely, the ability to grasp the very essence, avoiding stereotypes, bias and other kinds of delusions, as well as the ability to draw accurate conclusions. Intellectual skills and wisdom are qualities that complement each other. A person deprived of intellectual abilities is hardly able to understand all the subtleties of the relationships that determine the events of our lives. A rich life experience can make a person wise, but without an intellect capable of anticipating the course of events through deep analysis, this is an experience of trial and error. A person who has gained wisdom by stepping on the same rake many times sometimes can hardly be called a sage. Wise is the one who draws his wisdom no longer from the experience of mistakes, but from a deep understanding of the situation. At the same time, intellect without wisdom is blind, it's like a powerful tool in the hands of an inept person. You can be a skilled chess player, calculating many moves of your opponent in advance, and at the same time be too short-sighted in life, because life is much deeper, more subtle and flexible than the options on the chessboard. Life is always more complicated than the already formed logic, it is always able to surprise logical thinking which must be improved under its influence. We must constantly overcome ourselves, our logic of thinking, in order to avoid stereotypes and prejudices, in order to become truly smart, wise people.
We can say that philosophy as wisdom is the art of knowing the truth, the ability to correctly comprehend and apply one's life experience. In this sense, a philosopher is not a profession, but a degree of personality development that allows one to master this art. For example, some writers, such as L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, A.I. Solzhenitsyn, P. Coelho, J. Redfield. Many scientists considered themselves first of all as philosophers and only then as mathematicians, physicists, etc. (G. V. Leibniz, R. Descartes, B. Pascal, F. Bacon, I. Kant). In this sense, one can also single out philosophers-physicians: Hippocrates, Avicenna, Paracelsus.
Comparison of philosophy with art, skill is connected with the fact that in the knowledge of the true and wise, many psychological moments interfere with us: prejudice, stereotypedness, schematism and stereotyped thinking. The wisdom of the great philosophers lies precisely in the fact that they skillfully separate the subjective from the objective, the wheat from the chaff, the flies from the cutlets. It must be borne in mind that the world as we see it is in fact not always the way it seems to us. Each person sees and understands this world differently, from different angles. Everyone receives in their own way a unique flow of knowledge, information, emotions, experience; located in a unique life situation; as a rule, communicates with people of only a certain circle (according to common interests, according to a common vision of the world or attitude towards it); selectively watches programs, films, selects books, magazines and articles on the Internet. Therefore, the information that reaches him and comprehends by him turns out to be to some extent incomplete and one-sided, sometimes even distorted. And this contributes to the formation of many misconceptions and illusions. So, any person lives, as it were, in his own semantic reality, in something different from those realities in which other people live. In these realities, of course, there is much in common (due to common system education, culture, media, general aspects of life), but they never completely coincide, which affects, for example, the difficulties of mutual understanding between people. In fact, any conflict is a clash of those semantic realities that we live by. When these realities largely coincide, there is always ground for understanding, finding compromises, and adjusting one's understanding of life. But when people are too far apart in terms of worldview and worldview, then their semantic realities can violently collide with each other, without finding common ground. Each proceeds from how he sees and understands life, and the behavior of the other, his speech may not fit into the understanding of reality that each of them lives in, their expectations from the other. So, the essence of the conflict is almost always the desire to impose on another one's understanding of reality, that it is his semantic reality, his understanding of life that is more correct. However, it is far from always the case precisely in the difference between understanding the right and the reasonable, sometimes the desires, interests and selfish motives of people collide. A constructive way of solving such problems is connected with the desire to understand the other side, to go beyond the limits of one's own semantic reality in order to be able to stand in its place, look at the contradiction from the side and, thereby, find an objective basis for solving problems.
We often underestimate our tendency to take what is desirable and convenient for reality. The thing is, we tend to think new information, comparing it with what is already known to us, relying on our past experience, building certain associations with its elements. At the same time, we tend to emotionally experience the events that are happening around us. The experience that is deposited in our memory is almost always emotionally colored to one degree or another, and a person is positively disposed to some information, and negatively to some. As a result, as life experience is accumulated, a person develops emotionally significant accents in understanding the world and life. Those. some moments for him become more important or relevant than others, and some of his perceptions are neglected. So, in a whole speech, a text, a person is more focuses attention only on certain phrases, turns of speech and understands the whole speech somewhat differently than the meaning that was invested in it. What does not correspond to his understanding of life or is irrelevant to him (does not correspond to his system of world perception accents), his consciousness, as a rule, ignores or comprehends insufficiently qualitatively, sometimes dismissively. In other words, he develops predilections, prejudices and preferences, he becomes a prisoner of illusions. Therefore, subsequently, judgments, thoughts that a person builds, comprehending the experience gained, often does not accurately reflect reality the relationships that exist within it. In this case, making decisions based on such reasoning, he creates more problems for itself, his reality begins, as it were, to “punish” for its incorrect understanding, “to give life lessons », adjust his mindset .
This feature of perception is often used in politics. For example, in order to discredit a person, his words are taken out of context, as a result, the meaning is distorted, up to the opposite. This psychological feature It is also used under totalitarian regimes to manipulate public consciousness. With the help of culture, the media, the education system, accents beneficial to the regime are placed in the minds of people, and then the judgments built by their associative thinking, linking these accents together, will have a given, initially thought out, beneficial meaning for the regime.
This mechanism of consciousness can be illustrated by the image of a grid or a drawing on a sheet of paper. Our picture of the world is not an absolutely complete and accurate reproduction of reality. We learn the external world in parts, more and more filling our picture of the world with details and nuances. The latter can be compared to dots or knots on a blank sheet of paper. The richer our experience, the more this sheet is dotted with such points, and the more meaningful we live, the more we strive to understand how the world works, to identify the relationships and patterns of life, the more these points are intertwined with patterns. So, in this respect, our perception is like a fishing net: the more experience and knowledge, the fewer cells in the grid (reflecting the interconnections of the world), the fewer gaps, voids, and the more subtle and deep knowledge we are able to perceive. And vice versa, the less meaningful experience, the larger the cells in the network, and therefore, the more potentially useful information can seep through it. In order to master more subtle and deeper knowledge, you must first master the simpler knowledge that underlies it. To study higher mathematics, it is necessary to have basic skills in algebra and geometry. And if we do not have basic knowledge in some area, then there is not that cell, that shelf in the mind, thanks to which it would be possible to streamline, for the purpose of understanding, more complex knowledge in this area. In this case, we are not able to extract useful experience and knowledge from the information received. Our consciousness ignores its importance, tending to form a biased or even negative attitude towards it.
At the same time, if our perception of the world is distorted (the system of accents, the pattern of relationships is incorrect), then we are willing to believe in something that is not true (but corresponds to the system of accents, the pattern of relationships in consciousness), something that potentially can harm us under the influence of delusions. So, the degree of approximation of our drawing to understanding the essence of real events of reality depends on the process of perception of the world and its comprehension. It is important not only to have rich life experience, but also to comprehend it correctly. You can connect the dots, symbolizing the data of our experience, in completely different ways, and the figures that are obtained in the figure depend on this. Those. two people who have received exactly the same experience can comprehend it differently (connect units of experience), which means that their picture of the world will be different. So, great importance has the specifics of ordering, understanding our experience, the ability to capture the real interconnections of the world, life. In this, we are also often hindered by emotional associations, largely under the influence of which we comprehend the information received.
If we have a negative attitude to the source from which the information was received or to this information itself, or we are under the influence of a negative mood, then we perceive such information with caution or even skepticism, in a negative way, with distrust. And vice versa, when we have a positive mood or a positive attitude towards the source, then the perception is also not quite adequate, in speech, text, phrases are snatched out that are associated for themselves in a positive way.
Another important point that affects our perception is our expectations. They influence the formation of the understood meaning, based on them, we make preliminary sketches of the meaning, which affect the subsequent course of our thinking. You must always take into account your own bias, be capable of self-critical, thoughtful analysis.
A wise person is just the one who skillfully avoids his bias, strives to understand the world as it really is, who skillfully places accents in understanding, which means who lives in a semantic reality that is closest to the actual events of life, the world, its actual relationships. Thanks to this, he acquires the ability to often "get out of the water", to avoid immersion in the problems of everyday life. He will almost always see a thread of relationships, clinging to which, you can find a way out of any most difficult, confusing and even extreme situation, but more often he will not allow such a situation itself, bypass it.
Thus, philosophy carries within itself the knowledge that allow a person not to go through life “blindly”, through trial and error, but to be far-sighted, avoid many problems. And in this sense, she is rational core, the foundation of a correct worldview. Philosophy is everything that connects us with life, i.e. gives us not an illusory, but a true understanding of ongoing events, grasps their very essence, all the subtlety of their cause-and-effect relationships. Philosophical knowledge, incorporating an understanding of these relationships, helps us navigate the world, correctly place accents and priorities in life, make the right decisions, avoid unnecessary problems, and find the best ways to achieve our goals.
Questions and tasks
1. Explain what attitude, worldview and worldview are. What is their difference?
2. Expand the essence of the relationship of worldview with philosophy.
3. Describe the content of the worldview. What do you think are the most important moments in it?
4. What is the role of ideals for a person?
5. What is the role of beliefs for a person?
6. What role do you think values play in society?
7. What is the peculiarity of the mythological worldview? What are his features?
8. Describe your religious outlook. What are its positive and what are its negative aspects?
9. What is the peculiarity of the philosophical worldview?
10. What is the role of philosophy in the life of the individual and society?
11. What is the reason for the difference in the understanding of the world by different people?
12. Why can our consciousness be compared to a grid?
Conclusion
The modern world is full of problems that challenge the development of human civilization. Many of these problems are related to the neglect of the knowledge and wisdom accumulated over the centuries. A person brought up on the values of the modern era does not even have an impulse to wisdom, to the search for truth, to follow eternal values. Selfishness, selfish thoughts and material, sometimes base values are put at the forefront. This leads to a tense situation in many areas of life, and if the situation is not changed, then in the end it will begin to seriously affect both economic and scientific and technological progress. The debt crisis of the developed countries of the modern world and their international policy, the totality of the corruption component in Russia are vivid confirmation of this. The loosening of the spiritual foundations of society, the erosion of objective meanings in concepts, the inversion of value orientations and the discrediting of humanistic ideals will certainly affect the decisions that are made in the material sphere of society.
In this regard, a return to the origins of understanding philosophy as wisdom and quality education in this area is a vital step. After all, philosophy in its original understanding develops in a person the discipline of thinking, his versatility, the ability to understand and correctly assess the situation, the desire to be as far-sighted as possible. Philosophy as wisdom encourages a person to self-development, protects him from dangerous stereotypes of life, helps to streamline thoughts in accordance with the understanding of the wise and useful. Philosophical thinking helps to make the complex easier to understand, and at the same time makes the simple and familiar more complex and mysterious, i.e. enlivens the world with colors, makes it more amazing and exciting, awakens sleeping thinking in us, shakes our stereotypes, encourages us to look at the world with different eyes, finding new meanings and shades in it.
Philosophy, instilling a culture of thinking, the ability to penetrate into the essence of things and events, capturing their interconnections, thereby helps to correctly assess the possibilities of both an individual and society as a whole, and also helps to use them correctly. It helps to see those opportunities that could have been missed with an ordinary view of the world, and at the same time to correctly assess how real and feasible these opportunities are, as well as how reasonable it is to follow the path of their implementation. The value of philosophical skills and knowledge cannot be overestimated, because our thinking determines those decisions that ultimately change the outside world.
Literature on the topic "Introduction to Philosophy":
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Basic terms and concepts:
Abstraction (from Latin abstractio - distraction) is the abstraction of essential properties, connections or aspects of reality from less essential ones in relation to the goal of cognition.
Agnosticism (from other Greek agnostos - unknowable, unknown) is a trend in philosophy that denies the cognizability of the objective world, which does not depend on our sensory perception.
Axiology (from other Greek axia - value) - the doctrine of values.
Anthropology (from other Greek. anthropos - a person and logos - a word, speech) - a set scientific disciplines who study a person, his origin, development, features of interaction with the outside world.
Anthropomorphism (from other Greek antropos - a person and morphe - a form) is a mental likening of external reality to a person, transferring human qualities and properties to the world or to its separate parts.
Universal - a concept that denotes the totality of all relationships in the world, formed as a result of all interactions and defining laws and patterns of various levels of depth (generalization). It is fundamentally different from the concept of the general as a generalizing feature.
Epistemology (from Greek gnosis - knowledge, knowledge and logos - word, speech) or another name epistemology (from Greek episteme - scientific knowledge, science", "reliable knowledge" logos - word, speech) is the doctrine of the ways and possibilities of knowing the world. Within the framework of the corresponding section in philosophy, the mechanisms by which a person cognizes the world around are studied, the very possibility of its cognition is substantiated.
Determinism (from Latin determinare - to determine, limit) is a doctrine that asserts the universal conditionality, the interdependence of all events in the world, the dependence of each of them on conditions. The scientific principle of determinism is included in the structure of the scientific method, aiming research at identifying causes and patterns in nature, society or thinking. The opposite doctrine, which admits the existence of absolutely random, unconditioned events, is called indeterminism.
Dialectics (from other Greek dialektike - the art of arguing, reasoning) is a way of thinking that seeks to comprehend an object in its integrity and development, in the unity of its opposite properties and tendencies, in diverse connections with other objects and processes. The original meaning of this concept was associated with a philosophical dialogue, the ability to conduct a discussion, listen to and take into account the opinions of opponents, trying to find the path to the truth.
Dualism (from Latin dualis - dual) - a philosophical doctrine,
1. Worldview
We are already living in the 21st century and we see how the dynamics of social life has increased, surprising us with global changes in all structures of politics, culture, and the economy. People have lost faith in better life: elimination of poverty, hunger, crime. Every year crime is increasing, there are more and more beggars. The goal - to turn our Earth into a universal home, where everyone will be given a worthy place, has turned into unreality, into the category of utopias and fantasies. Uncertainty has put a person before a choice, forcing him to look around and think about what is happening in the world with people. In this situation, the problems of worldview are revealed.
At any stage, a person (society) has a well-defined worldview, i.e. a system of knowledge, ideas on the world and man's place in it, on man's attitude to the surrounding reality and to himself. In addition, the worldview includes the main life positions people, their belief ideals. By worldview one should understand not all human knowledge about the world, but only fundamental knowledge - extremely general.
How is the world?
What is the place of man in the world?
What is consciousness?
What is truth?
What is philosophy?
What is the happiness of a person?
These are ideological questions and basic problems.
A worldview is a part of a person's consciousness, an idea of the world and a person's place in it. Worldview is a more or less complete system of assessments and views of people on: the world around them; purpose and meaning of life; means of achieving life goals; essence of human relations.
There are three types of worldview:
1. Attitude: - emotional and psychological side, at the level of moods, feelings.
2. Perception of the world: - the formation of cognitive images of the world using visual representations.
3. World outlook: - the cognitive-intellectual side of the worldview, it happens: life-everyday and theoretical.
There are three historical types of worldview - mythological, religious, everyday, philosophical, but we will talk about this in more detail in the next chapter.
2. Historical types of worldview
2.1 Ordinary worldview
The worldview of people has always existed, and this was manifested in mythology, and in religion and philosophy, and science. Ordinary worldview is the simplest kind of worldview. It is formed through observation of nature, labor activity, participation in the life of teams and society, under the influence of living conditions, forms of leisure, the existing material and spiritual culture. Everyone has their own ordinary worldview, which differs in varying degrees of depth, completeness from the influence of other types of worldview. For this reason, ordinary worldviews different people may even be opposite in content and therefore incompatible. On this basis, people can be divided into believers and non-believers, egoists and altruists, people of good will and people of evil will. The conventional world view has many shortcomings. The most important of them are the incompleteness, non-systematic nature, untested knowledge of many of the knowledge that make up the ordinary worldview. Ordinary worldview is the basis for the formation of more complex types of worldview.
The integrity of the ordinary worldview is achieved due to the predominance of associativity in thinking and the establishment of an arbitrary connection of knowledge about different spheres of being; by random (disordered) mixing of the results of the worldview and the results of the worldview into a single whole. The main feature of the everyday worldview is its fragmentation, eclecticism and lack of system.
On the basis of an ordinary worldview, a myth is historically the first spontaneously born - i.e. creative display of the world by consciousness, the main distinguishing feature of which is logical generalizations that violate the logical law of sufficient reason. At the same time, there are logical premises for the mythologized perception of reality, they underlie the practical experience of a person, but the conclusions about the structure and laws of the existence of reality in a myth, as a rule, are quite consistent with the observed facts from the life of nature, society and man, correspond to these facts only arbitrarily. selectable number of relationships.
2.2 Mythological worldview
Mythology is historically considered the first form of worldview.
Mythology - (from Greek - legend, legend, word, teaching), this is a way of understanding the world, characteristic of the early stages community development, in the form of social consciousness.
Myths - ancient tales different peoples about fantastic creatures, about the deeds of gods and heroes.
Mythological worldview - regardless of whether it refers to the distant past or today, we will call such a worldview that is not based on theoretical arguments and reasoning, or on an artistic and emotional experience of the world, or on public illusions born of inadequate perception by large groups of people ( classes, nations) social processes and their role in them. One of the features of myth, which unmistakably distinguishes it from science, is that myth explains "everything", since for it there is no unknown and unknown. It is the earliest, and for modern consciousness - archaic, form of worldview.
It appeared at the earliest stage of social development. When humanity, in the form of a myth, legend, legend, tried to answer such global questions as the world as a whole happened and works, to explain various phenomena of nature, society in those distant times, when people were just beginning to peer into the world around them, only to begin to study it .
The main themes of myths:
space - an attempt to answer the question about the beginning of the structure of the world, the emergence of natural phenomena;
· about the origin of people - birth, death, trials;
· about the cultural achievements of people - making fire, the invention of crafts, customs, rituals.
Thus, myths contained the rudiments of knowledge, religious beliefs, political views, different types arts.
The main functions of myths were considered to be that with their help the past was connected with the future, provided a link between generations; the concepts of values were fixed, certain forms of behavior were encouraged; ways of resolving contradictions, ways of uniting nature and society were sought. During the period of domination of mythological thinking, there was no need to obtain special knowledge.
Thus, the myth is not the original form of knowledge, but a special kind of worldview, a specific figurative syncretic idea of natural phenomena and collective life. Myth is considered as the earliest form of human culture, which combined the rudiments of knowledge, religious beliefs, moral, aesthetic and emotional assessment of the situation.
For primitive man just as it was impossible to fix one's knowledge, so it was impossible to be convinced of one's ignorance. For him, knowledge did not exist as something objective, independent of his inner world. In primitive consciousness, what is thought must coincide with what is experienced, and what acts must coincide with what acts. In mythology, a person dissolves in nature, merges with it as its inseparable particle. The main principle of solving worldview issues in mythology was genetic. Explanations about the beginning of the world, the origin of natural and social phenomena boiled down to a story about who gave birth to whom. So, in the famous "Theogony" of Hesiod and in the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" of Homer - the most complete collection ancient Greek myths- the process of creation of the world was presented as follows. In the beginning, there was only eternal, boundless, dark Chaos. In it was the source of the life of the world. Everything arose from the boundless Chaos - the whole world and the immortal gods. From Chaos came the goddess Earth - Gaia. From Chaos, the source of life, a mighty, all-revitalizing love, Eros, also rose. Boundless Chaos gave birth to Darkness - Erebus and dark Night - Nyukta. And from Night and Darkness came the eternal Light - Ether and the joyful bright Day - Homer. Light spread over the world, and night and day began to replace each other. The mighty, fertile Earth gave birth to the boundless blue Sky - Uranus, and the Sky spread over the Earth. The high Mountains, born of the Earth, proudly rose to him, and the eternally noisy Sea spread wide. Sky, Mountains and Sea are born from mother Earth, they have no father. The further history of the creation of the world is connected with the marriage of Earth and Uranus - Heaven and their descendants. A similar scheme is present in the mythology of other peoples of the world. For example, we can get acquainted with such ideas of the ancient Jews in the Bible - the Book of Genesis.
“... Abraham begat Isaac; Isaac begat Jacob; Jacob begat Judah and his brothers…”
Mythological culture, supplanted in a later period by philosophy, specific sciences and works of art, retains its significance throughout world history to the present. No philosophy and science and life in general have no power to destroy myths: they are invulnerable and immortal. Nor can they be disputed, because they cannot be substantiated and accepted by the dry power of rational thought. And yet you need to know them - they constitute a significant fact of culture.
2.3 Religious outlook
Religion is a form of worldview based on the belief in the existence of supernatural forces. This is a specific form of reflection of reality, and until now it remains a significant organized and organizing force in the world.
The religious worldview is represented by the forms of three world religions:
1. Buddhism - 6-5 centuries. BC. First appeared in ancient india, founder - Buddha. In the center is the doctrine of noble truths (Nirvana). In Buddhism there is no soul, there is no God as the creator and supreme being, there is no spirit and history;
2. Christianity - 1st century AD, first appeared in Palestine, a common sign of faith in Jesus Christ as a god-man, the savior of the world. The Bible is the main source of doctrine Holy Bible). Three branches of Christianity: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism;
3. Islam - 7th century AD, formed in Arabia, founder - Mohammed, the main principles of Islam are set forth in the Koran. The main dogma: worship of the one god Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. The main branches of Islam are Sunnism, Shinnism.
Religion performs important historical functions: it forms the consciousness of the unity of the human race, develops universal norms; acts as the bearer of cultural values, streamlining and preserving customs, traditions and customs. Religious ideas are contained not only in philosophy, but also in poetry, painting, architectural art, politics, and everyday consciousness.
Worldview constructions, being included in the cult system, acquire the character of a dogma. And this gives the worldview a special spiritual and practical character. Worldview constructions become the basis for formal regulation and regulation, streamlining and preserving mores, customs, and traditions. With the help of rituals, religion cultivates human feelings of love, kindness, tolerance, compassion, mercy, duty, justice, etc., giving them a special value, associating their presence with the sacred, the supernatural.
Mythological consciousness historically precedes religious consciousness. The religious worldview is more perfect than the mythological one in logical terms. The systemic nature of religious consciousness implies its logical ordering, and continuity with mythological consciousness is ensured by using the image as the main lexical unit. The religious worldview "works" on two levels: on the theoretical and ideological (in the form of theology, philosophy, ethics, social doctrine of the church), i.e. at the level of understanding of the world, and socio-psychological, i.e. level of feeling. At both levels, religiosity is characterized by belief in the supernatural - belief in a miracle. A miracle is against the law. Law is called immutability in change, the indispensable uniformity of the action of all homogeneous things. A miracle contradicts the very essence of the law: Christ walked on water, as if on land, and this miracle exists. Mythological representations have no idea of a miracle: for them, the most unnatural is natural. The religious worldview already distinguishes between the natural and the unnatural, it already has limitations. The religious picture of the world is much more contrasting than the mythological one, richer in colors.
It is much more critical than mythological, and less presumptuous. However, everything revealed by the worldview is incomprehensible, contrary to reason, the religious worldview explains by a universal force that can disrupt the natural course of things and harmonize any chaos.
Faith in this external superpower is the basis of religiosity. Religious philosophy, like theology, proceeds from the thesis that there is some ideal superpower in the world, capable of manipulating both nature and the fate of people at will. At the same time, both religious philosophy and theology substantiate and prove by theoretical means both the necessity of Faith and the presence of an ideal superpower - God.
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.
In our time, religion plays a significant role, religious educational institutions have begun to open more, in pedagogical university and school practice, the direction of the culturological representation of religions within the framework of a civilizational approach is actively developing, at the same time atheistic educational stereotypes are preserved and religious-sectarian apologetics is encountered under the slogan of absolute equality of all religions. The Church and the State are now on an equal footing, there is no enmity between them, they are loyal to each other, they compromise. Religion gives meaning and knowledge, and therefore stability human existence helps him overcome life's difficulties.
The most important features of religion are sacrifice, belief in paradise, cult in God.
The German theologian G. Küng believes that religion has a future, because: 1) the modern world with its spontaneity is not in proper order, it arouses longing for the Other; 2) the difficulties of life raise ethical questions that develop into religious ones; 3) religion means the development of relations to the absolute meaning of being, and this concerns every person.
worldview myth temper religious
2.4Philosophical worldview
Worldview is a broader concept than philosophy. Philosophy is an understanding of the world and man from the standpoint of reason and knowledge.
Plato wrote - "Philosophy is the science of beings as such." According to Plato, the desire to comprehend being as a whole gave us philosophy, and “a greater gift to people, like this gift of God, has never been and never will be” (G. Hegel).
The term "philosophy" comes from the Greek words "philia" (love) and "sophia" (wisdom). According to legend, this word was first introduced by the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who lived in the 6th century BC. In this understanding of philosophy as the love of wisdom is rooted deep meaning. The ideal of a sage (unlike a scientist, an intellectual) is an image of a morally perfect person who not only responsibly builds his own life, but also helps people around him to solve their problems and overcome everyday hardships. But what helps a wise man to live with dignity and reason, sometimes in spite of the cruelty and madness of his historical time? What does he know differently from other people?
This is where the actual philosophical sphere begins: the sage-philosopher knows about the eternal problems of human existence (significant for every person in everything). historical eras) and seeks to find substantiated answers to them.
In philosophy, there are two areas of activity:
The sphere of the material, objective reality, that is, objects, phenomena exist in reality, outside of human consciousness (matter);
· the sphere of the ideal, spiritual, subjective reality is a reflection of objective reality in the human mind (thinking, consciousness).
Main philosophical questions- This
1. what is primary: matter or consciousness; matter determines consciousness or vice versa;
2. the question of the relation of consciousness to matter, subjective to objective;
3. Is the world cognizable, and if so, to what extent?
Dependence on the solution of the first two questions in philosophical teachings has long been formed by two opposite directions:
· Materialism - primary and determining is matter, secondary and determined - consciousness;
Idealism - spirit is primary, matter is secondary, in turn is divided into:
1. Subjective idealism - the world is created by the subjective consciousness of each individual person (the world is just a complex of human sensations);
2. Objective idealism- The world is “created” by some objective consciousness, some eternal “World Spirit”, absolute idea.
Consistent subjective idealism inevitably leads to its extreme manifestation - solipsism.
Solipsism is the denial of the objective existence of not only surrounding inanimate objects, but also other people, except for oneself (only I exist, the rest is my sensation).
Thales was the first Ancient Greece rose to the understanding of the material unity of the world and expressed a progressive idea about the transformation of a single in its essence matter from one of its states to another. Thales had associates, students and followers of his views. Unlike Thales, who considered water to be the material basis of all things, they found other material foundations: Anaximenes - air, Heraclitus - fire.
When answering the question whether the World is cognizable or not, we can distinguish the following areas of philosophy:
1. knowable optimism, which in turn can be divided into:
· Materialism - the objective world is cognizable and this knowledge is limitless;
· Idealism - the world is cognizable, but a person cognizes not objective reality, but his own thoughts and experiences or "absolute idea, world spirit".
2. knowable pessimism, from which follow:
agnosticism - the world is completely or partially unknowable;
Skepticism - the possibility of knowing objective reality is doubtful.
Philosophical thought is the thought of the eternal. Like any theoretical knowledge, philosophical knowledge develops, enriched with new and new content, new discoveries. At the same time, the continuity of the known is preserved. However, the philosophical spirit, philosophical consciousness is not only a theory, especially an abstract, dispassionately speculative theory. Scientific theoretical knowledge is only one side of the ideological content of philosophy. Another, undoubtedly dominant, leading side of it, is formed by a completely different component of consciousness - spiritual and practical. It is he who expresses the life-meaning, value-oriented, that is, worldview, type of philosophical consciousness as a whole. There was a time when no science had ever existed, but philosophy was at the highest level of its creative development. Philosophy is a general methodology for all particular sciences, natural and general, in other words, it is the queen (mother) of all sciences. Philosophy has a particularly great influence on the formation of a worldview.
Epicurus's statement, from a letter to Menekey: "... Let no one in his youth put off studying philosophy ..."
Man's relation to the world is an eternal subject of philosophy. At the same time, the subject of philosophy is historically mobile, concrete, the "Human" dimension of the world changes with the change in the essential forces of man himself.
The innermost goal of philosophy is to take a person out of the sphere of everyday life, to captivate him with the highest ideals, to give his life a true meaning, to open the way to the most perfect values.
The main functions of philosophy are the development of people's general ideas about being, the natural and social reality of man and his activities, and about proving the possibility of knowing the world.
Despite its maximum criticality and scientific character, philosophy is extremely close to the ordinary, and to the religious, and even to the mythological worldview, because, like them, it chooses the direction of its activity quite arbitrarily.
Conclusion: Worldview is not only the content, but also a way of understanding reality, as well as the principles of life that determine the nature of activity. The nature of ideas about the world contributes to the setting of certain goals, from the generalization of which a general life plan is formed, ideals are formed that give the worldview an effective force. The content of consciousness turns into a worldview when it acquires the character of convictions, the complete and unshakable confidence of a person in the correctness of his ideas. The worldview changes synchronously with the outside world, but the basic principles remain unchanged.
All types of worldview reveal some unity, covering a certain range of issues, for example, how does the spirit relate to matter, what is a person, and what is its place in the general interconnection of world phenomena, how does a person know reality, what is good and evil, according to what laws does human development develop? society. The worldview has a huge practical life meaning. It affects the norms of behavior, the attitude of a person to work, to other people, the nature of life aspirations, his way of life, tastes and interests. This is a kind of spiritual prism through which everything around is perceived and experienced.
Foreword
This publication, written in accordance with the official educational standards in Philosophy for Higher Education, sets as its main task to acquaint students, graduate students, as well as a wide range of readers interested in philosophy, with modern philosophical problems and encourage them to develop their own philosophical position. The authors sought to show different approaches to solving the most important philosophical problems and set the task of helping students, on the basis of knowledge of historical and philosophical material, acquire the ability to think independently and independently judge complex and vital things, based on the achievements of modern science and philosophy.
Philosophical problems are among the "eternal". They were placed throughout the history of this subject, and each point of view introduced new semantic shades into their understanding. Therefore, the study of philosophy presupposes not only the assimilation of some ready-made results, but also the clarification of how the thinkers of the past went to obtain them. ; What people experienced in certain periods of life, what was their way of thinking, beliefs and ideals, what knowledge they had - all this was reflected in philosophical problems, in the very types of philosophizing. But a change in philosophical approaches never required a rejection of the development that had been achieved. Alternative concepts of the past and present, mutually complementing each other, enrich the spiritual, moral and intellectual potential of mankind. Therefore, the study of philosophy is inevitably associated with an appeal to its history, to the concepts of the past.
At the same time, the study of philosophical topics presupposes knowledge of the concepts and categories corresponding to them, which present a certain complexity. The authors have tried to give a brief definition of many of them either in the text or in concise dictionary at the end of the book. However, mastering the content of philosophical concepts is a necessary but insufficient condition. In order to master philosophical culture, you need to learn the art of operating with its categories. And this, in turn, is due to the general culture of a person, his erudition, familiarity with the history of world culture.
Philosophy has always played a special role in the formation and formation of a person's worldview. Therefore, the problem of being has been one of the most important since ancient times. It would be unjustified to think that this extremely broad abstract concept has nothing to do with the world of everyday life, with the anxieties and concerns of each of us. In fact, the problem of being is to a large extent a question about human being, about the meaning of his life. The main function of philosophy is the orientation of a person in the world of nature, society. Each person at certain moments of his life is faced with the need to choose and thereby exercise his freedom. Philosophy is designed to help him make the right choice. To solve this problem, philosophy turns to the world of values, creates theories of values. It gives a scale for assessing phenomena, establishes a hierarchy of values and promotes their reassessment in a changing world.
Another fundamental problem of philosophy is the ways of development of civilization, the orientation of the cultural and historical process. The acuteness of this topic today is connected with the danger of a global ecological crisis, with the persistence of armed conflicts on the planet, with the collapse of totalitarian ideologies, as well as with the processes of integration of cultures. The search for alternative ways of social development is one of the most important tasks of philosophy.
The authors of the manual are aware of the complexity of the task ahead of them and do not pretend to the absolute correctness and unconditional truth of the proposed solutions where they express their own position. Outlining their views and ideas on certain issues, they sought to compare them with other points of view, bearing in mind that in modern science, which has accumulated a huge amount of knowledge, and even more so in philosophy, for study guide the most established, tested material should be selected. After all, even a scientist, a philosopher, in solving professional problems, usually uses the experience and achievements of other researchers, adhering, as a rule, to the prevailing theories. This also applies to the authors of this manual, who, in formulating their own views on various topics, relied on authorities and widely known provisions, although they admit that not all of them may ultimately stand the test of time. The main thing they were striving for was to encourage students of philosophy to think about what has already entered the treasury of philosophical thought, to reflect on what still remains relevant and urgently requires its decision, and, having refracted this through their consciousness, to put it in the basis of their own worldview. There is no doubt that such an orientation of consciousness is an integral part of the worldview position of any educated person, especially one who has graduated from a higher educational institution. Chapters 1,2,4,5,9 were written by Doctor of Philosophy, Professor A.N. Chumakov, chapters 3, 6, 7, 8 - Doctor of Philosophy, Professor N.F. Buchilo.
At the end of the book is a Dictionary of Philosophical Terms.
Philosophy: its subject and role in society
Philosophy in the first approximation
Almost every person who starts studying philosophy for the first time, one way or another, already knows something or at least heard about it, since even in everyday life people often come across this famous, attractively bewitching concept. There are many who, thanks to school curriculum or his curiosity, he managed to get acquainted with textbooks and other literature on philosophy, and even with the works of great philosophers, whose influence left a deep mark on the cultural heritage of almost any nation.
Nevertheless, it is not so easy on your own, without special studies, to get a fairly clear idea of what philosophy is, what it does, and what problems it solves. Even among those who work professionally in the field of philosophy, there is no unity in the answers to the questions posed. Some consider philosophy a science, others consider it a game of the mind, others, disagreeing with this, give different definitions, focusing on various forms of people's worldview, the state of their soul, intellect, personal experience, etc. Someone sees in it a goal, someone sees it as a means, a way of rational, irrational, and even intuitive comprehension by a person of himself and the world around him.
At the same time, everyone builds his own logic of reasoning, depending on how he answers a number of fundamental questions: when and why did philosophy arise? What is the nature of philosophical knowledge and is it possible, relying only on the human mind, to know the world? This partly contains the answer to the question why, over the two and a half thousand years of its existence, philosophy has not given unambiguous, indisputable answers to many vital questions, has not found final, indisputable solutions to the so-called "eternal philosophical problems", such as, for example, : what is a person? Is there a God? What is matter, consciousness? How do they relate to each other? How to understand the truth and what are its criteria? What is a soul? And what do they mean: freedom, equality, justice, hatred, love?
And yet, despite the lack of an established, generally accepted definition of philosophy, as well as a wide variety of points of view and approaches to understanding its subject matter, essence, goals and objectives, it has, for all that, invariably - at all times and in all countries - been and remains one of the most fundamental subjects, which is mandatory for study at all universities and other higher educational institutions. Why? Where is the logic here? And to the above, let's add the fact that philosophy does not have a single, generally accepted language, indisputably established laws and a certain set of categories that are generally significant for any philosophical teachings. Moreover, in principle, it does not seek to build a unified system of knowledge and, ultimately, is not aimed at obtaining accurate results at all, as is, for example, typical of science.
Why, then, has such unflagging attention been paid to philosophy throughout the centuries-old history of its existence? It may seem that we are dealing with an inexplicable paradox. But the apparent contradiction is overcome as they delve into the essence of this subject, delve into its specifics and begin to understand the role philosophy plays in a person's awareness of himself and the world around him. Much can be clarified already in this introductory chapter, but a holistic vision of philosophy, a deeper and more complete understanding of the issues raised will come only as you get acquainted with the contents of this book and immerse yourself in philosophical problems, in the mysterious and fascinating world of philosophy - wisdom.
What is philosophy?
The content of any unknown word is best to start with its etymology, i.e. with finding out when, how and why it arose. The concept of "philosophy" comes from the Greek. “рһіісо” - I love and “§о£з” - wisdom, so that the original meaning of this term can be interpreted as love for wisdom, wisdom. For the first time this word was used in the VI century. BC e. the famous ancient Greek thinker Pythagoras, wishing to make a fundamental difference between the knowledge that was passed down from generation to generation in finished form (through myths, legends, traditions) and that which could be obtained by oneself, relying on one's own mind, through reasoning and critical reflection reality.
Both Pythagoras and other philosophers of antiquity initially invested in the concept of "philosophy" a slightly different meaning, in contrast to the one that was assigned to it in later times and essentially boiled down to the fact that philosophy is "the queen of all sciences." They did not consider themselves sages and did not claim to possess wisdom, for true wisdom, as it was customary then to think, consisted in myths, religion, traditions, coming from ancient times, from ancestors, from centuries. And the bearers of wisdom, centuries of proven knowledge, truths in the last instance were considered soothsayers, priests, elders - recognized and indisputable authorities, "true sages", whose words were not subject to doubt and were unconditionally taken for granted. The philosopher, however, had to be only a seeker, a lover of wisdom, to strive for them, relying not on authorities, but on his own mind, using knowledge and experience obtained, including by others in a creative way.
Pre-philosophy - its subject and role in society
Such an attitude to the world and to man himself arose far from immediately. Mankind has passed a long and difficult path before its ability to resist nature, create and increase the means of subsistence developed and increased, as a result of which sufficient experience and knowledge were accumulated, and the mind of people became so strong that it became self-sufficient in order to look for answers to numerous questions in itself.
Essence of the question. To understand the essence of philosophy, as well as the reasons and conditions for its appearance, the conversation should begin with a person's worldview. Why? Because, as will be shown below, philosophy is one of the main forms of worldview, and precisely the form based on the rational principle. To talk about philosophy means to talk about the worldview of a person, and, consequently, about his essence and history of appearance on Earth. And here we are faced with complex, still poorly understood problems, because the origin of man is one of those great mysteries that people have always tried to unravel. But even today in this field of knowledge there are many unresolved problems, just as there is still no unambiguous, generally accepted answer to the question: why, where, for what reasons, can one say so - for what purposes - did a person appear?
Background. Scientific, as well as other approaches to understanding this problem, we will consider in detail later - in the relevant chapters of this book. Now, let us note that from the point of view of modern scientific ideas about human history, there are still a number of issues regarding which scientists and specialists have a certain clarity. In particular, based on rich historical material, factual data obtained by archeology, and also taking into account the results obtained by the methods of other sciences (for example, determining the age of rocks, fossils, etc.), it can be argued with a high degree of certainty that a person is the result evolutionary development life on our planet. The available knowledge allows us to conclude that the oldest settlements of humanoid creatures who made elementary tools of labor (homo habshz - a skilled man) appeared about 3-5 million years ago.
The age of Homo erectus, according to archaeological and scientific data, is about 1.5 million years. And only 40-60 thousand years ago there was a type of people who received the name hoto dawn, which means a reasonable person. Since man gained reason and finally formed as a social being, he, according to experts, has not undergone significant changes in his main characteristics, i.e. fundamentally different from modern people.
The appearance of the mind, in accordance with modern scientific ideas, corresponds to that period of the historical development of man, when his brain, thanks to ever-increasing labor activity and verbal (speech) communication, developed to such an extent that complex abstractions became available to him. Man, thus, began to carry out albeit still primitive, but already in the full sense of the word, intellectual work, formulating concepts, expressing judgments and building conclusions.
The man and his
worldview to talk about the formation of a sufficiently developed
worldview of a person and about the worldview of people
in general - as a set of accumulated knowledge, practical skills, established values.
Such a worldview, formed on the basis of life experience and empirical knowledge, is called ordinary or empirical and initially acts as a kind of undifferentiated, unsystematic set of human ideas about the world. It forms the basis of any worldview and performs an important regulatory function, orienting people in their daily life and activities, predetermining behavior and a significant part of their actions.
If we give the bolsa a complete, detailed definition, then a worldview is a system of views on the objective world and a person’s place in it, on a person’s attitude to the surrounding duality and to himself, as well as the basic life positions of people, their beliefs, ideals, principles, due to these views. knowledge and activities, value orientations.
A worldview defined in this way is inherent only to a person and is associated with the presence of a well-formed consciousness and rational activity in him, when he not only acquires the ability to form concepts and judgments, make generalizations and formulate rules, but also begins to operate with ready-made knowledge in order to obtain new knowledge. Reason, which characterizes such human activity, his creative activity, becomes a powerful means of accelerating the evolution of both himself and society and, as a result, acts as the main difference between people and animals.
With the advent of the mind, a person begins to realize himself as a thinking being, he forms and develops an idea of his own "I" and "NOT-I", "WE" and "NOT-WE". Thus, he cognizes himself and the reality around him, begins to distinguish between himself and Other people, between himself and the external environment, discovering more and more new aspects of the previously unknown world. Such views form the basis of the worldview, which is formed as a set of views of a person on himself and the reality surrounding him. At the same time, a person distinguishes between what he likes and dislikes, gives assessments, builds a system of priorities and acts accordingly, achieving certain goals.
In the worldview, therefore, in a generalized form, the following main functions performed by a person are presented: cognitive, value, behavioral.
At the same time, the cognitive one is the most important, since it includes all the questions that arouse the interest of a person, as well as the answers to which he comes in one way or another. Knowledge enriches and expands the worldview of people, which, as society develops, becomes deeper and richer in content.
But the world is infinitely varied and in constant change, and there are undoubtedly more questions that do not have satisfactory answers than those that could be given one and only one answer to the exclusion of all others. Hence the worldview of every person who selectively reacts to problems, questions, answers, always differs in personal originality and, if only for this reason, it never resembles the worldview of other people. It is always unique and unrepeatable also because in the worldview, along with the intellectual principle, emotional and mental are inextricably linked, which for each person act as absolutely specific, individual characteristics.
Intellectual, emotional and mental, in combination with the will, give rise to beliefs - views that are actively accepted by people, corresponding to the whole structure of their consciousness, life aspirations.
Another important element of any worldview is doubt, which protects it from dogmatism - such thinking when it becomes one-sided, uncritical, accepting this or that position as an immutable truth, unchanged under all circumstances. Another extreme in relation to dogmatism is skepticism, in which doubt is absolutized, put at the forefront and acts as the main principle of cognition and perception of reality. So, as can be seen from the foregoing, a person's worldview is a rather complex phenomenon, in which it is customary to single out the individual elements that make up its structure. The most important of them are attitude, world perception and world outlook.
Attitude is a sensory perception of the surrounding world, when feelings, mood, as it were, “color” the world, capture its image through the prism of subjective, purely individual sensations. For example, a light that may seem too bright for a sick person will be normal for a healthy person; The color gamut is perceived by a color-blind person in a completely different way than by those who have normal vision. Different types of attitudes follow from this, such as optimistic, pessimistic, tragic, etc.
Perception of the world is a representation of the surrounding world in ideal images. The perception of the world can be adequate or inadequate, that is, not correspond to reality, when reality is distorted or there are illusions, fantasies, such as ideas about rusals, goblin, centaurs, brownies, etc.
Understanding the world is a cognitive and intellectual activity aimed at revealing the essence of both the person himself and the world around him, as well as understanding the relationship between events and processes occurring in nature.
Attitude and, partly (in elementary forms), perception of the world are inherent not only to man, but also to animals. But the understanding of the world is peculiar only to people.
The first historical forms of worldview
Different epochs deepened the knowledge and broadened the horizons of a person, opening up new horizons of his vision of both the world and himself in it. Thus, the ordinary (empirical) worldview increased, grew, enriched, on the basis of which, as if crystallizing out of it, more and more complex structures gradually formed, which ultimately led to the separation of separate Forms in it, sometimes they say - historical types of worldview.
The most important of them are: MYTH RELIGION PHILOSOPHY SCIENCE.
Historically, the first forms of worldview were myth and religion, which preceded philosophy and science, which is quite consistent with the general logic of the evolutionary development of mankind. So, as skills, experience and elementary knowledge were accumulated, not only did the problem of transferring them from generation to generation arise, but the very worldview of primitive people became more and more complicated. At a certain stage of its development, upon reaching a "critical mass" of accumulated knowledge, in it, as in any other rather complex system, the action of the laws of self-organization began to manifest itself.
The essence of this phenomenon can be better understood if we turn to the example of the accumulation of books in the home library. When there are several of them, no systematization is required, and it does not matter where they lie and in what relation to each other they are. When the score goes to dozens, for more convenient and efficient use, they need to be somehow arranged and systematized. And the more books there are, the more complex the system of classification, ordering, heading should be, so that it is easier and less expensive to work with them.
It is this orderliness according to the laws of self-organization that arose in the sufficiently developed worldview of primitive people in the beginning in the form of a myth and primitive forms of religions.
Mythology The concept of "myth" comes from the Greek word tyuz, which means narration, legend. If we do not go into the features of the modern mythologization of consciousness, but limit ourselves to a simple definition that conveys the original meaning of this word, then we can say that the MYTH is an ordered, systematized worldview in a certain way, conveying the ideas of different peoples about the origin of the world, about natural phenomena, about fantastic creatures about the deeds of gods and heroes.
The myth initially united the rudiments of knowledge, religious beliefs, various elements of spiritual culture, art, social life and, thus, some order was given to the worldview of primitive people, and their views of the world formed into a certain system. The most important forms of this systematization are: epic, fairy tales, legends, traditions, through which, first of all, myths are transmitted. This also ensures the consolidation of the accumulated knowledge and experience in subsequent generations.
The specificity of mythological thinking lies in the fact that it is not just a narrative, telling a story, but empathy, the perception by the archaic consciousness of an oral "sacred" text as a kind of reality that influences the course of events, a person and the world in which he lives. . Myth, especially in the early stages of human history, performed the most important function of regulating the behavior and relationships of people, since customs were fixed in it, both moral views and the aesthetic attitude of a person to reality were expressed. Mythology is characterized by the fact that everything in it is merged, united, inseparable; objects and phenomena of nature live according to the same laws as a person, have the same sensations, desires, suffering, etc. as he does.
Thus, a myth is not someone’s invention or a “relic of the past”, but a specific language with which a person has described the world since ancient times, generalizing, interpreting, classifying and bringing his scattered and growing knowledge into a certain system.
In myth leading role tradition plays, an authoritative word coming from the lips of a father, a leader, an elder... The attitude to such a narrative and its content is based on faith, on a direct, emotional perception of reality. The mythological worldview is a holistic worldview in which there is no room for doubt.
Mythology (as a set of myths) is closely connected with the worldview of not only ancient people. And today, the myths that live in ordinary consciousness, visibly or veiledly present in religion, philosophy, politics, art, remain (for some - to a greater extent, for others - to a lesser extent) integral part worldview of any person, playing an active role in the life and work of people. In the context of the rapidly growing informatization of society, myth through television, radio, periodicals, modern electoral technologies is often used as a means of manipulating public consciousness, forming a predetermined public opinion, etc.
Religion. Another form of worldview that historically preceded philosophy is RELIGION. This word comes from the Latin ge!і§іo, which means piety, piety, shrine. Like myth, religion also has faith, feelings, and emotions at its core. And although the rudiments of it are found already at the very early stages of the formation of the worldview of a “reasonable person”, i.e. about 40-60 thousand years ago, on the whole, it takes shape as an independent form of worldview a little later, when, thanks to myth as well, a person's ability to think abstractly is noticeably enhanced.
Religion can be defined as a worldview and attitude, as well as the corresponding behavior and specific actions of people, which are based on belief in the supernatural (gods, " higher intelligence”, a certain absolute, etc.).
Religion is complex spiritual education and a socio-historical phenomenon, where faith is invariably put in the first place and is always valued above knowledge! Compared to myth, religion performs a more complex set of functions, including:
Worldview, answering the questions: how, when and why everything that exists, and how the primary role of supernatural power was manifested in this;
Communicative, providing a certain type of communication and interpersonal relationships, contributing to the solidarity and integrity of society;
Regulatory, establishing appropriate norms and rules that regulate the behavior of people.
Compensatory, compensating for the lack of information, attention, care, replacing the lack of meaning in life, perspective, etc., i.e. fulfilling the needs of a person unsatisfied in everyday life.
Religion arose as a natural phenomenon and has its own deep roots, as if nourishing a person's faith in the supernatural. These roots lie primarily in human nature, in the psychology of people, where, regardless of the level of development of the intellect and the ability of a person to think critically, there is always a desire and even a need not only to understand, to realize, but simply to believe.
Religious views receive substantial nourishment in the field of knowledge. Here lie the so-called epistemological roots of religion. From the point of view of rational knowledge, the world in its diversity appears to man as infinitely complex and opens up to his knowledge only fragmentarily. For this reason, he is full of mysteries and miracles for him, which a person is not able to solve (perhaps yet?), just as he fails, relying only on reason, neither to prove nor disprove, and much of what is recognized on faith. As psychologists note, “an extremely difficult task is stupefying”, a person feels weak, helpless in the face of insoluble problems and easily supplements, or even replaces the arguments of the mind with fiction, an appeal to the supernatural.
Causes of religiosity
sphere, because in society there has always been inequality, poverty and lack of rights, they could not change or overcome with all their desire. The feeling of injustice and imperfection of the earthly world gives rise to a feeling of hopelessness and despair, which easily develops into a belief in the afterlife, where, as any religion teaches, everything is arranged in the best way and everyone is rewarded according to his deeds. Faced with problems, difficulties and not finding support in real life, a person turns to the other world, placing hopes on supernatural forces. Having believed in them, he finds consolation and ultimately comes to humility and submission to fate.
Finally, an essential and unchanging connection is found between religion and politics. Various political forces, as a rule, do not miss the opportunity to use religion for their own mercenary purposes and, thus, directly or indirectly support it, strengthen its role and influence in society. These reasons for the vitality of religion are so solid that even the impressive achievements of modern science have not shaken the foundations of religion, and the growth of scientific knowledge practically does not change the percentage of believers and non-believers, even among scientists. So, in 1916, when the rapidly developing natural science seemed to promise a person unlimited possibilities in understanding the world, the American researcher James Lyuba published very interesting results of his research, according to which 40% of US scientists believed in God. Even more sensational were the results of a new study conducted in the late 90s. American historians E. Larson and L. Witham, who decided to find out how much the worldview of scientists has changed under the influence of the greatest discoveries and scientific achievements made in the 20th century. A survey they conducted among a thousand randomly selected humanities and natural scientists in the United States showed that the same 40% of scientists still believe in God and the afterlife. At the same time, the number of unbelievers and agnostics (denying the existence of God) has also changed little since then and today, as before, is approximately 45% and 15%, respectively.
The general conclusion about the vitality of the religious worldview, regardless of time, countries and continents, is also confirmed by the results of a survey conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation in May 2000 in Russia. Among the Russians, who in the 20th century lived for almost 80 years under conditions of militant atheism, which used all possible arguments to "debunk" religion, 2/3 of the country's population consider themselves believers. 59% of respondents are indifferent to whether the president of Russia believes in God, 31% believe that a believer should be the president, and only a small proportion of Russians (6%) believe that the head Russian state must be an atheist.
The history of mankind knows many different religions. So, in a primitive society, where there was an extremely low level of culture and knowledge, and a person could not resist the elemental forces of nature, which were a formidable, alien and mysterious force for him, early, still very primitive forms of religion arise: fetishism, animism, totemism, magic, etc.
Historical fetishism, for example, endows this or that object with miraculous properties, religious abilities to influence people's lives. Such an object is deified and becomes an object of veneration and worship.
Animism (from Latin apita - soul) cultivates faith in the existence of souls and spirits, as well as in their ability to influence not only the lives of people, but also animals, objects and phenomena of the surrounding world, since from the point of view of animism the whole world is animated.
In totemism, the basis is the belief in the common origin of a group of people with one or another animal, plant, object, declared a totem, i.e. an ancestor who should be worshiped, for he acts as a powerful protector, patron of this kind, provides food, etc.
Magic (from the Greek taoeia - magic) is also one of the forms of primitive religion, which is based on the belief that without the help of natural forces it is possible in some mysterious way, for example, a set of rituals, specific actions, to influence things, people, animals and even otherworldly forces - "spirits", "demons", etc.
The noted ancient forms of religion formed the basis of later religious beliefs and, to one degree or another, were reflected both in polytheism (worship of many gods) and in monotheism (worship of one god). In part, they retain an independent existence at the present time.
About 10 thousand years ago, when man switched to a settled way of life, taking up cattle breeding and farming, the so-called neolethic revolution took place. At this later stage in the development of society, polytheism arises, since the social division of labor, earthly relations of domination and subordination begin to correspond more to beliefs not in spirits and fetishes, but in gods, whom people endowed with specific names and appearances.
The further formation and development of statehood, the emergence of the great cultures of antiquity, the formation of slave-owning relations, the emergence of monarchies and the resulting unity of command, contributed to the fact that in the religious worldview there were tendencies towards one-reverence, the creation of a cult of one god. By singling out a single omnipotent god from the multitude of gods, people thereby, as it were, brought into some correspondence their ideas about real life, where the king of the earth rules, with other world where the one and all-powerful god dwells. This is how monotheistic religions were born (from the Greek topo - one and Iheoz - god): Judaism (VII century BC), Buddhism (ҮІ-Ү centuries BC), Christianity (I century), Islam (7th century).
Religion (lecture material)
Historically, the first form of worldview is mythology. It arises at the earliest stage of social development. Then humanity in the form of myths, i.e. legends, legends, tried to answer such global questions as the origin and structure of the universe as a whole, the emergence of the most important phenomena of nature, animals and people. A significant part of the mythology was cosmological myths dedicated to the structure of nature. At the same time, much attention in the myths was paid to the various stages of people's lives, the secrets of birth and death, all kinds of trials that lie in wait for a person on his life path. A special place is occupied by myths about the achievements of people, making fire, the invention of crafts, the development of agriculture, and the domestication of wild animals.
Myth is a special kind of worldview, a specific figurative syncretic idea of natural phenomena and collective life. In myth, as the earliest form of human culture, the rudiments of knowledge, religious beliefs, moral, aesthetic and emotional assessment of the situation were combined.
At an early stage of human history, mythology was not the only worldview form; religion also existed in the same period. The representations embodied in myths were closely intertwined with rituals and served as an object of faith. In primitive society, mythology was in close interaction with religion. However, it would be wrong to unequivocally state that they were inseparable. Mythology exists separately from religion as an independent, relatively independent form of social consciousness. But in the earliest stages of the development of society, mythology and religion formed a single whole. From the content side, i.e. From the point of view of worldview constructions, mythology and religion are inseparable. It cannot be said that some myths are "religious" and others are "mythological."
However, religion has its own specifics. And this specificity does not lie in a special type of ideological constructions (for example, those in which the division of the world into natural and supernatural prevails) and not in a special relationship to these ideological constructions (the attitude of faith). The division of the world into two levels is inherent in mythology at a fairly high stage of development, and the attitude of faith is also an integral part of mythological consciousness. The specificity of religion is due to the fact that the main element of religion is the cult system, i.e. a system of ritual actions aimed at establishing certain relationships with the supernatural. And therefore, every myth becomes religious to the extent that it is included in the cult system, acts as its content side.
The concept of religion
Religion (from the Latin religio - piety, shrine, object of worship), worldview and attitude, as well as appropriate behavior and specific actions (cult), based on the belief in the existence of a god or gods, "sacred" - i.e. some form of the supernatural. The earliest manifestations are magic, totemism, fetishism, animism, etc. Historical forms of the development of religion: tribal, national-state (ethnic), world (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam). The reason for the emergence of religion is the impotence of primitive man in the struggle with nature, and later, after the emergence of a class-antagonistic society, his impotence in the face of spontaneous social forces that dominate people. (Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary 1987)
“Religion” is a Western European term. In the Latin language already by the early Middle Ages, the word "religio" began to indicate "God's fear, the monastic way of life." The formation of this new meaning in Latin is usually derived from the Latin verb “religare” - “to bind”. Already in the word formation itself, the specifics of what began to be considered a religion in Europe can be seen. So, for example, in Dutch the word for religion sounds like “Godsdienst”, which literally means “worship”. If we turn to other cultures, we can see differences in the semiotic understanding of this phenomenon. What we call “religion” here has quite different connections there. The Chinese "dao" points to "the path", while the Indian "dharma" pays more attention to "duty", "an inherent property of a person."
The word “religion” is a word that until recently, in the eyes of the vast majority, embraced all spiritual life, and therefore only crude materialism can attack the essence of this, fortunately eternal, need of our nature. There is nothing more harmful than the habitual norms of the language, due to which the absence of religiosity is mixed with the refusal to adhere to this or that belief. A person who takes life seriously and uses his activities to achieve some noble goal is a religious person ... For the vast majority of people, established religion is the only form of participation in the cult of the ideal. …religion, being an integral part of human nature, is true in its essence…religion is a clear sign of its highest destiny imprinted in the soul of a person…, an idea of the divine world hidden in us. (E. Renan)
Religion (religio) ... that which should be purely and holyly rendered to the gods, makes sense if only they notice this and if there is some kind of retribution from the immortal gods to the human race. … Not only philosophers, but also our ancestors made a distinction between religion and superstition. ...just as a religion that is combined with the knowledge of nature should be propagated and supported, so superstition should be uprooted with all its roots. (Cicero)
Religion is a relationship with God through piety. (Lactantium)
According to the most ancient and accepted explanation, religion is the relationship between God and man. (Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary)
Religion - connection with the Highest, with the Holy, openness and trust in Him, readiness to accept as the guiding principles of one's life that which comes from the Highest and is revealed to a person when meeting with him. (L.I. Vasilenko)
Religion is "the confession of a personal, spiritual, perfect transcendental Beginning - God." "Religion" in this sense is opposed to "forms of its degeneration" - shamanism, magic, witchcraft, belief in astrology, scientology, yoga, philosophy, sociology, ethics. (On faith and morality according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church)
Philosophy and religion… are one and the same manifestation of the World Spirit in objective and subjective forms, both of them are “service to God”, differing only in their methods, but not in the subject of comprehension. Concrete “certain religions, it is true, do not constitute our religion, but as essential, although subordinate moments ... they are contained in our religion. Therefore, we see in them not someone else's, but ours, and the understanding of this includes the reconciliation of the true religion with the false one. (G.W.F. Hegel)
…worship is the essence of religion… (K. Thiele)
Religion is “the propitiation and appeasement of forces above man, forces which are supposed to direct and control the course of natural phenomena and human life". As such, religion "consists of theoretical and practical elements, namely, belief in the existence of higher powers and the desire to propitiate and please them." (J. Fraser)
Religion is "organized worship of higher powers" (which includes three common elements - faith, ideas and cult). (S.N. Trubetskoy)
Religion is “ordo ad Deum” (submission to God) (Thomas Aquinas)
…“religion itself is a practice”, and therefore “the essence of religion lies almost exclusively in customs and rituals” (A. Grant)
Religion - Faith, spiritual belief, confession, worship or core spiritual belief. (V.Dal)
It would be best to simply accept belief in spiritual beings as the definition of the minimum of religion. (E. Tylor)
... we will understand by religion the belief in the existence of Intellect or extrahuman Intelligences, which do not depend on the material mechanism of the brain and nerves and which can have a more or less strong influence on the fate of people and on the nature of things. (E. Lang)
By religion, we understand all those phenomena that differ from others (ethical, aesthetic, political, and the like) precisely as religious, i.e. everything in which a person expresses his belief in supernatural power and what he does to maintain his connection with it. The practice of witchcraft and spells here, strictly speaking, does not apply ... (K. Thiele)
I can find no better expression than "religion" to denote belief in the rational nature of reality, at least that part of it that is accessible to consciousness. Where this feeling is absent, science degenerates into barren empiricism. (A. Einstein)
Religion acts as a system of beliefs, "non-empirical and value", in contrast to science, "empirical and non-value". They are opposed by ideology as "empirical and value" and philosophy as "non-empirical and non-value" systems of views. (T. Parsons)
True religion, important to all people always and everywhere, would have to be eternal, universal and obvious; but there is no religion with these three attributes. Thus, the falsity of all is proved three times. (D. Didro)
... religion (which is nothing but a kind of philosophy ... (D.Yum)
... Any religion is nothing but a fantastic reflection in the minds of people of those external forces that dominate them in their daily lives - a reflection in which earthly forces take the form of unearthly ones. (F.Engels)
Religion “is nothing but a fantastic reflection in the minds of people of those external forces that dominate them in their daily life,” Engels pointed out in 1878. However, modern science should consider religion not only as a reflection in the field of ideology of this extreme insignificance - man, but also as an expression of his protest against his actual misery, which will not disappear until a person makes his social relations as reasonable as he is. desires to make their relationship with the forces of nature. (D. Donini)
…religion refers to the forms of social consciousness, i.e. is one of the ways in which humanity reflects social life. The specificity of religious reflection is the mental division of the surrounding world into two parts: natural and supernatural - with the allocation of the supernatural part in the first place, recognizing its fundamental importance. (N.S. Gordienko)
Religion is a worldview and worldview associated with appropriate behavior and peculiar actions based on belief in the existence of a god or gods. Sacred world mind, i.e. some form of the supernatural. Being a perverted consciousness, religion is not groundless: it is based on the impotence of man in the face of the power of natural and social forces that are not subject to him. After all, the worldview associated with religion, the worldview, is nothing more than a fantastic reflection in the minds of people of those completely earthly, real external forces that dominate them in their daily life, but the reflection is inverted, because in it the earthly forces take the form of unearthly forces. (A.P. Butenko, A.V. Mironov)
Religion is a refraction of Being in the minds of people, but the whole question is how to understand this Being itself. Materialism reduces it to an unreasonable nature, while religion sees in its basis the hidden Divine Essence and realizes itself as a response to the manifestation of this Essence. (A. Men)
Fear of an invisible force, invented by the mind or imagined on the basis of fictions allowed by the state, is called religion, not allowed - superstition. And if the imaginary power is really what we imagine it to be, then this is true religion. (T. Hobbes)
The essence of religion is a holistic experience of one's connection with God, a living feeling of the individual's dependence on higher powers. (F. Schleiermacher)
The basis of religion is the feeling of dependence of man; in the original sense, nature is the object of this feeling of dependence, that on which a person depends and feels dependent. (L. Feuerbach)
... the true essence of any religion is precisely the mystery, and where a woman is at the head of the cult, as well as at the head of life in general, it is the mystery that will be surrounded by special care and preference. The key to this is its natural nature, which inseparably connects the sensual and the supersensible, and its close relationship with natural life - the life of living flesh, the eternal death of which awakens deep pain, and with it, first of all, the need for consolation and sublime hope ... (I. Bachofen)
In this mood, in this piety, which is a state of mind, they rightly perceived the essence of religion. (Sabatier)
For ordinary people"religion" whatever special meaning whatever they put into the word, always signifies a serious state of mind. (W.James)
By culture, we ultimately understand nothing more than the totality of everything that the human consciousness, by virtue of its inherent rationality, produces from the material given to it. …religion does not correspond to any particular area of reasonable values; ... it borrows its rational foundations from logical, ethical and aesthetic contents. The only reasonable basis inherent in religion as such is the requirement to experience the totality of all reasonable values in absolute unity, unattainable for any of the forms of our consciousness. (V. Windelband)
Religion, in its most literal and original meaning, is a feeling of connection with the whole, with the absolute, and the necessity of this connection for the possibility of spiritual life, spiritual self-preservation. … Religion is the recognition of God and the experience of connection with God. ... there is an experience of the transcendent, which becomes immanent to that extent, however, while maintaining its transcendence, the experience of the transcendent-immanent. (S.N. Bulgakov)
Man creates religion, religion does not create man. Namely: religion is the self-consciousness and self-feeling of a person who either has not yet found himself or has already lost himself again. But man is not an abstract being huddled somewhere outside the world. Man is the world of man, state, society. This state, this society give rise to religion, a perverted worldview, for they themselves are a perverted world. Religion is general theory of this world, its encyclopedic compedium, its logic in popular form, its spiritualistic point d "honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn completion, its universal basis for consolation and justification. (K.Marx)
Religion is a special attitude of the human mind, ... careful consideration, observation of certain dynamic factors, understood as "forces", spirits, demons, gods, laws, ideas, ideals - and all other names given by man to similar factors found by him in his world as powerful, dangerous... "religion" is a concept denoting a particular attitude of consciousness, altered by the experience of the numinous. (C.G. Jung)
If in some sense it can be said that religion consists in the humanization of natural laws, and magic in the naturalization of human actions, that is, in the interpretation of certain human actions as an integral part of physical determinism, then here we are not talking about an alternative or stages of evolution. The anthropomorphism of nature (what religion consists of) and the physiomorphism of man (as we would define magic) form constant components, only their dosage changes ... There is no religion without magic, as well as magic that does not imply the grain of religion. (K.Levi-Strauss)
Religion is a special system of people's spiritual activity, the specificity of which is determined by its focus on illusory supernatural objects. (Scientific atheism)
Religion represents the culmination of the basic tendency of the organism to respond in a particular way to certain situations in which life places it. (G. Hockland)
Religion is ... our interpretation of the electrical changes in the temporal lobe of the brain. (D.Bea)
There has always been only one religion in the world, its source is God. All religions are, in their beginning and foundations of doctrine, in connection with this one and only revealed religion. (W. Goethe)
Religion is seen as a transcendent, autonomous reality that, as such, has an impact on human society. The sociology of religion can comprehend religion only in its social manifestation. The essence of religion is therefore outside the analysis of sociology. The question of the essence of religion is a matter for theology or philosophy of religion. (P. Vrikhov)
Any religion consists of the doctrine of religious truths, of their aesthetic presentation with the help of pictures, stories, legends, and finally, of their embodiment in a symbolic action, in a cult. (P.L. Lavrov)
... there is no point in interpreting religion as a perversion of the sexual instinct. ... why not equally argue that religion is an aberration of the digestive function ... Let us first assume the probability that in religion we will not find one essence, but we will meet a variety of features, each of which is equally essential for religion. ... let us agree by religion to mean the totality of feelings, actions and experience of an individual, since their content establishes its relation to what is revered by the Divine. (V.James)
Religion is a unified system of belief and activity in relation to sacred objects, that is, things isolated and forbidden, belief and actions that unite into one community, called the Church, all who adhere to them. (E. Durkheim)
In every primitive society ... there are always two clearly distinguishable spheres, the Sacred and the Worldly (Profane), in other words, the sphere of Magic and Religion and the sphere of Science. … Both magic and religion originate and function in situations of emotional stress, … offer a way out of situations and states that have no empirical resolution, only through ritual and belief in the supernatural,… are based strictly on mythological tradition and both exist in an atmosphere of miracle , in an atmosphere of constant manifestations miraculous power, ... are surrounded by prohibitions and regulations that delimit their sphere of influence from the profane world. What, then, distinguishes magic from religion? … we have defined magic as a practical art in the realm of the sacred, consisting of actions that are only means to an end expected as their consequence; religion - as a set of self-sufficient acts, the goal of which is achieved by their very fulfillment. (B.Malinovsky)
By "religion" I mean any system of beliefs and actions held by a group of people that gives the individual a system of orientation and an object of worship. (E.Fromm)
… let us agree to call religion any separate set of beliefs, symbols, rituals, doctrines, institutions and ritual practices that allow the bearers of this tradition to assert, preserve and glorify their world filled with meaning. (Religious Traditions of the World)
Religion - worldview and attitude, as well as the corresponding behavior, determined by belief in the existence of God, deity; a sense of bondage, dependence, and obligation to a secret power that provides support and is worthy of worship. (Short Philosophical Encyclopedia)
Greek religion ... in essence ... is folklore. The distinction now made between religion and folklore probably makes sense when applied to such a dogmatic religion as Christianity, but completely loses it when it is attributed to ancient religions. (A. Bonnar)
Humanism is... new religion, but "religion" is not in the sense of theology with belief in supernatural gods, not an ethical system or scientific knowledge, but "religion" in the sense of an organized system of ideas and emotions associated with real person, his destiny, everyday worries, law and social structure. (I.V. Devina)
. ... religion is not only the source and strongest stimulus of morality, but also its crown and fulfillment. It turns an imperfect earthly creature into something integral, it elevates us to eternity, tearing us out of the suffering and struggle of being, subject to time. (O.Pfleiderer)
Religion is... "the sigh of an oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world,... the spirit of a soulless order,... the opium of the people." (K.Marx)
Religion is one of the types of spiritual oppression that lies everywhere and everywhere on the masses of the people, crushed by eternal work for others, want and loneliness. … Religion is a kind of spiritual sivuha, in which the slaves of capital drown their human image, their demands for a life worthy of a human life. (V.I. Lenin)
If ontologically religion is the life of us in God and God in us, then phenomenologically, religion is a system of such actions and experiences that provide salvation for the soul. (P.A. Florensky)
Religion and mythology both live by self-affirmation of personality, but religion is “principled self-affirmation, affirmation of itself in its ultimate foundation, in its primordial existential roots”, “in eternity”, while “myth is a drawing of a personality, ... an image of a personality. (A.F. Losev)
Religion is what the individual creates in his aloneness... So religion is aloneness, and if you have never been alone, you have never been religious. (A. Whitehead)
... religion is a transition from God the void (God-emptiness) to God the enemy (God-enemy), and from him - to God the companion (God-comrade). (A. Whitehead)
…religion is “the careful, careful observation of what Rudolf Otto aptly called numinosum, that is, dynamic existence or action not caused by an arbitrary act of will. On the contrary, it captures the human subject and controls him; the latter is always more of a victim than a creator.” (K.Jung)
... the connection between religion and philosophy as a connection between the meeting with the divine and its objectification in thinking. … For a religious worldview, religion is the refuge of man; his homeland is a laid-back life “in the face of God”. (M. Buber)
The number of believers in the so-called. The "irreligious" period may be longer than the "religious" period... the consciousness of the presence of the unconditional permeates and directs all the functions and forms of culture. For such a state of mind, the divine is not a problem, but a prerequisite. … Religion is a life-giving current, an inner force, the ultimate meaning of any life, because the “sacred” … excites, nourishes, inspires all reality and all aspects of existence. Religion in the broadest and most fundamental sense of the word is the ultimate interest. (P.Tillich)
Religion is the recognition by a person of some higher power that controls his destiny and requires obedience, reverence and worship. (Oxford Dictionary)
…christian religion is not, like a myth, one of the types of explanation of the world (a system of experience), but only a guide to true life, that is, life with God. …For Christian faith miracle is fundamental, but myth is not. Therefore, faith is called faith, while mythically thinking person did not need faith; myth was for him only a kind of everyday experience. These fundamental differences can be generalized when comparing other world religions with myth. …myth and religion are not the same thing, but while myth can be separated from religion, there is no religion without myth. (K.Hubner)
Religion is what gives a person, while observing the rules of spiritual life, the opportunity to unite with the source of life, truth and goodness - God. (Religions of the world)
Religion is more than a system of special symbols, rituals and emotions directed at a higher being. Religion is a state of being captured by something unconditional, holy, absolute. In this sense, it gives meaning, seriousness and depth to any culture ... (H.Knohe)
Religion is the hunger of the soul for the impossible, the unattainable, the unknowable... Religion seeks the infinite. And the infinite, by its very definition, is impossible and unattainable. (W.Stace)
When studying religion, you can focus on the existential side ... In this case, religion will be called the process of personal spiritual search or the ultimate goal of such a search... In addition, religion can be defined through the object of its worship... Religion can be seen as an ideal, as the ultimate goal of all human aspirations. (Religious Traditions of the World)
Religion is a way or a set of ways for a person to achieve God, for mortals - immortal, temporal - eternal. (A.B. Zubov)
…religion, …religious faith is, ultimately, belief in a supermeaning, hope in a supermeaning. …I can't laugh on command. The same is true of love and faith: they cannot be manipulated. These are intentional phenomena that arise when the subject content adequate to them is highlighted. (V.Frankl)
Religion is not just a form of some kind of connections, relationships and actions of people, some functioning formation, a form of social or individual consciousness, it is one of the spheres of the spiritual life of society, groups, an individual, a way of practical-spiritual development of the world, one of the areas of spiritual production. … Religion is a special type of spiritual and practical activity, during which the knowledge and practical development of the world is carried out in a way based on the idea of the decisive influence of otherworldly forces (connections and relations) on everyday life of people. (I.N. Yablokov)
Essential signs of religion (in contrast to non-essential ones, such as: the presence of sacred attributes, temples, followers, clergymen): the presence of a dogma; the presence of sacred practice; presence of a sacred text.
A creed is a system of worldview attitudes that expresses the position of the individual and his transcendental ideal, the process of transcending the individual and the result of transcending.
Sacred practice is the activity of an individual in assimilation to the object of his faith for a successful transsensus into the Absolute.
Religion classification
Among the classifications of religions with a greater share of objective grounds, the following approaches can be distinguished: 1) Evolutionary; 2) Morphological; 3) By the nature of origin, distribution and influence; 4) By the nature of the relationship; 5) Statistical; 6) Genealogical.
Evolutionary. Religion is compared to an object or process that originates (or manifests) in human society, existence and extinction. Indeed, as we shall see when studying the structure of religion, at different stages of its development, certain of its functions dominate, corresponding to the period of religious upsurge or decay. Since the 19th century, there has been a classification of religions according to the stages of development (by analogy with the maturation of a person). This approach, if applied to the entire world process, has many flaws. An example is the classification carried out by F. Hegel.
F.Hegel's evolutionary classification: I. Natural religion.
1. Direct religion (witchcraft).
2. Split of consciousness in itself. Religions of substance.
2.1. Religion measures (China).
2.2. Religion of fantasy (Brahmanism).
2.3. Religion of “in-itself-being” (Buddhism).
3. Natural religion in transition to the religion of freedom. The struggle of subjectivity.
3.1. Religion of good or light (Persia).
3.2. The Religion of Suffering (Syria).
3.3. Religion of riddles (Egypt).
II. Religion of spiritual individuality.
1. Religion of greatness (Judaism).
2. Religion of beauty (Greece).
3. Religion of expediency or reason (Rome).
III. Absolute religion (Christianity).
Here one can see a superficial figurative definition of a particular religion, and then an unreasonable division on an unclear basis, in addition, the classification bears the stamp of pan-Christianity. A similar classification is proposed by the theologian A. Men, putting forward the thesis that all religions are the prehistory of Christianity, a preparation for it.
The evolutionary classification is applicable to individual religions, because one can consider their individual growth and decay on a time scale, but the application of this classification in relation to all religions carries the danger of simplifying world development.
Morphological. With this approach, religions are divided according to their composition, internal content (mythological / dogmatic religions), according to the ideological content, according to the form of dogma, according to the nature of the cult, according to the ideal, in relation to morality, art, etc. So, depending on the object of worship, religions are divided into: monotheism (monotheism), polytheism (polytheism), henotheism (“monotheism”, i.e. religions with a hierarchy of gods and supreme god), atheistic religions (e.g., early Buddhism, Satanism, Scientology), supratheism or "piety" (Shankara's monism, Hellenistic cosmism);
Undoubtedly, this classification also has errors. Judaism, traditionally attributed to monotheism, I.A. Kryvelev considers monolatry and this is true in a sense, because. in early Judaism, the figure of Yahweh did not stand out as an transcendent supernatural god.
Atheistic religions are very different from each other. In early Buddhism the individual is indifferent to the existence of God. Satanism in its various manifestations can either deny the existence of the most good god, or reject his absolute power, i.e. here we have some form of theomachism. Scientology recognizes the possibility for the individual to become a “god” himself, but in general, the role of God in managing the world and the individual is not emphasized there.
By the nature of the origin, distribution and influence distinguish between national and world religions, natural and revealed religions, folk and personal religions. This approach must be understood dialectically, because one and the same religion, taken in different temporal relations, can act both as a national and as a world, national and personal one.
By the nature of the relationship to the world, the man of religion is divided into world-tolerant, world-denying and world-affirming. Religion can be dominated by a non-utilitarian attitude (soteriological cults), gnostic, mystical (magic) or pragmatic (prosperity religions).
Statistical. The most positive approach, because here, empirically fixed data are taken as the basis for the division - the number of believers, age and gender composition, and geographical distribution.
Genealogical. This approach takes into account real historical and semiotic connections between religions. According to this classification, Judaism, Christianity and Islam can be combined and considered together as Abrahamic religions; Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism as the religions of Southeast Asia; religions of the Slavs, Germans, Celts, Greeks and Romans as Indo-European religions, etc. Undoubtedly, this classification is not perfect. Meanwhile, it allows us to trace the origin of religions and develop a common cultural space.
Functions and role of religion
The role of religion is subjective for perception, so it is more appropriate to talk about the functions of religion, what it does. The functions of religion in social time and space are diverse, the main ones can be distinguished from them: 1) Regulatory function; 2) Food prohibitions; 3) worldview; 4) Existential; 5) Integrating; 6) Political.
regulatory function. “If there is no God, then everything is permitted…” ( F.M. Dostoevsky). There has never been a better teacher in the history of mankind than religion. In religions, these restrictions act as a means of purifying the soul, but they can also be considered in an ethical and sociological sense.
Food prohibitions . The most severe prohibitions in relation to the priesthood. Often he was required to follow a vegetarian diet, accompanied by frequent fasting. Members of the upper classes in India, in addition to the lacto-vegetarian diet, are forbidden to consume onions, garlic, mushrooms as unclean plants (Manu Samhita 5.5)
In the Old Testament, the killing of cattle is considered the most disgusting: "He who kills an ox is the same as killing a man; sacrificing a lamb is the same as strangling a dog" (Bible: Isaiah, 66, 3). Although there are a number of prescriptions in the Old Testament governing the eating of meat, it still leaves no doubt that, ideally, a person should eat only vegetarian food. In Genesis 1:29, the Lord says, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is in all the earth, and every tree bearing fruit of a tree yielding seed: this shall be food for you” (Genesis 1 , 29) If we analyze the dynamics Old Testament in relation to meat-eating, it looks like a series of concessions in relation to the Jewish people. So, in the 9th chapter of the book of Genesis, God allows you to eat everything that moves (“Everything that moves, that lives, will be your food ..”). However, in the very next paragraph, a ban is imposed on certain foods and a reward is promised for violation of this ban “Only the flesh with its soul, do not eat with its blood. I will also demand your blood, in which is your life, I will demand it from every beast, I will also demand the soul of a man from the hand of a man, from the hand of his brother. Hence we have complicated kosher rules among the Jews. In Judaism, only kosher food is allowed - ritually cleansed meat (beef, lamb and goat meat). The meat should be without blood, and the fish should be with scales and fins.
The Pentateuch describes a second attempt to establish a vegetarian diet among the Jews. When they left Egypt, God sent them "manna from heaven", but some were dissatisfied: (Numbers 11, 13 - 19-20) God sends meat and strikes with an ulcer on those who eat meat: (Numbers 11, 33-34).
In Islam, it is forbidden to eat animals that do not have wool and fish that do not have scales. However, the Muslim tradition also condemns the killing of animals: "And so Musa said to his people:" O my people! You yourself have done injustice by taking the calf. Turn to your Creator and kill yourselves; it is better for you before your Creator. And he will turn to you: indeed, He is turning, merciful!" (Quran. 2.51). Elsewhere, in the book "Thus Spoke Mohammed" it is said: "The one who brings good to any animal will be rewarded."
TO food bans bans on the use of hallucinogenic substances should also be included. Various traditions may prohibit alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and even coffee and tea. This is connected, in general, with the idea of the defilement that they bring. In Islam, it is believed that while intoxicated, a person cannot perform namaz, the main duty of a Muslim.
Gender restrictions in religion are associated with the body-spirit dichotomy. Bodily experience (in this case, the relationship between a man and a woman) is considered a defilement and therefore, as a rule, is kept to a minimum. The strictest rules in this regard applied to the priesthood, which in most religions was required to be celibate.
Religions also postulate ethical norms, which can take on a legal character. The Decalogue of Judaism was strictly guarded by the police in ancient Israel. In the Christian world, the ten commandments served as one of the sources for the formation of legal norms.
Assessing the educational role of religion, the following statements can be made:
* …religion … is nature's defensive reaction against the corrupting power of the mind. … This is a defensive reaction of nature against what can be oppressive for the individual and corrupting for society in the activity of the mind. (A. Bergson)
* Religion is the highest and noblest agent in the education of man, the greatest power of enlightenment, while the outward manifestations of faith and political selfish activity are the main obstacles to the progress of mankind. The activities of both the clergy and the state are opposed to religion. The essence of religion, eternal and divine, equally fills the human heart wherever it feels and beats. All our investigations point us to a single foundation of all great religions, to a single teaching that has been developing from the very beginning of human life to the present day. In the depths of all faiths flows the stream of the one eternal truth. (M.Flüger)
The worldview function consists in the transfer by religion to a person of a worldview (an explanation of the world as a whole and individual issues in it), a worldview (a reflection of the world in sensation and perception), a worldview (emotional acceptance and rejection), worldview (evaluation). The religious worldview sets the limits of the world, guidelines from which the world, society, man is understood, goal-setting of the individual is ensured.
The attitude of people towards religion is one of the criteria for their spiritual development. Speech in this case it is not about formal belonging to a particular religious denomination and not even about the attitude that is described by the terms “religiosity” - “non-religiousness”, but about an increased interest in religion and the seriousness of attempts to comprehend it. All more or less recognized “rulers of human thoughts” - prophets and saints, writers and artists, philosophers and scientists, legislators and heads of state - paid great attention to religious issues, realizing or intuitively feeling the role religion plays in the life of the individual and society. There has been a fierce controversy around these issues for centuries, which sometimes escalated into bloody clashes and ended for one of the conflicting parties with prisons, sophisticated torture and executions.
The existential function of religion consists in its internal support of a person, for whom it acts as a meaning-forming factor. Man is a being with an "instinct of causality". He is not satisfied only with the satisfaction of his physiological needs, his abstract thinking, being distracted from the variety of visible manifestations, tries to understand the origin of himself, the world, the destiny of man. These are philosophical questions and one of the sources of the answer to them is religion. It serves as a support, a vital axis for millions of believers. The existential function also lies in the psychotherapeutic significance of religion for a person, which is achieved through consolation, catharsis, meditation, spiritual pleasure.
The integrating function of religion lies in its unity of society around the same principles and the direction of society along a certain path of development. The German sociologist M. Weber and the English historian A. Toynbee gave religion a self-contained significance in the historical process. According to Weber, Protestantism, and not industrial relations, created the proper conditions for the capitalist development of Europe, because rational life behavior arose on the basis of a life calling, arose from the spirit of Christian asceticism.
A. Toynbee in the 12-volume "Study of History" singles out civilizations in world history, placing religion as the basis for division. Thus, each civilization is characterized by a certain spiritual and religious code of activity. He sees the source of the development of Western civilization in Christianity. Traditional society is grouped precisely around religious standards and norms. Then, these religious norms become ethnic.
In a traditional society, where there is no dichotomy between the sacred and the mundane (syncretism), religion is everything for a person - laws, custom, cult, value system, science, art. All spheres of culture are permeated and soldered by religion.
The integrating role of religion contributes to the stability of social institutions, the sustainability of social roles. Religion ensures the preservation and development of the values of sacred culture and transfers this heritage to the next generations. However, this integrating role is preserved only in a society dominated by a more or less unified religion in terms of its dogma, ethics and practice. If contradictory tendencies are found in the religious consciousness and behavior of the individual, if there are opposing confessions in society, then religion can play a disintegrating role. When a religion is enforced by the colonialists, it can also serve as a source of the breakdown of old norms (for example, disagreements between native Hindus and Anglo-Hindu). Even E. Tylor questioned the civilizing role of white Christian Europeans: “The white conqueror or colonizer, although he serves as a representative of a higher level of civilization than the savage, whom he improves or destroys, is often too bad a representative of this level and, at best, hardly can lay claim to creating a way of life that is purer than the one that it displaces.” In a civil society, a society of equal opportunities for all law-abiding traditions, the disintegrating role of different religions is mitigated by their non-interference in the sphere of legislative power.
The political function of religion in its ability to influence political system civil society. In some societies and at certain stages of its development, religion can serve the cause of consecrating power, deifying the ruler and giving him a higher spiritual status. In modern Russian society, one can observe the activation of the "religiosity" of politicians in order to influence voters (Orthodox or Muslim).
The Importance of Religion for Man
Worldview constructions, being included in the cult system, acquire the character of a dogma. And this gives the worldview a special spiritual and practical character. Worldview constructions become the basis for formal regulation and regulation, streamlining and preserving mores, customs and traditions. With the help of rituals, religion cultivates human feelings of love, kindness, tolerance, compassion, mercy, duty, justice, etc., giving them a special value, associating 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 elevate a person to something absolute, eternal. In philosophical language, religion is designed to "root" a person in the transcendent. In the spiritual and moral sphere, this is manifested in giving the norms, values and ideals an absolute, unchanging character, independent of the conjuncture of the spatio-temporal coordinates of human existence, social institutions, etc. Thus, religion gives meaning and knowledge, and hence stability to human existence, helps to overcome everyday difficulties.
The Bible appears to us as "the word of God" and as such it is an object of faith. Anyone who believes that one can take faith and read the Bible with the eyes of a scholar, as is possible in relation to the texts of Plato and Aristotle, commits an unnatural vivisection of the spirit, separating it from the text. The Bible drastically changes its meaning depending on who reads it - believing or not believing that it is "the word of God." Be that as it may, while still not being a philosophy in the Greek sense of the term, the general vision of reality and man in the context of the Bible contains a whole series of fundamental ideas primarily philosophical. Moreover, some of these ideas are so powerful that their dissemination among both believers and non-believers has irreversibly changed the spiritual face of the Western world. It can be said that the word of Christ, contained in the New Testament (which crowns the prophecies of the Old Testament), turned all the concepts and problems posed by philosophy in the past, defining their formulation in the future.
