Philosophy(φιλία - love, desire, thirst + σοφία - wisdom → ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (literally: love of wisdom)) - a discipline that studies the most general essential characteristics and fundamental principles of reality (being) and knowledge, human existence, human relationships and peace. The tasks of philosophy throughout its history included both the study of the universal laws of development of the world and society, and the study of the very process of cognition and thinking, as well as the study of moral categories and values. Basic philosophical questions, for example, include the questions “Is the world knowable?”, “Does God exist?”, “What is truth?”, “What is good?”, “What comes first - matter or consciousness?” and others.

Although sometimes philosophy is defined more narrowly, as Sciences with a specific subject of study, this approach encounters objections from modern philosophers who insist that philosophy is more of a worldview, a general critical approach to the knowledge of all things that is applicable to any object or concept. In this sense, every person at least occasionally engages in philosophy. [approx. 1]

Philosophy actually exists in the form of many different philosophical teachings that oppose each other, but at the same time complement each other.

Philosophy includes many subject areas, ranging from metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy and philosophy of science, all the way to philosophy of design. and philosophy of cinema (English)Russian..

Those areas of knowledge for which it is possible to develop a clear and workable methodological paradigm are separated from philosophy into scientific disciplines, as, for example, at one time physics, biology and psychology were separated from philosophy.

§1. Subject of philosophy. Main sections and functions of philosophy. Specificity of philosophical knowledge.

Philosophy- this is a theoretically developed worldview, a system of the most general theoretical views on the world, on the place of man in it, and an understanding of the various forms of his relationship to the world. Two main features characterize the philosophical worldview - its systematic nature, firstly, and, secondly, the theoretical, logically grounded nature of the system of philosophical views.

Philosophy is a form of human activity aimed at understanding the basic problems of his existence. The subject of study is the world as a whole, man, society, principles and laws of the universe and thinking. The role of philosophy is determined primarily by the fact that it acts as a theoretical basis for a worldview, and also by the fact that it solves the problem of the cognizability of the world, and finally, the issues of human orientation in the world of culture, in the world of spiritual values.

Functions: 1) worldview - with the help of philosophy, a person’s worldview is formed. 2) Theoretical-cognitive - philosophy understands the world, develops new knowledge. 3) Value-orientation - philosophy analyzes values ​​and orients a person towards them. 4) Integrative - philosophy combines all the knowledge and experience accumulated by man into a single picture of the world. 5) Critical - critically analyzes ongoing phenomena in something (political, economic world, personality, etc.) 6) Predictive - philosophy analyzes social. incident and predicts any 7) axiological – social, moral, aesthetic values. 8) methodological - the use of certain methods to obtain certain knowledge.

Structure of philosophy: 1) Ontology - the core (onto - being, logos - teaching) phil. the discipline studies the problems of existence 2) Epistemology (gnoseo - to know, to know) about cognition, methods of cognition. 3) logic - the study of the laws and principles of thinking 4) Ethics - the study of morality, morality 5) Aesthetics - the study of beauty, beauty, the laws and principles of beauty. Sphere of people experiences. 6) Social philosophy - studies society, its structure, patterns of development. 7) Philosophical anthropology - the doctrine of humanity (the existence of man as an individual) 8) philosophy of science - the doctrine of science; 9) philosophy of technology; 10) axiology – the doctrine of values;

Specificity of philosophy: The views of philosophers are not subject to experimental testing (due to ethical considerations) There is no progress in philosophy In philosophy, there are eternal questions as long as thinking man exists, and science does not return to the old self; Any philosopher reflects his worldview; Philosophy is pluralistic (Pluralism is a philosophical position according to which there are many different equal, independent and irreducible forms of knowledge and methodologies of knowledge or forms of being (ontological pluralism). There is no one language understandable to all philosophers.

The precise definition of philosophy is itself an open philosophical question. This is due to the fact that the subject of study in philosophy is not specifically defined - philosophy studies everything, including the methodology of knowledge itself (within the framework of epistemology). Different philosophical schools that formed during the existence of philosophy often differed greatly from each other in the methodology of knowledge, and thus, within each of these schools one can give its own definition of what philosophy is. Therefore, in a certain sense, the precise definition of philosophy has changed over time.

On the other hand, philosophy has an important unifying principle - any philosophical reasoning, no matter how unexpected its premises may be, is nevertheless constructed rationally: meaningfully, in accordance with certain principles of thinking, for example, logic. Rationality of reasoning distinguishes philosophical thinking from mythological thinking and religious thinking, which implies supranaturalism and the supernatural, that is, the irrational. This, however, does not mean that philosophy cannot exist in parallel, for example, with religion. On the contrary, situations are common when some religion was accepted as a prerequisite for a philosophical system, and the rational philosophical apparatus was further used to develop those areas of knowledge that were not covered by the canon of this religion. For example, ancient Indian philosophy interpreted the Vedas, and medieval European philosophers (St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and others) interpreted the Bible. It is also common for philosophical thinking to be used to try to prove the validity of a religion or, more generally, to prove the existence of God. For example, apologists tried to rationalize Christianity.

In addition to logic, another method of philosophical thinking ensures the integrity of philosophy. Every new movement in philosophy, a new idea or a new philosophical school relates itself to previous philosophical concepts, providing a critical analysis (English)Russian. these concepts within the framework of their new paradigm. For example, Immanuel Kant's famous work, Critique of Pure Reason, contains a critical analysis of the concepts of rationalism and empiricism. Thus, logic and critical analysis are the pillars of philosophical thinking and ensure the integrity of philosophy.

At the same time, the vagueness of the definition of philosophy is its characteristic feature and separates philosophy from the sciences. If philosophers in some area manage to make a breakthrough by discovering an effective methodology of knowledge, then this area is usually separated from philosophy into an independent discipline. Thus, the successful application of the scientific method of cognition to various classes of natural objects finally separated part of natural philosophy from philosophy, which subsequently broke up into a string of natural sciences. For example, Isaac Newton wrote his fundamental work “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”, being, according to his own ideas, a philosopher, and is currently known as a physicist and mathematician. All English-language science still retains traces of its relationship with philosophy, for example, in the fact that in all its disciplines the highest academic degree is called “Doctor of Philosophy” (English). Ph.D.).

Segmentation of philosophy by subject of study

Logics[edit | edit source text]

Main article:Logics

Important terms:syllogism, propositional logic, first-order logic, second-order logic

Since philosophy consists of rational reasoning, logic is the primary attribute of philosophy. To analyze various philosophical concepts and compare them with each other, it is necessary to conduct a critical analysis (English)Russian. various philosophical statements and theories. Due to the fact that human thinking is formulated textually, logic is closely linked to the analysis of texts and languages. Logic formalizes textual reasoning and determines its forms that are acceptable for analysis. The first step towards the logical formalization of reasoning was the identification of syllogisms, or reasoning of the form:

(1) all animals are mortal; (2) an elephant is an animal; hence(3) the elephant is mortal.

The correct use of syllogisms opens the way for demonstrative reasoning in philosophy, mathematics, the natural sciences, or for the formalization of deductive thinking.

For all its apparent simplicity, the isolation of syllogisms from ordinary human speech did not happen immediately and not everywhere. [approx. 2] The combination of philosophy and mathematics, widespread in Ancient Greece, contributed to the identification of syllogisms as a method of proof. The first formal presentation of the concept of syllogism and the simplest logical system was made by Aristotle. [ ⇨ ] Aristotle's logic remained unchanged for two thousand years, until the beginning of the 20th century, when research in mathematics and analytical philosophy opened the way for the development of logic. [ ⇨ ] “First-order logic” or “predicate logic” was formalized and is now well understood. However, as it turned out, for a full analysis of philosophical argumentation, and even more so of natural human speech, the use of modal logic and logic of higher orders, in particular second-order logic, is required. In addition, the relationship between formal symbolic language and natural speech is studied by logical semantics and semiotics. These disciplines, together with higher order modal logic, continue to be an area of ​​active interdisciplinary research. Modern logic consists of non-trivial, deeply mathematical concepts that are studied by philosophers, mathematicians, linguists, and, more recently, by programmers and specialists in the field of decision theory and artificial intelligence. Logic is thus both one of the most ancient and one of the most modern disciplines.

Theoretical philosophy[edit | edit source text]

Metaphysics[edit | edit source text]

"A medieval philosopher looking beyond the veil of heaven." Engraving from Flammarion's book, 1888

Main article:Metaphysics

Important terms:Ontology

Metaphysics is the most abstract section of philosophy, studying the most fundamental, so-called. “eternal” questions related to reality. Among these fundamental questions, questions related to event are separated into a separate class, and this part of metaphysics is called “ontology.” The questions of existence primarily include the following: “What really exists?”, “What does existence mean?”, “What makes existence possible?” More applied questions of existence include: “Why does the world exist?”, “Is there only one world?”, “What is space?”, “What is time?” etc. Although concepts ontology And metaphysics sometimes used interchangeably, there are classes of metaphysical questions that are not directly related to being. Such problems include questions of the relationship between the whole and parts, questions of the relationship between causes and effects, questions related to free will, etc. Such questions are more likely to relate to metaphysics, but usually not to ontology.

Often a philosophical system is built around a certain dogma, which it tries to rationalize. For example, within the framework of Christian philosophy and Islamic philosophy, attempts were made to prove the existence of God. The branch of ontology that seeks to rationalize religion in this way is called rational or natural theology. Similarly, rational psychology (German)Russian refers to the part of ontology that is built around the belief in the existence of the soul separately from the material world. More generally, the rationalization of any cosmology is called "rational cosmology".

A number of philosophical movements in the twentieth century questioned the need to engage in pure metaphysics. For example, from the point of view of positivists, especially logical positivists, as well as from the point of view of many representatives of the natural sciences, it makes sense to study only those questions for which the verification criterion is met. Most “eternal questions” do not satisfy this criterion, and, therefore, their consideration in its pure form is pointless. On the other hand, poststructuralists, who have directly opposite ideas about science and verification, also criticize the meaningfulness of metaphysics, continuing the tradition of Heidegger and Nietzsche, considering metaphysics, philosophy as a whole, and the natural sciences as only a “temporary aberration of Western consciousness.”

Such a wide range of positions among critics leaves metaphysics wide room for maneuver, and in general, interest in metaphysics has been growing over the past hundred years. Metaphysical research takes place within different areas of philosophy, for example, within the philosophy of science, philosophy of language, philosophy of culture. Modern metaphysics is a highly specialized discipline in which, using high-order logic (English)Russian. There are attempts to separate any solvable parts from the “eternal” questions.

Philosophy of nature and theory of knowledge[edit | edit source text]

Important terms:theoretical philosophy (English)Russian

See also: Natural Philosophy, Epistemology, Philosophy of Science and Metaphilosophy

Theoretical philosophy includes knowledge of nature and knowledge of knowledge itself. Natural philosophy traditionally belongs to the first category, however, a significant part of it in the 17th-18th centuries. with the conceptualization of the scientific method, it emerged from philosophy into the natural sciences - physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology. However, part of nature related to the nature of man himself still remains within the framework of philosophical research, since a clear paradigm for approaching these issues does not currently exist. Therefore, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language and semiotics as disciplines of philosophy continue to seek to understand the processes occurring in the human brain and associated with human thinking, which mainly expresses itself through natural languages.

The second category of sections of theoretical philosophy studies the process of cognition itself. The main area of ​​philosophy that asks the question “How do we know anything?” and “Do we really know this?” is epistemology (sometimes also called “epistemology”). Currently, its main section, which focuses the main research activity, is the philosophy of science, which analyzes the practice of the scientific method and tries to answer the questions “How exactly does the scientific method work?”, “Is it possible to formalize the scientific method?”, “Does the scientific method really work?” ?. The main provisions of the philosophy of science within the framework of continental philosophy [ ⇨ ] at the moment differ greatly from similar provisions within the framework of analytical philosophy. [ ⇨ ] Philosophy of science, in turn, is divided into philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of physics, philosophy of biology, philosophy of economics, etc.

Another important aspect of studying the process of cognition itself is the study of philosophy itself. One of the differences between philosophy and typical science is the possibility of entering a meta-position in relation to oneself. The discipline of metaphilosophy studies philosophy itself from the outside; the most important and more developed discipline of this kind is metaethics, which takes a third-party position relative to ethics.

Practical philosophy. Axiology[edit | edit source text]

Parinirvana is the highest happiness from the point of view of Buddhist philosophy. Contemporary painting in a temple in Uttaradit Province, Thailand.

Main article:Practical philosophy

See also: Ethics, Aesthetics, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of History and Social Philosophy

Practical philosophy actually represents various aspects of ethics. Ethics in the broadest sense primarily examines the place of man in the world, tries to answer the questions of what human happiness is and how it is achieved. Ethics explores questions of good and evil, the concept of justice, and seeks the meaning of human life. From this general task more specific disciplines are distinguished.

Political philosophy examines various existing political systems and invents new ones; philosophy of law examines in the broadest sense the consequences of certain legislative principles. The philosophy of history studies history in order to identify any general principles in it that could be used to improve the world; finally, aesthetics seeks to understand what beauty is. More private disciplines include axiology - the development of basic human values, philosophy of religion - the study of religions in relation to man, philosophy of technology - analysis of the impact of technological progress on humanity, philosophy of education - issues of improving education, etc.

In some parts of the world, practical philosophy developed much earlier than theoretical philosophy, metaphysics or logic. For example, ancient Chinese philosophy almost entirely studied only questions of ethics and political philosophy, [ ⇨ ] when their own philosophy emerged in Russia, the interest of Russian thinkers also concerned primarily practical philosophy. [⇨]

Segmentation by philosophical schools. History of philosophy[edit | edit source text]

See also: History of philosophy

The Birth of Philosophy[edit | edit source text]

The origin of philosophy and the formation of rational philosophical thinking began approximately simultaneously in the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. at different ends of the globe: in China, in India and in the Mediterranean Greek colonies. It is possible that other civilizations of this or earlier period already practiced philosophical thinking, but their philosophical works remain unknown. Some non-philosophical researchers sometimes classify collections of proverbs and aphorisms left over from the civilizations of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia as ancient philosophy, but such inclusion is not supported in philosophical literature. At the same time, the cultural influence of these civilizations on Greek civilization as a whole, and in particular on the formation of the worldview of early Greek philosophers, is undeniable.

A common element in the emergence and development of philosophy was the formation of philosophical schools consisting of followers of a certain teaching, and in all regions the contribution of the followers was often attributed to the founder of the school or the school as a whole. The formation of Indian philosophy and Greek philosophy followed a similar pattern, but Indian philosophy developed much more slowly. Chinese philosophy, the development of which was hampered by the conservatism of the socio-political structure of society, developed on the whole even more slowly; only ethics and political philosophy became its well-developed areas.

Ancient Greek philosophy[edit | edit source text]

Early Greek philosophy[edit | edit source text]

See also: Pre-Socratics, Sophists and Ancient Philosophy

Important terms:reductionism, atomism, skepticism, relativism, sophism

Greek philosophy dates back to the 6th century BC. e. The roots of Western philosophy, the origins of rational thinking and the very origin of the word "philosophy" are associated with several thinkers and their schools that appeared in Greece during this period. Collectively, all these philosophers are called pre-Socratics, that is, preceding Socrates in both a theoretical and temporal sense. Among the most famous pre-Socratics are Thales, Democritus, Pythagoras and Zeno. The Pre-Socratics posed metaphysical questions like “What is being?”, “Are there boundaries between objects in reality?” or “Do objects change in reality?”, and also created several contradictory models of the world that partially answer these questions. The main value of these models was a new way of obtaining knowledge: rational theorizing in conjunction with empirical observations.

Thales was the first philosopher to use reductionism - he tried to isolate some simple laws or components within the complex surrounding world. This method was repeated over the next 200 years by many of the Pre-Socratics, in particular Democritus and Leucippus - the authors of the concept of atomism, which turned out to be a very valuable philosophical and subsequently scientific concept that is still used today. The merit of the Pre-Socratics also lies in the improvement of logic, which they worked out not only on philosophical, but also on mathematical material. It is no coincidence that many achievements of elementary mathematics and geometry are also associated with the names of the Pre-Socratics. The Pre-Socratics laid the foundation of classical ancient philosophy. Pythagoras was the first to use the word "philosophy", although in a more general sense and not as a term.

A later group of ancient Greek philosophers, the Sophists, were skeptical of the Presocratics, who sought true answers to your questions. The sophists believed in relativism, in the relativity of truth, and undertook to defend any point of view eloquently and convincingly, and also taught this to their students. Although the Sophists were criticized many times by later Greek philosophers, they made valuable contributions to the development of logic and rhetoric. Philosophy in subsequent stages of its development repeatedly returned to relativism in other contexts.

Famous early Greek philosophers more →[show]

Classical Greek philosophy[edit | edit source text]

Plato and Aristotle, fragment of Raphael's fresco "The School of Athens", Vatican Palace. Plato (left) points to the sky as the source of knowledge, according to his theory of ideas (English), and Aristotle (right) points to the earth, demonstrating his commitment to acquiring knowledge through empirical means.

Main articles:Socrates , Plato , Aristotle

Important terms:idealism, natural philosophy, metaphysics, Platonism, Aristotelianism

Classical Greek philosophy had a huge influence on world culture. This philosophy is mainly associated with the names of three people: Socrates, his student Plato, and in turn Plato's student Aristotle. Socrates' contribution is mainly connected with this method, which consisted of presenting a philosophical question in the form of a dialogue between two philosophers who initially disagree with each other, one of whom, having exhausted the arguments against it, agrees with his opponent. The Socratic method was a prelude to formal critical analysis (English)Russian. a different philosophical concept and was used by Plato, who published his works in the form of dialogues.

In turn, Plato and Aristotle were among the most influential people on Earth. Plato's main merit lies in his theory of ideas (English) Russian, which is formulated in his most famous dialogue “The Republic”. In the theory of ideas, Plato contrasts material objects with the ideal "forms" or "ideas" of these objects that exist somewhere in the sublime world. In Plato's philosophy, material objects are only flawed semblances of ideal forms sent down from above, like the shadows of real objects from the Myth of the Cave. Thus, Plato formed the most important direction in philosophy, which would later be called idealism. The wealth of ideas expressed in Plato’s works, coupled with the formation of the direction of idealism, made Plato’s philosophy so significant that one of the twentieth-century philosophers, Alfred Whitehead, even called the rest of Western philosophy “a series of footnotes to Plato.” [approx. 3] Plato’s philosophy was called “Platonism” and developed for several centuries as an independent direction, later turning into Neoplatonism.

Aristotle's services to world culture are of a slightly different nature. Aristotle systematized the philosophical knowledge accumulated in Greece in a new form, which laid down the standards for scientific literature. His works included a consistent presentation of logic, metaphysics, ethics, rhetoric, as well as Greek natural philosophy: cosmology, physics, zoology, etc. Aristotle’s works were the quintessence of Greek philosophy, which appeared at the end of ancient Greek civilization, and became the standard in some areas of knowledge for centuries, and in some - for millennia. Aristotle introduced accompanying terminology, which subsequently entered almost all languages, including the following concepts: “category”, “Definition (definition)”, “syllogism”, “premise” and “conclusion”, “substance”, “species” and “ gender", "analytical", "dialectics" and others. Aristotle enjoyed unshakable authority for many centuries both in Europe and the Middle East, where he was simply called “Teacher.”

In parallel with the systematization of the material, Aristotle outlined his own philosophical paradigm, expressed, in particular, in the doctrine of the four causes (English) Russian. and the theory of universals (English)Russian, which differed from Plato’s philosophy by being more tied to the material world. In particular, Aristotle’s “universals” were generated by the material objects themselves, in contrast to Plato’s “ideas”, “sent down from above.” Aristotle believed that knowledge can be obtained through observation and experience, and Plato, following Socrates, believed that all knowledge already exists, and a person “remembers” it, rather than acquires it. Aristotle's philosophy was called Aristotelianism and was practiced for many centuries in Europe and the Middle East.

In this article we will try to understand what philosophy is or what philosophy is. Let’s say right away: we do not pretend to be absolutely objective and scientific, but simply want to give an idea of ​​philosophy to those who know little or nothing at all about this most interesting subject. Let's start, as usual, with the origin of the word, and then move on to the scientific definition of philosophy and a description of its sections and research methods.

What does philosophy mean

The word "philosophy", like many other names of subjects and scientific disciplines, came to us from the ancient Greek language. It is worth noting that there are a great many ancient Greek borrowings in the Russian language, and there are especially many of them in the scientific apparatus of almost any discipline. The word “philosophy” consists of two Greek words: ????? (read as "philia") - love and ????? (read as "sophia") - wisdom. Thus we have the immediate meaning of this subject. Philosophy is the love of wisdom.

If we talk about what is the subject of philosophy, then we can characterize philosophy as a science that studies the fundamental principles of existence (of man and the world) and knowledge (of the world by man). In other words, philosophy is a discipline that tries to answer the question of how the world works and what is man’s place in it. Now let's talk about this in more detail.

What philosophy studies - the essence of science

Here we will not reinvent the wheel and simply tell you about the traditional definitions. The fact is that philosophical scientists do not like to give any definitions of philosophy, often saying that such definitions simply do not exist. However, a beginner in studying this subject (whether by desire or necessity) still needs such definitions.

So, philosophy is engaged in the study of the root causes, the foundations of existence, existence. These are the universal principles by which being and thinking, trying to cognize being, exist and change. From the point of view of traditional philosophy, being is both conceivable and thought. That is, both the object and the thought about it are one and the same. Philosophers have long understood that the conceivable is boundless in its variants and particulars. Therefore, they began to concentrate on general categories and the root causes of existence. The difficulty, however, lies in the fact that these categories are different for each era and, moreover, for each philosophical direction. We will not talk about philosophical trends and schools, but will immediately move on to the sections of philosophy. Firstly, there are a lot of schools of philosophy, and secondly, each direction deserves special attention and a separate article.

Sections of philosophy

Philosophy is a very complex science, since the very subject of its study is complex. That is why there are still no clear boundaries in defining its disciplines or sections. Therefore, here too we will rely on the traditional division. Traditionally, philosophy includes such sections as ontology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics and epistemology. Now let's look at each of them in more detail.

Ontology

Ontology deals with the study of being itself, the foundations of existence, that is, the most general issues. In essence, ontology is an attempt at the most general description of being, existence without reference to any discipline. This discipline tries to understand existence as the unity and totality of all types of reality: objective, subjective, real, virtual and physical.

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is a discipline that studies the original nature of reality, answering the question of where everything came from. Thus, metaphysics tries to find out the true nature and cause of the emergence of being and the real world. There are so-called metaphysical questions, the answers to which have been and probably will be different at each time. The main questions (reducing, in general, to the same thing) are the following: What are the beginnings? What are the origins of the origins? What is the cause of causes? If ontology is the study of existence itself, then metaphysics is the study of the cause of existence.

Logics

Logic is also classified as a branch of philosophy, since it studies thinking: how it is structured, according to what laws it exists, what forms it has. In essence, logic is the science of cognitive intellectual activity, as well as the science of the laws and forms of correct thinking. Logic is also often called the science of methods of reasoning and methods of proof and refutation, since thinking in language is formalized in the form of reasoning.

Ethics

Ethics deals with the study of morality and ethics in a general sense, as well as the moral and ethical standards of various social groups and strata of society. Here are three main problems that ethics has been trying to solve for many centuries:

1. The problem of the purpose of man and the meaning of life.
2. The problem of determining the criteria of good and evil.
3. The problem of justice.

Aesthetics

Aesthetics is the study of the sensory, aesthetic perception of reality. In a general sense, this is an attitude towards art and nature, a manifestation of high feelings in the enjoyment of something or in creativity. Aesthetics is often called the doctrine of the essence of beauty and its forms in life in nature and in artistic creativity. As for art, it is one of the main objects of aesthetics research, as a special form of social consciousness.

Epistemology (gnoseology)

And a few words about epistemology. There is a scientific synonym for this word - epistemology. In essence, epistemology (or epistemology) studies the possibility of a person’s knowledge of the world as a whole and of himself in the world. Thus, for epistemology the main problem is the problem of knowing the truth and the meaning of existence. Here, again, we will not go into detail, since each school and each major philosophical scientist answers this question differently.

Philosophical research methods

There are several main methods by which philosophers carry out the knowledge of being and existence. These are methods such as metaphysics, dialectics, eclecticism, dogmatism, hermeneutics and sophistry. Now a few words about each of them.

1. Metaphysics is a method of cognition in which all objects are considered separately, statically and unambiguously. That is, all objects are studied on their own, without the relationship between them, without taking into account development and changes, and also without taking into account possible internal contradictions.
2. Dialectics, as opposed to metaphysics, considers objects taking into account their changes and development, as well as internal contradictions, unity and struggle of opposites, causes and effects.
3. The eclectic method of cognition consists in the arbitrary combination of various disparate facts, concepts, concepts, etc., which do not have a single origin. The result is very superficial conclusions, which, however, seem very plausible and attractive. In all centuries, this method was in demand by those who needed to form mass consciousness and public opinion.
4. Dogmatic knowledge of the world is carried out with the help of clearly defined and accepted dogmas - unprovable beliefs that are absolute in nature. This method is now practically not used and was more typical for medieval philosophers.
5. Hermeneutics is simultaneously a philosophical, linguistic, and literary term. The essence of hermeneutics is the correct interpretation of the meaning of a text, which leads to results that are more objective from a scientific point of view.
6. Sophistry is a method of deducing logically correct, but essentially false premises, used more for victories in disputes and conflicts than in knowing the truth, which is what philosophy should do.

There are also several philosophical directions that can be called methods of philosophy. These are materialism, idealism, rationalism and empiricism.

1. Materialism implies a realistic perception of matter, in which reality is perceived as completely real. Materialists classify consciousness as a part of matter.
2. Idealists perceive matter as a derivative idea of ​​consciousness, a fundamental idea that gave birth to everything around.
3. Rationalists firmly believe that truth can only be understood by reason. At the same time, they deny the influence of personal experience and feelings.
4. Empiricism, on the contrary, recognizes knowledge only as a result of one’s own, personal experience and sensory sensations.

So, we examined the main sections of philosophy and methods of cognition, and found out what philosophy consists of. We think that you understand now that philosophy is a very, very difficult discipline. But what does philosophy give to the ordinary person? A lot, actually. The question of what is the meaning of philosophy can be answered this way. Philosophy largely shapes a person’s worldview, forcing him to think about his place in the world, the fundamental categories of existence, moral standards and behavior in society.

Philosophy(from Greek - love of truth, wisdom) - a form of social consciousness; the doctrine of the general principles of being and knowledge, the relationship of man to the world, the science of the universal laws of development of nature, society and thinking. Philosophy develops a generalized system of views on the world, the place of man in it; it explores cognitive values, the socio-political, moral and aesthetic attitude of a person to the world.

The subject of philosophy are the universal properties and connections (relations) of reality - nature, man, the relationship between objective reality and the subjectivism of the world, material and ideal, being and thinking. Where the universal is the properties, connections, relationships inherent in both objective reality and the subjective world of man. Quantitative and qualitative certainty, structural and cause-and-effect relationships and other properties and connections relate to all spheres of reality: nature, consciousness. The subject of philosophy must be distinguished from the problems of philosophy, because the problems of philosophy exist objectively, independently of philosophy. Universal properties and connections (production and time, quantity and quality) existed when the science of philosophy did not yet exist as such.

The main functions of philosophy are: 1) synthesis of knowledge and creation of a unified picture of the world corresponding to a certain level of development of science, culture and historical experience; 2) justification, justification and analysis of worldview; 3) development of a general methodology for human cognition and activity in the surrounding world. Each science studies its own range of problems. To do this, he develops his own concepts that are used in a strictly defined area for a more or less limited range of phenomena. However, none of the sciences, except philosophy, deals with the special question of what “necessity”, “accident”, etc. are. although he can use them in his field. Such concepts are extremely broad, general and universal. They reflect universal connections, interactions and conditions of existence of any things and are called categories. The main tasks or problems concern the clarification of the relationship between human consciousness and the outside world, between thinking and the being around us.

As a rule, philosophy is treated as perhaps the most incomprehensible and abstract of all sciences, the most removed from everyday life. But although many people think of it as unconnected with ordinary interests and beyond comprehension, almost all of us - whether we are aware of it or not - have some kind of philosophical views. It is also curious that although most people have a very vague idea of ​​what philosophy is, the word itself appears quite often in their conversations.

The word “philosophy” comes from an ancient Greek word meaning “love of wisdom,” but when we use it in everyday life, we often give it a different meaning.

Sometimes by philosophy we understand an attitude towards a certain activity. Again, we are talking about a philosophical approach to something when we mean a long-term, as if detached, consideration of some immediate problem. When someone is upset about plans that have not come to fruition, we advise him to be more “philosophical” about it. Here we want to say that we should not overestimate the significance of the current moment, but try to view the situation in perspective. We put another meaning into this word when we mean by philosophy an attempt to evaluate or interpret what is or has meaning in life.

Generally speaking, regardless of the variety of meanings attached to the words “philosophy” and “philosophical” in everyday speech, we feel a desire to link this subject with some kind of extremely complex mental work. “...All...areas of knowledge border in the space surrounding us with the unknown. When a person enters the border areas or goes beyond them, he enters the realm of speculation from science. His speculative activity is also a type of study, and this, among other things, is philosophy.” (B. Russell). There are many questions that thinking people ask themselves at some point and to which science cannot offer an answer. Those who try to think do not want to accept the ready-made answers of the prophets on faith. The task of philosophy is, in an effort to embrace the world in its unity, to study these questions and, if possible, explain them.

Every person faces problems discussed in philosophy. How does the world work? Is the world developing? Who or what determines these laws of development? Which place is occupied by a pattern, and which by chance? The position of man in the world: mortal or immortal? How can a person understand his purpose? What are human cognitive capabilities? What is truth and how to distinguish it from lies? Moral problems: conscience, responsibility, justice, good and evil. These questions are posed by life itself. This or that question determines the direction of a person’s life. What is a sense of life? Does he exist at all? Does the world have a purpose? Is the story going anywhere? Is nature really governed by any laws? Is the world divided into spirit and matter? What is the way for them to coexist? What is a person: a piece of dust? A set of chemical elements? Spiritual giant? Or all together? Does it matter how we live: righteously or not? Is there a higher wisdom? Philosophy is called upon to correctly resolve these issues, to help transform spontaneously formed views in the worldview, which is necessary in the formation of personality. These problems found solutions long before philosophy - in mythology, religion and other sciences.

In terms of its content (V.F. Shapovalov, for example, believes that we should talk more about the content of philosophy, rather than about the subject), philosophy is the desire for inclusiveness and unity. If other sciences make the subject of study a particular section of reality, then philosophy strives to embrace all of reality in its unity. Philosophy is characterized by the idea that the world has internal unity, despite the external fragmentation of its parts. The reality of the world as a whole is the content of philosophy.

We often imagine a philosopher as someone who sits around pondering the ultimate purpose of human life while everyone else barely has the time or energy to simply exist. Sometimes, mainly thanks to the media, we get the impression that these people devoted themselves to the contemplation of world problems and the creation of theoretical systems so abstract and general that, perhaps, are magnificent, but have little practical significance.

Along with this idea of ​​who philosophers are and what they are trying to do, there is another one. According to the latter, a philosopher is one who is entirely responsible for the general ideas and ideals of certain societies and cultures. We are told that thinkers such as Mr. Marx & Mr. Engels created the worldview of the Communist Party, while others such as Thomas Jefferson, John Locke and John Stuart Mill developed the theories that dominate the democratic world.

Regardless of these different ideas about the role of the philosopher, and regardless of how connected we imagine his activities to be with our immediate interests, the philosopher is involved in the consideration of problems that directly or indirectly matter to us all. Through careful critical examination, this person tries to evaluate the consistency of the data and beliefs that we have about the universe as a whole and about the world of people. As a result of this research, the philosopher tries to develop some kind of general, systematized, consistent and harmonious idea of ​​​​everything that we know and think about. As we learn more and more about the world with the help of the sciences, we need to consider more and more new interpretations of the ideas being developed. “What is the world like in the most general terms” is a question that no science, except philosophy, has dealt with, is not dealing with, and will not deal with” (B. Russell).

From the very beginning of philosophy more than two thousand years ago in Ancient Greece, among serious thinkers involved in this process, there was a belief in the need to carefully examine the rational validity of those views about the world around us and about ourselves that we accept. We all take in a wealth of information and a variety of opinions about the material universe and the human world. However, very few of us ever consider how reliable or significant this data is. We are generally inclined to accept without doubt reports of the discoveries of science, sanctified by a tradition of conviction and variety of views based on personal experience. Likewise, the philosopher insists on a scrupulous critical examination of all this in order to establish whether these beliefs and views are based on sufficient grounds and whether a thinking person should accept them.

By its method, philosophy is a rational way of explaining reality. She is not content with emotional symbols, but strives for logical argumentation and validity. Philosophy strives to build a system based on reason, and not on faith or artistic image, which play an auxiliary role in philosophy.

The goal of philosophy is knowledge free from ordinary practical interests. Usefulness is not its goal. Aristotle also said: “All other sciences are more necessary, but none is better.”

In world philosophy, two trends are quite clearly visible. Philosophy comes closer to either science or art (V.A. Kanke).

In all historical eras, philosophy and science went hand in hand, complementing each other. Many ideals of science, such as evidence, systematicity, and testability of statements, were originally developed in philosophy. In philosophy, as in science, one researches, reflects, and some statements are substantiated by others. But where science separates (only what is relevant in the sphere of this science matters), philosophy unites; it is not typical for it to distance itself from any sphere of human existence. There is a never-ending process of exchange of ideas between philosophy and science, which has given rise to areas of knowledge bordering between science and philosophy (philosophical questions of physics, mathematics, biology, sociology; for example, the idea of ​​relativity, the independence of space and time, which was first discussed in philosophy by Leibniz , Mach, then in mathematics by Lobachevsky, Poincaré, and later in physics by Einstein). Never before has philosophy been as scientifically oriented as it is now. On the one hand, this is a good thing. But on the other hand, it is wrong to reduce all its advantages to the scientific orientation of philosophy. The first scientists were convinced of the compatibility of their views and religion. Unraveling the secrets of nature, they tried to decipher the “writings of God.” But with the development of science and the growth of its social influence, science is replacing all other forms of culture - religion, philosophy, art. (I.S. Turgenev wrote about this in his novel “Fathers and Sons”). Such an attitude threatens to completely displace elements of humanity and sympathy between people for each other from human relations.

There is also a sensory-aesthetic aspect of philosophy. For example, Schelling believed that philosophy is not content with a conceptual comprehension of the world, but strives for the sublime (feelings) and art is closer to it than science. This idea revealed the humanistic function of philosophy, its extremely attentive attitude towards man. This position is a good thing; it is bad when it is exaggerated and the scientific and moral orientation of philosophy is denied. “Philosophy is a call to refined truth and sublime feeling” (V.A. Kanke).

But it is not enough to explain the world and call for perfection; we need to change this world. But in what direction? We need a system of values, ideas about good and evil, what is right and wrong. Here the special role of philosophy in the practical support of the successful development of civilization becomes clear. A more detailed examination of philosophical systems always reveals their ethical content. Practical (moral) philosophy is interested in achieving good. High moral traits of people do not arise on their own; they are quite often a direct result of the fruitful activity of philosophers. Nowadays, the ethical function of philosophy is often called axiological; This refers to the orientation of philosophy towards known values. Axiology, as a science of values, developed only at the beginning of the twentieth century.

An ethicist philosopher chooses the ideals of good (and not evil) as the goal of his activity. The focus of philosophical discussion is not thought-action and not feeling-action, but any action, the universal goal - good. The ideals of goodness are characteristic of those pursuing the growth of knowledge, and for connoisseurs of the sublime, and for builders of highways, and for builders of power plants. Practical orientation is characteristic of philosophy as a whole, but it acquires universal significance precisely within the framework of the ethical function of philosophy.

The meaning of philosophy is not in practical usefulness, but in moral one, because philosophy is looking for an ideal, a guiding star in people's lives. First of all, the ideal is moral, associated with finding the meaning of human life and social development. At the same time, philosophy is guided by the ideals of science, art and practice, but these ideals acquire in philosophy an originality corresponding to its specificity. Being a whole, philosophy has a branched structure.

As a doctrine of being, philosophy acts as ontology (the doctrine of existence). The identification of different types of being - nature, man, society, technology - will lead to a philosophy of nature, man (anthropology), society (philosophy of history). The philosophy of knowledge is called epistemology or epistemology. As a doctrine about the ways of knowing, philosophy is a methodology. As a teaching about the ways of creativity, philosophy is heuristics. The branched areas of philosophy are philosophy of science, philosophy of religion, philosophy of language, philosophy of art (aesthetics), philosophy of culture, philosophy of practice (ethics), history of philosophy. In the philosophy of science, philosophical questions of individual sciences (logic, mathematics, physics, biology, cybernetics, political science, etc.) have relatively independent significance. And these individual specialized areas of philosophical knowledge are indirectly capable of bringing significant practical results. For example, the philosophy and methodology of science help individual sciences in solving the problems they face. Thus, philosophy contributes to scientific and technological progress. Social philosophy is involved in solving socio-political, economic and other problems. One can rightfully say that in all the achievements of mankind there is a significant, albeit indirect, contribution of philosophy. Philosophy is united and diverse; a person cannot do without it in any area of ​​his life.

What is this science about? Why not simply give a clear definition of its subject, consider it in such a way that it is clear from the very beginning what the philosopher is trying to do?

The difficulty is that philosophy is easier to explain by doing it than by describing it from the outside. Partly it consists in a certain approach to considering issues, partly in attempts to solve some problems traditionally of interest to those who call themselves (or are called so by others) “philosophers”. The only thing about which philosophers have never been able to agree, and are unlikely to ever agree at all, is what philosophy consists of.

People seriously engaged in philosophy set themselves various tasks. Some tried to explain and substantiate certain religious views, while others, while engaged in science, sought to show the significance and reveal the meaning of various scientific discoveries and theories. Still others (John Locke, Marx) used philosophy in an attempt to change the political organization of society. Many were interested in the substantiation and publication of some ideas that, in their opinion, could help humanity. Some did not set such grandiose goals for themselves, but simply wanted to understand the peculiarities of the world in which they live and understand the beliefs that people adhere to.

The professions of philosophers are as varied as their tasks. Some were teachers, often university professors who taught philosophy courses. Others were leaders of religious movements, many were even ordinary artisans.

Regardless of the goals pursued and the specific type of activity, all philosophers adhere to the belief that a thorough study and analysis of our views and our justification for them is extremely important and necessary. It is common for a philosopher to approach certain things in a certain way. He wants to establish what meaning our fundamental ideas and concepts carry, on what basis our knowledge is based, what standards should be adhered to in order to come to correct conclusions, what beliefs must be defended, etc. The philosopher believes that thinking about such questions leads a person to a deeper understanding of the universe, nature and people.

Philosophy generalizes the achievements of science and relies on them. Ignoring scientific achievements would lead it to vacuity. But the development of science occurs against the background of cultural and social development. Therefore, philosophy is called upon to contribute to the humanization of science and to increasing the role of moral factors in it. It must limit the exorbitant claims of science to be the only and universal way of exploring the world. It correlates the facts of scientific knowledge with the ideals and values ​​of humanitarian culture.

The study of philosophy contributes to the improvement of general culture and the formation of a philosophical culture of the individual. It expands consciousness: in order to communicate, people need breadth of consciousness, the ability to understand another person or themselves as if from the outside. Philosophy and philosophical thinking skills help with this. A philosopher has to consider the points of view of different people and critically comprehend them. This is how spiritual experience accumulates, which contributes to the expansion of consciousness.

However, when questioning any ideas or theories, one should not remain at this stage for long; it is necessary to move on in search of a positive solution, since continuous hesitation represents a fruitless dead end.

The study of philosophy is intended to form the art of living in an obviously imperfect world. To live without losing personal identity, individual soul and universal spirituality. It is possible to resist circumstances only with the ability to maintain spiritual sobriety, self-worth, and one’s own dignity. For the individual, the meaning of the personal dignity of other people becomes clear. For an individual, neither a herd nor an egoistic position is possible.

“Studying philosophy improves the ability to concentrate. Personality is impossible without internal composure. Collecting one’s own personality is akin to self-purification” (V.F. Shapovalov).

Philosophy makes people think. Bertrand Russell writes in his book The History of Western Philosophy: “It moderates religious and philosophical passions, and its practice makes people more intellectual, which is not so bad in a world in which there is a lot of stupidity.” Changing the world, he believes, can best be done through moral improvement and self-improvement. Philosophy can do this. A person must act on the basis of his thoughts and his will. But with one condition: not to encroach on the freedom of others. Having health, prosperity and the ability for creative work, he can succeed in spiritual self-improvement and achieve happiness.

The purpose of philosophy is to search for man’s destiny, to ensure man’s existence in a bizarre world. To be or not to be? - that is the question. And if so, what kind? The purpose of philosophy is ultimately to elevate man, to provide universal conditions for his improvement. Philosophy is needed to ensure the best possible condition for humanity. Philosophy calls every person to nobility, truth, beauty, goodness.

Used materials

· “Introduction to Philosophy” by W. Wundt, “CheRo” ©, “Dobrosvet” © 1998.

· “Philosophy: An Introductory Course” by Richard Popekin, Avrum Strohl “Silver Threads” ©, “University Book” © 1997.

· “The Wisdom of the West” by B. Russell, Moscow “Republic” 1998.

· “Philosophy” by V.A. Kanke, Moscow “Logos” 1998.

· “Fundamentals of Philosophy” by V.F. Shapovalov, Moscow “Grand” 1998.

· Philosophy. Ed. L.G. Kononovich, G.I. Medvedeva, Rostov-on-Don “Phoenix” 1996.

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The term "philosophy" comes from the Greek words "philia" (love) and "sophia" (wisdom). According to legend, this word was first introduced into use by the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who lived in the 6th century BC. This understanding of philosophy as the love of wisdom has a deep meaning. The ideal of a sage (as opposed to a scientist or intellectual) is the image of a morally perfect person who not only responsibly builds his own life, but also helps people around him solve their problems and overcome everyday adversity. But what helps a wise man to live with dignity and reason, sometimes despite the cruelty and madness of his historical time? What does he know, unlike other people?

This is where the philosophical sphere itself begins: the sage-philosopher knows about the eternal problems of human existence (significant for every person in all historical eras) and strives to find reasonable answers to them.

From these positions, philosophy can be defined as the search for answers to the eternal problems of human existence. Such eternal problems include the question of the principles of existence, the possibility of achieving truth in their knowledge, the essence of goodness, beauty and justice, the origin and purpose of man. "Who are we? Where? Where are we going?" - this version of the formulation of eternal problems was proposed by the Christian thinker Gregory the Theologian. “What can I know? What should I do? What can I hope for? - these are the cornerstone questions of philosophy according to the thoughts of the great German philosopher I. Kant. The central problem, around which all other eternal problems of philosophy are concentrated, is the question of the meaning of individual existence, for it is the knowledge of the meaning of one’s own life that makes a person a sage - the master of his own destiny and a reasonable participant in the life of the world as a whole.

At the same time, a true sage understands that the eternal problems of existence are eternal because they do not have exhaustive, once-and-for-all solutions. The deeper and more subtle the given answer, the more new questions it poses to free and creative human thought. The desire for wisdom, love for the very process of acquiring it - perhaps this is precisely the main work in the life of the sage-philosopher, who - unlike the self-satisfied fool - knows about his ignorance, and therefore does not lose the will to endless improvement. “Learned ignorance” is another possible definition of philosophy, to use the expression of the Renaissance thinker Nicholas of Cusa.

Consistently reflecting on eternal problems, the philosopher-sage forms a “worldview.” Worldview is a system of views on the world, on a person and, most importantly, on a person’s relationship to the world. Hence, it would not be a mistake to give another definition of philosophy, which was especially popular among Russian philosophers (S.L. Frank, P.A. Florensky, etc.): philosophy is the doctrine of an integral worldview.

Unlike science, religion and art, which also form a certain worldview system, the philosophical worldview has a number of distinctive features.

The place of philosophy in the spiritual culture of society

The specificity of the philosophical worldview and the philosophical way of solving the eternal problems of human existence become obvious when comparing philosophy with science, religion and art.

Philosophy and science

The connections between science and philosophy are fundamental, and many of the greatest philosophers were also outstanding scientists. It is enough to recall the names of Pythagoras and Thales, Descartes and Leibniz, Florensky and Russell. Science and philosophy are similar in that they are spheres of rational and demonstrative spiritual activity, focused on achieving truth, which in its classical understanding is “a form of coordination of thought with reality.” However, there are at least two major differences between them:

1). any science deals with a fixed subject area and never claims to formulate universal laws of existence. Thus, physics discovers the laws of physical reality; chemistry – chemical, psychology – psychological. Moreover, the laws of physics are very indirectly connected with mental life, and the laws of mental life, in turn, do not work in the sphere of physical interactions. Philosophy, unlike science, makes universal judgments and strives to discover the laws of the entire world. Moreover, if any philosophical school refuses the task of constructing universal world schematics, it must provide a universal justification for its reluctance to deal with such problems;

2). Science has traditionally abstracted itself from the problem of values ​​and from making value judgments. She seeks the truth - what is in the things themselves, without discussing whether what she has found is good or bad, and whether there is any meaning to it all. In other words, science primarily answers the questions “why?” "How?" and “where from?”, but prefers not to ask metaphysical questions like “why?” and for what?". Unlike science, the value component of knowledge cannot be eliminated from philosophy. Claiming to solve the eternal problems of existence, it is focused not only on the search for truth, as a form of coordination of thought with existence, but also on the knowledge and affirmation of values, as forms of coordination of existence with human thought. In fact, having ideas about goodness, we try to restructure both our own behavior and the surrounding circumstances of life in accordance with them. Knowing that there is something beautiful in the world and having formed a system of corresponding ideal ideas, we create a beautiful work of art in accordance with it, change material reality for the better, or eliminate ugly things.

In the interpretation of the relationship with science, philosophy has two dead-end extremes. This, on the one hand, is natural philosophy, as an attempt to build universal pictures of the world without relying on scientific data, and, on the other, positivism, which calls on philosophy to abandon the discussion of metaphysical (primarily value) issues and focus exclusively on generalizing the positive facts of science. The passage between the Scylla of natural philosophy and the Charybdis of positivism implies a constant creative and mutually enriching dialogue between science and philosophy: the attention of specific sciences to universal philosophical models and schemes of explanation and, conversely, the consideration by philosophical thought of theoretical and experimental results obtained in modern scientific research.

Philosophy and religion

Like philosophy, a religious worldview offers a person a system of values ​​- norms, ideals and goals of activity, in accordance with which he can plan his behavior in the world, perform acts of assessment and self-esteem. Like philosophy, religion offers its own universal picture of the world, which is based on the act of divine creativity. The value-based and universal nature of the religious worldview brings it closer to philosophy, however, there are fundamental differences between these two most important spheres of spiritual culture. The fact is that religious ideas and values ​​are accepted by an act of religious faith - the heart, not the mind; personal and non-rational experience, and not on the basis of rational arguments, as is typical of philosophy. The system of religious values ​​is transcendental, i.e. superhuman and superrational, a character emanating either from God (as in Christianity) or from his prophets (as in Judaism and Islam), or from holy ascetics who have achieved special heavenly wisdom and holiness, as is characteristic of many religious systems of India. At the same time, a believer may not rationally substantiate his worldview at all, while the procedure for logical substantiation of his ideas is obligatory for a person who claims to have a philosophical worldview.

Religious philosophy itself is possible, as a rational attempt to build a holistic religious worldview, free from dogmatic church blinders. Brilliant examples of such philosophy, in particular, were provided by the domestic philosophical tradition at the turn of the century ( cm. V.S. Solovyov, P.A. Florensky, N.O. Lossky, S.L. Frank, brothers S.N. and E.N. Trubetskoy). Theology (or theology) must be distinguished from religious philosophy. The latter, in a number of its sections, can use the language, methods and results of philosophy, but always within the framework of recognized church authorities and verified dogmatic definitions. The branch of philosophy that studies the nature of religious experience, its place in culture and human existence is called the philosophy of religion. It is clear that philosophy of religion can be studied not only by a believer, but also by an atheist philosopher.

The relationship between philosophy and religion varies from era to era, from culture to culture, ranging from a state of peaceful coexistence and almost dissolution in each other (as in early Buddhism) to irreconcilable confrontation, as was typical in 18th century Europe. Currently, there is a growing trend towards dialogue between philosophy, religion and science with the aim of forming a synthetic worldview that harmoniously synthesizes modern scientific facts and theoretical generalizations with time-tested religious values ​​and fundamental movements of systematic philosophical thought.

Philosophy and art

Art is organically integrated into this process of general cultural synthetic dialogue. He has a lot in common with philosophy. Fundamental philosophical ideas are often expressed in artistic form (visual, verbal, musical, etc.), and many significant figures in literature and art are at the same time no less significant philosophical thinkers. It is enough to point to Parmenides and Titus Lucretius Cara, Nietzsche and Hermann Hesse. One of the most striking examples of artistic philosophizing in world culture is The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor from the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky Brothers Karamazov.

However, despite all the closeness, there is still a deep boundary between philosophy and art. The fact is that the language of philosophy is the language of philosophical categories and, if possible, rigorous evidence. Emotions, appeals to personal experience, fantasies and imagination are the exception rather than the rule here. But without this, true art cannot exist. Its element is personal experience and empathy, confession and passion, flights of fancy and emotional catharsis (purification). The language of art in literature and painting, theater and dance is the language of artistic images, metaphors and symbols, which fundamentally exclude a strict and unambiguous understanding, which is so desirable for philosophy. Of course, in philosophy there can be the deepest symbols and images, such as Plato’s famous “cave”, Condillac’s “statue” or Solovyov’s “Sophia”. However, they are always only the initial object for subsequent rational interpretation; as if a figurative and semantic “gene” for the subsequent development of an integral philosophical worldview.

Thus, philosophy is in some ways similar and in some ways different from all other important spheres of spiritual culture (or spheres of spiritual creativity) of man. This determines its “central-connecting” position in the spiritual culture of humanity, which does not allow this culture to disintegrate into a bad multiplicity of ideas, values ​​and worldviews at war with each other. Here we come to the problem of the diverse functions that philosophy performs in human cultural existence.

Functions of philosophy

Worldview function

Philosophy not only equips a person with an integral and rational worldview. It is also a school of critical, systematic and synthetic thinking. It is philosophy that helps a person to soberly and critically evaluate both himself and his social environment. It teaches you to think consistently and consistently. At the same time, the spirit of genuine philosophizing is the spirit of synthesis and harmony, the search for unity in diversity and diversity in unity. Its ideal is the ability to pass between abstract and one-sided extremes, looking for a middle line that unites and mediates opposites.

At this point, the worldview function of philosophy is directly linked to its methodological function.

Methodological function

A method in its most general form is understood as such knowledge and a system of actions based on it, with the help of which new knowledge can be obtained. Philosophy has its own special methods and its own special language.

The language of philosophy is the language of categories, those extremely general concepts (spirit - matter; necessity - chance; good - evil; beautiful - ugly; truth - error, etc.), in which its eternal ultimate questions are formulated and answered rational answers. Pairs of philosophical categories form the ultimate polar poles of thought, enclosing in their “logical space” all the possible wealth of other rational concepts and evidence. Basic philosophical categories are filled with different content in different historical eras and act as an explicit or implicit semantic foundation of various scientific disciplines. Any science in any historical period uses the categories of quantity and quality, cause and effect, essence, law, etc., consciously or unconsciously borrowing their categorical meanings from philosophy. Thanks to the system of its universal categories, philosophy helps the sciences to comprehend and, most importantly, purposefully form their own philosophical foundations that are adequate to their subject and tasks.

One of the most important and ancient methods of philosophy is dialectical. Dialectics is the ability to comprehend a subject in its integrity and development, in the unity of its basic opposing properties and tendencies, in diverse connections with other subjects. Dialectics is inseparable from philosophical dialogue, from the ability to listen and take into account the opinions of both comrades and opponents. The most important methods of philosophy can also include the method of philosophical reflection, as the focus of thought on one’s own implicit foundations, hermeneutic methods of adequate interpretation of philosophical texts and other people’s meanings, the phenomenological method of studying consciousness, as well as the systematic use of the entire arsenal of general logical methods of cognition - induction, deduction, analogy , formal logical analysis of terms, logical schemes and contexts of reasoning. Let us recall that many philosophical works were written in dialogic form, in particular, most of the works of the great Plato.

Prognostic function of philosophy

The key ideas of philosophers, sometimes far ahead of their time, play a special methodological function in culture. Here the methodological function is closely linked with the prognostic function of philosophy. Thus, Plato’s ideas about the geometric structure of matter (dialogue Timaeus) anticipated the discovery of Kepler and Galileo; in the twentieth century, an echo of these ideas can be heard in the work of physicists Heisenberg and Pauli. The ideas of the non-Euclidean structure of space were first expressed by Nikolai Kuzansky; intuition about the fundamental connection between electrical and magnetic phenomena - by the German philosopher Schelling, etc. The idea of ​​ancient Chinese philosophy about the universal nature of the connections between the opposing forces of yin and yang was reflected in the famous “principle of complementarity” by Niels Bohr, which formed the basis of the quantum mechanical picture of the world. Tsiolkovsky's ideas about rocket exploration of space were largely stimulated by the space ideas of the Russian thinker N.F. Fedorov.

The ability to run ahead and generate daring hypotheses makes philosophy so attractive to science, especially when the latter finds itself in a situation of methodological and ideological crisis and feels a shortage of fresh ideas (this was exactly the situation at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries during the crisis of Newtonian classical mechanics).

Synthetic function

philosophy is to establish relationships between the spheres of human spiritual creativity. Perhaps it is precisely this function that comes to the fore today in the historical situation, when, on the one hand, synthetic tendencies in modern science and culture are clearly revealed, and, on the other hand, there is a growing confrontation between various religious confessions and cultural worlds, between the rich North and the poor South, between East and West.

Origin and development of philosophy

Philosophy, as an attempt to achieve a rational and integral worldview, originates at approximately the same time (7th–6th centuries BC) in China, India and Greece. It replaces myth as the primary syncretic form of worldview in new historical conditions, when: metallurgy develops and, accordingly, the efficiency of all types of activities increases (from military operations to agriculture and hunting);

an elite layer of people appears in society, free from material production and devoting themselves exclusively to managerial and spiritual activities; During this period, trade relations between various countries and regions of the Earth and, accordingly, spiritual contacts between peoples expand. The world of closed tribal mythological complexes and magical cults devoid of rational justification ceases to satisfy the ideological needs of man. He discovers other peoples and other belief systems. The development of state entities, including those with a democratic political system (as was typical of the ancient Greek city-states), makes new demands both on the personal qualities of a person (the need to clearly state and publicly argue one’s position), and on the nature of legislative activity, because the development written law requires consistency, consistency and systematicity in thinking, as well as rational organization of written sources of law. The evolution of scientific knowledge (astronomy, agricultural technology, mathematics, medicine, geography) comes into conflict with the mythological complex of ideas.

Under these conditions, philosophy emerges as a special sphere of spiritual culture, designed to provide a holistic (as opposed to private scientific knowledge) and rationally based (as opposed to myth) worldview.

It should, however, be borne in mind that the emergence of philosophy in the West (Greece) and in the East (China and India) had a certain specificity. The break with the mythological ideological umbilical cord has never been as radical in the East as in Europe. Rather, we can talk about the natural crystallization of religious and philosophical systems (Confucianism and Taoism in China; Vedanta in India) within the traditional systems of Eastern beliefs, where there is a constant return (though rational and systematic, clothed in the categorical language of philosophy) to classical mythological, “axial” “as they sometimes say, texts and themes. Thus, in China for many centuries the authority of the ancient Pentatecanony led by the famous I Ching(Chinese classical Book of Changes). In India such axial texts are still Veda And Bhagavad Gita .

Due to such deep traditionalism, special attention to intuition and contemplation in philosophical creativity, as well as veneration of the Teacher, the conflict between philosophy and religion in the East was practically impossible. The death sentence to Socrates for insulting the Greek gods is something completely unthinkable for the Eastern cultural tradition. On the other hand, European philosophical thought, starting from Ancient Greece, is characterized by a much greater connection with science and reliance on its positive results. If in the East great philosophers are most often also the greatest religious reformers (Lao Tzu and Confucius in China; Nagarjuna and Shankaracharya, Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo in India), then in the West, on the contrary, they are mainly outstanding scientists.

At the same time, the nature of the first philosophical systems in the East and the West is very similar (emphasis on the problems of being, not knowledge; attention to the logical argumentation of their ideas; understanding of man as a part of the living Cosmos - cosmocentrism), as well as the logic of their subsequent development.

Firstly, there is a single direction of development of philosophy: from an initially undifferentiated state to increasing specialization and differentiation of philosophical knowledge; from philosophy as the creativity of individual sages - to the formation of a professional philosophical community; from sporadic and casual study of philosophy “for the soul” - to its teaching in schools and universities as a compulsory academic discipline.

Secondly, philosophy historically develops and differentiates under the direct influence of the developing cultural environment. She is always the “daughter” of her era, reflecting its basic values, ideological trends and passions. Moreover, she is able to express the spirit of her time in the most condensed and clear form. Using the texts of great philosophers, we reconstruct the way of thinking and “pictures of the world” of the ancient Greeks and medieval people, figures of the European Enlightenment or, for example, the Indian spiritual Renaissance of the last quarter of the 19th - early 20th centuries. It is not for nothing that the great representative of German classical idealism, Hegel, defined philosophy as the spiritual self-consciousness of his era.

Thirdly, despite the ever-increasing historical, national, professional and personal diversity of world philosophy, the emergence of more and more new ideological and methodological philosophical problems, which philosophers of previous eras could not even think about (it is clear that the problems of the philosophy of technology could not occupy a predominant position in the philosophy of Ancient Greece; and the concept of “virtual reality” could not be formulated even in the middle of the last century, because this required the emergence of computer technology) - it always retains an unchanged problematic core, giving it a historical (diachronic) , and cultural-spatial (synchronic) unity and continuity. Such a single core is precisely what forms the “eternal” problems of human existence, stable in relation to all historical changes and only receiving a unique formulation and solution depending on the new socio-cultural context. From this it becomes clear the enormous role that the history of philosophy plays for modern philosophical quests. The writings of the great philosophers of former times provide deep examples of the formulation and solution of fundamental philosophical problems; a new vision and reading of these problems is impossible without referring to their works. The history of philosophy preserves the unity of philosophical knowledge and ensures a general high level of philosophical culture. Moreover, we cannot be sure that today we understand the world in its ultimate foundations and goals better and more adequately than Plato and Heraclitus, Seneca and Pico della Mirandola, Spinoza and Kant, V.S. Soloviev and S.N. Bulgakov. The thought of geniuses lives above the vanity of everyday life, political and national sympathies, through their lips “eternity and infinity are expressed.”

Structure of philosophical knowledge

From its very origins, philosophy has had a certain strong central core, like the heart of philosophy, which, following Aristotle’s students, can be called metaphysics (literally, what “comes after physics”). Metaphysics in its traditional understanding is the doctrine of the fundamental principles of existence. It is also sometimes called “theoretical” philosophy, thereby contrasting it with its practical sections, which will be discussed below. There is still debate about the composition of philosophical metaphysics. The most common point of view is the interpretation of metaphysics as consisting of three parts, closely related to each other: ontology (the doctrine of being), epistemology (theory of knowledge) and axiology (the universal theory of values). In contrast to the traditional one, in the Marxist understanding, metaphysics (as the doctrine of the unchangeable principles of being) was opposed to dialectics (as the doctrine of the universality of development processes).

Ontology

is a section of metaphysics aimed at identifying the universal laws of being as such, no matter what specific type of being we are talking about - natural, cultural-symbolic, spiritual or personal-existential. Any ontology - whether it recognizes material, ideal or some other being as the initial one - always tries to identify the universal structures and patterns of development of things and processes as such (or objectivity itself of any kind), leaving aside questions about the patterns of their knowledge and value attitude towards them on the part of the cognizing subject.

Axiology

Axiology, on the contrary, is a section of metaphysics that is aimed at identifying the universal value foundations of the existence of a person (subject), his practical activity and behavior. Axiology is not interested in being as such and not the laws of its knowledge (although it may be interested in this too), but, first of all, the human attitude to being and that system of value ideas (about beauty, goodness, justice, etc.), in accordance with by which this relationship is formed and developed.

Theory of knowledge

forms a kind of intermediate link between ontology and axiology. She is interested in the interaction between the knowing subject and the known object. In contrast to ontology, which seeks the laws of existence itself, and general axiology, which is interested in its human value dimension, epistemology is occupied by the following questions: “how is knowledge about the existence of any object acquired?” and “how does it relate to him?”

If we try to express in a more concise and figurative form the relationships between the three sections of metaphysics, then ontology can be understood as a philosophical doctrine about the true foundations of being; epistemology - as a doctrine about the foundations of the existence of truth; and general axiology can be interpreted as a doctrine about the existence of true values.

Let us give a simple example to illustrate the difference in these metaphysical perspectives of viewing an object. Suppose we are contemplating a birch tree growing on the bank of a river. If we ask questions about the reasons for the appearance of the birch, about the relationship between the accidental and the necessary in its existence, about its constructive functions within the surrounding landscape, then in this case our vision of the birch will be ontological. Here we find ourselves centered on the laws of the existence of birch as such. If we are interested in problems like: “What is the relationship between the sensory and the rational in our comprehension of the birch?” or “Is the essence of the birch tree in itself accessible to us in acts of perception?” - then in this case our perspective of studying the subject will be theoretical-cognitive.

But, looking at a birch tree, one can approach it from an axiological (value) position, abstracting equally from the ontological and epistemological perspectives of its vision. A birch tree on the river bank can act as a symbol for us: purity, Russia, etc. However, you can treat the same birch tree purely aesthetically, simply enjoying its beauty. Finally, the human value attitude towards birch can be completely utilitarian, if you prosaically estimate how much firewood it can produce.

It is clear that strict boundaries between the three sections of metaphysics can be drawn only in abstraction; all sections of metaphysics have been present in philosophy from its very beginning. Nevertheless, ontology is initially formalized (within the framework of the European tradition - already among the ancient Greeks); later, starting from the 16th–17th centuries, the rapid development of epistemology began (the term itself appeared in the mid-19th century). In modern philosophy, axiology is perhaps the leading section of metaphysics, having an active impact on both ontological and epistemological issues.

Gradually, as human culture, science and technology develop, other sections are formed within philosophy, most often in direct dependence on the subject areas to which it directs its attention. The focus of philosophy on the sphere of social relations and laws of the historical process leads to the emergence of social philosophy; legal relations and legal consciousness - to the emergence of a philosophy of law. The need for philosophical understanding of the laws of religious experience leads to the creation of a philosophy of religion; scientific and technological progress have led to the formation of such rapidly developing branches of philosophical knowledge as philosophy of science (or epistemology) and philosophy of technology. Today we can also talk about such established sections of philosophy as philosophy of language, philosophical anthropology (philosophical teaching about man), philosophy of culture, philosophy of economics, etc.

In general, the process of differentiation (separation) of philosophical knowledge still clearly prevails over the processes of integration, taking into account the general trend of cultural development. However, throughout the entire twentieth century, especially starting from the second half, the opposite - synthetic - tendency began to clearly manifest itself, associated with a return to fundamental metaphysical problems and fundamental movements of philosophical thought developed in history.

Basic types of philosophical worldview. Personality in philosophy

Taking into account the organic involvement of philosophy in various spheres of spiritual creativity (religion, art, science), the historical variation of its theoretical themes and value predilections, as well as the exceptional breadth (almost infinity) of its subject interests (from the inner experiences of man to the problem of divine existence), it is not one should be amazed at the exceptional diversity of types of philosophical worldviews, which solve its eternal problems in different ways, sometimes in diametrically opposed ways. It is possible to distinguish different types of philosophical systems, basing them on different classification grounds.

In relation to scientific knowledge, we can distinguish natural philosophical and positivist types of worldview ( see above). It may be religious, or it may also be secular, atheistic philosophy, depending on how the question of divine existence is resolved in a particular philosophical system. Variants of artistic philosophizing are possible, sometimes with visible manifestations of irrationalism, as was typical, say, of F. Nietzsche, and, conversely, emphatically rationalistic doctrines such as the Hegelian philosophical system.

In line with ontological quests, idealistic and materialistic philosophical systems can be distinguished, depending on the nature of the beginning that is the foundation of being. Attempts to avoid a harsh confrontation between materialism and idealism lead to dualistic, when the basis of the world postulates the presence of two diametrically opposed principles (R. Descartes), or pantheistic, when matter and spirit merge in a single substance (B. Spinoza), philosophical systems. Depending on the number of principles underlying the existing, there can be monistic (one principle), dualistic (two opposite principles), and pluralistic (many principles) varieties of philosophical systems. In Russian philosophy, an attempt was made to synthesize the positive elements of monistic, pantheistic and dualistic ontological approaches within the framework of the concept of monodualism (S.N. Bulgakov, S.L. Frank, S.Ya. Grot), when two opposite principles (dualism) form an indissoluble unity (monism) and need each other for their organic manifestation.

In views on the nature and nature of the connections of the world as a whole, one can distinguish determinism, which recognizes the natural orderliness of things, and indeterminism of various types, where this orderliness is questioned.

As is known, idealism and materialism have their own varieties. There is objective idealism, which postulates the presence of an objective ideal beginning of the world in the form of God, the Absolute Idea, the World Soul, the World Will (Neoplatonism, various types of religious philosophy, Hegel’s absolute idealism, etc.). It is opposed by subjective idealism (or solipsism in other terminology), which recognizes the obvious reality only of one’s own experiences and ideas (Berkeley, Fichte). In turn, materialism can be naive, characteristic of early Greek philosophy, mechanistic, dialectical, natural science, etc.

If we now turn to epistemological philosophical quests, we can distinguish empiricist and rationalist lines in solving fundamental theoretical-cognitive problems, depending on whether experience is recognized as the main source and testing authority of our knowledge or, on the contrary, reason. There may also be a special – skeptical – version of views on the cognitive process and philosophy in general, when the very possibility of achieving any true knowledge about the world and man is denied.

In addition to the types of philosophical worldviews arising from one or another nature of the solution of philosophical problems and specific accents in its relationship with other spheres of spiritual culture, there are also numerous movements that derive their pedigree from the ideas of one or another classic of philosophical thought or from the originality of the philosophical methodology used. These last two classification principles are the most common and universal. Thus, there are still such influential movements in philosophy as Marxism, Freudianism and neo-Thomism, which reverence Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Thomas Aquinas as absolute authorities. Some movements of this kind have become part of history: Neoplatonism and Neopythagoreanism, Neo-Kantianism and Neo-Hegelianism, Cartesianism and Leibnizianism. As for identifying one’s philosophical ideas by the nature of the methods used, dialectics, phenomenology, hermeneutics, structuralism and post-structuralism, and analytical philosophy are very influential areas of modern philosophical thought.

Other grounds for classifying existing and previously existing types of philosophical worldviews are also possible. There are several attempts to give a universal classification of types of philosophical worldviews, in particular, by the German thinker V. Dilthey and the Russian philosopher N. O. Lossky.

Philosophy is the best school of independent and creative thought, an invaluable aid to an individual who wants to intelligently, freely and responsibly form a worldview and pave their own path in life. The diversity of philosophical systems corresponds to the diversity of human characters, where everyone can find a spiritual tonality close to them. At the same time, brilliant philosophical insights, as well as brilliant philosophical misconceptions, are only guiding milestones in comprehending the infinite Cosmos and immersing one’s own soul in the cosmos. Philosophy does not offer final solutions, but introduces us to the infinite and eternal; does not give reassurance, but always invites you to a new journey.

At the same time, philosophy is not at all a kingdom of endless ideological pluralism, where you can say whatever you want. It contains a deep unity of diversity, absolutely necessary general results and postulates that can provide solid support in life and bring direct practical benefit.

Andrey Ivanov

Literature:

Soloviev V.S. Historical affairs of philosophy. – M.: Questions of Philosophy, 1988. No. 8
Sorokin P.A. The Long Road: An Autobiography. M., 1992



Below are general provisions about the science “philosophy” - about its main parts, sections, directions. Data is provided on the Great Philosophers, on the Great Books, and in the form of summary and comparative materials - basic statistical information.

1. Definition of philosophy given by various philosophers

Philosopher	Definition
Plato	Knowledge of existence or the eternal.
Aristotle	The study of the causes and principles of things.
Stoics	Striving for theoretical and practical thoroughness.
Epicureans	The path to achieving happiness through the mind.
Bacon, Descartes	A holistic, unified science, clothed in a conceptual form.
Kant	The system of all philosophical knowledge.
Schelling	1. Direct contemplation of the mind. In it all opposites are initially united, in it everything is united and initially connected: nature and God, science and art, religion and poetry. Philosophy is a universal, not a special, science that lies at the basis of all other sciences. Only art can act as an “independent subject” in relation to philosophy. For philosophy and art express one and the same thing – the Absolute. Only the organ of art is the power of imagination, and the organ of philosophy is reason.
	2. Living science. If changes occur in philosophy, this only proves that it has not yet reached its final form and Absolute image.

Philosopher	Definition
Hegel	Queen of Sciences. Science without philosophy is nothing. Everything that is considered truth in any knowledge and in any science can be worthy of this name only when it is generated by philosophy. Other sciences, no matter how much they try to reason without turning to philosophy, cannot have life, spirit, or truth without it. The task of philosophy is to comprehend what is, for what is is reason.
Soloviev	Not just one aspect of existence, but everything that exists, the entire Universe.
Berdyaev	Art, not science, the art of knowledge. Art, because philosophy is creativity. It was already there when science did not yet exist. She singled out science.
Husserl	This is not an art, but the highest and most rigorous of sciences, satisfying the highest human needs.
Average	One of the forms of spiritual culture and human activity, which tries to understand the universe and man. The science of the universal. No other science does this. Global questions of philosophy do not have clear answers. This is an eternal search for truth.

2. About the benefits, specificity and significance of philosophy

1. Aristippus When asked how philosophy benefited him, he answered: “It gave him the ability to confidently talk to anyone on any topic.”
2. Russell: “Philosophy can give an impartial and broad understanding of the goals of human life, a sense of proportion in understanding one’s role in society, the role of modernity in relation to the past and future, the role of the entire history of mankind in relation to the cosmos.”
3. Schmucker-Hartmann: “Science is theory, philosophy is reflection, that is, they are antipodes.”
4. Schopenhauer: “Since philosophy is not knowledge according to the law of sufficient reason, but is the knowledge of ideas, it should be classified as art. Since it presents the idea abstractly and not intuitively, it can be considered knowledge, science. But, strictly speaking, philosophy is a middle ground between science and art, or something that connects them.”
5. Nietzsche: “You cannot confuse philosophical workers and people of science in general. True philosophers are rulers and legislators."
6. A number of philosophers: Plato, La Mettrie, Rousseau, Kant, Nietzsche believed that the state should be governed only philosophers. The Stoics believed that “only a wise man knows how to be a king.”
7. Aristotle believed that the highest form of knowledge is philosophy, capable of cognizing the highest forms and goals of all things, and that the highest happiness is achieved only by practicing philosophy.

3. Brief information about the Great Philosophers

Philosopher	A country	Year of birth	Philosophical views	Major works
Antiquity (600 BC – 500 AD)
		579 BC e.		Tao Te Ching*
	Dr. Greece	570 BC e.	1st idealist	About nature
Confucius*		551 BC e.	Confucianism	Lun Yu
	Dr. Greece	469 BC e.	Founder of several schools
Democritus	Dr. Greece	460 BC e.		Great Domostroy
Plato	Dr. Greece	429 BC e.	Objective idealism, rationalism, platonism	Dialogues
Aristotle	Dr. Greece	384 BC e.	Encyclopedist, 1st historian of philosophy, founder of logic, dualism, perepathetism (walking)	Metaphysics ,
	Dr. Greece	341 BC e.	Epicureanism	Main thoughts
Lucretius		99 BC e.	Epicureanism	About the nature of things
Augustine Aurelius			Patristics (teachings of the church fathers)	Confession
Middle Ages (500 - mid XIV V.)
			Conceptualism	The story of my disasters
Aquinas			Thomism, monism	Essays
Renaissance ( XIV – XVII centuries)
Rotterdam	Netherlands		Skepticism, humanism	Praise for stupidity
Machiavelli			Machiavellianism, political realism	Sovereign
			Utopianism, humanism	Utopia
Montaigne			Agnosticism, skepticism, Epicureanism, humanism
New Time Era ( XVII – XXI centuries)
The beginning of the New Time ( XVII V. – 1688)
Bacon Fr.			Founder of modern philosophy	New organon
Descartes			Dualism, deism, rationalism	Reasoning about the method
	Netherlands		Rationalism, pantheism, monism	Ethics
Enlighteners (1688 – 1789)
			Deism, sensationalism	Candide
				On the Social Contract, Confession
			Materialism, monism, sensationalism, Epicureanism, atheism	Selected philosophical works
German classical philosophy (1770 – 1850)
Kant	Germany		Dualism, subjective idealism, deism, agnosticism	Critique of Pure Reason , Metaphysics of Morals
	Germany		Objective idealism, pantheism, dialectics	Philosophy of art
Hegel	Germany		Monism, objective idealism, pantheism, dialectics	Phenomenology of spirit , Philosophy of law
Feuerbach	Germany		Mechanical materialism, atheism	« Eudaimonism"
Modern Western Philosophy ( XIX – XXI centuries)
Schopenhauer	Germany			The world as will and representation
Nietzsche	Germany		Irrationalism, subjective idealism	Thus spoke Zarathustra
			Intuitionism	Two sources of morality and religion
Kierkegaard			Restoration of "authentic" Christianity, existentialism, subjective idealism
Marx	Germany		Materialism, monism, dialectics; Young Hegelianism, Marxism (1850-1970)	Capital
	Germany			Origin of the family, private property and the state
			Psychoanalytic philosophy, Freudianism	Me and it , Dreams
V.S. Soloviev			Philosophy of unity, pantheism, objective idealism, cosmism	The meaning of love
Berdyaev			Religious existentialism	Philosophy of freedom

* Brilliant philosophers and Great books are highlighted

4.Brilliant philosophers

	Number of Geniuses	Creation of Great Books
Germany	(Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Marx)
Ancient Greece	(Plato, Aristotle)
France	(Montaigne, Descartes)
China	(Confucius)
Ancient Rome	(Augustine Aurelius)
Russia	(Berdyaev)
England
Netherlands
Italy
Spain, Morocco
Austria
Denmark
Switzerland
Sweden
TOTAL

5. Great books

			Tao Te Ching
	Confucius		Lun Yu
		Dr. Greece	Dialogues
	Aristotle		Metaphysics
	Lucretius		About the nature of things
	Machiavelli		Sovereign
			Utopia
	Bacon Fr.		New organon
			Leviathan
			Reasoning about the method
		Netherlands	Ethics
			Candide
		Germany	Critique of Pure Reason
			Phenomenology of spirit
	Feuerbach		Eudaimonism
			Thus spoke Zarathustra
			Capital
			Me and It
	Soloviev		The meaning of love

6. Brilliant philosophers who wrote Great Books

	Confucius		Lun Yu
		Dr. Greece	Dialogues
	Aristotle		Metaphysics
			Reasoning about the method
		Germany	Critique of Pure Reason
			Phenomenology of spirit
			Thus spoke Zarathustra
			Capital

7. Three main parts of philosophy

8. Main branches of philosophy

9. General directions of philosophy

General directions of philosophy	Definition	Philosophers
Objective idealism	A certain ideal essence that exists objectively is recognized as the beginning of being, i.e. regardless of human consciousness (God, the Absolute, the Idea, the World Mind, etc.).	Lao Tzu, Pythagoras, Confucius, Plato, Schelling, Hegel, Soloviev
Subjective idealism	Human consciousness, the human “I”, is recognized as the source of existence.	Buddhists, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard
	God is recognized as the creator of the world, but creating the world and having put certain laws into it, it no longer interferes in the affairs of the world: the world exists according to its own laws (a type of objective idealism and a transitional stage to materialism). Widely used in natural science to delimit a sphere science and religion.	Descartes, Newton, Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau,
Pantheism	Identification of God (the ideal principle) and Nature (the material principle). “There is no God outside of Nature, but there is no Nature outside of God.” An intermediate place between materialism and objective idealism.	Spinoza, Schelling, Herder, Hegel, Soloviev
Dialectics	The interconnection of all phenomena and the continuous development of the world.	Schelling and Hegel (development “in a closed circle”) Marx (“endless forward motion”)
Metaphysics	The opposite of dialectic.	Most philosophers before the 19th century.
Agnosticism	The world is recognized in principle as unknowable.	Buddhists, Skeptics, Subjective Idealists (difference from materialists and objective idealists): Montaigne, Berkeley, Hume, Kant
Relativism	The principle of relativity of all knowledge. Denial of the possibility of achieving objective truth. We know the world only partially and always subjectively.	Sophists, Skeptics, Positivists, Pragmatists
Fundamental knowability of the world	Plato: “The highest essence of the world - ideas - are knowable through their recollection.” Aristotle: “We know the world through sensory and rational knowledge.” Lenin: “There is nothing in the world that is unknowable, there is only that which has not yet been known.”	Plato, Aristotle, Diderot, Lenin

10. Main directions of Ancient philosophy

Schools, Destinations (founder)	Start - End	Basic views	Philosophers
Miletus (Thales)		Thales is considered the most outstanding of the seven sages. The unity underlying the infinite variety of phenomena is something material, corporeal. They asked the question: “What is everything made of?” Thales believed that it was water, Anaximander - apeiron, Anaximenes - air. The concept of “nature” was introduced into philosophy.	Anaximander, Anaximenes, Anaxagoras
Pythagoras (Pythagoras of Samos)	VI-IV centuries BC e.	Pythagoras enjoyed unquestioned authority. He owns the expression “He said it himself.” He believed that “everything is a number.” Numbers are the essence of things. Recognized the immortality of the soul, the transmigration of souls. First to enter the name "Philosophy" ("Lubiosity").Pythagoras in the 4th century BC e. was absorbed Platonism(IV-II centuries BC).	Telaugus, Acmeon, Archytas, Eudoxus, Diocles, Philolaus
Neo-Pythagoreanism	I century BC e. - III century n. e.	Neopythagoreanism was revived in the 1st century. BC e. and existed until the 3rd century. n. e. He was closely associated with Platonism. Many ideas of Neopythagoreanism were adopted by Neoplatonism (III-VI centuries AD).	Nicomachus, Thrassil
Ephesus (Heraclitus)		Heraclitus came from a royal family. He renounced the throne in favor of his brother, but wore clothes with signs of royal power. The power of the clan was overthrown by democracy, so he was hostile towards it and the crowd. Great dialectician. "Everything flows, everything changes!" “Nothing is stationary.” He recognized fire and logos as the first principle - the mind that rules everything through everything. From fire came the world as a whole, individual souls and even the soul. He contrasted his views with the majority. He wrote in an incomprehensible language, for which he was nicknamed "Dark".
Elean (Xenophanes of Colophon)		Feelings deceive a person. The world must be understood with the help of reason. “Only that which can be explained rationally is true.” Parmenides was the first to develop a metaphysical view of the world. Zeno is a master of eristics (the art of argument) and aporia (“unsolvable situations” - “Achilles and the Tortoise”, etc. He was the first to compose dialogues, and was the first author Dialectics. Opposite views to Heraclitus.	Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, Melissus of Samos
Atomism (Leucippus – Democritus)	V century BC e.	The world consists of uncreated and indestructible atoms moving in the void. Water, air, earth, fire consist of countless tiny indivisible particles - atoms. The immortality of the soul is denied, since the soul also consists of atoms. Democritus owns the first treatise on Logic which was directed against metaphysics Eleans And Pythagoreans and was further developed in Epicurean school. The emergence of faith in God was explained by people's fear of the formidable forces of nature. They fought against religious superstitions. This is one of the greatest teachings.	Metrodorus of Chios, Hippocrates, Herophilus, Diagoras, Navziphanes
Sophistry		Sophistry is the ability to argue cunningly. This is not a single school. Their philosophical views were contradictory (some supported the views of Heraclitus, others the philosophy of the Eleatic school). Gorgias opposed the ideologists of the slave-owning aristocracy Socrates And Plato, for slave-owning democracy. Refusal of religion, rationalistic explanation of nature. During the heyday of Athenian democracy, professional teachers of “wisdom” and “eloquence” were called sophists. Subsequently, their main focus was winning the argument, and for this they began to substitute concepts and violate the laws of logical thinking. According to Aristotle the later sophists (IV century BC) turned into teachers of “imaginary wisdom.”	Protagoras, Prodicus, Gorgias, Critias
		There is a “second sophistry” (2nd century AD), associated with a literary movement called the “Greek Renaissance.” These include Caecilius, Apuleius, Polydeuces, Aelius and others. They used themes from Greek literature, sophistry, and rhetoric in their works.
Socratic: 1. Cyrene (Aristippus of Cyrene) 2. Elido-Eretrian (Phaedo of Elis, Menedemos of Eretria)		Socrates did not leave a single line of writing, considering the written word to be dead. Information about his teachings was left Xenophon,Plato, Aristotle. Didn't consider himself a source of wisdom: "All I know is that I don't know anything". There is no objective truth, so you should give up trying to understand nature and its laws. They combined subjectivism and skepticism with criticism of religion. They identified happiness with sensual pleasure. This - hedonism(“gedone” – pleasure ( Greek.).	Aretha the daughter, Aethion, Antipater, Euhemerus, Theodore the Atheist
	IV-III centuries BC e.	Phaedo - Socrates' favorite - founder of the Elis school. Menedemos is the founder of the Eretrian school. No original works have survived. Close to Megara School.
3. Megara (Euclid from Megara)	IV century BC e.	They supported the views of the Eleatic school and the sophists, and widely used dialectics and eristics. Many called this school eristic, i.e. school of debaters. They believed that knowledge of existence is possible only through concepts, and the source of the senses is the source of delusions. The late Megarics (Stilpon) were close in their views to cynics. Stilpon's student Zeno of Citium transformed the Megarian school together with the Cynic school into stoic.	Stilpo, Eubulides, Diodorus Cronus
Kinicheskaya (Antisthenes is a student of Socrates, Diogenes of Sinope is a student of Antisthenes)	IV century BC e.	From the name of the hill in Athens, where the first cynics practiced (“kyunikos” - dog ( Greek.) – “dog philosophy”, “dog school”). In Latin, the followers of this school were called "cynics." Founder – Antisthenes, studied with Socrates. The most famous cynic - Diogenes. Criticized the doctrine of ideas Plato. He rejected religious cults and condemned people for praying. Plato called him a “dog” and “mad Socrates.” The philosophy of the Cynics is the philosophy of renegades who rejected generally accepted morality and norms of behavior. They rejected logic and physics and focused only on ethics. General education was neglected. They rejected music, geometry and everything like that. There is much in common between them and the Stoics. They despised nobility and wealth, neglected education and upbringing.	Crates, Metroclus, Demetrius, Demonactus
		They denied the state, the family. They began promoting cosmopolitanism, calling themselves “citizens of the world.” They walked barefoot, wore a cloak made of coarse fabric, worn over their naked bodies, and preached the renunciation of shame. Diogenes at one time lived in a barrel. He committed suicide by holding and stopping his breath. This teaching influenced the teaching in many ways Stoics and contributed to the formation Christian ideals of asceticism. Crates declared the life of beggarly life to be the ideal of virtue. The inability of most people to live this way of life was interpreted as an unworthy human weakness. Thus, the Cynics preached an undemanding lifestyle, overcoming passions and reducing needs, rejected slavery, property, marriage, official religion, and demanded the equality of people regardless of gender and tribal affiliation.
Plato Academy (Platonism)		Named after the mythical hero Akadema. Plato taught at the Academy for 40 years. Student Socrates. Founder objective idealism. First there must arise something that moves itself. And this is nothing more than Soul, Mind. True essences are Ideas, which are outside the material world, subordinate to the world of ideas. True knowledge consists in the recollection of ideas by the immortal soul.
		He preached asceticism, renunciation from worldly pleasures, sensual joys, and secular life. The highest good is outside the world. His students led a strict lifestyle. Three main periods in the history of the Academy: ancient, middle and new Academy. Ancient(IV-III centuries BC) - scholar (head) Sneusippus, then Xenocrates, Polemon and Crates. She played a big role in the development of mathematics and astronomy. Its influence has increased Pythagoras. Plato's views developed on the basis of the mystical theory of numbers. Average(III century BC) - scholar Arcesilaus. Was influenced Skepticism. New(II century BC) – scholar Lacides, Corneades. Deepened Skepticism and opposed the teaching Stoics about the truth. In subsequent periods (1st century BC – 4th century AD), the Academy eclectically united Platonism, Stoicism,Aristotelianism and other directions. From the 3rd century. develops Neoplatonism, in whose position the Academy finally moves into the 4th-5th centuries.	Sneusippus, Xenocrates, Krantor, Polemon, Cratetus Arcesilaus Lacides, Carneades, Clitomachus
Lyceum (Perepathetian school) (Aristotle)	IV-III centuries BC e.	The name Lyceum (Lyceum) comes from the Temple of Apollo Lyceum, near which the school was located. Later the followers of Aristotle received the name "Perepathetics" because Aristotle liked to teach while walking (“perepathetic” - I’m walking ( Greek). Aristotle led the school for 12 years - from 335 to 323 BC. e.	Theophrastus, Eudemus of Rhodes, Aristoxenus, Menander, Dixarchus, Strato, Andronicus of Rhodes (1st century BC)
		Despite the fact that Aristotle studied at Plato's Academy for 20 years, he criticized Plato's theory of ideas, which became important for the further development of philosophy. Ideas, according to Aristotle, do not exist on their own - in nature they have their own “blood” and “flesh”. He recognizes the causal dependence of ideas and things, but Plato does not. After him, the Lyceum was headed by his student Theophrastus. They showed interest in the development of special sciences. Theophrastus was considered the "father of botany." Eudemus of Rhodes is known as a historian of mathematics and astronomy. Basically they remained faithful to the views of Aristotle, but, for example, Strato criticized the idealistic aspects of his teaching. The school developed fruitfully until the middle of the 3rd century. BC e. After this, until the middle of the 1st century. BC e., the school was in decline. After the publication of Aristotle's works by Andronicus of Rhodes (70 BC), a period began when commentary activity began to develop, in which Alexander of Aphrodisias gained the greatest fame. In the 3rd century. n. e. the school became eclectic. From the 4th century n. e. began to comment on Aristotle's works Neoplatonists.	Alexander of Aphrodisia (II-III centuries AD)
Stoic (Zeno of Citium)	III century BC e. – III century n. e.	Founded in 300 BC. e. Zeno. He studied with the cynic Crates, then with the megaric Stilpon and transformed these two schools into Stoic. The name comes from the portico decorated with paintings (“Stoi” - a colorful hall ( Greek.) in Athens, where the meetings took place. Ethics is the highest science, because... teaches decent behavior. The ultimate goal of human life is happiness, i.e. life must take place in accordance with the laws of nature. Everything in life is predetermined by fate. They relied on Aristotelian logic. These views were a transitional step to Christianity. Stoicism is divided into three periods. Ancient Stoya(III - II centuries BC). Zeno was succeeded by Cleanthes, and then by Chrysippus, who was distinguished by great talent and sharpness of mind. He surpassed everyone in his diligence - this is evident from his works, the number of which is over 705. However, he multiplied his works by processing the same thing several times, supporting himself with many extracts. Many believed that if everything he copied from others were taken from his books, he would be left with empty pages! (Unlike Epicurus, who did not resort to extracts). In the end, he went to Arcesilaus and Lacidus at the Academy. At that time standing occupied guiding position among Athenian schools. Archidemus founded Average Standing in Babylon (II - I centuries BC).	Perseus of Citium, Ariston, Cleanthes, Chrysippus
		The students of Archedemus - Boethius, Panetius and Posidonius were the founders of the Middle Stoa, whose writers took the influence of the Pythagoreans, Plato and Aristotle. New or Roman Stoa(I-II centuries). The most prominent of the new Stoics were Seneca, Epictetus, M. Aurelius, Tacitus, Pliny Jr.. At this time, moral and religious ideas of teaching were developed. The soul was considered immortal. Sometimes this period is called Neostoicism. The ideal of a true sage is to live in accordance with nature. Happiness is in freedom from passions, in peace of mind, in indifference (these views correspond to Buddhism, Taoism, Cynicism, Platonism). Stoicism influenced the formation of the Christian religion ( Augustine), and then on Muslim philosophy, and also partially on the philosophy of the New Age ( Descartes And Spinoza). Stoicism supported L. Tolstoy. Main works – “Moral Letters to Lucilius” Seneca; "Foundations of Stoicism" and "Aphorisms" Epictetus; "Reflections. Alone with myself" M.Aurelia. The basic formulas of this teaching are: Patience and Temperance, i.e. renunciation of the joys of life and submission to all human passions and feelings Reason. One of the dogmas: “All sins are equal: the one who strangled the rooster and the one who strangled the father are equally guilty.” For the Stoics, parents and children are enemies, for they are not wise men. They affirmed the commonality of wives.	Boethius, Panetius, Posidonius Musonius Rufus, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Tacitus, Pliny Jr.
Epicurean (Confronting the Stoics)		Epicurus was a student of the Platonist Pamphilus and a supporter of Democritus and Nausiphanes. At the age of 32 he became a teacher himself. He founded a school in Athens in a garden purchased for this purpose (“Garden of Epicurus”). There is an inscription on the gate: “Guest, you will feel good here, here pleasure is the highest good.” The largest representative is Titus Lucretius Carus, whose poem “On the Nature of Things” is the main source of information about Epicureanism. Motto: “Live unnoticed!” The main goal of philosophy is to achieve happiness. Philosophy is based on atomistic doctrine Democritus. The soul was considered as a collection of atoms. Knowledge has not only an experienced, but also an extra-experienced source (Philodemus - “only the experienced origin of knowledge”). They did not deny the existence of gods, but argued that they enjoy bliss and do not interfere in the affairs of people, because any interference would disturb their tranquil state. The principle of pleasure as happiness is at odds with Hedonism. We do not mean the pleasures of libertines, but freedom from bodily suffering and from mental anxieties. The highest good in life is Reasonable pleasure. It was meant non-sensual pleasures, but the absence of suffering. The best way to achieve this is to withdraw yourself from all worries and anxieties, from public and government affairs, and to renounce necessary desires.	Leonty, Metrodorus, Apollodorus, Phaedrus, Philodemus, Titus Lucretius Carus, Diogenes Laertius
		These desires are divided into 3 categories: 1) simple food, drink, clothing, friendship, study - they must be satisfied; 2) sex life – satisfy moderately; 3) luxury goods, gourmet food, honor, fame - complete refusal. Interest in this doctrine reappeared during the Renaissance ( Montaigne). It is becoming widespread among French educators ( Diderot).
Skepticism (Pyrrhonism) (Pyrrho of Elis)	IV-I centuries BC e. (early) I century BC e. – III century n. e. (late)	Pyrrho was not the first to open a skeptical school. Many people call him the founder of this school. Homer, because he never gives definite dogmas in his statements. Both the 7 wise men and Euripides were skeptical. On various issues, Xenophanes, Zeno of Elea and Democritus turned out to be skeptics. Skepticism preaches doubt in the possibility of knowing objective reality (“skepticos” - I look around, I doubt ( Greek.). From their point of view, all other philosophical directions were dogmatic. Ancient skepticism, according to Hegel, sought the truth and differed from subsequent skepticism in a deeper character. One must treat things with complete indifference, and from this it follows Ataraxia(equanimity of spirit). The main thing in this teaching is that happiness is a subjective phenomenon, and its source is within us.	Anaxarchus - teacher of Pyrrho, Timon, Numenius, Nausifanus, Philo of Athens, Eurylochus Enisidemus, Sextus Empiricus (expounded this doctrine), Agrippa
		A person looks for happiness everywhere, but not where he needs it, and therefore does not find it. You just need to discover this source within yourself and always be happy. Having realized that no judgment is the final truth, there is no need to suffer and worry, but to achieve bliss. Skeptics consider abstinence from judgment to be the ultimate goal, followed like a shadow by calmness. Main principle: “ I don't even know that I don't know anything"(difference from Socrates). The philosopher's way of reasoning is skeptic (Pascal):
Eclecticism (Potamon)	I century BC e. – I century n. e.	“Eclecticism” is “the ability to choose.” An eclectic does not put forward new positions, but selects the best from other teachings. Sometimes combines opposing philosophical views. Eclecticism penetrated into teaching Stoics(Panetius, Posidonius), skeptics(early Carneades, Antiochus) and partially Peripatetics. Eclectic at the base Stoicism was Cicero, whose searches in the field of philosophy were not of an independent creative nature.	Cicero, Euripides, Virgil, Horace, Ptolemy, Pliny Sr.,
Neoplatonism (Sakkas Ammonius - teacher of Plotinus, Plotinus)	III-VI centuries n. e.	The final stage in the development of Ancient Platonism, which summarized the main ideas Plato taking into account ideas Aristotle. Key ideas: 1. Reconciliation of Platonism and Aristotelianism. 2. Criticism of Stoicism about the corporeality of the soul. 3. The doctrine of the unity of the spiritual principle, which is divided only by descending into mortal bodies, without at the same time decreasing from this division. Several stages: 1.Roman school(III century AD). Founder: Plotinus. Central to all Neoplatonism is Soul, which exists in the body and the body is the limit of its existence. The most important is Plotinus's doctrine of United, as the beginning with which the idea of ​​​​the ascent of the soul from a sensory state to a supersensible state is connected. This condition is called - Ecstasy. The One is inherent in everything that exists and everything that is conceivable. Everything that exists is different parts Emanations(expiration) One. 2. Asia Minor stage, whose task was practical mysticism. 3. Alexandria School(IV-V centuries). Focused more on Aristotle than Plato. 4. Athens school(V-VI centuries). Theoretical interests predominated.	Amelius, Porfiry, Salonina Iamblichus, Dexippus, Edemius of Cappadocia Hypatia, Asclepius, Plutarch of Athens, Proclus, Zenodotus
		From Latin Neoplatonists (IV-VI centuries) are known to Chalcidia, Boethius, Chapel. With his translations of Greek works into Latin and with commentaries the Latin Neoplatonists paved Antique philosophy is the way to Average century. The traditions of Neoplatonism can be traced in Eastern Patristics. Christian Neoplatonism in Western European philosophy had its source in the works Augustine, Boethius and other Latin Neoplatonists. Its influence can be seen in Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley. In 529, the Byzantine emperor Justinian closed the philosophical schools in Athens, but even before that, the basic ideas Antique philosophy has completed its development.

11. Main directions of philosophy of the Middle Ages

Schools, Destinations	Basic views	Philosophers
	Recognized the real existence of general concepts ( Universals), existing independently of individual things. The concept of universals arose on the basis of the doctrine Plato about ideas. The teaching is close to this Aristotle about forms.	Eriugena, Augustine, F. Aquinas, Anselm of Canterbury
Nominalism	They believed that outside of specific things the general ( Universals) exists only in words (names) that name things of a certain type. For example, all specific horses, despite many individual differences, have a certain common “horseness”. Realists believed that in addition to specific horses and beyond them, there really is a “horseness” inherent in all horses as such. And the nominalists believed that there is no “horseness” outside of specific objects.	Roscellin, Duns Scotus, Abelard (moderate nominalism-conceptualism), Hobbes

12. The main directions of Western philosophy, starting from the New Age

Schools, Destinations (founder)	Basic views	Philosophers
Empiricism (sensualism)	Bacon developed Inductive method as the main tool for understanding nature and subordinating it to human power. You can dominate nature only by obeying its laws. “He who can is powerful, and he who knows can be”. Feelings (sensations) are recognized as the main source of knowledge, and they are also considered the criterion of truth. Sensualism seeks to show that all knowledge is derived from the data of the senses (“there is nothing in the mind that was not previously contained in the senses”). The foundations of sensationalism were laid Democritus And Epicurus, but as a special direction it was formed in modern times. In the era Enlightenment confrontation with Rationalism played a vital role in philosophy.	Materialistic sensationalism: Democritus, Epicurus, Gassendi, Hobbes, Locke, Diderot, Voltaire, Rousseau Idealistic sensationalism: Berkeley, Hume
Rationalism	Recognition of reason as the basis of knowledge and criterion of truth. The foundations have yet to be laid Parmenides (Eleatic School) and Plato, but as a philosophical direction it was formed in modern times. Descartes believed that experience and experiment are a necessary prerequisite for knowledge. In physics he abandoned theology and developed a mechanical view of nature. Opposes both irrationalism and sensationalism (empiricism).	Plato, Spinoza, Leibniz
	Acknowledgment of existence two the origins of existence (most often material and ideal). Along with the recognition of material substance, Descartes recognizes God as the primary infinite substance and the soul as a derivative spiritual substance.	Aristotle, Kant
(Spinoza)	Recognition only one the beginning of existence. Spinoza contrasted Descartes' dualism Monism. According to Spinoza, there is a single material substance that is the cause of itself and does not need any other causes.	Democritus, F. Aquinas, Diderot, Fichte, Marx, Hegel
Materialism (atheism) (Heraclitus, Democritus, Marx)	The question of the relationship of thinking to being, spirit to nature is The Basic Question of Philosophy. Depending on the answer to this question, philosophers are divided into two large camps: Idealists And Materialists. Recognizing the primacy of matter and the secondary nature of consciousness means recognizing that matter was not created by anyone, but exists forever, that the world has neither beginning nor end, both in time and in space, that thinking is inseparable from matter. In contrast Idealism who denies the possibility of knowing the world, Materialism proceeds from the fact that the world is completely knowable. Already ancient thinkers raised the question of the material basis of natural phenomena, considering it Water. Ancient Greek materialist thinkers developed these ideas. They developed Atomistic theory. The teachings of Heraclitus, Democritus, Epicurus and the book of Lucretius “On the Nature of Things” are of greatest value. Hobbes also argued that everything in the world is material. He created a system of mechanical materialism. Materialism reached its peak in the era of the French Enlightenment (Lametrie, Helvetius, Holbach, Diderot), but it began to have the greatest influence on European philosophy only in the 19th century. (Marx, Engels, Feuerbach). The positions of materialism were often combined with Deism(Descartes, Galileo, Locke, Newton, Lomonosov). Also compatible with Atheism.	Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Leucippus, Epicurus, Hobbes, Diderot, Feuerbach, Engels
Irrationalism	Limited or completely the cognitive power of the mind is denied. The essence of being is understood as inaccessible to reason (close to agnosticism). Modern philosophy largely relies on Kant, i.e. to agnosticism (unknowability of the “thing in itself”). Therefore, philosophy turns to the only world of phenomena accessible to it - human consciousness and experiences - Rationalism. But they are often declared inaccessible to rational knowledge and understandable only intuitively - Irrationalism, which is inherent in: philosophy of life, existentialism, intuitionism, etc. (denial of all philosophy of the New Age). The main type of knowledge is considered Intuition, Feelings, Instinct.	"Philosophy of life": Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Dilthey Existentialism: Sartre, Camus, Jaspers, Heidegger, Intuitionism: Bergson
Scientism (different philosophers in different directions)	Connection with other sciences, primarily with natural science, and from the humanities - with psychology, logic and linguistics. Absolutes The role of science. All problems are scientifically solvable, especially in the field of sociology and culture. Relate: Phenomenology, Positivism, Pragmatism, Postpositivism, Critical rationalism.	Phenomenology: Husserl Positivism: Comte Pragmatism: Dewey, James, Schiller
Antiscientism (different philosophers in different directions)	Based on Criticism of science in any of its manifestations. Insists on the limitations of science in solving the problems of human existence. Philosophy is seen as something fundamentally different from science, which is purely utilitarian in nature. Relate: Neo-Kantianism, “Philosophy of Life”, Existentialism, Intuitionism, Personalism.	"Philosophy of life": Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Dilthey Kierkegaard's philosophy Existentialism: Sartre, Camus, Jaspers, Heidegger, Berdyaev Intuitionism: Bergson

13. Philosophers – Nobel laureates in literature

* The only one who was awarded the prize for works in philosophy, the rest received it for works of art

14. Number of works created by a number of philosophers

15. Works of the Great Philosophers of Antiquity, preserved to the present day

Very few works of the Great Philosophers of the Ancient World have survived to the present day. These are almost all essays Plato, half of the essays Aristotle, a very small part of the works Epicurus, a book by a Neoplatonist Dam and essays Sixth. Everything else is either the works of students or the works of collectors, compilers, interpreters, or individual passages. Nothing has survived from the writings of the Socratic schools (except Xenophon), nothing from the writings of the Neo-Pythagoreans. All Epicurean literature has not survived, with the exception of the poem Lucretia.

16. Life expectancy of a number of philosophers

Minimum				Maximum
Philosophers	A country			Philosophers	A country
Pico Mirandola					Germany
Kierkegaard
Shaftesbury
Duns Scotus	Scotland				Dr. Greece
Titus Lucretius Carus					Germany
	Netherlands
Soloviev
				Democritus	Dr. Greece
					Dr. Greece
					Dr. Greece

List of sources used

1. Grinenko G.V. “History of Philosophy” - M.: “Yurait”, 2007.
2. Anishkin V. G., Shmaneva L. V. “Great Thinkers” - Rostov-on-Don: “Phoenix”, 2007.
3. “Encyclopedia of Wisdom” - Tver: “ROOSA”, 2007.
4. Balandin R.K. “One Hundred Great Geniuses” - M.: “Veche”, 2006.
5. Abramov Yu. A., Demin V.N. “One Hundred Great Books” - M: “Veche”, 2009.
6. Gasparov M. L. “Entertaining Greece” - M.: “World of Encyclopedias Avanta+, Astrel”, 2008.