- Using textbook or atlas maps, determine which large natural areas Western Siberia borders on and what surface forms predominate here.
West Siberian Plain- the third largest plain in the world after the Russian. Its area is about 2.6 million km 2. From the harsh coast of the Kara Sea it stretches to the foothills of the mountains of Southern Siberia and the semi-deserts of Kazakhstan for 2500 km, and from the Urals to the Yenisei - up to 1900 km.
The boundaries of the plain are clearly defined natural boundaries: in the north - the coastline of the Kara Sea, in the south - the foothills of the Kazakh small hills, Altai, Salair Ridge and Kuznetsk Alatau, in the west - the eastern foothills of the Urals, in the east - the valley of the river. Yenisei.
Using the textbook map, determine which geometric figure resemble the outlines of the West Siberian Plain. In which part of the plain is the extent from west to east the smallest, and in which is the greatest?
Nowhere in the world can one find such a huge space with such a flat topography, seemingly sloping towards its center. Crossing the plain on a train from Tyumen to Novosibirsk, you see vast planes - not a hillock, not a ridge. This relief was formed by loose river sediments and ancient glacial sediments, which covered the Paleozoic plate with a thick sedimentary cover (3-4 thousand m). Horizontal layering of sedimentary layers - main reason flat terrain of the plain.
But tell Figure 111 about the main stages of development of the territory of the West Siberian Plain.
The relief of the West Siberian Plain was also affected by glaciation. But the glacier here did not cross 60° N. w.
In the south of the plain, during river floods, dammed in the north by ice, lake and river sediments - sands and loams - were deposited over colossal areas.
Rice. 111. Structure of the West Siberian Plate
Glaciation affected not only the relief, but also the flora and fauna of the West Siberian Plain. When the glacier retreated, the north of the plain was conquered by tundra and taiga, although previously there were broad-leaved forests inhabited by mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and giant deer. Based on the remains of trunks in the swamps, it can be judged that the forest boundary was located several hundred kilometers further north than at present.
Causes of climate severity. The climate of the West Siberian Plain is continental and quite harsh. Four main reasons shaped it.
First- the position predominantly in temperate latitudes determined a small amount solar radiation received by the territory.
Using the maps of the textbook and atlas, determine how much solar radiation the northern, middle and southern parts of the West Siberian Plain receive, what average temperatures in January and July are typical for these territories.
Second- distance from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans caused the continental climate.
Third- flatness of the territory, allowing cold masses of Arctic air to freely penetrate far to the south from the “ice bag” - the Kara Sea, and warm air masses from Kazakhstan and Central Asia- far to the north.
Fourth- mountains on the periphery, separating the West Siberian Plain from Atlantic air masses from the west and Central Asian air masses from the southeast.
The continental climate in the vast West Siberian Plain increases as you move from north to south. This is expressed in an increase in the annual temperature range, a decrease in precipitation, and a shortening of the duration of spring and autumn - the transition seasons of the year.
How is precipitation distributed on the West Siberian Plain? Explain why.
At the junction of temperate air masses with tropical ones, cyclones arise that bring rain. At the beginning of summer, this front acts in the south - the steppe zone receives moisture (about 300 mm per year). In July, hot air dominates the entire south of the plain, and cyclones move north, bringing precipitation to the taiga zone (up to 500 mm per year). In August, the front reaches the tundra, where up to 250 mm falls per year.
In winter, cyclones of the Arctic front operate at the junction of temperate and arctic air masses. This softens the frosts in the north, but due to high humidity and strong winds, the harshness of the climate here manifests itself even with less frost.
Abundance surface waters. The West Siberian Plain is rich in rivers, lakes, and swamps, the distribution of which across the territory clearly shows a dependence on the topography and the zonal ratio of heat and moisture.
Study the table data carefully and explain it.
The largest river of the West Siberian Plain is the Ob with its tributary Irtysh. This is one of the greatest rivers in the world. In Russia it ranks first in terms of length and pool area.
In addition to the Ob and Irtysh among large rivers The region can be called navigable Nadym, Pur, Taz, and Tobol.
Among the numerous lakes, the predominant ones are those that fill glacial lake basins and are located on the site of former oxbow lakes. In terms of the number of swamps, the West Siberian Plain is also a world record holder: nowhere else in the world is there such a wetland area with an area of 800 thousand km2 as here. A classic example of swampiness is Vasyugan - geographical area, lying between the Ob and Irtysh rivers. There are several reasons for the formation of such vast wetland areas: the presence of excess moisture, flat topography, permafrost, low temperatures air, the ability of peat, which predominates here, to retain water in quantities many times greater than the weight of the peat mass.
Natural zones of the West Siberian Plain. The climate of Western Siberia is more continental and harsher than in the east of the European part of Russia, but milder than in the rest of Siberia. The large extent of the plain from north to south allows several latitudinal zones to fit here - from the tundra in the north to the steppes in the south.
Using the map, determine which of the natural zones occupies the largest area on the West Siberian Plain. What changes in the composition of natural zones occur here compared to the Russian Plain?
Rice. 112. River Ob
The enormous size of the West Siberian Plain and its flat topography make it possible to trace the latitudinal changes in natural landscapes particularly well. home distinguishing feature tundra - the severity of the climate. Adapting to harsh conditions, tundra plants prepare winter buds in the fall. Thanks to this, in the spring they quickly become covered with leaves and flowers, and then bear fruit. There is a lot of different plant food in the tundra, so many herbivorous birds nest here.
Forest-tundra- the first zone when moving south, where at least 20 days a year a summer thermal regime is observed, when average daily temperatures exceed 15°C. Here the tundra alternates with crooked forests and small forests.
Rice. 113. Swamp in the taiga
Taiga forest-swamp zone- the most extensive of the natural zones of the plain (its area is 1.5 million km 2). In the taiga there is a kingdom of spruce-fir, larch-cedar-pine forests with lichens and shrubs. The northern part is dominated by larch-cedar and pine forests. The middle part of the zone is dominated by taiga of pine, cedar, spruce and fir. At the site of forest fires, aspen and birch forests are common.
The southern part of the taiga is made up of birch and aspen small-leaved forests. The taiga's fauna is rich and includes “Europeans”, such as mink and pine marten, and “East Siberians”, such as sable. The taiga is inhabited by chipmunk, squirrel, badger and the owner of the taiga - the bear. Birds - wood grouse, hazel grouse, woodpeckers, turtle doves - feed on seeds of forest trees and shrubs. The fauna of taiga river valleys is the most diverse. Here you can meet the white hare, mole, wolf and fox. Oxbow lakes and taiga lakes abound with various species of ducks and waders. The gray crane, snipe and great snipe nest in the swamps. The most typical swampy areas of the taiga on the flat interfluves of the Ob and Irtysh are called urmans. After fires in the taiga, aspen and birch forests appear in place of dark coniferous trees.
Rice. 114. Change of plant communities in the taiga after a fire
The taiga of Western Siberia is formed by spruce and cedar, larch and fir, pine and aspen-birch forests.
The fauna of the Western Siberian taiga has many species in common with the European taiga. Everywhere in the taiga they live: brown bear, lynx, wolverine, squirrel, ermine.
In secondary wasp-birch forests, typical inhabitants are elk, mountain hare, ermine, and weasel. American mink has been released in many places in the Western Siberian taiga. There are few songbirds in the taiga, so people often talk about the silence of the taiga. Only along the banks of rivers can you find the finch, long-tailed bullfinch, waxwing, and ruby-throated nightingale. Geese, ducks, and waders nest in ponds, and ptarmigan nest in moss swamps.
Deciduous forest subzone in Western Siberia it stretches in a narrow strip from the Ural Mountains to the Yenisei River.
The West Siberian forest-steppe stretches in a narrow strip from the Urals to the foothills of the Salair Ridge. The abundance of lake basins is a feature of this zone. The shores of the lakes are low, partly swampy or overgrown with pine forests. In the Kulunda pine forests, along with steppe species - bunting, field pipit, jerboa - taiga species live: flying squirrel, capercaillie.
In the forest-steppe and steppe zones, good crops of grains and vegetables can be grown on fertile soils.
The picturesque landscapes of the south of the plain - birch groves, elevated areas - manes and lakes - are potential recreational resources of the territory.
Manes- these are sandy ridges from 3 to 10 m high, less often up to 30 m, covered with pine forests. They bring great diversity to the treeless flat landscapes of the south of Western Siberia. In some places, the rugged terrain is dotted with lakes, which makes the area even more attractive.
Rice. 115. Structure of the manes of Western Siberia
Pegs- these are groves of birches and aspens, green, like oases, among the aridity of the surrounding steppe plains. These are quiet, poetic corners, full of shade and freshness, bright flowers and birdsong.
The landscape appearance of the forest-steppe is created by various combinations of birch, aspen-birch, and less often birch-aspen forests with meadows in the north of the zone and with grassy steppe in the south. Fertile southern chernozems and dark chestnut soils predominate. There are many salt marshes and solonetzes formed in conditions of insufficient moisture.
Questions and tasks
- On contour map write the names of all major natural geographical objects of the West Siberian Plain, determine the geographical latitude of the extreme northern and southern points of the region.
- Compare the geographical position of the West Siberian and Russian plains and identify their similarities and differences.
- What is the reason for the unique relief of the West Siberian Plain?
- What is the reason for the severe swampiness of the plain?
When I was young, I visited the Urals for the first time. The main purpose of my visit there was a group hike to the Dyatlov Pass, as well as visiting other interesting places Sverdlovsk region. In the Urals, I immediately noticed some hilly terrain, which is not typical for the plains of the European part of Russia. I quickly found out the reason for this phenomenon from my Ural mountain guide.
Relief-forming factors of the West Siberian Plain
Internal and external factors are responsible for one or another shape of the surface on the globe.
The first group includes those processes that continuously occur within the Earth itself and are manifested on its surface by changes in relief. Often such changes take on a convex shape.
Internal processes affected the relief of Western Siberia in such a way that the Ural Mountains grew at its western edge as a result of contact with the East European Platform. From the same event, the entire territory of the plain acquired characteristic hilliness with a height difference of up to 200 meters.
External factors most often include:
- solar exposure;
- the power of wind and water;
- influence of space.
Together, external factors destroy the convex features on the globe through weathering. For this reason, the Ural Mountains are far from the highest in the world, since the ancient mountain system has been mercilessly cut by the winds for thousands of years.
Traces of a glacier on the relief of the West Siberian Plain
Water wears away stone - this saying can be taken literally when it comes to studying the relief.
12 thousand years ago the last ice age ended on Earth. During that period, the relief form of Western Siberia acquired features that have survived to this day: multiple valleys and lakes.
Why is the relief of Western Siberia wavy?
The reason for this lies in the age of tectonic plates. Western Siberia is located on a young plate, the foundation of which consists of sedimentary-volcanogenic rocks.
On both sides, the West Siberian Platform is sandwiched by ancient, much harder platforms, the foundation of which consists of gneisses, shales and granites.
1) Using maps from a textbook or atlas, determine which large natural areas Western Siberia borders on and what surface forms predominate here.
Western Siberia borders the Urals, Central Siberia, Southern Siberia
2) Which federal subjects are part of this natural region.
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Khanty-Mansiysk autonomous region, Krasnoyarsk region, Tyumen region, Omsk region, Tomsk region, Novosibirsk region.
Questions in a paragraph
*Use the textbook map to determine what geometric figure the outlines of the West Siberian Plain resemble. In which part of the plain is the extent from west to east the smallest, and in which is the greatest?
The plain has the shape of a trapezoid.
*Based on the drawing, tell us about the main stages of development of the territory of the West Siberian Plain.
The basis of the plain is an ancient Paleozoic platform. The foundation is covered by a thick cover of Mesozoic and Cenozoic marine and continental predominantly sandy-clayey sediments.
*Use the maps of the textbook and atlas to determine how much solar radiation the northern, middle and southern parts of the West Siberian Plain receive, what average temperatures in January and July are typical for these territories.
Average annual temperatures range from -10.5°C in the north to 1-2°C in the south, average January temperatures from -28 to -16°C, July from 4 to 22°C.
Solar radiation is distributed as follows: north - 800 MJ/m2, middle zone - 1600, south - about 2000 MJ/m2.
*How is precipitation distributed on the West Siberian Plain? Explain why.
The distribution of precipitation over the territory is zonal. Largest quantity their (550 - 650 mm) falls in a strip stretching from the Urals to the Yenisei through the middle reaches of the Ob (forest zone). Within this strip, there is a slight increase in precipitation to the east, due to the barrier role of the Central Siberian Plateau and an increase in air humidity when passing over the swampy surface of the plain.
To the north and south of the strip of heaviest precipitation, their amount gradually decreases to 350 mm. To the north this is due to an increase in the frequency of arctic air with low moisture content, and to the south due to a weakening of cyclonic activity and rising temperatures.
Questions at the end of the paragraph
2. Compare the geographical location of the West Siberian and Russian plains and determine their similarities and differences.
The West Siberian and Russian plains are located on the Eurasian continent, located at high latitudes, and have large areas. The Russian Plain occupies the European part. Among all the plains of our Motherland, only it opens to two oceans. Russia is located in the central and eastern parts of the plain. It extends from the coast of the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains, from the Barents and White Seas to the Azov and Caspian Seas. The West Siberian Plain is a plain in northern Asia, occupies the entire western part of Siberia from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Central Siberian Plateau in the east. In the north it is limited by the coast of the Kara Sea, in the south it extends to the Kazakh small hills, in the southeast the West Siberian Plain.
3. What is the reason for the unique relief of the West Siberian Plain?
Nowhere in the world can one find such a huge space with such a flat topography, seemingly sloping towards its center. This relief was formed by loose river sediments and ancient glacial sediments, which covered the Paleozoic plate with a thick sedimentary cover (3-4 thousand m). Horizontal layering of sedimentary layers is the main reason for the flat topography of the plain.
4. Explain the reason for the severe swampiness of the plain?
There are several reasons for the formation of such vast wetland areas: the presence of excess moisture, flat topography, permafrost, low air temperatures, and the ability of peat, which predominates here, to retain water in quantities many times greater than the weight of the peat mass.
The publication of material about the authentic ritual of a Russian wedding, examples of which can be seen in some eastern regions of the Vologda region, as we see, created a discussion about why it was in this region that the traditional folk culture of the pre-revolutionary period was able to begin to revive in our era. Let's try to formulate some answers to this question.
This is truly a unique region in the sense that much of what makes up cultural heritage our country. There are a number of reasons that ensured the functioning of a kind of “reservation” of cultural formats that have long sunk into oblivion on a national scale. These are reasons of both geographical and historical-political nature.
Of course, after the Great Patriotic War, in the heyday of the Soviet era, “grandmother’s rituals” went underground and were gradually forgotten. But unlike most other regions of central Russia, urbanization processes in other areas, which started back in last decades XIX century, they stayed here for at least half a century. And by and large, urbanization, on the scale on which it occurred throughout the country, did not work out here. Until very recently, there was, and in many ways still is, a living village that has not always changed much since ancient times.
Now the trends in depopulation of rural areas in the eastern regions of the Vologda region are alarming. But here there was no such a significant gap in time between those eras when traditional folk culture was alive and the present time. For example, in areas directly bordering the capital region, rural depopulation began to occur in the last decades of the last century, and this process gained momentum throughout the 20th century - three wars, collectivization, industrialization at the expense of rural human resources, plus the consolidation of collective farms.
All these dramatic processes for the village were erased even from historical memory people currently living there, everything connected with traditional culture. The generations that could remember “how things really were” were gone back to the 30s and 40s of the last century, which was noted, by the way, in literature and cinema.
Here, cut off from big world“Bear corner”, as we saw in the example of a traditional wedding ceremony, bearers of authentic culture, at least those brought up in a traditional village, are sometimes alive today. And when enthusiasts became interested in folk culture in the 90s, sources of knowledge and skills were nearby. The chain of continuity has not been broken, and this makes it possible for everyone today to experience the taste and spirit of the life that our distant ancestors lived.
Remoteness played an important role in maintaining an authentic cultural environment. There are no big cities nearby; until the 80s of the last century there were not even highways, which would connect the region with the “mainland”. It cannot be said that these areas were isolated from outside world. IN Soviet time Aviation operated, navigation was carried out along the Sukhona River, and there was passenger traffic. But the absence of migration flows, a very small number of visitors from other regions, close human connections of local residents - all these factors had a beneficial effect on the social environment.
The demographic crisis, which radically affected life in these places, occurred already during the Great Patriotic War and immediately after it. As reported in one of the books on local history of the Nyuksen region, about two and a half thousand residents of this area did not return from the front. How much this is can be understood if you know that even now the entire population of this area barely reaches ten thousand people. But it was not only the losses of the war that caused the demographic crisis. As local historians write, the lion's share of those participants in the Second World War, natives of the region, who survived, did not return home to their villages, remaining to raise the cities lying in ruins. And third: the mass exodus of rural youth, until the early 60s, to work in cities, in enterprises and industries of the North. All this caused, as we now see, irreparable damage to the demographic potential of the region. But, nevertheless, all this happened much later than the national average.
Beneficial for preserving authentic social environment The special atmosphere of life in the region also influences. Sociology is now actively studying the life of remote territories. The conclusions of researchers, many of whom collected field material specifically in the Vologda region, are largely applicable to generalize the situation in the areas we are talking about now.
Sociologists have discovered that there is a direct connection between the age of a particular settlement, the format economic activity and the relationships between the people living in it. Let's say, arose in Soviet times settlements, in which there were significant migrations, today they are not even a community, but a collection of “atomized households” located next to each other only for the reason that there is a common infrastructure necessary for life at a given, specific point. There is no deep contact between people; there are no communities as such.
And, on the contrary, in many historically established settlements, with a rich history, the presence of close human relationships, including family and kinship relationships, an atmosphere of mutual support, closeness, and unity is preserved at all possible costs. The more remote the area is from the regions that are actively absorbing human capital, the more clearly this trend is expressed.
In this sense, the areas of the east of the Vologda region are a bright and unusual example of living collectivism for our country. In the more southern regions of the central part of the country, village collectivism is most often about the life of local marginalized people. Here, the integrity of local communities is an important factor that creates the atmosphere of a living outback, a place where people sometimes look quite happy, despite the fact that there is no escape from any problems here.
And one last thing. The remoteness of the region has historically shaped its structure social relations in society, somewhat different from the “standard” of the times of the Russian Empire. In principle, there is nothing unusual in this - the further from the center, the less the spread of serfdom, the more actual freedoms the population had, although this may be a bit of a rough generalization, but in general it is true.
In the forest expanses of the Sukhona basin, peasants had the opportunity to independently manage their farms; their situation was disproportionately better than that of peasants in the central provinces. Many lived prosperously, this undoubtedly contributed to the development of culture.
The combination of the above factors is the basis of today’s originality and “non-standard” region of the east of the Vologda region. Either way, it is a culturally and socially interesting space to explore and worth visiting.
* Climate and geography.
* Traditionalism of culture.
* The enormous role of religion in public and individual life.
* Features of anthropology and psychology of the people of the East.
Features of Eastern thinking
* It is more introverted than Western thinking.
* It is more emotional-figurative than logical.
* Reason is understood more broadly than in the West: it is not so much a human ability as a cosmic force.
* Eastern thinking is not characterized by anthropocentrism.
Religion and philosophy in Ancient India
The East is heterogeneous in its composition and, despite the presence of common essential features, is represented by civilizations and cultures that are often not just different, but hostilely opposed to each other. Ancient Indian civilization also has its own special features. This is, first of all:
* Rigid caste social structure.
* Intellectual and religious passivity of people.
* Introverted nature of religiosity
* Priority of the irrational over the rational.
Philosophy of Antiquity
Ancient philosophy (first Greek and then Roman) covers the period of its immediate existence from the 12th to 11th centuries. BC e. to 5-6 centuries n. e. It originated in the ancient Greek poleis (city-states) with a democratic orientation and the direction of its content, the method of philosophizing differed from the ancient Eastern methods of philosophizing. Early Greek philosophy is still closely connected with mythology, with sensory images and metaphorical language. However, she immediately rushed to consider the question of the relationship between sensory images of the world and it itself as an infinite cosmos.
Before the eyes of the ancient Greeks, who lived during the childhood of civilization, the world appeared as a huge accumulation of various natural and social processes.
How to live in this world? Who controls it? How to harmonize your own capabilities with the supreme forces inaccessible to the human influence of the cosmos? Existence was associated with many elements that are in continuous change, and consciousness with a limited number of concepts that denied these elements in a fixed, constant form. The search for a stable origin in the changing cycle of phenomena in the vast cosmos was the main goal of the first philosophers. Philosophy, thus, appears in its subject matter as the doctrine of “first principles and causes” (Aristotle).
In the development of ancient philosophy, we can, with some degree of convention, distinguish several stages:
Ancient pre-philosophy, which covers the period from the 8th to the 7th centuries. BC.
Pre-Socratic period - covers the period from the 7th to the 5th century. BC e. Initially, ancient philosophy developed in Asia Minor (Miletus school, Heraclitus), then in Italy (Pythagoreans, Eleatic school, Empedocles) and on mainland Greece (Anaxagoras, atomists). The main theme of early Greek philosophy is the principles of the universe, its origin and structure. The philosophers of this period were mainly nature researchers, astronomers, and mathematicians.
Believing that the birth and death of natural things does not occur by chance or out of nothing, they looked for a beginning, or a principle that explains the natural variability of the world. The first philosophers considered the beginning to be a single primal substance: water (Thales) or air (Anaximenes), the infinite (Anaximander), the Pythagoreans considered the limit and the infinite to be the beginning, giving rise to an ordered cosmos, cognizable through number. Subsequent authors (Empedocles, Democritus) named not one, but several principles (four elements, infinite set atoms). Like Xenophanes, many of the early thinkers criticized traditional mythology and religion.
Philosophers have wondered about the causes of order in the world. Heraclitus and Anaxagoras taught about the rational principle ruling the world (Logos, Mind). Parmenides formulated the doctrine of true being, accessible only to thought. All subsequent development of philosophy in Greece (from the pluralistic systems of Empedocles and Democritus, to Platonism) to one degree or another demonstrates a response to the problems posed by Parmenides.
The classical period covers the period from about half of the 5th century. and until the end of the 4th century. BC e. The period of the Pre-Socratics is replaced by sophistry. Sophists are traveling paid teachers of virtue, their focus is on the life of man and society. The sophists saw knowledge, first of all, as a means to achieve success in life; they recognized rhetoric as the most valuable - mastery of words, the art of persuasion. The sophists considered traditional customs and moral norms relative. Their criticism and skepticism in their own way contributed to the reorientation of ancient philosophy from knowledge of nature to understanding the inner world of man.
A clear expression of this “turn” was the philosophy of Socrates. He believed that the main thing was knowledge of good, because evil, according to Socrates, comes from people’s ignorance of their true good. Socrates saw the path to this knowledge in self-knowledge, in caring for his immortal soul, and not about his body, in comprehending the essence of the main moral values, the conceptual definition of which was the main subject of Socrates' conversations. The philosophy of Socrates gave rise to the so-called. Socratic schools (Cynics, Megarics, Cyrenaics), differing in their understanding of Socratic philosophy.
The most outstanding student of Socrates was Plato, the creator of the Academy, the teacher of another major thinker of antiquity - Aristotle, who founded the Peripatetic school (Lyceum). They created holistic philosophical teachings, in which they examined almost the entire range of traditional philosophical topics, developed philosophical terminology and a set of concepts, the basis for subsequent ancient and European philosophy.
What was common in their teachings was: the distinction between a temporary, sensory-perceptible thing and its eternal, indestructible, comprehended by the mind essence; the doctrine of matter as an analogue of non-existence, the cause of the variability of things; an idea of the rational structure of the universe, where everything has its purpose; understanding of philosophy as a science about the highest principles and purpose of all existence; recognition that the first truths are not proven, but are directly comprehended by the mind. Both of them recognized the state as the most important form of human existence, designed to serve his moral improvement. At the same time, Platonism and Aristotelianism had their own character traits, as well as discrepancies.
Both the teachings of Plato and the teachings of Aristotle, who created the second system of views of objective idealism after Plato, are full of contradictions. These teachings are not only two phases in the history of the struggle between idealism and materialism, but also two phases in the development of ancient Greek science. Important mathematical research is being carried out in Plato's school. Aristotle creates a grandiose encyclopedia of all contemporary science.
But in the field of philosophy, Plato and Aristotle are not only the creators of the reactionary doctrines of idealism. Plato develops issues of dialectics, theory of knowledge, aesthetics, and pedagogy. Aristotle creates the foundations of logic, develops problems of the theory of art, ethics, political economy, and psychology.
The Hellenistic period in the development of ancient philosophy - the end of the 4th century. - 1st century BC e.). In the Hellenistic era, the most significant, along with the Platonists and Peripatetics, were the schools of the Stoics, Epicureans and Skeptics. During this period, the main purpose of philosophy is seen in practical life wisdom. Ethics, oriented not at social life, but at the inner world of the individual, acquires paramount importance. The theories of the universe and logic serve ethical purposes: developing the correct attitude towards reality to achieve happiness.
The Stoics represented the world as a divine organism, permeated and completely controlled by a fiery rational principle, the Epicureans - as various formations of atoms, skeptics called for refraining from making any statements about the world. Having different understandings of the paths to happiness, they all similarly saw human bliss in a serene state of mind, achieved by getting rid of false opinions, fears, and internal passions that lead to suffering. Accordingly, three directions can be distinguished in Roman philosophy: Stoicism (Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius), Epicureanism (Titus Lucretius Carus), and skepticism.
The next stage of ancient philosophy (1st century BC - 5th - 6th centuries AD) falls on the period when Rome began to play a decisive role in the ancient world, under whose influence Greece also fell. IN last centuries During its existence, the dominant school of antiquity was Platonic, which took on the influences of Pythagoreanism, Aristotelianism and partly Stoicism. The period as a whole is characterized by interest in mysticism, astrology, magic (neopythagoreanism), various syncretic religious and philosophical texts and teachings (Chaldean oracles, Gnosticism, Hermeticism).
A feature of the Neoplatonic system was the doctrine of the origin of all things - the One, which is above being and thought and is understandable only in unity with it (ecstasy). How philosophical direction Neoplatonism was different high level school organization, developed commentary and pedagogical tradition. Its centers were Rome (Plotinus, Porphyry), Apamea (Syria), where there was a school of Iamblichus, Pergamum, where Iamblichus' student Aedesius founded the school, Alexandria (main representatives - Olympiodorus, John Philoponus, Simplicius, Aelius, David), Athens (Plutarch of Athens , Syrian, Proclus, Damascus).
A detailed logical development of a philosophical system describing the hierarchy of the world born from the beginning was combined in Neoplatonism with the magical practice of “communication with the gods” (theurgy), and an appeal to pagan mythology and religion.
In ancient philosophical systems, philosophical materialism and idealism were already expressed, which largely influenced subsequent philosophical concepts. The history of philosophy has always been an arena of struggle between two main directions - materialism and idealism. The spontaneity and, in a certain sense, straightforwardness of the philosophical thinking of the ancient Greeks and Romans make it possible to realize and more easily understand the essence the most important problems, which accompany the development of philosophy from its inception to the present day.
In the philosophical thinking of antiquity, ideological clashes and struggles were projected in a much clearer form than happens later. The initial unity of philosophy and expanding special scientific knowledge, their systematic identification explain very clearly the relationship between philosophy and special (private) sciences. Philosophy permeates the entire spiritual life of ancient society; it was an integral factor of ancient culture. The wealth of ancient philosophical thinking, the formulation of problems and their solutions were the source from which the philosophical thought of subsequent millennia drew.
