What does idealism mean in a philosophical sense? Definition of this important concept in science looks confusing and foggy. Let's try to explain it in plain language, the most in simple words. Idealism in philosophy is ... mmm ... half an apple, if the whole philosophy is represented as a whole apple. And what is the second half? And the other half is materialism. From these two halves, a whole apple is formed - the apple of philosophy.

Philosophers of all countries and peoples, of all times and generations, argue about which half is better and which is more important. The main question of philosophy is what is primary, being or consciousness? Idea or matter? Is it important to think a lot or work a lot?

Another option is to unite the two halves, just like: recognition of their equality and equal importance - this direction is called dualism, it tries to reconcile the two opposing sides.
A clever definition from a dictionary of philosophy not only does not explain anything, but, on the contrary, confuses even more with additional incomprehensible words. And yet...still...let's get it right.

Idealism as a philosophical concept

The word itself, as a philosophical term, comes from the word idea. It is important not to confuse with the word ideal here. Ideal - the desire for something better, perfect. TO philosophical idealism the concept of ideal is irrelevant.

This philosophy, this is the doctrine of the spirit, spirituality, consciousness, thinking. Thought, the work of the human brain, the ways in which a person perceives the world around him - this is the base on which it is built.
Philosophers - idealists believe that the human spirit determines a person's life, his worldview, and most importantly - life (being). In contrast to materialism, they believe that the ideas and thoughts of a person form his environment, his material world.

What is human consciousness, how does it affect perception? Is there a universal mind that shapes materiality? How do the consciousness of an individual person relate to the universal, all-encompassing mind? These questions have been and are being asked by idealists, and there are constant attempts to comprehend them and get answers to them.

Main directions

Philosophers - idealists in their understanding of the world are not united, and within the idealistic philosophical current they are divided.

Proponents of objective idealism recognize the reality of the existence of the material world, the reality of the existence of the consciousness of each individual and the existence of a universal mind, an idea, a certain reasonable substance that forms everything that exists and influences the development of human consciousness and the development of the material world.

Subjective idealists believe that everything depends only on the thinking and perception of the individual. The inner content of a person, his thoughts, his relationships determine his reality. For each person, according to subjectivists, there is his own reality, which is determined by his ability to perceive and think. Sensations and their combinations determine the objects of the real, visible and tangible world. It can be put more simply - no sensations, no world, no reality.

Stages of formation

The history of the emergence of idealism as a philosophical trend is long and complex. Its development is a kind of reflection of the development of the society of a certain era.

The main forms of this doctrine, which were subsequently developed, arose as early as in Ancient Greece. Plato is considered the father of objective idealism. In his "Dialogues" the ideas of the limitedness of the human mind and the idea of ​​the existence of a universal, universal mind, "the mind of the gods" are voiced.

The medieval version of this direction of philosophy developed in the direction of assimilation of the Greek model. God is described at this time as the idea of ​​absolute truth, absolute good. Views independent of church views were severely punished at that time, and philosophy was built under the control of the church. A prominent representative of this period - Thomas Aquinas.

Subjective idealism developed later, in the 18th century, when it became possible for a person to realize himself as a person. Representatives of this trend are Fichte, Berkeley, Hume.
He reached his heyday in the German classical philosophy the end of the 18th beginning of the 19th century - the rationale for idealistic dialectics, the work of Kant, Hegel, Feuerbach.

The modern version of this doctrine is represented by many directions: existentialism, intuitionism, neopositivism, etc. Each of these directions is actively developing and taking shape in entire separate philosophical systems.

Each stage in the formation of this doctrine is a huge layer of human intellectual work, a new understanding of the structure of the world. This is not abstract theorizing, but a base that helps to better understand existing reality and make changes to it.

Sincerely, Andrey Puchkov

The philosophical doctrine of materialism appeared in the era of antiquity. Philosophers of Ancient Greece and the Ancient East considered everything in the surrounding world, regardless of consciousness - everything consists of material formations and elements, Thales, Democritus and others argued. In the era of modern times, materialism acquired a metaphysical orientation. Galileo and Newton said that everything in the world is reduced to a mechanistic form of motion of matter. Metaphysical materialism replaced dialectical. Consistent materialism appeared in the theory of Marxism, when the basic principle of materialism extended not only to the material world, but also to nature. Feuerbach singled out inconsistent materialism, which recognized the spirit, but reduced all its functions to the creation of matter.

Philosophers-materialists argue that the only substance that exists is matter, all entities are formed by it, and phenomena, including consciousness, are formed in the process of interaction of various matters. The world exists independently of our consciousness. For example, a stone exists regardless of a person's idea of ​​it, and what a person knows about it is the effect that a stone has on human senses. A person can imagine that there is no stone, but this will not make the stone disappear from the world. This means, say the materialist philosophers, that the physical exists first, and then the psychic. Materialism does not deny the spiritual, it only claims that consciousness is secondary to matter.

The Essence of the Philosophy of Idealism

The theory of idealism was also born in antiquity. Idealism ascribes to the spirit the dominant role in the world. Plato is the classic of idealism. His teaching was called objective idealism and proclaimed the ideal principle in general, regardless not only of matter, but also of human consciousness. There is a certain essence, some kind of spirit that gave birth to everything and determines everything, say the idealists.

Subjective idealism appeared in the philosophy of modern times. Philosophers-idealists of the new time argued that the external world is completely dependent on human consciousness. Everything that surrounds people is just a combination of some sensations, and a person ascribes material significance to these combinations. The combination of some sensations gives rise to a stone and all ideas about it, others - a tree, etc.

In general, idealistic philosophy boils down to the fact that a person receives all information about the outside world only through sensations, with the help of the senses. All that a person knows for certain is knowledge obtained from the senses. And if the sense organs are arranged differently, then the sensations will be different. This means that a person does not talk about the world, but about his feelings.

IDEALISM(from the Greek ιδέα - idea) - a category of philosophical discourse that characterizes a worldview that either identifies the world as a whole with the content of the consciousness of the cognizing subject (subjective idealism), or asserts the existence of an ideal, spiritual principle outside and independently of human consciousness (objective idealism), and considers the external world to be a manifestation of spiritual being, universal consciousness, the absolute. Consistent objective idealism sees in this beginning what is primary in relation to the world and things. The term “Idealism” was introduced by G.V. Leibniz (Collections in 4 volumes, vol. 1. M., 1982, p. 332).

Objective idealism coincides with spiritualism and is represented in such forms of philosophy as Platonism, panlogism, monadology, voluntarism. Subjective idealism is associated with the development of the theory of knowledge and is presented in such forms as D. Berkeley's empiricism, I. Kant's critical idealism, for which experience is conditioned by the forms of pure consciousness, and positivist idealism.

Objective idealism originated in myths and religion, but received a reflective form in philosophy. At the first stages, matter was understood not as a product of the spirit, but as a co-eternal formless and spiritless substance from which the spirit (nous, logos) creates real objects. The spirit was considered, therefore, not as the creator of the world, but only as its shaper, the demiurge. This is the idealism of Plato. His character is connected with the task he was trying to solve: to understand the nature human knowledge and practices based on monistic principles recognized today. According to the first of them, “no thing arises from non-existence, but everything from being” ( Aristotle. Metaphysics. M.–L., 1934, 1062b). Another inevitably followed from it: from what kind of “being” do such “things” arise as, on the one hand, images of real objects, and, on the other, the forms of objects created by human practice? The answer to it was: each thing does not arise from any being, but only from that which is "the same" as the thing itself (ibid.). Guided by these principles, Empedocles, for example, argued that the image of the earth itself is earth, the image of water is water, and so on. This concept was later called vulgar materialism. Aristotle objected to Empedocles: “The soul must be either these objects or their forms; but the objects themselves fall away - after all, the stone is not in the soul. ( Aristotle. About the soul. M., 1937, p. 102). Consequently, it is not the object that passes from reality into the soul, but only the “form of the object” (ibid., p. 7). But the image of the subject is perfect. Therefore, the form of an object "similar" to it is also ideal. Reflections on human practice also led to the conclusion about the ideality of the form of things: the form that a person gives to a thing is his idea, transferred to a thing and transformed in it. The original objective idealism is the projection of the characteristics of human practice onto the entire cosmos. This form of idealism must be distinguished from the developed forms of objective idealism that arose after the task of bringing matter out of consciousness had been explicitly formulated.

Having explained from a single monistic principle two opposite processes - cognition and practice, objective idealism created the basis for answering the question of whether human consciousness is capable of adequately cognizing the world? For objective idealism, the affirmative answer is almost tautological: of course, consciousness is capable of comprehending itself. And in this tautology lies his fatal weakness.

The internal logic of self-development led objective idealism to a new question: if no thing arises from non-existence, then from what kind of existence do such “things” as matter and consciousness arise? Do they have an independent origin, or does one of them give rise to the other? In the latter case, which one is primary and which one is secondary? In an explicit form, it was formulated and solved by Neoplatonism in the 3rd century. AD The real world was understood by him as the result of the emanation of the spiritual, divine primordial unity, and matter as the product of the complete extinction of this emanation. Only after this did consistent objective idealism arise, and the demiurge spirit turned into a God-spirit, which does not form the world, but creates it entirely.

Objective idealism used the theory of emanation until the 17th century. Even Leibniz interpreted the world as a product of radiations (fulgurations) of the Deity, understood as the primary Unity ( Leibniz G.V. Op. in 4 vols., vol. 1, p. 421). Hegel made a major step in the development of objective idealism. He interpreted real world as a result not of emanation, but of self-development of the absolute spirit. He considered the contradiction inherent in him to be the source of this self-development. But if the world is a product of the self-development of an idea, then from what does the idea itself arise? The threat of evil infinity was faced by Schelling and Hegel, who tried to avoid it by deriving the idea from pure being - identical nothingness. For the latter, the question "from what?" already meaningless. An alternative to both concepts is a theory that interprets the world as originally having a spiritual nature and thereby removes the question of deriving it from something else.

Initially, objective idealism (like materialism) proceeded from the existence of the world outside and independently of human consciousness as something taken for granted. Only by the 17th century. the culture of philosophical thinking has grown so much that this postulate has been questioned. It was then that subjective idealism arose - philosophical direction, the germ of which can be found already in antiquity (Protagoras' thesis about man as the measure of all things), but which received a classical formulation only in modern times - in the philosophy of D. Berkeley. A consistent subjective idealist-solipsist recognizes only his own consciousness as existing. Despite the fact that such a view is theoretically irrefutable, it does not occur in the history of philosophy. Even D. Berkeley does not carry it out consistently, allowing, in addition to his own consciousness, the consciousness of other subjects, as well as God, which actually makes him an objective idealist. Here is the argument on which his concept is based: "It is sufficient reason for me not to believe in the existence of something if I see no reason to believe in it" ( Berkeley D. Op. M., 1978, p. 309). Here, of course, there is a mistake: the absence of grounds for recognizing the reality of matter is not a ground for denying its reality. More consistent is the position of D. Hume, who left the question theoretically open: do there exist material objects that evoke impressions in us. It was in the debates of the philosophers of modern times that the characteristic of the view began to be widely used, according to which we are given only representations as an object, as idealism. T. Reed described the views of D. Locke and D. Berkeley exactly in this way. X. Wolf called idealists those who attributed only ideal existence to bodies (Psychol, rat., § 36). I. Kant noted: “Idealism consists in the assertion that there are only thinking beings, and the rest of the things that we think to perceive in contemplation are only representations in thinking beings, representations that in fact do not correspond to any object located outside them” ( Kant I. Prolegomena. - Soch., v. 4, part I. M., 1964, p. 105). Kant distinguishes between dogmatic and critical idealism, which he calls transcendental idealism. Fichte initiated the revival of objective idealism in Germany by combining epistemological, ethical and metaphysical idealism. Representatives of absolute idealism Schelling and Hegel tried to present nature as a potency and expression of the world spirit. A. Schopenhauer saw the absolute reality in the will, E. Hartmann - in the unconscious, R.-Eiken - in the spirit, B. Croce - in the eternal, infinite mind, which is realized in the personality. New variants of idealism developed in connection with the doctrine of values, which were opposed to the empirical world as an ideal being, embodying the absolute spirit (A. Münsterberg, G. Rickert). For positivism, values ​​and ideals are fictions of theoretical and practical significance (D.S. Mill, D. Bain, T. Tan, E. Mach, F. Adler). In phenomenology, idealism is interpreted as a form of the theory of knowledge, which sees in the ideal a condition for the possibility of objective cognition, and all reality is interpreted as a sense-setting ( Husserl E. Logische Untersuchungen, Bd. 2. Halle, 1901, S. 107ff.). Phenomenology itself, emerging as a variant of transcendental idealism, gradually transformed, together with the principles of constitution and egology, into objective idealism.

Criticism of idealism in its various forms is deployed (of course, from different positions) in the works of L. Feuerbach, K. Marx, F. Engels, F. Jodl, W. Kraft, M. Schlick, P. A. Florensky and others.

However, the question of how to justify the existence of a world outside of us remains open even in modern philosophy. Many ways have been developed to both solve and circumvent it. The most curious is the assertion that the same object, depending on the point of view, can be presented as existing both outside consciousness and inside it, the most common assertion is that the choice between subjective idealism and realism (which is understood as objective idealism and materialism) is like choosing between religion and atheism, i.e. determined by personal belief, not scientific evidence.

Literature:

1. Marks K.,Engels F. German ideology. - They are. Works, vol. 3;

2. Engels F. Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of German Classical Philosophy. – Ibid., v. 21;

3. Florensky P.A. The meaning of idealism. Sergiev Posad, 1914;

4. Willmann O. Geschichte des Idealismus, 3 Bde. Braunschweig, 1894;

5. Jodl F. Vom wahren und falschen Idealismus. Munch., 1914;

6. Kraft V. Wfeltbegriff and Erkenntnisbegriff. W., 1912;

7. Schlick M. Allgemeine Erkenntnislehre. W., 1918;

8. Kronenberg M. Geschichte des deutschen Idealismus. bd. 1–2. Munch., 1909;

9. Liebert A. Die Crise des Idealismus. Z.–Lpz., 1936;

10. Ewing A.S. Idealist tradition from Berkeley to Blanshard. Chi., 1957.

State exam in philosophy and aesthetics

Worldview as a phenomenon of spiritual community life, its structure. Worldview types

Worldview is a complex phenomenon of the human spiritual world, and consciousness is its foundation.

Distinguish between the self-consciousness of the individual and the self-consciousness of the human community, for example, a particular people. The forms of manifestation of the self-consciousness of the people are myths, fairy tales, anecdotes, songs etc. The most elementary level of self-consciousness is initial self-image. Often it is determined by the assessment of a person by other people. The next level of self-consciousness is represented by a deep understanding of oneself, one's place in society. The most complex form of human self-consciousness is called a worldview.

outlook- is a system or set of ideas and knowledge about the world and man, about the relationship between them.

In the worldview, a person realizes himself not through his attitude to individual objects and people, but through a generalized, integrated attitude to the world as a whole, of which he himself is a part. The worldview of a person reflects not just his individual properties, but the main thing in him, which is usually called the essence, which remains the most constant and unchanged, manifesting itself in his thoughts and actions throughout his life.

In reality, the worldview is formed in the minds of specific people. It is used by individuals and social groups as a general outlook on life. The worldview is an integral formation in which the connection of its components is fundamentally important. The composition of the worldview includes generalized knowledge, certain value systems, principles, beliefs, ideas. The measure of a person's worldview maturity is his actions; the guidelines in the choice of ways of behavior are beliefs, i.e., views that are actively perceived by people, especially stable psychological attitudes of a person.

Worldview is a system of stable views of a person on the world and his place in it. Broad meaning - all views, narrow - objective (within the limits of mythology, religion, science, etc.). The term "worldview" allegedly appeared in the 18th century, and has been popular since the 19th century.

Features of the worldview: active knowledge (position-action), integrity, universality (it is implied that each person has one or another worldview).

The subject is relations in the world-man system.

The structure of the worldview - elements and connections between them. Levels of structure of outlook:

Ordinary-practical (“attitude”, “emotionally colored vision of the world”, “everyday worldview” of each person);

Rational-theoretical ("world outlook", "intellectual outlook", contains concepts, categories, theories, concepts).

Structural elements: knowledge, values, ideals, programs of action, beliefs (by which the authors mean not "firm principles", but "accepted" - more or less approved by scientists "knowledge and values"), etc.

Worldview functions: 1) axiological (value) and 2) orientational.

Historical types of worldview:

Mythological worldview (fantasies prevail, unity with nature, anthropomorphism, many supernatural forces, dominance of feelings);

Religious worldview (monotheism): psychological structure (feelings and actions of people, rituals) + ideological structure (dogmas, scriptures): the world is doubled (meaning, first of all, the Christian this world and the other world), God is spiritual, He is the creator outside the world , Holy Bible source of knowledge, hierarchy descending from God;

Philosophical worldview (free intellectual search for truth): comprehension of the ultimate foundations of being and thinking, substantiation of values, striving for integrity, logical argumentation), reliance on reason.

Addition: The above answer is quite suitable for answering question No. 1 of the Sample list of questions for the entrance exam to the postgraduate studies of the Belarusian State University: "Worldview, its essence, structure and historical types."

The subject and functions of philosophy. Materialism and idealism are the main directions in the interpretation of philosophical problems.

Defining the subject of philosophy as the historically first form of theoretical and rational comprehension of the world in its entirety and the person included in its structures is a rather complicated and ambiguous task.

This is due to the fact that:

there is no single interpretation of the essence and purpose of philosophy in the history of culture;

philosophy at the beginning of its development covered almost all theoretical knowledge about the world (including those that later became the object of special sciences - about the universe, the structure of matter, human nature, etc.), which expanded its subject to the utmost;

diverse philosophical schools and directions are understood differently subject of philosophy, therefore, it is difficult for her to give a definition that would suit all thinkers;

in the historical-philosophical process, the evolution of its subject is observed, reflecting the classical and post-classical orientations of philosophy itself.

At the same time, the presence of different views on the subject of philosophy, and sometimes their fundamental divergence, does not cancel the dialogue of different approaches, since any formulation of a specific philosophical problem affects, to one degree or another, the fundamental meanings of human being, his presence in the world. Thus, philosophy goes from a person to the world, and not vice versa (as a science), and thus its subject orientation is somehow connected with the elucidation of a whole spectrum of human relations with the world - nature, society, culture. Of course, from this range of relations, philosophy is primarily interested in the most generally significant and essential characteristics of these relations, and especially in the principles and foundations of human existence in the world. It is this specificity of philosophy that allows us to present it in the historical and philosophical process as a holistic theoretical knowledge that preserves at all stages of its evolution common topics research (of the Universe, a person, the essence of their relationship, the meaning of a person's relationship to another person and society) and the diverse ways of their understanding. Therefore, the subject of philosophy in the most general form can be considered a holistic knowledge of the ultimate foundations of the existence of nature, man, society and culture.

Of course, this does not mean that every philosopher explores these problems in such a broad formulation: the subject of philosophical analysis can be their specific aspects - for example, the problem of reality, the problem of the meaning of human existence, the problem of understanding, the problem of language, etc.

The status and role of philosophy in modern society and its culture is specified in the following main functions:

worldview - sets an integral image of the world, forms the ultimate foundations of a theoretical worldview and broadcasts the worldview experience of mankind;

methodological - acts as a general method of thinking that develops the most general norms and rules of theoretical activity, offers innovative heuristic ideas to scientific knowledge and social practice, carries out selection (selection) of competing concepts and hypotheses, integrates new knowledge into spiritual culture;

evaluative-critical - critically analyzes the most significant phenomena of social and spiritual life, evaluates them from the position of due and carries out a creative search for new social ideals and norms.

According to the specifics of the analyzed problems in the structure of philosophical knowledge, its main sections are traditionally distinguished, reflecting the historical dynamics of the subject orientation of philosophy. Today, the following main sections can be fixed in philosophy:

ontology - the philosophy of being, the doctrine of the most general principles and foundations of everything that exists;

epistemology - the philosophy of knowledge, the doctrine of the principles, patterns and mechanisms of cognitive activity;

epistemology - philosophy scientific knowledge, the doctrine of the specifics and general procedures of scientific research;

philosophical anthropology - human philosophy, the doctrine of man, his essence and the multidimensionality of being in the world;

axiology - the philosophy of values, the doctrine of values ​​and their role in human existence;

praxeology - the philosophy of activity, the doctrine of the active, practical and transformative attitude of man to the world;

social philosophy - the philosophy of society, the doctrine of the specifics of society, its dynamics and development trends.

These sections of philosophical knowledge - for all their autonomy - are connected with each other, in their totality they constitute the modern philosophical picture of the world and represent philosophy as a complex phenomenon of spiritual culture.

idealists

As for the idealists, they recognize the primary idea, spirit, consciousness. They consider the material to be the product of the spiritual. However, the correlation of consciousness and matter by representatives of objective and subjective idealism is not understood in the same way. Objective and subjective idealism are two varieties of idealism. Representatives of objective idealism (Plato, W. G. Leibniz, G. W. F. Hegel, and others), recognizing the reality of the existence of the world, believe that in addition to human consciousness, there is a “world of ideas”, “world mind”, i.e. something that determines all material processes. In contrast to this view, representatives of subjective idealism (D. Berkeley, D. Hume, I. Kant and others) believe that the objects that we see, touch and smell are combinations of our sensations. The consistent holding of such a view leads to solipsism, i.e., to the recognition that only the cognizing subject, who, as it were, imagines reality, is recognized as really existing.

materialists

Materialists, on the contrary, defend the idea that the world is an objectively existing reality. Consciousness is considered derivative, secondary to matter. Materialists stand on the positions of materialistic monism (from the Greek monos - one). This means that matter is recognized as the only beginning, the basis of all that exists. Consciousness is considered to be a product of highly organized matter - the brain.

However, there are other philosophical views on the relationship between matter and consciousness. Some philosophers consider matter and consciousness as two equivalent foundations of everything that exists, independent of each other. Such views were held by R. Descartes, F. Voltaire, I. Newton and others. They are called dualists (from the Latin dualis - dual) for the recognition of matter and consciousness (spirit) as equals.

Now let us find out how the materialists and idealists solve the question related to the second side of the fundamental question of philosophy.

Materialists proceed from the fact that the world is cognizable, our knowledge about it, verified by practice, is able to be reliable, and serve as the basis for effective, expedient human activity.

Idealists in solving the problem of the cognizability of the world were divided into two groups. Subjective idealists doubt that cognition of the objective world is possible, while objective idealists, although they recognize the possibility of cognizing the world, make a person's cognitive abilities dependent on God or otherworldly forces.

Philosophers who deny the possibility of knowing the world are called agnostics. Concessions to agnosticism are made by representatives of subjective idealism, who doubt the possibilities of knowing the world or declare certain areas of reality fundamentally unknowable.

The existence of two main trends in philosophy has social foundations or sources and epistemological roots.

The social basis of materialism can be considered the need of some sections of society to proceed from experience or rely on the achievements of science when organizing and conducting practical activities, and its epistemological roots are claims to the possibility of obtaining reliable knowledge about the studied phenomena of the world.

The social foundations of idealism include the underdevelopment of science, disbelief in its possibilities, disinterest in its development and use of the results of scientific research of certain social strata. To the epistemological roots of idealism - the complexity of the process of cognition, its contradictions, the possibility of separating our concepts from reality, raising them to the absolute. V. I. Lenin wrote: “Straightness and one-sidedness, woodenness and ossification, subjectivism and subjective blindness ... (here are) the epistemological roots of idealism.” The main source of idealism lies in the exaggeration of the importance of the ideal and in the downplaying of the role of the material in people's lives. Idealism developed in the history of philosophy in close connection with religion. However, philosophical idealism differs from religion in that it wraps its evidence in the form of theorizing, and religion, as noted earlier, is based on the recognition of the indisputable authority of faith in God.

Materialism and idealism are two currents in world philosophy. They are expressed in two different types of philosophizing. Each of these types of philosophizing has subtypes. For example, materialism appears in the form of the spontaneous materialism of the ancients (Heraclitus, Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius Carus), mechanical materialism (F. Bacon, T. Hobbes, D. Locke, J. O. La Mettrie, C. A. Helvetius, P. A. Holbach) and dialectical materialism (K. Marx, F. Engels, V. I. Lenin, G. V. Plekhanov and others). Idealism also includes two subtypes of philosophizing in the form of objective idealism (Plato, Aristotle, W. G. Leibniz, G. W. F. Hegel) and subjective idealism (D. Berkeley, D. Hume, I. Kant). In addition, within the framework of these subtypes of philosophizing, special schools with their inherent features of philosophizing can be distinguished. Materialism and idealism in philosophy are in continuous development. Between the representatives of both, there is a controversy that contributes to the development of philosophizing and philosophical knowledge.

Ancient philosophy: specifics and main problems.

Philosophy of the Middle Ages, its religious character. Controversy between nominalism and realism.

The transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages is due to a number of sociocultural prerequisites:

the decomposition of the slave system and the formation of feudal relations;

change in the social structure of society - strata and social groups appear that have a significant impact on public life: freedmen, free lumpen, columns (small tenants of land, dependent peasantry), professional soldiers;

the political and spiritual monopoly of the Western Church is established, and the religious worldview becomes dominant. The new situation has changed the status of philosophy, placing it in a dependent position on religion: in the figurative expression of P. Damiani, she is “the maid of theology”;

the recognition of the Bible as the unified sacred book of Christianity, the comprehension of which gave rise to Christian theology and Christian philosophy. Now to philosophize means to interpret the text of Holy Scripture and authoritative books.

During this period, the influence of the Hellenistic culture on the formation of Christian theology and philosophy, the development of religious dogmas and the criticism of heresies was noticeable, despite the fact that the attitude towards the ancient heritage was far from unambiguous, which was reflected either in the complete rejection of the philosophy of antiquity, or in the orientation towards the possibility its use by Christianity. Tolerance towards Hellenic philosophy was expressed in the fact that it became more important for Christianity to convince the pagans of the advantages new religion with the help of philosophical knowledge, contributing to the development of faith, which is higher than any knowledge and is its crown.

Principles of medieval philosophical thinking:

monotheism - God is a person, he is one and unique, eternal and infinite;

theogentrism - God is the highest essence of all being;

creationism - the idea of ​​an act of free creation of the world by God from nothing;

symbolism - the existence of any thing is determined from above: “visible things” reproduce “invisible things” (ie higher entities) and are their symbols;

providentialism (providence) - the history of mankind is understood as the realization of the Divine plan;

eschatologism - the doctrine of the finiteness of the existence of the world and man, the end of the world and the Last Judgment.

In development medieval philosophy the following steps can be distinguished:

apologetics (from the Greek apolozeomai - I protect; 11-111 centuries AD, Christianity is defended, the cognitive possibilities of faith are revealed, which is able to cover any problems, unlike reason, which considered some of them absurd (Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, etc. ) About the incompatibility of faith and reason, divine revelation and human wisdom, says Tertullian's maxim: "Bgpyto, for it is absurd";

patristics (from lat. patres - fathers) - the foundations of Christian dogma are being developed in order to reveal the deep meaning of the Bible (IV-VIII centuries). At the same time, it was supposed to separate authentic (canonical) texts from inauthentic ones and reveal the true meanings of the main provisions of the Bible in order to exclude heretical interpretations (Aurelius Augustine, Boethius, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Palamas, etc.). The problematic field of philosophy was connected with the topic of theodicy (justification of God), understanding the essence of God as the highest Being, his transcendental (otherworldly) nature and the trinity of Divine hypostases (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). The relationship of faith and reason receives a different interpretation, because. in the insight of truth, according to Augustine, faith acts in union with reason: “I do not strive to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order to understand”;

scholasticism (lat, scholasticus - school, scientist) - the priority of faith over reason is preserved, since philosophical and theological problems remain the main subject, but there is already a tendency to strengthen rationalism (IX-XIV centuries, the "golden age" is considered to be the XIII century .). The main theorists are Eriugena, Anselm of Canterbury, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Roscellinus, P. Abelard, W. Occam, R, Bacon and others. The peculiarity of this stage is associated with the formation of two education systems - monastic and university. In philosophy itself, interest in the logic of Aristotle was manifested. Thomas Aquinas was recognized as the great systematizer of medieval philosophy, who believed that religion and philosophy differ in the method of obtaining truths, because. The source of religious knowledge is faith and Holy Scripture, while philosophical knowledge is based on reason and experience.

The main problem of scholasticism was the problem of universals (general concepts), which is represented by the following philosophical approaches:

realism - general concepts are a true reality and exist before any thing (Eriugena, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, etc.);

nominalism considers single things to be true reality, and concepts are only names created by the human mind by abstraction (P. Abelard, W. Ockham, R. Bacon, etc.).

Materialism and idealism in philosophy are opposed to each other. The existence of these directions is based on a different understanding of the relationship between matter and consciousness. Let us find out what exactly comes to the fore in each case and how materialism differs from idealism.

Definition

Materialism- a direction that proclaims the primary source of all existing matter. It is recognized as independent, indestructible, eternal. Ideal phenomena, according to the theory, are considered products of the interaction of material substances.

Idealism- a direction postulating the supremacy of the spiritual. Material in this case is assigned a secondary role. It is dependent on the ideal. Idealism is akin to the dogmas of religion, according to which the world has temporal and spatial boundaries and was created by God.

Comparison

Let us consider in more detail what is the difference between materialism and idealism. Let us turn to materialistic assertions. Their essence boils down to the fact that the world and the objects in it are an independent reality that exists according to its own laws. The primacy of the material acts as an indisputable truth. The human brain is called highly organized matter, and consciousness, in which various ideas arise, is called a derivative of the brain.

The world, according to materialists, is available for its study and development by man. Knowledge about it is reliable, confirmed by practice. Science, from the point of view of materialism, is of inestimable value. Her achievements have a decisive influence on the success human activity and life in general.

Idealists are convinced that reality is subordinate to the spiritual. However, adherents of the idealistic direction have not come to a unified position as to what this reality is. Differences in resolving the issue led to the formation of two currents of idealism. Representatives of one of them are subjective idealists. They believe that there is no reality independent of the consciousness of the subject. Everyone perceives everything around him in his own way, and, consequently, the appearance of the world is not the same for all people.

Representatives of another trend call themselves objective idealists. They recognize the existence of reality as such, having its own characteristics and independent of the perception of individual people. But the fundamental principle of everything these philosophers see the highest spirituality, some powerful force, world mind.

If we talk in general about what is the difference between materialism and idealism, then first of all it should be noted that in these directions matter and consciousness are assigned opposite roles. However, there is also a concept, according to which it is wrong to call something one primary. In this case, the equality of spirit and matter is assumed. However, this is a topic for another discussion.