Human cognition activity is the concept of cognition. Bertrand Russell. Human cognition, its spheres and boundaries. Bertrand Russell Human cognition of its scope and boundaries

on the course "Natural Science"

on the topic: "Cognition of a man of the world and himself"

Thinking is a process of human cognitive activity, characterized by an indirect and generalized reflection of reality. Thinking arises on the basis of the practical activity of people from the data of sensory cognition. Along with the visual-effective and visual-figurative types of thinking, abstract, theoretical thinking is formed in a person. A person begins to cognize with his help such phenomena of the external world, their properties and relationships, which are inaccessible to the senses. For example, one of the most difficult problems of modern physics is the creation of a theory of elementary particles, but these tiny particles cannot be seen even with the help of modern microscopes. It was only thanks to abstract, abstract, mediated thinking that it was possible to prove that such invisible particles still exist in reality and have certain properties.

Through thinking, a person is able to penetrate into the essence of phenomena, to reveal their internal connections and relationships. This is achieved using such logical operations as analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization. Thinking is the highest form of reflection of reality, the highest level of cognition associated with the formation of new knowledge.

Thinking is inextricably linked with language and speech. It is possible when it is clothed in a linguistic form. The deeper and more thoroughly this or that thought is thought out, the more clearly and clearly it expresses ”in words in oral and written speech. And vice versa, the more the verbal formulation of a thought is improved, the clearer and clearer the thought itself becomes.

Language is a system of signs. It acts as a way of forming, expressing and consolidating thoughts. Language exists and is realized through speech. Speech is a process of communication, communication impact through language. Speech activity is carried out in such forms as oral, written and internal speech. In the process of verbal communication, the use of communicative means of facial expressions, gestures, pause is of great importance.

2. Consciousness

Consciousness stands out from the broader sphere of the psychic and is understood as the highest function of the brain, peculiar only to man and associated with speech. There are at least two approaches to explaining the nature of consciousness. The first is associated with the name of the French philosopher Rene Descartes, who proposed to understand consciousness as a closed inner world of a person, which contains sensations, perceptions, memory, emotions, will, thoughts, judgments, language, as well as images of things. The named elements make up the structure of consciousness. The main form of activity of consciousness is the logical structure of thinking. Cartesian “I think, therefore I am” subordinates to consciousness all manifestations of a person up to his existence.

Based on this approach, science proposes a trip "inside" consciousness, that is, the study of the mechanisms of the brain. However, neurophysiologists doubt the possibility of obtaining field information about consciousness based on the study of the structures and activity of the brain. A huge number of problems arise related to the social nature of consciousness, its concrete historical and creative nature.

The second approach, according to which the essence of consciousness should be sought not in itself, but in the external world, in social practice, was developed by Marxism. It assumes that the images of consciousness are born in the process of activity, as a result of the impact on the person of the surrounding reality. Thinking and consciousness are all the more perfect, the wider the range of things with which a person comes into contact, the more active the subject himself. The conclusions of this approach: "Being determines consciousness", "consciousness is a reflection of being" - confirm the dependence of consciousness on the external, the social nature of consciousness. Consciousness appears not as an individual property, but as a universal process of the entire human race.

Further insight into the essence of consciousness requires the combination of these two approaches. The study of the nature of consciousness should be carried out simultaneously in the sphere of spirituality and in the sphere of material relations.

Thus, consciousness is a property of the brain, the nervous processes of the brain serve as material carriers of consciousness.

According to the method of its origin, consciousness is a product of the development of biological and social forms of motion of matter, human activity is a condition for the formation of consciousness.

According to its functional purpose, consciousness is a factor in managing human behavior and activities, a generalized reflection and creative transformation of reality.

3. Cognition

Cognition is a form of adequate reflection of reality, a process of acquiring knowledge that has a structure, levels, forms, methods and a concrete historical nature.

Cognition is the process of comprehension by a person or society of new, previously unknown facts, phenomena and laws of reality.

The structure of cognition presupposes the presence of a subject, object and means of cognition. The subject of cognition is an actively acting individual, endowed with consciousness and goal-setting, or a group of individuals (society). The object of cognition is what the activity of a person (subject) is directed to. The subject and the object of cognition are in constant interaction.

The theory of knowledge (epistemology) studies the nature of knowledge, the prerequisites and criteria of the cognitive process. Agnostics denied the possibility of knowing the world in principle. Skeptics, unlike agnostics, only doubted the possibility of knowing the world. Most scientists and philosophers are convinced that the world is knowable.

Knowledge is considered as a result of cognitive activity, the presence of certain information, as well as a set of skills for performing any activity. Human knowledge is recorded in appropriate material carriers (books, floppy disks, magnetic tapes, disks), stored in human memory and transmitted from generation to generation.

4. Rational and sensory cognition

A feature of rational cognition is the dominant role of reason (from the Latin ratio). A person can cognize the world on the basis of the preliminary work of thought, which presupposes the construction of an ideal scheme of activity. The rationalist initially works out his actions mentally, for him the main idea is, he prefers to follow the established norms. The rational way of knowing is based on the position that the world is reasonable, it is based on some kind of rational principle. Therefore, rationalism is the ability of a person to work with ideal objects, to reflect the world in terms. European civilization is characterized as a rational civilization. She has a reasonable, rational approach to reality, a pragmatic way of solving problems. Reason, reason, logic - these are the components of a rational way of knowing.

Thus, the laws of logic are proclaimed as the universal basis of rationalism. The rationalists include Descartes, Leibniz, Fichte, Hegel. The latter belongs to the programmatic thesis of rational cognition: “What is reasonable is real; and what is real is reasonable. "

Therefore, rationalism in cognition declares that the main sources of cognitive activity are not experience and experiment, but reason and ideas independent of experience. Rationality in cognition requires the scientist to identify the universal, independent, from sensory impressions. Scientific rationality is associated with the history of the development of science and natural science, with the improvement of the system of cognition and with methodology.

Rational cognition is opposed to sensory cognition, which, in contrast to rationalism, considers human sensibility as the source and basis of cognition. The entire content of cognition is derived from the activity of the sense organs. It is in sensations that a person's connection with the outside world is reflected, the readings of the sense organs are interpreted as the channel that provides a reliable reflection of the outside world. The most consistent representative of this trend in antiquity was Epicurus. Proponents of sensory cognition have come to the conclusion that human consciousness is initially a "blank board" on which experience writes its data. They also own one more catch phrase: "There is nothing in the mind that would not have been in feelings before." This emphasizes the role of experiential knowledge. Supporters of sensory knowledge include Bacon, Hobbes, Locke, Helvetius, Diderot, Holbach.

In modern philosophy, the limitations of both rational and sensory cognition are overcome. The process of cognition appears as a complex process of interconnection and interaction of the sensory and rational, and includes data from the senses, and procedures for their mental, logical ordering, rational and sensory forms of cognition.

The goal of scientific knowledge is to achieve truth. Disputes about the concept of truth and its criteria do not subside to this day, having more than 2.5 thousand years of history. Aristotle owns the definition of truth, which has become classical: truth is the correspondence of thought and object, knowledge and reality. In modern Western literature, the classical concept of truth is called correspondence theory.

However, the question arises, what should correspond to what? For Hegel, reality must correspond to the absolute idea. Materialists are trying to prove the correspondence of our ideas to reality, the identity of thinking and being. Various philosophical schools refer to the criteria of truth different signs: universality and necessity (Kant), simplicity and clarity (Descartes), logical consistency, general validity (Bogdanov), as well as utility and frugality. The Russian philosopher P. Florensky argued that truth is "truth", that which is, and it is given with immediate evidence in experience. There is an aesthetic criterion for truth, according to which truth lies in the inner perfection of the theory, in the simple (beautiful) form of equations, and in the grace of proofs. There are logical truth criteria that are used in mathematics and require proof.

The inclination to cognitive activity is inherent in man by nature. One of the distinguishing abilities of humans that distinguishes them from the animal kingdom is the ability to ask questions and seek answers to them. The ability to ask complex, deep questions indicates a developed intellectual personality. Thanks to cognitive activity, the individual improves, develops, and achieves the desired goals. In addition to knowing the world around, a person knows himself, this process begins from the first years of life.

Cognition begins with the perception of the surrounding space, into which the baby is immersed from the moment of birth in this world. The baby tastes different objects: toys, his own clothes, everything that comes to hand. Growing up, he already begins to comprehend the world through thinking, comparing and collating different information, observations, facts.

The need for knowledge inherent in man can be explained by the following reasons:

1. The presence of consciousness.
2. Inborn curiosity.
3. Striving for truth.
4. Propensity for creative activity (interconnected with cognition).
5. The desire to improve their own life and the life of the whole society.
6. Striving to anticipate and overcome unforeseen difficulties, for example, natural disasters.

Cognition of the world around us is a continuous process, it does not stop after graduation from school, university, or retirement. As long as a person is alive, he will strive to comprehend the secrets and laws of the universe, the surrounding space, himself.

Types and methods of cognition

There are many methods and ways to gain knowledge about the world around you. Depending on the predominance of sensory or mental activity of a person, two types of cognition are distinguished: sensory and rational. Sensory cognition is based on the activity of the senses, rational - thinking.

The forms of cognition are also distinguished:

1. Everyday (household)... A person gains knowledge based on his life experience. He observes the people around him, the situations, the phenomena he encounters every day throughout his life. On the basis of this experience, a person makes up his own idea of ​​the world and society, it is not always true, often mistaken.

Example. Marya Ivanovna, a mathematics teacher in high school, believes that all students cheat. She made such an opinion thanks to her rich life experience, having worked at school for more than 10 years. But, in reality, her conclusions are erroneous, exaggerated, because there are guys who do all the tasks on their own.

1. Scientific knowledge... It is carried out in the process of a purposeful search for objective knowledge that can be proven in theory and practice. Methods of scientific knowledge: comparison, observation, experiment, generalization, analysis. Theorems, hypotheses, scientific facts, discoveries, theories become the result of scientific knowledge. If you open any school textbook, most of the information contained in it is the result of long-term scientific knowledge.
2. Religious knowledge- belief in divine and demonic forces: God, angels, the Devil, devils, the existence of heaven and hell. It can be based on belief in one single God, or many Gods. Religious knowledge also includes beliefs in mystical forces, the supernatural.
3. Artistic cognition- perception of the world based on ideas of beauty. Cognition is realized through artistic images, means of art.
4. Social cognition - a continuous process of acquiring knowledge about society as a whole, individual social groups, a person in society.
5. Philosophical knowledge based on an interest in the search for truth, comprehension of a person's place in the surrounding world, the universe. We are talking about philosophical knowledge if the questions are asked: "Who am I", "For what purpose was I born?" "What is the meaning of life?"

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Sensory cognition

Sensory cognition is the first type of cognitive activity available to humans. It is carried out through the perception of the world on the basis of the activity of the sense organs.

• With the help of sight, an individual perceives visual images, forms, and distinguishes colors.
• Through touch, he comprehends the surrounding space by touch.
• Through the sense of smell, a person can distinguish over 10,000 different smells.
• Hearing is one of the main senses, in the process of cognition, with its help, not only sounds from the surrounding world are perceived, but knowledge is also disseminated.
• Special receptors located on the tongue allow a person to feel 4 basic tastes: bitter, sour, sweet, salty.

Thus, thanks to the activity of all senses, a holistic idea of ​​an object, object, living being, phenomenon is formed. Sensory cognition is available to all living beings, but it has a number of disadvantages:

1. The activity of the senses is limited, especially in humans. For example, a dog has a stronger sense of smell, an eagle has a stronger vision, an elephant has a hearing, an echidna has a sense of touch.
2. Sensory cognition often excludes logic.
3. Relying on the activity of the senses, the individual is drawn into emotions: beautiful images evoke admiration, an unpleasant smell - disgust, a sharp sound - fright.

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According to the degree of cognition of the surrounding space, it is customary to distinguish the following types of sensory cognition:

• 1 view - sensation... It represents a separate characteristic of an object, obtained through the activity of one of the senses.

Example. Nastya smelled hot bread, passing along the street, it was brought by the wind from the bakery, where bread was baked. Petya saw a shelf with oranges in the shop window, but he did not have the money with him to go in and buy them.

• 2 view - perception... This is a set of sensations that creates a complete picture, a general image of an object, phenomenon.

Example. Nastya was attracted by the delicious smell, went into the bakery and bought bread there. It was still hot, with a crispy crust, and Nastya ate half of it at dinner. Petya asked his mother to buy oranges at home, in the store opposite the house. They were large, bright in color, but tasted sour and disgusting. Petya could not finish even one fruit completely.

• 3 view - presentation... This is the memory of an object, an object previously studied, thanks to the activity of the senses.

Example. Feeling the familiar smell of bread, Nastya immediately wanted to dine, she remembered well the crisp crust, fresh hot loaf. Petya, having visited a friend's name day, grimaced at the sight of oranges on the table, he immediately remembered the sour taste of the recently eaten fruit.

Rational cognition

Rational cognition is cognition based on logical thinking. It differs from the sensual in important characteristics:

• The presence of evidence. If the result of sensory cognition are sensations obtained from one's own experience, then as a result of rational cognition - facts that can be proved using scientific methods.
• The consistency of the knowledge gained... Knowledge is not isolated from each other, they are interconnected in a system of concepts, theories, forms separate sciences.

Example. History is a science based on rational knowledge. All knowledge gained with its help is systematized, complementing each other.

• The presence of a conceptual apparatus... Thanks to rational knowledge, concepts are created, definitions that can be used in the future.

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The methods of rational cognition are:

• logical method (the use of logical thinking in the knowledge of something);
• synthesis (connection of separate parts, given into a single whole);
• observation;
• measurement;
• comparison (identification of differences, similarities);

All existing sciences and teachings were created on the basis of rational knowledge.

Information search methods

In modern times, information search has become one of the ways to cognize the surrounding world. A wide variety of media greatly increases the cognitive capabilities of a person. So, cognition is carried out through:

• printed publications (newspapers, books, magazines);
• the Internet;
• television;
• radio broadcasting;

With the help of the Internet, you can very quickly and easily find almost any information, but it is not always reliable. Therefore, when choosing ways to search for information, you need to be careful, check the data in different sources.

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Example. In 2012, many articles were published on the Internet that foreshadowed the end of the world. Some talked about the fall of an asteroid on Earth, others about global warming and flooding of the land surface. But, it was easy to check this by looking for studies of different scientists about the upcoming natural disasters and comparing their results with each other.

Self-knowledge

From an early age, a person observes his appearance, evaluates his activities, compares himself with others. Every year he learns something new about himself: abilities, character traits, personality traits are manifested. Self-knowledge of a person is not a fast, gradual process. Recognizing their strengths and weaknesses, a person can self-improve and develop.

Self-knowledge consists of several levels:

1. Self-recognition. At the age of 1-1.5 years, the child begins to recognize himself in the mirror, to understand that his reflection is there.
2. Introspection. The individual observes his actions, thoughts, deeds.
3. Introspection. A person realizes his character traits, features, evaluates them, compares them with moral norms. He compares his actions and the results to which they led.
4. Self-esteem. A person develops a stable idea of ​​himself as a person. Self-esteem can be objective, veiled, or underestimated.

In addition, self-knowledge can be directed by a person to his own mental, creative or physical abilities. A separate type is spiritual self-knowledge, in this case a person is interested in the nature of his soul.

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The rich inner world of man

The inner world of a person is his desires, goals, beliefs, worldview, ideas about himself and other people, values. Appearance can be noticed immediately and appreciate its attractiveness, but with the inner world, things are more complicated. At first glance, it is invisible, but over time it manifests itself in communication and human actions.

It often happens that an outwardly unattractive person still evokes sympathy, thanks to his inner qualities. Conversely, a handsome person quickly creates disappointment if he behaves stupidly, boldly, and selfishly. So the inner world and appearance, actions - add up into a single whole, making up a general idea of ​​a person.

Theory of knowledge was first mentioned by Plato in his book "The State". Then he identified two types of cognition - sensory and mental, and this theory has survived to this day. Cognition - it is the process of acquiring knowledge about the surrounding world, its laws and phenomena.

V structure of cognition two elements:

• subject("Knowing" - a person, a scientific community);
• an object("Knowable" - nature, its phenomena, social phenomena, people, objects, etc.).

Methods of cognition.

Methods of cognition summarize at two levels: empirical level knowledge and theoretical level.

Empirical Methods:

1. Observation(study of the object without interference).
2. Experiment(the study takes place in a controlled environment).
3. Measurement(measuring the degree of an object's size, or weight, speed, duration, etc.).
4. Comparison(comparison of similarities and differences of objects).

1. Analysis... The mental or practical (manual) process of separating an object or phenomenon into its components, disassembling and inspecting the components.
2. Synthesis... The reverse process is the unification of components into a whole, the identification of connections between them.
3. Classification... Decomposition of objects or phenomena into groups according to certain criteria.
4. Comparison... Finding differences and similarities in compared items.
5. Generalization... Less detailed synthesis - unification based on common features without identifying connections. This process is not always separated from synthesis.
6. Concretization... The process of extracting the particular from the general, refinement for a better understanding.
7. Abstraction... Consideration of only one side of an object or phenomenon, since the rest are not of interest.
8. Analogy(identification of similar phenomena, similarities), a more extended method of cognition than comparison, since it includes the search for similar phenomena in a time period.
9. Deduction(movement from the general to the particular, a method of cognition in which a logical conclusion emerges from a whole chain of inferences) - in life this kind of logic became popular thanks to Arthur Conan Doyle.
10. Induction- movement from facts to general.
11. Idealization- the creation of concepts for phenomena and objects that do not exist in reality, but there are similarities (for example, an ideal fluid in hydrodynamics).
12. Modeling- creating and then studying a model of something (for example, a computer model of the solar system).
13. Formalization- an image of an object in the form of signs, symbols (chemical formulas).

Forms of cognition.

Forms of cognition(some psychological schools are simply called types of cognition) are as follows:

1. Scientific knowledge... A type of cognition based on logic, scientific approach, conclusions; also called rational knowledge.
2. Creative or artistic knowledge... (It is - art). This type of cognition reflects the world around us with the help of artistic images and symbols.
3. Philosophical knowledge... It consists in the desire to explain the surrounding reality, the place that a person occupies in it, and how it should be.
4. Religious knowledge... Religious knowledge is often referred to as a kind of self-knowledge. The object of study is God and his relationship with man, the influence of God on man, as well as the moral principles characteristic of this religion. An interesting paradox of religious knowledge: the subject (man) studies the object (God), which acts as the subject (God), who created the object (man and the whole world in general).
5. Mythological knowledge... Cognition inherent in primitive cultures. The way of cognition among people who have not yet begun to separate themselves from the world around them, who identified complex phenomena and concepts with gods, higher powers.
6. Self-knowledge... Cognition of one's own mental and physical properties, self-understanding. The main methods are introspection, introspection, the formation of one's own personality, comparing oneself with other people.

To summarize: cognition is a person's ability to mentally perceive external information, process it and draw conclusions from it. The main goal of cognition is both to master nature and to improve the person himself. In addition, many authors see the goal of knowledge in a person's striving for

Definition 1

Human cognition- this is one of the most important integral aspects of the formation of a human worldview and worldview. Generally speaking, cognition is a phenomenon, a process of acquiring knowledge by a person. It is primarily a process of reflection and explanation of visible and invisible reality and reality.

Object of cognition- a very flexible element, since it can be everything that exists, which is not even subject to human knowledge or reason. The source and way of knowing is human feelings, intuition and reason. It is these three forms of cognition that constitute the modern concept of epistemology - the theory of cognition. Thus, rational and empirical knowledge arises, which can both coexist in harmony and oppose each other.

Picture 1.

Sensory cognition

Definition 2

Sensory cognition is the starting point for mastering reality, since this is the initial form of human cognition. All our ideas, images and concepts are formed through sensory reflection, the main object of which is the empirical world of processes, phenomena and things.

Nevertheless, each person, on the basis of personal life experience, can independently make sure that the sensory aspect of cognition is not always true, since emotions are not always able to adequately reflect our surrounding world. For example, you can dip a spoon in a glass of tea or a stick in water. Our visual perception will tell us that the stick has broken, but it will remain unchanged, only the "broadcast" of these elements will change. What, then, can be said about the diversity of opinions based on auditory, gustatory perceptions and sensations of different people.

Thus, all the problems of cognition, which is based on sensory data, are born immediately, as soon as we begin to approach it, even if we are talking about inanimate nature. Nevertheless, they increase to a much greater extent with the knowledge of the person himself and society as a whole.

The phenomena and processes that take place here quite often simply cannot be reflected through the senses.

Figure 2.

Remark 1

It is also important to note that with regard to the biological component, the organs of sensory perception and reflection in humans are weaker than in animals, which have improved hearing, sight and smell than humans. That is why, if human knowledge was based only on sensory perception, all information about the representation of the world and the world order would be much weaker than that of the animal world.

Rational cognition

However, unlike animals, man has reason and intelligence, on which rational knowledge is based. At this level, we are dealing with conceptual reflection, abstractions, theoretical thinking. It is at this level that general concepts, principles, laws are formulated, theoretical models and concepts are built that provide a deeper explanation of the world. Moreover, the cognitive process is carried out not only in the form in which it exists in the thoughts of an individual person, but mainly in the form of a general socio-historical process of the development of knowledge.

Individual human cognition is conditioned and mediated by social cognition, the world-historical process of the development of knowledge.

Unity of knowledge

But sensual and rational cognition are not in irreconcilable contradiction, they do not deny, but dialectically complement each other. The initial knowledge about the world, obtained through the senses, contains those images and ideas that constitute the initial level of the cognitive process.

Nevertheless, the mind produces the formation of these sensory images and ideas. Thus, in cognition there is a dialectical interaction of its rational and sensory forms. It is important to keep in mind that the necessities and needs of a person are one of the most important driving forces for the development of knowledge, and the socio-historical practice of people serves as the most important criterion for its truth, as well as the basis and main goal of cognition.

Figure 3.

In its dialectical unity, sensory and rational knowledge is capable of penetrating rather deeply into the world of objective truth. However, neither feelings nor reason should be especially deceived by their capabilities and abilities in claims to knowledge and explanation of the world and man.

In the structure of the nature of cognition, the lion's share of healthy cognitive skepticism is settled, since the more the volume and scope of human knowledge increases, the more clearly there is an awareness and expansion of the circle of the unknown. In other words, the growth of knowledge implies the growth of its problem area.

Remark 2

All new discoveries reveal not only one power, but at the same time the limited abilities of the human mind and prove that error and truth are inextricably linked in the integral process of developing knowledge. In addition, it is necessary to turn your attention to the fact that the procedure of cognition is endless, that this process can never be completed, since the world has no boundaries and it is diverse in its changes and development.

The role of the intelligentsia is that it is the bearer of the spirit (culture, knowledge), creating new paradigms and criticizing the obsolete.
Human cognition develops within the framework of a contradiction: sensory perception - abstract thinking, subject to the primacy of sensory perception.
At the first stage of human cognition - mythological - consciousness first appears as the social consciousness of the community. A single consciousness is still a mold of social consciousness as a result of the reflection of mythology in consciousness. Mythology is the tool with which "the objective is for it (that is, for consciousness) the essence" - Hegel's correct description of the mythological stage of cognition and the consciousness corresponding to it. Thus, human cognition begins not with abstract thinking, but with the sensory perception of the human community, which realizes the primacy of relatively abstract thinking. Cognition at the first stage takes place within the framework of the communal consciousness and is tested by the practice of the community. The abstract thinking of the individual develops under the control of mythology, which at that time was not a set of ideas and rules, but a system of social actions that were the basis for a system of ideas (the objective is the essence for him).
But the development of abstract thinking under the control of social practice allowed him, at the second stage of cognition, to break free from the yoke of the sensory perception of the community and raise his consciousness to self-awareness. The first denial took place in the development of human knowledge. Abstract thinking breaks out of the control of the sensory perception of the community and acquires a certain freedom within the individual, although the individual is forced to be part of the community. Therefore, the primacy of sensory perception over abstract thinking becomes an indirect primacy through a worldview in the form of a conscious mythology, that is, a religious worldview. In this contradiction, self-awareness and the religious stage of cognition arise. Apparently, it continues to this day within the framework of the exploiting system. Sensory perception takes the position of an indirect primacy of relatively abstract thinking through the medium of a religious worldview.

At the first stage of the second stage of cognition, the emerging self-awareness as a denial of the consciousness of the community is based on the liberated abstract thinking of the individual, but still being in the system of concepts of mythology, growing into religion. The freedom of abstract thought, apart from any mysticism, finds expression in the construction of abstract schemes of reality. The desire for the primacy of abstract thinking, even within the framework of mythology, leads to the search for the root causes or fundamental principles of the world among the ancient Greeks in the form of elements or parts of nature and gets the highest expression in Pythogoreism (the whole world is a number) and in Platonism. It should be noted that the so-called line of Democritus or natural philosophy existed, as a continuation of reliance on sensory perception, but it turned out to be just a forerunner of determinism. The limitation of the latter was understood by Epicurus and suggested, along with the law, the existence of chance, which was a revolution in knowledge, since before him it was accepted by default that everything that happens is by the will of the gods, etc. The recognition of the existence of chance, along with the law, undermines the claims of abstract thinking, functioning on the basis of formal logic, to primacy over sensory perception. The highest achievement of the first stage of the religious stage of cognition was the system of Aristotle, built on imparting the properties of essence to the phenomenon, and the latter belongs to primacy. Aristotle's doctrine is a synthesis of the so-called natural philosophy and Platonism, and the primacy belongs to Platonism.

The second stage of the religious stage of cognition manifested itself in the form of scholasticism - freedom of abstract thinking, but in the sphere of religious worldview, through which the primacy of the sensory perception of society over individual abstract thinking was realized. In this way, the first denial was manifested within the framework of the religious stage of cognition. In the origins of scholasticism and its foundations, we find Christianity and the teachings of Jesus - a call for a conscious striving for good, a call for the freedom of abstract thinking, but within the framework of admiration for God, who turned out to be essentially personified by the Law. Preaching a conscious striving for good, for the knowledge of God, Jesus thereby revealed the subjectivity of abstract knowledge regarding social practice (Marx: philosophers must change the world).

So, philosophy developed as abstract knowledge. For example, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) said: "Philosophy is knowledge achieved through correct reasoning and explaining actions, or phenomena, from the causes we know, or producing reasons, and, conversely, possible producing reasons - from the actions we know." Although the role of the philosophy of scholasticism was to create a theory of knowledge, not knowledge. This subjectivity of abstract cognition ended within the framework of scholasticism with the construction of Hegel's system - the abstract theory of cognition of abstract thinking. To explain or, rather, to illustrate the development of consciousness, Hegel was forced to supplement formal logic with dialectics, the transition of the object of research into its opposite, that is, the denial of oneself. However, the desire to remain within the framework of formal logic forced Hegel to subordinate denial to identity, that is, to reduce development to simple repetition, thereby confusing himself and his epigones. Whereas the practice of cognition demanded that formal logic be subordinated to the dialectic of negation, which Marx did later.

The second negation opens the third stage of the religious stage of cognition. Scholasticism experienced a bifurcation with the separation of scientific knowledge from it, which is a synthesis of scholasticism and natural philosophy, that is, the first and second stages of the religious stage of cognition, subject to the primacy of the first stage. Thus, within the framework of the second stage of human cognition, a contradiction between scholasticism and scientific cognition was formed. The emerging scientific knowledge as a theory of knowledge and as a negation of scholasticism adopted the philosophy of positivism, which is based on reliance on the so-called scientific facts. However, they do not take into account the fact that these facts themselves are a derivative of abstract thinking, the result of the work of abstract thinking, which remains in the sphere of the religious worldview. Therefore, such scientific knowledge remains in the captivity of determinism and, consequently, anything new for it becomes a miracle. The Hegelian dialectic of negation was rejected (I am not inventing hypotheses, the empiricists said). However, the transition to the third stage of the religious stage of human cognition occurred not so much at the initiative of the practice of cognition, as under the pressure of the social practice of developing capitalism. This capital control of scientific knowledge has now been perfected within the framework of the scientific grant system.

Thus, human cognition at the third stage of the religious stage of cognition bifurcated into scholasticism and scientific cognition - the scientific picture of the world is opposed to the religious picture of the world and there is a constant struggle between them. From the 19th century until now, the scientific picture of the world is a mosaic of disparate facts and theories, which can only be united by taking a position of development, that is, by accepting development as a primacy of a universal connection. This torn scientific picture of the world cannot successfully resist the religious picture of the world just because it rejects development. At the same time, the spontaneous development of capitalism showed the insufficiency of spontaneous development and the need for the conscious development of society, the conscious management of social processes.

Therefore, the need arose for a second negation within the framework of human cognition - the transition to the third stage of cognition through the bifurcation of scientific cognition, with the formation of a new third stage, which should be called the technological stage of human cognition. It is a synthesis of the first, mythological, and second, religious, stages, subject to the primacy of the mythological stage, and the leading feature of this second negation will be the acceptance of development as the starting point of cognition. As a result, a contradiction arose within human cognition - a technological stage versus a religious stage, and it is thanks to this contradiction that scientific cognition within the framework of the religious stage of cognition retains its primacy over scholasticism. The second negation within the framework of human knowledge began by Marx, creating an economic theory of the development of capitalist production and showing the need to replace it with communist production with the help of the dictatorship of the proletariat. However, it should be noted that Marx assumed a simple negation of capitalism, that is, in the image of the first negation, as, say, feudal relations replaced slave-owning ones. In reality, the transition from capitalism to communism is a second negation, that is, not a replacement with a transition to the opposite, as in the first negation, but a synthesis. Similarly, in the field of cognition, the second negation with the formation of the third stage means a synthesis of the first and second stages. The resulting contradiction between the technological and religious stages of cognition is manifested by the contradiction between formal logic and dialectics, determinism and development, which permeates the practice of cognition. Any new knowledge refutes the formal logical system of scientific knowledge, therefore, knowledge is promoted by enthusiasts who are forced to create a new picture of the world as opposed to the established prevailing ideas and who are forced to accept development rather than determinism as a starting point for research.

In the course of the bifurcation of the religious stage of cognition, self-awareness will also experience a bifurcation with the emergence of reason as a synthesis of self-awareness and consciousness, provided the primacy of consciousness. A new contradiction arises in society - reason versus self-consciousness, subject to the primacy of reason. At the technological stage of cognition, the mind uses the concepts that arise in self-consciousness in the system of formal logic in order to create a picture of the world using the theory of development. This can be called a synthesis of knowledge. Consequently, reason presupposes the subordination of formal logic to dialectics (development theory), and self-consciousness is limited by formal logic and, therefore, is forced to absolutize it. Apparently, such a difference is determined by the organic structure of the brain, which allows one to rise to the understanding of a single consciousness not only of oneself (self-consciousness), but also understanding oneself as a part of a developing society, developing social consciousness in the case of reason and the organic impossibility of such an elevation in the case of self-consciousness. for which development is organically unacceptable. The formation of the brain structure necessary for reasonable enthusiasm must begin with educating people in the developmental worldview system, that is, organizing a system of human personality development in society. Reasonable enthusiasts must create an environment for their functioning - a development worldview. Through reasonable enthusiasm, the problem of free will will ultimately be solved. In a consumer society, the majority belongs to consumers, but since an increase in the level of consumption and personal development can only ensure the development of society, consumers depend on reasonable enthusiasts. Consumers, in principle, are not able to raise their self-awareness to reason, since they are only able to consume the knowledge or lies offered to them. These include the characteristic: fear of reality, fear of the truth, that is, intellectual cowardice (http://saint-juste.narod.ru/ne_spravka.html). Whereas intelligent enthusiasts, on the basis of existing knowledge, create a picture of the developing world and obtain new knowledge. The synthesis of knowledge makes the practice of cognition the subject of the development of society.

So, the peak of human knowledge will be the third stage - the stage of the synthesis of knowledge based on the theory of development as a theory of knowledge. But the third stage is formed as a result of the negation of negation and is not a simple negation of the second stage, but a synthesis of the first and second stages. Therefore, scientific knowledge of the second stage will remain the necessary basis for the synthesis of knowledge.

Application. On personality development (https://langobard.livejournal.com/7962073.html)
(cit.) "After all his sincere disputes with the young prisoners, Zubatov comes to the conclusion that most of the revolutionaries are not fanatics at all, they simply DO NOT HAVE ANY OTHER OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES, except to join the underground."
I share the views on the life of Mr. Zubatov - a person, as I understand it, not very good, but very smart.
Ideas, values ​​and ideals are not the issue. Not in the "material interests" of social groups. And not even in the holy of holies for political historians - not in "ripe contradictions"!
Namely, that Zubatov received his sight. When people reach the age at which they passionately want to "invent and build themselves", they must have some satisfying opportunities for this. Consumption in a consumer society, interesting work and career advancement in a society of social mobility, creativity for the creative, science for the scientific ...
If these opportunities to "invent and make yourself" do not exist, then ... then there will be "this and that."
It is probably impossible to come up with such possibilities so that one can completely do without conflict, rebellion, revolution and other "punks". You can't do without it.
There are simple natural rules. Youth (youth) want to live interestingly. Interestingly, it means taking part in something new, so that the "ancestors" could throw: "But you didn't have that!" Well, if you create something new, it will generally be super cool.
Youth differs from childhood in that, in contrast to the desire to play interesting toys and slightly "lead by the nose" of adults, there is a severe impulse-desire - to become someone. Make someone out of yourself.
This is not really a career and career advancement that involves playing by someone else's rules, without an element of self-creation. It is precisely self-creation, invention and manufacture of oneself, self-realization.
Sometimes this is called the striving for freedom, without specifying what kind of freedom is it? Freedom is essentially just independence. I did something myself, I thought it myself, I thought it myself, I felt it myself, I made my choice. If not absolute, then the most effective form of freedom is precisely independent action.
It doesn't matter that sometimes the meaning of this action is simply a break with the environment or some kind of action against the environment. Such "pankuhu" is not always considered independent and free, because it is reactive, not active. Dependent on the denied object. But this is still not so important. It is important that this is still your own action, conceived and carried out in isolation from the environment, and not in accordance with it.