What is spiritual peace? Peace in the soul, silence is a gift from God, grace,the state of the souls of the righteous. All saints were rewarded with peace of mind for their righteous life in Christ. The Lord only occasionally allows simple sinners to experience the state of spiritual peace - the bliss that awaits the souls of the righteous in eternal life.
This is how Nikolai Motovilov describes the moment of the descent of the grace of the Holy Spirit on him with a feeling of spiritual peace, revealed to him through the prayers of St. St. Seraphim of Sarov, and how the saint himself explains what spiritual peace, God’s, is:“How,” I asked Father Seraphim, “can I know that I am in the grace of the Holy Spirit?”
Then Father Seraphim took me very firmly by the shoulders and said to me:
- We are both now, father, in the Spirit of God!... What do you feel now?
- Extraordinarily good! - I said.
- How good is that? What exactly?
I answered:
- I feel such silence and peace in my soul, which I can’t express in any words!
“This, your love for God,” said Father Seraphim, “is the world about which the Lord said to His disciples: “My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, I give to you.” Even though you were quicker from the world, the world loved its own, but "Because you were chosen from the world, for this reason the world hates you. Be of good cheer, for I have conquered the world."
It is to these people, hated by this world, but chosen by the Lord, that the Lord gives the peace that you now feel within yourself; world, according to the apostolic word, every mind is superior. This is what the apostle calls it, because no word can express the spiritual well-being that it produces in those people into whose hearts the Lord God introduces it. Christ the Savior calls it peace from His own generosity, and not from this world, for no temporary earthly well-being can give it to the human heart: it is given from above by the Lord God Himself, which is why it is called the peace of God...
And Nikolai Motovilov felt other similar heavenly feelings in his heart then, being in the grace of the Holy Spirit : “extraordinary sweetness”, “extraordinary joy”, “extraordinary warmth”, “extraordinary fragrance»…
“That’s how it really should be,” the monk explained to him, “because God's grace must dwell within us, in our hearts, for the Lord said: the kingdom of God is within you. By the kingdom of God, the Lord meant the grace of the Holy Spirit. This kingdom of God is now within you, and the grace of the Holy Spirit shines from the outside and warms us, and, filling the air around us with a variety of fragrances, delights our senses with heavenly delight, filling our hearts with unspeakable joy...
Right faith in Him and His Only Begotten Son is sought from God. For this, the grace of the Holy Spirit is given abundantly from above. The Lord is looking for a heart filled with love for God and neighbor... For the Kingdom of God can be contained in the human heart.»
This is a complex system, the elements of which are:
1) spiritual needs in understanding the world around us, in self-expression through the means of culture, art, other forms of activity, in the use of cultural achievements, etc.;
2) knowledge about nature, society, man, oneself;
3) beliefs, strong opinions, based on a worldview and defining human activity in all its manifestations and spheres;
4) belief in the truth of those beliefs that a person shares (i.e., unsubstantiated recognition of the correctness of a particular position);
5) ability for certain forms of social activity;
6) feelings and emotions, in which human relations with nature and society are expressed;
7) goals, which a person consciously sets before himself, ideally anticipating the results of his activities;
8) values, underlying a person’s relationship to the world and himself, giving meaning to his activities, reflecting his ideals.
Values are the subject of a person’s aspirations and are the most important point of the meaning of his life. There are social values - public ideals that serve as the standard of what is proper in various spheres of public life, and personal values - the ideals of an individual, serving as one of the sources of motivation for his behavior. Values are historical in nature; they change with changes in the content and forms of life. However, modern civilization has approached the possibility of developing universal human values, which are based on humanism. Universal human values reflect the spiritual experience of all humanity and create conditions for the realization of universal human interests (i.e., the universal needs of people that are inherent in them regardless of national, age, religious, class or other differences). Universal human values acquire priority over group values, ensuring the full existence and development of each individual.
An important element of a person’s spiritual world is his worldview , which is understood as a set of generalized views on objective reality and man’s place in it, on people’s attitudes towards the surrounding reality and themselves, as well as the beliefs, principles, ideas and ideals determined by these views. The subjects (carriers) of a particular worldview are individuals, groups of people and society as a whole.
The nature of the worldview is determined by the level of historical development of society, the state of its culture, which is why the worldview of a medieval person is so different from a modern one. However, the worldview of people, even living in the same society, is different. This depends on their personal qualities, and on the conditions for the formation of their worldview, and on belonging to various social groups.
There are several types of worldview:
1) ordinary(or everyday), which is based on personal experience and is formed under the influence of life circumstances;
2) religious, which is based on a person’s religious views, ideas and beliefs;
3) scientific, which is based on the achievements of modern science and reflects the scientific picture of the world, the results of modern scientific knowledge;
4) humanistic, combining the best aspects of the scientific worldview with ideas about social justice, environmental safety and moral ideal.
The spiritual world of the individual expresses the inextricable connection between the individual and society. A person enters a society that has a certain spiritual fund, which he has to master in life.
COGNITION
Sample questions
1. Knowledge of the world. Sensory and rational cognition. Intuition.
2. Truth and error. Criteria of truth.
3. Scientific knowledge.
4. Features of social cognition. Social forecasting.
5. Development of knowledge about man.
Knowledge of the world. Sensory and rational cognition. Intuition
Cognition can be defined as a process of human activity, the main content of which is the reflection of objective reality in his consciousness, and the result is the acquisition of new knowledge about the world around him. Scientists distinguish the following types of knowledge: everyday, scientific, philosophical, artistic, social. None of these types of cognitive activity is isolated from the others; they are all closely interrelated with each other.
In the process of cognition there are always two sides: the subject of cognition and the object of cognition. In a narrow sense, the subject of knowledge usually means a cognizing person, endowed with will and consciousness; in a broad sense, the entire society. The object of cognition, accordingly, is either the object being cognized, or - in a broad sense - the entire surrounding world within the boundaries within which individual people and society as a whole interact with it. Also, a person himself can be an object of knowledge: almost every person is capable of making himself an object of knowledge. In such cases they say that self-knowledge takes place. Self-knowledge is both knowledge of oneself and the formation of a certain attitude towards oneself: towards one’s qualities, states, capabilities, i.e. self-esteem. The process of a subject analyzing his consciousness and his attitude to life is called reflection. Reflection is not just the subject’s knowledge or understanding of himself, but also the determination of how others know and understand the “reflector,” his personal characteristics, emotional reactions and cognitive (i.e., related to cognition) representations.
There are two stages of cognitive activity. At the first stage, which is called sensory (or sensitive) cognition (from German sensitiv - perceived by the senses), a person receives information about objects and phenomena of the surrounding world using the senses. The three main forms of sensory cognition are:
a) sensation, which is a reflection of individual properties and qualities of objects in the surrounding world that directly affect the senses. Sensations can be visual, auditory, tactile, etc.;
b) perception, during which the subject of cognition forms a holistic image that reflects objects and their properties that directly affect the sense organs. Being a necessary stage of the cognition process, perception is always more or less associated with attention and usually has a certain emotional connotation;
c) representation - a form of cognition in which a sensory reflection (sensory image) of objects and phenomena is retained in consciousness, which allows it to be reproduced mentally even if it is absent and does not affect the senses. The idea does not have a direct connection with the reflected object and is a product of memory (i.e., a person’s ability to reproduce images of objects that do not currently affect him). There is a distinction between iconic memory (vision) and echonic memory (hearing). Based on the time information is retained in the brain, memory is divided into long-term and short-term. Long-term memory provides long-term (hours, years, and sometimes decades) retention of knowledge, skills, and abilities and is characterized by a huge amount of stored information. The main mechanism for entering data into long-term memory and fixing it, as a rule, is repetition, which is carried out at the level of short-term memory. Krat carpet permanent memory, in turn, provides operational retention and transformation of data directly coming from the senses.
The role of sensory cognition of reality in ensuring the entire process of cognition is great and is manifested in the fact that:
1) the senses are the only channel that directly connects a person with the outside world;
2) without sense organs, a person is not capable of either cognition or thinking in general;
3) the loss of even part of the sense organs complicates and complicates the process of cognition, although it does not exclude it (this is explained by the mutual compensation of some sense organs by others, the mobilization of reserves in the active sense organs, the individual’s ability to concentrate his attention, etc.);
4) the senses provide that minimum of primary information, which turns out to be necessary and sufficient in order to cognize the objects of the material and spiritual world from many sides.
However, sensitive cognition also has some significant drawbacks, the most important of which is the well-known physiological limitations of the human sense organs: many objectively existing objects (for example, atoms) cannot be directly reflected in the sense organs. A sensory picture of the world is necessary, but it is not sufficient for a deep, comprehensive knowledge of the world. Therefore, the second stage of cognitive activity is rational knowledge (from the Latin ratio - reason).
At this stage of cognition, relying on data obtained as a result of direct interaction of a person with the surrounding world, with the help of thinking, they are streamlined and an attempt is made to comprehend the essence of cognizable objects and phenomena. Rational knowledge is carried out in the form of concepts, judgments and inferences.
A concept is a form (type) of thought that reflects the general and essential features of cognizable objects or phenomena. The same object can appear both in the form of a sensory representation and in the form of a concept. According to the degree of generality, concepts can be less general, more general and extremely general. In scientific knowledge, the concepts of particular scientific, general scientific and universal, i.e. philosophical, are also distinguished. In relation to reality (in terms of the depth of its reflection, comprehension and direction), philosophical scientists distinguish four classes of concepts:
1) concepts that reflect the generalities in objects;
2) concepts that cover the essential characteristics of objects;
3) concepts that reveal the meaning and meaning of objects;
4) concepts-ideas.
The next form of rational knowledge is judgment. A judgment is a form of thought in which a connection is established between individual concepts and, with the help of this connection, something is affirmed or denied. When making a judgment, a person uses concepts, which, in turn, are elements of judgment. Although a proposition finds its expression only in language, it does not depend on a particular language and can be expressed by different sentences of the same language or different languages.
Obtaining new judgments based on existing ones using the laws of logical thinking is called inference. Inferences are divided into deductive and inductive. The name “deductive” comes from the Latin word deductio (deduction). Deductive inference is a chain of reasoning, the links of which (statements) are connected by relations of logical consequence from general statements to specific ones. In contrast, inductive inferences (from Latin inductio - guidance) are arranged in a chain in sequence from particular to general. Through deductive reasoning, a certain thought is “derived” from other thoughts, while inductive reasoning only “suggests” a thought.
Rational cognition is closely related to the reflected reality, that is, with sensory cognition, which serves as its basis. However, in contrast to sensory cognition, which exists in consciousness in the form of images, the results of rational cognition are fixed in sign forms (systems) or in language. Rational cognition has the ability to reflect the essential in objects, while as a result of sensitive cognition, the essential in an object or phenomenon is not distinguished from the inessential. With the help of rational cognition, the process of constructing concepts and ideas occurs, which are then embodied in reality.
However, although sensory and rational knowledge play a huge role in obtaining new knowledge, nevertheless, in many cases they are not enough to solve any (especially scientific) problems. And then intuition plays an important role in this process.
Intuition is a person’s ability to comprehend the truth through its direct assimilation without justification with the help of any evidence. Intuition-This is a specific cognitive process that directly leads to new knowledge. The prevalence and universality of intuition is confirmed by numerous observations of people both in everyday conditions and in non-standard situations in which, having a limited amount of information, they make the right choice of their actions, as if having a presentiment that they need to act this way and not otherwise.
A person’s intuitive ability is characterized by the following features:
1) the unexpectedness of the solution to the task;
2) lack of awareness of the ways and means of resolving it;
3) the direct nature of comprehending the truth.
For different people, intuition can have different degrees of distance from consciousness, be specific in content, the nature of the result, the depth of penetration into the essence of a phenomenon or process. The intuitive work of thinking occurs in the subconscious sphere, sometimes in a state of sleep. Intuition should not be overestimated, just as its role in the process of cognition should not be ignored. Sensory cognition, rational cognition and intuition are important and mutually complementary means of cognition.
Truth and error. Criteria of truth
The essence of the cognition process is to obtain the most objective, complete and accurate knowledge about the world around us. Different philosophical schools answered the question about the possibility of understanding the world and obtaining true knowledge in different ways. Agnostics believed that it was impossible to obtain reliable knowledge, empiricists believed that this could only be done with the help of sensations, and rationalists argued that only reason could be the criterion of truth.
In the history of philosophy, there are various definitions of the concept “truth”. The classic definition is that truth is the correspondence of a person’s thoughts to the surrounding reality. In modern science, the most commonly used definition is the following: truth is the correspondence of the acquired knowledge to the content of the object of knowledge.
A characteristic feature of truth is the presence of an objective and subjective side to it.
The objective side shows us the truth in that part of it, the content of which does not depend on us, since it exists in objective reality. The objective side of truth is a prerequisite for such a feature as concreteness. The specificity of truth is the dependence of the acquired knowledge on the connections and interactions inherent in certain phenomena, on the conditions, place and time in which they exist and develop.
The subjective side points to the fact that truth is always subjective in its form, since when it is received in the process of cognition, there is an interaction between the object and the subject of cognition, in which the consciousness of the latter takes a direct part.
It is customary to distinguish between absolute truth and relative truth. Absolute truth is complete, unchangeable, once and for all established knowledge about any object or phenomenon. However, in reality this is practically unattainable. In most cases, we are dealing with relative truth (or truths), which is incomplete, limited, correct only under certain conditions, knowledge that a person (humanity) possesses at a given stage of its development.
Almost any truth is objective in its content, but relative in its form.
Philosophers distinguish several types of truth: ordinary (everyday), scientific (which, in turn, is divided into truth in the field of mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, history, etc.), moral, artistic, etc. In other words, types truths correspond to types of knowledge.
The driving force of the cognition process, as well as the criterion of truth, is practice. Practice is the active activity of a person in interaction with the material world around him. It is characterized by the following features:
a) purposefulness;
b) objective-sensual character;
c) transformation of the surrounding reality.
Purposefulness is manifested in the creation by people of certain ideal models, which they subsequently strive to embody in the surrounding reality. The object-sensory nature reflects the fact that in the process of practice a person directly encounters material objects. metas of the surrounding world (unlike, for example, mental, spiritual activity, within the framework of which such contact does not occur). And, as a result, it transforms and changes these objects. There are many types of practice:
a) social production (industrial and agricultural production; production of consumer products and means of production);
b) socio-political (creation of the state, formation of parties, reforms of social structures and governing bodies, revolutionary movements, strikes, etc.);
c) scientific-experimental (social, physical, chemical, genetic and other types of experiment);
d) medical or medical (surgical, dental, therapeutic, etc.);
e) family-household, or everyday economic (construction and renovation of housing, gardening, cooking, etc.).
These forms of practice are basic because they cover the most important areas of human life. Moreover, this or that type of cognition has as a criterion of truth a form of practice corresponding to it.
There are other classifications.
Based on the results obtained, a distinction is made between creative (constructive) and destructive (destructive) practices. In terms of content and purpose, practice can be standardized (stereotypical-mechanical), involving repeated reproduction of the same result, and exploratory, aimed at obtaining new, cognitive information. Depending on the subject of activity, practice is divided into individual, microgroup, practice of a social stratum, class, nation (nationality), state, society. Liu-
Any practice always has a social (public) character.
In the process of practice, not only the reality surrounding a person changes, but also the individual himself. Practice affects his senses, consciousness, and thinking. There is mutual enrichment of the individual, society and nature.
But practice is contradictory regarding the nature of the results of knowledge: on its basis, various types of misconceptions are formed. A fallacy is an unintentional discrepancy between any judgments or concepts and a cognizable object. Misconception-it is false knowledge accepted as true. The role of misconceptions in cognition is ambiguous. On the one hand, delusion leads the knower away from the truth and interferes with knowledge. But on the other hand, it can contribute to the creation of problematic situations that serve as an impetus for further study of reality.
In addition to practice, there are other criteria of truth, in particular, formal-logical, which is used in conditions where it is not possible to rely on practice (for example, identifying logical contradictions in mathematical reasoning).
The process of discovering the truth is a long process. Truths can take decades and even centuries to form. In fact, truth is a process; it is in constant development. Along with it, practice also develops, which, in spite of everything, still remains the most reliable criterion for establishing the truth.
Scientific knowledge
Today science is the main form of human knowledge. The basis of scientific knowledge is the complex creative process of the mental and subject-practical activity of a scientist. The general rules of this process, which are sometimes called Descartes' method, can be formulated as follows. in this way:
1) nothing can be accepted as true until it appears clear and distinct;
2) difficult questions must be divided into as many parts as needed to be resolved;
3) research must begin with the simplest and most convenient things to know and gradually move on to understanding things that are difficult and complex;
4) the scientist must dwell on all the details, pay attention to everything: he must be sure that he has not missed anything.
There are two levels of scientific knowledge: empirical and theoretical. The main task of the empirical level of scientific knowledge is the description of objects and phenomena, and the main form of knowledge obtained is an empirical (scientific) fact. At the theoretical level, the phenomena being studied are explained, and the resulting knowledge is recorded in the form of laws, principles and scientific theories, which reveal the essence of the knowable objects.
The basic principles of scientific knowledge are:
1. The principle of causality.
The content of this principle can be conveyed by the famous statement of the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus: “Not a single thing arises without a cause, but everything arises on some basis due to necessity.” The principle of causality means that the emergence of any material objects and systems has some foundations in previous states of matter: these foundations are called causes, and the changes they cause are called consequences. Everything in the world is connected to each other by cause-and-effect relationships, and the task of science is to establish these connections.
2 The principle of the truth of scientific knowledge Truth is the correspondence of the acquired knowledge to the content of the object of knowledge. Truth is verified (proven) by practice. If a scientific theory is confirmed by practice, then it can be recognized as true.
3. The principle of the relativity of scientific knowledge According to this principle, any scientific knowledge is always relative and limited by the cognitive capabilities of people at a given moment in time. Therefore, the task of a scientist is not only to know the truth, but also to establish the boundaries of the correspondence of the knowledge he has received to reality - the so-called adequacy interval. The main methods used in the process of empirical knowledge are the method of observation, the method of empirical description and experimental method.
Observation is a purposeful study of individual objects and phenomena, during which knowledge is obtained about the external properties and characteristics of the object being studied. Observation is based on such forms of sensory cognition as sensation, perception, and representation. The result of observation is an empirical description, during which the information obtained is recorded using language or other symbolic forms. A special place among the above methods is occupied by the experimental method. An experiment is a method of studying phenomena that is carried out under strictly defined conditions, and the latter can, if necessary, be recreated and controlled by the subject of knowledge (scientist).
The following types of experiment are distinguished: 1) research (search) experiment, which is aimed at discovering new phenomena or properties of objects unknown to science;
2) a testing (control) experiment, during which any theoretical assumptions or hypotheses are tested;
3) physical, chemical, biological, social experiments, etc.
A special type of experiment is a thought experiment. In the process of such an experiment, the specified conditions are imaginary but necessarily comply with the laws of science and the rules of logic. When conducting a thought experiment, a scientist operates not with real objects of knowledge, but with their mental images or theoretical models. On this basis, this type of experiment is classified not as an empirical, but as a theoretical method of scientific knowledge. We can say that it is, as it were, a connecting link between two levels of scientific knowledge - theoretical and empirical.
Among other methods related to the theoretical level of scientific knowledge, we can distinguish the hypothesis method, as well as the formulation of a scientific theory.
The essence of the hypothesis method is to put forward and justify certain assumptions with the help of which it is possible to explain those empirical facts that do not fit into the framework of previous explanations. The purpose of testing a hypothesis is to formulate laws, principles or theories that explain phenomena in the surrounding world. Such hypotheses are called explanatory. Along with them, there are so-called existential hypotheses, which are assumptions about the existence of phenomena that are still unknown to science, but may soon be discovered (an example of such a hypothesis is the assumption about the existence of elements of D. I. Mendeleev’s periodic table that have not yet been discovered) .
Based on testing hypotheses, scientific theories are constructed. A scientific theory is a logically consistent description of the phenomena of the surrounding world, which is expressed by a special system of concepts. Any scientific theory, in addition to its descriptive function, also performs a prognostic function: it helps determine the direction of further development of society, the phenomena and processes occurring in it.
Features of social cognition. Social Forecasting
Cognition is the process of human activity, the main content of which is the reflection of objective reality in his consciousness, and the result-gaining new knowledge about the world around us.
The main feature of social cognition as one of the types of cognitive activity is the coincidence of the subject and object of cognition. In the course of social cognition, society gets to know itself. Such a coincidence of the subject and object of cognition has a huge impact on both the process of cognition itself and its results. The resulting social knowledge will always be associated with the interests of individuals - the subjects of knowledge, and this circumstance largely explains the presence of different, often opposing conclusions and assessments that arise when studying the same social phenomena.
Social cognition begins with establishing social facts.A fact is a fragment of an already existing reality. There are three types of social facts:
1) actions or actions of individuals or large social groups;
2) products of material or spiritual activity of people;
3) verbal social facts: opinions, judgments, assessments of people.
The selection and interpretation (i.e. explanation) of these facts largely depend on the worldview of the researcher, the interests of the social group to which he belongs, as well as on the tasks that he sets for himself.
The purpose of social cognition, as well as cognition in general, is to establish the truth. However, it is not easy to establish it in the process of social cognition because:
1) the object of knowledge, and this is society, is quite complex in its structure and is in constant development, which is influenced by both objective and subjective factors. Therefore, the establishment of social laws is extremely difficult, and open social laws are probabilistic in nature, because even similar historical events and phenomena are never completely repeated;
2) the possibility of using such a method of empirical research as experiment is limited, i.e., reproducing the social phenomenon being studied at the request of the researcher is almost impossible. A social experiment is of a specific historical nature and can lead to different (often opposite) results in different societies. Therefore, the most common method of social research is scientific abstraction.
The main source of knowledge about society is social reality and practice. Since social life changes quite quickly, in the process of social cognition we can talk about establishing only relative truths.
Understand and correctly describe the processes occurring in society, discover the laws of social development
This is possible only when using a specific historical approach to social phenomena. The main requirements of this approach are:
1) studying not only the situation in society, but also the reasons that resulted in it;
2) consideration of social phenomena in their interrelation and interaction with each other;
3) analysis of the interests and actions of all subjects of the historical process (both social groups and individuals).
If in the process of cognition of social phenomena some stable and significant connections are discovered between them, then they usually talk about the discovery of historical patterns. Historical patterns are common features that are inherent in a certain group of historical phenomena. The identification of such patterns based on the study of specific social processes in specific societies in a certain historical period is the essence of the specific historical approach and, ultimately, is one of the goals of social cognition.
Another goal of social cognition is social prediction, i.e. obtaining knowledge about the future of society, about what does not yet exist in reality, but what is potentially contained in the present in the form of objective and subjective prerequisites for the expected course of development.
Modern science has about 200 scientific methods, special techniques, logical and technical means of social cognition, of which the main five are:
1) extrapolation;
2) historical analogy;
3) computer modeling;
4) creating future scenarios;
5) expert assessment.
Depending on the content and purpose of social forecasts, there are four main types (types): search, normative, analytical forecasts and warnings.
Search predictions (Sometimes they are called exploratory or realistic), starting from realistic assessments of current development trends in various spheres of social life, and are compiled directly in order to identify what the future may be. Regulatory forecasts, focused on achieving certain goals in the future, contain various practical recommendations for the implementation of relevant development plans and programs. Analytical forecasts, as a rule, are made in order to determine, for scientific purposes, the educational value of various methods and means of studying the future. Warning forecasts are compiled to directly influence the consciousness and behavior of people in order to force them to prevent the expected future. Of course, the differences between these main types of forecasts are conditional: the same specific social forecast may contain signs of several types.
Social forecasting does not claim to have absolutely accurate and complete knowledge of the future: even carefully verified and balanced forecasts are justified only with a certain degree of reliability. The degree of this reliability depends on several factors:
a) on the future for which the forecast is made - close (20-30 years), foreseeable (most of the next century) or distant (beyond the specified limits). In the first case, it is possible to obtain very reliable forecasts; in the second, plausible knowledge predominates; in the third - purely hypothetical assumptions;
b) on the extent to which the given forecast is justified by knowledge of the corresponding laws: the unreliability of the forecast is greater, the more often when constructing it one has to resort to hypotheses about laws instead of the laws themselves;
c) on how systematically the forecast is given, how much it takes into account the entire complexity of the predicted state of society or its individual element.
Thus, social forecasting can be defined as a comprehensive interdisciplinary study of the prospects for the development of human society.
Development of knowledge about man
The search for an answer to the question of how and when man came into being and what his place is in the world around him has a long history.
In primitive forms of religion, plants or animals were considered the ancestors of humans. Later, religious teachings explained the appearance of man on Earth by the will of God. In the 19th century Charles Darwin created the evolutionary theory of human origin, which became the basis of the modern scientific theory of anthropogenesis. According to it, man descended from an ape-like ancestor. However, this theory still causes fierce debate in scientific circles.
As for the philosophical analysis of anthropological problems, its foundations were also laid in ancient times, primarily in the philosophical teachings of the East. Thus, ancient Indian philosophy considered man as a being capable of joining the highest extra-personal values, and called the meaning of human life following the laws established from above (in particular, the endless process of rebirth). In ancient Chinese philosophy, the surrounding world and man were understood as one whole, as a single living organism in which everything is interdependent and interconnected. The ancient Chinese considered the meaning of life to be the desire for harmony, for the perfection of a person’s inner world.
Philosophical anthropology was further developed in Ancient Greece. Ancient Greek philosophy gave man the highest place in the whole world, in the Universe. Man himself was viewed as a microcosm, reflecting the surrounding world (macrocosm). It was believed that man should build his existence in accordance with divine harmony, with the cosmic mind. It was as a microcosm, as a divine creation, that man was considered and later in Christian teaching. Medieval theologians argued that man was created by God, bears the imprint of the divine essence, and the divine principle is embodied in him.
European philosophy of modern times contributed to the emergence of a new view of man - man began to be viewed as a product of natural and social forces. Criticizing theological concepts of the origin of man, some philosophers argued that the environment is the only factor influencing the formation of man.
German classical philosophy continued to develop the position according to which man was understood as “the measure of all things.” Its representatives believed that man is not a passive, but an active subject, endowed with reason and freedom, and must play an active role in the world around him, as well as in the knowledge of this world. I. Kant “introduced” man into philosophy as the central cognitive subject. Kant united all the interests of human reason in three questions: 1. What can I know? 2. What should I do? 3. What can I hope for? Thus, Kant laid the foundation of modern philosophical anthropology. Another German philosopher of this time - G. F. W. Hegel - believed that the main ability of a person should be recognized as his ability to know himself, that self-knowledge is the highest stage of development of the spirit. It was Hegel who expressed, with the help of the triad “man - individual - personality,” the process of development of an individual subject.
The Marxist concept of man also considered him to be a social being. Marx emphasized the enormous role that his work activity, as well as his environment, has on the process of development and formation of a person. Such an assessment of man as an active, active being, as a subject of labor activity and the process of cognition, and subsequently the entire historical process as a whole, was characteristic of European philosophy of the late 19th century.
In the philosophy of the 20th century, the problem of man can be called central. Anthropological knowledge of this time is characterized by several features. Firstly, an important place in it is occupied by the problem of comprehending the inner, spiritual world of man, the logic of his development, as well as the reasons that predetermine the process of man’s self-improvement and the creation of his existence. Secondly, modern philosophers pay attention to the extremely meager set of instincts with which man is endowed by nature. They call man a “non-specialized creature” and believe that it is precisely his weak instincts, which predetermine the rigidity of animal behavior, that gives man the freedom to choose one or another sphere of activity. Thirdly, modern anthropology is trying to solve the problem of the contradiction between the concepts of “universal” and “individual” by introducing the concept of “general individual” into scientific circulation. She considers universal human values in inextricable connection with the actual values of each individual person, rightly believing that only when the rights and interests of each person are guaranteed can we talk about the realization of universal human values.
Without going into a detailed analysis, we will outline four directions in the philosophy of man of the 20th century, which can be characterized as the most significant:
1. Psychoanalytic (3. Freud, E. Fromm);
2. Philosophical anthropology (M. Sheller, A Gelen);
3. Existential (M. Heidegger, J.-P. Sarti A. Camus);
4. Catholic (G. Marseille, J. Maritain, John Paul II, Teilhard de Chardin).
The variety of existing approaches and philosophical movements that deal with issues related to the life and purpose of man and his place in the world around him indicate both the complexity of the above problems and the unrelenting attention to them.
Every thinking person has his own inner world. For some, he is bright and rich, rich, as psychologists say, “a person with a fine mental organization.” Some, on the contrary, have a small room filled with phobias and imposed stereotypes. Everyone is different, unique, and therefore the world inside is different. How to understand this diversity, who is who?
What is the inner world of a person?
Some call it the soul, but this is not entirely true: the soul is unchanging, but the attitude towards the world that leads a person through life can change.
A set of internal character qualities, a way of thinking, moral principles and life position, combined with stereotypes and fears - that is what the inner world is. He is multifaceted. This is a worldview, the mental component of a person, which is the fruit of his spiritual labor.
The structure of the inner world
The subtle mental organization of a person consists of several segments:
Based on all of the above, we can conclude that the inner world is such a clear structure, an information matrix as the basis of a human being. Together with the soul and physical body, they form a person as an individual.
Some people have a very developed emotional sphere: they subtly feel what is happening and notice the smallest changes in the emotions of those around them. Others have extremely developed thinking: they can handle the most complex mathematical equations and logical problems, but if at the same time they are poor on the sensory plane, then they cannot love with all their hearts.
Therefore, it is important if a person wants to unlock the potential inherent in everyone and expand his inner world to unprecedented horizons, in parallel develop all segments of his being.
What does a rich inner world mean?
This term means that a person lives in harmony with himself and the outside world: people, nature. He lives consciously, and does not go with the flow artificially created by society.
This person knows how to create a happy space around himself, thereby changing the outside world. The feeling of contentment with life, despite all the ups and downs, does not leave him. Such a person tries every day to become better than he was yesterday, consciously developing in all areas of his inner world.
Are principles and worldviews the same thing?
Principles are patterned subjective attitudes of the mind towards a situation, people and the world, which often control a person. They are individual for everyone, develop in the process of upbringing and are laid deep in the subconscious by life experience.
The worldview has no templates - it is flexible, but at the same time stable, like bamboo: it can bend strongly, but in order to break it, you will have to try very hard. These are moral values, priorities in choosing a life path and ideas about what life should be like.
What is the difference between the external and internal world of a person?
What is the outside world? This is the space surrounding a person: houses, nature, people and cars, sun and wind. This also includes social relationships and interaction with nature. The organs of cognition - vision, tactile sensations and smell - also relate to the external world. And the way we react to them, experiencing various emotions and feelings, is already a manifestation of the inner world.
At the same time, the inner world of a person is capable of influencing the outer world: if a person is satisfied with life, then his affairs will go well, his work will be a pleasure and he will be surrounded by positive people. If inside a person is irritated or angry, condemns everyone and everything, then nothing works out in everyday life, failures haunt him. Phobias and complexes have a destructive effect on the inner world: they distort the perception of the world and people.
Everything that happens to a person in life is a reflection of his inner state, and if there is a desire to change the world around him, then he needs to start with himself - with the transformation of the inner space.
How to develop your inner world?
What unusual things must be done for the spiritual world to begin to change? Actually do some pretty normal things:
- Proper nutrition. Often the food that people eat poisons not only their body, but also their mind. A person with a fine mental organization will never allow himself to eat another creature, so vegetarianism is the first step.
- Walk outdoors. This also includes traveling to other cities or countries, hiking and just trips out of town or to the sea. There is only one difference - these are not gastronomic tours: eat barbecue, drink beer with friends, try all the pizzas in a new city. Connection with nature is important: lie on the grass, admire the sunset or sunrise, watch the animals.
- Meditation is one of the most powerful tools for development. Just don’t confuse this process with sitting with your eyes closed and legs crossed, waiting for the lesson time to end. Meditation is introspection, a path inside: a person immerses himself in observing his emotions, thoughts, or simply breathing (in the first stages of mastering his mind).
- Reading spiritual books. This does not mean that you need to read the Bible or the Bhagavad Gita; each book has its time, and Pollyanna or The Little Prince are equally highly moral creations.
- The ability to be grateful to everything that surrounds you, everything that happens. Even if it goes against plans. The Universe knows better which way to direct a person towards development.
The development of the inner world implies a strong desire, aspiration and subsequent actions with full awareness of what is happening. “I want” alone is not enough here: it must be followed by “I do” and “regularly.”
How do each of us differ from others? It would seem that we all have the same number of chromosomes, each of us experiences both positive and negative emotions. So what is the difference and why misunderstandings so often arise between us who are so similar, this is the main question of our article.
The inner world of a person is the mental reality of a person, the organized content of his psyche, which contains all aspects of the individual’s conscious spiritual life and his spiritual energy. The inner spiritual world is the initial creation of cultural values and their long-term preservation and dissemination. This concept is a kind of verbal metaphor that defines virtual reality, which is modeled by the interaction of brain neurons.
Psychology of the inner world of man
In the modern world, the soul is synonymous with the inner world, although this is not entirely true. The expansion and development of the spiritual world can occur very rapidly, while the soul can remain unchanged.
The structure of the mental world
The rich inner world of the individual is formed with the help of the components of the spiritual structure of the world.
- Cognition- the need to know something about ourselves and the meaning of our life, our role in this society and what is happening around us. It is this property of our thinking that forms our intellectual platform for further development, trains the ability to obtain new information based on what was already known earlier.
- Emotions– personal experiences about everything that happens to us, some phenomena or events.
- Feelings- emotional states that differ from emotions in greater persistence and duration. Also, feelings have a clearly objective character, in other words, a special focus on something or someone.
- Worldview– a key aspect in studying the inner world of a person. This is a set of views on life, values and moral principles of both your own and those around you.
Worldview plays a significant role in a person’s destiny, because it is thanks to it that we have life guidelines and goals for practical activities. It also allows every woman to identify the main life and cultural values for herself. The development of the inner world occurs through the improvement of all its components presented above. We should also not forget that the development of a worldview depends on the life path that you have already passed, while the spiritual aspects of knowledge can be formed and expanded from the moment you understand yourself as an individual.
Gender differences in mental organization
A current topic for discussion today is the difference in the construction of the inner world of a girl and a guy. For women, the moral values and worldview of a partner play a much more important role than for men. The stronger sex is more focused on perceiving the external characteristics of a companion. The female mental organization is very fragile and unstable, no matter what 
she has character traits. To prevent trauma to the inner world resulting from conflicts with men, women should remember that the opposite sex perceives our personality more superficially, therefore, everything that happens does not take it as “close to the heart” as you do.
The main problem of the inner world is that even today we know little about the principles of its functioning, since there are no tools for studying the motivational-volitional sphere of our activity. Perhaps in the future, such a device will be invented, and we will be able to get rid of wicked thoughts and negative emotions forever.
If a person is faced with complex problems of relationships between people and their own experiences associated with them, he needs to understand the internal mechanisms of the occurrence of these complications. But how is it possible? Only by turning to psychology, only by understanding the complexity and subtlety of a person’s mental world, his soul.
So, the psychic world - how to understand it? As is known, in technology, in the control system, a person is considered as a “black box”, tightly closed with all the locks. Therefore, the main thing is what goes into this box: information, instructions, command, and what comes out: actions, words. Few people care about the processes occurring in the “black box”, the main thing is that they do not interfere with the passage of the necessary information. Such an attitude towards a person gives rise to a feeling of insecurity, leads to a loss of the meaning of life, and the impossibility of revealing one’s individuality. This is one of the reasons for the persistence of the administrative-command system and the technocratic approach to man.
So let's try to open this “black box”, look inside it, that is, into the human soul, into the human mental world.
When we talk about the mental world, we assume that the very concept of “world” is very multifaceted, diverse, contradictory, dynamic, but not chaotic, but has its own internal organization, certain patterns, and relationships. The mental world is both the world of perception and knowledge of the surrounding reality, and a look inside oneself, the world of one’s experiences, relationships with other people. This is the soul of a person. Since ancient times, people have tried to penetrate the secrets of the soul. The human soul is the greatest of all miracles in the world. For thousands of years, philosophers, psychologists, writers, and artists stood in amazement before this miracle, trying to describe, express, and understand the essence of the spiritual and mental properties of a person. And do this not just out of curiosity, but try to master the powers of the human spirit, learn to control human behavior, his spiritual development.
Soul is a concept in which ancient man generally defined and objectified his inner world. In understanding the soul, man approached the concept of the living in its opposition to the inanimate. Initially, the soul was not something alien to the body; it acted as a double of a person, with the same needs, thoughts, feelings and actions. The soul lived a human life. And we still say - the soul rushes about, suffers, hurts, rejoices. The idea of the soul as a different entity was formed later, when the soul began to be interpreted as something fundamentally different from everything that exists in the real world, even giving it a cosmic meaning.
The name "psychology", introduced in a treatise that appeared in 1590, means science of the soul.
Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the great thinker of Central Asia, wrote that a noble soul has ten signs: six humiliate it, and four elevate it. Here are six humiliating signs: meanness, lies, envy, neglect of loved ones, to the misfortune and pain of the people. And what elevates it is generosity, support, strength and pride. The soul must have a “guiding star.” (We would say - the meaning of life, the world of values.) And more words about the internal mechanisms of the soul:
“The five senses from hearing to sight
Given to us for external communication,
And thought and memory are an internal service
They carry, determining all decisions.”
Ibn Sina. Favorites. Tashkent, 1981.
And, indeed, the soul has a very complex internal organization. Sometimes, especially in psychology textbooks, the entire mental world is divided into processes, states and properties. In this case, the integrity and inconsistency of a person’s inner world are lost.
The twentieth century brought significant progress in deepening knowledge about man and his spiritual manifestations.
Behavioral psychology can be called one of the first directions in the development of psychology in the 20th century. Although the theory of behaviorism was formulated in the previous century, its influence on world psychology, in particular on American psychology, where it originated, remains significant today. The credo of behaviorism is expressed by the formula: “stimulus - response,” according to which the subject of psychology is behavior, and not human consciousness (hence the name - from the English behavior). For representatives of this direction: E. Thorndike and J. Br. Watson, behaviorism is a pragmatic theory, and therefore the analysis of behavior must be strictly objective and limited, as in all natural sciences, to externally observable phenomena.
Development of behaviorism in the 20th century. associated with the names of E. Tolman, K. Hull and B.F. Skinner. Tolman formulated two laws of learning (both human and animal): the law of exercise and the law of effect. He experimentally observed how a rat learns to find a path to food in a maze due to the fact that it develops a “cognitive map” of this path, and not a simple sum of motor skills. The “cognitive map” acquired by the animal is reinforced by expectation, and not by itself by the satisfaction of an organic need. Largely thanks to Tolman in American psychology in the 30s and 40s. It has become customary to interpret a person as a large white rat, “immersed in thought.” In the 20th century representatives of behaviorism, defending a deterministic explanation of the mechanisms of behavior, introduced “intermediate variables” associated with cognitive and motivational factors.
Hull introduced the concept of machine-like expediency of behavior and believed that a person can be considered as a robot, machine-like maintaining his existence. Hull's living machine is capable of changing its behavior according to changing conditions. Such machines are unknown to mechanics.
Skinner's main idea was the role of feedback in controlling behavior. Skinner's concept laid the foundations for programmed learning; it introduced the principle of dividing the process of solving a learning task into separate operations, each of which is controlled by reinforcement, serving as a feedback signal.
The second leading direction in the development of psychology in the 20th century. is Freudianism, named after Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), an Austrian physician, psychopathologist and psychologist. Freud himself designated this direction with the term “psychoanalysis.” Freud's discovery was the subconscious - as the source of the primary stimuli of human behavior. Consequently, on the one hand, psychoanalysis is the general theory of the mechanisms of the human subconscious, which has broad significance and serves as the basis for a holistic understanding of man. On the other hand, psychoanalysis is a system of special methods that can be used to study a person’s subconscious in order to cure nervous and mental illnesses.
Among the studies aimed at understanding the most complex and intimate in the organization of the human mental world, the works of the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, his closest associates A. Adler and C. Jung, neo-Freudians: K. Horney, E. Fromm and others stand out.
Z. Freud in his teaching abandoned the traditional division of spiritual and physical and filled the concept of the psyche, the mental world of man, with new content. He tried to look inside the “boiling cauldron” of the human soul and identify what processes are going on there and how they affect a person’s mental and mental health.
In the system of analysis of a person’s mental life created by Freud, the influence of unconscious drives, interests, and motives on a person’s behavior and on the idea of herself and other people was revealed. Using material from psychiatric practice, the complexity and diversity of personality structure, the significance of internal conflicts and crises in its development, and the consequences of unsatisfied desires were traced.
The third significant and widespread direction in psychology of the 20th century. is humanistic psychology. Among its founders is K. Rogers (1902-1987), one of the most influential psychologists of our century. The humanistic approach contains the ideas of existential (existentia - Latin “existence” and Eastern philosophy: Zen Buddhism, for example. At the center of the humanistic concept is the personality - the “I” of each person, his right to be himself, to maintain his integrity and uniqueness, to be free in choosing decisions, to create your life and take responsibility for it. The humanistic approach is characterized by an orientation towards the self-development of the individual, deep respect for his individual position. Therefore, the psychotherapeutic method of K. Rogers is called “client-centered therapy”, i.e. therapy , client-oriented, providing a non-directive style of communication.
This method implies the emergence of deep personal contact, recognition of the unconditional value of each person, and his complete acceptance. Under these conditions, the individual becomes open to all real life experiences, thus realizing his flexibility and freedom.
K. Rogers wrote in one of his works that no matter how pleased a psychotherapist is to demonstrate his erudition and intelligence, he will still do better if he relies on the client and moves in the direction that the latter chooses, since only the client really knows , which is his own problem.
There are five basic principles of humanistic psychology. The first is that man is the end of this movement, and not a means, as in behaviorism. The second is related to the consideration of human properties and relationships themselves: love, freedom, responsibility, faith - as fundamental. The third principle is that humanistic psychology refuses to be a biological science, but becomes a science of the humanities type. The fourth principle recognizes that the true essence of a person lies in his good beginning. And finally, the humanistic method is a rejection of the principle of homeostasis, since it is based on the principle of self-development of the individual.
Currently, the humanistic method is the most recognized method of psychology and psychotherapy throughout the world.
Outstanding representatives of Russian psychology B. M. Teplov, L. S. Vygotsky, S. L. Rubinshtein, B. G. Ananyev, A. N. Leontiev, B. F. Lomov proposed their own, also deeply humanistic approach to the study of the mental world person - personal-activity. They consider a person as a person and individuality with all its inherent characteristics, included in active creative activity.
Let's try, based on the approaches considered, to imagine the features of the human mental world:
space the mental world, like a field on which a person’s mental life unfolds;
dynamics of movement of mental processes, states in time, psychological time;
individualization mental world - is realized in the processes of experiencing;
attitude to oneself and another person, the entry of another person’s mental world into my mental world;
energy charge, which activates my mental world.
Now let’s take a closer look at each component of the human mental world.
The space of the mental world consists, as it were, of two planes - conscious And unconscious. S. Freud was the first to draw attention to the enormous role of the unconscious in the mental life of a person. Previously, it was believed that only physiological processes occur in the unconscious, and everything mental is the sphere of the conscious. Z. Freud showed that consciousness is just the tip of the iceberg, rising above the greater foundation of the unconscious. The role of consciousness, according to Z. Freud, is to organize the unconscious, to distinguish the possible from the impossible, the desired from the actual, the present from the past and future, the real from the unreal. In the unconscious, unlike the conscious, the perceived world merges with a person’s experiences, his attitude to this world, which makes it impossible to control actions and evaluate their results. In the unconscious, the past, present and future can be intricately intertwined (for example, in a dream). What concerns the sphere of the unconscious:
the supraconscious is the pinnacle of the creative process, creative intuition, thanks to which sudden insight occurs;
unconscious motives and semantic attitudes determined by the desired future that has personal meaning;
regulation of automated and involuntary actions, based on past experience of behavior in similar situations (walking skills, writing, etc.);
mental phenomena that are at a subthreshold level of sensitivity.
There are deep genetic roots in the unconscious. C. Jung believed that there are deep formations, which he called archetypes. Archetypes - universal human prototypes - underlie the symbolism of creativity, various rituals, dreams and complexes. Archetypes capture the inherited experience of previous generations.
So, in psychic space the conscious and unconscious are intricately intertwined. This is reflected in the division of the mental space of the individual into three interconnected areas, or, as S. Freud wrote, into three kingdoms - “Super Ego”, “I” and “It”.
"It" - an unconscious system based on subjective needs of a biological or emotional nature. “It” is governed by the pleasure principle; it is inherent in the original desire for pleasure.
"I" - a conscious system that regulates the process of interaction with the outside world, often the “I” goes deep into the unconscious, due to which the synthesis of deep unconscious drives and demands of society is carried out.
"Super Ego" - a kind of moral censorship, the content of which are norms and prohibitions accepted by an individual - this is his conscience. The “Super Ego” also combines the conscious and the unconscious.
As S. Freud wrote, we can say that the “I” in mental life represents common sense and prudence, and the “It” represents uncontrollable passions. Between “I” and “It” a relationship of constant tension is established. Freud compares the relationship between “I” and “Id” to the relationship between a rider and a horse. The horse provides the energy for movement, the rider has the advantage of determining the purpose and direction of movement of a strong animal. The relationship between “I” and “It” is far from ideal. A well-known saying warns against serving two masters. It is even harder for the poor “I”: it serves three strict rulers, trying to bring their claims and demands into agreement. These demands diverge all the time, sometimes seem incompatible - it is not surprising that the “I” often fails to cope with its task.
The three tyrants are: the external world, the “Super Ego” and the “It”. A person experiences the tension in the relationship between “I” and “It” as a state of anxiety and anxiety. If the “Super Ego” establishes that the “I” violates the requirements of society, the person experiences a feeling of guilt. Thus, a person’s mental life is accompanied by constant conflict states. It is the “I” that must soften and resolve these conflicts. Regulation occurs on the basis of the so-called "psychological defense mechanisms" which are associated with the reorganization of conscious and unconscious components of the value system.
Defense mechanisms - these are ways of organizing the temporary mental balance necessary to deal with the difficulties of life.
Freud's psychological defense mechanisms include regression, isolation, projection, identification, sublimation, rationalization, and refusal.
Briefly about the essence of these protective mechanisms. Regression represents a mental synthesis of traumatic impressions based on deep childhood experiences. M. Zoshchenko in his book “The Tale of Reason” writes: “I lived through my memories with trepidation. With trepidation I remembered my youthful life. My first steps. My first love encounters. Yes, there is no doubt - I avoided the woman. I avoided and at the same time strived for her. I strove for her in order to escape from her, frightened by the expected retribution. Scenes from an infant’s life played out in my adult years... I was afraid of what scared a baby... I remembered a murder scene I saw as a child... “Thanks to regression, emotional and psychological barriers are formed, which a person often overcomes with great difficulty , sometimes with the help of psychologists and psychotherapists.
Insulation - withdrawal from society, from other people, immersion deep into oneself; sometimes leads to a tragic ending.
Projection - transferring one's emotional states to another person. They say: he took his anger out on someone or stuck to someone like a bath leaf.
Identification - identifying oneself with any person (psychotherapist, doctor...), it can often combine fear and love.
Sublimation - translation of rough, carnal desires into the sphere of feelings and sublime interests. Sublimation, according to Freud, contributes to the flow of energy into creative processes.
Rationalization - searching for a reasonable basis for behavior, justifications for impulsive actions.
Refusal - unconscious ignorance of events in the external or internal world. Sometimes this type of protection is called sensory or perceptual deafness. A person seems to stop hearing and seeing something that has a very strong emotional impact on him. It occurs quite often, especially in relations between managers and subordinates. The boss reprimands or reads long moral lectures, but the person switches off and does not hear him, and turns on only when he shouts: “Are you deaf or something?” Yes, indeed, “I became deaf and blind,” but this - a way of psychological protection from the influence of another person.
Everything that happens in mental space is in constant, contradictory, dialectical movement and development, has a certain extent, i.e. characterized by time indicators.
Time in psychology is a multifaceted concept. What is it connected with? First of all, with the influence of biological rhythms on the dynamics of mental processes. The perception and evaluation of time intervals vary depending on the condition. For example, in an extreme situation, the perception of time is disrupted - sometimes it seems that it lasts forever, sometimes it flashes by instantly...
There are also personal and psychological characteristics of the perception of time. Thus, sanguine and choleric people underestimate time, they always lack it, they are constantly in a hurry and are still late. Phlegmatic people overestimate time, are in no hurry and take their time. Melancholic people most accurately assess time intervals, therefore they allocate their time more clearly.
At the socio-psychological level, there is a reflection of social time, specific to various social communities, cultural and historical conditions. On a historical scale, the patterns of a person’s awareness of the historical past and future are very important, as well as the relationship of this awareness with one’s own past and future, the possibility of overcoming the limitations of individual life in its various forms: belief in the immortality of the soul or understanding of one’s role and place in the development of humanity.
The latter is closely related to the concept of psychological time, i.e., reflection in the mental world of a person of a system of temporary relations between the events of his life path. What does it include? psychological time:
assessment of the sequence and speed of various life events;
experiences of compression and elongation, limitation and infinity of time;
belonging of life events to the present and remoteness to the past or future;
awareness of age, idea of probable life expectancy.
Psychological time does not directly reflect the chronology of events in a person’s life, but is determined by a complex system of interdependent inter-event connections such as “cause - effect”, “goal” - means"; changes occurring in the mental space of a person.
Let's talk a little about age awareness, about psychological time personality. The concept of “age” is multifaceted. There are four subtypes: chronological (passport), biological (functional), social (civil) and psychological. Psychological age is very closely related to the concept of psychological time and, above all, to how a person evaluates his age in the inner world.
Marietta Shaginyan wrote: “I was young at eighty-five years old. I was so young that I seemed younger than my previous twenty years.” Some young people find this statement very strange. But in fact, there is a certain pattern in how people of different age groups assess their age. Thus, during the experiment, young people (from 20 to 40) and older people (from 40 to 60) assessed their age. It turned out that the younger a person is, the older he seems to be, and also, with an overestimation of age, he perceives others. A girl who didn’t get married at 23 considers herself an old maid, and 30-year-olds even more so old.
After 40 years, the opposite trend is observed - people usually perceive themselves as younger than they actually are. And the older they get, the younger their soul becomes, but, unfortunately, biology reminds a person of his age.
Psychological age has some characteristic features:
measured on the “internal reference scale” of each individual;
within certain limits it is reversible, i.e. a person can become younger and older due to an increase in the share of the psychological future or a decrease in the psychological past;
may not coincide in different spheres of a person’s life (in his personal life, in the business sphere);
may be accompanied by psychological crises at certain age periods.
Age-related crises are like “turning points,” psychological turning points in a person’s life path. At what chronological age are these fractures possible?
In childhood - 6-7 years; for teenagers - 12-14 years; for boys - 18-19 years old, 25-26 years old. And then fractures occur every decade - 30, 40, 50, and so on until 70, and then every 5 years. It’s as if a person sums up his life for a decade and makes plans for the future. The psychological crisis in 40-year-olds is assessed as a mid-life crisis. The strength of this crisis is determined by how large the discrepancy is between the goals, ideas, plans set in youth, and how they are implemented. A midlife crisis helps a person rethink the part of his life he has lived and outline the prospects for life in such a way as to remain active and needed by people.
M. Zoshchenko in “The Tale of Reason” evaluates the case of a man who was in a car accident - his upper lip was cut and he was immediately taken to the hospital. A female surgeon, in the presence of a patient who could not speak due to injury, asked a friend accompanying him: “How old is he?” He replied: “40 or 50, what’s the difference?” The woman doctor said: “If it’s 40, we’ll do plastic surgery, if it’s 50, then I’ll sew it up like that.”
The victim made negative gestures and showed four fingers (that he was 40). The patient underwent plastic surgery. Everything went well, the scar was small, but the moral shock was strong.
The man forgot that the car had hit him, his shock was elsewhere - he could not forget the surgeon’s words about fifty-year-old people whose lips can be sewn up the way mattresses are sometimes sewn up, by quilting with a coarse thread over the edge. This mental pain of an aging man remained with him for a long time.
Throughout his life, a person experiences five main periods: birth, maturation, maturity, aging and old age. Each age period has its own characteristics (they are described in sufficient detail in the literature)*. We would like to dwell on just some of the problems.
* See: Rybalko E. F. Developmental psychology. L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House, 1990.
In creative professional activity there are several phases: start, culmination (peak) and finish.
As studies by American and Soviet psychologists have shown, there are two professional peaks. The first peak occurs at the age of 30-35, when “minds are fresh”, a person makes discoveries, inventions, and offers something completely unknown to him. The second peak is associated with the wisdom and maturity of a person with extensive life experience - age 50-60 years; such a person is capable of generalizations, creating his own school, and can be a wise organizer and leader.
Man as an individual, personality, constantly develops, although some psychophysiological functions are subject to the aging process: vision, hearing, involuntary memory and attention, reaction time.
Any person must know the psychological characteristics of each age period: instability and maximalism of youth; high performance and professionalism of an adult; increased sensitivity, interest in communication, fatigue in older people.
What content is it filled with? psychic space? First of all, this is the information that a person receives from the external and internal world. It is presented in the form of images, words, non-verbal signs. Information can be accumulated in a person’s long-term memory, and he relies on it in his life and activities, or it can be current or, as they say, operational, necessary to resolve suddenly arising situations and problems. Information is in motion, is involved in a person’s mental activity, and is transmitted to other people. A very important point is the organization of information in time and space.
In addition to information in its direct perception, a person has some products of information processing: signals, myths, codes, in which certain content is accumulated in a concentrated form in mental space. Symbolism plays an important role - signs that reflect the content fixed by traditions or relationships. The symbol most closely corresponds to the object being designated; its important property is its historically established content, which cannot simply be changed. In psychoanalysis, the symbol is interpreted in connection with people’s inclinations towards myth-making, i.e. the creation and assimilation of certain images that help to perceive and explain events occurring in the world. There is a universal, national, group symbolism, enshrined in conventional signs, rituals, traditions and customs. K. Jung connects symbolism with the manifestation and revelation through it of deep archetypes. Thus, in our society, over the 75 years of its existence, a deep subconscious psychological content has developed, manifested in certain myths that cannot be quickly overcome. The content of the psyche also includes the symbolism of behavior, or non-verbal behavior (gestures, facial expressions, postures), which we decipher when communicating with another person (more on this in the second section of the book).
Individualization of the mental world- this is the realization of a person’s individuality, his uniqueness, originality. All impressions affecting a person pass through his inner world, which has its own content, its own characteristics, in a word, subjective. The same event, a work of art, is assessed subjectively, which is quite natural and, conversely, the unnatural desire is to force all people to see and act in the same way, to fit everyone to the same standard. We will talk in more detail about the individuality and psychological portrait of a person a little later. And now about the experience. Let's think about the word itself - experience. A person experiences any event, becomes involved in it, passes it through himself.
In psychology, experience is considered in several meanings: an emotionally charged state that arises in the human mental world under the influence of external and internal influences;
the process of a person’s choice of motives and goals of activity, accompanied by the presence of aspirations and desires;
a form of activity that arises when ideals and values collapse and manifests itself in a rethinking of one’s existence, sometimes leading to a psychological crisis.
Experiences help a person to find a personal meaning of current events; through them the process of individualization of a person’s mental world occurs. We can probably say that a person who has experienced grief and misfortune will better understand the troubles and sorrows of another. But at the same time, not every experience leaves a deep mark on a person’s soul.
A very important factor that activates a person’s mental life is energy charge, psychic energy. S. Freud wrote that there must be a special energy that must be used as the basis for mental processes. He himself considered the main type of stimulating energy to be libido, that is, sexual energy. Science has not yet found the main sources of psychic energy.
A person is not alone in the world, he lives in society and constantly comes into contact with other people, therefore other people constantly enter the mental world of each of us, occupy a certain place there, create a good or bad mood for us. The famous psychoanalyst K. Horney noted that people, interacting with each other, form a kind of socio-psychological field. Every person has a need for a certain amount of contacts aimed at realizing love, friendship, and comradely feelings. K. Horney divided needs into three types: those directed towards people, against people and from people. For most people, one type of needs usually dominates, due to which psychological types of character also differ: in terms of contact, aggressiveness, isolation, openness. But a person can realize all these needs only in society and through other people. In some situations, a person is forced into constant communication and compliance, in others - into struggle and dominance, in others - into isolation.
Depending on exactly how the social balance is deformed, one of the elements of “basic anxiety” begins to intensify in it - fear, helplessness, hostility, a feeling of abandonment and loneliness. K. Horney characterized three social types.
Compliant type directed towards people, he is characterized by the desire to join a group, to a more influential, strong personality, he suppresses his aggressive aspirations, but does not really like people.
Aggressive type directed against people, has an idea of life as a struggle of all against all, other people are enemies for him. The main thing for him is victory and control over others, he does not trust anyone. Views attachments and sympathies as weaknesses.
Disconnected type directed from people, he develops emotional barriers in relation to other people. Close contacts cause him anxiety; he tries to suppress his emotions and refrain from evaluating other people.
The founder of transactional analysis, E. Berne, tried to reveal the deep layers of human interaction in his teaching. The main idea of his theory is that inside each person there live, as it were, several people and each of them at one time or another controls the person’s behavior. These three human ego states are: “Parent” (P), “Adult” (C), “Child” (D).
"Parent" is a source of social continuity, it includes social attitudes of behavior learned from external sources, mainly from one’s parents and other authority figures. On the one hand, it is a set of useful, time-tested rules and guidelines, on the other, it is a repository of prejudices and prejudices.
"Adult" - source of realistic, rational behavior; this condition, by the way, is not related to age (remember children growing up after some tragedy). Being focused on the objective collection of information and full responsibility for his actions, the “adult” acts in an organized, adaptive, reasonable manner, calmly assessing the likelihood of success and failure of these actions.
"Child" - the emotional principle in a person; this state of “I” includes all the impulses naturally inherent in a child: gullibility, tenderness, ingenuity, but also capriciousness, resentment, etc. It also includes early childhood experience of interacting with others, ways of reacting and attitudes adopted in relation to oneself and others (“I am good, others find fault with me,” etc.). Outwardly, D is expressed, on the one hand, as a childish direct attitude to the world (creative enthusiasm, naivety of a genius), on the other hand, as archaic childish behavior (stubbornness, frivolity, etc.).
Any of the named ego states can situationally or constantly prevail in a person, and then he feels, thinks and acts within the framework of this state. He may suddenly begin to perceive his surroundings and act from the point of view of his childhood self-attitude (“I am a nice boy, everyone should admire me,” “I am a weak child, everyone offends me”) or look at the world through the eyes of his parents (“I need to help people ", "You can't trust anyone").
In a life perspective, the ego state develops in a person in the following sequence: in a newborn, on an emotional and sensory basis, a “childish” state of “I” immediately begins to form (tactile, visual and vocal contact with the child is important here as a form of recognition of the fact of his existence); then the “parental” state of the “I” develops on the basis of imitation of the behavior of parents and educators (the presence of observable behavioral models is important here, in particular, the behavior of parents visible from the outside in relation to brothers, sisters, other family members, other people and objects in general), including their inherent forms of recognition of the value of people and objects; finally, the “adult” state of the “I,” chronologically grounded in childhood, develops as the growing child searches for meaning in the surrounding reality, in the meanings of the scientific and practical paradigm that is characteristic of a given society, era and immediate social microenvironment. Recognition of the “adult” in a person is carried out by society (but through its living representatives!) by endowing him with various symbols of social success, which open the way to the fulfillment of various official and professional roles.
The rigid predominance of one of the positions in a person has its disadvantages. Those in whom the “parent” prevails try to constantly give advice and instructions, pestering others with various instructions. In an “adult”, seriousness and objectivism can turn into some coldness and dryness. In a “child,” emotionality and instability give rise to self-indulgence, arrogance, and boastfulness. The optimal option is when a person has all three conditions in equal proportions, which is extremely rare.
The very presence of three states naturally affects people’s communications. When we come into contact with another person, we usually unconsciously choose one of three positions.
Thus, speaking from the position of R, we begin to teach, criticize, guide, evaluate, reproach, condemn; we become people who know everything in the world and have our own point of view on everything. We do not doubt anything, we are responsible for everything, we demand from everyone, but at the same time we protect everyone, console everyone, etc.
Speaking from position B, we think soberly, carefully weigh, analyze logically, do not give in to moods, do not have complexes, etc.
