Философия. Учебное пособие (практикум) на английском языке

Philosophy ●

5.The axiological function of philosophy is that it provides grounds for a balanced assessment of people’s actions and social phenomena of the world in terms of moral, ethical, social, ideological and other values.

6.The humanistic function of philosophy is to change the person himself, his inner world and self-consciousness, to cultivate humanistic values and ideals, to help a person adapt to the world around him and to find the meaning of life.

The role of philosophy is especially increasing on the fractures of history in times of fundamental changes, when a person puts before himself, society eternal questions about his essence, the meaning of life, the prospects of social development.

Test questions and tasks

1.What are the historical types of worldview preceded philosophy? Why philosophy is the highest historical type of worldview?

2.What requirements must be met by the world, to become philosophy?

3.Why religion and mythology are considered the origins of philosophy? What do they have in common?

4.Describe the relationship between philosophy and science. What are the characteristics, attributes and criteria of scientific knowledge?

5.What is the practical meaning of the study of philosophy? Why philosophical problems have not lost their relevance at the present time?

6.What, in your opinion, is the educational function of philosophy? What is the role of philosophy in the education of tolerance and harmony in the modern world?

7.What is the place of philosophy in modern culture?

8.Task № 1. Prepare an essay on the theme: «The place of philosophy in the education of tolerance and harmony in the modern world.»

9.Task №2. Prepare a report on the theme: «The relationship of philosophy and religion in the modern world».

Literature

Basic: 1–2.

Additional: 1–4.

Internet-resources: 1–5.

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2. Philosophy

of Ancient World

The aim: to reveal features of ancient Indian, ancient Chinese and ancient

Greek philosophy, to characterize philosophical schools and their influence on further development of philosophical thought.

The formed competences: ОК-1,ОК-5.

Knowledge and skills which the students acquire as a result of mastering of the theme, the formed competences or a part of it.

As a result of mastering the theme, students acquire:

•the knowledge of the main problems and directions of philosophy of Ancient World;

•skills to use fundamental knowledge of ancient philosophy in professional activities;

•ability to critical analysis of leading philosophical doctrines of Ancient World.

The actuality of the theme is conditioned by the need to form a culture of

philosophical thinking of modern man, which is impossible without studying the philosophical heritage of the past.

Plan

1.The main features of the philosophy of the Ancient East.

2.The origin of Ancient Greek Philosophy.

3.The classic period of The Ancient Philosophy.

4.The philosophy of Hellenism.

Theoretical part

In the first question, it is necessary to identify the prerequisites for the emergence of the first philosophical teachings. Describing the ancient Eastern philosophy (India, China), it is important to note the following. Firstly, it was formed in the conditions of despotic States, where the human personality was absorbed by the external environment. Inequality, rigid caste division largely determined the socio-po-

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litical and moral-ethical problems of philosophy. Secondly, the great influence of mythology (which had zoomorphic character), ancestral cult, totemism affected the lack of rationalization and system of Eastern philosophy. Thirdly, unlike European philosophy, Eastern philosophy is autochthonous.

The disclosure of the ancient Indian philosophy, it is important to point out its symbolic and religious nature, to note the role of the Vedas in the formation of philosophical doctrines. In this context, the student needs to understand what Vedas are, what their significance is for the development of world culture. It is also necessary to characterize the main schools: Orthodox (mimansa, nyaya, vaisheshika, sankhya, yoga, vedanta) and Unorthodox (jainism, buddhism, lokaya- ta, charvaka).

Consideration of Chinese philosophy should begin with the identification of historical and cultural features of the ancient Chinese state. This is important in order to understand the meaning and purpose of the philosophy of Ancient China. Next, it is necessary to reveal the peculiarities of the main philosophical schools: daosism, confucianism, moism, legism, school of names. It is important to note that the characteristic feature of ancient Chinese philosophy is the statement of universal dualism of the world, in the other words, its division into two opposite beginnings: Yin and Yang.

The second question. Before considering the basic ideas of the Ancient Philosophy it is necessary to analyze the main characteristics of Ancient Greek Philosophy and the stages of its development.

The main characteristics of Ancient Greek Philosophy.

1.The conditionality of philosophy the peculiarities of the ancient Greek society.

2.The transformation of philosophy into an independent activity associated with contemplation, isolation from the practical life of society.

3.The main idea is cosmocentrism.

4.At a late stage appears the synthesis of cosmocentrism and anthropocentrism.

5.In Greec philosophy it was allowed the existence of gods that were a part of nature and close to people.

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6.There were formed two directions – idealistic (the”line of Plato”), and materialistic (the”line of Democritus”).

The main stages of the development of Ancient philosophy.

1.Presocratic (VII–V centuries BC.) – Milesian school, the school of the Pythagoreans, the school of Heraclitus of Ephesus, Elijah school, atomists.

2.Classic period (V cent. – end of IV century BC): a) early period (sophists, Socrates) b)high classics (Plato, Aristotle).

3.Roman and Hellenistic period (end of IV cent. BC – V century AD).

The origin of the Ancient Greek Philosophy. The Ancient Greek

philosophers have played a pivotal role in the shaping of the western philosophical tradition. The Ancient Greek philosophical tradition broke away from a mythological approach to explaining the world, and it initiated an approach based on reason and evidence. The Western philosophical tradition began in ancient Greece in the 6th century BC.

The first philosophers are called “Presocratics” which designates that they came before Socrates. The Presocratics were from either the eastern or western regions of the Greek world. Athens – home of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle – is in the central Greek region and was late in joining the philosophical game. The Presocratic’s most distin- guishing feature is emphasis on questions of physics; indeed, Aristotle refers to them as “Investigators of Nature”. Their scientific interests included mathematics, astronomy, and biology.

Main features presocratic philosophical schools:

•Cosmocentrism;

•Attention to the problem of explaining environmental phenom-

ena;

•Problem of fundamental principle;

•The hylozoism (the animation of inanimate nature)

The first group of Presocratic philosophers were from Ionia. The Ionian philosophers sought the material principle (archê) of things, and the mode of their origin and disappearance.

Milesian school got its name from the city in which it existed. The representatives of the Milesian school are: Thales, Anaximander, Anaksimen.

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Basic ideas:

•they formed materialist positions;

•they engaged not only in philosophy, but also in other Sciences;

•they tried to explain the laws of nature;

•they looked for the fundamentals -the substance from which the world arose.

Thales was the founder of Milesian school, one of the first scien-

tists. Thales of Miletus is reputed the father of Greek philosophy.

Philosophical views:

•He declared water to be the basis of all things;

•He represented the earth as a flat disk, which rests on the water ;

•Thales believed, that inanimate nature has soul;

•He allowed the existence of many gods;

•Thales considered that the center of the Universe is Earth;

•He determined the duration of the year (365 days) and made a number of mathematical discoveries.

Anaximander as a learner of Thales considered “Apeiron” as the

first principle of all things is (eternal, unchanging substance from which everything arises and into which everything turns).

Anaximenes a learner of Anaximander considered air as the first principles of all things. All substances on earth are the concentration of air.

Heraclitus of Ephesus assumed as the principle of substance aetherial fire. From fire all things originate, and return to it again by a neverresting process of development. All things, therefore, are in a perpet- ual flux. However, this perpetual flux is structured by logoswhich most basically means ‘word,’ but can also designate ‘argument,’ ‘logic,’ or ‘reason’ more generally. The logos which structures the human soul mirrors the logos which structures the ever-changing processes of the universe.

His basic ideas are the following:

•continued the materialistic ideas of the representatives of the

Milesian school;

•the first principle of all things he considered fire;

•he believed that the whole world is in constant motion and change(“to the same river cannot enter twice”;

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•as the universal God he considered Logos as World the mind;

•he believed that the human soul is material;

•he supported the sensitive cognition of reality.

Philosophy was first brought into connection with practical life by Pythagoras of Samos, from whom it received its name: “the love of wisdom”. Regarding the world as perfect harmony, dependent on number, he aimed at inducing humankind likewise to lead a harmonious life.

Basic views:

•The first principles of all things he onsidered the number (the whole surrounding reality can be reduced to a number and measured using the number);

•Pythagoras considered the number as the foundation of the knowledge;

•He considered a unit as the smallest particle.

Eleas are the representatives of the Eleatic school, which existed in the V century BC in Elea (Parmenides, Zeno, Xenophanes).

Philosophical views:

•they studied problems of knowledge;

•they believed that everything is a material expression of ideas;

Atomistic – materialistic philosophical school, whose members

(Democritus,Leucippus)asthefundamentalprincipleconsideredtiny particles – atoms.

Democritus is the founder of the materialistic approach in philosophy (“the line of Democritus”- the opposite to the “line of Plato” – the idealistic direction).

The basic ideas of the philosophy of Democritus:

•the whole material world consists of atoms, the smallest indivis- ible particles;

•atoms have different size and different shape;

•between atoms there is a space filled with emptiness;

•atoms are in constant motion;

•it’s impossible to see atoms by sensitive cognition.

Preparing to the third question it is necessary to understand that a new period of philosophy opens with the Athenian Socrates. This period is known as the classic period of the Ancient Philosophy. Socrates was an enormously magnetic figure, who attracted many followers, but

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he also made many enemies. Socrates was executed for corrupting the youth of Athens and for disbelieving in the gods of the city. This philosophical martyrdom, however, simply made Socrates an even more iconic figure than would have been otherwise, and many later philosophical schools took Socrates as their hero. Of Socrates’ numerous disciples many either added nothing to his doctrine, or developed it in a one-sided manner, by confining themselves exclusively either to dialectic or to ethics.

So Socrates was the founder of ethical philosophy, according to which any knowledge is good, and any evil is committed by ignorance.

The importance of the ideas of Socrates:

•Socrates contributed to the dissemination of knowledge among citizens;

•The Philosopher looked for answers to moral problems of good, evil, love, honor;

•He opened the method of maieutics, which is widely used in ed- ucation;

•Socrates introduced the dialogical method in the knowledge.

Main aspects of the genius of Socrates were first united in Plato

of Athens, who also combined with them many the principles established by earlier philosophers, and developed the whole of this material into the unity of a comprehensive system. The groundwork of Plato’s scheme, though nowhere expressly stated by him, is the threefold division of philosophy into dialectic, ethics, and physics; its central point is the theory of forms.

Plato is the founder of objective idealism in philosophy. His basic ideas are the following:

•material things are changeable, unstable and subsequently cease to exist;

•the surrounding world – the “world of things” also has a tempo- rary character;

•only a” world of ideas” exists. “ World of ideas” is filled with pure ideas (Eidos), which are eternal and constant;

•any kind of thing is a material reflection of the original idea;

•in the theory of knowledge he believed, that only ideas can be

the subject of true knowledge. They cannot be cognized by sensitive cognition.

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Plato investigated the problem of the state. There are seven types of state, the highest is the ideal state, which does not yet exist. Among thesixotheronesphilosopherhighlights:monarchy(justpowerofone person),tyranny(unjustpowerofoneperson),aristocracy(justpower oftheminority),oligarchy(unjustpoweroftheminority),democracy (justpowerofthemajority),timocracy(theunjustpowerofthemajor- ity). The optimal forms of government are aristocracy and monarchy.

The school founded by Plato, called the Academy (from the name of the grove of the Attic hero Academus where he used to deliver his lectures) continued for long after. In regard to the main tendencies of its members, it was divided into the three periods of the Old, Middle, and New Academy. The chief personages in the first of these were Speusippus (son of Plato’s sister), who succeeded him as the head of the school, and Xenocrates of Chalcedon. Both of them sought to fuse Pythagorean speculations on number with Plato’s theory of ideas. The two other Academies were still further removed from the specific doctrines of Plato, and advocated skepticism.

The most important among Plato’s disciples is Aristotle of Stagira (384–322 BC), who shares with his master the title of the greatest philosopher of antiquity. In the series of works collected under the name of Organon, Aristotle sets forth the laws by which the human understanding effects conclusions from the particular to the knowledge of the universal.

LikePlato,herecognizesthetruebeingofthingsintheirconcepts, but denies any separate existence of the concept apart from the par- ticular objects of sense. They are inseparable as matter and form. In matter and form, Aristotle sees the fundamental principles of being. Matter is the basis of all that exists; it comprises the potentiality of everything, but of itself is not actually anything. A determinate thing only comes into being when the potentiality in matter is converted into actuality. This is effected by form, inherent in the unified object and the completion of the potentiality latent in the matter. Although it has no existence apart form the particulars, yet, in rank and estimation, form stands first; it is of its own nature the most knowable, the only true object of knowledge. For matter without any form cannot exist, but the essential definitions of a common form, in which are included

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the particular objects may be separated from matter. Form and matter are relative terms, and the lower form constitutes the matter of a higher (e.g. body, soul, reason). This series culminates in pure, immaterial form, the Deity, the origin of all motion, and therefore of the generation of actual form out of potential matter.

All motion takes place in space and time; for space is the potenti- ality, time the measure of the motion. Living beings are those which have in them a moving principle, or soul. In plants the function of soul is nutrition (including reproduction); in animals, nutrition and sensation; in humans, nutrition, sensation, and intellectual activity. The perfect form of the human soul is reason separated from all connection with the body, hence fulfilling its activity without the help of any corporeal organ, and so imperishable. By reason the apprehensions, which are formed in the soul by external sense-impressions, and may be true or false, are converted into knowledge. For reason alone can attain to truth either in cognition or action. Impulse towards the good is a part of human nature, and on this is founded virtue; for Aristotle does not, with Plato, regard virtue as knowledge pure and simple, but as founded on nature, habit, and reason. Of the particular virtues (of which there are as many as there are contingencies in life), each is the apprehension, by means of reason, of the proper mean between two extremes which are not virtues – e.g. courage is the mean between cowardice and foolhardiness. The end of human activity, or the highest good, is happiness, or perfect and reasonable activity in a perfect life. To this, however, external goods are more of less necessary conditions.

General characteristics of Aristotle’s teachings:

1.Aristotle formulated the concept of philosophy. He highlighted the types of philosophy. The first philosophy is metaphysics, it studies the problems of being and the origin of everything. Other types are physics (teaching about nature), practical philosophy, aesthetics and logic.

2.In the doctrine of being, he criticized Plato for tearing the “world of ideas” away from the real world. The true being is a thing (individual) that has causes (formal, material, moving, for special purpose.)

3.The Philosopher created the doctrine of categories, formulated ten categories, with the help of which we can characterize being. Based on this, being Aristotle understands as an entity (substance), having the

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properties of quantity, quality, place, time, relationship, position, state, action, suffering.

4.Aristotle made a significant contribution to the development of logic, gave the concept of deductive method (from private to general).

5.He believed that a man is a collective being, he differed a man from an animal by the presence of thought and reason.

6.Aristotle identified six types of state. He shared the “bad” forms of government (tyranny, extreme oligarchy, protection (power of crowds)) and good forms (monarchy, aristocracy, polity (mixture of moderate oligarchy and moderate democracy).

In the fourth question students should characterize the philoso-

phy of Hellenism which is the closing period of Greek philosophy. The philosophical approaches of this period are: Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, Cynicism Neoplatonism.

The representatives of Stoicism are: Plutarch, Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius. Their ideas are based on the following principles:

•they called to live with nature and the Absolute cosmic mind;

•the virtue is the only good for man, and the main Vice is evil;

•pessimistic view of life, the call to submit to her fate.

Stoics proposed the following principles of behavior: Autarky-in- dependence, isolation, from society; Ataraxia-equanimity, serenity; apathy-dispassion.

The same goal which was aimed at in Stoicism was also approached, from a diametrically opposite position, in the system founded about the same time by Epicurus. Epicureanism, like Stoicism, is connected with previous systems. Like Stoicism, it is also practical in its ends, proposing to find in reason and knowledge the secret of a happy life, and admitting abstruse learning only where it serves the ends of practical wisdom.

The Epicureanism (Epicurus) formulates the doctrine of nature and space (physics); the doctrine of knowledge (canonics); the doctrine of man and his behavior (aesthetics).

The Epicuristic understanding of man is based on the following postulates:

•man is the result of biological evolution;

•the human soul is mortal as is the body;