Философия. Учебное пособие (практикум) на английском языке

Philosophy ●

•a person should strive for happiness when he alive ;

•the main principle of human existence is pleasure (lack of suffering, health, doing what you love);

•the norm of life must become rational limits of desires and needs, also wisdom.

Skepticism. The practical tendency of Stoicism and Epicurean-

ism, seen in the search for happiness, is also apparent in the Skeptical School founded by Pyrrho of Elis. Pyrrho disputes the possibility of attaining truth by sensory apprehension, reason, or the two combined, and thence infers the necessity of total suspension of judgment on things. Thus can we attain release from all bondage to theories, a condition which is followed, like a shadow, by that imperturbable state of mind which is the foundation of true happiness.

Kinism – (Antisthenes, Diogenes) is a philosophical school, which justified the idea of freedom outside society. They denied wealth, ig- nored the state and the family, denied traditional culture, morality. The purpose of man should be calm and freedom from power and any work.

Neoplatinism. The closing period of Greek philosophy is marked in the third century CE by the establishment of Neoplatonism in Rome. Its founder was Plotinus of Lycopolis in Egypt and its emphasis is a scientific philosophy of religion, in which the doctrine of Plato is fused with the most important elements in the Aristotelian and Stoic systems and with Eastern speculations. At the summit of existences stands the One or the Good, as the source of all things. It emanates from itself, as if from the reflection of its own being, reason, wherein is contained the infinite store of ideas. Soul, the copy of the reason, is emanated by and contained in it, as reason is in the One, and, by informing matter in itself non-existence, constitutes bodies whose existence is contained in soul. Nature, therefore, is a whole, endowed with life and soul. Soul, being chained to matter, longs to escape from the bondage of the body and return to its original source. In virtue and philosophic thought soul had the power to elevate itself above the reason into a state of ecstasy, where it can behold, or ascend up to, that one good primary Being whom reason cannot know. To attain this union with the Good, or God, is the true function of humans, to whom the external world should be absolutely indifferent.

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Greek philosophy was eventually extinguished by the hostility of Christianity towards other beliefs. Many of the followers of Greek philosophy were forced to move to Syria and other eastern countries to escape persecution by the Christian authorities. Many of the books they carried with them were translated into other languages. It would not be until the crusades, almost one thousand years later, that Greek philosophy would be rediscovered by the Greek and Roman worlds.

In this lesson you will perform multimedia presentations.

Topics of multimedia presentations

Basic level

1.Specific features of philosophical teachings of Ancient China.

2.The role of the doctrine of Confucius in the development of Chinese and Japanese cultures.

3.Cosmocentric character of ancient Greek philosophy.

4.The problem of the ultimate beginning in the Milesian school.

5.The teachings of Pythagoras and early Pythagoreanism.

6.The Atomism of Democritus.

7.The problem of cognition in Plato’s philosophy.

8.Aristotle’s philosophical views.

Increased level

1.Originality of philosophy in Ancient India.

2.The influence of Chinese philosophy on aesthetic views and ar- tistic practice of the Far East (modern, postmodern).

3.Religious and philosophical motives in the epic of Ancient Greece.

4.The philosophical teachings of Pythagoras on the number as the first principle of the world.

5.The theory of the state in the philosophy of Plato.

6.The major epistemological and ethical problems of the philoso- phy of Socrates.

7.Aristotle’s ethical views.

8.The ideal of man in the philosophy of the Stoics.

Philosophy ●

The structure of multimedia presentations slide 1: title of the presentation, the author; slides 2,3: main ideas of the presentation;

slides 4,5: quotes confirming the ideas of the speech; slides 6,7: specific examples, facts;

slide 8: summary and conclusions.

Test questions and tasks

1.What role did religion play in the formation of philosophical teachings of the Ancient East? What is the symbolic and religious meaning of the early forms of philosophizing?

2.What is the ancient Indian form of worldview gives a system of getting rid of human suffering? Explain your answer.

3.What do you see as the main difference between Daocism and Confucianism? Can we call Daocism oppositional worldview?

4.Describe the key areas of philosophical thought of Antiquity.

How did the subject of philosophy change in Antiquity?

5.Many of the first philosophers were both naturalists, who did a lot for the development of natural Sciences. What explains such a close relationship between natural science and philosophical knowledge?

6.Why are Socrates’s ideas relevant to our time?

7.What is Plato’s “world of ideas”?

8.What are the arguments against Plato’s theory of ideas Aristotle?

9.Why the philosophy of Aristotle is considered the pinnacle of the development of ancient philosophy?

10.How is the spiritual state of the late antique society reflected in philosophical schools of the corresponding period?

11.What is the influence of the philosophical teachings of Antiq- uity on the development of European science? Explain your answer.

Literature

Basic: 1–2.

Additional: 1–4.

Internet-resources: 1–5.

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3. Philosophy of Modern Times and the period of Enlightenment

The aim: to justify the role of science of the XVII century in the for- mation of philosophical doctrines, to analyze the features of empiricism and rationalism, to describe the philosophical approaches to the problem of substance, to show the characteristic features of the Enlightenment philosophy.

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:

•knowledge of the main philosophical problems of the Modern time;

•skills to use knowledge of philosophy of Modern times and Enlightenment in future scientific activity;

•ability the critical analyses of the main philosophical doctrines of the period of Modern time.

The actuality of the theme is conditioned by the necessity to form a cul-

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

Plan

1.General characteristics of the philosophy of Modern Times.

2.English philosophy of the XVII–XVIII centuries.

3.Rationalistic European philosophy of the XVII–XVIII centuries.

4.The main features and directions of the philosophy of French Enlightenment.

Theoretical part

In preparing the first question students should pay attention at the fact that the philosophy of Modern times differs from the Ancient and medieval philosophies by the nature of the main problems.

The era of Modern times promotes independence of mind, liberation from the authorities of the past. The philosophy of Modern times was formed in the XVII century in connection with the bourgeois rev-

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olutions in England and the crisis of feudalism. The development of bourgeois society generated not only economic and political changes, but also people’s consciousness. An important factor in such changes was science, especially experimental and mathematical science.

The main features of the Modern Times Philosophy.

1.In the philosophy of Modern times new methods of cognition were formed.

2.The main problems became the problems of gnoseology.

3.Science was seen as a way for transforming the world. Knowledge should be based on experience and enlarge human power in its use of nature.

4.There was a new way of philosophizing, which was called classical, associated with the recognition of the mind by the highest authority.

5.In Modern Times philosophy the metaphysical way of thinking was prevailed. It was based on the denial of the idea of universal connection and development.

In Modern times two philosophical directions were formed: empiricism and rationalism.

Empiricism is a philosophical direction whose representatives be-

lieved that the base of knowledge is experience. It was widely spread in England.

Rationalism (from lat. Ratio-the mind) – is the direction in philosophy, according to which the foundation so of Being as of knowledge is mind.

Rationalism has two directions – ontological and gnoseological. According to the ontological direction, the basis of existence is a reasonable beginning. According to the gnoseological direction, the basis of the knowledge is also reason.

So, rationalists were against the medieval theology and scholastics. They also were opposed empiricism, which regarded the experience as the basis of knowledge.

In the second question students must characterize the peculiarities of the English Modern Times Philosophy. The outstanding representatives of this philosophy were: F. Bacon, J. Locke, T. Hobbes, J. Berkeley, D. Hume.

The English philosopher Francis Bacon, the founder of empirism in the Modern Times, believed that philosophy had to be above all prac-

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tical: where it remained scholastic and speculative, it was not true. Bacon said of schoolmen that their wit and mind works upon itself, as the spider works his web – admirable for the fineness of thread and work but of no substance or profit. Bacon formed the knowledge which is based on the methodology of experimental natural science. The conclusions of science must be made on facts and serve as the basis for broad generalization. The inductive method, introduced by Bacon and implying observation, analysis, comparison, experiment, fully suited experimental knowledge.

So, the basic ideas of Bakon’s philosophy are:

1.The knowledge is based on experience. The main tasks of knowledge and experience are to help people to achieve practical results in its activities, to promote new inventions, economic development.

2.The main method should be induction. Under the induction the philosopher understood the generalization of many individual phenomena and on their base the receiving of new knowledge.

3.The philosopher identifies specific ways in which cognitive activity can take place. These are: “the way of spider”, “the way of ant”, “the way of bee”.

A)”the way of spider“ means the receiving knowledge from the pure mind, that is, in a rationalistic way. This way is not effective.

B) “the way of ant” is a way of the receiving knowledge only experience, that is dogmatic empiricism. Such a way, according to Bacon, is not effective.

C) ”the way of bee“ Bacon considers the ideal way. Using it, the researcher adds all the advantages of the previous ways and at the same time frees them from the shortcomings.

Thus, the best way of knowledge is empirism, based on induction

using rationalistic techniques.

4. F. Bacon not only showed what ways the process of cognition should take place, but also highlighted the reasons that prevent a person from obtaining true knowledge. These reasons philosopher called “ghosts” (“idols») and defines four types of them: ghosts of origin; ghosts of cave; ghosts of market; ghosts of theatre.

The ghosts of origin and ghosts of cave are innate misconceptions of people, which consist in mixing the nature of knowledge with their

Philosophy ●

own nature. For example, the ghosts of origin are associated with the fact that a person’s belonging to a certain culture leaves an imprint on the achievement of true knowledge.

The ghosts of market and the ghosts of theatre are acquired misconceptions. They usually connected with incorrect and inaccurate use of words, definitions.

Bacon recommended maximally to abstract from “ghosts” and to receive “the pure knowledge”, which is free from their influence.

5. Bacon attempted to classify science.

The basis of the classification were the properties of the human mind: memory, imagination, reason.

Historical sciences correspond to memory, poetry – to imagination; philosophy – to reason. Bacon defines philosophy as the science of God, nature, man.

The meaning of Bacon’s philosophy.

•Bacon’s philosophy had a huge impact on the further development of English philosophy;

•Bacon was the founder of an empirical direction in philosophy;

•Thanks to Bacon, gnoseology has risen from the secondary branch of philosophy to the level of ontology and has become one of the two main approaches of any philosophical system.

Bacon’s views were developed by Thomas Hobbes. He saw the

motion of matter as the movement of bodies in space, that is to say, as mechanical motion, and he viewed not only all natural bodies but also man and society as mechanisms. Unlike Bacon, Hobbes resolutely rejected religion, and believed it to be incompatible with science, al- though his view of religion was not consistent: he reserved for it a place in society as a means of holding the masses in check. Hobbes believed that all knowledge is attained through sensations, but in his epistemological writings he stressed the importance of reason, and especially the mathematical operations of intellect.

The main subject of his philosophical interests is – gnoseology and the problem of the state.

In gnoseology Hobbes believed that man cognize through sensual knowledge; the source of cognition is the external senses; things form ideas affecting the sense organs; each idea is indicated by the word.

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The basic principles of the interpretation of State are:

•the origin of the state is a social contract. It means that for the purpose of mutual survival, people entered into a social contract.

•Inordertopreventa“warofallagainstall”,acommoninstitution

(mechanism) has been established to regulate life in society.

•In order to effectively carry out its very difficult functions, main- tain order in society, the state must be strong.

The XVII-th and XVIII-th centuries in England were marked by the development of sensualism, of which the most prominent proponents were John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume.

The English philosopher John Locke was against subordinating knowledge to revelation; he insisted that faith could have no authority in the face of clear and obvious experiential data. There is nothing in the mind that was not earlier in the sensations –thatwasLocke’smainpos- tulate. Sensations are produced by the action of external things on our sense organs. That is what external experience consists in. As for the inner experience, or reflexion, it is the mind’s observation of its own activityand themodesofthemanifestationofthisactivity.ButLocke’s interpretation of inner experience was influenced by rationalism: he conceded that a certain spontaneous force independent of experience was inherent in the mind, and that reflexion generated the ideas of existence, time, and number.

He made a vast impact not only on the subsequent development of materialistically oriented philosophy but also largely determined the further developments in pedagogics and psychology through his pioneering studies in the dialectics of the innate and the social.

Shortly the basic ideas of J.Locke can be formulated in such way:

•the world is materialistic;

•the basis of knowledge is only experience;

•the source of experience is the outside world;

•the purpose of philosophy is to help people to make a success in their activities

•the ideal of a man is a calm, law is abiding gentleman who improves his level of education and achieves good results in the profession;

•the ideal of the state is a state based on the division into legislative, executive and federal authorities.

Philosophy ●

The positions of sensualism were developed in the philosophy of George Berkeley and David Hume. They believed that all ideas are our sensations that have no external cause. Things are a combination of sensations in the mind. The whole world is a combination of our feelings.

Berkeley’s sensualism is a logical confusion of religious idealist views and the one-sided elements of nominalism and sensualism. In order to avoid solipsist conclusions from these premisses, Berkeley introduced the concept of collective consciousness, which is determined by God. Here Berkeley relied on realism and even rationalism, but this concessiontoobjectiveidealismdidnotchangetheessenceofhisdoc- trine, which remained subjective idealist.

Hume developed a system somewhat different from Berkeley’s but also essentially subjective idealist, directed primarily towards agnos- ticism. He believed that man could not go beyond his own sensations and understand something outside himself. For Hume, true knowl- edge could only be logical, while the objects of study concerning facts could not be proved logically, being derived from experience. Hume interpreted experience as a flow of impressions whose cause was un- known and unknowable. Inasmuch as experience cannot be logically substantiated, experiential knowledge is unreliable. Thus experience can produce first one impression of a certain phenomenon and then another.

In the third question students should learn the peculiar features of the European rationalism, the representatives of which are Rene Descartes, Benedict Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz.

The founder of rationalism is R. Descartes. Rene Descartes, the French scientist and philosopher, placed reason first, reducing the role of experience to that of mere practical verification of the data of intellect. He endeavoured to work out a universal method for all sciences on the basis on the theory of rationalism which assumed the existence in the human mind of innate ideas largely determining the results of cognition.

He counted among innate ideas most of the foundations of mathematics and logic. Descartes’ view of nature was mechanistic in character: to him, the universe was one enormous mechanism, a changeable

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one, and with a history of development of its own. The first push to the existence and development of the world is given by God, but the world’s later development is determined by the independent creative force matter.

The common picture of Philosophical views of R. Descartes.

1.The philosopher developed a rationalistic doctrine of the method. As the main scientific method of cognition philosopher offers deduction. He believed that in the process of cognition, a scientist should rely only on absolutely reliable knowledge, which he can obtain with the help of reason, using logical techniques. Using the method of deduction, a scientist can divide a complex problem into separate simple problems and then solve them sequentially.

2.The ontological problem is connected with the search for the basic concept that characterizes the essence of the Being. In the capacity of this concept Descartes uses the category of substance. The philosopher defines the substance: substance is everything that exists, without the need for the existence of anything but himself.

This quality has only one substance – God. As Creator, God created the world, consisted of substances. All created substances Descartes divides into material (things) and spiritual (ideas).

3.Material and spiritual substances exist independently of each other. In solving the problem of substance Descartes stands on the positions of dualism.

According to Descartes, each kind of substance has its fundamental properties (attributes). Material substances possess the extent, and spiritual substances possess thinking.

4. Man is the only being in which material and spiritual substances are United and exist in unity.

To come to the conclusion, it is necessary to underline the following thing. To Descartes, the first question of philosophy was that of the possibility of true knowledge, and the problem of method through which such knowledge can be obtained. In dealing with this issue, Descartes had to overcome philosophical scepticism. Realizing that I am probably deceived by someone very powerful and cunning, Descartes reasons, I begin to doubt everything, but I cannot doubt that I doubt, I cannot doubt that my doubt and thought exist. Hence Descartes’ famous dictum: “I think – therefore I am.”