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Файл:Philosophy sociocultural and anthropological aspects. Educational manual for students of medical universities
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states: it is that which exists in itself and thanks to itself. The root
cause of what is happening. As a rule, it is substances that are
credited with freedom as the ability to define itself only by means of
its own foundations.
An accident is a property that the entity or substance has
contingently, without which the substance can still retain its identity.
An accident does not affect its essence. Aristotle made a distinction
between the essential and accidental properties of a thing.
According to Aristotle there are ten categories: substance,
quantity, quality, action, passion, relation, position, habit, place and
time.
Every real being can be included in some of these categories: It
can be substance or quantity, or quality, etc.
You can see all categories in the following sentence: The
gentleman’s (relation) big (quantity) white (quality) horse
(substance) neighs (action), is punished (passion) and gets saddled
(habit) and lied down (position) in the yard (place) in the morning
(time).
The main category is substance, and all others are accidents.
Substance is the being that is in itself, whereas accident is the
being that is in another. Accident is in substance; in other words,
substance serves as the subject of accidents. For instance: in a pen
(substance) we can differentiate several accidents: size (quantity),
colour (quality), the child to whom it belongs (relation), and if it is
on the table (position).
Accidents are in substance. For instance: colour, size
(accidents) are in pen (substance). On the contrary, substance is not
in another subject, but in itself.
At the same time some of the thinkers asserted that it was
impossible to give a positive answer on the question about the nature
of substance because a human has been limited in his cognition by
the subjective images of his perception (D. Hume).
The concept of substance causes centuries-old disputes among
philosophers on the issue of not only its qualitative, but also
quantitative certainty. Some thinkers argue that our reality is based
on one substance. Others believe that two substances coexist in the
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world, while others claim that there are many equal substances. At
the same time, most philosophers resolved this issue by making a
choice in favor of a single substance, thereby moving to the position
of monism (from Latin, "monos" — one, only). Depending on
whether nature, matter (Democritus, Feuerbach, Marx) or God, the
idea (Plato, Hegel, V.S. Solovyov) is taken as the fundamental
principle, two directions of monism are distinguished: materialistic
and idealistic. Another view is held by representatives of dualism
(from Latin, "dualis" — dual), the most prominent of which is
R. Descartes. Dualists, unlike monists, recognize the existence of two
substances, material and spiritual, independent and irreducible to
each other. Representatives of pluralism (from Latin, "pluralis" —
plural) go even further believing that there are many substances in
the world. Philosophical pluralism is represented in personalism
which proclaims the substantiality of each individual, in the
philosophy of life, pragmatism, and existentialism.
There are other ontological categories: one, nothing,
possibility, reality, form, phenomenon, etc.
All philosophical categories begin to work as conditions for
cognizing the world only in the context of the implementation of
a particular way of being. They are preserved in philosophy because
and to the extent that the philosopher understands and sees in them
the condition of human existence.
Therefore, the competence of ontology includes a theoretical
and conceptual analysis of the essential foundations, universal
principles and laws of organizing reality as such in all forms of its
existence — natural, spiritual, social, human, etc.
Accordingly, the specificity of ontological knowledge is
associated with the substantiation of the principles of reality which
make it possible to reveal its true nature without addressing it
directly. Such knowledge makes it possible to carry out a reflexive
transition from the description of natural (physical) reality with its
empirical objects to ideal objects of thought which allows us to
answer a number of extremely general questions: what is reality?
What is the meaning of being?
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3. Being and Matter.
The whole world around us is an unimaginable multitude of
objects, phenomena and processes that manifest themselves in an
infinitely various forms with their all kinds of properties, connections
and relationships. In early childhood we are convinced that they exist
objectively, do not depend on our attitude towards them.
As we gain experience, the world of such objects around us
only increases, and with maturity we realize that we know only
a small part of this world. Material existence invades our life
"weighty, rough, visible", and attempts to ignore its existence leading
to very unpleasant consequences.
Moreover, this being most often affects us as a substance that it
is intuitively accepted by us for its essence. It is no coincidence that
the very word "material" comes from Latin "materialis" which means
material. We have not given up from this understanding of objects of
material existence in everyday speech until now, and we have not
rejected such understanding of them which consists of a certain
"material", only material substrate.
Matter (from Latin Materia — substance) is the concept of
philosophy, which arose to designate the physical, material in
general, in contrast to everything mental, spiritual. If the early natural
philosophers ("physicists") of ancient Greece identified primary
matter with one or another natural element (water, earth, air, fire),
then the atomists represented it as a set of qualitatively homogeneous
atoms.
For Plato, the matter was an indefinite space which is close but
not equal to nonexistence. Aristotle recognized the eternal existence
of matter considering it as eternal and indestructible origin but as
a passive one.
In medieval philosophy, matter was understood as a multitude
of individual manifestations, created and subordinated to the One
(God).
In the philosophy of modern times, the category of matter is
consistently identified with the concept of a substance common to all
things, and approaches natural science views of physical reality. So,
T. Hobbes and J. Locke defined matter as a bodily substance. All the
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characteristics which had been found by the advanced sciences of the
time (geometry, physics, chemistry) were transferred to matter:
length, density, impermeability, atomic structure, law of energy
conservation.
French materialists of the 18th century developed a materialsubstrate concept of matter, proposing to consider motion as one of
its most important attributes. At the turn of the 19th–20th centuries the
subsequent discoveries of radioactivity and the fissionability of the
atom refuted some of the properties attributed to matter (conservation
law, atomic structure) and questioned the views on it as a substance.
The impossibility of sensual perception towards the objects of the
microworld, the predominance of mathematical models in their
description prompted many scientists to talk about the fact that
"matter has disappeared".
The solution of this problem was given by dialectical
materialism with help of creation of a new definition for this
category. They defined "Matter" as a philosophical category for
designating objective reality which is given to a person in sensations.
With such a view of matter the philosophical concept of it is
separated from natural-scientific concepts, and matter as
a philosophical category remains one property — to designate
objective reality.
This approach makes it possible to distinguish several types of
matter: matter, energy, field, plasma, "living matter", social matter.
In social matter, or social life, the consciousness and spiritual life of
a person actively participates but they are considered secondary and
derived from his material needs.
4. Attributes of matter.
Attributes of matter are understood as its universal fundamental
properties as a substance. Let's single out and characterize the
following 5 attributes of a substance: movement, space and time,
interaction, reflection.
Motion is a way of existence of matter. Motion in philosophy
is understood as the entire totality of changes, i.e. a change in
general. The motion is objective since it occurs independently of the
consciousness of the subject. Motion is universal since there are no
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objects in the world that would not change in any way. Motion is
also distinguished by its absoluteness and relativity: it is absolute
because each object is constantly undergoing changes, and it is also
relative because changes always occur in one or another (but not in
all at once) relations. Finally, the motion is contradictory since it
carries two opposite tendencies: to preservation and to variability.
Various types and forms of motion of matter are distinguished.
There are three types of essence of motion: 1) a change in the spatial
position of an object while maintaining its state and qualities;
2) changing the state of the object while maintaining its qualities;
3) a change of qualities of the object. An example of the first type of
motion is a simple motion, an example of the second one is the
transition of water from one state of aggregation to another, an
example of the third one is the development of a person or society. In
addition to the above mentioned types of motion it comes from
F. Engels the hierarchy of motion according to its forms. He
allocated 5 forms motion of matter: 1) mechanical; 2) physical;
3) chemical; 4) biological; 5) social.
It should be borne in mind that more complex forms include
simpler but are not reduced to them (that is why it is impossible to
explain human activity in terms of describing the behavior of higher
animals).
Space and time. The interposition of material systems forms
space, the interconnection of material phenomena forms time. Space
and time have both general and separate properties.
The general properties of space and time include: objectivity,
universality, absoluteness and relativity, the connection between
them and the motion of matter, and infinity.
Specific properties of space: length, symmetry and asymmetry,
homogeneity and heterogeneity, three-dimensionality.
Time, on the other hand, is distinguished by its duration,
asymmetry, irreversibility, and one-dimensionality. Of course, these
properties of space and time reflect the features of our world known
to science.
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In the history of philosophy and science two concepts of
understanding space and time have developed: substantial and
relational.
Proponents of the substantial approach (Democritus, Epicurus,
I. Newton) understood space and time as the "receptacle" of all
objects and all events that exist as substances, i.e. regardless of
matter, motion and each other.
Proponents of the relational approach (Aristotle, G.V. Leibniz,
A. Einstein) represented space and time as relations between objects
and processes which makes them dependent on material objects and
the speed of their movement.
Contemporary science as a whole adheres to a relational
approach to understanding of space and time which was substantiated
in A. Einstein's special theory of relativity. According to this theory,
with an increase in the relative speed of motion of the reference
frame the spatial extent decreases, and the temporal duration
increases. For Einstein, space and time are dependent on each other
(space-time), as well as on matter (mass) and motion (speed).
Interaction. This attribute represents the process of mutual
influence of some objects on others, a general connection between
them, a change in their states, a mutual transition and the generation
of some objects by others. Interaction characterizes not only the
relationship between objects but their very being. Any object can be
represented as a system of elements where interaction is the basis of
its existence.
Therefore, interaction serves as a proof that motion is absolute
and rest is relative. After all, absolute rest is possible only in the
absence of any interaction as a change of one kind or another, but
such an absence would make the existence of an object as a system
impossible. Without the ability to interact matter could not exist.
Interaction is objective and universal in nature. It carries out
the mutual connection of all structural levels of being.
There are various types of interaction: in the natural
sciences — weak and strong, attraction and repulsion, destructive
and creative; in the social sciences, struggle, union and neutrality.
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The general concept of interaction is concretized in the form of
necessary and random connections, as well as in the principle of
causality which manifests itself in the relationship between causes
and effects. The laws of science transmitting constantly repeating,
necessary and essential connections between objects are the forms of
expression of interaction. In this attribute of matter, the causes of all
things are rooted. Therefore, interaction is one of its fundamental
properties.
Reflection. Many materialists proceed from the fact that one
must also consider reflection as one of the universal properties of
matter which is the ability of some material objects or systems to
reproduce the characteristic features of other objects or systems by
transferring matter, energy or information.
Each of material systems influencing others and causing certain
changes in them has a certain effect on the system which it affects,
and thus "Imprints" itself in it as a result of the impact. Reflection is
closely related to appropriate forms of motion and interaction.
Different levels of organization of matter correspond to
specific forms of motion and forms of reflection. So, during
mechanical motion, the reflection exists in the form of an imprint,
a trace. In physical motion it manifests itself in physical processes, in
chemical motion — in chemical reactions. In primitive organisms
reflection exists in the form of irritability, in more complex
organisms — in the form of sensitivity. The higher animals already
have a psychic form of reflection. People are characterized by
a social form of reflection — consciousness.
The forms of reflection are as hierarchical as the forms of
motion of matter. More complex forms of reflection arise on the
basis of simpler ones but acquire qualitatively new and specific
features only for them, which can't be found in less developed forms
of reflection.
5. Materialism versus idealism.
From the earliest Greek philosophy the philosopher has had to
contend with the question: how is reality known? The answer is
given from two principal viewpoints: the materialist and the idealist.
The materialist method stands at one pole, the idealist — at the other.
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The distinctive features enabling us to recognize a materialist
thinker can be summarized as following:
1. The Basic proposition of materialism refers to the nature of
reality regardless of the existence of humankind. It states that matter
is first in order. When the earth was still a flaming sphere,
resembling the sun today, before it cooled there was no life on its
surface, no thinking creature of any kind. First we had a matter
which wasn't able to think, out of which a thinking matter was
developed, humans.
2. The second aspect of materialism covers the relations
between matter and mind. If what we have said above is the case, and
as we know from natural science that mind does not appear until we
already have matter which is organized in a certain manner. The
human brain, a part of the human organism, thinks. And the human
organism is matter organized in a highly intricate form.
3. It is clear from what we discussed above why matter may
exist without mind while mind may not exist without matter. Matter
existed before the appearance of any kind of mind on the earth's
surface. Matter existed before the appearance of a thinking human. In
other words, matter exists objectively, independently of mind. Mind
is a special property of matter organized in a special manner.
What are the distinctive features of idealism?
1. The basic element of reality to the idealist is mind, or spirit.
Everything else comes from mind or spirit and depends upon its
operation.
2. Mind or spirit exists before and apart from matter. Spirit is
the abiding reality; matter no more than a passing phase, or illusion.
3. Mind or spirit is identical with, or emanates from, the divine,
or at least leaves open the possibility of supernatural existence,
power and interference.
4. From this it can be seen that idealism is a diluted form of the
religious conception which places a divine mysterious power above
nature. The human consciousness is considered as a tiny spark
emanating from this divine power, and the human is a creature
chosen by God.
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The number of absurdities associated with idealism are such
views as: denial of the external world, i.e. the existence of things
objectively, independent of the human consciousness. It will be seen
that the extreme and most consistent form of idealism leads to the
height of absurdity in the so-called solipsism (Latin "solus" — alone
only; "ipse" — self). In a word, nothing exists outside myself, there
is only my ego, my consciousness, my mental existence. There is no
external world apart from me. It is simply a creation of my mind, for
we are aware only of my internal life, from which we have no means
of escaping.
Thus, it must be noted that the basic propositions of these two
types of thought are absolutely opposed to each other. One must be
right, the other wrong. Whoever maintains consistently the position
of one is inescapably led to conclusions exactly contrary to the other.
The ontological model of being is the result of the cognitive
activity of the subject. Consequently, this model expresses not only
the features of being itself but also the subject's ideas about being
and about his own cognitive activity.
6. Types of being.
Reality is diverse in its aspects, therefore, the extremely
general category of being is revealed in various hypostases. Thus,
living nature is qualitatively different from inanimate nature, and
society is more complex than the animal kingdom. A person's
consciousness which creates the inner world of a person represents a
different reality than his bodily existence, which is dependent on the
external world. Things and values are real but they manifest
themselves in different ways. Therefore, it is necessary to have
a classification of being which can be based on different grounds for
division.
So, the main types of being are material and ideal being.
Material being includes the physical, natural world, the world of
things. The ideal being includes the spiritual world, the world of
consciousness, the world of ideas.
In turn the existence of things (bodies), processes is divided
into: the existence of things, processes, states of nature, the existence
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of nature as a whole and the existence of things and processes
produced by man.
Human being is subdivided into: human being in the world of
things and specifically human being.
Being spiritual (ideal) is divided into individualized spiritual
and objectified (non-individual) spiritual.
The being of the social is divided into individual being (the
being of an individual in society and in the process of history) and
the being of society.
In comprehending the problem of the existence of nature as
a special reality, philosophy faces, first of all, a difficulty: a person
thinks and speaks about things and states of nature, about nature as
a whole. It is the human who establishes the existence of the natural
world before, outside and independently of his consciousness and
action; and establishes nothing other than relying on the own
consciousness and action. But this difficulty is overcome by
understanding that the conclusions about the existence and form of
the existence of nature are made by people on the basis of universal
human socio-historical experience, the concrete practical experience
of all individuals. Practice has given the idea of the existence of
nature factual evidence.
So, things, processes, states, the integrity of nature exist before,
outside and completely independently of human consciousness.
Nature is an objective reality.
In the universe of nature, man with his consciousness, is only
one of the later links in the endless chain of single being. For nature,
to exist (to be), does not at all mean to be perceived by man. The vast
spaces of the Universe before the emergence of man, apparently,
were never perceived by anyone; and a person cannot encompass not
only in perception, but also in imagination and in thought, the entire
universe.
The existence of things and processes created by man is dual.
On the one hand, natural material is embodied in them — as an
objective reality. On the other hand, in the words of Karl Marx, the
labor and knowledge of man are "objectified" and embodied in them.
In this case, a significant role is assigned to goal-setting, the
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