The subject and object of philosophy. What does this science study?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

Today, there are numerous discussions around the world regarding the various branches of science that explain the world. The object of philosophy is society, often nature or an individual. In other words, the central systems of reality. Science is very multifaceted, so it would be advisable to study all its aspects.

Subject and object of philosophy

Being a method and form of spiritual activity, philosophy originated in China and India, but reached its classical nature already in Ancient Greece. This term was first used by Plato to denote an innovative direction. If we study the process of cognition as a systemic structure, then the subject and object in philosophy can be distinguished as its elements. The first is the carrier of subject-practical activity, a source of activity in relation to the knowledge of the world or another object. This means that the second directly opposes the subject (after all, it is precisely the object of philosophy that directs the energy of the subject). Historically, it is customary to divide the object of study of philosophy into threecategories: a person (absolutely any rational being and its structure), the surrounding world (including the world of ideas and other, even possible, worlds), as well as the attitude of a person towards himself and everything around him.

The subject of philosophical research is the properties of the object of reality, which are of the greatest interest to specialists in the scientific field. It is important to note that a specific aspect of the object with all its manifestations can also act as the subject of philosophy.

The main idea of science

At the beginning of its development, philosophy concentrated on all areas of the study of reality and gave rise to specific sciences, including chemistry, physics, geometry, and so on. Later, the direction began to deal with the consideration of specific aspects of research. Thus, the basis for the formation of philosophical knowledge are the areas and disciplines of research, approaches to research, as well as methods for searching, verifying and integrating information. Philosophy develops through the following areas:

• Reality, which has a material nature: everything that surrounds a person, excluding him. It is important to note that the sphere represented by the sciences of natural science is known, but the special methods of philosophy appropriately supplement it.
• Metaphysical reality, the study of which is exclusively this science, since the object of philosophy and its subject have corresponding features that are inaccessible to other areas of knowledge.
• The social and public sphere is considered together withhumanities.
• General or private attitudes of a person, which is a system of connections between a particular individual and social groupings, which is studied by philosophy along with other scientific areas.

Key functions of philosophy

The object of study of philosophy and its main features determine the areas of activity in which interest is shown and scientific action is performed. The functions of science make up the totality of the fulfillment of specific tasks and goals in accordance with changing factors. So, the key functions of philosophy are the following directions:

• The worldview function determines the exploratory and applied guidelines of an individual or society as a whole through the study of worldview.
• The epistemological function involves understanding the reality that surrounds a particular object of philosophy, and its absolute knowledge.
• The methodological function is to control the formation and verification of ways for science to achieve its goals and research.
• The information and communication function controls the transfer and content of information between any agents involved in these processes.
• The value-orienting function evaluates activities in which a specific object of philosophy directly participates.

What else?

Additional functions of philosophy are the following categories:

• A critical function involves an assessment of a phenomenon or process, as well ascomparing it with the opinion of knowledge, that is, work according to the “criticism - conclusions - conclusion” scheme.
• The integrating function says that philosophy accumulates knowledge and forms its unified system.
• The ideological function distributes and evaluates complex views regarding various social groups. In other words, this function deals with the study of ideologies.
• The predictive function provides predictions based on known information. It is important to note that models corresponding to this function are much better integrated into both culture and the scientific direction (compared to similar directions).
• The design function is responsible for the formation of ideas, complexes and images. In this case, the philosophy object allows forecasting, as well as modeling and design.
• The educational function involves the impact on the creation of a certain system of views of both a person and society as a whole.

Features of philosophy

It is natural that each direction of knowledge, which corresponds to a particular time period, is determined by its characteristics and features. Thus, in the pre-Socratic era, the main feature of philosophy was a systematic scheme of reflection and debate as an explanation of one's opinion on a particular issue. Then dogmas were often formed, that is, science was built on philosophizing of a subjective nature, and evidence, as a rule, was based on authority. LaterSocrates formed a new methodological complex, which suggested that any object of science, philosophy, should be studied in detail. The next stage was distinguished by the identification of innovative sources of inspiration and motivation. It coincided with an absolute decline in culture due to the rejection of old principles and customs (including the gods). In addition to nihilism, the key features of this period of time include the ultimate elevation of the individual in science, which often reached the point of absurdity. The Romanesque period is characterized by an emphasis on ethics and aesthetics, as well as the role of man in society. But the era of Hellenism ended with the transition from secular culture to the worldview of a religious nature, which led to complete stagnation of culture and degradation of society.

Urgent problems of philosophy

Like any science, philosophy is engaged in the study of various hypotheses about the resolution of certain issues. So, the main problems of the considered scientific knowledge are the following categories:

• The problem of creation, which is the most urgent.
• The problem of knowledge, which implies the preservation of the reliability of knowledge.
• The time problem is distinguished by the simplicity of its expression, but the relative complexity of the solution, because time is a subjective value. It measures the extent of processes or phenomena relative to other similar categories.
• The problem of truth involves dividing everything into true and false.
• The problem of the subject and method of scientific directiondue to different approaches to solving issues and opposing views on the methodology used.
• The problem of the meaning of life.
• The problem of personality regarding its formation and education (not the same as learning).

What else?

Recently, a number of problems that philosophical knowledge actively solves has expanded significantly. So, it was supplemented by the following categories:

• The problem of death, which is to answer questions about the existence of death and life after it.
• The problem of society as a whole, closely related to the personal issue. Here we consider social groupings and the connections between them, because the team is not a crowd, and society is far from a society.
• The problem of freedom, as a rule, is familiar to any individual.
• The problem of faith and reason, which has nothing to do with religion. Here we are talking about the measure of knowledge of the mind.
• The problem of the ideal is generated by the existence of views that came from natural science, where the rejection of the ideal is actual.
• The problem of the formation of philosophical knowledge.

Acute questions of philosophy

The main issue of philosophical knowledge comes down to the formation of connections and patterns of existence, as well as the principles of its organization or disorganization. In addition, there are additional questions that arise within certain branches of philosophy:

• Questions of ethics: A measure of the objectivity of moral perception? What meansjustice? What is the extent of what is permitted?
• Aesthetic questions: What role does art play? What is beauty? The limits of beauty?
• Questions of metaphysics: What are the criteria for the intangible? Where is the localization of the soul? What does the being of the individual mean?
• Axiology questions: What are the criteria of value? What is valuable? How subjective is the value orientation?
• Questions of philosophical science: What is the criterion of scientific? The degree of subjectivity in the process of assessing theoretical knowledge? What is scientific knowledge?
• Questions of socially oriented philosophy: The value of ideology in the effective rationality of a person? Criteria for the reunification of an individual with a social group? Reasons for forming a community group?

Philosophy of Science

In addition to considering philosophy at the level of general perception, it is advisable to present specific areas of knowledge, among which is the philosophy of science. This discipline studies the methods, limits of competence and essence of science, and also carries out research on the nature, methods of development and justification of scientific knowledge, its functions and structure. The object of cognition of the philosophy of science is the system of absolutely all scientific areas known for the period of formation and improvement of the culture of the peoples of the world. The subject of the philosophy of science are regularities of a general and particular nature, as well as trends of change at the moment and in the future of the special activity of the mind in relation to the production of scientific knowledge. Topical issues in this category includethe following items:

• What criteria does knowledge have?
• What is the difference between scientific, pseudo-scientific and non-scientific knowledge?
• Types of knowledge.
• What is science?
• Competence of individual methods and their scientific level.

Philosophy of man

Philosophical anthropology deals with issues related to the individual, the social groups formed by him and, of course, with society as a whole. It is important to note that the human problem took place long before the formation of this direction, that is, it served as a subject of reflection outside the system of scientific understanding. In fact, there are many subjects in the presented problem. The main ones are considered to be a person, his attitude to the world around him and to himself, the criteria for these connections, actions, as well as the process of formation of certain social groups. It should be noted that being in modern knowledge is considered together with the achievements of progress, because it has significantly raised society to new heights of existence. This progress is not the fruit of the activity of the layman. A person is considered only a consumer, who, without a supply of thinkers and creators, is doomed to degradation to the tribal system and return to the caves.

Philosophy of law

Philosophy of law is a special section of this science, as well as jurisprudence, which studies the legal meaning, essence of law and, of course, its foundation. This should also include the value of law, its role in the life of the individual and society inin general. The object of the philosophy of law is the meaning of the corresponding category. Moreover, special attention is paid to the concepts of legal and legal direction, categories of value nature, as well as the purpose of law in public life. The discipline under consideration, as it were, unites fundamentally different branches of a legal nature. In addition, the philosophical concept associated with legal understanding can easily cover absolutely all areas of law. This unity should be considered essential-conceptual.