Pluralism in philosophy is Philosophical pluralism

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

The existing diversity of modern philosophical teachings once again confirms that the greater the diversity of human characters, types and forms of activity, the more interesting and less similar the emerging philosophical trends are. The views of the philosopher directly depend on what he does in worldly life. Pluralism in philosophy is one of the directions that have arisen due to the variety of forms of human activity.

The difference between philosophers

The oldest and most fundamental division of philosophers is into materialists and idealists. Materialists view their objects of observation through the "prism" of nature. The main objects of observation of the idealists are the highest forms of human spiritual, social life. Idealism is of two types: objective - based on the observation of the religious life of society; and subjective - the basis is the spiritual life of an individualindividual. Materialists go from the world to the human mind, while idealists go from man to the world.

If materialists try to explain the higher through the lower, then the idealists go from the opposite and explain the lower through the higher.

Since pluralism in philosophy is scientists' vision of a world in which a variety of origins are opposed to each other, it is important to be able to recognize other varieties of worldviews of other groups of philosophers. This is necessary in order to better understand the differences between them. There is another division of philosophers - into irrationalists, rationalists and empiricists.

The term “rationalism” is translated from French as rationalisme, this word comes from the Latin rationalis, which, in turn, comes from the Latin ratio. ratio means mind. It follows from this that the concept of rationalism preaches the idea of the importance of reason in the daily life of a person. And irrationalism, on the contrary, rejects the high importance of reason in human life.

Rationalists represent order. They are ready to interpret everything unknown and unidentified purely with the help of knowledge.

Irrationalists love a chaotic view of life, tend to admit anything, even the most incredible. Such people love paradoxes, riddles and mysticism. The sphere of the unknown and ignorance is a fundamental idea of life for them.

Empiricism is an exaggeration, an absolutization of human experience and an ultimatum way of thinking. It is an intermediate concept, a bridge between rationalism and irrationalism.

Pluralism in philosophy

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to find answers in philosophy, because this science also tends to face all sorts of contradictions. One of the most difficult questions, to which it is difficult for philosophy to give an unambiguous answer, is: “How many deep foundations of the world exist?” One or two, or maybe more? In the process of searching for an answer to this eternal question, three types of philosophy were formed: monism, dualism, pluralism.

Pluralism in philosophy is the philosophy of recognizing the existence in the world of a large number of interacting principles and factors. The word "pluralism" (from Latin pluralis - plural) is used to describe areas of spiritual life. Pluralism can also be found in everyday life. For example, in one state, the existence of different political views and parties is allowed. The existence of simultaneously mutually exclusive views is also allowed by pluralism. That's what "pluralism" is. The definition of pluralism is extremely simple, the existence of several ideas, principles and factors is natural for a person and is not something out of the ordinary.

Pluralism in everyday life

If you look back, pluralism can also be found in simple everyday life. What can I say, it's everywhere. For example, pluralism in the understanding of the state is already familiar to everyone. Almost every country has a parliament, which can be from one to several parties. They have different tasks, and the schemes of government and reform can be radically different from each other. Such a variety of political forces and their competition are absolutely legal, andclash of interests, discussions between supporters of different parties are not unusual. The fact of the existence of different forces in the parliament is called a multi-party system. This is pluralism in the understanding of the state.

Dualism

Dualism is a philosophical worldview that sees in the world a manifestation of two opposite principles, the struggle between which creates what we observe around, and it also creates reality. This conflicting principle has many incarnations: Good and Evil, Yin and Yang, Night and Day, Alpha and Omega, Masculine and Feminine, Lord and Devil, White and Black, Spirit and Matter, Light and Darkness, Matter and Antimatter, etc. e. Many philosophers and philosophical schools have adopted the worldview of dualism as a basis. According to Descartes and Spinoza, dualism occupies an important place in life. Even in Plato and Hegel, in Marxism (“Labor”, “Capital”) one can meet such a worldview of two opposites. Thus, the concept of pluralism differs slightly from dualism due to obvious differences.

Pluralism in culture

In addition to politics, pluralism can affect many other areas of human life, such as culture. Cultural pluralism allows for the existence of various social institutions and spiritual disciplines. For example, Christianity is divided into Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism. Such impermanence of the church confirms the presence of pluralism in the cultural sphere of man. Pluralism assumes that different groups of the population have the right to realize themselves and theircultural needs. As a rule, an individual can freely express himself and defend his value orientations in relation to phenomena that are significant to him. Ideological pluralism legally confirms that ideological diversity is recognized in the state, but there is no single ideology.

Monism

The basis of this worldview is the idea that there is only one beginning. Monism can be materialistic or idealistic. In a narrow sense, pluralism in philosophy is a philosophical concept opposite to monism, in which there are many equivalent independent entities that are absolutely not reducible to a certain beginning, one might say, directly opposite to each other, radically different. In the first form, he considers only matter, and in the second, a single basis, he affirms the idea, feeling, spirit. Monism, on the other hand, is the doctrine of unity, which radically distances it from such a thing as “philosophical pluralism.”

Practical philosophy

Practical philosophy pursues good intentions, through thought and communication, inducing people to the right actions and deeds and turning them away from erroneous, negatively colored, wrong actions. In simple terms, practical philosophy is able to use the power of thought to influence the minds of people directly in the process of simple communication.

Features of pluralism

It is interesting that the term “pluralism” was introduced by H. Wolf in 1712. In the history of philosophy, it is not often possibleto meet consistent pluralism, such as consistent monism. Pluralism is very common in the public sphere, as has already been mentioned many times. Ideological pluralism contributes to the recognition and enshrining in law, in particular in the constitution, the diversity of ideological teachings, of course, if they do not call for violence, do not incite ethnic or other hatred. A pronounced state structure confirms the principle of pluralism by its very existence. Many associate this spread of worldview with the fact that there are a great many people, as well as their opinions, and all of them are quite diverse due to cultural, value and historical differences.

Dogmatists and skeptics

Philosophers are also divided into dogmatists and skeptics. Dogmatic philosophers are good because they can both develop their own ideas and express other people's, not their own thoughts. They defend and discuss them, as a rule, in the spirit of positive, affirmative, constructive philosophizing. But philosophers-skeptics are the direct opposite of philosophers-dogmas. Their philosophy is critical, destructive. They do not develop ideas, but only criticize others. Philosophers-dogmatists are philosophers-inventors or exponents. Skeptical philosophers are scavengers, cleaners, there is no other definition for them.

Subjectivists, Objectivists, Methodologists

The subjectivists, objectivists and methodologists deserve special attention. Objectivist philosophers mainly focus on problems and imperfectionspeace and society. The category of such philosophers includes materialists, ontologists, natural philosophers. Philosophers-subjectivists are more narrowly focused and focus on the problems of society, society and man in particular. Most idealists, philosophers of life, existentialists, postmodernists are directly related to such philosophers. Philosophers-methodologists comprehend the advantages of the form of the results of human activity. Everything that man has invented, leaves behind and will leave behind is the field of activity and the basis for discussions of philosophers-methodologists. These include neopositivists, pragmatists, positivists, as well as representatives of linguistic philosophy, philosophy of science.

Classic pluralism

Empedocles is considered a classical pluralist who recognizes two independent beginnings. In his teachings, the world is clearly marked and formed by four elements - water, earth, air and fire. They are eternal and unchanging, and therefore do not influence each other, and they are not characterized by transitions into each other. This theory explains that everything in the world happens through the mixing of the four elements. In general, philosophical pluralism is the usual ill-fortune of theory, and is resorted to only when it is impossible to explain something in the usual logical way.

Pluralism in society

Strange as it may seem, but pluralism is necessary for society, like air for a person. In order for society to be in a normal state and function correctly, it is necessary to have several groups of people in it with absolutelydifferent views, ideological principles and religion. It is also important that the possibility of free criticism of dissidents is no less necessary - as they say, truth is born in a dispute. This existence of various groups contributes to the development of progress, philosophy, science and other disciplines throughout the world.

There is another small group of philosophers who are difficult to attribute to any particular direction. They are also called pure philosophers or systematists, creators of comprehensive philosophical systems. They are omnivores in the best sense of the word. Their likes and dislikes are fairly well balanced, and their views and interests are directed in different directions. Among all this motley company, it is they who deserve the title of philosophers - people striving for wisdom and knowledge. To know life, to feel it as it is, and not to miss a moment - this is their main goal. Neither pluralism nor monism is an axiom for them. They do not want to refute, but to understand everything and everyone. They are the so-called philosophical chivalry.

Result

Pluralism and the tolerance associated with it, which is so much an eyesore to fans of an authoritarian worldview and ideological fundamentalism, acquires simply enormous significance in the post-totalitarian world due to the need for the democratization of society and its subsequent Germanization. In this situation, democratic pluralism is gaining momentum and, one might say, carries the idea of further building both the state andand society. By the way, this is a direct answer to why many dictators were so afraid of pluralism. The mere thought that a pluralism of the state, another idea that contradicts their own, could exist, just destroyed the entire totalitarian, dictatorial order.

In order to understand pluralism more thoroughly, it is recommended to read the work of the University of Tartu scientist, philosopher Leonid Naumovich Stolovich. His book is the most complete, versatile and more systematic than other similar teachings on philosophy. The book includes three sections:

1. Philosophy of pluralism.
2. Pluralism in philosophy.
3. Pluralistic philosophy.

All those who are interested in what pluralism is, the definition can be found in this book. It also quite extensively shows the possibilities of pluralistic methodology for a creative, creative perception of philosophical thought.