The concept of the “Superman” by F. Nietzsche
Usacheva Alena EK-11
Friedrich Nietzsche was born on October 15, 1844, in Saxony. The philosopher's life was difficult: being almost blind, he experienced unbearable headaches; as well as stomach problems. His whole life is a struggle with illness, but, even despite the illness, Nietzsche works on his works.
A turning point in the development of Nietzsche’s concepts was his reading of Arthur Schopenhauer’s book “The World as Will and Representation.” I understood him as if he was writing for me , this is how Nietzsche spoke about his teacher.
His most famous work is “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” Friedrich Nietzsche was not understood by his contemporaries, so he wrote an unusual subtitle in his book: A book for everyone and no one . In the book, the author shows humanity, which has awakened to a new life, indicates the desired image of the Superman, as well as the path of formation of this Superman.
There is an interesting moment in the work “Thus Spake Zarathustra”. In a certain city there are two tall towers. A rope is stretched between them, very high. At some point, the narrator, walking through the city, notices how a man appears at the top of one of the towers and begins to move along a rope to another tower. He walks slowly, afraid of falling. And at the same moment another man appears with a sword. This man walking follows and catches up with the first. Come on, make way for me! - he exclaims - For I am faster and stronger and better than you! A man with a sword is a new, “ideal” man, a Superman.
So, who is Superman?
Nietzsche identified several stages of human development. I think that it is necessary to reveal each stage to define the Superman.
The first state is the camel state. Most people have this condition. They humbly endure all the hardships, without trying to change anything. Such people live at the mercy of traditions and laws.
The roaring lion stage is the second state of development. There are fewer such people than camel people. At this stage, a person gets rid of prejudices. He is trying to learn to live by his own mind and will. This is a difficult stage because you can easily go back to the first stage.
The third state is the state of the child. These are people who are ready to move on and develop. There is no longer aggression in him, but there is reconciliation and compromise with the world.
From the point of view of a philosopher, modern man is weak and cowardly; he is incapable of anything, and, trying to hide his existence, he talks about justice, compassion and the like. The ideal of man is the Superman, as F. Nietzsche himself said, a “blond beast” who has a goal in life and confidently moves towards it, crushing all generally accepted age-old habits, views and ideals. I would like to note that, according to Nietzsche, the main misconception of people is their blind adherence to traditions, religion, morality and laws.
The superman is the meaning of existence; he must surpass modern man. Nietzsche believed that in order to return to man the lost meaning of existence, it is necessary to achieve the idea of the Superman.
Regarding religion, Friedrich Nietzsche is very simple. Religion for him is morality for the weak, who cannot do anything on their own, so they ask for help from a non-existent God. These people are slaves. There are more such people than stronger masters who strive for power, dominance and power.
God, according to the philosopher, does not exist. The superman is his own God. "Take courage, superior people! Now for the first time the mountain of the human future is tossing about in birth pangs. God has died, now we want the Superman to live!" - this is what Zarathustra said.
Thus, the Superman is the image of " strong personality", who strives for power. He has the meaning of his existence and confidently moves towards his goal, destroying old traditions and moral laws.
Morality plays a corrupting role, since morality presupposes obedience and patience, and all this weakens the human will, therefore all forms of human behavior mask the “will to power.”
The philosophy of F. Nietzsche can be perceived in different ways. His work has been analyzed by many thinkers. The reviews were quite different. Some critics extolled the ideal of the superman, while others, on the contrary, sharply condemned it. For example, V.S. Solovyov speaks positively about Nietzsche's idea of the Superman. In his article “Literature or Truth?” he's writing: Isn’t unfortunate Nietzsche right when he asserts that the whole dignity, the whole value of a person is that he is more than a man, that he is a transition to something else, higher... Each of us is a superman in possibility, potentially, but to become this way in reality requires, of course, a stronger support than own wish, feeling or abstract thought.
But my opinion is that the concept of “Superman” is utopian. I think that the image of the Superman is unattainable, and people who take on the role of God will not be able to achieve anything. They won't supreme authority, and if they try through murder and fear, it will lead to anarchy. People will not stop following traditions, religion, morality and laws, which is contrary to the concept of the philosopher. But, undoubtedly, this concept encourages a person to constantly improve, find meaning in life and go towards his goal. It is clear that this is necessary for humanity!
nietzsche development human morality
Bibliography
1.F. Nietzsche “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” A book for everyone and no one. - M: Interbook, 1990.
2.Brief philosophical encyclopedia. "Progress", 1994
3. Sapozhnikov Andrey “Superman according to Nietzsche.” URL:
Lysenko Elizaveta Andreevna. The idea of the Superman based on the work of F. Nietzsche “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.”
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.“Features of Nietzsche’s philosophy.” URL:
Oizerman T.I., Ambivalence of philosophy, M., “Canon+”; "Rehabilitation", 2011. URL:
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Philosophers around the world and different eras they fight in real intellectual wars, defending their right to perceive the world as they see fit.
Every philosopher always has with him not only a general view of the world, the behavior of people and their interaction with each other, but also an individual system of perception of this world.
Although many theories modern people seem unthinkable and unjustified, but still some of them are worthy not only of respect, but also of a deep understanding of philosophical research.
Philosophical views of Nietzsche The doctrine of the Superman
One of these significant theories was put forward by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, who was born in the nineteenth century, more specifically, on October 15, 1844 in the town of Recken in Saxony. So, for example, his ardent mind created the Superman, described by him in the creation “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” This superman is the image of a great man, almost God, a real genius, strong in spirit, skillful, assertive, self-confident, capable of gathering around himself a real army of associates. A superman is able to stand out from the crowd, become a leader, offer humanity new way development and keep your word. He is the highest degree of morality and responsibility. He is the idol of his generation. This is a new thought, a new mind, strength, power and benefactor in one person. It was to this “type” of people that Nietzsche ranked Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great and Cesare Borgia.
Nietzsche had his own opinion about the world. He understood that the world around us is exactly as we imagine it. If we explain this theory simply, then it is enough to suggest looking at the sky. It's blue. Everyone thinks so. They think, but don't know for sure. Everyone is sure that the sky is really blue, but maybe one person thinks that the sky is green. And for him it is really green. Because that's how he sees it.
And if we think globally, then Nietzsche’s theory is that each person interprets his own and others’ actions, situations occurring in life, people’s behavior, etc. differently. Thus, everyone forms their own special opinion on the action of the same person. And it cannot be said that some of those who condemn or approve are right, and some are not. Everyone just sees what is happening differently.
But, it would seem, why then is it necessary to condemn the opinion of society, since it is the opinion of the majority that is correct? Nietzsche has his own answer to this. Majority opinion is created from the same opinions of individuals. And the rest, the “dissenters,” have to act precisely on these established rules. Let's say society has a certain negative view of punk culture. But even people who consider themselves punks have a certain view of correct model behavior. This means that these two opinions are conventionally divided into “society” and “punks”. Society is several times larger than the opposing subculture, so everyone prefers to take this opinion into account. But what if there are more punks in society? Then people will have to accept as a basis the morality of this subculture, which will develop into a full-fledged culture due to its numerical superiority. And the opinion of “society,” which previously had weight, will turn into a subculture, or will cease to exist altogether, since “society” will become a minority.
That is why you should not follow the lead of others’ opinions, since there are no uniform rules for its formation. And, if the sky seems green for some person, you should not dissuade him. Maybe he will be right?
“Superman,” the idea of which is one of the most characteristic of Nietzsche’s work, is characterized by the following features.
Firstly, he is distinguished by a paradoxical attitude towards human society. On the one hand, the superman is a certain product of the previous history of mankind, assimilates and refracts its achievements. On the other hand, he is a brilliant loner, breaking the limitations of the existing culture in which he happened to live. Man must make himself a “superman” on the paths creative activity and exerting all your strength. Potentially, every person can become a superman, but not everyone is able to use this opportunity, to rise above the level given by existing conditions and social mores. Man is the intermediate link between the monkey and the superman. THE PURPOSE OF HUMAN BEING IS TO BECOME A “SUPERMAN”.
Secondly, the superman is not a distant goal of evolution. A MAN IS CALLED TO BECOME A SUPERMAN IN THIS LIFE, without putting it off “for later.” The “fuel” of becoming a superman is biological instincts and passions in general. Therefore, the superman is a “beast”. It is through instincts and passions that the all-round development of a human being occurs. To do this, they need to be controlled, but not suppressed. The restrictions imposed by public morality interfere with becoming a superman, and therefore must be rejected.
Thirdly, a person becomes a superman, relying on his internal forces. The process of becoming a superman is identical to the PROCESS OF SELF-LIBERATION. The superman relies only on his own reason, in himself, and not in morality imposed from the outside, and acquires the criteria of “good and evil.” Another famous idea of Nietzsche is connected with this - “WILL TO POWER”. The superman has a victorious “will to power,” which allows him to overcome himself, circumstances, imposed rules and prejudices. The essence of the “will to power” is the same as the essence of the “superman” - to rise above one’s own actual level.
Fourthly, ASCETISM IS CONTRAINDICATED FOR SUPERMAN. Asceticism, according to Nietzsche, is degradation, lowering a person to a lower level in the hierarchy of being. The ascetic prefers humility to genius, does not use his innate talents, he is chained to restrictions imposed by morality, and is, as it were, in shackles. The liberation of man is impossible without a decisive overthrow of morality. Morality itself is an invention of weak mediocrity with their innate envy of everything outstanding, strong and noble. This is precisely the charge Nietzsche makes against Socrates, Christianity and democracy.
Fifthly, the idea of a superman and a critique of morality does not mean, however, simple arbitrariness and liberation from any obligations. On the contrary, even GREATER REQUIREMENTS ARE IMPOSED on a person: after all, a person has a DUTY to become a “superman”, he is called upon to respond to the challenge thrown at him, to become “more ambitious”, not being satisfied with the level already achieved.
To this we must also add that Nietzsche himself in his real life looked a little like a “superman”. “Superman” is, rather, a kind of “model” he adopted, illustrating how he would like to see himself and how he saw himself in his dreams.
And yet, despite all Nietzsche’s hatred of Christ (in essence, the Christ of the moralistic preaching characteristic of nineteenth-century Lutheranism), his idea of the “superman” is not at all alien to neo-Gnostic Christianity (at least as I understand it). It can also be interpreted as a kind of secular equivalent of the “Divine Man.”
The article examines the concept of “superman” in historical and philosophical discourse from Lucian to the present. Attention is drawn to the lack of a unified understanding of the concept of “superman”. Based on comparative philosophical analysis, the main forms of the concept of “superman” were identified: God-man, hero, superman. The originality of Nietzsche's idea of the “superman” as a person free from any moral restrictions is noted, and criticism of this teaching by philosophers of different generations is analyzed. The concept of “perfect man” as one of the forms of “superman” is examined in more detail. The author gives his own interpretation of the concept of “perfect person” as a new type of people, perfect spiritually and physically, filled with love, beauty, kindness, and possessing superpowers. A perfect person is the highest type of person, a value model that sets a “rational measure” for consciousness, verbal and active practice, and regularly improves itself. It is concluded that the concept of “superman” should be considered as a religious-philosophical, normative-evaluative and cultural-humanistic category, which requires in-depth comprehensive research.
superman
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achieving harmony
perfect man
value pattern
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The idea of a superman has passed through the entire history of mankind and is firmly entrenched in consciousness. For many centuries, humanity has dreamed of the appearance of supermen, endowed with superpowers and ready to help at any time. This idea was embodied in the images of perfect people, heroes, supermen. Lucian was one of the first to create the image of the happiest, most beautiful, “higher than others by a royal cubit” superman. In European philosophy, the idea of a superman was formed, which was completely associated with the progress of mankind; during this period, a new term “Ubermensch” appeared. Initially, the idea of a “superman” was correlated with mythological heroes and demigods endowed with superpowers (Hercules, Prometheus). Religious ideas about the superman are identified with God's messengers, in Christianity - with Jesus, as well as with saints who transformed themselves with their spiritual exploits; in Islam - with Muhammad, in Buddhism - with Buddha.
There is no single idea of a superman; the very idea of a “superman” was and remains complex and contradictory. Some view him as a heroic person in whom the physical, moral, ethical, psychological, and spiritual properties are in a state of harmony, or as a person who has one ability that is overdeveloped (Moses, Napoleon). In the interpretation of humanists, the superman is interpreted as the ideal of the eternal, completely free from the shortcomings of man.
F. Nietzsche gave a new meaning to the idea of the “superman”, declaring Zarathustra, devoid of any moral prohibitions and endowed with unlimited rights, to be the highest perfection. F. Nietzsche, arguing that humanity does not have a single goal and a single morality, proclaimed the “superman” as a single goal uniting all people. The philosopher, analyzing human existence, shows the unfreedom of humanity, which has enslaved itself with attitudes and prejudices that have developed in morality, and proposes a way to gain freedom through turning into a “superman”. According to the thinker, humanity will rise to the level of “superman” if it abandons the existing hierarchy of values and Christian-democratic ideals and overthrows morality. But his call for a revolt against morality was directed against its base forms.
Researchers of F. Nietzsche's work noted that his superman is overwhelmed by characteristic passions, such as selfishness, cruelty, pride, permissiveness, he is endowed with superiority, giving him power over ordinary people. According to the philosopher, passions are considered superhuman provided that they are taken to their ultimate limits. According to F. Nietzsche, a person free from any moral restrictions is considered a superman or approaching this level. Considering man as a unity of opposites, F. Nietzsche argued: “In man, the creature and the creator are united,” but he can reach the level of “superman” only if he destroys the “creature” within himself and cultivates the “creator.” In his opinion, only a few who stand out from the crowd can become “supermen”.
The image created by the thinker was not accepted by the majority; it was seen as radical criticism public relations, a challenge to traditional morality, Christianity. M. Heidegger wrote that the discovery of the superman by F. Nietzsche was “a revolution in thinking, the key to understanding the eternal return, the will to power and the superman.” S. Zweig critically assessed the teachings of F. Nietzsche, according to whose conviction the philosopher with his ideas persistently and stubbornly strives into the abyss. B. Russell also did not accept Nietzschean ideas, noting that in Nietzsche’s ethics there is a “complete lack of sympathy.”
Russian researchers have interpreted the idea of a superman in different ways. Representatives of the idealistic movement of the late 19th century sharply criticized and rejected the concept of superman formulated by F. Nietzsche. Philosophers of the early 20th century took the opposite position. Representatives of Russian philosophical and religious thought saw in F. Nietzsche's superman the embodied idea of evil, the Antichrist, acting on the basis of his own instincts. This idea in the works of V. Solovyov becomes the central object of criticism. Noting the relevance of the theme of the superman, the philosopher saw in it a danger threatening Christian culture. According to the Russian philosopher, the main goal of a superman is victory over death. In his works, he contrasted Nietzsche's ideal with the true God-man - Jesus Christ, the "true superman", the "real conqueror of death." God-humanity V.S. Soloviev viewed humanity as having reached the highest point of its development. He wrote that the popularity of Nietzsche's ideas lies in the fact that they meet the spiritual needs of modern thinking people.
ON THE. Berdyaev also pointed to divine origin, arguing that in order to recognize superhuman qualities, a person should be sanctified with a divine aura, which manifests the superhuman. In contrast, Russian symbolists (D. Merezhkovsky) equated the image of the superman with the highest moral ideal of humanity and saw in it an image symbolizing the religious renewal of society.
Evolutionists and futurologists viewed the superman as a product of evolution, surpassing human capabilities both spiritually and physically, who must appear in the future. This position was also voiced by A.G. Maslow, who claims that a superman is a person who should be expected in the future, he must be developed physically, morally, and spiritually, he must be controlled by higher motives; this is a person striving to realize the highest needs: knowledge, creativity, truth, beauty. A superman is one of the unrealized possibilities of the individual that lie deep inside everyone, and only the person himself decides whether to manifest a superman in himself or not.
The problem of the superman acquired a new shade in the 20th century. In the era of socialism, communist ideology destroyed the idea of the superman as the God-man; the atheistic denial of God was contained in the phrase: “there is no God, God is dead.” In that era, the concept of “superman” was replaced by the concept of “hero”, which was considered as an image, as a symbol of the socialist system. The cult of the “hero”, who performs front-line or labor feats in the name of the Motherland and his people, was actively promoted and elevated to the rank of “superman”. The value system of heroic people was based on the highest socialist guidelines: patriotism, heroism, duty.
The problem of the “superman”, which has a general cultural character, has not lost its relevance in the 21st century. Analyzing the idea of a “superman”, researchers of modern society are divided in opinion, for example, some argue that in modern philosophy In life there is no idea of a superman and the reason for this is the real chaos in the thinking of mankind. So, with the destruction of the socialist camp, the communist ideology with its values disappeared, through the means mass media the reorientation of society towards a free Western way of life began. The promotion of the capitalist way of life has led to a change in the life of the Russian citizen, changing his worldview and value orientations. Under the influence of the ideas of representatives of pragmatic ethics, the concepts of “patriotism”, “fatherland”, “homeland”, “duty”, “virtue” gradually disappeared from the vocabulary, and the predominance of individualism was observed. The private property orientation of society was carried out through the principle: “everyone for himself”, “you - for me, I - for you”. Globalization processes have had Negative influence on the consciousness of citizens, forming a belief about the priority of personal interests to the detriment of public and state interests. This state of society can be interpreted as chaos.
Other researchers argue that in the context of an emerging global attitude towards the world and society, the concept of “superman” has received a completely new meaning and sound - “superman”, “superhero”. The new concept, which came from American comics, correlated with an individual who was physically strong, possessed material values, and was able to stand up for himself and his interests. In addition, in the conditions of emerging global totalitarianism in modern world states appear that claim to be recognized as a “Superman state” (USA).
IN last decade appear in modern society various options programs to “create superhumans”:
1) a program that combines modern achievements various scientific fields: genetics, eugenics, cloning, etc., is aimed at creating a person endowed with superpowers;
2) a program that considers a superman as a cyborg with a built-in chip, a strong, resilient warrior capable of self-sacrifice;
3) a program that works to create a genetically engineered person, distinguished by high performance and memory, controlled from the outside.
We see the absence of a single idea of a perfect person, but it is quite obvious that the presented programs are focused on the creation of a “technical” person and the degeneration of a “human” person.
We are convinced that in modern society it is necessary to form a completely new higher type of person, not a “Superman”, not a “superman”, but a perfect person capable of building new type relationships with the outside world based on knowledge about oneself, about nature, about the universe. A perfect person in our view is a person who has realized his purpose, has achieved a new understanding of his capabilities, a person who has radically changed his consciousness, aimed at overcoming the chaos of his own passions, at achieving harmony in spiritual and everyday practical life, capable of spiritually transforming himself and transforming negative phenomena in the world. This is a person who knows how to find a balance between his conscious and unconscious and, thanks to his powerful will and fortitude, is able to come into the world at critical moments.
A perfect person must have superconsciousness, which is an order of magnitude greater than consciousness ordinary person, develop at the level of mastery of modern scientific knowledge, information technology, spiritual practices. A perfect person is the highest type of person, carrying a value model, setting a “rational measure” for consciousness, verbal and active practice, regularly improving himself, forming in himself feelings of compassion and mercy, giving preference to spiritual values, a true patriot.
Unlike F. Nietzsche, who claims that only a few can become “supermen,” we are convinced that everyone living, possessing intelligence, striving to reveal the highest spiritual and physical strength and capable of directing them not only to self-improvement, but also to a qualitative transformation of reality. A person turned to the idea of a perfect person should be aimed at one hundred percent realization of the possibilities and abilities inherent in him, and sometimes at overcoming himself, considering the implementation of this goal as his duty. We agree with P. Uspensky, who claims that in the depths of every human soul contains the opportunity to develop a superman within yourself. The implementation of this idea depends primarily on the individual himself, on the desires and goals that he sets for himself. We consider the idea of the “perfect man” as one of the models, forms of the “superman”. “The perfect person” is a qualitatively new type of person who understands the world and works on himself, using a set of various techniques, including training of consciousness, development of superpowers, spiritual improvement, which he is able to pass on to future generations. Modern society especially needs the emergence of perfect people.
So, the idea of a “superman” has a multidimensional interpretation; it should be considered as a religious-philosophical, normative-evaluative and cultural-humanistic category, as a “complex, interdisciplinary and multi-methodological topic.” And in connection with this modern stage The idea of a “superman” requires deep, comprehensive research.
Reviewers:
Zakharova L.N., Doctor of Philology, Professor, Tyumen State Academy of Culture, Arts and social technologies, Tyumen;
Shabatura L.N., Doctor of Philology, Professor, Institute of Management and Business, Tyumen State Oil and Gas University, Tyumen.
The work was received by the editor on November 18, 2014
Bibliographic link
Isachenko N.N. THE IDEA OF “SUPERMAN” IN PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOURSE // Fundamental Research. – 2014. – No. 11-9. – P. 2086-2089;URL: http://fundamental-research.ru/ru/article/view?id=35902 (access date: 04/06/2019). We bring to your attention magazines published by the publishing house "Academy of Natural Sciences"
Friedrich Nietzsche(1844–1900) - German philosopher and philologist, the brightest promoter of individualism, voluntarism and irrationalism.
There are three periods in Nietzsche's work:
1) 1871–1876 (“The Birth of Tragedies from the Spirit of Music”, “Untimely Reflections”);
2) 1876–1877 (“Human, too human”, “Motley opinions and sayings”, “The Wanderer and his shadow”, “The Gay Science”) - a period of disappointment and criticism - “sober”;
3) 1887–1889 (“Thus Spoke Zarathustra”, “Beyond Good and Evil”, “Twilight of the Idols”, “Antichrist”, “Nietzsche against Wagner”).
For Nietzsche, knowledge is interpretations, closely related to the inner life of a person; he rightly notes that the same text allows for multiple interpretations, since thought is a sign with many meanings. To understand a thing, you need to translate the human into the natural, therefore one of the most important means of cognition is the translation of the human into the natural.
According to Nietzsche, man is a “sickness of the Earth”, he is fleeting, he “is fundamentally something erroneous.” But it is necessary to create a genuine, new person - a “superman”, who would give a goal, would be the winner of “being and nothingness” and would be honest, first of all, before himself.
The main problem of man, his essence and nature, is the problem of his spirit.
According to Nietzsche, spirit:
This is endurance;
Courage and freedom;
Affirmation of one's will.
The main goal of a person’s aspirations is not benefit, not pleasure, not truth, not the Christian God, but life. Life is cosmic and biological: it is the will to power as the principle of world existence and “eternal return.” The will to live must manifest itself not in the miserable struggle for existence, but in the battle for power and superiority, for the formation of a new person.
In his work Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche proclaims:
That man is something that must be overcome;
All beings have created something that is higher than themselves;
People want to become the ebb of this great wave, they are ready to return to the beasts rather than overcome man.
The real greatness of man is that he is a bridge, not a goal. Nietzsche wrote: “Man is a rope stretched between animals and the superman.”
Nietzsche's superman is the meaning of existence, the salt of the earth. In his opinion, the place of the deceased God will be taken by a superman. Nietzsche believes that the idea of the superman as a goal that must be achieved returns to man the lost meaning of existence. A superman can only emerge from a generation of aristocrats, masters by nature, in whom the will to power is not suppressed by a culture hostile to it, from those who are able, united with their own kind, to resist the majority who do not want to know anything about the true purpose of modern people.
Nietzsche, under the influence of Dühring’s physical and cosmological research, developed the idea of eternal recurrence, which should compensate for the hope for a possible life lost along with Christianity. eternal life behind the coffin. If you logically follow this idea, then people are doomed to eternity, because they already live in eternity. Eternity, according to Nietzsche, coincides with the moment.
POSITIVISM
The philosophy of positivism and the main stages of its development
Positivism(Latin positivus - positive) considers the question of the relationship between philosophy and science as the main problem. The main thesis of positivism is that genuine (positive) knowledge about reality can only be obtained by specific, special sciences.
The first historical form of positivism arose in the 30-40s of the 19th century as the antithesis of traditional metaphysics in the sense of the philosophical doctrine of the beginnings of all things, of the universal principles of being, knowledge of which cannot be given in direct sensory experience. The founder of positivist philosophy is Auguste Comte (1798-1857), a French philosopher and sociologist who continued some traditions of the Enlightenment, expressed his belief in the ability of science to endlessly develop, and adhered to the classification of sciences developed by encyclopedists.
Kant argued that any attempts to adapt “metaphysical” problematics to science are doomed to failure, because science does not need any philosophy, but must rely on itself. The “new philosophy,” which must decisively break with the old, metaphysical (“revolution in philosophy”), should consider as its main task the generalization of scientific data obtained in private, special sciences.
The second historical form of positivism (the turn of the 19th-20th centuries) is associated with the names of the German philosopher Richard Avenarius (1843-1896) and the Austrian physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach (1838-1916). The main currents are Machism and empirio-criticism. The Machians refused to study the external source of knowledge as opposed to the Kantian idea of the “thing in itself” and thereby revived the traditions of Berkeley and Hume. The main task of philosophy was seen not in generalizing the data of particular sciences (Comte), but in creating a theory of scientific knowledge. We considered scientific concepts as a sign (the theory of hieroglyphs) for an economical description of the elements of experience - sensations.
In 10-20 years. In the 20th century, a third form of positivism appeared - neopositivism or analytical philosophy, which has several directions.
Logical positivism or logical empiricism is represented by the names of Moritz Schlick (1882-1936), Rudolf Carnap (1891-1970) and others. The focus is on the problem of the empirical meaningfulness of scientific statements. Philosophy, say logical positivists, is neither a theory of knowledge nor a meaningful science about any reality. Philosophy is a type of activity in the analysis of natural and artificial languages. Logical positivism is based on the principle of verification (Latin verus - true; facere - to do), which means empirical confirmation of the theoretical provisions of science by comparing them with observable objects, sensory data, experiment. Scientific statements that are not confirmed by experience have no cognitive value and are incorrect. A statement of fact is called a protocol or protocol sentence. The limitations of verification were subsequently revealed in the fact that the universal laws of science are not reducible to a set of protocol proposals. The very principle of verifiability also could not be exhausted by a simple sum of any experience. Therefore, supporters of linguistic analysis, another influential trend of neo-positivism, George Edward Moore (1873-1958) and Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), fundamentally abandoned the verification theory of meaning and some other theses.
The fourth form of positivism, post-positivism, is characterized by a departure from many of the fundamental provisions of positivism. A similar evolution is characteristic of the work of Karl Popper (1902-1988), who came to the conclusion that philosophical problems cannot be reduced to the analysis of language. He saw the main task of philosophy in the problem of demarcation - the distinction between scientific knowledge and non-scientific knowledge. The demarcation method is based on the principle of falsification, i.e. the fundamental refutability of any statement related to science. If a statement, concept or theory cannot be refuted, then it is not a science, but a religion. The growth of scientific knowledge lies in putting forward bold hypotheses and refuting them
MARXIST PHILOSOPHY. ITS BASIC IDEAS AND EVOLUTION
Marxism. Marxist philosophy acts as a doctrine about man and the world, addressing the past, present and future. The main idea of Marxist philosophy is not the construction of any system, but those laws of social development that K. Marx discovered for the first time in the history of mankind.
Marxism is one of the most influential movements in social thought of the 19th–20th centuries.
Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) made a profound revolution in social thought - in philosophy, sociology and political economy. The teaching of Marx and Engels was called Marxism - after the author of the main theoretical work in which the essence of this teaching is expressed and substantiated - Marx’s “Capital”.
Until now, Marx believes, “philosophers have only explained the world in various ways, but the point is to change it” - the main position of Marxism. You need to change the world with the help of theory, but not with theory alone. It is not individuals who can change the world, but only the masses and working people. Marx believed in the power of revolutionary, qualitative transformation social life. From a historical perspective, this could only be a change in socio-economic formations, a change in methods of production and political system: bourgeois-capitalist - communist.
First new idea: a radical change in the approach to philosophical knowledge and its place in culture. Science is predominantly theoretical. The kingdom of philosophy is the sphere of pure thought. It only explains the world without interfering with the events taking place in it (the economy, political struggle, etc.). Philosophy is the queen of sciences, uniting all theoretical knowledge into an integral system. In his early work, Theses on Feuerbach, Marx.
Second fundamental idea Marxist philosophy - the creation of the concept of dialectical materialism.
The own philosophical teaching of Marx and Engels was called dialectical materialism. The formation of a new concept of materialism and dialectics (i.e., dialectical materialism and the materialist dialectics included in it) was the result of three groups of prerequisites:
Socio-economic (the emergence of a mature form of capitalist society);
Specific scientific (major discoveries in the natural and social sciences);
Philosophical and theoretical (German classical philosophy, primarily Hegel’s dialectics and Feuerbach’s materialism).
Third fundamental idea- the creation of historical materialism, or a materialistic understanding of history. Thanks to this idea, the philosophy of Marxism received the full name “dialectical and historical materialism.”
Fourth new idea- the doctrine of the forms of motion of matter and the patterns of their interrelation.
In the region of the Universe known to us, there are four main, qualitatively different forms of matter: physical, chemical, biological and social. Each of the basic forms of matter corresponds to one of the basic forms of motion. The most elementary form of movement, which is simply movement in space and time, is mechanical. After it, in order of complexity, come the physical, chemical, biological and social forms of movement.
The fifth new idea of Marxist philosophy- a materialistic concept of consciousness and man, associated with the labor theory of anthroposociogenesis.
Development of science in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. made it possible to explain in basic terms how consciousness arose. From the point of view of Marxism, it was formed in the process of anthroposociogenesis, that is, human development under the influence of social factors. The main social factor in the formation of man and society was the labor process - in this sense they say that “labor created man.”