An example of the concept of consciousness in philosophy. Human consciousness

So, consciousness is the highest form of reflection of the real world, characteristic only of people and the function of the brain associated with speech, which consists in a generalized and purposeful reflection of reality, in the preliminary mental construction of actions and anticipation of their results, in the rational regulation and self-control of human behavior. consciousness concept origin

The core of consciousness, the way of its existence, is knowledge. Consciousness belongs to the subject, the person, and not to the surrounding world. But the content of consciousness, the content of a person’s thoughts is the whole world, all its aspects, connections, laws. Therefore, consciousness can be characterized as a subjective image of the objective world.

Man, unlike animals, knows and is aware of himself, he is capable of improving. His consciousness is characterized by such aspects as self-awareness, introspection, and self-control. Their formation occurs when a person separates himself from the environment. Self-awareness is the most important difference between the human psyche and the psyche of the most developed animals. Consciousness is not just a mental state, but the highest human form of reflection of reality. Human consciousness is structurally organized and is whole system, consisting of various elements that are in regular relationships with each other.

It is traditionally believed that the credit for the holistic formulation of the problem of consciousness, or rather the problem of the ideal, belongs to Plato. Before Plato such a problem did not exist in formalized form. The soul, which was reduced to the fundamental principle of the whole world, was considered the bearer of human thoughts and feelings. Atomists ( Democritus) consider the soul as a formation consisting of special rounded atoms and emptiness, i.e. as a special material formation. Developing Socrates' ideas about the innateness of true knowledge to the soul before its incarnation in the human body, Plato for the first time identifies the ideal as a special essence that does not coincide with and is opposite to the sensory, objective, material world of things. However, for the ancient Greek consciousness was not yet an independent phenomenon. The soul (consciousness) was part of the world cosmos, and absolutely accurately reproduced the surrounding phenomena. The idea of ​​consciousness as the internal spiritual experience of a person appears in medieval philosophy, where it is analyzed through the prism of religious issues. IN modern era When, in fact, there is a turn from the concept of soul to the concept of consciousness, the latter is interpreted as a person’s cognitive ability, as the “I” - a personal formation. Consciousness is understood as a product of internal development (thinking in Descartes) and as a result of external influences (sensations in Locke and Hobbes). Philosophy XIX century opens up new horizons of consciousness. Irrationalists Schopenhauer and Nietzsche make consciousness dependent on unconscious processes. This will be proven later Z. Freud in the psychology of the unconscious. K. Marx And F. Engels analyze the influence of social preconditions on consciousness.

In philosophy they have developed and retain their significance in modern culture the following concepts of consciousness:

• · Objective-idealistic interpretation consciousness as a superhuman, over personal, ultimately transcendental idea (the world of ideas in Plato; the absolute idea in Hegel; God in theologians; alien intelligence in ufologists), which underlies all forms of earthly existence. Human consciousness is a particle, product or other being of the world mind.
• · Subjective-idealistic systems consider human consciousness as a self-sufficient entity containing a picture of itself and being the substance of the material world (R. Descartes, J. Berkeley).
• · Hylozoism (materialized life) states that all matter thinks, consciousness is an attributive property of the entire material world. From the point of view of hylozoism, all matter is animate or, at least, has the prerequisites for thinking. This concept goes back to the early teachings of the Milesian school; its elements are contained in the teachings of Aristotle, G. Bruno, B. Spinoza. The data of modern science on the elements of rational activity of animals, the successes of physiology in diagnosing diseases of the central nervous system, the achievements of cybernetics in the creation of “thinking machines” revive the ideas of hylozoism and psychophysiological parallelism, according to which both the mental and the physiological are two independent entities, the study of which should be carried out through own substantiality.
• · Vulgar materialism as a reductionist identification of consciousness with material formations in the human brain. Consciousness is purely material in nature, it is the result of the functioning of certain parts or formations of the brain. The denial of the qualitative specificity of consciousness and human thinking has its origins in ancient culture and was especially clearly manifested in ancient atomism, but the materialization of consciousness gained particular popularity in late XVIII - early XIX century due to the spread of the idea of ​​Darwinism. Its most prominent representatives K. Vogt, L. Büchner, J. Moleschott, promoting the achievements of science in the mid-19th century, coarsened and simplified the most complex philosophical and psychophysical problem, the problem of the relationship between matter and consciousness. In the 20th century, in connection with the success of solving technical problems in the construction of artificial intelligence, philosophical discussions about the problem “can a machine think?”, and research that discovered a direct relationship between the content side of thinking and the structure of processes occurring in the brain, the ideas of characterizing thinking as attribute of the material substrate.
• · Sociologization of consciousness consciousness is placed in absolute dependence on the external, including social, environment. At the origins of these ideas are J. Locke and his followers, French materialists of the 18th century, who believe that a person is born with a soul, consciousness, Blank sheet paper Criticizing the concept of “innate ideas” of Descartes, they believed that the content of ideas and concepts, with the help of which a person analyzes data from the senses about the individual properties of things, shapes society and education. The beginnings of this concept can be found already in Aristotle, who made the formation of human abilities and virtues dependent on the needs of society and the interests of the state - the polis. These ideas deny the individuality of human thinking, the dependence of the abilities of a thinking individual on the structural features and functioning of his central nervous system.
• · Dialectical materialism approaches the study of consciousness as a complex, internally contradictory phenomenon of the unity of the material and ideal, objective and subjective, biological and social. Based on the achievements of classical and modern science, the dialectical-materialistic concept of consciousness reveals the essential features and characteristics human consciousness.
• v Consciousness- ideal phenomenon, function, special property, a product of a highly organized material substrate - the human brain, thinking matter.
• v Consciousness- an ideal image, snapshot, copy, reflection of a material object in the subject’s brain.
• v Consciousness possesses creative activity, manifested in the relative independence of its functioning and development and the reverse impact on the material world.
• v Consciousness- product of social historical development, outside of society it does not arise and cannot exist.
• v Consciousness as an ideal reflection of the material world does not exist without language as the material form of its expression.

All six concepts considered contain some truth in understanding the nature of consciousness, have their supporters, advantages and limitations, answer some questions, but do not give answers to others, and therefore have equal rights to exist within the framework of philosophical knowledge. In non-classical and post-non-classical philosophy, a paradoxical situation arises: in theoretical terms, the question of the specificity of consciousness and, consequently, the philosophical status of the phenomenon of consciousness is called into question, and the practical study of consciousness by objective, including scientific, methods is intensified, which indicates the enduring significance and the significance of human thinking. Throughout the 20th century, some participants in the debate about the nature of consciousness reproduce ideas about the unreality and transcendence of consciousness, while others reduce consciousness to language, behavior, and neurophysiological processes, denying the specificity and special structure and essence inherent in consciousness itself.

The most important category of philosophy, denoting the human ability to ideally reproduce reality. Consciousness appears in two forms: individual (personal) and social. Understanding the essence of consciousness is directly dependent on the solution to the question of the relationship between spirit and nature, matter and consciousness. Recognition of the primacy of the ideal leads to the transformation of consciousness into an independent entity that creates the world. This approach is expressed in periodantism in Plato's philosophy; in the Middle Ages - in Christian philosophy (the bearer of higher consciousness is God), in German classical philosophy - in the views of Hegel. In materialistic philosophy, consciousness is considered as properties of highly organized matter, as a subjective image of the objective world, as ideal in contrast to the material and in unity with it, as conscious being, as the relationship of “I” to “not-I”. Solving the problem of consciousness also involves clarifying the prerequisites for its occurrence. They can be seen in the property of reflection, which lies in the foundation of matter, a property akin to consciousness. The immediate basis of consciousness is work activity. Consciousness is inseparable from activity; it arises in the process of labor, develops and is enriched under the influence of sociocultural reality. Practice plays a decisive role. Consciousness is first of all knowledge, which constitutes its core. Therefore, it is legitimate to define consciousness as a subjective image of the objective world. This, further, is the ability of a person who has knowledge to isolate himself from the surrounding world and contrast himself to it as a subject to an object. Consciousness is also a goal-setting activity, that is, a preliminary mental construction of an image of the activity itself and a certain result obtained in the course of it. The content of consciousness is realized through human activity. Therefore, it appears in the form of a plan and an idea. An idea is not only knowledge, but also planning of what should be; it is a concept focused on practical implementation. The practical implementation of a plan, goal, concept presupposes the presence of needs, as well as will. Needs and will are the most important components of consciousness. Interaction with the world gives rise to a person as a bearer of consciousness and a certain attitude towards him. This is expressed not only in mental assessments, but also in emotions and feelings. The process of cognition affects all aspects of a person’s inner world - needs, interests, feelings, will. Memory plays an important role. Memory, which allows you to store experience, builds a bridge between the past and the present, as well as between the present, the past and the future. Since the object of consciousness is not only the external world, but also the subject itself, the bearer of consciousness, self-consciousness is an essential moment of consciousness. Self-awareness is a person’s awareness of his activities, thoughts, feelings, interests, needs. A developed form of self-awareness is theoretical reflection, through which the social nature of the subject is revealed through a system of concepts. There is also personal reflection as a manifestation of a person’s deep thoughts about the meaning of his own existence, his moral richness. Self-awareness contributes to the development of the subject, his rational and moral improvement. Consciousness is internally connected with the unconscious. The unconscious is often (for example, in Freudianism) sharply contrasted with the conscious; it is given a decisive role in human life. But there is another interpretation, based on the priority of the conscious. The unconscious is not fenced off by an impenetrable wall from consciousness. It can be considered as a product of conscious activity. What was previously in the sphere of consciousness passes into the unconscious. In turn, the unconscious, existing in the depths of the human psyche, is capable of transforming again into forms of consciousness. SOCRATES (469/470-399 BC) - ancient Greek philosopher. Socrates himself did not write anything, but taught wisdom in squares, bazaars, symposia and other public places. His views are most fully expressed in Plato, his student, as a result of which it can be difficult to separate Socrates’ thoughts from Plato’s. The main subject of Socrates's philosophy was man, whose main difference from the whole world is the soul. Socrates understands the soul intellectualistically, first of all, the soul is the mind, but also moral standards, the pursuit of virtues. Therefore, being the essence of a person, the soul, more than the body, needs care. The motto of Socrates' philosophy was “Know thyself” - the inscription above the entrance to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The Socratic method with its entire arsenal of techniques (irony, maieutics, induction) had as its goal, the ultimate task of making a person look into himself. At the same time, Socrates did not impose ready-made knowledge on his interlocutor, but tried to build it together with him. He likened himself to a midwife present at the birth of truth. Maieutics is the art of midwifery. Irony helped the interlocutor to see that his arrogance and self-esteem were based on apparent knowledge, partial, false. Another motto of Socrates was: “I know that I know nothing.” Irony clears the soul. With the help of induction, which, according to Aristotle, Socrates was the first to use, he builds a concept, something general that unites changeable things into one genus. He was looking for stable moral standards that a person could rely on to improve his soul. Virtue is a way of being that makes a person what he should be. Socrates is intellectualistic in the field of ethics: if a person knows what is good, will he really want bad? Depravity comes from ignorance. Therefore, Socrates raises questions about goodness, courage, wisdom, and justice. On the question of death or immortality of the soul, Socrates adheres to the views of the Orphics. The soul is immortal, the body is the grave of the soul, when the body dies, the soul begins to live. Socrates was a philosopher of life in the true sense: he lived and died as he taught.

Consciousness is our thoughts, feelings, ideas, will. All this amounts to very important ability a person to understand his surroundings, to be aware of his place in society, his actions, feelings, thoughts, interests. Animals are known to be unaware of their behavior or their place in the world. Because of this, they do not have consciousness, much less self-awareness. This is a human monopoly.

The problem of consciousness in recent years has been the focus of attention of many scientists in different fields of knowledge - sociology, logic, psychology, cybernetics, physiology, mathematics, etc. The problem of consciousness has attracted especially close attention from philosophers, because the definition of the place and role of man in the world, his relationship with the environment environment provides for changes in the nature of human consciousness.

THE PROBLEM OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN PHILOSOPHY. GENESIS OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND ITS ESSENCE

The problem of consciousness is one of the most difficult and mysterious. The main difficulty in understanding and studying it is largely due to the fact that we cannot observe the phenomena of consciousness directly, sensually, we cannot measure it or study it using various instruments. Therefore, for many centuries consciousness remained a mystery. This has always given rise to mystifications regarding its nature and essence. Thus, even in ancient times, the idea of ​​consciousness arose as a manifestation of the soul - a mysterious “sensory-supersensitive” entity that was considered responsible for human life and some important states of the human body. Characteristic of these views was that the soul was not separated from the body, and there was no division into the material and the ideal. This also applies to the first philosophical theories. At the initial stages of its development, Greek philosophical thought did not know the concept of “ideal” as a special contrast to the sensory-objective material. Over time, the soul began to be viewed as a kind of immaterial substance, independent of matter, capable of leading an independent existence, immortal and eternal. For the first time, these views were theoretically substantiated and enshrined in the philosophy of Socrates and his student Plato. Heraclitus defined the basis of human conscious actions with the concept of “logos,” which was understood as a word, a thought, the essence of the things themselves. The value of the human mind was determined depending on the degree of belonging to this logos - the objective universe. In general, in ancient philosophy consciousness is involved in the mind, which is cosmic and looks like a generalization of the real world, a synonym for universal law.

In the subsequent historical and philosophical process, the problem of consciousness was interpreted in different ways, and many philosophers explained consciousness depending on what position they took on the issue of the relationship between matter and consciousness. Let us briefly characterize these positions in the main directions of philosophy (Diagram 6.1).

Scheme B.1. The problem of consciousness in philosophy

Idealistic views on the nature of consciousness over the centuries acquired different content, but boiled down to the following: consciousness is primary, matter is secondary. Thus, objective idealism endowed consciousness with a supermaterial, supernatural character: it exists independently of the world, somewhere outside the world and outside man, and has nothing to do with the brain; the spirit is not born and does not arise, it lives own life, develops, gives rise to natural and historical phenomena. This statement of idealism about the existence of consciousness directly connects with theology, which argued that human consciousness is a gift from God: creating man, God “breathed into him a living spirit,” endowing him with a particle of Divine light. This means that this is a gift of the Divine mind, which lives its own life, in its development gives rise to natural phenomena and guides the history of society.

From the point of view of dualists, matter and consciousness are independent, equivalent principles (M II C). This means that consciousness was recognized as completely independent of matter. Like matter, consciousness is eternal; it neither arose nor was born. Accordingly, there was no need to resolve the question of its origin. One of the outstanding representatives of dualism was Rene Descartes, who believed that the world is based on two substances: spiritual (thinking) and bodily (extended).

Dualism was also inherent in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Close to the dualistic interpretation of consciousness is the concept of the French philosopher, scientist and theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. He believed that a certain mass of elementary consciousness and psychic energy was contained in earthly matter. After all, consciousness is as original as matter. Therefore, it is not surprising that it made its way into the world from the darkness of the subconscious. No one, including our ancestors, noticed the appearance of intelligence on Earth; “man entered the world silently.” The dialectical concept can be justified on the basis that between consciousness and being there are in fact such clear boundaries that it is almost impossible to reduce them to one another or to any common root. I. Kant wrote about this: “There are two main trunks of human knowledge, which grow, perhaps, from a single, common, but unknown to us root...”

In the 50s XIX century A vulgar materialistic view of consciousness has spread quite widely. This name is explained by the fact that its adherents (German philosophers L. Büchner, K. Vogt and the Dutchman J. Moleschott) viewed consciousness in a crude, simplified, vulgar way. They believed that consciousness, thought, is “excreted” by the brain in the same way as bile is secreted by the liver or urine by the kidneys (M=C). Climate, food, etc., in their opinion, directly determine a person’s way of thinking. Despite the fact that the vulgar materialistic point of view has been rejected by the achievements of modern science, attempts to reduce consciousness to a certain type of matter are still being made. For example, in connection with the successes of electrophysiology, the position was put forward that thought is simply electromagnetic oscillations emitted by the brain. Indeed, the brain continuously emits electromagnetic waves, which change their character if the brain begins to work actively. Studying these waves in the case of human illness makes it possible to detect which parts of the brain are damaged. However, it is impossible to determine the content of thoughts from recordings on tape, since they are not matter.

Mechanistically interpreted consciousness and hylozoism(from Greek hyle - substance and zoe - life). Its adherents assumed the presence of sensations also in inanimate objects (M

A new approach to understanding consciousness was associated with the emergence of dialectical materialism. From the point of view of this direction, consciousness is derived from matter, it is secondary and active in relation to it (M -> C). The origins of both all living things and consciousness are in matter, which is capable of moving and self-developing. Dialectical materialism viewed consciousness as a product of the natural historical development of matter, its social form of movement; as a function, a special property not of all matter, but only in a special way of socially organized matter (the human brain); as a subjective image of the objective world, which a person needs for adequate practical activity.

As for modern world philosophy, the study of consciousness is carried out by such a field as phenomenology. It originated in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. and had several versions (Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Max Scheler, Jean-Paul Sartre, Maurice Merleau-Ponty), among which the theory of E. Husserl is considered the main one. The term “phenomenology” is formed from two concepts - phenomenon and logos, which have Greek origin: “phenomenon” is something that manifests itself, demonstrates itself, and “logos” is teaching. Within the boundaries of phenomenology, consciousness is considered as a specific area of ​​existence, which cannot be reduced to any relations: neither to the objective, nor to the special, nor to the unconscious basis of consciousness itself. E. Husserl talks about various phenomena of consciousness, M. Heidegger talks about the phenomenon of human existence, J.-P. Sartre - about the reflexive (for being - oneself), in M. Merleau-Ponty - about the spiritualized human body.

Representatives of phenomenology tried to resist the naive naturalistic view of consciousness and the world, which reduces consciousness to an object, an object, and establishes only causal and functional connections between them. According to E. Husserl, the existence of consciousness is fundamentally different from the objective world as pure awareness. M. Heidegger spoke about the difference between human existence and existence. But both consciousness and human existence exist only in unity with the world. This means that we mean the absolute, the stream of consciousness that forms phenomena - the meanings of the objective world.

The problem of consciousness occupies important place and in other foreign philosophical directions. Among them are hermeneutics, existential

socialism, psychoanalysis, linguistic philosophy, structuralism, philosophy of life, etc. They achieved significant results in the process of studying various substantive aspects of consciousness and its internal logic. Today, the research of philosophers has focused on the relationship between “spirit” and “body,” physical and mental states, etc. Much attention is paid to issues that arise at the border of philosophy and language, cognitive psychology and computer modeling of consciousness. The problem of the origin of consciousness remains relevant.

The modern materialistic approach to this problem is unchanged: matter in the process of development under the influence of certain circumstances gives rise to mind. Let's consider this point of view in more detail. And to begin with, let us ask ourselves the question: thanks to what properties does matter come to the peak of its development - the generation of “spirit”; What is this internal force in the “foundation” of matter, which naturally induces the emergence of thinking, will, emotions, etc.?

Natural sciences answer this question unequivocally: “This property of matter is the property of reflection.” So, reflection is the “thread” by which you can hold on to solve the problem of consciousness. What is reflection? Reflection - the universal quality of matter, the process and result of interaction in which the features of one object in a different form are recreated in the features of another object. Since interaction is inherent in all material objects, reflection should be considered as a universal property of matter. The interaction of objects never passes without a trace; consequences always remain. Moreover, a necessary condition for reflection is similarity, correspondence with the reflection.

In the development of reflection as a general property of matter, three large stages can be roughly distinguished: reflection in inanimate nature, reflection in living nature and reflection at the social level. The following forms of reflection correspond to these stages (diagram 6.2):

Scheme 6.2. Evolution of reflection forms

Physico-chemical reflection occurs according to the laws of mechanics, physics, chemistry. This reflection is passive in nature. The mark is not evaluated by the object on which it appeared. The peculiarity of physico-chemical reflection is that it can only be carried out in direct contact. The consequences of such contacts contain certain information about the nature of the interaction. Annual rings on a tree cut, for example, can tell us about the climatic conditions in different years. Therefore, an important feature of any reflection is information content. One object leaves a memory of itself in another, and this memory remains for a certain time. So, reflection is a general property of matter, which consists in the informational reproduction of the characteristics of the reflected object.

Physiological reflection occurs at the initial stage of development of living nature and is inherent in unicellular structures. A simpler form of reflection is irritability. This is the property of living organisms to selectively respond to physical and chemical influences and is found in active reactions to factors that have direct biological significance for the organism. At the same time, the body does not notice them if the action is not directed directly at it. Based on irritability, only passive adaptation to the environment is possible. This means that the simplest organism only selects more favorable conditions of existence among those available, but does not look for them itself, much less create them.

Psychic reflection occurs at a higher stage of development of living nature. Of particular importance is the emergence of nerve cells that receive signals from external stimuli. Gradually, differentiation of functions between nerve cells occurs: some specialize in the perception of light signals, others - sound, others - taste, etc. Thus, separate specialized sensory organs and a branched nervous system arise that coordinates their work. This marks the emergence of a separate form of reflection - sensitivity, i.e. reflections in the form of sensations, perceptions and ideas. The emergence of sensitivity means a transition from passive adaptation to active-search orientation activity, which is carried out in the form of hereditary instinctive or personally acquired behavior. Instinctive reflection is characteristic of all invertebrates. It lies in the fact that in stereotypical situations all representatives of a certain biological species behave the same way. At first glance, their actions seem conscious and purposeful, but in fact they are determined by hereditary mechanisms and lose all meaning if the conditions change.

The reflection of vertebrates rises to a qualitatively higher level, in which the brain and central nervous system appear. The way of reflecting the world around us with the help of the brain is called the psyche. Its essence lies in the fact that in highly organized animals, except unconditioned reflexes(instincts), there are also conditioned reflexes that become the basis of more complex personality-acquired and orientation behavior. Conditioned reflexes are temporary neural connections that arise as a result of the body being exposed to the same or similar factors over a certain period of time. The mechanism of their action is based on the principle of “feedback” discovered by Ivan Pavlov, the task of which is to constantly inform the brain about what is happening in the system and environment it controls. Moreover, there is a notification not only about the work of a particular organ, but also about the effect of this work, which allows you to correct behavior. So, conditioned reflexes play the role of a signaling device, warning about events that are about to happen, which is a necessary condition"advanced reflection".

Reflection in the form of consciousness. Its bearer is a person who emerged from the depths of the animal kingdom. The psyche of animals was the biological prerequisite on the basis of which human consciousness developed. Despite the genetic commonality of the human psyche and the psyche of animals, their reflection should not be identified. Consciousness is the highest form of reflection. It has a fundamentally different character than the psyche of animals, and manifests itself:

• firstly, that the sensory reflection is filled with deeper and more conscious content. A kind of superstructure appears over it - abstraction, which consists in the mental isolation of a separate object, relationship, property from the totality of objects, relationships, properties. Abstraction is a way of turning observations and ideas into concepts. It dismembers, tears apart, schematizes the integral moving reality. In a single abstraction, the subject departs from reality. But this is precisely what ensures the study of individual aspects of the subject in pure form and thus insight into their essence;
• secondly, consciousness reflects the world not in sensory-visual, but in ideal images. What are these images? What is ideal? When considering the category “ideal,” one must keep in mind that the ideal characterizes, first of all, the epistemological relationship of consciousness to being, revealing the fundamental difference between reflection and reflected, image and object. This difference lies in the fact that ideal images, reflecting the properties of real objects, do not themselves have these properties. Ideal images are not characterized by any physical, chemical or other signs of material objects. They have no spatial dimensions, no geometric shapes, no volume, no mass, etc. The image of a rose does not smell, and the image of fire cannot even light a cigarette. The ideal is something that exists and does not exist at the same time. It does not exist as a special substance that exists along with matter, but it exists as a subjective reality. Subjectivity means that the ideal always belongs to a subject, a person or a group of people and does not exist without its bearer, therefore the content of images and concepts of consciousness reflects the characteristics of the life experience of its bearer, his interests, feelings, mood, experiences, etc. Subjectivity also means incomplete reflection, which is due to the fact that sensations do not provide a mirror copy, but a more or less approximate reproduction of the properties of the object.

It should be noted that in understanding the problem of the ideal, two interrelated approaches have emerged. The first is conventionally designated as “active interpretation of the ideal.” It is associated with the name of the Russian philosopher Evalda Ilyenkova(1924-1979). Proponents of this approach derive the properties of the ideal from the inherent properties of matter. Psychologism, or information approach, the formation of which is associated with the name of another Russian philosopher David Dubrovsky(b. 1929), considers the ideal as a special property of subjectivity, spirituality, relatively independent of the material, neuronal, objective-practical. Both approaches have positive and negative aspects;

Thirdly, human reflection is not adaptive, but actively transformative. Man is not satisfied with what is given by nature, and he strives to change this given so that it meets his needs. A person does this primarily in his consciousness. The content of consciousness is one way or another practically realized. But before that, it acquires the character of a plan or idea. An idea is not only knowledge, but also planning of what should be. An idea is a concept focused on practical implementation. A person first creates and constructs new things in his mind - designs of buildings, machines, technological processes, and then translates them into reality with the help of labor. Human needs, reflected in consciousness, acquire the character of a goal, i.e. ideal model desired future. When realized in practical activity, the goal materializes in objective form, in the forms of really existing objects that previously did not exist in nature.

This is a brief description of consciousness as the highest form of reflection. It appeared as a result of the evolutionary complexity of matter. In this complex development spanning billions of years, two qualitative leaps can be distinguished: the transition from inanimate to living and the transition from living to thinking. As a result of the second leap, consciousness arose. This became possible because certain biological prerequisites and social conditions appeared.

To immediate biological prerequisites for the emergence of consciousness refer (diagram 6.3)

Scheme V.Z. Biological prerequisites and social conditions for the emergence of consciousness

• 1) bodily organization humanoid creatures. Here, primarily upright walking and the development and release of the forelimbs played a role. This made it possible for humanoid creatures to perform labor operations;
• 2) first signaling system of higher animals(development of sound and motor vehicles information). Historically, the signaling system of monkeys was a kind of prelude to linguistic communication;
• 3) gregarious form of life of anthropoid apes. Under conditions of herd communication, their viability increased, their connections with the environment became more complex, and an internal hierarchy of individuals in the herd took shape. Herd ties are a prerequisite for the communal organization of people;
• 4) brain, developed nervous system of higher animals. The evolution of the brain in higher animals can be traced using such examples. The brain volume of Dryopithecus or chimpanzee was 400 cm 3; in Pithecanthropus (Java Island) - 900 cm 3; among Chinese ancient people, or Sinanthropus, - about 1050 cm 3; for a Neanderthal - 1300-1400 cm 3. The brain of a modern person has the following parameters: volume - 1400-1600 cm 3, average weight - 1400 g, ratio of brain weight to body weight - 1:40, complexity internal structure brain - 12-15 billion cells.

The listed biological prerequisites for the emergence of human consciousness only prepared the possibility of the formation of a new phenomenon. However, they were absolutely not enough to turn the possibility into reality. Decisive role Social conditions played a role in the emergence and development of consciousness.

The first factor in the formation of consciousness was work(diagram 6.3). During the process of making elementary tools, man constantly identified common connections and relationships in objects of labor. For example, over time, he began to realize that he was cutting not only this sharp object, but also a sharp object in general; fire gives not only the friction of these pieces of wood, but friction in general, etc. The labor process pushed the future person to abstraction, generalization, i.e. taught to separate the main features of an object from the object itself and form concepts. With the help of means of labor, which were also means of cognition, man comprehended the properties of the objective world. By making means of labor, in which the identified properties of objects were fixed, a person learned to mentally identify them. The logic of sensory-objective activity was recorded in the head and turned into the logic of thinking. Man learned to think. Thus, a logical image of the object was gradually formed, and the person’s work acquired a conscious character. Archaeological finds indicate that human thinking was associated with his work activity, and with the development of consciousness it became more indirect and abstract. Originating and developing in work, consciousness was embodied in work, creating the objective world of humanized nature, the world of culture.

The second factor in the emergence and development of consciousness is language communication, speech(diagram 6.4).

Language arose in a group of primitive people. In order to jointly dig and camouflage a hole, drive an animal into it and kill it, the hunters had to tell each other a lot. And life forced them to learn this. The variety of information that our ancestors had to transmit to each other required certain signs.

The sign was supposed to become uniform for a certain class of things and actions and common to all participants in the labor process. Gestures did not meet these requirements. They can be accepted and understood only if you see them. Of course, those who do not see each other also participate in collective work. That is why there was a need for a sound system of signs with the help of which communication is carried out. This system of signs is speech. It consists of different words, conventional sound signs and performs a dual function: it acts both as a means of communication and as an instrument of thinking. Words are not only conventional signs different objects and processes - they also record our thoughts about these objects. Only with the help of speech (oral, written or artistic) can a person formulate and express his thoughts. Of course, you don't have to speak out loud to think. Deaf and mute people, for example, do not speak audible language, but this does not mean that they lack language and thinking. These people can express their thoughts through gestures and written language. It must be said that expressive body language is used by all people in one way or another, especially to convey emotions and feelings, and to specify the meanings of words.

Scheme 6.4. Unity of consciousness and speech

At the same time, speech is not just a way of recording and transmitting thoughts, it is a necessary condition and instrument of thinking. The process of thinking is the process of operating with abstract concepts that are conditionally encoded in the corresponding words. When formulating a thought, a person seems to pronounce certain words to himself, looking for best shape its incarnation. It is impossible to complete a thought without appropriate verbal form. Sometimes, however, the illusion may arise that the formation of a thought to oneself precedes its verbal formulation. It seems to a person that the thought is completely mature, but he cannot yet clearly express it. However, vagueness and inexpressiveness of statements indicate vagueness and immaturity of thought. And vice versa, a thought that is clear and precise in meaning, harmonious in form, is expressed in intelligible and understandable judgments. Thus, the process of thinking is impossible without speech, which acts as a form of reality of thought.

The third factor in the emergence of consciousness is communal nature of people's lives. Consciousness is a product of society and social development. There was not, is not and will not be consciousness outside of society. The fact that consciousness is impossible without communal relations is evidenced by more than 50 cases of children being “raised” by animals. These children showed no signs of consciousness. How did sociality shape people's consciousness? In the process of working, people enter into certain forms of relationships and mutual communication with each other, which can be industrial or personal. Communication is one of necessary prerequisites formation and development of personality, its consciousness, society as a whole. After all, if by communication we understand the interaction of social subjects (classes, groups, individuals), then between them, undoubtedly, there is an exchange of information, experience, abilities, skills, abilities, etc. Communication is one of the conditions for the socialization of an individual. In communication, a person not only receives rational information, forms methods of activity, but through imitation and inheritance he assimilates human emotions, feelings, and forms of behavior.

Thus, for the emergence of consciousness, certain biological prerequisites were necessary, which, however, do not directly create it. Consciousness arises on social basis, is a product of society and social development. But first of all, consciousness is a function of the human brain. What are physiological basis consciousness, what is the mechanism of its functioning?

The doctrine of brain activity was developed by a galaxy of outstanding domestic scientists, such as Ivan Sechenov, Ivan Pavlov, Nikolai Vvedensky, Alexey Ukhtomsky, Levon Orbeli. In their works they proved that consciousness is a function of that particularly complex piece of matter called the human brain. The human brain, according to I. Sechenov, is “the most wonderful machine in the world.” It is the finest nervous apparatus, the highest form of organized matter in the known part of the Universe. It is also the central point of the body. With the help of numerous sensitive and mobile nerves (peripheral nervous system), the brain is connected to a sensory system that draws information from the external environment and organs that perform certain functions of the body (muscles, glands, blood vessels, etc.). Having received nerve impulses that indicate the state of the external environment and the internal state of the body, the brain regulates the complex relationship of the body with changing environmental conditions.

In the brain apparatus itself, there are several parts, or “blocks,” that differ from each other in structure, connections and functions. The overall work of all blocks creates a complex higher nervous activity. This is a kind of psychophysiological process. The mental does not exist separately from the physiological. The physiological is a material substrate, a material carrier of the mental, while the mental is the result, product, property of this physiological. They are connected with each other, constituting a single psychophysical process, conditioning each other by their existence. It is impossible to separate thinking from thinking matter.

The brain is not the source of consciousness. Between the thinking brain and thinking itself there is a relationship not of cause and effect, but of organ and function. The human brain is an organ of consciousness, and consciousness is its main function. Moreover, it is not the brain itself that thinks and understands, but a person with the help of the brain. Consciousness reflects not the structure and content of the brain and not the physiological processes that occur in it, but primarily the external world. Otherwise, as L. Feuerbach aptly noted, cats, instead of rushing at mice, would tear their own pupils with their claws. Thus, a person’s consciousness, his psyche is a product of the physiological activity of the brain, its property, and outside of this physiological activity it does not exist.

Concluding our consideration of the first question of the section, let us highlight the main thing (Diagram 6.5):

Scheme 6.5. Concept of consciousness

• 1) consciousness is a property of highly organized matter;
• 2) consciousness is the highest form of reflection of reality, the ideal image of the material world;
• 3) consciousness is a product of socio-historical development and complexity of matter;
• 4) consciousness is the regulator of purposeful human activity.

So, consciousness is a specifically human reflection and spiritual

mastery of reality, property of highly organized matter - of the human brain, which consists in creating subjective images of the objective world, in retaining, storing and processing information, in developing a program of activities aimed at solving certain problems, in actively managing this activity.

Consciousness is a socio-historical product. It arises together with human society in the process of formation and development of labor activity and speech, forming only in the conditions of the social environment, constant communication of individuals with each other.

1. Spirit and consciousness as a philosophical problem.

2. The history of ideas about consciousness and the basic concepts of its understanding.

3. Reflection and consciousness. Animal psyche.

4. Structure of consciousness: components and levels.

1. Matter and all processes associated with it, including the vital processes of the human body, are only one of the aspects of existence. The development of nature, the formation of living matter, leading to the emergence of man and society, are prerequisites for the emergence of another equally important aspect - the spirit. The concept of “spirit” is used to unite all non-material processes that have an ideal nature - consciousness, society, culture. Prof. L.P. Stankevich identifies the following main characteristics of the spirit:

1. Spirit is a form of existence characterized by creation and temporality.

2. Spirit is inseparable from matter, but at the same time opposite to it. Matter is objective, spirit is subjective, being internal state material objects. Consequently, if matter is corporeal, then the spirit is incorporeal, but at the same time it is the spirit that controls material objects. Highest form Such control (through material means within the framework of existence) is human activity, for which consciousness is as necessary an element as the presence of artificial tools.

3. The spirit is a system. There is no spirit in its pure form as some substance; it exists in the form of individual images, ideas that form a higher system, which is sometimes defined as the world mind, which carries within itself the laws of existence and development of the world as a whole.

4. Spirit and matter are in constant motion, changing and improving. Spiritual development consists of enriching spiritual images, models of the world and oneself contained and formed by the spirit.

5. The highest stage of development of the spirit, represented by the consciousness of man and humanity, is understood as comprehension of the world in which we live and act. Such spiritual activity is aimed at building each person’s life and activity in accordance with the understanding of the basic characteristics of existence 46 .

The problem of consciousness is one of key issues philosophy and science. Until now, there has been no definition of consciousness that could unite various research strategies. This means that the thousand-year-old tradition of philosophy continues to be in demand more than ever. If the psychological approach to consciousness consists in clarifying the mechanism of its functioning, identifying natural and social components in it, then the task of philosophy comes down to a comprehensive study of consciousness, in the unity of its historical roots, psychological, physiological and social aspects. This implies questions about the nature of consciousness, its main contradictions, structure, as well as an analysis of consciousness as part of the ideal as a whole (spirit). Philosophy strives to identify common prerequisites for consciousness research: what do we know about our own consciousness? Among these it is customary to highlight the following:

1. Self-evidence of consciousness. Upon closer examination, it turns out that consciousness is the first thing that is given to us. Everything else is perceived through the prism of consciousness, and therefore dependent on it.

2. Consciousness can be freely controlled and changed, i.e. a person can direct his thought to any object (for example, a memory or fantasy or a real object in front of you).

3. The presence of one’s own consciousness serves as a means of mastering all other forms of existence, i.e. the entire surrounding world is given to us through the mediation of consciousness.

The last property of consciousness, according to V.V. Mironov and A.V. Ivanova, 47 poses a number of difficulties in its analysis:

1. "The paradox of elusive objectivity": since consciousness is intentional, i.e. always directed at some object, it is always “consciousness about something.” The problem is that behind this “consciousness about something” we cannot evaluate our consciousness itself as it is (just as we cannot be fully aware of all our actions in life).

2. “The paradox of logical means of understanding consciousness”: in order to understand something rationally, it is necessary to outline the boundaries of the object under study, i.e. show what it is not and then compare. However, how can we delineate the boundaries of consciousness if through it we are “given” all the objects of the world, including itself as an elusive objectivity?

3. The problem of objective methods of studying consciousness: no matter what analysis methods are used, this moment It is not possible to eliminate the influence of the characteristics of the scientist’s inner world on the acquisition and interpretation of data. This is due to the emotional and psychological state, facts of personal biography, basic value and intellectual preferences, and national and cultural environment.

4. The problem of linguistic means of describing consciousness: even if certain objective methods for studying consciousness are found, how should they be described? The difficulty is caused by the fact that consciousness is continuous, inseparable, it represents a living stream of intersecting thoughts, while any language is a discrete phenomenon, torn into separate concepts and words 48 .

The philosophical approach to consciousness focuses on the main contradictions in the existence of consciousness. It turns out that consciousness is a synthesis of seemingly completely incompatible opposites: consciousness appears as a mediator between a person’s inner world and external reality, it changes under the influence of circumstances and at the same time has fairly stable stereotypes of behavior and thinking, according to which a person can act throughout his life. life; it consists of conscious and unconscious components that are intertwined differently in each person.

With the help of consciousness, human activity itself becomes possible. This is due to the fact that almost all conscious human actions always have a specific purpose. Goals are formed, maintained, and also adjusted in the process of activity thanks to consciousness.

From the point of view of philosophy, consciousness can be defined as the highest function of the brain, peculiar only to humans and associated with speech, which consists in the ability to ideally reproduce the reality of the real world, including not only generalization and assessment of ongoing processes, but also preliminary mental construction of actions, as well as purposeful creative change of reality.

2. In the modern history of philosophy, it is generally accepted that one of the first to pose the problem of consciousness in European philosophy was Plato. This does not at all mean its absolute primacy (in the East, consciousness has always, in fact, acted as the most important object of reflection). At the same time, the ancient Greeks did not use the term “consciousness” itself. They studied the problem of consciousness in the context of problems of thinking and soul. For example, the philosopher Democritus considered the soul as a special formation consisting of a special variety of atoms. Developing Socrates' ideas about the innateness of true knowledge to the soul before its incarnation in the human body, Plato for the first time identifies the ideal as a special essence that does not coincide with and is opposite to the sensory, objective, material world of things. At the same time, consciousness was not yet an independent phenomenon, and the soul (as the carrier of consciousness) was perceived as part of the world cosmos, absolutely accurately reproducing the phenomena of the surrounding world.

IN Middle Ages The study of the soul, thinking and consciousness was influenced by the religious orientation of philosophy. This made it possible to separate soul and spirit as different manifestations of the divine in the human.

IN modern era in the context of the general turn of science from general problems of understanding the world to specific issues of natural science and technology, changes in the perspective of the study of consciousness occur. It is at this time that the turn from the concept of soul to the concept of “consciousness” actually occurs, and the latter is interpreted as a person’s cognitive ability, as “I” - a personal formation. Consciousness is understood as 1) a product of the internal development of thinking in Rene Descartes and as 2) the result of external influences called sensations John Locke And Thomas Hobbes. IN fphilosophyXIXcentury consciousness receives a fundamentally new interpretation. Thus, the irrationalists Schopenhauer and Nietzsche make consciousness dependent on unconscious processes. This will be proven later Z. Freud in the psychology of the unconscious. K. Marx And F. Engels analyze the influence of social preconditions on consciousness.

The following have developed in philosophy and retain their significance in modern culture: concepts of consciousness.

Objective-idealistic interpretation consciousness as a superhuman, transpersonal, ultimately, transcendental phenomenon (the world of ideas in Plato; the absolute idea in Hegel; God in theologians; alien intelligence in ufologists), underlying all forms of earthly existence. Human consciousness in this case is a particle, product or other being of the world mind.

Subjective-idealistic systems consider human consciousness as an independent and self-sufficient entity, containing a picture of itself and being the substance of the material world (R. Descartes, J. Berkeley, E. Husserl).

Hylozoism(materialized life) states that all matter thinks, consciousness is an attributive property of the entire material world. From the point of view of hylozoism, matter is animate and has the prerequisites for thinking (Thales, Anaximander, Aristotle, G. Bruno, B. Spinoza).

Vulgar materialism- this is the identification of consciousness with material formations in the human brain. Consciousness is absolutely material in nature, since it is the result of the functioning of certain parts or formations of the brain (K. Vogt, L. Büchner, J. Moleschott).

Sociologization of consciousness. Consciousness is placed in absolute dependence on the external, including social, environment (J. Locke, Voltaire, P.A. Holbach).

Dialectical materialism approaches the study of consciousness as a complex, internally contradictory phenomenon of the unity of the material and ideal, objective and subjective, biological and social (K. Marx, F. Engels).

3. Modern difficulties with defining consciousness can largely be solved in the context of studying the problems of the biological prerequisites of consciousness. In modern psychology and physiology of higher nervous activity, such “biological” prerequisites include:

1) complex mental activity of animals associated with the functioning of the central nervous system and brain;

2) the beginning of tool activity, the instinctive work of humanoid ancestors, which freed the forelimbs in combination with upright walking;

3) the herd form of animal habitation, as well as the emergence of sound signaling to transmit information.

These prerequisites are necessary, but not sufficient for the emergence of human consciousness. In this paragraph we are interested in the first component. Questions arise: what is the mechanism of consciousness functioning? How does it appear?

The theory of reflection continues to play an important role in explaining this issue, according to which consciousness is a product of the evolution of the brain, which in turn is one of the highest forms of development of organic matter. Understood as the result of the evolution of all living things, human brain is a genetic continuation of simpler forms and ways of connecting living things with the outside, including the inorganic world.

Thus, matter at all levels of its organization has reflection property, which develops in the process of its evolution, becoming more and more complex and multi-quality. The ability for self-organization and self-development of material systems is one of the most important reasons for the complication of forms of reflection. The evolution of forms of reflection acts as a prehistory of consciousness: as a connecting link between inorganic matter and matter expressed in organic and, above all, in human form.

What is reflection? ABOUTreflection is the process and result of interaction in which some material bodies, with their properties and structure, reproduce the properties and structure of other material bodies, while preserving a trace of the interaction. That is, reflection as a result of the interaction of objects does not stop after the completion of this process, but is stored in the reflecting object as a trace, an imprint of the reflected phenomenon. Such a reflected variety of structures and properties, interacting phenomena is called information, which is understood as the content of the reflection process. It is absolutely fair to talk about different qualitative levels of manifestation of reflection and about different measures of information saturation of reflection.

Such multidimensionality of reflection fundamentally changes its properties in the conditions of inanimate and living nature. If in inanimate nature the diversity of forms of interaction and reflection is minimal, and the threshold of sensitivity in relation to this diversity remains low, which is the source of the weak ability to use the received information for self-organization, then in living nature a higher degree of intensity of the information content of reflection is available and much more its wide volume. The intensity of information exchange in living nature has a powerful impact on the expanded self-reproduction of properties, as well as the formation of new characteristics, their coding and hereditary transmission. Thus, the complication of reflection forms expresses not only the fact of the development and complexity of matter, but also the acceleration of this development.

The levels of reflection in living nature are the phenomena of irritability, sensitivity, as well as the mental form of reflection.

Irritability – This is the body’s ability to make simple reactions to environmental influences, manifested in the form of response actions. It's about about the selective response of living things to external influences. This form of reflection does not passively perceive information, but actively correlates the result of the reaction with the needs of the body. Irritability is expressed only in relation to vital influences: nutrition, self-preservation, reproduction.

Sensitivity- this is the ability to reflect individual properties of the external environment in the form of sensations, based on the emergence of a set of receptors that significantly enrich the information content of the reflection of the surrounding world. The development of sensations has further accelerated the process of evolution of living things.

Psychic form of reflection- this is a special form of reflection, based on the nervous system and the functioning of its special center - the brain, and manifests itself in the ability to analyze complex complexes of simultaneously acting external stimuli. This form is designed to create a holistic image of the situation, individual behavior based on the experience of an individual, on conditioned reflexes, in contrast to intuitive behavior based on unconditioned reflexes.

The mental form of reflection is characterized not so much by a significant richness in the reflection of phenomena, but by a more active “participation” in the process of reflection of the reflector. IN in this case the selectivity of reflection, the concentration and choice of the object of reflection or even its individual properties and characteristics increases significantly. Moreover, such selectivity is determined not only by biophysical relevance for reflecting certain properties and characteristics, but also by emotional and mental preference. It should be noted that the complication of the properties of mental reflection is directly related to the development of the brain, its volume and structure. At this level of development, memory resources expand, the brain’s ability to capture specific images of things and their inherent connections, and to reproduce these images in various forms of associative thinking.

Thus, the most important prerequisite for the emergence of consciousness is the fact of the natural-historical evolution of matter and one of its most important properties - reflection. In the process of evolutionary development, matter, becoming more and more complex in its structural organization, gives rise to such a substrate as the brain. Further transformation of the psyche into human consciousness occurs as a result of various factors of anthroposociogenesis, the most important of which are tool activity and the herd form of animal habitation.

4. The structure of consciousness is well presented by A.V. Ivanov in the form of a circle consisting of four parts, each of which is a separate sphere of consciousness:

- sphere of bodily-perceptual abilities : these abilities include sensations, perceptions and specific ideas with the help of which a person receives primary information about the external world, about his own body and about its relationships with other bodies. The main goal and regulator of the existence of this sphere of consciousness is the usefulness and expediency of the behavior of the human body in the world of natural, social and human bodies surrounding it.

- logical-conceptual components of consciousness : with the help of thinking, a person goes beyond the immediate sensory data into the essential levels of objects; This is the sphere of general concepts, analytical-synthetic mental operations and hard logical proofs. The main goal and regulator of the logical-conceptual sphere of consciousness is truth.

- emotional component of consciousness : This is rather the sphere of personal, subjective psychological experiences, memories, premonitions about situations and events that a person has encountered, is facing, or may encounter. She is deprived of direct connection with the outside objective world. These include:

1) instinctive-affective states (vague experiences, premonitions, vague visions, hallucinations, stress);

2) emotions (anger, fear, delight, etc.);

3) feelings that are distinguished by greater clarity, awareness and the presence of a figurative-visual component (pleasure, disgust, love, hatred, sympathy, antipathy, etc.).

The main regulator and goal of the “life activity” of this sphere of consciousness will be what 3. Freud at one time called the “pleasure principle.”

- value-motivational (or value-semantic) component of consciousness . The highest motives of activity and spiritual ideals of the individual are rooted here, as well as the ability to form them and creatively understand them in the form of fantasy, productive imagination, and intuition of various types. The goal and regulator of existence of this sphere of consciousness are beauty, truth and justice, i.e. not truth as a form of coordination of thought with objective reality, but values ​​as a form of coordination of objective reality with our spiritual goals and meanings 49 .

These components of consciousness are complemented levels of consciousness, which in modern philosophy and psychology, it is customary to distinguish three - the unconscious, the conscious and the superconscious.

IN unconscious traditionally include a set of bodily sensations and drives, as well as instinctive-affective experiences, memories and complexes that are outside the field of awareness and control on the part of our “I”. Moreover, the unconscious can be both individual and collective. An important contribution to the development of the latter was made by the Swiss psychologist K.G. Jung in his concept of the archetypes of the collective unconscious, i.e. relatively stable figurative and symbolic structures that determine and channel the course of our unconscious processes.

Sphere of the conscious represents a dynamic unity of certain bodily-perceptual abilities, as well as logical-conceptual means of understanding reality. This is a certain set of knowledge and assessments, implemented in actions controlled by our “I”.

To the phenomenon superconscious It is customary to refer to objective and supertemporal processes and acts of consciousness. For example, categories can be included that provide the possibility of generating and understanding any meanings (space, time, movement, quality, quantity), a stable framework of knowledge as such (mathematical truths, logical rules, laws of nature, universal moral, aesthetic and social values), creative insights. In the sphere of the superconscious, the property of consciousness to ascend from individual forms to collective forms is manifested, i.e. do not depend on the preferences and preferences of individual people.

1. Philosophy: textbook. for universities / ed. V.V. Mironov. – M.: Norma, 2008.

2. Spirkin, A.S. Consciousness and self-awareness. - M.: Nauka, 1972.

3. Spirkin, A.S. Philosophy. - M.: Gardariki, 1998.

4. Mamardashvili, M.K. Consciousness as a philosophical category // Questions of philosophy. – 1990. – No. 10.

5. Philosophy: textbook for universities / ed. A.F. Zotov, V.V. Mironov, A.V. Razin; Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. – 5th ed., revised. and additional – M.:Acad. project: Culture, 2008.

Consciousness person is a subjective experience of external reality, which is expressed in self-report of these events. A broader definition of the concept of consciousness is a property of the psyche through which external events are reflected, regardless of the level of implementation (biological, social, sensory or rational). In a narrower sense, this is a function of the brain, characteristic only of people, which, associated with speech, is expressed in the purposeful and generalized reflection of the phenomena of reality, the preliminary construction of actions in the mind and the prediction of results, manifested in rational management and actions through.

The concept of human consciousness is the subject of research in many sciences (psychology, philosophy, sociology); scientists are trying to uncover the meaning of the existence and occurrence of such a phenomenon.

Consciousness is a synonym: reason, comprehension, understanding, comprehension, thought, reason, they will be used later in the text.

Forms of consciousness

There is individual and social consciousness. The first, individual, is the consciousness of each individual about his individuality of being, through his social being. It is an element public consciousness. Therefore, secondly, the concept of social consciousness is generalized individual consciousnesses different personalities. This generalization occurs historically, over a long period of time. Therefore, it is also considered group.

In group consciousness, it is necessary to consider two features - this is the social contact of people as an important factor and the common strength of these people when combining their individual forces.

Each collective constitutes a group of different individuals, however, not every group of individuals will be a collective. Based on this, the manifestation of collective consciousness will always be group, and group consciousness will not always be collective. Collective intelligence is, firstly, a manifestation of social consciousness as a social idea, and secondly, this idea determines the activities of individuals in this collective.

Individual awareness of typical individuals always determines group awareness. But only what is typical for a certain group, which is suitable in terms of frequency of manifestation, strength of expression at any time, that is, what is ahead, directs the development of this group.

Collective and group forms of consciousness are dependent on social consciousness and are determined by the relationships between group members. Thus, those mental phenomena that are characteristic of the communication process represent various phenomena in the group consciousness.

The latter, in turn, is divided into several forms of consciousness. The most specific are mass phenomena; they constitute public moods and create a group psychological climate. These moods are mostly caused by interpersonal relationships. If the group has good, warm and trusting relationships, then the psychological climate will be favorable and it will be easier for such a group to solve problems. But if a person is introduced into such a team, dissipating hostility between group members, naturally, the psychological climate will deteriorate, and labor efficiency will begin to fall. Also, the mass mood in the group can be affected by didactogenies - these are changes in mood that reach a painful state and are caused by rude behavior and the influence of the leader.

Another form of group consciousness is panic. Panic is a manifestation, a state that captures an entire group and, under the influence of mutual imitation, intensifies even more.

Fashion is a form of group consciousness, when people begin to imitate each other, to be equal to public opinion and rely on information from the media regarding what they should wear, dress, put on shoes, and what music to listen to.

Collective thinking is also a form of group consciousness; it reinforces the focus of each member in solving the team’s task, makes it possible to think through it and illuminate it from different angles, and also promotes initiative. Collective thinking adds criticality to decisions, and this contributes to the development of self-criticism in each member of the group, enriches the knowledge and experience of some by acquiring knowledge from others, creates a positive emotional tone, creates situations of competition, increasing efficiency, and reduces the time for solving the task. Solving one task contributes to the emergence of new ones and thus stimulates the development and progression of the group; collective thinking moves the team forward.

The form of social consciousness is divided into several types: religion, science, law, morality, ideology and art. Forms such as religion, law, morality and art, such as social phenomena are relatively independent and are studied by different sciences. Moral and aesthetic consciousness have a connection that can be observed every day, for example, moral actions are often characterized as beautiful, and vice versa, immoral actions are called disgusting or ugly.

Religious art through church painting and music is used to deepen religious feelings and, in general, the religious consciousness of each individual and entire groups. In small groups, religious awareness is a phenomenon from religious psychology, which includes a religious worldview individual and groups.

The philosophical type of consciousness is a theoretical worldview, knowledge about the laws of nature, man and society; it highlights methods of their knowledge. Displays existence in a conceptual form, performs epistemological and ideological functions.

The scientific nature of consciousness is a rational, systematized reflection of the world around us through the application of scientific theories, arguments and facts, and is reflected in the minds of people in the categories of laws and theories. It allows a person to think in categories, to apply various principles of knowledge in order to make new discoveries. The application of scientific consciousness can be seen in all possible spheres of human existence.

Morality, as a form of awareness, has emerged and changed, as well as the moral psychology of a group, which generalizes the socially beneficial experience of communication in groups and in appropriate conditions.

Morality of consciousness is based on the category of morality, it is the most ancient form of social consciousness, and it also passes through all areas of human activity (profession, everyday life, family). It is reflected in the categories by which a person thinks and is guided: good, evil, conscience, dignity and others. Morality is determined by the outlook of specific societies and classes. IN moral standards are displayed as universal, that is, independent of social class, moral values: humanism, honor, responsibility, compassion, collectivism, gratitude, generosity.

The political nature of consciousness began to emerge with the formation of the state, classes and the sphere of politics. It reflects the interactions of classes and social groups, place and their role in state power, relations between nations and states are oriented by economic motives. It integrates all forms of social consciousness. It is influenced by various spheres: religion, science, law, but the political remains the leading one. It is also an element of functioning political system countries. It has two levels: the everyday practical level and the ideological-theoretical level. At the everyday theoretical level, experience and tradition, the emotional and the rational, experience and traditions are interconnected; it appears spontaneously, from the activities and life experiences of people. It is also unstable because it exists under the influence and dependence of living conditions, people's emotions and constantly changing experiences.

The use of everyday consciousness is important because it is characterized by the integrity of life understanding, and with creative processing it is the basis of theoretical consciousness. Theoretical political consciousness is characterized by a completeness and depth of reflection of political reality, characterized by the ability to predict and systematize views. It can produce political program, based on economic and social sphere. Such political ideology capable of actively influencing the level of public consciousness. Only specially trained people who are engaged in understanding the laws work on the creation of ideology public life and occupy themselves with “political creativity.” A well-formed ideology can influence the consciousness of society as a whole, since it is not just a system of beliefs, but a well-structured propaganda that permeates all layers and spheres of society, which uses state power and uses the media, science, culture, and religion.

Legal consciousness has a very strong connection with the political, since it contains political as well as economic interests of various social groups. It affects various spheres of social life, in which it performs the following functions: regulatory, cognitive and evaluative.

Also legal, it has a historical nature, and its development occurs depending on economic and political circumstances and living conditions, it arises along with the first manifestations of the political organization of society, law and class division and reflects the relationships of people, organizations, government bodies that are bound by rights and obligations, their guarantor is the law.

Economic awareness reflects knowledge and theories economic activity and social needs. It is formed under the influence of historical conditions and is determined by the need to understand economic and social changes. It also aims to improve economic reality.

Ecological aspects of human consciousness perform social functions. First of all, cognitive and educational functions. It is interconnected with other forms of consciousness: moral, aesthetic and legal. The state of the environment requires a person to have an aesthetic and moral attitude towards surrounding nature, in other cases, a person succumbs to the influence of legal consciousness in order to pay for the damage caused to nature.

Environmental awareness consists of a humane attitude towards nature, a person’s awareness of himself as a part of this nature. The criterion for this is the spiritual need for careful attitude and desire to preserve the beauty of nature.

Consciousness and unconsciousness

A state of awareness is a state of a person in which he is able to clearly see and comprehend everything that is happening around him and what is happening directly to him, is able to control his actions and monitor the development of events around him.

The unconscious is uncontrolled, unconscious actions and special mental manifestations. These are two different poles of the psyche, but they are in connection and interaction.

He was the first in psychology to begin to study individual consciousness and the unconscious, their relationship and how they manifest themselves in behavior. According to this school of thought, a person’s awareness is just no more than one tenth of the psyche. Most constitutes the unconscious, in which instincts, desires, emotions, fears are stored; they are always with a person, but only sometimes manifest themselves and at that moment guide the person.

Consciousness is synonymous with awareness and this term will also be used. So, the conscious is that which is controlled by a person, the unconscious is that which cannot be controlled, only it itself is capable of influencing a person. Insights, dreams, associations, reflexes - appear without our will, also intuition, inspiration, creativity, impressions, memories, obsessive thoughts, slips of the tongue, clerical errors, illnesses, pains, impulses - manifestations of the unconscious, sometimes some of them can appear in completely inappropriate moment or if a person does not expect it at all.

Thus, there is a connection between the unconscious and the conscious, and today no one dares to refute it. Both the conscious and the unconscious are intertwined in a person and influence both him and each other. The unconscious sphere can open up to a person, which establishes what internal motivations and forces drive a person, his thoughts and actions, outside of consciousness.

Guided by this knowledge, you can greatly improve your life, learn to trust your intuition, become open to creativity, work on your fears, open up, listen to your inner voice, and work through repressed desires. All this requires a reserve of strength and desire, but then in order to fully understand yourself, develop, achieve goals, get rid of complexes, you need to engage in introspection and deep self-knowledge.

The unconscious frees the mind from extra load, protects against information overload. It contains negative experiences, fears, information traumatic to the psyche and, thanks to this, protects a person from psychological stress and breakdowns. Without such a mechanism, people would not be able to withstand all the pressures from the outside world. Thanks to liberation from negative experiences or outdated unnecessary information, a person is able to fully realize himself.

Protection of a person’s consciousness is manifested in freeing him from constant control over the actions that he carries out every day. Actions such as brushing teeth, using appliances, riding a bicycle, and many others become automatic and do not require thinking about the actions. Also, an adult does not notice how he makes words from letters when he reads, and does not think about what actions he needs to perform in order to walk. In the same way, actions become automatic in professions.

Because some information passes into the unconscious area, much more space is freed up for assimilation of new information, and the mind more easily concentrates on new important tasks. But we must not forget that even what has gone into the unconscious does not disappear without a trace, it is stored, and under the influence of some stimulus it is able to break out, because, in any case, it is part of a person.

The conscious and unconscious psyches are of equal importance to people, and the functionality of either of them cannot be underestimated.

Consciousness and self-awareness

The concept of human consciousness is also used in the context of self-awareness. The properties of consciousness are that it, as the personal core of a person, contains feelings, sensations, thoughts and emotions. The meaning of self-awareness is that it is a person’s attitude towards himself. It turns out that both concepts are parts of a single whole.

If you look back at the history of mankind, then primitive people had only underdeveloped awareness, which developed in stages. It began with the fact that a person felt his body on a physical level and understood the limitations of his abilities. After exploring his body, he began to explore the outside world, from which his mind gained new information, which stimulated its development. How more people meets different objects, the more he knows how to find their differences and learn new properties.

The formation of self-awareness happened a little later. At first, man was guided only by innate instincts (reproduction, self-preservation). Thanks to self-awareness, man managed to rise above such primitivism, and the emergence of hierarchy in communities contributed to this. Each group had a leader whom everyone listened to, followed his instructions, and accepted criticism and praise. Thus, people became above their instincts, because they began to do something not specifically for themselves alone, but for the whole group and the leader. This is a manifestation of self-awareness in the external world, and not inside the human consciousness. Even later, the individual began to listen to his own voice and act in relation to what he “heard,” this allowed him to rise above instincts, fleeting desires and other factors that interfered with personal development.

In the development of modern man, the formation of consciousness and self-awareness also appears in stages. At first, the child gradually becomes aware of himself, then finds himself under the guidance of adults. Later, external managers are replaced by internal ones. But this development has not reached everyone. In undeveloped countries, there are people who still live according to their old instinct.

Without self-awareness a person cannot go further in his personal development, achieve goals, get along with people around you, become successful. With the help of self-awareness, a person sees and makes his life the way he wants. All successful people have this property. Otherwise, they would not be able to become intelligent and develop intelligence.

By the way, categories such as consciousness and are often compared. Many people believe that if there is consciousness, then this also indicates intelligence, but these categories have different meanings. An intelligent person is not always conscious. The level of consciousness among less educated people may be higher. Therefore, consciousness and intelligence are not identical concepts. But with the help of self-awareness, intellectual capabilities develop. The properties of self-awareness and consciousness constitute the life of a modern person, help him in gaining freedom, otherwise it would remain only within the framework of desires.

Consciousness in philosophy

The concept of consciousness in philosophy is complex topic for study, great people have pondered over it. The relationship between the concepts of consciousness and brain in philosophy is an even more difficult topic, since the two concepts are presented as completely different. The definition of consciousness is an idea, and the brain is a material substrate. But still there is definitely a connection between them.

Modern philosophers are confident in the existence of consciousness and regarding its sources, they identify several of its factors. First, the external and spiritual world, the natural and the spiritual, are reflected in consciousness under the guise of certain sensory-conceptual ideas. Such information is the result of interactions between a person and a situation that provides contact with it.

Secondly, the sociocultural environment, aesthetic and ethical attitudes, legal acts, knowledge, methods and means of cognitive activity - this allows a person to be a social being.

Third, this is the spiritual inner world of the individual, her life experiences and experiences, rethinking which a person makes plans.

Fourth, the brain is such a factor because it is cellular level ensures the functioning of consciousness.

Fifth, the cosmic information field, a link of which is the functioning of human consciousness, is also a factor.

It turns out that the source of consciousness is not only the ideas themselves (according to the theory of idealists), and not the brain itself (according to materialists), but objective and subjective reality, which is reflected by a person with the help of the brain in transpersonal forms of consciousness.

Consciousness and the brain in philosophy are studied from several approaches. One of these is physicalism - a materialist direction that denies the existence of consciousness as an independent substance, since, first of all, it is generated by matter.

Solipsism is also an approach that studies the concept of consciousness and presents extreme views. It says that the awareness of each person exists as a single reliable reality. Material world is a product of consciousness.

The described approaches demonstrate moderate materialism and objective idealism. Regarding the first, the category of consciousness in it is defined as a unique manifestation of matter, which allows one to reflect oneself. The second one insists that consciousness has a certain connection with matter, the existence of consciousness is defined as original.

Indeed, a person's awareness of the brain, or how, in itself is not explained by the approaches described above. Other areas need to be explored. For example, there is a cosmic view, according to it, the meaning of consciousness is independent of material carrier is a gift from the cosmos and is indivisible.

According to biological theory, the ability to be aware is a product of living nature and is inherent in absolutely everyone, even the simplest organisms. Because life is not spontaneous, and patterns flow from consciousness. All living creatures have instincts that are innate and acquired in the process of their life, accumulated along with experience; they are also capable of performing actions that are complex in structure, and some animals even have a peculiar morality.

But there is also a view in relation to which the property of consciousness is considered to be inherent exclusively to man. But even coming from such different versions and definitions, philosophy does not give a single answer to the question about the source of the origin of consciousness. The human mind is in continuous movement and development, since different events happen to it every day, which a person tries to comprehend and realize.

Consciousness and language in philosophy can be briefly described as another issue of concern to philosophers. Mind and language directly have mutual influences that can be controlled. When a person works to improve speech data, he also changes his own properties of consciousness, thereby developing the ability to objectively perceive information and make decisions. Ancient philosophical thinkers such as Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle studied the relationship between consciousness, thinking and language. This can even be seen in the Greek word “logos,” which literally means that thought is inseparable from the word.

Consciousness and language in philosophy can be briefly explained through such a philosophical movement as “philosophy of language”; it asserts that the ability of consciousness directly affects a person’s worldview, in particular his speech, and from this it follows that it also influences communication with others.

In modern times, many scientists are trying to find new relationships in consciousness and language. For example, recent studies have confirmed that every person’s thinking uses visual pictures that were formed under the influence of consciousness. Thus, awareness guides the thought process. Close to this definition was the thinker Rene Descartes, who gave such an explanation that was forever entrenched in philosophy and other sciences that it can be found dominant.

Descartes believed that there are two substances - thinking and bodily, fundamentally different from each other. Things and events of a bodily substance are considered spatial and accessible to external contemplation, then consciousness and events in it are not spatial, that is, they are impossible to observe, but they can be realized by the internal experience of the bearer of this consciousness.

Idealists did not support such an idea, but argued that personality is a state of consciousness, like a spirit, in which the bodily and biological do not have much meaning. Contemporaries are not satisfied with such a view, therefore philosophers discussing the psychophysical problem of consciousness adhere to a greater extent to variants of materialism.

The most consistent version of the materialist direction is the theory of identity, which believes that thought processes, perceptions and sensations are identical with the state of the brain.

Functionalism, as another view on the definition of consciousness, considers phenomena and processes as functional states of the brain, and not physical ones. The brain is defined as a complex multi-level system with physical, functional and systemic properties. This approach has several disadvantages, the main one being that such a definition is very much in the spirit of Cartesian dualism.

Some supporters of modern philosophy believe that it is necessary to turn away from Descartes' ideas about personality as a "spirit in a machine", based on the fact that initially a person is a rational animal, capable of conscious behavior, personality cannot be divided into two worlds, so there is a need for a new interpretation of concepts associated with the ability of consciousness - from simple sensations to intellectual processes and self-awareness.