In a global sense, philosophy is concentrated knowledge of the world. but in its structure there is a separate area - philosophical knowledge, which is significantly different from ordinary. The structure of philosophical knowledge, a brief description of which includes a list of the main sections of philosophy, is formed gradually, along with the process of specialization of understanding different areas of life.
The concept of philosophical knowledge
Historically, philosophy has been the source of all knowledge. In pre-antique times, its structure included science, mathematics, poetics, and ideas about the world. The thinkers of India, China, Egypt conceptualized everything around them, accumulated general knowledge about the world and did not single out it into separate areas, for example, astronomy or anatomy. Everything that did not belong to religion and art was philosophy.
In late ancient times, the specialization of information began to take shape, and philosophical knowledge, fundamentally different from scientific knowledge, gradually emerged. The structure and specifics of philosophical knowledge can be briefly presented as a theory of knowledge of man, the world of things and the world of spirit. Philosophy forms a complex of knowledge about objective reality, which does not depend on a person, but teaches him to build his behavior in accordance with the laws of the universe. The subject of philosophy, the structure of philosophical knowledge can be briefly called the word worldview. Its main task is to discover patterns in the existence of the world as a whole.
Features of philosophical knowledge
The specificity of philosophical knowledge is universality. It operates with concepts and categories and has a very high level of generalization. The structure of philosophical knowledge, briefly described, is a form of a person's understanding of himself and the reality around. Philosophical knowledge is knowledge of the whole world, in contrast to science, which accumulates information about a separate part of reality. Unlike religion, philosophy is built on logic, and unlike science, philosophical knowledge is built on conclusions, not on experiments.
The features and structure of philosophical knowledge can be briefly designated as reflections on the real and the due. Philosophy reflects not only on what is in reality, but also on how it should be. Philosophy most often answers the global questions of being, tries to solve the abstract problems of all mankind as a whole. In this case, philosophy uses logic and argumentation, therefore philosophical knowledge is verifiable and objective. This is not a figment of the thoughts of one subject, but a logically substantiated answer to a question. Another important feature of philosophical knowledge is its reflexivity. It is a person’s view of himself from the side.
The structure of philosophical knowledge: a summary and description
Philosophy as a field of knowledge answers a number of main questions that determine the essence of human existence. Philosophical knowledge is divided into various functional aspects in accordance with the main aspects of understanding reality. They are the components of knowledge about the world. Moreover, the structure of philosophical knowledge and the functions of philosophy are closely interconnected. It is functions that underlie the stratification of philosophical knowledge.
In an effort to present a comprehensive, universal knowledge of the world, philosophy performs such functions as: worldview, cognitive, value-orientating, critical, communicative, integrating, prognostic, educational and some others. Each function leads a special section in philosophy and is an element of the structure of philosophical knowledge.
In its most general form, the structure of philosophical knowledge, the main sections of philosophy can be represented as equal parts of the whole, among which stand out: ontology, axiology, anthropology, epistemology, praxiology, ethics and logic. Thus, the structure of philosophical knowledge (sections of philosophy) covers all areas of scientists' thoughts on the nature and purpose of being, as well as on the place of man in this world.
Ontology in the structure of philosophical knowledge
The main and first part of the philosophy is ontology. The structure of philosophical knowledge can be briefly called precisely the science of existence. Philosophy answers questions about how the world works, where it came from, what time is, space, in what forms existence exists. Ontology comprehends everything that exists, it stands above all the sciences of the world, as it provides extremely universal answers to global questions. Ontology as part of philosophical knowledge arises one of the first in an attempt by a person to realize and comprehend the world around him. Ontology considers reality in the fullness of its incarnations: ideal, material, objective, subjective, and searches for general patterns of the appearance and development of the world.
Axiology in the structure of philosophical knowledge
Another important function of philosophy is the orientation of a person in the world of values, building a hierarchy of phenomena and objects of reality. The structure of philosophical knowledge, briefly presented, includes information on the basic values of humanity. Axiology helps to understand the significance of phenomena and objects, performs an orienting function. The theory of values comprehends the significance of spiritual and material phenomena in human life; it represents reflections on universal, universal human values and a set of subjective values of individual social, ethnic and demographic communities. The axiological component in the structure of philosophy is designed to help the subject build a hierarchy of values and realize the degree of proximity of his current state to the ideal.
Gnoseology in the structure of philosophical knowledge
Cognition is an essential part of human life, and in particular philosophy. The structure of philosophical knowledge, briefly characterized as a collection of information about the world, includes such a significant component as epistemology. The theory of knowledge primarily answers the question of the possibility of knowledge of the world and its essence by man. So there are currents, which, on the one hand, argue that the world is comprehensible, and the second, on the contrary, argue that the human mind is too limited and cannot comprehend the laws of the universe. In addition, epistemology comprehends such problems as the features of the subject and object of cognition, studies the structure of the process of cognition and its types, discusses the boundaries of cognition, methods of obtaining knowledge and what truth is.
Logic in the structure of philosophical knowledge
The structure and specificity of philosophical knowledge, briefly defined as a set of methods for obtaining knowledge, is based on logic. This section of philosophy formulates laws and methods for obtaining knowledge and evidence. In essence, logic dictates the norms of thinking, it controls the process of obtaining reliable knowledge. It helps a person find a way to achieve truth, and the methods used must lead different people in the course of cognition to the same results. This allows us to talk about verifiability and objectivity of knowledge. The laws of logic are universal and applicable to any science, this is the philosophical meaning of logic.
Praxeology in the structure of philosophical knowledge
The structure of philosophical knowledge briefly describes various aspects of human existence. An important component in this is philosophical reflection on human activities, this section is called praxeology. The main questions that this part of philosophy seeks answers to are what is human activity, what is the significance of labor and practical skills in human life, how does activity affect human development. The subject and structure of philosophical knowledge briefly describes the characteristics of methods for achieving results in practice.
Ethics and Philosophical Knowledge
The place of ethics in the structure of philosophical knowledge can be briefly described as the regulation of human behavior. Ethics is a normative part of philosophy, which seeks answers to questions about what is good and evil, what are the universal laws of morality, what is virtue and how to achieve it. Ethics formulates universal moral laws in the form of ideas about what is due. It dictates to a person certain standards and norms of behavior that will help him move towards the ideal. Ethics explores the nature and norms of morality, helps a person rise above his biological essence and find a path to spiritual existence.
