Cognition is the process of gaining knowledge about the world around us and about oneself. Cognition begins from the moment when a person begins to ask himself questions: who I am, why I came to this world, what mission I must fulfill. Cognition is a constant process. It occurs even when a person is not aware of what thoughts guide his actions and deeds. Cognition as a process studies a number of sciences: psychology, philosophy, sociology, scientific methodology, history, science of science. The goal of any knowledge is self-improvement and broadening your horizons.
The structure of cognition
Cognition as a scientific category has a clearly defined structure. Cognition necessarily includes a subject and an object. A subject is understood as a person who takes active steps to realize cognition. The object of cognition is what the subject's attention is directed to. Other people, natural and social phenomena, any objects can act as an object of cognition.
Methods of cognition
The methods of cognition are understood as tools with the help of which the process of acquiring new knowledge about the surrounding world is carried out. Methods of cognition are traditionally divided into empirical and theoretical.
Empirical methods of cognition
Empirical methods of cognition involve the study of an object with the help of any research actions, confirmed empirically. Empirical methods of cognition include: observation, experiment, measurement, comparison.
- Observation Is a method of cognition, during which the study of an object is carried out without direct interaction with it. In other words, the observer can be at a distance from the object of knowledge and at the same time receive the information he needs. With the help of observation, the subject can draw his own conclusions on a particular issue, build additional assumptions. The observation method is widely used in their activities by psychologists, medical staff, social workers.
- Experiment is a method of cognition in which there is an immersion in a specially created environment. This method of cognition involves some abstraction from the outside world. Scientific research is carried out with the help of an experiment. During this method cognition is confirmed or refuted by the hypothesis put forward.
- Measurement is an analysis of any parameters of the object of knowledge: weight, size, length, etc. In the course of comparison, the comparison of the significant characteristics of the object of knowledge is carried out.
Theoretical methods of cognition
Theoretical methods of cognition provide for the study of an object through the analysis of various categories and concepts. In this case, the truth of the hypothesis put forward is not confirmed empirically, but is proved with the help of the existing postulates and final conclusions. Theoretical methods of cognition include: analysis, synthesis, classification, generalization, concretization, abstraction, analogy, deduction, induction, idealization, modeling, formalization.
- Analysis implies mental analysis of the whole object of knowledge into small parts. The analysis reveals the connection between the components, their differences and other features. Analysis as a method of cognition is widely used in scientific and research activities.
- Synthesis involves the unification of individual parts into a single whole, the discovery of a link between them. Synthesis is actively used in the process of all cognition: in order to accept new information, you need to correlate it with the already existing knowledge.
- Classification Is a grouping of objects, united by specific parameters.
- Generalization involves the grouping of individual items according to their main characteristics.
- Concretization is a refinement process carried out with the aim of focusing attention on significant details of an object or phenomenon.
- Abstraction involves focusing on the private side of a particular subject in order to discover new approach, to acquire a different view of the problem under study. At the same time, other components are not considered, are not taken into account, or insufficient attention is paid to them.
- Analogy carried out in order to identify the presence of similar objects in the object of knowledge.
- Deduction- this is a transition from the general to the particular as a result of inferences proved in the process of cognition.
- Induction- this is the transition from the particular to the whole as a result of inferences proved in the process of cognition.
- Idealization implies the formation of separate concepts denoting an object that does not exist in reality.
- Modeling involves the formation and sequential study of any category of existing objects in the process of cognition.
- Formalization reflects objects or phenomena using generally accepted symbols: letters, numbers, formulas or other conventions.
Types of cognition
The types of cognition are understood as the main directions of human consciousness, with the help of which the process of cognition is carried out. They are sometimes called forms of knowledge.
Ordinary cognition
This type of cognition implies the receipt by a person of elementary information about the world around him in the process of life. Even a child has ordinary knowledge. A small person, receiving the necessary knowledge, draws his own conclusions and gains experience. Even if it comes negative experience, in the future, he will help to form such qualities as caution, attentiveness, prudence. A responsible approach develops through comprehension of the experience gained, its internal living. As a result of everyday cognition, a person develops an idea of how one can and how one cannot act in life, what should be counted on and what should be forgotten. Ordinary knowledge is based on elementary representations about the world and connections between existing objects. It does not affect general cultural values, does not consider the worldview of the individual, its religious and moral orientation. Ordinary cognition strives only to satisfy a momentary request about the surrounding reality. Personality simply accumulates what is necessary for further life. useful experience and knowledge.
Scientific knowledge
This type of cognition is based on a logical approach. Its other name is. Here plays an important role detailed consideration the situation in which the subject is immersed. With the help of a scientific approach, the analysis of existing objects is carried out, appropriate conclusions are drawn. Scientific knowledge widely used in research projects any direction. With the help of science, they prove the truth or refute many facts. The scientific approach is subordinated to many components, cause-and-effect relationships play an important role.
V scientific activities the process of cognition is carried out by putting forward hypotheses and proving them in a practical way. As a result of the research being conducted, a scientist can confirm his assumptions or completely abandon them if the final product does not meet the stated goal. Scientific knowledge is based primarily on logic and common sense.
Artistic cognition
This type of cognition is also called creative. Such knowledge is based on artistic images and affects the intellectual sphere of a person's activity. Here, the truth of any statements cannot be proven scientifically, since the artist comes into contact with the category of beauty. Reality is reflected in artistic images, and is not built by the method of mental analysis. Artistic knowledge is limitless in its essence. The nature of creative cognition of the world is such that a person himself models an image in his head with the help of thoughts and ideas. The material created in this way is an individual creative product and gets the right to exist. Each artist has his own inner world, which he reveals to other people through creative activity: an artist paints pictures, a writer - books, a musician composes music. All creative thinking has its own truth and fiction.
Philosophical knowledge
This type of cognition consists in the intention to interpret reality by determining a person's place in the world. Philosophical knowledge is characterized by a search for individual truth, constant reflections on the meaning of life, an appeal to such concepts as conscience, purity of thoughts, love, talent. Philosophy tries to penetrate into the essence of the most complex categories, explain mystical and eternal things, define the essence of human existence, existential issues of choice. Philosophical knowledge is aimed at understanding controversial issues being. Often, as a result of such research, the actor comes to an understanding of the ambivalence of all that exists. A philosophical approach involves seeing the second (hidden) side of any object, phenomenon or judgment.
Religious knowledge
This type of cognition is aimed at studying the relationship of a person with higher powers. The Almighty is considered here simultaneously as an object of study, and at the same time as a subject, since religious consciousness implies the praise of the divine principle. A religious person interprets all the events taking place from the point of view of divine providence. He analyzes his inner state, mood and waits for some definite response from above to certain actions performed in life. For him, the spiritual component of any business, morality and moral foundations are of great importance. Such a person often sincerely wishes others happiness and wants to fulfill the will of the Almighty. A religiously minded consciousness implies the search for the only correct truth that would be useful to many, not just one specific person... Questions that are posed to the individual: what are good and evil, how to live according to conscience, what is the sacred duty of each of us.
Mythological knowledge
This type of knowledge belongs to primitive society.... This is a variant of cognition of a person who considered himself an integral part of nature. Ancient people looked for answers to questions about the essence of life differently than modern people, they endowed nature with divine power. That is why the mythological consciousness has formed its gods and the corresponding attitude to the events taking place. Primitive society relinquished responsibility for what happens in everyday reality and turned entirely to nature.
Self-knowledge
This type of cognition is aimed at studying their true states, moods and conclusions. Self-knowledge always implies a deep analysis of one's own feelings, thoughts, actions, ideals, aspirations. Those who have been actively engaged in self-knowledge for several years note that they have a highly developed intuition. Such a person will not get lost in the crowd, will not succumb to the “herd” feeling, but will make responsible decisions on his own. Self-knowledge leads a person to understand their motives, to comprehend the years lived and the deeds committed. As a result of self-knowledge, a person's mental and physical activity increases, he accumulates self-confidence, becomes truly brave and enterprising.
Thus, cognition as a deep process of acquiring the necessary knowledge about the surrounding reality has its own structure, methods and types. Each kind of cognition corresponds different periods in the history of social thought and the personal choice of an individual.
Scientific knowledge- the process of forming scientific knowledge, i.e. objective ideas about the phenomena and processes in the world in all their diversity. Scientific knowledge includes two main level: empirical and theoretical. Empirical the level is divided into stages, each of which has its own methods: observation, comparison, experiment, systematization and classification, empirical generalization, obtaining scientific facts. At the theoretical level, three main components can be distinguished: problem, hypothesis and theory. A hypothesis goes through three stages: construction, verification, and proof. There are several types of theory: descriptive, mathematized, interpretive, deductive. Theoretical research methods: formalization, axiomatic method, hypothetical-deductive method, idealization, historical and logical methods.
Empirical level of knowledge- this is knowledge obtained directly from experience, with some rational processing of the properties and relationships of the object under study. It always represents the basis for the theoretical level of knowledge. The theoretical level is knowledge gained through abstract thinking. The division of the cognitive process into empirical and theoretical levels does not coincide with the division of cognition in general into sensory and abstract. For example, the data of empirical research are always recorded in a sign system using scientific terms (formulas reflecting patterns). These observations cannot be attributed to sensory cognition (sensations, perceptions, representations). A complex interweaving of the sensual and the rational arises here. Also, rational knowledge cannot be correlated with the theoretical level of scientific knowledge. For example, the forms of rational cognition (concepts, judgments, inferences) dominate in the process of mastering reality. However, when constructing a theory, visual model representations are also used, which are forms of sensory cognition. The result is a complex interweaving of the sensual and the rational.
The empirical level of scientific knowledge
The empirical level of cognition is formed in the process of interaction with the object of research, when the researcher directly affects it, interacts with it, processes the results and receives a conclusion. The empirical level is divided into stages, each of which. Has its own methods: interacting with an object through observation, comparison and experiment; systematization and classification of the obtained empirical data using graphs and tables; empirical generalization; obtaining empirical facts. Consequently, empirical research is basically focused on the study of phenomena and the relationship between them. At the level of empirical knowledge, essential connections seem to appear through their concrete shell.
Empirical research methods:
· Observation is a systematic and purposeful perception of an object. The purpose of observation is to identify the essential properties and relationships of an object. Observation data contain primary information that we receive directly in the process of observing an object. This information is given in a special form - in the form of direct sensory data of the subject of observation, which are then recorded in the form of observation protocols. Objective information can be distorted by random external influences of the subject's sense organs, devices can give errors, Therefore, observational data are not yet reliable knowledge. The basis of the theory is not observational data, but empirical facts.
· Experiment - a method of detecting essential properties in an object. The experiment is set deliberately, with the aim of artificially reproducing an object in ideal conditions... Thus, on the basis of observation data, a special type of knowledge is formed - a scientific fact.
· Obtaining scientific facts. SF arises as a result of a complex rational processing: comprehension, understanding, interpretation of empirical objects. Empirical objects are abstractions that distinguish in reality a certain set of properties and relationships of things. Real objects are presented in empirical knowledge in the form of ideal objects with a rigidly fixed and limited set of features.
comparison, systematization and classification, empirical generalization
Forms of empirical research:
· Abstraction - the process of abstraction from a number of properties and relationships of the phenomenon under study, while simultaneously highlighting the properties of interest to the researcher. There are several types of abstraction: abstraction of identification, isolating abstraction, abstraction of abolition, abstraction of idealization, abstraction of substitution.
· Analysis - real or mental division of an object into its component parts, and synthesis - their unification into a single whole. There are three stages: fixing general and particular properties, revealing the reasons, highlighting the object as a whole in the system.
· Induction - the movement of thought from the individual (experience, facts) to the general (by their generalization in conclusions) and deduction - the ascent of the process of cognition from the general to the individual. There are complete and incomplete induction. Full induction is not possible. Inductive inferences are probabilistic in nature.
Generalization - installation general properties and signs.
Theoretical level of knowledge
The theoretical level of knowledge is focused on identifying essential relationships in their purest form. The essence of an object is the interaction of a number of laws that govern this object. The task of the theory is to recreate all these relationships between laws and thus reveal the essence of the object. In theoretical research, there is no direct practical interaction with objects. At this level, an object can only be studied indirectly, in a thought experiment. The main means of theoretical knowledge are theoretical ideal objects (models). These are special abstractions that contain the meaning of theoretical terms. For example, models include material point absolutely solid, an idealized population (in biology).
Theoretical research methods:
· Formalization - display of meaningful knowledge in sign formalism. The latter is created for the accurate expression of thoughts in order to exclude the possibility of ambiguous understanding. When formalizing, reasoning about objects is transferred to the plane of operating with signs (formulas). The relations of signs replace statements about the properties and relations of objects. Formalization plays an essential role in clarifying scientific concepts.
· Axiomatic method - a method of constructing a scientific theory, in which it is based on some initial provisions, from which all other statements of this theory are derived from them in a logical way, by means of proof. To derive theorems from axioms, special inference rules are formulated.
· Hypothetical-deductive method - a method of theoretical research, the essence of which is to create a system of deductively linked hypotheses, from which statements about empirical facts are derived. Consequently, this method is based on the derivation (deduction) of conclusions from hypotheses, the true meaning of which is unknown. The conclusion obtained in this way will be probabilistic in nature.
· Idealization - a method of constructing an idealized object. These abstractions are complex formations. They can be endowed not only with those features that can be found in the real interaction of real objects, but also with features that no real object has. For example: a material point is defined as a body devoid of size, but concentrating in itself the entire mass of the body. There are no such bodies in nature.
Forms of the theoretical level of knowledge are the same forms as in empirical knowledge. In addition, an analogy is used - the establishment of similarities in some aspects, properties and relationships between non-identical objects. Based on the identified similarities, an appropriate conclusion is made - inference by analogy. Analogy gives not reliable, but probabilistic knowledge.
As a result, the empirical and theoretical levels of scientific knowledge are interconnected, the border between them is conditional. Science as a dynamically developing system of knowledge cannot develop successfully without being enriched with new empirical data. V certain types science, the empirical turns into the theoretical and vice versa. However, it is inadmissible to absolutize one of these levels to the detriment of the other.
The terms " knowledge" and " cognition»Are ambiguous, which is associated with a variety of cognitive practices. "See with your own eyes", "comprehend empirically", "hear from an authoritative person", "read in books, reference books", "think, understand", "deduce from reliable statements", as well as "be able to do something", "To be confident in the correctness of the decision" - all this different shapes possible use of the word "knowledge". To assimilate total value of this term, it is necessary to distinguish between different word usage. So, in ancient greek philosophy the main one was the distinction between "knowledge" and "opinion". Knowledge was considered to be the disclosure of the essence of being, its stable and unchanging laws and therefore was endowed with the properties of truth, universality, necessity and universality. Opinion, on the contrary, it was regarded as an expression of private interest, as a generalization of sensory or practical experience, reflecting the world of changeable phenomena.
Knowledge as comprehension of the essence of being was also endowed with value characteristics in ancient Greek philosophy. True knowledge served as the foundation of public policy and private life. Communicating about the divine order (cosmos), knowledge provided wisdom in any business, guaranteed good and a happy life. The Greeks considered the highest form of knowledge “ theory "(literally "discretion", "contemplation"). Unlike opinions, which are biased, theory is an uninterested contemplation of the essence, it is aimed at comprehending the essence of being, and not at sensory data, facts. But it would be hasty to identify such philosophizing with modern theoretical knowledge. The wisdom of the Greek philosophers illuminated the personal life of people, set its general meaning or goal. The ancient teacher cared first of all about the soul of the student and gradually initiated him into such truths that he comprehended and tested with his own life experience.
With the development of Greek culture, instrumental knowledge about nature became more and more relevant. For Aristotle, the model of knowledge is not so much life wisdom as science, which he defined as a system of universal and evidence-based knowledge based on a small number of universally valid statements - axioms. True Aristotle turns out to be a property of knowledge, it is characterized as the correspondence of what is said in the statement to the objective state of affairs. The ideal of knowledge was Euclidean geometry, which remained a model for the philosophy of modern times.
The original positions of the geometry refer to ideal figures that are immutable. Therefore, statements about them are universal and necessary. Geometric figures can be performed using a compass and a ruler, for example, in drawings and further in the construction of buildings. Thanks to this, the theoretical provisions are applicable to reality. Belief in the possibility of theory is associated with something so familiar to us, but in fact surprising fact that it is possible to transfer the knowledge gained from the analysis of ideal models to real objects. The fact that mathematical calculations and calculations are confirmed by observations and measurements was explained by the ancient philosophers on the basis of the assumption of proportions and laws that are invisible to the sensory vision, which are comprehensible only to the mind.
In the Middle Ages, distinction became dominant knowledge and faith. A new opposition between the visible created world and the Creator's plan, incomprehensible to man, has been added to the previous differentiation of knowledge and opinion. Knowledge was understood as the human ability to comprehend the structure of the world created by God, through experience and logical reasoning. The plan of the world, its purpose and meaning are inaccessible to man and remain in the divine intellect. Its perfection, goodwill and infinite power surpass the capabilities of a person who is resolutely incapable of understanding and can only believe that God created the world out of nothing.
The opposition between knowledge and faith did not remain unchanged, and already in the Middle Ages it was mediated in the course of heated debates about the nature of intuitive and discursive, intellectual and sensual, intelligible, a priori (before experiential) and experimental, analytical and synthetic knowledge. These concepts were used in philosophical discussions about the nature, structure and functions of scientific and theoretical knowledge and became the philosophical prerequisites of mechanical and mathematical natural science.
Classical ontology was the fundamental basis for proving objective truth. However, the situation is gradually changing, the question of the existence of truth is transformed into the identification of criteria for its verifiability. Therefore, epistemological problems are pushed forward, pushing ontology into the background. Already in late scholasticism, a turn from ontology to teachings about the nature of universals, numbers, geometric shapes and others. In the philosophy of modern times, the problem of the status of ideal objects becomes the most important part of philosophy, which specialized in substantiating certain theoretical constructions. Ontology in the rationalism and empiricism of the New Age becomes dependent on the epistemology and methodology of science. The final demarcation from the classical ontology of pure being was carried out by Kant. Objectivity is the result of the design of sensory material by categorical synthesis in the mind of the transcendental subject. Kant's "Critique ..." completes the turn from "ontology" to "epistemology", which had a tremendous impact on the entire subsequent development of European philosophy.
Although neo-Kantians and neo-positivists have sharply criticized ontology, nevertheless, their teachings contain some ontological premises. Forms of categorical synthesis, methods of analysis and other techniques scientific research certainly belong to the sphere of epistemology. But the very recognition of them as universal principles of the organization of cognitive activity gives them an ontological status. Classical ontology focuses on the cognition of being, but how do we know that it is generally cognizable? Thus, cognition becomes problematic because we do not know if we can cognize. Such doubts proved to be destructive for the ontological paradigm. Philosophy can no longer begin with surprise, which presupposes the given of being, it must begin with a doubt: how is knowledge possible, what can be known?
Humanity has always strived to acquire new knowledge. The process of mastering the secrets of the surrounding world is an expression of the highest aspirations of the creative activity of reason, which is the great pride of mankind. Over the millennia of its development, mankind has passed a long and thorny path of cognition from the primitive and limited to an ever deeper and more comprehensive penetration into the essence of being. On this path, an innumerable set of facts, properties and laws of nature, social life and man himself were discovered, there were constant changes in the "pictures" and "images" of the world. Developing knowledge went hand in hand with the development of production, with the flourishing of the arts and artistic creation. The human mind comprehends the laws of the world not for the sake of simple curiosity (although curiosity is one of the driving forces of human life), but for the sake of practical transformation of both nature and man in order to maximize the harmonious life of man in the world. Humanity's knowledge forms the most complex system, which acts in the form of social memory, its wealth and diversity are passed from generation to generation, from people to people through the mechanism of social inheritance and culture. Knowledge does not arise by itself, it is the result of a special process of people's cognitive activity, cognition is a process of acquiring and developing knowledge, its constant deepening, expansion and improvement The process of cognition, no matter how it goes, always represents the interaction of a subject and an object , the result of which is knowledge about the world around.
The subject of knowledge is one who wants to gain knowledge about the world around him. The object of cognition is what the cognitive activity of the subject is directed to.
The following elements can be distinguished in the structure of cognition.
- 1. Conscious activity. It is subdivided into the following areas:
- - cognitive sphere - mental activity, operating with certain concepts;
- - emotional sphere - inner feelings, sensations, experiences of a person;
- - motivational-volitional sphere - motives, interests, needs that form goals and direct a person to achieve them.
- 2. Unconscious activity. Here we highlight:
- - intuition;
- - dreams;
- - instincts.
Man began to think about what cognition is, what are the ways of acquiring knowledge already in ancient times, when he realized himself as something opposed to nature, as an agent in nature. Over time, the conscious formulation of this question and an attempt to solve it acquired a relatively harmonious form, then the knowledge about knowledge itself took shape. All philosophers, as a rule, one way or another, analyzed the problems of the theory of knowledge. There were two approaches to the question of how a person learns the world: some philosophers believed that we know the world with our senses, others - with our mind. The group of the first philosophers is called sensationalists (Epicurus, F. Bacon, L. Feuerbach), the group of the second - rationalists (Plato, R. Descartes, B. Spinoza). There is also a third concept of cognition - agnosticism - denial of the possibility of cognizing the world (D. Hume). Modern science considers sensory and rational cognition as two successive stages of the formation of cognition. Historically and logically, the first stage of the cognitive process is sensory cognition - cognition with the help of the senses. Sensory cognition as a whole is characterized by the reflection of the world in a visual form, the presence of a direct connection between a person and reality, a reflection of predominantly external sides and connections, the beginning of comprehending internal dependencies on the basis of an initial generalization of sensory data. ancient greek philosopher Aristotle over two thousand years ago. These are taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell. Man's sensory cognition of the world is carried out in three main forms.
- 1. Sensation is the sensory image of an object. The sensation appears as a result of the impact on the human senses of an object. A person perceives the external, accessible to the senses, signs of an object: smell, taste, shape, color. It is through sensations that the individual receives primary information about the objective world.
- 2. Perception is a holistic image of an object, in the aggregate of all sensations. Any subject has many various properties and a person perceives them not in isolation, but as a whole. This is possible due to the simultaneous mutually coordinated work of various senses. (For example, an apple is red, round, hard, sweet). Perception allows you to highlight an object from the surrounding background, displaying its shape, size, position in space.
- 3. Representation is a generalized image of an object stored by means of memory. Holistic sensory images of perception as a result of intense human interaction with environment accumulate in his mind. The accumulation and preservation of these images is carried out through memory. A person can imagine once seen and heard, describe what he perceived before. At the same time, some details, individual features of the object may be lost, therefore we call this image generalized.
Sensations, perceptions and representations in the process of cognition act interconnected and are influenced by rational forms of cognition, logical thinking... Rational knowledge is most fully reflected in thinking. Therefore, you need to understand well the content of this most important concept. Thinking is an active process of reflection of the surrounding world carried out in the course of practice. Human thinking is not a purely natural property, but the function of a social subject developed in the process of objective activity and communication. So, rational knowledge is penetration into the essence of things, operating with ideal images with the help of logical thinking. The main forms of rational knowledge.
- 4. Concept - reflects phenomena or objects in their general and essential features. Concepts are expressed in linguistic form - in the form of separate words, terms or in the form of word combinations denoting classes of objects For example: apple tree, tree.
- 5. Judgment is such a connection between concepts when something is affirmed or denied. This is a mental reflection, usually expressed narrative sentence... The judgment can be either true or false. For example, an apple tree is a tree.
- 6. Inference - a way of thinking in which a person, connecting his judgments, comes to certain conclusions. For example: All people are mortal. Ivanov is a man. Consequently, Ivanov is mortal. Sensual and rational cognition are two stages of cognition and do not contradict each other. These two forms of cognition are in constant interaction and form an indissoluble unity of the cognitive process. Rational forms of cognition are impossible without forms of sensory cognition, since from here they draw raw material... At the same time, sensory cognition is influenced by the rational. Feelings, perceptions and representations of a person carry the characteristics of all spiritual and intellectual activity of consciousness.
Cognition, its structure, capabilities and boundaries. The structure of the cognitive process
Cognition is a process of purposeful active reflection of reality in human consciousness. In the course of cognition, various facets of being are revealed, outer side and the essence of things, phenomena of the surrounding world, as well as the subject of cognitive activity - a person - examines a person, that is, himself.
The results of cognition remain not only in the consciousness of a concrete, cognized person, but are also transmitted from generation to generation, mainly with the help of material carriers of information - books, drawings, objects of material culture. (For example, Copernicus proved the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, but this was an achievement not only of Copernicus or his generation, but of all mankind).
In the process of life, a person performs two types of cognitive actions:
learns the world directly (that is, he opens something new either for himself or for humanity);
learns the world around him through the results of cognitive activity of other generations (reads books, studies, watches movies, joins all types of material or spiritual culture).
The cognizing subject is a person - a being endowed with reason and having mastered the arsenal of cognitive means accumulated by mankind.
Society as a whole, which during its history has accumulated a huge amount of material and spiritual culture - carriers of the results of knowledge, is also a cognitive subject.
A full-fledged cognitive activity of a person is possible only within the framework of society.
The object of cognition is the surrounding world (being in all its diversity), namely that part of the surrounding world to which the cognitive interest of the subject is directed.
An adequate and identical reflection of an object by a subject is called truth.
An inadequate, unreliable reflection by the cognizing subject of the surrounding reality, a distorted result of cognition that does not correspond to reality is called delusion.
The logical comprehension of the surrounding reality by the subject (consciousness), relying on categories, laws, concepts, previous values, is an assessment.
The main form of cognition and the criterion of truth in cognition is practice.
Practice is the concrete activity of people to transform the world around them and the person himself.
The main types of practice: material production; management; scientific experiment.
The functions of practice are that it is: the criterion of truth; the basis of knowledge; the goal of knowledge; the result of knowledge.
In the process of cognition, sensory, rational cognition, logic, intuition participate in the aggregate.
Sensory cognition is based on sensory sensations, reflecting reality, and logic.
Rational cognition is based on reason, its independent activity.
Close to rational is intuitive cognition, in which truth independently comes to a person at an unconscious level.
STRUCTURE OF THE KNOWLEDGE PROCESS. There are 3 levels: 1. pre-scientific knowledge, 2. scientific, 3. philosophical. A certain form of cognition corresponds to each of these levels. Prescientific knowledge characterizes the representation, it is an imperial (sensually perceived) world, where representation is sufficient for cognition. Scientific knowledge operates with concepts. The philosophical uses categories. These levels arise because different research subjects. There is a universal pattern of being. The regularity of a substance, a substantial essence, the knowledge of which is possible only through the most general concepts or universal universals - philosophical categories. The entire history of human cognition shows that cognition begins with feelings, then moves on to abstract thinking, and then is tested in practice. Sensory cognition (pre-scientific) is the first stage of cognition. Single objects, their sides, phenomena are studied here. The theory of feelings is not fully mastered by man, in contrast to the theory of thinking. Feelings cannot be expressed in language. With the help of our senses, we fix the signs of objects in the form of images. The 5 senses do not limit us. And if we have them more peace we understood, perhaps, more deeply, but we know the essence of things as well. Ilyenko and Meshcheryakov A.I. developed a methodology by which blind-deaf-mute children turned into full-fledged people. A person is a person in society, and having only one sense organ, they taught them to communicate. A man with one sense organ, but living in a society much taller than Mowgli. Among them there are candidates of sciences. There is various forms sensory cognition - forms of abstract thinking.