Forms of knowledge social science. Types of cognition and their characteristics

Cognition- the process of acquiring and developing knowledge, conditioned by socio-historical practice, its constant deepening, expansion and improvement.

Types of knowledge:

Everyday knowledge. Everyday knowledge is based on observation and ingenuity, it is better consistent with generally accepted life experience than with abstract scientific constructs, and is empirical in nature. This form of knowledge is based on common sense and everyday consciousness; it is an important indicative basis for the everyday behavior of people, their relationships with each other and with nature.

Everyday knowledge develops and becomes enriched with the progress of scientific and artistic knowledge; it is closely related to culture.

Scientific knowledge.Scientific knowledge presupposes an explanation of facts, their comprehension in the entire system of concepts of a given science.

The essence of scientific knowledge is:

- in understanding reality in its past, present and future;

- in a reliable generalization of facts;

- in the fact that behind the random it finds the necessary, natural, behind the individual - the general and on this basis carries out the prediction of various phenomena.

Scientific knowledge covers something relatively simple that can be more or less convincingly proven, strictly generalized, introduced into the framework of laws, causal explanations, in a word, something that fits into the paradigms accepted in the scientific community.

Artistic knowledge. Artistic knowledge has a certain specificity, the essence of which is a holistic, and not dismembered, reflection of the world and especially man in the world.

Sensory cognition. Sensory knowledge has three forms:

Sensations (elementary form, it includes visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, vibration and other sensations);

Perception (a structured image consisting of several sensations);

Representations (an image of a phenomenon previously created or perceived by the imagination).

Rational cognition. There are three forms of rational knowledge:

Concept;

Judgment;

Conclusion.

Concept- this is an elementary form of thought, which is the result of a generalization based on a set of characteristics inherent in a given class of objects.

Judgment- a thought that not only correlates with a certain situation, but is also an affirmation or denial of the existence of this situation in reality.

A concept and a judgment differ in that a judgment as a statement, in contrast to a concept as a statement, must necessarily be true or false. Judgment is a connection of concepts.

Inference- this is the conclusion of new knowledge, which presupposes a clear fixation of the rules. An inference must have evidence, during which the legitimacy of the emergence of a new thought is justified with the help of other thoughts.

Concept, judgment and inference form a certain integrity in their unity, this integrity is called mind or thinking.

Intuitive cognition. Intuitive cognition is unconsciously acquired direct knowledge.

Intuitive cognition is divided into:

Sensitive (intuition - instant feeling);

Rational (intellectual intuition);

Eidetic (visual intuition).

1. Cognition as a philosophical problem.

2. Sensory and rational knowledge and their forms.

Z. The problem of truth in philosophy and science.

When studying the first question "Knowledge as a philosophical problem" It should be understood that the study of the essence of knowledge is one of the main tasks of philosophy. The theory of knowledge (epistemology) is the most important section of many philosophical systems, and sometimes its main component.

Cognition- This is a set of processes through which a person receives, processes and uses information about the world and about himself.

Cognitive activity is ultimately aimed at satisfying the historically emerging material and spiritual needs and interests of people, and in this regard, is inextricably linked with the expedient practical activities. The latter represents the historical prerequisite, the basis and the most important goal of knowledge.

Those specific things, phenomena, processes to which people’s cognitive activity is directly directed are usually called object of knowledge . The one who carries out cognitive activity is called subject of knowledge .

The subject can be an individual, a social group (for example, a community of scientists) or society as a whole. From here cognition- this is a specific interaction between a subject and an object, the main goal of which is to provide, in accordance with the needs of the subject, models and programs that control the development of the object.

Thus, epistemology studies a special type of relationship between subject and object - cognitive. “Relations of cognition” include three components: subject, object and content of cognition (knowledge). To understand the essence of knowledge, it is necessary to analyze the relationship between: 1) the subject receiving knowledge and the source of knowledge (object); 2) between the subject and knowledge; 3) between knowledge and object.

In the first case, the task is to explain how the transition from source to “consumer” is possible. To do this, it is necessary to theoretically explain how the content of knowable things and phenomena is transferred to the human head and transformed in it into the content of knowledge.

When considering the second, of the above types of relationships, a complex of questions arises related, on the one hand, to a person’s mastery of ready-made bodies of knowledge available in culture (in books, tables, cassettes, computers, etc.) On the other hand, with assessment by the subject of certain knowledge, its depth, adequacy, assimilation, completeness, sufficiency for solving certain problems.

As for the relationship between knowledge and object, it leads to the problem of the reliability of knowledge, truth and its criteria.

The solution to epistemological problems in philosophy is based on the following principles.

Principle of objectivity . He states: the object of cognition (things, natural and social phenomena, sign structures) exists outside and independently of the subject and the process of cognition itself. This implies a methodological requirement - things and phenomena must be known objectively, i.e. as they are in themselves. A person should not bring anything of his own into the results of knowledge obtained.

The principle of knowability . He argues that reality must be known as it is. This principle is a conclusion from the entire history of knowledge and practice of mankind. A person is capable of adequately, with the completeness necessary in each specific case, to cognize natural and social existence. There are no fundamental boundaries on the path of the subject’s endless movement towards a more adequate and comprehensive comprehension of reality.

Reflection principle . This principle is inextricably linked with the concept of reflection, which expresses the essence of the materialistic understanding of knowledge. The first condition for the scientific understanding and explanation of knowledge is the recognition of its reflective nature. The principle of reflection can be formulated as follows: cognition of an object is the process of reflecting it in a person’s head.

In the epistemological concepts of past eras, reflection was considered: firstly, as a passive process, similar to mirror reflection; secondly, as a process based on mechanical causality (the appearance of images is determined by the influence of specific causes on the senses); thirdly, as an exhaustive description of the method and specific mechanisms for the formation of objectively true knowledge. All this led to the interpretation of various forms of knowledge in the spirit of metaphysical and contemplative approaches.

While preserving the rational understanding of the principle of reflection in the past, modern epistemology puts a qualitatively new content into this principle. Currently, reflection is understood as a universal property of matter and is defined as the ability of material phenomena, objects, systems to reproduce in their properties the features of other phenomena, objects, systems in the process of interaction with the latter.

The principle of creative activity of the subject in cognition . The spiritual-theoretical and spiritual-practical exploration of the world by man includes not only reflective activities associated with obtaining information about the world and oneself, but also various forms of creativity, the construction of new objective realities of the “world of culture.”

The introduction of the principle of practice and creative activity of the subject in solving epistemological problems allows us to understand at a qualitatively new level the true nature of the subject and object of knowledge, on the one hand, and the specific mechanism of their relationship in the structure of the cognitive act, on the other.

In epistemology subject is not only a system that receives, stores and processes information (like any living system). A subject is, first of all, a socio-historical phenomenon, endowed with consciousness, capable of goal-setting, objective, creatively transformative activity. From this point of view, the subject of knowledge is not only an individual person, but also a social group, layer, society in a particular historical era.

Modern epistemology also approaches the consideration of an object in a qualitatively new way. It is not indifferent to the subject whether something actual is an object of knowledge or not. From an epistemological point of view, this difference is of special interest.

In connection with the above, we can formulate a general law of knowledge, which states that the degree of objective mastery of reality in people’s practice isolates the totality of dimensions of an object, which in each given era serves as the basis for its reflection in people’s heads. A person comes into contact with objects (things, phenomena, processes) of natural and social existence, in all their infinite complexity. Driven to activity by his material and spiritual needs, setting certain goals, he always takes them as some “partial object” or “subject”.

Subject and object as opposite sides form a contradictory relationship. The subject cannot influence the object otherwise than in an objective manner. This means that he must have at his disposal material intermediaries of his influences on the cognizable object - hands, tools, measuring instruments, chemical reagents, etc. The progress of knowledge would be impossible without the constant expansion and complexity of this “world of intermediaries.” Likewise, the mechanism of influence of an object on a subject presupposes its own system of intermediaries - direct sensory information, various sign systems and, above all, human language.

The main cognitive relationship is the “image - object” relationship. In the broad sense of the word way we can call that state of consciousness that is connected in one way or another with an object. In relation to an object, three types of images can be distinguished: 1) images-knowledge, reflecting objective reality; 2) image-projects, which are mental constructs that should or can be implemented in practice; 3) images-values ​​expressing the needs and ideals of the subject.

Considering the second question " Sensory and rational knowledge and their forms" it should be assumed that sensory cognition contains images that are provided by human senses.

The main forms of the sensory stage of cognition are sensations, perceptions and ideas. IN sensations Each of the human senses in a specific way reflects individual properties, aspects of things (color, sound, smell, hardness). Perception – a holistic reflection of the properties and characteristics of an object. Performance - a visual, holistic image of a thing, arising on the basis of imagination and past sensory experience, preserved and reproduced in memory.

Human sensory images, in contrast to the images provided by the sense organs of animals, are mediated by social experience and have internal activity (they represent precisely living contemplation).

The basic form of sensory cognition is sensations. They provide a direct connection between consciousness and objective reality and are the only external channel through which information about the world can be obtained.

Rational cognition. A person receives information through natural signals coming from objects and artificial signals transmitted from subject to subject and functioning in the human language system. The development and improvement of language is closely related to the development of the rational stage of cognition. Language is the most important information intermediary between the subject and society. Without it, it is impossible to operate with ready-made knowledge. Rational thinking is the functioning of knowledge existing in language, connected with reality through sensory images that can reflect what is inaccessible to the senses.

The elementary forms of rational (logical) thinking are concept, judgment and inference. In them, the objective characteristics of things are highlighted and recorded in the signs of language.

Concept reflects the essential features of things, i.e., which are necessary and sufficient for their difference in a certain respect. Concepts seem to concentrate and summarize our knowledge. Judgment, recording any signs of the object, affirms or denies something about the object of knowledge:“The rose is red”, “metaphysics denies contradiction as a source of development”, “the atom is inexhaustible”.

Inference represents the linking of judgments (operating with them), giving new knowledge without recourse to the testimony of the senses. For example, already in ancient times it was concluded (judgment) that the Earth has the shape of a ball. This conclusion was obtained as follows. It is known that spherical bodies cast a disc-shaped shadow. During lunar eclipses, the Earth casts a disc-shaped shadow. That means it's round.

Human cognition there is a unity of the sensual and rational. People set cognitive tasks and interpret its results at the level of rational thinking, and receive the necessary information using their senses. A scientist does not just look through a microscope, he tests some assumption (hypothesis), carries out a logically sound research program, and interprets what he sees in the light of certain concepts and theories.

When studying the third question " The problem of truth in philosophy and science" one should proceed from the fact that the main opposing characteristics of the relationship of the cognitive image, human knowledge to the object are truth and error.

True is an image adequate to the reflected object. An image that does not correspond to its object is considered as delusion . These seemingly simple definitions give rise to complex problems as soon as we ask ourselves what correspondence is and what is the mechanism for establishing it.

Correspondence means the coincidence of the characteristics of the image and the object. If each of the attributes of a concept is correlated with an attribute of an object, and vice versa, then the concept corresponds to the object. Any object is multi-quality, multidimensional, inexhaustible in its properties, connections and relationships. Knowledge about it contains a finite amount of information. Based on the above, we can formulate the main problem of the theory of truth: how can we establish correspondence final in its content of knowledge to an infinite object? To solve it, it is necessary to consider the main characteristics of truth: objectivity, absoluteness, relativity, specificity and verification by practice.

Under objectivity of truth is understood as the content of our knowledge, which, reflecting the actual state of affairs, does not depend on the subject of knowledge, does not depend on either man or humanity.

Recognition of objective truth necessarily entails recognition in one form or another absolute truth(absolute moment) in human knowledge, and vice versa, the denial of this absolute moment entails the denial of objective truth itself, which leads to agnosticism.

Absolute truth means complete, exhaustive knowledge about an object. However, the moment of the absoluteness of truth is mobile, it is a certain historical limit to which knowledge endlessly approaches. With the further progress of society, what seemed to be the absolute truth turns into relative truth .

Absolute truth is the complete correspondence of the image to the object; relative truth expresses the dependence of any truth on certain objective conditions, on the limits of approximation of our knowledge to reality; misconception expresses the inconsistency of knowledge with the subject.

The truth of any knowledge is assessed in relation to the subject identified by the subject in certain objective conditions. Because of this, the very relationship between relative truth and absolute truth is such that the first appears as truth precisely because it contains the moment of absolute truth; the second - acts to a certain extent as a sum, a result of relative truths.

The most important circumstance that the characterization of any image as absolute truth, relative truth or error can not be given in general, but only in relation to certain conditions of cognition, to one or another section of the object, is expressed in the statement about concreteness of truth , according to which there is no abstract truth, truth is always concrete.

The correspondence of the image to the object is established through practical activity. Practice- an objective criterion of truth. There is direct and indirect practical verification of truth. If the item being examined in practice manifests itself exactly as expected, this means that our ideas about it are true.

For reference literature on this topic, see the following articles:

New philosophical encyclopedia. In 4 volumes - M., 2001. Art.: “Truth”, “Misconception”, “Intuition”, “Information Theory”, “Rationalism”, “Sensualism”, “Theory of Knowledge”, “Object”, “ Subject".

Philosophical encyclopedic dictionary. - K., 2002. Article:

“Truth”, “Intuition”, “Rationalism”, “Theory of Knowledge”, “Sub”ect”, “Ob”ect”.

Lecture:

In the previous lesson we talked about the elements of a person’s worldview. Among them, knowledge occupies an important place. Knowledge about the surrounding world, nature, and people is the result of one’s own cognitive and research activities. And they are also accumulated over centuries and passed on from generation to generation as a precious experience. Knowledge is constantly deepening, expanding and improving. Let's remember the basic definitions of today's lesson:

Knowledge- this is one of the elements of a person’s worldview, appearing in the form of learned concepts, laws, and principles.

Epistemology - the science of knowledge

Is it possible to know everything? What are the limits of human knowledge? The philosophical science of epistemology, the study of knowledge and the possibilities of knowledge, seeks answers to these and similar questions. Cognition is the main subject of epistemology, which is the process of acquiring knowledge about the world around us and oneself. During cognitive activity, a person explores the external aspects and internal essence of objects and phenomena. One of the main questions of epistemology is the question: "Are we cognizable of the world?". People answer it differently and, accordingly, are divided into gnostics (optimists), agnostics (pessimists) and skeptics. If gnostics believe that the world is knowable, then agnostics deny this possibility, and skeptics do not deny the possibility of knowing the world, but doubt the reliability of the knowledge received, the reliability of its truth.

Cognition begins with sensory perception of the world and gradually moves into a rational understanding of the world. Let's look at the stages of knowledge.

Stages (levels) of knowledge

There are two stages of knowledge: sensory and rational. Sensory cognition occurs through the senses (vision, touch, smell, hearing, taste). This is a direct form of cognition, in the process of which knowledge is obtained through direct contact. For example, you went outside and felt cold. Thus, the sensory level allows us to cognize only the external properties of the object of knowledge. This level includes three forms. Remember them:

Feeling– reflection in consciousness of individual properties of the object of knowledge. For example, the apple is sour, the voice is pleasant, the stove is hot.

Perception– reflection of all properties of the object of knowledge in its entirety. For example, we eat an apple, we feel its taste (a separate property), but at the same time we perceive the smell, color, and shape of the apple as a whole.

Performance - an image of a perceived object of cognition, preserved in memory. For example, we can remember and imagine how tasty the apple we ate yesterday was. Representation can occur not only with the help of memory, but also with the help of imagination. So, even before the construction of a house begins, the architect can imagine what it will be like.

The result of sensory knowledge is image. The role of sensory knowledge is great. Sense organs connect a person with the outside world, without them he is not able to think and cognize. Sensory cognition is inherent not only to humans, but also to higher animals.

The next step is rational cognition occurs with the help of the mind and abstract thinking. If sensory cognition occurs directly, then rational cognition is an indirect form of cognition. For example, to find out whether it is cold outside or not, a person does not have to leave the house, just look at the thermometer. If at the sensory level a person cognizes the external properties of the object of knowledge, then at the rational level the internal properties of the object, its essence, are established. This level of cognition also includes three forms:

Concept is a thought that captures the signs and properties of an object of cognition. For example, "Tree". Concepts in the human mind are connected with each other and form judgments.

Judgment– a thought that affirms or denies something about a cognizable object. For example, “All trees belong to the class plants.”

Inference – the final conclusion that is formed in the process of thinking about concepts and judgments. For example, “Spruce is a coniferous tree. Since all trees belong to the class of plants, therefore spruce is also a plant."

The result of rational knowledge is knowledge. Rational knowledge is inherent only to man. Look at the illustration. Thinking is a holistic process that occurs as a result of sensory and rational cognition.

Which stage of cognition is more important, primary? In relation to this issue, two opposing directions have emerged in philosophy: rationalism and sensationalism (empiricism). Rationalists recognize reason and abstract thinking as the basis of knowledge. For them, sensory knowledge is secondary. And sensualists (empiricists) put sensation, perception and representation, that is, feelings, in the first place. For them, rational knowledge is secondary.

In reality, the sensory and rational levels of cognition are a single process. It’s just that in some cognitive processes sensory cognition predominates, while in others rational cognition predominates.

Types of knowledge

Knowledge is possible in a variety of areas. There are many types of cognition, and therefore types of knowledge. Let's consider scientific and non-scientific knowledge.

Scientific knowledge is a systematically organized process of obtaining objective and substantiated true knowledge.

Its features and distinctive features are:

• Objectivity – the desire to study the world as it is, regardless of the interests and aspirations of the subject of knowledge.
• Validity – reinforcement of knowledge with evidence, facts and logical conclusions.
• Rationality – the reliance of scientific knowledge on thinking, the exclusion of personal opinions, emotions, and feelings.
• Systematicity – structure of scientific knowledge.
• Verifiability – confirmation of knowledge in practical activities.

Let us consider the process of scientific knowledge using the example of research by a biologist studying the dependence of plant height on climate. So, the scientist suggested that trees are, on average, taller in areas with a warm climate. (This is a statement of a hypothesis that is confirmed or refuted by the results of the study.) In search of evidence, the biologist went south, measured the height of three hundred trees, and recorded the measurement results. (This is the empirical level of scientific knowledge.) Returning to the laboratory, the scientist made calculations, compared the data, conclusively confirmed the correctness of his hypothesis and drew conclusions. (This is a theoretical level.)

Scientific knowledge is impossible without identifying cause and effect relationships. One phenomenon or event is connected with another, which is called a cause and gives rise to an effect. Let's imagine a very simple example. Petya and Kolya are walking along a narrow path (event). Petya stepped on Kolya’s foot (event). The consequence is a sore leg. The reason is the narrow path. Thus, identifying cause-and-effect relationships means that it is necessary to establish the dependence of one phenomenon on another.

One of the types of scientific cognition is social cognition.

Social cognition– this is the knowledge of the laws and principles of the functioning of society, culture, and man.

The result of social cognition is social and humanitarian knowledge, which we study in history and social studies lessons. Social studies is an integrated school subject and includes several social sciences and humanities (philosophy, sociology, economics, political science, jurisprudence, cultural studies, psychology, etc.). Social cognition differs from natural science in a number of significant features. Let's look at them:

• if in natural science cognition the subject is a person, and the object is objects and phenomena, then in social cognition the subject and object of cognition coincide, that is, people know themselves;
• if the main feature of natural science knowledge is objectivity, then social and humanitarian knowledge is subjective, because the results of research by sociologists, historians, ethnographers, and lawyers are interpreted depending on their own views and judgments;
• if scientists - natural scientists who study nature, strive to achieve absolute truth, then scientists who study man and society achieve relative truth, because society is dynamic and constantly changing;
• the application of many natural scientific methods of cognition in social cognition is limited; for example, it is impossible to study the level of inflation under a microscope; this is done by abstraction.

The impetus for the beginning of social cognition is social facts (the actions of individuals or groups), someone’s opinions and judgments, as well as the results of the material and intangible activities of people. Social research aims to discover historical patterns and social forecasting. To achieve these goals, scientists and researchers use social reality (practice), historical informants (archaeology, documents) and the experience of generations.

Discovery of a historical pattern occurs when an objectively repeating connection is discovered between social phenomena and processes. Of course, historical events and personalities are unique; for example, there cannot be two absolutely identical wars or presidents. However, some of them have common features and trends. When these features and trends are constantly repeated, we can speak of a historical pattern. An example of a historical pattern is the rise and fall of any empire.

There are two approaches to the study of society and history:

formational (K. Marx, F. Engels);

civilizational (O. Spengler, A. Toynbee).

The classification of societies within the framework of the formational approach is based on the natural change of socio-economic formations from lower to higher, from simple to complex: primitive society → slave society → feudal society → capitalist society → communist society. The driving force of such development is the class struggle, for example, in a slave society - the struggle between slave owners and slaves, in a feudal society - the struggle between feudal lords and peasants. Throughout history, society develops, moving from one formation to another. The ultimate goal of this movement, according to the teachings of K. Marx, F. Engels, and then V.I. Lenin is communism.

Socio-economic formation- this is a stage in the evolution of society, characterized by a certain stage of development of the productive forces and the production relations corresponding to it.

If the formational approach focuses attention on the universal, then the civilizational approach studies the uniqueness and uniqueness of the history of each people or country. Therefore, the basis for the classification of societies within the framework of the civilizational approach is the spiritual, ideological, and cultural factor. This approach to the study of history and society focuses on the local-regional characteristics of a particular society. Thus, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian societies or civilizations are distinguished. There are civilizations that have long disappeared, for example, the Mayan civilization, the Roman civilization. Most modern scientists adhere to a civilizational approach to the study of history and society.

Civilization- this is a stage of social development that has stable features of material production, spiritual culture, and the way of life of a particular region.

Social forecasting is the science of futurology. Its main goal is to develop options for the development of society or its objects. Forecasting is possible in various spheres of society, economic, legal, cultural. It is carried out by such methods as analysis, comparison, questioning, experiment, etc. The importance of social forecasting is great. For example, labor market forecasting provides information about in-demand professions and vacant positions.

Let's talk briefly about non-scientific knowledge and its types.

Unscientific knowledge - knowledge of the surrounding world, based on faith and intuition.

• Ordinary cognition based on a person’s observations and common sense, consistent with his life experience. Ordinary knowledge has great practical value and is a guideline for a person’s everyday behavior, his relationships with other people and nature. A characteristic feature of everyday knowledge is that they describe what is happening: “the paper is burning,” “an object thrown up will definitely fall to the ground,” but they do not explain why it is this way and not otherwise.

• Mythological knowledge - This is a fantastic reflection of reality. Myths arose in primitive society. Primitive people did not have enough experience to understand the true causes of the origin of man and the world, natural phenomena, so they were explained with the help of myths and legends. Myths still exist today. The heroes of modern myths are Father Frost, Baba Yaga, Batman, etc.

• Religious knowledge – this is knowledge based on religious texts (Bible, Koran, etc.).

• Artistic knowledge - this is cognition through the means of art. The world around us is reflected not in concepts, but in artistic images of works of literature or theater, music or cinema, architecture or painting.

• Folk wisdom - these are fairy tales, proverbs and sayings, accumulated over centuries and passed on from generation to generation, songs that teach how to behave towards others.

• Parascience- pseudo-scientific knowledge that arose a long time ago, when science was not yet sufficiently developed. Unlike science, parascience does not provide facts and is based on assumptions that are not confirmed by research. Parasciences include ufology, astrology, telepathy, magic, extrasensory perception and others.

Exercise: Give arguments proving the benefits of knowledge for individuals, society and the state. Write your opinion in the comments. Be active, let's help each other replenish the arguments for essays)))

Cognition is a process of interaction between subject and object. In the philosophy of modern times, the opposition between man and the world was replaced by the opposition between subject and object. The subject of cognition should be understood as a person endowed with consciousness, included in a system of sociocultural connections, whose activity is aimed at achieving the secrets of the object opposing him.

Characteristic features of cognition:

Knowledge is an essential relationship to the world;

The creative process determined by historical aspects

The basis of a constructive attitude towards the world, which manifests itself in the ability to mentally transform the world.

Cognition is an active, exploratory complex process consisting of a dialectical relationship between the sensory and the rational.

The highest form of knowledge is scientific. Scientific knowledge has two levels: empirical and theoretical. In empirical research, sensory data appears as material subject to comparative analysis and represents the basis for conclusions that must be compared with existing knowledge and subjected to verification.

Methods of empirical cognition include those that establish a direct connection between the researcher and the subject under study. The main ones include observation, experiment, analogy..

Theoretical research is a study aimed at identifying the essential determination of events and the result of which is the construction of a theory. Methods of theoretical research: modeling, axiomatics, formalization, mathematization.

Scientific knowledge of objects involves studying the development of an object, that is, its history. And this is possible by 2 methods: historical reproduces all the details of actual historical development and logical, which also reproduces history, but in its main essential features.

The logical method of reproducing an object in concepts is the method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete.

The theory of knowledge is a general theory that explains the very nature of human cognitive activity, no matter in what field of science, art or everyday practice it is carried out.
The theory of knowledge has historically developed in interaction with science. Some scientists study objective reality, while others study the very reality of research: this is a vitally necessary division of spiritual production; some obtain knowledge, while others obtain knowledge about knowledge, which is so important for science itself, and for practice, and for the development of a holistic worldview.
Types of knowledge:
The type of knowledge is closely related to the characteristics of the knowing subject. Some types of knowledge by their nature are associated only with a certain subject.
There are four types of knowledge: everyday, scientific, practical and artistic.
Everyday knowledge.
Everyday cognition and knowledge is based, first of all, on observation and ingenuity; it is empirical in nature and is better consistent with generally accepted life experience than with abstract scientific constructs. The significance of everyday knowledge as a precursor to other forms of knowledge should not be underestimated: common sense often turns out to be subtler and more insightful than the mind of another scientist. This form of knowledge develops and becomes enriched with the progress of scientific and artistic knowledge.
Scientific knowledge.
As a rule, everyday knowledge comes down to stating facts and describing them. Scientific knowledge also presupposes an explanation of facts, their comprehension within the entire system of concepts of a given science. Everyday knowledge states, and even then very superficially, how this or that event proceeds. Scientific knowledge answers questions not only How, but also Why it proceeds exactly this way.
Scientific knowledge does not tolerate lack of evidence: this or that statement becomes scientific only when it is substantiated.
The essence of scientific knowledge lies in understanding reality in its present, past and future, in a reliable generalization of facts, in the fact that behind the random it finds the necessary, natural, behind the individual - the general, and on this basis it predicts various phenomena.
Practical knowledge.
It is also closely related to scientific knowledge. The difference between them lies mainly in the target setting. \Practice consists in the possession of things, in the mastery over nature.
Artistic knowledge.
This type of cognition has a certain specificity, the essence of which lies in a holistic, and not dismembered, reflection of the world and especially man in the world. A work of art is built on an image, and not on a concept: here the thought is clothed in “living faces” and is perceived in the form of visible events. Art has the power to capture and express phenomena that cannot be expressed or understood in any other way. Therefore, the better and more perfect a work of art, the more impossible it becomes to rationally retell it.
The main feature of artistic knowledge is self-evidence, self-proof. From the point of view of epistemology of intuitionism, the criterion of truth, directly based on self-persuasion, indicates the high position of artistic knowledge in the hierarchy of types of knowledge.
Another distinctive feature of artistic knowledge is the requirement of originality, which is inevitably inherent in creativity. The originality of a work of art is determined by the actual uniqueness and uniqueness of its world.

Cognition- the process of acquiring and developing knowledge, conditioned by socio-historical practice, its constant deepening, expansion and improvement.

Types of knowledge:

Everyday knowledge. Everyday knowledge is based on observation and ingenuity, it is better consistent with generally accepted life experience than with abstract scientific constructs, and is empirical in nature. This form of knowledge is based on common sense and everyday consciousness; it is an important indicative basis for the everyday behavior of people, their relationships with each other and with nature.

Everyday knowledge develops and becomes enriched with the progress of scientific and artistic knowledge; it is closely related to culture.

Scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge presupposes an explanation of facts, their comprehension in the entire system of concepts of a given science.

The essence of scientific knowledge is:

In understanding reality in its past, present and future;

In a reliable synthesis of facts;

The fact is that behind the random it finds the necessary, natural, behind the individual - the general and on this basis carries out the prediction of various phenomena.

Scientific knowledge covers something relatively simple that can be more or less convincingly proven, strictly generalized, introduced into the framework of laws, causal explanations, in a word, something that fits into the paradigms accepted in the scientific community.

Artistic knowledge. Artistic knowledge has a certain specificity, the essence of which is a holistic, and not dismembered, reflection of the world and especially man in the world.

Sensory cognition. Sensory knowledge has three forms:

Sensations (elementary form, it includes visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, vibration and other sensations);

Perception (a structured image consisting of several sensations);

Representations (an image of a phenomenon previously created or perceived by the imagination). Rational cognition. There are three forms of rational knowledge:

Concept;

Judgment;

Conclusion.

Concept- this is an elementary form of thought, which is the result of a generalization based on a set of characteristics inherent in a given class of objects.

Judgment- a thought that not only correlates with a certain situation, but is also an affirmation or denial of the existence of this situation in reality.

A concept and a judgment differ in that a judgment as a statement, in contrast to a concept as a statement, must necessarily be true or false. Judgment is a connection of concepts.

Inference- this is the conclusion of new knowledge, which presupposes a clear fixation of the rules. An inference must have evidence, during which the legitimacy of the emergence of a new thought is justified with the help of other thoughts.