The philosophical category of matter and its fundamental role in understanding the world and man.

Matter is a philosophical category, which in materialistic philosophy denotes the origin, objective reality in relation to consciousness, subjective reality. The concept of “matter” is used in two main senses: either it expresses the deepest essence of the world, its objective existence, or it is identified with everything that exists.

Historical and philosophical analysis of the genesis and development of the concept of “matter” comes down to an analysis of the three main stages of its evolution:

1. like things
2. as properties
3. like a relationship.

The first stage was associated with the search for some specific but universal thing that constitutes the fundamental basis of all existing phenomena. For the first time this method of understanding the world was used by ancient philosophers (water, apeiron and air). The next step in the transformation of the concept of matter was ancient atomism, which developed through the teaching of Anaxagoras about qualitatively different homeomeries to the ideas of Leucippus and Democritus, and then Epicurus and Lucretius Cara about atoms as the unified material basis of the world.

The second stage in the formation of the category “matter” is associated with the era of modern times, the period of the birth of classical science, based, in particular, on experience as the principle of comprehension of being. The science of this period, without qualitatively changing the idea of ​​matter as a fundamental principle, deepened it using such quantitative characteristics, as "mass". This identification of matter with mass is characteristic of the works of G. Galileo, I. Newton, M. Lomonosov and Lavoisier, who formulated the law of conservation of matter as the law of conservation of mass, or weight of bodies.

The second stage is characterized by:

1. definition of matter within the boundaries of the mechanistic approach as the fundamental principle of things;
2. considering it “in itself” without relation to consciousness;
3. inclusion in the concept of matter only natural world, leaving the social sphere outside this category.

However, already in modern European philosophy, the interpretation of matter goes beyond its traditional understanding, when in the definitions of D. Locke and P. Holbach it is interpreted as a relationship between subject and object, and subsequently by Marxism - as a philosophical abstraction, which determined its status within the framework of the main issue philosophy. In the conditions of the scientific revolution of the 19th - early 20th centuries, which radically changed man’s understanding of the universe and its structure, the idea of ​​matter is developing as something that, acting on our senses, causes certain sensations (G. Plekhanov), or according to the position of V. AND. Lenin, is a philosophical category to designate the only universal property of things and phenomena - to be objective reality, existing independently of human consciousness and reflected by it. In other words, matter is interpreted here within the framework of a system of subject-object relations.

In modern philosophy, the problem of matter either fades into the background (non-traditional directions), or the latter is interpreted as the fundamental principle of things, inextricably linked with such attributes (universal forms of being) as movement, space and time.

Movement is a concept that covers all types of changes and interactions from mechanical movement to qualitative change, realized in a nonlinear mechanism for resolving contradictions. The qualitative transformation of a moving object can have a dual focus: increasing the level of complexity of the system organization and its connections with the environment - progress (transition from lower to higher to more advanced forms, more of them high organization and evolutionary possibilities) and simplification of the internal and external structure of the object - regression (return of the object in its evolution to previously passed stages).

Each structural formation of matter corresponds to its inherent form of motion, which, based on the most important stages of the development of matter, is divided into three main groups. Inanimate nature is characterized by mechanical (movement in space and time), physical (movement of atoms, molecules, light phenomena) and chemical (chemical reactions) forms of movement. For living nature - biological (metabolism within a living organism), and for society - social (material and spiritual changes occurring in society) forms of movement.

The universal forms of motion of matter are space and time.

Space is the property of objects to be extended, to occupy a place among others, to border on them and to move in three main directions (in three dimensions).

Time is a concept that expresses the speed of development of processes, their rhythm and tempo. It is unidirectional and irreversible, which is especially clearly manifested in the individual life of organisms. In the depths of the microworld one can find other characteristics of time and space, and in other worlds outside our Metagalaxy there may be other material structures, and, consequently, forms of space-time unknown to us.

Within the framework of material formations known to us, time is divided into three main types:

1. natural - time of various natural phenomena and processes with which the concepts of physical, cosmological and geological time are associated in modern science;
2. biological - various biological forms of movement within the framework of self-organization of living nature;
3. social - covering various types of time associated with specific forms human activity, the life of society and the individual.

Concept matter is the main category in philosophy, it means the essence of the world, recognition of objective reality, existence independent of human consciousness.

Greek philosophers (Thales, Anaximenes, Anaximander, etc.) came to the conclusion that there is a material from which all things are made (this was later called substance ).

Thales believed that everything consists of water; Anaximenes - from the air; Heraclitus - from fire; Empedocles - recognized 4 elements: fire, water, air, earth; Anaximander believes that the basis of the world is an unobservable material principle - apeiron; Democritus - everything consists of atoms and emptiness; Pythagoras - from numbers (materialists).

Views of philosophers Ancient Greece wore naive, but dialectical character.

Plato - the world is based on ideas, which he recognized as the building blocks of the material world, but endowed them with geometric rather than physical properties. The properties of atoms depend on what geometric shape they have and what mathematical ideas they are generated by (idealists).

Philosophers believed that the substance of the world or the basis of the sensory world is made up of specific elements, and this is the physical approach to understanding matter.

In connection with the revolution in natural science at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. a philosophical approach to understanding matter appears: matter is a philosophical category to designate objective reality, which is given to a person in his sensations, which is copied, photographed, displayed by our sensations, existing independently of them.

In the philosophical concept of matter, three aspects can be distinguished:

·ontological - (ontology is the doctrine of being; being is the unity of objective and subjective reality) - matter as an objective reality;

· epistemological - (epistemology - theory of knowledge) - matter can be known through copying, photographing, displaying;

· final formulation: matter can exist independently of our sensations.

matter is that which directly or indirectly causes sensations;

matter is what exists outside and independently of human consciousness;

Matter is that which consciousness and thinking are a reflection of.

The main stages in the development of ideas about matter BRIEFLY: 1. Identification of matter with any element, characteristic of elemental materialism (Thales, Anaximenes, Heraclitus) 2. Atomistic idea of ​​matter, consisting of the smallest indivisible particles - atoms (Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius) 3. Substance-substrate idea of ​​matter; matter was identified with substance, physicality. It was most common in the 17th – 19th centuries. (T. Hobbes, D. Diderot, P. Holbach, etc.) 4. Dialectical and historical materialism extended the concept of “matter” to history and the life of society (K. Marx, F. Engels) 5. Philosophical and epistemological, characteristic of natural science and philosophical materialism of the 20th century. Now matter is recognized not only as substance, but also as field and energy.

Matter and its attributes.

There are fundamental properties of matter that are inherent in all objects and phenomena, without which matter does not exist and which without matter also cannot exist. These are the so-called attributes of matter - movement, space and time.

In this work, we will consider the concepts of space and time, movement, identify the essence of these concepts, their properties, and draw a conclusion on the work done.

Space and time

Space is a form of existence of matter, characterizing its extension, coexistence and interaction of material bodies in all systems.

Time is a form of existence of matter, expressing the duration of its existence, the sequence of changes in the states of all material systems.

Time and space have general properties. These include:

– objectivity and independence from human consciousness;

– their absoluteness as attributes of matter;

– an inextricable connection with each other and the movement;

– unity of discontinuous and continuous in their structure;

– dependence on development processes and structural changes in material systems;

– quantitative and qualitative infinity.

There are monological (direction, continuity, irreversibility) and metric (related to measurements) properties of space and time.

So, to universal properties of space relate:

length, i.e. the relative position and existence of various bodies, the possibility of adding or decreasing any element;

coherence and continuity, which is manifested by physical influence through fields of various types of movement of bodies;

relative discontinuity, i.e. separate existence of material bodies, each of which has its own boundaries and dimensions.

General property of space- this is three-dimensionality, i.e. all material processes occur in the space of 3 dimensions. In addition to universal properties, space also has local properties. The space of one material system continuously passes into the space of another system, so it is practically imperceptible, hence its inexhaustibility, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

TO universal properties of time relate:

– objectivity;

– an inextricable connection with the attributes of matter (space, movement, etc.);

– duration (expressing the sequence of existence and changes in states of bodies) is formed from moments of time arising one after another, which make up the entire period of existence of a body from its origin to the transition to other forms.

The existence of every body has a beginning and an end, therefore the time of existence of this body is finite and discontinuous. But at the same time, matter does not arise from nothing and is not destroyed, but only changes the forms of its existence. The absence of breaks between moments and time intervals characterizes the continuity of time. Time is one-dimensional, asymmetrical, irreversible and always directed from the past to the future.

Specific properties of time:

– specific periods of existence of bodies (they arise before the transition to other forms);

– simultaneity of events (they are always relative);

– rhythm of processes, rate of change of states, rate of development of processes, etc.

But despite the individual properties that distinguish space and time from each other, there is no matter in the world that does not possess spatiotemporal properties, just as time and space do not exist on their own, outside of matter or independently of it.

It is fundamentally important to answer the question of what relationship space and time have to matter. There are 2 points of view on this issue in philosophy.

The first of these is usually called substantial concept space and time. In accordance with this concept, space and time are independent entities that exist along with matter and independently of it. This understanding of space and time led to the conclusion that their properties are independent of the nature of the material processes occurring in them.

The infinity of time lies in the fact that matter is eternal in the past and in the future, that time is the universal form of existence of careless matter. The world is undergoing irreversible changes, not cycles.

The finitude of space finds expression in the discontinuity of movement, in the discreteness and differentiation of matter. The finiteness of time lies in the fact that it consists of an infinite number of durations of existence of individual material processes undergoing irreversible qualitative changes.

Matter is eternal, uncreated and indestructible. It has always and everywhere existed, and will always and everywhere exist.

Movement

Change in shape is indicated by the concept of movement.

The term “movement” is understood by ordinary consciousness as the spatial movement of bodies. In philosophy, such movement is called mechanical. There are also more complex forms of movement: physical, chemical, biological, social and others.

All forms of matter motion are interconnected. So, for example, mechanical movement (the simplest) is caused by processes of interconversion elementary particles, mutual influence of gravitational and electromagnetic fields, strong and weak interactions in the microcosm..

Movement is change in general.

It is characterized by the fact that

– inseparable from matter, since it is an attribute (an integral essential property of an object, without which the object cannot exist) of matter. You cannot think of matter without movement, just as you cannot think of movement without matter;

– movement is objective, changes in matter can only be made by practice;

– movement is a contradictory unity of stability and variability, discontinuity and continuity,

– movement is never replaced by absolute rest. Rest is also a movement, but one in which the qualitative specificity of the object (a special state of movement) is not violated;

The types of movement observed in the objective world can be divided into quantitative and qualitative changes.

Quantitative changes are associated with the transfer of matter and energy in space.

Qualitative changes are always associated with a qualitative restructuring of the internal structure of objects and their transformation into new objects with new properties. Essentially we are talking about development. Development is a movement associated with the transformation of the quality of objects, processes or levels and forms of matter. Development is divided into dynamic and population. Dynamic - is carried out as a complication of objects, through the disclosure of potential capabilities hidden in previous qualitative states, and the transformations do not go beyond existing type matter (development of stars). During population development, a transition occurs from qualitative states characteristic of one level of matter to the qualitative state of the next (transition from inanimate to living nature). The source of population movement is the self-motion of matter, according to the principle of its self-organization.

Engels identified 5 forms of motion of matter and proposed the following classification: mechanical, physical, chemical, biological and social movement of matter. Modern science has discovered new levels of organization of matter and discovered new forms of motion.

Modern classification of forms of motion of matter includes:

spatial movement;

– electromagnetic motion, defined as the interaction of charged particles;

– gravitational form of movement;

– strong (nuclear) interaction;

– weak interaction (neutron absorption and emission);

– chemical form of movement (the process and result of the interaction of molecules and atoms);

– geological form of movement of matter (associated with changes in geosystems - continents, layers earth's crust etc.):

– biological form of movement (metabolism, processes occurring at the cellular level, heredity, etc.;

– social form of movement (processes occurring in society).

It is obvious that the development of science will continue to constantly make adjustments to this classification of forms of motion of matter. However, it seems that in the foreseeable future it will be carried out based on the principles formulated by F. Engels.

The statement that movement exists without matter, from the point of view of materialist philosophers, is as absurd as the conclusion that matter exists without movement. In the indissoluble unity of matter and motion, matter is original, and motion is derivative. It is, as it were, subordinate to matter.

The movement has a number of the most important properties. Firstly, the movement is characterized by objectivity, that is, the independence of its existence from human consciousness. In other words, matter itself has a cause for its changes. From here follows the position about the infinity of interconversions of matter. Secondly, the movement is characterized by universality. This means that any phenomena in the world are subject to movement as a way of existence of matter (there are no objects devoid of movement). This also means that the very content of material objects in all their moments in relationships is determined by movement and expresses its specific forms (and manifestations).

Thirdly, movement is characterized by uncreateability and indestructibility. Consistent philosophical materialism rejects any reasoning about the beginning or end of movement.

Fourthly, movement is characterized by absoluteness. Recognizing the universal nature of movement, philosophical materialism does not reject the existence of stability and peace in the world. However, consistent philosophical materialism emphasizes the relative nature of such states of material objects. This means that the absolute nature of movement is always realized only in certain, locally and historically limited, dependent on specific conditions, transitional and, in this sense, relative forms. That is why we can say that any rest (or stability) is a moment of movement, since it is transitory, temporary, relative. Rest is, as it were, movement in balance, since rest is included in the total movement, and it is removed by this absolute movement.

(Latin materia - substance)

“...a philosophical category to designate objective reality, which is given to a person in his sensations, which is copied, photographed, displayed by our sensations, existing independently of them” (Lenin V.I., Complete Works, 5th ed., vol. 18 , p. 131). M. is an infinite set of all objects and systems existing in the world, the substrate of any properties, connections, relationships and forms of movement. Mathematics includes not only all directly observable objects and bodies of nature, but also all those that, in principle, can be known in the future on the basis of improving the means of observation and experiment. The entire world around us is a moving material in its infinitely varied forms and manifestations, with all its properties, connections and relationships. The Marxist-Leninist understanding of philosophy is organically connected with the dialectical-materialist solution to the fundamental question of philosophy (See The Basic Question of Philosophy); it proceeds from the principle of the material unity of the world, the primacy of material in relation to human consciousness, and the principle of the knowability of the world on the basis of a consistent study of the specific properties, connections, and forms of movement of material (see Materialism).

In pre-Marxist philosophy and natural science, mass as a philosophical category was often identified with certain specific types of it, for example, with matter, atoms of chemical compounds, or with such a property of material as Mass, which was considered as a measure of the amount of mass. In reality, matter does not cover all M., but only those objects and systems that have a non-zero rest mass. There are also types of magnetism in the world that do not have rest mass: the electromagnetic field and its quanta - photons, the gravitational field (gravitational field (See Gravity)), and neutrinos.

The reduction of mathematics as an objective reality to some of its particular states and properties has caused crisis situations in the history of science. This was the case in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the inappropriateness of identifying material with indivisible atoms and matter was discovered, and in connection with this, some idealistic physicists concluded that “matter has disappeared,” “materialism is now refuted,” and so on. These conclusions were erroneous, but overcoming the methodological crisis of physics required the further development of a dialectical-materialist understanding of materialism and its basic properties.

The term “antimatter” is often used in the literature, which refers to various Antiparticles - antiprotons, antineutrons, positrons and others, micro- and macrosystems made up of them. This term is not precise; in fact, all of the indicated objects are special types of magnetism, antiparticles of matter, or antimatter. There may be many other types of microbes still unknown to us in the world with unusual specific properties, but all of them are elements of objective reality that exist independently of our consciousness.

Within the framework of pre-Marxist materialism, materialism was often defined as the substance (the basis) of all things and phenomena in the world, and this view was opposed to the religious-idealistic understanding of the world, which accepted as the substance the divine will, the absolute spirit, and human consciousness, which was separated from the brain and subjected to absolutization and deification. At the same time, material substance was often understood as primordial matter, reduced to primary and structureless elements, which were identified with indivisible atoms. It was believed that while various items and material formations can arise and disappear, substance is uncreated and indestructible, always stable in its essence; only the specific forms of its existence, quantitative combination and relative arrangement of elements, etc. change.

In modern science, the concept of substance has undergone radical changes. Dialectical materialism recognizes the substantiality of materialism, but only in a very specific sense: in terms of a materialist solution to the main question of philosophy and revealing the nature of various properties and forms of movement of bodies. It is M., and not consciousness or imaginary deities, spirit that is the substance of all properties, connections and forms of movement that actually exist in the world, the ultimate basis of all spiritual phenomena. No property or form of movement can exist on its own; they are always inherent in certain material formations, which are their substrate. The concept of substance in this sense is also equivalent to the concept of the material substrate of various processes and phenomena in the world. Recognition of the substantiality and absoluteness of materialism is also equivalent to the principle of the material unity of the world, which is confirmed by the entire historical development of science and practice. However, it is important to take into account that M. itself exists only in the form of an infinite variety of specific formations and systems. In the structure of each of these specific forms of material there is no primary, structureless and unchanging substance that would underlie all the properties of material. Each material object has an inexhaustible variety of structural connections and is capable of internal changes and transformations into qualitatively different forms of material. “The “essence” of things or “substance,” wrote V. I. Lenin, “is also relative; they express only the deepening of human knowledge of objects, and if yesterday this deepening did not go further than the atom, today - beyond the electron and ether, then dialectical materialism insists on the temporary, relative, approximate nature of all these milestones in the knowledge of nature by the progressive science of man. The electron is as inexhaustible as the atom, nature is infinite...” (ibid., p. 277). At the same time, for the progress of scientific knowledge and the refutation of various idealistic concepts, it is always important to identify the material substrate that underlies the phenomena, properties and forms of movement of the objective world being studied in a given period. Thus, historically it was of great importance to identify the substrate of thermal, electrical, magnetic, optical processes, various chemical reactions etc. This led to the development of the theory atomic structure substances, theories electromagnetic field, quantum mechanics. Modern science is faced with the task of revealing the structure of elementary particles, in-depth study the material foundations of heredity, the nature of consciousness, etc. The solution of these problems will advance human knowledge to new, deeper structural levels of M. “Human thought endlessly deepens from the phenomenon to the essence, from the essence of the first, so to speak, order, to the essence of the second order, etc. without end" (ibid., vol. 29, p. 227).

Material objects always have internal order and systemic organization. Order is manifested in the regular movement and interaction (See Interaction) of all elements of matter, thanks to which they are combined into systems. A system is an internally ordered set of interconnected elements. The connection between the elements in the system is stronger, more significant and internally necessary than the connection of each of the elements with the environment, with the elements of other systems. Human knowledge of the structural organization of structure is relative and changeable, depending on the ever-expanding possibilities of experiment, observation, and scientific theories. But it concretizes and complements the philosophical understanding of M. as an objective reality. Modern science knows the following types of material systems and the corresponding structural levels of material: elementary particles and fields (electromagnetic, gravitational, and others); atoms, molecules, macroscopic bodies various sizes, geological systems, Earth and other planets, stars, intragalactic systems (diffuse nebulae, star clusters and others), Galaxy, systems of galaxies, Metagalaxy, the boundaries and structure of which have not yet been established. Modern borders knowledge of the structure of M. extends from 10 -14 cm until 10 28 cm(approximately 13 billion light years); but even within this range there may exist many still unknown types of matter. In the 60s, objects such as Quasars, Pulsars and others were discovered.

Living M. and socially organized M. are known so far only on Earth. Their emergence is the result of the natural and logical self-development of material, as inseparable from its existence as movement, structure and other properties. Living microorganisms are the entire set of organisms capable of self-reproduction with the transmission and accumulation of genetic information during the process of evolution (See Genetic information). Socially organized mathematics is the highest form of life development, a collection of individuals and communities at various levels who think and consciously transform reality. All these types of M. also have a systemic organization. The structure of social systems also includes various technical material systems created by people to achieve their goals.

At each stage of cognition, it would be wrong to identify the philosophical understanding of materialism as an objective reality with specific natural scientific ideas about its structure and forms. Then all other still unknown, but really existing objects and systems would be excluded from the structure of materialism, which is incorrect and contradicts the principle of the material unity of the world. This unity has many specific forms of manifestation, consistently revealed by science and practice. It manifests itself in the universal connection and mutual conditionality of objects and phenomena in the world, in the possibility of mutual transformations of some forms of moving material into others, in the connection and mutual transformations of types of movement and energy, in the historical development of nature and the emergence of more complex forms of movement and movement on earth. based on relatively less complex forms. The material unity of the world is also manifested in the mutual connection of all structural levels of materialism, in the interdependence of the phenomena of the micro- and megaworld (see Space). It is also expressed in the presence of a complex of universal properties and dialectical laws of structural organization, change, and development in mathematics. The universal properties of material include its non-creation and indestructibility, the eternity of existence in time and infinity in space, and the inexhaustibility of its structure. M. is always characterized by movement and change, natural self-development, manifested in various forms, the transformation of some states into others.

The universal forms of existence of material are space and time, which do not exist outside of material, just as there cannot be material objects that do not have spatiotemporal properties. The universal property of materialism is the determinism of all phenomena, their dependence on structural connections in material systems and external influences, on the causes and conditions that give rise to them (see Causality). Interaction leads to mutual change of bodies (or their states) and reflection (See Reflection) of each other. Reflection, which manifests itself in all processes, depends on the structure of interacting systems and the nature of external influences. Historical development The properties of reflection lead, with the progress of living nature and society, to the emergence of its highest form - abstract and constantly improving thinking (See Thinking), through which M., as it were, comes to an awareness of the laws of his existence and to his own purposeful change. The universal properties of materialism are also manifested in the universal laws of its existence and development: the law of unity and struggle of opposites, mutual transitions of quantitative and qualitative changes, the law of causality, and other important aspects of material existence, revealed by dialectical materialism and all modern science.

Lit.: Engels F., Anti-Dühring, dept. first, Marx K. and Engels F., Works, 2nd ed., vol. 20; his, Dialectics of Nature, ibid.; Lenin V.I., Materialism and empirio-criticism, Complete Works, 5th ed., vol. 18; him, Karl Marx, ibid., vol. 26; Arkhiptsev F. T., Matter as a philosophical category, M., 1961; Dialectics in the sciences of inanimate nature, M., 1964, section 2; Philosophical problems of elementary particle physics, M., 1963; Melyukhin S. T., Matter in its unity, infinity and development, M., 1966; his, Material unity of the world in the light of modern science, M., 1967; Structure and forms of matter, M., 1967; Kedrov B. M., Lenin and the revolution in natural science of the 20th century, M., 1969; Research on general theory systems, M., 1969; Lenin and modern natural science, M., 1969; Gott V.S., Philosophical questions modern physics, M., 1972.

S. T. Melyukhin.

Matter(Latin - “substance”) is one of the central philosophical categories, denoting objective reality that exists independently of human consciousness and is reflected by it. In its development, the concept of “matter” went through a number of stages.

The first one is stage of visual-sensory representation about matter. At this stage, matter was understood as the primary substance from which all things arise and into which they transform. This idea is typical of ancient philosophy (the teachings of the Milesian school, Heraclitus, etc.), where various natural elements were considered as the fundamental principles of the world.

The second stage is stage of material-substantial representation about matter. Here, matter was understood as a substance, the initial elements of which are atoms endowed with a number of permanent properties, such as indivisibility, extension, impenetrability, etc. This understanding began to take shape back in the 4th century. BC. (the atomistic doctrine of Democritus) and existed until late XIX century, especially clearly manifested in the philosophical teachings of the New Age. This understanding of matter served as the basis for the discovery of many laws of nature ( the law of universal gravitation, the basic laws of dynamics, the law of conservation of matter, periodic table elements, etc.) and the formation of a number of scientific theories.

The third stage is stage of philosophical and epistemological representation about matter, which developed at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. in the conditions of the crisis in the natural sciences, which was caused by a number of scientific discoveries(the discovery of the electron refuted the idea of ​​​​the indivisibility of the atom and the constancy of its mass; the discovery x-rays and radioactivity - about its impenetrability, etc.). The classical definition of this understanding of matter was given by V.I. Lenin in his work “Materialism and Empirio-criticism”: “ Matter is a philosophical category to designate objective reality, which is given to a person in his sensations, which is copied, photographed, displayed by our sensations, existing independently of them" This is the definition epistemological– it is built on the opposition of matter and consciousness. In an ontological sense Materialism understands matter as the only substance of existence, the cause of itself, uncreated and indestructible.

[ Currently, a new idea of ​​matter is being formed, which emphasizes that objective reality is not the only property of matter: “a materialist must understand matter personally, from the point of view of the category of personality... This is not at all equivalent to the animation of matter” - Losev). ]

Matter exists in the form of separate material formations - of things. Those. material existence is the existence of things, their properties, relationships, processes. Things have such characteristics as integrity, relative independence, relative stability, as well as spatial, temporal, qualitative boundaries; they are carriers of certain properties and are in interconnections and relationships with other things. The properties of a thing are manifested only in interaction with other things (*the property of a magnet to attract is manifested in interaction with metal; the property of a product is in its ability to be exchanged for another product or monetary equivalent, etc.).

6. Basic properties of matter: a) consistency and structure;

b) self-organization;

in motion;

d) space and time;

D) reflection.

Matter has a number of inherent properties - attributes: systematicity and structure, self-organization, movement, space, time, reflection.

Systematicity is a way of existence of matter, reflecting its structural diversity. The systematic nature of material existence means the fact that all its elements are not in a chaotic state, but are organized in a certain way. System– this is a limited set of elements that are in stable relationships. The set of connections that ensures the orderliness of the elements of the system and its stability is called structure. T.arr., structure- this is the internal dismemberment of material existence, characterized by a set of stable relationships and connections between its elements.

Matter is always structural. There are many different material systems in the world.

By the nature of connections between elements systems can be distinguished summative – in them the elements have sufficient autonomy in relation to each other, the connections between them are external, insignificant (for example, a stack of boards) – and holistic – in them there is a strict dependence of the elements on each other, the system on each element and the elements on the system. In turn, complete systems are subdivided: according to the forms of matter movement- on mechanical , physical And chemical, biological, social , by the nature of connections with the environment- on open And closed , by degree of organization- on simple And complex , by nature of origin- on natural And artificial etc.

The largest system is the entire Universe. This is a developing system consisting of many subsystems and elements. There are three main levels of structural organization in it: microcosm– systems of extremely small, not directly perceived objects; macrocosm– systems of objects amenable to human perception and measurement; megaworld– a world of extremely large quantities.

Each of three areas of material reality(inanimate nature, living nature, social reality) at each level of structural organization includes a number of systems:

IN inanimate nature the following levels of structural organization can be distinguished: the level of elementary particles – nuclear – atomic – molecular – the level of macrobodies – planets – planetary complexes – galaxies – metagalaxies;

Levels of structural organization wildlife : cells – microorganisms – organs and tissues – organisms as a whole – populations – biocenosis – biosphere;

IN social reality The following levels of structural organization are distinguished: individual – family – collective – social groups– classes – nations – states – systems of states – humanity as a whole.

Every structural element of these systems, in turn, also acts as a system.

The main feature of a system – integrity – means that the system is not just a sum of elements and their properties, but a unique whole that has new properties that arise as a result of the interaction of elements. [* Water molecule H 2 O: hydrogen burns on its own, and oxygen supports combustion; the system formed by these elements gave rise to a new, integrative property - water extinguishes fire].

The elements of the system are always orderly organized. [*Solar system – group celestial bodies, different in size and physical structure. It includes: Sun, 9 major planets, more than 30 satellites of planets, more than 2000 small planets (asteroids, hundreds of comets and countless meteorite bodies. All these bodies are united into one system due to the gravitational force of the Sun. All planets revolve around the Sun in the same direction and almost in the same direction same plane. Most of the satellites of the planets rotate in the same direction and in most cases - in the equatorial plane of their planet. The Sun, planets, satellites move around their axis in the same direction in which they move along their trajectories. Each subsequent planet is removed from the Sun approximately 2 times further than the previous one.] This orderliness is explained by the phenomena of self-organization.

Self-organization- this is the ability of open material systems to create an internal ordered structure under external energy influence. The phenomenon of self-organization is studied by a new scientific discipline - synergetics(its founders are the German scientist Hans Haken, the Belgian scientists Ilya Prigogine and Isabella Stengers). Synergetics explains in a new way such concepts as self-development, order and chaos, necessity and chance. The synergetic approach made it possible to answer the question: why does the world demonstrate a high degree of balance and organization.

[ Synergetics arose in opposition to the classical, mechanistic worldview. First law of thermodynamics– the law of conservation and transformation of energy, according to which the amount of energy in the system is always maintained in the same volume. Second law of thermodynamics: In systems that have constant energy, the level of entropy constantly increases (entropy is a measure of the disorder of a system). Those. as a result of energy transformation processes, the system moves to the state of the least order of its elements - to a state of thermodynamic equilibrium, or complete chaos (all energy is converted into heat and is evenly distributed among all elements of the system). That is, according to these laws, the Universe is moving towards thermal death - towards chaos. But with overcoming the mechanistic worldview, it became clear that this model only works in closed systems, which are practically not observed in nature. Open systems are in constant interaction with the environment, exchanging matter, energy, and information with it. As a result of these interactions, gradual changes occur that lead to an unstable critical state (bifurcation point - “separation, bifurcation”). At this stage, the system collapses and simultaneously, abruptly, transitions to a new stable state with a greater degree of complexity and order. That is, from a synergetic point of view, disorder is not something destructive. And it acts as a necessary stage leading to the organization of more complex structures. Moreover, randomness operates at the bifurcation point, i.e. the ability to choose one of many development paths (you can calculate the options for the evolution of the system, but which of them will be chosen by chance cannot be predicted.

* If you put a million white and a million black balls in a box and accelerate them, they will move chaotically – molecules involved in chemical and physical reactions are organized in an orderly manner (H 2 O; Benard cells - cylindrical hexagons - when water is heated).(Synergetics – “joint action” )]

Movement– this is the way of existence of matter; in a broad sense, this is “change in general” (Engels) and any interaction of material objects.

The idea of ​​motion has changed throughout the history of philosophical thought. Already the thinkers of antiquity drew attention to the variability of existence (Heraclitus). French materialists of the 18th century. believed that movement is internal, necessary property matter. Holbach wrote: “Everything in the Universe is in motion... Movement is a way of existence... arising from the essence of matter.” However, thinkers of the New Age reduced all forms of motion of matter to mechanical motion. Hegel also spoke about the unity of matter and movement, but he derived the reason for the movement of matter from the self-development of the absolute idea. From the point of view of materialist dialectics, movement is inextricably linked with mothers and is a way of its existence: there is no movement without matter, just as there is no matter without movement. There is only moving matter.

Movement presupposes its opposite - peace . Movement is absolute, but rest is relative. Movement in nature manifests itself as self-propulsion , i.e. The impulse to change lies in the very nature of the material world.

In modern science, there are three types of movement:

1) movement from lower to higher, or progress (* human history);

2) movement from higher to lower, or regression (* aging of organisms);

3) movement in which there is neither progress nor regression (*water cycle in nature).

There are also a number of forms of motion of matter, which differ in their carrier and level of structural organization:

- mechanical (its material carrier is any body or object),

- physical, chemical (material carrier – atom, molecule),

- biological (cell),

- social (individual, social groups, society).

This classification was developed by F. Engels in the 2nd half of the 19th century. And was based on scientific knowledge that time. Modern science also has data on other forms of matter motion: on the mutual transformations of elementary particles and fields, on intra-atomic transformations, etc.

The movement is characterized by the following features:

Objectivity,

Integrity with matter

Absoluteness and relativity (i.e. movement is universal, but always manifests itself in various specific forms),

Variability and stability (i.e. any change presupposes the preservation of the previous state),

Continuity and discontinuity (i.e. movement is universal in nature, but manifests itself as the movement of individual material systems).

Ideas about space and time also went through a number of stages of development. Ancient atomists (Democritus) considered matter and space in isolation from each other: everything consists of material particles - atoms that move in empty space. Mechanistic materialism of the New Age also believed that space and time are independent in relation to matter: they are only “containers” in which bodies are located and events occur. In subjective idealism (I. Kant), space and time are considered as pre-experimental (a priori), innate concepts that are given to the consciousness of the subject in order to group and organize our sensations.

In the history of science, there were 2 main points of view on space and time:

1 – substance concept. Here, space and time are interpreted as independent entities that exist along with mothers and independently of her. This concept goes back to the teachings of Democritus and received its substantiated expression in the works I. Newton . The fundamental work of I. Newton “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” (1687) determined the development of the natural science picture of the world for more than 20 years. It formulated the basic laws of motion and defined the concepts of space, time, place and movement. Key points:

Space was considered infinite, flat, empty and homogeneous, which acts as a “container” of material bodies, a system independent of them;

Time was considered as absolute, homogeneous, uniformly flowing; it proceeds throughout the Universe “uniformly and synchronously” and is a process of duration, independent of material objects.

2 – relational theory(Latin relativus – relative). Space and time here were considered as forms of existence of material objects, which do not exist separately from them and depend on the nature of the interaction of material systems. This theory goes back to the teachings of Aristotle, in modern times it was developed in the works of G. Leibniz, and received its logical conclusion and scientific justification in A. Einstein's theory of relativity . A. Einstein himself expressed the essence of his theory as follows: “It used to be believed that if by some miracle all matter in the Universe disappeared, then space and time would be preserved; the theory of relativity states that space and time would disappear along with matter.” A. Einstein showed that space and time are not absolute and unchanging, but can appear differently in various systems report depend on the nature of the movement and interaction of material systems. [* A spaceship launched from Earth at a speed close to the speed of light and returned back after 50 Earth years. But according to the ship's clock, this flight would have lasted only a year. Those. if a 25-year-old astronaut left his newly born son on Earth, then the 50-year-old son would meet his 26-year-old father.Because in the ship's frame of reference, time is different in relation to the Earth.]

Those. modern science considers space and time as attributes of matter. Space connections between coexisting objects, characterizes their length and relative position. Space is characterized by such properties as objectivity, extension, homogeneity (equality of all its points, each of which can become a starting point for any processes or phenomena), isotropy (i.e. equality of all possible directions in space), three-dimensionality (position of any body can be accurately determined using three quantities - length, width and height in rectangular system coordinates, radius vector and two angles - in the spherical system, etc.).

Time is a form of existence of matter that expresses connections between changing objects, characterizes the order of their sequence and duration. Properties of time: objectivity, duration, unidirectionality, irreversibility, one-dimensionality.

Space and time do not exist in isolation from each other and from material movement. They constitute a single space-time characteristic of moving matter.

In modern philosophy and science, concepts are used biological, psychological and social space and time .

Biological space and time characterizes the features of processes in living nature: the life and death of plant and animal organisms, the change of species of plants and animals, the life of man as a biological being, etc. V.I. was one of the first to analyze this problem. Vernadsky.

Psychological space and time associated with the perception and experience of spatial and temporal relations by the individual. This is a subjective feeling, and it does not always coincide with real space-time characteristics. For example, psychological time includes an assessment of the speed of various events (it can speed up or slow down depending on specific situations), distance into the past and into the future, awareness of age, ideas about life expectancy, death and immortality, and the connection between one’s own life and life. other generations, etc. Thanks to ideal images, an individual can move in time and space both at the level of consciousness and at the unconscious level (dreams, hallucinations). Much attention is paid to this problem in psychoanalysis.

Social space and time– these are forms of social existence, forms of life activity of individuals, social communities and society as a whole. Specific properties of social space: length, orderliness, scale, saturation, density, coordination of social processes. Social time is the time of life and activity of social objects: individuals, social communities, generations, states, society as a whole. This is the time of the occurrence of social events, temporary features of the transfer of social experience, etc. Social time is inseparable from the social space within which the life of society takes place in the form of various social and territorial entities.

Reflection– a universal property of matter, its ability to reproduce the features of influencing objects in changes in its properties, states, structure.

Reflection is determined by the following characteristics:

1) it involves the interaction of objects;

2) depending on the level of organization and structure of interacting objects;

3) depends on the conditions in which the interaction of objects occurs;

4) reflection is adequate to the structure of the reflected object;

5) reflection is informative, i.e. carries information about the reflected object;

6) at the biological level, reflection acquires the property of foresight and forecasting.

The historical development of forms of reflection is inseparable from the general evolution of the material world. The higher the level of organization of the material system, the higher the developed ability of reflection. In inorganic nature reflection appears in mechanical changes(*mark on the ground, heating of a stone under the influence of sunlight, etc.), physical (physical reactions), chemical(chemical reactions).

As a result of the transition to biological form of matter movement arises new form reflections – biological. The elementary forms of biological reflection are irritability, i.e. active reaction of the body to external influences and environmental conditions (*plant response to the change of day and night, seasons), and sensitivity, i.e. the ability to reflect the properties of objects in the form of sensations. With the advent of highly organized animals, there arises mental reflection(psyche- a system of active activity that is formed under the influence of the outside world). Thanks to the psyche, an animal can perceive more difficult relationships between objects of the world, they form elementary thinking (for example, a monkey can get a fruit using a stick, etc.). It was the psyche of higher animals that was the most important prerequisite for the formation social form reflections - consciousness.

Populations are communities of individuals of the same species (*anthill, flocks of wild animals...)

Biocenoses are systems consisting of several populations that form complex interactions necessary for their existence (*forest, lake with their flora and fauna).

G Haken. Synergetics. - M., 1980.

I. Prigogine, I. Stengers. The order of their chaos. – M., 1986.

Matter as a modern philosophical category

Matter should be considered primarily as a substance on and thanks to which all relationships and changes in the world, including consciousness, are built.

The category of matter itself, like any general concept, is an abstraction, a creation of pure thought. But this is not nonsense, but a scientific abstraction. It is futile to try to find matter in general as some kind of material or incorporeal principle. When the goal is to find uniform matter as such, a situation is created similar to that if one wanted to see fruit as such instead of cherries, pears, apples, instead of cats, dogs and sheep, etc. - mammal as such, gas as such, metal as such, chemical compound as such, movement as such. The modern philosophical concept of matter should reflect the universal features of the infinite number of sensory things. Matter does not exist apart from things, their properties and relationships, but only in them, through them. It is therefore important to fix such properties of matter that would fundamentally distinguish it, within the framework of the main question of philosophy, from consciousness as its own opposite. This definition of matter was proposed by V.I. Lenin in the books "Materialism and Empirio-Criticism": "Matter is a philosophical category to designate objective reality. which is given to a person in his sensations, which is copied, photographed, displayed by our sensations, existing independently of them" (25. Vol. 18. P. 131). In this definition, the idea that was already outlined in Holbach and was developed further by some thinkers (in particular, N.G. Chernyshevsky and G.V. Plekhanov).

Here matter is defined through a comparison of the spiritual and material. Matter is eternal, exists outside of human consciousness and is completely indifferent to what we think about it. The concept of matter is only an approximate reflection of this objective reality. That is, the concept of matter in general is not a formal designation, not a conventional symbol for many things, but a reflection of the essence of each of them and their entire totality, the basis of being, existing in everything and giving rise to everything that exists.

So, matter - first of all, reality, objective reality, existing outside and independently of man, but this is a reality that can only be detected through sensations (of course, sensory reflection can be direct or mediated by instruments - be it a microscope, telescope, synchrophasotron, etc.). This definition of matter expresses the essence of materialism as a doctrine. It is a further development of the main question of philosophy, and this is its ideological significance.

Matter, being an objective reality, is primary in relation to consciousness. It does not presuppose any cause or condition for its existence, but, on the contrary, is itself the only cause of consciousness. Matter is what B. Spinoza called the cause itself. At the same time, matter is not some kind of supersensible, supernatural reality; it is given to a person in sensations (directly or indirectly with the help of instruments), which, in turn, makes it accessible to knowledge.

Matter, as the root cause of everything that exists, realizes its essence through an infinite set of concrete existences, starting from elementary objects of inanimate nature and ending with the most complex social systems. In the analyzed definition of matter, two aspects are revealed - ontological and epistemological. From an ontological point of view, matter is the only subject of all existence. Things, properties, interactions, bodily and spiritual processes have their final cause in matter. An absolute opposition between the material and the spiritual is therefore possible only within the framework of the fundamental question of philosophy. From an epistemological point of view, matter is an object, subject and means of cognition, and sensations and thinking are its product.

The category of matter is the most important methodological regulator, since the consistent defense of the materialistic worldview turns out to be essential in concrete scientific research. One should not confuse here the philosophical concept of matter with historically changing natural science concepts of the structure and properties of certain fragments of the observable world. Science can reflect with mathematical accuracy the details of the structure and state of individual systemic material objects. The philosophical approach is characterized by the fact that it abstracts from the properties of individual things and their aggregates, and sees its material unity in the diversity of the world.