Features of the mythological worldview philosophy. Mythological worldview, its features, structure and specificity

Features of the mythological worldview

1. Mythology (from the Greek mythos - legend, legend and logos - word, concept, teaching) - a type of consciousness, a way of understanding the world, characteristic of early stages development of society. Myths existed among all peoples of the world. In spiritual life primitive people mythology acted as a universal form of their consciousness, as a holistic worldview.

Myths - ancient tales about fantastic creatures, about the deeds of gods and heroes - are diverse. But a number of basic themes and motifs are repeated in them. Many myths are dedicated to the origin and structure of the cosmos (cosmogonic and cosmological myths). They contain attempts to answer the question about the beginning, origin, structure of the surrounding world, about the emergence of the most important natural phenomena for humans, about world harmony, impersonal necessity, etc. The formation of the world was understood in mythology as its creation or as a gradual development from the primitive formless states as ordering, that is, transformation from chaos into space, as creation through overcoming destructive demonic forces. There were also myths (they are called eschatological) describing the impending destruction of the world, in some cases - with its subsequent revival.

1. Mythological worldview. Formed since the appearance of Homo sapiens ( Homo sapiens), approximately 40-60 thousand years ago. This is a worldview that describes and explains the world and man’s place in the world in a very unique way. For this purpose, the deeds of gods, heroes, numerous fantastic creatures are shown, natural phenomena and phenomena are described and explained in their own way. social life. Fantastic creatures do things that are not realistic from the standpoint of science. Just like they themselves are not real. The myth allowed everything. In it, anything could appear from anything, just like that, or with the help of an intermediary in the form of the same fantastic creatures. This was the weakness and anti-science of myths. In the world, something really is generated by something, something appears from something, nothing can appear from nothing. But for anything to appear out of anything, this is in no way possible.
2. Much attention in myths was paid to the origin of people, birth, stages of life, death of a person, various trials that confront him life path. A special place was occupied by myths about the cultural achievements of people - making fire, the invention of crafts, agriculture, the origin of customs and rituals. Among developed peoples, myths were connected with each other and built into single narratives. (In later literary presentation they are presented in the ancient Greek “Iliad”, Indian “Ramayana”, Karelian-Finnish “Kalevala” and others folk epics.) The ideas embodied in myth were intertwined with rituals, served as an object of faith, and ensured the preservation of traditions and the continuity of culture. For example, myths about dying and resurrecting gods, symbolically reproducing natural cycles, were associated with agricultural rituals. The originality of the myth was manifested in the fact that the thought was expressed in specific emotional, poetic images and metaphors. Here the phenomena of nature and culture came together, on the world human traits were transferred. As a result, space and other natural forces were humanized (personified, animated). This makes myth similar to the thinking of children, artists, poets, and indeed all people, in whose minds the images of ancient fairy tales, traditions, and legends “live” in a transformed form. At the same time, the bizarre fabric of mythological plots also contained a generalized work of thought - analysis, classification, a special symbolic representation of the world as a whole.

In myth there was no clear distinction between the world and man, the ideal and the material, the objective and the subjective. Human thought will make these distinctions later. Myth is a holistic worldview in which different views linked into a single figurative picture of the world - a kind of “artistic religion”, full of poetic images and metaphors. In the fabric of myth, reality and fantasy, the natural and the supernatural, thought and feeling, knowledge and faith are intricately woven.

1. The most important feature of myth is anthropomorphism. This is the transfer of human traits and properties to the rest of the world around us. One of the schemes for explaining everything that is in the world is the genetic scheme. A person comes into being through birth. Therefore, inanimate objects are also born. Principle anything can be generated by anything

Myth has shown its effectiveness as a means of controlling human behavior, as a way of regulating relationships between people. Therefore, primitive groups were very united within individual clans and tribes, but other clans and tribes were, as a rule, perceived as hostile.

Myth is the most ancient (archaic) type of thinking, in which the real and the fictional were not distinguished; word, thought and subject of thought. Therefore the myth is syncretic. Therefore, ancient man performed many, in our opinion, senseless actions. For example, before going hunting, an ancient hunter first killed some image of an animal, believing that this would ensure his success in the hunt. Children were given the names of many natural phenomena, the names of animals, in the belief that thanks to this the child would be endowed with the properties of these natural phenomena or animals

1. The myth expressed the worldview, worldview, and worldview of the people of the era in which it was created. It acted as a universal, undivided (syncretic) form of consciousness, combining in itself the rudiments of knowledge, religious beliefs, political views, different types arts, philosophy. Only later did these elements receive independent life and development.

With its help, the connection between “times” - past, present and future - was established, collective ideas of a particular people were formed, and the spiritual unity of generations was ensured. Mythological consciousness consolidated the system of values ​​​​accepted in a given society, supported and encouraged certain forms of behavior. It also included the search for the unity of nature and society, the world and man, the desire to find a resolution of contradictions and find harmony, the internal harmony of human life.

In the search for answers to questions of world understanding posed in mythology, the creators of religion and philosophy chose, in principle, different (although still sometimes closely converging) paths. In contrast to the religious worldview with its predominant attention to human anxieties, hopes, and the search for faith, the intellectual aspects of the worldview were brought to the fore in philosophy, which reflected the growing need in society to understand the world and man from the standpoint of knowledge and reason. Philosophical thought declared itself as a search for wisdom.

Mythology is characterized as a worldview, since all its main problems are presented in myths: the origin of the world and its structure (chaos and space), the ways of occurrence of the most important phenomena of nature and social life, the secrets of the birth and death of man, his place and purpose in the world.

Mythology - it is a form of social consciousness, a way of understanding natural and social reality at the early stages of social development.

Initially, myths are archaic stories about the deeds of gods and heroes, behind which there are fantastic ideas about the world, about the gods and spirits that control it. Myth as the earliest form of spiritual culture of humanity united contains the rudiments of knowledge, religious beliefs, political views, various types of art, philosophy ( syncretism).

Thought in myth was expressed in specific emotional, poetic images and metaphors.

In mythology, natural and cultural phenomena came closer together, human traits were transferred to the outside world, space and other natural phenomena, were personified, animated, humanized ( anthropomorphism).

There were no clear distinctions between the world and man, thoughts and emotions, knowledge and artistic images, ideal and material, objective and subjective.

The main principle for solving ideological issues in mythology was genetic. Explanations about the beginning of the world, the origin of natural and social phenomena were reduced to a story about who gave birth to whom.

The myth performed various functions:

With its help, the past was connected with the present and future,

Collective ideas of a particular people were formed,

A spiritual connection between generations was ensured,

Mythology consolidated the system of values ​​​​accepted in a given society, supported and encouraged certain forms of behavior,

Mythological consciousness also included the search for the unity of nature and society, the world and man, the resolution of contradictions, harmony, internal harmony of human life,

Filled gaps in knowledge, built a coherent and understandable picture of the world.

Myth is the first syncretic (indissoluble, integral) form of social consciousness, which intricately combined true observations with fiction, the real and the illusory, the material and the ideal.

4. Religion as a form of worldview

The mythological worldview, developing, inevitably turns into a religious worldview under the conditions of the transition to a class society. There is a close connection and similarity between myth and religion: the reflection of reality in a fantastic form, the endowment of things and phenomena with supernatural properties, the spiritualization of the material and the objectification of the ideal. Religious and magical rituals are part of mythology at a mature stage of its development, and myths are an integral component of any religion.

But religion is not only generated by myth, develops it, but also denies it: if mythology does not know the division of faith and knowledge, natural and supernatural, since every mythical object is reliable and obvious for it, then religion bifurcates the single world into the supernatural world and the natural world; If in mythology the struggle of man with the forces of nature is depicted as a heroic struggle in which man dares to enter into single combat with God himself, then religion reduces man to the position of a “servant of God”, who completely trusts in divine grace.

The essence of any religion is belief in the supernatural. The following components follow from it and are determined by it:religious worldview , as faith in the omnipotence of God the creator, the idea of ​​​​the immortality of the soul, faith in “salvation.”

Worldview constructs, when included in the ritual system, acquire the character of a creed. With the help of ritual, religion cultivates feelings of love, kindness, tolerance, compassion, mercy, duty, justice, giving them special value, connecting their presence with the sacred, supernatural. This gives the religious worldview a special spiritual and practical character.

At the same time, religion is a powerful regulator of human and social behavior. A person who believes in a certain god must strictly follow religious commandments, norms, and observe church traditions and rituals. Deviation from religious ideological principles is assessed as a serious offense requiring repentance and atonement.

Mythological worldview.

Philosophy as a type of worldview.

To approach the study of philosophy, you need to have an idea of ​​what a worldview is. Worldview in the broadest sense of the word - this is a certain system of a person’s most general views on the world, on himself, on goals and paths historical development. It is a socio-historical phenomenon that arises with the advent of humanity, and reflects precisely the human, and not natural way existence. Worldview is the prism that mediates nature through which a person looks at the world. It crystallizes in culture, which is called a person’s second home, is part of it, expresses its essence. At first, generalized views of the world are formed through life experience and common sense, then through faith in God, and then based on reason and logic. At the same time, in the worldview modern man there is an alloy of various components. Why does a person need a worldview? The fact is that, unlike an animal, a person has a need for a holistic view and awareness of the world in which he lives, as well as his role in this world. This is the only way he can set goals and implement them. For example, realizing the causes of the global financial crisis or global problems, you can create projects to solve them. In the history of mankind, there are three historical types of worldviews:

Mythological worldview.

Myth- this is historically the first form of worldview inherent primitive society and early stages of development of civilizational societies. It is based on a collection of myths (Greek, Japanese, Bushmen, etc.). Mythology- this is a kind of archaic way of understanding nature, society and man, characteristic of the early stages of human history. In the absence of science and philosophy, man explained the world through the system of myths inherent in a particular culture. Structurally, all myths are universal and similar, since they are based on feelings and experiences. Features of the mythological worldview:

1. Syncretism- indivisibility, unity of man with nature, non-separation of his Self and not opposition to everything that exists (stone, tree, animal, etc.).

2. Myth is not based on logic and reason, but on deep feelings and experiences (that’s why all the myths of the world are very similar).

3. The meaning in the myth is expressed in images through associative thinking (for example, thunder is associated with the wrath of the gods because it causes fear and horror).

4. Humanization, animation of nature (animism, hylozoism). Animism (from Latin anima, animus - soul, spirit) is the primary form of belief in souls and spirits. Hylozoism– (from the Greek ὕλη - matter and ζωή - life) - philosophical doctrine about the universal animation of matter.

5. Mysticism and magic- irrational ways of communicating and managing people, nature and the entire Cosmos. Everything in the world is permeated with mystical connections, their destruction causes individual and collective problems (drought, disease, death, famine). Magical actions and rituals are designed to restore lost connections. Magic is an archaic natural practice of controlling nature and man.

2) Religious worldview.

Religion(translated means connecting a person with God) - a specific form of worldview based on belief in the existence of a supernatural (transcendent) God or gods.

Features of religious worldview:

1) The separation of man from nature through connection with the spiritual world (God).

2) Mysticism (the rituals and cults of religion are mystical, for example, in the rite of communion through bread and wine a person partakes of the body and blood of Christ).

3) Reason occupies a subordinate position in relation to faith, faith is illogical, non-rational (for example, in the Trinity there is one God, but at the same time he is presented in three hypostases, which violates the logical law of identity).

4) The search for salvation, finding highest values, it is stated immortal life after death.

Exist different types religions, they can be divided into polytheistic, where there are many gods (Hinduism, Jainism, Shintoism, Taoism, etc.), and monotheistic where there is one God (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). Polytheistic religions largely contain features of mythology, while monotheistic religions, which discovered God as a transcendental principle (supernatural, super-existent, otherworldly), are a fundamentally new type of worldview.

3) Philosophical worldview.

Philosophy as a worldview emerges later than myth and religion, nevertheless, having inherited from them the whole set of questions about the origin of the world, its structure, the place of man in the world, etc. Philosophy(from Greek φιλία - love, desire, thirst + σοφία - wisdom) - highest level and a type of worldview, a theoretically formulated, systemically rational worldview, built on a logical reconstruction of reality. Philosophy acts as the pinnacle of a worldview and at the same time as its core. She brings the worldview into a system and theorizes it.

Concept and structure of worldview

The concept of “worldview” does not have one universally accepted definition. Most often, scientists agree that this term should be understood comprehensive presentation person about the world, a certain substance that is the connecting link between consciousness and cognition. From the point of view of its structure, worldview includes such elements as attitude, worldview and worldview.

Main types of worldviews

The worldview developed along with the development of man, his ideas about the world around him and about himself. Despite the fact that currently scientists pay the greatest attention to the everyday and scientific understanding of the surrounding reality, historically the first form of worldview is the mythological worldview.

The concept of mythological worldview

The mythological worldview, as the name suggests, is based on myths, that is, on vivid, emotional, logically structured schemes with the help of which a person tried to explain certain phenomena or processes. Emotionality and colorfulness were necessary to make others believe that in reality this was exactly what was happening.

Myth as a reflection of the specifics of the mythological worldview

At the same time, a myth is not just a story, it is a very deep experience by a person of the events that it narrates. This perception occurs because these stories touch on the most important issues man and his relationship with the outside world. Myth is a kind of code, a “hidden language” with the help of which a person sought to convey to others all the complexity and orderliness of the environment. natural environment. It is in this search for the deep meaning of certain phenomena and processes, painted in bright and sometimes fantastic tones, that the specificity of the mythological worldview lies.

Prerequisites for the emergence of a mythological worldview

The mythological worldview, its emergence and development are associated with a certain stage in the development of human consciousness and the accumulation of knowledge about the world around us. The immediate prerequisites for its appearance should be recognized as a certain emotional discomfort that surrounded a person in those distant times, as well as his desire to use even the insignificant knowledge that he already possessed in order to immediately explain all the processes and phenomena surrounding him.

They are most directly related to the specifics of this type worldview. This is the animation of surrounding objects and phenomena, and the inseparability of ideas about reality, and fantasy, and the transfer of many phenomena of one’s life into the world of gods and spirits. In addition, the mythological worldview is characterized by the absence of any attempts to give knowledge an abstract character, that is, to try to identify in certain phenomena their main, essential qualities and properties. At the same time, in myths, man tried to explain absolutely everything that surrounded him, including himself. At the same time, it should be noted that the mythological worldview, in contrast to the same everyday knowledge about objects, is a fairly coherent system where each myth occupies its own, clearly defined place.

Worldview is a system of ideas, concepts, views about the world around us. This is the core of a person's self-awareness. It acts as a holistic understanding by people of the world, themselves and their place in the world. In the worldview there are 2 levels: 1) rational-theoretical, 2) vital-practical.

Philosophy belongs to the rational-theoretical level. Philosophy must be distinguished from common sense. If the vital-practical level can be formed spontaneously under the influence of traditions, customs, and individual life experiences of a person, then the rational-theoretical level is created consciously. Philosophy is centered on man, it is interested in the relationship between man and the world, man and man.

Worldview includes 3 components:

1. Attitude, worldview (emotional-sensual component of the worldview) 2. Worldview (intellectual component of the worldview, at the rational-theoretical level represented by scientific ideas) 3. Attitude (formed on the basis of attitude and worldview). Attitude is a set of human values ​​on certain life issues.

Each society and era has its own worldview. It is historically specific. The worldview of each era is realized in many group and individual variants.

Historical types worldviews:

Mythological worldview.

Mythology is a complex of myths that sets out ideas about the origin and structure of the world and man. Myth - first form cultural activities person. Cosmogonic myths - about the origin of the universe. Cosmological myths are about the structure of the universe. Myths are a kind of expression and storage of historical memory.

A mythological worldview is a system of views on the world and man’s place in it, which is based not on theoretical arguments and reasoning, but on the artistic experience of the world or on social illusions.

Characteristics of mythological consciousness:

1. syncretism (unity, indivisibility). In any myth, objective knowledge about the world, the beginnings of religious beliefs, and art coexist. 2. insensitivity to contradictions. The basis of the myth is human fantasy. 3. there are no cause-and-effect relationships between objects and phenomena.

In the mythological consciousness there are:

A) metamorphosis b) associations (breathing soul, sleep death) c) teleological (connection not from cause to effect, but from goal to cause) d) symbolism (operating not with concepts, but with specific symbols) e) collectivity (myth is always a product of collective consciousness) f) authoritarianism (myths do not leave room for personal manifestation of the individual and do not allow criticism of their provisions).

Unlike myth, philosophy offers other ways to solve worldview problems:

1. instead of an image - rational concepts 2. philosophy is non-syncretistic (a clear opposition of subject and object) 3. in philosophy there are cause-and-effect relationships.

Religious worldview.

Within any religion there is a system (a system of answering questions). But philosophy formulates its conclusions in a rational form, and in religion there is an emphasis on faith. Religion presupposes ready-made answers to questions.

Religious doctrine does not tolerate criticism. Any religion offers ideals to a person and is accompanied by rites and rituals (specific actions).

Each developed religious teaching contains imprints of a pronounced systematic nature.

Religious worldview is also characterized the following features:

1. symbolism (every significant phenomenon in nature or history is considered as a manifestation of the Divine will), through the symbol a connection is made between the supernatural and natural worlds, 2. has a value-based relationship to reality (reality is the spatio-temporal extent of the struggle between good and evil), 3. time is also connected with Sacred history (the time before and after the Nativity of Christ), 4. revelation is recognized as the word of God and this leads to the absolutization of the word (logos), the logos becomes the image of God.

Philosophical worldview.

Philosophy is the most ancient field of knowledge. It arose simultaneously in India, China and Greece in the 6th century BC.

Philosophy is “the love of wisdom” (philo - “love”, sophia - “wisdom”). Philosophy develops a generalized system of knowledge about the world as a whole and the foundations of existence.

Philosophy refers to the rational-theoretical level of worldview. Philosophy must be distinguished from common sense. If the vital-practical level can be formed spontaneously under the influence of traditions, customs, and individual life experiences of a person, then the rational-theoretical level is created consciously. Philosophy is centered on man, it is interested in the relationship between man and the world, man and man.

Philosophy is a theoretically developed worldview, a system of general views on the world and man’s place in it and an understanding various forms man's relationship to the world.

The philosophical worldview emerges in the 6th century BC and is opposed to the mythological worldview. It was at this time that the main categorical apparatus with which philosophy operates was formed.

Philosophy focuses on 3 key element: nature, public life, Human.

The philosophical worldview is characterized by 2 main features: consistency and the theoretical nature of the system of philosophical views.

The question of the relationship between matter and consciousness is the main question of philosophy.

Two sides of this question: 1. What comes first - matter or consciousness? 2. Is the world knowable?

Different attitude to the first side of this question he divides philosophers into materialists and idealists, to the second side of the question - into gnostics and agnostics (the latter deny the possibility of knowing reality).

A person’s attitude to the world is threefold: 1. cognitive, 2. practical, 3. value

Each of these relations solves its own question (I. Kant): 1. what can I know? 2. what should I do? 3. what can I hope for

The answer to these questions is the answer to main question: what is a person?

The peculiarity of philosophy is that it acts as a universal theoretical knowledge universal principles of existence. This distinguishes philosophy from specific sciences, which do not strive to identify universal connections.