Human Self-knowledge Research Articles

Plotinus’ νοητή ουσία means substance paths to the Absolute

The main issue of this paper is the role of νοῦς, or mind, as a condition for νοητής ουσίας. The activity of self-conscious self-knowledge within the framework of the noetic view of the Absolute is the ultimate and most important category for the author. Plotinus transcends the traditional dualism of being and non-being by showing that mind and soul are integral components of immaterial reality. In doing so, he makes it clear that human self-knowledge has an existential-subjective quality, based on the capacity for spiritual intuition. Discovering and developing this truth leads to transcendence, which is the criterion for transforming an entity burdened by externality into a supra-gignified entity, one that is free from the limitations of time and space. The sensual world, represented by the κόσμος αισθητός, can be an obstacle to learning about one's own nature and realizing the path toward liberation from the yoke of the animal self. Of course, being, understood in a spiritual context, has ontological priority here. However, an entity that is limited by external conditions - can bring itself all the way up to intellectual life through knowledge of itself. It manifests itself in the ability of spiritual intuition and thus salvific metamorphosis toward the timeless and supra-ontic Absolute. For Plotinus, this spiritual process of development represents an important truth about man. On the noetic view of the One, the identity of the self implies knowledge of the self in God, which is the central mystery of transformation and return to the supernatural source.

The evolution of artificial intelligence: problems and prospects of rational cognition

Objective: This article undertakes a comprehensive exploration of the constructivist paradigm in artificial intelligence (AI) development, aiming to uncover how constructivist perspectives shape our understanding of AI. It delves into the evolution of AI thought, emphasizing the significance of constructivist epistemology in comprehending AI's philosophical and cognitive dimensions.
 Method: The study employs a variety of philosophical methodologies, including historical-philosophical analysis, comparative analysis of philosophical teachings, and a system-structural dialectical approach. These methods facilitate an in-depth examination of AI's conceptual intricacies within a constructivist framework, focusing on the relationship between artificial and natural intelligence and the epistemological implications of AI.
 Results: The investigation reveals that the main challenge in AI research is the absence of clear problem-solving rules, highlighting the current limitations of human self-knowledge in logical and emotional intelligence. It showcases AI's vast capabilities, from extensive knowledge bases to real-time processing, and emphasizes AI's role in enhancing human cognitive processes.
 Conclusions: Artificial intelligence, as a construct of human intellect, mirrors the capacity for design and creativity inherent in human thought. The study underscores AI's foundational role in the epistemology of science and technology, advocating for a holistic understanding of the human brain as a dynamic system to further our grasp of AI and its cognitive potential.

PEDAGOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE AESTHETIC FOUNDATIONS OF MUSICAL WORKS OF THE BAROQUE ERA

The article is devoted to the pedagogical analysis of the aesthetic foundations of the Baroque culture and identification of the most significant features of the musical art of this era. In the universal picture of the world created by Baroque thinkers, who tended to a comprehensive understanding of being, the main role is assigned to man, or rather, to the problem of human self-knowledge. The created hierarchy of moral values distinguishes between the “high” and “low”, “earthly” and “heavenly” in a person, directs a person to the path of conscious self-control and reasonable self-restraint. In this regard, at the present stage of cultural development, it is necessary to search for the embodiment of the immanent features of the poetics of Baroque compositions from the position of deep knowledge of all levels of their content and symbolism. In modern musical performance, the problems of interpreting Baroque music arise with renewed vigor. In professional training of modern performing musicians, mastering the works of the Baroque style and understanding its aesthetics is an important stage in the formation of their professional competencies.

Kant on Lying in Extreme Situations

Abstract A crucial issue in normative ethics concerns the morality of lying. Kant defends the view that the duty to not lie does not allow for any exceptions in practical judgments: it never is a person’s right or duty to lie. Many people abhor this view. Kantians have tried to make sense of Kant’s view (and save Kantian moral philosophy) by suggesting Kantian interpretations that are less strict. I reject the attempts to nuance the strictness of Kant’s view. I break new ground by arguing that Kant’s view is best made sense of by taking his strict stance seriously. I focus on his doctrine of virtue account against lying. Kant is not always strict on the interpretation of duties. As regards other duties he does leave (limited) room for exceptions. The strictness of the duty to not lie therefore is a special case intrinsically connected to key aspects of his fundamental philosophy. My explanation of the doctrine of virtue account starts out by focusing on the inner lie. For Kant each and every inner lie is problematic because being truthful is a condition and an integral part of the moral Denkungsart; i. e., way virtue manifests itself in the empirical world. Hence, an inner lie must be interpreted as the destruction of freedom and personhood. Kant’s doctrine of virtue view on the inner lie also implies a strict view on the outer lie. Developing this implication requires the analysis of Kant’s view on human self-knowledge and their propensity to evil.

ПОНЯТТЯ ПРИРОДИ В РОБОТАХ АМЕРИКАНСЬКОГО ТРАНСЦЕНДЕНТАЛІСТА ГЕНРІ ДЕВІДА ТОРО

B a c k g r o u n d . This article reveals the understanding of the concept of nature in the works of the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau. Henry David Thoreau is an American philosopher, poet, essayist, naturalist and political activist. Together with Ralph Waldo Emerson, his friend and mentor, he is considered one of the founders of the transcendentalist movement. Transcendentalism was a powerful movement of American philosophy of the 19th century. It was characterized by focusing on the problem of human self-knowledge, human's returning to own essence, living in harmony with nature, as well as criticism of modern society and active abolitionism. M e t h o d s . The article uses both general scientific methods and special methods, such as – the method of historical-philosophical reconstruction, which made it possible to reproduce the ideas of the American thinker, the hermeneutic method – for explaining individual positions of the philosopher. In addition, literary-critical methods were used, for the possibility of using various primary sources, and systematic method – to identify a systematized structure in the philosophical work of H. D. Thoreau. R e s u l t s . One of the main features of transcendentalism is a special interest in reflection on nature and a special approach to it. Thus, the concept of nature is present in most of H. D. Thoreau's works, and it is the central topic of his philosophical searches. The concept of nature in his works appears in different contexts, acquires different meanings. Thus, H. D. Thoreau talks about nature in the context of nature, in the context of poetic creativity, in his philosophical searches, in his vision of man and in his argumentation of his own political position. However, the different meanings that H. D. Thoreau attaches to the concept of nature do not contradict each other, but, on the contrary, complement and clarify his understanding of nature. C o n c l u s i o n s . This article proposes to consider the use of the concept of nature by H. D. Thoreau in the following aspects: Nature and Peculiarities of nature as a subject of scientific knowledge. Nature and The relationship between nature and culture through the relationship between "the wild" and society. Nature and From naturalism to humanism. Nature as an inner essence of man and solitude with nature as a return to this essence.

Tolerance as a Communicative and Socio-Cultural Strategy of Social Agreements

The problem of tolerance is analyzed against the background of the acute challenges of today and transformation of humanities from antiquity to postmodernism. Tolerance-related definitions arose in philosophy are examined retrospectively: patience, tolerance, respect, trust, harmony in diversity. The methodological significance of the integrative interdisciplinary prism in consideration of the phenomenon of tolerance is shown. Three leading sociocultural and communicative strategies of tolerance in social agreements have been identified: tolerant internal dialogue (agreement with oneself), tolerant communication with the world (worldview tolerance), tolerant interpersonal communication (important social agreements). The limits of tolerance are outlined, beyond which it becomes quasi-tolerance, because behind the simulacrum of tolerance hides indifference, conformism of communicators, or sprouts of intolerance, aggression, mobbing. With the help of sociological and synergetic theories the idea of balance of tolerance in psychological, mental and spiritual, physical aspects of human existence is defended. Autotolerance is due to human self-knowledge, sound self-esteem, developed mental and emotional quotient (EQ), and under such conditions it strategically determines a tolerant dialogue with the world, a constructive worldview. In turn, it needs critical thinking and an ecological attitude to information, especially in the context of media manipulation and phubbing. The simulacrum of modern pop literature on positive thinking is outlined, in contrast to which the life-creating potential of practical philosophy is revealed, which contributes to creation of socio-cultural and communicative communities.

Različiti aspekti mode

Fashion and clothing are not nearly identical phenomena. But clothing represents the most significant area, through which fashion actually appears. Considering that, the suit represents the external self-shaping of man, so that suit is an expression of that's how that person would like it to look. More specifically, the suit in a way, is an expression of human self-knowledge and his understanding of himself. Therefore, this includes the space in which that fashion is quite pronounced. The clothes themselves are simple, short-lived and fleeting, in fact as fashion itself is. The main characteristic of fashion is that, it can suddenly impose and accept a certain new rule or norm, i.e. to impose and accept something that in the past was only an exception or a certain character thread. This is what fashion does, to be able later in time, to leave that exception or that unique characteristic thread that it had, because over time that uniqueness has become something that is ordinary and everyday, or has become something that everyone can afford. The first major explanation of fashion, relates fashion to a modern society with a system of open layers, where the elite tends to stand out and rise above the rest of the people, thereby launching exclusive ways and behavior patterns. In order to symbolically equate with them, members of the the lower layers accept that style as a rule of their own behavior.

A necessity of establishing the law for oneself

In the information age, social development trends clearly show that a person endowed with technical intelligence is somehow alienated from his own existence and is spiritually empty and "kinless". In this paper, we focus on this most difficult problem.
 The pathos of our discussion is as follows: understanding and sharing the difficulties of existence is the most reliable and unmistakable way of human self-knowledge and self-exaltation. In any historical section, a legal entity including an individual, nation, country, or world community, is obliged to verify the veracity of this path. Especially we need it from the perspective of our troubled but at the same time "successful century".
 It is obvious fact that in the twenty-first century, in the age of technical civilization, humanity fights to save human lives - in an unusual and unexpectedly difficult situation caused by COVID-19. A few years ago, we could never ever imagine that the world would "stop". We would believe that noisy traffic between states would stop, movement within countries would slow down, people would be forced to stay at home, meetings with each other would become dangerous, and due to lack of vaccine, millions of people would die.
 What are we dealing with? How can we overcome the most difficult challenges caused by co-existence with COVID? How do we evaluate what’s going on? It is difficult, extremely difficult to answer these questions, but the most difficult conditions are forcing us to find reasonable answers to such questions.

Theory in the historical progress of psychological cognition

The article analyzes the correlation between the theory and history of psychology on the basis of a concept, which is formed in the process of researching the work of the outstanding Ukrainian scientist V. A Romenets. According to the concept, psychological cognition is a historical-logical-psychological process that is carried out on an epistemological basis and runs from dualism to monism; stages of the process are ways to solve the main problem of psychology, which fixes the need to characterize the mental as subjective in view of the objective; patterns of the process illuminates the thinking of the author of the theory of mind in solving this problem. The state of theoretical psychology is critically assessed, the latter is understood as marked by the theory of mind progress of psychological cognition. The example of V. A. Romenets’ creative dialogue with his predecessors shows that the theory is evidence of the author’s extraordinary place in this process. The search for the place of man in cognition ends with the proclamation of man as a subject of cognition, a body of self-knowledge of the world, capable of comprehending an object within the limits of its thinking. In epistemology, it is substantialism, proceduralism; the principle of observation is opposed by the principle of involvement; man’s place in cognition is characterized either dualistically or monistically. The idea of the identity of thought and being means that the condition of cognition is the coincidence of the way of understanding an object with the way of its existence. The philosophy of science either denies or affirms the principle of involvement, the same thing happens in the psychology of science. Subjectocentrism in epistemology is echoed in psychology by the opposition of the subjective to the objective, overcoming this opposition generates monistic theories in both epistemology and psychology. In psychology, this is the main problem; it is accentuated by the circle of cognition that the psychologist enters into when, using his own psychic, he explores the nature of the psychic. The problem – a source of psychological knowledge, the circle – evidence of the direct presence of a psychologist in this process. Marxist psychologists solve the problem monistically, in terms of the category of practice. Solutions encounter difficulties, ideas deepen the content of the category of practice and open the possibility of new solutions to this problem. Psychologists of the post-Soviet era do not think as a category of practice and, in contrast to the activity-based, assert the subjective approach. From an epistemological point of view, this is subject-centrism, and from a historical and psychological point of view, it is a step in the opposite direction. According to V. A. Roments, the main way of practice is the act as a contradictory interaction of subjective and objective, which is engraved in the history of human self-knowledge. The dynamics of the components of the act highlights the historical and ontogenetic path of man, the essence and purpose of mental, historical levels of psychological knowledge. In the work of the scientist, psychology reaches a post-classical level of development. For classical psychology, the subjective and the objective are disproportionate entities, for non-classical – the sides of reality, for post-non-classical - the side of the human way of life. The main problem of psychology is solved in fundamentally different ways; the solutions illuminate the path of psychology from dualism to increasingly meaningful monism. Analysis of the work of V. A. Romenets shows that the progress of thinking of the psychologist expresses the historical progress of psychology, which occurs when the way of thinking coincides with the way of being mental. The idea of the identity of thinking and being is illustrated, which logically completes the search for the place of man in cognition in epistemology. The inherent explanation of the nature of the mental circle of cognition expands to the limits of the existence of the mental, and the monistic solution to the basic problem of psychology no longer stands in the way. V. A. Romenets creates a theory of the way of human existence at the historical and ontogenetic level, it is actual to characterize the way of human existence at the individual level on the basis of category of being in the subject-practical content, to implement the anthropological approach in psychology and overcome the gap between theoretical and practical branches of this science.

From the volume Editor: Some remarks on sport from its historical-cultural horizon

From the volume Editor: Some remarks on sport from its historical-cultural horizon

韩中后缀“X师”的语义研究

Since ancient times, Korea and China have maintained a friendly and good-neighbourly relationship with each other. With the continuous development and deepening of the relationship between the two countries, Chinese characters have also been introduced into the Korean cultural system with the borrowing of Chinese characters and Chinese characters. Korea and China had close contacts and exchanges in politics, economy and culture before Qin and Han Dynasties. Especially in terms of culture, China has brought a lot of influence to Korea. One of the most significant influences is the Chinese character words. Language and social change, social development, the emergence of new things, and the deepening of human self-knowledge are all reflected in vocabulary, the most sensitive factor of language. In the 21st century, Chinese word-formation has changed, and a large number of new words similar to derivative word-formation have appeared. “X-Shi” is a new type of affix which is similar to affix, but not so typical. It has the additional meaning of “human” in semantics. This paper studies the semantic comparison of Quasi-affix “X-Shi” (“X사”), which is commonly used in Korean and Chinese, especially focusing on its semantic characteristics and clarifying the semantic differences. Through the synchronic analysis of the semantic and pragmatic features, this paper analyses the causes of Quasi-affix of “X-Shi”.

Self-Knowledge, Estrangement, and Social Metabolism

Following two key themes in Karl Marx's thought—estrangement and political economy, in their relation to human self-knowledge—labor mediates the social metabolism. In this schema, organic (or functional) metabolism is distinguished from extended metabolism (or social organization). Socially extended metabolism gives rise to shared values and concepts in the same way that organic metabolism gives rise to life. On this basis, I suggest that both the subject and object of human self-knowledge is a socially extended self, which can connect to itself only when humans freely participate in socially extended metabolism—that is, economy, science, and industry. Estrangement, in contrast, is seen to result from a disruption within socially extended metabolism.

ARCHAIC DANCE: INITIAL FORMS AND MODERNITY

The purpose of the article is to consider genesis and specific peculiarities of certain traditions of the archaic and ethnic dance forms, which have survived till the present. Scientific interpretation of the specific internal connections between different constituents of song-dance genres and mass ritual performances allows to ascertain prerequisites of formation of music and dance professionalism within them. The methodology. Historical and culturological, comparative and analytical methods have been applied to characterize archaic public song-music-dance forms, which in conjunction with various ritual tendencies anticipate the origin of phenomenon of music and theatre performance. The scientific novelty of the work lies in understanding of the problems of preserving certain archaic dance forms in modern household, ritual traditions of various peoples as a unique phenomenon of spiritual culture, implementing continuous connection of times and preservation of deep ethnic traditions. Conclusions. Consideration of different forms of archaic dance, which have survived till the present in different genres and manifestations, allows to characterize their as a unique means of human self-knowledge and self-expression. Music, mimics, gesture and dance movements are the only elements of stage adaption of initial magical ritual. Moreover, many forms of archaic dance continue to realize esthetic and even social and cultural function despite the processes of globalization in modern world culture.

Self-Knowledge for Humans

Self-Knowledge for Humans

Self-Knowledge and Its Limits

A philosophical account of self-knowledge should offer more than an epistemological explanation of first-personal privilege. It should also address the many cases where the first-person perspective is not so privileged, and account for the importance of self-knowledge to a person’s social and psychological well-being. Quassim Cassam’s Self-Knowledge for Humans and John Doris’s Talking to Our Selves both emphasize the importance of these latter tasks, but neither author is wholly successful: Cassam’s argument rests on a gross distortion of the “Rationalist” picture he sets up as a foil, and Doris’s on a skeptical argument that stands in some questionable company.

Aquinas on Human Self-Knowledge by Therese Scarpelli Cory

Reviewed by: Aquinas on Human Self-Knowledge by Therese Scarpelli Cory Christopher A. Decaen Aquinas on Human Self-Knowledge. By Therese Scarpelli Cory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Pp. xi + 241. $103.00 (cloth). ISBN: 978-1-107-04292-6. “Know thyself.” This inscription on the Temple of Apollo helped inspire the birth of philosophy in Greece. And yet it is no small irony that Loxias’s command was issued at the notoriously ambiguous Delphic oracle, for self-knowledge is both easy and difficult, ready at hand and obscure. In a relatively short but remarkably dense book, Therese Cory has given us a meticulous examination of how St. Thomas Aquinas handles the paradox of self-knowledge. This thorough collection and study of the manifold contexts in which St. Thomas treats the matter—and of contemporary scholarship on the same—deepens our understanding of the subtlety of his teaching. Indeed, contrary to modern mythology, in which “premodern thinkers are supposed to have nothing interesting to say about human subjectivity” (215), Cory argues that St. Thomas’s approach is “sophisticated and compelling” (7) and “could be fruitfully placed into dialogue with contemporary inquiry” (220). In addition, Cory admirably bucks the trend of “methodological segregation” (8), wherein the history of ideas and real philosophizing do not belong in a single volume, as the book is divided into two parts: a historical study of the background, context, and development of St. Thomas’s understanding of self-knowledge (encompassing the first two chapters), and then an engagement with the particular problems surrounding self-knowledge, aided by St. Thomas’s approach (in the remaining six chapters). The historical chapters begin with the obvious sources of the medieval debates about self-knowledge—St. Augustine and Aristotle—but then delves into St. Thomas’s contemporaries, including not only Sts. Albert and Bonaventure but also William of Auvergne and Jean de la Rochelle. The medieval debate was shaped by the Augustinian notion that self-knowledge is natural and by the Aristotelian notion that self-knowledge is dependent on knowledge of the world outside the self, a pair of notions that, though “not necessarily in competition” (18), often were treated as such. Augustine himself [End Page 651] proposed two ways in which the mind naturally knows itself, which Cory calls, respectively, “permanent dispositional or habitual” (“weak”) and “peripheral, pre-conscious” (“strong”) self-knowledge (21–22). The latter (which Cory strangely describes as “supraconscious” [26]) was endorsed by most medievals, even the youthful St. Thomas, though he quickly became critical of it. Aristotle’s influence exerted itself most in understanding how active or explicit self-knowledge occurs, with his claim that “the intellect is intelligible like other intelligibles,” that is, through a species (27). In the second chapter, summarizing St. Thomas’s account of self-knowledge, Cory argues that St. Thomas reformed the medieval debate so as to focus on what things the soul knows about itself, and how the soul’s being the form of a certain kind of body determines its mode of self-knowledge. Studying the former allows St. Thomas to balance one’s certainty of immediate and privileged self-access against one’s experience of a large dose of self-opacity. While distinguishing three phases in the maturation of his insights about self-knowledge, Cory shows the importance of the distinction between the ordinary man’s prephilosophic knowledge of the reality of the self/soul and the philosopher’s deeper knowledge of exactly what the human soul is, as expressed in its definition. Saint Thomas agrees with his contemporaries that the former kind of knowledge of the self as an existing fact occurs either habitually (through the “soul’s essential self-presence” [63]), or actually (through attending to one’s activities, from sensing to understanding to willing). In addition, however, St. Thomas makes the “radical claim at the time” that all kinds of self-knowledge presuppose knowing extramental objects, so self-knowledge cannot be “natural” in the sense of innate (ibid.). Because of the human intellect’s natural state as pure potency relative to the knowable, even the prephilosophic knowledge of the self requires that the intellect learn about the external world in order...

Eduardo Nicol: Filosofía científica y autocomprensión histórica

En el libro El problema de la filosofía hispánica (1961), el filósofo hispano-mexicano Eduardo Nicol distingue la filosofía científica respecto a la filosofía no científica (especialmente la ideológica), y sostiene que en cierto sentido la no científica posee un menor valor que la científica. Para comprender tal planteamiento, en el presente artículo hacemos manifiesta la estructura conceptual en que se basa dicho libro, y explicamos cómo Nicol aplica tal estructura en su visión de la filosofía hispanoamericana y española. Por último, desarrollamos por nuestra cuenta algunos de los conceptos expuestos, con el fin de mostrar que la filosofía ideológica (que conviene denominar en cambio "autocomprensión histórica") es necesaria y complementaria para la filosofía científica, en tanto ésta sólo cobra sentido como parte de la tarea de una plena autocomprensión del hombre.

Self-Knowledge for Humans, by Quassim Cassam.

<i>Self-Knowledge for Humans</i>, by Quassim Cassam.

Aquinas on Human Self-Knowledge. By Therese Scarpelli Cory

Aquinas on Human Self-Knowledge. By Therese Scarpelli Cory

Self-Knowledge for Humans

Self-Knowledge for Humans