Forms of knowledge in philosophy

Any interaction with the world begins with the process of its comprehension, in philosophy divided into various complementary forms of knowledge. There are many subspecies, but the main ones are sensory cognition (sometimes called contemplation, although this is not entirely true) and mental analysis.

In general, cognition is a set of methods for obtaining new knowledge about the environment actually existing reality, about objects and processes. The need for cognition is explained in different ways, depending on the point of view of the initiator himself. For example, in the Middle Ages, the ultimate goal of this process was to gain the ability to control nature, to correct the laws of the universe. In today's world, thanks to scientific discoveries, it became clear that it is impossible to achieve such power directly. Therefore, all forms of cognition are directed toward the attainment of truth. This is a logical development of man's worldview.

There is a division into the basic forms of knowledge - scientific and unscientific, which, in turn, consist of many subspecies. One of the most accessible forms is cognition with the help of the senses. With its use, objective reality is recorded by the senses of the person directly or through instruments. Based on the results of recent studies of quantum physics, in philosophy there is an increasing conviction that even such cognition affects the studied object (process).

There are three forms of cognition with the help of the senses - representation, perception and sensation. The key feature of sensation is its subjectivity. In other words, two observers can perceive reality in different ways. And it is not necessary in this case to confuse such concepts as "subjectivity" and "subjectivism", since it is not a question of a distorted reflection of reality. The sensations include the following: taste, hearing, sight, smell, touch. The feeling of vibration, acceleration, temperature, etc. is also attributed here.

Perception is a product of the brain. Data coming from different receptors form a holistic image of the phenomenon or object. For example, rain is not perceived as separate components (drops, wind, overcast).

The next stage of sensory cognition is representation. It is a synthesis of sensation and perception. The observer does not need to interact directly with the object under study all the time. Based on the previously obtained data, a generalization is made and assumptions are made. For example, knowing the structure of the modern world, one can imagine its appearance in the past or the future.

One of the forms of comprehending reality is religious cognition. The starting point of it is God. Most often, the fact of his unity is taken for granted. The purpose of this knowledge is to achieve better living conditions in the future mythical world. Often religion is associated with a person's self-knowledge.

In modern society, scientific knowledge has acquired special importance. It allows you to get an objective view of the processes of reality. Its tasks are as follows: describe, explain, and predict. Distinguish the following levels of scientific knowledge: rational (or theoretical) and sensory. In turn, the latter was entrenched in the definition of "empirical". The setting of experiments and direct observation is the path of empirical cognition. Further, on the basis of empirically obtained knowledge, a generalization is carried out and theories, hypotheses are created, attempts at prediction follow. The theoretical way of knowing can not give knowledge about the truth in its pure form, since explanatory models are used for explanation, there is one or another form of sense perception.