Individual consciousness: concept, essence, features. How is the social and individual consciousness interconnected?

The surrounding world is perceived by man through his psyche, which forms an individual consciousness. It includes the totality of all the knowledge of the individual about the reality surrounding him. It is formed through the process of cognition of the world through its perception through the five senses.

Receiving information from the outside, the human brain remembers it and subsequently uses it to recreate the picture of the world. This happens when an individual, using the information obtained, uses thinking, memory or imagination.

The concept of consciousness

With the help of consciousness, a person not only opposes his "I" to that which surrounds him, but is also able to restore the pictures of the past with the help of memory, and the imagination helps him to create what is not yet in his life. Thinking at the same time contributes to solving the problems that put the individual reality on the basis of knowledge gained from her perception. If any of these elements of consciousness are violated, the psyche will be seriously injured.

Thus, individual consciousness is the highest degree of mental perception by a person surrounding his reality, in which his subjective picture of the world is formed.

In philosophy, consciousness is always opposed to matter. In antiquity, so called a substance capable of creating reality. For the first time this concept in this understanding was introduced in his tracts by Plato, and then it formed the basis of the Christian religion and philosophy of the Middle Ages.

Consciousness and matter

Materialists have narrowed the function of consciousness to the essence of an entity that can not exist outside the human body, thereby putting matter first. Their theory that the individual consciousness is matter, generated exclusively by the human brain, has no basis. It is seen in contrast to their qualities. Consciousness has no taste, no color, no smell, it can not be felt or shaped.

But to accept the theory of idealists that consciousness is an independent substance can not be treated in relation to man. This refutes the chemical and physical processes that arise in the brain when the individual perceives the surrounding reality.

Thus, scientists came to the conclusion that consciousness is the highest form of the psyche, reflecting being, which has the ability to influence and transform reality.

Components of consciousness

Describing its structure, it should be taken into account that it is two-dimensional:

1. On the one hand, it concludes all the collected information about the external reality and the objects that fill it.
2. On the other hand, it also contains information about the individual who is the carrier of consciousness, which, in development, becomes a category of self-consciousness.

Individual consciousness forms a picture of the world, which includes not only external objects, but also the person himself with his thoughts, feelings, needs and actions for their realization.

Without the process of self-knowledge, there would be no development of a person in the social, professional, moral and physical spheres, which would not lead to an awareness of the meaning of one's own life.

Consciousness consists of several blocks, the main of which are:

1. The processes of cognition of the world through the senses, as well as its perception through sensations, thinking, speech, language and memory.
2. Emotions that convey a positive, neutral or negative attitude of the subject to reality.
3. Processes associated with the adoption and implementation of decisions, volitional efforts.

All the blocks together provide, as the formation of a certain knowledge of reality in a person, and satisfy all his immediate needs.

Public Consciousness

In philosophy and psychology there is such a thing as the interrelation of social and individual consciousness. It should be borne in mind that the social is the product of individual or collective concepts that have been formed for a long time to observe the reality, its objects and the phenomena taking place.

The very first forms of social consciousness, such as religion, morality, art, philosophy, science, and others, were formed in human society. For example, observing the natural elements, people attributed their manifestations to the will of the gods, creating through individual conclusions and fears public knowledge about these phenomena. Collected together, they were passed on to the next generation as the only truth inherent in this society, the world around them. So the religion was born. People belonging to other peoples with the opposite social conscience were considered to be gentiles.

Thus, societies were formed, the majority of whose members adhered to generally accepted principles. People in a similar organization are united by common traditions, language, religion, legal and ethical norms, and much more.

To understand how the social and individual consciousness are interconnected, it is necessary to know that the latter is the primary one. The consciousness of one member of society can influence the formation or change of the public, for example, as it was with the ideas of Galileo, Giordano Bruno and Copernicus.

Individual consciousness

The peculiarities of individual consciousness are that they can be inherent in one person, but it does not coincide with the perception of reality by others. The evaluation of the surrounding world by each individual is unique and constitutes its concrete picture of reality. People who have the same opinion on any phenomena, form organizations of like-minded people. So scientific, political, religious and other circles and parties are formed.

Individual consciousness is a relative concept, as it is influenced by social, family, religious and other traditions. For example, a child born in a Catholic family, from childhood, receives information about the dogmas inherent in this particular religion, which become natural and inviolable to him as he grows up.

On the other hand, each person manifests his intellect, going through the stages of development of consciousness, both in creativity and in cognition of the surrounding reality. The inner world of each individual is unique and does not resemble others. Scientists still do not know where the individual consciousness originates, since in its "pure form" it does not exist outside a particular carrier in nature.

Relationship of individual consciousness with the public

Each person, as he grows up and develops, faces the influence of public consciousness. This happens through relationships with other people - in childhood with relatives and teachers, then with representatives of various organizations. This is done through the language and traditions inherent in this society. By the way the social and individual consciousness is interconnected, it is determined how committed and important its member will be to each individual individual.

In history, there are many examples where people, having got from the habitual environment for them, into a society with other religious values and traditions, became part of it, adopting the way of life of its members.

By the way the social and individual consciousness is connected, it is clear that they mutually influence each other throughout the life of a person. During this period, religious, cultural, scientific, philosophical and other concepts, previously imposed by society, may change. Just as, for example, the scientific discovery of one scientist, can change the idea of all mankind about the things that are usual for him.

Structure of individual consciousness

The essence of individual consciousness lies in the way and perception of the properties of reality:

1. During the evolution, people have formed a genetic memory, which helps them to adapt to the environment. Thanks to it, in each person programs are recorded - from complex metabolic processes in the body, to sexual intercourse of the sexes and upbringing of offspring. This part of the individual consciousness programs the behavior of the subject and his emotional assessment of events that he knows from past experience.
2. The other part carries out an analysis of the environment through the senses and the formation of new knowledge based on the information received. At the same time, consciousness is in constant development, creating an inner world inherent only in this individual.

The highest form of consciousness is self-awareness, without which man would not be a person.

Self-awareness

Awareness of one's own self at the physical and spiritual level makes a person an individual. All internal values, ideas about reality, comprehension of what is happening to him and around him, all this forms a person's self-awareness.

It is his development that helps people to understand the cause of their actions, their value in society and makes them aware of who they really are.

Conscious and unconscious

As Jung asserted, individual consciousness can exist only in conjunction with the collective unconscious. This is the spiritual experience of thousands of generations of people, which each individual inherits at the unconscious level.

These include:

• Sensations of muscles, balance and other physical manifestations that are not realized by consciousness;
• Images arising from the perception of reality and defined as familiar;
• The memory that controls the past and creates the future by imagination;
• Inner speech and much more.

In addition to the development of consciousness, a person is characterized by self-improvement, during which he changes his negative qualities to positive ones.