Modern Western philosophy

Modern Western philosophy has a number of features, the essence of which can be understood only by comparing the stages of its development with each other. In classical philosophy, as is known, the main direction has always been the knowledge of nature and society and their reasonable transformation. Most of the adherents of the classical trend allowed the idea of the accessibility of knowledge, in their opinion, anyone can achieve the truth.

Thinkers who adhere to the classical trend, believed that the comprehension of laws and the principles of nature and society will allow a person to dominate them. The first blow to the ideas that formed the basis of this theory, caused the French Revolution in 1879. The events that took place then in France clearly showed that the society, which until now was considered philosophers based on the "principles of reason", in fact proved to be completely unreasonable and inhuman.

Terror, war and innocent victims made many thinkers think deeply about the real possibilities of science and the human mind. Subsequent events in America and Europe forced philosophers to question the role of education in establishing social harmony. The most perceptive philosophers of the late nineteenth century, when, it would seem, the principles of classical philosophy have finally triumphed, suddenly began to talk about the irrationality of history and the relativity of truth. Modern Western philosophy originates from the period of rethinking the values that took place at that time in history.

The first signs of a break in classical philosophy can be observed in the teachings of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and their followers. Their work clearly traces the idea that the world is not at all a single rational system, and progress in science may well lead to inevitable and terrible consequences. Attempts to create a comprehensive world view are ridiculous and ridiculous against the background of the individualization of being. In Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche one can find motifs characteristic of a later stage in the development of Western philosophy, which began to dominate approximately from the 1920s.

If we try to determine the main directions of modern Western philosophy, then we should call anthropology, scientism, a return to ideas of mystical and religious persuasion. There are new styles of thinking and fundamentally different views on the picture of the world. Approximately from the middle of the XX century, in connection with the scientific and technological revolution, the global problems of the development of human society began to be developed more widely. Modern Western philosophy, led by fear for the future of mankind, identifies three main issues, the solution of which can not wait:

• Is there a destructive catastrophic contradiction between mankind and nature?
• In the event that it exists, can we say that such a contradiction is generated by scientific and technological progress?
• And, finally, is it realistic to stop today the death of mankind and nature, and how to do it?

Modern Western philosophy, the general characteristic of which is rather ambiguous, offers various solutions to these issues, but still modern thinkers see a way out of the current situation in the development of a common culture and the formation of new human qualities. These new human qualities include a love of justice, global thinking and aversion to any kind of violence. Contemporary Western philosophy tries to reinforce its ideas with the principles of humanism, placing man first, rather than some faceless forces. It turned out that human consciousness, completely oriented toward solving instrumental problems, actually passes by the main thing - human life and its meaning .