PHILOSOPHICAL THEORY OF BEING PLAN 1 The

PHILOSOPHICAL THEORY OF BEING

PLAN 1. The conception of the world and being in philosophy. 2. The general concept of Matter. Modern science of the unity and structuredness of matter. 3. Attributes of Matter: Motion, Space and Time. 4. Social Space and Social Time as the forms of man’s being in culture.

LITERATURE Basic: Alexander Spirkin. Dialectical Materialism / Alexander Spirkin : [transl. by Robert Daglish]. — M. : Progress Publishers, 1983. − 342 p. John Heil. From an Ontological Point of View / John Heil. — New York : Oxford University Press, 2003. — 267 p. Jan Westerhoff. Ontological Categories: Their nature and Significance / Jan Westerhoff. — New York : Oxford University Press, 2005. − 261 p. Supplementary: Essays in Ontology / [Edwin B. Allaire and others]. − Iowa City : University of Iowa, 1963. − 215 p. Handbook of Metaphysics and Ontology / Hans Burkhardt, Barry Smith. − Philadelphia : Philosophia Verlag, 1991. − 1005 p. Primary sources: Aristotle. Metaphysics / Aristotle : [transl. by W. D. Ross]. – Nashotah, Wisconsin : The Classical Library, 2001. — P. 55− 71. Gebhard Geiger. Evolutionary Instability: Logical and Material Aspects of a Unified Theory of Biosocial Evolution / Gebhard Geiger. — New York : Springer-Verlag, 1990. — 167 p. Martin Heidegger. Being and Time / Martin Heidegger : [transl. by John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson]. — New York : Harper and Row, 1962. — P. 161− 165.

Cosmos World Universe Meta. Galaxy Primary Nature Secondary

THE WORLD The unity of natural and social reality, which is determined by man’s practical activity; it is first of all the human world taken in its real existence.

REALITY Mythological understanding: It is the concreteperceptible appearance in which perceived and imaginary are united together, and the image of the world includes man in all aspects of the cosmic whole. Religious understanding: shows the hierarchical character of the created world and the place of man in it, depending on his attitude toward the God. Scientific approach: puts in order the definite sphere of phenomena as a whole but according to the rules of the certain science with the use of its special language. Philosophical approach: comprehends the universe in mutual relations of man and the world in all aspects: ontological, cognitive and axiological.

ONTOLOGY is a philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality in general, as well as the basic category of “being” and their relations. Principal questions of ontology are: § What can be said to exist? § Into what categories, if any, can we sort existing things? § What are the meanings of being? § What are the various modes of being of entities?

Parmenides proposed an ontological characterization of the fundamental nature of reality. He explained the world of appearances, which is false and deceitful. Whatever is must be eternal; it cannot come into being and it cannot be destroyed. Plato’s philosophy entailed a “two-world” cosmology. One world is our everyday world of change and impermanence. The other is an ideal world populated by ideal “Forms”. The World of Becoming, our world was defined by the World of Being that is the world of ideal Forms. Aristotle insisted that what ultimately exists is nothing other than each individual thing, this horse, this tree, this man. There is no super-reality, no world of Forms, insisted Aristotle, but only the individual things of this world.

XVII-XVIII CENTURIES Being was identified with nature Th. Hobbes developed a purely materialist and mechanistic model of the world – the world as mere “matter in motion”. He identified being and material substance. R. Descartes in his dualistic philosophy regarded being as split into two opposite substances: material (physical) and spiritual (thinking). G. W. F. Hegel reasoning of being is entirely abstract; it is “indeterminate immediacy” It is an objective-idealistic understanding of being.

Form’s of Being IV Spiritual being III Social being II Objective spiritual being Individualized spiritual being Society’s being Man’s being in society Man’s being proper Man’s being in the world of things I Natural being Second nature being Primary nature being

The concept of matter evolution Antiquity Matter as initial stuff (Water, fire, atom etc. ) Metaphysical materialism (XVII-XIX c. ) Matter as a sum total of definite unchanged properties Contemporary philosophy Matter as an objective reality, given to man in sensations

“Matter is a philosophical category denoting the objective reality which is given to man by his sensations, and which is copied, photographed and reflected by our sensations, while existing independently of them” V. I. Lenin “Materialism and Empiriocriticism” 1870 -1924

LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION OF MATTER: Inorganic nature (elementary particles; atoms; molecules; macromolecules, stars and their systems; galaxies; metagalaxies ) Organic nature (precellular; multicellular; overcelluler (biosphere)) The society (family; historical forms of human collectives (gen, tribe, ethnical groups, nation), classes and other social groups which are formed according to different marks)

MOTION AS A MODE OF EXISTENCE OF MATTER motion is inseparable from matter, as it is the mode of its existence. motion is objective, uncreatable and indestructible, absolute, unavoidable, and universal; motion is not a pure continuum but the unity of continuum and discreteness, of change and stability, of disturbance and rest.

FORMS OF MOTION (ACCORDING TO FR. ENGELS) Mechanical Physical Chemical Biological Social All forms of motion of matter and their connection with types of matter and their development are embodied in the following principles: v The specific type of motion corresponds with each level of organization of matter. v Among the forms of motion there is the genetic connection. It means that superior forms of motion appear on the bases of the inferior ones. v Superior forms of motion are qualitatively specific and can not be reduced to inferior ones.

Space SPACE could be defined as a form of the existence of matter characterized by such properties as extension, structuredness, coexistence and interaction of elements in all the material systems. The - specific properties of space: tridimensionality symmetry and asymmetry forms and sizes location distances between bodies distribution of substance and field.

TIME Time is a form of the existence of matter; it is characterized by such properties of alteration and development of systems as duration and sequential replacement of one state by another. The properties of time: unidimensionality asymmetry irreversibility rhythm of processes velocity of change of states. -

SPACE AND TIME ARE ABSOLUTE. Space and time are conditioned by matter, as a form is conditioned by its content, and every level of the motion of matter possesses its space-time structure

SOCIAL SPACE AND TIME Social space is a space of human existence, which includes social, cultural, spiritual and practical dimensions. Social time is the duration of existence of the mankind, its history; It indicates the extent of variability of social life, material and spiritual processes that occur in society.

QUESTIONS FOR EXPRESS-CONTROL 1. The unity of natural and social reality, conditioned and determined by man’s practical activity is called…? 2. Give an example of spiritual being? 3. Who gave philosophical definition of matter in XX century? 4. Who made the classification of the forms of motion of matter? 5. A form of the existence of matter characterized by such properties as extension, structuredness, coexistence, and interaction is called…