Thinking

Sculpture of Rodin's The Thinker .

Thinking is a cognitive activity of a person ^[1] . It is an indirect and generalized way of reflecting reality ^[2] .

The result of thinking is thought ( concept , meaning , idea ). Thinking is opposed to the “lower” methods of mastering the world in the form of sensation or perception , which are also characteristic of animals. Many philosophers called thinking the essential property of man. So Descartes claimed: "I think, therefore, I exist." Pascal called the man a thinking reed ^[3] .

A peculiarity of thinking is the ability to obtain knowledge about such objects, properties and relationships of the world that cannot be directly perceived ^[4] . This property of thinking is carried out through such conclusions as analogy and deduction .

Thinking is associated with the functioning of the brain , however, the very ability of the brain to operate with abstractions arises during the assimilation of human forms of practical life, the norms of language , logic, culture. Thinking is carried out in diverse forms of spiritual and practical activity, in which the cognitive experience of people is generalized and preserved. Thinking is carried out in a figurative - sign form, the main results of its activity are expressed here in the products of artistic and religious creativity, which in a peculiar way generalize the cognitive experience of mankind. Thinking is also carried out in its own adequate form of theoretical knowledge, which, relying on previous forms, acquires unlimited possibilities for speculative and model vision of the world.

Thinking is studied by almost all existing scientific disciplines, at the same time being the object of study of a number of philosophical disciplines - logic , epistemology , dialectics .

Content

The History of Thinking

Already in ancient science, the mindset was associated with the orientation toward the identification not of phenomena, but of an entity not visible (given in sensory perception), but of what actually exists, ”notes Doctor of Philosophy, Professor V. M. Rozin ^[5] .

The first philosopher to raise the question of thinking ( noesis ) was Parmenides . The result of such thinking can be both truth and opinion ^[6] .

The process of thinking by Plato is understood as a remembrance of what the soul knew in its cosmic life, but forgot when it entered the body. And the very thinking, which he considered the main, cognitive process, is essentially reproductive thinking, not creative thinking, although it operates on the concept of intuition , leading to creative thinking ^[7] .

Aristotle created logic - the science of thinking, in the framework of which he examined such components of thinking as concept , judgment, and inference . Subsequently, in the Middle Ages, the followers of Aristotle focused on such a form of thinking as syllogism and deduction , which led to the creation of the “thinking machine” of Raimund Lullius ^[8] .

Thinking for Descartes was presented as something incorporeal, spiritual. Moreover, thinking is the only attribute of the soul, and it is this that determines the constancy of the thought processes taking place in the soul, that is, it always knows what is happening inside it. The soul is a thinking substance ( lat. Res cogitans ), the whole essence or nature of which consists in one thinking. Descartes used systematic doubt as a method of cognition.

Spinoza defines thinking as a mode of action for a thinking body. This definition also implies the method of disclosing / defining this concept that he proposed. In order to determine thinking, it is necessary to carefully study the mode of action of the thinking body as opposed to the mode of action (of the mode of existence and movement) of the non-thinking body.

One of Kant's merits is often called the distinction between analytical and synthetic thinking ^[9] .

Since the 90s of the XX century, clip thinking has begun to be noticed among all of humanity ^[10] .

From a Psychological Perspective

In psychology, thinking is the totality of mental processes that underlie cognition ; It is thinking that includes the active side of cognition: attention , perception , the process of associations , the formation of concepts and judgments . In a closer logical sense, thinking comprises only the formation of judgments and conclusions by analyzing and synthesizing concepts.

Thinking is an indirect and generalized reflection of reality, a type of mental activity consisting in cognition of the essence of things and phenomena, regular relationships and relations between them.

Thinking as one of the highest mental functions is the mental process of reflection and cognition of the essential connections and relations of objects and phenomena of the objective world.

By the way of solving problems, thinking (as a mental process, the biological purpose of which is the optimal solution to the problem that has arisen for the individual) can be convergent (correlated with intelligence, linear thinking that leads to a single result) and divergent (correlated with creative abilities, consists in finding the multiplicity of options for solving the problem or the diverse vision of one object) The term convergent and divergent thinking was proposed by the American psychologist J. Gilfordo m (1950) and developed by E. Torrence .

Thinking Operations

Analysis - the division of an object / phenomenon into its constituent components. It can be mental and manual.
Synthesis is a combination of components separated by analysis with the identification of significant relationships.

Analysis and synthesis are the basic operations of thinking, on the basis of which other typological units are built.

Comparison is a comparison of objects and phenomena, and their similarities and differences are revealed.
Classification - a grouping of objects by characteristics.
Generalization - the union of objects by common essential features.
Concretization - the allocation of private from the general.
Abstraction - the allocation of any one side, aspect of an object or phenomenon, ignoring the others.

The laws of the considered operations of thinking are the essence of the basic internal, specific laws of thinking. On their basis, all external manifestations of mental activity can be explained.

Notes

↑ Rubinstein S. L. Being and consciousness. - SPb .: Peter, 2003. - P.120
↑ Chupakhin I. Ya., Brotsky I.N. Formal logic / prof. I. Ya. Chupakhin, Assoc. I.N. Brotsky. - Leningrad: Leningrad University, 1977. - S. 4. - 357 p.
↑ Thinking Reed
↑ Thinking
↑ Rozin V.M. Background and features of ancient culture . - M.: IF RAS, 2004.
↑ The Doctrine of Parmenides on Being in the History of Logical Thinking
↑ Plato
↑ Mathematical logic
↑ The problem of the synthetic form of thinking in Kant's philosophy
↑ Toffler E. The Third Wave = The Third Wave, 1980.- M .: AST , 2010. - 784 p. - (Philosophy). - 5100 copies. - ISBN 978-5-403-02493-8 .

Literature

Shirochin V.P. Architectonics of Thinking and Neurointelligence. Programming trust in the evolution of intelligence / ed. Yu.S. Kovtanyuk. - Junior, 2004 .-- 560 s. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 966-7323-36-6 .

Links

Leontyev A.N. Thinking / Alexey Leontyev (d.s. )
Falikman M. Types of thinking : video lecture / Maria Falikman ( c.p. ) // PostScience : project. - 10.16.2015. - 14 min 35 s.

[1] Rubinstein S. L. Being and consciousness. - SPb .: Peter, 2003. - P.120

[2] Chupakhin I. Ya., Brotsky I.N. Formal logic / prof. I. Ya. Chupakhin, Assoc. I.N. Brotsky. - Leningrad: Leningrad University, 1977. - S. 4. - 357 p.

[3] Thinking Reed

[4] Thinking

[5] Rozin V.M. Background and features of ancient culture . - M.: IF RAS, 2004.

[6] The Doctrine of Parmenides on Being in the History of Logical Thinking

[7] Plato

[8] Mathematical logic

[9] The problem of the synthetic form of thinking in Kant's philosophy

[10] Toffler E. The Third Wave = The Third Wave, 1980.- M .: AST , 2010. - 784 p. - (Philosophy). - 5100 copies. - ISBN 978-5-403-02493-8 .