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9Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 2 (2012 5) 289-296
УДК 165.12
Archaic and Modern Features of Consciousness
Olga M. Farkhitdinova*
Ural Federal University 51 Lenin st., Ekaterinburg, 620083 Russia 1
Received 4.11.2011, received in revised form 11.11.2011, accepted 16.12.2012
In this article we proceed from the assumption that the consciousness of modern people is completely religious and today this religiousness has its own peculiarity. All the discussions about the internal and external human experience demonstrate different points of view, and its diversity is the main achievement of modern science. Science that can be the field for consciousness study has not been found yet. The personality of the scientist and the religious figure are the boundaries offorming the ideas about the person of era. Archaic and modern features of consciousness are two attributes that allow us to talk today about the diversity of approaches to the consciousness study.
Keywords: consciousness, religiousness, forms of religious consciousness, modern and archaic features of consciousness, imperialism.
Religion is of paramount importance for people. Some people are guided by it, some people do not understand it, and others use it in their interests. Religion has its own place in every marked aspect. The locality as a unique category of modern era maintains the heritage of Heidegger's philosophy in its meaning, and just a human being that "has own place" claims to have historicity by adapting himself in a unique way to be apparent in objective reality. Thus, the traditions of establishing relationships, possessing certain characteristics, creating the area of one's own presence that are stated as the scope of the ideological attitudes of the era, or as the paradigm of the existing concepts - all of these someway create the area of human detected values. Otherwise, it is often referred to sense-making and marked as all kinds of activity.
Almost everything that can be mentioned in the modern field of humanities has something in common with the theme of "consciousness". Constructively, the "consciousness" in all its definitions has not escaped the common lot. It is possible to find traditional sources of hypothetical or theoretical interpretations of the consciousness phenomenon. Let us suppose that the consciousness of modern people is completely religious. Today this religiousness has its own peculiarity, because the category of faith, beliefs and attitudes includes effective principles of getting knowledge about the authenticity of the world. Modern issue and its format in research practice can be compared to contemplation. The intuitive and rational understanding of objectiveness finds comparable passivity zones, where the answers to the question and the intuitive
* Corresponding author E-mail address: [email protected]
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insight (so-called voice of intuition) have not got any differences. There are at least two reference points for the further process - the result and the answer - and the border between them is the predetermination by the form of the question.
For example, we will take notice of the following fact. Human progress and development in the paradigm of classical science lies in the differentiated attitude to the properties of self-consciousness during the demonstration of various methodologies and approaches that are implemented through it. In other words, it lies in its helplessness to explain phenomena that are invisible in the measuring scales of the present equivalence. It applies to mental state and changed state of consciousness that can be defined on the leftover principle of the detected equivalence. There is a concept of the shadow that is used for figurative description, and in this case it would be the most appropriate. This concept was actively put into practice by Jung C.G. Adler A. did not deny it; Frank S. paid fundamental attention on this concept. Almost all the theories of the conceptual establishment of personality cannot manage without rudimentary analogues of this concept: the preconscious, subconscious and unconscious. Even the consciousness itself within the definitions of psychological schools has echoes of the symbolic meaning of the word "shadow", for instance, with regards to the fact that the basic property of consciousness for practitioners is its reflexivity that is inevitably connected with reflection. The reflection process is not more independent, than the statements about the existence of preconscious and unconscious areas in the structure of personality. With such differentiation we just detail the rational and irrational aspects of cognitive practice. It is interesting that the dynamics of increase or decrease of the number of proved facts does not affect the result in this area. Reference to any branch of science or attempts to find a reliable way
of acquiring knowledge in some methodological field just stands rules and restrictions.
Thus, science that could be the field for the study of consciousness has not yet been found. All discussions about the internal and external human experience show different points of view and its diversity is the main achievement of the modern science. This tendency is demonstrated in several works of the late 90s: "The Homeless Mind" by Peter L. Berger, "The concept of mind" by Gilbert Ryle, "On the Nature of Consciousness: Cognitive, Phenomenological and Transpersonal Perspectives" by Harry T. Hunt, "Where am I?" by Daniel C. Dennett, "What is it Like to Be a Bat" by Thomas Nagel, "The Turing Test: A Coffee-House Conversation" and "A Conversation with Einstein's brain" by Douglas R. Hofstadter, "Minds, Brains and Programs" by John R. Searle, etc.
Attempts to change the attitude to the experience according to its essence took place in the Russian religious tradition.
We will try to demonstrate it on the example of the noted theme: consciousness and religion. This combination has also resulted from the "imperialism" of the mind. Fichte is known to have introduced the concept of "religious consciousness" for the defense of the thesis of the fundamental cognoscibility of religion and experience that is associated with the attitude towards something inconceivable, terrifying and plunging into "sacred" tremble. In 1899 archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) wrote: "The consciousness that is inherent in the apostles, that is: human predestination to deification and exclusiveness of the faithful "before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4) (archimandrite Sophrony "Birth in the firm kingdom") <.. .> Life in the eternity of time that makes our lives dual is built in the basis of Christian life and understanding of God activity in us. Things that are difficult to understand become comparable through the
human image and hypostasis". In the Orthodox tradition the combined image of the eternity of time is contained in the icon. Visualization of this experience in the "Youth without Youth" (based on the novella by M.Eliade), the great yearning for the elements of such being, is essentially a desire to explain the archaic character of consciousness to the modern generation. Yearning is given just so far as we plunge our own consciousness in it. This phenomenon has terminological and conceptual comparisons. For instance, there is the concept of "life knowledge" in the tradition of the Slavophiles, introduced by Khomyakov A.S., when the subject of knowledge is inseparable from the cognizable reality. Another example is the term "transrationality" (philosophy of Semyon L. Frank) that represents the objective incomprehensibility of all manifestations of life as an inseparable integrity of rationality and irrationality that stretches back into the divine all-unity. This term can become the answer to the question of methodological "pragmatism" in phenomenology.
Another example of modeling in a very controversial and debatable concept "phenomenology of religion" continues the tradition of developing and expanding the definition of "the religious" that involves the study of religious consciousness. In the works of Otto and Eliade, the religious (numinous) is associated with the field of principle incomprehensibility in religion. The statement about the fact that true religious feeling is the basis of religious consciousness is also traditional. In the 1840s Herzen introduced the term that described the process of turning potential that is inherent in the spirit into the reality - "odeystvotvorenie". (Herzen, 2000, 119-150).
Methodological discussions of the second half of the past century and the beginning of the current century show the problem of comparison of pure consciousness and religious phenomena
borders. The religious and the consciousness in its essence very often become complementary and moderately endowed with the meanings of religious experience.
The role of the phenomena that are border for the cognitive process reveals the great importance of the personality factor. Knowledge itself is the most delusive concept and its meaning does not allow to judge about the knowledge content. In this sense, the personality of the scientist or the personality of the religious figure is the border of forming of the concept about the human of the era.
Adaptation to new conditions of modern civilization for many religions and forms of religious consciousness (and the distinction is rather significant) is a way of survival. The cult of ancient values and momentary passions of practical human that is added in the structure of social life is in fact a platform for consistency of dialogue relations for modern generation. The main thing in this situation is to understand the format of changes within the established structures of the value attitude to the world that is created by humans. That means that the artificial world should be justified from the point of its significance for its own creator - human being. However, there are views where the modern dialogue is given in the form of polylogue, and has marked in this form since the 19th century. John Hick is a theorist of radical pluralism. With analyze of the potential of polylogistics, he has identified a number of problems: the loss of uniqueness, the simplification of the situation of interaction, the substitution of the context.
The following circumstances also indicate the changes of the motives in the organization of such word combination as "the religious consciousness": institutionalization of religious behavior, creation of socially organized forms that fix the differences between religions - all of these has already been initiated over a hundred
years ago (for example, the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago (1893), Religious Humanity Union (1921, R. Otto), International Missionary Council of Christians and Hindus (1928), the international organization "Temple of Understanding" (1960).
Archaic andmodernfeaturesof consciousness are the two attributes that allow us today to talk about the diversity of approaches, the eternity of this theme and the nature of consciousness. First of all, archaism of consciousness is in the statement that the vertical human position is not a rudiment of natural origin, nor a cultural matrix of acquired characteristics - it is a revolution with respect to the new form of being. Without it every person will not become "a project" of self-making, that is finding himself in the spatial characteristics.
The fact of interest to another movement is dramatic for the human history. As soon as the person finds a certain organization in his knowledge, he stops to search himself to some extent. For example, the cult of the animal in religion was a mirror, where it was possible to find associations that organized the relationship between the human world and visible beings. The roots of it were discovered in a comfortable and huge space for unresponsive detection of properties. Resistance can be expected just from the object that is identical with its features, and human being recorded himself through the structure of "fantasy". Maybe, it made him a human and his consciousness was preceded by fantasy and imagination. The role of the imagination is not only constructive, but also creative (it enables to build own world), it explains the independence of the structure. Therefore, the question "What is it?" became possible even with respect to the consciousness.
The image has a hierarchy of properties and qualities relationship, and the symbol possesses a harmony of all spheres (inner and outer, top
and bottom, surface and depth). When does a historical man for the first time show his attitude by means of the image? Rather early. It should be noted, that such experience is the first with respect to preservation of the traditional patterns that have the major importance in the cultural matrix of generations. The image of the animal is the evidence of human loneliness in his world. This is one of the stages of development of knowledge about transcendent, exorbitant and secret. The ancient cults preserved for us evidence of yearning for communication. Human needs for understanding from the silent forces of nature and living beings are expressed in the sacrament of legends and translation of the qualities that are found in animals into the human prospect of self-development.
There are two competitive trends today: one trend is to identify those mechanisms that look like getting a complete image. Methodology that is brought to its completed simplified state -technology - is well-known for this trend. Therefore, there are different leading goals for every approach. The second trend is to reveal the image component.
On the other hand, consciousness has deep characteristics that allow person to assert his own importance and defend the priority of his individuality. The aspect that deliberately provokes the effectiveness of particular point of view and its cumulative ability for informational assembly of various parts is illustrative. Thus, the actualization of the cognitive act problem and its solution in the field of consciousness is a general scientific trend. There is not any area of human cognitive practice that does not affect the consciousness in all its competence and breadth, and the phenomenology of religion also opens the question of exarticulation of the religious from the personal experience.
Interdisciplinary relations also do not provide us with the answers to such questions
as: what is consciousness, which phenomena of consciousness should be regarded as illustrative for its study, and which phenomena are modified with respect to the parameters that are selected as resistant? Can we speak about the nature of such delusive phenomenon as consciousness? The search of answers to these questions has a very remarkable feature - as Nina S. Yulina noted -asymmetry of the intuitive and theoretical idea of the consciousness.
For the cognitive science consciousness has become a leading issue. It is especially true for the European studies. Western-and East-European solutions to the problem of consciousness can be grouped under the following statement: which reduction in the relation of consciousness will be the most demonstrative? How can we on the basis of a sign repetition (absence of apparent fixation of the changes, the mental nature of occurred events) come to the conclusion about its belonging to all elements of the class (full induction)? Can we talk about the existence of consciousness under all conditions? To what extent the statement about the absence of consciousness under certain conditions, for example in a situation of insanity, is right? Can we regard consciousness as consciousness in all its altered states?
We will take all the aforesaid into consideration. For the classic substantiation of a rational paradigm consciousness was the subject of detailed reflection. Science of the 21st century is not the only pretender to the study of consciousness. Another striking representative is religion. Religious researches of Russian thinkers and "freethinkers" are associated with the spirit of religious studies in other countries. The greatness of ideas about consciousness lies in the fact that the formation of the views of its independent existence borders on the attempts to objectify the formal structure of consciousness. Two issues remain utmost for the issue of consciousness: the
evolution of consciousness and the nature and definitions of consciousness.
In the article "The mystery of consciousness: the alternative research strategies" Nina S. Yulina has marked the dramatic character of the discussions on the problem of consciousness in the English-speaking philosophy during the last 50 years. The main question has remained unsolved: in what way do the ideas coordinate with the visible world? The special word in favor of the objectification of consciousness was said by logical behaviorism. Owing to such names as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Gilbert Ryle, explanation of consciousness is entirely transferred to the field of linguistically communicative, contextual and social (Yulina N.S. "The mystery of consciousness: the alternative research strategies", Philosophical issues, 2004, Issue 4).
Is the consciousness a centuries-old phenomenon? The age of industrial revolutions and the age of technological slavery are similar in the mode of rational domination. Renunciation of the rational is positive only at the moment of moral justification of human poverty of the perceptional present. The age of intellect has objectified the consciousness. All the other ancient structures are the images of phenomenal essence of things that are understandable for humans.
What is the most important human step in understanding himself? It is the opposition of himself to the world and nature, demonstration of his own power (the power of mind or feelings) or helplessness (the power of God).
Consciousness is surprising not only by the fact of its existence, but mostly by the principle that is laid down in its foundations. And this principle is imperceptible in the cause-and-effect relations that explain the conscious imperative.
Modeling of the situation "visible is for those who are able to see" even in complex systems is associated with a reduction of the opposites: external - internal, object - subject.
With submission to one reason or search of a similar reason, the researcher has to be an appraiser and make a value judgment within the visible and the implied range of values. According to Stanislav Grof, it does not save the researcher and makes his efforts useless. Author's "imperialism" (in other words, the authority of the author in the text) is gaining weight again; the opinion of the crowd is soundless and silent, while the author's opinion, in spite of "pluralism" of concepts and theories, gets a symbolic protection. As in the era of scholastic debates, the reference to the authority stops the debate and makes it useless, because the "Name" of the author is the guarantor of his answers to the not set or possible questions. If you know his opinion you can ensure yourself with the confidence in the reality of these questions. The name today is more real than the person.
Imperialism is one of the best analogies with respect to consciousness. The united principle of organization and the centre that coordinates everything could explain such a necessary condition of the consciousness presence in the human activity. However, consciousness is not only the resulting activity and not only the brain, it is also a number of events that are elusive in the visible equivalence and that are expressed by the human language and speech. Great attention to the language and speech confirms the fact that new definitions of consciousness, and therefore, new understanding of it has not appeared for last 200 years. There is a statement of the explicit and implicit equivalents: the consciousness is archaic and is given in the images, or the consciousness is up-to-date and it is a set of relations. But in perspective one thing - the interference of language (as mediator) in the field of consciousness with parameters that do not have other signs of description - proves the following: finally just description and characteristic or at least certain comparison
are visible options of insufficient definitions of consciousness.
There is also another important point - the consciousness is studied by many researchers within the "relationship", therefore, the position of holder's denying of consciousness has led to such concepts as "expanded consciousness", "altered states of consciousness" that reduce the degree of human intervention in the authenticity (actual existence of consciousness). As a result there is the reduction to the absolutization of the role of consciousness in what the man is able to change and who guides him after all: the mind or the idea of rational behavior and actions.
The only thing that can be said about consciousness is that it is not possible to specify it within the limits of the positive determination. There is little to say about it, even less can be said about its nature, if you think in the continental tradition. If it is the insular tradition of thinking, the geopolitical factor is rather predictable due to the dominant concepts and points of emphasis that show visible contradiction of Existence and Non-existence.
Can we overcome the power of consciousness, or the tragedy of man is to be an observer of his own madness?! Because any human attempt to distance himself from the acts of his own being and fix them in mind cannot be called another name than insanity. Considerations of the nature of consciousness make it an idol of human thought. The idol is transformed into the graven image during the search of attributes that reveal an independent activity of consciousness. Smoothed reductionism is expressed in the fact that it is a matter of faith and hope. The sense piercing of being is an ineradicable waste of time, but at the same time it is irremovable. Time is made of the events that are taken away from the present experience, joined to the eternal state and simply stopped to exist. When the person reveals
duality he falls into illusion, plurality drives him mad and unity put the limits.
Blaming the researcher of consciousness in the absence of the object, can we set limits on the study of consciousness? The purpose of the numerous approaches is precisely in detection of this limit. If you ask the question about the presence of consciousness it is not possible to deny its absence, so if there is a statement of consciousness as a phenomenon in the history of philosophical thought, then there is the opportunity to talk about ... (the subject domain of this object). Phenomenology of religion regards abstract concepts that have a double signification as its objects. With specification of the object property or quality through the term with more capacious philosophical meaning, we set the limits of this concept, but not the limits of the meaning and values that can be seen and that can be given to the whole set of selected abstract
properties. Tatyana Chernigovskaya expressed the idea that language invaded our brains and told us what to do, again raising the eternal theme that is marked by me as archaic and modern features of consciousness. The modern world is polylogical. In the 21st century event analysis and different scenarios has begun to define human behavior, actions and thoughts. Today the given potential of various patterns of demonstration of own being and the plot of by-the-minute existence is a vector of development of basic religious ideas. Formation of religious neo-formats such as neo-Hinduism, neo-Buddhism, neo-paganism, neo-Protestantism may be the examples. Of course, the fact of the neo-prefix existence indicates the readiness to accept the changing role of religion in the society and in the consciousness of particular person, although archaic and modern features of consciousness are not surmountable even with this statement.
References
N.S. Yulina "The mystery of consciousness: the alternative research strategies", Part I, Philosophical issues, 2004, #. 10, in Russian.
S.L. Frank "The Inconceivable", Ontological introduction into the philosophy of religion. -Moscow, 2007, in Russian.
D. R. Hofstadter, D.l C. Dennett. The Mind's I (Fantasies and thoughts about self-consciousness and soul),- Samara, 2000, in Russian.
A.I. Herzen, Letters on the Study of Nature,- Moscow, 2000, in Russian.
R. Otto The Holy. About the irrational in the idea of the Divine and its correlation with the rational, Saint-Petersburg, 2008, in Russian.
H.T. Hunt. On the Nature of Consciousness: Cognitive, Phenomenological and Transpersonal Perspectives, Moscow, 2004.
M. Eliade, Youth without youth and other novellas.
Youth without Youth (mystery fantasy film directed by Francis Ford Coppola), Videofilms, 2010, in Russian.
Архаика и современность сознания
О.М. Фархитдинова
Уральский федеральный Университет Россия 620083, Екатеринбург, Ленина, 51
В данной статье мы исходим из предположения, что сознание современного человека насквозь религиозно. Сегодня это религиозность особого рода. Все дискуссии о внутреннем и внешнем опыте человека демонстрируют различные точки зрения, многоликость которых и есть основное достижение современной науки. Наука, которая бы являлась полем для изучения сознания, до сих пор не обнаружена. Личность ученого, личность религиозного деятеля являются рубежами формирования представления о человеке эпохи. Архаика и современность сознания - два атрибута, позволяющих говорить сегодня о многообразии подходов к его изучению.
Ключевые слова: сознание, религиозное, формы религиозного сознания, современность и архаика сознания, империализм.
