who studied man. Sciences that study the human body. Man and his knowledge
“In terms of the degree of “address” to a person, the totality of the corresponding ideas can be represented as a kind of continuum. At one extreme, there are schemes in which man as a special subject for research is completely absent, at least in a number of disciplines where he has traditionally been present. At the other extreme are concepts where a person is, to one degree or another, an object of study, if not all, then very many disciplines. Between these poles it is possible to arrange practically all any significant schemes.
I will cite as an example only two concepts that, as it were, form the boundaries of the continuum.
The first classification belongs to E.V. Sokolov, his article on this topic was published in the journal "Chelovek" (Sokolov E.V., Four sciences of the XXI century // Man, 2002, N 1).
The author identifies four "worlds" in which science lives and works: the world of ideas, the world of nature, the world of culture and the human world, vital, practical. The main sciences correspond to these worlds (I would call them “metasciences”, since each of them should consist of several disciplines): intellectual science (the art of operating with ideas), natural science (natural science), cultural studies (understanding culture) and praxeology (the theory of action). This classification implements the idea of complexity in its own way. Culturology is called upon to create a multidimensional image of the human world, praxeology - a systematic methodology of activity. However, a person as a subject of "total" interdisciplinary analysis is not clearly explicated here.
The second classification was proposed by V.G. Borzenkov. I reproduce it with the kind permission of the author. According to him, there are about 200 scientific disciplines, one way or another engaged in the study of man. All of them can be combined into several blocks:
Sciences of man as a biological species (primatology, archeology, paleosociology, paleolinguistics, population genetics, human biochemistry, etc.);
Sciences about humanity (sociology, economics, demography, ethnography, political science, cultural studies, etc.);
Sciences about human interaction with nature, about the noosphere and space exploration (general and social ecology, biogeochemistry, natural sociology, space medicine, space psychology, etc.);
Personal sciences or personalistics (social psychology, pedagogy, ethics, aesthetics, linguistics, relationship psychology, etc.);
Sciences of human ontogenetics (ontopsychophysiology, human embryology, developmental psychology, pedagogy, axiology, gerontology, etc.);
Human sciences as a subject of theoretical and practical activity (genetic psychology, epistemology, ergonomics, engineering psychology, semiotics, heuristics, etc.).
I would call this classification the concept of "extensive expansion" of human studies problems in various branches of knowledge.
What place in this continuum should be occupied by human knowledge (human science)? The answer to this question requires the solution of a number of fundamental problems of the methodology and philosophy of science, on which I have no opportunity to dwell. But, of course, an important role in their solution is played by the idea of what a person represents as a subject of research. At least in general terms. It is impossible to discuss the possibility of creating a science, the subject of which is not defined.
I am aware that putting forward definitions smacks of scholastic theorizing. Moreover, I am a supporter of the ban M. Schelera on the definition of the nature and essence of man, since such a definition limits the freedom of man and contradicts his incompleteness. And yet.
In my opinion, there are four main concepts that describe the problematic field of human study. The first is man as a generic being, as a species of Homo sapiens. The second is a person as an individual, a subject of social relations, social processes, etc. The third is a person as a person, an individual with a certain set of intellectual and emotional abilities. Finally, a person as a unique individuality.
Hence, we can formulate the following definition of a person: a person is a biological species of Homo sapiens, existing in diverse forms of social organization, possessing a complex system of intellectual and emotional abilities (qualities) and endowed with a unique individuality.
The heuristic value of a definition is determined by many circumstances. I would like to draw your attention to the following. The formulated approach opens, in my opinion, the opportunity to take into account in the study a very important dilemma for human knowledge - the dilemma between the multiplicity, diversity of manifestations of human nature in various forms of social life and the uniqueness of each such manifestation in the personal, individual.
Manuilsky M.A., Speech at the round table “How is a unified science of man possible?”, The problem of modeling cognitive evolution, in Sat: The multidimensional image of a person: towards the creation of a unified science of man / Ed. ed. B.G. Yudina, M., Progress-Tradition, 2007, p. 303-305.
Modern science studies a person, firstly, as a representative of a biological species; secondly, he is regarded as a member of society; thirdly, the subject activity of a person is studied; fourthly, the patterns of development of a particular person are studied.
Rice. 1.4. The structure of the concept of "individuality" (according to B. G. Ananiev)
The beginning of a purposeful study of man as a biological species can be considered the works of Carl Linnaeus, who singled him out as an independent species of Homosapiens in the order of primates. Thus, the place of man in wildlife was determined for the first time. This does not mean that previously a person did not arouse interest among researchers. The scientific knowledge of man originates in natural philosophy, natural science and medicine. However, these studies were narrow-profile, insufficiently systematized, and, most importantly, contradictory in nature, and people were most often opposed to living nature in them. K. Linnaeus proposed to consider a person as an element of wildlife. And this was a kind of turning point in the study of man.
Anthropology is a special science of man as a special biological species. The structure of modern anthropology includes three main sections: human morphology(the study of individual variability of the physical type, age stages - from the early stages of embryonic development to old age inclusive, sexual dimorphism, changes in the physical development of a person under the influence of various conditions of life and activity), the doctrine of anthropogenesis(on the change in the nature of the nearest ancestor of man and of man himself during the Quaternary period), consisting of primate science, evolutionary human anatomy and paleoanthropology (studying fossil forms of man) and racial science.
In addition to anthropology, there are other related sciences that study humans as a biological species. For example, the physical type of a Human as its general somatic organization is studied by such natural sciences as human anatomy and physiology, biophysics and biochemistry, psychophysiology, and neuropsychology. A special place in this series is occupied by medicine, which includes numerous sections.
The doctrine of anthropogenesis - the origin and development of man - is also associated with the sciences that study biological evolution on Earth, since human nature cannot be understood outside the general and consistently developing process of evolution of the animal world. Paleontology, embryology, as well as comparative physiology and comparative biochemistry can be attributed to this group of sciences.
It should be emphasized that particular disciplines played an important role in the development of the doctrine of anthropogenesis. Among them, first of all, we must include the physiology of higher nervous activity. Thanks to AND. P. Pavlov, who showed great interest in certain genetic problems of higher nervous activity, the most developed department of comparative physiology was the physiology of higher nervous activity of anthropoids.
A huge role in understanding the development of man as a biological species is played by comparative psychology, which combines zoopsychology and general human psychology. The beginning of experimental studies of primates in zoopsychology was laid by the scientific work of such scientists as V. Koehler and N. N. Ladygina-Kots. Thanks to the successes of zoopsychology, many of the mechanisms of human behavior and the patterns of his mental development have become clear.
There are sciences that are in direct contact with the doctrine of anthropogenesis, but play a significant role in its development. These include genetics and archaeology. special the place is occupied by paleolinguistics, which studies the origin of the language, its sound means and control mechanisms. The origin of language is one of the central moments of sociogenesis, and the origin of speech is the central moment of anthropogenesis, since articulate speech is one;
one of the main differences between humans and animals.
In connection with the fact that we have touched on the problems of sociogenesis, it should be noted the social sciences, which are most closely related to the problem of anthropogenesis. These include paleosociology, which studies the formation of human society, and the history of primitive culture.
Thus, a person as a representative of a biological species is the object of study of many sciences, including psychology. On fig. 1.5 presents the classification of B. G. Ananiev of the main problems and sciences of Homo sapiens. Anthropology occupies a central place among the sciences that study the origin and development of man as an independent biological species. The main conclusion that allows us to draw the current state of anthropology in relation to human development can be formulated as follows: at some stage of biological development, a person was isolated from the animal world (the borderline stage of “anthrohugenesis-sociogenesis”) and natural selection stopped in human evolution based on biological expediency and survival of individuals and species most adapted to the natural environment. With the transition of man from the animal world to the social one, with his transformation into a biosocial being, the laws of natural selection were replaced by qualitatively different laws of development.
The question of why and how the transition of a person from the animal world to the social one took place is central in the sciences that study anthropogenesis, and so far there is no unambiguous answer to it. There are several points of view on this problem. One of them is based on the following assumption: as a result of a mutation, the human brain turned into a super brain, which allowed a person to stand out from the animal world and create a society. P. Shoshar adheres to this point of view. According to this point of view, in historical time, the organic development of the brain is impossible due to its mutational origin.
There is another point of view, which is based on the assumption that the organic development of the brain and the development of man as a species led to the quality
Rice. 1.5. Sciences that study a person as a biological object
natural structural changes in the brain, after which development began to be carried out according to other laws that differ from the laws of natural selection. But just because the body and brain remain largely unchanged does not mean that there is no development. The studies of I. A. Stankevich testify that structural changes occur in the human brain, progressive development of various parts of the hemisphere, the isolation of new convolutions, and the formation of new furrows are observed. Therefore, the question of whether a person will change can be answered in the affirmative. However, these evolutionary changes
will relate to the social conditions of human life and his personal development, and biological changes in the species homosapiens will be of secondary importance.
Thus, man as a social being, as a member of society, is no less interesting for science, since the modern development of man as a species homosapiens is no longer carried out according to the laws of biological survival, but according to the laws of social development.
The problem of sociogenesis cannot be considered outside the social sciences. The list of these sciences is very long. They can be divided into several groups depending on the phenomena they study or are associated with. For example, the sciences associated with art, with technological progress, with education.
In turn, according to the degree of generalization of the approach to the study of human society, these sciences can be divided into two groups: sciences that consider the development of society as a whole, in the interaction of all its elements, and sciences that study certain aspects of the development of human society. From the point of view of this classification of sciences, humanity is a holistic entity that develops according to its own laws and, at the same time, a multitude of individuals. Therefore, all social sciences can be attributed either to the sciences of human society, or to the sciences of man as an element of society. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that in this classification there is no sufficiently clear line between different sciences, since many social sciences can be associated both with the study of society as a whole and with the study of an individual.
Ananiev believes that the system of sciences about humanity (human society) as a holistic phenomenon should include the sciences about the productive forces of society, the sciences about the settlement and composition of humanity, the sciences about production and social relations, about culture, art and science itself as a system of knowledge, science about the forms of society at various stages of its development.
It is necessary to highlight the sciences that study the interaction of man with nature and mankind with the natural environment. An interesting point of view on this issue was held by V. I. Vernadsky, the creator of the biogeochemical theory, in which he singled out two opposite biogeochemical functions that are in interaction and associated with the history of free oxygen - the O2 molecule. These are the functions of oxidation and reduction. On the one hand, they are associated with the provision of respiration and reproduction, and on the other hand, with the destruction of dead organisms. According to Vernadsky, man and mankind are inextricably linked with the biosphere - a certain part of the planet on which they live, since they are geologically naturally connected with the material and energy structure of the Earth.
Man is inseparable from nature, but unlike animals, he has an activity aimed at transforming the natural environment in order to ensure optimal conditions for life and activity. In this case, we are talking about the emergence of the noosphere.
Glezer I. I., Zworykin V. P. A critical review of some theories of brain evolution. - M., 1960.
The concept of "noosphere" was introduced by Le Roy together with Teilhard de Chardin in 1927. They were based on the biogeochemical theory set forth by Vernadsky in 1922–1923. in the Sorbonne. According to Vernadsky, the noosphere, or "thinking layer", is a new geological phenomenon on our planet. In it, for the first time, man appears as the largest geological force capable of transforming the planet.
There are sciences, the subject of which is a specific person. This category may include the sciences of ontogeny - developmental process of the individual organism. Within the framework of this direction, gender, age, constitutional and neurodynamic features of a person are studied. In addition, there are sciences about the personality and its life path, within the framework of which the motives of human activity, his worldview and value orientations, relations with the outside world are studied.
Rice. 1.6. Scheme of the general structure of a person, the development of his properties, internal and external relationships.
H.s . - Homo sapiens (reasonable man, biological species); o - ontogeny; c - socialization; g - life path; l - personality; and - individual; Ying - individuality (From: Psychology: Textbook. / Under the editorship of A. A. Krylov. - M .: Prospekt, 1999.)
It should be borne in mind that all sciences or scientific areas that study a person are closely interconnected and together give a holistic view of a person and human society.
However, whichever of the directions is considered, to one degree or another, it represents various sections of psychology. This is not accidental, since the phenomena that psychology studies to a large extent determine the activity of a person as a biosocial being.
Thus, a person is a multifaceted phenomenon. His research should be holistic. Therefore, it is no coincidence that one of the main methodological concepts used to study a person is the concept of a systematic approach. It reflects the systemic nature of the world order. According to this concept, any system exists because there is a system-forming factor. In the system of sciences that study man, such a factor is the man himself, and it is necessary to study it in all the variety of manifestations and connections with the outside world, since only in this case it is possible to get a complete picture of the man and the laws of his social and biological development. On fig. 1.6 shows a diagram of the structural organization of a person, as well as his internal and external relationships.
1.3. Psychology as a science
When dividing sciences into groups according to the subject of study, natural, humanitarian and technical sciences are distinguished. The first study nature, the second - society, culture and history, the third are associated with the study and creation of means of production and tools. Man is a social being, and all his mental phenomena are largely socially conditioned, therefore psychology is usually referred to as a humanitarian discipline.
The concept of "psychology" has both scientific and everyday meaning. In the first case, it is used to designate the relevant scientific discipline, in the second - to describe the behavior or mental characteristics of individuals and groups of people. Therefore, to one degree or another, each person becomes acquainted with "psychology" long before its systematic study.
Already in early childhood, the child says “I want”, “I think”, “I feel”. These words indicate that a small person, not realizing what he is doing, is exploring his inner world. Throughout life, each person, consciously or unconsciously, studies himself and his capabilities. It should be noted that the level of knowledge of one's inner world largely determines how much a person can understand other people, how successfully he can build relationships with them.
A person is a social being, and he cannot live outside of society, without contacts with others. In the practice of live communication, each person comprehends many psychological laws. So, since childhood, each of us has been able to "read" by external manifestations - facial expressions, gestures, intonation, behavior - the emotional state of another person. Thus, each person is a kind of psychologist, since it is impossible to live in a society without certain ideas about the psyche of people.
However, worldly psychological knowledge is very approximate, vague and differs in many respects from scientific knowledge. What is this difference (Fig. 1.7)?
First, worldly psychological knowledge is specific, tied to specific situations, people, and tasks. Scientific psychology strives for generalization, for which the corresponding concepts are used.
Secondly, worldly psychological knowledge is intuitive. This is due to the way they are obtained - random experience and its subjective analysis at the unconscious level. In contrast, scientific knowledge is based on experiment, and the knowledge gained is quite rational and conscious.
Thirdly, there are differences in the ways in which knowledge is transferred. As a rule, the knowledge of everyday psychology is transferred with great difficulty, and often this transfer is simply impossible. As Yu. B. Gippenreiter writes, “the eternal problem of “fathers and children” consists precisely in the fact that children cannot and do not even want to adopt the experience of their fathers.” At the same time, in science, knowledge is accumulated and transferred much more easily.
Rice. 1.7. The main differences between everyday and scientific psychological knowledge
Fourthly, scientific psychology has at its disposal extensive, varied and sometimes unique factual material, inaccessible in its entirety to any bearer of everyday psychology.
So what is psychology as a science?
The word "psychology" in translation from ancient Greek literally means "the science of the soul" (psyche-"soul", logos- concept, doctrine). The term "psychology" first appeared in scientific use in the 16th century. Initially, he belonged to a special science that was engaged in the study of the so-called mental, or mental, phenomena, i.e., those that each person easily detects in his own mind as a result of self-observation. Later, in the XVII-XIX centuries. the field studied by psychology is expanding and includes not only conscious, but also unconscious phenomena. In this way, psychology is the science of the mind and mental phenomena. What is the subject of study of psychology in our time?
In order to answer this question, it is necessary to construct a classification of mental phenomena. It should be noted that there are different points of view on the structure of mental phenomena. For example, certain mental phenomena, depending on the author of the position, can be assigned to different structural groups. Moreover, very often in the scientific literature one can encounter a confusion of concepts. So, some authors do not share the characteristics of mental processes and the mental properties of a person. We will divide mental phenomena into three main classes: mental processes, mental states and mental properties of personality(Fig. 1.8).
Mental processes act as primary regulators of human behavior. Mental processes have a definite beginning, course, and end, i.e., they have certain dynamic characteristics, which, first of all, include parameters that determine the duration and stability of the mental process. On the basis of mental processes, certain states are formed, knowledge, skills and abilities are formed. In turn, mental processes can be divided into three groups: cognitive, emotional and volitional.
To cognitive mental processes include mental processes associated with the perception and processing of information. These include sensation, perception, representation, memory, imagination, thinking, speech, and attention. Thanks to these processes, a person receives information about the world around him and about himself. However, information or knowledge in itself does not play any role for a person if they are not significant for him. You probably paid attention to the fact that some events remain in your memory for a long time, while you forget about others the next day. Other information may generally remain unnoticed for you. This is due to the fact that any information may or may not have an emotional connotation, that is, it may or may not be significant. Therefore, along with cognitive mental processes, emotional mental processes. Within the framework of this group of mental processes, such mental phenomena as affects, emotions, feelings, moods and emotional stress are considered.
We have the right to believe that if a certain event or phenomenon evokes positive emotions in a person, then this has a positive effect on his activity or state, and, conversely, negative emotions impede activity and worsen a person’s condition. Nevertheless, there are exceptions. For example, an event that caused negative emotions increases a person's activity, stimulates him to overcome the obstacles and obstacles that have arisen. Such a reaction indicates that for the formation of human behavior, not only emotional, but also volitional mental processes, which are most clearly manifested in situations related to decision-making, overcoming difficulties, managing one's behavior, etc.
Sometimes they distinguish as an independent another group of mental processes - unconscious processes. It includes those processes that occur or are carried out outside the control of consciousness.
Mental processes are closely interconnected and act as primary factors in the formation of a person's mental states. Psi-
chemical states characterize the state of the psyche as a whole. They, like mental processes, have their own dynamics, which is characterized by duration, direction, stability and intensity. At the same time, mental states affect the course and outcome of mental processes and can promote or inhibit activity. Mental states include such phenomena as elation, depression, fear, cheerfulness, despondency. It should be noted that mental states can be extremely complex phenomena that have objective and subjective conditions, but their common feature is dynamism. The exception is mental states caused by the dominant characteristics of the personality, including pathocharacterological features. Such states can be very stable mental phenomena that characterize a person's personality.
The next class of mental phenomena - the mental properties of the personality - is characterized by greater stability and greater constancy. Under mental properties Personality is usually understood as the most essential features of the personality, providing a certain quantitative and qualitative level of human activity and behavior. Mental properties include orientation, temperament, abilities and character. The level of development of these properties, as well as the features of the development of mental processes and the prevailing (most characteristic of a person) mental states determine the uniqueness of a person, his individuality.
The phenomena studied by psychology are associated not only with a particular person, but also with groups. Mental phenomena associated with the vital activity of groups of collectives are studied in detail within the framework of social psychology. We will consider only a brief description of such mental phenomena.
All group mental phenomena can also be divided into mental processes, mental states and mental properties. In contrast to individual mental phenomena, the mental phenomena of groups and collectives have a clearer division into internal and external.
Collective mental processes that act as the primary factor in regulating the existence of a team or group include communication, interpersonal perception, interpersonal relationships, the formation of group norms, intergroup relationships, etc. The mental states of a group include conflict, cohesion, psychological climate, openness or closeness of the group , panic, etc. Among the most significant mental properties of the group include organization, leadership style, efficiency
Thus, the subject of psychology is the psyche and mental phenomena of both one particular person and the mental phenomena observed in groups and collectives. In turn, the task of psychology is the study of mental phenomena. Describing the task of psychology, S. L. Rubinshtein writes: “Psychological knowledge is an indirect knowledge of the mental through the disclosure of its essential, objective connections”*.
1.4. Basic Methods
psychological research
Psychology, like any other science, has its own methods. Methods of scientific research are the methods and means by which they obtain the information necessary to make practical recommendations and build scientific theories. The development of any science depends on how perfect the methods used by it, how they reliable and are valid. All this is true in relation to psychology.
The phenomena studied by psychology are so complex and diverse, so difficult for scientific knowledge, that throughout the entire development of psychological science, its success directly depended on the degree of perfection of the research methods used. Psychology stood out as an independent science only in the middle of the 19th century, so it very often relies on the methods of other, older sciences - philosophy, mathematics, physics, physiology, medicine, biology and history. In addition, psychology uses the methods of modern sciences, such as computer science and cybernetics.
It should be emphasized that any independent science has only its inherent methods. There are such methods in psychology. All of them can be divided into two main groups: subjective and objective(Fig. 1.9).
* Rubinstein S. L.
Need to know
Validity and reliability of the psychodiagnostic test
To characterize the ability of a test to measure the actual level of a mental property or quality, the concept of "validity" is used. The validity of the test shows to what extent it measures the quality (property, ability, characteristic, etc.) for which it is intended to evaluate. Invalid, i.e., non-valid tests are not suitable for practical use.
Validity and reliability are related concepts. Their relationship can be illustrated by the following example. Suppose there are two arrows A and B. Shooter BUT knocks out 90 points out of 100, and the shooter AT - only 70. Accordingly, the reliability of the shooter BUT is 0.90, and arrow B is 0.70. However, shooter A always shoots at other people's targets, so his results do not count in the competition. The second shooter always selects the targets correctly. Therefore, the validity of arrow A is zero, and arrow B is 0.70, i.e., numerically equal to reliability. If shooter A chooses his targets correctly, his validity will also be equal to his reliability. If he sometimes confuses mi-
If the score is too high, then some of the results will not be counted and the validity of shooter A will be lower than the reliability. In our example, the analogue of reliability is the accuracy of the shooter, and the analogue of validity is also the accuracy of shooting, but not at any, but at a strictly defined, “own” target.
There are cases in history when tests that were recognized as invalid for measuring some properties turned out to be valid for others. Therefore, reliability is a necessary condition for validity. An unreliable test cannot be valid, and conversely, a valid test is always reliable. The reliability of a test cannot be less than its validity; in turn, Validity cannot exceed reliability.
In modern psychometry, there are three main types of validity: 1) meaningful (logical); 2) empirical and 3) conceptual.
By: Melnikov V. M., Yampolsky L. T.
Introduction to experimental personality psychology: Proc. allowance for listening. IPK, lecturer ped. disciplines of un-tov and ped. in- Comrade . - Moscow: Enlightenment, 1985.
Subjective methods are based on self-assessments or self-reports of the subjects, as well as on the opinion of researchers about a particular observed phenomenon or information received. With the separation of psychology into an independent science, subjective methods received priority development and continue to be improved at the present time. The very first methods of studying psychological phenomena were observation, self-observation and questioning.
Observation method in psychology is one of the oldest and, at first glance, the simplest. It is based on the systematic observation of people's activities, which is carried out in ordinary life conditions without any deliberate interference on the part of the observer. Observation in psychology involves a complete and accurate description of the observed phenomena, as well as their psychological interpretation. This is precisely the main goal of psychological observation: it must, proceeding from the facts, reveal their psychological content.
Observation is a method that all people use. However, scientific observation and the observation that most people use in everyday life have a number of significant differences. Scientific observation is systematic and carried out on the basis of a certain plan in order to obtain an objective picture. Consequently, scientific observation requires special training, during which special knowledge is acquired and qualities that contribute to the objectivity of psychological interpretation.
Rice. 1.9. Basic methods of psychological research
Observation can be carried out in various ways. For example, the widely used method included observation. This method is used in cases where the psychologist himself is a direct participant in the events. However, if, under the influence of the researcher's personal participation, his perception and understanding of the event may be distorted, then it is better to turn to third-party observation, which makes it possible to more objectively judge the events taking place. In its content, the included observation is very close to another method - self-observation.
Self-observation, that is, observation of one's experiences, is one of the specific methods used only in psychology. It should be noted that this method, in addition to advantages, has a number of disadvantages. First, it is very difficult to observe your experiences. They either change under the influence of observation, or completely stop. Secondly, in self-observation it is very difficult to avoid subjectivity, since our perception of what is happening has a subjective coloring. Thirdly, in self-observation it is difficult to express some shades of our experiences.
Nevertheless, the method of self-observation is very important for a psychologist. Faced in practice with the behavior of other people, the psychologist seeks to understand its psychological content. At the same time, in most cases, he turns to his own experience, including the analysis of his experiences. Therefore, in order to work successfully, a psychologist must learn to objectively assess his condition and his experiences.
Self-observation is often used in experimental conditions. In this case, it acquires the most accurate character and it is customary to call it experimental self-observation. Its characteristic feature is that the questioning of a person is carried out under precisely taken into account conditions of experience, at those moments that are of most interest to the researcher. In this case, the method of self-observation is very often used in conjunction with the method survey.
A survey is a method based on obtaining the necessary information from the subjects themselves through questions and answers. There are several options for conducting a survey. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. There are three main types of survey: oral, written and free.
oral questioning, as a rule, it is used in cases where it is necessary to monitor the reactions and behavior of the subject. This type of survey allows you to penetrate deeper into human psychology than a written one, since the questions asked by the researcher can be adjusted during the research process depending on the characteristics of the behavior and reactions of the subject. However, this version of the survey requires more time to conduct, as well as the availability of special training for the researcher, since the degree of objectivity of the answers very often depends on the behavior and personal characteristics of the researcher himself.
Written survey allows you to reach a large number of people in a relatively short time. The most common form of this survey is a questionnaire. But its disadvantage is that it is impossible to foresee the reaction of the subjects to its questions and change its content in the course of the study.
Free survey - a type of written or oral survey, in which the list of questions asked is not determined in advance. When polling this
Need to know
Moral principles of the activity of a psychologist
Conducting psychological research is always associated with the involvement of subjects in it. Therefore, the question arises about the ethics of the relationship between the psychologist and the subjects. What principles should they be based on?
The American Psychological Association (APA) and similar organizations in Canada and the UK have developed basic guidelines for the treatment of subjects, both human and animal (American Psychological Association, 1990). For example, in the United States, federal law requires any organization that conducts federally funded research to have an internal review board. This board should supervise ongoing research and ensure that the treatment of subjects is carried out according to guidelines based on certain ethical principles.
The first principle of ethical treatment of human subjects is the minimization of risk. In the United States, relevant federal guidelines state that, in most cases, the perceived risk in conducting a study should not exceed the risk associated with normal daily life. Obviously, a person should not be physically harmed or injured, but it is not always possible to unambiguously decide how much psychological stress is ethically justified in a particular research project. Of course, in ordinary life, people often behave impolitely, lie and cause trouble to others. Under what conditions would it be ethically justifiable for a researcher to do the same with a subject in order to carry out a research project? These are precisely the issues that the supervisory board should consider in each individual case.
The second principle of ethical treatment of human subjects requires their informed consent. Subjects must participate in the study voluntarily and must have the right to withdraw from the study at any time they wish and without penalty. They are also required to be warned in advance of any features of the study that may presumably affect their willingness to cooperate. Like the principle of minimum risk, the requirement of informed consent is not always easy to implement. In particular, this requirement sometimes conflicts with another generally accepted requirement for conducting a study: that the subject does not know which hypotheses are being tested in this study. If you plan to compare the memorization of familiar words by some subjects and unfamiliar words by others, then there will be no ethical problems if you simply tell the subjects in advance that they will memorize lists of words: they do not need to know how the words differ
type, it is possible to change the tactics and content of the study quite flexibly, which makes it possible to obtain a variety of information about the subject. At the same time, a standard survey requires less time and, most importantly, the information received about a particular subject can be compared with information about another person, since in this case the list of questions does not change.
Having considered the survey method, we came close to the problem of the accuracy of measuring the information received, as well as quantitative and qualitative characteristics in psychology. On the one hand, this problem is closely related to the problem of the objectivity of the study. Psychologists have long asked themselves the question: “How can one prove that an observed phenomenon is not accidental or that it objectively exists?” In the process of formation and development of psychology, the methodology for confirming the objectivity of the results of the experiment was determined. For example, such confirmation may be the repetition of results in studies with other subjects in similar conditions. And the greater the number of coincidences, the higher the probability of the existence of the detected phenomenon. On the other hand, this problem is related to the problem of matching
Need to know
in various subjects. There will be no serious ethical problems even if the subjects are given a surprise test for knowledge of words that they did not expect to be tested. But what if the researcher were to compare the learning of words by subjects in a neutral mood with the learning of words by subjects in a state of anger or confusion? It is clear that this study will not yield valid conclusions if subjects have to be told in advance that they will be intentionally angered (by being rude) or deliberately embarrassed (by making them believe that they accidentally broke some device). On this occasion, the instructions say that such studies can be carried out, but the subjects should be brought out of ignorance as soon as possible after their participation.
At the same time, they should be explained why they had to be kept in the dark or deceived, and, in addition, their residual anger or confusion should be removed so that their dignity is not damaged, and the assessment of the research being carried out increases. The review board must be satisfied that the procedure for withdrawing subjects from the study complies with these requirements.
The third ethical principle of research is the right of subjects to confidentiality. Information about a person obtained in the course of the research should be considered confidential and access to it by other persons without his consent should be excluded. Usually, for this purpose, the names of the subjects and other information that allows them to be identified are separated from the received data. In this case, data identification is carried out by an alphabetic or numeric code. Thus, only the experimenter has access to the test subject's results. Approximately 7-8% of all psychological experiments use animals (mainly rodents and birds), and very few of them involve animals in painful or harmful procedures. However, in recent years there has been an increased interest in this issue and controversy over the use of animals in scientific research, their maintenance and handling; Both federal and APA guidelines require that all procedures that are painful or harmful to the animal be fully justified by the knowledge that results from such research. There are also special rules governing the living conditions of laboratory animals and procedures for caring for them.
In addition to specific instructions, there is a general ethical principle that says that participants in psychological experiments should be considered full-fledged partners of the researcher.
By; Atkinson R. L., Atnson R. S., Smith E. E. et al. Introduction to Psychology: A Textbook for Universities / Per. from English. under. ed. V. P. Zinchenko. - M.: Trivola, 1999.
viability of the results. How to compare the severity of a certain psychological characteristic in different people?
Attempts to quantify psychological phenomena began to be made from the second half of the 19th century, when the need arose to make psychology a more accurate and useful science. But even earlier, in 1835, the book of the creator of modern statistics A. Quetelet (1796-1874) "Social Physics" was published. In this book, Quetelet, relying on the theory of probability, showed that its formulas make it possible to detect the subordination of people's behavior to certain patterns. Analyzing the statistical material, he obtained constant values that give a quantitative description of such human acts as marriage, suicide, etc. These acts were previously considered arbitrary. And although the concept formulated by Quetelet was inextricably linked with the metaphysical approach to social phenomena, it introduced a number of new points. For example, Quetelet expressed the idea that if the average number is constant, then behind it there should be a reality comparable to the physical one, which makes it possible to predict various phenomena.
Names - Russian physiologist, neuropathologist, psychiatrist, psychologist. Based on the reflex concept of mental activity put forward by I. M. Sechenov, he developed a natural science theory of behavior, which was originally called objective psychology (1904), then psychoreflexology (1910), and later reflexology (1917). Bekhterev made a significant contribution to the development of experimental psychology. He was the creator of the first experimental psychological laboratory in Russia, which was opened in 1885 at the clinic of Kazan University. Later, in 1908, Bekhterev founded the Psychoneurological Institute in St. Petersburg, which currently bears his name.
Bekhterev Vladimir Mikhailovich (1857–1927)- Russian
physiologist, neuropathologist, psychiatrist, psychologist. Based on the reflex concept of mental activity put forward by I. M. Sechenov, he developed a natural science theory of behavior, which was originally called objective psychology (1904), then psychoreflexology (1910), and later reflexology (1917). Bekhterev made a significant contribution to the development of experimental psychology. He was the creator of the first experimental psychological laboratory in Russia, which was opened in 1885 at the clinic of Kazan University. Later, in 1908, Bekhterev founded the Psychoneurological Institute in St. Petersburg, which currently bears his name.
(including psychological) on the basis of statistical laws. For the knowledge of these laws, it is hopeless to study each person individually. The object of studying behavior should be large masses of people, and the main method should be variational statistics.
Already the first serious attempts to solve the problem of quantitative measurements in psychology made it possible to discover and formulate several laws that connect the strength of human sensations with stimuli expressed in physical units that affect the body. These include the laws of Bouguer - Weber, Weber - Fechner, Stevens, which are mathematical formulas that determine the relationship between physical stimuli and human sensations, as well as relative and absolute thresholds of sensations. Subsequently, mathematics was widely included in psychological research, which to a certain extent increased the objectivity of research and contributed to the transformation of psychology into one of the most practical sciences. The widespread introduction of mathematics into psychology determined the need to develop methods that would make it possible to repeatedly conduct the same type of research, that is, it required solving the problem of standardizing procedures and methods.
The main point of standardization is that in order to ensure the least probability of error when comparing the results of psychological examinations of two people or several groups, it is necessary first of all to ensure the use of the same methods, stably, i.e., regardless of external conditions that measure the same psychological characteristic.
These psychological methods are tests. This method is used most often. Its popularity is due to the possibility of obtaining an accurate and qualitative description of a psychological phenomenon, as well as the ability to compare the results of the study, which is primarily necessary for solving practical problems. Tests differ from other methods in that they have a clear procedure for collecting and processing data, as well as a psychological interpretation of the results.
It is customary to distinguish several variants of tests: questionnaire tests, task tests, projective tests.
Test questionnaire as a method based on the analysis of the answers of the subjects to questions that allow obtaining reliable and reliable information about the presence or severity of a certain psychological characteristic. Judgment about the development of this characteristic is carried out on the basis of the number of answers that coincided in their content with the idea of it. Test task involves obtaining information about the psychological characteristics of a person based on an analysis of the success of certain tasks. In tests of this type, the subject is asked to perform a certain list of tasks. The number of completed tasks is the basis for judging the presence or absence, as well as the degree of development of a certain psychological quality. Most IQ tests fall into this category.
One of the earliest attempts to develop tests was made by F. Galton (1822–1911). At the International Exhibition in London in 1884, Galton organized an anthropometric laboratory (later transferred to the South Kensington Museum in London). More than nine thousand subjects passed through it, in which, along with height, weight, etc., various types of sensitivity, reaction time, and other sensorimotor qualities were measured. The tests and statistical methods proposed by Galton were subsequently widely used to solve practical problems of life. This was the beginning of the creation of applied psychology, called "psychotechnics".
This term entered the lexicon of scientists after the publication of an article by D. Cattell (1860–1944) "MentalTestsandMeasurements"("Mental Tests and Measurements") in 1890 in the journal Mind with afterword by Galton. “Psychology,” Cattell writes in this article, “cannot become as solid and precise as the physical sciences if it is not based on experiment and measurement. A step in this direction can be taken by applying a series of mental tests to a large number of people. The results can be of considerable scientific value in discovering the constancy of mental processes, their interdependence and changes in different circumstances.
In 1905, the French psychologist A. Binet created one of the first psychological tests - a test for assessing intelligence. At the beginning of the XX century. The French government instructed Binet to draw up a scale of intellectual abilities for schoolchildren in order to use it for the correct distribution of schoolchildren according to the levels of education. Subsequently, various scientists create a whole series of tests. Their focus on the prompt solution of practical problems led to the rapid and widespread use of psychological tests. For example, G. Munsterberg (1863-1916) proposed tests for professional selection, which were created as follows: initially they were tested on a group of workers who achieved the best results, and then they were subjected to newly hired ones. Obviously, the premise of this procedure was the idea of the interdependence between the mental structures necessary for the successful performance of the activity, and those structures, thanks to which the subject copes with the tests.
During the First World War, the use of psychological tests became widespread. At this time, the United States was actively preparing to enter the war. However, they did not have such a military potential as other belligerents. Therefore, even before entering the war (1917), the military authorities turned to the country's leading psychologists E. Thorndike (1874–1949), R. Yerkes (1876–1956) and G. Whipple (1878–1976) with a proposal to lead the solution to the problem of applying psychology in military affairs. The American Psychological Association and universities quickly began work in this direction. Under the leadership of Yerkes, the first group tests were created for the mass assessment of the suitability (mainly by intelligence) of conscripts for service in various branches of the military: the army alpha test for the literate and the army beta test for the illiterate. The first test was similar to A. Binet's verbal tests for children. The second test consisted of non-verbal tasks. 1,700,000 soldiers and about 40,000 officers were examined. The distribution of indicators was divided into seven parts. In accordance with this, according to the degree of suitability, the subjects were divided into seven groups. The first two groups included persons with the highest abilities to perform the duties of officers and to be sent to the appropriate military educational institutions. Three subsequent groups had average statistical indicators of the abilities of the studied population of persons.
At the same time, the development of tests as a psychological method was also carried out in Russia. The development of this trend in Russian psychology of that time is associated with the names of A. F. Lazursky (1874–1917), G. I. Rossolimo (1860–1928), V. M. Bekhterev (1857–1927) and P. F. Lesgaft ( 1837–1909).
A particularly noticeable contribution to the development of test methods was made by G. I. Rossolimo, who was known not only as a neurologist, but also as a psychologist. To diagnose individual mental properties, he developed a method for their quantitative assessment, which gives a holistic view of the personality. The technique made it possible to evaluate 11 mental processes, which, in turn, were divided into five groups: attention, receptivity, will, memorization, associative processes (imagination and thinking). For each of these processes, tasks were proposed, depending on the fulfillment of which, the “strength” of each process was assessed on a special scale. The sum of positive responses was marked with a dot on the graph. The connection of these points gave a "psychological profile" of a person. The tasks varied according to the categories of subjects (for children, for intelligent adults, for non-intelligent adults). In addition, Rossolimo proposed a formula for converting graphic data into arithmetic.
Tests are the most widely used method of psychological research today. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the tests occupy an intermediate position between subjective and objective methods. This is due to the wide variety of test methods. There are tests based on the self-report of the subjects, such as questionnaire tests. When doing data tests the test subject can consciously or unconsciously influence the test result, especially if he knows how his answers will be interpreted. But there are more objective tests. Among them, first of all, it is necessary to include projective tests. This category of tests does not use self-reports of the subjects. They suggest a free interpretation of the research
the supervisor of the tasks performed by the test subject. For example, according to the most preferred choice of color cards for the subject, the psychologist determines his emotional state. In other cases, the subject is presented with pictures depicting an uncertain situation, after which the psychologist offers to describe the events reflected in the picture, and based on the analysis of the interpretation of the depicted situation by the subject, a conclusion is made about the features of his psyche. However, projective type tests impose increased requirements on the level of professional training and practical experience of a psychologist, and also require a sufficiently high level of intellectual development in the subject.
Objective data can be obtained using experiment - a method based on the creation of an artificial situation in which the studied property is distinguished, manifested and evaluated in the best way. The main advantage of the experiment is that it allows more reliable than other psychological methods to draw conclusions about the cause-and-effect relationships of the studied phenomenon with other phenomena, to scientifically explain the origin of the phenomenon and its development. There are two main types of experiment: laboratory and natural. They differ from each other by the conditions of the experiment.
A laboratory experiment involves creating an artificial situation in which the property under study can be best evaluated. A natural experiment is organized and carried out in ordinary life conditions, where the experimenter does not interfere in the course of events, fixing them as they are. One of the first to use the method of natural experiment was the Russian scientist A.F. Lazursky. The data obtained in a natural experiment correspond best to the typical life behavior of people. However, it should be borne in mind that the results of a natural experiment are not always accurate due to the lack of strict control over the influence of various factors on the studied property by the experimenter. From this point of view, the laboratory experiment wins in accuracy, but at the same time concedes in the degree of correspondence to the life situation.
Another group of methods of psychological science is formed by methods modeling. They should be attributed to an independent class of methods. They are used when other methods are difficult to use. Their peculiarity is that, on the one hand, they are based on certain information about a particular mental phenomenon, and, on the other hand, when using them, as a rule, the participation of the subjects or taking into account the real situation is not required. Therefore, it can be very difficult to attribute various modeling techniques to the category of objective or subjective methods.
Models can be technical, logical, mathematical, cybernetic, etc. In mathematical modeling, a mathematical expression or formula is used that reflects the relationship of variables and the relationship between them, reproducing elements and relationships in the phenomena under study. Technical modeling involves the creation of a device or device that, in its action, resembles what is being studied. Cybernetic modeling is based on the use of concepts from the field of computer science and cybernetics to solve psychological problems. Logic modeling is based on the ideas and symbolism used in mathematical logic.
The development of computers and software for them gave impetus to the modeling of mental phenomena based on the laws of computer operation, since it turned out that the mental operations used by people, the logic of their reasoning in solving problems, are close to the operations and logic on the basis of which I work "computer programs. This led to attempts to represent and describe human behavior by analogy with the work of a computer.In connection with these studies, the names of American scientists D. Miller, Y. Galanter, K. Pribram, as well as Russian psychologist L. M. Wecker became widely known.
In addition to these methods, there are other methods of studying mental phenomena. For example, conversation - poll option. The method of conversation differs from the survey in greater freedom of the procedure. As a rule, the conversation is conducted in a relaxed atmosphere, and the content of the questions varies depending on the situation and the characteristics of the subject. Another method is;
method of studying documents, or analysis of human activity. It should be borne in mind that the most effective study of mental phenomena is carried out with the complex application of various methods.
test questions
1. Tell us about the main structural elements of B. G. Ananyev’s approach to the study of a person: an individual, a subject of activity, a personality, an individuality.
2. Give a description of the primary and secondary properties of a person as an individual.
3. Explain why the concept of “personality” refers only to humans and cannot refer to representatives of the animal world.
4. Describe the main properties of a person as a subject of activity.
5. Explain the essence of the concept of "individuality".
6. Tell us about modern sciences that study man as biologically! view.
7. What do you know about research into the problems of anthropogenesis and human sociogenesis?
8. Tell us about the relationship of man with nature. What are the main ideas embedded in the biogeochemical theory of V. I. Vernadsky?
9. Define psychology as a science.
10 What are the differences between scientific and worldly psychology?
11. What is the subject of psychology? Give a classification of mental phenomena.
12. What mental processes do you know?
13. What is the main difference between mental states and mental processes?
14. What are the main personality traits.
15. What methods of psychological research do you know?
16. What is a test? What are the tests?
1. Ananiev B. G. Selected psychological works: In 2 volumes / Ed. A. A. Bodaleva, B. F. Lomova. T. 1. - M .: Pedagogy, 1980.
2. Vagsch/ro E. G. Study of the higher nervous activity of the anthropoid (chimpanzee). - M., 1948.
3. Vernadsky V.I. Chemical structure of the Earth's biosphere and its environment / Ed. ed. A. A. Yaroshsvskaya. - 2nd ed. - M.: Nauka, 1987.
4. Vernadsky V.I. Biosphere: Selected Works on Biogeochemistry. - M.: Thought, 1967.
5. Voronin L. G. Comparative physiology of higher nervous activity of animals and humans: Selected works. works. - M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1989.
6. Gippenreiter Yu. B. Introduction to General Psychology: A Course of Lectures: Textbook for High Schools. - M.: ChsRo, 1997.
7. Keler V. A study of the intelligence of great apes. - M.: Kom. Acad., 1930.
8. Ladygina-Kote N. N. The development of the psyche in the process of evolution of organisms. M., 1958. E. LuriaA. R. An evolutionary introduction to psychology. - M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1975.
10. Lewis D. Socialism and personality / Per. from English. - M.: Ed. foreign lit., 1963.
11. Mayorov F.P. Materials for the comparative study of higher and lower monkeys. // Physiological journal. I. M. Sechenov. - 1955. - T. XIX, no. four.
12. Mute R.S. Psychology: Uchsbnpkdlya stud. higher ped. textbook institutions: In 3 books. Book. one:
General foundations of psychology. - 2nd ed. - M.: Vlados 1998.
13. Psychology / Ed. prof. K. N. Kornilova, prof. A. A. Smirnova, prof. B. M. Teplov. - Ed. 3rd, revised. and additional - M.: Uchpedgiz, 1948.
14. Psychology: Dictionary / Ed. A. V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. - M.:
Politizdat, 1990.
15. Rubinstein S. L. Fundamentals of General Psychology. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 1999.
16. Semenov Yu. I. How did humanity originate? - M.: Nauka, 1966.
17. Smirnov A. A. Selected psychological works: In 2 volumes - M., 1987.
18. Fress P., Piaget J. Experimental psychology / Sat. articles. Per. from French:
Issue. 6. - M.: Progress, 1978.
19. Shoshar P. Biological factors of progress. The human brain is the organ of progress. // What future awaits humanity / Ed. ed. member - corr. Academy of Sciences of the USSR A. M. Rumyantsev. - Prague: Peace and Socialism, 1964.
AUTONOMOUS NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION OF HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION OF THE CENTROSOYUZ OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
"RUSSIAN UNIVERSITY OF COOPERATION"
CHEBOKSAR COOPERATIVE INSTITUTE (BRANCH)
abstract
"Man and his knowledge"
Is done by a student
Faculty of Law
gr. YURb-33D
Tolmasov F.N.
Scientific adviser:
Fedoseev P.S.
Cheboksary
Introduction……………………………………………………3
1. Man as an object of study of various sciences…………4
2. Philosophical analysis of the human phenomenon…………..6
3. Formation of philosophical anthropology…………10
Literature……………………………………………...12
Man and his knowledge
Introduction
Despite the enormous successes achieved by mankind, the greatest discoveries and technical inventions, man still remains a mystery to himself. It is impossible to unequivocally answer the question about the essence of a person, about the meaning of his life and purpose, since each of us makes his own choice, looking for answers to these difficult questions. But at the same time, there is the spiritual experience of mankind, there are the results of scientific and philosophical research, which make it possible to get acquainted with a diverse range of approaches and developments in understanding the problem of man.
A lawyer whose profession is connected with people, with the solution of their complex, sometimes very acute, intricate problems, must have deep knowledge in the field of philosophical anthropology, in particular, know the conditions for the formation of a personality, understand the issues of realizing its freedom and responsibility.
Philosophical anthropology is a prologue to a whole block of academic disciplines directly or indirectly related to the study of man and taught at a law school. The individual issues raised in this topic are presented quite schematically, since they will be discussed in more detail in the following sections of the textbook.
1. Man as an object of study of various sciences
The problem of man can rightfully be classified as eternal. Each new generation of people, and even an individual person, rediscovers, formulates for himself, tries to give his own version of the answer to questions about the nature, essence of man and human destiny.
The first thing that can be noted when describing the human phenomenon is the diversity of its properties. Some of them are accessible to direct perception (hence such a definition of a person, known since antiquity: “a biped without feathers with a soft earlobe”), the other requires indirect study through introspection, observation, hermeneutic understanding. Here, as it were, the bodily and spiritual aspects of human life intersect. "Organic being", "thinking reed in the Universe", "political animal", "image and likeness of God", "crown of nature", "one of the strange diseases of the Universe", "machine" - all these are characteristics that were given at different times man by different thinkers.
Since man is multifaceted, his various manifestations are studied by many sciences. At the same time, scientific knowledge, in principle, does not give a holistic view of a person. At its core, science is focused on the presentation of individual aspects of a holistic object. We can say that any of the special sciences - biology, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, history, etc. explores certain projections of a person. In an effort to reveal the universal properties of man, science does not take into account its uniqueness and uniqueness. Although, as Heine said: "Each individual person is a whole world, born and dying with him, under each tombstone is the history of the whole world." The humanities strive to overcome this one-sidedness, stereotypedness in the study of man, but again, they fail to completely overcome it.
Let us briefly characterize those aspects of the study of man, which are the subject of consideration of a number of special sciences.
So, biology is interested in a person as an organic body that has a specific structure, functioning and development. Among the various systematized and classified organisms, biology singles out man as a genus. Homo sapiens. In this science, individuals of one species are compared with individuals of another, similar species. That is why the question is raised here about the common and distinctive features, for example, of man and animal; about the evolution of the development of living beings, etc.
One of the central problems of psychology as a science is also the problem of man. Psychology studies in a person his psyche and its development, his individual psychological characteristics, the psychological characteristics of his activity and communication. Practically all psychology is turned to the problem of man as an individual included in social ties.
Man and culture is one of the main topics of cultural studies, arising from the knowledge and description of the connections and interactions of a person as a subject, a creator with the culture he creates.
The social qualities of a person, his inclusion in the system of social relations, various types of activities, the process of socialization are the subject of study of sociology.
It should also be noted that, in addition to the sciences of man listed here, medicine, ethnography, pedagogy, and linguistics are actively studying. Philosophy also offers its own approach to the study of man.
Oh, solve the riddle of life for me,
A painfully old riddle...
Tell me what is a man?
G. Heine
Who are you, man?
The pinnacle of evolution? King of nature? Space conqueror? The most Atom in the Universe? Creator or destroyer? Where did it come from on planet Earth?
The sciences that study man have been looking for answers to these and other questions for many years, researchers and thinkers have been puzzling over them since ancient times.
In different cultures, religions, philosophies, there is a huge variety of views on and its interaction with the physical and mental world. This set can be considered as the primary development of the sciences of man.
Why not one science?
There is a science of man anthropology, but it cannot represent the entire spectrum of knowledge, covering only the biological, evolutionary and separately philosophical aspects.
What is human knowledge?
According to the classification of V. G. Borzenkov, one can count up to 200 disciplines, which are sciences that study a person.
They can be grouped into several blocks:
- the sciences of man as a biological substance (anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, primatology, genetics, paleontology, etc.);
- sciences about humanity (demography, sociology, ethnography, political science, economics, etc.);
- the science of man and his interaction with nature and space (ecology, biogeochemistry, space medicine, etc.);
- sciences about a person as a person (pedagogy, ethics, psychology, aesthetics, etc.);
- sciences that consider a person as a subject of activity (ergonomics, heuristics, etc.).
These disciplines do not exist on their own: they overlap many times, the methods of some are widely used in others. For example, the study of physiology with the help of certain devices has become widely used in practical psychology and even forensics (lie detector). There are also other approaches to the classification of what sciences study a person.
Man as an object of study
Each science of man is looking for patterns in the diversity of his nature and the uniqueness of individual manifestations.
A person's knowledge of himself as a species of Homo sapiens, as a subject of social relations, as a carrier of intellectual and emotional abilities, as a unique individuality is a difficult task.
It will never have a single solution, despite the wealth of knowledge gained from the moment when the formation of human sciences began. The more interesting the learning process.
European approach
Social thought in the 20th century made philosophical anthropology its most influential direction.
In this teaching, man is the central axis around which all the processes of being in the world take place. “Man is the measure of all things” - this ancient principle of Protagoras philosophy gives rise to the theory of anthropocentrism.
Christian ideology, one of the foundations of European culture, also affirms the human-centric idea of earthly life. According to it, it is believed that the Almighty, before creating man, prepared the conditions on Earth for his existence.
How about in the East?
Eastern schools of philosophy, on the contrary, never place man at the center of the universe, considering him a part, an element of nature, one of its levels.
Man, according to these teachings, should not resist the perfection of nature, but only follow it, listening, integrating into its rhythms. This allows you to maintain mental and physical harmony.
Is everything known?
The sciences about the human body with the help of modern technologies are developing at a cosmic speed. Research is striking in its boldness and breadth, and sometimes frightens with its lack of ethical framework.
Ways to prolong life, the finest operations, transplantology, cloning, stem cells, vaccines, chipping, devices for diagnostics and treatment - this could not even be dreamed of by medieval doctors and anatomists who died at the stake of the Inquisition for their craving for knowledge and desire to help the sick!
It seems that now everything in a person has been thoroughly studied. But for some reason people keep getting sick and dying. What else has science not done in human life?
human genome
Genetic scientists from many countries worked together for several years and almost completely deciphered This painstaking work continues, new tasks arise that will have to be solved by current and future researchers.
Enormous work is needed not just as "pure" knowledge, on its basis new steps are being made and will be made in medicine, immunology, and gerontology.
The power of thought
What sciences study a person and his abilities?
Studies of the activity of the brain show that a person uses its capabilities very little. Achievements of modern neurophysiology, psychology, pedagogy help to develop many latent abilities.
Methods for the development of mental activity are increasingly being introduced into everyday life. What seemed like a miracle, a hoax (for example, the ability to fast is now easily mastered by preschoolers in special classes.
Other techniques developed in scientific laboratories can give a person superpowers to survive in extreme conditions, such as space flight or combat.
Stop being a conqueror of nature!
The end of the last millennium was marked by an unprecedented increase in technological progress. It seemed that everything was subject to man: to move mountains, turn back rivers, ruthlessly devastate the bowels and destroy forests, pollute the seas and oceans.
The global cataclysms of recent decades show that nature does not forgive such an attitude. In order to survive as a species, humanity needs to take care not only of individual dwellings, but also of our common home - planet Earth.
Ecology is becoming one of the most important sciences, showing how, by destroying nature, a person harms himself. But the implementation of the recommendations developed by scientists, allows you to save and restore the environment.
Man and society
Wars, overcrowding in cities, famine, epidemics, and natural disasters subject huge masses of people to suffering.
Social sciences and institutions dealing with issues of demography, political science, religious studies, philosophy, and economics clearly cannot cope with information and cannot make their recommendations convincing for politicians, state leaders, and authorities at various levels.
Peace, tranquility, prosperity remain an unrealizable dream for most people.
But in the age of the Internet, many knowledges become much closer and allow those who have access to the resource to apply them in their lives, find like-minded people, help themselves and their loved ones survive in difficult times and keep the Human in themselves.
Turning to one's history, to the roots, to the knowledge accumulated by previous generations, returning to the origins of morality and ethics, to nature gives a chance for the life of the next generations.
Open question
The versatility of the manifestations and activities of each individual person, the entire human community as a whole makes it extremely difficult to study them.
And hundreds of disciplines are not enough to study these processes. The science of man is an almost inexhaustible source of mysteries.
It turns out that, despite the development of technology, humanity has not succeeded in the methods of biochemistry, physiology, and mathematical data processing.
Philosophical questions remain. We still do not know exactly why a person appeared, who was his ancestor, what is the meaning of his life, whether immortality is possible. Who can answer?
During the 20th century, the human sciences developed unevenly. The natural and social sciences have developed intensively since the end of the 19th century. - And by the beginning of the 20s. During this period, 8 laboratories dealing with human problems were created in Russia, the first institute of psychology was opened. V. M. Bekhterev, realizing the need for complex studies of man, organizes the Institute of the Brain.
In the mid-1930s, there was a slowdown in the development of human sciences; pedology and psychotechnics were liquidated as scientific areas. The development of psychological sciences is activated only in the late 50's - early 60's.
In the second half of the twentieth century. the relationship between the various sciences that study a person as an organism and personality, as a phenomenon of nature and history, as a subject of education and training, and the like, is changing significantly.
Natural science and social sciences, medicine and pedagogy, economic and technical sciences become directly involved. The physical and mathematical sciences are also approaching the study of man.
At the turn of biochemistry, endocrinology, physiology of GNI and psychology, psychopharmacology arises; on the verge of cybernetics, biology, physiology and psychology - bionics with its main sections: modeling of brain structures, analyzers of the external environment.
The establishment of a mutual transition between the various sciences, traditionally considered non-adjacent, is facilitated by significant shifts in the overall structure of science.
Anthropologized technical sciences. Firstly, it is related to communication technology and involves the development of technical reproduction of the processes of human communication (transmission and reception of information, communication systems, etc.);
Secondly, the functions of a person in the sphere of material production are changing significantly, in particular, the importance of the function of regulation and control of automatic systems is increasing. And although there is an automation of not only physical, but also mental work, however, a person remains a decisive link in the activity and functioning of any system.
Thirdly, the development of technology takes into account the ability of a person to manage it.
Thus, it is observed interpenetration of technical and anthropological sciences.
Anthropological sciences study man as a biological species, accumulate knowledge about human biology. In the XX century. their position in the general system of biological knowledge has changed significantly. First of all, this is due to the development of theoretical medicine, which synthesized the most important achievements of all biological sciences regarding the norms and pathology of the human body. Therefore, theoretical medicine and other biological sciences are increasingly influencing the scientific knowledge of man as a whole.
Man as a social being, as well as humanity in the sense that is identical with society, is studied by the humanities. They are also undergoing significant changes. Scientific disciplines are emerging that complement the already existing social sciences. Among them:
o ergonomics - a special science of human labor activity, studies the economic organization of production and the social functions of human work;
o semiotics - the science of sign systems. For the study of the mechanisms of human cultural development, this discipline is of the same importance as ergonomics for the understanding of labor activity;
o axiology - the science of the values of life and culture. The study of human problems on the verge of anthropological and humanitarian sciences is deepening.
On the basis of psychology, logic and theory of knowledge, on the one hand, and neurophysiology and biophysics, on the other hand, heuristics is a general theory of mental search and creative thinking of a person.
In the natural sciences, data are accumulated on the classes of human biological properties, the identification and formation of which is observed in social conditions.
Age physiology and morphology study age characteristics and the main phases of the ontogenetic development of a personality.
Sexology investigates patterns of sexual dimorphism in phylogenesis and ontogenesis; biological and social mechanisms of sex formation, periodization, sexual dimorphism, its influence on the general somatic, neuropsychic, and personal development of a person.
Somatology develops the doctrine of the integrity of the human body, its structural and dynamic organization, body type.
A comprehensive study of the biological and social nature of man involves the synthesis of knowledge accumulated by anthropological and human sciences. And the most important task in this case is to identify the relationship between the primary natural properties and the socially determined qualities of a person.
Thus, at the center of modern science is the problem of man, which is associated with a fundamentally new relationship between the sciences of nature and society.