Rationalism essay

Rationalism (from lat. “rationalis” ”” reasonable) is the philosophical direction, which acknowledges the mind as the base of cognition, truth source and criterion of all man vital aspirations. Rationalism resists both irrationalism and sensualism, empiricism. Historically rationalistic tradition arises to ancient Greek philosophy.

In the beginning of XIX century among the German idealism representatives Kant influencing was often marked. Kant, however, only in passing touches separate questions of psychology (for example, problems of temperament in “Anthropology”), fulminates against traditional “rational psychology” from positions of “transcendental idealism” and come under influencing in general of unavailing German psychology of capabilities (main representative of which ”“ I.N.Tetence he very values), behaves extremely skeptically to possibility of psychology as sciences. But influencing of his conception distinctly tells on the first researches on psychophysiology of sense-organs in interpretation of feelings; however psychophysiology develops as science not due to these Kant’s ideas, but despite them.

Speaking about methods of child’s development and education, as it is understood by Descartes, must convert education into the organized activity, releasing it from fortuitousness, from such human factors as observation or sharp mind from one side, and success and happy coincidence with other. Vividly speaking, this method is converted the scientific cognition from cottage craft in industry, from the sporadic and casual truth discovery into systematic and planned production. The process of cognition transforms into the fluent line, and in the last, as is generally known, mainly is continuity. That is why continuity is one of major principles of Descartes’s methods. According to Descartes, mathematics must become the main way of nature cognition, because Descartes transformed substantially self concept of nature, leaving in it only those properties which make the article of mathematics:  extent (quantity), figure and motion.

Hobbes and its Authoritarianism

Hobbes created the first complete system of the mechanistic materialism, which corresponds to the character and requirements of natural sciences that time. In polemic with Descartes rejected the existence of a special conceiving substance, proving that the thinking thing is something material. Geometry and mechanics for Hobbes are ideal samples of scientific thinking in general. The nature is represented to Hobbes as the combination of lengthy fields, differing among themselves in size, a figure, position and movement. Movement is understood as mechanistic – as removal. Sensual qualities are considered by Hobbes not as properties of things but as forms of their perception.

Hobbes differentiated the extent really inherent in bodies, and space as an image created by reason (“fantazma”); objectively-real movement of bodies and time as a subjective image of movement. Hobbes distinguished two methods of knowledge: logic deduction of rationalistic “mechanics” and an induction of empirical “physics”.

Hobbes’s ethics starts with constant sensual “human nature”. Hobbes considered as a basis of morals “the natural law” – aspiration to self-preservation and satisfaction of needs. Virtues are caused by reasonable understanding of that promotes and that interferes with achievement of the good. The moral duty under the maintenance coincides with the civil duties following from the public contract. Hobbes’s doctrine has rendered the big influence on the subsequent development of a philosophical and social idea of that time.

The modern science continues to develop the children conduct. Every child is unique and unique and parents and teacher should select the most suitable prudential to the young creation. However, it is possible to select a few models of conduct, each of which is characteristic for the certain group of children. In accordance with С. Greenspan’s theory there are basic and most widespread followings types of conduct, reflecting temperament and character of child: Out of bashful, hot-tempered, avoiding contacts, touchy and control.

Times can be different, people are changed and they change the way of education. But they cannot change the nature and its laws. I thins that classification is the most close to the real child conduct.



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