Matter or consciousness? What comes first?

This is a long-standing philosophical dispute between materialists and theologians.
Materialists believe that matter came first.
Theologians believe that consciousness (God, the holy spirit) appeared first.
My opinion is this: our science currently does not have a complete understanding of either matter or consciousness.
What happened at the very beginning, before the emergence of the Universe (before the Universal explosion and the formation of galaxies, stars, planets? Nothing, i.e. emptiness (cold vacuum)
But something cannot come from nothing. This means that vacuum is some kind of special form of matter. So the materialists are right? But let's wait to draw conclusions.
Let's consider the question of why the Universal explosion occurred, and one type of matter (vacuum) began to turn into another type of matter (stars and planets). Here we come to a simple answer - the Almighty did it) the Supreme Mind, the Holy Spirit). The following sentence immediately comes to mind: “In the beginning there was the word.” But who said it? Supreme Intelligence, the Most High, the Holy Spirit? So the theologians are right? But even now we will not draw quick conclusions.
In my opinion, the chain of matter and consciousness lacks two more words - information and energy. And these concepts are no less complex than matter and consciousness.
But what if we assume that information (a word, a thought) can itself be transformed into energy, and energy, in turn, is one of the forms of matter (or converted into matter). But this means there must be a primary source of information that gave this primary information impulse. In my opinion, this is the Supreme Mind - a permanent substance that theologians call God (the Most High).
Space is 95% dark matter and dark energy. And what do they know about these forms of matter (energy is also a special type of matter). Nothing. Modern science deals only with those areas that can bring profit (filling wallets) or discoveries in the field of war (and these are profits for military monopolies). At the same time, discoveries and research in military branches lead only to one thing - the destruction of man by man, the subjugation of weak countries by stronger ones. For this reason, it is not profitable for scientists to study the world around us (space).
As a result, I can draw one conclusion that our modern science still knows almost nothing about the world around us. And it seems to me that modern scientists and academicians do not strive to understand and study this world. This can be clearly seen from historical science, which has been simplified to the limit and is not going to be studied true story The Earth and the peoples inhabiting it. Apparently this is very beneficial for modern historians.
It is better to keep the people ignorant (illiterate), it is easier to control them.

The main philosophical question: “What comes first - matter or consciousness?” - there are moments - existential and cognitive. The existential, in other words, the ontological side, consists of finding a solution to the main problem of philosophy. And the essence of the cognitive, or epistemological side, lies in resolving the question of whether the world is knowable or not.

Depending on the data of the two sides, four main directions are distinguished. These are the physical view (materialism) and the idealistic, the experimental (empiricism) and the rationalistic.

Ontology has the following directions: materialism (classical and vulgar), idealism (objective and subjective), dualism, deism.

The epistemological side is represented by five directions. These are Gnosticism and the later agnosticism. Three more - empiricism, rationalism, sensationalism.

Line of Democritus

In literature, materialism is often called the line of Democritus. Its supporters considered the correct answer to the question of what comes first - matter or consciousness, matter. In accordance with this, the postulates of materialists sound like this:

• matter really exists, and it is independent of consciousness;
• matter is an autonomous substance; it needs only itself and develops according to its internal law;
• consciousness is the property of reflecting itself, which belongs to highly organized matter;
• consciousness is not an independent substance, it is being.

Among the materialist philosophers who pose the main question of what comes first - matter or consciousness, we can distinguish:

• Democritus;
• Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes (Miletus school);
• Epicurus, Bacon, Locke, Spinoza, Diderot;
• Herzen, Chernyshevsky;
• Marx, Engels, Lenin.

Passion for natural

Separately, vulgar materialism is distinguished. He is represented by Focht, Moleschott. In this direction, when they start talking about what is more primary - matter or consciousness, the role of matter is absolutized.

Philosophers are keen on studying material things with the help of the exact sciences: physics, mathematics, chemistry. They ignore consciousness as an entity and its ability to influence matter. According to representatives of vulgar materialism, the human brain produces thoughts, and consciousness, like the liver, secretes bile. This direction does not recognize the qualitative difference between mind and matter.

According to modern researchers, when the question is raised about what comes first - matter or consciousness, the philosophy of materialism, relying on the exact and natural sciences, logically proves its postulates. But there is also a weak side - a meager explanation of the essence of consciousness, a lack of interpretation of many phenomena of the surrounding world. Materialism dominated in the philosophy of Greece (the era of democracy), in the Hellenic states, in England in the 17th century, in France in the 18th century, and in the socialist countries of the 20th century.

Plato's line

Idealism is called Plato's line. Supporters of this direction believed that consciousness is primary, matter is secondary in solving the main philosophical problem. Idealism distinguishes two autonomous directions: objective and subjective.

Representatives of the first direction are Plato, Leibniz, Hegel and others. The second was supported by philosophers such as Berkeley and Hume. Plato is considered the founder of objective idealism. The views of this direction are characterized by the expression: “Only the idea is real and primary.” Objective idealism speaks:

• the surrounding reality is the world of ideas and the world of things;
• the sphere of eidos (ideas) exists initially in the divine (universal) mind;
• the world of things is material and does not have a separate existence, but is the embodiment of ideas;
• every single thing is the embodiment of eidos;
• the most important role for transforming an idea into a concrete thing is assigned to God the Creator;
• individual eidos exist objectively, regardless of our consciousness.

Feelings and Reason

Subjective idealism, saying that consciousness is primary, matter is secondary, asserts:

• everything exists only in the mind of the subject;
• ideas are in the human mind;
• images of physical things also exist only in the mind thanks to sensory sensations;
• neither matter nor eidos lives separately from human consciousness.

The disadvantage of this theory is that there are no reliable and logical explanations of the very mechanism of transformation of eidos into a specific thing. Philosophical idealism dominated during the time of Plato in Greece, in the Middle Ages. And today it is widespread in the USA, Germany and some other Western European countries.

Monism and dualism

Materialism and idealism are classified as monism, i.e., the doctrine of one primary principle. Descartes founded dualism, the essence of which lies in theses:

• there are two independent substances: physical and spiritual;
• physical has properties of extension;
• the spiritual has thinking;
• in the world everything is derived either from one or from a second substance;
• physical things come from matter, and ideas from spiritual substance;
• matter and spirit are interconnected opposites of a single being.

In search of an answer to the basic question of philosophy: “What comes first—matter or consciousness?” - we can briefly formulate: matter and consciousness always exist and complement each other.

Other directions in philosophy

Pluralism claims that the world has many origins, like monads in the theory of G. Leibniz.

Deism recognizes the existence of God, who created the world once and no longer takes part in its further development, does not influence the actions and lives of people. Deists are represented by French enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century - Voltaire and Rousseau. They did not oppose matter to consciousness and considered it spiritual.

Eclecticism mixes the concepts of idealism and materialism.

The founder of empiricism was F. Bacon. In contrast to the idealistic statement: “Consciousness is primary in relation to matter,” the empirical theory says that only experience and feelings can be the basis of knowledge. There is nothing in the mind (thoughts) that has not previously been obtained experimentally.

Denial of knowledge

Agnosticism is a direction that completely denies even the partial possibility of comprehending the world through subjective experience alone. This concept was introduced by T. G. Huxley, and a prominent representative of agnosticism was I. Kant, who argued that the human mind has great capabilities, but they are limited. Based on this, human mind creates mysteries and contradictions that have no chance of being resolved. In total, according to Kant, there are four such contradictions. One of them: God exists - God does not exist. According to Kant, even what belongs to the cognitive capabilities of the human mind cannot be known, since consciousness only has the ability to reflect things in sensory sensations, but it is not able to cognize the inner essence.

Today, supporters of the idea “Matter is primary - consciousness is derived from matter” can be found very rarely. The world has become religiously oriented, despite significant differences in views. But despite the centuries-long search of thinkers, the main question of philosophy has not been clearly resolved. Neither supporters of Gnosticism nor adherents of ontology could answer it. This problem actually remains unresolved for thinkers. In the twentieth century, the Western school of philosophy shows a tendency to reduce attention towards the traditional basic philosophical question. It is gradually losing its relevance.

Modern direction

Scientists such as Jaspers, Camus, Heidegger say that in the future a new philosophical problem- existentialism. This is a question of a person and his existence, management of the personal spiritual world, internal social relationships, freedom of choice, the meaning of life, one’s place in society and a sense of happiness.

From the point of view of existentialism human existence- a completely unique reality. Inhuman standards of cause-and-effect relationships cannot be applied to him. Nothing external has power over people, they are the cause of themselves. Therefore, in existentialism they talk about the independence of people. Existence is the container of freedom, the basis of which is a person who creates himself and is responsible for everything he does. It is interesting that in this direction there is a fusion of religiosity with atheism.

Since ancient times, man has been trying to know himself and find his place in the world around him. This problem has always interested thinkers. The search for answers sometimes took the philosopher’s entire life. The topic of the meaning of being is closely related to the problem of the essence of man. These concepts are intertwined and often coincide, since together they deal with the highest phenomenon material world- a person. But even today philosophy cannot give the only clear and correct answer to these questions.

He began to ask questions regarding his existence and purpose, about the reality around him and the world in which he lives, to try to study and understand them, the birth of the science of philosophy began. The main question that has worried people throughout the development of mankind, from ancient civilizations, which are mentioned only in legends or ancient manuscripts, up to today- this is what appeared first, consciousness or matter.

The disputes that arose between philosophers regarding this issue gave rise to such concepts as materialism and idealism. For many centuries, supporters of both theories staged verbal “battles”, trying to prove their rightness, until a third possible concept was voiced: there are two types of reality, material and spiritual, and they are interconnected.

Matter concept

Translated from Latin, materialis means “substantial,” and it was this concept that began to be used in relation to objective reality in the philosophical worldview. Matter in the understanding of philosophers is the world, which exists on its own, regardless of the consciousness of the subjects who inhabited it. This is what the learned minds of ancient times thought, and nothing in this definition has changed today. The world really exists outside of man and his attempts to understand reality. Another concept of objective reality is “being,” which philosophers Ancient Greece called a certain substance that forms all that exists, that is, matter.

If you carefully study the treatises of ancient scientists, you will notice a general trend in them: it doesn’t matter whether these are works of Eastern or ancient philosophy, they are all similar in that matter exists independently of human consciousness. This understanding led to the emergence of the term “materialism.”

Despite the fact that scientists who lived in those days (VII-VI centuries BC) did not have modern technologies to look inside or beyond matter, they understood that there was a certain primordial substance that formed the basis of everything of existence. It was then that the primacy of matter or consciousness first emerged.

Primary substance in the understanding of ancient philosophers

Some scientists (Thales) believed that this substance was water (it was already called the “cradle of life”), others (Anaximander) came up with the name “apeiron,” which meant a certain substance outside of time and space, which is in constant motion and development, and It was she who caused the creation of the world. There were also philosophers (Anaximenes and Heraclitus) who sincerely believed that everything that exists arose from air or fire. Naturally, all this pushed adherents of one or another concept to engage in philosophical debate, although in those days there were no fierce verbal “battles” on the topic of what comes first, matter or consciousness. The gods were considered part of the Universe, and any material objects could have a soul. In many pagan religions there were such concepts as the spirit of fire, water, earth, birds or animals. Some of these beliefs continue to exist today.

Concept and types of consciousness

Since the philosophers of antiquity were more interested in the material world around them and its phenomena, most of which they could not explain (as well as where everything came from), they initially devoted less time to the question of consciousness. They really began to study the relationship between matter and consciousness when the first philosophical question arose: is it possible to study and know objective reality.

If everything is clear with matter, since it can be seen, touched, and in some cases disassembled and assembled, then with the concept of “consciousness” everything is more complicated. It began to be used in different concepts, for example:

• Widely philosophical sense- this is a certain essence, a higher substance that is capable of creating worlds and matter. This concept formed the basis of idealistic philosophy. Plato was the first to introduce this term and develop the concept of idealism, and it was further developed by Hegel, who believed that the root cause (foundation) of all things is the world mind. He called it the absolute primary substance (idea), which permeates all forms of being.
• From the point of view of materialism, consciousness is a secondary form of being (highly organized matter, for example the human brain), which is not capable of creation, but can cognize and analyze objective reality, passing it through the individual perception of each individual. It was from the moment of revaluation of the category of consciousness and its translation from an idealistic concept to a materialistic one that for a time the philosophical debate about what comes first, matter or consciousness, was brought to naught. This concept considers such subjects as “I” (man, individuality) and “not-I” (the rest of the world) and the relationship of the first to the second.

  

  Another concept of consciousness is given by psychologists. This is a psycho-physiological substrate (that is, the essence of the human psyche), which is two-dimensional and can simultaneously:

  • cognize, analyze and remember information about the objective world (all reality);
  • as self-awareness to be directed towards the wearer.

  Thus, consciousness forms for a person a picture of the world, of which he is an integral part.

  Let us now consider how, as we develop philosophical science ideas about what comes first, matter or consciousness, changed.

  Sophists of Ancient Greece

  Thanks to ancient sophists philosophy as a science has reached a completely new level of development. Depending on what opinion the scientific minds held about the creation of the world, they organized their own philosophical schools, in which they jointly tried to either prove their version or refute someone else’s. The first of these was the Milesian school, the founder of which is Thales.

  Starting from water, as the fundamental principle of all existence, he, by generalizing his observations, in all the diversity of matter, discovered a certain ultimate abstraction, which made a logical leap from an incredible variety of things and concepts to singularity. Since in his understanding “water” had a structure (consisted of the core of the stoicheiron and the primordial matter of arche), it belonged to the category of matter that contained potential and was in constant development. Thus, he was one of the first to point out the primacy of matter over consciousness. This was also recognized by representatives of other philosophical schools of the 6th-5th centuries BC. e.

  WATER (primary principle).

  ARCHE/stoicheon(primary matter/logical element).

  School in the Ionian Greek colonies (Ephesus, Klazomenae)

  The Ionian school, led by Heraclitus, insisted that the primary cause of everything is fire, which has the same structure as the “water” of Thales. Unlike Anaximander, who was of the opinion that the first principle of existence is infinity (apeiron), which always remains whole and constant despite the diversity and variability of its parts, Heraclitus believed that the material world was not created by either gods or people, and always existed in the form of fire.

  FIRE (primary principle).

  ARCHE/stocheion (primary matter/logical element).

  This is interesting to know: the concept of “limitless beginning” as the main element of being was introduced into use by Anaximander, and his theory of the creation of the world was advanced at that time.

  Plato and his vision of the world

  Plato's Academy is perhaps the first real educational institution of its kind, as it had a training program for young men. Plato himself paid a lot of attention to the study of consciousness and believed that the mind is the highest gift of man. He believed that ideas are not objects of the material world, but are closely related to it.

  

  These are not all representatives of ancient sophistry and their school, but it was they who came to the conclusion that formed the basis for the further development of philosophy as a science: consciousness is the opposite of matter, but they are inseparable, like sides of the same coin.

  Christian philosophy about being and consciousness

  During the Middle Ages, all philosophical thought was reduced to the concept of the trinity:

  GOD the father /GOD the son / GOD the holy spirit.

  That is scientists of that time, they have not gone far in their knowledge of the world from the ancient sages, they just changed the terminology. The basis of the creation of all things remains the same: there is an unchanging something (in Christian philosophy this is God) that creates matter (God the Son) through an idea (God the Holy Spirit).

  

  If ancient philosophers argued about what comes first, matter or consciousness, then 700 years ago scientists were concerned about the reality of all things, which Aristotle in his time gave the name “real being.” It was he who first pointed out the unity of matter and form in reality, thereby uniting matter and consciousness.

  Real being:matter/form

  For a long time, philosophers of the Middle Ages relied on the Aristotelian concept of the world, which corresponded to the Christian dogma of the trinity of all things.

  Idealists and their concept of the world

  For almost 30 centuries, scientists have argued about what comes first, matter or consciousness. Philosophy as a science has been at the forefront of all scientific debates. Its representatives were divided into 2 camps: idealists and materialists.

  Representatives of the first believed that at the head of all things there is a spiritual principle, which had different names (God, the Higher Mind, soul, idea), but was, in fact, a single concept. In their opinion, matter is secondary, so to speak, a “product” of the spiritual world.

  

  Plato is considered the founder of idealism, although the very division and concept of materialism and idealism was introduced in the 18th century by G. Leibniz.

  This philosophy has two prevailing forms:

  1. Objective idealism, which separates the spiritual principle from the material world (reality) and man, calling it the Absolute or the World Mind.
  2. Subjective idealism is based on internal human experience knowledge of the surrounding reality through its conscious study.

  Representatives of idealism were D. Hume, George Berkeley and other scientists. One of the varieties of this philosophical movement there was the idea of ​​dualism (Latin - “two”), which was introduced by R. Descartes, who argued that matter and consciousness are two separate fundamental principles.

  Materialists

  Representatives of this philosophical movement put matter at the head of all things, by which they meant an eternal, indestructible substance in constant motion and development, from which nature, the Universe and everything that fills the surrounding space emerged. For them, matter is primary, exists according to its own laws, has always been, and will always be, and constitutes single reality, while consciousness (idea) is only its reflection.

  Among the advantages of this theory is science, but even it cannot explain the presence of consciousness and the essence of the ideas that arise in it (this is its minus).

  Materialism is divided into:

  • A spontaneous species that originated in ancient times.
  • Metaphysical refers to the New Age and is represented by such scientific figures as Galileo, Bacon, Locke and others.
  • The dialectical view combines materiality and dialectics, in which consciousness is the ability of matter to reflect itself. The founders of this type of materialism are Marx and Engels.

  These are not all varieties of materialism and idealism, since philosophy is not a static science and is in constant development, like the reality it is trying to explain.

  Philosophical paradoxes

  Attempts to determine what matter and consciousness are have from time to time created curious situations and led to the formation of paradoxes. If everything is more or less clear with the first concept, then when studying the essence of consciousness, scientists sometimes drove themselves into a dead end, for example:

  • Matter is tangible and studyable. But doesn't consciousness manifest itself through sensations that a person can cognize and analyze?
  • Matter surrounds man. And who said that consciousness does not surround him? Even 500 years ago, people had not heard of the electromagnetic field, but today even schoolchildren know that it surrounds the entire planet.

  

  In fact, if there is no consciousness, then the objective world (reality) does not exist, so debates about the primacy and secondary nature of these categories lose all meaning.

  Conclusion

  In our time, after it was announced and proven that thought (a product of consciousness) is material, disputes about the primacy of matter or the spiritual principle have subsided. Consciousness has not yet been studied, while people have penetrated into matter down to its very atoms. So all the most interesting things in the science of philosophy are yet to come.

The Basic Question of Philosophy

The main thing in philosophy is traditionally considered the question of the relationship of thinking to being, and being to thinking (consciousness). Matter and consciousness (spirit) are two inseparable and at the same time opposing characteristics of existence. There are two sides to this fundamental question of philosophy- ontological and epistemological.

Ontological The (existential) side of the main question of philosophy lies in the formulation and solution of the problem: what comes first - matter or consciousness?

The essence epistemological (cognitive) sides of the main question: is the world knowable or unknowable, what is primary in the process of cognition?

Depending on the ontological and epistemological aspects, the main directions in philosophy are distinguished - materialism and idealism, respectively, as well as empiricism, rationalism and agnosticism.

Materialism- a direction in philosophy, whose supporters believe that matter is primary and exists independently of consciousness (that is, it exists independently of thinking beings and whether anyone thinks about it or not), and consciousness and spirit are secondary, this is a property of highly organized matter.

Idealism- a direction in philosophy, whose supporters consider consciousness (idea, Spirit) to be primary in the relationship between matter and consciousness.

Empiricism- a direction in philosophy that substantiates that the world is known only on the basis of the experience and sensory sensations of people.

Rationalism(from lat. ratio- “reason”) is a direction in philosophy that emphasizes that true (reliable) knowledge can only be derived directly from the mind and does not depend on sensory experience.

Agnosticism- a direction in philosophy, whose supporters believe that the world around us is unknowable, and human ideas and knowledge about the world are an illusion.

And at the present time, despite the millennia-long quest of philosophers, the main question of philosophy actually remains an eternal philosophical problem.

In the 20th century Western philosophy There has been a tendency to pay less attention to the traditional fundamental question of philosophy, since it is intractable.

Jaspers, Heidegter, Camus and others laid the foundations for the fact that in the future another fundamental question of philosophy may appear - problem of existentialism, that is, the problem of man, his existence, management of his own spiritual world, relationships within society and with society, his free choice, search for the meaning of life and his place in life, happiness.

When considering the ontological (existential) side of the main question of philosophy, one can distinguish such directions as: materialism;

Vulgar materialism;

Objective idealism;

Subjective idealism;

Dualism;

Materialism(so-called "line of Democritus")- a direction in philosophy, whose supporters believed that in the relationship between matter and consciousness, matter is primary.

Hence:

Matter really exists;

Matter exists independently of consciousness (that is, it exists independently of thinking beings and whether anyone thinks about it or not);

Matter is an independent substance - it does not need anything other than itself for its existence;

Matter exists and develops according to its own internal laws;

Consciousness (spirit) is the property of highly organized matter to reflect itself (matter);

Consciousness is not an independent substance existing along with matter;

Consciousness is determined by matter (being). The advantage of materialism is its reliance on science, especially

exact and natural (physics, mathematics, chemistry, etc.), logical provability of many materialist positions.

The weak side of materialism is the insufficient explanation of the essence of consciousness, the presence of phenomena in the surrounding world that cannot be explained from the point of view of materialists.

In materialism there was a special direction - vulgar materialism. Its representatives (Focht, Moleschott) absolutize the role of matter, are overly keen on the study of matter from the point of view of physics, mathematics and chemistry, and its mechanical side. In their opinion, the human brain also secretes thought, consciousness, just as the liver secretes bile, that is, vulgar materialism ignores the qualitative difference between consciousness and matter.

Idealism ("Plato's line")- a direction in philosophy, whose supporters consider the relationship between matter and consciousness to be primary

considered consciousness (idea, spirit). There are two independent trends in idealism:

Objective idealism (Plato, Leibniz, Hegel, etc.);

Subjective idealism (Berkeley, Hume).

Founder objective idealism Plato is considered. According to the concept of objective idealism:

■ only the idea really exists;

■ the idea is primary;

■ the entire surrounding reality is divided into the “world of ideas” and the “world of things”;

■ “the world of ideas” (eidos) initially exists in the World Mind (Divine Plan);

■ “world of things” - the material world has no independent existence and is the embodiment of the “world of ideas”;

■ each individual thing is the embodiment of an idea (eidos) of a given thing (for example, a horse is the embodiment of the general idea of ​​a horse, a house is the idea of ​​a house, a ship is the idea of ​​a ship, etc.);

■ God the Creator plays a large role in transforming a “pure idea” into a concrete thing;

■ individual ideas (“the world of ideas”) objectively exist independently of human consciousness.

In contrast to objective idealists subjective idealists(Berkeley, Hume, etc.) believed that:

Everything exists only in the consciousness of the cognizing subject (human);

Ideas exist in the mind of man;

Images (ideas) of material things also exist only in the human mind through sensory sensations;

Outside the consciousness of an individual there is neither matter nor spirit (ideas)

does not exist.

A weak feature of idealism is the lack of a reliable (logical) explanation for the very presence of “pure ideas” and the transformation of a “pure idea” into a concrete thing (the mechanism for the emergence of matter and ideas).

Along with the polar (competing) main directions of philosophy - materialism and idealism - there are intermediate (compromise) currents - dualism, deism.

Dualism How philosophical direction was founded by Descartes. The essence of dualism is that:

There are two independent substances - material (possessing the property of extension) and spiritual (possessing the property of thinking);

Everything in the world is derived (is a mode) either from one or another of these substances (material things - from the material, ideas - from the spiritual);

In a person, two substances are combined simultaneously - both material and spiritual;

Matter and consciousness (spirit) are two opposite and interconnected sides of a single being;

The main question of philosophy (what comes first - matter or consciousness) does not actually exist, since matter and consciousness complement each other and always exist.

Deism- a direction in philosophy, whose supporters (mainly French enlighteners of the 18th century) recognized the existence of God, who, in their opinion, having once created the world, no longer participates in its further development and does not influence the lives and actions of people (that is, they recognized God, having practically no “powers”, which should only serve as a moral symbol). Deists also considered matter to be spiritual and did not oppose matter and spirit (consciousness).

Philosophy is an ancient science. It arose during the slave system. And interestingly, somehow immediately in countries such as China, India and Greece. The history of science goes back more than 2500 years. During this period, many diverse teachings were formed, reflecting the levels of political, social and economic development society. Exploring all sorts of things is certainly interesting and important. But they all lead to the cornerstone - the problem of being and consciousness.

Different formulations of the same problem

The initial question of philosophy, on which all directions are based, is formulated in different versions. The connection between being and consciousness is the problem of the relationship between spirit and nature, soul and body, thinking and being, etc. Each philosophical school I was looking for answers to the question: what comes first - matter or consciousness? What is the relationship between thinking and being? This relationship was called by the German thinkers Schelling and Engels

The importance of this problem lies in the fact that the construction of a holistic science about the place of man in the surrounding world depends on its correct resolution. Mind and matter are inseparable. But at the same time this pair of opposites. Consciousness is often called spirit.

Two sides of the same question

The main philosophical question: “What comes first - matter or consciousness?” - there are moments - existential and cognitive. The existential, in other words, the ontological side, consists of finding a solution to the main problem of philosophy. And the essence of the cognitive, or epistemological side, lies in resolving the question of whether the world is knowable or not.

Depending on the data of the two sides, four main directions are distinguished. These are the physical view (materialism) and the idealistic, the experimental (empiricism) and the rationalistic.

Ontology has the following directions: materialism (classical and vulgar), dualism, deism.

The epistemological side is represented by five directions. These are Gnosticism and the later agnosticism. Three more - empiricism, rationalism, sensationalism.

Line of Democritus

In literature, materialism is often called the line of Democritus. Its supporters considered the correct answer to the question of what comes first - matter or consciousness, matter. In accordance with this, the postulates of materialists sound like this:

• matter really exists, and it is independent of consciousness;
• matter is an autonomous substance; it needs only itself and develops according to its internal law;
• consciousness is the property of reflecting itself, which belongs to highly organized matter;
• consciousness is not an independent substance, it is being.

Among the materialist philosophers who pose the main question of what comes first - matter or consciousness, we can distinguish:

• Democritus;
• Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes (Miletus school);
• Epicurus, Bacon, Locke, Spinoza, Diderot;
• Herzen, Chernyshevsky;
• Lenin.

Passion for natural

Separately, vulgar materialism is distinguished. He is represented by Focht, Moleschott. In this direction, when they start talking about what is more primary - matter or consciousness, the role of matter is absolutized.

Philosophers are keen on studying material things with the help of physics, mathematics, and chemistry. They ignore consciousness as an entity and its ability to influence matter. According to representatives of vulgar materialism, the human brain produces thoughts, and consciousness, like the liver, secretes bile. This direction does not recognize the qualitative difference between mind and matter.

According to modern researchers, when the question is raised about what comes first - matter or consciousness, the philosophy of materialism, relying on the exact and natural sciences, logically proves its postulates. But there is also a weak side - a meager explanation of the essence of consciousness, a lack of interpretation of many phenomena of the surrounding world. Materialism dominated in the philosophy of Greece (the era of democracy), in the Hellenic states, in England in the 17th century, in France in the 18th century, and in the socialist countries of the 20th century.

Plato's line

Idealism is called Plato's line. Supporters of this direction believed that consciousness is primary, matter is secondary in solving the main philosophical problem. Idealism distinguishes two autonomous directions: objective and subjective.

Representatives of the first direction are Plato, Leibniz, Hegel and others. The second was supported by philosophers such as Berkeley and Hume. Plato is considered the founder of objective idealism. The views of this direction are characterized by the expression: “Only the idea is real and primary.” Objective idealism says:

• the surrounding reality is the world of ideas and the world of things;
• the sphere of eidos (ideas) exists initially in the divine (universal) mind;
• the world of things is material and does not have a separate existence, but is the embodiment of ideas;
• every single thing is the embodiment of eidos;
• the most important role for transforming an idea into a concrete thing is assigned to God the Creator;
• individual eidos exist objectively, regardless of our consciousness.

Feelings and Reason

Subjective idealism, saying that consciousness is primary, matter is secondary, asserts:

• everything exists only in the mind of the subject;
• ideas are in the human mind;
• images of physical things also exist only in the mind thanks to sensory sensations;
• neither matter nor eidos lives separately from human consciousness.

The disadvantage of this theory is that there are no reliable and logical explanations of the very mechanism of transformation of eidos into a specific thing. Philosophical idealism dominated during the time of Plato in Greece, in the Middle Ages. And today it is widespread in the USA, Germany and some other Western European countries.

Monism and dualism

Materialism and idealism are classified as monism, i.e., the doctrine of one primary principle. Descartes founded dualism, the essence of which lies in theses:

• there are two independent substances: physical and spiritual;
• physical has properties of extension;
• the spiritual has thinking;
• in the world everything is derived either from one or from a second substance;
• physical things come from matter, and ideas from spiritual substance;
• matter and spirit are interconnected opposites of a single being.

In search of an answer to the basic question of philosophy: “What comes first—matter or consciousness?” - we can briefly formulate: matter and consciousness always exist and complement each other.

Other directions in philosophy

Pluralism claims that the world has many origins, like monads in the theory of G. Leibniz.

Deism recognizes the existence of God, who created the world once and no longer takes part in its further development, does not influence the actions and lives of people. Deists are represented by French enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century - Voltaire and Rousseau. They did not oppose matter to consciousness and considered it spiritual.

Eclecticism mixes the concepts of idealism and materialism.

The founder of empiricism was F. Bacon. In contrast to the idealistic statement: “Consciousness is primary in relation to matter,” the empirical theory says that only experience and feelings can be the basis of knowledge. There is nothing in the mind (thoughts) that has not previously been obtained experimentally.

Denial of knowledge

Agnosticism is a direction that completely denies even the partial possibility of comprehending the world through subjective experience alone. This concept was introduced by T. G. Huxley, and a prominent representative of agnosticism was I. Kant, who argued that the human mind has great capabilities, but they are limited. Based on this, the human mind gives rise to mysteries and contradictions that have no chance of being resolved. In total, according to Kant, there are four such contradictions. One of them: God exists - God does not exist. According to Kant, even what belongs to the cognitive capabilities of the human mind cannot be known, since consciousness only has the ability to reflect things in sensory sensations, but it is not able to cognize the inner essence.

Today, supporters of the idea “Matter is primary - consciousness is derived from matter” can be found very rarely. The world has become religiously oriented, despite significant differences in views. But despite the centuries-long search of thinkers, the main question of philosophy has not been clearly resolved. Neither supporters of Gnosticism nor adherents of ontology could answer it. This problem actually remains unresolved for thinkers. In the twentieth century, the Western school of philosophy shows a tendency to reduce attention towards the traditional basic philosophical question. It is gradually losing its relevance.

Modern direction

Scientists such as Jaspers, Camus, Heidegger say that in the future a new philosophical problem - existentialism - may become relevant. This is a question of a person and his existence, management of the personal spiritual world, internal social relationships, freedom of choice, the meaning of life, one’s place in society and a sense of happiness.

From the point of view of existentialism, human existence is a completely unique reality. Inhuman standards of cause-and-effect relationships cannot be applied to him. Nothing external has power over people, they are the cause of themselves. Therefore, in existentialism they talk about the independence of people. Existence is the container of freedom, the basis of which is a person who creates himself and is responsible for everything he does. It is interesting that in this direction there is a fusion of religiosity with atheism.

Since ancient times, man has been trying to know himself and find his place in the world around him. This problem has always interested thinkers. The search for answers sometimes took the philosopher’s entire life. The topic of the meaning of being is closely related to the problem of the essence of man. These concepts are intertwined and often coincide, since together they deal with the highest phenomenon of the material world - man. But even today philosophy cannot give the only clear and correct answer to these questions.

Animals