Alexander Georgievich Spirkin is a Soviet, and later a Russian philosopher whose books have become popular with both university students and readers who want to broaden their horizons. Despite the fact that the author wrote his well-known manuals in the sixties of the last century, they still have not lost their relevance. The discipline to which Alexander Spirkin devoted his life is philosophy. But the thinker is not known for research in any particular field. He tried to concisely, concisely and accurately formulate the basic concepts of philosophy and the milestones of its history for those who wish to study this subject and understand it. Let us try to characterize this textbook in order to evaluate its significance for our education and spiritual development.
Biography
A. Spirkin, whose “Philosophy” became the reference book of many, first, Soviet students and scientists, and then young people of the CIS countries, lived a difficult but interesting life. He was born in 1918 in the Saratov region, but at first he wanted to devote his life to medicine. He graduated from the future philosopher at the Moscow Institute of Defectology before the war, but then, like many intelligent people of his generation, he was arrested on false charges and was in camps until 1945. There he became interested in the "love of wisdom."
After his release, Alexander Spirkin initially tried to work in his specialty, but then he became a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He defends his thesis on social psychology of Plekhanov, and his thesis on the problems of the origin of consciousness. In 1970, for great services he became a professor, in 1974 - a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. If at a young age the philosopher was more interested in the problems of dialectical materialism, then since the sixties he has been fond of theories of artificial intelligence and the ideas of cybernetics.
History of the creation of the textbook
Alexander Spirkin began to teach philosophy at various educational institutions in Moscow. He had his own concept of student education, and from his abstracts, by the end of the fifties of the twentieth century, composed a manuscript. He long sought to write textbooks on its basis. The thinker called his manuscript "Fundamentals of Philosophy." Spirkin submitted it to the All-Union textbook competition for university students, and she received a prize. Based on this manuscript, the philosopher published several manuals, which immediately became unusually popular. Even in the era of perestroika and after the collapse of the USSR, Spirkin's textbooks remained very popular. In 1990, his famous "Fundamentals of Philosophy" were published by the Progress Publishing House in English. The latest edition of the textbook was published in 2002, and then in 2005. In a revised form, it was published by Gardariki publishing house. Spirkin’s “philosophy” was able to get rid of the outdated ideology quite simply, basically the material is read easily and with interest.
Characteristics of the book as a whole
Spirkin conceived his textbook on philosophy as a kind of compendium of knowledge gathered by mankind in this area. It is written in simple human language, even to some extent in the artistic manner of presentation, many concepts are explained in an accessible way. He was often called a guide to the mysterious sea of ​​philosophy. The textbook consists of four parts. This is an introductory word, where the philosopher gives a definition of this field of knowledge, and also considers its difference from the worldview. Then comes the section on the history of philosophy.
The next part deals with general philosophical problems, such as being, cognition, and reason. The third section examines social philosophy. The author briefly but succinctly gives an idea of ​​society, its development and trends, as well as the features of its spiritual life. This textbook was popular, especially in the 60-80s of the last century, not only among students, but also among university teachers. In the publishing house "Gardariki" he came out in a significantly reduced form. But the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation recommends it as a manual for students.
Introductory word
Philosophy was primarily interested in Alexander Spirkin as a kind of generalizing kind of knowledge, which allows one to combine and find something in common between different types of science and culture. In the introduction to his textbook, he calls it the quintessence of the spiritual life of mankind. He believes that this way of thinking arose from a desire to understand the essence of mystery. A person cannot be satisfied with partial ideas about the world; he has a need for a holistic perception. Questions of the meaning of life and the existence of a reasonable goal in our existence have always interested people. Unlike other sciences that offer us fragmentary, differentiated information, philosophy makes it possible to integrate our knowledge and put it into the system. It also defines the internal connections between different aspects of our worldview. The author briefly characterizes the structure of philosophical knowledge, emphasizing that it is accessible not only to scientists, but to any creative and creative people.
History of philosophy
The first section of the textbook is the most voluminous. It consists of eight chapters. Spirkin’s “philosophy” in the historical part gives the reader the concept of all the wealth of the legacy of thinkers of the past. The section begins with ancient authors, which discusses the sayings of Pythagoras, Thales, Heraclitus, Democritus, as well as the Plato and Aristotle systems. From this part you can learn that the ideas of the harmony of the Universe, the immortality of the soul and even its migration from one body to another existed among the ancient Greeks.
Much attention is paid to the philosophy of early Hellenism - skeptics, Epicureans, Stoics, Neoplatonists. An entire chapter is devoted to the millennial history of medieval thinking. The era of European philosophy from the late Roman Empire to the Renaissance is characterized. The reader will learn about the teachings of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon. Several pages are devoted to the philosophy of the Renaissance.
The origin of the classics
A very thoughtful author was Alexander Spirkin. “Philosophy,” and especially the historical section, is proof of this. He pays special attention to the formation of European thought in the XVII-XVIII centuries. After all, it was at this time that a huge number of geniuses were born, who not only turned the idea of ​​humanity about the world, but completely changed social life. This was started by such prominent thinkers as Descartes and Hume, and then the figures of the French Enlightenment Voltaire, Didro, Rousseau, who created an atmosphere of love for progress, made a rather serious contribution. The main attention of the section is concentrated on the giants of German classical philosophy - Kant, Hegel, Fichte, Schelling, Feuerbach. A lot of attention is paid to such Western European thinkers as Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and others. There is also a chapter devoted to Russian philosophy - from Lomonosov and Radishchev to Dostoevsky and Solovyov.
Wisdom, Being, Knowledge, and Soul
From the ninth to the twelfth chapter Spirkin A. G. (“Philosophy”, textbook) tells about the basic concepts and terms. We learn about what being (which the thinker identifies with reality), how matter, matter, motion, space and time relate to each other. Much is said about knowledge, its methods and principles, as well as whether a person can understand the world around him or is destined to always remain behind a veil of secrecy. Eternal questions are also raised about the primacy and relationship of consciousness and being. After all, philosophical debates were waged about this, and opponents broke spears. From the answer to these questions followed the attitude to the place of man in the world. The author of the textbook also makes a distinction between objective and individual being (perception of “I”). Many unexpected and interesting questions that concern modern man, for example, the relationship of knowledge and faith, the possibility of the existence of reason in animals, the problem of truth, the role of intuition and wit in cognition, are also reflected in this book.
Third section
As a scholar of Marxist dialectical hardening, in his textbook “Philosophy” for universities, Spirkin singles out a special part devoted to the life of society. He summarizes for students the basic theories of understanding the history and development of society. The author talks about what society represents to the human race, what its economic and political analysis is, and what its individual groups are like - classes, strata, nations, peoples, families. In this section, Spirkin returns to the history of philosophy, showing how the consciousness of social time and the meaning of human society was born, when the search for the ideal began and the concept of progress appeared. He considers the problem of chance in history, the role of mass movements and individuals, and also gives different views on the patterns and trends of society. The author also discusses issues of morality, humanism, culture, the dilemma of power and the state in relation to the individual and her rights.
The meaning of the textbook
Many generations of students studied from books written on the basis of the works of Alexander Spirkin. They learned not only what philosophy, its history and main categories are, but also discovered logic, metaphysics, and aesthetics. Despite the fact that the manuscript in its main part was created in Soviet times, even in old editions the author pays more attention to facts than ideologies, and thereby compares favorably with his then colleagues. He sets out the same topics as in other textbooks, but always takes into account new realities and trends, and even in a very intelligible form.
Spirkin, "Philosophy", textbook for universities: reader reviews
Students who have studied philosophy from this book and prepared to take tests and exams greatly praise it. They write that in the textbook all the concepts, terms and the most complex questions and problems are posed not just in the usual human language, but in a good literary style, in a fascinating and exciting way. The manual is read in one breath, and in addition, it helps to systematize the knowledge gained and put it on the shelves. The presentation of the material is illustrated by various stories and examples from life, which only helps to absorb information. And people who are fond of popular science literature assure that this book, if you look into it, changes the reader’s view of many things, makes you think differently and look at the question of whether philosophy is needed in life.