The term “worldview” appeared and entered into scientific circulation at the end of the 18th century in connection with the scientific work of representatives of German classical philosophy. But this does not mean at all that it was then that all the conceptual provisions of this phenomenon developed. First of all, it should be said that many ideas, without which no worldview can be imagined today (no matter what type we are talking about, mass or individual), came to the worldview conglomerate from completely different forms of social consciousness. Moreover, the worldview itself was expressed primarily through the content of such spiritual phenomena as philosophy, mythology, metaphysics, and religion.
The worldview, its essence and structure, as a rule, was expressed through those representations of individuals that they formulated in the process of generalizing the knowledge that was acquired as a result of social practice. As a result of such generalizations, an understanding of the worldview was formed as a specific form of consciousness of the individual, in which his views on the surrounding reality and his place in this reality are reflected.
In numerous sources one can find the most diverse definitions of worldview, however, for all their dissimilarity, it can be argued that they all treat the structure of the worldview in the same way as a complex phenomenon.
The structure of the worldview in philosophy includes such important components as knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and ideals, with the help of which a person expresses his attitude to the surrounding reality and forms his own position in this world.
The structure of the worldview as its most important elements includes:
- information and knowledge system;
- attitudes, attitudes and criteria for evaluating the world around;
- attitudes and beliefs that determine the behavioral motives of a person;
- man's ideals are images that determine the development of man and his movement as an active, transforming world, subject.
But this is not the end of the worldview structure, since all the elements listed above can be classified as objective (knowledge should be attributed to them) and subjective (these are mainly views, beliefs and ideals).
All components of the worldview structure have a well-defined functional purpose.
Knowledge, which is in a certain way a revised system of scientific information, helps a person to comprehend the world around him and the phenomena occurring in him. Within the framework of this component, quite certain discrepancies can be observed that are objective and reasonably explainable. For example, people may have approximately comparable intellectual potentials, but be completely different in their worldviews.
The structure of the worldview, which includes people's views, involves their consideration as judgments, which, in contrast to knowledge, express the individual's subjective conclusion about reality. For example, representatives of the scientific and religious worldviews consider the issue of human origin in completely different ways .
Knowledge, as well as views, do not always act as a factor motivating behavior. More important from the point of view of this issue are beliefs. Formed on the basis of an idea, beliefs reflect a synthesis of objective knowledge and aspirations, reinforcing a person’s social position in society and its activities.
The structure of the worldview as its organic element provides for the presence of ideals. In the simplest sense, an ideal is an image in which the anticipated, perfect is captured, something to which a person has formed a persistent desire and a high (from the point of view of criteria) attitude. As a rule, the best examples of human thinking and behavior are embodied in them.
Thus, a worldview is a systemic unity of its constituent components. The relationships between these components can change over time and then one of them can become dominant not only at the level of individual consciousness, but public.