The tasks of philosophy

Philosophy has the following functions:

  • Worldview – it allows you to form a complete picture of the world;
    Educational – philosophy takes an active part in the formation of the personality;
  • Social criticism – philosophy actively criticizes the system of connections existing in the society;
  • Ideological – philosophy takes part in the formation of ideas about what the political and social order should look like;
  • Searching (heuristic) – philosophy actively takes part in creating new fields within the framework of theoretical research;
  • Futurological – philosophy seeks to answer the question of what the future should look like and how to move from the criticism of the existing social structure and political system to a better society;
  • Methodological – philosophy formulates principles and categories of knowledge, for example, philosophy of science deals with the development of the ideals and norms of science, methods of scientific justification, as well as problems of the role of values in science.

A worldview is understood as a system of views on the surrounding reality and the place of man, society and humanity in the world, on how a person relates to himself and to the surrounding reality, as well as what life positions of people correspond to these views, human beliefs, principles of activity, ideals, values.

A worldview is not the sum of all perceptions and views about reality, but their generalization. It has a complex, descriptive and evaluative nature and, for the most part, is implicit, not articulated. Such notions as “worldview”, “general picture of the world”, “world outlook”, “world perception”, “world understanding” are similar to the concept of worldview.

Throughout historical development, worldview has changed from epoch to epoch and was formed under the influence of the culture of the epoch as a whole, not as a result of the impact of any one aspect of social life and certainly not because of the impact of ideas that were popular in this or that epoch. The main component of a worldview that is a reflection of the world (primarily cultural) and values is the style of thinking of the historical epoch, which sets the general principles of theoretical study of the world and determines the very thinking of the epoch.

Philosophy is a compulsory element of modern higher education. However, one has to wonder whether the compulsory teaching of philosophy does not limit worldview pluralism. This question arises because denying the possibility of state ideology and acknowledging pluralism of worldviews is an indication that worldviews are primarily a subjective matter for everyone.

At the same time, philosophy cannot be called just a worldview. It is also a science. Thus, philosophy is a worldview that claims a scientific status. In studying the universal, universal foundations of culture, philosophy appeals to logical thinking, reason, and claims empirical validity for its assertions.