An individual does not fully disclose the national character.

Aristotle wrote of him: "In general, except for superficial research, no one has established anything but Democritus. As for him, it seems that he foresaw everything, and in the method of calculation, he differs favorably from others."

The introductory part of the scientific system of Democritus was the "canon" in which the principles of atomistic philosophy were formulated and explained. Then came physics, as the science of various manifestations of life, and ethics. Canonics was included in physics as a source section, while ethics was built as a product of physics. In the philosophy of Democritus, first of all, a distinction is established between "truly existing" and that which exists only in "general opinion."

Only atoms and emptiness were considered real. As it really is, emptiness (non-being) is the same reality as atoms (being). The "great emptiness" is boundless and contains all that exists, it has no top, no bottom, no edge, no center, it makes the matter interrupted and its movement possible. Genesis is formed by innumerable small qualitatively homogeneous first bodies, differing in appearance, size, position and order, they are further indivisible due to the absolute hardness and lack of emptiness and "indivisible in size." Atoms themselves are characterized by constant motion, the diversity of which is determined by the infinite variety of atomic forms. The motion of atoms is eternal and ultimately the cause of all change in the world.

The task of scientific knowledge, according to Democritus, is to reduce the phenomena under study to the realm of "sincere being" and to give them an explanation based on the general principles of atomistics. This can be achieved through the joint activity of the senses and the mind. Marx formulated the epistemological position of Democritus as follows: "Democritus not only did not move away from the world, but, on the contrary, was an empirical naturalist." The content of the original philosophical principles and epistemological attitudes have determined the main features of the scientific method of Democritus:

a) In cognition to proceed from the singular; b) Any object and phenomenon are decomposed into the simplest elements (analysis) and can be explained on the basis of them (synthesis); c) Distinguish between existence "in truth" and "according to opinion"; d) Phenomena of reality are separate fragments of the ordered space which has arisen and functions as a result of actions of purely mechanical causality.

Mathematics should rightly be considered in Democritus the first section of physics proper and follow directly from the canon. In fact, atoms are qualitatively homogeneous and their primary properties are quantitative. However, it would be wrong to interpret the teachings of Democritus as a kind of Pythagoreanism, because Democritus, while retaining the idea of ​​domination in the world of mathematical law, but criticizes the a priori mathematical constructions of the Pythagoreans, believing that number should not act as a legislator of nature. Mathematical regularity is Democritus from the phenomena of reality, and in this sense he is ahead of the ideas of mathematical science.

The original beginnings of material existence appear in Democritus largely as mathematical objects, and accordingly mathematics is given a prominent place in the system of worldview as a science of the primary properties of things. However, the inclusion of mathematics in the basis of the worldview system required its restructuring, bringing mathematics in line with the original philosophical provisions, with logic, epistemology, methodology of scientific research. The concept of mathematics created in this way, called the concept of mathematical atomism, turned out to be significantly different from the previous ones.

In Democritus, all mathematical objects (bodies, planes, lines, points) appear in certain material images. There are no ideal planes, lines, points in his teaching. The basic principle of mathematical atomism is the decomposition of geometric bodies into the thinnest leaves (planes), planes - into the thinnest threads (lines), lines - into small grains (atoms). Each atom has a small but nonzero value and is still indivisible. Now the length of the line is defined as the sum of the indivisible particles contained in it. Similarly, the question of the relationship of lines on the plane and planes in the body is considered. The number of atoms in a finite volume of space is not infinite, although it is so large that it is inaccessible to the senses. Thus, the main difference between the teachings of Democritus and those discussed earlier is their denial of infinite divisibility.

In this way he solves the problem of the legitimacy of the theoretical constructions of mathematics, without reducing them to sensory images, as Protagoras did. Thus, to Protagoras' reasoning about the touch of a circle and a straight line, Democritus could answer that the feelings that are the starting criterion of Protagoras show him that the more accurate the drawing, the smaller the area of ​​touch; in fact, this area is so small that it is not amenable to sensory analysis, but belongs to the realm of sincere knowledge.

Guided by the provisions of mathematical atomism, Democritus conducts a number of specific mathematical studies and achieves the results given (for example, the theory of mathematical perspective and projection). In addition, he played, according to Archimedes, an important role in the proof of Eudoxus' theorems on the volume of the cone and the pyramid. It is impossible to say with certainty whether he used the methods of analysis of infinitesimals in solving this problem. AO Makovelsky writes: "Democritus embarked on the path followed by Archimedes and Cavalieri.

However, approaching the notion of infinity, Democritus did not take the last decisive step. It does not allow an unlimited increase in the number of terms that form in its sum this volume. He accepts only an extremely large number, which cannot be deducted due to its enormous size. "

An outstanding achievement of Democritus in science, in particular mathematics, was also his idea of ​​building theoretical mathematics as a system. In its embryonic form, it represents the idea of ​​axiomatic construction of mathematics, which was then developed methodologically by Plato and received a logically expanded position in Aristotle.

We can safely say that the scientific achievements of Democritus are not only mathematical and applied, but also philosophical. Because through his scientific research Democritus tried to know the world as a whole, to give an explanation of the phenomena that are currently studied by the science of philosophy.

literature

1. Published persons of the ancient world. - K., 1996.

2. The Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia. Volume 2. - K., 1989.

3. Philosophy. In 2 vols. - M., 2000.

11/15/2010

The concept of mentality and national character of Ukrainians

The abstract considers the concepts of national character and mentality, which cover the typical qualities and psychological characteristics of an ethnic group that has a common territory, language, history, culture, customs, symbols that distinguish it from neighboring peoples.

Not so long ago in Ukraine such a topic not only could not be explored, but also simply mentioned. Scholars brought up on "internationalist principles" were in no hurry to take it up so as not to fall into the category of Ukrainian bourgeois nationalists.

Is this topic something immodest or inhumane? It is known that peoples from ancient times, communicating with each other, looked closely at each other, noticed some characteristics of their neighbors and gave them a certain characteristic. In the same way, every nation has long distinguished itself from other nations. Thus, attempts to learn about national differences have a very long history.

Are there any features common to the whole nation? Does the national character consist of the sum of the characteristics of individuals? The answers to these questions can not be found in philosophical or psychological dictionaries or encyclopedias. Soviet researchers failed or were simply afraid to answer them.

For a long time it was considered that the study of national character is impossible, because, studying individuals, we can not form an idea of ​​the nation as a whole. An individual does not fully disclose the national character. Elements of national character (its components) may be individual socio-psychological traits, rather than the characters of individuals. Individual psychology is only an auxiliary branch of the psychology of nations.

The concept of national character covers the typical qualities and psychological characteristics of an ethnic group that has a common territory, language, history, culture, customs, symbols that distinguish it from neighboring peoples.

What determines the type of national character? Professor Oleksandr Kulchytsky (France) identifies several aspects in the study of the Ukrainian mental structure: racial factors, geopsychic, historical, sociopsychic, cultural-morphic and deep-psychological causes.

For decades, some Soviet researchers have spoken out against racial factors and against the genetics of the national character. I. Cohn writes that "the biological interpretation of national psychology has always been typical of racist theories," and then, in order not to err against the truth, contradicts himself, explaining that racism is not the recognition of racial differences, but the assertion of the advantages of one race or nation. over another.

Race here is a group of people who have a common origin, certain inherited anthropo-biological, spiritual, psychological traits that it has created during its history and long residence in a common area.

The territory of narrative essay topics for high school students each nation has its own natural features and to some extent affects the formation of national character. The richness of the land of Ukraine contributed to the love of nature, lyricism, contemplation and peace. However, there is such a feature as lack of activity, because the fertile land gives a person without much effort.

Historical factors influence the militancy of the Ukrainian people, as this rich country has always needed protection from numerous invaders. Thus, an "adventurous Cossack" type of character was created.

Social factors, ie differences in the psychology of different social strata - almost unexplored branch of ethnology. Dmitry Dontsov expressed interesting views on this problem in his work The Spirit of Our Antiquity (Munich-Montreal, 1951), but this is discussed below.

The culture of a nation has been produced for a very long time; starting from the prototypes of ethnic mythology and ending with modern poetry.