An instinct is a congenital, strictly constant form of adaptive behavior specific to each type of organism, prompted by the basic biological needs of the individual and specific environmental stimuli. The instinct, like the unconditioned reflex, is an innate inherited reaction, but at the same time, the instinct is much more complex, and therefore it is called activity or behavior. To designate instinct, the following concepts are also used: “species-specific behavior”, “stereotypical behavior”, “innate behavior”, “genetically programmed behavior”, “complex of fixed actions”, etc. Instinct, in addition, is identified with the concept of “drive”, which means attraction, passion. Unlike unconditioned reflexes, which can be carried out not only with the participation of the brain stem, but also with individual segments of the spinal cord, higher parts of the brain are necessary for the implementation of instincts. The high species specificity of instinctive behavior is often used as a taxonomic feature along with the morphological features of a given animal species.
The instinct helps the animal to exist in its environment, little changing environment. The instincts of animals are manifold. They are always associated with the important biological needs of the animal. Examples of them are: sexual instinct (for example, mating in birds, fighting for a female), care for offspring (nursing larvae in ants, building nests, incubating eggs and feeding chicks in birds), herd instincts that encourage animals to unite in flocks, herds, etc.
Man is also endowed with innate inclinations and instincts, otherwise he could not live and develop. However, all purely human qualities are acquired by a person in the process of training and education. To educate a person means, first of all, to develop the ability to suppress and direct instinctive activity in the necessary direction. The innate behavior of a person plays an incomparably smaller role in comparison with the acquired behavior. In addition, in people, innate impulses are subject to cultural repression or adjustment in accordance with the requirements of society. At the same time, it should be taken into account that in a number of cases when the control of the cerebral cortex over the underlying, subcortical structures weakens (for example, in a state of sleep, intoxication, under the influence of drugs, etc.), instinctive activity manifests itself in a vivid form (for example, in form of heightened sexuality, aggressiveness, etc.). Generally accepted for a person are the instincts of self-preservation, procreation, social, self-improvement. The Austrian ethologist K. Lorenz adds to this list the "fight instinct" - aggression.
The instinctive behavior of humans and animals has a number of characteristic features:
1) it is highly adaptive and does not require prior learning. This creates clear advantages for animals with a short lifespan and for animals deprived of parental care;
2) instinctive behavior is species-typical, that is, it manifests itself in the same way in all organisms of a given species under identical external and internal conditions.
3) instinctive actions are programmed in the genes and are formed in the process of individual development, regardless of the experience of the animal or person.
Modern researchers believe that in higher animals and humans, instinctive behavior and learning do not exist in behavior on their own, but are intertwined into a single behavioral act.
Thanks to numerous studies by ethologists K. Lorenz, W. Craig, J. Fabre, N. Tinbergen, R. Chauvin, R. Hynd, O. Mening, D. Dewsbury, and others, the physiological mechanisms of instinctive behavior began to be clarified.
K. Lorentz proposed a theory called the "concept of disinhibition". According to this theory, the body is constantly ready to carry out various innate reactions, but the external manifestation of instincts is blocked, that is, suppressed by the processes of active inhibition emanating from the central nervous system. Each instinct has its own energy, the action of which is suppressed until the signals from sign stimuli produce disinhibition. Lorentz suggested that in a certain part of the brain there is a structure, which he called the "permissive mechanism", which is affected by sign stimuli.
K. Lorenz and his follower, the Dutch ethologist N. Tinbergen put forward the following provisions of the theory of instinctive behavior:
1) each instinct has its own energy;
2) the regulation of each instinct is carried out by a certain part of the brain - the center of the instinct;
3) centers of instincts are organized according to a hierarchical principle; the “switching on” of a higher center leads to an automatic “switching on” of the subordinate centers;
4) the "launch" of instinctive actions is suppressed by inhibitory processes;
5) disinhibition of the centers of instincts occurs either under the influence of signal stimuli (releasers), or spontaneously;
6) the implementation of instinctive actions leads to self-depletion of this activity for a certain period;
7) the value of the threshold of sensitivity to the releasers of a given instinctive activity is inversely proportional to the duration of this activity.
So-called internal and external factors are necessary for the manifestation of instinct. To internal factors manifestations of instinct include humoral-hormonal deviations in the body from the usual physiological level. Such deviations can lead to the performance of stereotyped instinctive actions by the body. Thus, the introduction of sex hormones to laboratory rats causes nest-building activity in them even in the absence of pregnancy.
In the natural conditions of the organism's life, internal factors alone are not enough for the manifestation of instincts. In addition to them, you need external factors, so called key, or triggers, incentives, or releasers(permits). Very often, in the absence of key stimuli, but in the presence of a corresponding need, the body begins to actively search for these stimuli. For example, the search for a partner during the period of sexual arousal, the bird's search for material for building a nest, etc. Thus, instinctive behavior is realized as a result of the interconnection of internal and external factors.
According to the ethological concept, the specific activity of internal factors is blocked by a system of neurosensory innate triggers. These mechanisms ensure the recognition and evaluation of key stimuli, after which the "block" is removed and a purposeful act is carried out. A specific set of external stimuli has been called key or trigger stimuli, since each of them approaches only its own “innate trigger” like a key to a lock. In addition to key stimuli, guiding stimuli are also isolated, which facilitate the orientation of animals and the search for key stimuli. Any physical or chemical attribute of an object can act as a key stimulus: shape, size, color, smell, and even the direction of movement of the object.
The flow of instinct, according to K. Lorenz and W. Craig, can be represented as a diagram: endogenous impulse (need) - a key starting stimulus - a set of stereotypical actions (sequence of motor acts) - "final act".
Instinct is capable of individual variability. It distinguishes between the most stable "ritualized" actions and its most changeable elements. True instinctive acts can be observed in animals only at their first manifestation. With each subsequent realization of them, many new, newly acquired conditioned reflexes simultaneously arise. These conditioned reflexes lead to an individual modification of a hereditarily programmed behavioral act.
Instinctive behavior is programmed in the CNS, and external factors can induce and correct behavior. W. Craig singled out two phases of holistic instinctive behavior: 1) search(preparatory, appetizing), for example, the search for prey by a predator; 2) termination behavior, for example, eating a prey by a predator. Search behavior is the most variable part of instinctive behavior, in which own life experience. The final behavior is the most stable, genetically fixed phase instinctive behaviour.
At present, it is generally accepted that the organization of instinctive behavior is carried out as follows. A key stimulus can launch a program of a behavioral act corresponding to it on the basis of "hard", genetically determined connections between sensory and motor systems. At the same time, the action unfolds according to the “key-lock” principle and is realized in a stereotypical motor act. Such a behavioral act is carried out regardless of the general external situation. In the organization of complex instinctive behavior, a significant role is played by the internal factors of the manifestation of instinct. The dominant need and the motivational excitation that arose on its basis increase the sensitivity of sensory systems that are selectively tuned to external stimuli that are adequate to this need. At the same time, selective activation of the nerve centers associated with the formation and launch of certain programs of motor acts aimed at searching for a key stimulus is carried out. As a result of an appropriate tuning of the central nervous system, the appearance of a stimulus that is adequate to the dominant need becomes effective for triggering a certain stereotypical instinctive behavior.
A unified classification of instincts has not yet developed. I.P. Pavlov called complex unconditioned reflexes instincts, which in turn he divided into food, sexual, parental, defensive. Distinctive features of instincts are the chain nature of reactions (the completion of one reflex serves as a signal for the next reflex) and their dependence on hormonal and metabolic factors. Thus, the emergence of sexual and parental instincts is associated with cyclic changes in the functioning of the gonads, and the food instinct depends on those metabolic changes that develop in the absence of food.
Quite often instincts are divided according to their origin into three main groups. The first group includes instincts, the origin of which is associated with changes in both the internal and external environment of the organism. This group includes homeostatic instincts aimed at preserving the internal environment of the body. An example of such instincts is drinking and eating behavior. The first group also includes the instinct of rest and sleep, the sexual instinct, the building instinct in animals (the construction of burrows, lairs, nests).
Instincts are confused with reflexes (conditioned and unconditioned) and innate needs. The last two concepts are applicable to a person, but instincts are not:
Here is a recent question about animals:
Or, for example, an overview article:
I will quote about the most popular, about the instinct of self-preservation:
So what happens? Expressions like "self-preservation instinct" are incorrect? But how then to call the “automatic” withdrawal of a hand from a hot stove or fire?! Yes, quite right, a person has an innate NEED for self-preservation. But it cannot be called an instinct, since we do not have the corresponding FKD, that is, an innate program of motor activity that would satisfy this need. Having pricked or burned, we withdraw our hand - but this is NOT an INSTINCT, but only a REFLEX (unconditional) TO PAIN IRRITATION. In general, we have a lot of protective unconditioned reflexes, for example, a blinking reflex, coughing, sneezing, vomiting. But these are the simplest standard reflexes. All other threats to the integrity of the body cause only such reactions that we acquire in the learning process.
Here is a good example. Reproduction is a brighter topic than the avoidance of death. If it has multiplied, then your life is no longer important, selection here is less pressing.
Doubts arise just remembering all sorts of childfree and just a lot of people unable to find a partner. Is it a human instinct? Or is it just an innate need without a fixed set of actions that ensures the success of any male guppy fish *?
*Danced, fins shook in a special way, welcome to mate, if the other did not drive away. But the other will also dance, without dance there is no love. The female simply won't "read" him as a male.
And what do we see in higher apes:
The Harlows raised 55 monkeys without mothers. When they became sexually mature, only one monkey showed interest in a sexual partner. Among the 90 other monkeys raised with the help of the dummy, only 4 became parents, but they also treated their cubs very badly. Some of them spent all their time sitting in one place, in complete indifference to others. Others assumed strange postures or squirmed unnaturally. The lack of maternal care left an imprint on them for life.
The evolution of instincts in a series of vertebrates is a gradual weakening of their formative influence and replacement by elements of experience. With the progressive development of the individuality of the animal, instinct is replaced by stereotypes where the reaction should be rigid and tough, by training and intelligence where and when a flexible response to the situation is necessary. Stereotypical and ritual forms of behavior are conservative and rigid, "intellectual" ones are plastic and easily improved, but both are developed by the social environment - the first within the framework of rational processes, the second through the creation of concepts of the situation.
It's called culture.
In attempting to show the similarities and differences between animals and humans, we must at least briefly discuss the problem of instincts, which we have already touched upon. Instincts occupy an important place in the nature and activity of animals and humans.
First of all, it must be warned that the very term "instinct" is rather ambiguous and obscure. Therefore, there are many different interpretations of it, and it is not so easy to determine exactly what instinct is, especially when it comes to a person 63 . Modern biologists and psychologists use and apply this term very carefully, even when applied to animals, because it is not always possible to distinguish instinct from poorly understood complex behaviors. Moreover, biologists, being new to philosophy, find themselves at a loss when it comes to distinguishing between instinct and thinking, and often call thinking what is actually instinct.
As a first approximation, one can use the definition of instinct given by William James: “[Instinct is] the ability to act in such a way that certain goals are achieved unexpectedly and without prior learning as to the way the activity is carried out” 64 . Instincts serve animals and humans so that they can develop, take care of self-preservation and produce offspring. Thus, they are designed to contribute to the preservation and development of an individual and the species as a whole. Features animal instinct are: a) a complex psychophysical attraction. This means that instinct belongs to the field of sensations, and not to the vegetative faculty. There are no instincts in the true sense of the word in plants. Although plants also "know" how to get food and how to reproduce, they are not called instincts. Plants react by reflexes; but instinct is much more complex than reflex; b) a specific complex and uniform desire, limited in a certain way, in each species of animal, aimed at achieving a specific goal and perfectly adapted to this. Bergson says that "instinct is sympathy" 65 ; c) the instinct is innate and manifests itself in such a way that the subject is unaware of its purpose. Instincts do not require learning, and therefore animals that grew up without parents act in the adult state in the same way as those: stereotypes of behavior are transmitted through genetic inheritance. As soon as the cubs are born, they are ready for action. Only in isolated cases do offspring undergo learning through imitation, such as learning to fly or how to capture prey to which they are instinctively drawn.
The instincts are distinguished by immediate precision and certainty, since they act autonomously and without error, although this activity is sometimes very complex. Further, instincts are permanent. This means that they are repeated unchanged in all individuals of this species: spiders do not improve the technique of making webs, and swallows do not make their nests more comfortable. The action of the instincts is specialized, that is, precisely oriented towards achieving a certain, very specific goal through the application of very specific measures. Each animal obtains food, builds a dwelling and produces offspring in a precisely defined way. Instinctive behavior is adapted to normal environmental conditions, although in some cases it has a certain flexibility, the ability to adapt to changing external circumstances. Some animals can repair damage caused by accident or human intervention.
We have also said that the behavior of the animal, prompted by instinct, is aimed at achieving a certain goal, but the animal is not conscious of this goal. This is evidenced not only by numerous experiments, but also by the fact that if they had a reflective knowledge of the end and means, they would modify and improve both, which they never do. Further, then there could be individuals - "renegades", but they do not exist. Each individual consistently performs the same as the rest. Spiders spin their webs with mathematical precision, where a human would need careful thought and planning to do so. With the spider, everything happens by itself, without any sign of prior knowledge, as if its actions were already predetermined. A person would have several different projects; in a spider it is always one, and one and the same. In addition, instincts tend to unconsciously "start" as a result of the impact of a specific external or internal stimulus and complete the action even when the original stimulus disappears.
Of course, we are all amazed at the amazing instinctive actions of animals. From the chick that forms inside the shell of an egg and, when fully developed, already “knows” how to break it open and come out, to the incredible foresight of some insects, such as ants, which clean and refill their stores in preparation for wintering, or bees building the most perfect combs for storing honey - there is a whole range of instinctive systems, the task of which is to ensure the survival of individuals and the safety of the species. In vertebrates, especially in higher mammals, which have a more developed "consciousness", instincts can undergo significant changes as a result of domestication and training, which develops conditioned reflexes 66 .
How instincts arose in different species of animals is a mysterious problem into which we cannot delve. Bergson considered instinctive activity to be a continuation of the physiological activity of the organism, as if some kind of “consciousness” was added (or awakened in them) to complex pre-existing physiological processes - at first very vague, and then gradually enlightened. Instinct continues the work of life in organizing matter, to the point where it becomes difficult to discern where organization ends and instinct begins. Instincts originate in a dark and subterranean region, vast and uncontrollable; in the dark depths of life, eluding rational definition. Here we come to Bergson's "life impulse."
The instinct "directs" what the animal does under its influence, and the more it directs, the more it is developed, the more perfectly adapted to the preservation of the individual and the species. The vital beginning, as it were, “inspires” the desire for a certain goal, and its achievement, accordingly, causes a feeling of satisfaction. The animal experiences a pleasant sensation from any action leading to a common goal, although this goal is unknown to him.
Instinct is a kind of "unconscious thinking" (Hegel), that is, thinking devoid of reflection, incapable of being present for itself. But precisely for this reason it necessarily refers to the higher ordering Thinking. This Thinking in the act of creation has programmed in matter the processes by means of which the survival, reproduction and development of species is ensured.
It cannot be denied that aspirations, which we call instincts, are also present in man. This is undeniable, despite discussions among instinctivists ( McDougall, K. Lorenz) and conductivists ( Watson, Skinner) who believe that our aspirations and motivations are determined only by learning. Generally speaking, in every normal person there are innate instincts or impulses that precede any thinking and learning and are aimed at preserving life, self-defense, reproduction, social coexistence, satisfaction of basic needs. After all, man is also a psycho-physiological being, and although his psyche and physiology are different from those of animals, he too has a nature endowed with innate aspirations. These aspirations determine the possibility of its survival, contribute to its development and the preservation of the species. A person also feels the need to satisfy his needs and finds satisfaction in their achievement.
One might ask: what is the difference human instincts from animal instincts? Obviously, the radical difference is that a person, experiencing an instinctive attraction, usually has conscious reflective knowledge the goal and object of attraction, as well as the ways to achieve it, with knowledge that animals do not have. Therefore, man is able to choose the means to achieve the goal, freely postpone the satisfaction of instinct, or even in many cases refuse to satisfy it at all. An unmarried man or a virgin woman experiences sexual desire, but does not give him physiological satisfaction for ascetic reasons of a higher order. Guided by humane or mystical motives, a person can refuse aggression, to which he is naturally inclined, and refuse even in a situation of legitimate self-defense. And so it is in many other cases.
In man, instinct is not such an unmistakable guide as in animals, for man, being a thinking and free being, can distort his own instincts, direct them into different channels - right or wrong. This explains, on the one hand, acts of heroism - for example, martyrdom or risking one's own life to save someone else's life, and on the other hand, vicious acts - abandoning children, terrorism, gluttony, alcoholism, etc.
The strongest human instinct seems to be the instinct of self-preservation, so strong that psychologists consider a suicide to be a person who commits an inhuman act, that is, a person who is not completely conscious and free. But with the exception of this point, the number of realities that a person can understand as the object of his instinctive drives is quite large. Therefore, he does not feel his obligation to give an unambiguous answer, but can choose between several objects, and choose correctly or incorrectly. Moreover, having chosen the object of aspiration, he can choose the means of achieving it. A person is able to invent stimuli that attract him (gastronomy in case of hunger, eroticism and pornography in relation to carnal lust, etc.).
Moreover, it is obvious that a person can set goals independently of instincts, and therefore is able to suppress or sublimate instincts, as already mentioned. He cannot but feel the instinctive desire, but it is in his power to suppress it when, under the influence of imagination, emotional complexes, or even rational calculation, it leads him to disorder or abuse. In the language of Aristotle, man does not have "despotic" power over instincts, but has "political" power. This means that a person can educate and curb instinctive aspirations, guided by higher values, and that through exercise he is able to develop in himself behavioral habits that rise above purely instinctive actions. It can be said that in the animal instinct is more biological than psychological - or rather, in the animal the psychic is born only from the biological. As for a person, the mental prevails over the biological in him, because the mental phenomena in a person are born not just from the biological, but from that unique nature in which two completely different components are merged - matter and spirit. Hence the radical difference between the instincts in animals and in man. Despite the fact that the very biological constitution of a person is absolutely different from the constitution of an animal, it is also overcome by a spiritual component. Therefore, in man, instincts, "animal nature" mean something completely different than in non-rational animals.
This complex unity and symbiosis of the material and spiritual gives rise to sharp contradictions between instinctive drives and higher values. These contradictions often cause great suffering to the individual. St. Paul writes about this in the Epistle to the Romans: “I do not understand what I am doing: because I do not what I want, but what I hate, I do ... For according to the inner man I find pleasure in the law of God; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and making me captive to the law of sin which is in my members” (Rom 7:15-23). The unity in which there are, on the one hand, aggressive and unreasonable instinctive drives in a person, and, on the other hand, the highest values of human nature, to which instincts must obey in order to rid a person of the dominance of the "animal nature" - this complex unity is one of causes of inner turmoil experienced by a person. If it is not possible to achieve a balance between them, then a person becomes a victim of neurosis - a purely human phenomenon that is absent in animals.
It should be warned that instincts are part of human nature, but by no means the whole of nature. It is often heard that some forms of instinctive behavior, such as extramarital sexual relations, are "natural." What is natural for a person is that which corresponds to his human nature. But human nature, as will be shown in another chapter, is a synthesis of matter and spirit. That's why naturally for a person, behavior that is consistent with such a system of values, in which the bodily is directed and headed by the highest spiritual values. So the carnal instincts must obey and be guided by the highest values of the spirit. Only then does a person act naturally, that is, in accordance with his nature. In the particular case of sexuality, chastity is natural; any sexual relationship outside of marriage is unnatural: it is bodily, but not natural. If by natural we understand only the bodily, then this will mean the identification of a person with an animal. What we have said about the sexual instinct is true of all the others.
The classification of human instincts has been examined many times, and the final conclusion is that unanimity on this issue is impossible. “Such attempts,” writes Gehlen, “are without exception doomed to failure for the same reasons as type theory: because of the arbitrariness of the premises. The “authentic” properties of a person were declared: power, egoism, sexuality, the instinct of imitation, the instinct of repetition, the desire for exteriorization, for self-affirmation, the instinct for evaluating, moving forward (paving one’s way), the desire for movement, for creation and destruction, and many other drives in all sorts of combinations. McDougall now speaks of eighteen basic instincts, among which are curiosity, the desire for pleasure, the desire for change of place and the formation of communities. At the same time, Watson increases the number of instincts to fifty. Shaffer states in "The psycologie of adjustment" that Bernard (1924), along with a hundred other authors, established the existence of 14,046 human activities that qualify as instincts! 69 .
Lersh divides psychologists, depending on their interpretation of instincts, into monothematics and polythematics: the first reduce all human instincts to one primary and fundamental aspiration; the second believe that the diverse human inclinations and aspirations are independent of each other. Freud and Adler occupy a special place among the former. Sigmund Freud (1856_1939) believes libido, or the instinct of pleasure, identified with sexuality, the basic dynamic factor of the instinctive nature. True, Freud understands sexuality in a broad sense, including among the sexual instincts all those purely emotional impulses that we usually call the word "love" (eros) in everyday language. The totality of unconscious libidinal drives is called "It" ( das Es): it is a source of biological-sexual energy, which is dominated and suppressed by the "I" ( der Ich) and - mainly - "super-I" ( der ber-Ich). At the end of his life, Freud preferred to talk about basic instincts: Eros, or life instinct, and Thanatose, or the instinct of destruction and death. The principles of reality and culture, originating in the prohibition of incest, serve as a means of suppressing instincts, making human life possible.
In a certain sense, the theory of Alfred Adler (1870-1943) is also monothematic. He argues that human behavior is determined not by the principle of pleasure and reality, as Freud thought, but by the will to power, the desire for superiority, for god-likeness. Sexual impulses are not primary, but are born from the thirst for dominance over other people. Adler believes that the cause of neuroses is not the suppression of sexuality, but an inferiority complex. Nietzsche's much more radical thinking is moving in the same vein.
The sexual instinct in Freud's theory, the will to power in the teachings of Adler and Nietzsche are relied upon as the primary instinct from which all other human instinctive impulses originate.
Otherwise, those whom we, following Lersh, call polythematics. Among them we can mention Kant, who calls the basic human instincts sexuality, egoism, the thirst for freedom, ambition, despotism and greed. Schopenhauer proposes to consider selfishness, villainy and compassion as the main instincts. McDougall, as already mentioned, distinguishes up to eighteen instincts, which also includes sneezing, coughing, etc. A. Pfander divides drives into transitive ones, the goals of which are outside my "I", and reflective, realized in my "I" . Between those and others are placed the instincts of possession, self-defense, striving for success, activity, power, self-respect. For his part, Ludwig Klages draws a distinction between vital, psychic and spiritual instincts 70 . Lists and theories can be given ad infinitum 71 .
After such a summary, we can agree with the classification of instincts proposed by the already mentioned Philip Lersch 72 . He subdivides impulsive drives, which can be identified with instincts, into impulsive experiences of vitality, impulsive experiences of the individual "I" and transitive impulsive experiences.
Under impulsive experiences of vitality it refers to those impulses that are directed to the awareness of life in its immediacy, originality and dynamism. These include: the desire for activity and movement, the desire for pleasure in general, libido or sexual desire and vital desire, but not in a general sense, but as an experience of any internal states that signify a feeling of the presence of life.
Impulsive experiences of the individual "I" give rise to a person's experience of perceiving one's own personality as the one and only "I". These include: the instinct of individual self-preservation (the desire for food, self-defense, the struggle for existence); selfishness aimed at establishing dominance over the world and other people, as well as over the world that opposes people. In this it differs from the animal self-preservation instinct, just as selfishness goes far beyond the bounds of biological necessity. The will to power also belongs to this class of instincts, but not in the radical Nietzschean sense, but as the desire to dominate the environment or reality in order to be able to dispose of it and have an undoubted sense of superiority over it. This instinct can degenerate into a desire for authoritarianism, oppression and dictatorship. Further, the need for respect belongs to this group of instinctive drives, because a person projects his individual “I” onto the horizon of superbiological values and needs recognition at this value level. Every person has a desire and a need to be something for someone. A person gets an idea of his own importance from the judgments of his own kind. Other desires of this kind are vindictive urges, which can degenerate into malice, and the need for self-respect and self-esteem.
Finally, there are transitive impulsive experiences, that is, such experiences that rise above the "I" and therefore sometimes come into conflict with biological and bodily aspirations. First of all, this includes aspirations directed at the neighbor, for example, the desire for living together and uniting, which Aristotle speaks of, calling a person a social living being. Further, this includes the desire to live for others: it is expressed in goodwill and in readiness to help. This desire is very reminiscent of love, but not as an instinctive attraction to the opposite sex, but as love-friendship and location. Such a feeling may be opposed by hostility, anger, hatred, cynicism, aggressive instinct, etc. Further, beyond the limits of the “I”, a creative need rushes, the desire to implement something in the world that will increase its objective value, which requires labor and effort. , rewarded by the received creative result. This also includes the desire for knowledge, to expand the horizons of knowledge. Further, within the framework transitive impulsive experiences normative aspirations, that is, aspirations for what should be, stand out. We are talking about what Kant tried to formulate in his theory of the moral categorical imperative, present in all people. And, finally, to this group of instincts belongs the inevitable striving for the absolute, eternal, infinite, perfect, absolutely true, absolutely good, absolutely beautiful. This desire originates in a person's feeling of weakness and fragility of his own being, as well as being in general. Therefore, it can be called striving for the highest.
Needless to say, this classification, although detailed enough, can be modified. Impulsive experiences originate in a complex and intricate complex of vital experiences of a person, and not always instincts or drives appear in a pure form. More often they are closely intertwined with each other.
One can also argue as to whether some of the listed actions are not instincts only by analogy, and especially in man: after all, learning, emotions, conscious or unconscious evaluation can be added to instinctive drives. Even less plausible is the assertion that all instincts come from one fundamental instinct: rather, they are connected with a single vital basis of human nature. Sometimes they appear only under the influence of an internal impulse, sometimes as a response to external stimuli. Instincts are movements that obey automatism. Some of them are stronger than others; the same instincts may have different degrees of intensity in different individuals or at different periods of life. All of them are amenable to education and can be curbed by reason, culture, the highest spiritual values, but, above all, by properly motivated freedom. A person is all the more human, the more he is able to achieve balance in curbing his instincts so that they serve the full and harmonious development of the person himself in accordance with his inherent values.
Other problems that arise in connection with instincts in animals and in man belong rather to the field of empirical psychology, or ethology than the philosophy of man. What has been said is enough to appreciate the undoubted qualitative differences between the one and the other.
Notes on the Fourth Chapter
1. When we say that a person arises after anthropoids, we mean only chronology. We do not claim that man descends exclusively from anthropoids by gradual evolution. In another chapter we shall consider the problem of the human soul, its nature and origin.
2. P. Teilhard de Chardin, Lephthnomandne humaine, Paris 1955, 181.
3. J. de Finance, Citoyen des deux mondes. La place de l "homme dans la crthation, Roma-Paris 1980, 67_68.
5. ibid.
6. E. Cassirer, Anthropologna Philosatfica, Mexico 1971, 56_57.
7. We rely mainly on Soubiri's study "El origen del hombre", Revista de Occidente 6 (1964), 146_173. Subiri uses anthropological data as it was known at the time of writing. But for us this is not so important, because the main question that occupies us is the philosophical question of a distinctive feature that allows us to assert that this creature is a person.
8. On this subject, see also E. Aguirre, La primeras huellas de lo humano, in M. Crusafont, B. Meléndez, E. Aguirre, La evolutionatn, Madrid 1974, 768_770; V. Marcozzi, Alla ricerca delle prime trace sicure dell "uomo, Gregorianum 41 (1960), 680_691.
9. X. Zubiri, a.c. 154_155.
10. Subiri himself warns that such an explanation in no way addresses the theological problem of bringing man into a supernatural state. This state of affairs was only possible homo sapiens. From the point of view of theology, only the stage is taken into account. homo sapiens; only to it belongs the person about whom the theology based on the book of Genesis and the epistles of St. Paul. Such exaltation is given as a gift, not out of necessity, although it has an internal character. The Church has never expressed itself as to what point in the evolution of mankind should be placed a rational living being and to what moment of its existence should be attributed the elevation to a supernatural state and communion with divine life, a.c. 173.
11. See already cited work El azar y la necesidad, Barcelona 1971.
12. E. Morin, El paradigma perdido, el paranso olvidado, Barcelona 1971.
13. E. Morin, El mthtodo. La naturaleza de la naturaleza, Madrid 1981.
14. A. Remane, La importancia de la teorna de la evolutionatn para la Anthropologna general, en H.G. Gadamer, P. Voglier, Nueva Anthropologna, t. I, Barcelona 1975, 310. Numerous examples of accidental or tradition learning are given here.
15. See E.O. wilson, Sociobiologna, Barcelona 1980; sobre la naturaleza humana, México 1980.
16. Juan Luis Ruiz de la Peca writes on this subject, crisis and apologna de la fe, Santander 1995. Edit. Sal Terrae, 155_209. The book contains many critical assessments and an extensive bibliography. The most interesting authors on the subject: Donald McKay, John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nathaniel Rochester, Claude Shannon etc. Some of the books mentioned have been translated into Spanish. A curious critique is collected in H. Seidil, Sulla concezione tomista del rapporto tra anima e corpo dell "uomo. Commenti ad una interpretazione informatica di esso, Angelicum 73 (1996), 21_66.
17. A. Gehlen, El hombre, Salamanca 1980, 15_17.
18. I. Eibl-Eibesfeld, Etologia. Introductionatn al estudio comparado del comportamiento, Barcelona 1979, 17. Eminent biologists A. Portman and F.J. Ayala also believe that, from the point of view of biology, it is necessary to recognize the uniqueness, inexplicability and incomprehensibility of man: his structure and activity is radically different from the structure and activity of all animals, including great apes. The essential properties of a person are based on a biological nature, but they go far beyond the scope of biology, reaching a higher, essentially different area. See A. Portmann, Biologische Fragmente zu einer Lehre vom Menschen, Basel 1951; Zoologie und das neues Bild des Menschen, Hamburg 1962; F.J. Ayala, Origen and evolutionatn del hombre, Madrid 1980.
19. On the topic of experiments with great apes, the book by W. Köchler became a classic, intelligentgenzprbfungen Anthropoiden, Berlin 1921.
20. A. Gehlen, El hombre, Salamanca 1980, 37.
21. M. Scheler, Gesammelte Werke, B. 9, Bern 1976, 44.
22. A. Gehlen, op. cit., 35.
23. M. Scheler, op. cit., 44.
24. A. Gehlen, op. cit., 94.
25. H. Plessner summarizes everything we have just said in three laws: the law of "natural artificiality", "mediated immediacy" and "placeless place". See H. Plessner, Die Stufen des Oorganischen und der Mensch, Berlin 1965, 309ff.
26. E. Cassirer, Anthropologna Philosatfica, México 1945, 71. We refer mainly to the analysis presented by Cassirer in this book on pp. 71_89.
27. M. Scheler, Die Stellung des Menschen im Kosmos, Gesammelte Werke, B. 9, bern 1976, 36_39.
28. We will not enter into a cosmological discussion about the nature of space itself, although the scholastic theory, which defines space as "a rational being supported by reality," seems to us correct. On this subject, see F. Subrez, Disputationes Metaphysicae, d. 51, s. 1, n. 10, 11, 23, 24.
28a. Temporality (from lat. tempus) - related to time; pertaining to time.
29. J. Maritain defines a symbol as follows: “ Sign-image(stands for some object by virtue of an assumed relation analogies'.J. Maritain, Quatre essais sur l "esprit, Qeuvres complites, VII, Fribourg Suisse 1988, 103_104.
30. See the work of Cassirer E., Philosophie der symbolischen Formen, 3 Bd., 1923_1929, written after the already mentioned Philosophical Anthropology.
31. See, for example, the synthesis of W.H. thorpe, Madrir 1980, cap. 3: Lenguajes animalses. The author takes a somewhat ambivalent position in relation to the person. Sometimes he speaks of an essential difference between animals and man (see, for example, pp. 353-358), sometimes he confines himself to affirming a quantitative difference: “Is there really a real gulf between them? [...] From the point of view of these characteristics, there is no such abyss” (269); see pp. 295_296 for language.
32. Op. cit., 280.
33. Op. cit., 281_286.
34. H. Delacroix, En los umbrales del lenguaje, Teotna del lenguaje y lingннstica general, Buenoa Aires 1972, 13_14.
35. E. Cassirer notes that W. Humboldt denied that different languages serve only to name the same objects. From his point of view, the difference in languages is explained not so much by the difference in sounds and signs, but by a different understanding of the world. See E. Cassirer, El lenguaje y la construccion del mundo de los objetos, in E. Cassirer, A. Sechehaye and others, Teorna del lenguaje y lingbistnca general, Buenos Aires 1972, 21.
36. E. Cassirer, Anthropologna filosatfica, México 1971, 70.
37.W.H. thorpe, naturaleza animal and naturaleza humana, Madrid 1980, 295.
38. See A. Gehlen, El hombre, Salamanca 1980, 315_323, which presents the findings of recent researchers such as Mc. Dougall, H. Paul, Wund, Jespersen, Kainz.
39. See M. Heidegger, Erlduterung zu Hclderlins Dichtung, Frankfurt am Main 1981; Hcderlins Hymne, Halle, s.a. Unterwegs zur Sprache, Pfullingen 1959; bber den Humanismus, Frankfurt am Main 1949.
40. See J. Monserrat, epistemologna evolutiva y Teorna de la ciencia, Madrid 1983. We cannot agree with the author regarding his emergence hypothesis - it seems to us unfounded; however, this work describes many theories of science very fully and in detail.
41 See J.M. de Alejandro, gnoseologna, Madrid 1974, 471.
42. S. Thomas, Contra Gentiles, I, I, c. 94; A. Millan Puelles, Lthxico filosatfico, Madrid 1984, Ciencia.
43. E. Cassirer, Anthropologna filosatfica, México 1971, 304.
44. "Eudemic Ethics", "Nicomachean Ethics", "Big Ethics", "On Virtues and Vices". We will not enter into a dispute, provoked by J. Zücher, about the authenticity of the treatises attributed to Aristotle.
45. S. Ramírez, De hominis beatitudine, t. I, Madrid 1942, 33.
46. See V. Frankl, Ante el vacio existencial, Barcelona 1980; El hombre en busca del sentido, Barcelona 1982; La presencia ignorada de Dios, Barcelona 1981.
47. M. de Unamuno, Del sentimiento tragico de la vida, Obras Completas, IV, Madrid 1950, 495.
48. Op. cit., 486.
49. We quote from the book by V. Frankl, Ante el vacnabout existential, Barcelona 1980, 114.
50. See, for example, the pamphlet E. Tierno Galván, Qthes el ser agnatstico? Madrid 1975.
51. S. Thomas, Contra Gentiles, III, c. XXV.
52. M. Scheler, Die Stellung des Menschen im Kosmos, Gesammelte Werke, B. 9, Bern 1976, 68.
53. Another problem is the subjective idea of the Absolute Existence, which is formed in each person. In Chapter II, we already talked about how Feuerbach, in his book The Essence of Christianity, explores the question of the causes of the emergence of religion and comes to the conclusion that God is only a projection outside the subjective internal needs of the individual, a fictitious and non-subjective personification of being, capable of satisfying the cravings of man. to truth, goodness, eternity and happiness. Feuerbach confuses the psychological aspect of religion with its ontological aspect. It's one thing what image God develops in some people, and another thing - exists whether God really is. Man's need in any of its forms is indeed a call to the absolute, to the divine. But it is wrong to say that the divine is only a figment of the imagination born of desire. Real accidental and transient being obliges us to ask ourselves about real the basis of random existence. Because real accidental by definition does not have in itself the cause of its own being, it refers us to the Absolute as real the basis of the existence of everything contingent.
Religiosity is explored in detail in the work of J. de Dios Martín Velasco, Phenomenologna de la Relogión, Madrid 1978.
54. On laughter, see H. Bergson, Le rire, Paris 1850; H. Plessner, La risa y el llanto, Madrid, Rev. de Occ., 1960.
55. The most important studies on the theme of the game: J. Huizinga, homo ludens, Hamburg 1956; E Fink, Das Spiel als Weltsymbol, 1960; Oase des Glbcks. Gedanken zur Ontologie des Spiels, 1957.
56. F. Engels, Anteil der Arbeit an der Menschwerdung des Affen, in Dialektik der Natur.
57. K. Marx, Das Kapital, t. I, sec. III, cap. V, Marx-Engels Werke, B. 1, Berlin 1975, 192.
58. Ibid., 193.
59. laborem exercens, n. 6, AAS 73 (1981), 590.
60 See M. Heidegger, Die Frage nach der Technik, in Vortrdge und Aussdtze, Pfullingen 1954, 13_44; Die Technik und die Kehre, Pfullingen 1962. See also J. Ortega-y-Gasset, Meditacion de la Tecnica, Obras Completas, V, Madrid 1955, 317_375.
61. Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution "Gaudium et spes", n. 53 Acta, vol. IV, period. IV, pars VII, Vaticano 1978, 53. See also G. Cottier, O.P., La culture du point de vue de l "anthropologie philosophique, Revue Thomiste 90 (1989), 405_425.
62. The differences between animals and man are beautifully presented by the edition of La civilta Cattolica, Chi and l "uomo? quaderno 3308 (April 16, 1988) 105_116.
63. For a discussion of the term "instinct" and its content, see J.L. pinillos, Principios de Psicologna, Madrid 1981, 218_228.
64. W. James, The Principles Of Psychology, t. II, London s.a., cap. XXIV, 383. See also N. Tinbergen, El estudio del instinto, Madrid 1969.
65 See H. Bergson, L"thevolution crthatrice, Paris 1917, 191.
66. With regard to the study of animal instincts, the work of K. Lorenz, bber die Bildung des Instinktbegriffes, 1937.
67 See H. Bergson, L"thevolution crthatrice, Paris 1917, 179_180.
68. See Aristotle, Politics, I, 5 1254 b.
69. A. Gehlen, El hombre, Salammanca 1980, 386.
70. We follow the exposition of Ph. Lersch, La estructura de la personalidad, Barcelona 1962, 101_104.
71. For the neurophysiology of instinctive drives, see J. Rof Carballo, biologna y psychoanblisis, Madrid 1972, Teorna y prbctica psicosombtickos, Bilbao 1984.
72. The theme of phenomenology and the classification of instincts is the subject of empirical psychology rather than the philosophy of man. Therefore, here we confine ourselves to reproducing the classification of instincts offered by such a serious and balanced psychologist as Ph. Lersch, La estructura de la personalidad, Barcelona 1962, 106_174.
73. It seems inappropriate for us to talk about animal ethics, as some biologists or ethologists do, because the very concept of ethics presupposes the existence of freedom, which animals certainly do not have. Another thing is the study of the connection of certain forms of human ethical behavior with the biological, genetic and neurophysiological basis of the personality, a connection that undoubtedly exists and can influence a greater or lesser degree of responsibility in the use of freedom or its abuse. For this topic, see T. Dobzhansky, Mankind Evolving: The Evolution of the Human Species, New Haven 1962; J. Ayala, Origen y evolution del hombre, Madrid 1980; K. Lorenz, Sobre la agresnon, Madrid 1976; E.O. wilson, Sociobiologna, Barcelona 1980.
A person, like any other living being, has three basic (basic) instincts: hunger, self-preservation, reproduction.
The realization of these three instincts is what people devote most of their time to, what causes the greatest interest. And even if it seems that some actions of people have nothing to do with these instincts, it’s worth “digging” a little deeper, as it becomes clear that, in many cases, everything comes down to one of these instincts.
Of course, the spiritual part of our life is also important. However, in the daily routine, the basic instincts come first.
These instincts are unequal for people. While all three are important, at certain points in time, any one of them can become more important than the rest.
For example: often the instinct of reproduction becomes more important than the instinct of self-preservation. It happens.
Those who understand how important these instincts are to us successfully manipulate us to achieve their own interests.
I will not be unfounded.
TV commercials mainly affect the basic instincts. Someday, when you are too lazy to switch the TV to another channel, analyze which of the three instincts is affected by each individual commercial. You will come across an interesting discovery: either "instincts" or "nonsense." And there are many more "instincts".
But advertising is flowers. Berries will follow.
Each television channel is "interested" in having as many viewers as possible, so that they watch, obsessed with instincts, advertising on this particular channel. The larger the audience, the greater the profit from the sale of advertising time. Everything is simple.
The most effective way to engage your audience is to talk about basic instincts.
Let's take it in order.
Have you ever wondered why cooking shows are so popular? All sorts of TV shows, at best, lose their novelty in a few seasons and, accordingly, the audience decreases, at the same time, culinary programs exist for many years, having a relatively constant viewer.
Our consciousness "sees" interesting communication, different recipes, and so on, and the subconscious mind "sees" FOOD. The subconscious from understanding that the basic instinct is realized, becomes calmer. Of course, food exists on TV, but most have a refrigerator where you can physically exercise your instinct, even if there is not what is on the screen.
Where there is undernourishment, there are no cooking shows.
Self-preservation.
On TV, this instinct is fully realized. Even too much. Constant stories about how something bad happened to someone, on the one hand, “magnetize” a person to the screen, and on the other hand, create a society of intimidated people who are easy to control.
Suppose a person wants to watch the news, find out what's new in the country, in the world, draw some conclusions for himself, but what does he see? Details of the most terrible crimes, traffic accidents and other accidents. Why is this needed? Who did it save? What information about all this, except for the realization of the instinct of self-preservation, gives a person?
The implementation mechanism is approximately the following: a compassionate consciousness sincerely empathizes with everything he sees, and the subconscious mind “rubs its hands pretty” - it’s good that it’s not with me. That's who we are, humans.
Have you noticed that from conversations on the topics “something good happened to someone” and “something bad happened to someone”, in the second case, the conversation turns out not only to be more interesting, but more “full”, whether.
For fun, on the evening newscast, try to count the number of deaths that were told to the whole country.
The details of human misery are not limited to news releases. There are separate programs where they talk about them in more detail, and there is even a separate TV channel that broadcasts about it around the clock.
Why is all this necessary?
On the one hand, for the accumulation of the largest number of viewers, and on the other hand, in order to distract the public from events that really matter.
Some TV channels, not the most popular, are not engaged in savoring someone else's grief. Honor and praise to them.
Someone will object that we have a “type” of democracy. Everyone says what they want and nothing can be banned. It's not really, really. There are non-political topics carefully "hushed up" by the media.
For example: on television, a discussion periodically arises on the topic: are there deaths after vaccinations? One side says that there are, the other says that it cannot be. If we average these two opinions, the output is "zero". The topic remains open. And "interested persons" only need that.
You might think that death is the worst thing that can happen in life.
At the same time, the occurrence of non-fatal complications is “hushed up”. And there are many of them. Ranging from a slight increase in temperature and ending with multiple sclerosis. And this is no secret. This is written in the instructions for vaccines. You can read yourself. It's just that they don't talk about it on TV.
The likelihood of a severe complication is small, but for whoever it happens to, the probability will be one hundred percent.
By the way, have you ever wondered why vaccinations are being started in our maternity hospitals? This is not because we have advanced medicine, which knows what the rest of the world has not yet thought of.
The thing is that pregnant women are "stupid". This is normal - a defensive reaction of the body. Until the adequate perception of reality is “turned on” in mothers, newborns are vaccinated with live Mycobacterium tuberculosis and a genetically modified antigen of the hepatitis B virus. And then, after a fight, they don’t wave their fists. Continue vaccinating.
There is also a third side of the coin, when in rich countries bad events and stories about them achieve their own financial and other interests.
Can't find inconsistencies? Some strange terrorists, who had never been seen before in illegal activities, go through the “non-childish” security service at the marathon in Boston, do their “dirty” work and, most interestingly, leave unhindered from there! After that, the main performer is physically destroyed, and his assistant is wounded in the neck in such a way that he cannot say anything in his defense. By and large, he, in general, cannot say anything. And wow, what a coincidence, their parents live in another country!
I think he confesses everything:
In the US, no one "knocks out" a sincere confession. And so they confess. Suspects of serious crimes are offered a choice: either “go into denial” and receive the death penalty, or take the blame and receive a “life sentence”. American freedom of choice.
At the same time, a controversy arises in society: maybe it is worth strengthening control and increasing the already huge security costs?
To whom is war, and to whom is mother dear.
In order to keep people in fear, you need to have the image of the enemy. George Orwell wrote about it. When there was the Soviet Union, it was simple: have you forgotten that most of us come from the "Evil Empire"? And now, when there are few enemies left, they must be protected. If they do not exist, who will remain, except for the mythical Al Qaeda? Don't be surprised by the word "mythical": have you heard anyone call themselves a member of Al Qaeda? The myth is impossible to prove. And even the destruction of the buildings of the World Trade Center is a topic that requires detailed consideration.
If there are no external enemies, the layman will ask himself: is it worth it to “spread out” trillions of dollars on defense? Maybe it's better to create a cure for cancer for this money, or do something else very good?
Therefore, no one is in a hurry to fight Syria, Iran or North Korea.
To intimidate your citizens, you need to periodically provoke external enemies:
Do you remember North Korea recently threatening its closest countries with nuclear weapons? And the fact that the United States was the first to start, bringing two B-2 strategic bombers to joint military exercises with South Korea, do you also remember this?
"Playing" on the instinct of self-preservation has become one of the most important topics in the media.
Reproduction.
Let's move on to the most interesting ...
Everyone revived. Do you feel how it affects you?
The implementation of this instinct on television is a problematic topic. For men. They love with their eyes. No matter how much noodles you hang on your ears, they still need to see. This is where the difficulty arises. You understand what. I think it is temporary: what was unacceptable a hundred years ago is normal now. What is unacceptable now will be normal in a hundred years. They will come up with some kind of “video recorder” of the most interesting moments. It is good, fantasy "works" better. So guys, let's live. In the meantime, "catch up" with the Internet. In the competition, he temporarily wins.
As for women, they are lucky. They mostly love with their ears. For them, on television, the instinct of reproduction is fully realized through the “talking about relationships”. And if you add the topic “child” or even “sick child” to this talking shop, the female part of the audience will “stick to the screen”.
Women buy more than 85% of all products (and they are still fighting for their rights). Therefore, the bulk of advertising and, accordingly, television broadcasting is designed for women. So, ladies, watch TV. And for men there is the Internet: 30% of the world's Internet traffic is pornography ...
INSTINCT
INSTINCT
Lit.: Darwin Ch., Instinct, 2nd see. ed., St. Petersburg, 1896; Morgan L., Habits and Instinct, trans. from English, St. Petersburg, 1899; Ziegler G. E., Instinct. The concept of instinct before and now, trans. from German, P., 1914; Wagner V. [A.], Biological Foundations of Comparative Psychology, vol. 1–2, St. Petersburg–M., 1910–13; his, What is instinct, SPB-M., [b. G.]; Borovsky V. M., Mental activity of animals, M.–L., 1936; Vasiliev G. A., Physiological analysis of some forms of chick behavior, in: Abstracts of works of the establishment of the Department of Biological Sciences of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR for 1941–43, M.–L., 1945; Gubin A. F., Honey bees and pollination of red clover, M., 1947; Promptov A. N., On the conditioned reflex components in the instinctive activity of birds, "Physiological Journal of the USSR", 1946, v. 32, No 1; his, Essays on the problem of biological adaptation of the behavior of passerine birds, M.–L., 1956; Quiet n. A., Ontogeny of monkey behavior. Formation of grasping and grasping reflexes in monkeys, in: Tr. Sukhumi biological. station Acad. Medical Sciences of the USSR, vol. 1, M., 1949; Mashkovtsev A. A., Significance for biology of the teachings of IP Pavlov on higher nervous activity, "Usp. modern biology", 1949, vol. 28, no. four; Pavlov IP, Twenty-year experience of objective study of the higher nervous activity (behavior) of animals, Poln. coll. soch., 2nd ed., vol. 3, book. 1–2, M.–L., 1951; Frolov Yu. P., From instinct to reason, M., 1952; Slonim A.D., Ecological in physiology and the study of the instinctive activity of animals, in: Proceedings of the conference on psychology (July 1–6, 1955), M., 1957; Ladygina-Kots H. H., Development of the psyche in the process of evolution of organisms, M., 1958; Malyshev S.I., Hymenoptera, their origin and, M., 1959; Krushinsky L., Instinct, BME, 2nd ed., Vol. 11.
N. Ladygina-Kots. Moscow.
Philosophical Encyclopedia. In 5 volumes - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia. Edited by F. V. Konstantinov. 1960-1970 .
INSTINCT
INSTINCT (lat. instinctus - motivation) - adaptive behavior to the environment, which is based on innate reflexes. Each or species of living beings has its own instincts, which are determined by the complexity of its anatomical and morphological structures and, first of all, the nervous system. The instinct reflects the useful experience of previous generations, realized in the form of behavioral reactions. The ability to improve instinctive actions is inherited. Instinctive behavior does not arise on its own - first of all, an appropriate biological attraction or (motivation) must arise, as a result of which the activity of the endocrine glands increases, the composition of the blood changes, the temperature rises or falls, etc. After this, the search phase begins, which can continue long enough - until the starting stimulus is found in the form of an external signal (the appearance of an individual of the opposite sex, smell, color, etc.). Only in this case, an instinctive motor reaction is triggered.
Instinctive behavior is characterized by stereotypy, expediency and automatism, but it makes sense only when external conditions remain unchanged. It is here that the main difference between instinctive activity and conscious activity lies: since in the first case there is no
conscious foresight of the results of activity, insofar as when external conditions change, it becomes meaningless. However, this lack of instinctive activity is somewhat mitigated by its plasticity. In the process of life, instincts can be weakened or strengthened, which makes it possible to rebuild instinctive behavior by developing conditioned reflexes or changing environmental conditions.
The main types of instincts include the instincts of nutrition, self-preservation, reproduction, orientation and communication with their own kind. A certain instinct can also be observed when one of them is sacrificed to the other. For example, the instinct of self-preservation can be suppressed by stronger parental or sexual instincts.
For the first time "instinct" in the sense of aspiration or impulse was used by the Stoic Chrysippus (3rd century BC) to characterize the behavior of birds and other animals. But the real study of instinct began only in the 18th century. thanks to the work of French materialists and naturalists. Some of them considered instinct a reduction (degeneration) of the mind; others, on the contrary, are its germ (Le Roy). La Mettrie argued that all living organisms have a "purely mechanical property" to "act in the best possible way for self-preservation." Lamarck believed that instinct comes from inherited habits resulting from the satisfaction of vital needs. According to Darwin, an instinct is a specific adaptive behavior that is formed due to the inheritance of acquired properties and natural selection, which has preserved varieties of simpler instincts that have arisen randomly but are useful to the species. I. Pavlov considered instinct as a complex reflex, through which the interaction of organisms with the environment is carried out.
The philosophical concept of instinct was developed by Bergson, who saw in instinct one of the two "sleeves" into which superconsciousness diverges, penetrating into matter. Unlike intellect, instinct is a standard, machine-like animal with its own object, conditioned by the very structure of the organism, and therefore does not need learning, memory or self-awareness. According to Vl. S. Solovyov, instinct is “the ability and desire for such actions that connect with irrelevance and lead to useful results” (Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron, Art. “Instinct”). “In the animal world, instinct is the only way of the internal presence and action of the general (kind) in the individual and the whole in parts ...”. Human instincts “cease to be a dark elemental attraction, are enlightened by the Consciousness and spiritualized by the highest ideal content” (ibid.). So, the instinct of self-preservation turns into “protection of human dignity”, the sexual instinct - into conjugal, etc. Solovyov noted that since the instinct requires “internal sensation and aspiration”, it makes no sense to use this term in relation to plants.
The vital activity of the lowest organized beings is completely determined by instinct, but as evolutionary development proceeds, their role diminishes, as they are replaced by more complex conditioned reflex activity based on individual experience. Human activity is determined by conscious motives, so instincts play a subordinate role here. However, when the control of the cerebral cortex over the underlying subcortical structures (sleep, intoxication, affects, etc.) is weakened, instincts can break out.
O. V. Suvorov
New Philosophical Encyclopedia: In 4 vols. M.: Thought. Edited by V. S. Stepin. 2001 .
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- (lat. instinctus, from instinguere to encourage). The natural impulse in animals is to seek what is useful for themselves and avoid what is harmful; self-preservation as an unconscious, involuntary impulse, instinct. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
