(from lat. sensus - feeling, feeling, perception, meaning) - philosophy. and a psychological direction close to empiricism. In S. sensibility is recognized as the initial and main form of reliable knowledge. The classic formula of S. - "there is nothing in the mind that would not have been in the senses before" - goes back to antich. philosophy. Already the pre-Socratics, turning to sensory perception, tried from a psychological and physical point of view. describe the observed processes as a mechanical interaction of the sense organs and external objects, which is especially characteristic of Empedocles and atomists. Protagoras, having mastered the famous thesis of Heraclitus that everything flows, obeying the laws of the one, proclaimed man with his changing sensory experience as the measure of all things. He believed that since the perceptions of other people are not available, we are based only on statements about them. In an attempt to refute Protagoras, Aristotle, in addition to specific sensations associated with the organs of perception, considered “general feelings” corresponding to such primary characteristics of objects as movement, size, shape, and saw in the activity of sensibility a potential source of errors in cognition. The most consistent sensualists were the Cyrenaics, who believed that knowledge is based on perceptions, the causes of which are unknowable, as well as the Stoics and Epicureans (see: Stoicism, Epicureanism). Rejecting the non-experiential origin of sensuality, the Stoics taught that in the process of accumulating life experience, human consciousness is filled with images and concepts. Not having received wide distribution in the medieval tradition, S. is again affirmed in the philosophy of the Renaissance (in the works of B. Telesio, T. Campanella, F. Bacon, and others). Prominent representatives of S. were such English. philosophers of the 17th-18th centuries: T. Hobbes, J. Locke, J. Berkeley and D. Hume. Hobbes, under the influence of G. Galileo, P. Gassendim, and others, considered sensual qualities as forms of perception, and not the properties of things themselves, distinguishing, for example, the extent that is really inherent in bodies, and space as an image created by the mind. Locke insisted that all knowledge comes from external and internal experience, from sensation and reflection. Knowledge is based on simple ideas, from which, through connection, comparison, abstraction, the mind forms complex and general ideas (modes, substances and relationships). According to Locke, spontaneous power is inherent in the mind, and knowledge is true insofar as ideas correspond to reality. Berkeley believed that for a thing "to be" always means "to be perceived". Ideas (sensations), i.e. subjective qualities are passive and involuntary, and the content of sensations does not depend on us. At the same time, violating the original principle of his theory of knowledge, Berkeley introduced the idea of God, whose activity determined the emergence of all ideas of the human spirit. Hume added "internal experience" to "external experience" from which all former representatives of S. proceeded. He considered the primary perceptions to be direct impressions of external experience (sensations), while the secondary ones are sensory images of memory (ideas) and impressions of internal experience (affects, desires, passions). He asserted the dependence of simple ideas (i.e. sensory images of memory) on external impressions, and he interpreted the formation of complex ideas as psychological associations of simple ideas. S. Hume served as the foundation of positivism and neo-positivism of the 19th and 20th centuries. S. received a systematic justification in the works of fr. 18th century materialists (J.O. de La Mettrie, P. Helvetia, D. Diderot, P. Holbach and others), who associated sensations with the influence of the objective world and assumed that sensory perception determines all the spiritual creative abilities of a person. The theory of knowledge of S. was thoroughly developed by E.B. de Condillac, who became the founder of associative psychology. In 19th century philosophy L. Feuerbach, as well as representatives of positivism, defended the direct certainty of sensibility, which is the starting point of knowledge. In the 20th century empiriocriticism, developed by R. Avenarius and E. Mach, who believed that the sensations that underlie mood, feelings, and manifestations of the will, was a form of adaptation of a living organism to the environment, the result of evolution. Mach insisted that bodies do not cause sensations, but complexes of sensations, elements form bodies. Considering the elements to be neutral, he did not attribute them to either the physical or mental sphere. His concept has been subjected to many-sided criticism, but on the whole, M.'s ideas had a stimulating effect on the development of the theory of perception in the 20th century. The concept opposite to S. is rationalism. L.S. Ershov
Definitions, meanings of the word in other dictionaries:
General psychology. Dictionary. Ed. A.V. Petrovsky
Sensationalism (in psychology) [lat. sensus - feeling, sensation] - the doctrine that the basis of mental life is sensual images. In antiquity, representatives of a number of philosophical schools (Cyrenaics, Epicureans, in a more moderate form - the Stoics) were supporters of this doctrine....
Philosophical Dictionary
(lat. sensus - feeling, sensation) - a philosophical setting to emphasize the sphere of sensory experience: 1) in classical philosophy - an epistemological tradition, based on the interpretation of sensory experience as a semantically exhaustive basis of the cognitive process, and sensory ...
The latest philosophical dictionary
SENSUALISM (lat. sensus - feeling, sensation) is an epistemological tradition founded on the interpretation of sensory experience as a semantically exhaustive basis of the cognitive process, and sensory forms of cognition as priority cognitive procedures. Objectively, the elements of C can be ...
Psychological Dictionary
(from Latin sensus - feeling, feeling) - methodological position. It is characterized by the assumption that the entire content of mental life is exhausted by sensory impressions received in the process of the life of the subject of knowledge. This doctrine originates in the philosophical ...
1) Sensationalism - (lat. sensus - feeling, sensation) - a philosophical attitude to emphasize the sphere of sensory experience: 1) in classical philosophy - the epistemological tradition, founded on the interpretation of sensory experience as a semantically exhaustive basis of the cognitive process, and sensory forms of cognition - as priority cognitive procedures; 2) in non-classical philosophy - based on the rejection of classical logocentrism, the paradigm of non-rational articulation of the source of semantic and structural certainty of both text and extra-textual phenomena. Objectively, the elements of S. can be retrospectively discovered already within the framework of ancient Eastern (Charvaka, Moism, etc.) and ancient philosophy (sophistry, epicureanism, stoicism, etc.). The central problem of S. - the problem of the ontological status of the data of sensory experience - was formulated (in its radical version) already by Protagoras and Sextus Empiricus: sensory data make it possible to judge not so much about external objects as their cause, but about the states of the subject as their manifestation. Within the framework of the epistemological circle of the problems of ancient philosophy, the antithesis of sensory and rational cognition, which is axial for the future historical and philosophical tradition (the sophists, Socrates and Socratic schools, Plato), is also taking shape. In medieval scholasticism, the problems of S. are explicitly formulated in the context of the well-known dispute about universals: nominalism appears in the philosophical tradition as the fundamental basis of S. (Nicholas from Otrekur, Nikolai Orem, Jean Buridan, etc.), while the moderate position of conceptualism demonstrates synthetic tendencies interpretation of the sensual and rational aspects of cognition (cognitive syncretism of Peter Abelard, three "sources of reliable knowledge" - feelings, reason, faith - in John of Salisbury, etc.). In the context of the general naturalistic orientation of the Renaissance culture, the sensationalist tendency turns out to be dominant (experimental inductivism of Telesio, Campanella, Paracelsus; Galileo's "resolutive analyticism", etc.). The formation of modern natural science articulates S. as empiricism (F. Bacon, Hobbes, Gassendi, Condillac, La Mettrie). Hobbes's thesis "there is not a single concept in the human mind that has not been generated initially, in whole or in part, in the organs of sensation" actually reproduces isomorphically the programmatic thesis of ancient S. going back to the Stoics: nihil est in intellectu quod non sit us in sensu. The consistent implementation of this position leads to the reduction of scientific cognition procedures to the reconstruction of observational data: "everything that is inaccessible to the senses is incomprehensible to the mind" (Helvetia), which in the future is the basis of a neo-positivist strategy focused on eliminating "metaphysical judgments" from the language of science. On the other hand, it is in the New European S. that the impetus is given to the formation of a methodological program for the synthesis of empiricism and rationalism: the activity of the mind is interpreted as the formation of abstract ideas and abstract concepts "from the observed" (Locke). C. 17th c. extrapolates the principle of sensibility to the sphere of being, giving it ontological characteristics: "to exist means to be perceived" (the famous esse - percipi) y Berkeley, revived in the 20th century. in the context of ideas about the ontologically constituted sensory nature of the structural units of being: Russell's "sensitivity", "sense data" in neorealism, etc. The philosophy of the Enlightenment emphasizes the opposite of Berkeley's: to exist means to be perceiving ("sensitivity" in Diderot as "a general and essential property of matter"). S. forms the main vector of development of the epistemological concepts of the Enlightenment (Helvetius, Holbach, Diderot, etc.), founded on the widely used in the 18th century. Hartley's "vibrational theory" (an analogy characteristic of French materialism between the sensory ability of a person and musical keys or strings that experience external influences). This approach actualizes the comprehension of the conditions for the possibility of unity of the data of sensory experience, which is problematic in an extremely sensualistic position, which sharply poses the problem of sensory synthesis in the historical and philosophical tradition: from the problem of "association of ideas" in Hume to the problem of "transcendental unity of apperception" in Kant. With the emergence of transcendentalism, the emphasis in the opposition of S. and rationalism (the dichotomy of the sensible and the intelligible) shifts in favor of the latter, however, S. retains his position in the positivist tradition (physicalism, the strategy of "logical empiricism" in logical positivism) and neorealism (the concept of "sensible data" and the cognitive program of "immediate realism"). Along with the classical epistemological articulation of S., the cultural tradition also demonstrates its moral-ethical and socio-pedagogical dimensions. So, in antiquity and in the culture of the Renaissance, S. acted not only in cognitive, but also in his ethical articulation - as a justification for the hedonistic moral paradigm (L. Valla, Bruni-Aretino, and others). The philosophy of the Enlightenment articulates a kind of social dimension of S., considering a person as formed under the influence of impressions (sensory experience) generated by the influence of the external environment (starting with Helvetius), which leads to differentiation in the educational tradition of educationism programs depending on the social context from the implementation: if in the future (under conditions of an ideal society in the evaluative sense), education is possible through the active inclusion of the individual in social life, then in the current conditions of a society that is far from perfect, isolationist education programs in the bosom of nature (Rousseau) turn out to be a priority. 3) In the philosophy of postmodernism - based on the rejection of classical logocentrism, the paradigm of non-rational articulation of the source of semantic and structural certainty of both text and extra-textual phenomena. In contrast to the classical philosophical tradition, within the framework of postmodernism, S. manifests itself in a different way. First of all, philosophizing in the paradigm of the "death of the subject" decentralizes the sensual sphere, depriving it of the phenomenon of "I" as its natural focus: "in the present there is no more I to feel. This does not mean that the cultural products of the postmodern era are completely devoid of feelings, rather these feelings... are now fluid and impersonal" (F. Jamison). Thus, the bearer of this kind of sensibility is not the subject (in whatever - epistemological, anthropological or sociological - articulation), but the phenomenon of "intensities" (Lyotar), "singularities" (P. Virilio), "singular events" as "impersonal and pre-individual" (Deleuze), etc. In this respect, "the end of the ego" means that the transition of culture to a postmodern state is marked by what Jamison has characterized as "the fading of affect." It is in this sense that Deleuze speaks of the "dispassionateness" and "indifference" of the event, for the expressiveness of the latter is not grasped in the personal modification of experience and "is perceptible only to the anonymous will that it itself inspires." In this context, classical S. is subjected to radical criticism by postmodernism as a phenomenon of traditional metaphysics: according to Derrida, "realism or sensationalism, empiricism are modifications of logocentrism." However, in its expansive (going beyond the framework of classical subject-object epistemology) and its impersonal interpretation, S. finds a second wind in postmodernism (with outwardly infrequent use of this term). The philosophical paradigm of postmodernism itself is interpreted in its meta-assessments as based on a special "postmodern sensibility" (Liotar, V. Welsh, A. Medzhill, etc.). Actually, the philosophy of the 20th century, which immediately preceded postmodernism. evaluates non-articulated sensually rationalist alienation as "eunuch objectivity" (Arend), introducing "elements of ... sensitivity into the trivial categories of academic science" (S.Volien) and setting an unconventional interpretation of the sensual sphere. The problem of the possibility of sensory experience turns out to be central to Merleau-Ponty's philosophy (cf. flesh of the world); a sensually articulated wave running through the "body without organs" is conceived as having a configuring potential and setting the certainty of "temporary organs" (Deleuze and Guattari); in the context of the signification paradigm, sensibility acts as the source of the meaning acquired by the text: "What is signification? This is the meaning (le sens) generated by sensory practice (sensuellement)" (R. Barth). It is precisely as the most obvious and concentrated expression of the sphere of sensuality that postmodernism assessed the phenomenon of sexuality (see Sex), which turned out to be in the focus of attention in postmodernist concepts and received a significantly broader interpretation, which allows us to speak of the actual representation in the postmodernist understood sexuality-sensuality as in the range from the analysis of sexualized forms of sensuality in Foucault to the paradigm of "erotic attitude to the text" in R. Barthes. (See Postmodern sensibility, Transgression.)
2) Sensationalism- the doctrine of which Condillac was a representative), according to which the source of our knowledge is feelings. Sensationalism is a form of empiricism.
3) Sensationalism- - direction in the theory of knowledge, according to which sensibility is the main form of reliable knowledge.
4) Sensationalism - (from lat. sensus - feeling, feeling, perception, meaning) - philosophy. and a psychological direction close to empiricism. In S. sensibility is recognized as the initial and main form of reliable knowledge. The classic formula of S. - “there is nothing in the mind that would not have been in the senses before” - goes back to antich. philosophy. Already the pre-Socratics, turning to sensory perception, tried from a psychological and physical point of view. describe the observed processes as a mechanical interaction of the sense organs and external objects, which is especially characteristic of Empedocles and atomists. Protagoras, having mastered the famous thesis of Heraclitus that everything flows, obeying the laws of the one, proclaimed man with his changing sensory experience as the measure of all things. He believed that since the perceptions of other people are not available, we are based only on statements about them. In an attempt to refute Protagoras, Aristotle, in addition to specific sensations associated with the organs of perception, considered “general feelings” corresponding to such primary characteristics of objects as movement, size, shape, and saw in the activity of sensibility a potential source of errors in cognition. The most consistent sensualists were the Cyrenaics, who believed that knowledge is based on perceptions, the causes of which are unknowable, as well as the Stoics and Epicureans (see: Stoicism, Epicureanism). Rejecting the inexperienced origin of sensuality, the Stoics taught that in the process of accumulating life experience, a person's consciousness is filled with images and concepts. Not having received wide distribution in the medieval tradition, S. is again affirmed in the philosophy of the Renaissance (in the works of B. Telesio, T. Campanella, F. Bacon, and others). Prominent representatives of S. were such English. philosophers of the 17th-18th centuries: T. Hobbes, J. Locke, J. Berkeley and D. Hume. Hobbes, under the influence of G. Galileo, P. Gassendim, and others, considered sensual qualities as forms of perception, and not the properties of things themselves, distinguishing, for example, the extent that is really inherent in bodies, and space as an image created by the mind. Locke insisted that all knowledge comes from external and internal experience, from sensation and reflection. Knowledge is based on simple ideas, from which, through connection, comparison, abstraction, the mind forms complex and general ideas (modes, substances and relationships). According to Locke, spontaneous power is inherent in the mind, and knowledge is true insofar as ideas correspond to reality. Berkeley believed that for a thing "to be" always means "to be perceived". Ideas (sensations), i.e. subjective qualities are passive and involuntary, and the content of sensations does not depend on us. At the same time, violating the original principle of his theory of knowledge, Berkeley introduced the idea of God, whose activity determined the emergence of all ideas of the human spirit. Hume added "internal experience" to "external experience" from which all former representatives of S. proceeded. He considered the primary perceptions to be direct impressions of external experience (sensations), while the secondary ones are sensory images of memory (ideas) and impressions of internal experience (affects, desires, passions). He asserted the dependence of simple ideas (i.e. sensory images of memory) on external impressions, and he interpreted the formation of complex ideas as psychological associations of simple ideas. S. Hume served as the foundation of positivism and neo-positivism of the 19th and 20th centuries. S. received a systematic justification in the works of fr. 18th century materialists (J.O. de La Mettrie, P. Helvetia, D. Diderot, P. Holbach and others), who associated sensations with the influence of the objective world and assumed that sensory perception determines all the spiritual creative abilities of a person. The theory of knowledge of S. was thoroughly developed by E.B. de Condillac, who became the founder of associative psychology. In 19th century philosophy L. Feuerbach, as well as representatives of positivism, defended the direct certainty of sensibility, which is the starting point of knowledge. In the 20th century empiriocriticism, developed by R. Avenarius and E. Mach, who believed that the sensations that underlie mood, feelings, and manifestations of the will, was a form of adaptation of a living organism to the environment, the result of evolution. Mach insisted that bodies do not cause sensations, but complexes of sensations, elements form bodies. Considering the elements to be neutral, he did not attribute them to either the physical or mental sphere. His concept has been subjected to many-sided criticism, but on the whole, M.'s ideas had a stimulating effect on the development of the theory of perception in the 20th century. The concept opposite to S. is rationalism. L.S. Ershov
5) Sensationalism - (lat. sensus - feeling, sensation) - epistemological tradition, founded on the interpretation of sensory experience as a semantically exhaustive basis of the cognitive process, and sensory forms of cognition as priority cognitive procedures. Objectively, the elements of S. can be retrospectively discovered already within the framework of ancient Eastern (Charvaka, Moism, etc.) and ancient philosophy (sophistry, epicureanism, stoicism, etc.). The central problem of S. - the problem of the ontological status of the data of sensory experience - was formulated (in its radical version) already by Protagoras and Sextus Empiricus: sensory data make it possible to judge not so much about external objects as their cause, but about the states of the subject as their manifestation. Within the framework of the epistemological circle of the problems of ancient philosophy, the antithesis of sensory and rational cognition, which is axial for the future historical and philosophical tradition (the sophists, Socrates and Socratic schools, Plato), is also taking shape. In medieval scholasticism, the problems of S. are explicitly formulated in the context of the well-known dispute about universals: nominalism appears in the philosophical tradition as the fundamental basis of S. (Nicholas from Otrekur, Nikolai Orem, Jean Buridan, etc.), while the moderate position of conceptualism demonstrates synthetic tendencies interpretations of the sensual and rational aspects of cognition (Abelard's cognitive syncretism, three "sources of reliable knowledge" - feelings, reason, faith - in John of Salisbury, etc.). In the context of the general naturalistic orientation of the Renaissance culture, the sensationalist tendency turns out to be dominant (experimental inductivism of Telesio, Campanella, Paracelsus; Galileo's "resolutive analyticism", etc.). The formation of modern natural science articulates S. as empiricism (F. Bacon, Hobbes, Gassendi, Condillac, La Mettrie). Hobbes' thesis "there is not a single concept in the human mind that has not been generated initially, in whole or in part, in the organs of sensation" actually reproduces isomorphically the programmatic thesis of ancient C that goes back to the Stoics: nihil est in intellectu quod non sit us in sensu. Consistent implementation of this position leads to the reduction of the procedures of scientific knowledge to the reconstruction of observational data: "everything that is inaccessible to the senses is incomprehensible to the mind" (Helvetius), which in the future is the basis of a neo-positivist strategy focused on eliminating "metaphysical judgments" from the language of science. On the other hand, it is in the New European S. that the impetus is given to the formation of a methodological program for the synthesis of empiricism and rationalism: the activity of the mind is interpreted as the formation of abstract ideas and abstract concepts "from the observed" (Locke). C. 17th c. extrapolates the principle of sensibility to the sphere of being, giving it ontological characteristics: "to exist means to be perceived" (the famous esse - percipi) by Berkeley, revived in the 20th century. in the context of ideas about the ontologically constituted sensory nature of the structural units of being: Russell's "sensitivity", "sense data" in neorealism, etc. The philosophy of the Enlightenment emphasizes the opposite of Berke's: to exist means to be perceiving ("sensitivity" in Diderot as "the general and essential property of matter"). S. forms the main vector of the development of the epistemological concepts of the Enlightenment (Helvetius, Holbach, Diderot, etc.), founded on the widely used in the 18th century. Hartley's "vibrational theory" (an analogy characteristic of French materialism between the sensory ability of a person and musical keys or strings that experience external influences). This approach actualizes the comprehension of the conditions for the possibility of unity of the data of sensory experience, which is problematic in an extremely sensualistic position, which sharply poses the problem of sensory synthesis in the historical and philosophical tradition: from the problem of "association of ideas" in Hume to the problem of "transcendental unity of apperception" in Kant. With the emergence of transcendentalism, the emphasis in the opposition between S. and rationalism (the dichotomy of the sensible and the intelligible) shifts in favor of the latter, but S. retains his position in the positivist tradition (physicalism, the strategy of "logical empiricism" in logical positivism) and neorealism (the concept of "sense data" and the cognitive program of "immediate realism"). Along with the classical epistemological articulation of C, the cultural tradition also demonstrates its moral-ethical and socio-pedagogical dimensions. So, in antiquity and in the culture of the Renaissance, S. acted not only in cognitive, but also in his ethical articulation - as a justification for the hedonistic moral paradigm (L. Balla, Bruni-Aretino, etc.) - The philosophy of the Enlightenment articulates a kind of social dimension of S, considering a person as being formed under the influence of impressions (sensory experience) generated by the influence of the external environment (starting with Helvetius), which leads to the differentiation in the educational tradition of educationism programs depending on the social context from the implementation: if in the future (under conditions of an ideal society in the evaluative sense ) upbringing is possible through the active inclusion of the individual in social life, then in the current conditions of a society far from perfection, isolationist upbringing programs in the bosom of nature (Rousseau) turn out to be a priority. M.A. Mozheiko
6) Sensationalism- (lat. "sensus", "perception", "feeling"), a direction in the theory of knowledge, according to which sensibility (sensations, perceptions) is the basis and main form of reliable knowledge. The basic principle of sensationalism - "there is nothing comprehensible that would not be in sensations" - was shared by both subjective materialists (P. Gassendi, T. Hobbes, J. Locke, K. Helvetius, D. Diderot, P. Holbach, etc.), who saw the conditionality of sensory knowledge by the objective world, and subjective idealists (J. Berkeley, D. Hume), who saw in sensory knowledge a sphere not connected with the external world.
7) Sensationalism- (from Latin sensus - feeling, sensation, meaning) - a theoretical-cognitive and psychological direction that derives all knowledge from sensory perceptions, depicting all phenomena of spiritual life as more or less connected complexes of sensations, the cause of which are internal or external irritations. The sensualists in antiquity, in particular, were the Cyrenaics and the Epicureans; in the Middle Ages, sensationalism was not widespread. In modern times, Locke laid the foundation for sensationalism with his well-known position: there is nothing in the intellect that was not previously in the feeling (Nihil est in intellectu, quod non prius fuerti in sensu). Systematic substantiation of sensationalism received from the French. educators, for example. in Condillac: sensory perception covers all spiritual abilities. Hume adds to the "external experience", from which all the former representatives of sensationalism proceeded, "internal experience": all the creative forces of the soul are nothing more than the ability to bind, rearrange and increase matter given with the help of feelings and experience. The opposite concept is rationalism. Empirio-criticism and positivism are extremely close to sensationalism.
8) Sensationalism- (lat. sensus - feeling, sensation) - a doctrine in epistemology, recognizing sensation as the only source of knowledge. If sensations are regarded as a reflection of objective reality, then consistent S. under certain conditions leads to materialism (Holbach, Helvetius, Feuerbach). But if only the subjective is seen in sensations, behind which allegedly nothing exists or there is an unknowable “thing in itself”, then S. leads to subjective idealism (Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Mach, Avenarius, Bogdanov). Therefore, S. in itself is not yet an expression of the materialistic line in philosophy. Sensations can become a necessary side of cognition only if they are organically united with other sides of the cognition process - practice and abstract thinking (Cognition, Theory and Practice. Rationalism, Contemplation, Empiricism).
Sensationalism
(lat. sensus - feeling, sensation) - a philosophical attitude to emphasize the sphere of sensory experience: 1) in classical philosophy - the epistemological tradition, based on the interpretation of sensory experience as a semantically exhaustive basis of the cognitive process, and sensory forms of cognition - as priority cognitive procedures; 2) in non-classical philosophy - based on the rejection of classical logocentrism, the paradigm of non-rational articulation of the source of semantic and structural certainty of both text and extra-textual phenomena. Objectively, the elements of S. can be retrospectively discovered already within the framework of ancient Eastern (Charvaka, Moism, etc.) and ancient philosophy (sophistry, epicureanism, stoicism, etc.). The central problem of S. - the problem of the ontological status of the data of sensory experience - was formulated (in its radical version) already by Protagoras and Sextus Empiricus: sensory data make it possible to judge not so much about external objects as their cause, but about the states of the subject as their manifestation. Within the framework of the epistemological circle of the problems of ancient philosophy, the antithesis of sensory and rational cognition, which is axial for the future historical and philosophical tradition (the sophists, Socrates and Socratic schools, Plato), is also taking shape. In medieval scholasticism, the problems of S. are explicitly formulated in the context of the well-known dispute about universals: nominalism appears in the philosophical tradition as the fundamental basis of S. (Nicholas from Otrekur, Nikolai Orem, Jean Buridan, etc.), while the moderate position of conceptualism demonstrates synthetic tendencies interpretation of the sensual and rational aspects of cognition (cognitive syncretism of Peter Abelard, three "sources of reliable knowledge" - feelings, reason, faith - in John of Salisbury, etc.). In the context of the general naturalistic orientation of the Renaissance culture, the sensationalist tendency turns out to be dominant (experimental inductivism of Telesio, Campanella, Paracelsus; Galileo's "resolutive analyticism", etc.). The formation of modern natural science articulates S. as empiricism (F. Bacon, Hobbes, Gassendi, Condillac, La Mettrie). Hobbes's thesis "there is not a single concept in the human mind that has not been generated initially, in whole or in part, in the organs of sensation" actually reproduces isomorphically the programmatic thesis of ancient S. going back to the Stoics: nihil est in intellectu quod non sit us in sensu. The consistent implementation of this position leads to the reduction of scientific cognition procedures to the reconstruction of observational data: "everything that is inaccessible to the senses is incomprehensible to the mind" (Helvetia), which in the future is the basis of a neo-positivist strategy focused on eliminating "metaphysical judgments" from the language of science. On the other hand, it is in the New European S. that the impetus is given to the formation of a methodological program for the synthesis of empiricism and rationalism: the activity of the mind is interpreted as the formation of abstract ideas and abstract concepts "from the observed" (Locke). C. 17th c. extrapolates the principle of sensibility to the sphere of being, giving it ontological characteristics: "to exist means to be perceived" (the famous esse - percipi) y Berkeley, revived in the 20th century. in the context of ideas about the ontologically constituted sensory nature of the structural units of being: Russell's "sensitivity", "sense data" in neorealism, etc. The philosophy of the Enlightenment emphasizes the opposite of Berkeley's: to exist means to be perceiving ("sensitivity" in Diderot as "a general and essential property of matter"). S. forms the main vector of development of the epistemological concepts of the Enlightenment (Helvetius, Holbach, Diderot, etc.), founded on the widely used in the 18th century. Hartley's "vibrational theory" (an analogy characteristic of French materialism between the sensory ability of a person and musical keys or strings that experience external influences). This approach actualizes the comprehension of the conditions for the possibility of unity of the data of sensory experience, which is problematic in an extremely sensualistic position, which sharply poses the problem of sensory synthesis in the historical and philosophical tradition: from the problem of "association of ideas" in Hume to the problem of "transcendental unity of apperception" in Kant. With the emergence of transcendentalism, the emphasis in the opposition of S. and rationalism (the dichotomy of the sensible and the intelligible) shifts in favor of the latter, however, S. retains his position in the positivist tradition (physicalism, the strategy of "logical empiricism" in logical positivism) and neorealism (the concept of "sensible data" and the cognitive program of "immediate realism"). Along with the classical epistemological articulation of S., the cultural tradition also demonstrates its moral-ethical and socio-pedagogical dimensions. So, in antiquity and in the culture of the Renaissance, S. acted not only in cognitive, but also in his ethical articulation - as a justification for the hedonistic moral paradigm (L. Valla, Bruni-Aretino, and others). The philosophy of the Enlightenment articulates a kind of social dimension of S., considering a person as formed under the influence of impressions (sensory experience) generated by the influence of the external environment (starting with Helvetius), which leads to differentiation in the educational tradition of educationism programs depending on the social context from the implementation: if in the future (under conditions of an ideal society in the evaluative sense), education is possible through the active inclusion of the individual in social life, then in the current conditions of a society that is far from perfect, isolationist education programs in the bosom of nature (Rousseau) turn out to be a priority. 3) In the philosophy of postmodernism - based on the rejection of classical logocentrism, the paradigm of non-rational articulation of the source of semantic and structural certainty of both text and extra-textual phenomena. In contrast to the classical philosophical tradition, within the framework of postmodernism, S. manifests itself in a different way. First of all, philosophizing in the paradigm of the "death of the subject" decentralizes the sensual sphere, depriving it of the phenomenon of "I" as its natural focus: "in the present there is no more I to feel. This does not mean that the cultural products of the postmodern era are completely devoid of feelings, rather these feelings... are now fluid and impersonal" (F. Jamison). Thus, the bearer of this kind of sensibility is not the subject (in whatever - epistemological, anthropological or sociological - articulation), but the phenomenon of "intensities" (Lyotar), "singularities" (P. Virilio), "singular events" as "impersonal and pre-individual" (Deleuze), etc. In this respect, "the end of the ego" means that the transition of culture to a postmodern state is marked by what Jamison has characterized as "the fading of affect." It is in this sense that Deleuze speaks of the "dispassionateness" and "indifference" of the event, for the expressiveness of the latter is not grasped in the personal modification of experience and "is perceptible only to the anonymous will that it itself inspires." In this context, classical S. is subjected to radical criticism by postmodernism as a phenomenon of traditional metaphysics: according to Derrida, "realism or sensationalism, empiricism are modifications of logocentrism." However, in its expansive (going beyond the framework of classical subject-object epistemology) and its impersonal interpretation, S. finds a second wind in postmodernism (with outwardly infrequent use of this term). The philosophical paradigm of postmodernism itself is interpreted in its meta-assessments as based on a special "postmodern sensibility" (Liotar, V. Welsh, A. Medzhill, etc.). Actually, the philosophy of the 20th century, which immediately preceded postmodernism. evaluates non-articulated sensually rationalist alienation as "eunuch objectivity" (Arend), introducing "elements of ... sensitivity into the trivial categories of academic science" (S.Volien) and setting an unconventional interpretation of the sensual sphere. The problem of the possibility of sensory experience turns out to be central to Merleau-Ponty's philosophy (cf. flesh of the world); a sensually articulated wave running through the "body without organs" is conceived as having a configuring potential and setting the certainty of "temporary organs" (Deleuze and Guattari); in the context of the signification paradigm, sensibility acts as the source of the meaning acquired by the text: "What is signification? This is the meaning (le sens) generated by sensory practice (sensuellement)" (R. Barth). It is precisely as the most obvious and concentrated expression of the sphere of sensuality that postmodernism assessed the phenomenon of sexuality (see Sex), which turned out to be in the focus of attention in postmodernist concepts and received a significantly broader interpretation, which allows us to speak of the actual representation in the postmodernist understood sexuality-sensuality as in the range from the analysis of sexualized forms of sensuality in Foucault to the paradigm of "erotic attitude to the text" in R. Barthes. (See Postmodern sensibility, Transgression.)
doctrine of which Condillac was a representative), according to which the source of our knowledge is feelings. Sensationalism is a form of empiricism.
The direction in the theory of knowledge, according to which sensibility is the main form of reliable knowledge.
(from lat. sensus - feeling, feeling, perception, meaning) - philosophy. and a psychological direction close to empiricism. In S. sensibility is recognized as the initial and main form of reliable knowledge. The classic formula of S. - “there is nothing in the mind that would not have been in the senses before” - goes back to antich. philosophy. Already the pre-Socratics, turning to sensory perception, tried from a psychological and physical point of view. describe the observed processes as a mechanical interaction of the sense organs and external objects, which is especially characteristic of Empedocles and atomists. Protagoras, having mastered the famous thesis of Heraclitus that everything flows, obeying the laws of the one, proclaimed man with his changing sensory experience as the measure of all things. He believed that since the perceptions of other people are not available, we are based only on statements about them. In an attempt to refute Protagoras, Aristotle, in addition to specific sensations associated with the organs of perception, considered “general feelings” corresponding to such primary characteristics of objects as movement, size, shape, and saw in the activity of sensibility a potential source of errors in cognition. The most consistent sensualists were the Cyrenaics, who believed that knowledge is based on perceptions, the causes of which are unknowable, as well as the Stoics and Epicureans (see: Stoicism, Epicureanism). Rejecting the inexperienced origin of sensuality, the Stoics taught that in the process of accumulating life experience, a person's consciousness is filled with images and concepts. Not having received wide distribution in the medieval tradition, S. is again affirmed in the philosophy of the Renaissance (in the works of B. Telesio, T. Campanella, F. Bacon, and others). Prominent representatives of S. were such English. philosophers of the 17th-18th centuries: T. Hobbes, J. Locke, J. Berkeley and D. Hume. Hobbes, under the influence of G. Galileo, P. Gassendim, and others, considered sensual qualities as forms of perception, and not the properties of things themselves, distinguishing, for example, the extent that is really inherent in bodies, and space as an image created by the mind. Locke insisted that all knowledge comes from external and internal experience, from sensation and reflection. Knowledge is based on simple ideas, from which, through connection, comparison, abstraction, the mind forms complex and general ideas (modes, substances and relationships). According to Locke, spontaneous power is inherent in the mind, and knowledge is true insofar as ideas correspond to reality. Berkeley believed that for a thing "to be" always means "to be perceived". Ideas (sensations), i.e. subjective qualities are passive and involuntary, and the content of sensations does not depend on us. At the same time, violating the original principle of his theory of knowledge, Berkeley introduced the idea of God, whose activity determined the emergence of all ideas of the human spirit. Hume added "internal experience" to "external experience" from which all former representatives of S. proceeded. He considered the primary perceptions to be direct impressions of external experience (sensations), while the secondary ones are sensory images of memory (ideas) and impressions of internal experience (affects, desires, passions). He asserted the dependence of simple ideas (i.e. sensory images of memory) on external impressions, and he interpreted the formation of complex ideas as psychological associations of simple ideas. S. Hume served as the foundation of positivism and neo-positivism of the 19th and 20th centuries. S. received a systematic justification in the works of fr. 18th century materialists (J.O. de La Mettrie, P. Helvetia, D. Diderot, P. Holbach and others), who associated sensations with the influence of the objective world and assumed that sensory perception determines all the spiritual creative abilities of a person. The theory of knowledge of S. was thoroughly developed by E.B. de Condillac, who became the founder of associative psychology. In 19th century philosophy L. Feuerbach, as well as representatives of positivism, defended the direct certainty of sensibility, which is the starting point of knowledge. In the 20th century empiriocriticism, developed by R. Avenarius and E. Mach, who believed that the sensations that underlie mood, feelings, and manifestations of the will, was a form of adaptation of a living organism to the environment, the result of evolution. Mach insisted that bodies do not cause sensations, but complexes of sensations, elements form bodies. Considering the elements to be neutral, he did not attribute them to either the physical or mental sphere. His concept has been subjected to many-sided criticism, but on the whole, M.'s ideas had a stimulating effect on the development of the theory of perception in the 20th century. The concept opposite to S. is rationalism. L.S. Ershov
(lat. sensus - feeling, sensation) - an epistemological tradition, founded on the interpretation of sensory experience as a semantically exhaustive basis of the cognitive process, and sensory forms of cognition as priority cognitive procedures. Objectively, the elements of S. can be retrospectively discovered already within the framework of ancient Eastern (Charvaka, Moism, etc.) and ancient philosophy (sophistry, epicureanism, stoicism, etc.). The central problem of S. - the problem of the ontological status of the data of sensory experience - was formulated (in its radical version) already by Protagoras and Sextus Empiricus: sensory data make it possible to judge not so much about external objects as their cause, but about the states of the subject as their manifestation. Within the framework of the epistemological circle of the problems of ancient philosophy, the antithesis of sensory and rational cognition, which is axial for the future historical and philosophical tradition (the sophists, Socrates and Socratic schools, Plato), is also taking shape. In medieval scholasticism, the problems of S. are explicitly formulated in the context of the well-known dispute about universals: nominalism appears in the philosophical tradition as the fundamental basis of S. (Nicholas from Otrekur, Nikolai Orem, Jean Buridan, etc.), while the moderate position of conceptualism demonstrates synthetic tendencies interpretations of the sensual and rational aspects of cognition (Abelard's cognitive syncretism, three "sources of reliable knowledge" - feelings, reason, faith - in John of Salisbury, etc.). In the context of the general naturalistic orientation of the Renaissance culture, the sensationalist tendency turns out to be dominant (experimental inductivism of Telesio, Campanella, Paracelsus; Galileo's "resolutive analyticism", etc.). The formation of modern natural science articulates S. as empiricism (F. Bacon, Hobbes, Gassendi, Condillac, La Mettrie). Hobbes' thesis "there is not a single concept in the human mind that has not been generated initially, in whole or in part, in the organs of sensation" actually reproduces isomorphically the programmatic thesis of ancient C that goes back to the Stoics: nihil est in intellectu quod non sit us in sensu. Consistent implementation of this position leads to the reduction of the procedures of scientific knowledge to the reconstruction of observational data: "everything that is inaccessible to the senses is incomprehensible to the mind" (Helvetius), which in the future is the basis of a neo-positivist strategy focused on eliminating "metaphysical judgments" from the language of science. On the other hand, it is in the New European S. that the impetus is given to the formation of a methodological program for the synthesis of empiricism and rationalism: the activity of the mind is interpreted as the formation of abstract ideas and abstract concepts "from the observed" (Locke). C. 17th c. extrapolates the principle of sensibility to the sphere of being, giving it ontological characteristics: "to exist means to be perceived" (the famous esse - percipi) by Berkeley, revived in the 20th century. in the context of ideas about the ontologically constituted sensory nature of the structural units of being: Russell's "sensitivity", "sense data" in neorealism, etc. The philosophy of the Enlightenment emphasizes the opposite of Berke's: to exist means to be perceiving ("sensitivity" in Diderot as "the general and essential property of matter"). S. forms the main vector of the development of the epistemological concepts of the Enlightenment (Helvetius, Holbach, Diderot, etc.), founded on the widely used in the 18th century. Hartley's "vibrational theory" (an analogy characteristic of French materialism between the sensory ability of a person and musical keys or strings that experience external influences). This approach actualizes the comprehension of the conditions for the possibility of unity of the data of sensory experience, which is problematic in an extremely sensualistic position, which sharply poses the problem of sensory synthesis in the historical and philosophical tradition: from the problem of "association of ideas" in Hume to the problem of "transcendental unity of apperception" in Kant. With the emergence of transcendentalism, the emphasis in the opposition between S. and rationalism (the dichotomy of the sensible and the intelligible) shifts in favor of the latter, but S. retains his position in the positivist tradition (physicalism, the strategy of "logical empiricism" in logical positivism) and neorealism (the concept of "sense data" and the cognitive program of "immediate realism"). Along with the classical epistemological articulation of C, the cultural tradition also demonstrates its moral-ethical and socio-pedagogical dimensions. So, in antiquity and in the culture of the Renaissance, S. acted not only in cognitive, but also in his ethical articulation - as a justification for the hedonistic moral paradigm (L. Balla, Bruni-Aretino, etc.) - The philosophy of the Enlightenment articulates a kind of social dimension of S, considering a person as being formed under the influence of impressions (sensory experience) generated by the influence of the external environment (starting with Helvetius), which leads to the differentiation in the educational tradition of educationism programs depending on the social context from the implementation: if in the future (under conditions of an ideal society in the evaluative sense ) upbringing is possible through the active inclusion of the individual in social life, then in the current conditions of a society far from perfection, isolationist upbringing programs in the bosom of nature (Rousseau) turn out to be a priority. M.A. Mozheiko
(lat. "sensus", "perception", "feeling"), a direction in the theory of knowledge, according to which sensibility (sensations, perceptions) is the basis and main form of reliable knowledge. The basic principle of sensationalism - "there is nothing comprehensible that would not be in sensations" - was shared by both subjective materialists (P. Gassendi, T. Hobbes, J. Locke, K. Helvetius, D. Diderot, P. Holbach, etc.), who saw the conditionality of sensory knowledge by the objective world, and subjective idealists (J. Berkeley, D. Hume), who saw in sensory knowledge a sphere not connected with the external world.
(from Latin sensus - feeling, sensation, meaning) - a theoretical-cognitive and psychological direction that derives all knowledge from sensory perceptions, depicting all phenomena of spiritual life as more or less connected complexes of sensations caused by internal or external irritations. The sensualists in antiquity, in particular, were the Cyrenaics and the Epicureans; in the Middle Ages, sensationalism was not widespread. In modern times, Locke laid the foundation for sensationalism with his well-known position: there is nothing in the intellect that was not previously in the feeling (Nihil est in intellectu, quod non prius fuerti in sensu). Systematic substantiation of sensationalism received from the French. educators, for example. in Condillac: sensory perception covers all spiritual abilities. Hume adds to the "external experience", from which all the former representatives of sensationalism proceeded, "internal experience": all the creative forces of the soul are nothing more than the ability to bind, rearrange and increase matter given with the help of feelings and experience. The opposite concept is rationalism. Empirio-criticism and positivism are extremely close to sensationalism.
(lat. sensus - feeling, sensation) - a doctrine in epistemology, recognizing sensation as the only source of knowledge. If sensations are regarded as a reflection of objective reality, then consistent S. under certain conditions leads to materialism (Holbach, Helvetius, Feuerbach). But if only the subjective is seen in sensations, behind which allegedly nothing exists or there is an unknowable “thing in itself”, then S. leads to subjective idealism (Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Mach, Avenarius, Bogdanov). Therefore, S. in itself is not yet an expression of the materialistic line in philosophy. Sensations can become a necessary side of cognition only if they are organically united with other sides of the cognition process - practice and abstract thinking (Cognition, Theory and Practice. Rationalism, Contemplation, Empiricism).
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from lat. sensus - perception, feeling) - a direction in the theory of knowledge, according to which sensations and perceptions are the basis and main form of reliable knowledge, and, because of this, opposes rationalism, since it professes the principle "there is nothing in the mind that would not be in the senses" (Locke). This was also followed by such thinkers and philosophers as Gassendi, Hobbes, Helvetius, Diderot, Holbach, Berkeley, Hume.
Great Definition
Incomplete definition ↓
SENSATIONALISM
lat. sensus - feeling, sensation) is an epistemological tradition founded on the interpretation of sensory experience as a semantically exhaustive basis of the cognitive process, and sensory forms of cognition as priority cognitive procedures. Objectively, the elements of S. can be retrospectively discovered already within the framework of ancient Eastern (Charvaka, Moism, etc.) and ancient philosophy (sophistry, epicureanism, stoicism, etc.). The central problem of S. - the problem of the ontological status of the data of sensory experience - was formulated (in its radical version) already by Protagoras and Sextus Empiricus: sensory data make it possible to judge not so much about external objects as their cause, but about the states of the subject as their manifestation. Within the framework of the epistemological circle of the problems of ancient philosophy, the antithesis of sensory and rational cognition, which is axial for the future historical and philosophical tradition (the sophists, Socrates and Socratic schools, Plato), is also taking shape. In medieval scholasticism, the problems of S. are explicitly formulated in the context of the well-known dispute about universals: nominalism appears in the philosophical tradition as the fundamental basis of S. (Nicholas from Otrekur, Nikolai Orem, Jean Buridan, etc.), while the moderate position of conceptualism demonstrates synthetic tendencies interpretations of the sensual and rational aspects of cognition (Abelard's cognitive syncretism, three "sources of reliable knowledge" - feelings, reason, faith - in John of Salisbury, etc.). In the context of the general naturalistic orientation of the Renaissance culture, the sensationalist tendency turns out to be dominant (experimental inductivism of Telesio, Campanella, Paracelsus; Galileo's "resolutive analyticism", etc.). The formation of modern natural science articulates S. as empiricism (F. Bacon, Hobbes, Gassendi, Condillac, La Mettrie). Hobbes' thesis "there is not a single concept in the human mind that has not been generated initially, in whole or in part, in the organs of sensation" actually reproduces isomorphically the programmatic thesis of ancient C that goes back to the Stoics: nihil est in intellectu quod non sit us in sensu. Consistent implementation of this position leads to the reduction of the procedures of scientific knowledge to the reconstruction of observational data: "everything that is inaccessible to the senses is incomprehensible to the mind" (Helvetius), which in the future is the basis of a neo-positivist strategy focused on eliminating "metaphysical judgments" from the language of science. On the other hand, it is in the New European S. that the impetus is given to the formation of a methodological program for the synthesis of empiricism and rationalism: the activity of the mind is interpreted as the formation of abstract ideas and abstract concepts "from the observed" (Locke). C. 17th c. extrapolates the principle of sensibility to the sphere of being, giving it ontological characteristics: "to exist means to be perceived" (the famous esse - percipi) by Berkeley, revived in the 20th century. in the context of ideas about the ontologically constituted sensory nature of the structural units of being: Russell's "sensitivity", "sense data" in neorealism, etc. The philosophy of the Enlightenment emphasizes the opposite of Berkeley's: to exist means to be perceiving ("sensitivity" in Diderot as "the general and essential property of matter"). S. forms the main vector of the development of the epistemological concepts of the Enlightenment (Helvetius, Holbach, Diderot, etc.), founded on the widely used in the 18th century. Hartley's "vibrational theory" (an analogy characteristic of French materialism between the sensory ability of a person and musical keys or strings that experience external influences). This approach actualizes the comprehension of the conditions for the possibility of unity of the data of sensory experience, which is problematic in an extremely sensualistic position, which sharply poses the problem of sensory synthesis in the historical and philosophical tradition: from the problem of "association of ideas" in Hume to the problem of "transcendental unity of apperception" in Kant. With the emergence of transcendentalism, the emphasis in the opposition between S. and rationalism (the dichotomy of the sensible and the intelligible) shifts in favor of the latter, but S. retains his position in the positivist tradition (physicalism, the strategy of "logical empiricism" in logical positivism) and neorealism (the concept of "sense data" and the cognitive program of "immediate realism"). Along with the classical epistemological articulation of C, the cultural tradition also demonstrates its moral-ethical and socio-pedagogical dimensions. So, in antiquity and in the culture of the Renaissance, S. acted not only in cognitive, but also in his ethical articulation - as a justification for the hedonistic moral paradigm (L. Balla, Bruni-Aretino, etc.) - The philosophy of the Enlightenment articulates a kind of social dimension of S, considering a person as being formed under the influence of impressions (sensory experience) generated by the influence of the external environment (starting with Helvetius), which leads to the differentiation in the educational tradition of educationism programs depending on the social context from the implementation: if in the future (under conditions of an ideal society in the evaluative sense ) upbringing is possible through the active inclusion of the individual in social life, then in the current conditions of a society far from perfection, isolationist upbringing programs in the bosom of nature (Rousseau) turn out to be a priority.
Great Definition
Incomplete definition ↓
Terms of Cinematic Semiotics
SENSATIONALISM
a doctrine in epistemology, recognizing sensation as the only source of knowledge.
Dictionary of Efremova
Sensationalism
m.
A philosophical direction that recognizes sensations as the only source of knowledge.
Ozhegov's dictionary
SENSUAL And ZM, a, m. A philosophical direction that recognizes sensations, perceptions as the only source of knowledge.
| adj. sensationalistic, oh, oh.
Dictionary Ushakov
Sensationalism
sensuals zm[se], sensationalism, pl. No, husband.(from lat. sensualis - sensual) ( philosophy). An idealistic philosophical direction that recognizes sensations, sensory perceptions as the only source of knowledge.
encyclopedic Dictionary
Sensationalism
(from Latin sensus - perception, feeling), a direction in the theory of knowledge, according to which sensations, perceptions are the basis and main form of reliable knowledge. Opposes rationalism. The basic principle of sensationalism is "there is nothing in the mind that is not in the senses"- shared by P. Gassendi, T. Hobbes, J. Locke, K. Helvetius, D. Diderot, P. Holbach, as well as J. Berkeley, D. Hume.
Beginnings of Modern Natural Science. Thesaurus
Sensationalism
(from lat. sensus - perception, feeling) - a direction in the theory of knowledge, according to which sensations and perceptions are the basis and main form of reliable knowledge, and, because of this, opposes rationalism, since it professes the principle "there is nothing in the mind that would not be in the senses" (Locke). This was also followed by such thinkers and philosophers as Gassendi, Hobbes, Helvetius, Diderot, Holbach, Berkeley, Hume.
Philosophical Dictionary (Comte-Sponville)
Sensationalism
Sensationalism
♦ Sensualisme
The doctrine according to which the source of knowledge is exclusively our sensations. This term is often used in a pejorative sense, which is incorrect. Epicureanism, for example, is a kind of sensationalism, when it claims that the three criteria of truth - sensations, anticipations and experiencing feelings - are reduced to the first group (Diogenes Laertius, X, 31-34), thus, feelings, as Lucretius emphasizes, are the source, the basis and guarantee of all true knowledge ("On the Nature of Things", IV, 479-521). It is not necessary only to turn sensationalism into stupidity. Neither Epicurus nor Lucretius ever claimed that one could "feel" truth as such, that a mere glance was sufficient to understand anything. Moreover, they quite clearly stated the opposite: that the nature of things cannot be known with the eyes (On the Nature of Things, IV, 385), that no sense organ is capable of perceiving atoms or emptiness, which, meanwhile, are the only real thing. Let this be paradoxical sensationalism, but it is nevertheless sensationalism, for it asserts: no truth is accessible to perception, but every truth is based on sensations. To know is not enough to feel. Hence, the sensationalism of Epicurus is also rationalism (in the broad interpretation of the term). But no knowledge is possible without sensations. Therefore, the rationalism of Epicurus is primarily sensationalism. Cognition means more than feeling, but this “more” itself (reason, anticipation, etc.) comes from sensations and depends on them (Diogenes Laertius, X, 32; “On the Nature of Things”, IV, 484). Hence, it is rationalist sensationalism based on a sensationalist theory of mind.
Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
Sensationalism
The term is new: it was introduced into general use by Cousin, who in his "Histori é géné rale de la philosophie" contrasts S. with idealism and, therefore, denotes by this term the direction that is now commonly called materialism. This meaning of the term S. did not survive. It is now customary to call sensationalism a well-known trend in the solution of epistemological questions, opposite to intellectualism or rationalism. The main views of S. are as follows. He denies innate ideas (Condillac, "Essai sur l" origine des connaissance h u maines", I, ch. 2, § 9), in other words, he recognizes only a derivative, not original meaning for the mind. S. reduces all knowledge to sensation: the mind receives all its content from sensations ("Nihil est in intellectu quod non ante fuerit in sensu"), and sensation - from experience, thus, the external world is the source and criterion of knowledge. This point contains both similarity and difference C. with materialism. Both directions claim that the source of all our knowledge is the external world, but the external world is understood by them in completely different ways. Materialism believes in the complete or partial identity of the content of sensations with the qualities of the object, which S. does not recognize. Condillac in his "Trait é des sensations" (ch. I, § 2) declares that a statue endowed with a sense of smell experiences only a purely subjective state when it smells the scent of a rose ("les odeurs ne sont à son égard que ses propres modifications ou manières d"ê tre"). On the question of the relation of sensations to the qualities of an object, Condillac completely refrains from judging, considering this question to be idle ("Tr. d. S.", 4th part, ch. 5, note to § 1). Thus, S. by no means leads to materialism; on the contrary, it is easier to deduce subjectivism from it (i.e., the denial of the possibility of knowing the external world and concluding that all knowledge develops entirely from internal states of consciousness). This makes S. related to subjective idealism (eg, Fichte); the difference between them lies only in the understanding of the activity of the subject. For subjective idealism, the essence of consciousness consists in the synthetic activity of the mind, and sensation is only one and, moreover, the lowest stage of this activity; for S., on the contrary, all the activity of consciousness consists in sensation, thinking is derived from it, etc. , § 2. Helvetius briefly expresses this idea in the words: "juger, c" est sentir ". It follows from this identification of thinking with sensation that there are no special laws of thought. The history of the formation of sensations, which Condillac recounted in detail in his Trait é des Sens., tells how memory, attention and thinking are formed by themselves from sensations, and how the illusion of independent spiritual processes independent of sensation is created; in reality, the necessity of thought is nothing but a habit or an association which, by virtue of frequent repetition, has become inseparable. All knowledge is always based on a certain sensation, therefore, knowledge can always be only private; generalizations do not correspond to anything real. The source of knowledge at the same time determines both its character and its limits; this source is thus the criterion of truth. Since sensation depends on impressions coming from outside - a position taken on faith by the sensualists - all experience is something accidental, irrational, relative, then all knowledge must be attributed to an accidental and relative character. Mill, based on psychological facts, gives the following definition of matter: matter or an object is nothing but a constant possibility of sensations. This definition is fully consistent with the spirit of S., and we already find hints of it in Condillac, from the point of view of which an object is a set of ideas about size, density, hardness, etc., i.e., a combination of ideas obtained from different categories of sensations , mainly of touch, and for the formation of an idea about an object it is not at all necessary to think of a carrier of qualities or a substratum. Such is S.'s epistemology in general terms. S. can be credited with the fact that he drew attention to a more detailed psychological analysis of the facts of sensation and perception, trying to determine the significance of sensations in cognition in general and the significance of individual categories of sensations. In this regard, the work of Condillac deserves special attention. However, the psychological analysis of S. suffers from the fact that it looks from a biased point of view on the facts to be analyzed. S., like a magician, puts into sensation everything that is not at all characteristic of sensation in itself and that S. triumphantly extracts from it. It is not sensation that creates consciousness, memory, imagination and thinking, but the synthetic activity of consciousness manifests itself in these different forms, depending on the different material with which it operates. S. mechanizes, belittles the activity of consciousness, and by its most elementary manifestation wants to judge all activity. Incorrect psychological analysis also corresponds to incorrect epistemological conclusions - an illegitimate restriction of the field of knowledge, an incorrect explanation of its features (for example, , the nature of mathematical knowledge), an incorrect indication of the criterion of truth. Historically, sensationalism has manifested itself in various ways and at different times, intertwined with materialism, empiricism, and subjective idealism; it is difficult, therefore, to write the history of S. without introducing alien elements into it. The connection of S. with materialism is cont r adictio in adjecto, for the very possibility of sensation, as Condillac was well aware, excludes materialism, assuming the existence of the ability of the spirit. In itself, S. is a well-known form of subjective idealism, opposite to that which (for example, Fichte the elder) sees the essence of the spirit in the activity of the mind. With empiricism, S. has a common point of departure in psychological analysis and a general view of the meaning of experience. In ancient times, S. can be noted in the systems of Epicurus and the Stoics. Sensations are formed, according to Epicurus, by the fact that images are separated from objects, which fall into the organs of sensation and are forcibly perceived by them. Every feeling is true. In sensations lies the criterion of truth; anything that does not meet this criterion is false. Although Stoicism developed in constant controversy with Epicureanism, the two schools of thought have much in common. The soul, according to the Stoics, is material; but the materialism of the Stoics contains pantheistic elements, which allowed them to insist on the unity of the soul, on the power of rational activity as the root feature of the human soul. The soul of the Stoics is not passive, like the Epicurean, but active. In the doctrine of sensation, the Stoics make an essential addition to the Epicurean theory: everything arises from sensations - in this the Stoics agree with the Epicureans; but in sensations, the Stoics add, the activity of the soul is manifested. In the statement of the Stoics that all ideas arise from sensations, that everything general is formed from the individual, that the criterion of truth lies in φαντασίαι καταληπτικαί and in the interpretation that they give to this criterion, the principles of S. are clear, with which the doctrine of the activity of the mind has not fully coped. Locke contributed to the spread of S. in the new philosophy; although he was an empiricist and considered himself partly a student of Descartes, it is nevertheless undoubted that his "Experiment on Human Understanding" contributed to S. Of the two sources of knowledge - sensations and reflection - Locke considered the first in much more detail. His doctrine of reflection suffers from the same uncertainty that is noticeable in his reasoning about substance, so that it was not difficult to deduce a consistent sensationalist doctrine from Locke. In the introduction to his "New Experiments on Human Understanding" Leibniz reduces the disagreement between S. and rationalism to several main points and Locke, although with reservations, ascribes the teaching of the sensualists that the soul is a tabula rasa, that all knowledge comes from external experience, not excluding mathematical truths, etc. Consistent S. we find in the writings Condillac, namely in his "Essai sur l" origine des connaissances humaines", "Traité des sensations" and "Trait é des systè mes". Despite the imperfection of his psychological method, the complete absence of an experimental nature in his research, built on speculative , a priori assumptions, Condillac's work retains significance in the history of psychology.Helvetius' book "De l" esprit "does not add anything fundamentally new to the Treatise on Sensations, although Helvetius has a greater inclination towards materialism than Condillac. Katt wrote an addition to Condillac in Trait é des sensations et des passions en géné ral. Boppé imitated Condillac in the sense that his starting point is an imaginary statue endowed with life. The whole school is called that. French ideologists are more or less dependent on Condillac, with whom some of its representatives argue, others agree. In recent times, Tolbe took over the defense of S. in the writings Neue Darstellung des Sensualismus (1855), Die Grenzen und der Ursprung der menschlichen Erkenntniss im Gegensatz zu Kant und Hegel (1865) and Grundz ü ge einer extensionalen Erkenntnisstheorie "(posthumous op., 1875, not completed). The S. of modern times again represents a turn from the phenomenalism of Condillac to materialism (such, for example, is the work of A. Mayer "a" Die Lehre von d. Erkenntniss "Lpts., 1875), explained by the general strengthening of materialistic tendencies in the 60s and 70s See Harms, "Die Philosophie in ihrer Geschichte" (I, "Psychologie", B., 1878, II: "Logik", 1887); Picaret, "Les id é ologues" (P., 1891) , Cousin, "Hist oire géné rale de la philosophie" (P., 1861).
Each person, individual is included in the system of social relationships. People, by their nature, could not live alone, so they unite in collectives. Often they have conflicts of interest, situations of rejection, alienation and other moments that can interfere with fruitful activity. The sociometric method in sociology is an effective means of identifying such problems. It has been repeatedly tested, and with its help it is possible to quickly establish the existing relationships and characterize them. The sociometric method was created by J. L. Moreno, an American scientist, researcher of the nature of human group relations.
Definition of sociometric method
There are several approaches to the definition of this concept. Firstly, the sociometric method is a system for diagnosing emotional or mutual sympathy between members of the same group. In addition, in the process of research, the degree of disunity-cohesion of the group is measured, signs of sympathy-antipathy of the members of the community in relation to authorities (rejected, leaders, stars) are revealed. At the head of are established intra-group cohesive formations (informal groups) or closed communities, positive, tense or even conflict relations, their specific motivational structure. That is, in the course of studying the group, not only the qualitative, but also the quantitative side of the preferences of the group members identified in the test is taken into account.
Secondly, the sociometric personality also denotes an applied direction, including the use and improvement of special tools in solving practical problems.
The origin and development of the sociometric experiment
The sociometric method was created in the 30s. 20th century American psychiatrist and sociologist J. L. Moreno, he also introduced the concept of "sociometry", which refers to the measurement of the dynamics of interpersonal relationships among members of one group. According to the author himself, the essence of sociometry lies in the study of the internal structure of social groups, which can be compared with the nuclear nature of an atom or the physiological structure of a cell. The theoretical foundations of the sociometric method are based on the fact that each side of social life - political, economic - is easily explained by the state of emotional relations between individuals. Specifically, this can be expressed in the manifestation of antipathy and sympathy for each other by people. That is, the author of the sociometric method believed that a change in psychological relations in small groups directly affects the entire social system. To date, this method has many modifications.
The Bulgarian sociologist L. Desev identified three areas of research that use sociometric methods:
- Dynamic or "revolutionary" sociometry, the subject of which is the group in action (J. L. Moreno and others).
- Diagnostic sociometry that classifies social groups (F. Chapin, J. H. Criswell, M. L. Northway, J. A. Landberg, E. Borgardus and others).
- Mathematical sociometry (S. Ch. Dodd, D. Stewart, L. Katz and others).
Soviet psychologists who made a great contribution to the introduction of this method were I. P. Volkov, Ya. L. Kolominsky, E. S. Kuzmin, V. A. Yadov and others.
According to Ya. L. Kolominsky, the psychological basis for studying relationships is the knowledge that the desire of one person for another comes from the desire to be closer to the object of affection. Moreover, the expression in verbal form should be recognized as a significant real indicator not only of understanding, but also of the presence of a need in a person in general.
Significance of the method and scope
The sociometric method of studying small groups and collectives is used by sociologists and psychologists in schools, universities, enterprises and organizations, sports teams and other associations of people to diagnose interpersonal relationships. For example, the results of such a study are of great importance in establishing the psycho-emotional compatibility of the crews of spacecraft and Antarctic expeditions.
The sociometric method of studying a group, according to A.V. Petrovsky, is one of the few ways to analyze interpersonal relationships in a small team, which are often hidden. At the present stage of science, creativity is manifested, aimed at studying this subject with new methods. In the future, the development of such methods and their application in conjunction with other methods will significantly expand the possibilities of sociology and psychology in the analysis of small groups. The role of the small group in society cannot be underestimated. It accumulates in itself social relations as a whole and transforms them into intra-group ones. This knowledge contains an important element of social management, built on a scientific basis.
Characteristics of the sociometric method
Research of this kind allows you to improve relationships in any team. But at the same time, this is not a completely radical method of resolving the internal problems of the group, therefore, most often they should be sought not in the antipathy or sympathy of group members for each other, but in deeper sources.
The sociometric method of research is carried out in the form of setting indirect questions, answering which the respondent makes a choice of specific members of his group, whom he would prefer to others in a certain situation.
There are options for individual or group testing. It depends on the age of the subjects and the content of the tasks. But, as a rule, the group form of research is more often used.
In any case, the sociometric method in the study of the group allows you to establish the dynamics of intra-group relations in a short time, in order to subsequently apply the results obtained in order to restructure groups, strengthen their cohesion and effectiveness of interaction.
Preparation for the study
The sociometric method in carrying out does not require much effort and time. The tools for the study are the sociometric survey form, the list of group members, and the sociomatrix. A group of people of any age can be studied: from preschool to senior. The sociometric method of studying preschoolers can be applicable, since already at this age children receive the first experience of communication and interaction. Criteria for sociometric choice are formed based on the tasks that are solved in the course of the study and the age, professional or other characteristics of the group under study. The criterion is, as a rule, a certain type of activity, and in order to perform such an individual will need to make a choice, that is, to reject one or more members of his group. It represents a specific question from the list. The situation of choice in the survey should not be limited. It is welcome if the applied criteria will be of interest to the employee: they should describe a specific situation. According to the content, the test criteria are divided into formal and informal. Using the first type, you can change the relationship to a joint activity, for the sake of which the group was created. Another group of criteria serves to study emotional-personal relationships that are not related to joint activities and the achievement of a common goal, for example, choosing a friend to spend free time. In the methodological literature, they can also be referred to as production and non-production. Criteria are also classified according to their focus on positive (“Which member of the group would you like to work with?”) Or negative (“Which member of the group would you not like to work with?”). The sociometric method assumes that the questionnaire, which contains instructions and a list of criteria, is created after their formulation and selection.
The list of questions is adapted to the characteristics of the group being studied.
Preliminary stage of the survey
The sociometric method of research is carried out in an open form, therefore, before the start of the survey, it is necessary to instruct the group. This preliminary stage aims to explain to the group the importance of the study, to point out the significance of the results for the group itself, to tell how much it is necessary to perform tasks with attention. At the end of the briefing, it is important to emphasize that all responses from group members will be kept confidential.
Approximate contents of the instruction
The text of the instruction may have the following content: “Since you were not familiar with each other, absolutely all your wishes could not be taken into account when forming your group. At the moment, the relationship has been formed in a certain way. As for its results, it will be beneficially taken into account by your management when organizing the activities of the team in the future. In this regard, we ask you to be extremely sincere when giving answers. The organizers of the study guarantee that individual responses will be kept confidential.”
Sociometric research method: procedure for conducting
There are some criteria regarding the numerical composition of the studied team. The number of group members in which the sociometric method works should be 3-25 people. However, there are examples of studies that allow the involvement of up to 40 people. The sociometric method of studying interpersonal relations in a group (labor collective) can be used provided that the work experience in it exceeds six months. An important component of preparation is the establishment of a trusting atmosphere of relations with the group. Otherwise, distrust of the experimenter, the suspicion that the answers to the questions can be used to the detriment of the respondent, can lead to refusal to complete the tasks or giving false answers. It is important that the study is not conducted by a person related to the team: the leader or a person who is part of the group. Otherwise, the results will not be reliable. It is also worth mentioning the invalid answer options that can be used. For example, it is embarrassing for a respondent to leave other members of the group outside the list when making a positive choice, so he can, guided by such a motive, say that he “chooses everyone”. In this regard, the authors and followers of the sociometric theory resorted to an attempt to partially change the survey procedure. So, instead of a free number of group members according to given options, respondents could be assigned a strictly limited number of them. Most often it is three, less often four or five. This rule has been called the “limit of elections”, or “sociometric restriction”. It reduces the likelihood of randomness, facilitates the task of processing and interpreting information, and makes survey participants more adequate and thoughtful in their responses.
When the preparatory activities are carried out, the survey procedure begins. In the sociometric method of research, each member of the group must take part. The subjects write down the names of the members of the group who are selected by them according to one or another criterion, and indicate their data in the questionnaire. Thus, the survey cannot be anonymous, since it is in these conditions that it is possible to establish relationships between members of the team. During the study, the organizer is obliged to ensure that the respondents do not communicate with each other, regularly remind that it is necessary to answer all questions. There is no need to rush the subjects in answering questions.
However, if they don't have a list of group members in front of them, eye contact can be allowed. For greater convenience and to eliminate inaccuracies, the names of those absent can be written on the blackboard.
The following selection methods are allowed:
- Limiting the number of choices to 3-5.
- Complete freedom of choice, that is, the respondent has the right to indicate as many names as he sees fit.
- Ranking of group members depending on the proposed criterion.
The first method is more preferable, but only from the point of view of convenience and simplicity in the subsequent processing of the results. The third is in terms of the reliability and reliability of the results. The ranking method eliminates the stress that may arise when choosing group members on negative grounds.
After the cards of the sociometric survey are filled out, they are collected from the members of the group and the procedure of mathematical processing begins. The simplest ways of quantitative processing of research results are graphical, tabular and indexological.
Options for processing and interpreting the results
In the course of the study, one of the tasks is to determine the sociometric status of a person in a group. It means the property of an individual to occupy one or another position in the structure under consideration (locus), that is, to relate in a specific way to the rest of the team members.
- Compilation of a sociomatrix. It is a table in which the results of the survey are entered, namely: positive and negative choices made by members of the study group. It is built according to this principle: horizontal rows and vertical columns have an equal number and numbering according to the number of group members, that is, in this way it is indicated who chooses whom.
Depending on the selection criteria, single and summary matrices can be constructed showing selections by several criteria. In any case, the analysis of the sociomatrix for each criterion can provide a complete picture of the relationships in the group.
Mutual elections are circled, if reciprocity is incomplete, then in a semicircle. Or, the intersections of columns and rows are marked with a plus sign in case of a positive choice or a minus sign if it was negative. If there is no choice, then 0 is set.
The main advantage of the matrix is the ability to present all the results in numerical form. This will eventually make it possible to rank the members of the group according to the number of elections received and given, to determine the order of influences in the group.
The number of choices received is called the group, which can be compared with the theoretically possible number of choices. For example, if a group consists of 11 people, the number of possible choices will be 9, so 99 is the number of theoretically possible choices.
However, in the overall picture, it is not so much the number of elections that matters, but the satisfaction of each respondent with his position within the group. With the data, a satisfaction ratio can be calculated, which is equal to dividing the number of mutually positive choices an individual makes. So, if one of the members of the group seeks to communicate with three specific people, but none of them chose him in the survey, then the satisfaction coefficient KU = 0: 3 = 0. This indicates that the respondent is trying to interact with the wrong people. who should.
- Group cohesion index. This sociometric parameter is calculated by dividing the sum of mutual choices by the total number of possible ones in the group. If the resulting number is in the range of 0.6-0.7, then this is a good indicator of group cohesion. That is, the sociometric method in the study of the group allows you to establish the state of intra-group relations in a short time, in order to subsequently apply the results obtained in order to restructure groups, strengthen their cohesion and effectiveness of interaction.
- Construction of a sociogram. Using the sociomatrix, it is possible to build a sociogram, that is, to make the presentation of sociometry visual in the form of a “target scheme”. This will be a kind of addition to the tabular approach to interpreting data.
Any circle in a sociogram will have its own meaning:
- The inner circle will be called the zone of stars, that is, the group of elected people into which the leaders who scored the absolute majority of positive choices were selected.
- The second circle, or preferred zone, will be made up of the members of the group who scored above average in the number of preferences.
- The third circle is called the neglected zone. It includes persons who scored below the average number of elections in the group.
- The fourth circle is closed by the so-called isolated ones. These include group members who have not received any points.
With the help of a sociogram, you can get a visual representation of the presence of groups in the team and the nature of the relationship between them (contacts, sympathy). They are formed from persons interconnected and striving for each other's choice. Quite often, the sociometric method reveals positive groupings consisting of 2-3 members, less often there are 4 or more people. This can be clearly seen on a flat sociogram, which depicts groups of individuals who have mutually chosen each other, and the existing connections between them.
The third option would be an individual sociogram. A purposefully or arbitrarily chosen member of the team is depicted in the system of connections established in the course of the study. When compiling a sociogram, they are guided by the following conventions: a male person is depicted as a triangle with a number corresponding to a particular person, and a female face is inside a circle.
After the processing of the received data is completed, a list of recommendations is compiled in order to correct the behavior and relationships between team members. The results are brought to the attention of the commanding staff and the group. Taking into account the calculations and other forms of analysis, a decision is made to change the composition of the team, the leader, or to transfer some members to other teams. Thus, the sociometric method in studying a group allows not only to identify problems in relationships, but also to develop a system of practical recommendations that can strengthen the team, thereby increasing labor productivity.
Despite the effectiveness and accessibility, sociometry as a method is currently not widely used in Russian psychological practice.
