Philosophy, its Subject, and its Role in Human and Societal Life

Worldview, its Structure, and Historical Types

Each person is confronted with questions that are the subject of philosophical inquiry. First, there are questions concerning the nature of the world: How is the world structured? Does it develop according to certain laws? Who or what determines these laws? What place belongs to regularity, and what to chance? Second, there are questions regarding the nature of the human being and their position in the world, the possibilities and prospects of their existence: Is the human being mortal or immortal? Can one discover their purpose in this world, or is this knowledge inaccessible? Are there limits to human cognition? What is truth? Third, every person is troubled by moral and ethical questions: What are conscience, honor, duty, responsibility, and justice? Can a clear line be drawn between good and evil? What is the meaning of life? All these questions reflect profound worldview needs of humanity.

What, then, is a worldview? A worldview is a collection of views, principles, and evaluations that form an integral conception of the world, a person’s place within it, and the meaning of their life and actions. It encompasses a broad array of scientific, philosophical, social-political, legal, moral, religious, and aesthetic orientations, convictions, and ideals.

The structure of a worldview is complex and includes the following key components:

• The cognitive component: generalized knowledge about the world, or a worldview.
• The value-normative component: values, ideals, norms—widely accepted notions of life's primary goals and the ways to achieve them. One of the main functions of a worldview is not only to provide a person with generalized knowledge but also to offer societal value-normative guidelines.
• The emotional-volitional component: for knowledge, values, and ideals to manifest in practical actions and deeds, they must be transformed into personal convictions and beliefs, fostering a psychological disposition to act.

Additionally, worldviews may include distinctions based on the balance between intellectual and emotional experiences:

• World understanding: a cognitive-intellectual level.
• World perception: an emotional-psychological level.
  Thus, the formation of a worldview involves not only the cold rationality of the intellect but also human emotions. Life in both the natural and social worlds elicits a complex range of feelings and experiences. People’s moods reflect the circumstances of their lives, their social standing, national traits, cultural background, individual fates, temperament, age, and health. Emotional attitudes may range from joyous to somber, selfish to generously open-hearted.

Regrettably, the 20th century has seen a disruption in the balance between the emotional and rational components of worldview, favoring the latter. The unprecedented acceleration of scientific and technological progress has fostered an exaggerated perception of the absolute priority of natural scientific and technical achievements over the humanities, of logical knowledge over emotional perception, and of material wealth over spiritual richness—posing a serious threat to the integrity of the individual. This issue is reflected in the works of prominent 20th-century thinkers such as Nikolai Berdyaev, Erich Fromm, and Albert Schweitzer.

Depending on the depth of understanding, the logical coherence, and the intellectual rigor of arguments, worldviews can be classified into two levels:

• The everyday level: formed spontaneously and based on common sense and daily experience. This is also called "life philosophy." At this level, worldviews are highly heterogeneous and influenced by national and religious traditions, as well as by professional activities. Emotions often outweigh reason.
• The theoretical level: a more systematic set of views, evaluations, and attitudes that provide a comprehensive vision and awareness of the world and the human place within it. This level is distinguished by depth and careful substantiation. Alongside science, philosophy also belongs to this level.

Worldview is personal knowledge, expressed in the form of convictions, ideals, and meanings that influence social orientation, one's choice of place in society, and way of life. A person’s entire life is, in a sense, an individual response to questions such as: What is happiness? What is love? What is friendship?

Thus, a worldview is an integral spiritual construct that represents a generalized system of views on the world as a whole and humanity’s place within it, motivating practical action, a certain way of living and thinking. At the core of any worldview lies the fundamental relationship between "humanity and the world."

Life in society is historically conditioned. Based on the principle of historicism and modes of thought, three types of worldviews are distinguished: myth, religion, and philosophy. Long before the emergence of philosophy, people found answers to essential questions about existence in mythology and religion. These forms of worldview offer distinct interpretations of the phenomena of the surrounding world and of humanity itself.

Historically, the first attempt to answer worldview questions in the context of primitive society was myth—a spiritual regulator of tribal life. The metaphorical form of thought, the blending of imagination and reality, the humanization of nature, and the absence of reflection lead us to regard this type of worldview as the emotionally-imaginative consciousness of humanity’s "childhood" epoch.

Religious worldview is another form of searching for the meaning of the world and an attempt to comprehend it. As the second historical type of worldview, religion is based on belief in God, accepting the divine revelation without requiring proof. Faith, not knowledge, is the foundation of the religious worldview.