Social Consciousness

The Primary Forms of Social Consciousness

Scientific Consciousness

In discussions of forms of social consciousness, science is often identified as one of them. This perspective is notably demonstrated by S. Krapivensky in his previously mentioned work, as well as by the authors of a textbook on social philosophy published by the Kharkiv publishing house "Prapor." However, this approach is difficult to endorse, as the concepts of "science" and "scientific consciousness" differ in their essence.

Traditionally, "science" is understood as a term denoting a domain of human activity whose function is the production and theoretical systematization of objective knowledge about reality. As for the concept of "scientific consciousness," it is virtually absent from philosophical reference works. Nonetheless, its meaning can be delineated by relying on the opposing concept of "scientific being." This, as we conceive it, refers to the totality of social relations among social subjects in relation to the surrounding reality, including its natural and social objects, subjects, and phenomena, founded on the scientific knowledge about them that has developed within society at a specific stage of its historical evolution.

Consequently, "scientific consciousness" should denote an intrinsic aspect of scientific being—the process of forming theoretically grounded and practically verified cognitive models of objects, subjects, and phenomena of both natural and social reality through the retention, preservation, and transformation of information about them, which is objectively characteristic of society at a particular historical stage of its development.

In characterizing the general traits inherent in social consciousness and its previously discussed forms, it should be noted that scientific consciousness is distinguished by its unique features.

The first feature of scientific consciousness lies in the fact that it is based on theoretically substantiated and practically verified knowledge.

The second feature, which is related to the first, is that the criterion for the existence of scientific consciousness is the adequacy of its reflection of objective reality.

The third feature of scientific consciousness is that it reflects reality through concepts, hypotheses, and cognitive, theoretical models. The integrating principle within the system of concepts established within this form of social consciousness is the category of "truth."

The fourth feature of scientific consciousness is its developmental nature, which manifests in the realization of progress in scientific cognition, determining its forward movement.

The fifth feature of scientific consciousness, related to the previous one, is that the development of this form of social consciousness serves as an important factor that facilitates the transformation of science into a direct productive force.

Like other forms of social consciousness, scientific consciousness possesses a complex structure and is a multi-level formation.

The first, lower level is represented by empirical scientific consciousness—a system of elementary scientific knowledge acquired through experience as a result of the direct engagement of social subjects with the objects of natural and social reality being studied.

Alongside this level of scientific consciousness lies scientific psychology, which encompasses foundational scientific propositions accepted as true without logical proof. These propositions underlie the justification of other scientific assertions, namely axioms, as well as scientific knowledge obtained intuitively, through direct insight into the truth without justification through proof.

A higher level of scientific consciousness is theoretical scientific consciousness or scientific theory, which concentrates valid knowledge about the essential connections among objects and subjects of reality, including the laws and regularities of their development.

This level is complemented by scientific ideology—a collection of theoretically substantiated and practically confirmed scientific propositions and conclusions that, when accepted as correct and necessary, are utilized by social subjects in their scientific research and other practical activities.

The structure of scientific consciousness also includes an element such as scientific self-consciousness—a specific characteristic of social subjects that is expressed in their delineation of themselves within scientific being, their self-assessment, and their evaluation of their capabilities in the scientific process.