The author focuses on consciousness as a fundamental concept that indicates a person’s ability to generalization, rational conclusions, systematic knowledge and cognitive activity. It is noted that the variety of characteristics makes it necessary to limit ideas about the manifestations of consciousness, defining the latter based on the meaning prescribed for it. The author especially dwells on the specifics of cognitive psychology, which connects the phenomenon of consciousness with awareness of events, the stimuli of the surrounding world, and cognitive phenomena such as memories, thoughts, bodily sensations. It is shown that philosophers of different epochs described consciousness, first of all, proceeding from the correlation of internally conscious activity with cognition, and cognition with the received knowledge. Thus, a keen interest in this process among ancient thinkers manifested itself in the search for a specific location of memory and knowledge. Within the framework of the comparative approach, the position of the ancient Egyptians (shared by Greek philosophers, in particular, Aristotle), who believed that knowledge is in the heart, and the point of view of Plato, who believed that the brain is the focus of thought, are correlated. It is recorded that the philosophers of subsequent eras associated the phenomenon of consciousness with the manifestation of the supersensible in human, the principle of organization of which underlies being. It is concluded that this gave impetus to the formation of a methodology capable of describing the phenomenon of the supersensible in terms that are adequate to the worldview of a particular era.
For citation:
Shulga E.N. Phenomen of consciousness and the methodology of its study, Ivanovo State University Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2022, iss. 3, pp. 141—150.