Kalinina G.N. Boundaries of Knowledge as the Boundaries of Mind Competence in Culture

Abstract: The subject of the research is the external and internal boundaries of science which define metamorphosis of non-scientific forms of knowledge at the boundaries of science. The object of the research is the relationship between science and non-scientific forms of knowledge from the point of view of their diachronic and synchronic dimensions. Special attention is paid to the boundaries outside which science cannot and should not be spread. It is due to the scientist's responsibility rather than the limits of the mind competence. Taking this into account, the problem of the boundaries of scientific or any other knowledge is related to the culture of rationality and thus acquires additional importance under new circumstances. The author of the article proves that destructive features of the industrial civilization where science plays the role of the innovative social code constitute grounds for the epistemological program of defining the boundaries of mind competence as it was introduced by Immanuel Kant. The main research method used by the author is the classical method of dialectics. This method allows to view the matter from the points of view of ontology, gnoseology, culture and history. When it was necessary, the author has also applied the phenomenological, hermeneutical and systems concept, thesaurus and contextual approaches to understanding and interpreting cultural phenomena. According to the author, philosophical interpretation of the boundaries of science or any 'other' knowledge is also important to understand the fact that there is no 'pure' science or 'pure' rationalism: the world of science involves a variety of other forms of knowledge (myth, theological concepts, intuition, mystical or esoteric experience); and all forms of knowledge are rational to a certain extent. In all cases metamoprhosis, interconversion and compatibility of all forms of knowledge at the boundaries of science and non-science can be observed. The article is devoted to philosophical problematic of the frontiers of scientific and other knowledge in the phenomenology of contemporary culture. Its leading sense acts to set the frontiers of science and other knowledge on the basis of ethical rationality and Biosphere ethics with a view to promoting the humanistic orientation of modern mankind in order to preserve the status quo and the intrinsic value of life itself.

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