The threat of intellectual decadence in the context of the deactualization of formal logic

Oleinikov Sergei Viktorovich Doctor of Politics Professor of the Department of Journalism, Transnistrian State University named after. T.G. Shevchenko 3300, Moldova, Republic of PMR, Tiraspol, ul. 25 October, 107 olen_serg@inbox.ru Granevskii Viktor Viktorovich PhD in Philosophy Professor of the Department of Philosophy and Social Communication, Transnistrian State University named after. T.G. Shevchenko 3300, Moldova, Republic of PMR, Tiraspol, ul. 25 October, 107 granevski@mail.ru

Nikonov Sergey Borisovich ORCID: 0000-0002-8340-1541 Doctor of Politics Professor of the Department of International Journalism, St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaya str., 7/9, 707 NikonovS@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Each generation of people has its own requirements for education. However, whatever these requirements, the need of society for creative, independent-minded specialists has always been and remains relevant.

Research in the field of logical thinking formation indicates that one of the most important tasks of modern higher education is to form skills in the implementation of logical operations for future specialists, in order to master various methods of logical thinking, as well as develop skills to use this knowledge in the educational process, and most importantly, in professional activities.

Witnessing the action of one of the basic laws of philosophy – the accumulation of quantitative changes and their transformation into qualitative ones, we observe the digital transformation of society, including all spheres of public life and often radically, beyond recognition, changing them. However, these changes do not always have a positive effect. The perception of information is changing qualitatively: its dynamism does not allow us to comprehend it in detail, and the clip consciousness of modern web users also reduces the level of critical thinking and perception of information flows of modern media. In this regard, the task of increasing the level of critical analysis of the mass media, as well as its ideological, and more broadly civilizational dimension, is of particular importance and relevance, which will allow us to assess the scale of the dynamics of its intellectual understanding.

Scientific thinking, evolving from everyday, everyday ideas to understanding the essence of phenomena, has always relied on the results of logical analysis as a means of mental activity. Logic, developing thinking, produces means, tools of thought. This was realized by the disciples and followers of Aristotle, combining his works on logic under the general name "Organon", which means "tool" in Russian, and in this case can be interpreted as "an instrument of thought" ^{[11, p. 159]}.

In their works, V.M. Aghanisyan, N.A. Podhoretskaya and other authors draw attention to the fact that in most cases, the difficulties encountered by students in studying a particular subject are due not only to the specifics and complexity of the discipline, but also to the lack of formation of general logical thinking techniques ^{[1, 10]}. That is why the logic course should become mandatory for all students, especially journalists, media professionals, educators and lawyers.

V. Svetlov in the article "Does a future teacher need logic?" stressed: "Dozens of journals and hundreds of books devoted to logical problems of various sciences are published all over the world, and various international congresses on logic and methodology of science are held every 4 years. Logic has turned into a highly intellectual and highly respected activity and is increasingly becoming the language in terms of which only a real synthesis of natural sciences and humanities is possible. This conclusion is confirmed by the impressive successes of artificial intelligence research, which has become a priority area of logical analysis, at least until the middle of the next century" ^{[15, p. 2]}.

In Russian history, logic has repeatedly been persecuted, ousted and alienated. It was attributed "sometimes to the "heresy of the Jews" (XV century.), sometimes it was perceived as the result of the influence of "Latinism" (XVII century.), then it was considered a manifestation of "one-sided Western rationalism" (XIX century.), then it was defined as "a characteristic feature of the metaphysical thinking of bourgeois philosophy" (XX century.)" ^[3]. The "cultural alienation" of formal logic, which is indifferent to religion and ideology, is most likely due to its formalism. In this regard, S.A. Troitsky writes: "deactualization is a deliberate displacement from the actual cultural space beyond the boundaries of official culture, i.e., depriving one or another phenomenon of the possibility of broadcasting its "image"" ^{[16, p. 71]}.

The essence of the phenomenon of ideologized science, which began to form simultaneously with the Soviet government, was the desire to create a "new" science or to rework traditional scientific ideas in accordance with the prevailing ideology. Scientific argumentation was unable to resist political accusations of "Menshevik idealism" and labeling, which often resulted in arrests and other repressions ^[2]. The phenomenon of ideologized science had a particularly deep and negative impact on formal logic, which for a long time was considered by supporters of Marxism-Leninism as a citadel of metaphysical thinking, an obstacle to the creation of a new proletarian science. Proponents of Marxist-Leninist dialectics considered formal logic as a "metaphysical" system alien to Marxism, competed with each other in exposing this "bourgeois pseudoscience" ^{[7, pp. 296-298]}. And only at the end of 1946, on the personal initiative of I.V. Stalin, the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) recognized the need to introduce logic in the graduating classes of secondary schools and restore it in universities (Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) "On teaching logic and psychology in secondary schools" December 4, 1946 / Uchitelskaya Gazeta. – 1946. – December 4. – № 55 (3184) // URL: https://runivers.ru/philosophy/chrono­graph/154945/#:~:text=CC%20BCP(b)%20precognized%20needed%20vest,in %20the area of %20psychology%20and%20logy (accessed 08.02.2024).

The reason why Stalin changed his attitude to traditional logic and, "according to rumors, even obliged Professor V.F. Asmus to read a short course in logic to members of the Politburo" ^[3] became clear only in 1950, when his book Marxism and Questions of Linguistics was published. In this work, the "leader of the peoples" consistently defended the idea of the immutability of linguistic and grammatical structures, moreover, their classless nature, and hence it was quite natural to realize the true nature of formal logical structures.

In 1979, the Communist magazine published an article by an unknown author, written in the spirit of Bolshevik maximalism, which proclaimed a class approach and partisanship in logic – a critique of logical positivism. Being the doctrine of "external forms of thinking", formal logic turns out to be hostile to the dialectical-materialistic concept of logic as a science of universal development and unity of opposites, which represents the "soul" of revolutionary theory" ^{[14, pp. 63, 69]}

The reasons for the periodic deactualization of logic by intellectuals in historical retrospect were outlined at the end of the last century by the Russian Kantian philosopher I.I. Lapshin in the essay "On the cowardice of thinking". According to Lapshin, there are two types of cowardice of thinking. The first one manifests itself in "indecision of a person, conclusions due to the fear of provoking resentment or persecution from others" ^{[8, p. 817]}. The second one has its origin not in fear of people, but in fear of some representatives in our own worldview: "We are often afraid to logically develop our thought to the end, anticipating that some conclusions will encroach on something very valuable for us" ^{[8, p. 818]}.

It was the latter conclusion that led to all attempts to de-actualize logic. It was about "the loss of fundamental formats of faith (XV century.) or the undermining of the belief in the divine inviolability of the monarchy (XVII century.), or the loss of national identity (XIX century.), or again about the loss of fundamental formats of faith, only not religious, but ideological (XX century.) – each time there was a fear to lose the necessary fundamental value of one's own consciousness, on which the most important interactions of a particular group of intellectuals with the outside world are built" ^[3].

The development of logical thinking in the learning process involves the development of the following skills among students of the educational programs "Journalism":

1. To interpret different types of concepts, as well as to identify the relationships between them. The student should be able to quickly compare the scope and content of the concept, moreover, to understand (and show by examples) why its content decreases with increasing volume of the concept, and vice versa. It is also necessary to be able to establish various relationships between concepts (species-generic, causal, sequence, part and whole relationships, opposites, contradictions, etc.). Knowing this, the student will easily discover his own mistakes or those of an opponent (or the author of this article). In addition, it should be borne in mind that the vast majority of words are ambiguous. Ambiguity in itself is not a disadvantage, but it conceals the potential for logical error. The content of the concept depends on the speech situation in which it is used, therefore, in the process of communication, discussion, it is always assumed that the meaning of the concepts used should remain unchanged throughout a specific communicative interaction. Certain difficulties are encountered in identifying the essential features of the studied phenomena, their generalization: students do not see the difference between generalizing facts and drawing conclusions based on operating concepts and judgments.

2. Correctly use situational words (concepts). These are words whose full meaning varies from situation to situation, and depends on who uses them, when and where. The variability of the meanings of situational words, including in case of erroneous or poor-quality assessment of the potential audience of a journalist or the media, an overestimated or underestimated level of complexity of media texts, may be the cause of erroneous conclusions. A certain difficulty is caused by the understanding of "unclear" (with vague or indefinite content) and "inaccurate" concepts (with an indefinite scope). An important issue in studying the topic of "Concepts" is the definition of the term "concept". This question is of great importance in scientific knowledge. In each discipline, we operate with a variety of concepts and categories that need precise definitions necessary for a successful dialogue, scientific dispute, which contributes to the further development of scientific knowledge.

3. Clearly understand the essence of the second form of logical thinking – judgment. In presenting this question, it is necessary to teach students the correct construction of a judgment, as well as the use of three-dimensional characteristics of terms in a judgment. This is important because not all judgments can freely swap terms. If we do this unconsciously or intentionally, then in some judgments the quantitative characteristics change and thus the content of the judgment is distorted. It is necessary to focus on the role and importance of this knowledge in the context of manipulative and suggestive technologies in mass media. In the topic "Inference", attention should be paid to the substantive and formalized aspects of various types of deductive, inductive reasoning and conclusions by analogy. It is important to teach students how to draw conclusions correctly, to determine which rules are violated when making incorrect conclusions. It is necessary to be able to mentally reconstruct a simple syllogism when it is used as an enthymeme, because in the absence of a smaller premise, serious mistakes can very easily be made. This technique is successfully used in practical classes when imitating talk shows, author's programs, as well as in disputes to mislead an opponent.

4. To understand and operate the laws of correct thinking. When writing and editing media texts, as well as in oral presentations on radio and television, and interviewing, it is important to follow the laws of correct thinking. Deviation from the requirements of the laws of logic is most often manifested in the inconsistency, unsubstantiated reasoning of journalists, their populism and declarativeness. This can be noticed by both a specific interlocutor and a mass audience, because the degree of logical culture of a journalist is very easily felt in any conversation, conversation, scientific dispute.

5. To master the logic of proof and refutation in order to avoid difficulties in modeling a thought experiment, operating with hypotheses. To show in detail (with a bias of application in practice) the role of argumentation, proof and refutation, rules and logical errors encountered in the process of discussion. Special attention should be paid to the various "tricks" used during the dispute. Thoughts and ideas are well received if they are well grounded. Empty declarations do not convince anyone. It should be borne in mind that the logical culture of a journalist is not limited only to observing formal rules of reasoning. It is only thanks to the reasonableness of statements and persuasiveness that one can hope to successfully achieve goals in interaction with a mass audience. When arguing his opinion, the journalist uses various techniques and arguments. The arguments selected by him give evidence, validity, value and other qualities that strengthen the statement. Logical means of argumentation contribute to the analyticity, rigor, unambiguity, and accuracy of statements. The sets of the strongest logical means of argumentation are contained in the language of formal logic.

It should be noted that the Western system of higher education "focuses" on the development of critical thinking, the basis of which is "classical formal logic, where the problem of applying the acquired knowledge in different spheres" of life is considered ^[18].

The state educational standards of the Russian Federation of basic and higher education of recent generations also focus on "the ability to analyze and synthesize new knowledge, establish cause-and-effect relationships," prove their beliefs (The main approaches to the formation of criteria for the development of FGOS by students // URL: https://s3525010.gosuslugi.ru/netcat_files/30/50/Formirovaniyu_kriteriev_osvoeniya_FGOS.pdf.pdf (date of application: 02/08/2024). To achieve these tasks, it is necessary to develop logical thinking in practical classes on formal logic, which is currently being gradually replaced from the curricula of humanitarian areas, including journalism and media communications.

The rapid development of information technologies and flows that drag the modern network user into the "information revolution" minimizes the time for critical analysis and comprehension of the entire volume of information consumed. In this situation, logical thinking is also at risk, which is replaced by bright posts, rails and other newfangled formats, the intensity of the impact on the consciousness of which is proportional to the obsession, and sometimes aggressiveness in their presentation. As a result, the mass audience cannot withstand such an information onslaught, first of all, representatives of the younger generation give up and "go with the flow". The trust of Internet information among young people tends to increase significantly. Moreover, according to research, "respondents trust the Internet and close people almost equally. Thus, the Internet becomes a kind of "close", "related" source of information" ^[13]. In this regard, Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013 instructed to develop a unified concept of a school course on the history of Russia ^[17]. This idea was continued in the instruction of the head of state "to develop and include in the educational programs of higher education the course "Fundamentals of Russian statehood" (How to teach at the university "Fundamentals of Russian Statehood" / Rossiyskaya Gazeta. – FV No. 95(9040). – May 02, 2023. – URL: https://rg.ru/2023/05/02/patriotu-nuzhen-kurs.html (date of application: 02/08/2024). In addition, the Russian Historical Society has prepared a draft Concept for a university course in the history of Russia for university students of all fields and specialties (The concept of teaching Russian history for non-historical specialties and training areas implemented in educational institutions of higher education // URL: https://historyrussia.org/images/Doki/Conception_preparation_history_Of_Russia.pdf (date of application: 02/08/2024). According to the authors, the main idea of the concept is the need to form the principles of citizenship, patriotism and national unity. Regardless of their specialty, students will study the history of Russia for 144 academic hours from 2023. Teachers are advised to "avoid negative bias and vilification" when discussing problems and contradictions in Russian history. The authors of the project "pointed out the inconsistency of the Russian historical experience, the intertwining of the heroic and tragic in Russian history. But where and how the line between objective coverage of contradictory pages of history and "denigration" will pass is not predictably explained in the text. And this opens the way to panegyric teaching of history" ^[4].

Complementarity and intertwining of historical and logical methods allow us to move from the structure of the object and the laws of its functioning to the history of development and, conversely, from the laws of development to the structure of the object, i.e., studying development, we turn to the present for a better understanding of the past, while knowing the functioning of the object, we turn to the past to better understand the present. Historical retrospect shows that in most cases it is the instruction or instruction of the head of state that gives impetus to solving the problems of ideological stability and intellectual development of society. Following logic, understanding the continuity of historical and logical methods, the next tactical step in the strategic fight against intellectual decadence is likely again as a reaction of the relevant structures regulating the quality of education in the country to the President's initiative to raise the status of formal logic. It is this discipline that is able to develop the ability of students to analyze and synthesize new knowledge, establish cause-and-effect relationships, and prove their beliefs. The latter is extremely important in a world where, defending our positions, opinions and the right to exist, we have to face at the global level mainstream Russophobia, anti–Russian sentiments and attempts to humiliate or destroy the very concept of Russianness, and more broadly Russianness.

At the same time, unfortunately, we are witnessing how the process of deactualization of formal logic is gaining momentum – it is gradually being excluded from the curricula of pedagogical, philological, law and other faculties, despite the fact that it is practically the only discipline that studies the forms and laws of correct thinking. Another "crusade" against the course of formal logic fits into the framework of numerous conspiracy theories, according to which the reduction of a person's general culture, his worldview and ability to adequately reflect the surrounding reality, the total planting of mass culture are systematic steps to transform civil society into a submissive and devoid of critical thinking crowd.