Scientific and Philosophical Rationality Inthe Context of Paradigms of Western and Eastern Philosophy

Abstract

The article examines the stages of development of ideas about rational thinking, rational scientific knowledge and science as such within the context of the so-called paradigms of philosophy. These paradigms are as follows: Ancient (it is based on the idea of ​​avoiding suffering and achieving happiness in a world alien and indifferent to human aspirations), Abrahamic (the paradigm of Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam with their monotheism, creationism, fideism), Modern scientific (based on the priority of scientific, beforehand natural knowledge and the picture of the world it offers), the traditional Indian (based on the idea of ​​reincarnation, the wheel of samsara and liberation from it) and the traditional Chinese (with its worldview organismism or a worldview that considers the universe as a single organism, the organs of which are individual people and other living beings). The first three paradigms represent the stages of development of the Western tradition, starting from ancient times to the present, while the Indian and Chinese paradigms are separate and independent that can in modern conditions represent certain worldview alternatives to Western ideas. The path of development of the Western tradition is analyzed in detail, it is shown that the key role in the formation of the Modern paradigm was played by the change in the perception of Western people from audio-tactile to visual caused by the invention of printing and the wide spread of reading (as it was demonstrated by the Canadian philosopher M. McLuhan). It is also shown that the development of each of these paradigms begins with existential questions about the place and role of the individual in society, which further leads to the raising of the corresponding physical and metaphysical questions with all the ensuing consequences. Rational thinking, scientific ideas and knowledge develop according to this scheme within the framework of each of these paradigms. Finally, at the end, the hypothesis is proposed that the current postmodern situation is caused on the one hand by the process of emancipation of the humanities, and on the other by the processes of cultural decolonization and the resulting worldview pluralism.