Philosophy for non-philosophers and the future of technogenic civilization

Natalia V. Popkova, Dr. Sc. (Philosophy), Cand. Sc. (Engineering), Docent, Professor of Department of Humanities and Social Science, Bryansk State Technical University, e-mail: npopkova12@rambler.ru

The main functions of higher education as a social institution are considered — adaptive (a young person acquires a certain profession) and creative (development of the ability to creatively improve professional activity and evaluate its prospects from the point of view of global processes). It is shown that the humanities are indispensable for the implementation of the second, creative function, and philosophy occupies a central place among them: it synthesizes their results and provides terminology for their formulation. The social functions of philosophy that can help in the implementation of the creative function of education are listed: ideological (the formation of a holistic picture of the world based on spiritual values and discursive thinking), critical (development of methods for substantiating and verifying judgments), and creative (putting forward non-standard concepts, the discussion of which advances thinking to a new level). However, today it is philosophy and other humanities disciplines that are pushed into the background: among the reasons given are the insufficient awareness of many teachers in the field of modern philosophical developments and the narrowly pragmatic guidelines of the management of educational institutions. It is concluded that building a humane future is impossible without the humanization of education.

Keywords: philosophy, higher education, worldview, modern society, creativity, critical thinking, future of civilization

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