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ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY – THE SOURCE OF INDIVIDUAL RATIONALISM
Rashidov Aziz Kamalovich
Kokand State Pedagogical Institute,
Republic of Uzbekistan
E-mail: acceduzzo056@gmail.com
orcid.org/0009-0002-3669-8482
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14203330
Annotation:
The article is devoted to the study of the philosophical views of the
philosopher-writer L.N.Tolstoy concerning the problems of individualism and the origins of
their occurrence in the cultural space of peoples. The evolution of Tolstoy's philosophical
observations and conclusions allows us to interpret the concept of "individualism" and its
connection with the subsequent degradation of personality. In the context of this article, we
give examples of the manifestation of an individualistic worldview at an early stage of the
development of human civilization and its influence on the worldview of mankind to the
present day on the example of literary motifs.
Keywords:
national peculiarities, ancient literature, problems of the historical
development of mankind, individualism, rationalism, collectivism, irrationality, conciliarity.
Introduction
Ancient religions, religions of the East and Christianity of Western Europe of the Middle
Ages interpreted and directed public consciousness in different ways to understand the place
of man in society. The author opposes an individual or mass (conciliar) perception of the world
around us, which has a different interpretation at the religious level, which in the 19th century
will receive a philosophical form from European and Russian thinkers.
The philosophical teachings of antiquity had a great influence on the formation of Western
individualism, where issues of freedom, equality and certain values are realized exclusively
through the prism of an individual worldview. This has led to a great civilizational leap, when a
person creates a state, a socio-economic formation, engages in science and secularizes culture.
However, later the process, becoming irreversible, leads society to the absolutization of the role
of the individual, this becomes an end in itself. Faith, ethics, morality and man are subordinated
to this superreality. Thus, individualism is degenerating, and society is losing its vitality.
The purpose of the study
The purpose of the research is to consider issues related to the emergence of the concept
of “individualism”, its manifestation in the works of ancient philosophers and its embodiment
in the epic novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace".
Materials and methods of research
The material for the study is literary articles about the work of L.N.Tolstoy, studies of the
novel “War and Peace" - the views of Russian cultural philosophy on the manifestation of
individualism in society, which, in the interpretation of L.N.Tolstoy, leads to an egoistic
perception of reality and subsequent degradation of personality.The study used methods of
comparative research, literary analysis and a method of quantitative processing of the data
obtained.
Results and discussion
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So, ancient individualism and the "I-concept" created by it, which will be discussed, were
considered by some Greek philosophers as one of the fundamental elements of ancient
civilization.
One of these forms of worldview is moral relativism. At its origins are the Greek
philosophers Heraclitus, Democritus, Empedocles and others. Relativism assumes that absolute
"good" and "evil" do not exist, mandatory moral norms are denied, and the principle of
"everything is allowed" becomes dominant.
Plato in the dialogue "Kratilus" gives the following definition: "(Protagoras said) that the
measure of all things is man–and therefore, what things seem to me, they will be for me, and
what they are for you, they will be for you." Therefore, the criterion and source of truth is a
person, an individual in itself.
The philosopher Protagoras suggested that a person has freedom of choice, that is, the
right to call this or that phenomenon the truth. This is reserved for the individual. (In the novel
"War and Peace", this thesis is developed by Tolstoy on the example of Elena Kuragina, namely
her transition from Orthodoxy to Catholicism, betrayal of her husband and an affair with
Dolokhov).
Ancient individualism manifested itself in all spheres of social, political and cultural life of
slave-owning states. In literature, the "I-concept" is especially evident in the legends and myths
of Ancient Greece. The Olympian gods, demigods, the greatest heroes of the Iliad and the
Odyssey, their deeds and exploits are described exclusively from the point of view of individual
heroic actions.
In Homer's Iliad there is no pathos of collectivism, but there is the heroism of individual
heroes: Achilles and Hector, Ajax, Odysseus.
In The Odyssey, the entire plot is based on one character, after whom the entire heroic
epic is named. The author does not describe in detail the satellites of the Odyssey, and many of
them remain nameless, included in the storyline of one hero.
So, ancient individualism has left its mark on the self-awareness and worldview of entire
societies and peoples. Did there exist in ancient times a form of social perception other than
individualism? This form was "collectivism".
For a detailed consideration of the "we-concept", it should be noted that collectivism does
not fully reflect the full philosophical understanding of this concept, but is one of the forms of
its manifestation.
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle argued that "man is by nature a political being"
and is not self-sufficient by nature. Only the state can be self-sufficient, and a person outside
the state is an animal or a deity.
Aristotle is a figure in philosophy in which Hellenic collectivism transforms into ideas of
individualism. Although he claims that "man is a social being to a greater extent than bees and
all kinds of herd animals," he nevertheless believes that "people care most about what belongs
to them personally." (In the novel "War and Peace" this thesis is clearly reflected in the image
of Napoleon, who noticed: "Public opinion always has the last word," but at the same time,
"people are better governed by their vices than their virtues.")
During the period of late Roman history, which was marked by the spread of Christianity
in Europe, there was a development of collectivism based on some provisions of the Bible. The
reflection of the "I-concept" and "we-concept" in European culture manifested itself precisely
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in the context of early Christianity in a slave-owning society, when the concepts of "Christian
community" and "labor collective" sometimes had the same meaning. The Book of Acts of the
Apostles says: "All the believers were together, and they had everything in common."
Eastern philosophy and cultural studies in relation to the "I-concept" and "We-concept"
gives a slightly different interpretation. Of course, one of the world's religions, Islam, plays an
important role in shaping the "Eastern" worldview. Islam is a monotheistic religion based on
the Holy Book of the Koran, and the prophet Muhammad S.A.V. is recognized as the last prophet
sent by God to people. Islam recognizes all prophets, both Jewish and Christian (Abraham -
Ibrohim, David - Dovut, Moses - Musa, Jesus -Esau). Islam also recognizes the sacred books of
both religions. However, the attitude towards life among Muslims is radically different. It
should be noted that the principle of collectivism is very strongly developed in Muslim society.
Since the 7th century AD, the Muslim Ummah or "Jamaat" has emerged, uniting all people who
profess Islam. There are Jewish and Christian Ummahs, which, according to Muslims, unite
people who "obey their prophet."
A devout Muslim lives trying to maintain balance in everything, not trying to dominate
any aspect of his life. The real and the ideal, the material and the spiritual, the mundane and the
afterlife, divine revelation and human reason, collectivism and idealism – in all this, a Muslim
must observe the principle of balance and the same approach. In Islam, this principle sounds
like "al-wasitaya", which is discussed in detail in the work of the Uzbek scholar-theologian
Sheikh Muhammad Sadiq Muhammad Yusuf "Wasitaya – a way of life".
In Europe, the Medieval period was marked by an important event that occurred due to
political, geographical, national and religious reasons. We are talking about the division of a
Single Church into three separate denominations, independent of each other.
The Catholic Church, Orthodoxy and, later, Protestantism, based on the same doctrine,
radically diverged ideologically, which also influenced the cultural life of that time.
Conclusion
Catholicism, as the dominant religion of most of Europe, introduced into the cultural life
of European peoples those ideas of individualism that were transferred to the Middle Ages from
antiquity. It is enough to recall one of the early medieval epics, The Song of Roland, where,
thanks to the heroism of one knight, one of the memorable pages of Frankish history is glorified.
The "I-concept" will manifest itself in other genres of medieval literature. The Scandinavian
sagas "The Elder Edda", "The Saga of Magnus the Good", "The Sagas of Kings" have one common
theme - stories about God or the feat of a great hero.
References:
1.
Plato. In 3 vols. Vol. 1. Moscow: 1968. p. 418
2.
Aristotle. Politics. Soch.: In 4 volumes. Moscow: Mysl', 1984. Vol. 4.
3.
https://bible.by/verse/44/2/44/
4.
al-Bukhari. Sahih al-jami.
5.
Sheikh
Muhammad
¬
Sadiq Muhammad Yusuf
; Translator: Bakhtiyor Yunusov; Publisher:
"Hilol-nashr"; Volume: 352 pages; Date: 2021;
