Mind within the Frame of Stupidity

Abstract

The article analyzes the phenomenon of stupidity as a property of an unreasonable man, as the opposite of wisdom and reason. Because human behavior is not always characterized by reasonableness and rationality. Many individual actions, actions of social groups and even nations demonstrate absurdity, nonsense, irrationality.

For a long time philosophers paid attention to the phenomenon of stupidity, to its negative role in history. They looked for answers to the question: why the mind, a blessed gift to man, loses its purpose, becomes its own caricature. Why people are not able to use full arsenal of their inherent reasonableness? Why stupidity gets so obvious powers?

At first, the folly seemed to many thinkers the result of "incomplete", "partial" use of reason, a particular example of thoughtlessness. Ancient philosophers did not get tired marvel at the enormous possibilities of the human mind. For example, Democritus praise human mind. He saw three fruits, which carry the wisdom: "the gift of thinking well", "the gift of speaking well" and "the gift of doing well". However, not always people deserve this divine talent.

In the middle ages, the glorification of reason continued. However, the stupidity in this era ceased to be regarded as an accident and began to discover its different faces. Augustine praised the reason, but doubted that many people are able to live rationally. Every man, he wrote, is committed to the truth. The worst thing for a man is to lose his mind. However, to the stupidity Augustine is indulgent. After all, not everyone can comprehend the truth with the help of reason. Many people are satisfied with faith; they are not inclined to follow the path of analysis and reasoning.

However, outside of philosophy, folly in the middle Ages is an object of outright disclosure. In the end of the XV Century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch painted a triptych "The Hay Wain", which portrayed with sufficient details the stupidity of life, its rags. Stupidity is both knowledge and ignorance, piety and impiety. As an illustration, you can refer to another famous work of Hieronymus Bosch "The Cure of Folly". The picture is laced with sarcasm. Everything shown seems to be a grimace, a kind of sign. The face of doctor, as the face of the sick, bear the stamp of the incurable absence of mind. Stupidity is not an occasional lack of intelligence. It is similar to madness.

Gradually there arose the belief that stupidity is a widespread phenomenon, it often overshadows the mind. In the Erasmus of Rotterdam's "Praise of folly», there is a desire to distance from the folly by way of sarcasm. The technique used by the author is different from the medieval image of folly. Bosch explicitly reveals stupidity. Erasmus uses satirical technique. Stupidity is not ashamed of herself, she praises herself. Moreover, this happens in a variety of situations. Erasmus drew his readers ' attention to the paradoxical nature of reality itself. However, he is not absolutize stupidity, resting high hopes on philosophy that must overcome the isolation from life, nature and culture.

However, the author shows that Erasmus has no detailed phenomenology of stupidity. To use the modern concept, then he is likely a deconstructivist. Erasmus mainly exposes the senselessness than folly.

In modern times, it became clear that stupidity has its own roots, that there is a theoretical possibility to narrow the sphere of stupidity. This is especially true for the philosophy of Francis Bacon. Nevertheless, indication of sources of absurdity and stupidity, by making clear the action of "idols of consciousness", does not eliminate stupidity as an unwanted companion of the mind. Therefore, according to Bacon, stupidity occurs not by itself, outside the framework of rationality. It is rooted in the reasonableness, in its contradictions and psychological assumptions.

Stupidity is located in a wide range between rationality and nonsense, external validity and complete inadequacy. It easily takes the shape of reason, but at the same time not tries to be inconspicuous, but on the contrary, becomes aggressive. Turning to history, philosophers understood that wisdom of any particular age becomes obvious stupidity at other times. What was considered absurd suddenly opens as high truth.

The philosophy of the Enlightenment was based on the belief in the limitless possibilities of human mind. I. Kant put reason at the forefront of philosophical thinking. Therefore, he decided to challenge the stupidity. The German philosopher saw the reason of the victory of stupidity in the fact that people are retreating from the wisdom in favor of their biases. It is human predilections that dim clear work of thinking. Therefore, folly is not a caprice; in is necessary to fight it back. Otherwise, it will take root in human nature. The enemy should be distinguished. You should not look for it in the natural, entirely undisciplined inclinations, which are openly manifest in each person. According to Kant, stupidity must be discovered where she is hiding, lurking.

The essence of Kant's doctrine of stupidity is this: in the sphere of pure reason, it initially opposes to wisdom. Moreover, the stupidity is characterized as a natural defect, as a flaw, and wisdom as the gift of nature. Wisdom is extrasensory, divine in nature. In the field of practical reason (moral activity), stupidity is defined by the passions, behind which lurks the same natural necessity. The main of them are arrogance and greed. The wisdom here is due to the freedom associated with autonomy of the person. Means of communication between the two opposite parts of the philosophical system of Kant is the ability for judgement, i.e. ability to judge something. However, this ability is the hallmark of only the natural mind, and its absence cannot be replaced by any school. Kant believed that there is no cure against stupidity. He divorces folly and wisdom. Stupidity is natural; wisdom is moral (cultural) characteristic of the person.

Of course, the theme of stupidity is still relevant in European philosophy. It is particularly acute in connection with the study of different mentalities and with deployment of the quantum paradigm. Today stupidity has something in common with the absurdity of human existence.