Sensualism - the pros and cons of sensory cognition

Feelings, sensations and representations play an important role in a person's life. Many things, objects, phenomena of this world are knowable only in contact and sensation. Sensualism regards sensual life as the only true one, and consciousness and reason only rest on the impressions they received.

What is Sensationalism?

Sensualism is one of the trends in the theory of human cognition, originated from the views of ancient Greek philosophers who believed that the most basic and reliable form of knowledge are sensations and feelings. Sensualism (Latin sensus perception) was divided into extreme and moderate (in some cases, the influence of the mind was recognized). As a teaching, extreme sensualism gained great popularity in philosophical circles and contained the following postulates:

all the external experience, knowledge, the mind receives only through sensations;
born ideas do not exist, the mind is a "pure board";
in reason there is nothing that would not have arisen before in the senses;
the external world is the source of knowledge;
the mind has only a derivative meaning.

Sensualism in Psychology

Ideas and positions of sensationalism had a powerful influence on the psychological science of the XVIII century. German physiologist and psychologist Wilhelm Wundt began to develop experimental psychology: he put experiments, the task of which was to identify the primary sensations, from which the architectonics of the human soul is formed . Sensualism in psychology is a paradigm emerging from philosophical teaching, studying psychic life with a primary reliance on sensory impressions. In the future, sensualism was transformed into associative psychology.

Sensualism in philosophy

Ancient philosophy, originated in ancient Greece, was famous for various schools and currents that affect the whole world. The most first philosophers of sensationalists are considered to be Protagoras and Epicurus. Sensualism in philosophy is a "sensual" direction in solving the problems of cognition of being opposite to rationalism and intellectualism, based on the arguments of reason. Sensationalism became widespread only at the end of the 18th century. thanks to the French philosopher Victor Cousin.

Great contribution to the development of the sensational theory of knowledge was made by J. Locke and later by the French abbot-philosopher Etienne Bono de Condillac. J. Locke, in addition to sensations in sensationalism, was important in cognition, considered reflection, with which E.B. de Condillac could not agree and spoke of reflexion, not of an independent phenomenon, but of a reworked sensation. The basic ideas of Condillac on psychic life:

There are two groups of sensations. The first group - hearing, sight, smell taste. The second refers to the sense of touch.
Taste plays a primary role in the knowledge of the external world.
Spiritual processes that occur independently independently of sensations are an illusion.
Any knowledge contains a feeling.

What is the difference between empiricism and sensationalism?

The philosophy of modern times (XVII - XVIII centuries.) Was faced with problems in the knowledge of the world and the criteria of truth. There is a rapid development of the main three areas of philosophy, rationalism, sensationalism and empiricism. The empirical and sensational path are close to each other in basic positions and are opposed to rationalism. Empiricism is a method, the discovery of which belongs to the English philosopher F. Bacon. Empiricism is based on sensory experience, as a measure of knowledge and the source of knowledge.

F. Bacon distinguished between methods of sensationalism, rationalism and empiricism. Sensualists are "ants", content with what they have collected. Rats - "spiders" weave a web of reasoning from themselves. Empiricists - "bees" extract nectar from various colors, but have extracted material according to their experience and skill.

The main differences between empiricism and sensationalism according to F. Bacon:

Empiricism recognizes the importance of feelings, but in close alliance with reason.
Reason is able to extract truth from sensory experience.
Passive contemplation of nature in sensationalism, is replaced by an active intervention in order to learn the secrets.

Materialistic sensationalism

Feelings - the most important source of knowledge, sensationalism relying on this subjective category in its current, was not homogeneous, divided into idealistic sensationalism and materialistic, in the latter, the impact of external stimuli on the senses, entail sensory impressions. A vivid representative of materialistic sensationalism John Locke.

Idealistic sensationalism

In contrast to the materialistic sensualism of John Locke, idealistic sensualism manifests itself, the adherents of which were the philosophers J. Berkeley and D. Hume. Idealistic sensationalism is a philosophy that denies the dependence of sensations on external objects. The main provisions of this direction, formed by J. Berkeley and D. Hume:

Man does not have a sensory perception of matter;
A separate thing can be perceived through the sum of individual sensations.
The soul is the receptacle of all ideas.
A person can not know himself, but impressions of oneself can give an idea.