Types of worldview – classification, which prevail in modern society?

Worldview is the way we perceive and understand reality.

These are our principles, attitudes, ideas about the things around us: society, nature, humanity.

A person's worldview can be compared to glasses. Some people look at the world through the prism of their life experience, others through the prism of religion.

Others question the very possibility of understanding the world around us.

The term was first used in the early 18th century in the works of German philosophers.

Synonyms : ideology, belief system, life credo.

Concept of worldview

A person’s worldview is a complex mechanism that consists of ideas about the world around him and a system of moral values ​​of a particular individual. This structure of the psyche combines opinions, actions and ethical standards that are acceptable for a particular person.

In other words, a worldview is a system of views on the world and the place of man, society and humanity in it, on a person’s relationship to the world and to himself, as well as the basic life positions of people corresponding to these views, their ideals, principles of activity, and value orientations.

Synonyms for the term “worldview” are worldview, worldview, attitude, mentality, way of thinking.

The main features of the worldview are systematic (static) and procedural (constantly in dynamics).

Factors in shaping worldview:

1. The social environment in which a person finds himself.
2. The social conditions in which the individual is placed.
3. Political system.

All main types of worldview and their characteristics in the table

Psychologist Daria Milai

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Worldview structure

Worldview structure is what a worldview is made of. Worldview is formed from:

• knowledge;
• ideas;
• principles (point of view);
• convictions (steadfastness on any issue);
• ideals (goals);
• spiritual and moral values ​​(that which has no monetary value);
• life attitudes.

A worldview cannot be formed once and for a lifetime; it is a gradual process. There are two ways to form it:

• spontaneous - based on everyday experience, under the influence of the surrounding life (solving a problem with a fight is bad, because at home and at school they scolded you for it);
• conscious - based on rational activity, which is aimed at understanding the world around us (“What you do will return to you” is part of Buddhist philosophy, which a person can come to through his observations).

What kind of worldview does a person have: exponential-personal representation

According to this concept, the way of thinking is formed as an individual grows. When he moves from a passive, dependent state to teenage reflection, crisis. Then and further he feels the full weight of social and cultural influence. Thus, the foundation of worldview is made up of many ideological types: faith is intertwined with myth, philosophy, everyday way of thinking and science in various proportions.

Dogmatism

Often the worldview is formed through a dogmatic way of perception. It presupposes uncritical but conscious adherence to externally established rules, norms, and laws.

Reflexivity

Another “style” of adherence to certain ideas or dogmas is a subconscious, unconscious desire for them. In this case (unlike dogma), reason is no longer included in analytical activity and reflection, therefore submission to certain principles and regulations occurs impulsively, reflexively.

Levels of worldview

There are two levels of worldview:

1. Everyday or everyday practical, which is formed in ordinary life. It is influenced by the emotional and psychological side, which is responsible for sensory knowledge of the world. Emotions and feelings act as sources of knowledge.
2. Theoretical or rational, which is formed as a result of understanding the world by the mind. Associated with the cognitive-intellectual side. The sources are reason and mind.

Explanation of the term

We are about to talk about a complex but fundamental aspect of consciousness. To do this, we first identify what self-awareness in general is. It can belong to both a specific individual and the entire society (for example, a people), and also consists of several levels:

1. Elementary (primary ideas about oneself associated with the assessment of others).
2. Deep (more conscious understanding of one’s role in society).
3. The most difficult one.

At the third, most complex stage, a person’s worldview is located - this is the totality of knowledge, beliefs and ideas about oneself, society and the world as a whole. With its help, a person realizes himself as a part of material and spiritual reality through a generalized attitude towards it. It reflects the very essence of the individual, his ideas, views, thoughts, values, preferences that influence behavior. There is also the concept of “worldview maturity,” which can be seen by the actions of people.

Three functions of worldview

Worldview is an integral part of human life. Based on his worldview, a person makes decisions and acts.

A person's worldview has three functions:

1. Cognitive - the worldview is not only formed from our knowledge, but also gives us knowledge.
2. Value-orientation - the formation of a person’s life values.
3. Practical - influence on human actions.

What worldviews do people have: philosophical direction

There is a huge amount of knowledge and ideas concerning the role and place of human culture, personality in the universe, as well as issues of life and death in general. Philosophy has undertaken to rethink all existing ideas about reality and highlight the most significant topics for discussion. In the process of historical development, many different schools arose (and still appear), many of which ideologically conflict with each other. Philosophers consider self-knowledge, the search for truth, and self-actualization to be the highest values. Differences from religion and myth:

• based on rational knowledge, not faith;
• reflection plays a dominant role;
• presence of integrity, system;
• clear concepts and categories.

Elements of worldview

A person’s worldview can be divided into elements:

• Attitude is our emotions and feelings. The way we experience the world.
• Worldview is the picture of the world that a person has formed. The way a person relates to the world.
• Worldview - based on acquired knowledge and experience. The way a person looks at the world, his views.
• Attitude is a worldview and understanding of the world. That is, this is our attitude to the world and our system of views on any issues.
• Mentality is a worldview, but not of one person, but of a group of people (for example, a nation or ethnic group).

What are the types (forms) of worldview?

Depending on what we encounter in life, our worldview can take the following forms.

1. Mythological worldview. A person perceives the world as some kind of mythological creature. He believes in legends and stories about the gods. And people draw information about how the world works from myths and legends.
2. Theological (or religious) worldview. Its basis is faith in God. A person strictly follows religious norms and perceives the world through them).
3. Philosophical worldview. It is built on the combination of his spiritual values ​​with life experience.
4. The scientific worldview is based on scientific results and achievements. A person feels and perceives the world only through scientific experience.
5. Everyday worldview. This is the knowledge and experience that a person has received from his life, that is, his everyday experience.

Ways of thinking

The following ways of thinking can manifest themselves in a person’s worldview:

• Dogmatism is built on already existing dogmas, that is, rules and theories. For example, in a religious worldview, we take dogmas from religion and follow them. They guide our decisions and actions.
• Reasonable criticism - in this case we understand that worldviews can change. We question reality.
• Skepticism is when we doubt the very possibility of knowing the world or what we understand correctly. It is regular thought and reflection.

In the historical approach, there are 4 types of worldviews: mythological, religious, philosophical and scientific.

Initially, it was mythology that was the foundation on which the value system in society rested. It became one of the factors that determined people's behavior. The mythological worldview presupposes an emotional and imaginative vision of reality and endowing it with fantastic properties. In ancient times, emotional experience prevailed over rational experience and reflected a person’s fear of the unknown, unusual, and unfamiliar. It was difficult for people to correctly build cause-and-effect relationships, which is why they began to explain natural and social phenomena through fiction.

When primitiveness faded into the background, religion replaced myth. Unlike mythology, it brought with it dogmatism, a clearly formulated system of values ​​and rules. Examples of right and wrong, good and bad, permissible and unacceptable have appeared. Then the deep questions of human existence (about origin, birth and death) found their answers in belief in the supernatural and, as a result, a religious worldview .

Later, philosophy arose, which was designed to structure and systematize various views on the world, society and man. to the forefront of the philosophical worldview .

The scientific worldview was the result of a theoretical understanding of the results of scientific activity - experiments, experiments, calculations. The scientific worldview reflects the generalized results of mankind’s knowledge of the world.

We can observe all 4 historical types of worldview today. They are reflected in how we relate to certain aspects of existence.

How to change your beliefs.

To begin, I will break down this form of thinking into two levels:

• sensual (empirical) – includes attitude, worldview, world experience;
• conceptual (theoretical) – worldview.

The easiest way is to turn the way of thinking in the other direction, working with the second stage, since it is associated with intellectual, logical perception. To do this, you need to directly influence the intellect, forming new attitudes. I recommend step-by-step instructions for changing your beliefs:

Take some time for yourself and think it through, admit to yourself your conviction in the area that does not suit you, and write it down in a notebook

From the created list, try to choose those that interfere with you and lead to a conflict between your goals and desires (“Everyone gets sick all the time”; “I often catch a virus”; “I have a very weak immune system”; “When I’m sick, everyone loves me”) ; “When I am sick, I rest and gain strength”; “Sick people receive increased attention and care”). You yourself must solve your life difficulty, since it is not outside, but deep inside. If you change your negative beliefs to positive ones in the subconscious, you will change your reality. Feel your power and what you are capable of.

Remember some negative thought and replace it with the opposite one, try repeating it for literally 2-3 minutes every morning for 3 weeks. Do not try to immediately change all your persuasiveness, without overloading yourself, do it gradually. As soon as you have changed 2-4 thoughts, wait a while, let them take root and become fixed in your consciousness.

Choosing the right goal, according to the type of worldview

Find out which type of worldview prevails in you. What do you primarily rely on when talking about good and evil, the creation of the world, and the role of man in it?

1. Give reasons for your position.
2. Watch. Study reality, analyze, reflect, learn to draw competent conclusions. Experiment. Organize information by recording it. This way you will understand which path is most suitable for you.
3. Do some self-reflection. Understand what role you play in society, decide on your desires.
4. Reflect. Ask yourself deep questions and look for objective, logically provable answers.
5. Put personal experience aside. Do not follow the stereotypes and paradigms formed in the psyche. Do not project a particular case onto general ideas about the world.
6. Follow the presence rule. Realize that there is no past and future. There is only the present moment. Live and feel “here and now”; this is the only way your understanding of reality will not be distorted.
7. Give up attachments. Perceive your own personality as basic and fundamental. You don't have to live up to other people's ideas and expectations.
8. Explore different approaches: science, philosophy, art, the workings of everyday thinking. Look for answers not only within yourself, but also in different sources.
9. Develop your analytical skills. Logic will help separate the true from the false.

Sources

Worldview is formed on the basis of internal and external processes that allow a person to create his own belief system. Information comes from different sources to be analyzed and absorbed.

1. Educational source. A person learns about the world around him through his own experiments and experiences (ordinary knowledge), as well as through scientific training (at school, institute, courses, etc.). Ordinary cognition bears fruit in the form of unsystematized information that allows you to navigate the world. For example, when a person stays in the sun for a long time and gets a blow, he may put the sun at the forefront of the problem and conclude that it is unsafe to be on the beach without an umbrella. This is exactly how ordinary cognition works. But scientific knowledge can already explain the causes of heat stroke, its types and consequences.
2. Normative/value source. The normative source is formed on the basis of values, as well as a “code of behavior in society,” which secretly regulates people’s relationships.
   Meaningful beliefs allow a person to believe in the truth and rightness of his actions.
3. Practical source. Knowledge that is not used in practice is not always fertile material for the formation of a worldview.
   But if a person uses them to check random information or stable axioms, an internal “evaluator” is activated, which can draw new conclusions based on knowledge applied in practice.
4. Emotional source. A person is to some extent dependent on his emotions, therefore some ideals, values ​​and beliefs are formed at the level of feelings and intuition.

What is the subject of study of developmental psychology? Find out about this from our article.

Ways and features of worldview formation

The formation of a worldview occurs due to the fact that in the process of life a person tends to rely on a certain philosophical position. Determining one’s own position is quite a long and protracted process, therefore, in the absence of philosophical movements, the process of finding oneself and one’s guidelines would take up the entire conscious life. This is due to the fact that in the process of learning about the world around us, a person experiences significant events, acquires new knowledge and learns to draw conclusions. Therefore, the formation of a worldview without the presence of specific movements would take significantly more time. Sociologists and psychologists tend to agree that the process of worldview formation can occur in two forms: spontaneous and conscious.

It is worth noting that the most difficult process of forming a worldview occurs in adolescence, when the human psyche is not properly developed. The older a person gets, the fewer decisions he makes based on momentary impulses. There are two ways to form a worldview:

• Spontaneous. Worldview is formed in the process of life, when some events and phenomena overlap others. The main aspect of this path is the focus on one’s own interests and personal motives. Most often, this form is built on the sensory-emotional standards of an individual person.
• Conscious. Worldview is formed on the basis of receiving reliable information about the world. In this case, the worldview is formed based on: people and their patterns of behavior, norms, rules, scientific knowledge, perception of information and a predisposition to art.

The worldview itself must be studied as a mechanism for mastering the world with a practical component, where the main task is to carry out the process of mastering the world. There are three forms of actually knowing the world and forming a full-fledged opinion about it:

1. Attitude is a system of feelings, thoughts and emotional manifestations of a person.
2. Worldview is the processing of information about the world, situations and personal opinions.
3. Worldview - acts as models that provide support in understanding and accepting one’s worldview.