From the point of view of philosophy, cognitive activity is the most important worldview problem. The attitude to the question of how much we know the world determines the orientation of a person in society and the surrounding space, his activity. It is knowledge that determines the function of man in the world, and knowledge is the highest level of information about the world that a person can receive through his consciousness. Cognitive activity (PD), which is a unity of sensory perception, practical activity and thinking allows you to get Knowledge.
PD is carried out continuously: in our communication, work, experiments, artistic and aesthetic activities, solving various problems. Such knowledge is characteristic of all living organisms. In addition to cognitive, educational and cognitive activity is peculiar to man . In the process of educational PD, cognition acquires clear goals, forms, tasks.
There are different types of PD. Modern science distinguishes:
- everyday practical;
- scientific;
- mythical and religious;
- art;
- philosophical.
Ordinary-practical cognitive activity proceeds in an active and passive mode, it is spontaneous, it is continuous. We learn the experience of others, learn new things, learn the world through touch, smell, and other senses. Environment, life, simple knowledge - this is the content of everyday knowledge. Practical is a little more complicated: these are our beliefs, ideals, folk signs, information about the connections that exist in the world. We know that if you put your hand in boiling water, there will be a burn. Ordinary and practical cognitive activity summarizes personal, sociocultural experience, and folk wisdom. Through everyday practical, we learn the language, learn about spiritual values, follow generally accepted customs.
Scientific cognitive activity (activity) also arises from experience, practical or spontaneous empirical knowledge of the world. But unlike the knowledge of the spontaneous, science does not wait until the knowledge gained through experience appears. She goes on. Building theoretical models of phenomena, devices, processes, using ideal abstract objects. The correctness of scientific assumptions is verified by experiment. It is possible to judge how the model corresponds to reality only after comparing the results of the experiment and logical reasoning.
Scientific cognitive activity is distinguished by its focus on the study of ever new phenomena and processes, objectivity, integrity. It represents the unity of objectively true and logically interconnected views, judgments, theories, provisions, laws.
Mythical and religious knowledge (some scholars see them as separate types of cognitive activity) is, rather, not cognition in its purest form, but thinking with the help of dogma, belief in the supernatural, in God. Therefore, religious cognitive activity is the realization of God. Adherents of religion believe that the world is an arena of two opposing forces. They are called differently in different religions, but they have one essence: Good and Evil. The supernatural can help, protect, and can punish for sins.
Mythological and religious knowledge created a picture of the world unlike others, which left a bright imprint not only on the worldview of believers, but also on culture as a whole.
The mythological PD is characteristic of societies at the lowest stage of development.
Philosophical knowledge of reality is the desire to comprehend the world holistically, to find and realize its fundamental foundations, to determine a person’s place in the world.
Artistic PD - figurative understanding of reality.
All types of cognitive activity are interconnected and are derived from ordinary practical knowledge.