К вопросу о проблеме определения феномена понимания

Ярославский педагогический вестник. 2020. № 4. С. 89–95.

Kiyatkina A.

Scientific knowledge has always sought to understand the new phenomena and to define the opened ones. Despite the popularity of research on the phenomenon of understanding, there are still more questions than answers to this topic. However, recently there has been a growing interest in the phenomenon of understanding in psychological science.

This article discusses several problems related to the definition of understanding. The first problem is to draw the line between understanding, thinking, thought and knowledge. The second problem for a scientist who tries to define understanding is linguistic interpretation, which is considered on two levels in this article. The third problem is related to the dichotomy of the essence of understanding, which can be both a result and a process, as well as considered in other polar categories. From the point of view of the philosophy of science, understanding can be considered as the abil- ity to explain something or the ability to control knowledge of something. There is also a dichotomy of understanding orientation. In addition, understanding can be considered by scientists as an interpretation of the real and as awareness of the possible. The fourth problem discussed in this article is the diversity of existing approaches in defining under- standing. The final question, which can also be formulated as the main problem of this work, is as follows: does science need a single definition of the phenomenon of understanding? Obviously, every scientist planning to study this topic should give himself an answer to this question. The purpose of the article is to study the feasibility of a universal defini- tion. The article is an analytical review of the above-mentioned problems of defining the phenomenon of understanding in relation to the main question of the feasibility of a single definition of understanding.

Keywords: мотивация, мысль, понимание, motivation, thought, understanding, личностный смысл, personal meaning