E.V. Ilyenkov: on the Problem of Thinking

Abstract

The article is an attempt to show the research and creative activity of Ilyenkov from his own positions, to show how Ilyenkov looks into reality through the thinking culture of historical philosophy, from where he arises and how var­ious problems of philosophical knowledge are intertwined, how the task is set to investigate the logic of thinking, capable of developing the definition of truth with its dialectical form. Ilyenkov searches for the foundations and meanings of human existence, contrary to the banal “habit” of the philosophical con­sciousness to dig into its own content, which has already manifested itself in textual-linguistic form. He looks at reality through the word, transforming the meanings that are hidden in and behind the words. The author of the article does not aim to bring an external order to the space of the philosopher’s thought, he only seeks to see its semantic layers, which manifest themselves as central problems for philosophical science and as problems in understanding the human world itself. The task of reproducing the thought of Ilyenkov accord­ing to his texts is not set. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with his work. Ilyenkov’s work is only a basis for entering his meanings and feeling his prob­lems with his reflections: firstly, why do they arise, where do they converge and how do formal methodology and dialectics intersect, how does the dialectical form hold the changing, transforming reality within itself; secondly, what philo­sophical problems are encountered by the mind, objectively immersed in the so­cial and historical human reality. In exploring these questions, the author’s guiding idea is truth.