TASKS OF PHILOSOPHY IN A CULTURAL DIALOGUE

Jurate Morkuniene, Lithuania

In the modern world, with the processes of social development gaining accelerated rates, a new philosophical image of the world emerges, accompanied by the formation of a new social philosophy.

Contemporary social philosophy generalizes the most complicated and rapidly changing object such as society and man. In this sense social philosophy is always uncompleted. relatively open and, therefore, theoretically “imperfect”, “non­systematic” and vulnerable theory. Philosophy develops by reconsidering the problems of order and disorder, complexity and simplicity, evolution, truth and error, etc.

It is not possible any longer to study society solely from the logic and moral approach and consider it only as a subject to be studied. Solving the social questions philosophy searches for truth, however  contemporary truth. Philosophy has no absolutely accomplished truth any more: it is searching for the truth of its time. Truth can be solely ensured by our thinking, our actions. Cognition is now perceived as a constant. uninterrupted dialogue with reality. Contemporary philosophy is the means of both thinking and action. The present philosophy does not ~‘kill” a process, does not dissect an integral live social phenomenon into parts, but ‘catches” this phenomenon, its deeply rooted relations and contradictions. The goals, the methods and the results are connected by a feedback relation. This relation prevents the theory of social philosophy from becoming an unshakable dogma.

First of all philosophy is solving the problems of contemporary open society. Investigation of the features of both open societies and open personalities becomes a main task of contemporary philosophy. In the philosophical sense, man’s openness means human identity. The prerequisites of openness are equal opportunities. involvement, association quality, etc. Openness recognizes the individual’s priority over the whole: of an individual over a collective, of a citizen over the state. Openness exalts and accepts diversity. Open society accepts the dialogue, co-operation, “equal chances”.

Contemporary social philosophy deals with yet another super-task. It becomes the plan of actions, the principle of actions, and the predilection for action. Without rnetatheory any scientific activity in a social environment proceeds by the method of trial and error. This way, full of errors, is not productive and even dangerous while solving social problems, as it leads to experimenting with people and society. This means necessity of the philosophical upbringing of society and of the individual. Every opportunity to develop the individual’s ability to decide is both a new level of his philosophical education and a new step of his civism.