What is life? Methodological analysis

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15421/272002

Abstract

From time immemorial, the phenomenon of «life» worried all the great minds of mankind. Philosophers and sages have repeatedly made an attempt to answer the question – what is life? What are her distinguishing features? Where lies the line between the world of the living and nonliving. The answers to these questions that are significant for society have transformed depending on the historical era and the worldview position taken by the philosopher or natural scientist. Thus, it can be noted that, despite the fundamental importance for humanity of understanding the phenomenon of life, the latter underwent significant transformations and does not have an unambiguous interpretation.

The methodological analysis of understanding the essence of the «living» in the biological and philosophical aspects is presented. The facet is considered living – nonliving. The methodological approach is studied, which is characteristic for biological cognition in the form of an argument – a counterargument. Where the «classical» point of view is given as an argument, and the counterargument is a logical objection.

The purpose of the article is to methodologically analyze the basic properties of living things, revealing an approach to understanding the phenomenon of life that is generally accepted at a given time. Note that we focus only on the natural science point of view. Leaving aside the «philosophical» and «religious» position on this issue.

Summarizing the above analysis, it should be noted that when trying to determine the phenomenon of life, we encounter significant methodological difficulties. This phenomenon is difficult to determine both when describing the internal structure of a living object, and when analyzing the mechanisms of its functioning. A. Bergson comments on the reason for such a state of affairs as follows: «... our logic is mainly the logic of solids ... our thought, in its purely logical form, is incapable of imagining the real nature of life, the deep meaning of the evolutionary movement

Published

2021-01-31