The limits of rationalism in the context of global challenges: philosophical analysis of cognitive and value-based determinants

Abstract

The article offers a comprehensive examination of rationalism as a leading intellectual paradigm that has enabled humanity to overcome dependence on natural forces and laws, contributed to the achievement of socially significant goals and facilitated the effective resolution of a number of acute social problems. The study analyses the specifics of the process of cognition of reality through the lens of rational thought. It also outlines heuristic potential and limits of applicability. Besides, it identifies the factors that have led to the opening of new opportunities for humanity, particularly the development of science, technology and social institutions, which ensured the transition of society to a qualitatively new level of civilizational development.

At the same time, the paper reveals the contradictory consequences of the dominance of the rationalist paradigm, including the tendencies to accumulate, scale up and exacerbate global problems, the origins of which coincide with the establishment of the rationalist modes of thinking. It is argued that that a number of such problems already pose a threat to the stability of modern civilization, humanity and the biosphere of the planet. The study demonstrates the limitations of rationally oriented mind in timely identification of potential risks and development of complex solutions without generating new complications in related areas of life.

Special attention is given to the analysis of the role of the emotional and effective domain, value system and intuition in the process of meaning-making, decision-making and the formation of strategies for responding to historical challenges. It substantiate the need to integrate rational and irrational principles as a prerequisite for achieving organic unity of society and ensuring a more balanced, safe and humanistic oriented development of human civilization.

This study is intended for philosophers and a wide range of scholars and researchers in the social sciences and humanities, including sociologists, cultural scientists, political scientists, psychologists who are interested in the problems of the ratio of rational and irrational in the processes of cognition and social development. The article may also be useful to teachers of higher education institutions, postgraduate students and students engaged in research in philosophy, epistemology, social philosophy and global studies.