Sensory Basis of Comprehension of Life

Abstract

Two fundamental theses of theoretical heritage of S.L. Rubinstein are at the center of attention in the article. The first one is about a man and his position in the world; the second one is about sensory cognition and concreteness of existence. The world is juxtaposed and compared with a man on a scale of his life. A man is a starting point of the frame of reference of his world, his life, and his life is taken as an existence. A man separates himself from the surrounding world, stands apart from it and at the same time he ties himself up with it, inseparably compares himself with it. The existence in the world is «presented» to the man; it is given to him in his sensations and perception. Sensory cognition reveals endless concreteness of the existence. Sensory cognition but not abstract reasoning is connected with the existence. Thinking is also a component of life which is mediated and complicated by withdrawal from the sensory perceived reality.