Methodological reconstruction of system-thought-activity approach to understanding consciousness
Authors: Furman Anatoliy 
Published: August 2021

The goal of the proposed study is a radical reorganization on a cyclical-deed basis of the stages of the historical formation of methodological concept of consciousness in the theory of activity and STA(system-thought-activity)-methodology as a well-known domestic philosophical trend of the second half of the XX century. (G.P. Shchedrovitsky and his school). The process of updating the principles and norms of the STA-approach to understanding the category and mechanism of consciousness became possible due to metatheoretical guidance in its interpretation as an attributive invariant-way of human existence in interpenetration and unity of its modalities such as noumenal and phenomenal, transcendent and immanent, unknowable and cognizable, speechless and speechful, indefinite (unnamed) and signified (named). To solve this supertask, three search steps were performed, which reveal as the author’s vision of the problematic context of philosophical methodologization in working with consciousness and the main modes of its comprehension (consciousness-phenomenon, consciousness-noumen, consciousness-category, conscious experience, consciousness of being) in the format of integral directions of philosophy development (ontology, metaphysics, phenomenology, polymethodology), as well as principles, conditions and features of system-thought-activity ideas about consciousness as a conceptual means of methodological work and intellectual basis and, at the same time a resource of collective and individual thinking activity. First of all, starting from the reasoned distinction of two research strategies of cognition-construction of reality (scientific-natural and metaphysical), which form essentially different ontological pictures of consciousness, it is concluded about the extensiveness and even deadlock of the first and heuristics and productivity of the second. The last one requires not only the critical-reflexive usage of the existing scope of philosophical knowledge, but also the implementation of competent philosophical methodologization on the way to creating a metatheory of consciousness. In fact, such work, within the defined range of goals and tasks and carried out in the format of this study: according to the principle of quintessence, the optimal number of modes of consciousness understanding is singled out, where each of them is subject to meta-description by definition, essential features and functional characteristics, and constructed a fivefold thought-scheme, which in the post-non-classical style mutually reconciles these understanding modes. In the main part of the semantic metaconsideration of the raised methodological issues it is proved that the cultural achievements of STA-methodology in comprehension of the resource potential of human consciousness are unique, firstly, considering the departure of its representatives from the scientific-subject consideration of the phenomenon of consciousness, and the implementation of a purely methodological approach, secondly, considering the peculiarities of their advocated way of using the category of consciousness, namely as a conceptual means, thought-toolkit. Yes, there is every reason to believe that G.P. Shchedrovitskiy and his circle members carried out a full-fledged act of collective thinking activity, particularly in joint understanding work with the sphere of consciousness, which we reconstructed at the stages of canonical thinking-deed: 1) s i t u a t i o n a l stage – conceptual and categorical elaboration of the problem of consciousness is carried out on the achievements of logic, and later methodology, with their main subject – thinking and setting for the creation of its content-genetic theory by means of activity approach; 2) m o t i v a t i o n a l – consciousness, starting from the generalizations of the cultural-historical theory of the development of higher psychic functions of L.S. Vygotskiy, was comprehenced as an intellectual means of domestication and socialization of the person through the mastery of signs as an instrument of determining influence of intersubjective cooperation with others as opposed to the secondary value of knowledge, the functionalities of consciousness; 3) a c t i o n – a wide sign-instrumental use of the concept and category of consciousness in collective and individual thinking activity, especially in such conceptual organizations as “scoreboard of consciousness”(the flow of consciousness, which is intended for both objective actions and on knowledge), “mechanisms of consciousness” (generate thinking in sensual form as images or objective perceptions, or sign form), “pure consciousness” (spontaneous, meaningless, unstructured, self-causal – independent of the experience of sensual perception, from the action of any empiricism), “organized consciousness” (rhythmically balanced in functioning, filled with psychocultural formations, although not durable, fluid, requires considerable internal (motivational, intellectual, volitional, etc.) efforts of the person for its maintenance, harmonization of all available material which has got to its spherical flow of life), herewith pure consciousness, organizing, loses its spontaneity, is freed; 4) a f t e r-a c t i o n – substantiation of reflexivity as one of the main determinants of the cooperation effectiveness of several acts of activity, and at the same time maturity and perfection of consciousness; reflection is responsible for the organization of consciousness, which, however, itself structurally determines the reality of reflection; only in the reflexively enriched, thought-communicative organizational space of methodological seminars and sessions, organizational and organizational-action games do the functionalities of consciousness find their sign-semantic shelter, witness settlement (primarily in texts, formulas, schemes, models, drawings).