ОТРАЖЕНИЯ ТЕОРИЯ

Reflection, Theory of

The materialist teaching on man's cognition of reality, the processes of reflection in living nature, technology and on the prerequisites of this reflection in inanimate nature. Apart from the problems of the theory of knowledge, which studies the ways and means of man's acquiring true knowledge, the universal logical forms (categories) and laws of cognition, the Marxist theory of reflection covers the problems concerning the natural scientific basis of man's cognitive activity, the origin and essence of his consciousness and also the property of reflection in inanimate nature.

With the appearance of cybernetics great importance attaches to the problem of applying this property in communications, automation, and telemechanics.

Consistent application of materialism to the solution of complex problems of cognition became possible thanks to the spread of materialist dialectics to the sphere of cognitive activity. In Marxist philosophy materialist dialectics is at the same time the theory of knowledge and dialectical logic. The terms theory of reflection and theory of knowledge are synonymous in Marxist philosophical literature when reference is made to their essence or to the range of problems relating to the specifics of human knowledge.