Український 
English (UK) Expressing delight at the fact of the starry sky overhead and the moral principle in the depths of the human soul, Kant thereby formulated a paradigm making it possible to resolve the issue of the relationship (and in a narrow sense - connection) of science, religion and esoteric knowledge.
By dividing the three forms of the cognitive activity instrumentation (feeling, meaning and reason), the German philosopher thereby also defines the spheres of reality that can be transmitted to human consciousness through the specified instrumentation. Each of these cognitive activity forms has acquired perfection in the space of cultivation, as a matter of fact, of sensations, thinking, intuitive insight; therefore, separately, the forms are self-sufficient within the framework of application with respect to the real objects corresponding to them. And this, in return, means that it would be incorrect to “measure” objects of the mind (and, according to Kant, they are God, Soul, Universe), let us say, with such instruments as the concept of meaning, it would be incorrect.
As is known to science, Kant allocated a proper place to the sphere of feelings and logical-evidence-based thinking. The realm of the mind is based on illogical tools: intuition, values, thinking. The latter define the given of experience as such, regardless of the establishment of cause-and-effect relationships, as it happens in scientific knowledge. And here the question of faith, on which the men’s cognitive abilities rely on in determining the truth of being - on sensation, logic or intuition, appears as an ideological question. Thus, Kant, having discovered the ways of knowledge, pointed out the impossibility of comparing scientific knowledge (sensory experience and meaning) with knowledge that exists on the supersensible level (reason).
How to connect different worldviews: on the basis of one of them, which will act as a kind of mediating link between them, or single out one as defining relative to the other two? The answer about the foundations of creating this type of worldview, in fact, is formulated in the subtitle of the famous work of HP Blavatsky "The Secret Doctrine": "Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy." However, what can the synthesis of these three components be based on, considering the rapid development of science and philosophy in the twentieth century led to a fundamental revision of many positions of all these branches of human activity? The condition of any synthesis can be that each of its components, having formed in certain cultural-theoretical circumstances and, thus, having paradigmatic limitations, should be transformed in the direction of mutual rapprochement to other components, since it becomes an integral part of a more volumetric, than the previous education, a new worldview.
HP Blavatsky defines the philosophy of Plato as the starting point of such a synthesis: "It is the Platonic philosophy, the most elaborate compend of the abstruse systems of old India, that can alone afford us this middle ground" [1, p. 20]. This philosophy "was stated and illustrated in the mysteries" [1, p. 21]. At the same time, the author of "Isis Unveiled" highlights the position of Indian philosophy, important from the point of view of building a new synthesis, in particular, firstly, the idea of the trinity of both nature and man: nature and man consist of the physical body, the astral and the ruler of all things - spirit [2, p. 735 - 736]. Secondly, important definitions on magic: "Magic, as a science, is the knowledge of these principles, and of the way by which the omniscience and omnipotence of the spirit and its control over nature's forces may be acquired by the individual while still in the body. Magic, as an art, is the application of this knowledge in practice" [2, p. 736]. It is noted that "one phase of magical skill is the voluntary and conscious withdrawal of the inner man (astral form) from the outer man (physical body) [2, p. 737]. And further, what is important for the solution of the above-mentioned question of synthesis: "To sum up all in a few words, MAGIC is spiritual WISDOM; nature, the material ally, pupil and servant of the magician. One common vital principle pervades all things, and this is controllable by the perfect human will. The adept can stimulate the movements of the natural forces in plants and animals in a preternatural degree" [2, p. 739]. HP Blavatsky emphasizes that "the adept can control the sensations and alter the conditions of the physical and astral bodies of other persons" [2, p. 739].
It should be noted that, according to Blavatsky, the flow of man to all processes through the power of the spirit, germinated in man's own nature by his own nature and his spiritual improvement, is, so to say, an ecologically balanced influence, enters into resonance with the Universe as a whole, and not breaking its harmony. In contrast, we see the imbalance caused by the consumer spirit of intervention in natural processes with the help of scientific and technical tools and the setting of pragmatic goals for the use of natural resources over the past two centuries.
From what has been said above regarding the HP Blavatsky’s idea about the philosophy of Plato and the achievements of Indian culture, the following can be distinguished:
1. "Spirit, source of all forces" [2, p. 736];
2. Philosophy as a rational-theoretical form of knowledge at the present stage of existence has its origins in spiritual and practical activities (the mysteries of the ancient world: Egypt, India, and then Greece) - magic.
3. Magic involves the improvement of the man’s spiritual nature, consciously directed by the will.
4. Cultivation of magic, based on the further development of the man’s spiritual forces, aims to stimulate "the movements of the natural forces in plants and animals in a preternatural degree. ... Such experiments are not obstructions of nature, but quickenings; the conditions of intenser vital action are given" [2, p. 739].
5. The interaction of man with man and with nature on a spiritual basis ensures the harmonious interaction of man and the Universe, in other words - the identity of the micro- and macrocosm.
6. Under the influence of the spirit, H P Blavatsky does not mean scientific and technical activity that uses technical means external to human nature (tools, machines, energy, chemical and biological technologies, computers, etc.), but his own bodily and spiritual tools provided by nature.
The last position should be discussed in more detail. Technology and science by their material and logical nature (mechanisms, equipment, scientific devices by which man discovers the world properties, logical and theoretical science tools, etc.) are alienated from the essence of the spirit; technology and science can only be instruments of the spirit. Under the influence of spirit, the researcher means the focus of attention and will of the spirit on the man’s inner potential, that is, the improvement of one's own physical body, emotional, mental-analytical, value level of being, improvement of interaction forms with Infinity, with the Absolute. After all, the universe is infinite and it is impossible to comprehend and master it through scientific and analytical knowledge and technologies, which are always limited, no matter how much they increase their potential. The result of the civilization development direction at the moment is as follows: scientific and technological progress has created only crutches for man and pushed to the background the question of the path of its true development: spiritual and practical [3, p. 57 - 93].
However, what opportunities for constituting the synthesis of science, religion and philosophy on the basis of Theosophy are opening up due to the deepening of scientific and philosophical knowledge about man and the world in the XX-XXI centuries, which would detail, clarify, develop our ideas about the mechanism of ancient times magic action on modernity, that is, "modern magic" calls? At the same time, we remember, as stated above, that the achievements of philosophy and science of the present must be transformed in a certain way. After all, they are no longer self-sufficient, but are included in the synthesis of a new level, in a new integrity. The answer to this question can be divided into several aspects: a) what ideas of philosophy can be used in this proceeding; b) achievements of the humanities and natural sciences are important in this context; c) how the achievements of philosophy, the humanities and natural sciences can be transformed based on the task.
Let's dwell on the first aspect - philosophy. First of all, we are talking about an anthropological turn in philosophy at the beginning of the twentieth century, reoriented the formulation and solution of the ontological question from the natural scientific paradigm (based on the postulate of the objective, independent of human consciousness, the existence of reality) to the anthropological, according to which a person is on the highest stage of spiritual growth becomes a manifestation of the most natural forces and is integral to them. The final chord in the formulation of anthropological turn new principles in the consideration of the picture of the Universe is the concept of the philosophical anthropology founders, the ideas of which were formulated in the works of M. Scheler, H. Plesner, A. Gehlen. In particular, in his work "The Human Place in the Cosmos" M. Scheler outlined a complete picture of the formation of the essential forces of a person from his material and natural prerequisites to the emergence of the spiritual potential of the individual. Thus, an attempt was made to consider in unity the entire vertical of the levels of a person's being, starting from his body and further - through sensations and emotions - to the formation of the higher functions of the psyche: thinking, values, worldview principles and attitudes and - the endings - to the constitution of the highest ideal as macrocosmic essences of the spiritual sort - the Absolute. Formulating the tasks of philosophical anthropology: "... to show exactly how from the basic structure of human existence ... all specific monopolies and realizations and deeds of a person follow: language, conscience, tools, weapons ... myth, religion, science ..." , M. Scheler emphasizes the highest goal: "To show how a person at the very moment when, thanks to the awareness of the world and self-consciousness and thanks to the objectification of his own psychophysical nature (this specific recognizable sign of the spirit), he became a person with an inner necessity, must also understand the the formal idea of superluminal, infinite and absolute being" [4, p. 187].
However, in order for philosophical anthropology to become a methodological basis for solving the question of synthesis according to HP Blavatsky, that is, on the basis of spirit, a transformation of philosophical anthropology itself is necessary. In defining its positions, philosophical anthropology relied on the achievements of A. Schopenhauer's philosophy, the ideas of the philosophy of life, phenomenology, and existentialism. The problem of man was intoned in different ways by these currents and requires special analysis. This intonated one-sidedness in understanding human nature itself may contain a heuristic potential for understanding the mechanism of the nature of the synthesis of science, philosophy and esoteric knowledge, which is carried out on the basis of philosophical anthropology. It means that these trends in philosophy, not without the influence of the traditions of Eastern philosophy, served as the basis for the emergence and development of a variety of concepts of practical psychology, psychotherapy, spiritual practices in the twentieth century, which is a kind of return to the paradigm of Eastern thinking, but at the level of analytical development (Western tradition) intuitive processes of the psyche.
References:
1. Blavatsky H. P. Isis Unveiled. URL: https://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/ Data zvernennya 01.09.21
2. Blavatsky H. P. Isis Unveiled. URL: https://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/ Data zvernennya 01.09.21
3. Osipov A. O. Ontolohiya dukhovnosti: Monohrafiya ; U dvokh knihakh. Knyha 1. Mikolayiv: Vid-vo MDHU im. Petra Mohyly, 2008. (UA)
4. Sheler M. Polozheniye cheloveka v kosmose. U kn.: Maks Sheler Izbrannyye proizvedeniya. M.: Izd-vo «Gnozis», 1994. (RU)
Anatoliy Osypov,
Doctor of Philosophy, Professor,
Professor of the Department of Philosophy and Pedagogy
Dnipro University of Technology
