The aesthetic dimension of rationality: beauty as an invariant of truth

Abstract

The article examines the problem of the aesthetic foundations of educational and scientific practices. It outlines the current state of the philosophy of science, characterized by the pluralism of rationality and a revision of the rigid criteria of classical rationality. The aim of the article is to substantiate the aesthetic foundations of rationality and scientific cognition. Under the influence of continental discourse, scientific knowledge is interpreted as a form of the lifeworld or as a “language game.” The notion of polyfunctional rationality is developed, which presupposes its multidimensional foundations and configurations. It is demonstrated that science incorporates creative and aesthetic components that determine its systemic perspective. Aesthetic frameworks shape research traditions, provide informational order, coherence, and the development of science. Research rules function as creative instruments, analogous to “language games,” thereby enabling the functioning of scientific inquiry. The article revisits the classical ontological understanding of aesthetic phenomena and advances arguments in favor of the constructive nature of the aesthetic in science through an analysis of the views of representatives of contemporary science and the philosophy of science. It is argued that the functioning of paradigms of rationality becomes possible through aesthetic characteristics such as harmony, perfection, symmetry, and a paradigmatic linguistic framework. The criteria of natural-philosophical aesthetics are outlined. Symmetry (invariance) is presented as a key criterion of scientific aesthetics, in contrast to the symmetry of things understood as a purely geometric principle of aesthetics. In contemporary philosophy of science, an understanding of polyfunctional rationality is emerging in which, alongside logical and methodological factors, the aesthetic foundations of rationality and scientific cognition acquire increasing significance, and the principles of symmetry gain new meaning.