Encyclopedia as a historical and epistemological phenomenon

This article aims to clarify the concepts of classification, systematization and ordering of knowledge in relation to the phenomenon of the encyclopedia. Modern versions of encyclopedias are mainly formed under the influence of the model of the encyclopedic edition of the Enlightenment. Based on the material of the Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts, a comparative analysis of the concepts of classification and ordering of knowledge is carried out. The analysis of the concept of a system from the perspective of the history of science allows identifying its semantic meanings in the general context of the development of ideas and determining their originality in the scientific and historical context. The article substantiates the relationship between the ontological representation of educators about the world as a single interconnected whole and the tasks of the Encyclopedia to create a knowledge system based on the principle of development. The taxonomy of all human knowledge is given, the basis of which is Francis Bacon’s idea of the division of human thinking abilities. The main provisions of the Enlightenment's criticism of the “spirit of systems”, which distinguishes metaphysical systems and depends on opinion rather than reflects the actual connections between the phenomena of reality, are analyzed. A tendency exists to shift philosophers’ attention from the ontological plane to the epistemological issues of creating a true system of knowledge corresponding to the principles developed by the Enlighteners. Consideration of the encyclopedia phenomenon as a historical and epistemological phenomenon allows concluding that systematicity is an urgent methodological requirement for the presentation of the theory and represents compliance with a certain plane of grouping objects and phenomena. The process of bringing knowledge into line with a certain scientific order is considered as systematization, and nature is considered as a “universal encyclopedia”. Since the time of the French encyclopedia, the open nature of encyclopedic knowledge, i.e., the possibility of including new knowledge in its content, has been assumed. In this case, the classification and systematization procedures do not set a limit to knowledge. The definition of relationships and dependencies provokes the emergence of new knowledge based on existing concepts. The distinctive feature of the encyclopedia is not so much the unambiguity of knowledge as the ability of the subject to develop new knowledge and relate it to other branches of knowledge. The purpose of the encyclopedia in this case is not to transfer knowledge, but to stimulate creative activity to meet the cognitive needs of a person. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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