Discussions

Background. The article discusses the current problem of the methodological foundations of psychological science. The article argues that the dangerous crisis for psychology, which was analysed by L.S. Vygotsky has not gone away, but moved from an acute form to a chronic one. “Methodological pluralism” in modern psychology is the triumph of blatant eclecticism. The authors see the main reason for the impasse which psychology has reached as the desire of this science to become like positive sciences from the field of natural science.

Objective. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the point of view according to which L.S. Vygotsky created the only possible scientific psychology of the future, which will rightfully be classical.

Method. The article discusses the fundamental principles and postulates of the cultural-historical approach, and outlines ways of research conceptualising the idea of a systemic and semantic structure of consciousness.

Results. The authors analysed the methodological and philosophical foundations of psychological science. Based on the analysis carried out, the article highlights the approach proposed by L.S. Vygotsky. Comparison of the scientific fate of Galileo with the scientific fate of L.S. Vygotsky allowed the authors to assert that neither one nor the other discoverer of a fundamentally new method of comprehending reality had like-minded people during their lifetime. Their theoretical and methodological bar was raised too high, which made their work inaccessible to understanding by their contemporaries. The article concludes that the legacy of L.S. Vygotsky is not the historical past of psychological science, but its only possible and most promising future.

The article analyzes various factors of life satisfaction of people of elderly and senile age. At the theoretical level, the assumption is that the integrating condition of satisfaction with life at this age is the central life idea (purpose, meaning). A generalized model of life satisfaction, based on the coordinates determining the common life idea (altruistic or egoistic) and the position of personality activity (creative or passive) is proposed. In the psychological space formed by these coordinates, one can identify the aspirations of the person himself (his “I want”), his real capabilities (“I can”), as well as expectations on the part of people relevant to him both in relation to “I want” and in relation to “I can”. The model allows reflecting the contradictions between the “I want” and “I can” of this person, as well as the contradictions between his intentions, self-esteem and expectations on the part of people relevant to him. When different elements of satisfaction do not coincide, problems arise and crises in the development of the elderly and old man. More concrete models of self-determination at the considered age in relation to their past, to the real present and prospective future are presented. The models of life satisfaction are proposed for further analysis: a creative model (search for new goals and opportunities for development), a model of “right” life (passive realization of the stereotypes of a pensioner's life), a “paternalistic” model (caring for others), a model of “ignoring” old age, the model of protection of their rights (in the conditions of imperfection of pension systems), the models of struggle for survival (in the conditions of sharp deterioration of health), the model of preparation for death, the model of self-assertion and the model of comprehension of the lived. Promising hypotheses of further research are formulated, reflecting possible options for complementarity and conflict of different models.

The article discusses the relationship of the general psychological theory of activity and work-psychology. The achievements of labor psychology as a scientific and technical discipline that combines concrete scientific concepts and theories focused on the problem of social practice. These concepts include: approaches and methods of psychological study of professional activities, research projects psychological classification of occupations; theory of work motivation; research problems of intra-individual variability of human performance under the influence of workload, theory of functional states of the subject of work, including the correction of adverse varieties; the theory of differential and developmental psychology used in professional selection and career counseling; options for teaching about the psychology of erroneous actions used in quality management and safety; complementing studies of individual forms of labor; psychosemantic professional approach to the study of consciousness and self- work experience in the psychological study of foreign object activity as the basis of analysis of the mental processes and properties of the subject of work. As a result, the analysis concluded that the general psychological theory of activity performs in relation to the role of labor psychology philosophical and methodological framework and general scientific theory in understanding the psyche of the human subject of labor. It has the status of concrete scientific theory as applied to problems of professional development and training. Psychology of work, beyond training and development, require the development of specific scientific concepts and theories that complement general psychological theory of activity.