Startsev Yaroslav
Abstract: The article presents a typology of thinking based on the experimental psychology and comparative anthropology with its subsequent projection on the problem of diverse interpretations of political phenomena and different forms of political action arising from it. The comparative characteristics of five modalities of thinking – rational, magical, aesthetic, ethical, and instrumental – are followed by the identification of the basic structuring rules, including way of perception of reality, forming judgments and building the new knowledge. Each set of rules is defined as an independent logic; political thinking and the related political action is analyzed as the consistent implementation of these logics, depending on the chosen modality. Core strategies of political behavior typical for each modality, as well as psychological triggers that stimulate the actualization of the rational, magical, ethical, aesthetic, or instrumental thinking and behavior are explored. Key findings are presented in the form of comparative tables describing the structure of each modality of political thought, the relation of the abstract and the concrete in the framework of different modalities, and logic of political action initiated by different modalities.
Keywords: political thinking, political action, political theory, typology of thinking, irrational in politics.