Intuitive cognition and scientific prediction as epistemological research methods

The article analyzes such methods of epistemological research as intuitive cognition and scientific prediction which play an important role in the knowledge-obtaining process. At the present stage it is important to reveal the heuristic potential of intuitive knowledge and scientific prediction, relying on the various aspects of these problems highlighted in the works of philosophers of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, materialists of 17-19th centuries, Russian philosophers of the 19th century, and modern scholars. The field of intuition is understood as a special area of the individual's consciousness as a "breakthrough" in the mental sheath through the other layers. The post-nonclassical synergetic approach is peculiar for modern epistemology. The intuitive knowledge can be represented in it as a linear process. Synergetic approach involves intuition as a phenomenon of self-organization mechanism, self-constructing the visual and mental images, ideas, thoughts. As a result of different combinations of complex moves of thoughts, certain information necessary for the free movement of ideas and new knowledge is accumulated. In short, the birth of the new is always associated with the violation of the customary system of order, with the restructuring of knowledge and its construction where intuition plays a significant role. Experience shows that scientific prediction is a result of understanding the laws and patterns of nature, society and human thought, based on facts and knowledge as predictions and the reality. Scientific prediction plays a specific role in cognition, based on events and facts of reality coming from human activity. It is a reflection of a certain content of science in the particular era. The whole history of the formation and development of science indicates the special role and importance of intuitive knowledge and scientific foresight in epistemological studies. Anyone who recognizes the materiality and objectivity of the world, gives priority to scientific knowledge that considers the facts and the results of practical activity. Anyone knows that intuition and foresight are an important and integral part of the theory of knowledge and that they have a significant impact on science, especially in crucial and fateful moments of the historical dynamics.