The "Collective subject" In scientific tradition: philosophical and methodological notes

In the philosophical and methodological reflections on modern science, the phenomenon of the «collective subject of cognition» is attracting more and more attention. The most promising research projects nowadays involve not just simultaneous parallel work of scientists on a common topic, but the collective cognitive activity - the disciplinary division of labor, the interaction of various disciplinary perspectives of research and the institutional organization of the cognitive process in general. At the same time, the fragmentation of specific research tasks in such projects raises the question of the existentially colored assessment of their own work as a culturally significant activity, as cognition of the world. Today, within the framework of large-scale projects, the problem that Max Weber drew attention to a hundred years ago has become salient: “vocation” vanishes from the scientific activity, profession remains. According to the author, appeal to the concept of tradition allows accentuating the historical dimension of scientific activity, which contributes to the return to the philosophical and methodological consciousness of scientists of cultural and historical meaningfulness of their professional work. The article emphasizes the methodological role of tradition in organizing the collective efforts of scientific communities implementing large-scale research projects.