Problem of Man’s Being Purport

Man is known to be the only creature that is aware of his mortality and the finiteness of his earthly existence. Birth and death – that is what all inevitably pass through which is common to all members of humanity in all ages, that makes one to feel equality of all human beings. In different age and under different circumstances people realize their own mortality. At such moments a person is gripped with despair, fear and helplessness. But life goes on, man masters himself, recovers, and begins to wonder: Why do I live? What traces should I leave? Is there immortality? How can I justify my life to family and society in general? etc. So, the question of the meaning of life arises. Only man himself can give his own life meaning. The meaning of life purpose is subjective, but it may be socially significant, depending on how useful to society are the goals and ideals, which a given person has. Man’s being purport is a super purpose, his understanding of the desirable and good in life. It determines the orientation of human life, all its manifestations, provides the order and meaning of man’s life being. As it was mentioned the questions of the meaning of life signifies the highest degree in the way of personality’s development, it shows a complex interaction of individual and social.

In the history of philosophy there were different viewpoints on the issue of life and death and the meaning of life. They can be conditionally divided into two groups:

- An optimistic attitude towards life and its meaning. Optimistic means that man is a master of his destiny and happiness, and it largely depends on him how to live his own life. This view was represented in the philosophy of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Pico della Mirandola, Francis Bacon, Karl Marx, Teiyard de Chardin.

- A pessimistic attitude to life and its meaning. Pessimistic means that man is a plaything of forces (nature, fate, society) independent on him and he is unable to change something in his life. This point of view shared B. Pascal, A. Schopenhauer, F. Nietzsche, A. Camus, and J.-P. Sartre.

Like all worldview questions, the question of the meaning of life is an eternal problem: it is asked by man again and again throughout human history; it gets new facets in the spiritual experience of mankind. It can not have any final, pre-set solution for an individual, it can not be regarded as a ready knowledge or a recipe of life, it requires man’s own awareness and choice.

In the history of philosophy several leading approaches to the meaning of life were adopted:

- Meaning of life is determined by the spiritual foundation of being; it is realized in the unity of eternal and temporary. This approach primarily concerns religious philosophy. Meaning of human life is seen in self-improvement of the soul and in spiritualizing man and the world;

- Meaning of life is beyond an individual being. The meaning of human life being is interpreted as service to the highest moral values, other people, and future generations. This approach can be described as altruistic;

- Meaning of life is thought in satisfying material and spiritual needs, and enjoying life. This approach is called hedonistic;

- Meaning of life is defined by man himself, by his own activity;

- Meaning of life aims to promote social development, development of other people, because only these activities create conditions for personal development.

The common in different approaches to the problem of man’s being purport is the creation of an ideal and activity for achieving it. Purpose and meaning of human life cannot only be determined by external to him values. The purpose and the meaning of life are in man himself, first of all to become Man. On the basis of his values man defines his attitude towards the world, himself, society, social groups and institutions he belongs to. So, the solution to the question of the meaning of life depends on man’s worldview which determines the choice of the ideal, goal, potential and possible means of achieving them. During his life man sets a definite goal and looks for means to achieve it. In different periods of life and in different circumstances man can have more than one goal. The purpose may be close or more distant. Often it happens that just a distant goal becomes the meaning of life. But the meaning of life and the goal are not identical. The meaning of life is human activity, aimed at realizing the goal which is human worldview reference-point. Goal-setting takes a special place in human life. It is determined by needs and interests of both man and social group to which he belongs and also by social conditions. A mandatory component of the meaning of life is choosing such sphere of activity which can ensure implementation of man’s essential forces. The meaning of life options are usually set by a historical epoch, a particular society, that serves as the unity of possibility and reality. The meaning of life finds its embodiment in happiness. Happiness is a sensory and emotional state of a person associated with awareness that the meaning of life has been realized.

The meaning of life and its search always involve a choice: a choice of purpose, goals and activities accordingly to the choice made - that is freedom. In making choices, his experiences demonstrate free will and freedom of action, leads to a profound understanding of freedom. In philosophy freedom of choice and free will were always regarded as a condition for the development of personality; and fighting for freedom, for oneself and for others is personality’s sacred duty. But simultaneously, the question was put whether freedom is possible in the world where there is a causal conditioning of phenomena. In nature and society there are objective laws which are independent of man’s consciousness. How can man be free in such circumstances? Here are the following conceptions of freedom in philosophy:

- Determinism is the theory of causality with its extreme variant - fatalism;

- Indeterminism, which generally denies causality; in approving boundless freedom of the individual it comes to voluntarism;

- Alternativism, which claims that there is always a freedom of choice, but not boundless, only several options are available.

The problem of freedom was always considered in dialectics of the categories "freedom - necessity." Spinoza stressed that "freedom is acknowledged necessity." G. Hegel also analyzed dialectic of freedom and necessity. Gradual understanding of objective laws of nature and society revealed both limits and the basis of choice, and realization of man’s freedom. "Freedom... is based on the knowledge of natural necessity dominion over ourselves and over external nature,"- F. Engels wrote. Knowledge of objectively existing range of possibilities determined by objective laws creates conditions for reasonable and optimal choice of available options, and freedom of choice is actually individual liberty. C. Montesquieu said: "Freedom is the right to do whatever is allowed by law."

The category of freedom is inseparably linked with the notion of responsibility. Man as part of the world and society can not act without considering consequences of his actions. As it was noted, the individual has necessarily got responsibility, awareness of mutual claims and liabilities. Realizing his freedom, man is responsible to himself and to society. Personal freedom is impossible without taking into account and respecting the rights of others to freedom. Therefore, responsibility implies knowledge of the consequences of one’s activities, and also activity should be taken on the basis of universal rules of morality, in particular its golden rule: "Do not do to others what you do not want to be done against you." Man's ability to realize his uniqueness and at the same time correlation with others determines the measure of his own responsibility and will power. Personality is able to overcome brute animal’s instincts, his selfish desires and to make choice based on the higher spiritual values, to realize his freedom. Responsibility is the result and the foundation of freedom. Freedom is impossible without responsibility and without awareness of the necessity and its incorporation in the process of human life. It is important, in particular, at the beginning of the XXI century, when science and society raised the level of individual freedom so high that without responsibility it could threaten man himself and other people.

Basic concepts and categories:

Will is a property of consciousness that governs and motivates human behavior; purposeful accomplishment of actions on the base of conscious choice and decision making.

Voluntarism (fr. Lat. “voluntus” meaning will) - human activities on the basis of their own desires and will without caring of objective circumstances and laws.

Individual is a single representative of the human race, similar to others, without regarding his unique characteristics and abilities.

Individuality supposes an original way of being of a certain individual, the uniqueness of his natural abilities and their development in the activities determined by the rules of social life. It is the unity of unique properties and universal characteristics of man that are formed in the dialectical process of interaction of hereditary qualities, personal characteristics and acquired social traits.

Man is abiosocial being of Homo sapiens species, which possesses a language, thought and consciousness; who is the subject of cognition, historical processes and the development of culture as a "second nature" on the Earth; who differs from other related forms of life through the ability to produce tools.

Meaning of life isaphilosophical notion expressing the purpose of human life, the process of fulfilling an individual’s potential, his ability to freely chosen direction of development that gives a person a sense of happiness.

Personality isa socially developed individual who is formed in the process of activity, communication, or in other words, of the socialization of the individual.

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