In theory, all people recognize the value of human life, but when it comes to practical things, people have doubts. Did Hitler deserve to be saved if he had such an opportunity? A maniac pedophile must live or die? These questions affect the main moral values of human life and the idea of whether it is the most important value. We will talk about what values are, how they are associated with the meaning of life, and how its value is understood in psychology, philosophy, and everyday consciousness.
Concept of value
There is a section in philosophy called axiology; it is entirely devoted to the study of values. From the early stages of their lives, mankind has been trying to answer the question of what is value, which is more or less valuable. Over the millennia, common ideas have developed on this issue. Ordinary consciousness under the value understands such a characteristic of the phenomenon as its special significance for the individual, for society or for civilization as a whole.
The study of the problem of values has undergone a long evolution, and today philosophy believes that there are different types and characteristics of them. There is no single point of view on what the nature of values is and whether they can be objective or are always subjective. Thinkers cannot give an unambiguous definition of this concept. In the most general form, philosophers believe that value is a combination of spiritual and material objects that satisfy human needs. Moreover, the concept of values is social in nature. Society forms a complex of important objects that contribute to the development of society and the people in it. Value orientation is an essential component in the structure of personality. Through them, man goes on to determine the meaning and value of human life as a whole.
Life as a Value
On the way of its formation, mankind did not always consider that human life has any special significance. And only humanism as a social phenomenon began to consider human life as the highest value. However, even after this many contradictions remained. Since it can often be sacrificed in the name of other values. And people themselves do not always remember that they possess such a treasure. In practice, the value of human life is deciphered in several basic principles. Firstly, if you consider that this is the most significant and important thing in the world, then you need to recognize the right of any person to preserve it. And here again the question arises about the villains and their right to continue to live, taking life from other people. The second principle is a lean attitude towards any of its manifestations. This means that you need to protect your own and others' lives. And people can harm themselves: smoking, taking harmful substances, etc. Another important thing is the need to promote life in all its forms and varieties. Here there are many insurmountable difficulties, for example, with meat-eating, because this is also the destruction of the living. If we consider life as the main value, then it is necessary to live it especially worthy, otherwise it is wasted. This implies the need to develop a meaningful position and build your life on the basis of awareness and significance. If we consider existence from this perspective, it turns out that people, declaring the idea that this is the most expensive that a person has, do not actually exist in accordance with this postulate.
The value of human life in philosophy
Throughout the history of human civilization, people have wondered what is the most important thing in the world. Ordinary consciousness, age-old wisdom quickly respond to it: human life. But philosophers, accustomed to doubt everything, say that there are no objective characteristics by which existence on earth would be a value in any case. Only religious philosophy believes that the value of human life is determined by its divine origin. People receive it from God and have no right to dispose of it. And the secular branches of philosophy and ethics seriously think that a person should have the right to manage his life.
Today, these problems are again vigorously discussed and conceptualized with attempts to legitimize euthanasia in some countries. At one time, N. Berdyaev wrote that man is the highest value, and it is this global value that allows society to integrate something integral. Usually the question of the value of life in philosophy comes down to the question of its meaningfulness. If a person exists with an understanding of why he is doing this, if he sets some spiritual goals, then his life is valuable, and if there is no meaning, then existence on earth is worthless.
What do psychologists say about this
Unlike philosophers, psychologists have a different approach to this problem. They say that people are all different and there cannot be a single universal measurement of the value of their existence on Earth. In their assessment, people usually proceed not from objective characteristics, but from subjective ones. And then it turns out that Hitler’s life has no value, but such a loved one is very important. Psychologists proceed from the fact that the basic values of human life are the basis for the development of personality. They affect the orientation of the individual, his activities, social position, attitude towards himself, another, society. Based on his values, a person ranks needs, builds motivation. They determine the interests, worldview and attitudes of the individual. Recognizing life as the most important value, a person chooses goals and formulates the meaning of his existence. Without this, it is impossible to live productively, develop, interact with other people. Thus, psychologists recognize the high importance of axiology. Only realizing that life is the main value, a person can be formed as a whole and productive person.
Meaning
One way or another, both philosophers, and psychologists, and ordinary people link two concepts: the meaning and value of human life. Since ancient times, philosophers began to reflect on the question of why man lives. Centuries-old reflections have not brought final clarity to this question. It is recognized that meaning is the essence of all things and phenomena, respectively, the idea of having a meaning of life is generally not in doubt. However, there is a possibility that a person is not able to comprehend it. Its cognitive horizon is rather narrow, and in conditions of information deficit (and people do not know everything about life), it is impossible to comprehend the meaning with absolute accuracy. On the whole, most philosophers and ordinary consciousness agreed that the meaning of life lies in life itself. You need to live in order to live. The option of meaning as a path search is also recognized. A person should look into himself and answer questions about what is most important to him.
A philosopher and psychologist with an amazing fate, Viktor Frankl says that the search and the acquisition of meaning make a person mentally healthier and wealthier. At the same time, he sees three ways of understanding life: everyday work, awareness of the value of relationships with other people and their experiences associated with another person, and reflection on situations that bring suffering. Thus, in order to make sense, a person must fill his time with work and worries about other people, and it is also necessary to realize the experience and learn from it.
goal
Awareness of the meaning of life and their own basic values helps a person to set life goals. The psyche of people is arranged in such a way that only actual goals can be the motivation for activity. Therefore, each person at his own level, but answers himself to the question of why he lives. And usually this answer is linked to universal values. If you ask the layman what is most important in his life and why he lives, then most likely he will answer that the main thing is family and loved ones, and he lives for their well-being and happiness. Thus, the goals and values of human life are closely related to each other. The most common goal is to create a family and continue a kind. This goal is dictated by biology and society. Not for every person this goal is really relevant, which is why often people get divorced, sometimes they leave the children whom they seem to have wanted so much once. Sometimes a person sets a goal, and when it is achieved, he is disappointed and it seems to him that life has lost its meaning. This often happens with older people who achieved socially approved goals: education, career, family, but did not listen to their true desires. Therefore, the meaning of our stay in this world is precisely to understand what is necessary and valuable for you and how to achieve really important goals.
Values
As we already understood, the meaning of a person’s life is linked to his goals, and they, in turn, are correlated with values. Important objects are life-orientating beacons. The main values of human life help a person choose the vector of life movement. They are a kind of core of consciousness and perception of the personality. At the same time, society seeks to develop among people certain universal values that society needs for effective functioning and self-preservation. Each era develops its own set of socially significant values, but some universal, universal values remain: freedom, peace, equality. But each person, besides this, forms his own package of important objects, and it is their presence that indicates the maturity of the person. They are called individual values, and they primarily affect the daily actions of a person. As they say, your shirt is closer to the body. They distinguish different types of values, classifying them for various reasons:
- By the degree of versatility. In this case, they talk about universal, group and personal values.
- By forms of culture. On this basis, material and spiritual values are distinguished.
- By type of activity. In this classification, many types are distinguished, including aesthetic, religious, moral, existential, political, legal, scientific.
Spiritual and material values
The most common is the classification of values according to the form of culture. And traditionally, all values are divided into material and spiritual. Among the latter stand out moral and aesthetic. What are the most important values of human life? Here, opinions are usually divided, some believe that without material values a person is not able to think about the spiritual. Materialists believe that being determines consciousness. And idealists think exactly the opposite and believe that the main thing is spirituality, and a person can refuse material wealth in the name of lofty goals. Psychologists also talk about the existence of spiritual materialists who believe that everything should be in balance in a person’s life. Each person relates something to material values, but in general, this includes wealth, the availability of real estate and other property. Their peculiarity lies in the so-called alienation, that is, they can be lost, squandered. But spiritual values are inalienable.
Basic spiritual values
The formed complex of spiritual values testifies to the maturity of the individual. This set allows a person to escape from bodily limitation, gain freedom and accept responsibility for his life, its goals, and its meaning. At school, many wrote the essay “What is the value of human life?”, But at this age a person can only begin to think about the vector of his development, and sometimes does not even start. According to psychologists, a formed worldview usually appears by the age of 20-30, although someone has it much later. The recognition of spiritual values as decisive in life is a prerequisite for gaining freedom. This type of value is usually classified as moral and aesthetic, as the most important. In addition, universal spiritual values are called freedom, love, peace, life, justice,
Moral values
In human life, morality is extremely important; it is it that makes an individual out of an individual with a free choice and a responsible choice. Moral values help a person to regulate relations with other people and society. The measure of these relations is good and evil, and a person makes a decision for himself what he personally considers good and what is not. For each person, the complex of moral commandments may differ, but there are basic postulates that are the same for all people. They are formulated in religious codes and have undergone few changes over the millennia. However, these values may vary depending on the group or professional affiliation of the person. For example, the set of values of human life in biomedical ethics will be interpreted primarily from the point of view of the relationship between the doctor and the patient. Universal moral values are patriotism, duty, industriousness, honor, integrity, humanity.
Aesthetic values
If morality is associated with an assessment of life and its phenomena from the point of view of Good and Evil, then aesthetic values are an examination of the world through the prism of the Beautiful and the Ugly. The goals and value of human life are often associated with the identification, experience and creation of beauty. Everyone knows the phrase of F. Dostoevsky that beauty will save the world. And people really often strive to make the world around a more beautiful, harmonious and see their goals and objectives in this. Philosophers distinguish the following values in this subgroup: beautiful, sublime, tragic, comic. And their antipodes are ugly and base. Aesthetic values are associated with the ability and desire of a person to experience deep and vivid emotions, the ability to feel the harmony of the world, the ability to perceive shades of feelings and moods of other people and their creations.
Health as a Value
A person who is responsible for himself, realizing that life is an important value, and he is obliged to save it, thinks about his health. But not only the people themselves, but also society is interested in ensuring that people do not get sick. In axiology, it is customary to distinguish three types of health: moral, physical and mental. The conservation of each of them is part of the meaningful existence of the individual. Health as the main value of human life is studied by a special branch of philosophy - bioethics. In its framework, health is conceptualized as an absolute life value. The goal of a person is to maintain health, as it is a condition for achieving all other values. Not in vain in the Russian language is the phrase: “if there was health, we will buy the rest”.
Love as value
In philosophy, love is understood as a specific moral and aesthetic feeling, which is expressed in the disinterested desire for a chosen object, in readiness for self-giving, in responsibility towards this object. This is a multifaceted and diverse feeling, it can be experienced in the homeland, people, animals, in some types of activity, in nature. Love belongs to the main values of human life, as it is associated with moral and aesthetic experiences. It may be the goal of existence.
Value Issues in the Modern World
Sociologists note that today there is a process of devaluation of universal values. There is a blurring of ideas about what is important and what is not. There is also a problem of the value of human life, which is associated with the growth of conflicts, as a result of which people die. European society seeks to extend its values to all world cultures and this leads to intercultural conflict. Today in Europe, the process of democratization is at its peak, individual values are beginning to prevail over social values, and this is shaking the system that has been developing for centuries.