Article universal human values. Historical formation of universal human values ​​as a psychological and pedagogical problem

General human values are instilled in a person during his upbringing. They represent the accumulated spiritual, moral and moral principles that maintain the level of good behavior in society. Fundamental is human life with the acute problem of its preservation in the current cultural society and under existing natural conditions.

In another sense, universal human values ​​are an absolute standard that contains the foundations of moral values; they help humanity preserve its species.

However, critics argue that some are capable of misusing this concept. Thus, it can be used to manipulate public opinion. And this is despite the difference in national life, religion, etc. As a result, values ​​that are the same for everyone may contradict some culture.

But for every argument there is a counter-argument. Opponents of this side argue that without these kinds of values, society would already be morally decayed, and individual subjects would not be able to coexist peacefully.

They are important - they first of all shape and only then the culture of the country and society as a whole. And yet, there is no specificity in these kinds of values ​​- they are not some set of rules that must be followed unquestioningly. Also, they are not associated with a certain period of time in the development of a particular culture or a specific ethical tradition. This is what distinguishes a civilized person from a barbarian.

Universal human values ​​include several components. The spiritual component is religion, philosophy, art, ethics, aesthetics, various cultural monuments, masterpieces of music and cinema, literary works etc. That is, the entire spiritual experience of peoples is of universal value. This conceals deep philosophical reflections on the meaning of existence, morality, cultural heritage and morals of the people.

The spiritual component is divided into moral, aesthetic, scientific, religious, political and legal foundations. modern society is honor, dignity, kindness, truth, non-harm and others; aesthetic - the search for the beautiful and sublime; scientific - truth; religious - faith. The political component reveals in a person a desire for peace, democracy, justice, and the legal component determines the importance of law and order in society.

The cultural component includes communication, freedom, and creative activity. Natural is organic and inorganic nature.

Universal values ​​are a form of application of moral standards that is associated with the ideals of humanism, personal dignity and justice. They guide a person to ensure that his life is based on three important components: awareness, responsibility and honesty. That's why we are people, because we are capable of achieving this. The prosperity of society and the atmosphere in it depend on us. Mutual understanding and mutual respect should reign in the world. Compliance with universal human values ​​can realize the world peace so desired by many!

Values- this is the core of the culture of society, the unifying link of all branches of spiritual production, all forms of social consciousness. Value is a quality that is especially significant for a person, corresponding to the triad of universal human qualities - Good, Truth, Beauty. A person with spiritual values ​​is disposed towards love, mercy, and caring for others. Value is what a person needs and determines his life path.

Nikandrov N.D. believes that it is an important task modern education is to educate young people in the spirit of Russian traditions and values. According to many modern scientists, life and the homeland for a child always begin with the immediate environment. Only then does a gradual expansion of his horizon occur. Values ​​fix what has developed in life, in the mentality of the people and is proclaimed as the norm. Values ​​change - norms change - educational goals change. Over the past ten years we have Once again We are sinfully changing - in many ways we have already changed - the entire value system of our society. Values ​​often do not change, since they are not created to order; they mature over centuries and millennia. What we now call the Russian mentality has developed since the adoption of Christianity in Rus' in the 10th century.

Belozertsev E.P. arranges a person’s value guidelines, or ideals, into three unique rows. The first includes ideals associated with personal life(individual): family, home, happiness, well-being, career. The second consists of social (specific historical) ideals: nation, state, a certain social system. The third includes ideals that are usually called the highest (universal). They symbolize the spiritual perfection of every individual, people, and human society as a whole. Figuratively, these concepts can be called Good, Beauty, Love, the orientation towards which permeates the entire centuries-old history of Russian philosophy. This expressed the Russian understanding of the purpose of Man’s existence on Earth.

Summarizing all that has been said, it can be noted that the problem spiritual education, education of spiritual values ​​is one of the eternal issues that constantly require search and updating. Personal spirituality is one of the main problems of humanitarian knowledge, and the education of human qualities on the basis of the rich Russian spiritual tradition is one of the priority tasks of modern pedagogical science.

V.S. Solovyov owns a value-hierarchical scale of three main areas of human life: spiritual, intellectual, social. There is no doubt that these areas of human existence are at the same time its main values, including individual ones. There is also no doubt that the educational system should make a significant contribution to the search for their specific forms and relationships, to the search for ways to achieve them.

The path to the future today lies through the moral and spiritual education of the individual. As leading pedagogical scientists rightly note, the school today needs not so much educational reforms as the constant spiritual work of teachers, for it is not only a place for acquiring knowledge, but also the center of a children’s community, where human values ​​are first learned and assimilated.

Over the course of a person’s life, some values ​​are reinforced, others are discarded or modified, and, ultimately, an individual, specific hierarchy of personal values, inherent only to him, is formed. “No two individuals in the same society have the same values. Everyone will add something somewhere, subtract something somewhere, will place a stronger emphasis on one than most of their neighbors, and on another - a weaker one.” An individual’s collisions with new value systems, as well as contradictions between real life and already acquired values, often lead to the formation of “multi-layered” value systems in which the declared values ​​diverge significantly from the actual ones.

Manifesting in various forms(goals, attitudes, assessments, normative ideas, imperatives, prohibitions, etc.), value orientation acts as a guideline for an individual’s activity and allows him to evaluate the world in terms of good and evil, truth or lies, beauty or ugliness, permissible or forbidden, fair or unfair. “By adopting from the people around them a view of something as a value worthy of being guided by it in their behavior and activities, a person can thereby lay the foundations of a need that he did not have before.”

Values ​​are not always recognized by the individual, but their regulatory influence remains. “The person himself may not be aware at all whether he has a value relationship to reality, and if so, what kind. The effective power of the value relationship will not be lost from this.” Thus, values ​​are basic beliefs that certain ideas, goals, behaviors, or institutions are individually or socially preferable to other ideas, goals, behaviors, etc. Values ​​carry the individual's moral ideas about what is right, positive or desirable; they are conscious or intuitive moral choice what is important and worthwhile for a person.

The idea of ​​the preference of spiritual values ​​is dictated by the classification of values ​​proposed at one time by V.P. Tugarinov. He divided all values ​​into “life values” /these are utilitarian or economic values/ and “cultural values” /ethical and aesthetic/. Accepting this classification as one of the possible, it should be noted that the difference between material and spiritual values ​​cannot be absolutized, because, in essence, all values, without exception, have a “spiritual” function, since ultimately they “work” for the universal development of the individual / taking into account , naturally, the above two points/. So, the material environment /i.e. a set of material values/, if organized properly /according to recommendations, for example, modern design/, can significantly influence a person spiritually and develop him/her. And vice versa, low-quality spiritual products (such as “chernukha” and “porn”)/ reduce the value potential of the individual and corrupt him spiritually.

If we look at the works of S.F. Anisimov, they classify values ​​according to the levels of social existence and social consciousness. Accordingly, his “highest values” are man and humanity, then come the values ​​of material life, social values, and finally spiritual values. It must be said that this “Isthmth” approach gave rise to objections - in particular, the vagueness of the very concept of “ highest value" Close to this in essence, but different in conclusion, the classification looks different, dividing values ​​into *primary /satisfy the biological, although humanized needs of man/, secondary (creation of human hands, primarily tools/ and tertiary /means of communication in the broadest sense of the word). /.

The social-active approach divides all values ​​according to the object and subject of activity. But to an object - they indicate the value of natural objects: the value of a person, a group of people, social phenomena. The most difficult thing here is to justify the value of natural objects; the solution to the problem is seen in taking into account the fact that these objects have two existences: natural / their own natural properties, which in themselves are value-free and social (the same properties, but involved in the sphere of human activity and subordinated to the satisfaction of human needs).

But to the subject - they talk about universal, class, national, professional, age, personal values. It is especially important to understand the relationship between universal and class, social and personal values.

The correlation between universal and class values ​​was actively discussed in our country during the years of perestroika within the framework of “new political thinking”, which sought to take into account the aggravation in the world global problems- threats of nuclear war, ecological crisis, difficult demographic situation, poverty problems, etc. As a result, the sphere of universal human values ​​was extended to the area of ​​interstate and interformation relations, and the priority of these values ​​over all others - class, national, and state - was justified. Before this, the prevailing emphasis in values ​​was not universal, but class-group content, which was fully consistent with confrontational consciousness with its absolutization of the class approach and rigidly understood formation theory. Universal. values ​​as such were either not taken into account at all, or were understood extremely narrowly (for example, reduced to simple moral norms), while the values ​​and assessments of one opposing side were extolled and elevated to the rank of universal human values, while the other were debunked and compromised. In practice, this led to ideological: intolerance, prohibitions on studying cybernetics, genetics, etc., distortion and perversion of such values ​​of world civilization as “market”, “property”, “democracy”, “rights and freedoms of citizens”, etc. .d.

Now the situation has changed dramatically. A different, civilized approach to values ​​has taken hold: the emphasis is on continuity in the historical development of the material and spiritual culture of mankind, the accumulation, during this development, of grains of “eternal” and enduring, smoldering universal significance; their positive generalization is the concept of “civilization”; in this case, the class is not discarded, but is considered as part of the whole. And universal human values, with this approach, appear as an expression of common features in the total socio-cultural experience of mankind, preserving and increasing their positive significance for people in changing historical eras.

Historically, what is universal in values ​​is enriched and expanded, gradually going beyond the local and ethno-national framework and becoming truly universal / i.e. covering all earthlings/. This universality is taking shape as humanity realizes its planetary unity and the formation of the world community, which has become a fact relatively recently, during the current century. What exactly do we qualify as universal human values?

The main one today is man, his life, health, physical and moral-spiritual, his dignity, honor, freedom of self-affirmation and self-development. Speaking about the economic sphere, it is especially worth noting property as a value: in its exact value it is the attitude of the subject of activity to objects of nature and means of labor as their own, i.e. it is a form of human appropriation. This determines, firstly, highly productive work, because the true owner has a constant and growing interest in the effective use of property, and secondly, high responsibility in the management of his property, frugality, diligence, “the owner’s eye,” and social sphere- consensus of all social forces as the basis of social stability in society, the protection of citizens, especially children, the disabled and the elderly. In the political and legal sphere - guaranteed human rights, pluralistic democracy, equality of all before the law, and spiritual - the values ​​of morality, art and religion, science in philosophy. It is on this basis that a system of values ​​is formed/and will be formed/that will unite all Russians and give their life activities a high human meaning.

But how, with the help of what specific mechanisms does this universal become the property of each individual person? This is a question about the mechanisms for transforming social values ​​into individual and personal values. Such transformation, according to psychologists, occurs during internalization. or the transformation of social values ​​into internal stable structures of the human psyche. This process is not carried out automatically, but in the individual’s independent search for his priority values, with the participation of both conscious and unconscious levels of his consciousness. The supporting explanatory concept here is the attitude, or state of readiness, predisposition of the subject to a certain activity in certain conditions. This predisposition itself appears as a “holistic modification of the subject” / D.N. Uznadze/ and includes not only the simplest attitudes /at the biological level/, but also more complex, social, highest level which are value orientations.

Value orientations concentrate the most important, fundamental elements of the individual’s consciousness and are especially dear to her; and since they have been suffered through her entire life's destiny, they form the core of the internal structure of the personality, the core of her beliefs, the basis of her worldview. These elements are moral, political, artistic, religious and other attitudes; in the structure of the personality they are integrated into a certain system that combines the “imperatives of the time” and what comes from the personal uniqueness of a given individual. But the degree of development of value orientations is judged by the maturity of an individual, the extent to which he corresponds to his time; a solder indicator of their development is the hierarchy of values, or the determination of the place of a particular value on a scale of values: which values ​​does a given personality consider as priority, and which as derivatives, second, and say, okay. The evaluation criterion is ideal, or ultimate perfection; specifically: the morally highest is good, the aesthetically highest is beauty, the highest value in knowledge is truth, in the political and legal series - justice, etc. In addition to the ideal, rules and norms, standards and benchmarks also serve as a model for comparison.

In reality, there are often cases of internal inconsistency in the systems of value orientations of an individual. The most typical is the discrepancy “between declared and real values” / D.A. Leontyev. Value as an interdisciplinary concept: experience of multidimensional reconstruction // Questions of Philosophy, No. 4, 1996, p. 21/. The reason for this discrepancy is not only in hypocrisy, when at the official public level one values ​​are followed, and at the level of ordinary consciousness and everyday practice - others; there may also be a disharmony of the conscious and unconscious structures of the individual’s psyche; value system personality can only take shape and still be unstable; may be affected by the presence in the consciousness of a person of heterogeneous values, caused by his simultaneous belonging to different social groups with their own set of values ​​/state, nation, family, professional, age, etc. group/. It is also indicated that a person’s value orientations can change (sometimes quite radically) throughout his life.

Concluding the consideration of the theory of values, one should understand their fundamental role in a person’s awareness of the meaning of his life and his purpose in the world. To do this, it is necessary first of all to return to the idea of ​​the priority of spiritual values ​​over material values, because, as already noted, a person finds the true meaning of his own life primarily in the spiritual sphere, in the production and consumption of spiritual values, which corresponds to the essence of man as a bio-social being, possessing a highly developed consciousness.

Further revealing the problem of the meaning of life, we should talk here not just about the priority of spiritual values, but also emphasize the role in their structure of higher spiritual values, concentrated in the concept of “spirituality”. “Spirituality” is a measure of humanity that allows, figuratively speaking, to measure the “growth” of a person in each of us, the height of the “bar” of each, and everyone has their own, purely individual level. It is opposed to lack of spirituality as a synonym for mundaneness, selfishness, immersion in the world of purely consumer interests, social passivity, indifference and irresponsibility.

Due to its integrative nature, the fact that spirituality represents a synthesis of rational-logical and sensory-volitional structures, it is difficult to accurately define in scientific terms, but search in this direction is now being intensively conducted. And the first thing that has already been firmly established is that spirituality is a qualitative characteristic, and therefore directional: it indicates a certain state inner world of a person, given by the highest spiritual values ​​of his era - in them he sees an ideal example of perfection and measures all his life activity against them. Therefore, true spirituality is always an indicator of a person’s high development (we are talking about approach and ideal), always evidence of his high purpose in the world, the fullness of the meaning of his life.

What are these values? this is goodness, truth, beauty. They were identified in ancient times, throughout the subsequent course of world history they confirmed their absolute and universal significance and are now considered as fundamental “ bearing structures» spirituality and a decent lifestyle. These values ​​must be taken in indissoluble unity, since they express, according to V.S. Solovyov, “one and the same thing” is a person’s desire to understand the highest meaning of life and those sacred things in which the phenomenon of humanity is concentrated and following which determines a righteous, perfect life.

At the same time, each of them carries its own semantic load. Thus, the place of truth in the structure of the leading spiritual values ​​of humanity is determined by the criteria of objectivity, validity and evidence contained in it, which form a knowledgeable and rational person, thinking and acting on the basis of reasonable norms. Beauty as an exponent of an aesthetic attitude towards the world is a kind of antidote to narrow and naked rationalism, a reminder to man of the need for the fullness of his being, the universal and harmonious manifestation of his creative powers and abilities / Schiller’s “play of physical and spiritual forces” /, a sense of life not only as everyday work, but also as a “holiday” / M.M. Bakhtin/. The importance of goodness in the structure of spirituality as the most complete expression of the moral principle is undoubted. Moreover, it plays a leading and dominant role in it, since it is focused on the most essential thing - the definition social significance actions and actions of people for their civilized life together. In this purpose, good is addressed both to the individual himself /conscience as the ability to exercise self-control, cutting off everything base and selfish/, and to other people /mercy, compassion, love/ and to the world as a whole /theories of Russian cosmists, the ethics of “reverence for life" by A. Schweitzer and others.

Basic human values

Labor training naturally orients the process of personality formation towards the cultivation of high moral qualities.

In Russian pedagogy, the ethnopedagogy of the peoples of Russia, labor, justice, beauty, goodness, being components of morality, constitute a single harmonious whole.

The highest human values: justice, work, beauty, and most of all, of course, goodness, kindness as the best, most convincing manifestation of love.

It is obvious that all this together constitutes a reliable basis for morality and, accordingly, moral education.

I think it is necessary to add truth to this list of universal human values.

So let's make a list of universal human moral values:

Work, beauty, goodness, justice, love, truth, life, purpose of life, meaning of life, truth, chastity, purity, education, homeland, family, children, honesty, traditions, conscience, freedom, man.

Universal human values ​​in the modern world

value universal norm

In the modern world, there are two diametrically opposed points of view on the question of the existence of universal human values. The first of them: there are no absolute universal values. Values ​​and a system of ethics are developed by an ethnic group in relation to its own society, based on the experience and nature of interaction of people within this community. Since the conditions of existence of different communities are different, it is incorrect to extend the ethical system of one community to the whole world. Each culture has its own scale of values ​​- the result of its living conditions and history, and therefore there are no universal human values ​​that are common to all cultures. An example of ethical behavior among cannibals was eating the corpses of a defeated enemy after a battle, which action had a mystical meaning. Supporters of the above point of view believe that a cannibal cannot be blamed for such behavior. Advocates of a different point of view appeal more to real situations of interaction and coexistence different cultures. Since in conditions modern world no community of people (except, perhaps, a specially created reservation) exists in isolation from others, but, on the contrary, actively interacts with them; for the peaceful coexistence of cultures it is necessary to develop some common system values, even if it did not exist a priori. For the cannibal culture to coexist peacefully with the vegetarian culture, they need to develop some system of common values, otherwise coexistence will be impossible. There is also a third point of view that follows from the first. Its adherents claim that this phrase is actively used to manipulate public opinion. Opponents of US foreign policy argue that in the foreign policy of America and its satellites, talk about the defense of “universal human values” (freedom, democracy, protection of human rights, etc.) often develops into open military and economic aggression against those countries and peoples who they want to develop in their own traditional way, different from the opinion of the world community. In other words, according to this point of view, the term “universal human values” is a euphemism that covers the West’s desire to impose a new world order and ensure the globalization of the economy and multiculturalism. There are certain reasons for the emergence of such a point of view. European standards are being established throughout the planet. These are not only technical innovations, but also clothing, pop music, the English language, construction technologies, trends in art, etc. Including narrow practicality, drugs, the growth of consumer sentiment, the dominance of the principle - “don’t stop money from making money,” etc. In fact, what is commonly called today “universal human values” are, first of all, values ​​that were established by Euro-American civilization. Having undergone crises of varying intensity and consequences, these ideologies have become excellent soil on which a unified consumer society has grown in the West, and in Russia, is actively being formed. In such a society, of course, there is a place for such concepts as goodness, love, justice, but the main values ​​in it include other “virtues” that are important primarily for achieving material well-being and comfort. Spiritual values ​​become secondary. Another terrible feature of modern civilization is terror. Terrorist evil cannot be justified. But you can try to understand its reasons. Each of the tragedies is another episode of an intercivilizational war, in which on one side of the invisible front line there is Western, that is, American-European civilization, and on the other - that world, or rather, the most radical and extremist part of it, to which the values ​​of this civilization are alien.

Intercivilizational confrontations are not at all distinguishing feature present time. They have always existed. But the main difference between the modern “war of the worlds”, unfolding in the era of globalism, is that this confrontation is developing into a global one, that is, much larger and more dangerous. And the battlefield becomes the Earth. Will this completely abolish the universality of human values?.. Can we at least hope for a better outcome?.. It is impossible to make forecasts.

Human values- these are fundamental, universal guidelines and norms, moral values, which are the absolute standard for people of all cultures and eras.
“Eternal” values:
1. Worldview ideals, moral and legal norms, reflecting the historical spiritual experience of all humanity and creating conditions for the realization of universal human interests, for the full existence and development of each individual.
2. Well-being of loved ones, love, peace, freedom, respect.
3. Life, freedom, happiness, as well as the highest manifestations of human nature, revealed in his communication with his own kind and with the transcendental world.
4. “The golden rule of morality” - do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.
5. Truth, beauty, justice.
6. Peace, life of humanity.
7. Peace and friendship between peoples, individual rights and freedoms, social justice, human dignity, environmental and material well-being of people.
8. Moral requirements related to the ideals of humanism, justice and personal dignity.
9. Basic laws that exist in most countries (prohibition of murder, theft, etc.).
10. Religious commandments. Some religions consider their laws to be universal human values. For example, Christians include the Ten Commandments as such.
11. Life itself, the problem of its preservation and development in natural and cultural forms.
12. A system of axiological maxims, the content of which is not directly related to a specific historical period development of society or a specific ethnic tradition, but, filling each sociocultural tradition with its own specific meaning, it is reproduced in any type of culture as values.
13. Values ​​that are important to all people and have universal significance.
14. Moral values ​​that exist theoretically and are the absolute standard for people of all cultures and eras.
Universal human values ​​are divided into several types:
1.Cultural.
2.Social.
3. Moral.
Cultural values- this is the property of a certain ethnic, social, sociographic group, which can be expressed by certain forms of artistic, visual and other types of arts.
Human cultural values:
-Literature - as the main reservoir of invaluable experience of generations
-Religion - religious or ideological (including political) beliefs that replace them, which are the main components Everyday life of a person, including those that shape his internal culture.
-Art is everything that allows one person to express himself, and another to grow spiritually through knowledge of the creativity of another. These are very complex aspects of culture.
So - literature, religion, art - are the formative parts of the internal culture of the individual. They are also the basic values, without which the very existence of culture is either impossible or seems unlikely.
Social values- this is the world of inner aspirations, unshakable, intimate life orientations of a person; life ideals and goals that, in the opinion of the majority in a given society, should be achieved.
The value system of a subject’s social values ​​may include various values:
-meaningful values ​​- ideas about good and evil, happiness, purpose and meaning of life;
-universal values ​​- life, health, personal safety, welfare, family, education, qualifications, law and order;
-values interpersonal communication- honesty, selflessness, benevolence;
-values ​​of social recognition - hard work, social status;
-democratic values ​​- freedom of speech, conscience, parties, national sovereignty.
Social norms are formed on the basis of social values. A social norm (from Latin norma - rule, sample, measure) is a rule of behavior established in society that regulates relationships between people and social life.
Kinds social norms: customs, traditions, rituals, moral standards, legal and religious norms.
The highest moral values ​​of a person:
-Mutual assistance is a person’s desire for good (help, salvation) in relation to others.
-Mercy - refusal to judge and willingness to help one's neighbor.
-Compassion - Pity, sympathy caused by the misfortune of another person; condescension to the weak, crippled, sick.
-Honesty is another of the highest moral values. The easiest way to determine a person's level of morality is to see how often he lies. The only practical justification for lying is a white lie.

NOU VPO "INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND LAW"

Faculty of Economics

Abstract on the topic:

"Human values:

illusion and reality."

Performed:

Naumova E.N.

Group VS-911-B

Moscow 2009

1. Introduction.

2. Universal values ​​in world religions:

a. In Confucianism;

b. In Hinduism;

c. In Christianity.

4. Conclusion.

1. Introduction.

Human values - This “a system of axiomatic maxims, the content of which is not directly related to a specific historical period in the development of society or a specific ethnic tradition, but, filling each sociocultural tradition with its own specific meaning, is nevertheless reproduced in any type of culture as a value.”

Universal human values ​​include human life (its preservation and development in natural and cultural forms).

There are values ​​(in connection with the structure of being):

-natural (ecological),

-cultural (freedom, law, education, creativity, communication).

According to the forms of spiritual culture, values ​​are classified into:

-moral (goodness, meaning of life, conscience, dignity,

responsibility),

-aesthetic (beautiful, sublime),

-religious (faith),

-scientific (truth),

-political (peace, justice),

-legal (human rights, law and order).

Each historical era and specific ethnic group express themselves in a hierarchy of values ​​that determine socially acceptable behavior. In the modern world, both the moral and aesthetic values ​​of antiquity, the humanistic ideals of Christianity, as well as the rationalism of the New Age and the paradigm of non-violence of the 20th century are significant. (M. Gandhi, M. L. King).

IN modern era global changes, goodness, beauty, truth and faith mean not so much adherence to absolute values ​​as their search and acquisition . In the kaleidoscope of events it is very difficult to understand what is happening, but it is even more difficult to understand what must take place. It is very easy to show conditioning moral standards historical sociocultural situation. But it is equally difficult to determine the proper direction of development of the situation. What is considered natural and what is not? It is very easy to show that any kind of decency leads to earthly failure, and bad qualities lead to material well-being. No statistics will help here: how to understand what is more in the world - good or evil? And what do we mean by good and evil? It is too easy to “show” the relativity of these concepts. It is all the more important to realize, understand and accept the absolute timeless significance of universal human values. These values ​​constitute a common part of the ethical precepts (commandments) of world religions: don't kill, don't steal, don't lie, don't take revenge, treat people well. These values ​​are clearly expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and other international documents recognized by many countries, including Russia.

2. Universal values ​​in world religions.

a. Confucianism.

Great Chinese thinker Kung Fu Tzu (in the Latin version - Confucius ) – founder Confucianism, a religious and philosophical teaching that dominated throughout the subsequent history of China and largely shaped the entire Chinese civilization. The teachings of Confucius, who expressed his views orally, were recorded by his students in a book "Lun Yu" ("Conversations and Judgments"). Refusing to talk about incomprehensible and divine questions (about God, the structure of the world, etc.), the thinker devoted all his attention to the problems of social structure and virtuous human behavior.

The topic of earthly evil worried all philosophers without exception. Confucianism talks about social evil, about the misfortunes that society endures. After all, if it is poor, then every individual member of it suffers, and, on the contrary, if a society prospers, then every person included in it is prosperous.

Evil, said Confucius, has no independent cause in the universe. Our world itself is not evil, because it is the embodiment of an absolutely good and highest pantheistic principle - Sky. Heaven has established an order filled with virtue, and Evil arises from the violation of order. People should help each other, but they are at enmity; they should observe justice, but they commit atrocities; To bring harmony into life, you need to see the heavenly order and follow it to the end.

What are the principles of the heavenly order of things? The most important thing is that everyone knows them well: Confucius emphasized that he was only reminding people of what they were familiar with from early childhood.

The basic principles or cardinal virtues established by Heaven are:

- generosity (“kuan”),

- respect for elders (“di”),

- filial piety (“xiao”),

- fidelity to duty (“and”),

- devotion to the sovereign (“zhong”).

If people act not by virtue of subjective desires, which contradict each other and split society, but by virtue of the ages established order, one for all, then both society and the state will become one indestructible, welded organism. “Be generous. Don't do to others what you don't want to do to yourself."- Confucius urged. This moral principle of the ancient philosopher was called in various cultures "golden rule of morality"

b. Hinduism.

According to the Hindu religion, universal human values ​​are “the original essence of the Vedas, revealed and described by seers, sages and saints of all peoples and times.” They bring light knowledge of the true nature of man (jnana), claim self-realization (Atmajnanu) and illuminate Supreme wisdom (Brahmajnana) so that every person and the entire human race comes to the realization of the highest goal - realization. They need to not only be studied, understood and comprehended, but accepted with the whole being and followed in everyday earthly life.

Basic Virtues of Hinduism:

- Satya (truth)

- Dharma (righteousness),

- Shanti (peace, tranquility),

- Prema (love)

- Ahimsa (non-violence).

There is a person who strictly followed these principles all his life, who by his very existence set an example of behavior for anyone. This person - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , which first all of India, and then the whole world called Mahatma Gandhi . "Mahatma" meaning in Hindi "great soul", "great teacher".

"The moral influence which Gandhi exercised upon thinking men,- Einstein wrote, - is much stronger than seems possible in our time with its excess of gross strength. We are grateful to fate for giving us such a brilliant contemporary, showing the way for future generations.”

Gandhi was familiar with the sacred books of Hinduism and Buddhism, and also read the Koran, Old and New Testaments Christian. He was completely delighted by the words of Christ from the Sermon on the Mount: “And I tell you not to resist evil. And if someone hits you on your right cheek, offer him the other too. And whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your cloak too.” Gandhi was a prophet, but a special prophet. He not only sought the truth and improved himself morally, but also remained the leader of the Indian National Congress of Natal, organized and led the struggle of this discriminated minority for their rights, developed and first tested in practice the theory satyagrahis - nonviolent political struggle.

Gandhi's four pillars of political theory and practice:

- satyagraha,

- ahimsa,

- Swadeshi,

- Swaraj.

Ahimsa- this is non-violence, the absence of anger and hatred. “Literally speaking, ahimsa means non-killing.” In fact, this means: do not offend anyone, do not allow a single cruel thought to enter your mind, even if it concerns a person whom you consider your enemy. He who follows this teaching has no enemies.". Swadeshi, literally translated as “domestic,” is a movement for the boycott of foreign goods. Swaraj, literally translated as “one’s own rule,” meant the gradual introduction of self-government in British India until the country gained complete independence.

The core of Gandhi's entire system of political views was satyagraha, a term derived from the words “satya” - truth and “agrah” - firmness, in the literary translation “to hold fast to the truth.” In the first years after the emergence of satyagraha, Gandhi explained its essence in words "passive resistance". Meanwhile, satyagraha “is not a weapon of the weak against the strong.” According to Gandhi, a satyagrahi - a person who has comprehended the essence of satyagraha and applies this method of struggle in practice - is certainly morally superior to his opponent, and therefore stronger.

Despite the fact that Mahatma Gandhi applied his methods mainly in political struggle, some moral principles of his teachings are worthy of emulation regardless of politics:

- “Keep ahimsa in mind and heart.”

- “Satyagraha will not win as long as hatred reigns. Therefore, every morning, as soon as you wake up, tell yourself: I have nothing to fear in the world except God; There is no hatred in my heart, I will not commit injustice; I will overcome lies with truth.”

- “Don’t judge others more harshly than you judge yourself.”

- " Admit your mistakes " .

In general, Gandhi’s system of religious, moral, philosophical and political views seems in some ways incomprehensibly wise, and in others childishly naive. But Gandhi proved in practice that political struggle based on the principles of honesty and self-sacrifice is possible in principle.

c. Christianity.

In the religion of Christianity, the Biblical moral commandments are of enduring importance: 10 commandments Moses and Sermon on the Mount Jesus.

Today, none of the Christian theosophists denies universal human values, but the question of their origin remains open. It sounds like this: are they given from above, from God, or are they of earthly origin? In philosophical language, the question sounds like this: universal human values ​​are rooted in transcendental sphere(in absolute) or relative immanent sphere current reality?

The transcendental sphere has one characteristic: it is invisible. It seems to be bad, since you can’t touch it. But if we take into account that the “transcendental thirst” of man (according to Christian anthropology) cannot be satisfied by anything finite (visible), then the absolute should not be visible (a visible absolute would be finite, and therefore not an absolute). Only if there is a common reference point, general criterion(one absolute) and we can talk about the universality (universality) of moral requirements.

As history shows, it is this idea that is the most difficult for humanity to assimilate - the idea of ​​the unity of the human race, solidarity, unified system ethical and universal values, respect for the human person. This general ethical minimum, necessary for the very existence of human society, is well known. This is the so-called natural morality, the maxim of which is expressed in what has been known since the time of Confucius "golden rule of morality", in virtues known since antiquity: courage, moderation, wisdom, justice. Ancient morality, like any natural morality, was normative in nature.

IN " Old Testament“The moral standard is strictly observed through God’s chosen people in a pagan environment. There is nothing in Old Testament history that resembles modern human rights ( toleration), there was a merciless war against idolatry. But still, in the “Old Testament” there were the beginnings of universal human ethics. There are often words " Truth" And " justice", and these concepts began to spread to strangers.

Christian ethics includes the achievements of both ancient and Old Testament ethics. The righteousness of the apostles was to surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. The idea of ​​natural morality is reflected in the statement of the apostle: “When the pagans, who do not have the law, do by nature what is lawful, then, not having the law, they are a law unto themselves. They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience and their thoughts testify.”(Rom. 2:14-15).

It is important to note that it is in the biblical Christian tradition that the unity of the human race is affirmed, originating from one source, the same ancestors (no matter how they are understood: literally or generally allegorically). Jesus Christ Himself gives the commandment : “As you want people to do to you, do so to them.”(Luke 6:31), which includes the long-known « Golden Rule morality". But Christian ethics is not only normative, like natural ethics, it is paradoxical, which is clearly expressed in "Sermon on the Mount". You should love your enemies, give away your property, and not worry about tomorrow.

It would seem that these two ethical systems (natural and Christian) do not contradict each other. Christian ethics should, it seems, include best achievements universal human ethics and complement them with the boundless heights of Christian maximalism. The question arises: is not Christian ethics self-sufficient? This approach assumes an exclusive paradigm: either/or. If the gospel pearl is found, then everything else seems unnecessary.

Thus, it happens that people who profess Christianity often deny culture and universal human values, opposing them to the heights of the Christian ideal. They tend to create a subculture and do not feel responsible for the state and development of civil society. This situation is explained by several reasons.

Religious reason: all natural sciences and secular culture are oriented towards this (earthly) life. Christianity is more oriented not towards this life, but towards the hereafter. With too strict a dualism between earthly and heavenly in the prospect of salvation on the other side, earthly culture loses its meaning. All that remains is asceticism and strict morality.

Social reason: secular society in our era of narrow specializations has assigned a certain function to the church, which does not involve interference in culture, since culture is dealt with by other specialists.

Philosophical reason: the absolutism of religious values ​​is opposed to all other values, as obviously “weaker” (too strict dualism of the earthly and the heavenly). Nothing can stand comparison with the absolute.

The degree of Christianization of society can be judged not only by attendance at churches, but also in relation to the weak: the elderly, children, disabled people, religious minorities and the smallest minority - an individual who may find himself defenseless before the state or any group. This is precisely the area where universal human values ​​coincide with Christian ones. Justice is both a universal concept and a Christian one. And the tool for realizing universal human values ​​is a legally formalized concept of human rights, focused, first of all, on protecting the weak (the strong will protect themselves anyway).

3. Universal human values ​​today.

In the modern world, there are two diametrically opposed points of view on the question of the existence of universal human values. First of which: there are no absolute universal values. Values ​​and a system of ethics are developed by an ethnic group in relation to its own society, based on the experience and nature of interaction of people within this community. Since the conditions of existence of different communities are different, it is incorrect to extend the ethical system of one community to the whole world. Each culture has its own scale of values ​​- the result of its living conditions and history, and therefore there are no universal human values ​​that are common to all cultures.

An example of ethical behavior among cannibals was eating the corpses of a defeated enemy after a battle, which action had a mystical meaning. Supporters of the above point of view believe that a cannibal cannot be blamed for such behavior.

Defenders another points of view appeal more to real situations of interaction and coexistence of different cultures. Since in the modern world no community of people (except, perhaps, a specially created reservation) exists in isolation from others, but, on the contrary, actively interacts with them, for the peaceful coexistence of cultures it is necessary to develop some common system of values, even if it did not exist a priori .

For the cannibal culture to coexist peacefully with the vegetarian culture, they need to develop some system of common values, otherwise coexistence will be impossible.

There are also third a point of view that follows from the first. Its adherents claim that this phrase is actively used to manipulate public opinion. Opponents of US foreign policy argue that in the foreign policy of America and its satellites, talk about the defense of “universal human values” (freedom, democracy, protection of human rights, etc.) often develops into open military and economic aggression against those countries and peoples who they want to develop in their own traditional way, different from the opinion of the world community. In other words, according to this point of view, the term “universal human values” is a euphemism that covers the West’s desire to impose a new world order and ensure the globalization of the economy and multiculturalism.

There are certain reasons for the emergence of such a point of view. European standards are being adopted throughout the planet. These are not only technical innovations, but also clothing, pop music, the English language, construction technologies, trends in art, etc. Including narrow practicality, drugs, the growth of consumer sentiment, the dominance of the principle - “don’t stop money from making money” and etc. In fact, what today is commonly called “universal human values” are, first of all, values ​​that were established by Euro-American civilization. Having undergone crises of varying intensity and consequences, these ideologies have become excellent soil on which a unified consumer society has grown in the West, and in Russia, is actively being formed. In such a society, of course, there is a place for such concepts as goodness, love, justice, but the main values ​​in it include other “virtues” that are important primarily for achieving material well-being and comfort. Spiritual values ​​become secondary

Another terrible feature of modern civilization is terror. Terrorist evil cannot be justified. But you can try to understand its reasons. Each of the tragedies is another episode of an intercivilizational war, in which on one side of the invisible front line there is Western, that is, American-European civilization, and on the other is that world, or rather, the most radical and extremist part of it, to which the values ​​of this civilization are alien.

Intercivilizational confrontations are not at all a distinctive feature of the present time. They have always existed. But the main difference between the modern “war of the worlds”, unfolding in the era of globalism, is that this confrontation is developing into a global one, that is, much larger and more dangerous. And the battlefield becomes the Earth. Will this completely abolish the universality of human values?.. Can we at least hope for a better outcome?.. It is impossible to make forecasts.

4. Conclusion.

What can we say in conclusion?

I believe that some universal human values ​​still exist, if only because all humanity belongs to one biological species. Each new stage in the development of mankind creates its own system of values ​​that most adequately corresponds to the conditions of its existence. However, it inherits the values ​​of previous eras, including them in new system public relations. Universal human values ​​and ideals enshrined in cultural universals ensure the survival and improvement of humanity. Universal norms can be violated and, in fact, they are violated very often. There are many examples that the honest are made fools, that careers are made on lies, hypocrisy and impudence, that nobility leads to ruin, and meanness ensures wealth and honor. But the fact remains that, although life is easier for a thief and a scoundrel, and being decent is difficult and unprofitable, but, despite this, decency and nobility, kindness remain generally recognized spiritual values.

Bibliography:

1. Modern philosophical dictionary. - M., 1996.

2. Gusev D.A., “Great Philosophers” - M., 2005.

3. Hegumen Veniamin, “Christianity and universal values” - orthodoxia.org

4. Dymina E.V., “The world of values ​​and the problem of understanding reality” - www.ssu.samara.ru/%7Enauka/PHIL/phil.htm

5. Oleksa Pidlutsky, “Mahatma Gandhi. Barefoot winner of the empire" - www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/nn/razdel/574/3000

6. Wikipedia (free encyclopedia), “Universal human values” -