Theory of values. Axiology - a philosophical doctrine of the nature of values

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

Man lives in a difficult world. Every day he encounters directly or learns through various sources about tragedies, terrorist attacks, disasters, murders, thefts, wars and other negative manifestations. All these upheavals make society forget about higher values. Trust is undermined, parents and teachers are no longer an authority for the younger generation, and the media take their place. The personal dignity of a person is called into question, traditions are forgotten. All this is provoked by the gradual destruction of the idea of values. However, this process must be stopped. To do this, one should delve into the philosophical theory of values.

Rise

In the history of philosophy, Aristotle was the first to develop this problem. According to him, the main concept, thanks to which in our minds there are ideas about what is “desirable” and “should”, is “good”. How does he decipher it? In Aristotle's Great Ethics, it is interpreted as either what is considered best for each being, or what makes itother things related to it, that is, the very idea of the good.

His student Plato went a little further and singled out the existence of two spheres of being: natural reality and ideal or supernatural, where there are only ideas that only the mind can know.

These two spheres of being, according to Plato's concept, are interconnected precisely by good. Subsequently, the idea about it, as well as ways to achieve it in the world of real things, grew into a whole direction, giving the basis for the European tradition of understanding values.

Philosophical axiology, which was a branch of science, was formed much later than society faced the problem of values.

Meaning of term

As mentioned above, the theory of values in philosophy is called axiology. Its interpretation should begin with a consideration of the word itself. Two components of this term are translated from Greek as "value" and "teaching". This theory is aimed at determining the qualities and properties of objects, processes or phenomena that lead to the satisfaction of our needs, requests and desires.

One of the founders

They became Rudolf Hermann Lotze. He changed the doctrine of the nature of values that existed before him, using categories for this. Lotze chose "meaning" as the main one. This gave an interesting result. That is, everything that matters to a person is important in social or personal terms and is a value. Scientists who developed such an axiological theory were able toexpand the list of categories used by Lotze. It included: “choice”, “desirable”, “due”, “assessment”, “success”, “price”, “better”, “worse”, etc.

Two meanings of values

The main task of the theory of values is to determine their nature. Today in philosophy, various opinions have been presented about the ability of a thing, phenomenon or process to satisfy human needs and desires.

The most important questions are still about the two meanings of values: objective and subjective. The first implies that beauty, nobleness, honesty exist only in themselves.

The second meaning suggests that goods are formed through tastes, as well as individual psychological preferences.

Ontological axiology is the objectivity of values. So thought: Lotze, Cohen, Rickert. Adler, Spengler, Sorokin came to the opposite opinion.

Modern theory of values has a subjective-objective nature, where they are created by the person himself. As a result, he emotionally and psychologically transforms the world. The subject begins to represent axiological significance, if the subject pays attention to it, gives it an advantage. In order to become a value, there is no need to know what a phenomenon or process is in itself, only its value and usefulness is important for a person.

Types of values

There are quite a lot of them in axiology (value theory). They are divided into aesthetic and ethical, material and spiritual, social and political. Simplified classificationgroups them according to the principle "higher" and "lower".

It is a mistake to believe that a person can get by with only one type of value.

Spiritual ones undoubtedly develop it, make it more enlightened, but biological and vital ones ensure the normal functioning of the body.

Theory of values also divides them on such a basis as the number of carriers. Individual, collective and universal are distinguished here. The latter include: goodness, freedom, truth, truth, creativity, faith, hope, love. Individual values include: life, well-being, he alth, happiness. Collective include: patriotism, independence, dignity, peace.

Ideals

In our life, values are present, as a rule, in the form of ideals. They are something imaginary, unreal, desirable. In the form of ideals, one can observe such features of values as the expectation of what we want, hope. They are present in a person with all needs met.

Ideals also serve as a kind of spiritual and social landmarks, activating human activity, the purpose of which is to bring a better future.

Value-based design of one's actions on that very expected day, the study of the methods and features of building plans is one of the main tasks of axiology.

Link to the past

The function of values is not only to create plans. In addition, they can exist asgenerally accepted norms and cultural traditions, through which the present generation maintains a connection with the heritage of the past. Such a function is especially important in the education of patriotism, awareness of family responsibilities from their moral side.

It is the idea of values that corrects and directs people's behavior, taking into account modern realities. Determining their further actions, studying and evaluating political strategies, each citizen develops his own plan of action, as well as his attitude towards the authorities and others.

Interpretation

Paul-Ferdinand Linke brought something new to axiology. He believed that the good is the subject of interpretation. Presenting it as an interpretation, the philosopher proved that it is thanks to him that a person chooses one thing from among many or acts according to such a scenario, and not according to another. The problem of interpreting values, selecting the best, adapting value ideas to individual thoughts and judgments is a very difficult and complex intellectual-volitional process. It is fraught with many internal contradictions.

Philosophers who are followers of the theory of axiology argue that values are not verified by the logic of rational knowledge and manifest themselves, as a rule, in an individual understanding of good and evil, love and hate, sympathy and antipathy, friendship and enmity. Creating his own world, a person begins to depend on it.

It is important to remember that truth, beauty and goodness are the blessingswhich a person wants to achieve for their own sake. However, they manifest themselves, transforming into art, religion, science, law. This regulates the content of these values. They return to the person as certain norms and rules of behavior.

The problem of values

Many people are wondering why the problem of values has been raised so often in society lately. Philosophers know the answer to it. The fact is that during serious changes in life and a reassessment of values, it escalates the most. A person is trying to redefine for himself the necessary model of behavior and attitude to the world around him.

At such moments, eternal values come to the fore, which are considered in religion, ethics and cultural studies. This becomes the reason for understanding the problem of man, his purpose in this world, since his activity can lead to both the creation and destruction of goods.

Axiology is a philosophical concept that at all times helped people determine their life path. Appeal to values may be conscious or not, but every day a person decides for himself a lot of questions related to them. The life of the individual and the whole society depends on this.