Life values and priorities. Personal value system in human life

MATERIAL FOR PREPARATION FOR ESSAY 15.3 (OGE)

1. wording of the task;

2. definition of the meaning of the concept;

3. abstracts on the topic;

4. examples of arguments;

5. essays;

6. bank of arguments;

1. Formulation of task 15.3

How do you understand the meaning of the combination " LIFE VALUES" ? Formulate and comment on the definition you have given. Write an essay-discussion on the topic "What's happened LIFE VALUES» , taking the definition you gave as a thesis. When arguing your thesis, give 2 (two) examples-arguments that confirm your reasoning: one example- give an argument from the text you read, and second - from your life experience.

2. Working with the concept

Life values - it is what people consider important in their lives. These are their beliefs, principles, guidelines. This is a compass that determines not only a person’s fate, but also his relationships with others. Life values are formed in childhood; they lay the foundation for the rest of life.

Abstracts

1.What are Life Values? Life values are goals and priorities that, controlling a person’s life, determine his essence. For some, material well-being is important in life, that is, money, or power, or a career. Others value their family, their homeland... Everyone chooses their own priorities.

2.What are life values? I think these are the values that serve as guidelines in a person’s life, a standard, criteria for the quality of life and the “correctness” of decisions and actions.

3.Each of us strives for something, wants to achieve something. The life values that we adhere to help us with this. After all, what we do and who we become depends on our core values.

4. Life values are our internal compass by which we must check our every step on the road of life. I think that any of us would consider family, love, and friendship to be among our life values. They are the ones who serve as a support for a person.

For some, material values are important: money, food, clothing, housing. For some, spiritual values are a priority: spiritual search, discovery and realization of one’s life purpose, creative self-development, fulfillment of one’s earthly mission. But there are so-called universal values that are important for all people. Among these are the following:

1. Self-love (which has nothing to do with selfishness). Only self-love helps to show love towards other people.

2. Warm relationships with people on whom our whole life is built.

3. A close loved one, a soul mate who holds a special place in your heart. After all, only a couple living in love and harmony is able to realize themselves and leave a mark in life.

4. Creating a home.

5. Love for children.

6. Love for the Motherland - the place where you were born and spent your childhood. This is one of the most important factors in personality formation.

7. Work or other social activity. Of course, work is very important. But in the modern world there has been a catastrophic shift in its direction. Many people devote much more time to making money than to their own health, sports, raising children, and creating a home combined.

8. Friends and like-minded people. Communication with such people gives joy and self-confidence.

9. Rest. It is rest that allows us to find peace and balance, to concentrate on ourselves.

10. Purpose. Having a true goal is an inevitable condition for a fulfilling human life. Life without a goal is boring, empty and monotonous.

11. Life itself in all the diversity of its manifestations.

Human life values play a key role in his fate, because decision-making, the fulfillment of life’s purpose, and relationships with other people depend on them.

4. Examples of works.

5. Essays

What are life values?

Every person has their own values in life. There are material values that, unfortunately, are becoming increasingly important in modern society. In my opinion, the most important values are family, love, loyalty, patriotism and much of what is the moral basis of the life of any of us. I will prove this thesis by taking arguments from the proposed fragment of the work of A.A. Aleksin and analyzing his life experience.

I would like to begin the argumentation of the above thesis with an example from the text. The boy's parents surrounded him with excessive care and love, but he did not like the excessive care: he tried to understand this, as it seemed to him, injustice (34-37). This is probably why the narrator did not grow up to be an egoist, but remained a kind and attentive son. Family for him is the main value in life.

In addition, I will refer to my life experience. I am sure that one of the main moral values is memory. We must remember our heroic past... My school is named after Hero of the Soviet Union V.P. Zakharchenko, who died during the Great Patriotic War and was buried in Ukraine. Recent events taking place in the world indicate that people are beginning to forget the feat of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers. However, in our country, Victory Day is a sacred holiday, and Russians will never forget the price at which they got the peaceful sky above their heads. It is important to never forget this.

Thus, I proved that moral values are much more important than material ones, because money, power, connections will not help a person in difficult times, but family, Motherland, native land will always be his support in life.

Orlova Irina

Life values are what people consider important in their lives, what determines the goals and motives of their activities, what they dream about and what they strive for. Life values play a key role in a person’s destiny, because decision-making, the fulfillment of life’s purpose, and relationships with other people depend on them. Each person has his own system of life values, his own priorities. I will prove this with examples from the text I read.

Let's turn to the text A.A. Aleksin a. It tells about one family. All members of this family have their own life values. For example, for the parents of the hero of the text, the main value in life is their late child, whose appearance they have been waiting for 16 years. Parents show great love and care for their son, they are proud of him and constantly praise him. It is clear that the son is the meaning of life for his parents.

But the hero’s older sister has other priorities in life: education, career and work. Lyudmila is a PhD candidate and works in an architectural studio. Professional development is very important to her.

Thus, life values are rules that are internally binding for a person; these are what a person adheres to and cannot change. (173 words)

Life values are what people consider important in their lives, what they dream about and what they strive for. These are their beliefs, principles, guidelines. This is a compass that determines a person's destiny. Life values are material and spiritual. I will prove my words with examples from the text I read.

In the text by I.A. Cleandrovatells about three friends. The main value in life for Sophia and Lena was their appearance and expensive things. They strived to look impeccable and glamorous, constantly showed off their stylish outfits, had many fans and chances for a career in the modeling business. They liked being loved for their looks. But one day Sophia had a dream that changed her outlook on life; it helped her understand that there are more significant values in the world than bright appearance and fashionable clothes.

But their friend Katya has completely different priorities. Outwardly, she was not as impressive as Sophia and Lena, but she excelled in her studies and graduated from school with a gold medal. For this girl, one of the main values in life is education. Katya was also very kind and sensitive: she worried about her friends not only in reality, but also in Sophia’s dreams. It was for her kind soul that the girl Masha fell in love with Katya. So, Katya put spiritual values first in her life.
Thus, each person determines for himself what to strive for and what rules to adhere to. It is only very important to determine the right guidelines for yourself, because a person’s life path depends on them. (234 words)

The hero of the text P.S. From the first day, Romanov and Trifon Petrovich managed to win the favor of the hostess, because he turned out to be a simple, cheerful, responsive person. For him, the main values in life are selfless help, good memory and faith in people. It was not difficult for him to repair Polikarpovna’s porch for free and attract other guests. It is clear that Trifon Petrovich in his life is guided exclusively by spiritual guidelines.

At first, Polikarpovna was sympathetic to her guest; she, like him, condemned people who thought only about their own benefit. But then the hostess succumbed to the general mood and she, too, was overcome by the thirst for profit. So, for Polikarpovna, material values turned out to be more important than spiritual ones.

Thus, a person decides for himself what life principles and guidelines he will be guided by. The main thing is to remember that not only the path of life, but also relationships with others depend on them.(170 words)

Life values are what people consider important in their lives. These are their beliefs, principles, guidelines. This is a compass that determines not only a person’s fate, but relationships with others. Life values are formed in childhood; they lay the foundation for the rest of life. I will prove my words with specific examples.

Let us turn to the text of the modern Russian prose writer and screenwriter V. Tokarev oh. Her hero, Korolkov, watches his own sixteen-year-old daughter with grief. He notes that she grew up selfish because she does not take into account the opinion of her own mother and thinks only of herself. Korolkov understands that he himself is to blame for what is happening: it was necessary to form spiritual values in the child from early childhood. Therefore, the hero realizes responsibility for his own daughter and is ready to correct the mistakes he has made.

Another example that confirms my words can be cited from the comedy D.I. Fonvizin "Undergrown". Mrs. Prostakova, just like Korolkov, did not teach her son Mitrofan many important things: to respect his own father and elders, to work, to study. The main priorities in life for him are to eat well, sleep and be idle. He lacks moral guidelines, so it will be difficult for him to establish relationships with people around him.

Thus, life values must be formed in childhood, otherwise a person will face many difficulties in future life. (185 words)

	Text by V.S. Tokareva about Korolkov, Nadezhda and Oksana.	Life values are formed in childhood; they lay the foundation for the rest of life.	Life values, childhood, foundation of future life	Life values are what people consider important in their lives. These are their beliefs, principles, guidelines. This is a compass that determines not only a person’s fate, but relationships with others. Life values are formed in childhood; they lay the foundation for the rest of life.	Comedy heroine *D.I. Fonvizin "Undergrown"* Mrs. Prostakova just like Korolkov, she did not teach her son Mitrofan many important things: respect your father and elders, work, study. The main priorities in life for him are to eat well, sleep and be idle. He lacks moral guidelines, so it will be difficult for him to establish relationships with people around him.
	Text by I.A. Cleandrova about Sophia, Lena and Katya. Text by P.S. Romanov about Trifon Petrovich and Polikarpovna.	Life values are material and spiritual. Which of them are of greater importance to humans?	Life values, material values, spiritual values	Life values are what people consider important in their lives, what they dream about and what they strive for. These are their beliefs, principles, guidelines. This is a compass that determines a person's destiny. Life values are material and spiritual. Which of them are of greater importance to humans?	Comedy hero *N.V. Gogol “The Inspector General”* Khlestakov(life values - entertainment, pleasure, fashionable clothes)
			Life values, material values, spiritual values		Hero of the story *N.V. Gogol Chichikov* (life values - profit, material wealth). The main character of the story *I. Bunina “Mr. from San Francisco”* (life values – making money).
	Text by A.G. Aleksin about grandmother.	Each person has his own life values.		Life values are what people consider important in their lives. These are their beliefs, principles, guidelines. This is a compass that determines not only a person’s fate, but also relationships with others. Each person has his own life values.	Hero " *Songs about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich* , the young guardsman and the daring merchant Kalashnikov" Kalashnikov(life values – honor, family).
	Text by A.G. Aleksin about a late child.	Each person has his own system of life values, his own priorities.	Life values, decision making, life purpose, relationships with people, your priorities	Life values are what people consider important in their lives, what determines the goals and motives of their activities, what they dream about and what they strive for. Life values play a key role in a person’s destiny, because decision-making, the fulfillment of life’s purpose, and relationships with other people depend on them. Each person has his own system of life values, his own priorities.	Heroes of the story *N.V. Gogol “Taras Bulba”* : Andriy(the main value in life is love for a woman), Ostap, Taras(the main value in life is love for the homeland, devotion to the common cause, comrades). Hero of the story *M. Gorky "Old Woman Izergil"* Danko(life value is service to the people). Heroes of the story *M. Gorky "Makar Chudra"* Loiko Zobar And Radda(life value is freedom). Hero of the poem M. Lermontova "Mtsyri » (life value is freedom).
Life values, beliefs, principles, guidelines	Life values are what people consider important in their lives. These are their beliefs, principles, guidelines. This is a compass that determines not only a person’s fate, but also relationships with others. People belonging to different generations may have different life values.	Hero of the story How to determine your life values? To determine life values today there are quite a large number of techniques and techniques. We will tell you about the simplest option. 1. Write down on a piece of paper everything that you consider important in your life, but so important that you won’t be able to live without it if it doesn’t exist. 2. The list may get quite long, but now it needs to be reviewed. Ask yourself at every point whether this is really something you would be absolutely miserable without, or could it be something you could give up? If there is even a slight doubt on any point, feel free to cross it out. 3. Repeat step #2 until there are no more than ten items left on your list. The resulting list can be considered a list of your main life values, based on which you should build your life in the future. Remember that your core values in life will be formed based on everything that has happened in your life, and will include not only your personal opinions, but also the opinions of those people who mean something to you: parents and other members of your family. family, friends and mentors (teachers, professors, etc.), people you admire, etc. In addition, the impact will be exerted by sociocultural characteristics, trends in society, religious institutions and much more. People who are the most effective and optimistic always try to take into account the maximum number of factors that influence their life values and, if possible, cut off the unnecessary ones. For this reason, you should try to rely only on those meanings that are the most important to you, and that over the years have shaped you as a person. If you act in this way, then your life values will become an extremely powerful tool for you that can help you make yourself and your life better and provide support in any difficulties that come your way. IMPORTANT TIP:We understand perfectly well that determining your main life values may not be as easy as it seems at first glance. That is why we suggest you not just make a list of your priorities and choose the most significant ones from it, but conduct a comprehensive assessment of your personality: find out life values, character and temperament traits, advantages and disadvantages, personality type, predispositions and even types of activities that suit you best Total.

What is important to you and what is it? Each person who is asked such a question will answer it individually. One will say that the most important thing in life is career and wealth, another will answer that this is power and status in society, the third will give the example of family, relationships and health. The list could go on for quite a long time, but we just need to understand that what is important to a person controls his actions. Based on what his priorities are, he will make friends, get an education, choose a place of work, in other words, build his life.

And the topic of this article is life priorities, or, more precisely, life values. Next we will talk about what they are, what kinds of values there are, and how their system is formed.

What are life values?

So, a person’s life values can be called the scale of assessments and measures with the help of which he verifies and evaluates his life. During various periods of human existence, this scale was transformed and modified, but certain measures and assessments were always present in it and continue to be present now.

A person’s life values are absolute values - they occupy the first place in his worldview and have a direct impact on which areas of life will be a priority for him, and what he will perceive as secondary.

What are the life values?

First of all, it should be pointed out that a person’s system of life values can consist of several elements:

Human values
Cultural values
Individual values

And if the first two elements are determined mainly by people’s general ideas about what is good and what is bad, what is important and what is secondary, as well as the characteristics of the culture in which a person was born and raised, then the third element can be attributed to purely subjective worldviews peculiarities. Although in this case, something in common can be identified that unites the life values of all people in general.

Thus, the general system of human life values includes:

Health is one of the main values in life, shared by many people and valued quite highly. But health can include not only spiritual well-being, but also social well-being, expressed in the absence of social crises in life. Particular attention is paid to indicators of physical and social well-being, which are reflected in external attractiveness and in attributes of social status, such as social status, possession of certain things, compliance with standards and brands;
Success in life is another value that has been held in high regard for a long time. Receiving is the key to a stable future, a successful career, availability and public recognition - all this is important for many people. But at the same time, the number of adherents of the so-called downshifting is also quite large - a phenomenon in which people who have already managed to achieve success and social status come to the understanding that they no longer have the strength to endure social pressure, retire from business and go into a simple life. in order to maintain peace of mind and integrity. Today, the skill of adapting to different conditions and circumstances of life and the ability to earn money without being hired are especially valuable;
Family remains one of the main life values for people all over the world, despite the fact that today there is a tendency to refuse marriage, especially early marriage, refusal to have children, as well as the promotion of same-sex relationships. In addition, even the fact that in our time money can be used to obtain an endless number of sexual relationships and the appearance of love cannot be compared with the fact that a real family and the need for procreation are still significant for people;
Children - and here we can again say that, despite the propaganda of abandoning children (childfree), for the vast majority of people children continue to remain the meaning of existence, and the birth and upbringing of offspring turns into. And great importance here is given to the opportunity for a person to leave behind offspring as a trace, as well as the transfer of his life experience and the consolidation of his individual “I” in something that will continue to exist longer than himself.

Guided by all this, we can conclude that the system of people’s life values, which they are guided by throughout their lives, in most cases is represented by their desire for self-realization, and its transmission over time.

But, in addition to the listed life values, we can name a number of others, which are also very common:

Closeness with loved ones
Friends
Freedom of judgment and action
Independence
Work that matches your life purpose
Respect and recognition from others
and opening new places
Creative implementation

Differences in life values and priorities are explained by the fact that people differ in. This suggests that your system of life values is completely individual, but what matters most to you, and what you value as the most important thing in life, for someone else may mean absolutely nothing or nothing at all. absent from his value system. Although, of course, things that are significant for everyone, like moral values, have a place to be, regardless of where a person was born and at what time.

Now let's talk about how the formation of a system of life values occurs.

Features of the formation of a system of life values

The system of life values of each person begins to form from the first years of his life, but it is finally formed only upon reaching a responsible age, i.e. by about 18-20 years, although even after that it may change in some ways. The process of its formation itself takes place according to a certain algorithm.

Schematically, this algorithm can be expressed as follows:

Aspiration > Ideal
Aspiration > Goal > Ideal
Aspiration > Values > Purpose > Ideal
Aspiration > Means > Values > Goal > Ideal

However, subsequently, between all these points, another one appears - ethics, as a result of which the whole scheme takes on the following form:

Aspiration > Ethics> Tools > Ethics> Values > Ethics> Goal > Ethics> Ideal

From this it turns out that first of all, the ideal and the very desire for this ideal arise. An ideal, which can also be called an image, if there is no desire for it, is no longer such.

At the first stage, which is most often instinctive, the ideal is neutral from an ethical point of view, i.e. it cannot be assessed in any way, and it can be formed in the form of a sensory-emotional substance, the content of which is quite difficult to determine. The meaning that is attached to the ideal is formed only at the stage of transformation into a goal. And only after this, reaching the third stage, the formation of values occurs, serving as resources, conditions and rules for, which leads to the ideal. And the entire algorithm ultimately ends with the so-called inventory of the necessary and available means to achieve the goal.

Each element of the presented algorithm is extremely important, but you need to pay attention to the fact that the ideal, goal and means are formed and selected under the influence of not only needs, but also ethical norms, which seem to “filter” all stages of the algorithm. At the same time, ethical standards may exist in the human mind, as well as in the mass consciousness, representing the results of the action of previous algorithms, and therefore be perceived as “existing objectively.” In addition, they can also be formed as new ones, being conditioned by a newly emerged ideal and the corresponding algorithm.

The life of any person, as we have already mentioned, from childhood begins to obey this algorithm, and it does not matter what it concerns: the choice of a future profession, a loved one, political or religious views and actions performed. And here “ideals” play a special role, regardless of whether they exist in a person’s consciousness or in his subconscious.

To summarize, we can say that a person’s system of life values is a fairly stable structure, despite the fact that it is subject to changes, both small and global. And a person’s awareness of his own system of life values is the first step towards understanding his own.

How to understand the difference between spiritual and material values? What are the options for personal development in this regard and what to expect on each path of development? Let's look at these current issues in more detail later in the article.

Human values: general concept

First, it’s worth understanding the concept of “value” in general: what is it in the universal human understanding? The word “value” comes from the word “price”, that is, it is something that has price, significance, significant preference, expressed in various objects of both the material and subtle spiritual world.

The main types of human values are divided into three groups:

Spiritual - something that does not have a clearly expressed physical form, but at the same time significantly affects the quality of life of both an individual and society as a whole. They are usually divided into personal, that is, having importance for a specific individual, group - having weight for a specific group of people (community, caste, nationality), as well as universal, the significance of which is not affected by the level of consciousness or life of a person.
Social is a type of value that is important for a certain circle of people, but there are certain individuals for whom it is absolutely not important, that is, it is not something necessary for a full life. An excellent example is the ascetics in the mountains of Tibet, hermits living alone in the forests or traveling around the world.
Material - this type of value is predominant for more than half of humanity, as it has become the basis for another status - social. The basis of material value is made up not only of personal property, but also of the surrounding world.

All types of values have in themselves the main reason and driving force for the development of a person, group, society or humanity as a whole, which is an indicator of success and progress.

In various life situations, a person is sometimes forced to make a choice between development and nourishment of the material or spiritual world, which determines the further development of the individual, and therefore the prevailing majority of society.

Spiritual values are the litmus test of society's morality

There are several types of spiritual values, and all of them are based on one goal: to make an individual a more developed personality from the point of view of the intangible world.

The fundamental values of life are freedom, love, faith, goodness, peace, friendship, nature and life in general. The absence of these factors calls into question the further development of man even at a primitive level.
Moral values determine relationships between people from a moral standpoint. This is honor and honesty, conscience, humanity and compassion for all living things, respect for age and experience.
Aesthetic - associated with the experience of beauty and harmony, the ability to enjoy the moment, sound, color and form. The music of Beethoven, Vivaldi, the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, Notre Dame and St. Basil's Cathedral are the aesthetic values of humanity beyond time. For an individual person, such an important object can be a figurine donated by a loved one, or a picture drawn by a three-year-old child.

A person who lives by spiritual values will never doubt what to choose: attend a concert of his favorite performer or buy his fifth, but very fashionable boots. For him, his duty to his aging parents is always primary; he will not be able to satisfy his selfishness and send them to a nursing home.

Social or collective values of a person

A person’s social values are twofold: for some they are primary and extremely important (politicians, actors, clergy, world-class scientific researchers), for others, on the contrary, they do not play any role, and a person absolutely does not care what others think about him or what his position is. he ranks on the social ladder.

All types of social values are divided into several types:

Political + level of the social ladder: for some people it is extremely important to stand at the helm of power, to be respected and revered by everyone.

Communicative - it is important for the vast majority of people to belong to some group or cell, be it “Hare Krishna” or a circle of cross-stitch lovers. Communication based on interests gives a feeling of being in demand, and therefore important for the world.

Religious: For many people, belief in divine powers and associated rituals in daily life provide a basis for later life.

Natural-economic (environment-oriented): few people want to live in environmentally hazardous areas, places with heavy gas pollution or seismically hazardous areas - this is an indicator of personal natural values. At the same time, the concern of humanity as a whole for the environment is also included in this section, as is the conservation of rare animal species.

Material values are the main incentive of the modern world of consumers

All physical objects that make a person’s life as comfortable as possible are material values that supposedly make life happier and more diverse.

Unfortunately, modernity is too preoccupied with caring about the external, material world, and few people actually realize that houses, cool cars and closets full of clothes, as well as iPads, are only temporary and imaginary values that are relevant only to a limited extent. usual life. And if you move a person without his “toys” into a space independent of them, then he might be able to realize that these things, in fact, are worthless and are not primary values.

Personal values of an individual

This type of value is a combination of all the above aspects, but taking into account the individual priorities of a person.

So, one person will have in the first place the desire to achieve a high position in society. This means that its main value is social. Another will have a passionate desire to understand the true meaning of existence - this is an indicator of spiritual value that stands above all else.

A person’s priorities in choosing personal values are an indicator of a highly developed being

All types of values of an individual perfectly show who a person really is and what awaits him in the future, because it is pointless to ignore the previous experience of many thousands of people. If a person has chosen material goods as a priority, believing that they will make him happy for the rest of his life, then he will eventually understand (if not stupid!) that all these “toys” that come and replace each other give a feeling of happiness and satisfaction for a short period of time , and then again you want something else.

But people who have chosen the spiritual path and high values not only know, but also feel that their life is full, interesting and without capital investments: it is not particularly important to them whether they have a car of a popular brand or an old Moskvich - after all, their happiness does not come from the possession of things, but lies in the love of life or God.

Can all three types of values coexist peacefully in the minds of one person?

This idea is very well illustrated by Krylov’s fable “Swan, Cancer and Pike”: if you rush in all directions at once, then in the end nothing moves anywhere, it remains in place. But a group of like-minded people or a nation, and indeed all of humanity as a whole, is quite capable of such a task: some will be responsible for material values, using them for the benefit of everyone, while others will raise the spiritual level, preventing society from morally decaying.

The value of human life

Many people ask these questions: What is the most valuable thing in life? How often do we think about the meaning of life? And do we value life itself? Now let's think: what is the value of human life? What capabilities do we have?

This is, first of all, consciousness, the mind of a person. Unlike animals, we are able, when faced with a problem, not just suffering, to experience it, we can explore suffering, understand what its causes are. We can find ways to eliminate this suffering and eliminate its causes. This is the value of human life.

The value of human life - human life is a non-renewable resource and has truly enormous potential value. But the value of a resource in itself does not mean anything. As a metaphor, let's take, for example, a diamond - a valuable, expensive stone, but in itself it is not very attractive: it is just a piece of rock, beautiful, but for now meaningless. It is later, when the diamond is cut by the hands of a master, it will shine, playing and shimmering with its sparkling facets, reflecting the sun's rays of a young day and will attract the eyes with its beauty and give joy. The same is true for a person’s life: if he, an attentive master, builds his life soundly and beautifully, making sure that equally strong lives are built next to him, his life becomes a masterpiece, his main and great creation. If a person stacks bricks at random, uses everything that comes to hand, does not care about a strong foundation and reliable walls, builds on the one hand, destroys on the other, and even prevents others from building - his life turns out to be nothing more than than a pile of bricks piled together. If life is spent in vain, in nowhere, in drinking and empty chatter about beautiful things, the value of such a life as a result turns out to be low, although the resource itself was very expensive. If life is lived beautifully, strongly, in caring at least for yourself and your loved ones, or for many people at your own expense, the value of such a life will be high. A person makes the value of his life himself: it depends on his choice in which direction he wants and will live. And only his choice will be where to give the irreplaceable, and therefore incredibly valuable resource: bury it under a pile of bricks or invest it in a magnificent Temple. Human life is of great value. It is not comparable to any other value (of another type). In this sense, it is similar to a transfinite number. Which by definition is greater than any integer or real number. Infinitely more.

So, the value of human life is not comparable to the value of anything else. It is, by definition, more valuable than anything else. But it can be comparable to the value of another human life.

The absolute value of a person makes his life as a value special, unlike all others. The question of how to understand the absolute value of a person was discussed above. Now the turn has come to determine what is included in the content of the values of human life. The sign by which we can determine whether this or that value is among the vital ones will be such a manifestation of life that turns out to be its deepest, most original, complete and immediate, indivisible manifestation.

Let me explain with an example. Let's say a person was found under the rubble of a collapsed house. He is saved regardless of whether he is a believer or an atheist, educated or not, whether he is a hero or an ordinary citizen. He is saved, first of all, as a living being, his life is saved.

Such values, as noted above, are called existential, constituting the basis of all other life manifestations and values, which is associated with the fundamental meanings of human existence.

These values include: life, death (not in itself, but since the finitude of life is its most important characteristic), love, family, giving birth and raising children, freedom, privacy, participation, work, rest, creativity.

Life or existence is the core, basic value of a person. It is the general condition of all his states and actions. But it is important to emphasize that the priority is not the value of life, but the value of a person, since it is the personality that exists, the personality that lives, the personality that exists, while life, no matter how valuable and significant it may seem to us in itself, is nothing more than the most immediate place the focus of the emergence of personality, the way of its being in the world.

If personality is essence and life is existence, then our existence precedes our essence. To say that an entity exists is to say that a person lives. But it is the essence, the personal beginning that is the semantic and value center of a person.

The value of life as such is twofold. On the one hand, life is given to us as the highest gift, a universal opportunity, and therefore we should highly value life, feel reverence and respect for it. On the other hand, life is given to someone who is not just life, but a person - a being living his own life, a free, thinking, creative being who knows life, its beginning and end, its limitless possibilities and its biological boundaries, a being aware of finitude life. And therefore, the one to whom it is given is given (literally for nothing!) in order to be lived by him - more priority, more important than life, is its subject. Good or bad is another question. There are geniuses, and there are also mediocre lives.

Perhaps there is even a law of life: we are either above life if we live it with dignity, or below, that is, we turn out to be unworthy of this gift if we live somehow, floating with the flow. But in any case, a person and his life are not the same thing.

The birth of personality is the act of life going beyond its biological limits. This means that reason and freedom are born in its womb, generating a whole fireworks display of unique cultural phenomena that cannot be reduced to life as a biological process.

Life either exists or it doesn’t. But its quality may vary. If we live, support our life, love and care for it in the name of good and not at the expense of the lives and values of other people, then we are human, and our life is good and rich. If inhuman principles take over in us, then our life begins to degrade, weaken, become poorer and weaker. Its value decreases to the extent that it is burned through and killed by the inhuman in us.

The more humane and richer our life is, the higher its value. Life is valuable to the extent that I am a humane master of my life.

“Simply living,” living a passive, vegetative life, surrendering to the flow of everyday life and the immediate, means thoughtlessly wasting your starting capital, that original reserve of life that we all have already by the time the first acts of consciousness and self-awareness appear, by the time we awaken personality and humanity.

There is a saying: one person lives to eat, another eats to live. A humane person can say that he eats and lives in order to become and be a humane person, in order to create himself and the values of personal, social and universal life, in order to improve and elevate the dignity of man.

Life is valuable because it is the initial basis, method, process during which we can only manifest, call to active existence, realize our humanity, all our positive qualities and virtues, all our values.

From this alone, human life becomes infinitely valuable, becomes a universal value.

The boundless value of life is already manifested in the fact that it invites everyone and everything to its feast, to the feast of life; it finds a place for everyone and every human being at its holiday. As our priceless gift and real chance, she, without any preconditions, tells each of us - live!

Perhaps what was just said sounded too declarative. There are diseases that make very existence a test, early deaths, etc.

And yet, in the infinite value of life, as long as we can live, all its black spots seem to drown. Every mentally healthy person values life, regardless of whether it looks successful by accepted standards or not - this is further confirmation of our thought.

However, life itself, regardless of its assessment, which is always secondary, requires a humane attitude. To be realized as a value, it must exist, must be preserved as such, it must be supported, strengthened and enriched. But the internal reserves of life and the instincts of its self-preservation alone are not enough. And that's why.

Life is the universal, all-encompassing basis of human existence. This means that it is open to both the human and the inhuman in us. That is why it can be joy, and sorrow, and wings, and a yoke on the neck, and luxury, good luck, and poverty, failure and curse.

Millions and tens of millions of drug addicts and alcoholics, street and homeless children, orphans, hundreds of millions of poor people doomed in different countries to vegetation, hunger and suffering due to the fault of totalitarian and ignorant ruling forces and due to the archaic traditions of unfreedom and obedience - all of them were not in condition or were deprived of the opportunity to realize their life potential.

But in any case, life itself cannot but be valuable. It becomes a burden or even unbearable not because of its own essence, but only insofar as it is permeated, clothed with the negativity of the inhumane in a person or that existing outside the human being that oppresses him, undermines him, deprives him of his strength.

If we understand by human life not only its biological side, but also its mental and intellectual side (and only such integrity can be called human life), then it is easy to imagine how wide the range of intrusion of the anti-human into us, into our own lives.

When for some reason a reliable barrier is not installed on the path of this invasion, when the inhumane is not opposed by the humane, then the process of life begins to acquire a negative meaning, becomes inhuman and destructive both for the person himself, and for society, and for the environment.

The worst thing that can happen to a person is the victory of the inhumane in him. His final victory means spiritual degradation and death, stimulating, one way or another, physical degradation and death. No villain is truly happy, and the average life expectancy of hardened criminals is much lower than the average life expectancy.

Life has not only internal enemies in the person of the person himself, but also external enemies that exist outside the boundaries of the individual and society. The dangers that threaten life as a biological process are especially obvious: diseases, natural disasters, unhealthy habitats. Although in many ways these enemies may be socially determined, and either stimulated by social factors, or weakened, and some even defeated by social measures taken, the very nature of these threats is associated with physical, general biological or environmental laws. In this context, the question arises about that component of our life that is connected with our flesh and its value.

The value of our body is not only biological, physical and aesthetic. It is actually vital, existential, since it is fundamentally connected with our existence as life.

Health is a general condition for a favorable and fruitful life, and therefore the most important value. There are several simple humanistic rules for a person’s attitude towards his physical and mental health. It's actually very simple, all you need is:

- Healthy food;
- do physical exercises daily;
- avoid unnecessary stress;
- be able to relax and rest;
- be reasonable and moderate in receiving pleasures.

Health is not just physical or mental. In principle, it is indivisible and refers to man as a unity of physical, biological, mental, moral, intellectual and ideological.

When we talk about the human body as a value, we must answer the question about people with disabilities. Unfortunately, in modern language there is no concept adequate to modern culture that refers to chronically ill people or a person who has not had, say, sight or an arm since birth or who has lost during his lifetime. All existing concepts: “disabled person”, “person with limited physical capabilities” and the like are, to some extent, offensive and affect the dignity of such people.

Are such people fundamentally flawed and obviously deprived of the possibility of happiness, a rich, fruitful, dignified and perfect life? Humanism answers this question in the negative. Not a single sacred or scientific book says that a person can be complete only if everything is in order with his flesh: four limbs, ten fingers, two eyes, ears and two nostrils, if he has nine natural openings in the body , a whole set of properly functioning internal organs and a standard physique.

History and modernity give us many examples of a person’s victory over his illnesses and overcoming physical disabilities. Man is structured so wisely and highly adaptively, possesses such remarkable qualities as courage, determination, perseverance, that he is able to turn even severe illnesses or, say, blindness into a step for improvement, an additional motive for maintaining a highly moral, humane, and sometimes heroic way of life. An illness can motivate a person not just to overcome it, but also to ascend, to strengthen the will to live.

In modern civilized societies, much is done to remove those physical, psychological and legal obstacles that discriminate against or make life difficult for people with disabilities. The range of such actions is very wide: from the installation of special descents in houses and on the streets to the organization of sports competitions for the disabled and the maximum reduction in the list of professions prohibited for the disabled.

Society should strive to intelligently erase the differences between disabled people and other people, so that there is no need for privileges, which, unfortunately, are too reminiscent of alms and can be offensive to a person.

I would like to separately express my opinion on this topic. In my opinion, this problem, namely, the problem, is relevant in our time. Many people do not think about their life, treat it carelessly, and throw away their health and strength. A person thinks that he is omnipotent, and he can do everything, and of course, in the bustle of everyday life, we do not have time to ask these questions. But for every person, I am sure, there comes a time when questions of the value of human life require an indispensable answer. Unfortunately, it happens that this moment comes too late to change anything. Sometimes a person only in the face of death realizes that he lived wrong, that he has lost something that cannot be returned. So how can you figure it out and understand, first of all, for yourself, what is valuable to you and what is important to you. Of course, this is a difficult question, but it seems to me that each person must determine this for himself. For some, value is countless riches and benefits, a huge amount of money, someone dreams of being popular and talented, someone dreams of everyone around being happy, and for others, value lies in the health of loved ones. Each person has his own range of values, and he has absolutely the right to decide for himself what to value.

But unfortunately, a person often chooses the wrong values that could successfully and beneficially influence a person’s life and health. Often people become confused in themselves, cross the borders of inhumane and inhumane, and this, in turn, entails grave consequences, such as various social conflicts, crimes, immoral behavior, causing harm to the health of themselves and others. This list can go on and on.

A person drives himself into a dead end, leaving no choice to change something. Moreover, the realization that your life was lived in vain comes very late and a person is no longer able to change anything. Of course, there are a huge number of reasons why a person chooses his values, but I would like to note that only the Man himself is the master of his life. And life is a flower. If you stop looking after it, watering it, fertilizing it, taking care of it, it will wither.

So it is with humans. If you treat yourself thoughtlessly and carelessly, waste your time, health and strength, then ultimately, life, like a ruthless flower, will fade away.

Therefore, value yourself and those around you, appreciate every moment, every second, know how to find a piece of good in the bad, because life is given to us only once! philosophical life anti-humanistic

Phrases from famous people about the value of life:

- I realized that life is worth nothing, but I also realized that nothing is worth life (Andre Malraux);
- If you value your life, remember that others value theirs no less (Euripides);
- The life of an individual has meaning only to the extent that it helps to make the lives of other people more beautiful and noble. Life is sacred, it is, so to speak, the supreme value to which all other values are subordinated (Einstein Albert);
- Truly, he who does not value life does not deserve it (Leonardo da Vinci).

Value is the significance, importance, usefulness and benefit of something. Outwardly, it appears as one of the properties of objects or phenomena. But their usefulness and significance are not inherent in them due to their internal structure, that is, they are not given by nature, they are nothing more than subjective assessments of specific properties involved in the social sphere; they are interested in them and have a need for them. The Constitution of the Russian Federation states that the highest value is the person himself, his freedom and rights.

Use of the concept of value in various sciences

Depending on what kind of science is studying this phenomenon in society, there are several approaches to its use. So, for example, philosophy considers the concept of value as follows: it is the socio-cultural, personal significance of specific objects. In psychology, value is understood as all those objects of the society surrounding an individual that are valuable to him. This term in this case is closely related to motivation. But in sociology, values are understood as those concepts that name sets of goals, states, and phenomena that are worthy of people striving for. As you can see, in this case there is a connection with motivation. In addition, from the point of view of these social sciences, there are the following types and spiritual ones. The latter are also called eternal values. They are not tangible, but sometimes they have much greater significance for society than all material objects combined. Of course, they have nothing to do with economics. In this science, the concept of value is considered as the cost of objects. At the same time, two types are distinguished: consumer and The first represent one or another value for consumers depending on the degree of utility of the product or its ability to satisfy human needs, and the second are valuable because they are suitable for exchange, and the degree of their significance is determined by the ratio that is obtained with equivalent exchange. That is, the more a person is aware of his dependence on a given object, the higher its value. People living in cities are entirely dependent on money because they need it to purchase the most necessary goods, namely food. For rural residents, financial dependence is not as great as in the first case, since they can obtain the products necessary for life regardless of the availability of money, for example, from their own garden.

Different definitions of values

The simplest definition of this concept is the statement that values are all those objects and phenomena that can satisfy human needs. They can be material, that is, tangible, or they can be abstract, like love, happiness, etc. By the way, the set of values that are inherent in a particular person or group is called. Without it, any culture would be meaningless. Here is another definition of value: it is the objective significance of the variety of components (properties and attributes of a particular object or phenomenon) of reality, which are determined by the interests and needs of people. The main thing is that they are necessary for a person. However, value and significance are not always equivalent. After all, the first can be not only positive, but also negative, but value is always positive. What satisfies cannot be negative, although here everything is relative...

Representatives of the Austrian school believe that basic values are a specific amount of goods or benefits that are necessary to satisfy. The more a person realizes his dependence on the presence of a given object, the higher its value. In short, the relationship between quantity and need is important here. According to this theory, goods that exist in unlimited quantities, for example, water, air, etc., do not have special significance because they are non-economic. But goods, the quantity of which does not satisfy needs, that is, there are fewer of them than needed, are of real value. This view has both many supporters and opponents who fundamentally disagree with this opinion.

Changeability of values

This philosophical category has a social nature, since it is formed in the process of practice. In this regard, values tend to change over time. What was significant for this society may not be so for the next generation. And we see this from our own experience. If you look back into the past, you will notice that the values of the generations of our parents and ours differ in many ways from each other.

Main types of values

As noted above, the main types of values are material (life-enhancing) and spiritual. The latter give a person moral satisfaction. The main types of material assets are the simplest goods (housing, food, household items, clothing, etc.) and goods of a higher order (means of production). However, both contribute to the functioning of society, as well as to improving the quality of life of its members. And people need spiritual values for the formation and further development of their worldviews, as well as their worldview. They contribute to the spiritual enrichment of the individual.

The role of values in the life of society

This category, in addition to representing some significance for society, also plays a certain role. For example, a person’s mastery of various values contributes to the acquisition of social experience, as a result of which he becomes involved in culture, and this, in turn, affects the formation of his personality. Another important role of values in society is that a person strives to create new goods, while preserving old ones that already exist. In addition, the value of thoughts, actions, and various things is expressed in how important they are for the process of social development, that is, the progress of society. And on a personal level - human development and self-improvement.

Classification

There are several classifications. For example, according to it, material and spiritual values are distinguished. But according to their significance, the latter are false and true. Classification is also carried out according to areas of activity, depending on their carrier, and according to the time of action. According to the first, they distinguish between economic, religious and aesthetic, the second - universal, group and personal values, and the third - eternal, long-term, short-term and momentary. In principle, there are other classifications, but they are too narrow.

Material and spiritual values

We have already talked about the first ones above; everything is clear with them. These are all the material goods that surround us, which make our life possible. As for the spiritual, they are components of the inner world of people. And the initial categories here are good and evil. The former contribute to happiness, and the latter - everything that leads to destruction and is the cause of discontent and misfortune. Spiritual ones are true values. However, to be such, they must coincide with significance.

Religious and aesthetic values

Religion is based on unconditional faith in God, and it does not require any proof. Values in this area are guidelines in the lives of believers, which are determined by the norms and motives of their actions and behavior in general. And aesthetic values are everything that gives a person pleasure. They are directly related to the concept of “beauty”. They are associated with creativity, with art. Beauty is the main category of aesthetic value. Creative people devote their lives to creating beauty, not only for themselves, but also for others, wanting to bring true joy, delight, and admiration to others.

Personal values

Each person has his own personal orientation. And they can be radically different for different people. What is significant in the eyes of one may not be valuable to another. For example, classical music, which brings lovers of this genre into a state of ecstasy, may seem boring and uninteresting to someone. The values of an individual are greatly influenced by factors such as upbringing, education, social circle, environment, etc. Of course, the family has the strongest impact on the individual. This is the environment in which a person begins his primary development. He receives his first idea of values in his family (group values), but with age he may accept some of them and reject others.

The following types of values are considered personal:

those that are components of the meaning of human life;
the most common semantic formations that are based on reflexes;
beliefs that relate to desirable behavior or the completion of something;
objects and phenomena to which the individual has a weakness or is simply not indifferent;
what is important to every person and what he considers his property.

These are the types of personal values.

A new approach to defining values

Values are opinions (beliefs). Some scientists think so. According to them, these are biased and cold ideas. But when they begin to activate, they mix with feelings, and at the same time receive a certain color. Others believe that the main values are the goals that people strive for - equality, freedom, welfare. It is also a way of behavior that contributes to the achievement of these goals: mercy, empathy, honesty, etc. According to the same theory, true values should act as certain standards guiding the assessment or choice of people, actions and events.

Life values ​​and priorities. Personal value system in human life