Alexander A. Somkin1, Alexander M. Ezhov2

1,2 National Research Ogarev Mordovia State University (Saransk, Russia)

1 e-mail: alexsomkin@mail.ru

2 e-mail: alexe2hov@yandex.ru

 

Specificity of Approaches to Understanding the Essence of a Human Being in Modern Foreign Socio-Philosophical Thought

 

Abstract

Introduction. The article analyses the specificity of approaches to understanding the essence of man in modern Western socio-philosophical thought. The subject of man and the questions of his origin have always been of interest to scientists and researchers. Since the birth of philosophy in antiquity and up to our days, thinkers have tried to at least approach the understanding of what is such a complex social phenomenon as a person.

Materials and Methods. The main materials of the research are philosophical concepts of personality of modern foreign social philosophers. The main methods used in the study are comparative (in the study of various personalist concepts), systemic and holistic approach in the analysis of specific doctrines of personality, historical approach – in the consideration of views on personality in historical retrospect.

Results. The person is a compound multi-scale social phenomenon, owning a definite set of sociopsychological and mental and mental properties and characteristics, which is developed in the system of social attitudes and displayed in publicly meaningful kinds of actions. Most scholars emphasize in the person’s system a particular set of stable qualities that all individuals possess: value core, value orientations, social roles and functions, integrative quality and others.

Discussion and Conclusion. The concepts of two philosophers of the late twentieth century, G. K. Günzl and A. J. Bahm, are analyzed and critically examined. The main aspects of their understanding of personality are highlighted, the main properties and qualities are emphasized, the problematic points in their construction, which require rethinking, are described. Prospects for further research are outlined.

Keywords: personality, society, social philosophy, system, structure, system approach, Western philosophy, social quality.

For citation: Somkin A. A., Ezhov A. M. Specificity of Approaches to Understanding the Essence of a Human Being in Modern Foreign Socio-Philosophical Thought. Gumanitarian: aktual’nye problemy gumanitarnoi nauki i obrazovaniia = Russian Journal of the Humanities. 2025; 25(1): 54–62. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24412/2078-9823.069.025.202501.054-062.

 

Download article in PDF