The problem of man is one of the main ones in philosophy. Of great importance for understanding the essence of man and the paths of his development is clarification of the question of his origin.
The theory of the origin of man, the essence of which is to study the process of his emergence and development, is called anthropogenesis (from the gr. anthropos - man and genesis - origin).
There are several approaches to solving the question of human origins:

• Religious theory(divine; theological). Implies the divine origin of man. The soul is the source of humanity in man.
• Paleovisit theory. The essence of the theory is that man is an extraterrestrial being; aliens from outer space, having visited the Earth, left human beings on it.
• Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution(materialistic). Man is a biological species, his origin is natural. Genetically related to higher mammals. This theory belongs to materialistic theories (natural science).
• Natural science theory of F. Engels(materialistic). Friedrich Engels states that the main reason for the emergence of man (more precisely, his evolution) is work. Under the influence of work, a person’s consciousness was formed, as well as language and creative abilities.

Thus, only assumptions can be made about the reasons that determined the formation of man himself.

The influence of cosmic energy, electromagnetic waves, radiation and other influences on his psychophysical state is enormous.

Man is the highest stage of development of living organisms on Earth. Biologically, humans belong to the mammalian hominids, human-like creatures that appeared about 550 thousand years ago.

Man is essentially a biosocial being. It is part of nature and at the same time inextricably linked with society. The biological and social in man are fused together, and only in such unity does he exist.

Biological nature of man- this is its natural prerequisite, a condition of existence, and sociality is the essence of man.

1. Man is a biological being. Man belongs to the higher mammals, forming a special species, Homo sapiens. The biological nature of a person is manifested in his anatomy and physiology: he has circulatory, muscular, nervous and other systems. Its biological properties are not strictly programmed, which makes it possible to adapt to different living conditions
2. Man is a social being. Inextricably linked with society. A person becomes a person only by entering into social relations, into communication with others. The social essence of a person is manifested through such properties as the ability and readiness for socially useful work, consciousness and reason, freedom and responsibility, etc.

Absolutization of one of the aspects of human essence leads to biologization or sociologization.

The main differences between humans and animals:

• A person has thinking and articulate speech. Only a person can reflect on his past, critically assessing it, and think about the future, making plans. Some species of monkeys also have communicative capabilities, but only humans are capable of transmitting objective information about the world around them to other people. You can add other ways of reflecting the surrounding reality to speech, for example, music, painting, sculpture, etc.
• A person is capable of conscious, purposeful creative activity:

- models his behavior and can choose various social roles;

- has prognostic ability, i.e. the ability to foresee the consequences of one’s actions, the nature and direction of the development of natural processes;

— expresses a value-based attitude to reality.

An animal's behavior is subordinate to instinct; its actions are initially programmed. It does not separate itself from nature.

• A person, in the process of his activity, transforms the surrounding reality, creates the material and spiritual benefits and values ​​he needs. Carrying out practically transformative activities, a person creates a “second nature” - culture. Animals adapt to the environment, which determines their lifestyle. They cannot make fundamental changes in the conditions of their existence.
• Man is capable of making tools and using them as a means of producing material goods. In other words, a person can make tools using previously made means of labor.
• A person reproduces not only his biological, but also his social essence and therefore must satisfy not only his material, but also his spiritual needs. Satisfaction of spiritual needs is associated with the formation of a person’s inner (spiritual) world.

Thus, man is a unique being (open to the world, inimitable, spiritually incomplete); a universal being (capable of any type of activity); a holistic being (integrates (combines) the physical, mental and spiritual principles).

The process of human emergence and development is called anthropogenesis.

The main differences between humans and animals

A person has thinking and articulate speech. A person is capable of conscious, purposeful creative activity:
– models his behavior and can choose various social roles;
– has prognostic ability, i.e. the ability to foresee the consequences of one’s actions, the nature and direction of the development of natural processes; – expresses a value-based attitude to reality.

An animal's behavior is subordinate to instinct; its actions are initially programmed. It does not separate itself from nature.
Man, in the process of his activity, transforms the surrounding reality, creates a “second nature” - culture. Animals adapt to their environment.
Man is capable of making tools and using them as a means of producing material goods.
A person must satisfy not only his material, but also his spiritual needs; this is associated with the formation of a person’s inner (spiritual) world.
Man has consciousness.

Consciousness

Consciousness- this is a form of mental reflection of reality and the ability to purposefully, generally and evaluatively reflect objective reality in sensory and logical images.

Properties of consciousness:
– activity (reflects the world purposefully; serves as the basis for human transformative activity);
– selectivity (differences in content both at the personal and social levels);
– subjectivity;
- creativity.

Unconscious– phenomena, processes, properties and states that influence human behavior, but are not realized by him. Manifests itself in slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue, fantasies, dreams, dreams.
Social (collective) consciousness– consciousness of a group of society, public opinion. Relatively independently, it is spread by education, the media, political parties and social movements.
Self-awareness– a person’s awareness of his actions, feelings, thoughts, motives of behavior, interests, position in society, awareness of himself as an individual capable of making decisions and being responsible for them.
Self-knowledge– a person’s study of his own mental and physical characteristics. Occurs in the process of activity and communication.
Self-esteem– emotional attitude towards one’s own image (always subjective). Self-esteem can be realistic (in people oriented towards success), unrealistic (inflated or underestimated in people oriented towards avoiding failures).

Behavior- a set of human actions performed by him over a relatively long period under constant or changing conditions. Behavior consists of actions.
Deed- an action considered from the point of view of the unity of motive and consequences, intentions and deeds, goals and means.

Man, individual, individuality, personality: definition and relationship of concepts

Human– a generic concept indicating that a creature belongs to the human race.
Individual- a single representative of the species "homo sapiens". Individual characteristics are morphological features (height, bodily constitution and eye color) and psychological properties (abilities, temperament, emotionality)	Personality- this is a social property of an individual, a set of socially significant traits formed in the process of interaction with other people and characterizing him as a member of society in work, cognition, and communication. Personality traits: rationality, freedom, responsibility	Individuality– this is the unity of the unique personal properties of a particular person, the originality of his psychophysiological structure (type of temperament, physical and mental characteristics, intelligence, worldview, life experience)

Personality formation occurs in the process of human socialization, during which the individual masters the social functions and roles developed in society, social norms and rules of behavior, communication with other people. A formed personality is a subject of free, independent and responsible behavior in society.
Formation of individuality- this is the process of individualization of an object, self-determination and isolation of the individual, its separation from the community, the design of its individuality, uniqueness and originality. A person who has become an individual is an original person who has actively and creatively demonstrated himself in life.

Activity

Activity- a way of relating to the outside world, consisting in transformation and subordination of it to human goals (conscious, productive, transformative and social in nature).

Differences between human activity and animal activity

Animal activity	Human activity
adaptation to natural conditions	not only adaptation, but also transformation of the natural and social environment
actions based on a genetic program aimed at realizing physiological needs	does not have a genetically programmed program, develops a program of activities in the process of socialization, using the experience of previous generations
expediency guided by instinct	not only expediency, but also the ability to consciously set goals
uses ready-made natural materials	creates tools, new materials, creates a new reality - the world of human culture and social relations

Activity structure

Types of actions:
– goal-oriented (behavior is goal-oriented, the means and side effects of its actions are realized.);
– value-rational (the individual follows his beliefs about duty, dignity, beauty, piety, etc.);
– affective (unconscious, caused by the emotional state of the individual, sudden clouding of consciousness);
– traditional (automatic, based on long-term habit).

Main types of activities:
– a game(the process is important, not the result; the dual nature of the game: real and conditional);
– doctrine(expedient activities to assimilate knowledge, skills, and abilities accumulated by previous generations);
– work(aimed at achieving a goal, it is characterized by practical usefulness, the ability to satisfy various needs of people).

Depending on the subject, the activity can be individual and collective.
The nature: reproductive (repeating what has already been achieved) and productive - creative (a type of activity that generates something qualitatively new, never existing before).
According to social norms: legal - illegal, moral - immoral.
In relation to social progress: progressive - reactionary, creative - destructive.
In the sphere of public life: economic, social, political, spiritual.
According to the characteristics of human activity: external - internal.

Communication

Communication is a process of interaction between people, as a result of which information, emotions, and moods are transferred.

Communication structure
Subjects	Target- something for which a person has a need for interpersonal relationships	Content	Communication means– methods of transmission, processing and decoding of information
– actually existing partners; – illusory partners - they are assigned qualities of a subject of communication that are unusual for them, for example, talking with a pet); – imaginary partners (talk to oneself, with an artistic image)	– transfer and receipt of knowledge; – coordination of reasonable actions of people; – organization of joint activities of people; – establishing and clarifying interpersonal relationships, etc.	information transmitted in the process of communication: knowledge, experience, skills, emotions, feelings	– sense organs (vision, hearing, smell, touch); - oral speech; – written language (drawings, signs, images); – technical means (radio, television, computer)

Communication functions:
– socialization (formation and development of interpersonal relationships);
– cognitive (obtaining new information);
– psychological (emotional support);
– identification (an expression of a person’s involvement in a group);
– organizational (distribution of responsibilities, establishment of rules).

Needs and interests

Pyramid of human needs (according to Maslow)

To ensure his life and for the purpose of his development, a person satisfies various needs, which are called requirements.
Need- This is a person’s need for something.
A conscious need becomes the motive for human activity.
The needs of each next level become urgent when the previous ones are satisfied.
A special feature of a person is the ability rank your needs in accordance with your principles and beliefs.
Human needs are limitless.
Reasonable needs- these are the needs that help the development in a person of his truly human qualities: the desire for truth, beauty, knowledge, the desire to bring good to people, etc.
Imaginary needs– artificially created by man, the implementation of which can be dispensed with (for example, smoking).
Needs underlie the emergence of interests and inclinations.
Interest- a person’s purposeful attitude towards an object.
Addiction- focus on a specific activity.
A person’s interests and inclinations express the direction of his personality, which determines his life path, the nature of his activities, etc.

Freedom and responsibility in human activity

Liberty– the ability and ability of a person to consciously choose a decision and perform an action in accordance with his goals, interests, ideals and assessments.
Responsibility- an objective, historically specific type of relationship between the individual and society from the point of view of the conscious implementation of the mutual requirements placed on them.

Conditions for the existence of freedom

A person makes a choice at his own peril and risk, i.e. freedom is inseparable from responsibility for using it.
The freedom of one should not harm the freedom and interests of another, i.e. freedom cannot be absolute.

Personal abilities

Capabilities– individual characteristics of a person, which are subjective conditions for the successful implementation of certain types of activities. Abilities have a biological basis in the form inclinations. The main condition for the development of abilities is the practical activity of a person.

Types of abilities:

1. natural abilities - associated with innate inclinations (increased flexibility of joints, acute hearing);
2. general intellectual abilities (developed memory, imagination, logical thinking);
3. special abilities - determine a person’s success in specific activities (mathematics, music, sports).

According to the level of development of abilities, people are distinguished:
– capable;
– with outstanding abilities;
– talented;
- brilliant. Geniuses– people with extraordinary creative potential, capable of unique, qualitatively new discoveries and creations. Signs of genius:
– originality;
– deep meaning, significance;
– this is the result of “illumination from above.”

Abilities determine a person’s life - his type of activity, level of education, profession, social circle, lifestyle, physical and mental health. The development of abilities allows a person to increase his status, self-esteem and standard of living.

Human and society

Topic 1.

Natural and social in man

(man as a result of biological and sociocultural evolution)

Lesson Plan

1.Theories of human origin

2. Man is a biosocial being

3. The main differences between humans and animals

4. Man, individual, personality

Anthropogenesis (from gr. Anthropos - man and genesis - origin) is a theory of the origin of man, which examines the process of his emergence and development.

There are several approaches to solving the question of human origins.

Natural science (materialist theories)

Divine origin of man.

C. Darwin

Man is an unearthly creature; aliens from outer space, having visited the Earth, left human beings on it.

The soul is the source of humanity in man.

F. Engels

(1809-1882) - English naturalist, creator of evolutionary theory

Man as a biological species has a natural origin and is genetically related to higher mammals.

Religious theory

The main reason for the emergence of man is labor.

Paleovisit theory

social thinker, political activist

Under the influence of labor, specific human qualities were formed: consciousness, language, creative abilities.

Man is the highest stage of development of living organisms on Earth Man is a biosocial being

Social creature

biological creature

Man belongs to the higher mammals, forming a special species, Homo sapiens. Biological nature of man manifested in his anatomy, physiology : it has circulatory, muscular, nervous and other systems. Its biological properties are not strictly programmed, which makes it possible to adapt to various living conditions.

Condition, prerequisite for human existence

Inextricably linked with society. A person becomes a person only by entering into social relations, into communication with others.

Social essence of a person is manifested through such properties as ability for socially useful work, consciousness and reason, freedom and responsibility, etc.

Essence of Man

1. A person has thinking and articulate speech:

• Reflects on his past; critically assessing it;
• Thinks about the future;
• Dreams and makes plans;
• Transmits objective information about the surrounding world;
• Knows how to reflect reality not only with the help of speech, but also with the help of music, painting and other figurative forms.

2. A person is capable of conscious, purposeful creative activity:

• Models his behavior and can choose various social roles;
• Has the ability to foresee the long-term consequences of his actions, the nature and direction of the development of natural processes;
• Expresses a value-based attitude to reality.

The main differences between humans and animals

3. A person, in the process of his activity, transforms the surrounding reality, creates the material and spiritual benefits and values ​​he needs:

• Carrying out practically transformative activities, a person creates a “second nature” - culture.

4. Man is capable of making tools and using them as a means of producing material goods.

5. A person reproduces not only his biological, but also his social essence:

• Satisfies not only one’s material, but also spiritual needs;
• Satisfaction of spiritual needs is associated with the formation of a person’s spiritual (inner) world.

Individual Individuality Personality

Individual

Individuality

(from Latin Individuum – indivisible, undivided)

This is a single representative of the human race, a specific bearer of all social and psychological traits: reason, will, needs, interests, etc.

Personality

This is the unique originality of human manifestations, emphasizing the exclusivity, versatility, naturalness and ease of his activities.

(from lat. Persona - person)

Man as a separate individual among other people.

This is a human individual who is a subject of conscious activity, possessing a set of socially significant traits and properties that he realizes in public life.

A person is one of many, but taking into account his personal characteristics: appearance, behavior, character and etc.

A person with socially significant qualities.

Personality – a person as a social being, a specific manifestation of a person’s social essence, his individual mental properties (temperament, character, abilities, level of mental development, needs, interests) and social functions (attitudes to reality, people, society as a whole; human behavior, his social activity).

To a certain extent independent

from society

Capable of being responsible

and solve problems

Is independent in actions

PERSONALITY

Controls behavior, has will

PERSONALITY

Factors determining personality development

Biological factors

(genotype is the anatomical and physiological structure of a person;

facial features, skin coloring, eye and hair color, etc.;

functional features (blood type, etc.);

some features of the human nervous system;

mental properties of a person (character, mind, will, interests, abilities, etc.)

Social environment

Upbringing

and training

NOT every person is a person.

Humans are born

become a person in the process of socialization

Homework

Baranov P.A. etc. Textbook. Topic 1.

Human- is a subject of socio-historical activity and culture, a biosocial being with consciousness, articulate speech, moral qualities and the ability to make tools.

Origin

Scientists emphasize that the emergence of man, his separation from the animal world, is as great a leap in evolution as the emergence of living things from non-living things. The most popular today are four popular theories of origin:

• Religious- the divine origin of man. The soul is the source of humanity in man.
• Paleovisit theory- man is the creation of aliens from outer space who, having visited the Earth, left human beings on it.
• Evolutionary(XIX century, Charles Darwin) - man as a biological species has a natural, natural origin and is genetically related to higher mammals.
• Labor(XIX century, Friedrich Engels) - The main reason for the emergence of man is labor. Under the influence of labor, specific human qualities were formed: consciousness, language, creative abilities.

Scientists believe that the process of evolution was influenced by cosmic factors: the degree of solar activity, the periodic change of the Earth’s magnetic poles, during pauses between which the shield of electromagnetic fields protecting the biosphere weakened for several millennia, so radiation of cosmic origin increased. Archaeologists also drew attention to the fact that the discovered sites of ancient people coincide with places of intense movement of lithospheric plates, faults and cracks in the earth's crust, which caused increased levels of radiation.

It is possible that tectonic, volcanic, seismic and radiation disasters had a significant impact on the climatic panorama of the ancestral home of man. One of these periods of changing magnetic poles occurred exactly 40 thousand years ago. One of the possible reasons that served as the impetus for the crisis of the purely animal way of existence of our distant ancestor is a change in the structure and structure of the brain (damage to one of the parts of the brain connected to each other - the amygdala, cingulate gyrus or medullary vault), which led to differentiation functions of the hemispheres themselves. In animals, the hemispheres essentially duplicate each other, doubling the body's capabilities and allowing, in the event of damage to one, the other hemisphere to take over all the functions of the damaged one. In humans, both hemispheres operate according to different programs.

Thus, the capabilities of the psyche and its plasticity increase significantly. The information and adaptation capabilities of the psyche are many times higher than the capabilities of physiological changes in the body. Instead of adapting to the environment, a person modifies his own behavior. Under the influence of radiation, the higher herbivorous primates dramatically changed their behavioral stereotypes: they began to prefer meat to plant foods, and they began to have the ability to bear children throughout the year. And what is even more important - there was liberation from the blind power of animal instincts.

Differences between humans and animals:

• Possesses thinking and articulate speech.
• Capable of conscious, purposeful creative activity.
• In the process of its activities, it transforms the surrounding reality, creates the material and spiritual benefits and values ​​it needs.
• Capable of making tools and using them as a means of producing material goods.
• It reproduces not only its biological, but also its social essence and must satisfy not only its material, but also its spiritual needs.

Individual. Personality. Individuality

The understanding of a person as a complex system is expressed in such concepts as “individual”, “personality”, “individuality”.

Individual is a single representative of the human race, a specific bearer of all the social and psychological traits of humanity: reason, will, needs, interests, etc. In other words, an individual is a person as a separate individual among other people.

Personality- is a human individual who is a subject of conscious activity, possessing a set of socially significant traits, properties and qualities that he realizes in public life. In other words, a personality is a person with socially significant qualities. However, it is important to remember that not every person is an individual. People are born as human beings and become individuals through the process of socialization.

Personality structure:

• Social status (a person’s place in the system of social relations);
• Social role (a mode of behavior approved normatively and corresponding to social status);
• Personality orientation (needs, interests, views, ideals, motives of behavior).

Individuality- this is the unique originality of human manifestations, emphasizing the exclusivity, versatility and harmony, naturalness and ease of his activities. In other words, individuality is a person as one of many, but taking into account his personal characteristics: appearance, behavior, character, etc.

Biosocial nature

One of the key issues of social knowledge is the question of “human nature,” that is, certain permanent qualities of any human personality. Using this concept, scientists emphasize the fundamental difference between humans and animals. American sociologist John Dewey believes that the variety of meanings of the concept “human nature” can be reduced to four:

1. human nature is an innate biopsychic constitution characteristic of man as a species;
2. human nature is what determines the eternal and unchanging aspirations and desires of people;
3. human nature is devoid of innate motivations and aspirations, it is simply a specific way of reacting to the external world, a way of perceiving the world;
4. human nature is not innate; on the contrary, it is manifested in the fact that a person is able to independently create cultural values, moral ideals, and norms.

Some scientists understand human nature as a complex of basic abilities that provide a person with satisfaction of his biological needs and adaptation to the environment. What influences human nature: heredity, environment, society?

The entire life of the animal world is determined and controlled by instincts. Always in the same unchanging way, beavers build their dams, swallows build their nests, and squirrels prepare food for the winter. This is a manifestation of instinct - a certain innate way of responding, inherent in the entire biological species. But a person knows hundreds of ways to both build a home and meet the needs for food, safety, etc. Consequently, a person becomes a person not so much by birth as he becomes one in the course of socialization, that is, the process of mastering methods of activity, rules and norms developed by society, and mastering culture. Experience shows that only in society can a person find his human essence. If he is formed outside of society, for example, among animals, he becomes a beast.

Man is fundamentally different from animals in his intelligence, which allows him to restrain and control bodily drives and instincts. Thanks to reason, he comprehends the laws of the universe, discovers science, transforms nature and creates a new habitat. In addition, only a person develops faith in supernatural forces, the distinction between good and evil, awareness of the finitude of his existence in the world, his mortality, memory of the past, not only his own, but also of other people, faith in the future. A person has a rich emotional world. He can cry and laugh, love and hate, sympathize with the misfortune of others and, on the contrary, show callousness and cruelty, give assessments and make judgments about certain phenomena, create something new that has no analogues in nature, create. In philosophy there is one of the key collective terms - “subject”. It covers the concepts listed above, since it characterizes the cognitive and practical activities of a person.

Many thinkers of different eras noted such a specific feature of the human being as incompleteness and openness. Man by nature is not endowed with instincts that ensure survival. It does not have scary claws, fangs, or invisible coloring, which helps animals avoid danger. As a biological being, man is weaker than many animals, and yet, thanks to his mind, he has become the most powerful force on earth.

Awareness of the duality of one’s nature is a fundamental property of man. On the one hand, like any animal, he is subject to the physical and biological conditions of survival, but on the other hand, he is determined by social norms, has a consciousness of freedom and strives to fulfill the spiritual ideals of goodness, justice, beauty and truth... People are not born, but become, But what is a person and who should he become? Each historical era solves this riddle in its own way. Therefore, there is no reason to talk about innate aggressiveness or, on the contrary, solidarity, since the natural inclinations that every person has are successfully suppressed or intensified by society. People literally have to learn everything themselves, and everything they know is a product of cultural development, upbringing and education. People are not born, but become. And the process of this formation is socialization.

Man belongs to the higher mammals, forming a special species, Homo sapiens (Homo sapiens). The biological nature of a person is manifested in his anatomy and physiology: he has circulatory, muscular, nervous and other systems. This is a condition, a prerequisite for human existence.

A person becomes a person only by entering into social relations, into communication with others. The social essence of a person is manifested through such properties as the ability and readiness for socially useful work, consciousness and reason, freedom and responsibility, etc.

In its versatility, man as an object of knowledge is comparable to the world. In his being, he embodies all the best aspects of the world. This feature of man was expressed in his definition by the representative of Italian humanism, Pico delo Mirandola. “Man is a microcosm,” he says at the debate “On the Dignity of Man,” “uniting in himself all three parts of the cosmos: the earthly world, the heavenly world and the divine - superstellar.” Numerous attempts to define a person have boiled down to identifying some characteristic that distinguishes a person from other creatures. “Man,” wrote the German philosopher of the 18th century I. Herder, “is at the highest stage of development because a person walks upright - there is no other reason.” The complexity of human nature cannot be captured by any single definition. This diversity can be more adequately reflected in concepts that correspond to the scale of the human world. These are the concepts of “being”, “essence”, “existence”, “human nature”, etc.

The question of the nature of man, his origin, purpose, life and activity, place in the world around him is the most significant in the system of knowledge about society. Human beings are studied by different sciences: sociology, psychology, physiology, pedagogy and many others. There is also a special section of philosophical knowledge - anthropology, engaged in the study of human phenomena.

In the history of human thought, there have been many answers to the question: Who is a person and why did he come to this world? The person is complex and contradictory. In him, both high inspired impulses coexist, prompting him to create masterpieces of art and commit moral acts, as well as base passions and vices that push him to commit monstrous crimes. Writer Maxim Gorky argued: “Man – that sounds proud.” It is not always possible to agree with this statement. Sometimes people commit such monstrous acts that you involuntarily wonder to what depth a person can fall, how low, rude, cruel, inhuman he can be, and his sin involuntarily reflects on many, many other people. But is it possible to apply assessments of “good” or “bad” in relation to the nature of man as such?

Complex and controversial to this day is the question of the origin of the human race - anthropogenesis and the formation of human society - sociogenesis. Scientists emphasize that the emergence of man, his separation from the animal world, is as great a leap in evolution as the emergence of living things from non-living things. The prehistory of humanity remains largely a mystery to this day. One thing is clear that anthroposociogenesis is a long stage in which several stages can be distinguished.

Marxist scientists are supporters of the so-called labor hypothesis, arguing that the main role in human evolution was played by labor, which determined the emergence and development of rational thinking, articulate speech, and social relations. However, let us emphasize the idea that labor itself, in turn, evolves in interaction with the development of society, consciousness, and moral norms.

One of the key issues of social knowledge is the question of “human nature,” that is, certain permanent qualities of any human personality. Using this concept, scientists emphasize the fundamental difference between humans and animals. American sociologist John Dewey believes that the entire variety of meanings of the concept “human nature” can be reduced to four: 1) human nature is an innate biopsychic constitution characteristic of man as a species; 2) human nature is what determines the eternal and unchanging aspirations and desires of people; 3) human nature is devoid of innate motivations and aspirations, it is simply a specific way of reacting to the external world, a way of perceiving the world; 4) human nature is not innate; on the contrary, it is manifested in the fact that a person is able to independently create cultural values, moral ideals, and norms.

Some scientists understand human nature as a complex of basic abilities that provide a person with satisfaction of his biological needs and adaptation to the environment. What influences human nature: heredity, environment, society?

The entire life of the animal world is determined and controlled by instincts. Always in the same unchanging way, beavers build their dams, swallows build their nests, and squirrels prepare food for the winter. This is a manifestation of instinct - a certain innate way of responding, inherent in the entire biological species.

But a person knows hundreds of ways to both build a home and meet the needs for food, safety, etc. Consequently, a person becomes a person not so much by birth as he becomes one in the course of socialization, that is, the process of mastering methods of activity, rules and norms developed by society, and mastering culture.

Experience shows that only in society can a person find his human essence. If he is formed outside of society, for example, among animals, he becomes a beast.

Man is fundamentally different from animals in his intelligence, which allows him to restrain and control bodily drives and instincts. Thanks to reason, he comprehends the laws of the universe, discovers science, transforms nature and creates a new habitat. In addition, only a person develops faith in supernatural forces, the distinction between good and evil, awareness of the finitude of his existence in the world, his mortality, memory of the past, not only his own, but also of other people, faith in the future. A person has a rich emotional world. He can cry and laugh, love and hate, sympathize with the misfortune of others and, on the contrary, show callousness and cruelty, give assessments and make judgments about certain phenomena, create something new that has no analogues in nature, create.

Many thinkers of different eras noted such a specific feature of the human being as incompleteness and openness. Man by nature is not endowed with instincts that ensure survival. It does not have scary claws, fangs, or invisible coloring, which helps animals avoid danger. As a biological being, man is weaker than many animals, and yet, thanks to his mind, he has become the most powerful force on earth.

Russian philosopher B.V. Markov emphasizes that human nature is not something given, but is built differently in each culture.

“Awareness of the duality of one’s nature is a fundamental property of man. On the one hand, like any animal, he is subject to physical and biological conditions of survival, but on the other hand, he is determined by social norms, has a consciousness of freedom and strives to fulfill the spiritual ideals of goodness, justice, beauty and truth...

People are not born, but become, but what a person is and who he should become - each historical era solves this riddle in its own way. Therefore, there is no reason to talk about innate aggressiveness or, on the contrary, solidarity, since the natural inclinations that every person has are successfully suppressed or intensified by society. People literally have to learn everything themselves, and everything they know is a product of cultural development, upbringing and education. People are not born, but become.”

J.P. Sartre wrote: “The essence of man does not precede his existence, he designs himself and is doomed to freedom and responsibility, which he can no longer shift to God.”

According to B.G. Ananyev, the unity of the biological and social in a person is manifested in the unity of such characteristics as the individual, personality, subject and individuality.

The bearer of the biological in man is mainly the individual. A person as an individual is a set of genetically determined properties, the result of the development of which is the biological maturity of a person.

The social is represented in a person through the personality and the subject of activity. At the same time, we are not talking about contrasting the biological and the social, because it is in the process of interaction with society that the individual acquires certain properties and qualities, that is, he is socialized. On the other hand, a person can become both a person and a subject of activity only if he has certain qualities given by nature.

Each person goes through his own life path, interacting with other people, his social maturity is formed. Russian psychologist V.A. Averin defines personality as a set of social relations: economic, political, legal.

Averin emphasizes that a person is not only an individual and a personality, but also a bearer of consciousness, a subject of activity, producing material and spiritual values.

The basis of human objective activity is labor, and therefore he acts as a subject of labor. The basis of theoretical or cognitive activity is the processes of cognition and therefore a person appears as a subject of cognition. The basis of communicative activity is communication, which also allows us to consider a person as a subject of communication. The result of various types of human activity as a subject is the achievement of mental maturity.

Thus, each person appears in the form of integrity - as an individual, personality and subject, determined by the unity of the biological and social.

It is obvious that all people differ from each other in appearance, abilities, character, interests, and style of behavior. Therefore, another characteristic is added to a person’s characteristics – individuality. Individuality in science is understood as a unique combination in a person of his traits and qualities, both given by nature and acquired during his life in society. A person as an individual, personality and subject of activity can be classified into certain groups and types. But as an individual, he is unique, possessing only properties inherent to him. Each of us is an individual. It is as an individual that a person achieves his goals in life, realizes his needs and interests.

Human existence

Human existence is the most general category of philosophical anthropology. It reflects all manifestations of a person, his individual and generic characteristics. In its universality and methodological potential, human existence is comparable to the existence of the world. The existence of man is a fragment and the highest level of the world; it is the existence of the world. But while the existence of a person, both individual and generic, is limited in time and space, inevitably turns into non-existence, the existence of the world is eternal in time and infinite in space. The world was yesterday, is today and will be tomorrow. Knowing this fact is a source of optimism and confidence in the future. The huge variety of finite, transitory types of being cannot exhaust the infinity of the world’s being. At the same time, the world needs human existence as its highest manifestation. Although the existence of man is temporary and transitory, in his person the world gains consciousness and takes its development into its own hands. Without man, the world would be incomplete, limited and meaningless. The meaning of human existence is to give meaning to the existence of the world.

With the transition of an individual person into oblivion, the world is comprehended by another person, in the existence of subsequent generations. The endless change of generations, the transfer of human existence to other cosmic objects is the guarantee of the immortality of humanity, the meaning of human life as a representative of the race.

Being the highest level of the existence of the world, human existence is characterized by qualitatively new signs in comparison with the natural signs of the ascending world. The differentiation of human existence into separate forms opens the way to the knowledge of those qualitative characteristics of a person, which, growing from natural forms, are qualitatively superior to them in many respects, introducing new colors into the multi-colored picture of the world. Within the framework of the course topic “Man and his needs,” the identification of types of human existence will play the role of the initial methodological principle for the classification of needs, their mutual influence and transformation. Scientists distinguish three types of human existence: biological, social and human existence as a spiritual phenomenon. From understanding the connection and subordination of these three types, the definition of the essence of man follows.