The existential status of the meaning of human life

Background. The world of the present is quite complex and contradictory, having become transparent and fragile. The society described with the prefix «post» has exacerbated the problem of the essence of man, putting on the agenda the question of the posthuman in the projection of the «improvement» of man by technological know-how. In socio-philosophical discourse, the concept of the posthuman, with all its multivariate readings, brings to the fore the theme of the preservation of man and humanity as a whole. Homo sapiens, caught in the networks of a global techno-project to create an artificial world / intelligence / body, thinks about the limits of its boundlessness and the search for humanity, which is impossible to understand the meaning of human life. The eternal debate about the true nature of the meaning of life continues through the ages. Thinkers from different schools and different eras offer their explanations of this issue. The radical among them reject the very idea of the significance of the meaning of life, while others, on the contrary, recognize it, but insist on the negative side, while others associate it with positive aspects. However, the central task of each person remains the multifaceted development of himself as a person. This, in turn, ensures a person's contribution to the social and historical course of events, designating it as a personal vocation and life goal. Existential thinking provides an opportunity to re-evaluate a social phenomenon as something metaphysical and holistic, reading it through the prism of social action. Here, the idea of social realization as a significant act is embedded in the understanding of the phenomenon.

The purpose is to analyze the existential status of the meaning of human life.

Materials and methods. In the process of studying the existential status of human meaning, various methodological approaches and methods were used. These include a dialectical-materialistic research strategy, anthropological and sociocultural approaches, a naturalistic method, as well as transcendental and mixed techniques. Moreover, the system-analytical approach was used along with activity-based and axiological methods. Existential analysis also played an important role.

Results. The desire to explore and realize the meaning of one's existence is inherent in every human being and originally inherent only to him. This serves as a driving force for both personal growth and behavioral change. The individual meaning of life, which brings the highest form of self-realization into a person's being, depends on the unique circumstances of his historical time and specific personality characteristics. The self-development of a collective person and, as a result, of the whole society is conditioned by the acquisition of positive meaning, aimed at the values of goodness, truth and beauty. The acquisition of the meaning of life becomes possible only when a person finds himself a part of certain conditions, and his personal being allows him to adequately comprehend the prospects of activity in these circumstances. Outside of the context of specific situations, semantic content is defined as absent from individual consciousness.