Value and quality for every person. The main values ​​in human life

2. Philosophy of values

3. Values ​​in literature

4. Values ​​of life and culture of modern youth (sociological study)

Conclusion

Bibliographic list

Introduction

The system of value orientations, being a psychological characteristic mature personality, one of the central personal formations, expresses the meaningful attitude of a person to social reality and, as such, determines the motivation of his behavior, has a significant impact on all aspects of his activity. As an element of the personality structure, value orientations characterize the internal readiness to perform certain activities to meet the needs and interests, indicate the direction of its behavior.

Each society has a unique value-oriented structure, which reflects the identity of this culture. Since the set of values ​​that an individual learns in the process of socialization is “transmitted” to him by society, the study of the system of value orientations of an individual seems to be a particularly urgent problem in a situation of serious social changes, when there is some “blurring” of the social value structure, many values ​​are destroyed, disappear. social structures norms, contradictions appear in the ideals and values ​​postulated by society.

In essence, the whole variety of objects of human activity, social relations and those included in their circle natural phenomena can act as values ​​as objects of value relations, can be evaluated in the dichotomy of good and evil, truth and error, beauty and ugliness, permissible or forbidden, fair and unfair.

1. Values: concepts, essence, types

The cybernetic understanding of society consists in presenting it as belonging "to a special class of universal adaptive-adaptive systems".

From a certain point of view, culture can be considered as a multidimensional program of adaptive control that sets the main parameters for the self-organization of communities and coordinates the joint activity of fairly autonomous individuals. At the same time, culture can also be understood as a kind of structural generator inherent in any highly organized system: “Order is achieved by limiting the variety of possible states of the elements of the system by establishing the dependence of some elements on others. In this respect, culture is similar to biological and technical programming devices.”

Culture itself is defined axiologically as a set of material and spiritual values ​​and ways of their creation and transmission. Values ​​as such are inextricably linked with the socio-cultural context and can be considered as certain quanta of the general cultural field. It is in this sense that values ​​can be considered as structural invariants of different cultures, which determine not only the content specificity of a particular culture as an arsenal of effective adaptive strategies, but also the features of its dynamics and development. Chavchavadze N.Z. and defines culture as "the world of embodied values", distinguishing between values-means and values-goals.

A person's value system is the "foundation" of his attitude to the world. Values ​​are a relatively stable, socially determined selective attitude of a person to the totality of material and spiritual public goods.

“Values,” wrote V.P. Tugarinov, is what people need to meet their needs and interests, as well as ideas and their motivations as a norm, goal and ideal.

The value world of each person is immense. However, there are some "cross-cutting" values ​​that are practically pivotal in any field of activity. These include diligence, education, kindness, good breeding, honesty, decency, tolerance, humanity. It is precisely the decline in the significance of these values ​​in a given period of history that always causes serious concern in a normal society.

Value is one of such general scientific concepts, the methodological significance of which is especially great for pedagogy. Being one of the key concepts of modern social thought, it is used in philosophy, sociology, psychology and pedagogy to designate objects and phenomena, their properties, as well as abstract ideas that embody moral ideals and act as standards of due.

In essence, the whole variety of objects of human activity, social relations and natural phenomena included in their range can act as values ​​as objects of value relations, can be evaluated in the dichotomy of good and evil, truth and error, beauty and ugliness, permissible or forbidden, fair and unfair.

Value as a concept defines "... significance anything other than existence object or its qualitative characteristics.

Exists great amount values ​​and can be divided into two large groups: into material and spiritual:

We classified material values ​​as: a car, an aquarium, a garage, jewelry, money, food, a house, toys, cosmetics, musical instruments, books, clothes, apartment, tape recorder, computer, TV, telephone, furniture, sports equipment;

To the spiritual: active life, life wisdom, life, family, love, friendship, courage, work, sports, responsibility, sensitivity, honesty, good breeding, beauty, mercy, creativity, freedom, human, peace, justice, self-improvement, health , knowledge.

We can touch, see, buy material values, and they depend on the time in which a person lives. For example, 300 years ago there were no cars, which means that there was no such value.

Spiritual values, unlike material ones, we cannot always see and they are not bought, but we can feel them through our actions and the behavior of the people around us. For example, if beauty is important for a person, then he will strive to create it around himself, to perform beautiful deeds. Thus, these are higher values ​​that are universal and significant at all times.

2. Philosophy of values

In philosophy, the problem of values ​​is considered inextricably linked with the definition of the essence of man, his creative nature, his ability to create the world and himself in accordance with the measure of his values. A person forms his values, constantly destroys the contradictions between the existing world of values ​​and anti-values, uses values ​​as a tool to maintain his life world, protection from the destructive effects of entropic processes that threaten the reality he is born. A value approach to the world requires consideration of objective reality as a result of human self-affirmation; With this approach, the world is, first of all, a reality mastered by a person, turned into the content of his activity, consciousness, personal culture.

M.A. Nedosekina in her work "On the Question of Values ​​and Their Classification" (Internet resource) defines value representations, understood as the basis of assessments and the prism of a goal-oriented vision of reality, as needs and interests translated into the language of thoughts and feelings, concepts and images, ideas and judgments . Indeed, for the assessment it is necessary to have developed ideas about the values ​​that act as orientation criteria for the adaptive and activity activity of the individual.

On the basis of their value ideas, people not only evaluate what exists, but also choose their actions, demand and achieve justice, and carry out what is good for them.

E.V. Zolotukhina-Abolina defines values ​​as a non-rational regulator. Indeed, behavior regulated by reference to value criteria is ultimately focused on achieving maximum emotional comfort, which is a psychophysical sign of achieving a specific goal associated with the assertion of a particular value.

N.S. Rozov distinguishes several evolutionary types of the development of the worldview of communities: mythological consciousness, religious consciousness and ideological consciousness. This kind of classification is more than obvious. However, few dare to renounce the finality of the last form of social consciousness and even suggest the possibility of the birth of a new one, completely unlike the previous ones. N.S. Rozov did this: "Value consciousness is most likely to claim the role of the leading form of worldview in the coming historical era." Values ​​within the framework of value consciousness as a new form of worldview, firstly, emerge from a subordinate position, and secondly, they absorb and rethink all the diversity of existing worldviews, since communication and the search for productive compromises between representatives of these different worldviews are already becoming urgently needed ... The concept value consciousness is not reduced to a combination of the meanings of the two words that make up this name. This concept is built, first of all, normatively: value consciousness is a form of worldview based on values ​​that satisfies the requirements established above.

The world of values ​​that teleologically determine their object, to which it is initially directed, does not hang in the air. It is rooted in the affective life of the psyche no less than the vital needs. The first contact with values ​​​​occurs through communication with significant persons - parents. From the initial stages of ontogenesis, they interfere with the spontaneous functioning of vital needs, introducing into them the order necessary for the entire society. And if the emerging consciousness draws its strength mainly from affective images of significant persons, then in the future it is freed from the need for such support and, in striving for a goal-value, self-organizes and produces its structure and content, moving in line with objective laws. The existing hierarchy of values, teleologically defining its subject - human consciousness, can give rise to such values ​​that lead out of the sphere of immediate vital needs of a given society. This is the axiological basis of progress.

Life values ​​are categories of moral and material aspects that are leading in the choice of life strategy, ways of achieving and orientation in the semantic space. In many ways, it is values ​​that determine a person’s ability to make decisions, and also incline his activity in a certain direction.

The presence of stress factors problem situations and other troubles can force a person to change their positions or begin to make efforts to defend their point of view. We can say that all the difficulties encountered on the way test a person for strength in their own convictions, make it possible to prove that the chosen categories represent precisely life values person, not immediate needs.

What it is

The life values ​​of a person are fate-transforming and fate-realizing factors and directly affect the acceptance of all life decisions. They affect all spheres of life, including the highest purpose of the personality and soul, relationships with close and superficially familiar people, and the attitude to material wealth.

The diversity of the space of life values ​​is unique to the same extent that each individual is unique. It is the interweaving of the importance of attitudes towards a particular category that allows us to see an individual pattern of semantic and value space. Most people use momentary impulses to build a life concept, without a deep awareness of their priorities, which work on a subconscious level.

Frequent painful reflections, the inability to make a choice, to do the right thing, or subsequent reproaches of oneself for a mistake made are the usual consequences of the absence of a clear position. If you increase the level of awareness, understand thoroughly your gradation of values, then you can avoid a significant amount of doubt and the difficulty of choosing.

The road is made easier by the fact that the path has already been chosen, even if for the sake of a long-term perspective, temporary comforts have to be sacrificed. So, a person who puts the family in the first place will not hesitate for a long time how to respond to the proposal of the authorities for a six-month business trip to another country, and who does not understand what is a priority for him in the context of his whole life, he may not decide on drastic changes or make error.

The determination of the most significant values ​​is influenced by many factors, both the internal structure of the human psyche and external events in the surrounding space. At first, the foundation is laid by the characteristics of the individual and the system of education - many values ​​have a biological basis (the need for an active or passive lifestyle, the number of contacts, medical care), and are also internalized from the immediate environment at a very early age.

As they grow older, the core values ​​form the life experience gained, personal emotional experiences from some situations that add up the general attitude to life. As a result, a peculiar construction appears, separating important things and events from minor ones.

When a person builds his life based on deep true values, he feels filled with energy and happy. The reverse law also operates - the more life moves away from internal needs, the less happiness it has, and dissatisfaction begins to prevail in the emotional background of the individual. It is necessary to decide on your primary priorities, while not forgetting that the most harmonious life is in which all spheres are developed. Even if a person determines for himself the importance of two or three values, it is necessary to maintain all the others at the proper level in order to avoid imbalance and disharmony of the personality.

Basic values ​​of human life

Basic values ​​are understood as categories of universal human values ​​that are of undeniable importance for all people, on a planetary scale and on an individual level. Value matters own life, love for any of its manifestations. From this follows care for physical and spiritual health, the ability to prioritize and, first of all, ensure one's survival. In many ways, this most important item is regulated, but only at the physical level, psychological sacrifice is increasingly manifested among people and adversely affects the life and state of the psyche.

As a social being, it is human nature to value relationships highly, as well as their quality. The need to be accepted and appreciated contributes to survival and better fulfillment in the living space. Next after the importance of social relations, or instead of them, we can consider the value family relations, including the parent family and building your own.

Intimate relationships, romantic manifestations can also be attributed to this item. Developing this category, the value of love for children and the need for their presence appear. Here, several additional points can be realized at once, for example, the realization of one's social function, purpose, ability to transfer knowledge, and so on.

The importance of native places, those where a person was born, grew up, spent most of his life, can border on patriotism. In the global sense, the place of our birth and upbringing directly forms the personality - it is there that you can feel accepted and understood. At home and among people with the same mentality, it is easier to adapt and breathe easier, there is an opportunity to show all your abilities brighter and more multifaceted. Many cultures have preserved the traditions of maintaining contact with their native land, from an intuitive understanding of the importance of the amount of energy received by a person from the familiar space.

Professional and social activity, the realization of oneself as a specialist or the achievement of new results in one's hobbies becomes an almost necessary factor in modern world. This touches upon, which will come without material support and the desire for development and recognition, as the main driving mechanisms of human activity. Such strong factors eventually force many to prioritize work, resulting in a serious bias in one direction.

Inseparable from the value of work is the value of rest, which allows you to restore resources, switch. During the rest, a person can discover a new vision of the past situation, feel the taste of life, realize impractical, but spiritually significant desires. All this eventually allows you to harmonize the rest of your life.

Real life examples

To understand more clearly how values ​​manifest themselves, it makes sense to consider a few examples of each of them. So the value of family and relationships is manifested by caring, the ability to come to help and provide it even when it is not directly asked for. A person who allocates time to all the important people in his life clearly appreciates this category. This also includes the ability to always respectfully address people, to be responsive, tolerant and tolerant. The absence of these manifestations can soon destroy any relationship and the person is left alone. Of course, he can sacrifice this, directing his energy not to an attentive attitude towards others, but to the development of his own career or skills, but then completely different ideals are written in the priorities of a person.

When a person's main value is material well-being, this manifests itself in constant self-development in one's professional field, the search for new opportunities and positions.
A prime example is to skip a family dinner or dinner together because of an important meeting or the need to finish overtime. In the pursuit of financial wealth, people may take on extra jobs, freelance outside of their core business, sacrifice work relationships by substituting employees to take a privileged position.

When health is shaken, it is this category that comes to the fore among the entire list of values, because otherwise a person cannot function normally, and perhaps even say goodbye to life. In many situations, the need to take care of physical condition arises precisely against the backdrop of problems, but there are people who have set this value for themselves as one of the highest, striving to maintain constant good health. This is manifested in regular examinations, adherence to a suitable diet and physical activity, undergoing periodic rehabilitation and restorative procedures.

The value of self-development and spirituality may look like a choice instead of a pilgrimage beach or an esoteric festival, instead of new shoes is preferred psychological training. Everything that is important for a person requires time and attention, therefore only awareness will help to plan time in such a way that other areas of life do not suffer.

The most important role not only in the life of each individual person, but also in the whole society as a whole is played by values ​​and value orientations, which primarily perform an integrative function. It is on the basis of values ​​(while focusing on their approval in society) that each person makes his own choice in life. Values, occupying a central position in the structure of personality, have a significant impact on the orientation of a person and the content of his social activity, behavior and actions, his social position and on his general attitude to the world, to himself and to other people. Therefore, the loss of the meaning of life by a person is always the result of the destruction and rethinking of the old system of values, and in order to regain this meaning again, he needs to create a new system based on universal human experience and using the forms of behavior and activities accepted in society.

Values ​​are a kind of internal integrator of a person, concentrating around themselves all his needs, interests, ideals, attitudes and beliefs. Thus, the system of values ​​in a person's life takes the form of the inner core of his entire personality, and the same system in society is the core of its culture. Value systems, functioning both at the level of the individual and at the level of society, create a kind of unity. This is due to the fact that the personal value system is always formed based on the values ​​that are dominant in a particular society, and they, in turn, influence the choice of the individual goal of each individual and determine the ways to achieve it.

Values ​​in a person's life are the basis for choosing the goals, methods and conditions of activity, and also help him answer the question, why does he perform this or that activity? In addition, values ​​are the system-forming core of the idea (or program), human activity and his inner spiritual life, because spiritual principles, intentions and humanity no longer relate to activity, but to values ​​and value orientations.

The role of values ​​in human life: theoretical approaches to the problem

Modern human values- most actual problem both theoretical and applied psychology, since they influence the formation and are the integrative basis of the activity of not only a single individual, but also social group(large or small), collective, ethnos, nation and all mankind. It is difficult to overestimate the role of values ​​in a person's life, because they illuminate his life, filling it with harmony and simplicity, which determines a person's desire for free will, for the will of creative possibilities.

The problem of human values ​​in life is studied by the science of axiology ( in lane from Greek axia / axio - value, logos / logos - a reasonable word, teaching, study), more precisely, a separate branch of scientific knowledge of philosophy, sociology, psychology and pedagogy. In psychology, values ​​are usually understood as something significant for the person himself, something that gives an answer to his actual, personal meanings. Values ​​are also seen as a concept that denotes objects, phenomena, their properties and abstract ideas that reflect social ideals and therefore are the standard of due.

It should be noted that the special importance and significance of values ​​in a person's life arises only in comparison with the opposite (this is how people strive for good, because evil exists on earth). Values ​​cover the whole life of both a person and the whole of humanity, while they affect absolutely all areas (cognitive, behavioral and emotional-sensory).

The problem of values ​​was of interest to many famous philosophers, sociologists, psychologists and educators, but the beginning of the study of this issue was laid back in ancient times. So, for example, Socrates was one of the first who tried to understand what goodness, virtue and beauty are, and these concepts were separated from things or actions. He believed that the knowledge achieved through the understanding of these concepts is the basis of a person's moral behavior. Here it is also worth referring to the ideas of Protagoras, who believed that each person is already a value as a measure of what exists and what does not exist.

Analyzing the category of “value”, one cannot pass by Aristotle, because it is to him that the term “thymia” (or valued) originated. He believed that values ​​in human life are both the source of things and phenomena and the cause of their diversity. Aristotle identified the following benefits:

• valued (or divine, to which the philosopher attributed the soul and mind);
• praised (impudent praise);
• opportunities (here the philosopher attributed strength, wealth, beauty, power, etc.).

Philosophers of modern times made a significant contribution to the development of questions about the nature of values. Among the most significant figures of that era, it is worth highlighting I. Kant, who called the will the central category that could help in solving the problems of the human value sphere. And the most detailed explanation of the process of formation of values ​​belongs to G. Hegel, who described the changes in values, their connections and structure in the three stages of the existence of activity (they are described in more detail below in the table).

Features of changing values ​​in the process of activity (according to G. Hegel)

The problem of human values ​​in life has been deeply studied by foreign psychologists, among which it is worth noting the works of V. Frankl. He said that the meaning of human life as its basic education finds its manifestation in the system of values. Under the values ​​themselves, he understood the meanings (he called them "universal meanings"), which are characteristic of a greater number of representatives not only of a particular society, but of humanity as a whole throughout the entire path of its development (historical). Viktor Frankl focused on the subjective significance of values, which is accompanied, first of all, by the person taking responsibility for its implementation.

In the second half of the last century, values ​​were often considered by scientists through the prism of the concepts of "value orientations" and "personal values". The greatest attention was paid to the study of the value orientations of the individual, which were understood both as an ideological, political, moral and ethical basis for a person's assessment of the surrounding reality, and as a way of differentiating objects according to their significance for the individual. The main thing that almost all scientists paid attention to was that value orientations are formed only due to the assimilation of social experience by a person, and they find their manifestation in goals, ideals, and other manifestations of personality. In turn, the system of values ​​in human life is the basis of the content side of the orientation of the individual and reflects its internal attitude in the surrounding reality.

Thus, value orientations in psychology were considered as a complex socio-psychological phenomenon that characterized the orientation of the personality and the content side of its activity, which determined the general approach of a person to himself, other people and the world as a whole, and also gave meaning and direction to his personality. behavior and activities.

Forms of existence of values, their signs and features

Throughout its history of development, humanity has developed universal or universal values ​​that have not changed their meaning or diminished their significance for many generations. These are such values ​​as truth, beauty, goodness, freedom, justice and many others. These and many other values ​​in a person's life are associated with the motivational-need sphere and are an important regulatory factor in his life.

Values ​​in psychological understanding can be represented in two meanings:

• in the form of objectively existing ideas, objects, phenomena, actions, properties of products (both material and spiritual);
• as their significance for a person (value system).

Among the forms of existence of values, there are: social, subject and personal (they are presented in more detail in the table).

Forms of existence of values ​​according to O.V. Sukhomlinsky

Of particular importance in the study of values ​​and value orientations were the studies of M. Rokeach. He understood values ​​as positive or negative ideas (and abstract ones), which are in no way connected with any particular object or situation, but are only an expression of human beliefs about types of behavior and prevailing goals. According to the researcher, all values ​​have the following features:

• the total number of values ​​(significant and motivated) is small;
• all values ​​in people are similar (only the steps of their significance are different);
• all values ​​are organized into systems;
• the sources of values ​​are culture, society and social institutions;
• values ​​influence a large number of phenomena that are studied by a variety of sciences.

In addition, M. Rokeach established a direct dependence of a person's value orientations on many factors, such as his income level, gender, age, race, nationality, level of education and upbringing, religious orientation, political beliefs, etc.

Some signs of values ​​were also proposed by S. Schwartz and W. Bilisky, namely:

• values ​​are understood as either a concept or a belief;
• they refer to the desired end states of the individual or to his behavior;
• they have a supra-situational character;
• are guided by the choice, as well as the assessment of human behavior and actions;
• they are ordered by importance.

Classification of values

Today in psychology there are a huge number of the most various classifications values ​​and value orientations. Such diversity appeared due to the fact that values ​​are classified according to various criteria. So they can be combined into certain groups and classes, depending on what types of needs these values ​​satisfy, what role they play in a person's life and in what area they are applied. The table below shows the most generalized classification of values.

Classification of values

From the point of view of the psychological characteristics of human values, the classification proposed by K. Khabibulin is interesting. Their values ​​were divided as follows:

• depending on the subject of activity, values ​​can be individual or act as values ​​of a group, class, society;
• according to the object of activity, the scientist singled out material values ​​in human life (or vital) and sociogenic (or spiritual);
• depending on the type of human activity, values ​​can be cognitive, labor, educational and socio-political;
• the last group consists of values ​​according to the way of performing activities.

There is also a classification based on the allocation of vital (human ideas about good, evil, happiness and sorrow) and universal values. This classification was proposed at the end of the last century by T.V. Butkovskaya. Universal values, according to the scientist, are:

• vital (life, family, health);
• social recognition (values ​​such as social status and employability);
• interpersonal recognition (exhibition and honesty);
• democratic (freedom of expression or freedom of speech);
• particular (belonging to a family);
• transcendental (manifestation of faith in God).

It is also worth dwelling separately on the classification of values ​​according to M. Rokeach, the author of the most famous method in the world, the main purpose of which is to determine the hierarchy of a person's value orientations. M. Rokeach divided all human values ​​into two broad categories:

• terminal (or value-goals) - the person's conviction that the ultimate goal is worth all the effort to achieve it;
• instrumental (or value-methods) - a person's conviction that a certain way of behavior and actions is the most successful for achieving the goal.

There are many other classifications of values, summary which are shown in the table below.

Value classifications

Analyzing the presented classification, the question arises, what are the main values ​​in human life? In fact, there are a lot of such values, but the most important are common (or universal) values, which, according to V. Frankl, are based on three main human existentials - spirituality, freedom and responsibility. The psychologist identified the following groups of values ​​(“eternal values”):

• creativity that allows people to understand what they can give to a given society;
• experiences, thanks to which a person realizes what he receives from society and society;
• relationships that enable people to realize their place (position) in relation to those factors that somehow limit their lives.

It should also be noted that the most important place occupy moral values ​​in a person's life, because they play a leading role in people's decisions related to morality and moral standards, and this, in turn, indicates the level of development of their personality and humanistic orientation.

The system of values ​​in human life

The problem of human values ​​in life occupies a leading position in psychological research, because they are the core of the personality and determine its direction. In solving this problem, a significant role belongs to the study of the value system, and here the studies of S. Bubnova, who, based on the works of M. Rokeach, created her own model of the system of value orientations (it is hierarchical and consists of three levels), had a serious impact. The system of values ​​in human life, in her opinion, consists of:

• values-ideals, which are the most general and abstract (this includes spiritual and social values);
• values-properties that are fixed in the process of human life;
• values-modes of activity and behavior.

Any system of values ​​will always combine two categories of values: values-goals (or terminal) and values-methods (or instrumental). Terminal includes the ideals and goals of a person, group and society, and instrumental - ways to achieve goals that are accepted and approved in this society. Values-goals are more stable than values-methods, therefore they act as a system-forming factor in various social and cultural systems.

To the specific system of values ​​that exists in society, each person shows his own attitude. In psychology, there are five types of human relations in the value system (according to J. Gudechek):

• active, which is expressed in high degree internalization of this system;
• comfortable, that is, externally accepted, but at the same time a person does not identify himself with this system of values;
• indifferent, which consists in the manifestation of indifference and complete lack of interest in this system;
• disagreement or rejection, manifested in a critical attitude and condemnation of the value system, with the intention of changing it;
• opposition, which manifests itself both in internal and external contradiction with this system.

It should be noted that the system of values ​​in a person's life is the most important component in the structure of personality, while it occupies a borderline position - on the one hand, it is a system of personal meanings of a person, on the other, its motivational-need sphere. Values ​​and value orientations of a person act as the leading quality of a person, emphasizing its uniqueness and individuality.

Values ​​are the most powerful regulator of human life. They guide a person on the path of his development and determine his behavior and activities. In addition, the focus of a person on certain values ​​and value orientations will certainly have an impact on the process of formation of society as a whole.

Value is the significance, importance, usefulness, and usefulness of something. Outwardly, it acts 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 public domain, they are interested in and need them. The Constitution of the Russian Federation says that the highest value is the person himself, his freedom and rights.

The 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 the individual that are of value to him. This term in this case is closely related to motivation. But in sociology, values ​​are understood as those concepts that are called sets of goals, states, phenomena worthy of people striving for them. As you can see, in this case, there is a connection with motivation. Moreover, in terms of these social sciences, there are the following types and spiritual. The latter are also called eternal values. They are not tangible, but sometimes they are much more important for society than all material objects put together. 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 of it are distinguished: consumer and the former represent one or another value for consumers, depending on the degree of usefulness of the product or its ability to satisfy human needs, and the latter are valuable because they are suitable for exchange, and the degree of their significance is determined by the ratio that is obtained with an equivalent exchange. That is, the more a person is aware of his dependence on a given object, the higher its value. People who live in cities are completely dependent on Money because they need them to purchase the most necessary goods, namely food. For rural residents, monetary dependence is not as great as in the first case, since they can get the products necessary for life regardless of the availability of money, for example, from their own garden.

Various definitions of values

by the most simple 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 totality of values ​​that are inherent in a particular person or group are called Without it, any culture would be meaningless. And here is another definition of value: it is the objective significance of the variety of components (properties and features of an 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 is not only positive, but also negative, but the value is always positive. What satisfies cannot be negative, although here everything is relative...

Representatives of the Austrian school believe that core values ​​are a specific amount of goods or benefits that are necessary to satisfy what more human its dependence on the presence of this object is realized, the higher its value. In a word, the relationship between quantity and need is important here. According to this theory, goods that exist in unlimited quantities, such as water, air, etc., are of little importance because they are non-economic. But the goods, the quantity of which does not satisfy the needs, that is, there are less of them than necessary, represent 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. As a result, values ​​tend to change over time. What was significant for this society may not be so for future generations. And we see this from our own experience. If we look back into the past, we can see 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 (contributing to life) and spiritual. The latter give a person moral satisfaction. Main types material assets- these are the simplest goods (housing, food, household items, clothing, etc.) and goods more high order(means of production). However, both of them contribute to the life of society, as well as 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 worldview. They contribute to the spiritual enrichment of the individual.

The role of values ​​in society

This category, in addition to being of some importance to society, also plays a certain role. For example, the development of different values ​​by a person contributes to the acquisition of social experience, as a result of which he joins the 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 maintaining the old, already existing ones. In addition, the value of thoughts, actions, various things is expressed in how important they are for the process. community development, that is, the progress of society. And at the personal level - the development and self-improvement of a person.

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 by areas of activity, depending on their carrier, and by the time of action. According to the first, economic, religious and aesthetic values ​​are distinguished, the second - universal, group and personality 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

Regarding the first, we have already managed to tell above, everything is clear with them. These are all the material goods that surround us that make our life possible. As for the spiritual, they are the components inner world of people. And the initial categories here are good and evil. The first contribute to happiness, and the second - everything that leads to destruction and is the cause of discontent and unhappiness. Spiritual - these are the true values. However, to be so, 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 life of believers, which are determined by the norms and motives of their actions and behavior in general. Aesthetic values ​​are all that gives a person pleasure. They are directly related to the concept of "beauty". They are associated with creativity, with art. The beautiful is the main category of aesthetic value. Creative people dedicate their lives to creating beauty, not only for themselves, but also for others, wanting to bring true joy, delight, admiration to those around them.

Personal values

Each person has their own personal orientations. And they have different people may be fundamentally different. What is important 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. On the values ​​of the individual have big influence factors such as upbringing, education, social circle, environment etc. Of course, the family has the strongest influence on the personality. This is the environment in which a person begins his primary development. He gets his first idea of ​​values ​​in his family (group values), but with age he may accept some of them and reject others.

Personal values ​​include the following types of values:

• those that are components of the meaning of human life;
• the most general semantic formations, which are based on reflexes;
• beliefs that have to do with desired behavior or completing something;
• objects and phenomena to which the individual has a weakness or is simply not indifferent;
• what is important for each person of a 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, while getting a certain color. Others believe that the main values ​​are the goals that people strive for - equality, freedom, well-being. 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 some kind of standards that guide the assessment or choice of people, actions and events.

For each of us, life values ​​are a fundamental guideline in various activities. They contribute to personal growth, creation comfortable life, formation creative thinking etc. Everything is achieved by a person thanks to the hierarchy of values ​​\u200b\u200bbuilt by him, which determines which of the priorities comes first. This is the measure of human happiness.

Some put the family in the first place, others do not think of their well-being without others give to interests, hobbies. Some representatives of mankind, refusing material goods, see their happiness only in spiritual self-improvement. In general, life values ​​are the goals and priorities that, managing a person's life, determine his essence. The choice of fundamental guidelines is carried out by people depending on the level of development of their consciousness. However, either material ones should not be extreme, as this will inevitably lead to excessive materialization or, conversely, illusory nature. Therefore, it is very important to achieve a balance in the system. life priorities.

There are universal human life values ​​that are equally important for all people. Each era establishes its own system of priorities for the individual. In today's society, values ​​include health, family, work and education. The implementation of priorities that are significant for a person is very important for his recognition and self-affirmation.

Starting to form in the family, life values ​​further determine the image and their worldview. After analyzing them, one can determine the scarcity or richness of a person’s inner world, the diversity of his interests and individuality. In the formation of a person's value attitudes, a significant role is played by his close environment (friends, family), religious beliefs, as well as national and social traditions.

The main life can be divided into several groups:

• A family. Assumes long-term relationships (with parents, children, marriage partner, relatives and friends), which are considered as a value. Thanks to the improvement of a person in a pair, his personal growth is more effective. And warm relationships with relatives allow you to feel the fullness of happiness.
• Career. It involves purposeful actions aimed at achieving a certain one, thanks to which new opportunities and spheres of influence open up before a person.
• Favourite buisness. Promotes the disclosure of the inner world of man. With a well-organized hierarchy life guidelines, favorite pastime, hobby and many other interests will help to strengthen the state of spiritual harmony and happiness.
• Money, comfort. An orderly life is considered as a value that requires certain financial costs.
• Education. Improving professional skills contributes to personal development and represents a certain value. Thanks to the acquisition of certain knowledge and skills, high-quality and competent performance of work is possible, career.
• Health and beauty. Body values ​​(tight figure, developed muscles, well-groomed skin) are considered as an important component healthy lifestyle life, requiring systematic training.
• Personal growth. It includes certain social and psychological skills that contribute to the formation of maturity in views, attention to people around, the manifestation of wisdom, control of one's feelings and emotions.

Thus, life values ​​are a way of self-affirmation of a person, regulating his behavior.