What are the values ​​in life. List of core values

Life values ​​are categories of moral and material aspects that are leading in the choice life strategy, ways to achieve 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, problematic situations and other troubles can force a person to change their positions or begin to make efforts to defend their point of view. It can be said 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 the life values ​​​​of a person, and not momentary 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 everything spheres of life, including the highest purpose of the personality and soul, relationships with close and superficially familiar people, attitude to material wealth.

Variety of space life values unique in the same way that each person is unique. It is the interweaving of the importance of attitudes to 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 making a mistake are the usual consequences of the absence of a clear position. If, however, to increase the level of awareness, to understand thoroughly your gradation of values, then you can avoid a significant share of doubts and difficulties of choice.

The road is made easier by the fact that the path has already been chosen, even if for the sake of a long perspective one has to sacrifice temporary comfort. 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 about 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.

Many factors influence the determination of the most significant values, such as internal device the human psyche, and external events of the surrounding space. At first, the foundation is laid by the characteristics of the individual and the system of education - many values ​​\u200b\u200bare biological basis(need for active or passive way life, number of contacts, medical care), and are also internalized from the immediate environment at a very early age.

As you grow older, the core values ​​form the received life experience, personal emotional experiences from some situations that add up 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 you feel energized and happy. The reverse law also applies more life departs from internal needs, the less happiness in it, in the emotional background of the personality, dissatisfaction begins to prevail. 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. What is important is the value of one's 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 promotes survival and better implementation in living space. Next after the importance of social relationships, or instead of them, we can consider the value of family relationships, including the parental family and building one's 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 implementation of one’s own 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 activities, 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 mentally meaningful 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 is manifested in constant self-development in its professional field, searching for new opportunities and positions.
A prime example is skipping a family dinner or dinner together because of an important meeting or the need to finish overtime. In pursuit of financial solvency, people can take extra work, arrange freelancers in addition to the main activity, sacrifice working relationships, substituting employees to take a privileged place.

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 the physical condition arises precisely against the backdrop of problems, but there are people who have set this value as one of the highest for themselves, 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.

Personal values ​​are a reflection of our needs, desires, and all that we especially value in life. Values ​​are huge driving force, which can be considered as a guide with which we create our entity. Determining your values ​​will help you figure out what to strive for and what to avoid. This will allow you to navigate through life with a strong inner compass. And finally, in the most difficult situations, personal values ​​can serve as a reminder of what you really value. Thus, identifying them will help you stay true to yourself in any circumstance.

Steps

Tracking Emerging Values

    Clear space for "your" time. Since defining your personal values ​​requires so-called soul-searching, make your own space for it. Turn off your phone, listen to soothing music, or do something that helps you relax and focus on the present.

    Write down the moments of your greatest happiness and deepest sadness. Remember all your ups and downs, while highlighting the details and feelings associated with each memory. List only things that have had the greatest impact on your life and how you feel, not things that have earned you praise or recognition from others.

    • For example, you may remember the evening you met your best friend. It may not have been the greatest achievement of your life, but on that day you may have learned a lot about your personality and how to start making friends and sharing experiences with other people.
    • Identify topics that run through your most vivid memories, good and bad. They may also be backed up by your spiritual or political passions. Chances are you will identify several things that make you feel unfair, sad, angry, or all of the above. Try to do the same with happy moments.
  1. Consider the common values ​​of humanity. We all have relatively similar, very basic needs that come from the constitutions and evolution of human culture. The things we value ultimately stem from our needs - that's why we're so passionate about and committed to our values! Studying human needs will give you a powerful boost to understanding your own values. More or less universal needs include:

    • Physical well-being (food, rest, safety)
    • Autonomy (freedom of choice, self-expression)
    • Peace (hope, tranquility)
    • Feelings (praise, participation, understanding)
    • Communication (warmth, respect, attention)
    • Entertainment (adventure, humor, joy)
  2. Sketch out an initial list of personal values. Include in it the items you cannot imagine your life without. In it you can connect personal experience with your culture of values ​​as well as universal human needs.

  3. Record how you select these values. They may vary depending on the strategy you have used. Often the strategy comes from the religion of the family in which you grew up. By knowing this, you will have a better understanding of the values ​​that allow you to do things that you can be proud of.

    • For example, you have a value - high position in society. But how will you follow it - will you wear designer clothes or become a human rights activist? If you value a deep sense of peace and order, would you set up a home plant in your home to create essential oils? Or maybe you are used to resolving conflicts that arise in your family? See the connection between values ​​and your daily life.

    Checking and balancing personal values

    1. Determine what drives you in life. One way to test your values ​​is to spend a whole day observing and identifying what drives you through life. If you have a certain primary value and you find yourself in a situation where it is threatened, you will feel anxious, defenseless, or even angry. What you hear or see on the news can also change the course of your life.

      • For example, your boss might tell you that your knit vest is not the most appropriate work outfit. Instead of just being a little upset, you might feel angry or even annoyed. In this case, you can say that your values ​​are making your own decisions and autonomy.
    2. Take a look at decisions that are influenced by your values. This can be done using both real and fictional situations. For example, you value independence and are considering moving in with a new roommate. What will you do if you consider your value? If you value peace and spontaneity, but your work takes 70 hours a week from you, how can you avoid stress and internal conflict? In situations like this, understanding your values ​​can really help you accept creative solutions reflecting your own "I"

      • Keep in mind that you will only see your value most clearly when you make a real decision. Sometimes we are so enamored with a certain value that we believe that it is sure to provoke acceptance. best solutions(although this is not required).
    3. Decide how you will defend it. If you are in difficult situation, and you find it difficult to defend the correctness of your value, think about whether to speak out or not. Are you unable to live up to your worth because everything in the world is changing? What value is at stake, and why?

      • Let's say you're in a relationship with someone who doesn't appreciate your work, and you've made it your goal to get recognition for your efforts. Can this problem be solved by talking? Will you enjoy it if your partner starts expressing gratitude to you?
      • Another way to check is the following. Speak up about an issue in front of the community. Perhaps you are worried about cuts in public school funding - would you like to know more about it, or have you been hurt by it in some way? Depending on the answer, your value can be either caring for future generations or a call to action.
      • If you look at your list of values ​​and connect those that could potentially conflict, you will gain insight into what creates creative tension in your life.
        • For example, you can value having your own space and at the same time support relationships unconditionally. In this case, you need to organize your communication with family and friends in such a way that you have time for yourself, but at the same time you should not forget about loved ones. Balancing between these potentially conflicting values ​​can be tricky, but being aware of this issue will help you make more informed decisions.

Did you know that 99 of the 100 richest Russians according to Forbes magazine have children?? I will tell you more about this below.

Are you satisfied with your job, family relationships, health, internal state? There are various problems that happen in every person's life, but many difficulties can be avoided if you act in accordance with the right values ​​in life.

Now I will talk about 8 life values ​​​​and how their satisfaction affects the level of happiness.

8 Life Values

1. Spiritual development. This is your moral state and actions, understanding of life values.

2. Family, loved ones. Your relationship with your soulmate, relatives, friends.

3. Health, sports. Your well-being. Regularity in general surveys can also be attributed to this section, since many diseases can be asymptomatic until the very last stage.

4. Financial situation. Satisfaction with financial position.

5. Career. Career and finances are separated because for many, self-realization in a career is more important than income, for some it is the other way around.

6. Rest, emotions.

7. Self-development.

8. Environment. People you interact with frequently, at work and in other public places.

If you want, you can supplement with your other life values.

Priorities in life values

The maximum efficiency and level of experienced happiness is achieved under 2 conditions:

Your values ​​in life are correct;

You are as close as possible to the uniform satisfaction of all life values.

Now let's analyze these 2 conditions a little and start with the first: Correct life values. Each life value has its own priority.

The main life value is spiritual development, i.e. your moral state. The importance lies in the fact that negative actions have a bad effect on all areas of life: health, recreation, finances, etc. The reason is that bad deeds create conflict with yourself, or rather, with your conscience. Think back to how you felt after the fight. Irritability, headache, stress, etc. are the result of any negative emotions.

All bad deeds are in conflict with your conscience, as a result, stress hormones are produced., which lower immunity, worsen your mood, etc. If, from a moral point of view, you do good deeds, then happiness hormones are produced that strengthen the body's strength and improve mood, which, in turn, affects all other areas of life.


Let's designate the main vital value from above.

The second most important value is family. Problems in the family, as well as in the value of "spiritual development" strongly affect all areas of life, the principle is about the same.

3rd most important value: health, which also affects everything else. Priorities for other values ​​may vary depending on your personality type.

Supporting facts from forbes about success

Many may have doubts about the above priorities, so I will give the facts. Everyone knows Forbes magazine, which annually publishes lists of the richest people in the world. In one of the logs I found the following interesting fact: In the list of the 100 richest Russians according to forbes, I counted only 9 divorced men, 1 unmarried, the rest are all married. But the most interesting thing is that 99 out of 100 have children, even those who are divorced, adopted or their own. At the same time, the average data for all married men in Russia it is much less, you yourself understand this.

It turns out that the most successful men are married and who have children. This is a fact of statistics.

How do you like this arrangement? It should be the other way around, logically. modern man The more you work to achieve success, the less time you have for everything else. Why is it so difficult for single men and women to succeed? Why do they have to work harder and achieve less?

So, according to the statistics in marriage, you are more likely to realize your desires. But let's try to understand why this happens, because a family and children require time, care, and effort!

We are so arranged that when good deeds are released into the blood hormones of joy (dopamine, serotonin, etc.). Remember how you felt when you provided invaluable help to another person. You can look at the faces of people who work in charitable foundations, even from photographs it immediately becomes clear that they feel much happier than others.

Taking care of others, in particular, family, children, greatly reduces susceptibility to stress, because our brain cannot think about several situations at once, it works sequentially. What does this mean? And then, when we want to help someone, positive thoughts of help do not allow negative emotions to develop. If there were no thoughts about how to help your neighbor, then experiences and negative emotions would fill the void.

This is why after a divorce, so often people start drinking and fall into other harmful ailments, they just become more susceptible to negativity. And family people, on the contrary, are less proud, offended, sick, this happens because when a person takes care of someone, his morale improves.

That's why family can help not only get the release of happy hormones: endorphins, but also reduce the production of stress hormones by replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.

Success and morale

The foundation of success is your morale. Everyone understands that people avoid cooperation with proud, arrogant, evil people and, on the contrary, are drawn to interaction with calm, polite, kind people. Therefore, the most important value- spiritual development, which improves your morale and reduces negative actions. As a result, there is less conflict with conscience and less negative thoughts that negatively affect through the release of stress hormones.

I will share my experience, I go to Orthodox temple I go to confession and communion regularly. It helps to improve morale, remove negative thoughts and feel happier.

The family gives a person the opportunity to more quickly spiritual development, because caring for one's neighbor makes a person better, his morale improves, his actions become correct. Therefore, family and relationships with loved ones are the 2nd most important life value.

Priorities allow you to make a more accurate analysis and help you better understand what needs to be done to change your life for the better. For example, satisfaction with financial position should not be higher than satisfaction with spiritual development. Or career satisfaction should not be higher than satisfaction family relations. That is, on the wheel of life, you need not only to tighten up your sagging needs, but also to ensure that lower priority life values ​​do not rise above higher priority ones.

Often people work where they do not like. And every day unloved work brings more and more disappointments and spoiled mood. Often the reason is bad job and not even a bad worker, but the fact that they do not fit together. If you approach the choice of work and lifestyle in accordance with your life values, then you will be more successful in any area.

How to evaluate life values

The criterion for success in life is the level of happiness experienced. Perhaps everyone wants to be happy. The more you satisfy your life values, the happier you will feel.. But in order to understand where to start, you need to know at what stage of satisfaction your current life values ​​are.

Now is the time to evaluate your life values. First, take a piece of paper and draw a circle, then divide it into 8 parts by drawing 4 lines through the center. Put zero in the center of the circle - this is your starting point. Divide each of the 8 axes into 10 parts, grading with risks. There will be zero in the center of the circle, and 10 along the edges at the intersection of the lines with the circle.

Label each intersection of the line with the circle described above with 8 life values.

Ask yourself: Are you satisfied with the work you have done to improve your health, relationships with your family, etc. For each item, rate your level of satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 10 and tick on each axis.

It is important to add that the question should not be asked related to satisfaction in general, but to how you have worked on each area. What matters is not the end goal, but your desire and movement towards it.

I'll explain why: Life constantly limits us in some way and there are situations when it is impossible to achieve the desired, but you can achieve satisfaction from the labor invested. For example, a person does not have a leg, of course, everyone would like to have full-fledged limbs, but so far this is impossible, so if such a person always indicates a low result on the health axis, this will demotivate him, because he wants, but cannot .

And if you put your movement towards a goal on the wheel of life, for example, a person without a leg trains every day to feel as natural as possible on an artificial leg and indicates high numbers on the health axis, then this will motivate him to further training. Therefore, 10 points on each axis is the value of the maximum result that you can achieve, and not someone else in this life situation.

As a result, you should get a figure similar to a circle. If this did not work out, then look at all the sagging areas of life. First of all, it is necessary to satisfy the most lagging vital values, because. it is always easier to saturate the base level than the higher one, i.e. to get a uniform circle. In addition, balance in life is extremely important for a person. Only a balanced life will bring happiness.

Now you know how much your life values ​​coincide with the real state of affairs and what needs to be changed in the first place.

You need to determine life values ​​regularly, draw a circle of life at least once a month, better time in Week.

The figure to strive for is a circle. When you determine your life values ​​and the degree to which they are realized, it will be much easier to prioritize things, your life will become more balanced, you will feel happier.

P.S. If you have any difficulties or questions about the article you read, as well as on the topics: Psychology (bad habits, experiences, etc.), sales, business, time management, etc., ask me, I will try to help. Skype consultation is also possible.

P.P.S. You can also take an online training "How to get 1 hour extra time". Write comments, your additions;)

Subscribe by email
Add yourself

We rarely ask ourselves questions like “Why do we live”, “What is life value for us”, etc. Without talking about it, we, nevertheless, are guided by certain principles, we choose for ourselves the most important thing, if it is impossible to save everything. For example: “love”, “freedom” or “work” is more valuable to someone than “family”. If you don't have to choose between them, everything coexists peacefully. What if you need to make a choice? It will be done in favor of what is most important for a person, no matter how it may seem from the outside it is a wrong or thoughtless decision. Of course, it is possible that over time a person will blame himself for having once made the “wrong” choice. Only he always chooses in the present, and in this present there are already other values.
Are there such life values ​​that are equally important for people regardless of their age, gender and in which country of the world they live? Of course have. This is family, health, work. In addition, people name other values, such as: education, love, friendship, self-respect, career, power, money, sex…
It would be interesting to compare the values ​​of "fathers" and "children", because their difference can interfere with mutual understanding between generations.
What our teenagers choose, we learned from their answers 130 students of the 5th and 9th grades from school No. 3 in Konakovo. 45% of respondents put "a happy family" in 1st place among the other 17 life values. 85% of children included "family" in the top five most important values. The 2nd place was taken by “friendship” (58%). Although relationships with peers during adolescence play a major role, only 6% gave her an honorable first place. Indeed, the family continues to play a crucial role in the process of growing up a teenager. He needs wise mentoring from adults, but does not show this and rebels against his parents, striving for communication on an equal footing.

Not all, but only 54% of schoolchildren, consider "education" a life value. Among fifth-graders, only 45% share this opinion. An even smaller number of schoolchildren (only 18%) strive for high achievements in sports or the arts.
Some boys and girls line up the following series of values:
Education - work, career - money, wealth. Or even "cooler": work, career - money, wealth - fame, admiration and respect of others.
Among adolescents aged 10-11 and 15-16, there is an equally small number of those who begin to realize the “welfare of the state” as a value. “Science as knowledge of the new” occupies almost the very last places in the list of values ​​(from 9th to 17th). Only one young man considers "science" a priority value for himself, along with such as "power" and "success".
36% of teenagers choose such a value as "the happiness of loved ones."
The answers of adults (and they were interviewed 30 people) were very diverse. Almost all the values ​​listed in the questionnaire were named by them, with the exception of such a value as “food”. And for 13% of teenagers, food is worth talking about as a value. Actually, it has long been known that there is a hierarchy of needs, and the first place in this pyramid is occupied by physiological needs. These include food, clothing, sleep, rest. A person is able to think and strive to meet higher needs only when his primary (physiological) needs are satisfied. No wonder there is a saying: "An empty belly is deaf to learning."
For 13% of adults, housing is a similar primary need: own apartment or house.
The main values ​​of the interviewed men and women aged 22 to 52 are “family” and “health”. In second place is "work". For 66% of respondents, the category “happiness of close people” is very significant. The number of choices in favor of "love" and "friendship" is an order of magnitude lower. 26% of people name them as important life values. The rating for education is not very high. Only 20% of adults consider education an important life value. Approximately the same number (20-25%) choose the "welfare of the state", striving for self-respect. For 15% of adults, the respect of others is necessary. No more than 5% aspires to a career, power. The attitude to money as a kind of life value was revealed in 20% of adolescents and 10% of adults.
It turns out that the values ​​of "fathers" and "children" are very similar, although in each case this is far from being the case. And how exactly, you can discuss after reading this material. I wish you happy discoveries.

The absolute value of a person makes his life as a value special, not like all others. The question of how to understand the absolute value of a person was discussed above. Now it is the turn to determine what is included in the content of values. human life. The sign by which we can determine whether this or that value is among the vital ones will be such a manifestation of life, which will turn out to be the deepest, primordial, complete and immediate, indivisible manifestation of it.

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

Such values, as noted above, are called existential, which form the basis of all other manifestations of life and values, which is associated with the fundamental meanings of human existence. These values ​​include: life, death (not in itself, but because the finiteness of life is its most important characteristic), love, sex, family, the birth and upbringing of children, freedom, solitude, participation, work, rest, creativity.

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

Modern anthropology, psychology and philosophy have shown that the birth of a person is a complex, multi-stage process. In the beginning we are given our immediate existence, life. Personality is born on its basis, but not simultaneously with our biological birth, but later.

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

For a correct understanding of man, it is necessary to overcome the danger of the so-called genetic reductionism, i.e. reduction of the essence of the subsequent to the essence of the antecedent, generating this subsequent. Information only on the basis that one preceded the other. It is wrong, say, to consider man "essentially" an ape just because man descended from an ape. It is also wrong to reduce the essence of a person to his existence, and the personality to its life.

Life, as humanism understands it, is a way of being of a person as the owner, owner of life, its master and ruler.

If the reverse situation takes place, then the person turns into a slave of his life, and life in joy turns into life in burden.

Man is the goal. His life is a means to that end.

The value of life as such is twofold. On the one hand, life is given to us as the highest gift, a universal opportunity, and therefore we must highly value life, feel reverence and respect for it. On the other hand, life is given to those who are not just life, but a person - a creature living its own life, a free, thinking, creative being, knowing life, its beginning and end, its limitless possibilities and its biological boundaries, a being aware of the finiteness of life. And therefore, the one to whom it is presented, given (literally for nothing!) In order to be lived by him - more priority, more important than life, is its subject. Good or bad is another matter.

There are lives of genius, and there are lives of mediocrity.

Perhaps there is even a law of life: we are either higher than life, if we live it worthily, or lower, i.e. we find ourselves unworthy of this gift if we live somehow, going with the flow. But in any case, a person and his life are not the same thing. The birth of a personality is an act of life going beyond its biological limits. This means that reason and freedom are born in her womb, giving rise to a whole firework of unique cultural phenomena that cannot be reduced to life as a biological process.

Life is either there or it isn't. But its quality may vary. If we live, support our life, love and take care of it in the name of good and not at the expense of the lives and values ​​of other people, then we are human, and our life is good and wealth. If inhuman principles take over in us, then our life begins to degrade, weaken, become poorer and weaker. Its value decreases to the extent that it burns through, kills the inhuman in us.

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

“Just to live”, to live a passive, vegetative life, surrendering to the flow of everyday life and the momentary, means to thoughtlessly waste your start-up capital, that initial reserve of life that we all already have by the time the first acts of consciousness and self-consciousness appear, by the time of awakening in us personality and humanity. There is a saying: one person lives to eat, the other eats to live. A humane person can say that he eats and lives in order to become and be a human person, in order to create himself and the values ​​of personal, social and universal life, in order to improve and elevate the dignity of man.
Life is a value because it is the initial base, a way, a process in the course of which we can only manifest, call to active being, realize our humanity, all our positive traits and virtues, all our values.

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

Perhaps what has just been said sounded too declarative. There are illnesses that make existence itself a test, early deaths etc. And yet, in the infinite value of life, as long as we can live, all its black spots seem to sink. Everyone mentally healthy man cherishes life, regardless of whether it looks successful by accepted standards or not - this is another confirmation of our thought.

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

Life is the universal, all-embracing basis of human existence. This means that it is open to both the human and the inhuman in us. That is why it can be both joy, and grief, and wings, and a yoke around the neck, and luxury, good luck, and poverty, failure and a curse. Millions and tens of millions of drug addicts and alcoholics, street and homeless children, orphans, hundreds of millions of poor people doomed to different countries to vegetation, hunger and suffering due to the fault of totalitarian and ignorant ruling forces and due to archaic traditions of captivity and humility - all of them were unable or were deprived of the opportunity to realize their life potential.

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

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

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

Only the biological principles of life and primitive survival instincts can still support the life of a misanthrope, a murderer or a rapist.

Life becomes all the more twilight, flawed and weakened, the more it is struck by inhumanity, cynicism and nihilism.

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

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

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

Our body is the only possible way of our physical and biological existence.

No matter how exciting the prospects of creating an artificial brain or an artificial person, the bodily, biological will always be inseparable from us as individuals, from our inner peace, our self. (So ​​you can understand those who are afraid of these prospects ...)
The general value state of the bodily totality in which the person is clothed, we call health.

Health - general condition happy and fruitful life.

There are several simple humanistic rules for a person's attitude to his physical and mental health.

Necessary:

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

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

When we talk about the human body as a value, we must answer the question about the disabled. Unfortunately, in modern language no adequate contemporary culture a concept that refers to chronically ill people or a person who has not been born or has lost, say, sight or a hand during his lifetime. All existing concepts: “disabled person”, “person with limited physical abilities” and the like are insulting to some extent, hurt the dignity of such people.

Are such people fundamentally flawed and obviously deprived of the possibility of happiness, a rich, fruitful, worthy and perfect life? Humanism answers this question in the negative. No sacred or scientific book says that a person can be complete only if everything is in order with his flesh: four limbs, ten fingers, two eyes, ears and two nostrils, if he has nine natural openings in the body , the whole set of properly functioning internal organs and a standard physique.

History and modernity give us a lot of examples of a person's victory over his ailments, overcoming physical shortcomings. A person is arranged so wisely and highly adaptive, possesses such remarkable qualities as courage, purposefulness, perseverance, that he is able to turn even severe ailments or, say, blindness into a step for improvement, an additional motive for maintaining a highly moral, humane, sometimes heroic lifestyle. An illness can induce a person not only to overcome it, but also to ascend, to strengthen the will to live.

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

Society should strive to reasonably erase the distinctions between the disabled and other people, to ensure that there is no need for privileges, which, unfortunately, are too reminiscent of alms and are offensive to a person.

Questions for the lecture

How are the values ​​of human life different from all others?
What are the basic human values?
How does the personality, if it is understood as the core of a person or the receptacle of his essence, correlate with the existence of a person?
What is the difference between the value of life and the value of a person?
What are the two principal vectors of life?
What is the value of the human body?
What is the value of health and what are the basic rules of attitude towards it?

Questions for reflection

1. What is the duality of the value of life?
2. Why can the values ​​of human life be called starting, but not final (target)?
3. What are the goals and means in the field of life values?
4. Why are people with disabilities not handicapped people?
5. What are the virtues and limits of life as a priceless gift?