author: Mykola Kovalenko
Urgency of the research. Due to the continuous changes in the information and socio-cultural space, the problem of finding one's ‘I’ is becoming more and more relevant, which acts as a defensive reaction of a person to life in uncertain conditions. The modern person is forced to exist in a multi-layered and antinomic context of existence, where constantly updated cultural patterns come into conflict with the content of a person's life experience. High social dynamics require people to choose new values and other ways of ‘fitting’ themselves into the constantly changing socio-cultural space. If a person is not able to respond quickly to the challenges of life by changing the structure of the self, this leads to an acute worldview conflict that turns into an existential crisis. The integrity and completeness of the personality is replaced by its fragmentation and value disorientation. A person is plunged into a state of anxiety, despair and fear, and is constantly experiencing deep psychological discomfort. Overcoming this existential crisis is one of the most pressing problems of modern man, which can be solved through the implementation of the value and cultural self-determination of the individual through philosophical self-reflection.
Target setting. The multi-vector nature of the theories of self-knowledge in Western scientific thought, their dynamic transformation with the change of social formations, led to the “eroding” of the fundamental, spiritual foundations of this phenomenon. And if the Eastern tradition unquestionably emphasizes the value of contemplation, experiencing, gaining inner experience, then the Western tradition is based mainly on the principles of expediency, rational thinking and reflection, which in the postmodern era proved unable to ensure the completeness of a person's life “picture of the world”, to satisfy his desire to reveal the inner spiritual potential. The specified problem is interdisciplinary in nature and, despite the numerous works devoted to various aspects of self-knowledge and self-development of the individual, the public demand for such philosophical and psychological tools, which, on the one hand, will enable a person to preserve the core of the “I” or ego, is increasingly evident. -identity, and on the other hand, will add the necessary flexibility for understanding and transforming oneself and one's own existence. Transcendental-phenomenological and existential-phenomenological practices of self-knowledge can act as such tools.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The problems of the research determined the choice for analysis of the works of such thinkers and researchers as Plato, R. Descartes, J. Locke, D. Hume, I. Kant, G. Hegel, M. Rosenberg, E. Erikson, G. Achenbach, A. Mindell .
The research objective. The task of the research is the generalization and systematization of the theoretical and methodological base, which is the basis of philosophical and psychotherapeutic practices of self-knowledge; determination of their potential in the study and construction of the image of the “I” of a modern person.
The statement of basic materials. Presenting main material. Self-knowledge as a specific cognitive activity is a set and sequence of actions, as a result of which a person forms knowledge about himself, self-image, self-concept. The narrow goals of self-knowledge include the specific content of one's self-image, which is relevant for a person at the current moment; to broad ones - knowledge of one's personality in the context of certain socio-historical factors of social development. Transcendental-phenomenological practices of self-knowledge are carried out at the expense of radical transcendental reduction, which “brings out” all the empirical components that consciousness reveals. The worldview basis of these practices is the awareness of the impossibility of the conceptual expression of “I”, which is experienced intuitively in a state of “unleashed” consciousness. As an example of self-knowledge practices, spiritual-meditative, breathing and bodily techniques can be considered. Existential-phenomenological practices make it possible to make sense of the experience of personal experiences through its design and articulation within selected cultural meanings. They refer to the experiences of a specific individual as a material for interpretation and rely on psychological and eidetic reduction, thanks to which a person becomes more fully aware of his own thoughts, feelings, physicality, independently discovers the limitations of existence and finds new resources for him.
Conclusions. The path to understanding one's own “I” opens up through mastering the practices of self-knowledge, which differ from each other in the technique of execution. As a result of the comparative analysis, two groups of self-knowledge practices were singled out: transcendental-phenomenological and existential-phenomenological. Transcendental-phenomenological practices reveal the pure consciousness of the subject through the use of radical transcendental reduction. Existential-phenomenological practices are limited to psychological and eidetic reductions, which allow a turn from perceiving the world through established natural attitudes to considering subjective experiences of consciousness, and then from experiences in their individuality to discovering their essence.
Keywords: self-knowledge, Western and Eastern worldview traditions, transcendental-phenomenological and existential-phenomenological practice
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