Imagination and human rights: history of philosophy and the present

author: Pavlo Gorinov

Relevance of the research. The connection between imagination and human rights is very relevant in the era of existential war and the acquisition of a just peace. It is obvious that in this context this is a question of imagination, which exists in its openness to the Other.

Problem statement. Imagination allows us to construct the future, to experience the symbolic and artistic. Human rights are one of the fundamental ideas of European civilization, which expresses the idea of the dignity, freedom and equality of people. The problem of openness to the Other concerns the limits of subjectivity, the possibility of dialogue.

Analysis of recent research and publications. The problem of imagination in its combination with the issue of openness to the Other and human rights is encountered in the works of O. Dobrodum, N. Dresvyannikova, O. Kivlyuk, S. Krylova, who explore the existential and socio-cultural aspects of such a combination.

Research task. The task of this publication is to analyze the existing philosophical concepts of imagination, openness to the Other and the implementation of human rights, as well as to understand the fruitful methodology for combining these concepts into a new concept.

Main material presentation. In antiquity, imagination was associated with the concept of “eikasia” - a lower level of cognition. In I. Kant, productive imagination synthesizes sensory data and categories of reason. J. G. Fichte sees in imagination the activity of the Self, which creates the opposition of the Self and not-Self. F. V. Y. Schelling understands imagination as a creative force, which is especially manifested in art and mythology. E. Husserl analyzes imagination as an act of consciousness directed at an absent object. E. Cassirer understands imagination as a reality that participates in the creation of myth, art, and language.Regarding the problem of openness to the Other, in the philosophy of M. Heidegger, human being (“Da-sein”) is co-existence (“Mit-sein”). J.-P. Sartre states that through the Other the dimension of freedom and responsibility opens. M. Buber contrasts two ways of relating: “I –It” and “I –You”. For E. Levinas, the Other is not reduced to an object of knowledge.In personalism, personality is defined through an existential relationship not only to oneself, but also to the Other. In the humanistic approaches of the 20th century based on personalism (humanistic psychoanalysis, existential psychoanalysis, philosophical psychoanalysis, meta-anthropology, androgynous-analysis), openness to the Other is associated with empathy, dialogue, tolerance, and co-creation. The philosophy of human rights demonstrates that freedom without responsibility is impossible, and rights without a moral basis lose their humanistic meaning. That is why human rights remain not only a legal, but also a deeply philosophical problem. In the 20th century, after the tragic events of the world wars, a universal concept of human rights is formed, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Rights acquire global status and include civil, political, social and cultural dimensions.

Conclusions. In the methodological optics of meta-anthropology, we have the possibility of a new combination of imagination, openness to the Other and human rights. Imagination is connected not only with the carrier of imagination, but also with the Other, who is nearby and to whom the imagination can be directed. The meaning and possibilities of imagination in the context of openness to the Other in meta-anthropology appear completely different in the everyday, borderline and meta-borderline existence of a person. If in the everyday and borderline existence of a person the imagination is closed to the subject of imagination, then in the meta-borderline existence the imagination is open to another individual, leading to tolerance and co-creation. Such a transformation of imagination is able to update both the theories and practices of humanism. In the context of social and cultural meta-anthropology the imagination is able to shape both the personal and social existence of a person, actualizing the beauty of the actions and relationships of a person and the community, which leads to the organic realization of human rights.

Keywords: imagination, Other, openness to the Other, human rights, history of philosophy, meta-anthropology, social meta-anthropology, cultural meta-anthropology.

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