Volume 72, 2018
Social Philosophy
Vasilii Voronov
Pages 159-164
The Problem of Connection between Collective Socio-historical Senses and Individual Meanings of Life
A Socio-philosophical Aspect
Human life should not be perceived out of the context of its everyday-life content (is a series of acts and passions). The individual attributes senses to such series of acts and interrelations on the basis of self-identity in certain communities. Going through this process, the individual effects transition from the situation of pure “I – consciousness” to that of being related. Life attains meaning from the identity “I – related to”. These are related to such fundamental characteristics of human existence as “being – among others”. An individual imparts a certain meaning or sense to his own life by attributing meanings to life practices. The individual does not produce the imparted meanings deliberately as they are defined by the existing social and cultural communities and collective identities. Meanings of life may be metaphorically defined as “what for”. Recognition of collective senses as personally meaningful marks the transition from individual to social consciousness. Social consciousness is largely based on aggregate perceptions of the common past. The ‘we-here’ identity is based on the ‘we-in-time’ identity rooted in social memory. Values and meanings related to the existing collective identities and socio-historical communities are defined here as “socio-historical senses”.