Culture and ethics as understood by A. Schweitzer. A. Schweitzer's universal ethics Moral principles in the culture of personality Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer. Culture and ethics

Akhmedova Tamila Hikmet kyzy,

PhD in Philosophy, Associate Professor of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Art.

Oswald Spengler, Karl Jaspers, Jose Ortega y Gasset, Marcuse, Erich Fromm, A. Camus, J. Maritain, the names of these thinkers entered the history of cultural thought, primarily due to their accurate analysis of the tragic crisis of Western culture. Unfortunately, these thinkers, having given the diagnosis of the disease of the 20th century to the socio-cultural situation and building pessimistic concepts of the further cultural and historical development of Western civilization, did not indicate a convincing and real way of moral improvement of society.

The German-French scientist Albert Schweitzer, in contrast to them, shows a real and possible way to overcome the harmful nature of the impact of modern civilization on a person, this is the way of moral self-improvement of the individual, the ethics of goodness before life.

And yet Schweitzer's humanistic outlook was confirmed by his indisputable authority in his own life. "Doctor from Lambarene" - this name of Schweitzer is familiar to many people who are far from solving the problems of cultural studies.

Even at a young age, Schweitzer decided to get as deep an education as possible before the age of 30, and then devote himself to serving people. Such a seemingly pretentious, abstract solution to the uninitiated view, being carried out in practice, found quite concrete ways of implementation.

By the age of thirty, Schweitzer, thanks to his many talents and upbringing, and such virtuous qualities as self-belief, hard work, perseverance and methodology, was already a recognized theologian and promising philosopher. By this time he had a reputation among professional organists, by the way, A. Schweitzer was also a master of organ building, and his research on I.S. Bache, which brought him European fame, is still considered a classic work in this field among musicologists. Thus, being successful in the service, having a wide circle of friends, including very influential ones, he decides to radically change his comfortable life as a prosperous European by leaving for Africa.

Even in his student years, Schweitzer tried to realize his principle of serving man. He participated in the care of street children. He was engaged in arranging the life of vagabonds and people who have served prison sentences. However, such activities, depending on various philanthropic and charities, contradicted Schweitzer's principle of individual action, the principle of taking personal responsibility for their actions. Having chosen to work as a doctor, and not as a missionary, as was then customary, he also became independent of official charity. At the same time, medical activity, being the most ascetic, was the best fit for an individual who zealously limits his activity to the limits of personal responsibility. In the name of following this principle, he, a professor at the University of Strasbourg, a professor of philosophy, a doctor of theology, begins to study medicine and becomes a student for more than six years. In a word, confessing what he preached, with his own life he served as a confirmation of his humanistic worldview, the ethics of reverence for life. But does it mean that, having devoted himself to the treatment of blacks in the then unknown African town of Lambarene, he abandoned everything that he loved, what he lived and in which he had already achieved recognition? No! After spending the rest of his life in Africa with short interruptions, he continued his activities as a scientist, musician (friends even gave him a specially arranged organ that could withstand the climate of Tropical Africa) and as a philosopher. And it was in Africa that he came to the Ethics of Reverence for Life.

He conceived a work that was supposed to "reveal the cause of the decline of culture and draw attention to the resulting dangers in connection with this."

Working on the manuscript of Culture and Ethics, Schweitzer consistently analyzed philosophical teachings as a result of which the crisis of culture was explained by the crisis of morality and the lack of humanism. It was necessary to create such an ethics, such a worldview that would stop the decline of culture and create significant impulses for its revival, renewing and life-affirming impulses. In the fall of 1915, sailing along the African river Ogova to a seriously ill woman, he continued to work on the manuscript. “I was absentmindedly sitting on the deck,” A. Schweitzer later recalled, “looking for a simple and universal concept of ethical, which I did not find in any philosophy ... "Reverence for life"…. From now on, I was imbued with the idea in which peace and life affirmation were related to morality.

But Schweitzer, unlike Western culturologists, is not limited to analyzing the signs of a cultural crisis, he is looking for rational, real, and not fatal causes of the observed crisis of culture, he is looking for ways to revive.

Here are the main theses on the cultural crisis of A. Schweitzer: “Material achievements, of course, make humanity, as such, more independent of nature than before. At the same time, however, they diminish the number of independent beings within humanity itself. The artisan, under the influence of the machine, turns into a factory worker. An official is increasingly taking the place of an independent merchant due to the fact that in difficult conditions modern production only enterprises with large capital have a chance of existence .... The emerging state of dependence and subordination is aggravated by the fact that industrial life unites more and more people in large agglomerations, tearing them away from the breadwinner - the land, from their own home and from nature. Thus, people are seriously traumatized mentally. The assertion that with the loss of his own piece of land, “a person's own dwelling begins an unnatural life, is, in fact, too correct to be considered paradoxical”.

Overstrain of people is organically connected with the forced existence. For two or three generations, quite a few individuals live only as wage labor, not human beings. Over-employment of a modern person deprives him of the spiritual and moral principles of labor. Such a person, having become a victim of overstrain, constantly feels the need for external distraction and he finds it. Finds in idleness and entertainment, requiring minimal expenditure of spiritual and intellectual forces. Institutions designed to stimulate spiritual life, to serve education and culture, on the contrary, contribute to the slide of society into the abyss of frivolity and surface. Theater is giving way to cabaret, and serious literature is giving way to entertainment. Magazines and newspapers present information in an extremely simplified form. The spirit of corruption emanates from the big cities and its inhabitants. Specialization and work organization is being introduced everywhere and even where there is no need for them. Specialization destroys the integrity of a person, the general organization of society is accomplished at the expense of spiritual life. The unfree, disunited, limited modern man is in danger of becoming inhumane. Society has ceased to recognize human dignity for all people. Man, now turned into "human material", having become the object of all sorts of manipulations, intoxicated by ideology, is used and dies himself, and kills his own kind in wars, conquests, colonizations.

Appeared at the turn of X I X-XX centuries and the numerous pessimistic, relativistic and social concepts of culture that occupy the minds of intellectuals, as a result, according to Schweitzer, led to a decrease in the will to live, neglect of the individual's individuality and disorientation in the system. cultural property... Following the logic of such concepts, the decline of culture is quite natural.

Really fatal for culture was the fact that its material side has developed much stronger than the spiritual one. Of course, under the influence of the discoveries and successes of science, curbing the forces of nature and putting them at their service, enriching knowledge and repeatedly opening up their capabilities, prospects opened up before a person to provide much Better conditions its existence. Unfortunately, the scientist believes, admiring the successes of science and practice, we overestimate material achievements and do not take into account the significance of the spiritual principle. "Culture is the totality of the progress of man and mankind in all areas and directions, provided that this progress serves the spiritual improvement of the individual as the progress of progress."

The source of cultural decadence, its decline and imperfection is explained by the fact that the optimistic life-affirming principle of the worldview, its ethics either degraded or remained undeveloped. It is possible to stop the decline of culture, to recreate a genuine living culture only by creating a worldview that convincingly formulates an ethical world- and life-affirmation.

The most essential connection with the world is experience... Cognition, which has become an experience, fills a person with a sense of his inner connection with the world around him, fills him with a sense of reverence for life, for the mysterious will to life, manifested in everything both in a blade of grass breaking through the asphalt, and in a baby's hand reaching for the mother.

True philosophical ethics must proceed from the most immediate and all-encompassing fact of consciousness. This fact reads: "I am the life that wants to live, I am the life in the midst of the life that wants to live."

Consequently, ethics is that a person is urged to show equal reverence for life, both in relation to his will of life and in relation to any other. Ingenious is simple. Do not do to another what you do not wish for yourself. This is the basic principle of morality. So spoke Zarathustra, the Biblical wisdom and the wisdom of the Koran says about it. Schweitzer “again made us think again” that good is that which serves to preserve and develop life, evil is that which destroys life or hinders it. A moral person, obeying an inner urge to help any life, is not afraid to seem ridiculous or sentimental, because morality is not only the law of life, but also a condition for its existence and development.

Analyzing the culturological concept of A. Schweitzer, researchers almost always describe his life. Because the great humanist was the practical embodiment of the unity of word and deed, the embodiment of his ethics, the ethics of reverence for life.

Literature

1. Paul Herbert Fryer. Albert Schweitzer. The picture of life. Moscow. 1984.

2. Albert Schweitzer. "Letter from Lambarene." Leningrad 1978.

And her fate

Analyzing the works of authors who have made a significant contribution to the creation of the foundations of modern theoretical cultural studies, one cannot ignore the ideological heritage left by the Nobel laureate, an outstanding humanist Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), who is called one of the most significant figures among European intellectuals of the middle of the 20th century, equivalent in the degree of his influence to such titans of thought such as Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Mahatma Gandhi, Jean Paul Sartre. Great moralist, doctor, natural scientist, musician, politician, who did a lot to turn the movement for peace and general and complete disarmament into an influential political force of our time, he played a huge role in the development of ethics and theology, philosophy and theory of culture, creating a number of works, without which the history of European social thought of our time would look clearly impoverished.

Albert Schweitzer was born in a small town in Upper Elsa to the family of a priest of the local Evangelical community. His mother was the daughter of a pastor. Distinguished by rare piety, she sacredly observed all religious rites and demanded an appropriate attitude from her children, including from little Albert, who already in childhood knew by heart many Protestant chants and the order of service in the temple. Being constantly among people deeply religious, checking every step with the tenets of Luther's doctrine, Albert Schweitzer could not help but learn the basic tenets of the Protestant religion, including a reverent attitude to work as a means of gaining God's grace and life - a sacred gift that a person is not entitled to. dispose at their own discretion. Five years old he is given to rural school, where he studied before entering the gymnasium, which he successfully graduated in 1893. In the same year he became a student of the theological faculty of the University of Strasbourg, where he simultaneously attended lectures on a cycle of philosophical disciplines. Around the same time, one significant event in his life takes place - he gives his first concert as an organist and deserves an enthusiastic assessment from professional musicians. After completing his education in Strasbourg, Schweitzer takes an additional course in philosophy at the Sorbonne and the University of Berlin. The result of the training is a brilliant defense of the dissertation on the topic "Philosophy of Religion of Immanuel Kant", which brings Albert Schweitzer the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. A little later another protection follows, and he becomes a Doctor of Theology. Next - years teaching activities at the University of Strasbourg and intensive scientific work... From the pen of the young scientist the books “Secrets of Messianism and Suffering. An Outline of the Life of Jesus Christ "," The Problem of the Last Supper on the Basis of Scientific Research of the 19th Century and Historical Generalizations ", a number of scientific articles that he publishes in the leading philosophical journals in Germany. He also publishes several books on organ art and music theory, including the work "Johann - Sebastian Bach - Musician and Poet", which brings him wide fame among European intellectuals and an invitation to take up the post of organist of the Bach Society in Paris, which he accepts at on condition of retaining the position of associate professor of exegesis 152. Being engaged in teaching and concert activities, Albert Schweitzer is simultaneously studying at the Faculty of Medicine, preparing to fulfill the vow he made in his youth. In 1913 he defended his third dissertation on the topic "Psychiatric Assessment of the Personality of Jesus Christ" and received a Doctor of Medicine degree. This year becomes a milestone in the biography of Albert Schweitzer. On income from its scientific and concert activities he founds a clinic in Lambarene (Gabon) and moved to Central Africa as hospital director and medical practitioner. Since that time, the treatment of patients with tropical fever, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis, alcoholic psychoses, typhoid fever and many other diseases known and unknown to European medicine has become the main business of his life.

The first trip to Africa lasted for 4 years. Others followed. In total, he spent about 30 years in Lambarene. Only for short periods of time (literally for several months) did he return to Europe, mainly in order to raise funds to continue the activities of his clinic, which was constantly in a difficult financial situation despite all the efforts of its founder and permanent leader. The last - the fourteenth in a row - trip of Albert Schweitzer to Africa took place in 1959. By this time he was already a laureate of the Goethe Prize, the Peace Prize of the German book trade, Nobel Prize peace, which he gave to the creation of a hospital town in Lambarene and the construction of houses for the lepers. Albert Schweitzer died in 1965 at the age of 90 at his workplace. He was buried near his home in Lambaren in a palm grove that had been planted by his hands many years ago. Such is the life of this unusual person, who today remains for many an example of a teacher, citizen, ascetic who managed to rise above petty egoistic calculation, vanity of desires and subordinate his existence to the great goal of serving people.

Albert Schweitzer wrote many works, but he is best known for his works on the theory of culture, primarily “ Culture and Ethics ", which sets out the quintessence of Schweitzer's views on culture and ways of its development. It is to this work that we will refer in the future, revealing the complex of ideas that make up the concept of the culture of the German thinker.

If you try to formulate the main idea of ​​"Culture and Ethics”, Then it can be expressed as follows: the culture of Western society is going through hard times. We can safely say that the ethical principle has disappeared from it and it is more and more turning from the human world into the world, opposing human, where the activities of all subjects are carried out on the basis not of the principles of humanism, but of technical expediency and economic efficiency... The search for measures that can stop this process of progressive dehumanization seems to be exclusively important matter, because the fate of millions of people and the future of mankind as a whole are connected with this. It was this idea, judging by Schweitzer's autobiographical works, that he was guided by when creating his main book.

But what is culture and what are the reasons for its decline? The German thinker understands culture as a special complex and interesting “life phenomenon in the development of mankind”, which has no analogues either in the natural or in the social world. He defines her as

Explaining his thought, he writes that this progress is manifested primarily in "softening both for those and others of the struggle for existence" 154. In other words, about the cultural state of a particular social system says, first of all, the presence of conditions conducive not only to the normal life of a person, but also conducive to the realization of his abilities and inclinations. In the event that such conditions are absent, the culture of this or that society is out of the question.

The essence of culture, according to Schweitzer, is twofold, for it presupposes the domination of reason over the forces of nature and the domination of reason over human convictions. Of these two functions of culture, Schweitzer considers the second to be the most important, since

only the domination of reason over human beliefs and thoughts gives a guarantee that people and entire nations do not use against each other the force that nature will make available to them, that they will not get involved in a struggle for existence more terrible than that which a person had to wage in an uncivilized state 155.

Dominance over the forces of nature, especially that which is provided with the help of machines, often, according to Schweitzer, stimulates the expansion of the field of lack of culture, because it gives rise to the illusion of man's omnipotence and sharply reduces the moral motivation of his actions. The influence of the economic factor on culture, from his point of view, is often manifested in the most negative way, therefore the existence of an effective economic mechanism still does not say anything about the culture of society, which can be at an extremely low level when high level development of technology and a smoothly running economy.

Considering the problem of the essential and inessential in culture, Schweitzer comes to the conclusion that the most important is spiritual (more narrowly - moral), and not material and technical progress. It is by the development of the ethical principle that one should judge the culture of society.

What is it manifested in spiritual progress, according to Schweitzer? From his point of view, society reaches heights in spiritual development only when “individuals and all kinds of communities measure their desires with the material or spiritual welfare of the whole” 156. If this is not the case, then there is no need to talk about spiritual progress. Thus, an indicator of spiritual progress is the degree of ethics in society. In other words, the more people are guided by moral imperatives in their activities and the more actions are performed based on moral motivation, the more spiritually developed this or that system is.

Schweitzer believes that material and technical and spiritual and ethical progress are by no means parallel to each other... Situations are often observed when the development of the material and technical basis clearly outstrips the growth of spirituality and morality. This was the case at the beginning of the 19th century, when the forces of ethical progress dried up, while achievements in the material sphere were steadily increasing. It also happens the other way around, when the development of morality occurs at a faster pace than technology and material basis. This was the case in the days of Aristotle, when there was stagnation in the natural sciences, but there was intensive work in the field of ethics, as evidenced by the emergence of a number of major works in this area, in particular Aristotelian "Nicomachean Ethics", which became a kind of result of the development of ethical thought in that historical era ...

In our time, the vectors of material, technical and moral progress have completely diverged, but nevertheless few are aware of this sad and alarming fact. The majority is in the holy conviction that “culture consists mainly of scientific, technical and artistic achievements and can do without ethics or be limited to its minimum” 157. Schweitzer sees a great danger in such an attitude, because, according to his ideas, a culture not ennobled by ethics leaves behind a desert.

Similar information.

Part one CULTURE DECLINE AND REVIVAL
I. WINES OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE SUNSET OF CULTURE
II. Hostile cultural circumstances in our economic and spiritual
LIFE
III. BASIC ETHICAL NATURE OF CULTURE
IV. THE ROAD TO A CULTURE REVIVAL
V. CULTURE AND OUTLOOK

Part two CULTURE AND ETHICS

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Name of Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), "Doctor of Lambarene", laureate
Nobel Prize, known all over the world.

Publishing in translation into Russian the book of A. Schweitzer "Culture and
ethics ", we acquaint Soviet readers with Schweitzer - a philosopher, with one of
areas of his versatile activities. The book was written about forty years
back and was reprinted several times.

The translation was made from one of the last lifetime editions. This job
represents only two of the four that the author envisioned
write, setting out the system of their views.

Schweitzer sets himself the task of awakening in contemporary society
striving to create a philosophically sound and practically applicable
optimistic and ethical worldview, considering the main reason for the decline
culture in Western society lack of such a worldview. However, he
believes that it is necessary to abandon the optimistic and ethical
interpretation of the world in any of its forms, that neither the world- and life-affirmation, nor
ethics cannot be substantiated on the basis of knowledge of the world. He proclaims
independence of life outlook (ethics) from the outlook, pessimism of knowledge and
optimism of action, practice. This optimism, as Schweitzer believes, is rooted in
in our will to live, the most direct and deepest
the manifestation of which is reverence for life.

The ethical conceals in itself the highest truth and the highest expediency. These are
the main milestones of Schweitzer's worldview.

A significant place in the book is devoted to the history of ethical ideas and
critical analysis of ethical systems (from the time of Ancient Greece to the end of the XIX
century) from the point of view of the ethics of active
self-improvement and reverence for life.

Schweizer is close in spirit to the late Stoics, Kant, the rationalists of the 18th century,
in which he traces the development of the basic moral principle,
opposing their views to the supra-ethical worldview of Hegel with his
the formula for the rationality of the real.

Ethical pathos pervades Schweitzer's protest against the "grotesque
progress of "modern Western society, hostile to the true" ethical
culture "that has lost the ethical ideals bequeathed to him by the Enlightenment and
rationalism of the 18th century. Schweitzer's criticism is a criticism from the standpoint
abstract humanism; the concretization of his views was his practical
activity.

Schweitzer's views did not receive a complete systematic presentation.
The practical implementation of his philosophical principles interested him
more than their theoretical basis. Therefore, his worldview, his
ethics cannot be viewed in isolation from his activities.

The internal logic of his beliefs (even if it does not always coincide with
logic of reality), the passion of his faith in the triumph of good and
humanity, selfless service to accepted ideals, charm-
his outstanding personality - all this inspires deep respect for
Albert Schweitzer.

At the same time, it must be admitted that the author of the book does not give
for obvious reasons, he cannot give an accurate diagnosis of the ailments of Western culture,
does not put its degradation in direct connection with the crisis of foundations
bourgeois society, does not see real ways out of this crisis.

The ethical mysticism that Schweitzer proclaims is unacceptable to us.
the only direct and only deep worldview,
the logical conclusion of unpreconditioned rational thinking, as
the renovator of which he seeks to act. The path to life affirmation through
ethical mysticism and religion leads away from the main road of development
humanity.

A detailed critical analysis of Schweitzer's views is given in the foreword by prof.
V.A. Karpushin.

Back to section

Schweizer Albert

Culture and ethics

Albert Schweitzer

Culture and ethics

Translated from German by N.A.ZAKHARCHENKO and G.V. KOLSHANSKY

FROM THE PUBLISHER

FOREWORD

Part one CULTURE DECLINE AND REVIVAL

I. WINES OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE SUNSET OF CULTURE

II. HUMAN CULTURE CIRCUMSTANCES IN OUR ECONOMIC AND SPIRITUAL LIFE

III. BASIC ETHICAL NATURE OF CULTURE

IV. THE ROAD TO A CULTURE REVIVAL

V. CULTURE AND OUTLOOK

Part two CULTURE AND ETHICS

I. THE CRISIS OF CULTURE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CAUSE

II. THE PROBLEM OF THE OPTIMISTIC WORLD VIEW

III. ETHICAL ISSUE

IV. RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL OUTLOOK

V. ETHICS AND CULTURE IN GRECO-ROMAN PHILOSOPHY

Vi. OPTIMISTIC WORLD VIEW AND ETHICS IN THE ERA OF THE RENAISSANCE AND AFTER THE ERA OF RENAISSANCE

Vii. RATIONALE OF ETHICS IN THE XVII AND XVIII CENTURIES

VIII. LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF CULTURE IN AN AGE OF RATIONALISM

IX. OPTIMISTIC AND ETHICAL WORLD VIEW OF KANT

X. NATURPHILOSOPHY AND WORLD VIEW OF THE SPINOSA AND LEIBNITS

XI. OPTIMISTIC-ETHICAL WORLD VIEW I.-G. FICHTE

XII. Schiller, Goethe, Schleiermacher

XIII. HEGEL'S SUPERETIC OPTIMISTIC WORLD VIEW

XIV. LATE UTILITARISM. BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL ETHICS

XV. SCHOPENHAUER AND NITZSCHE

XVI. THE OUTCOME OF THE STRUGGLE OF EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY FOR THE WORLD OUTLOOK

XVII. NEW WAY

XVIII. JUSTIFICATION OF OPTIMISM THROUGH THE CONCEPT OF THE WILL TO LIFE

XIX. THE PROBLEM OF ETHICS IN THE LIGHT OF THE HISTORY OF ETHICS

XX. ETHICS OF SELF-REJECTION AND ETHICS OF SELF-IMPROVEMENT

XXI. ETHICS OF ADVENTURE BEFORE LIFE

XXII. THE CULTURAL ENERGY OF THE ETHICS BEFORE LIFE

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The name of Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), "Doctor of Lambarene", Nobel Prize winner, is known all over the world.

By publishing A. Schweitzer's book "Culture and Ethics" in translation into Russian, we acquaint Soviet readers with Schweitzer the philosopher, with one of the areas of his versatile activity. The book was written about forty years ago and has been reprinted several times.

The translation was made from one of the last lifetime editions. This work is only two parts of four, which the author intended to write, setting out his system of views.

Schweitzer sets himself the task of awakening in his contemporary society the desire to create a philosophically grounded and practically applicable optimistic-ethical worldview, considering the absence of such a worldview to be the main reason for the decline of culture in Western society. At the same time, he believes that it is necessary to abandon the optimistic-ethical interpretation of the world in any of its forms, that neither the world- and life-affirmation, nor ethics can be substantiated based on the knowledge of the world. He proclaims the independence of life outlook (ethics) from the outlook, pessimism of knowledge and optimism of action and practice. This optimism, Schweitzer believes, is rooted in our will to live, the most direct and deepest manifestation of which is reverence for life.

The ethical conceals in itself the highest truth and the highest expediency. These are the main landmarks of Schweitzer's worldview.

A significant place in the book is devoted to the history of ethical ideas and a critical analysis of ethical systems (from the time of Ancient Greece to the end of the 19th century) from the point of view of the ethics of active self-improvement and reverence for life proclaimed by Schweizer.

Schweitzer is close in spirit to the late Stoics, Kant, the rationalists of the 18th century, in whom he traces the development of the basic principle of the moral, opposing their views to the supra-ethical worldview of Hegel with his formula for the rationality of reality.

Ethical pathos also permeates Schweitzer's protest against the "grotesque progress" of modern Western society, hostile to the genuine " ethical culture"who has lost the ethical ideals bequeathed to him by the Enlightenment and the rationalism of the 18th century. Schweitzer's criticism is a criticism from the standpoint of abstract humanism; his practical activity became the concretization of his views.

Schweitzer's views did not receive a complete systematic presentation. The practical implementation of his philosophical principles interested him more than their theoretical justification. Therefore, his worldview, his ethics cannot be considered in isolation from his activities.

The inner logic of his convictions (albeit far from always coinciding with the logic of reality), the passion of his faith in the triumph of goodness and humanity, disinterested service to accepted ideals, charming

Albert Schweitzer understood morality as reverence for life. At the same time, it was about reverence for life. in all its forms, picking a dandelion in a field is as evil as killing a man. Schweitzer believed that according to the criterion moral value man does not stand out among living beings. His ethics are not humanistic in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, it can be called vitalist. It is versatile.

The principle of reverence for life comes into conflict with egoism, understood in a broad sense as a person's self-affirmation, his desire for happiness. Morality and happiness are commensurate in their power claims to a person, are equally important to him and at the same time mutually exclusive. Schweitzer divides these concepts in time, believing that a person should devote the first half of his life to himself, to his happiness, and devote the second half of his life to moral asceticism. And what better man will serve himself in the first - egoistic, "pagan" - half of life (develop his strengths, abilities, skills, etc.), the better he will be able to serve other people in the second - moral, "Christian" - her half.

Schweitzer's doctrine is most fully described in his work "Culture and Ethics" (1923).

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From the book Great Prophets and Thinkers. Moral teachings from Moses to the present day the author Huseynov Abdusalam Abdulkerimovich

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A. Schweitzer The emergence of the doctrine of reverence for life and its significance for our culture The proposed essay on our own spiritual development, which is at the same time an exposition of the essence of the doctrine of reverence for life, was written by Albert Schweitzer in April 1963.

From the author's book

Topic 4 BUDDHA Overcoming desires - this is how the essence of the ethical-normative program of the Buddha could be summed up in a nutshell. In his opinion, in order to achieve the highest goal and come to agreement with himself, he must completely detach himself from the world.

From the author's book

Topic 7 MUHAMMED Muhammad is the founder of the Muslim religion and civilization. The basis of his ethical and normative program is the idea of ​​one God. In his opinion, the prerequisite and guarantee of individual happiness and social harmony is an unconditional faith in God in

From the author's book

Theme 8 SOCRATES Socrates reduced virtue to knowledge. In his opinion, the path to the happiness of human harmony in society lies through the knowing mind. Finding this path is the main task of philosophy. When Socrates was waiting in prison for the execution of the death sentence, his friend Crito, bribing

From the author's book

Theme 9 EPICURUS One of the most important traditions of philosophical ethics is associated with the name of Epicurus, which is called eudemonism (from the Greek word eudaimonia - happiness). Epicurus believed that the solution to the ethical problem lies in the correct interpretation of happiness. Happy people

From the author's book

Topic 10 KANT Denoting the originality of his ethics, Kant wrote: “Everyone understood that a person is bound by his duty to the law, but they did not realize that he was subject only to his own and nevertheless universal legislation and that he was obliged to act only in accordance with

From the author's book

Topic 11 MILLES John Stuart Mill - an English philosopher, logician, social thinker - is credited with systematizing and methodological substantiation of a special ethical doctrine - utilitarianism (from the Latin utilitas - benefit). It began with Jeremy Bentham, who

From the author's book

Topic 12 Nietzsche Nietzsche was the most unusual of all moralists. He asserted morality through criticism, even radical denial. He proceeded from the fact that the forms of morality, historically formed and dominated in Europe, became the main obstacle on the path of elevation.

From the author's book

Topic 16 GOOD AND EVIL In a broad sense, the words good and evil denote positive and negative values ​​in general. We use these words to refer to a wide variety of things: “good” simply means good, “evil” means bad. In V. Dahl's dictionary, for example, (recall

From the author's book

Topic 18 FREEDOM What is freedom? The answer to this question can be clarified for yourself by thinking about something else: “What does it mean“ I am free? ”,“ What do I lack in order to feel free? ”,“… To be free? ”. As a value concept, "freedom" is

From the author's book

Topic 20 HAPPINESS If, after more than half the way in studying ethics, the reader has already developed a certain understanding of morality, then placing the topic "Happiness" at the conclusion of the central section on the meaning of the section devoted to basic moral concepts can cause

From the author's book

Topic 21 PLEASURE Among the positive values, pleasure and benefit are perhaps the most obvious. They directly meet the needs and interests of a person in his appeal to life, in his belonging to the realm of existence. As an aspirant to

From the author's book

Topic 29 Euthanasia The word "euthanasia" literally means: beautiful (easy, pleasant) death. In modern biomedical ethics, it has acquired a terminological meaning and denotes the painless reduction of a hopelessly ill patient to death. It is assumed that in special