THE PROBLEM OF EUROPEAN VALUES AS UNIVERSAL VALUES

Abstract

The article is devoted to an attempt to show that the semantic origin of values is the Socratic question: what is the good? In early Greek philosophy, the concept of “good” was understood as the cause and goal of human aspirations as a regulative horizon within which a person should realize his or her being. The author notes that the direct attention of European philosophical thought to the problem of values began with Nietzsche's problem of reassessing all values.
This leads to the conclusion that values are formed in the coordinates of certain cultures, the semantic content of which is determined by their peculiarities. This nature of values determines the fact that it is possible to speak of their universalist character only relatively. To be more specific, or to classify the entire array of values, we should talk about the individual (individual), special (region, ethnicity, nation) and general (cultural and civilizational centers) levels of values.
There is no universally recognized list of “European values,” nor is there a theoretical justification for their socio-cultural significance. As such, they are more descriptive than a theoretical construct. Therefore, it may seem that they are declared rather than substantiated. For example, Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (1992) states that the Union is based on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. Of course, this is not a complete list. Nevertheless, they are not the result of intellectual research, but are the product of the historical progress of European nations.
The author notes that at the turn of the millennium, Europe began to lose its socio-cultural authority, and its priority character can only be discussed by tradition at the level of everyday consciousness. Accordingly, the universality of the values that matured in its semantic field also began to erode.
The article also attempts to identify the reasons for the devaluation of the universalist character of European socio-cultural values. In particular, the article focuses on two reasons: migration of carriers of other cultures and globalization processes.