ІДЕЯ «SELF-MADE-MAN»

A remarkable trend of the postmodern world is the spread of a new type of person - the so-called «Self-made-man». This actualizes the various directions of understanding of this phenomenon in scientific and non-scientific discourse. It is shown that the idea of «Self-made-man» needs a detailed analysis in its own philosophical, in particular, historical and philosophical context. This allows us to review the traditional view of the chronological and socio-cultural coordinates within which the genesis of the idea occurs, as well as to clarify its semantic meaning. The importance of this rethinking and clarification is seen in the fact that the concept of «Self-made-man» is increasingly being positioned as the philosophy of life of a person of the 21st century. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is the historical and philosophical reconstruction of the genesis of the idea of «Self-made-man». The study shows that, genetically, the idea of «Self-made-man» is inextricably linked to the formation of the principle of individualism, the semantic core of which is the recognition of the human right of persons to independent self-determination and self-realization, to rely on their own forces and personal responsibility for their destiny. It is defined that the ancient culture, despite the cross-cutting dominance of the idea of fate (logos, rock, necessities, etc.), demonstrates a rather expressive though extremely contradictory intention to recognize the ability of the individual to be guided by his/her own mind, to make his/her own judgments and choices, that is, to create himself/herself. This intention is quite clearly recorded both in the heroic epic and in the philosophical and legal metamorphoses of ancient culture. The essence of the latter is that self-sufficiency, which until sometime was considered the exclusive attribute of the polis (or «the Single»), is gradually becoming an attribute of the individual, recognized as fact (in particular in Roman law), or postulated as an ideal (especially by cynics, epicureans and stoics). In both cases it was directly or indirectly recognized that true dignity and happiness of a human mostly depended not on whims of grim fate (rock or logos), but first of all on his/her personal ability to be independent from external world and his/her own passions, to rely on their own forces and take responsibility for their own destiny. And these ideas, especially in their stoic variant, in the course of further evolution form the semantic core of the modern concept of «Self-made-man».