By their physiological functions, people belong to the world of animals, whose existence is determined by instincts and harmony with nature. But at the same time, man is already separated from the animal world. A man remains a part of nature, he is inseparable from it. He realizes the limitations of his existence, his helplessness. Above him gravitates a kind of curse to be unfree from this contradiction, from their thoughts and feelings, associated with the horror of being. Human consciousness has made a man a wanderer in this world, he is separated, secluded, embraced by fear.
"Self-awareness, reason and reason destroy the "harmony" of natural existence, which is characteristic of all animals. Consciousness makes a person some kind of abnormal phenomenon of nature, grotesque, irony of the universe ... He is connected by blood ties with nature and at the same time feels he is unrelated. Abandoned into this world by chance, a man is forced to live by chance and against his own will must leave the world. And since he has a self-consciousness, he sees his powerlessness and finitude of his being". Man is never free from reflexes. He lives in an eternal duality. He cannot be freed from his body or from his ability to think. Man is the only living being for whom his or her existence is a problem; he or she must solve it on his or her own and no one can help him or her. Existential contradictions in a person constantly lead to the disruption of his inner balance. A person's mobile inner balance can be relatively stable if he or she manages to solve his or her problems in a more or less adequate way.
In the process of formation of a personality, this relative stability, again and again, is under threat. A man in his history changes the world around him, and this process changes himself. His knowledge grows, but the more he learns, the more he realizes his ignorance. He feels not only a part of his kind, but also a part of an individual, and from here increases the feeling of loneliness and isolation. People unite and form small and large social groups. Thanks to the cooperation, social communities become stronger, they can produce more, they can protect themselves from attack. They choose a strong leader-something person within such a community changes, he becomes subordinate and afraid. On the one hand, he reaches a certain degree of freedom, but at the same time, he gets the fear of this freedom. His ability to produce material goods increases, but at the same time he becomes a greedy selfish, slave to things created by his own hands. And every time a balance is disturbed, he has to look for a new balance. And what some call the natural aspiration of man to progress is just an attempt to find a new and most convenient state of balance.
The existential conflict of a person creates certain mental needs, which are the same for all people. Every human being has to overcome his or her fear, isolation in the world, helplessness and abandonment, and seek new forms of connection with the world in which he or she wants to find safety and peace. But each of these needs can be met in different ways. These differences in each case depend on its social status. Different ways of meeting existential needs are manifested in passions such as love, tenderness, desire for justice, independence and truth, hatred, sadism, masochism, destructiveness and narcissism.
When a child is born, he or she leaves the haven of the mother's body and says goodbye to the state in which he or she was still a part of nature and lived thanks to his or her mother.
When one realizes one's isolation, one must find new connections with one's fellow citizens. His mental and spiritual health depends on it. Without strong emotional connections with the world, he will suffer from loneliness and loss. But it is in his power to establish various forms of communication with other people. He may love other people-he must be an independent and creative person himself, or he may establish some symbiotic connections, i.e. become a part of a group or make a group a part of his "I". In this symbiotic union, he strives either to dominate others (sadism) or to submit (masochism). If the path of love and the path of symbiosis are both close to a person, then he solves this problem differently: he enters into a relationship with himself (narcissism).
to be continued in the next part