“Existence is Destiny…” The Conversation of N.N. Shulgin and N.A. Kasavina

Abstract

The interview is devoted to the problem of existential experience, personal de­velopment, the role of existential philosophy in the cultural space, its dynamics and modern tasks. The question of the possibility of talking about existence, re­ferring not only to the existence of man, but also to the existence of an animal, is problematized. The “third wave” of existentialism (or neuroexistentialism) is considered, which concerns anxiety before the “disenchantment” of human na­ture, which carries new facets of the crisis of meaning. In the development of ex­istentialism, the role of the socio-cultural context is emphasized, its historical stages or “waves” are highlighted. The complex conjugation of the sensual and the rational in existential formation is shown. Experience is interpreted as a mul­tifaceted phenomenon that includes intellectual reflection, embodied in memory, comprehension of situations and events, establishing a connection in personal history. The human experience is culturally loaded, associated with the develop­ment and living of cultural archetypes and patterns, and includes the personal work of a person on himself, his growth in the perspective of the always relevant question of meaning and the answer to it. In the context of personal develop­ment, the concept of metaexistence is touched upon, which addresses the spiri­tual maturity of a person, the integration of experience and the experience of meaningfulness and value of life.