Spiritual and moral values: an anthropological study of the duty and desire categories

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of phenomena, such as duty and desire. These phenomena are interpreted in different ways within the framework of various philosophical trends, starting from antiquity and ending with modernity. The authors emphasize the lack of consensus in the philosophical and scientific community in the interpretation of these categories. Thus, R. Descartes believed that the phenomenon of debt arose in the human mind under the influence of social conditions. On the contrary, I. Kant and C. Cordner argued that duty was a priori concept not associated with practice and life. In turn, L.Yu. Nikolaeva understood duty as the basis for forming the national-cultural ideal. Plato explained the phenomenon of desire by the imperfection of a human, whereas Aristotle understood desire as the product of a pleasant sensation. In turn, Spinoza argued that desire was an individual form of cognition of the world. Descartes and J. Locke believed that desire was a need for something that was not currently available. In general, the categories of duty and desire were clearly distinguished. Most philosophers consider duty as a characteristic of the social being of the individual, whereas desire is considered to be an empirical category, i.e., generated by the sensory experience of the individual. However, it is necessary not only to study these concepts more deeply but also to reveal their role in forming spiritual and moral values.