Values from the humanist perspective

Introduction

It must be recognized that there are universal values typical of all human beings and those values have the characteristics of a generation and of a specific place in the world. That is why the state of human values is determined by the relationship that exists between traits common to all human beings and specific traits typical of a given time and social situation.

Today's world immersed in deep economic, political, financial and social crises takes up new dimensions of human values, but it is first necessary to identify them and determine what their content is in this generation, in correspondence with the conditions in which they live.. That is the task at hand to put yourself in the right place, to perfect your attitude and to make you more effective in your role. It is necessary to clarify that human value depends fundamentally on the social environment in which man develops, because it is related to the way in which these social conditions are assimilated. Hence, man must be prepared to respond to the social environment in which he lives and this is closely related to human values.

We reaffirm that it is important to talk about the loss of values over time and how human beings have forgotten that this point has a total relevance for emotional well-being and social stability in all senses. If you know how to restructure the pejorative state in which man is, it can be favored in the sense of an improvement in human consciousness.

Content

Even though the subject of values is considered relatively recent in philosophy, values have been present since the beginning of humanity. Valuable things have always existed for human beings: good, truth, beauty, happiness, virtue, etc. However, the criteria for giving them value has varied over time. It can be valued according to aesthetic criteria, social schemes, customs, ethical principles or, in other terms, by cost, utility, well-being, pleasure, prestige. All value supposes the existence of a thing or person that possesses it and of a subject that appreciates or discovers it, but is neither the one nor the other. Values are the product of changes and transformations throughout history. They arise with a special meaning and change or disappear at different times. For example,virtue and happiness are values; but we could not teach the people of the world today to be virtuous according to the conception of the ancient Greeks. It is precisely the social meaning that is attributed to values one of the factors that influences to differentiate traditional values, those that guided society in the past, generally referred to cultural customs or religious principles, and modern values, those that share people in today's society. “Values have no real existence but rather attached to the objects that sustain them. Before they are mere possibilities ”(Prieto Figueroa, 1984).

The concept of value encompasses different contents and meanings and has been studied from various perspectives and theories. In the humanistic sense, value is understood as what makes a man such, without which he would lose humanity or part of it. Value refers to excellence or perfection. For example, it is considered a value to tell the truth and be honest; be sincere instead of being false; it is more valuable to work than to steal. The practice of value develops the humanity of the person, while the counter-value strips him of that quality. From a socio-educational point of view, values are considered referents, guidelines or abstractions that guide human behavior towards social transformationand the fulfillment of the person. They are guides that give a certain orientation to the behavior and life of each individual and each social group. Values are appreciated according to several aspects: The subjectivist view considers that values are not real, they are not worth in themselves, but rather that it is people who give them a certain value, depending on the likes or dislikes they produce. From this perspective, values are subjective, they depend on the personal impression of the human being. Perhaps we could say that value is, above all, an idea. What is valuable is differentiated from what is not depending on the general ideas or concepts that people share. Some authors indicate that "values are not the product of reason"; They do not have their origin and their foundation in what the senses show us; Thus,they are not concrete, they are not found in the sensible and objective world. It is in our thinking and in our mind that values cling, take shape and meaning. From an idealistic perspective, we could consider that values are ideal and objective; they are worth regardless of things and people's estimates. An example is that although we are all unjust, justice still has its value. On the other hand, from the realistic perspective, we could affirm that the values are real; values and goods are the same thing. All beings have their own value. We speak of human values also understanding that they are those universal goods that belong to our nature as persons and that, in a certain sense, humanize us, since they improve our entire condition as persons and perfect our human nature.Values generally arise in the family home and to transmit them is of vital importance the quality of relationships with the most significant people in life such as: parents, siblings, relatives, teachers, friends, etc. or, anyone who fulfills the fundamental affective role that we need in life. The concept of human values encompasses all those things that are good for us as human beings and that improve us as such. In the field of human values a balance is also required and that each of the values, taken individually, be healthy.anyone who fulfills the fundamental affective role that we need in life. The concept of human values encompasses all those things that are good for us as human beings and that improve us as such. In the field of human values a balance is also required and that each of the values, taken individually, be healthy.anyone who fulfills the fundamental affective role that we need in life. The concept of human values encompasses all those things that are good for us as human beings and that improve us as such. In the field of human values, a balance is also required and that each of the values, taken individually, be healthy.

One of the keys to the importance of values is that they make us coexist as human beings. Although it is true that devaluation has been present in all times and civilizations, we cannot deny that today man is capable of doing unimaginable things, in order to obtain money, power, personal satisfaction; part of the population manifests, negligence, deceit, aggressiveness, envy, etc.

Although it should be noted that there are also people with values that reveal a great human quality and live their lives daily applying the correct norms of every society, such as; responsibility, honesty, solidarity, respect, etc. When faced with a new culture, the forms of behavior and some customs of many people are very different from those in previous decades, now there is more crime, more violations, fraud, deceit, etc. And therefore, special importance must be given to the new generations that are being formed, since human values are a process, which is taught and learned. It belongs in large part or in its entirety to the world of education. This for its part refers to culture.Culture is the first stage of morality that is not absorbed in the same way throughout our lives, since individuals go through a cycle that begins in childhood.

Education in values is given to: make a difference and have a clear awareness of what is good and what is bad, to develop a scale of values that gives each person or thing its fair value without lowering or increasing, to understand that the values of justice, love, solidarity, peace etc.; they make us more human, to rescue society and the family from the crisis of values that today affects humanity.

We go through life ignoring really degrading situations, the simple fact of not respecting an elderly person, not giving a seat to a pregnant woman, going unnoticed by someone who needs our help, devaluing people with different capacities by labeling them, it is outrageous how they Values are being buried and in this destructive society we do not begin by making an improvement in our human consciousness. This has also been influenced by the media to which we have access, say television, the Internet, print advertising, in short, all the media in general. Values are the support for a healthy coexistence between human beings.But that support is built with our individual values, with our family values, even with our regional and national values, but it all starts with the person. In today's society, such seems to be the same good as bad, this being a total mistake, people are selfish to the extreme, since they only think more about material things, their belongings, their space, their freedom, forgetting everything, doing what possible to obtain your benefit in any way.

The information that is seen every day by children, adolescents, and young people must be coherent words and actions, because just as we think, we act and develop habits that will mark our character by causing us to behave in a certain way in different situations. Access to freedom prepares or enables us to ennoble our existence, but it also leaves us in danger of impoverishing it. The human being agrees to this dilemma, but, if we listen to our instincts and lower inclinations, we can act like beasts, and in this way, dehumanize ourselves. Boethius, the fifth century philosopher and courtier, wrote: Man stands out from the rest of creation to the extent that he himself recognizes his own nature, and when he forgets it, he sinks lower than the beasts. For other living beings,ignoring what they are is natural; for man it is a defect.

By discovering or knowing what we are, consequently we will discover what values suit us. The better we perceive our nature, the more easily we will perceive the values that belong to it.

The moral or ethical values are superior to those already mentioned. This is because they have to do with the use of our freedom, that priceless and sublime gift that allows us to be builders of our own destiny. These are the human values par excellence, as they determine our value as people. They include, among others, honesty, kindness, justice, authenticity, solidarity, sincerity, and mercy. But they are still not as important as moral values. These values ennoble us and develop our human potential. Each value supports and sustains the others; together they form that solid structure that constitutes the personality of a mature man.

Religious values. These have to do with our personal relationship with God.

Today's world overlooks a very simple fact: the human person is religious. Although it will surely be difficult to find this statement in a sociology text, there has not been a single society in history that has not been religious. Asking for the existence of God is something that is intimately linked to the why of human existence. We naturally seek transcendence, because it is what gives meaning and meaning to our life on earth. If man cultivates religious values with such tenacity, it is because they correspond to the deepest truth of his being.

Values require two stages: that of their serious revision and that of their application. Values without action are equal to incongruity. If we wanted to see a different world, a more balanced society and a more encouraging future, then it is time to stop and reflect. What are values for me? What make up my life? What do others mean to me? And then, our analysis must move from "I" to "You", that is, stop thinking a little about ourselves and turn to others, be generous and see what others need from us.

As long as we do not resolve our crisis of individual values and our actions are congruent, we will continue to live in a world where “it is the same to be Honored as a traitor, ignorant, wise, thief, generous, swindler; everything is the same, nothing is better, the same a donkey as a great teacher ». Or can we change? Certain things are good for us because they help us reach our end or goal. If we succeed in discovering where we are going as men, what is our goal, then we can know what is good for us in that sense.

conclusion

In conclusion, in our days, many people passively allow themselves to be shaped by the prevailing customs, accepting, without examination, the rules imposed by the social environment. The man according to the principles of morality consciously forges a conscience, also imposes certain rules that he has judged good. Undoubtedly, he does not manufacture these rules completely, but it is society that poses certain imperatives, which man is dedicated to understanding or justifying or modifying. Due to the accelerated changes that have been experienced in recent decades, as a consequence of technological advances and the promotion of the free market, all evaluated from the perspective of competitiveness, efficiency, effectiveness, profitability and economics, human relations have deteriorated,Due to the new hierarchy of values that are based more on individual material well-being and the dignity of the person is neglected.

We understood that values are a set of beliefs that dictate the most socially accepted form of behavior.

Values determine moral norms, that is, values establish a model of acceptable behavior in a society and to guarantee that this model is observed by the members of that society, norms are issued that regulate the individual's behavior within society.

The relationship between ethics and values is that the first is the study of human acts or customs and values are in themselves those acts or customs preferred or accepted by a society.

Only the human being has a moral conscience because only he has the capacity or conscience of himself, to value himself and to be able to judge his behavior.

It is important to use the compass of "emotional awareness" to assess whether the activity we are going to undertake is worthwhile. Emotional awareness is understood as the ability to recognize the way our emotions affect our actions and the ability to use our values as a guide in the decision-making process.

The success of people in any activity depends more on emotional skills than on cognitive skills.

In such a changing world we find that flexibility, the ability to adapt to change is more important than experience.

We understand that the human being not only acts by reasoning, emotions and feelings also influence.

The two great institutions of greatest relevance in our society: Family and school, have an enormous task, to be able to humanize this society that is so dehumanized. At school you must do hard work, to improve or change practices that harm or offend others, you must be very constant in making children reflect that by acting in an incorrect way against a person, we hurt them, we lower them self-esteem, we make her feel bad, the practice of good values must be present at all times.

Bibliography