Od nonsensu do konsensu. Wokół aksjologicznych podstaw etyki Romana Ingardena

Abstract

The primary aim of this article, inspired by Roman Ingarden’s ethical thoughts, is to present the meaning of morally elevated values regarding the discovery of the meaning of human existence. Its author attempts to follow the phenomenological approach to a human’s relation to the world of values, which the Kraków-born thinker remained faithful to. The starting point for considerations is axiological experience, which is the source of knowledge on values. Transcendence into the world of values is possible only within freedom, where the first contact with a value may – if a person wishes to – launch a further axiological dialogue. Despite the subjective nature of value experience, it provides a person with a sufficiently stable foundation for surpassing the constraints of human animality, as Ingarden puts it. Having discovered the objective order of values, a person is capable of coping with numerous life dilemmas without outside help. Therefore, the unique character of human existence means constant going beyond natural inclinations rooted in a person’s biological endowment, the boundaries of which are marked by the world of culture and of higher meaning. As a result, a human’s task is to interiorize higher values of special moral significance. Those require a specific behaviour from a person, while others merely encourage him or her to adopt a particular attitude. For this reason, the article offers an analytical insight into the values which significantly contribute to the constitution of those moral values where human dignity plays a major role. Examples of attitudes that involve honesty, faithfulness or forgiveness clearly demonstrate the transition from nonsense to consensus.