Faith as a cultural phenomenon: philosophical analysis

Abstract

The relevance of the study is caused by modern social realities, which determine the development of faith as a cultural phenomenon. From the point of view of public policy, faith is an important factor and a factor of ideological and worldview beliefs - public and individual. And, if for states with a theocratic form of political power the issue of citizens' faith is key and traditional, then in democratic civilized countries faith is the subject of political discussions, which can sometimes lead to political and social upheavals. And in states where political dictate and terror reign (such as the heresy and its satellites), the sphere of faith is an instrument of ideological influence, a means of expressing opposition sentiments, even beliefs. In Ukraine, faith steadily occupies the place of attracting citizens to high values ​​and spiritual and worldview guidelines. In frontline conditions, the activities of military chaplains have an important ideological and spiritual and practical nature.

From the point of view of culture, faith in modern society performs many functions - from worldview, socio-cultural to educational and socially practical. The main problem in this context is the relationship of faith with modern trends in the field of modern culture and science: discourse in the field of scientism and anti-scientism, evolutionism and creationism; the relationship of faith and religious worldview to modern forms of art and literature; faith as a sphere of leisure and recreation - from religious tourism and pilgrimage to spending time free from main activities. In the twentieth century, the religious view of faith as a phenomenon of social culture entered into a certain confrontation with other forms of its understanding - non-religious, in particular, with the scientific worldview. A particularly heated discussion unfolded in the fields of philosophy, philosophy of religion, religious studies and philosophy of science, theology and theosophy. During the reign of postmodernism in Western philosophy, this discussion took the form of a methodological discourse on the modern interpretation of faith. And in the metamodern era, the problem of the relationship between religious faith and social culture acquired both a universal and regional-local character.

The purpose of the study is to assess faith, considered in the perspective of its relationship with social culture and philosophical views on it.

The research methodology is based on both general logical and general scientific principles and methods, as well as on principles, approaches and methods that are inherent in the philosophy of religion, religious studies, cultural studies, sociology of culture and religion, sociocultural anthropology, anthropology of religion, etc.

Research results. The research results are formulated in the following provisions. Religious faith is a modern subject of many branches of the humanities: history, history of religion, history of culture, philosophy (ontology, epistemology, social philosophy, philosophy of religion, philosophy of culture, axiology, aesthetics, ethics and etiquette, philosophical anthropology), theosophy and theology, sociology of culture, religion, education, science, art, psychology, in particular, the psychology of religion. Religious faith is absolutely correlated with the development of philosophy - Western and Eastern; culture, its development; science and the modern sphere of knowledge; with education, art and literature. Religious faith is discussed in a certain way in the history of philosophy and in the history of philosophical concepts that interpret its phenomenon in accordance with the development of human history and social culture. Religious faith has a significant impact on the ideological and worldview-spiritual socio-social sphere.

Conclusions. Faith is an important subject of research in the history of philosophy (in all its areas), in cultural studies, in social and cultural anthropology, in modern theosophy and theology. The phenomenon of faith is considered from the position of the history of culture and philosophy; from the point of view of the genesis and development of philosophical doctrines and concepts. The modern understanding of faith and its relationship with culture is interpreted from the point of view of modern realities of social development - geopolitical, cultural and worldview-spiritual. For Ukraine this study is promising in the sense of understanding faith as a phenomenon of culture in the realities of war, ensuring the psychological health of the population of Ukraine, the importance of religious faith as an important factor and factor in the formation of the spiritual foundation of the personality of a modern Ukrainian citizen.