EC Psychology And Psychiatry

The article examines the problem of the finiteness of human existence in the context of contemporary humanitarian thought and the challenges of technological civilization. The author observes that the classical philosophical understanding of finiteness as individual death is today being supplemented by alarming predictions about the finiteness of the existence of all humanity - as a result of man-made disasters, ecological crises, or humanity’s own ill-considered activity. In this regard, the work analyzes the evolution of ideas about life and death from «archaic culture”, which outlined a picture of two worlds (the created and the divine, the finite and the infinite), to modern European culture, which developed an understanding of a unified world governed by natural laws. Special attention is paid to the cognitive dissonance that arises when attempting to reduce death to biological reality, as well as to the inability of modern science to provide a satisfactory answer to the question of posthumous existence. As a historical alternative, the author points to a shift in semantic focus from the question «what exists after death?» to the question «how to live correctly?» The author analyzes the historical and philosophical strategies and concepts of Plato and Aristotle, as well as contemporary concepts of P. Hadot and M. Foucault, in which the meaning of life is constituted through a conscious relationship to oneself, spiritual practices, and creative self-determination. The work demonstrates that, despite the diversity of approaches, all of them presuppose the constitution of one’s own life and its correlation with ideals. In the final part of the article, the author moves to an analysis of the current situation, where the risks of global collapse are becoming a reality, and rational decisions are being blocked by socio-psychological processes. He concludes that comprehending the finiteness of human life today requires not only philosophical reflection but also the practical responsibility of each individual for the preservation of life on Earth.

 Keywords: Life; Death; History; Culture; Finiteness; Infinity; Crises; Earth; Man; Humanit

1. “Philosophy as a way of life: Conversations with Jeannie Carlie and Arnold I. Davidson”. Moscow, St. Petersburg (2005): 288.
2. “On the heavens” (2026).
3. “Nicomachean Ethics”. Works in 4 vols. Volume 4. Moscow: Mysl (1975): 63-367.
4. Berdyaev N. “Death and immortality”. In: Nikolai Berdyaev. On the Destiny of Man. Moscow: Respublika (1993): 383.
5. Bibikhin VV. “From the Stories of A.F. Losev”. Siberian Orthodox Newspaper.
6. Bogdanov A. “Engineer Menni”. Leningrad: Krasnaya Gazeta Publishing House (1929).
7. Davis E. “Techgnosis: Myth, magic, and mysticism in the information age”. Translated from English by S. Kormiltsev, E. Bachinina, V. Kharitonov. Yekaterinburg: Ultra. Kultura (2008): 480.
8. Klochkov IS. “Spiritual culture of Babylonia: Man, Fate, Time”. Moscow: Nauka (1983): 207.
9. Kutyrev VA. “Minerva's Owl Takes Flight at Dusk (Selected Philosophical Texts of the 21^st Century)”. St. Petersburg: Aleteyya (2018): 526.
10. León-Portilla M. “Aztec thought and culture: A study of the ancient Nahuatl mind. 2^nd edition”. Translated from Spanish by R. Burgete. Moscow: Postum (2011): 291.
11. Losev AF. “History of aesthetics, ch. 4”.
12. The Other Side of Loneliness.
13. Phaedrus. Collected Works in 4 vols. Volume 2. Moscow: Mysl (1993): 135-192.
14. The Republic. Collected Works in 4 vols. Volume 3. Moscow: Mysl (1993): 97-495.
15. Letters. Collected Works in 4 vols. Volume 4. Moscow: Mysl (1994): 460-517.
16. Rozin VM. “Nature: Concept and stages of development in European culture”. Moscow: LENAND (2017).
17. Rozin VM. “Death at close range: In reflections and reflexion, philosophy and literature. afterlife, war, pandemic, and other aspects of life and death”. Moscow: LENAND (2023): 232.
18. Rozin VM. “How Pierre Hadot, a Postmodern Man of an Era of Change and Uncertainty, Constituted the Meaning of His Life”. World of Psychology91 (2017): 66-78.
19. Rozin VM. “Journey to the land of esoteric reality”. Selected Esoteric Teachings. Moscow: URSS (1998): 376.
20. Tatian the Assyrian. Address to the Greeks (2023).
21. Tylor E. “Primitive culture”. Moscow: Sotsekgiz (1939): 602.
22. Foucault M. “The will to truth: Beyond knowledge, power, and sexuality”. Moscow: Kastal (1996): 448.
23. Steiner R. “An outline of occult science”. Moscow: Dukhovnoe Znanie (1916): 423.
24. Yalom Irvin D. “Staring at the Sun - Excerpt”.
25. Yudkowsky E and Soares N. “If someone creates it, we all die: why superintelligent AI will kill us all” (2025): 256.