A Difficult Path to Oneself

In this compact course of audio lectures, the author has attempted to systematize, generalize, and bring together information concerning the history of the formation and development of philosophical—and anthropological—ideas.

For philosophy is, far from least of all, STUDY OF HUMANKIND; it is QUESTIONING ABOUT HUMANITY; it is an attempt to understand the essence and purpose of a person on this earth, to identify the meaning of their life, and their specific nature among all other living beings. Each great thinker, regardless of the era, in one way or another asked all these questions and left behind their reflections on the subject. And these reflections have entered the golden treasury of world philosophical thought.

In these lectures, without claiming exhaustive completeness, the author touches upon the most significant individual philosophical centers of the East, of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and of the Modern and Contemporary periods. The thread of their insights and reflections on human nature and the essence of the human is unfolded. At the same time, the author also tries to express a number of his own modest reflections and thoughts on the subject—so to speak, notes in the margins. It is to be hoped that the material presented here may be useful as an additional source of information for those studying a course in philosophical anthropology, as well as for those who, through self-education, would like to refresh or deepen their knowledge in this area.