Existential approach to the problem of reflection on the finiteness of human life

Abstract

According to the existential approach, the category of death is one of the central ones in the process of a person's understanding of himself and his place in the world. The fear of death accompanies a person's life and requires special attention from specialists. The purpose of the article is in identification of features of a reflection of fear of death by men aged from 24 up to 45 years. The fear of death has a dual nature – from ensuring high activity and adaptability of a person, finding new meaningful meanings of life and discovering true being to immersion in depressive experiences and refusal to be in real being and escape from it.

The fear of death, as a complex psychological phenomenon, is associated with the difficulties of its reflection by men and is actualized in various crisis states, despite the initial taboo nature of the discussion of this problem. The article reveals the peculiarities of the reflection of the fear of death in men, it is noted that men over 30 years of age have a higher level of structuring of the fear of death and finding meaningful meanings for themselves.

The main groups of ideas about death in men are classified, groups of death fears are identified (in connection with socially significant losses, physical losses and pain, existentially significant losses (loss of freedom, etc.), loss of personal opportunities, etc.); psychological factors associated with past experience and reinforcing the experience of fear of death in men are analyzed. The article is intended for psychologists and researchers studying the problem of fear of death.