Предпосылки индивидуализма (статья четвертая)
The Emergence of Individuality. Part Four

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the process of the emergence of individual consciousness within the Greek tradition. First, the concept of “axial time” is clarified, when the need to relate everything to the Absolute, self-esteem and critical thinking came into culture. The reasons for this turn are discussed. The analysis of the Greek miracle begins with the formation of the polis, which replaced traditional institutions and redefined the place of man in society, where the conditions of personal freedom and the right to be a citizen gradually developed. An important factor was also that through the polis man realized his unity with the whole Greek world. The invention of alphabetic writing significantly added to the possibility of individual reflection on political life, but this is fully manifested only from the fourth century BC. The active role of colonization is analyzed, which required further reflection on the social structure. Such aspects of Greek life as equality, rationality and competition are considered. It is shown that the inseparable connection between the sacred and the secular in the life of the polis made religious life as public as possible and focused on the obligatory participation in a variety of rituals. It was in these activities that man manifested his piety, and so religion was not a private affair, but a public duty. Contestation, agon was also imbued with publicity rather than oriented towards individual dignity. A number of aspects of the manifestation of individual consciousness are considered: reflection over traditional ideas (philosophy), the emergence of personal authorship, the birth of lyric poetry, the emergence of the need to justify what was being said (proofs), and the emergence of humor as a reflection over tradition. The place of mystery cults in the spiritual life of the Greeks is investigated. Here, the key point that distinguishes participation in mysteries from other types of collective activity is the focus on a purely personal quest, irrelevant to the social position of the individual. Evidence is taken of such mysteries as the Eleusinian, Samothracian, Dionysian-Orphic, and Cybele. It is in the mysteries that the individual has a unique mystical experience and directly links his destiny with the divine. The history of all these cults goes far beyond the Archaic period, they intersect with each other in one way or another (which allows us to talk about bricolage) and, starting from about the 5th century BC, they all acquire a mystical character. It is the mystery experience that comes to the fore when we speak of the aspiration of consciousness toward the One, which, along with the liberation of the individual from direct association with social status, determined the strengthening of individual consciousness.

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