In search of individual and social sense

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The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

In search of individual and social sense

K. Kowacki

Lublin, Poland

Annotation

Purpose. The author of this article aims to present and analyze the views of Jozef Maria Bochenski concerning the issue of the question of life's sense based on the text "Sens zycia i inne eseje". From the philosopher's reflections under the theme of the impossibility of life's sense in the case of community, the author analyzes Ukrainian society and tries to find an answer to the question, can the human community's sense exist? Among the tasks are the following: to apply the views of Barry and Janae Weinhold and the polyvagal theory of Stephen Porges; to express reflections on individual and social sense; indicate the potential reasons for the failure in searching for the Ukrainian national idea before Russia's attack on Ukraine in February 2022, as well as identify general trends in the development of the Ukrainian idea as a result of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Theoretical basis. The methodological basis of the investigation is an analysis, synthesis, generalization, and analogy. Given the interdisciplinary approach, historical and psychological methods were used. It is noted that the most important feature of any group is interaction, which unites a number of other features into a single whole. Exactly the lack of interaction in Ukraine that necessitated the search for a national idea. After a full-scale Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022, there is a huge possibility to work through Ukrainian traumas, create a common identity, without an artificial division into West and East, and rebuild the state.

Originality. The paper combines philosophical reflections and the latest psychological developments; in their application, firstly, in the universal plane, which applies to every person, and secondly, in relation to the Ukrainian, due to its history and politics.

Conclusions. It has been argued that the search for the authentic sense of life occurs when a person has reworked their traumas and attained a stable state of mental health, when subconscious factors do not control a person. By analogy, the thesis is put forward that Ukrainian society must undergo psychotherapy, to overcome its historical, and military traumas. As a result of the brutal war, rapid integration processes are possible, the whole Ukrainian society is aware of the need to switch exclusively to the Ukrainian language and rethink Ukrainian identity and statehood, build a new historical narrative on the heroic attitude of Ukrainian society, new Ukrainian heroes, dead and alive. It is possible to use the Russian attack as a unifying factor for all Ukrainians, creating a sense of community, creating a modern image of Ukraine in the international arena as a defender of democratic rights, Europe, rethinking its history and in particular Ukrainian-Russian and Ukrainian-Polish relations; indicate the need to process new traumatic experiences.

Keywords: life's sense; man; society; identity; trauma; interaction; war; polyvagal theory; Bochenski; Weinhold; Porges

Анотація

У пошуках індивідуального та суспільного сенсу

К. Ковацький, Люблінський католицький університет Івана Павла ІІ (Люблін, Польща)

Мета. У цій статті за основну мету автор ставить представлення та аналіз поглядів Юзефа Марії Бохенського на проблему сенсу життя на основі тексту "Sens zycia i inne eseje". Виходячи з роздумів філософа на тему неможливості сенсу життя у випадку спільноти, автор аналізує українське суспільство та намагається знайти відповідь на запитання, чи може існувати сенс спільноти людей. З-поміж завдань основні такі: застосувати погляди Беррі та Дженей Уайнхолдів та полівагальну теорію Стівена Порджеса; викласти роздуми про індивідуальний та суспільний сенс; вказати потенційні причини неуспішності пошуку української національної ідеї до повномасштабного нападу Росії на Україну в лютому 2022 р., а також означити загальні тенденції розвитку української ідеї внаслідок війни Росії проти України.

Теоретичний базис. У дослідженні використано методи аналізу, синтезу, узагальнення та аналогії. З огляду на міждисциплінарний підхід використано історичний та психологічний методи. Зазначено, що найважливішою ознакою будь-якої групи є взаємодія, яка об'єднує в єдине ціле низку інших ознак. Саме брак взаємодії в Україні зумовив потребу пошуку національної ідеї. Після повномасштабного нападу Росії на Україну в 2022 р. існує величезна ймовірність пропрацювати українські травми, створити спільну ідентичність, без штучного поділу на Захід і Схід, та перебудувати державу.

Наукова новизна. У роботі поєднано філософські роздуми та новітні психологічні напрацювання; застосовано їх, по-перше, в універсальній площині, яка стосується кожної людини, по-друге, щодо українця, зумовленого своєю історією та політикою.

Висновки. Висунуто тезу, що пошук автентичного сенсу життя відбувається тоді, коли людина пропрацювала свої травми та досягнула стійкого стану психічного здоров'я, коли підсвідомі чинники не керують людиною. За аналогією висунуто тезу, що українське суспільство має пройти психотерапію, подолати свої історичні, воєнні травми. У результаті жорстокої війни можливі швидкі інтеграційні процеси, усвідомлення всім українським суспільством потреби переходу виключно на українську мову та переосмислення української ідентичності й державності, побудови нового історичного наративу на героїчній постаті українського суспільства, нових героїв-українців, погиблих та живих. Постала можливість використати напад РФ як об'єднувальний чинник для всіх українців, створення почуття спільноти, формування модерного іміджу України на міжнародній арені як держави-захисниці демократичних прав, Європи, переосмислення своєї історії та, зокрема, відносин українсько-російських та українсько-польських; вказати на потребу пропрацювання нового травматичного досвіду.

Ключові слова: сенс життя; людина; суспільство; ідентичність; травма; взаємодія; війна; полівагальна теорія; Бохенський; Уайнхолд; Порджес

Introduction

After the Revolution of Dignity in 2013, Ukrainian society is in a state of rethinking its history and identity, but this process occurred unevenly and uncertainly. The beginning of the war on February 24, 2022, ushered in drastic changes on many levels. A good example is the use of the Ukrainian language among Ukrainian soldiers and civilian Ukrainians to distinguish themselves from the occupier. That is, within a few days, every Ukrainian realized a number of problems and processes that could not have been noticed for decades. This is a deep crisis with significant anthropological consequences.

The article is based on the reflections of Jozef Maria Bochenski, who claims that only a specific person can find the answer to the question of life's sense. Therefore, the community is not an entity that can find its own sense. However, it is an indisputable fact that national, professional groups, etc., have a set of features that differs groups from each other and at the same time unite individuals into groups. We will try to find a universal trait that unites any group, so we turned to the practice of Berry and Janae Weinhold, who distinguished four levels of human development, states, etc. According to Winhold's, success is guaranteed by the fourth stage interaction. Applying their views, we reveal that Ukrainian society was not at the fourth stage before the full-scale war, so they put forward the thesis that this was the reason for the failure in the search for a national idea in independent Ukraine. On the other hand, they agreed with Bochenski, who asserts that the community as an abstract category cannot have its own meaning, but only a set of features that characterize this group. Therefore, they pointed out that the most important thing is the interaction within the boundaries of this group/society, in return, the ideological content is secondary, as it can be based on an arbitrary axiology. In the search for reasons that prevent the cognition of the fourth stage, according to the views of the Winhold's, the thesis was put forward that the post-traumatic experience of Ukrainian society is precisely the reason that complicates the integration of a person, society, and the Ukrainian state. We turned to Stephen Porges's polyvagal theory, which describes the mechanisms of human self-defence at the evolutionary level, to the observations of Vitaliy Ohiienko, which relate to the experience of the Holodomor in Ukraine, as well as the concept of memory, the transmission of fears, traumas, etc. from generation to generation. Positive conclusions have been put forward that Ukrainian society can, under favourable conditions, rethink and reevaluate its history, and identity, which can cause a qualitative leap that will manifest itself in the restructuring of the state. We submit the article a few days after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and we note that in a state of war, Ukrainian society is at the fourth level interaction.

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to present and analyze the views of Jozef Maria Bochenski on the problem of life's sense based on the text "Sens zycia i inne eseje". From the philosopher's reflections, we intend to look at Ukrainian society through analogy; apply the views of Berry and Janae Weinhold and Stephen Porges's polyvagal theory; to indicate the potential reasons for the failure in the search for the Ukrainian national idea, as well as to identify the general trends in the development of the Ukrainian idea as a result of the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine, which began in February 2022.

Statement of basic materials

Bochenski's text is a response to the words of a promising young man, named in the text Andriy, who declared: "My life has no sense (...) it just doesn't make sense". According to the philosopher, when considering this problem, generalizations such as "every person" cannot be used, since the matter of life's sense is highly individual and private. Bochenski developed eight main assertions in the text: 1. The matter of life's sense is a private one. 2. The life of an individual has a sense for him/her at the moment when s/he decides, feels, etc., that it is worth living. 3. If at any moment there is a goal to which an individual strives, her/his life has sense at that moment. 4. There are minutes when an individual does not pursue any goal, and in which his/her life still has sense. 5. The life of an individual person makes sense if and only if there is either a goal to which s/he is following this minute or s/he is using this minute. 6. Human life, as a rule, is not the one and only series of mutually subordinate aspirations but consists of many such independent series. 7. If a person's life has sense only when s/he strives for something, and if this life is one mutually subordinate series of aspirations, then this person's life has no sense at all. 8. Most people's lives make sense most of the minutes.

The analyzed text is divided into two parts. The first raises the problem of linking our feeling of life's sense with the desire for a goal or with the feeling of using the moment. The second, which can be outlined as a denial of the thesis about the lack of life's sense, is connected, on the one hand, with a phrase from the Book of Ecclesiastes: "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity", and on the other hand, with existential pessimism.

In the first assertion -"the matter of life's sense is a private one" Bochenski emphasizes that the question of life's sense is the question of an individual's life sense, not a collective/community of people. Life's sense is identified with an individual feeling of sense, which concerns only the individual subject. From there, it is a direct conclusion that any community is not a subject, so the question about life's sense of community, in the Ukrainian context it is better to say hromada, is meaningless. As Anna Dziedzic (2013) notes, not only is the opportunity to raise questions about life's sense of any community lost, for example, all living beings but also any opportunity to ask a general question about life's sense, since, due to its generality, it goes beyond the perspective of individual subjects, interested in a personal feeling of sense of their own life (p. 86). Considering that the philosopher lived in the era of the dominance of the vulgar interpretation of Marxist philosophy, it is understandable to oppose the individual to the community, which Marxism absolutizes. Commenting on this assertion, Bochenski (1993) writes that society may contribute to the loss of life's sense, "but other people, that is, the community, do not have a direct influence on that sense" (p. 8). The emphasis on the fact that society does not affect life's sense is quite polemical since coexistence in the network of mutual influence of people determines human behaviour and worldview. War, economic crises, social problems, etc. can fundamentally affect the life's sense of a certain group of people. For example, stories about businessmen who commit suicide after bankruptcy. In Bochenski's writing, it is said that a person should be independent, and life's sense should come from his/her inner instructions because no one will give this life sense, only s/he is able to find and preserve it on their own. One can also look at life as a cost: my life has sense when I believe, and feel that it has value for me. Hence the second assertion: "The life of an individual person has a sense for him/her at the moment when s/he decides, feels, etc., that it is worth living". In the case when a person has a goal to which aspires, there is no doubt that this person experiences a sense of life at this moment. When Bochenski equates the question of life's sense with the private question of life's sense, he excludes the thesis that human life in itself has no sense of life. When the mentioned Andriy says that "everything has no sense", he does not say, therefore, that "everything" has no sense. It only means that Andriy feels that his life has no sense.

The third thesis is "if at any moment there is a goal to which an individual aspires, his/her life has sense at that moment". It turns out that in order to have a sense of life, it is necessary to look for goals that a person will strive for. Bochenski gives an example from the life of Andriy, who was struggling with a dangerous engine malfunction during a flight. At that time, there was no doubt that Andriy felt the sense of life, which was to save the plane and his life and the people's lives on board. However, the question arises whether this was not a manifestation of the instinct of self-preservation, and in the philosopher's argumentation, one can find a transition to the personalities (the argument is directed at a person), where Andriy is presented in a situation in which he contradicts the words he uttered. Dziedzic (2013) interprets this fragment in such a way that Bochenski points to the fact that more often we feel that we should live than we are able to convincingly formulate it, especially in the context of vague and abstract considerations about the sense of life (p. 87).

Aristotle and most Christian thinkers and existentialists believed that one must have a goal to be happy. Bochenski opposes this idea and considers it to be false, so he put forward a fifth thesis: "The life of an individual person has sense if and only if there is either a goal to which s/he is heading at this moment or s/he is using this moment". Bochenski (1993), in the case of this thesis, forms a moral rule "to be able to live in the present moment and use it" (p. 14). This guide is easier to write than to implement in life. This use of a minute can be as something insignificant as going for a walk, enjoying the sun on the beach, etc. In this way, Bochenski criticizes the society in which he had to live, for one's desire to constantly achieve different goals, first A, then B, etc. This criticism still seems relevant today, particularly in the context of hyper-consumer societies. Therefore, today's humans must make a conscious effort to adopt a contemplative attitude toward life. At the same time, the philosopher does not deny the fact that life is constantly connected with the achievement of various goals, but opposes the view that narrows the sense of human life to only one goal. In the conclusion of this thesis, Bochenski encourages an increase in feeling a sense of life not only through the achievement of various goals but through the exercise of learning to live in the present moment and to use it and enjoy it.

With the sixth thesis "human life, as a rule, is not one and only series of mutually subordinate aspirations, but consists of many such independent series" Bochenski polemicizes with the idea that the sense of human life is closely related to the understanding (picture, image) of life as one number of mutually subordinate goals. Christian thinkers and existentialists accepted this thesis. The philosopher cites as an example a familiar peasant named Benedict, who crosses bison with cows, is a good head of the family, a philatelist, and an active member of the local party. He considers such a life rich and substantive. Instead, the situation that a person would have only one goal in life, to which s/he would subordinate all others, is considered possible, but abnormal.

Bochenski enters into a polemic with supporters of the monistic theory, who look at life as striving for only one goal. Therefore, he focuses on the polemics with existentialists Heidegger and Sartre, whom he accuses of defending an incorrectly substantiated thesis about the lack of sense in life. This thesis is based on two false premises. The first is that existentialism categorically asserts that human life is one series of aspirations that are interrupted by death, thereby contradicting the fact that life consists of many independent series of aspirations. For Heidegger, death gives sense to the whole, but according to Sartre, on the contrary, death takes away the sense of life. The second premise is that existentialism emphasizes that human life has sense only when a person seeks something. Bochenski asserts that if these two premises are accepted, then Sartre is right, that is, life has no sense. However, according to Bochenski's previous theses, the fourth and sixth ones, these premises are false.

With the seventh assertion, Bochenski derives a consequence from Sartre's proposition about existentialism: "If a person's life has sense only when s/he strives for something, and if this life is one mutually subordinate series of aspirations, then this person's life has no sense at all". Moreover, he draws attention to the fact that if the consequence of this assertion were false, then at least one of the premises would be false regardless of the fourth and sixth theses. In this place, Here, Bochenski finally rejects the position that human life has no sense. From this moment, the second part of the text begins.

The philosopher turns to the well-known sentence from the Old Testament: "hawel hawelim hakol hawel". This position is called Havelism (from the Hebrew "hawel", which translates as "vanity"). The biblical author claims that everything a person strives for in this life is vanity because, in this busy life, s/he did not find sense in wealth, power, or pleasure. Everything seemed useless and worthless to them. Bochenski (1993) alleges that this interpretation is quite common in different cultures: in Buddhism, Christian thinkers, and many modern thinkers (p. 18). Bochenski concludes that Havelism is sinister nonsense and makes the following reasoning. Some people, for example, the already mentioned Andriy, sometimes experience moments when their life has no sense. However, Havelism, while arguing that life has no sense, applies it to all people and all moments of their lives. It claims that the life of any person does not have any moment of sense at all, that is, there is no person who pursues a goal or who does not use this moment. Unquestionably, the last sentence is false because most people are heading somewhere most of the time.

From there, the eighth, last thesis "most people's lives make sense for most of the minutes" thus asserts that Havelism is a logical fallacy. Bochenski claims that the success of Havelism comes from mixing two concepts the sense of life and happiness. That is, it is a false belief that the sense of life is identical to happiness since you can not experience happiness at this moment, but have a sense of life. Bochenski points out that we are dealing with not one concept, but three:

1) the sense of life;

2) unconditional happiness the borderline situation of one hundred percent happiness, which never happens in life;

3) conditional happiness which is not complete, for example, a happy marriage.

Havelism is the belief that everything that does not bring unconditional happiness is useless. According to Bochenski, Havelism is harmful, because it creates the impression that one should not care about passing conditional things and moments, because of this, it takes away what gives his/her life beauty and value to a person.

Bochenski clearly affirmed in the first point that the sense of life concerns only the individual subject, it follows from the fact that any community is not a subject that can have a sense of life. As Aristotle also noted, man is a social being, and s/he needs to live in a group of people, only God or a fool can live alone. Many examples of the absolutization of communities to which a person belongs have existed since ancient times in the Western European tradition. Sometimes belonging to a particular group gives a person a sense of his/her life. More modern examples include the latest political ideologies such as nationalism, socialism, liberalism, religious fundamentalism, LGBT, feminism, etc. There are many people who fanatically profess certain views and are willing to die for them. If it is enough to simply point out the arguments in support of this thesis, then the question arises whether it is possible to find a universal feature common to all these ideologies, philosophical and political programs, despite their internal diversity, which gives a person the sense to act within the boundaries of a particular group. bohensky ukrainian national idea meaning life

We would like to turn to the practice of the Weinhold couple (B. Weinhold & J. Weinhold, 2011), who identified four stages of human development, interpersonal relations, culture, and states. We will present the general features of Weinholds' theory using the example of a developing society. The first stage codependence is characterized by the creation of national culture and identity; establishing trust with citizens; ensuring the satisfaction of the basic needs of all citizens; creating national pride; providing the basis for compliance with the law. The second stage counter-dependence (separation) is determining the uniqueness of the nation at the international level; conflict resolution within one nation, between cultural groups, and between nations. The third stage independence is marked by the emergence of national culture, in the light of the initiatives, responsibility, and personal freedom; providing opportunities for cultural communities to express their individuality. The fourth stage interdependence (cooperation) is characterized by the creation of interdependence between communities and nations; ensuring the full development of all citizens; development of international projects and world culture (B. Weinhold & J. Weinhold, 2011, pp. 477-478).

The conclusion is that interaction, willingness, and ability to cooperate with others within a particular group are the essence of a person in any group. Regardless of whether this group strives for moral good or evil, we come to the direct conclusion that the sense of a person in a group is in the ability to interact. The goal for which this group strives remains secondary. Undoubtedly, it is correct and morally justified and necessary to protect one's country from the enemy, within the limits of a just war it can even make sense to a person. Likewise, for an aggressor who wants to overcome another, there is usually a feeling of making history, progress, the spread of civilization, etc. In both cases, cooperation within one's group is the most important trait for a person.

We would like to draw attention to the Ukrainian reality in two points. The first concerns the search for the so-called Ukrainian national idea, which is very often identified with the sense of the nation (Donii, 2019; Mukharskyi, 2017). According to Bochenski's first thesis, it turns out that such an abstract, general idea of any group cannot exist. Therefore, we follow the second point, and here the question is, why did the idea of searching for a Ukrainian national idea arise at all? European nations are mostly not concerned about a similar issue, but in Ukraine, it even acquires a patriotic significance.

In our opinion, it arises from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which a significant number of Ukrainian citizens suffer from to varying degrees. According to the Australian Pete Shmigel (2018), this applies to millions of Ukrainians, but since February 2022, the number of people with PTSD has been increasing catastrophically. A person experiencing PTSD is unable to adequately look at themselves, make informed decisions, and generally act like a normal person because they are in a state of complete lacerating. By analogy, we look at Ukrainian society like this. Due to the state of lacerating, Ukrainians are not able to overcome other people's narratives regarding their history, culture, particular language, as well as self-stereotypes. There is a misconception that it is necessary to find a universal national idea, thanks to which the country will be united, and many real and imaginary problems will be solved. However, the bottom line is that the problem is the inability to interact. This arises from untreated PTSD in a significant number of the population in Ukraine. The problems that should be solved by the golden grail, which is the national idea, are quite simply solved, as shown by the example of many European countries that do not have such a traumatic history as the Ukrainians. When attitudes and emotional perception change, problems change their nature. However, today there are two options the state of lacerating (the state of being torn to pieces) of Ukrainian society is strongly actualized, or it will become a starting point for qualitative changes.

We propose to present in general terms the polyvagal theory, which was developed by the American neurobiologist Stephen W. Porges. The value of a polyvagal theory is that it combines elements of the body, emotions, and social behaviour. It allows you to understand what happens to a person during a post-traumatic experience. It is based on the study of the autonomous nervous system of a person: if we consider the influence of experiences on this system, then with its help it is possible to establish patterns in people's reactions and thereby explain their behaviour. The autonomic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that functions independently of consciousness. This system ensures social behaviour and integrates the individual into society.

The system, regardless of consciousness, evaluates a dangerous situation and chooses one of three physiological strategies, each of which corresponds to different neural connections of the autonomic nervous system.

The polyvagal theory proposes a phylogenetic ordered hierarchy, according to which autonomous subsystems respond to environmental challenges in the reverse order of their evolutionary age, according to the principle of dissolution, that is, the process opposite to evolution (Porges, 2020, p. 18, p. 23). Each of the neural connections works differently, it is programmed by the human nervous system from birth, and it is not acquired during life.

As Ohienko (2020) explains, the first evolutionarily newest strategy is the social engagement system, which provides social communication, it operates in the vast majority of everyday situations. When a person is in a quiet, safe, and familiar environment where everything is under control, no unforeseen consequences of the person's behaviour are expected. In the event of stressful situations, a threat is felt, which is resolved by usual and predictable reactions that ensure the expected result.

In a situation of danger, the autonomic nervous system resorts to the "fight or flight" strategy or the mobilization of all the body's forces.

Under the influence of hormones (adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol hormones), the body's metabolic activity, heart rate, metabolism increase, and other processes are inhibited, the activity of which is not necessary for survival at that moment, for example, the activity of the digestive system. At this time, a person may feel panic, trembling, or anxiety, but is ready to actively act in one way or another.

When a person realizes that there is no longer salvation, s/he automatically moves to the third strategy immobilization or total submission. Then the whole body is rebuilt to conserve energy, and thanks to passive behaviour try to prolong life as long as possible. A person waits as long as possible for help, when it does not come, s/he dies. In particular, it is important that in this state social rules, rational thinking is absent, as well as the goodness of other people (even their children and loved ones), morality does not matter. Consciousness is turned off, a person at this moment seeks only to preserve physiological life.

Porges does not single out the fourth stage, but he pays a lot of attention to it. This is a strategy of obedience and work. Men understand: if you want to survive, you must obey. Ohiienko (2018, 2020), analyzing the memoirs of Lysyvets (2019), a ten-year-old girl at the time who survived the Holodomor, uses the polyvagal theory to describe the horror and deep trauma experienced by Ukrainian society when the Bolsheviks decided to break the resistance of the Ukrainian peasants. In fact, it is a testimony of evil, which is difficult to express, because it is striking in its scale. This is also evidence of the evil that man is capable of. Although it is absurd to compare evil, in that context the question arises whether it is more humane to die relatively quickly from Cyclone B in a German concentration camp or to die slowly from starvation, when a person witnesses the suffering of all the people with whom s/he lived, loved, etc. This question about the essence of evil indicates that there is a limit beyond which morality loses its sense. However, the development of technology, and the ease with which evil emerges from human nature, suggest that in the future manifestations of evil will have crueller and psychologically sophisticated methods.

It should be noted that, in addition to the Holodomor, Ukrainian society was a victim of two world wars, the Chornobyl disaster, and lived for decades in a totalitarian communist state. That is, until 1991, when Ukraine formally gained independence, several events took place that broke the moral and national backbone of Ukrainians. The deep state of trauma, that is passed on from generation to generation, had such an effect that Ukrainians could not interact to rebuild their country in the nineties of the 20th century. The new war will actualize historical traumas with increased force. If the Ukrainian authorities were to focus specifically on Ukrainian ethno-mental codes, one could hope that the critical moment, which is the ideal moment for the beginning of recovery, would launch the information processing and healing. However, there are serious fears that this chance will be lost since the Ukrainian authorities do not develop the Ukrainian narrative itself and use the war for their own temporary purposes.

Returning to Bochenski's first thesis, we would like to point out that the philosopher applied this thesis to a person who is mentally stable, but the average Ukrainian has a high probability of living with untreated post-traumatic stress disorder and is in a state of dissociation. This is a state when a person breaks up into several parts, and ceases to be integral, his/her emotions, will, intellect, etc., instead of coordinating their actions, function separately, as a result a person loses one's identity and lives an inferior life, which manifests itself as a waking dream (Dana, 2020; Rosenberg, 2020).

This state is characterized by the loss of continuity of thoughts, memories, and actions, as well as the loss of presence here and now, that is, this aspect of human life, to which Bochenski pays special attention. This is what makes a person able to enjoy life and be able to use the moment. Bochenski criticizes Havelism precisely for the inability to live here and now. If in Havelism we are dealing with a conscious rejection of this, then in the example of Ukrainian society, these are subconscious processes, unconscious and very deeply rooted, therefore difficult to notice, and even perceived as an integral part of Ukrainian identity. Ukrainians, accustomed to the role of the victim, speak extremely calmly about Ukrainian victims and suffering in history. Relativization occurs even in scientific papers, which is a vivid example of a traumatic society (Porges, 2020, pp. 22-23).

So, in order to determine his/her authentic identity, the average Ukrainian must, first of all, work through their own traumas. By analogy, we transfer it to the whole society, which must undergo "psychotherapy" in order to skilfully interact. The war of 2022 pushed the Ukrainians to the fourth level of interaction, but there are a number of factors that can interrupt this process. We hope that this will not happen, then questions about the national idea will cease to have their pseudo-philosophical dimension, and the Ukrainian idea will naturally and imperceptibly work (President Kuchma's well-known saying is paraphrased). Then, among other things, there will be a rereading of the heritage of Ukrainian thinkers and writers of the 19th century, where all modern unresolved issues related to identity begin. In this context, we would like to note the important and underestimated role of the Cyril and Methodius Society, which records in its program documents that it has reached the fourth stage of interaction. It should be noted that this was one of the first modern Ukrainian political programs.

A person who has properly worked through PTSD acquires a certain broader view of reality, and comprehends a certain state of awareness, thanks to which s/he can interact and create new senses. The Weinholds points out: if 5% of society acquires such a state, a qualitative change in society takes place. In the case of Ukraine, there is a high probability that such a state will befall Ukrainian society relatively quickly. Therefore, it is possible to propose a historiosophical concept that the moral renewal of Europe can begin with Ukrainians. This is of exceptional importance in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Ukrainians have really defended their independence only since 2013, from the Maidan of Dignity. Paradoxically, the war can speed up the processes of modernization, unity of the Ukrainian people and society. There may be a leap in development and rethinking of ourselves. That is, Ukrainians are very close to the philosophical state of rebirth on a personal and national level. If life is the ability in rethinking, then the new war is a powerful source of qualitative change for Ukrainians.

Originality

The article proposes to take a fresh look at the important issue of the Ukrainian national idea. It is alleged that seeking such an idea, as it had been accepted before the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine in 2022, is inappropriate. This thesis is reasoned on four levels: on the philosophical level based on the thoughts of Bochenski, on the physiological level based on the polyvagal theory of the neurobiologist Porges, on the psychological level based on the works of the Weinholds, on the historical one based on the thoughts of Ohiienko. It is an attempt to reject the thought, which sees an exclusive function in this idea. This approach can help in defining one's own Ukrainian identity, the basis of which is, first of all, interaction, and only then the acceptance of selected empirical characteristics. Interaction can mitigate local identity conflicts, making it easier to choose commonly accepted characteristics.

Conclusions

The sense of life is an individual matter for each person. Authentic sense is defined when a person is mentally healthy; through unresolved psychological problems, a person can find a sense that reflects his/her psychological problems. There is no social sense to be found. Social sense is rather a set of many empirical features that give a particular group its sense (language, history, values, customs, etc.). We put forward the thesis that the most important feature of any group is interaction, which connects a number of other features into a single whole. It was the lack of interaction in Ukraine that necessitated the search for a national idea. After a full-scale Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022, there is a huge possibility to work through Ukrainian traumas, create a common identity, without an artificial division into West and East, and rebuild the state. The common enemy, which attacks both Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking Ukrainians, has clearly shown that Ukraine is a single state. From an anthropological point of view, many people face the dilemma of choosing a language. Either continue to use the language of the occupier or switch to the Ukrainian language, that is, change your worldview. As a result of the just war waged by Ukrainians, we would like to emphasize that society as a group of people is a real existence, but the social sense is a soft matter that can be easily changed.

References

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