ASTONISHMENT, GRATEFULNESS, AWE: MORAL AND ONTOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS

Background. It is not possible for human being to be dehumanized ontologically as the human essence is given to a man a priori. But there is always a possibility not to reveal the essense from the existential point of view. And thus, man can remain on the biological level. The reaching of personhood level of existence demands the presence of three special moral senses: the one of astonishment, gratefulness and owe. The purpose of article is to study ontological and moral aspects of astonishment, gratefulness and awe as the ethical praphenomena. The aim of the study is critical analysis of astonishment, gratefulness and awe as "ethical praphenomena" and "existentials" that constitute personal dimension of man`s being, enable its authentic existence in the fullness of essential realization. Materials and methods. The general philosophical methods of induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis were used in article. Also special historical philosophical and hermeneutical methods were applied. Results. The essential authentic side of life is being revealed through the special moral senses of astonishment, gratefulness and awe. Each of the sense has its opposite quality. The opposite to astonishment is indifference, the opposite to gratefulness is ungratefulness and hopelessness, the opposite to awe (trembling) is vilification. The absence of gratefulness leads to depression and frustration. The absence of astonishment makes impossible the philosophy as the way of life and thoughts. The absence of trembling destroys the living culture and turns it to lifeless technocratic civilization. Conclusion. The philosophical reflection of astonishment, gratefulness and awe leads to an ontological problem of relation between man and God, the freedom of a man. The full autonomic existence of a man is illusion. A man depends on absolute personal being that creates and controls the existence and non-existence. It is a divine being that enables human personhood and transcending the biological level. The freedom is the acceptance or non-acceptance of it. Christian dogmas express the universal experience of mankind. In the experience of atheist or any other adherent some universal structures are represented in subconscious way. The experience of astonishment, gratefulness and awe is universal. Forgetting its significance means forgetting the inner essence of a man and dissolving it in subhuman.