Abstract

The paper examines the present condition of humans and some forms of understanding human existence, forms the relationship between person and society, especially its particular historical nature. The paper begins with a picture of conceptions prevailing in the history of philosophy. Further it outlines the contemporary spiritual situation and its origins in humanistic Enlightenment traditions of Western culture. Attention is paid also to the fortunes of humanistic tradition from the Enlightenment to Romanticism and further to the disintegration of the classical humanistic ideal in the 20th century. In conclusion the author considers the possible ways of mutual understanding and harmonization of interpersonal relationships as well as those between person and society