TRADITIONAL CULTURE AS A SOURCE OF EXISTENTIAL EXPERIENCE
The paper studies traditional culture as a subject of philosophical reflection. The phenomenon of traditional culture is analyzed here as a source of existential experience for contemporary person. The essence and “mechanisms” of constituting existential meanings in worldview dimensions of the various subject areas are demonstrated. The basic types of traditional culture and the concept of culture are analyzed. Specific features of traditional culture are analyzed on the basis of the conception of “non- pragmatic” and “specimen” types of human cultural existence. Special emphasis is placed on the key differences between the traditional and contemporary cultures, which are determined by two different types of their “dominants”. Traditional culture is dominated by worldview meanings, while contemporary culture - by pragmatic activities. This conception defines traditional “worldview thinking” within a broad comparative context. Human consciousness in traditional culture is interpreted as “non-calculating” holistic activity. The paper analyzes determination of moral behaviour within contemporary culture according to its worldview meanings. The concept of “meaning” in its metaphysical sense is considered here as the key issue. Therefore, the phenomenon of existential openness in traditional culture is interpreted here as a creative process of constituting personal existence. In addition, the paper dwells on the “inner mechanisms” of cultural activity as a behaviour phenomenon according to the “worldview meaning dominant”.