In the modern world, where the meaning given to humans by God has disappeared, social ideologies such as liberalism and human rights have provided new normative values for individuals. However, individuals still have the freedom to choose not to conform to society’s values, which shows the impact of the rise of humanism on human values. Society uses normative values to give meaning to individual behavior, and in this process, human values are largely shaped by social factors. Whether these standard values will still provide meaning in the future, or whether a new system will emerge, is an open question.
Whereas in the past, humans looked to God for all meaning, since the modern era, humans have begun to deny God with the development of science. As science became the primary tool for explaining the world, belief in God gradually faded, and as a result, the meaning of God as a disciplining force for humanity disappeared. Instead, humanity found meaning in humanism and began to believe and trust in themselves instead of God.
Does this mean that the concept of “externally imposed meaning” has disappeared in the same way as the meaning imposed by God in the past? Not quite. The current concepts of liberalism and human rights require individuals to conform to a set of meanings. Of course, they don’t come with the same severe penalties as the gods of the past, but the similarity is that these social ideologies are deeply ingrained in the lives of individuals. Liberalism and human rights play an important role in giving individuals meaning in modern society, which is in line with the meaning given by the gods.
However, individuals still have the freedom to choose not to follow the social ideologies they espouse. For example, “in the case of neoliberalism as an economic ideology, the individual does not seek growth.” In this case, the individual’s values inhibit the individual’s growth within the ideology of neoliberalism. This shows that humans can have values that are contrary to their ideological leanings, and sometimes those values can have a greater impact on their behavior.
Before the advent of humanism, it was difficult for an individual’s values to be manifested in their behavior, and it was not until the modern era that an individual’s social and ideological orientation and values often clashed. As a result, individual values were revealed, and the phenomenon of conflicts between one’s values and desires and one’s chosen ideological orientation emerged. This means that human values have become more important as humanism has replaced the place of God in human life.
To analyze the impact of humanism on individuals, we first need to look at what values are. Values are defined as having a structure that is inferred based on human behavior, and according to Muriel Pumphery’s book, in addition to behavioral aspects, values can also be inferred through emotional choices. These values are formed from an early age through education and various experiences and play a crucial role in the choices individuals make.
Society can give meaning to an individual’s behavior by educating them on standard values. According to Pumphery, as humans form societies, behavioral norms are formed, which determine the direction of values. These normative values give individuals meaning to behave in the way society wants them to behave, which is essential for the continuity and development of society.
The social formation of these values and their impact on individuals can also be seen in Harbert Marcuse’s theory of desire. Marcuse argues that human desires are created by society and are co-created with social organization. This means that society dominates an individual’s desires by repeatedly instilling standardized values into them, which are then manifested in moments of choice. For example, Germany’s policy of accepting Palestinian refugees is at odds with liberal ideology, but it is driven by the standard value of human dignity.
Adorno’s theory of the cultural industry also suggests that societies can instill certain values in individuals through popular culture, and these values influence individual choices. This can be seen through the societal pressures that are present in the youth life cycle. For example, the social pressure on young people to pursue economic success is an example of how certain values instilled through popular culture can give meaning to an individual’s behavior.
The counterargument is that an individual’s values are shaped more by self-directed factors than by social factors. However, human values are shaped through learning and experience, which is based on interactions with society, so the argument is that society is a major factor in the formation of values.
The second argument is that values are shaped by genetics, not socialization. However, given that sexual selection in Darwinian evolution depends on social relationships, it’s clear that social factors play a larger role in the formation of values.
In conclusion, normative values give meaning to the behavior of individuals as societies form, which is essential for social stability and development. Whether these normative values will continue to provide meaning to humans in the future, or whether new meaning-making systems will emerge as a result of scientific advances, is an open question. As we look for meaning in standard values, we need to reflect deeply on whether our choices are not driven by social influences.
