The Hermeneutic Problem of Understanding Human Existence and Coexistence in the Epoch of Nihilism

The Hermeneutic Problem of Understanding Human Existence and Coexistence in the Epoch of Nihilism The research project proposal addresses the epochal experience of nihilism in terms of understanding human existence and coexistence. The aspect of coexistence is especially pertinent, given the assumption that the emergence of nihilism today emphatically concerns the horizon of a common world that is marked by global and local social crises. Accordingly, the planned implementation of the research project goes in two directions. The first concerns the conceptual definition of the phenomenon of nihilism, taking into account its philosophical, historical, artistic, literary, religious, technological and scientific, cultural, and social contexts. The second direction is directly related to the epochal state of nihilism: in all human activity, in everything that we call the growth of culture, development of society, expansion of creativity, rising education, scientific and technological progress, democratic rights and freedoms, together with faith in God, lacking is human element fulfilling itself as human. In a situation where social subjectivity places everything in the function of gaining in terms of capital and technical power, the meaning of human existence and coexistence and life in general is at the same time being eradicated. Even though we demand and advocate responsible behaviour everywhere, we remain without answers when it comes to the meaning of humanity. This circumstance also defines the preparation of the hermeneutic topology of the research project as a critical analytical basis for understanding the nihilistic crisis of modern humanity. Methodologically speaking, this points to a structural interpretation of meaning itself, as represented by those humanities that are hermeneutically oriented and interdisciplinary. In their recent development, the humanities have all been faced with the methodological task of explicitly presenting their model of interpretation. The problem field of understanding human existence and coexistence in the epoch of nihilism confronts us with the alienation of human and interpersonal experience, which cannot always be found through direct interpretation and therefore requires that we go beyond established models of interpretation in humanities or socio-psychological studies. This indubitably represents a special challenge when forming an interdisciplinary research approach, which in its implementation, following the hermeneutic logic of mediating meaningful structures, is not limited merely to their conceptualization but from the outset also takes into account the aspect of their communication. The manner in which we understand the experience of living always depends on how or whether we agree on it and what determines the possibility of communication in this regard. The key communicative aspect of the proposed research project stems from the fact that it enables the confrontation and connection of different understandings of contemporary nihilism in philosophical, religious, ethical, artistic, literary, cultural, historical, scientific and social horizons. This can contribute to the formation of a common perspective of humanistic discourse, which can be declared posthumanistic or transhumanist simply because today we are, worldwide, facing cases of dehumanization, which forces us to defend the perspective of new humanization.