Fatalism: what is it in simple words. A fatalist is a person who... The meaning of the word fatalist

Can a person independently build his own destiny and choose his future? Or is he just a pawn in a game where all the moves are planned in advance, and the outcome is a foregone conclusion? Personal growth coaches will no doubt say that a person makes himself. Fatalists are convinced of the opposite.

A fatalist is a person who believes in fate. The fact that the future is predetermined from above, and it is impossible to influence it. This word comes from the Latin fátalis (determined by fate), fatum (destiny, fate). Fatalists believe that a person’s life path, the key turns of his fate, can be predicted, but cannot be changed.

From the point of view of a fatalist, a person, like a train, moves along a route determined by fate from station to station, not knowing what will happen next and not being able to turn off the route. And the schedule is drawn up in advance by higher powers and is strictly observed.

The fatalist is convinced that “what will happen cannot be avoided,” and this leaves a certain imprint on his worldview:

• Such people do not expect anything good from the future. Therefore, the word "fatalist" is sometimes used as a synonym for "pessimist", convinced that things will only get worse;
• Denying free will, the fatalist does not believe in man and his capabilities;
• But the responsibility for actions is removed from a person - after all, if all his actions are predetermined from above, then a person is only an instrument in the hands of fate and cannot be responsible for his actions;
• Belief in horoscopes, palmistry, predictions and prophecies, attempts in one way or another to “look into the future” is also a feature of a fatalistic worldview.

Examples of fatalism

In ancient culture

In m In the ideological view of the ancient Greeks, the concept of fate and inevitable fate played a fundamental role. The plot of many ancient tragedies is built around the fact that the hero tries to “deceive fate” - and fails.

For example, in Sophocles’ tragedy “Oedipus the King,” the hero’s parents, after a prophecy that their child would personally take the life of his father and marry his own mother, decide to kill the baby. But the executor of the order, feeling sorry for the baby, secretly transfers him to be raised by another family.

Having matured, Oedipus learns about the prediction. Considering his adoptive parents to be his family, he leaves home so as not to become an instrument of evil fate. However, on the way, he accidentally meets and kills his own father - and after some time marries his widow.

In literature

The most famous description of the fatalistic worldview can be considered the chapter “Fatalist” from Lermontov’s novel “A Hero of Our Time.” The plot centers on a dispute between two heroes, Pechorin and Vulich, about whether a person has control over his destiny.

As part of the argument, Vulich puts a loaded pistol to his own forehead and pulls the trigger - and the pistol misfires. Vulich uses this as a strong argument in the argument that a person cannot control his life even in the pursuit of death. However, that same evening he is accidentally killed on the street.

Another great system of Chinese philosophy was Taoism. Its founder, a contemporary of Confucius, the philosopher Lao Tzu (an old teacher), wrote the essay “Tao Te Ching” (Book of the Path and Virtue). One of the problems of philosophy has always been and remains to this day the question of the freedom of human will. What determines the life of each of us, or more precisely, what mainly influences it: ourselves or something outside of us? Either everything is in our hands and we create our own lives, or it is subject to some other forces independent of us. Two well-known provisions perfectly illustrate the existence of the problem.

The first one says that “everyone is the architect of his own happiness,” the second one says “you can’t escape fate.” The view by which we ourselves shape our personal life path can be called voluntarism (it all depends on our own will ), the opposite view – fatalism (from the Latin word “fatum” - fate or fate that dominates people).

In the first case, it speaks about the presence of freedom or free human will (what I want, I do, everything depends only on me), in the second - about the absence of it and the presence of dependence (no matter what you do, everything will still be as predetermined) . Thus, if there is some kind of force or essence, or principle that is higher than us and much stronger, to which we are subordinate, then there is no point in hoping and counting on ourselves, because this higher power everything is thought out and calculated for us, and our life will turn out the way it pleases someone’s boundless will, leading us in an unknown direction. If there is no given force, and only we exist with our plans and calculations, everything will be as we want and assume, since there is nothing above us, therefore, we behave in the direction we have chosen.

It turns out that fatalism necessarily presupposes a fate looming over us, the absence of which inevitably leads to voluntarism. Taoism says that the human will is not free in any case and that only a fatalistic model of the universe is possible. If fate exists, then there is supernatural fatalism (since this rock is a higher and incomprehensible force), and if it does not exist, the result is not voluntarism, but also fatalism, but only natural. Taoism is the doctrine of natural fatalism. Its essence is as follows.

The fact of our appearance on Earth is already an act of our lack of freedom, because before our birth no one asked us whether we want it or not. We were not given the choice to be born or not to be born. Let's say someone didn't want to be born. Thus, for a Buddhist, earthly life is evil, and he would prefer not to be born at all. We were born and, whether we like it or not, we must reckon with the fact of our existence and obey it.

Next - did we choose our gender, heredity, parents, social environment and historical era, in which you were born? They didn't choose at all. We received all this unconditionally and authoritarianly and, therefore, again there is no need to talk about any personal freedom. And the upbringing that we received from the cradle, which shaped us, making us what we are now - did we really choose it? No, it is also offered to us beyond our desires. If we didn’t choose it - it’s what made us what we are now - then we didn’t choose ourselves, and what we are now is a result completely independent of us.

Finally, does all of the above influence life, that is, does gender, heredity, environment, era, upbringing and everything else influence the human path? Of course, it influences, and even determines, guides, shapes it. There are many other factors that also influence us. The sum of all factors will be the force that directs us in a certain direction and makes our life one way or another.

As a result, it turns out that no one chooses or can choose either himself or his own path in life, for both he and his life are offered to him, as if given to him, and with this everyone walks the earth, being unable to do anything. or change. Here one can argue that a person still changes his own life, and there are countless examples of this statement. Let's say someone decided to change something. Why did he accept it? Due to some reasons and motives, that is, due to something. But this something, that means, was in him, present. Where does it come from? Trait? Feature of nature? Mentality? But we just saw that both character and intelligence are given, and a person does not choose them. Consequently, even if he decided to change something, he did it due to his personal internal characteristics, and they do not depend on him, because they were given initially, that is, he did not make this decision freely, and it was also predetermined, so how everything follows from the same set of factors that entails human life.

It seems to us that we act freely, that we choose something and can change something, but this is an illusion and self-delusion. A person and his existence are a grandiose sum of a huge number of circumstances, parameters or factors, which determines, shapes, sets the channel or track in which our life moves in a strictly defined direction. Such a view is fatalism, but here it is not a supernatural force that influences the human path, but the addition of all natural forces and circumstances that leads a person’s life in any direction. Therefore, we call this fatalism natural.

A person, Taoist philosophers say, is the flight of an arrow: it moves where the shooter’s hand sent it, and its movement depends on the degree of tension of the bowstring, on air resistance, and on obstacles in its path. Of course, the direction of the arrow's flight may change: a strong wind blew, it started to rain, or it crashed into something, but is the arrow capable of on one's own change the direction of your own movement, independently deviate in one direction or another, fly backwards or not fly at all? Therefore, human life flies in the direction that is given to it by the factors and conditions that shape it, the external parameters and circumstances that determine it, and it cannot arbitrarily change this direction. The path of life, set by the entire sum of external forces, is called Tao. This path is present in any thing, since every object of the world and its existence, like a person, is also the result of all possible factors. And the entire universe has its own Tao. If you add up absolutely all the things of our world, all the forces operating in it, all the causes and consequences in a grandiose and immense interaction and integrity, you will get a single path - the Tao of our universe.

If human life is a given thing, it means that it is known from beginning to end: it is only necessary to calculate all the factors and parameters from which it is composed. We simply cannot take everything into account, much less calculate it, since no one can grasp the immensity. That is why it seems to us that the result of our life is uncertain, largely random, and only the future will finally illuminate everything. In fact, everything that will happen is already completely known, but not to us, as if the answer to a problem is placed at the end of a textbook - it is already there, ready, it follows from its conditions, but the student will have to solve the given problem, go through all its points sequentially , trying to get to the result.

The answer to our existence is also ready, since it follows from a given set of initial and current parameters, it is placed at the end of the book called “Our Life”, only it is unknown to us due to our inability to analytically embrace this set, which is why we think that there is no answer, and We delude ourselves that it depends on our actions, plans and intentions.

Let's flip a coin: it may come up heads or tails. It seems to us that the occurrence of this or that is completely random and therefore unpredictable. But if we knew the initial position of the coin, the strength of the push imparted to it, the number of its inversions in flight, air resistance, the force of gravity and all other conditions of movement, if we could take them into account and calculate them, then the loss of, say, tails would be an event not random, but completely natural and not sudden, but completely expected and predetermined.

Natural fatalism speaks of paradoxical things: it turns out that life does not belong to us at all, since it, and we ourselves, are only the sum of factors and conditions beyond our control. Life happens to us, for us and seems to be done with our own hands, but at the same time it is completely apart from us, outside of us and does not depend on us. Our own life is a theatrical performance, which we look at as spectators from the audience, it happens to us, but at the same time it is an extravaganza, which we look at completely from the outside. And even if we are actors In this performance, we are not playing a script that we have compiled and roles that we have not chosen.

What remains for us? Calmly look at what is happening and indifferently wait for how it will end, see the course of your own life, which is not at all subordinate to us, and do not make senseless attempts to change anything in it. What good is this understanding of the world? What is positive about natural fatalism? It seems like nothing. In fact, it’s the other way around: if nothing depends on me and I am a certain set of parameters that develops independently, then I am not at all to blame for my own failures, and there is no merit in my successes.

Whatever happens in life - good or bad - I have nothing to do with it, because it happened, it happened, it happened by itself, outside of me and against my will, because my life does not belong to me, and I myself do not mean anything in it and do not Can. Also, I don’t strive for anything and I don’t avoid anything, because both are useless, I don’t owe anything to anyone and, most importantly, I don’t owe anything to myself.

Freedom from obligation, from tension, from struggle and pursuit of something, which fill life with suffering, therefore, freedom from suffering - this is the result of natural fatalism. Freedom from desires and aspirations, hopes and despair, resulting from inaction, is the greatest blessing that pacifies human life. I am the result of external forces, a given essence, a product of a set of conditions - I do not belong to myself and do not form myself.

On the contrary, all of the above makes me and my life. I am who I am and cannot be anyone else. In this case, can I envy someone - he has it better than me? I can’t, because he is different, not like me, and he has a different life. Can I laugh at someone or despise someone who is worse than me? I can’t, because he is different, and his life path is not the same as mine. Each person is set for himself by the universe, each follows his own path, plays his own role, fulfills his own Tao, each has his own mission and meaning in the Universe - both the brilliant powerful monarch and the pitiful beggar slave.

It is useless to try to be something other than yourself, to take someone else’s place and play a role that is not yours. With such a look, both envy and pride completely disappear, and no one can be assessed from the point of view of “better or worse.” Not “better”, but different, not “worse”, but only different. It is impossible to compare two people, just as it is impossible to compare, say, a pine tree and a birch tree. Which is better - pine or birch? Which paint is worse - red or blue? Which human life is more fortunate and which is worthy of contempt? None! About each one we can only say that it exists, and for some reason the universe needs it. A pine tree cannot become a birch tree, no matter how much you convince it that it is much better to be a birch tree than a pine tree.

One person will never become another person, just because they are different entities of the world. It is impossible to scold one for being like that, and it is impossible to praise another for not being like the first, just as it is impossible to scold a black man for not being Chinese, a forest for not being an orchard, a desert thorn - because she is not a beautiful flower.

Life, filled with such a look, not striving for anything, quiet and calm, is immersed in the contemplation of its Tao and in serenely following it. It flows calmly and peacefully in a leisurely stream in the designated channel, not subject to passions, anxiety and tension. She simply and peacefully listens to the world around her, just as blooming and fading, always beautiful and silent nature eternally listens to the sky. The truth of Taoism is life that does not oppose the universe, but calmly dissolves in it and achieves wise happiness.

F. has been widespread since the dawn of culture; later it is expressed in “occult” doctrines such as astrology, revived in decadent or transitional eras (late, late Renaissance and T. etc. - up to astrological. hobbies in bourgeois society 20 V.) , is being rethought as irrationalistic. philosophy of life (Spongler) and its epigones (E. Junger, G. Benn, theorists of fascism). Theological F., according to whom, even before birth, he predestined some people “to salvation” and others “to destruction”, received especially subsequent results. in Islam ( Jabarit, 8-9) centuries , In some Christ heresies of the Middle Ages V.) (at Gottschalk, 9 , in Calvinism and Jansenism; Orthodoxy and Catholicism, which affirms free will, is hostile to him. Connection of theological F. with rationalism is observed in Plifon. Rationalistic F. in pure form characteristic of Democritus, Hobbes, Spinoza and representatives of mechanical science. determinism (for example, Laplace’s doctrine of the unlimited possibility of inferring all future events from full knowledge about the action of the forces of nature in the present day. ) . Late and philosophically empty. rationalistic option F. - about the fatal predestination of a person to the criminal behavior of his inheritance. biological constitution(Lombroso) ( Jabarit, 8-9, fashionable at the turn of 19 and 20

Rejecting any forms of philosophy, he contrasts them with the doctrine of the dialectic of necessity and chance, of freedom and necessity in social history. process. Philosophical encyclopedic Dictionary. . - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1983 .

Ch. editor: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov

FATALISM

(from Latin fatalis - determined by fate)

G. Batishchev. Moscow.. Philosophical Encyclopedia. In 5 volumes - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1960-1970 .

Ch. editor: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov

Edited by F. V. Konstantinov

FATALISM (from Latin fatalis - fatal, predetermined) is the idea of ​​the inevitability of everything that happens in nature and in human life, excluding chance and freedom. Fatalism originates in the mythological worldview, the intuitive belief of people in their own powerlessness in the face of the forces of nature and becomes widespread in early cultures. In the process of the formation of theistic religions based on faith in an omnipotent deity, fate gives way to the idea of ​​providence, which, although inaccessible human understanding , is, however, not an impersonal predetermining force, the embodiment of the will of the deity. IN monotheistic religions

In classical forms, fatalism appears in ancient culture, growing out of mythological ideas about fate, dominating both mere mortals and heroes and gods (cf., for example, Sophocles, “Oedipus the King,” “Oedipus at Colonus”). Fate cannot be changed, you can only courageously accept your fate. In the tragedy of Aeschylus “Prometheus Chained” (105) Prometheus says: After all, I foresaw everything that was to come, and no one rules the world (see Necessity and Chance), due to universal causality and the absence of chance. While individual modes are subject to external causality, the role of the universal cause for the entire set of modes is directly acted as the cause of itself.

Following the successes of mechanics in the Age of Enlightenment, a causal-mechanical theory developed, accepting the universal as indisputable. Initially determined by the entire preceding chain of cause-and-effect relationships, not only all natural phenomena are recognized, but also the actions of people, as well as the results of these actions. According to Holbach, “in all his actions a person submits to necessity... he is a chimera” (Zdravyi. M., 1941, p. 60).

Fatalism found a peculiar manifestation in the theory of “eternal return” by F. Nietzsche, which goes back to ancient mythology. For philosophy and ethics of the 20th century. characteristic, rather, of human freedom and responsibility (N. A. Berdyaev, J. P. Sartre). Pomer saw in historicism, which substantiates the natural inevitability of certain historical processes, a type of fatalism. T.n. everyday fatalism is a person’s reaction to his powerlessness in the face of the world opposing him.

Lit.: Karpenko A. S. Fatalism and chance of the future: logical analysis. M., 1990; Dlugach T. B. Podvig common sense, or The Birth of the Sovereign Personality. M., 1995; Ogurtsov A.P. Philosophy of science of the Enlightenment. M., 1995; Stolyarov A. A. Standing and stoicism. M., 1995; Berezovsky G.V. From Montaigne to Holbach. M., 1996; Cioffäan V. Fortune and Fate from Democritus to St. Aquinas. N. Y, 1935.

K. E. Novikov

New Philosophical Encyclopedia: In 4 vols. M.: Thought. Edited by V. S. Stepin. 2001 .

See what "FATALISM" is in other dictionaries:

fatalism- a, m. fatalisme m. Belief in predestination, inevitable fate. BAS 1. Predestination fatalisme, which, however, is noticed in one speech of the Savior, when he speaks of Iscariot. 1808. V. A. Ozerov A. N. Olenin. // RA 1869 5 133. Walking along... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

- (new Latin with Greek ending, from Latin fatum rock, fate). A philosophical opinion that attributes all events human life blind predestination; fate, fate Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910.… … Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Fatalism- (Latin fatum – tagyr, fatalis – zhazmyshtyk); 1) tabighatta, қоғamada zәne әrbіr adamnіn өmіrіnde okigalardyn zhogary erikpen, jazmyshpen (rock), tagdyrmen aldyn ala anqtalatyndy turali philosophy concept; 2) wasps concept sәikes zhuris – turys… … Philosophy terminerdin sozdigi

Male, Lat. fate, fate in the sense of predestination, inevitable, providentially destined future. The basis of Islamism is fatalism. Fatalists deny the free will of man and his responsibility for his deeds. Fatalistic belief is disastrous for morality.... ... Dictionary Dahl

– Vladyka, I would like you to answer the question of one of our very attentive fifteen-year-old reader Petya B. from Moscow. “In your conversations, you often emphasize that man is not a puppet in the hands of God, that God never deprives a person of the right to choose,” writes Petya. - But then tell me, what is inevitable in life, what is predetermined in it, and what is not? And what is fatalism?

– Fatalism is a myth, it is an idol of inevitability. After all, fate or fatality is something that denies a person’s free will, and therefore responsibility for his deeds and actions. This is a state when a person dooms himself in advance to the role of a passive observer of events. But this is only apparent irresponsibility - in fact, a person is always responsible for inactivity, because there is Supreme Court. This is not a court in the usual sense, when a person is judged by what he has accomplished, this is a moral court, which determines what a person could have done, but did not do. It’s like in the parable of the talents, told by Christ to His disciples. One man, “going to a foreign country, called his servants and entrusted them with his property: and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his strength... He who received five talents went, put them to work and acquired other five talents ; in the same way, the one who received two talents acquired another two, and the one who received one talent went and buried his into the ground and hid his master’s money” (Matthew 25:14–18). When the owner returned, he demanded an account from his slaves: “the one who received five talents brought another five talents and said:“ Master! you gave me five talents; behold, I acquired another five talents with them.” His master said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in small things, I will put you over many things.” (Matthew 25. 19 – 21). The same thing happened with the slave to whom the master gave two talents. And then the one to whom he gave one talent comes up and says: “Sir! I knew you that you were a cruel man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter, and being afraid, you went and hid your talent in the ground; here is yours” (Matthew 25:24–25). He buried his talent out of fear, this is his logic: I’m afraid that I’ll lose it, and the master will ask me later, so it’s better not to do anything with it, but just bury it. And then Christ talks about how the master acts: “His master answered him: you are a wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter, therefore you should have given my silver to the merchants, and when I came, I would have received mine with profit.” (Matthew 25:26–27). And then he acts, it would seem, unfairly - he takes the talent and gives it to someone who already has ten talents - “for to everyone who has, more will be given and he will have an abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29).

– Why is it so seemingly unfair?

– Because when a person multiplies what God gives him - and we are all given something, then he puts his skill, his strength into it, takes risks, this is not inaction, this is the path towards God. Such a person becomes a co-worker with God. But fatalism is a fruitless existence when a person, firstly, does not take on any responsibility, Secondly, denies that his will can manifest itself and contribute to the emergence of some new quality, and thirdly, fatalism is an idol of inevitability, when a person begins to worship the fact that he cannot change anything. Many sometimes do not even realize that they are sinning with fatalism, sinning in that they do not want to actively participate in this world.

– What is the difference between such an inactive position and the situation when a person relies on the will of God?

– These are completely different things. Relying on the will of God means waiting for God to answer your call. But waiting for the will of God, a person prays, he asks: “Lord! Thy will be done!”, and even if he does not outwardly do anything, he actively participates in Communion with God, he applies his will, showing his readiness to accept God’s. A person begins to build his life according to the Commandments, he begins to do good - all this requires not just activity, but the mobilization of all internal forces. And it’s a completely different matter when you don’t show your will in any way, and then in this lack of will a person allows destructive, satanic forces to reach him. Hence, as a result, a state of hopelessness, doom, depression, and reluctance to change anything. Therefore, fatalism is also sinful in that it leads to the rejection of all activity and one’s own will, in that it is based on the denial that man is endowed with such a Divine gift as free will and choice.

“But very often there really are situations when a person has no choice but to say: “That’s it, I can’t do anything!”

- Look, a person cannot fully fulfill God’s Commandments: after all, if we could, then we would save ourselves - we would write a moral code and fulfill it, then why God? But we are not saved ourselves, Christ saves us, God’s Grace saves us. And it often happens that when a person thinks about his sinfulness, about his life, he may have a feeling of his powerlessness, the impossibility of changing something, or even a feeling of doom. And this state of hopelessness that we are talking about now is the result of a person’s loss of one of the Christian virtues.

– What kind of virtues are these?

– There are three Christian virtues: Faith, Hope and Love. And Love is the highest of them. Because it will never be abolished. We now live in the earthly world and believe in the heavenly world, but when we move there, faith will no longer be needed, because we will gain the contemplation of God. We hope, but when we move on to another world, our hope will already be realized. Therefore, only Love will remain, it alone will not be abolished, and if you had it here, you will have it there too...

So, the loss of hope in our own strengths, in the fact that God gave them so that we can change our lives, is the basis of a fatal outlook on life. But man is really not a puppet. And God always, even at the last moment of a person’s life, gives him the opportunity to change this life. Let us remember the thief who repented when he was already crucified on the cross.

– But for this you need to see God, believe in Him, and this is difficult.

– Of course, because this is an internal action. Look how difficult it can be to get up in the morning and read morning prayers- although, it would seem, it couldn’t have been easier: I got up 15 minutes earlier, took the prayer book and read it in front of the icon. After all, we often devote much more energy and time to things that are much less important, but to pray – more difficult because it requires internal effort.

At birth, God gives everyone the gift of faith - it is said: Christ enlightens every person who comes into the world. When a person is born, he already has the image and likeness of God. The image is the talents that are given to us, and the likeness is the goal that a person must strive for in order to accomplish his salvation. This is very important: by endowing a person with certain abilities, God writes some kind of goal in his heart, in his soul. And a person can direct all his talents to determine this goal and then fulfill it, or he can, like a slave who buried his talent, not determine anything and not fulfill it. But if you know what God wrote in you, recognize the inscription that God made in your soul, then you will know the author. It is said: “Know yourself and you will know God.”

– It turns out that a person correctly feels the fact of the existence of a certain predetermination, the very task that is destined for him by God, but he can confuse this predetermination, for example, with fatalism, with a certain inevitability in fate.

– Of course, the Lord gives this assignment, and a person must recognize it in his soul and fulfill it. But at the same time, he is free not to recognize it and not to fulfill it. If he recognizes it and realizes it, then this is the salvation of man, because this is the fulfillment of the will of God, the union of man’s will with the will of his Creator. Here “deification” occurs as a certain state of unity with God. And when a person refuses to fulfill the will of God, he naturally looks for an excuse, and false pictures of the world are drawn in his mind. Hence the pagan worship of idols, false gods - superstitions, omens, fate, stars.

– This is probably the most difficult question - how to recognize what is written in you by God.

– The Church is the house of God on earth, the place where the Holy Spirit acts in a special way – this is the place where a person can test himself. We have a lot of evidence of how the Holy Fathers, possessing the gift of foresight and foresight, guided and taught people. For example, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, who possessed the amazing gift of clairvoyance, received thousands of people.

-Does foresight exist?

– It happens that the future is revealed to us when the Lord protects us from something. Our soul has such Divine qualities as eternity, immortality, which means it is capable of perceiving the future, although it is difficult for us, due to the fact that we ourselves live in time periods, to imagine this. But insight, the gift of foresight, is a colossal responsibility. On the one hand, you can really warn a person, but on the other hand, there is a risk that in doing so you will paralyze his will.

– In the Bible, the future is often revealed to people by angels; they anticipate some global events in the history of mankind: Archangel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus to the Mother of God, and he also announced the birth of John the Baptist.

– Yes, angels belong to the heavenly world, therefore, having knowledge about a person, they communicate it to him. But the ability to hear your Guardian Angel depends on the person himself, on his purity, on the degree of his religiosity and church involvement.

– That is, angels can be messengers of God for us too?

– Of course, at baptism, each person is given a Guardian Angel, and he carries out a messenger mission. The word “angel” itself means “messenger, messenger”, announcing some message from God. It is no coincidence that the words “Gospel” (i.e., “good news”) and “angel” have a common root. And the Guardian Angel not only protects us, instructs us, protects us, but also looks for opportunities to communicate the will of God to man.

The ability to hear the voice of the Guardian Angel depends on constant prayer work. A person can sometimes be compared to a radio receiver, and if he has a chaotic life, if he himself says one thing or another, like a receiver whose dial is being turned, then it can be very difficult for him to recognize where the wave to which he needs to tune is. And here a lot depends on prayer work. There are simple things that sometimes seem banal. It is said that a person should pray in the morning - this is as obligatory as washing. The soul must awaken, and this awakening occurs through prayer. And in the morning rule there is a prayer to your Guardian Angel, which creates a person’s mood and helps to perceive the will of God. In this prayer we ask our Guardian Angel to stand before God for us.

– What is Angel Day, how to spend it correctly?

– Angel’s Day is the day of the saint after whom we are named. In general, naming is a very important point. There is an episode in the Bible, we have already talked about this, when God created animals, brought them to man and asked him to name them. After all, to name is, firstly, to determine the essence, and secondly, to determine your power over the one to whom you gave the name. And when, during the Sacrament of Baptism, a name is given, this is a definition of the power of Christ over man. Therefore, it is no coincidence that if a person went to a sect, where he was given a different name, then when he returns from the sect, we again read a prayer for him to give him a name - we return it to him christian name. And along with the name, a person receives the Saint in whose honor he is named. On Angel Day, a person must take communion, that is, unite with God in the Sacrament of Communion, naturally, having confessed before this. In Rus', Angel Day has always been considered higher than birthday, because it reminded a person of his Divine essence.

– This is probably the most important question.

– Yes, and this is a matter of spiritual experience.

– Is it possible for a person to feel whether he is fulfilling the will of God?

- Of course it is. This is the feeling when a person is filled with goodness, light, in such cases they say: “He is completely glowing.” And we can say quite clearly that when a person does not fulfill the will of God, then he is given the feeling of emptiness, his abandonment by God, his unwillingness to live.

– Is this what is called “soul pain”?

– Yes, but it happens that people do evil and feel comfortable due to spiritual underdevelopment. There is no standard here, every person is unique, and everyone’s soul is unique - God has a lot of everything. Maybe a person’s soul is suffering from the “right disease” - when, for example, a person has such a heightened sense of responsibility for the whole world that he begins to pray for it. You can’t just say that since your soul hurts, it means you’re doing something wrong... Maybe, on the contrary, you take on a lot. Determining God's will for oneself is an experience of Communion with God; there are no standards, because everyone has their own path to God, known only to him and their own meeting with Him.

Fatalism is a philosophical movement that claims that every action is inevitable, determined by fate. The meaning of the word fatalism is revealed through its root fatalis, translated from Latin meaning fate, predestination. Fatalism in simple words there is a belief in the necessity, the inevitability of what happens to a person.

In a separate sense, fatalism can be correlated with, since following this worldview, a person does not make an attempt to change fate in its negative moments, but obediently follows evil fate. In philosophy, the meaning of the word fatalism is revealed through the idea that events of any kind are already captured before us, in advance, and in our reality they only tend to acquire their manifestation.

What is fatalism?

The history of fatalism in modern times is connected with the history of the deterministic approach. This approach is most clearly expressed in the philosophy of rigid determinism, the prominent representatives of which were Spinoza and Leibniz.

Fatalism, in connection with determinism, asserts causality, which is caused by the actions of the universe. That is, fatalism, in simple words, says that the laws of the universe cannot be circumvented, even if something seems unfair to a person, he wants to change it, then his desire is in vain and cannot be realized, since it is impossible to go against the course of the universe.

Spinoza believed that an individual person is only a speck of dust in the universe, so it makes no sense to expect a speck of dust to take upon itself courage and be able to control itself.

Fatalism, what is it in simple words? Fatalism can be described by a single word - fate. This vision in the most vivid format can also be traced in the philosophy of the Stoics - a direction born during the period of decline, decline of ancient Greek philosophy, the crossroads of ancient Greek and already Roman ideas. The Stoics believed that one must submit to fate - one’s fate, which haunts everyone, and one cannot refuse it.

The Stoics came up with a very vivid comparison that evokes vivid reactions: “The one who walks is led by fate, but the one who resists is dragged with hooks.” Such hooks are naturally shown in the film “The Passion of the Christ” - they are a stick with several leather ropes tied to it, with a hook attached to the end of each. During flagellation, such hooks are driven under the skin, tearing out pieces of meat from the human body.

The meaning of this phrase, which is used by the Stoics, is extremely simple: every person’s destiny is already written, life is completely and completely predetermined, it is impossible and meaningless to change an event in this predetermined course. Then everything depends only on our attitude: whether to treat the blows of fate lightly, calmly, dispassionately, to accept it completely, even to the point of indifference to it, or to fight and be unhappy.

What does it mean to submit to fate? This is not to interfere with the order of things that we observe. The Stoics believe that a person will, in any case, follow a fateful path, but the only question is how he will go: quickly and easily, even using the help of fate, or being dissatisfied with it, with great obstacles and problems.

Examples of fatalism

Loud examples of following the worldview of universal predestination are provided to us by world history fatalism. It is worth saying that in a separate sense, the fatalism of great people is always associated with pride, their strong open position, which does not allow them to try to escape from events that were recognized as fateful.

For example, Julius Caesar rejects the warnings of his soothsayer Spurinna to “beware the Ides of March” and his own wife Calpurnia, who dreamed that he was stabbed to death in the Forum. But despite these warnings, Julius Caesar not only goes to the forum, but also does not take bodyguards, and ends up surrounded by dozens of conspirators who kill him.

King Gustav III of Sweden demonstrated similar pride and inflexibility, who, before a noble ball, dined with his favorites and received news of an assassination attempt being prepared right at the ball. Like Julius Caesar, Gustav refused to take a guard, and even rejected the requests of his favorites to wear chain mail under his festive clothes, saying: “If someone wants to kill me, then best place He won’t find anything better than here.” Although the ball was a masquerade, and all the dancers wore masks, the king made himself recognizable thanks to the massive cross of the order, which only royalty wore and did not remove. According to the order, he was recognized as a murderer, who pushed through the crowd and pulled out a pistol behind the king’s back. Gustav noticed this and turned around, the shot hit only the leg instead of the heart, which, however, still led to the death of the king 13 days later from infection through the wound, since the pistol was loaded with small shot and wallpaper nails with rust, which brought infection. Despite the enormous chances of survival, the king could not avoid the death planned for him - is this again the role of fatalism?

Another striking example of fatalism and a fatalistic outlook on life was Baron Ungern. Legends circulated about his courage during his lifetime. Nobody's bullet could hit him in battle; he rushed at his enemy without a shadow. After one battle, traces of more than 70 bullets were found in clothes, horse harness, shoes and bags, not a single one of which wounded the baron. The baron himself believed in this chosenness and hired several fortune-tellers and soothsayers into his retinue. Knowing Ungern's faith in fate, the orderly Burdukovsky took advantage of this, who bribed one of the fortune tellers to testify to the baron that he could live as long as Burdukovsky lived.

Burdukovsky immediately received special attention from the baron; he was protected as if he contained Ungern’s life. However, a little later, the same fortune teller predicted that Ungern had only 130 days left to live. This news was confirmed by other soothsayers - two monks predicted the same date by throwing dice. Ungern believed, the baron’s faith was also supported by the fact that he saw the number 130 as fatal for himself, because it was 10 times 13.

Over the course of 130 days, more than once Ungern was within a hair's breadth of death. There was strong discord in the troops; both enemies and their own officers tried to kill the baron. A conspiracy was organized, and the conspirators invaded the baron's tent, but Ungern was in the next tent at that time. Hearing the shooting and leaning out, he was spotted and they opened fire on him at point-blank range. But the baron was saved by being able to duck into the bushes. Later, the baron’s entire regiment decided to flee, and Ungern rode across the regiment, and the regiment’s officers opened fire on the baron. And again, despite the extremely short distance, no one was able to reach his target with his bullet, Ungern turned and galloped away, thus escaping.

Ungern was betrayed even by his own Mongols, who believed in him as if in the “god of war.” Having tied Ungern up and left him in the tent, they set off in all directions, so that, according to legend, the spirits would not find anyone to pursue. And so he was discovered and captured by the red patrol. In captivity, the baron repeatedly tried to commit suicide with poison and strangulation, but the ampoule of poison was lost, and the horse rein, which Ungern wanted to use as a noose, turned out to be too short. After the expiration of the time allotted by the fortune teller and the monks, the baron was nevertheless executed. In the surviving interrogation protocols there is a record that Ungern considered himself a confident fatalist and firmly believed in fate.