UDC

130.2

Authors

Svetlana N. Belozerskikh
Belgorod State University of Arts and Culture 7 Koroleva St., Belgorod, 308033, Russian Federation; e-mail: belozerskih09@yandex.ru

Abstract

The increasing life expectancy and universally observed processes of ageing of the world population (especially in economically developed countries) have recently stimulated the interest in old age and ageing among researchers, including philosophers. The article discusses key approaches of modern Russian authors to the understanding of the phenomenon of old age from the philosophical and anthropological point of view. This phenomenon is revealed through its connection with such categories as age, age periodization, course of life, fear, and death. The analysis of these approaches proved them to be an alternative to widespread transhumanist ideas, allowing a broader view of old age as a complex multidimensional phenomenon, which is not reduced to a simple biological decline of the body, but consists of both losses and certain gains. This allows us to speak of a turnabout of Russian scholars’ interest in a multidimensional study of the phenomenon of old age, its possible constructive components and its perception as a universal multifaceted phenomenon that manifests itself at three different levels: bodily, mental, and spiritual. As the manifestations of ageing are highly individual and diverse, we should acknowledge that there exist various types of old age that are reflected in different life strategies of elderly and old people. The analysis of currently existing typologies of old age indicates that life quality of senior citizens largely depends on their acceptance or non-acceptance of their age.

Keywords

older people, old age, ageing process, age periodization, philosophy of old age

References

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