Incompleteness of human being: anthropological aspect of the problem

Spontaneous existential feeling of suffering, dissatisfaction, peculiar to human life, causes the topicalityof the ontological incompleteness theme. Anthropology analyses the problem of incompleteness in connection with the question ofhuman essence. Foucaults thesis about mans death makes human essence a question, sets the necessity of finding the level of determinationof this essence by cultural signs. In the West we can observe the interest in anthropology, but here anthropological problems havemostly social-cultural context. At this conjuncture it appears reasonable to revise the trusted principles of classical anthropology inorder to try to return human essence by means of positive research. This research may concern ontological incompleteness as a fundamentalhuman feature. The theme of incompleteness is described by such researchers as M. Scheler, H. Plessner, A. Gehlen. Gehlensuggests the concept of incompleteness. For Plessner as well as for Gehlen incompleteness has biological character. A. Gehlen,H. Plessner, K. Lorenz imply incompleteness (having a gap - Gehlens mangelwesen) of human being as а biological gap, comparinghumans with other living creatures. To be non-generic, artificial is constitutive for human being: s/he is deprived of foundationin being, that is why s/he has to create himself, to make her-/himself to be the one s/he already is. For example, for M. Scheler incompletenessshows itself in error of spirit and life (biological, natural energy). Anthropology was searching for essence of human being asan inner, permanent foundation, but the only thing that remained permanent was incompleteness itself. In this connection classical anthropologyattaches positive importance to transforming, self-affirming activity of humans. This fact creates a mood of all-sufficiencyand autonomy, compasses humans to ennoble themselves, but does not replace the absence of essence. The achievement of classicalanthropology is about having passed the way from searching for essence to announcing death of subject, it stated the death of a humanas an anthropological fact. Modern anthropology revises the situation of a human being in the world, replacing the denial of anthropocentrismby a positive idea of participating in the world (S. Horuzhy, B. Markov, V. Sagatovsky etc). Loneliness and infertility of selfprojectiongives way to trust the transcendent source, filling a human with being.

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