EXISTENTIAL VALUES AND EXISTENTIAL CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE BASIS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIETY IN A PLURALISTIC SOCIO-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
In the conditions of unstable international relations, aggressive informational influences on the consciousness of citizens are intensifying pluralism of values and sociocultural alienation of social groups. At the same time, for the preservation and development of the state there is an urgent need for permanent unification of society around the goals of state development. In order to reduce social disunity, it is necessary to create optimal conditions for the formation of a value consensus in Russian society that contribute to the continuity of social changes leading to sustainable development of society. The article aims to determine the role of existential values for achieving social consensus on the key goals of state development, overcoming value relativism, preserving the integrity of Russian society in a pluralistic sociocultural environment. To create the concept of existential values, we used the methodological principle of Russian philosophy about the integrity of the world, the interconnectedness of all phenomena. A questionnaire survey is used to collect primary sociological information, and statistical analysis of data is used to analyze it. In the process of research presented in the article, we were able to confirm the hypothesis that the completeness and integrity of the perception of the world by an individual depends on his social activity. An indicator of integrity is the degree of structuring of the value system of the individual. The ability to comprehend the world as a whole, to experience the relationship of all phenomena, including his life, we have defined as existential consciousness. It affects the depth of the interiorization of existential values, i.e. the understanding of the significance of their actions, decisions, ideas for societies, culture, and humanity. Existential values harmonize the system of values, contribute to the deep assimilation of ideals, setting long-term goals, the formation of social responsibility. In a pluralistic socio-cultural environment, they create interest in other cultural forms, respect for other sociocultural manifestations. At the same time, existential consciousness and existential values expand the criticality of thinking, based on the correlation with the idea of the necessary improvement of phenomena and processes. Therefore, their carriers are able to protect the social order, institutional environment, their own culture from destructive influences. Institutionalized social activity is only the tip of the iceberg of the process of creating social order. Institutional integrity is based on existential values, the role of which increases significantly in a complex and diverse sociocultural environment.