The foundation of volunteering is charity: a philosophical approach

Abstract

The article points out the insufficiency of philosophical studies of volunteerism in this aspect, attempts to reveal the essence of this phenomenon and determine its role in society, to assess it based on axiological and sociological approaches. The authors, considering the philosophical aspects of the phenomena of charity and volunteerism, try to show the way of the anthropocentric development of these phenomena. Despite the fact that charity is an archaic social institution, its philosophical aspects, as well as its main features, have not been fully studied to date. This fact defines the purpose of this article as the consideration of this issue in a socio-philosophical context and the disclosure of its significance at the present stage. The study emphasizes the importance of philosophical study of the essence of volunteerism, its role in solving social problems. The authors’ study of the problems of volunteerism is based on the ideas of philanthropy, altruism, world religious values, and the analysis of volunteerism in the flow of time. The article examines the statements of such philosophers as O. Comte and F. Nietzsche on this problem.