Kondycja współczesnej rodziny - ujęcie interdyscyplinarne

Abstract

Observations of reality, including changes, which take place in the understanding of marriage and the family and noticeable in the relations between its members, became the basis for the idea of creating an interdisciplinary monograph on the condition of today’s family. In the postmodern world the concepts of human nature, family, community, love, development, self-development, freedom have been redefi ned in the face of intensely changing cultural, economic, political, and health phenomena. Th e changes currently taking place in the family bring a variety of eff ects, both benefi cial and unfavorable. For centuries, the family has been the primary source of shaping the attitudes of individuals. Today, however, these natural processes have degraded in favor of modern visions of human and world development. Th e changes aff ected the structure of the family – its shape, functions, rules of conduct, and value systems. New values displace the old ones or contradict them. In recent months, the COVID-19 pandemic has become an additional factor destabilizing the functioning of families, making a sense of concern about the near and distant future. Taking into account these considerations, the authors of this monograph focuses on the analysis of changes in marriage and the family from four scientific perspectives: philosophy, theology/canon law, psychology, and pedagogy. Describing and commenting on the observed changes, anthropological assumptions were made referring to the Christian vision of man, or more precisely – the Catholic interpretation regarding man, marriage, and the family. Characterizing the fundamental, contemporary motives of human behavior, the following issues were addressed: the freedom of the individual, his right to self-development, the desire to create close relationships with others, the formal structure of close relationships in the form of marriages, as well as the issues of contemporary rules of upbringing and the growing sense of loneliness. These issues are discussed in fi ve subsequent parts of the monograph. Th e initial part of the monograph brings – as a fi rst – a philosophical analysis of family life in selected contemporary anthropological concepts – liberal and libertarian, referring to the views of John Locke and John Stuart Mill. Secondly, humanistic psychology was examined, especially the issue of self-realization in the view of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. The neoliberal perspective was shown as the third, along with the emphasis on the absolutization of human aspirations to achieve full freedom, independence, and self-realization. In opposition to the three previous concepts, the Christian perspective was presented. The personalistic vision of marriage and the family contrasts the absolute idea of freedom – the value of a conscious choice of possible action by man. At the end of this part, a critical assessment of neoliberal views on marriage and the family was undertaken, pointing to the personalistic idea of human dignity and freedom of his decisions. The second part of the monograph focuses on theological-canonical issues. In the context of teaching on the family, special emphasis was placed on issues related to marriage.(...)