Human activity as fundamental characteristic of human existence

The complex problem of human activity was studied by many philosophers: G.S. Batishchev [6], M.S. Kagan [7], E.S. Markaryan [2]; psychologists: A.N. Leontiev [8], S.L. Rubinstein [9]. In philosophical literature, the concept of «activity» appears as one of the most fundamental characteristics of human existence.

«Activity» should be understood as a way of human existence and, accordingly, it is legitimate to define it as an acting creature» (M.S. Kagan) [7, p.5].

The researcher L.N. Kogan believes that culture reveals the qualitative side of human activity, shows how it acts as the realization of the essential forces, creative potentials of a person, how this activity meets certain requirements and norms. The content of the culture is the process of human development, the formation of his creative forces, relationships, needs, forms of communication. Culture is presented by the author as a universal characteristic of an individual, which sets the social and humanistic program and predetermines the individual’s orientation [10].

Culture plays a special, specific role in the relationship between human being and the world. According to the philosophers, culture is a special activity way of human exploration of the world, including both the entire external world – nature, society, and the inner world of the person himself in the sense of its formation and development. This is the value-based cultural aspect of all material and intellectual products and creations created by human being (V.S. Semenov) [11].

Activity and culture are correlated through the concept of «method». The culture of intellectual work taken as a way of educational activity is considered not as a closed but an open system. Essentially culture is dialectical. And that is reflected in the thought – «culture acts as a human activity, taken in the focus of the ability to concretize the content of the internal ideal wealth of mankind in specific historical conditions, to overcome the limited framework of established norms and values and, thereby, aims at its own self-development » [12, p.107].

The development of the culture of intellectual work can occur spontaneously: as a result of age-related changes in the intellectual sphere of a student, as he accumulates experience in mental work, under the influence of studying various disciplines (the synergetic approach by E.N. Knyazev, A.I. Prigozhy). However, the development of intellectual work culture is especially effective when the process is adequately managed [13, p.71].