Shevchenko Z. Individualism as the constituent of democracy

The dissertation is devoted to the social-philosophical analysis problem of individualism, reinterpretation of his essence and perspectives of his development in the context harmonization of individualistic and collective tendencies on the background of contemporary Ukrainian society. In the course of dissertational investigation, there was determined that the principle of individualism was acquiring dissemination, own development, new significances depending on coming into being historical ages, political regimes, cultures and religions, which determine correlation the categories of individual and collective. There is shown in the work that the individualism as the many-sided and the complicated phenomenon is connected with many categories and concepts of philosophy, sociology, psychology, ethics, politology. It is necessary condition, without which the development of these disciplines is inconceivable. Reinterpretation of concept "individualism", which are demanded of modern realities, determined that the essence of individualism is not absolutism of selfish interests of separate person, the opposition personality and society, but the sense of value and original of each separate person close by own, responsibility for own actions and their consequences, the observance of universal moral-ethical standards. The investigator concludes that the individualism, connecting own negative and positive forms, which are being formed by the each person and society, gives a powerful stimulus and spur to development of human civilization in conditions of harmonization with the moderate collectivism and democracy.