“To lose the meaning of life or to have different views on this meaning means being estranged from yourself, your essential nature—to be self-alienated.” This statement can only be valid if we accept the ideas of the essential nature and essential truth. Then, there can only be one “true meaning” of life; other meanings would appear as a “loss of true visions.” This understanding of reality has come to us from the monotheism of classical times, which implied the belief in one God and one “truth”.

But if any “essence” is a symbolic value constructed by society so that Individuals could act in accordance with shared meanings within their social context, it then becomes possible to have multiple “truths” coexisting at the same time. These different meanings clash either antagonistically or agonistically. In the former case, people with different views see each other as enemies; in the latter as “friendly enemies,” or adversaries. The former leads to violent clashes; the latter implies negotiations.

The advent of post-modernity, as many observers believe, has been marked by the loss of sense, purpose, and shared meanings. It is becoming more and more difficult to reach a social agreement on once “innocent” and “commonsense” questions such as “What is family, gender, education, prestige, talent, art,” etc. People come to be alienated from one another through developing their unique views on the surrounding world. Unable to understand each other, instead of agonistic relations, necessary for peaceful coexistence, they often engage in antagonistic ones.

Each social system consists of individuals whose harmonic coexistence is necessary for the system to be able reproducing itself. Further alienation of alienated parts can hypothetically reach the point when individuals transform into atoms with no shared meanings at all. This will result in the death of society and the war of all against all, as Hobbs once predicted—the reign of pure antagonism not mitigated by understanding, compassion, and mutual help.

It looks sometimes as if this terrible world with a nice adjective “postmodern” has already arrived. I believe, there is not much sense in describing it using classical philosophical and sociological concepts. But I also believe there is still a sense to hope: to look around in search for those who would share your views. There is still a sense in making attempts to transcend alienation…