Abstract

First, the paper defines the basic characteristics of the historically prevailing conceptions of person; further it gives an outline of the current spiritual situation of the Western culture with its roots in humanist and Enlightenment tradition. It also shows the fortunes of humanist tradition from the Enlightenment to Romanticism and further to the disintegration of the classical humanist ideal in the 20th century. In conclusion the paper tries to indicate the possible ways of mutual understanding and the harmonization of interpersonal relationships, as well as the relationships between person and society