Abstract

Background. The concept of "personality" contains a diversity of semantic meanings and is associated with a number of concepts and approaches to the philosophical and methodological study of its meanings within various fields of science. Methods. The methodological perspective through which the research was conducted made it possible to attempt a description of a holistic view of the understanding of human personality in contemporary philosophy and modern scientific discourse. A reinterpretation of classical understandings of this concept as something stable and fixed was carried out. Results. Human personality is a multifaceted and ambiguous phenomenon. The problem of studying this issue lies in the fact that there is no single concept, approach, direction, method, or means that would provide a clear and unambiguous explanation of what personality is, what its properties and characteristics are, and so on. This concept is complex and multidimensional, since understanding a human being involves a combination of biological, social, historical, spiritual, and other dimensions. That is why, when speaking about human personality, we mean a combination of the external and the internal, freedom and responsibility, spirituality and religiosity, self-consciousness and how a person is perceived by others, as well as many other factors. Conclusions. Personality is considered an essential characteristic of a human being, which is formed and changes throughout life. The necessary conditions for the full and harmonious existence of a personality in the world and society include an understanding of various values, knowledge, morality, norms, and so on. However, since central concepts in understanding and explaining personality include such features as "liberty", "freedom", "choice", "responsibility" and "personal experience", the perception of a person as a certain personality – with the presence or absence of specific qualities and characteristics – may not coincide with how the person positions, identifies, understands, and perceives themselves as a personality in relation to the world and others.