TRANSFORMATION OF THE HUMAN DIGNITY DUE TO THE PRACTICES OF GRATITUDE: ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE CULTURE OF PRESENCE

Abstract

Human experience shapes one’s relationship with the world. Even the experiences of previous generations continue to exert a direct influence on contemporary society as a community of individuals. The prolonged existence of people under totalitarian and dehumanizing regimes has profoundly eroded trust: both in the world itself and in other human beings. This loss of trust has occurred primarily through the degradation and destruction of human dignity, which has long constituted, and continues to constitute, the fundamental basis for harmonious social relationships and for the formation of personal identity. The current study offers an integrated analysis of the philosophy of the culture of presence alongside Eucharistic practices (practices of gratitude), examining their role in the transformation of human dignity and the formation of mature human subjectivity. Accordingly, this research aims to identify the anthropological potential of practices of gratitude as a transformative factor of human dignity within the framework of the culture of presence. The philosophy of presence, grounded in the recognition of the Other, enables individuals to receive life as a gift but not as an object of possession. Within this perspective, practices of gratitude become a means of embracing the world while simultaneously fostering the transformation, restoration, and affirmation of human dignity. In this context, the anthropological dimension of dignity should not be understood merely as an emotional disposition or as the capacity to defend one’s rights and personal boundaries. Rather, human dignity is disclosed through the person’s ability to respond to the gift of existence. Gratitude cultivates trust and relational coexistence in place of control and possession, while fostering empathy instead of selfcenteredness and indifference. It is therefore more than a moral virtue or a response to benefits received. It represents a fundamental mode of human existence that transforms one’s relationship to oneself, to others, and to the world. In this way, the individual ceases to function as an object and instead becomes a responsible moral subject, assuming responsibility for their own life. By gratefully embracing the Other, within oneself, the individual becomes capable of interpreting and accepting difficult or crisis cases, reflecting upon and overcoming deeply rooted traumas (such as collective traumas inherited from post-totalitarian societies). In this way, practices of gratitude contribute to the restoration of human dignity while cultivating self-respect and respect for others.