"Goals and means" in the system of value orientations of Kantian philosophy and pragmatism J. Dewey

One of the essential aspects of value orientations is the definition of "goals and means" as indicators of the directions of human activity. Such definitions seem to be one of the key ones in axiology, since according to I. Kant, “the realm of goals is the abode of values”. "Ends and means" have their prices, often measured by morality, considering a person as an end, or a means to an end. The presented statement of the problem indicates the clarification of what is considered the goal and what is the means, given their alternation according to J. Dewey. An analysis of the concepts of Kantianism and pragmatism determined the alternation of "ends and means" in the framework of the correlation of value with the object, person and idea. In this system of relations, it was found out that, according to I. Kant, objects-values are means without having a mind. If we perceive things as goals for a person, then they can be objects of culture as a result of activity. At the same time, it has been established that, from the position of I. Kant, a person himself is perceived as a goal with the highest price in the “realm of goals” called dignity, being the focus of moral values. However, during the study, it was also shown that in the Kantian concept of G. Rickert there is a “departure” from humanism, where a person as a means indicates that his life serves higher transcendental ideas-values. The characterization of ideas-values as "supergoals" leads to the conclusion that they are unrealizable, incomprehensible in their completeness, "points in infinity" where the paths of experience are directed. For a person, the knowledge of ideas is an endless task, and "culture" is the horizon to which all mankind is striving. The characterization of ideas-values as "supergoals" leads to the conclusion that they are unrealizable, incomprehensible in their completeness, "points in infinity" where the paths of experience are directed. For a person, the knowledge of ideas is an endless task, and "culture" is the horizon to which all mankind is striving. In conclusion, the reasoning of A.I. Vvedensky that life is a field of existence of goals and means, and if there are no “absolute values of goals”, then there are no “relative values of means”.