A thought that should not end: the relevance and significance of M.K. Mamardashvili's ideas

The article is devoted to the works of the outstanding Soviet philosopher Merab Konstantinovich Mamardashvili whose writings reconciled philosophy and life. M.K. Mamardashvili participated in the formation of the Thaw era. This unique phenomenon can be characterized by the creation of a niche that is able to concentrate the tension of free thought under total control over science and art. From the theoretical and methodological point of view, M.K. Mamardashvili was very close to existential and phenomenological thought. However, the content of his ideas went beyond existentialism and classical phenomenology. He is an existentialist in the sense that the “self”, a concrete being separated from the general social element, is formulated as the foundation of philosophy. The discovery made by M.K. Mamardashvili is the universal formula of the ontology of knowledge. Its essence is to almost mystically focus the subject on an individual attitude towards objective reality. This process is reflected in one word that is understanding. M.K. Mamardashvili reviews understanding as a way of development for both the individual as a spiritual being and the society as a whole because individual and society are the essential part of social medium.