Philosophical dimension of ancient measure and Scandinavian lagom.

Lyubokhonskaya Oksana Valer'evna PhD in Philosophy Educator; Department of Philosophical-Historical Disciplines, Economics and Law; Saint Petersburg Academy Of Urban Environmental Management, Urban Planning And Printing 195273, Russia, g. Saint Petersburg, ul. Rustaveli, 33 gl.oksana2018@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

The new era requires a revision of fundamental philosophical categories and introduces a new terminology into philosophy and culture, which claims to be universal in its own semantic meaning. Lagom becomes one of these concepts. This term came from the Swedish language and has recently become widespread not only in cultural, semantic and linguistic, but also in philosophical contexts. The semantic meaning of lagom encompasses a certain system of values that form a special "way of life", which is popular today not only in Europe, but also in Russia.

Many authors popularizing this concept point to the Old Norse origin of the word lagom, deriving it from laget om, which means a group action when the Vikings formed a circle and passed a horn with mead to each other. They drank from it one sip at a time, so that there was enough for everyone ^{[6, p. 20]}. Later, the concept of lag is embedded in the legislation of the Scandinavian peoples ("lag" - "law") ^{[24, p. 24]}. Another important meaning of this term is the understanding of lagom as moderation or measure in everything, in accordance with the literal translation: "not too much, not too little", "just right", "enough" ^{[3, p.8],[6, p. 21]}. Thus, these three fundamental meanings of the word "lagom": general action, law and measure, present us with this concept as capable of generating a whole life concept that forms a new worldview or an entire philosophy ^{[9, p. 25]}.

The semantic context of the term "lagom" is most closely related to the ancient Greek category of measure (metron). In order to clarify whether the lagom concept can be fully considered a philosophy, it is necessary to compare these two concepts and identify their structural and semantic content. In this article, the comparison of the concepts of lagom and ancient measure will be carried out according to the following criteria - onto-cosmological, existential-anthropological and aesthetic, based on the methods of cultural and philosophical comparative studies.

The ontological cosmological criterion of measure and lagom.

The existential flight of the ancient Greeks from the chaos of the unconscious led to the rapid growth of the rational philosophical tree from the mythical subsurface, therefore, the ontological-cosmological criterion of measure can be characterized as dialectical and mythological-philosophical. The dialectical criterion first appears as a spontaneous dialectical one, using images of darkness and light, which is characteristic of the orphics and the philosophy of Heraclitus. Then, it is transformed into a rational-dialectical criterion, which is characterized by the struggle of chaos (spontaneous, disordered and unconscious principle) with the cosmos (ordered and permeated by the Logos principle) or the collision of non-existence with being, respectively. Measure can act here as a synthetic category providing dialectical transitions between the above-mentioned opposites.  For example, the apeiron of Anaximander can be interpreted not only as the beginning of everything that exists, but also as something that is a measure of its being and non-existence, because things that arose from the boundless apeiron are destined to perish in accordance with a certain order of compensation for mutual debts over time. Implicitly, the measure can be found in Empedocles in his teaching about the "roots of things" and about the forces driving the cosmos – Love and Enmity, where the first corresponds to the unity of being, and the second destroys this unity and leads the world to chaos. The concept of measure-number as the primary basis of being is present in Pythagoras, in Heraclitus the Logos acts as the measure and basis of all that exists, gathering being into unity.

The most revealing criterion of the importance of the measure for ancient Greek philosophical thought is Plato's dialogue "Timaeus".  If chaos is something that the demiurge god has not yet touched ^{[12, pp. 511-512]}, then proportionality is the basis of the world order formed from the interaction of the elements air, water, fire and earth ^{[12, p. 513]}. The existence of being is completely conditioned by the dialectical interaction of these two opposites of chaos and cosmos. Being is "held" in the balance of measure. The final deliverance of being from the chaotic component is impossible, since it is "a generic essence that sooner or later makes itself felt, breaking through the limitations of a reasonable order." ^{[10, pp.120-121]}. The mythopoeic description of world catastrophes does not imply the complete expulsion of chaos, but pushes it "to the periphery" ^{[8, p. 151]}. However, an overabundance of chaos and a violation of measure puts being on the verge of its existence: "Any mixture, if it is not in any way involved in measure and proportionality, inevitably destroys its component parts, and above all itself. For under such circumstances, it is not a mixture, but some kind of disorderly mass, always bringing trouble to its owners" ^{[14, p. 92]}. It turns out that the measure provides the relationship between chaos and space, being the most important bond of the existence of the world. The proportion of the cosmic measure is possessed only by the Demiurge god, who, seeing that the world is heading towards self-destruction, that the properties of disorder and unreason begin to prevail over order, begins to create the cosmos and organize it again. "Proportionality everywhere becomes beauty and virtue" ^{[14, p. 92]}, therefore, measure belongs to eternity and is the fundamental eidos that is at the foundation of being. The cosmos (being) presupposes a boundary, chaos destroys this boundary, being boundless. Therefore, the measure is the boundary of the cosmos and chaos, preventing the excessive spread of the latter, since it is the violation of the balance of the measure between them that can lead first to the victory of chaos, and then to the disappearance of being into non-existence. Thus, Plato further rationalizes the measure and "raises" it to a speculative model of everything that exists, opening up the possibility for further rationalization of this category in the works of Aristotle and G.V.F. Hegel.

 As for lagom, the root basis of this concept originates from Scandinavian mythology, namely from the myth of the origin of the world. We are talking about the structure of the universe, set by the tree of the limit – the sacred Yggdrasil, which is the first measure of all that exists. The soothsayer-velva speaks of nine roots, from which nine worlds sprout, respectively ^{[5, p. 22]}. These eternal worlds arise out of chaos ^[17]. In the beginning there was "great chaos: it was neither sand, nor sea, nor wind, nor storm (...) there was no land, and there was no sky above" ^[18]. The prophetess refers us to non-existence, where the seed of the world measure (the tree of the limit) is born, which will then take shape into nine worlds. The middle human world – Midgrad exists in some mixture of the limits of being and non-being, as it directly interacts with the disordered area of the world of Jotunheim, where giants live. This is a completely wild land, which is "given over to the elements and chaos of the untamed world" ^{[5, p. 27]}.

We find something similar in ancient Greek orphic cosmology: the world order arises from chaos, its originator is the Ocean in which the world egg floats – the prototype of being or cosmos. In this world egg, the first light was conceived, personified by the deity Phanes Protagon who emerged from it. After that, the light – Phanes formed the first divine pair with the goddess of night Nyukte (darkness) and in this union the first equilibrium basis of existence was found, and the existence of the world became an obvious fait accompli. Phanes Protagon resembles the Scandinavian giant Ymir, who already existed before the creation of genesis and then became flesh, matter for the creation of the nine worlds of Yggdrasil. Ymir was born in the chaos of nothingness, when "only the abyss yawned" ^[19]. Its appearance was preceded by two worlds: the fiery Muspelheim and the icy Niflheim. It turns out that the first living being already contained two opposites of fire and ice, which are eternal elemental principles and will remain even if the world tree perishes. Fire here can be interpreted as primordial chaos, since it is a spontaneous principle capable of destroying not only everything, but ultimately itself. To prevent this from happening, fire must be balanced by its complete opposite, which acts as ice as its limit, i.e. the limit of chaos. Ice is the element of water in its formality, orderliness, capable of stopping the element of fire or containing it. Thus, the mythical Ymir is a living anthropomorphic creation of two eternal worlds: fire and ice, chaos and order, non–existence and being.

In Scandinavian mythology, the existence of the world is supported by a measure of the spontaneous dialectical interaction of chaos and order, similar to how it is built in Orphic mythology. However, if the philosophical and mythological paradigm of ontocosmology is clearly revealed in relation to the ancient measure, then in relation to the Scandinavian lagom, which, although it carries the initial conceptual load of the measure as the limit of being, there is practically no philosophical unfolding of its semantic content, that is, this concept remains in the context of myth.

Measure and lag in an existential-anthropological perspective

The cosmo-ontological criterion of measure is transferred by ancient Greek philosophers to the anthropological paradigm, primarily taking into account its rationalizing principle. It is not for nothing that Plato puts into the mouth of Socrates the words: "Whether you want it or not, you will have to admit that you are a measure" ^{[15, p. 266]}. The ancient Greek's fear of the absorbing abyss and emptiness of chaos contributed to his insatiable desire to search for reasonable foundations of the world and human existence, gave rise to an incredible desire for pure "eidos" of being, seen in the light of reason. From this aspiration was born the understanding that I am is the ability to measure my existence through non-existence: "The measure of what exists or does not exist is each of us" ^{[15, p. 26]}. The discovery of oneself in being turned out, according to M. Heidegger, to be "a projection of being onto being" ^{[23, p. 117]}.

An important ritual of the Scandinavian tradition was mentioned above, when the Vikings sat in a circle and each, after drinking a sip from a bowl of mead, passed it to another. This is how the discovery of oneself in the circle of the unsuspected took place, and thus the measure of the existence and non-existence of the hero was determined. Because if you are not in this circle, then you do not exist for the family and tribe, for being and for yourself. You remain unmanifested for the world, you do not participate in the universal action (laget om), where everyone is assigned his measure of being. In the Scandinavian languages, the word "thing" (ting) is of the same name as the Viking circular meeting, just as the German "ding" can be associated with the word ting "what is the matter", what is submitted to the general meeting ^{[4, p. 67]}, then becomes explicit, effective and existing for everyone. The circle of non–concealment is a measure of perception of being, delineation of what is revealed to them, a measure of separation of what exists from what does not exist, which makes it possible to feel the space where human being reveals itself ^{[23, p. 115]}. The discovery of the space of being, as a result, leads to the discovery of the truth (), which is the way out of the hidden. The key to opening this way to the truth is both the ancient Greek measure and the Scandinavian lagom.

Man is the bearer of measure: "Measure is mind and knowledge" ^{[14, p. 94]}, because he is a rational and conscious being. The measure is given to a person, or rather it is built into him a priori, because it is the essential basis of the mind. It also defines the human dimension in him as much as he is capable of awareness. For the person himself, the measure manifests itself in the process of self-knowledge, and externally it acts as reasonableness or intelligent activity. The harmonious openness of the human mind and involvement in both of these processes can lead to the highest level of knowledge – wisdom. Therefore, Socrates says: "The wisest is the measure" ^{[15, p. 281]}, there is Reason itself in all its highest existence, which is only possible to achieve in earthly life. This is the global difference between Socratic understanding of wisdom and Protagoras' sophistic declamation: "Man is the measure of all things that exist, that they exist, and non-existent, that they do not exist" ^{[20, p. 72]}. Socrates points out that this reason should be measured in accordance with the measure given to him from above because she is of divine origin. The co-dimension of the mind is the movement of the mind's design (entelechy), ^{[1, p. 247]} consistent with the measure. A person of a well-formed mind acquires prudence and moderation. After all, only a mind measured with a measure is able to achieve Good, which means to comprehend the main goal of human life – happiness. Thus, Socrates leads his students to admit that "man does not know the main thing." ^{[4, c. 68]}.  Before using the measure of your mind (reasonableness), you need to know yourself. It is self-knowledge that leads a person to a certain extent, in which he can comprehend his existence as it is, and by comprehending it, a person projects himself onto the being of the surrounding world. Thus, co-measurement is a natural process when the mind tends to measure as an incomplete and whole–tending part, the only way a person becomes a human being. The meaning of the word man-age can be interpreted as the unity of age – eternity and man – mind. The measure belongs to eternity, therefore, the mind, being measured with it, must also become eternal, and therefore formalized by the immortal eidos of man.

The thesis of Protagoras quoted above denies the Socratic search for the completeness of the integral self and turns not a person as such ^{[2, p. 157]}, but a single individual to the external dimension (cognition) of things found in the horizon of existence: "Man continues here in things – deeds and objects – that have fallen into the field of his attraction" ^{[23, p. 116]}, that is, he lives in the circle of the unseen. The rest of the things that are denied presence in this circle "fall out" into non-existence. The main problem of the Protagoras thesis about man is his isolation from the understanding that measure is the process of comprehension by the human mind of the divine principle. And therefore, each individual mind, when measuring things with itself, can make a mistake.

Thus, the Socratic understanding of measure appears to us as something identical to reason. Here, it is not a person who measures things, as in the thesis of Protagoras, but self-knowledge is conditioned by a thing engaged in revealing its essence. On the one hand, "we also call knowledge and sensory perception the measure of things," but if they did not exist, we would not be able to carry out the process of measuring our knowledge with them, that is, knowledge of the external world would be impossible. Aristotle speaks of Protagoras' thesis as essentially containing nothing. This is akin to saying that man is a knowing and feeling being. Therefore, things are measured rather than measured ^{[1, p.255]}. If we follow the thought of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, then the measure should lead to the discovery of Truth, which is Good. The highest goal of human existence is to "strive to perceive the true being with the mind, perhaps for a short time, but to know and feed on the "contemplation of truth" and be blissful ^{[16, p. 156 d]}. First, you need to "know the truth about any thing", and then measure or define everything that exists in accordance with this truth. In this perspective, the main discrepancy between Socrates and Protagoras' relativism lies in the fact that Truth exists meaningfully for Socrates, it is the goal of everything ^{[7, p. 699]}.

Another semantic coincidence of the ancient measure and the Scandinavian lagom is the search for inner harmony, the removal of internal contradictions. When a person "himself set up his life as a harmonious harmony of words and deeds" ^{[13, p. 278]}, he searched for harmony between soul and body: "Not to excite either soul to the detriment of the body, nor the body to the detriment of the soul, but to allow both sides to communicate with each other so that they remain in balance and health" ^{[14, p. 582]}. This is a search for a "golden mean" for your own life. The same is found in modern interpretations of the concept of lag. The concept of lagom involves building a lifestyle that is focused on harmony, mental balance and manifests itself in the daily question: "What is life in my understanding?" and "What can I do to feel satisfied and balanced?". Such questions refer us to a reassessment of life, an understanding of what is really important to us. Self-care here is perfectly combined with healthy selfishness, which is becoming the norm of modern society. Lagom "leads us to that ideal place where we preserve the natural health of mind, soul and body." ^{[24, c. 64]}.

Lagom carries the Socratic burden of searching for the identity of measure and reason through agreement with oneself and through a form of self-care, expressed in knowing oneself and acting reasonably. ^{[22, p. 98]}. If we apply the concept of lagom to the external environment, then it completely fits into the Protagor thesis and is evaluated more relativistically than objectively. The lagom concept is rather applied and practical. She offers work for human consciousness based on "life outside" in its objectivity, realizing, first of all, concern for the outside world, which as a result should lead to inner self-care. The Socratic approach implies a reverse movement, offering to push away from self-care, which, as a result, should lead to caring for the outside world. If initially the category of ancient Greek measure was developed by ancient thinkers in a universal way, and only Protagoras allows a sophistically individualistic bias, then the Scandinavian lagom in a modern interpretation develops an individualistic focus of life to the smallest detail.

Anthropological aesthetics

One of the most important manifestations of the ancient measure (proportionality) and the Scandinavian lagom is beauty and harmony. Starting with the atomism of Democritus, in ancient Greek aesthetic and philosophical thought there is a shift towards the principle of multiplicity, which implies the disintegration of the whole into parts. In relation to a person, we are talking about individualization, "highlighting the internal symmetry" of each individual subject. Individualization calls for solitary and silent contemplation of the beauty of nature, for an attempt to harmonize a person and the world around him. Thinking is certainly connected with the inner harmony of the soul, and if a person "loses his mind", then harmony is violated ^{[11, p. 508]}.  Staying in contemplation and reflection, one can enjoy the beautiful ^{[11, p. 509]}.

Beauty for the ancient Greeks is, first of all, compatibility and wholeness, it contains perfection, which can be characterized by clear content, life-affirming simplicity, the movement of an eternal and continuous world (the unification of disparate elements). Even the dialectic of chaos and cosmos or body and mind for the ancient Greek is not mutually exclusive, but complementary. In the Scandinavian lagom, all of the above beauty characteristics are present, but compatibility and integrity turn into functionality. There is a significant difference in the very message of beauty, which can be most clearly found in the design and architecture of the Scandinavian countries, associated with the desire for neutrality and abstraction, as opposed to ancient Greek carelessness and playfulness mixed with tragedy.  Lagom as a lifestyle is rooted in everyday life, so it is characterized by a desire for neutrality, rather than brightness and eventfulness. Lagom design should balance, calm the human psyche, give comfort and coziness. Housing should be environmentally friendly, devoid of the stressful factors that surround us, giving a sense of peace, protection and moderation ^{[24, p. 106]}.

If the ancient Greeks had dialectical aesthetics, then the Scandinavians had minimalistic aesthetics (it includes simplicity and functionality). This is the desire to visually expand the space using predominantly light tones, avoiding sharp transitions in the color scheme (using no more than three colors) ^{[21, p. 234]} and in the forms of the goods produced. This is practicality, functionality, freedom of movement or movement of things, rational calculation in the purchase with a bet on the durability and naturalness of the material from which the product is made. Simplicity, moderation, space, and functionality are the main components of the lagom principle. Aesthetics becomes the main factor of human well-being, as it affects the emotional and physical health of a person.

Beauty and harmony in the modern world also implies usefulness, which lies in the functionality of a thing, for example, the design of chairs by the Danish master Hans Wegner or the architecture and design of the Scandinavian school of functionalists Paul Henningsen, Alvar Aalto and Arne Jacobsen. Beauty and usefulness were inextricably linked, including for the ancient Greeks. For them, "pleasure was created not so much by beautiful views of the surrounding nature or space, not so much by delight in any elegant or beautiful forms," but most of all by "the vital expediency of these objects, their usefulness and necessity for man, the perfection and harmony of their construction" ^{[11, pp. 579-580]}.

The New European tradition has long been characterized by man's struggle with nature, the task of subjugating it to the power of the human mind. The concept of lagom goes beyond such a struggle, returns a person to a lost sense of unity with nature and life as the prototypes of everything that exists. A similar approach was inherent in the aesthetics of the ancient Greeks. Modern Scandinavian architecture and design are not only functional, but also organic. On the one hand, this is an artificial world, but on the other hand, it is harmoniously integrated into the natural world. Such art strives to let nature pass through itself and reflect it, and not to close itself off from the natural world with thick walls and impenetrable windows.

In conclusion, we can say that the concepts of ancient measure and Scandinavian lagom, of course, coincide and interact with each other in many meanings, but each of them carries its own specific semantic load. The term lagom can and should be used in philosophy, especially when it comes to the philosophy of everyday life, the philosophy of minimalism and eudaimonism. It is also obvious that this is an independently developing term that became widespread at the beginning of the XXI century. It can be considered both as an additional semantic extension of the category of ancient measure itself (meta-term) and as a separate independent concept of the lifestyle of a modern person, an image of self–care, because following the expression of Cleobulus from Linda, "the best is a measure."