Of great importance — both to science and to society as a whole — is the problem of human beings and values they live by. As an object of evaluation, an individual can be analysed from different perspectives such as sociopolitical, economic, moral, aesthetic, psychophysiological, etc. To put it another way, the value of each person is multifaceted since in real life he/she acts as a set of different biological and social relationships. In this regard, the value of the person can be determined on the basis of knowledge about their actions and/or activities in various areas. Both normative and axiological characteristics of the individual, as well as their behaviour, can be assessed in accordance with objective criteria. Therefore, when we think of someone as a bearer of a particular value, they turn from a subject into an object. In this case, the value is expressed by the relation of the objective being of an individual “under evaluation” to the spiritual needs of the evaluating subject.

Value-driven issues have always been relevant to sociology since a sociologist has had (at least, has been supposed to have) a clear idea of a specific state of society at a given moment, as well as of its potential and development prospects, with taking into consideration the adopted system of values, value orientations and attitudes. For this reason, the latter have been the central theme of numerous (including the most recent) studies. Axiological issues are of particular relevance to society in times of crisis, when both societal life and the very structure of society undergo dramatic change, and divergence of beliefs and values considerably affects the society’s proper functioning and development.

Local (Ukrainian) transformations pose plenty of questions for social researchers. One of them concerns the values that emerge when the old societal system is being transformed into a new, which is different in kind. The Soviet-era values are still present in the collective Ukrainian consciousness, but new ones, intrinsic to a consumer society, are also being shaped (particularly among young people). Humanist values are no longer in demand, whereas consumerist and hedonic ones are gaining in popularity. Such a major change in value orientations of our fellow citizens needs a thorough understanding and development of a new value matrix, which is expected to work well in new societal conditions.

Practical relevance of studying values is obvious; however, building a solid theoretical framework for these studies is of equal importance — given the emergence of alternative schools of sociological thought such as non-classical, interpretive, postmodern, etc., which also take an interest in axiology. That means a paradigm revision for social scientists from around the world. Another point to consider is the impact of technological advances on all areas of people’s lives, especially on social interactions. The global human community, integral in nature, is being formed, and production of human values now matters more than production of things; hence the “expansion” of value-focused approaches in contemporary sociology.