There are 2 main approaches to the study of the development of society and the state - civilizational and formational. The first is based on the fact that the criterion of typology is the achieved level of civilization different countries.
Formational approach to the study of society assumes that throughout history, in its development, humanity goes through certain stages (formations), differing from each other in basis and superstructure. Prominent representatives of the second approach are K. Marx and F. Engels.
Formation - historically established, the basis of which is a certain method material production. The foundation of all public relations, based on the above, are production.
The formational approach includes such concepts as superstructure and basis. The latter means a set of relations in the economic sphere that develop during production, exchange, distribution and consumption material goods. At the same time, the character industrial relations does not depend on consciousness and will, it is influenced by the achieved level and the needs of the material or production forces of these relations. The superstructure is understood as a set of legal, religious, political and other views and relations. The structure of the superstructure is social relations in society, certain forms of family, everyday life and lifestyle.
The meaning of the formational concept is that as a result of the development of the forces of production, corresponding ones are created which replace the existing ones and determine the emergence of a new formation.
Each of them is characterized by certain basic forms of ownership and leading classes that dominate both politics and economics. Agrarian civilization corresponds to the stage of primitive, slave-owning, feudal society. Capitalist - industrial civilization. The highest formation was considered communist, which from a Marxist point of view is built on a better, economically more developed basis.
K. Marx himself distinguished three formations - primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary was primitive (archaic), the secondary was economic, which included ancient, Asian, feudal and capitalist (bourgeois) modes of production, and the tertiary was communist. That is, according to this theory, the formation was a certain stage of historical progress, each of which progressively and naturally brought society closer to communism.
The formational approach to development implies a constant, steady and progressive transformation of society from lower to higher types in connection with changes and development of production relations. Central moment theory is that the change of formations occurs through the struggle of classes and resolving by political means the contradictions that arise between the base and the superstructure.
The formational approach to the typology of the state is also based on the Marxist doctrine of changes in socio-economic formations. Historical (slaveholding, feudal, then capitalist, socialist are distinguished) correspond to each of them.
The formational approach has a number of disadvantages:
- the role of economics in public life is exaggerated;
- the role of spiritual and other superstructural factors is underestimated;
- predetermination of development;
- historical development occurs unilinearly;
- attachment to a materialistic view.
Currently, the formational approach is interpreted more broadly. The history of human development is viewed from the perspective of constant progress due to development
Community development is a complex process, so its understanding has led to the emergence of various approaches and theories that in one way or another explain the history of the emergence and development of society. There are two main approaches to the development of society: formational and civilizational.
1. Formational approach to the development of society.
According to the formational approach, whose representatives were K. Marx, F. Engels, V.I. Lenin and others, society in its development passes through certain, successive stages - socio-economic formations - primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist and communist. Socio-economic formation is historical type society based on a specific mode of production. The mode of production includes productive forces and production relations. The productive forces include the means of production and people with their knowledge and practical experience in the field of economics. Means of production, in turn, include objects of labor (what is processed in the labor process - land, raw materials, materials) and means of labor (what is used to process objects of labor - tools, equipment, machinery, production facilities). Production relations are relations that arise in the production process and depend on the form of ownership of the means of production.
What is the dependence of production relations on the form of ownership of the means of production? Let's take primitive society as an example. The means of production there were common property, therefore everyone worked together, and the results of labor belonged to everyone and were distributed equally. On the contrary, in a capitalist society, the means of production (land, enterprises) are owned by private individuals - capitalists, and therefore the relations of production are different. The capitalist hires workers. They produce products, but the very owner of the means of production disposes of them. Workers only receive wages for their work.
How does society develop according to the formational approach? The fact is that there is a pattern: productive forces develop faster than production relations. The means of labor, knowledge and skills of people involved in production are improved. Over time, a contradiction arises: old production relations begin to hinder the development of new productive forces. In order for the productive forces to have the opportunity to develop further, it is necessary to replace old production relations with new ones. When this happens, the socio-economic formation also changes.
For example, under a feudal socio-economic formation (feudalism), production relations are as follows. The main means of production - land - belongs to the feudal lord. Peasants perform duties for the use of the land. In addition, they are personally dependent on the feudal lord, and in a number of countries they were attached to the land and could not leave their master. Meanwhile, society is developing. Technology is being improved and industry is emerging. However, the development of industry is hampered by the virtual absence of free labor (the peasants depend on the feudal lord and cannot leave him). The purchasing power of the population is low (mostly the population consists of peasants who do not have money and, accordingly, the ability to purchase various goods), which means there is little point in increasing industrial production. It turns out that for the development of industry it is necessary to replace old production relations with new ones. The peasants must become free. Then they will have the opportunity to choose: either continue to engage in agricultural work or, for example, in the event of ruin, take a job at an industrial enterprise. The land should become the private property of the peasants. This will allow them to manage the results of their labor, sell their products, and use the money received to purchase industrial goods. Production relations, in which there is private ownership of the means of production and the results of labor, are used hired labor– these are already capitalist relations of production. They can be established either during reforms or as a result of revolution. Thus, the feudal one is replaced by a capitalist socio-economic formation (capitalism).
As noted above, the formational approach proceeds from the fact that the development of society, various countries and peoples proceeds along certain stages: primitive communal system, slave system, feudalism, capitalism and communism. This process is based on changes occurring in the production sector. Supporters of the formational approach believe that the leading role in social development is played by historical patterns, objective laws, within the framework of which a person acts. Society is steadily moving along the path of progress, since each subsequent socio-economic formation is more progressive than the previous one. Progress is associated with the improvement of productive forces and production relations.
The formational approach has its drawbacks. As history shows, not all countries fit into the “harmonious” scheme proposed by the supporters of this approach. For example, in many countries there was no slave-owning socio-economic formation. As for the countries of the East, their historical development was generally unique (to resolve this contradiction, K. Marx came up with the concept of the “Asian mode of production”). In addition, as we see, the formational approach provides an economic basis for all complex social processes, which is not always correct, and also relegates the role of the human factor in history to the background, giving priority to objective laws.
2. Civilizational approach to the development of society.
The word “civilization” comes from the Latin “civis”, which means “urban, state, civil” " Already in ancient times it was opposed to the concept of “silvaticus” - “forest, wild, rough.” Subsequently, the concept of “civilization” acquired different meanings, many theories of civilization arose. During the Age of Enlightenment, civilization began to be understood as a highly developed society with writing and cities.
Today there are about 200 definitions of this concept. For example, Arnold Toynbee (1889 - 1975), a proponent of the theory local civilizations, called civilization a stable community of people united by spiritual traditions, a similar way of life, and a geographical and historical framework. And Oswald Spengler (1880 – 1936), the founder of the cultural approach to the historical process, believed that civilization is the highest level, the final period of cultural development, preceding its death. One of modern definitions This concept is: civilization is the totality of material and spiritual achievements of society.
Theories of the staged development of civilization (K. Jaspers, P. Sorokin, W. Rostow, O. Tofler, etc.) consider civilization as a single process progressive development humanity, in which certain stages (stages) are distinguished. This process began in ancient times, when humanity moved from primitiveness to civilization. It continues today. During this time, great social changes occurred that affected socio-economic, political relations, and the cultural sphere.
Thus, the prominent American sociologist, economist, and historian of the twentieth century, Walt Whitman Rostow, created the theory of the stages of economic growth. He identified five such stages:
Traditional society. There are agrarian societies with rather primitive technology, a predominance agriculture in the economy, the class-class structure and the power of large landowners.
Transitional society. Agricultural production is growing, a new type of activity is emerging - entrepreneurship and a new type of enterprising people corresponding to it. Centralized states are taking shape and national self-awareness is strengthening. Thus, the prerequisites for society's transition to a new stage of development are maturing.
“Shift” stage. Industrial revolutions occur, followed by socio-economic and political transformations.
“Maturity” stage. A scientific and technological revolution is underway, the importance of cities and the size of the urban population are growing.
The era of “high mass consumption”. There is a significant growth in the service sector, production of consumer goods and their transformation into the main sector of the economy.
Theories of local (local from Latin - “local”) civilizations (N.Ya. Danilevsky, A. Toynbee) They proceed from the fact that there are separate civilizations, large historical communities that occupy a certain territory and have their own characteristics of socio-economic, political and cultural development.
Local civilizations- these are a kind of elements that make up the general flow of history. They may coincide with the borders of the state (Chinese civilization), or may include several states (Western European civilization). Local civilizations are complex systems, in which different components interact with each other: geographical environment, economy, political structure, legislation, religion, philosophy, literature, art, people’s way of life, etc. Each of these components bears the stamp of the originality of a particular local civilization. This uniqueness is very stable. Of course, over time, civilizations change and experience external influences, but a certain foundation, a “core” remains, thanks to which one civilization is still different from another.
One of the founders of the theory of local civilizations, Arnold Toynbee, believed that history is a nonlinear process. This is the process of the birth, life and death of civilizations unrelated to each other in different parts of the Earth. Toynbee divided civilizations into major and local. Major civilizations (for example, Sumerian, Babylonian, Hellenic, Chinese, Hindu, Islamic, Christian, etc.) left a clear mark on human history and indirectly influenced other civilizations. Local civilizations are confined within a national framework; there are about thirty of them: American, German, Russian, etc.
Toynbee considered the driving forces of civilization to be: a challenge posed to civilization from the outside (unfavorable geographical position, lagging behind other civilizations, military aggression); the response of civilization as a whole to this challenge; the activities of great people, talented, “God-chosen” individuals.
There is a creative minority that leads the inert majority to respond to the challenges posed by civilization. At the same time, the inert majority tends to “put out” and absorb the energy of the minority. This leads to cessation of development, stagnation. Thus, each civilization goes through certain stages: birth, growth, breakdown and disintegration, ending with death and the complete disappearance of civilization.
Both theories arestaged and local – provide an opportunity to see history differently. In the stage theory, the general comes to the fore—the laws of development that are common to all mankind. In the theory of local civilizations - individual, diversity of the historical process.
In general, the civilizational approach presents man as the leading creator of history, great attention pays attention to the spiritual factors of the development of society, the uniqueness of the history of individual societies, countries and peoples. Progress is relative. For example, it can affect the economy, and at the same time, this concept can be applied to the spiritual sphere in a very limited way.
Most developed in domestic historical and philosophical science approaches to explaining the essence and features of the historical process are formational and civilizational.
The first of them belongs to the Marxist school of social science. His key concept is the category “socio-economic formation”
Formation was understood as a historically specific type of society, considered in the organic interconnection of all his parties and spheres, arising on the basis of a certain method of production of material goods. In the structure of each formation there were economic basis and superstructure. The basis (otherwise it was called production relations) is a set of social relations that develop between people in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods (the main ones among them are relations of ownership of the means of production). The superstructure was understood as a set of political, legal, ideological, religious, cultural and other views, institutions and relations not covered by the base. Despite the relative independence, the type of superstructure was determined by the nature of the base. It also represented the basis of the formation, determining the formational affiliation of a particular society. Production relations (the economic basis of society) and productive forces constituted the mode of production, often understood as a synonym for socio-economic formation. The concept of “productive forces” included people as producers of material goods with their knowledge, skills and labor experience, and the means of production: tools, objects, means of labor. Productive forces are a dynamic, constantly developing element of the method of production, while production relations are static and rigid, not changing for centuries. At a certain stage, a conflict arises between the productive forces and production relations, which is resolved during the social revolution, the breaking of the old basis and the transition to a new stage of social development, to a new socio-economic formation. Old relations of production are being replaced by new ones, which open up space for the development of productive forces. Thus, Marxism understands the historical process as a natural, objectively determined, natural-historical change of socio-economic formations.
In some of the works of K. Marx himself, only two are identified large formations- primary (archaic) and secondary (economic), which includes all societies based on private property. The third formation will be represented by communism. In other works of the classics of Marxism, a socio-economic formation is understood as a specific stage of development of a mode of production with its corresponding superstructure. It was on their basis that in Soviet social science by 1930 the so-called “five-member group” was formed and acquired the character of an indisputable dogma. According to this concept, all societies in their development alternately pass through five socio-economic formations: primitive, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist and communist, the first phase of which is socialism. The formational approach is based on several postulates:
1) the idea of history as a natural, internally determined, progressive, world-historical and teleological (directed towards the goal - the construction of communism) process. The formational approach practically denied national specificity and originality individual states, focusing on what was common to all societies;
2) decisive role material production in the life of society, the idea of economic factors as basic for other social relations;
3) the need to match production relations with productive forces;
4) the inevitability of transition from one socio-economic formation to another.
On modern stage development of social science in our country, the theory of socio-economic formations is experiencing an obvious crisis, many authors have highlighted civilizational approach to the analysis of the historical process.
The concept of “civilization” is one of the most complex in modern science: Many definitions have been proposed. The term itself comes from Latin words"civil". IN in a broad sense Civilization is understood as the level, stage of development of society, material and spiritual culture, following barbarism and savagery. This concept is also used to designate a set of unique manifestations of social orders inherent in a certain historical community. In this sense, civilization is characterized as qualitative specificity (originality of material, spiritual, social life) a particular group of countries or peoples at a certain stage of development. Famous Russian historian M.A. Barg defined civilization as follows: “...This is the way in which a given society resolves its material, socio-political and spiritual-ethical problems.” Different civilizations are fundamentally different from each other, since they are based not on similar production techniques and technology (as societies of the same Formation), but on incompatible systems of social and spiritual values. Any civilization is characterized not so much by its production base as by its specific way of life, value system, vision and ways of interrelating with the outside world.
IN modern theory Among civilizations, both linear-stage concepts are common (in which civilization is understood as a certain stage of world development, contrasted with “uncivilized” societies), and concepts of local civilizations. The existence of the former is explained by the Eurocentrism of their authors, who represent the world historical process as the gradual introduction of barbarian peoples and societies to the Western European system of values and the gradual advancement of humanity towards a single world civilization based on these same values. Proponents of the second group of concepts use the term “civilization” in plural and proceed from the idea of the diversity of development paths for different civilizations.
Various historians have identified many local civilizations, which may coincide with the borders of states (Chinese civilization) or cover several countries (ancient, Western European civilization). Over time, civilizations change, but their “core,” which makes one civilization different from another, remains the same. The uniqueness of each civilization should not be absolutized: they all go through stages common to the world historical process. Usually the entire diversity of local civilizations is divided into two large groups- eastern and western. The former are characterized high degree dependence of the individual on nature and the geographical environment, close connection a person with his social group, low social mobility, dominance of traditions and customs among the regulators of social relations. Western civilizations, on the contrary, are characterized by the desire to subordinate nature to human power by prioritizing individual rights and freedoms over social communities, high social mobility, democratic political regime and the rule of law.
Thus, if a formation concentrates attention on the universal, general, repeating, then civilization focuses on the local-regional, unique, and peculiar. These approaches are not mutually exclusive. In modern social science there is a search in the direction of their mutual synthesis.
The formational approach developed in Marxism assumes a spasmodic revolutionary movement of society from one socio-economic formation to another. The source of movement is a change in the method of production of material conditions of life (in productive forces and production relations). Production relations act as the basis of a socio-economic formation, changes in which lead to more or less quick replacement superstructure of the socio-economic formation, which includes the entire spiritual life of society with its inherent social consciousness, system of social relations, ideology and social institutions that organize all social life. The following were identified as the main social formations in Marxism: primitive society, slaveholding, feudal, bourgeois (capitalist) and communist socio-economic formations. The latter had to go through two phases: socialism (the first phase) and communism (the second and highest phase of social development). The formational concept of social development was a theoretical generalization of the principle of historical materialism, the main components of which were economic determinism and the interpretation of social development as a natural historical process.
Civilizational approach to the development of society.
The civilizational concept of social development considers this process as a closely related interaction and mutual influence of cultural characteristics and transformations that determine the entire system of social relations. Civilization is interpreted as a “material body”, culture, its social organization, etc. But the basic element of civilization, its reverse side, is the type of culture (ideals, values and norms) that determine the specifics of human society.
The main spheres of social life.
The main purpose of society is to ensure the survival of man as a species. Therefore, the main elements of society, considered as a system, are those areas in which the joint activities of people are carried out, aimed at preserving and expanded reproduction of their lives.
The main types of socially necessary human activity are economic, social, political, and spiritual activity. The areas of implementation of these types of activities are called economic, social, political and spiritual spheres or subsystems of society.
Economic sphere- this is the area of economic activity of society, covering relations arising in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods. Being one of the main subsystems of society, it can also be considered as an independent system. Elements economic sphere are material needs, economic goods (goods) that satisfy these needs, economic resources (sources of production of goods), economic entities (individuals or organizations).
Social sphere- this is the area of the emergence and functioning of relationships between people. The social system consists of social groups, social connections, social institutions, social norms, values of social culture
Political sphere covers relations related to the interaction of the state, parties, political organizations regarding power and management; this is the area of the implementation of relations of power and subordination between people. The main elements of the political system of society are political organizations and institutions (state, political parties, public organizations, means mass media), norms of political behavior and political culture, political ideologies.
Spiritual realm covers relationships related to the development of social consciousness, science, culture, art, this is the area of creation and development of spiritual benefits. The elements of the spiritual sphere are spiritual needs as a source of spiritual activity of society, a means of carrying out spiritual production, as well as subjects of spiritual activity. Spiritual values - the main element of the spiritual sphere - exist in the form of ideas, and are materially embodied in the form of language, works of art, etc.
Each of these spheres, in turn, can be considered as a system consisting of certain elements:
economic sphere includes production institutions (plants, factories), transport institutions, stock and commodity exchanges, banks, etc.,
political - state, parties, trade unions, youth, women's organizations etc.,
social - classes, strata, social groups and strata, nations, etc.,
spiritual - science, art, morality, religion, etc.
Society, therefore, is a certain set of elements that are interconnected and interact with each other.
Stratification theory.
Stratification- this is the division of society into special layers (strata) by combining different social positions with approximately the same social status, reflecting the prevailing idea of social inequality, built horizontally (social hierarchy), along its axis according to one or more stratification criteria (indicators of social status). The division of society into strata is carried out based on the inequality of social distances between them - the main property of stratification. Social strata are built vertically and in strict sequence according to indicators of well-being, power, education, leisure, and consumption. IN social stratification a certain social distance between people is established ( social positions) and a hierarchy of social layers is built. In this way, unequal access of members of society to certain socially significant scarce resources is recorded by establishing social filters at the boundaries separating social strata. For example, social strata can be distinguished by levels of income, education, power, consumption, nature of work, and leisure time. The social strata identified in society are assessed according to the criterion of social prestige, which expresses the social attractiveness of certain positions. But in any case, social stratification is the result of more or less conscious activities (policies) of the ruling elites, who are extremely interested in imposing on society and legitimizing in it their own social ideas about the unequal access of society members to social benefits and resources. The simplest stratification model is dichotomous- division of society into elites and masses. In some of the earliest, archaic social systems, the structuring of society into clans was carried out simultaneously with the establishment of social inequalities between and within them. This is how those who are initiated into certain social practices (priests, elders, leaders) and the uninitiated - laymen (all other members of society, ordinary members of the community, fellow tribesmen) appear. Within them, society can further stratify if necessary. As society becomes more complex (structural), a parallel process occurs - the integration of social positions into a certain social hierarchy. This is how castes, estates, classes, etc. appear. Modern ideas about the stratification model that has developed in society are quite complex - multi-layered (polychotomous), multidimensional (carried out along several axes) and variable (sometimes allowing the existence of multiple stratification models). qualifications, quotas, certification, determination of status, ranks, benefits, privileges, other preferences.
The political sphere of society. Signs and functions of the state.
The political sphere is one of the most important areas of public life.
Political sphere- these are relations between people, associated primarily with power, which ensure joint security.
The Greek word politike (from polis - state, city), appearing in the works of ancient thinkers, was originally used to denote the art of government. Having retained this meaning as one of the central ones, the modern term “politics” is now used to express social activity, which is centered on the problems of acquiring, using and maintaining power. The elements of the political sphere can be represented as follows:
political organizations and institutions- social groups, revolutionary movements, parliamentarism, parties, citizenship, presidency, etc.;
political norms - political, legal and moral norms, customs and traditions;
political communications - relationships, connections and forms of interaction between participants political process, and also between political system in general and society;
political culture and ideology - political ideas, ideology, political culture, political psychology.
Needs and interests shape specific political goals social groups. On this target basis, political parties arise, social movements, power state institutions that carry out specific political activities. The interaction of large social groups with each other and with institutions of power constitutes the communicative subsystem of the political sphere. This interaction is regulated by various norms, customs and traditions. Reflection and awareness of these relations form the cultural-ideological subsystem of the political sphere.
Most common signs of the state are:
Territory. The state represents a single territorial organization of political power throughout the country. State power extends to the entire population within a certain territory, which entails the administrative-territorial division of the state.
Population. This feature characterizes people’s belonging to a given society and state, composition, citizenship, the order of its acquisition and loss, etc.
Public power. The state is a special organization of state power that has a special apparatus for managing society to ensure its normal functioning.
Sovereignty. State sovereignty is such a property state power, which is expressed in supremacy and independence of this state in relation to any other authorities within the country, as well as its independence in the international arena, subject to non-violation of the sovereignty of other states.
Publication of legal norms. The state organizes public life on a legal basis. Only the state, represented by its competent bodies (unlike other political organizations), issues orders that are binding on the entire population of the country, in contrast to other norms of public life (moral norms, customs, traditions). Legal norms are ensured by measures of state coercion with the help of special bodies .
Mandatory fees from citizens – taxes, taxes, loans . The state establishes them to maintain public authority. Mandatory fees are used by the state to maintain the army, police and other compulsory bodies, the state apparatus, and for state programs.
State symbols. Each state has an official name, anthem, coat of arms, flag, memorable dates, and public holidays. The state establishes rules of official behavior, forms of people addressing each other, greetings, etc.
The state is one of the most stable structures of the political organization of society due to the fact that it performs a number of functions that are different from the activities of other subjects of the political system.
FUNCTIONS OF THE STATE- these are responsibilities, range of activities, purpose, role in the most concentrated, generalized form.
Internal functions- these are the main directions of the state’s management activities inner life society.
Economic function
Social function
Financial control
Law enforcement function
Cultural and educational function
Political-protective function
Environmental (ecological) function
External functions of the state – These are the main directions of its activities in the international arena.
Defense function
Diplomatic and trade and economic functions
The struggle for peace and peaceful coexistence
Participation in the activities of international and interstate
Cultural, scientific and information exchange .
Interaction with other countries
Basic concepts of Marxist sociology.
Marxist sociology can be presented in the following theses:
1. the development of society is natural-historical progress; 2. people themselves create their own history, but the course of development is determined not by desire, but by the material conditions of their life; 3. a person is born and formed as an individual in an already formed society with established stable social relations, and the formation of a person occurs under their influence (“a person is the totality of social relations”); 4. economic relations are primary in the system of social relations; industrial relations and productive forces societies determine all spheres of life: the production of the direct material forces of life and thus each stage of the economy of a period and era form the basis from which state institutions, legal views, art and even develop religious ideas the people from whom they are to be explained, and not vice versa, as has been done hitherto; 5. the unity and interaction of certain production forces and relations (methods of production) constitute individual stages in the development of society - socio-economic formations (“specifically historical forms of society’s existence that have emerged on the basis of a given mode of production”); 6. society, evolving in its development, successively goes through the following stages of development (formations): primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist, communist (Marx made an analysis of formations in his work "Capital", the communist formation was derived by him as a scientific forecast based on application of Hegel's dialectics); 7.the basis of social life of society is the class struggle, which is considered as the source and driving force social progress; for each formation there are antagonist classes, the relationships between which determine the content of history; 8. the transition from one formation to another occurs in the form social revolutions, during which one ruling class is replaced by the next and class struggle develops between new antagonist classes; class affiliation is the main characteristic of an individual; it determines his consciousness, value system and behavior. According to Marx, no economic formation can become a thing of the past as long as it enables the development of production forces and production relations, and new production forces and production relations will not appear before conditions are created for their development within the formation.
The doctrine of the state. History and modernity.
State- a political organization of the economically dominant class, which aims to protect the existing order and suppress the resistance of other classes.
In general, all theories of the origin of the state can be divided into three groups:
1. The state is a product of divine revelation - a theological hypothesis.
2. Contractual hypothesis (people agreed).
3. Theories of a biological nature (nature itself decreed that it gave some people the strength to lead).
Plato was one of the first ancient Greek philosophers to present his understanding of the state in a systematic form. Plato's works on this topic: "State" and "Laws". Plato divides society into three classes: rulers, warriors, artisans; each class has its own virtue, respectively wisdom, courage, and temperance. The state never existed as a product of the reconciliation of classes, always as a weapon to maintain the “order that it allows” (Plato, Marshall). Hobbes said the following: the state has the right to use not only the force of law, but also the force of arms. Plato: “We (aristocrats) want to create a state in which everyone is happy, in which it gives everyone equal opportunities.” Plato does not include slaves at all. He noted that the state is a product of inequality. A state where virtue is not valued, the poor are not respected there, there are, as it were, two states in the state: the poor and the rich, they will always infringe on each other, the state is maintained by the use of force. Any form of government is a dictatorship of the ruling class. Plato is against private property, if there is no emergency, then no one should own private property. In a perfect state, all citizens should be equal; they call each other comrades. “Those who are in love with it should not come to power.” Excess freedom, according to Plato, leads to slavery. Plato's ideal state is based on the principle of justice. In the project of an ideal state, the life of its citizens is largely regulated. The cohesion of the state is ensured through severe restrictions and impoverishment of people's lives, and the complete subordination of the individual to the state. So, Plato’s state is a theoretical scheme of a utopian state in which the life of society is subject to strict state control.
Machiavelli is one of the first ideologists of the Renaissance who set forth new views on the development of society and the state. These words belong to him: “Kill him before he kills you.” In Machiavelli's theory of the state there was no place for church and religion. According to Machiavelli, any violence can be justified in the name of the public good. The sovereign must be guided by generally accepted moral standards, but if state interests require actions that disregard morality, then this can be done. Machiavelli believed that a sovereign was needed who was capable of uniting the republic.
Rousseau believed that inequality did not always exist, it appeared when private property arose. The stratification between the poor and the rich is the first stage of inequality. The second stage of inequality begins with the emergence of the state, when the poor and the rich entered into an alliance with each other. The third stage of inequality is the transition of state power to despotism, which turns subjects into slaves. “You will have everything if you educate citizens; without this, everyone, starting with the rulers of the State, will only be miserable slaves.” Laws must embody the general will of the people.
State power is ed. begins in the state and is related to the state as God is to the world or the soul is to the body. The theory arose. state due to the general agreements created states according to the parties. In this theory (Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke) it was conditional. the desire of people to prevent mutual hostility and settlement. noun relationship between them. Having created a state, people, on the basis of an agreement, transferred to it part of the rights and instructions to protect their freedom. a whole range of diets. thoughts about arose. frequent sobstv., classes and state high school. Rousseau (1712-78). Perfection tools led to improvements. cultivation of land, arose, frequent. own and affairs. about God. and the poor and the struggle between them. I'll strengthen the class. fight challenge required image. go-va, cat. often comes to the defense. own and secured the state of the haves. However, he says that Mr. invented by the rich, who, through deception, convinced the poor of the need. created state Hegel (1770-1831). Labor is the basis of ecology. rel., cat. are the basis of social differentiation of people (class division).
The concept of the spiritual life of society. The structure of social consciousness.
The spiritual life of society is usually understood as that area of existence in which objective, supra-individual reality is given not in the form of an objective reality opposing us, but a reality present in ourselves, which is an integral part of a person’s personality. It is in the spiritual sphere that what distinguishes man from other living beings is born and realized - spirit, spirituality. The spiritual life of society, being a product of social practice, historically completes the formation of society as such.
Since the spiritual life of mankind is based on material life, its structure is in many ways similar: spiritual need, spiritual interest, spiritual activity, spiritual benefits (values) created by this activity, satisfaction of spiritual needs, etc. In addition, the presence of spiritual activity and its products give rise to a special kind of social relations (aesthetic, religious, moral, communication, etc.).
Social consciousness is a very structurally complex formation.
The social consciousness of each historical era (excluding the primitive communal system) has two levels: psychological and ideological.
Social psychology is a set of feelings, moods, customs, traditions, motivations characteristic of a given society as a whole and for each of the large social groups (class, nation, etc.). Social psychology grows directly under the influence of specific historical conditions of social existence.
Ideologists I am a system of theoretical views that reflects the degree of society’s knowledge of the world as a whole and its individual aspects, and, as such, it represents a higher stage than social psychology, a level of social consciousness - the level of theoretical reflection of the world. If, when analyzing the psychology of social groups, we use the epithet “social”,
The relationship between social psychology and ideology is predetermined by the fact that the first is an emotional, sensual level, and the second is a rational level of social consciousness. Ideology is the theoretical level of social consciousness. Social psychology - ordinary level.
Spiritual life of society: morality and law.
Morality- a form of social consciousness, representing a set of principles, norms, rules of behavior designed to regulate relations between people, based on public opinion and on the ideas about good and evil that have developed in a given society. Morality or moral consciousness is a vision of the world through the prism of good and evil, it is a reflection of the world associated with a person’s assessment of reflected phenomena as good or bad, kind or evil. Morality at the level of social psychology manifests itself in the form of moral feelings and manifests itself in the form of mores, special norms of moral behavior. At the level of ordinary consciousness, morality represents ethnic knowledge about the rules of society, customs and mores, which are manifested in all spheres of society. At the theoretical level, a theoretical form of knowledge about moral relations, customs (forms of action) and mores (norms of behavior) is formed, and the science of ethics is created.
Important philosophical questions of morality are questions of the origin and essence of morality. “Two things always fill us with new and ever stronger surprise and awe,” said I. Kant, the more often and longer we think about them, “this is the starry sky above me and the moral law in me.”
While fulfilling, along with the law that appeared later, the role of a regulator of people’s behavior, morality at the same time fundamentally differs from it in a number of significant aspects:
1. Morality is a regulatory system that is mandatory for each formational and civilizational stage of development of society. Law is an attribute only of “state” formations, in which morality itself cannot ensure the behavior of people corresponding to a given social order.
2. Moral standards of behavior are supported only public opinion, legal norms - with the full force of state power. Accordingly, moral sanction (approval or condemnation) has an ideal-spiritual character: a person must become aware of the assessment of his behavior by public opinion, accept it internally and adjust his behavior for the future. Legal sanction ( reward or punishment) takes on the character of a compulsory measure of social influence.
3. The categories of legal and moral systems are fundamentally different from each other. If the main categories of law are legal and illegal, legal and illegal, fair and unfair, then the main evaluative categories of morality and ethics are: good, evil, duty, conscience, honor, dignity, happiness, the meaning of life.
4. Moral standards also apply to relationships between people that are not regulated by government agencies (friendship, partnership, love, etc.).
The essence of morality is expressed in its functions. Among the many functions performed by morality, the main ones are considered to be the following: regulatory, evaluative-imperative, cognitive
Morality and law closely intertwined. On the one hand, formalized morality can become law. The Ten Commandments are both a moral and legal law in many cultures. The moral justification of legal norms for the creation of a rule of law state is as important as their unity
The law reflects the concept of “moral harm,” but morality remains the sphere of higher ideas, a matter of conscience, which serves as a criterion for historical legal reforms. In addition, the practice of totalitarian regimes has shown that sometimes morality can conflict with law.
Both moral and legal norms are social. What they have in common is that both types serve to regulate and evaluate the actions of an individual. Various things include:
law is developed by the state,
morality - by society;
law is enshrined in state acts, morality is not;
State sanctions are expected for violating a rule of law; public condemnation is expected for violating moral norms.
Right- one of the types of regulators of social relations
Spiritual life of society: art and religion.
Art(along with science) is one of the ways of cognition, both in the natural sciences and in the religious picture of perception of the world.
The concept of art is extremely broad - it can manifest itself as extremely developed skill in a particular area. For a long time, art was considered a type of cultural activity that satisfies a person’s love for beauty. Along with the evolution of social aesthetic norms and assessments, any activity aimed at creating aesthetically expressive forms has gained the right to be called art.
On the scale of the entire society, art is a special way of knowing and reflecting reality, one of the forms of artistic activity of public consciousness and part of the spiritual culture of both an individual and all of humanity, a diverse result of the creative activity of all generations. In science, art refers to both the creative artistic activity itself and its result - a work of art.
Religious system representations of the world (worldview) is based on religious faith and is associated with the relationship of man to the superhuman spiritual world, a certain superhuman reality, about which a person knows something, and towards which he must in some way orient his life. Faith can be strengthened by mystical experience.
Of particular importance for religion are such concepts as good and evil, morality, purpose and meaning of life, etc.
The basic religious beliefs of most world religions are written down by people in sacred texts, which, according to believers, are either dictated or inspired directly by God or gods, or written by people who, from the point of view of each specific religion, have reached the highest spiritual state, great teachers, especially enlightened or dedicated ones, saints, etc.
Art and religion
It is impossible to separate the birth of art from the birth of religion. From the point of view of an established religion, art is only a symbolic way of conveying the highest truths preached by a given religion. For a long time from the heyday of Christianity to the Renaissance period in European world art mainly fulfilled the order of the church.
Global problems of our time and the future of humanity.
Global problems of our time is a set of vitally important problems of modern humanity directly related to its existence (ecological, demographic, war and peace, food, raw materials, energy). These problems have the following features: planetary, global nature; threaten degradation and death of all humanity; need urgent and effective solutions; require collective efforts of all states, joint action peoples; require consideration through the prism of universal human interests. Global problems were the result, on the one hand, of the enormous scale of human activity, radically changing nature and society, and, on the other hand, of man’s inability to rationally manage this powerful force. Environmental problem caused by the contradiction between human production activities and the stability of the natural environment. The pressure of anthropogenic factors on the biosphere can lead to collapse - a sharp and rapid deterioration of the ecological situation and, as a result, the rapid death of the planet's population. The environmental crisis is multifaceted: pollution environment, increase in ozone holes, acid rain, the greenhouse effect, the extinction of a number of animals and plants, the depletion of the world's energy and material resources, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, etc. Demographic problem caused by the rapid growth of the world's population. It is now growing at a rate of 75 million people per year and will exceed 8.5 billion people by 2025. The population of developing, poor countries in Africa and South Asia is growing especially rapidly. If at the beginning of our era the world population was 250 million people, then in 2006 it was 6.5 billion and growing at a rate of about 9 thousand people per hour. The problem of war and peace associated with a military threat and the buildup of nuclear arsenals. Not only Western countries and Russia have nuclear weapons, but also India, Pakistan, South Africa, Israel and a number of other states. The accumulated weapons can destroy all life on Earth many dozens of times. While the danger of a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers has now diminished, the threat of blind technological accident has not disappeared. Availability nuclear weapons did not prevent the emergence of hotbeds of local wars, each of which could become a fuse for world war, in which there will be no winners. The crisis of human corporeality is associated with the danger of the destruction of humanity as a species, the deformation of its bodily foundations: the weakening of the gene pool, the development of genetic engineering. The genetic burden of human populations is increasing, and the human immune system is weakening. A global problem There is also an increase in the number of people infected with AIDS and suffering from drug addiction and alcoholism.
The future of humanity . An unstable, constantly changing world does not provide grounds for accurate predictions. However, some trends in this movement can be discerned. This is what he does futurology . Futurology as an independent discipline was formed around the middle of the 20th century. If we talk about futurology methods, the most common among them are the following:
method of inertial analysis, which involves extrapolating stable trends existing in the present to the future;
trend analysis - construction on the basis of particular but stable trends of the so-called trend - a general trend;
scenario method, which consists in determining a range of development opportunities and sorting through various future options, taking into account the disappearance or persistence of certain circumstances.
The reliability of any forecast is low. In addition, humanity would hardly want to receive an accurate forecast. It is not for nothing that in ancient mythologies one of the most terrible punishments was precisely knowledge about the future, which renders the creative efforts of the present and past meaningless. Realizing this fact, a person does not so much calculate the future as invent it. Futurological concepts, no matter how scientific they may look, remain a more or less realistic fantasy of both a desirable and a gloomy, terrible, unacceptable future.
Concepts of the future are built on the basis of certain values and ideological guidelines, therefore any futurological reflection is a kind of philosophizing. The rich history of philosophy turns out to be a necessary support for such reflection and a basis for overcoming modern problems.
The term “civilization”: (from Latin civilis – civil, state)
1. As a synonym for culture (A. Toynbee).
2. As a certain stage in the development of local cultures, characterized by their degradation and decline (O.
Spengler).
3. As a step historical development humanity, following barbarism (Toffler, F. Engels).
One of the modern definitions of this concept is this: civilization is the totality of material and spiritual achievements of society.
In fact, civilization is understood as a cultural community of people who have a certain social genotype, a social stereotype, who have mastered a large, fairly autonomous, closed world space and, because of this, have received a strong place in the world scenario.
The civilizational approach is based on the fact that human history Several independent formations and civilizations stand out, each of which has its own, completely independent history. The entire history of mankind is an endless creation of many of the same processes. Each civilization is based on special “character traits”, “symbols of the soul”, cultural values, which it expresses, develops and embodies in the process of its life cycle. The development of civilizations here is interpreted as cyclical, as the historical cycle of civilizations. The general trend in the development of civilizations is gradual expansion of their degrees of freedom, rejection of one-dimensionality, search for the optimal balance of cyclicality and progression in the development of civilizations, recognition of the possibility of the birth of new civilizations through the influence of random factors ( external environment, supersensible and superrational genius, the role of chance, etc.). Civilizations are characterized by two levels: regional and national (local). For example, French, German, Russian
There are various theories civilization. Among them, two main varieties can be distinguished.
Theories of the staged development of civilization (K. Jaspers, P. Sorokin, W. Rostow, O. Tofler, etc.) consider civilization as a single process of progressive development of humanity, in which certain stages (stages) are distinguished.
Local theories (N.Ya. Danilevsky, A. Toynbee) proceed from the fact that there are separate civilizations, large historical communities that occupy a certain territory and have their own characteristics of socio-economic, political and cultural development.
Both theories—stage and local—make it possible to see history differently.
In general, the civilizational approach represents man as the leading creator of history, paying great attention to the spiritual factors of the development of society, the uniqueness of the history of individual societies, countries and peoples.
Theory of local civilizations
The peak of popularity of these theories occurred in the first half of the 20th century. Theories of local civilizations study large historically established communities, cat. occupy a certain territory and have their own characteristics of socio-economic and cultural development. Turning to research oriental cultures and cultures of written backgammon, European thinkers hoped to discover in them those values and guidelines that the Europeans themselves lacked. Thus, the rejection of Eurocentrism as an ideology and scientific principle was main reason the emergence of theories of cultural-historical types. Spengler German philosopher Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) in his work “The Decline of Europe” attacks the idea of the unity of the worlds. culture. namely the culture of the phenomenon. universal category in the study of society. Consideration of culture next. directions: 1) edges as the basis for integration or differentiation; 2) identification roles in maintaining social stability, continuity, dynamics of development. His cyclical model is historical. the process is modified by the recognition of the unifying role of “world preaching religions” (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam), cat. and yavl. highest values and historical landmarks. process. He put forward the concept of the cat. is not considered as a single universal human quality, but as split into 8 squares, each. from cat grows on the basis of St. own a unique “proto-phenomenon” - a way of “experiencing life”: Egyptian, Indian, Babylonian, Chinese, Greco-Roman, Byzantine-Arabic, Mayan, Russian-Siberian; secondly, as subordinate to rigid biological. rhythm that determines the main phases of its internal. development; birth and childhood, youth and maturity, old age and decline. Based on this biological Rhythms in each culture have 2 main stages: the stage of ascent and descent (civilization). The first of them is characterized by an organic type of evolution in all spheres of man. life - social and political, religious. and ethical, artistic. and scientific, the second - the "mechanical" type of evolution - "ossification" organic life to-ry and its disintegration. The entire contents of the herb are completely exhausted by individual ones, alternating, single, unrelated, one suppressing the other. With such an understanding, there can be no talk of any integrity of the world society.
Danilevsky Slavophile, Nikolai Yakovlevich Danilevsky (1822-1885) His book “Russia and Europe”.
In the world breed, closed species with a set of characteristics are distinguished - from ethnographic to geographical. Each type is closed, its existence is similar to life and the cycles of existence of living organisms. D. questions the idea of a single historical line. and cult. development of society, substantiates the thesis about glory. exclusivity. D. claims that history is not continuous process, she comp. of changing other cultural-historical types, each of the cat. lives own life, has its own destiny. Affirms the “self-sufficiency” and originality of cultures created by ethnic groups. To-ry in a mature state - subjugate biological. the life of the ethnos and therefore the true figures of world history. not peoples, but races. "evolutionary principle", according to cat. next class should be richer than the previous one, since it is able to assimilate the results achieved by its predecessors. In total, there are 13 cultural and historical types in history: Egyptian, Chinese, Old Semitic, Indian, Iranian, New Semitic, Greek, Roman, Arabic, European, Peruvian, Mexican. and Slavic. Relationships between cults. types can be friendly, competitive and hostile - depending on the degree of their maturity and their inherent internal principle. D. came to the idea that elements of the crop, when entering a foreign cultural environment, are rethought and acquire new functions. Danilevsky proves the idea of cultural identity by comparing the historical paths of Russia and Europe. Weak point there was a distinction between cultural types. Taking into account small cultures that have disappeared and exist today, ethnographers already count thousands independent farms types. On the other hand, the boundaries between them in space and time are much more difficult to draw than D. imagined. Being an “evolutionist,” D. emphasizes the role of internal. and underestimates the role of external development impulses. Protesting against the unilinear scheme of history and the extremes of “Eurocentrism,” D. rejected the idea of historical. unity of people. Meanwhile, Approval of a single legal, economic. and information space on the planet is becoming an increasingly urgent imperative for human survival.
Toynbee Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) - English. historian, sociologist, cultural philosopher, diplomat and public figure,
A. Toynbee’s concept is set out in the 12th volume of “A Study of History.” He dedicated his work to reviewing the world. stories, cat. he builds on the basis of the idea of self-closed, separate formations-civilizations. The true objects of history are phenomena. society, civilization. His theory is the culmination. point in the development of theories of “local civilizations”. Toynbee - commitment to the idea of multilinear development of sovereign cultures. He argued that the thesis about the unity of civilizations is a fallacy. The author counts from 21 to 26 independent c-th, the only thing that, in his opinion, can hold these diverse formations together is religion. T. carried out research based on ideas about closed discrete units, on the cat. historical falls apart existence of man and cat. he calls it "tsiv-mi". T. recognizes a person’s ability for independent self-determination, and dynamics c-th determined by the law of "call and response", according to cat. every step forward is associated with an adequate response to the challenge of history. situations. The adequate answer is the merit of the “creative minority”, which first rules by the power of its authority, and then turns into a dominant minority. The emergence of c-i, its growth, decline and decay are associated with the ability or inability of the “creative minority” to find an adequate response to the challenge of history. In contrast life cycle culture according to Spengler, the cycle of civilization according to Toynbee is not such in the strict sense of the word. The life of civilization is rather continuous forward motion on the way spiritual development, on which traps constantly appear that can break and destroy the c-yu. Moving along this path is difficult, but there is always a chance to overcome all obstacles, and not to miss this chance is the task of the individuals who make up a given society. It is h-k who is responsible for the growth of his society.
Pros and cons of the approach: Pros: 1) its principles are applicable to the history of any country or group of countries. 2) the idea of history as a multilinear, multivariate process; 3) the approach does not reject, but assumes the integrity, unity of the people of history. 4) the identification of certain criteria for the development of civilization allows us to assess the level of achievements of countries, peoples and regions 5) the approach takes into account important role V historical process human spiritual, moral and intellectual factors.
The weakness of the civil methodology. approach lies in the amorphous nature of the criteria for identifying types of civilization. This selection is carried out according to a set of characteristics, which, on the one hand, must be general character, and on the other hand, it would allow us to designate specific features, characteristic of many societies. The approaches should not be seen as mutually exclusive, given positive points in each of the approaches.
