The single progressive process of human history consists of specific historical periods determined by changing forms of production. Each of these periods has its own developmental characteristics, which gives grounds to talk about the specific historical content of social progress. Therefore, the founders of Marxism abandoned the abstract formulation of the question of social progress, just as they abandoned discussions about society in general.

This means that social progress in each socio-economic formation and at each stage of a separate formation has its own characteristics. The reasons for the differences in the social content of specific historical periods of social progress ultimately come down to differences in methods of production and forms of ownership. This specific form in the development of society is called the type of social progress. Hence, the type of social progress is determined by the specifics of the method of production and the form of ownership. In accordance with this, four main types of social progress are distinguished: primitive, antagonistic and socialist-post-capitalist, electronic communication.

Primitive progress associated with an extremely low level of development of productive forces and the absence of social antagonism. During this period, primitive social property dominated in the life of society, and primitive collectivism played a large role. Developing according to objective laws, tribal society went through two main stages - matriarchy and patriarchy. In the bosom of patriarchal society, the prerequisites for a class society took shape.

Antagonistic type of progress in time associated with three formations - slave, feudal and capitalist. Progress in a class society is much faster than in a primitive society. This is achieved primarily through the productive forces, as well as the working masses, their labor and struggle for social justice. This type of social progress is internally contradictory, since in exploitative formations progressive development is carried out on the basis of exacerbation of antagonistic contradictions. Progress here is achieved through the exploitation and oppression of the masses.

In an exploitative society, progress in the division of labor was accompanied by an increasing separation of city from countryside and mental labor from physical labor. The separation of the city from the countryside was a positive phenomenon, since it increased labor productivity, but it led to the emergence of antagonism between the city and the countryside, since the city began to exploit the countryside, which negatively affected the development of both the village and the city.

A similar situation arose with the process of separating mental labor from physical labor. With the emergence of class society, the integral nature of labor disappears. Mental labor is separated from direct producers, who are doomed to hard physical labor, and becomes primarily the privilege of the ruling classes. The entire development of class society in all spheres of its life - from the material to the spiritual - takes place within the framework of this opposition.

Antagonistic progress is constantly accompanied by wars. The exploitation of man by man and the extermination of man by man are two sides of a class-antagonistic society throughout its history. The exploiting classes have always considered armed violence and war as an effective means to suppress the resistance of workers and progressive movements, for their own enrichment. Let us remember the reprisal of the troops of Thiers and Bismarck against the Paris Commune in 1872, the intervention of 14 states against Soviet Russia in the late 20s. XX centuries, the First and Second World Wars. As a result of unproductive military expenditures, large and “small” wars, crises and depressions, monopoly capitalism only in the 20th century. caused damage to peoples in material values, which is minimally calculated at 6,600 billion dollars. And this happened in a world in which more than 1.5 billion people suffered poverty, in which millions died of hunger.

Socialist-post-capitalist type of social progress in time, it begins with the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia in 1917. Since the new formation goes through a number of stages, social progress here has the same structure. Under the conditions of post-socialism-post-capitalism, the internal inconsistency of social progress is basically eliminated; it acquires a largely non-antagonistic character. The subject and object of the social movement are primarily the masses who carry out progress and enjoy its fruits. The principle “from each according to his ability, to each according to his work” is an incentive and measure of a person’s material well-being and, at the same time, an incentive and measure of labor and the good of society. Comprehensive progress also means that the necessary development within the country of all its regions, sectors of the economy and culture, of all nations and nationalities is carried out.

Many of the difficulties of this progress are due to the constant desire of some leaders of individual countries to put pressure on other nations. That is why these peoples are deprived of the opportunity to devote all their resources to internal needs: economic development, improving the well-being of workers and raising culture. The emerging superpower constantly threatens other nations with war and regularly unleashes military actions against individual countries.

Electronic-communication type of social progress. K. Marx divided the entire history of mankind into “prehistory” and “true history,” which probably begins with the information society. Before this, humanity seemed to be looking for an optimal internal structure. The information phase of the upcoming formation, apparently, is precisely the desired social organization, which provides all the factors to consciously solve the main tasks: knowledge and transformation of nature, satisfaction of the spiritual and material needs of people and the comprehensive, harmonious development of the individual. Therefore, complete computerization of social life will lead to a true kingdom of freedom or, as K. Marx said, to “realized humanism.”

Foreign ideologists often accuse Marxism of “finalism.” They argue that for Marxist parties, communism is the end of history, the cessation of historical movement. However, this is a falsification of Marxism. From the latter’s point of view, within the framework of the future accessible to us, communism is indeed the last social formation or “the last form of structure of the human race.”

But it is the “last form” in the sense that it opens up limitless development opportunities for humans and humanity. The information society is not a frozen state where movement stops. On the contrary, it is a form of particularly rapid, continuous, comprehensive, almost endless movement along the path of further progress of society.

Marxist literature indeed speaks of communism as the ultimate goal of the struggle of the working class and its progressive parties. But this formulation in no way means that with the achievement of communism the history of mankind “ends”. Its meaning is different. This means that with the construction of a communist society, the world-historical task facing the working class and its parties will be completely resolved.

All traces of the class division of society will disappear. Consequently, the working class as a special social group will disappear. Along with it, there will be no need for parties - political organizations created to lead the struggle of the working class and all working people. The development of humanity will continue beyond class differences and political forms. New goals will inspire and captivate the human race. But these will be the goals put forward by the new (information) society and those governing organizations that will have been formed by that time. Modern development shows that the dream of a new society at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st centuries. begins to be implemented on the basis of the telecommunications revolution using information technology.

Marx K., Engels F. Op. T. 7. P. 551.

Lecture:

Concepts of progress, regression, stagnation

The individual and society as a whole tend to strive for the best. Our fathers and grandfathers worked so that we could live better than them. In turn, we must take care of the future of our children. This desire of people contributes to social development, but it can proceed in both a progressive and regressive direction.

Social progress- this is the direction of social development from lower to higher, from less perfect to more perfect.

The term "social progress" is associated with the terms "innovation" and "modernization". Innovation is an innovation in any area, leading to its qualitative growth. And modernization is the updating of machines, equipment, and technical processes to bring them into line with the requirements of the time.

Social regression- this is the opposite direction of progress of social development from higher to lower, less perfect.

For example, population growth is progress, and its opposite, population decline, is regression. But there may be a period in the development of society when there are neither shifts nor recessions. This period is called stagnation.

Stagnation- a stagnant phenomenon in the development of society.

Criteria for social progress

In order to assess the presence of social progress and its effectiveness, there are criteria. The most important of them are:

Education and literacy of people.

The degree of their morality and tolerance.

Democracy of society and the quality of realization of the rights and freedoms of citizens.

Level of scientific and technical innovation.

The level of labor productivity and the welfare of the people.

Life expectancy level, population health status.

Paths of social progress

In what ways can social progress be achieved? There are three such paths: evolution, revolution, reform. The word evolution translated from Latin means “unfolding”, revolution means “coup”, and reform means “transformation”.

Revolutionary path involves rapid fundamental changes in social and government foundations. This is the path of violence, destruction and sacrifice.

An integral part of social development is reform - legal transformations in any sphere of society, carried out on the initiative of authorities without affecting the existing foundations. Reforms can be both evolutionary and revolutionary in nature. For example, reforms Peter I were of a revolutionary nature (remember the decree on cutting the beards of the boyars). And Russia’s transition since 2003 to the Bologna education system, for example, the introduction of the Federal State Educational Standard in schools, bachelor’s and master’s levels in universities, is a reform of an evolutionary nature.

The contradictions of social progress

The directions of social development listed above (progress, regression) occur interconnectedly in history. Often, progress in one area can be accompanied by regression in another, and progress in one country can be accompanied by regression in others. P The following examples illustrate the contradictory nature of social progress:

The second half of the 20th century is marked by rapid progress in science - automation and computerization of production (progress). The development of this and other branches of science requires enormous expenditures of electricity, thermal and atomic energy. Scientific and technological revolution has brought all of modern humanity to the brink of environmental disaster (regression).

The invention of technical devices certainly makes a person’s life easier (progress), but negatively affects his health (regression).

The power of Macedonia - the country of Alexander the Great (progress) was based on the destruction of other countries (regression).

In the development of mankind, there are two types of movement - forward and backward. In the first case it will develop progressively, in the second – regressively. Sometimes both of these processes occur simultaneously in society, but in different areas. Therefore, there are different types of progress and regression. So what is progress and regression? We will talk about this, as well as examples of progress, in this article.

What is progress and regression?

The concept of progress can be characterized as follows. Translated from Latin, progress means “moving forward.” Progress is a direction in social development that is characterized by movement from lower to higher forms. From imperfect to more perfect, to better, that is, moving forward.

Regression is the exact opposite of progress. This word also comes from Latin and means “moving backwards.” Consequently, regression is a movement from higher to lower, from perfect to less perfect, changes for the worse.

What is progress like?

There are several types of progress in society. These include the following.

Social. It implies a social development that follows the path of justice, creating conditions for a decent, good life, for the development of the personality of each person. And also the fight against the reasons that hinder this development.
Material or economic progress. This is development in the process of which the material needs of people are satisfied. To achieve such satisfaction, it is necessary, in turn, to develop science and technology, and improve the standard of living of people.
Scientific. It is characterized by a significant deepening of knowledge about the surrounding world, people, and society. As well as the continuation of the development of the surrounding earth and outer space.
Scientific and technical. It means progress in the development of science, which is aimed at developing the technical side, improving the production sphere, and automating the processes occurring in it.
Cultural or spiritual progress. Marked by the development of the moral side of life, the formation of altruism, which has a conscious basis, and the gradual transformation of a person’s personality. It is assumed that from simply a consumer of material goods, a person over time turns into a creator, engaged in self-development and self-improvement.

Progress criteria

The topic of progress criteria has been controversial at different times. It has not ceased to be so today. Let us present some of the criteria, which together are evidence of progressive social development.

Development of the production sector, the entire economy, expansion of people's freedom in relation to nature, living standards, growth in the well-being of the people, and quality of life in general.
Achieving a high level of democratization of society.
The level of personal and public freedom, which is enshrined at the legislative level. The existence of opportunities for the realization of personality, for its comprehensive development, for the use of freedom within reasonable limits.
Moral improvement of all representatives of society.
Spread of enlightenment, development of science and education. Expanding the range of human needs related to knowledge of the world - scientific, philosophical, aesthetic.
Length of human life.
Increased goodness and feelings of happiness.

Signs of regression

Having examined the criteria of progress, let’s briefly talk about the signs of regression in society. These include the following:

Economic decline, the onset of crisis.
Significant decline in living standards.
Increased mortality, decreased life expectancy.
The onset of a difficult demographic situation, a decrease in the birth rate.
The spread of diseases above normal levels, epidemics, the presence of a large number of people with chronic diseases.
A decline in moral standards, the level of education of people, and culture as a whole.
The use of forceful as well as declarative methods in solving problems.
Suppression of manifestations of freedom by violent means.
General weakening of the country (state), deterioration of the internal and international situation.

Progressive Events

Here are examples of progress observed throughout human history in various areas that were of great importance.

In ancient times, man learned to make fire, create tools, and cultivate the land.
There was a change from the slave system to the feudal system, as a result of which slavery was abolished.
Printing was invented and the first universities opened in Europe.
New lands were developed during the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries.
The United States became a sovereign nation and adopted the Declaration of Independence.
French educators organized activities aimed at proclaiming new social ideals, the main of which was freedom.
During the Great French Revolution, the class division of people was abolished, freedom, equality, and fraternity were proclaimed.

Achievements of science and technology in the 20th century

Although scientific discoveries have been made over a long period of time, the true century of progress is the 20th century. Let us give examples of scientific discoveries that have significantly contributed to the progressive development of mankind. In the 20th century the following were discovered and invented:

The very first plane.
Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.
A diode is an electron tube.
Conveyor.
Synthetic rubber.
Insulin.
TV.
Cinema with sound.
Penicillin.
Neutron.
Uranium fission.
Ballistic missile.
Atomic bomb.
Computer.
DNA structure.
Integrated circuits.
Laser.
Space flights.
Internet.
Genetic engineering.
Microprocessors.
Cloning.
Stem cells.

To the question What types of progress do you know? given by the author Caucasian the best answer is It is necessary to distinguish between morphological and biological progress. The latter is expressed in the fact that the number of individuals of a population or species is steadily increasing, the range is expanding, divergence and the formation of new species occur. Biological progress does not always coincide with morphological progress. In other words, good fitness of organisms is not necessarily associated with complex organization.
That is why we now observe the coexistence in ecosystems of organisms of very different levels of organization: bacteria and flowering plants, cyanobacteria and primates.
Embryological studies have made a great contribution to understanding the patterns of macroevolution.
The German naturalist Fritz Müller in the second half of the 19th century, while studying the individual development of various species of crustaceans, discovered that during ontogenesis, many animals seem to repeat evolution.
The same observations were made in the study of other species. For example, in the development of a mammalian embryo, one can distinguish a stage at which it resembles a fish - it has gill slits, which then disappear. In the embryo of tailless mammals, in particular humans, a tail is formed at a certain stage, which is then also reduced.
E. Haeckel absolutized these patterns and formulated the biogenetic law, according to which evolution proceeds by adding new stages of development and new characteristics to those already existing in the ancestral organism. However, this law is not universal. Müller already discovered that new characters, leading to a significant deviation from the ancestral form, can appear in the initial stages of ontogenesis. In this case, ontogeny may not reflect phylogeny.
Some confirmation of the biogenetic law was obtained in genetic experiments when studying the development of insects. In particular, it has been shown that the increasing complexity of the organization of invertebrates in the lineage leading to insects is associated with an increase in the number of regulatory genes. New genes arise as a result of duplication of previous ones and their subsequent divergence.
It is not surprising that the embryos of different classes of vertebrates are more similar to each other in the early stages of development than in the later stages. Ontogenesis can be represented as a chain of events, and each subsequent event depends on the previous one. Under these conditions, the slightest deviation in the “trajectory” of ontogenesis at the initial stages can lead to a significant deviation at the end of the path, that is, in an adult organism. Therefore, the early stages of development are more conservative, because they are more strictly controlled by natural selection.
A comparison of data from the analysis of nucleotide and amino acid sequences with morphological studies revealed a discrepancy in the rates of their evolutionary changes. Thus, the rates of amino acid substitutions in the proteins of frogs and mammals are not fundamentally different, while the morphological diversity of mammals and frogs is not comparable.
A similar discrepancy is revealed when comparing the amino acid and nucleotide sequences of humans and great apes. Their morphological differences are so significant that taxonomists have classified them into different families. However, molecular analysis data indicate that their proteins and DNA are 99% identical. In other words, morphological evolution in the phylogenetic lineage leading to humans occurred at a very rapid rate and was not accompanied by much change in molecular characters.

What is progress? Types, forms, examples of progress. Achievements and inconsistencies of progress

The idea of progressive development entered science as a secularized (secular) version of the Christian belief in providence. The image of the future in the biblical stories was an irreversible, predetermined and sacred process of development of people guided by the divine will. However, the origins of this idea are discovered much earlier. Next, let's look at what progress is, what its purpose and meaning are.

First mentions

Before we talk about what progress is, we should give a brief historical description of the emergence and spread of this idea. In particular, in the ancient Greek philosophical tradition there are discussions about improving the existing socio-political structure, which developed from the primitive community and family to the ancient polis, i.e., the city-state (Aristotle “Politics”, Plato “Laws”). A little later, during the Middle Ages, Bacon tried to apply the concept and concept of progress in the ideological field. In his opinion, knowledge accumulated over time is increasingly enriched and improved. Thus, each next generation is able to see further and better than its predecessors.

What is progress?

This word has Latin roots and translated means “success”, “moving forward”. Progress is a direction of development of a progressive nature. This process is characterized by the transition to the higher from the lower, from the less to the more perfect. The progress of society is a global, world-historical phenomenon. This process involves the ascent of human associations from savagery, primitive states to the heights of civilization. This transition is based on political, legal, moral, ethical, scientific and technical achievements.

Main Components

The above describes what progress is and when they first started talking about this concept. Next, let's look at its components. During the improvement, the following aspects develop:

Material. In this case, we are talking about the most complete satisfaction of the benefits of all people and the elimination of any technical restrictions for this.
Social component. Here we are talking about the process of bringing society closer to justice and freedom.
Scientific. This component reflects the process of continuous, deepening and expanding knowledge of the surrounding world, its development in both the micro and macro spheres, the liberation of knowledge from the boundaries of economic feasibility.

New time

During this period, the driving forces of progress in natural science began to be seen. G. Spencer expressed his point of view on the process. In his opinion, progress - both in nature and in society - was subject to a universal evolutionary principle: the continuously increasing complexity of internal functioning and organization. Over time, forms of progress began to be visible in literature and general history. Art did not go unnoticed either. In different civilizations there was a diversity of social orders, which, in turn, determined different types of progress. The so-called “staircase” was formed. At its apex were the most developed and civilized societies of the West. Next, at various stages, stood other cultures. The distribution depended on the level of development. There was a “Westernization” of the concept. As a result, such types of progress as “American-centrism” and “Eurocentrism” appeared.

Modern times

During this period, the decisive role was assigned to man. Weber emphasized the tendency to rationalize the universal nature in the management of various social processes. Durkheim gave other examples of progress. He spoke of a trend toward social integration through “organic solidarity.” It was based on the complementary and mutually beneficial contribution of all participants in society.

Classic concept

The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is called the “triumph of the idea of development.” At that time, the general belief that scientific and technological progress could guarantee continuous improvement of life was accompanied by a spirit of romantic optimism. In general, there was a classical concept in society. It represented an optimistic idea of the gradual liberation of humanity from fear and ignorance on the way to increasingly refined and higher levels of civilization. The classical concept was based on the concept of linear irreversible time. Here progress was a positively characterized difference between the present and the future or the past and the present.

Goals and objectives

It was assumed that the described movement would continue continuously not only in the present, but also in the future, despite occasional deviations. There was a fairly widespread belief among the masses that progress could be maintained at all stages, in every basic structure of society. As a result, everyone would achieve complete prosperity.