Society is in the process of development. Laws of social process. Concepts of society development. Features of moral consciousness

Types of society.Traditional (agricultural)- a type of society based on a subsistence economy, a monarchical system of government and the predominance of religious values ​​and worldview.

Economy.

· Natural agriculture

· Primitive crafts

· Predominance of collective forms of ownership. Protection of property of only the upper class of society. Traditional economics.

· The production of goods is limited to a certain type, the list is limited.

· Extensive economy

· Hand tools

· Dependence on natural and climatic conditions

· Slow introduction of innovations into the economy.

· The standard of living of the majority of the population is low.

Political sphere.

Dominance of the Church and the Army

· Power is hereditary, the source of power is the will of God.

· Monarchical forms of government, no political freedoms, power above the law, absorption of the individual by the collective, despotic state.

· The state subjugates society; society is outside the state and its control does not exist.

Social sphere.

· Dependence of position on social status.

· Basic units of society - family, community

· Stability of the social structure, stable boundaries between social communities, adherence to a strict social hierarchy.

· Estate.

Spiritual sphere.

· Norms, customs, beliefs.

· Providentialism of consciousness, fanatical attitude towards religion.

· Individualism and individual identity were not encouraged; collective consciousness prevailed over the individual.

· Few educated people, the role of science is not great. The education is elite.

· Predominance of oral information over written information.

Purpose of the society: adaptation to nature.

Industrial- a type of society based on market economy, high development industry, implementation scientific achievements in the economy, the emergence of a democratic form of government, a high level of knowledge development, scientific and technological progress, secularization of consciousness.

Economy.

· Based on industry, in agriculture- increasing labor productivity. Destruction of natural dependence.

· Machine technology

· The basis of the economy is state and private property, market economy.

· Standardization is uniformity in the production and consumption of goods and services.

· Intensive economy

· Machine technology, assembly line production, automation, mass production

· Independence from natural and climatic conditions Scientific and technological progress.

· Growing incomes of the population.

· Mercantilism of consciousness.

Political sphere.

· The role of the state is increasing.

· Dominance of law and law (albeit, more often on paper) Equality before the law. Individual rights and freedoms are legally enshrined. The main regulator of relations is the rule of law.

· Providing political freedoms, the republican form of government prevails. A person is an active subject of politics. Democratic changes

Social sphere.

· The emergence of new classes - the bourgeoisie and the industrial proletariat.

· Urbanization.

· The mobility of the social structure is great, the possibilities of social movement are not limited.

Spiritual sphere.

· Secularization of consciousness. The emergence of atheists.

· Individualism, rationalism, utilitarianism of consciousness.

· The role of knowledge and education is great. Mainly secondary education.

· Dominance of mass culture.

Purpose of the society: liberation of man from direct dependence on nature, partial subordination of it to himself. The emergence of environmental problems.

Post-industrial– modern type society, based on the dominance of information (computer technology) in production, development of the service sector, continuing education, freedom of conscience, democracy of consensus, formation of civil society.

Economy.

· The basis of production is information.

· The service sector comes to the fore.

· Computer techologies

· Availability of different forms of ownership. Mixed economy.

· Individualization of production, up to exclusiveness.

· Increasing the share of small-scale production.

· The economic sector associated with the production of knowledge, processing and dissemination of information has been developed.

· Cooperation with nature, resource-saving, environmentally friendly technologies.

· Modernization of the economy.

· High level and quality of life of people.

Political sphere.

· Political pluralism

· Civil society. Relations between the individual and society are built on the principle of mutual responsibility.

· Law, right - not on paper, but in practice.

· Democracy. Democracy of "consensus".

· Political pluralism.

Social sphere.

· Growth in the share of the middle class.

· The share of the population engaged in information processing and dissemination over the labor force in agriculture and industry is increasing significantly

· Elimination of social polarization.

· Erasing class differences.

Spiritual sphere.

· Continuing education.

· Freedom of conscience and religion.

· The desire to prove oneself and achieve success in life.

· The role of science, education, and the information age is great. Higher education.

· A global telecommunications network - the Internet - is being formed.

· Availability different types culture

The purpose of society : anthropogenic civilization, i.e. in the center is a person, his individuality, interests, and solutions to environmental problems.

TYPES OF SOCIETY

1.By degree of openness:

- closed society – characterized by a static social structure, limited mobility, traditionalism, very slow introduction of innovations or their absence, authoritarian ideology;

-open society – characterized by dynamic social structure, high social mobility, ability to innovate, pluralism, lack of state ideology.

By availability of writing:

- preliterate,

-written (knowing the alphabet or symbolic writing)

3.According to the degree of social differentiation (or stratification):

- simple - pre-state formations, there are no managers and subordinates);

- complex – several levels of management, layers of the population.

SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT

There are many changes happening in the world around us. Some of them occur constantly and can be recorded at any time. To do this, you need to select a certain period of time and monitor which features of the object disappear and which appear. Changes may concern the position of the object in space, its configuration, temperature, volume, etc., i.e. those properties that do not remain constant. Summarizing all the changes, we can highlight character traits, distinguishing this object from others. Thus, the category “change” is understood as the process of movement and interaction of objects and phenomena, the transition from one state to another, the emergence of new properties, functions and relationships in them.

A special type of change is development. If change characterizes any phenomenon of reality and is universal, then development is associated with the renewal of an object, its transformation into something new. Moreover, development is not a reversible process. For example, the change “water-steam-water” is not considered development, just as it is not considered quantitative changes or the destruction of an object and the cessation of its existence. Development always involves qualitative changes occurring over relatively large time intervals. Examples include the evolution of life on Earth, the historical development of mankind, scientific and technological progress, etc.

1 Society development is a process of progressive changes that occur in every this moment at every point in human life. In sociology, the concepts of “social development” and “social change” are used to characterize the movement of society. The first of them characterizes a certain type social change oriented towards improvement, complexity and perfection. But there are many other changes. For example, emergence, formation, growth, decline, disappearance, transition period. These changes carry neither positive nor negative meaning. The concept of “social change” covers a wide range of social changes regardless of their

direction. Thus, the concept of “social change” refers to various changes that occur over some time in social communities, groups, institutions, organizations, in their relationships with each other, as well as with individuals. Such changes can occur at the level interpersonal relationships(for example, changes in the structure and functions of the family), at the level of organizations and institutions (education, science are constantly subject to changes both in terms of their content and in terms of their organization), at the level of small and large social groups.

There are four types of social change:

1) structural changes relating to the structures of various social entities (for example, the family, any other community, society as a whole);

2) changes affecting social processes(relations of solidarity, tension, conflict, equality and subordination, etc.);

3) functional social changes relating to the functions of various social systems(in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993, there were changes in the functions of the legislative and executive powers);

4) motivational social changes (in Lately For significant masses of the population, the motives of personal monetary earnings and profit come to the fore, which influences their behavior, thinking, and consciousness).

All these changes are closely interconnected. Changes of one type inevitably entail changes of other types. Dialectics deals with the study of development. This concept arose in Ancient Greece, where the ability to polemicize, argue, convince, proving one’s rightness was highly valued. Dialectics was understood as the art of argument, dialogue, discussion, during which participants put forward alternative points of view. In the process of dispute, one-sidedness is overcome, and a correct understanding of the phenomena under discussion is developed. Wide famous expression“in dispute, truth is born” is quite applicable to the discussions of ancient philosophers. Ancient dialectics imagined the world as constantly moving, changeable, and all phenomena as interconnected. But at the same time, they did not distinguish the category of development as the emergence of something new. Ancient Greek philosophy was dominated by the concept of the great cycle, according to which everything in the world is subject to cyclical return changes and, like the change of seasons, everything eventually returns “to normal.”

The concept of development as a process of qualitative change appeared in medieval Christian philosophy. Augustine the Blessed compared history with human life, passing-

the stages of childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age. The beginning of history was compared with the birth of a person, and its end (the terrible JUDGMENT) with death. This concept overcame the idea of ​​cyclical changes and introduced the concept of progressive movement and the uniqueness of events.

In the era of bourgeois revolutions, the idea of ​​historical development arose, put forward by the famous French enlighteners Voltaire and Rousseau. It was developed by Kant, who raised the question of the development of morality and social development person. Hegel developed a holistic concept of development. He found various changes in nature, but he saw true development in the history of society and, above all, in its spiritual culture. Hegel identified the basic principles of dialectics: the universal connection of phenomena, the unity of opposites, the development of human

res negation. Dialectical opposites are inextricably linked and are unthinkable without each other. Thus, content is impossible without form, a part is impossible without the whole, an effect is impossible without a cause, etc. In some cases, opposites come closer and even transform into each other, for example, illness and health, material and spiritual, quantity and quality. Thus, the law of unity and struggle of opposites establishes that the source of development is internal contradictions. Dialectics pays special attention to the relationship between quantitative and qualitative changes. Any object has a quality that distinguishes it from other objects, and quantitative characteristics of its volume, weight, etc. Quantitative changes may accumulate gradually and not affect the quality of the item. But at a certain stage the change quantitative characteristics leads to a change in quality. Thus, an increase in pressure in a steam boiler can lead to an explosion, the constant implementation of unpopular reforms among the people causes discontent, the accumulation of knowledge in any field of science leads to new discoveries, etc.

The development of society occurs progressively, passing through certain stages. Each subsequent stage, as it were, negates the previous one. As it develops, a new quality appears, a new negation occurs, which in science is called the negation of negation. However, denial cannot be considered the destruction of the old. Along with more complex phenomena, there are always simpler ones. On the other hand, the new, highly developed, emerging from the old, preserves everything valuable that was in it. Hegel’s concept is based on reality and generalizes vast historical material. However, Hegel put the spiritual processes of social life in first place, believing that the history of peoples is the embodiment of the development of ideas.

Using Hegel's concept, Marx created materialist dialectics, which is based on the idea of ​​development not from the spiritual, but from the material. Marx considered the basis of development

improvement of tools of labor (productive forces), entailing a change in social relations. Development was considered by Marx and then Lenin as a single law-

a dimensional process, the course of which is not linear, but in a spiral. At a new turn, the passed steps are repeated, but at a higher quality level. Movement forward occurs spasmodically, sometimes catastrophically. The transition from quantity to quality, internal contradictions, and the clash of various forces and tendencies provide impetus for development.

However, the process of development cannot be understood as a strict movement from lower to higher. Different peoples on Earth differ in their development from each other. Some peoples developed faster, some more slowly. In the development of some, gradual changes prevailed, while in the development of others they were of a spasmodic nature. Depending on this, they distinguish evolutionary and revolutionary development.

Evolution- these are gradual, slow quantitative changes that over time lead to a transition to a qualitatively different state. The evolution of life on Earth is the most striking example of such changes. In the development of society, evolutionary changes manifested themselves in the improvement of tools, the emergence of new, more complex shapes interactions between people in different areas of their lives.

Revolution- this is in highest degree radical changes that involve a radical breakdown of pre-existing relationships, are universal in nature and rely, in some cases, on violence. The revolution has a spasmodic character. Depending on the duration of the revolution, there are short-term and long-term. The first include social revolutions- fundamental qualitative changes in all social life, affecting the foundations of the social system. Such were the bourgeois revolutions in England (XVII century) and France (XVIII century), the socialist revolution in Russia (1917). Long-term revolutions have global significance and affect the development process different nations. The first such revolution was the Neolithic revolution. It lasted several thousand years and led to the transition of humanity from an appropriating economy to a producing one, i.e. from hunting and gathering to pastoralism and agriculture. The most important process that took place in many countries of the world in the 18th-19th centuries was the industrial revolution, as a result of which there was a transition from manual labor to machine labor, mechanization of production was carried out, which made it possible to significantly increase the volume of output with lower labor costs.

Reform- a set of measures aimed at transformation, change, reorganization of certain aspects of social life.

Basic forms of development of society

In characterizing the development process in relation to the economy, they often distinguish extensive and intensive development paths. The extensive path is associated with an increase in production by attracting new sources of raw materials, labor resources, increasing the exploitation of labor, and expanding the acreage in agriculture. The intensive path is associated with the use of new production methods based on scientific and technological progress. The extensive path of development is not endless. At a certain stage, the limit of its capabilities comes, and development comes to a dead end. The intensive path of development, on the contrary, involves the search for something new that is actively used in practice; society moves forward at a faster pace.

Society development - difficult process, which continues continuously throughout the entire history of human existence. It began from the moment man was separated from the animal world and is unlikely to end in the foreseeable future. The process of development of society can only be interrupted with the death of humanity.

If the person himself does not create the conditions for self-destruction in the form nuclear war or an environmental disaster, the limits of human development can only be associated with the end of existence solar system. But it is likely that by that time science will reach a new qualitative level and man will be able to move in outer space. Possibility of settling other planets, star systems, galaxies can remove the question of the limit to the development of society.

Questions and tasks

1. What is meant by the category “change”? What types of infidelity

can you name it?

2. How does development differ from other types of change?

3. What types of social changes do you know?

4. What is dialectics? When and where did it originate?

5. How have ideas about development changed in the history of philosophy?

6. What are the laws of dialectics? Provide evidence confirming them

examples.

7. How do evolution and revolution differ? How did these processes manifest themselves?

were they present in the lives of individual peoples, of all humanity?

8. Give examples of extensive and intensive development paths.

Why can't they exist one without the other?

9. Read the statement by N.A. Berdyaev:

"History can't make sense if it never ends,

if there is no end; the meaning of history is the movement towards the end, towards completion

to the end. Religious consciousness sees a tragedy in history, which

which has a beginning and will have an end. In historical tragedy there is

a series of acts, and in them the final catastrophe is brewing, the catastrophe of all

allowing..."

What does he see as the meaning of history? How do his ideas relate to the problem?

development of society?

10. Conduct a discussion on the topic “Is there a limit to human development?”

stva?

CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION

The concept of “culture” has many meanings. The term itself is of Latin origin. Its original meaning is the cultivation of land with the aim of improving it for further use. Thus, the term “culture” implied a change in a natural object under the influence of man, as opposed to those changes caused by natural causes.

In a figurative sense, culture is the improvement of a person’s physical and spiritual qualities, for example, body culture, spiritual culture. In a broad sense culture - is the totality of human achievements in the material and spiritual spheres. TO material assets include all items material world created by man. These are clothing, means of transport, tools, etc. Spiritual realm includes literature, art, science, education, religion. Culture appears as a so-called “second nature” created by man, standing above natural nature.

main feature culture is its human beginning, meaning that culture does not exist outside of human society. Culture characterizes both the development of certain historical eras, nations and nationalitiesb (the culture of primitive society, ancient culture, the culture of the Russian people), and the degree of improvement of various spheres of human life and activity (work culture, everyday culture, moral culture, artistic culture, etc. ).

The level and state of culture can be determined based on the development of society. In this regard, primitive and high culture are distinguished. At certain stages, you may

the birth of culture, its stagnation and decline. The ups and downs of culture depend on the extent to which the members of society who are its carriers remain faithful to their cultural tradition.

At the primitive communal stage of development, man was an integral part of the clan and community. The development of this community was simultaneously the development of man himself. In such conditions, the social and cultural elements of the development of society were practically not separated: social life was at the same time the life of a given culture, and the achievements of society were the achievements of its culture.

Another feature of the life of primitive society was its “natural” character. Tribal relations “naturally” arose in the process life together and the activities of people in the harsh struggle to maintain their existence. The decomposition and disintegration of these relations simultaneously became a revolution in the mechanisms of functioning and development of society, which meant the formation of civilization.

The concept of civilization is very ambiguous. It often contains a variety of contents. Indeed, this concept is used both as a synonym for culture (a cultured and civilized person are equivalent characteristics), and as something opposed to it (for example, the physical comfort of society as opposed to culture as a spiritual principle).

Civilization- this is the next stage of culture after barbarism, which gradually accustoms a person to orderly joint actions with other people. The transition from barbarism to civilization is a process that continued long time and marked by many innovations, such as the domestication of animals, the emergence of agriculture, the invention of writing, the emergence of public authority and the state.

Currently, civilization is understood as that which provides comfort and convenience provided by technology. Another one of modern definitions this concept is the following: civilization is a set of spiritual, material and moral means with which a given community equips its members in their confrontation with the outside world.

Philosophers of the past sometimes interpreted the concept of “civilization” in a negative sense as a social state hostile to humane, human manifestations social life.

O. Spengler considered civilization to be a stage of cultural decline and aging. In the 20th century The civilizational approach to history was developed by representatives of Western European and American political thought. The criterion for the species diversity of their peoples and states is

the concept of civilization with its characteristic features was adopted: culture, religion, development of technology, etc.

Depending on the approach to the concept of civilization, the following types of civilizations are distinguished:

Selection criteria	Types of civilizations
Religious values	Christian Civilization of Europe; Arabic - Islamic; Civilization of the East:
Indo-Buddhist	Far Eastern - Confucian
Types of worldviews	Traditional (eastern);
rationalistic (Western).	Scope of distribution
Local;	special;
worldwide.	Predominant socio-economic sphere
Agrarian;	industrial;

post-industrial.

The advantage of the civilizational approach is the appeal to spiritual, cultural factors of development, which undoubtedly had a significant impact on society. At the same time, this approach is subject to serious criticism for the following reasons. The concept of “civilization” does not have an unambiguous definition and is used in a variety of, sometimes inconsistent, senses. The civilizational approach underestimates the socio-economic aspects of the development of society, the role of production relations and the division of society into classes as factors influencing the specifics of its emergence and functioning. The insufficient development of civilizational typology is evidenced by the multiplicity of bases for the classification of civilizations.

Ideas about civilization remained outside the scope of the study of Marxism, which dominated our country in the 20th century. ideology. Nevertheless, some aspects of the issue of the development of civilization are found in the works of F. Engels. Analyzing the transition from the primitive communal system to civilization, he identifies its main characteristics: the social division of labor and, in particular, the separation of city from countryside, mental labor from physical labor, the emergence of commodity-money relations and commodity production, the split of society into exploiters and exploited and as a consequence of this - the emergence of the state, the right to inherit property, a profound revolution in family forms, the creation of writing and the development of various forms of spiritual production. Engels is primarily interested in those aspects of civilization that separate it from the primitive state of society. But his analysis also contains the prospect of a more versatile approach to civilization as a global, world-historical phenomenon.

From a modern point of view, the idea of ​​uniqueness lies at the heart of world history. social phenomena, the uniqueness of the path traveled by individual peoples. In accordance with this concept, the historical process is a change in a number of civilizations that existed at different times in different regions of the planet and simultaneously exist at the present time. Science knows many definitions of the concept “civilization”. As already mentioned, for a long time civilization was considered as a stage in the historical development of mankind, following savagery and barbarism. Today, researchers recognize this definition as insufficient and inaccurate. Civilization is understood as the qualitative specificity (originality of material, spiritual, social life) of a particular group of countries or peoples at a certain stage of development.

According to a number of researchers, civilizations are radically different from each other, since they are based on incompatible systems of social values. At the same time, it is given

This approach, taken to its extreme, can lead to complete denial common features in the development of peoples, elements of repetition in the historical process. Thus, the Russian historian N.Ya. Danilevsky wrote that there is no world history, but only the history of given civilizations that have an individual, closed character. This theory dissects world history in time and space into isolated and opposed cultural communities.

Any civilization is characterized not only by a specific social production technology, but also, to no lesser extent, by its corresponding culture. It is characterized by a certain philosophy, socially significant values, a generalized image of the world, a specific way of life with its own special life principle, the basis of which is the spirit of the people, its morality, faith, which determine a certain attitude towards oneself. This main life principle unites people into the people of a given civilization and ensures its unity throughout its entire history. In this regard, in each civilization four subsystems can be distinguished - biosocial, economic, political and cultural, which have their own specifics in each specific case.

Historians highlight ancient civilizations, such as Ancient India and China, the states of the Muslim East, Babylon and Ancient Egypt, as well as the civilizations of the Middle Ages. All of them belong to the so-called pre-industrial civilizations. Their distinctive cultures were aimed at maintaining the established way of life. Preference was given to traditional patterns and norms that incorporated the experience of their ancestors. Activities, their means and ends changed slowly.

The European civilization became a special type of civilization, which began its expansion during the Renaissance. It was based on other values. Among them is the importance of science, the constant desire for progress, for changes in existing forms of activity. The understanding of human nature and his role in social life was also different. It was based on Christian teaching about morality and the attitude towards the human mind as created in the image and likeness of the divine.

Modern times became a period of development of industrial civilization. It began with the industrial revolution, the symbol of which was the steam engine. The basis of industrial civilization is the economy, within which something is constantly changing and improving. Thus, industrial civilization is dynamic.

Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, a post-industrial civilization is emerging, based on the priority of information and knowledge. The symbol of post-industrial civilization has become the computer, and the goal is the comprehensive development of the individual. Civilization is a sociocultural formation. If the concept of “culture” characterizes a person, determines the extent of his development, methods of self-expression in activity, creativity, then the concept of “civilization” characterizes the social existence of culture itself.

The connection between culture and civilization has been noticed for a long time. Often these concepts were identified. The development of culture was seen as the development of civilization. The difference between them is that culture is the result of self-determination of a people and an individual (a cultured person), while civilization is a set of technological achievements and the comfort associated with them. Comfort requires certain moral and physical concessions from a civilized person, making which he no longer has the time or energy for culture, and sometimes even loses his inner self.

the early need to be not only civilized, but also cultural.

All these various characteristics of civilization are not accidental; they reflect some real aspects and features of the historical process. However, their assessment is often one-sided.

ronney, which gives grounds for a critical attitude towards numerous concepts of civilization. At the same time, life has shown the need to use the concept of civilization and identify its real scientific content. Civilization includes a human-transformed, cultivated, historical nature (in virgin nature the existence of civilization is impossible) and the means of this transformation - a person who has mastered culture and is able to live and act in the cultivated environment of his habitat, as well as the totality of social relations as a form of social organization culture, ensuring its existence and continuation. Civilization is not only a narrowly national concept, but also a global one.

no. This approach allows us to more clearly understand the nature of many global problems as contradictions of modern civilization as a whole. Pollution of the environment with production and consumption waste, predatory attitude towards natural resources, and irrational environmental management have given rise to a complex ecological situation, which has become one of the most pressing global problems of modern civilization, the solution of which requires the combined efforts of all members of the world community. Demographic and energy problems, and the task of providing food for the growing population of the Earth, go beyond state borders and acquire a global civilizational character. All humanity faces a common goal to preserve civilization and ensure its own survival.

IN modern science There has long been a debate: the world is moving towards a single civilization, the values ​​of which will become the property of all humanity, or the trend towards cultural and historical diversity will continue or even intensify, and society will be a collection of independently developing civilizations.

Supporters of the second position emphasize the indisputable idea that the development of any viable organism (including a community of people) is based on diversity. The spread of common values, cultural traditions, and ways of life common to all peoples will put an end to the development of human society.

The other side also has weighty arguments: it is affirmed and supported by specific facts of socio-historical development that some of the most important forms and achievements developed by a certain civilization will receive universal recognition and dissemination. Thus, to the values ​​that originated in European civilization, but are now acquiring universal

ical significance include the following.

In the sphere of production and economic relations, this is the achieved level of development of productive forces, modern technologies, generated by the new stage of the scientific and technological revolution, the system of commodity-money relations, the presence of a market. The experience accumulated by humanity shows that it has not yet developed any other mechanism that would make it possible to more rationally balance production with consumption.

In the political sphere, the general civilizational basis includes a legal state operating on the basis of democratic norms.

In the spiritual and moral sphere, the common heritage of all peoples consists of the great achievements of science, art, culture of many generations, as well as universal moral values. The main factor in the development of modern world civilization is the desire for uniformity. Thanks to the funds mass media millions of people witness events taking place in different parts of the Earth, become familiar with various manifestations of culture, which unifies their tastes. The movement of people over long distances, to any point on the planet, has become commonplace. All this indicates the globalization of the world community. This term refers to the process of bringing together peoples between whom differences cultural differences, and the movement of humanity towards a single social community.

Questions and tasks

1. Give a detailed definition of the concept of “culture”.

2. What is civilization? How was this concept explained by past philosophers?

3. What is the relationship between culture and civilization?

4. What is the essence of the civilizational approach to history?

5. What are the features of the Marxist understanding of civilization?

6. What are the features of modern civilization? What problems are facing modern civilization?

7. What civilizations have existed in human history? Name their distinctive features.

8. What factors allow us to talk about the formation of a single universal civilization in modern world?

9. What is globalization? What are its main features?

10. Write an essay on the topic “ Modern humanity: a single civilization or a collection of civilizations?”

There is a lot going on in the world around us. changes. Some of them occur constantly and can be recorded at any time. To do this, you need to select a certain period of time and monitor which features of the object disappear and which appear. Changes may concern the position of the object in space, its configuration, temperature, volume, etc., i.e. those properties that do not remain constant. By summing up all the changes, we can identify the characteristic features that distinguish this object from others. Thus, the category “change” is understood as the process of movement and interaction of objects and phenomena, the transition from one state to another, the emergence of new properties, functions and relationships in them.

A special type of change is development. If change characterizes any phenomenon of reality and is universal, then development is associated with the renewal of an object, its transformation into something new. Moreover, development is not a reversible process. For example, the change “water-steam-water” is not considered development, just as it is not considered quantitative changes or the destruction of an object and the cessation of its existence.

Development always involves qualitative changes occurring over relatively large time intervals. Examples include the evolution of life on Earth, the historical development of mankind, scientific and technological progress, etc.

Society development - This is a process of progressive changes that occur at every given moment at every point in human society. In sociology, the concepts of “social development” and “social change” are used to characterize the movement of society. The first of them characterizes a certain type of social change, aimed towards improvement, complexity and perfection. But there are many other changes. For example, emergence, formation, growth, decline, disappearance, transition period. These changes carry neither positive nor negative meaning. The concept of “social change” covers a wide range of social changes, regardless of their direction.

Thus, the concept "social change" denotes various changes that occur over a period of time in social communities, groups, institutions, organizations, in their relationships with each other, as well as with individuals. Such changes can occur at the level of interpersonal relationships (for example, changes in the structure and functions of the family), at the level of organizations and institutions (education, science are constantly subject to changes both in terms of their content and in terms of their organization), at the level of small and large social groups.

You can select four types of social change:

1) structural changes relating to the structures of various social entities (for example, the family, any other community, society as a whole);

2) changes affecting social processes (relations of solidarity, tension, conflict, equality and subordination, etc.);

3) functional social changes relating to the functions of various social systems (in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993, changes occurred in the functions of the legislative and executive powers);

4) motivational social changes (recently, among significant masses of the population, the motives of personal monetary earnings and profit have come to the fore, which has an impact on their behavior, thinking, and consciousness).

All these changes are closely interconnected. Changes in one type inevitably lead to changes in other types.

Researches development dialectics. This concept originated in Ancient Greece, where the ability to polemicize, argue, and convince, proving one’s rightness, was highly valued. Dialectics was understood as the art of argument, dialogue, discussion, during which participants put forward alternative points of view. In the process of dispute, one-sidedness is overcome, and a correct understanding of the phenomena under discussion is developed. The well-known expression “truth is born in dispute” is quite applicable to the discussions of ancient philosophers.

Ancient dialectics imagined the world as constantly moving, changeable, and all phenomena as interconnected. But at the same time, they did not distinguish the category of development as the emergence of something new. Ancient Greek philosophy was dominated by the concept of the great cycle, according to which everything in the world is subject to cyclical return changes and, like the change of seasons, everything eventually returns “to normal.”

The concept of development as a process of qualitative change appeared in medieval Christian philosophy. Augustine the Blessed compared history to human life, passing through the stages of childhood, youth, maturity and old age. The beginning of history was compared with the birth of a person, and its end (the terrible JUDGMENT) with death. This concept overcame the idea of ​​cyclical changes and introduced the concept of progressive movement and the uniqueness of events.

During the era of bourgeois revolutions, the idea arose historical development, put forward by the famous French educators Voltaire and Rousseau. It was developed by Kant, who raised the question of the development of morality and social development of man.

Hegel developed a holistic concept of development. He found various changes in nature, but he saw true development in the history of society and, above all, in its spiritual culture. Hegel identified the main principles of dialectics: universal connection of phenomena, unity of opposites, development through negation.

Dialectical opposites are inextricably linked and unthinkable without each other. Thus, content is impossible without form, a part is impossible without the whole, an effect is impossible without a cause, etc. In some cases, opposites come closer and even transform into each other, for example, illness and health, material and spiritual, quantity and quality. Thus, the law of unity and struggle of opposites establishes that the source of development is internal contradictions.

Dialectics pays special attention to the relationship between quantitative and qualitative changes. Any object has a quality that distinguishes it from other objects, and quantitative characteristics of its volume, weight, etc. Quantitative changes may accumulate gradually and not affect the quality of the item. But at a certain stage, a change in quantitative characteristics leads to a change in quality. Thus, an increase in pressure in a steam boiler can lead to an explosion, the constant implementation of unpopular reforms among the people causes discontent, the accumulation of knowledge in any field of science leads to new discoveries, etc.

The development of society occurs progressively, passing through certain stages. Each subsequent stage, as it were, negates the previous one. As development progresses, a new quality appears, a new negation occurs, which in science is called denial of denial. However, denial cannot be considered the destruction of the old. Along with more complex phenomena, there are always simpler ones. On the other hand, the new, highly developed, emerging from the old, preserves everything valuable that was in it.

Hegel's concept is based on reality and generalizes vast historical material. However, Hegel put the spiritual processes of social life in first place, believing that the history of peoples is the embodiment of the development of ideas.

Using Hegel's concept, Marx created materialist dialectics, which is based on the idea of ​​development not from the spiritual, but from the material. Marx considered the basis of development to be the improvement of the tools of labor (productive forces), entailing a change in social relations. Development was considered by Marx, and then by Lenin, as a single natural process, the course of which is not linear, but in a spiral. At a new turn, the passed steps are repeated, but at a higher quality level. Movement forward occurs spasmodically, sometimes catastrophically. The transition from quantity to quality, internal contradictions, and the clash of various forces and tendencies provide impetus for development.

However, the process of development cannot be understood as a strict movement from lower to higher. Different peoples on Earth differ in their development from each other. Some peoples developed faster, some more slowly. In the development of some, gradual changes prevailed, while in the development of others they were of a spasmodic nature. Depending on this, they distinguish evolutionary And revolutionary development.

Evolution - these are gradual, slow quantitative changes that over time lead to a transition to a qualitatively different state. The evolution of life on Earth is the most striking example of such changes. In the development of society, evolutionary changes manifested themselves in the improvement of tools and the emergence of new, more complex forms of interaction between people in different spheres of their lives.

Revolution - These are highly radical changes, involving a radical breakdown of pre-existing relationships, of a universal nature and, in some cases, based on violence. The revolution is of a spasmodic nature.

Depending on the duration of the revolution there are short-term And long-term. The first include social revolutions - fundamental qualitative changes in all social life, affecting the foundations of the social system. Such were the bourgeois revolutions in England (XVII century) and France (XVIII century), the socialist revolution in Russia (1917). Long-term revolutions have global significance and affect the development process of different nations. The first such revolution was Neolithic revolution. It lasted several thousand years and led to the transition of humanity from an appropriating economy to a producing one, i.e. from hunting and gathering to pastoralism and agriculture. The most important process that took place in many countries of the world in the 18th-19th centuries was industrial Revolution, as a result of which there was a transition from manual labor to machine labor, mechanization of production was carried out, which made it possible to significantly increase the volume of output with lower labor costs.

In characterizing the development process in relation to the economy, extensive and intensive development paths are often distinguished. Extensive way associated with an increase in production by attracting new sources of raw materials, labor resources, increased exploitation of labor, and expansion of acreage in agriculture. Intensive way associated with the use of new production methods based on advances scientific and technical progress. The extensive path of development is not endless. At a certain stage, the limit of its capabilities comes, and development comes to a dead end. The intensive path of development, on the contrary, involves the search for something new that is actively used in practice; society moves forward at a faster pace.

The development of society is a complex process that continues continuously throughout the history of humankind. It began with the separation of man from the animal world and is unlikely to end in the foreseeable future. The process of development of society can only be interrupted with the death of humanity. If man himself does not create the conditions for self-destruction in the form of a nuclear war or an environmental disaster, the limits of human development can only be associated with the end of the existence of the solar system. But it is likely that by that time science will reach a new qualitative level and man will be able to move in outer space. The possibility of populating other planets, star systems, and galaxies can remove the question of the limit to the development of society.

Questions and tasks

1. What is meant by the category “change”? What types of changes can you name?

2. How does development differ from other types of change?

3. What types of social changes do you know?

4. What is dialectics? When and where did it originate?

5. How have ideas about development changed in the history of philosophy?

6. What are the laws of dialectics? Give examples to support them.

7. How do evolution and revolution differ? How did these processes manifest themselves in the lives of individual peoples and of all humanity?

8. Give examples of extensive and intensive development paths. Why can't they exist one without the other?

9. Read the statement by N.A. Berdyaeva:

“History cannot make sense if it never ends, if there is no end; the meaning of history is the movement towards the end, towards completion, towards the outcome. Religious consciousness sees history as a tragedy that has a beginning and will have an end. In a historical tragedy there are a number of acts, and in them the final catastrophe is brewing, an all-resolving catastrophe...” What does he see as the meaning of history? How are his ideas related to the problem of social development?

10. Conduct a discussion on the topic “Is there a limit to the development of mankind?”

Examination card No. 1 in social studies

PART 1

When completing tasks in this part (A1-A30), indicate in form answers next to the task number there is a number that indicates the one you have chosen answer.

A1. In the process of development, society:

1) separated from nature, but remained inextricably linked with it;

2) separated from nature and became independent of it;
3) remained part of nature;

4) ceased to influence nature.

3) taking into account the needs and interests of students;

4) free education in any educational institutions.

A13.Which of the following are natural resources?

1) raw materials not included in production;

2) machines operating in production;

3) skilled labor;

4) fuel standing on access roads

A14. The state budget is called:

1) government financial report;

2) calculation of profits and losses;

3) a list of planned income and expenses;

4) the amount of government expenditures for the previous year

A15.In a society with a market economy, the state influences

economic life through:

1) taxation system;

2) centralized pricing;

3) directive planning of goods production;

4) supplying the population with goods

A16. World religions include

1) decrease in tax revenues;

2) excess of expenses over income;

4) reduction in funding for social programs

A18. Increase in taxes on producers:

1) reduces consumer costs;

2) increases the manufacturer’s profit;

3) reduces the role of production;

4) increases labor productivity

A19. Generally accepted means of payment that the consumer

can exchange for any goods and services, is:

1) discount card;

2) money;

3) sales receipt;

4) bond.

A20. In a market economy, unlike a command-administrative economy

The producer's economy is characterized by:

1) economical business management;

2) economic independence;

3) compliance with work ethics;

4) desire to improve skills

A21. A person's position in society is:

1) social status;

2) social role;

3) social mobility;

4) social adaptation.

A22. Social stratification is:

1) the presence of various spheres in society;

2) division of society into social groups;

3) support for low-income groups of the population;

4) increasing social status.

A23. The form of vertical social mobility is:

1) creating a family;

2) impeccable production activities;

3) permanent residence in the city;

4) promotion.

A24.Social norms include:

1) moral standards;

2) technological standards;

3) medical standards;

4) sports standards.

A25. Deviant behavior is:

1) any changes in a person’s life;

2) movement of a person within his group;

3) non-compliance with socially accepted norms;

4) change in a person’s status.

A26. Tribes and nationalities are:

1) ethnic communities;

2) historical types of society;

3) social strata;

4) demographic groups

A27.To functions political parties in a democratic society includes:

1) participation in commercial activities;

2) control of the personal life of citizens;

3) creation of armed groups;

4) participation in the election campaign

1) demographic;

2) creative;

3) active;

4) ethical.

A29. The characteristics of any state include:

1) constant monitoring of everyday life of people;

2) the presence of parliament;

3) unitary device;

4) sovereignty.

A30. The principle of democracy is manifested in:

2) cancellation of parliamentary elections;

3) participation of citizens in alternative elections;

4) strengthening control over the personal lives of citizens.

PART 2.

When completing the tasks in this part, write down your answer next to the task number (B1-B5). The answer must be given in the form of a word, a sequence of numbers or letters without spaces or punctuation marks.

IN 1. Write down the missing word in the following phrase:

“Man is not only a biological being, but also........ . This determines the need for each individual to go through the process of socialization.”

AT 2. Finish the statement:

“The main forms of the state are monarchy and .....”

AT 3. Establish a correspondence between types of society and characteristics

social development. For each position given in the first column,

select the position from the second column. The resulting sequence

transfer the letters to the answer form without spaces or punctuation marks.

TYPES OF SOCIETY CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC

DEVELOPMENT

1) traditional A. industrial revolution;

2) industrial B. development of information technology;

3) post-industrial V. class character of social

stratification.

AT 4. Distribute the items below as follows:

The first two positions should characterize a majoritarian, and the next two - a proportional electoral system. Write the numbers in each pair in ascending order.

2) the winner is the candidate who scored the most

3) the distribution of seats between parties in parliament is carried out

in proportion to the number of votes cast for each of them;

several candidates.

Q5.What is vertical social mobility? Write it down

corresponding numbers in ascending order.

1) a citizen moved from a two-room apartment on the fifth floor to

a three-room apartment on the ninth floor in the same building;

2) an ordinary engineer is appointed project manager;

3) the officer is deprived military rank for committing something unseemly

act and was dismissed from the army;

4) a small food merchant began selling

used items;

5) the citizen remarried;

6) the secretary agreed to perform additional duties.

PART 3

For answers to the tasks of this part (C1-C7) use call answer form. Write it down at first number tasks (C1, etc.), A then detailed response on him.

C1. Name the components political system(preferably at least 3).

C2. Explain the signs of a crime using an example.

C3. The Russian philosopher wrote: “For science to be science, only a hypothesis is needed, and nothing more. The essence of pure science is only to formulate hypotheses and replace them with another, more perfect one, if there is a reason for this.” What is a hypothesis? What are the ways to test a hypothesis?

Read the text and complete tasks C4 -C7.

“A person can become a person only through education. He is what his upbringing makes him. It should be noted that a person can only be raised by a person - by people who received the same education... In education lies great secret improvement of human nature...

There are many inclinations in humanity, and our task is to develop natural abilities and reveal the properties of a person from the very embryos, making sure that a person achieves his destiny... Education is an art, the application of which must be improved over many generations. Each generation, possessing the knowledge of the previous one, can, through education, develop all the natural abilities of a person.

This is approximately how the Creator could appeal to a person: “I have endowed you with an inclination towards goodness. Your job is to develop it. And thus, your own happiness and unhappiness depends on yourself.”

A person must develop his abilities for good. To improve oneself, to educate oneself and, in the case of an inclination towards evil, to develop moral qualities in oneself - these are the duties of a person... A good upbringing is precisely that from which all good in the world arises.”

(I. Kant. About pedagogy)

C4. How does Kant understand the main task of education? Give two explanations based on the text.

C5. How does Kant understand the main task of self-education? Open it up. Give two explanations based on the text.

S6.Why does Kant call education an art? Based on my own life experience and knowledge, give examples proving that a person can become a person only through education.

C7.Explain how the concepts of “socialization” and “upbringing” relate to each other. Which one is wider? Give definitions of these concepts.

C8. You are instructed to prepare a detailed answer on the topic “Social inequality”. Make a plan according to which you will cover this topic. The plan must contain at least three points, of which two or more are detailed in subparagraphs.

By completing task C9, you can demonstrate your knowledge and skills in the content that is more attractive to you. For this purpose, select only ONE from the statements below.

C9. Select one from the statements below and express your thoughts (your point of view, attitude) regarding the problem raised.

Provide the necessary arguments to justify your position. When completing the task, use knowledge, received while studying a social studies course, corresponding concepts, and data public life and one's own life experience.

On answer sheet 2, write down the full number of the task (for example, C9.5), the selected statement, and then the detailed answer.

Sample solution exam card № 1

This part contains multiple-choice questions. Examinees choose the only correct answer from the four proposed options and write it down on the answer form.

A1 1 A11 1 A21 1

A2 3 A12 3 A22 2

A3 3 A13 1 A23 4

A4 4 A14 3 A24 1

A5 2 A15 1 A25 3

A6 4 A16 2 A26 1

A7 3 A17 2 A27 4

A8 1 A18 3 A28 1

A9 3 A19 3 A29 4

A10 2 A20 2 A30 3

This part exam paper form 5 tasks that require an answer consisting of one word, a series of letters or numbers (tasks represent separate content sections of the subject).

B1 social

B2 republic

B3 VAB (or 1-B; 2-A; 3-B)

This part of the work includes four components. The first component (C1-C3) consists of three tasks with a free short answer. It is formulated by the examinee in accordance with the task in free form, based on the concepts of the course studied, argumentation, and presentation of his own opinion (tasks to test the level of analytical abilities of applicants). The second component (C4-C7) includes four tasks on the ability to analyze the proposed text (tasks to test the analytical abilities of applicants). The third component (C8) is a task that requires you to create a plan for a detailed answer on the proposed topic. The fourth component (C9) is a task that requires you to justify your point of view on a problem chosen by the candidate (within the framework of the proposed topic).

Task C1 Contents of the correct answer

3 or more components are correctly indicated, including

1. Political organizations (institutions): state,
political parties, socio-political
organizations

2. Political norms: legal norms, corporate,
Political customs and traditions, moral norms.

3. Political relations: relations between groups,
classes, nations on the issue of state power.

4. Political culture: Political Views, theories,
views, ideas.

Task C2 Contents of the correct answer

2 signs from the given ones are correctly formulated
Below is a list and examples illustrating these features:

1. illegality;

2. public danger;

3. guilt of the act (action or inaction).

Task SZ Contents of the correct answer

A hypothesis is an unconfirmed assumption put forward by a scientist to explain certain phenomena. Ways to test the hypothesis:

1. Theoretical constructions and calculations;

2. observations;

3. experiment;

4. modeling.

Task C4 Contents of the correct answer

1. The main task of education is “to develop natural abilities and reveal human properties.”

2. “To improve human nature.”

3. “To pass on the experience of generations to a person.”

Task C5 Contents of the correct answer

At least 3 items are indicated, for example:

1. “Develop your abilities for good”;

2. “Develop moral qualities in yourself”;

3. “Make a choice between good and evil, happiness and

misfortune";

4. “Improve and educate yourself.”

Task C6 Contents of the correct answer

The explanation is correctly formulated why Kant believes

education through art, and at least two examples are given

Exercise C7 Contents of the correct answer

2 elements of the answer are given correctly:

It is indicated that the concept of “socialization” is broader than the concept of “education”, and definitions are given: Socialization is the process of an individual’s assimilation of social norms of behavior; This is the ability to find your place in society. Education is the purposeful influence of society on an individual in order to convey to him the necessary social values ​​and norms of behavior.

Task C8.

Plan for a detailed answer on the topic “Social inequality”

1.The concept of social inequality.

2. Causes of social inequality

2.1. Natural causes.

2.2.Economic reasons.

2.3.Political reasons.

2.4. Sociocultural reasons.

3. Social inequality and social stratification.

3.1.Historical types of stratification.

3.2. Social structure of modern society.

4. Social inequality in modern Russia and ways to overcome it.

Task C9.

Writing an essay on problem 9.1 “A person matters to society only insofar as he serves it.”

The famous French writer A. France raises the problem of a person's service to society and determines the meaning of this service for the person himself and for society. As you know, a person is a biosocial being, and therefore, everything that is inherent in a person by nature is revealed and has significance only in society. The value of human existence is comprehended only in social relations and is assessed by society through mechanisms social control. In the process of socialization, various social institutions first adapt a person to social life, then integrate them into social relations based on the principle of division of labor and control the degree of human participation in social life.

Military service is indicative in this regard. A person who has chosen this type of activity devotes his life to the state as a social institution, his activities are entirely aimed at preserving state sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the country. For society as a whole, this activity is one of the key ones, since it ensures not only its existence, but also its development. A key element of military service is the protection of national interests. If a person consciously refuses to participate in the division of labor in any field of activity, then he thereby excludes himself from society, and the individual is marginalized. In stable societies, various mechanisms are actively developing to prevent such negative phenomena. Among them, traditions stand out as a way of transmitting social experience and legal regulation.

Therefore, A. France’s thought, in my opinion, is correct. A person, integrating into social relationships, directs all his vital energy to serving society, and society, in turn, ensures his social stability and well-being. The spiritual regulator of activities in serving the Fatherland is the patriotism of the individual.

The laws that determine the course of the social process are as objective as the laws of society or nature. Because of this, we can say that laws work independently of the will or consciousness of people, exclusively independently. It should be noted that the laws of society are limited by social time and space. This is due to the fact that they appear and begin to function only from a certain moment in the development of the universe. From the moment when society reaches its highest material system.

Laws of society

Social laws differ greatly from the laws of nature. The laws of society are based on the activities of people. They exist purely within society and its activities; outside these conditions, such laws cannot function. There is a direct relationship between how deeply and consciously a person understands the laws of society, as well as their methods of work and permanent development, to the extent that his level of awareness increases when using them. Moreover, this also affects how historical and social processes proceed, as well as how society progresses.

Knowledge of the laws of nature and processes occurring in environment, allows a person to use it quite expediently Natural resources. In the same way, knowledge of social laws allows people, namely the ruling stratum of the population who decide the destinies of people, to consciously approach the process. What is meant here is that the ruling elite must use progressive methods of leadership and management, because history is in their hands. Leaders of any country must first understand and then use social laws. This helps them build a ruling policy not spontaneously, but carefully measured down to every step. At the same time, relying on scientific knowledge and concepts, they develop programs in all areas of human activity. It should be noted that all processes occur based on the achievement of certain goals.

Social laws are different character and degree of manifestation. By nature they are divided into:

• Laws of structure.
• Laws of functioning.
• Laws of development.

According to the degree of manifestation they are divided into:

• Universal laws.
• General laws.
• Private laws.

At their core, the laws of structure reflect the social and public organizational-structural dynamics that are inherent in a certain historical moment.

The laws of functioning serve as a certain impetus, which creates the conditions for the transition from one state of relative stability to another. In addition, the laws of functioning preserve this stability of the social system.

The laws of development create the prerequisites for the formation of conditions conducive to a change in measure and transition to a new state.

The degree of manifestation of universal laws is reflected in a peculiar triad of laws of philosophy or laws of dialectics, which operate both in nature and in society.

There are the following types of general laws:

• The law of the influence of the method of production on the nature of the social process. This refers to the influence on the formation, activity and development of areas of social life and spheres of production, the structure of society.
• The law that determines the functions of social existence in relation to public consciousness, subject to feedback.
• A law that determines the level of personification of an individual from the state of the system of social relations.
• The law of socialization or in other words the law that determines the level of social and public continuity.
• The law of the priority of universal human values ​​over group ones.

Speaking about private laws, it should be noted that they include laws that relate to a certain area of ​​human life or area of ​​society.

Example 1

The following laws work in the political sphere or the sphere of management: the law of separation of powers, the law of political pluralism, the law of the priority of human rights over the rights of the state, the law of the emergence and development of political needs, etc.

Social laws often appear to be tendencies rather than laws in their original form. This happens due to certain dialectical necessities, and sometimes even completely by accident. These tendencies are formed in subjective and objective conditions, passing through the obstacles of social collisions and the chaos that arises when opposing social trends collide. In turn, these collisions serve as the basis for the formation of the possibilities of their existence in various historical periods. Therefore, the conscious creation of conditions for the existence of such trends makes it possible for society and society to realize opportunities into existing reality in different spheres of life and areas of production.

It should be noted that there are certain conditions and accompanying factors for trends to become laws. Among these factors are achievements of scientific and technological progress. However, we should not forget that, at its core, scientific and technological progress is a pattern of social development. Based on this judgment, we can safely conclude that one of the laws social activities stands for the law of combining the real possibilities of society with the discoveries of scientific and technological progress. This law has its roots in the distant historical past, in other words, it is historical. Has objective characteristics in time and space, which are based on public needs and abilities related to the subject synthesis of science and technology.

Due to its functionality, the law manifests itself in all spheres of human life individually and society as a whole.

Note 1

The law of connecting the real capabilities of society with the achievements of scientific and technological progress was discovered at the end of the 20th century. V.P. Petrov proposed to separate it into a separate law. IN Modern times, based on knowledge of the law described above, we can talk about innovative progress, the conditions for which are created in society.

Returning to the question of what is the true difference between the laws of nature and the laws of society, we can conclude that they have different mechanisms of implementation.

It is obvious that the laws of nature, as well as the laws of society, are objective. The connection between processes and phenomena in laws is necessarily stable, periodically repeated, significant and necessary. However, the differences also lie in the fact that in nature all these connections occur by inertia. For example, a ball that is thrown up will definitely fall to the floor under the influence of gravity. In society, the objectivism of laws depends only on the individual. Provided that the development of personality influences the course of history, since a person can contribute to both the progress of social life and regression. The laws of society are historical in nature and can arise and function in different historical conditions as certain factors manifest themselves for their discovery and activity.

Social laws are effective only when society and the people and its components have goals and strive to achieve them. In a divided society or a society consisting of passive individuals, social laws do not appear.

K. Marx expressed the opinion that the natural historical process is determined precisely by the similarities and differences between the laws of society and the laws of nature. This fully characterizes social development. The natural historical process is necessary, natural, objective and natural, like all natural processes. At the same time, it is also historical. Due to the fact that it is the result of the activities of many generations of people.

The implementation of the laws of the social process is characterized by the concepts of “objective conditions” and “subjective factor”.

Definition 1

Objective conditions are circumstances and phenomena of a socio-economic nature that do not depend on the will and consciousness of people, necessary for the formation of a certain historical phenomenon (for example: a change in the form of socio-economic direction). But these conditions are inherently incomplete.

Only in conjunction with a subjective factor can a specific historical or social event occur or not. Objective conditions completely depend on the subjective factor.

Definition 2

The subjective factor is a purposeful, conscious activity of society, social groups, socio-political movements, the ruling elite, individuals, which is aimed at transformation, maturation or preservation objective conditions social existence.

It should be noted that the subjective factor may not always be progressive; a regressive nature is also inherent in it.

The consistency of objective conditions and the subjective factor is manifested in the fact that history is created by people, but this happens not according to their desires and views, but in accordance with certain conditions dictated by specific historical conditions.

Example 2

Napoleon, F. Roosevelt, V. Lenin, A. Hitler, I. Stalin, of course, determined the properties of one historical period, but it was precisely this historical period that gave birth to these individuals and created the conditions for the formation of certain qualities and characteristics in them. If these individuals did not exist, there would be others, with different names, but with approximately the same abilities, needs and personal qualities, who would still have created what is characteristic of that historical era.

Society Development Concepts

A complex and contradictory social process can be of the nature of progressive development and spasmodic movement. Some scientists express the opinion that social development occurs according to a sine wave. This means that at first there is a rise to the peak of perfection, and then the process declines back to the beginning, thus again the decline of social development begins.

Due to all the factors identified, we can conclude that the concepts of social development are formational and civilized in nature.

Formation concept

Socio-economic formation is a concept that is used in Marxism. The basis of the formation is a method of producing material goods.

Definition 3

A socio-economic formation (according to Marx) is a historically formed society in a specific period of its economic development.

Each formation is a social organism with its own characteristics, which is formed and develops on the basis of its inherent patterns. At the same time, a socio-economic formation is a certain stage in the development of society.

K. Marx put forward the opinion that social development is a harmonious order of several formations that contribute to changes in the mode of production, and this, in turn, entails changes in production relations. Because of this opinion, K. Marx identified five socio-economic formations in the history of society:

• Primitive communal.
• Slaveholding.
• Feudal.
• Bourgeois.
• Communist.

The scientist says that changes in formations occur at a time when contradictions intensify at a certain moment in social development. The maturation of these contradictions is characterized by a discrepancy between the method of production and the existing relations of production. This creates conditions for the change of one social formation to another. Moreover, each subsequent formation becomes more progressive in relation to all previous ones.

Today we can safely say that K. Marx’s division of social history into formations is imperfect. But one cannot help but recognize the fact that this was an undoubted contribution to the science of society and social philosophy precisely during the 19th century.

From the modern standpoint of understanding the concepts of formation, some points should be clarified. Definitely K. Marx did not say anything about transition periods from one formation to another, in addition, he did not characterize these stages of social development in any way. In addition, not all countries and not all peoples were able to go through all levels of social formation.

Example 3

In Russia there was no slave system, in Mongolia, bourgeois society did not reach a high level of development, China moved from feudal relations to a convergent plane.

In addition, in the formations proposed by K. Marx, there is an understatement regarding the determination of the measure of the productive forces of a slave-owning and feudal society. There are specific judgments regarding the phase of socialism, which is part of the communist formation. Moreover, the communist formation is utopian in nature.

The problems of the interformation period are not described in any way and there is no judgment that during the transition from one formation to another there is the possibility of returning to the stage of the previous formation or repeating characteristic features during a period of time that is not designated in any way from a historical point of view.

Based on these reasons, we can say that the civilized concept of social development seems quite objective.

Civilization concept

The author of the civilizational concept, with a small reservation, is the British scientist A. Toynbee. “A Study of History” is his work, which includes twelve volumes, where he attempted to explain the meaning of the historical process, using the method of systematizing many facts, resorting to general scientific classification and using philosophical and cultural concepts.

What's the caveat? The fact is that long before A. Toynbee, the Russian sociologist N. Ya. Danilevsky tried to reveal the problems of periods of socio-historical development. In his course of lectures, he outlined his position on this issue. In addition, in his work “Russia and Europe”, back in the 19th century. spoke about the theory of “cultural-historical types,” or in other words, civilizations that develop like living organisms.

N. Ya. Danilevsky identifies eleven civilizations:

• Egyptian.
• Chinese.
• Assyro-Babylonian-Phoenician.
• Chaldean.
• Ancient Semitic.
• Indian.
• Iranian.
• Jewish.
• Greek.
• Roman.
• New Semetic or Arabian.
• Romano-Germanic or European.

This division into civilizations, proposed by N. Ya. Danilevsky, is certainly a serious contribution to the development social science and philosophy, so it is naturally unfair to ignore his contribution to science.

Definition 4

Civilization is the totality of spiritual and material achievements of society.

Modern ideas about the concept of “civilization,” one way or another, are based on the judgment that the world is an integral object or a single whole. Very often, but very erroneously, the concept of “civilization” is correlated with the concept of “culture”. However, culture has a wider application and is in a “common-individual” relationship with civilization.

Philosophy has its own concept of civilization. In a general philosophical sense, it can be defined as a measure of a certain stage of social development. In turn, in the socio-philosophical sense, the world-historical process is characterized through the prism of civilization and determines the specific type of development of society.

Definition 5

Civilization is a social form of the movement of matter.

A. Toynbee's concept is an analysis of human history through the alternation of a number of civilizations.

Definition 6

Civilization according to A. Toynbee is a stable unity of people who choose the same religious customs and geographical boundaries.

World history is a collection of civilizations:

• Sumerian.
• Babylonian.
• Minoan.
• Hellenic.
• Orthodox Christian.
• Hindu.
• Islamic.

A. Toynbee expresses the opinion that in the history of mankind there have been at least two dozen different local civilizations.

The basis of A. Toynbee’s worldview were two hypotheses:

• The process of development of human history cannot extend to all civilizations at once; it happens locally.
• Civilizations are not interconnected, unlike the components that make them up.

A. Toynbee says that each civilization has its own path of development, different from the path that is inherent in another civilization. Because of this, the scientist decides to analyze the historical factors of social development. First of all, he raises the question of the “law of call and response.” This refers to the very emergence of civilization and the process of further development and progress, which is determined by the ability of society and individuals to give an appropriate response to the challenge that was formed in certain historical conditions. Both natural and human factors are taken into account.

Here it is very correct to recall the theory that says that society develops according to the example of a sine wave. Because if society is unable to adequately respond to the challenge of historical conditions, the social organism will face decline. To prevent this from happening, and to ensure that the reaction fits into history, it is correct to develop the conditions for the formation of a “creative minority.” These are scientists, politicians and the creative elite who are able to generate new ideas and implement them, involving the global community in this process.

The development of civilization always entails decline. Of course, it can be delayed, pushed back and even avoided, but for this it is necessary to rationally manage their powers, first of all, the ruling elite.

Note 2

Toynbee Arnold Joseph (1889-1975). English historian, diplomat, public figure, sociologist and philosopher. A native of London. O. Spengler had a huge influence on his activities. Due to this, A. Toynbee strives to give new meaning to the ideas of socio-political development of mankind through the theory of the circulation of local civilizations.

At the beginning of his research, he talks about twenty-one local civilizations, but after reflection and deep analysis he leaves only thirteen. The creative elite, in his opinion, determines the nature of responses to historical conclusions. Moreover, it is those whose opinions are innovative that attract the inert majority. The features of these answers determine the specifics of each civilization.

Analysis of social development concepts

Analyzing all the properties that are inherent in both concepts - formational and civilizational, we can conclude that they have both common and different. In addition, when comparing them, advantages and disadvantages are visible.

The truth is that the dialectical nature of the socio-historical process is subject to certain patterns and trends in the development of society.

Concept analysis involves:

• Application of the system principle. The meaning of which is to describe and disclose social phenomena, as well as study the elements and connections that unite them.
• Application of a multidimensional principle, which implies that all components of the development of society can represent subsystems of others: economic, managerial, environmental, scientific, defense, etc.
• Application of the principle of polarization, which is based on the research and study of opposing trends, characteristics, parameters, properties of social phenomena. This means: actual – potential, material – personal.
• Application of the interrelated principle. Its essence is to analyze each social phenomenon and its properties in relation to other social phenomena and their properties. Moreover, these relationships can be built on the principles of subordination and coordination.
• Application of the hierarchical principle of existence of social phenomena, as well as the connections that are formed with these problems - local, regional, global.

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