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Historical process - section Sociology, Social Science Remember: ...

The historical process is a succession of successive events in which the activities of many generations of people have manifested themselves. The historical process is universal, it covers all manifestations of human life from obtaining "daily bread" to the study of planetary phenomena.
The real world is inhabited by people, their communities, therefore, the reflection of the historical process should be, according to N. Karamzin's definition, "a mirror of the being and activity of peoples." The basis, the "living tissue" of the historical process is developments, i.e. certain past or passing phenomena, facts public life. All this endless series of events in their unique appearance inherent in each of them is studied by historical science.

There is another branch of social science that studies the historical process - philosophy of history. It seeks to reveal the general nature of the historical process, the most general laws, the most essential interconnections in history. This is an area of ​​philosophy that explores the internal logic of the development of society, cleansed of zigzags and accidents. Some questions of the philosophy of history (the meaning and direction of social development) were reflected in the previous paragraph, others (problems of progress) will be revealed in the next. This paragraph discusses the types of social dynamics, factors and driving forces historical development.

TYPES OF SOCIAL DYNAMICS

The historical process is a society in dynamics, that is, in motion, change, development. The last three words are not synonyms. In any society, diverse activities of people are carried out, state bodies, various institutions and associations perform their tasks: in other words, society lives, moves. In daily activities, the established social relations retain their qualitative characteristics, society as a whole does not change its character. Such a manifestation of the process can be called functioning society.
Social changes - this is the transition of certain social objects from one state to another, the appearance of new properties, functions, relations in them, i.e. modifications in the social organization, social institutions, social structure, established patterns of behavior in society.
Changes that lead to deep, qualitative shifts in society, the transformation of social ties, the transition of the entire social system to a new state, are called social development.
Philosophers and sociologists consider various types of social dynamics. The most common type is linear movement as an ascending or descending line of social development. This type is associated with the concepts of progress and regress, which will be discussed in the following lessons. Cyclic type unites the processes of the emergence, flourishing and disintegration of social systems that have a certain length in time, after which they cease to exist. You have been introduced to this type of social dynamics in previous lessons. Third, spiral type associated with the recognition that the course of history can return a particular society to a previously passed state, but characteristic not of the immediately preceding stage, but of an earlier one. At the same time, the features characteristic of a state that has long gone into the past seem to be returning, but at a higher level of social development, at a new qualitative level. It is believed that the spiral type is found when reviewing long periods of the historical process, with a large-scale approach to history. Let's look at an example. You probably remember from your history course that scattered manufacture was a common form of manufacture. Industrial development has led to the concentration of workers in large factories. And in the conditions of the information society, there is a kind of return to work at home: everything more employees perform their duties on personal computers without leaving home.
In science, there were supporters of the recognition of one or another of the named variants of historical development. But there is a point of view according to which linear, cyclical, and spiral processes are manifested in history. They act not as parallel or successive, but as interrelated aspects of a holistic historical process.
Social change can take place in various forms. You are familiar with the words "evolution" and "revolution". Refine them philosophical meaning.
Evolution is gradual, continuous changes, passing one into another without jumps and breaks. Evolution is opposed to the concept of "revolution", which characterizes spasmodic, qualitative changes.
A social revolution is a radical qualitative upheaval in the entire social structure of society: deep, fundamental changes covering the economy, politics, spiritual sphere. In contrast to evolution, a revolution is characterized by a rapid, spasmodic transition to a qualitatively new state of society, a rapid transformation of the basic structures of the social system. As a rule, a revolution leads to the replacement of the old social order by a new one. The transition to a new system can be carried out both in relatively peaceful forms and in violent ones. Their ratio depends on specific historical conditions. Often revolutions were accompanied by destructive and cruel actions, bloody sacrifices. There are various assessments of revolutions. Some scientists and political figures point to their negative features and dangers associated with both the use of violence against a person and the violent rupture of the “tissue” itself. social life- public relations. Others call revolutions "the locomotives of history." (Based on knowledge from the history course, determine your assessment of this form of social change.)
Considering the forms of social change, one should also remember the role of reforms. You met the concept of "reform" in the course of history. Most often, social reform is called the reorganization of some aspect of public life (institutions, institutions, orders, etc.) while maintaining the existing social order. This is a kind of evolutionary change that does not change the foundations of the system. Reforms are usually carried out "from above", ruling forces. The scale and depth of reforms characterize the dynamics inherent in society.
However, modern science recognizes the possibility of implementing a system of deep reforms that can become an alternative to revolution, prevent it or replace it. Such reforms, revolutionary in their scope and consequences, can lead to a radical renewal of society, avoiding the upheavals associated with spontaneous manifestations of violence inherent in social revolutions.

FACTORS OF CHANGE IN SOCIETY

The word "factor" means the cause, the driving force of the historical process, which determines its character or individual features. There are various classifications of factors influencing the development of society. One of them highlights natural, technological and spiritual factors.
French educator of the 18th century. C. Montesquieu, who considered natural factors decisive, believed that climatic conditions determine the individual characteristics of a person, his character and inclinations. In countries with fertile soil, the spirit of dependence is more easily established, since people who are engaged in agriculture have no time to think about freedom. And in countries with a cold climate, people think more about their freedom than about the harvest. From such reasoning, conclusions were drawn about the nature of political power, laws, trade, etc.
Other thinkers explained the movement of society spiritual factor:"Ideas rule the world." Some of them believed that these were the ideas of critically thinking individuals who create ideal projects. social structure. And the German philosopher G. Hegel wrote that history is ruled by "universal reason".
Another point of view was that the activities of people can be scientifically explained by studying the role material factors. The importance of material production in the development of society was substantiated by K. Marx. He drew attention to the fact that before engaging in philosophy, politics, art, people must eat, drink, dress, have a home, and therefore produce all this. Changes in production, according to Marx, entail changes in other areas of life. The development of society is ultimately determined by the material, economic interests of people.
Many scientists today believe that it is possible to find the determining factor in the movement of society, highlighting it from others. In the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution of the XX century. they recognized as such a factor technology and technology. They associated the transition of society to a new quality with the “computer revolution”, the development of information technologies, the consequences of which are manifested in the economy, politics, and culture.
The views presented above are opposed by the position of scientists who deny the possibility of explaining historical changes by any one factor. They investigate the interaction of the most diverse causes and conditions of development. For example, the German scientist M. Weber argued that the spiritual factor plays no less a role than the economic one, that important historical changes took place under the influence of both. (Based on the course of history studied, determine your attitude to the considered views on the factors of social change. Which explanation seems to you the most convincing?)
These factors have a strong influence on people's activities. All those who carry out this activity are the subjects of the historical process: individuals, various social communities, their organizations, great personalities. There is another point of view: without denying that history is the result of the activities of individuals and their communities, a number of scientists believe that only those who are aware of their place in society, are guided by socially significant goals and participate in the struggle rise to the level of the subject of the historical process. for their implementation.

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historical process

The historical process is a succession of successive events in which the activities of many generations of people have manifested themselves. The historical process is universal, it covers all manifestations of human life from obtaining "daily bread" to the study of planetary phenomena. The real world is inhabited by people, their communities, therefore, the reflection of the historical process should be, according to N. Karamzin's definition, a "mirror of the being and activity of peoples". The basis, ʼʼliving tissueʼʼ of the historical process is developments, that is, certain past or passing phenomena, facts of social life. All this endless series of events in their unique appearance inherent in each of them is studied by historical science.

There is another branch of social science that studies the historical process - philosophy of history. It seeks to reveal the general nature of the historical process, the most general laws, the most essential interconnections in history. This is an area of ​​philosophy that explores the internal logic of the development of society, cleansed of zigzags and accidents. Some questions of the philosophy of history (the meaning and direction of social development) were reflected in the previous paragraph, others (problems of progress) will be revealed in the next. This section examines the types of social dynamics, factors and driving forces of historical development.

TYPES OF SOCIAL DYNAMICS

The historical process is a society in dynamics, that is, in motion, change, development. The last three words are not synonyms. In any society, diverse activities of people are carried out, state bodies, various institutions and associations perform their tasks˸ in other words, society lives, moves. In daily activities, the established social relations retain their qualitative characteristics, society as a whole does not change its character.
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Such a manifestation of the process can be called functioning society. Social changes - this is the transition of certain social objects from one state to another, the appearance of new properties, functions, relations in them, i.e., modifications in the social organization, social institutions, social structure, patterns of behavior established in society. Changes that lead to deep, qualitative shifts in society, the transformation of social ties, the transition of the entire social system to a new state, are called social development. Philosophers and sociologists consider various types of social dynamics. The most common type is linear movement as an ascending or descending line of social development. This type is associated with the concepts of progress and regress, which will be discussed in the following lessons. Cyclic type unites the processes of the emergence, flourishing and disintegration of social systems that have a certain length in time, after which they cease to exist. You have been introduced to this type of social dynamics in previous lessons. Third, spiral type associated with the recognition that the course of history can return a particular society to a previously passed state, but characteristic not of the immediately preceding stage, but of an earlier one. At the same time, the features characteristic of a state that has long gone into the past seem to be returning, but at a higher level of social development, at a new qualitative level. It is believed that the spiral type is found when reviewing long periods of the historical process, with a large-scale approach to history. Let's look at an example. You probably remember from your history course that scattered manufacture was a common form of manufacture. Industrial development has led to the concentration of workers in large factories. And in the conditions of the information society, there is, as it were, a return to work at home˸ an increasing number of workers perform their duties on personal computers without leaving home. In science, there were supporters of the recognition of one or another of the named variants of historical development. But there is a point of view according to which linear, cyclical, and spiral processes are manifested in history. They act not as parallel or successive, but as interrelated aspects of a holistic historical process. Social change can take place in various forms. You are familiar with the words ʼʼevolutionʼʼ and ʼʼrevolutionʼʼ. Let us clarify their philosophical meaning. Evolution is gradual, continuous changes, passing one into another without jumps and breaks. Evolution is opposed to the concept of ʼʼrevolutionʼʼ, which characterizes spasmodic, qualitative changes. A social revolution is a fundamental qualitative upheaval in the entire social structure of society˸ deep, fundamental changes covering the economy, politics, spiritual sphere. In contrast to evolution, a revolution is characterized by a rapid, spasmodic transition to a qualitatively new state of society, a rapid transformation of the basic structures of the social system. As a rule, a revolution leads to the replacement of the old social order by a new one. The transition to a new system can be carried out both in relatively peaceful forms and in violent ones. Their ratio depends on specific historical conditions. Often revolutions were accompanied by destructive and cruel actions, bloody sacrifices. There are various assessments of revolutions. Some scientists and political figures point to their negative features and dangers associated both with the use of violence against a person and with the violent rupture of the very "tissue" of social life - public relations. Others call revolutions the "locomotives of history". (Based on knowledge from the history course, determine your assessment of this form of social change.) Considering the forms of social change, one should also remember the role of reforms. With the concept of ʼʼreformʼʼ you met in the course of history. Most often, social reform is called the reorganization of some aspect of public life (institutions, institutions, orders, etc.) while maintaining the existing social order. This is a kind of evolutionary change that does not change the foundations of the system. Reforms are usually carried out ʼʼʼʼʼ from above, by the ruling forces. The scale and depth of reforms characterize the dynamics inherent in society. At the same time, modern science recognizes the possibility of implementing a system of deep reforms that can become an alternative to revolution, prevent it or replace it. Such reforms, revolutionary in their scope and consequences, can lead to a radical renewal of society, avoiding the upheavals associated with spontaneous manifestations of violence inherent in social revolutions.

The historical process - the concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Historical process" 2015, 2017-2018.

Society is never at rest, but is in constant motion. Dialectics considers society in this constant change, i.e. studying it like process.

Process is a sequential change in the states of an object.

Row philosophical sciences suggests that society develops cyclically, has a closed character. Most philosophers in the world recognize that the socio-historical process is progressive, i.e. linear directional character.

The progressive, upward development of society, the transition to more perfect forms is called progress.

Downward development, a return to obsolete traditions and foundations is called regression.

The criterion of social progress are indicators of the degree of development of society.

Materialists considered the level of development of material production to be the main indicator of the social process. Idealists recognize the degree of spiritual development of society as the main criterion - morality, enlightenment, etc.

A revolution is called a radical qualitative change, an abrupt transition from one state to another.

When considering the historical process, importance has a clarification of what is the meaning of history? In this the concept of the American historian Fukuyama is of interest. (End of story). From his point of view, the end is coming to an end, that the human “I” has reached such forms in social development which it cannot overcome. Speaking about the end of history, Fukuyama meant that supposedly the market economy and Western democracy symbolize the crown of human history.

What is the logic of historical development?

This outcome can be expressed as follows - this is a single, equal and concrete history of any country - multivariate.

As for the nature of the diversity of development options, this is explained by the fact that there are diverse historical conditions for the activities of different peoples.

Historical changes cannot be avoided without clarifying the main sources and factors of social development.

The source of any development is contradictions.

Factors social progress are called the driving forces of the development of society; they are subdivided into objective e and subjective.

K o objective factors include material production, natural resources, social resources, science and technology, etc.

To subjective include purposeful, conscious actions of individuals, social groups, humanity as a whole.

The main forms of social development:

evolution is a gradual process quantitative, changes;

revolution- indigenous, quality change, an abrupt transition from one state to another.

Civil society and the rule of law.

This concept is extremely relevant for modern Russia, since more than a thousand years of development of statehood in our country did not coincide with the development of civil society, with the awareness of millions of people of their role not as subjects of this or that sovereign, but as citizens. A citizen is a resident of a city, a polis in ancient Greece. It is interesting to note that in the ancient world, citizens involved in the affairs of the city-state were called "politicos", and people engaged only in private life were designated as "idiotikos", i.e. like the common people. Aristotle gave a detailed interpretation of civil society and the state, believing that in the latter The goal of every citizen is to achieve the common good.

Among the many definitions of civil society, one can pay attention to the following: “Civil society is a set of non-political associations of independent subjects of society; it performs the function of mediation between the state and citizens”.

Civil society includes the totality of non-political relations in society: economic, social, moral, aesthetic, religious. Civil society is the sphere of activity of citizens and their voluntary associations, protected by laws from interference and arbitrary regulation by the state.

Structures (voluntary associations) that are part of civil society are not established from above, but arise from below, on the basis of an amateur initiative of citizens. Working closely with the rule of law, they solve the problems of meeting the specific interests and needs of citizens that go beyond state regulation. Students will be interested and understand the examples of the functioning of such voluntary structures (elements of civil society) in North Ossetia-Alania as Councils of Veterans, structures of the All-Ossetian Styr Nykhas, national-cultural associations that are part of Our Ossetia, consumer protection societies, etc. d.

Civil society can be successfully formed and function only in conditions of developed democracy and the rule of law. Since Russia is only on its way to these universal human values, the germs of civil society are only just breaking through. But sooner or later a civil society will take shape in Russia.

Formational and civilizational concepts

In their views on history, philosophers were divided into two groups:

Those who view history as a chaotic, random process, devoid of logic, patterns, direction;

Those who see a certain logic in history. Considering history as a purposeful, natural process.

Among the approaches to history, the most common are:

formational;

Civilization;

cultural and etc..

Formative approach was proposed by the founders of Marxism K. Marx and F. Engels, developed by V. I. Lenin.

The socio-economic formation is a set of production relations, the level of development of the productive forces, social relations, the political system at a certain stage of historical development.

All history is considered as a natural process of changing socio-economic formations. Each new formation matures in the depths of the previous one, denies it, and then itself denies more new formation. Each formation is a higher type of organization of society.

On the whole, Marx singled out five formations:

Primitive communal;

slaveholding;

feudal;

Capitalist;

Communist (socialist);

Advantages formational approach -: understanding of history as a natural objective process. Deep development of economic development mechanisms, realism, systematization of the historical process.

Flaws: failure to take into account other factors (cultural, national ..), excessive sketchiness, isolation from the specifics of society, linearity, incomplete confirmation by practice.

Civilization approach was proposed by Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975)

Civilization(according to Toynbee) - a stable community of people united by spiritual traditions, a similar way of life, geographical, historical boundaries.

According to Toynbee, civilizations are main and local.

Major civilizations include:

Sumerian;

Babylonian;

Minoan;

Hellenic;

Chinese;

Hindu;

Islamic;

Christian and some others.

According to Toynbee, there were about 30 local civilizations in the history of mankind (American, German, Russian, etc.).

Each civilization in its destiny goes through 4 stages:

Origin;

Disintegration culminating in death and the complete disappearance of civilization.

Cultural approach was proposed by the German philosopher O. Spengler (1880-1936).

concept "culture" Spengler is close to the concept "civilization" Toynbee, however "civilization" Spengler has a different meaning.

Civilization within the cultural approach - highest level culture, the final period of development of culture, preceding its death.

Spengler identified 8 cultures:

Indian;

Chinese;

Babylonian;

Egyptian;

Antique;

Arabic;

Western European.

Questions for self-examination

1. What is the definition of society given in social philosophy?

2. What are the main principles systems approach to the study of society?

3. What is the socio-historical process?

4. What is the position on the question of the direction of historical development? Argument it.

This role is interpreted by scientists in different ways. Marxist philosophy claims that populace, which primarily include the working people, are the creators of history, play a decisive role in the creation of material and spiritual values, in various spheres of socio-political life, in the defense of the motherland.
Some researchers, characterizing the role of the masses, put at the forefront the composition of social forces striving to improve social relations. They believe that the concept of "people" has a different content in different historical eras, that the formula "people - the creator of history" means a broad community that unites only those strata and classes that are interested in the progressive development of society. With the help of the concept of "people", in their opinion, the progressive forces of society are separated from the reactionary ones. The people are, first of all, the working people; they always make up the bulk of it. At the same time, the concept of "people" also embraces those strata which, while not being working people, express the interests of progressive movement at a given stage of historical development. As an example, they usually cite the bourgeoisie, which in the 17th-19th centuries. led anti-feudal revolutions.
The Russian historian V. O. Klyuchevsky (1841-1911) did not saturate the concept of “people” with social content, but put ethnic and ethical content into it. “The people,” wrote V. O. Klyuchevsky, “are characterized by ethnographic and moral ties, a consciousness of spiritual unity, brought up by a common life and cumulative activity, a community of historical destinies and interests.” Those historical epochs are especially significant, noted V. O. Klyuchevsky, “in the affairs of which all the people took part and thanks to this they felt themselves whole, doing a common cause.”
Statements that glorify the people are opposed by other judgments of thinkers. A. I. Herzen (1812-1870) wrote that the people are conservative by instinct, “he clings to his depressing way of life, to the tight frames in which he is included ... The farther the people are from the movement of history, the more stubbornly they clings to the learned, to the familiar. He even understands the new only in old clothes ... Experience has shown that it is easier for peoples to endure the violent burden of slavery than the gift of excessive freedom.
The Russian philosopher N. A. Berdyaev (1874-1948) believed that the people may not have democratic convictions: “The people may hold a completely non-democratic way of thinking, they may not be democratically disposed at all ... If the will of the people is subject to evil elements, then it is the enslaved and enslaving will.
In some works, the difference between the concepts of "people" and "mass" is emphasized. The German scientist K. Jaspers (1883-1969) noted that the mass should be distinguished from the people. The people are structured, aware of themselves in the foundations of life, in their thinking, traditions. The mass, on the contrary, is not structured, does not possess self-consciousness, it is devoid of any distinctive properties, traditions, soil - it is empty. “People in the mass,” wrote K. Jaspers, “can easily lose their heads, indulge in an intoxicating opportunity to become just different, to follow the rat catcher, which will plunge them into hellish abysses. Conditions may arise in which the reckless masses will interact with the tyrants who manipulate them.
Thus, the views of thinkers on the role of the people in history differ significantly. (Remember what you learned about the role of the people from the history course. Think about which of the above points of view more accurately reflects the role of the masses in history. Maybe you have your own special point of view on this issue? How could you justify it? Bring examples where the actions of the people influenced the course of events.)
For the normal life of the people, it is also important that there are special layers, which are called elites. This is a relatively small number of people who occupy a leading position in the political, economic, cultural life of society, the most qualified specialists. It is assumed that these people have an intellectual and moral superiority over the masses, the highest sense of responsibility. (Does this always happen?) According to a number of philosophers, elites play a special role in the management of society, in the development of culture. (Think about what qualities people should have in managing various spheres of society: economic, political, military, etc.)

SOCIAL GROUPS AND PUBLIC ASSOCIATIONS

Every individual belongs to a community. Speaking about the participants in the historical process, we refer to such communities as social groups. English philosopher T. Hobbes wrote: "By a group of people, I mean a certain number of people united by a common interest or common cause." Interests may differ in their orientation (state, political, economic, spiritual); can be real and imaginary; may be progressive or regressive or conservative. They are the basis for uniting people, mobilize them for common actions.
Historically, stable and long-existing groups of people are formed. You are familiar with the classes (slaves - slave owners, feudal lords - peasants, etc.); tribes, nationalities, nations; estates; groups distinguished by religious (Protestants, Catholics, etc.), age (youth, the elderly, etc.), professional (miners, teachers, etc.), territorial (residents of any region) characteristics. The common interests of each of the groups are determined by the position of its members in production, social, religious life, etc. At different periods of history, we see certain groups as active participants in events. (Think of the slave uprisings, the struggle of the "third estate" against the monarchy, national liberation movements, religious wars and other facts that testify to the active role of various groups of society in historical events.)
To protect their interests, social groups create public associations, which includes the most active members of the group. Public associations are understood as formations of citizens based on voluntary participation, commonality of views and interests, self-government, pursuing the goals of joint realization of their rights and interests. (Remember the medieval guilds, political clubs during the French Revolution.) trade unions hired workers. Their task is to protect the economic interests of the working people. Formed and business organizations, designed to coordinate the actions of entrepreneurs. There were also agricultural organizations, representing the interests of the landowners. We should not forget about such an influential organization as church. For the struggle for power in modern times are created political parties.(Think of examples that might illustrate the remarkable impact of social associations on the historical process.)

HISTORICAL PERSONS

At the beginning of the paragraph, the universality of the historical process was noted. Since it covers all manifestations of human activity, the circle of historical figures includes figures from various spheres of public life: politicians and scientists, artists and religious leaders, military leaders and builders - all those who left their individual imprint on the course of history. Historians and philosophers use various words that evaluate the role of a particular person in history: a historical figure, a great man, a hero. Reflecting the significant contribution of a certain figure to history, these estimates at the same time depend on the worldview, political views researcher and are largely subjective. “The concept of “great” is a relative concept,” wrote the Russian philosopher G. V. Plekhanov.
The activity of a historical person can be evaluated taking into account the characteristics of the period when this person lived, his moral choice, the morality of his actions. The assessment can be negative or positive, but most often it is ambiguous, taking into account positive and negative sides this activity. The concept of "great personality", as a rule, characterizes the activities of people who have become the personification of radical progressive transformations. " great person, - wrote G. V. Plekhanov, - great in that he has features that make him the most capable of serving the great social needs of his time ... A great man is precisely the initiator, because he sees further than others and wants more than others. He decides scientific tasks queued by the previous move mental development society; he indicates the new social needs created by the previous development of social relations; he takes the lead in meeting these needs.”

V. O. Klyuchevsky gave impressive images of historical figures in his lectures. And although he spoke about people of relatively distant centuries, the qualities of these personalities that he revealed are still of considerable interest, because, as he wrote, in difficult times an example good people not only encourages, but also teaches how to act. Historical figures, according to V. O. Klyuchevsky, the desire to serve the common good of the state and the people, selfless courage necessary for this service are characteristic; the desire and ability to delve into the conditions of Russian life, into the very foundations of existing social relations, in order to find here the causes of the disasters experienced, detachment from national isolation and exclusivity; conscientiousness in all matters, including diplomacy; the desire to communicate to transformative impulses and thoughts the appearance of such simple, distinct and convincing plans, in the reasonableness and feasibility of which one wanted to believe, the benefits of which were obvious to everyone.
Basic concepts: historical process, types of social dynamics, factors of social change, subjects of the historical process.
Terms: philosophy of history, evolution, revolution, reform, popular masses, historical personality.

1. Does the relationship between historical science and philosophy reflect the thought of the ancient Greek historian Thucydides (about 460-400 BC): "History is philosophy in examples"? Justify your point of view.
2. In 1999 sociologists conducted a survey in which each respondent was asked to name ten outstanding people of all time. As a result, the most frequently named: Peter I - 46%, Lenin - 42%, Pushkin - 42%, Stalin - 35%, Gagarin - 26%, Zhukov - 20%, Napoleon - 19%, Suvorov - 18%, Lomonosov - 18 %, Mendeleev - 12%. Make your own list of ten outstanding people and match it with the one above. Justify your choice and explain its likely discrepancy with the results of sociological research.
3. Based on the positions outlined in the paragraph, analyze the activities of the most famous historical figure to you.
4. How do you feel about the statement of N. A. Berdyaev: “All historical epochs, starting from small initial epochs and ending with the very pinnacle of history, the current era, - everything is mine historical fate everything is mine"? Argument your position.
5. What period of history do you study simultaneously with this topic of social science? Analyze the changes that took place in society during this period. Try to answer the questions: what is the nature of these changes? What type of social dynamics took place? How did the various factors of social development act? How did the subjects of the historical process show themselves?

Russian historian and philosopher L.P. Karsavin on the philosophy of history.

The philosophy of history is determined by its three main tasks. Firstly, it explores the fundamental principles of historical existence, which at the same time are the basic principles of historical knowledge, history as a science. Secondly, it considers these fundamental principles in the unity of being and knowledge, that is, it indicates the significance and place of the historical world in the whole and in relation to absolute Being. Thirdly, its task is to cognize and depict a specific historical process as a whole, to reveal the meaning of this process. Since the philosophy of history limits itself to the first task, it is "theory" of history i.e., the theory of historical being and the theory of historical knowledge. Since she is pursuing the solution of the second task, she - philosophy of history in the narrow and specialized sense of the term "philosophy". Finally, in the area defined by the third task, it appears to us as metaphysics of history, moreover, of course, in the term "metaphysics" I do not conceive of abstraction from concrete empiricism, but concrete knowledge of the historical process in the light of the highest metaphysical ideas.
At first glance, the deep organic, indissoluble connection between the problems of the theory of history and the philosophy of history is obvious. It is impossible to define the foundations of history otherwise than through their relation to the foundations of being and knowledge in general, and, consequently, without clarifying their connection with absolute Being. Any theorist of history, unless he artificially closes himself in the circle of questions of the so-called technical methodology, must inevitably find out: what is the specificity of historical being and whether this specificity exists, what are the main categories of historical knowledge, basic historical concepts, are they the same, as in the field of knowledge of nature, or others, etc. All this makes it imperative to consider theoretical-historical and philosophical-historical problems in interconnection.
Questions and tasks: 1) What, according to the author, are the tasks of the philosophy of history? How do you understand the meaning of each of the tasks? 2) How do they compare historical existence and historical knowledge? 3) What task is the philosophy of history called upon to solve in the narrow sense? 4) Why does the author combine consideration of theoretical and philosophical problems of history? 5) What is the connection between the study of a specific historical process and the philosophy of history? 6) Which of the tasks of the philosophy of history can be attributed to the issues discussed in this paragraph?

Topic 9. SOCIETY IN HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

1. The meaning and direction of the historical process.

2. Driving forces and forms of historical development.

The application of the rule of development, historicism in the study of society is a key issue in social philosophy. At the same time, in any attempt to comprehend the historical process, the question inevitably arises: does this process have any meaning at all and does it have any direction?

Many philosophers and historians have paid great attention to this issue. In particular, the Russian philosopher N.A. Berdyaev in his work, which is called “The Meaning of History”, wrote that “history only makes sense if there is an end to history, if there is a resurrection at the end, if the dead rise from the cemetery world history and comprehend with all their being, why they decayed, why they suffered in life and what they deserved for eternity; if the entire chronological series of history stretches into one line and there is a final place for everything. As you can see, N.A. Berdyaev tries to consider history through the fate of each person, through his aspirations, suffering, actions in the chronological chain of events of the historical process. He believes that history is truly a drama, having its own acts from the first to the last, having its own beginning, its own internal development, its own end.

Thought N.A. Berdyaev about the end of history cannot be recognized as original. Hegel was the first to speak of the "end of history". Consciousness of mankind, in his opinion, a series of stages? Tribal, slave-owning, theocratic and, finally, democratic-equalizing. At some point, history necessarily reaches a climax, when the final, rational form of society and the state wins. (Such a moment, in the view of Hegel, was associated with the Prussian monarchy of Frederick II).

K. Marx also contributed to the theory of the beginning and end of history. True, he did not speak of the end of history, but of prehistory, since he connected real history with the building of a communist society. At the same time, communism, in his opinion, is not a goal, not an ideal, not a state towards which humanity should strive, but a real movement forward, which reflects existing state society. According to K. Marx, first of all, it is the proletarians who must destroy the conditions of their own existence - exploited labor, and at the same time destroy such attributes of society as private property, civil society, and the state. The ideal of the communist movement - "the free development of everyone is a condition for the free development of all", seemed to the followers of Marx to be quite feasible in practice in the relatively near future and was associated by them with the state of disappearance of any internal conflicts generated by the development of individual components of the society of the future. Alas, this wonderful idea turned out to be one of the next utopias that so often carried people along. Life, practice, weight put in their place.

That is why the French philosopher Raymond Aron (1905-1983) believes that it is impossible to consider the meaning of history from the point of view of the future of mankind, no matter what goals are proclaimed. Kingdom of God or communism. No one has the right, and practically no one can direct the historical process at will, pursuing some of their own goals. Indeed, history is the result of the interaction of many people, which is obtained as a common resultant of their various aspirations and goals that each person sets for himself and which he achieves. Because people don't always get what they want, it doesn't follow that all their individual aspirations and actions mean nothing to history. On the contrary, each will participates in the resultant insofar as it is included in it. F. Engels wrote on this occasion that the goals and results of people's actions do not coincide, because, as a rule, the result is something that no one expected and never wanted. Developing this idea, R. Aron believes that one cannot look for the meaning of history in some final historical goal. He criticizes those scientists who make plans for future world civilizations. These philosophers in their plans proceed from the goy determinism historical events. But in reality, he notes, in society there is no rigid need for the appearance or change of certain events. Therefore, it is impossible to construct a theory of history in advance. Therefore, the meaning of history must be associated with a person who, in accordance with his mind and specific circumstances, solves the tasks that are set before him by current life.

Questions of history and its meaning occupy an important place in the philosophy of K. Jaspers (1883-1969). The answer to the question about the meaning of history, in his opinion, involves the search for answers to the questions: what is history, and what is its unity? History differs from the natural process, because it is in people endowed with consciousness, it is people who keep and multiply the traditions that have developed over the centuries, without them there will be no history. The historical process can be interrupted, K. Jaspers wrote, if people forget about what they have achieved, or if what they have achieved throughout their life disappears from their lives. The stability of the way of life and thinking, habits and faith, the stability that is formed by the totality of social conditions and is rooted in the depths of human existence, begins to fluctuate as soon as social conditions change. Then everyday life breaks with tradition, habitual forms of life are lost and disintegrate, and complete uncertainty reigns.

Jaspers opposes those who view world history as a chaotic heap of random events, as a constant replacement of some historical catastrophes by others. A person strives to unite with other people, and it is on this basis that mutual understanding of people, the unity of their history, can develop. Of course, any kind of associations that are formed by people in history do not exclude contradictions. However, the process of uniting people, in spite of everything, constantly makes its way in history. Unity of history , from the point of view of K. Jaspers, is the goal and meaning to which it aspires. He emphasizes that "unity grows out of the meaning toward which history moves." The goal of history appears from his position as a hidden meaning. Accordingly, K. Jaspers identifies a number of such goals of history: civilization and humanization of man; freedom and the creation of freedom; the greatness of man, the manifestation of his creative abilities; discovery of being in man. Each generation of people pursues these goals in accordance with their needs and interests. Therefore, there will never be a complete unity of world history. After all, if the process ended, then the end of history itself would come. Although people have striven and will always strive for unity, nevertheless, the most, different cultures, customs, traditions. Thus, Jaspers' history has its own logic and meaning, which are revealed in the process of humanity's movement towards unity.

The question of the direction of the historical process is essential. In this case, one usually singles out two the main concepts of the philosophy of history: the so-called theory of "social circulation" or local civilizations and cultures and the theory of social progress. The theory of social circulation or local civilizations and cultures has been actively developed and defended by many philosophers and historians since antiquity. The most vivid embodiment of her ideas was reflected in N. Ya. Danilevsky (1822-1885), O. Spengler (1880-1936), P. A. Sorokin (1889-1968), L. Toynbee ( 1889--1975).

The main thesis of the teachings of N. Ya. Danilevsky is that there is no world civilization, but there are only separate "cultural-historical types". The core of each of these types are "historical nations", which differ from non-historical nations in that they have their own idea and task. Therefore, certain political formulas worked out by one people are not suitable only for this people. In addition to historical nations, according to Danilevsky, there are also peoples who are unsuccessful, according to different reasons devoid of their own ideas and therefore turned out to be only ethnographic material. The conclusion from such a concept, I think, is clear: one can deal with ethnographic material in the same way as one usually does with material.

Oswald Spengler, in his book The Decline of Europe, ridicules the idea of ​​a one-line history, continuous progressive progress. He sees, as he writes himself, not a monotonous picture, but a phenomenon of many cultures, each of which has its own: form, idea, passions, life, way of perceiving things, death. Accordingly, he has 8 such cultures that have fully realized their potential: Egyptian, Indian, Babylonian, Chinese, Apollonian (Greco-Roman), Magical (Byzantine-Arabic), Faustian (Western European), Mayan culture. Spengler also expected the emergence of Russian-Siberian culture. In his opinion, each cultural organism is pre-measured for a certain life span of one millennium. In its development, culture, like any living organism, goes through the stages of childhood, youth, maturity, and decay. Dying, culture is reborn into civilization, which is the opposite of culture. On the one hand, civilization is a "mass society", and on the other hand, it is the equivalent of fear, intelligence, tension.

Arnold Toynbee, like O. Spengler, considers history as a cycle of local civilizations. He has several different such civilizations. However, according to L. Toynbee, now only 5 civilizations : Chinese, Indian, Islamic, Russian, Western. Each civilization goes through the stages of emergence, growth, breakdown and decay, after which the civilization perishes, giving way to another. The driving force behind the development of civilizations, according to Toynbee, is the creative minority (elite), the bearer of the vital impulse. History constantly throws "challenges" to civilization. The creative minority responds to the “challenges”, dragging the inert majority along with it. The peculiarity of "challenges" and "answers" determines the specifics of each civilization, the hierarchy of its social values, its meaning of life. As soon as the "creative elite" is unable to adequately respond to the "challenges", it turns into a dominant minority that imposes its power by force, not by authority. Then the majority mass becomes the "internal proletariat", which, together with the "external proletariat", destroys the given civilization, if it does not first perish from military conquests or natural disasters.

Thus, all theories of social circulation consider history as closed, independent from each other local public education. Such ideas are widely used among the modern Western intelligentsia, they are shared by many statesmen.

The theory of social progress also has many supporters. Many thinkers (Turgot, Condorcet, Herder, Hegel), and even earlier Lucretius Car) attached great importance to the idea that the development of mankind is on an ascending line. True, it should be noted that most of them considered progress only as an upward development of the mind. So, for example, for Proudhon, progress is a better understanding of things, a higher moral level. The Narodniks P. L. Lavrov and N. P. Tkachev also saw the improvement of knowledge and the development of morality in the idea of ​​progress. But there were thinkers who were not so enthusiastic about the ideas of progress and criticized its costs in society. Thus, the outstanding French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) extolled the primitive, natural state of people over the cultural one, which, in his opinion, negatively affects morals. Therefore, he considers the golden age to be the pre-social, natural state, when there was no property, no laws, no authorities, and everyone was equal and free.

Modern materialistic philosophy considers historical progress concretely, in relation to different elements of society as a system. At the same time, it is emphasized that progress is such a development of society or its individual aspects, which is mainly characterized by direction (ascending development), irreversibility of changes (the emergence of qualitatively new opportunities that did not exist before).

Social progress can be assessed based on a variety of criteria: from the point of view of increasing the economic efficiency of society, the degree of freedom of its members, its mobility and the level of coordination of various spheres of public life, the level of development of science.

But in any case, we will come to one general conclusion, the essence of which is this: progress is a progressive movement from lower to higher, regardless of whether this movement is linear or non-linear, spiral or undulating, discontinuous or continuous.

In understanding social progress, modern science distinguishes between two main approaches: summative and substantial.

Summative approach considers progress as a simple set (conglomerate) of irreducible and independent of each other changes in various spheres of society. At the same time, it is believed that there is no common measure of social progress, since each sphere of social life has its own system of values ​​and its own measure of their evaluation. Accordingly, there are different criteria for progressiveness: for the economic development of society, this is the level of labor productivity and the level of development of productive forces; for the political development of society, the degree of its democratization, etc.

Substantial approach, on the contrary, considers progress as the progressive upward development of society as a whole.

With a substantial approach, the choice of the criterion of progress is important. Naturally, this should be such a criterion that would determine the progressive development of the whole society, all its spheres of life. Such a criterion can only be the person himself, his position in social activity, taking into account the opportunities that society presents to him for his intellectual, spiritual and physical development. All progresses are reactionary if a person collapses.

In social development, there is not only progress, but also regression, a downward movement of society. Regression is characterized by the fact that, firstly, there is a decrease in the level of organization of the system; secondly, there are elements of stagnation, i.e. fixation of obsolete social forms and structures; thirdly, the resistance of the social system to external and internal destabilizing factors is reduced.

In society, progress and regress often accompany each other (i.e., at some points during the general regressive development, progressive changes are also preserved and vice versa). In other words, progress in the economy, for example, may well be accompanied by spiritual regression, so we can say that in society there is no single, continuous, proportional ascent from the lowest to the highest: some forms run ahead, something lags behind or moves backward. W. Shakespeare expresses this idea very well:

"Time goes by in different steps

with different people...

with whom it ambles,

with whom - at a trot, with whom - at a gallop,

and with whom it stands still.

However, if we consider the nature of qualitative changes in social life throughout the history of mankind, then, apparently, it is impossible to deny a certain acceleration of its development. The process of cardinal qualitative changes (in technology, science, politics) is now taking place (especially in developed countries) practically before our eyes, during the lifetime of one generation of people. And this process is likely to accelerate further.

The essence of the acceleration of social progress is expressed in an interesting way about the following scheme of a witty engineer. Imagine the distance of a marathon run (42 km 195 m) and correlate it with the age of mankind (600 thousand years). The birth of humanity and the simultaneous start of its continuous marathon is somewhere in the unknown, and the finish in modern city. Then it turns out that most of this difficult path runs through primeval valleys, groves and dense forests. After 40-41 kilometers we find primitive tools and cave drawings. On the last kilometer of the way there are signs of agriculture. For 200 meters before the finish line, the road goes past the Roman fortifications, for 100 meters, past the medieval city buildings. 50 meters before the finish line, next to the "track" stood a man who, with intelligent and understanding eyes, is following an unusual cross-country race. It was Leonardo da Vinci. 10 meters before the finish line, the road was lit by torches and oil lamps. There are 5 meters left to finish. Lights brightly illuminate the night road, cars roar, and the startled runner is blinded by the spotlights of radio and television reporters.

Despite the fact that history has its own "ebb and flow", nevertheless, human society is constantly developing and improving, progressively moving from one qualitative state to another. The accumulation of material and spiritual values, which are the basis of any human civilization, is continuously taking place. Along with the improvement of social life, the man himself, the subject of history, is also changing. He becomes more and more informed and civilized, the level of his consciousness and self-awareness, freedom and responsibility grows. As a result, what happens is that the meaning of his life and the meaning of history seem to merge together. This unity can be expressed as follows: the progressive development of history and the constant improvement of man.

An essential issue in the historical development of society is its typology. In this regard, science offers various approaches to the classification of periods in the development of history. Among them there are those that relate only to individual fragments of social life, for example, the historical evolution of power (Aristotle). There are typologies emanating from the spiritual development of society (G. Hegel, O. Comte), local civilizations and cultural formations (N. Ya. Danilevsky, O. Spengler, A. Toynbee). But there are general typologies relating to all aspects of social development, society as a whole.

So, K. Marx considered the development of society as a natural-historical process of changing socio-economic formations. A socio-economic formation is a society in the unity of all its aspects and relations at a certain stage of its development. The criterion that distinguishes one socio-economic formation from another, according to Marx, is the mode of production of social life (as a unity of the productive forces of society and production relations). In accordance with this, K. Marx singles out; primitive, slave-owning, feudal, bourgeois, socialist and communist society. The basis of the first and last of these socio-economic formations is public ownership of the productive forces. At the heart of the slave, feudal and bourgeois-private property. And socialism within the framework of Marxism is seen as a transitional formation from capitalism to communism. “Under socialism,” Marx wrote, “bourgeois law is still preserved: from each according to his ability, to each according to his work.”

Assessing the teachings of K. Marx on the socio-economic formation, it cannot be noted that it played and continues to play important role in social science. However, K. Marx's conclusion about the cruel need to change formations, as well as ignoring the role of personal, psychological, spiritual and other aspects of this change, significantly reduce its methodological potential for the analysis of history.

The classifications put forward by W. Rostow, D. Bell, R. Aron, O. Toffler belong to fairly general typologies of social development. W. Rostow in his book; Stages of Economic Growth (1960) distinguishes three stages of history: traditional society, which is characterized by subsistence farming, class hierarchy, etc.; an industrial society that differs from the traditional market economy, the presence of a democratic system; and post-industrial society, which is characterized by the transition from the economy of production of goods to the economy of services, the predominance of the "class" of specialists and technicians, etc. Alvin Toffler in the book "The Third Wave" (1980) considers history as a continuous wave movement and singles out in it three stages, three waves. First wave-agricultural. Second wave- industrial. And finally third wave is like a return to pre-industrial civilization, but on the basis of new technology (electronics, computers, space, bioindustry). The peculiarity of Toffler's philosophical concept is that he considers social changes as a direct result of technological progress. He analyzes various aspects of social life, but the dominant feature of the transformations in society, in his opinion, is technology. By the way, he talks a lot about the fact that technology must meet environmental and social criteria. The perniciousness of general standardization, the costs of excessive concentration and centralization of the economy are also correctly noted. However, Toffler, considering technology as a panacea and the only means of transforming society, is obviously wrong. There is no doubt that the role of technology and technology in the development of society is enormous. However, they cannot exist independently of a person. And this means that it is his needs that determine the rationality of the structure of society and the need for its reorganization.