The main elements of material culture are. Material and spiritual culture

Material culture characterizes the process of human activity in the material sphere of society. It is a measure of a person’s essential forces in material-transforming activities, which covers:

a) the sphere of material production;

b) the material sphere of life;

c) transformation of human physical nature.

Analysis material culture as a social phenomenon is usually complicated by the fact that the difference between material and spiritual culture is always relative. There is no such thing as “pure” material or spiritual culture. Material culture always has a spiritual side, for not a single process in material culture occurs without active participation consciousness. On the other hand, spiritual culture always has its material side, material elements of spiritual production.

But it is not legitimate to limit material culture only to material objects. Material culture is a characteristic of people's activities to change and transform material social relations.

Material culture is characterized by qualitative achievements, which mean the degree of human mastery of the forces of nature, the perfection of tools, the technical level of production, the skills and ability of people to use technology, the organization of labor, and servicing the material and everyday needs of people. The core of material culture is the tools of labor, which in the modern era are increasingly becoming the material embodiment of the achievements of science; in fact, material culture began with them. Special role belongs to engineering and technology, as well as the means of mass communication, or communication (print, radio, cinema, television, computer and laser technology).

IN in a broad sense the word technique represents the skills and techniques of any activity and coincides in meaning with skill, art (the term “technique” itself ancient Greek origin and once meant precisely art or skill). Technology permeates the entire culture and as a term is often used as a synonym for it, for example: sports equipment, construction equipment, musical technology etc. We can say that all material culture is organized or exists according to the principle of technology. However, spiritual culture is also organized according to a purely technical principle. This is also facilitated by the development of means of communication and mass communication, which are essentially means of influencing people’s consciousness, means of manipulating their psyche. Modern means of communication are so developed that they represent an artificial nervous system of the planet, and this makes it possible to manage countries and regions.

The level of culture is also characterized by the achieved skills and knowledge that are used in the process of material production. In this sense, people often talk about the “work culture” of different eras.

Material culture is human spirituality embodied in the form of a thing; it is the human soul realized in things; it is the materialized and objectified spirit of humanity.

Material culture includes, first of all, various means of material production. These are energy and raw materials resources of inorganic or organic origin, geological, hydrological or atmospheric components of material production technology. These are various means of consumption and products of material production. These are different types of material objects, practical activities person. These are material-object relations of a person in the sphere of production technology or in the sphere of exchange, i.e. production relations. However, it should be emphasized that the material culture of humanity is always broader than existing material production. It includes all types material assets: architectural values, buildings and structures, means of communication and transport. In addition, material culture stores the material values of the past - monuments, archaeological sites, equipped natural monuments, etc. Consequently, the volume of material values of culture is wider than the volume of material production, and therefore there is no identity between material culture in general and material production in in particular.

Material culture in general, like material production in particular, is assessed by cultural studies from the point of view of the means and conditions they create for improving human life, for the development of his “I”, his creative potential, the essence of man as a rational being, from the point of view of growth and expansion opportunities for the realization of human abilities as a subject of culture. In this sense, it is clear that both at different stages of the evolution of material culture, and in specific historical social methods of material production, different conditions arose and means of implementing different levels of perfection were created. creative ideas and the intentions of man in an effort to improve the world and himself.

Harmonious relationships between material and technical capabilities and the transformative intentions of man in history do not always exist, but when this objectively becomes possible, culture develops in optimal and balanced forms. If there is no harmony, the culture becomes unstable, unbalanced, and suffers from either inertia and conservatism, or utopianism and revolutionism.

Material culture is based on a rational, reproductive type of activity, is expressed in an objective form, and satisfies the primary needs of a person.

Composition of material culture:

Work culture (equipment and tools, energy sources, production facilities, communication systems and energy infrastructure);

Everyday culture is the material side of human life (clothing, furniture, utensils, household appliances, utilities, food);

Culture of the topos or place of settlement (type of dwelling, structure and characteristics of settlements).

Material culture usually refers to artificially created objects that allow people to optimally adapt to natural and social conditions life.

Objects of material culture are created to satisfy various human needs and are therefore considered as values. When speaking about the material culture of a particular people, they traditionally mean such specific items as clothing, weapons, utensils, food, jewelry, housing, and architectural structures. Modern science, by studying such artifacts, is able to reconstruct the lifestyle of even long-vanished peoples, of which there is no mention in written sources.

With a broader understanding of material culture, three main elements are seen in it.

The actual objective world created by man is buildings, roads, communications, instruments, objects of art and everyday life. The development of culture is manifested in the constant expansion and complexity of the world of artifacts, the “domestication” of the human environment. Life modern man it is difficult to imagine without the most complex artificial devices - computers, television, mobile phones etc., which lie at the basis of modern information culture.

Technologies are means and technical algorithms for creating and using objects of the objective world. Technologies are material because they are embodied in specific practical methods of activity.

Technical culture is the specific skills, abilities, and abilities of a person. Culture preserves these skills and abilities along with knowledge, transmitting both theoretical and practical experience from generation to generation. However, unlike knowledge, skills and abilities are formed in practical activity, usually by example. At each stage of cultural development, along with the complexity of technology, skills also become more complex.

Culture and technology

Engineering and technology as terms and concepts. Technology and sociocultural values: the categorical imperative of culture in technical civilization. The essence and values of technology-and-technology. The nature of the connection between technology and nature, society, and culture. Models further development technology. Assessments of technology as part of culture: optimism and pessimism. Model of a new type of person and technical culture.

The word technology (from ancient Greek - skill, art) designates or defines a set of means, created by people to optimize your activities.

According to the philosopher of technology F. Rappe, two types of definitions of the concept “technology” can be distinguished. Technique in in the narrow sense words are engineering activities, in broad terms – any effective methodological activities person. It should be borne in mind that in the Western tradition the concept of technology is closer to the concept of technology or, according to F. Rappe, technology in the broad sense of the word. In the East, the word “technology” means a machine. For example, educational technology is a typical concept of Western culture, but in the East there may be a cultural protest about this: the formation of a person is likened to a machine conveyor belt?!

Why does technology-and-technology of Western culture take the place of technology in the sense of Greek culture? Equipment and technology have existed as long as humanity can remember. Among the diversity of ancient civilizations there is one type of technical toolkit; technology here is something from the periphery of culture. Only in recent centuries, within the framework of the Euro-Christian culture of the West, technique and technology have acquired special meaning. Technology becomes a universal phenomenon modern world, significantly influencing changes in all human cultures. Supporters of technical civilization claim that the origins of modern global problems not so much the consequences last decades spontaneous development of technology, as much as the boundless faith of Christianity in human genius, the Christian idea of a man-god, a co-creator of the God-man. Hence the optimistic opinion about the fundamental solvability of global problems of our time.

The modern understanding of technology suggests several characteristic points. Technology is of artificial origin, that is, it is created by people in the process of materializing ideal models. The technique is rational, that is, it can be reproduced quite quickly in a given community. It has a utilitarian character, that is, technology is related to the practical needs of people and serves to satisfy these needs.

Technology is a cultural phenomenon that exists on the border between nature and culture. Technology is a part of nature transformed by man to influence nature. The social character of technology is given by its dependence on the level of cultural development of society. Technical progress, expanding human capabilities to influence natural processes, entails sociocultural changes. Cultural appropriation new technological advances by a specific community are quite complex and time-consuming; the process of assimilation is determined by cultural traditions, including the sociocultural attitude towards the perception of innovation.

Technology is a set of methods for processing and producing objects and things. Technology is a systemic education; it is related to the technology and culture of a given community. Among the characteristics of technology are: rational methods of activity; promoting the development of society; subordination to the dominant values of a given culture.

So, technology is the tools of human activity, and technology is a system of effective methods developed by man for his purposeful activities.

Technology and sociocultural values. In the conditions of modern technical civilization, the evolution of technology, primarily the introduction of new technologies, depends on the sociocultural factors of a given community. So, traditional form social competition of peoples (“if you want to live peacefully, prepare for war”) asserts the priority of the development of the military-industrial complex. There is sufficient basis for the statement: the essential characteristics of technology most often become a reflection of the community’s value system. The variability in the use of technology poses the leading moral problem of technical civilization - the responsibility of scientists for the possible application of their discoveries in technology. Hence the categorical imperative of culture in technical civilization: the principles of humanism and ecology are higher economic efficiency, technical feasibility and political benefit. It should be noted that in traditional societies known to modern science, technology is always subordinated to the values of life. It is possible that violations of this principle became one of the reasons (or the reason) for the disruption of ecological balance in the local region and the disappearance of civilizations and cultures.

The rapid development of technology, its transformation into a powerful component of modern planetary civilization, brought to life different interpretations essences and values of technology-and-technology. The problem of the consequences of computerization of society and the creation artificial intelligence is one of the most popular in discussions. The controversy between supporters and opponents led to the realization of the need for new research into the nature of the mind, consciousness (spirit) of man. A special place in modern philosophical literature are occupied by works devoted to the evaluation of technology; before designing and financing innovative projects it is necessary to know the totality of consequences of the introduction of a particular innovation. Understanding the problems of axiology of technology at a philosophical level has acquired general cultural significance. In particular, it is noted that perfect planning of technical progress is impossible even in the conditions of a technocratic society, which, as is known, turns the individual into an element of a machine. The position has gained recognition that the criteria for the rationality of planning technical innovation should be developed outside of technical, economic or political factors. The fact is that the sociocultural problem of technology is its use, and technology is used, as a rule, in the interests of a group of people.

Among the leading philosophical problems techniques and technologies refer to the question of the origin of technology and the nature of its connection with nature, society, and culture. So, there are concepts about merger modern science and technology, in which the property of primacy is given to natural sciences or technology; accordingly, technology or natural science is recognized as a consequence. This discussion has a fundamental basis: scientific and technological progress begins with large-scale theoretical understanding or random discoveries, which are then given the appearance of a solid justification. If the latter, then it is possible that after testing the next technical innovation created by inquisitive technology fans at random, there will be no one to justify it. Thus, the action of a life-threatening thing that falls into the hands of a child for whom the whole world is a toy can lead to a fatal result for many. The paradigm of technological progress as a conveyor belt for improving human existence, limitless in its capabilities, developed by European thinking a couple of centuries ago, was based on the ideas of unlimited natural resources and the perfection of man, existing autonomously from nature. These ideas have been refuted by life. Is there a future for a technical person? Is there a future for culture, society, civilization with or without technology? These and similar philosophical and worldview questions give different answers.

For the existence of culture, it is fundamentally important to pose fundamental questions on the problem, indicating that humanity is growing out of technical childhood. In this sense, the need to develop ideals (models) for further development is essential. This problem is normative and brings the philosophy of technology to the level of sociocultural forecast. The traditional model (the model of the scientific and technological revolution) is based on the principles of technological determinism, popular in the West. She is characterized by her belief in limitless possibilities human mind, which solved and will solve any development problems. General model, dominant in the West, is based on limiting technical projects for reasons of their possible harm. Technological progress is inevitable because it is vital, but technical, economic and political personnel must be educated and controlled by external institutions. This model focuses on the development of sociocultural methods for assessing technology. The constraint model is based on the need to limit human needs and the scope of technological innovation. The limitation criterion proposes a threshold beyond which the satisfaction of needs or the use of technology does more harm than good. Radical (not very popular among sensible people) variants of this model suggest a return to the way of life of our ancestors for all of humanity or the population of the so-called developing countries, where technology has not yet become a necessity of everyday culture.

Technology as a part of culture is viewed in a range of optimistic and pessimistic opinions. The concept of technical (technological) determinism includes opposing interpretations. Technocratic (power of technology) interpretations tend to be associated with optimistic views of the role of technology in culture. Technocratic thinking prefers to explain the negative sociocultural consequences of the introduction of scientific and technological progress by the inhibition of technological development on the part of culturally backward people or groups. Catastrophic changes in the life and culture of the peoples of entire continents, brought about by scientific and technological progress, are hushed up or interpreted differently. An essential component of an optimistic interpretation of the role of technology in society and culture is technocracy - a theory of power based on scientific and technical knowledge and foresight, and the scientific and technical competence of the political elite. The founder of the theory of industrial society, R. Aron, believes that the reality of the modern world is not a set of different social systems, and one industrial society with a variety of ideologies. As the industrial component develops, ideological differences will move to the periphery of culture. The contradictions of scientific and technological progress, the culturologist believes, are not an essential, but a temporary characteristic inherent initial stage development. At the next stage of development, in the so-called information society, the negative aspects of the technical environment will be overcome. Pessimistic views represented primarily by philosophers, writers, artists and leaders religious organizations, view technology as a threat to humanity. Critics of technical civilization emphasize its mechanicalness, unnaturalness, and the suppression of personality, nature, and life by technology. Pessimists - supporters of views about the negative impact of technology on socio-cultural processes - have been calling for a return to traditional forms for centuries economic activity a person with strict control of the individual’s life activity by the community. In the last century, a variant of active counteraction to technical culture appeared. Opponents of technical civilization called for organizing a counterculture to fight against the repressive mind of “power-knowledge” and the alienation of man.

Representatives of technocracy - scientists, economic and political leaders - joined in criticizing the negative aspects of technical civilization. They paid attention to ecological problems, to turn a person into a servant and hostage of the spontaneous development of the technical environment. According to scientists, the source of the problem is man’s inability to use technology for the benefit of humanity and nature. It is necessary to form a different interaction between man and technology, a different type of person, capable of integrating with people, existing in unity with technology and nature.

One of them components The model of a new type of person is technical culture. The technical background of the existence of modern man is the same for all humanity. It assumes two normative parameters of people’s behavior: handling equipment according to the operating instructions and a certain tradition use of technical means. Abilities and attitude to work, technological discipline and labor discipline, forms of diligence and work skills are derived from cultural traditions society. The conscious inclusion of technical culture in the sociocultural characteristics of a particular community and individual allows us to understand and accept technology as an organic part of human interaction with humanity and nature.

MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL CULTURE is a form of classification of facts and cultural phenomena, popular in philosophy of the 19th and most of the 20th centuries. At the same time, material culture is understood as the variety of objects produced by humans (tools, machines, instruments, household items, clothing, jewelry, religious and ritual objects, weapons, musical instruments etc.), as well as natural things and phenomena modified by human influence (for example, processed natural objects or so-called man-made landscapes). Spiritual culture includes the entire set of products of human spiritual and intellectual activity that do not have an objective, material character: religious systems, myths, philosophical concepts, scientific theories, morals and customs, systems social organization etc. This also often includes the historically emerging spiritual makeup of human groups (the school of “psychology of peoples”).

The most obvious distinction between material and spiritual culture is made in the Marxist tradition, where the most important elements of material culture - machines, tools, technologies - constitute the main content of the “productive forces” of society at every historical stage its development. The productive forces, in turn, together with the “relations of production” form the “base”, which determines the “superstructure”, i.e. the entirety of the spiritual culture of society, including political and legal systems, as well as scientific knowledge. Paradoxically, it turns out that elements of spiritual culture - such as scientific knowledge - are included in the productive forces (“science as a productive force”). This contradiction in classical and Soviet Marxism remained unresolved. The idea of dividing material and spiritual culture was subsequently used as the basis for the distinction between culture and civilization, characteristic of German philosophy, in particular the philosophy of life and neo-Marxism of the Frankfurt School. If the very spirit of classical and then Soviet Marxism assumed the primacy of material culture over spiritual, then in the opposition of culture and civilization the predominant role of spiritual culture was emphasized. The so-called criticism of culture is a product of the crisis consciousness of the fin de siècle. Here, culture was understood as the totality of the spiritual products of humanity, embodied in philosophy, art, and science; by civilization, the totality of materialized (and thereby “dead”) products of human creativity.

The division of material and spiritual culture, very popular in the era of the dominance of the evolutionist paradigm, is now considered obsolete in the social sciences. A three-part classification of culture is more common: material, spiritual and social. Material culture means everything that relates to a person’s relationship with his environment, the satisfaction of the needs of his existence, the technological side of life, etc., spiritual culture means subjective aspects of life, ideas, attitudes, values and modes of behavior oriented towards them , under social culture– relationships of people to each other, systems of statuses and social institutions(Kroeber A., Kluckhohn S. Culture. A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. Cambr. (Mass.), 1952, p. 98). In this case, spiritual culture plays a predominant role. Social behavior and artifacts (social and material culture) are interpreted as objectified products of ideal regulatory systems and knowledge systems of various kinds that make up spiritual culture. But it is precisely this approach that allows us to connect material and spiritual cultures and introduce artifacts into the context of research in the social sciences. Material culture thus becomes a systematic source of information for social and cultural history and cultural studies, and the purpose of the analysis is to identify systems of ideas that give rise to certain artifacts and modes of behavior within a certain culture (Hodder I. The Meaning of Things: Material Culture and Symbolic Expression. L., 1989). Another aspect of the relationship between ideas and things that interests cultural anthropologists is the intercultural “existence” of artifacts. They can be considered as “carriers” of certain ideas, values and norms in intercultural interactions. At the same time, they can gain relative autonomy; their value and meaning can be transformed in different cultural and social contexts (Thomas N. Entangled Objects: Exchange, Material Culture and Colonialism in the Pacific. Cambr. (Mass.), 1991).

IN modern philosophy the opposition between material and spiritual cultures has lost its former role. The works of postmodern theorists (J. Baudrillard, J. F. Lyotard and others), firstly, questioned the separation of subject and object characteristic of traditional philosophy and, secondly, put the focus on reproduction, rather than production , as early capitalist modernity did. The place of use value, reflecting the objectivity of an object and its connection with material needs, was taken by “sign” value. Real objects have “lost their credibility” because they are all simulated and reproduced artificially. Codes generate hyperrealities (holography, a virtual reality etc.). This leads to the disappearance of limbs of any kind; the place of “ideas” and “things” is taken by tautological “simulacra” (Baudrillard). Along with the disappearance of these limbs, the basis for contrasting the facts of material and spiritual cultures also disappears. These concepts themselves become redundant. At the same time, in more traditional philosophical contexts, as well as in the social sciences (see, for example: Kogan L.N. Sociology of Culture. Yekaterinburg, 1992) they retain their heuristic value.

L.G. Ionin

New philosophical encyclopedia. In four volumes. / Institute of Philosophy RAS. Scientific ed. advice: V.S. Stepin, A.A. Guseinov, G.Yu. Semigin. M., Mysl, 2010, vol.II, E – M, p. 348.

Exist various ways analysis of the structure of culture. Since culture acts, first of all, as a prerequisite for all types of socially significant activities, the main elements of its structure are forms of recording and transferring social experience. In this context, the main components of culture are: language, customs, traditions, values and norms.

Language is a system of conventional symbols that correspond to certain objects. The tongue plays vital role in the process of socialization of the individual. With the help of language, cultural norms are assimilated, social roles are mastered, and behavior patterns are formed. Each person has his own cultural and speech status, which denotes belonging to a specific type of linguistic culture: a high literary language, vernacular, local dialect.

Tradition is a form of sociocultural reproduction associated with the transmission from generation to generation of the basic elements of normative culture: symbols, customs, manners, language. The need to preserve these basic norms is determined by the very fact of their existence in the past.

Social norm- this is a form of sociocultural regulation in a certain social sphere, characterizing the individual’s membership in a given social group. A social norm establishes acceptable boundaries for the activities of representatives of specific social groups, ensures predictability and standardization of people’s behavior in accordance with their social status.

Value is a category indicating the human, social and cultural significance of certain phenomena of reality. Each historical era characterized by a specific set and a certain hierarchy of values. Such a value system acts as the highest level of social regulation and forms the basis for the formation of personality and the maintenance of normative order in society.

Material and spiritual culture.

Considering culture by its carrier, material and spiritual culture are distinguished.

Material culture includes all areas of material activity and its results: housing, clothing, objects and means of labor, consumer goods, etc. That is, those elements that serve the natural organic needs of man belong to material culture, which in literally its content satisfies these needs.

Spiritual culture includes all spheres of activity and its products: knowledge, education, enlightenment, law, philosophy, religion, art. Spiritual culture is connected, first of all, not with the satisfaction of needs, but with the development of human abilities that are of universal importance.

The same objects can belong to both material and spiritual culture at the same time, and also change their purpose in the process of existence.

Example. Household items, furniture, clothes in Everyday life satisfy natural human needs. But, being exhibited in a museum, these things already serve to satisfy cognitive interest. Using them you can study the life and customs of a certain era..

Culture as a reflection of the spiritual abilities of the individual.

Based on the form of reflection of spiritual abilities, as well as on the origin and nature of culture, we can conditionally distinguish three following forms: elitist, popular And massive.

Elite, or high culture includes classical music, highly artistic literature, poetry, fine arts etc. It is created by talented writers, poets, composers, painters and is aimed at a select circle of art connoisseurs and connoisseurs. This circle may include not only “professionals” (writers, critics, art critics), but also those who highly value art and receive aesthetic pleasure from communicating with it.

Folk culture arises to a certain extent spontaneously and most often does not have specific authors. It includes a variety of elements: myths, legends, epics, songs, dances, proverbs, ditties, crafts and much more - everything that is commonly called folklore. Two component features of folklore can be distinguished: it is localized, i.e. connected with the traditions of a particular area, and democratic, since everyone takes part in its creation.

Mass culture began to develop in the mid-nineteenth century. It is not distinguished by high spirituality; on the contrary, it is mainly of an entertaining nature and currently occupies the main part of the cultural space. This is an area without which it is impossible to imagine the lives of modern young people. Works of mass culture are, for example, modern pop music, cinema, fashion, modern literature, endless television series, horror films and action movies, etc.

Sociological approach to understanding culture.

In the context sociological approach culture is a system of values and norms inherent in a particular social community, group, people or nation. Main categories: dominant culture, subculture, counterculture, ethnic culture, national culture. Considering culture as a characteristic of the life activity of various social groups, the following concepts are distinguished: dominant culture, subculture And counterculture.

Dominant culture- is a set of beliefs, values, norms, and rules of behavior that are accepted and shared by the majority of members of society. This concept reflects a system of norms and values that are vital for society and form its cultural basis.

Subculture is a concept with the help of which sociologists and cultural scientists identify local cultural complexes that arise within the framework of the culture of the entire society.

Any subculture presupposes its own rules and patterns of behavior, its own style of clothing, its own manner of communication, and reflects the peculiarities of the lifestyle of various communities of people. Russian sociologists are currently paying especially great attention to the study of youth subculture.

As the results of specific sociological studies show, the subcultural activity of young people depends on a number of factors:

Level of education (for people with a lower level of education, for example, vocational school students, it is noticeably higher than for university students);

From age (peak activity is 16 - 17 years old, by 21 - 22 years it decreases significantly);

From place of residence (typical in to a greater extent for the city than for the village).

Counterculture is understood as a subculture that is in a state of open conflict in relation to the dominant culture. Counterculture means rejection of the basic values of society and calls for the search for alternative forms of life.

Specifics of modern mass culture.

Back in the 19th century, philosophers who studied culture turned to analyzing the essence and social role of mass and elite culture. Mass culture in those days was clearly viewed as an expression of spiritual slavery, as a means of spiritual oppression of a person, as a way of forming a manipulated consciousness. It was contrasted with high classical culture, which was perceived as a way of life characteristic of the privileged strata of society, intellectuals, aristocrats of the spirit, i.e. "colors of humanity"

In the 40-50s of the twentieth century, a point of view on mass information as a new stage of culture. It was successfully developed in the works of the Canadian researcher Herbert Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980). He believed that all existing cultures differ from one another in the means of communication, because it is the means of communication that form the consciousness of people and determine the characteristics of their life. As many cultural scientists note, the concept of McLuhan and his followers is a typical optimistic concept of mass culture.

The main function of mass culture is compensatory and entertaining, which is complemented by a socially adaptive function, implemented in an abstract, superficial form. In this regard, Western researchers have repeatedly emphasized that mass culture turns people into curious observers of life, looking at illusory world video images as objectively existing reality, A real world, as an illusion, an annoying hindrance to existence. Consumption of samples of mass culture, according to the testimony of many psychologists, returns adults to the infantile stage of perception of the world, and turns young consumers of this culture into passive creators, indiscriminately absorbing the ideological “rations” prepared for them.

American researchers of popular culture argue that today it functions as a spiritual drug. Immersing the human mind in the world of illusions, mass culture becomes a school of stereotypes that shape not only mass consciousness, but also the corresponding behavior of people. When defending this position, it was often assumed that human inequality is natural and will exist forever. That there will always be an elite in any society, that it is the elite that constitutes the intellectual ruling minority, highly active and highly intelligent.

Civil liberties;

Spreading literacy among all segments of the population;

National psychology and self-awareness, most clearly expressed in national art.

Scientists distinguish two levels of national culture:

Expressed in national character and national psychology;

Submitted by literary language, philosophy, high art.

Ways to master national culture:

Unlike an ethnic group, each nation creates specialized cultural institutions: museums, theaters, concert halls and etc.

The formation of national identity is facilitated by the national education system: schools, higher education institutions.

Today, the main goal national education - moral education personality, instilling such socially significant qualities as love, humanism, altruism, tolerance as the desire for freedom and justice, equality of rights and opportunities, and a tolerant attitude towards a variety of manifestations of human essence.

Culture and civilization.

In cultural studies, next to the concept of culture there is the concept of civilization. This term arose later than the concept of “culture” - only in the 18th century. According to one version, its author is considered to be the Scottish philosopher A. Ferrugson, who divided human history into eras:

savagery,

barbarism,

Civilizations,

meaning by the last, the highest level social development.

According to another version, the term “civilization” was coined by French Enlightenment philosophers and was used by them in two senses: broad and narrow. The first meant a highly developed society based on the principles of reason, justice and religious tolerance. The second meaning was closely intertwined with the concept of “culture” and meant a set of certain qualities of a person - an extraordinary mind, education, politeness, refinement of manners, etc., the possession of which opened the way to the elite Parisian salons of the 18th century.

Modern scientists define civilization according to the following criteria:

Historical time (ancient, medieval, etc.);

Geographical space (Asian, European, etc.);

Technology (industrial, post-industrial society);

Political relations (slave, feudal civilizations);

Specifics of spiritual life (Christian, Muslim, etc.).

Civilization means a certain level of development of material and spiritual culture.

In the scientific literature, the definition of civilization types is carried out according to the following criteria:

The commonality and interdependence of historical and political fate and economic development;

Interpenetration of cultures;

Availability of a sphere of common interests and common tasks from a development perspective.

Based on these characteristics, three types of civilization development have been identified:

Non-progressive forms of existence (Australian aborigines, American Indians, many tribes of Africa, small peoples of Siberia and northern Europe),

Cyclical development (countries of the East) and

Progressive development (Greco-Latin and modern European).

At the same time, in cultural studies there has not been a unified view on understanding the essence of civilization as a scientific category. So, from the position of A. Toynbee, civilization is considered as a certain stage in the development of the culture of individual peoples and regions. From the perspective of Marxism, civilization is interpreted as a specific stage of social development that began in the life of the people after an era of savagery and barbarism, which is characterized by the emergence of cities, writing, and the formation of national-state entities. K. Jaspers understands civilization as “the value of all cultures,” thereby emphasizing their unified universal character.

The concept of civilization occupies a special place in the concept of O. Spengler. Here, civilization is interpreted as the final moment in the development of the culture of a particular people or region, meaning its “decline.” Contrasting the concepts of “culture” and “civilization”, in his work “The Decline of Europe” he writes: “... civilization is the inevitable fate of culture. Here the very peak has been reached, from the height of which it becomes possible to solve the most difficult questions of historical morphology.

Civilization is the most extreme and most artificial state of which the higher type of people is capable. They... completion, they follow becoming as what has become, life as death, development as numbness, like mental old age and the petrified world city behind the village and soulful childhood. They are the end without the right of appeal, due to internal necessity, they always turn out to be a reality” (Spengler O. The Decline of Europe. Essays on the Morphology of World History: in 2 vols. M., 1998. Vol. 1., p. 164.).

With all the diversity existing points In terms of view, they largely coincide. Most scientists understand civilization as a fairly high level of development of material culture and social relations and consider the most important signs of civilization to be: the emergence of cities, the emergence of writing, the stratification of society into classes and the formation of states.

Socially transformative activities of people are carried out in two main spheres of human existence. These are:

Activities for the creation and transformation of material objects (material-transforming activities);

activities aimed at transforming, shaping spiritual world person (spiritually transformative activity).

In accordance with two main types of activity, two main interconnected structural parts of culture as an integral social formation are distinguished: material culture, spiritual culture.

Material culture characterizes the process of human activity in the material sphere of society. It is a measure of a person’s essential forces in material-transforming activities, which covers:

a) the sphere of material production;

b) the material sphere of life;

c) transformation of human physical nature.

The analysis of material culture as a social phenomenon is usually complicated by the fact that the difference between material and spiritual culture is always relative. There is no such thing as “pure” material or spiritual culture. Material culture always has a spiritual side, for not a single process in material culture occurs without the active participation of consciousness. On the other hand, spiritual culture always has its material side, material elements of spiritual production.

But it is not legitimate to limit material culture only to material objects. Material culture is a characteristic of people's activities to change and transform material social relations.

Material culture is characterized by qualitative achievements, which mean the degree of human mastery of the forces of nature, the perfection of tools, the technical level of production, the skills and ability of people to use technology, the organization of labor, and servicing the material and everyday needs of people. The core of material culture is the tools of labor, which in the modern era are increasingly becoming the material embodiment of the achievements of science; in fact, material culture began with them. A special role belongs to engineering and technology, as well as the means of mass communication, or communication (print, radio, cinema, television, computer and laser technology).

In the broad sense of the word, technology represents the skills and techniques of any activity and coincides in meaning with skill, art (the term “technology” itself is of ancient Greek origin and once meant precisely art or skill). Technology permeates the entire culture and as a term is often used as a synonym for it, for example: sports equipment, construction equipment, musical equipment, etc. We can say that all material culture is organized or exists according to the principle of technology. However, spiritual culture is also organized according to a purely technical principle. This is also facilitated by the development of means of communication and mass communication, which are essentially means of influencing people’s consciousness, means of manipulating their psyche. Modern means of communication are so developed that they represent an artificial nervous system of the planet, and this makes it possible to manage countries and regions.

Thus, material culture can be divided depending on the sphere of manifestation into:

Spiritual culture.

Spiritual culture is the qualitative achievements and breadth of horizons achieved, the introduction into public life of ideas and knowledge characteristic of each era. The totality of spiritual values is usually called spiritual culture. Of course, the distinction in culture between material and spiritual forms of existence is conditional.

Spiritual culture includes all types, forms and levels public consciousness. At the same time, it cannot be reduced to consciousness, because it functions in society through the assimilation and development of both the ideas themselves and the value-normative aspects of human activity. Raising a certain personality type - the main goal in the functioning of spiritual culture.

The functioning of all spiritual culture is based on the activity of production and reproduction of spiritual values, as well as the activity of mastering these values.

An indicator of the development of the spiritual culture of a particular society is, first of all, the availability of its products to the broad masses. This depends on the number of spiritual cultural values received for distribution, on the number of cultural institutions that organize their distribution and consumption, on the cost of cultural goods and the opportunity to use them.

Thus, it becomes obvious that the possibilities spiritual development human development are associated with material and technical development and vice versa - the level of perfection of material production depends on the capabilities of the spiritual potential of society. Spiritual culture includes, on the one hand, the totality of the results of spiritual activity, and on the other, spiritual activity itself. Artifacts of spiritual culture exist in various forms. These are customs, norms and patterns of human behavior that have developed in specific historical social conditions. These are also moral, aesthetic, religious or political ideals and values, various ideas and scientific knowledge. In general, these are always products of intellectual and spiritual activity. They, like the products of material production, are used as human life activity to satisfy his specific needs.

Sometimes spiritual culture is divided into two spheres:

1) spiritual qualities of a person and activities for their embodiment;

2) spiritual values that have acquired a kind of independent existence in the form of scientific theories, works of art, legal norms, etc.

In spiritual culture, those elements are usually distinguished that are usually called forms of social consciousness. In such cases, instead of the term “consciousness”, use