Social progress. Social development and social progress of society

Social progress- a directed process during which the structure of society becomes more perfect and certain ethical values ​​are realized: happiness, freedom, prosperity, knowledge.

The idea of ​​progress fits logically into the model of directed transformation and into some versions of development theory. The classical structural-functional approach is based on the idea of ​​equilibrium of social systems, while cyclical theories imply that in its development society periodically returns to its starting point. The concept of progress only makes any sense when combined with the idea of ​​transformation (i.e., change in society itself, and not just change within it). American psychologist Richard Nisbet defines progress as the idea according to which humanity has slowly, gradually and for a long time crawled out of the initial conditions of fear, lack of culture, ignorance, rising to ever higher levels of civilization. This movement will continue in the present and future, despite occasional deviations.

Modern the interpretation of social progress is based on the following ideas:

1. the idea of ​​irreversible time, flowing linearly and ensuring the continuity of the past, present and future (in accordance with this idea, progress is a positively assessed difference between the past and the present);
2. the idea of ​​a directed movement in which not a single stage is repeated;
3. the idea of ​​a cumulative process occurring either incrementally, step by step, or in a revolutionary way;
4. an understanding of the differences between typical, necessary stages of the process;
5. an idea of ​​the endogenous causes causing the self-propulsion (self-development) of the process;
6. the idea of ​​the inevitability, necessity and natural nature of the process that cannot be stopped or rejected;
7. the idea of ​​improvement, improvement, that each subsequent stage is better than the previous one.

Progress is always related to values, that is, it is not a purely descriptive, detailed, objectified concept, but rather a value category. The same process can be qualified differently depending on the expected value preferences, which are completely different for different individuals, groups, classes, nations. If absolute progress does not exist, then a scale of values ​​accepted as a measure or criterion of progress is always necessary.

There are areas in which the choice of progress criterion is highly context dependent. In the 19th century and in most of the 20th century. industrialization, urbanization, modernization were considered synonymous with progress, and only recently it was discovered that they can have too far-reaching consequences (overcrowded cities, clogged airports, traffic jams on highways, overproduction of goods, etc.) and that good things can have very unpleasant side effects effects (dispersion of resources, pollution and destruction of the environment, diseases of civilization). The processes of democratization, development of entrepreneurship and free markets currently taking place in the post-communist countries of Eastern and Central Europe are accompanied by increased unemployment and poverty, weakening of social discipline, increased levels of crime and delinquency, local conflicts, ungovernability and the widespread spread of mass culture.

Over a long period of intellectual history, many thinkers—from Plato to Thomas More to Marx—believed that progress could be maintained at all levels of society for all its members at the same time, and ultimately achieve full and universal prosperity.

Manifestations crisis ideas of progress:

1. The idea of ​​progress was replaced by the spread of mysticism, a rebellion against reason and science, general pessimism, and the idea of ​​degeneration, destruction and decline of culture.
2. The idea of ​​the need for constant economic and technological growth was replaced by the idea of ​​limits to growth.
3. Faith in reason and science was replaced by a belief in the dominant role of emotions, intuition, the subconscious and unconscious, and the affirmation of irrationalism.
4. The affirmation of the importance, the highest value of life on earth was replaced by a feeling of meaninglessness, anomie and alienation.
5. The ideas of utopianism have collapsed. The final blow to utopian thinking came with the fall of the communist system.
6. The leitmotif of the late 20th – early 21st centuries. the idea of ​​crisis became widespread. At the same time, people tend to view the social crisis as chronic and general and do not foresee its future weakening.

Some thinkers attach great importance to technological development, considering mastery over nature to be the ultimate measure of progress. Among the particular criteria of progress we find the following: salvation, knowledge, community of individuals, freedom (negative and positive), emancipation, mastery over nature, justice, equality, abundance, the ability to choose and equal life opportunities.

The topic is closely related to the problems of social change social progress.

One of the first scientific concepts social development as consistent advancement of societies through ascending levels of progress, which is determined increase in knowledge, belongs to A. Saint-Simon.

His ideas were developed by the founder O. Comte. Comte's law of intellectual evolution of mankind directly points to the direction and criterion of social progress - the degree of advancement to the highest in his concept, the scientific (positive) stage of development. G. Spencer, sharing the idea of ​​​​the nonlinear nature of evolution, assumed measure social progress by the achieved degree of complexity of societies. Social evolution is similar to biological evolution and gradually leads to the fact that the world is getting better. In the theory of K. Marx, the issue of social progress was resolved almost unambiguously. Achieving the highest stage of human development - the construction of a classless communist society, where the free labor of free people will reign - is inevitable, although distant in time.

If O. Comte, G. Spencer and E. Durkheim designed concept of progress as a two-way process of differentiation and integration regardless of its beneficial consequences, then L. Ward, N. Mikhailovsky and others believed that progress is about increasing human happiness or reducing human suffering. In one of his first works P. Sorokin indicated that both of these currents are insufficient and they need to be synthesized. Otherwise, the theory of progress risks giving a formula of stagnation instead of a formula for progress.

Most supporters social evolutionism convinced of availability of intellectual and technical progress, however regarding moral progress, opinions differ. Those who believe that moral progress exists belong to the school of evolutionary ethics . They proceed from the fact that the very presence of morality as the basis for interaction and mutual assistance between people is already the most important factor in the survival of society. Moral evolution does not cancel struggle for existence, but humanizes her, forcing her to find ever softer ways to fight.

For a long time, the prevailing idea among evolutionists was that evolution is unidirectional for all societies, when each of them goes through successively identical stages of development on the path to progress. In the 20th century this view was found untenable on the basis of anthropological research. It turned out that not only non-Western, but also many European countries developed not according to one, but according to different scenarios, which included a different number and sequence of stages.

On a new basis, the evolutionary approach has been revived in recent years: evolution is not unidirectional, but can go in many directions. According to the theory of evolutionary change by the structural functionalist T. Parsons, societies tend to become increasingly differentiated in their structures and functions, with new structures expected to be more functionally adapted than previous ones.

The position of supporters of cyclical development is significantly different. and periodic economic crises have raised doubts about the overall progressive development of mankind. Thus, the German scientist Oswald Spengler in his book “The Decline of Europe” (1918) substantiated the periodization of the development and decline of cultures by analogy with the stages of the human life cycle, including decline and death. In his opinion, each of the eight cultures he studied existed for about 1000 years. Therefore, if we assume that Western European culture originated about 900 years ago, then its end is already near.

The English historian Arnold Toynbee also believed that the development of civilizations occurs along one path, improving and moving towards decline in similar stages. Arising as a response to any challenge from natural or human factors, civilization flourishes as long as its elite is able to counter this challenge. Otherwise, there is a split and disintegration of civilization and, due to the increase in internal conflicts, a movement towards decline.

Cyclic theories should also include the sociocultural dynamics of P. Sorokin, which contains a very pessimistic assessment of the prospects for the development of modern Western society.

Another example of cyclical theories is the concept of “world-economy” by I. Wallerstein, according to which Third world countries will not be able to repeat the path, passed by states - leaders modern economy; capitalist world-economy, which originated more than 500 years ago, in 1967-1973. entered into the inevitable the final phase of the life cycle - crisis phase.

Social progress and forecasting in philosophy

Modern is carried out within the framework of scientific and technological progress, which in turn acts as a party social progress.

Issues of social progress were paid attention to by D. Vico, I.G. Herder, A. Turgot, J. Condorsse, O. Comte, K. Marx, F. Engels and others.

Social progress- this is an objective trend of the upward development of humanity, expressed in the improvement of the forms of human life, needs, abilities to satisfy them, in the development of science, technology, technology, the media, medicine, etc.

The question of the criteria for social progress is debatable. Some researchers in as a criterion of social progress call the level of development of the method of production, others in this capacity highlight the level of development of the productive forces of society, others reduce it to labor productivity. It seems that we can accept as the most representative point of view, according to which the level of development of productive forces, expressed in labor productivity, can be accepted as a criterion of social progress.

In the philosophical explanation of the social process two points of view have been fighting for a long time - evolutionary And revolutionary.

Some philosophers preferred evolutionary development of society, while others saw great attraction in revolutionary changes in social life. Obviously, we should be thoughtful about the ways and means of social progress. The course of the latter does not exclude a combination of revolutionary and evolutionary transformations of social life. When carrying out progressive changes and reforms, one should be guided by the fact that their implementation does not result in a decline in the economy, a decrease in the level of development of productive forces and a reduction, but, on the contrary, an increase in the economic wealth of society based on an increase in the level of development of productive forces and labor productivity.

Anticipating the future in various forms has always played an important role in the life of society. The importance of foresight especially increased during turning points in history, during periods of acute social conflicts. This is especially characteristic of the modern era, when it becomes obvious that both the distant and immediate future of humanity will be radically different from its present and recent past.

Foresight- this is knowledge about the future, i.e. about what does not yet exist in reality, but what is potentially contained in the present in the form of objective and subjective prerequisites for the expected course of development. Scientific foresight and social forecasting must contain an answer not only to the question of what can happen in the future, but also answers to questions such as when this should be expected, what forms the future will take and what is the measure of probability of this forecast.

• extrapolation;
• modeling;
• expertise.

The most reliable method of social forecasting is expertise. Any social forecast combines scientific and ideological purposes. There are four types of forecasts: search; normative; analytical; forecast-warning. Anticipating the future is an interdisciplinary study, and it is fruitful only in the process of integrating humanities, natural sciences and technical knowledge.

Social progress - this is a global historical process of development of society from lower to higher, from a primitive, wild state to a higher, civilized one. This process occurs thanks to the development of scientific and technical, social and political, moral and cultural achievements.

First theory of progress described by the famous French publicist Abbé Saint-Pierre in his book “Remarks on the Continuous Progress of Universal Reason” in 1737. According to his theory, progress is inherent in every person by God and this process is inevitable, like natural phenomena. Further progress research as a social phenomenon continued and deepened.

Progress criteria.

Progress criteria are the main parameters of its characteristics:

• social;
• economic;
• spiritual;
• scientific and technical.

Social criterion - this is the level of social development. It implies the level of people's freedoms, quality of life, the degree of difference between rich and poor, the presence of a middle class, etc. The main engines of social development are revolutions and reforms. That is, a radical complete change in all layers of social life and its gradual change, transformation. Different political schools evaluate these engines differently. For example, everyone knows that Lenin preferred revolution.

Economic criterion - this is the growth of GDP, trade and banking, and other parameters of economic development. The economic criterion is the most important, as it affects the others. It's hard to think about creativity or spiritual self-education when there is nothing to eat.

Spiritual criterion - Moral development is one of the most controversial, as different models of society evaluate differently. For example, unlike European countries, Arab countries do not consider tolerance towards sexual minorities to be spiritual progress, and even vice versa - regression. However, there are generally accepted parameters by which spiritual progress can be judged. For example, condemnation of murder and violence is characteristic of all modern states.

Scientific and technical criterion - this is the presence of new products, scientific discoveries, inventions, advanced technologies, in short - innovations. Most often, progress refers to this criterion in the first place.

Alternative theories.

Progress concept has been criticized since the 19th century. A number of philosophers and historians deny progress as a social phenomenon completely. J. Vico views the history of society as a cyclical development with ups and downs. A. Toynbee gives as an example the history of various civilizations, each of which has phases of emergence, growth, decline and decay (Maya, Roman Empire, etc.).

In my opinion, these disputes are related to different understandings of the determining progress as such, as well as with different understandings of its social significance.

However, without social progress we would not have society as we know it today, with its achievements and morals.

Lecture:

Concepts of progress, regression, stagnation

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

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

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

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

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

Stagnation- a stagnant phenomenon in the development of society.

Criteria for social progress

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

• Education and literacy of people.

The degree of their morality and tolerance.

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

Level of scientific and technical innovation.

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

Life expectancy level, population health status.

Paths of social progress

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

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

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

The contradictions of social progress

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

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

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

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

14.1. Theories of social change. 14.2. Process. 14.3. Modernization.

14.4. Social progress concept

Basic concepts: social change, social field, process, modernization, rationality, social progress

Until now, we have considered relatively stable social phenomena that do not seem to change over time. However, it is absolutely obvious that everything in the world is changing, and this stability is only our theoretical assumption necessary for their purely scientific analysis. In this section you will become acquainted with sociological theories, the creators of which are trying to study society as a mobile, continuously changing substance.

14.1. Theories social change

Attempts to interpret social reality as a continuously ongoing social change have been made by sociologists since ancient times. Currently, there are a number of theories that have different understandings of the essence of social changes, their driving forces and social consequences. Let's look at some of these theories.

Social conflict theory (K. Marx, R. Dahrendorf) is based on the fact that the main source of social change is tense situations between competing groups. According to K. Marx ()