Spiritual and material culture. What will we do with the received material?
The expression “uncultured person”, which we often encounter in Everyday life, from a philosophical point of view, it is absolutely wrong. As a rule, when we say this, we mean poor upbringing or lack of education. A person is always cultured, because he is a social being, and any society has its own culture. Another thing is that the degree of its development is not always at a high level, but this already depends on many related factors: specific historical period, development conditions and opportunities available to society. Culture is an integral part of the life of all humanity and each individual. There cannot be a society without culture, just as there can be no culture - without society, it creates a person, and a person creates it. Any new generation begins its existence in the world of spiritual and material assets, already established among their ancestors.
Interrelation of cultures
Any human activity and all his achievements are
are part of culture, either material or spiritual. Moreover, it is impossible to draw a clear boundary between them. Material and spiritual culture, one way or another, are inextricably linked with each other. For example, the wardrobe that appeared in our house is a completely physical object, but in its creation the intellectual abilities of people were involved, imagination and logical thinking. In the same time greatest works arts that are of undeniable spiritual value would hardly have been born if the artist had not had a brush, and the philosopher had not had paper and pen. Also in Ancient Rome The most talented orator Cicero noted that along with cultivation, which in those days meant the cultivation and cultivation of the land, there is another culture - “cultivation of the soul.”
Basic Concepts
Material culture includes all the variety of objects produced by humanity: clothing, housing, mechanisms, weapons, cars, household items, musical instruments etc. The basis of spiritual culture is the products of human intellectual activity, everything that was achieved by the power of thought and talent. For example, these are new ideas and discoveries, religion, philosophy, works of art and psychology. If spiritual culture is the totality of the results of human intellectual activity, then material culture is the objective world created by human hands.
Which culture is more important?
Material culture, like spiritual culture, lives according to its own laws; there is no direct connection between the levels of their development. The improvement in people's material well-being was not always accompanied by an increase in their spiritual development, and many of the greatest works of art were created in complete poverty. However, it is also undeniable that a person in need of housing, food and clothing will not think about high matters. Only “well-fed” people who have satisfied their physical needs can be drawn to philosophy and art. Material culture will clearly show how well a person has adapted to life, whether he is in harmony with nature, while spiritual culture sets the basic standards of behavior, forms a sense of the high and beautiful, and creates ideals. Spiritual and material culture include everything that is not given to us by nature, that is created by human labor, that significantly distinguishes us from animals. Only the harmony of these two cultures will help achieve a high level of existence for both one person and an entire state.
Material culture - these are the achievements of the human mind in the development of productive forces and production relations of society . It is also a set of those values that are aimed at satisfying consumer, material needs and interests of people. Mainly, the needs for food, clothing, housing, means of transportation, physical health, warmth, light, household items, etc. This is the process and result of human material activity. Material culture is the culture of labor and material production, the culture of everyday life, the culture of attitude towards own body and physical culture.
Analyzing the internal structure of material culture, within the framework of material activity, we should first of all highlight economic (economic) activity aimed at creating material conditions for human life as the creator of a “second nature”. It includes means of production, methods practical activities(industrial relations) and creative moments economic daily activities of man.
Features of material (technological) culture:
1) She is not concerned with the “value dimension” of activity. Its meanings are concentrated around WHAT and HOW to do, FOR WHY TO DO IT.
2) Values: efficiency, accuracy, strength, utilitarianism(utility);
3) Rationalism. Evolution from mysticism to rationality.
4) In relation to spiritual culture, it plays a subordinate role, service role. The goals of the development of science and technology are determined by the needs of the development of spiritual and social culture.
5) Performing a service role, it turns out to be an indispensable condition for any cultural activities. Professional excellence.
Spiritual culture is a set of norms and values related to satisfying the intellectual needs of people and contributing to the formation of reasonable moral, psychological qualities and abilities. Spiritual culture is the process and results of spiritual production (religion, philosophy, morality, art, science, etc.). This area of culture is very extensive. She is presented richest world science and art, morality and law, politics and religion. Of course, all the values of spiritual culture are recorded, preserved, passed on from generation to generation only in material sphere, indirectly: language, ideology, values, customs, etc. The elements included in spiritual culture cannot be touched with our hands, but they exist in our consciousness and are constantly maintained in the process of interaction. Spiritual culture is represented and functions in a much richer, more extensive objective world and norms of relationships than material.
So, spiritual culture acts as an activity aimed at spiritual development of man and society, to create ideas, knowledge, spiritual values - images of public consciousness. The subject forms of spiritual culture are the results of spiritual activity and relationships between people, the development and realization of human abilities.
The main forms of spiritual culture: myth, religion, morality, art, philosophy, science. Spiritual culture captures the creative side, innovation, achievements, the productive, not the reproductive side.
Features of spiritual culture:
1) N utilitarianism. She is essentially selfless. Its cornerstones are not benefit, not profit, but “joys of the spirit” - beauty, knowledge, wisdom. People need it for its own sake.
2) Greatest With freedom of creativity. The human mind, not connected with utilitarian considerations and practical necessity, is capable of breaking away from reality and flying away from it on the wings of fantasy.
3) creative activity becomes a special spiritual world created by the power of human thought. This world is incomparably richer than the real world.
4) Sensitivity. Most responsive to environmental changes. She is able to detect the slightest changes in people’s lives and respond to them with changes in herself. The most fragile area of culture, the one that suffers the most during social cataclysms, needs the support of society.
But it is impossible to differentiate and contrast the material and spiritual with each other as 2 special areas of culture. They are like different sides of the same coin. For, on the one hand, the whole culture as a whole is spiritual, because it is the world of meanings, i.e. spiritual entities. On the other hand, it is entirely material, because... presented in sensory-perceptible codes, signs, texts. Therefore, by material culture it makes sense to understand not some special area of culture, different from spiritual culture, but the “sign shell” of any culture. Any work of art is a material phenomenon, since it is always embodied in something. But at the same time, any work of art is an expression certain meanings, reflecting the values and ideology of society and era. This division makes it possible to ensure that any cultural phenomenon is the objectified result of ideal, spiritual content human activity. Thus, architectural buildings are both works of art and serve practical purposes.
Spiritual and material culture are two parts of one whole. Studying one area is almost impossible without studying another. Material culture implies any material achievements of mankind. Eg, technical inventions, architecture, household items. Objects of material culture greatly help archaeologists in their work. Based on material finds, they can reconstruct the life of our ancestors, their way of life. Material culture is the most important part of life, which changes and improves every year, in accordance with the development of humanity.
Spiritual culture is also the main indicator of the civilization of people. What does this concept include? First of all, any ideas, discoveries, concepts. For example, spiritual culture includes psychology and various works of art. This definition includes everything that has been achieved by the power of human thought and talent.
Material culture is inextricably linked with the spiritual aspect. Before constructing any building or creating any other physical object, people's intellectual strength and their imagination were expended. At the same time, objects related to spiritual culture are also expressed through material objects. For example, man created philosophical work and introduced him to his readers through a book.
The spiritual aspect, like material culture, also helps to understand. First of all, this is the merit of archaeologists who study ancient works of art and achievements of thought. However, spiritual culture is studied not only by historians. For example, ancient beliefs, fairy tales, and legends were carefully analyzed in their works by the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, as well as his followers. Spiritual culture allows us to understand how our forefathers saw the world, what their psychology was, which is very valuable for a deep and thoughtful knowledge of history.
What more can be said about these two concepts? Material and spiritual culture existed, of course, in different options development at almost all times. Even ancient people carved drawings on the walls of caves, symbolizing animals, some everyday actions, for example, hunting.
Material culture, like spiritual culture, has experienced ups and downs many times throughout the history of mankind. Priorities also changed. That is, one culture became more important than another. It is interesting to consider people's interest in the spiritual and material aspects using the example of the well-known concept. This famous concept helps to analyze why one aspect of culture becomes more important than another. A person deprived of basic material goods, that is, shelter, food and means to help protect himself, is unlikely to be interested in the spiritual side of life. A person who has satisfied all his basic needs is already drawn to such areas as art, philosophy, and religion.
Material culture clearly shows how much a person was able to adapt to natural conditions. Without this aspect, the existence of a state, and even a person, is practically impossible. However, spiritual culture is also very important for the entire society. Without it, man would have remained a barbarian. Spiritual culture sets certain standards of behavior, forms ideals, and develops a sense of beauty. Without it, no civilization is unimaginable. However, spiritual culture is not entertainment for the elite, because it includes education, cinema, and various books. The harmony of material objects and the achievements of human intelligence helps to achieve a high level of existence, both for an entire state and for an individual.
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. Language is used to learn cultural norms, mastering social roles, forming behavioral models. 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 - is a form of sociocultural regulation in a certain social sphere, characterizing an 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 human, social and cultural significance 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, clothing 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 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 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 particular attention to great attention studying youth subculture.
As the results of specific sociological research, the subcultural activity of young people depends on a number of factors:
Level of education (for people with more than low level education, for example, for 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 the analysis of the essence and social role 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. She 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 How on new stage 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.
Becoming national identity promoted 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, tolerant attitude towards the most different manifestations human essence.
Culture and civilization.
In cultural studies, next to the concept of culture there is the concept of civilization. This term originated later concepts“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 scientific literature the definition of types of civilization 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 unity of views on understanding the essence of civilization as 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 quite well high level development of material culture and social relations and the most important signs civilizations consider: the emergence of cities, the emergence of writing, the stratification of society into classes and the formation of states.
The first structural element of culture is material culture, which represents objective, material forms of expression of spiritual meanings.
Material culture is a set of methods for producing material goods and values created by human labor at each stage of the development of society.
Value– this is the positive significance of objects, phenomena and ideas. Objects and phenomena become good if they satisfy positive human needs and contribute to social progress. Material culture is based on a rational, reproductive type of activity, expressed in an objective and objective form, satisfies the primary needs of a person.
Economic culture - this is an activity aimed at creating material conditions for human life as the creator of a “second nature”. It includes, first of all, economic activity - means of production, methods of practical activity for their creation (production relations), as well as creative moments of everyday economic activity of a person.
Economic culture should not be reduced to material production; it characterizes it from the point of view of its influence on a person, the creation of conditions for his life and the development of abilities, their implementation in the economic life of society. This culture is embodied not just in production and technology, but in the implementation of the creative principle of human material activity.
Traditionally, culturologists single out labor culture as objects (forms) of material culture - equipment, structures and tools, means of production, communication systems - routes and means of communication (transport, communications); everyday culture - items of clothing, everyday life, food.
All these cultural objects are carriers of cultural information that create an artificial habitat for humanity and are the process and result of human material activity. All these phenomena are related to the content of productive forces or production relations. However, material culture, being a side of material production, is not identical to it. It characterizes production from the point of view of creating conditions for human life, its development, as well as the realization of human abilities in the process of material activity.
V Spiritual school
Spiritual culture is the totality of spiritual values of humanity (ideas, ideas, convictions, beliefs, knowledge); intellectual spiritual activity and its results, ensuring the development of a person as an individual at each stage of the development of society.
Spiritual culture is based on a rational, creative type of activity, is expressed in a subjective form, and satisfies secondary human needs.
Spiritual culture includes forms focused on the development of knowledge and values in the spiritual sphere - this is a complex of ideas, knowledge, ideas, experiences, motivations, drives, beliefs, norms, traditions of human existence. Spiritual activity has a complex structure and includes the following forms of culture:
Religious culture (religious teachings, traditional confessions and denominations, modern cults and teachings);
Moral culture (ethics as a theoretical understanding of morality, morality as its social expression, morality as a personal norm);
Aesthetic culture (art, its types, directions and styles);
Legal culture (legal proceedings, legislation, executive system);
Political culture (traditional political regime, ideology, norms of interaction between political subjects);
Intellectual culture (science, philosophy).
By type of activity, they are all included in cognitive activity (science, philosophy), value-oriented activity (morality, art, religion), regulatory activity (politics, law).
Cognitive activity is based on man’s knowledge of nature, society, himself and his inner world. This activity is most adequately represented by scientific activity. The science- a specialized area of culture focused on cognition. The main functions of science are to form a system of logically ordered knowledge based on a specially organized theoretical and empirical study of reality; constructing rational forecasts; control of the processes under study based on experiment.
Traditional knowledge passed on from generation to generation, accepted as a “dogmatic banality” that is not questioned, with the advent of a new intellectual environment - scientific - ceases to dominate the minds of people, leading to sharp leaps in the development of the entire culture. Thus, in any society, a system of obtaining, storing, and transmitting information and knowledge, independent of the individual, develops.
Value-oriented human activities include morality (moral culture), art (artistic culture) and religion (religious culture). The meaningful nature of cognition and understanding of the world presupposes not just knowledge about it, but an understanding of the value of the person himself as a subject of activity, the value of his knowledge, creations, the values of the cultural world itself in which a person lives. The human world is always a world of values. It is filled with meanings and meanings for him.
The first most socially significant sphere of culture is moral culture, which provides a normative and value orientation for the attitude of individuals and social groups to all aspects of society and to each other.
Moral culture – this is the level of humanity achieved by society and the individual, humanity in the relations of social subjects, the attitude towards man as the highest goal and self-worth . The moral culture of an individual manifests itself as a culture of action: a motive corresponding to the concepts of good and evil, justice and human dignity. The basis of a person’s moral culture is morality and conscience.
The second form of spiritual culture associated with value-based activities is artistic and aesthetic culture. Art culture - this is a specific sensory-emotional sphere of cognition, assessment and artistic transformation of the world according to the laws of beauty. Artistic culture is based on an irrational, creative type of activity, expressed in both objective and subjective forms, and satisfies secondary human needs (see art in the system of spiritual culture).
The third form of spiritual culture, associated with value-based activities is religious culture, based on religious activity as a person’s ascent to God . Religious culture is embodied by cultic and religious actions, the meaning of which is determined by the corresponding system of values, the main of which is God as the spiritual and moral Absolute.
In spiritual culture, two more forms can be distinguished, focused on the regulatory form of activity - politics (political culture) and law ( legal culture), related to the state and its institutions and the legal system of society.
Spiritual culture grows as the ideal side of material activity. However, under certain conditions, fixed in the mechanisms of social memory spiritual culture stands outas a stable matrix of spiritual life, stereotype of perception and thinking, mentality of society. It can play a leading role at different stages of the development of society.
To the features of spiritual culture, which is focused on the development of knowledge and values, it is necessary to include the following:
1. Spiritual culture is a special spiritual world created by the power of human thought, which is richer than the real, material world (for example, the art of painting - the direction of surrealism - the artist S. Dali).
2. Spiritual culture gives a person the greatest freedom of creativity (conscious creativity of a person is what distinguishes the world of culture from the world of nature).
3. Spiritual culture is needed in itself, and not for the sake of achieving any goals.
4. Spiritual culture is the most “fragile” area of culture; it is more sensitive to changes in the sociocultural space, it suffers more than all other areas during social cataclysms and needs the support of society.
It should be noted that the concept of “spiritual culture” also includes material objects that include the world of spiritual culture: libraries, museums, theaters, cinemas, concert halls, educational institutions, courts, etc. Any object of material culture is the embodiment of certain human plans, and in real life, the material and the ideal in culture are always intertwined.
