What are the cultural values? Perspective for the development of cultural values

Today it has become fashionable to talk about culture. Some argue that society is losing it year by year, some, on the contrary, argue that culture is degenerating and becoming more multifaceted. Is it so? Let's figure out what these are cultural values ​​and try to answer the question of what happens to them.

What is culture

In Latin, the word "cultura" originally meant "cultivation." How did it happen that over time the term changed its meaning? In fact, the meaning of the word “culture” remains the same. Upbringing, development and education are the cultivation of the human soul.

It was culture that helped man move from a primitive communal tribe, first to an agrarian revolution, and subsequently to a cultural revolution. Today the concept includes various areas of human activity, being a set of skills, abilities and products of self-expression. Cultural values ​​are an integral part of the life of society. Let's take a closer look at them.

Cultural values ​​- what are they?

Oddly enough, this concept can be interpreted in different ways. First option: cultural values ​​are the moral principles of a person. It is according to established patterns of behavior that a person lives and thinks. But when these boundaries of moral norms are violated, a person is automatically recognized as uncultured. Moreover, this does not interfere with his life, but sometimes it can shock those around him.

The second interpretation is the most popular. Cultural assets are buildings, paintings, objects, technologies and objects. Everything that can be seen or understood. All this knowledge and the material product of human activity helped our society make a rapid leap in its development.

The third option for the meaning of cultural values ​​is a product of human activity that is hidden from our view in people’s heads. This includes knowledge, science, skills and scientific values.

Well latest interpretation cultural values societies are languages, traditions, crafts, folklore. All that is why we consider ourselves a civilized society with a rich history.

Do different countries have the same or different cultural values?

If you look at the interpretation of the term itself, everything becomes clear. Each country has its own history, set of laws and, as a result, unique culture. Accordingly, values ​​will be different everywhere. Why did it happen? Countries developed under different conditions, and their religions were also different.

But it is human beliefs that make up a huge layer of culture. Our country for a long time was pagan, and this could not but affect modern society. Russians have been considered barbarians for many centuries, and now foreigners who have never been to our country and only know about it from news reports have the same opinion.

But this does not mean that our ancestors did not have culture. The pagan faith demanded not only strict submission to the gods, but also the creation of temples, totems and monuments. And when polytheism was replaced by monotheism, people did not abandon their heritage. They simply remade the Byzantine faith, adapting it to our country. Thus, it turned out that in the process of various evolutions and revolutions, people and their consciousness changed.

What are cultural norms?

Usually this concept refers to standards of behavior. Moreover, like the cultural values ​​of peoples, the norms are different in all countries. They are expressed in the form of rewards and punishments and are regulated by the state. In our country cultural norms They don't just pay lip service. They are written in the Constitution, which limits human rights within reasonable limits. But at the same time, it gives him maximum freedom of action within reason. In case of non-compliance with cultural norms, a person will face regulated punishment.

Human cultural values

There are many peoples and nationalities on earth. Each individual person has a set of cultural values ​​and norms. What are they like? It is clear that each country has its own concept of culture, but most of the values ​​are still similar:

• The desire to know our history and understand the essence of what is happening to us and our homeland. This value called “love for the Fatherland” is embedded in every person. After all, only a person who knows his history can create future countries.
• Knowledge of features national creativity. Folklore, crafts, traditions and customs are rarely studied in school. This knowledge is given to a person in the family. And only thanks to them can a person better know who he is and what he does in this world.
• Religion is one of the basic cultural values ​​of a person. It is she who sets the unwritten rules, not regulated by the constitution, by which all people should live.

Cultural values ​​of the state

Citizens of one country represent a single group united by general history and general future. The values ​​of the entire society as a whole include the cultural norms of each individual person. What's the difference then? In global thinking. The rulers of countries can change cultural values ​​if they want. But people have a very bad attitude towards such changes, so they happen infrequently.

The main task of any state is to preserve and enhance cultural values. That is, it should help talented people to realize themselves, for scientists to make discoveries, and for architects to build buildings. Today, intangible cultural values ​​fade into the background, and the product of human activity that brings some benefit to society and the state comes to the fore.

How cultural values ​​are protected

Today, many states are concerned about the increasing growth of vandalism. That is why many of them united and set themselves the goal of protecting cultural values. Thus, it was decided to protect buildings, paintings, and sculptures. Yes it most of heritage of any country. It is from these monuments that have survived to our time that we can judge how our ancestors lived.

But culture is not only material values. This term refers to both our mentality and language. And few people monitor the purity of their speech. Today there is so much slang in the Russian language that it is difficult to talk about the culture of the language. This also applies to religion. If churches, mosques and other religious buildings are protected and, as a result, preserved, then the faith itself changes from year to year.

Perspective for the development of cultural values

As mentioned above, the world does not stand still. Culture and cultural values ​​change and transform. But you shouldn't regret it. This is a natural stage of development. You need to believe that everything that happens is always for the better. Of course, this does not mean that you need to kill cultural monuments of past centuries with your own hands.

Although sometimes you can be very surprised to see how quickly street art began to be considered art. It’s not bad when artists paint gray, boring houses, but when they start creating on churches or monuments, it makes you shiver. To prevent this from happening, every person must understand the line of what is permitted and not cross it.

The cultural assets of the 21st century generation are largely located online. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine how the collection, systematization and preservation of this type of creativity will occur in the future. Perhaps, separate servers will be created where paintings by artists, songs and films will be stored; they will be the rebirth of modern museums.

Value orientations. Culture is a set of values ​​and value orientations, ways of their creation and consumption. Therefore, none of the researchers doubt the invaluable role of values ​​in culture. In cultural studies it is difficult to do without the concept of “value”. Moreover, most often culture as social phenomenon determined precisely through value orientations. Authors sociological research“Youth of Germany and Russia” believe: “Value orientations are a relatively stable socially conditioned selective attitude of a person to the totality of material and spiritual public goods, cultural phenomena, which are considered as an object, goals and means that serve to satisfy the needs of an individual’s life.” Each person is a bearer of certain values; they form a certain system, on which a person’s behavior in a given situation largely depends.

A person’s speech and behavior are always based on values ​​that are mastered by her and become value orientations that guide her consciousness and behavior. Those orientations that determine human behavior are called value orientations. They form the core of personal beliefs. For example, a Tajik, declaring his love, will say to his beloved: “You are my incomparable parrot,” because for him this bird is a symbol of exoticism, different feathers, a kind of value. Will a Russian person call his beloved a parrot? Of course not. For him, a parrot is a symbol of talkativeness and stupidity. Here we see the dependence of culture on the vision of the world, on individual or group attitudes, on that objective scale that is dependent on subjective assessments. Therefore, there are so-called national values ​​- these are values ​​that are significant for a particular people, occupying the most important place in their life (for Russians these are Pushkin, Tolstoy, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, the Hermitage, Tretyakov Gallery etc., for a Greek it is Homer, acropolis, democracy, etc.).

There are also class-class, local-group, utilitarian, ethical, legal, political, religious values, etc. depending on the criterion underlying their classification.

Value for a person is everything that has a certain significance for him, personal or public character. “Value is the positive or negative significance of objects in the surrounding world for a person, class, group, society as a whole, determined not by their properties in themselves, but by their involvement in the sphere human life, interests and needs, social relations; criterion and method for assessing this significance, expression in moral principles and norms, ideals, guidelines, goals.”

Cultural values ​​are objects of material and spiritual human activity that have social - beneficial properties and characteristics through which the diverse needs of people can be satisfied. Value is understood as a generally accepted norm, formed in a certain culture, which sets patterns and standards and influences the choice between possible behavioral alternatives, allows for the polarity of decisions, which indicates the ambivalent, dual nature of value. Values ​​help a person and society to define good and bad, beautiful and ugly, essential and unimportant. The priority of certain values ​​reflects the degree of spirituality of a person.

In the world of man one can find different kinds values: object values, values ​​- properties of things, values ​​as specific type norms, imperatives, traditions, values ​​- ideals, values ​​- knowledge, etc., or they can be classified as follows: moral values- goodness, love, honor, benefit; religious values ​​- God, faith, grace, salvation. Although both those and other values ​​are in essential unity. At the base of the complex structure of values ​​are the fundamental highest values, which are determined by social universality and necessity. Sometimes there is an illusion that value orientations are eternal, ahistorical in nature. However, it is not. In every culture, its own value orientations are born and flourish. In every culture its value nature is revealed, i.e. the presence of strong value orientations in it.

Human values ​​presuppose, first of all, an understanding of the unity of the human race. There are absolutes that are significant for the entire human race, without them the unity of humanity would not be so total. Christianity made a colossal revolution in the understanding of universal connections, proclaiming the commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” From now on, each person is involved in another, universal intimacy is strengthened between people, based on a single belonging to the human race.

Universal human values ​​presuppose the preservation of the total spiritual experience. The shrines of the human race include, for example, the Socratic trinity of Truth, Goodness and Beauty. This triad is historically established highest value. These absolutes reflect the heritage of the entire human race.

There is no culture where murder, lying, and theft are not negatively assessed, although there are differences in ideas about the limits of tolerance. Modern culture, uniting humanity, is based on universal human values: the movement for the protection of individual rights, its respect, recognition of its merits, freedom, conscience, humanity, mutual enrichment national cultures, scientific knowledge And advanced technologies And environmentally to life and environment. Universal human culture is also best forms creative activity of people.

Material values ​​are material goods intended to satisfy vital needs. Material needs, of course, are decisive, but they, especially in the age scientific and technological progress can be satisfied quite quickly, if we talk about reasonable needs. But, as it says folk wisdom“Man does not live by bread alone.” Quite a lot important role in human life, society, and culture have spiritual values. They are thoughts, ideas, theories, norms, ideals, images that can take the form of scientific and works of art, works of architecture, painting, music, films, television programs that carry high ideas, images, feelings and perceptions. Museums, libraries, schools, radio, etc. are guardians and distributors of spiritual values. Concern for the increase of material and spiritual values ​​of society, about cultural growth human, consciousness necessary conditions to introduce him to these values ​​is one of the laws of the development of society.

The values ​​and meanings embodied in the monuments of the past undoubtedly become an important factor new culture. At the same time, they must not only be preserved, but also reproduced, again and again revealing their meaning for new generations. Enduring values ​​are captured in Egyptian pyramids. Mihail Eminescu wrote: “And in the silent distance the pyramids of the pharaohs froze, the sarcophagi were ancient, majestic as eternity, silent as death.” Everything in the world is afraid of time, and time is afraid of the pyramids. They rise among the hot sands of the Libyan Desert and stretch for tens of kilometers from modern Cairo to the Fayum Canal. The pyramids served the pharaohs, according to their religion, as a ladder along which they ascended to heaven. Therefore, the most ancient pyramids were stepped, shaped like stairs, and only the later ones had smooth walls. Why? - still not clear. Archaeologists have counted 80 pyramids. Not all of them have survived to this day.

Researchers who were trying to figure out how the ancient builders were able to erect such a grandiose structure, and not just erect it, but give it a geometrically correct pyramid shape, were baffled by all this. Sometimes the opinion was even expressed that the pyramids could not have been built by people living in Bronze Age, and that a transcendental force took part in the creation of these colossal structures. But gradually the mystery of the construction of the pyramids was revealed. It turned out that from an engineering point of view these are primitive buildings, mountains built by people. And yet the pyramids are the most famous architectural structures in the world. The goal of the ancients was achieved - the pyramids became eternal monuments, surviving thousands of years.

So, when classifying values ​​into material and spiritual, it should be noted that the distinction between them is conditional. Material objects, as a rule, have spiritual and cultural value and, conversely, spiritual values ​​are inextricably linked with material objects or have a material shell. Values ​​are the basis and foundation of culture, they are deeply rooted in it and serve as its most important regulator both at the level of culture as a whole and at the level of the individual. As Sorokin noted, “people with a deeply rooted system of values ​​will courageously endure any disaster.” value need culture life

The concept of cultural norm. Associated with the concept of values ​​is the concept of norms. To deal with other people, a person must adhere to some rules of relationships, have an idea of ​​​​right and wrong behavior, how to express and restrain oneself. In the absence of such ideas, concerted action cannot be achieved. Such general ideas, regulating people's behavior, are developed in a particular culture and are called cultural norms.

Norms (from the Latin norma - rule, sample) are a systemic order recognized as mandatory, an established measure, a system of expected behaviors that members of society follow more or less accurately.

There are social norms accepted in any culture, in any society, i.e. general cultural moral norms: “don’t steal”, “don’t kill”... They help to morally improve the public and personal life of citizens. Live humanely. Living in society, a person should strive not to infringe on the rights of another, which means building his behavior so that it corresponds to the behavior of that person. social group, in which he is located, lives, works. When norms are violated, a person’s behavior becomes antisocial, anticultural. Living in a particular environment, a person must master its spiritual values, recognize them, master and use them, otherwise he will find himself cut off from this culture or come into conflict with it.

Thus, cultural norms are certain rules of behavior that regulate human actions in the most important aspects social life, providing guarantees of the integrity and sustainability of society. Therefore, in them to a greater extent than in values, there is an orderly moment, a requirement to act in a certain way. Compliance with norms is ensured in two ways: through their internalization (transformation of external requirements into an internal need of the individual) and through institutionalization (incorporation of norms into the structure of society and social control). Only in this way can stability and order be maintained in society. Otherwise, anomie is inevitable.

The term “anomie,” denoting a violation of the unity of culture due to the lack of clearly formulated social norms, was first introduced by Emile Durkheim back in the 90s of the 19th century. At that time, anomie was caused by the weakening influence of religion and politics and the increasing role of commercial and industrial circles. This led to the depreciation of old values ​​and the failure to develop new ones, thereby disrupting the unity of culture. Exacerbation of many social problems, generated both by economic reform and the collapse of the integral cultural system, devaluation of spiritual and cultural values ​​lead to anomie. In a culture in which unconditional and fundamental values ​​have been abandoned and the great universities of spiritual, moral, aesthetic, religious quest mean nothing, anomie also occurs.

IN modern world Negative phenomena are growing, which creates the danger of an anthropological crisis. Society is threatened without spirituality. To achieve his utilitarian goals, a person often neglects honor and conscience. In this regard, the development of a holistic regulatory system, which contributes to the education of a cultural, harmoniously developed personality. Exactly this system acts as an invisible frame that holds the social organism together into a single whole.

Cultural values ​​- as defined by the Fundamentals of Legislation Russian Federation on culture from October 9, 1992 - moral and aesthetic ideals, norms and patterns of behavior, languages, dialects and dialects, national traditions and customs, historical toponyms, folklore, arts and crafts, works of culture and art, results and methods scientific research cultural activities buildings, structures, objects and technologies that have historical and cultural significance, territories and objects that are unique in historical and cultural terms.

What are cultural values? Cultural values ​​are the property of a certain ethnic, social, sociographic group, which can be expressed by certain forms of artistic, visual and other types of arts.

Wherein prerequisite The belonging of works of art to cultural values ​​is their possible impact on the psyche and consciousness of people in order to convey to them in one form or another information about ideological and spiritual values ​​that are difficult to convey in any other way. Cultural values ​​in different time periods differed among themselves and even for the same people - cultural values ​​are something that is not necessarily homogeneous in its content.

Many eras of humanity contain within themselves the origins of culture, the origins of spirituality, the origins of true humane human values and trends. In order to have the opportunity to get to know them modern man much more possibilities due to the fact that information space connected into a single whole thanks to multiple communication networks, the Internet, television. But 30 years ago, for example, could anyone have imagined that in order to get acquainted with the Louvre or the exhibition of the National British Museum The arts will have no need to travel to them. And all this can be done behind a monitor screen in Belgorod or Orel. The world has become closer, much closer than it was available before. We are at a stage of massive mixing of cultures and the penetration of the West and the East into each other in their approaches. Now the concept of cultural values ​​is changing and modified in accordance with the way in which a person changes and improves. The development of new branches of culture occurs at the intersection of old and new concepts of cultural values, on the threshold of new discoveries and the development of the most sophisticated technologies of the new generation.

Its development was greatly contributed to by G. Lotz, W. Windelband, and G. Rickert.

Exist different approaches to an understanding of values. Scientists usually proceed from the following ideas.

Value is a characteristic fixed in a person’s mind of his relationship to an object.

Objects that provide him with value have value for him. positive emotions: pleasure, joy, enjoyment. Therefore he desires them and strives for them. Material objects, processes or spiritual phenomena (knowledge, ideas, ideas) can have value.

But value in itself is not an object, but special kind the meaning that a person perceives in an object or phenomenon.

Value meaning exists in a person’s consciousness, but it is, as it were, objectified and takes the form of a special spiritual formation - value as a certain essence contained in an object.

If an object becomes desirable, satisfies the needs of the individual, it acquires value. Consequently, it is not the object itself, but the person’s attitude towards it that leads to the emergence of value. However, in practice, value is called not only the ability of an object to satisfy needs, but also this object itself.

Value in cultural studies is not identical to the economic understanding of it as value (monetary expression of value). Values ​​cannot always be expressed in in cash. It is impossible to express inspiration, memories, the joy of creativity and other manifestations of the human soul in commodity-money form. Value must be distinguished from utility. Valuable item may be useless, and useful may have no value. Accepted in axiology various options classification of values. There are classifications in which values ​​are arranged in a hierarchical sequence - from lower (sensual) to higher (sacred). Most often, values ​​are divided into spiritual, social, economic, and material. Based on the value concepts that dominate the culture, a system of value orientations of the individual is formed. Each individual arranges them differently. Value orientations can be family happiness, material well-being, love, successful career, decency, etc. In humans high culture Spiritual values ​​become decisive. Values ​​often turn out to be incompatible with each other. Therefore, a person is practically doomed to the agony of choosing alternative values.

Certainly, modern life differs from the life of grandmothers and great-grandmothers, but, nevertheless, traditions, foundations and habits are passed on from generation to generation. At the same time, in addition to carriers national mentality, people are recipients of a colossal number and diversity of cultural values. This is the heritage of the nation, which has absorbed the history of the country, and it is expressed in the full spectrum of spiritual and material assets created as separate the brightest personalities, and the people in general.

So, for example, the cultural values ​​of Russia are, without a doubt, temples and churches, royal palaces; The Tretyakov Gallery and the Hermitage, famous throughout the world for the wealth of their exhibits, created by the hands of brilliant compatriots and other world-famous famous artists, sculptors and other craftsmen.

Every monument in the city, every exhibit of the local museum, all of these are cultural values ​​of Russia and its people. However, in addition to material culture - things that can be seen and touched, there is also a spiritual culture that is stunning in its beauty and power.

Spiritual values ​​of the people

The diversity and greatness of the spiritual component truly cannot be overestimated. For example, whose artists from season to season make the most luxurious theaters in the world applaud while standing. And how many songs, fairy tales, epics, beliefs and superstitions the people have accumulated over hundreds of years! How many wars have been experienced and victories won! The spirit of the Russian people is woven from all this, and these people gave the world Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Mendeleev, Gagarin and an infinitely long one, whose works and achievements remained forever not only in the history of Russia, but of the whole world. Creative and scientific heritage These and many other people are a shining example of the greatest cultural values ​​of world significance.

But culture is not limited to the great; this most unique phenomenon lies precisely in the fact that spiritual heritage as part of cultural values, it consists of little things: traditions of tea drinking, nepotism, household rituals, and even the attitudes towards each other that are accepted among the people. Somewhere they honor elders, and somewhere they put children at the forefront, somewhere there is patriarchy in families, and somewhere women dominate - and all this is also part of the culture.

Certainly, cultural heritage Russia amazes with its scale and grandeur, but every country in the world also has its own cultural values, which are sometimes so different that one can only wonder how different peoples live on earth, and how much different cultures they carry.

Most common feature cultural values ​​- this is their historical, scientific, artistic or other cultural significance for society. Cultural values ​​should be understood as irreplaceable tangible and intangible objects and works of culture created by man as a result of creative process, having artistic and property value, universal significance and having an aesthetic, scientific, historical impact on humans.

Thus, the Great Legal Encyclopedia (2005 edition) gives a more detailed definition of cultural value, these are “... moral and aesthetic ideals, norms and patterns of behavior, languages, dialects and dialects, national traditions and customs, historical toponyms, folklore, artistic crafts and crafts, works of culture and art, results and methods of scientific research into cultural activities, buildings, structures, objects and technologies of historical and cultural significance, historically and culturally unique territories and objects.”

An object of cultural value should not only provide a person with information of a historical, artistic or scientific nature, but primarily affect the senses. Such an object can cause, for example, visual and auditory pleasure. These impressions influence the human mind, thus transmitting, sometimes from the distant past, the thoughts of the creator of cultural value.

There are several fundamental characteristics by which an object or item can be classified as “cultural property”:

1) universality, i.e. the subject is of global interest (has value for all peoples);

2) irreplaceability: it is impossible to create an absolutely identical sample;

3) uniqueness, considered as an aesthetic message carried by the object;

4) time criterion: cultural values ​​include those objects of the material world that were created for the most part more than 100 (50) years ago;

5) value in equivalent terms: cultural values ​​are subject to property valuation and can be classified as objects of the material world (things).

Classification by K.Ts. Quite a difficult task, since they are too diverse, their number is innumerable, they are unique. The classification, constructed using completely heterogeneous criteria, does not stand up to criticism; almost each of the types listed in it includes objects that can simultaneously be classified as other types of monuments. However, for the protection of historical and cultural monuments, their scientific classification, allowing you to choose the most optimal means of protecting them is important.

Article 1 of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict provides a classification of cultural property, dividing it into 3 categories:

1) Directly cultural values, namely: monuments of architecture, art or history, religious or secular, archaeological sites, architectural ensembles, which as such represent historical or artistic interest, works of art, manuscripts, books, other objects of artistic, historical or archaeological significance, as well as scientific collections or important collections of books, archival materials or reproductions of property specified above.

2) Buildings whose main purpose is the storage and display of movable cultural property classified in the first category. These include museums, large libraries, and archive storage facilities.

3) Centers for the concentration of cultural values. The Convention includes centers in which a significant amount of cultural property is collected in this category. An example of such a center is the Kazan Kremlin, itself representing the architectural and historical monument, on the territory of which other significant cultural values ​​are concentrated.

The basis for the classification of K.Ts. The time factor may also serve, i.e. time of creation of the item: artifacts, modern ones, as well as the value of K.Ts. Taking as a basis such a distinction and consumer (mercantile) interest in the history of human development, we see the function of cultural values ​​as a means of familiarization with culture.

Cultural values ​​are the main elements of civilization and culture of peoples and familiarization with them contributes to mutual understanding and mutual respect between peoples; each state must protect the property consisting of cultural values ​​located on its territory from the dangers associated with their illegal export, import and transfer ownership rights to them.