What are the characteristics of society identified by the American sociologist? What are the main characteristics of society? General sociology

Society is the social organization of a country that ensures the joint functioning of people. This is a part of the material world isolated from nature, representing a historically developing form of connections and relationships between people in the process of their life.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that the family is the most ancient of all societies. She is the likeness of a father, the people are like children, and all those born equal and free, if they alienate their freedom, do so only for their own benefit.

Hegel tried to view society as complex system relations, highlighting as the subject of consideration the so-called civil society, i.e. a society where there is a dependence of everyone on everyone.

The works of one of the founders were of great importance for the scientific understanding of society scientific sociology O. Comte, who believed that the structure of society is determined by the forms of human thinking (theological, metaphysical and positive). He viewed society itself as a system of elements, which are the family, classes and the state, and the basis is formed by the division of labor between people and their relationships with each other. We find a definition of society close to this in Western European sociology of the 20th century. Thus, according to Max Weber, society is a product of the interaction of people as a result of their social actions in the interests of everyone.

T. Parsons defined society as a system of relations between people, the connecting principle of which is norms and values. From the point of view of K. Marx, society is a historically developing set of relations between people that develop in the process of their joint activities.

American sociologist E. Shils singled out following signs societies:

§ it is not an organic part of any larger system;

§ marriages are concluded between representatives of a given community;

§ it is replenished by the children of those people who are members of this community;

§ it has its own territory;

§ it has a self-name and its own history;

§ it has its own control system;

§ it exists longer than the average life expectancy of an individual;

§ unites him general system values, norms, laws, rules.

According to a number of domestic sociologists, the criteria of society include the following:

§ the presence of a single territory, which is the material basis for emerging within its borders social connections;

§ universality (comprehensive nature);

§ autonomy, the ability to exist independently and independently of other societies;

§ integrativeness: society is able to maintain and reproduce its structures in new generations, to include more and more new individuals in a single context of social life.

At the same time, a number of scientific theories emerged:

The instrumental concept puts human intelligence first. Man invented special tools - tools. Well-being increased, which led to the division of labor, the functional division of the community, as well as the emergence of economic differences between people living in the community.

The sexual concept is based on the physiological characteristics of a person. The establishment of birth control is associated with the emergence of families and the establishment of norms regulating sexual, and with them, other relationships of community members.

The gender concept is based on distributional analysis social roles between the sexes. Men create an artificial counterbalance to the female monopoly of reproduction, in the form of a male monopoly on the establishment of order. Feminist theorists argue that social organization arose when men agreed to distribute women.

The cratic concept is based on general theory systems and deduces the emergence of society from the development of control subsystems.

A person’s personal qualities (intelligence, strength, ingenuity, etc.) are distributed unevenly among people, and therefore turn into a monopoly. A person who has these qualities takes a leadership position. Leaders (elite) form and maintain a system of rules (norms) that maintain inequality. These rules formed the basis of social organization.

The semantic concept is based on the recognition of the weakness of man as a biological being. The law of survival requires the unification of human efforts, which is associated with their coordination, division and combination of functions of individuals. There is a need for preliminary approval and immediate adjustment. This is only possible through the use of language. By developing symbols and signs, rules for their interpretation, and actively using speech, people shape the world of communications. It precedes, mediates and completes the cycles of people’s material activities. As a result, a system of ordered collective interactions and special functions arises, and a society is formed.

The word “society” is used everywhere, but not everyone can clearly formulate the essence of this concept. The definition of this phenomenon and the concept denoting it is given by sociology, as well as social science. The latter science in this matter has the most significant weight, since it is society that is the subject of its study. Unlike all other sciences, it purposefully examines all possible aspects of society. Other sciences highlight only one specific side of the phenomenon.

However, we will focus on the idea that sociology gives us, since in our article we are going to consider the question: “What are the main characteristics of society?” - as well as some related aspects. They will help us operate with this concept more consciously and, in general, will be useful for expanding knowledge in this area.

A look at the concept of society

Let us present some data from sociology that reflects the essence of society. Thus, this science examines the concept from two main sides, respectively, presenting diverse meanings. Let's talk about each one separately, while also touching on distinctive features society.

Historical and economic aspect

The first aspect of the study is to consider society taking into account historical, economic, geographical and political factors. According to this aspect, societies are identified as structures larger than just groups of people or communities.

Most often, such very specific types as primitive, slaveholding, feudal and others are distinguished in this vein. They differ in their common level of technology development,

When considering the same historical-economic aspect, societies formed on the territory of a certain country or continent are highlighted. This is Russian, and American, and the Western world as a whole, and the Eastern.

Based on the listed facts, let us summarize this block of information with a definition: society is a system limited in time and territory. Any era with its values and level of technological development is such a society.

Main features

Scientist E. Shils gives us a number of characteristics by which a society is distinguished, based on the formative factors considered:

As an integral functioning system, it is not included in any major systems);

Has its own clearly defined territory;

Has a name, history of education and development;

The replenishment and growth of society occurs at the expense of human resources, who are its own representatives (with rare exceptions);

As a sign complementary to the previous one, representatives of one association enter into marriage;

There is a functioning own control system;

It is characteristic that representatives have common norms and traditions that shape culture;

The lifespan of a society is necessarily longer than the lifespan of an individual representative.

territory - it also plays the role of the main material basis for the existence and development of social relations;
autonomy - self-sufficiency, allowing one to exist without economic and other ties with other societies;
integrativeness - the unification of all individuals in the process of social life, the maintenance and reproduction of generations;
universality - all-encompassing (for individual participants).

Sociological and philosophical aspect

So, we have already learned what the main characteristics of society are in accordance with the economic-geographical aspect of the study. It is time to consider the second aspect of the study of this topic in sociology.

The second meaning of society is purely sociological and philosophical when viewed as a whole. In research in this area, sociology relies on the results of practical observations and experiments on smaller structures - small communities (families, clans, nations). A kind of hierarchy of structures is built, from smallest to largest. As a result, we obtain the functional unity of communities.

Considering various institutions of society from this practical point of view, sociology touches on the problems of the universe - the origin of society, the single purpose of its existence. Every society has its own history. So, American theory“the beginning of the beginning” takes as its basis certain founding fathers. Reflections on this topic by sociologists during the Soviet Union revolve around October revolution 1917

Let us briefly summarize what has been said within the framework of the sociological aspect: society is the largest, embracing all others, making them its part. We continue to consider the question of what are the main characteristics of society.

in a sociological context

Sociological researcher R. Koenig attributes the following characteristics to society:

a certain way of life of individuals;
economic and ideological associations formed based on agreements;
the presence of social unities (different nations);
integrity of social unities, i.e. smaller structures;
historical prerequisites for the formation and development of this particular society;
social reality - the processes in which relationships between individuals are established.

Some Fundamental Properties

Before this, we have already examined two aspects of the study of society in sociology, and mentioned some forms of society as examples. We also learned about the characteristics inherent in society when studied from the economic and sociological sides. Now we consider it appropriate to dwell in more detail on some of its most important properties. In sociology, these include autonomy and self-sufficiency.

Autonomy and self-sufficiency as properties

Earlier we only briefly mentioned the property of autonomy of the structure of society. Now about this in more detail.

The ability of a society to exist separately from others, to support the functioning of smaller structures that are part of it, is autonomy. This property, at first glance, somewhat fades into the background in the conditions of total globalization of absolutely all world processes at the moment. However, this is a misleading impression: the strengthening of international contacts has some signs that autonomy is becoming less obvious, but this process is of a completely different kind.

A clear confirmation of the autonomy of societies, which include the population of countries around the world, is the presence of their own systems of power in them. Within countries there are smaller communities of people who are hierarchically integrated into society as a whole.

Studying further the institutions of society, let's say a few words about self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency is inherent in the people of a particular country, a property that provides the opportunity to exist completely in isolation from all other societies. After the division of labor (production specialization) occurred between the territories of the world, self-sufficiency is not observed in any country. U modern societies a new inherent quality appeared - complementarity for economic reasons.

Other properties

An important part of any society is its cultural array. This concept includes many phenomena; there is no need to consider them within the framework of our topic. Let's just say that based on common traditions, self-awareness, moral values individuals are formed cultural society. Its formation is preceded by a rich history.

Smaller communities are able to perform their functions in unified system society of the country independently. This is the main manifestation of the property of self-regulation.

Conclusion

As a conclusion, let us conclude: society and its characteristics are considered in sociology in various aspects. This takes into account economic, geographical, historical, cultural and other factors. Modern societies appear mainly in the form of countries and their populations. Their most important properties are autonomy and self-sufficiency.

Thus, we have understood the question of what are the main features of society that form it as a phenomenon. We hope that the information received will be useful for an informed look at modern society.

Society is the largest group to which an individual belongs. “Society” means a self-replenishing sustainable social system that consists of people of different ages and gender and forms economic, political and cultural aggregates. We can talk about Finnish society, Western society etc.

A clear definition of this concept is very difficult and its use is very diverse.

According to Rene Konig (1958), society can be understood as: 1) a different type of lifestyle; 2) unities formed by peoples or 3) economic and ideological associations based on treaties; 4) integral society, i.e. wide social education, a collection of different social units. In addition, the concept of “society” is used: 5) when describing a certain historical form of social life, for example, “bourgeois society” and 6) as a synonym for “social”, “society”, when we're talking about about the relationships between individuals and the structures and social processes based on these relationships.

Robertson (1977) defines society as a group of individuals who live in the same territory, are in relationships of mutual influence and have general culture. This definition contains some essential features of the concept of “society” (“culture” and “territory”), which should, however, be understood in a broad sense.

Rudhard Stollberg (1983) considers the main task of sociology to be the study of society. The subjects of sociology are social phenomena and processes. At the same time, society is understood as a set of social relations and as all manifestations of human life, including leisure and living conditions, as well as social groups and relationships between individuals. Thus, “society” is a very broad concept that can be defined as a system or set of social phenomena.

We can assume that social relations are manifested and realized in human activity. Therefore, one subject of sociology is the study of this activity. The second subject of sociology is the social structure of society, its division into social groups, classes, professional groups, etc. That is, into abstract level society is structure and function.

Szczepanski (1970) uses the concept of “social life”, by which he understands all phenomena caused by the interaction of individuals and communities located in a certain limited territory. He considers the main factors of social life to be biological, territorial, demographic, economic and cultural factors.

Society is a group of people created through purposeful and intelligently organized joint activity, and the members of such a group are not united by such a deep principle as in the case of a genuine community.

Society rests on convention, agreement, and the same orientation of interests. Individuality individual person changes much less under the influence of his inclusion in society than depending on his inclusion in the community. Society is often understood as the sphere that lies between the individual and the state.

After attempts to explain the essence of the concept of “society” in antiquity (Aristotle) and in the Middle Ages (Augustine and Thomas Aquinas), this question became, especially in the 1st and 18th centuries, a political and philosophical problem, the comprehensive solution of which Comte tried to give in his sociology; Therefore, society became the subject of consideration and the central point of the new science - sociology.

There are different interpretations of society: subjective, which considers society as a special amateur collective of people; active, which believes that society should be considered not so much the collective itself as the process of collective existence of people; organizational, which views society as an institutional system of stable connections between interacting people and social groups.

Society as an extremely broad concept to designate that part of the material world that is isolated from nature and interacts with it in a certain way. This isolation is as follows: in contrast to the elemental natural forces in the center social development stands a person with consciousness and will. Nature exists and develops according to its own laws, independent of man and society. In this sense, society is the totality of all forms of association and ways of interaction of people both among themselves and with the natural world around them.

This last definition is considered as the main one in this work.

Signs of society E. Shils

American sociologist E. Shils identifies the following criteria of society:

· it is not part of a larger system;
· marriages are concluded between representatives of this association;
· it is replenished primarily by the children of those people who are already its recognized representatives;
· the association has a territory that it considers its own;
· the society has its own name and own story;
· it has its own control system;
· the association exists longer than the average life expectancy of an individual;
· it is united by a common system of values (customs, traditions, norms, laws, rules) which is called culture.

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1. The concept of society

society- This . In the narrow sense of the word society

E. Shils

System

1) people;

Systematic approach to the analysis of society

Today, two approaches to understanding society can be distinguished. In the broad sense of the word society- This a set of historically established forms of joint life and activity of people on earth. In the narrow sense of the word society- this is a specific type of social and state system, a specific national theoretical formation. However, these interpretations of the concept under consideration cannot be considered sufficiently complete, since the problem of society occupied the minds of many thinkers, and in the process of development of sociological knowledge, different approaches to its definition.

Thus, E. Durkheim defined society as supra-individual spiritual reality based on collective ideas. From the point of view of M. Weber, society is the interaction of people who are the product of social, i.e., other-oriented actions. K. Marx represents society as a historically developing set of relations between people that develop in the process of their joint actions. Another theorist of sociological thought, T. Parsons, believed that society is a system of relations between people based on norms and values that form culture.

Thus, it is not difficult to see that society is a complex category characterized by a collection of various signs. Each of the above definitions reflects certain characteristic features of this phenomenon. Only taking into account all these characteristics allows us to give the most complete and accurate definition of the concept of society. The most complete list of characteristic features of society was identified by the American sociologist E. Shils. He developed the following characteristics characteristic of any society:

1) it is not an organic part of any larger system;

2) marriages are concluded between representatives of a given community;

3) it is replenished by the children of those people who are members of this community;

4) it has its own territory;

5) it has a self-name and its own history;

6) it has its own management system;

7) it exists longer than the average life expectancy of an individual;

8) he is united by a common system of values, norms, laws, rules.

Taking into account all these features, we can give the following definition of society: it is a historically established and self-reproducing community of people.

The aspects of reproduction are biological, economic and cultural reproduction.

This definition allows us to distinguish the concept of society from the concept of “state” (the institution of governance social processes, which arose historically later than society) and “country” (a territorial-political entity formed on the basis of society and the state).

The study of society within the framework of sociology is based on a systems approach. The use of this particular method is also determined by a number of characteristic features society, which is characterized as: a social system of a higher order; complex system education; holistic system; a self-developing system because the source is within society.

Thus, it is not difficult to see that society is a complex system.

System- this is a certain ordered set of elements that are interconnected and form some kind of integral unity. Undoubtedly, society is a social system that is characterized as holistic education, the elements of which are people, their interactions and relationships, which are sustainable and reproduced in the historical process, passing from generation to generation.

Thus, the following can be identified as the main elements of society as a social system:

1) people;

2) social connections and interactions;

3) social institutions, social strata;

4) social norms and values.

Like any system, society is characterized by close interaction of its elements. Taking this feature into account, within systematic approach society can be defined as a large ordered collection social processes and phenomena more or less connected and interacting with each other and forming a single social whole. Society as a system is characterized by such features as coordination and subordination of its elements.

Coordination is the consistency of elements, their mutual functioning. Subordination is subordination and subordination, indicating the place of elements in a holistic system.

The social system is independent in relation to its constituent elements and has the ability to self-develop.

Functionalism was developed based on a systematic approach to the analysis of society. The functional approach was formulated by G. Spencer and developed in the works of R. Merton and T. Parsons. In modern sociology it is complemented by determinism and an individualistic approach (interactionism).

American sociologist E. Shils identifies the following criteria of society:

it is not part of a larger system;
marriages are concluded between representatives of this association;
it is replenished primarily by the children of those people who are already its recognized representatives;
the association has a territory that it considers its own;
the society has its own name and its own history;
it has its own control system;
the association exists longer than the average life expectancy of an individual;
it is united by a common system of values (customs, traditions, norms, laws, rules), which is called culture.

ATOMIC SOCIETY - a society that is a chaotic accumulation of spiritually isolated individuals.

50. Ability and talent are their nature and essence.
Capabilities- these are individual personality traits that are subjective conditions for the successful implementation of a certain type of activity. Abilities are not limited to the knowledge, skills and abilities an individual has. They are revealed in the speed, depth and strength of mastering the methods and techniques of certain activities and are internal mental regulators that determine the possibility of their acquisition.

Conditions for the formation of abilities

B. M. Teplov points out some conditions for the formation of abilities. Abilities themselves cannot be innate. Only inclinations can be innate. Teplov understood his inclinations as certain anatomical and physiological features. Inclinations underlie the development of abilities, and abilities are the result of development. If the ability itself is not innate, therefore, it is formed in postnatal ontogenesis (it is important to pay attention to the fact that Teplov separates the terms “innate” and “hereditary”; “innate” - manifested from the moment of birth and formed under the influence of both hereditary and environmental factors, “hereditary” - formed under the influence of hereditary factors and manifesting itself both immediately after birth and at any other time in a person’s life). Abilities are formed through activity. Teplov writes that “...an ability cannot arise outside of the corresponding specific objective activity.” Thus, ability includes what arises in the activity corresponding to it. It also influences the success of this activity. Ability begins to exist only together with activity. It cannot appear before the activity corresponding to it has begun. Moreover, abilities are not only manifested in activities. They are created in it.

Abilities and individual differences

Speaking about abilities, it should be mentioned that they are different for each person. Each person has an individually unique combination of abilities, and the success of his activities is determined by the presence of one or another combination of abilities. Some abilities can be replaced by others - similar in manifestations, but different in origin. The success of the same activity can be influenced by different abilities Therefore, the absence of one ability can be compensated by the presence of another.

Abilities and giftedness

Giftedness- this is a complex phenomenon. It is associated with a person’s performance of a certain activity, that is, talent consists of various abilities. Giftedness is “a qualitatively unique combination of abilities on which the possibility of achieving greater or lesser success in performing one or another activity depends.” Giftedness does not ensure success in any activity, but only the opportunity to achieve this success. In addition to having a set of abilities, to successfully perform an activity a person must have a certain amount of knowledge, skills and abilities.

Types of abilities

Abilities are divided into general and special. The following types of special abilities are distinguished:

1. educational and creative

2. mental and special

3. mathematical

4. structural and technical

5. musical

6. literary

7. artistic and visual

8. physical abilities

Talent(from the Greek talenton, lit. - scales, weight, weighed) - outstanding abilities, unusual talent in any area, inherent in an individual from birth or under the influence of exercises developing to a high degree, providing a person with the opportunity to most successfully perform a particular activity . Often contrasted with genius with its free creative power, talent as a talent that is less profound, but often more useful, has at one time or another sometimes a stronger influence on its contemporaries than genius.
Talent- certain abilities that are revealed with the acquisition of skill and experience. Modern scientists identify certain types of talent that people possess to one degree or another. In the early 1980s, Howard Gardner wrote the book "Frames of Mind." In this book, he identified eight types of talent and intelligence:

1. verbal-linguistic (responsible for the ability to write and read, inherent in journalists, writers and lawyers)

2. digital (typical for mathematicians, programmers)

3. auditory (musicians, linguists, linguists)

4. spatial (inherent in designers and artists)

5. physical (athletes and dancers are endowed with it; these people learn more easily through practice)

6. personal (also called emotional; responsible for what a person says to himself)

7. interpersonal (people with this talent often become politicians, speakers, traders, actors)

8. environmental talent (trainers and farmers are endowed with this talent).

51. The problem of personal happiness and unhappiness, fate (inevitability and duty).
Happiness- a state of complete, highest satisfaction, absolute absence of desires, an ideal that one strives to realize through rational and joint action. The feeling of happiness does not depend on the achievement of certain benefits, but on the internal ability of a person to be happy. But the ability to be happy relates to the value of the individual, because the ability to be happy, thanks to one’s example, increases the value of life and the willingness to recognize and implement ethical values as such.
Fate- predetermination of events and actions, the totality of everything that exists, which influences and cannot but influence the existence of a person, a people, etc. Christianity replaces the concept of fate with the concept of divine providence. The essence of fate is characterized by the fact that it is hostile, dark, threatening, destructive. It happens that we talk about “merciful” fate, freeing us from its blows that were intended for us. These problems are especially troubling for the philosophy of existentialism.
Duty- acting as an internal experience, the compulsion to act in accordance with the needs emanating from ethical principles. values, and build your existence in accordance with these requirements. According to Fichte, for whom the whole world is “material for the fulfillment of duty,” there is only one ultimate goal - duty. The only possible belief is to do joyfully and impartially what duty dictates in any case, without giving in to doubts or thoughts about the consequences.

52. Freedom, duty, responsibility of the individual.
Liberty- one of the main philosophical categories that characterize the essence of man and his existence, consisting of the individual’s ability to think and act in accordance with his ideas and desires, and not as a result of internal or external coercion. The philosophy of human freedom was the subject of thought by Kant and Heigel, Schopenhauer and Nitze, Berdyaev and Solovyov. Freedom was considered in relation to necessity, arbitrariness and anarchy, equality and justice. To understand the essence of the phenomenon of personal freedom, it is necessary to understand the contradictions of voluntarism and fatalism, to determine the boundaries of necessity, without which the realization of freedom is unthinkable. The will is considered a blind, unreasonable principle, especially if the implementation of freedom led to increased inequality and injustice. This is the problem - how to correlate freedom and equality without leading to suppression and equalization - that faces every society and state. When solving it, one has to focus on one or another system of cultural norms and values. Speaking about the formation of ideas about human value, it must be emphasized that this concept is universal and cannot be reduced to the “usefulness” of a person for society. Attempts to divide people into “necessary” and “unnecessary” are vicious in their very essence, because their implementation inevitably gives rise to arbitrariness, leading to the degradation of both man and society. The value of human personality in in a certain sense above everything that a given person does or says. History has repeatedly proven that the true scale and direction of the actions and thoughts of many individuals become obvious after many years, or even centuries. The value of many historical figures and their works seem to be continuously increasing and, at the same time, there are many examples when time debunks the inflated authorities of the world who dictate their laws to man. To act in the spirit of vamontarism means not to be consistent with the objective conditions of existence, with the laws of nature, passing off one’s arbitrariness as the highest wisdom. Fatalism, on the contrary, initially predetermines the entire course of a person’s life and his actions, explaining this either by fate, or the will of God, or the determinism of a closed system, where each subsequent event is strictly connected with the previous ones. There is essentially no room left for free choice, because there are no alternatives. Thus, we can come to the conclusion that freedom is something more than taking into account objective necessity and eliminating external restrictions. Much more significant is external freedom, “freedom for,” freedom in choosing truth, goodness and beauty. Freedom is the most complex and deeply contradictory phenomenon of human life and society, which has the greatest attractiveness and at the same time is a heavy burden; it is not for nothing that the phenomenon of “escape from freedom” was formed in Western philosophy. The concept of personality, freedom, values enrich and expand the idea of a person, its past, present and future. These “dimensions” of a person make it possible to correctly understand the structure of society as a phenomenon generated in the process of human activity. If we talk about the specifics of understanding human freedom and responsibility at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries, it should be emphasized that the world is entering a period of civilized turning point, when many traditional ways of human existence will need correction. Taking on the burden of personal and universal problems is the only way to survive and further improve a person. It involves development of the highest degree responsibility, which extends from a narrow circle of the person’s immediate environment to planetary and cosmic tasks and problems.
Responsibility- subjective obligation to be responsible for actions and actions, as well as their consequences.
Responsibility - a certain level negative consequences for the subject in case of violation of established requirements. According to the nature of the sanctions for the actions performed, the following types of responsibility are distinguished: legal, material, moral, political, etc.
Duty- this is the individual’s acceptance of the need to obey the public will. Moral duty is the transformation of the requirements of public morality into a personal imperative of a particular person and its voluntary implementation. The source of debt is public interest. In duty, it acquires an imperative character, forming the moral obligation of the individual in relation to other people and himself.
Thus, duty is not identical to obligation: the mere performance of duties is not yet a duty in the ethical sense of the word. The concept of duty enriches the dry concept of duties with deep personal interest in their fulfillment, voluntary acceptance and awareness of their necessity. Thus, debt is moral duty a person, performed by him under the influence of not only external requirements, but also internal moral motivations.
Society expects from a person not only accurate and unquestioning fulfillment of his duties, but also personal attitude to them. Experiencing the demands of duty in connection with one’s interests leads to the emergence in a person of an awareness of one’s duty and a sense of duty.

Properties of debt

Awareness of the need
Interest in performance
Voluntariness of acceptance

53. “Man”, “individual”, “personality”.
Man is a social being, possessing consciousness, reason, and a subject of socio-historical activity and culture.
“Man” is a concept that generalizes the specifics of objects that are special and unusual for biological nature, acting as elements of society as an original system. At the same time, a person is a concept that defines the difference between one set of forms of elements of this system (society as an integrity) in comparison of similarities and differences with other elements of the same system.
A person as a special form of Reality, as a social formation is determined precisely by social characteristics: the presence of consciousness, activity, abilities, social needs, morality, a specific type of connections - relationships. It is in the totality of social properties that the generic essence of all people is manifested.
In reality, which we sensually perceive and cognize, in social reality, in society, a person is no longer something abstract, but a separate element of society, separate as a concrete object - he is an individual. And only then, only as a specific active bearer of the “human,” does the individual at the same time become an actual subject, acquire his own “face” as a specific unity of all his properties. Otherwise, manifesting oneself, acting as a person as a separate thing, as an individual, is a person. In turn, the personality is concretized in the concepts of teacher, worker, candidate of sciences, Petrov, etc., etc.
The concept “person” captures universal social properties of people, while in the concept of “personality” – only their especially individual, among which are a number of genetic ones (special and singular).
Individual- this is a single representative of the human race, a specific bearer of all psychophysiological and social traits of a person: reason, will, needs, interests, etc. An individual is a specific person as a representative and bearer of the human race or as a member of a social community of a smaller order: it is a kind of demographic unit. For characteristics spiritual origin For many centuries, the concept of “personality” has been used - the totality of a person’s spiritual properties, his inner spiritual content.
Personality- This is a person as a social being. Communication, activity, and behavior characterize the personality, and in the process of their implementation, a person asserts himself in society and manifests his own “I”. An individual’s path to personality lies through socialization, that is, the social reproduction of a person, through his assimilation of social norms, rules, principles of behavior, thinking, and modes of action in various spheres of life.
One of the main Characteristics of an individual are its autonomy, independence in decision-making and responsibility for their implementation.
A person has a specific morality and a certain type of activity, and only the person makes a decision: whether or not to “drink from under the hoof.” Personality is nothing more than measure of humanity in the individual, it is the level, maturity and degree of humanity in a particular individual.
A personality is a real subject in systemic relations with other social forms, and it acquires a number of properties precisely as a specific element of the social system: in a personality these are will, language proficiency, freedom, goals, worldview, motives, interests, values and a number of other properties.
A personality can be spoken of as developed or undeveloped. The level of personal perfection is the extent to which an individual is able to demonstrate All their qualities: from imagination, will to the realization of freedom. And therefore, the development of personality is characterized by progressive changes in any of its qualitatively defining properties.
Not every person is a person. People are born as human beings and become individuals through the process of socialization.

54. Society as a polystructural system of social formations.
Society is, first of all, the common life of many people actively interacting with each other. They inevitably interact with each other regarding the satisfaction of their vital needs. As a result, certain relationships develop between them regarding the means and ways of satisfying their needs, based on existing living conditions.
Over time, these relationships become stable and society itself appears as a set of social relations. They are objective in nature, as they arise on the basis of the objective needs of people and the objective conditions of their existence. The system of social relations does not necessarily strictly and unambiguously determine every step of human behavior. However, ultimately, it directly or indirectly determines the main direction and content of its activities. Even the most outstanding personality acts under the influence of existing relationships, including class, social, family and household.
Society Relationships are one of the constituent elements in society. All social relations are divided into primary (material) and secondary (spiritual and practical). In public In life, the objective and subjective, the practical and the spiritual are inseparable. The decisive structure-forming element of the entire social system. relations yavl. production relationship. Derivative relations discussed in different aspects, allow us to reveal different types of connections, which are recorded in categories that allow us to express these diverse connections. To do this, Marx introduces the concepts of base and superstructure. The basis is the economic structure of society, a system of production relations, above which rises a superstructure, including social consciousness, ideological relations and the public institutions and organizations that secure them. The base affects the superstructure (state structure), the superstructure also affects the base. Other social relations arise on the basis of other relations. For example, activity exchange relations based on the division of labor. Exchange of practical results. activities of representatives of different professions. Relations of distribution of material goods arise from property relations and payment conditions. Social sphere - relations of classes and ethnic groups, age groups of generations, professional layers. There is also social protection, living conditions of people, conditions of education and healthcare. relationships are associated with the satisfaction of social needs; they reflect the level of well-being of society. Here are everyday relationships, family structure and accepted relationship in social groups. Political - production of political activities of classes, social. groups, national communities, movements, public. organizations. Rallies, demonstrations, strikes, political actions, negotiations, war and peace, elections. They are determined by the political structure of society. The extreme form is revolution.
At the core social structure lies Social division of labor and the relationship of ownership of the means of production. On the basis of the social division of labor, groups such as classes, professional groups, as well as large groups of people in the city and countryside, mental and physical labor, appear. To the main elements of the social structure should include classes, city - village, physical - mental labor, estates, socio-demographic groups - youth, men, women, teenagers, pensioners, national communities - nations, ethnic groups. Almost all of these groups are heterogeneous in composition.
The concept of community. Society as a system.
System- a council of elements that are in relationships and connections with each other and form a certain integrity, the unity of People.
Society- this is the highest stage of development of living systems, the main elements are cats. people, their combined forms, activities, first of all labor, products of labor, miscellaneous. forms of ownership and the age-old struggle for it, politics and government, the totality of various. institutions, a refined sphere of the spirit. Development of society: with an increase in material and spirit. benefits and needs increase.
General characteristics:
1) community of territory. accommodation;
2) integrity and stability (collective unity);
3) self-reproduction, self-sufficiency, self-regulation;
4) development of a system of norms and values that underlie soya relations, a certain level of cultural development. Properties of society: initiative, self-organization, self-development, self-sufficiency. In their actions, people proceed from their needs and motives; this means that they act consciously.

55. Social formation.
The social sphere gives birth to a social formation - an object that has the properties of a subject and has consciousness.
Public formations are voluntary associations of citizens that are created by them in accordance with current legislation to satisfy various (political, spiritual, physical, etc.) needs and interests of a person.
Different types society forms: private sector, family, enterprise, army, university, i.e. everything that is generated by society.
Ch-k and society are in unity, they support each other. Ch-k and ob-vo have the same properties:
1) consciousness
2) activity - the ability to create objects artificially
3) social consumption
4) relationships
5) normativity (moral law)
In society, not a single thing is public. formation is not absolutely independent. and its free element. At the same time, on the one hand, all social subjects are in various relationships with each other, but on the other hand, they are of the same type and perform the same things. functions, create different states of strength def. structures. schools and universities have a structure of education, medical institutions have a structure of healthcare, the point is that it is not a separate enterprise, providing. society functioning, namely the corresponding structure. It turns out that society. formations as social forms of phenomena. different kinds of societies. structures. Society, as a unique system, reacts in a special way to external and internal influences in its functioning. impact, but provides def. its self-sufficiency, sustainability and development. That is why society is a polystructural system of society. formations that create the environment, means and conditions for their functioning and development.

56 The problem of the essence of man in the history of philosophy.
1. First performances about h. arise long before the appearance of f-ii - in mythological and religious consciousness. At the same time, in the beliefs of ancient people, man, as a specific object of consideration, is not yet distinguished from his surroundings. natural world, but represents only a “younger relative” of natural objects. This is most clearly manifested in totemism - a form of primitive beliefs that consists in the worship of plants and animals with which there is supposedly a blood relationship and which are supernatural patrons of the clan or tribe. The most important feature of the ancient Eastern philosophy was its characteristic “erasure” of the personal principle, its “facelessness” and subordination to the universal. Here the universal “I” prevails over the individual “I”. In ancient times, one of the foundations of the Eastern way of life appeared - the requirement for a person to adapt to society, the state, the senior in rank or age.
Antique f-ya: Alcmaeon was the first to define man as a creature that differs from other animals in that only it is capable of understanding, while others, although they perceive, do not understand. And one more important feature of ancient philosophy. Having formulated the principle of a reasonable worldview, she came to the discovery of man as an independent value and recognized his right to activity and initiative. Socrates comes the conclusion that “virtue is knowledge,” therefore a person needs to know the essence of goodness and justice and then he will not commit bad deeds. The doctrine of the human soul and mind occupies a central place in the Socratic philosophy, and self-knowledge appears in it as the main goal of the philosophy. Plato belongs to the idea that man is not just the unity of soul and body, but that it is the soul that is the substance that makes man human. Depends on the quality of the soul general characteristics h. In his opinion, there is a “hierarchy of souls”, in which the soul of the philosopher is in first place, in the last place is the soul of the tyrant
Major achievement Aristotle in the f-th understanding of the word, it is associated with the justification of its social characteristics. The phrase of the ancient thinker became famous: “Ch. is a social animal.” Ch. is a living creature that is intended to live in the state. He is able to direct his mind to both good and evil; he lives in society and is governed by laws.
Western European Middle Ages marked by the strongest influence of the Christian worldview on all aspects of people's lives, especially on spiritual life, which was inseparable from the religious worldview. Theocentrism is the main characteristic feature f-fii of the Middle Ages, and f-fia found herself in the position of “handmaid of theology” and substantiated the idea of the sinful essence of h-ka.
2. Early Christ theology: Augustine the Blessed He attached decisive importance to man not to intellect, but to will, not to theory, but to love, not to knowledge, but to faith, not to rationality, but to living hope. "We must not allow h-k lived“according to the person” There is a dark abyss hidden in the ch-ka and the confessor is obliged to help lost souls find the true path following the holy scripture. One of the features social thought, and with it philosophy, the Renaissance is anthropocentrism. The center of any research - be it literature, painting, sculpture or philosophical treatises - becomes a person. The naturalistic and religious orientation of philosophical research is giving way to an anthropocentric one.
3. New times At this time, the achievements of the exact sciences were reflected in a unique view of the human body as a specific machine that wound up like a clockwork. Kant proceeded from the understanding of a h-ka as a being belonging to two worlds at the same time - the world of natural necessity and the world of moral freedom. He differentiated anthropology in “physiological” and “pragmatic” respects. The first explores what nature makes of a person, the second - what a person, as a freely acting being, does or can and should make of himself. Listing the main questions of philosophy, I. Kant concludes them with the question: what is man? In his opinion, it is this question that unites all the other basic questions of philosophy.
In the philosophy of man of the 19th century, several features can be distinguished:

1. deepening the study of human spirituality, attention to his inner world, his feelings and experiences (S. Kierkegaard, W. Dilthey, F. Nietzsche);

2. 2) formation of a holistic view of social life, on the relationship between society and man (O. Comte, G. Spencer, K. Marx);

3. 3) anti-metaphysical orientation of those appearing with mid-19th centuries of human concepts. This feature needs to be explained. Many philosophers of this time had the idea that metaphysics and religion are secondary cultural phenomena, derived from primary foundations, so traditional philosophical problems become redundant.

One of characteristic features Russian philosophy of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries also includes attention to man and anthropocentrism.

57. The polysemy of the concept of “society” and its different interpretations in the history of social-philosopher teachings.
Society -
1) in the broad sense of the word, this is the totality of all types of interaction and forms of association of people that have developed historically;
2) in a narrow sense - a historically specific type of social system, definite form social relations.
3) a group of people united by common moral and ethical standards (foundations) [source not specified 272 days].
4) an association of people, as a result of which, because this unity, the entire possible space of society becomes public, i.e. property common to these people and their descendants, all other forms are considered to have not completed the unification, i.e. have not fully formed society.
In history social philosophy the following can be distinguished paradigms of interpretation societies:

1. Identification of society with the organism and an attempt to explain social life biological laws. In the 20th century, the concept of organicism lost popularity;

2. The concept of society as a product of an arbitrary agreement between individuals (see Social Contract, Rousseau, Jean-Jacques);

3. The anthropological principle of considering society and man as part of nature (Spinoza, Diderot, etc.). Only a society corresponding to the true, high, unchangeable nature of man was recognized as worthy of existence. In modern conditions, the most complete justification of philosophical anthropology is given by Scheler;

4. The theory of social action, which arose in the 20s of the 20th century (Understanding sociology). According to this theory, the basis of social relationships is the establishment of "meaning" (understanding) of the intentions and goals of each other's actions. The main thing in interaction between people is their awareness of common goals and objectives and that the action is adequately understood by other participants social relations;

5. Functionalist approach (Parsons, Merton). Society is viewed as a system.

6. Holistic approach. Society is considered as an integral cyclic system, naturally functioning on the basis of both a linear state control mechanism using internal energy information resources, and external nonlinear coordination of a certain structure (conciliar society) with the influx of external energy. [source not specified 592 days]

Even in antiquity, in socio-philosophical teachings, in some ways justified due to insufficient knowledge and therefore in some ways natural, an opinion was entrenched, which is essentially a delusion, but which is still expressed, and if overcome, then formally. The fact is that initially, when understanding social problems and solving practical social problems, they relied on the concept of “state” and not “society”. This is confirmed by the use of virtually all philosophers and politicians of the term “state” until the 18th century in actual discussions about society. Ancient philosophers interpreted the state as an estate, class or caste integrity. In fact, the state and society are identified, since they use the term state, but when talking about the structure of power, about law, about morality, about the good and justice, they are essentially talking about society. Subsequent teachings about state-society followed in the same direction.
For Plato, the state is a joint settlement of people for mutual assistance and satisfaction of needs. That is, society arises due to the fact that people need each other to satisfy their needs. The function that forms the state is to protect the population and, above all, the territory from external enemies and maintain order within. Plato distinguishes three classes: rulers, warriors, free citizens. The class of warrior-guards is the basis of the state and the bearer of statehood. Moreover, for him the state is a complete analogy of the structure of individual human soul, because the state appears as a kind of enormous man. It is important to note that according to Plato, in every state there are two states: the poor and the rich. To eliminate social discord that arises due to property inequality, he proposed eliminating private property, the family, and raising a new generation free of selfishness.
The so-called “utopias” developed the idea of a just state as a “society of the future” (T. More, T. Campanella).
According to Rousseau, man in the state of nature was in harmony with nature. He is characterized by a desire for self-preservation and compassion, which is clearly not according to Hobbes. In addition to the “needs of the body,” artificial “needs of the spirit” appear. The replacement of natural, anthropological inequality with political, that is, social inequality - the establishment of private property - is completed. According to the social contract, a person loses his natural freedom, in return receiving civil freedom and the right of ownership of everything he owns. A return to the natural state is not possible. But preventing inequality in rights is possible if we ensure property equality and prohibit luxury, which can be done by eliminating private property. The state itself must be small in order to ensure control over the government and exercise direct expression of will. At the same time, Rousseau understood that this was impossible among morally imperfect people and therefore universal enlightenment was necessary, but not universal knowledge of science, because it spoils morals, giving rise to ambition, science interferes with the natural behavior of people.
Since the 18th century, the economic-realistic tendency to establish the foundation of society began to take shape, and a new and special scientific doctrine appeared: political economy.
A. Smith substantiates and develops the idea of society as a labor and exchange union of people connected by the division of labor. He specifically emphasizes that this connection is of a special kind: each individual, working for himself, is forced to work for others, and vice versa, working for others, works for himself. Therefore, society is the unity of the individual and the social.
But only since the 19th century has the understanding increased that the state and society are far from the same thing. And the attention of philosophers began to increasingly turn to the difference between state and society. The interpretation of society in the 20th century is characterized by a peculiar struggle between essentially alternative directions: civilizational and formational.

58. Man as a problem of philosophy and practice.
2.2 MAN – “SMALL UNIVERSE” (ANTIQUE)
The problem of man was identified, although in an undeveloped form, already in philosophy ancient world. It is known that in that era cosmocentrism dominated as a type of philosophical thinking. Everything that exists was considered as a single and vast Cosmos, and man was thought of as its organic part, as a “small Universe”. He seems to be immersed in this Cosmos and lives according to its laws. It was assumed that man is not free, since the world around him is huge and mysterious, and often even hostile to man. The ideal existence of a person is to live in harmony with this world, which is what true wisdom consists of.
Turn philosophical thought The topic of a separate (separated) person from the Cosmos is usually associated with the name of the Greek philosopher Socrates. Largely thanks to him, philosophical anthropology began to gradually take shape. Socrates encouraged a person to engage in in-depth knowledge of himself, identifying his moral position. Eternal self-knowledge, the search for oneself in the world - this is the true meaning of human life. Later, Epicurus focused on the problem of human freedom and happiness. He
believed that every person