Explain the content of the concept of social progress. Social progress, its criteria and features in modern conditions. Achievements of science and technology in the 20th century

Condorcet (like other French educators) considered the development of reason to be a criterion of progress. Utopian socialists put forward a moral criterion of progress. Saint-Simon believed, for example, that society should adopt a form of organization that would lead to the implementation of the moral principle: all people should treat each other as brothers. A contemporary of the utopian socialists, the German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling (1775-1854) wrote that the solution to the question of historical progress is complicated by the fact that supporters and opponents of the belief in the perfectibility of mankind are completely confused in disputes about the criteria of progress. Some talk about the progress of mankind in the field of morality, others - about the progress of science and technology, which, as Schelling wrote, with historical point view is rather a regression, and proposed his solution to the problem: only a gradual approach to a legal structure can serve as a criterion in establishing the historical progress of the human race.

Another point of view on social progress belongs to G. Hegel. He saw the criterion of progress in the consciousness of freedom. As the consciousness of freedom grows, society develops progressively.

As we see, the question of the criterion of progress occupied the great minds of modern times, but they did not find a solution. The disadvantage of all attempts to overcome this task was that in all cases only one line (or one side, or one sphere) of social development was considered as a criterion. Reason, morality, science, technology, legal order, and the consciousness of freedom - all these are very important indicators, but not universal, not covering human life and society as a whole.

Nowadays philosophers also adhere to different views on the criterion of social progress. Let's look at some of them.

One of the existing points of view is that the highest and universal objective criterion of social progress is the development of productive forces, including the development of man himself. It is argued that the direction of the historical process is determined by the growth and improvement of the productive forces of society, including the means of labor, the degree of man’s mastery of the forces of nature, and the possibility of using them as the basis of human life. The origins of all human life activities lie in social production. According to this criterion, those social relations are recognized as progressive, which. correspond to the level of productive forces and open up the greatest scope for their development, for the growth of labor productivity, for human development. Man is here considered as the main thing in the productive forces, therefore their development is understood from this point of view as the development of the wealth of human nature.

This position has been criticized from another point of view. Just as it is impossible to find a universal criterion of progress only in social consciousness (in the development of reason, morality, consciousness of freedom), so it cannot be found only in the sphere of material production (technology, economic relations). History has provided examples of countries where a high level of material production was combined with the degradation of spiritual culture. In order to overcome the one-sidedness of criteria that reflect the state of only one sphere of social life, it is necessary to find a concept that would characterize the essence of human life and activity. In this capacity, philosophers propose the concept of freedom.

Freedom, as you already know, is characterized not only by knowledge (the absence of which makes a person subjectively unfree), but also by the presence of conditions for its implementation. A decision made on the basis of free choice is also necessary. Finally, funds are also required, as well as actions aimed at implementing the decision made. Let us also recall that the freedom of one person should not be achieved by infringing on the freedom of another person. This restriction of freedom is of a social and moral nature.

The meaning of human life lies in self-realization, self-realization of the individual. So, freedom appears as necessary condition self-realization. In fact, self-realization is possible if a person has knowledge about his abilities, the opportunities that society gives him, about the methods of activity in which he can realize himself. The wider the opportunities created by society, the freer man, the more options for activities in which his potential will be revealed. But in the process of multifaceted activity, the multilateral development of the person himself also occurs, and the spiritual wealth of the individual grows.

So, according to this point of view, the criterion social progress is the measure of freedom that society is able to provide to an individual, the degree of individual freedom guaranteed by society. The free development of a person in a free society also means the revelation of his truly human qualities - intellectual, creative, moral. This statement brings us to consider another perspective on social progress.

As we have seen, we cannot limit ourselves to characterizing man as an active being. He is also a rational and social being. Only with this in mind can we talk about the human in man, about humanity. But the development of human qualities depends on people's living conditions. The more fully a person’s various needs for food, clothing, housing, transport services, and his requests in the spiritual field are satisfied, the more moral the relations between people become, the more accessible the most diverse things become for a person. different types economic and political, spiritual and material activities. The more favorable the conditions for the development of a person’s physical, intellectual, mental strength, his moral principles, the wider the scope for the development of individual qualities inherent in each individual person. In short, the more humane the living conditions, the more opportunities there are for the development of humanity in a person: reason, morality, creative powers.

Humanity, the recognition of man as the highest value, is expressed by the word “humanism”. From the above, we can draw a conclusion about a universal criterion of social progress: that which contributes to the rise of humanism is progressive.

Criteria for social progress.

In the extensive literature devoted to social progress, there is currently no single answer to the main question: what is the general sociological criterion of social progress?

A relatively small number of authors argue that the very formulation of the question of a single criterion for social progress is meaningless, since human society is a complex organism, the development of which takes place along different lines, which makes it impossible to formulate a single criterion. Most authors consider it possible to formulate a single general sociological criterion of social progress. However, even with the very formulation of such a criterion, there are significant discrepancies...

History shows that no society stands still, but is constantly changing . Social change– this is a transition social systems, communities, institutions and organizations from one state to another. The process of social development is carried out on the basis of changes. The concept " social development» specifies the concept of “social change”. Social development– irreversible, directed change in social systems. Development involves a transition from simple to complex, from lower to higher, etc. In turn, the concept of “social development” is clarified by such qualitative characteristics as “social progress” and “social regression”

Social progress - this is a direction of development of human society that is characterized by an irreversible change in humanity, as a result of which a transition is made from lower to higher, from a less perfect state to a more perfect one. If the sum of the positive consequences of large-scale changes in society exceeds the sum of the negative ones, then we speak of progress. Otherwise, regression occurs.

Regression– a type of development characterized by a transition from higher to lower.

Thus, progress is both local and global. Regression is only local.

Usually, social progress does not mean these or those progressive changes in individual social communities, layers and groups or individuals, but the upward development of the entire society as an integrity, the movement towards the perfection of all mankind.

The mechanism of social progress in all systems consists in the emergence of new needs for various fields public life and finding ways to satisfy them. New needs arise as a result of human production activity; they are associated with the search and invention of new means of labor, communication, organization of social life, with the expansion and deepening of the scale scientific knowledge, the complication of the structure of human creative and consumer activity.

Very often, the emergence and satisfaction of social needs is carried out on the basis of an open conflict of interests of various social communities and social groups, as well as the subordination of the interests of some social communities and groups to others. In this case, social violence turns out to be an inevitable accompaniment of social progress. Social progress, as a consistent ascent to more complex forms of social life, is carried out as a result of the resolution of contradictions that unfold in the previous stages and phases of social development.

The source, the root cause of social progress, which determines the desires and actions of millions of people, are their own interests and needs. What are the human needs that determine social development? All needs are divided into two groups: natural and historical. Natural human needs are all social needs, the satisfaction of which is necessary for the preservation and reproduction of human life as a natural biological being. Natural human needs are limited by the biological structure of man. The historical needs of man are all social and spiritual needs, the satisfaction of which is necessary for the reproduction and development of man as a social being. None of the groups of needs can be satisfied outside of society, outside of the development of social material and spiritual production. In contrast to natural needs, human historical needs are generated by the course of social progress, are unlimited in development, due to which social and intellectual progress is unlimited.

However, social progress is not only an objective, but also a relative form of development. Where there are no opportunities for the development of new needs and their satisfaction, the line of social progress stops, periods of decline and stagnation arise. In the past, cases of social regression and the death of previously established cultures and civilization were often observed. Consequently, as practice shows, social progress in world history occurs in a zigzag manner.

The entire experience of the twentieth century refuted the one-factor approach to the development of modern society. To form one or another social structure are influenced by many factors: the progress of science and technology, the state of economic relations, the structure of the political system, the type of ideology, the level of spiritual culture, national character, the international environment or the existing world order and the role of the individual.

There are two types of social progress: gradual (reformist) and spasmodic (revolutionary).

Reform- partial improvement in any area of ​​life, a series of gradual transformations that do not affect the foundations of the existing social system.

Revolution- a complex abrupt change in all or most aspects of social life, affecting the foundations of the existing system and representing a transition of society from one qualitative state to another.

The difference between reform and revolution is usually seen in the fact that reform is a change implemented on the basis of existing values ​​in society. Revolution is a radical rejection of existing values ​​in the name of reorientation to others.

One of the tools for the movement of society along the path of social progress based on a combination of reforms and revolution in modern Western sociology is recognized modernization. Translated from English, “modernization” means modernization. The essence of modernization is associated with distribution throughout the globe public relations and the values ​​of capitalism. Modernization- this is a revolutionary transition from pre-industrial to industrial or capitalist society, carried out through comprehensive reforms, it implies a fundamental change in social institutions and people's lifestyles, covering all spheres of society.

Sociologists distinguish two types of modernization: organic and inorganic. Organic modernization is the moment of the country’s own development and is prepared by the entire course of previous development. It occurs as a natural process of progressive development of social life during the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Such modernization begins with a change in public consciousness.

Inorganic modernization occurs as a response to an external challenge from more developed countries. It is a method of “catching up” development undertaken by the ruling circles of a particular country in order to overcome historical backwardness and avoid foreign dependence. Inorganic modernization begins with economics and politics. It is accomplished by borrowing foreign experience, acquisition of advanced equipment and technology, inviting specialists, studying abroad, restructuring forms government controlled and norms of cultural life modeled on advanced countries.

In the history of social thought, three models of social change have been proposed: movement along a descending line, from peak to decline; movement in a closed circle - cycles; movement from higher to lower - progress. These three options have always been present in all theories of social change.

Simplest type social change – linear, when the volume of changes occurring is constant at any given time. The linear theory of social progress is based on the progress of the productive forces. The events of the last quarter of the twentieth century have shown that we will have to give up the idea that changes in productive forces and production relations are taken as the key and, in essence, the only source of development. The rise of productive forces does not guarantee progress. Life shows that an unlimited increase in the material means of life, taken as a blessing, turns out to have disastrous consequences for a person. For a long period, the understanding of social progress was associated with industrial development, with high rates of economic growth and the creation of a large machine industry. The conditions and forms of education for economic, political and social life are subordinated to the development of technical and economic parameters and the achievement of industrial technology. But in the last third of the twentieth century, the euphoria of industrial-technical optimism began to wane. Industrial development not only created a threat to social and cultural values, but also undermined its own foundation. In the West they started talking about the crisis of industrialism, the signs of which were the destruction environment and exhaustion natural resources. The discrepancy between the level of scientific, technical and economic development and the level of satisfaction of human needs is becoming increasingly obvious. The very concept of social progress has changed. Its main criterion is to bring the social structure into conformity not so much with the requirements of technological development, but, first of all, with natural nature person.

Cyclic changes are characterized by a sequential progression of stages. According to this theory, social development does not proceed in a straight line, but rather in a circle. If in a directed process each subsequent phase differs from any other that precedes it in time, then in a cyclic process the state of the changing system is more late time will be the same as it was before, i.e. will be repeated exactly, but at a higher level.

In everyday social life, a lot is organized cyclically: for example, agricultural life - and in general the entire life of agrarian societies - is seasonal, cyclical in nature, since it is determined by natural cycles. Spring is sowing time, summer, autumn is harvest time, winter is pause, lack of work. The next year everything repeats itself. A clear example The cyclical nature of social changes is the change of generations of people. Each generation is born, goes through a period of social maturation, then a period active work, followed by a period of old age and the natural completion of the life cycle. Each generation is formed in specific social conditions, therefore it is not similar to previous generations and brings into life, into politics, economics, and culture something of its own, something new that has not yet been seen in social life.

Sociologists of different directions record the fact that many social institutions, communities, classes and even entire societies change according to a cyclical pattern - emergence, growth, flourishing, crisis and decline, the emergence of a new phenomenon. Long-term cyclical changes are associated with the rise and fall of historically specific civilizations. This is what Spengler and Toynbee mean when they talk about civilizational cycles.

About the development of cyclical ideas in the biblical book of Ecclesiastes it is said: “What was, that will be; and what has been done will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”

The records of Herodotus (5th century BC) give a diagram of the application of the cycle to political regimes: monarchy – tyranny – oligarchy – democracy – ochlocracy. In the works of Polybius (200-118 BC), a similar idea is made that all states go through inevitable cycles of growth - zenith - decline.

Social processes can proceed in a spiral, where successive states, although fundamentally similar, are not identical. An upward spiral means repetition of a process at a relatively higher level, a downward spiral means repetition at a relatively lower level.

Progress(movement forward, success) is a type or direction of development characterized by a transition from lower to higher, from less perfect to more perfect. We can talk about progress in relation to the system as a whole, to its individual elements, to the structure and other parameters of the developing object.

The idea that changes in the world occur in a certain direction arose in ancient times. However, for most ancient authors, the development of history is a simple sequence of events, a cyclical cycle repeating the same stages (Plato, Aristotle), a process moving in a certain direction, towards some as yet unknown goal.

The philosophy of the bourgeoisie, which reflected the real acceleration of social development, is filled with the confidence that it is progress, for example, that determines the breakdown of feudal relations.

Progress is not some independent entity or unknown goal of historical development. The concept of progress makes sense only in relation to a specific historical process or phenomenon.

The criteria for social progress are:

Development of the productive forces of society, including the person himself;

Progress of science and technology;

An increase in the degree of human freedom that society can provide to an individual;

The level of education;

Health status;

Environmental situation, etc.

The opposite in meaning and content to the concept of “progress” is the concept "regression"(in Latin – regressus – return, moving backward), i.e. a type of development characterized by a transition from higher to lower, characterized by processes of degradation, a decrease in the level of management organization, loss of the ability to perform certain functions (conquest by barbarian tribes of the Roman Empire).

Stagnation- 1) periods in the development of society when there is no obvious improvement, forward dynamics, but there is also no reverse movement; 2) a delay in the forward development of society and even a temporary stop. Stagnation is a serious symptom of the “disease” of society, the emergence of mechanisms to inhibit the new, advanced. At this time, society rejects the new and resists renewal (USSR in the 70s - 90s)

Separately, neither progress, nor regression, nor stagnation exist. Alternately replacing each other, intertwining, they complement the picture of social development.

The concept of scientific and technological revolution is associated with the concept of progress - Scientific and technological revolution– a radical, qualitative transformation of the productive forces based on the transformation of science into a leading factor in the development of social production, a direct productive force.

Results and social consequences of scientific and technological revolution:

Rising consumer standards in society;

Improving working conditions;

Increasing requirements for the level of education, qualifications, culture, organization, and responsibility of employees;

Improving the interaction of science with technology and production;

Widespread use of computers, etc.

6. Processes of globalization and the formation of a united humanity. Global problems of our time.

Globalization of society is the process of uniting people and transforming society on a planetary scale. Moreover, the word “globalization” implies a transition to “worldliness”, globality. That is, towards a more interconnected world system in which interdependent channels of communication transcend traditional boundaries.

The concept of “globalization” also presupposes humanity’s awareness of its unity within one planet, the existence of common global problems and basic norms of behavior common to the whole world.

Globalization of society is a complex and diverse process of development of the world community, not only in economics and geopolitics, but also in psychology and culture, for example, such as national identity and spiritual values.

The most important characteristic of the process of globalization of society is international integration– the unification of humanity on a global scale into a single social organism (integration is the combination of various elements into a single whole). Therefore, the globalization of society presupposes not only a transition to a universal market and international division of labor, but also to general legal norms, to uniform standards in the field of justice and public administration.

Peculiarities integration processes covering the most different areas people's lives, manifest themselves most deeply and acutely in the so-called global problems of our time.

Global problems of our time– difficulties affecting the vital interests of all humanity and requiring urgent, agreed upon solutions international action on the scale of the global community, on which the existence of humanity depends.

Features of global problems:

1) have a planetary, global character, affecting the interests of all peoples of the world and states;

2) threaten degradation and death of all humanity;

3) need urgent and effective solutions;

4) require collective efforts of all states, joint actions of peoples.

Humanity, developing along the path of progress, gradually accumulated material and spiritual resources to satisfy its needs, but it never managed to completely get rid of hunger, poverty and illiteracy. The severity of these problems was felt by each nation in its own way, and the ways to solve them had never before gone beyond the borders of individual states.

Global problems were the result, on the one hand, of enormous scale human activity radically changing nature, society, people’s way of life; on the other hand, a person’s inability to rationally manage this powerful force.

Global problems:

1) Ecological problem.

Economic activity in a number of countries today is so powerfully developed that it affects the environmental situation not only within a particular country, but also far beyond its borders. Most scientists consider human activity to be the main cause of global climate change.

Constant development of industry, transport, agriculture, etc. requires a sharp increase in energy costs and entails an ever-increasing burden on nature. Currently, as a result of intense human activity, even climate change is occurring.

Compared to the beginning of the last century, the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 30%, and 10% of this increase has occurred in the last 30 years. An increase in its concentration leads to the so-called greenhouse effect, which results in warming of the climate of the entire planet.

As a result of human activity, warming has occurred within 0.5 degrees. However, if the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doubles compared to its level in the pre-industrial era, i.e. increase by another 70%, then very drastic changes will occur in the life of the Earth. First of all, by 2-4 degrees, and at the poles it will increase by 6-8 degrees average temperature, which, in turn, will cause irreversible processes:

Ice melting;

Rising sea levels by one meter;

Flooding of many coastal areas;

Changes in moisture exchange on the Earth's surface;

Reduced precipitation;

Change in wind direction.

Global climate change is putting a number of species of living creatures inhabiting the Earth on the brink of extinction. Scientists expect that in the near future, southern Europe will become drier, while the northern part of the continent will become wetter and warmer. As a result, periods of abnormal heat, droughts, as well as heavy rainfall and floods will increase, and the risk of infectious diseases will increase, including in Russia, which will lead to significant destruction and the need for large-scale relocation of people. Scientists have calculated that if the air temperature on Earth increases by 2C, then water resources in South Africa and the Mediterranean will decrease by 20-30%. Up to 10 million people living in coastal areas will be at risk of flooding each year.

15-40% of terrestrial animal species will become extinct. Irreversible melting of the Greenland ice sheet will begin, which could lead to a rise in sea levels of up to 7 m.

2) The problem of war and peace.

In the arsenals different countries Nuclear charges are stored, the total power of which is several million times greater than the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. These weapons can destroy all life on Earth many dozens of times. But today even “conventional” means of warfare are quite capable of causing global damage to both humanity and nature.

3) Overcoming backwardness.

We are talking about comprehensive backwardness: in the standard of living, the development of education, science and technology, etc. There are many countries in which there is appalling poverty among the lower strata of the population.

Reasons for the backwardness of developing countries:

1. These are agricultural countries. They account for over 90% of the world's rural population, but they cannot even feed themselves because their population growth exceeds the increase in food production.

2. Another reason is the need to master new technologies, develop industry and services, which requires participation in world trade. However, it distorts the economies of these countries.

3. The use of traditional energy sources (physical strength of animals, burning wood, and various types of organic matter), which, due to their low efficiency, do not significantly increase labor productivity in industry, transport, services, and agriculture.

4. Complete dependence on the world market and its conditions. Despite the fact that some of these countries have huge oil reserves, they are not able to completely control the state of affairs in the world oil market and regulate the situation in their favor.

5. The debt of developing countries to developed countries is growing rapidly, which also serves as an obstacle to overcoming their backwardness.

6. Today, the development of productive forces and the socio-cultural environment of society is impossible without increasing the level of education of the entire people, without mastering modern achievements science and technology. However, the necessary attention to them requires large expenditures and, of course, presupposes the availability of teaching, scientific and technical personnel. Developing countries, in conditions of poverty, cannot adequately address these problems.

Political instability, caused primarily by the low level of economic development, constantly creates the risk of military conflicts in these regions.

Poverty and low level cultures inevitably entail uncontrolled population growth.

4) Demographic problem

Population growth in developed countries is insignificant, but in developing countries it is extremely high. The vast majority of people in developing countries do not have normal conditions life.

The economies of developing countries lag far behind the level of production of developed countries, and it is not yet possible to close the gap. The situation in agriculture is very difficult.

The housing problem is also acute: the majority of the population of developing countries live in virtually unsanitary conditions, 250 million people live in slums, 1.5 billion people are deprived of basic medical care. About 2 billion people do not have access to safe water. Over 500 million people suffer from malnutrition, and 30-40 million die from hunger every year.

5) Fight against terrorism.

Embassy bombings, hostage takings, assassinations of political figures, ordinary people, including children - all this and much more interferes with the stable development of world processes, puts the world on the brink of local wars, which can develop into large-scale wars.

©2015-2019 site
All rights belong to their authors. This site does not claim authorship, but provides free use.
Page creation date: 2016-04-27

The idea of ​​progressive development entered science as a secularized (secular) version of the Christian belief in providence. The image of the future in the biblical stories was an irreversible, predetermined and sacred process of development of people guided by the divine will. However, the origins of this idea are discovered much earlier. Next, let's look at what progress is, what its purpose and meaning are.

First mentions

Before we talk about what progress is, we should give a brief historical description the emergence and spread of this idea. In particular, in the ancient Greek philosophical tradition there are discussions about improving the existing socio-political structure, which developed from the primitive community and family to the ancient polis, i.e., the city-state (Aristotle “Politics”, Plato “Laws”). A little later, during the Middle Ages, Bacon tried to apply the concept and concept of progress in the ideological field. In his opinion, knowledge accumulated over time is increasingly enriched and improved. Thus, each next generation is able to see further and better than its predecessors.

What is progress?

This word has Latin roots and translated means “success”, “moving forward”. Progress is a direction of development of a progressive nature. This process is characterized by the transition to the higher from the lower, from the less to the more perfect. The progress of society is a global, world-historical phenomenon. This process involves the ascent of human associations from savagery, primitive states to the heights of civilization. This transition is based on political, legal, moral, ethical, scientific and technical achievements.

Main Components

The above describes what progress is and when they first started talking about this concept. Next, let's look at its components. During the improvement, the following aspects develop:

• Material. In this case we're talking about about the fullest satisfaction of the benefits of all people and the elimination of any technical restrictions for this.
• Social component. Here we are talking about the process of bringing society closer to justice and freedom.
• Scientific. This component reflects the process of continuous, deepening and expanding knowledge of the surrounding world, its development in both the micro and macro spheres; liberation of knowledge from the boundaries of economic feasibility.

New time

During this period, they began to see progress in natural science. G. Spencer expressed his point of view on the process. In his opinion, progress - both in nature and in society - was subject to a general evolutionary process of increasing complexity of internal functioning and organization. Over time, forms of progress began to be visible in literature and general history. Art did not go unnoticed either. In different civilizations there was a diversity of social orders, which, in turn, determined different types of progress. A so-called “staircase” was formed. At its apex were the most developed and civilized societies of the West. Next, at various stages, stood other cultures. The distribution depended on the level of development. There was a "Westernization" of the concept. As a result, such types of progress as “American-centrism” and “Eurocentrism” appeared.

Modern times

During this period, the decisive role was assigned to man. Weber emphasized the tendency to rationalize the universal in the management of diversity. Durkheim gave other examples of progress. He spoke of a trend toward social integration through "organic solidarity." It was based on the complementary and mutually beneficial contribution of all participants in society.

Classic concept

The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is called the “triumph of the idea of ​​development.” At that time, there was general confidence that scientific and technical progress capable of guaranteeing continuous improvement of life, accompanied by a spirit of romantic optimism. In general, there was a classical concept in society. It represented an optimistic idea of ​​the gradual liberation of humanity from fear and ignorance on the way to increasingly refined and higher levels of civilization. The classical concept was based on the concept of linear irreversible time. Here progress was a positively characterized difference between the present and the future or the past and the present.

Goals and objectives

It was assumed that the described movement would continue continuously not only in the present, but also in the future, despite occasional deviations. There was a fairly widespread belief among the masses that progress could be maintained at all stages, in every basic structure of society. As a result, everyone would achieve complete prosperity.

Main criteria

The most common among them were:

• Religious improvement (J. Buset, Augustine).
• Increase in scientific knowledge (O. Comte, J. A. Condorcet).
• Equality and justice (K. Marx, T. More).
• Expansion of individual freedom in combination with the development of morality (E. Durkheim, I. Kant).
• Urbanization, industrialization, improvement of technology (K. A. Saint-Simon).
• Dominion over natural forces (G. Spencer).

The inconsistency of progress

The first doubts about the correctness of the concept began to be expressed after the First World War. The inconsistency of progress consisted in the emergence of ideas about negative side effects with the development of society. F. Tennis was one of the very first to criticize. He believed that social development from traditional to modern, industrial, not only did not improve, but, on the contrary, worsened people’s living conditions. The primary, direct, personal social connections of traditional human interaction were replaced by indirect, impersonal, secondary, exclusively instrumental contacts inherent in modern world. This, according to Tennis, was the main problem of progress.

Increased criticism

After World War II, it became obvious to many that development in one area entails negative consequences in another. Industrialization, urbanization, scientific and technological progress were accompanied by environmental pollution. Which, in turn, provoked a new theory to emerge. The belief that humanity needs continuous economic progress has given way to the alternative idea of ​​“limits to growth.”

Forecast

Researchers have calculated that as consumption levels in different countries approach Western standards, the planet could explode from environmental overload. The concept of the “golden billion”, according to which only 1 billion people from wealthy states can be guaranteed a secure existence on Earth, has completely undermined the main postulate on which the classical idea of ​​progress was based - focusing on a better future for all living without exception. Conviction in the superiority of the direction of development followed by Western civilization, which dominated for a long period of time, gave way to disappointment.

Utopian vision

This thinking reflected highly idealized ideas about the best society. This utopian thinking, presumably, was also dealt a powerful blow. The last attempt to implement this type of vision of the world was the world socialist system. At the same time, humanity at this stage does not have in stock projects “capable of mobilizing collective, universal actions, capturing people’s imagination,” which could orient society towards a bright future (this role was very effectively played by the ideas of socialism). Instead, today there are either simple extrapolations of existing trends, or catastrophic prophecies.

Reflections on the future

The development of ideas about upcoming events is currently going in two directions. In the first case, a reigning pessimism is determined, in which gloomy images of decline, destruction and degeneration are visible. Due to disappointment in scientific and technical rationalism, mysticism and irrationalism began to spread. Reason and logic in one area or another are increasingly opposed to emotions, intuition, and subconscious perception. According to radical postmodern theories, modern culture The reliable criteria by which myth differed from reality, ugly from beautiful, virtue from vice, disappeared. All this indicates that the era has begun" supreme freedom"from morality, traditions, progress, in the end. In the second direction we can see active search new concepts of development that can give people positive guidelines for the coming periods, and rid humanity of unfounded illusions. Postmodernist ideas mainly rejected the theory of development in the traditional version with finalism, fatalism and determinism. Most of them preferred other examples of progress - other probabilistic approaches to the development of society and culture. Some theorists (Buckley, Archer, Etzioni, Wallerstein, Nisbet) in their concepts interpret the idea as a possible chance of improvement, which can occur with a certain degree of probability, or may go unnoticed.

The principle of constructivism

Of all the variety of approaches, it was this concept that served as the theoretical foundation for postmodernism. The task is to find the driving forces of progress in the everyday normal life of people. According to K. Lash, the solution to the riddle is ensured by the confidence that improvements can occur solely through human efforts. Otherwise, the problem is simply unsolvable.

Alternative Concepts

All of them, which arose within the framework of activity theory, are very abstract. Alternative concepts appeal to the “man as a whole” without showing much interest in cultural and civilizational differences. In this case, in essence, it looks new type social utopias. It represents a cybernetic simulation of social cultures of ideal order, viewed through the prism of human activity. These concepts return positive guidelines, a certain belief in probable progressive development. Moreover, they name (albeit at a highly theoretical level) the sources and conditions of growth. Meanwhile, alternative concepts do not answer the main question: why humanity, “free from” and “free for,” in some cases chooses progress and strives for a “new, active society,” but often the guideline for it is decadence and destruction, which , in turn, leads to stagnation and regression. Based on this, it can hardly be argued that society needs progress. This is explained by the fact that it cannot be proven whether humanity will want to realize its creative ability in the future. There are no answers to these questions in cybernetics and systems theory. However, they were analyzed in detail by religion and culture. In this regard, sociocultural ethicocentrism can today act as an alternative to constructivist modernism in the theory of progress.

Finally

Modern Russian philosophers are increasingly returning to " Silver Age". Turning to this heritage, they are trying to hear again the originality of the rhythms of the national culture, to translate them into a strict scientific language. According to Panarin, the biomorphic structure of cognition shows a person the image of the cosmos as a living, organic integrity. Its space awakens in people a motivation of a higher order, incompatible with irresponsible consumer egoism. Today it is clearly clear that modern social science requires a major re-examination of existing core principles, priorities and values. It can suggest new directions to a person if he, in turn, finds in himself enough strength to take advantage of them.

Are you already familiar with the concept of social dynamics? Society does not stand still, constantly changing directions of its development. Is society really increasing the pace of its development, what is its direction? We’ll look at how to answer it correctly in task 25 after the topic.

“Progress is movement in a circle, but more and more quickly”

This is what the American writer Leonard Levinson thought.

To begin with, let us remember that we already know the concept and it and have also worked on the topic

Let us remember that one of the signs is development, movement. Society is constantly in the process of change; the institutions it needs are developing, making them more complex. Undemanded institutions are dying out. We have already traced the development of the institute

Let's look at other important institutions - imagine their development and social demand for them in the form of a table:

Social dynamics are expressed in various directions of development of society.

Progress– progressive development of society, expressed in complication social structure.

Regression– degradation of social structure and social relations (the opposite term to PROGRESS, its antonym).

The concepts of PROGRESS AND REGRESS are very conditional; what is characteristic of the development of one society cannot be acceptable for another. Let us remember that in Ancient Sparta, weak newborn boys were simply thrown off a cliff, because they could not become wars. Today this custom looks barbaric to us.

Evolution– gradual development of society (the opposite term to REVOLUTION, its antonym). One of its forms is reform– a change emanating from and changing relationships in one of the spheres (for example, the agrarian reform of P.A. Stolypin). REVOLUTION in the sense comes from

Social dynamics is the subject of study of one of the sciences about SOCIETY - social. There are two main approaches to the study of society.

According to Marx, every society must go through all stages of development and arrive at (linearity of development). The civilizational approach provides for the alternative paths of each parallel existence of societies with different levels of development, which is more consistent with modern realities. It is this approach that is most in demand in the context of Unified State Examination tasks.

Let's try to compare the three types of societies according to various important parameters in the form of a table:

And we conclude that in historical development There are three main types of society:

Traditional society – historical type of civilization based on both the predominance and

Industrial society – a historical type of civilization based on the introduction and elimination of the monarchical political system of the Middle Ages.

Post-industrial (information) society – a modern type of civilization based on the dominance (of computers in production, the result of the 20th century.

Thus, today we have worked on the following important topics from

• The concept of social progress;
• Multivariate social development (types of societies).

And now PRACTICUM! LET'S CONSOLIDATE THE KNOWLEDGE WE GOT TODAY!

We carry out

exercise 25. What meaning do social scientists put into the concept of “criterion of progress”? Drawing on the knowledge of the social science course, compose two sentences: one sentence revealing the features of progress, and one sentence containing information about the criterion(s) for determining progress.

First, let's not make the most common mistake associated with this task. What is required from us is not two sentences, but a CONCEPT and 2 SENTENCES (three in total!). So, we remembered the concept of progress - the progressive development of society, its movement forward. Let's choose a synonym for the word criterion - measure, yardstick. Respectively:
The “criterion of progress” is a measure by which the degree of development of society is judged.

1. A feature of progress is its inconsistency; all criteria for progress are subjective.

And, we remember that although the degree of development of a society can be measured in different ways (there are many approaches - the level of development of science, technology and technology, the degree of democracy, a generally accepted single criterion is the humanity of society). So:

2. The universal criterion for determining progress is the degree of humanity of society, the ability to provide maximum conditions for development to each person.

So this is what our response looks like:

25. The “criterion of progress” is a measure by which the degree of development of society is judged.

1. A feature of progress is its inconsistency; all criteria for progress are subjective.
2. The universal criterion for determining progress is the degree of humaneness of society, the ability to provide maximum conditions for development to each person.