All societies are in constant development, in the process of changes and transition from one state to another. At the same time, sociologists distinguish two directions and three main forms of movement of society. First, let's look at the essence progressive and regressive directions.
Progress(from Latin progressus - moving forward, success) means development with an upward tendency, movement from lower to higher, from less perfect to more perfect. It leads to positive changes in society and is manifested, for example, in the improvement of the means of production and labor force, in the development of the social division of labor and the growth of its productivity, in the new achievements of science and culture, in improving the living conditions of people, their all-round development, etc.
Regression(from lat.regressus - reverse movement), on the contrary, presupposes development with a downward tendency, movement backward, a transition from the highest to the lowest, which leads to negative consequences. It can manifest itself, say, in a decrease in the efficiency of production and the level of well-being of people, in the spread of smoking, drunkenness, drug addiction in society, deteriorating health of the population, an increase in mortality, a drop in the level of spirituality and morality of people, etc.
Which path does society take: the path of progress or regression? The answer to this question will determine people's idea of the future: does it bring a better life or does it not bode well?
Ancient greek poet Hesiod (8-7 centuries BC) wrote about the five stages in the life of mankind.
The first stage was "golden age", when people lived easily and carelessly.
Second - "silver Age"- the beginning of the fall of morality and piety. Descending lower and lower, people found themselves in "iron age" when evil and violence reign everywhere, justice is violated.
How did Hesiod see the path of humanity: progressive or regressive?
Unlike Hesiod, the ancient philosophers
Plato and Aristotle viewed history as a cyclical cycle repeating the same stages.
The development of the idea of historical progress is associated with the achievements of science, crafts, arts, the revitalization of social life in the Renaissance.
One of the first to put forward the theory of social progress was the French philosopher Anne Robber Turgot (1727-1781).
His contemporary French philosopher-educator Jacques Antoine Condorcet (1743-1794) sees historical progress as a path of social progress, at the center of which is the upward development of the human mind.
K. Marx believed that mankind is moving towards an ever greater mastery of nature, the development of production and of man himself.
Let us recall facts from the history of the XIX-XX centuries. Revolutions were often followed by counter-revolutions, reforms were followed by counter-reforms, and radical changes in the political structure were followed by the restoration of the old order.
Think about what examples from Russian or world history can illustrate this idea.
If we tried to depict the progress of humanity graphically, then we would get not a straight line, but a broken line, reflecting the ups and downs. There have been periods in the history of different countries when reaction triumphed, when progressive forces of society were persecuted. For example, what disasters fascism brought to Europe: the death of millions, the enslavement of many peoples, the destruction of cultural centers, bonfires from the books of the greatest thinkers and artists, the cult of brute force.
Individual changes occurring in different areas of society can be multidirectional, i.e. progress in one area may be accompanied by regression in another.
So, throughout history, the progress of technology is clearly traced: from stone tools to iron, from hand tools to machines, etc. But the progress of technology, the development of industry have led to the destruction of nature.
Thus, progress in one area was accompanied by regression in another. The progress of science and technology has had mixed consequences. The use of computer technology not only expanded the possibilities of work, but entailed new diseases associated with prolonged work at the display: visual impairment, etc.
The growth of large cities, the complication of production and the rhythms of life in everyday life - increased the load on the human body, gave rise to stress. Modern history, as well as the past, is perceived as the result of people's creativity, where both progress and regression take place.
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For humanity as a whole, development along an ascending line is characteristic. Evidence of world social progress, in particular, can be not only an increase in the material well-being and social protection of people, but also a weakening of confrontation (confrontation - from Latin con - against + irons - front - confrontation, confrontation) between classes and peoples of different countries, the desire for peace and cooperation of an increasing number of earthlings, the establishment of political democracy, the development of universal human morality and genuine humanistic culture, all that is human in man, finally.
An important sign of social progress, further, scientists consider the growing tendency towards the liberation of a person - liberation (a) from suppression by the state, (b) from the dictate of the collective, (c) from any exploitation, (d) from the confinement of living space, (e) from fear for their safety and future. In other words, the trend towards the expansion and increasingly effective protection of civil rights and freedoms of people throughout the world.
In terms of the degree of ensuring the rights and freedoms of citizens, the modern world presents a very variegated picture. Thus, according to the estimates of the American organization in support of democracy in the world community "Freedom House" (English Freedom House, founded in 1941), which annually publishes a "map of freedom" of the world, out of 191 countries of the planet in 1997.
- 79 were completely free;
- partially free (which includes Russia) - 59;
- Not free - 53. Among the latter, the 17 most unfree states (the category "worst of the worst") are highlighted - such as Afghanistan, Burma, Iraq, China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and others. The geography of the spread of freedom around the globe is curious: its main centers are concentrated in Western Europe and North America. At the same time, out of 53 African countries, only 9 were recognized as free, and none among the Arab countries.
Progress can be seen in human relationships themselves. More and more people understand that they must learn to live together and abide by the laws of society, must respect other people's living standards and be able to seek compromises. (compromise - from Latin compromissum - an agreement based on mutual concessions), must suppress their own aggressiveness, value and protect nature and everything that previous generations have created. These are encouraging signs that humanity is steadily moving towards a relationship of solidarity, harmony and goodness.
Regression is more often local in nature, that is, it concerns either individual societies or spheres of life, or individual periods... For example, while Norway, Finland and Japan (our neighbors) and other Western countries confidently climbed the steps of progress and prosperity, the Soviet Union and its "comrades in socialist misfortune" [Bulgaria, GDR (East Germany), Poland, Romania , Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and others] regressed, sliding uncontrollably in the 1970s and 80s. into the abyss of collapse and crisis. Moreover, progress and regression are often complexly intertwined.
So, in Russia in the 1990s, both are clearly taking place. A decline in production, a break in the former economic ties between factories, a decline in the standard of living of many people and an increase in crime are obvious "marks" of regression. But there is also the opposite - signs of progress: the liberation of society from Soviet totalitarianism and the dictatorship of the CPSU, the beginning movement towards the market and democracy, the expansion of the rights and freedoms of citizens, significant freedom of the media, the transition from the Cold War to peaceful cooperation with the West, etc.
Questions and tasks
1. Define progress and regression.
2. How was the path of humanity viewed in antiquity?
3. What has changed about this in the Renaissance?
4. Is it possible, given the ambiguity of the changes, to talk about social progress in general?
5. Consider the questions posed in one of the philosophical books: is the replacement of the arrow with a firearm, the flintlock with an automatic machine, progress? Is it possible to consider the replacement of hot forceps with electric current during torture as progress? Justify your answer.
6. Which of the following can be attributed to the contradictions of social progress:
A) the development of technology leads to the emergence of both means of creation and means of destruction;
B) the development of production leads to a change in the social status of the worker;
C) the development of scientific knowledge leads to a change in human ideas about the world;
D) human culture undergoes changes under the influence of production.
progressive development and movement of society, which characterizes the transition from lower to higher, from less perfect to more perfect. The concept of social progress is applied not only to the system as a whole, but also to its individual elements. In philosophy, the idea of social (social) progress arose by analogy with the idea of the development of nature. In the history of mankind, the idea of progress took shape in the 17th century, which was associated with the development of science and technology, accompanied by the recognition of the legislative: the power of reason. However, social progress was viewed and evaluated in different ways. Some thinkers recognized social progress, seeing its criterion in the growth of science and reason (J. Condorcet, C. Saint-Simon), the rooting of the ideals of truth and justice in society (N.K. Mikhailovsky, P.L. Lavrov); others denied the idea of progress, considering it false (F. Nietzsche, S.L. Frank).
Excellent definition
Incomplete definition ↓
Social progress
progressive development of society from lower levels to higher ones. O. p. manifests itself in the growth of the material possibilities of society, the humanization of social relations, the improvement of man. The idea of O. p. was first expressed in the 18th century by J. Condorcet and A. Turgot and became widespread in European social thought in the 19th century under the conditions of the rapid development of capitalism. The progressive nature is inherent in the concepts of society of Hegel and Marx. The criteria of social progress characterize the progressive processes in the main spheres of society: economic, political, social and spiritual. To the economic criteria O. p. include the level of development of the productive forces of society and the degree of correspondence of production relations to the needs of the development of productive forces. The political criteria of O. p. are the degree of involvement of the masses in historical transformations, the degree of participation of the masses in political life and the management of society, the degree of liberation of the masses from exploitation and social inequality, the degree of political protection of basic human rights. The social criterion of O.P. is the quality of life of people, which is characterized by the achieved level of material security, the availability of health care and education, environmental safety, social security, the degree of employment of the active population, the level of social justice and humanity of society. The spiritual criteria of O.P. are the level of education and culture of the masses and the degree of comprehensiveness and harmony of personality development. It should be noted that among the famous philosophers there are not only supporters, but also many critics of the idea of progress: F. Nietzsche, O. Spengler, K. Popper and others.
Progress(forward movement, success) is a type or direction of development, characterized by the 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 are taking place in a certain direction originated 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 going in a certain direction, towards some as yet unknown goal.
The philosophy of the bourgeoisie, reflecting the real acceleration of social development, is filled with the conviction that it is progress, for example, that determines the breakdown of feudal relations.
Progress is not some kind of independent entity or an unknown goal of historical development. The concept of progress makes sense only in relation to a certain historical process or phenomenon.
The criteria for social progress are:
Development of the productive forces of society, including the person himself;
The progress of science and technology;
An increase in the degree of freedom of a person that society can provide to a person;
The level of education;
Health status;
Environmental situation, etc.
Opposite in meaning and content to the concept of "progress" is the concept "regression"(in Latin - regressus - return, movement back), i.e. type of development, which is characterized by the transition from higher to lower, characterized by processes of degradation, lowering the level of management organization, loss of ability to perform certain functions (the conquest of the Roman Empire by the barbarian tribes).
Stagnation- 1) periods in the development of society when there is no obvious improvement, progressive dynamics, but there is also no reverse movement; 2) a delay in the development of society forward and even a temporary stop. Stagnation is a serious symptom of the "disease" of society, the emergence of mechanisms of inhibition of the new, advanced. At this time, society rejects the new, opposes renewal (USSR in the 70s - 90s)
Individually, 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 on the basis of 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:
Growth of consumer standards in society;
Improving working conditions;
Increasing requirements for the level of education, qualifications, culture, organization, 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 single humanity. Global problems of our time.
The globalization of society is a process of uniting people and transforming society on a planetary scale. In this case, the word "globalization" implies the transition to "universality", globality. That is, to a more interconnected world system in which interdependent channels of communication transcend traditional boundaries.
The concept of "globalization" also presupposes the awareness of humanity of its unity within one planet, the existence of common global problems and common basic norms of behavior for the whole world.
The 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 worldwide 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 an international division of labor, but also to general legal norms, to uniform standards in the field of justice and public administration.
The peculiarities of integration processes, covering the most diverse spheres of people's life, most deeply and sharply manifest themselves in the so-called global problems of our time.
Global problems of our time- Difficulties affecting the vital interests of all mankind and requiring urgent concerted international action on the scale of the world community for their solution, on which the existence of mankind depends.
Features of global problems:
1) are of a planetary, global nature, affect the interests of all peoples of the world and states;
2) threaten with degradation and death to all of humanity;
3) need urgent and effective solutions;
4) require collective efforts of all states, joint actions of peoples.
Mankind, developing along the path of progress, gradually accumulated material and spiritual resources to meet their needs, but he never managed to completely get rid of hunger, poverty and illiteracy. The severity of these problems was felt by each people in its own way, and the ways of their solution never went beyond the borders of individual states.
Global problems were the result, on the one hand, of the enormous scale of human activity, radically changing nature, society, the way of life of people; on the other hand, a person's inability to rationally dispose of this mighty force.
Global problems:
1) Ecological problem.
Economic activity in a number of states today is so strongly developed that it affects the ecological situation not only within a single country, but also far beyond its borders. Most scientists consider human activity to be the main cause of global climate change.
Continuous development of industry, transport, agriculture, etc. requires a sharp increase in energy consumption and entails an ever-increasing burden on nature. Even climate change is currently taking place as a result of intense human activity.
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 was given by the last 30 years. An increase in its concentration leads to the so-called greenhouse effect, as a result of which the climate of the entire planet is warming.
As a result of human activity, there was a warming 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. will increase by another 70%, then there will be very sharp changes in the life of the Earth. First of all, by 2-4 degrees, and at the poles by 6-8 degrees, the average temperature will rise, which, in turn, will cause irreversible processes:
Melting ice;
Rise of the world ocean level by one meter;
Flooding of many coastal areas;
Change in moisture exchange on the Earth's surface;
Reduction in rainfall;
Change in wind direction.
Global climate change is putting a number of species of living beings inhabiting the Earth to the brink of extinction. Scientists suggest that in the near future, southern Europe will become drier, and the northern part of the continent will become wetter and warmer. As a result, periods of abnormal heat waves, droughts, as well as heavy rainfall and floods will increase, the risk of infectious diseases, including in Russia, will increase, which will lead to significant destruction and the need for large-scale relocation of people. Scientists have calculated that if the temperature on Earth rises by 2C, then the 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 every year.
15-40% of terrestrial animal species will die out. Irreversible melting of the Greenland ice sheet will begin, which could lead to a rise in sea level by 7 m.
2) The problem of war and peace.
In the arsenals of different countries, nuclear charges are stored, the total power of which is several million times higher than the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. This weapon can destroy all life on Earth many dozen times. But today even "ordinary" means of warfare are quite capable of causing global damage to both humanity and nature.
3) Overcoming backwardness.
We are talking about complex backwardness: in the standard of living, the development of education, science and technology, etc. There are many countries in which the dire poverty of the lower strata of the population reigns.
The reasons for the backwardness of developing countries:
1. These are agrarian countries. They account for over 90% of the world's rural population, but they cannot even feed themselves, as their population growth exceeds the increase in food production.
2. Another reason is the need to master new technologies, develop industry, the service sector, 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 kinds 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 conjuncture. Despite the fact that some of these countries have huge oil reserves, they are not able to fully 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 underdevelopment.
6. Today, the development of the productive forces and the socio-cultural environment of society is impossible without raising the level of education of the entire people, without mastering the modern achievements of science and technology. However, the necessary attention to them requires large expenditures and, of course, presupposes the availability of teaching and scientific and technical personnel. Developing countries in conditions of poverty cannot adequately address these problems.
Political instability, primarily due to the low level of economic development, constantly creates the danger of military conflicts in these regions.
Poverty and a low level of culture inevitably lead to uncontrolled population growth.
4) Demographic problem
Population growth in developed countries is insignificant, while in developing countries it is extremely high. The overwhelming majority of the population of developing countries do not have normal living conditions.
The economies of developing countries lag far behind the production levels of developed countries, and so far it has not been possible to close the gap. A very difficult situation in agriculture.
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, and 1.5 billion people are deprived of basic medical care. About 2 billion people do not have access to safe water for their health. More than 500 million people suffer from malnutrition, and 30-40 million die from hunger every year.
5) The fight against terrorism.
Explosions of embassies, hostage-taking, murder of politicians, ordinary people, including children - all this and much more hinders the stable development of world processes, puts the world on the brink of local wars that can escalate into large-scale wars.
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Date the page was created: 2016-04-27
Condorcet (like other French enlighteners) considered the development of reason as the criterion of progress. The utopian socialists put forward a moral criterion for progress. Saint-Simon believed, for example, that society should take a form of organization that would lead to the implementation of the moral principle: all people should treat each other like brothers. A contemporary of the utopian socialists, the German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling (1775-1854) wrote that the decision of the survey on historical progress is complicated by the fact that the supporters and opponents of the belief in the improvement of humanity are completely entangled 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, is more of a regression from a historical point of view, and offered his own solution to the problem: the criterion in establishing the historical progress of the human race can only be a gradual approximation to legal device.
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 you can see, the question of the criterion of progress occupied the great minds of modern times, but 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. And reason, and morality, and science, and technology, and legal order, and the consciousness of freedom - all these indicators are very important, but not universal, not covering the life of a person and society as a whole.
In our time, philosophers also adhere to different views on the criterion of social progress. Let's take a look at some of them.
One of the currently 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 due to 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, the possibility of their use as the basis of human life. The origins of all human activity lie in social production. According to this criterion, those social relations are recognized as progressive, which. correspond to the level of the productive forces and open up the greatest scope for their development, for the growth of labor productivity, for the development of man. Man is considered here as the main thing in the productive forces, therefore their development is understood from this point of view and as the development of the wealth of human nature.
This position has been criticized from a different 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. To overcome the one-sidedness of the criteria reflecting the state of only one sphere of the life of society, it is necessary to find a concept that would characterize the essence of human life and activity. In this capacity, philosophers offer 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 realization. A decision made on the basis of free choice is also required. Finally, funds are also required, as well as actions aimed at implementing the adopted decision. 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 acts as a necessary condition for self-realization. In fact, self-realization is possible if a person has knowledge of his abilities, the opportunities that society gives him, about the ways of activities in which he can realize himself. The wider the opportunities created by society, the freer the person, the more options for activities in which his potential will be revealed. But in the process of multifaceted activity, the multifaceted development of the person himself takes place, the spiritual wealth of the individual grows.
So, according to this point of view, the criterion of social progress is the measure of freedom that society is able to provide to the individual, the degree of individual freedom guaranteed by society. The free development of a person in a free society also means the disclosure of his truly human qualities - intellectual, creative, moral. This statement leads us to consider another point of view of social progress.
As we have seen, one cannot confine oneself to the characterization of 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 the living conditions of people. The more fully the various needs of a person in food, clothing, housing, transport services, his needs in the spiritual field are satisfied, the more moral relations between people become, the more accessible to a person are made the most diverse types of economic and political, spiritual and material activities. The more favorable the conditions for the development of physical, intellectual, mental powers of a person, his moral foundations, the wider the scope for the development of individual qualities inherent in each individual person. In short, the more humane the conditions of life, the more opportunities for human development in a person: reason, morality, creative powers.
Humanity, the recognition of a person as the highest value is expressed by the word "humanism". From the above, we can draw a conclusion about the universal criterion of social progress: progressive is that which contributes to the rise of humanism.
Social progress criteria.
In the vast literature on 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 of social progress is meaningless, since human society is a complex organism, the development of which is carried out along different lines, which makes it impossible to formulate a single criterion. Most of the 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 ...
Social progress- this is the direction of development of human society, which is characterized by its irreversible changes in all aspects of life, as a result of which a transition is made from the lowest to the highest, to a more perfect state of society.
The desire of the bulk of people for progress is due to the nature of material production and the laws of social development determined by it.
Social progress criteria. Determination of the basis of social progress makes it possible to scientifically solve the question of the criterion of social progress. Since economic relations constitute the foundation of any form of social structure (society) and ultimately determine all aspects of social life, it means that the general criterion of progress must be sought primarily in the sphere of material production. The development and change of methods of production as a unity of productive forces and production relations made it possible to consider the entire history of society as a natural-historical process and thereby reveal the laws of social progress.
What is the progress in the development of the productive forces? First of all, in the continuous modification and improvement of the technology of the means of labor, which ensures a constant and steady growth of its productivity. Improvement of the means of labor and production processes entails the improvement of the main element of the productive forces - labor. New means of labor give rise to new production skills and constantly revolutionize the existing social division of labor, lead to an increase in social wealth.
Along with the progress of technology, improvement of technology and organization of production, there is a development of science as the spiritual potential of production. This, in turn, increases the human impact on nature. Finally, an increase in labor productivity means an increase in the amount of the surplus product. At the same time, the nature of consumption, lifestyle, culture and way of life inevitably change.
This means that not only in material production, but also in social relations, we are witnessing undoubted progress.
We see the same dialectics in the sphere of spiritual life, which is a reflection of real social relations. Certain social relations give rise to certain forms of culture, art, ideology, which cannot be arbitrarily replaced by others and evaluated according to modern laws.
The progressiveness of the development of society is determined not only by the development of the mode of production, but also by the development of the person himself.
The mode of production and the social system conditioned by it constitute the basis and criterion of social progress. This criterion is objective, because it is based on a real natural process of development and change of socio-economic formations. It includes:
a) the level of development of the productive forces of society;
b) the type of production relations that have developed on the basis of the data of productive forces;
c) the social structure that determines the political structure of society;
d) the stage and level of development of personal freedom.
None of these signs, taken separately, can be an unconditional criterion of social progress. Only their unity, embodied in a given formation, can be such a criterion. In this case, it is necessary to bear in mind the fact that there is no complete correspondence in the development of different aspects of social life.
Irreversibility of social progress- the regularity of the real historical process.
Another regularity of social progress is its acceleration.
Social progress is closely related to the so-called global problems. Global problems are understood as a complex of common human problems of our time, affecting both the world as a whole and its individual regions or states. These include: 1) prevention of a world thermonuclear war; 2) social development and economic growth in the world; 3) elimination of flagrant manifestations of social injustice on Earth - hunger and poverty, epidemics, illiteracy, racism, etc .; 4) rational and integrated use of nature (environmental problem).
The emergence of the above-mentioned problems precisely as global, which have a worldwide character, is associated with the internationalization of production, of all social life.
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