What problems are studied by the human sciences? Science about man. What sciences study humans? Man and his knowledge

a set of disciplines that study, using private scientific methods (observation, experiment, generalization, modeling), man as a highly complex integral biosocial system in its genesis, development, structural and functional diversity and unity (anthropology, physiology, medicine, psychology, pedagogy, linguistics, archeology, etc. .). Among the main philosophical problems of the human sciences, the following can be identified: the origin and main stages of human evolution, man and his environment, the relationship between the biological and the social in man, the formation of the human personality, man and society, man and culture, human creativity, consciousness and its structure, cognitive and communication abilities and human capabilities, etc.). (See anthropology, man, humanities, educational sciences, psychological sciences, etc.).

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HUMAN SCIENCES

Psychology: observation of the individual, his objective behavior, physical reactions (behaviorism), his individual self (introspection), his mode of action (Janet) (modus operandi = behavior + meaning), his relationships with others (psychoanalysis); Social psychology (Tarde): behavior of an unorganized crowd; Sociology (founder Comte): the science of organized groups, of society, cultural anthropology (the science of institutions), understanding sociology (the science of social behavior), ethnology (the descriptive study of peoples); History, the science of the past of mankind: objective history: the science of events, understanding history: the science of general laws (economic, sociological, political, etc.) governing the general course of evolution; Philosophy of man: the doctrine of human nature and the ways of its development; Aesthetics - theory of beauty, theory of knowledge a) physiological theory of pleasant sensation; b) theory of aesthetic perception (feelings of aesthetic pleasure); c) the theory of aesthetic creativity (the secrets of human creativity); The theory of knowledge, either the theory of the basis and limits of our knowledge (Kant), or the theory of science as the human desire to subjugate the universe (what Husserl calls “noetic” analysis). Provides answers to the questions: “What can I know?”, “Why do I want to know?”; Morality tries to give answers to the questions: “What should I do?”, “What should be the purpose of a person in the world?”, “What is the meaning of life?”; The theory of natural law: a statement of the proper organization of human relations, rationally arising from the nature of man (reconciles his natural right to respect, to individual freedom with the same natural necessity of social life); Philosophy of religion: interpretation of human sacred enthusiasm, rituals and myths; Philosophy of existence, which analyzes human existence. The science of man constitutes the core of this philosophy, which directly poses the metaphysical question: “What is man?”; Eurasian philosophy: the doctrine of the nature of wisdom, the ways of its comprehension by man and the rooting of its principles and laws in the process of everyday life.

Modern science, firstly, studies man as a representative of a biological species; secondly, he is considered as a member of society; thirdly, the objective activity of a person is studied; fourthly, the patterns of development of a particular person are studied.

Rice. 1.4.The structure of the concept of “individuality” (according to B. G. Ananyev)

The beginning of the targeted study of man as a biological species can be considered the works of Carl Linnaeus, who identified him as an independent species of Homosapiens in the order of primates. Thus, the place of man in living nature was determined for the first time. This does not mean that the person was not previously of interest to researchers. Scientific knowledge of man originates in natural philosophy, natural science and medicine. However, these studies were narrow-profile, insufficiently systematized, and most importantly, contradictory in nature, and in them man was most often contrasted with living nature. K. Linnaeus proposed to consider man as an element of living nature. And this was a kind of turning point in the study of man.

Anthropology is a special science about man as a special biological species. The structure of modern anthropology includes three main sections: human morphology(study of individual variability of physical type, age stages - from the early stages of embryonic development to old age inclusive, sexual dimorphism, changes in human physical development under the influence of various living conditions and activities), the doctrine of anthropogenesis(on the changing nature of man's closest ancestor and man himself during the Quaternary period), consisting of primate science, evolutionary human anatomy and paleoanthropology (the study of human fossil forms) and racial studies.

In addition to anthropology, there are other related sciences that study humans as a biological species. For example, the physical type of Man as his general somatic organization is studied by such natural sciences as human anatomy and physiology, biophysics and biochemistry, psychophysiology, and neuropsychology. Medicine, which includes numerous sections, occupies a special place in this series.

The doctrine of anthropogenesis - the origin and development of man - is also associated with the sciences that study biological evolution on Earth, since human nature cannot be understood outside the general and consistently developing process of evolution of the animal world. This group of sciences may include paleontology, embryology, as well as comparative physiology and comparative biochemistry.

It must be emphasized that private disciplines played an important role in the development of the doctrine of anthropogenesis. These include, first of all, the physiology of higher nervous activity. Thanks to AND. P. Pavlov, who showed great interest in some genetic problems of higher nervous activity, the most developed department of comparative physiology was the physiology of higher nervous activity of anthropoids.

Comparative psychology, which combines animal psychology and general human psychology, plays a huge role in understanding the development of man as a biological species. Experimental studies of primates in zoopsychology began with the scientific works of such scientists as V. Koehler and N. N. Ladygina-Kots. Thanks to the successes of animal psychology, many mechanisms of human behavior and patterns of mental development have become clear.

There are sciences that are directly related to the doctrine of anthropogenesis, but play a significant role in its development. These include genetics and archaeology. Special place is occupied by paleolinguistics, which studies the origin of language, its sound means and control mechanisms. The origin of language is one of the central moments of sociogenesis, and the origin of speech is the central moment of anthropogenesis, since articulate speech is one;

of the main differences between humans and animals.

In connection with the fact that we touched upon the problems of sociogenesis, we should note the social sciences, which are most closely related to the problem of anthropogenesis. These include paleosociology, which studies the formation of human society, and the history of primitive culture.

Thus, man, as a representative of a biological species, is the object of study of many sciences, including psychology. In Fig. 1.5 presents B. G. Ananyev’s classification of the main problems and sciences about Homosapiens. Anthropology occupies a central place among the sciences that study the origin and development of man as an independent biological species. The main conclusion that allows us to draw the current state of anthropology in relation to human development can be formulated as follows: at some stage of biological development, man was separated from the animal world (the borderline stage of “anthropogenesis-sociogenesis”) and the action of natural selection ceased in human evolution , based on the biological expediency and survival of the individuals and species most adapted to the natural environment. With the transition of man from the animal world to the social world, with his transformation into a biosocial being, the laws of natural selection were replaced by qualitatively different laws of development.

The question of why and how man’s transition from the animal to the social world occurred is central to the sciences studying anthropogenesis, and to date there is no clear answer to it. There are several points of view on this problem. One of them is based on the following assumption: as a result of mutation, the human brain turned into a superbrain, which allowed man to stand out from the animal world and create a society. This point of view is shared by P. Chauchard. According to this point of view, in historical times the organic development of the brain is impossible due to its mutational origin.

There is another point of view, which is based on the assumption that the organic development of the brain and the development of man as a species led to quality

Rice. 1.5.Sciences that study man as a biological object

natural structural changes in the brain, after which development began to be carried out according to other laws that differed from the laws of natural selection. But just because the body and brain remain essentially the same doesn't mean no development occurs. Research by I. A. Stankevich indicates that structural changes occur in the human brain, progressive development of various parts of the hemisphere, separation of new convolutions, and formation of new sulci are observed. Therefore, the question of whether a person will change can be answered in the affirmative. However, these evolutionary changes are mainly

Rice. 1.4.The structure of the concept of “individuality” (according to B. G. Ananyev)

The beginning of the targeted study of man as a biological species can be considered the works of Carl Linnaeus, who identified him as an independent species of Homo sapiens in the order of primates. Thus, the place of man in living nature was determined for the first time. This does not mean that the person was not previously of interest to researchers. Scientific knowledge of man originates in natural philosophy, natural science and medicine. However, these studies were narrow-profile, insufficiently systematized, and most importantly, contradictory in nature, and in them man was most often contrasted with living nature. K. Linnaeus proposed to consider man as an element of living nature. And this was a kind of turning point in the study of man.

of the main differences between humans and animals.

Thus, man, as a representative of a biological species, is the object of study of many sciences, including psychology. In Fig. 1.5 presents B. G. Ananyev’s classification of the main problems and sciences about Homo sapiens . Anthropology occupies a central place among the sciences that study the origin and development of man as an independent biological species. The main conclusion that allows us to draw the current state of anthropology in relation to human development can be formulated as follows: at some stage of biological development, man was separated from the animal world (the borderline stage of “anthropogenesis-sociogenesis”) and the action of natural selection ceased in human evolution , based on the biological expediency and survival of the individuals and species most adapted to the natural environment. With the transition of man from the animal world to the social world, with his transformation into a biosocial being, the laws of natural selection were replaced by qualitatively different laws of development.

Rice. 1.5.Sciences that study man as a biological object

There is another point of view, which is based on the assumption that the organic development of the brain and the development of man as a species led to qualitative structural changes in the brain, after which development began to be carried out according to other laws that differed from the laws of natural selection. But just because the body and brain remain essentially the same doesn't mean no development occurs. Research by I. A. Stankevich indicates that structural changes occur in the human brain, progressive development of various parts of the hemisphere, separation of new convolutions, and formation of new sulci are observed. Therefore, the question of whether a person will change can be answered in the affirmative. However, these evolutionary changes are mainly

will relate to the social conditions of human life and his personal development, and biological changes of the type Homo sapiens will be of secondary importance*.

Thus, man as a social being, as a member of society, is no less interesting for science, since the modern development of man as a species Homo sapiens is no longer carried out according to the laws of biological survival, but according to the laws of social development.

The problem of sociogenesis cannot be considered outside the social sciences. The list of these sciences is very long. They can be divided into several groups depending on the phenomena they study or are associated with. For example, sciences related to art, technological progress, and education.

In turn, according to the degree of generalization of the approach to the study of human society, these sciences can be divided into two groups: sciences that consider the development of society as a whole, in the interaction of all its elements, and sciences that study individual aspects of the development of human society. From the point of view of this classification of sciences, humanity is a holistic entity, developing according to its own laws, and at the same time a multitude of individual people. Therefore, all social sciences can be classified either as sciences about human society, or as sciences about man as an element of society. It should be borne in mind that in this classification there is not a sufficiently clear line between different sciences, since many social sciences can be associated both with the study of society as a whole and with the study of an individual person.

Ananiev believes that the system of sciences about humanity (human society) as an integral phenomenon should include sciences about the productive forces of society, sciences about the settlement and composition of humanity, sciences about production and social relations, about culture, art and science itself as a system of knowledge, science about the forms of society at various stages of its development.

It is necessary to highlight the sciences that study the interaction of man with nature and humanity with the natural environment. An interesting point of view was held on this issue by V.I. Vernadsky, the creator of the biogeochemical doctrine, in which he identified two opposing biogeochemical functions that interact and are associated with the history of free oxygen - the O 2 molecule. These are the functions of oxidation and reduction. On the one hand, they are associated with ensuring respiration and reproduction, and on the other, with the destruction of dead organisms. As Vernadsky believes, man and humanity are inextricably linked with the biosphere - a certain part of the planet on which they live, since they are geologically naturally connected with the material and energy structure of the Earth.

Man is inseparable from nature, but unlike animals, he has activity aimed at transforming the natural environment in order to ensure optimal conditions of life and activity. In this case we are talking about the emergence of the noosphere.

The concept of “noosphere” was introduced by Le Roy together with Teilhard de Chardin in 1927. They were based on the biogeochemical theory outlined by Vernadsky in 1922-1923. at the Sorbonne. According to Vernadsky's definition, the noosphere, or “thinking layer,” is a new geological phenomenon on our planet. In it, for the first time, man appears as the largest geological force capable of transforming the planet.

There are sciences whose subject of study is a specific person. This category may include the sciences of ontogenesis - the process of development of the individual organism. Within the framework of this direction, gender, age, constitutional and neurodynamic characteristics of a person are studied. In addition, there are sciences about personality and its life path, within the framework of which the motives of a person’s activities, his worldview and value orientations, and relationships with the outside world are studied.

It should be borne in mind that all sciences or scientific directions that study man are closely interconnected and together give a holistic picture of man and human society.

However, no matter which direction is considered, various branches of psychology are represented in it to one degree or another. This is not accidental, since the phenomena that psychology studies largely determine the activities of man as a biosocial being.

Thus, a person is a multifaceted phenomenon. His research must be holistic. Therefore, it is no coincidence that one of the main methodological concepts used to study humans is the concept of a systems approach. It reflects the systematic nature of the world order. In accordance with this concept, any system exists because there is a system-forming factor. In the system of sciences that study man, such a factor is the man himself, and it is necessary to study it in all its diversity of manifestations and connections with the outside world, since only in this case can one obtain a complete understanding of man and the patterns of his social and biological development. In Fig. Figure 1.6 shows a diagram of the structural organization of a person, as well as his internal and external relationships.

“According to the degree of “address” to a person, the set of corresponding ideas can be represented as a kind of continuum. At one pole there are schemes in which man as a special subject for study is completely absent, at least in a number of disciplines where he was traditionally present. At the other pole are concepts where a person is, to one degree or another, an object of study, if not all, then very many disciplines. Between these poles you can place almost all any significant circuits.

I will give as an example just two concepts that seem to form the boundaries of a continuum.

The first classification belongs to E.V. Sokolov, his article on this topic was published in the magazine “Chelovek” (Sokolov E.V., Four sciences of the 21st century // Man, 2002, N 1).

The author identifies four “worlds” in which science lives and works: the world of ideas, the world of nature, the world of culture and the human, vital, practical world. Corresponding to these worlds are the basic sciences (I would call them “metasciences”, since each of them must consist of several disciplines): intellectualism (the art of operating with ideas), natural science (natural history), cultural studies (understanding of culture) and praxeology (the theory of action). This classification implements the idea of complexity in its own way. Culturology is called upon to create a multidimensional image of the human world, praxeology is a systematic methodology of activity. However, man as a subject of “total” interdisciplinary analysis is not clearly explicated here.

The second classification was proposed by V.G. Borzenkov. I voice it with the kind permission of the author. According to him, there are about 200 scientific disciplines that are in one way or another involved in the study of man. All of them can be combined into several blocks:

Sciences about humans as a biological species (primatology, archeology, paleosociology, paleolinguistics, population genetics, human biochemistry, etc.);

Sciences about humanity (sociology, economics, demography, ethnography, political science, cultural studies, etc.);

Sciences about human interaction with nature, the noosphere and space exploration (general and social ecology, biogeochemistry, natural sociology, space medicine, space psychology, etc.);

Personality sciences or personalistics (social psychology, pedagogy, ethics, aesthetics, linguistics, relationship psychology, etc.);

Sciences about human ontogenetics (ontopsychophysiology, human embryology, developmental psychology, pedagogy, axiology, gerontology, etc.);

Sciences about man as a subject of theoretical and practical activity (genetic psychology, epistemology, ergonomics, engineering psychology, semiotics, heuristics, etc.).

I would call this classification the concept of “extensive expansion” of human studies issues into various branches of knowledge.

What place should human knowledge (human studies) occupy in this continuum? The answer to this question requires solving a number of fundamental problems in the methodology and philosophy of science, which I do not have the opportunity to dwell on. But, of course, an important role in their decision is played by the idea of what a person represents as a subject of research. At least in general terms. It is impossible to discuss the possibility of creating a science whose subject is not defined.

I am aware that putting forward definitions smacks of scholastic theorizing. Moreover, I am a supporter of the ban M. Scheler to define the nature and essence of man, since such a definition limits human freedom and contradicts his incompleteness. And yet.

In my opinion, there are four main concepts that describe the problematic field of human studies. The first is man as a generic being, as the species Homo sapiens. The second is a person as an individual, a subject of social relations, social processes, etc. The third is a person as a personality, an individual possessing a certain set of intellectual and emotional abilities. Finally, man as a unique individual.

From here we can formulate the following definition of a person: a person is a biological species of Homo sapiens, existing in diverse forms of social organization, possessing a complex system of intellectual and emotional abilities (qualities) and endowed with a unique individuality.

The heuristic value of a definition is determined by many circumstances. I would like to draw your attention to the following. The formulated approach opens, in my opinion, the opportunity to take into account in the study a very important dilemma for human knowledge - the dilemma between the plurality, variety of manifestations of human nature in various forms of social life and the uniqueness of each such manifestation in the personal, individual.”

Manuilsky M.A., Speech at the round table “How is a unified science of man possible?”, The problem of modeling cognitive evolution, in Collection: Multidimensional image of man: on the way to creating a unified science of man / Ed. ed. B.G. Yudina, M., “Progress-Tradition”, 2007, p. 303-305.

Social (social and humanities) sciences- a complex of scientific disciplines, the subject of study of which is society in all manifestations of its life activity and man as a member of society. The social sciences include such theoretical forms of knowledge as philosophy, sociology, political science, history, philology, psychology, cultural studies, jurisprudence (law), economics, art history, ethnography (ethnology), pedagogy, etc.

Subject and methods of social sciences

The most important subject of research in social science is society, which is considered as a historically developing integrity, a system of relationships, forms of associations of people that have developed in the process of their joint activities. Through these forms the comprehensive interdependence of individuals is represented.

Each of the above-mentioned disciplines examines social life from different angles, from a certain theoretical and ideological position, using its own specific research methods. So, for example, in the study of society the category “power” is used, due to which it appears as an organized system of power relations. In sociology, society is considered as a dynamic system of relations social groups of varying degrees of generality. Categories “social group”, “social relations”, “socialization” become a method of sociological analysis of social phenomena. In cultural studies, culture and its forms are considered as value-based aspect of society. Categories “truth”, “beauty”, “good”, “benefit” are ways of studying specific cultural phenomena. , using categories such as “money”, “product”, “market”, “demand”, “supply” etc., explores the organized economic life of society. studies the past of society, relying on a variety of surviving sources about the past, in order to establish the sequence of events, their causes and relationships.

First explore natural reality through a generalizing method, identifying Nature laws.

Second through the individualizing method, non-repeatable, unique historical events are studied. The task of historical sciences is to understand the meaning of social ( M. Weber) in various historical and cultural contexts.

IN "philosophy of life" (V. Dilthey) nature and history are separated from each other and opposed as ontologically alien spheres, as different spheres being. Thus, not only the methods, but also the objects of knowledge in the natural and human sciences are different. Culture is a product of the spiritual activity of people of a certain era, and in order to understand it, it is necessary to experience the values of a given era, the motives of people’s behavior.

Understanding how direct, immediate comprehension of historical events is contrasted with inferential, indirect knowledge in natural sciences.

Understanding Sociology (M. Weber) interprets social action, trying to explain it. The result of this interpretation is hypotheses, on the basis of which an explanation is built. History thus appears as a historical drama, the author of which is a historian. The depth of understanding of a historical era depends on the genius of the researcher. The subjectivity of a historian is not an obstacle to understanding social life, but a tool and method for understanding history.

The separation of the natural sciences and the cultural sciences was a reaction to the positivist and naturalistic understanding of the historical existence of man in society.

Naturalism looks at society from the perspective vulgar materialism, does not see fundamental differences between cause-and-effect relationships in nature and in society, explains social life by natural causes, using natural scientific methods to understand them.

Human history appears as a “natural process,” and the laws of history become a kind of laws of nature. For example, supporters geographical determinism(geographical school in sociology) the main factor of social change is considered to be the geographical environment, climate, landscape (C. Montesquieu , G. Buckle, L. I. Mechnikov) . Representatives social Darwinism reduce social patterns to biological ones: they consider society as an organism (G. Spencer), and politics, economics and morality - as forms and methods of struggle for existence, a manifestation of natural selection (P. Kropotkin, L. Gumplowicz).

Naturalism and positivism (O. Comte , G. Spencer , D.-S. Mill) sought to abandon the speculative, scholastic reasoning characteristic of metaphysical studies of society, and create a “positive,” demonstrative, generally valid social theory in the likeness of natural science, which had already largely reached the “positive” stage of development. However, based on this kind of research, racist conclusions were made about the natural division of people into higher and lower races (J. Gobineau) and even about the direct relationship between class affiliation and anthropological parameters of individuals.

Currently, we can talk not only about the opposition of the methods of the natural and human sciences, but also about their convergence. In the social sciences, mathematical methods are actively used, which are a characteristic feature of natural science: in (especially in econometrics), V ( quantitative history, or cliometrics), (political analysis), philology (). When solving problems of specific social sciences, techniques and methods taken from the natural sciences are widely used. For example, to clarify the dating of historical events, especially those remote in time, knowledge from the fields of astronomy, physics, and biology is used. There are also scientific disciplines that combine methods from the social, humanities and natural sciences, for example, economic geography.

The emergence of social sciences

In antiquity, most social (socio-humanitarian) sciences were included in philosophy as a form of integrating knowledge about man and society. To some extent, jurisprudence (Ancient Rome) and history (Herodotus, Thucydides) can be considered as separate disciplines. In the Middle Ages, social sciences developed within the framework of theology as an undivided comprehensive knowledge. In ancient and medieval philosophy, the concept of society was practically identified with the concept of the state.

Historically, the first most significant form of social theory is the teachings of Plato and Aristotle I. In the Middle Ages, thinkers who made a significant contribution to the development of social sciences include: Augustine, John of Damascus, Thomas Aquinas , Gregory Palamu. Important contributions to the development of social sciences were made by figures Renaissance(XV-XVI centuries) and New times(XVII century): T. More ("Utopia"), T. Campanella"City of Sun", N. Machiavellian"Sovereign". In modern times, the final separation of social sciences from philosophy takes place: economics (XVII century), sociology, political science and psychology (XIX century), cultural studies (XX century). University departments and faculties in the social sciences are emerging, specialized journals devoted to the study of social phenomena and processes are beginning to be published, and associations of scientists engaged in research in the field of social sciences are being created.

Main directions of modern social thought

In social science as a set of social sciences in the 20th century. Two approaches have emerged: scientistic-technocratic And humanistic (anti-scientist).

The main topic of modern social science is the fate of capitalist society, and the most important subject is post-industrial, “mass society” and the features of its formation.

This gives these studies a clear futurological overtone and journalistic passion. Assessments of the state and historical perspective of modern society can be diametrically opposed: from anticipating global catastrophes to forecasting a stable, prosperous future. Worldview task Such research is the search for a new common goal and ways to achieve it.

The most developed of modern social theories is concept of post-industrial society , the main principles of which are formulated in the works D. Bella(1965). The idea of a post-industrial society is quite popular in modern social science, and the term itself unites a number of studies, the authors of which seek to determine the leading trend in the development of modern society, considering the production process in various, including organizational, aspects.

In the history of mankind stand out three phases:

1. pre-industrial(agrarian form of society);

2. industrial(technological form of society);

3. post-industrial(social stage).

Production in a pre-industrial society uses raw materials rather than energy as the main resource, extracts products from natural materials rather than producing them in the proper sense, and intensively uses labor rather than capital. The most important social institutions in pre-industrial society are the church and the army, in industrial society - the corporation and the firm, and in post-industrial society - the university as a form of knowledge production. The social structure of post-industrial society loses its pronounced class character, property ceases to be its basis, the capitalist class is forced out by the ruling elite, possessing a high level of knowledge and education.

Agrarian, industrial and post-industrial societies are not stages of social development, but represent coexisting forms of organization of production and its main trends. The industrial phase begins in Europe in the 19th century. Post-industrial society does not displace other forms, but adds a new aspect associated with the use of information and knowledge in public life. The formation of post-industrial society is associated with the spread in the 70s. XX century information technologies, which radically influenced production, and consequently, the way of life itself. In a post-industrial (information) society, there is a transition from the production of goods to the production of services, a new class of technical specialists is emerging who become consultants and experts.

The main resource of production becomes information(in a pre-industrial society this is raw materials, in an industrial society it is energy). Science-intensive technologies are replacing labor-intensive and capital-intensive ones. Based on this distinction, it is possible to identify the specific features of each society: pre-industrial society is based on interaction with nature, industrial - on the interaction of society with transformed nature, post-industrial - on interaction between people. Society, thus, appears as a dynamic, progressively developing system, the main driving trends of which are in the sphere of production. In this regard, there is a certain closeness between post-industrial theory and Marxism, which is determined by the general ideological prerequisites of both concepts - educational worldview values.

Within the framework of the post-industrial paradigm, the crisis of modern capitalist society appears as a gap between a rationalistically oriented economy and a humanistically oriented culture. The way out of the crisis should be a transition from the dominance of capitalist corporations to scientific research organizations, from capitalism to a knowledge society.

In addition, many other economic and social shifts are planned: the transition from an economy of goods to an economy of services, an increased role of education, changes in the structure of employment and human orientation, the emergence of new motivation for activity, a radical change in the social structure, the development of the principles of democracy , the formation of new policy principles, the transition to a non-market welfare economy.

In the work of a famous modern American futurologist O. Toflera“Future shock” notes that the acceleration of social and technological changes has a shock effect on individuals and society as a whole, making it difficult for a person to adapt to a changing world. The cause of the current crisis is the transition of society to a “third wave” civilization. The first wave is an agricultural civilization, the second is an industrial civilization. Modern society can survive in existing conflicts and global tensions only under the condition of a transition to new values and new forms of sociality. The main thing is a revolution in thinking. Social changes are caused, first of all, by changes in technology, which determines the type of society and the type of culture, and this influence occurs in waves. The third technological wave (associated with the growth of information technology and a fundamental change in communications) significantly changes the way of life, the type of family, the nature of work, love, communication, the form of the economy, politics, and consciousness.

The main characteristics of industrial technology, based on the old type of technology and division of labor, are centralization, gigantism and uniformity (mass), accompanied by oppression, squalor, poverty and environmental disasters. Overcoming the vices of industrialism is possible in the future, post-industrial society, the main principles of which will be integrity and individuality.

Concepts such as “employment”, “workplace”, “unemployment” are being rethought, non-profit organizations in the field of humanitarian development are becoming widespread, the dictates of the market are being abandoned, and narrow utilitarian values that led to humanitarian and environmental disasters are being abandoned.

Thus, science, which has become the basis of production, is entrusted with the mission of transforming society and humanizing social relations.

The concept of post-industrial society has been criticized from various points of view, and the main reproach was that this concept is nothing more than apology for capitalism.

An alternative route is proposed in personalistic concepts of society , in which modern technologies (“machinization”, “computerization”, “roboticization”) are assessed as a means of deepening human self-alienation from of its essence. Thus, anti-scientism and anti-technicism E. Fromm allows him to see the deep contradictions of post-industrial society that threaten the self-realization of the individual. Consumer values of modern society are the cause of depersonalization and dehumanization of social relations.

The basis of social transformations should be not a technological, but a personalist revolution, a revolution in human relations, the essence of which will be a radical value reorientation.

The value orientation toward possession (“to have”) must be replaced by a worldview orientation toward being (“to be”). The true calling of a person and his highest value is love . Only in love is the attitude towards being realized, the structure of a person’s character changes, and the problem of human existence is solved. In love, a person’s respect for life increases, a sense of attachment to the world, unity with existence is acutely manifested, and a person’s alienation from nature, society, another person, and himself is overcome. Thus, a transition is made from egoism to altruism, from authoritarianism to genuine humanism in human relations, and personal orientation to being appears as the highest human value. Based on criticism of modern capitalist society, a project for a new civilization is being built.

The goal and task of personal existence is to build personalistic (communal) civilization, a society where customs and lifestyles, social structures and institutions would meet the requirements of personal communication.

It must embody the principles of freedom and creativity, harmony (while maintaining differences) and responsibility . The economic basis of such a society is the economy of gift. The personalist social utopia is opposed to the concepts of a “society of abundance”, “consumer society”, “legal society”, the basis of which are various types of violence and coercion.

What problems are studied by the human sciences? Science about man. What sciences study humans? Man and his knowledge

HUMAN SCIENCES

Subject and methods of social sciences

The emergence of social sciences

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