Plan

Introduction 3

Culture as a specific sphere of life. Culture and

“second nature”. 3

The structure of culture and its main functions. 7

The problem of periodization of the cultural-historical process. 9

II. Briefly summarize the essence of Jaspers K.’s work “The Origins of History and Its Purpose.” Highlight the main idea of ​​Jaspers K. in the interpretation of world history. 10

III. Tests. eleven

Conclusion. 12

Literature. 13

Introduction.

In many ways, modern concept“culture” as a civilization was formed in the 18th - early 19th centuries Western Europe. Subsequently, this concept, on the one hand, began to include differences between different groups of people in Europe itself, and on the other hand, differences between metropolises and their colonies around the world. Hence the fact that in this case the concept of “culture” is the equivalent of “civilization”, that is, the antipode to the concept of “nature”. Using this definition, one can easily classify individual people and even entire countries according to their level of civilization. Some authors even define culture simply as “all the best things in the world that have been created and said” (Matthew Arnold), and everything that does not fall into this definition is chaos and anarchy. From this point of view, culture is closely related to social development and progress in society. Arnold consistently uses his definition: “...culture is the result of constant improvement arising from the processes of acquiring knowledge about everything that concerns us, it consists of all the best that has been said and thought” (Arnold, 1882).

1. Culture as a specific sphere of life. Culture and “second nature”.

Culture – specific method organization and development of human life, represented in the products of material and spiritual production, in the system of social norms and institutions, in spiritual values, in the totality of people’s relationships to nature, among themselves and to themselves. Culture embodies, first of all, the general difference between human life and biological forms of life. Human behavior is determined not so much by nature as by upbringing and culture. Man differs from other animals in his ability to collectively create and transmit symbolic meanings - signs, language. Beyond the symbolic cultural meanings(notations) not a single object can be included in the human world. In the same way, no object can be created without a preliminary “project” in a person’s head. The human world is a culturally constructed world; all boundaries in it are of a sociocultural nature. Outside the system of cultural meanings, there is no difference between king and courtier, saint and sinner, beauty and ugliness. The main function of culture is the introduction and maintenance of a certain social order. They distinguish between material and spiritual culture. Material culture includes all areas of material activity and its results. It includes equipment, housing, clothing, consumer goods, a way of eating and living, etc., which together constitute a certain way of life. Spiritual culture includes all spheres of spiritual activity and its products - knowledge, education, enlightenment, law, philosophy, science, art, religion, etc. Outside of spiritual culture, culture does not exist at all, just as not a single type of human activity exists. Spiritual culture is also embodied in material media (books, paintings, diskettes, etc.). Therefore, the division of culture into spiritual and material is very arbitrary. Culture reflects the qualitative originality of historically specific forms of human life at various stages of historical development, within different eras, socio-economic formations, ethnic, national and other communities. Culture characterizes the characteristics of people’s activities in specific social spheres (political culture, economic culture, culture of work and life, culture of entrepreneurship, etc.), as well as the characteristics of the life of social groups (class, youth, etc.). At the same time, there are cultural universals - certain elements common to the entire cultural heritage of mankind (age gradation, division of labor, education, family, calendar, decorative arts, dream interpretation, etiquette, etc.). J. Murdoch identified more than 70 such universals. Modern meaning The term "culture" acquired only in the 20th century. Initially (in Ancient Rome, where this word came from) this word meant cultivation, “cultivation” of the soil. In the 18th century, the term acquired an elitist character and meant civilization opposed to barbarism.

The characteristics of the cultural phenomenon are incomplete without clarifying the correlation between the natural and the cultural. Research by culturologists shows that culture is extra-biological, it cannot be reduced to the natural, however, there is nothing cultural to derive and build from except from the natural. That is why they talk about the difference and unity of “natural” and “cultural”. One of the first formulations expressing the specifics of culture sounded like this: “Cultura contra natura.” In other words, culture was understood as something supernatural, different from naturalness, which arose not “by itself,” but as a result of human activity. Culture at the same time includes both the activity itself and its products.

Culture is often defined as “second nature.” This understanding goes back to ancient Greece, in which Democritus considered culture “second nature.” Is this definition correct? In its most general form, one can, of course, accept it. At the same time, we need to figure out whether culture is really opposed to nature? Cultural experts usually classify everything man-made as culture. Nature created man, and he, working tirelessly, created the “second nature”, i.e. space of culture.

Second nature is an expression that emphasizes the inextricable connection of cultural activity with nature, which in this unity is “first”, and culture itself is defined through the word “nature” (albeit second). In interaction with the world, a person uses two main forms of activity. The first is direct human consumption of natural resources in a biochemical, natural way. The second - main form - the transformation of (first) nature, the creation of what is not in it in ready-made form - so-called artifacts. They are designed to provide both biological needs (at a higher level and in addition to the first form), and extra-natural - social needs. The result of this is the “humanization” of nature, the creation of a new world, printing human activity(in contrast to the world of “virgin” nature). In this new one, human world- “second in nature” - includes not only objects and results of labor, but also material foundations public relations, joint activity to overcome not only the “first” (there is less and less of it), but also the “second” nature, as well as changes in the person himself, down to bodily manifestations.

Sometimes this term is simply identified with the concept of “culture”, which is perceived as what is “won” by the labor and spirit of man from nature itself as “nature”. However, there is a certain flaw in this approach to the problem. A paradoxical train of thought arises: to create culture, distance from nature is needed. It turns out that nature is not as important for a person as the culture in which he expresses himself. Isn’t this the origin of a predatory, destructive attitude towards nature in this view of cultural creativity? Doesn't the glorification of culture lead to the devaluation of nature?

One cannot help but see that activity (especially on early stages development of humanity) is organically connected with what nature offers to man in its pristine state. The direct impact of natural factors (landscape, climate, presence or absence of energetic or material resources, etc.) can be traced in various directions: from tools and technologies to features of everyday life and the highest manifestations of spiritual life. This allows us to say that the cultural reality is nothing more than natural, continued and transformed by human activity. At the same time, culture is something opposite to nature, which exists forever and develops without the participation of human activity, and the old cultural scientists are right in this.

Without nature there would be no culture, because man creates in nature. He uses the resources of nature, he reveals his own natural potential. But if man had not transgressed the limits of nature, he would have been left without culture. As a human creation, culture surpasses nature, although its source, material and place of action is nature. Human activity is not entirely given by nature, although it is connected with what nature provides in itself. Human nature, considered without this rational activity, is limited only by the faculties of sensory perception and instincts.

Man transforms and completes nature. Culture is formation and creativity. The contrast between culture and nature does not make sense, since man, to a certain extent, is nature, although not only nature... There was and is not a purely natural man. From the beginnings to the end of its history there was, is and will only be a “cultural man,” that is, a “creative man.”

However, mastery of external nature in itself is not yet culture, although it represents one of its conditions. To master nature means to master not only external, but also internal life, which only man is capable of. He took the first step towards a break with nature, beginning to build his own world on it, the world of culture as the highest stage of evolution. On the other hand, man serves as a connecting link between nature and culture. Moreover, its internal belonging to both of these systems indicates that between them there are relations not of contradiction, but of mutual complementarity and unity.

So, man and culture carry within themselves the nature of mother earth, their natural biological prehistory. This is especially clearly revealed now, when humanity is entering space, where without the creation of an ecological refuge, human life and work are simply impossible. The cultural is natural, continued and transformed by human activity. And only in this sense can one speak of the cultural as a supernatural, extra-biological phenomenon. At the same time, it should be emphasized that culture cannot be above nature, because it will destroy it. A person with his culture is part of an ecosystem, therefore culture is called upon to be part of a system common to nature.

As already noted, in Ancient Rome, under the word “culture” (cultura) understood the cultivation of the soil, its cultivation, and later - all the changes in nature that occur under human influence. Later this term was used to designate everything created by man. Culture began to be understood as a “second nature” created by man, built on top of the first, natural nature, as the entire world created by man. It covers the totality of society’s achievements in material and spiritual life.

Culture- this is a specific way of organizing and developing human life, presented in the products of material and spiritual labor, in the system of social norms and institutions, in spiritual values, in the totality of people’s relationships to nature, among themselves and to themselves . This concept captures both the general difference between human life activity and biological forms of life, and the qualitative uniqueness of historically specific forms of this life activity at various stages social development, within certain eras.

There are two main types of culture - material and spiritual. Material culture represented by material objects in the form of structures, buildings, tools, works of art, everyday items, etc. Spiritual culture includes knowledge, beliefs, convictions, spiritual values, ideology, morality, language, laws, traditions, customs achieved and acquired by people. Spiritual culture characterizes the internal wealth of consciousness, the degree of development of the person himself.

Not all material or spiritual products created by people become part of culture, but only those that are accepted by members of society or part of it and fixed, rooted in their consciousness through recording on paper, other media, in the form of skills, knowledge, customs, rituals etc. The product secured in this way can be transferred to other people, future generations as cultural heritage.

The division of culture into material and spiritual corresponds to two main types of production: material and spiritual.

Classification of culture can also be carried out according to the characteristics of behavior, consciousness and activity of people in specific spheres of social life (work culture, everyday life, artistic culture, political culture), according to the way of life of an individual (personal culture), social group (class culture), etc. d.

Culture is embodied in the practical activities of people - industrial, everyday, political, artistic, scientific, educational, etc., therefore, cultural content can be identified in the sphere of any purposeful social activity of a person. This variety of manifestations of culture determines the ambiguity of its definitions. The concept of culture is used in the meaning historical eras(for example, antique or medieval culture), different ethnic communities (culture of the ancient Greeks, Russian culture, etc.), specific spheres of life or activity (work culture, political culture).

Main elements of culture language, values, and norms serve. Language - it is a conceptual, sign-symbolic element of culture, a communication system carried out using sounds and symbols. Thanks to language, a person structures and perceives the world. Language ensures mutual understanding between people and serves as the most important means of communication, storage and transmission of information from generation to generation. Thus, a common language maintains social cohesion.

Values ​​are beliefs approved and shared by the majority of society regarding the goals set for a person and the main means of achieving them. Values ​​determine the meaning of human activity and society as a whole. In the process of interaction with each other, people evaluate objects and phenomena in terms of their compliance with their needs, in terms of their usefulness and acceptability. The set of values ​​accepted by a person is called value orientation. A distinction is made between the values ​​of society as a whole and the values ​​of individual social communities, classes, and groups. A value system can develop spontaneously, or it can be a theoretically formulated system of views. In the latter case we talk about ideology.

Culture plays big role in the life of society. It acts as a means of concentration, storage and transmission human experience. In this regard, there are several functions of culture. Firstly - this regulatory function . By forming a system of values, culture regulates the nature of people's behavior. For example, a person, sharing one or another value, will strive to realize value orientations and establish connections with those who share his value orientation. Thus, the value content of culture acts as a regulator of human behavior.

Developing within society, the individual assimilates generally accepted rules and cultural values, becoming involved in the complex of interhuman communication - thereby forming his personality. Thus, culture contributes to the development of personality by fulfilling educational And educational functions .

Cultural norms are not the property of just one person. They are shared by many people, and sometimes by the entire society as a whole. In this case, the culture performs unifying (integrative) function , ensuring the unity of society.

Culture concentrates the rich historical experience of society (group, class, people). In this regard, she performs relay function - transfer of this experience to subsequent generations.

The culture of society as a whole is a multifaceted phenomenon, consisting of many of its varieties. Society is heterogeneous; its constituent groups have their own set of values ​​and norms. Therefore, there are several varieties of culture .

There are folk, elite and mass form culture. Folk culture develops as a collective creativity of the people on the basis of continuity and tradition. It represents a synthesis of material and spiritual values. Examples of folk culture include fairy tales, songs, epics, clothing, rituals, tools of labor and everyday life, etc. Authors of works folk art unknown. Passed on from generation to generation, works folk culture can be supplemented, modified, but at the same time retain the special flavor inherent in each nation, those characteristic features by which one can determine which people created this work. In science, the totality of manifestations of folk art is called folklore (from English folklore - folk wisdom). Folklore is usually divided into oral and poetic creativity, a complex of musical, gaming and choreographic types of creativity and fine and decorative arts. The folklore of each nation is distinguished by its originality, pronounced ethnic identity, and peculiar regional and stylistic manifestations.

Elite culture designed for its perception by a limited circle of people who have a special artistic sensibility. This part of society is assessed as elite (from French. elite - best, choice).

Elite, or salon, culture was in former times the lot of upper strata society, such as the nobility. Currently, elite culture refers to works of music, drama, literature, and cinema that are difficult for the general population to understand. Creation of works within elite culture often serves as a means of self-affirmation for their authors. The results of such creativity become the subject of lively debate among critics and art historians, but are not always in demand as an object of mass spiritual consumption. However, there are many examples in history when a cultural phenomenon, which was called elitist, turned out to be a temporary form of self-affirmation of individual social groups, quickly became fashionable and turned into an object of cultural development by wide sections of the population, i.e. object of mass culture.

Mass culture - the most typical way of existence of culture in conditions modern society. Unlike elitist, mass culture consciously orients the values ​​it disseminates towards the average level of development of consumers of its works. The means of disseminating mass culture are books, the press, cinema, television, radio, video and sound recordings, i.e. those objects that can be replicated many times using modern technical means. Consumer Requests popular culture develop spontaneously and contribute to competition in the “entertainment industry.” She being profitable business, has become a unique sector of the economy, colloquially called show business. Mass culture is characterized by universal accessibility and ease of assimilation of the values ​​it creates, which do not require a particularly developed aesthetic taste, and is designed in most cases for leisure time. It conceals the possibility of a powerful means of influencing public consciousness to level views and idealize existing social institutions.

For the most part, the moral promiscuity of mass culture, the emphasis on entertainment and attracting the audience with any yen contribute to the cultivation of scenes of violence, base instincts, popularize representatives of the criminal world, and absolutize the Western way of life.

The diversity of social connections and groups, the specifics of historical eras determined the extensive species diversity of cultures. For example, they distinguish between secular and religious, national and international, political, economic, aesthetic, artistic, moral, scientific, legal and other types of culture.

All achievements of society in the material and spiritual spheres can be characterized as general culture. At the same time, society consists of many social groups, each of which has its own system of cultural values. Such a system of values, attitudes, modes of behavior and life styles of a certain social group, different from the dominant culture in society, but associated with it, is called subculture. Thus, they distinguish between urban and rural, youth and national, criminal and professional subcultures, etc. They differ from the dominant one and from each other in values, norms of behavior, lifestyle and even language.

A special type of subculture is counterculture, which not only differs from the dominant one, but also opposes it, is in conflict with it. If representatives of subcultures, although specific and incomplete, still perceive the basic values ​​and norms of society, then representatives of countercultures abandon these values ​​and oppose themselves to society. For example, criminal counterculture, counterculture of informal youth groups (punks, hippies), etc.

Culture is not something frozen and unchanging. It is dynamic, constantly evolving, replenished with new elements. At the same time, continuity is maintained between the historical stages of cultural development, which allows us to talk about the characteristics of national cultures. In some cases, changes may concern artistic style, production technologies, rules of behavior, etc., but the essence of culture as a whole remains unchanged.

Changes in culture can occur both in the process of purposeful human activity (in literature, science, art), and as a result of spontaneous borrowing of cultural values. The mutual penetration of cultural elements from one society into another when they come into contact is called diffusion . Such penetration can be two-way, when both peoples acquire the cultural achievements of each of them, and one-way, when cultural influence one people prevails over the influence of another. New patterns of culture can be forcibly implanted as a result of the enslavement of one people by another, or imposed by the victorious political struggle social group.

The process of evolutionary development of culture, including its continuity, change and development, is called cultural reproduction . Culture is a way of existence of society. It is impossible to correctly understand the process of social development, its dynamics, if you do not delve into the essence of the value and cultural ideals of people that determine the content and meaning of their actions. On the other hand, society itself acts as a source of cultural development. All this means the inextricable relationship between culture and society. There is no society without culture, just as there is no culture without society.

Questions and tasks

1. Explain the concept of “culture”.

2. What types of culture do you know? What is their difference from each other?
friend?

3. Describe essential elements culture.

4. What functions does culture perform?

5. What types of culture exist? What are the criteria for their selection?

6. Fill out the table:

7. Define concepts "subculture" and "counterculture". Give examples of their manifestation.

8. What is cultural diffusion? Give examples of mutual influence of cultures.

Culture as a system of values ​​and norms.

Culture is a specific way of organizing and developing human life, represented in the products of material and spiritual labor, in the system of social norms and institutions, in spiritual values, in the totality of people’s relationships to nature, among themselves and to themselves.

Culture, first of all, through language, a system of values, norms, ideals, meanings and symbols, gives a person a certain way of seeing and recognizing the world, creating certain forms of life activity in it. Therefore, numerous, often striking differences between countries, peoples, and social groups come down mainly to significant differences in the system of cultural meanings, which are embodied in the language, customs, rituals, functioning in a given country or social community (ethnic, territorial, etc.), traditions, peculiarities of people’s way of life and way of life, organization of their leisure time. In sociology, culture is considered primarily in its social aspect, i.e. from the point of view of its place and role in the social world, in the development of processes of social structuring of society, in the quantitative and qualitative determination of the results of the latter. In this sense, the study of culture means its inclusion in certain conditions of social stratification and territorial distribution. Culture has differentiating class, ethnic, civilizational, religious content, i.e. certain, and important, components of it are aimed at maintaining, ensuring the sustainability and dynamism of the development of certain social, national, territorial and other communities that differ from each other. This is confirmed not only by numerous historical evidence or modern scientific data, but even by everyday observations.

Culture is the phenomena, properties, elements of human life that qualitatively distinguish man from nature. This difference is associated with the conscious transformative activity of man. The concept of “culture” can be used to characterize the behavior of people’s consciousness and activities in certain areas of life.

Culture cannot be seen as a "part" of society, or society as a "part" of culture. Consideration of the functions of culture makes it possible to define culture as a mechanism of value-normative integration of social systems. This is a characteristic of the integral properties of social systems.

A clear distinction between “social” and “cultural” is impossible, but their complete identification is also impossible. Separation of "social" and "cultural" aspects human existence possible only in theory. In practice, they exist in indissoluble unity. Culture is, first of all, a set of meanings and meanings that guide people in their lives.

In the process of its functioning in society, culture appears as a multifaceted value-normative system of symbols, knowledge, ideas, values, norms, patterns of behavior, regulating the behavior of individuals and social groups. But behind this system lies creatively transformative human activity aimed at the creation, distribution, consumption (assimilation) of spiritual and material values.

Values ​​are ideas about what is meaningful and important, which determine a person’s life, allow one to distinguish between what is desirable and what is undesirable, what one should strive for and what should be avoided.

Values ​​determine the meaning of purposeful activity and regulate social interactions. In other words, values ​​guide a person in the world around him and motivate him. The subject’s value system includes:

1) life-meaning values ​​- ideas about good and evil, happiness, purpose and meaning of life;

2) universal values:

a) vital (life, health, personal safety, welfare, education, etc.);

b) public recognition (hard work, social status, etc.);

c) interpersonal communication (honesty, compassion, etc.);

d) democratic (freedom of speech, sovereignty, etc.);

3) particular values ​​(private):

a) attachment to the small homeland, family;

b) fetishism (belief in God, desire for absolutism, etc.). These days there is a serious disruption and transformation of the value system.

Values occupy a leading position with regard to the performance by social systems of functions of preserving and reproducing a model, because they are nothing more than the actors’ ideas about the desired type of social system, and it is they who regulate the processes of the actors’ acceptance of certain obligations.

Values ​​can be classified on different grounds. Based on the type of value, they can be divided into material and ideal. Material values ​​are associated with practical activities, have a material form and are involved in socio-historical practice. Spiritual values ​​are associated with the result and process of intellectual and emotional-figurative reflection of reality. Spiritual ones also differ from material ones in that they are not utilitarian in nature, do not depreciate during consumption, have no consumption limits, and are durable.

There are values ​​that characterize a historical era, socio-economic structure, nation, etc., as well as specific values ​​of professional and demographic groups (for example, pensioners, youth) and other associations of people, including groups with an asocial orientation. The heterogeneity of the social structure of society leads to the coexistence of different, sometimes even contradictory, values ​​in it at any historical period of time.

Highly abstract values, such as love, duty, justice, freedom, are not always realized in the same norms, groups and roles under all circumstances. In the same way, many norms regulate the actions of many groups and roles, but only a certain part of their actions.

In any culture, values ​​are located in a certain hierarchy. At the top of the pyramid of values ​​are the values ​​that make up the core of culture.

The most important elements of human culture include norms, the totality of which is called the normative system of culture. Rules that allow or prohibit something to be done exist in any society. Cultural norms are instructions, requirements, wishes and expectations of appropriate (socially approved) behavior. Norms are some ideal samples (templates). They indicate where, how, when and what exactly a person should do, what to say, think, feel and act in specific situations.

Norms prescribe patterns of behavior and are transmitted to the individual through the process of enculturation. Some rules and regulations are limited private life, others permeate everything social life. Since in a team the public is usually placed above the personal, the rules of private life are less valuable and strict than those of public life, unless, of course, they have changed their status and become public.

Norms are forms of regulation of behavior in a social system and expectations that define the range of acceptable actions. The following types of norms are distinguished:

1) formalized rules (everything that is officially written down);

2) moral rules (related to people’s ideas);

3) patterns of behavior (fashion).

The emergence and functioning of norms, their place in the socio-political organization of society are determined by the objective need to streamline social relations. Norms, by regulating people's behavior, regulate the most diverse types of social relations. They form a certain hierarchy, distributed according to the degree of their social significance.

The formation of norms of behavior is directly related to the concept of culture in the broad sense of the word.

Norms, existing in society and performing the main function in it - to integrate social systems - are always specific and specialized in relation to individual social functions and types of social situations. They not only include elements of the value system, specified to the corresponding levels in the structure of the social system, but also imply specific ways of orientation for action in certain functional and situational conditions specific to certain individuals, groups and roles.

Values ​​and norms are interdependent. Values ​​determine the existence and application of norms, justify and give them meaning. Human life is a value, and its protection is the norm. A child is a value, the parents’ duty to take care of him in every possible way is a social norm. In turn, particularly significant norms become values. In the status of an ideal or standard, cultural norms - values , especially respected and revered by ideas about how the world should be structured and what a person should be. The functional differences between norms and values ​​themselves as regulatory authorities are that values ​​are more correlated with the goal-setting aspects of human activity, while norms gravitate primarily towards the means and methods of its implementation. The normative system determines activity more strictly than the value system, because, firstly, the norm has no gradations: it is either followed or not. Values ​​differ in “intensity” and are characterized by a greater or lesser degree of urgency. Secondly, a specific system of norms is based on internal monolithicity: a person in his activities follows it completely and completely, simultaneously; rejection of any of the elements of this system means instability, inconsistency of his personal structure of relationships. As for the value system, it is, as a rule, built on the principle of hierarchy: a person is able to “sacrifice” some values ​​for the sake of others, and vary the order of their implementation. Finally, these mechanisms, as a rule, perform different role functions in the formation of the personal-motivational structure of activity. Values, acting as certain target guidelines, determine the upper limit of the level of social aspirations of an individual; norms are that average “optimum”, beyond which a person risks being subject to informal sanctions. In any society, values ​​are protected. For violating norms and violating values, all kinds of sanctions and punishments are imposed. A huge mechanism of social control is focused on compliance with cultural norms. The press, radio, television, books promote the norms and ideals that a civilized person must comply with. Violation of them is condemned, and compliance is rewarded.

A cultural norm is a system of behavioral expectations, a cultural image of how people expect to act. From this perspective, normative culture is an elaborate system of norms, or standardized, expected ways of feeling and acting, that members of a society follow more or less precisely. It is obvious that such norms, based on the tacit consent of people, cannot be sufficiently stable. Changes taking place in society are transforming conditions joint activities of people. Therefore, some norms cease to meet the needs of members of society and become inconvenient or useless. Moreover, outdated norms serve as a brake on the further development of human relations, synonymous with routine and inertia. If such norms appear in a society or in any group, people strive to change them in order to bring them into line with changed living conditions. Transformation of cultural norms occurs in different ways. If some of them (for example, norms of etiquette, everyday behavior) can be transformed relatively easily, then the norms that govern the most significant spheres of human activity for society (for example, state laws, religious traditions, norms of linguistic communication) are extremely difficult to change and adoption when modified by members of society, it can be extremely painful. Such a distinction requires a classification of norms and an analysis of the process of norm formation.

Cultural norms perform very important functions in society. They are duties and indicate the measure of necessity in human actions; serve as expectations regarding future action; control deviant behavior.

In an extremely broad sense, “culture” covers everything created by people - from science and religious beliefs to methods of making stone axes. If we use the term “culture” in this meaning, then the forms of human social life can be considered as a product of culture. After all, family, religion, forms of economic activity and political power - all this is not given “by nature,” but arose as a result of human activity and interaction. Forms social life animals are determined by instincts, and therefore, in fact, do not change. The forms of people's social life are constructed by people, albeit in most cases spontaneously and not purposefully; and are characterized by variability and changeability. Packs of wolves and anthills today live according to the same “laws” as hundreds of years ago.

Human societies underwent many changes during this period. We can say that the social forms of human life are a product of culture. But culture is also a product of society, a product of human activity. It is the individuals who make up this or that human community who create and reproduce cultural patterns.

Consideration of the functions of culture makes it possible to define culture as a mechanism of value-normative integration of social systems. This is a characteristic of the integral properties of social systems.

Understanding the phenomenon of culture is characterized by complexity and versatility. Evidence of this is the wide variety of interpretations of this concept. It should be emphasized that in the psychological, philosophical and cultural literature there is enough full analysis evolution of the concept of “culture” and a conclusion was made about the strong dependence of the understanding of culture and the prospects for its development on various methodological, theoretical-cognitive, as well as ideological, socio-political attitudes of researchers.

The authors develop various structural and systemic models of culture, each of which makes it possible to identify the essential features of culture that determine the ways of its formation in humans. The diversity of methodological positions expressively reflects the diversity of interpretations of the concept of “culture”. Different researchers understand it as:

• way of human activity;
• “activity experience”;
• embodied values;
• a specific way of organizing and developing human life, presented in the products of material and spiritual labor, in the system of social norms and institutions, in spiritual values, in the totality of people’s relationships to nature, to each other, to themselves;
• “dialogue of cultures”;
• a system of results of human activity that carries within itself the accumulated experience accumulated by the mind;
• embodiment creative forces society and man in certain cultural values;
• a mechanism that regulates and regulates human behavior and activity in a particular society, where a person acts as a carrier, a subject of this culture;
• as a process of creative self-realization of a person’s essential forces and abilities, expressing the extent of a person’s power over the external and over his own mental and physical nature.

Analyzing such a variety of interpretations of the phenomenon of culture, we can distinguish three main approaches: axiological, activity and personal.

According to the acmeological approach, culture is understood as a set of material and spiritual values ​​created by humanity; It is also noted that culture embraces the values ​​recognized by a particular group, and a person’s assessment of his behavior from the point of view of these values ​​is the most important means of satisfying such an important human need as the need for the meaning of life.

It is also important to note that culture is considered not only as an experience, where it is associated with modern system reproduction of human activity, but the level of phenomena also stands out, which is represented by a set of programs for future, potentially possible types and forms of human activity. At the same time, culture acts as a project of human existence, containing a multifaceted composition of ideas, values, and patterns of behavior that play a huge formative role in the development of civilization, as well as in the development of the individual. Here public importance culture lies in its predictive capabilities, which play the role of models of the need-based future. The activity approach to culture is expressed in its interpretation as a specific way of activity, as a way of realizing the creative powers and abilities of a person in specific activities carried out from the point of view of social significance. They also highlight the technological nature of culture, understanding it as an established system of norms that regulate the activities, interaction and communication of people. At the same time, the social significance of culture is determined by the fact that it is culture that forms the socially oriented activity of a person, orienting him towards the transformation of the environment and the associated self-development of the individual. The implementation of certain activities to reproduce norms with the application of a certain effort by the individual is considered here as a path to culture.

Culture as an activity presupposes the need to consider such historically determined parameters of the psyche as direction, motivational sphere, methods of achieving goals, and finally, the goals themselves, in other words, consideration of the most important psychological realities that formed the basis of methodological quests.

The peculiarity of the personal approach is expressed in the fact that culture is presented as a certain property of the individual, manifested in the ability to self-control, creative realization of one’s activities, thoughts, feelings. Culture in this aspect is spoken of as a measure of human development, and also as rule-making, that is, the creation of new cultural norms, when a person not only mastered the field of professional norms, but made this tradition the background in relation to which he built his own “ figure" (from the point of view of the law of figure and ground in Gestalt psychology). At the same time, the essence of culture as a process of creative self-realization of a person’s essential powers and abilities comes to the fore. In this case, the main importance is attached to the internal position of the individual, and the level of cultural development is judged by the degree of harmony of this position, that is, by the extent to which such a personal position meets social requirements, to what extent the samples created by a person, in terms of their social significance, can become the property of human culture.

We find an attempt to overcome such an interpretation of personality culture in psychological research, where, based on the understanding of culture as a social mechanism for the accumulation, storage and transmission of information of social value, an understanding of individual culture is derived as a system of knowledge, views, beliefs, abilities, skills that facilitate the use of accumulated social information and its transmission into all aspects of life. Based on this understanding of culture, they talk about a culture of communication, behavior, appearance, work, life, recreation, family relationships, thinking, feelings, speech, health.

In acmeological studies, culture is considered as a personal and active characteristic of a person. The determining factor in this case is the socio-philosophical understanding of culture in its humanistic orientation, since it is derived from genetic connection personality and activity and presupposes the sociocultural regulatory activity of the individual when mastering the subject of activity. Culture here acts as a system of ideas, principles, beliefs, abilities, allowing the subject to identify the closest to optimal way of improving his life, ensuring the effective implementation of activities.

Considering culture as a personal and active characteristic of a person, we highlight the concept of “general cultural parameters of personality.”

In personality characteristics there is such a generally recognized concept - “cultural level”. This is an integrating indicator of the development of essential forces achieved by a social subject. This concept is also interpreted broadly: in relation to a group, layer, country, class, society as a whole.

The concept of “cultural level” of an individual reflects the degree of familiarization with global values, ideas, the volume and quality of acquired knowledge, acquired skills and abilities. The cultural level of an individual characterizes in the most general form the degree of mastery of what has been accumulated by humanity during historical development. The main sources of raising the cultural level are education, upbringing, and self-improvement.

• cultural-special level;
• general cultural level.

Both components in unity characterize a personality, but their development may be different, so it makes sense to consider them separately.

The cultural-special level is characterized by educational, qualification parameters of the individual and the degree of application of scientific and technical potential, civilizational achievements, and the own achievements of a particular specialist in a particular field of life activity and creativity. The level of education and qualifications should be considered in the socio-economic context, taking into account the effectiveness of its use, the degree of compliance of the content of education and qualifications with the nature and specifics of work, and the requirements for the workplace. An important component of the cultural-special level is the degree of application of scientific, technical, civilizational achievements, scientific discoveries in the system of professional activity.

The general cultural level of personality development characterizes the degree active attitude to spiritual culture, potential and real cultural activities, system of costs for it, motivation and selectivity, aesthetic tastes, assessments, indicators moral development personality. A high general cultural level of the individual and the entire society is a factor contributing to the development and strengthening of the state. The general cultural level of personality development is characterized by a number of specific parameters: semantic, substantive and qualitative values, which make it possible to identify a certain important personal element of culture and make it possible, in their totality, to make an essential assessment of an individual. It is appropriate to highlight general cultural personality parameters and rank them by importance. However, it should be taken into account that any social parameters are very flexible and multivariate in their expression, and any ranking is relative. It is still necessary to put in first place such a general cultural parameter as civilized naturalness. The unfamiliarity of the sound of the name of this parameter cannot be an obstacle to a person’s understanding of himself as a natural being, endowed with natural, vital forces with an active, natural gift. Moreover, the concept of “civilized naturalness” reveals the substantial internal character culture.

The natural essence of a person plays the role of an indispensable prerequisite and an essential determinant of his life activity. Human actions, whatever they may be, are essentially nothing more than a manifestation of the forces of nature in general. At the same time, it is very important that all the natural inclinations of a living being are intended for perfect and purposeful development. The naturalness of personality is organically integrated into social life. The meaningful and “cultivated” naturalness of a person cannot be considered other than as a condition for the cultural development of society, its survival.

In the teachings of I. P. Pavlov, in Freudianism, neo-Freudianism, modern social and psychological research, there is a significant scientific basis to analyze the influence of a person’s natural qualities on his life activity and on the life of society. But the natural qualities of a person are not just a background of social existence, but a direct factor of this existence. Natural mechanisms are included in human social life, influence it and at the same time are subject to its influence.

The parameter “civilized naturalness” means that a person recognizes himself as an integral, integral and indivisible part of nature and at the same time elevates himself above a number of natural instincts and the naturalness of satisfying physiological needs in accordance with the rules of social existence, moral and ethical standards, common sense and scientific validity. The parameter “civilized naturalness” is difficult to fit into the framework of the optimal number of characteristics, because the number of natural qualities of a person is infinitely large. But the main ones that are relevant today can be formulated as follows:

• awareness of oneself as a part of nature, respect for nature, respect for oneself as a natural being;
• the ability to balance the natural with the personal and social, the ability to morally and ethically regulate personal-natural cohabitation in acceptable forms (body culture, sexual culture, civilized life, etc.);
• attitude towards the natural world as a “relative”, “partner” and “friend” (ecological culture, unity with the rhythms of nature, etc.);
• treating one's own kind as members of the same family. Humanity in the broadest and noblest sense of this concept.

The second general cultural parameter - education - is formed as a result of learning - the main form of human activity in the field of education. The term “learning” (as a process) means the assimilation of knowledge, experience and culture. The main components of the learning process as the formation of the “education” parameter are analysis, synthesis, abstraction, generalization, fixation (consolidation), creativity. The most important, practically significant element of learning is the assimilation of experience. The mechanism for implementing this element is based on assimilation (inclusion of a new social object V traditional schemes) and accommodation (adaptation of original schemes to new objects by changing the structure of the latter). Assimilation and accommodation, by their combination, balance the mismatch between the organism and the environment in the process of assimilation of experience. The accumulation of cultural formations occurs in the course of implementing diverse, historically established forms of activity: work, everyday life, knowledge, communication, learning, interaction, play, creativity. The formation of a person, the accumulation of properties and qualities reflected in the “education” parameter, occur in the process of ascent from elementary communication with carriers of social information and behavior to play, from play to study, from study to work and creativity. Teaching can be considered as a preparatory phase of the formation of a subject as a bearer of culture. Teaching as a condition for the accumulation of content for the formation of the parameter “education” is a necessary preparatory stage mastering culture, including a person in a full-fledged social life, in work, creative activity. And activity is always based on the achievements of the culture of a particular society, which “flow” into the individual through teaching and practical activity. Learning is not limited to knowledge, although the cognitive-orientation side plays a leading role in learning. Learning as a process of accumulating content for the parameter “education” presupposes the assimilation of experience, but not just any experience, but a significant example, norm, cultural achievement. Learning as the assimilation of patterns and norms does not occur in the form of simple translation, but only under the condition of active joint and separate activity of the teacher and the student. The measure of activity determines the quality of learning and accumulation of education. During the course of learning, in parallel with the assimilation of general cultural experience, the acquisition of the individual’s own experience occurs.

Teaching constitutes the main content of education, and education can be considered as a certain system educational forms activities focused on social order, on the sociocultural needs of society.

Learning as a process is not limited only to the mastery of individual values, it is associated with the formation of not only orientation and skills of functional actions, but goes to a broader process - socialization, the formation of an individual as a subject of a given system of social connections, self-development and is one of the forms of education. Therefore, the formation of the “education” parameter presupposes the formation of the “good manners” parameter.

In the course of teaching and upbringing, it is necessary to provide assistance to the individual self in transferring it from the scale of situational existence into the space of existence of the culture of the community. An obligatory element of teaching was and remains the authority of the teacher, trust in the teacher, awe of scientific knowledge and its producers. The most important component The parameter “education” is the spiritual richness of education, which is embodied in the state of the individual. Spiritual saturation has a certain structure, including:

• norms as historically selected patterns of communication in the course of educational activities. Samples act as original casts from previous rituals, customs, spiritual achievements of the people (ethnic group, society);
• the influence of the teacher’s personality as the most clearly expressed, accessible, living expression of an abstract image, norm, meaning, spiritual and professional guideline;
• the spiritual component of the personality model, i.e., the system of ideas about who a person is being formed into.

Full-fledged education is impossible without the formation of a well-defined humanitarian environment, without developing a field of spiritual quest in history, art, philosophy, science, without identifying the horizons of freedom and creativity of the individual.

A measure of a person’s “education” is a stable need for continuous education. The main way to provide spiritual education is the formation of individuality through open spaces of intellectual, moral, aesthetic quests, through self-acquisition of one’s spiritual self through the perception of the spirituality of human culture.

The general cultural parameter “education” means the level of formation of such components as mastering cultural achievements humanity, preparedness for specific types of activities, creativity, readiness for constant self-improvement and development own knowledge, realization of creative potentials.

The third general cultural parameter of a person is his legal maturity. Law acts as a universal normative regulator of human behavior. General social problems are solved through law. Compliance with the principle of the rule of law is the most important sign of the stability of society. Law creates a legal basis for combating arbitrariness and violation of generally accepted norms of behavior. Outside and apart from the law, it is impossible to ensure the safety and personal freedom of people, the development of initiative, entrepreneurship, and creativity. Law denotes a certain freedom of human behavior and promotes the establishment of universal human values.

In regulating social relations, law interacts with other social norms, primarily with moral norms, with moral norms. Morality is an integral part of the spiritual life of society. Moral standards are expressed in public opinion, works fiction, in journalism, religious postulates, etc. Morality and law are closely interconnected as regulators of human behavior. At the same time they have a lot common features, but also significant differences. Law, although it belongs, like morality, to the area of ​​people’s spiritual life, is a set of norms and rules of conduct established and sanctioned by the state, recorded in legal acts. Moral norms are formed in the process of approval, development of moral views, ideals of goodness, truth, justice, etc.

The legal maturity of an individual represents a level of legal and moral fullness of consciousness that allows one to harmoniously, conflict-free and effectively perform official duties and realize one’s vital needs with optimal “restriction of freedom.” A person’s assimilation of legal and moral norms occurs throughout his life and has theoretical and practical levels. The legal maturity of an individual largely depends on the legal maturity of the entire society.

The concept of “legal maturity of society” includes the level of development of law, legislation, awareness of it in the social environment, as well as the state of legality and order. The most important indicator of the legal maturity of a society is the level of legal consciousness, i.e. the totality of legal views, feelings that express the attitude towards the current law, the degree of awareness of the need to comply with legal provisions.

Legal maturity of an individual is manifested:

• knowledge of current legislation;
• respectful attitude towards the law in general, towards one’s rights and responsibilities, towards the rights of other citizens;
• the desire of a citizen to behave in accordance with the prescription of legal norms.

The legal maturity of an individual is characterized by the habit of complying with legal norms. Society is interested in its systematic formation. Social activity acts as the fourth general cultural parameter of personality. By the level of social activity we understand the intensity of a person’s mastery of the totality of opportunities provided by society for a decent life and the degree of a person’s participation in the problems of social development. As society develops, a system of sociocultural standards is formed in it, which the individual assimilates, according to which he builds his behavior (socially active, passive, deviant).

Realization by the individual of his social functions, social role is determined by the level of education, biopsychic qualities, and the level of civilized nature. Any society values, and during periods of profound change, actively promotes people who are competent, decisive, energetic, and capable of taking on complicated socio-psychological, uncomfortable areas of work. The effect of deepening the quality of personality when fulfilling a social role in a specific status position is very important. Systematic fulfillment of a social role improves the system of personality qualities. But the social-role sphere of a person does not develop automatically, but in a complex knot of influencing factors that can be combined into several groups: selection, prescription, autonomy and motivation.

Selection factors act inexorably in society, “sorting” people on the basis of abilities, education, and special qualities. The social environment selects into the circle of performers in various fields of activity people with quite certain properties and qualities. This “natural” selection becomes a fixing factor, as a rule, predetermining all future fate and social activity of the individual. The selection of an individual for a well-defined status role over time, subject to activity, deepens, improves, and accentuates the package of professional properties and qualities, bringing it closer to such a characteristic as high professionalism, when the need for self-realization becomes more important than the need to occupy positions of high prestige.

The mechanism of prescription in the formation of social activity is that the social environment functionally and socioculturally prescribes to the individual that standard set moral, labor, entrepreneurial, creative qualities, which it should focus on or which it must adhere to. Complying to a fairly complete extent with these requirements, the individual receives a high probability of effectively achieving his goals, which stimulates social activity in the direction of obtaining recognition, material benefits, personnel transfer, etc. The autonomy of the individual in the spectrum of social activity is manifested in the search (personality), proposal (of society), choice (by an individual from what is offered by society). Freedom of choice in reality (as opposed to ideally) always has boundaries, but a characteristic of an individual’s social activity is the readiness and ability to search for an option for the optimal use of one’s abilities, the realization of life goals, plans, and ideals. A person chooses his future, options for fulfilling a role in accordance with his life goals and ambitions. By making a choice, a person creates himself in accordance with conscious values ​​and circumstances social environment.

The motivational sphere of social activity involves the formation and development of motives and conditions that stimulate the social activity of the individual, its inclusion in the achievement of socially significant goals. High level social activity does not always directly depend on the cultural level of the individual. Social activity can have economic, everyday and other determinants. However, it is social activity members of society determines the level of expanded reproduction of material and spiritual values, and therefore increases the opportunities for improving society and the individual.

Thus, general cultural parameters of personality are a guideline, on the one hand, and a measure, on the other hand, when we're talking about on assessing social significance specific person, group, team. They allow one to correlate the individual as having reached the level of culture with modern technical, social, and professional living conditions. In general, culture becomes not just a way of activity, borrowed from experience, but the result of personality development, a way of life, a new quality, a new formation of personality. The criterion for a person’s culture is the optimality and constructiveness of her self-expression and the way in which she realizes herself in the process of life.

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Culture (from the Latin culture cultivation, upbringing, education, development, reverence) is a specific way of organizing and developing human life, represented in the products of material and spiritual labor, in the system of social norms and institutions, in spiritual values, in the totality of people’s relationships to nature, among themselves and to themselves.

Two types of cultural elements: 1. Material - these are physical objects created by human hands. They are called artifacts (steam engine, book, temple, residential building). Artifacts have a certain symbolic meaning, perform an intended function and provide value to the group or society. 2. Intangible (spiritual) elements of culture are rules, samples, standards, models and norms of behavior, laws, values, ceremonies, rituals, symbols, knowledge, ideas, customs, traditions, language.

Rules are elements that regulate people’s behavior in accordance with the values ​​of K. Sociocultural norms are standards of behavior. Sign social norm- its imperativeness (imperativeness). A norm is an imperative expression of value, defined by a system of rules that are aimed at its reproduction. Social punishments or rewards that encourage compliance with norms are called sanctions. Positive sanctions(monetary reward, empowerment, prestige). Negative sanctions(fine, reprimand). Sanctions derive their legitimacy from norms.

Agents of culture: big social groups, small social groups, individuals. Cultural institutions are organizations that create, perform, store, distribute artistic works, as well as sponsor and educate the public cultural values(schools and universities, academies of sciences, ministries of culture and education, lyceums, galleries, libraries, theaters, educational complexes, stadiums).

The main functions of culture: 1. Protective function - with the help of artificially created tools and devices, tools, medicines, weapons, Vehicle man has greatly increased his ability to adapt to the world around him and to subjugate nature. 2. Creative transformation function and exploration of the world.

The main functions of culture: 3. Communication function - the transfer of information in any form: oral and written communication, communication between groups of people, nations, the use of technical means of communication. 4. Significative - the function of determining meanings and values. Any natural phenomenon involved in cultural circulation receives its name.

The main functions of culture: 5. Normative function – is responsible for creating norms, standards, and rules of behavior for people. 6. Relaxation function Relaxation is the art of physical and mental relaxation and relaxation. Stylized forms of stress relief, entertainment, holidays, rituals.