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Values in human life: definition, features and their classification

08.04.2015

Snezhana Ivanova

The most important role in the life of an individual and society as a whole is played by values and value orientations...

The most important role not only in the life of each individual person, but also in the whole society as a whole is played by values and value orientations, which primarily perform an integrative function. It is on the basis of values (while focusing on their approval in society) that each person makes his own choice in life. Values, occupying a central position in the structure of personality, have a significant impact on the direction of a person and the content of his social activity, behavior and actions, his social position and his general attitude towards the world, towards himself and other people. Therefore, the loss of the meaning of life by a person is always the result of the destruction and rethinking of the old system of values, and in order to regain this meaning again, he needs to create a new system based on universal human experience and using the forms of behavior and activities accepted in society.

Values are a kind of internal integrator of a person, concentrating around themselves all his needs, interests, ideals, attitudes and beliefs. Thus, the value system in a person's life takes the form of the inner core of his entire personality, and the same system in society is the core of its culture. Value systems, functioning both at the level of the individual and at the level of society, create a kind of unity. This is due to the fact that the personal value system is always formed based on the values that are dominant in a particular society, and they, in turn, influence the choice of the individual goal of each individual and determine the ways to achieve it.

Values in a person's life are the basis for choosing the goals, methods and conditions of activity, and also help him answer the question, why does he perform this or that activity? In addition, values are the system-forming core of the idea (or program), human activity and his inner spiritual life, because spiritual principles, intentions and humanity no longer relate to activity, but to values and value orientations.

The role of values in human life: theoretical approaches to the problem

Modern human values - the most urgent problem of both theoretical and applied psychology, since they influence the formation and are the integrative basis of the activity of not only a single individual, but also a social group (large or small), a team, an ethnic group, a nation and all of humanity. It is difficult to overestimate the role of values in a person's life, because they illuminate his life, filling it with harmony and simplicity, which determines a person's desire for free will, for the will of creative possibilities.

The problem of human values in life is studied by the science of axiology ( in lane from Greek axia / axio - value, logos / logos - a reasonable word, teaching, study), more precisely, a separate branch of scientific knowledge of philosophy, sociology, psychology and pedagogy. In psychology, values are usually understood as something significant for the person himself, something that gives an answer to his actual, personal meanings. Values are also seen as a concept that denotes objects, phenomena, their properties and abstract ideas that reflect social ideals and therefore are the standard of due.

It should be noted that the special importance and significance of values in human life arises only in comparison with the opposite (this is how people strive for good, because evil exists on earth). Values cover the whole life of both a person and the whole of humanity, while they affect absolutely all areas (cognitive, behavioral and emotional-sensory).

The problem of values was of interest to many well-known philosophers, sociologists, psychologists and educators, but the study of this issue began in ancient times. So, for example, Socrates was one of the first who tried to understand what goodness, virtue and beauty are, and these concepts were separated from things or actions. He believed that the knowledge achieved through the understanding of these concepts is the basis of a person's moral behavior. Here it is also worth referring to the ideas of Protagoras, who believed that each person is already a value as a measure of what exists and what does not exist.

Analyzing the category of “value”, one cannot pass by Aristotle, because it is to him that the term “thymia” (or valued) originated. He believed that values in human life are both the source of things and phenomena and the cause of their diversity. Aristotle identified the following benefits:

valued (or divine, to which the philosopher attributed the soul and mind);
praised (impudent praise);
opportunities (here the philosopher attributed strength, wealth, beauty, power, etc.).

Philosophers of modern times made a significant contribution to the development of questions about the nature of values. Among the most significant figures of that era, it is worth highlighting I. Kant, who called the will the central category that could help in solving the problems of the human value sphere. And the most detailed explanation of the process of formation of values belongs to G. Hegel, who described the changes in values, their connections and structure in the three stages of the existence of activity (they are described in more detail below in the table).

Features of changing values in the process of activity (according to G. Hegel)

Steps of activity	Features of the formation of values
first	the emergence of a subjective value (its definition occurs even before the start of actions), a decision is made, that is, the value-goal must be concretized and correlated with external changing conditions
second	Value is in the focus of the activity itself, there is an active, but at the same time contradictory interaction between value and possible ways its achievements, here the value becomes a way for the formation of new values
third	values are woven directly into activity, where they manifest themselves as an objectified process

The problem of human values in life has been deeply studied by foreign psychologists, among which it is worth noting the works of V. Frankl. He said that the meaning of human life as its basic education finds its manifestation in the system of values. Under the values themselves, he understood the meanings (he called them “universals of meanings”), which are characteristic of a greater number of representatives not only of a particular society, but of humanity as a whole throughout the entire path of its development (historical). Viktor Frankl focused on the subjective significance of values, which is accompanied, first of all, by the person taking responsibility for its implementation.

In the second half of the last century, values were often considered by scientists through the prism of the concepts of "value orientations" and "personal values". The greatest attention was paid to the study of the value orientations of the individual, which was understood both as an ideological, political, moral and ethical basis for a person's assessment of the surrounding reality, and as a way of differentiating objects according to their significance for the individual. The main thing that almost all scientists paid attention to was that value orientations are formed only thanks to the assimilation of social experience by a person, and they find their manifestation in goals, ideals, and other manifestations of personality. In turn, the system of values in human life is the basis of the content side of the orientation of the individual and reflects its internal attitude in the surrounding reality.

Thus, value orientations in psychology were considered as a complex socio-psychological phenomenon that characterized the orientation of the personality and the content side of its activity, which determined the general approach of a person to himself, other people and to the world as a whole, and also gave meaning and direction to his personality. behavior and activities.

Forms of existence of values, their signs and features

Throughout its history of development, humankind has developed universal or universal values that have not changed their meaning or diminished their significance for many generations. These are such values as truth, beauty, goodness, freedom, justice and many others. These and many other values in a person's life are associated with the motivational-need sphere and are an important regulatory factor in his life.

Values in psychological understanding can be represented in two meanings:

in the form of objectively existing ideas, objects, phenomena, actions, properties of products (both material and spiritual);
as their significance for a person (value system).

Among the forms of existence of values, there are: social, subject and personal (they are presented in more detail in the table).

Forms of existence of values according to O.V. Sukhomlinsky

Of particular importance in the study of values and value orientations were the studies of M. Rokeach. He understood by values positive or negative ideas (and abstract ones), which are in no way connected with any particular object or situation, but are only an expression of human beliefs about types of behavior and prevailing goals. According to the researcher, all values have the following features:

the total number of values (significant and motivated) is small;
all values in people are similar (only the steps of their significance are different);
all values are organized into systems;
the sources of values are culture, society and social institutions;
values have an impact on a large number of phenomena that are studied by a variety of sciences.

In addition, M. Rokeach established a direct dependence of a person's value orientations on many factors, such as his income level, gender, age, race, nationality, level of education and upbringing, religious orientation, political beliefs, etc.

Some signs of values were also proposed by S. Schwartz and W. Bilisky, namely:

values are understood as either a concept or a belief;
they refer to the desired end states of the individual or to his behavior;
they have a supra-situational character;
are guided by the choice, as well as the assessment of human behavior and actions;
they are ordered by importance.

Classification of values

Today in psychology there is a huge number of very different classifications of values and value orientations. Such diversity appeared due to the fact that values are classified according to various criteria. So they can be combined into certain groups and classes, depending on what types of needs these values satisfy, what role they play in a person's life and in what area they are applied. The table below shows the most generalized classification of values.

Classification of values

Criteria	Values can be
assimilation object	material and moral
subject and object content	socio-political, economic and moral
subject of assimilation	social, class and values of social groups
purpose of assimilation	selfish and altruistic
generalization level	concrete and abstract
mode of manifestation	persistent and situational
the role of human activity	terminal and instrumental
content of human activity	cognitive and object-transforming (creative, aesthetic, scientific, religious, etc.)
belonging	individual (or personal), group, collective, public, national, universal
group-society relationship	positive and negative

From point of view psychological characteristics of human values, the classification proposed by K. Khabibulin is interesting. Their values were divided as follows:

depending on the subject of activity, values can be individual or act as values of a group, class, society;
according to the object of activity, the scientist singled out material values in human life (or vital) and sociogenic (or spiritual);
depending on the type of human activity, values can be cognitive, labor, educational and socio-political;
the last group consists of values according to the way of performing activities.

There is also a classification based on the allocation of vital (human ideas about good, evil, happiness and sorrow) and universal values. This classification was proposed at the end of the last century by T.V. Butkovskaya. Universal values, according to the scientist, are:

vital (life, family, health);
social recognition (values such as social status and ability to work);
interpersonal recognition (exhibition and honesty);
democratic (freedom of expression or freedom of speech);
particular (belonging to a family);
transcendental (manifestation of faith in God).

It is also worth dwelling separately on the classification of values according to M. Rokeach, the author of the most famous method in the world, the main purpose of which is to determine the hierarchy of a person's value orientations. M. Rokeach divided all human values into two broad categories:

terminal (or value-goals) - the person's conviction that the ultimate goal is worth all the effort to achieve it;
instrumental (or value-methods) - a person's conviction that a certain way of behavior and actions is the most successful for achieving the goal.

There are many other classifications of values, summary which are shown in the table below.

Value classifications

Scientist	Values
V.P. Tugarinov	spiritual	education, art and science
	socio-political	justice, will, equality and brotherhood
	material	various types of material goods, technology
V.F. Sergeants	material	tools and methods of implementation
V.F. Sergeants	spiritual	political, moral, ethical, religious, legal and philosophical
A. Maslow	being (B-values)	higher, characteristic of a person who is self-actualizing (values of beauty, goodness, truth, simplicity, uniqueness, justice, etc.)
A. Maslow	scarce (D-values)	lower, aimed at satisfying a need that has been frustrated (values such as sleep, security, dependence, peace of mind, etc.)

Analyzing the presented classification, the question arises, what are the main values in human life? In fact, there are a lot of such values, but the most important are common (or universal) values, which, according to V. Frankl, are based on three main human existentials - spirituality, freedom and responsibility. The psychologist identified the following groups of values ("eternal values"):

creativity that allows people to understand what they can give to a given society;
experiences, thanks to which a person realizes what he receives from society and society;
relationships that enable people to realize their place (position) in relation to those factors that somehow limit their lives.

It should also be noted that the most important place is occupied by moral values in human life, because they play a leading role in people's decisions related to morality and moral standards, and this in turn indicates the level of development of their personality and humanistic orientation.

The system of values in human life

The problem of human values in life occupies a leading position in psychological research, because they are the core of the personality and determine its direction. In solving this problem, a significant role belongs to the study of the value system, and here the research of S. Bubnova, who, based on the works of M. Rokeach, created her own model of the system of value orientations (it is hierarchical and consists of three levels), had a serious impact. The system of values in human life, in her opinion, consists of:

values-ideals, which are the most general and abstract (this includes spiritual and social values);
values-properties that are fixed in the process of human life;
values-modes of activity and behavior.

Any system of values will always combine two categories of values: values-goals (or terminal) and values-methods (or instrumental). Terminal includes the ideals and goals of a person, group and society, and instrumental - ways to achieve goals that are accepted and approved in a given society. Values-goals are more stable than values-methods, therefore they act as a system-forming factor in various social and cultural systems.

To the specific system of values that exists in society, each person shows his own attitude. In psychology, there are five types of human relations in the value system (according to J. Gudechek):

active, which is expressed in a high degree of internalization of this system;
comfortable, that is, externally accepted, but at the same time a person does not identify himself with this system of values;
indifferent, which consists in the manifestation of indifference and complete lack of interest in this system;
disagreement or rejection, manifested in a critical attitude and condemnation of the value system, with the intention of changing it;
opposition, which manifests itself both in internal and external contradiction with this system.

It should be noted that the system of values in human life is the most important component in the structure of the personality, while it occupies a borderline position - on the one hand, it is a system of personal meanings of a person, on the other, its motivational-need sphere. Values and value orientations of a person act as the leading quality of a person, emphasizing its uniqueness and individuality.

Values are the most powerful regulator of human life. They guide a person on the path of his development and determine his behavior and activities. In addition, the focus of a person on certain values and value orientations will certainly have an impact on the process of formation of society as a whole.

Two types of civilizations - open societies and closed societies - have not only different, but, one might say, diametrically opposed value systems.

The universal values that characterize not only the modern, but also any era, fall into two sets of opposite values: the values of an open society and the values of a closed society. The values of the intermediate societies that lie between the individualistic and collectivist societies, as a rule, represent some combination of the values of these polar societies. If, say, in an open society, freedom is the ability to do what the individual chooses and what does not interfere with the corresponding freedom of other people, then in a closed society, freedom is a conscious necessity, namely, the need to do what is necessary to realize the main goal of this society. .

Marx once remarked that human anatomy is the key to understanding ape anatomy. A higher stage in the development of a phenomenon allows a clearer understanding of the previous stages of its development. In this sense, the history of the last century is the key to understanding the whole of human history.

The following discussion focuses primarily on modern post-capitalism and modern extreme, or totalitarian, socialism in its communist and national socialist variants. The analysis concerns both the material and spiritual aspects of the life of post-capitalist and socialist societies, since the dynamics of the development of individual societies is determined primarily by the interaction of these two sides. The societies lying between post-capitalism and socialism and gravitating towards one of these poles will not be specially considered.

Society of the 20th century - this is a society split into two opposing systems - post-capitalism and socialism, between which there are many countries, with one or another force gravitating towards one of these two poles.

It should be noted that the term "socialism" is used in two different senses. Firstly, socialism means a concept that sets the global goal of overthrowing capitalism, building in the foreseeable future a perfect society that completes the history of mankind, and requiring the mobilization of all resources at the disposal of society to achieve this goal. Secondly, socialism is a real society trying to realize socialist ideals. Socialism in the first sense is theoretical socialism. Socialism in the second sense is practical or real socialism. The divergence between socialist theory and socialist practice is, as the history of the last century has demonstrated, radical. If theoretical socialism depicts an almost heavenly life that is about to begin on earth thanks to the selfless efforts of society, then socialist practice is a real hell, in the fire of which tens of millions of innocent victims are burned.

Socialism existed in two main forms - in the form of left-wing socialism, or communism, and in the form of right-wing socialism, or national socialism. By the middle of the century, National Socialism, which unleashed a war for its world domination, was defeated. By the end of the century, communism, also striving to assert its power on a global scale, disintegrated under the weight of the insoluble problems generated by it.

Post-capitalist and socialist societies are fundamentally different. At the same time, there are certain similarities between these two extreme types of social structure. This is precisely the similarity about which they say: extremes converge.

The essence of the similarities between post-capitalism and socialism boils down to the following:

- each of these societies tends to present itself as the only successfully developing civilization, and in the industrial age, when humanity begins to acquire more and more unity, as the vanguard of all mankind;
- each of them considers scientific and technical domination over the world, the ever-increasing exploitation of the environment as its highest meaning;
- these societies deny the idea of equality of different cultures and their diversity that cannot be reduced to a common denominator;
- these societies consider their task in relation to other cultures to be spurring their forward movement in the direction of goals that seem obvious to them;
- the cult of analytical thought and utilitarian reason plays an exceptional role in these societies;
- these societies disdain non-technical criteria for determining the level of development of a particular society or people;
- a simplified concept of development makes these societies skeptical about the culture of the past, the uniqueness of the existence of other peoples, to all, except their own, customs and traditions;
- these societies tend to neglect national differences, focusing their attention on activities that are, in essence, international;
- these societies largely lose the ability to doubt themselves, they remain deaf to criticism from outside;
- culture in the ethnic sense, which includes a mandatory adherence to an unshakable tradition, is sacrificed by them to culture, understood primarily as artistic and literary creativity;
- these societies deny that different forms of organization human life And different systems symbolic understanding of being are worthy of equal respect.

Summarizing general characteristics two poles of modern society, it can be said that the first entry of industrial collectivism onto the world stage was unsuccessful. National Socialism suffered a crushing military defeat, its leaders either committed suicide or were hanged by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal. In most developed countries, the National Socialist ideology is now banned. Socialism of the communist type has achieved more: it has covered almost a third of humanity and occupied almost half of the earth's surface. But his success turned out to be temporary: already in the 1970s. it became clear that this form of socialism, too, was doomed.

The departure from the historical arena of the two leading forms of socialism inspired many with the conviction that socialism is a historically accidental phenomenon, some kind of unfortunate deviation from the main path of history, and that now one can safely forget about socialist collectivism, which has gone forever into the past.

Such a belief is only an illusion, and a dangerous one at that. Post-industrial collectivism is unlikely to return on a large scale in the form of old socialism (National Socialism or Communism). But it cannot be ruled out that post-industrial collectivism will return in some new, yet unknown form.

Collectivism is generated not by mythical universal historical laws, but by the changing circumstances of real human history. The source of collectivism is not theories invented by outstanding thinkers and then set in motion by the broad masses. Theories are secondary, and the main source of collectivism is, in the most general way, need. The extreme degree of exacerbation of social problems and the lack of other means to solve them, except for the consolidation of the whole society to overcome the current situation, make it necessary to introduce centralized management of the economy first, and then other spheres of life, to neglect the rights and freedoms of the individual, to use violence to achieve a global goal, etc. d.

A typical example of this kind of need is war, forcing even democratic states to impose restrictions on freedom, democracy, competition, partially nationalize property, etc. The communist and national socialist varieties of economy, government and lifestyle are the product of critical situations. These are powerful but dangerous means used to counteract a "disease" that seems hopeless. In conditions of "disease" they are sometimes useful and help restore normal "health". As soon as "health" improves, such a medicine not only ceases to be necessary, but even becomes harmful to society. Usually it is gradually abolished and replaced by the normal rhythm of social, cultural and individual life, free from emergency regulation. But as the experience of the last century shows, this does not always happen.

Thus, the sharp weakening of post-industrial collectivism does not mean that in the event of the onset of new deep social crises, it will not return to the historical stage in some updated form. The discussion of the core values of collectivism is not a subject of purely historical interest.

So, the "modern era" refers to the society of the late XIX - early XXI century. Modern society is not only the present, but also the recent past and the historically foreseeable future.

Let us first consider such values of an open society as civil society, democracy, freedom, human rights, etc. We can say that these are the fundamental values of such a society. However, it must be taken into account that the values of each society form a complex system that, like a network, entangles the entire society and in which only in abstraction can higher and lower values be distinguished.

Currently, Russia is in the process of transition from a closed, collectivist society to an open, individualistic one. It is therefore natural that the discussion of the values of the modern era begins with the values of an open society.

Civil society is a sphere of spontaneous self-manifestation of free individuals and their voluntary associations, protected by laws from direct interference and arbitrary regulation by state authorities.

Civil society includes the entire set of non-political relations in society, namely, economic, social, family, spiritual, moral, national, religious, etc. Being a counterbalance to the state, civil society, as a set of various and fairly strong non-governmental institutions, plays the role of a peacemaker and arbiter between the main interest groups and restrains the desire of the state to dominate and atomize society.

The term "civil society" was first used in the 16th century. in a commentary on Aristotle's Politics, where civil society was opposed to " political society”, that is, the world of professional politics. In a tradition dating back to Marx, civil society is opposed to the state. Since the 1970s the term "civil society" becomes one of the most popular in disputes about the differences between capitalism and socialism.

In a capitalist society, the state does not interfere in the private life of people, does not impose on them a single ideology and a single system of values. The diverse interests of people are realized through their joint actions, for the organization of which people enter into voluntary associations and associations that are not accountable to the state. Non-governmental, non-governmental organizations that reflect the interests of people are not included in official statistics and are difficult to account for. According to some data, hundreds of thousands of such organizations are financed from more than 25,000 charitable foundations in the US alone. In Norway, there is one non-governmental organization for every 6 inhabitants.

Cicero also said that “a people is not just a group of people united in one way or another; people appear where people are united by agreement on rights and laws, as well as a desire to promote mutual benefit.

Civic associations contribute to the development of a spirit of cooperation, solidarity and devotion to the group among their members. Individuals who voluntarily join a group with a wide range of goals and preferences among its members not only acquire the skills of cooperation and a sense of civic responsibility for collective undertakings, but also involuntarily learn self-discipline, tolerance and respect for the opinions of others.

The state always seeks to subjugate citizens, to narrow the scope of their unregulated activities, to divide them. Civil society, being a counterbalance to the state, seeks to limit its activities to the political sphere, leaving all other areas of life to the free choice of individuals. Civil society does not allow the state to expand the scope of its activities and extend it to the moral, spiritual, religious, national and other relations of people. Absorption of civil society by the state is one of the characteristic features of totalitarianism.

Marxism dreamed of liberating man from the duality between political and economic concerns, of erasing the line between a political, moral man and an economic, egoistic man. Since this line is an integral feature of civil society, Marxism regarded the latter as a fraud. The variety of civil society institutions that oppose the state, balancing it and at the same time being under the control and patronage of the state, is, from the position of Marxism, only a facade that hides oppression and violence. Worse than that, this facade contributes to the strengthening of oppression. The state protecting civil society and civil society acting as a counterbalance to the state are all superfluous.

The communist state, which carried out a radical restructuring of the economic, social and spiritual life of society, did not assume either the separation of economics and politics, or the autonomy and sovereignty of its individuals. This state has deprived civil society of all its functions and absorbed it. Civil society for many decades ceased to be a counterbalance to the state, which gained complete control over all aspects of the life of communist society. Becoming in modern Russia civil society is the basis and guarantee of the irreversibility of democratic transformations. Only in civil society are there conditions that force people to accept the social order voluntarily, without fear.

Civil society and the state must be in constant dynamic balance. The sharp weakening, in fact, the destruction of civil society has led in the recent past to the hypertrophied growth of the state, which has become totalitarian. The weakening of the state in the current conditions leads to the growth of civil society, the appearance of elements of anarchy in it and the fall of its controllability.

To describe the interaction between civil society and the state, it is expedient to use the previously introduced distinction between communitarian and structural social relations. The first are relations of equal people in everything, the second are relations by positions, statuses and roles, openly suggesting the inequality of individuals.

Social life is a process that includes the consistent experience of the commune (community) and structure, equality and inequality. Structural relations can be interpreted as relations of power or coercion, if power is defined as the ability of one individual to exert pressure on another and change his behavior. Structurality, or power, is dispersed throughout society, rather than concentrated within the ruling elite, ruling class etc. The relationship of coercion or pressure takes place not only between leaders and their subordinates, but also in all those cases when, in one form or another, inequality of individuals is found, starting with the inequality of their status and ending with the inequality of their opportunities to follow fashion.

Communitarian relations are especially clearly manifested in situations of transition: moving in space (passengers of transport), changing jobs (community of the unemployed), elections of authorities (community of voters), radical social reforms and revolutions (society as a whole), etc. Communitarian relations are characteristic for religious communities, whose members, preparing for the transition to another world, are equal and voluntarily submit to spiritual mentors. Communitarian relations exist in the cells of civil society (unions, associations, clubs), in political parties, etc. In the case of especially distinct communal relations, reminiscent of genuine friendship or love, individuals act as integral individuals, in everything or almost equal to each other. “Only in love and through love can one understand another person” - this means that a prerequisite for deep understanding is purely communitarian relations between people who come into contact with each other.

Structurality is anti-community, inequality of individuals, the variety of their classifications and oppositions according to status, role, position, property, gender, clothing, etc.

Communitarian relationships are sometimes called ties horizontal character and structural relationships - connections vertical character. The fundamental contrast between horizontal and vertical links is quite obvious.

Communitarian relations only in rare cases appear in their pure form. They are usually intertwined with structural relationships. For example, in a family where all its members are generally equal, there are also children and parents.

Communitarian relations express the deep essence of a person - the unity of all people, their tribal community. In a certain sense, they are more fundamental than structural relationships: the president of the company, his wife and his driver are first of all people, beings belonging to the same biological species, and only then and on this basis - different people who differ in their positions, roles and statuses. Communitarian relations express the essential and generic connection between people, without which no society is conceivable.

Social life is always a complex dynamic of equality and inequality, communitarian and structural relations. If some of them get a clear advantage over others, it can be said about the society that it is unhealthy. The exaggeration of the structure leads to the fact that communitarian relations are manifested from the outside and against the "law". The exaggeration of the role of communitarian relations in egalitarian political movements, as a rule, soon gives way to despotism, bureaucratization or other types of structural hardening. A typical example in this regard was the communist society. It sought to make communitarian relations dominant and gradually oust structural relations from all or almost all spheres of life (the withering away of the state, law, centralized economy and management, the transformation of society into a system of self-governing communities, or communes). In reality, the attempt to create a "community of equals" led to despotism, unambiguous hierarchies and structural rigidity.

Society is, as it were, two "models" of human interconnectedness, overlapping and alternating. The first is a model of society as a structural, differentiated and often hierarchical system of political, legal and economic regulations with many types of assessments that separate people on the basis of "more" or "less". The second model, especially clearly distinguishable in transitional periods (elections, revolutions, etc.), is society as a non-structural or rudimentary structural undifferentiated community of equal individuals who are subject to the supreme authority of ritual "leaders".

One of the main sources of structuring society is the state; the main source of communal social relations is civil society.

ESSAY

discipline: Culturology

Ideals in modern society

Introduction

2. Cultural space of the 60s and modern Russia

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The fundamental characteristic of the human environment in modern society is social change. For an ordinary person subject social cognition the instability of society is perceived, first of all, as the uncertainty of the existing situation. Therefore, there is a twofold process in relations with the future. On the one hand, in a situation of instability and uncertainty about the future, which exists even among the wealthy segments of the population, a person tries to find something that will give him confidence, support in possible future changes. Some people try to secure their future through property, others try to build on higher ideals. For many, it is education that is perceived as a kind of guarantee that increases security in changing social circumstances and contributes to confidence in the future.

Morality is a way of regulating people's behavior. Other ways of regulation custom and law. Morality includes moral feelings, norms, commandments, principles, ideas about good and evil, honor, dignity, justice, happiness, etc. Based on this, a person evaluates his goals, motives, feelings, actions, thoughts. Everything in the surrounding world can be subjected to moral evaluation. Including the world itself, its structure, as well as society or its individual institutions, actions, thoughts, feelings of other people, etc. A person can subject even God and his deeds to a moral assessment. About it we are talking, for example, in the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky "The Brothers Karamazov", in the section on the Grand Inquisitor.

Morality is, therefore, such a way of understanding and evaluating reality, which can judge everything and can pass judgment on any event, phenomenon of the outer world and the inner world. But in order to judge and pass a sentence, one must, firstly, have the right to do so, and, secondly, have criteria for evaluation, ideas about moral and immoral.

In modern Russian society, spiritual discomfort is felt, largely due to the moral conflict of generations. Modern youth cannot accept the way of life and style of thinking idealized by the elders, while the older generation is convinced that it used to be better, that modern society is soulless and doomed to decay. What gives the right to such a moral assessment? Does it have a healthy grain? This work is devoted to the analysis of the problem of ideals in modern society and its applicability to the current situation in Russia.

1. Ideals and values: a historical overview

Moral assessment is based on the idea of how "should be", i.e. an idea of some proper world order, which does not yet exist, but which nevertheless should be, an ideal world order. From the point of view of moral consciousness, the world should be kind, honest, fair, humane. If he is not like that, so much the worse for the world, it means that he has not yet grown up, has not matured, has not fully realized the potentialities inherent in him. Moral consciousness "knows" what the world should be like and thus, as it were, pushes reality to move in this direction. Those. moral consciousness believes that the world can and should be made more perfect. The current state of the world does not suit him, it is basically immoral, there is still no morality in it and it must be introduced there.

In nature, everyone strives to survive and competes with others for the good things of life. Mutual assistance and cooperation are rare phenomena here. In society, on the contrary, life is impossible without mutual assistance and cooperation. In nature, the weak perish; in society, the weak are helped. This is the main difference between man and animal. And this is something new that a person brings into this world. But a person is not “ready” for this world, he grows out of the realm of nature and in it the natural and human principles compete all the time. Morality is the expression of the human in man.

A true person is one who is able to live for others, help others, even sacrifice himself for others. Self-sacrifice is the highest manifestation of morality, embodied in the image of the God-man, Christ, who for a long time remained an unattainable ideal for people, a role model. From biblical times, man began to realize his duality: a man-beast began to turn into a man-god. After all, God is not in heaven, he is in the soul of everyone and everyone is capable of being a god, i.e. to sacrifice something for the sake of others, to give others a particle of yourself.

The most important condition of morality is human freedom. Freedom means independence, autonomy of a person from the outside world. Of course, man is not God, he is a material being, he lives in the world, he must eat, drink, survive. And yet, thanks to consciousness, a person gains freedom, he is not determined by the outside world, although he depends on it. A person defines himself, creates himself, decides what he should be. If a person says: “What can I do? Nothing depends on me,” he himself chose unfreedom, his dependence.

Conscience is indisputable evidence that a person is free. If there is no freedom, then there is nothing to judge for: an animal that killed a person is not judged, a car is not judged. A person is judged and, above all, he is judged by his own conscience, unless he has already turned into an animal, although this is also not uncommon. Free, according to the Bible, a person is considered even by God, who endowed him with free will. Man has long understood that freedom and happiness, and a burden. Freedom, identical to reason, distinguishes man from animals and gives him the joy of knowledge and creativity. But, at the same time, freedom is a heavy responsibility for oneself and one's actions, for the world as a whole.

Man, as a creature capable of creativity, is similar to God or nature as a whole, to that creative force that creates the world. This means that he is able to either improve this world, make it better, or destroy, destroy. In any case, he is responsible for his actions, for his actions, big and small. Every action changes something in this world, and if a person does not think about it, does not track the consequences of his actions, then he has not yet become a man, a rational being, he is still on his way and it is not known where this path will lead.

Is there one moral or are there many? Maybe everyone has their own morality? It is not so easy to answer this question. Obviously, in society there are always several codes of conduct practiced in various social groups.

The regulation of relationships in society is largely determined by moral traditions, which include a system of moral values and ideals. A significant place in the emergence and evolution of these ideals belongs to philosophical and religious systems.

In ancient philosophy, a person realizes himself as a cosmic being, tries to comprehend his place in space. The search for truth is the search for an answer to the question of how the world works and how I myself work, what is good, goodness. The traditional notions of good and evil are rethought, the true good is singled out as opposed to the fact that it is not a true good, but is only considered as such. If ordinary consciousness considered wealth and power, as well as the pleasures they bring, to be good, philosophy singled out the true good of wisdom, courage, moderation, justice.

In the era of Christianity, there is a significant shift in moral consciousness. There were also general moral principles formulated by Christianity, which, however, were not particularly practiced in ordinary life even among the clergy. But this in no way devalues the significance of Christian morality, in which important universal moral principles and commandments were formulated.

With its negative attitude towards property in any of its forms ("do not collect treasures on the ground"), Christian morality opposed itself to the type of moral consciousness that prevailed in the Roman Empire. The main idea in it is the idea of spiritual equality of the equality of all before God.

Christian ethics readily accepted everything acceptable to it from earlier ethical systems. Thus, the well-known rule of morality “Do not do to a man what you do not wish for yourself”, the authorship of which is attributed to Confucius and the Jewish sages, entered the canon of Christian ethics along with the commandments of the Sermon on the Mount.

Early Christian ethics laid the foundations of humanism, preaching philanthropy, unselfishness, mercy, non-resistance to evil by violence. The latter presupposed resistance without causing harm to another, moral opposition. However, this in no way meant giving up their beliefs. In the same sense, the question of the moral right to be condemned was also raised: “Judge not, lest you be judged” should be understood as “Do not condemn, do not pass judgment, for you yourself are not sinless,” but stop the evildoer, stop the spread of evil.

Christian ethics proclaims the commandment of kindness and love for the enemy, the principle of universal love: "You heard what was said:" Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you... for if you love those who love you, what reward have you?”

In modern times, in the XVI-XVII centuries, there are significant changes in society, which could not but affect morality. Protestantism proclaimed that the main duty of the believer to God is to persevere.

ESSAY

discipline: Culturology

Ideals in modern society

Introduction

1. Ideals and values: a historical overview

2. Cultural space of the 60s and modern Russia

Conclusion

List of used literature

The fundamental characteristic of the human environment in modern society is social change. For an ordinary person - the subject of social cognition - the instability of society is perceived, first of all, as the uncertainty of the existing situation. Therefore, there is a twofold process in relations with the future. On the one hand, in a situation of instability and uncertainty about the future, which exists even among the wealthy segments of the population, a person tries to find something that will give him confidence, support in possible future changes. Some people try to secure their future through property, others try to build on higher ideals. For many, it is education that is perceived as a kind of guarantee that increases security in changing social circumstances and contributes to confidence in the future.

Morality is a way of regulating people's behavior. Other ways of regulation are custom and law. Morality includes moral feelings, norms, commandments, principles, ideas about good and evil, honor, dignity, justice, happiness, etc. Based on this, a person evaluates his goals, motives, feelings, actions, thoughts. Everything in the surrounding world can be subjected to moral evaluation. Including the world itself, its structure, as well as society or its individual institutions, actions, thoughts, feelings of other people, etc. A person can subject even God and his deeds to a moral assessment. This is discussed, for example, in the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky "The Brothers Karamazov", in the section on the Grand Inquisitor.

In modern Russian society, spiritual discomfort is felt, largely due to the moral conflict of generations. Modern youth cannot accept the way of life and style of thinking idealized by the elders, while the older generation is convinced that it used to be better, about modern society - it is soulless and doomed to decay. What gives the right to such a moral assessment? Does it have a healthy grain? This work is devoted to the analysis of the problem of ideals in modern society and its applicability to the current situation in Russia.

Conscience is indisputable evidence that a person is free. If there is no freedom, then there is nothing to judge for: an animal that killed a person is not judged, a car is not judged. A person is judged and, above all, he is judged by his own conscience, unless he has already turned into an animal, although this is also not uncommon. Free, according to the Bible, a person is considered even by God, who endowed him with free will. Man has long understood that freedom is both happiness and a burden. Freedom, identical to reason, distinguishes man from animals and gives him the joy of knowledge and creativity. But, at the same time, freedom is a heavy responsibility for oneself and one's actions, for the world as a whole.

In modern times, in the XVI-XVII centuries, there are significant changes in society, which could not but affect morality. Protestantism proclaimed that the main duty of a believer before God is hard work in his profession, and the evidence of God's chosenness is success in business. Thus, the Protestant Church gave its flock the go-ahead: “Get rich!”. If earlier Christianity claimed that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, now it is the other way around - the rich become God's chosen ones, and the poor - rejected by God.

With the development of capitalism, industry and science develop, and world outlook changes. The world is losing its halo of divinity. God generally became superfluous in this world, he prevented a person from feeling like a full-fledged master of the world, and soon Nietzsche proclaimed the death of God. “God is dead. Who killed him? You and I,” says Nietzsche. Man, liberated from God, decided to become God himself. Only this deity turned out to be rather ugly. It decided that the main goal was to consume as much and as varied as possible and created a consumer society for a certain part of humanity. True, for this it was necessary to destroy a significant part of the forests, pollute the water and atmosphere, and turn vast territories into landfills. They also had to create mountains of weapons to defend themselves against those who did not fall into the consumer society.

Modern morality has again become semi-pagan, reminiscent of pre-Christian. It is based on the belief that we live once, so we must take everything from life. As Callicles once argued in a conversation with Socrates that happiness lies in satisfying all one's desires, so now this is becoming the main principle of life. True, some intellectuals did not agree with this and began to create a new morality. Back in the 19th century an ethic of non-violence emerged.

It so happened that it was the 20th century, which cannot be called the century of humanism and mercy, that gave rise to ideas that are in direct conflict with the prevailing practice of solving all problems and conflicts from a position of strength. Quiet, staunch resistance turned out to be brought to life - disagreement, disobedience, non-retribution by evil for evil. A person placed in a hopeless situation, humiliated and powerless, finds a non-violent means of struggle and liberation (primarily internal). He, as it were, assumes responsibility for the evil done by others, takes upon himself the sin of others and atones for him by his non-giving back of evil.

Marxism defends the idea of a gradual establishment of genuine social justice. The most important aspect understanding of justice proclaims the equality of people in relation to the means of production. It is recognized that under socialism there are still differences in the qualifications of labor and in the distribution of consumer goods. Marxism adheres to the thesis that only under communism should there be a complete coincidence of justice and social equality of people.

Despite the fact that in Russia Marxism gave rise to a totalitarian regime that denied virtually all fundamental human values (although proclaiming them to be its main goal), Soviet society was a society where culture, primarily spiritual, was given a high status.

The heyday of Russian Soviet culture was the 60s, in any case, these years are often idealized in the memories of people who now talk about the decline of culture. In order to reconstruct the spiritual picture of the era of the 60s, a competition of the "sixties" was held "I look at myself as in the mirror of the era." From people who lived and developed under the shadow of the "thaw" one could expect detailed and detailed characteristics of the era, detailed and detailed characteristics of the era, descriptions of ideals and aspirations.

This is how the era of the 60s looks like in the descriptions of educated contestants: “for some time we believed that we were free and could live in good conscience, be ourselves”, “everyone breathed freely”, “they began to talk a lot about the new life, there have been many publications”; “The 60s are the most interesting and intense: they listened to our poets of the sixties, read (often secretly) “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”; “The 60s is the time when everyone squinted from the sun, as Zhvanetsky said”; “I consider myself one of the sixties, those whose ideological formation on the basis of communist ideology took place after the death of Stalin, who experienced the cleansing influence of the 20th Congress”; “we felt the spiritual growth of society with our skin, despised the routine, rushed to interesting work”; “at this time, the exploration of space, virgin lands” took place; "a significant event - Khrushchev's report - comprehension began"; "moral code of the builder of communism", "nationwide government"," worship of science.

For poorly educated contestants, direct assessments of the era of the 60s are very rare. It can be said that in fact they do not distinguish this time as a special era and do not explain their participation in the competition from this point of view. In those cases when characteristics of this time nevertheless appear in their descriptions, they are concrete and “material”, and the era of the 60s is defined primarily as the time of Khrushchev’s reforms (“breaks in bread”, “instead of the usual crops in the fields of corn” , "the mistresses parted with their cows" ...). In other words, they do not record the 1960s as a “thaw”, as the liberation of the country and the individual, as a softening of the regime and changes in ideology.

The concept of cultural capital as applied to the realities of life of a Soviet person can be viewed not only as the presence of the highest levels of education and the corresponding status of the parents of the narrator, but also as the presence of a complete and loving family, as well as the talent, skill, diligence of his parents (what in Russian culture is denoted by the word "nuggets"). This was especially evident in the life histories of the "peasant" generation, which realized the potential for the democratization of social relations, accumulated long before the revolution.

For the educated participants of the "sixties" contest, it is essential in determining cultural capital that they belong to the educated strata of society in the second generation, that their parents had an education that gave the status of an employee in Soviet society. And if parents are educated people in this sense (there are also people of noble origin, who, of course, are very few, and “modest Soviet employees” of proletarian or peasant origin), then the cultural capital of the family, as the descriptions testify, necessarily affects the biography of children .

A generalized picture of the biographies of those who belong to the educated strata of society in the first generation, and those whose parents already possessed cultural capital to one degree or another, is as follows. The first is characterized by a turbulent (student) youth with poetry reading, theatres, scarce books and cultural enthusiasm (that is, with the myths of their youth), which with the beginning of family life as a whole fades and becomes a pleasant memory. Their commitment to the cultural codes of the Soviet ideology, as a rule, was supported by active participation in public work associated with party membership. And in those cases when they are disappointed in the past, they define themselves as "naive simpletons", "hard workers, gullible by nature, who worked hard in the 60s, and in the 70s, and in the 80s."

This shows that the ideals and culture of the sixties were still not a fairly common phenomenon, but rather the mindset of the elite. However, in the post-Soviet period, this mindset has changed dramatically, and so has the mindset of the elite. However, the value conflict in modern society is constantly present. This is in in general terms- the conflict between the Soviet spiritual culture and modern material.

IN Lately Among the post-Soviet intellectual elite, arguments about the “end of the Russian intelligentsia”, about the fact that “the intelligentsia is leaving” have become popular. This refers not only to the “brain drain” abroad, but mainly to the transformation of the Russian intellectual into a Western European intellectual. The tragedy of this transformation is that a unique ethical and cultural type is lost - “an educated person with a bad conscience” (M.S. Kagan). The place of a reverent, free-thinking and disinterested altruist who reveres Culture is occupied by prudent egoists-purchasers who neglect national and universal cultural values. In this regard, the revival of Russian culture, rooted in its Golden and Silver Ages, becomes doubtful. How justified are these fears?

The cradle and abode of the Russian intelligentsia in the 19th and 20th centuries. was Russian literature. Russia, unlike European countries, was characterized by literary centrism. public consciousness, which lies in the fact that fiction and journalism (and not religion, philosophy or science) served as the main source of socially recognized ideas, ideals, and poets, writers, writers and critics acted as rulers of thoughts, authoritative judges, apostles and prophets. Russian literature educated the Russian intelligentsia, and the Russian intelligentsia nurtured Russian literature. Since literature is one of the communication channels of book culture, we can conclude that there is a dialectical causal relationship "book communication - Russian intelligentsia".

In order to interrupt the reproduction of the Russian intelligentsia, it is necessary to deprive it of nutritious soil, i.e. it is necessary that Russian literature that educates moral sensibility "gone away". At present, the crisis of Russian literature is evident: the general reader prefers entertaining bestsellers (most often by foreign authors) or does not read at all; books are becoming more expensive and circulations are shrinking; among modern writers, there are practically no names attractive to young people. Polls of St. Petersburg students showed that less than 10% have a "thirst for reading", while the rest are indifferent to the classics and modern fiction. Hence the narrow cultural outlook, often - elementary ignorance: to the question "What did Pushkin die of?", You can hear "from cholera." Thus, the indispensable condition for the “leaving” of the Russian intelligentsia from the coming century is fulfilled: book communication is of little demand to the younger generation.

We are witnessing a natural change from book communication to electronic (television-computer) communication. Even in the middle of the XX century. they started talking about the "crisis of information" due to the contradiction between book flows and funds and the individual possibilities of their perception. The end result is the deadening of knowledge, we do not know what we know. The funds of Russian literature are constantly growing and becoming more and more boundless and inaccessible. It turns out a paradox: there are more and more books, and less and less readers.

The steady decline of interest in literature, fiction and journalistic, creates the impression that post-Soviet students have decided to “write off” burdensome and archaic book communication into the archives of history in the name of multimedia communication. There is no reason to hope that classical Russian literature will take the form of multimedia messages: it is not adapted for this. This means that the ethical potential inherent in it will be lost. Undoubtedly, electronic communication will develop its own ethics and its educational impact will be no less than Chekhov's stories or Dostoevsky's novels, but it will not be intellectual ethics.

Without affecting the social, economic, political arguments used by the authors of now very widespread publications about the end of the Russian intelligentsia, using only the communicative mechanism of its reproduction, we can come to the following conclusion: there is no reason to hope for the revival of "educated people with a bad conscience". The generation of educated Russian people of the XXI century. will be "educated" differently than their parents - the Soviet intelligentsia of the "disillusioned" generation, and the ideal of an altruist in awe of Culture will attract few.

O. Toffler, developing his theory of three waves in macrohistory, believes that the personality of the second wave was formed in accordance with Protestant ethics. However, Protestant ethics was not characteristic of Russia. We can say that in the Soviet period there was the ethics of the Soviet man and, accordingly, modern youth, denying the ideals and ethics of the previous generation, remains inextricably linked genetically with previous generations. Toffler himself hopes for a change in the Protestant ethics of a new, informational one. In the light of the new cultural dynamics in Russia, one can express the hope that this process will be more dynamic and easier in our country than in the West, and opinion polls confirm this.

Analyzing the data of sociological surveys, one can try to determine what personality traits are characteristic of today's youth in connection with the transition to the information society, which is based on information and communication. Based on the surveys conducted at MIREA in 2003-2005, the following can be noted. The very possibility of communication is a value for today's youth, so they try to be at the level of modern innovations and innovations. Higher education while it is a weak help in this area, even in the field of information technology, so young people are actively engaged in self-education.

However, education is not a value in itself, as it was for the generation of the Soviet period. It is a means of achieving social status and material well-being. Ability to communicate using all modern means communication is a value, while there is a tendency to unite in interest groups. Such a vivid individualization, which Toffler speaks of, is not observed. So far, it is difficult to talk about such a feature as an orientation towards consumption, since this feature was poorly expressed in Soviet society. In general, the presence of high interest in new computer technologies and selfless enthusiasm allow us to hope that the information society in Russia will still become a reality for the majority of the population when today's youth grows up a little.

The crisis in which Russia finds itself today is far more severe than a conventional financial crisis or a traditional industrial depression. The country is not just set back a few decades; all the efforts made over the past century to ensure Russia the status of a great power have been devalued. The country is copying the worst examples of Asian corrupt capitalism.

The society of modern Russia is going through hard times: old ideals have been overthrown and new ones have not been found. The resulting value-semantic vacuum is rapidly being filled with artifacts of Western culture, which have covered almost all spheres of social and spiritual life, ranging from forms of leisure activities, manners of communication to ethical and aesthetic values, worldview guidelines.

According to Toffler, information civilization generates new type people who create a new information society. Toffler calls this human type the "third wave", just as he considers the agrarian society the "first wave" and the industrial society the "second wave". At the same time, each wave creates its own special type of personality, which has an appropriate character and ethics. Thus, the "second wave" according to Toffler is characterized by Protestant ethics, and such features as subjectivity and individualism, the ability to think abstractly, empathize and imagine.

“The third wave does not create some ideal superman, some heroic species that lives among us, but fundamentally changes the character traits inherent in the whole of society. Created not new person and a new social character. Therefore, our task is not to look for a mythical "man", but for those character traits that are most likely to be valued by the civilization of tomorrow. Toffler believes that “education will also change. Many children will learn outside the classroom.” Toffler believes that "Third Wave civilization may favor very different character traits in the young, such as independence from peer opinions, less consumer orientation, and less hedonistic self-obsession."

Perhaps the changes that our country is going through now will lead to the formation of a new type of Russian intellectual - the information intelligentsia, who, without repeating the mistakes of the “disillusioned” generation, will overcome Western individualism, based on rich Russian cultural traditions.

1. Alekseeva L. History of dissent in the USSR: Newest period. Vilnius-Moscow: Vesti, 1992.

2. Akhiezer A.S. Russia as a large society // Questions of Philosophy. 1993. N 1. S.3-19.

3. Berto D., Malysheva M. The cultural model of the Russian masses and the forced transition to the market // Biographical method: History, methodology and practice. M.: Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1994. P. 94-146.

4. Weil P., Genis A. Country of words // New world. 1991. N 4. S.239-251.

5. Gozman L., Etkind A. From the cult of power to the power of people. Psychology of political consciousness // Neva. 1989. No. 7.

6. Levada Yu.A. The problem of the intelligentsia in modern Russia // Where is Russia going?.. Alternatives of social development. (International Symposium 17-19 December 1993). M., 1994. S.208-214.

7. Soviet common man. Experience of a social portrait at the turn of the 90s. M.: World Ocean, 1993

8. Toffler O. The Third Wave. - M., Nauka: 2001.

9. Tsvetaeva N.N. Biographical discourse Soviet era// Sociological journal. 1999. No. 1/2.

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It often seems that we are further and further away from our soul, dreams and high aspirations. Behind everyday chores, we have completely forgotten how to perceive life as a gift, as something incomprehensible and beautiful. Have we always been like this? Are we all like that? Isn't there already a small place in our life for beauty? But what about the miracle of the birth of a new person, love for parents, the happiness of being a mother? Is it possible that such eternal concepts as female fidelity, faith in God have become an empty phrase for us? I feel very sorry for those people who do not have these feelings. We rarely think about the fact that our life is a gift from God. We have forgotten everything spiritual in pursuit of our own ideal. And what is our imagined ideal? And you need to walk so persistently towards it, sometimes spending your whole life on this road? The ideal for me is something better, perfect. Often by this word we understand moral values - goodness and truth, love and happiness, justice and sincerity. However, in general, our ideas about the ideal differ. For example, some people believe that the ideal society is where people have Good work, good housing, expensive car. And there are people for whom the ideal state is an opportunity to develop and improve their knowledge, this is creative work. The ideal in human form is, first of all, a person of high moral qualities. For us Russians, for two millennia this ideal has been Jesus Christ. Many ideal figures live in folk legends, fairy tales, sayings, parables. These moral ideals are a kind of example for us, their descendants. Let's try to remember the ancestors. Ukraine has always had its own religious preferences. Personally, I like the fact that women have always entrusted their cares to the Mother of God. It was in this way that they brought themselves closer to the high ideal of maternal duty. The main thing for a woman is to remain faithful to her husband, family, children. A vivid example of this aspiration in history is Yaroslavna. As a faithful wife, she worries about her husband, she is capable of any sacrifice for him. In order for us to get closer to the ideal, it is necessary to really evaluate ourselves, our moral qualities and, of course, soberly reflect on personal shortcomings. Only in this way can one understand what needs to be done and in what direction, that at least one step closer to the desired. After all, it is known that any shortcoming can be overcome and eliminated, and any virtue can be developed and multiplied. It is only important to observe the measure in everything and not to forget that everything great starts from very small things. The ideals of beauty have been valued by people since the creation of the world. For they are eternal.

4.3. My dream

"Dreaming is great, as long as you remember that it's just a dream" - Joseph Ernest Renan.

Every generation dreams of something different. Our mothers and fathers dreamed of becoming astronauts and teachers. Now everything has changed: if you ask a first grader what he wants to become, he will answer without hesitation - a programmer or a businessman.

As a child, I wanted to be a fashion designer. It seemed to me that this is a very exciting activity - to create your own fashionable things.

But you need to look at life realistically. Now I am at an age when it is still difficult for me to call myself an adult, but I am no longer a child. I have not yet been affected by adult problems, although I often think about who I will be, how my life will turn out.

Many people have been chasing their dreams since childhood. They additionally study foreign languages in order to earn money as a translator of texts during their student years or study in specialized schools. There they get an idea of the future profession, or at least know what to do and who to become.

The dreams of adults are most often unfulfilled. Although, even if a person has already taken place, he still strives for something, dreams of becoming even more successful. But few manage to achieve this.

Dreams are just what we're trying to get closer to. But if you can't achieve them, you don't need to be upset. After all, we live in the present, and we should not forget about it. Let's love life today, it's so beautiful!

Place for the formula. 4.4. My motto

"Liveevery day, as if this day is the last in your life. Live as ifif every person on your way is the only one, and your every act- main. It doesn't matter what is real and what is not. What matters is that youdoing now"

>> Ideal and values

23. Ideal and values

What's happened ideal?

In our behavior, we consciously or unconsciously follow some ideals, most often without even knowing it.

Ideal (from French ideal)- an example, something perfect, the highest goal of aspirations. It denotes what seems worthy of emulation. People have different ideals. One person considers the ideal of a respectable businessman driving a Mercedes (he is strict, efficient, secured). And the other is attracted by the romance of distant roads. He wants to know the world, visit different countries, cross the Arctic Ocean or the desert.

We advise you to remember

Ideal- something perfect, corresponding to the ideal.

Idealist- a selfless person striving for lofty goals.

Idealization- representation of someone or something better than he (it) is in reality; endowment with qualities corresponding to the ideal.

People who put material values first, such as a luxurious mansion or a car, are called materialists.

And the other person is called an idealist. It is customary to refer to idealists as people who put spiritual values and ideals (kindness, justice, honesty) in the first place. At the same time, in each person there are both
beginnings: material and ideal.

From the word "ideal" come concepts that you probably met more than once.

Heroes have always been the bearers and embodiment of the ideal. That is why they served as a role model, inspiring people to lofty moral deeds. The images of the heroes embody vivid, memorable manifestations of moral stamina, courage, and the greatness of the human spirit. Heroes
poets sing, their image is imprinted in immortal works by great artists and sculptors.

People strive for the ideal all their lives. With him we compare our actions and deeds.

Perhaps the most surprising thing lies in the fact that we want to see ideal not only ourselves, but also others, especially those close to us.

Let's try to think about who and why can become an ideal for others.

Probably, you have heard the phrase of young fans about some popular singer: “She is my ideal!” But what does this mean? Girls like the appearance of the singer, her manner of holding, speaking, laughing. I like the success that the singer has achieved. But after all, fans do not know anything about the singer's views on life, how she communicates with her family and friends. It is only about external imitation.

Each generation has its own ideals. Often they are connected with the events that the whole society is going through at this time. The military generation admired feats during battles, persistent behavior in captivity by enemies.

The new time and modern youth already have other role models that are closer and more understandable to them.

What are values?

What are values? These are those objects, phenomena (material and spiritual) that are most important for a person in life.

There are values that are important at all times. They can be called universal. Such values include truth, freedom, justice, beauty, goodness, usefulness.

The enduring values of family life are considered to be loyalty and constancy, love for children, combined with exactingness, respect for a person.

But sometimes a person has a conflict of values. Imagine such a situation. A friend asked me to come support him at sports competitions, and at school by tomorrow we need to prepare a serious message, for which there are no materials at home. And the student faces a difficult choice: go to the competition to support a friend or prepare a message in the library? Any decision is unpleasant, because you want to be both a good friend and a successful student. In life, you will have to learn to make choices in many
situations.

What values are today's teenagers guided by?

When scientists found out what books teenagers aged 10-13 read, what heroes they imitate and admire, it turned out that fictional heroes, who are characterized by a sense of collectivism, community with other people, hold the primacy. Each of them acted out of a moral need to care for others. The characters of the works could not remain indifferent to the pain and suffering of other people, they felt responsible for them. But the students in the first place were not fairy-tale heroes and not movie heroes, like teenagers, but real people who achieved success thanks to hard work and outstanding abilities.

It is difficult to determine the values of teenagers. Some data suggests that they are mainly focused on material gains, without tormenting themselves with questions about the meaning of life. However, on the other hand, teenagers are interested in the life of their family, religion, and are not indifferent to the pain and suffering of other people.

Science has established that there are three stages in the moral development of a person.

The first stage is when a person does not commit evil deeds because he is afraid of punishment. If a person thinks that he can be caught stealing, then he is unlikely to steal.

The second stage is when a person values the opinion of the group in which he is. The person does not steal for fear of expulsion from the group.

In the third stage, behavior is determined by principles that apply regardless of group authority. They are based on justice, mutual assistance and equality of human rights, respect for his dignity as a person. A person does not steal because he respects other people. Correct behavior is considered to be consistent with such principles.

This scientific theory is based on the belief that people are characterized by certain stages of moral development. But it turns out that most people rarely progress beyond the second level. The criminals stop at the first.

The principles of morality tell us what our relationships with people should be like, how we should treat people. The simplest form of their expression is this: treat people the way you want them to treat you. It is a form of relationship of equality between people.

Summing up

People's behavior is influenced by ideals and values. Ideals are role models, something perfect. The ideal can be real people or fictional characters, public ideas and values. Values are all objects, phenomena (spiritual and material) that are important for a person in his life. There are universal human values that have always been considered important.

Test your knowledge

1. What do the concepts mean: “ideal”, “idealist”, “idealization”?
2. List the character traits that you think an ideal person should have. Justify your choice.
3. How do you understand the expression "Every time has its heroes"?
4. Do you know works of art in which heroes are depicted, lofty ideals are shown? Name them.
5. Describe a situation that reflects a conflict of values.
6. Come up with sentences (phrases) with the words: “benefit”, “justice”, “beauty”, “freedom”, “honor”, “responsibility”.

Workshop

1. The basis of the culture of Japan and China is the respect of children towards their parents.

It includes officially recognized duties, such as respect for parents, unquestioning obedience to them, care for father and mother.

The observance of this cultural value has so restructured relations in society that the Chinese and Japanese peoples today, perhaps, surpass all others in terms of respect for their elders.

And what about this cultural value in our country, in Russian society? Conduct your mini-research (use print, radio, television, your observations).

2. Complete the test task.

A. What would you be unable to forgive the person you are friends with?
1) Rudeness;
2) betrayal;
3) cowardice, greed;
4) weakness of character;
5) rudeness;
6) other.

B. What will you never allow yourself to communicate with your beloved and dear person?
1) look untidy;

2) to tell a lie;
3) to blunder or be embarrassed;
4) raise your voice;
5) other.

Conclude what is valuable to you in communicating with loved ones.

Kravchenko A.I., Pevtsova E.A., Social science: A textbook for the 6th grade of educational institutions. - 12th ed. - M .: LLC "TID" Russian word- RS", 2009. - 184 p.

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Introduction

In modern Russian society, spiritual discomfort is felt, largely due to the moral conflict of generations. Modern youth cannot accept the way of life and style of thinking idealized by the older ones, while the older generation is convinced that it used to be better, about modern society - it is soulless and doomed to decay. What gives the right to such a moral assessment? Does it have a healthy grain? This work is devoted to the analysis of the problem of ideals in modern society and its applicability to the current situation in Russia.

Ideals and Values: A Historical Review

Conscience is indisputable evidence that a person is free. If there is no freedom, then there is nothing to judge for: an animal that killed a person is not judged, a car is not judged. A person is judged and, above all, he is judged by his own conscience, unless he has already turned into an animal, although this is also not uncommon. Free, according to the Bible, a person is considered even by God, who endowed him with free will. Man has long understood that freedom is both happiness and a burden. Freedom, identical to reason, distinguishes man from animals and gives him the joy of knowledge and creativity. But, at the same time, freedom is a heavy responsibility for oneself and one's actions, for the world as a whole.

Modern morality has again become semi-pagan, reminiscent of pre-Christian. It is based on the conviction that we live once, so everything must be taken from life. As Callicles once argued in a conversation with Socrates that happiness lies in satisfying all one's desires, so now this is becoming the main principle of life. True, some intellectuals did not agree with this and began to create a new morality. Back in the 19th century an ethic of non-violence emerged.

Marxism defends the idea of a gradual establishment of genuine social justice. The most important aspect of understanding justice is the equality of people in relation to the means of production. It is recognized that under socialism there are still differences in the qualifications of labor and in the distribution of consumer goods. Marxism adheres to the thesis that only under communism should there be a complete coincidence of justice and social equality of people.

The value of culture is a special objective positive significance of something in the spiritual life of a particular person, social group, society, embodied in various carriers of significance and expressed in signs and sign systems of a given culture.

In the 19th century a special philosophical discipline about values arose - the axiology of G. Lotze in the 1860s. began to consider "good", "beautiful" and "fair" as the main values of being.

Value is a characteristic of a person's attitude to an object fixed in the mind of a person. Value for a person are objects that give him positive emotions: pleasure, joy, enjoyment, etc. Therefore, he desires them and longs for them. Both material and spiritual objects can have value.

Values are diverse and heterogeneous. In axiology, various options for their classification are proposed.

Philosopher and psychologist G. Münsterberg at the beginning of the 20th century. proposed to distinguish between two types of values - vital (for example, love, happiness) and cultural (for example, poetry, music), and in each of these types - logical, aesthetic, ethical and metaphysical values.

Since childhood, each person develops personal value orientations, i.e. value representations, with the help of which he orients himself in the world of values and determines which of the values are more significant for him and which are less.

There is a certain difference between the male and female structures of value orientations. Women, as a rule, are more focused on the values of the hearth, family peace, the health and well-being of children, and their own image (fashion, makeup, jewelry).

The ideal is understood as the perfect images of phenomena, endowed with a value dimension. In relation to culture, these are reference values.

The ideals of goodness, truth, beauty, freedom, etc. represent what is valued and desired by people, what they strive for, what they “would like”. From this, however, it does not follow that the ideals, as it were, do not exist in reality. In fact, in striving for them, although not absolutely, they are realized in life. Culture itself, in a certain sense, is an ideal, an ideal of human existence, realized by different people and their groups at different levels of culture.

17. Regulations and norms

Regulators are a special kind of meanings, which is in close connection with their other types - knowledge and values.

This knowledge is usually formulated in the form of rules. A rule is a regulative explicated in verbal form. But knowledge about the regulator, expressed in the rule, and the regulator itself are not the same thing. Firstly, a person is able to act in accordance with certain regulations and at the same time be completely unaware of them, for example, to ride a bicycle and not know how balance is maintained while riding, and not be able to formulate rules describing the methods he uses to control a bicycle handlebar and his body. Secondly, knowledge about regulators is not sufficiently accurate and complete. A medical student may know the rules of diagnosis by heart, but without proper training, he is unlikely to master the art of diagnosis sufficiently. Finally, thirdly, you can know the regulations, and even know very well, but be unable to act in accordance with them. For example, a sports coach can know, understand and explain to the subtleties how to perform some kind of gymnastic combination, but at the same time not be able to do it due to the lack of psychophysical qualities necessary for this.

Regulators are associated with knowledge: the more humanity knows the world, the more effective the methods of activity used by it become. But knowledge and regulations are different kinds of meanings.

Consequently, values and ideals are also regulators of human behavior, but they are what stimulates it, and regulators are how it should be built.

Due to the fact that in the cultural space heterogeneous and contradictory other regulators, the implementation of regulators can generate different forms of behavior. In every culture, some forms of behavior are presented as "normal", generally accepted, expected, while others are considered as "abnormal", deviating from generally accepted standards. The behavior of the first kind is called normative, and the second - deviant, or deviant.

Norms are stereotypes of thought and action accepted within the boundaries of a particular socio-cultural community. These are standards that govern human behavior.

At the initial stages of the formation of culture and civilization, norms appeared in the form of prohibitions, the so-called taboos. Taboo (Polynesian) - a ban, a system of prohibitions on certain actions (also on the use of certain words, names), the violation of which is punishable by "outrageous" forces. It was believed that the violation of the taboo harms the entire community (kind, tribe).

Prohibitions are the oldest forms of norms. In sacred books, for example, in the Old Testament, what a person cannot do is fixed (do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, etc.).

However, in antiquity, prescriptions also appeared regarding what a person needs to do. For example: love your neighbor.

Norms in general are what distinguishes human life activity from the instinctive life of the animal world. In humans, norms can be contrary to instincts, even those aimed at preserving life. But in general, they contribute to the stability, sustainability, orderliness of society. And therefore they had and still have a civilizing significance. The civilization of society and man is characterized by the normalization of relations and actions.

Moral norms are very diverse, especially if we take into account the different states of different human communities at different times.

But in European, and in general in the world, culture, a number of general norms are common, such as “be honest”, “stay true to the word”, “respect elders”, “be hardworking, fair, decent, conscientious”, etc. d.

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Tutoring

4.3. My dream

Introduction

Ideals and Values: A Historical Review

17. Regulations and norms

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