The problem of man, his essence and origin, his present and future is one of the eternal ones. Man is the most complex in the world, a unique creature who has embodied the unity of nature and history. The process of its development is subject to social and natural laws, which have their own internal logic and, at the same time, are mediated by the influence of society. In man, the results of both biological evolution and the development of society are embodied, therefore he is not just a part of nature, but its highest product of a special kind. The fundamentally important proposition put forward by Marx that man is an active natural being makes it possible to understand that, unlike animals, he is not only a product of the environment, but also its creator.
The study of the synthesis of the social and the natural in man is an independent problem of science, which has a philosophical aspect. The essence of man, which is the totality of all social relations, is social; on the other hand, its nature as a biological being has gone through a difficult path of evolutionary development. The study of the interaction of biological and social is the starting point of any scientific research of man, which is of fundamental importance for medicine, representing the most important prerequisite for the development of medical theory, as well as medical practice.
The problem of man is too complex to be satisfied with its study within the limits of anatomy. A successful solution to this problem is possible only through a comprehensive study in the interaction of social and biological sciences. Already from the beginning of the emergence of religion, this is one of the acute problems of the ideological struggle, which has retained its relevance at the present stage of the scientific and technological revolution. Understanding the role of the social in the process of both the formation of a person and society, and its ontogenetic development is an important prerequisite for ensuring conditions for optimal human development not only in the course of his individual life, but also in the life of entire generations.
The foundations of the scientific understanding of the relationship between the biological and the social in man were developed by Marxism. Marxist-Leninist philosophy established that social life is the highest form of motion of matter, that is, biological laws are subject to social laws. That is why modern man as a biological being is not subject to the laws of natural selection. The ratio of the biological and the social, thus, is subordinated to the general dialectical principles of the relationship between the lower and higher levels of the organization of matter.
The interaction of biological and social can be considered in relation to society as a self-organizing system in its relationship with wildlife, to different structural levels of the human body and personality, to different stages of its ontogenetic and phylogenetic development. In this context, three aspects of the socio-biological problem can be distinguished: socio-phylogenetic, socio-ontogenetic and socio-ecological. Historically, the starting point among them is the socio-phylogenetic aspect, within the framework of which the correlation of biological and social patterns in the period of anthroposociogenesis and in the conditions of a formed society is revealed. The origin of man from the highest anthropoid ancestors, which was revealed by Darwin, and the formation of society from a herd of animals (Engels) is in reality a two-pronged process that created man.
Labor was a decisive factor in the origin of man. Marx argued that labor is "... an eternal natural condition of human life." It is precisely his belonging to a new level of organization - social - that leads to social transformations of his biology, to significant morphological transformations and the formation of new ways of behavior. Engels wrote: “When, after a thousand-year struggle, the hand finally differentiated from the leg and a straight gait was established, man separated from the monkey, and the foundation was laid for the development of articulate speech and for the powerful development of the brain, thanks to which the gap between man and monkey became pore impassable. The specialization of the hand means the appearance of a tool, and a tool means a specifically human activity that transforms the reverse impact of man on nature - production. "
The question of the beginning of human history, the determination of the boundaries and reasons for the violent divergence of two types of anthropoids at a distance of two different forms of motion of matter can be resolved on the basis of Engels' position on the formative role of labor. Labor, in his opinion, "... is the first basic condition of all human life, and moreover to such an extent that in a certain sense we must say: labor created man himself." its development. A man, unlike animals, cannot adapt an organism to nature, but by his labor adapts nature. This circumstance leaves an imprint on biological evolution, which has stopped in humans. Man is connected with nature not directly, like all other living beings, but indirectly, through labor activity.
The initial process of hominization dates back to more than a million years, when anthropoid ancestors acquired the ability to work. Labor was a force that gave birth to completely new social laws and human sociality, having a fundamental significance for changing the nature of the relationship between man and nature. The attitude of a person to the environment due to labor is significantly transformed, the manufacture of tools has allowed a person to influence an inadequate environment in the direction of adapting it to his needs.
Labor activity from the first stages of anthropogenesis had a collective character, that is, the manufacture and use of tools led to increased mutual assistance and cohesion. According to Marx, labor, being in its original meaning a means of ensuring life, becomes a person's way of life, an essential form of his life, his relationship to the environment and an important basis for relations between people. V.I. Lenin noted that work becomes a need for a healthy person.
The growing scale of labor activity required the improvement of the cognitive process, which stimulated the development of the human brain; the collective nature of labor has formed such a means of social communication as speech. The transformation of the primitive herd of people into a human society was accompanied by the formation and emergence of a "reasonable" man.
To establish the difference that exists between a person and his closest ancestors, it is possible only on the basis of a complex criterion. Numerous discoveries of the last decades in the field of anthropology, archeology, paleontology, paleopsychology, and others have led to the conclusion that there may be several more signs associated with the labor criterion than previously assumed. The labor criterion must be supplemented by a morphological criterion, and also requires taking into account the changes occurring in the behavior of emerging people, and, finally, changes in ecological relations with the environment as a result of a faster development of productive forces than the transformation of the environment. In turn, morphological differences that make it possible to draw the line between animals and humans also represent a unique complex, called in anthropology the "hominoid (or hominid) triad". This systemic morphological criterion includes such essential features as upright walking (bipedal or orthograde), a kind of upper limb adapted to precise manipulation, and developed associative activity of the central nervous system. In the course of anthropogenesis, upright walking is improved first of all, later the development of the hand occurs in the direction of subtle manipulation and a highly developed relatively large brain.
The dialectical nature of the formation of social laws supplanting biological ones is revealed by the theory of two leaps, two qualitative boundaries in anthropogenesis, widespread in modern science. The first boundary, which is approximately 2 million years old (there is evidence that primitive man arose 3 million years ago), is associated with the beginning of the manufacture of the first tools. It marks the transition from animal progenitors to the stage of emerging humans and marks the emergence of social patterns. The second milestone was overcome about 100 thousand years ago, when a modern physical type - Homo sapiens - replaced the Neanderthal. From this moment on, the dominance of social laws is established, biological laws practically disappear. The formative effect of the mechanism of natural selection on a person ceases, fundamental transformations of the physical type of a person do not occur, although assumptions are made about the possibility of some changes within the framework of “historical phylogenesis”. The existence of man is determined by material production, and not by his adaptability to nature. Such a relationship with the environment means that no significant changes in the structure of a person occur, but it is understood that social determinants still play a decisive role in the ontogenetic development of a person, determining both its general outlines and its main details. The subordination of the biological to the social in individual development also represents the original essential determinant of the material system.
Human ontogenesis is determined by the intersecting action of three kinds of programs (systems of determining factors), which have certain characteristics in humans: genetic, individual and socio-ecological. Human genetic programs include the species characteristics of Homo sapiens, including the characteristics of the genus, order, etc., racial, sexual and individual-type.
In addition to genetic programs, ontogenesis is also determined by the socio-ecological program, or by the conditions of the social and natural environment. At the same time, the environment affects ontogenesis in two ways: first, it ensures the implementation of the genetic programs of ontogenesis; secondly, various sets of environmental factors create such structural and functional (morphophysiological) changes that, over long periods or even throughout the life of an individual, in a certain way determine his subsequent development. As a result, we can also talk about individual ontogenetically developing programs, understanding them as a systemic set of external factors that are not just a condition for the implementation of genetic programs, but individual determinants of ontogenesis, acting, of course, through internal individual programs.
The interaction of all three kinds of ontogenetic programs in humans has unique features. An essential part of the human environment is a society with its own internal laws of development, which in a certain way influences nature. Therefore, social laws are of central, leading importance in relation to the environment of human life. Social conditions of life significantly affect the vital activity, structure, ontogenesis of a person, which determines the performance, health and functional capabilities of a person. This once again emphasizes that man is not only a biological, but also a social and social being.
Man is a creature biosocial, which means it is subject to the laws of two worlds: the biological world and the social world.
A man, unlike an animal, lives simultaneously in these two worlds, and not in one, natural.
But what is more in us? And what is the nature of human biosociality?
Biological there is quite a lot in a person - these are:
- anatomy and physiology: circulatory, and; the need for, food, movement;
- and the most intriguing thing is our instincts.
Social there is also a lot in a person:
- a person is inextricably linked with society and becomes himself only with this inextricable connection;
- thinking;
- ability for purposeful activity;
- and (crown of all) - creativity.
Thus, the main differences between humans and animals can be identified: human speech, consciousness, the ability to produce tools and creative activity.
The process of individual human development is based on accumulation of biological and social information.
Biological information was selected and stored in the process of evolution, it is recorded in the form of genetic information in DNA. Thanks to this information, in the individual development of a person, a unique complex of structural and functional features is formed that distinguish a person from other living beings. The second type of information is represented by the sum of knowledge, skills, skills (ZUN), which are created, preserved and used by generations of people in the process of the formation of the human race. The assimilation of this information occurs in the course of development, education and training of the individual throughout his life.
Let's note a very important thing:
not speech, thinking, actions are inherited, but only the potential for their subsequent acquisition and development
Genetic possibilities are realized only on the condition that the child is brought up under certain conditions, with a clear example of this or that behavior, in other words, if they are engaged in and communicate with him.
The story of Mowgli from the fairy tale of the same name by R. Kipling, about the return of a human cub to his flock - this is just a myth, a beautiful fairy tale that has nothing to do with real life.
A child deprived of human communication in the early (sensitive) periods of his development forever loses many of the possibilities and abilities of his formation.
If you skip the sensitive period of development of a particular mental function, the losses will be almost irreparable.
Modern man is a product of the interaction of biological and social factors.
The combination and interaction of biological and social in a person is very clearly shown by the pyramid of needs A. Maslow.
We see that basic, biological, animal needs are at the base of the pyramid, being its basis. Social needs (love, communication, cognition and self-realization) go up increasing, the higher a person is spiritually and morally more developed, the higher the level of realization of his needs he takes. But it should be borne in mind that without satisfying the lower needs (sleep, food, movement), upward movement is impossible.
Thus, without a biological component, the appearance of Homo, but without society, without society, it is impossible for a person to become Homo sapiens.
In conclusion, I would like to note that there are many social moments in the animal world. The study of social behavior among animals is primarily a study.
Not all animal species are able to "cooperate". So moths that flew into the light and revolve around it are most likely simply attracted by a bright source, their behavior is scattered, not uniform. But for example, starlings, before their overnight stay, perform some "semi-ceremonial" maneuvers in the air, following each other in the correct order, which looks like supernatural communication.
The most striking type of social cooperation between individuals is the attraction of one individual to another, as well as fights, mating games and "communication" in the process of all this representatives of the animal world.
We also note that in animals there is a division of labor: as a rule, the male hunts, the female protects the offspring, but sometimes it happens the other way around, and sometimes partners replace each other.
But the most striking and beloved example of sociality among animals is, of course, dolphins!
Scientists have proven that the sounds that these mammals make are a means of communication between them!
REMEMBER
Question 1. What is a person as a biological species?
From a biological point of view, modern man belongs to the type of chordates, the subtype of vertebrates, the class of mammals, the subclass of placentals, the order of primates, the suborder of higher human-like primates (anthropoids), the section of narrow-nosed anthropoids, the superfamily of hominoids, the family of hominids, the genus Man (People), the species Homo sapiens , subspecies Homo Sapiens. Currently, this subspecies is the only representative of its genus and family, the rest are known to science only from fossil remains.
Question 2. How has the social environment influenced human evolution?
The formation of the human personality is influenced by external and internal, biological and social factors. Socialization is a process by which an individual assimilates the norms of his group in such a way that through the formation of his own I the uniqueness of a given individual or personality is manifested. Personal socialization can take various forms. For example, socialization is observed through imitation, taking into account the reactions of other people, communicating different forms of behavior.
Question 3. What species of animals are characterized by some forms of social behavior?
Social behavior is found in ants, termites, bees, etc.
QUESTIONS TO PARAGRAPH
Question 1. What is the biological nature of man?
The biological nature of man is his belonging to the world of living nature, where biological laws operate.
Question 2. Why is a person considered a biosocial species?
The similarity of man with other species is explained by his biological origin, belonging to the world of living nature, where biological laws operate. And its differences from them are determined by belonging precisely to human society, where social, social laws operate. This duality is inherent only in man, who is the only biosocial species on our planet.
Question 3. What is adaptation?
Adaptation is the process of adapting to changing external conditions.
Human adaptation to new natural and industrial conditions can be characterized as a set of socio-biological properties and characteristics necessary for the sustainable existence of an organism in a specific environment.
Question 4. What is the importance of adaptation in human life?
The life of each person can be viewed as a constant adaptation, but our abilities for this have certain limits. There are various types of adaptations. For example, physiological adaptation is understood as the achievement by a person of a stable level of functioning of the organism and its parts, at which long-term active activity is possible (including labor activity in altered conditions of existence), as well as the ability to reproduce healthy offspring. The ability to adapt to new conditions for different people is not the same, in this regard, we can talk about individual adaptation.
THINK
Why can we assert that the human influence on the environment is incommensurable in its power and rate of its growth with the influence of other living organisms on it?
Since only man possesses intelligence and intelligence, he can actively transform the environment. Man has invented various machines and technical means that help him in this.
»Is a general concept denoting belonging to the human race, the nature of which, as noted above, combines biological and social qualities. In other words, a person appears in his essence as biosocial being.
Modern man is a biosocial unity from birth. He is born with incompletely formed anatomophysiological qualities that develop during his life in society. At the same time, heredity supplies the child not only with purely biological properties and instincts. He initially turns out to be the owner of his own human qualities: a developed ability to imitate adults, curiosity, the ability to be upset and rejoice. His smile (a “privilege” of a person) is innate. But it is society that completely introduces a person into this world, which fills his behavior with social content.
Consciousness is not our natural heritage, although nature creates a physiological base for. Conscious mental phenomena are formed during life as a result of active mastery of language and culture. It is to society that a person owes such qualities as transformative tool activity, communication with the help of speech, the ability to spiritual creativity.
The acquisition of social qualities by a person occurs in the process socialization: what is inherent in a particular person is the result of the development of cultural values that exist in a particular society. At the same time, it is an expression, an embodiment of the inner capabilities of a person.
Natural and social interaction between man and society contradictory. Man is a subject of social life, he realizes himself only in society. However, it is also a product of the environment, it reflects the peculiarities of the development of biological and social aspects of social life. Achievement of biological and social harmony society and man at every historical stage acts as an ideal, the striving for which contributes to the development of both society and man.
Society and man are inseparable from each other both biologically and socially. Society is what the people who form it are, it acts as an expression, design, consolidation of the inner essence of a person, a way of his life. Man emerged from nature, but exists as a man only thanks to society, is formed in it and shapes it by his activities.
Society determines the conditions not only for social, but also for biological improvement of a person. That is why the focus of society should be on ensuring the health of people from birth to old age. A person's biological health allows him to actively participate in the life of society, realize his creative potential, create a full-fledged family, raise and educate children. At the same time, a person, deprived of the necessary social conditions for life, loses his "biological form", sinks not only morally, but also physically, which can cause antisocial behavior and crimes.
In society, a person realizes his nature, but he himself is forced to obey the requirements and limitations of society, to be responsible to it. After all, society is all people, including each person, and, submitting to society, he asserts in himself the requirements of his own essence. By opposing society, a person not only undermines the foundations of general well-being, but also deforms his own nature, violates the harmony of biological and social principles.
Biological and social factors
What allowed a person to stand out from the animal world? The main factors of anthropogenesis can be divided as follows:
- biological factors- upright posture, hand development, large and developed brain, the ability to articulate speech;
- main social factors- labor and collective activity, thinking, language and morality.
Of the factors listed above, he played a leading role in the process of human development; on his example, the interconnection of other biological and social factors is manifested. Thus, upright posture freed up the hands for the use and manufacture of tools, and the structure of the hand (protruding thumb, flexibility) made it possible to effectively use these tools. In the process of joint work, close relationships were formed between the members of the collective, which led to the establishment of group interaction, care for the members of the tribe (morality), to the need for communication (the appearance of speech). Language contributed by expressing increasingly complex concepts; the development of thinking, in turn, enriched the language with new words. The language also made it possible to pass on experience from generation to generation, preserving and increasing the knowledge of mankind.
Thus, modern man is a product of the interaction of biological and social factors.
Under it biological characteristics understand what brings a person closer to an animal (with the exception of the factors of anthropogenesis, which were the basis for separating a person from the kingdom of nature) - hereditary traits; the presence of instincts (self-preservation, sexual, etc.); emotions; biological needs (breathe, eat, sleep, etc.); physiological characteristics similar to other mammals (the presence of the same internal organs, hormones, constant body temperature); the ability to use natural objects; adaptation to the environment, procreation.
Social features characteristic exclusively for humans - the ability to produce tools; articulate speech; language; social needs (communication, affection, friendship, love); spiritual needs (,); awareness of their needs; activity (labor, artistic, etc.) as the ability to transform the world; consciousness; ability to think; creation; creation; goal setting.
A person cannot be reduced exclusively to social qualities, since biological prerequisites are necessary for his development. But it cannot be reduced to biological characteristics, since one can become a person only in society. Biological and social are inseparably fused in a person, which makes him special biosocial creature.
Biological and social in man and their unity
Ideas about the unity of the biological and the social in the formation of a person did not form immediately.
Without delving into distant antiquity, let us recall that in the Enlightenment, many thinkers, differentiating the natural and the social, considered the latter as "artificially" created by man, including practically all the attributes of social life - spiritual needs, social institutions, morality, traditions and customs. It was during this period that concepts such as "natural law", "natural equality", "natural morality".
Natural, or natural was considered as the foundation, the basis of the correctness of the social order. There is no need to emphasize that the social played a kind of secondary role and was directly dependent on the natural environment. In the second half of the XIX century. various theories of social Darwinism, the essence of which is attempts to extend to public life principles of natural selection and the struggle for existence in living nature, formulated by the English naturalist Charles Darwin. The emergence of society, its development were considered only within the framework of evolutionary changes occurring independently of the will of people. Naturally, everything that happens in society, including social inequality, the harsh laws of social struggle, were considered by them as necessary, useful both for society as a whole and for its individual individuals.
In the XX century. attempts at a biologic "explanation" of the essence of man and his social qualities do not stop. As an example, we can cite the phenomenology of man by the famous French thinker and naturalist, by the way, the clergyman P. Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955). According to Teilhard, man embodies and concentrates in himself all the development of the world. Nature in the process of its historical development receives its meaning in man. In it, it reaches, as it were, its highest biological development and at the same time it also acts as a kind of beginning of its conscious, and, consequently, social development.
At present, the opinion about the biosocial nature of man has been established in science. At the same time, the social is not only not belittled, but its decisive role in the separation of Homo sapiens from the animal world and its transformation into a social being is noted. Now hardly anyone dares to deny biological prerequisites for the emergence of man... Even without referring to scientific evidence, but guided by the simplest observations and generalizations, it is not difficult to discover the huge dependence of man on natural changes - magnetic storms in the atmosphere, solar activity, earthly disasters and disasters.
In the formation, existence of a person, and this has already been said before, a huge role belongs to social factors, such as labor, relationships between people, their political and social institutions. None of them by itself, in isolation, could lead to the emergence of man, his isolation from the animal world.
Each person is unique and this is also predetermined by his nature, in particular, by the unique set of genes inherited from his parents. It must also be said that the physical differences that exist between people are primarily predetermined by biological differences. First of all, these are the differences between the two sexes - men and women, which can be attributed to the most significant differences between people. There are other physical differences - skin color, eyes, body structure, which are mainly due to geographic and climatic factors. It is these factors, as well as unequal conditions of historical development, the system of upbringing that largely explain the differences in everyday life, psychology, and the social situation of the peoples of different countries. And yet, despite these rather fundamental differences in their biology, physiology and mental potencies, the people of our planet are generally equal. The achievements of modern science convincingly indicate that there is no reason to assert the superiority of any race over another.
Social in man- this is primarily a tool-production activity, collectivist forms of life with the division of responsibilities between individuals, language, thinking, social and political activity. It is known that Homo sapiens as a person and person cannot exist outside of human communities. Cases are described when small children, for various reasons, fell under the care of animals, were "brought up" by them, and when, after several years of being in the animal kingdom, they returned to people, it took them years to adapt to a new social environment. Finally, a person's social life cannot be imagined without his social and political activity. As a matter of fact, as noted earlier, a person's life itself is social, since he constantly interacts with people - in everyday life, at work, during leisure. How does the biological and social correlate in determining the essence and nature of man? Modern science unequivocally answers this - only in unity. Indeed, without biological prerequisites it would be difficult to imagine the appearance of hominids, but without social conditions, the formation of man was impossible. It is no longer a secret for anyone that pollution of the environment, the human environment, poses a threat to the biological existence of Homo sapiens. Summing up, we can say that now, as well as many millions of years ago, the physical state of man, his existence to a decisive extent depends on the state of nature. In general, it can be argued that now, as with the appearance of Homo sapiens, its existence is ensured by the unity of the biological and the social.
1. Man and nature. Nature concept. Geographic environment, its influence on the development of society. Natural (biological) and social in a person
An important place in the awareness of the place of man in the world is the awareness of his relationship with nature and the geographical environment. What is man? Part of nature? Her king? Or her slave? Who is still higher man or nature? These questions inevitably arise in everyone, they are especially important for understanding the general course of development of the human community. Does human interaction with the surrounding natural world depend on this?
The concept of nature is ambiguous. Most often we use the word nature as a contrast to the city, modern industrial civilization. “Let's go to nature” means we went where there are no cars, factories, where there is green grass and fresh air. Is the air outside the window of a city apartment not nature? And the living creatures that live under our windows? And finally, is man himself not nature?
Nature in a broad sense is everything material, objectively existing, including society. Society separated from nature in the process of anthropogenesis - the origin and formation of man and sociogenesis - the emergence of social relations of people. Standing out from nature, a person is still inextricably linked with the geographical environment. The geographic environment is a combination of natural, natural factors with which people directly interact, carrying out their life activities. Science also identifies and studies the lithosphere (soil), hydrosphere (water) and atmosphere (air) as the main components of the biosphere.
In the course of his labor activity, a person managed to create a very ramified "second nature", i.e. the world of things and processes that are not found anywhere in the natural environment ready-made. This is already "humanized" nature, which exists according to social laws. One of the most important elements of the "second nature" is the technosphere. It includes numerous and very diverse tools of labor, equipment and machines, buildings, communications and other artificial structures. The technical world is one of the brightest and most impressive manifestations of the uniqueness of man as a rational, creative being.
In the XX century, the concept of "noosphere" entered the scientific circulation (E. Leroy, P. Teilhard de Chardin, V. I. Vernadsky). It is understood as the thinnest intelligent shell of the Earth, its "thinking layer". Noosphere -. this is a qualitatively new state of the biosphere, the result of human activity, the fruit of his knowledge and labor.
What is the significance of nature for man and society? Firstly, nature is our mother ("giving birth"). Having given birth to the human race in the course of its evolution, nature is present in each of us as a biological component of our essential forces. That is why a break with nature always means death for a person, for we can exist only within nature, in its bosom.
Secondly, nature is the source of all consumer goods, the "nourishing principle". Food, clothing and housing, energy (water, air, nuclear), minerals - all of this is ultimately obtained by man from nature. In this sense, it is a gigantic workshop, a space for human economic activity. Nature is also the most important source of physical health for people (sun, fresh air, forest, water, etc.), which is especially important in our time. The depletion of natural resources will mean a great problem and a tragic situation for the human race, deprivation of the possibility of existence for future generations of people. It is obvious that nature has a significant impact on the way of life of people, the distribution of their productive forces and the division of social labor, the movement of peoples, the rate of development of tools of labor.
Thirdly, nature also acts as an object of aesthetic contemplation and admiration, pleasure and inspiration ("a wonderful beginning"). Nature is a brilliant artist, a grandiose temple and a wonderful sight all rolled into one. It is not surprising that the image of nature is invariably present in fiction, painting and other forms of art. She was portrayed on their canvases by the famous artists I.K. Aivazovsky and I.I. Levitan. The Russian poets A.S. Pushkin and S.A. Yesenin admired her. Ch.Aitmatov, S.P. Zalygin and other writers thought about it. Communication with nature ennobles a person, develops the best qualities in him - a sense of beauty, tenderness and mercy, imagination, hard work, caring.
The geographic environment sets certain conditions for human existence. Since the geographic environment of mankind is heterogeneous, the manifestations of its influence are multifaceted. The geographic environment can affect a person's physical characteristics. The simplest example: races. Why do people with black skin and curly hair live on the African continent? Under the scorching rays of the sun, a person with fair skin simply would not have survived. Also, the natural environment predetermines the occupation. So the nomadic Mongols-Tatars could only engage in nomadic cattle breeding, and the Slavs could afford a sedentary lifestyle.
The steppes in which the Mongols-Tatars lived are not suitable for cattle breeding, and the Slavs had quite fertile soils. Continuous food shortages in China. The poverty of natural resources predetermined the omnivorous nature of Chinese cuisine. The Slavs, who had a lot of game in the forest, did not need to eat snakes, worms, and rats. What for? This is all low in calories, when you can kill one large wild boar and everyone will be full. It is the lack of not only food, but wood that predetermined that in Chinese cuisine everything is finely chopped so that it can be fried or cooked faster. The hot climate made Indian cuisine spicy. Also, the geographic environment influenced the social and state structure of people. Ancient Egypt had excellent conditions for agriculture with the exception of one - the lack of water. It was necessary to build irrigation facilities. It was a difficult task, it required the efforts of all people. To concentrate human resources, a strong state power was needed, therefore, the state in Egypt forms according to the type of oriental despotism. In ancient Greece, there is a lot of sun, but there was also enough water. Everyone could be engaged in agriculture on their own, so it became possible to create city-states with much more democratic traditions. The ancient Slavs, too, could not live alone, the slash-and-burn system required common efforts. Therefore, the unification of free people into a community is characteristic of Kievan Rus.
Does this mean that the geographic environment is a decisive factor in the development of individuals and society? The answer to this question in philosophy is ambiguous. Proponents of geographic determinism believe that the geographic environment is the decisive factor. For example, a supporter of this position was Lev Mechnikov, the brother of the famous physiologist Ilya Mechnikov. Montesquieu for the first time begins to comprehend the difference between statehood in the civilizations of the West and the East, which he defines as North and South. He believes that the cold climate of the North fosters in people the habit of constant movement and physical stress, and this forms such character traits as courage, self-confidence, a sense of superiority over nature and neighbors. The northern climate fosters individualism in people, which makes them able to live in a democracy.
The hot climate of the South, on the other hand, fosters collectivism. He gives rise in people to the habit of physical relaxation and such character traits as shyness, self-doubt, the desire not to work, but to pleasure, excessive passion. Residents of southern countries have a decrease in the level of activity and curiosity about the world around them, followed by a decrease in the level of morality, but the level of deceit, hypocrisy and cruelty increases.
They enjoy not activities aimed at cognizing and transforming the world around them, but from contemplative passivity and laziness, even if this leads to poverty and slavery. Instead of individualism in the South, collectivism dominates as a prerequisite for the subordination of people to despotic power.
If we talk about man and nature, then it is important to define the combination of natural and social in him. On the one hand, man is a part of nature, on the other hand, he is a social being. We can say that he is a biosocial being. It combines two principles - biological and social.
Under biological (from nature data) in a person it is customary to understand the anatomy (structure) of his body, physiological processes and functions in him. It is also the central nervous system with the brain as the main "mirror" of the surrounding world. This includes the gene pool, which is the carrier of hereditary information. From nature, the sexual characteristics of people are given - masculine and feminine principles. Taken in its totality, biological forms the natural forces of man as a living being. It actively affects the processes of childbirth, the period of childhood and adolescence, and the overall life expectancy. Biological affects the individuality of a person (type of temperament, peculiarities of thinking), on the development of some of his abilities - observation, reaction to the outside world, willpower. Natural forces, in essence, are transmitted to children from parents through birth, but they only give a person the opportunity to exist in the world as a person. Biological is the form, structure of the body and psychosomatic reactions that provide species and individual adaptation of a person to the external environment.
Under the social in a person, philosophy understands, first of all, his ability to think and practically act. Spirituality also belongs to it, i.e. the world of feelings and thoughts, the ability to love and hate, rejoice, grieve and suffer. Social is also a person's self-awareness and worldview, the ability to pose the question "Who am I in this world?" and give an answer to it. An important component of a person's social qualities is his attitude to the outside world, civic position in public life. All this, taken together, constitutes the social forces of man. They are formed in the social environment through the mechanisms of socialization, i.e. familiarizing a person with the world of culture as a crystallization of the spiritual and practical experience of mankind, and are realized in the course of various activities. Social - formed on the basis of labor activity, a system of connections and relationships necessary for the implementation of human abilities and capabilities.
How do the social and biological relate? In solving this issue in the scientific literature, three positions are most common. The first approach is biologizing (naturalistic) interpretations of a person (Z. Freud and others). It is proposed to consider the main in a person his natural qualities, which supposedly have a decisive influence on his behavior. It is believed that a person is initially a servant of several masters - his unconscious and cultural norms, which are "enemies" and "oppressors" of man. They seem to suppress the natural principle in a person, for example, they establish some kind of prohibitions and restrictions. The founder of eugenics, the English scientist F. Galton, also adhered to the biological interpretation of man. He believed that the behavior and social actions of people are causally determined by their hereditary genetic makeup. The teaching of the famous Italian scientist C. Lombroso about the alleged presence of a "crime gene" in a person, which, they say, is inherited and determines the behavioral program, received a great response in science.
The second approach is represented mainly by sociologizing (sociocentric) interpretations of a person. Its supporters either completely deny the biological principle in man, or underestimate its importance. Elements of such an approach were present, for example, in utopian socialism (G. More, T. Campanella), which proclaimed the task of forming a "new man" in the coming communist society and relied on the "omnipotence" of education. To some extent, sociologizing is also contained in classical Marxism, which tends to overestimate the role of the social principle in man. It is known, for example, that the Russian Bolsheviks, headed by V.I. Lenin, set the task of forming a communist type of personality that would free itself from the legacy and remnants of bourgeois society.
The third approach to solving the biosocial problem is based on the desire to avoid the aforementioned extremes. This position is presented, in particular, in the works of modern domestic scientists (NP Dubinin. I. T. Frolov and others) and is characterized by the desire to consider a person as a complex synthesis, interweaving of biological and social principles. This approach opens up scope for the study of man by means of both natural and social sciences - as a single living whole.
It is recognized that a person simultaneously lives according to the laws of two worlds - natural and social. But it is emphasized that the main qualities of his nature (the ability to think and act creatively) are still of social origin. After all, these qualities are not given to a person at birth, which is quite obvious. They have yet to be formed, because otherwise a person will remain, as E.V. Ilyenkov aptly put it, just a "piece of meat". The ability to think and practically act is given to a person at birth only in the form of inclinations, i.e. prerequisites for existence as a person. The biological and social in man are layered on top of each other and perform their specific functions. Under the influence of socialization, the natural becomes cultural, "noble". It is known, for example, that food intake by a modern person occurs "in a human way", i.e. according to certain rules. When carrying and giving birth to a child, social technologies are widely used. All this ultimately makes a person not only a civilized being, but also gives him additional chances of survival in the world around him.
The biological is a prerequisite for the emergence and realization of the social. The biological manifests itself earlier in a person. At what age does a person remember himself? Usually from three to five years. And at what age does a person realize himself? Usually from two years old. When a child begins to say "I" about himself, this is the most important moment that parents often do not realize. "You, you, get ready soon." Biological abilities. Those. natural often predetermine a person's ability to do something. For example, a musician will not be able to become, the one who stepped on the ear of the bear. Or someone who does not have the ability to paint will not be able to become an artist. Even if there are such abilities, they must be developed as early as possible. Learning to draw is much more difficult in adulthood. However, a person can become a member of society only in the process of socialization. He can master speech, writing, even learn to walk on two legs only in a society like himself. Let's take a classic example - Mowgli. Only in a fairy tale was he able to become a member of society. In real life, if children found themselves in animal society, having fallen into human society at the age of 5-7 years, they could no longer become people in the full sense of the word. Unfortunately, such cases also happen in our country. Once I had to see a report about a girl 10-12 years old. Who lived in a kennel with a dog. Parents did not need her. The girl ran on all fours, ate from a bowl. Once in the orphanage, with great difficulty she switched to walking. It took a lot of effort to teach her to use a spoon. Another child was raised by a cat. It was time for the parents to drink vodka. The child also began to meow instead of human speech. The process of socialization is very complex and includes many components: from mastering sex roles to political socialization. A big role in socialization is played by play, for example, playing at mothers and daughters. Playing with dolls is not self-indulgence, wasting time. She teach the child a social role: mom, dad. In this case, the child will repeat what is in the family. 2. Society and its structure. Subsystems of society: economic, spiritual, social, political.
Philosophical teachings about society began to arise as the very philosophical knowledge was born. So, in the philosophy of India and China, Buddhism, Confucianism and other currents) there were teachings about the social structure, social structure, place and role of the state in society, about man and his relationship with society and the state. In Ancient Greece, a scientific approach to the study of society began to emerge, which manifested itself in the works of the famous historians Herodotus and Thucydides. It is noteworthy that ancient philosophy has already studied society from various angles. For example, Democritus tried to consider the origin of social life in the course of people's labor activity. Socrates initiated the study of the topic of man as a subject of social and moral life. Diogenes and Epicurus drew attention to the various forms of human life in society. Of all the ancient philosophers, Plato and Aristotle made the greatest contributions to the theory of society. So, Plato developed the doctrine of the so-called "ideal" (perfect) state, where three social groups will be represented - producers, warriors and rulers, and an aristocratic republic will become the form of government. As for Aristotle, he created the doctrine of politics and investigated various forms of state power in society - aristocracy, republic, democracy, politics and others. This Greek thinker is also known as the author of the idea of the naturalness of slavery as a system of relations and institutions in society.
In the Middle Ages, the theological (religious) understanding of society and its structure took shape and prevailed. The idea of the creation of man and society by God was emphasized (Aurelius Augustine, Thomas * Aquinas). It was believed that God gave the first people free will, but they were unable to reasonably dispose of it. As a result, the entire history of mankind has become the history of the Fall and the eternal struggle between the forces of Good and Evil. The philosophy of that time considered the church to be the highest institution of power in society, and the clergy as a special social group. Certain thinkers of the Middle Ages believed that the history of society, like the life of an individual, also has its own periods - birth, flowering and death. The conviction was expressed that the final of human history will nevertheless be the victory of the forces of good and the establishment of a certain Kingdom of God, as the Creator intended.
During the Renaissance and New Time, society gradually began to be perceived as something natural, developed in the course of the long evolution of nature on Earth, as one of the possible worlds in the Universe. In the socio-philosophical teachings of that time, the idea was carried out that society is a complex system of relations and institutions, the emerging Marxists proclaimed communism as a kind of ideal society, a just and reasonably organized association of free workers.
The history of philosophy shows that the theme of society is traditionally present in it and occupies a significant place. The branch of philosophy in which society is considered as a specific and unique phenomenon of the Cosmos is called social philosophy, or the philosophy of public life. The object of knowledge for her is society as an integral, contradictory and dynamic system (social being), sources and driving forces, mechanisms of functioning and development of society, and the object is the universal in this system. In short, social philosophy is a general theory of social life, its foundations and the most important forms of manifestation.
Social philosophy is very closely related to such a science as sociology. If social philosophy is a theory of the highest degree of generalization of knowledge about society, then sociology is a theory of the "average" level of generalization of this knowledge. Sociology studies the functioning and development of individual social (non-natural) systems (for example, the sociology of the family, the sociology of science, culture, etc.), and social philosophy is interested in society as a whole, a social universe. The two branches of knowledge we have named are organically interconnected and complement each other. Together with other branches of scientific knowledge (archeology, history, political science, ethnography and others), they ultimately create a holistic portrait of society as a special kind of reality. The philosophical study of society is very specific. The fact is that human history is made by living and very different people. Therefore, social life is always diverse, confused, and often even unpredictable, full of accidents. It is extremely rich in its manifestations, behind which it is sometimes difficult to reveal their inner essence, laws and patterns of functioning and development. In this sense, the cognition of social phenomena (and they are always unique and irreproducible in a scientific experiment) cannot be helped even by the most perfect instruments. It requires a lot of power of the human mind, scrupulous reflection on many facts. The point is also that the knowledge of society proceeds in the course of acute rivalry between different worldview and ideological approaches. However, each of them carries only a part of the truth, although it claims to be completely exhausted. In social philosophy, the truth of certain assumptions and theories is not revealed immediately, but only after a significant period of time. It is not surprising, for example, that the most important laws of society and its history were discovered and comprehended only in the 19th - 20th centuries, which happened thanks to the work of such giants of thought such as G. Hegel and K. Marx. P.A. Sorokin and other famous scientists.
Social philosophy, as a field of knowledge, performs a number of important functions. These include, first of all, ideological and methodological, ideological, axiological. The most basic thing is that socio-philosophical knowledge helps to form a holistic theoretical portrait of society as a super-complex social organism. It explores the substance and structure of society, reveals the place and role of man in it, relations between people and social groups, the most important forms of human activity in society. Social science as a complex of sciences about the social form of the movement of matter can be figuratively compared with a growing tree. Its separate branches are private social sciences (political science, psychology, demography, etc.). The very same tree trunk is social philosophy as a pivot, supporting structure of the entire system of social science. It is designed to provide an answer to a very important ideological question about what society is as a specific phenomenon of the universe and the world of human existence, to answer other questions that constitute the problematic field of socio-philosophical research.
By posing the question of the essence of society ("What is it?"), Social philosophy thus makes the first step towards its theoretical comprehension. We can say that society is a self-developing structured system, the integrity of which is determined primarily by the production-labor and spiritual relations of people.
What is characteristic of society as a unique phenomenon of the Cosmos?
In social philosophy, society (social being, society) is characterized as the highest form of the movement of matter among all known to modern science. The beginning and the decisive factor in its formation was labor, which is a human tool activity. Thanks to work, man was able to gradually create a reality that is fundamentally different from nature. This new world, created by human labor (including the spiritual sphere), is society. This is said in poetic form in the words of the poet N.A. Zabolotskiy: "Man has two worlds: / One, who created us, / Another, which we have been creating for centuries / We create to the best of our ability." Labor has played and plays a special role in social life. He is the beginning and substance (basis) of society. And the whole world history is nothing more than, in the words of Karl Marx, "the generation of man by human labor", the formation of man as a creative agent.
Social philosophy also notes that society is a super-complex organism. The bearer of all forms and manifestations of social life is a person. He is the creator of society and its history, a central point in space and time of social life. In the social world, a person is simultaneously the author, director and actor of his own drama, i.e. life path. "The whole world is a theater, all women, men in it are actors", - this is how V. Shakespeare figuratively put it about it. Society is a very variegated world, the unity of the diverse: the needs and interests of people, their ideals and forms of activity, social institutions. It is the unity of large and small social groups, outstanding and invisible personalities, the contradictory unity of politics and economics, science and religion, morality and law, past, present and future. Despite the seeming chaos, society is still a system with ordered connections and relationships, the logic of functioning and development. Characterizing society, social philosophy identifies in it a number of main spheres, or areas of its being.
First, it is the economic sphere, or "the world of material production." Here, a person creates the material goods he needs (food, clothing, housing, etc.) with the help of knowledge and skills, special tools, equipment and technologies. The economy is the main condition for the existence of society, the engine of its progress.
Second, there is a social sphere in society, or "the world of social groups." It arose and always exists on a natural and concrete historical basis. This area is a collection of large and small social groups (communities) of people with their needs, interests and relationships. The economic sphere is the economic space in which the economic life of the country is organized, the interaction of all sectors of the economy is carried out, as well as international economic cooperation. Material production, i.e. the creation of items necessary for human consumption, which, as a rule, are not found in finished form in nature (food, clothing, housing, etc.), is the most important sign of social life. Everything that is in society is created, ultimately, as a result of labor in various forms of its manifestation. Animals, at the best, collect, while people know how to produce, they are workers and creators. The main criteria of the economic sphere are: the development of tools of production, mechanization and automation of production, the availability of new technologies, the maximum implementation of professional training of specialists, the material standard of living of people. In each society, material production has its own specifics, which is determined by the geographical location, climate, raw materials and energy resources, population, historical traditions and other factors.
Material production is carried out in the course of labor, which is a purposeful tool-based human activity aimed at transforming nature in their interests and goals. The role of labor in the life of a person and society is so great and multifaceted that it is necessary to characterize it as a socio-cultural phenomenon and process. Labor is a necessary condition for human life, the "father" of all wealth created in society. In addition, by transforming the external nature, a person also improves himself - the structure of his body, sense organs, thinking and other abilities. As society grew and became more complex, labor itself, its character, forms and means, became more complex. In particular, a division of labor appeared, i.e. distribution between people of certain functions and the conditions for their implementation. There were agrarian and industrial labor, managerial and executive, military activities.
Each level of economic development has its own mode of production. The mode of production is what and how nature is processed, and how people interact in the course of material production. Tools, objects of labor and technology, taken together, constitute the means of production. They can also be called the material component of the method of material production. A special place among them is occupied by tools of labor - special tools for processing natural material by a person (shovel, drill, jackhammer and the distribution and consumption of material and spiritual benefits created in society, on the resolution of contradictions arising from the social stratification of society, on the social protection of the corresponding strata of the population This refers to the regulation of the entire complex of social, class and national relations concerning working conditions, everyday life, education and the standard of living of people.
As you can see, the functioning of the social sphere is associated with the satisfaction of a special circle of social needs. The possibilities for their satisfaction are determined by the social status of a person or social group, as well as the nature of existing social relations. The degree of satisfaction of these needs determines the level and quality of life of a particular person, family, social group, etc. These are generalizing indicators of the achieved level of people's well-being and the effectiveness of the functioning of its social sphere. The social policy of the state should be aimed at this. The political sphere is the space for the political activity of classes, other social groups, national communities, political parties and movements, and various kinds of social organizations. Their activity takes place on the basis of the established political relations and is aimed at the implementation of their political interests.
These interests concern primarily political power, as well as the exercise of their political rights and freedoms. It is in the interests of some subjects to consolidate the existing political power. Others - its elimination. Still others seek to share political power with other actors. As a result, everyone wants to influence political processes in one form or another in their own interests.
To this end, each of the actors in the political sphere, be it a class, a political party or an individual, seeks to expand their political rights and freedoms. This pushes the boundaries of their political activity, creates great opportunities for the realization of their political interests and the embodiment of their political will.
Modern political processes significantly politicize the consciousness of many people and increase their political activity. This enhances the role and importance of the political sphere in the life of society. _
The spiritual sphere is the sphere of people's relations with regard to various kinds of spiritual values, their creation, dissemination and assimilation by all strata of society. At the same time, spiritual values mean not only, say, objects of painting, music or literary works, but also; knowledge of people, science, moral norms of behavior, etc., in a word, everything that makes up the spiritual content of social life or the spirituality of society.
The spiritual sphere of public life has developed historically. It embodies the geographical, national and other features of the development of society, all that has been postponed! its imprint in the soul of the people, its national character * The spiritual life of society is formed from the daily spiritual communication of people and from such areas of their activities as knowledge, including scientific, education and upbringing, from manifestations of morality, art, religion. All this makes up the content of the spiritual sphere, develops the spiritual! the world of people, their ideas about the meaning of life in society. This has a decisive influence on the formation of spiritual principles in their activities and behavior.
Of great importance in this regard is the activities of institutions that perform the functions of education and upbringing - from primary schools to universities, as well as the atmosphere of family education of a person, the circle of his peers and friends, all the wealth of his spiritual communication with other people. An important role in the formation of human spirituality is played by original folk art, as well as professional art - theater, music, cinema, painting, architecture, etc.
One of the fundamental problems of the development of modern society is how to form, preserve and enrich the spiritual world of people, attach them to true spiritual values and turn them away from false ones that destroy the human soul and society. Everything suggests that the importance of the spiritual sphere in the development of modern society, for its present and future, can hardly be overestimated. Scientists, philosophers, religious leaders, and other representatives of spiritual culture are increasingly turning to the study of the processes taking place here.
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