Social progress from the forms of change in society. The impact of technological progress on society

The idea of ​​progressive development entered science as a secularized (secular) version of the Christian belief in providence. The image of the future in the biblical stories was an irreversible, predetermined and sacred process of development of people guided by the divine will. However, the origins of this idea are discovered much earlier. Next, let's look at what progress is, what its purpose and meaning are.

First mentions

Before we talk about what progress is, we should give a brief historical description of the emergence and spread of this idea. In particular, in the ancient Greek philosophical tradition there are discussions about improving the existing socio-political structure, which developed from the primitive community and family to the ancient polis, that is, the city-state (Aristotle “Politics”, Plato “Laws”). A little later, during the Middle Ages, Bacon tried to apply the concept and concept of progress in the ideological field. In his opinion, knowledge accumulated over time is increasingly enriched and improved. Thus, each next generation is able to see further and better than its predecessors.

What is progress?

This word has Latin roots and translated means “success”, “moving forward”. Progress is a direction of development of a progressive nature. This process is characterized by the transition to the higher from the lower, from the less to the more perfect. The progress of society is a global, world-historical phenomenon. This process involves the ascent of human associations from savagery, primitive states to the heights of civilization. This transition is based on political, legal, moral, ethical, scientific and technical achievements.

Main Components

The above describes what progress is and when they first started talking about this concept. Next, let's look at its components. During the improvement, the following aspects develop:

• Material. In this case, we are talking about the most complete satisfaction of the benefits of all people and the elimination of any technical restrictions for this.
• Social component. Here we are talking about the process of bringing society closer to justice and freedom.
• Scientific. This component reflects the process of continuous, deepening and expanding knowledge of the surrounding world, its development in both the micro and macro spheres; liberation of knowledge from the boundaries of economic feasibility.

New time

During this period, they began to see progress in natural science. G. Spencer expressed his point of view on the process. In his opinion, progress - both in nature and in society - was subject to a general evolutionary process of increasing complexity of internal functioning and organization. Over time, forms of progress began to be visible in literature and general history. Art did not go unnoticed either. In different civilizations there was a diversity of social orders, which, in turn, determined different types of progress. A so-called “staircase” was formed. At its apex were the most developed and civilized societies of the West. Next, at various stages, stood other cultures. The distribution depended on the level of development. There was a "Westernization" of the concept. As a result, such types of progress as “American-centrism” and “Eurocentrism” appeared.

Modern times

During this period, the decisive role was assigned to man. Weber emphasized the tendency to rationalize the universal in the management of diversity. Durkheim gave other examples of progress. He spoke of a trend toward social integration through "organic solidarity." It was based on the complementary and mutually beneficial contribution of all participants in society.

Classic concept

The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is called the “triumph of the idea of ​​development.” At that time, the general belief that scientific and technological progress could guarantee continuous improvement of life was accompanied by a spirit of romantic optimism. In general, there was a classical concept in society. It represented an optimistic idea of ​​the gradual liberation of humanity from fear and ignorance on the way to increasingly refined and higher levels of civilization. The classical concept was based on the concept of linear irreversible time. Here progress was a positively characterized difference between the present and the future or the past and the present.

Goals and objectives

It was assumed that the described movement would continue continuously not only in the present, but also in the future, despite occasional deviations. There was a fairly widespread belief among the masses that progress could be maintained at all stages, in every basic structure of society. As a result, everyone would achieve complete prosperity.

Main criteria

The most common among them were:

• Religious improvement (J. Buset, Augustine).
• Increase in scientific knowledge (O. Comte, J. A. Condorcet).
• Equality and justice (K. Marx, T. More).
• Expansion of individual freedom in combination with the development of morality (E. Durkheim, I. Kant).
• Urbanization, industrialization, improvement of technology (K. A. Saint-Simon).
• Dominion over natural forces (G. Spencer).

The inconsistency of progress

The first doubts about the correctness of the concept began to be expressed after the First World War. The inconsistency of progress consisted in the emergence of ideas about negative side effects in the development of society. F. Tennis was one of the very first to criticize. He believed that social development from traditional to modern, industrial, not only did not improve, but, on the contrary, worsened people’s living conditions. The primary, direct, personal social connections of traditional human interaction have been replaced by indirect, impersonal, secondary, exclusively instrumental contacts inherent in the modern world. This, according to Tennis, was the main problem of progress.

Increased criticism

After World War II, it became obvious to many that development in one area entails negative consequences in another. Industrialization, urbanization, scientific and technological progress were accompanied by environmental pollution. Which, in turn, provoked a new theory to emerge. The belief that humanity needs continuous economic progress has given way to the alternative idea of ​​“limits to growth.”

Forecast

Researchers have calculated that as consumption levels in different countries approach Western standards, the planet could explode from environmental overload. The concept of the “golden billion”, according to which only 1 billion people from wealthy states can be guaranteed a secure existence on Earth, has completely undermined the main postulate on which the classical idea of ​​progress was based - focusing on a better future for all living without exception. Conviction in the superiority of the direction of development followed by Western civilization, which dominated for a long period of time, gave way to disappointment.

Utopian vision

This thinking reflected highly idealized ideas about the best society. This utopian thinking, presumably, was also dealt a powerful blow. The last attempt to implement this type of vision of the world was the world socialist system. At the same time, humanity at this stage does not have in stock projects “capable of mobilizing collective, universal actions, capturing people’s imagination,” which could orient society towards a bright future (this role was very effectively played by the ideas of socialism). Instead, today there are either simple extrapolations of existing trends, or catastrophic prophecies.

Reflections on the future

The development of ideas about upcoming events is currently going in two directions. In the first case, a reigning pessimism is determined, in which gloomy images of decline, destruction and degeneration are visible. Due to disappointment in scientific and technical rationalism, mysticism and irrationalism began to spread. Reason and logic in one area or another are increasingly opposed to emotions, intuition, and subconscious perception. According to radical postmodern theories, reliable criteria by which myth was distinguished from reality, ugly from beautiful, virtue from vice, have disappeared in modern culture. All this indicates that the era of “highest freedom” from morality, traditions, progress, in the end, has begun. In the second direction, there is an active search for new concepts of development that can give people positive guidelines for the coming periods and rid humanity of unfounded illusions. Postmodernist ideas mainly rejected the theory of development in the traditional version with finalism, fatalism and determinism. Most of them preferred other examples of progress - other probabilistic approaches to the development of society and culture. Some theorists (Buckley, Archer, Etzioni, Wallerstein, Nisbet) in their concepts interpret the idea as a possible chance of improvement, which can occur with a certain degree of probability, or may go unnoticed.

The principle of constructivism

Of all the variety of approaches, it was this concept that served as the theoretical foundation for postmodernism. The task is to find the driving forces of progress in the everyday normal life of people. According to K. Lash, the solution to the riddle is ensured by the confidence that improvements can occur solely through human efforts. Otherwise, the problem is simply unsolvable.

Alternative Concepts

All of them, which arose within the framework of activity theory, are very abstract. Alternative concepts appeal to the “man as a whole” without showing much interest in cultural and civilizational differences. In this case, in fact, a new type of social utopia is visible. It represents a cybernetic simulation of social cultures of ideal order, viewed through the prism of human activity. These concepts return positive guidelines, a certain belief in probable progressive development. Moreover, they name (albeit at a highly theoretical level) the sources and conditions of growth. Meanwhile, alternative concepts do not answer the main question: why humanity, “free from” and “free for,” in some cases chooses progress and strives for a “new, active society,” but often the guideline for it is decadence and destruction, which , in turn, leads to stagnation and regression. Based on this, it can hardly be argued that society needs progress. This is explained by the fact that it cannot be proven whether humanity will want to realize its creative ability in the future. There are no answers to these questions in cybernetics and systems theory. However, they were analyzed in detail by religion and culture. In this regard, sociocultural ethicocentrism can today act as an alternative to constructivist modernism in the theory of progress.

Finally

Modern Russian philosophers are increasingly returning to the “Silver Age”. Turning to this heritage, they are trying to hear again the originality of the rhythms of the national culture, to translate them into a strict scientific language. According to Panarin, the biomorphic structure of cognition shows a person the image of the cosmos as a living, organic integrity. Its space awakens in people motivation of a higher order, incompatible with irresponsible consumer egoism. Today it is clearly clear that modern social science requires a serious revision of existing basic principles, priorities and values. It can suggest new directions to a person if he, in turn, finds in himself enough strength to take advantage of them.

Are you already familiar with the concept of social dynamics? Society does not stand still, constantly changing directions of its development. Is society really increasing the pace of its development, what is its direction? We’ll look at how to answer it correctly in task 25 after the topic.

“Progress is movement in a circle, but more and more quickly”

This is what the American writer Leonard Levinson thought.

To begin with, let us remember that we already know the concept and it and have also worked on the topic

Let us remember that one of the signs is development, movement. Society is constantly in the process of change; the institutions it needs are developing, making them more complex. Undemanded institutions are dying out. We have already traced the development of the institute

Let's look at other important institutions - imagine their development and social demand for them in the form of a table:

Social dynamics are expressed in various directions of development of society.

Progress– the progressive development of society, expressed in the complication of the social structure.

Regression– degradation of social structure and social relations (the opposite term to PROGRESS, its antonym).

The concepts of PROGRESS AND REGRESS are very conditional; what is characteristic of the development of one society cannot be acceptable for another. Let us remember that in Ancient Sparta, weak newborn boys were simply thrown off a cliff, because they could not become wars. Today this custom looks barbaric to us.

Evolution– gradual development of society (the opposite term to REVOLUTION, its antonym). One of its forms is reform– a change emanating from and changing relationships in one of the spheres (for example, the agrarian reform of P.A. Stolypin). REVOLUTION in the sense comes from

Social dynamics is the subject of study of one of the sciences about SOCIETY - social. There are two main approaches to the study of society.

According to Marx, every society must go through all stages of development and arrive at (linearity of development). The civilizational approach provides for the alternative paths of each parallel existence of societies with different levels of development, which is more consistent with modern realities. It is this approach that is most in demand in the context of Unified State Examination tasks.

Let's try to compare the three types of societies according to various important parameters in the form of a table:

And we conclude that in historical development there are three main types of society:

Traditional society – historical type of civilization based on both the predominance and

Industrial society – a historical type of civilization based on the introduction and elimination of the monarchical political system of the Middle Ages.

Post-industrial (information) society – a modern type of civilization based on the dominance (of computers in production, the result of the 20th century.

Thus, today we have worked on the following important topics from

• The concept of social progress;
• Multivariate social development (types of societies).

And now PRACTICUM! LET'S CONSOLIDATE THE KNOWLEDGE WE GOT TODAY!

We carry out

exercise 25. What meaning do social scientists put into the concept of “criterion of progress”? Drawing on the knowledge of the social science course, compose two sentences: one sentence revealing the features of progress, and one sentence containing information about the criterion(s) for determining progress.

First, let's not make the most common mistake associated with this task. What is required from us is not two sentences, but a CONCEPT and 2 SENTENCES (three in total!). So, we remembered the concept of progress - the progressive development of society, its movement forward. Let's choose a synonym for the word criterion - measure, yardstick. Respectively:
The “criterion of progress” is a measure by which the degree of development of society is judged.

1. A feature of progress is its inconsistency; all criteria for progress are subjective.

And, we remember that although the degree of development of a society can be measured in different ways (there are many approaches - the level of development of science, technology and technology, the degree of democracy, a generally accepted single criterion is the humanity of society). So:

2. The universal criterion for determining progress is the degree of humanity of society, the ability to provide maximum conditions for development to each person.

So this is what our response looks like:

25. The “criterion of progress” is a measure by which the degree of development of society is judged.

1. A feature of progress is its inconsistency; all criteria for progress are subjective.
2. The universal criterion for determining progress is the degree of humaneness of society, the ability to provide maximum conditions for development to each person.

Before studying social progress, we should find out what the terms “progress” and “regression” mean. The key concepts for understanding the identified problem are the concepts of “change” and “development”. Change means the transition of systems from one state to another. Changes can be quantitative and qualitative, reversible and irreversible. Development but this is only a qualitative, natural and irreversible change in systems.

So, three features reveal the essence of the concept of “development”.

1. Development does not characterize all changes, but only qualitative ones.

2. Irreversibility is the most important characteristic of development. If any process is reversible, that is, its properties and qualities can appear, disappear and appear again, then this is a change, but not development.

3. Regularity . The absence of a pattern is typical for random processes, for example, disasters. They cannot be considered development.

So: the proposed understanding of development does not characterize all types of quantitative and qualitative changes, but only those that result in natural, irreversible qualitative changes.

Development is a contradictory phenomenon and can be carried out both in an ascending and descending direction - both progress and regression.

Progress- a form of development associated with the transition from a less perfect to a more perfect state, from lower to higher.

Regression– the opposite concept is a form of development associated with the transition from a higher to a lower state. This is a backward movement, these are processes of decay, destruction, loss of the system’s ability to perform the necessary functions.

Social progress- this is the ascending, progressive development of humanity, associated with the transition from a less perfect to a more perfect state.

Community development is contradictory in nature: it is the unity of the progressive and the regressive. In this regard, the question arises: how to distinguish progressive development from regressive? In other words, what is the criterion, that is, the “measure”, a sign of progressive development?

There are criteria for social progress are common And private.

The general criterion for the progress of society can be considered as trinity the following indicators:

1. The degree of development of the productive forces of society - engineering, technology, science, transport, communications and, finally, the most important thing - a person who knows how and wants to work.

2. Degree of compliance economic, legal, political and other laws, operating in society, development needs productive forces .

3. Degree of social freedom working population and social security disabled population.

In addition to the general criterion of social progress, to assess the nature of the development of individual aspects of social life, private criteria.

Let us give some examples of private criteria in various spheres of public life.

In spiritual life these will be: opportunities for creative personal expression; the quantity and quality of books, magazines, museums, libraries, theaters, other cultural institutions and their accessibility to the population; availability and quantity of free time, quality of leisure.

In material life, technical progress is important, i.e. improvement of equipment, technology, penetration of technology into the spheres of everyday life, culture, and art.

Think about what scientific progress is, whether there is progress in morality, progress in the field of art.

Social progress - the movement of society from simple and backward forms to more advanced and complex ones.

The opposite concept is regression - a return of society to already obsolete, backward forms.

Since progress involves assessing changes in society as positive or negative, it can be understood differently by different researchers, depending on the criteria of progress. These include:

development of productive forces;

development of science and technology;

increasing people's freedom;

improvement of the human mind;

moral development.

Since these criteria do not correspond, and often contradict each other, the ambiguity of social progress appears: progress in some areas of society can lead to regression in others.

In addition, progress has such a feature as inconsistency: any progressive discovery of humanity can turn against itself. For example, the discovery of nuclear energy led to the creation of the nuclear bomb.

P Progress in society can be achieved in various ways:

I .

1) revolution - a violent transition of society from one socio-political system to another, affecting most spheres of life.

Signs of revolution:

a radical change in the existing system;

affects all spheres of public life sharply;

abrupt change.

2) reform - gradual, successive transformations of individual spheres carried out by the authorities.

There are two types of reforms: progressive (beneficial for society) and regressive (having a negative impact).

Signs of reform:

a smooth change that does not affect the basics;

As a rule, it affects only one sphere of society.

II .

1) revolution - sharp, abrupt, unpredictable changes leading to qualitative transformation.

2) evolution - gradual, smooth transformations, predominantly quantitative in nature.

1.17. Multivariate development of society

Society - such a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that it is impossible to unambiguously describe and predict its development. However, in social science several types of classification of the development of societies have developed.

I. Classification of society according to the main factor of production.

1. Traditional (agrarian, pre-industrial) society. The main factor of production is land. The main product is produced in agriculture, extensive technologies dominate, non-economic coercion is widespread, and technology is underdeveloped. The social structure is unchanged, social mobility is practically absent. Religious consciousness determines all spheres of social life.

2. Industrial (industrial) society. The main factor of production is capital. The transition from manual labor to machine labor, from a traditional society to an industrial one - the industrial revolution. Mass industrial production dominates. Science and technology are developing, and they are improving industry. The social structure is changing and the possibility of changing social status appears. Religion fades into the background, individualization of consciousness occurs, and pragmatism and utilitarianism are established.

3. Post-industrial (information) society. The main factor of production is knowledge and information. The service sector and small-scale production dominate. Economic growth is determined by the growth of consumption (“consumer society”). High social mobility, the determining factor in the social structure is the middle class. Political pluralism, democratic values ​​and the importance of the human person. The importance of spiritual values.

Social progress - this is a global historical process of development of society from lower to higher, from a primitive, wild state to a higher, civilized one. This process occurs thanks to the development of scientific and technical, social and political, moral and cultural achievements.

First theory of progress described by the famous French publicist Abbé Saint-Pierre in his book “Remarks on the Continuous Progress of Universal Reason” in 1737. According to his theory, progress is inherent in every person by God and this process is inevitable, like natural phenomena. Further progress research as a social phenomenon continued and deepened.

Progress criteria.

Progress criteria are the main parameters of its characteristics:

• social;
• economic;
• spiritual;
• scientific and technical.

Social criterion - this is the level of social development. It implies the level of people's freedoms, quality of life, the degree of difference between rich and poor, the presence of a middle class, etc. The main engines of social development are revolutions and reforms. That is, a radical complete change in all layers of social life and its gradual change, transformation. Different political schools evaluate these engines differently. For example, everyone knows that Lenin preferred revolution.

Economic criterion - this is the growth of GDP, trade and banking, and other parameters of economic development. The economic criterion is the most important, as it affects the others. It's hard to think about creativity or spiritual self-education when there is nothing to eat.

Spiritual criterion - Moral development is one of the most controversial, as different models of society evaluate differently. For example, unlike European countries, Arab countries do not consider tolerance towards sexual minorities to be spiritual progress, and even vice versa - regression. However, there are generally accepted parameters by which spiritual progress can be judged. For example, condemnation of murder and violence is characteristic of all modern states.

Scientific and technical criterion - this is the presence of new products, scientific discoveries, inventions, advanced technologies, in short - innovations. Most often, progress refers to this criterion in the first place.

Alternative theories.

Progress concept has been criticized since the 19th century. A number of philosophers and historians deny progress as a social phenomenon completely. J. Vico views the history of society as a cyclical development with ups and downs. A. Toynbee gives as an example the history of various civilizations, each of which has phases of emergence, growth, decline and decay (Maya, Roman Empire, etc.).

In my opinion, these disputes are related to different understandings of the determining progress as such, as well as with different understandings of its social significance.

However, without social progress we would not have society as we know it today, with its achievements and morals.