What relates to the sphere of spiritual culture. What is involved in spiritual practice?

Not only social subjects are identified as parts, but also other formations - spheres of society's life. Society is a complex system of specially organized human life activity. Like any other complex system, society consists of subsystems, the most important of which are called spheres of public life.

Sphere of social life- a certain set of stable relations between social actors.

Spheres of public life are large, stable, relatively independent subsystems of human activity.

Each area includes:

certain types of human activities (for example, educational, political, religious);
social institutions (such as family, school, parties, church);
established relationships between people (i.e., connections that arose in the process of human activity, for example, relations of exchange and distribution in the economic sphere).

Traditionally, there are four main spheres of public life:

social (peoples, nations, classes, gender and age groups, etc.)
economic (productive forces, production relations)
political (state, parties, socio-political movements)
spiritual (religion, morality, science, art, education).

Of course, a person is able to live without satisfying these needs, but then his life will differ little from the life of animals. Spiritual needs are met in the process spiritual activity - cognitive, value, prognostic, etc. Such activities are aimed primarily at changing individual and social consciousness. It manifests itself in scientific creativity, self-education, etc. At the same time, spiritual activity can be both producing and consuming.

Spiritual production is the process of formation and development of consciousness, worldview, and spiritual qualities. The product of this production is ideas, theories, artistic images, values, the spiritual world of the individual and spiritual relationships between individuals. The main mechanisms of spiritual production are science, art and religion.

Spiritual consumption is called the satisfaction of spiritual needs, the consumption of products of science, religion, art, for example, visiting a theater or museum, acquiring new knowledge. The spiritual sphere of society's life ensures the production, storage and dissemination of moral, aesthetic, scientific, legal and other values. It covers various consciousnesses - moral, scientific, aesthetic, etc.

Social institutions in spheres of society

In each sphere of society, corresponding social institutions are formed.

In the social sphere The most important social institution within which the reproduction of new generations of people is carried out is. The social production of man as a social being, in addition to the family, is carried out by such institutions as preschool and medical institutions, schools and other educational institutions, sports and other organizations.

For many people, the production and presence of spiritual conditions of existence are no less important, and for some people even more important, than material conditions. Spiritual production distinguishes humans from other beings in this world. The state and nature of development determine the civilization of mankind. Main in the spiritual sphere institutions are performing. This also includes cultural and educational institutions, creative unions (writers, artists, etc.), funds mass media and other organizations.

At the heart of the political sphere there are relationships between people that allow them to participate in the management of social processes and occupy a relatively safe position in the structure of social connections. Political relations are forms of collective life that are prescribed by laws and other legal acts of the country, charters and instructions regarding independent communities, both outside and inside the country, written and unwritten rules of various. These relations are carried out through the resources of the corresponding political institution.

On a national scale, the main political institution is . It consists of many of the following institutions: the president and his administration, government, parliament, court, prosecutor's office and other organizations that ensure general order in the country. In addition to the state, there are many organizations in which people exercise their political rights, that is, the right to manage social processes. Social movements also act as political institutions that seek to participate in the governance of the entire country. In addition to them, there may be organizations at the regional and local level.

Interrelation of spheres of public life

Spheres of public life are closely interconnected. In the history of the sciences, there have been attempts to single out any sphere of life as determining in relation to others. Thus, in the Middle Ages, the prevailing idea was the special significance of religiosity as part of the spiritual sphere of social life. In modern times and the Age of Enlightenment, the role of morality and scientific knowledge was emphasized. A number of concepts assign the leading role to the state and law. Marxism affirms the determining role of economic relations.

Within the framework of real social phenomena, elements from all spheres are combined. For example, the nature of economic relations can influence the structure of the social structure. A place in the social hierarchy shapes certain political views and provides appropriate access to education and other spiritual values. Economic relations themselves are determined by the legal system of the country, which is very often formed on the basis of the people, their traditions in the field of religion and morality. Thus, at different stages of historical development, the influence of any sphere may increase.

The complex nature of social systems is combined with their dynamism, i.e., mobile nature.

There are several processes of spiritual practice: listening about God; talk about God; read scriptures; remember God; pray to God (meditate); serve God; worship God. Alexander Gennadievich Khakimov (spiritual name - Chaitanya Chandra Charan Das) is a well-known specialist in Vedic culture in Russia and other countries, writer, psychologist, artist, philosopher, theologian, preacher. For many years of traveling throughout Russia, as well as near and far abroad, he has been popularizing Vedic knowledge, which, in fact, is the source of world culture.

There are several processes of spiritual practice:

Listen about God.
Talk about God.
Read the scriptures.
Remember God.
Pray to God (do meditation).
Serve God.
They will worship God.

Alexander Gennadievich Khakimov (spiritual name - Chaitanya Chandra Charan Das) is a well-known specialist in Vedic culture in Russia and other countries, writer, psychologist, artist, philosopher, theologian, preacher.

For many years of traveling throughout Russia, as well as near and far abroad, he has been popularizing Vedic knowledge, which, in fact, is the source of world culture.

His life’s work is to bring people knowledge that reveals the eternal laws of existence. His lectures are characterized by rigor and purity, unusually bright imagery and clarity. In them, one after another, the secrets of Vedic wisdom unfold, and the transcendental heights of philosophy are revealed.

It is difficult to find a point on the map of our country that he would not visit. Almost every day of his life is lectures in crowded halls, where he shares his knowledge with people. With great inspiration and enthusiasm, he gives lectures, conducts seminars with a wide audience of listeners, takes part in round table discussions with scientists, philosophers, cultural figures, he is a frequent guest of various television and radio programs, which enjoy constant success thanks to his talented and accessible presentation complex philosophical topics.

Natural wisdom, combined with love and attention to people, helps each of his listeners to get to know themselves deeper, achieve understanding with others, and also find answers to intimate questions about the meaning of human life, the Absolute Truth and the nature of Love, that is, to gain practical Knowledge that helps person to become happy.

Alexander Gennadievich Khakimov speaks freshly and enthusiastically, enchanting listeners with his amazing charm. And the more we reflect on his words, the more we begin to realize their wisdom and depth.

He is the author of such seminars as: “Perfection of Love”, “Science of Relationships”, “Laws of Fate”, “Crises of Love”, “Levels of Consciousness”, “How to Be Happy”, “Formula of Peace”, “Nature of the Mind”, “Anatomy of the False” ego" and many others.

Alexander Gennadievich Khakimov is a spiritual leader and Honorary Director of Applied Spiritual Technologies named after John Favors.

Society is a rather complex concept, and several definitions can be given to it. In the first case, it is a group of people who are united by similar interests and joint activities. Society can also be called a part of the material world, which is closely connected with nature, but is not a subspecies of it. Society consists of individuals with their ways of organizing activities.

Society is a dynamic system, constantly evolving. It is complex, that is, it consists of a large number of elements and components. To study a society as a whole, it is necessary to study each of its components.

There are four systems of society: economic, political, social and spiritual. These spheres are closely interconnected; without one of them, the others could not exist.

Social sphere

Covers social communities and the connections between them. This area also includes ensuring a high-quality standard of living for the population: payment of pensions and benefits, free education and medical services.

The main subject of study in this area is man as a social being. No individual can exist without society, just as it cannot exist without him. Throughout his life, a person performs several social roles and has a certain status. The social status of a person is determined by the position a person occupies in society in accordance with his gender, age, profession, and lifestyle. Status presupposes that a person fulfills certain duties.

The status assigned to a person from birth is called innate: These are gender, age, race. People born into a family with good material income find it much easier to build their careers than those who are poorer. But bigger place occupied by acquired statuses - those that are acquired by a person throughout his life: education, hard work.

Status determines what its bearer can and should do in a particular situation and what not. The framework for its activities is established.

No less important is the concept of prestige - a certain popularity that a particular field of activity enjoys in society. The more expensive a person’s profession is paid, the more prestigious it is.

A social role is a prescription for behavior corresponding to the status. Each person has his own role set - a set of roles he performs. Boy or girl, son or daughter, student or worker - all these are social roles. They can change throughout life (pupil - student - worker) or remain unchanged (son - daughter).

An important element of the social sphere is the division of society into groups - social stratification. Its main types are slavery (one person is the property of another), castes (a closed group of people who are related by origin; typical for a number of Asian countries), classes (a closed group of people, the position in society in which is determined by the presence of certain rights and responsibilities that pass through inheritance) and class (a closed group, the position in society in which is directly related to the attitude towards private property). When there is social stratification, there is also inequality - conditions under which people have unequal access to material goods.

IN modern world conventionally distinguish strata that determine a person’s position. These include education, income, power and prestige. Transition between strata is possible, the level of social mobility (horizontal and vertical) is very high. Social elevators have a particular impact on mobility; they allow you to move from one stratum to another in the shortest possible period of time. Social elevators are the army, church, marriage, family, school and much more.

People who came from one social class, but for some reason did not join another, are called marginals, that is, non-class individuals. They are free from stereotypes and depend only on themselves, and do not bother with work.

A social institution is a stable form of organization of joint human activity. There are several main institutions and their functions: family (reproductive function - reproduction of the family), state (ensuring law and order and security), education (educational function, obtaining new knowledge, primary socialization), religion (solving spiritual problems, searching for the meaning of life). The task of social institutions is to satisfy human needs. Its primary, that is, the most necessary for successful life, is considered to be the need for food, drink, clothing, housing, and communication.

Social values are abstract: pity, mutual assistance, kindness - they cannot be measured or touched.

Social norms regulate behavior in society. These include legal norms, that is, norms established legally (laws, regulations), morality (the concept of good and evil), religious (the Bible says: “thou shalt not kill”, “thou shalt not steal”) and technical (when they explain to a small child , that it is dangerous to stick your fingers into a socket).

All people interact with each other in one way or another. At the same time, they are obliged to respect the opinions and interests of others and be tolerant. In the absence of this quality, conflicts begin, the most severe and dangerous form which are interethnic conflicts. Each ethnic group, in addition to a specific territory, language, politics and economy, has its own national culture. The culture of each ethnic group is unique, and we must try to preserve it for posterity. Each culture can be expressed by mentality - national character.

It regulates the relationship between government and society. This system is dynamic: it does not stand still and is constantly evolving.

Politics covers not only the power of the ruler, but also his opposition and their relationship with the people. These are political views and ideas; legal culture and political relations, legal and political values and norms. In addition, the political sphere has communication – it connects all layers of society.

The functions of politics are so extensive that they cover all aspects of human life.

— Legislation – issuing laws and regulating their implementation

— Formation of the political consciousness of people and manipulation of the masses - with the help of Mass Media: newspapers, magazines, television and radio broadcasting

— Determination of tasks and development paths and their implementation to the masses

— Coordination of the interests of society with the interests of the state

The traditional form of government is a monarchy, in which power is inherited. Monarchy can be absolute, when the power of the ruler is unlimited, and limited (constitutional and parliamentary). In a republican form of government, the ruler is elected for a certain term, this can be the president or parliament.

The political regime indicates the ways of organizing power in the state. The most “free” regime is a democratic regime. Power is concentrated in the hands of the people, they are its source. Democracy is a mandatory separation of powers (legislative, judicial and executive), equality of all citizens before the law and universal suffrage. Decisions are made by the majority, taking into account the opinions of the minority, as well as political pluralism - freedom of opinions and views, a large number of parties, the existence of an opposition.

Totalitarian and unitary regimes are considered undemocratic. The state intervenes in public life (under authoritarianism only in economics and politics, under totalitarianism - including personal life), the participation of the people is minimal, there is a single ideology, sometimes even a cult of personality.

The Mass Media has a great influence on politics: thanks to their activities, the attitude of citizens towards the government of the state and their choice when voting change. The media have a great influence on a person and regulate his consciousness. Many even call the media the “fourth estate” - their influence is so great.

The media carry out assessment of information and comments on it, political socialization (attracting people to the political sphere, increasing political activity), representing the interests of various groups and public associations.

The media rarely reports on boring meetings or unimportant legislation. Most often they bring people sensational statements, emergencies and reports of previously unknown phenomena. Such news attracts the average reader and increases their political culture and introduces them to the values of politics.

All thoughts and feelings of a person associated with his political participation are called political consciousness. The political consciousness formed in each person and reflecting what he remembers in everyday life is called ordinary. Political feelings, experiences, and the role of the individual in politics fall under the consideration of political psychology. Political psychology is formed on the basis of interaction between citizens and the state.

A holistic set of ideas and perceptions that serve as the basis for political action is called ideology. The twentieth century was dominated by communist ideology, with Marx's ideas of revolutionary violence coming to the fore. Joseph Stalin continued the development of this ideology and the idea of world revolution was born. The leadership of the proletariat, the establishment of a dictatorial regime, the reconstruction of society on the principles of equality and justice - these are the main ideas of communism.

It regulates relationships between people that arise in the sphere of goods and services. They include production, consumption, exchange and distribution of material goods.

Economics is understood as a science that studies how people use the goods they have. All resources that people use in the process of their activities are called factors of production. The main factors of production are labor (the activity of people to produce material goods), land (all types natural resources), capital (buildings and structures, money), entrepreneurship (the ability to correctly evaluate and build your production).

Unfortunately, in the modern world there is a problem of limited resources. This problem is due to the fact that people are not able to rationally use what they have been given. Man's desires are limitless; they have long exceeded his primary needs. And to satisfy most of them, a much larger supply of resources is needed than is currently available.

The economic system is represented by three main types of economy: traditional, command and market.

The traditional economic system, although inherent in pre-industrial (traditional) society, is also manifested in the modern world - many people have vegetable gardens, dachas - subsistence farming.

The command system completely denies the existence of private property; all property is state property. Each enterprise operates according to a specific plan (how many and what products need to be produced in a certain period of time), established by the authorities.

The market economy plays the most important role in the economic sphere. It is based on the right of private property, the development of competition, and economic freedom. The state does not interfere in the market economy; it only regulates and protects it through laws.

Spiritual culture is the process of mastering culture, science, and religion. It determines the value and moral qualities of society, reflects its level and quality of development.

The very first stage of spiritual development of society is morality. It can be compared to a legal custom, not enshrined in laws, but constituting its basis. Moral norms reflect the basic values of society, the measure of its aesthetic and religious development.

Culture can be divided into material (sculptures, architectural buildings) and spiritual (achievements of science and art). Innovation in culture is impossible without continuity: authors, creating their creations, rely on the achievements of the past.

The inner spiritual life of each individual is considered his spiritual world. A person who does not have a spiritual world is called unspiritual. There is a huge difference between people who regularly visit theaters and various exhibitions and who deny art as such.

Culture is one of the highest human values. It is focused on the concepts of goodness and evil, truth and beauty. Patriotism is also important - love for the Motherland.

A person’s views on the world around him constitute his worldview - a holistic idea of nature, man, society, and personal ideals. A worldview can be based on faith in God, focused on man or science, nature.

Art is the comprehension of beauty. It's a moving wheel whose vantage point is constantly changing. Art was created in order to overcome the possibilities of communication between individual nations.

Was last modified: January 12th, 2016 by Elena Pogodaeva

The spiritual life of society is one of the main spheres of social life, which determines the specifics of a particular society in its entirety. This area includes education and culture, religion and science.

Spiritual realm

The spiritual sphere of society is a system of relations between people, which reflects the moral life of a given society.

The spiritual sphere is represented by such multifaceted subsystems as religion, science, culture, education, art and ideology. Why does the spiritual sphere mean so much to any developed society?

First of all, the significance of the spiritual sphere lies in its function of identifying the value system of society. It is through the definition of values that one can understand the level of development of social consciousness.

Without a developed spiritual sphere, it is quite difficult to imagine a developed society of people. Through education, people become smarter and learn about the world around them from new sides; thanks to culture, society is constantly enriched spiritually, as people have the opportunity to express their personal qualities and creative potential.

Culture

Culture is a set of spiritual and material values, ways of creating them and opportunities to use them for the further development of humanity and the individual in particular. We can say that human labor is the first source of cultural development.

Culture is the totality of the spiritual achievements of humanity. But it is not without reason that they say that every country or every nation has its own culture. This is due to the fact that each country developed in its own way and each country has its own history.

As a result of cultural development, each nation has a certain cultural and spiritual heritage, which creates cultural customs. There are cultural achievements that are commonly called “transtemporal” - these are those cultural and spiritual phenomena that are not subject to change and time.

Education

The process and result of a person’s assimilation of knowledge, skills and abilities is usually called education. It is in this way that a person’s mind and feelings develop, his own opinion, value system, worldview and cognitive process.

Education is the main path to growing up and understanding the world around us. Children begin to be taught from an early age - first just sounds and movements, then the alphabet and counting, and every year the child learns something new.

In adolescence, a person not only accumulates systematized knowledge, he already learns to think critically and creatively - to independently evaluate the phenomena around him and the historical past.

Getting an education is important for every person - after all, without a system of generally required knowledge, he will not be able to fully communicate with people and feel comfortable in society. Education is a socially organized process.

Religion

Religion is one of the forms of social consciousness. And in the scientific sense, we are talking about religion as a special form of awareness of the world, which is determined by belief in the supernatural. Any type of religion includes moral norms and types of behavior, and also represents a union of people in certain organizations.

An example of such an organization is the church. The basis for religion is the concepts of God, the meaning and purpose of life, good and evil, morality and honesty. That is why religion is one of the fundamental subsystems of the spiritual sphere of society.

Science

The sphere of human activity aimed at theoretical systematization and development of knowledge about reality is usually called science. It is easiest to say that science is the collection of objective knowledge about the world.

The spiritual sphere of society is a system of relations between people, reflecting the spiritual and moral life of society, represented by such subsystems as culture, science, religion, morality, ideology, art. The significance of the spiritual sphere is determined by its most important, priority function of determining the value-normative system of society, which, in turn, reflects the level of development of public consciousness and the intellectual and moral potential of society as a whole. The study of the spiritual and moral life of society necessarily involves identifying its structural elements.

Such elements are called forms of social consciousness. These include moral, religious, political, scientific, aesthetic consciousness. These forms determine the corresponding subsystems of the spiritual sphere of society, differing from each other not only in the content and method of cognition of their object, but also in the time of their emergence in the process of development of society.

Historically, the first form of social consciousness is moral consciousness, without which humanity could not exist even at the earliest stages of its development, since moral norms reflecting the basic values of society are the most important regulators and stabilizers of any social relationships. In the conditions of primitive society, two more forms of social consciousness arise - aesthetic and religious. It is believed that religious consciousness develops later than aesthetic and, accordingly, moral consciousness, which, however, is disputed by representatives of the institution of religion, asserting the primacy of religion in relation to morality and art. Further, as society develops, political consciousness is formed, then scientific consciousness.

Of course, the listed forms are not the final and only ones. The development of the social system continues, which leads to the emergence of new subsystems in it that require their own understanding and, consequently, give rise to new forms of the spiritual sphere of society.

The problem of commercialization of culture and the associated problem of reducing the level of its artistic value, as well as the lack of demand for classical cultural samples by the mass consumer, is acute. These and other negative trends in the development of domestic spiritual culture can become a significant obstacle to the progressive development of our society.

The spiritual sphere of society

The spiritual sphere is the sphere of people’s relations regarding various spiritual values: their creation, dissemination and assimilation by all layers of society. Spiritual values include moral norms and moral ideals, traditions and customs, religious norms, works of painting, music, literature and other forms of art, as well as scientific knowledge and theories.

The spiritual sphere of society is an important part of culture.

Translated from Latin language The word “culture” (cultura) means “cultivation”, “development”. In ancient Rome, culture meant the cultivation of the land. In the 18th century, this term began to mean the improvement of human qualities. A person who was well-read and refined in manners was called cultured. To this day, we associate the word “culture” with good education, an art gallery, and a conservatory.

Modern scientists understand by culture all the achievements of people, everything that has been created by humanity (cars, computers, music, literature, films, clothing, traditions, norms and values, etc.).

Culture is human activity and its results.

Culture is so necessary that, like air, we do not notice it, but we cannot live without air, just like without culture.

Culture is a complex system created by thousands of generations of people. Culture reflects the features of a particular people, society, or social group. It is their culture that distinguishes them from each other. The culture of a people is its way of life, its clothing, housing, cuisine, folklore, spiritual ideas, beliefs, language and much more. Culture also includes social and everyday rules accepted in society, gestures of politeness and greetings, etiquette, and hygiene habits. The cultural sphere includes the activities of libraries, museums and exhibitions, entertainment enterprises, club institutions, cultural parks, botanical gardens and zoos, television and radio broadcasting.

Most scientists agree that culture has two dimensions - material and spiritual. This division is conditional. Material culture includes everything created by human hands: the steam engine, books, tools, residential buildings, church buildings, jewelry, works of art and much more. Spiritual (intangible) culture is formed by: norms and rules of behavior, laws, values, ceremonies, rituals, myths, knowledge, ideas, beliefs, customs, traditions, language, etc. Intangible culture is also the result of human activity, but it was created not by hands, but rather by the mind and exists in our consciousness, supported by society. Spiritual culture can be embodied in phenomena of material culture: books, paintings, sculpture, architecture, etc.

Spiritual culture in the broad sense of the word includes all manifestations of human activity in the field of material and intangible culture, relating to art and science, architecture, music, ballet, theater, museums and libraries. In the narrow sense of the word, these are only highly moral spiritual values and actions - heroism, patriotism, conscientiousness and honesty, altruism, etc.

Spiritual culture includes art, science, education, and religion. Art reflects the world in artistic images. Science is called upon to discover new knowledge, create advanced technologies, space station projects, decipher ancient texts, describe the laws of the Universe, etc. Science makes the world more understandable to humans.

Through education (and self-education), knowledge is passed on to subsequent generations. The education system includes schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, academies, universities, etc.

There are different religions (among them there are three world ones: Christianity, Buddhism, Islam) - ideas based on the belief in the existence of God or gods. But they all contain a system of moral principles, ideas about good and evil, which give meaning to human life, help fight all manifestations of evil for the sake of establishing love and goodness on Earth.

Spiritual culture is created by many people - poets, writers, composers, artists, publishers of books and magazines, lecturers, radio and television presenters, scientists and inventors, church leaders. Many institutions and organizations are involved in this process: academies of sciences, schools and universities, art galleries, theaters, museums, libraries, etc. They contribute to the creation, preservation, dissemination works of art, scientific theories, inventions.

It can also be said that spiritual culture is the result of the activities of all people. After all, it is not enough to compose a poem, a song, paint a picture, make a film or stage a play. Without readers, listeners, spectators, literature, music, painting, theater, cinema are dead. If we do not comply with traditions and rules of conduct, they will cease to exist. The genius of an invention can only be appreciated if it becomes public domain.

The basis of spiritual culture are moral principles and norms, i.e. ideas about good and evil; rules of behavior based on people’s ideas about good and bad, justice, duty, honor, conscience, etc.

Every society has its own moral values and ideals. Their morals reflect them.

Morals are generally accepted, highly respected, especially protected by society patterns of behavior that can be considered rules of proper and proper behavior.

In modern society, it is considered immoral to offend the weak. But the ancient Greeks argued that children in Sparta belonged not to their parents, but to the state. The father had to take the newborn to the elders. They examined the child, if they found him strong, they gave him to his father. If the child was weak and sickly, he was thrown off a cliff into the abyss.

Noble moral actions do not require awards, words of gratitude or government orders. Serves as gratitude good deed. It helps to believe in ourselves, strengthens all the best in us.

A person who is honest, well-mannered, and respectful of elders is considered to be highly moral. Respect for parents and care for them is one of the foundations of human morality. Human relationships can be called moral if they contain a sense of responsibility for another person.

Whatever decision a person makes in his life, be it a commercial transaction, marriage, choosing friends, getting a job, voting in government elections or a moral choice, he is, one way or another, guided by moral principles.

The spiritual sphere of society includes the highest manifestations of human activity in the field of literature, painting, science, music, architecture, poetry, etc. Moral principles play a major role in them.

Social-spiritual sphere

Society (in a broad sense) is a part of the world isolated from nature, but closely connected with it, which includes: ways of interaction between people, forms of unification of people; (in the narrow sense) is a collection of people united to communicate, satisfy their interests, and jointly perform some activity.

The economic sphere is a set of social relations in the sphere of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material goods.

The political sphere is the attitude of people associated primarily with power (state, law, politics), which ensure joint security.

The social sphere is an integral system of relationships and interactions between individuals and social groups.

The social sphere includes: classes, ethnic groups, family, social protection bodies, social strata, etc.

The spiritual sphere is the sphere of people’s relations regarding spiritual values.

This area includes: morality, religion, art, culture, etc.

All four spheres of society interact with each other.

Sphere of spiritual culture

The spiritual sphere of society covers all areas and manifestations of human spiritual activity - from the creation of palaces and temples to decorating the New Year tree.

Synonyms for the concept of “spiritual sphere of society” are the terms “social consciousness” and “spiritual culture”. Manifestations, or forms, of the spiritual sphere of society are culture, morality, art, science, religion, and education.

Peculiarities:

1. The spiritual sphere has a complex structure. The spiritual sphere of society includes language, morality, law, religion, education, science, art, philosophy, i.e. spiritual culture in its various manifestations and organizations, as well as the creative activity of people.

Just like material assets are created in society by the labor of many people, spiritual values are also constantly created in society. Spiritual values differ from material values by their special durability. Although many masterpieces of world culture have not survived to this day, the memory of them is passed on from generation to generation through legends, traditions, memories, etc. People's needs for spiritual values are limitless. Spiritual values, to a greater extent than material ones, capture the personality traits of their creators. Many achievements in the spiritual sphere have specific authors.

2. Many people of various professions are directly involved in the creation, preservation, and dissemination of the values of spiritual culture.

3. achievements of spiritual culture are created, preserved, distributed and consumed by people through numerous specialized institutions. Among them are libraries, archives, schools and universities, scientific institutes, conservatories, theaters, clubs, philharmonic societies, museums and exhibition halls. Along with places of worship of different religions, these institutions, created in the process of cultural development of mankind, constitute an essential part of spiritual culture.

Development of the spiritual sphere

The study of the spiritual and moral life of society necessarily involves identifying its structural elements. Such elements are called forms of social consciousness. These include moral, religious, political, scientific, aesthetic consciousness. These forms determine the corresponding subsystems of the spiritual sphere of society, differing from each other not only in the content and method of cognition of their object, but also in the time of their emergence in the process of development of society.

The spiritual sphere, being a subsystem of society as a whole, necessarily responds to all changes occurring in its other subsystems: economic, political, social. Therefore, drastic economic changes in Russia could not but affect the state of the country’s spiritual life. Many researchers focus on changes in the value orientations of Russians and the increasing importance of individualistic values. The problem of commercialization of culture and the associated problem of reducing the level of its artistic value, as well as the lack of demand for classical cultural samples by the mass consumer, is acute. These and other negative trends in the development of domestic spiritual culture can become a significant obstacle to the progressive development of our society.

Spiritual and moral sphere

So, first: the spiritual and moral foundations of our life are the main immune, protective system of personal dignity and freedom necessary to fulfill one’s calling and purpose in this world. And, secondly, spiritual and moral foundations are the main filter when choosing the necessary means of our humanitarian activities. Spiritual and moral instinct, even at the distant approaches to the soul, is capable of recognizing what is undoubtedly alien and hostile, regarding which, in principle, there can be no tolerance.

In pedagogy and psychology, the concepts of “spirituality” and “morality” are usually linked together and this, although deep, does not have an absolute meaning. Therefore, before connecting, it is necessary to distinguish these concepts. Yes, in fact general view, morality is the consequence and cause of a certain way of life of human communities; it is here that such norms, values and meanings of human society live that are significant specifically and only for this community. Therefore, when the word “morality” is uttered, for some reason we all have a sweetness on our tongues. Although we still need to figure out whether this or that established “morality” is so sweet. We know, for example, the lowest level of morality as “criminal morality.” There, too, there are norms, rules and laws that must be observed, and violation of which is like death. In addition, a variety of communities that arise situationally, spontaneously and for a short time, begin to be formalized by certain statutory provisions for living together.

Based on the unshakable foundations of the patristic tradition, we are inclined with our Christian consciousness to instantly make morality absolute, to take it into account as Christian morality. But for a huge number of people who are outside of Christianity, basic norms and values are part of the so-called natural moral law, well known to Orthodox theology. By the way, the natural moral law almost completely coincides with the last six commandments that were revealed to the prophet Moses. And if you look carefully at these last six commandments: “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” “Honor thy father and mother,” etc. and “scan” the ways and cultures of different peoples, we will find their almost complete coincidence. The discrepancy begins only in the first - the most fundamental - four commandments that define man's relationship with God.

In turn, spirituality, also in its most general form, is the cause and consequence of faith in a Higher, super-ordinary Principle in human life. It is faith in the reality of such a Higher Principle that gives absolute status to the norms, values and meanings of human society. Without a Higher Principle in a person, all these values and meanings have situational and taste significance. Thus, Orthodox spirituality and Orthodox morality are the unity and integrity of Faith in the One Lord Jesus Christ - the Son of God and, accordingly, the Christian way of life, which presupposes the practical implementation of the commandments of the New Testament. That is why one cannot speak abstractly, in general, about spirituality and morality. It is always necessary to accurately record: what is Faith this person, and what is his way of life.

However, today, more and more often, we are faced with crazy - from a Christian point of view - ways of life and the pseudo-spirituality that inevitably accompanies them - the many faces of superstition, occultism, magic and sorcery.

There is luminous spirituality and there is dark spirituality. The Gospel says: “Discern the spirits!” Check the sources of spirituality. The spiritual orientation of a person towards one pole, towards the search for God, the search for a meeting with Him, gives rise to one type of spirituality - holiness. However, a person’s refusal to be oriented towards this particular pole does not make him neutral (atheistic) - this is an illusion. It definitely begins to slide, and then fall in the opposite direction. And sooner or later he finds himself trapped in an obsession with negative spirituality, which is always nearby in a person’s earthly life, always waiting in the wings. Being in the bosom of the Orthodox tradition, let us remember: not everything that is above is from God. From above - it also happens “from the spirits of wickedness in high places.”

Unfortunately, today in our society “no” spirituality is intensively promoted. Just zero, although it is also called spirituality, this is the so-called “cultural spirituality”. It is believed that mastering high examples of culture: human achievements in art, literature, technical and intellectual activity is precisely the spiritual development of a person.

For secular consciousness, spiritual values themselves exist and can exist only in the space of culture itself. But also Fr. Pavel Florensky noted that from a cultural point of view, the Church, a tavern and an American safe-cracking machine are equivalent. On what basis will you consider that the Church is higher than the tavern or pop culture is lower than the classics? These are all cultural objects.

For ordinary consciousness: taste and color - there are no comrades! Within the culture itself there is no measure of evaluation - what is higher, what is lower. It is necessary to go beyond the boundaries of everyday culture, no matter how consecrated it is by momentary fashion, and only then, from above, can one see the ranks and levels of values and meanings of this culture itself.

In the Christian worldview, spiritual being begins and exists where the liberation of man from the occupation of an ideology alien to national traditions begins, and most importantly, liberation from the whims of his own self. After all, true spiritual freedom is a modal (in fact, instrumental), and not an objective-substantive definition of a person’s spiritual existence; it is strength, the energy of impulse in self-determination for the better and higher. As I.A. said Ilyin: Spirit is the love for quality and the will for excellence in all areas of life.

As a way, as a way of being in general, Orthodox spirituality gives a person access to love, conscience and a sense of duty; to law and legal consciousness; to art and artistic beauty, to evidence and science, to prayer and religion. Only she can show a person what is truly important and most valuable in his life; give him something worth living for, something worth making sacrifices for.

This is how the wonderful Russian philosopher I.A. wrote about it. Ilyin: “It is worth living only for that and believing in that which is worth fighting and dying for, for death is the true and highest criterion for all life contents.” And what is not worth death is, from a spiritual point of view, not worth life. That is why spirituality reveals itself to the highest degree and becomes an all-encompassing way of life for a person when his personal relationship with God is revealed to him - truly the highest Foundation of the entire existence of man and everything that exists.

Material spiritual sphere

Material culture is the entire area of human material and production activity and its results are the artificial environment surrounding humans.

Things - the result of human material and creative activity - are the most important form of its existence. Like the human body, a thing simultaneously belongs to two worlds - natural and cultural. As a rule, things are made from natural materials, and become part of culture after human processing. This is exactly how our distant ancestors once acted, turning a stone into a chop, a stick into a spear, the skin of a killed animal into clothing. At the same time, the thing acquires a very important quality - the ability to satisfy certain human needs, to be useful to a person. We can say that a useful thing is the initial form of existence of a thing in culture.

But things from the very beginning were also carriers of socially significant information, signs and symbols that connected the human world with the world of spirits, texts that stored information necessary for the survival of the collective. This was especially characteristic of primitive culture with its syncretism - integrity, indivisibility of all elements. Therefore, along with practical utility, there was symbolic utility, which made it possible to use things in magical rites and rituals, as well as to give them additional aesthetic properties. In ancient times, another form of thing appeared - a toy intended for children, with the help of which they mastered the necessary cultural experience and prepared for adult life. Most often these were miniature models of real things, sometimes having additional aesthetic value.

Gradually, over the course of thousands of years, the utilitarian and valuable properties of things began to separate, which led to the formation of two classes of things - prosaic, purely material, and things-signs used for ritual purposes, for example, flags and emblems of states, orders, etc. There has never been an insurmountable barrier between these classes. So, in the church, a special font is used for the baptismal ceremony, but if necessary, it can be replaced with any basin of suitable size. Thus, any thing retains its sign function, being a cultural text. With the passage of time, the aesthetic value of things began to acquire more and more importance, so beauty has long been considered one of their most important characteristics. But in industrial society, beauty and utility began to be separated. Therefore, many useful, but ugly things and at the same time beautiful expensive trinkets appear, emphasizing the wealth of their owner.

We can say that a material thing becomes a carrier of spiritual meaning, since the image of a person of a particular era, culture, social status etc. So, knight's sword can serve as an image and symbol of a medieval feudal lord, and in modern complex household appliances it is easy to see a man of the early 21st century. The toys are also portraits of the era. For example, modern technically sophisticated toys, including many models of weapons, quite accurately reflect the face of our time.

Social organizations are also the fruit of human activity, another form of material objectivity, material culture. The formation of human society took place in close connection with the development of social structures, without which the existence of culture is impossible. In primitive society, due to the syncretism and homogeneity of primitive culture, there was only one social structure - the clan organization, which ensured the entire existence of man, his material and spiritual needs, as well as the transfer of information to subsequent generations. With the development of society, various social structures began to form, responsible for the everyday practical life of people (labor, public administration, war) and for satisfying their spiritual needs, primarily religious. Already in the Ancient East, the state and cult were clearly distinguished, and at the same time schools appeared as part of pedagogical organizations.

The development of civilization, associated with the improvement of technology and technology, the construction of cities, and the formation of classes, required a more efficient organization of social life. As a result, social organizations appeared in which economic, political, legal, moral relations, technical, scientific, artistic, and sports activities were objectified. In the economic sphere, the first social structure became a medieval workshop, which in modern times was replaced by manufactory, which has developed today into industrial and trading firms, corporations and banks. In the political sphere, in addition to the state, there appeared political parties And public associations. The legal sphere created the court, the prosecutor's office, and legislative bodies. The religion has formed an extensive church organization. Later, organizations of scientists, artists, and philosophers appeared. All cultural spheres existing today have a network of social organizations and structures created by them. The role of these structures increases over time, as the importance of the organizational factor in the life of mankind increases. Through these structures, a person exercises control and self-government, creates the basis for the common life of people, for preserving and passing on the accumulated experience to future generations.

Things and social organizations together create a complex structure of material culture, in which several important areas are distinguished: agriculture, buildings, tools, transport, communications, technology, etc. Agriculture includes selected varieties of plants and breeds of animals, as well as cultivated soils. Human survival is directly related to this area of material culture, since it provides food and raw materials for industrial production. Therefore, people are constantly concerned about breeding new, more productive species of plants and animals. But proper tillage of the soil is especially important, maintaining its fertility at a high level - mechanical tillage, fertilization with organic and chemical fertilizers, land reclamation and crop rotation - the sequence of cultivating different plants on one piece of land.

Buildings are the habitats of people with all the diversity of their activities and existence (housing, premises for management activities, entertainment, educational activities), and structures are the results of construction that change the conditions of the economy and life (premises for production, bridges, dams, etc. ). Both buildings and structures are the result of construction. A person must constantly take care to maintain them in order so that they can successfully perform their functions.

Tools, devices and equipment are designed to provide all types of human physical and mental labor. Thus, tools directly affect the material being processed, devices serve as an addition to the tools, equipment is a set of tools and devices located in one place and used for one purpose. They differ depending on what type of activity they serve - agriculture, industry, communications, transport, etc. The history of mankind testifies to the constant improvement of this area of material culture - from the stone ax and digging stick to modern complex machines and mechanisms that ensure the production of everything necessary for human life.

Transport and communications ensure the exchange of people and goods between different regions and settlements, contributing to their development. This area of material culture includes: specially equipped communication routes (roads, bridges, embankments, airport runways), buildings and structures necessary for the normal operation of transport (railway stations, airports, ports, harbors, gas stations, etc.), all types of transport (horse-drawn, road, rail, air, water, pipeline).

Communications are closely related to transport and include mail, telegraph, telephone, radio and computer networks. It, like transport, connects people, allowing them to exchange information.

Technologies - knowledge and skills in all listed areas of activity. The most important task is not only the further improvement of technology, but also the transfer to next generations, which is possible only through a developed education system, and this indicates a close connection between material and spiritual culture.

Knowledge, values and projects as forms of spiritual culture. Knowledge is a product of human cognitive activity, recording information received by a person about the world around him and the person himself, his views on life and behavior. We can say that the level of culture of both an individual and society as a whole is determined by the volume and depth of knowledge. Today, knowledge is acquired by a person in all spheres of culture. But gaining knowledge in religion, art, everyday life, etc. is not a priority. Here, knowledge is always associated with a certain value system, which it justifies and defends: in addition, it is figurative in nature. Only science, as a special sphere of spiritual production, has as its goal the acquisition of objective knowledge about the world around us. It arose in antiquity, when there was a need for generalized knowledge about the world around us.

Values are ideals that a person and society strive to achieve, as well as objects and their properties that satisfy certain human needs. They are associated with a constant assessment of all objects and phenomena surrounding a person, which he makes according to the principle of good-bad, good-evil, and arose within the framework of primitive culture. Myths played a special role in the preservation and transmission of values to subsequent generations, thanks to which values became an integral part of rites and rituals, and through them a person became a part of society. Due to the collapse of myth with the development of civilization, value orientations began to be consolidated in religion, philosophy, art, morality and law.

Projects are plans for future human actions. Their creation is connected with the essence of man, his ability to carry out conscious, purposeful actions to transform the world around him, which is impossible without a previously drawn up plan. In this, a person’s creative ability is realized, his ability to freely transform reality: first - in his own consciousness, then - in practice. In this way, man differs from animals, who are able to act only with those objects and phenomena that exist in the present and are important to them. given time. Only man has freedom; for him there is nothing inaccessible or impossible (at least in fantasy).

In primitive times, this ability was fixed at the level of myth. Today, projective activity exists as a specialized activity and is divided in accordance with what projects of objects should be created - natural, social or human.

In this regard, design is distinguished:

Technical (engineering), inextricably linked with scientific and technological progress, which occupies an increasingly important place in culture. Its result is the world of material things that create the body of modern civilization;
social in creating models of social phenomena - new forms of government, political and legal systems, methods of production management, school education, etc.;
pedagogical to create human models, ideal images of children and students, which are formed by parents and teachers.

Knowledge, values and projects form the foundation of spiritual culture, which includes, in addition to the mentioned results of spiritual activity, the spiritual activity itself in the production of spiritual products. They, like the products of material culture, satisfy certain human needs and, above all, the need to ensure the life of people in society. For this, a person acquires the necessary knowledge about the world, society and himself, and for this, value systems are created that allow a person to realize, choose or create forms of behavior approved by society. This is how the varieties of spiritual culture that exist today were formed - morality, politics, law, art, religion, science, philosophy. Consequently, spiritual culture is a multi-layered formation.

At the same time, spiritual culture is inextricably linked with material culture. Any objects or phenomena of material culture are based on a project, embody certain knowledge and become values, satisfying human needs. In other words, material culture is always the embodiment of a certain part of spiritual culture. But spiritual culture can only exist if it is materialized, objectified, and has received one or another material embodiment. Any book, picture, musical composition, like other works of art that are part of spiritual culture, need a material carrier - paper, canvas, paints, musical instruments, etc.

Moreover, it is often difficult to understand what type of culture - material or spiritual - a particular object or phenomenon belongs to. Thus, we will most likely classify any piece of furniture as material culture. But if we are talking about a 300-year-old chest of drawers exhibited in a museum, we should talk about it as an object of spiritual culture. A book, an indisputable object of spiritual culture, can be used to light a stove. But if cultural objects can change their purpose, then criteria must be introduced to distinguish between objects of material and spiritual culture. In this capacity, one can use an assessment of the meaning and purpose of an object: an object or phenomenon that satisfies the primary (biological) needs of a person belongs to material culture; if it satisfies secondary needs associated with the development of human abilities, it is considered an object of spiritual culture.

Between material and spiritual culture there are transitional forms - signs that represent something different from what they themselves are, although this content does not relate to spiritual culture. The most famous form of sign is money, as well as various coupons, tokens, receipts, etc., used by people to indicate payment for all kinds of services. Thus, money - the general market equivalent - can be spent on buying food or clothing (material culture) or purchasing a ticket to a theater or museum (spiritual culture). In other words, money acts as a universal intermediary between objects of material and spiritual culture in modern society. But this conceals a serious danger, since money equalizes these objects among themselves, depersonalizing objects of spiritual culture. At the same time, many people have the illusion that everything has its price, that everything can be bought. In this case, money divides people and degrades the spiritual side of life.

Interests of the spiritual sphere

Social interest can cause an incentive to intensify the activity of the subject. After an individual is included in relations between society, he becomes part of a social group.

The phenomenon of social interest lies in the subject’s ability to share the feelings of a social group and the ability to identify himself as part of it. This social group is not limited to close people, but is more global in nature. Social interest begins in infancy during the period of communication between the child and his parents and continues to develop throughout life.

Social interest is manifested in the individual’s willingness to cooperate with people under different conditions, even not very favorable ones, the individual’s efforts to give others more than he demands in return, his willingness to empathize and accept other people’s experiences. According to A. Adler’s theory, the main task of each person is to be part of society. And if a person is capable of cooperation, she will be accompanied throughout life by friendship, love, understanding, and trust.

Social interests are built on a comparison of the interests of one social group against the interests of another. Thus, in addition to cooperation, rivalry can be considered among the forms of interrelation of interests between social groups.

But there are social interests that are supported throughout the world and unite peoples; the list includes the interest in preserving life on Earth, civilization and culture.

Priority of spiritual interests

Whatever interests a person may have, he will always give priority to the realization and development of spiritual interests. Spiritual interest motivates the subject to grow, overcome uncertainty, and express oneself as an individual. They force us to abandon the status of a consumer of culture and move to the level of its creator. Thanks to spiritual interests, a person discovers new facets of this world, gains life experience, and expands his horizons. The desire to become better gives exactly the emotional saturation that everyone seeks in their hobbies. A person reveals his talents and capabilities through work that does not bring discomfort and fatigue.

Everyone’s activities throughout life, their achievements and disappointments can influence interests, encourage the emergence of new ones, or completely kill old ones. Social status, environment, changes can radically change the interests of a subject, just as interests influence a person’s life. Achieving success in one field or another, the desire to be interesting is worth overcoming all obstacles. The end result always brings positive emotions, self-affirmation, reverence and the desire to move on. Thanks to such experiences, life becomes much better and brighter.

Spiritual and cultural sphere

Spiritual culture includes intellectual, moral, artistic, etc. It is also the result of human activity and can only be transmitted through communication.

Mythology – (from the Greek mythos - legend). The very first form of spiritual culture. It arose when a person did not separate himself from the natural and social environment, his thinking was not separated from his emotions. Mythology intertwined science, religion, and philosophy in their embryonic state.

Main features of mythological thinking:

1. Combines the most contradictory views on the world, without opposing them to each other.
2. Transfers human properties to natural objects.
3. Unites everything with everything (part and whole, object and its image, person and actions happening around, person with animals, plants, stones).
4. Does not separate the cognizing person from the cognizable (from the world).
5. Traditionalism. Worship before the deeds of the ancestors.
6. Etiquette – commitment to stable figures of speech and ways of behavior.
7. Ritualism – following the rules of ritual with the obligatory inclusion of elements of play, story and image. The myth laid the foundation for music, poetry, and choreography. Mythical consciousness belongs neither to faith nor to science. Humanizes the world.

Religion takes a person beyond reality, into the transcendental. Religion is a worldview and the behavior corresponding to it, determined by faith in the existence of God or a higher principle, as well as a feeling of connectedness and dependence in relation to the secret force that gives a person support in life. Religion does not exist without religious behavior (piety), the connection is a connection with God.

Religion has many functions:

1. Value function - gives a person a system of meaning, makes it possible to understand the world, taking a person beyond the limits of reality.
2. Compensatory function - helps people cope with fear of the world, cope with themselves, with fate, with social behavior. This is a way of replenishing human powerlessness.
3. Religion is a collective phenomenon, therefore it has the function of socialization and connects a person and society.

Art masters the world through a system of images. It refers to aesthetic mastery and the works created thanks to it. What distinguishes a work of art from natural objects is its man-made nature, and from works of science and technology – its emotional content. It reflects the world of feelings and should be both accessible and sublime. Based on harmony and beauty. Art is characterized by rapid changes in assessments, artistic means, styles and tastes. This is the most individualized type of activity. His task is not to blindly copy reality, but to present reality in a special light, as the artist sees it.

Art is divided into:

Types (music, painting, sculpture, theater, etc.),
- childbirth (poetry, prose, etc.),
- genres (symphony, concert, etc.),
- styles (baroque, classicism).

Art is closely related to magic, because... was born in the primitive era.

Science – develops and systematizes objective knowledge about reality. It studies it by identifying stable, repeating connections between the phenomena of the world. Scientific knowledge verifiable and reproducible experimentally. The basis of science is experimentation. Born in Ancient Greece in the 1st century BC, was not divided into branches.

Christian Science in the 16th and 17th centuries. was replaced by the concept of experiment and natural science. The possibility of a materialistic description of any natural phenomenon was recognized. The mechanistic worldview asserted the possibility of describing any phenomenon using mathematical formulas in strict sequence. Therefore, the true goal of science - the unification of holistic knowledge - is beginning to be lost. Specific knowledge deepens, the general scientific picture of the world disintegrates.

Philosophy is a system of views on the world, something between art, religion and science. Love of wisdom. Its task is to comprehend and evaluate the results of human activity, including scientific activity. The value of philosophy is that it can give more and more new meanings to already known concepts. A philosophy as ancient as religion, in the East it is closely associated with pantheism (a form of religion that states that God is everything). Western philosophy was born in Greece, it is more rationalistic than Eastern philosophy, more human-oriented.

Morality is a special form of social consciousness and a way of regulating human actions in society with the help of norms that receive ideological justification in the form of the ideals of good and evil, due, and fair.

The role of the spiritual sphere

Spiritual life is a sphere of social life associated with the production and distribution of spiritual values, with the satisfaction of spiritual needs.

Spiritual needs are a state of people that encourages them to create and master spiritual values and to engage in activities in the field of culture.

Spiritual consumption is the process of satisfying spiritual needs.

The spiritual life of society is formed by such principles as moral, cognitive and aesthetic. These principles give rise to morality and religion, science and philosophy, art and creativity.

The result of the spiritual life of society and at the same time a characteristic of the level of its development is the culture of society.

The organic parts of culture are art and science.

Art is a specific form of social consciousness and human activity. It is a reflection of reality in artistic images.

Artistic images reflect the reality, attitude and worldview of cultural eras.

Art has an aesthetic effect on a person. A person begins to feel the beautiful and the ugly, the sublime and the base, the tragic and the comic. He enjoys works of art.

Science is a field of research activity whose goal is to produce new knowledge about nature, society, and thinking.

Man, creating science, pushes the boundaries of the known, penetrates into the depths of the material and spiritual world.

Synthesis based scientific ideas a scientific picture of the world is being formed.

The scientific picture of the world is understood as a system of general principles, concepts, laws, and visual representations of the world.

There are three types of scientific picture of the world:

General scientific, combining ideas about nature and man;
Natural science, representing a complex of general views on nature;
Socio-historical as a system of general views on society.

Thus, the spiritual sphere influences the life of society almost every day. Science and art help us better understand the world around us. Religion gives us faith and strengthens us. If there were no spiritual sphere, there would be no modern life.

Features of the spiritual sphere /h3> Spiritual culture has some important features that distinguish it from other areas of culture:

1. Unlike technological and social culture, spiritual culture is non-utilitarian. This is the face of culture that is most distant from practice (although, like all culture, it is formed and changes depending on the development of social practice). Spiritual culture is essentially selfless. Its cornerstones are not benefit, not profit, but “joys of the spirit” - beauty, knowledge, wisdom. People need it, first of all, for its own sake, and not for the sake of solving any utilitarian tasks external to it (which, of course, does not exclude the possibility of using its achievements for practical purposes). The religious beliefs of believers, for example, are often turned by public figures into a means of solving political or other practically important problems, but it cannot be said that for this reason people believe in God.

2. In spiritual culture, a person, compared to other areas of culture, receives the greatest freedom of creativity. Here the human mind, not bound by utilitarian considerations and practical necessity, is able to break away from reality and fly away from it on the wings of fantasy. Freedom of creativity is already evident in ancient myths. It plays a significant role in any religion. Art provides unlimited scope for creativity.

3. Creative activity in spiritual culture leads to the fact that it becomes a special spiritual world created by the power of human thought. This world is incomparably richer than the real world. For in it, next to the images that reflect what we observe around us in reality, there are images of unprecedented phenomena. In this world there are unprecedented countries, like the island of Utopia; hell with boiling cauldrons of pitch for sinners and heaven with shady booths for the righteous; planets invented by science fiction writers, inhabited by monsters, and spaceships flying from God knows where to Earth.

This world is inhabited by mythical spirits and gods, fantastic hydras, dragons and mermaids. We meet there with Evgeny Onegin, the Karamazov brothers and Anna Karenina. Unprecedented events take place there - Joshua stops the Sun, an emperor rises from the grave, a flea dresses up in velvet and rules over people. And although this world is filled with fiction, it exists according to its own laws and has an impact on our lives, perhaps even more than the real world. We are not always able to distinguish fantasy from reality. And if some aliens tried to study the life of mankind, having at their disposal only books, paintings, sculptures, films, they could probably come to the conclusion that on Earth there are goldfish in the seas, that some cats wear boots that the Bronze Horseman sometimes chases the townspeople, that people are constantly fighting the living dead and long-toothed vampires, traveling throughout the Universe in space rockets, visiting from time to time virtual reality, which they themselves create, have experienced nuclear war many times... And what is most curious is that all this, in a sense, is so.

4. Spiritual culture is the most sensitive area of culture, most responsive to external influences. She is able to detect the slightest changes in people's lives and respond to them with changes in herself. Therefore, it is in constant tension and movement. Sensitivity and responsiveness make it the most vulnerable, most vulnerable area of culture. She has little predisposition to self-defense - it is unusual for good to keep her fists ready. And because of its impracticality and non-utilitarianism, people in difficult life circumstances begin to see it as an unnecessary burden, the most worthless part of culture (technological and social culture at least in some way brings practical benefits). She is shamelessly bullied and trampled upon, thrown out of their souls and heads like useless junk. This is why spiritual culture suffers the most during social cataclysms. They cause more damage to it than to other areas of culture.

The October Revolution led to the decline of the spiritual culture of the people. The recent upheavals bring new dangers for it. Before our eyes, the spiritual world of people is becoming impoverished. If the aliens mentioned above watched our television programs, they would have the impression that in Russia by the end of the 20th century. The age-old mystery of the birth of love has been revealed (it turns out that love is the result of consuming fragrant soap and cologne with a breathtaking aroma), that the most worrying problem for Russians has become dandruff, and the objects of their most burning interest are chewing gum. Spiritual culture needs the care and support of society; its preservation and development requires efforts from it. If people stop being interested in it, it loses its internal tension and movement, retreats to the shelves of libraries and museum storerooms, becomes covered with dust and turns into a forgotten, dead culture.

State in the spiritual sphere

This function has developed instead of the previously implemented cultural and educational function with its inherent dominance of a monopoly state ideology. Unlike the previous one, the current function of the development of culture, science and education is based on the recognition by the Constitution of the Russian Federation (Article 13) of ideological diversity, according to which no ideology can be established as state or mandatory. Article 44 of the Constitution “everyone is guaranteed freedom of literary, artistic, scientific, technical and other types of creativity, teaching,” and protection of intellectual property.

The content of this function today consists of versatile state support for the development of culture - literature, art, theater, cinema, music, painting, architecture, etc.; physical culture and sports; radio, television and other media; preservation of historical and cultural monuments, historical complexes, protected areas, archives, museums, libraries.

The content of this function also includes: state support for the development of science, its natural integration into new market conditions; creating favorable conditions for creative activity scientific teams and for the free competition of different schools and directions; support for the priority development of fundamental theoretical research and fundamentally new technologies; effective use of both the educational and scientific potential of higher education, development of integration of science and higher education; measures to improve performance secondary school.

The legal basis for the implementation of this function is the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Culture. Law of the Russian Federation “On Education” (with amendments and additions), decrees of the President of the Russian Federation “On state support of the Russian Cultural Foundation”, “On some measures to strengthen state support for science and higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation”, etc.

The scope of scientific and technical research conducted on a state basis is constantly expanding. This is due to the fact that the modern scale of scientific research and experimental work has increased greatly. Therefore, the state assumes the responsibility to stimulate technological progress and almost completely pays for the costs of fundamental theoretical research.

Society as a whole and the state are interested in ensuring that every citizen has an education that meets the accepted standard. Without education it is currently unthinkable active participation citizens in public life, in production, in all spheres government activities, and therefore in many countries education is compulsory.

There cannot be a strong, prosperous state without respect and preservation of historical traditions and cultural heritage. Legal education is of great importance. Every citizen of the state is obliged to know the laws of his state and strictly observe them.

Ecological function of the state: its content and significance in modern conditions.

The environmental function is a relatively new direction in the activities of the state, the need for which is caused by negative impact human economic activity on nature. One of the leading theses of the UN International Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro - either the whole world will be saved or the entire civilization will perish - is by no means an exaggeration. Global and irreversible changes in the natural environment are obvious and indisputable today. Two of them (the destruction of the planet’s ozone layer and the “greenhouse effect”) are putting humanity on the brink environmental disaster.

Realizing the reality of the threat to human life, all developed democratic states are taking concerted measures to protect the natural environment. A major role in international cooperation between states on issues of environmental protection is played by the UN, as well as World organization healthcare. International Atomic Energy Agency, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and other international specialized agencies.

The main measures of the state to implement the environmental function are expressed as follows.

The state is taking measures to standardize the quality of the natural environment. Based on scientifically proven data, the state sets standards for maximum permissible emissions into the natural environment (atmospheric air, water sources and soil) of harmful substances and other harmful effects on nature. The state also develops sanitary rules and regulations designed to minimize the adverse impact of the production activities of enterprises and organizations on human life and health. In particular, noise, vibration, and magnetic radiation are subject to standardization.

The state regulates public relations in the field of environmental protection. IN normative legal acts The state establishes the procedure for the activities of government bodies, various types of inspections for the protection of the natural environment, the forms of participation of public associations and the population in these activities, and measures of liability for violation of environmental norms and standards. Of particular importance in modern conditions are the environmental requirements developed by the state for the placement, design, construction, reconstruction and commissioning of enterprises, structures and other objects.

The state takes measures aimed at preserving the natural environment, rational use and reproduction of its resources, and improving the human environment. The state finances scientific, technical, hydraulic, reclamation, biological and other work aimed at preserving and restoring the natural environment, establishes nature reserves and sanctuaries, and protects rare or endangered species of animals and plants.

The state carries out activities to identify and suppress violations of environmental legislation, attracts public associations and the population to this activity, and applies legal liability to individuals and organizations guilty of violating environmental legislation.

The mechanism of the state and the state apparatus. Their concept and relationship. Structure of the state mechanism. Basic principles of construction and operation of the mechanism in modern civilized states.

The state really operates, manifests itself only as a system, as an ordered set of special bodies, groups of people who manage the affairs of society on its behalf and within the limits of the powers granted. Such groups operate constantly and, as a rule, on a professional basis, which sets them apart from society and places them above society. Citizens can take one or another part in the affairs of the state, but ultimately state bodies and officials bear personal responsibility for the effectiveness of their work.

Such a system of government bodies and professional groups is called the mechanism of the state. Consequently, the mechanism of the state is a system of government bodies designed to implement state power, tasks and functions of the state. The mechanism of the state is that real organizational and material force, with which the state carries out this or that policy.

Spiritual sphere of personality

Analysis scientific literature allowed us to identify a number of concepts of moral development of the individual:

1. J. Piaget’s concept of moral responsibility, based on identifying stages in the development of moral responsibility, is of a purely cognitivist nature, reflecting only one aspect of the child’s moral development. The responsibility that the author uses as the basis for the classification of levels of moral development is only of an evaluative nature, concerns fictitious characters and in no way reflects the real behavior of the subject himself. However, the dynamics of this indicator among preschoolers did not become the subject of special research.

2. The concept of moral development by L. Kohlberg is a theory of the gradual moral development of an individual. Based on research into moral choice, the author has identified five stages of development. The appeal of the concept is that child moral development has been studied in situations of moral choice in real life situations. However, the interpretation of the essence of moral choice comes down to determining the leading motive of the child’s behavior: fear, shame, selfishness, altruism, pragmatism. Other aspects of moral behavior, and even more so other components of moral development, remain outside the scope of the study.

3. The concept of moral development of the child A.V. Zosimovsky. The peculiarity of the concept is its appeal to preschool age, examines the dynamics of a child’s moral development from infancy to seven years. In each age subgroup, a neoplasm was identified. The author of the concept is interested in ways to control a child’s behavior: from reactivity to self-restraint, awareness to arbitrariness. The question of how this happens, thanks to what psychological mechanisms this or that type of behavior is realized, how new formations arise and what criterion underlies their identification has not been resolved.

4. Concept of G.A. Uruntaeva. The basis of moral development is the relationship between the levels of responsibility and internal freedom of action. The dynamics of moral development are associated with an increase in moral responsibility while simultaneously increasing the degrees of freedom of the subject of behavior. The concept has not been experimentally developed: clear age limits, specific characteristics of the stages of moral development, its factors and conditions are not described; The very amplification of the interpretation of the essence of moral development in relation to any age is problematic.

5. The concept of spiritual and moral development of the individual by L.M. Abolina, V.P. Zinchenko and others. Spirituality and morality of children are considered as an integrative system quality, affecting not only individual components of activity, but also a number of parameters. High spirituality and morality are the development of all components of activity, and not individual personal qualities or mental processes.

The concept has a number of advantages compared to the previous ones:

The spiritual and moral personality is considered from the position of an integral system unity with characteristic components and parameters;
the basis for system analysis is highlighted;
an activity-based approach was implemented to analyze the levels of development of the spiritual and moral sphere of the individual;
the ways of its development are shown; the psychological mechanism of development of the spiritual and moral sphere of the individual (interiorization-exteriorization) is considered;
the concept has experimental confirmation.

6. The concept of development of the moral sphere of personality by N.V. Melnikova, R.V. Ovcharova. This concept is based on cultural-historical and psychosocial approaches and is based on the following methodological principles: the principle of a systems approach, according to which the moral sphere of the individual is considered as a systemic integrative formation, acting in the unity of its cognitive, affective and behavioral components; an activity principle that requires taking into account the interaction of moral consciousness and behavior (activity) as a necessary condition for the ethical development of the individual and the formation of his moral motives. This allows us to overcome the underestimation of the role joint activities a child with adults and a leading type of activity for the formation of the moral sphere of the individual; the principle of subjectivity, providing an understanding of the individual as a subject of moral development, active in the development of moral experience.

From this point of view, the moral sphere of the individual is considered as an integral unity and interaction of moral consciousness (cognitive component), feelings, relationships, experiences (emotional component) and personal behavior (behavioral component), the dynamics of which are in childhood mediated by moral feelings, teenage – moral relations and experiences, youth – moral consciousness and self-awareness.

The development of the moral sphere of an individual in childhood can be presented as a process of assimilation (interiorization-exteriorization) of basic ethical concepts, on the basis of which moral standards, samples, norms and rules are developed. This occurs through the action of the general mechanism of internalization-esteriorization of basic ethical concepts and private mechanisms of imitation-imitation; identification; internal (self-esteem) and external assessment (assessment of others). On the other hand, this is the process of forming a moral position of an individual, built on the basis of moral self-awareness, moral feelings and experience.

In adolescence, the following are important: the nature of the individual’s internal position in relation to moral values, norms and requirements; the development of a teenager’s personality as a subject of self-awareness, communication and educational activity, suggesting the possibility of moral choice and manifestation of moral activity in various fields; the integrity of the moral sphere as the unity and interaction of cognitive, affective and volitional components; the leading component of moral self-awareness; the effectiveness of moral self-awareness as the unity and interaction of consciousness and behavior.

The result of moral development is moral education - a system of stable moral and value motives, manifested in the relationships of an individual, his behavior in general, based on moral standards and norms.

Psychological mechanisms for the development of the moral sphere of the individual include private mechanisms of imitation and imitation; identification; internal (self-esteem) and external assessment (assessment of others) and the general mechanism of internalization-exteriorization of basic ethical concepts. Imitation and imitation perform their teaching function through the construction of an initial indicative image. This form of behavior, along with identification with significant people, makes a significant contribution to the development of the moral sphere of the child’s personality, helping him in mastering the norms of social life. Three objects of assessment are important factors in the formation of moral experience: personality (self-esteem); other people (comparative assessment); own activities (actions and consequences). The mechanisms of internal and external assessment contribute to the processes of imitation-imitation-identification and stimulate moral behavior. Moral development is also the result of the internalization of externally given forms of thinking and behavior, and their transformation into internal mental processes. An “instance” is formed within the personality, which begins to “demand” what was previously demanded from the outside. On the other hand, learned moral concepts, norms and patterns are consolidated in moral experience, transferred to more and more new moral situations, and begin to determine the direction of the child’s behavior and relationships.

The mechanism of exteriorization makes it possible to include internal stimuli and motivators of moral behavior, moral assessments, feelings and experiences in the process of moral development.

We can identify a number of psychological and pedagogical conditions for the development of the moral spheres of the individual.

The first group of conditions is associated with the moral potential of the surrounding social microenvironment and educational microsociety, which has the following manifestations: the moral culture of teachers and parents; the presence of moral patterns of relations in it; social situation; the presence of models of moral relations in it; development and presentation of moral norms, rules and requirements.

The second group of conditions for the development of the moral sphere of the individual, associated with the activity and independence of the individual in the development of moral experience, has the following manifestations: active development of moral knowledge based on basic ethical concepts; active imitation of moral standards in behavior; active imitation of moral models in relationships; active identification with carriers moral values in the immediate environment; moral choice based on the acceptance of moral values, norms, rules and requirements; moral experiences in the process of solving moral dilemmas.

The third group of conditions is determined by psychological and pedagogical support for the development of the moral sphere of the individual and includes various aspects of support: identification psychological mechanisms formation and development of the moral sphere of the individual; development of a model of the development process of the moral sphere of the individual based on basic ethical concepts, technologies for the development of cognitive, affective and behavioral components of the moral sphere, criteria for their development; improving the moral culture of teachers and parents. An important theoretical and practical problem is the development of criteria for moral development, the signs of which should reflect the degree of unity of moral consciousness, feelings and experiences of the individual.

The following criteria have been identified:

The criterion of moral knowledge. Signs: knowledge and understanding of basic ethical concepts, moral standards, moral qualities personality, standards and rules of moral behavior and relationships. The idea of responsibility for one’s actions and actions;
criterion of moral relations. Signs: adequate perception of reality, acceptance of oneself and others, sincere interest in another person, fresh perception of the world with an emphasis on its positive aspects; attitude towards others based on kindness, responsiveness, sensitivity, tolerance, politeness and respect;
criterion of moral behavior. Signs: ability to perform moral standards and requirements, to perform necessary, useful, approved actions; the ability to resist temptation and break these rules; ability to decide correctly moral dilemmas and make moral choices;
criterion of moral experience. Signs: the ability to trust your feelings and consider them as the basis for choosing behavior; acting morally, experiencing positive feelings; when norms and rules are violated, experience feelings of shame, guilt, and a desire to change;
the general criterion of moral development is characterized by the unity and identical positive modality of all the above characteristics. At the highest level, all criteria manifest themselves positively. At the lowest level, they do not appear, or indicate a gap between moral consciousness and behavior, behavior, relationships and experiences.

Based on the proposed criteria, the following levels of moral development of the individual are identified:

1. The level of positive unity of moral consciousness, feelings and behavior - behavior based on the understanding and acceptance of moral concepts, norms and rules, in accordance with the supreme law, corresponding to the interests of the majority, accompanied by positive experiences when they are fulfilled.
2. The level of situational positive unity of moral consciousness and behavior - behavior based on the understanding and acceptance of moral concepts, norms and rules in accordance with the principle of utility, in the presence of individual cases of negative experiences of their implementation.
3. The level of positive situational unity of moral feelings and behavior - behavior based on insufficient understanding and acceptance of moral concepts, norms and rules, which are implemented in behavior in the presence of approval and control from others.
4. The level of lack of unity of moral consciousness, feelings and behavior - behavior based on misunderstanding or non-acceptance of moral concepts, norms and rules that are followed by the child in order to avoid punishment.
5. The level of negative unity of moral consciousness, feelings and behavior - behavior based on misunderstanding or non-acceptance of moral concepts, norms and rules, which are often violated by a person, while he does not experience negative experiences.

Sphere of spiritual production

Our century is a century of scientific and technological revolution, a century of unprecedented strengthening of the social role of science, its introduction into all spheres of human activity.

The development of science, scientific and technological progress have led to the fact that mental work has ceased to be the prerogative of the exploiting classes and their servants, and has acquired a massive scale. On the one hand, there is a proletarianization of mental workers, that is, they occupy the same position in the social-class structure of society in relation to property and distribution of the product of labor as a proletarian engaged in manual labor. On the other hand, industrial material production has become so complicated that even so-called physical labor requires extremely high qualifications and an increasing incorporation of elements of mental labor into direct physical labor. In addition, it should be noted that even the crudest, most elementary physical labor requires a certain, at least minimal understanding, minimal mental labor.

Below we will try to understand what mental labor is in all its manifestations: from understanding the service of rough physical labor to higher forms scientific creativity. Let's start with an analysis of the specifics of this activity. How is it different from other activities, and what is its position?

To understand this, a small digression is necessary. Engels wrote: “The production of ideas, ideas, consciousness is initially directly woven into material activity and into the material communication of people, into language real life. The formation of ideas, thinking, and spiritual communication of people are here still a direct product of the material attitude of people. The same applies to spiritual production, as it manifests itself in the language of politics, laws, morality, religion, metaphysics, etc. - but we are talking about real, active people, conditioned by a certain development of their productive forces and - corresponding to this development - communication, down to its most distant forms.” There are a lot of very valuable thoughts here, but I will single out one, contained in the words “production of ideas.” Engels points out that a person in his mental activity reflects material production not only from the content side, but also reflects the structure and form of production. This means that the structural links inherent in material production and material practice can be found in a reflected, transformed form in the structure of a person’s thinking, in his cognition.

So, let's try to draw parallels between material and spiritual production. The central link of material production is labor (labor activity).

The work includes the following simple points:

1) purposeful activity, or work itself,
2) subject of labor,
3) means of labor,
4) the result of labor.

Translating the concept of labor into the sphere of cognition (ideal production), we can say that human cognition (thinking) is labor activity, which, in fact, from an everyday point of view is quite natural, as evidenced by the existence and widespread use of the term “mental labor” in the language. .

First of all, cognition, thinking (mental work) is defined as purposeful human activity. Both physical labor and cognition (in the future, for simplicity of presentation, we will use the term “cognition” instead of the term “mental labor”) are conscious processes. Both result in a certain final product: in one case, a product of labor, in the other, knowledge (or some other result of mental labor). It is necessary to dwell in more detail on the fact that cognition is an instrumental activity. We present the most clear example cognitive work activity: when solving any problem (physical or mathematical), the initial data is substituted into a formula, that is, processed using this formula (this formula can be taken from a reference book or stored in memory problem solver). Here the formula is a tool of labor, the initial data is the subject of labor, the answer, the result of the task is the product of labor. Of course, this example is very crude. When solving problems, we use not one tool (formula), but several and sometimes at different levels; these can be logical and heuristic, linguistic and mathematical tools of cognitive work. In the above example, not only the similarities between cognitive activity and labor in the material sphere are clearly visible, but also the specific features inherent exclusively in mental, cognitive labor.

Firstly, this process occurs hidden inside a person’s head, i.e., in conventional language, it occurs in the area of the ideal, subjective.

Secondly, the tools and objects of cognitive labor must also pass into the human head and be subjectified. However, they are subjective only in their location and form, while in content they are adequate (as far as, of course, the linearity of the process of translation from the material to the ideal sphere allows) to the objective reality from which they are taken. In the process of labor cognitive activity, a subjective moment is introduced into this content, something new that was not present either in the tools or in the objects of cognitive activity. This is the mystery of the emergence of new knowledge. So, the result of a cognitive action contains an objective moment, taken from the products and tools of labor, and a subjective moment, which appeared in the process of conscious, purposeful influence of the tools of knowledge on the objects of knowledge. This is new knowledge. We must not forget that if in content all this, both the tool and the object, and the product, have both an objective and a subjective moment, then in form they are all subjective, since they have not yet left the human head. How this escape from the head occurs is below. New knowledge can, without leaving the head, again become either a tool or an object of knowledge, and, as is easy to see, the share of the subjective in the content during this process increases and increases.

Thirdly, the application of tools of cognition to transform objects of cognition is hidden not only from others, from an external observer, but often from the knowing subject himself. Is the person thinking about something aware of how he applies the laws of logic to transform his thoughts? Of course, he can then analyze the process of his thinking from a logical point of view, but in this case logical laws and categories will no longer be in the role of tools, but in the role of objects of knowledge. And this analysis will be carried out as tools of cognition by the same laws of logic, but their application will again elude consciousness (logic can be processed with the help of logic, just as a hammer can be processed with the help of a hammer). The above especially applies to labor mental processes, when a large number of tools of cognition are used. In such cases, the deep, general methodological, logical and other tools of cognition are not realized, while the specific tools of a given science: formulas, laws can be applied quite consciously.

Fourthly, the problem of the relationship between cognition, as a specific labor activity, and objective reality, with the world around a person, with material production, is of utmost importance. This problem is very multifaceted, and it is necessary to dwell on it in more detail.

Several areas of research can be outlined here:

1. Where do the tools and objects of cognitive work come from in a person’s head (how are they transferred to the head)?
2. What happens in the future with the results of cognitive work and how are they then objectified?
3. The problem of the emergence of cognitive activity.
4. The problem of the adequacy of knowledge obtained as a result of the process of cognitive labor with objective reality. The problem of the truth of knowledge.

Without a doubt, a person takes tools and objects of cognitive work from the surrounding reality, from the material world, in the process of its practical development and cognitive activity.

This process has two levels. The first level of cognitive activity is the forms of reflection of reality inherent in biological species that precede humans. This is an activity of perceiving the surrounding world, an orienting activity. At this level, information from the surrounding world is translated into the language of conditioned reflexes. At the same time, it is important to note a serious difference, namely that any completed conditioned reflex act in the animal world either results in an external physical action, or the conditioned reflex is suppressed by the dominant ones. at the moment conditions (which makes the conditioned reflex act unfinished and without result). A conditioned reflex in the human brain, in addition to the results described above that are inherent in the animal world, can result in some intracerebral result, which becomes one of the moments of the internal subjective image of external reality, causing a given reflex act. The ability to form conditioned reflexes, reflecting elementary connections and relationships of the surrounding reality, was a biological prerequisite for thinking and cognitive work. But this is not yet educational work. Indeed, at this level a person unconsciously reflects the surrounding reality.

Cognitive work arises when (and this is already the second level) when the subjective image of the real world formed by means of the first level (which in this case serves as the subject of mental work) begins to be purposefully processed with the help of previously acquired and stored in memory tools of cognitive activity. Tools and objects of cognitive labor can be formed both with the help of means of only the first level, and with the help of means of both levels. It must be said that first-level tools taken from the surrounding reality can have two origins. Firstly, these are the natural patterns of the surrounding world, which can be comprehended and known in the process of direct perception of the surrounding reality. Secondly, artificial tools of spiritual production, previously created by other people and transmitted through material media (books, etc.), or through direct interpersonal contact. Of course, the pure use of only the first level of means for the formation of tools in humans is extremely rare; basically, this is characteristic of the very early stage of human development, before he begins to speak.

Language is one of the most powerful and universal tools cognitive labor, allowing access to the entire wealth of mental tools created by humanity. Therefore, the formation of new tools of cognitive labor also occurs in the process of labor, the tool of which, at a minimum, is language (the production of tools of production). This should in no way be understood to mean that language alone is sufficient for the formation of tools. No, this simply means that in order to form tools that are adequate to the laws and connections of the reflected surrounding reality, in order to be able to use them to process cognitive objects of labor, they must be processed using logical, linguistic means. And at this moment they act not as tools, but as objects. One important conclusion follows from this: almost everything that passes from the first level to the second is a subject of labor. But the opposite does not follow from this; objects of labor can also emerge from the second level. It all depends on the purposes for which what is obtained by means of the second level will be used - for further use as tools or objects of labor. Of course, in mature age a person can obtain tools of mental labor only by means of the first level, but this happens less and less. In light of this, one can interpret the formation of a person, his training and education as his accumulation of tools of cognitive labor. That is, the knowledge and skills acquired in the course of activities to master the surrounding world become tools for its further knowledge, mastery, and transformation. Of course, previously acquired knowledge can act as not only tools, but also objects. But this is mainly in theoretical activity (or rather, at its ideal stages). In practical cognitive and transformative activities A person constantly draws objects of labor from the surrounding reality, from the real world.

Closely related to the previous problem is the question of the emergence of such a phenomenon as cognitive labor. F. Engels, in the article “The Role of Labor in the Process of Transformation of an Ape into a Man,” reveals the prerequisites and dialectics of the emergence and development of labor (physical) activity among the first humans. He writes: “First work, and then with it articulate speech, were the two most important stimuli, under the influence of which the monkey’s brain gradually turned into the human brain.” Apparently, more monkeys began to work. That is, the one who first used and began to constantly use a stick for defense or hunting was not yet a man. These actions of theirs were still subject to an animal conditioned reflex, which, thanks to the greatly enlarged and more complex brain great apes has become incredibly complex (the reflex chain is exceptionally long). Using the concept of two levels of the process of practical cognition, all the monkey's actions did not go beyond the first level. And despite this, what the monkey did was already labor (still only physical): purposeful impact on objects with tools. A monkey that learned to work and pass on the conditioned labor reflex from generation to generation had a sharp increase in survival rate. But labor is such a complex activity that there were barely enough first-level means (animal conditioned reflexes) to ensure it. And for the development of this type of activity, the need arose for a qualitatively new type of mental brain activity. Physical labor is the stimulus (customer, consumer) that forced the emergence of the second level of practical-cognitive activity. Physical labor was not only a stimulus for the emergence of thinking, but also an activity, the structure of which was reflected in the brain as a form of its own activity, as cognitive, mental work. It is impossible not to mention the role that language played in the emergence of the second level of cognitive activity. With the advent of labor and the resulting complication of the monkey’s activity, the need arose for an intensive exchange of information between individuals in the herd; firstly, for the purpose of coordinating increasingly complex activities, and secondly, for the purpose of transferring labor skills. Among the sounds of a signaling nature (danger, needs, emotions), sounds of a symbolic nature began to appear, that is, denoting actions and objects. These qualitatively new sounds can also be classified as elementary tools with the help of which one monkey influenced another (signals are not tools, they are something like parts of the body, they reflect the state of the organism’s psyche, and not objects or actions). But language (speech) is the only instrument of labor that has the ability to be transferred inside a person; inner speech can arise. This is one of the ways, one of the most powerful, but, apparently, not the only one, in the emergence of means of the second level of cognition. And then “the development of the brain and the feelings subordinate to it, an increasingly clear consciousness, the ability to abstraction and inference had the opposite effect on work and on language, giving both more and more new impetuses to further development.” And if physical labor gave birth to mental, cognitive labor, then now, before doing anything, a person will think, that is, first the labor process will occur in the brain, and then in practical physical form.

We have examined how cognitive labor arises from physical labor and practical activity. Now we need to consider the features of the reverse process. How are the products of cognitive labor used in human practical activity? Previously, it was indicated that the product of cognitive labor can appear either in the form of an object or in the form of a tool for further cognitive labor. The same is true for physical labor. This means that the product of cognitive labor is either a tool or an object of material production. But in order to objectify the product of cognitive activity, it is necessary to turn it into a physical action; a person has no other channel of influence on the surrounding reality (chemical influence does not count, it is always unconscious and occurs at an elementary level). How are processes that are the results of cognitive work taking place in the brain transformed into conscious physical activity of a person? Apparently, this is also a type of labor activity in which the knowledge located in the brain and being the subject of this work, for the purpose of objectification, is transformed through some means into the product of this labor, into active knowledge, into activity aimed at transforming the external world. The tools of such activity are conditioned reflex skills of physical activity (we are not aware of how we squeeze or unclench our hands, how we pronounce words). At this stage, the product of cognitive labor becomes the subject of labor for the objectification of knowledge, but what is the product of this labor, active knowledge? This may sound paradoxical, but it becomes a tool of labor, which is obtained in the process of ideal production, an attempt to describe which was made above. Difficulties arise here for two reasons. The first is that it is difficult to understand how ideal tools of labor can become tools in the process of material production, physical labor (more precisely, one of the tools, since they act together with objective material tools). But let's look at one example: a sculptor sculpts a piece of clay with his hands.

What is it, work or not work? In the usual understanding, this is not labor, since it does not use material tools of labor. Of course, this is not true, the sculptor has the tools in his head and they are realized through physical actions with his hands. The second difficulty is that active knowledge as a tool of labor coincides with activity, which appears in the definition of labor as one of its constituent parts. But this activity has a very complex structure, it includes both a target, volitional, actively motivating moment of activity, and, along with this, a methodological moment, that is, a method of this activity, the second, so to speak, technological moment of activity, which and is an instrument of physical labor. It acquires its material form in the structure of human physical actions to transform material reality. With these, let’s call them spiritual, tools of labor, a person can influence not only inanimate and wildlife, but also on the social conditions of the world around him. This occurs through the transformation of spiritual tools into sound speech, printed word, media, art. Spiritual instruments of production, just like material ones, tend to accumulate, develop, and improve in the process of social practice. For this purpose, special means of material culture have been developed - means of recording (books, etc.). However, in order for the instruments of spiritual production fixed in them to operate, they must pass through a person’s head, and then through his hands. By analogy with material production, we can say that the level of production of ideas is characterized by the level of development of the instruments of their production. It is also very important to note, in this regard, that the tools of spiritual production are transmitted not only by means of spiritual culture, but also through the entire surrounding a person reality, bearing the imprint of influence from society. It is important to identify the relationship between material and spiritual production. And it follows from the fact that the product of spiritual production acts as an instrument of material production. This means that the development of spiritual production is stimulated by the interests of the development of material production, and should occur in relation to material production at a faster pace. This conclusion confirms the entire course of scientific and technological revolution.

Now there is an opportunity to briefly touch upon the problem of the adequacy of knowledge obtained in the process of cognitive labor.

Even if the tool and object of cognitive work correspond to reality, there is no guarantee that the product of this work will be adequate to reality and will reflect it correctly (there are many reasons for errors, and it is not possible to dwell on them all). And the only way to check the objectivity of this newly emerged subjective content, new knowledge, is by objectifying it and using it as an instrument of material production in practice.

National interests in the spiritual sphere

The national interests of Russia are a set of balanced interests of the individual, society and the state.

National interests determine:

The main directions of activity of the individual, society and the state, which contribute to the strengthening of the existing political system in our country and create conditions for the prosperous life of each individual and society as a whole;
- conditions for the safe functioning of the individual, society and the state in all spheres of their life (economic, domestic political, social, international, informational, military, border, environmental, etc.).

National interests are long-term in nature and determine the main goals, strategic and current tasks of internal and foreign policy states. National interests represent a set of balanced interests of the individual, society and the state, therefore, they must be ensured by the combined actions of all citizens of Russia, individually each in his own field of activity, by all Russian society and the state.

Only in an optimal, harmoniously balanced distribution of duties and responsibilities for the observance of Russia's national interests can success follow in the formation of Russia as a great power, capable of realizing its potential capabilities, given to it by nature and ensured by the activities of previous generations.

Only the consistency of views and actions of the population and government structures in respect of national interests can ensure the advancement of our country towards general well-being. This unity of views and actions of every individual, society and state determines the level of the general culture of our society in the field of security.

What do the interests of the individual, society and state represent in the general content of Russia’s national interests?

The interests of the individual are determined by the ability of every citizen of Russia to realize their constitutional rights and freedoms in ensuring personal safety, in improving the quality and standard of living, in physical, spiritual and intellectual development as a person and citizen.

The interests of society are ensured by the strengthening of democracy, the creation of a legal social state, the achievement and maintenance of public harmony, and the spiritual renewal of Russia.

The interests of the state are determined by the inviolability of the constitutional system, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia, political and economic stability, the unconditional provision of the rule of law and the maintenance of law and order, and the development of equal and mutually beneficial international cooperation.

Russia's national interests in the domestic political sphere consist of:

In maintaining the stability of the constitutional system and institutions of state power;
- in ensuring civil peace and national harmony, territorial integrity, unity of legal space, law and order;
- at the completion of the process of formation of a democratic society;
- in neutralizing the causes and conditions contributing to the emergence of political and religious extremism, ethnic separatism and their consequences - social, interethnic and religious conflicts, terrorism.

Russia's national interests in the economic sphere are to ensure:

Dynamically developing production and market;
- high standard of living of the peoples of Russia.

Russia's national interests in the spiritual sphere lie in preserving and strengthening:

Moral values of society;
- traditions of patriotism and humanism;
- cultural and scientific potential of the country.

Russia's national interests in the international sphere are:

In ensuring sovereignty;
- in strengthening Russia’s position as a great power – one of the influential centers of a multipolar world;
- in the development of equal and mutually beneficial relations with all countries and integration associations, primarily with the CIS member states and traditional partners of Russia;
- in the universal observance of human rights and freedoms and the inadmissibility of the application of double standards.

Russia's national interests in the military sphere are:

In protecting its independence, sovereignty, state and territorial integrity;
- in preventing military aggression against Russia and its allies;
- in ensuring conditions for the peaceful, democratic development of the state.

The most important component of Russia's national interests is the protection of individuals, society and the state from terrorism, including international terrorism, as well as from natural and man-made emergencies and their consequences, and in wartime from dangers arising during the conduct of military operations or as a result of these actions.

It should be noted that Russia’s national interests in the modern world are aimed, first of all, at ensuring the security of individuals, society and the state from external and internal threats of a natural, man-made and social nature in all spheres of their life.

Within the framework of the National Security Concept of the Russian Federation, adopted by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 24, the conditions for an integral system of security of the individual, society and state are determined, taking into account the central place of man in the existing system of values, strengthening the role and responsibility of a person for his affairs and actions while observing security measures in all spheres of life, improving the general culture in the field of security to reduce the negative impact of the human factor on the security of the individual, society and the state.