As a total spiritual product, it is important to understand how the relative independence of social consciousness in relation to social existence is manifested.

Social consciousness acts as a necessary side of the socio-historical process, as a function of society as a whole. Its independence is manifested in development according to its own internal laws. Social consciousness may lag behind social existence, but it may also be ahead of it. It is important to see continuity in the development of public consciousness, as well as in the manifestation of interaction various forms public consciousness. Of particular importance is the active reverse influence of social consciousness on social existence.

There are two levels of social consciousness: social psychology and ideology. Social psychology is a set of feelings, moods, customs, traditions, motivations characteristic of a given society as a whole and for each of the large social groups. Ideology is a system of theoretical views that reflects the degree of society’s knowledge of the world as a whole and its individual aspects. This is the level of theoretical reflection of the world; if the first is emotional, sensual, then the second is the rational level of social consciousness. The interaction of social psychology and ideology, as well as the relationship with them of ordinary consciousness and mass consciousness, is considered complex.

Forms of social consciousness

As social life develops, human cognitive abilities arise and are enriched, which exist in the following basic forms of social consciousness: moral, aesthetic, religious, political, legal, scientific, philosophical.

Morality- a form of social consciousness in which the views and ideas, norms and assessments of the behavior of individuals, social groups and society as a whole are reflected.

Political consciousness is a set of feelings, stable moods, traditions, ideas and holistic theoretical systems that reflect the fundamental interests of large social groups, their relationship to each other and to the political institutions of society.

Right is a system social norms and relations protected by the power of the state. Legal awareness is knowledge and assessment of law. At the theoretical level, legal consciousness appears in the form of legal ideology, which is an expression of the legal views and interests of large social groups.

Aesthetic consciousness there is an awareness of social existence in the form of concrete, sensual, artistic images.

Religion is a form of social consciousness, the basis of which is belief in the supernatural. It includes religious ideas, religious feelings, religious actions.

Philosophical consciousness - this is the theoretical level of worldview, the science of the most general laws of nature, society and thinking and the universal method of knowing them, the spiritual quintessence of its era.

Scientific consciousness is a systematized and rational reflection of the world in a special scientific language, based and confirmed in the practical and factual verification of its provisions. It reflects the world in categories, laws and theories.

And here we cannot do without knowledge, ideology and politics. In the social sciences about the essence and meaning of these concepts from the moment of their emergence, there are different interpretations and opinions. But it is more expedient for us to begin the analysis of the problem posed with philosophy. This is justified not so much by the fact that, in terms of the time of its appearance, philosophy precedes all other sciences, but by the fact - and this is decisive - that philosophy acts as the foundation, the basis on which all other social sciences rest, i.e. engaged in the study of society and science. Specifically, this is manifested in the fact that since philosophy studies the most general laws of social development and the most general principles research of social phenomena, their knowledge, and most importantly - application, will be the methodological basis, which is used by other social sciences, including ideology and politics. So, the defining and guiding role of philosophy in relation to ideology and politics is manifested in the fact that it acts as a methodological basis, the foundation of ideological and political doctrines.

Ideology

Now let's see what it is ideology when and why it arose and what function it performs in the life of society. The term “ideology” was first introduced into use by the French philosopher and economist A. de Tracy in 1801 in his work “Elements of Ideology” for the “analysis of sensations and ideas.” During this period, ideology acts as a unique philosophical movement, marking the transition from enlightenment empiricism to traditional spiritualism, which became widespread in European philosophy in the first half of the 19th century. During the reign of Napoleon, due to the fact that some philosophers took a hostile position towards him and his reforms, the French emperor and his associates began to call “ideologists” or “doctrinaires” persons whose views were divorced from practical problems public life and real politics. It was during this period that ideology begins to move from a philosophical discipline to its current state, i.e. into a doctrine more or less devoid of objective content and expressing and defending the interests of various social forces. In the middle of the 19th century. a new approach to clarifying the content and public knowledge of ideology was made by K. Marx and F. Engels. Fundamental in understanding the essence of ideology is its understanding as a certain form of social consciousness. Although ideology has relative independence in relation to the processes occurring in society, in general its essence and social orientation are determined by social existence.

Another point of view on ideology was expressed by V. Pareto (1848-1923), an Italian sociologist and political economist. In his interpretation, ideology differs significantly from science, and they have nothing in common. If the latter is based on observations and logical comprehension, then the former is based on feelings and faith. According to Pareto, this is a socio-economic system that has equilibrium due to the fact that the antagonistic interests of social strata and classes neutralize each other. Despite the constant antagonism caused by inequality between people, human society nevertheless exists and this happens because it is controlled through ideology, a belief system, by selected people, the human elite. It turns out that the functioning of society depends to a large extent on the ability of the elite to convey their beliefs, or ideology, to the consciousness of people. Ideology can be brought to the consciousness of people through explanation, persuasion, and also through violent actions. At the beginning of the 20th century. The German sociologist K. Mannheim (1893-1947) expressed his understanding of ideology. Based on the position borrowed from Marxism about the dependence of social consciousness on social existence, ideology on economic relations, he develops the concept of individual and universal ideology. By individual or private ideology is meant “a set of ideas that more or less comprehend real reality, the true knowledge of which conflicts with the interests of the one who proposes the ideology itself.” More generally, ideology is the universal “view of the world” of a social group or class. In the first, i.e. on an individual level, the analysis of ideology should be carried out from a psychological perspective, and on the second – from a sociological perspective. In both the first and second cases, ideology, according to the German thinker, is an idea that can grow into a situation, subjugate and adapt it to itself.

“Ideology,” Manheim asserts, “are ideas that have an impact on the situation and which in reality could not realize their potential content. Often ideas act as well-intentioned goals of individual behavior. When they try to realize them in practical life, their content is deformed. Denying class consciousness and, accordingly, class ideology, Mannheim recognizes, in essence, only the social, particular interests of professional groups and individuals of different generations. Among them, a special role is assigned to the creative intelligentsia, which supposedly stands outside of classes and is capable of impartial knowledge of society, although only to a limited extent. level of possibility. What is common to Pareto and Mannheim is the opposition of ideology to positive sciences. For Pareto, it is the opposition of ideology to science, and for Mannheim, it is the opposition of ideology to utopias. Taking into account how Pareto and Mannheim characterize ideology, its essence can be characterized as follows: any faith is considered an ideology. , with the help of which collective actions are controlled. The term faith should be understood in its broadest sense and, in particular, as a concept that regulates behavior and which may or may not have an objective meaning. The most thorough and reasoned interpretation of ideology and its essence was given by the founders of Marxism and their followers. They define ideology as a system of views and ideas with the help of which the relationships and connections of people with reality and with each other, social problems and conflicts are comprehended and assessed, and goals and objectives are determined social activities, consisting in consolidating or changing existing public relations.

In a class society, ideology is of a class nature and reflects the interests of social groups and classes. First of all, ideology is part of social consciousness and relates to its highest level, because in a systematized form, embodied in concepts and theories, it expresses the basic interests of classes and social groups. Structurally, it includes both theoretical principles and practical actions. Speaking about the formation of ideology, it should be borne in mind that it does not arise on its own from the everyday life of people, but is created by social scientists, political and government figures. At the same time, it is very important to know that ideological concepts are not necessarily created by representatives of the class or social group whose interests they express. World history indicates that among the representatives of the ruling classes there were many ideologists who, sometimes unconsciously, expressed the interests of other social strata. Theoretically, ideologists become such due to the fact that they express in a systematic or fairly explicit form the goals and necessity of political and socio-economic transformations, to which empirically, i.e. in the process of its practical activities, one or another class or group of people comes. The nature of ideology, its focus and qualitative assessment depend on whose social interests it corresponds to. Ideology, although it is a product of social existence, but, having relative independence, has a huge reverse impact on public life and social transformations. During critical historical periods in the life of society, this influence can be decisive in historically short periods of time.

Policy- a historically transitory phenomenon. It begins to form only on at a certain stage development of society. Thus, in primitive tribal society there were no political relations. The life of society was regulated by centuries-old habits and traditions. Politics as a theory and management of social relations begins to take shape as more developed forms of division of social labor and private ownership of tools of labor emerge, because tribal relations were unable to survive folk ways regulate new relationships between people. Actually, starting from this stage of human development, i.e. Since the emergence of slave society, the first secular ideas and ideas about the origin and essence of power, state and politics appear. Naturally, the idea of ​​the subject and essence of politics has changed, and we will focus on the interpretation of politics that is currently more or less generally accepted, i.e. about politics as a theory of state, politics as a science and the art of management. The first famous thinker who touched upon the development and organization of society and expressed ideas about the state was Aristotle, who did this in his treatise “Politics”. Aristotle forms his ideas about the state based on the analysis social history and the political structure of a number of Greek states-policies. The basis of the Greek thinker's teaching about the state is his conviction that man is a “political animal,” and his life in the state is the natural essence of man. The state is presented as a developed community of communities, and the community as a developed family. His family is the prototype of the state, and he transfers its structure to the state structure. Aristotle's doctrine of the state has a clearly defined class character.

Slave state- This natural state organization of society, and therefore the existence of slave owners and slaves, masters and subordinates is completely justified. The main tasks of the state, i.e. , there must be prevention of excessive accumulation of wealth among citizens, as this is fraught with social instability; immense growth political power in the hands of one person and keeping slaves in obedience. A significant contribution to the doctrine of state and politics was made by N. Machiavelli (1469 - 1527), an Italian political thinker and public figure. The state and politics, according to Machiavelli, are not of religious origin, but represent an independent side of human activity, the embodiment of free human will within the framework of necessity, or fortune (fate, happiness). Politics is not determined by God or morality, but is the result of practical human activity, the natural laws of life and human psychology. The main motives that determine political activity, according to Machiavelli, are real interests, self-interest, and the desire for enrichment. The sovereign, the ruler must be an absolute ruler and even a despot. He should not be limited by either moral or religious precepts in achieving his goals. Such rigidity is not a whim; it is dictated by the circumstances themselves. Only a strong and tough sovereign can ensure the normal existence and functioning of the state and keep it in its sphere of influence cruel world people striving for wealth, prosperity and guided only by selfish principles.

According to Marxism, politics is an area of ​​human activity determined by relations between classes, social strata, and ethnic groups. Its main goal is the problem of conquest, retention and use state power. The most important thing in politics is the structure of state power. The state acts as a political superstructure over the economic base. Through it the economically dominant class ensures its political dominance. Essentially, the main function of the state in a class society becomes the protection of the fundamental interests of the ruling class. Three factors ensure the power and strength of the state. Firstly, this is public power, which includes a permanent administrative and bureaucratic apparatus, the army, the police, the court, and houses of detention. These are the most powerful and effective government bodies. Secondly, the right to collect taxes from the population and institutions, which are necessary mainly for the maintenance state apparatus, authorities and numerous governing bodies. Thirdly, this is an administrative-territorial division, which contributes to the development of economic relations and the creation of administrative and political conditions for their regulation. Along with class interests, the state to a certain extent expresses and protects national interests, regulates mainly through a system of legal norms the entire range of economic, socio-political, national and family relations, thereby helping to strengthen the existing socio-economic order. One of the most important levers with which the state carries out its activities is law. Law is a set of norms of behavior enshrined in laws and approved by the state. As Marx and Engels put it, law is the will of the ruling class, elevated to law. With the help of law, economic and social or socio-political relations are consolidated, i.e. relationships between classes and social groups, family status and the position of national minorities. After the formation of the state and the establishment of law in society, previously non-existent political and legal relations are formed. The representatives of political relations are political parties expressing the interests of various classes and social groups.

Political relations, the struggle between parties for power is nothing more than a struggle of economic interests. Each class and social group is interested in establishing the priority of its interests in society with the help of constitutional laws. For example, workers are interested in objective remuneration for their work, students are interested in a scholarship that would provide them with at least food, owners of banks, factories and other property are interested in preserving private property. We can say that at a certain stage the economy gives rise to politics and political parties because they are needed for normal existence and development. Although politics is a product of the economy, it nevertheless not only has relative independence, but also has a certain influence on the economy, and in periods of transition and crisis this influence can even determine the path of economic development. The influence of politics on the economy is carried out in various ways: directly, through economic policy carried out by government agencies (financing various projects, investments, commodity prices); establishment of customs duties on industrial products in order to protect domestic producers; carrying out such foreign policy, which would favor the activities of domestic producers in other countries. The active role of politics in stimulating economic development can be carried out in three directions: 1) when political factors act in the same direction as the objective course of economic development, they accelerate it; 2) when they act contrary economic development, then they restrain him; 3) they can slow down development in some directions and accelerate it in others.

Carrying out the right policies directly depends on the extent to which the political forces in power are guided by the laws of social development and take into account the interests of classes and social groups in their activities. So, we can say that in order to understand the socio-political processes occurring in society, it is important to know not only the role of social philosophy, ideology, and politics separately, but also their interaction and mutual influence.

Social consciousness - it is a set of ideas, theories, views, ideals and principles, desires and moods of people, reflecting their social existence. Although social consciousness depends on social existence, it has relative independence and develops according to laws different from the laws of development of social existence. The relative independence of social consciousness is manifested in the fact that its development can advance the development of social existence or lag behind it. In the first case, social consciousness contributes to the movement of society forward, and in the second, it slows down its development.

Carrier social consciousness can be an individual person or any social group (production team, class, nation, society as a whole). In the first case, they talk about individual consciousness, i.e. consciousness of an individual person. Individual consciousness contains all the features inherent in a given person: abilities, interests, level and nature of education, etc. It also contains what is common to the social group of people to which this person belongs (ideals, values, assessments, general rules behavior, principles, attitudes, etc.) – what is acquired by a person in the process of socialization. This common thing constitutes the core of individual consciousness, determining the quality of a person as a social being. In other words, social consciousness does not have its own transpersonal brain; it exists in many individual consciousnesses, although it cannot be reduced to their simple sum.

Social consciousness varies in levels and forms.

Structure of social consciousness (its levels):

First level of social consciousness- ordinary (everyday, spontaneous) consciousness; it is based on the everyday practical experience of a person and covers mainly the external side of an object or phenomenon. In everyday consciousness, both are represented simultaneously common sense, and prejudices, true and sometimes accurate observations and fiction.

Second level- theoretical consciousness; it is a rationalized, substantiated system of knowledge that reflects the internal properties of an object, its essence.

Both ordinary and theoretical consciousness can be true or false. Both of them characterize the subjective aspect of human practical activity.

From the point of view regulation human behavior in the public consciousness are distinguished social psychology and ideology. Social psychology is closely related to everyday consciousness and covers mass mental processes, inherent in individual communities: mental makeup (social character), mental states (apathy, stress, etc.) and mental phenomena (panic, hearing, fashion, etc.). Social psychology is formed mainly spontaneously, but its purposeful, systematic formation is not excluded.

Unlike social psychology, ideology is a set of theoretically based ideas and views of certain social groups. Ideology, in contrast to theoretical consciousness, is “charged” with a specific activity. Reflecting social reality from the perspective interests certain classes and social groups, ideology contains action program by changing (if reality does not meet the interests of the class) or maintaining social reality (if reality does not meet the interests of the class). Ideology is a value reflection of social reality; it is formed purposefully and has an active functional orientation, influencing the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of people. Functions of ideology– integrative-consolidating; organizational and mobilizing; value-motivational; legitimizing.

Forms of social consciousness. The following are distinguished: forms of social consciousness:

Political consciousness – a set of views that reflect political relations, i.e. power relations;

Legal consciousness– a set of views on the system of generally binding rules of behavior (norms) established by the state;

Moral consciousness– a set of ideas about moral relations and corresponding norms and ideals that evaluate and regulate people’s behavior (good, evil, justice, duty, honor, conscience);

Artistic consciousness– a form of reflection of natural and social reality in the form of artistic images that represent an organic fusion of thoughts, feelings, and assessments;

Scientific consciousness– a form of reflection of reality in the form of a system of objective knowledge that reveals the laws of the world.

Philosophical consciousness– a form of social consciousness that expresses a person’s rational-critical awareness of the world and his relationship to it;

Religious consciousness- a form of social consciousness based on belief in the existence of a supernatural reality (God) and presupposing a certain relationship of a person to this reality.

In each historical era, first one or another form of social consciousness acquires dominant importance in people’s lives (in the Middle Ages, as is known, religion dominated, in the new and modern times- politics and science).

The most important functions social consciousness – cognitive, socially transformative, prognostic, regulatory, educational. They are all interconnected with each other.

THINKING AND LANGUAGE.

Thinking is inextricably linked with language. Language is the material carrier of consciousness, in it thinking expresses (objectifies, materializes) itself. Thanks to this objectification, knowledge, ideas, meanings, values ​​and ideals produced by thinking can be consolidated and preserved in culture, transmitted and developed. Language is not only method of storing and transmitting information, but also means of cognition and communication. With the help of language we learn about the objective world and gain new knowledge. Perception and cognition are carried out through the prism of language. There are elements in a language that replace real objects. These elements play the role of representatives of objects of knowledge in thinking, are signs objects, properties or relationships. Language is a system of signs and symbols endowed with a specific meaning. Every language contains a certain “conceptual scheme” that determines the nature of the perception of the world.

Because of this, language can be defined as a specific complex developing sign system, which serves to record, store, process and transmit information, as well as to ensure cognition and communication.

Thus, the functions of language are expressive(expression of a person’s thoughts), significative(designation), communicative(ensuring communication between people), cognitive ( the most important means of knowledge), cumulative, or information-broadcast ( ensuring the preservation, accumulation and transmission of knowledge).

There are two types of language: natural and artificial.

Natural language arises spontaneously in the process of human development as a necessary means of communication and cognition (national languages ​​- Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian, etc.)

Constructed language specially created by a person for any purpose (Morse code, Esperanto, languages ​​of mathematics, logic, programming languages, chemistry and other sciences).

In natural language, signs are words and phrases, in artificial language - certain symbols. One of the most important aspects of language is its semantics, and the most important semantic characteristics of a sign are its objective meaning and meaning.

Subject meaning- this is an object (a separate object or a certain class of objects), the representative of which is a sign.

The meaning of the sign- this is a set of characteristics that allows you to distinguish the object designated by the sign from other objects. The same sign can have several different meanings.

Thought can be expressed not only with the help of linguistic signs. It can be embodied in one or another artistic image, it can correspond to a certain gesture, it can be expressed using various figures dance and other non-linguistic signs.

At a certain stage of social development, consciousness acquires relative independence. Social consciousness acts not only as perfect image society, both as something that regulates activity, but also as social life itself.

Spiritually conscious factors function as a common spiritual field, a mechanism for the exchange of spiritual values. This is how the unity of lifestyle and personality traits develops (social character according to Fromm, social types...).

The life of society includes not only a material, but also a spiritual aspect. Idealistic movements, in contrast to materialistic ones (for example, Marxism), consider spiritual life to be primary for society. Thus, the Russian religious philosopher S.L. Frank (1877-1950) wrote: “what is a family, a state, a nation, a law, an economy, etc. In a word, what social existence is, and how a social phenomenon occurs - this cannot be seen at all in the visible world of physical existence; it can only be learned through inner spiritual participation and empathy with the invisible social reality. ... Social life by its very essence it is spiritual and not material.” (Frank S.L. Spiritual foundations of society. Introduction to social philosophy. - Paris, 1930. - P. 126).

Social consciousness is the spiritual side of the social process, an integral spiritual phenomenon that has a certain internal structure:

A. Levels of public consciousness:

• 1) epistemological aspect (in terms of the depth of reflection of the world):
  • a) everyday consciousness;
  • b) scientific-theoretical consciousness.
• 2) sociological aspect (according to internal structure):
  • a) social psychology;
  • b) ideology.

B. Forms of social consciousness:

1) philosophy; 2) religious consciousness; 3) scientific; 4) art (aesthetic consciousness); 5) morality; 6) political consciousness; 7) legal consciousness.

These are traditionally identified forms of social consciousness. Today, the legitimacy of distinguishing such forms of social consciousness as environmental or economic, etc., is being substantiated. etc.

Levels of public consciousness

Ordinary consciousness is everyday, practical consciousness. Reflects existence at the level of phenomena, not essence, superficially, not systematically.

Theoretical consciousness is a deep, systematized reflection of the life of society. Is a consequence of scientific research.

Social psychology is a set of social feelings, emotions, moods, experiences, expressions of will, etc., resulting from: a) direct influences of life and b) as a result of ideological influences (for example, rumors spread, the influence of the media, etc. can distort the actual state of affairs in society, form negative socio-psychological complexes among the masses or vice versa). For example, hatred of the fascists was the result of a direct reaction to aggression; Thus, in Belarus there were 260 concentration camps during the Great Patriotic War. But the “deification” of Stalin was the result of ideological propaganda, not the result of direct acquaintance with him. Social psychology can be characterized by such concepts as apathy or enthusiasm, an impatient desire for quick success and determination, aggressiveness or tolerance, etc.

At the level of social psychology, collective ideas emerge, which the sociologist E. Durkheim considered as a special kind of “ social fact" It is important for government officials to know the collective ideas about power that exist in society. It is also interesting to know the collective ideas of this government regarding the existing society.

The spiritual sphere of society’s life affects not only the level of social psychology, but also the theoretical and ideological level. Thus, speaking about the conditions for the existence of power, P. Bourdieu introduces the concept of the political field in which the exchange and production of political and symbolic capital takes place. Those. social existence in the broad sense of the word includes not only material factors, but also social consciousness.

Ideology is a theoretical, systematized consciousness that expresses the interests of a particular group (national, religious, class ideologies). The concept of “ideology” arose in the 17th and 18th centuries, introduced by the French philosopher and economist Destut de Tracy (1754-1836).

Helvetius (1715-1771) wrote: “If the physical world is subject to the law of motion, then the spiritual world is no less subject to the law of interest.”

If for scientific knowledge the main thing is the reflection of objective laws as they are, the desire to abstract from the interests of the cognizing subjects, then for ideology, on the contrary, the main thing is the expression and protection of the interests of the group. Ideology serves to consolidate the positions of certain groups in society.

Forms of social consciousness

Forms of social consciousness are those forms in which a person recognizes himself as a human being, i.e. a social being, in which, through which a person imagines nature and society.

Functions of social consciousness: 1. cognitive; 2. expression of interests of social groups; 3. socio-practical (people, based on common ideas, unite into groups and differentiate themselves from other groups).

At the early stages of social development, the forms of social consciousness were not differentiated. Gradually, with the development of society, morality, art, religion, philosophy and science, political and legal consciousness arose. The emergence of private property, classes, and the state played a decisive role in this.

Forms of social consciousness are divided into:

• 1) the subject of reflection;
• 2) the method of reflection;
• 3) according to the function they perform (what needs they satisfy).

Philosophy. It studies the universal, essential laws that govern nature, society, man and his thinking. They interest philosophy in their integrity and unity (see the topic “The subject of philosophy, its role in culture”).

Religion. A specific reflection of the world through its division into earthly and otherworldly, recognition of the leading role of the latter. Religious consciousness is characterized by an emotional and fantastic reflection of reality, based on belief in the supernatural. Functions: compensatory (comfort); integrative (union of believers); regulatory (regulates the behavior of believers through religious values, performed cult); communicative (carried out in joint religious activities); help function.

Science. Subject - natural, social, inner world person. The method of reflection is reflection in concepts, laws, theories. Functions: cognitive, practical and effective. (See the topic “Scientific knowledge”).

Aesthetic consciousness and art. The main concept is “beautiful” (the opposite is “ugly”). It is this side of the world that is reflected. Art is a way of mastering reality in the form of artistic images. Functions - satisfaction of aesthetic needs; teaches to give aesthetic assessments; education through emotional influence on a person; communicative, cognitive. An artistic image reveals the general in the individual. In the individual, the artist reveals the typical (in science, on the contrary, they go through the knowledge of the individual to the general).

Morality and moral consciousness. Morality regulates relations between people, relying on public opinion, as well as on a person’s own conscience. Moral norms have always existed in humans; they were formed during his socialization; they changed with the development of society. In its ideological part, morality is reflected in various ethical teachings. Evaluative categories of morality: good and evil, justice, duty, conscience, honor, dignity, happiness, the meaning of life. Functions: to protect a person from anything that threatens the life, health, safety, dignity, and well-being of people.

Law and legal consciousness. Law is the will of the ruling class elevated to law. In a democratic state, law must, to one degree or another, express the interests of all social groups. Arises with the emergence of class society and the state to regulate relations between classes and other social groups, between states. A system of legal laws is emerging. Law is the form in which all other relations - economic, family, etc. - legitimize themselves. Legal awareness is one of the forms of civilization. Legal awareness is closely related to moral and political consciousness.

Politics and political consciousness. They arise with the emergence of the state as a management system. At the level of political ideology, this is a system of views on how society should be organized, its government structure, and what policies should be implemented. A state may have groups with different political ideologies. Political consciousness reflects political existence. (See the topic “Political sphere of social life”).

The spiritual situation of our time

With the development of capitalism, mass machine production appears and, accordingly, the development of popular culture and mass consciousness (H. Ortega y Gasset).

Previously, there was a class, hierarchical structure of society. The estate had its privileges and responsibilities. Capitalism destroys this structure. A person falls out of a collapsing community and becomes “atomic”, can move among social groups (professional, territorial, etc., which is associated with the concept of an “open” society. Individualism and a democratic form of government, necessary for a market competitive economy, develop. These processes lead to a certain “equality” of people.

Back in the 18th century, the concept of “public opinion” arose. Today it is important element socio-political life, although it is uncertain and heterogeneous like “public” itself. Then the media develop; there are no social boundaries for them. Spiritual standards are formed, big role Advertising and fashion begin to play. The phenomenon of mass consciousness arose and was realized. The concept of “mass” is associated with 1. a large number of people and 2. with a certain equation of individuals in it. The possibility of manipulating mass consciousness appears. True, many processes in the mass consciousness occur spontaneously, not everything is controlled by the elite.

The concept of “mentality” is becoming popular. It is defined in different ways, in particular, as not clearly formulated and not fully realized manners of thinking, values ​​that are inherent in an era, group, etc. Mentality is a kind of automatism of thought that people use without noticing them. These are extrapersonal attitudes of consciousness. They are all the more coercive in nature because they are not realized. Ideas are only the visible part of the “iceberg” of our consciousness. Mentality goes back to the Latin “mens” and means a way of thinking, way of thinking, state of mind, character. The method of studying mentality is its comparison with another mentality. Mentality is always a kind of integrity (“worldview”), a unity of opposite principles - natural and cultural, emotional and rational, irrational and rational, individual and social. Mentality is a deep layer of collective consciousness, essentially what E. Durkheim called the “collective unconscious.” Mentality necessarily includes values, but is not exhausted by them.

As Ortega y Gasset noted, the mass consciousness is characterized by disrespect for competence and spirituality, unjustified claims to a high position, and relativity of values. The “mass person” feels “like everyone else”, is not critical of himself, does not strive for self-improvement, there is no discipline of the spirit, there are no spiritual authorities for him, but he successfully solves material problems, is energetic and self-confident. Such a person readily responds to the calls of those who formulate a simple slogan and is not interested in serious reasoning (that is, he has a superficial thinking style).

In the 20th century, a new type of culture emerged. It is characterized as postmodern. This is the age of cultural diversity. Mass and elite culture emerge. But they have common features. Examples of classical art are clear, definite, and the aesthetic and moral ideal is clearly expressed in them. Classics sought to awaken in man best features. Contemporary non-classical art is characterized by a blurred ideal. The ugly, state of anxiety is emphasized. Characteristic is an appeal to the subconscious (aggressiveness, fears). The problem of the century is reflections on the nature of human aggressiveness, the relationship between the rational and the irrational, issues of sexuality, life and death (the problem of euthanasia). Today art does not strive to understand and express the inner essence, but reflects what is; it is not the product that is important, but the packaging. Particular attention is paid to the topic of freedom, but in the 19th century issues of political and civil freedoms were of concern, today - the problem of internal human freedom. Culture is seen solely as a means of entertainment and consumer enjoyment. The show has become an absolute phenomenon of modern culture and its only relevant form. The object of art acts as a commodity, and the subject who perceives it acts as a consumer.

Consumer values ​​dominate, which begin to come into sharp conflict with the values ​​of nature. The main thing is income, profit, growth rates; the desire for environmentally balanced development is not a value. Modern civilization is a civilization of “power”. The values ​​of non-violence and interaction are not sufficiently rooted in it. Western sociologists characterize modern man as a hedonistic individualist

Advertising. Advertising increasingly appeals to the collective unconscious, updating imaginative thinking and discrediting the logic of verbal thinking. Operating not with concepts, but with images leads to the dominance of stereotypes. Reliance on emotional connections between phenomena gives rise to the so-called “automatic thinking” (Moscovici S. Century of Crowds. M., 1996. P. 114). One of the most powerful means of influencing the subconscious is suggestion, which involves reducing the criticality of perception and therefore has the greatest effect on people (the well-known formula of advertising influence: attention, interest, desire, action, motive). Advertising not only takes into account people’s ideological and value orientations, but also shapes them, building a certain consumer ideology.

Consumption becomes not only the “ultimate goal of existence,” but also a criterion for social stratification. A person’s position in society is assessed not only by his services to society, but not even by what he owns, but solely by what and how much he consumes. The motives of prestige and assimilation are at work. Based on far-fetched fashion, many goods become not real, but “virtual”. A system of virtual, inauthentic values ​​arises that has nothing to do with real life. The monetary-market order began to force itself on life. He separates a person from spiritual existence, but organizes the crowd into society. The easiest and most natural way of self-affirmation in a consumer society is to consume. There is a tendency not to see the difference between the real and the unreal, to live in illusions. Personality is suppressed.

In advertising products, the relationships between men and women, adults and children are simplified to the level of “ritual idioms” and are presented as a universal distribution of roles in a given situation. Advertising refers to established, but unconscious at the rational level, patterns of our perception, a kind of “social archetypes” of a public person.

It is interesting that in art that is not part of show business, ordinary advertising does not work; it is still replaced by public opinion.

Today the concept of conscientious war has emerged. Its essence lies in the struggle between various forms of organization of consciousness. The subject of defeat and destruction are certain types of consciousnesses. The carriers of consciousness remain, but the types of consciousness are pushed beyond the boundaries of civilizationally acceptable ones. The destruction of certain types of consciousness presupposes the destruction of communities, groups that are carriers of this type consciousness. Five ways of damage: 1. damage to the neuro-brain substrate by radiation, chemicals that poison the air, food, etc.; 2. lowering the level of organization of the information and communication environment in which consciousness lives; 3. occult influence on the organization of consciousness based on the directed transmission of thought forms to the subject of the defeat; 4. special organization and dissemination through communication channels of images and texts that destroy the functioning of consciousness (psychotropic weapons); 5. destruction of methods and forms of personal identification in relation to fixed communities, leading to a change in forms of self-determination and depersonalization. In this case, mass media, cinema, etc. are widely used.

Social consciousness. Essence. Levels. Forms.

SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS- this is the spiritual life of society in the totality of feelings, moods, views, ideas, theories that reflect social existence and influence it. Reflection in the spiritual activity of people of interests, ideas of various social groups, classes, nations, society as a whole.

Social consciousness - totality psychological properties inherent in society, considered as an independent integrity, a system that cannot be reduced to the sum of its constituent individuals.

Almost any society, regardless of its size, stability and degree of integration, has one consciousness or another (some of its features can be found in line at a store). Historical reality, reflected in the minds of people, gives rise to public moods, ideologies, social psychology, national characters, etc. Those, in turn, have an effective influence on reality. Social consciousness serves as the basis of cultural activity and influences the individual psychology of each person entering society.

The subject of social consciousness is society, not the individual. An individual is capable of inventing an ideology or giving impetus to a certain phenomenon of social psychology, but it will only become part of the public consciousness when it “takes hold of the masses.”

Its structure: it consists of two parts-poles of “Ideology” - conscious, theoretically processed, reflected. “Social psychology” or “mentality,” which is the sphere of the collective unconscious, is characterized by concealment, depth, and spontaneity. (

At the same time, “social psychology and ideology are in some contradiction with each other, but do not exist without each other” and mutually penetrate each other.

Social consciousness is part of culture in the broad sense of the word.

Preserved in the culture of society, social psychology/mentality reflects the historical path it has traversed. “The mentality of an individual is determined by the principles and structural features of the language and culture that determined its development and formation< ...>Language and culture, in turn, develop during historical development a certain people. Thus, historical experience, processed and deposited in language and culture, then influences the formation of the deep features of the psyche of a person mastering the world through language and culture. A way of thinking can therefore be regarded as an internalized experience of linguistic and cultural history.” The famous historian P.N. Milyukov wrote about this: “National character itself is a consequence historical life" What has been said in this case about ethnicity can, in our opinion, be extended to other types of societies.

The existence of different parts of social consciousness in culture is different. Ideology requires special development, cultivation, fixation (since it is based on theoretical, scientific thinking) and is therefore concentrated in its entirety in the minds of a few. The existence of social psychology/mentality is largely spontaneous (although there are methods of control and manipulation), it is inherent in all members of society.

The content of the pole of ideology is theories, scientific, religious, philosophical systems and teachings, a conscious worldview. The content of the pole of spontaneous, unconscious social psychology / mentality is mental, behavioral, emotional stereotypes; latent value systems; pictures of the world and perception of oneself in the world; all kinds of automatisms of consciousness; public performances, etc.

The mechanism of preservation and transmission of social psychology/mentality, as well as its assimilation by each new member of society, is similar to the mechanism of life of living natural languages. Through the environment (linguistic or, accordingly, mental) and from older generations to the younger. “Culture and tradition, language, way of life and religiosity form a kind of “matrix” within which mentality is formed. The era in which an individual lives leaves an indelible imprint on his worldview, gives him certain forms of mental reactions and behavior, and these features of spiritual equipment are found in the “collective consciousness.”

Public consciousness is historically changeable. Ideology can change instantly, although it always takes time for it to spread widely. As for mentality, representatives of the Annales School have always noted the slowness of the changes taking place in it. B.F. Porshnev in his “social psychology” distinguishes a more or less stable “mental makeup” (for example, national character) and dynamic “mental shifts”, public moods (for example, fashion).

To comprehend social consciousness, it is necessary to analyze the widest possible cultural context: texts and objects of “material culture”, the system of social connections and relationships, life and the history of everyday life. In feedback: understanding the mentality and ideology of a society will help to correctly assess all the processes occurring in it, adequately perceive the behavior of its members and better understand the cultural phenomena developed by it.

The essence of social consciousness

For many centuries, heated debates have continued around the essence of consciousness and the possibilities of its knowledge. Theologians view consciousness as a tiny spark of the magnificent flame of divine intelligence. Idealists defend the idea of ​​the primacy of consciousness in relation to matter. Taking consciousness out of the objective connections of the real world and considering it as an independent and creative essence of being, objective idealists interpret consciousness as something primordial: it is not only inexplicable by anything that exists outside of it, but from itself is called upon to explain everything that happens in nature, history and behavior of each individual person. Supporters of objective idealism recognize consciousness as the only reliable reality.

If idealism tears out the gap between the mind and the world, then materialism seeks community, unity between the phenomena of consciousness and the objective world, deriving the spiritual from the material. Materialistic philosophy and psychology proceed in solving this problem from two cardinal principles: from the recognition of consciousness as a function of the brain and a reflection of the external world.

Levels of public consciousness

The structure of social consciousness is very complex: first of all, it is divided into levels - everyday-practical and scientific-theoretical. This aspect of considering social consciousness can be called epistemological, since it shows the depth of penetration of the subject of knowledge into objective reality. As is known, everyday practical consciousness is less structured, more superficial than scientific and theoretical consciousness. Social consciousness at the everyday practical level manifests itself as social psychology, at the scientific and theoretical level - as ideology. It should be emphasized that ideology is not the entire scientific-theoretical consciousness, but only that part of it that is of a class nature. But this will be discussed below.

The next aspect of considering social consciousness is based on its bearer or subject. Thus, types of social consciousness are distinguished - individual, group and mass consciousness. The bearer of individual consciousness is an individual, the bearer of group consciousness is a social group, the bearer of mass consciousness is an unorganized group of people united by some idea or goal. For example, fans of some pop singer and regular listeners of the Mayak radio station can be classified as a phenomenon of mass consciousness. Sometimes they say that the bearer of mass consciousness is the crowd, but many sociologists believe that it is more correct to distinguish both the consciousness of the crowd and the consciousness of the masses. In passing, we note that a crowd is people in direct contact with each other, gathered to achieve some goal, but a crowd is distinguished from a mass by direct contact, the presence of a leader and joint activity, for example, at a rally, demonstration, etc.

Forms of social consciousness

Social consciousness is a set of various spiritual phenomena that reflect all spheres of social life and the richness of a person’s individual life, therefore its various forms are distinguished - moral, aesthetic, religious, legal, political, philosophical, scientific, environmental, economic, etc. Of course, such structuring is conditional, since types, forms, levels of social consciousness are in constant interaction and mutual influence.

Analyzing public consciousness, social F special attention focuses on ideology. Ideology is a system of ideas and theories, values ​​and norms, ideals and action guidelines. It helps to consolidate or eliminate existing social relations. In its theoretical content, ideology is a set of legal, political, moral, aesthetic and other ideas that ultimately reflect economic relations society from the perspective of a certain social class.

Let us dwell in more detail on the spiritual life of society. By it we can understand that sphere of existence in which objective, supra-individual reality was transformed into individual, subjective reality, inherent in every person.

In the structure of social consciousness, three interconnected levels are usually distinguished: everyday, social psychology and public ideology, as well as forms of social consciousness, which include political ideology, legal consciousness, morality (moral consciousness), art (aesthetic consciousness), religion, science and philosophy:

1. Ordinary consciousness arises spontaneously in the process of everyday practice, as a direct reflection of the external (“everyday”) side of people’s life and is not aimed at searching for truth.

2. Social psychology- the emotional attitude of people towards their social existence, also formed spontaneously in people’s everyday lives. Its specificity and patterns are studied by social psychology. Social psychology includes unsystematized feelings and ideas of people, primarily about their emotional life, certain states and some mental characteristics. It is the prevailing mood of feelings and ideas in a given social group (“socio-psychological atmosphere”), in a given country, in a particular society.

3. Social ideology - conceptual and theoretical reflection of social existence, expressed in forms of thinking (concepts, judgments, theories, concepts, etc.). Taken as a whole, it is defined as a system of political, legal, moral, aesthetic, religious and philosophical views in which people’s attitude to social reality is recognized and assessed.

Thus, public ideology is a systematized, theoretical justification, spiritual expression of the interests of various social groups or communities. Ideology is a complex spiritual formation that includes a certain theoretical basis, action programs arising from it, and mechanisms for the dissemination of ideological attitudes among the masses.

In any of its manifestations, it is essentially or formally, right or wrong, but is always connected with the needs of the entire society, is an expression of its goals, values, ideals, its programs, contradictions and ways to resolve them. As such, social ideology is always necessary, obligatory for any society - class, non-class, “open”, “closed”, etc. She always was, is and will be. For there is always a vital need to know the peculiarities of the development of society, current problems and common tasks, stages of social change and prospects for social development.

Nowadays, some theorists (both in the West and here) have come up with the idea of ​​the end of ideology (“pre-ideologization”). They associate this either with the “natural falsity” of ideology, or with the end of the confrontation in the world of capitalism and socialism, or with its totalitarian class essence.

Forms of social consciousness represent ways of spiritual mastery of reality. The main criteria for their differentiation:

1. On the subject of reflection - science and philosophy reflect reality, but at different conceptual and methodological levels (lower and higher).

2. By forms (types) of reflection- science reflects reality in the form of concepts, hypotheses, theories, laws, and art - in the form of artistic images.

3. By functions performed - art performs aesthetic and educational functions, science - cognitive, morality - moral, etc.

4. By public role. Science is the “locomotive” of progress, religion satisfies faith in the supernatural, art - in the beautiful, morality elevates a person to the “value of good,” etc.

All levels and forms of social consciousness interact with each other and influence each other in the course of the interaction of social existence and social consciousness.

In conclusion, we note that social consciousness is a reflection of social existence, social reality as a whole. However, social consciousness and each of its forms have a certain independence regarding social existence, its logic and special patterns of its development. This manifests itself in:

a) continuity, preservation of the rational, positive content of the old in the new;

b) mutual influence of various forms of social consciousness;

c) lagging or advancing forms of consciousness from social existence;

d) active reverse influence of social consciousness and its forms on social existence ( shining example This is due to the active influence of science on the development of technology and technology of the modern information society).

Lecture 9: Consciousness and language. The problem of the unconscious

1. Language as a way of existence of consciousness.

2. Natural and artificial languages.

3. The role of language in society and its main functions.

4. Consciousness and unconsciousness.