What features characterize society as a dynamic system. Main types (kinds) of social activity

Section 1. Social science. Society. Man - 18 hours.

Topic 1. Social science as a body of knowledge about society - 2 hours.

General definition concepts of society. The essence of society. Characteristics of social relations. Human society (man) and animal world (animal): distinctive characteristics. Main social phenomena human life: communication, knowledge, work. Society as a complex dynamic system.

General definition of the concept of society.

In a broad sense society - it is a part of the material world isolated from nature, but closely connected with it, which consists of individuals with will and consciousness, and includes ways of interacting people and forms of their unification.

In a narrow sense society can be understood as a certain group of people united for communication and joint performance of any activity, and specific stage V historical development any people or country.

The Essence of Society is that in the course of his life, each person interacts with other people. Such diverse forms of human interaction, as well as connections that arise between different social groups (or within them), are commonly called public relations.

Characteristics of social relations.

All social relations can be conditionally divided into three large groups:

1. interpersonal (socio-psychological), by which is meant relationships between individuals. At the same time, individuals, as a rule, belong to different social strata, have different cultural and educational levels, but they are united by common needs and interests in the sphere of leisure or everyday life. The well-known sociologist Pitirim Sorokin identified the following types interpersonal interaction:

a) between two individuals (husband and wife, teacher and student, two comrades);

b) between three individuals (father, mother, child);

c) between four, five or more people (the singer and his listeners);

d) between many and many people (members of an unorganized crowd).

Interpersonal relations arise and are realized in society and are social relations even if they are in the nature of purely individual communication. They act as a personified form of social relations.

2. material (socio-economic), which arise and take shape directly in the course of a person's practical activity, outside the consciousness of a person and independently of him. They are divided into production, environmental and office relations.

3. spiritual (or ideal), which are formed, preliminary “passing through the consciousness” of people, are determined by their values that are significant for them. They are divided into moral, political, legal, artistic, philosophical and religious social relations.

The main social phenomena of human life:

1. Communication (mostly emotions are involved, pleasant / unpleasant, I want);

2. Cognition (mostly intellect involved, true/false, I can);

3. Labor (mainly the will is involved, it is necessary / not necessary, must).

Human society (man) and the animal world (animal): distinctive characteristics.

1. Consciousness and self-consciousness. 2. Word (2nd signaling system). 3. Religion.

Society as a complex dynamic system.

In philosophical science, society is characterized as a dynamic self-developing system, that is, such a system that is capable of seriously changing, at the same time retaining its essence and qualitative certainty. The system is understood as a complex of interacting elements. In turn, an element is some further indecomposable component of the system that is directly involved in its creation.

To analyze complex systems, like the one that society represents, scientists have developed the concept of "subsystem". Subsystems are called "intermediate" complexes, more complex than the elements, but less complex than the system itself.

1) economic, the elements of which are material production and relations that arise between people in the process of production of material goods, their exchange and distribution;

2) socio-political, consisting of such structural formations as classes, social strata, nations, taken in their relationship and interaction with each other, manifested in such phenomena as politics, the state, law, their correlation and functioning;

3) spiritual, embracing various forms and levels public consciousness which, being embodied in the real process of the life of society, form what is commonly called spiritual culture.

1. Name any three characteristics of society as a dynamic system.

2. What socio-economic formations do Marxists single out?

3. Name three historical type society. By what signs they are allocated?

4. There is a statement: “Everything is for a person. It is necessary to produce as many goods as possible for him, and for this you have to "invade" nature, violating the natural laws of its development. Either man is his well-being, or nature and her well-being.

There is no third".

What is your attitude to this judgment? Justify your answer, based on the knowledge of the social science course, facts public life and personal experience.

5. Give three examples of the relationship between global j problems of mankind.

6. Read the text and do the tasks for it. “Gaining more and more strength, civilization often showed a clear tendency to impose ideas with the help of missionary activities or direct violence coming from religious, in particular Christian, traditions ... Thus, civilization steadily spread across the planet, using all possible ways and means for this - migration, colonization, conquest, trade, industrial development, financial control and cultural influence. Little by little, all countries and peoples began to live according to its laws or created them according to the model established by it ...

It is unlikely that she will be able to withstand this new test, especially now, when her own body is torn apart by numerous ailments. NTR, on the other hand, is becoming more and more obstinate, and it is becoming more and more difficult to pacify it. Having endowed us with unprecedented strength and instilled a taste for a level of life that we did not even think about, NTR sometimes does not give us the wisdom to keep our abilities and demands under control. And it’s time for our generation to finally understand that now it depends only on us ... the fate of not individual countries and regions, but of all mankind as a whole.”

A. Lenchey

1) What global problems modern society highlights the author? List two or three issues.

2) What does the author mean when he says: “Having endowed us with unprecedented strength and instilled a taste for a level of life that we did not even think about, the scientific and technological revolution does not sometimes give us the wisdom to keep our abilities and demands under control”? Make two guesses.

3) Illustrate with examples (at least three) the author's statement: "The development of civilization ... was accompanied by the flowering of bright hopes and illusions that could not be realized."

4) Is it possible in the foreseeable future to overcome the contrast between rich and poor countries, in your opinion. Justify the answer.

7. Choose one of the proposed statements and express your thoughts on the issue raised in the form of a short essay.

1. "I am a citizen of the world" (Diogenes of Sinop).

2. "I am too proud of my country to be a nationalist" (J. Voltaire)

3. “Civilization does not consist in more or less refinement. Not in the consciousness common to the whole people. And this consciousness is never refined. On the contrary, it is quite healthy. To represent civilization as the creation of an elite means to identify it with culture, while these are completely different things. (A. Camus).

The existence of people in society is characterized by various forms of life and communication. Everything that has been created in society is the result of the cumulative joint activity of many generations of people. Actually, society itself is a product of the interaction of people, it exists only where and when people are connected with each other by common interests.

In philosophical science, many definitions of the concept of "society" are offered. In a narrow sense society can be understood as a certain group of people united for communication and joint performance of any activity, as well as a specific stage in the historical development of a people or country.

In a broad sense society - it is a part of the material world isolated from nature, but closely connected with it, which consists of individuals with will and consciousness, and includes ways of interaction of people and forms of their association.

1) economic, the elements of which are material production and relations that arise between people in the process of production of material goods, their exchange and distribution;

2) social, consisting of such structural formations as classes, social strata, nations, taken in their relationship and interaction with each other;

3) political, including politics, the state, law, their correlation and functioning;

4) spiritual, covering various forms and levels of social consciousness, which, being embodied in the real process of the life of society, form what is commonly called spiritual culture.

Each of these spheres, being an element of the system called "society", in turn, turns out to be a system in relation to the elements that make it up. All four spheres of social life are not only interconnected, but also mutually condition each other. The division of society into spheres is somewhat arbitrary, but it helps to isolate and study certain areas of a truly integral society, a diverse and complex social life.

Sociologists offer several classifications of society. Societies are:

a) pre-written and written;

b) simple and complex (the criterion in this typology is the number of levels of management of a society, as well as the degree of its differentiation: in simple societies there are no leaders and subordinates, rich and poor, and in complex societies there are several levels of management and several social strata of the population, arranged from top to bottom in descending order of income);

c) society of primitive hunters and gatherers, traditional (agrarian) society, industrial society and post-industrial society;

G) primitive society, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society and communist society.

In Western scientific literature in the 1960s. the division of all societies into traditional and industrial became widespread (at the same time, capitalism and socialism were considered as two varieties of industrial society).

The German sociologist F. Tennis, the French sociologist R. Aron, and the American economist W. Rostow made a great contribution to the formation of this concept.

The traditional (agrarian) society represented the pre-industrial stage of civilizational development. All societies of antiquity and the Middle Ages were traditional. Their economy was dominated by subsistence agriculture and primitive handicrafts. Extensive technology and hand tools predominated, initially providing economic progress. In his production activity, a person tried to adapt to the maximum possible environment obeyed the rhythms of nature. Property relations were characterized by the dominance of communal, corporate, conditional, state forms of ownership. Private property was neither sacred nor inviolable. The distribution of material wealth, the product produced depended on the position of a person in social hierarchy. The social structure of a traditional society is corporate by class, stable and immovable. There was virtually no social mobility: a person was born and died, remaining in the same social group. The main social units were the community and the family. Human behavior in society was regulated by corporate norms and principles, customs, beliefs, unwritten laws. Providentialism dominated the public consciousness: social reality, human life perceived as the implementation of divine providence.

The spiritual world of a person of a traditional society, his system of value orientations, way of thinking are special and noticeably different from modern ones. Individuality, independence were not encouraged: the social group dictated the norms of behavior to the individual. One can even speak of a “group man” who did not analyze his position in the world, and indeed rarely analyzed the phenomena of the surrounding reality. He rather moralizes, evaluates life situations from the standpoint of their social group. The number of educated people was extremely limited (“literacy for the few”) oral information prevailed over written information. The political sphere of traditional society is dominated by the church and the army. The person is completely alienated from politics. Power seems to him of greater value than law and law. In general, this society is extremely conservative, stable, immune to innovations and impulses from outside, being a "self-sustaining self-regulating immutability." Changes in it occur spontaneously, slowly, without the conscious intervention of people. The spiritual sphere of human existence is a priority over the economic one.

Traditional societies have survived to this day mainly in the countries of the so-called "third world" (Asia, Africa) (therefore, the concept of "non-Western civilizations", which also claims to be well-known sociological generalizations, is often synonymous with "traditional society"). From a Eurocentric point of view, traditional societies are backward, primitive, closed, unfree social organisms, to which Western sociology opposes industrial and post-industrial civilizations.

As a result of modernization, understood as a complex, contradictory, complex process of transition from a traditional society to an industrial one, countries Western Europe the foundations of a new civilization were laid. They call her industrial, technogenic, scientific and technical or economic. The economic base of an industrial society is industry based on machine technology. The volume of fixed capital increases, long-term average costs per unit of output decrease. In agriculture, labor productivity rises sharply, natural isolation is destroyed. An extensive economy is replaced by an intensive one, and simple reproduction is replaced by an expanded one. All these processes occur through the implementation of the principles and structures of a market economy, based on scientific and technological progress. A person is freed from direct dependence on nature, partially subordinates it to himself. Stable economic growth is accompanied by an increase in real per capita income. If the pre-industrial period is filled with the fear of hunger and disease, then the industrial society is characterized by an increase in the well-being of the population. IN social sphere industrial society is also collapsing traditional structures, social partitions. Social mobility is significant. As a result of development Agriculture and industry, the proportion of the peasantry in the population is sharply reduced, urbanization is taking place. New classes appear - the industrial proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the middle strata are strengthened. The aristocracy is in decline.

In the spiritual sphere, there is a significant transformation of the value system. The man of the new society is autonomous within the social group, guided by his personal interests. Individualism, rationalism (a person analyzes the world and makes decisions on this basis) and utilitarianism (a person does not act in the name of some global goals, but for a certain benefit) - new systems of personality coordinates. There is a secularization of consciousness (liberation from direct dependence on religion). A person in an industrial society strives for self-development, self-improvement. Global changes are also taking place in the political sphere. The role of the state is growing sharply, and a democratic regime is gradually taking shape. Law and law dominate in society, and a person is involved in power relations as an active subject.

A number of sociologists somewhat refine the above scheme. From their point of view, the main content of the modernization process is in changing the model (stereotype) of behavior, in the transition from irrational (characteristic of a traditional society) to rational (characteristic of an industrial society) behavior. The economic aspects of rational behavior include the development of commodity-money relations, which determines the role of money as a general equivalent of values, the displacement of barter transactions, the wide scope of market operations, etc. The most important social consequence of modernization is the change in the principle of distribution of roles. Previously, society imposed sanctions on social choice, limiting the possibility of a person occupying certain social positions depending on his belonging to a certain group (origin, pedigree, nationality). After modernization, a rational principle of distribution of roles is approved, in which the main and only criterion for taking a particular position is the candidate's preparedness to perform these functions.

Thus, industrial civilization is opposed to traditional society in all directions. The majority of modern industrialized countries (including Russia) are classified as industrial societies.

But modernization gave rise to many new contradictions, which eventually turned into global problems (environmental, energy and other crises). By resolving them, progressively developing, some modern societies are approaching the stage of a post-industrial society, the theoretical parameters of which were developed in the 1970s. American sociologists D. Bell, E. Toffler and others. This society is characterized by the promotion of the service sector, the individualization of production and consumption, the increase specific gravity small-scale production with the loss of dominant positions by mass production, the leading role of science, knowledge and information in society. IN social structure In the post-industrial society, there is an erasure of class differences, and the convergence of the incomes of various groups of the population leads to the elimination of social polarization and an increase in the proportion of the middle class. The new civilization can be characterized as anthropogenic, in the center of it is man, his individuality. Sometimes it is also called information, which reflects the ever-increasing dependence Everyday life society from information. The transition to a post-industrial society for most countries of the modern world is a very distant prospect.

In the course of his activity, a person enters into various relationships with other people. Such diverse forms of interaction between people, as well as connections that arise between different social groups (or within them), are usually called social relations.

All social relations can be conditionally divided into two large groups - material relations and spiritual (or ideal) relations. Fundamental difference from each other lies in the fact that material relations arise and develop directly in the course of a person’s practical activity, outside the consciousness of a person and independently of him, and spiritual relations are formed, having previously “passed through the consciousness” of people, determined by their spiritual values. In turn, material relations are divided into production, environmental and office relations; spiritual on moral, political, legal, artistic, philosophical and religious social relations.

A special type of social relations are interpersonal relations. Interpersonal relationships are relationships between individuals. At In this case, individuals, as a rule, belong to different social strata, have different cultural and educational levels, but they are united by common needs and interests in the sphere of leisure or everyday life. The well-known sociologist Pitirim Sorokin identified the following types interpersonal interaction:

a) between two individuals (husband and wife, teacher and student, two comrades);

b) between three individuals (father, mother, child);

c) between four, five or more people (the singer and his listeners);

d) between many and many people (members of an unorganized crowd).

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Society is a system .

What is a system? “System” is a Greek word, from other Greek. σύστημα - whole, composed of parts, connection.

So, if it is about society as a system, it means that society consists of separate, but interconnected, complementary and developing parts, elements. Such elements are spheres of public life (subsystems), which, in turn, are a system for their constituent elements.

EXPLANATION:

Finding an answer to a question about society as a system, it is necessary to find an answer that contains elements of society: spheres, subsystems, social institutions, that is, parts of this system.

Society is a dynamic system

Recall the meaning of the word "dynamic". It is derived from the word "dynamics", denoting movement, the course of development of a phenomenon, something. This development can go both forward and backward, the main thing is that it happens.

Society - dynamic system. It does not stand still, it is in constant motion. Not all areas develop in the same way. Some change faster, some slower. But everything is moving. Even a period of stagnation, that is, a suspension in movement, is not an absolute stop. Today is not like yesterday. “Everything flows, everything changes,” he said. ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus.

EXPLANATION:

The correct answer to the question about society as a dynamic system there will be one in which we are talking about any kind of movement, interaction, mutual influence of any elements in society.

Spheres of public life (subsystems)

Spheres of public life	Definition	Elements of the sphere of public life
Economic	creation of wealth production activity society and relations arising in the process of production.	economic benefits, economic resources, economic objects
Political	includes relations of power and subordination, management of society, the activities of state, public, political organizations.	political institutions, political organizations, political ideology, political culture
Social	internal structure of society social groups in it, their interaction.	social groups, social institutions, social interaction, social norms
Spiritual	includes the creation and development of spiritual goods, the development of public consciousness, science, education, religion, art.	spiritual needs, spiritual production, subjects of spiritual activity, that is, who creates spiritual values, spiritual values

EXPLANATION

The exam will be presented two types of tasks on this topic.

1. It is necessary to find out by signs what area we are talking about (remember this table).

More difficult is the second type of task, when it is necessary, after analyzing the situation, to determine the connection and interaction of which spheres of public life are represented here.

Example: The State Duma passed the Law on Competition.

In this case, we are talking about the relationship between the political sphere (the State Duma) and the economic (the law concerns competition).

Material prepared: Melnikova Vera Aleksandrovna

"Society as a dynamic system".

Option 1.

A. 1. Highlighting the main elements of society, their relationship and interaction, scientists characterize society as

1)system

2) part of nature

3) material world

4) civilization

2. Society in the understanding of scientists is:

2) ways of interaction and forms of bringing people together

3) part of wildlife, subject to its laws

4) the material world as a whole

3. Are the following judgments about society correct?

A. Society is a system consisting of interconnected and interacting elements.

B. Society is a dynamic system in which new elements and connections between them constantly arise and old elements die off.

1) only A is true

2) only B is true

3) both statements are correct

4) both judgments are wrong

4. Unlike nature, society

1) is a system 3) acts as a creator of culture

2) is in development 4) develops according to its own laws

5. The emergence of private ownership of the means of production has led to increased stratification of society. The connection of what aspects of the life of society was manifested in this phenomenon?

1)production, distribution, consumption and spiritual sphere

2)economics and politics

3) economy and social relations

4) economy and culture

6. Which of the following refers to the global problems of our time?

1) the formation of a socially oriented economy

2) the revival of cultural and moral values

3) the gap in the level of development between the regions of the planet

4) development of international cooperation

7. Are the following judgments about society correct?

A. Among the subsystems and elements of society are social institutions.

B. Not all elements of social life are subject to change.

1) only A is true

2) only B is true

3) both statements are correct

4) both judgments are wrong

8. Which of the above features characterizes an industrial society?

1) the leading role of agriculture 3) a weak level of division of labor

2) the predominance of industry 4) the decisive importance of the service sector in the economy

9. Which of the features is inherent in a traditional society?

1) intensive development of infrastructure 3) the predominance of the patriarchal type of family

2) computerization of industry 4) the secular nature of culture

10. The transition to a post-industrial society is characterized by

1) the formation of a market economy 3) the development of mass media

2) restriction of social mobility 4) organization of factory production

11. characteristic feature Western civilization is:

1) low social mobility

2) long-term preservation of traditional legal norms

3) active introduction of new technologies

4) weakness and underdevelopment of democratic values

12. Are the following judgments about the process of globalization correct?

A. All global processes are the result of increased international contacts.

B. The development of mass communication makes modern world holistic.

1) only A is true 2) only B is true 3) both judgments are true 4) both judgments are wrong

13. Country A. with a population of 25 million people is located in the Northern Hemisphere. Which Additional Information will allow us to judge the belonging of A. to post-industrial type societies?

1) The country has a multi-confessional composition of the population.

2) The country has an extensive network of rail transport.

3) The management of the society is carried out through computer networks.

4) In means mass media traditional family values are promoted.

14. A characteristic feature of evolution as a form of social development is:

1) the revolutionary nature of change 3) violent methods

2) spasmodic 4) gradual

Q. 1 Read the text below with a number of words missing.

Western civilization is called ____(1). The production that has developed in the European region _____ (2) required the utmost exertion of the physical and intellectual forces of society, the constant improvement of labor tools and methods of influencing nature. As a result, it has formed new system values: active creative, ______ (3) human activity comes to the fore.

Unconditional value has acquired _______ (4) knowledge that expands the intellectual powers of a person, his inventive possibilities. Western civilization has put forward _____(5) individuals and ______(6) property as the most important values. The main regulator of social relations are _____(7).

Choose from the proposed list of words to be inserted in place of spaces.

a) private

b) collective

c) legal norms

d) industrial

e) adaptable

g) scientific

h) transforming

i) freedom

j) religious

2. Find in the list the features of society as a dynamic system and circle the numbers under which they are indicated.

1) isolation from nature

2) lack of interconnection of subsystems and public institutions

3) the ability for self-organization and self-development

4) isolation from the material world

5) constant change

6) the possibility of degradation of individual elements

C1. What is the meaning of social scientists in the concept of "civilization"? Drawing on the knowledge of the social science course, make two sentences containing information about civilization.

C2. Use three examples to describe the advantages of the formational approach.

C3. Read the text and do the tasks for it.

Gaining more and more strength, civilization often showed a clear tendency to impose ideas with the help of missionary activities or direct violence coming from religious, in particular Christian, traditions ... So civilization steadily spread across the planet, using all possible ways and means for this - migration, colonization, conquest, trade, industrial development, financial control and cultural influence. Little by little, all countries and peoples began to live according to its laws or created them according to the model established by it ...

The development of civilization, however, was accompanied by the flowering of bright hopes and illusions that could not come true ... At the heart of her philosophy and her actions was always elitism. And the Earth, no matter how generous it may be, is still not able to accommodate an ever-growing population and satisfy its more and more new needs, desires and whims. That is why a new, deeper split has now emerged - between super-developed and underdeveloped countries. But even this rebellion of the world proletariat, which seeks to join the wealth of its more prosperous brethren, takes place within the framework of the same dominant civilization ... It is unlikely that it will be able to withstand this new test, especially now, when its own organism is torn apart by numerous ailments. NTR, on the other hand, is becoming more and more obstinate, and it is becoming more and more difficult to pacify it. Having endowed us with unprecedented strength and instilled a taste for a level of life that we did not even think about, NTR sometimes does not give us the wisdom to keep our abilities and demands under control. And it is time for our generation, finally, to understand that now it depends only on us ... the fate of not individual countries and regions, but of all mankind as a whole.

A. Peccei

1) What are the global problems modern society does the author highlight? List two or three issues.

3) Illustrate with examples (at least three) the author's statement: "The development of civilization ... was accompanied by the flowering of bright hopes and illusions that could not be realized."

4) Is it possible, in your opinion, to overcome the contrast between rich and poor countries in the foreseeable future. Justify the answer.

C4 * Society is a set of stones that would collapse if one did not support the other ”(Seneca)