In the social sciences, activity is understood as a form of human activity aimed at transforming the world around him,
In the structure of any activity, it is customary to distinguish an object, a subject, a goal, means of achieving it and a result. The object is what the activity is aimed at; the subject is the one who implements it. Before starting to act, a person determines the goal of the activity, that is, he forms in his mind an ideal image of the result that he strives to achieve. Then, when the goal is determined, the individual decides what means he needs to use to achieve the goal. If the means are chosen correctly, then the result of the activity will be to obtain exactly the result that the subject was striving for.
The main motive that motivates a person to act is his desire to satisfy his needs. These needs can be physiological, social and ideal. Conscious to one degree or another by people, they become the main source of their activity. People’s beliefs about the goals that need to be achieved and the main paths and means leading to them also play a huge role. Sometimes in choosing the latter, people are guided by stereotypes that have developed in society, that is, by some general, simplified ideas about any social process (specifically, about the process of activity). Constant motivation tends to reproduce similar actions of people and, as a result, a similar social reality.
There are practical and spiritual activities. The first is aimed at transforming objects of nature and society that exist in reality. The content of the second is a change in people's consciousness.
Practical activities are divided into:
A) material and production;
B) socially transformative.
Spiritual activities include:
A) cognitive activity;
B) value-prognostic activity;
B) predictive activity.
Depending on the results obtained, the activity can be characterized as destructive or creative.
Activity has a huge impact on personality, being the basis on which the latter develops. In the process of activity, the individual self-realizes and asserts himself as a person; it is the process of activity that underlies the socialization of the individual. Having a transformative effect on the world around us, a person not only adapts to the natural and social environment, but rebuilds and improves it. The entire history of human society is the history of human activity.
Variety of activities
From the second half of the 19th century, when it was recognized that man is a product of biological evolution, the question of the main difference between people and highly organized animals and the scientific explanation of this difference became central to the entire theory of the development of man as a living being. Currently, human activity is recognized as such a distinctive feature as a constantly renewed labor process aimed at transforming the environment, the result of which is the creation of artifacts, that is, various cultural samples - “second nature”. Human activity has a consciously purposeful nature. Moreover, the conscious determination of the purpose of activity (the goal-setting function) is inherent only to people. The following main elements of the activity structure are distinguished:
subject - the one who carries out the activity;
object - what the activity is aimed at;
goal - the expected result of an activity; the means to achieve the goal and the result itself.
The basis of human behavioral activity are certain motives of activity that reflect the actualized needs of a person. There are various classifications of human needs. One of them was developed by the American social psychologist A. Maslow. It is a hierarchy and includes two groups of needs:
primary needs (innate) - in particular, physiological needs, the need for safety,
secondary needs (acquired) - social, prestigious, spiritual. From Maslow's point of view, a need at a higher level can only appear if the needs lying at lower levels of the hierarchy are satisfied.
The types of human activities are diverse. Its largest differentiation involves the identification of two types - practical and spiritual activity. Practical activities are aimed at transforming real objects of nature and society and include material and production activities (transformation of nature) and social and transformative activities (transformation of society).
Spiritual activity involves a change in people's consciousness and includes: cognitive activity carried out in scientific and artistic form; value-oriented activities aimed at forming a system of values and worldviews of people; prognostic activity, which involves anticipating and planning changes in reality.
Human activity is also divided into labor and leisure (during rest), creative and consumer, constructive and destructive.
All living things interact with their environment. Outwardly this manifests itself in physical activity. By adapting to their environment, animals can use natural objects as tools and even make them. But only human activity is inherent, which in the social sciences is understood as a form of activity aimed at transforming the world around us.
In the structure of any activity, it is customary to distinguish an object, a subject, a goal, means of achieving it and a result. The object is what the activity is aimed at; the subject is the one who implements it. Before starting to act, a person determines the goal of the activity, that is, he forms in his mind an ideal image of the result that he strives to achieve. Then, when the goal is determined, the individual decides what means he needs to use to achieve it. If the means are chosen correctly, then the result of the activity will be to obtain exactly the result that the subject was striving for.
The main motive that motivates a person to act is his desire to satisfy his needs. These needs can be physiological, social and ideal. Conscious by people to one degree or another, they become the main source of their activity. People's beliefs about the goals to be achieved and the main paths and means leading to them play a huge role. Sometimes in choosing the latter, people are guided by stereotypes that have developed in society, that is, by some general, simplified ideas about any social process (specifically, about the process of activity). Constant motivation tends to reproduce similar actions of people and, as a result, a similar social reality.
The basic unit of activity is action: any activity appears to us as a chain of actions. Action includes both goal setting (an act of consciousness) and an externally expressed act of behavior. The specific way(s) of performing actions is called an operation. The nature of the operations depends on the objective conditions in which the action is performed and the person’s existing experience - operations are usually little or not at all recognized by the person (performed at the level of automatic skills).
Distinguish between activities practical and spiritual. The first is aimed at transforming objects of nature and society that exist in reality. The varieties of practical activity are material-production (transformation of nature) and social-production (transformation of society). The content of spiritual activity is associated with changes in people's consciousness. It includes: cognitive, value-oriented and prognostic activities.
Another classification distinguishes labor, educational, and leisure activities. Depending on the results obtained, the activity can be characterized as destructive or creative.
Often, in order to achieve a set goal and obtain the necessary result, a person in the process of activity has to resort to interaction with other subjects and communicate with them. Communication is the process of exchanging information between equal subjects of activity. The subjects of communication can be both individual people and social groups, layers, communities and even all of humanity as a whole. There are several types of communication:
1) communication between real subjects (for example, between two people);
2) communication between a real subject and an illusory partner(for example, a person with an animal, which he endows with some qualities unusual for him);
3) communication between a real subject and an imaginary partner(for example, a person’s communication with his “inner voice”);
4) communication between imaginary partners(for example, literary characters).
The question of the relationship between activity and communication is debatable. Some scientists believe that these two concepts are identical to each other, because
any communication has signs of activity. Others believe that activity and communication are opposite concepts, since communication is only a condition for activity, but not activity itself. Still others consider communication in connection with activity, but consider it an independent phenomenon.
The most important type of practical activity is the material and production activity of people (or labor activity) - one of the forms of human activity aimed at transforming the natural world and creating material wealth. IN structure labor activity (in the narrow sense of the word) is distinguished:
1) consciously set goals - production of certain products, processing of natural materials, creation of machines and mechanisms, etc.;
2) objects of labor - those materials (metal, clay, stone, plastic, etc.) towards the transformation of which people’s activities are aimed;
3) means and tools of labor - all devices, instruments, mechanisms, appliances, energy systems with the help of which objects of labor are transformed;
4) technologies used - techniques and methods used in the production process.
The following parameters are usually used to characterize work activity:
1) labor productivity - the amount of products produced per unit of time;
2) labor efficiency - the ratio of material and labor costs, on the one hand, and the results obtained, on the other;
3) level of division of labor - distribution of specific production functions between participants in the labor process (on a societal scale and in specific labor processes).
The nature of the requirements for a participant in labor activity depends on many factors, primarily on the specific content of labor and place in the system of division of labor. The general requirements are:
1) the employee must master all the techniques and methods of production that make up the technological process (professionalism requirement);
2) the employee’s qualifications cannot be lower than the level determined by the nature of the work. The more complex the work, the higher the requirements for special training of a participant in the labor process (qualification requirement);
3) the employee is required to unconditionally comply with labor laws and internal labor regulations, comply with the specified parameters of the production process, and fulfill duties arising from the content of the employment contract (labor, technological, performance, contractual discipline requirements).
Spiritual activity is understood as the creative process of production and reproduction of spiritual values (ideas, knowledge, concepts, etc.), as well as their preservation, distribution, dissemination and consumption. In this regard, spiritual activity can be divided into spiritual-theoretical (production of spiritual values) and spiritual-practical (preservation, distribution, dissemination and development of created spiritual values). Specialized types of spiritual activity are science, art, religion, education.
Activity has a huge impact on personality, being the basis on which the latter develops. In the process of activity, the individual self-realizes and asserts himself as a person; it is the process of activity that underlies the socialization of the individual. Having a transformative effect on the world around us, a person not only adapts to the natural and social environment, but rebuilds and improves it. The entire history of human society is the history of human activity.
There are different classifications of activities. First of all, let us note the division of activity into practical and spiritual.
Practical activities are aimed at transforming real objects of nature and society. It includes material and production activities (transformation of nature) and social and transformative activities (transformation of society).
Spiritual activity is associated with changing people's consciousness. It includes: cognitive activity (reflection of reality in artistic and scientific form, in myths and religious teachings); value-oriented activity (positive or negative attitude of people towards the phenomena of the surrounding world, the formation of their worldview); prognostic activity (planning or anticipating possible changes in reality).
All these activities are interconnected. For example, the implementation of reforms (social transformation activities) should be preceded by an analysis of their possible consequences (forecasting activities). And the ideas of the French enlighteners Voltaire, C. Montesquieu, J.-J. Rousseau, D. Diderot (value-oriented activities) played a large role in the preparation of the French Revolution of the 18th century. (social transformative activities). Material and production activity contributed to the knowledge of nature, the development of science, i.e., cognitive activity, and the results of cognitive activity (scientific discoveries) contribute to the improvement of production activity. “The animal believes that its whole business is to live, but man takes life only as an opportunity to do something.”
A. I. Herzen
In the variety of human activities, one can distinguish constructive and destructive. The results of the first are cities and villages, flowering gardens and cultivated fields, handicrafts and machines, books and films, cured sick and educated children. Destructive activities are primarily wars. Dead and maimed people, destroyed homes and temples, devastated fields, burned manuscripts and books - these are the consequences of local and world, civil and colonial wars.
Assignments for lecture No. 3
1. Answer the questions in writing:
What is a “subject of activity”?
What is an “object of activity”?
Where does a person begin any activity?
How to determine the reality of a goal?
How do people usually achieve their goals?
What is “action” give examples.
What determines the success or failure of an activity?
What does the expression “The means must correspond to the end” mean?
Is it possible, having set a noble goal, to use dishonest means?
What do you think about the expression “The end justifies the means”? Give reasons for your answer.
Think about the meaning of the famous parable.
A passerby, seeing three workers wheeling wheelbarrows full of bricks, asked what they were doing. “Don’t you see,” said the first, “I’m driving a brick.” “I earn bread for my family,” answered the second. And the third said: “I’m building a cathedral.” Did they have the same activities? Or the same actions in three different types of activities?
Assignments for lecture No. 3
“Human activity and its diversity”
In the social sciences, activity is understood as a form of human activity aimed at transforming the world around him. In the structure of any activity, it is customary to distinguish an object, subject, goal, means of achieving it and the result. The object is what the activity is aimed at; the subject is the one who implements it. Before starting to act, a person determines the goal of the activity, that is, he forms in his mind an ideal image of the result that he strives to achieve. Then, when the goal is determined, the individual decides what means he needs to use to achieve the goal. If the means are chosen correctly, then the result of the activity will be to obtain exactly the result that the subject was striving for. The main motive that motivates a person to act is his desire to satisfy his needs. These needs can be physiological, social and ideal. Conscious to one degree or another by people, they become the main source of their activity. People’s beliefs about the goals that need to be achieved and the main paths and means leading to them also play a huge role. Sometimes in choosing the latter, people are guided by stereotypes that have developed in society, that is, by some general, simplified ideas about any social process (specifically, about the process of activity). Constant motivation tends to reproduce similar actions of people and, as a result, a similar social reality. There are practical and spiritual activities. The first is aimed at transforming objects of nature and society that exist in reality. The content of the second is a change in people's consciousness. Practical activities are divided into a) material and production; b) socially transformative. Spiritual activity includes: a) cognitive activity, b) value-prognostic activity, c) predictive activity. Depending on the results obtained, the activity can be characterized as destructive or creative. Activity has a huge impact on personality, being the basis on which the latter develops. In the process of activity, the individual self-realizes and asserts himself as a person; it is the process of activity that underlies the socialization of the individual. Having a transformative effect on the world around us, a person not only adapts to the natural and social environment, but rebuilds and improves it. The entire history of human society is the history of human activity.
9. Personality as a subject of social life. Socialization of personality. Interpersonal relationships. A person is a human individual who is a subject of conscious activity, possessing a set of socially significant traits, properties and qualities that he realizes in public life. When people talk about personality, they first of all mean its social individuality and uniqueness. The latter is formed in the process of upbringing and human activity, under the influence of a particular society and its culture. Not every person is a person. They are born a person, they become a person in the process of socialization. Socialization is the process of influence of society and its structures on them throughout the life of individuals, as a result of which people accumulate social experience of life in a particular society and become individuals. One should distinguish from socialization adaptation (a time-limited process of getting used to new conditions of existence), learning (the process of an individual acquiring new knowledge about the world around him), maturation (the sociopsychological development of a person in a narrow age range from 10 to 20 years). Socialization begins in childhood, continues in adolescence and into fairly mature age. Its success determines how much a person, having mastered the values and norms of behavior accepted in a given culture, will be able to realize himself in the process of social life. The environment surrounding a person can influence the development of an individual both intentionally (through the organization of training and education) and unintentionally. The process of socialization goes through several stages, which sociologists call life cycles: childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age. Life cycles are associated with changing social roles, acquiring a new status, changing habits and lifestyle. According to the degree of achievement of the result, a distinction is made between initial, or early, socialization, covering the periods of childhood and adolescence, and continued, or mature, socialization, covering maturity and old age. The formation of a person’s personality in the process of socialization occurs with the help of so-called agents and institutions of socialization. Socialization agents refer to specific individuals responsible for teaching other people cultural norms and helping them learn various social roles. There are agents of primary socialization (parents, brothers, sisters, close and distant relatives, friends, teachers, etc.) and agents of secondary socialization (university officials, enterprises, television employees, etc.). Agents of primary socialization make up a person’s immediate environment and play a crucial role in the process of forming his personality; agents of secondary socialization have a less important influence. Socialization institutions - these are social institutions that influence and guide the process of socialization. Like agents, socialization institutions are also divided into primary and secondary. An example of a primary socialization institution is the family, school, a secondary one - the media, the army, the church. Primary socialization of the individual is carried out in the sphere of interpersonal relationships, secondary - in the sphere of social relations. Socialization agents and institutions perform two main functions: 1) teach people accepted in society, cultural norms and patterns of behavior; 2) exercise social control over how firmly, deeply and correctly these norms and patterns of behavior are internalized by the individual. Therefore, such elements of social control as encouragement (for example, in the form of positive assessments) and punishment (in form of negative assessments) are also methods of socialization. During the period of secondary socialization, a person can be the subject of the processes of desocialization and re-socialization. Desocialization represents the loss or conscious rejection of learned values, norms of behavior, social roles, and habitual way of life. Resocialization is the opposite process of restoring lost values and social roles, retraining, and returning the individual to a normal (old) way of life. If the process of desocialization is negative and deep enough, it can destroy the foundations of personality, which will be impossible to restore even with the help of positive resocialization. In the course of their life, people enter into diverse social relationships with each other. One type of social relationship is interpersonal relationships, that is, relationships between individuals for various reasons. Depending on the presence or absence of elements of standardization and formalization, all interpersonal relationships are divided into official and informal. Official and informal interpersonal relationships differ from each other, firstly, by the presence or absence of a certain normativity in them. Official relations are always regulated by certain norms - legal, corporate, etc. Secondly, official relations are standardized and impersonal, i.e. the rights and responsibilities that develop within the framework of official interpersonal relations do not depend on the individual, while how informal interpersonal relationships are determined by the individual personal characteristics of their participants, their feelings and preferences. Finally, in official relationships the possibility of choosing a communication partner is extremely limited, while in informal relationships it is the choice of the individual that plays a decisive role. This choice is made by communication partners depending on the inherent need for each of them to communicate and interact with a person who is completely defined in their personal qualities. Official and informal interpersonal relationships that people enter into with each other are extremely diverse. They can be short-term (fellow travelers on the train), long-term (friends, co-workers), permanent (parents and their children),
10.. The spiritual world of man. The spiritual world of the individual (microcosm of man) is a holistic and at the same time contradictory phenomenon. This is a complex system, the elements of which are: 1) spiritual needs in knowledge of the surrounding world, in self-expression through culture, art, other forms of activity, in using cultural achievements, etc.; 2) knowledge about nature, society, man, oneself;3 ) beliefs, strong views based on a worldview and determining human activity in all its manifestations and spheres; 4) belief in the truth of those beliefs that a person shares (i.e., unproven recognition of the correctness of a particular position); 5) the ability to do so or other forms of social activity; 6) feelings and emotions in which a person’s relationship with nature and society is expressed; 7) goals that a person consciously sets for himself, ideally anticipating the results of his activities; 8) the values that underlie a person’s relationship to the world and to himself, giving meaning to his activities, reflecting his ideals. Values are the subject of a person’s aspirations and are the most important point of the meaning of his life. There are social values - public ideals that serve as the standard of what is proper in various spheres of public life, and personal values - the ideals of an individual, serving as one of the sources of motivation for his behavior. Values are historical in nature; they change with changes in the content and forms of life. However, modern civilization has approached the possibility of developing universal human values, which are based on humanism. Universal human values reflect the spiritual experience of all humanity and create conditions for the realization of universal human interests (i.e., the universal needs of people that are inherent in them regardless of national, age, religious, class or other differences). Universal human values acquire priority over group values, ensuring the full existence and development of each individual. An important element of a person’s spiritual world is his worldview, which is understood as a set of generalized views on objective reality and man’s place in it, on the attitude of people to the surrounding reality and themselves, as well as the beliefs, principles, ideas and ideals determined by these views. The subjects (carriers) of a particular worldview are individuals, groups of people and society as a whole. The nature of the worldview is determined by the level of historical development of society, the state of its culture, which is why the worldview of a medieval person is so different from a modern one. However, the worldview of people, even living in the same society, is different. This depends on their personal qualities, and on the conditions for the formation of their worldview, and on belonging to various social groups. There are several types of worldview: 1) ordinary (or everyday), which is based on personal experience and is formed under the influence of life circumstances; 2) religious , which is based on religious views, ideas and beliefs of a person; 3) scientific, which is based on the achievements of modern science and reflects the scientific picture of the world, the results of modern scientific knowledge; 4) humanistic, combining the best aspects of the scientific worldview with ideas about social justice, environmental safety and moral ideal.
The spiritual world of the individual expresses the inextricable connection between the individual and society. A person enters a society that has a certain spiritual fund, which he has to master in life.
short answer: The spiritual world of a person includes knowledge, faith, feelings, needs, abilities, aspirations, and goals of people.
The spiritual (or inner) world of a person is the totality of his internal, mental processes (sensations, perceptions, emotions, feelings, will, memory, reason, level of knowledge, spiritual interests, life positions, value orientations). The spiritual world of a person is what determines his uniqueness and originality, makes him a person. The basis of a person’s spiritual world is worldview.
11. Knowledge of the world. Sensual and rational knowledge. Intuition. Cognition can be defined as a process of human activity, the main content of which is the reflection of objective reality in his consciousness, and the result is the acquisition of new knowledge about the world around him. Scientists distinguish the following types of knowledge: everyday, scientific, philosophical, artistic, social. None of these types of cognitive activity is isolated from the others; they are all closely interconnected with each other. In the process of cognition there are always two sides: the subject of cognition and the object of cognition. In a narrow sense, the subject of knowledge usually means a cognizing person, endowed with will and consciousness; in a broad sense, the entire society. The object of cognition, accordingly, is either the object being cognized, or - in a broad sense - the entire surrounding world within the boundaries within which individual people and society as a whole interact with it. Also, a person himself can be an object of knowledge: almost every person is capable of making himself an object of knowledge. In such cases they say that self-knowledge takes place. Self-knowledge is both knowledge of oneself and the formation of a certain attitude towards oneself: towards one’s qualities, states, capabilities, i.e. self-esteem. The process of a subject analyzing his consciousness and his attitude to life is called reflection. Reflection is not just the subject’s knowledge or understanding of himself, but also finding out how others know and understand the “reflector,” his personal characteristics, emotional reactions and cognitive (i.e., related to cognition) ideas. There are two stages of cognitive activity . At the first stage, which is called sensory (or sensitive) cognition (from German sensitiv - perceived by the senses), a person receives information about objects and phenomena of the surrounding world using the senses. The three main forms of sensory cognition are: a) sensation, which is a reflection of individual properties and qualities of objects in the surrounding world that directly affect the senses. Sensations can be visual, auditory, tactile, etc.; b) perception, during which the subject of cognition forms a holistic image that reflects objects and their properties that directly affect the sense organs. Being a necessary stage in the process of cognition, perception is always more or less associated with attention and usually has a certain emotional connotation; c) representation is a form of cognition in which a sensory reflection (sensory image) of objects and phenomena is stored in consciousness, which allows it to be reproduced mentally even if it is absent and does not affect the senses. The idea does not have a direct connection with the reflected object and is a product of memory (i.e., a person’s ability to reproduce images of objects that do not currently affect him). There is a distinction between iconic memory (vision) and echonic memory (hearing). Based on the time information is retained in the brain, memory is divided into long-term and short-term. Long-term memory provides long-term (hours, years, and sometimes decades) retention of knowledge, skills, and abilities and is characterized by a huge amount of stored information. The main mechanism for entering data into long-term memory and fixing it, as a rule, is repetition, which is carried out at the level of short-term memory. Short term memory, in turn, ensures the operational retention and transformation of data directly coming from the senses. The role of sensory cognition of reality in ensuring the entire process of cognition is great and is manifested in the fact that: 1) the senses are the only channel that directly connects a person with the outside world; 2) without sense organs, a person is not capable of either cognition or thinking in general; 3) the loss of even part of the sense organs complicates and complicates the process of cognition, although it does not exclude it (this is explained by the mutual compensation of some sense organs by others, mobilization of reserves in the existing sense organs, the individual’s ability to concentrate his attention, etc.); 4) the sense organs provide that minimum of primary information that turns out to be necessary and sufficient to cognize the objects of the material and spiritual world from many sides. However, sensitive cognition also has some significant drawbacks, the most important of which is the well-known physiological limitations of the human sense organs: many objectively existing objects (for example, atoms) cannot be directly reflected in the sense organs. A sensory picture of the world is necessary, but it is not sufficient for a deep, comprehensive knowledge of the world. Therefore, the second stage of cognitive activity is rational cognition (from the Latin ratio - mind). At this stage of cognition, relying on data obtained as a result of direct interaction of a person with the surrounding world, with the help of thinking, they are ordered and an attempt is made to comprehend the essence of cognizable objects and phenomena. Rational knowledge is carried out in the form of concepts, judgments and inferences. A concept is a form (type) of thought that reflects the general and essential features of cognizable objects or phenomena. The same object can appear both in the form of a sensory representation and in the form of a concept. According to the degree of generality, concepts can be less general, more general and extremely general. In scientific knowledge, the concepts of particular scientific, general scientific and universal, i.e. philosophical, are also distinguished. In relation to reality (according to the depth of its reflection, comprehension and orientation), philosophical scientists distinguish four classes of concepts: 1) concepts that reflect the general in objects; 2) concepts that cover the essential characteristics of objects; 3) concepts that reveal the meaning and significance of objects; 4) concepts-ideas. The next form of rational knowledge is judgment. A judgment is a form of thought in which a connection is established between individual concepts and, with the help of this connection, something is affirmed or denied. When making a judgment, a person uses concepts, which, in turn, are elements of judgment. Although a judgment finds its expression only in language, it does not depend on a particular language and can be expressed by different sentences of the same language or different languages. Obtaining new judgments based on existing ones through the use of the laws of logical thinking is called inference. Inferences are divided into deductive and inductive. The name "deductive" comes from the Latin word deductio (deduction). Deductive inference is a chain of reasoning, the links of which (statements) are connected by relations of logical consequence from general statements to specific ones. In contrast, inductive inferences (from the Latin inductio - guidance) are arranged in a chain in sequence from particular to general. Through deductive inferences, a certain thought is “derived” from other thoughts, while inductive inferences only “suggest” a thought. Rational cognition is closely related to the reflected reality, i.e., with sensory cognition, which serves as the basis for it. However, in contrast to sensory cognition, which exists in consciousness in the form of images, the results of rational cognition are fixed in sign forms (systems) or in language. Rational cognition has the ability to reflect the essential in objects, while as a result of sensitive cognition, the essential in an object or phenomenon is not distinguished from the inessential. With the help of rational cognition, the process of constructing concepts and ideas occurs, which are then embodied in real reality. However, although sensory and rational cognition play a huge role in obtaining new knowledge, nevertheless, in many cases they are not enough to solve any (and before of all scientific) problems. And then intuition takes on an important role in this process. Intuition is a person’s ability to comprehend the truth through its direct assimilation without justification with the help of any evidence. Intuition - This is a specific cognitive process that directly leads to new knowledge. The prevalence and universality of intuition is confirmed by numerous observations of people both in everyday conditions and in non-standard situations, in which, having a limited amount of information, they make the right choice of their actions, as if having a presentiment that they need to act this way and not otherwise. Intuitive a person’s ability is characterized by the following features: 1) the unexpectedness of solving a given problem; 2) unawareness of the ways and means of solving it; 3) the direct nature of comprehending the truth. For different people, intuition can have different degrees of distance from consciousness, be specific in content, nature of the result, depth penetration into the essence of a phenomenon or process. The intuitive work of thinking occurs in the subconscious sphere, sometimes in a state of sleep. Intuition should not be overestimated, just as its role in the process of cognition should not be ignored. Sensory cognition, rational cognition and intuition are important and mutually complementary means of cognition.
12. Truth and error. Her criteria. The problem of truth is inextricably linked with the search for its criterion - the method by which the truth of knowledge is established, the difference between truth and error. In the Middle Ages, the criterion of truth was appeal to authority. The point of view of scripture was also recognized. Empirical philosophers considered such a criterion to be the data of sensations and perceptions, the correspondence of knowledge to sensory experience. In modern Western philosophy, this criterion was put forward by neopositivists (the principle of verification). Philosophers of the rationalist school (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz) saw the criterion of truth in the clarity and distinctness of reason, in the derivation of knowledge from universally obvious provisions. It would be wrong to deny the certain role of these criteria in cognition. Sensory experience in some cases, for example in the knowledge of individual phenomena and their properties, is a sufficient criterion of truth. As a criterion of truth, practice is both absolute and relative. Absolute because everything confirmed by practice is the truth. It is relative because both practice and theory are constantly developing, therefore, at each stage of its development, practice cannot fully confirm the theory. What is truth and what is error? What are the criteria that allow us to verify the truth of the acquired knowledge and distinguish truth from error? The concept that considers truth as the correspondence of knowledge to reality developed in Ancient Greece. This concept, recognized as classical, is accepted by most philosophers. The difference between them lies in the understanding of reality. For Berkeley and Mach, reality is a combination (complexes) of sensations, for Plato it is unchanging superhuman ideas, for Hegel it is a developing world mind. In materialistic teachings, reality is viewed as an objective reality that exists outside of man and independently of him. With this understanding, truth is an adequate reflection of objective reality by the knowing subject. For a correct understanding of the truth, it is important to emphasize the following. Truth does not exist on its own, independent of knowledge. This is a characteristic of knowledge that can be true or false, correspond to the object or not correspond to it. Therefore, when using the concept of “truth”, one should also mean true knowledge expressed in concepts, judgments, theories and its other forms.
Cognition is not free from misconceptions, which should be understood as the discrepancy between knowledge and reality, the inadequate reflection of the object in the consciousness of the subject. Misconceptions arise due to various subjective and objective reasons: hasty generalizations, one-sided perception by the object of interpretation of probable knowledge as reliable, prejudices, imperfections of cognitive means, etc.
“Truth” and “misconception” are epistemological categories. Strictly speaking, they should not include in their content an assessment of knowledge or the subject’s attitude towards it. The axiological, evaluative aspect is characteristic of another pair of related concepts “truth” and “lie”. Truth is usually understood as truth containing a moral assessment; truthful is not only true, but also correct, honest, just.
The opposite of truth is lie. Unlike delusion, which is characterized by unintentionality (the deluded person considers untrue knowledge as true), lies and disinformation are a deliberate distortion of knowledge, its purpose is to mislead those for whom it is intended. A type of lie is hiding the truth.
In theoretical and practical activities, along with the concept of “misconception,” the concept of “error” is used. Errors are divided into factual (in terms of content) and logical, associated with an incorrect train of thought, with a violation of logical rules. The latter are divided into unintentional (paralogisms) and intentional (sophisms).
Scientific knowledge
Today science is the main form of human knowledge. The basis of scientific knowledge is the complex creative process of the mental and subject-practical activity of a scientist. The general rules of this process, which are sometimes called Descartes' method, can be formulated as follows. in a fundamental way: 1) nothing can be accepted as true until it appears clear and distinct; 2) difficult questions must be divided into as many parts as necessary to resolve; 3) research must begin with the simplest and most convenient things for knowledge and gradually move on to the knowledge of difficult and complex things; 4) a scientist must dwell on all the details, pay attention to everything: he must be sure that he has not missed anything. There are two levels of scientific knowledge: empirical and theoretical. The main task of the empirical level of scientific knowledge is the description of objects and phenomena, and the main form of knowledge obtained is an empirical (scientific) fact. At the theoretical level, the phenomena being studied are explained, and the resulting knowledge is recorded in the form of laws, principles and scientific theories, which reveal the essence of the knowable objects. The basic principles of scientific knowledge are: 1. The principle of causality. The content of this principle can be conveyed by the famous statement of the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus: “Not a single thing arises without a cause, but everything arises on some basis due to necessity.” The principle of causality means that the emergence of any material objects and systems has some foundations in previous states of matter: these foundations are called causes, and the changes they cause are called consequences. Everything in the world is connected to each other by cause-and-effect relationships, and the task of science is to establish these connections.2 The principle of the truth of scientific knowledge Truth is the correspondence of the acquired knowledge to the content of the object of knowledge. Truth is verified (proven) by practice. If a scientific theory is confirmed by practice, then it can be considered true.3. The principle of the relativity of scientific knowledge According to this principle, any scientific knowledge is always relative and limited by the cognitive capabilities of people at a given moment in time. Therefore, the task of a scientist is not only to know the truth, but also to establish the boundaries of the correspondence of the knowledge he has received to reality - the so-called adequacy interval. The main methods used in the process of empirical knowledge are the method of observation, the method of empirical description and experimental method. Observation is a purposeful study of individual objects and phenomena, during which knowledge is obtained about the external properties and characteristics of the object being studied. Observation is based on such forms of sensory cognition as sensation, perception, and representation. The result of observation is an empirical description, during which the information obtained is recorded using language or other symbolic forms. A special place among the above methods is occupied by the experimental method. An experiment is a method of studying phenomena that is carried out under strictly defined conditions, and the latter can, if necessary, be recreated and controlled by the subject of knowledge (scientist). The following types of experiment are distinguished: 1) research (search) experiment, which is aimed at discovering new, unknown to science phenomena or properties of objects; 2) testing (control) experiment, during which any theoretical assumptions or hypotheses are tested; 3) physical, chemical, biological, social experiments, etc. A special type of experiment is considered a thought experiment. In the process of such an experiment, the specified conditions are imaginary but necessarily comply with the laws of science and the rules of logic. When conducting a thought experiment, a scientist operates not with real objects of knowledge, but with their mental images or theoretical models. On this basis, this type of experiment is classified not as an empirical, but as a theoretical method of scientific knowledge. We can say that it is, as it were, a connecting link between two levels of scientific knowledge - theoretical and empirical. Among other methods related to the theoretical level of scientific knowledge, we can distinguish the hypothesis method, as well as the formulation of a scientific theory. The essence of the hypothesis method is the nomination and justification of certain assumptions with the help of which it is possible to explain those empirical facts that do not fit into the framework of previous explanations. The purpose of testing a hypothesis is to formulate laws, principles or theories that explain phenomena in the surrounding world. Such hypotheses are called explanatory. Along with them, there are so-called existential hypotheses, which are assumptions about the existence of phenomena that are still unknown to science, but may soon be discovered (an example of such a hypothesis is the assumption about the existence of elements of the periodic table that have not yet been discovered by D. I. Mendeleev).On the basis of testing hypotheses, scientific theories are built. A scientific theory is a logically consistent description of the phenomena of the surrounding world, which is expressed by a special system of concepts. Any scientific theory, in addition to its descriptive function, also performs a prognostic function: it helps determine the direction of further development of society, the phenomena and processes occurring in it.
14.features of social cognition. Social forecasting. Cognition is the process of human activity, the main content of which is the reflection of objective reality in his consciousness, and the result - gaining new knowledge about the world around us. The main feature of social cognition as one of the types of cognitive activity is the coincidence of the subject and object of cognition. In the course of social cognition, society gets to know itself. Such a coincidence of the subject and object of cognition has a huge impact on both the process of cognition itself and its results. The resulting social knowledge will always be associated with the interests of individuals - the subjects of knowledge, and this circumstance largely explains the presence of different, often opposing conclusions and assessments that arise when studying the same social phenomena. Social knowledge begins with the establishment social facts. A fact is a fragment of an already existing reality. There are three types of social facts: 1) actions or actions of individuals or large social groups; 2) products of material or spiritual activity of people; 3) verbal social facts: opinions, judgments, assessments of people. Selection and interpretation (i.e. explanation) These facts largely depend on the worldview of the researcher, the interests of the social group to which he belongs, as well as on the tasks that he sets for himself. The goal of social cognition, like cognition in general, is to establish the truth. However, it is not easy to establish it in the process of social cognition, because: 1) the object of cognition, which is society, is quite complex in its structure and is in constant development, influenced by both objective and subjective factors. Therefore, the establishment of social patterns is extremely difficult, and open social laws are probabilistic in nature, because even similar historical events and phenomena are never completely repeated; 2) the possibility of using such a method of empirical research as experiment is limited, i.e., reproducing the social phenomenon being studied at will researcher is almost impossible. A social experiment is of a specific historical nature and can lead to different (often opposite) results in different societies. Therefore, the most common method of social research is scientific abstraction. The main source of knowledge about society is social reality and practice. Since social life is changing quite quickly, in the process of social cognition we can talk about establishing only relative truths. It is possible to understand and correctly describe the processes occurring in society and discover the laws of social development only by using a specific historical approach to social phenomena. The main requirements of this approach are: 1) studying not only the situation in society, but also the reasons that resulted from it; 2) consideration of social phenomena in their interrelation and interaction with each other; 3) analysis of the interests and actions of all subjects of historical process (both social groups and individuals). If in the process of cognition of social phenomena some stable and significant connections are discovered between them, then they usually talk about the discovery of historical patterns. Historical patterns are common features that are inherent in a certain group of historical phenomena. The identification of such patterns based on the study of specific social processes in specific societies in a certain historical period is the essence of the specific historical approach and is ultimately one of the goals of social cognition. Another goal of social cognition is social forecasting, i.e. obtaining knowledge about the future of society, about what does not yet exist in reality, but what is potentially contained in the present in the form of objective and subjective prerequisites for the expected course of development. Modern science has about 200 scientific methods, special techniques, logical and technical means of social cognition, of which the main five are: 1) extrapolation; 2) historical analogy; 3) computer modeling; 4) creating scenarios for the future; 5) expert assessment. Depending on the content and purpose of social forecasts, four main types (types) are distinguished: search, normative, analytical forecasts and warnings. Exploratory forecasts (sometimes called exploratory or realistic), starting from realistic assessments of current development trends in various spheres of public life, are compiled directly in order to identify what the future may be. Regulatory forecasts, focused on achieving certain goals in the future, contain various practical recommendations for the implementation of relevant development plans and programs. Analytical forecasts, as a rule, are made in order to determine, for scientific purposes, the educational value of various methods and means of studying the future. Warning forecasts are compiled to directly influence the consciousness and behavior of people in order to force them to prevent the expected future. Of course, the differences between these main types of forecasts are conditional: the same specific social forecast may contain signs of several types. Social forecasting does not claim to have absolutely accurate and complete knowledge of the future: even carefully verified and balanced forecasts are justified only with a certain degree of reliability. The degree of this reliability depends on several factors: a) on what kind of future the forecast is made for - close (20-30 years), foreseeable (most of the next century) or distant (beyond the specified limits). In the first case, it is possible to obtain very reliable forecasts; in the second, plausible knowledge predominates; in the third - purely hypothetical assumptions; b) on the extent to which the given forecast is justified by knowledge of the relevant laws: the unreliability of the forecast is greater, the more often when constructing it one has to resort to hypotheses about laws instead of the laws themselves; c) on how systematically the forecast is given, to what extent it takes into account the entire complexity of the predicted state of society or its individual element. Thus, social forecasting can be defined as a comprehensive interdisciplinary study of the prospects for the development of human society.
15.Development of knowledge about man The search for an answer to the question of how and when man originated and what his place in the world around him has a long history. In primitive forms of religion, plants or animals were considered the ancestors of man. Later, religious teachings explained the appearance of man on Earth by the will of God. In the 19th century Charles Darwin created the evolutionary theory of human origin, which became the basis of the modern scientific theory of anthropogenesis. According to it, man descended from an ape-like ancestor. However, this theory still causes fierce debate in scientific circles. As for the philosophical analysis of anthropological problems, its foundations were also laid in ancient times, primarily in the philosophical teachings of the East. Thus, ancient Indian philosophy considered man as a being capable of joining the highest extra-personal values, and called the meaning of human life following the laws established from above (in particular, the endless process of rebirth). In ancient Chinese philosophy, the surrounding world and man were understood as one whole, as a single living organism in which everything is interdependent and interconnected. The ancient Chinese considered the meaning of life to be the desire for harmony, for the perfection of a person’s inner world.
Philosophical anthropology was further developed in Ancient Greece. Ancient Greek philosophy gave man the highest place in the whole world, in the Universe. Man himself was viewed as a microcosm, reflecting the surrounding world (macrocosm). It was believed that man should build his existence in accordance with divine harmony, with the cosmic mind. It was as a microcosm, as a divine creation, that man was considered and later in Christian teaching. Medieval theologians argued that man was created by God, bears the imprint of the divine essence, and embodies the divine principle. Modern European philosophy contributed to the emergence of a new view of man - man began to be seen as a product of natural and social forces. Criticizing theological concepts of the origin of man, some philosophers argued that the environment is the only factor influencing the formation of man. German classical philosophy continued to develop the position according to which man was understood as “the measure of all things.” Its representatives believed that man is not a passive, but an active subject, endowed with reason and freedom, and must play an active role in the world around him, as well as in the knowledge of this world. I. Kant “introduced” man into philosophy as the central cognitive subject. Kant united all the interests of human reason in three questions: 1. What can I know? 2. What should I do? 3. What can I hope for? Thus, Kant laid the foundation of modern philosophical anthropology. Another German philosopher of this time - G. F. W. Hegel - believed that the main ability of a person should be recognized as his ability to know himself, that self-knowledge is the highest stage of development of the spirit. It was Hegel who expressed, with the help of the triad “man - individual - personality,” the process of development of an individual subject. The Marxist concept of man also considered him a social being. Marx emphasized the enormous role that his work activity, as well as his environment, has on the process of development and formation of a person. Such an assessment of man as an active, active being, as a subject of labor activity and the process of cognition, and subsequently the entire historical process as a whole, was characteristic of European philosophy of the late 19th century. In the philosophy of the 20th century, the problem of man can be called central. Anthropological knowledge of this time is characterized by several features. Firstly, an important place in it is occupied by the problem of comprehending the inner, spiritual world of man, the logic of his development, as well as the reasons that predetermine the process of man’s self-improvement and the creation of his existence. Secondly, modern philosophers pay attention to the extremely meager set of instincts with which man is endowed by nature. They call man a “non-specialized creature” and believe that it is precisely his weak instincts, which predetermine the rigidity of animal behavior, that gives man the freedom to choose one or another sphere of activity. Thirdly, modern anthropology is trying to solve the problem of the contradiction between the concepts of “universal” and “individual” by introducing the concept of “general individual” into scientific circulation. She considers universal human values in inextricable connection with the actual values of each individual person, rightly believing that only when the rights and interests of each person are guaranteed can we talk about the implementation of universal human values. Without going into a detailed analysis, we will outline the four directions of human philosophy of the 20th century. , which can be characterized as the most significant: 1. Psychoanalytic (3. Freud, E. Fromm);2. Philosophical anthropology (M. Scheller, A Gelen);3. Existential (M. Heidegger, J.-P. Sarti A. Camus);4. Catholic (G. Marcel, J. Maritain, John Paul II, Teilhard de Chardin). The variety of existing approaches and philosophical movements dealing with issues related to the life and purpose of man and his place in the world around him indicate complexity the above problems, and to unremitting attention to them.
16. Social structure of society, its elements. inequality and social stratification Any society appears not as something homogeneous and monolithic, but as internally divided into various social groups, layers and national communities. All of them are among themselves in a state of objectively determined connections and relationships - socio-economic, political, spiritual. Moreover, only within the framework of these connections and relationships can they exist and manifest themselves in society. This determines the integrity of society, its functioning as a single social organism, the essence of which was revealed in their theories by O. Comte, G. Spencer, K. Marx, M. Weber, T. Parsons, R. Dahrendorf, etc. The social structure of society is a totality those connections and relationships that social groups and communities of people enter into among themselves regarding the economic, social, political, and spiritual conditions of their life. The development of the social structure of society is based on the social division of labor and relations of ownership of the means of production and its products.
The social division of labor determines the emergence and continued existence of such social groups as classes, professional groups, as well as large groups consisting of people from the city and countryside, representatives of mental and physical labor. Relations of ownership of the means of production economically consolidate this internal division of society and the social structure emerging within it. Both the social division of labor and property relations are objective socio-economic prerequisites for the development of the social structure of society. The great role of the division of labor in the life of society, in the emergence of various types of human activity, the development of material production and spiritual culture was rightly pointed out in their time by O. Comte and E. Durkheim, Russian thinkers M.I. Tugan – Baranovsky, M.M. Kovalevsky, P. A. Sorokin and others. A detailed doctrine of the role of the social division of labor in the historical process is contained in the socio-economic theory of Marxism, which also reveals the role of property relations in this process. The main elements of the social structure of society include:
classes that occupy different places in the systems of social division of labor, relations of ownership of the means of production and distribution of the social product. Sociologists of different directions agree with this understanding; city and village residents; representatives of mental and physical labor; estates; socio-demographic groups (youth, women and men, older generation); national communities (nations, nationalities, ethnic groups). Almost all elements of the social structure are heterogeneous in composition and, in turn, are divided into separate layers and groups, which appear as independent elements of the social structure with their inherent interests, which they realize in interaction with other subjects.
So the social structure in any society is quite complex and is the subject of attention not only by sociologists, but also by representatives of such a science as social management, as well as politicians and government officials. It is important to understand that without understanding the social structure of society, without a clear idea of what social groups exist within it and what their interests are, i.e. in which direction they will act, it is impossible to take a single step forward in the leadership of society, including the areas of economics, social, political and spiritual life.
This is the significance of the problem of the social structure of society. Its solution must be approached on the basis of a deep understanding of social dialectics, scientific generalization of historical and modern data from social practice. Considering the subject of sociology, we discovered a close connection between three fundamental concepts of sociology - social structure, social composition and social stratification. The structure can be expressed through a set of statuses and likened to the empty cells of a honeycomb. It is located, as it were, in a horizontal plane, and is created by the social division of labor. In a primitive society there are few statuses and a low level of division of labor; in a modern society there are many statuses and a high level of organization of the division of labor. But no matter how many statuses there are, in the social structure they are equal and connected and functionally related to each other. But now we have filled the empty cells with people, each status has turned into a large social group. The totality of statuses gave us a new concept - the social composition of the population. And here the groups are equal to each other, they are also located horizontally. Indeed, from the point of view of social composition, all Russians, women, engineers, non-partisans and housewives are equal. However, we know that in real life, human inequality plays a huge role. Inequality is the criterion by which we can place some groups above or below others. Social composition turns into social stratification - a set of social strata arranged in a vertical order, in particular, the poor, the prosperous, the rich. Stratification is a certain “oriented” composition of the population. In sociology, there are four main dimensions of stratification - income, power, prestige, education. They exhaust the range of social benefits that people strive for. More precisely, not the benefits themselves, but the channels of access to them.
Thus, social structure arises in relation to the social division of labor, and social stratification – in relation to the social distribution of the results of labor, i.e. social benefits. And it is always unequal. This is how the arrangement of social strata arises according to the criterion of unequal access to power, wealth, education and prestige.
17. Personal and social status of a person. Social roles. Status is a certain position in the social structure of a group or society, connected to other positions through a system of rights and responsibilities. Sociologists distinguish two types of status: personal and acquired. Personal status is the position of a person that he occupies in the so-called small, or primary, group, depending on how his individual qualities are assessed in it. On the other hand, in the process of interaction with other individuals, each person performs certain social functions that determine his social status. Social status is the general position of an individual or social group in society, associated with a certain set of rights and responsibilities. Social statuses can be prescribed and acquired (achieved). The first category includes nationality, place of birth, social origin, etc., the second - profession, education, etc. In any society there is a certain hierarchy of statuses, which represents the basis of its stratification. Certain statuses are prestigious, others are the opposite. Prestige is society’s assessment of the social significance of a particular status, enshrined in culture and public opinion. This hierarchy is formed under the influence of two factors:
a) the real usefulness of the social functions that a person performs; b) the value system characteristic of a given society. If the prestige of any statuses is unreasonably overestimated or, conversely, underestimated, it is usually said that there is a loss of balance of statuses. A society in which there is a similar tendency to lose this balance is unable to ensure its normal functioning. Authority must be distinguished from prestige. Authority is the degree to which society recognizes the dignity of an individual, a particular person. The social status of an individual primarily influences his behavior. Knowing the social status of a person, you can easily determine most of the qualities that he possesses, as well as predict the actions that he will carry out. Such expected behavior of a person, associated with the status that he has, is usually called a social role. A social role actually represents a certain pattern of behavior recognized as appropriate for people of a given status in a given society. In fact, the role provides a model showing exactly how an individual should act in a given situation. Roles vary in degree of formalization: some are very clearly defined, for example in military organizations, others are very vague. A social role can be assigned to a person either formally (for example, in a legislative act), or it can also be of an informal nature. Any individual is a reflection of the totality of social relations of his era. Therefore, each person has not one but a whole set of social roles that he plays in society. Their combination is called the role system. Such a variety of social roles can cause internal conflict of the individual (if some of the social roles contradict each other). Scientists offer various classifications of social roles. Among the latter, as a rule, there are the so-called main (basic) social roles. These include: a) the role of a worker; b) the role of an owner; c) the role of a consumer; d) the role of a citizen; e) the role of a family member. However, despite the fact that the behavior of an individual is largely determined by the status that he occupies, and those roles that she plays in society, she (the individual) nevertheless retains her autonomy and has a certain freedom of choice. And although in modern society there is a tendency towards unification and standardization of personality, its complete leveling, fortunately, does not occur. An individual has the opportunity to choose from a variety of social statuses and roles offered to him by society, those that allow him to better realize his plans and use his abilities as effectively as possible. A person’s acceptance of a particular social role is influenced by both social conditions and his biological and personal characteristics (health status, gender, age, temperament, etc.). Any role prescription outlines only a general pattern of human behavior, offering the choice of ways for the individual to carry it out. In the process of achieving a certain status and fulfilling the corresponding social role, a so-called role conflict may arise. Role conflict is a situation in which a person is faced with the need to satisfy the demands of two or more incompatible roles.
18. Social mobility. Social mobility is the movement of individuals or social groups from one position in the hierarchy of social stratification to another. Sociologists distinguish several types of social mobility. First, depending on the reason for the movement, a distinction is made between mobility caused by the voluntary movement of individuals within the social hierarchy of society and mobility dictated by structural changes occurring in society. An example of the latter could be social mobility caused by the industrialization process: one of the consequences of the industrialization process was an increase in the number of people in working professions and a decrease in the number of people engaged in agricultural production. Secondly, mobility can be intergenerational and intragenerational. Intergenerational mobility refers to the movement of children to a higher or lower level compared to their parents. Within the framework of intragenerational mobility, the same individual changes his social position several times throughout his life. Finally, individual and group mobility are distinguished. They talk about individual mobility when movements within society occur for one person independently of others. With group mobility, movements occur collectively (for example, after the bourgeois revolution, the feudal class cedes its dominant position to the bourgeois class). The reasons that allow a person to move from one social group to another are called factors of social mobility. Sociologists identify several such factors. The first factor of social mobility is education. It played a decisive role in the process of social mobility in some ancient states. In particular, in China, only a person who passed a special exam could apply for a government position. An important factor in social mobility is also the social status of the family to which a person belongs. Many families in various ways - from marriages to support in the business sphere - help the promotion of their members to higher strata. The level and nature of social mobility is influenced by the social system: in an open society, unlike a closed society, there are no formal restrictions on mobility and almost no informal. In a closed society, mobility is limited both quantitatively and qualitatively. Another factor facilitating social mobility is the changes taking place in the technology of social production: they lead to the emergence of new professions that require high qualifications and significant training. These professions are better paid and are more prestigious. In addition to economic changes, social upheavals can also contribute to the strengthening of the process of social mobility, for example, wars and revolutions, leading, as a rule, to a change in the elite of society. As an additional factor of social mobility, one can note the different levels of birth rates in different strata - lower in the upper and higher in the lower creates a certain “vacuum” from above and promotes the upward movement of people from the lower strata. Movement between strata is carried out through special channels (“elevators”), the most important of which are social institutions such as the army, family, school, church, property. The army functions as a conduit for upward mobility in both war and peace. However, during periods of war, the process of “rising upward” proceeds faster: large losses among the command staff lead to the filling of vacancies by people of lower ranks who have distinguished themselves due to their talent and courage. The church in the past was the second channel of vertical mobility after the army, especially in relation to the middle stratum. As a result of the ban on Catholic clergy marrying, the transmission of church positions by inheritance was excluded, and after the death of clergymen, their positions were filled by new people. Significant opportunities for advancement from the bottom up also appeared during periods of the formation of new religions. Schools are a powerful channel of social circulation in the modern world. Receiving an education in the most prestigious schools and universities automatically ensures that a person belongs to a certain stratum and has a fairly high social status. The family becomes a channel of vertical mobility in cases where people with different social status marry. So, at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. In Russia, a fairly common occurrence was the marriage of impoverished, but titled brides with representatives of the rich, but humble merchant class. As a result of such a marriage, both partners moved up the social ladder, getting what each of them wanted. But such a marriage can only be useful if an individual from a lower stratum is prepared to quickly assimilate new patterns of behavior and lifestyle. If he cannot quickly assimilate new cultural standards, then such a marriage will not yield anything, since representatives of the higher status layer will not consider the individual “one of their own.” Finally, the fastest channel of vertical mobility is property, usually in the form of money - one one of the simplest and most effective ways to move up. Social mobility in an open society gives rise to a number of phenomena, both positive and negative. The upward mobility of an individual contributes to the realization of his personal qualities. If the movement occurs downward, then it helps a person develop a more realistic self-esteem and, accordingly, a more realistic choice of goal. Social mobility also provides opportunities for the creation of new social groups, the emergence of new ideas, and the acquisition of new experience. The negative results of mobility (both vertical and horizontal) include the loss of an individual’s previous group affiliation and the need to adapt to his new group. This identification of behavior results in tension in relationships with other people and often leads to alienation. To overcome this barrier, there are several ways that individuals resort to in the process of social mobility: 1) changing their lifestyle, adopting a new material status standard (buying a new, more expensive car, moving to another, more prestigious area, etc.); 2) development of typical status behavior (change in the manner of communication, assimilation of new verbal expressions, new ways of spending leisure time, etc.); 3) change in the social environment (the individual tries to surround himself with representatives of the social stratum into which he strives to join).
The positive and negative consequences of social mobility affect not only the individual, but also society. The upward mobility of people is closely related to economic development, intellectual and scientific progress, the formation of new values and social movements; moving down leads to the liberation of the upper layers from less useful elements. But most importantly, increased mobility contributes to the destabilization of society in all its dimensions. By providing individuals with the opportunity to change their social status, an open society gives rise to so-called status anxiety in its individuals - after all, a change in status can happen for the worse. Social mobility often contributes to the severance of social ties in primary social groups, for example, in families in which parents belong to lower strata, and children were able to work their way up.
