Humanity does not stand still, but is constantly growing in all areas. The life of society is getting better with the development of technology, engineering and the processing of valuable resources. The inconsistency of social progress lies in the philosophical assessment of human actions.
What it is?
In a broad sense, progress is a planned development from the lowest to the highest. That is, a constant desire to grow upward, improve and modernize. Progress is not fast or slow, it is determined by the degree of movement. With progress, the number of internal organizational ties increases, and their level becomes more complicated. The opposite of progress is regression.
There is social progress, it is determined by the criteria of social progress and shows how humanity is developed in the scientific, technical, moral and other directions. Our species has progressed from a wild ape-like monkey to a reasonable person.
Problems of progress in society
The Stanford Philosophical Encyclopedia, supported by the university of the same name, freely available online and constantly updated by hundreds of articles from leading world experts, identifies three important issues that relate to progress.
- Does humanity lead to prosperity? If so, why?
- Where does progress come from and what are its historical laws?
- What is the empirical evidence for progress theory?
The problem of social progress lies in the inability to define it unambiguously as a positive or negative phenomenon in human life. Researchers have a different understanding of the welfare of society . One part of theorists is of the opinion that the measurement of living standards takes place in material terms. And others completely deny the above, declaring a spiritual basis. The main values are: freedom, self-realization, actualization of the individual, happiness, public support. In another case, human values may not be interconnected.
Contemporary discussion
The concept of social progress arises with the development of history. During the Enlightenment, the main theses of human development and its role in world history were formulated. Researchers tried to find patterns in the historical process, and by their results they planned to predict the future.
At that time, the opinions of key philosophers were divided. Hegel and his followers considered ideas that would contribute to global development and improvement. And the famous socialist Karl Marx believed that it is necessary to increase the growth of capital and, as a result, the material well-being of mankind.
Criteria for Social Progress
There is currently no consensus on measuring progress. As noted, philosophers highlight three key development issues. And since it is unrealistic to consider progress as a negative or positive phenomenon, we can distinguish the criteria for progress:
- The increase in production capacity.
- Scientific and technical development, which is supported by the state.
- Expansion of freedom of expression, freedom of speech and respect for human rights.
- The development of morality.
- Gradual progress in the field of the human mind.
The described criteria in the aggregate often contradict each other in terms of assessing any progress (social, economic). For example, technological development contributes to environmental pollution. However, it is extremely useful for the development of society and is also harmful to the person himself, as his health worsens, moral social development falls. Progress can adversely affect the development of another area of human activity.
Another striking example is the creation of an atomic bomb. The first research in the field of nuclear fusion showed mankind that nuclear energy can be converted into electricity. With progress in this direction, a nuclear bomb appeared as a by-product. And if you go deeper, then a nuclear warhead is not so bad. It provides relative stability in world politics, and the planet has not seen global wars for more than 70 years.
Progress in society. Revolution
This is the fastest, but cruel way to abruptly change one socio-political system to another. They begin the revolution when there is no other possibility of a change of power.
Examples of social progress that have occurred through a violent change of power:
- The October Revolution of 1917 in Russia.
- Turkish Kemalist revolution of 1918-1922.
- The second American revolution, when the North fought against the South.
- Iranian revolution of 1905-1911.
After the establishment of the power of the people, the proletariat, the military and other leaders of the revolution, the lives of ordinary citizens, as a rule, worsen. But then it gradually recovers. During mass rallies involving weapons, protesters forget about civil norms and rules. And in most cases, during the revolution, mass terror, a split in the economy, and lawlessness begin.
Progress in society. The reform
Not always a revolution occurs with a rattling of weapons. There is also a special form of change of power - this is a palace coup. So called the bloodless seizure of power by one of the political forces from the current rulers. In this case, no special changes are planned, and the improvement of the economic, political, social situations occurs through reforms.
Power systematically builds a new society. Social progress is achieved through planned changes and, as a rule, affects only one sphere of life.
A bit of history and a deeper meaning of the term
Social progress is a large-scale historical process of development of society. In a broad sense, it implies a desire for the highest, from the primitivism of Neanderthals to the civilization of modern man. The process is carried out due to the development of scientific, social, political, cultural and other areas of society.
The French publicist Abbot Saint-Pierre made the first mention of the theory of progress in his book, "Comments on the Continuous Progress of the Universal Mind" (1737). The description in the book is very specific to modern man. And for the only true one, of course, it is not worth taking.
A famous publicist said that progress is God's providence. As a phenomenon, the progress of society has always been and will be, and only the Lord is able to stop it. At the moment, research is ongoing.
Social criteria
It indicates the level of development of the social sphere. It means the freedom of society and people, the standard of living, the correlation of the amount of money in the population, the level of development, taken as an example of a separate middle-class country.
The social criterion is achieved through two meanings: revolution and reform. If the first implies a rigid change of power and a radical change in the existing system, then thanks to reforms, society is developing systematically and not so rapidly. Reforms also amortize the proposed change of power and crises. It is impossible to give any assessment to them or the revolution. One can only consider the opinions of political and philosophical schools.
One group of researchers believes that a change of power only by armed means will be correct. Democratic speeches with banners and peaceful slogans are often unsuccessful. This method is extremely effective if an authoritarian regime is established in the country and power is usurped.
If there is an adequate leader in the country who understands his insolvency, then he can give way to the opposition and give the opportunity to carry out reforms. But are there many such cases? Therefore, most of the radical population adheres to the ideas of the revolution.
Economic criterion
It acts as a form of social progress. Everything related to economic development refers to this criterion.
- GDP growth.
- Trade relations.
- Banking sector development.
- The increase in production capacity.
- Production of products.
- Modernization.
There are a lot of such parameters, and therefore the economic criterion is fundamental in any developed state. For a vivid example, you can take Singapore. This is a small state located in Southeast Asia. There are absolutely no reserves of drinking water, oil, gold and other valuable resources.
However, Singapore is ahead of oil-rich Russia in terms of living standards. There is no corruption in the country, and the welfare of the population is growing every year. All this is impossible without the following criteria.
Spiritual
Very controversial, like all other criteria of social progress. Judgments about moral development vary. And it all depends on in which state a question is being discussed. For example, in Arab countries, sexual minorities are godlessness and obscurantism. And their equality with other citizens will be a public regression.
And in European countries, in which religion does not act as a political force, sexual minorities are equated with ordinary people. They can have a family, get married and even adopt children. Certainly, there are factors that unite all countries. This is the rejection of murder, violence, theft and social injustice.
Scientific criterion
It is no secret that today man is in the information space. We have the opportunity to buy in the store everything that the soul desires. All that a person did not have a little more than 100 years ago. Communication issues have also been resolved, you can easily call a subscriber from another country at any time.
There are no more deadly epidemics, viruses that have killed millions. We forgot about time, because the speed of movement from one point of the planet to another is minimal. If our ancestors arrived from point A to point B in three months, now now during this time you can fly to the moon.
How is social and social progress?
We will look at the example of an ordinary person, his formation from a primitive individual to a mature personality. From birth, the child begins to copy his parents, adopts their style and behavior model. In a period of awareness, he eagerly absorbs information from all sources.
And the more knowledge he gets, the easier the transition to a school form of education will take place. From first to fourth grade, the child actively interacts with the external environment. Skepticism and distrust of society have not yet manifested, but friendliness along with childish naivety has been developed. Further, the teenager develops as society needs. That is, he develops the basic skills of distrust, it is not recommended to express feelings and emotions. There are other stereotypes imposed by society.
And from the ninth grade, the teenager enters the puberty period. At this time, his reproductive system is actively developing, the first facial hair appears. And at the same time, the mental system is being reformed within the personality, and the adolescent himself is experiencing incredible difficulties in self-determination.
During this period, the young man chooses a social model for himself, which in the future will be almost impossible to change. In unfavorable circumstances, a teenager grows up as an underdeveloped personality whose needs revolve around alcohol, sexual joys and watching TV. It is these people who are the majority of the electorate of poor countries with poor education.
Or a person is born who has his own opinion and sees himself in society. He is a creator, he never criticizes, because he always offers. Such people become in a society where there are many middle-class people, the political system is actively working, and the economy is developed.
Society and its development
There are two ways of becoming a group of individuals. This is their collective interaction, described in the writings of Karl Marx and other socialists, and the individual, reflected in the book "Atlas Shrugged" by writer Ayn Rand (Alice Rosenbaum).
In the first case, the outcome is well known. Soviet society collapsed, leaving behind the achievements of science, the best medicine, education, industrial enterprises, infrastructure. And most of the immigrants from the Soviet Union formally still live on the benefits of a crumbling country. Unfortunately, modern Russia after the collapse will not leave anything behind. Moreover, individualism reigns in her.
Now about America, the ideology of individualism also dominates in it. And this is the most militarized country, which has military bases around the world. Spends a lot of money on the development of science and reaches certain heights, also develops medicine, education, etc. And what is very strange, what is good for one society is deadly for another.