Why is the spiritual sphere the most important? Spiritual sphere of public life

The spiritual sphere of society's life is a subsystem, the content of which is the production, storage and distribution of society's values, capable of satisfying the needs of the consciousness and worldview of subjects, reproducing spiritual world person.

The spiritual life of society constitutes the leading, main process of the formation and development of its spiritual culture.

The main criteria for the sphere of spiritual life of society are: the development of individual consciousness; a person’s ability to be aware of himself, his relationship with nature and society; humanistic orientation of the social worldview; state of spiritual values; the degree of their consistency with the needs and interests of the individual and other subjects of society, as well as the degree of development of education, upbringing, science, information life of society, art, the practical implementation of freedom of conscience of citizens.

The spiritual sphere of society's life is intended for the reproduction of individual and social consciousness, the spiritual values ​​of the individual and society, to regulate the activities of institutions and subjects of spiritual life.

The structure of the sphere of spiritual life of society can be represented, like other spheres, in many ways. The most common approach is to isolate relatively independent processes spiritual life, having its own purpose, content and methods of implementation. In spiritual life the following stand out:

The process of reproduction of individual and social consciousness; personal and social worldview through meeting needs and interests for their development;

Scientific life;

Artistic and aesthetic life;

Educational process in society;

Spiritual and moral life;

The functioning of religion, free thought and atheism;

Information life of society.

Morality is included in the structure of the spiritual life of society in a certain way: the processes of understanding the role and meaning of morality, its categories, norms and principles for the functioning of spiritual life.

The main functions of the spiritual life of society: a) Are common: reproduction of individual and social consciousness; creation, storage, distribution and consumption of spiritual values; ideological; methodological; regulatory; communication, etc. b) Species: scientific and educational; artistic and aesthetic; educational and educational, etc.

Let us consider some elements of the content of the spiritual life of society.

The science characterizes the sphere of spiritual life from the point of view of the role of empiricism and rationality in it, the process of obtaining, storing, demanding and using scientific and theoretical knowledge.


Science is a form of spiritual activity of people, aimed at producing knowledge about nature, society, man and knowledge itself, at discovering objective laws and essential characteristics of existence.

The typical structure of science as a phenomenon of the spiritual life of society is the unity of scientific consciousness, scientific institutions and the activities of its subjects. Therefore, objectively true knowledge obtained outside of science is not included in the content of science, but constitutes the sphere of everyday practical or rational, abstract and logical outside scientific knowledge.

A common classification of sciences is the recognition of three large groups: natural sciences - natural science; social sciences - social sciences or social sciences, humanities; sciences about technology - technical sciences. The human sciences can be divided into a special group - anthropology, or included in the natural, social, and also technical sciences.

Sciences are also classified into fundamental (mainly theoretical) and applied (aimed at the fairly rapid application of scientific knowledge in practical activities).

Features of scientific knowledge:

1. It reflects the natural, essential, qualitative in the material world.

2. This is systematized, conceptual (theoretical) knowledge, expressed by a system of concepts, judgments, teachings.

3. Scientific knowledge is basically true knowledge in the unity of objective-subjective, absolute and relative, concrete and abstract. In science, misconceptions and false knowledge are also possible.

4. It is intended to be implemented in the complex practical life of people.

5. This is knowledge obtained on the basis of special techniques and means (instruments).

6. Scientific knowledge has evidence.

Artistic and aesthetic life of society consists in the figurative and creative reproduction of human life, inanimate and living nature in the forms of artistic image using the categories of the sublime, beautiful, perfect, tragic and comic, serious and playful, as well as base, ugly, imperfect. It includes art, folk artistic culture, elite and mass culture, various artistic subcultures.

Artistic culture is studied by a special science - aesthetics . Reflection in people's minds and comprehension of artistic culture, both directly and with the help of aesthetics, forms their aesthetic culture. Aesthetic culture- this is the state of consciousness, worldview and the entire spiritual world of the subject, which reproduces artistic culture and determines the degree of inclusion of the subject in the world of art, folk and other culture. Signs of a person’s aesthetic culture: artistic and aesthetic knowledge; aesthetic needs and interests; aesthetic ideal; aesthetic taste; aesthetic experiences; aesthetic feelings; artistic and aesthetic qualities, etc.

The main element of the artistic and aesthetic life of society is art. This is a type of professional artistic and aesthetic activity for the reproduction, distribution and consumption of art values. It is characterized by the authorship, style and direction of artistic creativity. Art differs, for example, from folk artistic culture, which develops spontaneously, it does not, as a rule, have specific authors, it does not specialize and is not a means of obtaining benefits for its anonymous authors, and is not intended for reward.

Structure of art: architecture; fine arts (sculpture, painting, graphics, etc.); fiction; music; choreography; theater; movie; stage; audio-video art; computer, including virtual, art, applied art, etc.

In characterizing the basic concepts of artistic culture (art), attention should be paid to the categories of aesthetics: artistic image; art form; the beautiful and the ugly; the sublime and the base; tragic and comic.

Religion is one of the oldest and main (along with science, education, art) forms of spiritual culture. In modern theory, a popular definition of religion is based on its recognition as the basis of faith in God (“religion is faith in God”). Along with it, other approaches to understanding the essence of religion are widespread: religion is a system of dogmas, creeds and cults, which are based on the importance of veneration of the divine, recognition of the sacred and holy; religion is also one of the forms of human adaptation to the world around us, characteristic of spiritual culture, satisfying his spiritual needs with faith in the supernatural and the expectation of reward from him.

The basis of religion is belief in a special supernatural. Faith reveals the most important features that determine the place of religion in the relationship between man and existence. Religious faith consists of: 1) faith itself, i.e. belief in the correctness of the fundamentals of religious teaching; 2) knowledge of the most essential provisions of the doctrine; 3) recognition and adherence to the norms of morality and worship contained in religious requirements for a person; 4) compliance with the standards and requirements for Everyday life a believer.

Exist Various types religions: monotheistic (based on faith in one God) and polytheistic (professing polytheism); ritual - with an emphasis on performing certain religious actions; religions of salvation, recognizing that the main thing in their creed is the dogma about a person’s special way of life, his posthumous fate. Important role play national religions, common among representatives of one or related nations, as well as tribal religions. TO national religions include Shintoism (Japanese), Confucianism (Chinese), Judaism (Jews), etc. There are numerous religious sects, as well as so-called “living” religions, pseudo religious associations. The world's religions are the most widespread and numerous in their followers. The main world religions in the modern world are Christianity (emerged at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD), Islam (emerged in the 7th century BC), Buddhism (emerged in the 6th-5th centuries BC).

The following data speaks about the role of world and other religions in the modern world.

1. The vast majority of people living on Earth are adherents of one of the existing world religions. It is estimated, for example, that today 1.99 billion people are supporters of Christianity, 1.19 billion people of Islam, and 359 million people of Buddhism.

2. In a number of countries around the world, religious associations are separated from the state. Nevertheless, the influence of religion on the life of modern society remains significant. A number of states recognize one of the religions as state and compulsory.

3. Many religions are sources of moral, artistic and aesthetic values ​​and norms, regulate the daily lives of people, and preserve the principles of universal morality. The role of such religions in the revival and enhancement of cultural heritage and the familiarization of people with it is very significant.

4. Unfortunately, religious contradictions continue to be a source and breeding ground for bloody conflicts, terrorism, and a factor of separation and confrontation. Religious aggressive fanaticism is destructive; it opposes culture, universal spiritual values, and human interests.

One of the basic human rights in the modern world is the right to freedom of conscience. According to Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, “everyone is guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including the right to profess, individually or together with others, any religion or not to profess any religion, to freely choose, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and to act in accordance with them.”

Freedom of conscience, therefore, leaves a person with a choice between religious faith and atheism. Any choice of freedom of conscience is not the basis for assessing the qualities of a person with a predetermined result: a believer means bad, a believer means good, etc. A person is assessed by the manifestation of his qualities in practice - in behavior, communication, activity.

The main thing in understanding freedom of conscience as a legal norm Russian Federation is that its implementation is a personal, private matter for each person. This is one of the natural, inalienable and not limited to anything or anyone rights of the individual.

Freedom of conscience, therefore, includes three freely chosen options for the orientation of one’s worldview and personal position:

Believe in any religion, freely choose your religion;

Do not believe in any religion, adhere to atheistic views and beliefs;

Freely, without persecution, criticize any religion or atheism on the basis of mutual respect and tolerance.

It should be noted that sometimes human spirituality is understood or explained as only or specifically religious spirituality. This interpretation is one-sided. It is not consistent with the principle of freedom of conscience and unambiguously orients a person’s worldview and spiritual world towards religiosity, and, as a rule, of a specific nature. A person’s spirituality is the state of his consciousness, the nature and direction of his worldview, a set of social qualities.

Spiritual phenomena- components of social reality, in their totality form a special, spiritual sphere of society’s life. Phenomena of consciousness- not only something entirely derivative of being, but an existing thing that has its own special place in social reality, which is theoretically expressed in highlighting the structure of spiritual production as a mediating link between the “history of thinking” and the “history of society.” Spirituality in yours social forms acts as a kind of objectivity, a specific part of social reality, therefore “it is impossible to talk about the spiritual as a reflection objectively existing reality“, not for a moment lose sight of the fact that this reflection itself is also a certain type of social production - the production of ideas.” This establishes a special, relatively autonomous world of ideas, values, norms, beliefs, and goals dominant in society. The concept of spiritual production puts at the center of its attention the study of the mechanism by which this specific part of social objectivity is created, reproduced, and developed. The decisive role in this process belongs to socially institutionalized forms of spiritual activity. The problem field of the concept of spiritual production (social consciousness, spiritual life of society) - subject forms, in which the spiritual becomes a fact of social reality: social mechanisms spiritual activity, diverse socially institutionalized forms of spiritual life, complex relationships and dependencies between various components, levels, forms, structural elements of social consciousness.

Tracing the general social mechanisms of spiritual activity, the concept of spiritual production necessarily faces the problem of choosing the content of consciousness (various values ​​and goals, norms and ideals that a person relies on and follows). Behind the problem of choosing spiritual orientations that arises here, a picture of choosing one’s own existence emerges. This situation of human self-determination in the world cultural values requires the category of spiritual culture as a form of its philosophical understanding.

Spiritual life of society- this is a sphere public life, which determines, in conjunction with economic and social - political life the specificity of a given society in its entirety. It includes all spiritual formations, including spiritual culture in all its diversity, forms and levels of social consciousness, spontaneous moods, habits, etc.

Spiritual culture- only a certain side, a “slice” of spiritual life, in in a certain sense the core of the spiritual life of society. Spiritual culture has a complex structure, including scientific, philosophical, ideological, legal, moral, artistic culture, and religion.

Considering the complexity of simultaneous perception of all components of spiritual culture at once, we will try to find out common ground, uniting all its sides into a single whole, namely: what is meant by culture as a whole.

In the broadest sense of the word, culture is a developing set of material, political and spiritual achievements of humanity that characterize a certain way of social and practical activity of people at each historical stage of the development of society. Each stage of the development of human history is characterized by its own level of material, political and spiritual potential and achievements of mankind, its relationship with reality. By preserving and transmitting a variety of information about the life activities of past generations, culture is both a result and a means of development of the individual and society. Culture is a historically determined way of organizing and developing human life, recorded, functioning and developing in the products of material and spiritual labor, in the system social norms and values, as well as corresponding organizations and institutions, in the total relationship of people to nature, to each other and to themselves.

Spiritual culture grows on the basis of social existence, permeates all its spheres and has an active influence on almost all life activities of a person and society. As a reflection of social existence, it bears the imprint characteristic features era and a certain socio-economic formation, interests and needs of large social communities and social strata. Spiritual culture in this capacity is something unified, inherent in a nation, state, or regional group of states.

In society, spiritual culture manifests itself through the process of mastering the values ​​and norms of previous generations, the production and development of new spiritual values. Being included in the existence of man and society, in material and spiritual life, they play a significant role in social activities for the development and transformation of the world, and serve as guidelines in this process.

The main objective, function spiritual culture - the formation of a certain type of personality in the interests of society, the regulation of human behavior in the process of his relationship with a society of his own kind, nature, and the surrounding world. Hence another function - the formation of the cognitive abilities of the individual.

The spiritual culture of society is expressed in various forms and levels of social consciousness, in the development and enrichment of the world of spiritual values.

If there is a row general points With material production, spiritual production has its own specifics. The subject of labor in it is not only nature and natural substances, but also social progress in all the richness of its social connections, human thinking and human activity. Both the subject of spiritual production and the instruments of its activity are very unique. A special social stratum of professionals engaged in the creation of spiritual values ​​(intelligentsia) is being formed in society. But the creation of values ​​of spiritual life, spiritual culture in general cannot develop outside the people, its main creator and consumer. The best samples spiritual production, having received social assessment, are included in the fund of spiritual culture of society and become its property.

By consuming spiritual values, a person is formed as a personality and in this capacity acts both as an object and as a subject of spiritual production. For spiritual formation, the system of education, upbringing, means of communicative influence, etc. are used. An important role is played by the subject’s independent assimilation of spiritual values, self-education and self-education.

Parameter name Meaning
Article topic: Spiritual realm
Rubric (thematic category) Sociology

Spiritual realm- this is the area of ​​​​creation and development of spiritual blessings. The elements of the spiritual sphere are spiritual needs as a source of spiritual activity of society, a means of carrying out spiritual production, as well as subjects of spiritual activity. Spiritual values ​​are the main element of the spiritual sphere - exist in the form of ideas and are materially embodied in the form of language, works of art etc.

are produced not things, but ideas, images, scientific and artistic values. True, these values ​​are one way or another materialized in physical things, carriers of these spiritual values, in books, paintings, sculptures or in modern electronic media. But still, the main thing in these objects is not their material side, but their spiritual content, the ideas, images, and feelings contained in them.

The spiritual sphere includes universities and laboratories, museums and theaters, art galleries and research institutes, magazines and newspapers, cultural monuments and national art treasures, etc. This sphere three main tasks. The science designed to discover new knowledge in technical and humanitarian fields , i.e. create avant-garde technologies, projects spaceships, decipher ancient texts, describe the laws of the universe, etc. Education is called upon transfer the knowledge discovered by scientists to subsequent generations the most effective way why schools and universities are created, latest programs and teaching methods, qualified teachers are trained.

Culture designed to create extra-scientific, namely, artistic values, store them in libraries, museums, and exhibit them in galleries. Culture should also include religion, which is the basis of the spiritual culture of any society.

The whole, as Aristotle taught, must be understood only as something more, something other than the simple sum of its constituent parts . For this reason, in order to understand society as a whole, it is necessary to study not only its parts, but also to identify the special properties of society as a whole. These are the following properties:

Amateur activity;

Self-organization;

Self-development;

Self-sufficiency. - this is the ability of a system to create and recreate everything through its own activity the necessary conditions own existence, to produce everything necessary for collective life.

Self-sufficiency is the main difference between society and its components. None of the above types of social activity can function independently, none of the individual social groups unable to survive alone, to provide herself with everything she needs. Only society as a whole has this ability. Only the totality of all types of activities, all taken together and interconnected groups and their institutions create society as a whole as self-sufficient social system- product joint activities people who are capable of creating all the necessary conditions for their existence through their own efforts

There is a good connection legal norms and socio-economic relations. Let's turn to the famous historical facts. In one of the first codes of laws Kievan Rus, which is commonly called “Russian Truth,” provides for various punishments for murder. In this case, the measure of punishment was determined primarily by a person’s place in the system of hierarchical relations, his belonging to one or another social stratum or group. Thus, the fine for killing a tiun (steward) was enormous: it was equal to the value of a herd of 80 oxen or 400 rams. The life of a stinker or serf was valued 16 times less.

Concerning social sphere , then here we can talk about its direct depending on the development of the material sphere where public wealth is created - schools, residential buildings, hospitals, sanatoriums and holiday homes are built, clothing, shoes, food, medicines are produced, i.e. everything that serves to satisfy the primary and most important needs of people. Wherein the state of the social sphere also affects material production, because the spiritual and physical well-being of people, the level of their upbringing and education and, consequently, their readiness to work in material production.

Spiritual sphere - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Spiritual Sphere" 2017, 2018.

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  • The spiritual life of society is usually understood as that area of ​​existence in which objective reality is given to people not in the form of opposing objective reality, but as a reality present in the person himself, which is an integral part of his personality. A person’s spiritual life arises on the basis of his practical activity; it is a special form of reflection of the surrounding world and a means of interaction with it. Spiritual life usually includes knowledge, faith, feelings, experiences, needs, abilities, aspirations and goals of people. Taken in unity, they constitute the spiritual world of the individual.

    Being a product of social practice, spiritual life is closely connected with other spheres of social life and represents one of the subsystems of society.

    The spiritual sphere of society's life covers various forms and levels of social consciousness: moral, scientific, aesthetic, religious, political, legal consciousness. Accordingly, its elements are morality, science, art, religion and law.

    Morality is a set of rules of behavior derived from people’s ideas about good and evil, justice and injustice, good and bad, which are a consequence of a person’s inner conviction or the force of influence of public opinion on him.

    Science is theoretically systematized views on the world, reproducing its essential aspects in an abstract logical form (concepts, theories, laws) and based on the results of scientific research.

    Art is a specific form of social consciousness, which is a reflection of the surrounding reality in artistic images.

    Religion is a set of certain myths, dogmas, cult and ritual actions, as well as religious institutions (church).

    Law is a system of generally binding, formally defined norms established or sanctioned by the state (and sometimes directly by the people), the implementation of which is ensured by the authority or coercive force of the state.

    Since the spiritual life of society is nevertheless generated by material life, its structure is in many ways similar to the latter: spiritual needs, spiritual activity (spiritual production) and spiritual benefits (values) created by this activity.

    The first link in this chain is spiritual needs, which represent the objective need of people and society as a whole to create and master spiritual values. Often in philosophical literature spiritual needs are also defined as a certain mental condition people, encouraging them to create and master spiritual values.

    Unlike material needs, spiritual needs are not given biologically, they are not given to a person from birth. They are formed and developed in the process of socialization of the individual. The peculiarity of spiritual needs is that they are fundamentally unlimited in nature: there are no limits to growth for them, and the only limiters to such growth are only the volumes of spiritual values ​​already accumulated by humanity and the desire of the person himself to participate in their increase.

    In order to satisfy spiritual needs, people organize spiritual production. Spiritual production is usually understood as the production of consciousness in a special social form, carried out by specialized groups of people professionally engaged in qualified mental labor. The purpose of spiritual production is the reproduction of social consciousness in its integrity. The results of spiritual production include:

    1) ideas, theories, images and spiritual values;

    2) spiritual social connections of individuals;

    3) man himself as a spiritual being.

    A distinctive feature of spiritual production is that its products are ideal formations that cannot be alienated from their direct producer.

    Spiritual production is aimed at improving all other spheres of public life - economic, political, social. New ideas and technologies created within its framework allow society to develop itself.

    Scientists distinguish three types of spiritual production: science, art and religion. Some philosophers tend to add morality, politics and law to them. However, morality is created by society itself, and not invented by professionals, and the social connections that arise between individuals as a result of political and legal activities individual members of society can hardly be called spiritual. However, this issue still remains controversial.

    The most important type of spiritual production is science.

    On initial stages During its existence, science did not have any noticeable impact on the development of society. However, over time, the situation has changed. Around the 19th century, science began to play a noticeable role, outstripping the development of material production, which in turn began to change in accordance with the logic of the development of science. Science becomes a special type of spiritual production, the products of which predetermine the emergence of new branches of material production (chemistry, radio engineering, rocket science, electronics, the nuclear industry, etc.). The so-called scientific models of social development acquire a huge role, with the help of which society gets the opportunity, without resorting to such methods of cognition as experiment, to determine the goals and direction of its development.

    Another important type of spiritual production is art. By creating artistic images that, with a certain degree of convention, can be equated to scientific models, experimenting with them using their own imagination, people can better understand themselves and the world in which they live. With the help of art, artists, writers, and sculptors often reproduce hidden, unnoticed, but very significant aspects of the surrounding reality.

    As for religion, as a type of spiritual production, the theories and ideas created with its help played a big role in the development of society, primarily in the early, pre-scientific stages of its development, forming in people abstract thinking, the ability to isolate the general and special in the world around them. However, the spiritual values ​​that arise within the framework of religious views and the social ties that develop on their basis still play an important role in the lives of many societies and individuals.

    The main property of spiritual production, which distinguishes it from material production, is the universal nature of its consumption. Unlike material values, the size of which is limited, spiritual values ​​do not decrease in proportion to the number of people who possess them, and therefore they are available to all individuals without exception, being the property of all humanity.

    The spiritual sphere of society.

    1. Specifics of the spiritual sphere of society.

    2. Features of spiritual production.

    3. Science as a type of spiritual production.

    4. Art as a type of spiritual production.

    5. Religion as a type of spiritual production.

    1.Spiritual sphere society– this is the sphere of people’s relations regarding spiritual values, their creation, distribution and consumption. The spiritual sphere develops historically and includes geographical, national characteristics society and manifests itself in national character (mentality). The spiritual sphere is the field of activity of educational institutions, professional arts (theater, music, fine arts, etc.). In the spiritual sphere, people are formed aesthetically and morally, so it is difficult to overestimate it. Together with the economic and socio-political spheres, it determines the specifics of society in its entirety. The spiritual sphere includes spiritual culture (scientific, philosophical, worldview, legal, moral, artistic), which forms a certain type of human personality in the interests of society, regulates human behavior in the process of his relationship with a society of his own kind, with nature and the surrounding world. Another function of spiritual culture follows from this - the formation of the cognitive abilities of the individual. The spiritual culture of society finds its expression in various forms and levels of public consciousness, in the development and enrichment of the world of spiritual values.

    Elements of the spiritual sphere of society:

    · spiritual needs of people: are a product purely social interaction

    · spiritual values: people’s views, scientific ideas, hypotheses and theories, works of art, moral and religious consciousness, spiritual communication of people and the resulting moral and psychological climate

    · spiritual consumption

    · spiritual relationships between people, as well as manifestations of their interpersonal spiritual communication, for example, based on aesthetic, religious, moral relations.

    spiritual production

    2. Spiritual production is the activity of society in the production, preservation, exchange, distribution and consumption of ideas, ideas, ideals, scientific knowledge and other spiritual values. In the sphere of distribution and development of spiritual values, spiritual production includes education, moral and aesthetic education and other forms of familiarization with spiritual culture.

    While there are a number of common points with material production, spiritual production has its own specifics. The subject of work in it is not only nature and natural substances, but also social progress in all the richness of its social connections, human thinking and human activity. Both the subject of spiritual production and the instruments of its activity are very unique. A special social stratum of professionals engaged in the creation of spiritual values ​​is being formed in society. For the most part, these are representatives of the intelligentsia. Spiritual production is the production of consciousness carried out by specialized groups of people professionally engaged in qualified mental labor. The result of spiritual production is ideas and theories, values, spiritual social relations and man himself as a spiritual being. The best examples of spiritual production, having received social assessment, are included in the fund of spiritual culture of society and become its property. By consuming spiritual values, a person is formed as a personality and in this capacity acts both as an object and as a subject of spiritual production. For spiritual formation, the system of education, upbringing, means of communicative influence, etc. are used. An important role is also played by the subject’s independent assimilation of spiritual values, self-education and self-education. Spiritual production, unlike material production, is of a universal, social nature, the products of spiritual production are available to everyone. Five loaves of bread cannot feed a thousand, but five ideas or masterpieces of art can satisfy the spiritual needs of a million people. However, it should be noted that the production of spiritual values ​​itself is always individual. An example would be that Nobel Prizes in science, teams of authors are not awarded. In general, great discoveries and creations are made by loners, because creativity is always unique and individual. Creativity is the main force of spiritual production, while in material production there are many such productive forces (raw materials, machines, labor, roads, etc.). Spiritual activity is valuable in itself, often has significance regardless of the result. So art exists for art's sake. Unlike material activity, for which it is not the creation that is valuable, but the possession of goods, in spiritual activity the creation itself is valuable. Functions of spiritual production: 1. Spiritual activity aimed at improving all means of society (economic, political, social) and the production of spiritual values.2. Production of applied and fundamental ideas, the production of the latter being the most important function.3. Production and dissemination of knowledge about these ideas in society.4. Production of public opinion. This function is closely related to the production and dissemination of knowledge, but it emphasizes the political and ideological aspect.5. Formation of spiritual needs, i.e. the inner motivation of a person for spiritual creativity and created spiritual values.

    Types of spiritual production:

    2. Art.

    3. Religion.

      Science as a type of spiritual production. Science 1) knowledge system; 2) social institution.

    Science is a systematized knowledge of reality, reproducing its essential and natural aspects in the abstract and logical form of concepts, categories, laws, etc. Science creates an ideal world that reflects the laws of the objective world.

    The main features of scientific knowledge:

    • Systematic and logical
    • Presence of idealized objects
    • The need for methods, methodology and means of scientific knowledge
    • Specialization, subjectivity, disciplinarity of scientific knowledge
    • The presence of a special language of science
    • Rigor and objectivity of revealed truths
    • Cumulativeness of scientific knowledge: accumulation, improvement, progressive development of science

    Functions of science:

    • Cognitive
    • Explanatory
    • Practical and effective (science provides a method for transforming the world, and also serves to introduce technologies and create equipment)
    • Prognostic (for example, predicting natural anomalies)
    • Worldview
    • Social memory function

    Differentiation and integration of scientific knowledge.

    Differentiation of science– a process associated with an increase in the number of special sciences, the formation of new scientific disciplines, the formation of new scientific directions, approaches, concepts, theories. If in the time of Aristotle science was hardly divided into 20 areas of knowledge, now this division knows no boundaries. This was greatly facilitated by the discovery of the microscope and telescope. Physics was divided into mechanics, optics, electrodynamics, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, etc. New sciences are also emerging, for example, genetics. Differentiation leads to progressive specialization scientific workers, lack of mutual understanding between representatives of various scientific directions and disciplines, which does not contribute to the progress of science.

    Integration of science– a process associated with the unification of sciences based on the unity of various levels and fragments of the universe. Many sciences, for example, chemistry, physics, astronomy, etc., are united based on the study elementary particles . Integration manifests itself as:

    · Organization of research “at the intersection” of related scientific disciplines

    · Development of “transdisciplinary” scientific methods, important for many sciences (spectral analysis, computer experiment)

    · Search for “unifying” theories and principles (for example, the theory of evolution)

    · Development of theories that perform general methodological functions in natural science (cybernetics, synergetics)

    · Complex nature of problem solving

    Differentiation and integration are two complementary trends in science.

    4. Art – this type of spiritual production, which is the creation of professionals (artists, musicians, poets, etc.), i.e. specialists in the field of aesthetics. The aesthetic is not only in art, it is diffused throughout social reality and evokes special aesthetic feelings in people (for example, when admiring the mountains). In art, the aesthetic is self-sufficient.

    Initially, art was not a purely aesthetic activity, it served magic, religion and the transmission of social experience (cave paintings). In a class society, art becomes independent.

    Art has social content, which is especially evident during crisis periods of social development. Late XIX V. – beginning of the 20th century characterized by the “dehumanization of art” (Ortega y Gasset’s term) - distancing from reality, expulsion from art of the immediacy of feelings, everything human, living. Art becomes inhuman, abstract, cold and ironic. Dehumanization affected all other spheres of public life.

    Another example of the social nature of art is the totalitarian art of the 20th century. A striking example is the direction of socialist realism in the USSR, which was considered the main and only correct form art. Totalitarian art becomes an instrument of politics, power, and ideology. The state monopolizes and controls the activities of artists; all styles of art not recognized by the official authorities are prohibited.

    Functions of art:

    1. Educational: works of art are a valuable source of information.

    2. Educational: art has a profound impact on the ideological and moral development of a person, his improvement or decline.

    3. Aesthetic: art gives aesthetic pleasure and pleasure, evokes in a person certain emotions(laughter, tears, etc.), which Aristotle called catharsis (purification of the soul). It also forms aesthetic consciousness, which makes a person human, instilling in him a sense of beauty.

    5.Religion is a historical form of worldview, a social institution, as well as a type of spiritual production. Thanks to carefully developed principles and traditions, religion has become a bridge between the material and spiritual worlds. In the absence of social justice, it makes it possible to ensure and maintain order and stability in society. From the position social philosophy, religion forms a social worldview that allows you to be guided by it in everyday life - raising children, communicating with others, helping each other. Religion and religious mysteries, cults, sacraments are a form of socialization that introduces one to the traditions of a particular culture.

    Being a social institution, religion has a certain structure:

    1. Religious consciousness, including: a) religious ideology– a system of religious ideas, the development and propagation of which is carried out by religious organizations represented by professional theologians and clergy; b) religious psychology- a set of religious ideas, feelings, moods, habits, traditions inherent in believers, which are formed under the influence of carriers of religious consciousness.

    2. Religious cult- a set of symbolic actions with the help of which believers try to influence imaginary supernatural or real-life objects. The cult consists of rites, sacraments, rituals, sacrifices, divine services, mysteries, fasts, rituals, prayers, etc. Main function religious cult - bringing to the consciousness of believers certain religious ideas and meanings.

    3. Religious organizations- associations of followers of a particular religion and the emergence on this basis of a community of beliefs and rituals. The main religious organization is church- an autonomous, strictly centralized institution, served by professional clergy (clergy). Religious organizations can also be sects- associations of believers who have broken with one or another official church, changed the foundations of its doctrine and cult, or opposed themselves to the dominant religious movement. In sects, as a rule, there is no strict division into clergy and laity; missionary activity is actively carried out.

    Functions of religion as a social institution:

    1. Compensatory consisting of religious withdrawal social conflicts. Real oppression is overcome by freedom in spirit, social inequality is transformed into equality before God, disunity is replaced by “brotherhood in Christ,” the mortal turns out to be immortal, the world of evil and injustice is replaced by the “Kingdom of Heaven.” The compensatory function is especially clearly manifested in repentance and prayer. When they are performed, a special mental state of relief (satisfaction, joy, tranquility) occurs.

    2. Regulatory– religious and moral ideas, religious activities and religious organizations act as regulators of people’s behavior.

    3. Integrative– through the community of thoughts, actions, and feelings of believers, religion contributes to the unity and stability of society, as well as the formation of a new one.

    4. Communicative– religion helps expand people’s opportunities and needs for communication.