Cultural values. The concept of “cultural values”. Classification of cultural property

The world of values ​​is diverse. In axiology it is proposed various options their classifications. For example, according to Erasov’s classification, the following concepts are valuable:

§ Vital (vita – ʼʼlifeʼʼ): this is life, health, safety, well-being;

§ Social: family, discipline, hard work, enterprise, wealth, equality;

§ Political: civil liberties, law, Constitution, peace, etc.;

§ Moral: goodness, love, honor, decency, respect for elders, love for children;

§ Religious: faith, God, Holy Scripture;

§ Aesthetic: beauty, style, harmony.

A value system can develop within an individual social groups, inside cultural eras. Personal value orientations appear in every person, starting from childhood. With their help, he navigates the world of concepts that have value, and determines which concepts are more significant for him and which are less. This is how it is formed value hierarchy. Social groups living in similar conditions create a similar hierarchy of values:

1. Decency (clear conscience);

2. Friendship;

3. Successful career;

4. Material well-being;

5. Love;

6. Birth and raising of children;

7. Family happiness;

8. Prosperity and security of the country.

Over time, the value system, the hierarchy of values ​​changes, especially with significant changes in the life of society. For example: in ancient Greek culture philosophy and art were of great value, in ancient Roman culture - politics and law, in the Middle Ages - religion, in modern times - science. Hierarchy of values ​​in in this case associated with ideals of this type culture, era. Ideal- ϶ᴛᴏ a standard by which you can focus. Reference forms culture as an integrity and is one of the basic conditions for its existence and development. For example: in the Middle Ages (5th – 14th centuries), three standards of human life emerged:

1. The Christian Church named the life of Christ as its ideal, as well as the life of Christian martyrs;

2. The common people expressed the ideal in folklore, the hero of which, first of all, is a cheerful, hardworking, savvy and successful person;

3. Chivalry formed a cultural standard, based on the code of knightly virtue.

Standards and patterns established in a culture are, as a rule, fixed in the form of a cultural norm. Cultural norms- ϶ᴛᴏ rules governing human behavior, allowing or prohibiting doing something. These rules are generally accepted, expected in a certain cultural and historical society. In other words, they are established by society. Legitimacy and recognition of cultural norms are maintained both by government regulations (for example, legal laws enshrined in the Constitution) and by force. public opinion. Cultural norms include: habits, manners, customs, traditions, mores (customs that have moral significance), laws, taboos. The set of these elements is usually called normative cultural system.

Cultural norms are divided into several types:

1. Institutional norms - ϶ᴛᴏ norms recorded in any official documents and supported by the authorities. Οʜᴎ are expressed in state laws, criminal codes, and church decrees.

2. Ethnographic norms. They are unofficial in nature and develop spontaneously in the form of a mass custom of doing one way and not another. Οʜᴎ often coincide with ethnic traditions.

3. Conventional norms. They are created in the process of a social contract and often do not have the force of law. These include rules of neighborly behavior, norms of friendly relationships, and norms of etiquette.

4. Reference standards. Serve as role models. Most often, religious or artistic norms are created this way.

Let us briefly describe some cultural norms:

Customs- ϶ᴛᴏ mass patterns of actions selected by society that are recommended to be followed. Customs do not require mandatory implementation(for example, Roman commanders in most cases turned to the priests on the eve of a battle and began it only after receiving a favorable prediction). Custom most often manifests itself at the everyday level of people’s behavior - the distribution of roles and functions in the family, the attitude towards the older generation. Customs include household etiquette, ritual and ritual (visiting the graves of relatives). It is almost impossible to abolish or change a custom with the help of power. The origin of customs is associated with the characteristics of the natural environment, economic activity, and historical conditions of existence.

Tradition- ϶ᴛᴏ an established norm of behavior that remains unchanged over the centuries. Traditions, unlike customs, are necessarily replenished. Thus, playing the national anthem and raising the national flag at international sporting competitions in honor of the winner is a tradition. As a rule, observing traditions does not require an understanding of why it should be done this way and not otherwise. Traditions are very stable: their change also cannot be influenced “from above”. So, in Soviet time It was not possible to cancel the tradition of celebrating religious holidays (especially Easter). Orthodox religion, in turn, could not ban some pagan holidays (Maslenitsa, Ivan Kupala Day).

Rituals are always associated with faith and are of a religious nature.

Social Mores- a concept close to customs; they regulate not so much the behavioral side of people’s everyday culture as their ordinary level of morality and value orientations.

The totality of customs, morals, cultural traditions, along with the mentality of society (the psychological characteristics underlying people’s behavior) constitutes a way of life. Lifestyle also depends on natural conditions the existence of society, its material and technical base, system of social institutions. By studying people's lifestyles, it is possible to predict ways of changing a specific culture as a whole.

§3. Classification of culture. Culture of East and West

The problem of classifying cultures in cultural studies

All surrounding a person the world is heterogeneous and diverse. In order to organize ideas about it, in cultural studies they use the classification method. To do this, examine individual cultural phenomena, compare them and group them on some basis. There are many classifications:

§ Archaeological

In it, cultural types differ in the use of specific materials.

§ Cultural-historical

It is based on cultural differences.

§ Formational

It is based on forces of production and relations of production

§ Racial-national

It is based on a person’s belonging to different races and different nations.

§ Communication

It means that a change in the type of communication entails a change in culture. Types:

Preliterate (non-literate) culture;

Written culture;

Screen culture (since 1895 ᴦ.);

Information Technology(cell phone, Internet);

§ Religious

This includes pagan culture, biblical culture, atheistic culture.

§ Social classification

Let's consider some types, types and forms of this classification. Types of culture- ϶ᴛᴏ a set of rules, norms, behavior patterns of people, which are varieties of more general culture. Those. types of culture are parts of one whole. This includes ethnic, national cultures, subcultures, counterculture, official culture, marginal culture.

Ethnic culture (briefly). Ethnicity is formed on the basis of cohabitation large group people in a single territory, the extreme importance of defense against common enemies, as well as the similarity of economic activities. On this basis, a common language, customs, mores, ways of managing, and religious ideas are formed, which forms a single ethnic culture.

The national type of culture is a transformed version ethnic culture. National culture is a synthesis of the cultures of various social strata and groups of the corresponding ethnically homogeneous society. Fundamentally national culture, in addition to ethnic characteristics, economic interest and the desire for state unification.

Subculture- the culture of a certain part of society, which has specific features and characteristics, but does not contradict development dominant culture society. Differences may be religious, age, professional, etc., but in terms of the bulk of the elements, the culture of the subculture is very close to the basic one. Examples of subcultures: the culture of the intelligentsia in the 19th century, the Old Believers, the culture of youth.

Counterculture- ϶ᴛᴏ the culture of a certain part of society, which has specific features and is clearly opposed to the culture of society as a whole. Example: counterculture of the criminal world, the hippie movement in 60. XX century Hippie culture was a counterculture until the government European countries fought against this trend of youth. After government agencies stopped persecuting hippies and softened their policies towards them, the aggressiveness of this youth movement disappeared. Now hippies can be defined as a subculture.

An important concept that forms the idea of ​​the structure of culture is the concept official culture. Official culture is usually called culture, which is transmitted from above and is recognized (most often tacitly) by the majority of society as a certain standard.

Marginalized- ϶ᴛᴏ that part of society that has lost its social connections, has broken away from cultural roots (customs, traditions), gotten rid of the peculiarities of speech of its own culture, but has not joined and has not mastered the culture of another layer of society, has not fit into the new socio-cultural situation (for example , a village resident comes to Moscow to work).

Typological characteristics of the West and the East

Regional classification:

§ West (currently: Europe, North America, past: Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome);

§ East (currently: China, countries of the Arab-Islamic and Indo-Buddhist world);

§ North - West);

§ South (African continent, Oceania, Melanesia).

International law and Russian legislation provide several definitions of the concept " cultural values". For the first time, the definition of “cultural property” was formulated in the 1954 Hague Convention “For the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict”. According to this Convention, the following items are considered cultural property, regardless of their origin and owner:

• a) valuables, movable or immovable, that have great importance for the cultural heritage of each people, such as monuments of architecture, art or history, religious or secular, archaeological sites, architectural ensembles which, as such, are of historical or artistic interest, works of art, manuscripts, books, other objects of artistic, historical or archaeological significance , as well as scientific collections or important collections of books, archival materials or reproductions of property mentioned above;
• b) buildings whose main and actual purpose is the preservation or display of movable cultural property referred to in paragraph (a), such as museums, large libraries, archive storage facilities, as well as shelters intended for the preservation in the event of armed conflict of movable cultural property referred to in paragraph (a);
• c) centers in which there is a significant amount of cultural values ​​indicated in points (a) and (b), the so-called centers of concentration of cultural values." Dracha G.V. Culturology. - Rn/D, 2000. P. 37.

Along with the 1954 Convention, a broad definition of the concept of “cultural property” was given in the 1964 UNESCO Recommendation “On measures to prohibit and prevent the illicit export, import and transfer of ownership of cultural property.” From the point of view of this Recommendation, “cultural property is considered to be movable and immovable property of great importance for the cultural heritage of each country, such as works of art and architecture, manuscripts, books and other objects of interest from the point of view of art, history or archeology , ethnological documents, typical specimens of flora and fauna, scientific collections and important collections of books and archival documents, including music archives". It is significant that it is in this Recommendation that for the first time the division of cultural property into two categories is indicated: movable and immovable. Steshenko L. A.. Protection of historical and cultural monuments in the USSR // Soviet State and Law.

M. 1975. - No. 11. pp. 17-24.

The division of things into two categories, namely immovable and movable, was known in Roman law and in the Middle Ages. In relation to movable property, the well-known formula “movable property follows the person” (“mobilia personam sequuntur”) was applied. Exclusively movable cultural property became the subject of regulation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention "On the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property." According to Article 1 of the Convention: “for the purposes of this Convention, cultural property is property of a religious or secular nature which is considered by each State to be of archaeological, prehistoric, historical, literary, artistic and scientific significance.” It should be noted that the meaning of this definition for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, and science is within the purview of the State Party to the Convention. It follows that it is within the competence of each state to determine the list of categories of cultural property. Dyachkov A.N. Monuments of history and culture in the system of the objective world of culture. Monuments and modernity. -M., 2007.P.251.

In Russian legislation, for the first time, the concept of “cultural values” was enshrined in the Law of the Russian Federation of October 9, 1992 No. 3612-1 “Fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on culture” and was formulated as “moral and aesthetic ideals, norms and patterns of behavior, languages, dialects and dialects national traditions and customs, historical toponyms, folklore, arts and crafts, works of culture and art, results and methods scientific research cultural activities buildings, structures, objects and technologies, historically and culturally unique territories and objects that have historical and cultural significance." Fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on culture: Law of the Russian Federation of October 9, 1992 N 3612-I

(as amended on December 1, 2014)

In 1988, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(hereinafter referred to as the USSR) ratified the 1970 UNESCO Convention and, in accordance with it, the Law of the Russian Federation “On the Export and Import of Cultural Property” (hereinafter referred to as the Law) was adopted, which more clearly delineates the categories of items that relate to cultural property. In accordance with this law, cultural values ​​are understood as “movable objects of the material world located on the territory of the Russian Federation, namely:

• -cultural values ​​created by individuals or groups of individuals who are citizens of the Russian Federation;
• -cultural values ​​that have important for the Russian Federation and created on the territory of the Russian Federation by foreign citizens and stateless persons living on the territory of the Russian Federation;
• -cultural values ​​discovered on the territory of the Russian Federation;
• -cultural values ​​acquired by archaeological, ethnological and natural scientific expeditions with the consent of the competent authorities of the country where these values ​​originate;
• -cultural values ​​acquired as a result of voluntary exchanges;
• -cultural assets received as a gift or legally acquired with the consent of the competent authorities of the country where these assets originate." On the export and import of cultural assets: Law of the Russian Federation of April 15, 1993 No. 4804-1 (as amended on July 23, 2013 )

The “objects of the material world” mentioned above are listed in another article of the Law, in accordance with which “cultural values ​​include the following categories of objects:

• 1. Historical values, including those associated with historical events in the life of peoples, the development of society and the state, the history of science and technology, as well as those related to the life and work of outstanding personalities (statesmen, politicians, public figures, thinkers, scientists, literature, artists);
• 2. Objects and their fragments obtained as a result of archaeological excavations;
• 3. Artistic values, including:
  • - whole paintings and drawings self made on any basis and from any materials;
  • - original sculptural works from any materials, including reliefs;
  • - original artistic compositions and installations from any materials;
  • -artistically designed religious objects, in particular icons;
  • -engravings, prints, lithographs and their original printed forms;
  • -works of decorative and applied art, including art products made of glass, ceramics, wood, metal, bone, fabric and other materials;
  • -products of traditional folk arts and crafts;
  • -components and fragments of architectural, historical, artistic monuments and monuments of monumental art;
• 4. Old books, publications of special interest (historical, artistic, scientific and literary), separately or in collections;
• 5. Rare manuscripts and documentary monuments;
• 6. Archives, including photo, phono, film, video archives;
• 7. Unique and rare musical instruments;
• 8. Stamps, other philatelic materials, separately or in collections;
• 9. Ancient coins, orders, medals, seals and other collectibles;
• 10. Rare collections and specimens of flora and fauna, objects of interest to such branches of science as mineralogy, anatomy and paleontology;
• 11. Other movable items, including copies having historical, artistic, scientific or other cultural significance, as well as those taken under state protection as historical and cultural monuments." On the export and import of cultural property: Law of the Russian Federation of April 15, 1993 No. 4804-1 (as amended on July 23, 2013)

Thus, this Law exhaustively stipulates almost all items that may directly or indirectly relate to cultural values.

Despite the fact that international law and Russian legislation provide several definitions of the concept of “cultural property,” the general specifics remain unchanged: cultural heritage forms a set of material and spiritual cultural values ​​of other eras that are subject to preservation, revaluation and use of existing achievements. The concept of “cultural values” covers both material objects and spiritual human activity. The means of labor and its material products, works can have cultural value spiritual creativity, philosophical ideas, scientific achievements, traditions, moral and legal norms, etc.

At the heart of any human society, as at the basis of any human culture, lie the values ​​characteristic of representatives of a given community of people.

Experts' opinion

American cultural anthropologists K. Kluckhohn And F. Strodbeck values ​​were called “complex, grouped principles in a certain way that give harmony and direction to the various motives of human thinking and activity in the course of solving common human problems" .

Concept of cultural values

Mastering the values ​​of the surrounding world, a person relies on the traditions, norms, and customs established in his culture and gradually forms a system of fundamental and generally accepted values ​​that serve as a guide in his life. On this basis, each culture develops its own value system, reflecting its specific position in the world.

Moral values – these are moral and aesthetic ideals, norms and patterns of behavior.

Scientific values– these are the results and methods of scientific research into cultural activities that have historical and cultural significance.

Historical values– these are buildings, structures, objects and objects of worship, technologies, historically and culturally unique territories and objects.

Among the variety of values, cultural values ​​are especially distinguished, since they are most closely related to the nature and characteristics of each specific human culture.

Cultural values- this is a certain objective object, which, being in the possession of a private person, group of persons or state, appears to be a universal (outstanding universal) value

Cultural assets usually include:

• languages;
• dialects and dialects;
• national traditions and customs;
• historical toponyms;
• folklore;
• arts and crafts;
• works of culture and art.

Cultural values ​​are divided into two groups.

• 1. Outstanding works of intellectual, artistic and religious creativity: outstanding architectural structures, unique works of crafts, archaeological and ethnographic rarities.
• 2. A set of proven principles for the coexistence of people: morals, customs, stereotypes of behavior and consciousness, assessments, opinions, interpretations, etc. These cultural values ​​lead to the integration of society, increased mutual understanding between people and mutual assistance.

Both of these groups of cultural values ​​constitute the “core” of any culture and determine its unique character.

In progress intercultural communications there are significant differences in how the same values ​​are perceived by representatives different cultures. However, among the variety of different perceptions, one can distinguish a group of those that coincide both in the nature of their assessments and in content. Such values ​​are called universal, or universal.

Universal values- this is a material object (object) in which the content of spiritual value is revealed, significant for wide range subjects - both individuals and various social groups (classes, corporations, religious denominations, classes, peoples, nations or all of humanity). The universal nature of these values ​​is due to the fact that their main features are based on the biological nature of man and the universal properties of social interaction.

There are a number of reasons that determine the presence of cultural values:

• the category of value is formed in human consciousness by comparing different phenomena;
• By comprehending the world, a person decides for himself what is important to him in life and what is not, what is essential and what is unimportant, what he can do without and what he cannot do without. As a result, his value attitude towards the world is formed, according to which all objects and phenomena are considered by him according to the criterion of importance and suitability for his life;
• Each object receives its own assessment and represents a certain value, on the basis of which a corresponding attitude towards it is formed. As a result, a person’s general value attitude to the world is formed, in which certain phenomena in people’s lives have meaning for them. certain meaning and significance.

Cultural values ​​play a significant role in human life. They determine his relationship with nature, society, his immediate environment and himself. In accordance with values, information is selected in the process of communication and social connections are established.

Cultural values ​​are of great practical importance in intercultural communications. There are usually four main areas of cultural values: life, ideology, religion And artistic culture.

In the context of intercultural communication, the most important of these areas is the sphere of everyday life, since this is historically the first area of ​​the emergence and existence of cultural values. It is important to note that awareness of cultural values ​​occurs precisely in the process of intercultural communications, i.e. when meeting with representatives of other cultures, when differences in their value orientations appear.

Case Study

An American student met an Arab girl who came with her brother to study in the USA. Let's say the young man knows the values ​​of Arab society, in which case he knows that arab man considers it his duty to protect his sister's virtue. In his relationship with a girl, his behavior should not contain even a hint of a possible close relationship. If the American youth is not familiar with the values ​​of Arab society, he will not hide his sympathy and will unintentionally offend him with his overt hints in the presence of his brother.

In modern philosophical literature, the concept of value is used in different meanings. At the same time, the most common is a broad interpretation of value, in which it is difficult to identify the specifics and content of the concept.

Using conceptual and terminological analysis, four specific approaches to determining value can be identified. However, they are all very contradictory.

1. Value is identified with a new idea, acting as an individual or social reference point. Indeed, value is fixed and designated through certain life concepts. Its content is revealed with the help of a specific set of ideas. However, value can in no way be identified with an idea, because there is a significant fundamental difference between them.

Ideas can be true or false, scientific or religious, philosophical or mystical. They are characterized by the type of thinking that gives them the necessary impulse. The main criterion in in this regard- the degree of truth of an idea.

As for values, they also guide human activity in a certain direction, but not always with the results of knowledge. For example, science claims that all people are mortal. This does not mean that every individual perceives this irrefutable judgment as an unconditional good. On the contrary, in the sphere of value behavior, a person seems to refute the unconditionality of the given judgment. A person in his behavior can reject the finitude of his existence. Moreover, the traditions of some cultures refute the idea of ​​human mortality.

A person himself determines what is sacred to him, what shrines are dear to him. However, many spiritual absolutes among people are identical, the same. It has long been known that a person can have life attitudes that are immeasurably dear to him. However, a generally accepted word that would consolidate this concept, did not have. It appeared only in the 19th century. Philosophers called the unshakable innermost orientation in life value. This is something without which a person cannot understand a full life. Researchers mean by value what is sacred for a particular person, what is for me personally...

A person does not always strive to live according to science. On the contrary, many are wary of its purely speculative recommendations and want to immerse themselves in the warm world of dreams, disdaining generally valid realities. People often act as if they are immortal. Man scoops vital energy in that it essentially opposes a cold scientific postulate. Therefore, value is something other than spiritualizing truth.

2. Value is perceived as a common subjective image or idea that has a human dimension. Most likely, it would be unjustified to identify value with a subjective image, with an individual preference that arises as opposed to an analytical, universal judgment. Of course, the range of values ​​in any culture is quite wide, but not unlimited. A person is free to choose one or another orientation, but this does not happen as a result of absolute self-will. In other words, values ​​are determined by the cultural context and contain a certain normativity.

Facts, phenomena, events occurring in nature, society, and the life of an individual are realized not only through a logical system of knowledge, but also through the prism of a person’s attitude to the world, his humanistic or anti-humanistic ideas, moral and aesthetic norms. Although values ​​are more subjective, and scientific truths are objective, they are not always opposed to each other. For example, I can hardly prove that good is good. However, on the other hand, commitment to goodness is a deep human need, and not just my individual choice. Cognition and evaluation are not the same thing, but this does not mean that they are fatally separated.

3. Value is synonymous with cultural and historical standards. People constantly compare their actions with their goals and generally accepted norms. In history, various ideals, absolutes and sacred things collide. In every culture, its value nature is revealed, that is, the presence in it of persistent value orientations.

For example, technocratic consciousness invites people to follow social engineering recipes. Society as a whole seems to them to be a grandiose machine where all human connections are smoothly running. However, people often act contrary to these imperatives. Technocrats bitterly state: “Man is uncontrollable!” Many therefore refuse to consider science as the only and all-powerful means of solving any human problems. They even reject science as a way to achieve harmony, along the paths of a rationally designed world order.

Values ​​are also more flexible than cultural and historical standards. Within the same culture, a change in value orientations may occur. American culturologist Daniel Bell in his work “Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism” showed that throughout the historical fate of the capitalist formation, value orientations radically changed from the Protestant ethic to modernism, that is, a set of new life-practical attitudes.

4. Value is associated with a type of “worthy” behavior, with a specific lifestyle. It seems possible to challenge the fourth interpretation of value as a direct association with a style of behavior. Values ​​are not always directly reflected in social practice. In other words, one can have speculative ideals. Certain orientations may not be supported by real actions and, therefore, may not be embodied in life style. Let's say an individual perceives kindness as an unconditional value, but real good deeds does not commit.

The variety of interpretations of the central, for axiology, concept of “value” is due to differences in solving the problem of the relationship between ontological-epistemological-sociological, objective-subjective, material-ideal, individual-social. Therefore, in relation to the characteristics of the value system, it gives rise to a variety of axiological interpretations of the world of culture, interpretations of the structure, position and role of values ​​in the sociocultural space.

However, the basic problem for axiology is the problem of justifying the possibility of the existence of values ​​in the structure of being as a whole and their connection with objective reality. From this point of view, value, as it were, draws all spiritual diversity to the mind, feelings and will of man. It characterizes the human dimension public consciousness, because it is passed through the personality, through her inner world. If an idea, for example, is a breakthrough to comprehend certain aspects of existence, individual and public life, then value is rather a personally colored attitude towards the world, arising not only on the basis of knowledge and information, but also one’s own life experience person.

A person compares his behavior with a norm, an ideal, a goal, which acts as a model, a standard. The concepts of “good” or “evil”, “beautiful” or “ugly”, “righteous” or “unrighteous” can be called values. In turn, the views and beliefs of people associated with them are value ideas that can be assessed as acceptable or unacceptable, optimistic or pessimistic, actively creative or passively contemplative.

It is in this sense that the theoretical orientations that determine human behavior are called value-oriented.

Spiritual culture includes, on the one hand, the totality of the results of spiritual activity, and on the other, the spiritual activity itself. Any culture may have norms that stand out from customs and acquire independent existence, or are specially developed for cases of specialized human behavior. These can be political or economic, technical or technological, moral or legal norms, etc. Such norms may not have a ritual or ceremonial nature, but they are sanctioned in a certain way and act in the same way as customs - in a prohibitive or permissive manner.

Morality arises after the myth goes into the past, where a person internally merged with the life of the collective and was controlled by various magical taboos that programmed his behavior at the level of the unconscious. Now a person requires self-control in conditions of relative internal autonomy from the team. This is how the first moral regulations arise - duty, shame and honor. With an increase in a person’s internal autonomy and the formation of a mature personality, such a moral regulator as conscience arises. Thus, morality appears as internal self-regulation in the sphere of freedom, and moral requirements for a person grow as this sphere expands. Developed morality is the realization of human spiritual freedom, regardless of the external expediency of nature and society.

Today it has become fashionable to talk about culture. Some argue that society is losing it year by year, some, on the contrary, argue that culture is degenerating and becoming more multifaceted. Is it so? Let's figure out what these are cultural values ​​and try to answer the question of what happens to them.

What is culture

In Latin, the word "cultura" originally meant "cultivation." How did it happen that over time the term changed its meaning? In fact, the meaning of the word “culture” remains the same. Upbringing, development and education is the cultivation of the human soul.

It was culture that helped man move from a primitive communal tribe, first to an agrarian revolution, and subsequently to a cultural revolution. Today the concept includes various areas of human activity, being a set of skills, abilities and products of self-expression. Cultural values ​​are an integral part of the life of society. Let's take a closer look at them.

Cultural values ​​- what are they?

Oddly enough, this concept can be interpreted in different ways. First option: cultural values ​​are the moral principles of a person. It is according to established patterns of behavior that a person lives and thinks. But when these boundaries of moral norms are violated, a person is automatically recognized as uncultured. Moreover, this does not interfere with his life, but sometimes it can shock those around him.

The second interpretation is the most popular. Cultural assets are buildings, paintings, objects, technologies and objects. Everything that can be seen or understood. All this knowledge and the material product of human activity helped our society make a rapid leap in its development.

The third option for the meaning of cultural values ​​is a product of human activity that is hidden from our view in people’s heads. This includes knowledge, science, skills and scientific values.

Well, the latest interpretation of the cultural values ​​of society is languages, traditions, crafts, folklore. All that is why we consider ourselves a civilized society with a rich history.

Do different countries have the same or different cultural values?

If you look at the interpretation of the term itself, everything becomes clear. Each country has its own history, set of laws and, as a result, unique culture. Accordingly, values ​​will be different everywhere. Why did it happen? Countries developed in different conditions, and the religions in them were also different.

But it is human beliefs that make up a huge layer of culture. Our country has been pagan for a long time, and this could not but affect modern society. Russians have been considered barbarians for many centuries, and now foreigners who have never been to our country and only know about it from news reports have the same opinion.

But this does not mean that our ancestors did not have culture. The pagan faith demanded not only strict submission to the gods, but also the creation of temples, totems and monuments. And when polytheism was replaced by monotheism, people did not abandon their heritage. They simply remade the Byzantine faith, adapting it to our country. Thus, it turned out that in the process of various evolutions and revolutions, people and their consciousness changed.

What are cultural norms?

Usually this concept refers to standards of behavior. Moreover, like the cultural values ​​of peoples, the norms are different in all countries. They are expressed in the form of rewards and punishments and are regulated by the state. In our country, cultural norms are not just lip service. They are written in the Constitution, which limits human rights within reasonable limits. But at the same time, it gives him maximum freedom of action within reason. In case of non-compliance with cultural norms, a person will face regulated punishment.

Human cultural values

There are many peoples and nationalities on earth. Each individual person has a set of cultural values ​​and norms. What are they like? It is clear that each country has its own concept of culture, but most of the values ​​are still similar:

• The desire to know our history and understand the essence of what is happening to us and our homeland. This value called “love for the Fatherland” is embedded in every person. After all, only a person who knows his history can create future countries.
• Knowledge of the characteristics of national creativity. Folklore, crafts, traditions and customs are rarely studied in school. This knowledge is given to a person in the family. And only thanks to them can a person better know who he is and what he does in this world.
• Religion is one of the basic cultural values ​​of a person. It is she who sets the unwritten rules, not regulated by the constitution, by which all people should live.

Cultural values ​​of the state

Citizens of one country represent a single group united by general history and general future. The values ​​of the entire society as a whole include the cultural norms of each individual person. What's the difference then? In global thinking. The rulers of countries can change cultural values ​​if they want. But people have a very bad attitude towards such changes, so they happen infrequently.

The main task of any state is to preserve and enhance cultural values. That is, it should help talented people to realize themselves, scientists to make discoveries, and architects to build buildings. Today, intangible cultural values ​​are fading into the background, and the product of human activity that brings some benefit to society and the state comes to the fore.

How cultural values ​​are protected

Today, many states are concerned about the increasing growth of vandalism. That is why many of them united and set themselves the goal of protecting cultural values. Thus, it was decided to protect buildings, paintings, and sculptures. Yes it most of heritage of any country. It is from these monuments that have survived to our time that we can judge how our ancestors lived.

But culture is not only material values. This term refers to both our mentality and language. And few people monitor the purity of their speech. Today there is so much slang in the Russian language that it is difficult to talk about the culture of the language. This also applies to religion. If churches, mosques and other religious buildings are protected and, as a result, preserved, then the faith itself changes from year to year.

Perspective for the development of cultural values

As mentioned above, the world does not stand still. Culture and cultural values ​​change and transform. But you shouldn't regret it. This is a natural stage of development. You need to believe that everything that happens is always for the better. Of course, this does not mean that you need to kill cultural monuments of past centuries with your own hands.

Although sometimes you can be very surprised to see how quickly street art began to be considered art. It’s not bad when artists paint gray, boring houses, but when they start creating on churches or monuments, it makes you shiver. To prevent this from happening, every person must understand the line of what is permitted and not cross it.

The cultural assets of the 21st century generation are largely located online. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine how the collection, systematization and preservation of this type of creativity will occur in the future. Perhaps, separate servers will be created where paintings by artists, songs and films will be stored; they will be the rebirth of modern museums.