Material culture. Its elements. Material culture and its features (structure)

— its production, distribution and preservation. In this sense, culture is often understood artistic creativity musicians, writers, actors, painters; organizing exhibitions and directing performances; museum and library activities etc. There are even narrower meanings of culture: the degree of development of something (work or food culture), characteristics of a certain era or people (Scythian or Old Russian culture

), level of education (culture of behavior or speech), etc.

In all these interpretations of culture, we are talking about both material objects (paintings, films, buildings, books, cars) and intangible products (ideas, values, images, theories, traditions). Material and spiritual values created by man are called material and spiritual culture, respectively.

Material culture Under material culture

usually refers to artificially created objects that allow people to adapt in an optimal way to natural and social conditions of life. Items material culture

are created to satisfy diversity and are therefore considered as values. When speaking about the material culture of a particular people, they traditionally mean such specific items as clothing, weapons, utensils, food, jewelry, housing, and architectural structures. Modern science, by studying such artifacts, is able to reconstruct the lifestyle of even long-vanished peoples, of which there is no mention in written sources.

With a broader understanding of material culture, three main elements are seen in it. Actually objective world,
created by man - buildings, roads, communications, devices, objects of art and everyday life. The development of culture is manifested in the constant expansion and complexity of the world, “domestication”. It is difficult to imagine the life of a modern person without the most complex artificial devices - computers, television, mobile phones, etc., which lie at the basis of modern information culture. Technologies -
means and technical algorithms for creating and using objects of the objective world. Technologies are material because they are embodied in specific practical methods of activity. These are specific skills, abilities, . Culture preserves these skills and abilities along with knowledge, transmitting both theoretical and practical experience from generation to generation. However, unlike knowledge, skills and abilities are formed in practical activities, usually a present example. At each stage of cultural development, along with the complexity of technology, skills also become more complex.

Spiritual culture

Spiritual culture unlike material, it is not embodied in objects. The sphere of her existence is not things, but ideal activity associated with intellect, emotions, etc.

Ideal forms the existence of culture does not depend on individual human opinions. This - scientific knowledge, language, established moral norms, etc. Sometimes this category includes the activities of education and mass communication.
Integrating forms of spirituality cultures connect disparate elements of public and personal consciousness into a whole. At the first stages of human development, myths acted as such a regulating and unifying form. In modern times, its place has been taken, and to some extent -.
Subjective spirituality represents the refraction of objective forms in the individual consciousness of each individual person. In this regard, we can talk about the culture of an individual person (his knowledge base, ability to make moral choices, religious feelings, culture of behavior, etc.).

The combination of spiritual and material forms common cultural space as a complex interconnected system of elements constantly transforming into each other. Thus, spiritual culture - the ideas, plans of the artist - can be embodied in material things - books or sculptures, and reading books or observing objects of art is accompanied by a reverse transition - from material things to knowledge, emotions, feelings.

The quality of each of these elements, as well as the close connection between them, determines level moral, aesthetic, intellectual, and ultimately - cultural development of any society.

The relationship between material and spiritual culture

Material culture- this is the entire area of human material and production activity and its results - surrounding a person artificial environment.

Things- the result of human material and creative activity - are the most important form of its existence. Like the human body, a thing simultaneously belongs to two worlds - natural and cultural. Typically, things are made from natural materials, and become part of the culture after human processing. This is exactly how our distant ancestors once acted, turning a stone into a chop, a stick into a spear, the skin of a killed animal into clothing. At the same time, the thing acquires a very important quality - the ability to satisfy certain human needs, to be useful to a person. We can say that a useful thing is the initial form of existence of a thing in culture.

But things from the very beginning were also carriers of socially significant information, signs and symbols that connected human world with the world of spirits, texts that store information necessary for the survival of the collective. This was especially true for primitive culture with its syncretism - integrity, indivisibility of all elements. Therefore, along with practical utility, there was symbolic utility, which made it possible to use things in magical rites and rituals, as well as giving them additional aesthetic properties. In ancient times, another form of thing appeared - a toy intended for children, with the help of which they mastered the necessary cultural experience and prepared for adult life. Most often these were miniature models of real things, sometimes having additional aesthetic value.

Gradually, over thousands of years, the utilitarian and valuable properties of things began to separate, which led to the formation of two classes of things - prosaic, purely material, and things-signs used for ritual purposes, for example, flags and emblems of states, orders, etc. There has never been an insurmountable barrier between these classes. So, in the church, a special font is used for the baptismal ceremony, but if necessary, it can be replaced with any basin of suitable size. Thus, any thing retains its sign function, being a cultural text. With the passage of time everything higher value things began to acquire aesthetic value, so beauty has long been considered one of their most important characteristics. But in industrial society, beauty and utility began to be separated. Therefore, many useful, but ugly things and at the same time beautiful expensive trinkets appear, emphasizing the wealth of their owner.

We can say that a material thing becomes a carrier spiritual meaning, since it fixes the image of a person of a particular era, culture, social status, etc. Thus, a knight's sword can serve as an image and symbol of a medieval feudal lord, and in modern complex household appliances it is easy to see a person beginning of the XXI V. The toys are also portraits of the era. For example, modern technically sophisticated toys, including many models of weapons, quite accurately reflect the face of our time.

Social organizations are also the fruit human activity, another form of material objectivity, material culture. Becoming human society took place in close connection with the development of social structures, without which the existence of culture is impossible. In primitive society, due to the syncretism and homogeneity of primitive culture, there was only one social structure - the clan organization, which ensured the entire existence of man, his material and spiritual needs, as well as the transfer of information to subsequent generations. With the development of society, different social structures began to form, responsible for everyday practical life people (labor, public administration, war) and for satisfying their spiritual needs, especially religious ones. Already in the Ancient East, the state and cult were clearly distinguished, and at the same time schools appeared as part of pedagogical organizations.

The development of civilization, associated with the improvement of technology and technology, the construction of cities, the formation of classes, required a more effective organization public life. As a result, social organizations appeared in which economic, political, legal, moral relations, technical, scientific, artistic, and sports activities were objectified. In the economic sphere, the first social structure became a medieval workshop, which in modern times was replaced by manufactory, which has developed today into industrial and trading firms, corporations and banks. In the political sphere, in addition to the state, there appeared political parties and public associations. The legal sphere created the court, the prosecutor's office, and legislative bodies. The religion has formed an extensive church organization. Later, organizations of scientists, artists, and philosophers appeared. All cultural spheres existing today have a network of social organizations and structures created by them. The role of these structures increases over time, as the importance of the organizational factor in the life of mankind increases. Through these structures, a person exercises control and self-government and creates the basis for life together people, to preserve and pass on the accumulated experience to the next generations.

Things and social organizations together create a complex structure of material culture, in which several important areas are distinguished: Agriculture, buildings, tools, transport, communications, technology, etc.

Agriculture includes plant varieties and animal breeds developed as a result of selection, as well as cultivated soils. Human survival is directly related to this area of material culture, since it provides food and raw materials for industrial production. Therefore, people are constantly concerned about breeding new, more productive species of plants and animals. But proper soil cultivation is especially important, maintaining its fertility at a high level - mechanical tillage, fertilization with organic and chemical fertilizers, land reclamation and crop rotation - the sequence of cultivating different plants on one piece of land.

building- places where people live with all the diversity of their activities and life (housing, premises for management activities, entertainment, educational activities), and construction- results of construction that change the conditions of economy and life (premises for production, bridges, dams, etc.). Both buildings and structures are the result of construction. A person must constantly take care to maintain them in order so that they can successfully perform their functions.

Tools, fixtures And equipment designed to provide all types of physical and mental labor of a person. Thus, tools directly affect the material being processed, devices serve as an addition to the tools, equipment is a set of tools and devices located in one place and used for one purpose. They differ depending on what type of activity they serve - agriculture, industry, communications, transport, etc. The history of mankind testifies to the constant improvement of this area of material culture - from a stone ax and a digging stick to modern complex machines and mechanisms that ensure the production of everything necessary for human life.

Transport And communication routes ensure the exchange of people and goods between different areas And settlements, contributing to their development. This area of material culture includes: specially equipped means of communication (roads, bridges, embankments, runways airports), buildings and structures necessary for the normal operation of transport (railway stations, airports, ports, harbors, gas stations, etc.), all types of transport (horse-drawn, road, rail, air, water, pipeline).

Connection closely related to transport and includes postal services, telegraph, telephone, radio and computer networks. It, like transport, connects people, allowing them to exchange information.

created by man - buildings, roads, communications, devices, objects of art and everyday life. The development of culture is manifested in the constant expansion and complexity of the world, “domestication”. It is difficult to imagine the life of a modern person without the most complex artificial devices - computers, television, mobile phones, etc., which lie at the basis of modern information culture. knowledge and skills in all listed areas of activity. The most important task is not only the further improvement of technology, but also the transfer to next generations, which is possible only through a developed education system, and this indicates a close connection between material and spiritual culture.

Knowledge, values and projects as forms of spiritual culture.Knowledge represent a product cognitive activity a person, recording information received by a person about the world around him and the person himself, his views on life and behavior. We can say that the level of culture of both an individual and society as a whole is determined by the volume and depth of knowledge. Today, knowledge is acquired by a person in all spheres of culture. But gaining knowledge in religion, art, everyday life etc. is not a priority. Here knowledge is always associated with a certain value system, which it justifies and defends: in addition, it is figurative in nature. Only science as a special field spiritual production aims to obtain objective knowledge about the world around us. It arose in antiquity, when there was a need for generalized knowledge about the world around us.

Values - ideals that a person and society strive to achieve, as well as objects and their properties that satisfy certain human needs. They are associated with a constant assessment of all objects and phenomena surrounding a person, which he makes according to the principle of good-bad, good-evil, and arose within the framework of primitive culture. Myths played a special role in the preservation and transmission of values to subsequent generations, thanks to which values became an integral part of rites and rituals, and through them a person became a part of society. Due to the collapse of myth with the development of civilization, value orientations began to be consolidated in religion, philosophy, art, morality and law.

Projects - plans for future human actions. Their creation is connected with the essence of man, his ability to carry out conscious, purposeful actions to transform the world around him, which is impossible without a previously drawn up plan. This implements creativity man, his ability to freely transform reality: first - in his own consciousness, then - in practice. In this way, man differs from animals, who are capable of acting only with those objects and phenomena that exist in the present and are important for them at a given time. Only man has freedom; for him there is nothing inaccessible or impossible (according to at least, in fantasy).

IN primitive times this ability was fixed at the level of myth. Today, projective activity exists as a specialized activity and is divided according to what projects of objects should be created - natural, social or human. In this regard, design is distinguished:

technical (engineering), inextricably linked with scientific and technological progress, which occupies an increasingly important place in culture. Its result is the world of material things that create the body of modern civilization;
social in creating models of social phenomena - new forms government system, political and legal systems, methods of production management, school education, etc.;
pedagogical on creating human models, ideal images children and students who are shaped by parents and teachers.
Knowledge, values and projects form the foundation of spiritual culture, which includes, in addition to the mentioned results of spiritual activity, the spiritual activity itself in the production of spiritual products. They, like the products of material culture, satisfy certain human needs and, above all, the need to ensure the life of people in society. For this, a person acquires the necessary knowledge about the world, society and himself, and for this, value systems are created that allow a person to realize, choose or create forms of behavior approved by society. This is how the varieties of spiritual culture that exist today were formed - morality, politics, law, art, religion, science, philosophy. Consequently, spiritual culture is a multi-layered formation.

At the same time, spiritual culture is inextricably linked with material culture. Any objects or phenomena of material culture are based on a project, embody certain knowledge and become values, satisfying human needs. In other words, material culture is always the embodiment of a certain part of spiritual culture. But spiritual culture can only exist if it is materialized, objectified, and has received one or another material embodiment. Any book, picture, musical composition, like other works of art that are part of spiritual culture, need a material carrier - paper, canvas, paints, musical instruments, etc.

Moreover, it is often difficult to understand what type of culture - material or spiritual - a particular object or phenomenon belongs to. Thus, we will most likely classify any piece of furniture as material culture. But if we'll talk The 300-year-old chest of drawers on display in the museum should be discussed as an object of spiritual culture. A book, an indisputable object of spiritual culture, can be used to light a stove. But if cultural objects can change their purpose, then criteria must be introduced to distinguish between objects of material and spiritual culture. In this capacity, one can use an assessment of the meaning and purpose of an object: an object or phenomenon that satisfies the primary (biological) needs of a person belongs to material culture; if it satisfies secondary needs associated with the development of human abilities, it is considered an object of spiritual culture.

Between material and spiritual culture there are transitional forms - signs that represent something different from what they themselves are, although this content does not relate to spiritual culture. The most famous form of sign is money, as well as various coupons, tokens, receipts, etc., used by people to indicate payment for all kinds of services. Thus, money - the general market equivalent - can be spent on buying food or clothing (material culture) or purchasing a ticket to a theater or museum (spiritual culture). In other words, money acts as a universal intermediary between objects of material and spiritual culture in modern society. But there is a serious danger in this, since money equalizes these objects among themselves, depersonalizing objects of spiritual culture. At the same time, many people have the illusion that everything has its price, that everything can be bought. In this case, money divides people and degrades the spiritual side of life.

Material culture characterizes the process of human activity in the material sphere of society. It is a measure of a person’s essential forces in material-transforming activities, which covers:

a) the sphere of material production;

b) the material sphere of life;

c) transformation of human physical nature.

Analysis of material culture as social phenomenon It is usually complicated by the fact that the difference between material and spiritual culture is always relative. There is no such thing as “pure” material or spiritual culture. Material culture always has a spiritual side, for not a single process in material culture occurs without the active participation of consciousness. On the other hand, spiritual culture always has its material side, material elements of spiritual production.

But it is not legitimate to limit material culture only to material objects. Material culture is a characteristic of people's activities to change and transform material social relations.

Material culture is characterized by qualitative achievements, which mean the degree of human mastery of the forces of nature, the perfection of tools, the technical level of production, the skills and ability of people to use technology, the organization of labor, and servicing the material and everyday needs of people. The core of material culture is the tools of labor, which in the modern era are increasingly becoming the material embodiment of the achievements of science; in fact, material culture began with them. Special role belongs to engineering and technology, as well as the means of mass communication, or communication (print, radio, cinema, television, computer and laser technology).

IN in a broad sense The word technology represents the skills and techniques of any activity and coincides in meaning with skill, art (the term “technology” itself is of ancient Greek origin and once meant precisely art or craftsmanship). Technology permeates the entire culture and as a term is often used as a synonym for it, for example: sports equipment, construction equipment, musical equipment, etc. We can say that all material culture is organized or exists according to the principle of technology. However, spiritual culture is also organized according to a purely technical principle. This is also facilitated by the development of means of communication and mass communication, which are essentially means of influencing people’s consciousness, means of manipulating their psyche. Modern means of communication are so developed that they represent an artificial nervous system of the planet, and this makes it possible to manage countries and regions.

The level of culture is also characterized by the achieved skills and knowledge that are used in the process of material production. In this sense, people often talk about the “work culture” of different eras.

Material culture is human spirituality embodied in the form of a thing; it is the human soul realized in things; it is the materialized and objectified spirit of humanity.

Material culture includes, first of all, various means material production. These are energy and raw materials resources of inorganic or organic origin, geological, hydrological or atmospheric components of material production technology. These are various means of consumption and products of material production. These are various types of material-objective, practical human activity. These are material-object relations of a person in the sphere of production technology or in the sphere of exchange, i.e. production relations. However, it should be emphasized that the material culture of humanity is always broader than existing material production. It includes all types of material assets: architectural values, buildings and structures, means of communication and transport. In addition, material culture stores the material values of the past - monuments, archaeological sites, equipped natural monuments, etc. Consequently, the volume of material values of culture is wider than the volume of material production, and for this reason there is no identity between material culture in general and material production in particular.

Material culture in general, like material production in particular, is assessed by cultural studies from the point of view of the means and conditions they create for improving human life, for the development of his “I”, his creative potential, the essence of man as a rational being, from the point of view of growth and expansion opportunities for the realization of human abilities as a subject of culture. In this sense, it is clear that both various stages evolution of material culture, and in specific historical social methods of material production, different conditions arose and means of different levels of perfection were created for the implementation creative ideas and the intentions of man in an effort to improve the world and himself.

Harmonious relationships between material and technical capabilities and the transformative intentions of man in history do not always exist, but when this objectively becomes possible, culture develops in optimal and balanced forms. If there is no harmony, the culture becomes unstable, unbalanced, and suffers from either inertia and conservatism, or utopianism and revolutionism.

MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL CULTURE is a form of classification of facts and cultural phenomena, popular in philosophy of the 19th and most of the 20th centuries. At the same time, material culture is understood as the variety of objects produced by humans (tools, machines, instruments, household items, clothing, jewelry, religious and ritual objects, weapons, musical instruments etc.), as well as natural things and phenomena modified by human influence (for example, processed natural objects or so-called man-made landscapes). Spiritual culture includes the entire set of products of human spiritual and intellectual activity that do not have an objective, material character: religious systems, myths, philosophical concepts, scientific theories, morals and customs, systems of social organization, etc. This also often includes the historically emerging spiritual makeup of human groups (the school of “psychology of peoples”).

The most obvious distinction between material and spiritual culture is made in the Marxist tradition, where the most important elements of material culture - machines, tools, technologies - constitute the main content of the “productive forces” of society at every historical stage its development. The productive forces, in turn, together with the “relations of production” form the “base”, which determines the “superstructure”, i.e. the entirety of the spiritual culture of society, including political and legal systems, as well as scientific knowledge. Paradoxically, it turns out that elements of spiritual culture - such as scientific knowledge - are included in the productive forces (“science as a productive force”). This contradiction in classical and Soviet Marxism remained unresolved. The idea of dividing material and spiritual culture was subsequently used as the basis for the distinction between culture and civilization, characteristic of German philosophy, in particular for the philosophy of life and neo-Marxism of the Frankfurt School. If the very spirit of classical and then Soviet Marxism assumed the primacy of material culture over spiritual, then in the opposition of culture and civilization the predominant role of spiritual culture was emphasized. The so-called criticism of culture is a product of the crisis consciousness of the fin de siècle. Here, culture was understood as the totality of the spiritual products of humanity, embodied in philosophy, art, and science; by civilization, the totality of materialized (and thereby “dead”) products of human creativity.

The division of material and spiritual culture, very popular in the era of the dominance of the evolutionist paradigm, is now considered obsolete in the social sciences. A three-part classification of culture is more common: material, spiritual and social. Material culture means everything that relates to a person’s relationship with his environment, the satisfaction of the needs of his existence, the technological side of life, etc., spiritual culture means subjective aspects of life, ideas, attitudes, values and modes of behavior oriented towards them , under social culture– relationships of people to each other, systems of statuses and social institutions(Kroeber A., Kluckhohn S. Culture. A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. Cambr. (Mass.), 1952, p. 98). In this case, spiritual culture plays a predominant role. Social behavior and artifacts (social and material culture) are interpreted as objectified products of ideal normative systems and knowledge systems of various kinds that make up spiritual culture. But it is precisely this approach that allows us to connect material and spiritual cultures and introduce artifacts into the context of research in the social sciences. Material culture thus becomes a systematic source of information for social and cultural history and cultural studies, and the purpose of the analysis is to identify systems of ideas that give rise to certain artifacts and modes of behavior within a particular culture (Hodder I. The Meaning of Things: Material Culture and Symbolic Expression. L., 1989). Another aspect of the relationship between ideas and things that interests cultural anthropologists is the intercultural “existence” of artifacts. They can be considered as “carriers” of certain ideas, values and norms in intercultural interactions. At the same time, they can gain relative autonomy; their value and meaning can be transformed in different cultural and social contexts (Thomas N. Entangled Objects: Exchange, Material Culture and Colonialism in the Pacific. Cambr. (Mass.), 1991).

In modern philosophy, the opposition between material and spiritual cultures has lost its former role. The works of postmodern theorists (J. Baudrillard, J. F. Lyotard and others), firstly, questioned the separation of subject and object characteristic of traditional philosophy and, secondly, put the focus on reproduction, rather than production , as early capitalist modernity did. The place of use value, reflecting the objectivity of an object and its connection with material needs, was taken by “sign” value. Real objects have “lost their credibility” because they are all simulated and reproduced artificially. Codes give rise to hyperrealities (holography, virtual reality, etc.). This leads to the disappearance of limbs of any kind; the place of “ideas” and “things” is taken by tautological “simulacra” (Baudrillard). Along with the disappearance of these limbs, the basis for contrasting the facts of material and spiritual cultures also disappears. These concepts themselves become redundant. At the same time, in more traditional philosophical contexts, as well as in the social sciences (see, for example: Kogan L.N. Sociology of Culture. Yekaterinburg, 1992) they retain their heuristic value.

L.G. Ionin

New philosophical encyclopedia. In four volumes. / Institute of Philosophy RAS. Scientific ed. advice: V.S. Stepin, A.A. Guseinov, G.Yu. Semigin. M., Mysl, 2010, vol.II, E – M, p. 348.

Spiritual and material culture are two parts of one whole. Studying one area is almost impossible without studying another. Material culture implies any material achievements of mankind. For example, technical inventions, architecture, household items. Objects of material culture greatly help archaeologists in their work. Based on material finds, they can reconstruct the life of our ancestors, their way of life. Material culture is the most important part of life, which changes and improves every year, in accordance with the development of mankind.

Spiritual culture is also the main indicator of the civilization of people. What does this concept include? First of all, any ideas, discoveries, concepts. For example, spiritual culture includes psychology and various works of art. This definition includes everything that has been achieved by the power of human thought and talent.

Material culture is inextricably linked with the spiritual aspect. Before constructing any building or creating any other physical object, the intellectual strength of people and their imagination were expended. At the same time, objects related to spiritual culture are also expressed through material objects. For example, man created philosophical work and introduced him to his readers through a book.

The spiritual aspect, like material culture, also helps to understand. First of all, this is the merit of archaeologists who study ancient works of art and achievements of thought. However, spiritual culture is studied not only by historians. For example, ancient beliefs, fairy tales, and legends were carefully analyzed in their works by the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, as well as his followers. Spiritual culture allows us to understand how our forefathers saw the world, what their psychology was, which is very valuable for a deep and thoughtful knowledge of history.

What more can be said about these two concepts? Material and spiritual culture existed, of course, in different versions of development, in almost all times. Even ancient people carved drawings on the walls of caves, symbolizing animals, some everyday actions, for example, hunting.

Material culture, like spiritual culture, has experienced ups and downs many times throughout the history of mankind. Priorities also changed. That is, one culture became more important than another. It is interesting to consider people's interest in the spiritual and material aspects using the example of the well-known concept. This famous concept helps to analyze why one aspect of culture becomes more important than another. A person deprived of basic material goods, that is, shelter, food and means to help protect oneself, is unlikely to be interested in the spiritual side of life. A person who has satisfied all his basic needs is already drawn to such areas as art, philosophy, and religion.

Material culture clearly shows how much a person was able to adapt to natural conditions. Without this aspect, the existence of a state, and even a person, is practically impossible. However, spiritual culture is also very important for the entire society. Without it, man would have remained a barbarian. Spiritual culture sets certain standards of behavior, forms ideals, and develops a sense of beauty. Without it, no civilization is unimaginable. However, spiritual culture is not entertainment for the elite, because it includes education, cinema, and various books. The harmony of material objects and the achievements of human intelligence helps to achieve a high level of existence, both for an entire state and for an individual.

Material culture is based on a rational, reproductive type of activity, is expressed in an objective form, and satisfies the primary needs of a person.

Composition of material culture:

Work culture (equipment and tools, energy sources, production facilities, communication systems and energy infrastructure);

Everyday culture is the material side of human life (clothing, furniture, utensils, household appliances, utilities, food);

Culture of the topos or place of settlement (type of dwelling, structure and characteristics of settlements).

Material culture usually refers to artificially created objects that allow people to optimally adapt to natural and social conditions of life.

Objects of material culture are created to satisfy various human needs and are therefore considered as values. When speaking about the material culture of a particular people, they traditionally mean such specific items as clothing, weapons, utensils, food, jewelry, housing, and architectural structures. Modern science, by studying such artifacts, is able to reconstruct the lifestyle of even long-vanished peoples, of which there is no mention in written sources.

The actual objective world created by man is buildings, roads, communications, instruments, objects of art and everyday life. The development of culture is manifested in the constant expansion and complexity of the world of artifacts, the “domestication” of the human environment. It is difficult to imagine the life of a modern person without the most complex artificial devices - computers, television, mobile phones, etc., which lie at the basis of modern information culture.

Technologies are means and technical algorithms for creating and using objects of the objective world. Technologies are material because they are embodied in specific practical methods of activity.

Technical culture is the specific skills, abilities, and abilities of a person. Culture preserves these skills and abilities along with knowledge, transmitting both theoretical and practical experience from generation to generation. However, unlike knowledge, skills and abilities are formed in practical activity, usually by example. At each stage of cultural development, along with the complexity of technology, skills also become more complex.

Culture and technology

Engineering and technology as terms and concepts. Technology and sociocultural values: the categorical imperative of culture in technical civilization. The essence and values of technology-and-technology. The nature of the connection between technology and nature, society, and culture. Models for further development of technology. Assessments of technology as part of culture: optimism and pessimism. Model of a new type of person and technical culture.

The word technology (from ancient Greek - skill, art) designates or defines a set of means, created by people to optimize your activities.

According to the philosopher of technology F. Rappe, two types of definitions of the concept “technology” can be distinguished. Technology in the narrow sense of the word is engineering activity, in the broad sense it is any effective methodological human activity. It should be borne in mind that in the Western tradition the concept of technology is closer to the concept of technology or, according to F. Rappe, technology in the broad sense of the word. In the East, the word “technology” means a machine. For example, educational technology is a typical concept of Western culture, but in the East there may be a cultural protest about this: the formation of a person is likened to a machine conveyor belt?!

Why in place of technology in the sense Greek culture comes the technique-and-technology of Western culture? Equipment and technology have existed as long as humanity can remember. Among the diversity of ancient civilizations there is one type of technical toolkit; technology here is something from the periphery of culture. Only in recent centuries, within the framework of the Euro-Christian culture of the West, technology and technology have acquired special significance. Technology becomes a universal phenomenon modern world, significantly influencing changes in all human cultures. Supporters of technical civilization argue that the origins of modern global problems are not so much the consequences of the last decades of spontaneous development of technology, but rather the boundless faith of Christianity in human genius, the Christian idea of a man-god, the co-creator of the God-man. Hence the optimistic opinion about the fundamental solvability of global problems of our time.

Modern understanding The technique involves several characteristic points. Technology is of artificial origin, that is, it is created by people in the process of materializing ideal models. The technique is rational, that is, it can be reproduced quite quickly in a given community. It has a utilitarian character, that is, technology is related to the practical needs of people and serves to satisfy these needs.

Technology is a cultural phenomenon that exists on the border between nature and culture. Technology is a part of nature transformed by man to influence nature. The social character of technology is given by its dependence on the level of cultural development of society. Technical progress, expanding human capabilities to influence natural processes, entails sociocultural changes. Cultural appropriation new technological advances by a specific community are quite complex and time-consuming; the process of assimilation is determined by cultural traditions, including the sociocultural attitude towards the perception of innovation.

Technology is a set of methods for processing and producing objects and things. Technology is a systemic education; it is related to the technology and culture of a given community. Among the features of the technology are: rational methods activities; promoting the development of society; subordination to the dominant values of a given culture.

So, technology is the tools of human activity, and technology is a system developed by man effective methods its purposeful activities.

Technology and sociocultural values. In the conditions of modern technical civilization, the evolution of technology, primarily the introduction of new technologies, depends on the sociocultural factors of a given community. Thus, the traditional form of social competition between peoples (“if you want to live peacefully, prepare for war”) asserts the priority of the development of the military-industrial complex. There is sufficient basis for the statement: the essential characteristics of technology most often become a reflection of the community’s value system. The variability in the use of technology poses the leading moral problem of technical civilization - the responsibility of scientists for the possible application of their discoveries in technology. Hence the categorical imperative of culture in technical civilization: the principles of humanism and ecology are higher than economic efficiency, technical feasibility and political gain. It should be noted that in traditional societies known to modern science, technology is always subordinated to the values of life. It is possible that violations of this principle became one of the reasons (or the reason) for the disruption of ecological balance in the local region and the disappearance of civilizations and cultures.

Rapid development technology, its transformation into a powerful component of modern planetary civilization, gave rise to different interpretations of the essence and value of technology-and-technology. The problem of the consequences of computerization of society and the creation of artificial intelligence is one of the most popular in discussions. The controversy between supporters and opponents led to the realization of the need for new research into the nature of the mind, consciousness (spirit) of man. Special place in modern philosophical literature there are works devoted to the assessment of technology; Before designing and financing innovative projects, it is necessary to know the totality of consequences of the introduction of a particular innovation. Understanding the problems of axiology of technology at a philosophical level has acquired general cultural significance. In particular, it is noted that perfect planning of technical progress is impossible even in the conditions of a technocratic society, which, as is known, turns the individual into an element of a machine. The position has gained recognition that the criteria for the rationality of planning technical innovation should be developed outside the technical, economic or political factors. The fact is that the sociocultural problem of technology is its use, and technology is used, as a rule, in the interests of a group of people.

Among the leading philosophical problems of technology and technology is the question of the origin of technology and the nature of its connection with nature, society, and culture. So, there are concepts about merger modern science and techniques in which the property of primacy is given natural sciences or technology, respectively, the consequence is technology or natural science. This discussion has a fundamental basis: scientific and technological progress begins with large-scale theoretical understanding or random discoveries, which are then given the appearance of a solid justification. If the latter, then it is possible that after testing the next technical innovation created by inquisitive technology fans at random, there will be no one to justify it. Thus, the action of a life-threatening thing that falls into the hands of a child for whom the whole world is a toy can lead to a fatal result for many. The paradigm of technological progress as a conveyor belt for improving human existence, limitless in its capabilities, developed by European thinking a couple of centuries ago, was based on the ideas of unlimited natural resources and the perfection of man, existing autonomously from nature. These ideas have been refuted by life. Is there a future for a technical person? Is there a future for culture, society, civilization with or without technology? These and similar philosophical and worldview questions give different answers.

For the existence of culture, it is fundamentally important to pose fundamental questions on the problem, indicating that humanity is growing out of technical childhood. In this sense, the need to develop ideals (models) for further development is essential. This problem is normative and brings the philosophy of technology to the level of sociocultural forecast. The traditional model (the model of the scientific and technological revolution) is based on the principles of technological determinism, popular in the West. She is characterized by her belief in limitless possibilities the human mind, which solved and will solve any problems of development. The general model dominant in the West is based on limiting technical projects for reasons of their possible harm. Technological progress is inevitable because it is vital, but technical, economic and political personnel must be educated and controlled by external institutions. This model focuses on the development of sociocultural methods for assessing technology. The constraint model is based on the need to limit human needs and the scope of technological innovation. The limitation criterion proposes a threshold beyond which the satisfaction of needs or the use of technology does more harm than good. Radical (not very popular among sensible people) versions of this model propose a return to the way of life of our ancestors for all of humanity or the population of the so-called developing countries, where technology has not yet become a necessity of everyday culture.

Technology as a part of culture is considered in a range of optimistic and pessimistic opinions. The concept of technical (technological) determinism includes opposing interpretations. Technocratic (power of technology) interpretations tend to be associated with optimistic views of the role of technology in culture. Negative sociocultural consequences of introducing achievements scientific and technological progress technocratic thinking prefers to explain the inhibition of technological development on the part of culturally backward people or groups. Catastrophic changes in the life and culture of the peoples of entire continents, brought about by scientific and technological progress, are hushed up or interpreted differently. An essential component of an optimistic interpretation of the role of technology in society and culture is technocracy - a theory of power based on scientific and technical knowledge and foresight, and the scientific and technical competence of the political elite. The founder of the theory of industrial society, R. Aron, believes that the reality of the modern world is not a set of different social systems, but a single industrial society with a variety of ideologies. As the industrial component develops, ideological differences will move to the periphery of culture. The contradictions of scientific and technological progress, the culturologist believes, are not an essential, but a temporary characteristic inherent in the initial stage of development. At the next stage of development, in the so-called information society, the negative aspects of the technical environment will be overcome. Pessimistic views, represented mainly by philosophers, writers, artists and leaders of religious organizations, view technology as a threat to humanity. Critics of technical civilization emphasize its mechanicalness, unnaturalness, and the suppression of personality, nature, and life by technology. Pessimists - supporters of views about the negative impact of technology on socio-cultural processes - have been calling for a return to traditional types economic activity of a person with strict control of the life of the individual by the community. In the last century, a variant of active counteraction to technical culture appeared. Opponents of technical civilization called for organizing a counterculture to fight against the repressive mind of “power-knowledge” and the alienation of man.

Representatives of technocracy - scientists, economic and political leaders - joined in criticizing the negative aspects of technical civilization. They drew attention to environmental problems, to the transformation of man into a servant and hostage of the spontaneous development of the technical environment. According to scientists, the source of the problem is man’s inability to use technology for the benefit of humanity and nature. It is necessary to form a different interaction between man and technology, a different type of person, capable of integrating with people, existing in unity with technology and nature.

One of the components of the model of a new type of person is technical culture. The technical background of the existence of modern man is the same for all humanity. It assumes two normative parameters of people’s behavior: handling equipment according to the operating instructions and a certain tradition of using technical means. Abilities and attitudes towards work, technological discipline and labor discipline, forms of hard work and work skills are derived from the cultural traditions of society. The conscious inclusion of technical culture in the sociocultural characteristics of a particular community and individual allows us to understand and accept technology as an organic part of human interaction with humanity and nature.