Public consciousness and its structure: levels and forms

As can be seen from the above, human society is a complex and evolving system. Its functioning and development is influenced by many factors. Which of them are decisive? Subjective - from the sphere of consciousness, from the sphere of spiritual life (ideas, views) or objective - from the sphere of the material side of society. In other words, "social being" or "social consciousness" determines the historical process.

social life - this is the real process of people's lives, those relations that develop in society in the process of social production. This is the economic, material side of society.

Public consciousness - it is a complex system of feelings, views, ideas, theories, which reflect social life. In this concept, we abstract from everything individual, personal and fix only those feelings, views, ideas that are characteristic of a given society as a whole, or for a particular social group. It, as the spiritual side of the historical process, performs two main functions. Firstly, it reflects social being, in relation to which it is secondary. Secondly, it has an active feedback effect on social life.

Public consciousness has a certain structure, which is understood as the dismemberment of consciousness into constituent elements. It has two main levels: everyday and theoretical (scientific).

Ordinary consciousness characteristic of the mass "everyday" social consciousness. As a rule, it reflects not the essence of processes and phenomena, but their external manifestation. It develops spontaneously in the process of everyday life, more often it contains not knowledge of the world itself, but only an emotional assessment of reality, that is, the feelings and moods of people, on the basis of which appropriate social attitudes and value orientations are developed.

theoretical consciousness acts as a specially developed doctrine, theory. It does not “slide” over the surface of the phenomena of reality, but reflects their essence. It is not “neutral”, but reflects the positions of certain strata of society, that is, it acts as an ideology.

Ideology - it is an integral system of ideas and views, reflecting the material and spiritual conditions of people's lives, as well as goals aimed at strengthening or changing the relations existing in society. Its peculiarity is sloganism, focus on mass consciousness, when the factor of faith prevails over the factor of knowledge.

Another area of ​​public consciousness is social psychology, which is a system of feelings, emotions, beliefs, which reflect the material and spiritual conditions of human existence. The determining factors in the development of social psychology are the state of the economy, culture, education, traditions, and the standard of living.

The main forms of social consciousness include:

- political consciousness - a set of ideas, theories, views, feelings, moods, reflecting the attitude of social groups, parties, and society towards power. Key value - power. Political consciousness includes political ideology and psychology. The first finds its theoretical expression in the Constitution, in program statements, in party slogans. The second includes the feelings, moods of a particular social group, or society as a whole;

- legal consciousness - it is a system of mandatory norms, rules of conduct, expressed in legal laws. These are various feelings and understanding of freedom, justice and injustice, rights and obligations in the state. Key value - law;

- moral consciousness includes feelings, ideals, interests and views of people associated with the public good, as well as knowledge of the norms, rules of behavior in society, customs and traditions, assessment of people's behavior in public opinion.

Ordinary moral consciousness or moral includes

feelings and understanding of duty, good and evil, honor, dignity, conscience and

happiness. moral ideology or ethics acts as a theoretical

expression of moral interests, as the doctrine of morality and norms

social behavior, that is morals.

The core value of morality is good, and morals duty;

- aesthetic consciousness these are special feelings, tastes, interests, ideas,

ideals and theories. The ordinary level includes aesthetic feelings,

ordinary understanding of beauty. Theoretical level or aesthetics - this

reality. Key value - the beauty;

- religious consciousness - these are social feelings, ideals, interests, views associated with the recognition of the otherworldly, supernatural world.

It is based on belief in supernatural forces and worship of them.

Ordinary level - religion. Each of them includes three elements:

Mythological, that is, belief in the real existence of supernatural

Emotional, that is, religious feelings;

Normative, that is, the requirements for the observance of religious rites.

Theoretical level - theology, that is, the doctrine of God. Key value

- sacred.

Since the end of the 19th century, more and more assertions have been made in the public consciousness human values ​​- respect for human life and dignity, for a different way of life and thought, a virtuous attitude towards people and nature.

Consciousness at a certain stage in the development of society acquires relative independence. Public consciousness acts not only as an ideal image of society, and as something that regulates activity, but also as social life itself.

Spiritual-conscious factors function as a common spiritual field, a mechanism for the exchange of spiritual values. This is how the unity of the way of life, personality traits develops (social character according to Fromm, social types ...).

The life of society includes not only the material, but also the spiritual moment. Idealistic directions, in contrast to materialistic ones (for example, Marxism), consider the spiritual life to be primary for society. So, the Russian religious philosopher S.L. Frank (1877-1950) wrote: “what is a family, state, nation, law, economy, etc. In a word, what social being is and how a social phenomenon takes place - this cannot be seen at all in the visible world of physical being, it can be known only through inner spiritual participation and empathy with invisible social reality. … Public life is by its very essence spiritual, not material.” (Frank S.L. Spiritual Foundations of Society. Introduction to Social Philosophy.-Paris, 1930.-P.126).

Social consciousness is the spiritual side of the social process, a holistic spiritual phenomenon that has a certain internal structure:

A. Levels of public consciousness:

• 1) epistemological aspect (according to the depth of reflection of the world):
  • a) ordinary consciousness;
  • b) scientific and theoretical consciousness.
• 2) sociological aspect (by internal structure):
  • a) social psychology;
  • b) ideology.

B. Forms of social consciousness:

1) philosophy; 2) religious consciousness; 3) scientific; 4) art (aesthetic consciousness); 5) morality; 6) political consciousness; 7) legal consciousness.

These are traditionally distinguished forms of social consciousness. Today, the legitimacy of singling out such forms of social consciousness as ecological or economic and some. others

Levels of public consciousness

Ordinary consciousness is everyday, practical consciousness. Reflects being at the level of phenomena, not essence, superficially, not systemically.

Theoretical consciousness is a deep, systematized reflection of the life of society. It is the result of scientific research.

Social psychology - a set of public feelings, emotions, moods, experiences, wills, etc., resulting from: a) the direct influences of life and b) as a result of ideological influences (for example, spreading rumors, media exposure, etc. can distort the actual state of affairs in society, form negative socio-psychological complexes among the masses, or vice versa). For example, hatred of fascists was the result of a direct reaction to aggression; Thus, there were 260 concentration camps in Belarus during the Great Patriotic War. But the "deification" of Stalin was the result of ideological propaganda, not the result of direct acquaintance with him. Social psychology can be characterized by such concepts as apathy or enthusiasm, impatient desire for quick success and purposefulness, aggressiveness or tolerance, etc.

At the level of social psychology, collective ideas are formed, which the sociologist E. Durkheim considered as a special kind of “social fact”. It is important for representatives of power to know the collective ideas about power that exist in society. It is also interesting to know the collective ideas of this power about the existing society.

The spiritual sphere of society's life affects not only the level of social psychology, but also the theoretical and ideological level. Thus, speaking about the conditions for the existence of power, P. Bourdieu introduces the concept of the field of politics, in which the exchange and production of political and symbolic capital takes place. Those. social being in the broad sense of the word includes not only material factors, but also social consciousness.

Ideology is a theoretical systematized consciousness expressing the interests of a particular group (national, religious, class ideologies). The concept of "ideology" arose in the 17th and 18th centuries, introduced by the French philosopher and economist Destu de Tracy (1754-1836).

Helvetius (1715-1771) wrote: "If the physical world is subject to the law of motion, then the spiritual world is no less subject to the law of interest."

If for scientific knowledge the main thing is the reflection of objective laws as they are, the desire to abstract from the interests of knowing subjects, then for ideology, on the contrary, the main thing is the expression and protection of the interests of the group. Ideology serves to consolidate the positions of certain groups in society.

Forms of public consciousness

Forms of social consciousness are those forms in which a person is aware of himself as a person, i.e. social being, in which, through which a person imagines nature and society.

Functions of public consciousness: 1. cognitive; 2. expression of interests of social groups; 3. socio-practical (people on the basis of common ideas are united in groups, separated from other groups).

At the early stages of social development, the forms of social consciousness were not differentiated. Gradually, with the development of society, morality, art, religion, philosophy and science, political and legal consciousness arose. The emergence of private property, classes, and the state played a decisive role in this.

Forms of social consciousness are divided according to:

• 1) the subject of reflection;
• 2) the method of reflection;
• 3) according to the function they perform (what needs are satisfied).

Philosophy. He studies the universal, essential laws that nature, society, man and his thinking obey. They are interested in philosophy in their integrity and unity (see the topic “The subject of philosophy, its role in culture”).

Religion. A specific reflection of the world through its division into earthly and otherworldly, recognition of the leading role of the latter. Religious consciousness is characterized by an emotional-fantastic reflection of reality, based on belief in the supernatural. Functions: compensatory (comfort); integrative (unification of believers); regulatory (regulates the behavior of believers through religious values, worship); communicative (carried out in a joint cult activity); help function.

The science. The subject is the natural, social, inner world of a person. Way of reflection - reflection in concepts, laws, theories. Functions - cognitive, practical-effective. (See the topic "Scientific knowledge").

Aesthetic consciousness and art. The main concept is “beautiful” (the opposite is “ugly”). It reflects this side of the world. Art is a way of mastering reality in the form of artistic images. Functions - satisfaction of aesthetic needs; teaches to give aesthetic assessments; education through emotional impact on a person; communicative, cognitive. The artistic image reveals the general in the individual. In the individual, the artist reveals the typical (in science, on the contrary, they go through the knowledge of the individual to the general).

Morality and moral consciousness. Morality regulates relations between people, based on public opinion, as well as on a person’s own conscience. Moral norms have always existed in a person, being formed in the course of his socialization, they changed with the development of society. In its ideological part, morality is reflected in various ethical teachings. Evaluation categories of morality: good and evil, justice, duty, conscience, honor, dignity, happiness, meaning of life. Functions: to protect a person from what threatens life, health, safety, dignity, well-being of people.

Law and legal consciousness. Law is the will of the ruling class elevated to law. In a democratic state, law must, to one degree or another, express the interests of all social groups. Arises with the emergence of class society and the state to regulate relations between classes and other social groups, between states. A system of legal laws is being formed. Law is the form in which all other relations legitimize themselves - economic, family, etc. Legal consciousness is one of the forms of civilization. Legal consciousness is closely connected with moral and political consciousness.

Politics and political consciousness. They arise with the emergence of the state as a system of government. At the level of political ideology, this is a system of views on how society should be organized, its state structure, what policy should be implemented. There may be groups with different political ideologies in a state. Political consciousness reflects political being. (See the topic “Political Sphere of Society Life”).

The spiritual situation of our time

With the development of capitalism, mass machine production appears and, accordingly, mass culture and mass consciousness develop (J. Ortega y Gasset).

Previously, there was a class, hierarchical structure of society. The estate had its privileges and responsibilities. Capitalism destroys this structure. A person falls out of a collapsing community and becomes “atomic”, can move through social groups (professional, territorial, etc., which is associated with the concept of an “open” society. Individualism and a democratic form of government are developing, which are necessary for a competitive market economy. These processes lead to a certain “equation” of people.

As early as the 18th century, the concept of "public opinion" arose. Today it is an important element of social and political life, although it is vague and heterogeneous like the "public" itself. Further, the media develop, for them there are no social boundaries. Spiritual standards are being formed, advertising and fashion are beginning to play an important role. The phenomenon of mass consciousness arose and was realized. The concept of "mass" is associated with 1. a large number of people and 2. with a certain equation of individuals in it. There is a possibility of manipulation of mass consciousness. True, many processes in the mass consciousness are spontaneous, not everything is controlled by the elite.

The concept of "mentality" is becoming popular. It is defined in different ways, in particular, as not clearly formulated and not quite conscious manners of thinking, values ​​that are inherent in an era, a group, etc. Mentality is a kind of automatism of thought that people use without noticing them. These are impersonal attitudes of consciousness. They are all the more coercive in that they are not recognized. Ideas are just the visible part of the "iceberg" of our consciousness. The mentality goes back to the Latin "mens" and denotes a way of thinking, a way of thinking, a state of mind, a character. The method of studying mentality is its comparison with another mentality. Mentality is always a kind of integrity ("worldview"), the unity of opposite principles - natural and cultural, emotional and rational, irrational and rational, individual and social. Mentality is a deep layer of collective consciousness, in fact what E. Durkheim called "collective unconscious". Mentality necessarily includes values, but is not limited to them.

As Ortega y Gasset noted, mass consciousness is characterized by disrespect for competence and spirituality, unjustified claims to a high position, and relativity of values. The “mass man” feels “like everyone else”, is not critical of himself, does not strive for self-improvement, there is no spiritual discipline, there are no spiritual authorities for him, but he successfully solves material problems, is energetic and self-confident. Such a person readily responds to the calls of those who formulate a simple slogan, is not interested in serious reasoning (ie, he has a superficial style of thinking).

In the 20th century, a new type of culture emerged. It is characterized as postmodern. This is the age of cultural diversity. There is a mass and elite culture. But they have common features. Samples of classical art are clear, definite, they clearly express the aesthetic and moral ideal. Classics sought to awaken the best features in a person. Modern non-classical art is characterized by the blurring of the ideal. The ugly state of anxiety is emphasized. The appeal to the area of ​​the subconscious (aggressiveness, fears) is characteristic. The problem of the century - reflections on the nature of human aggressiveness, the ratio of rational and irrational, issues of sexuality, life and death (the problem of euthanasia). Today, art does not seek to understand and express the inner essence, but reflects what is, what is important is not the product, but the packaging. Particular attention is paid to the theme of freedom, but in the 19th century the issues of political and civil freedoms were of concern, today it is the problem of the inner freedom of a person. Culture is seen solely as a means of entertainment and consumer enjoyment. The show has become an absolute phenomenon of modern culture and its only actual form. The object of art acts as a commodity, the subject that perceives it - as a consumer.

Dominated by consumer values, which are beginning to come into sharp conflict with the values ​​of nature. The main thing - income, profits, growth rates, is not a value of the pursuit of environmentally sustainable development. Modern civilization is a civilization of "power". The values ​​of non-violence and interaction are not sufficiently rooted in it. Western sociologists characterize modern man as a hedonist-individualist

Advertising. Advertising is increasingly appealing to the collective unconscious, actualizing figurative thinking and discrediting the logic of verbal thinking. Operating not with concepts, but with images leads to the dominance of stereotypes. Reliance on emotional connections between phenomena gives rise to the so-called "automatic thinking" (Moskovichi S. Age of the crowd. M., 1996. P. 114). One of the strongest means of influencing the subconscious is suggestion, which implies a decrease in the criticality of perception and therefore has the most effect on people (the well-known formula for advertising influence: attention, interest, desire, action, motive). Advertising not only takes into account the worldview, value orientations of people, but also forms them, building a certain consumer ideology.

Consumption becomes not only the "ultimate goal of being", but also the criterion of social stratification. The position of a person in society is evaluated not only not by his merits to society, but not even by what he owns, but exclusively by what and how much he consumes. There are motives of prestige and likeness. Based on far-fetched fashion, many goods become not real, but “virtual”. A system of virtual, non-genuine values ​​arises, which has nothing to do with real life. The monetary and market order began to force life. He excommunicates a person from spiritual existence, but organizes the crowd into society. The easiest and most natural way of self-affirmation in a consumer society is to consume. There is a tendency not to see the difference between the real and the unreal, to live in illusions. The personal beginning is suppressed.

In advertising products, the relationship between a man and a woman, adults and children is simplified to the level of "ritual idioms", presented as a universal distribution of roles in a given situation. Advertising refers to the established, but unconscious at the rational level, patterns of our perception, a kind of "social archetypes" of a social person.

It is interesting that in the art that is not part of show business, ordinary advertising does not work, it is still replaced by public opinion.

Today the concept of conscientious warfare has emerged. Its essence is in the struggle of various forms of organization of consciousness. The subject of defeat and destruction are certain types of consciousnesses. The carriers of consciousnesses remain, and the types of consciousnesses are forced out beyond the framework of civilizationally acceptable ones. The destruction of certain types of consciousness involves the destruction of communities, groups that are carriers of this type of consciousness. Five ways of damage: 1. damage to the neuro-brain substrate by radiation, chemicals that poison the air, food, etc.; 2. lowering the level of organization of the information and communication environment in which consciousness lives; 3. occult influence on the organization of consciousness based on the directed transmission of thought forms to the subject of defeat; 4. special organization and dissemination through communication channels of images and texts that destroy the work of consciousness (psychotropic weapons); 5. destruction of methods and forms of personal identification in relation to fixed communities, leading to a change in the forms of self-determination and to depersonalization. At the same time, mass media, cinema, etc. are widely used.

Here is a definition of the category under consideration can be given. Consciousness is presented by philosophers as the highest function, peculiar only to the human brain and associated with speech. It consists in a purposeful and generalized reflection of reality. Consciousness exists in two forms - individual and social. The latter will be discussed in more detail.

Below we will consider what levels and forms of social consciousness are distinguished by such a science as philosophy. But first I would like to note that it is an integral part of the socio-historical process and, in fact, a function of human society as a whole. It is generated by being, however, it develops according to its own laws, therefore it can both lag behind being, and even outpace it.

It is customary to single out 3 levels of the category under consideration, namely ordinary consciousness, social ideology and social psychology.

Ordinary consciousness appears spontaneously in the process of carrying out daily activities. It directly reflects the everyday (external) side of the life of society and does not have such a goal as the search for truth.

Ideology is presented as a set of theoretical views that reflect the degree of knowledge by society of this whole world and its different aspects. This level of consciousness is also called rational.

Social psychology is a system of feelings, customs, moods, motives, traditions that are characteristic of society as a whole and for various social groups. This level of consciousness is also called emotional.

At the same time, it should be noted that the interaction of these three levels of social consciousness is very complex and ambiguous. However, they are all part of the psyche, which encompasses conscious, unconscious and subconscious processes.

Well, now let's consider what, in fact, forms of social consciousness philosophy singles out. As being developed, arose and enriched to knowledge, they gradually appeared. Here is what we have today.

Forms of social consciousness: moral and legal consciousness

Morality is a system of views, ideas, norms and assessments of the behavior of the whole society, various social groups and individuals.

Law is presented as a system of certain social relations and norms, the observance of which is regulated and controlled by the state and authorities. At the theoretical level, this form is a legal ideology that expresses the interests and views of large social groups.

Forms of public religious and artistic

The basis of religious consciousness is society's belief in the supernatural. This includes various religious teachings with their ideas about the world order, the feelings and actions of believers, in particular rituals, traditions, norms of behavior, a system of prohibitions.

Artistic consciousness is presented as the spiritual activity of society in the cultural sphere. It excites, touches the strings of the soul, delivers or, conversely, dissatisfaction, prompts reflection. This includes works of literature (prose, poetry), architecture, sculpture, painting, etc.

public consciousness. Essence. Levels. Forms.

PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS- this is the spiritual life of society in the totality of feelings, moods, views, ideas, theories that reflect social life and influence it. Reflection in the spiritual activity of people of interests, representations of various social groups, classes, nations, society as a whole.

Social consciousness is a set of psychological properties inherent in society, considered as an independent integrity, a system that cannot be reduced to the sum of its constituent individuals.

Almost any society, regardless of its size, stability and degree of integration, has one or another consciousness (some of its features can also be found at the queue in the store). Historical reality, reflected in the minds of people, gives rise to social moods, ideologies, social psychologies, national characters, and so on. Those, in turn, have an effective impact on reality. Social consciousness serves as the basis of cultural activity and influences the individual psychology of each person entering the society.

The subject of social consciousness is the society, not the individual. An individual is able to invent an ideology or give impetus to a certain phenomenon of social psychology, but it will enter the public consciousness only when it “takes possession of the masses”.

Its structure: it consists of two parts - the poles of "Ideology" - conscious, theoretically processed, reflected. "Social psychology" or "mentality", which is the sphere of the collective unconscious, is characterized by concealment, depth, spontaneity. (

At the same time, "social psychology and ideology are in some contradiction with each other, but do not exist without each other" and mutually penetrate each other.

Public consciousness is part of culture in the broadest sense of the word.

Being preserved in the culture of society, social psychology / mentality reflects the historical path it has traveled. “The mentality of an individual is determined by the principles and structural features of the language and culture that determined its development and formation.< ...>Language and culture, in turn, are formed in the course of the historical development of a certain people. Thus, the historical experience, processed and deposited in the language and culture, then affects the formation of the deep features of the human psyche, mastering the world through language and culture. Way of thinking can therefore be seen as an internalized experience of linguistic and cultural history. The well-known historian P.N. Milyukov wrote about this: “The national character itself is a consequence of historical life.” What has been said in this case about the ethnos can, in our opinion, be extended to other types of societies.

The existence in culture of different parts of social consciousness is different. Ideology requires special development, cultivation, fixation (because it is based on theoretical, scientific thinking) and is therefore concentrated in a whole form in the minds of a few. The existence of social psychology / mentality is largely spontaneous (although there are ways to control, manipulate), it is inherent in all members of society.

The content of the pole of ideology are theories, scientific, religious, philosophical systems and teachings, conscious worldview. The content of the pole of spontaneous, unaccountable social psychology / mentality is mental, behavioral, emotional stereotypes; latent value installations; pictures of the world and perception of oneself in the world; all kinds of automatisms of consciousness; public performances, etc.

The mechanism of preservation and transmission of social psychology / mentality, as well as its assimilation by each new member of society, is similar to the mechanism of life of living natural languages. Through the environment (linguistic or, respectively, mental) and from older generations to younger ones. “Culture and tradition, language, way of life and religiosity form a kind of "matrix" within which the mentality is formed. The era in which the individual lives leaves an indelible imprint on his worldview, gives him certain forms of mental reactions and behavior, and these features of spiritual equipment are found in the "collective consciousness".

Public consciousness is historically changeable. An ideology can change instantly, although it always takes time to spread widely. As for mentality, representatives of the Annales School have always noted the slowness of the changes taking place in it. BF Porshnev in his "social psychology" identifies a more or less stable "mental warehouse" (for example, national character) and dynamic "mental shifts", social moods (for example, fashion).

To comprehend public consciousness, it is necessary to analyze the broadest possible cultural context: texts and objects of “material culture”, a system of social ties and relationships, everyday life and the history of everyday life. In feedback: understanding the mentality and ideology of society will help to correctly assess all the processes taking place in it, adequately perceive the behavior of its members and better understand the cultural phenomena developed by it.

Essence of public consciousness

For many centuries, heated debates around the essence of consciousness and the possibilities of its cognition have not ceased. Theologians see consciousness as a tiny spark of the majestic flame of the divine mind. Idealists defend the idea of ​​the primacy of consciousness in relation to matter. Tearing consciousness out of the objective connections of the real world and considering it as an independent and creative essence of being, objective idealists interpret consciousness as something primordial: not only is it inexplicable by anything that exists outside of it, but it is called upon to explain everything that happens in nature, history and behavior of each individual. The supporters of objective idealism recognize consciousness as the only reliable reality.

If idealism digs out the abyss between the mind and the world, then materialism seeks commonality, unity between the phenomena of consciousness and the objective world, deriving the spiritual from the material. Materialistic philosophy and psychology proceed in solving this problem from two cardinal principles: from the recognition of consciousness as a function of the brain and a reflection of the external world.

Levels of public consciousness

The structure of social consciousness is very complex: first of all, there are levels in it - ordinary-practical and scientific-theoretical. This aspect of the consideration of social consciousness can be called epistemological, since it shows the depth of penetration of the subject of knowledge into objective reality. As is known, everyday practical consciousness is less structured, more superficial than scientific and theoretical. Social consciousness at the everyday practical level manifests itself as social psychology, at the scientific and theoretical level - as an ideology. It should be emphasized that ideology is not the whole scientific and theoretical consciousness, but only that part of it that has a class character. But this will be discussed below.

The next aspect of consideration of social consciousness is according to its carrier or subject. Thus, there are types of social consciousness - individual, group and mass consciousness. The carrier of individual consciousness is an individual, the carrier of group consciousness is a social group, the carrier of mass consciousness is an unorganized group of people united by some idea, goal. For example, fans of some pop singer, regular listeners of the Mayak radio station can be attributed to the phenomenon of mass consciousness. It is sometimes said that the bearer of mass consciousness is the crowd, but many sociologists believe that it is more correct to single out both the consciousness of the crowd and the consciousness of the masses. In passing, we note that the crowd is people who are in direct contact with each other, gathered to achieve some goal, but the crowd is distinguished from the mass by direct contact, the presence of a leader and joint activities, for example, at a rally, demonstration, etc.

Forms of public consciousness

Public consciousness is a combination of various spiritual phenomena that reflect all spheres of society and the wealth of individual human life, therefore, its various forms are distinguished - moral, aesthetic, religious, legal, political, philosophical, scientific, environmental, economic, etc. Of course, such structuring is conditional, since the types, forms, levels of social consciousness are in constant interaction and mutual influence.

Analyzing public consciousness, social F pays special attention to ideology. Ideology is a system of ideas and theories, values ​​and norms, ideals and directives of action. It contributes to the consolidation or elimination of existing social relations. In its theoretical content, ideology is a set of legal, political, moral, aesthetic and other ideas that ultimately reflect the economic relations of society from the standpoint of a certain social class.

Let us dwell in more detail on the spiritual life of society. It can be understood as the sphere of being in which the objective, supra-individual reality has been transformed into an individual, subjective reality, inherent in every person.

Topic: Public consciousness: the structure of its levels, forms and functions

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University: VZFEI

Year and city: Ufa 2009

Introduction

Social philosophy as an established system of knowledge has a number of specific issues that it is designed to solve. Each philosophical system has a core, main question, the disclosure of which is its main content and essence. So, for ancient philosophers, this is a question about the fundamental principles of everything that exists, for Socrates it is connected with the principle of "know thyself", for philosophers of the New Age - how knowledge is possible, for modern positivism - what is the essence of the "logic of scientific discovery", etc. But there are general topical issues of social philosophy. Among them: "What is public consciousness as the main element of the spiritual sphere of society, why and due to what does society develop independently?". Society is a material-ideal reality, a set of generalized ideas, ideas, theories, feelings, mores, traditions, etc., in other words, what constitutes the content of social consciousness and forms a spiritual reality, acts as an integral part of social being. Consciousness is a necessary attribute of human life, and therefore its manifestations in society are universal. Public consciousness functions in a variety of levels, forms, states and types.

The subject of the work is public consciousness as the main element of the spiritual sphere of society.

The goal is to find out what significance social consciousness has in the spiritual life of society for social philosophy.

My work tasks:

Describe spiritual reality as an integral part and reflection of social life;

To reveal the structure of social consciousness: its levels, forms and functions;

Show the correlation of social psychology and ideology in society.

1. Spiritual reality as an integral part and reflection of social life

Spiritual sphere of society - is a system of relations between people, reflecting the spiritual and moral life of society, represented by such subsystems as culture, science, religion, morality, ideology, art. The study of the spiritual and moral life of society necessarily presupposes the identification of its structural elements. Such elements are called forms of social consciousness. These include moral, religious, political, scientific, aesthetic consciousness. These forms determine the corresponding subsystems of the spiritual sphere of society, differing from each other, not only in the content and way of knowing their object, but also in the time of occurrence in the process of development of society.

public consciousness - the cumulative product of the spiritual activity of society, reflecting social life in the form of spiritual and practical development of social reality and in the form of spiritual development of the surrounding world.

Public and individual consciousness are in close unity. Social consciousness is interindividual in nature and does not depend on the individual. For specific people, it is objective. Public consciousness can be defined as a public mind that develops and functions according to its own laws.

individual consciousness - this is the consciousness of an individual, reflecting his individual being and through it, to one degree or another, social being. Public consciousness is a combination of individual consciousness. Along with the peculiarities of the consciousness of individual individuals, it carries the general content inherent in the entire mass of individual consciousness. As the total consciousness of individuals, developed by them in the process of their joint activity, communication, social consciousness can be decisive only in relation to the consciousness of a given individual. This does not exclude the possibility of individual consciousness going beyond the limits of the existing social consciousness.

Each individual consciousness is formed under the influence of individual being, lifestyle and social consciousness. At the same time, the individual way of life of a person plays the most important role, through which the content of social life is refracted. Another factor in the formation of individual consciousness is the process of assimilation by the individual of social consciousness.

Individual consciousness is determined by individual being, arises under the influence of the consciousness of all mankind. The main levels of individual consciousness:

1. Initial (primary) - "passive", "mirror". It is formed under the influence of the external environment, external consciousness on a person. Main forms: concepts and knowledge in general. The main factors in the formation of individual consciousness: the educational activity of the environment, the educational activity of society, the cognitive activity of the person himself.

2. Secondary - "active", "creative". Man transforms and organizes the world. The concept of intelligence is associated with this level. The end product of this level and consciousness in general are ideal objects that appear in human heads. Basic forms: goals, ideals, faith. The main factors: will, thinking - the core and backbone element.

Social being and social consciousness - these are two sides, the material and spiritual life of society, which are interconnected in a certain relationship and interaction. The question of the relationship between social being and social consciousness is a concretization of the main question of philosophy as applied to society. Before Marxism, the dominant view in philosophy was the idea of ​​the determining role of consciousness in the life of society. In reality, however, social consciousness is nothing but “conscious being,” that is, a reflection of their social being in the spiritual life of people. The first formulation of this proposition was given by Marx and Engels in the “German ideology”: “... people who develop their material production and their material communication, along with this activity, also change their thinking and the products of their thinking. Consciousness does not determine life, but life determines consciousness. Marxism showed that the relationship between social being and social consciousness is complex, mobile and develops along with the development and complication of social life. If at the first stages of history social consciousness is formed as a direct product of the material relations of people and, as it were, “woven” into material activity, then later, with the division of society into classes, the emergence of politics, law, political struggle, social being influences the consciousness of people in a decisive way. through many intermediate links, such as the state and Gosstroy, legal and political relations, etc. At the same time, it is necessary to see and take into account the great role of social consciousness and its impact on the development of social life itself. The methodological role of social life is to teach a person to live here and now. The methodological role of social consciousness is to tell a person about how to live tomorrow. Therefore, social being is the basis for social consciousness. They are as interconnected as the past and the future.

2. The structure of social consciousness: its levels, functions and forms.

Consciousness is structurally organized, it is an integral system consisting of various elements. Sensations, perceptions, ideas, concepts, thinking form the core of consciousness. Consciousness also includes the act attention. It is thanks to the concentration of attention that a certain circle of objects is in the focus of consciousness. Feelings, emotions, intuition, goals, desires, memory are also components of the structure of consciousness. Our intentions are translated into deeds through the efforts of the will. However, consciousness is not the sum of its constituent elements, but their integral, complexly structured whole.

Public consciousness - these are views, ideas, ideas, political, legal and other theories, philosophy, morality, religion and other forms of consciousness.

Social consciousness arose simultaneously with social being and in unity with it. The main function of social consciousness is that it can reflect being and actively contribute to its restructuring (through the practical activities of people).

Public consciousness has a complex structure. It can be analyzed in epistemological aspect, when public consciousness is considered mainly in terms of content, as a reflection of reality, and in sociological , when public consciousness is studied in terms of its social conditioning, place, role, functions in public life. The epistemological aspect shows the movement from reality to consciousness, when ideas act as the result of cognition; sociological, while the aspect fixes attention on the transition from consciousness to reality, on the practical implementation of ideas,

Epistemological aspect public consciousness involves two levels - ordinary And theoretical corresponding to two levels of reflection of reality (the criterion for their differentiation is the degree of penetration into the essence of phenomena).

Ordinary consciousness arises as a person's awareness of the natural and social environment, everyday needs and needs of people. theoretical consciousness tries to understand the essence of phenomena, their natural connections and relationships. It exists in the form of a system of ideas, concepts and laws: theory is systematized knowledge. At the theoretical level, social consciousness is represented mainly by science, and on the ordinary empirical knowledge.

Sociological aspect public consciousness allows us to distinguish two areas - social psychology And ideology. The dominant feature in the delimitation of these spheres is not the knowledge of reality itself, but the attitude to this knowledge, its role in social life, its connection with the needs of specific subjects of consciousness (classes, nations, peoples) and types of social activity.

If the structure of social consciousness is approached from the point of view of its bearers, then it should be distinguished social and individual consciousness. Public consciousness is a set of socially significant, relatively stable spiritual formations of a given society; individual consciousness is a reflection of individual being, the spiritual world of a particular person. Individual consciousness cannot be directly derived from an analysis of the laws of social development. It can be revealed only on the basis of knowledge of the biography, living conditions, upbringing, taking into account the entire system of influences that the individual has experienced.

Forms of public consciousness philosophy, politics, law, morality, aesthetic consciousness, religious consciousness and science. All forms of social consciousness, except for philosophy, can be divided into two cycles with some degree of conventionality. The first includes politics, law and ethics - they are based on a single semantic core associated with the clarification of various modifications of the initial relationship between subjects (this is the relationship between people - ethics: between a person and society - law; between different social groups, up to entire states, politics). The second cycle includes aesthetics, religion (or atheism), and science. The common core here is the initial “subject-object” relationship, that is, the diverse forms of reflection by the human consciousness of its complex relationship with the world. The boundary between these cycles is conditional, especially between ethical and aesthetic categories.

3. Correlation of social psychology and ideology in society

Public psychology- a partial analogue of the ordinary level of consciousness, which presents scientific and non-scientific views and assessments, aesthetic tastes and ideas, customs and traditions, inclinations and interests, images of bizarre fantasy and the logic of common sense.

Ideology- a partial analogue of the theoretical level of consciousness, in which a systematized assessment of social reality is given from the standpoint of a certain class, party.

Social consciousness is a very complex structure in terms of education. In this regard, its division into structural elements can be carried out for various reasons. Firstly, the specificity of those aspects of reality that are reflected by public consciousness can serve as such a basis, and then we are talking about its forms; secondly, the division can be carried out in connection with the subjects of consciousness, and then, along with the consciousness of the whole society, the consciousness of large social groups and even individual consciousness should be considered. And, finally, the structure of social consciousness can be viewed from the point of view of the level, depth of reflection of social reality by public consciousness, and then social psychology and ideology are singled out as the main structural elements. With the characteristics of these elements, we will begin the structural analysis of social consciousness.

The social consciousness of each historical epoch (excluding the primitive communal system) has two levels: psychological and ideological. Public psychology there is a set of feelings, moods, customs, traditions, motives characteristic of a given society as a whole and for each of the large social groups (class, nation, etc.). Social psychology develops directly under the influence of concrete historical conditions of social life. And since these conditions are different for each of the large groups, their socio-psychological complexes inevitably differ among themselves. These specific features are especially noticeable in a class society. Of course, in the socio-psychological complexes of the opposing classes, there are common features in each country associated with its historical features, national traditions, and cultural level. It is no coincidence that we are talking about American efficiency, German punctuality, Russian optionality, etc.

Ideology there is a system of theoretical views that reflects the degree of society's knowledge of the world as a whole and its individual aspects, and, as such, it represents a higher stage in comparison with social psychology, the level of social consciousness - the level of theoretical reflection of the world. If, when analyzing the psychology of social groups, we use the epithet “public”, because there is also a psychology of age, professional, etc., then the concept of “ideology” does not need such a differentiating epithet: there is no individual ideology: it always has a social character.

It must be borne in mind that the concept of "ideology" is used in social philosophy in another, narrower sense - as a system of theoretical views of one large social group, directly or indirectly reflecting its fundamental interests. Thus, if in the first case the cognitive aspect dominates, the level of social consciousness is clarified, then in the second application, the emphasis shifts towards the value aspect, and the assessment of certain social phenomena and processes is given from narrow group positions.

If social psychology is formed spontaneously, directly under the influence of those life circumstances in which the class finds itself, then ideology primarily appears as a product of the theoretical activity of the "specially authorized" of this class - its ideologists, who, in the words of Marx, theoretically come to the same conclusions, to which the class as a whole comes practically. It is very important to note that, according to their social position, the ideologists of a class may not belong to this class, but by expressing the interests of the class in the language of ideology, the ideologists serve it, constitute its intelligentsia.

The relationship between social psychology and ideology is predetermined by the fact that the first is an emotional, sensual, and the second is a rational level of social consciousness.

It is known that sensory cognition in general is an insufficient (superficial) but necessary level of consciousness, since only thanks to it our brain can receive primary information about the world and from it synthesize knowledge about the essence of things. Social psychology is that direct reflection of the external manifestations of social reality, which constitutes a kind of basis for the emergence of the corresponding ideology. Ideology clarifies what is vaguely grasped by psychology, penetrates deeply into the essence of phenomena.

The relationship between ideology and social psychology is very complex. On the one hand, forming an ideology is based on certain features of the psychology of a given social group. On the other hand, ideology is not a simple passive reflection of the peculiarities of social psychology. Having been born, it contributes to the strengthening of some psychological traits of its class and the weakening, introduction to a minimum of others.

In philosophical and historical literature, the concepts of “ordinary consciousness” and “mass consciousness” are very often encountered. And although, as follows from the names, these concepts are intended to characterize different aspects of social consciousness (in the first case, we are interested in the degree of "scientific" consciousness, in the second - the degree of its prevalence in society), to this day they largely coincide in their scope and can be defined as empirical, spontaneously arising in the process of everyday everyday practice and characteristic of the bulk of members of society consciousness. Their relationship with social psychology and ideology looks more complicated. One can often meet with an attempt to reduce the entire content of everyday and mass consciousness exclusively to the socio-psychological. In particular, this is not true in relation to modern society, the ordinary and mass consciousness of whose members has already been noticeably theorized and ideologized.

At all stages of historical development, the socio-psychological factor plays an active role. One can, for example, clearly trace the patterns of psychological maturation of social revolutions, as well as those psychological factors that make it possible to stabilize post-revolutionary society. Thus, the transition to new production relations (“choosing” them) is determined not only by the economic factor (the level of productive forces), but also by the psychological factor: to what extent this or that way of life is morally justified or condemned in the eyes of society.

The spiritual sphere, being a subsystem of society as a whole, necessarily responds to all changes taking place in its other subsystems: economic, political, social. Therefore, sharp economic changes in Russia could not but affect the state of the spiritual life of the country. Many researchers focus on changes in the value orientations of Russians, the increase in the importance of individualistic values. There is an acute problem of the commercialization of culture and the related problem of reducing the level of its artistic value, as well as the lack of demand for classical cultural samples by the mass consumer. These and other negative trends in the development of domestic spiritual culture can become a significant obstacle to the progressive development of our society.

Conclusion

The main element of the spiritual sphere is social consciousness, which has structural integrity. It is not the sum of individual consciousnesses, but those feelings and ideas that are characteristic of the whole society or a separate social group. The objective world, influencing a person, is reflected in him in the form of ideas, thoughts, ideas, theories and other spiritual phenomena, which form the social consciousness. The structure of social consciousness is very complex: first of all, it distinguishes the ordinary-practical - as social psychology and scientific-theoretical - as ideology levels. Social psychology is formed as a result of the holistically direct influences of social life and directly depends on the real state of affairs in society, on theoretical consciousness, and ideological influence. Allocate types of social consciousness - individual, group and mass consciousness. The carrier of individual consciousness is an individual, the carrier of group consciousness is a social group, the carrier of mass consciousness is an unorganized group of people united by some idea, goal. There are forms of social consciousness - moral, aesthetic, religious, legal, political, philosophical, scientific, environmental, economic, etc.

The sources of the development of society are the contradictions between: social being and social consciousness, social psychology and ideology, between the individual and society, society and nature, city and village, poor and rich, in the economy - between producer and consumer, etc.

Bibliography

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