What does spiritual culture mean? Spiritual and material culture

Spiritual culture is a culture whose objects are ideology, morality, spiritual communication, artistic creativity (art) and religion.

Spiritual culture grows as an ideal side of material activity. After all, any object or phenomenon of material culture basically has some kind of project, embodies certain knowledge, and by satisfying human needs, they become values. In other words, the products of material culture, before they were created, had to appear with their creators in the form of drawings, a plan of work - undoubted products of spiritual culture.

In other words, material culture is always the embodiment of a certain part of spiritual culture. But a spiritual culture can exist only if it is reified, objectified, and has received this or that material incarnation. This is especially evident in the example of works of art that are part of the spiritual culture.

Thus, cultural objects can change their purpose. Therefore, some 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 - if an object or phenomenon satisfies the primary (biological) needs of a person, it is referred to as material culture, but if it satisfies secondary needs associated with the development of human abilities, it belongs to spiritual culture.

Proceeding from the variety of types of human activity in spiritual culture, four spheres can be distinguished.

The first sphere is generated by the creative activity of the human imagination. It's projective view activities, which offers ideal models future constructions, which has the greatest cultural value. The results of this type of activity are ideal models, projects and drawings of technical structures, structures, machines, as well as various models social transformation, projects of new forms of political structure, new social institutions and institutions. The object of such design can also be the person himself, when he develops models of education. In the history of culture, projective activity gradually turned into a specialized branch of spiritual creativity.

Today, projective activity exists as a specialized activity, it is divided according to the projects of which objects should be created - natural, social or human. Thus, allocate the following types design:

Technical (engineering) - is inextricably linked with scientific and technological progress, which is taking an increasingly important place in culture. Its result is the world of material things that create the body of modern civilization;

Social - associated with the creation of models of social phenomena - new forms state structure, political and legal systems, ways of managing production, school education and so on.;

Pedagogical - focused on the formation of human models, ideal images children and students, which are created by parents and teachers.

The second sphere of spiritual culture covers the ways of cognitive activities person, and acts as a body of knowledge about nature, society, man, his inner world. Knowledge is the most important structural element in this area of ​​spiritual culture, which can be most adequately represented scientific activity. In any society, a system of obtaining, storing, transferring information and knowledge, independent of the individual, is formed.

Today, knowledge is acquired by a person in all spheres of culture, but their origins go back to three types of cognitive activity that are still inherent in primitive man, - practical, mythological and game knowledge.

Practical knowledge has always had and has a specific character, is connected with the direct life of a person in nature and in society, is organically woven into his labor activity and everyday life. This knowledge is obtained by each person independently.

Mythological knowledge, although it grew out of practical knowledge, separated from it early. It embodies the generalized ideas of a person about the world, expressed in the fantastic form of a myth.

Game knowledge also appeared on the most early stages human history. In the game, the child received the necessary knowledge about "adult" life - both about the methods of activity and about human relationships.

The third sphere of spiritual culture, connected with the value oriented activity. Knowledge-assessment acts as a link with the structural element of spiritual culture named above. Knowledge acts as an evaluative filter; it is inseparable from evaluative activity. The human world is always a world of values, it is filled with meanings and meanings for him.

This area, in turn, can be represented by three subsystems:

Moral culture. Gives a normative-value orientation of the relationship of individuals and social groups to all aspects of life, to each other. Moral culture can also be defined as the level of humanity achieved by society and the individual, humanity in relations social actors, orientation of attitude towards a person as a goal and value in itself. The moral culture of a person is revealed as a culture of an act: a motive that corresponds to the concepts of good and evil, justice, human dignity and norms specifying concepts; correspondence of the means to the motive, foresight of the value of the result, responsibility for the consequences, etc.;

artistic culture . Her internal structure not yet explored enough. Most often, artistic culture is reduced to the communicative scheme "artist - art - public". This is a kind of self-governing system, the elements of which are artistic creativity, artistic values, artistic consumption.

It should be noted that in art, as in other subsystems of spiritual culture, all its functions are represented. Thus, transformative activity is present in artistic culture in the form artistic creativity. Communicative activity is included in it in the form of consumption of works of art, since their perception is a kind of communication between the public and the author or his work. Value-oriented activity, being part of artistic culture specializing in art appraisals. cognitive activity manifests itself in the form of a specific interest in art studied within the framework of art history sciences. The central link of artistic culture is art as a set of activities within the framework of the artistic creativity of the subject and its results - artistic images;

Religious culture. It is based on religious activity as a person's ascent to God, embodied in cult and religious actions, the meaning of which is determined by the corresponding system of values, the main of which is God as a spiritual and moral absolute. IN religious culture ideological and psychological levels can be distinguished; in general, it embodies a special relationship of man to the world (along with the practical, cognitive, artistic).

The fourth sphere of spiritual culture is aimed at the spiritual communication people in all specific forms of its manifestation. These forms are determined by the characteristics of the subject of communication. Soul contact between two partners, during which information is exchanged, is this case high cultural value.

Communication is also possible in a group (family, circle of friends, team). In the process of communication between individuals, they jointly perceive an external object or situation, perceive their own actions, states, and movements.

Spiritual communication can occur not only at the personal level. The most valuable moments of the spiritual life of society constitute the fund of culture, a kind of memory of society. Objectified in speeches, books, works of art, the results of spiritual activity are constantly "consumed", becoming the property of people's consciousness.

Thus, spiritual culture acts as an activity aimed at spiritual development man and society, to create ideas, knowledge, spiritual values ​​- images of social consciousness.

The concept of culture and its diversity

Culture is a system of historically developing supra-biological programs of human activity, behavior and communication, acting as a condition for the reproduction and transformation of social life in all its main manifestations. Culture has a variety of different forms: knowledge, skills, norms and ideals, patterns of activity and behavior, ideas and hypotheses, beliefs, social goals and value orientations etc. Culture, through its institutions, preserves and transmits programs of activity from generation to generation; human behavior and communication. They ensure the reproduction of the variety of activities inherent in certain type society peculiar to him subject environment(second nature), his social connections and personality types.

It is customary to distinguish between material and spiritual culture. Material culture is created in the process of material production, and everything that is the result of production will be a material form of culture. Spiritual culture includes the process of spiritual creativity, its result is works of art, scientific discoveries. All elements of material and spiritual culture are inextricably linked.

Culture is inseparable from man. Accumulation cultural property connected with the transfer from generation to generation of spiritual experience, traditions and main achievements of mankind. It is most clearly manifested in artistic culture.

Within a certain historical era, there are different cultures: international and national, secular and religious, adult and youth, Western and Eastern.

When culture is characterized in terms of aspects of various specific areas public life, then the following forms of culture are distinguished:

Aesthetic culture characterizes the state of society in terms of its ability to partake in beauty, ensure the development of art and aesthetic relations in society.

Moral culture characterizes society in terms of its observance of moral norms and rules.

In the sphere of ethical culture there are moral relations: love, friendship; ideas about such concepts as heroism, happiness.

Professional culture characterizes the level and quality of professional skills and training.

Political and legal culture concerns the sphere of activity associated with the system of power relations between classes, nations, and other social groups.

Ecological culture presupposes the recognition of the unity of the "man-nature" system, and not only the impact on the development of society of the geographical environment and population, but also the reverse influence of man on the natural environment is decisive.

Household culture is an established way of life Everyday life person. The entire sphere of non-productive social life constitutes a system of everyday culture.

Physical culture, in the center of which the need for harmonious development is placed human body, the basics of the health of members of society, etc.

There are forms of culture that are understandable and accessible to any member of society and do not require special training. Mass culture. Radio, television, modern means of communication contribute to its spread. Advertising is an integral part of mass culture. Exists elite culture which is difficult to understand and requires special training. The works created within the framework of this culture are designed for a narrow circle of people who are finely versed in art and are the subject of controversy among art historians and critics.

National culture reflects the characteristics of the social life of a particular socio-historical or ethnic community of people, its relationship with nature. Each national culture is unique, unique. The reasons for the internationalization of cultures are scientific and technical progress, general trends in the development of education, international division labor, and this contributes to mutual enrichment, interpenetration of national cultures.

The totality of direct relations and connections that develop between different cultures, their results, mutual changes arising in the course of these relations and constitute the essence of the dialogue of cultures. The following levels of dialogue of cultures are distinguished:

1) personal, which is associated with the formation or change of the human personality under the influence of various "external" in relation to its natural cultural environment cultural traditions and norms;

2) ethnic, inherent in relations between different local social communities, often within a single society;

3) interethnic, characterized by diverse interaction of various state-political formations, their political elites;

4) civilizational, based on the meeting of fundamentally different types of sociality, systems, values ​​and forms of cultural creativity.

In the process of dialogue of cultures, it is customary to single out a donor culture, which gives more than it receives, and a recipient culture, which acts as a host. For long historical periods Over time, these roles may change in accordance with the pace and trends of development of each of the participants.

Spiritual life of society: characteristics, structure

Spiritual life is a relatively independent area of ​​social life, which is based on specific types of spiritual activity and social relations that regulate it.

The structure of the spiritual life of society includes social consciousness as a content side, as well as social relations and institutions that determine the order and conditions of its functioning.

The spiritual life of society must necessarily include a person's right to spiritual freedom, to the realization of one's abilities, and the satisfaction of spiritual needs. The spiritual life of society must be protected by law.

Spiritual culture is a part of the general system of culture, including spiritual activity and its products. Spiritual culture includes morality, education; education, law, philosophy, ethics, aesthetics, science, art, literature, mythology, religion and other spiritual values. Spiritual culture characterizes the inner wealth of a person, the degree of his development.

The elements of the spiritual culture of society are works of art, philosophical, ethical, political teachings, scientific knowledge, religious ideas, etc. Outside of spiritual life, apart from the conscious activity of people, culture does not exist at all, since not a single subject can be included in human practice without comprehension, without the mediation of any spiritual components: knowledge, skills, specially prepared perception. Not a single object of material culture can be created without a combination of the actions of the "executing hand" and the "thinking head". With the help of the hand alone, people would never have created a steam engine if the human brain had not developed along with the hand and partly thanks to it.

Spiritual culture forms a personality - its worldview, views, attitudes, value orientations. Thanks to it, knowledge, skills, artistic models of the world, ideas, etc. can be transmitted from individual to individual, from generation to generation. That is why continuity in the development of spiritual culture is extremely important.

The spiritual world of a person is a social activity of people aimed at the creation, assimilation, preservation, dissemination of the cultural values ​​of society.

Spiritual people draw their main joys in creativity, in knowledge, in selfless love for other people, they strive for self-improvement, they experience the highest values ​​as something sacred for themselves. This does not mean that they give up the ordinary pleasures of life and wealth, but these joys and benefits for them are not valuable in themselves, but only act as a condition for achieving other, spiritual benefits.

Spirituality is spirituality, ideal, religious, moral aspects understanding of the world.

Lack of spirituality is the absence of high civil, cultural and moral qualities, aesthetic needs, the predominance of purely biological instincts.

The reasons for spirituality and lack of spirituality lie in the nature of family and social education, the system of value orientations of the individual; economic, political, cultural situation in a particular country. If lack of spirituality becomes mass, if people become indifferent to such concepts as honor, conscience, personal dignity, then such a people has no chance to take a worthy place in the world.

Spiritual culture definition. Spiritual culture is a multi-layered formation that includes cognitive, moral, artistic, legal and other cultures; it is a set of intangible elements of norms, rules, laws, spiritual values, ceremonies, rituals, symbols, myths, language, knowledge, customs. Any object of non-material culture needs a material intermediary, for example, a book.

Spiritual culture is a sphere of human activity, covering various aspects of the spiritual life of a person and society.

Spiritual culture includes forms of social consciousness and their embodiment in literary, architectural and other monuments of human activity. Acting as a qualitative indicator of the spiritual life of society, spiritual culture is identical in its structure to the structure of the spiritual sphere of social life, which, as a system, is a unity of such components as spiritual activity, spiritual needs, spiritual consumption, social institutions, spiritual relationships and communication.

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

Spiritual development is the process of enriching the spiritual development of a person and society, aimed at realizing the ideals of the spiritual development of the culture of humanism, freedom, individuality, creativity, etc. The spiritual development of society is embodied in the development of forms of public consciousness of morality, religion, philosophy, science, art, political and legal understanding of social progress. The concept of spiritual culture contains all areas of spiritual production, art, philosophy, science, etc. shows the socio-political processes taking place in society. we are talking about the power structures of management, legal and moral standards, styles of leadership, etc. The ancient Greeks formed the classical triad of the spiritual culture of mankind - the truth, goodness, beauty.

Accordingly, the three most important value absolutes of human spirituality were identified: theorism, with a focus on truth and the creation of a special essential being, opposite to these ordinary phenomena of life, aestheticism subordinating the moral content of life to all other human aspirations, reaching the maximum fullness of life based on emotional and sensory experience.

The above aspects of spiritual culture have found their embodiment in various fields people's activities in science, philosophy, politics, art, law, etc. They largely determine the level of intellectual, moral, political, aesthetic, and legal development of society today. Spiritual culture involves activities aimed at the spiritual development of man and society, and also represents the results of this activity.

Thus, the content of culture becomes the whole human activity. Human society and stood out from nature thanks to such specific form interaction with the outside world as a human activity. 3.

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In the article we will talk about the spiritual culture of the individual and society. We will try to understand this issue in detail, to reveal it as much as possible and to identify all the key points.

A little about the topic

IN modern world there are a lot of interpretations of such a thing as culture, but in fact this term came from Latin word, which literally means "education". However, as time went on, the meaning of the word expanded. Thus, today this term is understood as a whole set of certain norms and values, as well as the world of things that has been accumulated by man and society over the entire period of its development. However, we will focus exclusively on the spiritual culture of the individual and society, which is of the greatest interest and is the most versatile.

spiritual culture

Note that the division of the concept into material and spiritual components began almost two thousand years ago. Agree, this is a rather impressive period, which indicates that at a certain stage of their development, people realized the duality of values. Material culture is understood as a variety of objects created by human hands. These are monuments, landscapes, clothes, tools and so on. There are a lot of things to list here, but this is not the purpose of our article. Spiritual culture means some norms and mores, as well as ideas about beauty and goodness, religious teachings, ideas, and so on. Thus, we understand that spiritual culture largely includes the intellectual inventions of people in the field of thought. However, it is precisely from here that the understanding that the division into forms of spiritual culture is rather conditional and vague comes from. There are no real boundaries, because many great ideas are materialized. But we must understand that this is based on a certain mental image, which in itself is a great achievement. In the future, we will separate the spiritual culture of the individual and society for a better understanding.

origins

Let's start by looking at one of the most accurate and concise definitions of the word "culture". It belongs to the Russian philosopher N. Berdyaev. This man claimed that culture is a product creative work human spirit over physical conditions. Thus, we understand that even spiritual culture is always aimed at transforming something external, which we spoke about above.

The very concept of its origins goes back to a German philosopher, statesman and linguist named Wilhelm von Humboldt, who presented quite interesting philosophical ideas. He is the originator of the theory that world history- nothing but the result of a spiritual force that operates beyond the cognition of a person and can manifest itself through individual Creative skills and people's talents. Actually, the fruits of this creativity are the spiritual culture of the individual and society.

Individual and group

What is the culture of an individual? First, it is some spiritual world that everyone has to some degree or another. Its character directly depends on the desires, thoughts and aspirations of an individual. Also, the spiritual world is largely determined by human activity and the extent to which he is able to create spiritual products. This means the proposal of scientific ideas, the creation of laws, creative self-realization, the improvement of the world. The second determining factor in the spiritual activity of an individual is his spiritual values, according to which he lives and coordinates his life. This includes laws and customs, as well as traditions to which a person obeys. At the same time, one should not underestimate the possibilities of group consciousness, because of which a person can somehow obey some conventions, even if he really does not want to.

The form of the spiritual culture of society is manifested in the public consciousness, which is expressed in politics, law, customs, religion, science, philosophy. The level of society is manifested in how it relates to art and literature, how it remembers and honors its ancestors, how it relates to non-standard solutions and extraordinary people.

At the same time, in general, spiritual culture implies science, religion, education, language, and so on. Thanks to all this, certain rules, models, norms of behavior, standards, knowledge, symbols and myths appear. Note that the spiritual culture of a person is the result of the work of not his hands, but the mind. Despite the fact that it is impossible to feel or hear intangible objects, since they are only in the mind and are supported by communication, nevertheless, certain objects of culture have their carrier. For example, knowledge is manifested in the material world with the help of books, customs of greeting - in a handshake. These are banal examples, but thanks to them you can understand the meaning.

Values ​​and norms

Let's examine cultural forms using filters such as spiritual values. This includes the understanding of truth, justice, beauty, and so on. famous expression"eternal values" implies a certain set of ideal ideas that are the core for a person and his support in difficult life situations. It is this cultural support that allows you not to sink and lose yourself as a person. Eternal values- this is a landmark to which you need to move even when there is complete uncertainty around. At the same time, it is these values ​​that are the core of any culture.

Worldview values

The foundations of spiritual culture are very closely intertwined with worldview and philosophical values, which express the very meaning of human life and its relationship with the world. And this is the key concepts that we will operate with and which are life and death. IN different time these values ​​were associated with the opposition of hell and heaven, black and white, war and peace. But deep philosophy understands that life and death are not opposing principles, but a single entity that exists outside of time. Human existence is described by such words as eternity, fate, past, present and future. These are worldview values ​​that require a person to comprehend and self-determine. The influence of spiritual culture on society in this aspect is incredibly great. This is due to the fact that such values ​​classify a person as a class of intelligent and thinking beings who can correlate their existence with nature and the cosmos, as well as find relationships and draw parallels. This is the basic group of values, which is the main one in every society and forms the so-called picture of the existence of the whole world. Thanks to such concepts, a person can realize his attitude to the world and find his place in it. This implies such important and fundamental concepts as creativity, freedom, humanism and individuality. These categories very thinly border on morality, which is being discussed all over the world today.

Moral values

The problems of spiritual culture very often concern, for the most part, the moral sphere. The fact is that this group regulates the relationship of a person with the outside world from the standpoint of confrontation or cooperation. Previously, the relationship was carried out exclusively through confrontation. Because of this, rather strict unwritten norms were established, as well as prescriptions, commandments and taboos, the violation of which was followed by severe punishment or death. On this moment all these concepts are studied by ethics. Now the main categories of moral values ​​are good and evil. It is the definition of these concepts that is key in the interpretation of such qualities as mercy, dignity, justice and humanity. These values ​​represent a large-scale level of morality that exists at the level of all mankind. Many underestimate the role of morals, but meanwhile they have a huge impact on relations between individuals, groups and even states. Indeed, at any of the levels of interaction there are such values ​​as loyalty, conscientiousness, duty, collectivism, patriotism, diligence. Everything that we have listed allows you to correlate your interests and the interests of society in order to achieve maximum results for both sides. That is why we say that the spiritual culture of the individual and society is indivisible. Moral values ​​have the strongest influence on privacy each person in the field of friendship, tact, courtesy and love. These concepts largely determine the quality of life and the inner peace of each person. Note that morality is the most powerful regulator of social relations at different levels.

Aesthetic values

The history of spiritual culture is impossible without aesthetics and beauty. Many say that beauty is kindness and love, only expressed in a different way. Well, it's hard to argue with this, because aesthetics gives a person harmony. The ancient Greeks defined this feeling as the ability to understand the unity of diversity, a sense of integrity and coherence in everyday life, in routine. When a person harmonizes relations with others and with the world, he thus creates for himself an excellent psychological climate can enjoy their life. At the same time, harmony cannot be ordinary, it always brings inspiration and creates beauty. But aesthetic values are not available to everyone, as they are associated with emotional intelligence. The same rule applies at the level of society. If a person or a group of people can take different emotions, sympathize, perceive different shades of feelings, then this community can feel the aesthetic component of the world much more subtly and vividly. People, who live in an ordinary way and do not recognize any other truth than their own, are severely limited in the possibilities of their perception. They will also be limited in their ability to improve until they break free from their limits and learn to notice the world. The main aesthetic values ​​are such concepts as sublimity, tragedy, comedy, beauty.

Formation of spiritual culture in the field of religious values

Religious values ​​are very specific, as they depend on a particular society and the rules adopted in it. But at the same time there is very similarities. These are some prohibitions moral values, which have the highest power in a given religion. If prohibitions are transgressed, but moral values ​​are not fulfilled, then sin follows. We will not delve into religion, but simply say that the basic concepts of religious values ​​are love, patience and faith, humility and mercy.

Russian spiritual culture

Our country has a very diverse culture. This is due to the fact that the territory of Russia is very large, each corner is unique in its own way. At the same time, the most important feature of the spiritual culture of the peoples of Russia is that faith in higher power has always come first here. People have long believed that everything happens for a reason and has its consequences. Culture has been transformed many times, acquiring new features and losing old ones, thanks to which it has become unique and the way we see it today. But this concept is dynamic, so we are not observing a static culture, but simply its development in a certain time period.

The countries of the West and the East had a great influence on the formation of Russian characteristics. This was especially pronounced in limited cultural areas, which became fertile ground for planting other people's ideas. The culture of an individual Russian can become the topic of a whole book, not an article. On the one hand, the image of a Russian is associated with Ivan the Fool, who lies on the stove and does nothing, and then suddenly gets great wealth. This characterizes that part of the Russian personality, which always strives to get something for nothing. Do not hide the fact that such features of mentality are really present. However, the second part of a Russian person is that he will go towards his goal nobly and fairly, if he really wants to. At the same time, he can show remarkable strength spirit, courage and humility.

Compound

Many researchers say that the concept of spiritual culture is not suitable for Russia in the sense that it is a complex of several cultures at once. Usually there are three ethnic components, namely: Finno-Ugric, Slavic and Baltic. The influence of Germanic, North Caucasian and Turkic ethnic groups is also noticeable.

The dominant characteristic of our culture is Orthodoxy, which was widespread in Rus' and developed quite rapidly there. But at the same time, it was autonomous. The state has always based its power on religion, which was an important area of ​​spiritual culture. She could at one moment turn people against the prince or for him, which was very important.

Ideology

I would like to consider this area of ​​spiritual culture, which we did not mention above, because it is quite significant. The ideology began to take shape relatively recently, since in early societies power was in the hands of the representatives of power, and after that - in the rich. With the advent of ideology, power passed into the hands of smart people who know how to lead the masses. This problem was considered in great detail by the German scientists Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx. They characterize this category from a negative point of view, since it is capable of forming a false consciousness in people. So we understand that ideology is complex social education, which at the same time can work profitably for the one who created it. In fact, it forms a false self-consciousness of a group, community or class. The danger of ideology is that it can lead to very great tragedies if the power is in the hands of a stupid, but very vain person who can easily control the emotions of the masses. Because of this, many researchers say that ideology should be considered not as a separate component of culture, but as a kind of superstructure that is inherent in all other forms of culture.

This is true, because religion, philosophy, art, science, morality are largely determined by ideology. What is art? Spiritual culture defines this concept as the ability of a person to express himself and thereby replenish the chest of culture of the whole world. After all, we know how art in the hands of ideologists can become a powerful weapon and influence people's minds. For this it is worth remembering Soviet times, when some authors were in the price, let's say, and some were strictly forbidden to write and even sent to camps. All this was due to the fact that they could print something objectionable to the authorities, which would sow a seed of doubt in people's heads.

The science

Despite all its rationality, science is also an integral part of culture. It is very closely related to philosophy, which is the theoretical foundation. The importance of science in the modern world is enormous, and it is difficult to overestimate it. It affects the minds of people and their way of thinking, changing their minds, and forming points of view. If earlier individuals were inclined to rely on some religious books or the same ideologists, now a person first of all turns to science and analyzes its arguments, and only then draws conclusions. And it's wonderful that modern man It's not so easy to lead by the nose anymore.

Introduction

Culture -- the area of ​​human spiritual activity, objectified in material actions, signs and symbols; its essence is revealed in opposition to nature (as a set of natural conditions for human existence) and civilization (the level of material development of a particular society).

The primary sphere of human spiritual activity is mythology , which included knowledge from various fields, manifestations of the artistic development of the world, moral regulations, religious and worldview ideas.

In the theological tradition, the connection between culture and cult is actualized, religion acts as the basis of culture. Science considers religion as one of the elements of culture, a specific spiritual activity aimed at supernatural objects. IN various eras religion covered various areas of culture.

Religion plays a cultural role it will set the spectrum of universal cultural concepts, determines the meaning of life, the highest values ​​and norms human existence, forms the structure of the spiritual community. Religion contributes to the assertion of personality, the formation of personal consciousness; When it goes beyond the bounds of narrow-earth existence, Religion also transmits culture, transfers it from one generation to another.

The concept of spiritual culture. Criteria of spirituality

The concept of spiritual culture:

It contains all areas of spiritual production (art, philosophy, science, etc.),

Shows the socio-political processes taking place in society (we are talking about power management structures, legal and moral norms, leadership styles, etc.).

The ancient Greeks formed the classical triad of the spiritual culture of mankind: truth - goodness - beauty. Accordingly, three most important value absolutes of human spirituality were identified:

· theorism, with a focus on truth and the creation of a special essential being, opposite to the ordinary phenomena of life;

· this, subordinating to the moral content of life all other human aspirations;

Aestheticism, reaching the maximum fullness of life based on emotional and sensory experience.

The aspects of spiritual culture outlined above have found their embodiment in various fields of human activity: in science, philosophy, politics, art, law, etc. They largely determine the level of intellectual, moral, political, aesthetic, legal development of society today. Spiritual culture involves activities aimed at the spiritual development of man and society, and also represents the results of this activity.

Spiritual culture is a set of intangible elements of culture: norms of behavior, morality, values, rituals, symbols, knowledge, myths, ideas, customs, traditions, language.

Spiritual culture arises from the need for comprehension and figurative-sensual development of reality. IN real life realized in a number of specialized forms: morality, art, religion, philosophy, science.

All these forms human life are interconnected and influence each other. In morality, the idea of ​​good and evil, honor, conscience, justice, etc. is fixed. These ideas, norms regulate the behavior of people in society.

Art includes aesthetic values ​​(beautiful, sublime, ugly) and the ways in which they are created and consumed.

Religion serves the needs of the spirit, a person turns his gaze to God. Science demonstrates the progress of the knowing mind of man. Philosophy satisfies the needs of the human spirit for unity on a rational (reasonable) basis.

Spiritual culture permeates all spheres of social life. A person learns it through language, upbringing, communication. Estimates, values, ways of perceiving nature, time, ideals are laid in the consciousness of a person by tradition and education in the process of life.

The concept of "spiritual culture" has a complex and tangled history. At the beginning of the 19th century, spiritual culture was considered as a church-religious concept. At the beginning of the 20th century, the understanding of spiritual culture became much broader, including not only religion, but also morality, politics, and art.

In the Soviet period, the concept of "spiritual culture" was treated superficially by the authors. material production gives rise to material culture - it is primary, and spiritual production gives rise to spiritual culture (ideas, feelings, theories) - it is secondary. The origins of creativity, ideas were in production, labor activity.

In the 21st century "spiritual culture" is understood in different ways:

as something sacred (religious);

as something positive that does not require explanation;

as mystical-esoteric.

At present, as before, the concept of "spiritual culture" is not clearly defined and developed.

The relevance of the problem of the formation of the spirituality of the individual in current situation due to a number of reasons. Let's name the most significant of them. Today, many ailments of social life: crime, immorality, prostitution, alcoholism, drug addiction and others - are explained primarily by the state of lack of spirituality in modern society, a condition that causes serious concern and progresses from year to year. Finding ways to overcome these social vices puts forward the problem of spirituality in the center of humanitarian knowledge. Its relevance is also due to economic reasons: with the implementation of social, economic, political reforms in society, the conditions and nature of human labor, its motivation are rapidly changing; and this economic situation that is taking shape before our eyes makes new demands on the improvement of the personality, on its development, on such personal qualities as morality, responsibility, sense of duty, which ultimately are indicators of a person's spiritual maturity.

True spirituality is "the trinity of truth, goodness and beauty" Fedotova V.G. Practical and spiritual exploration of reality. - M:, 1992. - S. 97 and the main criteria for such spirituality are:

· intentionality, that is, "direction outward, to something or someone, to a business or a person, to an idea or to a person" Frankl V. A person in search of meaning. - M:, 1990. - P. 100

Man needs a goal that elevates him above individual existence; this is how he overcomes the isolation and limitations of his existence, and this ability to set ideal goals for himself is an indicator of a spiritually developed personality;

Reflection on the main life values, constituting the meaning of the being of the individual and serving as guidelines in a situation of existential choice. It is the ability to reflect, from the point of view of Teilhard de Chardin, that is main reason superiority of man over animals. In a spiritual person, this ability acquires the character of a manifestation of a "taste for reflection", for cognition of the specifics of individual existence. One of the conditions for the formation of the ability to reflect is seclusion, exile, voluntary or forced loneliness. "Exiles and imprisonments, which are always so terrible and fatal for a person, are no longer so terrible and deadly for the spirit. He loves voluntary seclusion, the loneliness of cells and escape from worldly fuss, but he equally successfully uses the forced loneliness of an exile, a prisoner ... Without a choice oneself, turning inward, into one's loneliness, the conversation of a person with the spirit does not begin" Fedotova V.G. Practical and spiritual exploration of reality. - M:, 1992. - S. 110. All the greatest representatives of the Spirit - Jesus, Socrates - were exiles. And this exile is a punishment that befalls one who has entered the world of the Spirit, a tragic punishment for the courage to be different from "like everyone else";

freedom, understood as self-determination, that is, the ability to act in accordance with one’s goals and values, and not under the yoke of external circumstances, as “acquiring inner strength, resistance to the power of the world and the power of society over man" Berdyaev N.A. Existential dialectics of the divine and the human // Berdyaev N.A. On the appointment of man. - M:, 1993. - P.325, "existential disconnection, freedom, his detachment - or its center of existence - from coercion, from pressure, from dependence on the organic Scheler M. The position of man in space // Scheler M. Selected works. - M.:, 1994. - P. 153;

Creativity, understood not only as an activity that generates something new that did not exist before, but also as self-creation - creativity aimed at finding oneself, at realizing one's meaning in life;

a developed conscience that reconciles the "eternal, universal moral law with specific situation of a specific individual "Frankl V. A person in search of meaning. - M:, 1990. - P. 97-98, for consciousness is open to existence; conscience is something that should exist; this is what a person is responsible for realizing his meaning of life ;

The responsibility of the individual for the realization of his meaning of life and the realization of values, as well as for everything that happens in the world.

These are the main criteria for the spirituality of a person in the understanding of Russian and foreign philosophers: N.A. Berdyaev, V. Frankl, E. Fromm, T. de Chardin, M. Scheler and others.