Social philosophy and social and humanities in the knowledge of society

Social-humanitarian and natural sciences are relatively clearly distinguished in the subject field of science. If we attribute the latter to knowledge about nature, the former include knowledge systems about the positively significant values of human being, groups of the state, and humanity. Science, including social science, is a form of specialized activity for the production of knowledge, carried out in a socially organized manner and based on historically developed and developed own methods.

Society differs from nature by the presence of an active subject - a person. Among the general scientific laws is the initial orientation of social cognition on the criteria of scientific nature. However, the elimination of the subject is poorly consistent with its very representation in society as an important component of the object of cognition. The specificity of the social sciences and humanities includes the fact that social cognition is oriented primarily toward the norms and ideals of non-classical and post-non-classical science. By an object is meant that fragment of reality, objective or mental, for the study of which scientific knowledge is directed. For example, such an object may be the activities of the state or the values of society, communication processes.

The long-term orientation of philosophy and methodology of science toward the ideals of natural science significantly advanced the development of the conceptual apparatus, ideas about the structure, methods and forms of cognition, and created a high culture of logical and methodological research. At the same time, it was noticed quite a long time ago that this kind of “roll” as a whole was not justified. It is not justified primarily because the vast humanitarian field of knowledge, whose roots go back to culture, is not adequately reflected in the categories and principles of the theory and methodology of cognition.

Philosophical knowledge also has a number of essential features inherent in the humanities, and explores similar problems. Among them: cognitive and value relations of man to the world; a person’s spiritual experience in comprehending the meaning of life; problems of life and death, freedom and responsibility; historical types of personality, its relationship with culture, society as a whole; cultural and historical changes in the content and forms of mentality, etc. Philosophical and humanitarian knowledge are correlated as universal, universal and specifically special knowledge about a person, his world and culture.

Social philosophy is a philosophical study of society, considered in its historical development. Social philosophy studies the structure of social systems, their functioning and evolution, social institutions and social values, society as a whole and its development. The tasks of social philosophy also include studying the nature of man and its changes in the course of history, identifying the meaning of history and, as far as possible, its main tendencies. Social philosophy devotes particular attention to the study of modern society and the prospects for its development in the foreseeable future. Modern social philosophy should also give an analysis and criticism of existing social concepts such as liberalism, conservatism and socialism. And finally, social philosophy outlines a place among other sciences about society, explores the features of social cognition as a whole and the possibilities of achieving objective knowledge about society and its history. To concretize the idea of modern social philosophy, we list some of its main topics that cause the most heated debate. The reasons that determine the nature and dynamics of social life. It was once believed that the structure of society and the course of history are predetermined by the will of God. Later, the idea of the general laws of history was put forward, steadily leading humanity from a primitive, wild state through barbarism to civilization. Various social theories of this time tried to formulate the so-called law of progress.

Marxism assumed, in particular, that the peak of the development of society would be communism, in which material abundance would be combined with the disappearance of the state and the freedom of the individual. The 20th century has dispelled many illusions, including the idea of the omnipotence of the human mind, the iron laws of history and steady progress. Discussions were launched with new acuteness about whether social life — and to what extent — is determined by material and economic structures, the struggle of states and nations, the struggle of classes, the strategy of elevation and the establishment of equilibrium in relations between different parts of large social groups, family forms, etc. .d.

The periodization of human history, its division into epochs, civilizations, cultures, etc. The simplified scheme of savagery - barbarism - civilization was quickly discarded. The Marxist periodization of history, starting with primitive communism and ending with industrial communism, also found its failure. It remains an open question by what essential features history could be divided into large eras and then distinguished within such eras of civilization or culture. The relationship between the past, present and future in the development of society and its most important institutions. Some theories proceeded from the cyclical nature of history, the constant repetition of one and the same, which does not carry any fundamental novelty. Others adhered to the idea of its linearity, suggesting development in a straight line when times do not repeat each other. Still others believed that history develops in a spiral combining linear and circular motion, or the form of vibrations of individual societies between two fairly stable poles, etc. Analysis of the general form of the course of history remains, as before, an urgent problem. The meaning of human history, its purpose or purpose. For a long time history was given an objective meaning that did not depend on the will of people or on their activities. Another alternative is the idea that human history has only a subjective meaning determined by the people themselves, and whether the goals that humanity sets for itself will be achieved, does not depend on any external factors, but on rationality and perseverance in the implementation of these goals.

Problems of humanitarian knowledge. Novosibirsk, 1986.

development tendencies and basic features //International Journal on Integrated Education. - 2019. - Т. 2. - №. 4. - С. 116-118.

"Экономика и социум" №10(65) 2019