What is historical knowledge and consciousness. Historical consciousness: concept, levels, types
Section 2. Essence, forms, functions of historical consciousness.
In modern Russian literature, historical consciousness quite often means “the body of knowledge accumulated by science and spontaneously emerging ideas, all kinds of symbols, customs and other phenomena of the spiritual sphere in which society reproduces, realizes, that is, remembers its past.” With this approach historical consciousness, firstly, is identified with historical memory. Secondly, historical consciousness is considered only as a supra-individual reality, that is, in this definition the personal aspect is eliminated. Historical memory, reflecting the past, is an integral part of historical consciousness, in which ideas about society are integrated into the unity of its past, present and future. Historical consciousness, along with cultural archetypes, is the “connector” of times and generations. Historical consciousness can be both mass (group) and individual. Mass historical consciousness is a way of rational reproduction and assessment by society of the movement of society in time. Individual historical consciousness is the result, on the one hand, of familiarization with knowledge about the past, and, on the other, of understanding the past and generating a sense of involvement with it. Therefore, individual historical consciousness also acts as a form of meaningfully transformed past as “co-knowledge” and “event”.
Since historical consciousness is comprehension, we can distinguish two types of it: goal-rational and value-rational. In the first type of consciousness, orientation towards a specific historical result, to understand the course of historical events, their causes and consequences. Purposeful rational historical consciousness is not only always concrete, it is also theoretical. Value-rational consciousness, on the contrary, is focused not on a specific result, but directly on the value behind it. Such consciousness is more ethical than theoretical. It is dominated not by questions - why, for what purpose, but - what is the meaning, who is to blame. Since group goals at the individual level act as value-rational, value-rational individual historical consciousness is characterized by a significant degree of conformity in relation to mass historical consciousness. Therefore, the value-rational consciousness is largely subject to influence from the outside; it is more susceptible to transformation and manipulation. A person with such consciousness is able to easily change his views in favor of others, without experiencing any particular inconvenience or doubt.
If we proceed from the method of comprehension and the peculiarities of fixing ideas about the movement of society in time, then historical consciousness can take the form of myth, chronicle or science. Distinctive feature mythical consciousness is the syncretism of historical ideas. In them, thinking merges with affectivity. In the mythical consciousness there are simultaneously two layers of historical time - sacred and current. In sacred time, events occur that involve “knowledge-faith.” In such knowledge, for example, there is often a “legend of a golden age” (in the past or future) as the ideal of human existence. A historical myth is an emotionally charged idea of historical reality, a fictional image that replaces this reality in the mind. Historical myths are created by the collective imagination or imposed on the mass historical consciousness from the outside, forming a certain historical perception of the world, socially conformal in given conditions and designed to form the desired patterns social behavior. Entering into the structure of cultural archetypes, myths activate historical consciousness during periods of disappointment and collapse of illusions, alarmism and frustration. Modern journalism provides many examples of the activation of mythologized consciousness: having become disillusioned with Soviet history, are looking for moral consolation and inspiration in the historical past of Russia.
Unlike mythical consciousness, chronicle consciousness is largely focused on recording real events of the past. However, in such consciousness there is no idea of cause-and-effect relationships in history. These connections in the chronicle consciousness are replaced by a presentation of historical events in chronological sequence, secured by providentialist ideas and moral maxims. Hence the interpretation of history through the prism of divine providence, the dichotomy of good and evil, God and the devil, virtues and vices, plans and intrigues. Just as the mythical, chronicle consciousness forms, like the mythical, historical reality corresponding to the ideal of its time, the Past was depicted not as it was, but as it should have been.
The development of society's need for self-awareness and a deep understanding of the logic of the historical process led to the formation of history as a science of the past, which had a huge impact on strengthening the reflexive principle in historical consciousness. It turns first of all to the real facts of history, the “earthly” roots of certain events and processes, trying to comprehend cause-and-effect relationships and clarify the essence of historical phenomena. An achievement of scientific consciousness was historicism, which requires considering historical phenomena in development, in connection with other historical events, taking into account the specific conditions of a certain stage of social development. Scientific historical consciousness has a specialized character; its source and carrier is the scientific ethnos. Therefore, in the mass historical consciousness, its scientific component is intricately intertwined with artistic fiction and historical myths. In addition, if scientific consciousness is focused on the search for truth, then mass consciousness is primarily occupied with the search for historical “truth” as a result of an emotional and value-based attitude to reality.
In the historical consciousness inherent in a particular sociocultural environment, one can also identify its dominant and temporary forms. So, for example, dominant forms include monumental or antiquarian, statist or liberal, imperial or provincial historical consciousness. Temporary forms - critical or apologetic, tolerant or rigorist. Various social groups in society have capital of various kinds, including symbolic, that is, they have the ability to introduce and cultivate stable principles of perception of historical reality, consistent with their own structures, transforming inner world people, including their historical consciousness. In this case, as a rule, it is not the dominant, but its temporary forms that change, capable of carrying out a complete inversion: becoming, for example, from apologetic to critical, and then in a modified form - again apologetic. Transformation of historical consciousness usually occurs in conditions of crisis social system, when changing political regimes, when there is a sharp change in course social development, when in a situation of “revaluation of socially significant values” the “rewriting of history” begins.
and ideological levels of historical consciousness
Despite all the objective importance of historical knowledge and consciousness for the development of society, in practice this fact is not always taken into account. This, in particular, is evidenced by the well-known aphorism: “If history teaches anything, it is only that it teaches nothing.” Another outstanding German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831) noted in this regard: “Peoples and governments have never learned anything from history or acted according to the teachings that could be drawn from it.” Unfortunately, there are plenty of examples in world history confirming such judgments. Let us just remember the constantly repeated and invariably failed attempts of rulers to establish world domination - from Alexander the Great to Napoleon and Hitler. Or attempts to forcefully impose on society a certain speculative rational model of social order - from Plato to the leaders of totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century.
Why do “history lessons” often turn out to be useless for society and its elite? Is historical knowledge itself to blame for this? This is how the outstanding Russian historian of the 19th century answers these questions IN. Klyuchevsky: “History, say those who have not learned from history..., has not taught anyone anything, even if this is true, does not concern history as a science: it is not the flowers that are to blame for the fact that the blind cannot see them... History teaches even those who do not studies; she teaches them a lesson for ignorance and neglect. He who acts in addition to her or in spite of her always regrets his attitude towards her in the end. She still teaches not how to live according to it, but how to learn from it, she so far only flogs her slow-witted or lazy students, just as the stomach punishes greedy or careless gastronomes, without telling them the rules of healthy eating, but only letting them feel their mistakes in physiology and fascination of their appetite. History is power: when people feel good, they forget about it and attribute their prosperity to themselves; when they feel bad, they begin to feel its necessity and appreciate its benefits” (Klyuchevsky V.O. Letters. Diaries. Aphorisms and thoughts about history. M., 1968. P. 265-266). These remarks by the Russian historian turned out to be especially true in relation to the Soviet period national history. Quite often, “the reading public tends to shift responsibility for the mistakes and miscalculations of politicians onto historical science,” notes modern Russian historian A.A. Iskanderov. – Of course, history cannot be responsible for the affairs of politicians, and it has never had a real opportunity to influence the process of making government decisions. The state itself did not really listen to the voice of history and kept this science unclaimed” (Iskanderov A.A. Historical science on the threshold of the 21st century // Questions of history. 1996. No. 3. P. 6).
However, forgetting the lessons of history is caused not only by certain political considerations of government officials. Society itself is not always able to fully appreciate and use historical knowledge. (For more information about this, see: Polyakov Yu.A. Why doesn’t history teach us? // Questions of History. 2001. No. 2. P. 20-32). And here the main obstacle is the low level of historical consciousness.
The concept of “level of historical consciousness” includes two main criteria by which the maturity of people’s ideas about past historical reality is assessed: a) the degree of completeness and systematicity of the historical knowledge that people possess; b) the level of motivation and ability to apply this knowledge for any purpose. (Criterion is a sign on the basis of which something is assessed, defined or classified; a measure of assessment.)
Based on these criteria, we can conditionally distinguish three main levels of historical consciousness – everyday (spontaneous), ideological and scientific.
The lowest of them is ordinary level of historical consciousness. It is distinguished by the following characteristics:
Its carriers lack a stable and conscious interest in learning history, the desire to use historical knowledge to understand and explain modernity and for orientation in real life circumstances.
Their historical knowledge is fragmentary (fragmentary) and unsystematic.
The main sources of obtaining this knowledge, as a rule, are rumors, works of art, journalism, and propaganda materials in the media.
Vulnerability to ideological and political manipulation by certain socio-political groups.
Unfortunately, it must be admitted that this level of historical consciousness is also the most widespread.
Ideologized level of historical consciousness society or its individual groups has the following distinctive features:
It is formed by ideologues and politicians to achieve broad public support for their actions and plans, as well as to discredit rivals and opponents based on the appropriate manipulation of historical information.
Mobilization of the masses for certain actions with the help of historical information is ensured in many cases both with the help of direct falsifications (falsification is the deliberate distortion of any data ), and through a tendentious interpretation (interpretation) of the historical past, when, for example, “unprofitable” historical facts are kept silent, while the “profitable” ones are widely publicized. This last method is also called “history laundering.” A clear example here can be found in almost all history textbooks of the Soviet period, where the real and fictitious achievements of the state and its leaders were clearly extolled and the history of capitalist countries was clearly interpreted negatively, the activities and views of not only representatives of the opposition, but also all dissidents were hushed up or indiscriminately denigrated.
Accordingly, the ideologized level of historical consciousness is also distinguished by monologism, i.e. confidence in the infallibility of their positions and absolute intolerance to criticism and other views. For example, during the Soviet period, the slogan “Who is not with us is against us” was very popular.
One of the main reasons this level historical consciousness appears dogmatism, often justified by the noble desire to remain faithful to principles. The credo of dogmatism is implicitly expressed by the statement: “If the facts contradict my concept, then so much the worse for these facts” (For more on this, see O. Volobuev, S. Kuleshov. History in Stalin’s style // The harsh drama of the people: Scientists and publicists on the nature of Stalinism. M., 1989. pp. 312-334).
The ideologized level of historical consciousness is most widespread in authoritarian and totalitarian political regimes, as well as in societies experiencing rapid and large-scale social upheavals and transformations, when the questions “Who is to blame?” come to the fore in the public consciousness. and “What should I do?”
The ideologized level of historical consciousness in its extreme manifestations can demonstrate repressiveness. After all, if lying is a principle, then violence is a method.
The slogan of Soviet times is well known: “Whoever is not with us is against us.”
The ideologization of historical consciousness is dangerous primarily because of its disorienting consequences, when society, intoxicated by false complacency and mobilized for an irreconcilable fight against the enemies of infallibly correct teaching, loses the ability for free civil creativity and ceases to draw the necessary lessons from history. “The desire to “whitewash” the past, to treat it uncritically inevitably leads to its repetition,” noted in this regard the famous domestic culturologist A.I. Arnoldov (Arnoldov A.I. Man and the world of culture. M., 1992. P. 10).
What determines the ambiguity of the historical consciousness of people and society? What factors influence the cognitive and value attitude towards the past and its interpretations in historical science, ideology, and spiritual culture in general?
Many scientists have noted that the actualization and degree of significance for society of historical topics varies. In conditions of a relatively stable social state, in times when changes are gradual and local in nature, public interest in history seems to fade. The study of history for some time remains the lot of scientists, teachers, museum workers and other persons professionally associated with historical science. Most people are interested in the past to please their curiosity. Knowledge of the past remains largely unclaimed in social and practical terms.
Historical consciousness: concept, levels, types
Historical consciousness is one of the components of social consciousness and thereby spiritual culture; this is reflection, cognition, comprehension, interpretation, expression of emotions, making assessments, comprehension in theoretical, ideological, artistic, imaginative, socio-psychological and other forms of history as a process occurring over time; it is an integral part of human history as a certain shape being; it is “a spiritual bridge thrown across the abyss of time, a bridge leading a person from the past to the future.”
The first (lowest) level of historical consciousness, corresponding to the ordinary level of social consciousness, is formed on the basis of the accumulation of immediate life experience when a person observes some events throughout his life or even takes part in them. Accumulated impressions and facts eventually form memories. At this level, historical facts do not yet form a system; individuals are not yet able to evaluate them from the point of view of the entire course of the historical process. The next level of historical consciousness concerns historical memory; it is a certain focused consciousness that reflects the special significance and relevance of information about the past in close connection with the present and future. Historical memory is essentially an expression of the process of organizing, preserving and reproducing the past experience of a people, country, state for its possible use in people’s activities or for returning its influence to the sphere of public consciousness. It is formed on the basis of nameless folk art, all kinds of historical traditions, tales, legends, heroic epic, fairy tales that form an integral part of the spiritual life of every people. At the same level of formation of historical consciousness, traditions are passed on through the younger generation’s imitation of the behavior of elders, moral traditions are embodied in certain behavioral stereotypes that create the foundation life together some community of people. The next stage of historical consciousness is formed under the influence fiction, art, theater, painting, cinema, radio, television, influenced by acquaintance with historical monuments. At this level, historical consciousness also has not yet transformed into systematic knowledge of the historical process. The ideas that form it are still fragmentary, chaotic, not chronologically ordered, associated with individual episodes in history, and often subjective. The highest level is the formation of historical consciousness on a scientific basis, which can be achieved with the help of the actual knowledge of history, which together form a certain system of ideas about the past, its organic connection with the present and possible trends in the development of society in the future. Such knowledge is acquired through the systematic study of history.
Historical consciousness, its essence, forms and functions.
In the course of studying history, historical consciousness is formed. Historical consciousness is one of the important aspects of social consciousness. Historical consciousness in science is understood as the totality of ideas of society as a whole and its social groups individually, about their past and the past of all humanity.
Each national and social community has a certain range of historical ideas about its origin, the most important events in its history, figures of the past, the relationship of its history with the history of other peoples and the entire human society. Such ideas are expressed primarily in all kinds of historical traditions, tales, legends, fairy tales, which form an integral part of the spiritual life of every people as one of the ways of their self-expression and self-affirmation. Thanks to this, this community of people recognizes itself as a people on the basis of knowledge of its past, on the basis of knowledge of its place in the world historical process. Thus, history is organically woven into public consciousness. All its elements, which together make up the consciousness of society (views, ideas, political and legal consciousness, morality, religion, art, science), have their own history. They can be understood and cognized only on the basis of a historical approach that considers each phenomenon from the point of view of the specific conditions and circumstances of its occurrence, the conditions of development. Thus, an inextricable connection and continuity of the past and present is obtained.
By mastering the experience of their ancestors in the field of work, political and social relations, subsequent generations learn to analyze the past and evaluate the present, to make decisions for self-realization. Through understanding historical experience, an understanding of the present is gained.
Like any other forms of social consciousness, historical consciousness has a complex structure. Four levels can be distinguished.
The first (lowest) level of historical consciousness is formed in the same ways as everyday consciousness, based on the accumulation of direct life experience, when a person observes certain events throughout his life, or even takes part in them. The broad masses of the population, as carriers of everyday consciousness at the lowest level of historical consciousness, are not able to bring it into the system, to evaluate it from the point of view of the entire course of the historical process. Most often it appears in vague, emotionally charged memories, often incomplete, inaccurate, and subjective. Thus, an ordinary soldier who participated in the Great Patriotic War could not imagine the full scale of this event and assess it. This can only be done by historians based on a generalization of the entire set of facts and events. However, in the minds of ordinary soldiers, the entire mass ordinary people The main conclusion was: “we won.”
The next stage of historical consciousness can be formed under the influence of fiction, cinema, radio, television, theater, painting, and under the influence of acquaintance with historical monuments. At this level, historical consciousness also has not yet transformed into systematic knowledge. The ideas that form it are still fragmentary, chaotic, and not chronologically ordered. They, as a rule, are distinguished by their brightness, great emotionality, and the impressions of what they saw or heard sometimes last a lifetime. For example, a picture of Ivan the Terrible makes an impression on a person. Repin "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan." And although many essential moments of the historical process remain, so to speak, behind the scenes, the reader (viewer) judges the era precisely by this work of art.
The third stage of historical consciousness is formed on the basis of historical knowledge itself, acquired in history lessons at school, where students first receive ideas about the past in a systematized form. Unfortunately, by the end of school, students have little memory of where they started.
It is possible to expand knowledge of history at an amateur level, but this kind of personal interest does not manifest itself so often, and there are few suitable popular books on Russian history. A deep study of national history contributes to the education of youth in the spirit of citizenship and patriotism.
At the fourth (highest) stage, the formation of historical consciousness occurs on the basis of a comprehensive theoretical understanding of the past, at the level of identifying trends in historical development. Based on the knowledge about the past accumulated by history, generalized historical experience, a scientific worldview is formed, attempts are made to obtain a more or less clear understanding of the nature and driving forces of the development of human society, its periodization, the meaning of history, typology, and models of social development. At this level of historical consciousness, attempts are made to explain the human past in all its inconsistency and complexity, both at the concrete historical and at the theoretical levels.
Thus, historical knowledge as an element of social consciousness, constituting the spiritual side of the historical process, must be perceived systematically, in all its stages and levels, since without a systematic approach the idea of historical consciousness will be incomplete.
The importance of forming historical consciousness and preserving historical memory in modern conditions is very great. First of all, it ensures that a certain community of people understands the fact that they constitute a single people, united by a common historical destiny, traditions, culture, language, and common psychological traits. At the most diverse stages of their development, tribes, peoples, nations sought to preserve the memory of their past in the most various forms ah: from oral traditions and heroic epics, when there was no writing yet, to all kinds of written narratives, works of art, scientific works, monuments of fine art. This contributed to the self-affirmation of this community of people as a people.
The centuries-old history of mankind and the history of the 20th century, among other things, testify that national-historical consciousness is a defensive factor that ensures the self-preservation of the people. If it is destroyed, then this people will be left not only without a past, without its historical roots, but also without a future.
1. The concept of “historical consciousness”. Basic forms and levels of historical consciousness.
2. Modern historical consciousness. Monistic models of the historical process.
3. Post-modern historical consciousness. Pluralistic theories of the historical process.
4. Periodization of Russian history, factors of originality.
5. The role and place of Russia in world civilization in the assessments of historians of the 18th – 20th centuries. (Westerners and Slavophiles, “Eurasians”, G. Hegel, A. Toynbee, R. Pipes, etc.)
Main literature:
1. History of Russia in questions and answers / ed. Kislitsyna S.A. Rostov-on-Don, 2001
2. History of Russia / ed. Radugina A.A. M., 2004.
3. Russian civilization / ed. Mchedlova M.P. M., 2003.
4. Semennikova L.I. Russia in the world community of civilizations. M., 2008.
5. Tugusova G.V., Skorospelova V.A. History of the Fatherland from its origins to the present. Rostov-on-Don, 2001.
Additional literature:
1. Finding your way: Russia between Europe and Asia / Comp. N.G. Fedorovsky. Part 1, 2. Moscow, 1994.
2. History / ed. Shapovalova V.D. Rostov-on-Don, 2000.
3. Ionov I.N. Russian civilization of the 9th – early 20th centuries. Saratov, 2002.
4. Skvortsova E.M. Theory and history of culture. M., 1999.
To answer the first question students need to know the definition of historical consciousness and be able to identify its structural components (individual and collective, everyday and theoretical levels). The content of the story is historical process, that is, the life of humanity in its development and results. Understanding the historical process constitutes the content of historical consciousness, i.e. historical consciousness- this is a set of ideas of society as a whole and its social groups separately about its past and the past of all humanity, understanding the past, its connection with the present and future. Mass (group) historical consciousness represents a way for society to reproduce and evaluate its movement in time. Individual- is the result of the individual’s familiarization with knowledge of the past and its comprehension, as well as the formation of a sense of belonging with it.
It is also necessary to show the relationship between historical consciousness and the worldview of a historical era, to reveal the features of such types of historical consciousness as national, cultural, etc. Society as a whole is interested in creating an objective view of its past. Historical consciousness acts as a factor of social stability, uniting groups and individuals on the basis of awareness of a common historical destiny. At the same time, every era, nation, group strives to find its heroes, values, and behavior patterns in the past. This is how a change in historical consciousness occurs.
Levels of historical consciousness distinguished depending on the depth, systematicity and emotionality of understanding the events of the past. Four levels can be noted:
· understanding of events in which the individual was directly a witness or participant;
· understanding events through familiarity with works of art in which they are reflected;
· studying and understanding the past in history lessons at school;
· understanding the laws of the historical process (science).
Next, we should characterize the first forms of historical consciousness: mythological and religious, and show their specific features. Historical myth- a fictional image that replaces historical reality in the mind. Its features: syncretism (fusion) of historical ideas, when two times are simultaneously thought of: divine (sacred) and real, and the idea of cyclical development, repetition of the past, immutability of the world. Religious historical consciousness is associated with the establishment of Christianity. Its features: chronicle, providentialism, idealization. As a conclusion, answer the question: How does historical consciousness shape personality and contribute to a person’s self-orientation in the world?
By revising second question students are advised to name the main features of modern (scientific) historical consciousness (historicism, objectivity, determinism), to know the definition of the concepts “Eurocentrism”, “monism”, “modernization”, as well as the interpretation of the concepts of “civilization” and “culture”, characteristic of science XVIII - XIX centuries
The emergence of scientific historical consciousness was caused by the development of society's need for self-awareness in connection with the profound socio-economic changes of the 18th – 19th centuries. The desire to understand the logic of the historical process led to the emergence of history as a science of the past, turning to the real facts of the past and searching for their true causes. A feature of scientific consciousness has become historicism, i.e. consideration of events in development, in their connection with other historical phenomena and taking into account specific conditions this stage development, as well as determinism, explanation of events by a sequence of cause-and-effect relationships. Formed monistic approach to understanding the historical process. According to him world history represents a single and natural process of development of humanity as a single whole. All peoples go through the same stages of development. In this case, as a rule, the technical and economic level is taken as the main criterion for development, and the model is European countries ("Eurocentrism"). In the 19th century monistic views on history are presented in the philosophy of G. Hegel, O. Comte and K. Marx. In the 20th century these are the theories of “closed” and “open” societies by K. Popper, “stages of economic growth” by W. Rostow, “post-industrial society” by D. Bell and O. Toffler.
When analyzing monistic models of the historical process, it is proposed using the example theories of socio-economic formations K. Marx or theories of “post-industrial society” D. Bell to identify the features of such an understanding of history (one criterion for the development of society, the predominant experience of Europe, etc.). It should be noted that Marx introduces the concept of socio-economic formation as the unity of the economy and politics of society, with the leading role of the economy. The development of formations is determined by the method of production of material life, consisting of productive forces, i.e. resources supporting the production process, and production relations, i.e. various forms of ownership of the means of production. The method of production (basis) is decisive in relation to other spheres of society (politics, social and spiritual life). He believed that changes in the economy entail a change in the entire system of relations in society, a transition from one socio-economic formation to another. He identified five main formations in the history of mankind: primitive communal; slaveholding; feudal; capitalist; communist.
As a conclusion, students are asked to evaluate the positive and negative sides monistic approach.
When answering the third question, students are asked to identify the essential features of a special understanding of history in Modern Time using such concepts as “pluralism”, “tolerance”; as well as a new meaning of the concepts of “civilization” and “culture”. Formulate an idea of a pluralistic (multidimensional) understanding of history and features civilizational approach to history, which began to dominate historical research from the second half of the twentieth century.
The civilizational approach is universal. Its principles are applicable to the history of any country, group of countries, because history seems to be a multilinear, multivariate process. In addition, the history of a people is considered not in itself, but in comparison with the history of other peoples and civilizations, which makes it possible to better understand historical processes and their features. This approach helps to identify the intrinsic value of society, its place in world history and culture.
In modern understanding civilization- this is the totality of all (technical, cultural, spiritual, artistic) achievements in society that are the result of human activity. The uniqueness of each civilization is determined by a combination of many factors: geographic (or natural) environment; farming system, social organization, religion (spiritual values), political system, mentality, cultural archetype.
Students are asked to characterize the main concepts: from the founders (N.Ya. Danilevsky, K. Jaspers, A. Toynbee) to contemporaries (I. Wallerstein, etc.).
According to the theory of N. Ya. Danilevsky (1822 - 1885), civilization is a special cultural and historical type, the basis of which can be cultural, religious, political or socio-economic activity. The primary civilizations (Egyptian, Babylonian, Chinese, Indian and Iranian) had no foundations. The Jewish, Greek and Roman civilizations that replaced them were single-basic, the European (German-Roman) was two-basic, and the Slavic was the first four-basic, most developed civilization in history. In total, Danilevsky identified 13 cultural and historical types. He formulated the laws of their development: language, political independence, the uniqueness of civilization, their flourishing within the framework of a federation or political system states The fifth law states: the course of development of civilization is similar to the growth of a perennial single-fruited plant, i.e. after an indefinitely long development, a short period of flowering and fruiting begins, after which it inevitably dies.
Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) defined civilization as a special society, the basis of which is religion. Civilization arises as a result of the search for adequate “Answers” to “Challenges” that come from nature (drought) or people (war). He identified about twenty such societies, emphasizing that in the 20th century. There are five of them: Western Catholic, Eastern Byzantine-Orthodox, Islamic, Hindu and Far Eastern. The rest died, but not because they went their way to the end, but because they violated the laws of development. Toynbee considered the main ones to be the law of continuous motion, as well as the law of constancy and unidirectionality of motion.
Speaking about modern theories, we should mention the world-economy concept developed by I. Wallerstein. He views history as the development of various regional world-systems (world-economies and world-empires), which for a long time competed with each other until the European (capitalist) world-economy became absolutely dominant.
Attention should be paid to the peculiarities of the civilizational types of the West and the East. Today there are two main types of civilizations: Western European, technological And eastern , traditional. Western European developed on the basis of states Western Europe and was based on ancient Roman and Greek culture. It is characterized by private ownership of land, fast development commodity-money market relations, high level industrial development. The activities of this type of civilization are based on human rationalism, and the basis of the creed is God the man, Christ, the savior and transformer. In the sphere of relations between society and the surrounding reality lies the principle of active transformative human activity.
Eastern developed on the basis of culture Ancient India and China, Babylon, Ancient Egypt and states of the Muslim East. Her characteristic features are the social nature of land use, man’s admiration for nature, which is more contemplative than transformative in nature, and reverence for the traditions of the past. The basis of most Eastern religions is the deification of nature, the secondary role of man in relation to nature, activities aimed more at the moral self-purification of man rather than at transforming the surrounding reality.
Thus, by studying the history of any country, we can highlight the individual features of its existence as a local civilization, comprehend the general and special development trends in comparison with Western and eastern civilizations and draw a conclusion about its place in world civilization. This also applies to the study of Russian history. We will consider the history of Russia as the history of a unique civilization that has experienced a number of changes during its existence, and will use a periodization of the history of Russia, which reflects the key changes that occurred with the ethnic group.
Express your attitude to the problem by answering the questions: Is a dialogue of civilizations possible? Does world history exist?
Fourth question is devoted to the problem of periodization of Russian history. Speaking about periodization, it should be noted that there are several various schemes highlighting periods in the history of our country, depending on the methodology used by the researcher. V.N. Tatishchev was the first to propose a periodization of the history of Russia, from the point of view of the development of the state: 1) “perfect autocracy” (862-1132); 2) “aristocracy, but disorderly” (1132-1462); 3) “restoration of autocracy” (from 1462). According to N.M. Karamzin, it was divided into the Ancient (from Rurik to Ivan III), the characteristic feature of which was the system of appanages, the Middle (from Ivan III to Peter I) with autocracy, and the New (from Peter I to Alexander I), when Civil customs changed. According to V.O. Klyuchevsky: 1) VIII - XIII centuries. Rus' Dnieper, city, trade; 2) XIII - pp. XV centuries. - Upper Volga Rus', appanage-princely, free-agricultural; 3) Tue. item XV - beginning XVII centuries - this is Great Rus', Moscow, Tsarist-boyar, military-agricultural; 4) XVII century. – 1860s “new period” of Russian history, all-Russian, imperial-noble, period of serfdom. In Soviet historiography, a formational approach was adopted, according to which they distinguished: 1) primitive communal system (until the 9th century); 2) feudalism (IX - mid-XIX centuries); 3) capitalism (second half of the 19th century - 1917); 4) socialism (since 1917).
When studying the history of Russia, we will use periodization based on the civilizational approach, highlighting several subcivilizations (stages) that differ characteristic features. Their change occurred as a result of a “civilizational shift,” a crisis during which a unique choice of a further path of development occurred.
1. Old Russian civilization, pre-state period (until the 9th century)
2. Kievan Rus(862 – 1132)
3. “Apartment Rus'”, the period of feudal fragmentation (XII – XIV centuries)
4. Muscovite Rus' (XV – XVII centuries)
5. Imperial Russia (XVIII – early XX centuries)
6. Soviet Russia– USSR (1917-1991)
7. New Russia(1992 to present)
Talking about factors of Russia's identity, students should identify the mental principles of the Russian people that influenced historical development Russia (collectivism, a strong state principle, etc.), as well as the factors that contributed to their formation. It should be noted that many researchers note the huge role of the state in Russian history, a small amount of economic freedom among the population, collectivism. There are usually 4 factors that have shaped this model of development of our country: natural-climatic, geopolitical, religious and social organization. Under their influence, there are numerous differences in the development of Russia compared to the history of Europe. So, for example, the historical process in Russia has a cyclical nature: reforms - counter-reforms - “turmoil” - strengthening of the state.
Answering to the last question of the topic,Russia's place in the world civilization process, it is necessary to trace the historical path that the Russian state has passed. Russia occupies a special place in world history. Located in Europe and Asia, it has largely absorbed the characteristics of the countries of these regions, however, it must be borne in mind that its history is independent. It cannot be denied that the countries of Europe and Asia have experienced the influence of Russia, because the historical process is interconnected and interdependent. Each country has its own history, which distinguishes it from the history of other countries.
At the same time, it is necessary to reveal the main points of view on the question of Russia’s place in world civilization: between the West and the East (“Slavophilism”, “Westernism”, “Eurasianism”), in the modern world. Particular attention should be paid to the analysis of such concepts:
1. Russia is part of Western civilization. This position was developed in the 30s and 40s. XIX century Russian historians and writers K.D. Kavelin, N.G. Chernyshevsky, B.I. Chicherin and others, who were called “Westerners”. They believed that Russia, in its culture, economic ties, and Christian religion, lies closer to the West than to the East, and should strive for rapprochement with the West. The period of Peter's reforms took a significant step in this direction.
2. Russia is part of Eastern civilization. This point of view is expressed by many Western historians. A. Toynbee considered Russian civilization to be a derivative (daughter) of the Byzantine one. American historian D. Tredgold notes the features of Eastern society in Russia: the concentration of power in one center; the rights and property of different social groups are determined central government; a weakly expressed principle of property, which is always conditional and not guaranteed by the authorities; arbitrariness, the essence of which is that man rules, and not the law.
3. Russia is the bearer of a unique Slavic civilization. Historians and scientists N. Kireevsky, S. Khomyakov, K. Aksakov, Yu. Samarin, called “Slavophiles”, in the 40s. In the 19th century, when Russia stood on the threshold of reforms, they defended the originality and “Slavic character” of the Russian people. Slavophiles considered Orthodoxy, communal life, the collectivist nature of labor, and the integrity (non-division) of power to be features of Russian history.
4. Russia is an example of a special Eurasian civilization.(P. A. Karsavin, I. S. Trubetskoy, G. V. Florovsky, etc.). Proponents of this theory relied on geographical position Russia, its multinational character and many common features both eastern and western civilizations, manifested in Russian society. Russia represents special type civilization (“Eurasian”), which differs from both the West and the East. Russia occupies the middle space of Asia and Europe, which left its mark on the history of Russia and contributed to the creation of a unique cultural world. The Russian ethnos was formed not only on the basis of the Slavic ethnos, but under the strong influence of the Turkic and Finno-Ugric tribes, which led to a unique formation - a single multinational nation. The uniqueness of Russian culture was emphasized, the essence of which was determined by the ideas of conciliarity and religiosity. Eurasians idealized and absolutized the role of the state in public life. The state acted as the supreme master of society, possessing strong power, but at the same time maintaining a connection with the people.
To summarize, to answer the question: Why is thinking about the identity of Russia a central theme of Russian social thought?
Control questions
