Contemporary world culture has its own specific properties that make it unique and unique in the general cultural and historical context. It is very important to consider it holistically, in a unified connection with various aspects of the life of modern society, whether it be ethics, morality, legal relations or the level of technological development and the economic factor. Of course, such a comprehensive description of culture in one article will not work, so we will focus only on the most significant aspects of cultural life. So, what is special about the development of culture at the present stage?
The role of European culture in the global cultural space
It is no secret that the current stage in the development of culture is characterized by an active process of globalization, firmly based on the European tradition. This is true for almost all regions of the planet, although to varying degrees. This process is called Westernization and is determined by the dominant Eurocentrism in assessing the prospects for further cultural development of society. That is why the main attention should be paid to this tradition as the most important and fundamental for the life of billions of modern inhabitants of the planet.
Frontiers of European Culture
The European tradition, like any other, is distinguished by its style, specific features and set of values. Of course, the framework of its various thinkers define differently, as well as the sources of its origin and development factors. Here we will adhere to the most neutral and almost convenient concept, according to which modern European culture with its mentality and characteristic features was formed in the Renaissance and the New Age. Other influences - antique, classical and a number of others - we will attribute as the main ones to another type preceding the modern cultural formation of Europe.
So, what is the difference between the development of culture at the present stage? In other words, what are its essential features that can be distinguished as characteristic markers that separate it from other cultural types?
Rationalism
The rationalistic element very clearly characterizes the development of culture at this stage. This is manifested in the prevailing worldview, the value core of which is the resources of human intelligence. It is very important to outline the vector of European rationalism, since it differs significantly from other, primarily, traditional eastern cultures. Its main distinguishing feature is the desire to constitute, codify the world around it, to make it completely controlled and subordinate to the human principle. By the way, the development paths of modern culture in Russia lead to exactly the same approach to the surrounding reality, when the value of the world is determined by its degree of operability and utility coefficient. In other words, the human factor under such a system is central, while the rest of the world is translated into the status of a resource.
The influence of rationalism on the features of the modern stage (cultural development)
This orientation of the Western mentality has allowed us to create a comfortable living environment, to advance technology far ahead and achieve tremendous successes economically. But it also has a reverse, darker side, which consists in psychological destabilization of consciousness (for example, an extremely high level of depressive and suicidal moods in the economically most prosperous countries of Europe, America and Australia), hypertrophied intellectualism, to the detriment of the spiritual component personality, the development of consumer relations, and in a broader sense - in aggressive cultural and economic expansionism and a barbaric attitude to nature and the environment.
Subjectivism
The current stage in the development of culture is also characterized by pronounced subjectivity. Moreover, the latter in this case is understood as the absolute value of the subject in any external processes and phenomena.
In practice, this means that the measure of everything is a specific person, an individual, and not society, class, caste, and the like. With such an organization of cultural values , at least formal legal equality and the development of political life in a democratic manner are made possible. Of course, in real life everything is somewhat more complicated, but it is with this personality-oriented message that the modern stage is determined. The development of culture in this direction not only liberates the individual, gives it inalienable value and rights, but also imposes a huge responsibility, being at the same time a challenge. The individual is, in essence, one on one with the world around him, in which all relations take the form of a contract and a mutually beneficial contract. A person in such a world turns out to be lonely, without deep roots in the family-clan, spiritual, national, or some other space.
Russian specifics
As for the development of modern culture in Russia, it still contrasts quite strongly with the European model, although it is moving confidently in its direction. So, for example, in the cultural space of the Russian Federation the ideas of tolerance and equality of a pluralistic society, free from oppression of the personality by any kind of social force, are still not fully accepted. On the other hand, many aspects of cultural life in the post-Soviet space are less susceptible to commercialization and the transition to a format of market relations. This can be expressed more simply by the concept of spiritual depth, alien to the economic dimension.
Scientism
The logical development of subjectivity, which was stimulated by R. Descartes in his famous thesis “I think, therefore I exist,” has become an essential vacuum of European culture. In contrast to the theocratic Middle Ages or the antiquity enslaved by fate, the modern stage in the development of culture is characterized, as has been said, by radical anthropocentrism, in the conditions of which the subject has no other support and criterion for knowing, except for himself. Thus, any soil is knocked out from under the feet of a person. The compensatory function in this process is assumed by the insatiable will to power and control, based on the foundation of scientific methodology. Together, all these factors: subjectivism, rationalism, and scientism following from them are the answer to the question “what are the features of the modern stage of cultural development”.
Matesis
Mathesis is understood as such a model of thinking and cognition that is oriented mainly to the mathematical apparatus. It is this quality that is so characteristic of the new European mentality. It is important to highlight it especially, because although it adequately describes the essence of European scientism, it is not limited to it. As vividly as in scientific discourse, mathesis manifests itself in all aspects of the life of a European person, even in those where, it would seem, mathematical calculation is inappropriate. A vivid example of this is the beauty industry, in which the verified and standardized concept of beauty and beauty completely lost the halo of irrationality and spiritual dimension and turned into an object of production and an object of trade and market relations. Beauty has ceased to be an essential, deep quality of a person and has turned into something that can be effectively constructed using mathematically verified diets, workouts, chemicals and surgical operations. Thus, it has become extremely rationalized, subject to specified parameters and standards.
Expansionism
The current stage in the development of culture is also characterized by some expansionism. It was this factor that enabled her to become the leading paradigm at present, which claims to become the foundation for the synthesis of global culture. It manifests itself, first of all, in the political section of social life, but not only. A vivid example is the persistent proselytism of Western Christian churches, the spread of Western economic models and the values of a democratic society. Moreover, the expansion of European culture extends not only to other, non-European communities, but also to the world as such. This feature of the Western mentality is colorfully illustrated by the attitude towards nature, characterized by consumerism and an irrepressible desire to subordinate it to one’s interests, which often leads to catastrophic consequences - the destruction of animals and plant species, the depletion of minerals, environmental pollution, etc. Unfortunately, this attitude is gradually overcome in Europe itself and the countries carrying its cultural paradigm through the development of environmental awareness, is fully inherent in the Russian cultural a nd. The abundance of garbage in forest park areas adjacent to any Russian city speaks for itself, as does the level of poaching, the extent of illegal deforestation, and the legislative framework, which in this respect is characterized by almost complete indifference.