Materialistic theories of the origin of life represent civilization as a fairly high level of mastery of natural forces. It indicates the achievement of technological progress, contributes to the receipt of natural goods. The spread of inventions had an obvious beneficial effect on public life. Along with this, material abundance does not mean spiritual and cultural prosperity. It can not be assessed either as unconditionally moral, or as unequivocally immoral. Technological progress is considered neutral in relation to the cultural world.
Civilization as a subject of research
The materialist theory of the emergence of culture examines technological advances in various contexts. For example, the significance of the achievements lies in the ability not only to irrigate previously barren land, but also to create weapons of mass destruction. The concept of civilization, as a rule, is associated precisely with the culturally neutral inherently technical development. The range of its use is very wide. The concept of culture, in turn, is as close as possible to spiritual progress. Civilization is a world of material objects transformed by man. Culture, on the other hand, is considered an individual’s internal heritage, his assessment of spiritual development, freedom or depression, complete dependence on the society surrounding him, or his autonomy and isolation.
Attitude of western philosophy
In the writings of many thinkers, a sharply negative assessment of such a phenomenon as civilization is found. Spengler expressed this attitude to her as a "cultural agony." Since that time, the negative assessment has further strengthened. Among the negative properties of civilization, as a rule, there is a tendency to standardize thinking, focusing on the absolute correctness of generally accepted truths. She is credited with a low rating of originality and independence of perception, which are regarded as a social danger. If from this point of view, culture contributes to the formation of a perfect personality, then civilization creates a law-abiding ideal member of society. He is content only with the benefits that are provided to him.
Civilization is often regarded as a synonym for urbanization, the tyranny of cars, crowding, a source of dehumanization of the world. Indeed, no matter how deep the penetration of the human mind into the secrets of nature, its own spiritual world remains largely mysterious. Science and civilization alone are not able to ensure cultural progress. It requires a certain spiritual education, consisting of a variety of moral, intellectual, ethical achievements of all mankind. They should not be passive components of material existence, but an independent and active layer within an objectively developing historical process.
Socio-economic formations
The most striking representative of the materialist theory of the origin of the state - Marx - in contrast to the philosophers' reasoning about society, put forward a new category. He pointed to the existence of a socio-economic formation. It represents a society located at a certain level of historical development, with its own distinctive characteristics. The primitive communal system, slavery, feudalism, capitalism and socialism are the elements that form the classical formation ladder of human evolution. A qualitatively defined, concrete historical type of social structure, taken in the unity of its components - the method of production, the state of art and science, the whole diversity and richness of the spiritual world, family-household interactions, the way of life of people as a whole - this is the socio-economic formation .
System structure
All who are representatives of materialist theory — Lenin, Engels, Marx and their followers — indicate that the socio-economic formation has a structure characterized primarily by categories such as “basis” and “superstructure”. These components are intended to clarify the way in which industrial relations affect other aspects of human activity — legal, political, and so on. In other words, the materialist theory of the origin of civilization suggests that the basis and superstructure are singled out solely for concretizing the understanding of the structure of society, and for determining causal interactions. Lenin, clarifying the meaning of these categories, said that the key idea of ​​the materialistic perception of history is that social relations are divided into ideological and material. At the same time, the former act as a superstructure over the latter.
Category Description
Materialist theory considers the basis as a set of production relations that make up the economic system of society. He is the defining model of ideological forms of social interactions. The add-in, in turn, is represented as a set of ideas and relationships associated with them. It is also called a complex of organizations and institutions that enshrines the concept. These institutions are, in particular, political associations, the state, trade unions, and other public organizations.
Nuance
It should be noted that the basis and superstructure do not exhaust the whole variety of phenomena that take place in social life. For example, phenomena such as science, some other spiritual categories cannot be considered as the product of any economic model of society. These phenomena cannot depend on the properties of the basis. Enough rough simplification will be the inclusion of science in the structure of the ideological superstructure in one or another socio-economic formation. However, along with this, undoubtedly, both economic and ideological interactions influence its world outlook, the direction of development of a particular sphere of knowledge.
Materialist theory of the state, law
The concept puts forward quite specific ideas. In particular, it proceeds from the fact that the appearance of the state is determined mainly by economic factors. The prerequisites are the social division of labor, the creation of a surplus product, the development of private property, and then the split of society into classes that have opposing economic interests. The emergence of the state in such a development is an objective result. It acts as an institution, which, using special means of control and suppression, restrains the opposition of the formed classes and ensures mainly the interests of the economic dominant layer. The materialist theory of the state puts forward the idea that the new entity has replaced the tribal organization. At the same time, the legal system of norms has replaced customs.
Concept content
The materialist theory of the state does not impose new institutions from without. All of them appear on the basis of natural social development. It, in turn, is associated with the decomposition of the primitive system, the spread of private property, the social stratification of the population on the basis of property (the emergence of the rich and poor). As a result of development, the interests of different classes begin to come into conflict.
In such circumstances, the tribal organization became unable to exercise control. There was a need to create a power institute. He should be able to provide an advantage to the interests of some members of society in contrast to the needs of others. In this regard, society, which consists of unequal economic layers, creates a special organization. She maintains the interest of the haves, while restraining the confrontation of dependent members of society. The state acts as this special organization. According to the followers of the concept, it is a temporary and historically transient phenomenon. With the elimination of class differences, there will be no need for an authority.
Classification of forms
Materialist theory distinguishes three models of the emergence of power organization:
- Athens (classical). In accordance with this model, the emergence of the state is determined directly and mainly by class contradictions that are formed within society.
- Roman. This form of state emergence is distinguished by the fact that tribal organization is transformed into a closed aristocracy. It is isolated from the disenfranchised and numerous masses of plebeians. The victory of the latter destroys the tribal system, on the ruins of which the state appears.
- Germanic. The state according to this model appears as a consequence of the conquest of a vast area.
Legal system in concept
The economic conditionality and class nature of the legal model acts as the most important principle position of Marxist theory. The key content of the concept is the idea that law is a product of society. It acts as an expression and consolidation of the will of the class that dominates the economic sphere. Materialist theory indicates that in the emerging relationship, propertied individuals should put their strength into the formation of a power body and give their will a universal expression in the form of law. In other words, the creation and existence of a legal system is determined by the need to consolidate the normative regulation of social interactions in the interests of the ruling class.
Over time, the principles of materialist theory were fixed in domestic law. Based on the class criterion, the conclusion was formulated that in a society in which there are no antagonistic layers, the will of all friendly associations led by the working class is expressed in the legal system.
Setting
Materialist theory proclaims the rule: from each individual - according to his ability, to each subject - according to his needs. People should get used to fulfilling the requirements of a hostel. When this happens, they themselves will voluntarily begin to work according to their abilities. Materialist theory creates certain restrictions for the legal system. They fit into the historical framework of class society. The concept states that law is a transitory phenomenon. It is necessary for society only at a specific stage of its development. In the event classism disappears, it will lose social value.
Positive features of the concept
As one of the merits of materialist theory, it should be noted the development of the postulates that law is a necessary tool to ensure the economic freedom of the subject. It is an impartial regulatory mechanism for the relations of consumption and production. The moral foundations of the regulatory system in a civilized society take into account and express the objective needs of social development within the permitted and forbidden behavior of all interacting participants. The following advantages of materialistic theory can also be noted:
- Identification of specific criteria for permissible and forbidden. This became possible due to the fact that the adherents of the concept considered the legal system as a law - a set of formally defined normative acts.
- The dependence of law on socio-economic factors that have the most significant impact on it is expressed.
- The close relationship of the legal system and the authority that establishes and ensures compliance with the norms is shown.
Negative points
There are also disadvantages of materialistic theory. First of all, within the framework of the concept, the role of class in the legal system is exaggerated to the detriment of universal norms. The existence of law is limited by historical boundaries. The legal system, in addition, is unnecessarily tightly connected with material factors. This underestimates the degree of influence of other circumstances on its formation.