Society is a form of bringing people together, as we all know. But it is also a dynamically developing system. And a lot has influenced her. To simplify the understanding of the topic, science identifies objective and subjective factors in the development of society. And further in the article we will try to list them and consider them in more detail.
Nature
This is the first thing that needs to be noted with attention when speaking about objective and subjective factors in the development of society. Nature belongs to the first category. Indeed, in fact, objective factors are those that are not directly dependent on the conscious activity of man and people, as well as on their will.
So, nature plays an important role in social development. And there is plenty of evidence for that. For example, ancient civilizations were based on the banks of rivers. And this is logical, because nearby is the water that a person needs for a full-fledged existence.
About destruction
True, the natural factor often contributed to the death. Recall at least the Minoan civilization that existed from 2700 to 1400 BC. Its heyday was facilitated precisely by natural conditions. In the rocks, the Minoans carved houses, began to practice stamping seals on clay. Their main activity was maritime trade, since the island was at the intersection of the main trade routes. But then the Santorin volcano erupted - and this natural factor accelerated the death of the Minoan civilization.
Technology
So, nature contributes to the satisfaction of basic human needs. But technology is also included in the development factors of society. You can even say that in our time they are in the first place.
So many scientists thought. For example, Thorstein Veblen (an American publicist, sociologist, and economist) is the founder of the idea of ​​technocracy. He argued that the progress of society is the development of technology. And especially actively this idea began to spread at the moment when an industrial revolution arose. Many leaders of that time assured that in order for industrial society to develop and form adequately and create wealth by production, and not by wars and robbery, it is necessary to transfer power to the hands of the technical intelligentsia.
Man and technology
Talking about the objective and subjective factors of the development of society, it is necessary to pay attention to how exactly in our time technology affects its prosperity. Of course, a little earlier, the emergence of something new was a miracle that could improve the productivity, quality of a process, etc. But now, probably, about 90% of human labor is mechanized. And this is not good. Since many people no longer need to develop and work. And this is not progress, but degradation. And in life there are many illustrative examples.
As it was before? Students to pass the exam or test, taught, read tons of books, sat in libraries, prepared. Wrote handwritten tips in small handwriting (simultaneously remembering what was written). And thanks to this, they came out of the walls of the university by trained specialists who were educated with their mind and strength. What is happening in our time? There are earphones, handles with built-in countersunk “cheat sheets”, telephones with the Internet, after all. Of course, not everyone “learns” in this way and not everywhere, but the fact that the quality of training has declined is a fact. And this is just one example.
About progress
Talking about the objective and subjective factors in the development of society, one cannot but turn to examples. Namely: to the USA, Western Europe and Japan. There, progress is maximized. And the driving force behind the development of society is the notorious computerization, automation and robotization of production. And that’s all for the benefit of the people.
With the help of modern technology, it turns out to process incredible amounts of information. Thanks to this, output increases, and the management of various institutions becomes easier. All this has a direct impact on the fact that technological progress contributes to the manifestation of subjective development factors. Society, individual social groups, individuals get the opportunity to express themselves. Technological progress is the impetus for self-development.
And with a competent approach, information will not be the reason for the reduction in traditional industries, but for expansion. Just what existed before in social systems will receive additional, new impulses for development. True, Russia still lags behind the above countries in the computerization of management and industry.
Two sides of the same coin
Talking about the main factors in the development of society, one cannot but mention the consequences of the notorious progress. They can be both positive and negative.
Take, for example, the improvement of tools. This is progress that contributes to the growth of living standards and the satisfaction of human needs. But at the same time, it can provoke unemployment, and also - depletion of energy and raw materials.
The growth of cities is also good, since the level of well-being and spiritual culture of the population is growing. But at the same time, alienation between people is not ruled out. And the saddest thing is pollution of the environment.
The introduction of computer technology provides ease of receipt and subsequent processing of information. Making decisions has become much easier and faster. But computerization can threaten the global manipulation of consciousness and the emergence of occupational diseases.
The progress also includes the discovery of the possibilities of using nuclear energy, which contributes to the growth of the economy and the cheapening of energy. But the consequence could be a nuclear arms race or even the threat of destroying the planet.
The last thing I would like to note with attention is the spread of mass culture. A good consequence of this is the easy accessibility of cultural achievements. And bad - the decline of morality and lack of spirituality.
What plays a decisive role
Above we examined some objective and subjective factors in the development of society. Social science is generally a very interesting science. And the people who deal with it adhere to a certain opinion about what exactly plays a decisive role in our life, assigning it to objective factors. After all, they determine everything that is subjective - the direction of activity of people and society.
These include the state of social institutions (army, family, education and the court), the size of the state, the specific climate. There are lots of examples. If, let’s say, in one region or another there is intense heat, people will think about creating an effective and low-cost cooling system, but not about heating. This example shows how an objective factor (climate) contributes to the development of society by the method of applying what is subjective (technology).
But in historical idealism the opposite is true. There, the subjective factor is decisive. Because it includes a certain activity of significant and outstanding personalities, based on the church and power. The mass of people here is an objective factor contributing to social development (or, in other words, a condition).
Progress criteria
There are 4 main factors in the development of society. They characterize the transition from the lowest to the highest, or, in other words, the path to perfection:
- Increasing welfare and social security of members of society.
- The decline in confrontation between people, the improvement of interpersonal relations. And accordingly, the growth of spirituality and the acquisition of morality by people.
- The affirmation of democracy.
- The acquisition of freedom by people. It is in the absence of coercion to something from the outside that is the happiness of each person.
There are only 4 criteria. The objective and subjective factors of the development of society in them are clearly intertwined. Because one cannot exist without the other.
About subjectivity
This is the last thing I would like to talk about. The objective and subjective factors of the development of society, in short, represent a certain basis for the whole of modern society. The topic is quite complicated. Because it is connected with people on whom everything subjective depends. For example, moral consciousness is morality, which is aimed at regulating social relations and the behavior of individuals. Moral consciousness is the totality of certain views, opinions and ideas about something. In this case, about the behavior of people. Accordingly, morality acts as a regulator of the latter.
Moral consciousness includes ethical feelings, principles, judgments, norms of behavior, values. All this affects social development - its prosperity or degradation. For example, if absolutely every person took proper care of the environment, thought about its preservation, then our planet would be truly green. There would be no cigarette butts, bottles, forests would not be cut down, animals would not be destroyed. Many extinct species would survive. This is how the manifestation of the ratio of objective factor (nature) and subjective (human behavior) looks like.