There are a number of eternal questions that have long haunted the minds. Who are we? Where did it come from? Where we are going? This is only part of the problems faced by vast disciplines such as philosophy.
In this article we will try to understand what humanity is doing on Earth. Get to know the opinions of researchers. Some of them consider history as a planned development, others as a cyclical closed process.
Philosophy of history
This discipline is based on the study of our role on the planet. Is there any sense in all the events that occur? We are trying to document them, and then link them into a single system.
However, who is the actor? Does a person create a process, or do events control people? The philosophy of history is trying to solve these and many other problems.
In the process of research, the concepts of historical development were highlighted. Further we will discuss them in more detail.
Interestingly, the term “philosophy of history” itself first appears in the writings of Voltaire, but the German scientist Herder began to develop it.
The history of the world has always interested mankind. Even in the ancient period, people appeared who tried to record and comprehend the events that were taking place. An example is the multivolume work of Herodotus. However, then many more things were explained by “divine” help.
So, let's go deeper into the features of human development. Moreover, as such there are only a couple of viable versions.
Two points of view
The first type of exercise relates to unitary-stadial. What is meant by these words? Proponents of this approach see the process as a single, linear and constantly progressing one. That is, both individual types of culture and the entire human society as a whole that unites them are distinguished.
Thus, according to this point of view, we all go through the same stages of development. And Arabs, and Chinese, and Europeans, and Bushmen. Only at the moment we are at different stages. But in the end, everyone will come to the same state of a developed society. So, you need to either wait for the others to move up the ladder of their evolution, or to help them with this.
The second look at the stages of human development is called pluralistic. Their point of view is fundamentally different from the previous one. If the proponents of the unitary-stadial concept consider progress infinite, then the pluralists doubt it.
According to their theory, the history of the world consists of many independent entities that go through their own development paths. It's like a mushroom picker in a forest. Several mushrooms standing next to it grow out of it. Each of them will grow in its own way, but according to one law. After flowering, wilt and death will ensue. But he will be replaced by a new plant.
Thus, it turns out that constant evolution does not exist, but history repeats itself. Everything that we know today was once the property of previous nations, which reached their point and came to naught.
Naturalistic concept
We are talking about such a concept as the "concept of historical development." Formational, civilizational or naturalistic - it doesn’t matter. The main thing is that scientists agreed on a common opinion. There is a sense in development, because even supporters of pluralism do not deny that nations develop according to the same laws and stages, but in a spiral.
That is, when a person in the Stone Age wanted to eat, he went hunting or plucked fruit from a tree. The first action involved powerful work to extract the resource. Compare with the present. The meat is ready, but you need to get it too. You have to go to work to get money, and then change it for food. Thus, the process remained the same, only became more complicated.
So, naturalistic concepts are good only in theory, because they consider a person separately. Each individual is evaluated outside of society. The meaning of this theory lies in the fact that morality, laws and principles are already inherent in man from the very beginning. That is, we do not develop, but simply reveal our potential.
However, thanks to such a vision, it is impossible to somehow convincingly unite all the ongoing processes. Therefore, in more detail we will focus on the remaining two options.
Civilization concept
The first of the two most common versions suggests non-linear development of mankind. Its supporters, such as Danilevsky and Spengler, depicted history in the form of disparate civilizations that exist separately and distinctively, which only occasionally interact with each other.
In the process of developing this theory, some laws were deduced that made it possible to standardize events in the evolution of society and combine them into a single classification.
The civilization concept of historical development implies the correspondence of certain communities to certain conventions. They are called cultural-historical laws.
There are five of them today. So, only such a society can be considered civilization, which carries all the points from the following list:
1. A common language or languages so that groups can communicate with each other.
2. Independence from other rulers and ideologies, which creates space for progress.
3. The identity of culture, traditions, religious beliefs.
4. The development process is finite. That is, every civilization has periods of origin, prosperity and decline.
Thus, supporters of this concept of historical development distinguish several local formations. If you call them by country, you get about fifteen regions: China, India, Mesopotamia, the Semitic world, Mexico, Latin America, Greece, Rome and others.
Based on this theory, it turns out that history is not a sequential process, but a cyclical one. And our civilization is also in decline, and a completely new formation will replace it.
Formation Concept
Proponents of this approach see successive stages of development in history. Among the scientists who developed these ideas were Marx, Ferguson, Smith, Engels.
This approach implies the linear evolution of man from the simplest forms to the modern type. This applies to both physical structure and technological progress.
What is the essence of their theory? They saw the basis for the development of mankind in a change in the forms of production. We will analyze more fully further, but the essence is as follows.
At first, people did not create anything, only used what came to hand. Hunting, picking vegetables, and fishing were widespread.
Later, various species of animals were tamed, cultivated varieties of cereals, vegetables and fruits were bred. There was an opportunity to plan the position of the tribe and people, in contrast to the case and luck at the previous stage.
Further, people began to produce goods even in abundance. There was a trade, crafts. The stratification of society into rich and poor. Slaves appeared.
This system is being replaced by the feudal one, during which mechanisms begin to be created to replace human labor. But they are still used along with farm laborers. Then there appear such power of production in which people occupy only an auxiliary role, but labor of workers in factories is still widespread.
The present stage involves only minimal human participation in production. All that is needed is to eliminate the breakdown and give the mechanisms the necessary tasks.
Thus, if we talk about the formation concept, it must be said that it adopted the following phased division of the history of mankind. Its basis is the production of material goods. Let's deal with each period in more detail.
Hunters and gatherers
The basic concepts of historical development set aside a time when people lived separately by each tribe, did not produce or grow anything, but only used the gifts of nature.
This happened at the dawn of mankind. In archeology, the Stone Age or Paleolithic corresponds to this period.
The scientific name of the stage is tribal or primitive communal. At this time, people still did not know how to grow plants or cattle, did not tame any animals. Only relatively recently it turned out to get comfortable with fire.
The only ways to get food and clothing were hunting and gathering. The production of weapons and tools of this period is divided into several stages. At first they used improvised means - sticks, stones, bones. Later learned to process these materials to improve efficiency.
Scientists find chipped wafers of silicon that fit together on a piece of wood or a horn, forming some kind of blade. So the first knives looked. Further, people learned to make darts and spears, invented a bow with arrows.
To feed the tribe, it was necessary to drive large animals together. During this period, communication develops. First, gestures and sounds are used for him, then a coherent speech is formed.
The second way to feed was gathering. By trial and error found edible fruits, herbs, roots. In the future, gardening developed from this.
Slave system
Over time (we recall that we are talking about the basic concepts of historical development), society began to divide by position and property. Layers formed, or, as they are also called, castes.
The most highly respected were those who could command and take responsibility for the entire tribe. They became leaders, rulers, and power.
The second layer was the priests. This included people who knew how to treat, knew certain secrets of substances and discovered for themselves some possibilities that most did not even know about. Subsequently, they turned out scientists and religious institutions of power (church, monastic orders , etc.).
The tribe needs to be protected from attacks on the territory, values. Therefore, a class of warriors was formed.
The largest fraction were ordinary artisans, farmers, cattle breeders - the lower layers of the population.
However, during this period, people still used the labor of slaves. These disenfranchised laborers included all those who fell into their number for various reasons. One could fall into debt slavery, for example. That is, not to give money, but to work it out. Also sold to the service of wealthy captives from other tribes.
Slaves were the main labor force of this period. Look at the pyramids in Egypt or the Great Wall of China - these monuments were erected precisely by the hands of slaves.
The era of feudalism
But humanity was developing, and the triumph of science was replaced by the growth of military expansion. The layer of rulers and warriors of stronger tribes, fueled by priests, began to impose its worldview on neighboring peoples, at the same time seizing their lands and levying tribute.
It became profitable to take possession of not disenfranchised slaves who could revolt, but several villages with peasants. They worked in the field to feed the family, and the local ruler provided them with protection. For this he was given part of the harvest and livestock raised.
The concepts of historical development briefly describe this period as the transition of society from manual production to mechanized. The era of feudalism basically coincides with the Middle Ages and modern times.
In these centuries, people mastered both the outer space - discovered new lands, and the inner one - explored the property of things and the possibilities of man. The discovery of America, India, the Great Silk Road and other events characterize the development of mankind at this stage.
The feudal lord who owned the land had governors who interacted with the peasants. With this he freed up his time and could spend it at his pleasure, engaged in hunting or military robberies.
But progress did not stand still. Scientific thought went forward, as did social relations.
Industrial society
A new stage in the concept of historical development is characterized by greater freedom, of a person, compared with the previous ones. Thoughts about the equality of all people, about the right of everyone to a decent life, and not vegetation and hopeless work, begin to arise.
In addition, the first mechanisms appear that made production easier and faster. Now, what a craftsman did a week before, could be created in a couple of hours, without involving a specialist and not paying him money.
The first factories and plants appear on the site of the guild workshops. Of course, they can not be compared with modern ones, but for that period they were just on top.
Modern concepts of historical development correlate the liberation of mankind from forced labor with its psychological and intellectual growth. Not for nothing that at this time whole schools of philosophers, researchers of natural sciences and other scientists appear, whose ideas are valued today.
Who has not heard of Kant, Freud or Nietzsche? After the French Revolution, mankind spoke not only about the equality of people, but also about the role of everyone in the history of the world. It turns out that all previous achievements were obtained thanks to the efforts of man, and not with the help of various deities.
Post-industrial stage
Today we live in the period of greatest achievements, if we look at the historical stages of the development of society. Man learned to clone cells, stepped on the surface of the moon, explored almost all corners of the Earth.
Our time gives an inexhaustible fountain of opportunities, not for nothing that the second name of the period is informational. Now there is as much new information per day as there was not even a year before. We no longer keep up with this stream.
Also, if you look at production, then almost everyone makes mechanisms. Mankind is more involved in services and entertainment.
Thus, based on the linear concept of historical development, people go from understanding the environment to getting to know their inner world. It is believed that the next stage will be based on the creation of a society that was previously described only in utopias.
So, we have examined the modern concepts of historical development. Also understood more deeply in the formation approach. Now you know the basic hypotheses about the evolution of society from the primitive communal system to the present day.