The content and forms of spiritual activity in the historical development of society

What is a person’s spiritual activity? This is a creative activity of people, which is aimed not at changing nature, the world around, but at changing social subjects, that is, other people. The main feature that determines the content and forms of spiritual activity is the ideality of spiritual phenomena. Man masters the old and creates new spiritual values in his historical development.

Historical overview of major spiritual activities

Society is constantly evolving, generations, values, ideals are being replaced. This is a regular and orderly process. Throughout the development of mankind, various historical forms of spiritual activity existed, the main purpose of which was determined by the needs of society at each stage of development.

These include the following: morality, religion, science, art, philosophy, political ideology, law. Each stage of the formation of mankind in the spiritual plane determined the content and forms of spiritual activity that are most appropriate to the situation. Each form is important and cannot be replaced by others, but in different historical periods some one came to the fore. As you know, the Middle Ages was characterized by the undivided power of religion, since the Church controlled all spheres of life. Since the 17th century, the situation has changed somewhat, religion has ceased to dictate the content and forms of people's spiritual activity. The new time is characterized by the forefront of philosophy, science, political ideology. Nevertheless, it should be noted that for each country, these changes took place in their own way. There were periods in history when one type of spiritual activity sought to supplant another (for example, science - religion), but this did not bring significant results. Today , the media claim to be the leading form of spiritual activity, and this is not surprising. The media enforce norms, values, ideas through various communication channels. Of course, this contributed to the emergence of certain problems, for example, strengthening the importance of market relations and reducing the role of assimilation of spiritual values.

Philosophy as a specific type of spiritual activity

The content and forms of spiritual activity are determined by the worldview, which is the basis of philosophy. A man in the process of his life tries to know the world and himself, encountering many existential problems. Philosophy as a form of spiritual activity explores the relationship of man and the world, as well as man with himself. It contributes to the formation and assimilation of the main guidelines in life and the acquisition of vital meanings. Philosophy gives a person an idea of ​​the world, a kind of true knowledge about it, which serves as the basis for a worldview. In this regard, a person forms certain life principles and ideals, beliefs, value orientations. Philosophy has many connections with reality, it requires a person to go beyond the limits of direct, sensory knowledge, and also to abandon stereotypical thinking.