The society is a complex, multidimensional organism. In addition to the economic sphere, the field of politics and government, social institutions, there is also a spiritual plane. It penetrates into all the above areas of the life of the team, often exerting a strong influence on them. The spiritual life of society is a system of ideas, values, concepts. It includes not only the accumulated baggage of scientific knowledge and achievements of previous centuries, but also the ethical standards adopted in society, values and even religious beliefs.
All the wealth of people's feelings, the ups of their thoughts, the most brilliant creations and accomplishments create a kind of foundation. This is the spiritual life of society. Philosophy, art, religion, morality and science, on the one hand, store ideas, theories, knowledge accumulated by previous generations, and on the other hand, constantly produce new achievements. The spiritual sphere is all-pervasive: it affects other layers of society. So, for example, respect for human rights leads to the creation of democratic states where people have the opportunity to control official leaders.
The spiritual life of society is a complex phenomenon. However, for convenience, this area of activity is usually divided into theoretical and practical (applied). The first, starting from the experience of its predecessors, creates new ideas, creates new ideals, makes breakthroughs in scientific achievements and revolutionizes art. These new knowledge and ideas, images and values that are invisible to the eye are expressed in visible objects: new devices and techniques, works of art and even laws. The practical sphere stores, reproduces, distributes, and also consumes these developments. Thus, the consciousness of people, members of society, is changing.
The spiritual life of society and the individual is a single whole. People are different, and therefore their spiritual existence is sometimes dramatically different. The environment has a huge impact on the person, especially at an early age, at the stage of education and training. People absorb knowledge and skills accumulated by mankind over the past centuries, master them. Then comes the turn of empirical knowledge of the world: the individual through his experience accepts something, and rejects something from what the collective offers him. True, there are still laws that a person is forced to reckon with, even if he does not share the moral values that these establishments have generated.
We can say that the spiritual life of society constantly affects the
inner world of the individual. It is born, as it were, twice: first, a biological individual is born, and then - in the process of education, training and rethinking of one's own experience - a person. In this sense, society has a huge, creative influence on it. Indeed, as Aristotle claimed, man is a public animal. And even if an individual professes
Hottentot morality (if I steal from another it’s good, but if they steal from me it’s bad), then in public he will behave differently, that is, to mimic a citizen with modern, generally accepted moral values (stealing definitely bad).
On the other hand, society is inconceivable without its members, without individuals. That is why the spiritual life of society receives constant nourishment from individual representatives, creators, scientists, religious leaders. Their best deeds are included in the treasury of human culture, developing society, moving it forward, improving. In this sense, a person acts not as an object, but as a subject of spiritual values.