Which sciences are not social. Characteristics of the social sciences

Under science it is customary to understand systematically organized knowledge based on facts obtained using empirical research methods based on the measurement of real phenomena. There is no consensus on the question of which disciplines belong to the social sciences. There are various classifications of these social sciences.

Depending on the connection with practice, sciences are divided into:

1) fundamental (find out the objective laws of the surrounding world);

2) applied (they solve the problems of applying these laws to solve practical problems in the production and social areas).

If we adhere to this classification, the boundaries of these groups of sciences are conditional and mobile.

The generally accepted classification is based on the subject of study (those connections and dependencies that each science directly studies). In accordance with this, the following groups of social sciences are distinguished.

Philosophy is the most ancient and fundamental science that establishes the most general patterns of development of nature and society. Philosophy performs a cognitive function in social science. Ethics - the theory of morality, its essence and impact on the development of society and people's lives. Morality and morality play a big role in motivating human behavior, his ideas about nobility, honesty, courage. Aesthetics- the doctrine of the development of art and artistic creativity, the way to embody the ideals of mankind in painting, music, architecture and other areas of culture

So, we found out that there is no consensus on the question of which disciplines belong to the social sciences. However, to social sciences it is customary to attribute sociology, psychology, social psychology, economics, political science and anthropology. These sciences have much in common, they are closely related and form a kind of scientific union.

They are adjoined by a group of related sciences, which belong to humanitarian. This philosophy, language, art history, literary criticism.

Social sciencies operate quantitative(mathematical and statistical) methods, and humanitarian - quality(descriptive-evaluative).

The humanities and social sciences are a complex of many disciplines, the subject of which is both society as a whole and the individual as its member. These include political science, philosophy, philology, psychology, economics, pedagogy, jurisprudence, cultural studies, ethnology and other theoretical knowledge.

Specialists in these areas are trained and graduated by sciences, which may be separate educational institution, and be a subdivision of any liberal arts university.

social sciences

First of all, they explore the society. Society is considered as an integrity that develops historically and represents associations of people that have developed as a result of joint actions and have their own system of relations. The presence of different groups in society makes it possible to see how interdependent individuals are from each other.

Social sciencies: research methods

Each of the disciplines listed above uses its own characteristics. Thus, political science, exploring society, operates with the category of "power". Culturology considers as an aspect of society that has value, culture and forms of its manifestation. Economics explores the life of society from the standpoint of the organization of housekeeping.

To this end, she uses categories such as market, money, demand, product, supply, and others. Sociology considers society as a constantly developing system of relations between social groups. History studies what has already happened. At the same time, trying to establish the sequence of events, their relationship, causes, it is based on all kinds of documentary sources.

The rise of the social sciences

IN ancient times social sciences were predominantly included in philosophy, since philosophy studied both the person and the whole society at the same time. Only history and jurisprudence were partially separated into separate disciplines. The first social theory was developed by Aristotle and Plato. During the Middle Ages, social sciences were considered within the framework of theology as knowledge of the undivided and embracing absolutely everything. Their development was influenced by such thinkers as Gregory Palamas, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John of Damascus.

Starting from the New Age (since the 17th century), some social sciences (psychology, cultural studies, political science, sociology, economics) are completely separated from philosophy. In higher educational institutions, faculties and departments are opened in these subjects, specialized almanacs, magazines, etc. are published.

Natural and social sciences: differences and similarities

This problem has been solved in history ambiguously. Thus, the followers of Kant divided all sciences into two types: those studying nature and culture. Representatives of such a trend as the “philosophy of life” generally sharply contrasted history with nature. They believed that culture is the result of the spiritual activity of mankind, and it can be understood only by experiencing and realizing those eras, the motives of their behavior. In modern sciences and natural sciences are not only opposed, but also have points of contact. This is, for example, the use mathematical methods research in philosophy, political science, history; application of knowledge from the field of biology, physics, astronomy in order to establish the exact date of events that occurred in the distant past.

Social Sciences
Philosophy. Philosophy studies society from the point of view of its essence: structure, ideological foundations, correlation of spiritual and material factors in it. Since it is society that generates, develops and transmits meanings, the philosophy that explores meanings pays central attention to society and its problems. Any philosophical research necessarily touches on the topic of society, since human thought always unfolds in a social context that predetermines its structure.
Story. History examines the progressive development of societies, giving a description of the phases of their development, structure, structure, features and characteristics. Different schools of historical knowledge emphasize different aspects of history. The focus of the classical historical school is religion, culture, worldview, the social and political structure of society, a description of the periods of its development and the most important events and actors in social history.
Anthropology. Anthropology - literally, "the science of man" - as a rule, explores archaic societies in which it seeks to find the key to understanding more advanced cultures. According to evolutionary theory, history is a single linear and unidirectional stream of development of society, and so on. " primitive peoples” or “savages” live to this day in the same social conditions as all of humanity in ancient times. Therefore, by studying "primitive societies", one can obtain "reliable" information about the initial stages of the formation of societies that have passed in their development and other, later and "developed" stages.
Sociology. Sociology is a discipline whose main object is society itself, studied as a holistic phenomenon.
Political science. Political science studies society in its political dimension, exploring the development and change of power systems and institutions of society, the transformation political system states, change of political ideologies.
Culturology. Cultural studies considers society as a cultural phenomenon. In this perspective, social content manifests itself through the culture generated and developed by society. Society in cultural studies is the subject of culture and at the same time the field in which cultural creativity unfolds and in which cultural phenomena are interpreted. culture understood in broad sense, covers the totality of social values that create a collective portrait of the identity of each particular society.
Jurisprudence. Jurisprudence mainly considers social relations in the legal aspect, which they acquire, being fixed in legislative acts. Legal systems and institutions reflect prevailing trends community development, combine the worldview, political, historical, cultural and value orientations of society.
Economy. Economics studies the economic structure of various societies, explores the impact of economic activity on social institutions, structures and relationships. The Marxist method of political economy makes economic analysis the main tool in the study of society, reducing social studies to clarifying their economic background.
Social science. Social science summarizes the approaches of all social disciplines. In the discipline "Social Science" there are elements of all the above scientific disciplines helping to understand and correctly interpret the main social meanings, processes and institutions.

1. Social sciences social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that study aspects of human being in the aspect of his social activities. The specificity of this type of cognition lies, first of all, in the fact that the object here is the activity of the subjects of cognition themselves. That is, people themselves are both subjects of knowledge and real actors. In addition, the object of cognition is also the interaction between the object and the subject of cognition. In other words, in contrast to the sciences of nature, technical and other sciences, in the very object of social cognition, its subject is also initially present. Further, society and man, on the one hand, act as part of nature. On the other hand, these are the creations of both society itself and man himself, the objectified results of their activities. Both social and individual forces operate in society, both material and ideal, objective and subjective factors; in it, both feelings, passions, and reason matter; both conscious and unconscious, rational and irrational aspects of human life. Within society itself, its various structures and elements seek to satisfy their own needs, interests, and goals. This complexity public life, its diversity and different quality determine the complexity and difficulty of social cognition and its specificity in relation to other types of cognition
Methods of social research. The importance of social knowledge.

2. Methods of social research Each level of sociological knowledge has its own research methodology. At the empirical level, sociological research is carried out, which is a system of logically consistent methodological, methodological and organizational-technical procedures, subordinated to a single goal to obtain accurate objective data about the social phenomenon under study. Theoretical Methods A significant place in sociology is occupied by the structural-functional method. The totality of the social experience of a social subject, crystallized in rational forms in a broad sense. In the context of our study, it is considered as a system forming the substance of culture, the self-organization of which underlies cultural self-organization is characterized by: the widest possible range and volume: it includes everything that is considered knowledge in society
Philosophical ideas about the social qualities of a person.

3. Man still remains terra incognita for himself. And this despite the fact that there are many ways to comprehend a person. Such, for example, is the art that comprehends a person in artistic images. But in this case, we are interested in the world of knowledge about a person, the knowledge method of his comprehension. This world is represented by complexes of scientific and philosophical disciplines. Science and philosophy often challenged each other's heuristic possibilities and often claimed to be the only true reflection of a person. The complexity of distinguishing between scientific and philosophical approaches is largely due to the complexity of man as an object of study. Therefore, the modern philosopher argues: with all the seemingly empirical evidence and clarity of what we call a person, in empirical reality it is impossible to find a sign that would fully determine the essence and boundaries of this phenomenon, would serve as its sufficient definition. Even in ancient philosophy, man was considered as a microcosm, a small cosmos, the universe, which is identical to the macrocosm of the universe, the natural whole. In terms of modern philosophical language, it sounds like this: in the empirical world, it is generally impossible for a person to indicate any border, limit, terminate it. In this sense, he is an infinite being that transcends any empirical finitude. In any person, we are faced with some kind of empirical infinity. The totality of ideas about a person expressed by philosophers is traditionally called philosophical anthropology. The relationship between philosophical anthropology and scientific comprehension of man can be represented by the following typical situations.
Human. Points of view on the origin of man. Human Sciences.

4. There are three theories of the origin of man: religious, the theory of evolution by Darwin and Engels, and cosmic. Anthropogenesis is the science that studies the origin of man. The beginning of the process of becoming a man refers to the appearance of Ramapithecus 14-20 million years ago. Australopithecus appeared 5-8 million years ago. From them, about 2 million years ago, the first representative of Homo, Homo habilis, or intelligent man, originated. View Homo erectus, Homo erectus, appears 1-1.3 million years ago. He had a brain volume in the range of 800-1200 cm3, had direct speech, mastered fire, and made hunting tools. Homo sapiens man reasonable 150-200 thousand years ago. He was at the stage of Cro-Magnon man 40-50 thousand years ago, he already approached modern man in terms of external physical appearance, in terms of intelligence, interest in beauty, and the ability to feel compassion for one's neighbor.
Individual. Personality.

5. An individual is a single representative of the human race. Individuality is a holistic characteristic of a certain person through his character, intellect, needs, abilities and interests. Personality - a human individual who is the subject of conscious activity, possessing a set of social significant features, properties and qualities that he implements in public life. Not every person can be a person. A person becomes in the process of socialization. Socialization is a process carried out throughout the life of an individual, with the help of which people accumulate social experience of life in a particular society. Personality - is formed in the process of education and human activity, under the influence of a particular society and its culture. In science, there are two approaches to personality. The first considers the individual as an active participant in free actions. People evaluate a person through comparison with the norms established in society. The second direction considers the personality through a set of functions or roles. A person manifests himself in a variety of circumstances, depending not only on individual traits, but also on social conditions.
Human activity: main characteristics.

6. Activity is a form of interaction inherent only to a person with the outside world. Human activity is characterized by such features as consciousness, productivity, transformative and social character. These features distinguish man from animals. First, human activity is conscious in nature. A person consciously puts forward the goals of his activity. Secondly, the activity is productive. It is about getting results. Thirdly, activity is transformative in nature: in the course of activity, a person changes the world around him and himself - his abilities. Fourthly, in human activity, its social character is manifested. In the process of activity, a person enters into various relationships with other people. Human activity is carried out to satisfy his needs. A need is a need experienced and realized by a person for what is necessary to maintain his body and develop his personality. Natural needs are the needs of people for everything that they need for their existence. Social needs are the needs of a person in everything that is a product of social life. Ideal needs are the needs of people for everything that is necessary for them. spiritual development.
Structure of activity, motivation of activity.

7. Any human activity is determined by the goals that he sets for himself. A goal is what a person strives for. Certain means of activity help to achieve the desired result. In the course of activity, certain products of activity arise. These are material and spiritual benefits, forms of communication between people, abilities, skills and knowledge of the person himself. A motive is a motive for an activity. At the same time, the same activity can be caused by different motives. Any activity appears before us as a chain of actions. Integral part or a single act of activity is called action. Under the influence of strong feelings and other stimuli, a person is capable of acting without a sufficiently conscious goal. Such actions are called little conscious or impulsive. The conditionality of activity by objective social prerequisites testifies to its concrete historical character.
Variety of activities and their features.

8. Allocate different types of activities. Practical activity is aimed at the transformation of real objects of nature and society. Spiritual activity is associated with a change in people's consciousness. When human activity is correlated with the course of history, with social progress, then they distinguish a progressive or reactionary orientation of activity, as well as a creative or destructive one. Depending on the compliance of the activity with existing general cultural values, social norms, legal and illegal, moral and immoral activities are determined. In connection with social forms associations of people in order to carry out activities distinguish collective, mass, individual activities. Depending on the presence or absence of novelty of goals, results of activities, methods of its implementation, monotonous, template, monotonous activities are distinguished, which are carried out strictly according to the rules, instructions and innovative, inventive, creative activities. Depending on the public spheres in which the activity takes place, there are economic, political, social activities. Economic activity is characterized by production and consumer activities. Political is characterized by state, military and International activity. For the spiritual sphere of society - scientific, educational, leisure. There are external and internal activities. External activity is manifested in the form of movements, muscle efforts, actions with real objects. Internal occurs by means of mental actions.
Consciousness and activity.

9. Consciousness - the ability to reproduce reality in ideal images. Supporters of the natural-scientific approach consider consciousness, a manifestation of the functions of the brain, secondary in comparison with the bodily organization of a person. Supporters of religious-idealistic views consider consciousness to be primary, and the corporeal person - its derivative. Consciousness is formed by activity, which would at the same time influence this activity, determine and regulate it. Substantiating the unity of activity and consciousness, domestic science has developed a doctrine of activity, which is leading for each age period of a person's life.
Conscious activity is a person's activity aimed at the implementation of the set goals related to the satisfaction of his needs.
Man in training and labor activity.

10. The problem of teaching motivation appears when a person realizes the need targeted learning of the younger generation and began such training as a specially organized activities. This problem is one of the most important in modern psychology and teaching pedagogy. To determine motivation learning activities it seems possible for us to shed more light on the interaction between the individual and the situation as the basis for understanding behavior and activity. The main provisions of H. Heckhausen's theory of personality dispositions: 1. Human behavior is determined by a set of stable latent variable traits, dispositions, which are designated in psychology as personality and character traits, abilities, attitudes, value orientations, needs, motives. 2. Serial number subject regarding the severity of a particular personality trait remains the same in different situations. This manifests the supra-situational stability of the individual's behavior, determined by these dispositions. 3. Differences in people's behavior are determined by differences in the severity of personal traits. Man in the process of his activity is constantly included in extremely diverse relationships and spheres of public life. Even during one day of life, he can be a member of the most diverse social groups and, in accordance with this, perform more and more new social roles prescribed by one or another social group. The formation of social ties, the most mobile, changeable production teams at the level of small social groups and relatively stable macrostructure at the level of class, national and other relations, is the result of the historical development of society.
Kinds professional activity. Choice of profession and professional self-determination
11. For each stage of the development of society, its socio-economic structure, the achievements of scientific and technological progress, the emergence of new and the withering away of old types of labor activity is characteristic. This process is largely conditioned and reflected in changes in the specific components of the activity and characteristics of the subject of labor self-consciousness, self-determination of youth, etc. and human resources, the number, quality composition, etc., the content of labor tasks, the type of work loads, tools of labor, features of the conditions and organization of the labor process.
Formation of character, taking into account the characteristics of character in communication and professional activities.

12. The character that has developed and strengthened under the influence of life influences and upbringing, a certain style of attitude of human behavior. Character expresses a certain warehouse of needs and interests of a person, aspiration and goals, feelings and will, manifested in the selectivity of his reality and his behavior in relationships and manners of behavior. Character properties: 1 moral upbringing - characterizes a person from the side of his relationships, forms of behavior. 2 completeness - the versatility of interests, the desire and passion for the diversity of human activities. 3 integrity - the internal unity of the psychological make-up of a person. 4 certainty - firmness and inflexibility of behavior that corresponds to the prevailing circumstances. 5 strength - the energy with which a person pursues his goal. 6 balance - favorable for activity and communication, the ratio of restraint and activity. For the formation of character, the direction of human activity and will play an important role. Orientation is a kind of experience experienced by a person, a selective attitude of activity.
Needs, abilities, interests of a person.

13. Need is a need experienced and realized by a person for what is necessary to maintain his body and develop his personality. Needs are: 1 Natural innate, biological, physiological, organic, natural. These include human needs for food, air, water, shelter, clothing, sleep, rest, etc. 2Social. Human needs for everything that is a product of social life in labor activity, consciousness, creativity, social. activity, communication with other people, recognition, achievements. 3Ideal spiritual or cultural. This is all that is necessary for the spiritual development of people, the need for self-expression, the creation and development of cultural values, the need for a person to know the world around him and his place in it, the meaning of his existence. Abilities are individual personality traits that are subjective conditions for the successful implementation of a certain type of activity. Abilities are not limited to the individual's knowledge, skills and abilities. They are found in the speed, depth and strength of mastering the methods and techniques of some activity and are internal mental regulators that determine the possibility of acquiring them. Human interests are emotional manifestations of human cognitive needs. Satisfaction of interest can lead to strengthening and development. Dissatisfaction of interest can lead to depression. Interests are direct, directly related to any need, and indirect, in which the need is traced implicitly. Interests are also broad and narrow.
Narrow interest can be directed to a very specific object. Sometimes interests are small. This means that people are mainly interested in the satisfaction of natural needs: in food, drink, sleep and other sensual pleasures.
Human socialization. Self-awareness, self-realization and social behavior.

14. Socialization is a process carried out throughout the life of an individual, with the help of which people accumulate social experience of life in a particular society. In social psychology, socialization is understood as a process of social learning, which requires the approval of the group. There are two main stages of socialization. The first stage is characteristic of early childhood. At this stage, external conditions for the regulation of social behavior predominate. The second stage is characterized by the fact that external sanctions are replaced by internal control. The expansion and deepening of the socialization of the individual occurs in three main areas: 1 in the field of activity is carried out as an expansion of its types. 2 in the sphere of communication, the circle of human communication is enriched. 3 in the sphere of self-consciousness, the formation of the image of one's own Self, as an active subject of activity, is carried out. Self-awareness is an understanding of oneself as a person capable of accepting independent solutions. One of important features is the willingness of a person to be responsible for decisions made and actions taken. Personality can manifest itself in the process of self-realization. This is the process of the most complete identification and implementation of their capabilities.
Purpose and meaning of human life.

15. An excellent property of a person can be recognized as his desire for a philosophical understanding of the world and himself - the search for the meaning of life. The search for the meaning of life is a purely human occupation. In the history of philosophy, two approaches to the problem of the meaning of human life can be distinguished. In one case, the meaning of life is associated with the moral institutions of man's earthly existence. In the other, with values that are not connected with earthly life, which is fleeting and finite. All philosophers different opinions about the meaning of life. Aristotle said that everyone strives for happiness. The philosophy of the Renaissance sought the meaning of life in human existence itself. I. Kant and G. Hegel linked the meaning of human life with moral quest, self-development and self-knowledge of the human spirit. N. Trubnikov said that the meaning of life is revealed in the process of this life, although of course, but not useless. Man as a biological individual being is mortal. The essence of man is expressed in creativity, in which he asserts himself and through which he ensures his social and longer existence.

The problem of cognition of the world, methods cognitive activity
16. The problem of knowability comes from the real difficulties of knowing. In approaches to this problem, scientists are divided into optimists, pessimists and skeptics. Pessimists deny the intelligibility of the world. Optimists argue that the world is fundamentally knowable. Skeptics, recognizing that the knowledge of the world, may express doubt about the reliability of the knowledge received. Agnosticism is a philosophical doctrine that denies the possibility of knowledge. Proponents of epistemological optimism, without rejecting the difficulty of knowing the difficulty of revealing the essence of things, prove the inconsistency of agnosticism. Some note clarity and distinctness, others emphasize the general significance of the results obtained. Still others on the impossibility of human existence without knowledge. There is sensual and rational knowledge. Forms of sensory knowledge: 1 sensation - i.e. reflection of individual properties, individual features of objects and processes; 2 perception - gives a holistic reflection of objects in the variety of their properties; 3 representation - a sensual image without direct impact. Representations may or may not be real. In the process of rational cognition, they use: 1 concept - this is a thought in which the general and essential features of things are fixed; 2 judgment - a thought that affirms or denies something about the objects of knowledge; 3 conclusion - a logical conclusion that connects two or more judgments.

Similar information.

Society is such a complex object that science alone cannot study it. Only by combining the efforts of many sciences, it is possible to fully and consistently describe and study the most complex formation that exists in this world, human society. The totality of all sciences that study society as a whole is called social science. These include philosophy, history, sociology, economics, political science, psychology and social psychology, anthropology and cultural studies. These are fundamental sciences, consisting of many subdisciplines, sections, directions, scientific schools.

Social science, having arisen later than many other sciences, incorporates their concepts and specific results, statistics, tabular data, graphs and conceptual schemes, theoretical categories.

The whole set of sciences related to social science is divided into two varieties - social And humanitarian.

If the social sciences are the sciences of human behavior, then the humanities are the sciences of the spirit. In other words, the subject of the social sciences is society, the subject humanitarian disciplines- culture. The main subject of the social sciences is study of human behavior.

Sociology, psychology, social psychology, economics, political science, as well as anthropology and ethnography (the science of peoples) belong to social sciences . They have a lot in common, they are closely related and form a kind of scientific union. A group of other related disciplines adjoins it: philosophy, history, art history, cultural studies, and literary criticism. They are referred to humanitarian knowledge.

Since representatives of neighboring sciences constantly communicate and enrich each other with new knowledge, the boundaries between social philosophy, social psychology, economics, sociology and anthropology can be considered very arbitrary. At their intersection, interdisciplinary sciences constantly arise, for example, social anthropology appeared at the intersection of sociology and anthropology, and economic psychology at the intersection of economics and psychology. In addition, there are such integrative disciplines as legal anthropology, sociology of law, economic sociology, cultural anthropology, psychological and economic anthropology, and historical sociology.

Let's get acquainted more thoroughly with the specifics of the leading social sciences:

Economy- a science that studies the principles of organizing the economic activity of people, the relations of production, exchange, distribution and consumption that are formed in every society, formulates the foundations rational behavior producer and consumer of goods. Economics also studies the behavior of large masses of people in a market situation. In small and large - in public and privacy- people cannot take a step without affecting economic relations. When negotiating a job, buying goods on the market, calculating our income and expenses, demanding payment of wages, and even going to visit, we - directly or indirectly - take into account the principles of economy.

Sociology- a science that studies the relationships that arise between groups and communities of people, the nature of the structure of society, the problems of social inequality and the principles of resolving social conflicts.

Political science- a science that studies the phenomenon of power, the specifics of social management, relations that arise in the process of implementing state-power activities.

Psychology- the science of the patterns, mechanism and facts of the mental life of humans and animals. The main theme of the psychological thought of antiquity and the Middle Ages is the problem of the soul. Psychologists study persistent and repetitive behavior in individuals. The focus is on the problems of perception, memory, thinking, learning and development of the human personality. There are many branches of knowledge in modern psychology, including psychophysiology, zoopsychology and comparative psychology, social psychology, child psychology and educational psychology, developmental psychology, labor psychology, psychology of creativity, medical psychology, etc.

Anthropology - the science of the origin and evolution of man, the formation of human races, and the normal variations in the physical structure of man. She studies primitive tribes that have survived today from primitive times in the lost corners of the planet: their customs, traditions, culture, manners of behavior.

Social Psychology studies small group (family, group of friends, sports team). Social psychology is a borderline discipline. She was formed at the intersection of sociology and psychology, taking on those tasks that her parents were unable to solve. It turned out that a large society does not directly affect the individual, but through an intermediary - small groups. This world of friends, acquaintances and relatives, closest to a person, plays an exceptional role in our life. We generally live in small, not in big worlds- in a specific house, in a specific family, in a specific company, etc. The small world sometimes affects us even more than the big one. That is why science appeared, which came to grips with it very seriously.

Story- one of the most important sciences in the system of social and humanitarian knowledge. The object of its study is man, his activities throughout the existence of human civilization. The word "history" is of Greek origin and means "research", "search". Some scholars believed that the object of study of history is the past. The well-known French historian M. Blok categorically objected to this. "The very idea that the past as such is capable of being the object of science is absurd."

emergence historical science dates back to ancient civilizations. The "father of history" is considered to be the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who compiled a work dedicated to Greco-Persian Wars. However, this is hardly fair, since Herodotus used not so much historical data as legends, legends and myths. And his work cannot be considered completely reliable. Thucydides, Polybius, Arrian, Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus have much more reason to be considered the fathers of history. These ancient historians used documents, their own observations, and eyewitness accounts to describe events. All ancient peoples considered themselves historiographers and revered history as a teacher of life. Polybius wrote: “The lessons learned from history most truly lead to enlightenment and prepare for engaging in public affairs, the story of the trials of other people is the most intelligible or only mentor that teaches us to courageously endure the vicissitudes of fate.”

And although, over time, people began to doubt that history could teach future generations not to repeat the mistakes of previous ones, the importance of studying history was not disputed. The most famous Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky in his reflections on history wrote: “History does not teach anything, but only punishes for ignorance of the lessons.”

Culturology primarily interested in the world of art - painting, architecture, sculpture, dance, forms of entertainment and mass spectacles, educational institutions and science. The subjects of cultural creativity are a) individuals, b) small groups, c) large groups. In this sense, culturology covers all types of people's associations, but only to the extent that it concerns the creation of cultural values.

Demography studies the population - the whole set of people that make up human society. Demography is primarily interested in how they reproduce, how long they live, why and in what quantity they die, where large masses of people move. She looks at man partly as a natural, partly as a social being. All living beings are born, die and multiply. These processes are influenced primarily by biological laws. For example, science has proven that a person cannot live more than 110-115 years. Such is its biological resource. However, the vast majority of people live up to 60-70 years. But this is today, and two hundred years ago, the average life expectancy did not exceed 30-40 years. In poor and underdeveloped countries, even today people live less than in rich and very developed ones. In humans, life expectancy is determined both by biological, hereditary characteristics, and by social conditions (life, work, rest, nutrition).

3.7 . Social and humanitarian knowledge

social cognition is the knowledge of society. Cognition of society is a very complex process for a number of reasons.

1. Society is the most complex of the objects of knowledge. In social life, all events and phenomena are so complex and diverse, so different from each other and so intricately intertwined that it is very difficult to detect certain patterns in it.

2. In social cognition, not only material (as in natural science), but also ideal, spiritual relations are explored. These relations are much more complex, diverse and contradictory than the connections in nature.

3. In social cognition, society acts both as an object and as a subject of cognition: people create their own own history and they know it.

Speaking about the specifics of social cognition, extremes should be avoided. On the one hand, it is impossible to explain the reasons for the historical backwardness of Russia with the help of Einstein's theory of relativity. On the other hand, one cannot assert that all those methods by which nature is studied are unsuitable for social science.

The primary and elementary method of cognition is observation. But it differs from the observation that is used in natural science when observing the stars. In social science, knowledge concerns animate objects endowed with consciousness. And if, for example, the stars, even after observing them for many years, remain completely unperturbed in relation to the observer and his intentions, then in social life everything is different. As a rule, a back reaction is detected on the part of the object under study, something makes observation impossible from the very beginning, or interrupts it somewhere in the middle, or introduces into it such interference that significantly distorts the results of the study. Therefore, non-participant observation in social science gives insufficiently reliable results. Another method is needed, which is called included observation. It is carried out not from the outside, not from the outside in relation to the object under study (social group), but from within it.

For all its importance and necessity, observation in social science demonstrates the same fundamental shortcomings as in other sciences. Observing, we cannot change the object in the direction of interest to us, regulate the conditions and course of the process under study, reproduce it as many times as is required for the completion of the observation. Significant shortcomings of observation are largely overcome in experiment.

The experiment is active, transformative. In the experiment, we interfere with the natural course of events. According to V.A. Stoff, an experiment can be defined as a type of activity undertaken for the purpose of scientific knowledge, the discovery of objective patterns and consisting in influencing the object (process) under study by means of special tools and devices. Thanks to the experiment, it is possible to: 1) isolate the object under study from the influence of secondary, insignificant and obscuring its essence phenomena and study it in a “pure” form; 2) repeatedly reproduce the course of the process in strictly fixed, controllable and accountable conditions; 3) systematically change, vary, combine various conditions in order to obtain the desired result.

social experiment has a number of significant features.

1. The social experiment has a concrete historical character. Experiments in the field of physics, chemistry, biology can be repeated in different epochs, in different countries, because the laws of the development of nature do not depend either on the form and type of production relations, or on national and historical characteristics. Social experiments aimed at transforming the economy, the national-state structure, the system of upbringing and education, etc., can lead to various historical eras, in different countries not only different, but also directly opposite results.

2. The object of a social experiment has a much lesser degree of isolation from similar objects remaining outside the experiment and all the influences of a given society as a whole. Here, such reliable insulating devices as vacuum pumps, protective screens, etc., used in the course of a physical experiment, are impossible. And this means that the social experiment cannot be carried out with a sufficient degree of approximation to "pure conditions".

3. A social experiment imposes increased requirements for observing “safety precautions” in the process of its implementation compared to natural science experiments, where even experiments performed by trial and error are acceptable. A social experiment at any point in its course constantly has a direct impact on the well-being, well-being, physical and mental health of people involved in the "experimental" group. Underestimation of any detail, any failure in the course of the experiment can have a detrimental effect on people, and no good intentions of its organizers can justify this.

4. A social experiment may not be carried out in order to obtain directly theoretical knowledge. To put experiments (experiments) on people is inhumane in the name of any theory. A social experiment is a stating, confirming experiment.

One of the theoretical methods of cognition is historical method research, i.e. a method that reveals significant historical facts and stages of development, which ultimately allows you to create a theory of the object, reveal the logic and patterns of its development.

Another method is modeling. Modeling is understood as such a method of scientific knowledge, in which research is carried out not on the object of interest to us (original), but on its substitute (analogue), similar to it in certain respects. As in other industries scientific knowledge, modeling in social science is used when the subject itself is not available for direct study (say, it does not yet exist at all, for example, in predictive studies), or this direct study requires enormous costs, or it is impossible due to ethical considerations.

In his goal-setting activity, which makes history, man has always sought to comprehend the future. Interest in the future in the modern era has become especially aggravated in connection with the formation of the information and computer society, in connection with those global problems that call into question the very existence of mankind. foresight came out on top.

scientific foresight is such knowledge about the unknown, which is based on already known knowledge about the essence of the phenomena and processes that interest us and about the trends of their further development. Scientific foresight does not claim to be absolutely accurate and complete knowledge of the future, to its obligatory reliability: even carefully verified and balanced forecasts are justified only with a certain degree of certainty.

Spiritual life of society