The term "society" has several definitions.

In the broad sense of the word society

- these are forms of organization and ways of interaction between people and social groups that are isolated from nature, but are closely connected with it, and are part of the material world.

The concept of society

in a narrow sense, it is presented in several variations:
1. Society as a collection of people united by a certain common feature, interests (a society of book lovers).
2. Society as a characteristic of a certain historical stage in the development of mankind (medieval society).
3. Society as distinctive features of the life of a particular country (Russian society).
4. Society as the entire population of the Earth as a whole (the human race).

Signs of society:

a) integrity - means that society consists of interrelated components (elements of society);
b) openness - society is open to the emergence of something new;
c) sustainability - society strives for self-preservation
d) dynamism - society is in constant motion; Society is not static.

Society functions:

→ reproductive - reproduction of the genus.
→ production - the production of material and spiritual wealth.
→ regulating - the establishment of rules for the behavior of people in society.
→ socializing - introducing a person to the achievements of civilization.

Society and nature are closely interconnected with each other.

The entire material world (planet Earth) consists of two parts: society and nature.
Their interaction can be both constructive and deconstructive.
An example of constructive interaction between society and nature: the first settlements along the rivers, agricultural production.
An example of deconstructive interaction: drainage of water bodies, deforestation, environmental pollution.
As society can influence nature, so nature can influence society.
An example of the impact of society on nature → changes in the riverbed.
An example of the impact of nature on society → natural disaster (hurricane, earthquake, tsunami).

culture - all transformative human activity.

Under the influence of what society develops:
1. Idealists believe that - society changes under the influence of human ideas.
2. Materialists believe that - society changes under the influence of a person's desire to live in comfort.
3. Naturalistic approach - society changes under the influence of the forces of nature.
4. Most scientists agree that - society is changing not under the influence of any one approach, but under the influence of several.

Society is a dynamic system.

Dynamic - because it is in constant motion, static society is not characteristic.
The system - because it consists of interrelated elements, subsystems of society.
Spheres of society (subsystems/elements):
a) society
b) politics
c) economy
d) spiritual world

public process - spatio-temporal concept, which includes the life milestones of different generations of people.

Public Process Trends:
- progress (movement from lower forms to complex ones)
- regression (on the contrary, degradation).

Criteria of social progress:
progressive development of production
the degree of development of science
standards of living
the level of protection of the honor and dignity of the individual
level of morality

Forms of social change:
1. Evolution
2. Revolution
3. Reform
4. Modernization

Society as a joint life activity of people

Reflections on the essence of society lead a person to different thoughts. We all understand that this is a group of people united by common interests, values, goals and joint activities based on mutual assistance. In this understanding, one can cite as an example the society of fishermen, the society of book lovers, the society of artists, and so on. In history class you heard about primitive society, capitalist society, and in geography class you were told about French society, Japanese society. What is meant here? In this case, the concept of society means the historical stage of human development and the population of a particular country. These definitions characterize society in the narrow sense of the word. There is also a definition of society in a broad sense:

Society- a part of the world isolated from nature, but closely connected with it, including the ways of interaction between people and the forms of their unification.

Society is not just a collection of people, but a special social structure consisting of interconnected individuals and groups. The interaction of people with each other and with the outside world is manifested in motor activity: they washed the dishes, talked with a friend, watered a flower, planted a tree, cleared the garden of garbage, fed a hungry puppy on the street, etc. It can be seen from the examples that the basis of human interaction is activity.

How does a person interact with the environment? Unlike animals, which only adapt to it, a person also transforms the environment with the help of tools: he builds houses, roads, bridges. The activity of the animal is expedient to instincts, which it is unable to control. Instincts are also characteristic of a person, which means that his activity is also expedient. But a person also has a mind, so he can regulate his behavior, suppress instincts, set goals, and foresee the results of his actions. This means that human activity is not only expedient, but also purposeful.

An important condition for human life is collectivity. As social beings, it is difficult for us without other people; we cannot do much without their help. And, the formation of a person depends on interaction with people. Remember the children - Mowgli, who, for one reason or another, were cut off from society. How did they grow up? Could they be retrained and taught even the simplest human skills: putting on and wearing clothes, holding a spoon, speaking? If this was possible, then with great difficulty. Such children felt at ease among people. Their destinies are tragic... Therefore, it is very important that the child grows up in society. For an adult, who already has the knowledge and experience of using objects created in collaboration with other people, it is easier to survive in isolation from society.

Interaction of people is carried out in social groups. The entry of a person into society is carried out through the family. As he grows older, the number of groups in which he enters gradually expands. First, yard friends, a school class, a football team appear, then a labor collective, a religious organization, a party, and so on. A person is included in larger social communities. He is brunette or blond, teacher or doctor, Russian or French.

Between individuals and groups there are economic, social, political and spiritual relations. Only stable connections between people that arise repeatedly are called social relations. For example, Anton had a fever and he turned to the local therapist in the clinic. This is an example of repeated behavior, because the sick person most often goes to the doctor. Another example, after receiving a doctor, Anton went home by minibus. The route is full of people. They interact, ask each other about the time, about the next stop, and so on. But these contacts are random and episodic, so they are not social relations.

Society and nature

Nature exists according to laws independent of society. While the existence of society and social progress depend on geographical and climatic conditions. The impact of these systems can be both positive and negative. The irrational use of natural resources and the negative attitude of man towards nature have led to disastrous consequences: soil, water, air pollution, resource depletion, and an ecological crisis. This may result in the interruption of the existence of mankind. Therefore, one cannot treat mother nature like the hero of Turgenev's novel Bazarov, who considered nature not a temple, but a workshop where a person is a worker.

The transformational activity of man led to the emergence of culture - the second nature, which cannot exist without man. If nature is the natural habitat of man, then culture is artificial.

Society and culture

In speech, we use the phrases "artistic culture", "cultured person". What is culture? This concept, like the concept of society, has many meanings. The most capacious definition that should be remembered is the following: “Culture is a system of all the results of a person’s transformative activity, aimed both at the external environment and at himself. This means that culture includes built structures, architectural buildings, sown fields, written books, paintings, music, traditions and customs, values ​​and ideals, and much more. Thus, in the world of culture, the results of the material and spiritual activity of a person, respectively, are conditionally divided into two types - material and spiritual. Why conditionally? Because there is no spiritual or material culture in its pure form. They are intertwined. So, before building a house, the architect has an idea, and the writer's word would not have reached the reader without a book.

When they talk about the culture of any people, they emphasize its originality, i.e. uniqueness, which is manifested in special traditions, manner of communication, methods of raising children, etc. But the cultures of all peoples also have common features - cultural universals, for example, language, marriage and family institutions.

Social Sciences

We have seen how diverse social life is. Therefore, it is studied by many sciences, which are called social - humanitarian. Recall that all sciences are grouped into three types: natural, social-humanitarian and technical. Society is studied by such social and human sciences as history, sociology, jurisprudence, economics, ethics and many others. The specificity of society, which distinguishes it from nature, for example, also lies in the fact that it exists according to the laws that are created by society itself. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about the objectivity of social reality from the point of view of science. But I will tell you about this next time.

The human community is called society. It is characterized by the fact that members of the community occupy a certain territory, conduct joint collective productive activities. There is a distribution of the jointly produced product in the community.

Society is a society that is characterized by the production and social division of labor. Society can be characterized by many features: for example, by nationality: French, Russian, German; state and cultural; by territorial and temporal; according to the method of production, etc. .

Nevertheless, this society is not reduced either to its material carriers, which is characteristic of naturalism (vulgar sociological interpretation of society) or to mentalities and forms of communication (“societies”), which is characteristic of its phenomenological interpretations. Society in the phenomenological sense is mens intensas (mind, thought as if in itself) - a set of social worlds of our mentalities, worlds imprinted in our consciousness. Society in the naturalistic approach is res extensas (extended things) - a set of bodies, physical and biological, that are in real objective relations to each other.

In a number of species of living organisms, individual individuals do not have the necessary abilities or properties to ensure their material life (consumption of matter, accumulation of matter, reproduction). Such living organisms form communities, temporary or permanent, to ensure their material life. There are communities that actually represent a single organism: a swarm, an anthill, etc. In them, there is a division between members of the community of biological functions. Individuals of such organisms outside the community die. There are temporary communities - flocks, herds, in them, as a rule, individuals solve this or that problem without forming strong ties. A common property of all communities is the task of preserving this type of living organism.

Closed society - according to K. Popper - a type of society characterized by a static social structure, limited mobility, inability to innovate, traditionalism, dogmatic authoritarian ideology (there is a system when most members of society willingly accept the values ​​that are intended for them, usually it is a totalitarian society ).

In an open society, each participant is responsible for his own life and takes care primarily of himself, while the society respects the right to private property and personal dignity. In a closed society, the “sacred duty” is to take care of others, and private property is a dubious (reprehensible) or even criminal, unworthy matter.

Notes:

• The above reasoning about the types of closed and open society can only be valid for societies in the size of the state. If a person in an open society, unlike a closed one, finds the core values ​​on his own, then he can then coexist with other like-minded people who also form a society with him, which can have common values, but which cannot be classified as closed on this basis.
• There are universal values ​​that are common to all mankind, otherwise it would not be possible to call it a human society.

The functioning and development of a social system necessarily implies a change of generations of people and, therefore, social inheritance - members of a society pass on knowledge and culture from generation to generation. See "education" and "socialization".

Modern society

Undoubtedly, the key issue of any civilized society is the issue of its organization. Modern society is organized exclusively on capital, which gives it the right to be called capitalist.

Society in literature and cinema

In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by R. Bradbury, a totalitarian society is described that relies on mass culture and consumer thinking, in which all books that make you think about life are to be burned.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

Synonyms:

• Nobel Prize in Physics
• Chicago

See what "Society" is in other dictionaries:

society society, and... Russian spelling dictionary

SOCIETY- in a broad sense, a part of the material world isolated from nature, which is a historically developing form of human life. In a narrow sense, human stage. history (social economic formations, interformational ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

SOCIETY- society, society (society, society wrong.), cf. 1. The totality of certain production relations, forming a special stage of development in the history of mankind. “... Marx put an end to the view of society as a mechanical unit ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Society- State * Army * War * Elections * Democracy * Conquest * Law * Politics * Crime * Command * Revolution * Liberty * Navy Power * Administration * Aristocrat ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

(Kravchenko A.I. Social science. Textbook for the 8th grade. M., 2007, p. 9-16, §1)

1. The concept of society.

The concept of "society" often has a very different content. Firstly, it is a group of people united for communication and (or) activity. Such a definition implies any collective, from a primitive tribal community to a fan club, but small in scale. On the contrary, in the broad, philosophical sense of the word, this concept unites all of humanity, in contrast to animals, plants, and inanimate nature (O. is a part of the material world isolated from nature, a set of historically established forms of joint human activity).

Using the terms "feudal society" or "industrial society", we mean a certain historical stage of development, characteristic of various countries and peoples. But under "civil society" philosophers and political scientists understand the sphere of social relations, connections, groups that are independent of the state. (In such a society, citizens are able to independently defend their common rights and interests, solve local problems and influence government policy on a national scale). And if earlier the “society” included only its elite, now it is the entire population of the country.

In the most common sense among sociologists, society is the social organization of a given country (or ethnic group), i.e. not just the totality of the population, but also its structure, the system of relationships and connections. It is necessary to separate "society" from the political organization of the given country - the state. By the way, you should not confuse the state with the territory on which it operates - in fact, the country. Although very often politicians, in order to give themselves weight, broadcast on behalf of the whole country - both the state and society, deliberately mixing geographical, political and social concepts.

2. Signs of society.

Note that the last definition of society also applies to those human groups - clan, tribe, union of tribes - which in ancient times have not yet “grown up” to the creation of a state. However, if this organization is to some extent self-sufficient and has "its own face", we have a society before us. Here are its signs:
- it is not part of a larger system;
- marriages are concluded between representatives of this association;
- it is replenished mainly at the expense of children born in such marriages;
- the association has a territory that it considers its own;
- it has its own name and its own history;
- it has its own control system;
- the association exists longer than the average life expectancy of an individual;
- it is united by a common system of values ​​(customs, traditions, norms, laws), which is called culture.

3. Spheres of society.

What is modern society in this sense? There are different methods of its structuring or models that contribute to a more detailed analysis.

First, you can build all sorts of layers or social groups vertically, from top to bottom, depending on their wealth or proximity to power, in other words, on their economic and political influence. Then the society will appear before us as a pyramid, at the top of which is a rich and powerful elite, at the bottom is the “gray” majority, and the middle class is between them.

Secondly, one can imagine a society as a set of institutions that satisfy its most important needs within the framework of established social norms (institution - Latin “establishment”). The most important social institutions are the family (with the function of population reproduction), production (creation of material wealth), the state (regulation of social relations, protection of law and order and sovereignty, and many others), education (accumulation and transfer of experience), religion.

But the most common approach invites us to study society in its spheres (subsystems): economic, political, social and spiritual.

The economy includes the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of goods and services. Politics brings together institutions involved in solving the most important problems of society. First of all, this is the state - with all its ramified structure of government bodies - and parties, since everything related to the struggle for this power, for influence on the adoption of strategically important decisions, belongs to the political sphere. A mature society has regulated mechanisms for the change of power and political struggle.

The social sphere covers relations between various social groups, classes, and strata. If society could be considered on its own, apart from economics and politics, then this hypostasis of it would be the social sphere. However, this term is also used in a narrower sense: for example, an official refers to the system of public transport and utilities, education and health care in this way. Here the "social sphere" is a set of public institutions that serve our needs. An even narrower meaning of this phrase is a system of public assistance to vulnerable segments of the population (pensioners, the unemployed, the disabled, orphans, etc.). When we hear about the imperfection of the social sphere and its insufficient funding, we are talking about the last two meanings of the term.
And last but not least, we remember the spiritual realm! And this includes science, and education, and all the treasures of art, together with museums and libraries, as well as religion and other forms of intellectual activity.

Of course, the division of society into spheres is somewhat arbitrary: in real life, all parts of this complex system are interconnected and intertwined.

4. World community and globalization.

In conclusion, it must be said that society - as a social organization of the country - in a certain sense is already becoming a thing of the past. Isn't our Russian society, just like American or Japanese, part of a larger system - the world community? Globalization - the process of historical rapprochement of peoples and the transformation of mankind into a single political system - is increasingly covering countries and continents. Starting in the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, prompted by the capitalist development of industrial countries, it linked the world at first economically, and now creates a common political, legal and cultural space. People from different countries and continents discuss the same news, listen to the same music, "cheer" for "their own" at world sports competitions, defend the rights formulated by the UN assemblies, and demand certain political decisions from their representatives in the Security Council, European Union, NATO and dozens of other international organizations.

Any newly born baby instantly becomes a member of society with the appropriate rights and rules. But what is this society that we all belong to? This concept is quite broad and includes many aspects. Society is a kind of system in which people interact and communicate, and are also divided into different groups depending on the feature that unites them.

In contact with

Origins

The first community arose back in primitive times, when people united in order to survive together. In this way, entire clans were created with their hierarchy, who were engaged in a common cause and were often at war with other communities. In order to develop successfully, it was necessary to fight for food and territory, and then share them. In addition, differences in religion or interracial prejudices could serve as reasons for conflicts.

It was from this distant primitive community that the modern society, which at first glance looks so different from it, came about.

Definition in dictionaries

Society is such a broad concept that completely different groups of people can be called this word. So, it can be called children who are engaged in a macrame circle, and at the same time, the entire population of the whole planet is also united under this broad concept. The thing is that all members of society are united by their interaction. So, people who are completely different in worldview, skin color, character, are forced to maintain social relations and get along peacefully with each other.

And it’s not for nothing that “society” is the same root as the word “communicate”. It could not have formed without this simple action. If people were deprived of the need to talk to each other, everyone could live alone, but this is completely inefficient. Every person in society has a role to play. A striking example of this is the difference in professions.

Another example is an organization, firm or company, since people working in any production are united by a common goal - the release of quality products. That is why each institution is assigned the names of forms of economic activity that characterize the property from a legal point of view and indicate the nature of the relationship of people working there.

The most famous and complete dictionary was created by V. I. Dal. In addition, there is a special dictionary dedicated to the interpretation of social science terms, the author of which is N. E. Yatsenko. So, what interpretation of society do these authors give?

Dictionary N. E. Yatsenko

Dictionary of V. I. Dahl

Oddly enough, but in this popular explanatory dictionary there is no definition of society as such. His lexicographer interpreted the verb "to communicate" - that is, to connect, unite something or someone, as well as to communicate and interact with oneself. You can also watch with another person. on the same thing from different points of view and yet unite into one whole unification.

Society structure

Society cannot exist without society and social interactions. It can be imagined as a single organism, for the normal functioning of which the coordinated work of all members is necessary. . And that means, it is possible to single out separate systems and structures in it, including the following categories:

• institutions;
• segments of society;
• community;
• social groups.

All these categories are affected by external factors. In every society, the appearance of an individual who will develop and change the views of a group of people is quite natural. This can lead both to minor deviations from the original foundations, and to a change in the history of entire nationalities.

They play a very important role in the development of any association, as they establish connections and interactions not only within one group, but also between several communities.

Characteristic features

Society has characteristic features and characteristics that distinguish it from other organizations of groups of people. These characteristics include fundamental features, which will be described below.

Relationships and connections

So , society in the simplest sense- this is the interaction of its members with each other, leading to the emergence of a social structure. This interaction is carried out both between individuals and between groups, cells and similar elements of society.

At birth, a person enters the society of people, as well as the group of his family. Then he begins to enter the society of his peers in kindergarten and school. Over time, the number of such groups increases. A person enters society on the basis of interest in a common cause, profession, favorite business. Moreover, these groups do not always meet the needs individual person, so that the association of people in which we are not always suits us and satisfies our needs. So, it happens due to the imperfection of the division of the general flow of people into smaller groups.

Nevertheless, a person communicates in his group according to certain rules. They can be both open and not vowels. However, this does not mean that a person cannot influence or change them. In the group, you can take a lower position than you would like, or a higher position compared to the rest. This leads to a certain inequality of group members.

To achieve the same position of all members of the group is not possible. It is only before the law that everyone should be equal, but, for example, in an interest group, someone will still occupy a leading position due to greater talent or a stronger character. Such positions can be identified in any society - a family, a political party, a work collective.

Types of society depending on science

There is a special science - social science, aimed at studying the concept under consideration. But besides it, there are other sciences (psychology, philosophy, and the like) that actively use the term society. Wikipedia considers the meaning these definitions are also for interdisciplinary and sub-disciplines of anthropology.

Social science

No matter how broad the concept considered here, it is possible to distinguish several historical types as a classification. They will be discussed next:

social anthropology

Social society is the main form of human existence, which includes self-regulation mechanisms. Most often in sociology it is divided into types based on the level of their development. Sociologist D. Lenski compiled the following classification:

• hunting and gathering group - a community in which responsibilities were first divided;
• an agrarian simple society is a group of people that does not have a separate leader to manage it;
• agrarian complex - a group of people in the political structure of which there are people involved in managerial activities;
• industrial - a society engaged in production activities;
• special, which cannot be attributed to any of the above types.

Also in sociology they use the term virtual society, it functions on the Internet, which is typical for the modern age of technology.

Since society also call the totality of all people on the planet, it is important to understand how they represent its development. It is assumed that the first tribes, who rallied for the sake of survival, chose the territory in which they led a settled life. Developing, they turned into villages, and then cities. Whole states grew out of the latter. Subsequently, people developed laws and certain norms of behavior that a group of individuals had to follow. People could deserve a certain status and improve your position in the team.

Political anthropology

This subdiscipline classifies There is a society according to the political structure into the following types:

• tribe;
• chiefdom;
• state.

Moreover, the strength of these types will primarily depend on the environment of other groups of people who can be friendly or hostile. Usually a more isolated society is more secure from encroachment and lives more peacefully.

Based on the foregoing, it can be concluded that that society is a living organism where each member plays an important role and influences the development of other individuals and the life of the organization as a whole.