Social evolution of man: factors and achievements

It is difficult to say when the question of the emergence and formation of a person arose for the first time. This problem was of interest to both thinkers of ancient civilizations, and our contemporaries. How is society developing? Is it possible to single out certain criteria and stages of this process?

Society as a unified system

Every living being on the planet is a separate organism, which has certain stages of development, for example birth, growth and death. However, no one exists in isolation. Many organisms tend to unite in groups within which they interact and influence each other.

Man is not an exception. Uniting on the basis of common qualities, interests and occupations, people form a society. Within it are formed certain traditions, rules, foundations. Often, all elements of society are interrelated and interdependent. Thus, it develops as a single whole.

Social evolution implies a leap, the transition of society to a qualitatively different level. Changes in the behavior and values of the individual are transferred to the rest and transferred to the entire society in the form of norms. Thus, people passed from the herd to the states, from gathering to technical progress, and so on.

Social Evolution: The First Theories

The essence and laws of social evolution have always been treated differently. Even in the XIV century, the philosopher Ibn Khaldun was of the opinion that the society develops exactly as an individual. Initially, it is born, followed by dynamic growth, flowering. Then comes the decline and death.

In the era of enlightenment, one of the main theories was the principle of the "stage history" of society. Scottish thinkers expressed the opinion that the society rises in four stages of progress:

• Gathering and hunting,
• Cattle breeding and nomadism,
• Agriculture and agriculture,
• trade.

In the XIX century, the first concepts of evolution appeared in Europe. The term from Latin means "deployment". He represents the theory of the gradual development of complex and diverse forms of life from a single-celled organism through genetic mutations in his offspring.

The idea of becoming complicated from the simplest was picked up by sociologists and philosophers, considering this idea relevant for the development of society. For example, anthropologist Lewis Morgan distinguished three stages of ancient people: savagery, barbarism and civilization.

Social evolution is perceived as a continuation of the biological formation of species. It is the next stage after the appearance of a reasonable person. So, Lester Ward perceived it as a natural step in the development of our world after cosmogenesis and biogenesis.

Man as a product of biological and social evolution

Evolution has become the cause of the emergence of all species and populations of living beings on the planet. But why did people move much further than the rest? The fact is that in parallel with the physiological changes, the social factors of evolution also acted.

The first steps towards socialization were made not even by man, but by an anthropoid ape, taking up tools of labor. Gradually, the skills were improved, and already two million years ago a skilled man appears who actively uses tools in his life.

However, the theory of such a significant role of labor is not supported by modern science. This factor acted in conjunction with others, such as thinking, speaking, uniting in a herd, and then into communities. A million years later, a straight-up man appears - the predecessor of a rational man. He not only uses, but also produces tools, fires the fire, cooks food, uses primitive speech.

The role of society and culture in evolution

A million years ago, the biological and social evolution of man occurs in parallel. However, already 40 thousand years ago, biological changes slow down their pace. Cro-Magnon people practically do not differ from us in appearance. Since their emergence, social factors of human evolution play an important role.

According to one of the theories, three main stages of social progress are singled out. The first is characterized by the emergence of art in the form of cave paintings. The next stage is the taming and breeding of animals, as well as the occupation of agriculture and beekeeping. The third stage is the period of technical and scientific progress. It begins in the 15th century and continues to this day.

With each new period, a person increases his control and influence on the environment. Fundamental principles of evolution for Darwin, in turn, are pushed to the background. So, for example, natural selection, which plays an important role in "weeding out" weak individuals, is no longer so influential. Thanks to medicine and other achievements, a weak person can continue to live in a modern society.

Classical Theories of Development

Simultaneously with the works of Lamarck and Darwin on the origin of life, there are theories of evolutionism. Inspired by the idea of constant improvement and the progress of life forms, European thinkers believe that there is a single formula by which a person's social evolution takes place.

One of the first to put forward his hypothesis Auguste Comte. He singles out the theological (primitive, initial), metaphysical and positive (scientific, highest) stages of development of reason and world perception.

Supporters of the classical theory were also Spencer, Durkheim, Ward, Morgan and Tennis. Their views differ, but there are some general provisions that formed the basis of the theory:

• Humanity seems to be a single whole, and its changes are natural and necessary;
• The social evolution of society occurs only from the primitive to the more developed, and its stages are not repeated;
• All cultures develop along a universal line, the stages of which are the same for all;
• Primitive peoples are at the next stage of evolution, they can be studied by primitive society.

Negation of classical theories

Romantic beliefs about the stable improvement of society go back to the beginning of the XX century. World crises and wars make scientists look at things differently. The idea of further progress is perceived skeptically. The history of mankind is no longer linear, but cyclical.

In the ideas of Oswald Spengler, Arnold Toynbee, echoes of the philosophy of Ibn Khaldun about the recurring stages in the life of civilizations appear. As a rule, there were four of them:

• birth,
• climb,
• maturity,
• death.

So, Spengler believed that from birth to extinction of culture takes about 1000 years. Lev Gumilev assigned them 1200 years. Western civilization was considered close to the logical decline. Adherents of the "pessimistic" school were also Franz Boas, Margaret Mead, Pitirim Sorokin, Vilfredo Pareto, and so on.

Neo-evolutionism

Man as a product of social evolution again appears in the philosophy of the second half of the XX century. Taking on the scientific evidence and evidence of anthropology, history, ethnography, Leslie White and Julian Steward develop a theory of neo-evolutionism.

The new idea is a synthesis of the classical linear, universal and multilinear model. In their concept, scientists abandon the term "progress". It is believed that the culture does not make a sharp jump in development, but only slightly more complicated than the previous form, the process of change is more gradual.

The founder of the theory, Leslie White, plays the main role in social evolution in culture, representing it as the main tool for human adaptation to the environment. He puts forward an energy concept, according to which the number of energy sources develops with the development of culture. Thus, he speaks about three stages of the formation of society: agrarian, fuel and thermonuclear.

Post-industrial and information theories

Simultaneously with other concepts in the early twentieth century, the idea of a post-industrial society arose. The main theses of the theory are seen in the works of Bell, Toffler, and Bozhinsky. Daniel Bell identifies three stages of the formation of crops, which corresponds to a certain level of development and production (see table).

The post-industrial stage is attributed to the entire 19th century and the second half of XX. According to Bell, his main features are improving the quality of life, reducing population growth and fertility. The role of knowledge and science is increasing. The economy is focused on the production of services and the interaction of man with man.

As the continuation of this theory appears the concept of the information society, which is part of the post-industrial era. "Infosphere" is often allocated as a separate economic sector, displacing even the sphere of services.

For the information society is characterized by an increase in information professionals, the active use of radio, television and other media. As possible consequences, the development of the common information space, the emergence of e-democracy, government and state, the complete disappearance of poverty and unemployment, are singled out.

Conclusion

Social evolution is a process of transformation and restructuring of society, in the course of which it qualitatively changes and differs from the previous form. There is no general formula for this process. As in all such cases, the opinions of thinkers and scientists differ.

Each theory has its own characteristics and differences, but you can see that they all have three main vectors:

• The history of human cultures is cyclical, they go through several stages: from birth to death;
• Humanity evolves from the simplest forms to the more perfect, constantly improving;
• The development of society is the result of adaptation to the external environment, it changes in connection with the change of resources and does not necessarily exceed the previous forms in everything.