The concept of historical development is brief. Historical stages of development of society

There are a number of eternal questions that have long been stirring minds. Who are we? Where did it come from? Where we are going? This is only part of the problems faced by extensive disciplines, such as philosophy.

In this article, we will try to understand what humanity is doing on Earth. Let's get acquainted with the opinions of researchers. Some of them view history as systematic development, others - as a cyclical closed process.

Philosophy of History

This discipline takes the issue of our role on the planet as a basis for studying. Is there any meaning in all the events that occur? We try to document them, and then we link them into a single system.

But who really is the protagonist? Does the person create the process, or do events control people? These and many other problems are trying to solve the philosophy of history.

In the process of research, the concepts of historical development were singled out. We will discuss them in more detail later.

It is interesting that the very term "philosophy of history" first appears in the writings of Voltaire, but the German scientist Herder began to develop it.

The history of the world has always interested mankind. Even in the ancient period, people appeared who tried to write down and comprehend what was happening. An example can be the multi-volume work of Herodotus. However, then many more things were explained by "divine" help.

So, let's delve deeper into the development of mankind. Moreover, as such, there are only a couple of viable versions.

Two points of view

The first type of exercises refers to the unitary-stage. What is meant by these words? To supporters of this approach the process is seen as a single, linear and constantly progressing. That is, there are separate types of culture, and the entire human society as a whole, which unites them.

Thus, according to this point of view, we all go through the same stages of development. And the Arabs, and the Chinese, and Europeans, and Bushmen. Only at the moment we are at different stages. But in the end all will come to the same state of developed society. So, you need to either wait until the others move up the ladder of their evolution, or help them in this.

The second look at the stages of human development is called pluralistic. Their point of view differs radically from the previous one. If supporters of the unitary-stadial concept consider progress to be endless, pluralists doubt this.

According to their theory, the history of the world consists of many independent entities that go their own way of development. It's like a mycelium in the forest. From it grows a few mushrooms, standing side by side. Each of them will grow in its own way, but according to one law. After the heyday, wilting and destruction will come. But a new plant will replace him.

Thus, it turns out that there is no constant evolution, and history repeats itself. All that is known to us today was once the property of previous peoples who reached their point and came to naught.

The naturalistic concept

We are talking about such a concept as "the concept of historical development." Formational, civilizational or naturalistic - it does not matter. The main thing is that the scientists agreed in one opinion. There is sense in development, because even supporters of pluralism do not deny that peoples develop according to the same laws and stages, but in a spiral.

That is, when a person in the Stone Age wanted to eat, he went on a hunt or tore fruit from a tree. The first action presupposed a powerful work to extract the resource. Compare with the present. Meat is already ready, but it is also necessary to get it. I have to go to work to get money, and then change them for food. Thus, the process remained the same, only it became more complicated.

So, naturalistic concepts are good only in theory, because they treat a person apart. Each individual is evaluated outside society. The meaning of this theory is that morality, laws and principles have already been laid down in man from the very beginning. That is, we do not develop, but simply reveal our potential.

However, thanks to such a vision it is impossible to somehow conclusively unite all the processes that are taking place. Therefore, in more detail we will focus on the remaining two options.

Civilization concept

The first of the two most common versions assumes non-linear development of mankind. Her supporters, such as Danilevsky and Spengler, portrayed history in the form of separate civilizations that exist separately and distinctively, which only occasionally interact with each other.

In the process of developing this theory, some laws were derived that allowed to standardize events in the evolution of society and to unite them into a single classification.

The civilization conception of historical development implies the correspondence of certain communities to certain conventions. They are called cultural and historical laws.

In total, there are five of them so far. So, a civilization can be considered only such a society that carries in itself all the items from the following list:

1. A common language or languages so that groups can communicate with each other.
2. Independence from other rulers and ideologies, which creates space for progress.
3. Originality of culture, traditions, religious beliefs.
4. The development process is finite. That is, every civilization has periods of origin, bloom and decline.

Thus, supporters of this concept of historical development singled out several local formations. If you name them by country, you will get about fifteen regions: China, India, Mesopotamia, Semitic world, Mexico, Latin America, Greece, Rome and others.

Based on this theory, it turns out that history is not a sequential process, but a cyclical one. And our civilization is also expected to decline, and an entirely new formation will replace it.

Formational concept

Supporters of this approach see successive stages of development in history. Among the scientists who developed these ideas were Marx, Ferguson, Smith, and Engels.

This approach implies the linear evolution of man from the simplest forms to the modern type. This applies both to the physical structure and to technical progress.

What is the essence of their theory? They saw the basis of the development of mankind in the change of forms of production. More fully we will analyze further, but the essence is the following.
In the beginning, people did not create anything, only used what comes to hand. Widespread were hunting, picking vegetables, fishing.

Later, various species of animals were tamed, cultural varieties of cereals, vegetables and fruits were harvested. There was an opportunity to plan the position of the tribe and the people, unlike the case and luck at the previous stage.

Then people began to produce goods even in excess. There was trade, crafts. There was a stratification of society into the rich and the poor. There were slaves.

This system is replaced by the feudal system, during which mechanisms are beginning to be created to replace human labor. But they are still used on a par with farm laborers. Further, there are such relics of production in which people occupy only an auxiliary role, but still the labor of workers in factories is still widespread.

The present stage assumes only a minimal human participation in production. All that is needed is to eliminate the breakdown and distribute the necessary tasks to the mechanisms.

Thus, if we talk about the formation concept, we must say that the following gradual division of the history of mankind has been adopted in it . The basis of it is the production of material goods. Let's deal with each period in more detail.

Hunters and collectors

The main concepts of historical development are allocated by the time when people lived separately by each tribe, did not produce or grow, but only enjoyed the gifts of nature.

This happened at the dawn of mankind. In archeology, this period corresponds to the Stone Age or Paleolithic.

The scientific name of the stage is tribal or primitive communal. At this time, the person was not yet able to grow plants or livestock, not tamed any animal. Only relatively recently it was possible to get used to the fire.

The only ways to get food and clothes were hunting and gathering. The production of weapons and instruments of this period is divided into several stages. At first, they used improvised means - sticks, stones, bones. Later, they learned how to process these materials to improve efficiency.

Scientists find broken chips of silicon, which are combined together on a piece of wood or horn, forming some kind of blade. That was how the first knives looked. Then people learned to make darts and spears, invented a bow and arrows.

To feed the tribe, it was necessary to drive large animals together. During this period, communication develops. First, gestures and sounds are used for him, then a coherent speech is formed.

The second way to feed was gathering. The method of trial and error found edible fruits, herbs, roots. Later on, gardening developed.

The slave system

Over time (we recall that we are talking about the basic concepts of historical development), society began to share its position and property. Formed layers, or, as they are called, castes.

The most highly esteemed were those who could command and take responsibility for the entire tribe for themselves. They became leaders, rulers, and authorities.

The second layer was the priests. This included people who knew how to treat, knew certain secrets of substances and discovered some opportunities that most of them did not even guess. Subsequently, they turned out scientists and religious institutions of power (church, monastic orders , etc.).

The tribe must be protected from encroachments on territory, values. Therefore, a class of warriors was formed.

The largest fraction were ordinary artisans, farmers, pastoralists - the lower strata of the population.

However, during this period people still used the labor of slaves. Such disenfranchised farm laborers were referred to all those who fell into their number for various reasons. You could get into debt slavery, for example. That is, not to give money, but to work. Also sold in service to the rich prisoners from other tribes.

Slaves were the main labor of this period. Look at the pyramids in Egypt or the Great Wall of China - these monuments were erected precisely by the hands of slaves.

The Age of Feudalism

But humanity has developed, and the growth of military expansion has replaced the triumph of science. The layer of rulers and soldiers of stronger tribes, heated by the priests, began to impose their own worldview on the neighboring peoples, at the same time capturing their lands and taxing tribute.

It became profitable to take possession of not disenfranchised slaves, who could rebel, but a few sat with the peasants. They worked in the field to feed their families, and the local ruler provided them with protection. For this he was given part of the harvested crop and the grown cattle.

The concepts of historical development briefly describe this period as the transition of society from manual production to mechanized production. The epoch of feudalism basically coincides with the Middle Ages and the new time.

In these centuries, people mastered as an external space - they discovered new lands, and internal - explored the property of things and the possibilities of man. The discovery of America, India, the Great Silk Road and other events characterize the development of mankind at this stage.

The feudal lords who owned the land were governors who interacted with the peasants. By this he liberated his time and could spend it in his own pleasure, engaged in hunting or military looting.

But progress did not stand still. Scientific thought went forward, like social relations.

Industrial Society

A new stage in the concept of historical development is characterized by greater freedom, human, compared to previous ones. They start thinking about the equality of all people, about the right of everyone to a decent life, rather than vegetation and hopeless work.

In addition, the first mechanisms appear that made it possible to make production easier and faster. Now what the artisan used to do a week ago could be created in a couple of hours, without attracting a specialist and not paying him money.

On the site of the guild workshops there are the first factories and factories. Of course, they do not compare with modern, but for that period they were just on top.
Modern concepts of historical development relate the liberation of mankind from forced labor with its psychological and intellectual growth. No wonder that at this time there are whole schools of philosophers, researchers of natural sciences and other scientists whose ideas are still valued today.

Who has not heard of Kant, Freud or Nietzsche? After the Great French Revolution, humanity spoke not only about the equality of people, but also about the role of each in the history of the world. It turns out that all the previous achievements have been obtained thanks to the efforts of man, and not with the help of different deities.

Post-industrial stage

Today we live in the period of greatest achievements, if we look at the historical stages of the development of society. Man learned to clone cells, set foot on the surface of the moon, explored almost all corners of the Earth.

Our time gives an inexhaustible fountain of opportunities, not for nothing that the second title of the period is informational. So many new information appear in a day, as there was not a year before. We no longer have time for this flow.

Also, if you look at production, then almost everyone makes the mechanisms. Mankind is more engaged in service and entertainment.

Thus, proceeding from the linear conception of historical development, people come from an understanding of the environment to an acquaintance with their inner world. It is believed that the next stage will be based on the creation of a society that was previously described only in utopias.

So, we have examined modern concepts of historical development. They also figured out more deeply in the formational approach. Now you know the main hypotheses about the evolution of society from the primitive communal system to the present day.