printThe Programming Role of Culture in the Theory of Social Evolution
Danilov А.N.
Corresponding member of National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Dr. Sci. (Sociology), Prof., Head of the Department of Sociology, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus a.danilov@tut.by
Danilov А.N. The Programming Role of Culture in the Theory of Social Evolution. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2023. No 2. P. 63-71
The article reviews the process of global evolution as a way of ascent of complex systems to higher levels of organizational complexity. Due to the fact that society features integrity and differentiation into different spheres of human activity, the author argues that it is a socio-cultural system. The author considers culture as a specific human activity and as a set of spiritual and material values, norms, ideals, patterns of behavior involved in the multifaceted process of programming the future. Human creates culture, and culture shapes human. The cultural and genetic code that is formed in society performs a unique function of selection, preservation and transmission of the cultural heritage of the people living in it. The sacrament of creating the new, according to the image adopted on an alternative basis, occurs precisely in culture. It crystallizes from the variety of values that were introduced in the course of history, dominated, arose and went into eternity. Preservation of what confirms the ideal image of the people in the memory is a most important function of culture. The article also proposes to consider the mechanism of the emergence of a new civilizational integrity, the strategy of sufficient development of modern society based on the coordination of its development with the laws of evolution of the biosphere, and also justifies the expediency of the approval of a new humanism as a necessary condition for achieving a secure future.
Babosov E.M. (2021) Science and Human Dimensionality of the Surrounding Reality. Minsk: Belaruskaya navuka. (In Russ.)
Danilov A.N. (2021) Culture as a Genome of Civilizational Development. Voprosy filosofii [Questions of Philosophy]. No. 3: 215–222. (In Russ.)
Danilov A.N. (2021) Culture as a “Melting Pot” of History: Value Profile of a New Civilization. Filosofiya istorii filosofii [Philosophy of Philosophy History]. Vol. 2: 7–19. (In Russ.)
Gorshkov M.K., Komissarov S.N., Karpukhin O.I. (2022) At the Turn of the Century: Sociodynamics of Russian Culture. Moscow: FNISC RAN. (In Russ.)
Harari Y.N. (2019) 21 Lessons for the XXI century. Moscow: Sindbad. (In Russ.)
Lektorskij V.A. (2018) Man and Culture. St. Petersburg: SPbGUP. (In Russ.)
Marahovskij V. (2020) Falsification of the future. Kultura [Culture]. No. 5. May, 28. (In Russ.)
Mironov V.V. (2011) Modern Transformations in Culture. St. Petersburg: SPbGUP. (In Russ.)
Shavel S.A. (2022) Sotsiospheric Strategy for the Development of Society. Minsk: Belaruskaya navuka. (In Russ.)
Shavel S.A. (2015) Prospects for the development of Society. Minsk: Belaruskaya navuka. (In Russ.)
Smirnov A.V. (2019) Universal vs. Universal. Moscow: Sadra, YASK. (In Russ.)
Yadov’s Sociology: a Methodological Conversation. (2019) Moscow: FNISC RAN, Novyj hronograf. (In Russ.)
Stepin V.S. (2021) Theoretical Knowledge: Structure, Historical Evolution. Minsk: Belaruskaya navuka. (In Russ.)
Stepin V.S. (2019) Man. Activity. Culture. St. Petersburg: SPbGUP. (In Russ.)
Stepin V.S. (2018) Problems of forecasting complex evolving social systems. Zhurnal BGU. Sociologiya [Journal of Belarusian State University. Sociology]. No. 3: 4–10. (In Russ.)
Stepin V.S. (2017) Civilization in the Age of Change: The Search for New Development Strategies. Zhurnal BGU. Sociologiya [Journal of Belarusian State University. Sociology]. No. 3: 6–11. (In Russ.)
Tatarova G.G. (2014) Coherence of integrative processes as precondition for improvement of empirical research quality in Russia. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. No. 7: 72–84. (In Russ.)
Toshchenko Z.T. (2016) Sociology of Life. Moscow: UNITI-DANA. (In Russ.)
Vodop’yanov P.A., Danilov A.N. (2022) Spiritual and moral vector of choice of the future: to the strategy of sufficient development. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Ser. 18. Sociologiya i politologiya [Bulletin of Moscow University. Ser. 18. Sociology and Political Science]. No. 28: 275–302. (In Russ.)