Understanding the connection between morality and culture, or, more precisely, understanding the place, the role of morality in culture, the meaning of what is called moral culture, depends not only on one or another interpretation of culture, but also on our ideas about what morality is. The latter is important, if only because in the Russian language and in domestic ethics two concepts are commonly used: “morality” and “morality”. And regarding the relationship between these two concepts of ethics, opinions are far from ambiguous.
Therefore, one has to choose one of the possible understandings. But not just “some”, but one that will allow us to better clarify the features of moral culture.
The meaning of both is generally the same, but the use of each of these terms reveals certain shades of meaning. The concept of “morality” places greater emphasis on the normativity of morality, its social existence, and the moments of obligation.
When using the concept of “morality,” the individualization of morality, its individual existence, the feasibility of norms, ideals, and what is due in people’s lives, in their actions, their consciousness and self-awareness are often emphasized.
In both cases, we are talking about the relationship of people to each other. And not about any interpersonal relationships, but about those in which “good” and “evil” are revealed: “...morality in general is value orientation behavior, carried out through a dichotomy (division into two) of good and evil.” Whatever concepts, relationships, actions we take in the sphere of morality, morality - all of them, one way or another, are based on a person’s ability to distinguish between good and evil. Most relationships in the sphere of morality are specific modifications of the manifestations of good and evil in different aspects of life. Honesty is clearly good and dishonesty is evil. The same is with justice and injustice, decency and dishonesty, mercy and cruelty, etc. Shame and conscience express that a person has felt (realized) the significance of his deviation from the line of good. Evil is not a value, but goodness is often, and apparently correctly, considered a key moral value. Good is not as an abstraction, but as a relationship realized in the thoughts, feelings, intentions and actions of people.
Speaking about moral culture, then it is natural to assume that the ennoblement and spiritualization of life is manifested through the realization of good in it in its various modifications. No matter how differently morality and, in particular, goodness are manifested and understood in general, specific cultures, ethnic groups, social layers, - the lack of moral culture is still precisely a person’s inability to distinguish between good and evil, inability, and even unwillingness to do good. This is a state in which good still or no longer appears as vitally significant for a person, as an effective value. In civilized societies such a subhuman or monstrous state is practically impossible, either for an individual person or for social groups. Another thing is what is considered good and what is evil in each particular case? A civilized society requires at least a minimum of morality. Therefore, the question about the essence of moral culture is a question about its nature and degree, that is, about its level. And the level of culture, including moral, is determined by what basic needs dominate in life this person, this group of people.
The lowest level of culture (below which, I repeat, a developed society does not allow either an individual or a group to fall) is determined by the fact that the main things in life are the needs (and values) of one’s own, so to speak, material existence and comfort. A person at this level knows that goodness is significant. In any case, good in relation to himself. That is, he knows the difference between good and evil. Moreover, he can behave accordingly, making choices in life situations in favor of good. But not because doing good is his duty. And not because he is kind and wants to do good. And only because this is an external norm of behavior in relation to him, operating in a given society, and for him, to some extent, habitual. And most importantly, because he will be better off from a good deed, for it will “count”, either on earth, or at least in his post-earthly existence.
The society in which such a person lives, with existing moral norms, rules of conduct, and customs, always encourages good and tries to block manifestations of evil. Immorality (no matter how it is understood) is condemned. And if a person is condemned where he lives and acts, then life is more difficult for him. And for him the conditions of his material and material security, the normality of relationships, his peace of mind are very important. His own, but also concerning the people who are directly connected with him: his parents, his wife, his children, his friends. Good and in relation to them is realized mainly in the sphere of material and material relations. To do good means to provide, clothe, put on shoes, feed, and support financially. Of course, society requires from any person to some extent honesty and justice.
A person of a lower level of culture will be limitedly honest, decent, fair, but only insofar as it is useful for him. After all, if he is caught, say, in deception, they will treat him badly, and then his material and spiritual comfort is under threat.
A person of this level is not a monster, not a villain. He may be characterized by feelings of pity and impulses of mercy. In the novel M.
Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita”, Woland, characterizing the ordinary Moscow population, part of which gathered for a variety show, says about them: “Well,... people are like people. They love money, well... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people...” But pity and mercy and other moral movements of the souls of these people are unstable and often manifest themselves in a rude form, sometimes even offensive.
Because delicacy and tact are too subtle for them. A person is sure that if he was sorry or showed mercy (in whatever form this may be expressed), the one who was pitied should be grateful. In general, the sense of duty of others towards oneself is developed at this level. But the sense of duty is limited. Firstly, in relation to whom, to what exactly a person has a debt. Usually we are talking about loved ones: father's duty, mother's duty, filial, daughter's. Secondly, one’s debt is limited by the limit beyond which it begins to contradict benefit, benefit, and self-interest. When a person of a lower level of culture has a conflict between his duty and his benefit, duty cannot stand.
Shame and conscience, as internal regulators of relationships and behavior, can appear at this level of culture, but in a weakened form, and are relatively easily overcome: “shame is not smoke, it does not eat your eyes.” They try to get rid of the torment of conscience one way or another. Or justifying yourself, looking for others to blame. Or even questioning the value of conscience itself. One of the heroes O.
Wilde said that conscience and cowardice are one and the same thing, conscience is just a company sign.
Nevertheless, there is certainly some kind of moral formalization of relationships and actions in a person of a lower level of culture. After all, he has learned something from the achievements of civilization, somehow mastered the elementary manifestations of the culture of the society in which he lives. But talking about moral culture in relation to this level is problematic, because a person is, as it were, on the verge of culture and lack of culture. On this edge, moral hypocrisy is possible: in the forms of excessive concern for the morality of other people and the emphatic observance by the person himself of all the rules of decency and the simplest moral norms. But only a minimum of morality is really alive in this person.
Well, he follows the rules of decency, good manners. Well, he is never overly cruel, or, if cruel, it is supposedly fair and justified. He is even kind in moderation. And even if he violates some moral norms, it is not destructive for his society.
And of course there are violations. Behavior that is assessed as immoral, immoral, is characteristic of people of a lower level of culture. This may not manifest itself in general, but in certain areas and moments of human relationships. For example, in sexual relationships. They usually try to hide and conceal violations.
If we are not talking about ordinary people, but about the criminal world, then it has its own ideas about good and evil, honor, decency, its own rules moral behavior. Criminals, their groups and layers, in a unique way, also realize a minimum of morality in relationships, being at the lowest level of culture, bordering on its complete absence. And the dominant of their vital needs is also their practical interest, their own benefit (with the exception of pathological cases).
In general, at the lowest level of culture, the moral culturalization of life appears as a certain “formalization,” “processing,” and normalization of relations between people in terms of morality. This formality is not entirely stable, it is predominantly external, always with a minimum of truly moral content.
At a higher, next level, moral values can be the highest values of life and culture.
A person of this level is characterized by a developed moral consciousness. Both one’s own behavior and the behavior of other people are morally evaluated. And most often these assessments are concentrated in one form or another of preaching truly moral image life.
Such a person actually strives, first of all, to do and affirm good in every possible way, even through self-sacrifice.
Existing moral standards are not external to him. If he accepts them, then with all his heart. But more important than norms is a sense of duty in relation not only to loved ones, relatives, but also to all people. A person tries to be extremely honest to himself and to others, uncompromisingly fair. His mercy often takes on a wide scale, and it is sometimes so active that the one towards whom the act of mercy is performed becomes sick.
A person at this level of moral culture truly sympathizes and tries to help others, but his concern is sometimes too intrusive. Despite his own violations of morality (after all, he is also not an angel), his torment of conscience is extremely vivid and strong. And he himself believes and it seems to others that the highest value for him is another person. But it is not so.
Because for him morality, ideal moral life, moral duty above any specific person. Hence, a position of non-resistance to evil through violence is also possible, in which it is important not to deviate from the ideals of good, even if evil defeats other people (in life situation) find themselves defenseless against him. In this case, at this level of culture, the absolutization of morality in general and specific morality in particular is possible and does occur. Norms, commandments, requirements, and principles of morality are absolutized. And an irresistible temptation appears to impose on other people a certain type of morality, which is considered universal, but in fact is characteristic only of a generation, layer, group. In general, the described level of moral culture is characterized by a bias towards the obligation of good. Cultivation, the refinement of a person's intentions and actions, their moral development - here it seems to be completely obvious. But it is also obvious that by concentrating on the ideals of goodness (as it should!), a person’s self-worth turns out to be narrowed. Absolutized good, paradoxically, can sometimes turn into evil: spiritual violence, self-violence, insensitivity, internal brokenness.
Only a full-fledged culture is characterized by the fact that the unconditional and highest value for a person is another person, and not truth, goodness, beauty. And this is not altruism.
The altruistic position corresponds rather to the already considered second level of culture. At the highest level, the affirmation of the other as the dominant value does not come at the expense of sacrificial self-giving. It's just natural. What is important here is not the conviction that one must do good, but the desire to do it and the ability to do it not in general, but in relation to a specific other person. In relation to morality, it seems that we are talking about the same thing that is at the second level, about the dominance of good in life. But at the third level, there is absolutely no rigorism or preaching. The attitude towards the current normative morality allows for the possibility of changing it. Attitude towards violations of norms and rules. moral principles - cautious and selective, taking into account the uniqueness of real situations. And the attitude towards debt is the same. Especially with regard to assessing the actions of other people, communicating with them about their morality or immorality. A truly cultured person always remembers his moral imperfection, that the right to judge in the sphere of morality is doubtful. What is truly biblical in this area, more than in any other: “And that you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not feel the beam in your own eye” (Bible. Book of the New Testament. From Matthew. Ch. 7.3) . The main thing is delicacy and tact, which does not allow you to needlessly offend another with your supposed moral superiority.
The mercy of such a person, his concern for others, is not burdensome, not offensive, and most often simply unnoticeable. At the same time, a person is more sensitive to his weaknesses, his violations of morality, than when others do this.
To a significant extent, he is tolerant of human weaknesses and knows how to forgive, because he does not consider himself and his morality to be perfect. A. Schweitzer wrote: “I must forgive everything infinitely, because if I don’t do this, I will be untrue towards myself and act as if I am not as guilty as the other is towards me.” And further: “I must forgive quietly and imperceptibly. I don’t forgive at all, I don’t bring it to this point at all.”
A person of a higher level of culture has less internal conflicts in terms of suppressing his desires and inclinations, since he is moral by choice. He does not contrast moral values (as supposedly the highest) with other equally high values.
Such a person is not just moral, he is fully cultural.
Remaining ordinary normal person(not saints), he does not avoid sin, immorality. After all: “A clear conscience is an invention of the devil.” And if he sins, he suffers severely and for a long time. In general, he is often ashamed of both himself and others.
But his torment is internal, this is his torment, and it should not cause pain, or even inconvenience, to other people. He doesn't show them off.
Of course, delicacy and tact do not imply moral amorphousness and inactivity. But the type of moral activity in the case considered is completely different than at the second level.
It is characteristic of the highest level of culture to fight evil by judging not others, but oneself. And this is primarily to influence others. Of course, at this level there is active resistance to evil with manifestations of strength, courage, and perseverance. It is also possible to condemn evil when counteracting it, when a person finds himself in moral opposition to the obvious inhumanity of the intentions and actions of other people (fascism, racism, anti-Semitism, etc.). That is, this level is not characterized by the position of non-resistance to evil through violence.
Moral culture of the highest standard is not isolated from other spheres of culture. This culture is complete precisely because truth, goodness, beauty are all in in this case only different expressions of one thing - human humanity. But it must be defended.
Moral culture
Introduction
Culture
2. Morality
3. Moral culture
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
Almost every day, directly or indirectly, every person encounters the concept of culture. Wherever we are, we see or hear all sorts of phrases and statements directly or indirectly related to this concept. For example, often at the sight of a large and noisy group of young people expressing themselves obscenely and rudely, an old woman passing by quite boldly declares to them: “How uncultured you guys are,” or “Young people have gone - immoral.”
Whether we like it or not, everything that surrounds us and everything with which we are essentially connected is culture. This concept has firmly entered our lives and under no circumstances will we put it aside in a distant dark corner.
While we have heard the word culture so often, few of us can boast that we have been interested in or even deeply studied this concept. Most often, we limit ourselves to just understanding our understanding of a concept and do not strive for more. But in my opinion this is not entirely correct. That is why I would like to study deeper and discover some concepts for myself.
Based on the topic I have chosen, it follows that at the beginning of my work I set myself the following specific tasks: to give a clear and, in my opinion, correct concept of culture, morality, and most importantly, as a consequence (in my opinion) of the above, the concept of moral culture.
It seems to me that the topic I have chosen is quite relevant and interesting. Long before I appeared and still long years after me, “moral culture” lived and will live, it will help people learn and become individuals, it will guide them to take the right step, which is correct from its point of view, and if a person can understand its urges and appreciate its contribution to the everyday life of not only an individual , but in total human race in general, then I believe that humanity will have hope for a bright and holy future, for, in my opinion, it is in moral culture that the guarantee of human peace and well-being lies.
1. Culture
Culture is one of the most important areas of public life. In the concept of “culture,” a person and his activities act as a synthesizing basis, since culture itself is the creation of man, the result of his creative efforts. But in human culture there is not only an active being, but also a changing being itself.
The beginnings of culture are discovered at the earliest stages of the historical existence of people, the first ideas about it become possible at a fairly high level social and spiritual development. People have always lived in culture, although they did not immediately begin to realize it. While a person in his life depended on purely natural circumstances, not yet transformed by labor, decisive role in his life he attributed not to himself, but to these circumstances, which he turned into an object of religious veneration, or cult. Mythological and religious cultures The ancients, who deified natural forces and elements, endowed nature with purely human properties - consciousness, will, and the ability to predetermine the course of events. Only according to your further development people began to realize that much in their lives depends on themselves, on how they think and act. The first, initially vague and vague, ideas about culture are connected with this. It was enough, for example, to see the reason for a good harvest not in the mercy of the gods, but in the quality of the soil, in order to draw a distinction between cult as the deification of nature and culture as its cultivation and improvement. The very presence of “culture” in the language testifies to a person’s understanding of his special and independent role in the world, his characteristic activity, which cannot be reduced to the action of both natural and divine forces. Appearance of this word meant the birth of the “cult” of man himself, which replaced all other cults of antiquity.
The subject of cultural history has its own content and specificity among a number of historical disciplines. The history of culture presupposes, first of all, a comprehensive study of its various spheres - the history of science and technology, education and social thought, folklore and literary studies, art history, etc. in relation to them, cultural history acts as a generalizing discipline that considers culture as an integral system in the unity and interaction of all its areas.
Culture is literally translated as cultivation, processing, care, improvement. In the most ancient Latin texts, the use of this word is associated with agriculture. Cicero used the term culture to characterize human spirit. His saying “philosophy is the culture of the soul” is widely known; subsequently, the use of the word “culture” in the meaning of good manners, education, enlightenment becomes traditional.
The desire to use the word “culture” not to designate individual directions, methods and results transformative activities man, and for everything that was created by him, emerged in the 17th century, in line with the development of German educational thought. The first author to use the term “culture” in this new, broad meaning, was Samuel Puffendorf (1632-1694).
"...The upbringing of the human race is a process, both genetic and organic - thanks to the assimilation and application of what is passed on. We can call this human genesis whatever we want in the second sense, we can call it culture, that is, cultivating the soil, or we can remember the image of light and call it enlightenment..."
So, by culture we understand the totality of all material values, all knowledge and experiences, all practical experience, aimed at solving the triune task - reproduction, preservation and improvement human life. Not a single area of life - be it economics or politics, family or education, art or morality - is possible outside of culture.
2. Morality
Before talking about moral culture, let's consider such concepts as ethics, morality, morality.
Currently, they are all used at the everyday level as identical. However, from a scientific point of view, ethics is a science where the concepts of good and evil are system-forming. Morality should be understood as a set of norms and rules decent behavior. Morality is the practice of such behavior. Thus, a three-stage structure is built: ethics as a science, morality as a set of instructions for the creation of good, morality as the practice of good behavior.
All these concepts together constitute the essence of moral culture. Culture in its modern understanding is the process of creation, storage, dissemination and development of material, spiritual and socio-political values. On a personal level, culture is the level, degree, and magnitude of mastering values of three orders (material, spiritual, socio-political).
Moral culture is a powerful factor in the formation of a person’s personality, transforming and enriching his needs, inner world in better side.
I can't help but agree with the idea famous philosopher Karl Popper:
“Man has created many worlds - the worlds of language, poetry, science. But, perhaps, the most important of them is the world of morality, the world of moral values and regulations, the world of moral demands - freedom, equality, mercy.”
Morality is a set of unwritten rules that determine good human behavior. It is based on morals, that is, a voluntary agreement of people who try to correlate their feelings, aspirations and actions with the life attitudes of other people, with the interests and dignity of the whole society.
*Value is the life and practical attitude of an individual’s behavior, expressing what is significant to him. One person puts honor above life, another longs for freedom, a third insists on the indestructibility of good, a fourth glorifies the all-conquering feeling - love.
For many centuries, philosophers, religious thinkers, and teachers of life have shown interest in moral and ethical problems. The moral sense inherent only to man made it possible to realize his difference from animals. Moral feeling largely determined human actions. In accordance with it, people built their relationships with nature, with other people, with society as a whole. Finally, moral standards helped to choose a decent lifestyle. Many thinkers saw morality as the path to God.
Morality (from Latin moralis - “moral”) - area moral values, which is recognized by people, the moral life of the people. The content of this sphere and its specificity change over time and are different for different nations. In the morality of all peoples and at all times can be found human values, moral principles and instructions.
Morality (from Latin moralis - “moral”) morality, a system of norms and value concepts that determine and regulate human behavior. Unlike simple custom or tradition, moral norms are justified in the form of ideals of good and evil, due, justice, etc.
Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900) believed that morality is an innate human property that distinguishes us from animals. “The basic feelings of shame, pity and reverence are felt in the area of possible moral relations of a person to what is below him, what is equal to him and what is above him,” he wrote in his book “The Justification of Good.” The Russian thinker compared moral philosophy to a guidebook that depicts places worth visiting, but at the same time does not tell a person where to go. People make their own decisions about where to direct their steps. Therefore, according to Solovyov, “no presentation of moral norms, i.e., conditions for achieving true life goal, cannot make sense for a person who has consciously set himself not this, but a completely different goal."
"Golden Rule morality": "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."
Moral culture
I believe, and I am sure, that many also believe that a person’s culture is entirely based on his moral culture in the broadest sense. Moral culture presupposes both respect for tradition, generally accepted patterns of behavior, and the ability to find one’s own, creative solution. In cases where we are faced with “eternal” problems, universal situations such as birth and death, illness and health, youth and old age, love and marriage, it is very important to listen to tradition and act in accordance with etiquette. This is how life is built. And its development and progress largely depend on how high the level of culture of a society is.
Moral culture is represented by the subjects of society and their relationships. It includes: a) signs and elements of the culture of moral consciousness of subjects of society; b) culture of behavior and communication; c) culture moral actions and activities. Moral culture correlates with other types of culture of the material and spiritual life of society, but first of all it is opposed to the antipodes of morality: evil, inequality, injustice, dishonor, lack of dignity and conscience, and other anti-moral phenomena.
In terms of content, moral culture is the development of moral consciousness and worldview of the subjects of society; the unity of the morally obligatory and the morally existing; manifestation in the system of behavior, communication and activity of the norms of goodness, honor, conscience, duty, dignity, love, interaction, etc.; carrying out life activities according to the principles of humanism, democracy, hard work, social equality, a combination of reasonable egoism (dignity) and altruism, peace.
Moral culture is also the effectiveness of moral regulation of people’s lives, the complementarity of moral and legal regulation, adherence to the “golden rule of morality”, the rules of etiquette.
There is talk everywhere and many are even convinced that public and personal morality are experiencing a severe crisis today. There is a lot to worry about. And the growth of crime, and social injustice, and the collapse of ideals that served as the official support of morality. It is quite obvious that moral culture cannot be at all high if the social system is ineffective and ignores the requirements of justice and common sense.
There is a need to make adjustments to the relationships between people through moral culture, which is a factor in the development of a rational society, becoming more and more obvious every day.
Our consciousness has a way of directly influencing the material world. This, as they sometimes say, is a manifestation of the triumph of thought over matter. The great Russian physiologist I.P. Pavlov said: “Man is the only system that is capable of regulating itself within wide limits, that is, improving itself.” It is important to note here that a lot depends on ourselves.
If we want our civilization to survive, it is necessary to prevent such incidents as quickly as possible. That is why our duty, our sacred duty, is to create a new idea of ourselves and of consciousness through moral culture, so that, guided by this new model in practice, humanity can not only survive, but find itself at a more perfect level of existence.
Of course, cracks in the moral culture of society are obvious; in my opinion, the moral culture of communication can serve as an example, when faced with various misunderstandings between people when communicating almost every day.
A moral culture of communication presupposes the presence of moral convictions, knowledge of moral norms, readiness for moral activity, and common sense, especially in conflict situations.
Moral communication is an expression of the content and level of the spiritual appearance of a person.
The moral culture of communication represents the unity of moral consciousness and behavior. This often requires dedication and self-control from a person. And when it comes to the Motherland, patriotism, a sense of duty, then the ability to self-sacrifice.
The moral culture of communication is divided into: 1) internal and 2) external.
Internal culture- This moral ideals and attitudes, norms and principles of behavior that are the foundation of the spiritual appearance of the individual. These are the spiritual foundations on which a person builds his relationships with other people in all spheres of public life. The internal culture of the individual plays a leading, determining role in the formation of the external culture of communication in which it finds its manifestation. The ways of such manifestation can be varied - exchanging greetings with other people, important information, establishing various forms cooperation, relationships of friendship, love, etc. Internal culture is manifested in manners of behavior, ways of addressing a partner, and the ability to dress without causing criticism from others.
Internal and external culture of moral communication are always interconnected, complement each other and exist in unity. However, this relationship is not always obvious. There are many people who, behind their apparent unsociability and some secrecy, reveal a spiritually rich personality, ready to respond to your request, provide help if necessary, etc. At the same time, there are also individuals who hide their wretched nature behind an external gloss. and dishonest essence.
There are many examples in life when for some people the external side of communication becomes an end in itself and is actually a cover for achieving selfish and selfish goals. A variety of such behavior are hypocrisy, hypocrisy, and deliberate deception.
Recognition of a person’s value is closely related to specific assessments of people entering into communication. Many difficulties that arise in the process of communication are generated by the discrepancy between a person’s self-esteem and his assessment by others. As a rule, self-esteem is always higher than the assessment of others (although it can be underestimated).
The Holy Fathers said: a person is formed from childhood, even from the womb, and not when he finishes school. And now special attention should be paid to education in our school, it is the main institution that provides education to the younger generation. Alas, school has now lost its educational moment, it provides only the sum of knowledge, but we must remember that at school it is decided not only whether a young person will learn to count and write, but also how he will grow up. How he perceives the world, how he treats his neighbor, how he evaluates all actions.
Therefore, even from school, it is necessary to conduct moral conversations with children. Starting from the age of two, the child enters the scope of moral norms. Finds out what is good and what is bad. First, adults, and then peers, begin to ensure that he observes certain forms of behavior. If you instill in a child that it is necessary to take care of those who need it, to help a person experiencing pain or grief, we can safely say that the child will grow up caring, understanding the pain and grief of others. This does not require any special techniques and methods, you just need to demonstrate positive examples more often. Moral conversations teach you to see the advantages and disadvantages of your own behavior and the behavior of others in everyday life and in public places (on the street, in transport, in a store); to acquire the concepts of “fair - dishonest”, “fair - unfair”, “right - wrong”; They form a “code of honor”, the ability to act fairly, and to subordinate their desires to common interests.
Fairy tale - first piece of art, allowing the child to experience a sense of participation in the grief and joy of the heroes, to hate greed and treachery, and to passionately desire the victory of good. A fairy tale expands a child's moral experience.
There are not enough good, moral topics on television and there is a lot of what destroys the soul, brings some kind of confusion, temptation. Television should have a creative power, help build our state, and build it strong. And the state cannot be strong without morality, without faith, without love for the Fatherland and neighbor.
Religion and morality are closely related. Religion is impossible without morality, and morality is impossible without religion. Faith without works is dead. Only demons believe with such faith (believe and tremble). True faith (living, not dead) cannot exist without good deeds. Just as a naturally fragrant flower cannot but be fragrant, so true faith cannot but be evidenced by good morality. In turn, morality without a religious basis and without religious light cannot exist and will certainly wither, like a plant deprived of roots, moisture and sun. Religion without morality is like a barren fig tree; Morality without religion is like a cut down fig tree.
culture moral life society
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to summarize everything that has been said above. After studying the literature, I answered the questions posed. She defined for herself a clear concept of moral culture, its role in public life and its significance for humans.
Revealed “defects” of modern moral culture
“Save your soul, start with yourself, and thousands of people around you will change.” In fact, you must first overcome the problem within yourself.
The value and significance of moral culture, like morality, is found in the behavior, communication and activities of people, in public opinion, and personal example.
Thus, moral culture is the most important traditional element of their culture for a person and society.
The world community is paying more and more attention to the state of culture. It is understood primarily as the content and process of people’s life activity, the result of their active and purposeful, although not always expedient and successful, productive social activity. Culture is one of the leading signs of planetary civilization; it distinguishes the life of people from the life of other living beings on earth and possible extraterrestrial civilizations.
Culture is a fundamental, historically long-term indicator of people’s creativity, the correlation of the levels and quality of development of communities and individual peoples, an assessment criterion historical path and the prospects of large social subjects, each individual. Culture is “second nature”.
It was created by people, indicates fundamentally different laws and factors in the functioning of society (both planetary and specific peoples, states), in contrast to natural (first) nature. It is important to emphasize that second nature as a culture includes not only material and physical, but also spiritual (ideal) elements. This provision also distinguishes culture from natural nature. Culture reveals the spiritual and subjective abilities and properties of people.
The prospects for the development of world society in the 20th-21st centuries are increasingly determined by crisis phenomena that arise in the bosom of culture as its antipodes and indicators of human cultural imperfection. One of these complex problems is the increase in human aggressiveness, increased destructiveness, anti-culturalism of his behavior and activities not only in relation to the natural, but also artificial, created by man himself, the social environment and the people themselves. Modern type personality acquires increasingly threatening and dangerous inconsistency and duality. This situation does not characterize all of humanity, but the trend is quite obvious and stable.
Moral culture
Introduction
Culture
2. Morality
3. Moral culture
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
Almost every day, directly or indirectly, every person encounters the concept of culture. Wherever we are, we see or hear all sorts of phrases and statements directly or indirectly related to this concept. For example, often at the sight of a large and noisy group of young people expressing themselves obscenely and rudely, an old woman passing by quite boldly declares to them: “How uncultured you guys are,” or “Young people have gone - immoral.”
Whether we like it or not, everything that surrounds us and everything with which we are essentially connected is culture. This concept has firmly entered our lives and under no circumstances will we put it aside in a distant dark corner.
While we have heard the word culture so often, few of us can boast that we have been interested in or even deeply studied this concept. Most often, we limit ourselves to just understanding our understanding of a concept and do not strive for more. But in my opinion this is not entirely correct. That is why I would like to study deeper and discover some concepts for myself.
Based on the topic I have chosen, it follows that at the beginning of my work I set myself the following specific tasks: to give a clear and, in my opinion, correct concept of culture, morality, and most importantly, as a consequence (in my opinion) of the above, the concept of moral culture.
It seems to me that the topic I have chosen is quite relevant and interesting. Long before my appearance and for many years after me, “moral culture” lived and will live, it will help people learn and become individuals, it will guide them to take the right step, which is correct from its point of view, and if a person can understand its urges and appreciate it contribution to the everyday life of not only a single individual, but the entire human race as a whole, then I believe that humanity will have hope for a bright and holy future, for, in my opinion, it is in moral culture that the guarantee of human peace and well-being.
1. Culture
Culture is one of the most important areas of public life. In the concept of “culture,” a person and his activities act as a synthesizing basis, since culture itself is the creation of man, the result of his creative efforts. But in human culture there is not only an active being, but also a changing being itself.
The beginnings of culture are discovered at the earliest stages of the historical existence of people; the first ideas about it become possible at a fairly high level of social and spiritual development. People have always lived in culture, although they did not immediately begin to realize it. While a person in his life depended on purely natural circumstances, not yet transformed by labor, he attributed the decisive role in his life not to himself, but to these circumstances, which he turned into an object of religious veneration, or cult. The mythological and religious cultures of antiquity, which deified natural forces and elements, endowed nature with purely human properties - consciousness, will, and the ability to predetermine the course of events. Only as they developed further did people begin to realize that much in their lives depended on themselves, on how they thought and acted. The first, initially vague and vague, ideas about culture are connected with this. It was enough, for example, to see the reason for a good harvest not in the mercy of the gods, but in the quality of the soil, in order to draw a distinction between cult as the deification of nature and culture as its cultivation and improvement. The very presence of “culture” in the language testifies to a person’s understanding of his special and independent role in the world, his characteristic activity, which cannot be reduced to the action of both natural and divine forces. The appearance of this word meant the birth of the “cult” of man himself, which replaced all other cults of antiquity.
The subject of cultural history has its own content and specificity among a number of historical disciplines. The history of culture presupposes, first of all, a comprehensive study of its various spheres - the history of science and technology, education and social thought, folklore and literary studies, art history, etc. in relation to them, cultural history acts as a generalizing discipline that considers culture as an integral system in the unity and interaction of all its areas.
For every culture, both national isolation, leading to stagnation, and ignorance are equally harmful. national traditions, constituting its internal basis, giving it stability.
Culture is literally translated as cultivation, processing, care, improvement. In the most ancient Latin texts, the use of this word is associated with agriculture. Cicero used the term culture to characterize the human spirit. His saying “philosophy is the culture of the soul” is widely known; subsequently, the use of the word “culture” in the meaning of good manners, education, enlightenment becomes traditional.
The desire to use the word “culture” not to designate individual directions, methods and results of human transformative activity, but for everything that was created by him, emerged in the 17th century, in line with the development of German educational thought. The first author to use the term "culture" in this new, broad sense was Samuel Puffendorf (1632-1694).
"...The upbringing of the human race is a process, both genetic and organic - thanks to the assimilation and application of what is passed on. We can call this human genesis whatever we want in the second sense, we can call it culture, that is, cultivating the soil, or we can remember the image of light and call it enlightenment..."
So, by culture we understand the totality of all material values, all knowledge and experiences, all practical experience, aimed at solving the triune task - reproduction, preservation and improvement of human life. Not a single area of life - be it economics or politics, family or education, art or morality - is possible outside of culture.
2. Morality
Before talking about moral culture, let's consider such concepts as ethics, morality, morality.
Currently, they are all used at the everyday level as identical. However, from a scientific point of view, ethics is a science where the concepts of good and evil are system-forming. Morality should be understood as a set of norms and rules of decent behavior. Morality is the practice of such behavior. Thus, a three-stage structure is built: ethics as a science, morality as a set of instructions for the creation of good, morality as the practice of good behavior.
All these concepts together constitute the essence of moral culture. Culture in its modern understanding is the process of creation, storage, dissemination and development of material, spiritual and socio-political values. On a personal level, culture is the level, degree, and magnitude of mastering values of three orders (material, spiritual, socio-political).
Moral culture is a powerful factor in the formation of a person’s personality, transforming and enriching his needs and inner world for the better.
I cannot but agree with the thought of the famous philosopher Karl Popper:
“Man has created many worlds - the worlds of language, poetry, science. But, perhaps, the most important of them is the world of morality, the world of moral values and regulations, the world of moral demands - freedom, equality, mercy.”
Morality is a set of unwritten rules that determine good human behavior. It is based on morals, that is, a voluntary agreement of people who try to correlate their feelings, aspirations and actions with the life attitudes of other people, with the interests and dignity of the whole society.
*Value is the life and practical attitude of an individual’s behavior, expressing what is significant to him. One person puts honor above life, another longs for freedom, a third insists on the indestructibility of good, a fourth glorifies the all-conquering feeling - love.
For many centuries, philosophers, religious thinkers, and teachers of life have shown interest in moral and ethical problems. The moral sense inherent only to man made it possible to realize his difference from animals. Moral feelings largely determined human actions. In accordance with it, people built their relationships with nature, with other people, with society as a whole. Finally, moral standards helped to choose a decent lifestyle. Many thinkers saw morality as the path to God.
Morality (from Latin moralis - “moral”) is the area of moral values that is recognized by people, the moral life of the people. The content of this sphere and its specificity change over time and are different among different peoples. In the morality of all peoples and at all times one can find universal human values, moral principles and regulations.
Morality (from Latin moralis - “moral”) morality, a system of norms and value concepts that determine and regulate human behavior. Unlike simple custom or tradition, moral norms are justified in the form of ideals of good and evil, due, justice, etc.
Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900) believed that morality is an innate human property that distinguishes us from animals. “The basic feelings of shame, pity and reverence are felt in the area of possible moral relations of a person to what is below him, what is equal to him and what is above him,” he wrote in his book “The Justification of Good.” The Russian thinker compared moral philosophy to a guidebook that depicts places worth visiting, but at the same time does not tell a person where to go. People make their own decisions about where to direct their steps. Therefore, according to Solovyov, “no presentation of moral norms, that is, the conditions for achieving a true life goal, can make sense for a person who has consciously set himself not this, but a completely different goal”...
“The Golden Rule of Morality”: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
Moral culture
Currently, there is a wide and growing interest in a deeper philosophical awareness of culture. At the same time, we realize that culture is not relative, not situational, that it cannot be tied to any current social or political interests, but expresses the very essence of humanity and is a factor in the development of a humane society.
I believe, and I am sure, that many also believe that a person’s culture is entirely based on his moral culture in the broadest sense. Moral culture presupposes both respect for tradition, generally accepted patterns of behavior, and the ability to find one’s own, creative solution. In cases where we are faced with “eternal” problems, universal situations such as birth and death, illness and health, youth and old age, love and marriage, it is very important to listen to tradition and act in accordance with etiquette. This is how life is built. And its development and progress largely depend on how high the level of culture of a society is.
Moral culture is represented by the subjects of society and their relationships. It includes: a) signs and elements of the culture of moral consciousness of subjects of society; b) culture of behavior and communication; c) a culture of moral actions and activities. Moral culture correlates with other types of culture of the material and spiritual life of society, but first of all it is opposed to the antipodes of morality: evil, inequality, injustice, dishonor, lack of dignity and conscience, and other anti-moral phenomena.
In terms of content, moral culture is the development of moral consciousness and worldview of the subjects of society; the unity of the morally obligatory and the morally existing; manifestation in the system of behavior, communication and activity of the norms of goodness, honor, conscience, duty, dignity, love, interaction, etc.; carrying out life activities according to the principles of humanism, democracy, hard work, social equality, a combination of reasonable egoism (dignity) and altruism, peace.
Moral culture is also the effectiveness of moral regulation of people’s lives, the complementarity of moral and legal regulation, adherence to the “golden rule of morality”, the rules of etiquette.
There is talk everywhere and many are even convinced that public and personal morality are experiencing a severe crisis today. There is a lot to worry about. And the growth of crime, and social injustice, and the collapse of ideals that served as the official support of morality. It is quite obvious that moral culture cannot be at all high if the social system is ineffective and ignores the requirements of justice and common sense.
There is a need to make adjustments to the relationships between people through moral culture, which is a factor in the development of a rational society, becoming more and more obvious every day.
Our consciousness has a way of directly influencing the material world. This, as they sometimes say, is a manifestation of the triumph of thought over matter. The great Russian physiologist I.P. Pavlov said: “Man is the only system that is capable of regulating itself within wide limits, that is, improving itself.” It is important to note here that a lot depends on ourselves.
If we want our civilization to survive, it is necessary to prevent such incidents as quickly as possible. That is why our duty, our sacred duty, is to create a new idea of ourselves and of consciousness through moral culture, so that, guided by this new model in practice, humanity can not only survive, but find itself at a more perfect level of existence.
Of course, cracks in the moral culture of society are obvious; in my opinion, the moral culture of communication can serve as an example, when faced with various misunderstandings between people when communicating almost every day.
A moral culture of communication presupposes the presence of moral convictions, knowledge of moral norms, readiness for moral activity, and common sense, especially in conflict situations.
Moral communication is an expression of the content and level of the spiritual appearance of a person.
The moral culture of communication represents the unity of moral consciousness and behavior. This often requires dedication and self-control from a person. And when it comes to the Motherland, patriotism, a sense of duty, then the ability to self-sacrifice.
The moral culture of communication is divided into: 1) internal and 2) external.
Internal culture is moral ideals and guidelines, norms and principles of behavior, which are the foundation of the spiritual appearance of an individual. These are the spiritual foundations on which a person builds his relationships with other people in all spheres of public life. The internal culture of the individual plays a leading, determining role in the formation of the external culture of communication in which it finds its manifestation. The ways of such manifestation can be varied - exchanging greetings and important information with other people, establishing various forms of cooperation, relationships of friendship, love, etc. Internal culture is manifested in manners of behavior, ways of addressing a partner, in the ability to dress without causing criticism from others .
Internal and external culture of moral communication are always interconnected, complement each other and exist in unity. However, this relationship is not always obvious. There are many people who, behind their apparent unsociability and some secrecy, reveal a spiritually rich personality, ready to respond to your request, provide help if necessary, etc. At the same time, there are also individuals who hide their wretched nature behind an external gloss. and dishonest essence.
There are many examples in life when for some people the external side of communication becomes an end in itself and is actually a cover for achieving selfish and selfish goals. A variety of such behavior are hypocrisy, hypocrisy, and deliberate deception.
Recognition of a person’s value is closely related to specific assessments of people entering into communication. Many difficulties that arise in the process of communication are generated by the discrepancy between a person’s self-esteem and his assessment by others. As a rule, self-esteem is always higher than the assessment of others (although it can be underestimated).
The Holy Fathers said: a person is formed from childhood, even from the womb, and not when he finishes school. And now special attention should be paid to education in our school; it is the main institution that provides education to the younger generation. Alas, school has now lost its educational moment, it provides only the sum of knowledge, but we must remember that at school it is decided not only whether a young person will learn to count and write, but also how he will grow up. How he perceives the world, how he treats his neighbor, how he evaluates all actions.
Therefore, even from school, it is necessary to conduct moral conversations with children. Starting from the age of two, the child enters the scope of moral norms. Finds out what is good and what is bad. First, adults, and then peers, begin to ensure that he observes certain forms of behavior. If you instill in a child that it is necessary to take care of those who need it, to help a person experiencing pain or grief, we can safely say that the child will grow up caring, understanding the pain and grief of others. This does not require any special techniques or methods, you just need to demonstrate positive examples more often. Moral conversations teach you to see the advantages and disadvantages of your own behavior and the behavior of others in everyday life and in public places (on the street, in transport, in a store); to acquire the concepts of “fair - dishonest”, “fair - unfair”, “right - wrong”; They form a “code of honor”, the ability to act fairly, and to subordinate their desires to common interests.
A fairy tale is the first work of art that allows a child to experience a sense of participation in the grief and joy of the heroes, to hate greed and treachery, and to passionately desire the victory of good. A fairy tale expands a child’s moral experience.
The future of Russia is formed at school. Naturally, everything influences morality: the press, the family, the school, and even just a random passerby. Therefore, all responsibility for morality in society does not lie with anyone alone. It cannot be said that one Orthodox journalist can influence the state of morality. If one person writes that
There are not enough good, moral topics on television and there is a lot of what destroys the soul, brings some kind of confusion, temptation. Television should have a creative power, help build our state, and build it strong. And the state cannot be strong without morality, without faith, without love for the Fatherland and neighbor.
Religion and morality are closely related. Religion is impossible without morality, and morality is impossible without religion. Faith without works is dead. Only demons believe with such faith (believe and tremble). True faith (living, not dead) cannot exist without good deeds. Just as a naturally fragrant flower cannot but be fragrant, so true faith cannot but be evidenced by good morality. In turn, morality cannot exist without a religious basis and without religious light and will certainly wither, like a plant deprived of roots, moisture and sun. Religion without morality is like a barren fig tree; Morality without religion is like a cut down fig tree.
culture moral life society
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to summarize everything that has been said above. After studying the literature, I answered the questions posed. She defined for herself a clear concept of moral culture, its role in public life and its significance for humans.
Revealed “defects” of modern moral culture
“Save your soul, start with yourself, and thousands of people around you will change.” In fact, you must first overcome the problem within yourself.
The value and significance of moral culture, like morality, is found in the behavior, communication and activities of people, in public opinion, and personal example.
Thus, moral culture is the most important traditional element of their culture for a person and society.
The world community is paying more and more attention to the state of culture. It is understood primarily as the content and process of people’s life activity, the result of their active and purposeful, although not always expedient and successful, productive social activity. Culture is one of the leading signs of planetary civilization; it distinguishes the life of people from the life of other living beings on earth and possible extraterrestrial civilizations.
Culture is a fundamental, historically long-term indicator of people's creativity, the correlation of the levels and quality of development of communities and individual peoples, a criterion for assessing the historical path and prospects of large social entities, each individual person. Culture is “second nature”.
It was created by people, indicates fundamentally different laws and factors in the functioning of society (both planetary and specific peoples, states), in contrast to natural (first) nature. It is important to emphasize that second nature as a culture includes not only material and physical, but also spiritual (ideal) elements. This provision also distinguishes culture from natural nature. Culture reveals the spiritual and subjective abilities and properties of people.
The prospects for the development of world society in the 20th-21st centuries are increasingly determined by crisis phenomena that arise in the bosom of culture as its antipodes and indicators of human cultural imperfection. One of these complex problems is the increase in human aggressiveness, increased destructiveness, anti-culturalism of his behavior and activities not only in relation to the natural, but also artificial, created by man himself, the social environment and the people themselves. The modern personality type is acquiring increasingly threatening and dangerous inconsistency and duality. This situation does not characterize all of humanity, but the trend is quite obvious and stable.
Moral culture is aimed at the reproduction of consciousness, at satisfying the moral needs of people. Morality manifests itself in practice in other areas of life - in economics, politics, social life, law, etc. It is a phenomenon not only of spiritual, but also of material life, and has clearly expressed specifics.
Bibliography
"CULTURE: THEORIES AND PROBLEMS". Moscow "Science" 1995.
L.K. Kruglova "Fundamentals of Cultural Studies". St. Petersburg 1994.
Yu.G. Marchenko I.I. Mamai "FUNDAMENTALS OF CULTURAL STUDY" ( tutorial). Novosibirsk 1995.
Simple conversations about morality.
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Formation of moral behavior.
Morality is a special spiritual-practical, value-based way of exploring the world; activity determined by worldview. A person’s worldview is formed primarily by society; in this regard, the origins of morality should be sought in relations between people. Man is a social being. The joint life of people requires in various ways regulation of their behavior, which was the reason for the emergence and development of religion, law, etc. Morality is one of these regulations that determines people’s behavior using ideas about what is valuable (ideals, principles, norms, etc.) and what is proper (duties, responsibilities, etc.). This is an internal self-regulator of human behavior, tuned to the principles of humanity.
Moral consciousness is realized in two forms: social and individual.
Social consciousness is an element of social life. It accumulates and systematizes the moral experience of numerous generations, which makes it possible to influence the ideas and behavior of an individual and to educate a full-fledged personality.
Individual moral consciousness reflexive, refers to inner world human and consists of several components:
a) rational component͵ ᴛ.ᴇ. a system of certain concepts in which a person’s worldview and certain moral ideas are expressed. The basic element of this system is the requirement (norm). In addition to it, the rational structure of individual moral consciousness includes perceived as personal ideals, assessments, principles, attitudes, ideas about moral qualities, good and evil, etc.;
b) emotional component͵ ᴛ.ᴇ. the totality of a person's moral experiences. It should be noted that any feeling is a complex emotional reaction caused by the process of socialization. Hence the altruistic nature of moral experiences (responsiveness, compassion, etc.), and their focus on self-restraint of the individual. Special controlling experiences - conscience and shame - act as a socio-psychological mechanism of self-control. An important role in a person’s moral life is played by a sense of dignity (honor), which reflects the moral self-worth of the individual;
c) the volitional component, thanks to which the subjective moral motive is realized in action, often despite the pressure of objective circumstances.
Moral relations can be classified:
2) by the nature of the demand (imperativeness);
3) by the nature of the connection.
Moral attitudes are reflected in the concepts of moral consciousness, thereby influencing human behavior. However, the structure “moral consciousness - moral action - moral attitude” forms a single whole, and its elements are intercorrelated.
Basic properties of morality:
1. Imperativeness. Moral standards are always formulated in imperative mood(for example, “don’t lie,” “don’t kill,” etc.).
2. Versatility. The requirements of morality are unchanged in any sphere of human existence and are not localized either situationally or in time.
3. General significance. Moral precepts apply to all people without exception.
4. Antinomy. For example, the inconsistency of statements about the extreme importance of doing good, because it is beneficial (expedient), and that good should be selfless; or the requirement “thou shalt not kill” and at the same time the idea of military duty. There are many reasons for the antinomy of morality. The main thing is essentially that morality, reflecting the dynamics of human existence, develops itself, and this development is a complex dialectical process that includes archaic ideas about what should be, and completely new, promising, specific requirements of common sense and ethical maxims.
5. Extra-institutional. Morality, unlike other forms of social consciousness, is not socially structured. Its norms are not fixed in special documents, are not provided with coercive measures with the help of a special apparatus, are not controlled by officials in special institutions. Moral standards are supported by force public opinion or a person’s personal conviction, are informal in nature.
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Their violation is not punished, but leads to the application of a moral sanction in the form of condemnation, and this can be done by any person or society as a whole.
The main functions of morality:
1) Regulatory function. Morality, through a value-based approach to human activity, harmonizes and optimizes relationships between people on the basis of common ideals, principles of behavior, etc.
2) Cognitive function. Entering moral relations, a person becomes acquainted with all the diversity of cultural experience accumulated by humanity, and receives special moral knowledge.
3) Educational function. Moral knowledge is an important condition formation of personality, introducing it to the highest values. Outside the moral field, a person should not be a full-fledged artist, scientist, entrepreneur, etc. Morality gives any specific activity a universal meaning.
4) Value-orienting function. Based on moral ideas, a person constantly compares the real with the ideal, the existing with the should. This allows him to correct his behavior and determine the vector of his spiritual development.
In addition to these functions, one can also distinguish humanizing (ᴛ.ᴇ. raising a person above everyday life, revealing to him the true meaning of life), ideological, communicative, etc.
In general, all these functions are closely interconnected and determine the richness and content of a person’s spiritual life5.
Moral culture of the individual - concept and types. Classification and features of the category “Moral culture of the individual” 2017, 2018.