The relationship of economic, social, political and spiritual spheres of society. The main spheres of society and their relationship

The spheres of public life are closely interconnected (Fig. 4.1).

Rice. 4.1.

In the history of the social sciences, there have been attempts to single out any sphere of life as determining in relation to others. So, in the Middle Ages, the idea of ​​the special significance of religiosity as part of the spiritual sphere of society dominated. In modern times and the Age of Enlightenment, the role of morality and scientific knowledge was emphasized. A number of concepts assign the leading role to the state and law. Marxism affirms the decisive role of economic relations.

Within the framework of real social phenomena, elements of all spheres are combined. For example, the nature of economic relations can influence the structure of the social structure. A place in the social hierarchy forms certain political views, opens up appropriate access to education and other spiritual values. The economic relations themselves are determined by the legal system of the country, which is very often formed on the basis of the spiritual culture of the people, their traditions in the field of religion and morality. Thus, at various stages of historical development, the influence of any sphere may increase.

The complex nature of social systems is combined with their dynamism, i.e., mobile, changeable character.

Society is a system of ordered integrity. This is a guarantee of its constant functionality, all components of the system occupy a certain place within it and are connected with other components of society. And it is important to note that individually, not a single element possesses such a quality of integrity. Society is a peculiar result of interaction and integration of absolutely all components of this complex system.

The state, the country's economy, the social strata of society cannot have such a quality as society in itself. And multi-level links between the economic, political, spiritual and social spheres of life form such a complex and dynamic phenomenon as society.

It is easy to track the relationship, for example, socio-economic relations and legal norms on the example of the laws of Kievan Rus. The code of laws indicated the penalties for murder, and each measure determined the place of a person that he occupies in society - by belonging to a particular social group.

All four spheres of social life are not only interconnected, but also mutually condition each other. Changes in one of them, as a rule, entail changes in others. For example, the relationship between the economic and political spheres is demonstrated by the resignation of the government due to the aggravation of the economic crisis.

Consequently, each sphere of public life is a complex formation, which is in organic unity with other spheres. Due to their interconnection and interdependence, society appears as an integral system and is progressively developing.

Spheres of public life, acting as integral entities and presenting the relevant opportunities (potentials) of society, are closely interconnected, influence each other, intertwining and complementing each other, characterizing the integrity of the social organism itself.

The economic sphere of society is the main determinant of other spheres - social, political, spiritual. In turn, for example, the social sphere determines the political and spiritual, political - spiritual. At the same time, the economic sphere, setting goals and a program for various types of activity, also creates the necessary conditions for this activity.

It should be said that within the general dependence on the economy, the development of each sphere of society follows and in accordance with its own laws. Each of them has an inverse effect on the previous ones: spiritual- political, social and economic, political- social and economic social- on economic.

The state of the spiritual sphere of society provides information to the political sphere, puts forward historically important and new tasks for it, determines those political values ​​that need to be developed in the light of the specific conditions for the development of society. Based on the ideas developed in the spiritual sphere of society, the efforts of people are aimed at solving the upcoming tasks and programs. And the political sphere affects the nature of social programs, relations, the quality of the realization of social needs and interests of classes, nations and social groups, the extent to which the principles of social justice, the rights to freedom, and human dignity are implemented in society.

The social sphere of society, acting as an active force, affects all aspects of the economic life of society. Depending on belonging to a particular social group, people form an attitude towards property, forms of distribution of material wealth, and choose the type of production activity. The degree of integration of class, national and social groups depends on the efficiency of the life of the economic sphere of society. Therefore, concern for the specific needs and interests of people should be the subject of tireless attention. If our country is able to achieve a decisive turn towards the social sphere, then many large and small economic problems will be solved more efficiently and quickly.

So, the basis of the social structure is formed on the basis of the four most important types of human activity. Each of them corresponds to its own specific sphere of social life with its own internal structure, many individual forms. Clear ideas about the types of activities necessary for society are an important prerequisite for understanding its entire complex structure and its properties as an integral social organism.

Thus, the socio-philosophical analysis of society includes the study of the statics of society and its dynamics, consideration of its constituent groups, institutions, as well as taking into account the processes of change and development taking place in society.

Statically, society represents the unity of four spheres (subsystems): material and production (economic), social, political and spiritual (spheres of public consciousness and spiritual practice), which are in complex dialectical interaction. The unity and interaction of these components is the social process that combines progress and regression, reforms and revolutions, provides the military capabilities of society. The knowledge of the causes, sources and driving forces of social development is an important task of philosophical and sociological research.

Applications

Rice. 2.2. The main areas of society

property

production

Human

Distributions

exchange

Society is a certain set of elements interconnected and interacting with each other. The spheres of public life are interpenetrating and interconnected.

Economic difficulties (economic sphere) give rise to social instability and discontent of various social forces (social sphere) and lead to an aggravation of political struggle and instability (political sphere). All this is usually accompanied by apathy, confusion of the spirit, but also by spiritual searches, intensive scientific research.

The boundaries between all four spheres of society are easy to move, transparent. Each sphere is present one way or another in all the others, but at the same time it does not dissolve, does not lose its leading function. The question of the relationship between the main spheres of public life and the allocation of one priority is debatable. There are supporters of the defining role of the economic sphere. They proceed from the fact that material production, which is the core of economic relations, satisfies the most urgent, primary human needs, without which any other activity is impossible. There is a selection as a priority spiritual sphere of society. Proponents of this approach give the following argument: a person's thoughts, ideas, ideas are ahead of his practical actions. Major social changes are always preceded by changes in people's minds, a transition to other spiritual values. The most compromise of the above approaches is the approach, the adherents of which argue that each of the four spheres of social life can become decisive in different periods of historical development.

conclusions

Spheres of society life as parts of a single system are inextricably linked, changes in one entail, as a rule, changes in another.

Despite the fact that, unlike Marxism, the civilizational approach recognizes the equality of all subsystems of society, it is possible to imagine their vertical structure depending on their own role in public life. Thus, the economic sphere plays the role of obtaining means of subsistence, being the foundation of society. The political sphere performs the function of management and is the top of society.

The social and spiritual spheres are of a cross-cutting universal nature, penetrating the entire society and uniting its economic and political components.

Each subsystem closely interacts with the other subsystems of the social system, and this is precisely the interaction, and not the unilateral influence of one subsystem on others. The interaction of subsystems is largely included in the subject of legal regulation, and its main principles are regulated by constitutional law. Only the interconnection of all subsystems of society ensures its normal existence.

Before you start talking about the spheres of society, it is worth deciding what society itself is? In simple terms, it is any joint activity of people. A more complex definition sounds something like this: it is a part of the material world freed from nature, but closely connected with it, which includes the ways of interaction between people and the forms of their unification. The sphere of society can be called the space in which some kind of social action takes place.

Types of public spheres

In total, four spheres of society are distinguished: social, economic, spiritual and political. Each of them has several institutions that regulate social behavior. Let's take a closer look:

1. Social. Concentrates in itself a system of interconnections of various social elements, ranging from individuals to social communities. In this area, interclass relationships are established, the interests of society and individuals are expressed, forms of interaction between people are created and corrected, etc.
2. Economic. This area includes commodity-money relations. It creates and improves ways to create various material goods, ranging from simple goods to money. It deals with the economic needs of the population and ways to meet them. It has a much greater influence than other areas of society.
3. Political. Everything that is directly connected with the state is located in this sphere: structures and branches of power, political meetings, parties, ideologies, debates, etc. It expresses the class struggle from a political point of view, as well as the interests of society, which are directly related to the course states.
4. Spiritual. It contains all types of creation of non-material benefits: cultural, moral, political, religious, legal, etc. In this area, everything is created and improved that can satisfy the spiritual needs of a person. Even today, many new trends are developing in it.

Dominant sphere

There are times when one area plays a much greater role than others. This is not uncommon. An example of the interaction of spheres of society in history is the Holy See. The church owned almost half of the land, it enjoyed tremendous influence. Religion, however, is part of the spiritual realm of society. And in a difficult time for Europe, it has strongly pulled ahead. Then the outcome of political events depended on the word of the clergy, social issues were also supervised by the papacy. Thus, the presence of a dominant sphere leads to an imbalance of power.

However, here, too, not everything is so clear. If one of the spheres is the keystone, it can be beneficial. So, for example, thanks to the primacy of politics, the power of the USSR grew by leaps and bounds in the 30-40s. Thanks to economic leadership, there was an unprecedented increase in production in the United States. The supremacy of the social sphere makes it possible to create a rule of law state that seeks to bring the level of discrimination and injustice to a minimum, a good example is the advanced countries of Europe.

Orb Shattering

Each sphere, of course, is subject to fragmentation into smaller components, which, like gears, interact and allow society to exist. In the absence of one part, the mechanism will stop working. The coexistence of these components should be as beneficial as possible.

An example of interaction in the social sphere of society can be called interclass relationships. The productivity of the entire social sphere, the conflicts of the components of which can greatly slow down the development of the whole society, depends on how well the different classes get along with each other.

Priority interaction

Societies can interact with each other in pairs. So, for example, we can consider the cooperation of the sovereign of the Russian Empire and the Patriarch. The emperor could demand concessions and help in the political sphere of society, and the church, through the spiritual, tried to cultivate the necessary qualities in people, sometimes getting into politics, supporting or criticizing the decisions of the authorities, other states, and the intelligentsia.

Another example is the interaction between the economic and social spheres. An adequate society is a strong support for the economy, the material benefits of which will create comfortable conditions for life, and therefore create an adequate society.

All this, of course, is a bit exaggerated. In fact, all four spheres always take part in the interaction, but in some of them, it is sometimes more indirect than direct, and therefore less significant.

Examples of interaction between the spheres of society among themselves

Society is a single system consisting of its spheres. They are all intertwined and will certainly influence each other. The degree of development of society depends on the well-being of all its components. So, anything can be called an example of interaction between the spheres of society. The banal dissatisfaction of spiritual needs in any form entails an imbalance in the social and political areas, which, in turn, affect the economy.

Society after the collapse of the USSR

Very revealing examples of the interaction of spheres of social life can be seen in Russia in the 1990s. Initially, there was a violation of the spiritual sphere of society, the ideological component was undermined, people did not know what to believe in and what to live for, they were as if abandoned. This led to negative policy changes. The oligarchy came to power. And since two large spheres were no longer functioning, the process of creating organized crime groups began, competing with each other and fighting for influence.

The absence of a developed spiritual and political spheres, as a rule, undermines the social component. There is a migration crisis, the relevance of the institution of marriage is falling. Ethnic conflicts begin. All this affects the economic sphere, which cannot cope with the problems. A crisis begins, the country gets into debt, the population gets poorer, its material needs are not met, therefore, there can be no talk of spirituality. In fact, this is a vicious circle, out of which is not so easy.

Diplomatic interaction

Today, fortunately, the process of globalization is gaining momentum. Even now in developed countries it is difficult to distinguish who belongs to which nation. Until now, however, there are states that defend the interests of their nations and demand respect for their traditions and history. For fruitful interaction between them, various beneficial agreements are needed.

States can formally be considered as different societies. To maintain good relations, the public spheres in these countries must coincide or be as similar as possible, they must also understand each other. After all, the more differences between the dogmas of the public spheres of state A and B, the more difficult it will be for them to reach a consensus. All sorts of unions and agreements can be called an example of the interaction of different spheres of society. Here, the spheres of several states can play a role at once in political, economic terms, etc.

An example from prehistoric times

Public spheres are not limited to states, cities, or similar large societies. Primitive tribes also had them. But the smaller the society, the less developed its components. A historical example of the interaction of the spheres of society of a primitive tribe can be considered the policy of expansion (then the slave-owning system began to emerge). Society at that time interacted with an additional factor - slaves. This prompted the development of public spheres in a different vector, ineffective without the absence of this very factor. One of the reasons for the collapse of the Roman Empire, by the way, is the problem with the supply of slaves. A crisis occurred in society that violated the stability of its spheres.

An example from the Middle Ages

A good example of the balanced work of all four social spheres can be called the Byzantine Empire in its heyday. It was a state that fully utilized its potential, in which all spheres strive for one goal - to improve the living conditions of people. Economic development, missionary movements, military campaigns and the absence of civil strife, as well as the unification of many peoples, ensured the flourishing of a great empire.

An example from modern times

The unification of the Germans under the idea of ​​pan-Germanism can also serve as an example of the well-coordinated work of the spheres of several societies at once. Until 1871, there were many kingdoms on the territory of modern Germany, the most powerful of which was Prussian. Wanting to unite on a national basis, having an economy intertwined with each other, a common past and warm political relations, the German principalities were able to create a single strong state.

An example from recent history

The states of Western and Central Europe are currently members of the European Union, thereby interacting with each other. The main ideas in Europe are: humanism, capitalism and pluralism. Due to the strong influence of these ideas in the spheres of society, it can be said that they all work for the same goal and have no contradictions among themselves. This is the key to the prosperity of European states.

Conclusion

Society, no doubt, can not be divided into spheres, but perceived as something integral. However, this is the wrong approach. It's the same as considering biology as an integral science and not breaking it up into smaller disciplines. Studying the spheres of society, its aspects helps to understand the principles of its work, to interact with it. Public spheres are always inseparable from each other, what is done in one will necessarily affect the other, the difference is only in the degree to which this or that area accepts the difference in the n-th event.

SPHERES OF SOCIETY AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS

The most correct approach to the study of society is a systematic approach, which involves an analysis of social structures, including the study of the elements of society and the relationships between them, as well as an analysis of the processes and changes taking place in society and reflecting its development trends.

Structural analysis of the system is logical to begin with the allocation of the largest complex parts, called subsystems. Such subsystems in society are the so-called spheres of social life, which are parts of society, the limits of which are determined by the influence of certain social relations. Traditionally, social scientists distinguish the following main areas of society:

1. The economic sphere is a system of economic relations that arises and is reproduced in the process of material production. The basis of economic relations and the most important factor determining their specificity is the mode of production and distribution of material goods in society.

2. Social sphere - a system of social relations, that is, relations between groups of people occupying different positions in the social structure of society. The study of the social sphere involves consideration of the horizontal and vertical differentiation of society, the identification of large and small social groups, the study of their structures, the forms of implementation of social control in these groups, the analysis of the system of social ties, as well as social processes occurring at the intra- and intergroup level.
Note that the terms "social sphere" and "social relations" are often used in a broader interpretation, as a system of all relations between people in society, reflecting not the specifics of this local sphere of society, but the integrative function of social science - the unification of subsystems into a single whole.

3. Political (political and legal) sphere - a system of political and legal relations that arise in society and reflect the attitude of the state towards its citizens and their groups, citizens towards the existing state power, as well as relations between political groups (parties) and political mass movements. Thus, the political sphere of society reflects the relationship between people and social groups, the emergence of which is determined by the institution of the state.

4. Spiritual sphere - a system of relations between people, reflecting the spiritual and moral life of society, represented by such subsystems as culture, science, religion, morality, ideology, art. The significance of the spiritual sphere is determined by its priority function of determining the value-normative system of society, which, in turn, reflects the level of development of social consciousness and its intellectual and moral potential.

It should be noted that an unambiguous division of the spheres of society is possible and necessary within the framework of its theoretical analysis, however, empirical reality is characterized by their close interconnection, interdependence and intersection, which is reflected in terms such as socio-economic relations, spiritual and political, etc. That is why the most important task of social science is to achieve the integrity of scientific understanding and explanation of the laws governing the functioning and development of the social system.