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Tht authors of this symposium are prominent Soviet scholars, Fellows and Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of
Sciences. philosophers and sociologists,
students of culture and aesthetics, authors
of studies on philosophical problems of man,
and active participants in world congresses
of philosophy.

The authors of thjs

nent Soviet scholar
ponding Members of
Sciences. philosopt
students of culture
of studies on philoso
and active participa
of philosophy.

Tra nslated by
H. Campbell Creighton, M. A. (Oxon)

Prog..... Publishers

Moscow

 1 1lJIO I [lOIl. n OHMIUHMI IPJIOSlr.A.

Compilers: I . S. KlIllkova I nd V . V. Mslrvelll'N h.

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Prim*' III ,", UIIlOft

ISBN 5-01-000508-5

Publilhel'l 1988

of SO'IIII Social", iflpubUe.

The authors of this

nen! Soviet scholars
ponding Members of
Sciences. philosoph
students of culture
of studies on philosol
and active participal
of philosophy.

The Philosophical
Conception of Man

MAN IN TODAY'S WORLD

P. N. Fedoseyev

The authors of this

nent Soviet scholar:
po nding Members of
Sciences, philosopb
student s of culture
of st udies on philoSQ
and active participa
of philosophy.

The choice of man a .. the central theme of Ihe 28th World

C?ngress of Philo~ophy i .. by no means accidental. One can say
w ith out exaggeration that man is one of today's most aClUal and

bu rning problems, in which the complex., contradictory pictu re

of the social, scient inc and technical, and moral development of
h umankind is brought to a focus.
Man did nol. of course, become the most significant object
of the meditations of philosophers, scientists, and cultural figures
just today. But only in the present age, which is distinguished
by the special depth and dynamism of the changes taking place
the complexity and newness of the tasks facing social practice
and sc ient ific cognition, have the fundamental problems of huma n life and being been brought to the foreground of philosoph ica l analysis with unprecedented sharpness.
At the end of the twentieth century [he existence and development of man have taken on largely new conditions. These
are the fo ll owing:
( 1) d eepen ing of the processes of social renewal of the
wo rld , accelerati on of h umank ind's movement from obsolescent to new. more perfec ted a nd h uma ne fo rms of social orga nisation; (2) changes in the character of man's work, the essence
of which is that the development of the produc ti ve forces is
reaching a point (due to the second ind ustrial revol ut ion) at
which man 's devel opment himself is more and more becoming
a prerequisite and basis of the further progress of prod uction;
(3) a large ly new problem situation in man 's relations with his
habitat; (4) the linking of the new cond itions of his e xis tence
and development with growing opportunities 10 ele\ale the rational and moral elements in his activity as a biosodal being.
Finally, the new conditions of human life are giving rise 10 a
change in and complicating of the inlernational factors in the
realisation of social progress in our time. In this case it is a mat
ler primarily of the fundamentally new situatioh Ihat humanity
is in today. The danger of thermonuclear war is posing the
7

The authors of rI
nent Soviet schol
ponding Members
Sciences. philos(
students of cultu
of studies on phiJ(
and acti'le partie
of philosophy.

,
'Ih all sharpness of the very existence of human
questIon, WI

I d
'
, 'I' I'
and survival of the human race. Not on y oes thIs
CIVI Isa IOn
'f
d '
,
need to be eliminated, but a way of II e an mternat lOI1_
d anger
' 0 f wor Id
I 'ntercourse need to be created'111 w h'IC h t h e frulls
:ci~ntific and technical progress will serve the good of all mankind.
The problems mentioned above. and. many others, which
constitute the content of the modern posmg of the problem of
man understandably actualise the need for a far-reaching social ~nd philosophical comprehension of it. Present-day philosophical and scientific literature, including fi ction, are literally
cram full of reflections on the phenomenon of man, his nature,
the possibilities of changing his nature, his relations with the
world around him, the present and futur e of the whole of humankind, etc. There is a very broad range of ideological, sociopolitical, and mora l stances, views, and forecasts, some of which
are mutually exclusive.
I. Man as a Complex Problem.

The Specific Nature of the Study

of This Problem in Philosophy
In our day the theme of man has been converted. directly or
indirectly, to a greater or less extent, and in one aspect or another. into a general problem for all the sciences, all spheres of
the artistic comprehension of reality, and of all systems of culture. Man has long been the object of study of many concrete
of course. (anthropology, ethnography, psychology,
physiology. pedagogics, elhics, medicine, etc.), but presstudies of man, in contrast to the preceding period, are
by a considerably greater diversity of approaches,
out of new aspects, and the posing of new proba result new disciplines have arisen (of an interdischaracter. as a rule), namely, age physiology and
the typology of higher nervous activity, human
.... atoiOSy. ergonomics, axiology, heuristics, social
. . .' volume of scientific knowledge of man is
but we have not yet managed 10 compile an
billife ACtivity from it. There is a danger of
the abundance of material accumulated
".nial' questions. The point.
jiowinl abundance of the data of the

special sciences but also the difficulties of comparing and generalising them. since they relate to different disciplines that employ different methods of research. Methodological problems
are therefore taking a foremost place today in the study of man.
In that connection, analysis of the specific nature of the various
sciences' levels and methods of cognising man is acquiring great
significance, and likewise their mutual relationship and the opportunities for synthesising them, and the methodology of a
complex, comprehensive, operational approach to the study of
man, It is becoming more and more obvious that it is impossib le
to know man in a comprehensive way by the means of one or
more special sciences, and that joint efforts of a whole set of
natural and soc ial sciences, and sciences of man, and of the
whole system of modern scientific methods. are required.
The comprehensive approach to study of man is undoubtedly
opening up significant prospects for deepening scientific knowledge of man in the diversity of his social and natural interconnections. But can a single, all-round, integral theory be constructed through uniting the heterogeneous data about him?
In my view, it cannot, because man is a very complex system
that is studied not by one but by a whole set of socia l and natural sciences, each of which, moreover, has its own methods
and approaches and its own definite angle of view; the references to integrat ion of the sciences often made in this connection cannot be recognised as convincing, for the integration
of knowledge is not a merging or mutual dissolving of sci ences, but their interaction and mutual enrichment so as to
tackle complex problems jointly. The attempts made to unite
varied scientiflc knowledge of man by employing the specia l
methods of particular and general sciences have frequently
led to a mechanical pooling and uniting of the heterogenous
data being obtained rather than an integral sc ientific picture.
One ca~ conclude from this that no systematising and simple
summation of the knowledge of man obtained by the particular
sciences lead in themselves to knowledge of man as an integral
s~stem, and to the creation of an integrated picture of man and
hIS world .
T~e need for such a general, united conception in order to
~rovlde a new level of knowledge of man theoretically (includII1g we.lI-grounded principles connected with the educating and
~oul~lI1g of the individual personality in an interaction of social, Ide.ological, moral, and natural, biological factors) is
mean~hJle being sharply felt as never before.
Philosophy which, by vinue of its specific nature. itself per-

The authors of t
nent Soviet sch(

ponding Member!
Sciences. philos
students of cult,
of studies on phil
and active parh
of philosophy ,

forms the function of a kind of in~egrator. of k!1owledge ,of man,

is being called upon to play a spe~lal role m this. One of Its chief
tasks is to clJmprehend the speCific nature and content of the
philosophical conception of man and its role in !he deve lopment
of the specific sciences of man that study vanous aspects and
facets of his existence and development, and to work out a methodology for an integral, scientific study of man and his func_
tioning in a system of social, economic, politica~, ideological,
scientific, technological organisational, and admmistrative relations, The task of a further creative development of the phil.
osophical conception of man in the wholeness of all the manifestations of his activity, can only be fruitful, however, given
a close interaction of philosophy and the particular sciences,
The experience of posing and tackling the theme of man in
the various philosophic trends of the past ce ntury witnesses to
that in particular.
Two diametrically opposite approaches took shape in regard
to the relation of philosophy and the social sciences in the study
of man, viz., the scientist and anti-sc ientist. The co nsiderable
achievements of the particular sciences gave rise, on the one
hand, to positivist notions that the development of spec ial scientific knowledge would further full resolution of the problem of
man. On the other hand, spokesmen of the various forms of anti-scientism and anthropologism on the contra ry made an absoof the possibilities of 'purely' philosophic methods of know
man, and stressed the limited nature and incapacity of
to bring out the 'true' nalure of man. But experience
.odern philosophic and scientific studies of the theme cI
shown that an absolutising of both the philosophic
approaches leads to the constructing of one-sidimages of man. For all the differences between
and philosophic levels of analysis, they
linked and mutually supplement and enrich
.. lIIe .. me time, to emphasise that the philodefinite aianj 6 cance in the operationalt com-en. The
conception of man.
methodological basis for
analysis and solution of 1he
lIIe lole poinL By making mall
.nd by correlating ill
reve e ' , the road ..-I

wholeness 10 every possible definition of man? The sole and

determinant index of human nature, in which man's various
faculties and qualities find expr~ssion, is the conception ?f him
as a social being and object-usmg creature. as the subject of
all socially practical, historical, as well as spiritual activity., It
is in his practical, creative activity with objects that man exhibits the whole integrity of his being. and in it, and its conc rete
forms, thaI he realises the unity of the material and ideal, of
ideals and reality.
The philosophic approach to knowing man presupposes first
and foremost the study of those aspects of his nature and activity that characterise him as an object-using and creati ve being
who creates the objective, cultural forms of his being, and
brings out the connection of these forms with the subjective
human factor as relatively independe nt yet concrete, historical
products of human creativity. The proble m of man in philosophy
can correspondingly on ly be understood when the unity of all
Ihe elements of social development and the personal qualities
of man himself are taken into account.
The philosophical conception of man thus does not coincide
with the biological, the psychological, or the sociological. In the
context of philosophic ana lysis man does not simply appear as
an empirical individual characterised by a set of special, socialpsychology attribules, or as some abstract 'species' being outside time and li vi ng circu mstances. Philosophy presenls man as
a social being capable of acting and thinking in a definite historical age in accordance wilh 'his general human nature. Philosophy slrives to develop a view of man that would reRect everyIh ing Ihat makes him an authoritative representative of the
whole human race. The theme of man is thus a problem of discove ring the parameters of human existence that would simultaneously include the necessary conditions of existence of humankind as a whole in contrast to all other species of living
creatures.
This approach makes it possible not only to clearly delineate
the so-called sphere of the human but also, on the basis of an
objective scientific analysis, the problem of the preconditions
and ways of creating conditions of man's life and development
wor~hy of him, and of liberating the creative potentials inherent I~ the individual. This problem, as experience of compre..
he~dlRg a,nd understanding the theme of man in the history of
phll~ophtcal and scientific thought indicates, is no less difficult
and Important than the development of an adequate understandin. of the nature of man.
II

The authors
nent Soviet
ponding Mel
Sciences, I
students of
of studies OJ
and active

of philosopl

The foundations of humanism as a gell1..'ral theory t)f man

were laid by the thinkers of the ReT1oissanct..'. The view of man
as a being who independ~ntly d1Oo.,l's goals in hi., behaviour,
and realises them through rational analysis of re ..llity. had al_
ready been developed in their work .... In their conceptions man
thus already appeared as an internally whole, rational, activt!
being; the question of the relationship between human aims
and activities and the conditions of the social milieau was a lso
posed in them.
The thinkers of the Renaissance. however, had not yet seen
the real bases of this rela tionship, so th at many h u man ist conceptions acquired a naturalistic character, s incto'! pa ramou nt importance was attributed in the m 10 man's bodi ly constitu tion
and his natural, b iological cha rac te rislics. As a cou nt erwe ight
to such a clear belittli ng of t he role of consciousness, and man's
rationality, conceptions were adva nced in the context of th e
human ist tradition in which, on the cont rary, the sp irit ual element in man was made an a bsolu te .
It is also no less t o rhe poi nt tha t the g lo rifying of th e po wers
of human reason c h a racte rist ic of the E uro pean hum an ist cul tu re of modern times (reason shack led by n othing a nd endowed
with th e will of ma n who had won th e f reed o m to create a nd
reorgan ise the world in his image an d like ness, and to rejoice
over it ) was embodied in a ll versio ns of early h umanism in a
conception of the val ue of the indi vidu a l in himse lf, and of his
possibility not only of res ist ing a ny o ppression and pressure
from outside but also of opposing h imself to th e soc ial milieu,
to another person, and to nature . As a res ult th e supporters of
that conception were unable to pla nt the th eme of humanism
in real, concrete, historical soil. Th e humanist ide als they proclaimed had an extremel y abst ract character, and - the main
thing-were not brought out and substantiated by converting
tbeae ideals into reality.
&en today humanism often appears as a doctrine out ~f
..... with man's real life. and limited to proclaiming certatn
'tiDleless' values. Humanism is sometimes no more than
wishes and normative demands on the individual. Even
are dealing with conceptual systems of views, ideals,
in which human good is proclaimed the suand the main goal of social development, and
IIiIned against conditions and forces that enslave the
individuality d man. they are often more or
au. abshact &pUulative humanism. They are
. . . . . convincing answer to the main problems

blockmg rl'i.ili~<Jtiun (If humani')l ideah. namely. how, whill'

rl'l'()gl~I\I~lg tIll' valut:' of man in himself, his making of hi':ttory
and 01 hl\ own bell1g, to learn to .see Ihi., creator in the real
empirical miJn; how It) brll1g il about that a/l people in all COUll':
rics. L'()uld rt:<ll~y. enjoy <Ill human rights, and satisfy and develop
thel~ potcl1llalltl~s ~nd capacities; how to guarantee protection
of hiS personal dignity to each member of the human race, and
li~e without destructive war,:>, hunger and famine, poverty and
dlsea~e.

Spoke~men

of alJ the latest philosophical trends, who make

it their central task to analyse man's being in the world (whether personalism, neo-Freidism, existentialism, Protestant ne~
orthodoxy, or contemporary Catholic philosophy) put the accent on manifestations of subjectivism. individuality, and primacy of the personal element. But it inevitably turns out (I)
that this subjectivity and 'primacy' of the individual are illusory
and always associated, moreover, with a clearly formulated or
impl ied dependence of the individual on supernatural or other
forces uncontrollable by man; (2) that this 'primacy' appears
as a speculative expression of a dual 'spli!' really existing in
Western society-of the individual and society on the one hand,
a nd of the pe rsonality itself, on the other. The idea of the 'primacy' of the individual, and of its absolute independence on
th e ge nera l philosophical plane, is paradoxically twisted and
turned in to a n afllrmation of the personality'S non-sovereign
ch a racte r on the concrete, historical. social plane. The main
reasons for th at are the separation of man from society and the
co unt erpos ing of him to it. In their view man preserves his real
essence, a nd himsel f as an indiv idual, and becomes a moral
be ing, by 'eman cipa ting' himself from the social ties im posed
on him by soc iety.
Su ch an isola tion of th e individ ua l fro m society is deeply
contradicto ry, and contains an eleme nt of the an ti-socia l. It is
a lso objective ly both agai nst bourgeois society, whose values
and c ulture man cann ot share. and aga inst the idea of soc ial
solidarity and liberati on movem ents. At the sam~ time, and
perhaps in voluntarily, it ca n se rve both as a I he oretlc~ l expres sion and stimulus of mass protes t in capitalist co untr~es and as
grounds for withdra wa l fr om st ruggle. As recent history has
shown, youth and student movements. an~ vari ous altern~tive
movements inspired by ideas of counterposl~g man and SOC1.etr ,
are as inconsis tent and contradictory as the Ideas of anar~hlstl.C
social revolt For humanists of that type social reformism lS
reorganisation and restructuring of society's culture and of

"
,

.
The authors
nent Soviet
ponding Men
Sciences, p
students of
of stu dies on
and active p
of philosoph~

man's consciousness and not Irallsformalion of the social system. They also counl mainly on renewal of the individual's
emotional and psychological life, and on transformation of
man's biological nature, rather than on the power of mass movements.
Of all the humanist theories of the present time, only real
humanism, whose founder was Karl Marx. insists on the priority significance of reorganising social relations, Only for it does
man appear in his essence as 'the ensemble of the social re lations', I and not in isolation from them, and not in opposition
to them. The task of realising the ideas and principles of humanism in reality itself is therefore, fro m this point of v iew, to
change man's social position, i.e., the syste m of soc ial relations.
By bringing out man's social dim ension Marxism thereby overcame the fundamental limitation of the humani sm that preceded it and, at the same time, of all the latest philosoph ica l, anthropological constructs. The difference between Marxian
humanism and other conce pt ions is that it gives the general
ideas of humanism a real content, as a result of a sc ientific analysis, indicates the ways to its real embodiment, and converts
them into a guide for practical action.
To create possibilities for man 's life and development worthy
of him is above all to tran sform the conditions of his work and
labour, both mental and physica l. For it is the socia l conditions
of work that determine the measure of man's development as
a personality, and as a creator and originator. In contrast to
idealist conceptions, Marxism approaches solution of this problem from a simple, clear proposition, namely that there is
nothing except nature and man, who alters the former by his
active intervention and creates civilisation out of material inherent in nature. It is labour, transforming nature, that is the
Drst and decisive, specific feature of man, distinguishing him
from the animal kingdom.
Having seen in labour the force that makes man human,
Marxism naturally considers that a truly humanist position cannot help putting this theme in the foreground. Labour not only
cr!81~ man and has figured throughout history as the main
criterion of the human ising of &both nature and man himself,
~ it ~till.the m?Sl important index of his social maturity. And
iI"tlulte ~mposslble to call a society human in which the wealth
", eome _ c~eated th~oug~ .t~e exploitation and poverty of
in wlllch . social divISion of labour Ihat exploits man
. 8IId ."h~h deprives millions of people of the chance
..... the* nah. to work.

This contradiction between man and social conditions that

limit the possibilities of manifesting his personality in socially
of the means
useful labour is ullimately due to private ownership

of production. For private property IS not Just an economic category. To proclaim personal freedom with domination of
private ownership of the means of production, m~3:ns only to
affirm conditions of free development for a few pnvlleged persons. The majority of mankind, deprived of means of production, do not have these conditions. Because private property
not on ly underlies the division of social 1abour that maims man,
but also alienates their product from the real producers. Real
humanism therefore calls for abolition of private ownership of
the means of production first of all. Avoiding of this ve ry important condition of genuine humanism and, furthermore, defending and fighting for the existence of private ownership of the
main means of pr oduction, means.tD remain a humanist in the
realm of dreams, sometimes beautiful and honest, but impotent
and powerless.
Recognition of objective conditions as primary not only
does not belittle the subject and his activity but, on the contrary, elevates his creative, const r uctive role, and uncovers the
human dimensions of soc ial life in all its uniry and diversity,
contradiction s and wholeness. For the objective conditions of
which I speak are not some natural essences but the products
of human activity, and forms and modes of thiS' activity historica lly developed through creative work. There are no grounds,
therefore, for reproaching Marxists with allegedly preferring
to talk only about the 'objective', 'material ' factor of human
life to the detriment of the 'subjective'. The important role of
'subjective' factors in history is clearly defined in Marxism. At
the same time it brings out the link of stlbjecr and object in human practice. The subjective is understood as man's positive,
transforming activity. It is a matter precisely of man and of
the subjective forms of human existence, bur with an essential
proviso that by subjective form here are understood not only
the various manifestations of man's intellectual and spir"ituaJ
life (including the fantasies and illusions he can create about
himself), but precisely the real, actual, objectively established
forms and modes of human labour, of the practical activity that
transforms natural material and creates spiritual values.
The accent on man's social essence does not, of course, mean
at all that his personal, existential characteristics that describe
phenomena of subjective reality and his inner- world, such as
emotions, convictions, ideals, illusions, tastes, aspirations. etc.,
IS

The authors of
nen! Soviet scht
ponding Member
Sciences, philO!
students of cult
of studies on phil
and active parti'
of ph..ilosophy,

, ;thcr in Ihl'orv nr in practical ill'

I
"
I atl(I I Il t:' .III
can be absIr acted from Hill
II 'to: '1I1linomy of the
socIa
.' M arx'ism overcame
\C <
Ilvlly,
, I Ilh'
histllf)" of phI"I osop h y. bY \ IlOW_
dividual that, ha~ ~omllll~. e{ )1\il1lll ly [I sing le, empirical be ing,
.
h I the mdl\"ldua \\.IS IH "
I I
.
IIlg t a
"
'
bul Ihl' individu[li form l) 1131 soul' ly's
'embedded 11.\ s~~deIY '1
I 1' a Illt~mher of the human race, is
'
Each
mdivi
u8,
W 11 C
. ' I
[
bemg.
.
. . 'Iabl ' individualtl\' bUI II (oes nOI 01.
I the same tllne an IIUIllI
to:
'.' I
I .
a
. d"d I's cou ntc rposed III prlllup e to t le solow that the I~ IVI u~s ;Ienned by sm.' ially aClive c harac lerisl_
~ia1. because It. tool' I'lle individual cannot be brought o ul by
ICS The essence 0
I b d I d b
.
.
h 10 the social but ca n on Y e ISC ose
y
counterposmg l1n
'
d
. I relations' on the other han, soc Ie ty IS not Just

ana Iysmg sOC ia

'. .'
' d b
h
a sum total of empirical md lvlduals characterise
~ c an ce
(individual) traits, bUI an. ag~~egate of the ~onn ectlOns and
relat ions into which these II1d lvldua ls e nte r WIth one a not her,
As Marx noted:
"""tulating 'society' again as an abslraction
Abo~e n we must a\'oid ,."b'
H'
'f
vis-a-vis' the individual. The individual is .the soc~a ewg. IS malll estations of life even if they may not appea r III lhe dIrect form of communal
manifest atio~s of life carried out in association with othe rs-are the refore
an expression and conli.rmation of social Ii/e.

The advent of the new in socia l developm e nt obv io usly cannOI simply be derived from ex istin g being, fr om the o bj ective
circumstances, wilhoul taking into acco unt the speci fic, and
still little-studied 'contribution ' introduced into the o bjective
process by creative activity and by such a speci fi c pro pe rty of
social reality as man's consc iousness and subjective world. It is
therefore import ant, in present-day studies of th e processes of
abe development of man's spi ritual and inte llectua l world, to
fWlIlount the metaph ysical isolat ion of consc iousness fr om
m'n, the subject of practical activ ity, as a result of whi ch con ~o"!es a special, unique ohjt'c i of in vesligating
Itself In the manner of Hegel's sp irit , and likewise
to ~cept th~ inordinal e 'episte mologising' of conIUd 1~ r~uctl?n t? cognitive processes, and ac cordratlOnahsed treatment of man main ly as a
ne
'~eftecting', philosophising subject.
Into accounl such aspects and functions
the choice and posing of aims, decisionof activity and evaluating of its results,
ill effectiveness_ and all other aspects of

letion.
develops under the influence of
the social milieu and natural environ-

mcn!. But ils illnl'r contcnt l'i 110t the rt.'sult of a IIIc(hanit.:al
intro<.ilH."tinn of pallt'flt\ I)f Iht: obJcl.:live world into its lIl"'ll
OltSlll ...'i, hUI i, the MIITI I)f it'i own inlCrnJI work during whidl
II alN)rbs thc Collleni of the ~xternal fa c tors and a'iSimiJalcs Ihe111
into it'i activity. In othcr words, Ihe individual per!>onality\ de 4
terminal ion hy exlcrnal conditi()I1'> comes aboul through its
,>ubjectivity and not in '>pitc of it, and Ihe individual'" '>ystl'm
of val Lies and mecllanism of value orientation playa most im4
porlanl role in Ihal.
The principle of unily of the individual and social has meth4
odological signiflcance both fo r overcoming attempis to make
a n absolute out of individual bemg or to dissolve Ihe individual
in society and so remove the theme of study of man a'> an indi 4
vidua l itself and on the plane where it indicates the need 10 pose
the problem of man in a broad, historical, and ..,ocio-phiI 4
osophical contex t. allowing for all aspects of his exisl~nce and
development (his personal qualities in their interaction and interconnection with social relations; the pattern.., of the moulding of the individual during education and upbringing and
wo rk, in soc io-cultural creation, and in moral perfecting: the
inte r ac tion and mutual adaptation of man and technique, in particu la r the new and latest; the dialectic of the inter-relation of
soc ia l and b io logica l qualities, etc.). All these are mailers witho ut deep stud y of which it is impossible to comprehend the
wo rld of m ode r n man with due allowance for the new conditions and r equ ire me nts of social development.

2. T he Dia lectic of the Interconnection of Man.

Sc ience, Technology, and Nature
The new c onditions of man 's existe nc e and deve lopment are
la rgely governed in Ihe first plac e by the broad development of
the cont emporary industrial revolution.
The sc ien c e and technology of our tim e are making it possib le 10 provide both an abundanc e of goods on earlh and the
ma te ri al condi tions for (a) an all-round Iransformation and
perfec ting of socie ty, and (b) development of the indi\"idual:
Ye t th ey, these c r eations of the mind and hand of man when
put to Ihe ser vice of the se lftsh. egois tic interests of the elite who
gove rn c a pi ta list soc iety, are being turned against man himself.
S uch is the g la r ing con trad iction in which humanity has reached
the th reshold of the twetlly-nrst century.
Even a t th e beg innin g of our cenlury . mankind did nOI know
2016b2

Tht authors 0
nent Soviet s(
ponding Memb
Sciences. phil
students of cu
of studies on p
and active pal
of philosophy_

such contradictions. Only in fantastic novels. it seemed. could

the future grandeur a~d de~~onr.( of s~ience and technology
be expressed. But their posllion III society changed radically
in the middle of the twentieth century. Science began to be fullv
converted into a direct productive and social force.
.
This is a reHection of deep-seated proc~sses within science itself and engineering. when the new industrial revolution took
its start in the 40s and 50s, inseparably linking qualitative trans_
formations in the fundamental sciences with radical changes
in engineering and technology. This led not only to the rise of
new disciplines and trends at the 'joints' of the various sc iences
and engineering, but a lso to many branches of today's economy
being born in sc ientific laboratories (as happened, f or example,
with atomic power engineering, the microbiological ind ustry,
and so on).
Today the development and application of m icro-electronics, informatics, and biotechnology demonstrate to the highest
degree the advances in the fundamental scie nces in their connection with revolutionary changes in engineering a nd technol ogy. Ahead lies mastery of the energy of thermon uclear fusion, comprehension of the mysteries of the human brain and
psyche, progress in medicine, etc., all of which will sig nify a
qualitatively different stage in t he new industrial revolution and
consequently open up new prospects for the development of
civi lisati on and ma n both in the specific conditions of the various soc ial and economic systems a nd o n a globa l scale.
T hese new opportuni ties will not by any means be rea lised
aut oma tically however. If the industrial revolution is not controll ed, it ca n cause serious disp ropo rt ions a nd contradicti ons
in soc ia l progress.
The re is nothi ng new in sc ie ntifIC knowledge be ing e mpl oyable both for peop le's good and for evi l. Wh at is new in prin ciple is that th e scal e of produ ctio n a nd th e power of moder n
weaponry. on the one hand , and th e degree of sc ience's pen etration into the depth s of ma il e r and of th e most intimate me
chanisms of life, on th e oth er, have bro ug ht human ity to certain
el isis
.
and are fac ing it wi th th e need to prOle ct itself
possible disastro us, s ui cidal use of sc ience and tec hConsc iousness of that is th e reason fo r the ac ut eness
which the problem of the relati on o f scientifi c and technia.1 and social progress. and the e ffe ct of the industrial
.ueOlution on the future of man and the human race is being

, - "'<IIY.
A. c.dency toward a sharply crit ical altitude

10

scientific and

technical progress had already appeared in certain trends of

s~cial thinking and public opinion at the beginning of the twentieth century that became particularly strong and influential in
its second half. Philoso~hers, sociologists, writers, and journalIS.tS bega~ to c~mpet~ w~th one anoth~r in painting very dismal
pictures 111 which. sCientific and technical progress was leading
to the degeneration of the human, ethical, and spiritual elem~nts in man. Engineerin!? and science were accused, quite
without grounds, allegedly 111 the name of man, of a demonic
capacity for destruction, a duality of inherent creative and
d.estructive elements, and man himself proved to be only a manonette,
Various kinds of sc ientist and technocratic conceptio ns that
presented the progress of science and engineering as unive rsal
means for overcoming the contrad ictions and ulcers of ca pita list society rested on that false foundalion (the counterposing
of engineering and science to man, and the attributing of an
independent life and power to Ihem), ahhough seemingly opposed to it. In them the development of science, and likewise
technico-economic growth, determines historical progress in one
way or another, right down to complete predeterminalion of
the prospects of development of all ils spheres. Man, his role in
history, and his social and inrellectual development were
dropped as themes.
Understandi ng of the man science-engineering-nature relationship has proved to be at the cent re of the clash of the various concep tions. The sig nificance of this problem is growing
cont inuously as the h umanist tasks wilh Solulion of which humanity lin ks th e ind ustrial revol ut ion are defined more clearly.
The co mm ens urab ility of Ihe development of science and engin eeri ng an d man 's developm ent and prospects is determ ined
by th e adeq uacy of th e industrial revoluti on to mankin d's hu man ist ideals and hopes. T he grow ing power of sc ience and
tec hn ology a re fac ing h uman ity with a com plex, contra dictory
problem of developin g soc ia l mecha nisms that could ru le ou l
th e possibility of th ei r being used against ma ll .
It is onl y poss ible to realise these needs adequately throug h
profound social transformations and reforms d uri ng wh ic h Ihe
new teC hniqu e and tec hn ology wi ll be put at man 's se rvice and
deve lopm ent as 'ends-ill -th emsel ves' of hislory. Many progressive ly- minded sc ientists. pol ilicians, public ligures, and members
of th e artistic intelligentsia, who ha ve differ enl ideological and
political outl ooks. ag ree on that.
At the same lime profound changes are needed in the social

"

status and trends of developmenl of science itself, and

mation of its closer tie with human values. Such an
is making its way in the work of several international

tions, above all in the United Nations and UNESCO

such nongovemmental organisations as the Club of '
Life Institute, and others. As for Marxism, right from its
ning it has stressed the need to affirm the humanist
scientific and technical progress, its subordination to
of man and society, the linking of the
approaches, development of the socio.ethical
science and its inclusion in the general system of
ture.
It is understandably not easy to realise these aims
the conversion of science into a direct productive force
dety accelerates, problems of its practical
naturally brought to the fore. But it is imponant, when
ing the growing practical significance of science. not to
a dangerous onesidedness. and nOI 10 push the criteria
cuhural, humanist significance into the background.
ately, that often happens, for example. in the
the cuhures <scientific and technological and
phenomenon that has become sharply visible in our
.op this process and to ensure unity
01 human culture. Only by so doi ...
JeDeral, cultural significance and its
Purtberdlore, science does not .

ce

...., emer,es as culture, to the

"fOF"eI forward 81 a factor

mode of Ihinkinl
II fell by all
_
ir

....

inlerference, which is essentially equivalent to science's riaht

to independent existence. So it was in the period of the shaping
and moulding of science; it is the right thing, too, in our day.
The point is something else: recognition of the priority of humanist values over 'purely' scientific ones. The very posing of
that point brings out the social purpose and humanist nature
of science, i.e . the fact that it exists for man.
Humanism in regard to science means study of the laws of
nature and society from the standpoint of the highest interests
of man. The antihuman in science. and even more in the use
of the results of research, is everything that is aim.ed against
humanity and allround development of the individual. Real
humanism. consequently~ also includes a specific approach to
scientific and technical progress from the standpoint of guaran.
teeing The interests of man and preservation of his life and
health, maintenance of a certain quality and level of life,
and a guarantee of safety and security. The last point, i.e.,
problems connected with ensuring the safety of scientific and
technical progress. is acquiring ever greater imponance. The
pow~r concentrated in man's hands is so considerable that
il is simply criminal to release it without picturing all the
cons~quences.

It is important. when stressing the mounting significance of

the \,: ullural, humanist functions of science, to emphasise at the
sam~ time Ihat humanism does not oppose science's social, ec~
nomic effectiveness. but rather sordid. mercenary utilitarianism,
ahe use of science eXclusively or mainly for purpa.~1 of dlaxi
mum exploitation of nalure and man. For aU the differences
and accents in the evaluation of science, it is a constant point
thai modern society and man need it. It is therefore impoalible
to I.ree wilh the view sometimes exprased that the more
oct..... iI CCII\venld inlo. di,...1 productive force, the more it
ce_ 10 be .. tuto. of hWlUllli... On !he .contrary, since hot~
_ _ ...... CGIdIti_ of

.,..

., , .l'I

, ,

biological existence and oeVI'IOpllll'lll ar~ bl'ing drawn In

and more ~oday inlo Ihe orbit
inllt,II'I1Cl' l"j",1T10l,lt.'rn sl'it lll:)~~'

or

and techntcal progress. Peoplt.' S sOCIal JctlvlIy. 1Il1t.'llsifit!'tl b

The authors of I
neot Soviet schc
ponding Memben
Sciences. philos
students of cultl
of studies on phil
and active partie
of philosophy.

the advances of scientific and (cc~lIlical progrl'ss, has been can:

verted into a powerful geologICal and evell I,.'osrn ic forre
Ihrough which radical c1:anges (by no means always POsitiv~
and foreseeable) are lakll1g place III Ihe n atural cond itions of
m~n's existence. in the alm~sp~l ere a l~d water, Ihe la ndsca pe,

climate, temperature and rad iation reg Ime, the fl o ra a nd fau na

zones of settlement. etc. These cha nges, by exe rtin g a reverse'
feedback effect on man and society, .are sh a rpl y pos in g social',
economic, demog raphic, and eco log ica l pro ble ms of a global
as well as a reg io nal cha racter, a nd giv in g r ise to complex medico-biologica l problems of man's ad a ptati o n to changing .para_
meters of lhe social milieu. T he respons ibili.ty of man himself
and of all hu mankind for the co nsequ e n ces of this activity,
which is transforming the pla ne t itse lf, fo r preser ving the natural environment, and for the expediency of the changes being
made in it, is rising steeply. For the fi rst tim e in history a very
complicated task is rising before' us, viz. , to e ns ure an optimal,
ha rm onious com bination of the pe r fect ing of scientific and
te chn ical, a nd social and industria l activity with the development of processes taking place in the bi osphere. Sc ientifically
substant iated develop ment of natu r a l systems in conditions of
their incr easi ng in volve me n t in the p rocesses o f man's practical a ctivity is a cquirin g esse ntial imp orta nce in particular . .
It is essential, at th e same time, to stress that the mounting
ecological danger, for a ll its te nsio n and vi tal importance, is only one fa cet of the ' man and nature' probiem. Over the whole
of history, exchange of matter with nature has not simply and
not only been the basis of man' s existen ce as a living, natural
creature, but in its specifically human forms it has essentially
determined the historically con c rete limits and possibilities of
people's social development. Attempts to comprehend this relation in its most profound essential characteristics are correspondingly a necessary precondition and very important component of man's knowing of himself. The new type of man nature link taking shape in our day must therefore be underst~
b.Ab on the plane of its role of providing the necessary condld
,It and prerequisites for man's activity as a living creature an
" . . t~ aspect of its significance for the development of,the
~ m man and enrichment of the conception of human~m.
peculiar modern posing of the problem of the interac tt(Jl1
. . . nature is due to its solution being inseparable frolll

11I1.' \haplng of lhc. conditions of, his. exislelH.:e that make .exI.:hangt' of matter With nature pO~lble under ~ form app.rop~late
10 the full devclopmellt of the human race. Th~ pOIll.t con\.:erns the IrLlmition to a new type of man's conne~1I0n .wlth ~a.
lUre that is exprc\\cd in a purposive and humanist Orientation
. .
.,
of the development of this link,
In this case the task consists in organlsl~g society s control
over the processes of a spontan~ous, a~archl.c effect OI~ natu.r.e.
and on thai basis confirming an mteractlon with nat~re III which
nature loses its 'bare usefulness', and ceases to b.e Just a means
of producing wealth as an end in itself. Overc0'!lmg of the consumer, onesided utilitarian attitude to natu~e will ~pen up. prospects of form ing a qualitatively new stage.1Il the IIlte~actlon of
nature and society which Marx charactense~ as the complete
un ity of man with nature-the true resu.rrectlon of n~lUre-the
co nsistent naturalism of man and consistent humanism. c;>f naIlIre'.! Its essence consequently consists in the humanlslng of
nature, mastering of her forces, and development of man forming a single social process of social, materi~l, and cult~ral tra?sformation of nature, society, and man himself. durmg which
possibilities appear for the first time of realising the 'totality of
h uman manifestations of life'.
T he very acute, and still largely unresolved probJem~. of
man's adaptat ion to the radical and far f:om always posl~l\"e
changes in the natural conditions of his eXistence that he himse lf is causing, are particularly strongly actualising the n~ed
for a ve ry rapid transition from an elemenral ..spontaneo~s 111teract ion wi th the natural environment (of which maQ h imself
is a part ) to a conscious ly controlled one.
We kn ow, fo r exa mple, tha t many mode rn techn ological
processes creat e var io us mou nting wastes th ai p rese nt a cerlain danger for man. Am ong them are atm osph er ic. hydrosph e ric, soil , and industri a l efflu ents and was tes, by-prod~ c t~ of
farm produ cti on, the ex haust s of moto r tra nsport an d aVia ti on.
etc . Th e ir effects can ca use a heightened load on th e natural
ec ol ogi cal systems (and in areas with specialised prod uc ti on
and tec hni cal activit y even a mult ipl y ing load). and on the ir
restorative and cleansing possibilities. The was tes of vari ous. industries, aerosols, industrial s mog. and local concentrallons
of toxi c substances (including dangerous carc inogens ) accu mulating in man's natural habitat are creating an additional
adverse load on the human organism. specially in case of a high
level of urbani sation, The hearing of the atmosphere, noise,
electromagnetic radiation, vibration, dust content. etc .. are
2.l

The autht
nent Soy
ponding t
Sciences.
students
of studie:
and acti'
of philos

operating in the sam e d irection, creat ing a da nga fo r man\

psyc hoph ysic al we ll -being leading to a deteriora ti on of his
gen eral co nd it io n. a hig her s ick rale, and p rema ture death.
Supplementin g th em. too, are unfavourab le cond it ions in the
organisat io n of social labo ur and of socia l o pportunities as
a wh ole. and also such adverse pheno mena agg ravating the
pathology of th e h uma n orga nism as overwe ig ht and obesity,
hypod ynam ia, psyc hi c stress, smok in g. d r inkin g. drug addic ti on, et c.
It is be coming part ic ul a rl y ob vio us in th ese conditions that
social progress should be re alised in our da y in for ms that would
make a mutuall y co- ordinated s imultaneo lls solut ion of a triple
ta sk possi ble: viz., protectio n and de velopment of the environment: ma intenance and fortif yi ng of man's health and ens uri ng
of long years' of acti vit y and produ cti ve wo rk for hi m: and Ihe
ensur ing of scientific and tec hni cal progress and dy nam ic development of social produ cti on on that bas is.
Th e society in which co mpetition, a drive for profit, consum er ism and the type of social effect on the envir onm ent corresp ond ing to it predo mina te, is proving incapable of coping
wit h th is task, so vitally im porta nt for the fate of civi lisation.
alth o ugh it is understandably do in g a lot in th at respect.
Onl y a soc ielY free of suc h conflicts, and g uided b y a different scale of val ues (viz., the good healt h a nd happiness of present and futu re ge nera tions) is in a posi li o n, by rel ying on rational planning, to reg ul ate and control, and rati o nalise the use
of natural reso urces, and e nsure de fe nce of the environment
and health of th e popu lation by legislati on.
There are still problems everywhere on this plane, of course,
that are evoking alarm and a need to take emergency measures
and strengthen conlrol over nature-use , to give it a socially
orientated and planned character, and to widely develop
ecological education of the population.
. The contribution of real humanism to the moulding of a raIlORal system of relations between nature and society is char
acteJised by the fact that the technical, economic, socio-politE,I, and humanist aspect s and sides of the problem are interlocked, and that perspectives for the defence and maintenance
environment and reproduction of natural resources are
up comprehensible for all nations and favourable
of the human race. But, while achieving a pur~
effect on nature, and a maintenance of the
" the biosphere, socialist society cannot limit itself
a statistical balance of natural processes.

_die

and the slalUS quo of the environment, but has to ensure a

plan ned tra nsformati on of it that would help establish more
and mo re fa vou rable conditions for man's physical and moral
be in g, and fo r the devel opment of humanity.
It is necessary to approach not only burning ecological problems fr om such a humanist standard, but also those of improvin g ma n's bio log ic al and psyc hic nature, that have been actively discussed in recent decades both as a very impo rtant component of th e 'man -nature' problem and as an independe nt one.
Unlike the biolog ising and soc ioiogising trends, Ma rxism does
not counterpose the natural and social in man, and allows for
their un ity , whi ch determine his physica l and spiritual needs,
his interests, ac tiv ity, aims, and in tercourse.
The dialecti cal unity and interpenetra ti on of the biolog ical
and soc ial does not mean either their dissolving in one anothe r,
o r their para ll el existen ce. The biological str uctures and functions of the human organism are being modified to a considerable extent by the action of the social factor (above all la bour), a nd in some respects have reached a highe r leve l of deve lopme nt than in other members of the animal ki ngdom; they
have been ' humanised'. In othe r words, the biological in man
does not presen t itself on the same level as the social, but rathe r
in the ve ry sph ere of the social.
The unso un dness of ap proaches to ana lysis of the inte rconnection of th e biological and social in ma n that understand the
mechan ism of this int eractio n in a si mplified way, and tha t altempt to sin gle out th e biolog ic al fac tors and components tha i determine it in pure form in the nature of ma n, is therefore un derstandable. A contemporary attempt of this kind is that of
E. O. Wilson, the founder of sociobiology. wh o proposed the
following methodologi cal approach:
Let us now consider ma n in the f ree spiril of natural his tory, as th ough
we were zoologis ts f rom anothe r planet completing a catalog of social
spec ies on Earth . In this macroscopic view the hu man ilies and social sciences shrink to specia lised branches of biol ogy; history, biography. and
fi ction are the research proTocols of h uman eth ology: and anthropology
an d sociology togelh er constitUle the sociobiology of a single pri mate
specie."

As is to be expected, anempts of that Kind (which its auth~r

himself proclaimed the only scientific malerialism) to ex~lam
people's social behaviour as organised by genes, very qUlck~y
revealed their flimsiness, That was to be seen, for example, In
sociobiology's interpretation of the lnstitutio~s of modern so-.
ciety as hypertrophied modifications of genetic structures that
2'<

The authors (
nent Soviet s
p::mding Memt
Sciences, phi
students of CI
of studies on p
and active pa
of philosophy.

existed in prehislOric tllnes III the society of food-gathert!' .

hunlers.
rs and
It is 1101 surprising. therdore. that Wilson's closest foil
h~d. alr~ady hastene.d t~ gel away from rigi.d biogenetil' ~~:~
~1Il~sm III t.he examlllalion of human behaViour and to re la r
II wah the Idea of a dual (genetic and cultural) determinPf ce
~f.mal1's social life Ihal thus essenlially rejected the origi n ~ IOn
slllOn o~ 'reducing' sociology and all social knowledge
poand s,?clety 10. a complex of biological sciences. - Wilson him~:I~
has tned, 111 his lalest works, to free himself from the exlre '
'd
"
mlSm
f
o genetic elerllllllalion and took up a kil~d of middle POS'I '
,
I
'
. .'
lion
propOSIl~g to ta know ?f the ge.netlc basIs of the forms of be~
havlOur, an.d no~ .of liS gEne tic predetermination. 1I But the
essence of his position was nevertheless not altered in pracr'
Its fundamental basis remained a naturalislic, bioiogiser ~;
proach, only more neally camouflaged in the guise of allo .
for. fact?rs of e~ol ut ion. and cult ure, beca use I he primaryw~~~
radl~al .111 ':nan IS explall1ed as before by Ihe biological, while
the social IS rerre-sen.led as secondary and transient. This is
conflrm.ed by t~e persistent efforts of Wilson and his followers,
liorv,,~nous re~ean:h rroc~dures, 10 discover empirical
of a direct bIOlogical cond iti oning of various
and aspects of people's social behaviour: the relations of
and women and paren.ts and chi ldren in soc iety; the
of adolescents; soc ial manifestations of conformism
. egoism and altruism. and the differences in
status of m~mbe~s of socie ty; and the forming of hierar.
models of domlilance and SUbjection', etc.
~ttemp~s c<,>ntradict the root principles of scientitic
BI?logl~mg IS methodologically incorrect in social disprimarIly because it does not allow for the universa~
h~terogeneous structure of the material world and
differentiation,

0:

solution of the inter-relalion of the biological and

be b..ed on the general philosophical idea of the
of ma!erial r~ality, The general laws that
ar~ II!-amfested In qualitatively unique fOidlS

re .hve separateness and independence of

ACCOrdinc to this idea, life shauld

nOl wIIaIIt

new

P'--~

in

Ill."""'"

as new, qualitatively peculiar phenomena, but determinl'd by

more complex, specific laws in no way reducible to physiological ones, even though il is quite necessary 10 know the laller
and biological laws in general. and 10 take them into account
when studying psychic processes.
The human organism, which is the highest level of biological
organisation that has arisen in the course of the evolution of
Ihe organic world, consequently differs from other living organisms in Ihal it responds to specifically socia l laws quali tative ly
new in comparison with biological ones, as well as to the latter,
and depends on Ihese social laws. To deny these laws, which
determine the qualitative uniqueness of the human organism
and the cond iti ons of jls ex istence and further evolution is therefore as unconv in cing and dangerous as in comp rehension of
their unity.
We also approach comprehension of the problem of the fu ture of man (which is being so actively discussed these days)
from the standpoint of Ihe interaction of the socia l and biological and the leading role of the former. In Ihal respect our approach differs in principle from conceptions thai make an absolute of some one of Ihe forms of human being, more often than
nOI the biological. Absolulising of the biological component of
human nature naturally leads to man's prospects and future
being posed and decided as a problem of the self-perfecting of
human nature, a radical reorganisation of man's genetics, brain,
and psyche, a reorganisation capable of giving rise to a 'new
species', and to the c reat ion of a 's uperman ' endowed wilh a
'superbrain'. That is how the matter is posed, for example, in
Jeremy Rifkin's book A/geny, which has been quire widely read
not just in academic circles, and which ca n be regarded as a
kind of gospel of the 'biotechnology of man' ,~)
Rifkin's main idea is that not only should the biological nature of man be altered in principle by applying 'gene engineering' but also that the human community should develop a new
way of thought in regard to the environment as a whole and
the laws of its development (as is indicated by his book's subtitle
'A New Word - a New World') , It is difficult, when one reads
this book, to get away from a feeling of the far-fetched nature
of the contrast between the particularly p euimistic description
of the present and the rosy piclure of the future, in which a

leading place is assigned to biotechnology, The laner is conceived as a panacea for all the mistonunes visited on . .nkind,

.e,,,

and as a miraculous means for radicllly all"""

'Ilure
and the ch.racter and style of
thiaki", and b.~.viou.

'*

1/1

But is il really necessary 10 r~org.uw,1.' man's hiolog" in

Wh ..lI are ils
dical way? Is il diclal,e d by real,
consequences? There IS 110 COI1\1Ih:1Ilg. SCTllluslv grounll-d
'
I I
, " an
sW,er 10, hIhes~ qRlI~fskl~O~IS, am Ill' mallY more that inevitably
ame, elt er 111 I ' ' Ill s fbook or worb of the same 1vpe,
'
t' It cant~ot be del\J~dl'l ~ourse. !hal mall's adaplive possibili.
les m~y e su bstanlta )' Widened III the fUlure through th
of van,ous means
chemical, genetic, elc,),
ern SCience has dala wltnessmg to hitherto unknown
h
physiological reserves in man in particular in the b pSYNC 0paths
are bemg
'
' thiS
" direction for exampleram,
ewk
,
opened III
b
111 the I field,"of 'artificial intellect' ' capable 0 f equlpp
, !tn gYman's
wor
I~ellla actl,vlly wllh new means and multiplyin g h is
'b T
Will man's biological nature be altered by
s ',ne super~an' replace Homo sapiens? Will new fo
'
I,
eXistence anse organically conb' ,
rms of hts
organs? While ~ot denying th ~ IIltng natural and artific ial
e Importance of a profou d h ' l
' I
osop h lCa and scientific think'
.
n p l
and delicate problems I
l1~g out of t,hese of le n compl ex
neogenetic, and Olhe; pr~re~1 ;Iess con~lder that biolog ising,
vulnerable on the sci~ntiflc :~dS or cr~atmg a 'superma n' a re
able on the social and eth' I thleoretlcal plane, and unacce pt
I '
Ica pane
I IS expedient to pose Ih I
.
present age. first and forem e I Ierne o~ man's prospec ts in the
t , and ~na1111y, as a social p ro ble m,
as Ihal of the forming

1I~(,.ds'!

The authors
ncnt Soviet
ponding Mel1
Sciences. P
students of
of stud ies on
and active t
of philosoph

PO~i~~~

(psych,ologi~al,

t~, ~ut

ne~ ,I~pe, The evolution

~~~

t~a~~sl~,lli

r~f ~a~~Clety

and an individua l of
~cqu\sltlon and reproduclion of Ih s a p~ocess of ~he i,ndiv id ual's
lenc~ and male rial and spirit I e SOCial and h lsto n ca l exper
dealmgs and intercourse with ua culture of mankind du r ing
people, The main 'resources' of
man, and of his develop
the
ment and 'bl
fu t ure ' w I'
I '
A biolo'
' ~Ica I are Iruly inexha
lIC 1, III con trasl to
uSI1
sOCIO-hlstorical approach I'k
e, consist precisely in that
to
understand th e patterns ofI this
e thaI make S I' I
'
to buil
pOSSible
not o nly'
tor (in~I~~;~al~gy ~or developing a~~o~~~s b~t also successf u lly
new demanllt~ blol~gical parameter ) t~valtng the human faclions of life so the Industrial revol sl" m accorda nce w ith the
,
U Ion and the real cond i-

3. Man's P rospects: On Ihe R '

of the Individual's gad to Ideal Harm o n y
The humanist 'd I
evelopment
ah
.
I ea of the
. armOnJously devel
. l:n an of Ihe fu
'
1.\0 a primary vilal
oped mdlvidual a
ture IS undoub led ly
28
need, a per\on who!:>~rfeator for whom work
ree development is a

~~)lHlltllHI lur the dcvC:lopmt:nt .of SOCIety 111 gelle:ral. while su

~1c:t.Y III I urn ,nakes I fllS wholeness of Ihe d.:,'elormenl of eUl,"h

IndiVidual and of tht: cnore i1uman roscC' IIlIl t!'nd in Itself.
That !-.(}~ial Ideal I'> nOI the: fruil of sreculali,'C' rC'tle~lIons but
a rigorou" \ciC'nliflc conclusion based nn analv\is of Iht' real
trt'lld') of Iht: past and te:ndencies of today. II ~lnt only ~(lrrt'
spond ... to tht: ~o~ialtrend'i of develormenl of civ'ili"ati\1n but al\\)
10 those of Ihe ~ontemporary industrial rrvolulioll. In om da\'
man's broad <;ocial development. and culti"alioll of all his row'.
ers and f'Kuhies. are being pre'>enled for thl! f1r-,;\ timl' in
history as a dire~1 condillon of the funhl!r progre')s of ')ocial
production, reali<;alioll of whi~h is getllllg a firm. objel'tl"e, material. technical. social. and economic foundation through a
radical Iransformation and perfecting of sociely\ prOl.lu~tive
forces and relations of production under the impact of the in
dust rial revolution and a qualitative reorganisation and oVrrhaul of society's life, AIIround development of man is more
and more clearly becoming a necessary condition. prerequisite.
and predominant factor of a development of the industrial
revolution. free from deforming influenas,
This revolution. by uniting the development of science and
technology in a single process. and at the same lime linking this
process with contemporary production task!:>. is promollng a
change of Ihe united three-stage 'science-engineering.man'
system in which the human factor is not only being ~oll\"l!nl!d
inlo a unifying but also becoming an ever more acti,e link in
realisation and development of the powerful forces of te~hnique
a nd technology and the highest al.:hievements of science. and
(he ir use to meet people's mounting malerial and spiritual nel!ds,
In these conditions tile worker is beini! freed more and more
fro m the roll! of an appendage of technical equipment and mechanisms. and is being faced with a need 10 control Ihe wholl!
technological cvcle, This is 1I0t only requiring corresponding
skills and habits from him. but also demanding an eve r broader
ge nera l educational. scientific. technical . and ~.ultural ou(lo~k,
The increasing use of 'thinking' cybernetlc.devlces. of necesslly
presupposes highly intelleclUal work assocl~led. With (he s?lution of comple\. men ial problems and the tonnlllg of a !:>clen
liile slyle of thinking of a creative character, As Marx foresaw.
tht!' production rnxess .i~ bein.g comened more ~nd m.o~e.
on
th r ough Ihe intdlecwailslng 01 labour and, e\.lensl , 01 I!S
ereativ'e ("ont ent. in lo objel.:(itled science and tree play ot man s
in l el k~lUal powt'rs for Ihe sake of social. de\"el?~lIlent,
As a resull the spheres of people's sl..'lClal acllvlty are being

,.

The author
nent Sovie'
ponding Me
Sciences,
students of
of studies 0
and active
of philosop

broadened and brought closer wgether. and un iversa lised

d
the creative potelllial of the concrete individual e mploved an
and more rationally and fully through the shaping of a In~re
' aCIl\'II)/
"I
'mc I lIues
,.
'liS generic types (n Lntegra' I prod uctl\'e
t1at
all
pro,,
,
,
d UCtIOIl, cognitive, edllcalional, regulalive and controll'
"
h .
mg
commUniCallve, aest ellC, moral. and consume r), In a . d'
'h h k'
f
,.
ccor
ance WIt t at. md 0 actlnt)' the individual more a n d more
ne ed s ,a capaclIy
. .t.,.
,
h to freely pose and realise the social! Y slgmu
cant alms. m ~t. er w,ords, to give shape gradua lly 10 a universal
mode, of reallsm~ hiS esseT,ltial powers and c reative potential
a,nd hiS selfasserllOIl as an 1Illegral, spirilUa lly rich compr h '
sl\ely develo~ed social_ being.
, e enThe mouldmg of s~ch an individual ca nl10t of course be guaran~eed _by Iransformmg the character and content of labour
:l1d a ~h~ke-up and reorganisation o nly of economic process~
t~ re atlons, however essenlial that may be. It is only ossible
of the whole
of
by the indi\'id~al in allln~h~e~"~ compr~he nsi ve socia,l activity
determine society's l"f
' .p eres (w llh ou t exceptIOn) that
for the ideal of the ~:n a~;lv~ty. That is also understandable,
oped by real humanism st t t e futu,r~ p~t forward and develconception of the essencea~; from a s~lentJlic understanding and
the future will be nrM d f man, which means that the man of
relations of a new typ:~nh oremoSI a whole aggregate of social
Hence il follows thaI
erelll ,Ill the new type of civilisation
I'
one can ralli th
.
ua s_ development loward
e e I~e asu re of the individf hi., lossellllal POwers only \ fuller manifestation and display
cms of the life of SOCialist ~ r.ough tackling a ll the other prob~~!~:~. inseparable cOl1nec~~tYv:.i~~ld above all the economic
prinl'; Ices, nd . consistent and ge theI overcoming of class
A P C_S? SOcial justice.
llera connr malion of Ihe
SOllailsl organi .
satlOn of socie t
fuller satis.fa' '
ly innut>llle ~:Il~n of material and CU~~:~lean t to provide ever
iZt'n, and at The moul dl ll,& of posi tive, s . needs,. ~nd to activemanife'>lations same t,lme to block aOC~al qua lITies of the cit1I1~ aJl-ro"nd d' .can1realise these aims An ,cu t sh ort anti-social
,
ve opm
' . SIIIe q
nc~atl..alion of lh I'f elll of the indiv,'d I' IIQ nOn of ensure I ' e of s(X:\ety,
.'
state and public atl
When ua
Ih IS a f. u:t h er demfeC' bU'iiness of 'h airs regularly. Mep by e administration of
step b
'
AI Ihe same timee working
Ih . f people thems.1 ' ecome Ihe dl.
mo nJOu.<; relaljuns be e a flrmal'
' Ion and de.Yes .
811IV<l'ion If Ihe h t.wee,n S()(lely and Ih ,\el.o~menJ of har,)(j
uman fallor pre\uPPOs:e el~~dIVld~~1 and real
prOVISIon of sub-

s:~~g~e~a~i~~;r~~~~i~~organisation

aggr~gale

jcclivc prel..:onditi.ons as well as of objective ones. II is impossible really to activate the human factor of soc ial development,
and so create the preconditions for su re progress toward the
ideal of a harmoniously developed man without raising the
standard of culture of the individual himself, and to in culc ate
an orientation III him on maximum realisation of his powers
and faculties.
It will be obv ious from this that the problem of the wholeness of the individual's development does not boil down, in our
und erstanding, to a si mple increase in and multiplication of his
fu nct ions and knowledge, although many-sidedness of the functions arising through a change in the various types of activity in society, and high educational standards are undoubtedly
a ve ry important prerequisite of the individual's development.
But neither an abundance of the soc ial functions and roles perfor med. nor varied professional work, nor all-round education
in themselves yet make an all-round developed personality.
To get that we have to pay attention as well to the complex of
human qualities and moral ideals and principles that characterise a person's way of life, the social direction of his activity, and the forms of his social connections. Furthermore, it
is 'i ndicato rs' of the individual's social development like his
mo ral princi ples and criteria of life and aClivity, and their sense
(taken not only generally but also in particularly personal
aspects), people's initiatives and discipline. the forms of their
intercourse, etc., that are coming to the fore loday.
We clearly see that many very complicated. unr~solved pro.blems lie ahead and that a considerable acceleration of SOCIal
and economic development, and an increase in social achievements. will be needed ill order to raise Ihe personality's level of
development and to advance 10 the high ideal of the man of the
future.
The road to building a new society is thus 1I0t easy. but il is
the sole real road for realising humanism. To dream of the
triumph of humanism without proposing a genuinely human.isl
transformation of society as a preliminary and v~ry e:ssellllal
precondition of it is therefore equivalent 10 drealll1l1g of bread
without ploughing and s o w i n g . . .
.
Another precondition for ensuring the triumph of hUIII~l1Isn~,
which sIems from the fealUres of Ihe c~)11lemp~)rar)' period, IS
a humanistically orientated tackling ?f 1~lernatlo~lal pr.oblems.
Todav, humaniry is faced wilh a hlslOrical ~1H.llCe: ellher tl~
.long .he path of cOllfrolllal1011 and the arllls
. 'k'dd'ng
I
I
10erates
.. '
k' ,
I
of nudear seif-allJuhllalloll, or Itl rna ells W3)race 10 t Ile a by~
,H

The autho
nent Sovie
ponding M
Sciences.
students 0
of studies (
and active
of phiiosOf

of thollght and a(tioll (OITl'''IWlld l(lthl' rl~llltll".S\lf 11ll' nuclear,

spal'e age and 10 reorgallisl' intlrll .. lI\HI~ll I"l'latl(\lI\ Oil prlllel,
pies of co-operation Sll a\ 11' 111<11111i1111 pl'oKl' ;;Jlld pre'icrve theworld.
The new thinking that IlUI\1 hl' guidl,.'d h~' ami l'\lIldu(tl'd in
the interests of all mankind, ami il\ \lIni\,<lI. 1.1,.'. hy thl' pril1l:i.
pies of genuine humanism. i\ dell.'rl1linl,.'d by 111l' Ill'l'd of il 1h;'W
approach to the problems of ellsuring sl,.'l:urity III thl' world.
Allel1tion is thus riveled not only Oil the filtl' and pro\!1n'l\ of
Ihe individual persoll in his uniqucllc\... and lIH.li\,iduality. but
also all the future of the human race as a whole.
.
The very conception of humanism has 10 be reined alld generalised in accordance with the real facts of the age. Sucll aspectsas the eXIensioll of humanism to e\'erything living (Ihe savmg of nature) and protection of the whole population of our
planet ~nd of the human race a~ a ~iological species, are being
add~d. III our day 10 the value-m-Illmself of human individual
tradllionally.affirmed by humanism (or are at least being made
~r~en.t). Atlltude 10. war and peace is now the most important
fIIenon of humalllsm: Real humanism unreservedlv rejects
~ars as a ",leans of settlmg the political and economic contradictJo~s /nd .. deological disputes between countries. The ideal of
~~;:hls~. IS ,a w~rld ~ithout weapons and violence. a world in
and way ~} li~:"~I~ IS .free to cho?se ils path of development
lations and the e at IS. a new philosophy of international rexpresslOn of real h
.
.
um.anlsm In the nuclearspace age. One of the most im
therefore active involve
. ponant Jobs of philosophers is
danger and the arms rac:entd 1;1 the figh~ against the nuclear
idalion of world peace. ' an or the mallltenance and con501There is no doubt that there
among philosophers of var'
. are .more and more peop le
stand the whole depth f l~lIS onentallons who feel and unde rdisas.ter, and stand for ~n~ ~ da.ng er of a world thermonuclear
the Interests and expect t.' astlll g peace on Earth. Thai meets
'.
a Ions 0 f natio
d
h
.
umalllst pnnclples and the t d"
ns, an corresponds to
thought.
ra 1I10ns of progressive
. I
I . .
socia
. t:s I~possible at Ihe same lim
stili III circulation at th
: not to see that th
.
rather hinder
.
e \?resent tnne that do
eones are
of nuance a mamlenance of peace One
nOt promote bUT
legedlv reslo~i~~ghthem, .from preacl~ing w~:~/1nd every kind
ognition of war asuma1l1ty'S health and regen a~1 el~ment alpessimistic fatalism :~ eler~al law of humane~at .. ng II. to recpassive sublnissio n
X.lslence and a
32
to the lIlevitable evil

or wn~ T'lC ,C'nccplIpll lhal Ihe (Dll"iCo; of war art." nlOled In

IlL fIl.Jr; I"afljre '!t .lnllhuman, and philo$urhically unsound.
r u humal1lsm not onl) demands condC'mnctlion of war but
alse all'\ for a real fIght agall1st fhe war dange-r. Fmding thl"
waj 10 Im'k Ie the 5upremt:" f3"lk of the' present day presupposes
sCIt:~lIfll. flullKillg about. and comprehenSion of. thl" fact Ihal
thtre IS new 110 f~lal Inevilability of war.
While Ihen." are s!llI force<i acting looay that prest:'nt the
world with u hitherto llnprecedentt:d <hmger. modern realit),
al the same tJIIIC' brings people a hope' 1I0t known in Ihe past.
The mail! SlJPPNI or Ihl1 hope is the (onllnut)usiy growlIlg pow.
er of the for("(.-s of peace. social progress, and national lib... ra
lion, and the mounting anli-war movement. For tht" flr,,1 time
powerful peal:e forc!:., ha'r'!: dt'r'eloped in Ihe world that can
banish war forever from the life of SlXiely, and Ihey are grow.
109 stronger.
The very alm/1)phere of the prt"parations for a new war, and
the orgy of militansm, is re~lricling Ihe con<;trw,:llve power of
the human mind. crushing. the human III man. and converting
him into a blind tool of for~es -hrn.Iile 10 "(l('ia'i progress, and so
holding back mankind's progr~;"e de\eJopment. Parli~ip~tion
in the fight for social progress. and for lrIumph of the pn~C1ples
of peace and friendship among nations. on the conlrary, IS promoting developmenT of the personality. and of all Ihat is ele ...<tted and human in man.
In opposition to l:onceptions in which the .m~t fundamental
fact of our age. viz .. Ihe hi'!'loncal rivalry ot twO world SCXI.Oeconomic systems. is interpreted in a spirit of an absol~te splitting of the civilisation inlo twO quite .autonomou~. Iso~aled.
unconnected streams of history not subjeCT to gen~ral hl.storical laws, Marxism starts from the point that there IS nOI ~:>nly
antagonism in the relations of the two systems bUI also a unique
unity and wholenes. of the historical devdoPJ~e.nt of humanity . The world-historil:al ri\'a~ry. and competlllOn of. th.e
different systems expresses the objective pattern of mankmd s
social progress in the preSe?1 a~e.
.
. '.'
The dialectic of today's hlstoncal process IS such Ihat Y IS In
conditions when the relations of the old and Ih~ new soclal.systern are penelraling all areas of mankinds. alfa.lr." and preCIsely
in these conditions. thai the interconnection .. mlerdepe.ndence.
and mutual conditionality of the proc~sses t~klllg pl~ce,.n se~a
rate countrie., and regions are growmg With speCial IIltensuy
and depth. The rivalry of .the tWO world ~ystem\ d~s nOI ex
cJ ude common interests In the progressive developmenl of
.t1
.1.11 I I,!'I!

)1
\

The aut hOI

nent Sovie
ponding MI
Sciences.
students 0'
of studies c
and active
of philosop

.
nd world civilisation. The strength of the scientil1c
humanity a
'I
I ,
\'ision of the present age is that. whl e opposmg attempts. to ,e Iml
nate the radical opposition of the two world system~, It Slmult
aneouslv affirms the essential un.lly of modern mankmd .and the
community of its future and uillma~e pros~~cts, and brmgs <;>ut
the pattern of the whole huma~ race s,t~a.nsl~lon to a more ratio
nal social organisation and higher cIvIlisatIOn,
The place that such ~Iobal matters as preve~tion of nuclear
disaster, detente, reducllon of armaments and dIsarmament, the
forming of a new system of international relations, protection
of the environment, problems of demography, and the food,
energy, and raw material problems, occupy in mankind's pres
ent-day affairs is bringing oul particularly clearly the growing
significance of a correct method to help us to see both the
difference of the two world systems and the necessity of co-operation among countries with different social systems.
It is an urgent task of all nations and states to tackle these
~Iobal problems, No one state. no one nation is able to do so by
Itself. These are problems of a kind that are becoming more
and more urgent with each passing year, and more and more difficult, complex, and dangerous for the existence of civilisation,
It w~uld be a suicidal delusion and fallacy to suppose that their
solutIOn can be put off to the morrow,
The di.alectic of history is such that the development of weaponry whIch led to the making of the atom bomb, and then of
the h,ydrogen bomb, and to the proliferation of an arsenal of
atomiC weapons wh~se d~structive power is quite enou h to
~ak~ ~u~ hlanet unmhabllable, is urgently dictating the gneed
~ a 0 IS t e nuclear weapon and other means f

~~~~:~ :~~iecv:_o~:~Va~~~~1 !~~~natio~al secur.i~, :~uda~t~~~~

be treated as a good intent'

g n~tlons, ThIS need must not
,
WIsh
moral Imperative.
MaintenaIon orf
' or an a b stract 'd
I ea 1 or
nations in the fight against th~C~a~ ~eace and the, uniting of all
ful coexistence and mutuall ~ r of n,uclear disaster, peacecollaboration of states w'lth d'ffY enefic~al co-operation and
. ,
I erent SOCial
JeCtlve necessity and the sole alt
.
systems are an obhuman race.
ernatlve to destruction of the
Humanity can survive together a
'
more acute the threatening d
r pensh together And the
the more strongly are people b".nger. of nuclear dest;uction is
bel
com 109 C
'
,
onglOg to one, single human s
'
onsclOUs in Our day of
resolutely for the SU,rvival of ci~~~les" and of the need to fight
Hence the excephonal im
satlon.
portance of u "
J.4
I1UlOg the efforts of

all people of good will on a platform of defence of peace, In

today's world, the size and scale of which have been reduced
as it were by the advances of science and engineering, there
is no area or region where people do not have an interest in
maintaining peace, and in preventing thermonuclear war. The
movement for peace therefore includes millions of people, advocates of different ideologies and religious views, and has a
truly international character, The finding of real ways and
means of preventing nuclear war is an obligation of all true
humanists irrespective of their ideological views and religious
,
persuasion,
The world situation is such that fundamental shifts are needed in outlooks and political theory on matters of international
relations.
The main direction of these shifts, the ensuring of priority of
the interests of all mankind, recognition of human life as the
main value, and the survival and development of humanity, is
the supreme aim of all nations and their governments.
And that calls for principles of confidence and mutual understanding between nations to be affirmed in the. conscious
ness of people and political leaders as a count,erw~lght to su~
pidon and hostility, and to the burden of the l~rat\Onal, that L'i
preventing peaceful coexistence and co-operatIOn of dIfferent
countries,
Philosophy can playa key TO.le in sh~ping the ~ew thinking,
new ideological orientations in mte~natl~)Oal relations, and can
influence political theory in tha~ dlrec~lOn. ,
Philosophy cannot help countl~g as ItS m~m probl~ms those
that are the chief ones for humanity, The philosopher s responsibil ity in today's world is first and foremost ?ne for the present
and future of man. And the problems bothermg everybody cannot he lp being the main problems of philosophy, .
'
An urgent task of philosophy and the SOCial sCle~~es IS to
promote investigation and development of the c.ondltlons and
factors of social progress, and to inspire people ~Ith contden,c~
that the future will bring the triumph of lofty Ideals a socia
justice, peace, and humanism.
NOTES

F
b h In Karl Marx. Frt'deri..:k Engds. CoIlud
, Karl Marx, TIteRS on euer tCh' . Moscow 1976 P 7
Works. Vol. 5, Proa:rcss ~P"hb/~ c~'cManus~riP(!;~118:'4. Progrt'SS Publish;, Karl Marx. ECOIJonllC ana
I (lfiOp I
en;., M('6COw, 1974. pp Q2.93.

-,

,~

,
-

,
I

I
I

.'

.
-

, ,-

'

,
I

""1 Marx. Caf/"/aJ. \ oJ. I. Tran$'al~ hy Samud \.ioon: and Edward Ave.

fht authol
nent Sovit
pondinp: ...,~
Sciences.
1111dcnts 01

studies c
and Ictive
01 philosop
,)j

in", progress puhlishers, .'Ioseo....', IU78. P 4i4.

!i.'1 \I.lrx ~'Jffomir tUld Phi/OfOphil' Manuscripts (,f 1844. P Q2.
Ibid. 93.
E o. 'Wilson. SiobidQRY: Th, \inv $ynthnis. The Belknap Press, C 'm
budge, !wi .... 19'5, p 547.
Ste D. Freedman. Hum./fl Sociol,iology: A lIo/j,tl ApprQach. Free Pr~
Io;rw Yorl:. 1979.

SUI" as fhe following works. f.or t:\a~plt. ""'Tine" jointly with Charles Lums_
del' C. J. LulNden. F~ 0. Wlbon. Gtfle.f. Mind ond Ca/lltre. The CO~l'(liu_
tlOfliUl Prf)CtU, Harvard U. P .. Cambridge. \13K. IQ81 Charles J. Lums.d('l1 and Edward O. Wilson. Proml'thrlon Fire, Harvard U. P., Cambridg~
MlL~.

1C,83.
Jeremy R.ifkin. AIR~ny. A .\"t'~' Word . ..4 Sew World, Viking Press, {l;ew
YQrk, 19113.

l. Man as a Human Being

,,

L.-

l
..
,

, I ,, ,

""

..

,
~

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i

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.-

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,I

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,1
..

, I

"

,,

;
I

'.

THE HUMAN. SPECIFICALLY HUMAN?

Tht autho
nent Sovie
ponding M
Sciences,
students 0
of studies (

T. I. Oizerman

and active

of philoso~

Man, in Benjamin Franklin's profound definition. whose signillcanee Karl Marx stressed, is a tool-making animal. The defInitio n can be shown 10 be incorrect. since il includes a patent
contradiction: animals do not make lools. which means that an
animal that does is not an animal. The paradox, however. is
that this contradiction is nOI so much one of the definition as of
life itself. Man is, in facl, an animal. and at the same time is no
longer an animal. And this contradiction cannot be resolved
by saying that he is an animal in one respect and nOI an animal
in another. It is all much more complicated. since the one turns
into the other, yet is retained at the same time in the other, but
transformed. Such is the dialectic of identity and difference.
which was fIrst substantiated by Hegel. Identity includes difference; difference includes identity. Difference and identity thus
form a unity of opposites. It is already senseless to ask which is
the greater in Ihis unity of the human and the animal (biologica l), idenlilY or difference. since both identity and difference
have a qualitative character here and not a quantitative one.
There are both difference and identity; furthermore. the more
essential the difference. the more essential. too. is the identity.
That actually also includes the unity, in every way enigmatic,
of the human and the animal. the social and the biological,
which is specifically characteristic of man, and only of man.
One must make a reservation, incidentally: man is not animal in the ordinary sense of the word. In everyday life the ~ord
'animal' is understood, without sufficient grounds. as peJorative, a word of abuse. The positive sense that it has in science is
quite different.
Study of the social life of people la textbook of bioiOSY ~)'sl is the subject-mal1('r of the social sciences. Bio~OSY' ho .... ever, studies the structure
and life activit)' of the human OI'Jamsm. Profound study ?f man as an
animal or,anism is of immense importance f.or the prOlel;"t.lon of health;
improYin, IivinS conditions. and dealing .... lth many socII.1 problems.

-This stressing of the social significance of the study of human

J

biology seems to me to be yery IlllKh 10 Ihl..' POlIll

. Ma~ occupie~ a def1l1.il~ pta~e in Ihe gl..nl..fully an'epll..'d das.
slncatlon of anllnals, diVIded mlo l..'ias.... C's. ordl..r\,Sl)""""
..... cs,elr.
The aut he

nenl Sovi.
ponding M
Sciences.
students (
of studies
and activ(
of philoso

In his anatomical fealUres Ilhi~ ~.lme tt"fb~l\lk ~a~~1 man ~Ion S II

phylum Chordata. the cla..s of mammals. and Ihe ord~'r o{ I>C" ~ ) Ihe
'h'
m'.AII
'
I he malO tralls I at charactense the order of primates are there!"
'
herent in him.'
ore In,

Various species of. ape, some of wh

. irh are called a"lh ropOt'd
beIong to the ~n~ates .. The sp~cJa I , esse nt ia ll y unique pla(~
that man OCCUpies III thiS order IS due 10 his 110t bei ng an a
not even' an anthropoid
one.
I .pe,
I
Nevertheless ' from Ihe b'looglcal
stan dpom.t, the egllunate difference between man and Ihe
~nthr.op~ld.apes, which als? reflects a definite reality (within
certam IlIntt~, of course), IS a species difference in the same
wa as the difference ~etwee~.the apes. The stating of that bio~~wcal fact arouses qUile leglflmate indig nati on because species
I erencdes are the less stable differe nces between living creat ures, an are reproduced f
. to generation, Such
b
rom gene ration
are the d',ffe
rences etween the ho
d
T rse an ass, the common blue
or meadow violet (Vi I
aPI
(Viola tricolor). And ~~
IOnace~) a n? the g.arden violet
aspect of the real existenc~ stray outs~d~ biology, I.e. a cerlain
this aspect is insufficie t d o.f man. (ll IS another matter that
difference between th~ :an~~~I~e a.II,lIs ~ential character), the
seems more substantial than t:old. orangu tan and the horse
the orang-utan. In fact h
e difference between man and
the horse Ihan to man' owever, the orang-ulan is closer to
,Since the de ' . .
an.d the ape is exhaUSled b
SCnplJon of both the horse
trans, while the descriptionY~pe aggregate .of th.eir biological
~oes not have a spec ific or
~nan as a bIOlogical organism
~s also an an imal but h'" d'lfspec les character. Man of course
Just as"
I erence f
'
,
rom other primates is not
tha pec~es one; it is undoubtedl
~ any difference ill the
~ more Su bstantial and radical
ous one a h
.
animal klngdo
m, even such all'enormamoeba Th~ t e difference bet
(when:. IS means that his d',ff ween th e elephant and the
1\ IS taken
f
erence fr
II
cally develo d ,0 Course, in th e wh I
a other animals
and determi~: .cOntent) breaChes all t~ e b~lIne:s of it<; historimind not the ~:~f' ~arx called man a se 1?log lc.al boundaries
man. Man 'is not oglcal determinacy b peCles beltfg, having in
bein~, that is to s:ur~ly. a nat~ral bei n ~thth~ SOcial essence of
species-being'.
y, e I'> a beUlg for hfms: IS a humall natural
What is a being that .
If. Therefore he is a
..
ture that can conVert :1~ISts for il~dr? Presu
oth er creat
rnably 11 IS a creaand
Ik
' objects
ures
40
I eWlse
,

?m

of C':\tcrnal nature, II1tO means 10 realise its own nature. Sudl

tS rr~}(lli C lit.lI\.' '11ll~ bhour as. a ~pel..'ifKally human a ...'ti\-!!y: 11lIrrosctlll a(llvlIY dlrcl.:lcd 10 liS own goal. And that goal. III Iht'

last i.llwlysis, i... man him .. dL

Pe()ple alter external nature by means of pnxiul"tiuli. 1101
only creating 'human' thing,> butlhert"by also giving rise lollH:ir
own needs, in shorl altering nOI only external nalure but thl'lr
own human n~turc. And. to the extent Ihat each perlion i,> I..'apa
ble of purposIvely aiterlllg both these nature'), he rcallv exi'>t:->
for himself. I leave the contradil..'tions of (hi!) prol..'e!)s oui of ar
count here, and the tendencies and forces cou nte racti ng il. a
survey of which is beyond the scope of my paper. The main
point here is Ihatthe essence of man, or rather human es\ence, i'>
not his spec ies, i.e. biological, difference from other animals.
When a biologist speaks of man's difference from the animal
he docs not have the tapewo rm in mind. of cou r'>e, but highly
deve loped members of the animal kmgdom po..'>essing a psyche.
But sllch a dearly formulated po,>ing of the mailer is already
quite inadequate olltside the context of biology because it
concerns the difference between man and tha t which forms the
essence of animals in general. what unites both the tapeworm
and the fully anthropoid gorilla in one whole. Man also differs
from the animal in his having already surmou nted nol only the
limited nature of his species difference from other primate'>.
but also the limited nature of the whole diver'>lty of the animal
mode of existence.
An animal forms objects only in ac<.:ordance with the slandard and the
need of Ihe species to which it belongs. whilst man knows how 10 produce
in accordance with the Slandard oi every spec i~, and kn ows how 10 apply
eVNywhere the inherent ~lanJard 10 the object, ~tan Ihere(,Jrt' also form~
object~ in accordance Wilh the laws of beauty.'

Whatever distinguishes man from the animal. however, hl'

is, as Aristotle said, a socidl animal. That definition, 100, is con
tradictory since an animJI is not essentially a social being. Every
definition, Spinoza said. is a negation, a negation (I Sllg~est)
of its own ine\itable limitedness, abstractness, and one-:)Idedness. This' is seemingly not because cena.in. schola:s, I.im iting
themselves to the external anributes of SOCiality (which IS quue
justified outside the social sciences>. speak of \'ariou\ '~ocial
animals', having in mind bees. anlS, bea~ers, ~rega.~lous am rna]').
colonies of birds, ('tc. The ornithologist Nlko 1 tnbergen. for
example, claimt:d 'that a gull colony i'> no~ a haphazard accumulation of gulis, but that il must be an 1I11rtc~te SOCial sf.rue
lure organised according to some son of plan'.~ Students ot Ihe

"

The auth,
nent SOVI
ponding ~
Sciences.
students
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and activ
of philosc

f b

. fie I discuss the l':\I~lenc(' of .1 '~I;lIl" i.unong tht'IIl,

t,..

life 0 . ees
0
I
.'
. , ... '
.
f a hive 11110 da ....'il;'~ or l.l<;te;~. 0 I Ie; e; \I<;It'Ill"t'
Ihe d IVISlon 0
,
of a 'social' division of l:lbol1r~ and so Oil. By Ih'lI. l.ollned lull,
of course. certain facls are bell1S Shtfe.d and dt.'s~nbt.'d. hut Ihe

point is holl' they are e:'\plain~d a~uJ utf~r'prel('(..

Not every known form of orgallised. dln('r(,l~tla t~tI ,e"sh~ nct'
and interaction of separate individuals and sreCtnlel~<; IS I.alled a
sooety. When such an abstract com:ept as ')oclely IS employed
it tun;s out to be applicable not ollly to certain spec ies of animals but also 10 a number of plant organisms. It is consequently
necessary to concretise the concept of socia l being. In general,
we do nol call those living creatures soc ial that ca nnOI lead an
isolated way of life by virtue of their inherf>nt natural properties. in Ihe specific, essential meaning of the word (which I do
nOI propose to impose on zoolog ists and botanists), t he social is
nOI a natural property at all. It is not inna te in man, bUI formed,
moulded, and developed through intercourse among human individuals, through which a human being becomes a member of
society in Ihe course of his individual, biological development.
As for the animal, the features inherenl in it and an individual
specimen are the realisation of an inherited programme . A colony of ~ull.s, to take Tinbergen's example, is a specific form of
the realisation. of a genotype. A 'commu nit y' o f gulls does not
create somethmg. new an~ different, differing essentially from
what has be~n laid down 111 the stuff of heredity. Gulls, just like
all olher ammals, are therefore seeming ly the sa me in our time
as Ihey wer~ several thousand years ago.
b Man, unlike the animal, is the product of thai interaction
. e~~~en human individuals which forms a soc iety The human
In I,vldual, of course, also develops from germ pla~m The genera Irend of onlogenes'
H
.
.
IS, as enfl Wall on wrote characteris ;ng Ih . d 'd
. . '.
.
e m LVI ual development of th h
the accomplish
f
e uman IIldlvldual, 'IS only
ual potentially L~~S~ what ~e ge~lOtype or germ of the individes
by its genotype andessc " .. hedhlStor y of a being is domi nated
onSll1ute by its ph
b B
.
enotype.
ul man IS
not born a social bei 1 I
still 'in itself', 10 use ~:el~ ~hat se~se the newborn human is
animal is also only 'in ilS~1f' . x~ress lon. It s di~erence from the
human difference and b ,J.e. II can ~evelop mto a specifIca lly
upbringing, education an~c~rn~ .a socia l qualily only through
inter-individual COrnm . raml~g, and_the whole diversity of
. I b
umon and ITlter
S ocla
eing makes man
course, and soci al effects
The moulding of the h as a social creature or being
.
vel
.
uman as a proc
f ' .
opment POSSible only in soc:
ess 0 mdlvidual de.n
lety, only through Ihe laller, is

abtl !)tLl(\ll'd, til Some exh:III, by nalural ,;ucnl:e. Some natural"

iW'l point nut, in particular, that man\ very dilTereiKe from

Ihe animal I!) nnl only the r~ult of Ihe anthropologLI.-al forming
(If Ihe human ract.>. which tuok Ihousands of years., but abo the
comcqucnle of each human mdividual\ own dcvtlopmcllt,
i.e. of an indiVidual Ihal belungs fmm birth to the sperie. . called
flomo sup/('m.
The word '~(x.:ial', when employed by the biologi~t to de~tribe
certain 'ipedes of animals, thus indicJtes only specit:s, biological
fealurc~. But the difference between man and the animal (not
only the higher ones but all a~imals in gene~al) i~ not a specie~.
particular one, but a general difference that IS revealed In everything and is essential in all respects. In thai sense the com:ept
of the social is applicable on ly to man, to people.
I began with ":lan's being a tool-maki~g ani.mal, and for lhat
reason not an animal. My subsequent diSCUSSIon of the mailer
has led me to the conclusion that man differs from the animal
as a socia l being. Both these essential charact~r istics of ~an
ultimately coi ncide. Material production is SOCia l pr~uct1on;
it is realised through definite social relations of productlon t~at
mould its social form. The aggregate of relations of product~on
form a society'S economic structure. The o.rigin of p:roductLon
was also the moulding of man and the formmg of socletr They
were all united processes. Production is social prod.uCTlon and
also the production (and correspondingly reprod~ctlOn) o~ society. Production is a social process, the defermmant basiS of
the diversity of social processes.
.., .
When we call the production of tools th~ dls~mgu.lshll1g feature of man it is necessary to avoid overslmpltncatlon. In developed soci~ty. in which there is a diversity of human knowledge and division of labour, not all I!eople, O! course, a~e e~
gaged in the production of tools or l~ ma~enal.produ~tlon In
general Man's difference from the aOimal IS vaned. It IS deepened a;ld diversified during social developmenl and through
the historical process that alters man. As Marx and Engels
wrote:
' h d f m animals by consciousness. by religion or
Man can be dlstlll~~klS eTh:yo themselves begin to distinguish Ihemselves
anythlll~ else you 1 e. the be in to produc~ their m...ans of suDslStenCe.
from anll~als ~s sOO~it~~nedYby ~heir physical organisalion. By prodUCing
a step which IS c:!:)
men are indire<:tly producing their maten.l life.
their means of su....,lstence
..

.
n' .
tresses the diversity of man's differences fr~m
ThiS d~ ",tIlOali1I:1e same lime singling out the fundamental dLfthe anima,

,\

The auth

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Sciences,
students
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len.>IH.:e that constitutes Ihl~ 1lli.11Il fl'JIUre or ;JIIlhr'll(lugen('$is,

Cot1sciousllt~ss l1f th~ir diITerclIl'l' Irnm i.lIlrJll~lls .tw,>c in mtn
after thc\' he"gall really w diller [Will thl" laUl'r' h" tlll'lr inslru_
nll'ntal 3c.'liviIY, whidl es.selltially slfl'ngthl'nl'd IIw Ilatural bio..
I()gil'al organ; right fro III _thl?' \tart. .\bn ,'IIl,d f'llgd~ pointed
to the features of the 'phY~lca.1 ~)rga~lIS;lIH\tI. 01 mati, the biolog_
ical preconditions for the onglll 01 Ilt)f\-hH,h)gll'i.lI, spl'l'iftt:3I1y
human, social characteristics. Alllhropology. i.lrt:hal'ology, and
other sciences art' l'ol1t:erned with imc'>tigJtlng Ihl''>t' prcl'On_
ditions. The British archaeologist Gordon Childe s~lid: 'To the
archaeologist man is the tool-making ~lnil1lal. Man makes tools
because he has to.'
\Iaking the simplest tools presupposes know-how and knowledge. Tn other words. a tool is matt'rial ev iden ce of skill, knowhow, and knowledge". Archaeologists descr ibe a nd analyse the
lewl of knowledge and skills of Pa leolithic, Neolithic. and
olher. prehistoric men from their tinds of tools and everyday
utenSils.
La.bour and production, as planned, purposive. organised
a(tivlIY, the posing and solution of definite la::;ks, and the social
aims thaI anticipate the results of labour in ideas, are the activity
01 a bemg who knows. and possesst's thoug ht and awareness.
These prer~quis.iles of labour are the resulr of his development
and perf.e~tmg. I.e: were initially the consequences and later the
pre(ondltlons. ThiS means that labour was not conscious activity
from th.e \ery start; It arose as the instinctive activity of animals
that b~lh themselves 'nests', hunted other animals and obtained
food. lor themselves in various ways. The rise ~f labour as a
s.peCifIcally h
..
aCllvny would have been imposs ible if there
h ad not been uman
prototypes f h
.
.
o II III t e anllnnl kmgdo m.
And ,
here
consequently the d'ff
tains an ele
'f ~ren~e between man and the animal conment 0 Identity
The bt.!avers of our d b' .
as their predecesso I ay ulid exactly the sa me kind of dams
wish, an, has rem~~~ l~u~ands of years ago. Their skill or, if you
specie~ charac't!ristic~ ~f ~ same. unchanged. lik e all the main
assummg that they k
eaver\. There are no g rou nds for
The eels thaI migrate'}~W a~d understand what they are doing.
est and mOSI conven' am urope to America taking the short. .
lelll rOute a. ,
'
~a\,lgatlonal knowledge' l'k . cr.oss the OCean do not have
like the animal canno,' I kewlse mlgralory birds But man und"
'
rna e an h"
.
,
Oil, Without ha\'ing idea f. yt 109 Wlthoul knowi ng how to
cons~ituellls. This 'defect~ ~f I~~ a~rangemelll and struct ure and
(wh,ch does not need knowled an S compared with the animal
44
ge 10 order to make what it does

III

:1C'c ord;snce

l'O Ill C-~

With

.t'l; species delermmacy) \ubsequently be-

'}I'. advi1l1ta~c,

In ortlc:r In know how tv m .. ke \ome-thmg, It L<; nel't~ssary hl

have II ill front w( one already. or to have some Of her thing that

can be I.Ippropraately O:lift1'ed and adapted. ThlS C(llltradlC110n

hetWl'CIl knowledge and creation characteri"SfS their ulllkveloped forms. Iwt )il" slparatttJ from one another or ha\ ing
achlcvcd rt'lat ..ie IIllIC:lttndellcc. that arc seemmgly mhe-relet
in the rlrst ~tagt.'S of mankind's existence. 111 onkr to make a
hammer it is nc\.."es.c;ary 10 have !)ome other hammer. The flr"t
hammer wa~ ')cemlngly made without Ihe aid 01 one and was
thererore 110t yet a real hammer. The rdation betweoen labour
and knowledge i') thl' same; only the lung: histOrical moulding
of mankind formed labour as a specincally human aCII\'II)' III
which knowledge and creation were differentiated and determined in relative independence of each other but_ at t~c '>amt'
time merged into a single process of crea~lon: Knowmg a~Id
knowledge are thus rooted Ifl the \-Cry ba'i~s ot huma.n, "'-)(,I~l
life. The source of knowledge, and the ability to cogn~e IIsell.
are man's progressi\t~ diffen:ntiafion rrum his highly ~e\e1I\p('d,
and 111 their own way perfected, al1lmal anc:e~tof'':. a_ dliT~renna.
tion that must be understood as the proce~ of the I~rmlllgand
becoming of labour. ~(an. by his e'isennal deter~lI1acy ..IS a
working creature and so a knOWing one: thai ddinltlon .r~la.tnS
its fundamental significance despilf the subsequenl ..eparalloll
of mental and physical labour. a division that has acqlllred Ihe
chara cter of a soc ial opposition.
_ _.
_
'..
Knowing. like practice, with which It IS 11Ilk~d I~l a partial!)
mediatt!d way, Ihu~ characterise all human 3CII\II) and all the
slages of man 's individual de\elopm~1l1 ~rt)11l hlrth.to dea~!}. T~e
question, however, is whether kno ..... mg IS an aClI\lty spelilca )
characteristic of m a n . .
. .
According to Desca rtes. 31111".als are atllOm~ta th.at, m.contrast
I do n)t
thmk do 110t possess l;OnSC'lOUStH::S!),
to man have no .SOU,
l .
II
d hose actions are not diSlinguished by any fu ness or peran . w
I 'oever. Desca rtes introduced .Ihe concept of. reflex
~ectlOn wha S b which he tried to explanl the pllrr,~setlll.ness
11110 sCIence.. Y
f" U Hess' animals. Subsequent stud ies 01 the
of the behaViour? Slo
-narticula r of their instinc li ve fl1rtll\
hvsiolog\' of 31111na s. m ,.
h
f I
p.. .
.' r bcl'ame the basis for Je\'eloplllg the .' eory u tit:
01 beha\,I~~ 'nisms of higher nervolls aCli\'ity, which pr~y.ed tll
reflex mee.: la
II a. animals The theory of condlllOneJ
ateinmana.swe
s
d,

'
be mn
...__ 1 b ' PavlO\ and his followers ha\ m~ e I
reflexes devedlor:.... ), congenital behaviour (unconditIOned
possible to emal ea e

ac.
ti ons' of a nimal
fl . ) from those pu r posefu l.
ree_
. I s that are

The autl
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Sciences.
students
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and actil
of phil os

formed through its own 'e\.perle nce. ~ n p a rtl c ~ a r through

learning. Zoo-psychology, and et ho logy, !.e. th ~ sC ien ce of ani .
mal behaviour, which has taken sh~pe o n Its bas Is, partly c~:mfirm
the classical notion of the unconSC IOUS, s tereotyp ed be~~vlour of
ani mals. and partly bring out new f~~tures ?f. .. condlllOned, as
has now been shown, by the cogn itive aCTI vit y of the animal,
1I1dividual, 'personal' experience, a nd learni ng.
Tin bergen. whom I have already refe rred 10, came to the
conclusion in his researc h in to the beh av iour of gulls that its
ma in featu res were in nate. T heir behav io ur brings out
their lack of insight into the ends served by their a c t ivities, and into the
way their own behaviour ser ves these e n ds. A ri g id. almost automatic
dependence on in ternal and externa l con dit ions is r evealed every time an
analysis is made."

Tinbergen criticised workers who tried to explain animals, rehav.

iour in the manne r of hu ma n behav iour. Animals proved, in
that case, to be poor likenesses of ma n that tried to act in the way
a human would and did not. of cou rse, succe ed in doing so. Tinbergen characterised tha t methodological pos ition as a very
nai\'e. smug anthropocen trism that ignored the differentia spedfi~a of.the animals. In his view the herring gull 'learning capaCIt)' ... IS excellent:, but 'is on ly app lied in spec ial c ases'. to Neve rtheless th~ beha~lO~r of the ad ult bi rds sh ows that they learn
much .dunng the ir hves. From that sta ndpoint congenital behaViour IS only the basis on which a va ri ety of acquired reactio ns is
for~ed. Som~ of th~m distinguiSh one bird from another, i.e. are
nOI sta ndard species Ch aracter istics.
The reactions of adult bird
th'
have leamed to k
h s to elr ma tes _ and to their chicks once they
can re tease them ~: t em- becomoe so selecti ve that n o other individ ual
are sensit ive to ~uch I~ candonl mea n th at afte r Ihis learning process they
the birds' Own male a~": ~t albb!hat the ve r y slight differenc es bet ween
t
sirange chicks. arc sufftcO e r lrds, an d betwe e n their own chicks and
,
lenl to preVen t res ponses to strangers. II

T he lea rntng capacity inh e

.
that the ir adaptation to t h~e~t III .a~ most all animals is evidence
lakes p~ace after birth. i.e. is t h ~ndl tl ons ?f ~h~ir habitat large ly
Yet 11 I') mainly delerm in ed b res ult Of. individual deve lopment.
One can agree with T i b
Y congenital form s of behav iour.
ar
r b
n ergen wh ose
I '
e app tea Ie mu/a/is mutandis
COnc ~slons about gulls
to other animals as well
thaI bcha\iour. however var
'
CI I on mechani~
.
lable 11 may SCem I be
imiled functions. ~~ In Ih,e nervous sYStem 0
a~ ftr~t s ight ,. is de~nd
.loped ""hilt l\ ne,: ere. U In ~o many other~' mec a11lsms with slrlctly
e!i..\ary. and no more.' 1
a-loCS. na tu re has onty deveJ-

Th i~ stri,c t li mit edn es'i. ~f kn~wl edge by what is neces.o;ary is

a biolog ica l ch a rac le n sltc of II. Dev elopment of 'onl y what is
necessa ry' is a fo rm ulati on that successfully defines the biologically dete rm ined fo rms of behaviour. But even those forms of
behaviou r in man thai are bio logically 'predetermined' are never
reducible to the ' necessary minimum '. Man does not have conge.
ni ta l be hav io ur in ge neral , in spite of the dependen ce of his in.
d ividual pec uliarities on inherited instin cts. Walking erect is
undo ubtedly bi ologically inh e rent in man , just like arti culated
speech, But if a baby does not learn either, il will never master its
natu r a l capa citi es.
Spin oza c alled man, not without grounds, res cogitandi. Yet
he was mi sta ken, s ince knowing in the broad sense of the word
pres upposes, first of all, elementary c ognitive acts (for example,
ide ntification o f objects) that are not only inherent in man. Some
cont emporary workers treat the simplest cognitive acts as unconsci o us r eactio ns and res ponses inherent even in the simplest
livin g c reatures, s ince they possess the capacity to adapt to the
en vi r onment. From this stand the irritability (If plants is at least
pre-kn owing. if not knowledge. The differen ce between people's
di verse, spec ialised, to some extent e ...en autonomous, cognitive
acti vity and the elementary acts fixed by biochemistry is of
course immens~, but here, too, the dialectic of identity and difference the general and the panicular, is manifested. The failure
of the' anthropological model for explaining animal behaviour is
obvious, but the absolute, antidialectical opposing of man to the
animal and the social to the biological. is just as groundless,
s inc e man's cognitive activity also presupposes a c~ntral ne.rvous
system. wh ich is quite developed, at least, in the higher antmals.
Enge ls wrote apropos of this:
we have in common with an imals aJi activity of the understanding: inductiOll, deduclioll, and hence also ab,~lra('fion ... clllalysi~ ~f unknowr.1 O?jec ls (even the cracking of a nut is a beginning of analYSIS), ,~ynlhe,m (111
animal tricks ) and, as the union of both. ex'!"riment (in the c ase of new
obstacles and unfamiliar situations). In theIr nature all these mooes of
procedure- hence all means of scientific, investigation thai. o rdlllar.y
logic recognises - are absolutely the same 111 men and Ihe higher an,lmals. They differ only in degree (of development of the method In each
c ase). I.!

That conclusion , which summed up the scientific data of ~is time

and men's centuries long everyday experience of dealing o~e
way and another with animals, has been conflrm.ed by later SCIentific research. which has enriched a~~ conc~etlsed o~r understanding of animals' psyche and cognttlve acttons, willie at the

"

The autl,
nent SO\
ponding
Sciences.
students
or studie~
and acti\
or pltiloSf

.
- (ns
(erlain flillion<.; of llrJillJry ~'OIl~~ h IU 'tll'~
same lIme
reJec
I
based on analogy.
_
I
".
Differenl animals are (apable, In \.Jrll)lIS (l'grt'l''' ,)1 11 XIIlg siS"
"f
I
insie:niflcant ltilTert'Il(t's ht'IWl'CIl tht' t\hJl',:h Ihc\
II I lean
u
~
' 1"
" I
"
_,
and
of
idenlihlllg
tllt'sl'
dll
erC
l
lCl'~
III \: HlII~lnu su'
_~,
eo ..-omeaer........
'.
_
. - '\l emon- . qukk wIIS and .Il1g\..IIUII~,
uallons.
I
. a nd d1Il\, \..' III1\CIh;SS
are also di tTer.;'n! in Iht' various an una .. r el ll.... ;\ 1I _ It) S<'Ill \.. exlenl as well. in indi\'lduals bel(\lIg ing h) nllt: "flecil's. All thl"st'
la p~cilie .... however. ar~ determincd in Jth I n('e a nd li milt.'d by
the animal's mam species charactcflstlCs.

a'"

Thc eagle IEngeb wrotel )oCcs much fanh...r than mall. but Ihl' human
el"e dis<: ... rn~ considcrably more in Ih1l1~ than dOl.'s t he eve llf the e.'lglt'.
The til.g has a far keener ~en~e of ~ m ell Ihal1 man, bul il c1t1e.~ nOI di~lin_
guish a Imndrcdth part 01 Ihe odours Ihal for man , a rc ddmile ~igns
dCl101ing different things. And the sen~e of lOuch. whIc h lhe ape hardly
P')w'sscs in ih crudest inilial form. ha~ bcen dCl eioped on ly ~ ide by sid!.'
.... ith the del'clopmcnl of Ihe human hand ilsel f. Ihrough Ihe medium of
lahour."

T he ma ny descriptions of animals' life in d ica te how Ihe adults

teach their offspring everything needed fo r th e life of an individual of the species. In some .::aSe5 this is a bility to hUIIl, in
others to employ features or the habi tat so as to hide from a dangerous enemy, in all cases a capacity to re ac ! a dequately to certain objects, T he experience of tra in ing a n imals indicates that
their i.llher~nt c?g~iti\le capacities respond to improvement wilh111 qUlle WIde hmlts, T he condit ioned refie, character of animals' a~lions, does not excl ude thei r cogni t ive c haracter. Many
o.f man s a:t]ons. ?ased on knowledge. u lt ima te ly become not
SIm ply hablls but III essence reflexes. A dri ver brakes his car
qUI~e I~ec~ankally in response to traffIC ~ign als, although this
act ion IIl ll lally. had a cogni tive cha racter.
L. V. Krushllls~y. who is engaged in elhologic al s tudies, sugg.ests Ihal the trad.HtOnal opposing of man as a c realure possessll1g re ason 10 alllmais Ih t I k' .
idealist a nd r ]"'
. a ac, ]1. IS a last con cession to Ihe
I -.
~ IglOuS lIlt erpret at lon of man. Bul how far is it '
eg lli mate to hnk Ihe nOTi on or a r d' I d ' fT
and the ani ma l with idealism
a ~ c? I. e rt:nce befween man
whe n this d ifference h d' ran d religion, I. e. a nOlion Ihat arose
in ract a un ique creaa, 1I~ aC I become radical? For is man nol
ure.
In h is article ' Do Animals Hav
'
.
Ihe q ue\Tioll of hi ... tille po' ( I e. ReasOll , ~rushl1lsky answers
operat ional delin ilion of Sl I'll' Y In the malll , starting from an
purposive actions pe rfor m;~a.son das an aggregate of defInile,
obvio u:i aim.
III or ~r to a chieve a more or less

"

\\-'hll.' n'COlII'~'n,
d car- I,' IIV ' 0 , , omnkl ....." .,' " _' " "
f h
'
"
AIn
"I'~ " UlIlS 0 t ..- I}'IV' of
8ln..-r;l ll~.l t l"u Ih" wrte l lal J ' 0 e),ntic ... lio ll a., .,rt" .,.
,
,.
.
I
t"
la ,or.c 0 In1eralI,alu,u) IIIIl ' <\ - "'"lII-!I,utWr,1 Uk o ( .... rson I , 1<,11 ,
.,. . _
_
. _ ,
."~
.,
~ ;.In e)'prC"liSlOn III
t ' unUIary rail )11'11 a..!lVI v. Wt n Ira '11:;0 flOiC ib tkv':" lJIm~11 alfl <. lg t>c ... $,

SU~'h <I ll amwc r til Iht, lIUeS li~ll~ I.: annot heIr drawing alle ntioll
to.'ts 110 11 -\t a l1d a r~, f r.mk ly ~)fI~ lOal I.: haracte r, But are thc Ilfll"r.
atlOna l ch a rac tcn ... lH:s of thlllkl11g ... uffll.:ient for a "dentif] c UIl derst.a ndlll g o f rc~... on , a ... c..~c.nt i all y de vel o ped, ~ mploying I."onCCI~IS ~ l1 d .\y m~ol s. ThcorctlClan'> prcocc uplt!'d With problems of
ar l1flC la1 Il1tdhgcll cC fr om the standpoint of cybcrnctics. and
wh o of le n itl~nliftcd I~ t' b.rain. and compulcr, have s ubsequently,
of cou rse, reJec tetl Ihls s lmpllf]cd operational understanding of
reason,
Frolll my point o f view. based lik e any phil osophi cal orin ion
on a th eoretical summing up of the historical development of
knowl edge and prac ti ce, the ques tion of animal s' capadty 10
think s till remain s unresolved, An operational delinition of
thinking is undoubtedly nec essary for objec tive s1l1dy of animals'
psyche. bUI it is abs tracted prec isely from the psyche. Yel thinking, at least in the form mos t studied by science, i,e, human thinking, pres upposes the existence not only of a psyche bu! also
of consc iousness. i.e. of the mos t developed form of the psyche.
Beha viourist psychology, true, denies the exis tence of consciousness in general, trying to explain thinking simply "as an aggregate
of more or less purposive ac tions, That reduction of thinking
and conscious ness s imply to behaviour abstracts the fact that
man's action is quite often the result of a preliminary pondering
and weighing of motives, and choice; ye! il is the existence of
this preliminary stage, i.e. of a kind of mOlivation. and in particular the existence of considerations of various kinds accep!ed
as the basis of action. that essentially characterises human behaviour. But the behaviour of animals fhat hflve a developed central nervous system is also not reducible !o reflex responses to
ou tsid e stimulation. And it is not just a maner of an inner stereotype of behaviour inherent in an animal thai is relaTively independent of external influences. When we recognise animals'
capacily to cognise certain things and prope:ties, and. rec~gn.ise
in thai an of len highly developed capaclly for Idenllfytng
phenomena. it is necessary to explain these facts without assuming
anYlhing analogous to though!, cotlS(iolisness. and reason. Human
thinking and consciousness, or course. presuppose n~t on,ly the
.existence of the brain but also of a social medIUm. Biologically.
however, thinking is a function or Ih.e brain and, h~man thinking
is seemingly preceded phylogenetlcally by Similar forms or
4_01b62

Th~

autl'

nent SO\
ponding I
Sciences,
students

of sludie~
and acti\
of ph..ilOSi

psychic orientation, something akin 10 prt'-n) "

thinking, and pre-reason.
nSllOusness, pre.
Leibniz claimed that man dilTl'red frolll th...
.
. f
.. h
.. itnlrna/ln
city orapnont ought. The st'nSl' of tllal (when b.
a capa.
t~e idealist interpretation of the aprion') Sel'mi~ ~tra_cled. from
hlg,hl~' developed conceptual Ihinking being spel'i~ y I'ConSlsts in
tenstlc only of man,
ca y charac_
A scientific explanation of animal 'thinking' " _
.
sible without assuming that animals perform lo'gs.,see,mmgl y Pos.
i..
e dr aw conc ,uSlons
.
f rOIll generalisations a d Ica 0rerar'IOns,
grounds for an animal's 'conclusion' is its sellsi n cOdncepts, The
1g
of.a certain faci that signifies in accordance w,.,'h a~ perception
'y It

an Inner ( .
~ own, species) stereotype of the sought-after r
ma lll_
or Simply something unknown that arouses w tPherY', a danger,
so on.
a c u ness, and
There are no grounds for claimin h
.
is known to them; they hardl h
g t at anlr!lals. realise what
do not understand something ~h ave eve~ an mklrng that they
where it is an object of e ' . ey perceive the unk nown only
object is nOl at the same~i rcepllo1li ~ut t~is id~ntification of the
And though man quite ofte~e/ se -Identification of the subject
which is imprinted in h'
oes not know what he knows that
..Ive eff on, i.e. without stud
IS memory for exa
I'
'
'.
mp e, wlfhoul cogni~an therefore sometimes y, observafJon. and conscious fixi ng
to him, he had no idea ofeven remembers facts thaI, it seem~
. Comparison of man's c . . .
, .
lions of animals brings o~~nlll.ve activity with the simila r func.
between Ihem only when', qUlle clearly the radical difference
~Iudy,. In Other words, th~ ~~es beY,ond Ihe scope of a biolog ical
r~~7tIn~ ~s a social and, mor~~:s~n p~es~pposes a na lysis of
de s a already, thousands
,eve opmg process, whose
arly
and
the difference in princio~ years ago, brought ou t quite
anim!~e dcognitive activity of Pa e, bet~een human k now ledge
not unde 0 not possess consciou~'ma s. The convic tion that
also by t~~t:d.' v..rhich has been h~~SS' do nOt thi nk, and do
human 'arrog aJOfI,ty of materialists is not on ly by idealists but
lion of the fac~~~:las a definite, if n~1 w~~lJso mUch evide nce of
and cognising
men are Constantl d' y adequate, expla na,
mOre and
y 'ScOvering
.
extending the b
. mOre new ob'
, uncovering,
obvious practica~~ndafIes of their kn~e~tsd and con tinuously
repeat their old uccesses thanks to th We ge and achi ev ing
without revealing way of life frOm ge at, ~hile anima ls only
rion naturally aris~n~~~~ked c,apacity ~e~~I~n to. gene ra tion,
'>0
er thiS strictly r .p Ove II. The ques.
Imlled Stock of know-

ledge, mainly preJclcrmmed by the ammal's !t .....c,- c.h ..

. "
-b"
. t'~"~ arader
lSliCS, 1:1 eumpatl e wllh the concept or knowin
.
ness. and thinking,
g. conscIOUS<
the word
.. '
" Knowing, in the human 'Sense of .
' ,.~ ,x'onded pr(}uUC~
/Ion ,of knowlulge, the pace of whICh IS steadily growing, overcomlllg the ~hySIOI()glcally limited nature of the human ~n.'ir
organ.,. That l'i. why man (."ogni<>es according to the le\'cl of de .. el.
~pr:'en,t of ~(~Iety and not according to his !tpedes (biologiral)
11I11l1allon. ,!he analogy between the production of things and
Ihe, pro~ucllon of knowledge IS quite legitimate, despite the latler s bemg unable, becau!te of It) nature, to be such a continuous
process,. organise~ III a planned way and standardised. as the
production of thlllgs is.
T~e production of things requires the production of definite.
applied knowledge. The latter is developed through knowledge
of phenomena thai, at lea.<,t in their overwhelming part, lie out.
side production, forming the whole objecti\'e world acce~ible
to knowledge (in the gl\'en historical conditions). It is no le~
essential, too, that the production of thing!:! is a manv~dimen
sioned alteration of the phenomena of nature, and,
it were,
discloses them for knowledge, The progres.!:l of knowledge is
dependent therefore on the production of things, ir not directl ..
than indirectly. I have in mind not so much s..:ientlnc knowl'edge as knowledge as a whole in all its forms. As ror scientific
knowledge, material production provides it ~ well by instru
mental means of investigation.
The development of material production abO\e all presupposes
each new generation'S inheritance of the level of the produc
tive forces attamed by the preceding generation of people. Not
only a re the means of production thus handed down in Ihis relay
as bas ic to further proliferation of the wealth of each new generat ion, but also Ihe technology and organisation. All that. plus
the articles of production whose diversity grows together with
prog ress, are not only embodied labour but also materialised
h uman knowledge. which is fully amenable to distribulion.
H uma n knowledge. through its objectification. is preserved not
only in the objects of labour but also in a more specific form,
is a me nable to more or less direct mastery, since it i:s fixed in
language . sel OUI in books and passed on to Ihe rising generation
during lea r ni ng. upbringing. training, education, etc. When we
take into account thai this inheriting of acquired knowledge
has only become really effective in modern times. it will be more
understa ndable why knowledge has been developing atconSlanlIy accelerating tempos since then.

as

Sf

The aut I
nenl So'
ponding
Sciences.
students
of stu die
and acti'
of phi/os

The main fal'l, for insl ..lllct." thaI 1ll ..1kt.S klhl\\.'ftI'd~l' d hi~, '

' I
'
' orl_
(aliy den~ Ioplllg. socia pron'\.', I,t.', {lIlt.' pnlpt.'r only In mall r
in Ihe presen:alion, a~c~JlII~II<llinn. alld I~~olifl'rillinll of kll~l~~~
edge through I,IS materrallSi.II,IOn <lnd ~)hJl\tll~t.,,~tlnl1,. S{ll1lt.' wnrkt.,f'S
have called tlus process socIal ht.'rt.'dlly, C d"IlIlguI"hrng it in Ih
~'ay from heredity as a, biological rm(e\s, Tht.' gt.'IIt.'til' iliforlll:~
tlOn paS!it.>d on to olTspnng doc,> 1101 ('olltaln an\, knowll."dge '
'
"
.even
. ~'df
111 c~JUe orm. srnce the knowlcdgt.' anlUlrl'd bv a living IT ""
' , 'd' 'd I - c . ure
d unng
lIs III IVI ua deveklpmenl is not illherih,'d bv ils olT,p ,
'
I
k
.
, - ring
TI Ie Iearnll~g
t lat la es rlace dUring an .:InilHars individual I ~
velopmellt IS the older generation's as..'iimilalion of cerlai".
,
B I '
.. xpenellce, ut t Ie scope of thIS knowledge and these skills remains
un~1t~~ed because of the absence in animals of a means of rnatenalJsrng them',let alolle means of spreadi ng Ihern, Therefore
1~01 ?Illy the main features of an animal's behaviour are a rea~Isatlon of ~he genOlype. but also the knowledge of objecls Ih ,
It has acq~lred, Deviations in a beller or a worSe direction (h:'
corne O~I III the phenotype do nOI get expression in succeeding
~:nerallons, ~hc changes in Ihe gene slock thai come about
ro
'ha , u'hgh,~,~latlbo~s have no relalion with Ihe knowledge and skills
'
'"
e 1\ Ing elng has Whe
of link belwe
' , 1 1 genellc COnt1l1U lty IS the sole Iype
oul. Only hiSl;;i;~nce~I~I\I~~i~' dt~eloprnent of knowledge is ruled
spoken above) makes both Y , out WhClSe forms I have already
of knowledge possible S' soc~al progress and Ihe development
mal of any species re' I~ce ,I e knowledge inherent in an aniImmutable II
'f
'
know ledge is a radical ma1l1S
qual"
" Ie fl se 0 developmg
tel1l, While an animal's k lIat,lve alteratIOn of ils form and connow edge co' d
'
qUlred by il and is ',nse
bl
mCI es With Ihe skills ac,
'
para e from Ih
pOssesses an essential inde
d
.em, human knowledge
~h~ de~elopmel1l of kno~f~~ ~lCre ~f lIS application and use,
glvmg rise to types of k
Ig
adlcally allers this process
each olher,
now edge qualitatively differenf fro~
o

At the dawn of civilisation th "

'.
already called knowledge'
~ ~oclal dIVision of labour had
~enl~1 activity, qUalitaliv~l~todi:~~g as a specialised form of
_ n~wmg, Subsequently this intellect enlt fr~m, everyday human
~~g y ~o, Some extent inherelll in ~a c~nOSH>" Which is seemrme .m~o an organic need f
ertalll al1lmals was Irans~or specla/rsed ~nowledge (malh~~ kl,lowled~e and, moreover,
kai, etc.). An IIJ.usion of 'pure kn alltal, S~Jelllific. philosophinowledge for Its Own sak
o~ edge arose on I
'
c~nt~med investigalory aCliv~;y a~ lllusiol~ thai in f~~~[ ~~:~
use u mental labour. And when Plat~ sfe~llic form of SOCially
~2
calmed Ihat 'life without

t"nquiry I') not worth liVing for;1 man', he was only 'itatrng thIS
hl!. IOI'.il.:al !'oJ':! ',lilt! hIS IlW.lIene!.J Ihod it wa~ also an IlIldl\pUled
fa c i. In Ihe ~plnl ,,( Ihe Ide.alist inlt'rprclalioll uf knowlt.'dge.
Knowing hecarn~ a hpccialised organic need wh{)Se salisfaL'
lioll gavt,L hpcci<.ll illtclle'-.:Iual pleasure in the cnnditions Ill' sIan',
ownIng !){I(iely, ill whiL'h l.abnur was slavish and not worthy of a
free man,The ~lpp()<jition Oel.:oming eslablisht!'d between knowlllg
as the sall'ifal.:IIOIl of <.III organic need and physkall.abour a'5 unfree, even halt.'ful activlly. inseparable from (ompubiull and
cocrdon. corrt!'spondcd to Ihe antagonistic opp{)';ition bt"lween
freclllt"n anti 'Slave .. , The forming of an oPP()<jitioll between mcntal and physical prodm:tion was very closely linhd with this
basic anlagonism uf slave-owning society, That did nol mean,
of course. tl1al intellectual activity wa.':i becoming the on:upatioll
of slave-owners, but it did mean Ihat only freemen belonging
10 Ihat class possessed the privilege of indulging in Ihal exaltt"d
task-knowledge, Mental labour. and inlelleclual cognition. al..
tivity not directly linked wi(h the exploitation of man by man,
thus first arose only as an alienated activity opposed to proouL'tive labour and consciously counterposed to il. The counterposing of theory and practice was consequently born of cinlisation
itself, arising as a consequence of the origin of pri\'ate property
and Ihe splilling of society inlo antagonistic cl3S.'>es.
In developed capilalist society. in which theoretical aClivilY
has fully disclosed its significance for practice. whid undoubtedly discredits Ihe idealiSt counrerposing of theory (0 practice,
the alienalion of knowledge finds mystified reflection in reactionary philosophic doctrines of an irrationalisl hue. Schopenhaller, for example. saw the very fact of speciali.':ied Lognitive
activity as a dislonion of human nalUre,
Kllowledgt' Ihe wrOI .. 1 is becoming Ihe main poinl, Ihe aim of all life;
individual exislence, on [he conlrary, is being rl'du~etJ 10 a minor mailer. 10 a ml're "WailS: coosequeculy, Ihe normat relation i.\ being lurned
quile inside out. I',

From his standpoint Ihe existence of knowledge simply as a

means subordinaled to the will would have been [he normal relation, Typically, however, this ~islortion of the. normal ~elalion
(which seemingly should be aVOIded) was ~escnbed as (Sid). enius. The highest de\'elopmenl of man's IIlteJleclual L'apaCllles,
thollgh. was not slighled .bul Ireated as a patenl abnormal!I),
The Coullterposing of 'lJfe' 10 knowledge. and the disparaglllg
of knowing in ils IllOst developed. specialised forins. already
revealed in Schopenhauer. was taken further by thinkers dose
,~ ,1

The autl
nent Soponding
Sciences.
students
of studie
and acti
of philos

to him like Nietzsche and Ber.!!~nn, who no IOIl!!l'r .treated genius

as a onesided development of UlIeUel1 t.o th.e dlt~Ul~I..'nt of other
vital functions but as an irrational dOlll1n3tlllll 01 vlIal elements
over a 'pure' need for knowledge allegedly foreign to life. The
unsoundness of the irrationalist cOllnterpo\ing of life to knowl.
edge is that the opposition between specialised intelll'CTUal activ.
ity, which has become professional,. ~lId the di\!~rsity of human
life is made an absolute by an antl-lIltellecTuallst treatment of
life. Knowledge, in fact, whether it is a mailer of its unspecialised
forms thai constitute ihe essential content of every person's life,
even when he does not suspect it,or when one has in mind its
specialised forms that presuppose a corresponding education and
professionalisation, is becoming the affair of an ever- increasing
part of the po~ula.tion of our planet. The strik ing fact that 90 per
cent of all SCienTists are our contemporaries impressively characterises this process of the intellectua lisation of mankind.
K~ow.ledge, ~ven in its specialised forms, i.e. those that pursue
special, 111 particular production or socia-polit ica l tas ks, is not
only a means, of course, but also an end, i.e. the intellectual devel?pment of Ihe human personality. One can agree with Einstem, that 'the pro~uc~ of our work is not the final goal', I!! The
final goal for man IS man himself. And the fact that the mass of
Ihe people in an exploiter society are the 'means' for producing
a sur~lu~ prod~ct, however it has deformed man's nature, has
not ellm~nated .ltS main determinacy. The alienA tion of human
~nce, m~ludmg the alienation of cognitive activity is a historifohrm of development that enriched th'e essence of
rnaa n.Y 'T,ahnsle!'t
at IS W al Marx W I
development of the
. I'sfs ressl~g when sum ming up the
capna .ISt ormatIOn,
In fact, howeyer. if the narrow bo
.
.
1f not the uniyerSality of th . ~.r~~Ols !orm IS peeled off, what is wealth
productive forces. etc. prod e In .'YI u~1 s needs, capacities, enjoyments.
the full deyelopment of h uce(! In unIVersal exchange: what is it if not
forces of So-called Nalu~ernan co~:rol oyer the forces of nalure-over the
wealth if not the absolute' aSr~~'
as those of his own nature? What is
O
anyk precondition oth" 'h, lITepreced
""h 109 Of. man's creaTiye abilities without
, which
rna es the totality of this d ,
109 h
IstOTlcal deyelopment
POwers as sllC,
h not measured
I'Ye Opment
e Ihe deyeJopmentof all human
b
-- i..
All these measures of h
y any prfIJ,ously gh"'11 yardstick?O
ical.ly Iran~ient forms o~~~n;ea.lth, ir~espective of the historploner .Soclety, ~re measures otl1\fest.a~lOn, g~~erated by exgoes .,,:uhout saymg, only in man cognitive actl vlly inherent, it
~:~tllll.on. as developing knowled'g!n that sense we can say that "
y Imlted Character lS h
overcoming its ow .
. <..
human activity.
, a uman aClivity on ly, a SP~~i ~:~I~
54

NOT ES
B.

A. KllLne'sov

(Pod.), Hiologi"ta.

Vysshaya Vlkola, \toseow.

\9"7S. P 105.

Ih,d. P lOo.
Kart Man. H'fJllomlC ..mrJ Philosoph!'. MoJfllal:riptl of /844. Procress PubIr.hcrs. Moscow, IQ74, p 1.11)
t Ihid .. P fo'J.
_
, Niko Tinberlcll_ Th,. flurifl, Gull"s World. Coilltls, London. '9.'13.' p Xlv.

Henri Wallon.

LlvlJluliufI psy.holoci</u~ d~ r~""lfIl.

Armand Colm. Pans,

1968, p 33.

Karl Marx and Frederick Erlgels. Th,. G,.rlJ1Q'l Jd,.ology.PrOSress PlJblish

er~, Moscow, 1976, P 37.

V. Gordon
1956, p 9.

Childe.

SfJc:iety ufld AfII,,,..ledge,

Harper & Bros.. Nl'w York,

, Niko Tinbergen. Op. cit., p. 132.

III

II
I'

13
H

15

Ibid ., p 234.
Ibid . p 235.
Ibid., P 234.

Frederick Engels.

Dialectics of ,...atuu.

Progress

Publ~hers. MOIKOw.

1974

pp 222-223.
Ibid. p 174.

. .
L.V. Krushinsky. Do Animals Haye Reason1 Prtrlxl4. 1968,8.62.

See, for example: M. Steenbeck. Social Heredll)" and Tomorro... BUiJll5h.hl!t

naukj. Znaniye, Moscow, 1974.
. .
443
17 Great Dialogues of Pluto, r-iew American L~brary, 1\Oew York. 1.956. p . . .
Ie Arthur Schopenhauer. Perl'rga und ParalJpoml'fw,: kin'll' plulasopl1l5lhe
Schrifte'l, Vol. 2, Verlag A. \1. Hayn. Berlin. 1851, P 80..
_
.
19 Albert Einstein. Sobraflie flauchnykh trudUl. (Collected SClCnltlk ""orks).
Vol. IV, Nauka. Moscow. p \43.
..
\f
F ed!U Karl Marx. OUllines of the Critique of Political Econo~). Karl. an:,
~86
erick Engels. Collected Works. Vol. 28. Progress Publishe~ \fOSCOw. I .

16

pp 411, 412.

MAN AND PHILOSOPHY

Man and philosophy-what should one begin

~it h ?

But with what man-the savage or the one that IS called

or thinking, Homo .~apien.~? Or perhaps one should
philosophy? But again. with what philosophy? With
existed in Ancient China'! In Ancient India? In Ancient

In Gre~'e? Or with later philosophy (mediaeval,

modern, contempor<lry)?
II is seemingly impos.~ible to begin our survey with
the olher, i.e. with man or with philosophy. Thai is
but a fal.1. II is impos.~ible 10 begin philosophy with (the
breause there is no objeclive movemenl, but there are no
live ,rounds cilher for beginning eXamill<llion of man

losophy. But we do gel a hinl from Ih.11 uf the way out

very embarrassins position; since man is part of nature,
losophy IS a form of individual and social consciousness

ft~~ion of.objecli~e realily in man's consciousness., one c.lin Im~e(hately ~'th Ihal, i,e. with nature, man. and
As Lenm wrote In his Philo.\Ophical Notebooks:
~~~ is. Ih~ kience of fognition. It is the Theor, of knowl~.
IS In., ~fttcTIOI'I of n i h

a ur(' ~. man. But Ihi~ i~ nOI a simple noc an

;or':a~: .~: ~('ft~'lion.. but th(' pro.:es., of a series ~f abstraction,
11.5, ('II:. (thou.~~(' opme~1 or. ,on'epl~, law~, elC.,
th ese
.
' SClI:n' .'- Ih(' IOSI.:al Idea')
,
.:har."er
I) nalure, 2, human :'O&~~le e_f(, are Uflua/I)', objecliv~ly, Ihree
clthil ..1M nalure), Ind ;~
I~(' human brai~ (as Ihe hi&hea
C....llOn and th. '.'m
. e orm of f('necllon of nature in
(onsals
P I ?f (OI1(eplS, laws., ~.'.'
C't(. Man .(ann?, (OI!Iprehend
_ re;e~I5f:)'
~
e-. ;Iete. . Its 'immediale IllIar ,I - mlfror nature as Q
th.. cruc_. aburactions,
II)'. he (In only ~'rrnally '~~(
COIInpll!, 11",,- I kientilk ptcTure cl die ...
04

pi

=:~~~~i ~~~u~ni~n.al ~aw.gOverned

Ih

-=..
.
I "

. (111ft ca uahl the most .

..... f1Ilhe whole a"rep;mportant and mosl essential
-... . . . phill I .)1". For i~:::e cO':"bPlex relalions of
NIIIion of man and h"1
POISSl. Ie 10 begin a
P 'OSophy w,'h
"""
II
pnmltlve man or

"
savage SInce
"
is an organIC:
is organically
fore no countelp'''''''
quire necessary be. iii
ry 10 begin examination
from the moment in human
was only after near.,
obtained. that pe~le
sophie knowledge,.:l Prom
thus not been an
pille
but has been difftcult, serious
general concepti or
cepts, laws, and c._ori. that are aka
cal, and in the socialaense a dear-of
and consequently
lal instrumelltil or

l1li""
._,..i...

Th~

autl
nent SO'
ponding
Sciences.
students
of studie
and acti
of philos

sciousness., and striving, are moulded and developt"d In thaI proct'~. Although it sometimes ~Is~ seems 10 man fhat IllS aim is
quite independent of the obJectl\'e world,
in aclUaf fact I Lenin wrote! , men \ {'nlh ate engl'lU,kr~'d by thl' objl"t tiv~
world and presuppose it ,- -Ihey fmd II as \lmlt'lhlllg glVt'n, Jl(e\ent.

And again:
in his praclical activity, man is c(lllfr(lllleJ wilh Ihe (lbJCCliv(' world, is
dept'nd~nt on it, and determines his aClivil)' by il. I

Is that good or bad? Perhaps it would be belfer if man were freed

in general from any dependence whatever on the external objective world?
One could answer Ihat as follows: man will never free himself
completely from his dependence 011 the external world because
he is part, and an organic part, of it. By creating new means of
production he has obtained a certain power over nature but for
all that this power has a relative character, just as huma~ knowledge of the laws of nature is relative; the more and deeper man
understands nature and its laws. the more obvious the relative
character of what he knows becomes, and the broader is the
~xtent of the sphere of what he does not yet know and what it
IS necessary t,o know, This process of knowing is endless in all
resp~cts and III all senses (objective, subjective, logical, hisrori~al,
III the abstract and Ihe concrete, and in the material and the
Ideal, etc.).
Cognition is the elernal e dl
_.
Th~ reJfection of natur~ ~ man
n
apprOXImatIon of thought 10 the object.
s thoughl must be understood not 'lifelessly',
not 'ab:;tractly' not dt'\ I~d
in th(' eternal ~OCt'ss 0~0l 0/ mo-.'emt'nI, .n?' 'Withou/ contradictions, but
solution,movement, th~ anSlng of cOlllradictions and their

e:s

The endless, Contradictor r

..
~ot ,O~ly and not so mUch Yd~ OCess of cogl11tlon ,Shows that. m~n
I,e,. IS I~ a dialectical relation~heinds on. nature ,as IIlt.eracts With It,
objective reality When
. p and IIlteractlOI1 WIth nature and
tively affects it 'and tracofgll1stn~ t.he objective world man ac'
"
ns Orms It 111 ac
d
'.,
1I1terests, Ideas, and ideals 'M'
COr ance with hiS aim,
the object i\ ~ world, but 'cre:t~: ft?~Sciousness not only reflects
By mastenng the World and
:'.
t? tra~sform it but also to reali~~~~IStng II, man strives not only
~~Ity In the objective World throug~~~elf, to give himself objece world always does not salisf h' t":lself and to fulhl himself,
deavour~ to t.ran.storm it by his Y ,am ,Ill sOm~t~ing, and he ena~d reahses hIS alms, ideas, and
~c.ttCal actIVity, Man asserts
himself as a human being in pra~t~cln PraCtice, and also asserts
58
e. n that sense

id:

pfudicr
high., ,han 'ih ~"iI:al knqwlmg~ for I has nol .)nty Ih~
diani1 y u( uniY('~luy, bul.OO f immdialc ae :.;alicy,

True_ CVt:11 1Il<i1t s praCllca( acti\,ty comes up dgamsl obstactt"')

in it ~ path thai are difflc JIt and sometimes e\'en impo5.'>ible 10
ovefC(lInC !>Itll.:t" tht" obje.th,t: world goes its own way and man\
path and the way (J( fhe world do nor alway') corrt"\pol1d and
e ven les!; oftt:n coincide . .\1an'1 will and his practical activity.
f\lrthermllrt", nftt:n delach Ihem!:>dves from cognition and do not
re cognise tht" truth bt:hind objt"<"live reality. To avoid thai il
is necessary to unite cognition and practice in a theory of knowledge, otherwise the good and kindly, and good intentions remain
s ubjeclivt" imperative!:>, When, on the contrary, man compiles
a true picture of the objective world for himself, he can change
this world in the direction and forms that are necessary for him.
The activity of man, who has corutrl.1cte<! an obje..:ti\e ~"";Iure of the ... orld
for him~elr. chanf(t'$ eXlernal actuality, abolishes its del('rminat('nes.s
( ~ alters some sides or other, qualitie.. c:J. ill, and thus rC'mo,'t"$ from it
the features of Semblance, ~xlernality and nullity, and makes it as ~_
ing in and for itsetf ( .. objecti,~l)" truel,"

Man is constantly striving in his life to know the truth, in spite

of its often being very bitter.
,
So, what is the truth that man strives to find by means of phIlosophy, i.e. the theory of knowledge, logic, and dialecti~s?
Pontius Pilate of the Bible. the Roman procurator. hanng
heard the word truth from the mouth of Christ. remarked 'What
is truth?', which he invested with a sense that he himself already
knew that there was no truth, In that question one could catch
a feel'ing that the man asking it-Pilate-had cOl1\iinc~d hims~lf
thai truth did not and could not exist, and had lost tOterest 111
everything in the world because it was a \'anit)' of\'anities: A distrustful altitude to philosophy (which is concerned wllh ~he
search for truth) is Iransparent in that question, Pe~ple like
Pontius Pilate and all who have power. nenr take philosophy
seriously, if they have studied it, since they assume that truth
depends on them, tl1al it come~ from then~. or at least sh,ould .b.e
a1 their service. Throughout tlllle the ruh~g. classes ha\ e stnsen to harness philosophy in d~fence ?f theIr mterests. But 'whe~
philosophy tried to concern lI~elf With the search fot trll.th~ It
evoked sllspicion at once, and a taboo was clapped on thiS .111vestigation, People were sentenc~d to death: done away with.
b 11 at the stake for the real alliance of philosophy and man,
R~~all Socrates, CoperniclIs. Giordano Bruno, and the thousands and e\'en mi!liol.l~ of honest people who ,have preferred
10 die for their belief 11\ Ihe truth than 10 betray the truth or to
59

,,

.\

'r

,.~

,,

- .

I
,
,

ncnt So'
ponding

}
/

1"1r

,",,be'-a'LSe
they well Undl'r\tnod Ihal rt'Jl'Clioll of the
"
I was worse Ihan any death for il re-al humull. It Was no
Iru I
..
H
I
I
I "
'
accident
that the great dialectiCian ege. II.' 1('11 IOUI..' ling 011 lhl"
subject-mailer of philosophy. wrOle:

Sciences.
students
of studie

and acti
of philos

The simplest
obJe.:I of (lUT
n noble word,
and in spirit.

~!Yj

.J
I( /'
""

'.
rel10UIlt:..

The autl

;
~

~
,

,,

,
~

./

'

........-

~.

.-

-I

/,

'"

"

"

."

-,

I
,

-'
,,

ily as ~ k uti of gencrilli' atil 'n of "r",clice, as awareness of II, as

awarelu.."SS of forward movcmC1lt: pradice theory practice.
et~.1t is ill pral,;c,JI.u.:tiv,ty that the !heory of knowledge, logic.
and dialectic,) ari$('. Man'!. hL';torical activuy IS esvntially the
history of his practical a,llvity; the latter becomes logic. the

and rn~t irllt"lligihk answer t(l thb qut"~litln fwhat is lht.

science-- ~ll.l, is tho! Truth 1\ tht' OhJl'ct of L\l~ic Truth i!and the thing IS nobler .sill!. 51' I~lng ih man l~ \(Iund at hean
the search for Iruth rtlU~t awake all tIll' cnlhu\i'.\111 tlf hi$

theory of knowledge. and in a general sense djale~tiC5 through

praclice. Lenin repeatedly noted that the billion-times re~tition
of practice h.d man'", COn'iClou')n~ to the repetilion of various
figures, so that the latter gOI the sigmflCance <"If axioms:

nalure.~

Hegel's confession about his philosophical acti\'ity is s igniflcanl

in this respect:

Man\. pra!.:lil'e. r('realll', uetf. II ou~nd mil:;'" limn., bect'Jrn" ,M50lidatl-d ill marl's cOIl"iouvuev by figurn x OIic. Prectsdy (and onty) ,Xl
account of

What I have generally aiml'd at and aim for in my philosophical elforts

is scienliflC knowledge of truth, It is the hardest way but it alone can have
interest and 1'31ue for the mind when the laller once ventures on the road
of thought. and has not fallen into conceit frorn thaI. but has retained The
will and courage of The truth: it soon li.nds that method alone is able to COIIT_
rol thought. and TO lead it TO Ihe point and keep iT there"

thi~

thousaml-million-{otd

re"~ilion.

In thaI respect the development of philosoph)' in hLSlory corresponds to the development of logic. i.e. the hislOrical coincides in
its main elements with the logical. and \ice Vef')a. The proce.,.~
of renection of the objective world in human consciousne\.') is
a dialectical process-dialectics: at the same time this 'Process IS
the hislOry of knowledge and, of course, of I(\gic.

The thinking mind slrives not only to know objective truth as

a reflection of objective reality but also to know the forms of
social c?~scio~sness,themselves, i.e. science, morality, law, art,
an~ religIOn, III which objective reality is also reflected, and
which are to some extent 'applied logic', For each of these forms
?f ~~ial consciousness reflects human life, and the life of the
mdlv,ldual ~erson. But that only happens when a subject -object
relation anses and exists,

Logic [Lenin wrOlel i..<. Ihe M:ience noc of e"lerna! ~('Irms ~ ,bough';- b~1
of the laws of de\'elopmenl 'of all. ~c:ri"'!a..nalural and ~Ir: .Jal !hm~_
i,e .. of the development of Ihe enT'"lfe concrete COOTen! of the ..odd and of
ilS cognition, i.e., the sum-local. Ihe conclusion ollhe His/orY of kno ....-Jedge
of Ihe world.

If one considers Ihe relation of b

b'"
,
su )eCIIO 0 leci In toglC one Inusllake mto
aCCOUnt also Ihe general premis
f B"
r

,
'
.
es
0
elnS!:
0
the
COllcrete
subject (= fife
oI man ) III [he obJectl\'e surroundings"r

wrote Lenin. It is man who fI

d
" "
world naturall
.
re ects an knows the objective
with the proce.s%' ;ndftm t,hat sense his life is organically linked
I
cognition organi~a~e ectlo~~n? cogni,tion, jusr as reflection and
in man and man imyenter IS,hfe, PhIlosophy is thus immanent
and PhilOSOPhy are ~anentlYdtnh,erent in philosophy, Both man
is a complex cOntradi~tc:rne with the search for !fluh, which
development; life the
ry process, covering three stages in its
and technique) ~nd mPorocess of cognition (including practice
r~anl,formulation' of truth:reorlessfll
'Truth i u truth, Lenin gave a bril.
five Idea. man advances t
d s ,a prOCess, From the subjec - 'v
(ice" and teChnique' .;. A dwfar s objective truth through "prac-'
n Urther' 'Fr
I
"
.
and Sll b}ectl\'e
end
10 obi"' /'
.
om
tIe SUbjeclil'e lIotion

C Ive truth' .. A
II
C
~r practice
pia""
a
mOSl
"I
.
t
a
h'
~~
Vl1a role"
, , stages of this prorea I~ IS creal1ve capacities d ,II IS In practice thai man
bemg and as an individual He ~n ~onftrms himself as a human
6()

eve ops theory in practical activ-

That is how broadly. profoundly. and universally Lenin understood dialeclical logic. Dialeclical logic is the natur~l result of
Ihe dialectical development of the concret~ content ot ,the world,
and of man's and mankind's cognition of 11. lIS reflecTlQnb~' human knowledge historically and logically. Thai is wh~'log:JC IS t~e
study of the laws of de\'eloprr~ent ~f ~11 Ih~t e~lSfs, I.. e. t,he d.oc ..
trine of the laws and categones ot dialectICS 111. Their hlslonGaI
development. OJl thai basis Lenin drew a conclUSion, 011 t~e :otnc ide nce of logic, the Iheory of knowledge. and dl~lecllcs,
In C p', I M..rx apptit"d I\) a singlt' s .. i~'IKe togic. diale.:ti~~ and Ihe Theory
of k'~o~;~ t'
mll[t'rialisrtl [Three IHlTds lire no' needed: IT 1S one and the
same Thing? which hB~ la~el1 e\erylhing I 3.tuable in Ht"geJ and de\-elopoed II

'or

, ,,,
r.,""

fi"
'I
I
"
'
S
hie;hest
deve!opn'lent
in
thai
de
Illtlon:
PIllosoplyaal
'~,
r
it becomes Ihe metllOd of re\-olutlOl.lary tr~nsformallon of r~a 1"\
'
I ,"s not rej'el"t the phIlosophIcal system but bnngs
ty. IV arxlsm (lo,.
. '
I
hod
d Ihat means
. ,
." nil\' with the dla[e("lIca mel
, an
.
tt 11110 organ;.: ~ l'plex varied system of Ihe laws and categones
that the ~h?, e l.o~ecti~s' as logic -and Iheory of knowledge is nOI
of matenal~sl d~:s a (I\mamic, dialectical characte:. All Ihe. laws
congealed ,lIl. f materialist dialectics are in a universal dlalecand categones 0

" "'S"

Of

J ,

,I

The aut

nent Sc
ponding
Sciences
student~

of studit
and act
of philo

tical relationship with ami il1terdepl'lldl'n~'l' \\11 \lllL' arhl[her in

the prOl:ess of retlection and lOgllllUlII 01 Illl' \lbjl'l'IIVl' world,
pass into one another, and are ~n C(lll\t.lI1t IlhWl'ml'nt ilnd de\'eI_
opmelll, reflel'ting and SUllllllll1g. lip till'. dl',\ 'dl\plllent of the
whole aggregate of the elemellts 01 the ObJl'CI1\l' wMIt!. Mt"lhod
and system coincide in a certain.wll.sl' in .~lan.lSt. Ll'niliisl philosophy, since method is the apphotH{11l 01 Ihe, (;JIL'gorial system
of the laws and categories of maleflallst dlall'l'lrt.:.'i tllthe (olll'rete
object of in vestigation, fo~ example 10. sl udy ing (a pit a list soc iely.
As Hegel wrOle: 'method IS Ihe l'OnSCIOlJ.\nes.'S of Ihe form laken
by the inner spontaneolls movement of the conte nt of Logic'.':
And in his The Phenomenology of Milld. he gave an example
of concrete application of the dialel'tical method 10 the Study
of consciousness. ' ~ BOlh the method and rhe system, naturally
had an idealist character with Hegel. Bur Marx developed th~
method of materialist dialectics and applied it to analysing the
capitalist soci.o-econ?m~c fo~mation. Because of that he not only
made great dIScoveries In sCience but also revolutionised human
practice. His philosophy has proved the mOSt ac tive and effective
one, and thai closest to man and the majority of mankind, and
consequ~ntly the most humanist one, Thai is why the philosophy
of. MarxiSm has become widespread in the world and has received such general recognition. In it man finds a scie ntific outlook on Ihe w.orld, a scientific methodology and humanist basis
for t~ansforml~g the world on socialist princip les and for transf?rmlng ma~ h~mself and human society on true humanist traditions and prinCIples The 'm . , f
"
philoso h w h. eetlng ~ man and Marxlst-Lenmlst
m k Pd Yh as Istonc, It ushered III a new era in the history of
an m,t eera of the soc' I"t
f
.
ciety the era of th
la IS trans ormat ion of human soand ;ocial emanci e ~t.rug~le of man and mankind for its national
ress. What the b~~ I~~~d or peace, d.emocracy, and social progman 10 rise by means f s. of mankind have dreamed of-for
is developing and gat~ ~htlO;OPhY 'to Preedom and Truth.l ,jstacles.
en ng orce today despite enormous ob~any people agree, irrespectiv f ' .
.
.
tat.lon, that Ihe individual's exi eo t.he.lr philosophIcal oneneXIstence of <>Iher peopl
d stence IS Impossible without the
essence society. So, as s~o~n nalure. But ol her people are in
~an,
we necess~rily also aSka~~:1 ~ose the q.lIesli.on of what is
es
!IV , and whal IS nature b
IS the SOCie ty III which man
ImprOve5 himself, he rem'ainesc:~h however man develops and
nature and a nalural being. Th I e sa~ne a Component part of
~quently means al the sam, "e questIon 'What is man?' conIme Or i I d
.
02
'
nc u es, the questions

I
I

a'S w('11 (lj' 'what IJ human socIety'" and 'what i~ nature'!'

Furtla"rllHlre. 00;: soon 1I'S We ask 'what is mall?' we IIIl'vitablv
imply hy il 'w)wt can lIlan het:ome"!', thai i~ can he be tht" ma.~ler
uf his j'atl~ iJlHJ make hir..,clf tht!' man he would like 10 becnmt'.
The key for unlocking the Sl'aet of human ~t!nce was Marx's
famous di\covt:ry thatlhe es\cnu: of man in i(1) reality i.s the- aggrc!,;Jtc of all sodal rclati()II~" \-far,.. showed that man cannOI be
treated abstraclly, ill isolation from nature and society. bUI only
in the dosest inlerL"<mneltion with them, i.e. concretely and historically,
The a b.<.tract treatment of man mostly dealt with revealing
human individuality and paid no anention at all to the material
and hi.<.torical preconditions that in the final analysis determine
the origin and development of individuality as such. A concrete,
historical treatment of the question 'what is man?' presupposes
the dialectical interconnection of the historical preconditions
and historical factors determining the genesis of man , his moulding, formation, and constant development, and also his individuality.
The staning poin[ is very simple: in order to engage in any
activity whatsoever and, in the final analysis, to make history,
men had to have the possibility of living. earing, drinking, clothing themselves, having a dwelling, etc., that is of sa tisfy ing
their vital needs. And to satisfy them men created means of producing their material life as the basic condi tion of history. The
process of sa tisfying needs by means of appropriate tools and
instruments of production leads to the rise of new needs, and
is endless. Finally, men constanrly reproduce their kind-production of life as a natural relarion. And the co-operation of individuals in the process of prodUCTion is a social relalion. And
si nce a certain mode of production is always linked with a certain mode of joint activity, mankind 's history has to be studied
and developed in conneclion with history of production and
exchange,
Man must also be studied and treated, consequently, in connection with the history of industry and exchange. If his essence
is the aggregate of all social relations, and .if these relation~ themselves are determined by the form of society. man and hIS conscio usness and his individuality, i.e. definite capacities, innate
abilities a~d talents, elc . are determined by society and are social products. Do we thereby not reduce the role of man in h!s
own becoming, formation, and d~velopment? ~oesn~t who he IS
and who he will be depend on him and on hiS chOice? Is man
really so weak and insignificant that he cannot mould, develop,
'.1

The aut
nent So
ponding
Sciences
students
of studie
and acti
of phn o~

and educate himsdf? HI.' (all, hut onl" throl '1 '
' , y.
A I ong Wit'I1 tIt.'
IUIlI\l'r.\JI
'
.
Igl .tlld
th ... n ks 10
sOCle
dl'\"1"10/1II1")I'
,.
' [ orces, IH1IVersallllh~rCOllr"'l'
.
.
lIve
alllnnl~ I)l' ~rl () . tht'"
. l' ro d u(.
" d / I
. .
co
l
t'" "'l'tS HI liS \1
emp /laSlse. 11 t lose l'ondlflllll.\ Ihc 'r""1 )')1' 'II
' . ,l arx
'd'
.'
......
t: l'(/t1<11 W"I
'
tIle rn I\-Idual depends 011 the wl.'alth )1' h - ',. I.
I.!~ th or
.
l
IS It:J (Onlle(1
"
Th e more t he
rndlndual rl'rstln l'Il','rs )'))"
"
1011'i.
'I
h'
.
l " afllH1S
I'
~It I 01 er .people III his life and his activ it y and Ih' re allOli s
IIlteracts with them and relil's 011 the)')' '-" r ' '.'
, d
[
... , efle ll (e thet'" mmore hI.!
ne , pro OI.lIld: ~nd universal he becollles both a"
ore ~a~
and as an mdlvlduality. Man's relatiollships w. ~ a ~ersonahIY,
cannot be understood sOlely)')) "
I '
1I1. 0t It'r people
, I'
'.
Ie lonzolltal dill
.'
.
as re ~llonshlps wtth contemporar ies bUI
' b lenslon, I.e.
stood l.n the vert ical dimension, hist .:,
Illust e. also. under_
other .U1dividuats of all past ages a~r~call~, ~s re~atlon~hIPs with
sentahves of the culture of th e
socle.tres; I,e, wllh repre~
past generations Figural" I
past., and wllh Individuals of all
individual wilt be a
r\'e.~ speakll1g, such a man and such an
knowledge, and expe~~~,~I;1 , the base o f which is Ihe mind,
~erslandable from this thalt~~ ~~e whole human race, It is unIS. I.he deeper, and more v '
o.ader Ih e base o f the pyramid
nahty will be in all
arled. ulllversal and human the persoAdmille
respecls.
f' ' . dIy, One must note that b
o mdlvlduals' own il"
[
, ecause of rhe divergence
u '
/.
erests rom the
.
n!Versa Interest governed b th
com m~n 1I1.terest or the
Y e concrete, hlstoncal stages in
the development of d' '.
f
'.
IVISlon of lab
omen s. SOCial activity was d
':Hlr, when the consolidation
?f matenal forces Ihat d
. eternllned or realised in the form
mte
omlnated th
d
rests, e~pectations, and ho
. em, an run c ounter to (heir
~~n fr ulllversal interest has"~s, 11 has happened that this comi" ua s ~s something forei n h e~ome to be regarded by indi~;~e~:~lfnfor sUC.h an alfit~d~ Ofi'rI,I~~ ~nd unnatural. The objec~
duetive fo: erest IS rooted in the eonl vld~al~ to the common and
aeter of th~es a nd fo~ms of irllereou:radlctlon between the proof appropriaS~oductrve forces a nd
bet.ween the socia l charclass, political g the P~oduet. Thai c e pnv.at~ property forms
of labour lead; econom iC, and ideolo ? nt;adl c tlon underlies the
terials, to Ihe d)O,'h at of the condi,,'ogICa [ struggle. The division
,
ISnut'
nso lab
b
mam point-to the
IOn of capita l am
our, tools and maIo the COntradiction ~Ieavage between O~g Owners, and-the
forces come into r I et,ween labOur andcapll.a l and labour, and
them, though they a~eatlo~ with individu~tPJ1aJ. The prodUCTive
and relationships of ~~: forces only becasu:S a wo~ld alien to
forces long ago reached se same indiv'd e o f Ihe 1I11ercourse
such,
'
64
a eve I ofI duals . Th e producllve
eve lo pment that they

IS:,

(an L'x,,,1 nnly in OJ COnh!xt cl universal inlercoursl' and their

ma"lt'ry
. hy Individuals
[ must al'iu ha"'e OJ universal chara ~') er.
But_ sHl~e mJ",1cry .D. Ihe produCli~'t" fnrct"S IS a dl:"'elnpment
of 1l1(/lvl(lual c<lpw.:IBt:!):. Ihe formatJClI1 and development of the
human pt'rs{lIIaIIlY 1\ inextricably linked with the ulllverSi.l1
characler of Ihl! productive forte<) and the uni\ersal charat:lc:r
(If IIltcrcourse. '\1odl'rr\ urm'ersal inter(our~'. \1arx and
Engels 'iald, 't:ann(?1 be conlrolJ.:d by individual'i. Ulllcs'i it is
conl rolled by all'.
It is IlO <.I1."l"idenl that Ihe univer:sality of production and intercourse has reached such a levd that people have become
aware ?f .them')e l ve~. perhaps for the fir,,' tim e in history. nOI
only wrillm the tllmts and significance of class, nation, tribe.
and o~h~r commull.ilies. but also in the form of a single human
race hvmg on the slIlgle, unique planer-Earth. capable of endlessly Imprm.ing IIself ~ ~ ~ace, as mankind, and of perfecting
and developing each IIldlvldual and hl!):,her capacities, gifts.
a~d ~ale~t, and capable al the same lime of destroying and anmhllatmg Itself and Earth on which it li\'es. The danger of nuc/t'ar
war, the danger of tOlal annihilation of evcryrhing li\'ing, and
perhaps even of the whole planet is pushing the cOniradiCiions
existi ng between nations and Slales infO the background. in order
to unite mankind's creative forces in constructive aClivit)". and
search for a positi .... e solution of the mOSt important issues
brought up by the present age (the problems of maintaining and
defend in g peace. of preserving life on Earth, the search for new
Sources of energy, th e struggle against the widesprc:ad diseases
thai kill milli ons of humans e\'ery year, probkms of ecology.
the ba ilie against hunger. rovcrt)". and natural ca lamities. elc .) .
All tllese problems are equi\'alenl loday 10 Ihe most elementary
an d vitally necessary needs of people Ihal have 10 be necessarily
mel. It is consequently necessary 10 pool dforls 10 work oul and
cre ate appropriate mealls of production and forr~s of inlercoLl!"se
(domestic and international, i.e. between natIOns) by which
Ih ese vitally important and quill." urgenl needs of Ihe people of
th e g lobe cou ld be fully mel. The solulion of these issues will be
a kind of global revolulion, because the material and social position of people, social and indhidual_consciousness "-,ill be ~Irered
~n many respecls. It will also contribute 10 promoting unIversal
mtercourse.
Since it is a mailer of Ihe radical interesls of billions of people,
i.e. of the rool interesrS of all mankind, il is quile clear thaI these
iss ues havt'" such a sl'ienlifK and sllch a praclical, politicall.'haracter thaI Ihey consequently call for pooling the efforlS of the
~-o 1M2

65

The au1
nent S<
ponding
Science!
student!
of studi,
and act

of philo

them, irre'Spective of people's

1 the world over to tackle
peope
1
h I
.
political, ideological, and ph.1 osop IC~ views. na.tlonal alle~
giance. creed, etc. It is that.whlch e.xplams ~he arou~lng of many
unlries and nations to vigorous II1ternatlonal aUlvlly. and of
upon hundreds of millions of
to aClive
ment in the struggle for peace and poliocal work both III their
own countries and internationally. A peaceful, progressive pOlicy
is more and more becoming a symbol of faith at the present time,
a profession de fa;, and the philosophical and moral conviction
of the peoples of Ihe world. This policy is openingly intervening
in history so as to preserve life, preserve the planet, preserve
the human race, and thai means to preserve and continue histo_
ry. A politicising of philosophy. science, law, morality. religion,
and art, and politicising of all forms of social consciousness and
social being is taking place before our eyes. All aspects of men's
material and spiritual activity are being gradually pt>netrated
by politics: Aristotle's old delinition of man as a 'political animal,2! is being given a new content. Only now malls political
dimensions are becoming so universal that we cannot yet be
fully aware of them; they affect everything. with which human
life and activity is linked one way or another, i.e. with everything
that has existed and now exists in this world (man. society.
Eanh, and Outer space and the whole of cosmos), nor to mention
all the forms and types of social being and social consciousness.
Responsibility for the fate eX the world now rests wirh all classes.
all peoples and nations, all states and countries, all people togeth~r a.n~ eac~ human being individually. The face and inimitable mdlVlduallty of each person. his personality and human nature, .larg~ly depend on how far and how activelv he or she is
contnbul~~g to this world movement. An individuals personal
~~~OrtUllitles ar~ ve~y limited. of course, but as I have already
peop~eh:~a~ bemg.ls str~ng through his or her links with other
mankin/ T~~r~~tlohn With them, and in his or her reliance on '
many-foid. A P~~'il~; forces and p?ssibilities are multiplied
immediately become ~. or O~portUnJty does not always and
one's personal res ore~~:y. It IS necessary 10 raise the extent of
real possibility wiIIPm~!~ ~::;edfor the. univ~rsal cause, then t~e
pan of the definition of ma
~m,thlch WIll become an orgaOlc
dom, interacting with nec~~ 0 the human personality. Freenecessity, will engender great ~~ and. ~?reover with hislorical
Posed. In order to alta in that d Phonsl~IIIIY for attaining the end
man realises his intentions a~n t.e WIll and the means by which
qulle
is moulded in his theorelical a e d
~ecessary. His personality
66
n practIcal actiVity, during which

~~ndreds

p~ople

i~vol\'e_

,,

a (:om:rete dire(tion is given to his life activity, and appropriate

me an' are developed!o realise the aims set and the efforts of will.
and changeo,; emerge 111 the correspondlllg conditions so thaI the
indi vidual\ intentions, wishes. aspirations, and aims can be realised to the maximum. In that connection a persons activity can
be regarded ao,; a deflllite result of a certain unity of his/her in.
di vidual and o,ubjeClive elements with material. objective, and
mass elements. It is due to the fact that man is the core and most
revolutionary element of the productive forces that he can trans-
form the Objective world and objective relations, and so. at the
same time, aher and develop himself, multiplying his own forces
and consequently the forces of all mankind. Man must therefore
develop and improve himself not only morally but also practically and politically, because only in labour and political activity does he acquire the main dimensions of a human personality,
the main substance and essence of man as such. Man is the connecting centre of theory and practice. because, through his theoretical and practical activity, advanced theory, which is the concentrated expression of practical activity, coincides in its key
elements with practice, so accelerating development of the historical process; practice in turn, by generating theoretical ideas
and embodying them in reality, acquires unusual effectiveness
and actuality. The organic interaction of theory and praclice
in man's aClivity makes practice rational and theory realistic.
It is this lhat can explain the need for maximum unity and interaction among theory and practice that becomes exceptionally
actual in the most critical and responsible periods of history for
mankind like. for example, the present when it is a mailer of. the
fate of nations and the fale of all mankind. In these penods
further development of theory and improvement of p~aclice becomes possible and so necessary. only under the aegiS of dev~
loped potitical consciollsness and the self-aw~re.ness of the ~1I1lion-strong masses of the working people. It IS '" !hese penods
of responsibility for all mankind that .the categonal system of
philosophical thought is sharpened, p~lished . perfe~te~, an.d enriched. A historically new type of phdosop~lcal.thmkmg IS developed and a new type of philosopher, a hlsloncally new type
of culture, and a new type of worl~ outl~ok:
.
What does a new type of philosophIcal thlllkmg or new philosophy mean; Whereas philosophy used to be understood as 'love
r sd . love developed by sages and then passed on to those
owho
WI
om. a
h1
h
t d b
hi
were interested in if (i.e. p IOSOp Y was crea e
y.pto members
1osop h ers w ho lhe ntaught Ihis subject .
.of the
. ellle),
h.1
the rise of Marxism produced a radical revolutIon 111 p 1067

The aut
nent Sc
ponding
Sciences

SlUdents
of studic
and act

of philo:

sophy; philo~ophy. became the property (,r "hl' hrnad Olas,\es of

the peoplt.' as their O~1l outlook 011 Ihl' "',orld, as a Sl'Il'tlliflC,
theorellcal. and praclical world oUllooJ.., ,lilt! a~ ,I IIh'lho(\ of
re\'olutionary transformation of reaill),. Thl..' !lew phih1\oph" is
the method of revolutionary Iran,;formali()11 of reality (diai~'l'_
tics): it is a summing up of a gwen al' ,history) and iJ'i tram,_
formation (practice), and the workin~ 1"_11 of lilt' pn)'pech for
its develormt'nl (theory). The new philosophy is a aeall\'t' one,
but not ju!<[ in the sense of Ihe c~e~li\'e chara~lt~r I"f I~t' thinking
but in the sense that underlymg 11 l'i Ihl' pra\.'IKal. p~lltlrcal al'ti\'_
ilY of the masses of the people, their conscious will, striving to
realise hIstorical necc~ity, i.e. it i'i a phil0sophy thilt become.')
pari and parcel of the working m3S!:>t"s, becomes lheir world
outlook, aftitude to the world, interpretation of the wortd, and
culture. A creative philosophy is one that is a!:isimi lated by the
minds of millions and therefore is transformed illin a material
force capable of changing the world.
As for the new type of philosopher, by it must be understood
a professional philosopher who slUdies the whole history of phi.
losoph~" kl~ows the history and logic of knowledge and the
dialectiCS ot human thinking, and also the fact Ihat every man
w~o takes part in the historical movement of his age, and who
tnes to comprehend and tackle the issues that it poses to soden',
becomes a philosopher.
A whole people becomes a philosopher in essence, and not
separate ~ages, so that the traditional division into those who
teach ph.liosophy (professional philosophers) and those who
st~dy philosophy (the broad masses of the working people) is
Wiped out. Rather the contrary. Philosophy is produced and
reprod~ced by the philosopher people in order to become the
~~~~~on .of all, and of each one separ~tely, That does not mean
needed ~e l,sh" O more need for professional philosophers- t h ev a re ,
o e same extent as othe
. I"
,lise the main tende .
r specla IStS, III order to ge ne raphilosophical prob~cles o~ the thinking of their age, to tie up the
age, and 10 elabor:,nels ~ past ages with those of the modern
.
SCience the theor
f kid
'
an d dialectics at a new le . . . el' f
y a
now e ge, logiC,
As to the new type f l o development.
0 eu lure one m
.
th e struggle for a new cuhu
-'
USt note the followmg:
new feeling. a new style n;: me~n~ a struggle for new thinking,
moral climate in society 'etc . ar~'itlc and ae<>thetic taste. a n ew
euhural unity of SOCiety' for",,1I1 SOrt, a struggle for a new socio, 1
'
I S greater c h '
er Socia homogeneity on 'h b '
0 eSlon, and ever greateaslsofac
'
an d emotional and Psychological mood ommon world out look
b8
' When the cultural heri-

!:lSI.' (If the , PiJst

'I and
d Ihe conlt!mporan
. ' mttllectual po'en, 131 are
umted . ..J'iSUT11 ate. exPt".n:llced art!
utf'd '0 thl; !,earts and
mind) or mdll()~IS ;:Hld (milium of pl!oplt". then ideas and Ideals
bt:.;'olllt:. all 1I1'plratlt'n, ellthu\laSm, and pac;: ion, dnd progress 10
the ilttalllmeni of i.mn": "It ally IInporlan! for mankind wiU bt- etlSU.
red: be\,:au<;C' the dcm()l,;rat~c ~har.u!er of cultural ac!i\iIY will be
an mexh~ustlblc '.oun:.c 01 the up')urgc of t'vt'r neWer and more
COIiStru<.:tIVt.' <.Ind aeatlve for('t."S that after ali will be able to altt"r
IH)t _ollly Ihl..' nllt.ural medium but aiso the so,.-i;..t! and natural
envl~()flment. PhlilhOphy and politKs can do much and tlo so
prel.:lsc.ly by Ill.emls of culture: culture in turn is tied up in a single
whole 111 relation 10 tht'nry and practKe. philo~oph\' and hi~torv,
traditIOn and innov<Hioll, p(\litlt.:~ and actIon,'
:1311 an.d philo"(,ph~~ are Ihu'S c\o'Sely linked together, though
theLr relatIon chan~~es 111 3l.:cordanct' wilh the change'S that man
himsl'lf and pitilo'i()plw ulIlkrgo in their historical de\e!opmem.
But let llIe n;lurll tn Ihe qllt''Srion<, with which I began: 'what
is man' and 'what is the "ells..! of his life ...
In lilat connecli(,>11 1 would like 10 cite the words of \"oun~
\Ian: from ilis 'Reftectinlls of a Young: .\1an on (he Choice of
a Profession':
<

I
.

Mall's nalUre i~ ~'l comtiCUti \hal iJe call l/Idin his 0'" n perfedi.)f1 on I)
b)' working for the
.
Ih(' ,(000. 0' his idtow men, tf he ... orb
only tOI himself. he
t>c.-((lH"l<' a rlm"lb mdn .)( learnln~ iI
gn'al ~;Ig('. an cU'dlenc poet. hut he ~.m ~e <': be a pe-rfrct. (fl. I)' Ir<,at
mall.
Hi\! M) ClIJlS Iho~e men th., gre3tt"ol wh("l 113\'" <'nn"l1tn;l Ihem~t'c:<>
11) wurking for the ,'~lmmun gr....... : e\per;en.;e a.,;dai"'~ .l.> harp;,"!'>1 the
m.m who ha~ maJe Ih .. greal~T num[ler of pt"'<lple hap>,),

To light for man's freedom fr~)m en.')lavemenl, c('>erl-ion, and

oppression at any rate. 10 flghl for the emancipation of all man
kind. 10 flght for peace throughout the- world. for life on Eanh
withollt wars and weap(lIls, 10 light for mJll's freedom and
happiness, and for Irulh ~l1ld so~'ial justice-thai is Ih.e m~in
st'nse of human life. In hi .. noble ~trllggle man flnd"_h~s.sp'nl\Ia1 w('apon in philosophy, a~ rhil~ophy finds i~ .. m31erial
weapon III 111(111. The pra([l('ally pO<;Slblt' emanclpallon of man
is his emancip.Jli,m (rom tilt' .')lillldpoinl of the tlJeOl'y that del'lares Illall hilllst'lf the \upreme essellc~~ oi man, \~':Hl'S freedom
is th~ caU'-;l' vI' re\'olulion. and rt'\"olutilJll is a festival of the
PCl)pJe ill whit'h everyone for \~'Iwnt the fale ?f. ~he .wor,ld and
the fille of rnankiTll!, Ih~' fillt! 01 .:ulture and cl\'liJsallon IS dear
must wkt' pall!

NOTES

The aut
nent So
ponding
Sciences
student s
of swrlie
and acti
of philo!

V. L Lenin. ConsptclUS of Heg('rs B~I\)k Thl' Sdl'l/rt, of 1.08il Philosophical NOlebooks. CoIll'cud lVor"\:'l. Vol . .lS. Pr(>gr('u Puhll\llI:r'>, "h~.
1981. P 182.
~o"',
ArislOlle. Mttaph)'sics, A.2: riled from Ht1(<'i'I Sn'I'fln" of J ""j,' ,
.
L G. S I~UI her\, AII ... n ..\: llnwin.
'" London
rail
silled by \\.H.
JohnSlOfI and..
1923. p 42 (see also V. L Letlln, Op. CIt . P QO).
'
V. 1. Lenin. Op. cit .. p 18Q.
Ibid. pp 187188.
Ibid., P 195.
Ibid .. P 212.
Ibid .. p 213.
Ibid .. pp 217-218.
II. "f. I ,,~ic. being ParI One of Ihe EIIC)'l'/o{JUetlia of tlit Phllruoph '
cal Scit.'nC<"i, Translaled by William Wlillace, C laren don Press 0 f d"
1982. P 26.
. x or
IU G.W.F. Hegel. EIIO'k/opiidie der Philosophisrhel/ Wissenscha/t"11 im GrulI_
I' drfsse, Akademie Verlag. Berlin, 1966, pp 3-4.
11 V. I. Lenin. Op. cit .. P 202.
Ibid., p 201.
., Ibid" P 19L
Ibid .. p 216.
Ibid .. pp 92, 93.
; v. 1. ~nin: Plan of Hegel's Dialeclic (Logic). Gp. cit. , P 3 17
~t~/~ SCI:"(( of Logic, Vol. L Translaled by W. H. J o hnston and
' . . IrUl ers, Allen & Unwin. London, 1923 p 64
'
Ibid. S also G W F He"
Th Ph
'
'
by J B B 'rr . . .
, e.
t
tl/omtllology of Mind. Translated
Ibid' . 4,al Ie, Harper Colophon Books, New York, 1967.
:too
~ P
.
~~rl Marx and Frederick Engels, Tht Germall
I I Duers, Moscow, 1976 p 59
Jdtology. Progress PubIbid., p 97.
,.
n Aristolle. Politics
WL N
11 Sec' K I
' . . ewman) 1 2
Pub!" h" MM arx , Frederick. Engels. Col/te'/td
Ili ers,
oscow, 1975, P 8.
Works, Vol. I, Progress

'N

ST IM ULI TO WORK
AND T H E ES SENCE OF MAN
R. I. K

0 S 0 Ja

0 v

It is importa nt for ph il osophic a l u nd ersta nd ing of man to make

clear the motives o f his li fe act ivity. Wh y man acts; why he

acts as he d oe~ an d not oth e rw ise: what self-i nterest, and c on cern wi th what, mov e a nd sti mulate him at any stage of historical deve lo pm e nt ; ho w th ey infl uence his social and mo ral
image - all these qu esti ons call fo r a s ubstantiated conc rete
answer , And that answer is an inseparable component of timely soluti o n o f the snowballing problems of mankind at the turn
to th e twent y-first century: peace-making and ecological ;
scien tifi c a nd technical and econ omic; social and political;
cult u ra l a nd moral. N ot only d oes further soc ial progress hand
on it, but also mankind's very c apac ity to survive.
Th is paper examines two basic problems not Iraditio nal in
sc ie nce and that ha ve no t y et fo und answers in practice: 1) the
pr oble m o f the shifting in the hisrorical perspect ive of man's
mate rial interest fr o m the direct and indirec t results of labour
(conc ern with the product or the income from it) to its content and the labour process itself as one of c reation;
2 ) the problem of the psycho-physiological mechanism of the
need for c reative work, which is of fundamental importance
for explaining how the biological individual becomes a social
o ne, and becomes capable of being the bearer of human essence. This is what is new in my position, which possibly has
no precedent in literature.
There is a point of view that human activity is only stimulated
by the need in means of everyday subsistence. It is difficult to
wage a polemic against it because hundreds of million of pel?
pIe on Earth today are absorbed by a basic concern for their
daily bread, In many countries with a developed modern economy, not 10 mention developing ones. the bulk of rhe working
people can hardly make ends meet, while the richest country,
the United Stales of America, has not yet been able to heal
such social ulcers as mass unemployment, cultural backwardness. poverty, and homelessness.
71

The aU!
nent SI
pondinr
Science:
student:
of stud i
and ac t
of philc

While nol, by any mean~, den.ving .thal COllcern for material

.
,'s 'h".. drivin\!_
force
of work
III b(llh Iht'
Wt'st. and ",.~
IIKonh.
.
.
.
East. and will playa leadlll.g role lor a long Urnt' yt't III '(lcial_
i<;1 ..:oulllries as ..... ell as capllalt,,1 Olle", t~Il\.' lnt.I't htlwt'vcr nOle
thai it is nol the sole one. It 1\ IIlc~:unpatlble with. 11ft' t.'\pt'riell_
ce or with Ihe data of science to Ignore .thal p.llln!. ~tan i!\ ~_
senliallv more complicated and many.-sl~ed Iro.m the stand_
point o'f modern, i.e ..dial~Clical, maltrlal.lsm. Th" male~ia l isrn
does nOI SlOp at consldermg the eC(lTloml(' Ihe ,olt' motivation
of man's actions and conside~ its higher forms Ihat <Ire begi n_
ning to function particularly act ively in the lIew forma t ion
when the needs of physical existence are mainly me!. It is extremelv important for an undeNa ndi n g of Ille t re nds o f Ihe
I)re<;erll and for development a reliable concep tio n of t he fu lUre to analyse these forms of motivatioll .
Lei us IU;'n to the history of this maile r.
One of the objections against comlllunism 1hil1 uSed to bother utopian socialists was that, if the principle of disl r ih lHion
by needs were introduced, society migh t die fro m id leness.
'Who, then, would 'Work?,-bourgeois theori<;ls pu t their t raditIOnal question.
Back in the eighteenth century the progressive English p ublicisl William Godwin remarked in his An II/qlliry Concerning
Political Justice thaI a system of equali ty could o nly be established given a considerable intellectual improveme n t of people. A ~table syslem of that type was possible, in his o p inion,
only with 'a calm and clear com.ictiun of justice, jUMice mutu ally to be rendered and received." If work were d istri b u ted a micably among all, the amount of work done bv each me mber of
the community 'is so light a burden as rather to assu m e the
appearance of agreeable relaxation and gen tle exer c ise than
~~~::our. Ihis c?m.~unity sC::lrcely a r.l) ca n be expcc~ed in
quen ... e of theIr slIuallOll or aVOcatIons 10 cons id e r Ihern~Ives a<; c>..emP.led .from manual industry. There will be no
~hC~ ~e~l to ~e~ltnc III Indolence and fallen upon th e la bo ur of
",r e OWl.. ~hal, according to God win, woul d promote
bot,
a strengthenmg of 'he, ',. . . .
'.
c
1\11)' ot Ihe Socta l l.p lri t as a c onsequence of human cons'
.
,
.
.
s havmg
allaill ed a high
degree 0f perfecllon
a nClUusness
d'
.
condition for the e~li IUe an Inc:ea...e III leisure, whi ch was a
of br ingmg fam.~ '"d g ned mmd for g rt'al affa irs capable
.
...
rt.""'Spect.
As WIll he seen, GOdwin built h'.
.' .
.
of the growing role of ed
.
IS pOsllt~n on a fOllnd a ll on
prin("iplcs in people's b"h~c~tlon and enllghlenment an d m o ral
.. i:I.\IOur . HIS b00 k appea r .... d 'III <l l1Ie -

!n

nlOralllt!' yt"Clr nf the Frellch Rev()!ulinn. Viz., 17t)]. Paradoxic al a'S it is. Ihi~ ~Ipproa("h h3S ..:omc down in essencc from the
eightet'llth " ~ lItury tu the Iwenli':lh.
While liVing in qlllte- d different hlSlori..:al age, Whose content
is a world's turn to a new . ..:mnmunist, socio-economic formalion, we naturally 11Otl' the dev~lfJrment and spread in socii:l.l.
ist countrie." of a new. ('oIlCdivL\I morality. Thi<; has found a
singular reneclion III the literature. An 'ethic Ising' so to speak
of the problem of ilH:ukating a new attitude to labour 11<.1\ of.
len been observed. With the growing of socialist society into a
communist one, as it is ~ometlmes daimcd, moral stimulation
will remain, while direu makr ial remuneration for work will
cease to be nece\Sary. For all Ihe lap!\e of lime (nearly IW("I
hundred years) t haI point of view is vcry ("lose t("l Godw in',;.
Trulh Ihe considered I , lilt' o\t'rpnwt'ring Irurlr or gen\.'ral good. Ihen
sriLe, us irresbriblv... II r~ imr~ible Wt' ~h[luld wanT ml>tivcs.. so h>ng a~
we \ec dearly ho~ rnuhilude:; and ag~ may be bendued by our eu-rlion:;. huw cause:; .md t"ffcd~ are cllIlneCIt'd in an endless chain. 50 thai
riO lro'It'~r cfl"<.lrt can be lCl'it, but will operate 10 g,lQd . .;t-ntunc after '['I
author i~ con~i~ned In rhe gra\c.

There is a lso now a view that personal material ilHercst will

wither away u nder communism. I consider that one cannot
agree with suc h a view. The 'reciprocal. feeling .of d~t\" to
society' thai is appealed to here- and that IS proclaImed m tht'
spirit of an aprilJri imperati~e cannot in ilself bec("Ime a 'iure,
vigorous successor to ma tenal mtere.s!. or sen-e as a permanent guara ntee for cen tu r ies ~for commulll.sm I~ th.ought of as
the bo undleSS f ut u re of mankHld) of a pos1I1ve atlltuJt' of the
in d iv id ua l 10 work. A mitldlt= link has to be found capable of
linking personal mo ra l and social maten~1 inl~re~t t'trmly
togeth e r . M y pa per is devoted 10 the q uest ror Ih lS h.n k ..
II is Ils ua l to s pe ak in the philosop h i(:a l and t"coll.o rlll(" Irl.t'"ralure of the a ction of male n a l (ec~)l1om l c ) a nd <;plrtlUal fadM.')
stimulating work und er sociati.sm . ~ Th e r.:om ~reh en d ed .:h aracter of th ese and other stimuli , wh l("h conta tns an de me nl . ot
conscio us ness, is rec("Ign ised as Iht:" ir l;o mm~m fe atllr~. 1 h~
differen ce bCl wccn Iht.'m is t he refo re br? ughl down to a nothe r
att r ibule, viz., the pllrpo.se f ulness of fh e III.te rest In work. ~h~ ler Ihe ob iec t of the ind ivid ual's a<;pl raf loll s .. Bu l all iTl txalle Vd
' , ' es creeps in here' e ithe r mate n al values i:I.!> Ihe
.'.
("
,, '
, )
lIu e some lin
. d "d l' r nllmeration lor hIS la bou r mate ria s IInu ll~ ,
In IV ' .ua, S ",
fo r whk h is li n ked
with
or
socI a go<x r be"e"II ' , th~ stri \"i ne:
._ .
.
,
)
h . h
d mo nt evalu ll ti on of thl' md l\'ld ua l (mora l SlI m u II'S
.ISelg
te nde as' Ih'
)b)'ec t o f incent ive to work. At Ihe same li me
Ire ate
C' {

7.1

Thr auf
nent S(
pondin~

Science!
student!
of studi

and act
of philo

a fad of cardinal IInporlann' i~ (lftl'lI 10\1 si~hl 01', IHlnklv II '

.
. a I~o III~ 1I'(lrl(/, /lsd/.
'
. 1<:11
Ihe objecl of persona I 1I11ere~1
IS,
Since time immemorial mankllld Ita~ known l'xalllplt,,\ of
enthusiasm for work. The appearann.' 01, work ... (dill ,lIld l'3vepainlings. statuelles. ele.) already m, pnrnl'I n .' s(ll'itly l .. diHt_
cult to explain just by the communlfy ~ lIlillfarian nl'~ds, Creat_
ive aClivily, is one of mali's nobl~st, primary, d~tpest. and
ineradicable needs,
In each species of ani~l1~ls, we kll?W, I,htre IS a \pedal need
to perform a cenam actiVIty, by wl1lch. III nornwl condilions
Ihe animal's existence is ensured", During 31l1itropogenesls ~
need also ~as been form~d i~ man 10,Perform activity that
msured mamtenance of hiS eX1Slence, SlIlce labour is specific
10 man Ihis determines all the rest of his specific trailS, this
need acts as the basic, speci/icaJly human Olle,
Abs.orbing work according ~o one's aptitudes evokes per.
sona.1 LllIere~I, the nature of,whlch has not yet been adequately
studIed. an 1I1ierest that obviously grows depending On the per.
sonal reward and on the social significance of the work and
Ihat at the sa,me time undoubtedly plays a relalively inde~end.
enl ,rol~. This type of personal interestedness qnderlies the
~uaillat]vely specia~, c,:e~fil'e stimulus 10 work and has a par.
t]cular,ly concrete, md]vldually purposive character.
Unlike the creative stimulus. material and moral stimuli are
often relalively indifferent to the content of the work done by
th~ w.ork~r, There is. a caregory of persons who start from the
prlnc]ple any work IS good if il is paid well', In a sociological
~r.vey III the Moscow Spetssfanok Machine Tool Works the
r.m,der Works., and the Stankoagregat Works, that wa; the
o'hPmlon of. between a quarter and a third of rhe workers At
f
.
.
e same lime a consid'
. d
ermgb
ractlon
of. the workers of these
, . were gUld
enterpnses
'
and mora I IIlterest
.
e
Y considerations
proceed
f
. of . social benel1t
.IS go od were
h
the m mg od
rom the prmclple 'that work
yOu do
There were more of Ih
ost go ,and where you are needed',
workers preferred varfom-betw~en .36 and 56 per cent. Many
Finally. there was a gro us c~mbmatlons of these two stimuli,
the work itself; between ~~ 0 d ~~rkers Who were interested in
n
pe~ cent shared the view that
'Work is good When you gi:e
' mgenuity k'lI
Somethll1g of yourse
. If SOmel hrng
new, an d diSplay
The interest of this last g'r~ul 'c and effectiveness',
of work presenting personal r:w O~ld not ?e ~et by any form
iiI. H~re the work itself and Ihe ';; and ~1~ldll1g sQcial beneversatIle application and diSplay f PPOrlunllles it presented for
74
0 perSonal capabilities operat.

t"d ii\ a fadllr IIlffaC"lIIg tile ]IICJlVldual and aO) an 'indt"pendent

va lu e'. That l' ()II~lu'l](J1I Wa'i ohlarned not "nly by a'lkmg direct
question ... (till" \ ut: lulog]\t always runs Ihe n'lk. when <I'Iklllg a
questi oll III .. l'Cnall1 wuy. of Ihereby partly determining the
an\wer) , hUI <11 .. 0 Ind]rel'tly (Ill tht! works concerned there W<I\
J grl'ah:r urge arnllrlg tho'le wanting a transfer to olher work
to get a nlOft' II1tert'~ til1g jllh than higher ea~ni.ng'>. There were
eve n peuple who were ready 10 change their Job for one with
less pay bUI whlt.:h gave greater creative <;atL'IfaClionl. II wa'l
fou nd that workers drew a line in ordinary life between work
to earn money, work for the general good, and work for the
sa ke of creative selfa\sertlOn, but it i\ not always th~ case in
sc ience,
While recognbing the merging and simultaneity of the ef
fect of all work stimuli, it is hardly correct. at the ~ame time,
for example, to reduce the stimulating power. of innovation
unconditionally to moral factors. exp~ammg il, SImply by a
striving for the social benefit and SOCial eff.eClJvene~ of I~e
work, Creative interest differs from moral Interest m I) liS
exclusively personal character, 2) its wealth of conte~L \loral
interest is 'poorer' than creati\'e in t.he se~se that It IS only
linked with the results of the work, I,e. with use va,lue~ and
material or moral satisfaction, while creative in~erest IS d]rected not to the result, i.e,. to something already flmshed and fixed
but rather to the making of the result, to the whole cont~nt of
the work process perceived by the worker as o~e of enJoymg
the interaction of his own intellectual and phYSIcal powers. as
the desired content of his personal life process and as a happy
experience, A need inherent only in man, often ,nol fully co~
sciolls that has to be awakened and developed, IS expressed 10
, interest. Like
.
creative
any ot h er ne ed .il has no moral Idcontent
b an
in itself, though man's a~tilude toward It may and shou
e
Object of moral evaluallon,
,.
'f
. I
be
I d d from that? It IS saId that I matena
Whal can,
conc u e .
f
ndividual's aspirations. as
values function as the obJecl 0 dan I]'
th a material stimu.
Ihe reward of his labour, we are ea mg WI
Ius. with personabl mba,efri~1
be self-eVident, ut e or

:ge~e~li~egre:':;h Ti~a~n:o~~stsec~~ri~~
.

what is m~an~ here by ma~~I:1 c~~ll:ee:~ed may be both daily

The pomt IS tha; :~~e c~otheS and a theatrical performance,
k
bread and ,wor s o.
'. f a material need (for food, protec.
Some. obv]ously. Will satlsl~1
thers rna\" be intended to meet
lion. again~t cold. et~,), W~] e (~or exanlple. aesthetic ones),
spintual, lI1teliectua lie s
75

,\

.\
'

,
,

( :~

--

,,

"

,'

I,' ~y:

-,

/ ' ~Y,

',~'
r

J.
,

'\ ,- , ,
~

If

l'
.J

'"
y
-, -

,,

"

t,

,/

although lilt' one clod the Plha <Ire ill'ljllirl'd for Illt) .

IIlfereSI in qlJsl'ying a "pirilUul Ih..'l'd III iht,rr

Th~

nen!

aur
5(

pondin~
Science~
slUdent~

of studi
and act

of philo

lIlall /"':I'"
0

/)1:~. h

and ~""Il(ll hel

Ilr 1I'i'" values,

Ihe money form (l'<l~h 11t'\U_') ll1t'lhulin!!, Ih l ' UIIII1l' _,.

~\
llOllul'
tweell lahour and Ilt'l"lI ~ Ihal t'\I';!'. .11 Ihl' prl'::'~ln 11111\' Ini.k ..,

Milfl( 11I1ll'it'lr

-'>w.:h? \\ e are aL'C"u::.:I(lIned to (;1111111: JllI ..'ll'\' III _'II ," 'I'
"
II nllll'
reward a matenal one. but J pl'r~('11 111;1\ II\\,.' II fur ""'I
I'
-

Illallt.'r

'b
'
.
'<1I1PI.'
both. 10 buy f ood an d- acqutrl' l1llk ... , TIlt' 1'1.\[1\1 \,:illI .. Illr l'lari.'
fic3l1on.
Tht! irre"ponsibility of 'h~ 1201111.'\ll'd \ It'W ~\f Illl' ... IUlIlIl t"
of work is caJled in qut'!)fioll by Iht:' laci Ihal Ihe <.lb~tra /r,"K
. I I .
I
l l\r_
mu Ia 'matena, ,a ue m~.\' CO~ICt:'J bOl,h thinS_" Jnd processes,
A~ld bOlh again may sallsfy ellher spllyual or IIlJlerial WJnts
\\ h"l dot'~ such an undoubledh llIi1h:nal pro('\.:' ... '-) 8:) Ih > 'r "
k I -,
t l t:'<lll\'t.' wor - 11al IS ,ts OWII reward C('Lltil as? A malerial or a s )ir"

lua! value?

they ims... wilh regard

10

Ihillg~

POllltt-" tlul Ih ... difflcuhy uf analys.ing 'sOl'ial

Th,~ 1I11I~-rvrl1 lO.'h,,\<: (ull) fl'~el"p~(j ~h~pe ,. !he monty-form. III H,ry
t"kml-'rllary.m.I !IIf'k J'\('\l'rrh,'lm, rh" ,UII,.J!; mind ha, for mO'e lh~"
l,(HIIJ yl-'M'i 'uuf,hr
"1111 , ler 10 rhl' h,.uolT) of ii, whllbl. <)11 Ihe: "111, r
howel, 1\1 thl' Mll"cessful j!l1dl\'11l I)f much mUr COI)1p.hi!e awj compln.
f,,(IIl\, Ih,'r.. h<J1 lot'c'rr "I lea\1 all Llf'PrOXlmarj')II, W'.~'"1 I:kcalise Ihe "'", ...

'I'

.,f

h,,,",y:

a\ an IIfi':.:IIIIC Whole, I~ rrlt>r~ ~~'Y of Mud; 1:11111 arc Ih, cei

110411
In Ih~ IH1<IIY~I~ of t"r/1Ilt1lrll
"Tn." more"~t"r. neilher mh -O'\.C,,~ nor
... hcml(;J1 fCa~el1h afC of uS/:. The f"rn: of ah'UilCllon mlt\1 rtpla<"C'

both.

!-

If wt:' re..::ognise \\'ork as a lll<.llenal valuc. and we c,-,nnlll do

otherw~se with,oUI disputin.g thlt, facts. it turns our thai
under LOm~UI1l~m people Will be sllillulaled 10 work !lOt solely
h) moral stl~ulJ. T~e l1eed for sllch a material 'good' as work
a,"~ for an Intereslmg, absNbing at:li\"ity, is conrlnned by fh~
fiJI..! mat a personal material stimulus is pre"erveu ill transmogrllied form eren. in Ihe highest stage of the new socit:'ly,
Becau~: when Ihe ~tlmulatmg of labour by things and it .. pro~~~ts I~l~h OUI It~ sllm,ulatioll by ils conlenl will stili be preser'
'II'hi connection Pt'rs(lllal imere.\1 in the product 01
I(/bour
11'1
e Iran";formed' II
an
! I
..
111 /(! count.' vI labour ihd/. b'in1:
con~~~::~an t~":l';~/(lli of mall ill that form, So we r('ach a
""itil,
GI
I ers :-;harply from the premiss that we began

I may be reproached with h '

.. _
..
a cherished lamp fr
h
avmg, blasphemously II1cJuded
Sacred monoPol\"_~~~ t e lemple of the human spirit, and ils
pht:nomena of a'nol so f~~~~mcnt. of creation --h~re amon~
IS PsydlOlogicaliv almost -_ ~,~~el. And I cannOI deny Ihat 11
prO(e~s ~ a vehrcle of
as, I lCUIt 10 pre:-;eni lhe crealive
any orm of m- t I '
as to reconcile oneself to [he
' . _i.l erla [nlerest whatever
\t:cHng. Bllt why nOl Iry h pos\lhlltty of paraJll'l lines InINThe ansWt:'r 10 this prO~IIS a,s a hypothesis'!
.
lhl' topical problems of h _ell~ !s closely bound up with aile of
in" th
1:-;IOrlcal mater'al"
.
e
e specllic nature of the' .
,I
ISm, VIZ" wuh gra:-;pmatter and of the new form o~OClal lorm of the motion of
~IO~Y In Ihe COntext of ~otiety T~~l~ 11/(ltC'ria/ Ihal i.s pOSSible
SOCial relallons. some of Which _ 0..: POInt primarilv concerm
e
flOr bt'cau\e they COIl\iSI of rnal,ar SomClirnt'~ called makrial
er (there.
.
7',
Ie no :su..:h r('l:lfioll!'.

hill ht"(aIL'iC

These two rea'>om, viz .. the relatively undeveloped I.:haracier of Ihe subject of our discussion, creative ::.timulu<; (Ihe
psychology of creation is still aimosl wholly limitt=CI 10 the
psychology of anislic (reation) and the absence of material,
visible means of bringing it out, explain why the stimuli of
cTeativity escape researchers' nOlicc. There is a most essential
social relation, without which nOI a single social organisation
ca n manage.
Labour is above all a material process of changing an object
in accordance with a conception existing in an idea delermined
by human (personal or social) need:-;, to satisfy which the product is made, and by the propenies of the malaial and the
loob, As a process of salisfying a cenain human need it may
be arbilrarily equated for clarity with Ihe process of satisfying
aesthetic needs, when a person watches a play, listens 10 music.
looks at a work of representalional arl, But this analogy, like
any olher. has its limits, The greal difference between the one
and the other strikes the eye; as a process of satisfying the need
to work. labour is perhaps the sole form of consumption Ihat
has an active, conSlructive character, II is seemingly not possible to say Ihal as deflllilely aboul the consumption of aesthetic values (though there is also a 'building' of the ~ersOJ.lal
ity here), The need to create is a need to leave one s. obJ~c
ti~'ity outside oneself to disclose the human mind's capaclly
to embody ilself in thi,ngs by mean~ ?f ~h~ hands,
A ' labour- like' indiVidual lool-acllvllY IS IIlhert:nt, of cour:-;,e,
in many higher allimals, but it is not converted lilt? Jab.our In
Ihem and does not raise Ihem to the Il'vel of man, Slllce It d~s
not pass into the acquired habits of the collec~i\'e literally From
the momenl each individual is born, and Imposed on each
individual from rhe moment of bir~h. beginning, ",,:i~h the a~\I~nI
of Ihe human horde and ending wllh modern c1\'iJlsed SOCieties,

The au
nent 5.
pondim
Science
student
of studi
and aCI
of philc

No few cases of the raising of childrcli by animals art" k

,
'
"
10 SCIence
and eac h time
an a I rcat. Iy .l(I II II I'Inng
tTl'alur" nnwn
.
' I COllslltutlOlI,
" fOUll d
band
'"
a human physlca
y people
Sl1a"lWuh
'1'
oul of the ennronment
to1
w llC 1'II wa\ Jel'lISIOIllt.'d
n. (led
.
' ... ' " nVed
Incapable of I~bour b~callse It had Iwl becomc the bearer of
Ihe ,'ief 0/ soC/al relallOlls thaI a pers()n ht.'gllls 10 al'l'Urn I
in child?ood, e,:en before Ihe beginning of labour act~,~t:
The actn'e relatIon to lIature ollly t'lt1t'rges as hllmall lah ),
l ope
dl
Ollr
I\'hen "
/I ISd
el'e
t IrOllg II ~o"lacts Ilmollg peop/t. Only
through these contacts, by makmg them a permanent sou
of ones social 'feeding, are human qualities formed,h
rce
!s incorr~ct to reduce tI~e ba~ic component of ;social matle.r, I.e, relallons, of pro~uctl~n, Simply to property and indus_
lnal and economIC relatlOllS, I.e. to people's contacts in rega d
to the appropriation of the produ~ts of labour. The relatio~s
betwe:n worker and ~orker dunng productive labour are
more Imp?rt.ant for society-that comes oul especially clearly
under SOCialIsm, largely because Ihese relations do not include
the .roots of acute ~oc.ial ~onf1icts, and direci sludy of them only
begl~S ~fler the ellr~lnatlon of class antagonism. Marx gave a
convlIlclllg explanaflon of this.
Marx called .a relation, any form of which corresponds
regularly each tIme 10 a certain level of development of the
m~: of labour, and so to its social, productive force a direct
~: atlOn of the Owners of .the. condit ions of producti~n to the
lrect producers, He saw III 11 'the h 'dd
b
f
.
.,
I en ~SIS.O the entln,:
social structure' and f
..
0 polHlcal forms and IIlSllIUlions etc'
Und er capltahsm
when the
f
'
"
duction and th
Owners 0 the conditions of proses there ;..
e Ir~cllproducers are different. opposed cJas,
.., no practlca need of co
in his relation with other w
urse, to pr~enl the worker
side. Nature and its
~r ers. Man and hiS labour on one
capilalism the radical ~~~Ials on the other' suffice. 1I Under
sphere of the relations bl~ probllerns are concentraled in Ihe
that are primarily econo e .weenbabour and capital, relations
lion of the means ob' mlc at OHom as regards appropriaWh
'
Ject, process a d
od
at changes does socialism
,~pr uct of labour.
unites the classes of Own
f make In thai? First of all it
.
ers 0 the
d' .
,
can It Ions of production
and Ihe direci producers in th
Ownership of the means of r~:rs,on of the working people.
labour on the other p' ,P I Ctlon, On the one hand and
, ,evlOUS y estra
d
'
property of (function priVilege
nge , cease to be the
etc
What Marx called th'e 'h',dd ' b :) different social gcoups
.
enaSls'fh
.
gets a qUite new form. The relation a t e soc ial structure
78
between exploiter and

I",

!,

k '

exp loitt:d di ... tppears. manY-Sided T"elalions develop among

workl'rs (lwlwl't:n worker and'ollecltve farmer, bt"twet"n
worker .and il1lt"ileOu.<ll. he tween mtellectual and colledive
farmer. ell'.). I>ireoly labour, prodUdion-technical, prOliul.>
lion, and working rt"ialiml' proper thai border closely on the
productive fOf(:es beg 111 to playa \pecial role in ,>ocial intercour!'oe along with property relations (e.:onomic rdalions)."
It is understandable why, while displaying immen..e care for
the prole~:tion, proliferatiun, and development of public property, socialist cOllntries pay so much attention to perfecting
the forms of the organi<;alion and management of indu!'otrial
and farm prodU(,:tion, and to arranging the most rational forms
of connection between the dilTerent contingents or the working
people of socialist society.
'The essence of man', according to Marx, 'is no abs1raclion
inherent in each single individual. In its reality it is the ensemble of the social conditions'. I' Here he had in mind economic,
political, national, la~our" ideological. soc~al -psychologil'al,
family, and olher relallons Singled OUI on \'anousgrounds and
by no means playing the sa~e ro.le.
. .
From the standpoint of dIalectICal materialism the nucleus
of the ensemble of social relations that constitute human essence is the material relations between people. But what is
their form in the first place: economic. the succession of which
leads to a new social syste'm, or labour. working, organisatio~al
and technical that are essentially common for se\"eral SOCIOeconomic formations? It seems to me that it is the latter.
The essence of man undoubtedly undergoes a process of
development. but that does not prev.ent i.t from retaining a
qualitative determinacy throughout Its history. the groun~s
for which should be sought nof in [he trOluient ec0n.0nllc
structures that determine the essence of classes and the I~~er
image of class individuals. bUI. in t~e .eternal natural conditIon
of human life, i.e. labour, which 'IS Independent of e\ery social phase of that existence. or rather, is common to every s.uch
phase', II and in the direct working relations of producllon.
which function as relations of Ibe use of 10015 and of Ihe organisation of work. Work is fhe es...,ence of specifically hllman
life actil'ity. and the direct laho!" rela.tions co.mmon to many
ages are the basis of fhe material socwl relatlOlls that determine humall essence.
. .
I
d
When need to work, the nature of the creative Impu se, an.
,Interest 111
' ow' k
, as SUlh are examined . from these angles,
h . It
will readily be noted thai they are nothmg other than t e 111-

"

'\ ~\ ,
.>,

-~

The au
nent Sf
pondinE

Science:
student
of studi

and acl
of philc

'. ,

"I

J'

'"

\'

.Y

,
-

,'It I

di\'idua/"s striving, to r~pr~)l.llJl~ 'so(ial, mar,lt'f' t.t~. dirt'd hu.

man labour felatroll.'';, III ~lIS 1,1fe a~lr\-'Jfy. rtll"1, lIJillt.'rial IJt't.d
dilTers from others 111 OWU1~ If' onglll 10 man .. sOl'i ...d hein
rather Ihan 10 his natural charal'rer.
g.
The individual perceives Iht' Il'prodlll'lion of hurnan C'i')('n'

in each creative aci. creation

or

,- ' .

p.
"_i J"'
,/
'fV" ,
"
' .. .r 1'<\~'~
'

"

And il b certamty true that we mu~t fIn! make a cau!>c our own. egoi!>lic
('au~, ~rore v.: e ..:an do anyrhmg to rurrher it - and hence that in this
sense, [rrespec:I[\e of any evenTual malerial aspirsfions, we are com_
~a~~.lSts OUI of egoism [hal we wish 10 he humtJlI beillgs, nOI mere individ_

~ere enhe

posed an importalll queslion of the very close link

elwe
the advance of communism and the aClive develop_
men! 0 r pe~onal . t
b
'
, 'd
erest, a doul 'hl' lIl<ldequacv
COns]
era '
lions of aInsoc'al
. _ J'USt of moral
Ind,'v,'d ua 1 aCllvlly.
..
I or er as the maUl, constanr drive of
The work slimuli opera!"'
,
lng
h
lnr SOCIety muS! always be orienlaled on some need 0
r at er 0 people
What needs Of. men are known to science?
. ~here are VaflOUs poi illS f .
.
.
dlstlOguish the following
. a Vtew On that. The al(empl to
.
matn categorie'
.
s at needs, for msta
nce,
was seeml~gly unsuccessful:
I) malenal needs (needs for mate ' I
2) needs for movement and a ( ,na goods);
SPOrt, hunting, elc.);
c IVlly (need for work, games,
3) needs for communion and interc
'
(need for Jove, comradeship fro hd h,our se wuh other people
4) culrural needs (needs fo', kle SI dIP, etc.);
Th '
'.
nowegemd'i
IS class]ficatlon in the main refl
d' e lea care, elc.),
problem, Above all the grounds of 7~;e d' J~C.k of study of the
satisfaction, did nOI stand up Wh ' r
IVISlon, fhe mode of
.
a. or eXam 1 d' ,
80
P e, Istmguished

<.

~,..

...,

~ ,(

...;;, ,
If ..

U ''

:1;-

if.
,.! .. ,

,7

1 .. .-

f.

..

,r

.."
. '.
,

I,

'

Ih .... way the lIeed for ma1t:riai good" wa" satl!.fied from the
won' Ihc need for lIlovcment and aClivJly wa'!; mel? We k.now.
fur'therrnorc Ihat there are things among material gonds. like
'cit:vi!.inn "d':i, thai sati<;fy !>pirituai in1t:reMs and nO( physical
(lnes' at the !:.arne tlllle a 'cullural' need like Ihal for medical
carc'or such a need for intercour.'~e"a'i Ihe need for love (bearing in mind ils phy'>tl"al a\pecl). to;. III th~ same r~nk wllh physical, material needs for food, protectIOn agaln!.1 cold. etc.
Nothing remain') of the category of 'cultural' nee~s, because
the need for knowledge can be reduced 10 one f?r Intercourse
and communion wilh other people (for the readmg of a book
is indirect communion wilh its author).
.
No one would think of denying the calegory of mlllerlal
needs, of course, but one cannot understand i~ too narrowly
(reducing it to physical needs) or counterpose II to any other
category of needs (and all the more to all three), except
spiritual needs.
. .
,
.
One could suggest differentlatmg n_eeds .as well accordmg
to origin, into natural physical ones rnhented by men fr~m
their animal ancestors, but having a social form, and SOCial
ones thai are purely human needs. The need to work belongs
precisely to the laller.
.
Since we consider this need an esse?tlal on~ of n:ta~, a s~g.n
of the individual's assimilation of SOCial relatlo[~s, II IS leglllmate to ask: Why is the individual capable of bemg the bearer
of human essence?
.
.. f
. 10
The answer is given by :"Iarxism. to which II ~s. orelgn
coUtller ose man's Objective conditions and a.cllnty t.o one
another: In the course of labour, wh.ich is the baSIS of
historical practice, man 'opposes /]~S~~ 10 .Na~'~~~ess is the
her own f,orees', ,j The essen,ce a I e IStOn~ct's socially depractical II1leraCllon of the mdepend.ent sub~
h') wi,h
termined aetivi,y (which, however, IS peculiar 10 I~~n su _
the social and na,ural medium. There IS no non-hu
, p

~~~a~:r~~

rahuman hislory,

, . 'wa es

110

bal-

. , ossesses 110 immense wealth, 11

g
.
. d s atllhal, who possesses and flghls:
ties'. 11 is mall, real hVlllg man \10 ho oe
~,",in, man as a mean~ 10
were a person apa, .
.
'hislory' is n01, II.S II .
' . ..
Ih '1I1! />/11 the aCli\ily or man pursumg
achieve il.1 01<"/1 BUllS; ImIOf) [S no I .
his aim~,

History does nollllllg. 11 I'

..

fie-from
fhe maximum (some conp
Any ~SSo~tatlon ,? peo . world syslem) to Ihe minimum
crete histOrical sOCIety or e\en . . ' . ils own wa,, a
(Robinson Crusoe 3 "d ~hlan ~r~~~~c~S~tl~ome len"!. Persomode of eXIstence 0 r I lIe umn
601Mtl

-,

ht

drive by which the mosl eS!lt!nlial soc ial relalions~ (on Which
all others depend) must be reproduced withollt ally external
influence whalsoever, and by which the functioning of the
w~ole social organis~, and of Ihe variolls forms of social life
W]1I be reproduced, ]s prepared for it in history. Communism
therefore can also be called real humanism, because it is based
on Ihe power of emancipated labour inherent only in man
and has Ihe mission of revolution ising Ihe social 'energetics:
of the fUiure, As Engels WrOte 10 Marx:

I'

,,
,

tim

,md discovery of
own capabilities as pleasure Of enjoyment. BUf 'the enjoYment~
Ihcm\elvcs ~re indeed !101'!ling .bll! social l'njoyrnet1l.~. rt>ia'i()n~
conneCllons. :'I.1arx said. Enjoyment of Ihe creallve proce"<;.~
is, moreover. nOf a simple relation, The role of Ihe eternal
Iht' Ill'\\"

,,

SI

nalilles function a~ InJividuJI be,lrl'rS of ~\l(lal rd:}lion",

The at
nent S
pondin
Scienc(
sludent
of stud
and ac
of phi l.

'le tale of the nerVOU$ system and through II even a person's

)hyslcal ,"ndilion. The SOCial organisation be"'omes One wilh

Abo\'e all I'-lan, \\'arl1~dl In' 1111'" ,1\'~'iJ Jl(lSlLj';IlIllS, sl'Oo:""ty' Y!",aill ,j,
all ab.o;lra.:lion I'i~-a-li~ the inJI\.JL~al lilt' Ultllv.dual IS ,ht'Mx:ial h, 'nll_
His manifestations of life e\en IIlhl'.I' may nol arp\:ar In Ih~' Jir,,I
form of comlflllnu/ manifeslalil'ln\, \11 Ilfl' ~'3rnl'lI (lUI In a ..... OC '81ion Wi,ll
olhers .<Jr(' then'hue all l'\prt'''1(I1l and n luflrmallnll of f'It"<J1 IUI'_

\Vhen we examine this we encounter n'rlain difflntlties,

$0 long as it is a mailer of soci~ty. cvic:ything .'should be dear;
ir is inconceivable without social relatIons. The same can be
said, with certain reservations. of any social group. By its very
existence it guarantees preservation of tile social (group) basis.
But how does the indi"idual acquire such a capacity? Where
are essential social connections 'wrillen down' in him?
Social relations are divided into material and ideological
ones. They permeate all society, like invisible magnelic lines
of force. They are not discoverable directly, but indirectly, by
general ising particular cases of people's activities and deeds.
Moreover. in order 10 be conductors of social 'lines of force',
people themselves have 10 become lillie social magnets, as it
were, or nodes in social networks, to be the sole entity (potential and actual) of these connections, which no one except
them can effect. But does thai mean that an individual, as a
'social atom', cannot help possessing an independent social
'charge' and becoming one with social relations, both spiritually and materially?
The human individual in his protogenic being is fl rsl and
foremost a biological specimen of the human race. There are
therefore no few difficulties in understanding the propos ition
formulated above. It depends on how an ind ividual's natural
and ,social natu,re is united in him, and on how the biolog ical
carne~ the SOCIal load. Unfortunarely sociologists seldom pay
att~ntlOn toexa
thai aspect of the malter, although Sovie t psychologlst~ (for . f!1ple, L. S. VygOtsky and A, N. Leontiev) have
provld.ed hlstor,lcal material ism with interesting s upple m e nt a ry
matenal on thiS.

S~iSf~cti.on o~

the need 10 work, 'essential' for ma n, has irs

psyc op y~I~logl~al, aspect. To recognise tha t is nOl, by a ny
means, to blolo.glse. hU':f1an needs, as some authors think but
~:a;s to ~ow.1n sClenlific analysis for the effect that Ihe 'con s n repr UCtlon and sat.isfaclion of Ihe social need to wor k
can exert on the performing of all
I
ctions. The rhythm of th
nor~a people's vital fu n.IS dictated by th
e processes
taking pia'ce III
. a person ,s
.
orgamsm
h h
.
e r d'yt m' of
'
.
bl e
extent. The satiSfaction
or
f 'work t a a consldera
ISSatls actIon with work affec ts
82

Ihe hinphYIL31 basLS In man more strimgly Than it Seems al

fmil glance, The fad Ihat we know little abouJ his is no argu~
ment for denymg the PSychophysiological basiS of Ihe need to
work, which has been moulded by SOCial condilions as a prodUd of thl' !.ocial indiVidual's social evolution.
The example of dtildren Ihat have gnlwn up 111 an animal
envIronment argues that the man's specifit: facultit"S anJ fun~
tions are not pa!Sed on by heredity, but are a~quireJ "eparatdy
by each individual of rhe human race in a s~ia.1 el.H'ironrnelll,
The rrocess is u~uaJJy called that of asslmllatlllg culture
(employing 'culture' in rhe seme of the aggregate of the
achievements of civilisation essential for mankind Ihal can
exert some practical influence on the indi\"iduar~ life activity).
In that sense the ma~lering of culture i.e. the a\<;;jrnilaTion of an
aggregate of social relarions, and at:q,uisiriol1 of a ~apacity to
take part fully in Ihe human commulllty. abo\'e all m the production of vital goods.
If we treal mastering culture as a p~in~ absorbing <?f cultural values, Ihe moulding of an individual as a ~el"\on IS presented 10 us as an endless quantitaliH accumulatIOn of truths,
a process of enriching Ihe mind. Assimilation of the most,essential social relations will be interpreted as menta_I mastenng. as
a function of memory: the need to work as a splr.llual (moral>
need; Ihe essence of man as a product only of hiS mental and
spirtual development.
.
,.
, .
But another approach IS pOSSible. \'IZ .. to regard .c(;rtaln of
man's capabilities and needs as funCTions of certam orga.ns.
The conditions of the task are as follows: the~e are no ~peclal,
morphologically particular permanent organs If1 man. (like, ~or
exa mp le, the lungs, heart. sTomach, e~r: leg. etc.) WIth, wh,lch
the spec ific character of human aCIIY~ly cOl!ld be as:>oc lated' the eleme ntary phYsiological funCTIOns ot the brain are
co;nmo n to hll ma~ individuals raised by ~nin.tals all.d WI.lO a;e
no t peop le, a nd to normal people. Quests III eIther dlre~t l on ~
not promise posi tive results. It IS consequently nece~ar)'
~oo
for a n a nswer to The problem in the transformaflon. 0 t ose
oss ibilities that man has from naTure throug~ The IIlHu~~ce
social t:(.lIlditions. Leontiev pointed out. f/urd path,
Wu nd t, Padov, and UkhTOT11S~y as. authOrities. It proves ,(an_
here historical maTerialism aCTIvely m .... ades the. field of psychol
ogy) that the peculiarities of human ~eha\'lour pro~r. ';;.e
. I bl' brain STruclures formed 111 The course 0 \J1 1.
uetermlnel

;0

~f

Clttn~

8.1

some

are upns thlt func:lion the same lUI

..,. Mer flC.. the latter, however. in bem.
'ril,i+,e' (adolCllical) deoIiIiI~t

........ 01 abc. "I ~;i6r "'p'b lei

'EP'I '771t1y of the world 01 objec::cs and
i.e. fA the c:rarions of culture.

We now tnow enoup about the futurel Ind

"'inlot d1E7~ orpns to Cl"eltc
11IIbcw4oq

ia man. Oa. the other hand, we can DOW

more
n
bum.n' , of the human brain was exprr 71d
devel 'ilt to be subordinated 10 the action social
aID W1ccla Ided it beyond measure. II "'lUI expt'elled
.... bM4iI." bnin. with ill 14-17 billion nerve cells,
C7 & of /or",;", IlUICIioMl DrlfUlLll

Ihe
activity,
of Ihe
of man,
The
human

during
and
Ihal

Knowing that, it would be

to
DI_ ol lCientifJc and nOI
dwi_ cited above were formulaled
.... r1 ell".!1 iDiClltaJ research and proper
...... Dletbodoiosy ol the social sciences.
Ie telre iDto account the reverse influence
-tIhiIiaIopbical compreltenaion of Ihe
~ ol functional orpns of the
. . ..-1IiIiIieO ollreating human activity in the
~ wh.., lhinp, reality,
as lite
ob/.et, or

acllYtIy, practice, not
lre_nl of Ihe essence
The relltion of
of _'s ,,",alion to the

ne

10

himaelf,

10

hiB

forma of
reftllClion 10

tollle
Ie

We

oflhe
direct

The au
nent S
pondinl
Science
student
of stud
and ac
of phil!

with th~ ~utside wO:ld by a yards~ick of the social rei .

has assllmlaled dunng onlogenesls. Reinforced P hatlons he
logically they do not die oul in Ihe individual befo SYC oP~YSi()..
dies.
re he hlmselr
, The ~ocial medium org.ani.s~s Ihe funclions of the
.
granted by nature to the mdlvldll~l as a special ph iol b~aln
apparatus. The needs of the orgarllsm arising I
~glcal
and corresponding to il are nOl natural phy <,lge t ~r with it
b t
. h' I .
,
SIO loglcal ones,
u soclop.ysl~oglCal. An atlempt 10 explain the It
concrete, hlstoncal social relations by an a I . a ter from
ad
na ysmg Ihe bas
11 superslUcture of one society or anoth
I
IS
conclusions of an ethical order. For ils part ~~eu~ua Iy I~ad~ to
of ~II man's needs enta ils, as it did with Fe uerba~alurahsatlOn'
notion of the specific character of soc' I . . I h, loss of the
must be laken inlo aCCOunt in or
la pnnclp ~s . Both sides
PSYI.'dllloPhysiological (the soie
fr?m the
SOl Y penetrate) to Ihe'
. .
Socia l can
people, and 10 see t'he reverseSYSlem of eXlsl.lIlg links between
physiological leadin I
effect of th.ese Imks on Ihe psychocapable of
goa reconstruction of it thai makes 't
f h
I
emg the natural velf I
prinCIple, and of Ihose c
""
IC e 0 I e soc io-creative
Ihe biological basis
apaCHles thai are not given to man in
We know from ~xperi
of labour and the amoral~lnc~r'hat ta,lks about the usefulness
or bent for crealivit (
sponging ca nnot evoke a taste
elllru~led 10 him withY' all" ~I a person will perform the J'ob
1 I
Imlled e
rallg ,
) or a need that is not
(n
y an d nOI so muchIII aa h
ill; a feature of the individ p I,enornenon of moral consciousness
S
" Let me recall that Len~,~ d PSYChoPhysiol~gical organisation.
trnm Ihe standpoint of Illor ~flrned com munist labour nol only
a actors but also
Iilhour perfon"" b
as
C\
Cl"aU\'"1 I

natudr~ ~~:~I~~ l~la~r;~~e

b"

. C I . l~~

become a hilbil 10
il"con~loUS realislllion (I work for the common
IlIcnl of a hcallh ,workl~g for Ihe common
~lat has become a habit)
I h ,"
) orgalll\m"
go """ la bour as the requireM
,nod, ilnd hC":ilIN: of
of Ihc ne":l'~\iIV IIf

, n I e Igill of Ihat
Godwin's it ",
approach, which dOff
IoC iellt iflc" , org:~~ i::~fe~sa ry, when posin~ ~~~e qual ita!ivel y from
logkal and Soc' "I On of labour 10 st d
questIOn of the
II is in this wa~~ ;~;ychOlogical n~ture o~!r Ih~ "psychophysicmain sphere of p . I la. tr~ l y COl11munhl t eallVlfy thoroughly.
Can We COunt ~~r e S life activity ~ill ~ansforf!1alion of the
IOwards ('Ommunism.jv On the moral factor : POSS ~ble.
anyOfle under-"I,m It Would Seem 1101 A d S SOC iety advances
....~ ales Ih
' n that"
"
moulding of a com " , e very great "' " IS nOT because
mllilist moral.
"Slgnlflcance of th
86
\;OnSCIOUsne " b
e
SS, ut because

it is impos.'iihle to treal communism in the spirit of idealism.

The problem of maleri~1 incentives for labour will always
be an urgent one for society. Under com munism, moreover,
il will be resolved differently from today. When man is already
ensured his needs for material and spiritual goods, only more
interesting work, with a fuller creative content. can stimulate
his inlerest and stimulate labour as such. We have no right td be
idealists under communism, ignoring people's needs, and not
just their non- labour needs (~or foodstuffs. c/olhing, housing,
medical care, cu ltural entertamments and relaxation, rest, etc.)
but also creat ive needs, by whose level of development one can
judge the deve lopment of truly human social relations. In that
case labOllr will not only perform the function of creator of
use I'alues but will also make itself a use value.
Labour, whatever level of socialisation it achieves will
always hiwe a personal, individual, concrete character. Its
stimulation so lely by social interests and moral considerations
will nol be able to take the place of stimulation by personal
enjoymen t and the satisfaction of individual needs, which will
cease to have a se lfish character but will remain and certainly
deve lop. Personal needs, whose satisfaction will be guaranteed
by socie ty, will cease to influence man's attitude to work.
Social interest, in the form of a moral stimulus, has already
been called, and in the future will also be, to exen a definite
influe nce on Ihe work of the members of the new society, who
will perce ive it as personal. But the individual will not be lost
in the collective. On the contrary, he will endlessly reveal his
difference , above all in crealive work, which will bear the stamp
.
of individuality and al the same time bind man to SOCiety,
co mmunicating to him the secrets of his own essence and those
of other human beings. The need for each person to ga/vanise
social relations continuously by his activity in personal life
activity, and to constantly tend the fire of his s~ial ~ing.
and a living link with the whole human commumty, will be
manifested in that.
NOTES
, William Godwin. On Property" In: An Inquiry Conc"ning Political
Justice, Vol. II, Book 8, J . Robinson, London. 1793. p 820.
.' Ibid. P 821.
\ Ibid., P 828.
. , . aI
I'
I The conceplS 'principled', 'ideolOSical', 'moral', and 'Ideo OSIC
mora are
employed as synonyms of 'spiritual',
, Karl Marx, Capitat. Vol. J. Translated by Samuel Moore and Edrd

87

AIding. Progn's-\ Putlli.,hcr\, \h~(\I\\ . ltJ1~, r 1'1 . .

'The ,erlses of Ihe s(l(ial man .Ii{fa Ifllm Ih\l~~ ,,1 Ilh' r1\IIl-.'illCi.. 1 m '
' I I"'.J.J. Prl'grfs't
.Hl.
Karl \Ian,. Enmomi<' ..md Ph,'I f~"1'III,'' l l,lIlII"'rlp/l,,

The at
nent S
pondin
Scienc(
studenl
of stud
and ac
of phil.

MAN AS A CREATIVE INDIVIDUAL

Publishfr ... \lClSCOII'. IIl:'4, r \)5.

I\arl \lar\. Cupitul. Vol. III. Prllgr .. \~ Puoll,lwrs. \11"~"w . 14 71, r 71)1
Karl ~fan.. Capital, \'& I. r 17tJ.
<). Set': G.V_
Plekharlo\. A Cril!4u1' "f Our Crili'~' S.-!"ttnJ PhiJll:>"phh'ul
Workl, \'0J. 2. Prllgrc_"~ Pubh,hl'r" \11.... ,\1\\, ItJ ,n, rr 4t,!~-4"5; 51l1l-5fJl
Karl -'Iarx. Theses on Feuerbad1. In: Karl -'I.ln, Frl'llerid. Ef1geJ~
Collecled WvrkJ. \01. 5. Progress Publl'her', \11"(\11'.', ItJ7(J, pol.
Karl \lar\. Capital, \01. I. p lit,!.
I. Karl \Ian. Wages. In: Karl -'Ian., Frl'dcrid;, Engels. ColI,'('//'d Wnrh,
Vol. 6. ProgreS!i Publishers. \Iose(lw, ItJS4. p 421.
See Engels' leller I~ \Ian of 19 NO\ember 18H., In: Karl Marx, Frederick
Engels. Collected I~ arks. \ 01. 38. Pr(lgrl''OS Pub"~ht'rs, -'I meow , 1982.
Karl ~lar:>,. Capltul, \01. I. r 173.
K~r.1 ~1an: and Frederick Engels. ~he Holy Family or Crilique of Critical
CrnrclSm. In: Karl Mar\:, Frederrck Engels, Co/ll'erNI Works, Vol .J
Progress Publishers., Moscow. 1975. p 93.
. ,
Karl Mar\: . .Econr;mic ~II(I Philosophic ,\1/11~llsaiph oj 18014, pp 92.93.
A. N~ LeOrHlel. /l,auka I che1o\'echl's/I'o (Scrence and Mankind) Vol )
lnarue, Moscow, 1963. P 71
'
. -,
'" Kar I \Iar\:. Theses o~ Feuerbach.
'
19
Op. dt., p 3.
Karl Marx. EconomIc. Ul/d Philawphic ManliscriplS oj 18.J4, pp 96-97.
L. S._ Yygotsky. Ra:I'/{Il' \'ysshikh psikhichl'skikh /lIflklSil (The Evol t"
of Hrgher PSYchic Functions). Moscow. 1960, pp 198.199.
u Ion
\-. I. Lenl1l. Materialism afld Empirio-Crilicism, Progress Publishers, M
1t cow, 19';7, P 38.
os

I. S. Kulikova

Vi Ih Lenin. From fhe

; ;1;.

~ew.

The greal creations of cullurt!' in all sphcrt'::; of life were anti

are made by people, but far from everybody (and not all people)
has been and is drawn into creative activity. The very po~ibility
of drawing a broad circle of people into creative activity is
governed by two main factors: (a) the character of the social
forma tion in whi(h the indi\-'idual lives. and (b) the (haracter
of the individuals themselves. Their level of development and,
specifically, Iheir creative capabilities.
The possibility and necessity of drawing people into creati\'c
aClivity, and harmonious development of the personality ha\'e
been decided differentlv in differenl a2es. Tht' ,'iews of scholars
on this are divided. The humanistically inclined advanced minds
of mankind have considered it possible and necessary to draw
people broadly into creativity and a(ti .... e participation in the
cultural process. But, while ad\'ocating free manifeslation of
man's creative abilities and harmonious development of the
personalily, they inevitably came up against insurmountable
obstacles in the conditions of reality itself. The humanists' good
impulses were utopian.
Many scholars who have expressed the ideas and ideab of
dominant exploiter classes have declared its elitist charaCier
to be desirable, inevitable. and even, allegedly. fruitful for
the progress of culture, and have seen in activation of the m~~s
a danger of a lowering of the level and tempo of mankllld s
cultural developmenr and even a threat of annihilation of
previolls achievements and memorials of cultu.re. The founders
of Marxism-Leninism-Karl ~Iarx. Frederick Engels, and
V. I. Lenin-paid much atlention 10 the problem of the creative
moulding of the person~lity. and t~ .Ihe bringing out.and de.v~I.
oping of man's creative capacltl~s. The Marxl~t-L~mnlst
philosophy has not only made an lI1\"aluable contrlbullon 10
understanding the esselH.:e of man, and has not only ,bro~ght
out his significance and leading role in the cours~ of hlstoncal.
social progress. but has abo revealed and creatively substan-

Deslruclion of Ihe Old Social Syslem 10 Ihe Creal ion

Collected Works. Vol. 30, Progress Publishers, Moscow. 1977,

"

w.....
...... oIsociery II1d of man's ere.tive
ill jIOIiIive,
upect:
.. ,"n,,,,u...e tA the II.-ralb. iJlthe . .1id
~udflk are better made, die .,.riOUI h"
.hld. and without lOme rellrllint no
Cut r1 anywlleft. Hence both product and rooii..
dIo ~ of "'boar.'
7 .....0

....... dMsiOll of labour operal..

..... .aery, IIIld h.. ... opposile
crealive capacities. Marx ...alysed Ihe
01 wort under capitalism in delaO ...d
or eotJU&ed labour lowered free
siIIpJ. means n....... ry 10 mainlain the
Ibe producer. Work thereby IGII its
'lIIe LWDmodily fetishism inherenl in
!II -.... ~ 10 the
of IIBhIrIII

objec.s
fOiDI of

. . . an ideclog .....
. . . .tm nqiidigo, practicism, a lendecy
1iIB,!._ ~. He fiercely condanmed
- - -aiIiaB 1II;Capenl-., .." Ibe
. . . . . . . . . in
the C8UIeS
inherent

~'

is extended, But llIe

. . . . . llIese neorl' are also ~ . .
M...,. called llIe proc:..,. of satisfy.,. me,!"
~n...rcha~ with Nalure', ~nd .related It
necessity'. He saw freedom m IhlS realm of
socialised man, the 'PDCilted producers.
ialercb'np with Nature. brinJirq: it under !"i!.
~ belli, ruled by it as by the blind forccs
with the lear expenditure of eneray and
or co
to. lad ... day m. dleir hUman

Marx did nol consider labour expended on

needed 10 satisfy wants Ihal came inlo Ihe
10 be truly free labour and did nol reduce
of objetlS needed 10 salisfy malerial wants,

considered that excessive growth of material

sion of man into Iheir slave led 10 his
He counlerposed Ihe realm of necessity to
crealive aclivity, which disclosed Ihe possibilities
powers for developmenl as such, and for aboQJu~
of man's crealive talenls. The founders of Marxism

the free realisalion of man's capabilities

path 10 retumin, his lost wholeness 10 him, and to

him frO!" a simple bearer of a panial SOCial

hlllC&IIOusly developed individual capable of
.......e modes of life aClivity.
If8n: and EIlaeIs resolulely oPPosed hemmin,

Ihe

lilt i o.

conftttes of any profession, and

of narrowly-professional

eEd Of the Pl!rsonalify, and manifestation

~ .... ~ divisi~ of I!,b~ur. They
lion of ....n s capaCities hIS 1O~lienabJe right, not
bu& .. a ...... ensiled m cenain work as a

=::-

In

character
example, as
While

of ,)I"(\fl,,,,,j(Hld.1 '. Ih\\dl'd~t', ~"IIt.S. ".,<1

I\lww-Iww. II indudes f{\sll'l"ing, ;\ S(\llaIJ"1 ,llIlIlhlt' In WIl!"k as
well as Illl' pas.... mg on of his ht''". PI"(\fl .... iIHI.1I ("pnit'lIn', 'i. .,
t
Inn' for Ollt'\.; profes-\inn, .1 crt'all\t' ;l1ll1lllk I(\w<lrd II, IlIld a
.\lri\iIH! for impro\"t'lllenl. Thl' l'lllinl'IlI Iht',lIl"It.. 11 prOdUt.l'r
. .
1\.. S. SIJllisl'l\sky. when drawlIIg YI)tlllg pt'llpll' Inhl Iltt' diffk.ulr,
respollsihle pl"{lft'ssion of 1Ilt..' 'Kil)r. dt'rtlillllkd Ilf Iltt'lll a pI."rkel
command of Iheir proft's..\ion ilnd ...-It.'i1dy t)ulhllt'd Ihl' pallt 10
al'hlt"\"e [hal, ,iz .. 10 makl' Iht' difl'wu!I a hahil, tht' Itahililillt'a.w,
Ihe ea..S beaulifuL The highesl at'st Itt'l it.' 't'nlkl, 'hl'aUliflll', 'is
applied [0 Ihe proct'ss and rt'SIIII of .IIIY work. 1101 jus! Ihal of an
acror or an anis!. if is no an'idt'1I1 Ihal a Pl'l"SOIl who has
achieved perfeclioll in his profes.-.ioll [lilt! ill his i.lclivily is GlUed
a masler and an anisl. because e't'ry kind of work (:all be done
variously, from 'badly' to beautifully'. Thai is why Ihe example
of the master, the instruclor, and fhe forl'e of personal example
are no It'S.') esst'IlIial in work than ~he force of example is in art,
and are perhaps even more effecllve. The characlers of a work
of art have an emotional effeci on perception of it, and only
Ihen can the r~suhs of Ihis e!feci be realised. Only personal
example has a dlr~'::1 effect dunng work. An ideal arising during
perso~al, p~oducllon contact can immediately stimulale its
maten,alJ,salJon .. Thai is why Ihe mosl worthy people are selected
III soclahst socl,ety as inslructors of young specialists, 110t jusl
m.asler~ of theIr craft and professional creators, but people
with high moral and ethical standards .
. ~l.ements
of aeslh~lics, constalllly being displayed in a
v g
:tn lJ1 f~r a har~onlous combination of the functional and
he beautl~ul~ are l~lIegralJy present in a creative allilUde to
wor~ a!ld 111 ImprOVing the qualily of the product. A developed
a~1 etlc CdO.l1sclousness promotes realisation of purposive activlly accor Ing to Ihe laws of b
T
.
.
,
eauly. he aeslheflc aspeci IS
'
preSsen.t 1.11 every creatively conscious piece of work
oClalisi emulation opens u
b
.
licising labour and for
h ,P a. ~e~y . road path for aestheof the compeling p aest ellc aSSlmtialJon of realily, The lask
.
ersons, work learns g
d
prlSes is no! only to make III
' roups, an enlerbeller, and make it more b or~ and fasler, but also to do it
secret of their aChievement ~a~Hlful. The competilors make no
and succe~es, the fact makf~ I i~y gla~ly share their experience
labour proces~s and incr g POSS'b~e nOI only 10 accelerate
aesthetic qualities.
ease producllon, bUI also to raise its
II is precisely in the co
COllr~e 0 f t he emulators th t. nSlant
. .' personal , creative intera soclallsl emulation
'/4
IS CQunterposed
p<l .... .III

The at
nent ~

pondir
Scienc
studen
of stU(

and a(
of phil

(111

()f

il SUIl!

10 1IIl' hllllrgl'OIs prll1l'lpic"> of Jealou\ly guarding 'mdustriai

illld triltk set rl"ls dUring .. ut thro<ll (olllpt'tillllll. Th", vC'ry
("lllullllUtl' t.Jf nJpIL}li-'l rculily lkprtVl.' p~llplc of oppOr1Ulllti~
fllJ crcOJli\'t' l')(ch<tl1lotc of l'Xp rit'nn~ through frlo't" pt'rsollill
IIlItr~otlrs(, "fld IImke f,.r allCll<HtOIl ill peoplt."'i rdutillllS,
Iht'rd,y IIlIlwdlHg Ihe prot:l.''S.'i of mutual CI"t.'tltiH' CllrtChllll'IIt
of jlt'(;pil- illld IIf pnfct:lillg tllelr ci:lpuhilitil''S.
The m'w ~ol."iali\1 ~ocil'ly took thl' vl'ry ("Ollr!ie nf matt's
{kvl'i Ilrlll ('II I under l"IHllrol, I.e. di'Sco\'cry of hi . . pntclltialilil'S,
Ihl' hringing out illid development of hiS capabililies.
At all sl<Jgl''j of the moulding of a per')otlality and of its
cOllscioll~I1CS" <.Ind sl'lf-awarefll''SS, reali .. ed III a variety of way\
and by a varil'Iy of tnl'afl<;, ("ommunion ur inll'rcollrw phl)'\ an
cssclliial rolc; dlJring ii, ,individuab make one 111011/(',', <IS
Marx and Engels put it.
The change and pcrf~cting of men's cO/1s.cim!\ncss, g.m/wth
of the individual's conSCI(>usnt:ss, and consolJd<ltlon of hiS. her
crealive potential, call primarily f.or. r~ising the ("ull~l~e of
thinking, i.e. Ihe training in ea("h mdlvld~al of an ~btlllY 10
cognise Ihe essenlial connections and relallon~ of nbJcl:iS ~nd
phenomena and to t~ink creatively when posl_ng .and Iad.I.I~lg
practical and theorellcal problems. All forms ot .ralsl,ng <;p~ual
iSIS' qualifIcations and the standa.rd of e~ucatl(lIl .m co~I.~g.l's
are direcled to realisation of thiS pressmg lask Irl sO(lalist
countries. The school reform and impro~ing of th~ n~tw~lrk
of political education being carried out m the 50\"lei Ullion
serve the same goal.
..
d b
y
A broadening of people's interests IS. bemg ~tT~ct~
various ways and means in ,1he implementlllg of thiS task, The
individual's range of interests Clay thus e~tend 10 art. sr.ort,
and various kinds of amateur activities like model-rna II1g.
and activilies of an applied-art character.
.
A bold ("ombinalion of forms of indirect in.tercourse (readl~g,
going to the theatre and exhibitions, watchmg fllms. TV, e.k.)
with aClive personal a~ti.v.ity in a freel~ choseillra~fld yf;,~rI~~~
forms of amateur activilles. sport, elc) nail
y .
I"t
'
. IT ,t for creative development of Ihe persona I ~:
maxllnum e el:
f becls of a perS()Il s
Such a combination extends the range ,0 0 J <I. the range of
b th ldirecl and persona, exlen s
.. It. and develops an inter~sl
intercourse . 0 II
his personal JIlterests, and Sllmu a es
d
. for 'reativily in him.
l h
Ie play an essenlial role in e ..eryan capanlY.
Corllacts With ot er. peop
.
d finds expression in it.
d '. rr The reality experIence
'.
~~dY sSocilaf' relations are ("oncretised and acqUire a personal
.<

The au
nent 5.
pondinl
Science
student
of studi
and ac'
of phil<

forl11: and it is during, intercourse an,d co m mu n ion of pe ople

that aCli\'ity , information, and experlellce a~e t..'xc ha nged. A
person's consciousness and self-awarl'ness IS sh a ped in 't
a capacity for mental ,ac t,i\'it)' devt'loped, t..'mot ion~ an d feelin~~
deepened, CO!lCrete pn n.Clp!e~ and. forll~s of beh~v l o ur mo ulded,
and needs anse for the 1I1dlvldual s selt-expresslo n a nd c re ative
acti\'ilv.
I ndfv iduaJs' emot ional, and. voli t i?na I in te rac t io ns a rise during
Intercourse: concrete hls toncal ties (class, g ro up, and indi_
vidual) are establ ished t ha t promote t he in tegrit y a nd wh o leness
and
functioning of the socia l sys tem, As Marx a nd E ngel s noted ,
.
II was

precisely the personal, individual behaviour of individu a ls, thei r behav io

to one another as individuals, Ihal created the exist in g rel ations and dai~r
rl'produces them anew, l
Y

They paid considerable atte nt io n to in te rcourse on both the

r~rso~al and social plane, and reso lute ly opposed both indi\,ldu~l!~m as the foun da tions of h um a n ex iste nc e, and the
COI1V1ctlon developed by bourgeois mo ra lity th a t
the world will be set to rights, if everyone by himself Iries 10 ge l as far as
possible and for the rest doe~ not trouble his head about the course of
Ihe .... orld.'

Engels, d,irectJy c~:)Un t erposed individual ism to th e poss ibility

of attammg happ mess:

~r~Kt vce;~' a~x~~~:~7~a;lr_

tinn ~ith himself. " u

a,nd by no means to his and oth er peopte's

salLsfy hiS urge towards ha ppiness by preocc upa.

~1arxism conside rs ul1i

I'
ind ividual's I' ,
v~r~a In te rcou rse a sine qua non of the
reality and a~fli:vmg SpI~lIual wealt h, of a c re ati ve attitude to
'mode;n ul1iversal ~~t:y-Slded deve lo pm e nt of th e personality;
?u~ ls.' unless it is CO nt ;~~~~se can~?;t be c onl.rolled by indiviIIl dlVldual's self. ac liv' t
al~, Onl y With that does the
Ii ~e, On ly Ihen will a,ll ~ ~t01l1 clt~,e ~,, ~ th e co ndition s of material
VIdual's deve lopmelll a ~r~ I~n .tt a tl o ns be c ast off in the indin
indiVidua ls, With tha; th
m dlv ldu a ~ s deve lop into complete
that ar ises through the d,e ,1~eCessa ry II1te rco urse of individuals
fr
IVl510n of labour "lib
ee communion and felt b
' . , WI
e c onverted into
But Ihe lra nsil ion to th' ,~, l ~e IIld tv ldua!s as suc h, td
be, brought about sponta~eo~~1 ~st slage of self-ac tivity' cannot
thiS road, and the t rans itio
) . o,nl y revolution c an open up
Jutlo~a r,y proletaria ns', Whic~ r~qu l res a 'community of revoassoc lallon
; a rx a nd Enge ls defined as an

, ?y

96

which puts the ..:ond itions of the free development and movement of ' d'.
viduall; under their c~trol -c~dit ions whic h were previously Ie:~
~'hanl:e a.nd. had aC~lred an mdependent existence over against Ihe
separate mdlvldual'S...

:0

This tra nsition mu st be made during the building of communism. In th at se nse Mar x and Engels defined communism
as the 'prod uct ion of the form of intercourse itse lf . They saw
the diffe rence bet ween communism and all earlier movements
in its ove rturn ing 't he basis of allj!ariier relations of production
a nd inte rcou rse ', strip ing 'all naturally evolved premises' of
inte rcourse of 'the ir natural characte r' and subjugating 'them
to th e powe r of th e united indi v iduals' , ~<J
Inte rcourse through art has an essential place in this process.
Si nce it has a spiritual, intellectual chara cter, an increasing
stri vin g for art as an object of intercourse promotes spiritual
e nric hme nt of the indi vidual and growth of his intellectual,
aesth etic c ult ure. The intercourse of indi viduals in and through
a rt foste rs a broadening of their interests and development of
comm on tastes and views, People 's spiritual communion and
mut ual understanding, grow through personal intercourse in
and thro ugh art, and a feeling of collectivism is strengthened

by it.

Contac t with a work of art that reHect reality not only has
cognitive significance, and not only promotes, development
and perfecting of a person's feel ings and e~ollons. ,b ut also
a ctively en courages growth of his/ her aesthetic ~onsclousness.
The perc eption and appreciation of a work of art m acc,o rdance
with one 's personal aesthetic ideals gives the perceiver the
c hance, so to speak, to compare his ideals with those of the
artist, and to correct, refine, deepen, and broaden them.
Constant contact with works of art furthe,rs development of
a person's aesthetic taste and a rai~ing of hiS gen~ral culture,
which provides the necessary premises faT emp!oymg art ~ a
means of moulding and shaping his creative attitude, to reality.
The force of art's action and the breadth of the audience lay a
special responsibility on soci~lis~ art workers, who are call~~
upon to create universally Slgmficant ~orks capable of pe,
forming the lofty functions ,of educa~m~ workmg people m
accordance with socialist socia-aesthetIc Ideals.,
h
It is the art of socialist realism that not onl~ diScloses tie
acute conflict of modern times in its works bUI IS also capab e
of indicaling effective ways of resolving them. It shows t~~ ro!e
of the personality in involved s~ial pr?"esses, and the .dla celie
of the person'ality's interaction with society. and that can have a
97
701662

,
,

, -

,
,

very strong effect on a PI.'f\OIl, ()II the formatIon <.Ind III II'
, wor Id OuIOO.
I k
'
'.
OUtlllg
of 1m:
emotwlls. I"isll\"i. aSplrall(lllS, and " '"

aL

nenl S
pondin
Science
student

of stud
and ac

of phil,

aspIre 10 Ihe fUlUre. can have slich a posili\'L' elTl'L'1.

at
Through conlact with a wor"- of art till' rl'ntler ,'.
I '
. 'Il'wer
,
Istener
nol
on
y
perceives
the
phellomt"IIJ,
ObJ"L'(IS
s, ... . '
I
d I .
.
" .II/Jl'lIS
' d"
em b0d Ie In II, an t It'' Images Ihe artist ne'lIes. bll! 1.11
I'
position of Ihe artist, his vision of these phenomena .'OJ 'hl.~
'd
d
. .
lIt IS
a~lJtu e to an appreciatIon of ~hen~, also expre:;sed in if. Th~
newer of a work of art recognises liS creator 's socio-aestl "
ideals through if.
letlc
Marxism-Leninism
'I'
I'
'h
...has armed
. .the art workers of SOCialS!
rea IS~ WI! . a pOSSibility of sClentlflcaUy cognisi ng and under_
standmg
socIal phenomena
and I he laws of soc ,'al de ve Iopmen!
TI
. .
.le actual.ly eXlstlllg and possible, .profOl~nd l y comprehended
b) Ihe ~rtlSI. enter a work of art 111 a dialectical 1I1't
Th
~onversl~n of the possible into Ihe real, which happe[~sl ~~Ih .~
I~e ~nd.m art thr~ugh.lh: active work of individuals, reve11s
: ; ndmg ~f SOCial Significance by individual activity The
t y humanism, and faith in people's powers mind' and
ee l mgs, an~ in the person who knows how t~ defea~ and

~~ee:i~~~; ~:\~ :x~ressed

in/he

w~rks of art

of soc ialist realism,

in them and "nsp~sponfse, hr~m Viewers, arouses lofty feelings
,
Ires all 111 progr '
d
b
It is especially vital I '
ess an a eller future,
active moulding of t~e~:tr... ct you~~ people to art during the
stance and characler
d perso~ahlles, world outlook, life

,an not as IS s
.
the pOsitive characle
f'
ometunes wntten, because
imitated, II is quite r~if~Cu~tOrks .of art are an ex~mple 10. be
dressed and behavin
f
to Image a person 111 our time
characters of works o~' ar~r the~ample. 'like Chapaev'. The
per~orm in acute conflicts il~volelr d:eds, .and the actions they
Ihelr actions to 'ch k' h
untanly bnng people to evaluate
.
'
ec t em w'tI h '
~nd Ideals, and encourage th I 1 t elr Own views, life stances,
I~ themselves and (what i. em 10 ,seek powers and faculties
display them incontemporar s cver~ , Imp~rtant) possibilities to
~~. an active. character ani a ondlllO ns, I.e. fost~r the moulding
Ispla~ of hiS essence.
person who aspires to creative
Lenin remarked that 'th
~~wa~ds profound thoughts e t Popular writer leads his reader
. I~,
dps him over his firs; ~teOwards profound study ... leads
III ependenlly',
Th
,- ps and teaches h'
literature b
1.
at Wise observat'
1m 10 go forward
, ut a so to all progre\.\ive IOn not only applies 10
(III
works of art that include

'1-

,!I
./

' ,

".

,..'

-""

"

:.:....,

\,

.,

,"

iHIV<ll1Cl'll Idea'" cmbnllied

a(..t lOll."',

"I""
rtrl~h:
I.e. 011 the shaplIlg 01 1I~ at'attn' all JIlItk' In rl'alil)' N'I
"
"
I
. I
. .1 uri.llly
ol1l~' Indy arltslle worri.S llal ('nntalll oft)" itkals. works th.
.

The

In

, I

,
,

heroes in reality throu h

'I
g rea

Thl' striving tn tral1l,for~ reality in accordance with loft

nl.'W Idea". a,no to ch~ng.e 11 for Ihe beller, is a creative atti:
lude 10 reality, And II. IS thiS thai true art teaches people.
Prt'sclll-day bourgenl~ .art . pt!rforms diametrically opposed
tas~s. An absence of p()sl1l~e ldeah of social development, and
of Ideas capable of aUractlllg people, robs it of the chance to
create works of high spiritual value. The very concept 'ideal'
has lost sense for bourgeois theoreticians and practitioners of
art. It has been replaced by a concept 'image' that expresses
not the essence but only the appearance of man ('idol') --the
fashionableness of his clothes, hair-do, pose, and manner of
holding himself. ~iresome. importunate advertising of portrayals of such a kmd induces a drive to imitate and to reject
one's own individuality in a constant chase after fashion and
striving to be 'no worse than the others',
The chance to buy such and such a hal, to have a hair-do
like the 'idol's', to adopt such and such a pose, gives the aesthelically underdeveloped person an illusion of his similarity to a
fashionable film star or pop singer, an illusion of the acquirability of the widely advertised 'world of chosen', In that connection an 'instinct of identification' is being produced that has
already been common for many years in bourgeois art, which
leads to a levelling of the individual rather than 10 his development.
The ability of arl to evoke a striving to identify (for some
illusory 'equaling of self to another person) is the basis of the
success of numerous 'Cinderella'-rype articles of 'mass culture'
that have maintained the myth for decades of the alleged
existence of 'equal chances for aJl' in capitalist soc iety. 'If he
(she) is lucky, why can't I be if I copy him (her) in ev~ry~hing?'
the young spectator often argues, eagerly luxunatmg III
attractive pictures of episodes played in de luxe. hotels and
restaurants, and millionaires' villas, The fiashmg frames
inspire glowing hopes, make humdrum work and the hopelessness of existence, and uncertainty about the morrow bearable.
Art performs compens,alory functions .h~re, giving rise to apathy
and passivity and makmg one set all hls/ her hopes upon chance.
The tasks of socialist art in rhe involved process of the
moulding of the personality, i.e. art that bel~ng~ to the peop.le,
to Ihe masses, were clearly defined by Lel.un: It should Ulute
and heighten Ihe feelings, thought, ~nd ,wil l of ~~ese masses;
it should inspire and develop the artists m them.

The au
nent S
pondinl

Science
student
of stud
and ac

of phil(

Marxism-Leninism underslands fhe inspiring of the

.
in people broadly. W~~n making the ai.m of sOl'ial devela artISts
~he. c~eation of COndltIOilS for harmolllOus development ~(~nt
II1dn'"ldual, and of each perso~, Marx and Engels did he
not
consider Ihal everybody (figurallvely SPt'3king) should b
a Raphael, but suggested Ihal 'anyone in whom ther:c~rne
pOlential Raphael should be able 10 develop without hind a
ran_
ee., . I
.
But il is by no means socialist art's sole lask 10 discove
educate Raphaels. Active drawing of a person into art pro~ a~d
awakening of his personal creative inclinations. The ea
'yh
' . and more br rler
an d more active
t al process .
IS ,
(I.e. artlsllc
dl
aesthetic education), the more effective it will be and the oa y
.
.
mON
frm
i ' Y an Inlerest
III and need for an and crealive activ'! be
'laid' in the person. Special anention therefore needs ItY b
education in school years b th
Oe
constant y paltod
aesthetic
.
' itself and in extracurricular occuPations an'd 0 t' I.n
Ihe school
f course, III
. the family.
aelVI_
.
ties"
an d
,0

0,'"

Life. has bro~ghf out Iwo conerele, effective ways for the
aesthetic education o~ ,Scho?lchiJ.dren: I) inclusion of aesthetic
problems. an,d prOPOSllIOns m children's arliSlic training in literalure,. slllgmg, an~ drawing lessons; and 2) accenting the
!~~helJc aspecf~ dunng the feaching of all other school subjects
II out exceptlo.n, The sha~ing of aesthetic needs in earl
years, ~nd a deslfe for creaUve aClivity should not be . t y
' 1 1 1 errupted III S b
u s~quelll
years, paniculary
in family life', a high
'e '".e 0f a marned
coupl'
'.
,.
condifions in the fa il e; spI.rnua I~terests creates favourable
life actlvlfy in the c~il~re~~ mculcatmg a creative aTtitude to
The pafhs of art education a b
d
'
of the broad masses of Ihe w ;e. roa and .vaned. Involvement
(ant place in this ag
f h 0 klllg p~ople I~ art has an imporduring 'he shake
e Of I e s,econd IIldustnal revolution and
up 0 consclQ'
,
Th ~sness III a~cordance with the
requiremems of the tim
Ihe people's general st:Sd diS IS not POSSible wilhollt raising
parameters of people's ~/r
.culture. If involves all the
1e
people\ ideological matur it ~cuvIfY .. It is .based on raising
10 play an essemial role inYthi~ means of SCience, and art has
One mUSt realise, in fhis can . ,
science or compefes W,,hII III
, neCllon,
.....
Ihep that an does nOI replace
.'ClOu~nes~: each of fhe h
rocess of remOUlding confun~tl.on III s~ialisf SOCi~y a~d 10 ~erf~rm its own, inherent
sU,bjects of fhelr Siudy are differe deCide Its Own problems. The
nt
SCience ha~ long had as its sUb . on the philosophical planeJeCI-mafler .
.
100
appeanng essence'

and. art 'es\cntial app:earance'. The dialectical nature of the

s ubJ~ct~mal~er Of. art IS .based on a proposition formulated b
Lenm In hiS Plllio'iOphlCal Notebooks: 'Here too
Y
,.
n f
h
'
,weseea
IransllJOn, a ~w. rom I ~ o,n~ 10 the other: ~he essence appears.
!h.e appearance IS essenll~~, ComprehenSion of this dialectic
IS Important f?r the Iran~lflon of forming individual fraits and
appear.ances mto. eS,s~nflal ?nes, and for bringing out the
dlalect~c o~ the I~dlvldual 10 his social relations. It is the
dialectical IIlteracllon of fhe individual and society inherenr
in life thaI constilutes the central object of art studies. Science
can embrace social phenomena, and man himself, even more
deeply, definitely, and universally than art, but art, for all that
retains priority in Ihe sphere of bringing out the 'building' of
the individual personality in the social process.
All Ihe preconditions for man's development have been
created in socialist society, for the first time in human history,
for free discovery and realisation of the capacities of each
member of society, and for free developmem of each human
individual. For that purpose all the means of discovering,
moulding, and developing fhe individual's creative faculties
(instruction, education, vocational training, intercourse, and
the organisation of leisure) are being brought under the control
of society. Development of everyone's creative faculties, held
down and repressed for centuries in exploiter societies, is
acquiring a planned characler in socialist countries.
Realisafion of the possibilities offered by socialist society
for Ihe varied creative developmenf of Ihe individual, and of
'
.
everyone, (which is being broughf about for the fi~st u~e,
and on a hitherto unprecedented scale) natural~y requires tI~e
and greal effort. The foundations are being laid at present .m
socialist society for moulding the man of the future comm~n~t
society, a free creafive person and all-round developed mdlvidual.

at

NOTES
Karl Marx, Capital, Vo!.I, Translaled by Samuel Moore and Edward Ayeling.
Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1978, pp 3~4-345. .
2 Karl Marx Proceedings of Ihe Sixlh Rhme Provmce Assembly (Debales
on Ihe Law'on Thefls of Wood). In: Karl Marx, Frederick EnJels. Co/Ited
Works, Vol. I, ProJress Publishers, Moscow, 1975,. p 262.
, Karl Marx. Economic and Philasophic Manuscrtpls of 1844, Progress
Publ1shers, Moscow, 1974, P 96.
.h
1 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. The Gl'rltJQn Ideology, Prosress Pubhs ert.
Moscow, )976, p 51.
I

101

Karl \130..
V.1. Lenin.
Wor.tl. Vol,
Karl Man..

The au
nent S,
pondin!
Science
student
of stud:
and ac

of phil<

Economic Illld Phil,osophiC MUrllI_I'aiflt.\ of 18-1-1, r 1)1).

Resllll~ of Parly \\l'l'k 1!1 M:l~~'11W lll1\1 Our Tasks. ('nlll'ct~d
.10, Progre" PubIL~ht'r~, ~ltl..\lI'I\-.' 11)17, r 30.
Cupital. Vol. III. Prllgrl'\' Puhll~her .... i\h\\~tlw. Ins. r 820

M~

TI'

ELEVATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL

AS A SOCIAL PROCESS

Set: Karl \Iarx and Frederl(k Engd\. It' (,aft/un Itlt-ol"K" rr 441-442.
o Karl \Iarx. Capital. \'01. III. r 3(11.
Karl Marx. A Conlrihulion 10 Iht' Crilil/lIl' of Poiilinll Ecol/omy. Progress
It

G. G, Kvasov

Publi~hers, Mo~cow. IQi1, P IQ7.

See \Iar ... s Letter 10 P.V. Annenkm (II' 28 December 1846. In: Karl Marx
Frederick Engels. Colil'dro Wor.t,. Vol. .18, Progre~, Publisher.;, M~O\.,:
IQ82. p Q6.
'
Karl \fan; and Frederick Engeb. Tht> vl>rman IdC'%/.:.\', r SQ.
I Ibid .. P 463.
1 Ibid .. r 405.
16 Frederick Engels, Ludwig Feuerbach and Ihe End of Cla~ical German
PhilO!iophy. In: Karl Marx. Frederick Engels. Sl'fecled Works in thr~
. ~olume~. Vol. Three, Progress Publbhers, Moscow, 1976, p 358.
I, Karl \iarx and Frederick Engeb. The German IdeolOR)"
p 97.
13 Ihid.
IV Ibid., p 89.
Ibid .. pp 89-90.
v. I. Lenin. The Journal SIoboda. Collected Works, Vol. 5, Progress
PublGcher.s, Moscow. 1977, p 311.
See Clara Zetkin. Erinnerllngen an Lenin Dielz Verlag Berlin 1957
z~ ~arl Mar.x and Frederick Engels. The Gnl/'wn ltIe%gy, 416,'
.
~ . I. Lenm, Conspectus of Hegel's Lecl!lre on Ihe Hislory of Philosophy.
(vlll!f.led Works, Vol. 38, Progress Publishers, Moscow. 1976, p 251.

. The dialcctical~m~terialist meth?dology of man's knowledge

Slllgies out as pnonty trends an Investigation of problems of
the social essence of the individual and of the real. practical
processes of the transformation of the world of man during
which man changes himself.
The complexity of studying the human factor in its specific
essence is due to the single system of the interaction of several
interconnected aspects of man's being: personality: the individual and his natural properties: the subject of social activity.
knowledge. and intercourse: individuality.
The historical experience of the socialist social system in
overcoming social and class anlagonisms witnesses 10 the
genesis of dialectically imponant trends in Ihe developmenT
of the human personaliTy, According to the sociological dala,
Ihe leading tendency among these trends is that of raising the
personality. which has an integral systems character, which
renecTs the line of socialist man's progressive developmenl and
consistent movemenl loward futlness of social significance and
inner wholeness, IOward heighls of culture and civilisation of a
new social Iype. Its disclosure presupposes unily of Ihe naturalhislory and va lue aspects. The real process of Ihe rise of Ihe
personali ty covers a long period of development and a number
of phases and metamorphoses characterised by a definit,e
d ia lectical int erconnection, hierarchism. unevenness, and specIficity of ma ni fes tation at the general s~ia l , collecfive, and
individua l leve ls. A fealLlre of development already noted by
Marx becomes clear:
When a product is considered in its flilal form as a ~rie~ or phase.s or producl ioll followinK one after the olha 011 an ascending {mt', so thaI a lalrr
one takes Ihe earlier one forward and conditions il. '

The fullne~ of the dialectical Iruth of the moulding of Ihe

new man finds expression in an objective analysis rwi jusl .of
the ascending movement in the development of Ihe persona~lty
predominant in s(X'iery bUI also of Ihe facts of a' de.scendmg
\O.~

mO~'t'.I1lt'llt, cast's of rllt' dt'gt'n~rJti{)f1 .Hlll. lI1or.d lorruplio

The au
nenl S

pondinj
Science
student
of stud
and ac
of phil<

ll ~}f
Indl\"Jdual
people.
Thl'
tnllh
01
Ihl'
'llelah,r
Wil\'
llf
Iii"'
I.
.
.
.
.

t
It'S In
al'tlVt' srrugglt' and surmoulltlllg 01 Ill'gallH' phl'nolll"',"
"
.
'" .1 8111."
10 rhe nt'w SOl'It'ty.
1
Let mt' note rhe main le\t~I_" {If Ihl' tVplllogic.1i hrl'ilk I
" 0 f .tIIe I
rl'r~llilillit)"; gl'nl'r.
{ OWn_
I fiSt'
0.f th~ process 0 f tIe
1II1l1'1I1
hlstoncal (common 10 hUIII.HllIy). rOIKrl'!t' -III"loririll (s ''1'1
micro-social. and individual.
. Otla I,
On the general hislOrical plnne. thl' risl.' of thl' I)ep, "I"
. .
.
.,( na ltv
bl
f
I
aPdPeafrsl ~s ~ pro em 10 t 1~ ongn.l 01 man C0l11111011 In mankind
an 0 liS n se a bo\"e lIe allllllai klllgdolll undl'r tht' detern .
" "
I process 0 f tIe
I de\"e/opmelll of labourlJnlllg
1Illluence
0 f lIe
and
means of labour.
On the. concretely historical plane, this rise, being based On
the creall\e essence of work and labour in general
II
"
I

'

.
,caed
hIg ler aCll~ Ity by Marx, and cOllnected Wlih ~ree time as room
for. the de\elopment of the human personailly develo
sO'al
" d by social conditions ,and
ps
asa
r.:I
process d
etermme
sub"
"
factors.
Jectlve
T.he .s~c ial ~nd moral sc~le of the social interest realised b
~he Indl\ Idu.al ]S extremely Important for the rise of persona]"t y
I: e. measurmg of the coincidence, combination and aCCum 'I y,
rl~n ~f the person.al interest by Ihe social is th~ most profo~~d
CrJIenon of the ns~ of personality.
The kerne.1 of t.hls process is the law of increasing require~e~~~i~to.n:amed In the M~r.~ian notion of the development
Th y. nd the personahty- and first formulated by Lenin:J
e sOCIal typology of the rise f h
.
.
lies the division of h
h.
o. t e per.sonainy that underlions, and the social a~~~~a ]story InIO Soc]o-economic formad ss ap~roach to all p~enomena of the
development of sOciet
The socialist (com~u~~st ~an IS lllet~odol~glcalJy significant.
contains all the decis f) ype of heightening the personality
Ive eatures and h" I " I d
Ih e ~ew social system.
The I
Is.onca a vantages of
ransformatlon of conscientious
creatIve labour into a

pnme determ
a systems-forming facIo .'
l~lant vllal need emerges as
f ..
r In the so I
o nsmg, and in the hiera rc h.
cia -psychology mechanism
Ical. st.ructure of needs, interests,
stimuli,
c
. . motives , precepls conVict
Ions, alms, ideals values
apacHles, abilities and Ih'
' eII'corres pOn d"mg moral and "aesthetic
q ua r'
ttles of the individual
..
. IS On that b .
of Ih
~SIS that a Correct ratio
e pn~clples of creation a d
correspondmg to Ihe SOCialist I n requtrement is established
rend of social, intellectual, and
moral val~es:
The Socialist type of Ih .
e nse of ]he
104
personality is manifested

a" .I ma ss prul' l" ~ inherenl ill aU \Irala and gr

"
I
I
. .
oups. I) f Ihe
worklllg pC"op c all{ (haraCleflsmg Ihe truly"'uemOHallC
"
I new ~o(:lery, whil.:h is rl!alising thl! loflil!:-;t
d.lar"d ~r I) f . 11C
;I lin .... 01
!>n~' lill rC"forms and Iriinsformations for the good
happnl~O:;s, illul all -round Jeveiopment of the work,",
".
,
. I
'
I g man
I t~ IlIslorU:<l pr()n~I'iC an~ purposefulne<>s arc commt:1I5urat~
With th~ cOIJlIl1~nlsl \o(lal ,deal of the individual. In that
~onnectlon the Ideal. plays the role of an active means of
In~ell~ctual and practKal mihtery of tht: world and the highesl
cnterlon of s~~lem ~)f. values, performmg the function of the
fmal goal of life aCllvlty, of a sublimt: norm (or rather norm
of sublime activit~), and characterising [he maximum P'os.,ible
degree of pe.rfectlon of social activity and behaviour, moved
by the root mterests and prospective requirements of an allround, harmoniously, integrally developed social subjecl.
The mass process of elevating the working classes in the
society of the future (in accordance with the scientific forecast
of the founders of Marxism confirmed by the practice of today's
socialism) is necessarily connected with free development and
elevation of the personality of the working man, with the
raising of universal well-being and prosperity. and the achievement of heights of a truly human enjoyment of life.
The socialist, collectivist type of the ele . . ation of the working
man, in reflecting the class contradiction of the two world social
systems, entails an active principled opposing of the bourgeois,
individualistic type of ele .... ating the individual and its antagonisms inherent in private properry society. and abm'e all its
phenomenon of alienation and estrangement. and one-sided,
contradictory development of individuals of the dominant class
through socio-economic and intellectual robbery of the working
majority. The conversion of human individualiry and morals
into an object of commerce in the conditions of the capitalist
mode of production and of commodity fetishism had already
been recorded and characterised by Marx in his Economic
and Philosophic Manuscripts in the early 1840. When dissecting
the laws of antagonistic bourgeois progress with rhe scalpel of
cognising thought, and expressing Ihe protest of re\'olutionary
democratic opinion against enslavement of the human personality, he wrote:
Instead of money, or pa~r, it is my own personal exislen.::e, my flesh and
blood. my social \'inue and imporlance. w.hich conSlifures the matenal.
corporeal form of the spirLI of money. eretllt no tonger resoh-es rhe value
of money into money but into human flesh and .Ihe h~man .hear': ~uch
is Ihe extent 10 which all progre5:'i and all Ihe mconslSlenoes wuhm a
105

Tht au
nenl S
pondinj
Science

st udent
of stud
and ae
of phil

fal\t" w~lt"m art' l'\rn'IlW f,'rr,lgr,'s-i"tl ,111,1 Iht' ('''lrl'lIlt' '

~ OIl_lit'"
\ ilent"~'"'-'1
c:e or
A special level of thl' dn;tlirrg pml.'l'"
ttw Ini'
,
"I gn~up, (I~ Il'l."Il\l"
I'
(I.e. thaI 01"a sma II SO(l,l
Of familv) I. rn'SOcIII
"
spl'cial allalysis. wht'll IJIIC take\ inhl l'llll\idl'r'llit~" th re~lllres
minillg role of the labour l'olll'\'ll\l' tHO w(lrk ftlrl.'l' in ~h tter.
round dl'\doprnel1t of thl' pl.'r\t)IJ,lIity ;1111.1 1'1~lItllll'rili ~ all.
h~i~hts .of. univ~rsal .frl'('do,,~ fhrtlll~h 1'(lIl'ii'ill'llI aSI':nl the
dlstlngulshmg 01 a mlrrO-'iO(lill 1t.\(1 of mall\ \,ll.iill t.'I ' ~he
is also.lleressil~led by tht' fat't Ih~l~ thl' l1Iinu-s()l"illlll ;1:~tl(>n
colle~I1\"t!,. famrly, e\ef.yday a~\lll'1'lIl')1l t1r pl.'r'iuns, eIC,)o~r
rela~l\"ely 1I1~l'pel,ldenl ~Il rda.lloll t\.l SOI."Il' ty a\ i.I whole a IS
reaitses Ihe hlsfonral gaUls al'illt.'H'd by Ihl' laller with a va r .nd
degree of fullness.
yang
The concluding aspect of the sun-ey of the tt.' nd en
~Ie~'a~e Ih.e human pt'rson ali~y cO!ls ists irl a na lysi ng it ~: ~~
1IldlVldualrsed process, The dlalec fl c of the unive rsa l
"I
d " d""d
"
general
parllCu ar, an III I\'I l.lal. l~ Illar.lifested 011 Ih is plan e in th~
de\t~lop~ell,t of h~lInan II1dl\'~dualtry, I re marked above that the
com~~r~.ISI l~eal IS a free, :lch, har.mon iO liS in d ividual ity of a
c.olle!.:~I~I~1 , type, t.he conscIOUs ~l~bJect of socia lly significant
Irfe adl\ II} and hIghly moral, CIVIcally responsible behaviour
The c.OI1Cr~l~ness of the disclosure of the feat ures of reai
~:oces.s .10 raIsing the personality at the level of human indi.
\Idua.lrt; largely depends on solving the complex methodological
qf ue~l~on. of Ihe dialectical relalionship of th e la ws of the
undlonrng and development of th
I"
In r
d
e persona lIy.
" d"
.
.egar 10 thai it is necessary at the leve l of h
f
.'
uma n In J.
vrduahlv 10 II
joining -u' . a ow. or the specially imporr a nt role of the
P interactIon of the theo
f
. I"
"
with social and
I
ry 0 ma tena 1St dial ectics
social sciences. genera psychology and Ihe whole system of
An important point in I kl"
of combining the laws of I ac lng .the. me thodologi cal problem
those of its develo
he fU nctlonlrlg of the pe rsonality and
dialectical Phenom~nment
the .Ievel of individ uality is the
we denote as Ihe phe on 0 a soc Ial and ind ivi d ual scale that
o'
nomenon of ' d y '
. .
,
rganlcally uniles the f
'
na mlC pyramIding', which
The dia lectical m ater~~I~~;onal. and genelic aspects,
phenomenon was laid in th Jas lS. of a systems su rvey of this
and reproduc tion, within :h. arxlan c.once plio n of production
structures and the ir fOund .Ich funclJona l re-organisation of
necessary chain of developatlo ns lake place [ha t a re fi xed in a
Reproduction in a highemenht and serve it in a definite way
rpaseisal

1()6
ways depende nt on the

t'

pfcl"l'ding pl!,l\es or Iht, funl'Ilol\ing and de,.1

.
..
...
upmt:nt of the
pron'<;s proper. 11ll' rI\rl1g . Itrt:'r,trl'hi~al ....
,,',.,'"te 0 r 1hesc
.....,
"
vartO!l'i: pIla'l.e~ WI( I prOI't:'sse'j IS Iht:' key It) pa~""'""g rrom a serres
ot t IJlll"tllll1;r1 law') 10 a 'il'rlt:S of devc-Iopment)
.
"
I
(nes, I11 t h al
l' nrHll'(: IIOI1 11 I'" a \() Important h) takt' into considt:'ralioll Ihe
gt'lariJl Irl'ml frolll the v.t:ry ."Implt: In the ctlmplt:x, whit.h
~ orrt:sptll](h III Ihl' rl'al hr'ilorlcal dt:'velnpmenl ill whkh last
1(l~1ll III 111ll\.' ~l'gard'i Ilw preceding form') as \Iages III it~lf.
fhe. ~la~t'<"I1Cal St'''\t:' of the- phenomt:'lIon of 'dYllamit'
pyr?"lIdlll,g .1'\ rrt:'(I~t:'ly. thai. tht' . fun~lional systems of tht:
1~ldlvldllal \ Irfe at'II~I~Y, mdlYllhwltsed In ih style and way of
Irfe, are 'I.:ryslallrscd I~I a <:t:'rtain way in corresponding slrut'lUres 10 Iht! ~xtent of Jls step-by-step, at flr\l materially de-vdoped. fo.rtnatl~n and suct:cssful action, as if 'convoluting',
makrng Ilself II1tO a whole, and bearing in itself new It:vels of
r:ras t ~ ry of th~ wor.ld and freedom and new ranges of partic ipa.
lion rn resolvlllg vllal contradiclions. They signify qualilatively
new phases of development and new scales of the potentiab of
soc ia l action, and are a sine qua non of mastery of the 'pyramid'
of new ach ievements in the functioning and developmt:nl of
the pe rsonality.
A consolidation takes place, as it were, and a continuous,
intensive re-organisation of the base of the 'pyramid', viz"
transfer of Ihe ach ieved into a kind of developmenl fund, i,e.
into culture, eve ryday life, the accustomed way of life, into
Iradit ions, warmed by the flame of creative concern.
A characle rislic feature of Ihe development of funrtional
sys te ms Ih e mselves that are of fu ndamental significance for
ra ising th e in d ivid ua l is the different degree of their regulating
influence on the socia l subjecl's life activity and behaviour:
th e stru ctures highe r a nd richer in development, and more
socia ll y signifi ca nt, become th e guidi ng factor in the regu lation
of less dev eloped, elementa ry levels and the preceding phases
of the fun cti onin g wh ole. Th e ma rked pa lle rn is inheren l in
a ll lev el s of the biosocia l a nd soc ial human essence proper, viz..
from the physiol ogi cal to Ihe psyc hological and highest strurlures of intellectual and prac tic al va lues, Th e Ir developmenl has,
at the same time, a spi ral-like charac te r ('negation of th e negation') of a dialeclical ascen t to the he igh ts of prog ress wit h sepa
rate moments of regress ion, movements 'back ', a nd tempora ry
retreats.
Study of Ihe ra ising of the persona lity on the plane of
an individualised process faces us squa rely wit h the problems of allowing for the va ri ous stages (periods) of the life

,M

107

The au
nent S
pondinl
Science
student
of stud
and ac

of phil<

palh and their uneven. contribution to this process.

A person's early c~J!dhood plays a par~mount role in the
moulding and elevatIon of th~ personailly. The sO~call
(1110 0
that l'onne1.:tion the s ed
Primary. socialisation of man
f
0 1
0
OCIOI
typology of the process 0 sOCIa lsallon nel'eSSllates a singf
out of the ~eatures precisely <?f the sOI.:ialist type: they ~~:
brought out In the work of Soviet and other author~ on sOCial
and age-group psychology) not only lays the foundatIOns, in an
extremely plastic form, of the structure of the mature personalit
but also creates the potentials for its future achievements an~
perfecting. The conception of 'sensitive peaks' (critical periods)
of development presents considerable interest for both the
science and practice of upbringing and education since it
discloses the most favourable age 'zones' for the forming of
cert~i~ capabilities or complexes ?f capabilities and psychic
qualities, and for the whole mouldlllg of the personality. It is
in these periods that specific, adequate educational actions are
especially effective on the moulding of a person; and for
certain groups of capacities (musical, linguistic, etc.) the utiIisa~
tion of available possibilities has a unique, unrepeatable, and
perhaps even irreversible character for getting high-quality
and outstanding results.
~dolescence ~nd. early youth, which retain a continuity with
chIldhood and slgmfy a colossal qualitative leap, during which
a new ~pect of the perso~ality is born, playa particularly
resp?nslbl~ .role for mouldlllg of an 'adult' personality, and
for ItS pohl1c~l, moral, and aesthetic development.
.The mouldmg of an adult personality, maintaining continuity
with the m~tamorphoses and social and moral achievements of
youth, has ItS Own inner logic and specific social and temporal
r~te of devel?pment, which has a peculiarly uneven leap-like
c ~:acter. DiScovery of the regular features of the 'course of
alSmg
'h
. the pers~naLity to this plane must necessarily allow for
t e umque turnmg points
d
d
line of b h .
. ,n? es, an measures of the iIvmg
aVI.our that IIltenslfy human being.
Th e d e
lalecHcal mater l" t
d
.
la IS .un erslandmg of the tendency to
raise Ihe perso r
truthful vision n~/,ih:s :hsolclal process presupposes .a realist!c,
and its vital COntrad . 0 e panorama of developlllg reality
unresolved that Ie 1~lons, b?th harmoniously resolvable and
conflicts, a~d in extr~m to disharmonies, discrepancies, and
es
dialectical antinomies ';dc:ft to ~Iements of antagonism. The
may also give rise in h erna~l~es of personal development
chance individuals 'devi~t"e crndItlons of socialist society, to
mg rom the traditions and patterns
108
0

o f soclali\t life and the norm .. and ideals of the socialist way
of life.
A ')pecifl~' mcth.ndnlogit.:al problem for investigating the
proces') of Ilh: rea,)lI1g requirements is that of defining their
soc ially ')ub\lantlated level ()f a normative sense. The initial
c oncept u')ually employed here is that of 'rational needs', i.e.
those needs whose satisfaction funhers a person's health and
intellectual p05.sibilities, and presupposes a careful attitude to
material and cultural values, and increase of social wealth.
In a certain sense, the historically established term 'rational
needs' is narrow, since it does not wholly convey the systems
character of social man's needs. It is a matter, in facl, not just
of the ennobling influence of reason, and the overcoming of
negative phenomena by means of it, but of the comprehensive
culture of man's needs. What is usually characterised as the
rationality of needs is a multidimensional phenomenon whose
essential aspects form a unity of political, moral, and aesthetic
criteria.
When we speak of rational needs, we consequently mean a
socially given measure of needs: the concrete level of mastery
of the forces of nature and its own powers allained by society
is its historical limit. The horizon of needs is constantly changing.
The main milestones of progress in this field are movement
from the very great injustice of exploiter society, when t~e
needs of some are satisfied at the expense of others, to the social
harmony and abundance of communism, when the satisfaction
of needs will not know any limitations except the needs them
selves of a highly conscious and cultured personality and of
society as a whole.
.
.
The process of raising needs, interests. motives, ~Ims, se~se
of values and other components of a dynamic (active) SOCial
continuu~, and the elevating of the whole personality by mea.ns
of and within this continuum, is a global process of SOCial
development during which there is a
cullivating lofl all the quali1ies of sociat m~n a~d prod~dng lof] him in a
form as rich as possibte in needs because nch In qualmes and rel.3Ilonsproducing man as Ihe mosl IOlat and universal sociat product posslbte (fO~
in order 10 enjoy many different kinds of thinS:" he must ~ capable 0
enjoymenl, thai is he mu~1 be culti\aled 10 a hIgh degree),

The socialist type of socialisation of th.e personality cO~lfains

all the essential features of the new society, converted mto a
process of personal development, am~n~ whic~ o".e ml~st .n?t~
the following: consciousness, collectiVism. sCientific .... al.ldlty,
and ensuring of the full flowering of such powerful Illslltutes
100

The au
nenl S
pondinj
Science

student
of stud
and ac
of phil(

of socialisaril..)f1 (and ~OIl.Sl'q\ll..'I1~I) 1)1' nu\illg thl..' person- .

a\ rolll.:i.lrilln ~I~d upbrr.lI~rng; rl'll~ll1n.' (lll 1111..' IIlnl:asin I:~ny)
and socio-polrtlL"al actlnty of Ihl' l1Ia\\l'\, ,111\.1 Oil Iht'~r . OUr
PendelKe and innovatory e\.peril'lIll' of hi\h)ril"al "'rl'a',.lllde"I
.
Ion or
'Ie "' ever more per f ecle d f orrns II I IUlIlilll .\Olll'I\ i""r
' . welghl
.
.
.'.
". l t'~e~
the SI1eL"11iL"
of self-edIH.:Jtlon
llld \ll. Ihl' \uuiJliSI
"
fand
"
fund" in Ihe system of Ihe 1ll011\'l'
or~'es
llilll'!""
I11l'l'hamO~1
ll"
.
.
of Ihe de\elopmenl. 0f lIle persona II)"; llllernallo.nalism ISms
and
genuine ~emoL"rac): In the whole proce.s.
" ... ~)f de.\'l'loPlIlg Ih e new
man; ad!levelllent In ever~'day praCIll'l' ~)I an 1 ~Icol(~g il..al. polil_
ical, sOCIal, and moral unlly of Ihe subjec ts 01 sOl'lalisali on of
all slrllctural. I~vel~, from socit'ty 10 llie.l'ollt'cli \e, T he sOl.' ialist
type of socla~lsat.lOn ellsure~ p:edoIll Lll ~ I~t deve lop ment and
favourable obJecl1ve and subJecllve cond itio ns for he igillening
the imporlance of the persona lily.
Raising the place of Ihe personality is a necess ary momen!
in the progressing reproduction of soc ia liSI socie ly. The whole
dialectical weahh of real developme nt is inhe rent in Ih is process.,
viz., multilevel, cOlllradictory and har mony -ac h iev ing resol u_
tion of contradictions.
When we talk about global criteria of the process concerned
we are thus referring to a system of concepts, a 'constellation
of ideals'. The absolute disclosure of ma n 's creati ve talents as
the supreme sense of real wealth; mastery of uni versal freedom
th~ou~h creative work and all-embracing soc ial c reativity as
sCle.l1l1fically substantiated and practical do mina nce over nature,
sOCIal devel.opment, and man himself; a supreme level of
culture, achievement of full equalily and true j ustic e, flowering
of ~he brotherhOOd of people and interna ti on al fri endship of
nations: everbroadening extended reproduct ion of Ih e harmony
of human being and so a continuo us rise of cr eati vity by the
laws of beauty are all gene ralised cri teria th a i concentrate
pr?gress of the history of society an d ma n a nd se r ve as essential
. '.
.
on enters of the s . I
f Ih h
OCla process of helghte nmg the Importance
o
e uman personality.
f h"
The communist Iy
wise as the comm pe 0 .t I~ process, whic h ap pears valueposes develo ed unlst social Idea l of the personalit y, presupall-round w~OI~ ~ore c?nc rele requi rements of soc iety for
(I) id~Ologic~1 ~monl?us developme nt of man:
ist .world outlook' as eaoret~cal maturity, and a Ma rx ist-Leni.naCllvity;
gU ide to everyday condu ci and SOCial
(2) versatile labour devel
.
of labour into a prim . Opment through the Iran sformatlon
e vllal need as the bas is of the whole
110

system of IIIl' ~' rl'all\'C pl'l":'1>lIality!'; illtellt"ctual and pradlcal

Valtll"S;
(,1) a.lI -round p{}lill~al dl'vel()pmelll prc:"uppnsing a politIcally highly l'ultlvall"d per\onalily and high legal culture:
( .1-) all-roulld lIJoral dCvc-i0plIlenl and a high moralcliiture;
(5) all-fOunt! al~tht"IIC UI'VCIOplllenl and high al"SthetiL allU
anistll' culture;
(6) all-round development of the- inuividual'!Ii. inteile-cl,
emoliol1s. and will;
(7) all-round physical uevelopment and high physical
culture.
The aclive life- stance of Ihe builder of the new society
presupposes a scientifre world outlook, i.e. mastery of MarxismLeninism as a system of philosophical, economic, and soci{)~
political views, high political, moral. and ae5thetic development.
whiCh, as a system, forms the determinant ideological content
of ra ising the importance of Ihe socialist personalily.
A high polit ical, moral, and ae-slhetic culture of the human
indiv idual is a key, systems. resultant expression of raising the
place of the individua l and a real guarantee of further fruitful
an d progress in g development of this process. The inlegral unity
of these three aspects of human culture forms an active,
valuable, inlelleclual and praclical Slate, social and moral in
su bsta nce, embraced essentially by such a concept as 'cuhural
level', 'culture', or 'education'. The dialectical subtlety of the
a pplica tion of th is concept envisages not only ils bearer's basic
att ri bulion of 'education' to a corresponding social stratum
(there are also th e pa radoxes when intellectuals by social
cac het or d iploma prove 10 be insufficienlly cultured in the
above -mentio ned se nse), but also an ever broadening reproduction of rea lly int ell ec lua l people in the working class and
am ong coll ecti ve fa rm ers, and in various social categories of
th e population.
As a socia l and moral ph enomenon and as a human formalion of special co mpl ex ity, ed ucation or cuhu re includes the
dialectic of Ih e un ive rsa lly human and the social-class. It would
be leg itim ale to desig nate the socia lisl type of culrural leve l ~y
Ih e lofty na me of cullure of a Marxist -Leninis l Iype. Sov iet
realilY prov id es many a rgum ents for charac leris in g Ih is type
of educa ti on fro m Ih e exa mple of me mbers of all the SOCIal
groups and Slrat a of Sov iel soc iety.
..
In Ih e in div id ua l aspel'l the process of helg htelllng the role
of th e persona lity discl oses bOlh a vigorous develo~ment of all
the ca paci tie-s. crea tive gifls. and tale nts of a given person
III

moulded and developed Ifl onlogc..'Ilt.'sis lilnlllgh Ihl' l'n" "

"
"
'
stxial ml'dlUm.
an d Ihe altallll1lt'nl
01" ,llgher
/nl'ls eu uf Ih e
f
'
, ,
I
aCtlVny
"
and pro,d l,ll'tl\'ene~ 0 tTeall\e, ~l."rl\'lty. '-~Ild aho\t' all uf lab
prodlll'lI\'lIy. qualll), and efTll."lelh,Y 01 wllrk. hunnl"" ~lJr
".
.,
,
"lit'
. alld rl'lali(lll~
<
SJIJOII
harmolllslIlg,
an d"enn:I,ment
t~ '" ,1.lIIllJI,1
~~
tween people. This pro{;ess appe,lr....1\ the.. all~nllllld de\'l" )
" sOCIa
"" l'ontlllllllnl 01"
,Individual a\ PIli'h.
en I
of the d ynamlc
a glvell
tres ,Ill
"' q,ua'.'f
'""
" t ,~e stream ot. hi\lori,.-al lime.II( ill IS
system 0 f h~ocla.
a
conl'rete- Istonca I e SJlllal101I Ihal e:\'pr~,\"'i Ihe as 'e d"
.
"
.
,\. 11 Illg
d
h
movement an w ~o e c, ange 01 .the ",H..hV ldual in Iheir la ..... _
"
wllh the dralt~l'tll'ally ol'curring social
gO\'erned eonneellon
process,

I". '.

The au

nent S
pondin,
Science
student
of stud
and ac

of philc

NOTES

"

OStow,

Marx wrOle: 'Ihe extent of Ihe so-called primary requiremenls for life and
Ihe, ,manner of their satisfaclion depend 10 a large degree on the level of
clvll1satlol.' of I~e sociel),. are Ihemselves the produci of history', See: Karl
Marx, E...:ono.mlc Manuscnpts of 1861 .1 863,
In : Karl Marx, Frederick
~;g,el~. C,olle,~ed WO"ks, Vol.. 30, Progress Publishers. Moscow, 1988, p 44,
in ~~~ ~~;Io~f ~~~~:sm~ req~lrements has manifesled ilself with full force
Collecred J(Jrks V ope. See, V.l. Lenm. On the So-called Markel Question,
'
'Eng01.II,S
Progress
See."F re d
enck
h
-PublIShers . Mox-ow " 1986 p '06 .
Engels. Collected W e ~ ~~c es In Elberfeld, In : Karl Marx, Frederick
Karl \larx Co
or s, 0.4, Progress Publishers. Moscow 1975, p 263.
Karl 'Mar~ F~~:n,,\ onE Ja~es Mill, Elemens (['economic' politique. In:
e
Publishers, \!~OW, r;~75, ;g2 li, Collected Works,
Vol. J. Progress
Karl Marx. OUllines of Ihe C ' .
_,
,
Manuscripts of 1857-1858) T
nuque of PolulCal Economy (EconomIc
Frederick Engels. Collected ~~:~led by Ernst Wangermallll: In : Karl Marx,
11)86, p 336.
' Vol. 28, Progress Publishers. Moscow,

MAN'S IIEAI.Tli IN TERMS OF PHILOSOPHY

I. N. S m i r nov

~arl Marx. The Proc~ of Circulation of CapiTal (Capital, Book Two)

Karl Marx and Fredenck Engels, Sochineniyu Vol. 49 ( Pol ilizda t t..!
"

11)741. P 483.

The trend, c haracter and parlicular circumsta nces of modern

life put man in a set o f complex conditions which are not quite
usual in biological terms. Man today has to adapt himself to the
fast-moving pace of c ivilisa tion and to learn -ve ry rapidly as
a rule - to get in step with ever new changes in his lifestyle.
This calls for a revision of the accepted notions of the capacities
of th e human organism and for a deeper understanding of
certain aspects of man's existence and those of his properlies
which, until some time ago, were seen as matters of no schola rly
or practical interest. Among the fundamental properlies of man
is health. For a long time health was seen as a natural gift,
and although it was recognised to have considerable impact
on man's social potential and 10 be significant in terms of a
fuller expression of his natural potential, scholars were not
always prepared to see health as a matter of social value.
Dostoyevsky's 'man is mystery' is a dictum of profound
meaning reflecting an unfailing interest in the study of man.
All of man's conscious history is, in fact , concerned with just
that-a search for a solution 10 that mystery-the story of the
emergence of man, his basic properties, and a definition of the
meaning and essence of human life. Now, that mystery is by no
means seen as a single property definable in just one particular
way, which once solved would offer the key 10 all and every
problem related to man. The mystery which knowledge seeks
to disclose includes all the various aspects of human nature,
a unique phenomenon created by the evolution of the o~jective
world out of the complexity, contradiction and vanety ~f
forms of existence. One of the components of that mystery IS
health.
Health is a basic property in the set of human qualities which
must be taken into account if our understanding and explanation
of man is to be complete or at lease correct. Human health,
however has far from always occupied the minds of scholars:
nor was 'it always considered as having a bearing on the urgent
8-01662

IlJ

The al
nent ~
pondin
Sciene.
studen
of slue
and ac
of ptUl

aspects of soci.al, practice, ~his approach Stt'I~S ,not So much

from the pOSSIbility or desl:e 10 get a. full inSight into the
subject of health and. rela,te It to the v~nous ~spects of man's
activity as from the hIstorically conventIOnal View of health .
sine qua non and a ~ind of axiom of human lif~,. For ag:~
heallh was seen as a gIft-maybe not natural but dlville in an
case. This idea was fully in line with common "elise itlld ";irh
o~dinary ~hinking which saw health, inler alia, as an empirkally
gIven enllly.
We are now witnessing a dramatic rise in universal interest
in health-related problems. Let us make no mbtake about it-it
is health we are concerned with, nol health disorders or pathological conditions which are, of course, nOI to be dismissed in
any discussion of the subject of health, A 101 has been done
bOlh on the theoretical and practical levels 10 discover the
nature of disease, the mechanisms of sickness and to define
what is normal and what is pathological. In its search for
efficacious ways to control diseases society has long since
ceased to rely on individual healers and medicine men and
built up a ramified public health system, creating a sort of health
industry which absorbs enormous funds 110t likely (0 be reduced
in the future. Yet the achievemenls are patently insufficient
So society is faced with the need for a nlultiple increase ill
public health expenditure. Dissatisfaction IS growing with the
existing medical care, stimulating a search for fresh ways to
protect and improve human health. Hence arises the need of )
~etling a better insight into the health-related phenomenon as
II IS seen ~t the levels bOlh of ordinary thinking and of science.
And that IS what lies behind the desire to unravel the mystery
of one of man's essential characteristics, The time has come to
develop a. concept of health in scientific theory, drawing on
advances ,Ill both the natural sciences and Humanities.
~t~ted 111 these terms, the problem is nOI limited to general
poltcle~ even though it is important enollgh to be justified by
'7medlate goals, It is dOubtlessly related 10 a broader range
o problems that have ~n immediate bearing on man generally
and h, part,cularl~, on phIlosophical analysis of hiln Complicated
as t e problem IS
db'
.
natural-scientific a~i ~ rlOusly requirin~ recourse both to t~e
d' .
P nClp es of human life and to the SOCIal
con Itlons of man's evolution it cann b
. .
I
philosophical overtone and h'
..01 ut eXhibit a clear y
outlook, It would be hard at at~~s slgl~lficance for one's ~orld
philosophical definition of th
POIll.' to state or provIde a
recourse to the findings of th: me~nll1g of health without
ph YS1ology of higher nervous

II.

activity, genetics and, generally, of human biology. On the Other

hand, where the concern is individual and, even more so,
public health, advanl.:es in sOl.:ial science and an understanding
of the human essence, could not be dismissed,
The commonly held and widespread view is that man's health Y
falls under the purview of public health and its ral!lified and . . . . . \
complex system of servIces anals the 'prer-ogatlve of medical
science. That view, as far as it goes, is correct. On the other
hand, an effective solution to the related problems closely
involves philosophers and scholars in other fields, Many
research works on medicine-related philosophy testify to this.
Their authors, who represent philosophy as well as medical
science and practice, discuss a broad spectrum of social and
philosophico-methodological aspects of the history and evolution of medicine; the progress in health protection, the principle~
of research into disease; interaction of different scientific
fields in defining pathological processes, etc. In most cases,
however these articles, reviews and papers mostly deal with the
analysis ~f, research into, and way~ and means o.f .controlling
disease. We are mostly concerned wilh health-ongInal human
property. In other words, we raise the problem uf the health
of a healthy human being.
As a scientific and social problem human health now ranks
among what is described as global issues .. The problem .of he~lth
. increasingly ligures in discussions of nal10nal wealth (mcludmg
national inc:ome), labour potential and labour res?urces, labour
productivity and, in the final analysis, the effecll\"eness of .the
entire system of production and social framework. ,In practical
terms and by degree of urgency, human health IS gIven top
priority, along with such major social issues as e~viron~ent~1
proteclion and improvement and also war on famille. It ~ thiS
problem that forces mankind to understand ~nd apprecIate a
broad range of questions of theory and practIce and t,he need
to find a solution conducive to the future of h,uman society and,
probably, the continued existence of humanity.
.
The evolving ecological situation urgently demal~ds sol~tlons
to problem~ concerning human health, Of la.te t~IS pa:lIcular
aspect of health has come to the fore and ItS dlscusston has
produced the concept of ecological heall!!...-::-.~_ co?cept.-flosel~
related to the philosoph'lcal analysis of Man, Which advances
and streamlines it.
. '
d b
The changing human conditions and lifestyles, dICtate,
~
civilisation'S impact on the environment and also. oc~asl~naf
and irreversible evolution of nature as the underlymg aSls 0
115

or

The

31

nent ~
pondir
$cienc
studen
of stuc
and 3(
of pllli

man and society, creale a host

condit ions under wh', 'I h
, 'IS faced wit'I1 a cI
'
\,; 1 I e hu,
man orgalllsm
101l:e:
('ither 10 devel)
able reaclion and adapt itself 10 Ihem or surn'ndl'ri. ~ a SUII_
'd' h
.
SOrne of
t he ac Inevements rna e m t e course 01 evolutionary a I
, I
h
f h'
n( so_
cd~a, progr~ss. (de conseq,uence, 0 W 1I,,"h would be functional
Ismtegratlon. estructunng, d]seru;t' and death.
We are becoming' increasingly
more conscious of the 11e eor
df
'
h mlo an mtegrated
b
roa
d. er researc
approach to healtl I, Th'IS
.
'
re-onentatlon stems, 'to a considerable extent
from att ernpts
"
~~ ta k edt h e f u II e~t poss]ble account of Ihe many aspects of man's
I, e an, Ih ~ vanous I~~els of human relations which constitute
h,IS social life and aCllvIty. It also stems from the desire to consider health as one of the economic, socia l and moral val
The abs~nce of suc~ equal consi.deration makes the p lanning ~~~
f?reCaSlln~ of man ~ future an mcreasingly more difficult exerc]s,e, Stuhd]eS ~nalysmg these complicated issues at the appropnat~ ~ eoret~cal level are, regretfully, all too rare ,
It IS mC,reasmgly felt that further steps towards health impro~ement will ~epend not only on the implementation of the existmg and anllclp~ted p,ublic health programmes, based on the
prog,r~ss of med]cal sCience and p~actice; it also depends on the
pro~'.5lon of a fuUer and more preCiSe definition (including philo~op ]cal) of human health that is not only the health of the sick
utt\s~ of t~e healthy in terms of his capability to fulfil socially
use u hunct~ons, To put it differently, what is needed is a more \
com pre enst
d fi "
and a I
ve'd e nH],On of the scientific concept of health
] ea of Just wh a t h ea It h "IS In th is connection ']t
c earer
is a
'
tor:r;~;l~it~ t~~~~erate, Karl Marx's state~ent that "all histure",1 With t~is in ~ontmuous transformallon o~ human nan correctly app re,c tate both t he
need for a constant am]~~. w~
which is accompanie~Pb ~a 0 ~he human evol ~~lona,ry p rocess
netic and philogenetic t~r;angll1g health conditions m, antagean appraisal subject to th s an~ the chances for mak mg such
perience and scientifIc a~v~~OV]SO ~hat the availab le socia l exThe concept of human heal~e~ will be. put to use.
centuries-old effort by sch I h.ls r~ftecllve of the results of the
to provide such a definit? ars ~,dl~erenl academic disciplines
current advances Ihe preIon.
IIhm the limits of mankind's
ft
'
sent deft "
,
.
'
r,e . eCl,mg the requirements of ra ~lIlon. IS comprehenSIve III
tI.VI,I~, I~ meeting Ihe criteria an~ Stctlcal "fe and of human accIvilisation. The exist'lng sc'
't"
andards of a fully estab lished
I .
lentlilc d fi "
e I1Illon of health brings us
c oser 10 an adequate identifi '
'I
'
,
conditions
and alcatiOn of. man' s vanous
normal and
Pat hoi oglca
so provIdes
h
116
rnel odologica l guide-

Ct

lines for uSl1lg the variolls preventive and curative' methods to

maintalll human ht:alth at the necessary level. Science like life
itself, is ever advancing and this alone necessitates fu~ther endeavours in the sphere of philosophico-methodological definition
of health" This work cannot, obviously, be effective without
close lia~on with practical fIelds of knowledge and specific fields
of practical endeavour. In the final analysis, it is a matter of
lending more weight to, and enhancing the responsibility of,
social science in formulating and resolving health-related problems, This is particularly true of sociology, psychology and
law, without which the role Or philosophy would be rather
limited.
Regretfully, arguments calling for the substantiation of the
problem of health-its socio-philosophical, methodological and
other aspects-mainly proceed from the rule of contraries, What
happens is that causes of diseases are analysed first, followed by
an analysis of what is good for health. For example, it is often
noted that social factors are more and more becoming the causes
of cardio-vascular and oncological diseases (which rank first
among ailments), invalidity and deaths among the adult population, Social conditions are also major causes of nervous, psychic and psychosomatic disorders. Some WHO experts are concerned that the modern world is facing a pandemic of chronic
insuffIciency and psychosocial disorders, Among the causes of
the latter two are uncontrolled urbanisation, increasing migration, dwindling sizes of families in industrialised nations, growing numbers of unhappy families both in industrialised and
developing countries, etc. The limited and incomplele quality of
this class of studies, in our view, is Iraceable to the fact that
healt h is narrowly defined and emphasis is laid on its relative
qua lit y and on the idea that good healrh can be postulale~ onl'y
subject to the precise purposes for which such postulation IS
necessary. The result is that, despite all the pOSit,ive eff?rts, to
define health, there does not exist even today ~'! Sln<;,t.ly,sclen~lfic
approach to the problem o,f effective public health pro.'ectlon,
. Past atiempts Of Ma1tfi'usian, eugenic, and psychoan~IYl1cal description showed their futility and have had a re~ctJonary, regressive effect. As a result, these attempts contnbuted to, the
spread of pessimistic and nihilistic attitud~s a~d also of the Idea
that the contradiction between progress In sCIence and technology and human health was insurmountable,
Health is a multi-dimensional concept that cannot be taken
out of the philosophical context of ~an, the fundamentalS of
which are to be found in the MarXISt concept of man, As a
117

The al
ncnt ~
pondin
Scienct
studen
of stue
and a(

of phil

product of a natural biological and social ~voillt'

have optimal adaptability to the natural (,. ondilio~nn. ma~ mUSt
lives and also to man-created civilisation his sec~~~ ~hl~h he
menl'.
environ.
Like any scientific concept reflective of rani I
or social processes, conditions or states the COI1'I..:U ar fnatural
is certainly a historical one. That is to'sav in r~~Pt 0 health
development of human sociely, and as a cori;eqUel,SPOllrsehIO the

I'
ce 0 t e ev
comp IIcalmg re at IOns that make man dependent
h
er
1"
onWatw
t erm CIVI
Isanon. the concept of health has changed I h
e
. d f h
.
. t as acqUire
res content, a new meanlllg and novel'
I
.
U d I
h
f
.
Imp Icatlons
.
n er,ymg t IS trans ormatIOn are multiple causes of which
follOWing need be specially Slressed.
the
First, the natural environment of man's life ch
str t
f h'
" ,
,
aracter and
d .
uc ure 0 IS activities change while unprecedented
and nat
t
f
'f
"
can ltions
, ure- rans ormmg actors In his environment take sha
Thel: co~sequences could not but have an effect on ma~~~ )(
phYSIologIcal and psychic processes and, in the final anal .
t~e way man feels, both objectively and subjectively l:~~nodn

~~:~~:~~ t'~~:~~F;'t;fid:~;~f~ :n~n a~S~ed~~trle~~~~~t~~n~~~:

and henc~ of m ~IS~as~,~ts nature, p~oc~sses, curative methods

practice-'the Uannd~rle~nt ,~h~ Marxian I~ea,of socio-historical
sciemific knowledge':'h~s :s~ for Man s Im~rovement and
growing importance of '
a a tremendous Impact on the
tion and self-awa
sCience as a factor for man's self-percephis health,
reness-a factor that has direct bearing on
In order to get a clearer no tlon
'
uble unity of the natural and
of ":lan's health as an indissolmust turn to the natur I h' the social, of body and m in d, we
a Istory of man'
.
_ s e,mergen~e SI~C~ (h,e
prohi em of, health is c10sel rei
nat,ure, ThiS subject shoul~ be ated ',0 man ~ s~and1ng Vis-a-VIS
active aspect rather th
considered In Its effective and
,ak
an as
as irone 10
, ~ an d to be regretted
' be contemplated for its own
arnved at the notion of cre t~etnevably past and gone Having
tlOnally wondered about th: ~v~ ~an, philosophers ha~e tradinature of the causal factor in th~satlOn ?f health to activity, the
health affects production and
eq~a.'lon, the manner in which
the latter contribute to the im crealJvlly. and, in turn whether
or Joss of health , I n the history
'
provemem
or wea k
' decline
.
f'
enmg
oped in~o a Slanding challen e sCle~ce t~is,problem h~s develr~undatl?ns of society and of r~tioo~a:~~n!lfY1l1g the humanistic
I e and Its underlying fundamental s~ng"he Sources of human
118
pnnClples. It may be noted

at this point that, de,:spite the seeming obviousness of the subject,

there have .be~n dl.fferent formulations of the problem. The
causes of thiS dlverslly are many and varied, including differing
first postulates, the role of culture at the time the problem was
tackled ,and. finally, differe~t social aims and purposes, The
~ost wldesprea~ approach ,In all this inevitable diversity of
Views, h?weve,r, IS the one fairly accurately stated in our days by
the SovIet philosopher M, A. Lifshits: 'Can there be a return
to nature without a sacrifice of developed thought and of the
?",ore mode~~ type of humaneness?,l What is implied, of course,
IS the condition of man himself and his 'natural' feeling, i,e.,
the feeling of health.
Expressed in mythological-poetic, religious and philosophical terms, this diversity of approaches and solutions was not
only renective of the stage in the development of a particular
social formation but, to some extent, of the human spirit, inextricably tied in as it is with health in its application to human
corporeality. While exhibiting varying degrees of optimistic
fervour, all the answers nevertheless implied a return to nature
in terms of an ideal. It goes without saying that such ideals
carried a shade-if not necessarily explicit then more or less
implicitly idealistic-of theological treatment since human
health was inevitably subordinated to divine volition and the
will of God, Even those philosophers whom the objective process
of cognition led to a materialistic concept of health ended up,
through inconsistency and contradictions in their world outlook, trapped in this school of thought.
It is generally accepted that the cultural patterns developed
in classical times provided the happiest example of man's unity
with nature , It was assumed that the concept of health as a kind
of mental condition was possible only if the primary natural
factor was made part of man's existence, Yet, even at that time
(and this trend developed more consciously and purposefully at
latter stages) there emerged the idea that the level of culture,
as well as individual and social consciousness were important
conditions both for social progress in its most general forms and
a very real and effective regulatory agency for the emergence
and evolution of functions bearing on man's health,
,
The various specifically human qualiti~s:-in ~he sense of theIr
biological and psycho-physiological condtllonality-:-have pla~ed
a predominant role in specific historical contex,ts In controlling
man's emergence as personality, with h~alth ,bel~g far f~om t~e
least important of its aspects, As a cas~ In pomt. Impre,sslOnabllity (emotionality) has been and contmues to be an Important
119

The 3l.
nent S
pondin
Scienc(
studenl
of stud
and ac
of phil.

faclor behind man's psychic condition, affecting_a d

,
,
h'IS health. Progress in cult
n sam e
times
actua II y d'Ictatlngcivilisation, man's growing knowledge, the effect of e~~~ ~nd
and upbringing-all these elements have combined to t
allon
'
I"
ransform
t h IS qua Ity to a certam extent, providing fresh eviden
'
empirically high degree of variability and change ~elof the
human characteristics.
a I Ity of
Society has developed methods and ways of explo't'
,
J'
II
h
Imgthls
quat.tt y as. whe as t e melans to m~ke progress in the desired dire~ I?~S; It as come a ong ~ay In t~e application of its mor
I e
pnmltIve 'dforms,
' compared
f '
, wIth claSSical times,Toda
y . we oak
on th e epl emlC 0 insanity caused by the sce nes and c ft'
Eurip'd
A nd ron:ac h e ?n Iy as a historical anecdote.
on IctS of
I e~
Even 111 those dlSta~t times society moved to take what to us
wo.uld be a strange kind of concern for its members' health
gUIded, of course, by contemporary ideas of health S me'
examples suggest that creativity and therefore art wer~ do
u.raged !f they tended to undermine good health th
h ISCOsive action on th e
roug excesof viewers Thus ;er~~us, me.ntal and physiological conditions
fined a thO
,no er anCient playwright, Phrynichus was
On the other hand the
I s au lences.
ture can be all too ~Iearlconsequ;nces of ~)Qurgeois mass culhealth, destroying the s ~h~een rom thel~ effects on human
among the young' causiP y IC balance as It does, particularly
of life, and giving rise ~g mass departure~ from the healthy way
a value in its own right 0 ~n unstable attitude to human life as
of psychogenic disorder~ m~ng the constantly growing causes
darker aspects of the hu are orror f1Jms,.lhe poeticising of the 1\,
." --- .,a d h
man soul the

n ot er forms of anti h
. '.
propaganda of vIOlence,
~he foregoing is inte~d~:~onlsl1c cuJ!ure.
obVIOUS truth that health'
emphasise more and more the
that it em~rged concurr~~~~epa.~~ble from the problem of man, )\
to change In ~ccordance with t~~ ma~, an~ that it is subject
culture. T~lkIng about man's he changm~ directions of human
qu~ntly without actually con . alth w.e mevitably refer-fre~n;tYh of brain. and consciousn:o~f ~hmking about it-to the
stU
uman hlStory difficulties i~
<><!Y and mind. Throughemmed from the multiplicit of de~nmg man's health have
lectual and material life Th~ . ma.l1I festations of hum
. t I
the t:eat!fIent of health' as ~o e~ldence also of the ;anctIl1t:a~
pr~mISe I~ establishing precisely CI~ condition holds the best
ealth IS a sanguineous conditi~n ~~ ~alth is all about.

120
an, which causes him

I!

to see his life ~nd activity as a natural development of hiS inherent propert1e~ and qualities. Hence the determination to
eradicate the ob~tac1es in the way of health, i.e. diseases.
Progress in natural science has provided a certain stimulus
to the development of the concept of human health. Philosophers
could not bypass advances in getting to know human nature and,
to the extent that they were prepared to apply them to their concepts descriptive of man's essence, sought to marry naturalistic
views with a metaphysical analysis of his nature, a situation that
was particularly typical of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Progress in the knowledge of man's psychological properties
and of the relationship between the unconscious and the conscious, as well as anempts to analyse and influence the human
psychic condition had an early impact on medical practice and,
consequently, on the interpretation of health, health-preservation methods and propaganda approaches.
In advocating a sound mind as an inevitable condition of
a sound body (Platonian dualism of body and mind), idealistic
philosophers assumed that disease was an evil for man and that
the vexation caused by disease was another form of disease aggravating the original disorder. Spinoza's adherents saw one of
the attractive aspects of his philosophy in the fact that it touched
on matters of mental health. Spinoza's recipe was seemingly
simple and accessible: he whom reason leads is always guided /
by rhe good,
In idealistic philosophy the problem of health is closely related
to man's self-awareness, the desire to understand his fate and
his own predestination. Presenting these rather vital problems
as challenges to be met, idealistic philosophy has, however,
proved unable to feel or give expression in its concepts to the
true dialectics of man 's integral life and its inextricable ties with
intellectual and practical activities. What could this philosophy
offer man, how could it give courage to the suffering? In arguing
for man's inability to resolve problems vital to him, idealism
actually doomed him to eternal suffering and to an impossibility,
in principle, of gaining freedom for his mind and body in this
life. It could offer nothing more encouraging than the dictum )(
of the Ecclesiastes, the 'destiny of the sons of men and the des~iny
of beasts is the same destiny'. No matter how hard man strIves
for knowledge and health, beyond everything there is the horrible phantom of all-consuming death and omnipresent darkness.
Yet the history of philosophy also has been marked by other
trends that emphasised the social function of health in a clearer
121

The at
nent S
(X>ndin
Scienci
studen
of stud

and ac
of phil

manner, and sought to pictur~ it if 1101. as tht.' mainspring of

cia I progress then al least as II,S essenllal causal 1"ll~meOi. Th ~
attempts ~id nOI. al:vays contribute 10 (~t." consolidation of : :
life-asserting prmclples of health. the dlsl'overy of mall'S t
. and to th
'
I0. f
'
.
rue
potential.
e r 3110na.e
a SOCiety
111 which the idtals
would correspond to Ihe aSpiratIOns and expectations of all its
members. who, are born, to be fr.ee.. I~ealthy and happy. In their
effort to establish an anti-humanistIc Idea of health. philosophers
of this school attacked ,science first and foremost. The brunt

of ~1. N?rdau's no!~n.ous work, '~egradatioll', is directed

against sCIence. It cnllclses advances 111 materialistic medicine
with all (,h,e ferocit.y of the primitive age. And can one accept
t~~ defmillOn of disease as man's natural and necessary con.
dillon as advocated by such boundless pessimists as Schopen.
hauer and Nietzsche?

This.t~pe of ph.iiosophy runs contrary to, and rules out, the

humanlslic trend m the philosophical cognition of man. It de.
stroys the etern~1 principles ~f humanism-good and justice.
The exa~ples cited abo~e pomt to the negative role of phi.
losophy m Ihe. retrospective (naturally incomplete) within the
context of which attempts were made to analyse the principle
of health and !o define its place in the characterisation of
h~~an perso~ahty.
Even so, the negative experience of idealistic \
y
P 10SOPh
the successful
attempts , must be critically
ana
ysed andlike
0
.
and relian
ve~co~e with. rhe help of a scientific philosophy
E
d ace on s~lentlfic achievements and practical application
y
cess ~~i. c : rteaht , social planning and investigation of the prO-:
n ers on man constitute th
'.
.
e pnmary Impetus for thIS
effort. It will be seen the h
so much from the courseno~ rat the need for th.is effort comes not
to a greater extent from Ih :e progress of ~clence but probably
dUclion.
e emands of SocIal practice and pro.
The challenge facing hila
.
sop~y necessItates the use of all the
means and pOssibilities p
of the manifold varietyOOPfefn to II ~or a co mprehensive analysis
fi . .
actors mv I d'
nliion of the c.OncepI of health
ve .111 an integrated ~e.
paramoun!. ThiS situation'
'. the question of method bemg
in the history of science ThiS neither unusual nor exceptional
.
.
.
e allempt
d
In POIn!. Unable yel 10 co
. s to efine life are a case
defi .t"
'.
me OUI with a
.
. nJ lon, SCientists tirelessly c '
universally accepted
Vidual manifestations and proce ontmue 10 investigate its indilaws. The problem of health proSS~ and they uncover ever new
no clear-cut scientific definition ~f ~s a SOrt ?f parallel. If today
broadly used as a basic guideline fo ~alth eXists which could be
122
r I e range of medical studies

Jnd sncial pradi('e, then herein lies additional proof that <;(i~n(e
has one mme tough challenge to meet.
The problem of human health can be the object of an effecli\"~
solution-oriented ~fTort in a broader context of scientific-philosophical concept of man. Health is an inherent quality and
property of an individual. Also it addresses a specific subject thai
calls for specific methods of research. The gamut of health.related questions is extremely broad and the aspects of its manifestations are practically infinite. Even so, there is need for
greater clarity and certainty in the understanding and analysis
of the essence of this subject. In other words, it is a question of
developing a specific conceptual vocabulary and scientific
mechanism.
Scientific methodology has gained immeasurable signiflcance
now that the context of the philosophical knowledge of man
increasingly embraces both social sciences and Humanities, on
the one hand, and-to a considerable extent-the findings of
c..... natural science. That is to sa!, integration. of natur.al s~ience
~ and philosophy in the cognitIOn of man IS becommg mcreasingly typical of modern culture.

NOTES
I

Karl Marx. The Poverty of Philosophy. In: Karl Marx. Frederick Engels,
Collected Works, Vol. 6, Progress Publishers. Moscow, 1976, p 192. .
Mikhail Lifshits. Mifologiya dre\"1lyaya i SQl"remennaya (Mythology, AnCient
and Modern), Moscow, 1980, p 13.

MAN AS AN OBJECT OF STUDY IN PHILOSOPH

AND APPLIED SCIENCES
Y

A. G.

The a
nent :
pondil

MysliVChcnko

Scienc
studer
of slU!

and a
of phi

111 ~cit'nce and Icchnnlogy, heralded a peculiar development thaI

ha!oo ("oll1e It) bl: known as "back to man'. Thb development con"

Iribuled 10 the 'humanisation' bOlh of the various philo~ophical

schonls of thought and of many specitic sciences. Unlike the preced.ing philosophical interest in the problems of epistemology.
which stemmed from progress in natural 'iCiences ~ especially

the 'science crisi5' ---al the turn of the century. the 'back to man'

proceeds from broader causes. These are rooled in the faslly

The history of philosophical studies just like that of S
'fi
ural sc',en e
..
~
peel c nat.
c s an d H umallltles,
pOints
to continued efTo t b
~hmkers of the past to gain an insight into man's nature th r S y
I1g of h' b'
d'
, e meanI
IS elOg ~n
hIS further evolution. The late 19th and
early 20th centuries were marked by a revolution in natural .
ences heralded by the discovery of the electron radioacti ~~I
t~e d.ependence of electron mass on its velocity ~tc -a
VI, y,
~hat enhan~ed interest in the theory of scie~tifi~ kn:;~e~ u~
an
rou~ht phll?sophy ~round to the theory of e isremol g
Selen hagamst the ImpreSSive background of the the~ry of n~~~~
ra p enomena external to rna
d
.
of man
.
..
n, a vances In the cognition
-eslPeclally hiS Inner self-were very modest indeed
Th e resu t was a sort of I
I
,.
cial knowledge made avail~~ltura gap betwe~n progress in specal arts and the ob'
I ' e by natural sCiences and techninomenon of man V~~~t~~nadequa.te ~nderstanding of the phethat the special sci~nces pr r .~o~bhcatmg feature was the fact
was man, focused as the :VI e ut a ~ragmentary idea of what
logical functioning conYs . ere on parllcular aspects of his bio.
,Clousness and b h .
e aVlour, rather than
on man In his totality At
de~elop a single, compr~he~:i~:ts made by many scholars to
se:lOus obstacles. Helvetius had .theo.ry of man always met w ith
thiS problem when he rem k din mind the manifold nature of
bY d'ff
.
ar e that rna n was a model Viewed
.
I erent arusts, each of Whom
but none had so far been able t saw b~l ~ f~w of i.ts features
p:oblem of cognising man is h 0 see ~t ~n liS entirety. This
history but of Contempora
c araclenstlc not only of past
there has ansen
.
as we II . I n thiS
. context
an increas'ry research
I
conception of man's being 109 ~ urg~nt need for an integrated
among. so many others, nor one
10 which man IS
. not a mere item
a ar
of SOCial, cultural and histortc IlIalJ.y.conceived, but the subJ'ect
. of the natural
and the .social.' an active
. and fea r activity.' a ~OIty
and uOiq.ue lOner self.
e 109 entily with its Own complex
The mid-20th century marked b

y an unpre ce d ented progress

124

110;

growing sciences and technology as well as social relations. in the

rise of the human factor in every economic and intellectual field
and in the whole range of cultural endeavour.
The important changes occurring in humanity's current and
future natural and social environment have a profound impaci
on the range of problems in social, natural and technical sciences, contributing to a certain reorientation of the latter towards
a study of the multiple aspects of man's existence. In contrast
with the previous period, modern study of man is characterised
by a greater multiplicity of treatments, identification of fresh aspects of investigation and new questions to be resolved and, subsequently, by the rise of comparatively new academic disciplines
as well as interdisciplinary ties and problems. The older sciences
(anthropology, psychology, biology, physiology, medicine, etc.)
have been complemented by new disciplines and fields such as
human genetics, differential psychophysiology, typology of the
higher nervous activity. somatology, sexology, axiology. euristics, characterology and others. The emergence of cybernetics,
biophysics and biochemistry opened up fresh opportunities for
the application of mathematics. physics, chemistry and technical
sciences to the study of man as the most sophisticated, self-regulating and self-adjusting entity; for the 'mathematisation' of
anthropological sciences as well as for the reverse process of
human ising exact and technical sciences.
The range of the ongoing scientific research, broad as it is,
steadily produces a wealth of diverse empirical data on man,
leading to attempts to systematically arrange and bring together
unrelated facts on the level of individual disciplines and within
an interdisciplinary framework. Even so. the process of co~nis
ing man is not free from significant problems and short~ommgs.
The reason for this is not to be limited to the explodmg store
of particular scientific facts: it can be attributed to the diffic~lties
involved in the comparison and generalisation of th~ avalla~le
data belonging. as they are, to different fields of SCience with
their own peculiar conceptual frameworks and research met~
ods. Even where the concepts would appear to be the same 111
125

The a
nent
pondi
Scient
studel
of stu
and a
of phi

Ihe lerminologies of different scit'lIn'~ ( .. l' . I' ,

' ... eo. IIlll\,du 1

I
perso~la I~j", structure. nalUre. integral qualil\" l't -'
a. 111<111'$
exanllnatlon they prove 10 var)' IV" " 'I ,. . .' l.). nn l'Ju~t'r
.",
ut: , III IIIlerpr 'I' t"
'
what Ihe pract'lloners of parlil'uJar' dis'i.,/"
. t: .t 1011 and in
mean. This condilion adds spet'ial irtll""'12 1I1t.-~ thoughl they
' "I h
. .
unt'l;' In Ih-
.
o flh e speua l' aral'tenSIICS of the 1"'\"1,., .1
t: .lnalvSIS
'f
ul1l..l llIt'fhnd\ f' ' ,
lion 0 man b\. . dlfferelll .
SClen"~ ... Ih ,,', . .
(l lugnl.
" ' . t:
uHerrelati - 1'
1 exlenllo which Ihey lend themselvl"S 10 Ih
I.l~
. on~ ~IP~ and
SIS mg.
e prOtl"s.\ 01 synrhe.
<'

.......

P~ogres:s ,in. man-related sciences nel'essil3te

.
barners dl\"ldlllg the many emp irical data s
s the breaking of
0
",:d syslem of comprehensive know ledge f as 10 crea lI:' a un i:W tll , as far as possible. provide a gelleralis~d l~~ II -.a system Ihat
IIIgs of both natural and social scie nces
I~ I C~lIre of the fllldThe accepted Marxist idea of the ne re ~ t e 10 man.
,
approach to the sludy of man
. ed fOJ a co mprehensive
lively sludied in depth by JUSt ~~eU~e!) ~hat mall, ca ll1~ol be effec
psychology. aOlhropology. etc.) b~ta r:w ~pecla l sc ~e ~ ces (e.g.,
of all natural sciences and H
"
qUIres the JOll1t efforls
whole range of mode", ' u.mfi allllies and their reliance On the
,
SClenlJ c methods Th
prehenslve approach stems in th fi '
.
e need for a comIhe class of entities which.' 1 de rSI place, from the nature of
...
mc u e man as a pa ' 1 b'
syslem. ThiS sysrem fun I'
rtl CU ar lo-social
c Ions as a com I
d
'
a number of subsystems and f
p. ex ynamlc emily of
Which, in turn. are charact . ,0 d ~ plurality of individual parIS
as Ihe entire system.
ense
y a struc ture as sophisticated
'.n the lasl few decades individ
'.
to mtegrate all man-r 1 d u a l SCientists have attempled
r e a t e knowledg
,
p me-generally psycholog
e around a s mgle disc iHo
.
y-or o n an ' 1 d' , ,
wever, expenence de
III er Isc lphnary level
1 b
mOnStrales Ih I 'f h
'
'
o e successfully develo ed th
a , I I e SCience of man is
Paul Bocca~a, 'it is nec~ssar e~, 10, quote Ihe Fren ch Marxist
a~proach with a weak relatt O.dlscard the polydisciplinary
SC iences as well as the pr d
,onsh lp between the man-related
practi
f
.
e omllla nce of
. ,
.
ce? ?PPoslng One discipJ'
anyone discipline or the
III Iransdlsclplinary stUdy, i.e iln\I O another'.' The answer lies
ra,~ of SCiences in every fi~,2 ~f \deveJopmenl of the whole
. e whole history of th
"now ledge.
SCiences (bi I
. e cognll io n o f
that the
oogy, phYSiOlogy neuro h ,mlan through natural
Ihose sP~cf~~afl~~ only to ac~ount f! rhs~o b~~j' ~tc_l) suggests
tial dema rcali
b uman charac leristics whi h ogl,ca c auses of
the social defi o~ . elwe en. man and animal c d prO~lde Ihe essenphilosophe r Tn~lon, of hiS activities. In th an which come from
a eusz Jaroszewski:
e words of the Polish

I"

A~ ::." nr,llI1gl,v, oc. _:lI0rllll [Htrmpl1lu a"due,' lhe or\'rlopmrru of m.m, rco~l"mL ,s~ln,polltl('dl. drlJ\(I. an.! olhrr a, livllll"S 10 l'alrIOfw" scirnlLfl'

anal~IS and lht"o~rllral modds.horrowed from neUrOJlhYlit'l~y. thl: bl.O/r'llI,:,lthrory ,~r nalural need~ land or (he djtTrrrlll wayl in whith they
Me ~Urprl"S'St'd by mo<lern I:lvilisalicm) or to the (-oncept of f,:urt(htlonal
r,cllt":u.., \htJ\~ld be pUI down .\ ansoJutl:ly futile. ThiS trcatme-nt IS eloJirclatly
l\lleat nf J""'yrhtl3nalyllcal a~ we-II a5 ur behavi()uri~llc anthropolo"v re.
lIardl~l of any 'hlfl U'I/Cr5 rn:rween the two.

So~id .psYl'twlogi~1 H. G, Anantt:v has lIl~de an importalll

C(~l\lnbulloll 10 the Integrdted approal'h til th~ subject
Wllhlll the framewor,k of partic.:ular science~, Ananiev
that modcrn SlIClltC I~ headeJ for the integration of all

of man
suggC'i1s
maJ1-rc
lated kl:owledge a.no. the emergenc.:e of a general theory of man,
He ~elJ(.'ves Ihal II IS p'lychology Ihat provide~ tht' componell t
for Integratlllg all the fields of k.nowledge: ' .. ,It is pSYl'hulogy
that provide~ the link. between all the fields of man-related knowl
edge and Ihe means to integrate the different natural and social
sciences into a nt'll' synthetic .I)cience of mun',l Ananie'w' ret:ognises. however. Ihat philosophy must provide the basis for a gen
eral theory of man, that philosuphical generalisation of all scientific data on Ihe relationship between man's social and individual
development is among the major tools for developing a general
theory of man, and that it is only through Ihe Marxisl-Leninist
philosophy of man that Ihe diverse sourt:l'!. of scientific knowledge of man can be fully integrated.
Ananiev. howen,'!r. failed to substantiate Ihe prodaimeJ rDle
of philosophy as an integrator of the different sources of sdenti fi c knowledge of man, Accordingly, it would be erroneous to
describe his co ntributi on as an allempt 10 develop a 'theory of
man'. The scholar's intent was not. in fact, 10 develop a theory
of man in philo!'ophy but ralher in Ihe con text of particular
sciences by integrating existing advances in natural and sodal
sciences insofar as Ihey are related to the knowledge of man.
In melhodologicalter ms, an integrated method was poslulated
as the key 10 the co nstru ct ion of the 'synthetic man'. Many researc hers, however , poinl to the existing experience in the
application of this methotl and put in doubt any glowing hopes
for its integralive capacity 10 develop a general theory of man.
These scholars are correct in poinling oul the basic shortcomi ngs
of Ihe inlegraled method. which stem primarily from the ditTiculty
of inlegrating-to say nothing of synt hesising - Ihe diversily of
man-related info rmation and also from the virtual impo~sibil.
ily 10 develop a comprehensive theory of man through the u~e
of Ihis method, The terms 'all-round' and 'integrated' should
not be trealed as sy nonymous. In the words ci A. N. Leontiev,
127

The a
nent
pondi
Sciem
studel
of stu
and a
of phi

B. G, Ananiev's attempt at an integrated approa h

up in a multiplicity of study projects ranging fC to man ended
"f
bl'
, r o m t h e c h,arac ..
tensUcs
0 meta o'c processes to individual d'ff
lected psychic functions. Clearly though no col'l e~ences In Se_
I d k
I
' , e c t l O n of v '
man-re ate
now edge can replace the require
f
aned
teg~al understanding of the psychology of perso m~nt or an in_
entity of a special kind, ~
na Ity seen as an

In this context, while sharing the idea that an inl

od of ~tudying man generally and, in particular e~tted meth_
at the mterface between different academ',c d' "I'
problems
,
ISCIP Illes the '
senous ground for doubting the underlying feas'bT'
re IS
e,ffect to the ,idea o~ developing a unified science th~t 1~~~ to give
slse many sCiences mto a general theory of man Th 'd synthe_
a, science, it seems, can hardly materialise beca e I ea of s~ch
highly sophisticated system that is studied n~t by ,use man IS a
b a
complex of social and natural sciences each d~~st one but,
own methods and from its Own vantag~ point
109 so y Its

~~ei~t~ir~~i~~t~7:c~e~~~~~~t~~ie;e~:dof

there is no truly inlc:grative "olution with the result that, among olher
thlllg.'i, man comd Ihrough as an obje(;t of 'fragmenled knowledge' of
Whl.ch we can know everything ex(;ept what makes him an integral bioSOCial being and personality subje(;t to many inlegrated taws and 'system
for~es' produ~ed by the interauion of multiple biological, psy,hic and
SOCial factors,

~lace

in
man
their hopes
leadmg to amalgamation f d'ff P
as a process purportedly
and to the emer ence of ~
I er~nr m~n-related information
underway is a trow'
synthesised, plctur~, True, currently
integration (inel d' 109 process of s~lence differentiation and
rect to argue wi~h I~g ~anF-rdelated sCiences), Even so, it is cor, , e oseyev that
a~y such integration of knowled
'
?1.ss01utlon of sciences but h ge lS,n~1 a mere amalgamation or mutual
In the interest of pro:idingr~t ,e~ their I~teraction and mutual enrichment
cular aspects of which are sIUJ~I~tbsO~utl?~
to int~grated problems, parti.
e
COOperatIOn of different 'soverei , y ,mdlvl~ual SCiences, It is this form of
the overall problem of man th gn sclen~es In providing a joint solution of
Attempts
b '
at can Yield positive results,S
h
to flng logether d'ff
t rough the use of special' d
I erent man-related sciences
ture-functional, logico.'~at~etho~s-systems st ructure, strucoften e~ded up in a fragmente~matlcal.' modelling etc,-have
~ropertJes and relations both ,eclectic description of features
inas been a mechanicai piec:elev~nt and irrelevant. The resul;
th:~a~ o~ a com~rehensive P~~~~~g ~f assorted information,
man: IS t at ~t thiS point no atte loman. What is obvious,
succe~:~~ei~ Informa~ion develop:P~ to sy~tematis~ and add up
that
portraytng man as
Y parllcular sCiences can be
po~esses not m
I
an entity (such'
,
and social q r'
ere y a mUltiplicit
f
as It actually IS)
biological q~:rltt,les but a Unified com~1 0 un:elated biological
The'
lies,
ex of mtegrative socioVIew put forward in
128
this connection by I. T, Prolov

appe.ars to be well taken, I. T. Frolov, although a proponent of

a unlf1t~d man-related science is careful to say that at this point

Also, any discussion of the need for a unifled man-related science

should focus not so much on the current research practice as on
the general trend in research, In other words, the idea of a unified man-related science is seen today as the formulation of
a unified long-term programme of human studies to be followed
by natural and social sciences,
It follows from the above that the methodological and integrative potential of the integrated method calls for a more careful and balanced analysis, Whether the idea of a unified manrelated science eventually proves to be viable or not, within the
context of particular man-related sciences the integrated method
cannot, admittedly, replace the development of a philosophical
conception of man as an integrative entity. The challenge here
is one of philosophical and sociological interpretation and that,
in turn, can be effective only if special scientific subjects are
studied in maximum depth and a close relationship between
philosophy and particular sciences is assured,
The logic of the study of man by social and natural sciences is
placing an increasingly higher priority on generalising and systematising the multiplicity of man-related information secured
by specialised sciences and on continued positive development of
the purely philosophical aspect of the problem of man, on an
integrated philosophy of man, to rest on advances in particular
man-related sciences and the practice of social history,
Philosophical studies, for their part, provide a methodological
and fundamental conceptual point of departure for individual
natural and socia l sciences to analyse and find solutions to the
specia l problems of man's manifold activities and, in the final
analysis, to develop an integral system of man-related knowledge,
To sum up, the experience of both philosophical and specialised scientific studies of the problem of man demonstrates thaT
the two trends must not be allowed to degenerate into a process
of divergent development. To marry the concept of either the
philosophical or the specialised scientific approacl,l t~ Ih~ exclusion of the other would be to raise the danger of shpplllg mto ab,20
9-01662

The ;

nen!
pondi
Scien,
stude:
of stu
and ,

of ph.

.stract philosophical ant~ropolo~i~'~ ~f th~ ex.i.stentialist variet

in the former case or Into POSlllVIStlc .sclellll.sm, in the Ian Y
Both approaches would lead to one-dimensional defic' er.
.
lent
accounts of what man actually IS.
What dictates the need for an integral philosophical the
f
'IS not a mere conglomerate of divers
o'y
of man '
IS the
acth
t at man
pa~a'.neters-anlhropolo~ical, p~ys.iologi~al, psychic, sOCia~
act~vlly-rel~ted, etc. He IS a certain. IIltegrnr .which al this level
of ITllegratlOn possesses novel specific qualities which may not
be prope.rly reduced to the quality ~f any particular component
or .to t~lelr sum to~al. Th~ nov~1 quallty?f the.whole entity is that
ob~ectlve ~nderlYU1g basIs w.h~ch necessllates Identification of the
phlio.sophlcai level of cogl1l1lOn, a level at which the inherent
limitations of specialised scientific approaches to man as a totality is to be overcome.
It is common knowledge that advances in particular sciences
and progress in the philosophy of dialectical materialism are inter-related and reciprocally stimulate one another. While
acknowledging this g~neral statement, however, analysts not in~re~uenll~ re~uce p~J!osophy 10 a methodological function visa-vIs studies Ul particular sciences destined to be a mere interpr.eter oi. indivi~ual sciences or to sum up, classify and system~lIse their findmgs. A scientific philosophy, however, is not
Ju~t a by-produ~t o.f knowled~e accumulated by particular
sc ences. Its growmg Importance III the modern world is dictated
by. more t,han just its significance for progress in particular
~clences: In the complex and ramified syslem of society'S
~nt.el1~ctual culture philosophy plays a universal integrative role
rlllglng t~g~ther particular sciences and all other forms of
human actlvHy.
I n addition to the
h d I '
and integrative f n . met 0 0 ~glcal, fU,ndamental conceptual
','
u, Cllons of philosophy III the process of cognl."lIlg man, men liOn sho ld 1 b
'
Indeed how eve d
eepi u a so e made of Its euristic role.
~ they may stUdy man as an empirical fact,
no .sing'le part',c'ula
b"
f
r sCience or any
the potential of pro 'd'
com
lila
lIon
0
them have
I
es<.;ence, freedom a:I , ',ng solu,tio~s ,to suc~ problems as man's
lift.\ etc. And tha; is o~ty, subJectivism, ailenation, meaning of
solutions means going too natural., ~ecause to arrive at these
studying man as an emp~;.on~ /he hmllS of particular sciences
generalisation which allo~~ca act to the level of philosophical
a'i a dial~ctical unity of t;;an to be seen as the 'world of man',
e
particular (class-related eth .common (all-human) elements,
vidual el~ments. as an ~nti! nl~f a~l.d ot~er) elements and indiy
1010giCal, psychic and social
IJ()

compon~nts. A

peculiar feature of the philosophical level of the

study of man is that it employs a special categorial apparatus
and a dialectical method to provide an all-round theoretical
interpretation and integration (as opposed to a mere summation) into a total conception of the findings of specialised sciences and of the achievements of human civilisation. For this
reason, development of a total conception of man and of a
general theory of man's integrity is up to a scientific philosophy
supported by the findings of particular sciences and by the analysis of the totality of social history rather than to a complex of
particular sciences supponed by philosophy,
This is not to say that philosophy, and philosophy alone, is that
form of theoretical reHection which has the potential 10 generalise the findings of particular sciences and recreate man as a totality. It will be remembered, firstly, that philosophy synthesises
particular sciences in more than just one way, but does so from
its own vantage point to provide the solution 10 its own problems, viz., to create the most all-embracing universal conception
of man, Secondly, what particular sciences are concerned with
is not just selected aspects of man but-up to a point-part of
his universal propenies as well, the universal, or the general,
having no existence per se but only through the particular and
the individual. This latter condition opens up the possibility of
principle to develop a theory reproducing the man's integrity
at different specifIC levels of particular sciences-psychology,
social psychology, human genetics, etc, In other words, different
forms of totality may be construed, which will differ in the degree of generalisation and in the academic field they come under.
The potential existence of such forms of totality, however, far
from obviating the need for a philosophico-sociological theory
of man actually requires such a theory. Unlike conceptions of
totality in particular sciences, the challenge f~ci,ng a general
theory is to provide a complete, all-round deSCription of man as
a bio-psycho-social being. This challenge is to be met. not by
a general philosophical theory but by a complex of the sCle~ce of
man-an ever growing body of man-related natural SCiences
and Humanities, complete and. all-ro~nd.
.
?
However, what is a total philosophIcal conceptIon of man.
What problems, principles and parameters ~ay be regarded as
basic to the system? Soviet authors ha ..'e d,lfferent answers to
that, none of which has so far won Universal acceptanc~.
In any case, historico-philosophical and present-day e.xpenence indicates thai attempts to develop a total concepllon of
man built around a single basic principle (e.g., conscIousness,
Ut

aClivi~y. gene~ic essence~ freedom) have failed and,been limited

The

nent
pond
Scien

stude
of sh.
and ,
of ph

to uJ1Ilateral mterpret3110n at best. At, the same tllne, each of

these principles is of such paramount, Impor~ance that no Com_
prehensive theory of man on the philosophIcal level would be
thinkable without ~ny one of t~le~. What is needed, then, is an
effective way to brmg these pnnclples together and make Ihem
work.
Human subjectiveness interpreted as a subjective aspect of
practice is an important basic link in an integral theory, Born
of social existence as a practical human activity and of the subject-object nature of social reality, the nature of human subjec_
tiveness is manifested, first of all, in man's creative self-fulfil_
ment. Subjectiveness is defined as a subject-organised inner content, a modus of existence and aCtivity, which are responsible for
man's totality and particular direction of activity. Human subjectiveness !~c~ud~, but is not li,mited to, consciousness, thought
and, senSitivity: It possesses an mtegratjve quality formed by the
socl,al ~evelopment of man as subject. ' This synthetic quality of
subJe~lIveness, as a form of totality may and must playa conSlrUCtlv~ role I~ the development of an integral theory of man,
The Integrauo~ a,nd in-depth treatment of system-forming
problems and pnnclples (these being limited statements), if
taken separately at t~e philosophical level of cognition, contributes to a sort ?f totalll!' or of what Hegel referred to as 'dispersed
co~pleteness.' Studymg Hegel's The Science oj Logic Lenin
cople~ ou~ this quotation: 'The one-sidedness of the philosophic
pnnclple IS generall,Y faced by its opposite one-sidedness, and,
as eV,erywhere" totalJt,Y at least is found as a dispersed completen~ss, From this Lenin concluded 'totality = (in the shape of)
dispersed completeness',l:!
It would appear from the foregoing that development of an integral ,the~ry of man must lead to an indivisible homogeneous
monolith
.
.
' .In the form 0 f some spunous
abstraction
of man. ToI
ta ny consists, of sySie m an d structure. The mtegrated
.
approach,
fa r rrom ru IIng out p bl
I
ral theory of
ro em a~a YSIS, presupposes it. No integsis of proble ma~ ",:ould be thlnka~le w,ithout a specific analypeets and pr~~i n In~egral.lheory IS unily in multiplicity of astegraltheory m e~~. or thiS reason the development of an inthe fundamenta~ a Involve structural compartmentalisation, and
treatment. ObViou~roa~h bmus ! go pa~allel with morphological
to a mechanical stri y', p 0 lem analYSIS must not be reduced
ngmg
the totality produce
up of the problems involved, of which
These statements n!e~ ~er~ s':lm of loosely related statements.
o e Incorporated into a total system
1.12

and made subordinate to system-forming tasks. More imporlant,

they must 1I0t just generalise the findings of various sciences,
but raise the entire human problem to a qualitatively new level
of cognition, produce additional knowledge and offer new solutions and definitions that must go beyond the limits of those peculiar to specialised (particular) natural and social sciences.
In other words, an integral philosophical conception of man
must be reflective of the total nature of man per se, and that does
not come about by merely adding up components (e.g" physical,
chemical, biological, social) but in the course of historical social
formation of man as the subject of activity.
In recent years Soviet writers and conference parlicipants
have been active in discussing this question: which philosophical
discipline-dialectical materialism, historical materialism, etc.has the potential to recreate man as an integral system in conceptual-theoretical terms? These deliberations have inevitably
led to a discussion of the definition of the subject and structure
of Marxist philosophy generally and historical materialism, in
particular,
One reason for doubts in the ability of historical materialism
to provide a theoretical conception of man is in the fairly widespread idea that social philosophy is concerned with an impersonal system of social relations and with the theory of the social
organism only. Proponents of this school of thought rely on the
methodological principle of proceeding from the individual
to the social, claiming this to be the all-embracing method of historical materialism. This method, however, represents just one of
the available approaches to the study of social relations. The
other method of cognition is the reverse procedure-from the
social to the individual. The individual and the social being in
a state of dialectical unity, both procedures can be employed
to provide solutions to different problems in social p~ih:~sop~y.
The principle of unity of the individ~al and the soc.lal ~mphes
the possibility of employing-dependmg on l?e obJectives. of
theoretical study-either the method of reasonmg fro~ the 10dividualto the social, as in the study of the laws of SOCial development and of the unity of the social organism, or th~ rever~e
procedure of arriving at the individ~al fr?m the SOCial, as III
the study of individual forms of SOCial e~]s~e~ce:
.
The general conception of the mate~la,hst.1C mterpre~atlon
of history implicitly contains the humamsllc Id~a that history
is the story of man's development and that SOCial and human
history are, in the final analysis, one.
,
As labour activity, productive forces and SOCial progress surge
13J

The

nenl
pond
Scien
slUde
of Sit
and ;
of ph

the process of differentiating int~rrdalionship\ amung In

individuals themselves) beCOlnl' l'ver l11(lrt' Vi~onlu, l!'1.l (and
c~urse ,of contradi~tory ~volUliol1 of man's .so\,:lalisation (t~~OUgh
the
ah~nallon .of man S S?c.lal essenc.e from hiS individual moo
eXistence m. an lag~nlsflc or.m.3W)I1,S) . . Th is l'ond il ion prov~ of
the underlymg baSIS for mdlV1dualisaIH.)11 and improvem des
'
[
,
[h'
b'l' ,
enl o[
needs and inl" rests
h lIman bemgs, ormallon 0 I elr a I Itles.
.
and" the development 0[ man as a subject of various Iypao r'
activity.
It. should .be r.emembere? ~ha(. the problem of man is not
III full . and in all its asp eels,
studied by hlstoncal malenahsm
.
~ut rather.f rom a particular vantage POIllI. Here, the problem
IS seen agamst the backd:op of the general theory of social development and plays an Imp,ortant r~le for a thorough and allrou,nd devel?p,men,t of ,society, social relations and laws in
t~elr ,humal11sl1~ ~Ime~slons and application, The purview of
histOrical materl~hs~ mcludes the ~m~r~ence and rise of man;
I~e laws of the histOrical process of IIldlVldualisatioll and formalion of, m~n, as a personality, the dialectics of social essence and
?f the mdlvldual fo:m of existence, of the natural and the social
m ~an; types ,of soclet/s relations with the individual in different
SOCial ~ormatlons; social typ~ ?f individuals, man as the subject
of SOCial a~d ~ultural creativity !hrough history; relationship
b~tween objective I~~s and conSCIOus activity; motivations and
au~ ~f hum~n act~vJty" and many other subjects.
, ~lle staymg primarily within the context of historical rna~er~a~srn. the problem of the general theory of man in some se
"[che, as~eclts does ~o,beyond the methodology and the problem;
O Istonca matenalism as a d' , r
fields of philoso h _ '
,lSClP me, t~ spi ll ?ver ~nto other
methodological s~p~o ~~alec~lcal matenalism, dialectical logic,
(biology human ene~' or t e study of man by natural sciences
in order ~o answergqu ',~s, anthropology, elc,) As a case in point,
.
eslonsastoman' I
' h
'
the smgle patterned world r
s P ac~ 111 t e world and 111
a material phenomenon ih~ces~, t,he sp~clal nature of man as
and the biological in m~
re atlonshlp between the social
P~i1osophical basis on whi:h ~ne must ~rst address the gen~ral
VIZ., the dialectical material' ~e~ que~tJons are to be dealt With,
tween the subordination [IS IC octrme of the relationship be,
.
0
matter and 'I
"
'
orgal11c, orgal1lc and sociall
.
I S motion m the InSome writers rely on the ~ ~r~~l1Ised worlds.
the philosophy of dialectical =n~I~?n o~ Marxist philosophy as
the current practice of teachin g h Istoncal materialism and on
to argue that Marxist PhilOSOPh t he two as separate disciplines
134
y s ould be concerned with two

.r

differently weighted Lcnceptions of man a dialectkal-materia~

li~t and a historical-materialbt one-the former and the latter
bei~g clai~ed to .be the ~eneral and the particular. respectively.
While admiltmg m pnnclple that man can be described in terms
~f dialectical ma.te riaiLsm, it should be noted that such descrip4
tlon cannot provide a total and full conception of man. This can
only be done by going specifically to the higher form of eXistence of matter -society~and, consequently, to an analv~is of
the problem of man in terms ci historical materialism. F'or this
reason, attempts to develop a conception of man in terms of
dialectical materialism per se may be described as one of the
possible theoretical statements of the problem of man, but not as
a comprehensive, all-round philosophical conception.
By limiting the conception of man to the terms of dialectical
materialism and divorcing the study of the subject from the historical materialistic perspective, the picture of man is made significantly less complete, with man coming through as the 'highest
form of matter', the 'flower of matter'. etc. A theoretical reflection that sets out 10 provide a comprehensive conception of man
must, on the other hand. include such system-forming inherent
properties of man as freedom. subjectivity, activity, axiological
aspects, etc,
For these reasons, it would be wrong to accept the point of
view of those who argue that the development of a general
theory of man is the responsibility solely of dialectical materialism just as to side with those who argue for historical materialism alone, Insofar as real man represents a unity of the general
and of the particular (individual) the theoretical conception of
man as an entity must be fragmented into the purely dialectically
materialistic (genera\) and the purely historically materialistic
(particular) conception. The continuous formulation of the
general theory of man is the responsibility of both dialectical
and historical materialism. i.e., the entire Marxist-Leninist
philosophy,
The problem of man is peculiar to the entire body of MarxistLeninist thought, including philosophy, The various objects and
natural processes, society and consciousness are studied in philosophy within the context of a definite relationship with OliJll as
the subject of cognition, repository of consciousness and socially
active being. Accordingly, in the Marxist viewpoint philosophical
knowledge also produces. in the final analysis, knowledge of
man. his abilities and outlook for development.
.
The need for a comprehensive theory of man has necessllat~d
a separate branch of study of the problem of man. Progress In

us

The
nent

pond
Scien
stude
of stt
and ;
of ph

science and social practice indicates that the problem of

'
.
fild
' l endeavouman
has grown .
In Importance In every
e 0 fSocia
. an .increasing
. ne <dfor continued p"0
an extent where there IS
I
u,.
. I
pose-oriented deve~opment 0f a slOg e ge~era theory and Corn_
prehensive conception of man. The experience of modern philo..
sophical schools suggests tha~ the problem of man has essen_
tially developed into a relatively mdependent field of study
a field with its own particula.r subje~t of stu~y within the Conte,d
of a unified but internally differentiated sCience of Marxist philosophy.
The need for continuous development of man-related phil()..
saphicaJ pro?lems ~ener~lly,. and particularly of a comprehen.
sive conception of man, IS dictated not merely by the require_
ments of philosophical self-reflection but primarily by the
pressing needs of modern progress in science and social practice. The philosophical cognition of man has a duty to make its
own contribution to the formulation of a theoretical basis for
a scientific management of social processes and to help achieve
the long-term objectives of forming an all-round, intellectually
rich personality.

MAN AS THE OBJECT OF COGNITION

IN ARTS SUBJECTS
L. I. Novikova

NOTES
See Paul Boccara. Le . projet d'anthroponomie, La pende. 1983, No. 232.
Tadeusz M. J arosz.ewskl. Traktat 0 nalurze ludziej, Ksiazka i Wiedza, Warszawa, 1980, p 203,
I B. G, Ananiev, Chelavek k.a~ pre,d met po~naniya, (Man as an Object of Cognition), Lenmgrad State University PublIShers, Leningrad, 1968, p 13; idem,
o proble.makh sovremennogo chelovekouumiya (On the Problems of Modem
Conception of ~an), Nauka, Moscow, 1977, pp 15, 41.
Cf. \, N, Lea:nliev. De,y,alelnost, SOZnllniye, LichnoSl, (Activity, Conscioust ness,
ersonal!ty), ~ohtlZdat, Moscow, 1977 pp 162 165-166
p, N, Fedoseyev. Filosofiya i
h
', , ' , '
,
tinc Knowledg) N k M nauc noye poznamye (Philosophy and SClena
e, au a, OScow 1983 p 257
Problemy kompleksnogo izuch . ' h l'
,
kon/ert!nlsii 29-3/ marta 198;m~a c e oveka (Tezisy dokladov Vsesoyuznoi
IAbstracts of Papers Presentel~ (Problems ,of Integrated Studies of Man
19831. USSR State Academ
f Os I,he All-Umon Conference, March 29-31,
, Cf
.
Y0
clences, Moscow 1983
40
. I. V, Vatm, Chelovecheskaya sub'ektiv
'
,P",
Rostov State University Publishe
R I
nost (Human SubJectiveness),
V, I. Lenin. ConspeClus of He e~ BOStov-on-lhe~Don, \984,
Works, Vol, 38, Progress PUbl!hers ~~IThe SCIence of Logic, Collected
,
,p.156,

The heightening of the world scientific community's interest in

man and his inherent essential powers is explained by the mounting role of the human factor today, On this soil there has been
a revival of hermeneutics of a Diltheian Havour in Western philosophical literature, The Club of Rome made allowances for
'man' in its global projects of the world. Contemporary 'Marxologists', while criticising Marxism for a 'loss of man', undertake
'rescue measures' to 'consolidate' and 'supplement' it by humanism, Pluralism, which (in its ideologists' opinion) provides an
unprogrammed interpretation of human existence, is declared
a leading principle of social philosophy. To all f'hese trends
Marxism opposes the materialist monism of its philosophical
orientation, which is the methodological foundation for a
humanist understanding of man's life-world, as well as for explaining the patterns of history,
By bringing out the role of social practice in the development
of history, i.e" of Ihe history of man as a social and, in that sense,
human being, Marxism thereby brought humanist knowledge
into the stream of the social sciences,
Marx, Engels, and Lenin differentiated between I~e s~ial
philosophical, historical, and humanist approaches I? SOCial SCience
on the methodological plane, and at the same lime resolutely
insisted on their unity. The fundamental task of social philosophy
and the cognitive proce.dure corresponding to it is to reduce the
whole diversity of the single, seemingly u!lique facI,s a~d events
of human history to a single objective basiS. RedUCl10n IS und~r
stood here as substantiation of the interaction of complex SOCial,
historical processes by disclosing their subordination to fund~
mental laws of social development, On the plane of formallo~lc
it can be taken as an explanation of a nomological type, ~enm.
stressing the cognitive value of the principle of reduclton so
productively employed by Marx, wrote:
People make their own histOl"Y, but what determines the motiv~ o.f ~ple,
of the mass of people, i.e., what gives rise to the clash of connlctmg Ideas
\37

. , .. ,,,,,"1 What is the ljum 100ai of all. .these f

dashes in the mass of human
ad'
r

anu s nVI "",,'

societies? What are the objecli\-e ,con,dlllO,ns 0 p~ _ ucllOn 0 material life

Ih I form the basis of all of man l> historical actIVIty? What IS the law of
de~elopmenl of Ih~ conditions? To all these Marx ,drew attention and
indicated the way to a scientific study of history as ~ smgle process which,
with all its immense variety and c ontradlclonnes~, ~ _g~lVerllf!d by ddIDi1e
laws.

The
nen!

pond
Scien
stude
of sl!..
and :
of ph

In that connection the materialist conception of history is

naturally nol just its reduction ,10 the ~ialectic ?f t~e productive
forces and relations of production. It IS also a slnglmg out of the
whole ensemble of social relations from their dialectic, taking
into account the inner interaction and mediations, i.e., explanation of the whole richness of history. It is, finally, understanding of the motives of individuals' behaviour, sense of values,
and life dispositions, proceeding from the significant context of
the ensemble of social relations that form man's life-world,
bearing in mind that man himself is not only the object but also
the subject of these relations.
It has become a commonplace in Western philosophy to accuse
Marxism of losing man as a result of reducing social relations to
material and, ultimately, production relations. The accusation
has no basis whatever. When defining the essence of man as an
ensemble of social relations Marxism quite realises that human
subjectivity is by no means reducible just to them, because, having suggested that the human personality is determined byexisting social relations, we do not stress man's role as a subject of
social relations capable of, and actually introducing, innovations
in them. The richness of the human personality is not exhausted
by objectified results of activity that can become the subject of
objective social-science knowledge. It is also latent in the creative powers and capabilities of man himself, which are manifested not onl~ in practical activity but also as free play, creating
a world ?f Intellectual values (in intercourse with others) full
of .m,eanmg;;. value~, and sens,es that reproduce and anticipate
e,xlstmg s,oclal relations, elevatmg them to ideals. In this connectIon Lenm wrote:

X.

The id~a of determinism, which postulates that human acts are necessitated
and re)Cc,ts the absurd tal.e about f.ree will, in no way destroys man's reason
or consc!enc~ or appraISal of hIS actions. Quite the contrary onty the
determinist
vIew
makes a strict and co,,-,
'pp,.
1
bl '.
d f
b ,
~..
aLS8 POSSI e tnstea 0
attn
you please to free will . S,m,I. r 1y, Ihd
. 1 utmg .everything
d'
e I ea 0 f hISlor- ~ '\I
lea nee~lty oes not. In the least undermine the role of the individual '\
III hl~tory. all hlStOf)' IS made up of the actions of ' d' 'd aI
h
undoubtedly active ligures,"
In IVI U S, W 0 are

~arxism . thus. sees the uniqueness

of the huma
,..)
,
n persona It III
overcomlllg Its natural and SOCial limitations Ih
h .
Y.
roug Its active

u.

involvement III comprehensive social relations and the development 011 that ba~is of man's essential powers, unrelated to any
previously given scale whatsoever. It is the development of these
essential powers capable of goi'!.S beyond existing relations, and
stimulating their improvement, tnat'lS rhe- limItlesS" source or
"'Tilnovations, and, in the last analysis. of social progre$,
The social sciences have the job of understanding not only"
objective laws but also the aspect of their development through ,..
innovations introduced by human subjectivity, the aspect of
tile 'result' of qualitatively new regularities and patterns in the
course of the revolutionary transforming activity of people
armed with consciously advanced aims, and also by motives of
behaviour not always clear to them. The methods of social
pllilosophy analysis are inadequate, of course, as regards single
objects, and in particular for bringing out separate individuals'
motives and the motives of their conscious activity and aspira- (
lions. But Marxism has never regarded them as a 'universal )
master-key' for explaining all the phenomena of society'S life.
The methods of reduction (substantiation) and deduction
(explanation) supplement and compensate the individualised
methods of arts subjects and the social sciences when these
aspects of the functioning and development of social. historical
reality are being investigated,
Marx's main sphere of scientific interests was concentrated on
the general theory of the course of history and the political
economy of capitalism. But, while consistently guided by the idea
of the socio-economic determination of the behaviour of individuals belonging to certain classes of society, he stressed that
this did not exhaust the whole fullness and value in itself of living
phenomena that were realised 'only with this realm of necessity
as (their) basis'.:1 In accordance with that methodological principle he widely employed 'individualised' methods and techniques
of analysis of the humanities proper, even in his exclusively
theoretical works like Theories of SlIrpllls-Vallle, and Capital.
In works like The Ch'iI War in France and The Eiglueenth Brumaire of LOllis Bonaparte, individualised methods played a decisive role in determining the reasons for the success of the coup
d'etat carried oul by an 'unknown adventurist', the 'mosl dullwitted man in France', completely lacking in personal principle. 4
Application of these methods to the leaders of the republican
regime as to members of various circles of the bourgeois class
enabled Marx 10 bring out their personal responsibility for the
fall of the republic and for France's national shame connected
with Louis Bonaparte's coup. The notion of personality that
139

The;

nent
pondi
Sci en'
stude
of stu
and ,
of ph

Marx started with here presumed that man is obJ'ectivel

..
sponsl'bl e f or h'IS convIctIOns
an d t h e consequences of aYt're_
on them. as well as subjectively responsible for his convict~ Ing
He not only applied this method to the leaders of the Secon~
Republic, and the leaders of the opposition but also to ~~
various groups and cliques of the class of the bourgeoisie tha~
they headed, and to the bourgeois class as a whole. As a result
the concept of class was given a face, and consequently respon_
sibility to history.
From the s.randpoint, of ~arxism, huma,nitarian knowledge
can be taken, In the social sCiences, as an orientation of it on an
empathic explanation of the behaviour of individuals and social
groups, starting from their natural tenacities and tempers and
objective circumstances. The subject-matter of these disciplines
is, according to philosophic tradition, man in his social connections, the wholeness of which is disclosed as the world of
man objectified in culture. As we see, the Marxian approach
does not contradict the general philosophical intention but
gives it an objective basis.
Knowledge of man became an object of philosophical reflection only during the Renaissance; since then philosophical
thought has repeatedly turned to determination of its specific
qualities.
When A. M. Batkin was analysing the sources of Italian
humanism he distinguished the forming of a new type (style) of
philosophising, viz" humanist thought (studia humanitatis)
which, in the understanding of its founders, meant approximately the following (as he interpreted it): 'zealous study of everything that constitutes the wholeness of the human spirit'. Lite~ature is an objectified expression of it, or the spirit itself coded
In words. Understanding of it calls for profound concentration
of the humanist's thought, which is thus included in a single,
continuous process of development of the mind. As Batkin
stresses, humanists included two basic thoughts inter alia in the
ve~y concept humanitas: 'learning', which presupposed universahty of knowledge through assimilation of literature (/iterae)/'
and 'virtue', which enabled man to rise through learning above
others and himself.
That line in the Humanities, orientated on treatment of man
m hi~ cul,tural, linguistic context, was fundamentally developed,
and IS bemg br~adly developed in various versions at the present
Hme. But t~e. hmllatio." of this on the whole very productive
Ime IS that It IS locked 10 Its special subject-matter and does not
rise to the level of universal generalisation. In short, it itself has
140

to become the object of methodological analysis so as to explicate

its specifics.
Man's cognition has a multilevel character. It is realised at the
level of ordinary, everyday consciousness. in the sphere of various
extrascientific forms of social consciousness (mythological, moral,b aesthetic), and attains its definiteness at the level of philosoph ical reflection, A specific feature of cognition in arts subjects
is to be seen in the organic connection of these levels.
The primary, direct form of this cognition is ordinary consc iousness which provides a direct orientation of the social individual's activity during the practical making of decisions. This
'sw itched-in' character of ordinary consciousness in practical
activity is atlained through its flexibility and unspecialised character, which distinguishes it from theoretical activity. When
man tries to achieve the aims he has set himself, he in fact meditates, on the basis of past experience, on the circumstances that
could promote or prevent success, He has to learn to allow for
the pOS$ible effect of other participants in the events, by putting
himself in their place and stepping into the role of the other person, and to sketch out a scenario of sorts of behaviour that might,
in his opinion, lead to success. By being already 'involved' in the
events, he learns 'on the hop', while being successful or failing. )
But ordinary consiousness, however adequate in domestic use,
proves narrow and limited when transferred to the sphere of
scientific cognition.
This orientation of cognition in arts subjects on ordinary consciousness has received very distinct expression in phenomenology and Weber's interpretive sociology closely ~ociated with
it. which claims to be a true reflection of man's 'life-world'. In
contrast to the scientistic conception of man and culture of, say,
the Baden School, or of structural anthropology, whi,ch takes t,he
world of man as predestinated and, as if were, resistant to 10vestigation, interpretive sociology starts fr?m a 'natural ma~im' of the unity of man and his life-world,. I.e" the worl~ o! hiS
sensations, aspirations, desires, doubts" behefs~ and C?nVICI10ns.
The 'life-world' according to interpretive soct{)logy, IS a sphere
of directly expe;ienced pre-reflex reality i,n which the resear~~er
is immersed as an empirical Ego. But havmg adopt~d a cO~OIl1ve
stance he concentrates attention and interest on hl~ expenen~es
of the life-world. The actual experience acqUires meanmg
through a reflex, itself becomes a fact of the lif~-world: The) (
spokesmen of interpretive sociology, however, realIse that mtr~ \
spection is nOI a reliable means of knowl~dge of rna,n and ~f hIS
identity with himself, because it is not a lived expenence ( here
141

The (
nent
pondi
Scienl
stude]
of stu
and ,

of plu

and now') that is grasped at in the autoreflex but the past

snatched from the STream of experiences and prepared. The~
theref,ore pay attention m~inly to problems of u.nderstanding Ih~
'other, alter ego. The eXistence of the other, like the existence
of my life-world, stems from the natural set-up. What is mOre
my 'self-dependence' or 'independence', becomes the real exist:
ence of my Ego only through the other. Understanding there~
fore includes a capacity for empathy with the other's life-world
for singling out some fragment in the intentional act, and in:
eludes interpretation of this fragment in the context of the
meanings of the 'other'. Only on that basis is it in context of the
meanings of my life-world. Interpretive sociology calcu lates on
overcoming solipsism in that way and substantiating the intersubjectivity of the life-world.
The problem of understanding as understanding, primarily,
of the 'other', and of my own Ego only through the other, embraces a real element of cognition in arts subjects. But it is
important to note that it had been brought out clearly by Marx
long before 'interpretive sociology'. Since man

~(iousness

itself requires explanation from the standpoint of sd.

entific theory. Interpretive sociology tries to raise ordinary consciousness to the rank of a meta-theory of social science cognition; as a result ordinary consciousness loses its directness and
is mystified in a certain sense.
Forms of social consciousness special~ orientated on the human mind, above all art, prove to be a means of catching the
pulsing of the human spirit that is constantly altering under the
impact of circumstances. Although, as G. O. Vinokur has correctly noted,
the experiencing personality as a thing and a poetical theme as II thing are
frankly incommensurate things ... yet their foundation remains common all
the same!. .. The real is transformed in poetry, but the transformation itself would not be if there were not something to be transformed. That
means, in practice, that the interpretation of a poetic image ... necessarily
presupposes understanding of the meaning d. the real object that is symbolically transformed in it.'

Art addressed directly to man reproduces his life-world as

regulated and consummated around man, as his value environment. As M. M. Bakhtin puts it:

comes into the world neither with a looking glass in his hand, nor as a FichI~n p~ilosop~er, to whom 'I am I' is sufficient, man first sees and recognISeS himself In oIher men. Peter only establishes his own identily as a man
by first comparing himself with Paul as being of like kind.'

~n contrast to 'interpretive sociology' which reduces understandIIlg to the communication 'I-other', Marx saw in the 'other', i.e.,
:Paul', ~ mef!iber of. the human race in the whole complexily of hiS social relations. 'Peter' therefore recognises his own
essence and existence through 'Paul', because he enters the
world.of.m~n, the ~orld of human culture, togerher with 'Paul'.
The hmilatlo~ ,of IIlterpretive sociology and of the phenomenol,:~y that ,n t,S clo~e to, lies in ontologisalion of the mode of
cogn~l1.on. Wlthlll thIS conception understanding as a mode of
COg~ISlllg the ~orld of man through the 'natural set-up', i.e.,
ordmary conSCiousness, is converted into the foundation of this
world. ~he ~orld itself proves to be constructed on the 'I-othe r'
model, I.e.,. IS ~ kind of epistemological 'robinsonade'.l:I
~a~" bemg .mvolv~d in practical activity, cannot be in an
obJectJ~e relalton to It because he himself is at once not only
the sub~ecI bUI also the object of social action . He therefore tends
~o ascnbe to re~lit~ ~is inclinations, needs, and expectations,
I.e., to mythologlse.1I 111 a certain sense, This opinion does not,
by any ?leans, d~~lgrate the role of ordinary consciousness in
arts subject cognition as a direct form of the link between consciousness and man's life-world. But the notion of ordinary con142

aesthetic activity gathers the world, dispersed in thought, and condenses

it into a legitimate. self-sufficient image. finds an emotional equivalent
for the transient world that enlivens and enriches it... finds a value POSItion from which all the fransient acquires weight and gets significance
and a stable determinacy,ll!

In contrast to ordinary consciousness, immersed in the lifeworld, the artist is concerned with some degree of involvement
(non-involvement) that enables him to pass from the world of
object ive reality to his co-being represented by the work of art.
The stance of participant helps the artist to grasp and represent
the position of man O:limself-'the other') in the world, his autoreflex in regard to his own position in the world, the reaction of
'others' to this position, and the reaction of these 'others' to his
self-evaluation, But the artist can only tie up such different projections of the world into an integral whole by passing to a stance
of non-participation, by appearing in relation to the world as its
impartial judge and transformer, passing judgment on the event
recorded by him or erecting it into an ideal.
In a work of arl myth, image, idea, and value are synthesised
into an artistically whole world. The basis of its aesthetic value
is the polysemy and dynamic character of the image, and the
high degree of freedom when various planes and perspectives
co-exist and throw light on one another. The limitedness of the
cognitive activity of the artistic image is often seen in this feature,
14.1

1he ,

lluelet
oCotu
" ' "phi
I
of

by anal~gy with a concept, but when it is -."Ai.....

son with system of arts cognition rather tII_ willt.
Iben turns oUllhallhe diversity of Ibe propel Ii,s of
as an object of Ibis cognilion, Ihe dynamic:
lellectual stales and qualilies of his disposition, and

ence of aesthetic judgmenl on Ihe SUbject's

rion correspond 10 Ihe polysemy of Ihe image and i1II
indetet lIIinacy. Art yields us knowledge not only of
of Ihe "Iisric represenlalion bUI also of its subject. E-.
the subject is anonymous, when it starts from an
objective reproduction of events, it reproduces a system
tionilll'Values, in one way or another, and the existence
structures, in the style of the work. Because of that a work
proves accessible 10 Ihe direcl perceplion of
But in order to canven understanding of art into
necessary 10 explicale it by the methods of artistic
tic and scientific interpretation, and philosophical,
refteclion. A brillianl example of such explicalion is
by Ihe German Iilerary critic Erich Auerbach in his
the characteristic title Mimesis. Through 8 fine, stylistic
of Ibe lext (il is quile enough, moreover, Auerbach
to take a representative extract from it) t he showed the
tioned characler of a change of style Ihal had
stability by a change of non-artistic, ultimately
lions. By analysing an excerpl from Ihe works of the
aIllury B. C. Roman historian Ammianus Marcellin..
the revoll of Ihe plebs in Rome, and comparing il wid,
of T..,iliil' d'scription of Ihe revolt of Ihe Germe.
(lit cenlury B. C.), Auerbach demonslraled how n....
'material'
...... more and more to muter the stylistic intention and a lI)'Ie
to a rl 2En>ed nobilhy ~ character is forced to ada.,. itlelf to die
10 that the choice of words and the I)'Iltax in "hids the 11.41
till c:on~t pi I E2 bard on the unrealiltie, "ill fOl' pft'Sl'rvina
a c:ontradktory way, bcain 10 alter and become iDbarmonio.. .....

ad _iD,11

-'

Sciemi... ans c.,..ulion is orienlaled on explain;",

ad lOCi.. oianilicance of Ibe .......IJI of hum'D
Thil 1M! can be transformed and re6Ded; fme the-utl
'" 11M exiotlna lilualion 10 a ..nique _
fill
die Iowme" mind, ad r..... !hM 10
It functiono a nee-,.
while ltudyu.. tile .... fI
fNI subjec:tJo of a IIlaII.icaI
.44

II is also inherent, in a certain sen., in the . . . . . .......

because. as Michael Polanyi justly fell,.ked,
inlO every acl of krlowinlthere enle'S a
person know ins what is know" ~d _.......
"'
lion bUI a vital componaU ~ blS

arts cognition finds concentrated expression in .the IUINItit

sion of the humanitarian discipli!1~ of c~ltural st.~.... On .....
grounds a methodological defmttton of ,Its cOlllltive .lIIa . . .
the methods of research adequale 10 II (who,e dsss~
enriches the cognitive stocks and reSCi ves of the _LI MId:
nat ural sciences) seems more productive. Today the cIev~P"' ...
ment of the Humanities depends in turn on ~h-: pne~nt 'I..
methods and means of the exact sciences and IS tnc:oncelVab~ , ' \
without them.
. .
It would in fact simply be naive to deny Ihe s.gruficance of
structural and functional methods of research and of mathematical models in linguistics, textual studi~ ~thnograph~, and lU1
criticism, and even in poetics. AcademiCian D. S. LikhaheY~
10 whom we owe much in the discovery, unden...n.&,. Mill
explanation of the texIS of Old Russi~ lileralu~ wbo has a
feeling for the specific character of ideosraph.c iDel~.~ rF
search. and who has himself broadly employed theni, _ _ . .
the need to integrate the specific methods of nseerch 01 tile IIu.. manilies and the general ising and even "exact' methods
al for natural science. But these methods by no means . , . . .
the specific content of the subject. In Likhachev's view, if I '
arrange all the disciplines of art studies and crilicism in mef......
of a rose with those in the cenlre thaI deal with the
mailers and the interpretation of literature, we will
further a discipline is from the centre the
'rose' of disciplines of literary studiflll has a eel . . .
and a less stiff core; when, however, we pull aII_
off, he says, the 'stiff' ones lose the sense fI
come up against a similar situation in
where there is also inlerpretation of
of structures.
Arts cognilion always dealo with-the
\). and self-expression, objectified in cultural
A\ are also Ihe direct object of
lies. According 10 .M. M.
and startinJ point of ay
studied .i!h.!!tl
dealinl witb Ibe
BUI

e-

1001661

The

ncnt
pondi
Scicnl
studer

of stu
""d a
of phi

As the direct ~bject of cognition a lext is speech ob' .

external
symbolic form .organi
in
.
. . . ....""d ,'" a"
ccord allee w'Jectlfied
h
qUlremellls of the language's general grammar tl II th.e re_
g~nre.purpose of the texl, and the stylislics of 'th le. functIonal.
hlstoncal contexi of the period.' ~ In that COl1n ,~4.: ultural and
the external objectified form of expression ~~tl%n, of C?urse,
sphere of people's behaviour cannOI be hI!
~ e motIvated
Thought and. all inner life are potentially ri~h~r ~h equlate 10 it.
At the same tllne every original text according to Ba~h ~nguage.
found remark. always contains an ~ulhor's r
I ~ 1111's prodeter l ' d b "
eve allon not pre
y.emplncal necessity. the sense of which can
.llIne
~e dIscovered. I.n the general context of the culture. Co .0~ly
111 the Humalllties also has 10 do with Ihis opposition B
gnmon
here. we ~le~n the established sys tem of meanings' v~~~sntext,
style of thll1k~ng of the c ulture within which the te~t was d~:;d
up and funclJon~d. In its content, the context is a more or I n
adequate .refie.ctlOn of the, soc ial relalions and soc ial structur:
Two SlluatlOns are dIfferentiated in scientific cognition:
(1) when the text and context are in a single lime-space conti'
nuu~: (2) . wh~n t~e text is taken out of the context of the cui:
~ure III w.hlch ItS sIgnificance and sense were formed, and is
Incl~ded In another space-time continuum, to which the invesllgator belongs.
An identical und~rstanding of a text within the limits of a homogen~ous cul~ure IS determ.ined by the rules of syntax and the
semanuc meanlllg~ com~on 10 its language, which form a stable
sYMe~ of ~a.lue onentatlons and style of thinking by deep mental
and 1r~guIstJc s.lruclures that reproduce the universal structure
of sO~ lal practice with more or less isomorphism. The under:~andrng of a lext takes the form of a dialogue. 'The word wants
~e he.ard, answered, and again 10 allswer the reply and so on
ad 11.lfiflllum. It enlers into a dialogue that has Ilosemantic end.,ls
<?rdlllary understanding of a lext Ihal does nOI go beyond the
~~ven culture OCcurs at ~n intuitive, automatic leyel, and is limit.. as.a rule b.y. se lf-eYldent meanings and senses. The task of
~c:entlflc cog.llltlon in the Hum,a nities is to decipher and reconS! lICt. the hIdden deep meanlllgs and senses, tasks that are
complr~aled by Ihe new senses and meanings generated in this
ynamlc process.

envisages such a cognitive procedure; i~ w~s develope~ and ~s

broadly represented in mod.ern a.rt ~tudles 111 the tech~lq.~les (~
'estrangement' (Brecht] ,-'dl~~nCln~ (ShkloYsky). In ~oc lology
the technique of involved observatiOn corresponds to It. Use of
these techniques makes it possible to break out of the hermeneutic circle and give objective knowledge about the content o~ a
text and a comprehensible explanation of its sense-formlllg
mOli~,

)1
\

The play of M'nses a ..

. h
.
rising In r IS way 11\ a leXI and Ihe sliding belween
51ruclural ranks and orden or
. kIII d give a rexl greater semanliC.
bT .
.
V8rtllU.!;
. pCl&I I II~" than those D language laken by ilself provides.1b

ThIS puts the .researcher ~n a speci.al. position, requires him to get

out of the dialogue whde rem8rnlllg within it. Hermeneutics
J4')

f
.
h
Situations of the second type. characteristic 0 hlstoflograp y,
call for special cognitive procedures, a.mong which ~ rec~)Ilstruc
lion and interpretation of a text recIprocally pass1l1~ 11110 one
another have decisive importance. Any text of a foreIgn culture
is presenled 10 the reseacher as a f.ragment of it,. many of whose
links with the context are lost or IOcomprehenslble. And sometimes the context itself is lost, i.e., understanding of the culture
as a whole. In any case, however, the existence of Ihe text already gives grounds for suggesting the existence of a cultur~1
conlext of which it is a fragment, or of other fragments of It.
A paramount task of the Humanities is to reconstruct ~ text,
which presupposes restoration of its structure and sense III the
contexl of the culture that gave rise to it and their transformation
in accordance with the stereotypes of the apprehension of contemporary culture, because it is only possible to understand them
on such a basis. In this cQnne~tio:rLt_h~ <j~ciphering of a text of
a foreign culture also takes the form of a kind of dialogue, in
which the investigator interrogates the text, as it were, puts his
questions to iI, and set'ks the answers to them by way of correlating the text and COil text. or olher texts of the culture and selecting se nses correspondi ng to the text from the several alternatives arising. Understanding is thereby deepened, and new senses
are generated corresponding to a contemporary, more developed
state of the c ulture. The researcher proves, in a certain sense,
to be an informed direct participant in the cultural dialogue,
si nce he possesses, in addition to The unknown structures and
senses of the studied text, isomorphic structures and senses of
his culture that serve as the basis for a comparative analysis,
and is equipped with understanding of the problem as a whole.
All this provides Objective grounds for a scienTifically substantiated reconstruction of the text. But that is only a preliminary
cognitive task whose essence is a comprehensible explanation
of the text through interpretation of il.
, In logic and mathematics. i.e., in systems of a closed type. by
Illterpretatioll is meant adducing sense to lhe symbols of a formal system. The Soviet scholar S. V. Krymsky treats scientiflc
147

inlerprelal~on, i~l particular, a.s a .Il~gilal operation, counle

to abstraction, I.e., as a concrellsmg. the cognitive fun t'YOSod
" d own 10 IIllerpretmg
"
"
which bOils
3n a bstral" formalC1Gnor
th
Th, ,
nent
pondi
Sciem
studel
of stu
and a
of phi

through an isomorphic depicting of a scheme functioning !OI')'

(tenns and the relations of the lenns) in Ihe OOjectfield of an:""
er, more con~r~t~ and mea~lil1g.rlll theory Ihal .can function as ~
~odel of the In It la.' theor~t.lcal system. There IS a great tempta_
tIon 10 transfer this definilion to.olher ~exlS of culture becal15e
of its simpJicil.y. Bu~ then we 1l~1~~dlately come up against
a number of difficulties. (1) The 1I1111al cuh~re. text cannol by )1
any means be treated as formal and closed. II IS diScovered in the .
context of a culture, sending roots and senses, on the one hand
deep down into tradition, and into the future, on the other. II is
always a message, a word, directed to a future reader or hearer.
(2) A simpler, more concrete 'theory' (or subject-field) by no
means emerges as interpretive, nor does the contemporary culture which is also provided with senses and discoveries as regards
both the past and the future. Finally, the interpreter is far from
indifferent to the content of the interpretation. He experiences \
subjective biases, supported (as it seems to him) by real understanding of the text in which he is immersed. But these diffK:ullies are not insuperable for scientific knowledge.
The interpretation of a text in the Humanities is built up on
the basis of research programmes and under the influence of
paradigms of scientific cognition accepled by the scientific community. But its cognitive value depends on the scholar's personal \
knowledge and capacity 10 penetrate into the context of a foreign
culture, and on his capacity for productive imagination or synthetic judgment, i.e., to see the whole (context of the culture)
in the fragment (Iext), which in turn becomes the explanatory
basis of the fragment (text), The foreignness of the text poses
him a problem situation similar to the principle of 'estrange- )
ment', He can therefore see more in it than its contemporaries,
ill particular its 'strangeness', 'otherness' compared with texts
of his own culture. As a resull of the problem (purposeful) clash
of texts of different cultures, there thus arises not only a reconstruction of the structure and sense of the initial text but also
~he forming of new senses of it that make it possible to put it
Into the con,text of contemporary culture. enriching the world
of man. ThIS effect of cognition in the Humanities has been
described by Bakhtin as growth of sense,
An example of the reconstruction and humanist interpre.
tation of a text is N, Konrad's translarion into Russian of the
classic mediaeval text of Japanese culture Isa Monogatari, his

:x.

l(

)1

148

. I
He
.
it and interpretation of It.
.
.. cholarly commentanes on . 'd of the culture of the. HeJaIl
mpha-;ises that only dee.p stu y b longed and comparison of
e eriod, to whi~h tht." s~udlt~d text :an cul;ure with its ("'hara(,:ft with the simIlar penod of EI~rop t re enabled him 10 underteristic text5 of polite, refll1~~ I~era ~k ~f Japanese classical listand this extremely complH:=ate f7,ocomprehensible to the RusteralUre and make a tra.llslallon 0
d as a more profound exAd that In turn, serve
hose
sian rea d er. n.
".
eriod itself. In contrast to art, w .
h 'd of productive ima-&,lI1flplanation of the hlstom:al p
images have independent v~lue, t e 'de~uman-iti~s -be brought
. the social sCiences an
.' .
.
I
epls and deSCriptIOns, startlion muSl, 111
oul in a system of th,eor.etlcf c?n.c order to acquire scientific
ing from general objective aws, In

signiflCance,
,
'I
(document. the testimony of
In, ~iSlory, a hlSlonca :~~i~c:stimate of same, me~oirs, etc,)
partl~lpants III ~ven,ts andd he current state of the subject as I~e
functlon~ as a .text , a~ Illness of its knowledge about the SOCial
context, l!lclud'~~ the, u hich the source originated and func-

~~~e~l:I~U:~1 a~~ :~: ~;n;ral meth~~ological ledvel of ~~stor~~~

,
hich serves as a precondmon for un erstan mg
f:l~~:~~e~l1g (comprehensible expl~nation~ of t~e new source~

In the definition of the eminent Sovl~t rll:edlaevahst A}"INeUSyk f

hin historical cognition 'is man's thmklng about SOCIa h~~n ~
the' past in terms of that past and of the present to
IC
t e
understanding subject belongs'. I" Historical explanatl,:,n naturally thus relains a 'trace' of knowledge of the arts ~nd ~lslOry on
the part both of the Object and the subject. A hlstoncal. ~vent
cannot be fragmented; it is genetically prepared and ~ondlflO~ed
by Ihe past and tends to the ~utu~e ..As the outstandlllg Russlar~
historian Klyuchevsky noted 1Il hiS time. we fmd out ab.out ou
selves by studying our forebears, Without knowledge of history we
would have 10 acknowledge ourselves fortuities who do not
know how and why we have come into the world, ,hOW and for
what we live, how and for what we should aspire. The ,researcher immerses himself in this historical stream, T,he subject
of knowledge therefore becomes a co-participant, as 11 we~e, of
the event itself even when it has already occurred. The historian cannot be indifferent to the event he is analysing, It is not a
mailer of modernising history but of an objective and epistemological time link-of the present with the past and the !uture,
The historian knows more about what happened than hIS contemporaries did, because he knows how it ended up and what
trace it Jeft in the general chain of events, He can therefore,

v:

14!)

The ~
nent
pondi
Scienl

studel
of stu
and a
of plU

with every right, assume the role of judge of the pasl, And'
he understands (and he must understand this) Ihal the f
If
the present was laid down in the past, he mUsl also real' al e or
. sense, on his
",IIlterpretat'
Isetal
h
th
e f ulure d epen d s, 111 a certam
I~e link of the past with the present, and that he is respons:~~ of
history for the future.
to
!ru.e, objective kn?wle~ge, whi.ch fUrl~erl1lore, acquires an
obJecllfied form of bemg (In theones, publications, ealculatio
schemes, etc.) that gives it a universal, instrumental charact~S,
is undoubtedly a produclive result of scientific knowledge i::
cluding knowledge in the arts subjects. That gave Karl Po~per
ground~ to ~elale it to a 'third w.orl~', the world of the objecti.
fled mmd, IIldependent of subjective knowledge. Objectified
knowledge, according to him, has its own laws of functioning
sim!lar to biologic~1 .laws. The. Soviet sc~ol~r B.A. Lektorsky,
notmg the productivity of the Idea of objective and objectified
knowledge as a special subject of science studies, stressed that
objectified knowledge, at the methodological level of research,
has sense, as regards its origin, content, and mode of function.
ing, only when it is included in human cognitive activity. Knowl. ~(
edge, even computer knowledge, cannot exist 'in itseir, quite ,~,
unrelated to people's cognitive activity. lts use is always poten.
tial, of course, but it is important that there is always this pas.
sibility. It is necessary, furthermore, to remember that cognising i
people themselves are also not shut in 'on themselves' but are 1\
in constant touch with each other, forming a scientific commun.
ity that has temporal as well as spatial extent (a scientific
school). 'Cogn,ition and knowledge exist only while activity of a
special kind of a collective subject is kept up, which also means
the activity of the individual subjects forming the laner.,19 The
scientist's personal knowledge has a substantial role in this dialectical process: a qualitative leap takes place precisely at that
level, beyond the established bounds of objectified knowledge.
The 'biological', and in general the naturalistic approach, Lektorsky remarks, yields nothing when this culminating moment
in the development of knowledge is being investigated. In it
epistemology, especially as based on natural science, has to ap
peal to the specifics, techniques, and methods of research of
arts subjects.
One of the special methods of this research, which acquired
scientific and social recognition, is the biographical one. The
recontsruction of the biography of a great thinker, politician,
or scientist helps fix the very moment when a new idea or
principle arose and to explain the grounds and conditions for
150

f intellectual values or ill pt!(lr~e's

its objcctlfll'~II~>n 111 th~ orm 0 eneutics of a Dilthey hue, which
practical ae~lvlly. Unlike ~~r~ If-d pendenee' of an individual
claims to discover tht! rca ~~, e and in contrast to psyeho10SI in the schemata o~ w~~ld b"S~~i~hY the task of exposing the
a.n~l~sis, which S~IS sCle~lIlC n I~he biographical method, when
hbldlllal, secret s.ensemeolhmOdaOI~gy is orientated on an empathiC
based on a Marxian
,
.
r '
fi 'n
lanation of the sodal signiflcance of the life 0 a speci C 1 e~~
.
f m Ihe social and cultural context.
d1\l~~u:;~;~~t~l;fng~Oout clearly the subjective character of the
soci~~political process and the active pe.rs~nal sense of hu~aln
..
E Y Soloviev has shown thiS 111 regard to socia cognlllOI1. . .
. '
r
ber of
hilosophy cognition from the bIOgraphies 0 a .num
~utstanding thinkers, and demonstrated it in the bIOgraphy of
Luther.
,

"

The need for scieminc biography (he wrote I arises when research in the
history of philosophy faces the task of posing the reverse problem of so~e
conception (system) in which one is forced to ~ome ?ack to th~ verYh~lsi
cussion and reasoning from the final for.mula In whlc~ t~~ phllosop Ica
discussion was cast, i.e., to the .dram~.l1c, quesltng, indiVidual thought.
making mistakes and correcting Itself."
.
...
The role of personal knowledge, visibly manifes~~ m SCientific
biography, retains its importance in actual cog11ltlOn. Pe.rso~al

knowledge and cognition are based, of course, on obJecllve

knowledge and operate by~ formal models. But a true resear.ch~r
discoverer boldly introduces tnem 111[0 the context of hiS hfe
experience, and nol just to explain its separate fragme?ts; h.e
seeks objective supports in experience itself for deepenmg hiS
knowledge and 'detection' in the reality itself of true new knowledge, for which cor responding models have not yet been developed. The new view th:;H thereby arises, is not yet knowledge,
Polanyi remarks.
II is less than knowledge, for it is a guess: but it is more than knowledge,
for it is foreknowledge of things yet unknown and at present perhaps in.
conceivable. 1'

A most important result of sc ientific cognition is undoubtedly

growth of the body of objectivised knowledge, the formalism
of which may be employed in practical activity, bUI it would be
a gross error to limit its value 10 that. A very important sphere
of its realisation is its emergence into the process of communication in culture, which makes a general rise of people's intellectual and creative potential possible.
Each new g~neralion relies, in its actual activity, on a system
of values and Ideas developed by its forerunners. And although
151

its activity, especially cognitive activity is gov

The a
nent
pondi
Scient

studel
of stu
and a
of phi

. .
l ture, II' .IS not confined
, . to it.rned
eXIsting
wor Id 0 fcu
d. by Ih e
an~w . in t,he course of universal labour, which anima~:s t~S ~orn
lenahsed products of people's preceding activity by. ~ rna~
and fires the creative capacities of individuals, tranSlatl .ts ~rne,
into actual reality, And the more the people who are dr'ang t. em
'
.
Wn Into
!h IS pr~ess, I he more umversal
IS the character acquired b
Its combined resuit as regards both the product and the sub. Y

Although at first,

~o"1r~~tp~l~d:rlCt.rOr

~
6

Jeet.

the develo
,
, pment of the capacities of the human specie.'; (Marx
k
..
f human individuals andwrote
la es p ace at t he cost 0 f Ihe maJ0rJty
. Ihe en d'11 brea kstrough
h

c I asses, In
t hIS contradiction
and coincides even
w.'h
the developmenl of the individual. l2
I

,0

Ihe knowledge of arts subjects and thai of social philosophy

supplement each other.

21
12

NOTES
I V.I. Lenin. Karl Marx. Collected Works, Vol. 21, Progress Publishers,
Mosc ow , 1980, p 57.
~ V. 1. Lenin. What the 'Friends of the People' Are and How They Fight the
Social Democrats. Collected Works, Vol. I. Progress Publishers, Moscow,
1977, p 159
Karl \farx. Capital, Vol. III, Progress Publishers. Moscow, 1974, p 820.
See, for example: Karl Marx. The Eighteenth Brumaire 0/ Louis Bonaparte.
In; Karl Marx. Frederick Engels. Collected Works, Vol. 11. Progress
Publishers. Moscow, 1978.
A. M. Bakhtin. /talyanskie gumanisry: sriI' zhizni, stil myshleniya (The
Italian Humanists: Life Style and Style of Thinking), Nauka, Moscow,
1978, p 6.

" The problem of the cognitive potential of mythological and moral c~n.
sc iousness is a disputable one and therefore calls for independent conSideration.
Karl Marx. Capital, Vol. I. Translated by Samuel Moore and Edward
Aveling, Progress Publishers. Moscow, 1978, p 59.
I Translator'S note: 'robinsona~e' is a term coined by Karl Marx for the
Robinson Crusoe stories Ihe old economists had a passion for. See Karl
Marx. Das Capital , Vol. I, Dietz Verlag, Berlin, 1977. p 90 .
G.O. Vinokur. Biografiya i kul'tura (Biography and Culture), The State
Ac ademy of Arts, Moscow, 1928, pp 76-77.
10 M.\t, Bakhlin. Estetika siovesnogo lI'orcheSIl'a (The Aesthelics of Verbal
Creal ion). IskuSSlvo, Moscow. 1979, p 186.
Erich Auerbach. Mimesis, A. Fracke Ag. Verlag, Berne, 1946. p 62.
.
We have .<.een this in the example of political economy (Capital) and polll_
lCal scien ce (Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte).
Michael Polanyi. Personal Knowledge. The UniversilY Press, Chicago. III.
1958, P VHf.

152

0~h;nye

Iralecx~ ~fo~:~cuhaeologisIS.

in\tal1l'~:

Tartu~kog? pUl1lV~~;:/,:~~~pjtei'naya<;tat'ya

od {" a
w 1979
N~;khin,
A.i. Problemy evropei~kogo5~e8 a / ;: m

M
1ft

19

When we are investigating the transition of the individual's

unalienated essential powers to the system of universal labour

.
ve defmite soc ial sign ifl .: alll e
r eo les material ac tivity that ha
I sively human , in ..: ludll1K
Pc
aim) and retain
fo r
l
. h
ht 'an serve as a
.
~m:h 'texis
'di\ intcrestl-d 'a~~gm;ii~'i of Ihe ornamenlat ion of ~~e?re~r~. ) ff(lm them
Ihe- Icchlllllue .
r life of a re<'ple be COll'it r uc
nol only can the .way 0
bel" (
b t abo il~ emol lon~ .and
Ie s.
"'~.M , Bakhlin . Op. ("II .. I:' .106. T rud po :nakm'ym .si.~temam. Vol. 14 ,
M Lotman. The T exl III a T ex.1. _ Y No 567 (Tan u, 1981), P 8.:
zariski
j kommentl1fl1
N I Kon rad . Isa monoKata~1. ere 00' (on and Comme nlaries )' Nauka.
(I~~ Monogslar i. T ranslat io n, Intr uc I ,
(Problems o f European
.

Feudalism), Na uka, r;t oscow" 1~7 P~~nanie (S ubject. Object. KnowmgJ ,

V.A. Lekto rsky. S ub ekt . Ob ekt.
.
Na uka, Moscow, 1980, P 285 .
. as a F orm of Researc h in Ihe History
E, Y. Solov iev. Biograph ic al A ~ a l~s~~ 9. 128. See a lso: Idem. Ne l!0bezhdenof Phil osoph y. Vopr osy fi/ ~ofil , 1
' ; (Un vanqu ish ed Herelic . Martm
n yi ererik. M~rtT
; I~ LU)/e~ ~I ::~y:r:::'~~iya, Moscow. 1984.
LUlh er an d HIS tme,
Mich ael P olanyi. Op. cit., P 135 V I
Part III Progress Publishers.
Karl Mar x. Th eories of S urplus- a ue,
'
Moscow, 1978, P 11 8.

ON THE HUMANISM OF HUMAN EXISTENCE

V. I. S h ink

The"

nent
pondi
Scien!
studel
of stu
and a
of phi

o.I',ltagl~ni .. t1l' divi"lon of labour and its social cOll ..equeIKe\

hi" WrIllllg\, abnvt.' all in Capitulo He establi\hed lhatlhe devcl~

opml'llt of ~n(il'ty ' s productive forces reaches such a level
undl'r capitali .. m that thl' existcm:e of private property and the
mOllnpoli .. atlUll of .. Ix:lal wealth in the hand .. of a few not only
lack any hi'ltorical .. en ..e but aho become a brake on furthe'r
hi 'llorical progn~ ...\, The accumulation of material resOllrct:'s
through monopolisation of ')ocial wealth in the hands of a few
has beell converted from a condition of mankind's social development into a soun.:e of colossal waste of its physical and men
tal powers. Unemployment, crises of overproduction, colonial
expansion, militarisation of the economy, wars of conquest,
etc" are evidence of that. And Marx's conclusion that the very
course of history, the immanent laws of social production, and
the colossal growth of the rroductive forces on the basis of modern technical progress were leading mankind to the necessity
of a decisive reslructuring and reorganisation of all social
affairs, and the building of a new, communist society, was fully
justified. The essence of his conception of communism consisted
in the idea of a radical change in the character of human labour,
overcoming of the alienated character of human life activity,
and the conversion of produclion activity into creation and independent activity, The revolutionary abolilion of private property and its replacement by social ownership was only a neces
sary condition. and social means of attaining Ihis social state,
When characterising the difference between Ihe communist revolution and all previous ones, in The German Ideology, Marx
and Engels wrote:

oruk

Marx w~s Ihe first 10 comprehend [he hislor' cn I

of mank,lIld as rhe forming of conditions fo:
~~~elopme~1
essence Ill, people's life activity, The stages of tr~~ ISlllg mans
the followmg: I) the formation of
'
lIS process are
acti,vity thai are alienated forms f~~U:~:IlIIY l!lrOl,lgh forms of
Ihelr oppression and f h "
' ,masses, I,e, forms of
history of mankind')o al~~tl;) a~ag~nlsflc relations ('the prethrough forms of acti~it tha~ a t e evelopmenl ?f, mankind
mass of individuals,
y
re forms of self-aclJVily for the,
As the means of production dev I
d
of labour grew there was
e ope and the productivity
in human society, namely a;;:,c~umu~alion of material resources
man's social development of Ita wea t~ that b~c~~e .a means of
the progress of cultur
h~ shapmg of cIvIlisation, and of
alienation of malerial g
e~od~t /hls proce~s was realised through
fhe exploitation of man b
ro~n the direct producers through
y man III condit'
f
ty a~d class antagonism,
Ions 0 private proper\\ nh the rise and consolidat'
.
human mode of life activity . Ifn of private property, the
form for the majority of 'I'~: a b our, look on an inhuman
fO,rm of activity, Marx poi lIm~n md, and became an alienated
al~enat~on of the worker line thOUl , when characterising the selfalienation was manifesfed
he lafbo ur process, that th is selfIII t e aCI

Ihat labOur is ex/ernal to Ihe worker'

.
~~~~~i t~al in his work, lherefore, h~e~i~ does n~1 beto~g 10 his infrinsic
h . ' oes not feel conTent btll unha
nOI a firm hunself bUf denies
~!r~~:J f~nd ~enTal energy bUI monifles ~SI'b::es nOI develop freely his
feels OUfSi~:\~~se~~\Y reels himself oUlside hiI ~:~;UI'""'dhi.s mhi?d, Th '
,
' t n l s w o rk

In labour, as it has figured in workin

"
thousands of years the human' d' 'd g people s hfe activity for
affirmed his huma~ essence th~ne~;l ual has not, in many cases
contrary has alienated it. '
ence of a creator, but on th~
\1arx demonstrated the historically Iransie t h
I S4
n c aracler of the

In

tn all previous revolulions lhe mode of acfi\-iIY alway~ remained unchanged and it was only a queSTion of a differenT diSlribulion of Ihls
IIclivity, a new diSfribuTion of tabour TO olher persons, whlisl Ihe communiST revolulion is direCTed against The hitherto exisling modI:' of aCfl
vilY, does away wilh labou',~

By 'do ing away wilh labour', they had in mind overc?ming

man's se lf-alienation or estrangement in labour, converSIOn of
man's production activity into creati\'l;! activity, into "self

activity".
Only af Ihis Slage do<s self-activity coincide wilh maleriatl,ife, ~hich cO(
responds 10 lhe developmenT ~f i~divi~uals inlo complele mdlvlduals and
Ihe casling-ofT all nalnral hmlTallons.

Mankind will undoubtedly alway'S work, i.e, engage in material production, but that does not mean Ihat human indi~'iduals
will always be the mealls and direct physical agents of, IhlS production. The immense technical revolution now taking place
155

before ~lUr eyes. i\ mon.', and IllMl'_ Irarl';fl'l-ring \tandardise

01 rrodtJl.:ll~lll ;)(II\lIy 10 1ll<l1'11I1ll' .... k'3\' lng man the rllIlC~

lam of .crealor
01 !:it <lnlianj<.., IlItllh
_
. .. b, pr('~rarnnh.'\
~
' eali','r,,1
o
IIns
ell': TI~IS IS I~lt' ~L'lleral Irl'lld (~I IIwdl'rn, h,...:hnil..al prugrc .
whIch
ISd forglllg'lIS
. d""
.
. way ahead 111 (OlllradKlon
. ' sOl.:i"1I
<1..(1111_
f.orm!)

The

nenl

pond
Seier
studt
of SII
and
of p~

110I~!i

an

opt"ralmg III a \l'~y ('olltra(hcl.nry.way. The crnJllei.

pallon of man from l11el..'haI11(,JI, LJIKrt.'all\l' I nflllS of work . d

"lb'
,an
I .com'.erslon
tre
01. a. OLJ~ 11110 sdf-actl,.ily ob\'ioll')ly are 1101 re.
dUClble JlI!i1 10 el1l1111lallOtI of 1.'(01101111( C'11loilJtioll a,,(1 .
f
'I'
1.:011
so I 'd'
I alrOI1 0 socia ownership.
..~he el11ancipali~tl. of lIlall from ~Ialldardise-d. slavish. r~pe1111,\e forms ot aCllvlly by Irallsferrll1g Ihest' fUllclions 10 machilies, and Ih~ masses, lllasiery of creath,!;;, forms of aClivily in
a~c,ordal1ce wllh each serarale persoll's indillalions and ind~ndual .tal,ellls, do nOl, of cO~lr~e, presuppose abolilioll of rhe
?lffer.e~lIIallon of forms of aCllnly IIself. On Ihe conlrary, il is
I~posslble really 10 re\eal human capabililies in accordance
with each sep,aral.e pers~n'~ lalenls wilholll progressive develo~menl o~ thiS dlff'erenllallon. The differentiation of activity
will 1I0t dlsapp.ear III g~neral. but differentialion inlo creative
and nail-creative, an.d Into activity full of profound human
thought and unlhlll.klllg. mechanical aClivily will.
Such a. change 1I~ Ihe charaCier of labour and work will
complelel) alle.r the Idea of the sense of life, Whereas alienaled
lafb~~r had a~ 115 consequence Ihe idea Ihal the supreme goods
a I e ~ere Ill, I.he .sphere of consumption, the conversion of
producllon activity 11110 a erealive an wilt ha '
.
uence Ihe idea Ih
h
'
ve as Its conseqaClive life itself aadt I. e true, sense of eXistence lies in man's
.
n III creallOl!,
Commullism posils the creal
f [
rial goods as ils fi,
d
1011 0 a ull sufflciency of malers an necessary prerequis1 b
I
'
ils essence. The principle f d ' .
I e,
lit t 1al IS not
f
'
0
IstnbutlOl1 by needs' n t
d
oremosl a pnnciple of dislribulia
ff
' . IS rs an
\farx called communism the :~~I h~~ms of activity .by needs.
appropriation of their human'
IS[~ry .of mankll1d, mass
of real freedom and a so elssence by IIldlviduals. Ihe realm
,
cia slale Corres
d'
essence. \1an can and does do
I'
. pan 1I1g 10 man's
nalion, and class, and for scien~~l~~l~ In the Inl.erests of society,
for the sak~ of something Iyi
,an. ~ut If he does it only
hiS re I 1'[
h
d Uly, or consciousness of socialnga oUlslde
d h
a I e. I rough
, some' hII1g very esscllIial fo n . buman necess',
h
'
fi ces
, I y, e saCflIhe alienalion of labour leads t~ ~I d%" sO .domg. A~olili.on of
vcry mode of man's life aClivi'y' ,'" 'h ClS 1\ ~ revolution III Ihe
I
.
'
ereatlo'I'
sense of human exislence (a, f d
nSllp belween Ihe
. lxe III peopl ..... , conscious156

ne-s ~ ) ilnd the Indlvldu.al,' s empiriCJI ~XISlelli.:e-. Life- for socie-ty

mltl mankllld . and aellvlly to ere-ale social values are thell tin
longe-r a t.<Jl'rifln: made for the sake of merging human exislenn: <JIld 11'i true ~n ..e in the 'fUiure' hUI a direl.:1 reali.,ation
of this me-rging in Ihe prct.C'nI. Human exi\[ence Wilh(lul SI.'Il'ie
will only di..,appear when life for humanity and for human dutv
is al the ,>ame lime life otTering supreme cnjoyml!'llt and gelluin~
joie de I'ivf{'.
The ,>ol'li.lii,>1 revolution IS the flr,>1 stl!'P in mass l"ol1wr.,ion
of man inlo a l"feator. When Lenin was dt:\'eloping and rt:alis'illg Ihe ideJs of \olarxiall humanism in prac[il.:t:, he poi1lled out
Ihal Ihe socialist rt!votulion differed from all previous one,> primarily in raising the oppressed masses [0 crealive building of
new social orders. It 'awakens' the working mall\ creative faculties. smashes all Iht! old obstacles, strikes off the 110W dclapidaled chains, and 'leads [he working peoplt! on 10 the road of
the independent crearion of a new life'. Socialism creates a
broad range of condilions for real emancipa[ion of the human
personality when the yardslick of a person's sodal signinl"anl"e
and value is not his wealth but his capabilities and work. This is
expressed in the principle from each aCl.:ording 10 his abili[y, 10
each according to his work'.
Only socialism. Lenin wrote, would pro,id~ an 0pp0rluniIY
to draw
Ihe majoril)" of working people inlo a field 01 labour in which they can
display lheir abilities. de\elop Ihe ("apaciti~. and n:'\eal lh~e takllls. <;0
abundant among the p!tople whom capilalism cru:.hed, ~uppre~~ed and
slrangJed in thousand:. and millions.

The experience of building socialism has fully confirmed

Lenin's prediction,
As a resull of Ihe "icwry of socialism in Ihe USSR. as The
Programme 0/ the Communist Party of the Sovil't Union says.
a socialbt way of life which gives working people confidence in Ihe (ueure,
spirilliatty and morally elevates lhem as .-realors of new social relalions
and of eheir own desliny has laken shape on lhe basis of social jusllce, colte<:livism, and comradely mutual assiSlalh:e.'

BUI socialism, as the firsl phase of Ihe communist socio-economic formation, slill does not resolve all the problems of humanism. yel the alienation of man in his mode of activilY and labour
has been decisivel" Ql,:ercome in Ihe main. Labour is no longer
'the Lord's pllnish~nen[' and not JUS[ the means to keep alive. in
Ihe mass consciollsness. in the consciousness of millions of
human individuals, members of socialisl sociely, but is a means
of crealing values for t.ocial development, and in order 10 tackle

'57

The
nent

pond
SCien
stude
of stJ,;

Ihe cardinal problems of humanism "III I

.
.
.
.
,
l
t'SPl'I..'1
"II
peace a nd th e prosperity of mankind.
... Y In ensure
The CPSU aUa,rhes special irnr()rralll..~ 10
men! of Ihe ere-alive pOlenriai of I. b
funher deveJ
its
~. I
h'

.1 ~Hlr and In.

. op.
soua lSI umanlSI characfer II- p
l:Onsoildatin
. s rogramme slress
,8
The Parly allaches s[leciaJ imponance 10 t'nh

es

Ihls.

and colieclivisl characler of w k ,311":1,118 Ihe l'rctllive .

cau,raging highly skilled and hig~~' Irn~rovtl~g ,1\ erflciency, a~~nrenl
SOCJt'ly. All Ihis will help make w:rkPro< U~II\e labour for fhe gOOd (tl
Sont'l person.
a pnme, Vllal neces.~ily f
'
Th
.
or every
. e task ahead IS 10 continue 10
'
logical, economic and social Jlleasur~:r~r O~I a series ,of scientific, technoemploymelll of Ihe Populalion a d
Hne. ar ensurll1g full and effec(
Ih.e possibility 10 work in Ihei; c:;ose~;a;lIl~ng 10 all able-bodied citiz~~~
wllh Their inclinations. abilities edu I" p e~e Of. a.ctivily in accordance
of the needs of society.
,
ca IOn tin trallllllg, wilh due aCCOUnT

and ,
of ph

HU~lan life, however, is b no

In

matenal activity to transfor;

ean~ .red uclble to labour as
an intellectual, spiritual life asth:eflondlllOns of .Iife. Man lives
When the spiritual life of th . . ~s a matenal one.
e indiVidual and society is being
surveyed it is very tern t"
consciousness 10 knowl~dll1g ~ red~c.e it t~ in~elJecrual life and
?f the mind: it is also the ri~~ o~\~Plrllual !Ife lS.not JUSt the life
~ngs and emotions, and so . / I e hea.rt 111 which human fee/Important role.
cia ll1man me/inations playa very
Hu~an emotions embrace a
very broad range of human
affecltons from such a . .
er and child to Such a~ ~~t~~a~f ~ftach?1enl as the love of motherland. ~hey are civic fa '1 VIC feellllg as Jove for the moth~n~ feellllgs, friendsh{p, I~~:' o~oral" and aesth~t.ic emotions
eatu!e of the Objects of hu
one.s work, dJ/lgence, etc.
of the Ideal and the real th man. ~motlollS is the unity in them
cdoncept 'mOlherland' is ~ e sP.tfltual and the material The
leal.
matenai reality an im
'd
Wh
'
age, an an
en concepts and ima e
.
S
they beco~e the Objects
h acqUtre t!le Significance of ideals
a person IS read f
uman feehngs_ob
f
.
.
Jects or whIch
Spiritual I'f . y Or self-denia l 10 th
feelings ~ e ISdl.nco~ceivable Without e P?lpt ~f self-sacrifice.
riences~joere ISSatlsf~ction Or satisf sat.'s aCIIOn of spirirual
of conscien~e O~tcsuffenng, grief Or d~~:~~~ fIg~dres as expe-

of

The
.

'

,prleo r~np

Immense superioril
f
~~ltt~:a~e~~Pir.itualiIY in h~:a~hl~f!oc~a~st way of life is that it
and
158

interna~~~~tal~:~e~o~~ Ih~s
,

life, i.e.nlo~;a:F~~: alta~hment

0 near ones, f .
mot erland
nendship, co mrade-

ship, 'a. feclin.g of fellow<.,hip'. a sense of duty, lofty moral and

.
aeslhellc feellllgs, ele.
Human life i., fullblooded only when it is lived in accordance
~ith h~flY moral aim~ and brings great joy of being. Happiness
IS achl~ved then not at the cost of morality and not through
woundlllg others, but through realising one's human essence,
Every human achievemenl then brings moral satisfaction and
~njoyment at the ~ame ~ime. The indivi.dual's life is accordingly
lived as a dynamiC unlly of the creation of living conditions.
enjoymenl of life, and self -realisation of the individual in it
Marxism-Leninism is a theory that becomes a direct stimu lus
of working people's practical activity, of the movemenl of millions, directed to a reVOlutionary re-organisation, reslructuring.
and perfecting of society. The fact itself is already a proof that
Marxist-Leninist theory, being a theoretical picture of the world
and a scientific analysis of the natural history of the developmenl of society, no less organically includes certain axiological
positions, reveals to mankind its environment as a world of
human activity realising people's nOlions aboul dUly.
In crealing and transforming the conditions of his life, man
at Ihe same lime creates and transforms himself. His life is Iherefore, essentially, creative activity and consequently his crealion.
In all the conceplions of the old. pre-~1arxian materialism
man fIgured as a comemplative, passive crealure. Marx was Ihe
fIrst 10 put fo rward and substantiate the idea Ihat man is essentially a creator, both of himself and of the world humanised by
him. The essence of the human mode of being also consisls in
this creative activilY, which is self-activity, and the self-affIrmation of man in the world.
Thai is one of the radical differences between Marxism and
the theories of utopian socialists. The falhers of utopian socialism (SainI-Simon, Fourier, Robert Owen, and others) gave a
brilliant critiq ue of the social condilions of bourgeois civi lisalion. It was they who demonslrated Ihat I.he world creal~d by
bourgeois civilisation was profoundly ho~tlle 10 man a~d mhuman in its very basis. Their critique .ulllmalely .grew mt~ one
of privale property as the basis of SOCial a~tagolllsms and mhuman relations belween people. But, havmg put forward the
idea of humanising social life by abolishing privale pr0J:?erty~
the utopian socialists naively suggesled Ihat the w,ay to Ihls ~a)
through man's reason and goodness of heart. whIch ~ollld m~
duce people 10 renounce private property and e~~er 11110 Irulj
human relations wilh each other. Th~ J:?arado,,,.:al nature of
Ihe si tualion was thaI the utopian SOCialists saw the means 10
15Q

The,

nent
pond:
$cien
stude
of stu
and ,

of ph

alfaining the final goal in wh.1t Ihi . . g(\al wa . . ill fal'l, viz .. rea.
son and kindheartedness,
\1arx demo.nstraled .in his w('rks Ihat ~I .rl'al transition from
the world of IIlhumallily 10 Ih~ real~11 01 IrCl'dnm and reason
was only po:)Sible when Ihe SloHIrI:es 01 the fUlurl' humanist rela_
tinns were laid in society itst'lf. .He .r~'I.lclL~ded.lha~ the world of
pri"alt' property itself, b?Urge(ll~ ~'I\"Iltsallllll IISd.I, gave rise 10
a social force, and PUI it III conditions Ihat ma.de II have 10 fighl
the domination of pri"ale property and capital, and Ihal this
force was Ihe prolelariat, Ihe clas:; deprived of ownership of the
means of produclion, Ihe class of hired labourers and wage_
workers. In Ihe light of Ihal conclusion Ihe humanist ideas of
the emancipation of mankind from its enslavement by social
conditions acquired a concrele class sense and real soil for their
practical existence. In his youth Marx's views had already been
shaped in Ihe stream of humanism, bUI his humanism became
real humanism only when refracted Ihrough Ihe prism of the
historical aims and tasks of Ihe proletarian revolution.
Such an approach called for broad philosophical comprehension of all world hislory, clarification of Ihe essence of man,
and of the true sense of his being and of the goals of his life,
and determination of Ihe social conditions in which man's free
development would become possible in accordance with this
sense and these aims. Marxism formed as a broad philosophical
conceplion of humanist content Ihal derived ils arguments
from the real class struggle of Ihe millions of Ihe proletariat
and aPl?ealed to their masses, and counted precisely on their
percepllon and practical realisation of its ideas. The develop-menl of.lhis conception and its comprehensive sociological and
economIc substantiation constituted the basis of Ihe theoretical
work of Marx, Engels, and Lenin.

ll. Man and Culture

r,

NOTES
2

Karl Marx. Economic and Phila.op/lic Munu:>cripis of 1844 Progress PubhShers, Mos..:ow, 1974,. p 66.
'
MarX,9""6d, Fre
oscow,
p6dO
.enck Engels. T"e German Ideology, Progress Pubtishers,
.Karl
"Ibid., pp 67-68.

~~~Jt~~~~
~1:c~Orlg9a6n4ise
C,.,mOpetilion. CoileClecllVorks, Vot. 26,
.
...,
',P.

Progress

Ibid., P 404.
, The Programme of the Communilt Pun, 0/'"" COo ' I U '
, ,
N
~., I'I/:'1986
ilion. A2 N/:'w Edition,
0\'0$11'N ews A geney Pu bl'~ h'109 House. M~ow
Ibid.,pH
.
,pl.
160

I'IIII.()S()PIIY, P()LlTICS AND MAN

Thr
ncnt

V. V. M!Jhvenieradlt

pond

Scicn
stude
ofsll
and

of ph

One of the mO\! important premises for philosophical study

of man, and his role. place. and purpose in today's world is the
application of a new political thinking that will help, flrst and
foremost, to allow for the new, real social and political silUalion
that has taken shape in the latter half of the 80s of the present
nuclear-space century. The methodology of scientiflc analysis
on which the new political thinking is based includes the following elements: (I) consideration of each person, and of humanity as a whole as the supreme political. cultural, and philosophical value of civilisation over which now hungs a threat of
annihilation as a result of the arms race; a critique of the \"anous
technocratic and scientist conceptions that degrade the role of
man and make an absolute of the development of science and
technology as the end in itself of social affairs; (2) allowance
for the fact that, irrespective of the division of countries into
various groups, blocs. and alliances. they constitute an integral
system in which each state must coexist peacefully with the
others in order to exist.
The security of mankind can only be common: the security of
one nation depends directly on that of others,
(3) This is a conception of all people and of each person separately as beings that belong to a single human species, Each
person as a member of a social organisation belongs to a certain
class, party. eth n ic or national group, has a certain ideolog,y
and world out look, But the concept of 'man' or 'person' IS
acquiring paramount importance in conditions of nuclear
opposition,
Finally, (4) there is the need to be aware of the indisputable
fact that today an intensive politicising of literallr, all are~ ,of
human activity is taking place, The world of poillLcal realities
has been exceptionally broadened. and more and m~re lIew
objects, phenomena. events, and forms of human relallon~ ,are
acquiring a political quality and are measured by a pohllcal
'system of reference', Our grim, tense lime has brought forward
16-'

Th,
nent

pone
Sciel
stud
of st
and
of pI

political settleme.nt ~)f c'lsting or t~H\l\Iring, I.'l\ntl~l:t .. ittliitilllh,

and a resolute reJecllon of the l~"t' nl Mllll."d ,Il~rn', I Ill." r ..ilitlllal,
isatioll and humanising of pollllo and pl)l1tlral n'latilln .. , ilnd
their subjection to the \ital, if\tl'~cst .. of ma,n and, humanity arl'
playing an important role III t,lm. Rl'all .. allon 01 ~hi .. ta .. k will
also help S(rengthell the relat1l1Il .. llIp bl'tWl'l'!1 pllllo.. nphy and
politics.
",
.
The new political thlllkmg has MI .. ('11 .1 .. tll(' l1Io.. t adequate
means for analysing and appreciating till' objects and phenom_
ena of reality, and for cOl11prehensi\'t~ allowancc for mail's
illlerests at the poilll where philosophy and politics overlap.
It is the logical result of Ihe politic ising of philosophy, and meets
the need for fundamental philosophical approach to poli tics.
New forms of the relationship between philosophy and politics
corresponding to today's reality are thus a problem with two
closely connected aspects: (a) raising the practical signiflcance
of philosophy, and (b) a far-reaching rationalisation of politics.
This will enable both philosophy and politics to be given a
humanist content, to bring out more profoundly the philosophical essence of man, and to make a signifIcant contribution
to performing the most important tasks of survival of humankind, and ensuring the political freedom and all-round development of the individual.
The philosophical investigation of politics is one of Ihe essential features of Marxist-Leninist theory and a vital component
of its very rich intellectual heritage, While developing the best
traditions of the preceding philosophical and political thought,
~~a,rxism-Leninism raised both to a qualitatively new level,
glvmg them a truly scientific character, and establishing an
organic
. relationship between them , based on a materialist COIlceptlon of history, and a dialectical interpretation of the phenomena of soc ial and political affairs.
The lin.k between philosophy and politics is qu ite clearly
traceable III the w.hole history of the former from antiquity to
our day, th?ugh liS. context has undergone cha n ges with the
pass.age of .11me. Philosophic and politica l views eithe r existed
unddferentlatedly and as one or were media ted or now one
aspect an~ now another was brought to the for~, the link between .whlch ~as now strengthened and now weakened,
Antique, ph~losophy, for example, included all branches of
natural sClentl~c and social knowledge. The hiving off of the
laller from philosophy w~s only beginning, while the rise of
ele~ents ~f the separat.e,sclences was in the course of becoming.
PhdosophlCal and poiltlCal views were so closely and insepa164

rahl y intl'rWllvl'11 111 rhl" do1'lrines of the SOphl .. t<;, Socral~ ..,
Plalo, alld Ari<;lotll" Ihal Ih~y can only be arbitrarily separaled
frolll (l1ll" illlulhn. And if Gret!'k thinker ... have comt:' down in
hi .. lory prllnarily a .. phil().. ()pher~, that can be explamed by twn
main C<1Uo;cs. (I) Philn:-.nphy then objectively played the role of
an all -l'mhraclllg ..y .. tcm of knowledge. lis undivided ')way wa.,
dw: 10 Ihe hring1l1g 10 Ihe fort!' of philo.,ophical malter., proper
(Ihe es,>cnce alH.I knowahilHy of Ihe universe, the place of man
in Ille world, Ihe se!l\e and meaning of life, etc.), and the weak
development and undlfTcrentiation of other areas of knowledge.
(2) Philosopher" usually turned to analyse the doctrines of
these thinkers, which quite naturally led, by force of the professional nature of their approach, to an unfolding of precisely
the philosophic aspects.
Yet a profound. all-round study of the political views (and
equally the legal, sociological, economic views, etc.) of the
Greek thinkers, and especially of Plato and Aristotle is no less
important and topical than investigation of their philosophical
conceptions, Furthermore, their philosophy (no more than any
other) cannot be correctly understood and appreciated fully in
isolation from the political reality of their time and its theoretical reflection by the thinkers of antiquity,
.
No more or less great philosopher can be named, perhaps, III
the history of philosophy, who did not, tou~h on. problems of
politics in his studies. i.e, the power relations III ~oclet)'. or ",:h.ose
conceptions were nOI employed in interpreting ~he, pOilt!cal
process or discovering certain objective patterns 111 II. Philosophers tried to surmount everyday cO~S~lOusne~ by means of
wisdom, which was limited by an empirical statlllg o.f the obvious diversity of things, and thereby to penetrat~ thel~ essence
and fInd the substance, 'the general in Ihe particular, ~nd to
demonstrate the unity of varielY, i.e, The reg~l~r conne,:tlon of
phenomena and appearances. including, poiltJc~1 relatIOns .. It
was not by chance that philosophers, thll1kers Ilke Confu.c!us,
P lato, and Aristotle were counted the found~rs ?f poiJllcal
scie nce, true, in so far as one can speak of the sClenllli.c character of the investigations of that time.
.
This tradition was continued in Rome an? aSSOCiated wilh
such Olltstanding names as Cicero, LucretIUs, Seneca, and
Marcus Aurelius.
'r' I
What I have said above also largely appJtes to the po llica
thought or the Middle Ages, modern limes, a~~ th~ recent past.
The relationship between philosophy and politiCS m the ~hd:l~
Ages was mediated by religion, which almost wholly absor e
I fI,~

The
nenl
pone

the whole sphere of social consciousness

and activity
.
.
. N...ver_
theless, there are ~everal grea.' ,nameS,I? the relJgious literature
and the philosophical and poi1l1cal wntlllgs opposed lu it whos
ideas in political philosophy are well known. Suffice it to name
e
Augustinus, S1. Anselm. Abelard, Thomas Aqinas, Duns SCotus

Sciel

and William Ockham.

studt
of SI
and

The flight of bourgeois political philosophy was to be classed

in modern rimes, when political thinking split off from philos_
ophy and acquired full independent significance. The process
had several special features. Three Iypes of work began 10
appear in the realm of philosophy and political thought.

of pi

'

(I) There were predominantly philosophical works, whose authors like Rene Descartes or Francis Bacon, Soren Kierkegaard
Ludwig Feuerbach, or Alfred Whitehead strove to occupy
themselves with 'pure' philosophy, ignoring political problems. This trend made itself quite strongly felt in Western
philosophy right down to World War II. Today the position
has altered. One can hardly name a Western philosophic
~rend that d~ not directly or indirectly touch on the politIcal problematic. The politic ising of philosophy, irrespective
of the. degr~e ?f awareness of the process among its spokesmen,. IS an. mdlsputable fact. A typical example is the philosop,hlcal blOgra~hy of Benr~nd Russell. Having begun with
logical ar1:d loglco-mathemallcal studies at the beginning of
the twentieth century, he had already published his famous
work Power: a New Social Analysis in 1938 which has been
republished many times.
'
(2) There are ~tudies that bear a predominantly political
character and which can be classed as political philosophy.
Here we must note such writers as Niccolo Machiavelli,
Tommaso, Campanella, Nicolas Malebranche, Charles Louis
~OntesquI~u, J~an Jacques, Rousseau, Edmund Burke, Claude
M~nry Samt-SIT~on, AlexIs Tocqueville, and John Stuart
I . (3) ~~e third type of works had at once a philosophical
afnd a POl,iI,tlcal character; their authors did not stand apart
rom po ItlCS supposing Ih I .
.
.
r' f '
a 11 was Impossible to separate
j~~~lcL:koem P~il~sOPhY and ,vice, versa. Thomas Hobbes,
its main Spdk:snm e~man clasSical Idealism in the person of
the Russian rev~7utioan~r and Hegel, the Fre!1ch materialists,
and Chernyshevcky) B y democrats (particularly Herzen
~
,
enrand Russ II
d K
These thinkers and others more or
e
an
,arl, popp~r.
osophical and political ap
h le~ equally combmed phli. varying degree and with proac
m
diff es 111 the'
.Ir wor ks, t h o,ug h
erem, sometimes opposed alms.
166

The hiving off of politics from philosophy, which was not

of c()ur~e a single act, but took time, posed the problem of the
link between philosophy and politics, of this link at a new
level that ruled out their coherence and inseparability and
presupposed maintenance of the independence of quite developed branches of knowledge, To resolve that problem it was
necessary for both philosophy and politics to rise to the level
of a true science, and to define the special sphere of the objective regularities of reality for each of them, study of which
constituted the subject-matter of research and converted them
into a science.
The rise of Marxism was a revolutionary turn both in philosophy and in political thought; both philosophy and politics
were converted into a united, consistent science, each with a
field of investigation characteristic only of il.
Law, political economy, sociology, and all social studies
went through a similar process. The subject-matter of Marxist
philosophy is study of the most general social laws of the motion and development of nature, society, and thought, the
relationship between being and consciousness, man and nature,
the individual and society. The subject-matter of Marxian
political science is study of the objective patterns and regularities of political relations, i.e. primarily relations of power
and of the whole political process. The order and pattern of
political relations are more particular compared wit~ philosophical relations. The philosophical categories of bemg and
consciousness for example, when refracted in politics, are
embodied in 'categories of political being and political consciousness. Other philosophical categories also have 10 be
listed viz. form and content, essence and appearance,
freed~m a~d necessity, etc, In contrast to philosop~;:, which
is a general methodology of the scientific and ~ognltlve p~o
cess of investigation, political epistemology, which deals With
the specific methods and means of, ~ognisi~g phenome~a, of
political life, is a special pari of polillcal SCience, I~ addition,
there is a whole number of concepts and categories proper
to political science: political system. order, power and authority, regime, democracy. bureauc~acy, culture:. I.anguage,
thought, analysis, symbolics, behaVIOur, responSibility, confidence, control and regulation, etc.
,.
'."
.
The conversion of philosophy and politiCS m,to sLientl.fically substantiated forms of cognitive and practical aCl1vlty
mainly transforms their functions and purpose, and, furth~~
a scientific interpretation of a whole number of old calegones
1.7

and the inlroduction of ne\\' O~lL'S. Bo.tI~ pl,lil\\snphy and poli_

tics have ceased 10 be Iht' bUSlIlt'SS 01 IIldl\lduab, onlv or
"
I
"
..,

The
nent

pone
Sciel
stud,

of sl
and

of pI

h~lIl'rhil<.'h'l lIllhl)~ISIll1 !;{'cm ttl me in..:urrer.:!

llnl.,. III olle rdo(leCl. that

til' rdcrs tiKI fIIUl'h tn nature and (1)0 little tn pnlltlt5. "rhat, h\lw('Yer,
I till' Oilly '1IIiall(e by whirh preSt-ntJay philn'inphy ..:an become
trllth.

best, of a narrow group ~f pro f lS~I~)I1;.l s, Thl')" have hl'cnml'

an intelieclUal weapon ot Ihl' milltoll-slrong IlHISSt'S. Lt'ni
stressed thai 'politics begin wherl' millions of

Illell

and WOIlW n

are: where there are nol thollsands, but millions. thaI is wht'r~
serious politics begin'.
The dialectical materialist conception of rt'aJity (including
Ihe political process) has made it po~ible 10 understand and
explain the most important categories of political scie nce.
New political paradigms have replaced Ihe Iradilional interpretations of power and authority, based on the principle of
an estate and hierarchical structure of socie ty , aristocracy,
monarchy, or elitism, and on avowal of the stability of the
dominance of private property: viz., through socialism to
social self-government and se lf-management.
The materialist answer to the ,basic philosophical question
meant, at. ~he same time, a profou!1d revolutionary breaking
up ~f political theory and practice. Engels noted in this connection:
Closer consideration shows immediately Ihat already Ihe firsl consequences of .the apparently simple proposition, Ihal the consciousness of men LS determined by Iheir existence and nOI the olher way
~ound, spurn all forms of idealism, even Ihe most concealed ones rejectmg. all c~~entional and customary views of historical matle~s. The
en lire IradllLonai manner of political reasoning is upsel. 1

. The :elat.ionship between philosophy and polilics is dialecIlca\ , historically

'
. co ncrete, an d undergoes change dependmg
on the established conditions; now one aspect and now
anbother .p~kes to the fore, and the need either fo~ a political
su sta ntlatlon of philosoph
h'l'
'
lion of port" .
y, or a p I osophlcal substantlanatural a~dC\IS ~ore. strong.ly stressed. Such a correcting is
tions of the d~st ~bJe~tlvely dictated by the changing condineed for an aden utlon of c.lass and political forces and the
in the forms of qua~el reflect.lon of social and political reality
understand this s~;l~a.. co~~c lousness and activity. In order to
clarified each time b~~~s ~p properly, its features must be
lems of philosophy and \hrrough s~udy ?f t.he political pr?bsophical problems of
I' . ough IIlVesllgatton of the phtlo.
po llics Marx de
"
b
'
m<;)f1strallllg the necesslly of the indissoluble r
li.cs,. wrote as follows abou~n Feuetween, pll1l.osOPhy. and polirlsfl.~ch-philosophischer Api . erbach sEine Reine JlllnlO-

lorlsmen:

168

Marx\, appn:ualioll of the d~ci':.lve influence of rx)litk~ on

philo~ophy was not a phrase thrown off haphazardly. It expresses the wry t.~st:nce of his understanding of Ih~ rolt: and
purpose of philosophy: trulh only acquir~s real sense when it
is embodied and materialised in practical affairs. His famous
thesis Ihat 'Ihe philosophers have only interpreted the world
in various ways, the point is, 10 clwnxe it" presupposes nOI
only and not so much a conviction of the self-sufflcien\ character of the old philosophy as an indication of the need to
lend philosophy social reality, real sense, and purposefulness,
i.e. to direct it to conscious socio-economic and political transformation of reality, and an active, effective outlet of philosophy in politics.
Lenin also noted Ihat it was extremely important in all
conditions 10 allow for the interdependence of political
actions, and a profound philosophical substantiation of them.
Returning to this theme again and again, he recalled I~at
the 'political line of Marxis_m is inseparably bound ~p with
its philosophical principles'''-' Politics Ihat i~ not ~ulded by
the" verified principles of a scientific and philosophical world
outlook is not based on a comprehensive understanding of
the objective dialectic of social being and soc.ial consCl?~s
ness and does not take into account the matenal regulanlles
and' patterns of the political process, is blin~ politics, fra~ghl
with adventurism. It is incapable of performmg a forecasllllg.
productive function of fruly reflecting political pheno~~na.
and consequently of having a claim 10 manage fhe poltllcal
life-activity of the Slale and society.
..
.'
A clear orientation on bringing out fh.e p.olil1~al Significance of philosophical studies and consoli~al~ng 11, and no
less on deepening the philosophical substanlia~lOn of theo~et
ical and practical political activity is part~cular1~ IOplcai
and urgent today. It has acquired a new, ~lIally Important
dimension. In loday's conditions of Ihe SOCial and nuclear
opposition of two world syslems politi~s embraces an ~\"er
widening fleld of ilHernational and IIller-persoll :elallons .
It has nOI only been broughl 10 first place by ~he I.:our~e of
h'
'1 If compared with other forms of SOCial consciOUSIstory dlSaecll"v"IIY but has politicised the laller to a considerness a n ,
fl'~
'.' g
able degree, while political settlement of the con IdS an:Slll

"

16'

a~d other acute probl~ms has been converted into the deter~
mtnant form of relauons between states, alone capable f

cQun!ering an~ .~eft~cting the danger of nuclear disast~r

hangmg over cIvIlisatIOn.
There are three mai~ ,reasons for sin~ling out the philosoph.
ical problems of pohtlcs as a special form of sc ient ifi
c,ognitive activity: (I) .t~e accumul,ation in . t~e realm of polf~
lies of enough
empIrical matenal requIring philosophical
generali~~tion, and also the rise at the interface of philosophy
and poiltlcs of a number of new problems relating to clarification of the relationship between political being and political consciousness, and to political epistemology; (2) the
need to reject old traditional modes of comprehending phenomena of political affairs in our nuclear age, the urgent need
10 deve~op the n~';Y political Ihi,nking, a new philosoph ical
conception of politiCS correspondmg to the objective tasks of
today's political reality; (3) the fact that the political deci ~ions bei~g taken in our day go considerably beyond polit Ical relafl~ns prop~r,' and have far-reaching consequences
that s~mellme~ decIsively affect the most varied spheres of
~ople s consciousness and practical life-activity, and somelimes the ~ery possibility of preserving life on Earth,
~nderlrmg the politics there is always a certain form of
phll,osophl~al understanding of the world. This is either a
subJecllve-ldealist outlook leading as a rule to overrati on
of t h e su b'jecllve
,
"
factor and therefore
always containing an
~Iem~nt of voluntarism and adventurism or an obJ'ective,de.'
t' k '"an k
, ~s t ou?o
109"
up "
wnh theological' doctrines. treating
r~h,glous fanh as the sole lever for moral renewal of the in" ' -materialist
"" outlook adequately
dividual
," or finally ,aId"'
a eCflca
reflecting
"" 0 r the political
" " process and
, the mater",a, re gu , antles
developing
the rna;"
" accordance with them,
, ,
u, '"ones 0r po '""
IIICS In
In addllion' to the mai n out '
k
"IS a host of marglllal
"
00
s,
there
d ec ,ecllc ones of co
an
"
,
'
,urse, com b"Inlng
separate elements of
th
'
em In vanous proportions.
Today, as never before
. 'fi
"
hension of political
t' ,~5Clenll c-phllosophical com preconcepts, and cate o~ Ions IS required in the system of laws.
That will enable ~he Its of thf' !heory of malerialist dialectics.
the vali~ity of politica~e:ctr:n~lcal thinking to be ~eveloped,
ance WIth the objective I ic to be ~~ought out In accordment . of undesirable pOlit~al o~ pohtlCS, and the developMarXian materialist dialect'c p enomena to be prevented,
methodolosical preconditio~ S/S a SOurce of the scientinc,
o research confirmed in prac-

no

lice (including study of political relations) which calls for

any object to be stu~ied hi~torically, in .development, in connection and comparison With other objects and phenomena
Ihat all together, as a whole, reflect the single process of forward movement. It is extremely imponant to be able to brio'g
out concretely Ihe conlex.t of the interaction, concretely not
only in space (,horiz.ontally') bUI also in time ('vertically'),
relying on the principle of the unity of the historical and
the logical.
The history of human society is a complicated. contradictory, and an the same time single, regular, forward process
of development united in its diversity, a transition from tower
forms to higher ones, a gradual perfecting of all aspects of
life (material and spiritual: economic, scientific. cultural,
and political), Underlying the unity of the diversity, are the
objective, material laws of the developm,ent of reahty, both
of nature and of social and spiritual reality.
Socialism is the highest form of the political, orga~isation
of society attained by modern civilis~t~on, AnalY~ls ~f ItS most
developed forms, in this case of polillcal organlsallon. m,akes
it possible to bring out its preceding stages com~rehe~slv~ly
and quite deeply. 10 discard the chance and fonu,atous In hlslory that may affect the regularities and perspectives at some
time. and to get a more or less rigorous, logical substantiated
line of progressive moveme~t. ,
A starting point of the SCientific, m~thodology of t,he theory
of materialist dialectics is the prInCiple, of the uOity of the
historical and logical. which has a umv~rsal character .because it helps Irace the history of any ~bject of study S~len
tincally. Only wilh strict obse:v,ance of It can a substaOtlat~
theoretical conception of onglO and developmen~. free ,
subjective influence be traced which would combine depl~
tion of the course 'of the object's historical devell!pmenl In
diverse concrete forms with the need to reproduce It theoretically.
s wholly inEach successive historical form by no mean
d
, pre;
eludes the preceding one. The ne~ form ~egates th~
serving only those of its properties, attnbutes, an
eature
that are necessary for further development. Its oth~r pr?perties are rejected and discarded as transce~ded ,o r fr,ult~~S.
The reservation of the necescary and liberation rom
e
chan~ is an objective process an~ is. not controll~ byc:~
subject. The principle of t~e hlStonca~ and I~~ . I
jeCtive y
sequently expresses the objective connection (also

0i

t7l

TIl

"'"

PO'
Sci
stu
of!

""

of J

logical), in expressing the relation of Ihe obJ"t' ,, ' d

', evo I
'
, Ill'
I sense Illelltioned L bS evel o p.
men , , 0 IS
ulion
(111
calls not only for analvsis of the object 011 Ih 3 o~e) , and
basts of th
f
h
h
. .
e
acts. I at c araclensed lhe precedmg historical f
e
rrns
also Its comparison with fhe facts arising al it,. I ' ho
, but
' , Th I .
- . ., 11g er degre
of malunI).
e oglcal mer hod of tIlVesflga(
E
e
k d ' , h'
.
1011,
ngels r
I
. e
mar e , IS not mg but the historical method
of the historical form and di\'t~rlil1g chane' on y stripped
W
J
h"
..
.
e Occurren ce'
e emp,o}, I IS pnnclple 111 study not only of socio- 1"'.
or economic phenomena but also of the thought pr
po ,ltlcal
cess
and of rhe theoretical knowledge ill which these h
Itsel f,
are reflected.
p enomena
An id,eographic approach predominates in Western
.
of the hIstory of political ideas, in which ideas of the studIes
evalu~ted .as self-sufficient, without a real logical
past ~re
and hlstoncal development. It is Supposed I
connectIOn

~e~~y i~ustdone turn

,

one's mind to the cont~n~~~et~Vee~r~~~~ ni~~

or er 10 reveal the real sense of some
.

Fs~~:~ ~~\~~~ ~~~tt7~gt~,~;e, w.i~ho~t linking Ihec~~~sef~~;r~~t~~?

of loday's values onlO then p:~~ . t e .rese~1t day. Any projecting

torting history, because the h' tiS ~al .to e only capable of disthe ideas and conceptions b '.s onan 1m Ihat case ~ I) evaluates
ed, subjective oint f '
emg ana ysed from hiS own limittheir proper ~istori~at~:~t:nd (2) ine~ilably tears them from
que~tly distorts them.
xt, modernlses them, and conse. Vle.ws like that have been Ion gO
.
.
hIstOrical, hislOrico-philoso h' g
qune ~~mmon 1I1 Western
often they get an agnostic Ph~~a, and pol.lllcal works. Quite
the unknowability in
. . I and contalll statements about
American political sci~I~;~~~P ~. of historical phenomena. The
the conceptions of Weste
hl.m~o and Combs, generalising
the main feature viz
rn p liosophers about history stress
patterns of mov~me~'t a~~demdascullating in them of the objective
eve opment.

Academic philosophers of I '.

.
Mo:.r ~.cholars speak of hi~r~~~r':.?' b;t~~rouSly deba~e how history works.
Ov~r tlm~, as a proc~s of impersonal' s a Chaollc Succel>Sion of events
propel h'~tory onward Toward no d'.
orces and .chance elements thaT
ISC~rnabJe goat.

. !he pro?lem of adequate reflecti

. .
mtlon of hIstorical fact (in Ih
on, appreCiation, and cogfield) has always been and'lS e real eventful or ideal-spiritual
ological difficulty in W' es,er nO~'lan unsurmounted methodP I' ' .
n SOcia the . .
o illcal sCIentists have f
I
ones.
ormu ated the typical situation in

172

whil"il We\.tcrrt hi\lori(al ~nd political thought linds itself

roughly a .. lollow\: tht: task IS to cope with the problem f h"4
,
II ' f
d
0
IS
tori(i\m. ITI a ~e -111 orme ~aYt to answer how the historian
can aVOId the IIlfluence of hIS own subjectivity and historical
~ ircUIl1Slalll'C\, gel an adequ~te unde.rstanding of the past, and
In f<l ( 1 rt:veal the r~al .me~ntng of historical lexts, rather than
simply evaluate thclr slgmflcance in teday's perspective.
An ~dcquate un~erstandtng ?f historical fact and equally an
unambIguous readlllg of texIS IS in fact a difficult business for
~he scholar. BlII.there can be no real research without tackling
II. At the same time one must note that the real difliculty is not
only that. This very proposition also needs to be evaluated on
the plane of the theoretical posing of the mailer and in a definite
socia-political aspect.
Western political scientists illegitimately counterpose understanding of the past and reading of historical texts to apprecia4
tion of their significance from the standpoint of today. When
the matter is approached scientifically such a counlerposing is
not correct. When however it is examined in the context of
contemporary Western ideology, and the preconceived appreciations of the facts of history dictated by it, it has some sense, Lei
me elucidate these two elements.
Any historical phenomenon (including texts) can be correctIyappraised (1) by analysing it in comparison with phenomena
(and theories) that preceded it: (2) by clarifying how far an
idea or Iheory truly reflecled the object il claimed to under 4
sland; (3) by establishing the degree and depth to which
the object's essential links with other phenomena have been
revealed; (4) when a fact is examined in movement and
development; (5) when an integrated approach is employed
based on recognition of the objective material pattern of history
and the soci04political process (and also of corresponding
ideas). It is this pallern that functions as an objective criterion.
reducing as far as possible ra nought any manifestation of
su bject i vism.
The lower forms of development can only be correctly elucidated form the standpoint of raday, i.e. through the investigation of higher forms of development. This approach, it is true .
presupposes, as it were, a breach of the natural course of his
tory, but that is not surprising, since a scienlilic analysis does
not boil dOWJl to a simple chronological descripti\'eness. As
Marx remarked in Capital,
Man'~ rellecliOIl~

on the forms of social life. and consequt;'ntly. also. his

scientifIC anatysis of those forms. take a course dire.::lly opposil~ 10 that

17.\

odology of research because 'Inull illdudt'~ IWI nnlv thl' r . ,

bUI also the pallo
]1.
"./ '
.
t.'~UI
h
Th,

ner

P'"
Sd
stu
ofl

and
of,

. I?i~dosu~e of Ihe dialt'~lil,.' .0,1' Ihe SCllt'n.11. ra~liclLlar. and

lIldlvldual In a concrele COgllltl\c prol..'css IS .1 Sill(' 'iliu II
r
of adequate reflectIOn
0 a"
gl\-~n a.s~eci 01. objective realilonv.
That means. as regards study 01 pOIIl/cal phenomena, (I)
termination of Ihe. gen~ral. rundalllent~l. , methodological pGsilio~. and (2.) clanflcallon ~f ',he peculwruy of Ihe fIeld being
studied. In IllIS case we are llllllied only t~ Olle problem of po.
litical relations. that of power and authonty. because they are

de.

linked mosl of all with man and define his position in [he Sphere

of political relalions.

Politics, more perhaps (han Ofher things, is subject to the

influence of chance. That is due to a poliTical situation'S involv_
ing a much greater number of variables, and ones, moreover,
that belong to other, non-poliTical ftelds, and nOT just fa the political sphere proper. In addition, political relations embrace
an extremely broad range of mailers, on which decisions are
raken at various levels. And these levels comprise a host of components often of a subjective quality. In Olher words, there is a
mulTilevel 'inner' political space, as a rule, between rhe ra king
of a decision and its direcr execulion. In a normally fun c lioning polirical system Ihe posirion comes about as follows: the
higher the level at which a decision is made, the greaTer is Ihe
scope of the executants, the deeper the degree of their involvement, and consequently the broader the space. Each level has
mherent and dennite modes of operation, which means Iha l
each of them has its own interpretation of the general decision,
the concrete aspect of ii, in which Ihe possibility of dislortion
of rhe true sense of the decision cannot be excluded (some
t!mes by chance because of a wrong interpretation, and sometlm~s, fo~ Some reason, deliberately) which leads to deformatIOns In practical politics. The more intermediate levels
there .are, Ihe greater is the probability of mistakes, for which
t~e, ,direct executors should far from always take responSibility,
It is an exceptionally difficult business to co-ordinate the
con,tent of ~II decisions without exception, and furthermore
Ihelr execution accordi,~g, to a preconceived single plan, And
on~ ,must, add that deCISion-making and determinalion of a
polillcal llIle, by no m~~ns always starr from the principles, laws,
~nd calegones of POlillcal science. One mUSI nOle at Ihe same
I~me: thai the applicalion of polilical science in p~actical polihe! IS a necessary but not sufflcienl condition for CorreCI and
176

"
,titlll~ A high urt "of pOlitical I_I
leadership and ils 'perdlc"IIIVla,.
,I ' ltlUl'lH.'l" i~ al\o ncc( e( at any CVl',
!onlhl It,
, w'; .. ht of the \ubjecl;vc factor bruaden'i the
TIll' UTlm('n<;c c e
' 1 ' 1 ts d t'
' " for tbc operatiun uf chanl:t' man,Ytlmes,o\'l'r" \01 I U.
.lrCa
t thc f.h.:t that We~tl'rn polillcal 5C.:lence IS nut l'ssenwith sl'iclll:t' (whkh, by deflllition
,con.
nail) 1.::., 'vc law~) but with thcory In whICh chancc pla~\ the
lal~ ObJ~dlPolitic~ i~ often (aIled a 'game of ~hanct."', a flt."ld In
nt,a~nhr~l:iy probable propo~itions are adml~slb~e.
d
w lIC
The fundamental ,Imporlance 0 f the qut."~lion IS how DeS
bl one
to
I' '., A' game of chance forces not amen a t."
relate to po illeS." ~ a neralisations? Or a~ a speciflC fl~ld of
rigorous t,h70r~tlea h~\ objective regularities are mal1lfested
social acllvlty In w Ie
h
necessary their elemental, sponthat can be ,known, and'b~ :~bordinating them to the in~erests
taneou~ action curb~d" '~d I') That is to say. as a sClenc~?
of society and the IOdlVI t~a t: whether one seeks out ce~laJn
A gre~t dea,l d,epe~ds on 'II a , I ralionalise political relallon'S,
objective pr111clples that ,WI h e p 'h ther each one makes hIS
government, and beha~',our" or t~e~ on the olher pany. which
own rules of the game, IInposmg
gJe
tiall" dangerous Sirug ,
leads to endless, paten
-,
essar ' to Slart from a 'm,aLenin had no dou~t,th~t ,It, was ~~ Ihe dependence of politICS
terialislt~eory of pOilIIC~: I.e, t:lions, He stressed that politics
on objectIve laws of poliflc~1 r~
live of what pe(sons or
had ils own objcctiv~ logIC.' Irre~re~his vital methodological
parties had planned U1 ad\ance"
means lhal one can
sClen~e spile of its exceptional
Proposition of genuine
, ttCSpolitical
as a SCIe nce. 11l
h
and must relate to po I
'hazards and c ance
, elv
eptibility 10 various
complexity an d susc,
,d most likelv Ihat is so, precIs .
circumstances (and pOSSibly al
,

I~~)t 1~~;~;lc~rnl'<.l

!>hou~d

for those reasons),

,.. , ientists and politicians
IIlca scis sometimes a d'1\',ide
Most contem'porar~ Western
. ' wpo There
hold an oPPoslle POIl,t of vie.
'one maHer when a polttaln ong them of great importance',1t IS, d ,n political decision,
d're'lly Invo VI."
,
ica! scientist who IS, I~Otl C
e iving as reasons f,o~ bls p~~
making regards politICS as a gam 'rg
<peated empIrical fad
-.
,
f r nce 10 the a tenor
, Id position a snnp e r~,e e .',' , f Weslerll governm~nls aI",
of the aclual poilllcal
11] 0 ,
advenrurlst poill.:)' of
, ., adl\
an ar2urnenls.. an d an
I 1 l,)st
litical parties w 111.: l~) ften
, carry Oul
' nal
playing with fire, not ~IISllfled by ra~~ IIrs~e it to all~inme1ll:
nOI subject to elTecllve control. a I' ~elli.sh aims and Interes,ts
with more or less sllc~ess, of ,na~ro;e~s perpetually dabble In
of the moment, while their ea J't:'al machinations, trustvarious internal and external po I II.:
(7')
12.01661

Th,

ner
pi"

Sci
stu.

of!
",d
of,

ing 10 luck. ilkI;' a rl'ckh:ss galllhll'r, !lor hI he

I ( X PU~d, and
blamlllg chance whell 11ll'\' ,Ut' Ikl't'l/ lS
.
/
.
,
"
lI'iU<I Iy 'I IW
/
I h t' Ilt'orellca
lallal.:ll'\ and ddu'IIIIl'i If .
J . _ .11 It" of
suelllisls.
t
.I~ oIt t'l11l(' politI. al
'<

It is another malll'f, IW\\'I'\I'r

wh'l1

1"

, . I, '
.
.
l
Illl"1I11l ~ Il1Hklll' /'
/
ef!)
Ilt:IIlSe
\es.
or
Iht'lr
clOSt'
'I<h,"r,
'
/
g ~ntl.
'.,
, .
. , . . : , ... Ill ("Jll'rh I "
IllS. a.s a game. The POStlll)l1 1\ \hilrph ulh.'rt'd B. ,r( . 11 poll.
begin to speculate aClively in plllith. .. : ddihl'r ..;tl'l\tl,IU \C, thl'y
as a game, set ullsubstantiated "llid
pla YlIlg il
. / . f
"
, l l' targ ',
so e. ~USII Icat~on for which IS narrow-,: Ia\..\ an I ' , ,1.:. '. the
PO,litlc.al reallly i,s perceived and t'\ aluall't! 110~ .\el~hh , l~lI crl'sl.
?bJt'ctl\'ely. but III accordarh,:e with Ihe dl'lng a-,: J[kl,~ III faCI,
111 Ihe nolil', I ' b ' "
'
e~ t<l Ing plac
"I'
Ka SU J~ct ~ COIl~C!OIlSlles~. dicl<lll'd b
hi, '
e
deSIres. Such a subjectIve \,ISton of !h
I I ,Y s WIll and
real danger.
e wor { tS fraught with

"".",., ",.,1/ .

PI~~~~eB~~ fe~rticular. ,z[ b~gniew

Brzezinski'S latest book Game

,
me specI v III advance that it '
.
to analyse all Ihemal1e~stou.l d' , T IS not my IIlt e nti on
not due primarily 10 the de I~ 1e In 11. he ~eference 10 it is
and realistic for~casls (for fh~ ,of Ihe ~heoretlcal, elabora tions
undoubted and quile slro 1 ' ) are a sent) bUI IS due to his
iSlratlon and consequentl~g In~ueldlce on the American admi n'u
' , ,
J
on Its evelopmellt of fo
/
I
reign poley. '''Ian\' pohtlClans look
a,nd poli~y through Brzezi~~k:,~e Soviet ~ni(:m and its hist ory
ey~, HIS VIews and evalualions, il can be said hav b
grouped al Ihe heim I~ ec?me typical forthe political 'hawks'
L'
ay In the USA
el me Single out just a few of th
'.
arguments: namely the
'
e ":lam aspects of Brzezinski's
analysis and possible ques,tlon of hiS methodology of pol itical
f
' ,
pracltcal conseque
.. h
.
o world POllllCS and his att'tl d
nces. t e cOllceptlon
menl of ,Ihe problem of u o:to a,nu~lear co~fl i c t ; his tr~at
expressed III the concept 'wo id d er , In ,inte rna ti o n al re latIons
an~ p~jlosophy in the co~em om ln atlOn'~ t,he role of ideology
maIn aIm is to find as re I
porary poilt tca l s itua tion H is
world hegemony,
a a pa th as possible for ac hi ev ing US
Thi~
book 10; b"'~d
,
...... 00 a (('ntnl pro os' ,

I~ not ~om~ te,mporary aberralion :UI 1,llon: Ihe America n_Soviet contest
endurt', ThIS flvalry h global in '>Co bll h,I\I()flcat nvalry Ihat will long
tlt'1 and to prevail the United Stal- pc- ut II h3:\ dear geopolilical prioritent and b~"
' perspective,
'
... ~ mU\1
wagt' II 0 ht: ba\ l~
. or a consisro ...... straleglc
'"

n,

In spite of the fact Ihal rh,, 'he h

_/
SIS as the h
Dance, 0 [ a stalemem of 'fact"
'II
c aracler, al firsl
eilh
f
' II WI not sland up to cnlle
' , ,
er rom the 10gicaJ angJe or th
lsm
e melhodologi<.:al or the

"8

pulllicill.l hl!' ,rropo':.lIlon aliv<1n, cu. whl~h i<;. 10 'Serve a\ Ihe

b<l'!l<; 1,11 hUlldlllg.) I.:Crll:]ln "ystent of ,Judgemt'1l1s. (I.'onceptions,
IhcCltlt'<;), IS logICally 1l1C,'rrCl' l and 'SllInulah.'<; further melhodohlSlcully JlH,Ctfrl."l.:1 thcurcllcal \.lJn,ru~llons. beC:llUC il Itilds
ullill1all"iy 1101 til a pmhing alialYSls. and nOI In new
I"Hlwlt'dgc, hUI to Ihl" ,)rigilldll), lI1'Wenled, preuelt'rnlll1ell
rc~ull. JII<;crlt'd Ullo the tht'si'i in at1vanct',
III fill'l, il1 hi'! ulllial, and COl1 scljuently, tuppost'dly alr('iUly
<;ub ... li.lllililtcd Ihl~I'i, Brl.Cl.lll'ikt lakes Ihe proposition ton which
Ihc whole- honk i... buill!) thai in ilself IS by IlU rnean,> a self.evj.
dellt truth and tht" Iruth of which ':.till ha" 10 be dernOll\traled,
That applit:., in pilrtinllar to any of the aSSUmplHln'i explkuly
I.:OIIl<.lilled In the the ... e~ thil! pcrpelualt: a contest between Ihl!'
USA and USSR,
For slich Malem('nh 10 be able 10 undulil' tht: IIHcstigation
they ~hould be fm,t dem()n~..traled and prO\:ed, Otherwise the
whole system buill on them can easily collap~,
And whal if then: ha\'l" been promising periodo; plt'O-opl'ration? On what ba')i~ i~ the prt:'ent situation frozen? Anyone is
free. of course. 10 pUI forward any prLlposilion if he ignorl"S the
strict requiremenl,) of building a scientiflC system of knowll'dgt',
Bul if a mistake i<; laid in the foundallon ir"e1f, then Iht' edifl('e
cannol be con')idered ,iable. il rather re'>embl('., a houS(: of
cards, In OIher word'). Ihe absence of inconlro\,enibililY and
groundlessness are manifesled right at thl!' start both in Ihe ~c
mantic sense and in the slruclure of the Ihesis adopted by Brzt'zinski as fundamental. A fal.,e Ihesis as a rule diclall''' a fah('
system of proof. That is why Brzezin.,ki 'lets about a long, unconvincing, often simply formal argumenl and '~l III ... ay {lfI,\{
factum hunts up various ' arguments',
In making a retroo;pecli,'e analysis he claims that 'Soviel inten tions deri"e from tlte hi')torical RUs..<;ian dt'sirt' to adlicn' a
preeminen t global standing'," Brzezinski, in tunc with Ihe We,lern mass media, avoid., the fact that socialism represelll<; qual.
it a t ively new inlernational relations, thai peacl!' and, 'lodali'lm
are inseparable, and keep' <;ilent about the peace pol,I~! ,mher.
en t ly characterisli .... of the USSR and aboul i(~ pea..:1!' 1]\\llatl ... e~,
He deliberalely ignores Ihe l;reat revolutionary changl's III the
.,0.... ia1. politica l, economic and cultural spheres through whICh
czarist Russia and its backward outlying areas were convened
into the Union of Soviel Socialist Republics, He needs his pe..:uliar appeal 10 history only so as to introduce into Arnerkans'
consciousness an idea of an innale 'aggressiveness' of the USSR,
of the unavoidabilily and eternity of a l'ont1ict bt'twet'll Ihe So'79

viet Union and the United Slllft~\ TJ

' .
with _him as the
lIni"" ""ari - b
rzeZlIlskr does 1101 re.:oglli\c oh' , .. ):
iJ Iy
~1e\'t~loplllenl.
He evelllrie\' t {,I II'
- Jll.II\t; P,-lIll'rllS of" ISlo r'- __ 1
I
t.: IrOllh.."ll -, I I '
La componenl of Ihe S "
, ~ out 11 : th. "
(a
I
II'
.
0\ ret world \' 1('\' -'
, t : Ilil'oJ
"
113(
a 01 hUlllanlfy
is gOI"r"
I I
" ,llllphilSISl'S II, t.:. n Ol ~)g".18
.
.'
...
l'{ )\' l' t,'rlll'"
l
ry.
All hISIOP' and pCII'-t-,,~'
III
IrOn laws " I- h' on
'd f
.J
l., are a 'g'lI1 " T
'
ISlo
sal 0 Ihe ~onleSl bt'(".:een Ihe USA "-.ll:. he same ('an' b-

fig~res

Th

ne,
P')J

Sci

stu
of:
In,

ofi

ag~re"'I-l' r~~rtS"\"'t

p,'ays,accordlllg to its Own rules and k

ar~d USSR. 'Each si/
zlIlskr explains. when baring h"is II
eel'S lis OWII score', , j Br e
m~ans an end in itself. 'Not (0 los~~~lghl. that Ihe game b b ~e

s~
s~re

POlllts according to one's seQ"

s the flrst objective' to
0
end; to prevail is the
system (or values)
th e
Treatment f'
,
III remote goal' :!u
c
,
a II1ternallonal
r'
"
ship between Ihe USSR a d J~ lI,es, 111 part,cular the relati
problem of finding
: ' as game brings to rhe
?utplayed' Outwitted, deceived ~ :vhlcl~ the opponent can be
Ilmately beaten To ' .
riven Into a corner and I
I
, W i l l 111 the n 'I
,u.
~uc ear weapon and uttin ' .
lIC ear age by means of th
il
control over spPace ' gh 1I11?
space! 'In ollr age m-Ie
lIal so
'
e writes 'IS
b
'
,I
.
uree of decisive levera
" : ' ecomlllg a paten
pllance on earth' ~.: C
ge for exactlllg geopolitical
SI'
.
onsequently 'I '
comb/ategle ~efenee Initiative (SOl) I IS necessary to adopt th e
,u~ef~1 for asserting US
programme, because it will
politl(s IS reduced to
I b preponderance in space,:J:! W Id
COuntries a
of the 'two
.
n object of direct
~, an object of manipulation
~~;al ~ecurity' interests ~f~~eeSs~o~~f that is dictated by the 'naThe,IS needed,
' In shorl, a subtle political
IS approach h
thing the
as another, no Jes' d
trick, dece~;esumed, opponent does is !J . a~gerous side: everyspokesme etc" without goin to th
so eclared a 'game', a
of the SO~ie~f W,este~n gover~ment: ';eart of the .matter. Many
to Caver u
~,mon III just that wa .;eat the Vital initiatives
scarcely b~i~v IS clumsily by rhelo~i'c r~e, they .sometimes try
Since the coe themselves.
a peace 10 which they
and USSR B re ?f world relations'
the United' S;~ezll1ski proposes a de~ t~e 'contest' of the USA
which. he saysa ,~s, and sees Ihat as I~ne plan of a 'game' for
System compa'rel~ no~ an argumenr abo~1 iturpo~e of his book,
but a practical g .;nh the merits of Ale e.vlls of the Soviet
Not one of th UI e (0 action', t I
mencan democracy
e twelve
'

proposed by him'
scenarios of S '
In the past ten years co oVlet-American rivalry
180
unred 0 n or was Intend'

1IIrima;~ngb

~he

I~ary

:::~I~ping

i~

~~ans

f~~~

out~r

e~i~t ~n~on~:st

sup~rpow~;s'_

eel 10 dcvelop pea...:eful (()C'xbtt'lIce, detente with anv el"

_
I.
I
- hll
. ..ment\
of parl!l('r~ .IIP. gPOt nelg ourlllless. or co-operation on mu-

wally hellch~lal h'rms. He also. does not think of prnpming a

Sohitl on to IIIl" 1110st acute a,~d Vitally important pr()hl~ms of the
r.rcst'11I day, IIkt: h.nw In aVOId a ~udear collision, He only COI1'ldC'r~ .lIId pl<IYS dllTerelli ')cenano-moucls of nuclear and 110nnudear. d"'lihes. H~ \uggests i~'lemive carrying oul of mea-.ure'i
prom()tln~ ,e('onoml(, exha~tl~n and ideological degeneration
of the USSR and other SOCialist countril!S. In that cOlln~ctioll
of course, he does not ent.ertain the. ~hought that any ('hang~~
('auld or should be made 111 the pollllLal and economic system
of tht: USA and other NATO countries.
To assert Ihe power of the USA over the whole world he calls
for l:arrying out the following steps. (I) To reject arms control.
He believ:s th,at US world domination can only be ensured by
force. which IS what underlies the functioning of imperialist
power, It is, therefore, necessary, in his view, to moderate thl.!
ardour of those who stand for banning the arms race, i.e. for
arms control, and 10 cool the zeal of the ma~es who are lighting
for universal disarmament. 'The contamination of strategy by
pacifism is the key danger for the United States inherent in
crusading and control'.-' Intimidating Americans with the 'danger of disarmament', he writes that even the idea of arms conIrol mi&~t 'someday render the United States strategically impotent': "
Meantime, more and more Americans are freeing Ihemselves
from the influence of political 'hawks' who are pushing the
world to nuclear disaster, and are more and more actively demanding an end to the arms race and the establishing of effective control. According to a Gallup poll, the number of such
Americans reached 80 per cent in March 1987. The gulf between
the official policy of Ihe US administration aimed at gelling military superiority over the Soviet Union and the desire of an
overwhelming pari of Americans 10 arrange peaceful relati~ns
with the USSR is deepening , In recent years alone several \11ternational and national organisations have sprung up in the
USA thai stand for ending the armS race, averting the danger of
nuclear war, and reaching friendly, good_neighbourly relations
with the Soviet Union: for example, International Philosophers for Prevenlion of Nuclear Omnicide. Concerned Philosophers for Peace, Beyond War, and many oth~rs ~arry
ing on an active struggle for peace. How does Brzezll1s~1 real..1:
to Ihal'! While opposing rejection of a first nuclear strike a,nd
freezing of the arms race, he quite plainly would like 10 reVive
t81

11ll' notorious
slogan
,',,"

'thl'

be"'l Rl'd i.'i a lIl,-. lIl "

" l,lI'. i l l

'"

h e re\l\t"s If, but onl\' III a dIWU1\l'd '1111 I I '

.
1.: ''I\t: Ilt"\,.'
I .
-eo l
III 11"\"'\,." lorm
I
"'pel..'u alll1 011 a ralst'ly ulilil'r'ilood ft.'ding )1' . ' .' W 1\"'11

Th
ne
po
Sci
stu

of
an<

of

~edares Ihat the 'most simplisril: mo:lnifl'\I<lIi:Hl 11'llrIO~I~r.n . hl'

IS represenled by the willinglll's\ In tlj'''!'.'ll
.1 tl pauflSnlj
d
b
I'
,-.
UIII ~lIl'rall\ '
I

I
pro( allnt'
e ud "beller red Ihan dc:a r' .
.r In Ill'
(2) Brzezinski calls for al'li\'ating \\~l'\'IL'rn III.
.
,I
d"'
as.., media e\~
P. e'lall"
~. J ,It" ra .10 ~raliolls broadcasling 10 Ihe USSR a
souallst l:Ollnines III order 10 ulldermin ~ "
' lid ,olh er
socialism. il1lt"nsifving ami-Soviet moods ta lit' Pneopl~ s ranh in

al",'
d
.'
" IIII b"tr1 <lllllllg nar'lon ~
IS H,: len ellCies among the l)eOI)1
Th"
. t: ... 1I11a Hlng the S .

U nlOIl.
IS adVIce has a two-fold .
0
OVlet
ought 10 weaken Ihe Soviet UIlIOll'Saf ' " 1.. n Ihl~ one hand , it
o r elgn-po ICY op
.
d
.
ties, an on Ihe olher illcrea'e
lh
.,
I
POrtun
l_
.>
e In erna press
'.
.
such a course that the Uniled States should "
lure 111 11. It IS
encourage, and pre\'ent the carr'
. active Y.Support and
the 'economic reforms thaI .
oul III the Soviet Union of
10 compete with Ihe United 1~1~,lt :~~ance the Soviet capacit y
Th.
es.
e malll one is that Brzezinsk' b' .'
of peaceful coexistence and'
.. 1 J~Cllvely. oPI~oses the logic
age. By defending and "devel~lri~lv,a 0 man.k.lIld 111 the nucle ar
thinking he does no,
P 19 the Iradlllonal old imperial
on Iy Irresponsibility
. '
even want to gel 0 t f' f
can e I' I'
u 0 Its ramework.
action of the bloated S xp am 11~ ca.~1 '10 prompt a contr~
h
' .
OVlet empire' ~I\ F
h
t e polllical language of hi b k'"
rO.m I at follows
'I? block', '10 counter' I sl 00 , to n~utrahse', 'to negale',
, e 'dc. n heach of hI".> ph rases, B

d,r ec II y or 'Indirect Iy de
rZeZII1Skl
lion of conditions for UScd' eS.1 e. problem of pOlVer, Ihe crea~
oesplte
. the opinion andomlnatlon
over Ih
Id
.
.
I'
e
wor
community,
vlla
pIe, and in opposition to ma
. Interests .of ,the American peolo')ophers, and political sc,enY,.soberBly tlH.nkrng politicians, phi'on
' searches for nwISts" rzezln'k
... cernedwllh
.
.> ..
IS bY 110 means
tween the USSR and USA
ays of IIlCreaslllg confldence beeconomic, scientific lech . a nd Slrenglhening political Irade
'd
, n l c a l cuhur I
"
Sl e~s .t.he nuclear arsenals a~cum
a, al~d other ties, He COI1pO$.\lbtllly of ~ thermonu I
ulated III the world and Ihe
civil"' t"
c ear war not as '
Isa JO~ tOday but as pOlential II" .. ' COmmon enemies of
gt!(~lr~teglc rivalry of the Iw
ales 111 the context of a long
toncal e~haustion.
0 great powers Counling on 'his.\1l'~ntlme, all loday's counlries inc/tid'
face a host of very important J.:('~erul 'it IIlg t~le greal powers,
c~~ .onlr be tackled by joinl effort The - ,rategl c problems that
CIVIlisation from the threaT of tOt~1
~~e. above all, to save
the transfer of industry and the
,~Xrlllct.lon hanging over il
,
t"'n 1ft'" national

economies and
1III
H'

rmg

Jlcal"t~flll r<.lils, rCJI'iing Iheir citizl'lIs' standards of

living, l~nfl",ai'.I~ sochtl creation ~nd intcIJeltual al'rivity from
the cI~<-IIIIS 01 1I1t1IICJn\~n. Ihe commo,1l struggle agCJil1\t illiteracy
and dl'iea . . C', prc. . crvatloll of the hablt~t, and a host of other so-

'il l l;"lH.;C tlllll)

Cial. el'OIlOITlIC. cultural. and ecological problems.

Br/.l'lin..,kl wkes 3'i his starting point For formulaling Ihe po~
sitiol1 (If the LSA the propo,)jtion, false al bOltom. of an allegedly
exi..,ling 'Soviet military threat", and pictures the Sovit:1 Union
in variou\ combinations of ideological and political characteri\tics not only as a rival but prel"iseiy as a multidimensional
enemy. although he makes a spel"ial reservation that the USSR
is a 'one-dimensional' enemy, developing only militarily, The
'difference in ideologies' does not suit him, While not regulating
his judgments by any requirements of science and scientifll'
ethics, he calls for changes in the 'Soviet philosophy', decentralisation of political power, and the introduction of 'pluralism'
(understanding by that a spontaneous development of the system and ideological anarchism),
Philosophy has a first place among the ten diSTinctive features
listed by him, characteristic of the rivalry between the USA
and the USSR. The two powers, he writes, differ 'in the philosophical values thai either shape the national outlook or are
formalised through an ideology', :.'" If we ignore unclear expressions like 'national outlook', why does a man who calls for
'pluralism' not admit the possibility of philosophical and ideological differences? Can't these differences be overcome by
philosophical and ideological means? \Vhy musl they lead to
nuclear disasler?
The situation established in loday's world, not to mention. the
deep historical roots of the democratic traditions of nations
(including those of the USSR and the USA). urgently ~emands
a 'peaceful' approach 10 any differences and. contradictIOns, especially in the ideologicallield. Other counlfles need 10 be t~eat~
ed as partners in world economic. cultural, and other relatIOns.
resolutely opposing everYlhing that could lead to a nuclear
clash,
True. today the two great powers--the USA and the USSR
-emerge as opponents, But surely it is in the power of the ~~~
pies and governments of these countries to Iransform r~latlll s
for Ihe beller by good will, towards mutual understall~lI1g and
friendship. For there have been periods of co_operation, The
'contest' is consequently not dictated by some ~uperhumall ~ow.
er, but has taken shape, besides. through denillte human _Jl'lIllIlS.
Everything done by people carl be changed by them. Further18.1

Ihid., P \111.
Ibid r "Q.
Ihid" r 11.

ne.
po
Sci

of

V. V. Deniso\

INd . r IS5.
INd., P XIII.

SlU

an,

A!'ID POLITIC"L MORALITY

Ibid .. P \I\',
INd.
Ibid.. P 147.

Th

of

PtllLO~OPlty Of POLITICS

Ihid .. P 14S.

Ibid.
I/>id.
2 . Ibid .. P 137.
~ Ibid .. P 145.
. Ihid .. P 13.
' Nell
' - DaTa on the Laws Governmg
'
.\' ' I ~ L
enm:
The Devclo
.
bm In Agncullure. Col/ccted Worh Vol '2 P,og,
P Pblr~enl of Capnal.
-72
'
.
.
.
ess
u lSh,,<". "'1 OiSCO W
10 ". P .

JI

I~:or~ L:n~n. 'u/I-Win$!' Commllni.\m -till In/arl/ile Disorder.

s. 0.]1. Progres!o Publl5.hers,

Ibid., P 20.

~Io~('ow

[977

. P

50

It is a spe1..'ifh: feature of publ;~ affalf;;. (h~1 many prohkms {hat

set!mt'd to han: been 5enied long ag~l. indispulable trulhs and

'

Coll ected

approved values art~ on('1! more the centre of heightened allt'lllion. acquiring a new ring and spe':"'lal topiL'aliry and be~t'lming
lite subjeci of biller poh::mics. The reason dOt''!. nul lie in sub
jecli\'t~ wishes or miscol1cepl:om but ::1 rhe comple-x. cl.'ntradic
tory character of social history. in the ...'OI1;I1UOUS n:newing of
social reality itself. and in the logIC of the den;'lopment of sl'lCial
thought.
The relationship of polilics and morals and of end .. and
means in political acti"ity have occupied the minds of thinkers
of all past ages. One can Irace dewlopment or Ihe theoretical
foundations and principles of polili..:al ethICs and culture from
Herodotus to the forerunners of mooern s..:ientitk thl,)ught. A
heightened interest in these mailers is also ob~ervable in our
day, as is evidenced by Ihe growing number of studie~ and pub
licatiol1s on this theme, and the discussions both In academic
circles and among the broad publi.:. There is an explanation for
this, It is a paradoxical fact. noted by many We')tern theori')tl;.,
that Ihe higher Ihe leYeI of .:ivilisari('In be.:omes the more sig
nifIcantly does the sphere of morality di\'erge from that of pol
ilies. ~Iarxists ha,e also pointed this OUI. \fikhail Gorbache"
drawing atlention 10 the known di,ergence oi politics from the
general human slandards oi morality . .:alled for all 'ending of
politics's isolalion from Ihe general ethical siandards of human
il)".

Problems of political strategy and ra.:tics, and their moral

and ethical aspects, are- nor jU~1 an object of theOrelical discus
sions but also olle oi ideologi("al siruggle, which is ine,ilable
because lying behind them are rhe- class po.sition~, real intereSI ....
and concre-te aims (If definite social group~. states. and world
social systems.
Whai are (he- the-oretical and practical aspe("ts oi p<,/iti("al
ethics thaI are drawing the anention most today of spokesme-n
I 117

iii-

COn~

TIl

ne
po
Sc
stu

of

an,
of

undoubtedly has real ground s; it is l'\,oKed by 1Ill' vcrv ",

'.
l'
'.
. .. lU l l'
need of public life and Ihe l ramall l' s llllatlOn tl1;11 has lak~1l
shape in Ihe world.
\\-'hell we !Urn our menial gall.' ont!) the who le prCI:t.'ui J
hislOry of mankind. it appears as a histor?" of l"Olllinuous w~~~
and armed dashes. bloody struggle and \'Iok'lll al'li on\, aC ls of
aggression, and terrorism.
The goddess of history is apparently thl.' <:ruell esl of a ll. as
Engds noted.
And although many are still cOllvinl'ed of the ine vit ability
of armed conflicts and even the naturalness of man's aggressive
behaviour, regarding force as a decisive faclor o f histori cal de.
velorme-nl and the 'stimulator' of civilisation, people hav e never
been reconciled to it. It was 110 accident that thinkers of th e
past persistently tried not only to get to the bolt om of the nature
and the roots of aggressive acts but also to fmd ways and means
of preventing them, and put forward the idea of a grand contract between people for a lasting peace without wars, and of
excluding the use of force in relations between individuals,
groups, nations, and states. There has likewise been no la ck of
ideas such as 'prescriptions' for curing mankind's 'social si ckness', There have been and still are more than enough various
points of view on this score. But, at the same time, the probl em
Itself has nOI disappeared: it has been aggravated, and acquired
an increasingly global tragic tone.
In the distant past armed actions had a local character and
concerned separate groups, tribes. and peoples, yet dozens,
hundreds, thousands of people became their victims. Later th ey
took on ~ global ch~racter, and two world wars were provoked;
the cost 1I1 human lives reached millions and the material losses
and destru~tion were incalculable, TOda~, in the nuclear-missile
a.ge. mankllld fa~e.s.the. real possibility of complete self-annihilation. ~eath of CIVilisatIOn and of life itself on Earth could hap~el1, I.n ~.he ,unanimous opinion of scientiflC authorities, if the
atol"'.1 lc J~nn escaped. Mankind has been faced with such a 'categon.c al Imperative' for the fIrst time, but no longer as a phii'o\ophH,:al theory but as a practical reality and with the need to
renounce. use of alom'" c an d at Iler types of weal)ons of mass
de~lru(t1()n and the use f f
.
. anstrlg
'.
.
. .
0
orce to deCide
the connlcts
m world pollucs.
. an d
bThere
" i\ one alternative " . eith er 10 I"Ive 111 peace or to die
urnf 111 al<d)m.H: If~re. Everyone under.,tands however thai it is
Ih e 1rst an ma lenable right of
..'.
'.
live. 'Men must be in a
'. ever~ 1\l~I\"Idual and nallOI1 10
POSlllon to live In order to be able to
190

"make hi~tory". Marx. and Engels remarked. J In order to live

I<~ p~mJ~\(e material and ,!,piritual goods, to create and develop
Clvtllsatlon, mt.'11 must have appropriate conditions to maintain
Iheir vitality, and so need peaceful coexistence and co-npera~
tion. Peace among people is consequently a prime, historical
need of man, There is hardly anyone who would now contest
that thesis.
So, let us accept that everyone is pro. It remains to settle one
single question: how is it to be achieved? Is peaceful coexistence
of people and states possible? Is a human communilY without
wars and aggressive actions real in principle?
For an answer, people turn in our 'enlightened age' first and
foremost to scientific and, in particular, philosophical thought.
Bul there is no unanimity today on this, there are different interpretations and approaches to explaining and tackling the
problem, A comparative analysis shows the direct dependence
(apart from everything else) that exists between one interpretation or another of the nature and roots of aggressive behaviour and the very possibility and ways of overcoming it and
gradually getting rid of it in international practice.
The length and breadth of our Earth has been travelled, gon.e
over, and explored in past centuries, so that there are practically no 'blank spots' on it. People have so t~oroughly mastered
its surface that there is sometimes apprehenSion now about preserving the natural environment itself. Man has broken out
into outer space and is swooping onto other pla~ets, But ca~
we say that we are mastering the se~rets of the 'hu.ma~ soul
as rapidly and sllccessfully, or have ~ls~l?sed and sClenllficatly
explained all the enigma~ and pe~ulJantles of huma~ nalure.
consciousness and behaViour? It IS generally recoglllsed Ihal
we are still fa'r from that. There is more that is ~nknow.n than
already known. And nOI the leasl reason, o~v\olIsly, ~s t~at
mankind is not always able today to cope With the SClenltfic
and technical power it has created, to bring its 'sideeffects'
on nature and mall himself under conlrol.. and to c~unter
balance the results of scientific and technical progress. by a
qualitatively new standard and the much. sharper ~eell.ng of
people's responsibility for everything that IS happenlllg III the
world today.
.
f
ther
Inquisitive human reason is turnmg one page a ter ano d'
. the endless book of knowledge of the natural an
f
o course, tn
.
If Wh t as unknown
social environmenl and of man hlms~.
a w.
.
and not understood yesterday is becomlllg knowl.1 and explained
today. By pooling Ihe knowledge and exert lOll of all the
191

1Ciences, mid of social and individual practice, man is slowl

bat sureI)' unravelling the enigmas of his Own nature and .,Y
- . and advancing along the road of self -knowledge y .... remains unknown, hidden from scientific undersla~dinel
ItIICI t-q~.nation.
g
And that mokes for the appearance now and again in one fiel d
of knowledge or another of vulgar, irrationalistic, and mystic
conceptians that interpret some phenomenon of social and hislOi'ical red;,>: and of huma~ !lature in a pse~oscientific way.
TIle compleXIty of the cogmtlVe process, and Its contradictory
character, the feeling of helplessness and pessimism before th e
of the unknown, and consequently enigmatic for human
COtIICiousness, pushes some people onto a path of search ing for
the. ~ 'way o.u t' of the scientific labyrinth, and of developing
a!""fiaal theoreRcal c.onstructs and sheer speculations, especiallyon the latest ach,evements of the natural and social scien-

cos.

~ ~t, in combination with a frequently displayed class

~lYfBltI and the methodological imperfection of the cog-

nItive process, and sometimes also with a conservatism of ideas,

..... to tbe llee. of knowledge not only yielding healthy fruil
IN! ..... develop,ng shoots dangerous for social progress.
!t- _-?,'h~e of. lha!, it seems to me, is the development and
~ wide cliaemmanon of anthropological philosophical conCI!IIiGItI .. the 1!8lUre and rOOlS of aggression. The theoretical
II!"hadoIc"ca1 foundati?" of these views, in spite of cer~ and r:'~es In the approaches to treating these
.
biologrcal et~ological or psychoanalytical
~ human a"1"( -~.,., as a display of a genetically
11te asaemoo of the natural inevitability
_ _ .... nature .. people'.
thinking and be. . .. . - ""y.qltelllly... the
of wars and
.... hn
8C!!oos from the life of society,
.. - . .
..
In ~evl~ble conclusion. Whether
.... __
aoe ~oI01ica1 and payc:boanalytical
.... .......
faa prOVide theoretical basis for the
of the human race.
the
'thiN' f ... violent bel1li
Il8IUre, has
an ..... ,.;cally

==
="r:'"
.... """':8ti""L

~-:::'::!h~~n~

"lilt ..

There ....... . . _
mals is an absolute
iour and that the
to the same extent in Ibis I'IIIpeot
in relationa between iDdiviclllllb, ......
the Western elholo"''" consider that
10
ethology the action of certain JeD" 100...........

characterised as auressive, whicb therefore ....

roots both in man and in other memben of

)1

dam.
Furthermore, man proves to have surpaaed
animal kingdom in his aggressive behaviour
unique 'superkiller'. Certain Western writers, while
ing that his relation to nature is governed by the hilhef __
tres of the brain, claim that endogenous
on ....
contrary playa major role in relations between people. In Ih.
view this is a barrier that man does not have the power to _
com~ in his attempts to sellie social problems by peaceful, nonviolent means. The West German thtot is! Koaielt,
ape>lemic against Marxism and defend~ a thesis tI!~t
genetic factors and not the social medium are. declSlv~ ~or
consciousness and behaviour, wrote that SOCI I condItIOII:' _Y
inftuence man and
his developmen~ or
It, bill
that the decisive
.
If certain contexts that
mity are retained instinctively by aU speciey of the
dam, as
considered, these retardmg
.
..
conaiderably weakened in man becanse of the ~ifIc feal~
of social life, or are completely absent, and th~t ~ .why man
the sole living creature that does not. obey any Itmthng con/Ull
and is capable of kiltin. Dis own (rjed.
Hence the pessimisti..
",en
of forecasts of the fllture,of
striving fo, univeraal
useless, beca_ the root
sick men but ill
Daniel Bell, for

retar:'

u.s.- __

n
ne
pc

So
st,
of
an
of

functioning of his consciousness. and Ihe fill-,tors thai

his psychology and behavioural reactions'!
govern
To gel an understanding of this il is b(,SI 10 furn di
I'
' I f an d 10 man k'"111 d
'
r eC I \ 10
.
S(It"IKt' lise
S social and histori cal p
,'.

and

10

the already established scienti"c data and facls

live reality.

o/a~I.K e.

0 Jec

\Ian's emergence in Ihe evolution of the world signif d

development of a quite new quality viz social I"fe SOl~
Ihe
C \l~l y i
o

' "

nol only a new form of Ihe evolution of the Objective w Id b S

a~so a higher one, the social form of the motion of mal~r S lil
clal laws
er.ana_
0. and patlerns of a specific character that has'e no
Iogues III nature. and that are not replaced by biological I
operale here.
aws,
People
social affairs nOI as biological creatures
. 'function
Iin '
b lit as socia ones. The maUl feature of social lies in CO",
.
'
rast to
I I'
natura
IS that
taken shape 011 ,I,e b aSlS
' 0f
' re allons,
d
. they have
..
an d III ~ccor ance With people S social aClivity.
" ~an IS I~mersed f.rom birth in a varied, complex world of
sooal relations and lies forme.d before him, and of traditions
standards of law and moralllY, ideological views aestheti~
tastes,
etc., that have
shape and are do'
,,'
. . taken
.
mlllani' ,III a con,
(~et~ s(l(lety: ,ASSllnllatl?n of all this 'humanised nature' also
p a)s ,
a deCISive
'
' .role III fonning man's co nSClOusness
and
beh

psy:~~~~~~.a certam way of life, world outlook, culture, and

It is not legitimate to eql al

I "
.
. .
mals' instinctive beh"
1 e. peo~ ~ s ~oclal aCllvlty and aninite reaction 10 II a\IO~r. AllImals lllStll1cts, which are a defiaeter, have been r~ein~~;~~~n~nent, have an unconscious charand are a most important co~~.t!le course ?f nat~ral sel~ction,
and survival But one 'a
Itlon for their phYSical eXistence
ulalors of sa"cial beha'~ nnot ascribe to them the role of reg.
"'lour and of th
" I
'
,
III human society. Wars a d '
e sOcia relatIons mherent
a form of ,expreSISion of :~e Vr~~IO~IS ty~es of social .confl.ict~ ~re
uals pursuing definile ailn
da~lOlIshlPS of conscIous mdlvld'd
'
,
s an ITlterests A
ese
p
en
omena
wilh
the
b
I
'
.
ny
I
entlf'lcallOll
of
'h
e laVlour of an'
I
d
' ,
.h
o f vanous types of instincts is th
una s an their ~I.splay
blu also leads the resear I
erefore not only not legllllnate
When <;taling the dect,ler ,up a blind alley.
'h e f ormmg
'
Sive
. conditions in
of man's co"s
" millience 0f SOCial
U
' ,
. ' UOusne.<i.\ a ld b I
'
,
....luxiSm does not (Ill full
T
e lavloural reactions
accordanc
.h
'
porary sCience) leave man's b' I ~ Wit the data of contem~ou.n~, or t.he degree of innue'nl'~~~glcal ,properties OUI of acmdlvlduality, and
.
Ih
genetic faclors on a person's
e necessu,-' of . d '
194
. J
stu ymg the biology

and genetics
of
,
rhomall inI"order,.to deepen understand'
, l I 1 g of lhe
med13nlsllls 0
I~ P')Yl" 111.' 3l"tlvlty and mental and spir,',
II'f
b""
ua Ie.
," I ' I
TIH.' uw. c-cth,:a co?, 1Il~1I01.1 of the social and the biolo ical
il.1 mall means Ihat 111'; a"plrat~ons and activities are al the :ame
time tI~e result b.oll~ .of Ihe snoal conditions of his life and of his
binlogll:al 'pe~ul~anITes. The decisive import of Ihe social factor
d.oes nOI Ite 111 Its absolut~ determinant role but in its being a
SIIl l ' '{'ta """ of ~h.e mouldl.ng and development of man a'ii a personality and IIldlvldual. It IS n01 a l"hance affair that the ratio of
the social and the biological as determinant factors in man's
behaviour can alter in ac cordance with the individual's level
of development and his physical condition and pSYl'hic Slate .
One must not underestimate the facl, demonstrated by psychology, Ihal natural individual peculiarities delermine the
character of a person's reaclion to external effects, his 'individual style'. and also the character of people's deflllile kind of inventiveness in relation to the external world. Pavlov put it as
follows:
It would be slupid to deny the subjecliHt world. It goes without saying.
or course. that it ex isIS. Psychology as the formulaung of phenomena of
our subje(ti\'e world is a quite legiTimate Ihing. and iT would be absurd Il\
dispute that. We act on that basis. and build all ~ocial and personal life on
it ... The point is 10 analyse Ihis subjecth'e world:

Making this analysis by means of Marxian methodology likewise makes it possible to eSlablish that any subjective behaviour
and thinking of the individual are based on quile material factors, and are primarily determined by social conditions Ihrough
appropriate psychological mechanisms. When Marx employed
the concept of man's 'second nature', he meant by it the social
characteristic of Illan whose content was gO\'erned by a system
of connections and determinants that directly determined a
person's psychic make-up and social beha\'iour.
Certain inner, innate, and life-acquired models of behaviour
can, of course, be guiding factors of the motivation of human
behaviour in some concrele life siluation or olher. But social
factors are decisive in the moulding of these inner models of a
person's behaviour. The highest motivations of human behaviour are qualitatively different from the instinctive motivalions in animals' behaviour and are incomparably more varied
Ihan the latter. And although so-called mechanisms of main
bents may underlie the higher motivations of human behaviour,
they are, as a rule. the !irst to be substantially altered. It is the
social medium thai shapes those motivations in man that are
altogether unknown in the animal kingdom.

~. been a consistent

'I1;'8Ilties ~nd properties

III h. senene programme
haw had l1li ever increasing
011 hiI narur.l character. Thus, de.
ax:lat ethology, man's prog. )
-it, '11 repn: IS undesirable maniand to coordinate them in
and notions of human inter_
Mu hulang had the possibility
obedience to the pressure

.....'0-..,

hit way wt Of the merely animal

10 hili uoaltiousness, one thaI

ffilattnenl Of the prclblem of man

ii Ilnpoe$ft\le, Of course, within the lIe1ds of biology,
But any attempt to
locial behaviour, his
as the Conte'cluence exte.itIa fiI a distorted pic-

)r

)(

11

"'

pc
Sc
st,
of
an

of

human nature. and nol the cultivation and propJgalin g of b

.
b lit ( h ose 0 I" 1'1.'.11.: 1.' and hUnlani\m a~e
instincts and passions,
'
operation and prevention ~)f a ~'orld.wid ....rn~Ii~;:lry conni e!.' ~~~
day. therefore. as never ~e~on~ 11,1 Iht' past. 11. IS I~nponallt 10 give
a philosophical substanll~tlOll 01 tht' 1h..\:t'S~l~Y lor observing alJ
the standards of internatlOll.al law ill,ld poI1l]('al rnorality in Ihe
interests of universal st'curuy and. 111 Ihe last analysis, of Ihe
survival of Ihe human race .. I~ is alsll il11r~)nan.l to oprose any
ideology that leads 10 paSSI\'l1y and \..'apllulallon to the- real

threat to peace and social progress. Some Western writers see

the danger of Ihe theory of instinctive aggressiveness in its irn.
posing on man a reacliollary ideology lhat there is allegedly a
biological need for an aUlhoritarian social sysle m to exercise
domestic and external coercion.
Since man is the produci of concrete social circumstances,
it is necessary, in order to change him, to aller lhe circumstances
themselves, and to make them 'human'. Marxisls have never
concocted hare-brained schemes in regard to the real opportunities for and ways of reorganising human nature and moulding a new historical type of personality. They have never
idealised man and his nature, have objeclively appraised the
concrete, hislorical capacilies of the individual, and ha ve percei .... ed them in all their diversity and contradiclOriness, reflected by Ihe existing social realily, At Ihe same lime , sc ience-based
optimism and faith in the unlimited opportunities for all-round
development of the human personality and in the future of Ihe
human race have been characterislic of Marxis ts.
They are also realists in regard to the political reality of 10day.
Marxists start, of course, from Ihe prevalent polilical reality
and, from the existence of different social systems and politi cal
regimes, worl~ outlooks and ideological orientations, class in terests and natl?nal ~ec~liarities, and differing ways of life, B~I ,
al th~ same tlm.e, It IS no less indisputable that the malll
premise. of the eXistence of alilhese differences and peculiarities
of the,life of ~tates a~d of their very viability and funclionin g
as subJect~ of 1I1ternatl,onal relations, is their capacity to peace~~lIy coexist and to reJeCi the lise of force in internalional pol ItiCS. Th~t can undoubtedly prOmole unreserved observation
?f the ~n1versal moral standards and principles of political elhles, malntena,nce and de~elopment of the ethical herilage left to
~~ by preceding generalions, with due account for today's real It.. es. For when -:v e know, how to handle past history it is nol
difficult to estabhsh that, In spite of the COlliradictions and h os'98

1I11t\l 01 the variOUS groups, tribe,>, and states that ex.isled then
there unfailingly abu ~)O\I~~d ethi";<.III<.Iw::,, and principles in pol:
Itk'), n:l'ognised alld 11l<tllltdllled by everyone, whose al'tion
('xll'nded eVl'1l tll silch all extreme manife\tation of political
<l1l1.lg{llli\lIls as war. The in<.,tinct of self -prl'servation inherelll
111 all living organisms wa'i undoubtedly l'Xprcssed to ",omt" exten I ill Ih<ll. Furthermore, carl' i... nceded to pre ... t'rvc the human
rm:e <IS a biological specic.s in the complex, dangerous situation
we arl' in today, especially by everyone's recognising and ob.
serving l'ertain moral standards and ethical principles ill polilic.
al aclivily.
HOlllo supil!l/.\ who is capable of logical thought and analytical cogn iti on of phenomena of the reality around him, and of
laking and exenlting his decisions ,consciously canllot ~c 'more
stupid' in this maller, alld more IIlcomp7te~1 than 11Is 'Ie,',ser
brethren', animals that are doomed to IIlstlllctlve behaVIOur
but avoid suicidal intra-species struggle.
,
For all its heterogeneity and differences, rendmg. contradictions and struggles, mankind lives on one plane!. and IS IlIlked
by a common fate as ne\'er before. The, struggle, of opp~lIlg
social forces, historical trends, and class IIlterests LS ~n ob\l.ous
and markedly expressed feature of present-day sOI.:IO-pOllllL'al
affairs. But we musl nOI only allow for and analyse th~ l1alUr('
and roots of the opposing pril1ciples bUI mUSI als~ con~lder Ihl'
nature and source of mank,ind's unit~, a!ld the \,aflOU\ Ii,n~\ an~
dependencies immanently mherent III II, Ihe opponullltJes fo
co-operation and de .... elopment of al~ -r ound relatl?'~s Oil a mutually beneficial basis, and ,the pressll1g need for )Oll1telTo,rl to
tackle global problems. \llkhail Gorbachel' expressed 11m as
follows:
. .
'.- f
~~~nl-da\' d~\~JOflnl~nl ~('tn\i\ls in II <,~lnlThe prevalhng dlIlJ,~lllS oJ ~r
'Malion belween Iht" IWIl sY~lelUs. and
billa/lOll of compelilioll au ~('tn_r( d enden'e of Ihe cOUlllries oJ Ihl'
in II growing 1~'"Jellry IOwar .~,:;!I"I~I:r\\'a\. I~nlugh Ihe slruggk of o~
world C{lfIlIllUlllty, TIllS IS rr<'~
} _ . '"
dark I\l snmc l'xll'nl, as 11
.
,
I
du lUS dTMI gr~lrlllg In 1<'.
I
rOSl1e~. t lroug I ar I -,
", I
.ltlenl lillli ill 111<111\' "'<lV' in/n~ru
wen:, Ihal Ihe Cl)lItro\'ersHII OUIII1/"1 e{l<l
.
world i_~ laking <,h.1fk',

-r

Precisely in Ihe conlexl :~fls,UCt~nitl\ll:g~~ls~~ ~:l~ ~~~~~~~t~~I:

devel~)pmelll of, human ~~~~,: )li;l the IIlH,:lear age, do arise the
mall IIlteresl, .... IZ., 10 SU I' k- ~ in a cenain sense, and the
lIew political and moral: 1111 Ul~~sses the objective realitv and
lIew philosophy ,)1' peace I, WI exp
.
needs of the ~urrelll pe~I'~"I'lIionS are the objel.'live basis of
Certain SOCIO-l'COITOllIll t!
.

,""

n.
IX

S,
Sf:

of

an

any ethical concept and moral principle. They therefore hay

a definite historical ch.aracter. And although moral concepl~
and standards of behavIOur have allered from age 10 age in th
course of historical develop~e.nl, th,e), h,3ve al,ways expresse~
the material interests and polillcal alms, III thelf specific form
of some social group or other, have reflected its Own way of lif~
and thinking, and have been ultimately the product of the dom ~
inant social relations. As Engels put it,

of

Men, consciously or unconsciously, derive their ethical ideas in the last

resort from the practical relations on which their class position is based_
from the economic relations in which they carry on production and exchange.' ,

A dialectical-materialist approach to the theoretical comprehension and practical solution of problems of politica l ethics from a standpoint of humanism and justice, and social
progress, based on a scientific analysis of the material premises of the phenomenon of morality itself, makes it possible 10
bring oul the general human and class content of the ethical
standards of politics, and to establish the dialectical interconnection of the aims of people's political activity and the means
of aChieving them. And when the rise of various moral and
ethical standards in the realm of politics is a.nalysed, starling
fro~ a materialist understanding of world history. it becomes
obvlou~ why and how far lofty political moral principles and
the ethlca~ ,means ?f. realising them have always corresponded '
to th~ P?litlcal activity and aims of the classes that were pro~resslve m ~ given hi~torical period. The point is that the historIcal necessity of society's progress, the interests of the broad
masses, and the demand for a new quality of life and degree of
freedom have fou~d expression in them. So it was in the age of
the early bourgeOIs revolutions whose ideologists and politicians
f~rmulated th~ universal slogans of Liberty, Equality, FraterOily, and Justlce, and first put forward the thesis that all men
were born equal, ~nd that the relations between them at all levels should be bUll! on lofty moral prmclp
. . I es. Th'IS h'IslOnca
. I
paltern has also been manifested in the socialist revolutions that
openI e,d up the way t,o the, building of a new social system without
exp Ollatlon and ahenatlon of man and
h
b .
d
a hi her I e f h
"
'
on t at aSls create
g
.Y~ 0 uman ethiCS which proclaimed the principles
of collectivism and co-operation of eq I
I f
II
(orms of social oppress'
ua peop e, ree from a
lon, peace and fr' d h'
tions, as the moral standards of human' len s Ip among oa of
. I'
mtercourse
Th e poI Illes
socia 1st SOciety express
h 'd I' . I d
moral principles of the masses of the work,es tel leo ogl~a an
mg peop e, and IS class
200

politics. But th~ political pr,inciples of soci~lism, while class

principles, hav~ al the same tlm.e absorbed universal moral valueS, and contam moral and ethical standards and laws that are
the result of mankind's historical development, and were born
of the age-old struggle of the masses for freedom, equality, happiness, and peace. Marxism, having absorbed unive,rsal i~e~ls
and humanist and moral values, has never confined Itself 111 lis
politica l practice to th~ fra.mewo~k solely of purely workingclass interests; communism IS not Just the cause of the workers
but of all mankind. The interests of social development are
higher than those of the p.roletariat; Lenin said, opposing a narrow conception of class mterests. - ,
"
'
Marx pointed out the need 10 be gUlde,d I~ l~ternallOnal relations by 'the simple laws of morals and Justice common t? humanity, and to make them 'the rules paramount of the mtercou~ofnalions. '
.
.
The peace policy of socialism is imbued ~lth a universal
content primarily through consistent, unswervmg adhe:ence to
Lenin's principle of the peac~ful coexistenc~ of all nations and )[
states. This principle can be mterpreted ~anously. bu~ however
interpreted, it primarily presumes preCisely the ex.lstence of
mankind without wars, The principle not only means the absence of wars but also envisages rejection of the use, of forc,e to reso lve international conflicts, non-interference m t,he \1lre:n~1
affairs of other countries, development of economiC, ~o Itlca
and cultural relations between them on an eq~al fOOling, a~
mutually beneficial co-operation to ensure their equal secunty
and progressive developmenl.
h
r'
The humanist essence and moral orientation ?f 1 e po Itl~S
of socialism do 1101 have a passiv~, c~ntempI~~I;~a~~~raar%eo~
are not manifested in abstract, utopian reams
d their
d oppressed and of aggressors an
' I f ideals and moral valny' of oppressors an,
victims, but mean active str~ggl: for h~:; Highly ethical means
ues against all who flout an reject td to ;he rogressive peaceof im~lementing them ~Iso c~:resP~~mmunisis constanti y b~se
ful alms of eom~unlst po ICy. " thesis that 'an end which
their political p:actlce on th,e Mar.xla~fiable end'''~ The opposirequires unjustified means IS nr tUs(Jmunists led by him againsl
tion of Lenin and of ~he pa~ty
~~mism which regarded inthe ideology and policY,of Ie t e~~le and' expedient meal~s
dividual terror an~ wars as acce? 0 tOO is the Soviet Union s
.. I
'
polillca
strugg Ie , IS well known,
.
ats
the,present
time, 0 f a II manuncompromisi~g cond~mn~t1~:~~orism, and the Soviet call to
ifestatiolls of mternaliOna

r!

101

w.

It,

:r.

Gr1lorlan

philosophy, th~
ad man himhistorical

\If

lhl'" aealin' lwssibilitit'\ ot"

..
I11111al1011

po

s,
st

0'or
0'

l'lf

I
lit'

S\.'it'Ih.:l'

.
I"
.
Ilt'gall\t'. ll\rUpll\('

~llld l'l1gllll'l'nn~ "

<:> . . .

1'\\I1\l'ljUl'Ih.:I.'\ \If

II"

I .
nl eh.

.,

I\ all(1 (........ \.11111.\ IIv 011 lilt' "I,a, ".,elf Ul',

,t'll)I'IlH~nl. dl"'Ill'11lI dlfl"'l'(

t
:
'.
_ .
...
.... l'r and
lft'nd l~1 Jt'\t'IOPllll'llt llf IIldl\ ,dU'll '~~lllh.'\. an~ lln world \l)
(,I,l)Pllillll..'al.dt'Yelopmt'I1.',a\ a wh~)ll" 1 ht' Ilh)UIlIUlg irnpM1anl't'
01 '1..'1('lh,:(, III JI1lxJt'nl hit" Ilkr.('hll:~ dl)('\ 1WI I."all simply for
I11l'lh()dol~'gl(al ~ls1alh.~l h.~ \1..'1t'I1I1I\1..' l'Oglllllllll and improve.
111('111 llr ll~ m~.all'. S0\.'lo3l. IIltdlt'ClUal. and 111{)l"al \lIJlPl.'ri llr
ITll'ldl"'nl "(,1l"11111I\..' ~nJ l~hl1oh'h.:.ll dl'\ t'illp.I1ll'I1I, and likt'\I,'i~
Iht' need III SUb(lrdmalt' 11 1(1 dt'llIlIlt' \ ahll'\, Idt."~lb. and human_
i~1 principles of our time art' l'\en grl'Jtl'r i.\lll.J illl.:'Olllparably

sharper problems.
The necessity of just such all altitude of philosophy to srielh.:e
springs from the fact that srienre. in spi te of its unllsuali v increasing role in modern so\.iety. dot's not itself contain the criteria and impe ratiws of appropriate cultural ,md social appli('ati ..)1\ of its a('hie\t~l11ents. and ra n therefore be employed for
both the good and the detriment of mankind. A philosophica l
orientation on creating forms of sot'ial practice. inlernational
economic and political collaboration. and cultural relations b\'
which mankind can ensure reliable ronlrol o\'er the powerf~1
forces of its own scientific and tedlllological creativity, and soh'e
global problems \'itally important for it (and above all Ihe main
one. that of achieving firm. Jasling peace) is therefore becoming
specially urgent.
While recognising Ihe importance of these tasks we cannor
be satisli.ed simply wilh specific. scientili.cally substanlialed
forecasb and projects designed to ensure oplim-um functioning
of already exisling socia-political and economic mechanisms.
!oday. as n.ever before. il is necessary 10 develop general proJecis. of . SOCIal and cuhural renewal and revival , and to create
qualttatlvely new forms of national existence and international
relations. BUI su.ch pr?jects can only be developed within .Ihe
cont~xt of a s~tal phIlosophy and by spec ifi c means of philo.
sophlcal, sClentlli.c, and theoretical forecasting and substantiation. Understan.ding of .science as a . . ital fragment of mod ern
culture and SOCIal practIce enables one to realise the one-sided~ess a~d ina~equacy of such a methodological inleraclion with
II. Quite obnously. problems, values. and demands evoked by
the general policy of socio-political and cultural development.
and the harsh and urgent necessity of dealing with the crucial
problems. of cOnlemporar~ human exislence. are becoming im.
~ensely Important. for philosophical suPPOrt of modern sci eo
tltlc and lechnologlcal progress. The development of practically
206

l'ITl' .. llve .1ull humanlS! 5Iandi1rJ . . of human auiv11}" in the age uf

Sdl'IlI';> .!lId tc.:hnoillg) reqtllr~s. tp 1111 even g1"t:aler ex.tell! Ihan
c\er hd(l~t~. thiJt phih, orhy cvmprehend and a.bsorb. in its gen.
erJllscJ. I Ulldamt'ntal pn:1.:l"pl<;, all Ihe ,,:oglllllv(' and aeilllve
11I\SSlbililil's thai ex~sl in Ihl" eXlr~ ~cielltlftc art'a.,> of human
l'Ulturl' and III mall s SOl'l;'11 illld !lplrltualltfe. It IS along these
rnad~ Ih"ll philosophy call !lItlsl I ully ..ea1!~ its l\bligations In
sC1C IKe.
\Vhill' Irl"<llillg phih\~ophy nOI ollly as a thl"ory e\plaining
Ihl" world hut ;.,1 .. 0 a .. a lI10de of a~imili.lling it pralticalh and
inl dleClllally. and altering il in Iht.' !>pirit of mankind's aJvanl'ed
ideals and \' allies. \1 arx.ism ha .. always allached great importanct'
10 the world view-shaping fUIKtion of philosophy. 10 thl!' !110M
general principles and siantiard s of human actl\'ity Ihal il ha ..
developed through scien lifl c ("ognitioll of Ihe objerliw laws of
nature and social and hislOriral development. and 10 Ihe iruellectual and moral prect'pts and imperatives Ihat il has pO'>lUlated in accordance wilh this knowledge. And now \tanisl s are
guided. in their theoretical and practical .acti\ity. and in .the
major and minor areas of presenl-day soclo-pohl!Cal praellCt.'.
b\' strategic concepls and perspecti\'es that follow trom a phllos~phical cognition and vision of Ihe tasks ~n~ palhs of furt~er
hislOrical development. III face of rhe seepllclSm and p.es.~~mlsm
dominant in WeSlern philosophy as regards the pO~lbllllY of
objeclive philosophical and. hi.slorical kn.owledge. I~e..::ull.u.re
of rational philosophical thmklllg. of an mtegral phll~ophh.al
cognition and inlerprelarion of the world. of Ihe ~enc~ and
pu~pose of man. and of the ~irection of human h,s.t~ry llself~
is mosl consislently and meanmgfuJly presened onl) 111 \Ial'\

Isn~\,

its nature philosophy is at:lUally a theor:-lical form of

worid outlook. an extremely general the~r~'. whIch mean.s tha ,
.
' ~ipJes at Its. understandmg
it subSlantlates
Ihe Iaws an d
prill..
. . d'0 r
. Ily and by specili.c. Iheorelleal means. so ISI wor Id Ioglca
lie
.
. ' I'
AI lhe
closing its deli.nile fundamental comlllllllllY wit 1 S~I~IlCe .. ,
I
d II nate rial of all 1;';...IS11l1g lU lure.
same time it compre lell s l~; . '
fonlls'of man's pral'of all social experlel~c~. a.nd.o .t Ie \ar.1~us . ~. les and arelical intelleclual aCII\'Ily 1111 Its ~Jeodlo;:"parlef:~~I~II~ undrrStal~Sing
. "10115. PhiloSOIJh\,
for11111 alt's an .
. I
cIa
. . . lIal and uni\'ersallheorellca
of the world in objeclndy. IInpert~o"e, 'e But il also assimilates
..
b dOli the lal'ls 0 SLlI...

proposilions ase..
. l'om reht'nding Ihe prol'es::; of man s
reality by generallslIlg an~. . P db" 's e-mqtional and psveho.
f laln[l\.an
...
'.
conscIOUS.
purpose
u
'-,
'.
'.''0;1
in
the
world
determmed
,ogtea
. I . v.lue and mora oneil
.'0,

n,
po

S,
SI

01

ar
01

by (Onere-Ie for.lns of m<.~ral and al."lhl~il. (lflllll(~n" <JIId varinu\

Iypes of ideologll:al con .... I~ll~H1".:lIld hy l'-lrlOrs oj l'\'lTydi.l Y COn.

s(iousness. When descr~blllg ~hlh~.~()phy

<1\ J

,lhl'llrl'lical l"pres.

sion of conaele, hislOrll'al SL'lt'lIl1lll' and '001.'11.11 l''\Perit'lh:e. ilnd

of a value and ideological appnlih:h to reality. \\'l' III US! allow

for the faci Ihat it has its "ell'rnal' theme ... ilnd prohleill') renCl'I _
ing cenain paramount and basil..' prlllcipll's of human exiMt'Ill't'.

The special position of Ihe hi,story of philos~)phy as an, importar1l

theoretical basis and subJect-llluller 01 allY philosophical

thought, in particular, is due 10 Ihal.
The complex, sYnihetic charaCler of Ihe object of phil osoph_
ical cognition and knowledge. and th~ sp~ciflc theoretical means
by which philosophy cognises a'~d expla'~lS the world and man,
determine its specific nature. Philosophy ]S not a general theory
of the world or of man, but rather a general theory of the worl d
and man in their organic connection and interaction, a phil osophy of human life activity in the world. Philosophy is based,
in ils generalisations, on scientific knowledge and on .a valuemedialed attitude 10 reality Ihat expresses the worldvlew of a
person, social group, or class. Philosophical laws and principles,
irrespective of what they refer 10, are 110t simply .objectiv~'
truths but also 'subjectively' experienced propositions an~ indicators of a person's definite attitude to the world, and hiS ?wn
life, and at the same time embody both truth and value. SCientific knowledge, understanding of man and the world, and co~n
prehension of their meaning and significance. The philosophl~
al truth of life (I employ this, in my view, broader conce~t III
contrast 10 scientific truth) combines (or should combme)
trulh and juslice in their possible harmonious unity. Philosophy
speaks to man both about his real pOsition in the world and
aboul his life purpose, not only abOllt what he is but also about
whal he can and should become. Correspondingly, the ess~nce
of a philosophy is largely determined by how it combines sCien tific and value-spiritual elements. In order to affirm the truth fulness and justice of its principles and basic propositioml, it has
alway.s employed (and still does) both scienliflc-Iogical constructs a.nd value standards and concepts. And since it not only
substantiates something SCientifically and Iheoretically but also
post~lales it h~ving ~o be, it employs various methods of persuaSion, affirming fauh in the justice and validity of the postulat.es advanced: ~or that purpose it selects certain principles of
faith a.nd .convlctlo~. Gr.eek philosophy, for example, was b~sed
on behef III the ratIOnality of the cosmos, nature and an obJective world order; the Middle Ages lived by a mel~physicaJ belief
208

. tillnalily lind Jusnce of the divine. order, and .of ~he

111 the ra i
stemming rrom it: in modern limes the .obJeCilve
re and of the absolute spirit and 'ScientifiC knowr th oj Ila 1I ,
h I . . I Con
t u
. rvco as the ground .. for philosop lea pnnclp 1:5.
_
ledge,
hilosophy employs both a scic."tific and a value,
of its
In thai c.onspln~ua b th the scientistie and antl-selenlLSI conceptIons ~r
neellon, o. . h have been developed, 3!. a ru.le, .and S~IJt
Western PhtiOSOp.~ Ihese two methodological prinCIples, Inare,
by. counterposl~g.
terpretlllg
them as lOCO mpatible and mutually exclusive con.

worl~ 'l~( ~rl

~e
h:mp()~~~~(~ral sub~tantiati{)n

p:rop.osll~ons.

cepts.
I
. tradicts the actual dialectical inter-relaSuch a so utlon CO~ .
.
f rhe obeclive and subjectIve.
tion and mutual COndll~.~~!~Yt~eoreticaIJ and practical ~pects
scientific and value-n:'~ I
rid For the value onenlaof philosophical cogn~tl~n off t.he m:~ial~d nature, has objecli.ve.
lion despite the pecuhanty 0 I~S ts sources just like scientific
scie:ltihc knowledge as
0 f' Ihe
state ci things
. I
a VISion 0
.
knowledge IS a wa~
. d.rect influence of a cerlam pracbuilt up under the dl.reci or m I same time the dialectical syntical, value orien.tall?n. At dtheubjective. scientific .and val~e
thesis of the objective an d s 0 a mutually absorbmg merg,~g
mediated must nol be.re~uce ~hile expressing their f:SSential
of these different pnnclples. d
such a syntheSIS must
interconnection and interdepen ~;~t~in independence of these
preserve a cons 1a nl Presence an
. d
aspects within a concret~ umt~. ose and its specific nature so
Phi losophy is true. to I~S P~s:lf with any concre.le f.orm of
long as it does not Idenl~;~ ;~ith. While uniting sClen~lfi\~~~
sc ientific knowledge ~r WI at the same time, o~ nece~lt.y,
ld
ideological elem~n~~~~~t7:,~s~xpressing t~e p~ac:I~~~~tn;~n~I~'er
a certain sense 0 ~ of its specifiC, hls~onca
osi;lon of an
Pr ogressive lenden Y
be satisfied With t~e p
f
Ihe
future
words, phl'1oso phy
. cannol
heory of the wor,Id ' divorced ndrom
abstract, dispa.sslo~~~~:illd, and the laue: 5 ~:i~;I~t s;nthesis of
vita l tasks faclll~ cannot function as. a~ mVd specific historical
development, an
IS The dialecllca an
oncrete orits componen~ el~~~;oPhical synthes.is ca~:~~~n: ~f them i~ev
nature of ~ac tits different asp~cts ~n w r the value, the ontoganic relallo~
(either the sClent~~c dOth at this "tendentiousita~ly has P~iO~:lthrOPOIOgical) pro~l. e made an absolute a.nd
log ical or t e d to some faclor . emg
f the opposite pnnness' does not leaot nullify the siglllficance 0 rid development,
fetish. and does ',~ditions of contemporary wo
20'11
ciple. In the co

~n.e

\y

1",_OIObl

obJe~tive

T
n

I'

S
st
01
aJ
01

which is bringing to the fore n~Jill!L~I.Hl.nl"l' Hnd l'l)llsolidatinll of

peace on ea~th .and a humJll1st. Splrltu ..ll. and mornl SlIppon
of social. s.clenllfic. and le~'hlll~'al progrl'~s, I.hl' Idl'ol ogk al ,
methodological, and regulat!,"l' IlIlll'IlO11 01 phllosoph v is ar.
Quiring paramount imp~rtallce. A phil.osophii..' al Sl.lhstantiution
and affirmation of the prln~acy of pral.'t\(.' al and Spiritual ilcti vi t}"
over scientific and theoretICal IS bl'l'Ollllllg a IIl'(cssity in a p~.
culiar and much deeper and broader scns(' Ih<J1l ('vcr befo re.
As a general theory of the world and m'ln, philosoph y is
not limited to scientifically comprehended reality. but addresses
itself to culture as a whole. and to Ihe most varied forms of
man's practical and spiritual activity. It forms a whole syste m
of views defining man's place and role in Ihe world, develops
and proclaims the most general standards and principles of his
social and moral behaviour, and of his scientific and theorerical
activity. Hence its natural striving to es tablish the ullimate
grounds of man's practical and theoretical attitude to reality
and 10 define its understanding of the meaning of Ihe life of
man and mankind, of the character and direction of historical
development, and of man's truly moral behaviour. These ultimate grounds, which are closely linked, of course. with some
culture, are concrete and historical in their nature, but at any
given stage of history they embrace all the basic aspects of
man's anitude to and relations with reality.
A philosophical world outlook thus cannot be reduced to the
Content of concrete sciences or to generalisations obtained sim.
ply by analysing scientitlc knowledge, As the self-awareness of
a certain historical age it also comprehends and interprets the
whole ensemble of human life experience, its moral, ethical, and
religious practice, the facts and phenomena of everyday individual and social life, and man's direct relation with the world
and himself. But such an unlimited extension of the fie ld of
philosop~ic~1 analYSis does not mean that the object of phi.
lo~op~y IS directly that which has already been maste red in th.e
sCientific or. other forms of social consciousness. It s object IS
not, the subject-mailer as it is given in a speCi fi c sc ience or in
ethICS bu~ the m.eans by w~ich this subject-matter is presented.
Por a philosophical an~lysls reality is nOt simply the world and
man but man s theoretIcal and practical attitude to the world,
and h}s mode o~ orientation and life activity in the world. A vital
function of phllosophr com.es O~t in that it compares types of
wOrl.d outlook and ?nentat1on gIven by scie nce and by valuemediated and practIcal forms of consciousness (morality art,
religion, and everyday consciousness). As se lf-awareness 'of a
210

, II r" '11Id of u ddJllite. hl\tnri!.:al age as a whole, philo';ophy

l Ull...
' 1 t!s 0 r'mIt! II euua Iacllvlly
"
o'
thl'
JIlost
gt.'IIl'r<.illaws
and
prmclp
rIX~S
.
' an d 'IS con<;eqllent Iy
.. . whole r<JtllLor than a urlalll
type 0 r II,
<
1<;1 " II,.l' ,ncthndology of scientifiC
and any other cognition.
a<;n
' "
f
'nil'i distin ctive fcallln: of phllo\ophY.ls .reflected 111 que,,'" ~r
,1 "I"rmilialion of the ultImate prmclples of human cogl1l
I
alit
....
..
' I an d metion and
a(tivity, in a peculJar
ulllty 0 r'Its theoretlca
thodologil.:al t.:onten!.
.
f
It i'i this spet.:iflt.: ft'alllre of ph~los.ophy as a general theo?o
the world and of the ultimate pnnclples ~f any human pr.actlce
h I makes it possible to compare the va no us forms of splfltual
t ~ practical activity , scientific knowledg~ and v~lue forms of
annsciousness, theoretical activity, and socl~1 practice, The task,
~o that connection, is not to unite these vanous spheres by so~e
~n priori universal prin~ipl~, but 10 find the elements and prm~
. I of this universality 111 each of them.
.
clPAes lysis of the value forms of consciousnes~.bnngs out the
na .
. I
d
. I reasons that make 11 necessary to
real ex!stenlla . an s~la
f man's spiriwal and practical
compare the dIfferent orms 0 to determine the role and sig.
activity with 'one another ~n~he eneral philosophical undernificance of each of them. 111 h g oil of the 'ultimate princistanding of the world ..It IS on I o~ ~he so.called eternal philopies' determined by philosophy,
.
f I',fe and nature and
.
.
about the meanll1g 0
sophlcal questIons
d m oodness, and justice, about
purpose of man, abou.t fre~ a i~ gthe world and his relatIOns
man's fundamental onentatlon f
'I life that philosophy
h' tical forms 0 socia.
I I
with concrete, IS or
I eligious aesthetic, and ega
adjoins and is related to ~or~,:
J"sed and unofficial form.
I ro
.
. their non-lIlStllutlona I
conscIOusness 111

I s philosophy not on Y p .
In its propositions and prll1Clp ed'
r the world bUI also
.'
I understan lIlg 0
b
vides a defil1!le, IIltegra .
rresponding way, there yap
eo
interp rets social reality III f"-d I gy In olher words, a strict
form 0 I eo. 0 I substantiation
.
s
I IC
of Ih
e iaw
Pearing as a spec 'f
. 'fi c'. and theorellca
. .~ ~ ature
Iy logical, SClentl
demonstrates its SClenlluC
.'
and princip les of p~doSOPhYrld_OlltIOOk anitude to realrty. diS
hile its value-media ted .wo
" t The forms of conscIOUS
~oses the special form of Ide.ology lIl~f' the conceptions of Wes.t. II pposed III some
. n, and InI
ness (diametrrca
ya
dialectical interconnecllo
ern philosophy) reveal a I
stale of fundamental mutua
cerra ill conditiol~s ap~~oac I '~eoIOgicaIlY expresse.d \".al.ue
correspondence III whu.:h an I Iradict scientific objectiV Ity uf
proach nOlan IY does nOI d'can
. of it. I
becomes ~n. impordlanf d~~~ta\tll%i~g of Ihe world and man phiIn its VISIon an un
2tl

:p-

losophy thus does nOI jusl base itself on Scientific knOW/ed '

T
n
p

S
SI

"

01

orher fo;ms of ~piritual cuhure, and I~e ~hole aggregate g~

mankind s expenence also lind expreSSion III liS propOSilio
It functioned in the past, a.n~ still does. bOI~ as a theory of I~~
world and of human

~ognlf~on. ,and

as a sCience of living

\.Vis~

dam, as a means of onentallon In the world, as a practical in.

tellectual means of master,ing and transforming reality. In ' Ihis
humanist ideological function (exlr~ll1ely topical for OUf lime)
philosophy can and must formulate the most general laws and
principles of man's practical. spirilual and theoretical altitude
to the world and himself that meel Ihe demands of COntempo_
rary socia-political and cultural practice, and reveal and substantiate the highest values and initiatives thai will determine
the character and direction of human activity in today's histor_
ical situation.
In accordance with its specific nature, expressed above all in
the theoretical and general ideological character of its knowledge, philosophy (both in the past and now) has as its subjectmatter and purpose a certain generalised concept of man, a certain image of him formed by a specific historical age and social
culture, rather than a concrete man in the liberal sense. And
today, in the conditions of Our time, philosophy deals with a
generalised image of man in which both the specific and most
general vital problems of the time are linked, in the form in
which they arise in the different social systems and cultural regions of leday's world (and first and foremost in industrially
developed socialist and capitalist countries) in the course of
!he
many-sided rivalry and struggle of the socialist and capitalIst systems.

~he

human ~roblems arising today, about which these world

S~lal systems dispute and clash, and the various mutually strugghng forces and ~ocial and religious movements, are diverse
and complex. But 10 One way or another they boil down to problems of Contemporary human existence in the broadest sense,
to problem.s of m:1n's ~Ocial and spiritual emancipation, optimum an.d Just satlsfaClion of his material and spiritual needs,
and to dlsput~ about the ways and means of maintaining peace
and .human hfe and the conditions of man's creative and harmOl1lou~ development. II is here, in the theoretical and practical solutl<:)o ?f vital problems of human existence that socialism
and capitalism (and the Social and Philosophical alternatives
that they.pul forward) clash. In the last analysis it is a dispute
which
.the two social systems provides the most favoura e oppOrtullitles for man's development, happiness, and well-

a~fut

212

o~

being. In that connection it is a dispute, too., about which ph~

losophy serves the interest.s of man a?d s~tal progress, and IS
eliabler
and effective
gUide
for
deal 109 With the urgent proba
k

d
lems of conlemporary man 10 .
.
The concept of man thai I employ thus envl.sa~~ (depend on the context) a generalised Image and an mdlvldual, conIl).g,e man , and other subjecls of modern
cre
.. I social. and cultural
.
J"fe represenled by social classes, poiltlca panles, nallons, or
as a whole, and
as they
and act as
free subjects of historical creation aware of I.helr alms and tasks.
In other words, il is a matter of Ih.e p~rentlal and tasks of the
social forces that personify the subjectIve human facto~ of cultural and historical development.. A t.rue undersrandm~ and
treatmenl of the subjective factor III hlSr~ry ~re closely .hn~ed
with Ihe problem of the relation of the ~bJec.rlve and ~U?leCIIVe
th life of society and the people's hlStoncal creallvlty, and
the character of their
is see? and
stood Any action of people is an actIOn of conscIOUS s~~Je:ls.
ut i; is b no means always an expression of t~e ~u Jectlve
ac'ivi,y in general and 'he
are
identical.
;' part
nd funinstance, is aimed at sahsfymg [h~lr ~e s.
of the objeclive .con.dilions o.f soc~el~.Sr~~ve~~;I~~ ~appens,
clions. as the o?Ject~ve c~e~lIon 0 no~ b/~ware of themselves
those IOvolved I~ thiS actlVltr ~:~ome real subjects of history
as creators of history. Peop e
.
of their selfhood, poonly when they act .as a force I~O~~~\~U~nrerests and tasks, and
r' osefully striving for its aims,
sit ion, and purp~e III the
as a force conSCiously an. pU/
ial consequences of its acand 10 some ex~ent fo~eseemg t d~~~ent human communities in
tivity. The phYSical eXlstenceb?f II o~ history. They become su~h
itself does not make them su ,ec s 10 men I as when humaOity
only at a cerra in stage of their de~~erPas a s'ingle communilY of
takes shape to so~e ex~e~t o~~nl~e unity of the destinies of the
k d both on the plane of the
people aware of liS aCllvlty a
.
d
. . nd when man III ,
.
I,,es comprising II, an as a
peoples formmg It, a
..
I
. sand naltona I
. rsal
mdlvldua nallOn
.
f and tackles tasks of a uOlve
whole, becomes con~clous u~1I 10 a nation, class, socia~ gro~p,
characler. That apphes eq h Y special position in thiS sen~
and Ihe individual. A ~arlr at ator since the very fact of Its
of vehicles of the subJecllve ac
'he existence of conscious
.. ,y presupposes
.. I
emergence and activi.
and a concrete socio-pohllca ~roclass interesls
and.
almffs.
,owards attainment of these alms.
.
,.
g
ItS e oriS
gramme dlrec III
21-'

I~umanity

pri~arily

~ith ~ow

~ac,or Co~scious
n~t

e~er~e

inter~ction

u~der

~ubJecu~e, fac;~;

Peop~e's. every~ay P~oduaC~~O~s ~t~~/

tor

A ~escriplion of the ?bjel..li\'~ and SUbjl'l.:liw (Jelo(\, while

T
n

K
s1

o
II
01

bringmg out and slres::;mg thelf relatlvl' IIIdl'pl'ndl' fl CC' rn

take account of their dialeclil..'al 1..'(~IlIH.,lfinn and illl e rdePt!~~
dent'e, and the corrt'lal~d n~tllre ~11 Ihl ... t IW(1 prillr ip le\ and
Ihe motive forces of historical dc\l'iol.)IlIl'1l1. ThaI approach
guards agains~ unjustified allempt~ III ~~e thl'Sl' fact ors rigidly
to some particular aspect of SOCial hie' or form of human
activity. An important condition of a proper treatmenl of The
problem is a concrete, historical approach 10 defmin g Ihe
objective and subjective nature of any socio-historical facTor
with due account taken of the peculiarities of a certain socioeconomic system and Ihe specific stage of development it is
passing through.
The concepts of the 'determining role' of the Objective fa ctor
and the 'decisive role' of the subjective factor employed in the
Soviet literature to some extent help bringing out the real
nature of the inter-relations of the objective and subjective
factors of social development. In fact, concrete objective tendencies expressing the need for and possibility of different kinds of
changes are built up and revealed in the course of social and
historical development, tendencies that generally deter?'i~e
the real conditions of human activity, but do not preordam lIS
character and direction, since the decish'e role in realising the
existing objective possibility belongs to the subjective facl?r. ~n
the whole this understanding of the imeraction of the objectI ve
and subjective factors is correct and justified as long as Ihe
decisive role of the latter is not reduced just to a choice of an,d
assistance for Some one of the available possibilities. The dec/sive role of the subjective factor, in my view, must not be
limited to chOOSing between a strictly limited number of possibilities; it consists also in this factor's capacity to create new
objective precon~itions for its activity, in certain a ims, a~d
tasks that are not Just dictated by existing conditions but anse In
the practical interaction of the subject and object as the result
of the subject's creative activity. The subjective factor must
therefore not only be described as the decisive but also as
creative, key forc~ of hisl0ri.cal development.
, Thus, whe'.' POSIng t~e philosophical question of wbat man
IS and. what hIS purp~ In the world, we are thereby asking a.nd
spea~t~~.of what he IS today, what his objective and subjective
~lbdltles .are, and what th~ natural, social, personal precon~
ditiOrtS d hlS contemporary hfe activity, and also what he ma)
and should become tomorrow, i.e., Whether he can following
the prosressive ideals and values of the time, make himself, and
2.4

. n bOlh his individual and his social ex.istence,

create hl'i
J e, fl man are
and Irealed differently
The pro ems 0
,
M
d on
' f li'tTcrent 'Social s.ystems, m. anlan an n the con(hl]{h)~(i () hly BUI along wilh Ihe existing essential difMarxtan P I 05(lP h' n.o- ",Ie'S of the world of a socia-political
'es between I e t'''Ct'
.
'I d .
fert'lH:
, ct r tht'lr ..:ommunily of hl!Slonca tsuny,
and cultural ~har~f ; 'number of global, universal problems,
and ..:ommunl~Y, ~'I social trarbformations and cultural chanborn of Ihe, radlca d 'Of both the positi\'e and the negati~'e conges of our IIIne, a~e..:ond industrial revolution, are mani~e.sl1ng
sequences of the S
I rl ' We can list many tradItional
. I s more and more c ea !"
I'
'
Ihemse ve
'.' d' 'd al and social eXI stence as large y umproblems of man s In ~VI a~e the problems of man's inter-reI aversal r?roblems. Thede
'ety the inter-relations betwee~ the
tions wIth, nature an soc~ s ~f economic and social aCtl\'lt)',
state ~nd md~pe~d,ent for _ n's life, his or her role and place
includmg the mdtvldual perso hura) creation, his or her,emoin historical development and cu ,
es and attitude to himself
tional, spiritual and moral ~x~~~n croblem of social and m~ral
or herself and to other peop e.
P, 2 of life have acqUIred
,.
d that of the meanm
'f
. s
responsibility, an
h f
the individual and or vanou
special urgency, ~oday bot
or
.
social communll1es.
bef
the close inten::onnecllon
In roday's world. as never ost o\~:~ied social pheno,!,ena and
and interdependence of thf; d the ore:anic inner hnkage oJ
rocesses have been :e\~a e ~n
f lif;. of the uni\'ersal a~

bwl

ll

lf

posed

in

ihe objective and subjective f:~t~~~ national, and of the ';:Cia,

individual, of the mternat~on , red An acute need for p :,o~

and personal, has b~en dlsc~~ c~mplex relations of rea 11)'
sophical comprehenSion of I
,
.
own
has ansen.
' n k i n d made good the lla-k
. of ItserhuFor many centune~ ,ma , faith in suprasensory and,sup f nab
powers and opp~rtunlt~~~id~nce or the rat~onal n~c~~~; a~van
man
etc.>. In
forward

for~es (~~V~~s~:r~"

m~de~n lI~e~n7~~ling

~~~e ;t~~I~?~ec~:Ss:tl:~::l~~::~,g~sf:'~~~;bS o:~~ct~v:nri~::~t~~

move~ent

has been 5tren~t en

f the West's techof SOCIal prog:es,s, 'II alive today III some 0 .
0

manki~d. A~d ~~el,~t~~:iC

philosophical co~cce:~;~~;. has 5tn?~gl~

nocralic ,an ,5c I development of the
'kind dispOSIIIO n
The hlstonca , faith in the obJec me often appeals to
undermined man 5 external factors. All too by destructive
d h' of these
b
answer ed
towar
~m.
factors have een
slaving man. The cathese objeCTIve . and circumstances en
:us
wars and systems

pa:.,

1
n
p

S
S1

.
o

lami ties of the ~irst World War and the hroap ~weep of the
postwar rev,olutiona,ry actions o~ the m8\.\('\ were perceived
by bourgeoIS cons~lOusness as signs. of a ul1I\'ersaJ crisis of
reason and humanity. and of a dedllle of all human civilisa.
tion. War, in its senseless and inhuman destructiveness, Was
represented and e,xplained as I~e onslaught and triumph of
the dark, unconscIOUS eleme~t. III ,human "aIUr~, and by the
impotence of reason and splrltuailly. In conditions of SOC ial
crisis. and of the crisis of bourgeois society'S pOlitical and

spiritual values, man lost faith in Ihe objective foundations of

his existence, in the universal philosophical and religious prin.
ciples and standards that maintained his faith in universal
self-constituted systems, and in objective material and ideai
factors firmly ensuring historical progress. The human indi.
vidual slipped from the protective systems erected above him,
was deprived of criteria and values that gave his life sense and
meaning. He found himself abandoned and neglected , left on
his own.
This pessimistic, apocalyptic perception of the world was nOI
simply the groundless product of Ihe sick consciousness of
bourgeois civilisation, whi~ II had outlived its time. Many real,
general problems of contemporary human existence found
reflection in it in altered form. The critical, revolutionary char.
acter of our age, the problems of dynamic scientific and tech.
nical development, ambivalent in their consequences, the rad.
ical s?,ial and cultural changes accompanied by a precipitous
breakmg-up of old forms of life, and revaluation of values and
ideals and accustomed habits and notions and by quests for new
life principles~all these and much else 'were real problems of
t~e people of dlflerent cultural, political, and geographical regl(?ns. ~hes~ problems of people's ideological and practical
one~tatlon In conditions of a substantial weakening and dis.
ruptlon ~f. archaic ethnic, national, and religious institutions
and traditions, ~nd of the once automatically regu lated life
proc~ses of vanous communities that guided their activity and
behavlQu.r, w~re posed in a different way and called for a differ.
ent Solution m .th~e ~egions. People's emancipation from the
po~~r of these .mstltutlons, and from authoritarian secular and
re~lgl~us consciousness., and the spread of a critical way of
t~mkmg not ,only prOmot~d affirmation of the new opportunittes for man s fre~,. ~reatlve ~evelopment, but also, by laying
the whole responSibility f?~ hIS deCisions on his own shoulders,
prese:nt~ r.n~ny opponUl11tles for Spontaneous elemental forms
of hIS mdtvldual self-expression, fraught wi;h actions of an
216

anarchiC, subjeclivist I;haracter. The problem of the relation of

traditional and modern form1 of social life was sharply posed in
thai conne..-lIon, a relation by no means interpreted and dull
with synonymuusly in the modern world.
A mood of dramatic disenchantment wilh history and the
p~.,ibilitles of rational cognition and building of the world.
reinforced by the tumultuous events ~ recent decades. and the
destructive possibilities of m~ern science ~nd (echn.ology..has
been expre!lsed in Western phl~osophy m a kmd of ~hllos?phlc~1
confession of Ihe crisis conscIOusness ~f bourgeo~. society, .111
attempts to integrate man ideologically. In th~ tradllJona[ social
and spiritual institutions of bourgeoiS society: By. contrast,
Marxist philosophy has brought out the economiC p.rm~lples a
these crisis phenomena and indicated t~e real poSSibilities and
forces existing in modern society by ~hlch man can tackle un
resolved problems and ensure effective control o\"er the pro
cesses of contemporary social development.
.
.
The need to solve the unusually difbcul.t and ~Ide-~angmg
tasks of the present historical epoch p~...... lIh special ~,-ule~~
th
uestion of man's creali\e possiblhues.. and o.f hlS .acl1\e.
pr~f~undlY responsible and creati\e imohement In s~lal ~c.
.
As always at crucial moments of life lhal call for 1m me 1-

~:'decisive action, man re.lies le~b~f ~~ ~~dn~~~r:!;;ndd!~i:~

natural forces and fa~tors ~acc~1 ~.

.isIence and favour.
him, even when he stili behe.v~ lfI t elr e\ and does not want
able character. In these condmons he ca~no
ent of and in.
to be a blind tool in the hands of forces In.dle~~elf to a social
'bl t him He cannot reconci e
.
h
behind his back, without hIS
com pre h ensl e o . .
necessity bor~ and takl.ng s a :
involvement Today, when
tic
kno~ledge, wITh only h~ a~tF ndamental importance, especialthe time factor. has acqUIre u f
ce and proteclion of the
Iy in the sol ut~on. o~ probl~b~: ~o r::it indifferently until .I~e
environment, II IS l~pOSSI. If
ames all the complexIties
objective course of history lise nover~ creates a firm basis for
and contradictions of mod~r.n, ~~da~here is no objective cour~e
universal peace and prospe ). f tself independent of us, In
of history that would .oper,ate 0 I I "00 Ihat man turns first
It IS qUIte natura,
'
.f
favour of progr~..
.. I tuation. to 'strictly hum~n orof all to hims~l~ ~n. Ihls cr!I1C~e~ and orientation of .hlS finds
ces and pOSSibilities, ~hlS nd non Marxist philosophical .co~
reflection in the MarxlSt a.
f strictly human reality IS
.
now
thiS
area
0
ceptions of man, 111
determined and employed'ft II\' human aspect of existence.
This problem of the speci ca ~
2t7

1
n
p

"o

had b~en answered in [erlm; ~)f funliatlll'lllJI prinl'lpll'~ in \\' C\I.

ern philosophy of the lalt' 1l1lll'lt't'lllh n~ tlIlIry 'lIld l'arl v Iw.
tieth. and in Marxism alreJdy in thl' lIliddil' nf lht' lil l,l l:crlll~:l .
A ceria in community in Ihe pl\sing uf this prohlt'lll , and ,{
difference of p~inciple in .thl' ~~nsw('n, III if that are foun d i~
\1arx and (ertam bourgeoLs philosophers, and which 10 a l"OIl_
siderable extent predetermined the treatment M the problem in
contemporary Man.isl and nOIl-Mar:-..i-., phitosoph y. are well
worth noting in that ('011l1('Cll011 for an understanding of the
modern philosophy of mall.
One can agree with Ihe idea common in contemporary West_
ern philosophical literature thai Marx. Nietzsche. and Freud
developed their theories of man as a counterweight to traditional
speculative metaphysical and theological conceptions according
to which man's nature was predetermined by certain essential
substantial, prehuman and suprahuman, ideal and nalural principles, and that each of these thinkers defined his own understanding of the truly human sphere of being, from which man's
real nature and essence was explained. It is also true in principle Ihat, in striving to overcome the one-sidedness of the traditional, rationalistic ideological notions of man as a rational
and spiritual creature, they developed their own conceptions
of the wholeness of man in which, al the same time. the basic
spheres of existence that determine his life and are immanent
in him were revealed. Marx distinguished as such society. culture, and above all the material conditions of the reproduction of human life, Nietzsche biological cosmic-irrational life
forces a~d impulses, and Freud Ihe biopsychological sphere of
unconscIOUS inclinations and instincts.
While r~jecting the point of view of objective-idealist and
nalural philosophy that the essence of man and the meaning of
his life and history.precede his existence, and that the cultural
forms ?f human eXIste~lce a~e predetermined by the laws of abs?lute Ideal and m~tenal pnnciples, Marx brought out the speCific nature of SOCial and cultural life, and of man himself. He
showed that the laws and prinCip les of human existence cannot and sho.uld ~Ot be re?~ced to laws of objective precu llUrai
and extrahlstoncal reahlie!:i. whatever man's re lations with
them. At t~e sam~ ti":,e. in COntrast to the spokesmen of several
non-~arxl.an .subJectlve conceptions of man, he recognised the
e,ssenflal s.'gmficance of the natural preconditions of human
life, stressmg that culture, for all its specific nature and inde~nden~e, w~s the product of m~n's meaningfu l. deTerminant
inTeraction With nature, and matenal production the fundamen218

of material
I "I >1> 'rl' 01 till" 1I11.:ractioll. For him thed sphere
Freu d' s Irra
' "mna,
,I
tn .Nletli("hes
pnl(LI~IOI,
I ,,' > '" ,' 0I1tr;1s1
.
, an
.
, ' ', hC
.. , , 'lIll' tln~("IIHI" anthropologIcal factor'S
ofI human
naIII\tllll
,
.
d
, WT; nut "Ollie' (llher.worldly. cxtrahlSlonca ,an
eXlra~.I:J~~~ral reality hut ~ truly human rt=.ality I."f~ated ~y man, ~nd
"I'c t
, > I>'" . ,1'''
That
ar.:cC.!.\11l
.... lal and rational
. mnuence.
'
_ _ddml1lOn
.
of the \phcrc of trul y human eXl ste~ce IS correct m .~~nce
d important ill prac tice, sln r.:e II bring .. out the character _of
~~~n's inter-relatIon., with it and t~e real f?rces and. pO$.\lb!I.Ities of socio-c ultural reality acce'lble to him, by uSirlg which
h call tackle his vital problcms.
,
e Theoretical analysis of the problem of man'~ l~~tu,rde ~ndt"~lr~
. the modern world presupp!Y.Ses an 1I11tla e nl I
purpo!:ie. l~.
f the tasks, values, and methodological apand descnpllo~ 0,
ractical oals and motives of the
proaches that mdlc ate the p needed ror its objective scientilic
analysis and also I he means

'.1

,. ,

re~i~:t~~7~f description I ha~e fiven to:~~e f~~::uf!t:~~:s t~~~

temporary existence helps sirlg e ou . ed today by the over.
and values of our time tha~. a~e .re~~~7:s most general features,
whelming majorily ~f man m 'II~ as imperatives and standards
and that can serve slmul~aneous)' ractical activity.
of sorts for any theoretlcal and Pur time are peace. man. deThe unquesllol~able values o~10howe\'er taken each by it!:ielf,
mocracy, and SOCial pro~ress. n .
nection and inseparable
but all together in .t~elr organtc ~~; , and democracy servi~g
unity. Peace in condillons of d~m~. h;S~ value and democrallc
the cause of peace; .m~n as. t ~ le~g possessing social impulse!:i
society built on SOCialist pnnclp . ,he form of human com"
's' by nature, k'
as d's vital problems-t h ese
,
and relatIOns
"umalll
munity best suited to r~solv,e mac'oln~ection with a number of
.
.
today 111 c ose
values funcllon
.
rent tasks of our lime.
the generally recog l1lsed ulthe value of man largely d~pends
Affirmation of peace an
'ng problems of the splrllual,
on posi tive ans.wers to the reS:>1 ntific and technical progress,
0 sCler all scientific and technologmo ral , and SOCial support
>ployment 0
.
od
which presupposes en,
of man and for hiS go ' .
ical possibilities in the lI;~~~~ion of the natural fOl~ndat~On~
. onment and of the blOloglca,
M aintenance and rep
,
b h of the envlr
) h beof human hfe ( ot
otional structure of man
as.
bodily intellectual and em k. f our time. Man himself '<111-

~~~fn;I;,c:~l~~o;:;~;::~~t~:~)ns~o~~~~;d ~~t:ri!. laBbu~u:h~ct~:'.~~

aimed at masteflng

21~

r"

s
s
o
a
o

!Sequences of industrial.and l)fher POIlUfillll of the l'nv.iron rn cnl

and man's purposeful mtluenl.'t:' on .nature have led III recenl
decades to a situation in which ..'icnou~ .danS.lr ha!S arisen of
changes in the biosphere and. III the blologlca,l organisation
of man himself that are undesirable for humanity,
Man is an acth'e creature who has mastered the forces of
nature and created a world of culiure different from it, a
'second nature', but in this creativity he cannot and must not
forget about the concrete. hisl~rical form of, his nalll~a! ex istence through which his theoreflcal and prachcal creat ivity has
proved possible. The requirements of a careful" ~tlentive atti_
tude to the environment and man's Own capac ities, are Con nected with that, and a lso the need to preserve the primordial
forces of nature and human biOlogy and th eir systematic reproduction by means of culture in the interests of mank.in~'s
normal existence and development. The global task of optimISing society's relations with nature (which can only be resolved
in certain social conditions, in which all soc ial activity is subordinated to humanist principles and the interests of man) is
becoming specially urgent.
The danger of thermonuclear war and the deepening of the
ecological crisis, which emperil the life of all mankind, have
fostered direct awareness of man's value not jusr as a rational
spiritual creature, It seems to me that we must see in this, in
panicular, one of the reasons for philosophy's mount ing interest, in recent years, in human biology and the st ri ving ro
understand man in the wholeness of his spiritual and corporeal
elements. In that connection his image arises in its integrit y, in
insoluble un ity of the material and spiritual, when no one aspect
of his essence (say, the rarional and spi ritual) is recognised
as really human in COnlrast to the corporeal and biological,
but his personality itself, Which embodies their unity in its concrele, historical existence. True humanism can not and must
n?t make an a priC!rf judgement of his value by one or other of
hiS separate qualities, breaking him down into immutable,
Opposing essences ('exalted spirit' and 'base body' 'free will'
and 'calculating reason', 'insightful mind' and 'b lind' emotion'),
In the place of such an anthropological dualism of mind and
body th~re stan~s an integral human essence, a single human
personalny, which does not manifest itself as good or bad,
free or.un,free, 'base' or 'ex~lted' in its separate properties but
rather III Its personal behaViour and actions choice and decisions.
today, The humanism of the spirit and nal~re is indissoluble
220

.
. ..
of man in all his essential manifestation,
Phllnsophu.:al ~I~dy the development Ihereby of a philosoph~nd life rdat~o~;~n~<; a special branch of Marx~st philosophy
..
re a ressing necessity today for
u:al theury 0
(dia~ec.:tic~1 mater~~It~::;) c:ntral t~kS of Ihe building of comdealtng
onke 0 f man .s all round
. With
the tas
, harmonious development,
..
.
mUnlsm,
. be tackled in present-day conditIons I.n
which
can and mus,t
, f
hiloso hical notions of hiS
, 'CI accordance
With sClentl IC,.p
p,. f r the whole
The guiding propositIOn 0
sn
nalure a~d life pu~pose,
. to which man is Ihe goal,. i.n
commuOlst formatIOn, acco:dlng duction and all social aCllvlthe last analysis, a~d m~teln~~::l~pmenl. direcls philos~phi.cal
ty the means of hlston,ca ,
d' very and determtnaiion
science towards inv~~lgatJO;, lS,~oindi;idual and social life,
of Ihe oPlimum conditions ,0 man. I powers and possibilities.
. .,
I, ,'on of hiS essentla
and fullesl rea Isa I ,
en hilosophy constructs, In IS
This will only ~e ,reahsa~l.e :he
man, and formulates a sys.
studies, a certam mte~ra 1m ~jated with this image by wh.lch
tem of concepts and Ideas ~. new conditions the old phllo't will be possible to acluallSe III
the 'measure of atl
principles that, t:eated.
in his vital needs
things'. Man, i.n his n:'ultl~lmensl~n~h010gical: emotio~al, a,nd
and possibilities ,(bJOlo~lCal" P: e of his Ego in soclal,ly ~Ig_
intellectual), and In the I~~al l!'l ,g deed an important cntenon
'
f
and qualities, IS m
.'
nlficant eat."~es
II ocial creaflvlty.,
_
both of indIVIdual and a s , ft and theorellcal substa~
A profoundly reaso~ed SClentl ~ew man itself, of Ihe qua,h.
tiation is needed ,of t~e ~~~a~~tl~~~, spiritual and ~ora~l~~~~
ties and properties, 0
I es that charactense
and cul l ural standards. and, va.u of social practice, and, of th~
serve as unique humamst c~te;:thodS of all sociall~ d~re~~d
main principles, forms, ~~ the mou lding of man, ~~~s of
and regula,led processes conditions, mean~, and m~t of his

ol

~ophical

m~ne~nce

~e~~~sm~~~~~~fu~f setl~~~d~Cal!~~ ~~~i:eg~I:~~v:r:e cr~alivity,

social an~ .cultural a~~~ltt~'mporlanc~ in, this reg~~~~rpretatiOn

are acqu,lf1n~fi parp~~osoPhical exa~ln~fillOdn ann: possible when
nee are JUStl e a
.. n uished
A sC lentl c,
gcertain
hIS real, ,unc features that rema.U1 one an
races, in spite of
and studled'f different hislOflcal ages and
f human natu~e, In

o~ man'~ na~~~~a~~~o~~ies an~ featuresda~~eal::~:li~

i~;a::"~;i~ardeveli~p:;::n;"j~t
~~a~~~~ofhica~f
S;,"~y
nt=t:~e~
other words. man
d relative immuta Iity

detlnite constancy an

221

and a,' the ~arne ~i~e in ,the unique, ("'llllr.:n."tc.\ hiMMicaJ Who
ness 111 wh1(h his tnvanam. (OllStonl qualitie.\ alld pr
It'_

,1
r

s
s

are aClualised. The philosophical qut'Millll of whal Opeflles

therefore. is one of his nature and essellce. of Ihe regl~:n. ,IS,

,-,
[ llllCIIOlllng
"
rilles
d
' lanlSIllS
an,d patterns an
mee
(l
(It"
of
the
r'
.
, -[
.
eall_
ve Y constant I e structures an d qua I"~
Jiles gn'en
10 him b. " a,
. d In
- eu ,lura " IIslory,
.
. a question J of lire
an d acqu,lre
and ,IS
the

MAN 'N THE SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION

A~D MANAGEMENT
J. A. Konikov

charactenstIC features and ,trends of IliS l,'olllillllO US change

and development. or the unique features of his C:Onlempora

concrete, historical essence and existence.

ry
Th,e cOnlemporary phil~ophy of ma~1 is a philosophy of his,

Cre~(I\"eJy actIve and ~OCI~IJ)' responsible life, of Ih e det er.

~llInlllg role of Ihe subjectIve f~ct~r, in the SOlu lion of vitally
Important problems of both the md]v]dual and the entire man.
kind: it is a philosophy Ihat calls upon Illan 10 become the
master ,of ~is fate. and to order his life in accordance with the
humamst ]deals and values of our time. In this connection
affirmation of the role of the subjective factor is n OI limited
to defence of (he value of man in himself and to the ideal of
his harmonious physical and spiritual development. bUI presupposes its full coordination with defence of the value of th e
whole human race, The humanism of our unique age brings
to the fore the problem of relalions between people, and the
problem of establishing of such crileria of human activily as
~o~l~ express the unity of the tasks and interests of both the
IndivIdual and all mankind,

, Ma~'s diversity a~ the object of study, and the corresponding

dlVerslly of, the ~c]enc~s that study him, give rise to serious
methodol?glcal difficulties as regards Ihe organisation of com.
plex st,udles, and determinalion of their main directions. The
topIcality of theoretical comprehension of contemporary
k.nowledge ,of man, ~nd the integral and methodological funcflon of P~llosophy 111 ~stablishing mUlual understanding and
co-ope~atlon of the vanous branches of scientific study of man,
h~;e nse~ extraordinarily. In olher words the problem of
p .1 OS?phlcal, methodological furtherance 'Of contemporary
sc]enllfic study of man faces us -In
d
IS magmlu e.

a" -,

NOTES
SecT. I.Oizcrman. FitOSOfiya nauka'd 01'
.
,y ' In' FilasQ/iy' ",~.'
.1 C oglya (PhIJOOOphy. Sciencc.ldcolo'.
..
~.remenn(Jm mire F'/
/..
.
h
in Ihe Modern World PhiJ050ph
d S '. I (.ISO Iyo I IIauka (PhllC60P y
.
yan
CICIICc). ]972. pP 144.]45.

Social administration has traversed a long path during its

lengthy history --from control by customs and traditions inherited from the distant past to scientifically substantiated
management under socialism. Its foundations and principle~
themselves have altered a great deal in the course of this evolution, and likewise its structure, scale and effectiveness. Le., all
the main components of the syslem of administration whose
main parameters are delermined by the spec ific nature of the
soc ial organisation, and Iype of socio-economic formalion.
For all the peculiarities of systems of administration linked
in today's world with the disrribu!ion and balance of class
forces and Ihe features of the forms of state system and government engendered by them, man inevitably emerges as Ihe
object of government, and as ils subject (al~ho~gh fhe instifu!ionalisation of the subject of government IS dlstmgulshed by
the complexity of ils structure and dh'ersity of its forms). The
object and subject of governm~nt are. in .consfant c.hange and
growrh, and the dialectic of their relallo:n IS a v:r~' \'IVI,d refieelion of Ihe his!orical evolution of SOCial admlllls!rallon. The
course of !his evolution has been from !he primitive f~rms of
collec tive self-govern men! in primitive socie!y 10 !~e dlfTerenliation and then polarisa!ion of Ihe su~ject and obJe~t of go\'t::rnment in antagonis!1c class formations, and lale. throu~h
overcoming of their antagonisms and then ?f the contradiCtions between !hem, 10 an ever c!~er com1l1~ roge,fher and
subsequent complele merging of subJecl and obJec! of government in the communisl serf.go~ernment of the f~lUre.
Th e c h ange In ,he relationship between
. ,!he objet!
.
hand su~
In
'ect of overnmelll is reRecled. in parlleu ar. III a c. an~e
J,
g . s between Ihe rights and dUlies (obligations)
lie
proPdorllon,
The subjeci
s eac 1 0 r ,h-.. poles of this relalionship.
..
.
.
as regar
-., admini~rratjon of a c!ass-anlagolllslic soclely IS
[ h
Ole SOt'1
. , system. b. ut .1't inevitabJ"J
I
ulti/evel hierarcillca
:m~:i~se~'ov:lrnmel1t of the majorit), by a nllnonty. based on
2l.l

,
r

s
o
a

economic inequality. Polirkal inequality is an inevitabl,

" "me-qua I".Iy. w h el h er ope~l I~ eXPOSed under
OUI.
come o~ econo~llIc
totalitanan regImes, or masked by the \lanellC's of bourg .
democracy that proclaim fOfmal .equ<1lity before the Jaw. :so~

result law becomes the prerogative of the subject of govern.

mem, and the governors themselves (at leasl in the uppe
echelons of this hierarchy) are in facl uncontrOlled, Whil e Ih r
whole burden of obligations is laid on the object of governmen~
(the bulk of the population) 1hal is often left with a sole righl _
to be rightless.
The forming of a society of a new type, socialist SOCiety
which means passage from spontaneous social develapmen;
that has dominated all previous history 10 conscious hiStorical
creation and, moreover, creative action of the masses them.
selves realisable only with scientifIcally grounded leadership
of them, calls for a revolutionary restructuring and reorgani.
sation of the whole system of social administration on prin.
ciples of a systemic, balanced character, unity of economic
and political leadership, and democratic centralism,
The establishment of genuine economic and political equality goes hand in hand with surmounting the contradictions
between the subject and object of government. This poses a
task of government of all (including the administrators them.
selves) and government by all, i,e" an ever more active and
broader involvement of the whole mass of the population in
administration of all the affairs of society, In the end, nOI simply
society as a whole bUI also each of its members function as the
object as well as the subject of government, and their unity is
transformed into identity.
The aChieving of these goals cannot, of course, be the result of a one-lime act, however radical and revolutionary,
The system of governmem and administration of socialist society, li~e its other institutions, has gone through several consecutive st~g~ .in its developmen t, has been improved
through assl':nllatlon of historical experience, a nd has been
transformed In accordance with new historical conditions and
the req~ire":len!S of life. SOCialism, as Mikhail Gorbache v
stressed In hiS repon to the June (1987) Plenary Meeting of
the. Central Committee of the CPSU 'should not be seen as an
OSSIfied, unchan~ing, system, or the practical work to refine it
as a means of adjusting complex reality to fit ideas notions and
formul,as adopted once and for all',l
'
J?unng the. restructuring being undertaken in the Soviet
Umon perfecting of the system of administration of all spheres
'24

I"

f rublil alfairs
excertiollally important, while radi':OII rl"
t! rm
l.'Ctllitllllil
was characterised by Ihe JUIlt'
Me-cting <.1'; thl" most
link in rhl!" pt'reMroika.
The- l"XI'.,ting '>y'>telll (~f eCCllHlITIlC m~nagc~H:nt corre\ponded
tn thl,' hio.;tnrical COl1(lillon'i that ga\"~ n~e 10 It: namt'ly. th~ nl't'd
10 ,>unnOllnt te!..:hni!..:<.I1 and t'!..:onomIC ba!..:kwardness In an
unprcce-dcntedly o.;hort time; to ~ake drastic structural changt's
in Ihe economy; and tn steeply Incrl!"ase the ~h~rt:" of al.cumulation in the n<.ltiollal income, etc. Thos~ !..:ondltlOns ab.o dt:"~I,:r
mined sUl.:h charaut:"ristk features of thIS sys~em as stnct, nld
centralisation, detailed control and regulation, the drrecllve
nature of economic tasks and assignments and bud~el. app~o
prialiolls, and so on. With time this charal.:ter of adrmlllSIratl,oll
and management ceased to correspond to th.e n.eeds of ewnomic dt'velorment, while mistakes of a subJect.lve charatler
deepened the contradictions. betwee~. the operative system of
economic management and ItS condltlOn.s and tasks..
.
In the present conditions characterised. by the \.rgorous
development of the scientillc and tech~ologlcal .revo,lulion ~.n~
Precedented in scale and pace. the rapidly growrng co~nrlexlt}
of the economy, the need to s h I"f I Ih e cen I,re of gra . .lIy, .from
,.
quantity to quality. intensiflcation of rhe mfluence of /~lIal
conditions, and a steep rise in the role of rhe ,human ador,
radical reform of economic management has become an urger~t
matter The June 1987 Plenary Meeting adopted a tte~~ell
cally s~bstantiated programme for building an IIlte~ra ,.1.' .ec

0'

~;l'lIary

manag~ml.'rH
im~ortan!

tiv~, flexib~e

sylstem of. ma~r~g:~r:~:;~o~~~~.y~dtm~n~Ir';:li~e

which are to c la~ge o\er
ement of e\.en level.
10 mainly economiC mcthod~ ~f m~nag
10 acti . . aling the
to broad democracy in admll~lslratlOn. a~d
of
'
.' The mcanme: and purpose
hl~man .factor III t've~y l~k~.Y '1 Gorbachcv st';-essed. -boil down
th iS radIcal reform, as i\- I l a l . ,.' j
.
'alism more demacrae\ .
to this forr~lUla: more 50:1 social adminisrratiOli characterisThe radical changes ,Ill , . f h formula's relevance and
tic .of t.oday are...cle~r.e\"l(lel1~et~e :n~~ter is expressed in so~ial
topicality. The slgrlJfl~ance 0
amoulli condition of ensuring
adminiSTration emergmg a\ a ~ar
,
..
f the SOCial organism.
normal funcllol1l11g 0
. alion and management are
It is 1101 by chanc.e- thaI O~g;~l~.Sas one of Ihe cardinal prob.
attracting such allenllon 1~;e~lI. This problem has been rhe?retilems of conternporar,Y s~in ~ur scientific age while gammg a
a new instilution. namely. procally grounded precl~I'y f

new dimension <;~ernm.lIlg

ranks and levels.
r
ous
ductioll of fUllcllonanes 0 ... I

[OI:

ISOIbt>2

225

,
r

s
c

a
o

Yt't this problem IS 110t, of nHlrsl,.'. by ilny means a 'h'ld

of the present century, AdlllinisiratH1Il illld Illanagcment I
ll'
are
, human s~lety
,
inherent lJl
as a I
Jig '
1 Y orgal1ls~d S)'ste rll , The
need for management IS ~encratl,.'d by thl' syste',Hs nature of the
social organism liself. It IS delermtrl~d by the IIlterdep
nce
ende
of its componellIS and sllb~y~tem~, Ihe nl,.'oos for soc ial inter.
course. Ihe inleraction of Ihe mell1hl'r~ of SOCiety in the sphere
of material and intellectual production. distribution. can.
sumplion. exchange. cullLJre. and daily life, i.e" in all areas of
public affairs. The need for management stems directly from the
character of social production itself. and precisely from the
collective, social character of hUlllan labour.
AU combined labour on a large scale require:;. more or less. a direcl.
ing authority. in order TO se("ure The harmonious working of The individ.
ual aCTivilies. and TO perform The general funcTions ThaI have Iheir origin
in Ihe aCTion of The combined organism. as dislinguished from Ihe aClion
of iTS separaTe organs,~

~fanagement is thus organic to social labour. It has been

in the twentieth century, however, that it has become extraor.
dinarily imponant. Management and administration are primarily characterised today by their exceptional scale, because
it is a matter nOl only of managing separate industries or even
social production as a whole, but entire areas of public affairs,
such as economics, politics, culture, and ideology, and of
course. of their whole aggregate, of the entire social organism,
and of all its vital functions. In the end the character of management itself is being altered; in today's conditions it can only be a
mailer of SCientifically substantialed, scientifically organised
management.
This descriplion of management is dictated in the first place
by the appropriate parameters of mode r n production. Comp~ters are making it possible, through a synthes is of mechaIllsms a~d electronic COntrol systems (mechanotropics), to go
over to mstruments of a fundamentally new type to automate
bo~h productio,n processes and technology, and t~ con trol and
adjust Ihem without huma l,' inVOlvement (technotropics), ~nd
10 automate managemem m the broadest sense (informano
theory).
n
. Not only are the PhY~ical elements of modern production
dlrec~ly depend,em on SCIence but also its human element, the
workmg man hImself. Th~ qualifications and prOficiency of the
moder~l
prod.ucer are .dlrectly proponional to the scientific
potential avaIlable to him.
But not only does production require scientific manage"6

,
..km
. , (,i distribution and consumption.
f _,
Illen! h u ,I'1':;0 Ihc sJ
.
.1 I,.'nmllltllll('allon',. the
whule WSlem {) I
scrvll,.~
Iraw,porl illlu

.
I r 'l 'phcrc alld eVl'ryd .. y hfe. etc, And whdt' I le 'U~"l'S
Ihe l:ultI a
I'
f thsilV (If mallagcllll'nt is it'>elf due 10 the ,om~ e,ut y., 0
,c
','
, ',g "f Ih' \'anOll$ sl,heres uf present-day
society.
\1:0.
IUTlCtl()llIl..
,
'I
'
,
.
'f' I,.'1,"r'l.:Ier
is dil.,tated b~'- the extraordman
... ..
"b'
f yI lIltellsne
'
,
sClentllc
and increasing innUt'IKt' of sCience whu:h.') emg I.' t 111 e\ery
one of these areas today,
"
,
The scielKe of our day is really penelra,tm~ all socla,I,.sp~ere<;.
and all social processes, so that Ihe funl:tlomng of SOCIal agen
ies and Ihe control of Ihese prol,:ess~s are also mO,re,anJ rn.~~e
~equiring application of science. Wllhout th~t II IS IInIP~s~1 J,e
eilher to transform man's habitat. or to prOVIde norma con 1'ons of existence for the population of the, plane~, or 10 ensu~e
11 i I ro ress in general. It is not only Impossl~le to ma<;lcr
soc a p ac~ or the ocean without employing the mstrume~lI of
ol~ler sp It it is even impossible to ensure norm~l.. ratIOnal

!rb~i:~~~i~~:~,""o u~~~~ ~~,'~IC~;~h~~mg~O~na~1 ;;~~~::~: '~:~~~~;

aff~~~~~c
t~l~ni:~~,a~~ril:ltl~~:~~,e~~~~en~n~n;';~'~hieUo~fla'~:
~:;:
~!~~~:i
'
,
B t 'f we take mto accou

with sCience. u I ' d verv vear in mowr a.:hundred thousand pe~sons are kl~eth e stead\" increase in the
cidents on the world s ~oads. an 't ~comes- obvious that it i~
number of vehicles an~ 10 speedS,' the problem of road safet)
only in the power of sClenc: to s~ \~on by exhaust gases), The
(and equally of at,mosphenc po ubi s -is first of all theoretbasis for the solullon of theSe, p~~, ~~ fa'ts and a scientific
ically subslantiated, exactly esta IS e
1,._
forecast.
d
ransport raises the problem
But if the high sp~ed of mo .ern I ld cOI1[rol. Ihe problem of
of scienti6c forecastIng, planl1lng, a~ s', w','h''"fmitel)' greal. I
ress raISe I
~
,
sw iftly advanctng SOCI~ Pd~o~
. 'I,ed bl' extraordinary dyna-'
I
er u rgency. O ur ag e IS tSllllgUls
"
I de,'elopment.
That "
IS amos
..
' ates 01 socia
d '
ftreamlilled management 10 ay,
mism and preCIPJlfll~S ~
important fad or call1llg or, s d'.'e and remote result'; of
,
" ) 1 ' the JIllille I
.
,
f I
Scienllflc p:ed1Cl1o~, ,( , nd henomena. delermlll~l1on o,.t l,e
Ihe developlllg prol.esse.s a
P
,and a scienlilic fornasl
'IS 01 dewlopmen ,
,
"
trends and prospel,.
'dly progre.sslllg SOClel) .
are indispensable for the rapl 'ial roduction and conte:npo~
The characler of m~ern ~Q\: 'e pPenetrating all spheres ot
" wlfh SClell!.:
,
the
rary ';ocial prog~e.s.s
' f development thus determine
rr and the rapId nlles 0
~e~ for scientifiC management.

.-",

,
,
I

5
C

,
C

People are passing more and Ilhlfl' from Ihl' tram.for,. "
'h man k
l l )l'l'l1 I.'ngag!,xl 111
. for Ih"l' a' llOt!
of maller, Wh Ie
"Ill" d
la\
" l)1" l'lll'rgy. which if I,a<
of ".'ears, and the Irans rormatIOn
"
.
'.
<,prac.
tlCed for cerllUfles, to a new kmd of ill'tl\lly, and arc e\er,"
' and to lUg
grl"aler and greater e'fl orb to fr.ms I' orm IIIr
onllallOll
" 1'1
ga,
ther. s',ore. proces~. ~nd transmll" II.
. Il' Sl'a~l' of [his ar livil)',
which IS characlensllc ~f Oll~ 111111.'. will Cl)tJ[lIlually grow, n Ol,
howe\:er, because Ir.ansiormlllg mailer alld energy no longer
plays liS fonner dommant role blll bt"C<llL'it" Ihe very !;Ut'l' C\S and

" n.

effectiveness of Ihis activity is incrca::;ingly determined by the

ability to produce and transform information. Oll which man
will concentrate his ma,in effo.rI~ in the futur~, transferring
other forms of productive a~tl\"lIy to me<:ilatllSrns. If! Other
words, work to transform mailer and energy will nOI be elimi_
nated from the production process, but man himself will be
eliminated from this activity (though that situation will lake
long to become a reality).
Management itself may be exercised in various directions:
il may be aimed at subordinating the individuals' interests and
aims as objects of management to the aims and interests of the
subject of management (indi\'iduals, groups, or the entire
society) or may be directed to maximum satisfaction of the
aims and interests of the managed system.
In a class-antagonistic society the differentiation of its
members into the managers and the managed has a rigid character. In a SOCiety free of exploitation, based on economic
equality (as regards the means of production), and on equality of political rights and freedoms, whose members, in Lenin's
exp.ression, r:cognise 'no authority except the authority of
their Own un ny', . managemem and administration are exercised. fO.r t~e. sake of a harmonious combination of private and
public, Individual and collective, national and international interest s. They are directed to ever fuller satisfaction of each
person's. material and spiritual needs, and to his all-round,
harmonIOus development.
In. I~ode~n society there are, essentially, two types of social
admmlstratlon:. (a) a spontaneously operating mechanism and
(b) a mecha".lsm of conscious action. The relationship of the
o
tw. , the ~elatl~e weight ?f e~ch, and the parameters of conSCIOUS actlO.n (lis scale, dlr~Clion, aims and its very character)
are determmed by.the sOClo-economic system of society and
the type Of. the sOClo-economic formation.

I~ ~ sOCI~tL,~a~~~

?n

d~minance

,,~,t, .., <'If

of private property, the

th" main re2ulator of the

. '(lllt)!ll\/, I,.'mllrolling "aritali'it rrodul,.tioll <.JIld th~ entire sys-~~Ill of 'i~)lial rdatinn'i dlterrnincdhy it AI {he. ~ame tim.e widely
amifll'd network. of Mate admnllstrallnll 1\ 111 operation, ~m
r loying v<triml" imtrumcnt .. and
to. tontrol both the econ~my and the political, cul.tural, Idenloglcal and. oth~r <;pheres
f social life. And a 'itnvilig to 'icl 'Standard\ 111. and 'Sinctly
all thc\c vitaliy
all aspect'i of
social relations, is characterl'Stll': of the caplta!!'it stale.
The bOllrgeoi'i ~tale exer.cises control .nver and management
of such spheres as education and publiC he~lth (thou&.h not
fully), culture and ideology (in all ~heir mamfold and dlver~e
contemporary forms). But the most .Important sphere o~ public
affairs, of cou rse, is social production. In .any for~atl?n ~he
economy is the material base of all the s?clal organism s Vital
functions thai determines society'S phYSIOgnomy. The spontaneous nature of economic development, fr~e play of market
forces, anarchy, competition and all the SOCial exces:>es sle.m" f m it and the cyclic nature of development (mcludmg
mmg ro
,
. . r
of the
periodic slumps and crises) are characterIStic eatures
capitalist economy.
h
r d "
All this also puts a certain stamp on the c aracter 0 ~ mmistration but does not deny, on the other hand, the eXl~tence
of elem;llts of scientifically substantiated ~ana-?eme~~ \11 I~~:
economic system of contempor~ry .bour~eOls ~OCI~'i~ to: sfur_
monopoly form of modern capltal.lsm gives nse .
d
1ther and, moreover, .very intenSive connCt~~tr:tl~~nt~~lisa~~~n
tralisation of production and, conseque},
~'""e and
d (J) ever more al,. IV
of production managel~ent. an
ment of roduction
effective state intervention 111 the manage..
rP the very
.
and of the entire
economy. and the etallsallon 0

h~xJies

~ontrol

ill1r~)r~anl "rhere~. an~

system of mana~in-? it. . d t brought about through comThe monopoltsalloll of III u.~ ry 1ational frontiers. This finds
petition has long passed outsdl. e 1'0' of a host of enterprises.
'
b h' ,he sllbor lIlail I
.
expressIOn ot In
. d" 'dual national corporatiOnS,
.
h I i 1duslries to III IVI
and even woe I .
owerful Iransnational corporatIOns
and to the formallon of P
d organisations that con.'
tional centres an
. .
and speCial Hlierna
. f the economy (orgallIsallons,
cent rate contr?J of wholeoa~:~ ~conomic Community), Ball.ks,
for example, hke t.he Eur p
. 'olved in the drive for foreign
palli es etc., are IlH
.
IIlsurance com
..' Iduslrial corporations.
.
markets, as well as I~r of Germany. for instance, which was
The Fe~eral Re~u JC ilalist countries in the flrsl postwar
at the lall end d' ~aPestments abroad, is now among the
decade, as reg ar s IIlV
llq

leaders: no small fole in Ihal ha s bl'l'11 played hv II, .. n I'

.
... 1,0 ICy f
the West German g(H'errlllll'lll. II gralll\ Ihl' mono"O'"
, ,0
,
'"I egl's III
. ordt.'r 10 CXPOrt II;'SHn
me-nsf' concesSIOns
all d pn\
. . "

,<

,
(

al1d frees enlrepreneufs who do bl.lsiness in dl'veloping(~~lI al,

tries from ta,es. West Germall capllul has secured it fInn hUll.
, more I h
. , S',
III
an ' DO COLIIl Ines.
H: mt'US AG a ,One oWn'S d old

'
,h
i b "IIltoll
.
'Ozells
o f enterprises
WI(
all 'IIlcome 0 fSl'\'era
marks.
This process is on an en'lI bigger scale in Ih e USA US
monopoly capilat now embraces praclically the whole capi'taiisl
world. Siflice it 10 say Ihal Ihe overseas branches of Arneric
"
an
companIes
la\-e '
an d
anl1u~ pro '
lIcllon several times greater
than ~he ,-orume. of An~encan exp~rls. Around twO-thirds of
the biggest 100 Indus tnal corporations are American. More
than half the total of foreign investmel1fs belongs to the USA'
and more than three-quarters of the foreign assets are held
by fewer than ten New York banks. It is important to nOte that
only around 10 per cent of the capital investment in West
European industry is financed by the USA (by direct transfer
of dollars): the bulk comes from Europe itself (reinvestment
of the pronts obtained by American companies in Europe and
loans. credits, and subsidies granted by the European cou,;tries
themselves). This is by no means due to short-sigh tedness on the
part of the captains of the European economy but largely 10
Ihe faCl.thal the profits of American elHerprises in Europe are
much higher than those of European ones proper. This advantage of American enterprises is a direct result of their art of
management, in which the USA, as Servan-Schreiber has justly
remark~d,. are ~head of Western Europe. Con cen t ration and
central1.satlon. stili remain one of the most important means of
perfeclmg thIS an and the whole system of admi n istrat ion and
management.
. As .a. re~ull gia[~t concerns are being conve n ed in to supergIants. [t I~ ve ry Im portant to stress tha t m onopol isat ion and
co~centra~lOn are now ~mbracing agraria n produc tion as well
as l~ldu~tnal, a subslanllal part of the se r vices sp h e re, and so
?n, I:e., III .facl, ~II sec tors of the US economy, It is also developmg Intensively In Ihe sphere of finance' t he US economy is
controlled to a considerable eXlelll by f~wer than a score of
banks.
The concentration of production whO h
h d' hand
with fler e
. .
,
IC goes an In
c com~etl110n, and is leading to Ihe merger and lakee
ov : of enterJ?nses,. concerns, and trusts, has been developing
rapidly, espeCially In recent years Th f
h
ber
of mergers in the first 25 years aft'er ", act t at the"J1l1m(ac
war was sma er
-

.l.l()

, r lill" 10 Vi("tor Pl'rio\ <.lata) than in the three years fol.

l
( l { Oindkate.o; thl' rate at
"
lowing
1IL:' "
1 l.t 1$ gn.lwlIlg. It IS very char.
,lCh,.'r i... 11L' that lI1ergers of I.lm!d nval~ (.I.e .. merger" Within a
sedor) are around 10 p~r (ent today, ~hlle the bulk of mergers
are a uniting of cl1terpn ... e~ of vt=ry diverse Chara(ler anti line
of bu ... ille!:.s in a single conglomerate. Their range of adlvilY
is pradically ulllimileLi (from produ(lion of high technology
to disposable baby's napkins) while the conglomerates them~
selves are an instrument of centralisation and improvement
of Ihe system of management.
Use of Ihe latest advances of technology.is an exceptionaiJy
important and elTeclive instrument for improving managemellt.
These advances are not only being widely introduced in production itself but are also being intensively employed 10 modernise the management machinery. Special firms have been set
up to investigate problems .of producti?n ~anagement. paying
attention chiefly to developlIlg corporallons strategy and determining their policy lines. \1embers of th~ firms (profe.ssio.nais
of the most varied fields, from economists to psychologists)
make concrete recommendations, after study of the s~ate of a
corporation's affairs, on programming and forecasting. production (on the scale, moreover, of the whole seclor or IIldustry), determine the effeci of intr~ucing new te~hnology and
production processes and the expediency of changlllg Ihe .r~nge
of products, applying new forms of manage~eJ1t. elc. Billions
of dollars are saved annually. for example. JUSI through aulOmalion of management.
. . '
Scien ce is being convened through Ihal InIO a kllld of bUSIness and moreover a business of a national characle~. a rcon ;
f h a propriations for research comlllg ~on
,
bl '
sldera e part 0 t e p
,.
J" iled to utilising SClenthe slate budge t. But Slale CO[1Iro IS nor In:'
f BI'g Busi. I d s in Ihe II1tereSIS 0
tine a n d technolog lca a vance
J
measures constilutes a
n ess. T he complex of st~le I [~OJ1~~~i;lriblUion of the national
broa der prog ramme Ihat 1I1C ~ es ans of financial policy and
in co rn e th rough the b t~dget,
~ne the placing of military org
app ropria te pr?gralm111I1 ,. ~~~ olbenelitS, and other levers ~r
ders, .the gran ~ l n g. of ~" k~ic affairs widely employed by caplstate mt erve nl lon 111 econo lanning of t!conOTnIC de~eloprn~nt
tal. EfTor~s .at goverll ll1 ~~lv:lopillg coulltries (Algena, Ind13)
cha r actenstlc both of
France) ha\'e no small place [[mong
an d deve loped ones (e.g.,

v:

these measures.
easures however. are very far from
The results of all Ihese m , mos; wealthy hiehh" deH'illped
h
the desired effect. Even I
e , -.

capitalisl

,
I

,<

s
(

a
c

cOlllllrie~

t'l\I1\lallll)" t.'\'PL'fll'IlL'l'

l'I,-" ()noll1t~

fl."

,_

"
" P IIl'IWllIl'rlJ. I
stagnatIon.
an derlslS
11 "
"'Plll' ul the broil"(l~'Jnn~ '
.
of Slale mOlwpoly 1I1l'asurl'S C<l II l'lI lor
hy fhe w, uJI 'l(..I v'sY~lcrn
,,
" I"lsI t..'corWlIly (growl I1 n I" L' Iil\..\ Mruggl< cr\llle~
of the capIta
u '
'.
..
, incm.
I
ploymenl. Slarpelltllg
01 l"l'IlIPl'IIIIOti
011 Ihe home and
I

"
I
nalJO~la

'
" e.I,1..'T
It er.
mar",t"fs.
I I~l' .d"]'fUrIIH'
1..'1 01' market forces, ell:)
and IIltt'nded 10 eilllllllillt' or Illiligalt.' Ih('se adversiti es

<l'ci

for all the significalll..'e of [he IIh.'ilsures of Slate inlerventj~n r~

economic affairs.. Ihe measures do nor y!eld I~e desired reSU lt~n
The syster~l at stale mOIl~poly adnllll,rsiralloll, which jmple~
men IS plannlllg and reguiallOIl of pUblic affairs On a certa i
scale. is able, to .some extent, to counteract market forces an ~
e.v~l~ .weaken their effet'l, but it cannot abolish them. The posSibilities and very character of each system are ultimately
determ.ined by t~e society:s socia-economic system and type
of socia-economic formation. When we are analysing and
evaluating any system of administration we need to take
aCCOunt of many factors. such as the aims and principles of
adminis~ration, its structure and limits, fhe relation of the subject
and object of administration, and its scale and possibilities,
e!fecrs and effectiveness, elc. In a general appreciation of a
given system we can be guided by various cr iteria (degree of
democracy, for example, or dynal'tlism, scienti fic substantia_
tion, conservatism, etc.) but it must have a concrete historical
,
character, however it is made. A society of antagonistic classes
has . a.n o~ganicalJy inherent, class-antagonistic system of
administratIOn adequate to ii, which determines its specific
character.
hen
appraising the system of administration of bourgeois
SOCiety we should stan from Marx's indi cation that

'Y

Ihe
o COnlrol exercised bY.lhe capilalisl is nOi only a special fUrlClion due
'b Ihe ~alure of Ihe sOCial labour_process an d peculiar 10 Ihal process,
UI II IS al Ihe sam" ,"
r"
. .
.I
.:- Ime, a unction o~ Ihe explollatlon of a sCX: la
labour_ 'r
enp ocess, and. IS consequently rooled In Ihe unavoidable anlagonlsm
Ihe explOiler and Ihe living and labouring raw malerial he
belwe.
explolls.

That .ci.rcurll:stance governs the aims of the bourgeois system

of adminiStration, and they in turn determine the principles
structure of administration, establish its limits. posSl. I illes, scale,. and r~sults, give rise to an inevitable antagonism between liS subject (the state and 't
.)
d its
ob)'ect (worki g
) .
I S agenCIes an
n masses. I.e., puts its stamp ultima.tely on the
whole sy~tem of .bourgeois state administration.
The aim of thiS system is to safeguard ana defend the in-

a'~~r ~ery

232

f tht: dominant cla\.::l.; II functions only within tht' con.

Ide')ts \\ hkh II !;orre:-.pnnds In the inlert'!>ls of Ihe dominant
full!''' HI W
.
d"
h
'
It s limiled ('haral,;ter IS cxpre"\.~ In Its not aVlIlg a
Ulllll~rtl~
CO
[\"I..,t~ 11"I Y sl'icnlifh,: nature (which by no m.:an .. rule ... oul the
..,' of :o.!;icnn:) .
,
_
,
II f.:,
S~ll'ntl'I'.
II: "'dmini..,traIlOI1
'
" of SOCiety demands comrrchell'lJl)11
dd" "
"
b" ",ive laws. of historICal development.d In a h\(j'r
limn to
ofthcoJCI:
- cialisl.'d theories of manag~ment that .. tu y met, ( S. 0
spc.
t managerial operations and procedures as a kmd
carryln~, o~.. m for uniting knowledge with the conditions for
of m~c a,n,'or a~ a reneclion of the formal. procedural aspect
applymg I ,
"
.
.
d
"
f
""ng of 'he system '. sClentlfH: a mllllslratlon. I'd
0
f Ihe f unctlonl
o.
ails for a general sociologi cal theory based on a SO.I
SO~let.y ch 'al foundation. And only the dialectical. matenallM
is capable of performing that fun ct,lOn. Knowr
of his tory is unoblamable from
ed ge 0 f 'he ob)'ective laws ..

phllf~O~utl~Ok

w,

ide;~~~n~0~ ?i:~~%~~;!~~,O~;':!~i.:;;, ~~~:~;~O~:';'~~~f!~~

use 0 .t e
. . I . only wilhin the power 0 a
in the Interests of SOCIety: t I~
k '
a class whose inle.
revolutionary cI~ss to reah~e t,h.IS tas ~~e~f history. The state
rests coincide With the obJectl\e cou d administration. wilh
monopoly .system of mana.g~~ec~tar~~ter. is unable to transits class-onentated. antagoms
h" h crisis phenomena of
society' from W IC
, h
form the nature 0 f a
d"d I ,"cal character stem Wit
.
I'tical an I eo oe:
h
an economiC, po I .
'ble to resolve t e confatal inevitability. it only. becomdes POoSSr'ganise a truh scientific
. I
tradictions of such a sooe tv-' an f to dministratioll ofall S~la
", eg ral sY'stem
0 a f a new socia
. I"1St soc Iety" .
and ' moreover. In
'Id"
'
.
h bUl mg 0
development. durmg t. e.
means passing from t~e sp.ontaThe building of SOCIalism
inant in all preceding h.lstory
neous social developmenl pr~d~m 10 a planned. goal-one~ted
to consc ious histori.cal ':~~!~\ 11~~::essariIY calls for ~heorellc~i
development of S~I~tY That determines the speCial role
scie ntific substantlatJOI~.
.
"
sc ience in social!st. ~OClet~. ecessilY of the rise of thiS s~lel~
The very pOSSibility ~n II ,science. Science subSlanllate
had already been p~edl~~e1h:)new forma~io~ and. def1ll:~n\~~
the historical necesslly .'
it Under SOCialism sCience.
d
ways and means of re~ltSU1~ ;he theoretical basis of dlrec~e
forward for the first ttlneconsequently as an instrumen.t ~~
soc .ia I .developmelH
whoit' and
sy.slelll 0 f social relations and all aspel.
perfecltrtg .Ihe
of soc ial life.
l.U

,,
I

SOI.:ialism radically alief' Itlt,.' \t'ry aims <llltl charal'ter f

sodal administration. and 3'.lhe 'allll.;' 111,111..' Iht" \lru ..:IUft> ao~
prinl.'irles of the admllll'ilratlllil \~'It'IIl. 11\ \(aic.., ('arab i/iIi
and effectiveness. ils fesul!" ,and elll'\,:h .lnd a/l thl' Other par:S:
meters Ihal express its spel'tfh.: charal..'lt'r,
One of the chief merits of Ihi ... 'y'Mrn of admillistralion i~
its inlegral character. It embraces all 'lx'lal pro('es~s Without
exception. all aspects of s?"iaJ development, ,and Ihe t'IJl ire
society. The building of sOl'lalism ar~d CO.IIlIll~l1I.srn IS a proc~
of planned creation the essence ot wlHell IS expressed in a
realisation of scientific ideru;. This is why each step in rhe

building of socialism and communism Illust be preceded by a

Theoretical investigation of the problems involved, identifIcati on
of scientifically subSlaniiated ways and means of achieving th e
intended goals. and determination of their effects and results,
The socialist system of administration (a nd this is its quali.
tative distinction) not only embraces the whole of society but
is also implemented in the interests of a/l society . In other
words. it can and must have a truly demoaatic character. The
building 9f socialism and communism is not only a planned
process but also a conscious one and, moreover, one carried
out by millions of working people. 'Living, creative soci~lism,'
Lenin wrote. 'is the product of the masses rhemsclves." The
existence of a theory and of theorericians, and the prodama.
tion of principles and the adoption of corresponding pro.
grammes. still do not in themselves guarantee Success if social
consciousness has nOl absorbed these scientifically grounded
pro.gr?mmes and principles. 80lh the practice of building
soclahsm and the state of social consciousness, i.e., the objective
and the subjective factors. call for the intrOduc tion of sciellfilic
theory into life. The socialist system of administration is really
ba5:Cd, on the.
activity of working people who have
assimilated sClenhfic Ideas; in that connection it brings oul
sharply
the society.
function of science as the domi nant world olltlook
of socialist

ge~uin~

Th~ democratic char~cter

of the socialist system of govern .

ment IS expressed. both In the functions il performs and in the
role of the workmg people in the system itself, and also in
,features of
system's organisational structure. Under so.
!he relallon between the subject and object of adminis.
IS altered; the
COntradiction between them, pecu.
Itar to a c1ass.antagonlStlc SOCiety, is replaced and succeeded
by an ever fuller correspondence whO h '/I b i d ill
the course of SOCial evol t"
b'
!C ~I
.e rep ace .
U IOn y an IdentificatIOn of subject
234

t~e
clal~sm
r~allon

t~e

.01.~

llld nbJl'"c' in Ihe hIghest phase of communism, When govern_

1111."111 will hI." rt"placed by $elf-governmem whose e1emenls are
heing lh:veloped today. .
. .
The cssentlally hUlTlalll.\t charader of SOI..lalisl gm'ernment
<.IIld aJrninistratill1l i'i inextricably bound up with its demonatic
c haracter. Thi'i ~ystcm. which is aiml."d al providing optimum
nlnditiom of existelll.:e for people (both natural and s()\.:ial
conditions), and aJlrounti rai.\ing of material well.being and
enrichmellt of the splritu<ll world. protection of health and
growth of longevlly, and <IJ1.roun~ an? harmonious develop.
mellt of each member of SOCIety, IS onemated as a whole on
man and on achieving the highest. linest human. ideals,
This lofty humanist mi~ion gives the SOCialIst system of
government international signi.licance because, by senm g. ~~e
cause of peace and progress, It ther~by sene,s all pro~reSS1\e
mankind, all the people of the world lrrespeCII\'e of theIr race.
religion, nationality, or citizenship.
'.
Because of thai the socialist system of m_anagmg soc~al
development should. hav.e .an .int~gral, system.le, .?en:'~~atll:.
humanist character: Its distinguishing fearures. ItS \Iabillt) an~
effectiveness. are determined in the I~sr anal):sl~. by the fal~
that its methodological basis is '\1arxl5m~LenlnlSm ..the trul}
scientific world outlook of today. lis ge~~lnely sClenllfic char.
acter is expressed not only in opportunliles ~or maxImum u~e
of the latest advances of all branches of sCle.nce. bu~ also In
the distinguishing features of this n:'e~hodologlcal ba~l.s. d
d
The philosophy of ~1arxism-Lenlnl5m that gener.~ Ise h~n I
creatively developed the ratiodnal c~nh,ednl",o~:~he t~~II~~~t ~;.
h f
ding ages an ennc e
thoug t
and social practice. prm'ides
vances 0 wor
d . I
em of nature and sOCIety.
of the obj~ctive la~s o~ th~lm~:le("~I~ciousness, This philosoph.y
and of thei r reflectIOn
h " (fie cognifion of objective realtis an instru~nenl both.o sLl~n,:ansformalion. It is capable of
.
d of ItS revolullonar)
ty an . .
h d 10 ieal funcliol1 in relation to any
performIng .ltS met dO 0 g ver in relation to all the diverse
branch of sClem:e al~ : moreo .

~ pr~c~cience

knowl~dge

If;

forms ~f h~mal~ .acllvlt~f social administration is now being

A sClenllflc sysr~1l1 , first ~ocialist country in the world
introduced no., onl},.II;.111~ommllnit\". B\" employing its advan.
but in the. entlfe
SOCI~ IS alre COljll'lltlOlISi\". developing and .de.
,', 'oulllrres
tages. socra
c
. SClell
"
II'''-c
and fechnical
co-operation,d
, I~
r economIC.
/I
. . . ,
..
la IS of socio.economlc, SClentlllC. an
epellll1g tIel
They
out JOIllr', rOJl~willg Ihe road of economic integra. ',uralwork
deveJoplllell
cu
13S

THE NATIONAL AND UNI\ FR\\1.

E. A. B i:l g r a

n1 0 \

Is there such a thing as national dlaraCll'r'.' The qUl'stion would

seem superfluous. \\'hen we meet peoplt.' of dilIerenl Ilati onali _
ties, and become acquainted with their an. traditions. and customs, we inevitably bel'ome convinced thai Ihe members of any

nation express thoughts and feelings characteristic of all of us

in their own way, and lhat Ihey ha\e cenain Iypical nuances
in their perception of various things and phenomena, and a
definite way of reacting to them. in short. everything thai
gives the imelleclUai activity of a nation and a national culture
a certain colouring and specific character. The pages of many
books, descriptions of various travels, and hislOrical chronicles are full of stories about and impressions of other peoples'
morals and characters,
The question of study of the features of the spiritual image
of a nation arises from people's practical needs and their natu ral striving to know the character and customs of the population of countries with which they maiI1lain relations,
According to the findings of ethnographic research, opposing
tendencies have operated since time immemorial in the course
of inter-tribal relations: both toward a coming together and
an ~trangement of ,ethnic groups, The estrangement ar ising
durtng first contacts IS overcome with an increase of relations,
~ut this i~tercourse often sharpened people's sense of belongmg to their Own group,

soci~logists regard this psychologica l state, known

as ethn~e~trtsm.' as a universal feature of the human race,
fro~ SOCieties ':"lth~ul a written language to modern civilised
Some

nation,S, But this pOmt of view is refuted by ethnographic observ~tlOns, (among which we must mention above all the
studies of the oUlst,anding Russian scientist N, N. Miklouho
Maklay and later mvestigations by Soviet and many other
ethnographers) ,
e
Progress,iv schol,ars have not only smashed conclusions
about man s perennial hostility toward
b
f
h
' ul
melll ers 0 at er ( 238

"iles, hut huve also rdLlted the very view or memkn of

'prirnJlive' SOcll't)' liS creatures ladmg human qualities, ror
whom ITwlltal infamili'.im Wei> said 10 be characteristic. They
have al'>o dClI1on'>tratl"C! the source or such nOlions.. which ar('
(noh.'d in thl" Eurocerllnsm Sldl lyplCal of many Westt"rn
<it'h ola r.:..
Objt"ctivl' Mudil's have shown that what ha'i been called an
irresistible p')ych()logicijl impuhe generated by nearly congt"nital or dl'l'p-'>eated l'thn(x:ell1r~, functioned. already at the
'itage of the break-up of the tribal sy~tem. a\ a ju\tlftcation
of the selflsh illtere.st\ of dominant grou~. Ignorance of other
peoples, and a con\erva tive di'>trU.'i1 of e\'erythrng foreign.
which constitut(' Ihe .soc ial -psychological content of ethnocentrism. are transformed and directed. a-. a rule, into a dt"nnitt"
channel by ideological considerations.
The historical research of recent decades ha~ destroyed
unscientinc notions about the isolated de\'elopment of the
peoples of the ancient world Ii\ing on different contine.nts: The
tone was usually set here by preachers of Ihe sure-nom)' of
certain races or nations over others. Bourgt"ois al.:ademics,
responding to capitalists' expansionist aspirations, composed
legends about the spiritual character o.f the rc:oples ~ho were
the object of colonial policy. Reacuonary Ideolog~ts. ~ho
ascribed physical and psychic defecls of every p~'ilble kmd
10 these peoples, usually explained their 'inferiority' by 'Ihe
will of the Lord',
From the standpoint of the materialist conception of history
il is quite legitimate to think that the distinguishing feature o.f a
peop le is stamped on its spiritual (haracter fro.m gener.a~lOn
to generation under the influel~ce ?f the peculiar condrtl?I1S
of its social environment and hlstorrcal fate. and Ihal speCIfic
quali fi es and habits are built up that make members of one
na tion differ, to some e.\.tent, from those of another. It. would
be naive to suggest that direct observation of I~e behavro~r of
members of a nation is suffh.:ienl for LJnderslandm~ the naHonal
peculiarities of its psych.olog~:, The fC'atur~s of ~a_tl.onal cha.rac:
ter can be studied prrmarrly from their obJel,flve mal1l~~
tat ion ill achiev('rnenls and values of a truly natl~flal scal,e,. m
a people's arl and folldon.", in various sph~r~s of liS creativity,
in its traditions, Cll~tom~, morals, and hablfs.
Academics do 1101 always, unfortunately, underta~e a .tho~
ou h study of a nalion's spiritual culture, preferring mtuItiv~, superficial speculati(.~ns. In~(ead of real knowledge of the
national p.sychology, \'3(IOUS kmds of stereotypes are often
2,11/

,
I

<

emrlo~'~ uncritically. i.~ .. cOIl\t'lllional, Irih.' dl'~\,: riplinl1 'i _

Ihe spmtual character 01 rl~orll'S Ihal Ml' r\'ntl'd in the . 01
sciousnes~ of many people as H'ry rl~Jl1 prl"judil;('s. Thl'rt' i~n,n.
need 10 list Ihese slen.'olypl'\ III del .III: Ihl'Y Ml' Oltt'n il' 1 '0
.
d"
L
1 I'
'ill Illig
10 natIOnal Igmt)" . . ('I I~~ ',IOIt' on y llal JU\.' Ihl.' faci of their

commonness makes Idenlllymg real and not Imaginary nati

31 fealUres of psychology an urgelll probk'm.
OnMarxism is opposed in prindric to mat...ing an ah\ollil of
any psychological allribllles. Mar:\. and Engels Wrote:
t'
\tan's ideas, views and con<:l'plions. in one word, 111i1n\ \:1)11\o.: i I _
changes wilh every changl' in Ihl! l'ondilil)m of hi~ maTerial' ex\III\~("\S
in his social relations and Ul his social life.
. S ~ nce.

National character is not an eXl'eptioll. The special condilion

of ~ .people's exist~nce, its social and class str uclure, econorni~
aCllvlty, way of life, culture, beliefs, and historical fate all
leave their mark on its members' psyc he, which is also' expressed in their behaviour, tastes, habit s, morals and certain features of ~heir mentality and perception of reality. Th e character
of a ~atlOn thus ahers IOgelher with changes in its condit ions
?f :x.lsten~e. At the same time it is suffic iently stable to give an
~ndlvlduahty to a people's culture. manner of behaviour, and
mtellectual activity.
Marxism-Leninism rejects soc iological inventions about
alleged organic defects of nations. Negative features in the
character of peoples are explained by soc ial and class causes
~nd are, the consequence of exploiter oppression and a hard
h~e. It. IS a. favounte technique of reactionary ideologists to
blOloglse Ihls backwardness. and make it an absolute .
When Ma~x wrote. in his article 'The British Rule in India',
abo~1 the vllla~e communities in the East, which rested on
pal~lar~hal, semi-barbarous socia l organisation he brought out
their disastrous infl
'
.
uence on the peoples' conSCIOusness. He
stressed thai these forms of social organisation
had always been the s rd f
.
restrained the hUm,
0 'd ?u~dalJon of Oriental despolism, Ihal Ihey
11
rn1l1
the unresisting tool r wlth1l1,.the s rna II esl POS~1bl e com pass, lOa kmg it
rules depriving1 f ~I super~tlllOl\, enslaving it beneath Iraditional
,
lOa grandeur and hislorical energies.~

This historical approach h I

social and spiritual e
. : ps one to llllderstand thai the
the revival and d ~anctpatlon of nations is a guarantee of
More than a huenvectPctmenl. of the .besl national qualities.
I' .
,
I
re natIOns
groups live in the S
. ' natlOna Illes, and natlOna
OVlet Union' befo
h 19 7 0
ber
Revolution many of them w
"
.r~ t e l
cro
ere III condUlOlIS of a semifeudal.
24(1

d even trihal system. It IS not surprising thar Chen the con~

an sness 01 maSil'""J had been in the grip of absurd mediaeval
sCIOU
.
TIlcre were sc h0 1ars '!' h0 tne.
. d ~~ pr.ove
CllSlOms and preJudll"cs.
the tIlcapacilY of. the~ peoples to absorh modern .ClvlItsallon.
But reality convtI~("Jngly demon"1~ated that emanclpare~ penles are capable, III .l very short lime., not. o~ly of .emlmtlallng
~dvanced culture but al'm of ~evclop1l1g II 111 nallOnal fo~m\
peculiar 10 them . It t~ wurlh nOllng thai many valu.es of Rus..\13n,
l'krainian, and other culture.s hav.c been. acqllln!d by these
peoples and developed on their nallonal SOIL There IS thus n6
'psVchological' gulf between peoples. and cannot be.
Peopies are furt.her .dr3.wing c1ose,r to.gelher through the
increasing inlernatlonalisatlon of social life. In ~Ptt~ of .th.c
conlradictory character of Ihis process under .capl~ahsm, II IS
leading even there to the markedly i~crea:>1I1g Importance
of common features in different peoples, n~tlOna! charact~rs.
It will be difficult to discover character trails In nat~ons thall.lve
in conditions of one and the same socio-econo~1C formatIOn
that would be completely foreign to another natlor~.
The task of fhe ethnographer, it seems to, me. IS thUbS not
.
d'ff
. la lone-sided
way.
utI to
to stress psychological
I erences I
.
.
'
.
.
f Ih forms in whtch the ullIversa IS
bring out the dlversily 0
e
f
. I development the inmanifested. At the ~resent ~tage 0 ~~Ia manif~ted precisely
ternational. the ul1lve~sal IS pec~lIa ~ional. which is often
in the specifically natlon~l., In t e na nide' of the universal.
depicted as unique. there tS I~ f act, ~ ~~velopment determines
The unity of the patterns 0 ~OCI~ s chology of any people.
the universal content of the nal~ona '~it~al character of a naThe Marxian, appr?ach to I e SP~ljonalist conceptions that
tion in bourgeOIs society opposes n ct preach an illusion of
1 k f
'sm of classes an
conceal the anlago lll . . ' ns and a single world out 0.0, 0
single thoughts and asPlfa~o rher extreme. the very legl.llmaO
the nation'S members. ~n t, e h cter is sometimes fallaCIOusly
cy of attributes of natlOn~ c ar~ y allegedly contradict the
denied on that basis, ~mc~ I e But this is clearly a cas.e
initial premises of. ~arx~~:l t I~~tr~i~g 10 do with the truly SCIof vu lgar sociolog lsm ha h' ~ takes the actual force of a host
entitlc Marxist th~ory, w IC s choiogical factors into account
of social, ideological. and I~:m all to an abstractly understood
and hence does nol reduce.
.
,
I pecull
class factor.
f M rxism of len referred to nat,lOna . thThe fathers 0 ,a
ter of peoples, Without m
e
arities ar:td t~e na~o;~~o~:t~;i~~ of Ihem. When I employ the
least falling II1to a
24t
16_016b 2

concepts 'national c~aracte~'. 'lIafion~1 psychOlogy'

are widely employed

In

the illerarurl'). 111 spill' of Ihe

(w .,

h!(h

tionality of the terms. I have only nat!ollal. peCliliaritit'~O~\I~",

character and psychology of peoples 111 ml/ld.
he
I

,,I

,,

,
,
,
,

In public life we undoubted!} come up

aga~lst

the psychol .
gy of classes. strata, and sonal groups. Nalional PSychol o

is not, however, a sum total of them. AI the same time the ong~
lional is incorrec.tly represe~ted in, ib essence as sOmethi:g
above class, ,Iackmg a .defilllte socl~1 ~Onlenl. The difllcuhy
and complexity of studymg the pecu.haruy of national psychol_
ogy lie precisely in an understandmg of Ihe relation of the
social and class with the national Ihat would exclude both a
counterposing of them and a dissolving of the former in the
latter.
The fact that, even in a class society, certain features characterise a nation as a whole, and n ot only separate classes,
by no means implies that members of the struggling classes
are indifferent to them . Each of the social classes strives to
assert and perpetuate those features that correspond to its
aspirations. In a certain period reactionary classes succeed
in imposing features of their class psychology on the entire
society while the progressive classes are nOi yet liberated from
the alien influence and have not begun to fight to spread their
Own psychology and values throughout society.
When speaking of the complexity and contradictoriness of
the features of national psychology, one must remember that,
though sound folk traditions prevail, there are surv ivals among
them, bad habits, and backward morals, and extraneous element~ impo~e_d by reactionary classes. While bourgeois writers
often laud .Just these features, passing them off as time-honn.oured national peculiarities, progressive ideologists see pre~,sely
those qualities in the national psychology th at a people
IS proud of.
In order .to understand national peculia r iti es it is necessar:y to consl~er a people's spiritua l character as well as the
SOCIO-ec.onomlc fact?rs influenCing it in a con c r ete a n d comprehenSive way. Ii. IS also necessary to rake into account t~e
character of the m~uence that different classes h ave on II.
The cI.ass approach IS the best guiding principle when we are
a people's truly
features at a given stage
of Its
and
alien elements that have been introduced mto l.tS splfllua.1 hfe by reactionary classes. II is obvious
that the unity of natIOnal Character I'S
d'
ullilY
b
.
a Contra lctory
.
Ii was not y chance that Lenm Wrote about the two nations

an~lysmg
d~vel~pme~t.

242

t~e

n~tional

,III eve r Y bourgeois nat inn. and about the two cultures in every
ational lulture.
n An individual's
affiliation has
on his
' ur and system of value than hiS natlonahty.
be h'avlO
k The
' psy,
or the capitalist and that of the
are oppame III
cho Iogy
. wor er W'h'
'
,'I sense of purpose
and their essence. . en 11 comes
Ih"rs~,a,
,
,
r
I nat ional allnbutes, these represent a community 0
to genera
r " I' I
rm it'! the main rather than of the content 0 Splfltua, II1lero I t'lvl'ty . When Lenin exposed the reactionary
lectua ac
r W id Wnature
i
or
ar, a
f the slogan of national cuhur.e on the eve 0
an that then renected the mterests
!;he landowners ,a.nd
s ogt J"sts he had in mind thl" bourgeOIs content of the Sll1:l',u,'e' and not its national form, without .which cultural
gee
communIly as a necessary component of the natIon would have
b en a pure fiction.
d
I
e Due regard for the national fealures
Ino

cla~

~
C~PI

~ gre~ter ~ffect

~f

~f psychol~gy

,:S

t~e le~1 ~i~tni~o~I~I~~:edni~~~u~~. a~~~~~~ :~ ~~:~;~ cr~

a
in
motIves. u .
.
f
ial forces and the morals, emGpicture of Ihe IIlleraCI}On 0 soc f haracter typical of them thai
tions, sentiments, ~n~ ealu:es ~ocle's historical fate. Leaving
f
reflect the pecu!tanty ?d
.p ~i11 ine\'itably lead to schemathese factors out of conSI ~rallon
ticism in sociological stU~les.
I
are dominant in society.
The ideas of. th.e dommant c ;~I about the psychology of
That can be said _Ill general ~ an essential distinction here.
the dominant class. BUI there IS rarities of character reflect
In their real content natio~a~ pecu.1 I life within the compass
the conditions of a people s .ma.te~larmation and developmen.t.
of the long period of the nallon S h h is most stable in thIS
and bear the s.'a,:"p of only ~~a~d:OI~gy and social psycholohistory. Since It IS a matter
w far the ideas and morals of
gy, one must first of all trace h~et as a whole.
thus socially conditio~ed.
a certain class take. hold of SOC /
te
is
In its essence nat ional charac
features that are denved
Bu t it is by no means the comml~l ies and moreover, derived
f rom the sum total of class pSYChboasi~ prope~ remains a!,d t~e
in such a way that the class . National character IS bU.11t
'purely' national hovers h~bOv~al~practice. National a~d s~la:
up in the course of r~al I!to~~ity are nor. however, Idef1lica
.
Psychology. while b e i l l g .
.
with one an at h er.
..
ew socialist socIety
0 ver an Im-I
The practice of bUlldmg and of establishing truly fraterna
mense stretch of !he worl~ a~oples. completely refuted bourand humane relatIons amo g
243

,,
,

geols invenlions aboul inC'muil'able r;.ln' hatn'd and d- among peoples. and about Ih~' init'lll'ctual supl'riori,\" If lscord
nations. Tht' progre:-..... ndHl'\rtl by pt'ople.'> llr all ~' {)n~"'l~t'na in
"I'l ... alloll
' Ilas l'Om'lIIelth!!,.
'.
the development 0 f (1\\
del" ellis' In
- .
.
. -,
- .
"omlraled
lhal II IS not people ... naluraJ pl.'CUllanlh:s Ih.1I delermin h '
, fat~. blit. 1ht" S('I('In
'I nm d'lImns
,
l " life. Only oUIe-and.
I elf
SlX"lat
() f tl!;'lr
oul reactIOnaries now resort .IL) such l'{\!let'PI.' as 'race', 'nar
" . el("., wh
iJUllng
'
1 I'
a 1 SPirit.
en l"P
lit.'
11Slor~' and cullureIonof

people:).
As to whal nalional dWr.l('ler is. and what is lis struci
' .
'I
ure,
Ihere are many OPllll01l<; among non-,,, orxian sociologists. But
mosl of these cOllcepllClns carry a load of old views.
In spite of the idea disseminated in Western literature that
\1arxists treat the peorle as a faceless conglomerate, Marxism_
Leninism sees in the working masses bearers of deilnite views
ideas, traditions, feelings, and sentiments. Hence (he concepfio~
that no significant cultural rhenomelloll becomes clear unless
the specifically national forms of a peorle's creative activitv
are analysed.
.
.R.eveali.ng t.he ulli.versal and the specific features in peoples'
spiritual life, mdudmg study of its national-psychological ele.
ments is of great importance for consolidating ties between
people~, and their mutual understanding, friendship, and cooperatIOn. It deals a blow (0 racisl and chauvinist theories of
various kinds.
When we speak of nalional character, we do nol mean unique
features .of character peculiar 10 all Ihe members of a given
commu~ilY, but tOTally abseil! in other national communities.
Th~ ulllqueness of national character consists mainlv in a pc_
(ullar combination of universal features common to
humans
rather Ihan in Ihe existence of absolutely unique features. The
tendency common in bourgeois-nationalist literature to counterfose peoples according to their spiritual character thereby
acks grounds, and equally any advocacy of national exclusiveness I~th~ .SUpporters of which deliberately exaggerate national
pecu lantles on Ih
' .on'the other).
c one hand and the differe nces between
nations,

all

When I speak of
.
identifying it . I ~atlonal character I am not, by ally meanS,
gate of his ke;'~ 1 I e character of an individual, the aggrecharacler traits i:~lures .Ihal denne him as a personality. The
e~al form an integr:t~~n~ III members of a .nation do not in gendlstmguishing class andha~ac~e.r. The naHonal does not conceal
tralb. It is more co
IJ1dlVldual, professional, and other
neet 10 say that all these features find

'"

unique rwlional expre.s.\inn ill th~ member, of a nation.

The ({Hltent of the concept 'national character' reflects the
exi.~tL'me nf a(cu\t()\ued forms of behaviour. emotional and
psydwlllgi(al reaction to rt.'alities. and certain values and ta ..ks.
The national character of a pl'tlple. 3.') a conaete expr~iC'ln
of the UJliver!lal. i'i embodied and realised, of course, in the
psy(hological ft=alures of the individuals that constitute the
nation. But that by no means signifle~ that su(h a complex sodal
phenomenon (an be reduced to a simple sum of individual
charactt=rs. On the other hand, it is impossible to flJ1d an identical embodiment of the features of the national psychology
in each member of a nation. The national psychological type
or types chara(terisc a nalion as a whole and are not necessarily characteristic of each of its members.
National character is a product of the interaction of many
factors in a people's so(ial development. including those Ihat
have a relative historical stability (the established division of
labour in given social and geographical conditions, certain
cultural tradilions, and certain institutions of family and ev~ry
day relations). I start from the point that Ihe features of nallonal character for all their importance and significance, do not,
however to~ch the foundations of people's psyches, the epistemologic~l aspeci of perception of the external world, the main
forms of logical thinking, talents, etc.
.
But which psychological features should be consldere~ national and which local, regional, etc.? The answer consllluies
an essential element of the historical-materialist approach to
the problem. We judge national. character ~ot accordlllg to
chance impressions and superfiCial .observatlons but by the
peculiar historical and cuhural traIts sramped on obJccuve
forms of a people's life, trailS that stand Ollt sharply enough
to characterise the nation a~ a whole.
.
The caUlion wilh which Lenin approache_d thiS pr?blem was
characteristic. In answer 10 the statement ot the Italian SOCialist Constantine Lazzari at the Third Co~gress of ~he Com,!,u,nist International that 'We know the italian people s mentah.ty,
Lenin said: ' I would 1I 0t dare 10 make such an assertIon
about the Russian people .. .'l
.
.'
.
Each (ime we speak of the psychological qua.hlles ot a rt:ople
we compare thent with its history and exa~lIle .the natIOnal
features as Ihe product of a long social an~ hlstoncal development. There cannot be any ~alk a~out. nallonal character and
study of it outside the sooal, hlstortc~1 environment,. from
whidl it follows that the problem of nallonal .... haracter IS not
245

a biopsychologieal one but a historical, sOl'iologi..:al <lIld

.
.
. -,"ompIeXJly
" ,0.' tht.' problem

10<1,1
psychological
matter. T h.IS
Inak "
it obligatory to approach If t rom the POSIIIOIlS of several r I. "
" ' h among t h e PSYl'hological feat
<ated
disciplines, and to dlstmgUlS
. I an d"
themselves those that have a Socia
hlSlonl'al significanur",
'
In a historical or sociological study one cannot ignore f~e.
role of the national psycho~og!cal features of a people. Du:
account of them also has slgl1lficance for the activity of the
Marxist party and proletariat of a COunlry.
Such a quality of the national character as a feeling of nation_
al pride is manifested differently among different peoples.
Small nations, or ones that have long been subject to foreign
oppression, are particularly sensitive as regards respect for their
national dignity, and to the slightest offence. Special tact is
therefore necessary on the part of the Communists of big na.
tions as regards their comrades of other nationalities. Work to
overcome national prejudices must naturally be organised with
allowance for national psychology.
An important example of observance of tact in respect of
other nationalities was given by Lenin, all of whose activity
was permeated by a deep respect for the national dignity of
each nation and nationality. and a striving to facilitate their
rapprochement on a truly equal basis.
Today, when a family of equal socialist states has been form~d
and consolidated, these Leninist principles are of special
importance. All the CPSU's international activity strives to
confirm them in the practice of Marxists-Leninists' mutual
relations, and of those of the broad masses of the people. It
is. ~ot b~ chance that respect for the national dignity of other
clttzens IS a duty of each citizen of the USSR.4
The experience of the development of the peoples of the
l!SSR and other socialist countries has shown that the liquida!Ion of antagonistic classes and consolidation of a socialist
Ideo.lo.gy and psycholog~ among all their peoples does not entail
a Wlpmg ~u~ of all. natIonal features and peculiarities. On the
contrary, It IS precisely under socialism, when a single cultu:e
of the peoples ?f the USSR, socialist in Content but varied In
forms, has ftounshed luxuriously, that the best features of national character have developed and found I
.
Natl'onI
I'
c ear expressIOn.
a sec USton an? estrangement are reCeding into the past, and
are revealing
to each
in
ry often c~aracte;isticPI~ce of the national arr.ogance and bl~ot~
.
h as Come peop Ies' 0resp
Some
iSm
t rof the POpulation under capital
. cl
ec or the Customs and traditions
246

!~~i~:!es~:fi:::~rne,

t~emselves

oth~r

.
and a r"adiness
h r nallons,
...
. to share the best in their own cui.
I
ot e. d to accept the best in the culture of fraternal pe~p es.
lUre an h 'oming together of the peoples of the USSR ~s not
But tee
'mply
an exc hange of material. and
. spiritual values. Itr lS the
SI. .
d consolidation of qualltallvely new common e.atures
~Ise an . and social organisation, and a stren~the01ng of
In eCI~~o~~~rnational contacts; it is a mutual enT1l:hm~n.t of
peop
traditions;
ultures an d an a ffirmation in all areas of new, Soviet
.
r
I
~ .
!idalion of an international community a peop~,
a c.onso .
nd the triumph of an ideology of fnendshlp
tItheIS Soviet
nattOn~a
.
f h
h I
. 0f pe.
oples .in. the conscIOusness 0 t e overw e mand fraterntty
.
. rity of Soviet CItizens.
.
109 m~J~
dines the foundations of national difference
SOC1.ahs~ un ;r~allies peoples in a fraternal ~amily. T.he
and dlscor a n .
.
havin adopted a smgle SOCIapeoples of the Soviet Unt?", ver c~oser as well in character.
the good of the homeland
political system, are ~~commgk e f
This is fostered by Jomt wor or developing and consoli.)
d by the constan tl y
.
.
th socialist nations and natJon(la Patne , an
dating fra~ernal co-operatlO~ ~~e I~velling out of nationa~ feaalities. It IS not a matter 0 ra hical conditions and the lI1!ertures; feat~~.~ due to geog wPI be reserved for a long tlme
national diVISion of labour 11
pn the development of
yet. It is a matter of ~ ~ew stag~~ socio-economic and
national relations. Soclahsm crea loser coming together of
for an ever c
. h'
.
spiritual precon d ItJon~ .
f
ualitatively new stage m t .IS
Peoples and the attammg 0 a q
ot only of the friendship

It 'IS a 1re ady a matter

rapprochement.
I n rightly proud) but 0 f
of peoples (of which Soviet ~eop ta1~rc~asses and social groups,
the steeled and unbreakable unny ~
. lernationaiisl fraternity
.
I' .
a genUine m
.
h
. I historical community, t e
nations and nattOna.ltles,
of peoples cOp1posmg. a slOg e
.
Soviet people.
..
of new historical commuOlt~,
The rise and consohd~tlon d consolidating such new quahthe Soviet people, is fosterms ~~ernationalism, collectivism and
ties as Soviet patri?tis~ an ~~ nd irreconcilability ~ith everyhumanism, innovatIOn m w?r. :hat we call the ;Sovtet characthing that pulls us ~ac~. Th:: ~save with nalional char~cfer? T~~
ter' What connectIOn oes fi
d foremost a clartficat.lo~
.
upposesI and
rSf an
.
answer
to that pres.
international
un d e r soclaitsm.
.
I
the unity of the n~tI.on~n its social essence, is bo.th n.atlona
All the new, socla!tst
G Yegorov has written.
.
I As Acad. A. .
. .
and internatlona.
.
I do nOI dispulle il; II IS conlra
II may bfe sai.d .thal ~~a~~~i~~n~:~tl~!~~r;ion; thle common thai draws WIle
dietory. But It IS a
147

people.s of rhl" S()\ 1t:'1 llnjlll1 1~I'l'lhN and UIlII 'S ,h

':II Ullt"",
,h co .\arlU: IUllt' nalrlUlOI., hl',"iW),t' \'\'I'r)'hlll<" t .... - rill
1
., .
.. .. , ... 111 1~1 'lUd . a'limal , ",.
... I ,
.
h
l1
I c nalh.ln~ oJn'" 1J;lIhlrlalilr.'.\ or our L'IIUllrr~- 1,_
tnmlllO fll r 1

"

1...,".

ai,

(I>phl"rt"l

1lt"lIt'tr,lh"

r" ... ,
\

Ih elr vcllltJ:. lon ..... '11U'lIt". ilnd "lIlIlIfl" all "

h
",
__ "
"
, ( hlt!:t'lh" .. J
0
II IUd, ;) "'lty
I al II I.'; rmposslblt" hI "1111(1:'(' Ihe ,1111' h. Ih(" (II lin

For peoples that are building a nl'w tiff.' (lr ,',"I"

"
'd "
.
0
1Il~ or t"O
I ea s Ilere IS such more than unil"s
...
WII ~('paral 11101011
I

I',"", I' .

Fro.m (h,e siandpoillt of a revolutionary wor'/d Olltles !lc.rn.

ternatlonalism by no means conlradil.:'ls na,'
,.
ook, Ill ..
I
d
.
10113 InlereSI
per y un erstood. True internationalism guarantees
S ,proInlerests more consistently and profOl d'
h
national
,
,
III V t an say Ih
lionalism that artificially cuts a nat"o" on' f'
,
, e na
,
"
rom olhers and h
II ~IP ,m ,liS sh,ell, which robs it politically and spirituall s uts
t IS 111, t~IS :ontext that Marxists-Leninists ex' ,Y,
maner of dlstmCtlve national features and ~ha ' t ,a,mme the
who are in t,he crucible of life. who are u~ite~af e,rJ~tJcs, Those
have to mamlain a clear view of h
. n JOIl1I,s~ruggle
which the d'ff
'
t e concrete conditions in
world syste~ ~~e~::fa~ri~l~gce~llS of the working class act. The
of economic and political d
~ers count~ies ~t ,di!ferent levels
of national wealth
eve opmcnr, with dlsslmJiar provision
resources. and labour p
Th
"
community comprises peo I d"
,
ower.
e socialist
differences in their historFc:~ IV~ded In the past by profound
the general patterns of the p,at, s and cul!u~es. That is why
differently in these
' bulldmg of soclaiJsm are realised
COuntfles at differ I
'
d 'if
I erent degree of int
"
en rates, and with a
Th
'
enslly,
e process of mrernational"
,
does not meet the obsl I
ISatl?" WhiCh, under socialism,
capitalism. is graduall ac es t~,~t It comes up against under
~aturing socialist relario equ~~lsmg, the development, and is
Significance of the inl
n~. hal IS naturally increasing the
ernatlonal prill ' I
'
th
e common interests and
d
CIP e as an expressIOn of
socialism as a system a d nde~ s of the development of world
, "Ism as a new soc'
, n, a Irect e xpreSSlOn
'
socia
of the essence of
clud e f rom this that th
la system
' d b e wrong to con' 'fi' Yet i t
wou
at the sa~e time fall in;. Slgl1l cance of the national factor is
The POlllt is that the national
'
elements of ~he old set-up and tr I~ ~pe~lftc includes not only
lescenr, outlived forms of soc' I :,~J110nS, connected with obsoaway. and giving way to a n;: ~ e;, th,ese are gradually dying
does not at all mean mo
,OClaltst way of life, But that
bourgeo'lS I'd eo"OglSts try tovement
pre to a ' unl'form' socialism as
~C:iallife !S an inevitable result ~efn\ The ?iversity of form~ of
od. natIOnal culture, and the
oples r~~e creation. State248
est traditions of a people

receive all-round dt."\I~lopmcnt during the bUildlllg of SOCialism.

rl)r It IS under ~oclahsm and thanks to ~ocialism that a nalion
,gels Ihe l-han.;c tu ~eally nouri~h. and to reveal its potential
to the: full. Alld a hlghro~d to thiS flowering is free eXChange
()f values with othc:r nations, mutual creati ..'e a\slmiiation of
the achievements attained by fraternal peoples. A creative
~ynthesis of everything valuable Ihat sociali..,m posse~ a~ Ii
world sy..,tcm me am advance of the international prin(iple,
And iI, in turn, enrichC"i each individual nation.
The e')tablishing of international relations of a new type
both within and between sociali!;t .!)tates is an essential aspe('t
of the historical experience of world ':;ocialism, The struggle
of Communist and Workers' panies to afflrm Lenin's prinl.:ipies of the equality and mutual support of peopJe"i. and for a
proper combination of national and international interests is
making the ideaf; of proletarian internationalism eVer more
attractive for the peoples of the whole world, \tany of these
peoples, setting out on the road of independent development.
are becoming more and more convinced that their movement
from backwardness to progress is impossible without assimilating the essential aspects of the historical experience of actual
socialism in the development of national relations,
It is not possible to overcome age-old backwardnCSi and
master the gains of modern civilisation without a fraternal
alliance of the national liberation movement with world s()('ial,
Ism ,
h is impossible to put an end to national oppre:>sion and
strife, to the ideology of national exclusivene:>s. without absorbing the internationalist standards of relations between peoples
developed by world socialism, namely of fraternal Ir~st and
friendship. comradely co-operation, and mutual a~lsta~ce,
Use of the experience gained in the- development 01 socla~
ist relations between peoples and nalions is an import,ant condition for achieving the future- worldwide frate-rna I union of free
peoples,
,
'
In looking toward the morrow. So\-iet ,s~lal sC,lence h~s
advanced a proposition about classles.:' SOCialist, nations, T.hl.~
-new socialist quality will prmide a baSIS !or the~r closer uOlon
and further progress, Full unit)' of ,na!IOnS w~1I take sha,pe,
through the consolidation of economiC Integrallon: fu~1 lev~l
ling up of nations' economic devel?pm,ent, growt~ ot the-I~ s()(,I,~1
homogeneil),. and through consohdatlon of t,he lIl.ternatlO~ahst
consciousness of Soviet citizens. and oven:omm,g ot any l~atlonal
narrow-mindedness. This will happen. I beheve. Junng the

II

[ran~ilion to c0'!lmUl~ism. This is a mailer. of lourse. of s('!(ial

and nol of elhntc uOity. The road to a furrher rapprochem

. the long run to f UII unity
. 0 f nallons,
.
and 111
docs 1101 lie Ihr) elll
the comple.le disappea~ance of lIali~nal pe~uliarities but 111r~~g h
a progressmg synthesIs of Ihe natIOnal and Ihe inlernalion~1.

MAN IN THE WORLD OF CULTURE

A. I. Arnoldo ...

NOTES
Karl Marx. Frederick Engels. Mani/t'slO 0/ tht' Communist Partv I . K
Man and Frederick Engels. CoIlt'clt'd Worls, Vol. 6, Progress 'Pub~: h arl
Moscow, 197b, P 503.
IS ers,
I
Karl \tarx. The BriTish Rule in India, In: Karl Marx and Frederick E ges
CoI.lted ~orks. Vol. 12, Prog~ess Publ~hers, Moscow, 1979, p 132,n
,
See Lenm s speech .on [he lIallan QuestIOn at the Third Congress of the
Commumst Internallonal. Co/leeit'd Works, Vol. 32, Progress Pub]" I
Moscow, 1977, p 463.
ISlers,

, COIlItitution (FuntJ:zmental Law) 0/ tht' Union 0/ Soviet Socialist Re P b/"

ArtICle 64, "'lO\'OSTl Press Agency Publishing House Moscow 1986 " ','6'
"GY
b ' " (Problems of Aesthetics)
" Sovet
'P
'
. . egorov, P
ra t'myesteflkl
P
I
'
""II ysate,
Moscow. 1'174. P 298.
p .....

Culture expresses the spiritual character of society. Society

manifesis itself and realises ilself in it. To paraphrase Hegel,
writing on art, one can say that culture often serves as the sole
key to understanding the wisdom of peoples.
Culture. bringing a people lofty spiritual values and enriching
man's intellectual world, expresses the majesty and revolutionary aspirations and hopes of the human soul. As a complex
social phenomenon it has its own specific 'field' of manifestation. It is the spiritual world. the creative activity, and world
outlook of people. It helps comprehend man's vital problems
more deeply, and helps deal with them more effectivelyproblems like individual and social self-determination in the
modern world, and man's effective action to perfect society
and develop his own powers. The level of development and
realisation of man's essential powers, and the fruirfulness of
his creative effort in the sphere of material and intellectual
production, are reHected in culture.
In that light investigation of the problem of cultural progress merits specia l attention; the aim of this progress is to
enhance man's spiritual values and interests, broaden each
individua l's access to the achievements of culture, and increase
the peop le's active involvement in it. People's multifaceted
activ it y is only progressive when it reHects the objective tre.nds
and needs of historical development, and expresses the obJective character of the formation of advanced culture. That which
opens up new opportunities for the flourishing of the individual
is progressive in the development of society'S spiritual life.
Cultura l progress is thus movement toward the spiritual. ~oral,
and intellectua l perfection of people, toward broadentng of
man's real possibilities of harmonising his links with the natural
and social environment. lis main result is 'the complete return
of man to himself as a social (i.e. human) being-a return
accomplished consciously and embracing the entire wealth of
previous development'. I
251

)t

The social portrait of a (ullur~ IS ba\~d nil an examir,a,

. II y h
'I..'
1
Ion
of it as a speCl.fl(a
lIman i
nH~
u. ;:IS\'.1ll1
<lllllg thl' world
as a mod\! of eXistence thai has an\t~n 11Islortl'aily and b eha . '
.
d .
I b ,
ra,
leristic only of ~lan. an d IS l"I..lII IIIOn~t y 111.' regularities and

patterns of. ~oclal de\'~lopn1t'nl. Splrllual lul.'ure I~ an open

system sensitively reacilllg 10 all pht'noTlll'lIa 01 a SOCial chara',
fer and to all the situaliol~s and collisions arising in life. Th~t
is what makes culture an Imponant and .acllve crealive princi_
ple. and an effective faclor of man\

SOCial

and individual seJr_

fulfilment. of the enhancement of spiritual weal1h. and of the

development of the personality.
The culture of a society begins with its Jllilude to man. lis
purpose is to express his spiritual nalUre, his essence, the mean.
ing of his life and of his social life activity. It is directed toward
broadening the sphere of the individual's life interests and
ralliing the value of human life. Only through man is its social
message fully and dearly revealed. It is inl:onceivable without
man. and man's life is inconceivable without it. Man manifests
and affirms himself as a conscious, thinking, active being by
means of cuhure. Culture, by affecting man and social developils transforming function in relalion to nature,
ment,
displays
.
.
society, and man himself.
Culture transforms the world. it contains mankind's immortal.treasures, the foulltains of human lhought, creation, and
action. It has a most direci relation with man's fate and , the
e.ternai problems of being: the meaning and purpose of man's
hfe, and his contribution to mankind's common heritage. For
culture forms a person's spiritua l character and directs it 10
transformi~g the world, which must be so buill that all man's
finest qualities blossom to the full.
cr~~ I~e condit~ons. o:f class-anta~onislic formations, the .i~
~e m soc.lety s SplfItual wealth IS accompanied by the splntuo~~;pove.f1S~":Jent of the majority of peoples, The intellecl~al
p
s of IIld~vldual persons grow at the cost of suppressll1g
'helse powers m b.road strata of society. The development ot
cu ture has been linked with I '
..
.' n
and with a rivil
" c ass Inequa illy, With exploJlallO ,
P
.
.
d
eged POSIlion of a chosen few Only in sociallSI SOCiety oes the level of '.
I
.
ber of soc'et b
Splfltua development of each l1lemcultural d~V~lo~~oe~; f~r th~ flrst time a direct indicator of the
AII.round develo m~ Soclely ~s a. ~hole,
ian philosophy wilhPthe ~~:: the l,n~lvldual is linked, in M~r.x-.
direcled 10 attaining hi h
that It IS self-fulfIlment m acliVllY
tal
h
g SOCial goals Ihal forms The fundamenuman eXistence, and that man's all_round

\J
J

development is n~l.v p~ible given such condition~ of al:livitv

U'" would help hflng nUl, e;I\..'h person's crealive potential. The
\!rC'SS I') thw.. put 011 SOCially useful self.rulfllmcllt as the main
hllrnal~ aim, which IIll'<lIl'. the 'spirit' of harmonious develop_
ment lies In the 'ihapllll' of the IndiVidual's activity a'i l'ominuou!I
and all-embracing social crealion,
When we analyse the problem of man j" Ihe world of cuhllre.
we 11C'C'd 10 make the concept of the subje(:1 of culture more
predse. Not every involvement of man in Ihe cultural and
historical prOl:e% enables lI.S, obviously, to ~peak of him a') the
subject of culture. The individual can only be characteri'ied as
the subject of culture when he functions in the cultural-historical process as a personality and as an active, creali\'e, intellectual forl:e,
Culture presupposes both the training of a person for socially
useful. creative activity and his direct participation in this activity, It thus functions simultaneously as a process of man's )
development of his creative powers and capabilities, and as one
of realising these capabilities in socially significant results.
It will be noted Ihal [he main stress here is on the development of a person capable of tackling the complex and difficult
tasks facing society . The value of culture consiSIS precisely
in its being a necessary condition of the practical acti~'ity of
the masses aimed al transforming both the environmenl and
Ihemseh'es, In olher words it does not cultivate passive, conlem- )
plative, consumerist approach to life in man but rather his
active, creative a"ilude. That is manifested in his crealivily and
cultural self-improvement aimed at re\'ealing his inherenl
potentials, The world of cullure perceived by a person is also
his personal world, which delennines his life principles and
behaviour, and his dreams and ideals realised in everyday
aClivily,
,
The human personality is the resull and product of sO<."lal
and cultural upbringing. A person is what socielY's system of
cultural educalioll makes him. But he will be cultured in the
'\.
highest sense of Ihe word ,only if_~e is.i!.I!,,in!llial... _socia lly
active personality, The moulding and ed~catton of a cul1U~ed
person is therefore a lenglhy and complicated process whIch
forms an imporlant element of Ihe many-faceted ~rocess of a
person's socialisalioll that should lead both to hiS adequate
social self_fulfilment and profound inner self-improvement
The road 10 Ihis goal lies within a person, and not outside
him.
UnforlUnaiely a person does nOI always fully realise his

25.1

spiritual and moral resources, and his inherenl capabT'

Yel he is a whole worl~ in himsdf whkh c.'olll.ains Ihe w:~:s.
of Ihe ages, fhe expenence of tliS personal lire, a wealth ITl
emotions. and an impulse toward Ihe future. " is he who e~~
riches. develops, and ensures Ihe l.'lIlIural process of manki d
The perso~l who has ~ccumul~ted great spiritual and mo~aj
values ennch~s both his Own hr~ .3!ld fhal of society. But the
measure of his personal responslbJllly also grows in Ihal COn.
neclion. Tod~y this SO~~ds as an objective law, as an impor.
lant qualify m [he spiritual world of contemporary society.
The 'measuring rod' of the present and of times 10 Come
indicates that mankind is on an ascending line of social, sci.
entific, and cultural progress and. naturally. that its spiritual
and intellectual powers are growing more and more. But the
demands on man and on his spiritual qualities are also growing
for he is called upon to realise society'S potential in a rational
way. to contribute to its improvement, and to lead a life worthy
of this calling.
While maintaining his basic integrity as a personality, the V
individual is constantly changing. His character, his search '\
for himself in himself, his growing demands and ability to find
new reserves in himself in the sphere of social and cultural
activity are determined and manifested in these changes. A ,
person must learn to ponder over his life, enrich his spiritual i- ,
ty. and develop his intellect and power over himself for cultural self-development and self-creation. Real culture comes to
a person through his Own activity, his aspiration to drink constantly at the well of spiritual life, and his persistent efforts
to develop his inner world of ideas and feelings.
.~he road to this world lies through a person's courageous
SPlflt~al self-development, through strengthening of his s~lf
conSCIOusness, through overcoming difficulties and disappolnt~ents~ conservativism of thought, and mental inertia. The soCial aim and active, truly humanist character of culture, find
expression in this.
. !heoretical comprehension of the concept of 'cultural actiVity of the individual' deserves attention in the light of that.
activity is a process of man's purposeful transformation of both eXternal and his own nature. In order to define
the concept 'cuhu al
..,
.
. n
.
r aCIIVlly we must take into conslderal1o
.that t?e SOurce of cultural development is precisely ,
actiVity
whichrnahas the Idevelopment of man himself .as its
o bat
Jeel,
aim and
tivity Selbsibelut; In resu t. K.a:1 Marx often called. thiS acgung (self-acllvlty)/ cOunterposing It to the

~ultural

:~e POI~t

limited forms of labour in dass SOCiety, in which the result is

separated from the pef!;on.ality of iii creator. In that connection
it is expedient, when consldenng the concept 'cultural activity',
to Sian by recognising iii 'selfdependelll' character, since it
is aimed not only at achieving external, malerial results but
also at a change in man himself and perfecting his spiritual
and creative potential.
In its material and spiritual expres.\ion, culture is a neces.
sary component .of any .activity of ":Jan 10. ~aster .and change
the world in which he lives. It IS quite legllimate, 111 that context to differentiate between activity associated wilh simple
rep;oduction of already achieved results and cul.tur~1 activity
that is crealive, The latter includes not only the objeclive results
of creating the new (machines, technical structures, ~cientific
knowledge, works of an. standards of law and ~?rality, et~.)
but also those subjective human forces and capacities by which
alone creative activity is possible.
.
Revealing culture as a process of creative actlvlly means
examination of the scope and forms of J>470ple's ~nowledge
and abilities, of their productive and pro.fesslOnal skills, of the
level of their intellectual, political. aesthetiC, and moral develop.
ment. of their world outlook, and modes and forms of human
communication,
.
Cultural activity is an intricaTe, complex. SOCial phenomenon.
It includes both the consumption of c~ltural va!ues (pe.rception, assimilation, evaluation, i.e. their de-objecufi:atl?n~.
and creation, viz. the creation of new cultural values. ~ ?bJectl.
fying' a personality'S cultural and creative capabilities and
'
skills).
.
. I
The man of modern society must possess 'hlStofica memory.,
i e understanding of and ability to evaluate the past of .hiS
~e~ple and his country, and of other people~ an~ counlnes.
Th
"I
f historicism witnesses that one s altl~ude to the
e prmclp e o .
ennchment of
classical heritage is not only retrospectIOn. or
d'
underSfan
1I1g
. also a deeper.
one's vision of the future, b ut IS
. Th
I
. of the present so as to Improve II.
e
is laid in this
.
oflourbda.Y,
criteria are upset and culture mevlfably loses

~ns~c~;t~l:i~tence

~ituheou~il~ ~alue

histo~ical.continuity

its touch with history.

f I the pulse of the age, to mas. of the times (TO
A person must know how to ee
ter an ability to listen carefull Y t~o I:: o~UtS~~ verge of life but
quote Alexander Dlok) so as nt tII in it Man often proves TO
to act vigorously and purpose uo:pJace . On the worldly plane
be in a maelstrom of the comm
.
255

(hal i~ quite explicable. ImporHlIli. r('al 1.. ..lfl"S ah('1I1 Ian,.,

daily life. the collisions of workdays, all now ;'lIld Ih,'" YI,and
.
1"1
I l I\"t ...
one from Ihe crucial globa prOt.I'm.\ and thl' danger of .. "

. . d0 not a IT cel ('lilt'S

. t I l'\.'r cunst'i.,.'or.
Great ~ocla I 3tJ:'lOel1es
. d super fi ~'Ia
. II ): as truI1S
I I nn~ knuwll. IIStll'S.\
and are perceIve
There

is a dangerous proces::; 01 sdl~h~PIlOIISI.llg o~ Ih,t.' IIldi\'idual

Ihal can only
be overcome
h! '
COII\ l'rllllg SI~pHhl.:i.HlI gl Oa
bI
.
_

problem!! 111 human conSC10w,nt.'SS 11110 pasol1..11 Ollt''; throu h

one's understanding thai

Th~

prohlt.'l1ls of 1h('

~'orld

and :11

mankmd have bC'c~:)In(' olle sown. pl'rsotli.d. \'Hal problems,

one's vitally dose mterests (hal one ha.s 10 solve him<.,clf. To

surmount the boundar) between ~n~ryday personal inter('sts
and'those of a social scale. so that one can know what one mUst
personally do to tackle the social problems arising. is the task
of both education and se lf-education.
The spiritual life of society brings forward a number of problems linked with man as an integral being. What he is today,
what he may and should be tomorrow, what he is capable of
accomplishing by his activity. Culture ca nnot exist without man
and outside his perception. The creations of Leonardo da Vinci
lose their value and significance when locked away in the repository of a museum or in a safe-deposit box. And that applies
to all the values of culture.
Under socialism, as it is today. culture is oriented on man's
all-round development as the highest goal, and presupposes
action on the individual that stimulates his self-development
and self-awareness. The problem of one's clear understanding
of the tasks facing society that enables one to take a more active
par~ in their solution is acquiring special importance. For the
~ubJect of cultural development is by 110 means a faceless mass;
on the contrary, it is an aggregate of concrete individualities
and pers~nalities. Such an approach is fundamentally important
because .It expresses a truly humanisl solulion of the problem
of man In culture.
.A ~ery important feature of Soviet culture is unshakeable
!alth In the ~reative powers of the individual. This humanist
deal determines the moral climate of society and the gener~
al tone of all spiritual life. Socialism is the first system in the
world to emancipate the whole people rather than certain
. , ' poverty and limite
, . dstrata of the
' .populafIon, f rom spIritual
nfess, m,akdl.n~ liS aim the aU-round harmonious development
o t he m IVldual.
In assimilating c
i
t

u ure, a person
acquires
not only
a Vila II Y
necessary source of knowledge but also a stimulus to many256

sided dC""l'ioPITil"lIt that acti . . .lte~ IllS life and so makes him a
slx.'iatly acti . . e personality.
The fLllldallll'lIlal mel.lTlIllg 01 Ihe development of cuhllre IS
undouhledlY tlH' l'n~;llItltlll <lnd transformation of the wurld and
perlcdin~ of lIIal1, "~all pcnelralt:'i the world's secrets by '011stalltly dlSl'OWrIIlg 11. Oult:r !.pan' and Ihe microworld are
opened up, <111<1 IlCW '>\:iclltiflc. artistil. and moral ...'alues emerge.
But the !TIn... t important di\lovery is man's cognition and dis~:n
very of him<;df as individual and personality. The dTum of
many philosophers, thinker'S, and revnlulionarit:5 have been
directed \0 creating an ideal of a real man.
The attempts of critics of today\ socialism \() proclaim it
incompatible with humanism and to liken the new society to a
kind of universal barracks' levelling of individuality, standarde:>ing
people's spiritual life. and presupposing a 'violent invasi~n'
of the individual's spiritual world for the sake of matenal
,,
production. are quite groundless.
Marxism does not by any means counterpose spiritual lulture to material production. On the contrary. the de~'elopm,ent
of technology and economic relations is seen in SOVIet, society
as a necessary condition of progress in all spheres, o~ life. The
realistic character of the humanist aims Ihat socla,hst cullu,re
sets itself is built precisely on the development of I~S m~t~nal
basis (which makes it possible to satisfy the. people s spiritual
requirements more fully), and on the perfecting of the prod~~
tion relations in order to exclude all and e,-ery form of spm
lual dehumanisation.
.
Together with the forming of a new. culture th~re IS t~,e
moulding of a new man who is charactensed by sOC:I~1 con~u~
ousness and activeness, a developed s~nse of collectl ..... sm : ~Igh
moral principles. and wide-ranging m,tellectual a~d spmtual
interests. He is by no means a standardIsed robot bllO.dly ob.er~
ing the will of the majority (as some w~stern ,the,or~sts tr~ t
picture the man of socialist society), b~t IS ,a quite Ill, epen hen
.. I . d d ,"d,vidual endowed with hIS own umque c arC[lllCa mlll e
'

act;~~ialist society

has never set itself the task of le . . ellingo!;tli

.'
d" g them to some average me.
, .'
es
man IIldlVlduallll re uc~n h I an 'All fl.. man' existing
in advancmg t e s og
-,'
I
On the contrary,
I, '0 achieve harmollious deve op~
'['
has always soug 1

b
socIa Ism
. d .. d al and ever fuller realisation of hiS capa I
ment of the III 1\1 U .
lities and inclinations: s de"elopment of the individual preI harmolllOll

'f
.
I
Natura y,
,
orrespondence between the maO! estatlon
supposes a certaIn c

251

17-01M>!

ont'. From reading 1H.w~paplr., and w'lkhin~ It'll'vi,.,

...
I
\lllt!)
'l':<.lcrnalll,: cdul'.lllotl. Irllrn l'( Ul":IIIIHl III Illdepenil('llI ('III
. , .'!ll" (,:ornp"" \11'prnk'j.\~Il"<I
.
I or .lUHlIl'llr a :I!Vi!
Ill'.,1
at'arion wlI,'1I1I
(arli\ril", "'l.."len~llh: and Il'dllll~:al, \Ul'''" and pnJllil'al) $Ul'~

" the range 01 Ihl ... C OPPOrlulllill'S,

111 Itxlay\ dynamic.' and l"Omp!t\ w\lrld, iI\\lllliiallflg ("utlu '
.\ a diflkult anJ in\ oh'cd pm!.!. ...'. fhat prl ... ltppll... l~ \Pl'(i:~

training, ilnd long and

fredy and ca':iily

_,<nnlls I'lhll"ill!()/I.

In ordl'r II)

gel

nn

Illndl'rn l"llllUre. a .ilCr\{Hl lilli" 'i!udy and

fllld hi ... bearings ill ii, and d100"t' "iplnlual vallll'.., for hilllsl'lf
lhal alTord with hi':> per'mna] indin<lrioll'i and do not r.:Onrra_
III

slan,dan.h, ~nd although a ('a racily 10

<lrrrehcnd cultural \alucs L\ a urll~er\al human propeny, il
Ilet.:'(,h 10 be specially devt..'loped, II l.'i not ellough to aspire to
tile beautiful; il is still Ileccs.'iary to know how to grasp aud
('omrrehend it.
I mUst note, here, Ihat the constant perfecting of Ihe .'iyslem of
people\ involvement in culture in sO(' ialisl society is directed to
"haping ralional needs and stilllulating self.development and
"clf.educalion, as a flf!H step to acquiring culture. It is undoubt_
edly \'ery difficult to succeed in making Ihis training corr~pl)l1d to the whole existing sociocultural medium. To mould
a person capable of fmding his bearings and living adequately
in the Yaried world of culture it is first of all necessary for
him 10 be personally interested and for all who are engaged in
t:'dUl,:ation and upbringing to have high qualifl('atiolls. Only a
person who has learned to undersland his .'iocio.cultural envi.
ronment, to take independelll decisions, 10 pass freely from
the It:'vel of ordinary common Sen<;!;' to a capac ity to think on
a s(}(:ial 'icale, can cope with personal and social problems on
the basis of acquired cultural values.
All spheres of socialist culture arc aimed at increasing Ihe
ind~v.idual\ activity, The mOSI important of these area\ is high
polilical cult,ure of Ihe people, which forms an organic struclur.al element III the system of spiritual values, Man's 'social qualitr' ~rows du~jng its development, and a new type of high'"
pnnClpled, ~oclally aCHve personality L.. formed. But it is nOI
~ust a. mailer of the i.nfiuence on man'..; inner spiritual world
and .llJ.~. hfe; ~e se~ himself in a new way, reveals his crealiye
p~).s'ilblhtles, and dlscover<; hlluself as an individual through
his. world outloO.k, .The individual thus develops a !iyslern of
r..fk:lally useful prinCiples and d(~\ not .simply a<.;similale clemenlar~ .knowh:dgc, and ha.bll\ of tulturc, but also takes part in
creallllg them, and lI'iCS Ihcm 1Il hi, d 1 I.r
. alY Ie.
dtd \ocially-e\tabJ ished

Tht' polilieal t.ullurc .. ( ' . ,. l<lh~rn "I.timulatt:'s acTive parlicipa.

'" 11 01 Ilw wurklllg p'~()ple III Ihe managcmt"nt of SOCialist
IU kty alltl dtvdop.. 111 them .l/l abIlity. ;1." Lenm said, '10 huild
:-'I~ " ~:tiJtt'. It .. valllCS arc it high standard of polilit-ul and
l.d
J Iua" ;, I.:IVI~
..III'"
rkntifn: kllowlt.'dge, .aliI! dc\'clopmctlt () r tIe
111 "!Vl,
I,tit..... . In till' Snvll'l 11nl01\ more Ihan two
mIllIOn
persons
(jut!
,
d
h
. c1.....
.. Id
Ihe .
SOY ids as penple\ deputIes,
,Ire
.to.
S .<111 more I an
30 million lake part III Ihe. work ~)f theSt: " ()VlctS.
Tht' ('OIllIllUlli"l !'<.arty. 111 Ircallng cul.turt: not {mly it~ tht>
",hi " 01' mankind's rnalcriul and ~JlJr1lual I.:ulturt:' but itho
"'"
.
.
d
a,> man'..; prm:css or ~clf.devclopmt!nt, and p~ohfcratlOn
<l"~
perfeding of his essenliitl pOWer'i a.nd. (Upaclllc,>, pay.. .,~oel~~l
attention to the 1110ral values of ~oClaltst c.ulture, In I~C S.I\I.IC~
Union culture 'ierves a.~ a school.of humanl~m: Its moral po~c"n
tial is manife~led in il\ contributIng to m()ul~lI1g those quahlle,>
.
"hal aid his per'ional <;elfdelt!rmlll<ttlOn, and t:'ncouragc
111 man
. de to ot ht:r ("Ie,,!,
iV"Ilc and
him \0 have a consider<lie. careful allitu
the cnvironment.
.
f"r "
h mind
The ideal of sociali'it culture IS ~an. O.rI.1 }'lIlg I~~ d \"cl~
"t n truth and active good, III IIldlVldual '>C - t'
in socially t1st'ful de.oos. Cullurc
Iy mature, courageou'i. pcr~()n wl1h a sen:eo~ to emotions but
Sociali'>t culture doe.,,; not C?Unl~r~o..e re~ high developmcllt
stands for a harmonious l~nllY 0 flf e It,~;~ are es&t1ti<l1 consli.
of intelJed and a hl.gh Cll lure o ..ee I
ew man ~ 'nth~isl'"
tuent"; of a harmollious per~onallt}. :rhe n
)
depth of thought and beaut)' of fed~~:~ence. that of human
A very .refilled s~!ler~ o~ 1~.ul~anfo;x modern life fillr:d wilh
relations, IS of ~pec"11 slgulfll.:an .. e l'ollisions, One of Iht' mmt
diverse information and n,lImerou~ development is III perfect
impOrtanl task., of I.xlay s SOCia

~~~n:l~tl,nan~

fm~i~I~~~l :~~~~~

human rt'lalions,..
. '
els the individual fully. <l.S
Developed s<}(:tal Inl~rl'olirsc.ll~)~:~ of Ihe greate'>t wealth- ..
Marx wrote. '10 e\per.l~nce tl;;ssi . . e men of science and culturc
the oIlier human bt!Jt1g . p~o~ ~. irilual Robinsoniad. bec<lu'ie
have actively Ol?po~ed rnil,1I ~ . ~ed in intercourse ilnd nlln.
human essen(e IS only ~llalHfes Spiritual culwre has Ihe til.~k
.
.
a 1\ u11lty With man.
I
I 'alut!'s
mUlll?I~,
In m II I,. in human intercour,>e that cu Hlra \
..
of ullltlllg peop c. IS
. "Iation tragic III Its t!'s-I
S " . and moril I pow.
are a~~imilatl'(I <lll( <;jlre<ld H Llmilll
.'s I'>pirilual

sence. which 1101 .only dc~t.r~7s'l~:~~:'ine..~... i~ opposed to <l high

ers but dooms him In snllil
Prl r' ....,i,'!! culture is direcled
I
,r human IIltt'rnHlrse.
{g L
d ("1110 " It)II.!1 ulmmu.
Cll lure {
d
II eir spirilll<ll <.III
to unitillg peopll' <.Ill III I
.

'"

nil.m. Only such culture ('an unilt' fhe tli"'.'r~il\' of hu

'.
\'idualilies in an organic wtwle. join Ihe spirilual ~~:~~,]l1dr.
st'parale personalilies togelher and so prOl1l0lt' "0,',"1
jh of

..

. u Jill ,n,

ritual harmony 111 S0clety.

'r " '

What can, be beller and more beauliful On Earth than

human relations founded on confidence? For man's Ira g~?d

" depen d preuse)
" ' 1011
'1
' hapPlllt's\
"nq1llhlv
an d JO)
11at. and. hl\
and life

100. \\'ithoul human warmlh, and a high ('uhlirI.' of hI, ' . '
' I ' Ife becomes- unbearably dull and IS
. converted
man In
tercourse,
im

Dantean hell bOlh .

in the.
famihand
al work ' and e\'o>"
'
0
.
.
...
III Such
a g Iaba I sphere as JIlternallonal relaHons There is nOI p I
a loftier and more needed \'alue 011 Ear,'h Ihan Ihat of ler laps )
.
.
Hunan
1I11ercourse and confidence. In SovIet society this is real!
y so.

Sovie,t culture is the child of a society that is Showing the world
that ItS go~ls are noble and humane, which possesses enormous creatl~e forces, and which has been able in a very shon
span, ~o.a.chleve many 'iuccesses and make much progress. The
lo~t) s'p'fllual va.lues o~ every people are received with an open
mmd III the SO\~e~ UllIon, whIch stands for an honest and free
eXChange o.f ~plntual .values, re.specling human dignity. and
opposes an~ kmd of diktat and Imposition.
The. Soviet Union maintains cultural contacts with many
COuntnes, and 'takes
.
Part'III t h e wor k of many "mternallonal
cultural ~rga~lsallons. Manifested in the development of the
bl d '
,
cultural tIes IS th
II h
e no e eSlre of Soviet people to absorb
a t at I.S valuable from other peoples. and at the same time
to pass. liS own spft
I
I
'
I I ua va ues and achievements 011 10 all
COUntfies and people E .
d'
,
o t .
s, qUlppe with a philosophy of historical
Palmlsml" socialist cultural workers are ~ convinced that the
pe re po ICy of soc I'
..
social system the I~ Ism, ste":lmmg from the very nature of this
masses' earne~t d .life-afflrmmg force of peaceful labour, the
of all peoples eSlre for peace, and deep respect for the culture
a peaceful futur:r~ most l'!lportant and reliable guarantees of
ture is manifest i ~~ mankmd. The humanistlrend of Soviet culflc thought 'he ns tat WO rks of Soviet literature and art, scienti"
defence of , peace ysasem 0 f educat'Ion an d upbnngmg
serve the
of man's spiritual a necessary condition of Ihe development
.
powers,
A IImehonoured
.
peaceful life and go~:;e~n~ pea~eableness and striving for a
g bourlmess. and hatred of war have

a vital p}acc 111 Ihe Suviel ~c~plc'~ syMem of spiritual and moral
values. fhal has always tll ... t~ngulsh~d Ihem and hao; been dis.
played e_verywhere. whethc~ III tht: life of a small rural commu.
nilY or l~l state affaIrs. Grull, hard Ru...sian history knows no
few terrible wars and ballles, thai cost the people untold
suffering and sacrifice, and imbued it with hatred of violence,
war, and bloooshed.
Everyone working in culture. whatever his or her field of
competence. cannot help being worried about the pressing
problems of the contemporary world. and the fate of the planet's
today and tomorrow. Our today's complex. contradictory
world is giving rise to many alarming problems. is baring the
harsh truth of the dangers that lie in wait for mankind in the
thermonuclear age, and is appealing to mankind',) responsibility,
confidence in its powers and the possibility of preserving
civilisation so that take the place of weakness and pessimism,
The moral obligation of cultural workers today is to take on
their share of universal responsibility for the fate of the world
and their share in the defence of peace. The loftiest principle
of the humanity and humanitarianism of world culture is
displayed in just that today.
Sutthe question arises, are scientists. artists. writers, and scho
lars able to prevent nuclear war? Is it in their power to do su?
Have the very wise brilliant books preserved in the history (';
world culture ever stopped wars?
For sure, culture is not able to stop the explosion of falling
bombs, but it can hold man back from the v7ry concept 'war',
and do everything to prevent it. And that obliges us to set ou~
selves this task. Writers and artists cannot stop the arms race directly but they can and should sound the alarm, and beat the
tocsin, appeal to the reason of mankind. and impr~ss ~n people
that there is nothing more vital today than t? m~mtam peace,
That is their paramount universal moral obhgal1on,
Men of culture must not isolate themselves from th~ global
human problems of our time. They have alw~ys shar~? JOYs and
griefs with their people, They have the social. sensitiveness. to
clearly perceive the troubles of the age. The soclal.and educat~~
nal role of the values they create enable them to bnng ~he realll~
es of our time to the consciousness of people, thus makmg a pOSItive impact on the world's de\-elopmenr..
. ..
.
All progressive creators o.f cult~lral values. l~respe~l1\-e. of their
social position and ideological newS. a,re. ulllted b) a !.:ommon
perception of the world, a common ~tr1\"lng to c,reale and preserve mankind's spiritual \alues, It IS only pOSSible to do that
ltd

of II"", '.CC'. a Pub-.

Prop

II

Publlshe~

p.'nnl,,,,
In IIlany
S~evchenko.

lis deveJop.
crealors of cuJ.
f modest in c1....

niati..:{

10

the masses. and furthermore may, l~lillk (hat l'\'l'ry thill I

done is wholly and complelely onglllal unl! hi~ OWll frg h: ha~
" But In
" fact. h Owever f ar I1t' IS
"f rom lilt' peonle 1/1(lIn, ~lal'l
to fimsh.
"
"h tern,
h
'
.
t'
.
trt' art'
always links
wit
l.'OnSCIOliS
or UIlCOn\I.: WlI').
<';P1rilu
ul a
fld
ideological or material, latent Of pillent.

There h.3ve been m~ny people in the hislll,ry of world cullurt'

who, by virtue of their talent. energy, anti IlIduslnou.\ Il t'ss '
rightly be called creative illdi\'iduals, but Who weill ilgain~1 ~~Il
interests of their people, though, 1101 al~ay.s consciously. Ther:

are many reasons f~r that. fro 111 Ideolo~lcal all~ material depen.
dence on the dommant classes 10 anStocrallc Scorn for the
'rab'e""

While not denying the lalent (and cOll!oiequently its cOfllribu.

tion to culture) of the creators of counly poetry or of Manner_
ism in painting, and certain creators of decadent art or modern_
ist music, I would note, all the same, that their reluctance to be
understood and to come closer to the interests that were pursued
by the progressive forces of contemporary society prevented
them from enriching the culture of mankind to the full extelll
of their talent.

A close link of a creative personality with his people by no

means presupposes a ban on going beyond national traditi ons,
Customs, arid images. On the contrary, the truly outstanding
cultural worker always strives to assimilate the best in other
peoples' culture and to enrich his national culrure by if.
Socialist society provides most favourable conditions for (he
creative personality's link with the people; in it the individual's
,development is the highest measure of the development
of SOCiety s culture and its chief weahh, Karl Marx understood
'wealth'
onlX as 'capital' and 'value' but gave it a broader.
more phIlosophIcal sense. While 'prOduction is the end of man.
and wealth the end of production' under capitalism, Marx
the wealth of communist society as 'the absolute
mg of man'
,
'"
"' ~
s creallve abilities without any preconditIOn,
under
not only is man enriched
1y
he
(although that always remains imporan,ves,
I " t he.
wealth
is the people
se
elrmaUl
thoughts
k of ,the
d new .Society
, .
e~
gate of their
I'andnowe ,ge, abliJtles, and Ihe whole agg r
munist
c
phYSlca' qualilies" The people of com;
culture according loo~sequentl~ Judge the values of splfltua
human nature.
ts capacIty to develop rhe wealth 0 r
Scientific communism d
~
rial wealth to its spiritual w ~s h"bOt COunterpose society's male .
272
ea t ecause the laner can only groW

all-ro~nd
~ot

~ned
~onsequentlY,
communis~,
~h~h P~oduces
sOCiel;e:il,~

de~

UJ1fold~
Ihem~

the ba.\1S of a ddlllite material,-technical base. Asceticism is

alit'Jl to l' Ollllllullism, The wea,lth of comm~nism cannol.b~ re.
<lurcd either ju:)t 10 fhe malenal aspect or Just to the SplflluaJ.
II is an nrgal1il ml'rging of the two,
Wht,.'n creative work hecomes the masses' very own and when
,hev, and not just <l c.realive minorirv. ' ,reale .cu~t~re. d\.."It'~ that
110t' meltn a surrlanllflg of the mosl gifted aeallve personal.
...
," Marxism-Lenini'im has an~wered fhal, "and
refUk'd
1111::5. ,
"
d "' rhe
an.' u\alioll Ihal s'Kiali'im allegedly leads.to a.ol lIfion an uepl.'rsonalisatioll of tah."llts. Lenin. III a polemll' wnh Tugan ~ B,arano . .. _
~ky, who idenlifled s~)l'ial eqll~lily wilh all.~lher forms 01 e,~uah
Iy, wrote in his arth.:le A Liberal Proje5.WJr on Equul/f).
011

:eh~~~a~leb~a~qtU~lit~., ~uality
.

I at ex

and mental ability. (

phY~lral

ricnc~ and reason prnvt"" Ihat mt""11 ar~ not t""ljual.

in abilitie.f or ,imilurily III
strength

Our day is sharply posing the questi~n of I~e. relalion of U,~I

versalisation and specialisation in creall~e aC.II~Hy. com~lIn~;:

c~n~~~~~~oo~ ~:~:r~:~ ;;:~t~.~~~II~~ ;l~:;~~~eep-

resolves Ihe
an ever greale.
fi Id The dialecflcs of thIS proen h~s knowle~ge In .a concrete ~ 'ose s ecialisalion and does
cess IS that u.lllversahsm dO~S n~: hP~rofe~ionalism is necessary
not exclude ii, bu.t :at~er I ~tfiel~ The scholar of a broad outfor successful aC~l\:ny In an) bl 'ms on the basis of a universal
look tackles specIal, narrow 'pro e
,.
f G \1 Volkov on
approach, One can agree with the opinIOn a
...
this matter:

..

. h'

,
.
in each indi\'idual's armlllg, In ~
Man's universal de\'elopment \;on~:sr':ne of human culture, at the bou~ldar)
individual development, at Ihe fro h accomplished and unan'omplisht""d.
between the known and unknown, I \ . h sector he will advalll'e l'uiture
and being able to choose freely .onin~i\lfduality as a creati\'e t""nti.tr, mosl
runher. where to concentrate hIS 'f"
I,. for himself personaU}.
.
a d most grail )lIIg
fruitfully for
n , .. '
ne of the roads leading to the

S~tety

The universality of activity IS I? , b t the moulding of the latemergence of integrated ~ersona ~), t~er extremel\' imponant
ter is the result of actions .8n, 0 Ihetic' etc g-enerated by
" I"d eoIo ical
'~,
, ""
changes VIZ.,
g , ethlca, - aes I_ the. indlvldua
IS no I a
" " '
'h
I the who eness 0
,
I
soclaitsm. And a I aug 1
. d""d
lOs harmolllous deve op" pt of the 111 IVI ua
synonym for the cO~l.:e.
component of the latter.
menl, the former IS a ~el.:ess~ry of rhe individual is nor r~
y
The wholeness and 1Illeg r l,t . I delermination of his asPId Istmc
.. I0
ucible simply to a Unl"lor
y
f h .hara .... rer of aC(Jvny
.
.
ndenee 0 tel:
...
rations or to l:orrespo
_
I standpoint Ihls IIltegrny may
moral conviction,s_ From the t~r;:om 'splitting of consciousness'
also be inherent III everyone 0
273
18,()lool

and doubts in Ihe a. .:hil'\'l'Il1l'1l1 of aims (ill 'I I '

"
.
\ Ihlll" h'l
h
are 1101 c araclensflc II IS a llIalll'!' ur 'I I..
e. . ~e "lIeS)
~
.
.lllpcrlllld

f
o the whole-nt's..s of Ihl' lTeall\'l' lll-rioll.I,',
'I
lrStanll!n,
, d
I If
'
Y \\ lI'SI:'
a ', . "
alm(' at 11t' 0 ty goab. and whn'sl' Ihlhl l, III Ir"1
' . ( 1 ~'lIy 1$
.
( .. 1Il011\'l~S ~
d
I
I
pon
10
n '"'\',',,\ .\\'1
.
. t It' lllmalll.st \:hanh.'ll'r (If Ihi,_.l
l l l l .. ,lllrrl'
.
ultegnty C3nnOt be ulllierslO(ld a ... ~llt indi\'i I 'I, 'I _ llh:S:') aud
,
I '
lll.1 .h.. lll'\' \'1II
a pe~son as sue 1, oul 01 lilt.' rt'larilHl\hip ht'(\\'l'l'l1 I' ' . , l 'Ill01
the Inte~est.s of the people.
lTl',ui,ity llf ::;':I~II\' Jl Y <llld
personality should ('oill('ilie with lilt' ill' ,,', , I
. e 1Illl'grarl'J
I
.
l
1;\ .... 01 lilt.' P'
I
not rent by. .sOl'ial ,")'I'r'I,II','
h' nh y a SOCiety
~.
l Ions as)".cort;'.
w IC ,as 1,,1an and Engels said ',11< Ir,'" I" I ' . (LIl'ty In
'h
d"
"
... ll:\t' np Illt:'n I of
IS t e can ilion for the free lkYelopmt:'1lI of all' I :o!
each
wh?leness and the unity of aims and Illeans w' "Lan ~IISlire that
their harmonioliS de,"e!opmenl.
"
Ilidl will prom oit'

Thl'

isa~~~ ~7~~~i~~!~~~:,t~~~~~i~:eat~ the, ~:~requiSites for full real-

ers into all spheres of mate' po elltl~ I.tles. It draws the work-

;~~ ;~:~ :r~~~~i~gr:~~IS, mp:~i:;lr~~~~i't'i'r~~tao:~~:~:\~~~:~

tion. A~ a result therec~n all~on~ or I,helr traini~lg and educa a growth of the initiative and allon-:-V lde fl.o~enng of talents,
the influence of the
c~eallve activity of the masses,
scale, on the develo !:eO~le'f contll1~~usly growing in depth and
cialisf!! abolishes th:soc~al ~b the sPlfllual cultur~ of society. Soto artistic achievement and st~c1e; on the working masses' road
not mean of COurse ,hal ot er or~s of creation. That does
,
,everyone III
. I'
,
must become a poe' sc' "
Socia 1st society can or
. .
, len 1st or camp
Th
'
Jectlve opportunities and th' d'
oser.
e eXistence of ob
rhe ~ndividual's subj~ctive :ali:ftates ,of so~ial needs, and also
relam their regulating effec~s' in es. (~IS aptitudes, desires, etc.)
whom there is a spark of
',~nnclple, however, everyone in
h'
creativity and
b
'
IS WOrt,h. Society is creatin the
,~enl for It can prove
culture ilself as the h"gh g
condulOns for that Socialist
d
'
eS! 'ype of
I
'
uced by the creative work f h cu ture, can only be pro
The law discovered b LO.t e masses.
d
'
'.
Y enm that th
rawn mto hlstoncal creation"
e number of people
social progress, and thaI "he . IIlc re ases with acceleration of
h'h'
size 0 f th
w. IC IS the conscious maker of h'.
a.t mass of the population
directly related to culture S '1lstory IS bound to increase,I :) is
, I '
. OCla Ism by ' h '
'
sac es In the way of cultural
. '
rOWing down the ob
for millions.
creation, has opened the road to it
. The qualitative aspect of the work'
IS no les~ significant. From that pOin~n:l':ioPle's cultural activity
broadening of the fields of their creativit ew One must note the
274
y. Before the October

.slx' iall~t Revolutil,ll1 th.t'ir l:ultural ih:livity rt'mained within the

('ollll1<I'i'i (Ir tht'lr own 1J1lerc.sls (folk art'). cU''ilonls aId " I
I ' 1" 1"
.
I rruas.
.1I.1t .Ipp In iJrl). and wht',~ they wert' drawn into direct creation
01 ,: uhun..11 values of ~lgrllflca'Ke for the entire sOt,:iety it was
1Il311dy ,1\ l'Xl'Cutanl'i and performers. A number "f fl-Id, f '
.
I
I'
II
...
0 SpI
r,lIl1a alll 1I111.' l'c~lIall:ultu~e Cpoliliral activity, science. prnfes.
~Ional 'HI, edut:<ltlo.n, <lnd. In the conditions of modern capital~
l'im, the m<l.I)... ml'dJa) remamed closed to the I,:reativt' <l(livity
OfylC working masses. SO\:ialism wires oul Ihe barriers betwee;l
\rHrJlual ',uhure and the masses. And, as the exrerielll'e of the
~OVll't UnulIl and other socialist countries has shown, the work.
Ing people at:t not only as executanls bUI also as creators in all
the fIelds of culture previously inaccessible to them,
It is not simply a mailer of the mass involvement. nor of the
solution of problems of cultural development through cndlc')S
discll,ssions and meetings (as vulgarisers of socialism try to picture It), but of open access for the working people to education
as such (free tuition, scholarships and grants), and. most important to the actual shaping of the system of publil' education, It
is thus nOI only the righllO enjoy cullural values but also the opportunity to take part in creating them. Socialism does not eliminate the specific character of inlelleclUal activity in science or
professional art, in which collective creath'e work is combined
with individual, and in which the laBer will always play an immense role, but it does open up access 10 them for all who have
the requisite ability and inclination. Nevertheless there are also
fields of intellectual activity (political activity>. in which the
principles of collectivity. mass nature, and people's involvement
are always pivotal. The involvement of millions of Soviet people
in society's cullural aClivilY is characterised by a growth of the
active, creative element.
Socialism also raises the professional standard of the working
people's cultural activity . Universal lileracy. growlh of education, open access to cultural treasures. the assistance given to
students by masters in the relevant fields (writers. artists.
scientists acting as leaders and instructors of literary, artistic,
and scientific study circlesl,-are all raising the general culture
and professional standards of the working people and, at the
same time. strenglhening their influence on the development
of spiritual culture.
"
.
In socialist society the audience of poets. Writers, and SClentlS1S
numbers millions. And this is an active audience. Its communion
with the artist is built on the principle of co-creation. The Slandard and character of readers' conferences and other creative
275

rise of the most gifted and carable from the rna\~ of neat Or .
will always remain the greatest stimulant lI1~pirillg a spirit o~
n'mpetition and creation in all the others. The t(~rchbearer li ghts
the road for those that follow. The more I.'reatlve personal ities
Ihere are in society, the higher its clitlUre wilt be. On the other
hand, a rapidly developing culture creates more favourable COn.
ditiol1s for Ihe moulding of creative individuals. The growth of
culture and growlh of crealive personalities are mutually e nri ch.
ing processes of cllhural progress.

NOTES
Fredcri(k Engels. Aus dem handschriften Nachlass. Karl Marx and Frede_
rirk Engels. Werke, Vol. 21, Dietl. Verlag, Berlin, 1962, p 501.
Fredcri(k Engels. Speech at the Graveside of Karl Marx. In: Karl Marx a nd
Frederkk Engels. Selertell Worh. Vol. 3, Progres~ Publisher.'), Moscow , 1976,
p 1f12.
Maxim Gorky. Work.\, Khud01.heshennaya Lileralura, Mosc ow, 1953, p 26
lin Ru~ian).
V.l. Lenin , The P~ilion and Tasks of Ihe Socialist International. Coll ected
~or.t\, Vol. 21, Pr~gress Publisher" MOSl' OW, 1981, rP 31:1, 39.
E. \f. Shtaerman.l\ri.~i.~ alit/chilO; kU/'luri (The Crisis of Antique Cult ure)
Nau~a, \iOM:Ow, 1':175, p 18.
'
~ \ . I. Lenin. Fourth Conference of Trade Unions and Fac tory Comm iltees
~f \h'lSCow, June 27.July 2. PH8. COllettNI Work\, Vol. 27, Progrw P ublIShers. \iO'il:ow, 1<l77, P 460.
Alexander BI~lk. CoIlct'ted Wor.ll, Vol. 6, Goslitizdat Mo~ow-Lenin grad
1':102, 1'1' 111-112.
"
~ V.1. Lenin. The Col1ap\e of the Second Inlernatinnal. Collec/eti Works.
, VI1!. 21. Pr(lgre~ Pubh\hers., ~Io~ow, 1970, p 2.lli.
K,ad \I~n. Quchnes of the Critique or Policical Economy. Karl Marx, FredUI\k
h '", OSCow, 1986'
P 411. Engeb. Colleeled Works. Vol. 28 . Pro,res\
. . P II bISl ers,

~~~4 V. li4~enin. Col/t't/t'd Work.l, Vol. 20, Progress Publishers, Moscow,

. p

...

G. N. Volko\". htoki ; !wr;:ont; pro,rl'HU ITh" S

d H
f
P I P I .
. . . . ource~ an
OrcZOIlS 0
nlgr~,
0 IIlzdat, Moscow, 1970, pp 288-289.
Karl Man. and Frederick Engeb. MUfI;feMo of tire C
.
" ress Pubh,her~, :>.Ios;;ow, 1986, p 54.
Oll/mllmst Pany, Prog-

I'

Col/ected Work V I 2 Forei, ,,

u Language Pubh~hef\, Moscow, '':160, p 524.
.1,
O. ,
"-arl \l8rx. Capi/al, Vol. 1, Progre~ Publi.<,hers, \Io~(ow, 1978, P 5 35.
\I , I. LeOll1. The Heritage We Renounce.

CLLTURE-PERSONALITY-WAY OP LIPE
E. A. Orlova

Whereas the objects of public recognition and admiration

quite recently were primarily outstanding results of activity
in Ihe field of cullure (masterpieces of world art, truly new
discoveries in science, and so on), now interest in the pro
ces,<;es of tile activity itself is mounting rapidly, including
interesl in people's creative and personal peculiarities. This
reflects, in particular, scientists' and practicians' steady, intent
allention to new scientifIc ideas in their genesis and formation, ill other words, the singling out and examining of the
mechanisms governing changes in cultural phenomena and
the cullural milieu itself. This may be due perhaps 10 a
broad interest in Ihe phenomena of everyday life from which
the large-scale facts of history and of social and cultural
developmelll are formed. The turn to these problems today is
revealing much for understanding people themselves, hislory,
and the modern life of humankind. An expression of this public
inl~rest can be seen in philosophy, art. and science, and also
in everyday life.
Social scientists are trying to trace how new models of aClivity,
behaviour, and intercourse are born in people's everyday life,
how new values, standards, and aims are formed, what are
the mechanisms of their effeci on various people's life aClivily.
and what are the intended and unforeseen consequences of
their spread in socialist culture. II is proving possible to do Ihis
by an understanding of social and cultural processes in which
man's personal characteristic, and life sphere, and the proces,<;es
and forms of his life activity are examined in their inlerconnections. The images, values, and standards assimilated by Ihe
individual, and the transformation of individual experience
into socially signifIcant experience are then becoming accessible to observation and explanation. It is prO\ing possible to
investigate social affairs in movement from the angle of how
people maintain and aher their cultural world, wh~n one
turns to their way of life.
279

The l'alegory 'way Ilf lil"l", /lv liukill" "ur k

. d d

ual 'HH.! l'ulrttrt.'. r!.'lh'\.'" Ihl'

I h' ,
,
.
'.
.
Ie <IIll ~t:"" t It' ".ldl\.aluiJl/)' pl'l"ulrar (lr SOl' lilllv I

111 1\'1

, .[

lloW ed
1\,11
~
ge 01 h l,
t ,
JOl t\.:" ,If ~v

..:>

'_

eryd,i\I

of rt'orl~ ~ org':llll:<.JII(11i 01 rht'lr lik dt"lj\'Jly." Trr~la.' flll"JIl'i

has (ogl11ll\(, value .11 rill' Ic\d of t' \' " . , . , ,
1I'i ~<I[ egnly
.
c.:
l a\ ( On s" ,
alllI 111 e\'t'rnliJ\ ulltll'rsl':llldilll'
l t1 lj'jl1e s.
.
"
.:>
l
n{ll l
"is w 'll
~(It'lire.
Ii enables
pl'oplt' Il) 'lIwl\'\1.;' Jlld ",.. ,'", . ', .' , . l
a'i tn
.
'"
.

.1 l I h~Jr n '111 \OClely. [heIr Ilk stann", and [heir dl..'s,, , . ,

~ '()\IIIOn
.
1.: .'" alll jl(h'l lb ",
Olie can dehne peonlt.\ WilY)" ,.," . ' .
" I Illes.
f
.
" . l i t : III a gene ral
,?r, l~lstallce, a~ the mode 0.1'_ orgi.llli\<ltioll of fh eir " ', w~~"
\ 11) 111 1I.1t' sOl'lo-cultural mllll'u. BUI sudl a l.r , .lll' a(ll~
for cenalll re.st'n'aliOIl~.
ll' 111111011 calls
Fir~1 of all. abolll lift' aClivil\,. ~Iall ha~ .su1 f
r~sourcf'.s as limf' and strt'l1gth' (physical 'and ~1~1f'1~~1~1ament~1
dlSpos~I, and expends Iht'1ll over the whole period f h")' a ~ ~I.s
ual eXlsle nce. These oUllay, of "
d
O!S IIldl\. . td~
I
lI11e all energy d
d
11e world around, and 10 olher people are emb d" d ~rect e . 10
forms of life aClivit ,.'
I
'
Ie III Vari OUS
life activity. As for ~I~~nwlal; :f~i~eg~le Ihey constilule pe opl e's
any means, have all its manif
.e, H~wev~r, Olle does nOI , by
lion only 10 whal has or C e~~alloIlS 111 III 111 d .. One pays atten~
which is consolidated i" d fiou. h[ave mass dissemination and
o
e llite orm.s
ne can dislinguish several 0
.'.
activjl)' of
d
rganlsallollal levels in Ihe life
mo ern man, as follows'
(~) the organisation of Ihe
..
.
.
of hfe aClivit), v,z
k' matena~ and socIal foundall ons
rmked wilh acquiring
' " wor dIII prOOuCI. [on, h ousework, aCl ivily
an
(2) personal de,'e'opm
c.onsumlllg goods and services:
.
en! Ie Ih
..
lion and professiona', "
' "
e acqulflng of an educa
'.
ralnmg public a'( .
. ..
( artistiC.
dramatic dane

.
c IVlly, amateur ac(Jvilles
. (3) social com~unica~io~~crealJon. and SP?rt, elc.);
1I11en:ourse; Iravel
d
. ~rofesslOnal, fflendly, and familv
residence:
,an movmg aboul within the place
( 4 ) recouping of ener
Observance of personal h gre outlays.: cons umption of food ,
g
~<>?ern people also ix e~~t pa~lve .res t and sl~~e.:
malll 111 Ihese forms But ~
their vIta l resources in rhe
~y no means of the s~me o:d!se.
cuhur.ally registered forms are
r 1n
veryone distributes them' h . !he life of members of society
ponance
d b
III IS or her 0
"
.
be call an
y ex~enditure of efT
. wn. way III t~me,. by imb b ed th~ organisation of life on~ . .Thls subo rdmallOn can
y. oth social factors and
aCllVlty (which is governed
~mversal education and lab:ersonal choice). In our culture
IS suPPosed that every memb ur are s'?Cially compulsory' so il
er of SOCle, Y WI.,' spend a cenain
'
I80

0' ", ... : ",,-

of

and ("!Tort on I~em. Olh~r p<"IS.slhle- outlays Will rrmain

.11 tl1~ fr('~ lh~pO',al ,ll the mdlvldual. Evidence or that is theI J\ 1 Ihat \omc pc~lpl(' ~nd more lime- 011 reading and others on
~porl, and nlher~ ,till on \eemg friends. Tht:' e-xpt:'ndilurc of
dT IJrI is ... ubJet'l In indi .. Idual regulatioll to .1 greater extent
(ll<1n thai \If lime. Thus. wllh an obligation [Q work, how much
dfllrl eal'h person will put intu tackling profl!ssional j('lbs depellds primarily on 111m or her.
One Il1U~t noll." another aspect of people's urgalllsalinn \If
tllt.:'ir al"livily. It i... linked with free choice: "r cullurallv t."Slahll
!ohe:d form .... In Ihe I. T SSR. for example. work ant..! pre:paring
for it orcdw.:alion (including gelling a secondary t:'ducalionl iJrl'
sOI.:ially compuhory forms of vilal a~ti\'iry. But gi\C'1l their
obligation people have broad opportunilie~ fur individual
choice. Thert' is such a range of profession .. in the labour
sphere in Ihe Sm:iet Union today that everybody l:an fmd
application of his or ht:r capal:iti~s (from phy~ical to mental
labour; from monOIOIlOUS work not r~quirillg mUl:h ~(fort.
to creative activity: from the production of things and ideas to
their distribution and disseminalionL A wide network of
general and specialised teaching establishmenls corresponds
to that In the sphere of social. public al:ti\ity. th~ forms of
which are nOI necessary components of th~ way of life. Ihe
possibilities of choice are also different (from work in e1ecled
posts associaled with the management of sociely'.s alTa irs 10 th~
fulfilmenl of separate assignments of Pany. Irade union, and
Young Communist League organisations).
A person's organisation of his or her aClivity. and disIribution of time and efforls on Ihe realisation of socially
compulsory and individually chosen socio-cuhural forms. rhus
constitute a way of lif~. This way of life ~rO\.ide.s each on.e
with the opportunity 10 regulate his her .sOCIal lies. By ~onsci.
ously redistributing expelldilUre of time and efforts. Ihls way
of life can be Swill'hed either into the broad nerwork of sUl'h
conneclion.s. or withdrawn from it
When anyone increases his her lime and effort spen.1 011 d~alings with other people. he i she is drawn. more aCllvely 11110
the processes of interaction that direl:II~' IIlfluence Ihe ~yna
mics of everyday cultural aff~irs. In thiS proce~s Ihere .IS an 'v
assimilation of knowledge. hablls. ways of behavlIlg, and Judg- / '
menlS, i.e. the general elemenls of cuhure, on Ihe one hand:
and 011 the olha, de\'elopm~nt of the elements of cultur~ themselves. and their filling with a new ("on len I, only OI;l:urs m dealings wilh people.
111lIt'

,.,

In spending much lime {lll illdi\idual ':ll'll\il\' (rrof.

or amateur) and profound rt.'n{'l'li{lll 011 lift', (hI' wor~~':~al
one's self. ral~eT than Oil dl' a l,lI1g". ~nlh Pt.'{lpll', tlllt" in li~d
withdraws ao,; II were frllrn {)Ut.'" 1I1,lIt'u. Thl' IIIdividual 's ,. e

Wllh

eu Ilura I

mO\l;'I11l'1I1 l' <In it I

\(1 .
Ill' tral'l'l I"III

- helps a
Isolallon

per.~on I~) 1Ilin- .k. on'r

Ihi~

- I
IlIll'J1l'ndenlly

I "gllifll.:;)lH.:e during pe()rl~'s lift logelher, in

I
1.'\1 lura
. .anu
"'0 are nhJ. e...."liVe .
tlll.."- ,~(' our..,\.'
0.r t IU!'lr
qu,
. cv
'eryday practln~'.

stable
ftlrlllaIIlHl~
.. ',"arh;es for example when new social
I 'enalll
clr~ 111 "
I
II lW
11... . . . , individual people or groups, 0 \'"(lUr~e. In
prllhkm.., r.In<;c.
. ,- al
__ ,.In 11 'i.. behaviour, or e\,a[uallOlls.
Bul,
allerll~ 0
h _
up new

' 1 e wilh a problem silualion. t elr spre~l

while Ihe"\.' '~e[Jl II: 1.:,\ io be uitt' wid\.'. and they bewme qUIte
in SOllety may pfl H d.
h~lher it i.. a maller, in any c~\e.
<;table. In other ~orCl:jh~al formations of Ihi.., kind, or. Jusl
of long eSI~bl1"'hcd"
, fulfIl Ihe fUl1l.:tion of an organlsmg
of
newly ansen
ones, they.
principle
in accordance
Wit I1 Whi'h
(; people build a slrefeh
. of

nrn.., Ink

" "'.fS.\
e\'~rY[hin

he has acqUIred dUring dl'':('US.\IOIl'i wllh olilef Il(;"ople. and so /

sense his panicipalioll 311(1 in\'ll/Vl'menl in cuhure, a nd hio
direct inclusion in if. But if b also conducive

a.cli~ity.

[0

creath,:

10 a search for answers 10. personal and SOcially

slgnlhCant problems. to 311empIs 10 fe.a/lse Ihese answers al Ih~
individuaJleveJ. In that cast" sechsion or iSOlation can lead tQa
change in the elemenrs of culture.;
Such a regulating {If one's Social lies is possible becaUSe
of the specific nature of Ihe strucilire of the way of life.
When organising his life aClivity an individual introduces order
into it through cenain stable strucillral componel1ls. This may
be a definite regime, When one, for example, eats, goes to bed,
goes for a walk, engages in span regularly at the same timt'
every day. Or consistency in the forms of life activity may
be stable: he devotes one free day al the end of the work ing
week. say. 10 seeing his friends and the other to domestic
mailers.
These characteristics of Ihe way of life are stable in
:elatlon to the numerous, cOnStallily changing effects of the
Individual's environment. They form a kind of boundary or
barrier fenCing him or her off from Ihe need to react al! the
time to the diversity of jUdgments, opinions, evaluations, and
demands exiSting around him/her. Within these limits he /she
may be and is free to organise his/her actions, and to try
~ut, new pallerns of activity and behaviour. This kind of
hmll, can be characterised in shon and in general form as
:habltua['. It includes the stereotypes of a person's actions,
and evaluations, i.e, stab le, repealed components
of bfe activity.

JUd~ments,
Thes~ stereotypes fulfil a specia l cultura l fUllction since they

form bilatera l bOUndaries of a kind. On one side Ihey are

turned toward the individual, being linked with his individual
In fact each of us chooses Oneself how il is more
10 do one's
an wuh Slrangers
wh Work.
I , how. to behave. Wili1 acquainlances
..
r

a 0 consider mOSt Inlerestlng 111 an 0

h f
w at orm
spon to go in for. But Ihe other side of these
phenomena IS 'u<ned di'eclly '0' cul,u", because 'hey a" no'
an inVention of Ihe separate person, bu; are built up and ac -

prefere~ces.

condve~lent

~f

their life path..

.
ecl of Ihe way of life IS
But, whiled noting
that tim asp I also pi(;IUre what cultural
,I
peonle
ItJrned lowar 0
. " ' one
, musploy Ihe concept' I-I
I e s'yIe'
forms it is expressed 111. One ~Ian em,ons b'-' which the individual
.
I
J
to deSignate
t he Ol~ Iward' .mal11
I i esta
t information
about hImse If to
communicates socla[[y SlgllI. can bership of a cenain group.
other people ~Ild aflirms his. m~~ife as the mode of pe~pJe's
Life style differs fr?m wa.y. 0,. being nmarily assoclaled
organisation of their life aCllv~l~i~7incli\'e ~pect. Life slyle IS
with its socially al~d ~ultural[) e indi\idual's beha\iour, and of
the mode of orgal11sallon ~f lh J
[fliliation and preferences
regislering his concrete SOCIO-CU lura a

,e,

, im oftant today. when each of

for himself and for olh~rs.
This is becoming partlcu.larl)
p member of a labour c.olus performs a host of s~C1al rO~~~sa\ion member of a family,
tective. member of a 50~1a[ or~ stomer.. pedeslrian. el~), o\t
s ectator passenger. cllellt. ~u
we have 10 allow tor one
:ork and in home life. and
behaviour. judgments, and
I
another, and or 0.1I ' differences
ThaIIn is why peop Ie mu st have
ss
habitual modes ot. address. " 15 Ihal enable them 10 pa
recognisable allribliles or slgl e sifllalion of inl~rlo.ur.se to
from role 10 role. and from t~r The signs of tillS kllld are
another, in complex modern I ~;d menlS Ihal form a comp?f beha\iour and value J g
f sIal ion of them III
panerns 0
f rf The stable ma111 e .
lab[ished
nell I of Ihe wa~ 0 ~se'ca[[ed life style. II IS an ~:ferences
day behaViour I
lal or (!roup p
of social life Ihal
of action, judgmenl '.
s
f hfe aCllvlly. I
h world arOlln d.
for certain forn,ls ~es 10 Olle anolher and to I.he Ie is expressed
and peop[e's alll,ILl .
ir war of tife as ~ \\ 0,
. differs

[elsu~t"

epv~:~e

flx.e~ ~er~~es

~~~%~i~~JS~~al~:I1~:~~~\~!~~'~~~d:r~l~
It~~~:e
t~~ecu~:;~f;i~t
of Iheir
among people 1101
.
28 ..

\
,

habilar but al\l..\ (1( Illt' ir pl'r\\)tl,11 di\linguishing fl'''1

'
I
"'IJr~.s.
In a dyn'lIIK
,'ldILlr,'
Will , rar"., C Ilallg,'O'. "'en" and
lif,
SiILl'""", 'he ,kgr 10 whldl ','alilre, ""ne'''"g 10 reorl"'s"a'
of hfe alld g:"up ,,11111;""'11 "r,' "'rr"'d" inl"I",,;,1.
I.e, Ihe idellll'Yllig and nlllLlr"lIy d""ngLl"hlllg fLin cI/on,
of life Slyle gr,,,, , Th,' ,'Ol/lpk\II, alld ,arre,'y 0' hfe Si'LI",llI/iS
Iha' we all "11<rrell,'e 'o,I;,y <Ire p""M"lIg alld spreading
the most marked syrnhnb 01 hIt' sly/t>. "nowle(!ge of Ihl!
sense and meaning of Iht'\l' symhols fill'iliIJfc\ orietllJlion in
.socially signifll'anr SillliUi('II\, i.e. in irHef{'OUrse wilh friends
\I.'ilh people in Ihe <.;en jct's sphere. \\"ith fellow Worke~
and employees. and so 011. Ollt' can judge What peopl !.' like
and Whom, and why. by Outward symbols if One is aHenlive
to !hem. II is flO! diflicuJr 10 fel..'ognise (hem, for rhey afe espe.
cially stressed. [heif meaning is COIlSlalllly explained one way or
anOlher so as 10 be underSfood, and rhey are quire ofren
reproduced ill a srereoryped manner. Their \'a/ue and social
fUllcfion in affIrrning ('errain preferences are ob\'ious.
The stereoryped features of life Style are mUch less
slable in time. however, Ihan Ihe slruclural characteristics of
way of life. ThaI is also associafed wilh Ihe Socially and
cuhurall) dislinguishing funclion of Ihe personal and group
aspects of behaviour, For frequelll lise of cerra in turns of
speech, manner of bearing or dress, a pronounced preference
for cenain places or ways of spending leisure. lead in the end
10 Ihese [ealures of life slyle becoming CUSIOmary for people
arOund and losing fheir funcfion of singling OUt fhe special
fealures of a person as a personalify or as a member of a
group. The idenlifying significance of such fealures is 'eroded',
moreover, for anofher reason. Because of the mechanisms
of imifation and fashion, people borrow one another's beSf
liked words, geSiures, fea'ures of appearance, modes of aClivi'y,
and so On. The borrOWing spreads from person fa person,
group to group; a nd a style feafure fhal previously
dlsftngulshed a perSOn in his indiYidual ness or as a member
of a certain group a/read\' becomes common a nd loses ifs culIUra!/y
wh ich all flil ds refJeclion, ill
particular, 111 an and in Ihe Work of Ihe mass media.
As an example we can Irace whaf changes have occurred,
say: OVer the past twellly years, in Ihe life style of such
SOCial gr?ups as sludenl'i and young workers, Skilled workers,
workers In .Ihe servlce.s sphere, Scienfists, women, and children.
By comparmg films, Ilierary Works, and pic'ur" of loday and
,we",y years ago, We <an dearly observe whar manners,
284

a~d. fro~l

ide~lifYing signi6~ance,

Igmen I'i,, ( 1,'1'1'11"

, of l'vcf\:dav
' . life and dress, fealures of prorcs_
JUt al or '(Kial beha\"lour, ele, were ft'(ed
and
slim
. I now We call aho Irace 'b
the direcllOll
thel shlfrs
.h:n'nluale(,
d;
led
All Ihl"Se outward ... igns and alln utes _are e~on" ra
I\lOk'I"
'lift' , arc 1I'.ed to t'1Tt'd t'$pecially
10 Ihe ClOema and
111 (1[( Illar"
' I .....d The
Ilferaturl'
.
'..11 ld have alreatlv become qUlle Stereo y" .. ,
' . r '~\l'd bv Ihl'll1 art' well known.
vallil's
t.:: r\oll let us take Ihe characleriostic features or
Lornp,.aIt~L.an d' way' of life of a skilled worker
Il'For
pl'r')ona
. as'hhe Iwas
k
I', " ' in
Iweruy year, ago and now, "e m'g I a:
of Ilya Zhllrbin, olle of the
of V. Kocheto\ls
. _ _ t. ical of the
and early o(h.
Ihl' IInagt.:
Ilovl'l. Thl.'
on if. Ilya Zhurbin as many
and thl'_ fllm. HI:/'!'
middle-aged skilled worker who
schOl?l
people
hlln. IS
complete his education despife
age:
al J-l but IS Irymg
_ _es 's indifference 10 fashLOn: he IS
dress is modesl an~ sfress hlhead of his big family although
h
indisputably recogmsed
h's father' his favourite (lI.:cupaO
he submits to fhe a.uthoflt) h "
asur~d
and common: his
. .
r g' hiS speec IS m
e.
,
IS ang
'.
lion
manners
are dlgmned,
an d'111 una ccustomed
d siluations conSlram'h
h but ~ood-nature ,
.
ed: he IS ral er roug
h skilled worker is quile dlfferenr.
In contemporary an I e
k Ihe widely known TV film
As evidence of f~at we ~a~t fa AenCharO\. The young skil.led
Du)' by Day SCripted b} . . . h have a secondary educallon
workers. Victor, Zhenya, ~nd Td~hc to slUdy further:' they dress
and are studyin~ or are mten 111& ouncedt'\"-it is habitual to
d therefore ha\e nof yet
in loday's fashLOn, but nOI . pron
dress and look so: the)~ ar~ young an onl\" just beginning 10;
settled down infO fa~lly Itfe, O~t:~; pedormances, spo~t, and
their favourife recre~flons are ~m slandardised urban, spnnkled
meefing friends: Ihelr speech ~s
aturalJr in any circumswnwith slang: th~y cond~lcf the~lse \.es ~omestic and work dashes:
ces pu ickly tind their bea.rmg.s In ironical but friendly.
lv S 10 judge thaf the real
Iheir slyle 'of illlercourse IS
This comparison already ~~~ des ~orkers that has taken
change in life .style . of ~ I. e rising educational s~andard~.
place ill ("Olllle..::tlOn .Wll~l tlelr their~ work, and With their
wilh the inteJlectua!tsafloll of f ("ultural values Ihan before.
familiarify wilh a broader range 0
.

he~ore

~xp

dt.:PI.lt~d,

fl~lil/n

Z"II:~I;~~,~,~V }~ased

Ilk~,

~o

charaL'ter~
mid-SO~

I~ft
h~s

~rt

h~s

~S.f ~

I~

Sllg~~.

has found rel1ection in art.. typical fealUres of behav~ur

Life srylt' is ref1~cfed III , ion of people and of mem rs
thai facilitate the SOl'I~1 II1terfa~ional and olht'r groups, Cases
f various demographl,c. proe
d social life when a person
quire rare iu pubhc aifalrs an
285

~re

manage-s 10 bt'ha\"~ in ~t'lIld'lrl~ silllal,ioll.\ j~sl iI\ he would Ikl

In mos! of su(.'h slIualh\IIS hl' 1\ dl'illlll~ wllh rull'S <!lId ex .

lations sp~l'if11' for .eal.:h of tllt'lll <lnd 1,'{lIlSolid.ilL'd in l' U I~~~;

Ihal he ~lISI lake ml\l ~1.((lll~ll .. HI,' hwOlllt ... i.h.:quaillled with
them dunng Ihe nwuldlllg 01 Iw, !It'P''lllIJllly. !..now\ 01 [he'
COllletH from the tal~ of lllht"r's, an,d frolll literature-, an~
through the ma~ lllt'tiICl. BUI not {lilly III that way. He <!\\lIni.

lales them through experience. On.'r his life..' path a pt"rson learns
flrst 10 recognise the stylistic signs and symbols in Ihe exte rn al

manifestations of other people, and then

10

fortn his

OWn

manner of behaviour and life slyle.

A person demonstrates the valut' preferences of forms of
activity and intercourse, habits and judgments Ihal are COmmon for him and olher people, or Ihat set him off from
others, in life style and manner of behaviour. This helps him
lei enter quite easily into social interactions of various kind, or
evade them, and avoid conflil'IS with olher people . Singling out
life style as a socially identifiable aspect of people's wa)'
of life thus helps us understand how people express their
readiness to join, or 10 set one's self off from others at the
\evel of outwardly slressed behaviour, and how people 'appear' to others, and provide a social evalulion.
The categories 'way of life' and 'life style' help us investigate
one of the most interesting and important problems of presentday culture, viz., the individual's self-determination and selfrealisation in contemporary Soviet society. Study of the way
and style of life of members of various social groups ma kes
it possible to see how far they are successfully realising the
oP~~rtunities of socialism in Iheir everyday life. But it is. on ~r
legitimate to pose questions of that kind when there are cnterla
by .which to compare the types of way of life of members of
soc ~elr These criteria have a va lue character. They are bas~d.on
soctalist cultural values, that are both real. already eXlstll.1g
phenome.na of social life, and socially signiflcant goals of Its
funher Improvement and the ideas of social a nd cllllUral
progress a.nd individual developmenr inherent in it. Peopl e\.
everyday I.lfe activity under SOCialism is correlated with the \'3lues and Ideas of Ihe SOCialist way of life and its feall1rt'S.
They are
in
as a result of purposive
da .. The concepi sOclahsl way of life', as a system of Cf1ler.13,
unnes the real and Ihe deSirable features of the way of !lfe
of the members of societ.y thai correspond to socialisl' eullUr.nl
values. In .
Wllh the various wavo.: of lire thaI
under SOCialism grounds
. . J~
. ' II
'
emerge wnh thiS system for Judglne

commo~, .s~iely
a~eordance

prOp~g3!1e~.:Ist

111e IlITercnt moot's of rer~onal self-determmatlon and

how
,"lWI1 PUWl"rs and capabihtie" cur respond 10 the
us!;!'
opporl
Ul1lt..les Ihat are available- In <;o...lely al liS preselll stage
f lk'vdopmelll.
..
S ' l ..
o
,
Ille yeosr<; 01 hu!ldmg :"(\~lahsm 10 the. "IV let mon
h
lrovided and continue to be
0
tl
C IHI111 11';. have bele"r Ir Ih- de~elopment ot' Ihe mJlvu1ual s
1 '1 ar' lavoura en....
,. .
r at" "
11,1
" I "r-sISC capa h"I.
1111l'';. a,11,abus
n u , and indiVidual sel ..re ISC1tlOn.
I )
111 C.. ,
t "h Ihe lOl"mbt'rs of SOClt'ty t'mp 0
Bul the degree t~). w lit;
d 'rl" not idl"nlical. What
Ihe availa.hle C01l01l10n5 ~l~ :~~(~ :'i~i~ifale Ihe cull ural wealth
personal katllrl'I;> help pel P
I"" an ,"nterl"sting, full life.!
I
toda\' and 10 1\e
, I
around \1t;'1n
. b
ht in \larxl'>t.Leninisl "UCla
The amwcr. h.as 10 t: ~)~~inl!: of Ihe concepl 'so.:ialisl type
sludies by bnn~1I1goL1t Ihl". ~ e'hara~(teristic~ Will be adequatdy
of personalny. Its gl"nera ,t; f
e~ of per~onal appearalKt"
disclosed in ~he mo~t. e\... el~~I~lane;IU~lili . . al affaIr'. in the family,
and di~pla\': 11l work, In \l1(l~
one\ alTilUdl" to onl",df.
in dealings with olher p~op ~'Ia~ In orienlalion h3~ ,e\eral
The individual's soclal1St a our
r it i<; a .... on<.;(ienlirofessional
sphere
.
aspecls. In Ih e p
,
h g hprope.
apprt"("ial1on
or. 'kl'11 an "
ous crealive altitude 10 ~ork. a l. . to raL,e qualiflc3lion ...
h
le's Job a Sln\lII
h"
"
craflsmans Ip III 01 .
. I k I - the Cl)J1e . . li\ e t II;> Orland broaden pr.ofesslona~ O~I.~O ai's ~eadine'>!> 10 lake an al'.
e ntal ion determ11les Ihe 11ldl\ 1 II
e,'" a"d produdil11l mat.
"d
f managem
.
tive pari in the decl 109 0
~ t"d S..I, . and . . . ons.... ioll ... ne ...... 01
I
Ip
someone
who
ne
d
ters, an .. t? Ie
. . ... of Ihe common . . . allie..
..
responslblllly for Slll:t;t"SS
,. I," I idell]Ogl ...al onen
.
]" '. ] 'ph ere a SO\:la ')
~.' . II
In the SOC10.poYl.t;a: .. . e of pe-rsonaliIY. Flrsl \~, a
ta,ion is characienSI1C ?' 11m t),~ prill'ir
and amlS 01. I!le
les
b
il means ret;'ognilioll. ~)I Ihe I~~~'" . . . ase ... so.:iaiisl . . . ivk a . . . tl\".l'Y
buildi ng of C01l111HllllSlll. In ..
I and fllndalll~nlaJ ~rlli.
""I'lIy b e...'011le- a. ".
sllmu. usIl'ant deeth allu.1 at;'Ions
and respolls1bl
I .
ciple of Ille indi\'idua.i's sll(lall? ~1:~~1 s~lidarity with II~e prog~
Prillt;'iples of int~rllatlOll~lJsm ~;~ul!i!le againsl e\ ery ~orm o~
ressive for(es 01 our age 111 .- d ~Jedicali{ln 10 th.e . 111te.resls
exploilatioll and oppresswlI. al.l allh are . . . haral.lensIK 0.1 Ihe
of Ihe whole sl~. . . iali.st COJl1mO~~:se prin .... ip]~s of inler~alJona:
socialisl type 01 pel.s0I1al1t~. r.J Jars .... OIlSClOusness wllh pa~
lism are t;'ombined III tl~e 1I11.I\ 1 LI~I1I!:Ua!.!.e, and .... uJ.Il~ral henriolis1l1, respel..1 for on~ s na.I:\~:~IeS I..~f S~dl an indiVIdual are
lage. The main aeslhell . . . pm ~'al oplimism.
.
..
",ocialisl humanism and 11IStM~l .. les of so.... ialist morahl~ ~
A n orienialillil on the. p.rl1ll.lp . of indi\idual's rdallons
" 0 r 1IIslx'lallst
1\l1e
t'.
lHi
characlerisl1l..

'"lr()I1I"'S~

L>1~r.lIIg . .

perfei,:te~

It II 'IIiM 8IId rwea_ mutual r. _ _

_.....
H' h '
-e,d.
.....
~ -mmdedn... and
. . . . . to -priIIcipIB .. liIIpOi t _ penonal feature
bca_ they help defend
outlived cultural
Ind correct preYJOUIIy
errors. But it
needs be combined with COlTl!Clnas .. behaviour and judg.
';ba", and with tact in decisions and actions. Ability to be

ius!ice.

SUided by the principle of responsibility in one's relationships

other people is an
personal characteristic of
lUeII an individual.
The moulding of personality is, of course, a social proces~
but that does not mean that the individual's position in so.
ciety is that of a passive object of external socia l influence.
OIle of the most important characteristics of the socialist type
of personality is its orientation on purposive self -improve.
ment. In that process the striving to develop one's capacities
PIIf1IOOefully in combination with moral control, high pri nciples, and self-<liscipline is directed to active assimilation of
cultural values, and to acquiring a habit of applying them in
the decision of life problems. The inner world of such an in.
.tnit'u.' is rich in emotional experiences; a feeling of jOie de
is eIIaracteristic of it; its aesthetic taste is highly developed. The socialist type of personality is guided in its choice
of ..., CXJWl. Ilion by a developed iIIOnse of social responsibility
... cili....ltiPt i.e. fOI nlS that do not create obstacles to other
people.. aeif-reaiisation.
The ~i.liB! typo; of personality is thus an individual wh o
II IPIIded m his "'ons by the values of eommunist ideology.
hi dI..
fetiures are high civic 'responsibility at
and in ~e _io ~litical sphere, public activity, and

10 bmld his relations with other people on the prJneIpieI

An orientation on socia list cul.... ..... ill tile .,..,.,.. of self-re"Wation is characteristic
t h lib nd)' aM, th. individual's way of life is

x ,"'n

_,iaIic

.... OWIii

life ac:thrity. These personal

willi ... peculiarities of the

and culture
determine the

specific

roles, and to pass rapidlr tuna QIIe IitUItioa to 8Ikdw, . . . .

presupposes a hiah level of !iClwily, . . . <me it CGIIIIIIIIII'
having to make decisions, and choose 8Cwrdi. to ..... cu. '
will, in accordance with one's OWn knowletlp, _ .........
and ethical ideas. People differ in their occ.......... ....
nations, and tastes. Their fates are not the same. At the
time a person makes his/ her choice of mode or aim

mode of behaviour, or circle of intercourse in a

tural milieu. This choice has certain social and personal c0nsequences, and promotes either maintenance or chlnp net
only of personality features but also of _tiat soci.,..,. . .
ral models and values. The concept 'way of life' helpo ..

better to understand the individual's opportunitia in pr_ellj

day culture, to evaluate actions and p~ferences, and

'!'"

behaviour of one's self and other people m accordlnce willi

quite clear criteria.
. .

The way of life is a process of self-reahsaliOR of Ihe individual in society. The distinguishing sign by which people
judge each other's way of life is consolidated i!l culture as
certain life styles. And it is precisely by these Signs Ihat we

determine and evaluate rhe principal features of a person's

life path in the first place.

'"

Such an evaluarion presupposes a correJatl~ With ce!1a.m

standard models. In Soviet society the st.n~ard IS the. soc.a"st

way of life, which includes real and d'Slr&!>Ie, ~Iy approved models of activity, behaviour, and.de~1II8'! wilh peop!eThe perfecting of the conditions of soc.a1 hfe m. the Sov.et
Union is oriented on people's socialist way of ~e, and on
making their socio-cultural life silnifiC8RI, .....eaningful, ~
inreresting. And that is a necessary JH:onditlon of perl(l.R
development and Ihe individual's soc.o-<:ultural self.....a1_

lion.

MAN AS THE SUBJECT

OF AESTHETIC ACTIVITY
N. I. Kia s h c hen k 0

The philosophical aesthetic study of man, in contrast to the

general philosophical or psychological study of him, neces_
sarily presupposes a bringing Ollt of the high level of his interaction with the world through harmonious development of
his natural, biological basis and social, Cultural nature. By
'subject' I understand the consciously acting individual personality setting himself, and realising, his Own aims. It is at
this high level of interaction, which I also call the aesthetic
level, that the harmony of the biological and social elements
of the consciously acting individual are most fully displayed
and 'work', For man's aesthetic-style interaction with the
world OCcurs, as the whole history of the human face has
shown, through full disclosure, shaping, and development of
his innate abilities and talents. During his socially positive
activity they grow into capacities, especially a faculty of cognising the world and transforming it creatively in accordan ce
with the laws of beauty-in maximum conformity of the results with the ideal aims set in the positing of goals.
.
According to the view now generally accepted in aesthetlc~,
creative work is aesthetic by nature, because it is alway~ dl- \:
rected to a search for the new, more complete, harmonI~us,
and consequently objective truth. And the comprehen~iOn
of
truth, according to the contemporary dialectIcal
ma.ten,allst theory of knowledge, is comprehension of the
obJeC!IVe harmony of the World and its beauty.
It is not fortuitous, in this case, that we focus attention on
~war.eness, of the pr?Cess of man's activity itself, as well of
Its alms,. Slllce man IS not always aware when pursuing conSCIOUS alms In th~ real circumstances of carrying on activity,
of the whole bUSiness of realising them. As Marx wrote, the
o.f
'are placed in relationships which determme their thm,kmg bUI they may not know if. I
The
?f man have shown that instincts and
talents are IIlherent 111 hIS biological, natural basis irself, from

ob~ec!ive

prod~cers

pr?d~cts

mod~rn sClen~es

2'10

whirh alonl: I,hl: .'iubjcc,t ,of ~jstory can ~e moul~ed,.i.e, man,

who 'makl:s hi . . life activity Itself the object of hiS will and of
hIS l"ol1!iciou'mcss', ~I i~ through consc.iollS act,iv.ity, and not
just (oils(.:ious .altivlI.y,. bu! fr~e, re~"sed al:llVII~ that the
)ad to a~thetlc aCllvlty lies, In which all esst'nllal human
" )wers are displayed. When man'
s essenI.'I:
.IS most ruII Y manlr;sted .and consciously employed by him not only to mainran
his I:xjsten(.:t;~ but also so as to affirm himself actively as a
a species-being.
,
.
The sciences, espe(':lally biology, confirm ~hat nature en.d. every individual born without pathological defects with
ow,
'h
l ves
real natural instincts. But these natura I properlles
t emse
ay not even be displayed. Gifted, talented people, even
m niuses are only formed rhrough socia.1 development, and
ge,
'Iy' through the individual's positive aCllvlly. Innale
pnman may remain only p~t~nlla
, I'"
abilities
Illes '~ ~n.f avou rable con
._
d .
and with social passIvity of the indiVidual. But since
It IOns, as Marxism-Leninism has convlIlcmg
, , Iy sh ow,
n devel
socjer
._
an objective law-governed basis and pursues quite
o s
aims at each stage of its historical develOpmen\ an
individual slrives 10 merge himself orgalllcaJly Wlfhl~ a IStorical necessity that he mayor may nO( be awar~oo hvsioloSoviet science, especially psy<:hology and psyc p d- itself
'ff
'I s chophvslOlogy has concerne
gy, and dl erentla p y ... d ' b'lit of the natural
with investigating rhe fleXibility: a~ m~i~h.Y Soviet research
instincts and talents that m;n hiS orn
of building socialhas convincingly shown, an t e .pra~ rice
countries has proved,
ism in the USSR an,d other SOCI~ ISman activity and various
that capacities for vanous typ~S ~! m~ulded from one and the
spher~s and ryp:e~ ,of ~ork, ca rse of social development and
same Innate abilities I~ the. cou b' (ons that bring out and
purposive social educatIOn, III com I~allt' s of the individual.
h
ers and potentia I Ie
d
employ aI/ t e pow
d ree of development an
It has also been shown th.ar t~e e~ural instincts and abilimanifestation of an iJ1divI~U~1 sb n~he level of his biol?gical
ties are not always determme
Yin itself mobile, or hiS ?aperfection, Man's nervous sYJ~e~~f necessarily lead t~ a. high
tural intellect, for exampl~,
biliries or successes III IIltellevel of development of hiS capa
,
)

:~
d~finite

' n d qualities are thus only

lectual activity.
b I . al properties a
indiNatural, 100giC
, f the creative or non-Cfea t'e
IV
the foundation, the baSIS 0 , ate striving for harmony does
vidual's development. The 11111 sly lead to harmony of the
2QI
not automalicaJly and spontaneou

social manifesta~ion of I~~. individual a~d P<'nonalily. al.

thoulh it is obvIOus Ihal It IS dlff!..ull. Wlthoul nalural har.
mony. to Counl on a higher dISplay of Ihe harmony of human.
kind in Ih~ ~parale mdlvld\jal. The whole """ of ma,,'s de_
velopment. furthe~more. Ct.lOsis.rs i~ l'nsuring harmoll~' of the
biological and SOCial elements In him.

Obviously the whole es:sc:n(:e of a truly human

U-"t..

of the natu.

ral. biological element consiSTS in \"'reaTing Itla\imulll faVour_

able condilions (in concrete. hisloril.:al \,:irl..'UI1l\lanl,:e\) for

man's material and spiritual being so as

10

mould a lIlaximallv

human. creative individual. a personality fhat is (OllslrUl' fi\' f

and not destructive. The most inrril,.'ate task. in thai rl'Srel:l,

is for society to be able. with the aid of the sl.'ie-nee.s of man,

to work. up effective melhods of understanding and discover.
ing both the natural. biological harmony or instinels of man
and the search for effective ways and mel hods of aChieving
harmony of a biosocial order.
Two processes imponant for the aeslhetic level of study of
man merge here, viz., <a) sociefY's awareness of the significance of this harmony, and (b) Ihe individual's awareness of
Ihe social and personal significance of his nalural talents and
his movement roward biosocial harmony. It is very imporranr
for him to understand that,

obj~cts

in creating a world of
by his practical aClivity, in his work, upon
inorpnk nalure, man proves himself a conscious species-being, i.e, as
aiDelf
being
Irears the species as its own essenlial being, or that trealS
as Ihat
a 5pecies-being.4

The achieving of such harmony not as a simply individual

ach.ievement, but as a social one: is naturally possible in a
SOCiety based on the principle of social justice, fo r wh ich f~ll
of all the essential human powe rs is an end m
For .each member of Such a SOCiety, his maxim um selfin historically necessary, sOCialJy posit ive ae ItVlty lS.the
manifestation of harmony. Marx ca me to Ihe
conclUSIOn, In Capital, that the true realm of freedom will be
When and Where society sets itself the aim of crealing
conditiOns of material and spiritual being in which

~elopment
Itsel~.
~nif~tatlOn
~rue
creat~

!~~

f~,

it bqins that development of human eneray which is an end in ilself,

,
true
realm
of
can blOSSom forth only with
IIiIS rea m
of necessity
as itsttrhich.
bests. however,
~

~f
the manifestation and developmenl
01 ~~ ~ binlogrcal elemenl can best be achieved in a
1be ,-.Ioetic: Ieyel

-III)

"icb 'the free deVelopment of each is the condition

for the free development of all'" Only in Ihat .... y can e-.:h
pt"rson become aware of the fact Ihat
the _bolIn," enmity ~Iw~rn ~nw and spin! is rlq try 10 lon, the
human fcelin. for n.lure, Ihe human smsc 01 n .. lure, .n~ lhft-dOft' .~
thr n41urtll wnse of ,"",II, .~ nOl yel prOOu\'m by man I own labour.

II is self -C'vident that a prrson's Own work. based on the laws

of beauty (and truly h,uman work. should, ~ such), natu,rally

I ' a-Ihetic tasle In each of lis parrlClpanls. or SUb~CIS.

crea e", ~
.
h h'
If'
d an aesthetic allirude 10 nature. of which c Intse IS.
t and so 10 his own nature. Marx in general
that
human lasle and feeling should be a ..lhelle..
.
I Juring Ihe moulding of new generallons of cliltens on Ihe
J'oint collecliv~ activity of Soviet peop~e. S~"lal~t 51 ~led~Y 'dlS
d b a danger of educatmg 'tdenuca In IVI _
no!
hlrmony of social life consiSls in Ihe

a~1
p:~.

~uggeslC'd

.'h~~~'~~:1

in~iv!~-

~:I~'- being fully abl.e dis~~y ~~h?:n;h~no~~~~~n:~y I\~a;

10

ual qyal,u!es In soclery, ~ ,,'uJrivaling his gifts in all direl'.

each mdlvldual the means ,0 . 'henee personal freedom belions', Mar~ and Eng~ls, wr~~e~ommuniTY"" The point is thaI
comes pOSSible ~mly Wlthm t
born wirh identical nalUra!
even among t:-vm~ pe,opl~ are ~o~in Din I is Ihal it is imposinstin~ts a~d ,InChnatlons:d Ih~d ricatconditions for the (,ormsible m pn~clple to pro.' 1 e I ned" de\'elopmem of identically
ing. mouldm.g, e~uca~lOn., a,
0 Ie. and even more, of
feeling
andacting
Identically.
n~li~ns of collecli'/e. family,
identically
ones. Inthmkm~g
the {;o
or society.
,
'rive The personality a.nd soThe individual and the Lo!leL d' mUluaJly destructive as, h'mg
ciely are not mutua II y e x'iustve
L
. an
nd mutually enrJe
Peers but mutually supplemen~mg a ,'s social activity, and
e
'
eXlstenc
elemenrs.
Because . my own
k of mvself. I make of myse If for
. I
ther efore that wh Ich I rna e,
. ss of myself as a s~la
society and with the consclOusne himself as a social bemg
bel'ng' 'I The individual's awareness of. I of his aesthetic devel.
, OrTant leve
can be. regarded as an Imp
.
opment.
I
person's capacity
aJ
, for a cenam
The fact is that .nol, on y a
n one and the same: ~arur
socially useful activny IS formedo~ his social life aCtlvlfY~ ~ut
biological basis in the course t modes of his life aCfI,vlfY.
the most varied concre e
is varied social fun~h~
which he
of life.
viz .. the production, n ordinary, scientific. an
of the rising generano
293

~~~Ugh

a~~/~;~~;:~el~on

,;ea~,!~n::,:~

niIion 01 life. Really all.round development of his po..... alld

capacities is demanded of him since each of th. forms a d
w~ of life a~tiYity c~~ be built up a~~ r.alised only 8i':n
certam propenles, qualities. an~ capaclIlC~~. habits and skHh
of pe:5OIl, and the necessary display of hiS mOSt varied fda_
ti~ _.ith the exte~aI wor~d, an.d with life. Sil1l'e he 1\ drawn
by hfe Itself and the increasingly Involved system of sodaJ fda.
tic:ms, .pinst his will and etfons. into all this very l' 0 l11 r ical.
1
eel interconnection and interdependence.
In complex relationships. however, a person may remain.
and often does, an unconsciously, spontaneously active crea_
ture who is sometimes moulded and developed aga inst his
will. Marx reyealed this historically forced cha racler of de vel_
OPIllU1t as the panem of change in the character of work
under the capitalist system of social production; it
becomes a question or lire and dealh Ihal the monstrosity of an unhappy
i ihve army of labour kept at the disposal of capital for ils varying
nt 2 te in die way of exploitation, lIIall be replaced by the perfecl adaptability ofkinds
the of
individual
diffcnut
labour. 'ohuman being for the changing demands for

The Process of change itself, and the complication of fhe

cb.aracrer of work. leads (especially in the age of the scient i-

fic and technical reYolution) to

tbe derail Worker, wtio has nothing 10 perform than a parrial social
Iuncrion, baving to be SUpeJi43ded by an individual with an all-round

'hd.,

5 ...... for whom various social functions are alternative modes

of activity.11

. !his natu~aI necessity of the all-round development of the in-

~~ ~ ~ ~tical

diYiduai dunng change in the Character of work, discovered by

realisation in SOCialist society; and in socialISt
It IS becoming an essential matter wha t soc io-eeonOlllw:,
spiritual, and CUltural conditions are needed for
COrtIciou
mellt.
unplementing of this Supreme aim of social develop-

~Iety
mo~al,

. Iliaccwery

of. wa?, of moulding a SUbject correspondingly

~re ~~Yity a~inst ~ims

c~1I

............bctICl, I.e. of )'1 of moulding an individual aware

: : : "!.d to
his
tha'.
for th e

taen diopIay '" !'- capabiltties precISely

tn an acltYrty under0.... tIoe .... '" Iotty IOCiaJ, i.e. aesthetic, ideals.
- . '"
!hit anybody Who COncerns himself
of 8Cti"!y or other is the subject of the activity.

~ ~y

c:ena..,

eYfII thouah exclusively personal

and """"""-tly h.. an ideal plan of il in

....... lUbj." by ~ty. The sub-

u.....

by realised nec_ly, acling freely, therefore

i.e. Ihe subject measuring the activity he is beainnina

Je~thelicl,
. ;t

ains! .imI th.t demand

.upr.~. dislpa~ of his c.pabilit~

, posilin, aims in accordance wnh soc181 Ideals and the IkilI

o eded to realise these ideal plans. For aesthetic activity is such
harmoniously combines aims and results, expectations and
"
,
ach ievements.
The CPSU, in developing perspectiVes of ac:ce~erated SOCIanomic development of the USSR, sets Ihe Soviet ~~Ie the
eco I ' the new edition of ils Programme, of prOViding the
and spiritual conditi?ns and ,mor,al atmosphe!"C
recisely for all citizens' COnsciOUS creative, I8volvement In
ihe perfecting of socialism on the road of Us
to
communism. The idea of growth of the human factor 18 .'he
d 'ion of all tasks runs like a red thread through all sedtoOS
Programme, plus the idea of man's
developas a realised historical necessity and a requirement of
'I
d individual development.
f

~:at

~oa~~r::1

movem~nt

~Ctl~e
~ent

all-roun~

s~~Yi:~ society is faced wilh thea~,::k 0rri~~:~li~~~i~;:~mf~r

social edu~al1on~ a~d matenal

ib~ first of all 10 concen.
educating. In which II would .be .pass
ach individual's natu.
trate all efforts J!I~rally on bnngmg o~t:f mouJding. developral. innate ~uahttes ~nd h tale:~ d::erse play, srudy-play, proing, and testmg Ihem m. t e m I reative forms and modes
duction-practice, and. l!1telle~~a ~ be a matter of creating
of activity, Actually, It IS, an
~ 0 nd purposefully operata scientifically ground~, harm~nlti ~ also a matter. moreing system of aesthettc educaUOO discovering the aestheticalover. of course, of ~r~":g~ng out an means of affecting a person
of social relation, each
Iy educational POS~lblhUes of :" f
aesthetically, especially o~ ea~ le'~':fivity. and of their whole
form of work and mode 0 pe p

way of life.
mount order to create a system of
It is a social task of a para
. Ihat would be oriented
.
f h . ing generation
"
'ff .
career gUidance 0 t ~ ns
ible of indiViduals ~I , er~
on as harmonious a tYUlg-Up ~
needs for Spec18lists In
innate qualities and talents wIt f activity so as ultimately. to
.
0
. .,_ pi
' ....
certain professions.
a nd fspheres
h problem
of 'man In
DY ace',
come close to solution tetef society with a sphere of
of providinS each mem rsr: an occupation. ~~ f1I
lion of his human powe
for a truly buman maaif~
be op.ned up on that roa~ pabilities in Slate of
the individual's J:!O,,:ers :.atec:f 'the absolute ...,..... ~
cW, Marx put It. m a
_

r:ciaJ

."";W

ba..-o::

('omin~.I;! Because. a per~on

c,an never ,feel himself reallv ha

if he IS not occupied wuh hiS favourut.> and vitali\, ne _PPy
business. 'As voluntary. productive activit v is the hig"h"stces~ry
.'
.'
.... enjOy
men' known to us, so IS compulsory toll the mO.ljl cruel, deg d" "h
l,
ralng
PUIlIS
ment.
If the system of upbringing and education crealed bv a _
('iefy is charged with discovering natural abilities and 011 l~o.

J:hoice of his road in life subsequently takes its revenge on

the individual himself throughout his lifetime and on society
as well. While still a youth, Karl Marx wrote (in his 'Reftections of a Young Man on the Choice of a Profession'):
The illu'>ion about our lalents for a profession which w~ ha~~ closely ~x

amin~d is a fault which takes its revenge on us ourselves_ and even if it

doe" meet with the censure of the outside world it gives rise to more t~r
rible pain ilT our hearts than such censure could inflict,ll

basis moulding a personality capable of creative work in aceo ~r

ance with the ,/a.ws of b~auty in his voluntar.il~ chosen form

:nd

sphere of actlvuy and

In

all modes of aCllvlly, lhe individu I

himself must bear a full measure of responsibility 10 life and sa.

defy for his ch~ic~ of sphere C!f application and display of h~s
powers, for achieving high artistry and maslery in his. chosen
activity, and for a creative atlitude 10 his business. This is an
entire.ly social task,. and, the i~dividual's social maturity and
conscIOusness are pnmarlly mal1lfested in tackling it. The ascens~on .of a~ in~ividual who h~s social characterislics and qualilies IS pnmarlly completed In Ihis, and in the real subjeci of
aCliviry and hislory.

"

Everybody is placed in very contradictory conditions in real

life, by his c,hoice of life path, profession, and sphere of applicalion of hiS powers, Family. pre-school institutions and the
sc~ool ~rain and orient the individual in a certain way, and
~nng him to choice of .activity of some sort. The established
Ide~ of a ~erson's activity shared by family, close friends, and
the. industrial, scientific. teaching and other institutions in a
n
reglo. and many other things, often Oppose the individual's
own Ideas and aspirations, and he often does not make his choice
voluntarily, of, his ow~ free will. Often he is also not prepared )'
to ma,ke a chOice of hiS own free will, since he is nol aware or
c,onsCloU5 o~ his calling. A blind choice is made in such silua'
!IOns, by which both society and the individual bear considerable
ect
II1tell ,ual" moral. and material losses. An excuse for that is
sought In hiS having made his choice primarily on a materialc?nsumer plane with the character of adaptation to existing
CirCUmstances.
, ThO

justif~ ,such

a purely blind choice of life path especially

of socialist
(in which the Constitution
trade acc d' guarantees (he right of every citizen to choose a
individua~~i~ng t,o ~is calling) means to lake a stand on purely
chance to an pnnClples and deprives the person himself of the
initial aim in a:~ true. harmony with the world. Absence of an
opinl in every e, ~~tl,re system of social upbringing of devel111 lVldual of a feeling of responsibililY for

~~ ~h: ~~:~Ions

s~iety

)f
"

This pain of the discrepancy bel ween our Ego and what we
choose to do blocks access to harmony of feelings, mind, and
will, and deprives us of the chance to achieve a harmonious
relation wilh society. There is no place on this road for inspiration or skill when the fire of creation and self-perfection has
blazed in us. Spirit, optimistic joie de vh-re. and good humour,
moreover, can hardly have a dominant place in our life, ,
Absence of a primary, initial aim in the whole system of SOCial
upbringing (especially family) of bringing out, ~isc,losing, and
moulding all the essential human powers that eXls~ In any ~'pe
ciftc individual is an essential reason for the often Irresponsl~le
and un realised attitude of many, many young people to chOice
of their road in life. No small role is also played in this by ideas
that creation according to the laws of beauty is the lot of a select
few that it occurs only where man disovers the new and makes
som'ething creatively original and unique, thai, the vasT sp~ere
of material production, distribution, consumption! ~he s~rvlces
sphere, and the realm of people'~ publi~ ~nd pohlJcal hfe, allegedly lie outside aesthelics. ThiS convlctJ<.>" has been drawn
from traditional aesthetics, which was mamly r~garded as a
science of the most general laws of artistic cre~t1,on.,
'
Only those forms and modes of people's activity III wh~ch
there are certain analogues of, art (folk arl, forkJore" apPh~
and industrial art, and design) are ev~n, ~ow ,mclu.d~
, the sphere of aesthetic creation. But the IIldlVldual s artistic
~:wers flower sponlaneously in folk art, f,olklore, and ama~ur
activities in general, and are not expended m all the,other ,m es
of life activity since they are still not very compattble with ~he
latter A conscious choice is Iherefore not made h~~e but/:~e:
an in;uitive, simply emotional one. Henc~ the su JeCf 0
forms of 'side' activity is rather the subject of ~,spont~~~~~
plane, a sensual, emoli,onal, level" ,than the su Jeet a
Ig
w reness of his place III thiS aCllvlly.
"
.
a ~ow does (his kind of deception of the mdlvldual revenge
'lSelf on sociely?
" I h "
I Though Ihe individual makes his chOice Independent y, e IS
"

Z97

guided in it by external ,irl'umslillll'C'S ralhl'r than by inn""

' ,
I
I' Ulurl', lor
.

.. r Oil)I '
tive~. by a stnvlIlg
Iowan.I Ill'
develollJnl'1\1
S'IIh:l' If" IS flUl delennined by fhe
,'<I
,
perfection. and creation.
. -

dividua~'s. per~ona! q~la.lilie.s. il

t:1l1i.lils.lalk 01: S31isfaciio w~~

the activity. Ihe ~ndl\'ldllal s la.ck 01. capal'II~' for fret.'n \eJf
expression of all his powers and laculllt~s, a feeling in him of Ih
discomfo~1 of his existence, of lemion in relalions with peOPI~
around him. and an absence of contacts between personal and

pUblic intereSTS. The many dramalic Situations in which such

an individual finds himself seem to him, as a rule, the resu lt of

olher people's bad allilUde to him for rea~ons unknown to hi m,

lack of appreciation of his personal capacHies and merit s, int rigues and scheming of the envious, and so 011. Very rarely does
a subject of this kind look for the reasons in himself, in his own
mistakes and miscalculations. and especially in aninner lack of
coordination of the motives of his activity with his real powers
and capabilities for realising them; everyone and everyth ing
seems to him to be guilty of his life adversities except himself.
The best way out of situations like that is a change in the form
of activity. and sphere of application of powers in ac cordance
with one's life inclinations, But such a reorganisation and sharp
turn is not within the power of very many. The reason lies primarily in a persons ignorance of himself; in the considerable
difference in the social prestige of many types of work and profession; in an imperfect system of payment by capacities Ih at
often forces the individual to start from the prestige and mate:ial security of types of activity when choosing a professioll.: In
the immaturity of many at the time of choice; in a really SClen~ific outlook and understanding of life not having been for~ed
111 many at the time of choice' in Ihe iSOlation of emotions, lmnd,
a~d will, and a growing gap between pretensions and real i.ndi Vidual possi~ilities; in a desire 10 obtain, quickly and immedl~te.
Iy. that which demands persistent effort of self-perfecll on .
,The system of higher and $t!condary specialised educatio,!l
falls to fmd more or less optimum criteria for selecting appli cants ~or places. lh~ level of engineering, designing, and proje~I'
plannl~~ thoug,hl ,IS ~is.ing slowly in many branches of SOCIal
produl:tlon. ThiS IS glvlIlg rise 10 a Contradiction bel ween Ih e
rale of development of scientific and technical advance and the
advanlag,es of the soc..i~lisl system of economy, and leading to a
of fhe.penOd of industrial mastering of the knowe se ga1l1~d by SCience and of the discoveries made by it, and
to ~ Jow~nng of, the economic and technical effectiveness of
en.meermg SOIUlions and technological processes, etc. In Ihese

!e~glhen~ng

2'.

I . dc..partrncnlal thinklllg, and

management
cOlllllltlll~
d
' of
I the ecolII
not a nalluna, Mate
" dcparlllll'lltal siance an
IUIlV rOIl1..
' .
h S nne.
'
' I1 I'
whIt'
1<1<'; givcll ri<.;C' 10 many negative phenomena III dI c, '(lVlel
O"i<11 proccsses,
and culture.- have
prove ' re~I~lalil
et'llIHlIl1Y, '
.
I
h" b
.
t.:limil1<ilIOn
of
these
ncgatlve
p
lCllomena
t<) Cll<.lllgC. l~
'f
p
' I a<.;
d ' eI () bJct
0 the
arty
~ollle t1e
(. of speCial attenllon
.
d'
, III fIleh Ol:UP
,ments' {) f t IIl'. 27th. Congress and III the new e IIIOIl 0 I e royranllnt: of the CPSU,.
,
.
_,
f r
f

. , hi h consciousness, Ideological readiness. and ee lll~ 0

Is a _.
enough for the individual 10 become the
aClivily Ihrough his knowledge of h,mself
pr~CI~ Y I Iral abilities? UnforllJllately nOI! Here thaI whH;h
an ~IS l1a lh e .~. I
~Ient of personality comes 10 the fore:
.t d . s?d"aal"Conlatural abilities during the moulding of
conslltutes
S
.. of the III IVI 1I
.
"
'I 1'01 ()f
1I ..
,
. d' 'd al masterIng and aSSInll a I I
his personality f?r an III IVI Uf social relations that direct his
0
the whole est~blIshed syste~ 1
f rmance of concrete forms
lIniqll~ facuilies to s~c~ess ~d P~~~es of life activity. \-1odern
of SOCially llseful activity a
d'
f a person's facuilles as
.
'f' - "hology's understan mg 0
. "
.
SCIentl1c psyc
. . ,'dual's ropenies and qualities oper~
an ensemble of the IIldlvl
p. 'killful performance of hiS
ting' and manifested most fully I~ s aeslh-lic characteristic..'.
'Iself contams a n . .
.
"
f I performance of acllvfreely chosen activity, I
I
Idersland 'success 1I
d f
For psyc~o ~glsts 1I~ .
h' h level of perfection an, .re,'
ity' as brInging actlvlly 10 a Ig J" d ring which the lIIdlVIself-manifestation of the pe.rs~.n~dlty I dUraws his aesthetic creadual becomes creative. --r: he III IVI t~:tic al..'ti\-'ily from the whole
live capabilities or capacity .for aels, S ""10 which he naturally
..
oClal re, atlonf med ill soria I re IallOIiS
'
diversity of the eXlstlllg.s
' persona 1'1I y IS somellmes
orthelll, Some SOCia
. I re I. _
enters. HIS
. ware of
independenlly of how far he liS a 'n Ihis ensemble, others a more
tions may have a domin.ant p ace I hardly noticeable one. That
modesl one, and somellmes ~v~~ ~d al but 011 what life sphere
does nOI de!?en~1 jll~1 Oil th~~~d \~It (t~al~lily. slr,eet, killderga~le;l.
his personalilY IS being m.oll. . work collecllve, or whale\er .
school, technic~1 school .. JllstllUte~lIch a diversity of factors thaI
Each of them IS delerIntlied by B Il,e gent'ral almosphere of
,
all. nutall these Influt'rH.:es
.
, . of a ..
paril is impOSSible
to I'IS'I ,Ihem
.
soc..iety of course puts ItS sla.m P 0 firsl place the all-dl'lt'nnllllllg
I US'SR. for example. the gelltial so to speak, orde~. and In Ile
socio-ec..'onomic relatIOnS, In ~h~bourl" rei<lliollS. mutual ulI~~rd -' . f)r pean:-. good-nelg
. -, ~ann{)f help atTedlllg
eral eSlre t
' .
d human II) l .
_'h I nx:astanding. co-operall~~I:, a~~e_schoOI inslitullOr~. ,s~lI:l,~li~'e and
,
the life of Ihe an~l, '1' college. institute. wor t..( ~
fional sl'hool. techrlll;a
lQq
g

~I't
re'POl~1Ib~~Yaeslhelic

s~lbJect

arm)'. For humal1isn~ is, the very ~sselh..e and Ihe deeresf and
most fundamental prllll'lpk of Ihl~ whole- system of socialisl so~
cial relations.
The personality is rnollld~d. in socialist, society ,in at'cord with
purposeful (raining of the n,slIlS. gene-rallon f?r life, ~nd realis.
ing of social and personal allllS 111 frt"t', C'onS('IOliS ~ct.lvity. This
is an essential paltern of ".le development ,of socialist society.

Aesthetic education has an Important place 111 the whole system

of communist upbringing.
Aesthetic education is quite necessary as regards raising all
types of social relations, all forms of human activity, and all
modes of people's life activity 10 their highest qualitative, i.e.
aesthetic. level.' By developing a person's feelings, mind, and
will, all aesthetic upbringing provides an opportunity to aChieve
harmony of these three essential human elements. And this
harmony ensures a dialectical mutual supplementing of materia!
and spiritual interests in the individual's real life.
Man as a species being, manifesting precisely his species
essence, also comes gradually to awareness of the necessity of
interacting fully, harmoniously, and completely with the world.
Socialist society strives to accelerate the process of becoming
aware of this historical necessity. It has an interest in the speed.
iest development of all members of society. rather than of sepa.
rate individuals. Inculcating a capacity in each member of so.
ciety not only to comprehend the limit of any object involved
in activity and life activity but also to coordinate it with th e
extent of his own developmelll is therefore a means of making
the subject of simple, spolllaneous human activity a subject of
aesthetic activity. Man becomes the subject in any activity in
so fa~ as he realises previously planned aims in it. He becomes
a subject of aesthetic activity when his aims and ideal plans are
governed by lofty human interests and he is aware of them
preci~ely as such, and w~en the res'ult of the activity embod ies
th~ aim ,as fully as pOSSible and reflects the subject's greatest
skill, artistry, and conscientiousness.
This is not of course, a onesided process: society'S effortS
have to be cO,mbined with those of the individual himself. And
the beller thel,r e~orts suppl,ement each other the more the per.
so~al and SOCIal Interests will be harmonised in the personality
bemg moulded. The extent of this combination is only seen in
whoever mOST fully knows both the ob' t f h'
'fi and
d IS spedcI c d
life activity and himself Without this ~ec
ing, and feeling of the' fullness of h'ls now e ghe , u? erstfan'h:
'
o bJeet
an d 0 f h'Imself, there is not and com pre benSlOn 0 ' , y..
cannot e any artLs r

JOO

skill. i,C'. raising of activity to the level of creal ion and con.
JI U
h' h
'f'
sequC'lltly 10 the Ig est man I estatlon of essential human
powers.
.
Artistry and \kLl~ ~ean a le.vel of ~astery of a craft, trade.
profes."Iion. or speCIality at .whlch al,l LIS. 'secrets and mys.teries'
are brought out and conSCIOusness IS directed to perfecting of
the work process and creative activit'y-. T~en the work process
itself, and the performance of the actLVlly IIself, become a form
of aesthetic activity, and so the person's greatest delight though
the result of the work will not necessarily come under the head.
ing of aesthetic.
. .
, ,
Everyone should Slflve t? attain such a,i~vel o~ actlvlly, but
Ihat does not mean a levellll1g of personaillies. It IS a mailer of
people's diversity, of the inequality of their. powers ,a~d capabil.
ilies about which the founders of MarxlsmLenmlsm spoke,
and not of the equality of people. 'By political ,equality, SocialDemocrats mean equal rights, and by economic ~q~aILlY ... the
abolition of classes', Lenin wrote. 'As for estabh~~I.ng huma.n
equality in the sense of equality of stren~th and abLilTle,s (p~IYSI
calor mental), Socialists do not even thll1k of suc~ t.h.mgs. It
is a matter, rather, that the existing system of the dIVISIOn of .Ia.
bour puts people at levels of the production process at which
the individual cannot achieve wholeness of the end re~ult,: the
work of many people has to be harmoniously merged 111 It. In
the absence of final aesthetic values at all stages of .the man~ge
ment of social production it is broken down" a~ II w~re" mto
separate bits or links. The following ~onTradl.ctlOn anses. t~~
collective is not an aesthetically operatll1g subJect" alt~o~g;. I~S
separate members are, and everybody is a master In hiS In IVIdual activity.
"
d
In the complex of the individual's p~ychlc properrtles al'
,
. t cogmse and trans orm the
qualities that prOV ide a. capaCIty 0 f b
a leading role is
world in accordance With the laws 0 eauty, d ecds by an
'
d' ,
theli' feelings, tasle, an n
'.
played, In ad ilion to aes, L
.
h 'd'vidual's activity as
aesthetic ideal that is malllfes.ted m t e In II, helps him become
his cap~city to set him~elf al! ~Im ~~~~;:~t ~~~es his activity and
the subject of aesthetiC ~ct.. vItYf the collective and society. and
its results part of the activity ,0
thelie ideal emerges as the
of their end results. T~e ~~~~~~~~ aspirations. It helps him to
realised goal of all the IIld .... 1 I
ring based on the human
rise from expediency to .g?aa;~;:1 refl~ction, This faculty is
brain's faculty of ,an anll~%u h' profound kllowl~dge of the
developed and culilvated, t . t ~ction with the world. through
Objective patterns of mall 5 In ~
JOI
, .1

"

emotions,

to be examined
UIIl tkaining of a
, . an aesthetic

OPDllne not
also the
Ihe level
..hove all,
level, and
political,

THE AESTlIETIC QUALITY

Of' MAN'S INTERACTION WITH NATURE

cmhr.:.IIl"S !he: e-.'>t'n.;c uf man. 'Ot:i\.>fy. and nature. In that

ilJbJt"1.:l's fundameOlal culture-at-aling

fal lilly'" hI.. (dPill"lly to dt"lermine tht" mea'iure of his own
frl'l"doOl und r .... ..,porl'ilbiliIV In reldli,," to halh s.)"lety .and nalurt',
so ~ " 0 prevent freedom from belllg ;,;onvcncd into de:spollsm .
'..en'll', fhe

N. A. K () r min

The ecological phenolTlt'nul1 l)f lIa' 20lh n'lIlury h<l'., fOrl'l'rJ Il.~
to look again Jllhe perellni.1I prohlt.'lIIof thl' <lllirudt.' of man and
his culture to nalure. There hi\\'l' bel'l! \ery di\l'f~t.' l'ogniti vc
schemes describing the peripety of Ihi .. rt.'iillion, hUI only in th c
pasl hundred years, perhaps, has Ihefe ht.'en a dear awarellc~
of the dramatic charac ler of t!tese IwO levels of world being,
Marx's conclusion Ihat the primitive. spontaneous development
of cult ure creales a desen brings OUI Ihis dramaficism clearly,
indicating the need for a search for oiller orientalOrs of th e
movement of cullure and coordination of ils rhythms wilh those
of nature.:
Man's fale on planer Earth has been posed in our day in
direci dependence on the solUlion of global ecological problems. A qualitalively new level of socio-ecological relations can
only be achieved by Ihe joint efforts of the world communil)'.
In his meeting with French M.P. s, Mikhail Gorbachev stressed:
Withoul all European countrie:; jOining efforts, il will also be impossible
10 really solve :;uch an acule probtem as preserving and improving Ihe
en\'lronmen~ on our continent. tn many of ils areas, liguralively speaking.
Ihe, ground IS begmmng to burn under fOOl, the rain falling from Ihe sky
IS, If nOI liery, Ihen acid, white Ihe ~ky il~etf is hiddcn by smoke, European
rivers and seas are ~eachlrlg a pitiful Male. In our lime, it seems, none of
us aCled with Sufliclent, farsightedness, thus creating problems that now
Simply defy SOlullon within national framcworks. Thi~ i~ Iruly a lield
In which WI' musl all become aware of Ihe corHil1ent's common desliny.

Such.an.alarming siluat.ion calls for a reorganisalion of Ih e way

of thmklng, and a makmg of cultura l changes in it th a i would
be adequate 10 th e new ecological realit .
;he cu lture of m.an's altitude to natur/iS the resull of social
de el~p~ent; and I.IS essence cannot be analysed oLllside the
malenailst conception of history Th
d i' .
I .
,
e movement an
IVlIIg,
of
are realised through a ceaseless
through resOlutio~ O~at~ra 11110 .th.e Social and vice ver~a.
unity and fundamental ~i~~~tradlcllon between the substanllal
and nature are poiar 0
. ence of man and nature. Cullure
PPOSlles of a
'b
f I 'r
vast opposition acquires great heurist~ltY'1 ut study h () r~~lle
formula of culture is one of a
. va ue f rom ( at.
unity of opposites thai

ir~~~7t~o~'r~~tu;~

~ulture.

'IJI..'j()-h/'ilII/il.tJ

.\nd If rh~ kltr, h tor r'''UlU'' (" ,h.. flUtllTal {Nill. ipl.. has al .. a>_ bc-t-Il
rr":'l~lIr~tl In ,ulllwl' 11\ .. wJlrlh f.' lr~lh an4 thai f"r the: mf'.uur,.
,,11111" ,(!Clul rlt'mt'nt ...... .iiI ward, 'or f,QOd and JI1~ace. Ihe M'ard1 lor
th .. ",.."llIf,. ~" Jr'l'dm'l1. b,a\ ./111 .. :''1 b(o"n -:In!." for Beal,I),.

The at:\IIH:IIC ~eardl for the measure' of freetlom IS of cs.<;enllal

rmporti.lIKl" hoth for culture ao:; a whole since (as Engels re.
IIlJrkcd) each of it'i .. tcps forward h~ been a 's-rep lowards frt!'t!'.
dorn',' and In f1Mticular for the socio--ecologlCal cuhure of rhe
individual bt!'ing moulded before our gazC'.
The al'~thetil: quality of soclo-ecological relations is broughl
out sharply by the prt."5ent period of civilisation's global Impa\..1
on Ihe environment. Although Ihe Ihl:'ort'IKal and methodological slatus of social ecology as a science IS s-tJlI not "I:'ar, one
can neverlhele~ quill:' ddmildy determme lIS 1D\"(~'STlgall\e
orientation: viz., anal)'sis of all the growing socio-transfor.
mational impael in condillons of scienT.iilc and lechnolog.i..:~1
advance on the dvnamk' balance of the biosphere as humanity s
ecological niche: and of Ihe ways an~ tasks of educating the
individual ecologically: siudy of Ihe mfluence of ma~-~Jde
landscapes on man: e .... aminalion of (he problem of opllmlSmg
the illler-relations of socielY and nalure, and thai of rhe ,formmg
of the noosphere. Sludy of Ihe aeslheti..:, ~pe~1 of I,hls problematic (often called 'ecologlCal aeslhellcs) IS an Important
sect ion of Marxist-Lenini"l at':)lherics. whkh may have ,10 be
sing led oul in ,the future as a special discipline, ae;lhelu..'s of
. '
_ "
the noosphere,
The problem fldd, thaI fhe Jomt ,elT~rts of aeslhellcs .and
soc ial ecology are direcled ,10 cul~I\'atl~lg, can ,be oUlltned
today as follow~: the aesthetIC Quailly o~ the social trans~or
mation of nature: the ae;lhetic pOlellllal of Ihe urbamsed
landscape and ils efTel't on mall: [h.e aeslheth.' parame[er~, o~
optimising the link between Ihe SOCial .and na.lur~1 o:ganl~~,
(he status of aeo;thelics as a form ot mankmd s et.olo.gleal
cu lture: the epistemologi..:al foundalions of Ihe synthe~.ls ~f
a~thelics alld social ecology; the mftuence of arion .slXlelY S
ecological awareness, and Ihe s~io-e:orog,lCa~ ~eler~mants ~~
anislic Ihinking: Iht' illlerl'onneclll1Jl 01 Ihe mdl\-'Idual s aeslhelll
and el.'ological edul'aliOIl.
The culture of a human allilUde 10 nalure was born al Ihe
105

IRa"

"'_iol hillOlY; the

ml' - - '" III d ... I..... .
were JOVe. ded by '01 dEarion . . . . of htMoric., IIdvIllce.
One .... readily dISCern boIh ecophll. and e cophobo ......... in
the cultunll traditions of the past.
'I1Ie living soul ami quint~ence of cult,ure is PhilosoPhy,
which also includes the aesthetic f?rm of BUUude to the World.
The history of world culture witnesses that the weightiest
most active contribution. to philosophical comprehension of
the 'man-nature' problem has been made by the malerialist
tredition. which opened up real horizons for cognising the
objcdive world. Materialist doctrines, st8ning from recogni.
lion of the primacy of matter and the know ability of the
world that depicted nature as it was, have been in the vanguard
of the progressive body of thought and outlook through_
out history, have promoted man's real transformation of
nature, and have deeply comprehended the principles of this
trarutonnation. While the ecological potential of the mater_
ialisr theories of the past has not yet been much studied, One
thing. however, is beyond dOUbt, namely that the mOST ecoJog_
..... ,Iy sisniflcanT ideas and propositions of a philosophical
character (from the modern standpoint) took shape in Ihe
of materialism. Materialist philosophers waged a conSlanl
IlruQle apinsr spokesmen of the idealist camp, and disclosed
rile flimsiness of the principles of the attitude 10 the world
de\'elOfl~1I by Ihe schools of idealism. One cannot, of Course,
p8II over the real content of the idealist systems; dialectical
idea dadopell in the womb of idealism. and propositi ons
zr. pur forward that had rational sense, like that of the values
of humen inteuourse with nature.

_.em

Insofar materialist PhilOSOphy created a whole pict ure of

the
and
the objective character of the
ootJUlive proem., .nd maofar as it erected the edifice of nat ural
l'eIIIity ,iladf. it emerged as the methodological fo unda tion of
....'!hC ltudy of
Rn,d the basis of study of the aesth etic
))riatal'lel: of the relationship of material and spiritual be ing.
Study ':"
Dian', aesthetic attitude to nature was rransand of how it "as reftected in the cultural
b'ldilMII" of DaljOiM and peOPles. is a Pl'el8ina: task of the science
!II the Ia... of
The YoriOUl kina of a priori schemes and
"toorthe"n:h:-'",that
often raite elellLentary seographical
a
r
0 .. t
de6niriOlll of world cultural
are -"11m Dible here. They are all far from a truly
. to the ~nce 01 world euJture a
dlveree -""'h:aarical., ethnic, national.

~~iverse,

d~losed

h~

natu~,

'0Iii!~ ~y,

:~

bea~.

~I

affects arlisric-aesthetic assimilatioll of nature in its OWn .

,
'('
Way
It would be mterestlng, or lI1stann~. (0 (r.ace what influe '
,
' [ cOI~cepllons
'(
' i lave had ?n art; the
pry.llo)ophlca.
0 space . al~ d
IIml'
Idea of upallishad. say, on the spalla I rharaclt'r of Indian mus'
'
",
3n d on Ihe tracmg
out. so to say, 0 ( ,space "IIII nd'13n classical
dance.
(2) In spite of the special feature distinguishing aesrh eri
perception of nature in one culture or another, it wo'uld b~
wrong to represent it as incomprehensible to the subject of
anoth~r culture. The .tradil.io~s ~f world culture witness th al lhe
experience of aesthetIc assimilation of nature gathered in a cui.
ture can supplement and enrich the experience of another cullure, and promote deeper aesthetic. penetration of nature by
members of the latter culture. and discovery of new aspe cts of
natural beauty. Suffice it to recall the Russian landscape painters
whose canvasses reflected the beauty of the Middle East (M. Yo.
robiev). th~ Mediterranean (~. Matveyev and Y. Polenov),
~he mo~ntam landscapes.o.f TI.bet (N. Roerich), or the deep
Impression made by artistic discovery of Russian nature on
re~resentatives of the cultures of other nations. Japan ese
wn~ers~ who have come into contact with the beauty of Turge.
nev S pictures of nature, noted new aesthetic moments in the ir
Own nature ~nder it.s influence. The Japanese literary scholar
Syoda Ryohel, speakmg of the landscapes in Turgenev's Rende: .
"ous remarked that

10 ae<>thetico..;, What interf!!oi!s me most is the aesthetic dialogue

between maTI and nature in the conditions of socialist civilisa.

11"

7'

Rl.lSSian nalure has supplemenled our ideas... , Turgenev gave specia l expr~lOns to nature Itself. Spring wilh ils jolly whispering, grumpy aulumn.
He ,howed Ihal nature i~ as changeable as human feelings. Turgene v first
al'quamted us wilh this mood of nature .... Never previously have Japa nese
poet5 ~ned 10 'ruCh allegOries as Ihe wind Wa\ angry and waves grumbled.

!oday; when the danger of disturbance of the ecological balance

IS call',ng the very existence of humankind in question th e
centunes-old h
.
d' ,
,
'.
u~al1lst ,tr? ilion of love of nature is getting new
.
~e,a~mg, IS pUllmg an II1l1lal, culturological full stop to the deIIn1l10n of the purpose of
. h'
,
man In t e unIverse and disclosure of
.
!~\ecOI,ogICal essence?f his activity, which is ~apable, as history
IS s OWlIlg, of convenlJ1g the land into both a flowering gardefl
a~d ~ ~esert. The a~thet!c ~entre of the cultural tradition is also
al.:qulrmg new meanmg' 111 lis 0 I "
,
~.

c rre atlvlly wllh nature it has al~ays :en dlredcte,d (as regards its true content) to creating a
owermg gar en and has never striven
.
'
In Ihe cour~e of tackling the problem of to produce a desert .
and clarifying the horizon of the huma c~ntemporary ecol~gy
the transformation of nature there is a ~ir:l~n, s advan(ced dur~ng

...( reason or tUffllng

lIO

11011 ,

Socialism has posed the task of achieving a new quality in the

relations between man and nature. for the first time in history, as
one of a grandiose social scale. The newness of this quality is
linked in the Programme of the CPSU with harmoniousness.
' The harmony that the best of humanity dreamed of for thousands of years has become the principle, (and .a scie.nti~cally
substantiated principle) of the CPSU's active SOCial pohey m the
field of nature-use. One must not oversimplify the paths. to achieving harmony between the sbcialist cult,ure. of prod~ctlon of rna
terial and spiritual values and nature; It ~"l b~ ~ct1vely asserted
through overcoming difficulties and cont~adlc,tlOns.,.
, ..
The posing of this task has become pOSSible 111 SOCialist CIVIlisation precisely because this civilisation h~ created the r~al
socio-historical preconditions, for the first time, f~r, confirmmg
harmony between man and nature, a~d ,r~al conditions for. allround, harmonious development of the mdlVldua1. ~ m~n achieves
his proper harm~nious 9uality and really realises ~t, he can
build his harmol1lous attitude to nature mor,e effe~tlvely.
But such a sharp change of the ~roblem "?medl~tely turns
us to the aesthetic quality. For aesthetics has as Its subJect-f!Iarter
the patterns of harmonious moveme~t .and development 111 nature, society, and consciousness. SO I~ IS n~t by chance that an
ever deeper awareness of the exceptional Impoctance and a~
thetic quality of socia-economic developme~t, bf t~e aesthetl,c
factors 'of its acceleration, and of th~ aesth~tlc quahty. of m~~, s
attitude to man and to the world, IS comu~g. about 111 pu IC
y
affairs in the period of the perfecting of socI~hsm. Th?t ~s
the question of the aesthetic dimension of soclo-ecol~~cac~es~
tions is becoming such a very important .matter t<;Kiay.
e
f
is giving the aesthetic principle a special .role l~ the s~.h ere 0 t
vocational education, and also in connectIOn With ~or II1g ,C:;:
the directions of re,form of t~~ Soviet s~hovO~ius~r~~~n:e~~~yt of
portance of mouldl~g an ablhty to: ~r~;tant for inculcating a
ancestral nature, It IS also no less I p d for the spiritual perfeeling of bein~ master of thhf: count~~ at~ Party and economic
ee
en and Tomsk Regions,
feeting of Sovle~ ~an. (In hiS
leaders and acllvlsts 0 t e yum
Mikhail Gorbachev dwelt on

wt

t"ng Siberia inlo a land where life

a mailer that bears direclly on ~onv~rd"h' need for a careful allilUde 10
lhavemmm
, _ ..
should rna ke man hppy
a. '.
.
I
ers must nol only be con",ernc-u
nalUre. We mUSI aCI m Slbena as rea own ,
.H I

unlver-

mellaods of
and sup powerful

of na-

before . fhe .moral COUfl. At lilt.' saint' Inll".. ,I,", s18nlf11.,",

ecological Ideas for modern art ha .. be-t'n I,", _I
.Ol'C 01
_
.. ' , '.
.
..
... g lIt:llt'd T
aealt\ Uj IS now Impossible wuhotll great brilli,
k . tUI,:

ulll
flowl 1
h
f
d
o nalure, an WI! out a broadening of Ih' m I
t'lJg:c
horizon of ecological culture.
C
0< t!'fn arti5r ...
The main mission of art in affirming Ihe new an
en",ro,
,. h
b
.' .
,.prnal'h 10 Ih
. r m~n IS I at. y 1I11i111,lg t"tnotIOIl. thought, and will b
e \
pealing directly 10 the enflrelv of the hu",." b'
, y ap_ .
.. I '
.
t'lng and h
s~lrItua ~xpenence and intuition, by embracing the w
1~
his expe~l.enc~ and passions, and by awakellin h'. orld . of

~?rent,]altfl~s~

It

prom_O:fe~

an ecologkat

orienlatio~l o~s t~re~lJ~e

v~d~al S splrltuar development, and fU,-':clions as a f e Ind l~

socl~~ec~logical pedagogicS.
orm of
l"k Hlsto,n~al practice 'turns' the multifaceted crystal of II
I e assimilatIOn of the world to the facet h
le an~
~eflect the essential aspects of modern life. tila:S ~~7s I~OSt f~!ly
:il~oW t~e. meftho~ ~f socialist realism. In'Soviet art a~~bt ad'
a SPirit 0 socialism and search II
,ue
nary, life~asserting transformation ~f I~erroc~~es of revoluti o~
revealed, and the social and a
..
war are ~ro.foundly
ganisation of nature embod ~t~etlc Ideals. of the socialist reor~
meant a 'desire to make the ~~;Id ~r Alexei ,TOlstoy ~olshevism
man alters himself- tha .
. on~erful. By altenng nature
Sholokhov Leonid Lt IS the JellnIO/lf of the works of Mikhail
P
,
eonov I/ya Ehrenb
K
.
austovsky, Boris Polevoy a' d v
urg,
onstantm
the socialist creation of th~ 's~c ~ctor Az~ayev. who told of
on
~he problematic of nature in the
~atur~ ..At the same time
Ists evolved toward m
d
sOcial thmkmg of Soviel art~
.
ore an more
I
slghtedly saw the new th t
. eco o~lcalness. They far~
ween socialist culture a ad was bemg born In the relations bet~
the historically justified mn . natu~e. In the lirst Soviet decades
dark elements and enlhusiC::Sl~e; 0 the t~ming of and light against
of the world had mainly
d or the might of man as the master
t~e e~d of the 1920s and ~~3~~hae~s~lves known, but already at
kmshlp of man and n ,
rlistlc conceptions of the inner
lalle'
. .
a ure,
.
r s 'h umanlsmg'
and
"permeated
.
Wit. h a feelmg
of that
work o fAd
had
b een advanced in the
M kh.
.
n rei. PlatonovSPlrltualising
ten~e~cies became predo~in~nt ~~ Pnshvin, and others. These
~rtlstlC comprehension of R . the art of the next decades.
In Leonov'
USslan nature
. . nng
.
s novel Russian Fo
'
got a patnotlc
pOSlwar period grove to c I . rest. The artistic culture of the
to nature'
u !ivate a mo I
..
Th
. I~ man, and called for i
ra POSition in regard
e s~lahst form of the aw
Is conservation and defence.
aesthetically embodied in the a~~n~ss of man and the world
314
Ig est type of realistic art, i~

IJC!' Ins ellrir.: h~d and gtven rJew content In Ihe reried of Iht
palo;> tlng of Sftt utll\m. A !.carch for a new scale of slgmlkance
tl.as been rnaml .... char;1C 1enSilL: (If Ihe cr~atJve comprehellSlolI
l,r soclo-cconornh reality in ... ,tntempt 1r4rv ~ovlel art (Chinghiz
Ailfnat tlV , Victor Astartev, UanlJl Gramn. Valentine Raspulin.
and other\) .and also ph d~ r'l!ophlcal depth III .and 8 cOllvincing
reali"tic dcph:tmg of the multidimensional characters of the
\UbJCCIS of the ecological cuhure of socialhm themselves. The
pllsilivt' characters of the h~1 Sovlel works that defend the prill( irlc~ of the hlimalll~1 auitude to Ihe environment. are becoming
rcal acknowledged It.'aders and msplrers of our contemporaries,
Art is elltering more and more into decISion of Ihe difficult la"ks
being thrown up by the prao..:tice of (he socialist masterll1g of
nature with acceh::ration of the l.:SSR 's socio-economk de\"el()p~
ment in the age of scientific and technologICal advance. The 6th
Congress of the RSFSR Linion of Writers expressed 'serious
concern over the tackling of ecological problems III ct'rlain
areas of the country'. The Board of the Union wa.., charged to
convey this concern to the competent authoritit's and, if ne~
cessary, to draw the broad Soviel publi.: into the dis~:u.ssion and
solution of these vitally important matter.:.-.
The socio-ecological problematic is being more and more
broadly drawn into Ihe realm of the world ideologICal struggle. Western ideologists are trying to hush up the fact that the
ecological crisis is a manifestation of the crisb of capitalism, t.o
embellish the unallracti,-e ecological picture generated by capl~
talist society, to falsify Ihe achieHments of socialist d ....ilisalion
in the mastery of nalUre. The deep gulf between ecological and
aesthetic development in the capitalist world has been noted by
Western writers (R. J. Dobos. Rudolf Arnhelm, and others),
who have made an ecologo.aesthelic critique of separate ele~
ments of the culture of modern imperialism. But they are una~le
to bring out scientifically the eS5ellce of the unresolved contrad.lc~
tions of Western 'asphalt culture (as Arnold Toynbe~ called I~)
and nature, and 10 ignore tbe social de~endel!c.e D.! aesth~tlC
mastery of tile latter. The role of aesthetiC acllvlty III tackling
the ecological problem of today is oflen e\aggerafed. The rea~
sons for man's ae;lhetic alienation from nature are regarded b}
some Weslern thinkers as technologi~al (.as was heard ~t thtQ1~tt
Interna'tional Congress for Aesfhellcs III Montreal I~ d
.
. .
_ I .. 'he stru2gle of Ideas is ue to
The slglllfIcance of eLO og~ I~
I
bl
iTS social-value aspeci coming dl.rectly II1to the cel~tra pro
of Ihe modern world outlook. VIZ." the problem 01 man . to.t e
solution of which aesthetks is maklllg an essenllal contribution.
Y

e;

,HS

Problems of the Interconnection of the e<.'(llogil..-al and aesthetic

education of the individual, already sharply raised on an abstract

humanist basis by Thoreau. who dreamed of man as lhe anisl
and sculptor of the environment. are becoming specially topical
in this conneclion.

The importance of shaping Ihe aesthetic vector of man's

ecological behaviour is due to the facl Ihat aeslhe',ie educati on,
which IS a peculiar means (as V. F. Odoevsky put II), of 'Integ.
rating the soul', promotes man's development as a universal
bearer of socio-ecological qualities. and helps man 10 realise
himself creatively in the world. Socio-ecological standards and
ideals are IransmUied in the crucible of aesthetic preferences and

passions into real motives of activity, into ecological conviction

as an integral attribute of the depth of the individual's outlook
on the world. Only an aesthetically developed person and his
rich emotional world, in which the truth of the ecological ties of
nature i:s experienced and felt, can display real respect for 'the
Genius of the place' (Virgil): " and the ecological character of
the world, find wisdom of view, sincerity and reverence before
each little bit of living matter. II is therefore extremely important
to develop both the aesthetic aClivity of the human attitude 10 the
world, directing it 10 transformation of the whole of our planet
inlO the 'beautiful dwelling 9f mankind' (Gorky), and aesthetic
contemplation of the soul and its oblivious delight, rapture, excitement before the beauty of nature.
The forming of a culture of aesthetic communion wilh nature
in the conditions of socialist civilisation has taken a fundament~lIy new, direction. For the first time in history it has become
linked ~lth the e~ucating of a harmoniously developed individ~al. Rich exp~nence of familiarising the rising generation
With _the aCSthe.tIC. values of nature has been gathered in the
pral.:tlce of soclaiJst education and Soviet educational theory
(V .. Sukhom.linsky, and others). At the same lime the level of
sO,,:lo-ecologlCal and aesthetic maturity of social consciousness
r~~~hedearher cannot satisf~ us now. Today's cdncept ion of
all.:deratmg ,all ~pects of pubhc affairs calls for new approaches,
comrreheoslOn of the changes in the aesthetic quality of nature
use, and of Integral mastery of nature. Today it is necessary
I? employ the creative potential of Marxist-Leninist aesthelies comprehensively to speed up ,h- USSR"
'c
d
I
..
s Soclo-economl
eve opment, and to employ Ihe ae~lhelic factor in the process of
c(:("t!oglcal education, The main COnte", of
k' h' d'
,
' Ih
'
wor III t I IS Irectlon
IS to raISe
e el.:OlogK'ally
re~ponsible a-'h'
f
I
,
(.Ia Ism
to a qua I'Itallvely
new level to ,_... ~ I" etlc cu lure 0 I' so'
,
... a Ise II On a rea ISIlC

'"

,
f1 broader applil'ation of socio-aesthetic energy in
baSIS 10 Inu
".
d' .
f'
. .
f society's ecologil.:al activity m can !lIons 0 sClent~e sph~r~c~1hT~(llo)!;ical advance, starling from the 'dialecti~s of
IIlk a.n
'I' _ ,11 to bring out and generalise the real achleve\1arxlst rea Ism.
. . f
I' I
. enls
'. m
. th'
f do of a~thetic 'guaranteemg f _ eco oglca
el
I
III , '.e without Jelling ourselves run ahead too ast or to era~ralll.1.: ish ness. Not only is beauty of words ~bout natur.e
ling
edeS~lI~g . but above all beauty of deeds, beaut~ III the practln'l
r'oe,',e,;ation of nature. A feeling for the new IS needed here,
ca Irans
,
,
f the real prospects an overcoming
0 f th e e xisting
.
a se/,s~i~t~ons and actual diffi~lIlties precisely of today's levd
~~~;:elopmenl, and timely singling out of t~e unsolved ~roblems
I 'd'vidua l's aesthetic involvement In the shaping of a
culture . Fuller use of the edlicationa.1
of le
~~c~~:k (this expression of life and af~mation of 1.lfe) IS b::
coming of paramount importance today III the aesthe~c p~a~
ters of ecological consciousness, an,d at '.he same .time r~a ':~i~~
volvelllent of the aesthetic pri.nclpl~ I~ I~ocatlfona l ke a~~ pro~
.
I '
of an ecological dlSCIP me 0 wor
in the mCll c~lIon
'bililY for the ecological
dUCliol1, a helghtene? sense Of.~~SP~~~love all in Ihe leaders of
consequences of one sown ahctl Yblems that our fasl-moving
work collectives). Among I. e pro
. I and aeslhetic edulime dictates are.the pe~fect.lI1g of ~col.ogl~~ ideological and life
cation and of their contnbutlon to s apm~ d"d al more aClive
'h
f a socially active JJ1 1\-1 U ,
.
stance, I.e. t e stance o.
. ",'
J"minaling a consumer alllinvolvement of aesthellc activity JJ1 ~ I I d aeslheli!; indiffermillg of emotlOna an
tude to nature, overco
, ..
to the world of nature, elllence and deafness. of, t~le Indlv~d~~~an and rural Iypes of these
cidating the peculia rilles o,f til
h ' ,'c"hes 'h' prospeci for
d
Its
aest
enc I
,
attitudes to tile Ian d an
' f Ihese altitudes. and an
the development and intercOllnecl:on logical ideal during ac. f tr g of the SOClo-eco
artistic-aesthet iC 1 III , ' . ocio-economic development
celera liol1 of the countl Y S S
I ' s of sodelY and nature.
The perspective of the mu t ual re allon ment of human ci\-'ili.'
bk from Ille move
. I
. r
a perspec ll ve II1se~ara '.
. concretely oUllined I!I t h? ~ene_
m
sat ion to commll lllS . IS moSI
I
'pUI into CIrculation III
f tile 'ITOOSP lere
h t". ac
al scientiflc concept 0
Mankind'S collective aesl e It .. the 1930s by V. J. Vernadsky. r I . 'ial faclor 10 Vernadsky.
ery power LI sex:
pllere
tivity represente d a v .
f Ille biosphere inlo Ihe n<,>os '. I . '\influencing Iransfo r lllal.lO n 0 'e of art on sdence. whll'h IS 11 <
nLlCilt
. 1
nense
Stressing the 1
1 1III
1"
,
Ihi~ trans f orma "01
I I, he 1H11et.1.
basic geological for~e affcdlll~1 a~ a Planelary Phenomenon.,
, h's article 'Scienllflc ThOll 8 I' ~f Ihe phenomenon be Obi allJl
I
ld Ihe genera l lIIe
Ihal nol only l'Oli
.H7

",.

~~l~gical

pot~ntial

ned from

stud~' of. Eanh

bur also a cOlourful pictlJre 0( re .

and an ae>,he',c PIC' ure of 'he noosphere i'self, The 'heore~hrv~

,.<;igmfica~ce of r.h~ con~ept of the noosphere, for!J1ed on the 1)1..:7"'
of Marxist-Lenlillst philosophy. for aesthetics is that If op CiSIS
horizons of 'he furrher developmen" of aes,he'ic kno:~ u~
In 'he mas'enng of 'he sphere of man s !fl'erachon wi'h na,u~,
built up In 'he age of socIal, sclenIJfic, and 'echnical advance,
armmg the aesthetic pOint of View of the 'eXisting patterns th 1
determine the int~gral. self-~eveJoping 'society-nature' Sysfe~
with a methodologically true Instrument, and making it Possible
to pose the problems of the aesthetic shaping of the human faClor
In a scientific way. a shaping that corresponds to the real proces_
ses of the creation and transformation of the earthly sphere of
life bv SOCial reason and action, and throws light 011 the wonder.
ful essence of this reason,
l'iOTES
I

~e Marx 5 eller 10 F:-'gel3 of 1S March

1868 in whidl hc wrotc : The "ho

on lusion is Ihal ntilivalion when il progresses in a rrjmili~e way and_
nor c.otuciou.dy <'ottlr 7l1NJ ,... le.nes desert'; behind iI', Karl Marx and f rederick'90Engels.
Progress Puhli:JJers, Mn...cow, 19112.
p

S~/~ct~ Corr~,\pond('nce.
Mikhail Gorb,a(hev, S~/ut~f Spches
M05<;o.. , 1986. W 221-222.

and Art/eh>s, ' Progrt"SS Pubhshel1r,

See: Culture man- -philrfiopl!y: a contribullon 10 the problem n( !Ole,ralion

and devdopmenl. Va",.",), !ilr1.lofii. IQ82. 1:44.

IIIMI, r J. 1
F ""1crlCk lintels. Ant;-I)uhr;ng, Progress
);,aJ M.alli. UllflOml< ManU5('rlpts of 18.'i7-1858. Translated by ErrN "anlC'"!"mann. In: Karl Marx and Frnieri,k Engt'/$. Col/t".It'd Worh, Yot 28.
Procrns PUblishers, Moscow, IlIkt... P 44.

Publi~hen, MI~:\lw.

Ih~

Karl Marl!._ A. {O'llribution to

Critique of Polllh-<J/ ECf}fwm}'.
PublOher M'OIICow, 1977, r 2]6.

Puh".~her'i, M(...n l ,..,

Yal'OfUkQ}a ~hlldo:ht'lfl.n",a\";J Irudil\l<.l IT ~

Kar'
H, Marx.
18.TIUI"i4S 0' Surdus f-

( led from: T P Gngpriev.

Pr,'gr~

Pan II, Progrcss

:dUI

'apanae
Artiatic Tr.aditlOnl, Nauka, Most:nw, IQ7Q, r.124. rran ..Jaled fnlt
he RUStan

."

A~.li\ist$

M, S. Corb&l:hev. Addrea to a Gatht'ring of Party and EC(>I1tlmi(

(If
,he Tyumen and TomSk Regions, Septembc- IQH.'i_ Aommurl/lt. IQIi.'i. 14.

V~.

I( a,1 Marx. (GI,GJ,

I. Trans/aiM by Samuef Moore and Ed", ard " ve.
I &. p. ras Publl5hert, MOScm.-, 19'18. p 84.

1(.,

Mall all( F e4crln nIC.$.. The Ho'-J Familv CoIlr<"lni W..,.b. \ 01,
4. Prnrrn& Publlthen. M .... .,.,. 197.4i. P ___ s.

S. the r-.olutaon
utt'f'.IIr,.",.
It!

a.

he
liIh Con"
)S(.'5.
0

2 0( the RSFSR I nlOn of Wnie N

\'Ild. 4t' "d, \I 1 U

((~.ni"'mqu("

V : , M 1 8W. I~ _

ry
1041,T k. ( J/lrctrd Nt

R~

IOn
P

lot' .

"",u. Vo 9, PrO!:res5 Puttli

MAN'S FUTURE: FROM DREAMS TO REALITY

V. P. Rachko ..

peets of man's future. He emphatically de" d

. "1St way of life and of pe(lpl '. IIlle Ihe
f Orming r
a new, socia
.
l'SconsCIO'
0
"
,
~ y as Ih~ historical prOl"eSS of man's return to hirnl~snt's..s precj.
tal,expenence and human memory arl' Ihe dee f ~o.;elf. H.ISl ori.
which can only rest our preSt'11I and II,e f
P {undallon on
'.
Ulure be lreatt'd.
'
IS "k
1 e a re I3V b atoll of mankind TOlllo rr
It
.",
.
ow we shall b
.
to p~ss If on, In the same way as we must ac ee : Obhged
History ca,n be regarded as a continuous chan eo PI II loday,
g
lUre, something that afflrms a humalll"1 vI'e
f
f human oa
.h
.
.
WOman a ' b'
W,If
~ right !o. real, earthly happiness, freedom
~ a 7mg
historical activity. Such a theory of man a I I . .' and conscIous
. , "d
. 111
. the practice of so Il(
a nd esselKe
lin s rea"
IsallOl1
. I',liS nature
.
.
cia l!:it SOcIety and
' praCllce
,'
sI. ant Iy" d eve. Iops 111 accordance WI'II, IIlIS
AI 111 con
lime II IS Imked by thousands of Illread
. I'
e same
at:'h'levements of human thought TI I" S Will the IJreced'
.
rng
limited which i I
. ' . le l1storrcally tranSIe nt and
of lif
s a ways ~onta11led 111 the phenomena of on e wa
with ~i~:,al:~~~~r, ,and 111, people's everyday .noti?ns, di es awa;
in it, 'the brillian~ i 10. l~a~eJ" bu.t what w~s hlstoncally val uable
a new ualitv a, ~lSlg 1, IV~S o,~, con~1Il1ially coming back in
new fo~ce in' th 1d 111 olhe: 11l~torrcal. CIrCUmstances, acquiring
indoubted vilal emI' revealing liS ments, and demonstrating its
va ue to the full.
We have to turn to h'st
.
I ory preCI~ely because we are st riving
to understand our r
p eselll and 10 raISe the curtain on the futllr~.

The 'Golden A~e' and Ihe Happiness

of Prince Gvidon

Dreams of man's beautiful f

The hard social cir
. ulure were born in remote antiq uity.
ties of combating thClll~stances of class SOciely, and the difflCul
the creation of myth~ e tmental forces of nature, gave a push to
tries where happ' s. ~fta p~st 'golden age', and of distant COLlnM
lIless ounshed
'
any legends were cr
~ated about the fortunate life of ;our
forebears', In Greek
at the time when Astr my! hology the 'golden age' was on earth
to the legend she for::~~ :agod~ess of justice, lived. Accord ing
Ihen shone as the Zad'
rth 111 the Iron Age and had sin ce
f
.
Imes. ended On earth lac
. h const e II atlon
of Virgo while happy
s uc h Iegends,
WI! her de
parture. Utopias' were born of
t The fir~t u~opias about the' old
'
fies of anllqulty (India. Chin g E en age were created in the slarSI half of the first milleni:'m ~Pt. Persia, and Greece, in fh e
320
. C.) by Lao-tse, Euhemero5.,

LlIllhul, and Hesiod. Distant cilles and mysterious, unknown

lands that seamen and travellers had reached by chance, and
whl..'r~ gOl~d, wealth. and high spirits reigned, were eloquently
descTlbc..'d 111 theill. Later, when they got back to the society really
existing, they told their stupefled listeners about the wonders
they had seen overseas.
Thl..' world of utopia has always fed on dreams of social justice. But this dream, torn from the specifiC soil of the historical
age, was placed in a world of abstract, imaginary visions. When
the thinkers of antiquity talked about justice they started from
a metaphysical notion of two elements of progress: unchanging
human nature (in cOllnectioll with which they posed the task of
making man happy from outside); and an otherworldly external
force Ihat could, in certain circumstances, ensure the happiness
of man, constant in his essence, weak, contradictory, and confused.
An appeal 10 God or to worldly wisdom predetermined utopian hopes of a change in external circumstances in favour of
human justice, and of a return to yesterday'S 'golden ag~'. The
forming of early utopianism (mainly in the form of religious
myths) consequently started from notions of the invariance of
human essence and hopes of a divine providence and intervention, i.e., something independent of human society.
There is not a people that has not created its utopian ideals.
These are very different depending on the historical conditions
that moulded one nation or another. The classic West European
utopia hardly resembles the Oriental one, but their nalllre is the
same belief in the inevitability of social justice. This ideal gave
rise to the ideas of the early utopian communism of Thoma~
More and other utopians of the Middle Ages.
Thomas More himself was a dreamer who preached communist notions of a kind. During the crisis of the Chrisfian ideal. he
carne forward with his Utopicl not only as a critic of the eXisting social order, bUI also as a propon~nt of social jllstic~, al~d of
a whole set of ideas that can be descnbed as early utopIan (omrnunism These ideas were immature and contradictory and were
largely based on the secular utopia of Plato's Rl'pllblic. West~rn
scholars sometimes try to present Plato almost as the progemtor
of communism. Ignoring the historical circulllstances, ~h.ey put
both the aristocratic-slaveowning ideal of Ih~ coll~("livlsm of
a ruling elite de . . eloped by Plato 011 Ihe sam~ le . . eI .wilh T~or:nas
More's utopia, and the opinions of Ihe grea~ ut?plan sOI..'lall.s.ls,
trying in that way 10 disl..'redit the t~le~ry of sClenlific commul.llsm
and 10 class it as a branch of utopianism. Bul these allempts are
.W
2101b/)~

built on an arbitrary inll.'rrr~latinl1 of thl.' t~rll1 \:ommuni . ,

Ihe essence of which is not redtltible. llf coursl.' , simply to a Il:~l~~
lion of pri,ale properly.
Plato's .Ulopia~ ideal. wa~ an, absol.utist-tolalitarian state with
an incredibly stnct legislation In whICh ma~l was a puppel and
lOy in the hands of I.he ~ods: 1.1Ot, only was I( lHlC,-?llllected with
a prevision of the SCientifIC pnnclples of commuilist societv but
was directly opposed to such. The great utopian social iSIs Saint,
Simon. Fourier, and Owen were much closer to such a prevision,
Their ideas were highly valued by the founders of sc ien tific
communism. who, however, consistently criticised their utopi an
character.
Utopian pictures of the future depict an ideal society and an
ideal man, and in lhal they are one. The utopian socialists'
dreams of social justice were divorced from a clear understan_
ding of the social and historical conditions, and of lhe ways of
realising the tdeals put forward. The utopian ideal was constructed and depicted as an absolutely new picture of the future,
divorced from the real picture, one resembling Pushkin's fairy
tale of Czar Saltan and his son, Ihe glorious and powerful knight
Prince Gvidon, and of the fair Swan Princess. The Swan Princess
promised to repay the Czar's son with good for having saved
her from the wizard-hawk; il was enough for the prince to come
to the seashore and call forth Ihe While Swan, for his wish 10 be
immediately fullilled (a town sprang up, riches, stalwart guardsmen, and other wonders appeared). Gvidon's happiness came
true simply-by a wave of the Swan Princess while hand. Man~ind, how~ver, has to travel, difflcult roads, sometimes drenched
111 blood, 111 order to find It.
Humanity has pursued contradictory dreams in ils search for
ha,Ppi,ness: some wise men counselled living easily and 1101
th~nk~ng of the consequences of one's aClions; others called for
thll1kl.ng about one's every slep; Some regarded satisfactions as
the 'hl~hesl good'; others advocated rejection of satisfaclions and
reduction of needs and Wants to Ihe minimum. But all man's
efforts o~ the r,oad to happiness and prosperity inevitably led
to new dlsapPOll1tments.
L

.The think~rs of the past did nOI take into account IIW main
thmg o~ which e~rthly well-being and happiness are founded.
!hey failed to notl~e Ihe facl Ihat man has needs whose immense
Imponanc~ and vllal neces.sity do not lie on the surface. Thai
~appened 111 regard to a person's primary need the need for ano~r~r ~rson. A pers~n does not only owe hi; life to this need.
m e moment he IS born. People's need for each other is ('or-

, 122

rl,11tlralt:d <Jnd reproduced.daily

, by every
. Ifmanift:statinll of their
lift..' activity. Similarly, their eXistence lise depends.oll ('ountl~ss
IIlter,relations and IS based on Ihem; one pers:on s prosperny
and well-heing is inseparable from thai of another, and is conditional 011 sOi.:ial prosperily.
,
In order Ihat concern for man can be realised on a broad social scale it is not enough for man to be~ome aware of himse~f
as a social being, and for people to recogIllse the strength of their
unity. It is necessa~y for the very ba:,is of people's lives. and their
activity transfonmng Ilatur~ and Circumstances, to bec~me social and for their productive forces to reach a certam level
wll~re the need for a change in their inter-relations comes 10
light. The attainment o~ t~at level iJ~ the history of mankind is
also the eve of the SOCialist revolullon.
A moment had to come in history when Ihe word 'happiness'
would cease to have 'lucky stars' and 'good luck' as its synonyms,
when the striving for happiness and well-being would cease to
be a 'personal affair' and the c~re ,of one perso?, bU,t. wO,uld ~e
made the keystone of the orgamsatlon of people s SCX:lal life activity, would become the law of all sociely's lif~. ~Iar,\ was Ihe
lirst to say thaI. when he discovered a ~undamenrally new appr~~
ach 10 explanation of all the theorellcal probl~ms of man. IllS
place and role in history, his significance and worrh. freedom and
responsibility.
.,
in th~ exA logical consequence of the revolutlollar}, ch~nge
. .,
. .
db ' Manlsm IS the sClenllfil
planallon of SOCial ~henomena;a e 7 ed b),' the hislorical conexplanation of man s nature as ete-rmltl , '
II hislory
ditions of his existence. Dialecticallllalena~lsm,lreats a
.,.,
.
f
nd mal/IIams Ihe h umalll
as a continuous ahe~mg ~ man: a
I earrhly happiness.
view of man as a being wuh a ng.h~ 10 ~~alOrical activilY. This
to rea lisation of his freedom, 10 con~Clous 1~! is being realised in
doctrine of man and ,l1is \la,ture a~ ,e~e.. ~ d~veJoped in accorIhe practice of social1~1 sOCiely an IS em
dance with this pr~cllce.
II t all socialist Irends not
Historical .exp,l:mence has Sh'~IWI~f Il'~e objeclive laws of social
based on a sClenllflc understa~~II~e class struggle into account
development, thai do nol ta . _al Ihe conlemporary slage, and
as the driving fOft'e of I?rogres~
inl Ihal onl\' a revoJulionary
thai have not paid alle,nl~?~I'~ II es\~iaJi~m can aller it~ exploiter
transformation of ca~lla I~m ~n ~ k~ 1"5 lale of Ihe happiness of
essence. are as utopian a~ liS I II
Gvidon.
J2.l

High Ideals Compared wilh Achievemcnt

Ideology implies an appreciation of al'tivity from a ddlnite 'I _,
point of view, and a system of values, in short, frol11 the p~s~/\\
of an ideal. The social ideal i.s the standard and model in ~~~~hn
.
b
.
Ie
people's Ideas a out contemporary society and man are summ d
up. This historically chan.ging ideal .developed ?ve~ centur i~s,
and has a class character In class society. It attall1s Its scielllili
c
theoretical form only in Marxism, in the image of commu nism
In a class-antagonistic society two ideals that replace each
other can ~e distin~uished, ~hich .reflect the !rend of deve lop_
ment of SOCial relalions. One IS the Ideal of the II1termediat e stra.
ta of pre-capitalist formations, which found expression in the
ideal of early Christianity, and the other is the bourgeois ideal
whose classical formulation was the ideal of the Enlightenm ent;
both are a reflection of historically different forms of the same
I.:ommodity-money relations, progressive for the whole 'econ o.
mic formation'. They therefore emerge as two historical varieties
of a single type of social ideal, that of private success.
The next, highest type of social ideal is that of classless, communist society. It was born under capitalism as the scientifically
s.ubstantiated ideal of the proletariat. With the victory of soc iaitsm, the communist ideal gradually loses the status of a class
~deal as the social uniformity of society grows, and is converted
mlO a social ideal in the full sense of the term.
Si~ce the content of an ideal is ultimately disclosed throug h
SOlulion of the problem of the relation of the individual and soc.iety, eac.h type of social ideal is a generalised, historically pecuhar. solullon ~f this problem. In opposition to primitive society
which subordinated the individual to the tribe the social ideal
?f ~n.tago~istic soci.ety.' ~ngendered by private 'property, 'asserts
mdlvlduahsm, the mdlvldual's autonom'; in society.
The co
.
. I.
,
. mmUIliSI socIa Ideal, in contrast to all preceding types,
proclaIms a harmonious combination of persona l and social in ~erests. Wh~reas the individual and society are directly linked
In communIst classless'"
. .
I
.
b
'
socIety,
III an antagonistic one the re atlons etween th . d d
e III IVI ual and society are mediared by rela IIons between classes
ad'
.
Th
individual th
f
, n pnmaflly by political relations.
.e
de opI,mu'm cered?~e, for Whom the ideal society should provlon ltlOns of n
'. .
. d .
dual 'in general' bu
. I e aCllvlty, IS not an abstract m IVIgiven rise to the 's .t ~ ~JPlcal representative of the class that ~as
the child of a proOCg 18 I. eal. Each new type of social ideal, bemg
reSSlve class 0
. I
h
. r Socia group, absorbs the umanist (:ontent of the
precedmg One, The early Christian ideal.
324

fM instance, plClUn'd bliss in h~a.ven for the elect. The bourgeois

ideal declared equal ()pportllnltl~ for all for Success on earth.
In contrast tn the ideal of antagonistic society, the communist
ideal is inseparable from the prosperity of society and ensuring
all - round, harmonious development of each person.
The dilTt!rent elements of the general humanistic world outlook, one must note. developed in class society in a conte XI of
opposing world. outloo.ks. The id~a of the in~ividual's uniquene~\
and individualism, without which humamsm could not have
arisen, was born in the medium of the predominant, pro.p7rtied
classes. When humanists spoke of the freedom of the indIVidual.
they primarily had in mind mem~ers of th~ir .class,
On the other hand, protest against exploitation and oppression, and ideas of full social equality reflected the hopes a.nd
dreams of an oppressed class. The~ .were, ofte~ accompa~le~
with an assertion of primitive collectlvls~. As~etl.c commums~
and ideas of self-restraint grew from IdealisatIOn of certam
elements of the private life of these classes counrerposed to the
life of the dominant class. Erection of the unde~de~el~ped
nature of own needs into an absolute gener~ted egahtaflam~m.
Therefore, along with the ideal of the Rena~ance, t~e utopIan
communist ideal, with its appeal ~o the ':"tlr.e mankmd, was a
natural expression of the humanism of Its urne..
h
The humanist content of an ideal enables a definite branc
of succession 10 be broughl OUI, a certain sin%le trend f?r th~
..
.
Th'
tend 15 a revolutIonary
various hlstoncal peflods.
I~ common r
nifestations
denial at various stages of hIstory of co~crete rna
. ' les
...
d an assertIOn of new pnnclp
.. f
ial
of social evil and InJusllce. an
of public life that reflect the broa~est ~P~?;;~~~~e~f ~~:~~p_
progress. This tendency, by expre.ss~ng ted I Ihe ideals of the
ment of social relations, also Inl U~~lC~ayed in the developdominant class. It was most c.leri al.IStrom primitive material
ment of the content of the sOCIa Ih e : e development of the
.
II
d com pre enslv
.
well-bemg to a -roun , d. . I through individualism to
. dd
10
IVI ua,I a nd from her mS{lnc
,roclaimed freedom of the indicollectivism. . .
All progressive Ideals ha\~ P freedom has been concretely
vidual, but the content of 11I~ .freedom' was determined. by
historical. The real c.onl~~~n~ the level of material productIon
concrete needs stemmltlg
reached.

d was thai people won fr~om f~'r

happed',I'~"ted and permitted nOI by their ideal
I n reali!, , of cour~(, what
t that W8\
~
-'.I
!hemseh'es to the o;"xto;"n,
oducti,e forces. All eman':lpation .:arntl
_
of man . but by the e:o.:tStll1g pr
]!~

through hilhertl) has ix-en ba~ell, IWWI'Vl'r, till rt'S!ri,h'd prll<.luni\' r

.. ' "
I . I1 Ile'Sl'
I
The pr(....I urI Ion WIll'
prlouUt'IIH'
l\lrrl'S l"tllIld prn\id , w- !,: Ofl'('1
_
.
l
fll'ienl fM Iht" whole llf \\x'il'l~ and mad,' Ikn'!llpml'lu !lo\Sihl , tl!1I~\III~ur
l
J'('rlions satisfIed rtlt'ir rll't"d~ at rhl' 1"PI'IIW of Illh l'rs., . I liOhl!.'

In olher words, the degree ~)f freedom pro\,:laillll'd ill fhl' ideal
was determined by the lnel of den~lorllll'1l1 of mall'rial p
.
Ad
m_
ducHon.
n nell more IInporlan.'. ~la.'i"HHllagolljsljc SOdel\-,
cou!d develop only .'hrollgl~ t'xploll.:lII{?n; so thl' ideal of Ih~
En/]gh~elln~enr. despue all ,us progres.\J\,l'lles.\ compared with
precedmg Ideals, and desplle all Ihe allempls 10 represent .
as Ih~ eternal idea,' of a free sO,ciely, in the flllal allalysi~:
remamed only the Ideal of the private success and prosperit
of the bourgeois class.
Y
Progressive ideals found embodimelll only insofar as the
corr.espo~ded to the ?bjective la:-vs of his.tory. Social ideals wer~
realts.ed m turn w.htle the s~clal relatIons reflected in them
n~mam.ed progress.lve. Onl.y In that case was the necessary
dIalectIcal connection retamed between the ideal's contenl as
a goal and Ihe means of realising it.
. From t.hat al1gl~ the early Christian ideal was illusory because
II ar~se In a period. of te.mporary decline of the commodity
relallOI1~ ~hat.gave rise to 11. There were 110 means in real life
for reallsmg liS cOlllent, so that its realisation was transferred
to the other ,,:",orld. The bourgeois ideal is abstract and formal
beca~se. the liberty, ~quality, and fraternity proclaimed by il
are IImlied and reSlncted by private property. They are real
~nly .for those ~ho possess this property, and Ihen only with
I:frtam reservations . . The .spread of these principles to all
members. of b~urg:ols SOCiety makes the ideal abstract. The
c.ommunlst social Ideal is truly real, effective and concrete
Since the very formulatio 1 r
. r
'
. . for the free
1 0 ii, VIZ., ree development of each
as. t h e conditIOn
d
I
.
.
of Ih
.
f
eve opmelll of all. IS an expressIOn
end .and means. The principle of equality for
. . e unl.ty
IIlstance. IS a. constlluent element of all social ideals b~JI it
emerges as an Illusory equality b r
G d.

as formal equality b r
hie o:e 0 111 the religious ideal.
e oreide
t I.'I '.aw 111 the bOlIrgeo!s
"d
I
I
in the communist social
I ea; 011 y
proclaimed, i.e . elimination ~f ~~a~~~n~ctuall. eq-ualJly of pe,?ple
liquidation of (.'Iasses th
r'
qua Ily and eXplOllafJOn,
person on that basis ande fper
/I ectmg
1" " and develop men! 0 r eac h
c;;pirilual and physic~1 pow:rs. rea IsallOn of all Ihe individual's

326

Th(" Shackl("~ of "True Good'

Wlll'tlwf ~n('i<.ll~sl1l and l'ommullism <tssume an insuffll.'it:ncv of
\\l("il.'I(S lIlafl"fI~1 wealth 311d a relative j"loverty of pt:0ph:'s
mall'n<ll wl'lI-helllg or, 011 the ("Ontrary. whether realisation of
their idl'al'i rJr'~t .of all nel"essitales an unusual devcl0rmt'rll of
tht:' mall'rial 1'IIVIflIIIIl1elll and maximum satisfaction of eVt'rvt)l1e's primary material Ill:cds is nol a debatablequestinn. II can
oilly be posl'd by those who for some reason forget that Ihe
socialis t mode of production takes Ihe place of capilalism only
when, and insofar as, the Jailer becomes a brake on devdopmen! of the material hasis of SOl"iely and begins to block further
expansion of material wealth. Socialism means \Iriking ofT the
shackles from social production of malerial goods, and not
Slopp ing its developmenl. It is a historical and logical rt!quiremen I for overcoming the material 'hunger' an/.l absolult' and
relative poverty of the bulk of the population, and therefore
its 'minimum' task is to reach Ihe hislorically highest level of
everybody's material well-being.
.
.
Under socialism and communism, of course, definite socJal
limits to increase in the number of goods objectively ~omt' inlO
play. Btil these limits depend primarily on Ihe humalllsalloll of
human wants, by which
",I .. 'orwm\"' .nllr1e Ihe
rich
ill "Iacl' of Ihe WI'II,h
/ anu. pOl'err~. 0 f p01,I h...~
.
hlllllall hl'ill}: and Ihe ril:h /111"''''' need. The rich human bemg 1\ slmuJra;
neousty the human being ill "et'll oj a tOlaliry of human manlft'~larr.l\!lS ".
life the man in whom his own reali..\arion e:>'l\r~ a\ ~11 mner 11~~t't'~"':~~
, kewise
rhe p<"'t'rtr
as m'ed. Not only It'ea/1
t I, b U II
.
. (lJ man-IIII"
. . th re.
..
. '. .
uat measure a hUIII<1f1 an" t'
.
aSSUl11pll?n of ~~Iah'~ll .rel.~I\~s."l ~~ as\i\e bOIlJ whi.:h c'au~e\ the
fore ~oclal slgnlfK'lllle. POltrry IS ~ llhe Erealcr wealth -Ihe IIlha
hUlllan being 10 expalenn.' Ihe net' 11
human being.

.
II Ie I expeTlditure of resources ttl
AI the same tlille Ihe unpara e { . I Ira",al',- aClIit.,.. loday
. ' I t has allaJllC( t
. '
Ihe 'consu mer s,?CI~ty l!a.
'. > II e plundering and JIlisapis foreign to SOCialism: and llk~wIS~ ;. of mitlions of ~ople
propriation of the tabOl~r all 1 la ~~t;ained and lIJH:olllrolJed
caused by Ihe cult of g~lI! alit ~n~OmllltUlisrn there is no fatal
consu'!'plioll. Under sO(lal~~l ~1~1 iJI~ unlimited inCfI.'<l.':ie i~l f!l~
nece:ssily (Q follow the ro
I ",'Is 10 Ihl.' necessary quantll)
.
r
II
.
gs'
Ihere
are
1/
.
consumpllon 0 1111 ,
.
of the laller.
.
, , ' more (omplex probl.ern i.s how 10
The reat and IIlcO l1l pJfabl)
ke it 1)lav its Iw;ton("al rllle!'
. I wea 1111 'so. as- 10 lilaexislclKC.. and Iel lIe!'
I h uma!
.,
employ matena
I
(<I
. IS 01 human . i e expand Ihe I lOJ"lZOI.
S r experiel1t'c has S lOwn an
~e~'sonality nourish fredy. Ille .
J.n

10 lIb~~ .lbIIt u~me. eIIpUIIon of the produc_

tiOll
consumption of thUIIS does not solve this probl..,
ad
much work Ii.. ahead in history before a Iblteriai
aood becomes a real good; the 'economic man' Broans under
!he aountins burden of consumerism, and is enslaved phYSically
ad inteIlec:n18Uy by the Thing. But there is other experience
iD Ililtory; experience of overcomina: the contradictions between
. . . and Ibe world of things cr.eated by him, and of establiShing
lIIrmony between them, experience that has armed man with a
. . . compass in the expanding ocean of things.
The very fad that the 'people and things' problem, when
posed seriously, is not onc of the quantity of things, but rather
of the relations between people with regard to their attitud e to
things. indicates that what we mainly deal with here is the
probl.m of property. The rise of the 'people and things' probl em,
dUs flrst symptom of their commencing mutual alienation, was
linked precisely with the rise of the historical capacity of things
10 be property (private propeny). But it also means, at th e
same time. that removal of this alienation will be achieved by
transfOJ win, property relations.
Socialism deals a crushing blow to the grandeur of the once
up'hllreable empire of things by the very act of its formation,
i.e by abolishing private ownership of the means of production
and by turning key elements of the wealth of society into the
n'th of alli the products of labour cease to dominate the
pnduc~rt and a most decisive step is taken to a 'winning back'
of the world of things for people.
Social expropriation of the means and conditions of producthese ~gs of all things', and socialisation of the sphere
of production of material goods, are not the last step but only
tb~ l>qi.oning of a long, difficult road of returning people and
..... to tlaemaelves. A new stride toward the future is gradual
. . . DO _
eaential. viz., socialisation of consumption occurring
elanl wilh ~ 'matu~' of socialist property relations.. The
.of Ibis proc~ th. conv....ion of a bigger and btgger
~ of die. obJ~ tI 01. consumption and goods into an
....... of ~Ip by l1li: the people, through incr~as. of the
...... of _ _ _ tM",!" and
with.ring away of
........ """"""" Eaonoive
of consumption (the
-=-d . . jmpoi nc area
hum.n activity) will fmally
M
I _ _ _ Eh~n, 81 the Programme

"'at

n.

=-=- .:-

..

:,~~_ .tr\:-.-=~.'t!:~-=.~ th.: :=~

b ..meRient
. . 81% " w:ill have
brIO a p!ReSSion, while the penon Who '11
it _
10 be 'social obl.iner', and becom: a
dUuer
.,.. flllld ' menlal dissimilarity of Ihings comes out in th O
-...
~- I
'tn consumption;
.
IS
.....
...,0Ir
once
t h'
elr resu It being a satisfied
~ OIheh only lean to disappear, turning. in effect. into
......... need. The moveme'.'1 of some really ceases, that of
..... ally !hen really begtns. As for the latter <and th ey
.......te the overwhelming majority of things in personal
~, proce&'l of producing a good has not yet bee n
completed; at bUI i! 'sleeps' in the appearance of a thing; it is
- . . . " , 10 drllw II oul from there at the price of no liftle
IIdlOlllh the tiling itself was packed, sold, and became
~ fIIItI bean the trade mark of the factory that produced il.
II: . . r ange end the polS and pans in a kitchen are not yet a
ItIId1 !llell; yaeht is not yet a pleasurable sail; a country
- . is not yet fresh cucumbers and fruit, and so on. The
IIHIt tudI IIriAp could be continued. They all only have the
f6 eonsumer goods; it is more correct to call them means
fI ..wadton. or objects of un. Por the real good embodied
III . . . . to
rell human need, there has to be, in fa ct.
production process, but already production
and continuing outside the socialised sphere.
of perlOdal consumption.
I
nllle here how gradually the expression on the face
W_....,. oWlier !hengn. Perhaps he has not yet actually
.-.-....... of Ihe tiling; but he already is painfully
1IIe reckoning may come before the
for has llready become a burden

.-.n.

~.res

incre se. In fact, sociologists

IIlIt1e

labour expondithe non-socialised

whal is called nnal.
iI II the figure is underl e:1or of material
operale- with
coycr of our
whhoul direct
II

of
limited qu.dit,
facl Ihel a thing ill
to it as 'not his own', in
<mine- someone else's), bUI be. .
is fully uned or consumed. In general it
and unnecessary if it seems so to its owner,
not know how to use it, and so on; and very useful
ones. in fact, very much needed by someone else, nia, pi C..
to be among these. At the same time the personal owner, when
acquiring a thing as a commodity. acquires a place simulta..
neously in the market for goods, and the right to offer this thin.
for sale. In certain circumstances his property may become a
means for obtaining unearned income. If the fact of person's
ownership of an object in itself also means some kind of direcl
participation in consumption of it. this invol!ement ~?"'~
in his depriving other people of the opportuOlty to uhlJSe lIS
umul properties, while the ~n.e.r himself. is ~orc.l now and
then to deny himself the pOSSIbility of satisfymS hIS need by
another means and another object. even though the laner may
be more acceptable for him.
.'
Personal propeny thus received. a m~nus In all retpe~ls.
It is ineffective both as a kind of contlnuatl<!n of the produch~
process in the sphere of personal consumphon and as I ... e~iaI
relation of production. As a specific form of !he c~mphOn
of the necessities of life it only lowe~ their ~!aUY"UIe,:!
yield and so limits society's reserve of hfe .necusIUes, Ind
faclimpoverishes it. As a synonym .of.'h~ or:;ary ~
and a synonym of man's natural esslmJlah~:e1f m : onIJ ,.
... concept of po""na. P'OJ":rty d it iI thll
""""OY'~ through a misundenta~dlns; an Ii......
ending that usually feeds
:w~~~ lite
far it as such. As a mod~ freedom' there . a' ..
., lite individual's perso~a1' _. its
fie
"- ' alread under lOCI IS...
..- 'it;Y
nonal fred.'. M ..

0:;

bu_ ...

.... a1lnl
on..1':_ for COllll""OI u

GD' 1I 1DG* e ...........

of
necoaUty

is embodied in
actions of the ma n to

of ~Iion 10 the
IIe ""'e 8Iep on the
the artifIcial
lead to the
..ill create an
a real
man of

'I

,.

always be counled on thai eal'll fll'W stt'p of his would prom

'r
I)t~
progress (even lone"
f.:ou (, not t.~xaCI )' prC'dl~1 rhe- ('on~:rtf{'
I.:onsequences o~ thai step) ~lId l'otdd n.~lktJlI Oil posirive l'hani.:l'
BUI ',he eXpenl'flCe of 11Isr~\ry. ;.lfld l'\pt'l'lillly that 1')[ Ihl~
twen,lIeth ct"llIury. Il'.Jl'he\ "'. Ih .. , hUJlli1l1 u~I"\l'rsalily ilnd
~all s boul1c..II,es.s l'reall~'e ('~tpa('lIy ~'all al~o 1I1i1ll1ll'!-t Ihl'rnst,.'lves
III a destructive caranl),. 111 J ulll\\..r....tllly of l" il.
.I~ hum,an reality is till', ~la'i\ ~\f hiShH'Y. i.I.',. thl' rl'alit}' of
spIritual hfe as ~ .proce~'i o~ 111le-rnal \lrIlS!-!',t.\ \l'ar(h. and lakln~
of l'on,crele de~ls1~m.s. 01 1I11stakt ......llltl d~lll,H'n .... alld as a prnces.~
of ac~ IOns b!' IIld 1nd t~a Is. d a~s~s, P.:lr~ Il'S, i.lll,d \1 al e\, I hen (lilt'

musl lnllnedJately realise that II IS prt."L'ISt'ly thiS Mlbjelli\'~ factor

Ihal plays an essenti~1 role in the character ilself and direction
of movement of social forces from Ihe pasl 10 the future i.e
Ihe dial.ectie. of man's spiritual lift.'". the dialectic and basi~
~ontradlct?nness of the very process of his cognizing of his
lI~terest.s. I.e . reflection of the initial Objective conditions in
hiS actions and decisions. Scielltiflc socialism maintains with
good reason, Ihal the laws of history, and the context ~f the
~ifferenl socio-economic formations set but Ihe most general
IlIles ~or the development of events, leaving all the details 10
the Will of people and circumstances.
Scientific ~ocia!ism sta~ts from the point thaI the building of
I~e new sOCiety In practice means provision of conditions of
life for all people in which

;\'er~one .can .freel;; de~elop his human nature and tive in a human

e1allo~"'hlP wl!.h hIS neIghbours, and has 110 need to fear any violenl
s, anermg of hiS condition
F,
..
.,.
.
.
... ar rom wlshmg to destroy real human
1 e WlIh all Its r ...... ulremem
d
d
.
, b
.
.
-~
s
an
nee
s,
we
Wish
on Ihe conlrary really
o nng II IIlto being.'

Wfhehn ~he founders of scientific socialism spoke of the 'real',

.
o t e real COntent of peop' ' ,'f"
'f
.
d
e
s
I
e
111
the
future
society
of a
JIe a equate to the nat
r
'
.
'
h
d
ure 0 man as the h ighest criterion of
u.ma? evelopmen~, they ~ad in mind Ihat social life could not
eXist In general without II, As will b
'
quotation from Engels' 'Elberfeld
e s~en from t.he abo.ve
Speeches, they ~~tlilled qUite
normal, attainable social aims.
human relations with his
.. gh~arantee of conditIOn, normal
leisure.
nelg ours, and a spiritually full
. Go~ls that unite the efforts of .
..
.
life, give it a meaning that go b several generatIOns IIlSplre
individual. At rhe same time ~~ eyon~ the finite being of the
to be spiritually richer do~s ~o~e~ulreme.nt for people's life
cendental aim of history but 10 sOciarrert~ln to some trans1fellself, because every

~\'('It.'I)', t'vt'ry 'l.n(ial organi<;m is flnt nf all a d '

n
rherc"fore pl'uplt'\ life under socialism being r , end III tlself.
,
.
e ale prrrnaniv
to what I ICY (all al'all' and 31.:hieH today and t
h.
.

. J
..
, 0 t elr 3\,tual
,!lId pOlt'litta
opporftll1l1lt'l.
IS laving a road th
h . .
,
. , ,
.
roug Imllanon
01 tht" l('')t mhue ... and gradual conversion of 'h
.'
I
.
.
t' eX\.t~ptlnnal
mtn I It' norm, not to all lInagmary future of man but 1o a real
mH .

SOl.:lalism
at'alcs
me- mate-rial
and spiritual ,.nre-cond','
h
. .
I Ions
,
f or ,Ie lIcvlIIg t e 1,;ommulllsI Ideal of man in the fUlure a rna
~ho bt"~r!!. fcalure" ,of ultimate perfe(t~on. beauty. and gooJ.
I Itl' Ide.d of the man of the communtst future contains the
futllhl.ll1l'nlal pnn(:lples of morality 'Hemming from reason,
C()II~CIe-fIll,. and appralsaillf the individua/\ a(tivity. developing
an a(ltvt.' IIfl' atlllude III m~JII. ThiS conec-rns an actual idt!'al
when tht.' (omrnuniq prinLlples "f moralify stt'1lJ from tht' indi~
vidu<ll's needs. and become f~e e\erytJa\ standards of his
behaviour. At the lI\ame tlmt" man i'\ free 'when Ihe standards
of his morality (oll1cide w:th ad\anct'd ~Ial a~piralions, and
with everything that promote" [!"Ie eSlablishmt!'nt and dend(lpment of truly human, i.e . commUI1J~I. rdatll'n'S beh""t.'t'n peoplt'.
The development of s<xialist socit'ly, and Ihc- la..,ks fadng jl
today. are giving the l'ommunist ideal of man a lj\ing C\)J1It'Ilt.
Far from I.:ontradictine the best fealures 0f the ullivt'r~l
human ideal. the communist ideal ('oin..:idt's with il in the
historical perspective, ID. the prospect of communi,m coil1('idt's
with the common historiL"al fa Ie of all mankind.
Man's prospect'> are visible in Ihe all-round. a.lI-embracing
progress of humanity, beginning with ib matenal e,.'slelKe
and ending with the sphere (,If s..:ienc~, ar!, _and morality, By
opening up these vistas communist stXlety ~fl1rm~ truly hum~n
relations bel ween people, brings oul the entIre .human potentIal
embodied in Ihe (ommunist ideal of a harmolllously developed
individual.

METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
OF WRITING THE BASIC SCENARIO
OF GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
N. I. lap i n

d global and regional development d the modern world.

lem:esearch into the glo~1 problems of .t",!&Y a~ .w~~ d
I'n with them or, as IS
said, Slob.ItIIiCS, IS
dea I fI~ld in world science (Soviet included). It is only in its
new n d decade of development, yet in that shan tiLio Soviet
seco t Ac workers have contributed no little to this field, in
SCJen
'-:,_
. t the
ichI"in fact, each step has b
en,e
as 'II were, a.,!
NC mo.
n' Recall the theoretical and IIlCthodologicai work m
un ~o:f' D.M. Gvishiani, N.N. Inozemtsev, P.L. Kapitsa,
Moiseyev, E.K. Fedorov,
P.N. Fedoseyev, and the
and papers of V.V, Zagladlll, I.T. Frolov, D.V. Ermol~
boo S M Menshikov, and I.B. Novik, and the specl8l studies
Gelovani, s.v. Dubovsky, E.M. Korzheva, N.F, Naumoo . ' Po ov, v, v, Yurchenko, an~ other~, ,
va, K.N.
I
guided by Marxist-Leninist theory .and
Soviet sc 0 ars, focussed their attention on ideological,

w\ '

Man and humankind are a pair of related concepts, th e COnceptual space between which contains the whole ensemble of
relations created by man, and whIch create hIm hImself as a
social being. These are social relations, not only those charac_
teristic of a given society and operating within ii, but also
relations between different societies (on the scale of reg ional
groups of countries and nations or on a global scale of the
world community of people).
Until recently social scientists mainly paid attention 10
narrow-academic aspects of these regional and world social
relations, namely, international political, international economic, cross-cultural, and other aspects. Now they are becom ing

the subject of comprehensive, operational studies, since

problems of a new type have come up, viz., glob31 ones, among
Which the most significant and acute is that of preventing a
thermonuclear war. The danger of self-extinction of humankind has made the idea formulated by Mikhail Gorbachev at
the 27th Congress of the CPSU extremely obvious:
The course of history, of social progress, requires ever more insistently
thai there should be constructive and creative interaction between states
and peoples on the scale 0/ the world. Not only does it so require, but if
also c~ea~cs the, requisite political, social and material premises for it...
ThlS IS precISely ,the ,way, through the struggle of opposites, through
arduous e~ort, gr~plRg In the dark 10 some eXlenl, as il were, that {h,e
con,troverslal
takln, shape, I but tn1ertiepentiefll and in many ways integral world IS

The making. of .a safe, intact world calls for the develop.

ment and appltcalto~ to ~tudy it of a methodology adequate
to the natur~ of .thlS u"'que object. The theory and melhmaterialism fully answers
IS
Its heurIStic potential is growing in combina":::/t t e arsenal
the. means of the systems approach
an
systems
..ThlS .methodology is being activel y
e!"ploYed by. SOViet .
SCientistS-Philosophers, sociolo.
.... economISts, pohtIcal Scientists, etc.-to study the prob-

~OI08Y ~f dlale~.lcal an~ ~istorical

~ r~~lre~ent,
~f
a~alyslS
~Ial

Ui

~e~
. kS
k~,V A

~nd

;:i\~"::;~~~:I, ::;~OciO-P;litical aSP:rtSh~~r t~t:~~u~ ~~~I~~~

problems from the very egll1nll1~f modelling global develop(includ,ing work on th~~~~bl~:,~ to employ a qualitatively
ment). - That has en
Western globalistics to the very
different appro~ch from th~t ~~ lobal studies. including global
posing of the all'~s and tas s
~nvesti ating the problems, and
modelling as an Instrument for I f th~ world and its regIOns,
perspectives of the develop~ent .0 I-materialist understand~ng
The principl~s of the d~alecttc~ocesses, the basis of which
of world histoncal and regIOnal p. formations, and of the
is the conception ?f SOCIO-tCO~~~ICof mankind, are fun,~~
progressive formation ~et~eso~cientific notions of the p~\~
mental for Soviet globa IS I~ ' the future can only be formu a 1,
version of this developmen~ ~n t've laws of social developmenh
from knowledge of the ? Jf~~paratus of operational researc
and a complex mathematlca ucted and employed"
nt
into them, be correc~rfi;~~~~ of ~nowledge p~a:c~~i:;~~~~ed
Scenanos as a sP~in is an original resear~ ation of general
role here. Their Wfl ir~ a certain total co~bln and procedures.
out in accordance wI ' al principles, ru es,
.
and speCIfic
me thodo oglc

'os
The Place of Scena~ Modelling

an_Machine System
M
in the
.
---m d
the man-machine ~J<J"- the
The writing 0 f scenarios.
w exerCisefort hat differs e,;sentially from m
modelling is ne
1 /~ 22 _0166Z

co~nru't'r mOdels,
i.e., Ihal fUllclion as an aUlonomo~s m.e ans 01 . ~e.~earl'h. and
tasks of writing scenarios not intended for

also from those of writing scenanos lor traditIOnal mOlitds

orientated on a very limited range of problems and haVing Ihe
form of completed. invariant model,s," .
A man-machine system of modelllllg 1IIc1f1"ttes a set of forma_
lised and unformalised information about Ihe object of Ih e
modelling. ordered in accordance with the stru c ture a nd
pallerns of Ihe objecl's functioning and development, ne cessary
and adequate for dealing with Ihe tasks Ihal the rese a rcher

(user) may pose, i.e., whose solulion is lhe aim of rh e

structing of the system.

COn_

As the work of V.A. Oelovani has shown, Ihis system makes

it possible for the user 10 employ its creative POlenrial more
fully and effeclively, ~ Its writing and use 1101 only do not reduce,
bUI substantially increase the role of rhe unformalised elements,
on which, in the last analysis, the quality of the con stru cted
models and the results obtained by means of them depen d,
Here I must note thai by formalised elements I mean Ih ose
bits of information in the system thai are expressed in a form al
language (mathematical, algorithmic). Un formalised elements
are correspondingly those bits of information that are expressed
in ordinary language. The dividing line between the two is
relative; one and the same elements can be un formalised in
one system and formalised in another. The diViding line depends
on the aims of the research, the mathematical apparatus of th e
system,
concreteand
case.other factors, but it can be established in each
Three main types of unformalised elemenrs are distinguished: unformalisable, formalisable and deformalisable, In
com?ination with.a formalised
of model/ing, and ill
rela'ion '0 'he ob}ec, of 'he modelling, we get an inlegra'ed
scheme of 'he elemen,s of SYSlems modelling (see Pig, I) .'
Scenanos are a main formalisable elemen' of a sYSlem of
modelhng, Their specilic place in 'he sYSlem is 'hat 'hey serve
as a link conneC'lng 'he unformalised pan of 'he sYSlem wi,h
'he formalised, and 'he formalised pan wi,h 'he deformalisable,
Their role, moreover, grows SUbSlanlially wi,h 'he development of the formali.sed part of the system.

syste~

The COni en, of 'hiS deveiopmen, can be judged for example,

by 'he pnnclples emplOYed by 'he workers of the All-Union
Research InSl1lu'e of SYSlems S,udies (VNIISI) of 'he USSR
Srare
COmmi1lee and of 'he USSR Academ of
SCiences at vanous stages of the Work of '
.
dd
IY
338
creating an
eve opmg

Plannln~

,.

it iat
inform ation

r-

Socia I object

Unformatiubla
lllments

FOffNlisabtl
lllments

New information

t
Effect through

Deformalis.ble
elements

new in formation

Formalised systlm

I+-

Fig. I InTegrated sc heme of The elements

of SYSTem modelling

.
f odell ing. In the first stage quatit~a man-mach me system 0 m 'd d n that differentiated thiS
ow
.
th
P rinciples were lal
. lively new
..
d I . viz universality, I. e.,
e
system from ~radIlJOnal mo ;osdel f~~ tac kling a broad class
system's capacity to ~.~~ale .a the possibility of readily reorof problems! ~~apta I Ity, ~e .. thods of research in acco rd anc.e
ganising the 1I1ltial model an me d the combination of quan,,with new posin~s ~f the tasks~ ao~ research: openness, i.e., the
tative and qualitative meth od d
d 'mproved with growth of
system's capacity to be alter~ an en\ and supplement ing of
knowledge through the rep acem b new or better blocks;
existing element~ of the sy~t:i~ t~ a ccumulate. knOwle~g~:
cumulativeness, I.e:, the C~~mj: and statistical lI1fOrmall o ,
and model, scenano; al.gor~th
'
.
and several other prm~I~I~~.
s stem of interactl~e ~odelIn its functional POSSlbtlllJheS 'hyeNIYISI is a generallsallo~ ~f
datte buill by emplor~g
. ne~ pnnelling (SIM) develope.
previous develoPI:~I~!~ ~n~a~eveloped the in:[~~n~~~~S~tj~~e~~
pies
the
ad c:e.amaximum decennew pnnclples '. 'n and emptoymg m? e~, o~[ and unifythe stages of burldtlr~ of the system: SI~gh~~tiOn of informatralisation of c~n of dialogue and trans ?~!rty of the system
ing of (h.e
increased. the
and e:-..pandlion. ThiS app.
I'lied the busllless 0
I and simp I
as a
e,
.
. is obviously necessary
ing it. '
h a system of
of writing the seenaFor SllC
ponding prmci
to elaborate corres
rios.

th~t ~uppl~;cluded
sUPPr~acl1

w~o

follo~ing:

fl;~o~;fying

mOd~llIr~gpl~~

Principles for Wriling a Systems Scenario

Scenarios intended for ilw.estigaling oojecis by sYSIt'llls ll1odd .
ling. I call syslems scenanos.
The Kelleral principles follow fr~m the characler of a systelTl\
scenario. They include the followlllg:
(I) objective-systems relevancy: Ihe l'onlent of a scenario
musl correspond bolh to Ihe essenlial characleristics of the
structure and dynamics of the objet'l being sludied and 10 th e
possibilities and limitations of Ihe syslem of Illodelling; '
(2) complexilY: Ihe need to describe all the parameters of
the studied object essential for solving the (ask or problem,
in their relationship both with one another and with the paramelers of the broader system (0 which the studied objec( belongs;
(3) unily of Ihe formalisable and unformalisable parts:
Ihe need to describe the parameters, that canllot be formalised
at a given stage follows from Ihe principle of complexity as
a rule; these parameters also constitute the non-fonnalisabl e
pari of the scenario, which must be in unity, i.e., an unCOl1tra_
diclory relation. wilh its formalisable pari: this unity musl be
ensured both at the 'input' in Ihe formal pari of the SIM and at
the 'output' from it, al the stage of interpretation of Ihe results
of the model experiment (maximum use of Ihe SIM's possibilities as an instrument for invesligating large-scale, complex ,
weakly SlrUClured objecls is ensured thanks 10 Ihis principle);
(4) multivariance: Ihe need (0 regard several alternative
versions of the development of events determined by Ihe
complexity of Ihe object and Ihe principle of complexity of
writing il in the scenario; the principle of Ihe unity of th e
formalisable and unformalisable parts of the scenario provides
additional possibilities for wriling it as a muitivarianl one; at
th~ same lime, multivariance functions as a means of heightenm.s. Ihe heuristic ~ignificance of Ihe systems scenario and
reallsmg the potenllal of the SIM as a research instrument;
(5) ~pellness: the cap~city of a scenario to be improved and
altered 111 accordance WIth new dala obtained in Ihe course
of scenario modelling or exogenously in relation to the SIM.
and al.so the capacit.y o~ being switched in to other systems
scena~IOs, and of .bemg IIlcorporated in Iheir system, without
essential changes 111 the s~enario's inner slructure (or rather,
these chan.ge~ are not obligatory conditions for incorporaling
the scenarro m the system).
The seneral principles are no, adeq ' h
for
ua e,
owever,

wrillllg Ihl.." hasil' sl"t'narin. Spniai prinCiples also have to be

distinguished for that.
Whal is. a 'basi..: .scenario" Semantically 'bask' means the
main one III a n~rt~1I1 t>n<iemble of intt>r..:onnected components,
in their systt>m, It IS tht!' nuclt!'u'S or core arOund which olher
scenarios are formt!'d relating 10 the given system. How can
this nucleus be singlt>d out, however, a<; Ihe foundation?
First of all, it is nt!'cessary to regard the scale of Ihe s..:enario
and its place in the hit!'rarchical structure of the set of scenarios
of global developmt!'nt. The following Iypes can be distinguished
by Ihat criterion: elementary, for studying the simplest dement
of the global system; regional, for investigating the aggregate
of the parameters of a large region of the system; problem,
for studying a universal or global problem: general systems,
for investigating the global system as a whole thougb not,
naturally, from all possible angles. A scenari? that. t!'mb~a.ces
all the main regions and allows for all the mam soclO-politlcal
forces (,dramatis personae', or 'subjects'), bearing on bOlh
regional and global development, is, accordingly, a general
systems one.
.
f
A general systems scenario that. meets .the r~qUlrement ?
universality, i.e., Ihat makes it pOSSIble 10 mVe5ligate a ceflam
set of problems of global and regio~al development, c.an
consequently be called basic. The functions of b.aslc sc enan~~
cannot be performed by a single systems scenarro but can.. )
that form a network embral IIlg
characteristic of
f h
I bal syslem's development as a
.
(orical stage 0 I e ~ 0 . . I for wriring such a scenario
The fo.lI~win~ ~P~C~~I ~~~f/i~~Sto the general principles sel
can be dlstlngu~s e m s Siems scenario):
out above relal1~g to any y.
describe a certain set of
(I) universaltty: a capacIty I~~ principle can be regarded
global and universal problem~ (. ;s of universalifY proper to
festation of the prnlclp e
as a man I
.
as a whole):
.
the system of modelll.n~. g reemenl wi[h Ihe main Iheoreflcal
(2) conceptual vall~I.IY. a ,
f and present of the global
I
m
..
h ractenslllg I Ie pas
proposliions c a.
. ossible 10 delermine fhe e emenl co
system and maklllg II.p.
.
position of the scenar~~'ierarchism): fhe need for a cOllslstel.lI
(3) multilevelness
rio's ropositions, moving from .thelr
b
kdown of the scena
p
he roblem and regional
systems level
if gossible. in
levels to fhe element.ar~ Ie of multivariance. to form vanous,
wilh the general pnnclp
J4f

~~~~~:I g~~~~ra~n~rs~~7:~r~a~e~roblems

g~~~ral

~1:~~U~hak!s

tt;h~:~-

comblll~lIon

actions
from the

develform
of

lIlotions

This slale of the global system permits one to character,,"... II as

a systems complex.
In other :-"ords, a systems complex fIgures as a form of the
transformatIOn of the global system from a summalive one 10
totality. Ill , Thi,s is an o?jecli~' e ,pr?cess ~ilh a character o~
natural-historical neceSSity, slgmfYlIlg radICal changes of Ih
system's fundamental structures.
e
Scient!fic, and tech~lOlogical advan ce and the development
of mankind s. produ~l1ve forc~s are the ~at~rial basis of this
process. The industrial revolullon developing In the second half
of the twentieth century is ,having a particularly profo un d
effect on r~e global system. Like many processes it is OCcuri n
~nevenly In, space ,(by regio.ns) .and in. time (compare th~
I~ng waves ~f radical techn~cal mnovauons). Having beg un
wJlh .automatlOn of. productIOn process and conversion to
chemical processes, il has now crossed the frontier of mi croelectronics and biot~chnolo~y. One must suppose that thi s is by
no means the last of Its frontiers, and that a vital one is industrial
mastery of thermonuclear energy.
. ,( I) The industrial revol~tion. is immensely increasing h uma nIty s energy power, makmg 11 comparable with the power
of natural forces, and dangerous for the very existence of
nature and the human ~ace. and is consequently c alling for
fu~da~e.ntally new relations between nature and society. (2)
'.' IS ralSmg the general level of the productive forces qual ita~Ively. a~celerating. their internationalisation. (3) It is callmg for Just as radical changes in the relations of producti on
~et~een people. and overcoming of their private property
hmll~dness and narrowness and their elevation to truly social
relatIOns.
in.the ex,ste nce an d struggle of opposmg
.
1It .is in this ' .
soci.al
r~ allons (capllahst and socialist). that the specific nature of
~ e present. stage of the transformation of the global syst em
'tnhtofa to~ahty consists, and also the very deep contradiction of
I"
.
e ormmg of such a syste
dependence of '
.
ms qua Ity of It as the growing interdefiniteness is t~t! ~al11d components. What social, historical
example acquir'ng;nlte~ epek~dence of various countries, for

. s It ta mg sha
h
..
f
some countries a n d '
pe as t e subordmatlon 0
mutually beneficial c";_t~o~~at~ others, or as the voluntary and
the question in this waPI t~on of equal partners? Posing of
nature of the interdepe~d:~ s to und~rstanding of the du al
global system. This duart
ce as an. I11tegral quality of the
phenomenon of the dU~lh' ,:~rehover, IS, ~ manifestation of the
y
t e qualities of social systems.
344

discovery of which was a fundamental methodological achievement of Marx.

The interdependence of the components is, on the one hand,
a universal property of any integral system. The social and
political content of this property may be very different; it is nol
for nothing that Western ideologists readily employ the concept
' interdependence', investing it with an anti-democratic sense.
In other words, this concept, while enabling the fact of the
transformation of the global system into a totality to be fixed.
is quite inadequate for bringing out this totality and its historical
definiteness. On the other hand, therefore, a scientific analysis
of its qualitative definiteness suggests that interdependence
should be concretised from the angle of the socio-economic
formation that is having a determinant influence on the
corresponding stage of the global systems. development. Th.is
makes it necessary to resort to an analYSIS of the trends III
mankind's formation development in our age. which are also a
very important determinant of th~ historical. content of the
transforming of the global system II1to a total ny,
The dynamics of nations' formation development, and !hat
of all humanity, can be pictured as a 'wa~e' w:h?se heIght
corresponds to the proportion of the P?pUlallOn IIvmg b~ the
laws of one formation or another. As WIll be seen from Fig. 2.
the period 1850-1917 was a stage of co":,parativelx rapid deve lopment of capitalism as a ~ocio-e~o.noml e formatlo." : the share
of the population whose life activity ~as determmed by f~e
laws of the capitalist mode of production rose from .10 to ... 6
per cent of the total population of the world, ~~d liS numbers increased fourfold (roughly from 120 million to
11 ) The economic might of capitalism rose to a q~a /ml Ion '
.'
h ' g to capltaltatively new level in the impenallst epoe . owm
ndiists' new forms of international co~~perarlOn (car~els,( s~ ort

4J.0

~~te:~~rt~~:S)et~n)d n;~isw:~~~~~X~~~'t~~if,~~\~[e::~;:~E,~~
a class on an .inte.rnarlOnal scale. to ~st whole of mankind al
political dommal1o n over ~Imosr I e (b 1914). This was
the beginning. ?f e . tWt~I1~~~t Ct~naltU~rx g!eat capitalist powexpressed political X ~
ia France Germany. Ihe USA.
ers only (Grea.' Bntam, RUSSul~tion aro'und 4~O million. h~d
and Japan). With a total. pop ound one billion of Iheir polutons numbermg ar
hans
. d
depr~ve na I
h military conquest and 01. er me ,
ical mdependence throu,g.
of the nations then m preeapthai is to say, the .maJ~r~t:IO ment and had reduced them
italisl stages of SOCial e
P
,
345

It

23 _01662

(b)

The interconnection 0/ the problems 0/ global devel()pn/ell(

,

The contradictory character of the structure and processes of

the global system constitute the objective basis of the varied
problems of its functioning and development The list of these
problems continues to grow, which makes their typology a
pressing task.
In my view, it is expedient to draw a line between the general
typology and the special. The general typology presupposes
differentiation of the problems of rhe global system according
to the established grounds accepted in the social sciences, the
most significant of which is their differentiation into ecological
economic, social, and political problems. The purpose of Ih~
special typology is to reflect the specific nature of the global
systems as an object of study and investigation.
It is expedient, when constructing the special typology, to
distinguish problems and alternatives of development. A
problem is a contradiction that has only one line of decision,
and the differences relate only to the ways and means of Solving
it (for example, the problems of preserving the environment,
of eliminating dangerous diseases, etc.). An alternative presupposes the existence of two or more directions for resolving
contradictions, i.e., the choice is made not in respect of the
ways of solving the contradiction, but in regard to one of its
aspects (for example, a high or low level of differenriation of
incomes; social equality or inequality as the goal of development,
etc.). An alternative, strictly speaking, is a specific form of
problem, but for convenience's sake I shall distinguish them
on the grounds indicated.
The difference between problems and alternatives according
to their size and scale is also specific, i.e., according to their
effect on the scales of the whole global system or of its separate
subsystems and components. One can distinguish a three-level
structure of the problematic, for example, by this criterion
(see Fig, 3).
The first, highest level is formed by generalised alternatives
of the developmen~ of the global system as a Whole, i.e., as an
aggregate of all Us main constituents. The second level is
fO~ed by glo~al pr?bl~ms and universal problems and alternatives bot~ vlt~lIy ~lg.l1Ificant for all nations or a majority of
th~m, ,but differ 10, Ofl~1O and modes of solution: global problems
al'u from above, directly reflect the properties of the global
I).tem as a whole that characterise the present stage of its
deYeJopioent. and call for consolidation of the efforts of all
J4I

Generilised Iltematives
Globll problems

Sidoril probllms

Uniftrql problt. .
lnet IltemttlYes

Regio..., probltmr;

Fig. ] Struclure of Ihe problemalics of Ihe global syslem

mankind for their solution; universal problems, on the contrary,

arise rather 'from below', from the side of separate regions and
sectors of activity, and their solution is primarily a matter for
the respective nations and social groups and sometimes presupposes acute struggle ralher than consolidation. The third level
represents more concrete problems, viz., sectoral ones, corresponding to the main sectors of mankind'slife activily (indusl.ry.
agriculture, ere.), and regional ones that express the speCIfic
nature of different regions.
.
The existence of direct links and feedback connectIons
between the different elements of this Slructure conver~ the
whole aggregate of the problematic into. a strongly Ilflk~d
system, The interconnection of the problems IS one of Ihe special
features of the current stage of developm~nt of the global
system and of its transformation into a totality. That makes a
special'study of the structure of the links between the problems
and ahernatives of global developmenl necessary,..
,
More than 20 problems and alternatives can be ~Istlflgul~hed,
sorted out by the criteria of Ihe general and specIal classIfication (see Table 1).
,
bl
d alternatives
The differentiation of thIS set of pro ems an
, als
into three major complexes by me~ns of an expert apprals
ry great interest (see Fig. 4).
.
d
presents ve
_ incl udes two generalised alternauves an
Complex I (C I) which re resent almost the whole spe.cfour global problem~, h 'r ge~eral classification (economiC,
trum of probl~"!ls y ~e~~l each one of these six problems
social, and poht~ca!).
wit~ the others by relations of mutual
and alternatives IS l.. ~~ed lose interdependence (complete graph
dependence: a specla y c d d between the following three
of connections) is I reeo,r,,'vee' No 1 (maintenance of peace
d one a tern
'
.
.
problems' ganof Ihe arms race.
) No . 4 (elimination of differences
and en d III
",0

N.

------

.
.
I

--- ~-;-'----~"--:---._.

13 Reduclion of crime.
Ilcoholism. Ind
druS Iddk-tion

heny

harmful

and

Global problems
15 Ensurins

I Maintenance of peace and ending of

the arms race

2 Consrrvarion and resloralion of Ihe

environment

..

of differences in levels of
economIc developmenl bet""'-n
.
... regIons

the- gene fund e~r

WI

~ank.~~:ervalion

.. Universal problems

8 PrOVIsion of food f
'a'ion
or the whole popu-

9 Access to medical
population
care for the Whole

Generalifl'll ,I{,'rl/atives

20 Capitalism,
economy

Son .. ",n"

0'

mixed

21 ConsOlidation or frustration of man

kind's efforts to tackle global
blems
22 Whole man-a scientifically substansiated goal or the blind resulr of
historical development

+
+
f

+
+

an. cull ural

J2 Provision
PUPilillation of housins: for the whole

19 Orientation on maximally fast or

socially balanced economic growth

'a-------+--____
+

popular.on

16 ~ high, or low domestic level of

dlfferent,lals of income between diffe_
rent SOCIal groups

18 A high or low Ieve I 0f social con.

sumption funds

7 Heightening of the role of h - .

COrnm um"" ys agencies
. (UN, UNESCO
I e world
etc.)

II Acees 10 education
values for the Whole

of

rights

17 Social equality or inequality

!:~~~~urin8 of international economic

10 Guarantees of human

Elimina~ion

spread disl as

of exhaustible reSOurces
o. productIon (sources of en
minerals. water, etc.)
ergy,

'd

coordination

Universal altenwtives

~eplacemen!

5 Eliminllion of dangerous and

of

popula_
tIOn srowth rates and Iro.,th rates
of GNP per capita
.

14 --~edUC-,:;o:n~~~::__:-::--:::::=_~-------~+:..-:t
of
types of work

in levels of economic development between regions), No.6

(restructuring of international economic relations), No. 21
(consolidalion or frustration of mankind's efforts to tackle
global problems). The content and high internal integrated
character of C-I permit us to call it a general systems complex.
Complex II (C-II) consists almost wholly (four out of five),:,
of global and universal problems and alternatives which are
mainly (also four out of five) economic ones; it can therefore
be called economic. Its key proposition is Ihe problem of ensuring coordination belween populalion growth rales and per
lSI

...
/

,/

~,

~
21 ": -= _\;- __
-

"-

C-III

"-

\
"-

..... 1.....1
I 1',
I \
-1-_

.... -.. '

\

--.

/
/

I
/
/

C-II

o -,.. . .
o-

IIMd .It.mltlves

globrol probl.ms

this complex is formed by the universal

equality or ineq8ulity (No. 17), I conseq

social.

"-

-,

-\ _

"-

C-I

6. - univ.rsal probl.ms

.llternaflV~

of social

lIent y call thIS complex

These three complexes are linked in a

ture has a hierarchh:al character The gen systlem whose struc~
.
.
.
era systems compl
(C-I) occupies a dominant position',ermmant
23 d e t '
effects ex
on
19
II
d
C
C~
an
. complex
. on -III
. flow .from it . The economic
.( C - II) occupies a middle pOSition; while being under the dired
mfluence of the general systems complex (C-I) ',t ex rt
. f db k If
e s a cerlam ee ae e. eel on C-I and direct effect on several problems of the sO~lal complex (C-III). The last-named is almost
wh~I.ly d.etermmed by the ~w~ o~her complexes. Its dependent
pos~tlOn IS ~eftecled as well In Us lOner structure, which also has
a hler~rchlcal character. The following four problems and alternatives emerge as elements in which the determinant effect
of this complex is realised, and through it as well of the whole
system Of. ~rob~ems and alternatives of world development:
No.5 (ehmmatlon of dangerous and widespread diseases and
conservation of the gene fund), No. 10 (guarantees of human
rights), No. 13 (reduction of crime, alcoholism, and drug addiction), and No. 22 (whole man-a scientifically substantiated
goal or a blind result of historical development).
It would be wrong, at the same time. to make an absolute of
the position of these resultant elements of the system of problems of world development. The point is that each of them can
be treated as two positions similar to the way it is registered in
alternative No. 22: either as a blind result of historical development or as a scientifically substantiated goal. Only in the first
case will one be justified in treating the listed elements as occupying a lower position in its hierarchical structure. In the se.cond
case they must be treated as final criteria and [heir determinant
elements as means for optimising these criteria.

'V - unlv.rsal ,It.rnltlves

(c)

Three comple;es of problems and a1ternalives

o world developmenl

capita GNP growth rates (No 15

tatlon on maximally fast
. ) . and the alternative of orien-

growth (No. 19). The t!~O~Omic growth or socially balanced

Complex III (C-III) conSiste",;nd on each other.
en) of universal problems as: most wh?lIy (nine out of elevmoreo\'er, are social The cen;e o~I~~rn~t1ves, most of which,
15l
e Interconnections within

Social and political forces influencing

global development

The processes (j global development have a basically objecti~e

character governed by the effect of an aggregate of m~tenal
f
AI the same rime their determined character IS not
~clol rs. I d and unambiguous and includes variants of develsing e-vaf uemed under the impact
'
f d'ff
. I s u b)'ecrs
0
I erent S~la
opm~nt oru s popular masses, societies). !he maIO classes. of
(SOCial gro . P,'e's and the mass political parties and states which
modern SOCle I
353

is influenced by social and class, n."souret' and t'((momk', SI"II:ial

and cultural. geopolitical, and. other fa~toD'. TIll' 'i(x'ial and
class nature of different stales IS rhe maUl fal'tl1r, bur nOI the
only one, shaping t~eir ,auirude. to mJ.intenanl't~ of ~eal'e.
These concrete hlstoncal vanants, and other POs.'ilble ones
correspond fo fhe principles of multisubjel'fnes.'i and multi:
variance of fhe basic scenario of global development and need
10 be taken fully into account when writing il.

period, On Ihl', Olle hand. ,ubs1an.lial ~hanges, like a new wave

nf dt"fIlograplllc growth, the 811ammenl by a sizable group or
devl'loping cllutllrie'i. the level (in terms of economic advance)
of relatively devl'lnpeLJ ones, a significanl :!.harpcning of social
ten'iiol1s in ul'vcloped capitali'\t counlries, etc., are to be expect_
ed in the first two decadt'S of the twenty-first century. On the
other hand, the time horizon up to 2015 or 2020 comes inlo the
zone of the n::ntenary of the Great O..:tobcr ReVOlution. which
was the beginning of the radical break. in mankind's formation
development, and of tht! t!poch of the transition from capitalism
10 socialism.
In addition to the general chronological framework of the
basic scenario. or base period, it is nece~ary. t? disting,uish a
shorter unit of time as well--the stage, which It IS expedient to
define as the time for realising the conc.rete s~r~tegy of the
'controlling' social and political forces. It IS reahstlc to suggest
that a stage of development , take? some ten year~..
.
I thus distinguish three time mtervals for wntmg a basl~
scenario of global development: a stage of around ten y~ars
duration the time for realising the concrete slr~legy of the controlling forces: a step of 20 to 25 yea~s' d.urallon. Ihed~\~!~~~
ment time of the main trends of the obJecllve proces.s~s. 0
lopmenl in the course of which two o~ thre~ sUCCe~l\ec~I~:~~;
.
f the controlling forces are realised. I.e .. a Sl p
gles 0
~O vears
of
two or three stages; the base pe riod of .35 10 from
one long.
slep
the time of th~ Iransiti07 ~~ '1~~e~'~~:'J:~~~~~on process itself
to another, w~lch. not on y I C main trends of both sleps. i,e"
but also takes III dl~c1~sure ~fhlh~ hronological framework of
the base period cOlllcldes Wit f e c

Procedures for the Pre. Model Writing

of a Basic Scenario
Three main steps of scenar io research are distinguished: premod61, model, and post-model. In what follows I shaIJ speak
only of the first step, i.e . the procedures and substance aspects
of the pre-model writing of a basic scenario.
I must note, first of all, that one does not have to name exact
dates when researching fhe future, As Marx, Engels, and Lenin
stressed more than once, it is impossible to know the dates of
future events, and it is a matter only of tendencies that are
realised in the course of approximate intervals of time. The
business of determining the chronological framework of fhe
basic scenario therefore consists primarily in singling out the
time interval that is necessary and sufficient for structuring the
investigated processes in steps and stages, and to represent and
appraise versions of this structuring and of the transitions from
stage to stage, and from one step to another, i.e., the variants
of the global system's development.
The major steps during which the fundamental processes
(both economic and social) develop Sufficiently fully are usually
taken as around 20 to 25 years, i,e., the time of the effectjve
activity of one generation of people. The basic scenario must
consequently embrace periods of not less than 30 years, and
desirably up to 50, so as to have the possibility of studying the
transition from one step to another.
But lengthening the period being researched is limited by the
possibi.liries of obtaining information, the complexities of identifying models, and other considerations of a formal and informal nature. Because of that the optimum would seemingly be
to take 3S to 40 years as the base period, i.e., from 1980 (the
last 'round date' for which I have SUfficient information) 10
2015
or 2020.
There are also certain empirical
.1>6

for choosing this

the basic scel1ar~o ~ a whoi,e. 'on of Ihe conlemporary ag~.

The given period IS a COl1tlllll~tl. h uld Iherefore be clanThe scientific premise for analysmg s 0 age
fication of the content a~ld st;p~ ess~~l:e of'the present epoch
A scientific underslandmg 0, lie., I materialist approach to
.
b
of a dla eCliea
.
'
is only pOSSible Y way
. succession of SOClo-economlC
historY,that trealS fhe con~e~~~I~~ccessi\'e classes for Iheir funformallons, the struggle 0
bottom of Ihese processes. ,
damental vital interests al the rsion of the global sysle~ 11110
The conception of Ihe c~nv~ above on the basis of f~IS .ap, which I ha\'e fonnu ate . d 'n this analYSIS, I,e.,
a ul1lty
a heuristic funcllon Uri g h I bal syslem
,
h performs
h h' lory of t ego
proac
,
'ble
to
regard
1 e
IS
f
histOrical
kes II POSSI
. I as an aggregate 0
'
','n
twenlieth century.
and countries but as

place 111 v
processes ta k IIlg
,\57

I
I

m'h~

notaSr',.mo~/regions

~he history ?f the develop~t'nt of its SYSll'lllS qualities, ll~ SIt' '
the formmg of an orgallll' Systl'lll thai rOI1lj1ll'il'S the lTIak' J)';
of 'the or~af~s it still lacks'.I~ ~hi.s helps rOl~L"rl'lisl' apPlical;~~
of. Ih~ prlllClples ?f Ihe malen~lIst l'onrc',Ptlofl. of history and
sClentllk cornmulllsm 10 analYSIS of the (!lah.'i.tlt' of the glob I
system's evolution as a unique historical objei.'1.
a
. Socialism, of c?urse, unlike previous slX'io-el'O~IOll1ic forma_
lions, cannot. ~nse spOl~taneously: the p.rolelanat mUst fl~t
smash the political machll1e of Ihe old society, and establish its
own political Slale by means of a dictatorship of the pro let a rial
i.e., a state of a new type. Then, by means of the state, the work:
ing class in alliance with all working people carries OUI sociaiisl
transformations and reforms in the SOCia-economic lield. On Ihe
basis of these changes a further development of the political
organisation of socialist society takes place, and so on,
A similar sequence can be distinguished in Ihe implemen ting
of socio-political and socio-economi c changes on the scale of
the global system, as steps in its conversion into a unity, The
nature of these steps in the different countries and regions,
however, is extremely varied.
The first step (1917-1945) was Ihe beginning of a radical
Iurn in mankind's formation development; the laying of foundalions of socialism in one COunlry (Ihe USSR); the beginning
of the general crisis of capitalism and break-up of Ihe world
colonial system; the defeat of fascism by the anti-Hitler coalition, with a decisive contribution by the USSR. In this step th e
basic types of change (socio-political, socio-economic, international-political) that constitute the COntent of Ihe next sleps
in the global system's development, were made in concen trated
form.
In

The second step (1945-1975) was the transformation of the

socio-politica l structure of all humanity: Ihe rise and spread of
the world system of socialism; liquidation of the world colonial
sysI.em; the acquiring of state independen ce by almost all the
nations ?~ the worl.d; a new spiral in the development of military-p,?lItlcal relatIOns between lhe soc ialist and capitalist
countnes, fr0f!1 the anti-Hitler coalition through the 'cold war'
to detente which was not however materialised in ending the
arms race.
The third, contemporary step (1976-2000) is one of struc tu ral changes in the, ec?"omies of most COuntries: the trans ition
of d~ve.loped capitalist coun~ri~s to intensive development, a
~ualn~flve renewal of the SOCialist COuntries and their switch 10
IntenSive development; the spread of technical advance to Ihe

.ua

t'l'(l.n()lI1~es of ,~ost d.evclnping counlries and the beginning of

tht.'lr sWIIth 10 tnte.n,tve dt'~elopmenl; a new spiral in the devel_

opn:'l'nt of the Itllhtary-pohllcal relations bel ween !':ocialist and

c.aplllt!t\t counlrles ~hat ~egan wilh the imperialist powers' rejel.:tlon of detentt.' (pnmarlly by the USA), the proclamation of a
'cru,ad,l'.' again~tthe s{x:iali't c~untries of CMEA and especially
the USSR (thl.\, inCidentally, IS only the beginning of a new
'piral in internalional relation, thai may, judging by historical
experience, have other, more favourable phases).
In the fourth, forthcoming step (2001-2020) Ihere wilt again
develop far-reaChing, radical socio-polilicai transformations
in many counlries, above all in developing ones, but also in
several developed capitalist counlries, development of the
socio-political structure of socialist countries will continue;
intensive development of the economies of most countries
(including developing ones, some of which will become
relatively developed) will continue; the characler of the military-political relations between coul1lries with different social
systems will largely depend on how their spiral in Ihe precedin.g
step develops; the genesis and spread everywhere of a qualitatively new struClure of the scale of values of Ihe popu.lalion's broad strata can be expecTed, including labour moralllY.
and ideological and ecological values,
Such is a general hypothetical description of Ih~ foreseea?le
stages of the transformation of the global system ~nto a UnllY.
The problem of the possible concrele trends of Thl.s proc~ss III
the base period needs to be examined further. SUi II reqUIres a
more special ised study.
NOTES

..
R
'I Ih CPSU Crntral Commillrr 10
Mikhail Gorbachev. poIlIlNcal l''';:'': A'''~cy Publishing Hous... M~ow.
Ihe 27111 Parly Congress. OVOSII r('!;
1

1986. p 23
od II . Ih complex analysis of world de\'eSee D.M. Gvishiani. G!obal m. e ;~gi8 ;. v V Zagladin and I.T. Frolov.
loprnenl. Worlll Mar.ml ~1'\'li~~';"'litica'l a;,d ;d~olosical-theoreticalaspect~.
Global problems of today. oc I L . SOI:ial problems-the kernel of the
Kommlll1ist, 1976. No. ,16: :!'J ,:;tJing. Sbornik Irud(lI. "NflSJ. No.6.
specialised conception 0 g1 a II
,

Moscow. 1979,
. h' . Methodological problems of moddhng
J For more details ~e: D.M. GVIS la~:. PH8. 1: N.I. Lapin. The wriTing of Ihe
bal development. Vopwsy lilawl.
,. G/oou/'nQ(' mOOr/irm.umt: .wlg
.
f looal development. n.
basic
"
scenario 0 g
. u VNIISl Moscow. t984.
.
sil1/'llye pt"oISl'.~y. Tr/ldy 5e;,~:~~. 'The ma,;_machine sySh'm of modelling
"""
Ml'lIIdoJ(>-<
, See, for elCample,
labal V.I..
deveG,opn
,. '0.. SiItl'mll),1' i~It"{I(l\"Qm.\ol.
0
E-h '!lotlnO;. Nauka. MQ>cow. \98 .
processes of g
gichl'sklf' pt"ohirmy. - (
.IS9