World culture and its history

World culture, speaking as a phenomenon of social life, is of interest to many sciences. This phenomenon is explored by sociology and aesthetics, archeology, ethnography and others. Next, we will understand what the world culture is.

General information

We should begin by defining the notion of "culture". The term is very meaningful. In special and art publications one can find quite a lot of interpretations of this concept. In ordinary life, culture is understood as the level of education and education of a person. In the aesthetic sense, this phenomenon is directly related to the numerous works of folk art and professional art. In public life, definitions of speech, political, intellectual, industrial culture are also applicable.

Former concepts

Previously, the level of culture corresponded to the achievements of crafts and sciences, and the goal was to make people happy. The history of world culture goes back to the very depths of the centuries. The concept was contrasted with the savagery of the people and its barbarous state. After a while, a pessimistic definition appeared. In particular, he was an adherent of Rousseau. He believed that world culture as a whole is a source of evil and injustice in society. According to Rousseau, she was the destroyer of morality and did not make people happy and rich. In addition, he believed that human vices - is the result of cultural achievements. Rousseau proposed to live in harmony with nature, to carry out the education of man in her womb. In classical German philosophy, world culture was perceived as a sphere of people's spiritual freedom. Herder put forward the idea that this phenomenon represents the progress of the development of the faculties of the mind.

Marxist philosophy

In the 19th century, the concept of "world culture" was used as a characteristic of the creative potential of a person and a set of results of his activities. Marxism emphasized the conditionality of culture in a certain production way. It was believed that it always had a concrete character: bourgeois, primitive, etc. Marxism investigated various manifestations: political, labor and other cultures.

Understanding Nietzsche

The philosopher aspired to bring the tradition of criticism of the phenomenon to the limit. He considered culture only as a means of enslaving and suppressing a person through legal and other norms, prohibitions, orders. Nevertheless, the philosopher believed that it was necessary. He explained this by saying that man in itself is an anti-cultural, power-hungry and natural being.

The Spengler theory

He denied the view that the history of world culture is combined with progress. According to Spengler, it splits into several unique and independent organisms. These elements are not connected with each other and pass regularly several successive stages: the emergence, flowering and dying. Spengler believed that there is no single world culture. The philosopher distinguished eight local cultures: Russian-Siberian, Maya, Western European, Byzantine-Arab, Greco-Roman, Chinese, Indian, Egyptian. They were considered as existing independently and independently.

Modern understanding

World culture is a multifaceted phenomenon. It was formed under different conditions. The modern concept of the phenomenon is very diverse, since it includes the foundations of world cultures. The development of each people is unique. The culture of a nation reflects its destiny and historical path, its position in society. However, despite this diversity, this concept is one. A great contribution to world culture was made by the capitalist market. For several centuries, it destroyed the national partitions that developed in the Middle Ages, turning the planet into a "one house" for humanity. Of particular importance for world culture was the discovery of Columbus of America. This event actively contributed to the elimination of the isolation of peoples and countries. Until that moment, the interaction of cultures was a more local process.

Main development trends

In the XX century there was a sharp acceleration of the rapprochement of national and regional cultures. To date, there are two trends in the development of this complex. The first of these should be considered the desire for uniqueness and originality, the preservation of the "face". This is most evident in folklore, literature, and language. The second trend is the interpenetration and interaction of different cultures. This is made possible through the use of effective means of communication and communications, active trade and economic exchange, as well as the existence of common management structures that control these processes. For example, the UN operates UNESCO - an organization responsible for addressing issues of science, education, culture. As a result, the development process takes a holistic view. On the basis of cultural synthesis, a common planetary unified civilization is formed, which has a global world culture. Man is its creator. Just like culture promotes people's development. In it, people draw on the experience and knowledge of their predecessors.

World Religious Cultures

This phenomenon includes many systems. They were formed on a national basis, connected with ancient beliefs and folk traditions, language. These or other beliefs were previously localized in certain countries. The fundamentals of world religious cultures are closely related to the national and ethnic characteristics of peoples.

Judaism

This religion originated with the ancient Jews. At the beginning of the second millennium, this people settled in Palestine. Judaism is one of the few religions that has survived to the present day in practically unchanged form. This belief marks the transition to monotheism from polytheism.

Hinduism

This form of religion is considered one of the most common. It arose in the first millennium AD. It was the result of a rivalry between Jainism, Buddhism (young religions) and Brahmanism.

Beliefs in Ancient China

The most common in the old days were such religions as Confucianism and Taoism. In occasion of the first to this day, disputes are under way. Despite the fact that there are a lot of signs that allow us to regard Confucianism as a religion, many people do not admit it. Its peculiarity is the absence of a caste of priests and the performance of rites by government officials. Taoism is considered a traditional religious form. It provided for a hierarchical layer of priests. The basis of religion was magical spells and actions. Taoism is a higher level of consciousness development. In this case, religion has acquired a supranational character. In the framework of this form of belief, representatives of different languages and peoples are mixed. They can both geographically and culturally be quite far apart.

Buddhism

This ancient world religious culture arose in the 5th century. BC. E. The number of believers is several hundred million. According to the oldest records, the founder is the Prince of India Siddhartha Gautama. He got the name Buddha. As the basis of this religion is the moral teaching, through which a person can become perfect. Initially, the commandments in Buddhism assume a negative form and have a prohibitory character: not to take someone else's, not to kill, and so on. For those who strive to become perfect, these prescriptions become absolute truths.

Christianity

This religion is considered today the most common. There are more than a billion believers. As a basis, the Bible is used, which includes the Old and New Testaments. The most important religious rites are communion and baptism. The latter is considered a symbol of the removal from the person of original sin.

Islam

This religion is practiced by the Arabic-speaking peoples, most Asians and the population of North Africa. The main book of Islam is the Koran. It is a collection of records of the teachings and sayings of the founder of religion, Mohammed.

Finally

Religion is considered one of the main forms of the moral system. Inside it, true commandments are formed, which a person needs to follow throughout his life. At the same time, religion is a social factor regulating interaction between people. This is especially important for those societies whose members perceive their freedom in the form of permissiveness.