Introduction

The topic of the essay I have chosen is very relevant for many centuries. Which is what affected me. History is our past. Where did it all come from. How it was built. And what has changed over time? What is the role in people's lives? what place and position does she occupy? These are the questions I want to consider.

The meaning of history has its own general scientific meaning, which means a successive change in the states of any object that can develop in time. In this sense of history, as a word that does not contain anything specifically social, we can speak not only about the history of mankind, but also about the geological history of the Earth, meaning the alternation of phases in the formation of its landscape, or about the history of human disease, consisting in the emergence and increase in pathological changes in the body. The meaning of history is also used, defining not only the past life of people in time, but also knowledge about this life, that area of ​​human knowledge that establishes, classifies and interprets evidence of what once happened to people on the long and difficult path of development of mankind, countries and peoples.

Finally, there are philosophical interpretations of the meaning of history, which are much broader than the associations of history familiar to many historians with "cases of bygone days" and "traditions of antiquity." In the works of Herder, Hegel, Weber, Jaspers, Aron and other thinkers, the meaning of history is used in connection with the key categories of social philosophy, revealing the essence and specifics of social life, the real forms of its flow. In various scientific works, theses and term papers quite often the meaning of history is used as a synonym for the concept of "society", social reality in general. This is what happens when a philosopher contrasts the world of natural realities with the "world of human history", talks, for example, about the "prehistory of mankind", referring to the phases of the "hominization" process that preceded the appearance of man and society along with him. Philosophers often talk about the meaning of history, meaning not lawfulness. historical events, causing the sharpest disputes among historians, and the laws of society in their substantial difference from the laws of nature, etc.

Man in different historical eras

Throughout the history of philosophical science, a number of different theories about man have arisen, the significant differences of which are due to the peculiarities of the historical era, as well as personal qualities, worldview attitudes of thinkers who lived at the time in question. These concepts are currently generalized and largely studied, but their consideration is not enough to recreate the real image of a person in each era. If earlier the image of a person of a certain historical period was built on the basis of the views of thinkers of the past, then at the present stage of development of philosophical anthropology, it becomes obvious to study a particular person, based on the fact that each cultural and historical era forms a specific image of a person as a person, which reflects the individuality of this era . Due to the fact that a person is a product of the society, era, culture and type of civilization in which he lives, the reconstruction of the specific features of a person, his lifestyle and living conditions, social status, norms of behavior plays an important role for a holistic understanding of the essence of the human personality. For the first time, researchers of socio-philosophical anthropology, the leading direction of modern anthropological thought, drew attention to the significance of the problem of man in various historical eras (1). At present, there is a need to overcome shortcomings in determining the main characteristics of a person in different eras. Such shortcomings can be explained primarily by the fact that many philosophical researchers did not take into account the following fact when describing the image of a person in previous centuries, each historical epoch imposes uniqueness on the development of a particular person, whose individual features are determined by a given cultural and historical epoch, type of civilization. Socio-philosophical anthropologists consider a person as a being that combines the general and the specific, generic and specific. Thus, a person is, first of all, a product of an era, society, culture, while the fact of preserving the attributive, so-called generic characteristics of a human being, regardless of which historical era a person belongs to, is pointed out. Each historical and cultural era endows a person with special, unique features that are unique to a given time, therefore, if "you want to judge an individual, then delve into his social position", lifestyle, etc.

A person in relationship with a certain type of society to which he belongs, whether it be an ancient or a medieval person, has properties, interests, aspirations that are determined by the specifics of the historical period under consideration. Only under the condition of studying the main characteristics of the personality in different historical epochs is it possible to form the most complete idea of ​​the real individual. For this reason, deepening knowledge about the characteristic features of a person in different periods the history of human society, their analysis become necessary and obvious at the present stage of development of anthropological thought. Such a need is also explained by the fact that only after studying a thoroughly real-life person of a particular individual, his inherent qualities; problems that are more disturbing to a person in a given era and which he is interested in resolving, the social reality surrounding him, his attitude to it, to nature and, finally, to himself - only after a detailed consideration of these issues can we talk about more large-scale philosophical problems with an anthropological orientation. Only on the basis of studying a person as a subject and object of social relations, considering in the unity of his attributive, essential and individual, personal traits, it is possible to recreate the image of a person who really lived once. Exactly social reality of the time under consideration makes the personality unique, determines its distinctive features.

Before proceeding to the study of the man of antiquity, it should be noted that each historical era has not one, but several images of man, in addition, we must not forget that the individual was constantly changing, therefore there is no man of the primitive era as a single, unchanging being. , to the same extent there is no single "ancient man". (1, p. 282). For these reasons, in this study we will only talk about the most characteristic, one way or another, present throughout the entire era, the properties of the human personality.

So, the historical conditions of a particular period determine the main features of a person, his way of life, norms and patterns of his behavior.

For primitive man, complete submission"hostilely opposing and incomprehensible to him nature", which is reflected in the naive religious beliefs primitive era. The undeveloped production characteristic of this period and, consequently, the extremely rare population over a vast area, placed man in conditions of dependence on nature and the need for survival, in this sense, primitive man was "completely immersed in nature" and did not go far from the animal world. The guarantor of the preservation of life in this situation was the unification of people, the creation of tribes. Primitive did not think of himself outside the tribe and did not separate himself from other people. The symbol of the unity of people is also the fact that the primitives identified themselves with some animal, finding in it certain features inherent in their tribe. The association of an individual person with an animal also indicates the dissolution of man in nature. Man, in the full sense of the word, waged a struggle for existence, achieving through incredible labor some kind of security in life. The constant threat to human life from predators, various natural disasters caused the perception of death as a typical, natural phenomenon. The man of the primitive era, struggling with nature, at the same time learned from her how to survive. The man looked closely at everything that surrounded him and all this amazed him. A man in the lower stages of development makes a lot of the greatest discoveries and often endows them with supernatural properties.

An infinite number of ages have elapsed, during which an infinite number of people have been born; they have contributed to the development of the human personality. The degree of this development and the surrounding conditions, in turn, influenced the speed of transition from one historical period to another. The division of labor between agriculture and handicrafts, the development of shipping and trade, "the struggle for the best lands, the growth of buying and selling led to the birth and formation of the ancient slave era. "The era of antiquity dragged on for more than a thousand years and several different eras passed. With the passage of time, people changed, their way of life, their psychology became different. Thus, it makes no sense to talk about ancient man as unchanged for a millennium. As I. D. Rozhansky notes, "there is too great a difference between the man of the so-called archaic Greece and the Greek of the developed polis or the Hellenistic man." (2, p. 282). Therefore, we will try to describe some features of the ancient Greek, especially the Athenian.

Personality at that time did not resist society as something special and unique, it was a part of it and did not realize that it was more than just a part. The personality of a person, that is, his individuality, according to the ideas of the ancient Greeks, lies in the soul, is determined by it. In the ancient consciousness of the Greek, there is still no clear distinction between the body and the soul. The ancient Greeks understood the harmony of body and soul in a completely different way than for the everyday consciousness of modern times, which was due to the peculiarities of ancient culture. To this consciousness, the body seems to be something inanimate, purely physical, and the psyche - something ideally incorporeal, and they are so dissimilar to each other that they cannot be confused. In the everyday consciousness of the Greeks, the soul and body were not separated from each other with subsequent clarity; their fusion was syncretic, undivided; the harmony of soul and body was their complete dissolution in each other. A person in the classical period of Greece already distinguishes between his intentions, motives for his actions and the conditions and results of actions that are independent of him, nevertheless, the belief that a person’s life is completely dependent on the will of chance still prevails in the worldview and psychology of ancient Greek man. good luck, gods and destiny. Moreover, in contrast to Christian predestination, which has a higher meaning, ancient Greek fate is conceived as blind, dark, powerful. For the Greeks of that era, life is full of secrets, and its clearest engine is the will of the gods. Such a dependence of man on fate, the gods, can be explained by the fact that people were still "completely immersed in nature and it is in them." Unexplained phenomena man explained nature by the actions of divine forces. The ancient Greeks knew the fear and horror of existence and in order to "be able to live, the Greeks had to create gods." The man of the ancient era was convinced that there is nothing more beautiful than a man, his bodies and gods can only be like him.

The way of life of ancient Greek man, his attitude to nature, society, to himself changes with the beginning of the decay of ancient syncretism, the first steps of this decay could be seen in the classical era. The underdevelopment of the individual, the narrowness of human ties are gradually fading into history. The division of labor is growing, society is increasingly divided into layers, social and private life is becoming more complicated, the competitiveness of people, their struggle between them is growing. Unlike the ancient warrior, the classical Greek, living in an atmosphere of constant rivalry, already knows the feeling of loneliness, his experiences have become much more subtle, causing the need to share them with someone else, to find a soul related to his own. The centrifugal forces tearing society apart are growing more and more. And along with this isolation, such relationships between people as love and friendship sharply deepen and become more valuable. But instead of friendship based on a common interest, there comes friendship-partnership, when like-minded people are called friends, so it did not satisfy the growing need for intimacy. The private life of the individual is made sovereign. In the polis of a person, the personality of a person was suppressed by the citizen of the polis. This was the time of the greatest political power of Athens. At the same time, it was the heyday of Athenian culture. The establishment of the principles of the democratic structure of the policy, such as equality before the law, freedom of speech, equal participation in government, had a significant impact on the personality of the Athenian. The positive side of this system was an increase in the sense of responsibility among ordinary citizens, because any of them could participate in state-important affairs. The Athenian citizen, as such, received certain rights and new legal protection also on new territory where he was a foreigner. The prerequisite for political success in Athens, as well as in any other policy, was the ability to speak well and convincingly, i.e. have the art of oratory. "The Athenians of this time are characterized by all-round talent, energy, mobility. One of the most remarkable features of the Athenian character is patriotism, love for the native polis." This feeling was inherent in all Greeks, it was especially pronounced during the years of the Greco-Persian wars. A special role in the life of any Greek was played by the spirit of competition. "The fear of shame, the fear of appearing stupid or ridiculous in front of fellow citizens were among the most important motives that determined the behavior ... of a Greek in society"; the other side of this was the desire for superiority in order to become the best among many.

Thus, in the classical period, the type of person was dominant - a citizen, for whom the interests of the policy were higher than personal ones. In the era of Hellenism (IV-I centuries BC), a person ceased to be a citizen. "In the conditions of the huge Hellenistic monarchies that laid down the former policies, state life no longer depended on the ordinary person. Such a person was forced to withdraw into his private life, Socio-political cataclysms of the era put the individual before the need for self-determination, choosing his life path searching for the meaning of life. The world of Hellenistic man is no longer limited to the polis. "His civic activities and his 'personal' life coincide only partially.

The historical changes that resulted in the formation and collapse of Ancient Rome could not but bring about significant changes in human personalities. The absolute power of the father in every family gave birth to the same absolute power in the state. Ancestral custom was the main guide political life, any innovation was perceived, unlike the ancient Greek, with displeasure. "In Rome, courage, courage, cruelty were valued, first of all, that is, all those qualities that are inherent in a warrior man. Rome demanded from a citizen only military prowess, which were the ideal of all virtues. The cruelty of the Roman character was manifested in all areas of the life period. This is especially clearly illustrated by the attitude towards slaves. If in Greece, as noted earlier, this attitude can be described as humane, then in Rome the position of slaves was extremely difficult. In the early days in Rome, a slave was considered almost a member of the family, but subsequently the power of Rome developed cruelty. Various Roman games were permeated with incomprehensible cruelty among the Romans. Historical conditions were such that the Greek Olympic competitions acquired an immoral character among them. One of the most favorite forms of entertainment was so-called gladiatorial spectacles, where the fate of the gladiator depended on the mood the audience. The view of the Romans on the gods was completely different from the religious views of the Greek. Hellene embodied the gods in human images; his gods fought, reconciled, married, "even lived among mortals. The attitude of the ancient Roman towards his deities is not without a practical utilitarian spirit, that is, prayer to God was a kind of bribe, for which God was obliged to help a person.

Comparing the image of a resident of Ancient Rome with an ancient Greek man, it can be noted that the character of the Roman was too cruel, he was distinguished by high superstition, a certain decline in morality, at the same time he had such qualities as military prowess, patriotism, courage. Rome and its society, based on military power, held firm in their adherence to the traditional obedience of once worked out principles, until the Christian element shook the foundations of the ancient Roman state.

The change of historical epochs - the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages - began, in fact, even in the chronological framework of ancient society itself. Feudal elements, the spread of Christianity and, finally, the change of man himself were a symptom of the beginning of the decomposition of the slave-owning economy system. The spread of Christianity in regions outside the former Roman Empire went in parallel with the processes of their feudalization. Feudal fragmentation gave way to the rise of royal power, and in the end, a feudal form of ideology emerged, the classic expression of which was the idea of ​​class, corporatism. A characteristic feature of the feudal Middle Ages is the inextricable link between the individual and the community. All human life was regulated from birth to death. Medieval man was inseparable from his Environment. Each individual had to know his place in society. From the moment of his birth, a person was influenced not only by his parents, but by the whole extended family. Then follows a period of apprenticeship; becoming an adult, the individual automatically acquired membership in the parish, became a vassal or citizen of a free city. This imposed numerous material and spiritual restrictions on a person, but at the same time gave a certain position in society and a sense of belonging, belonging. Medieval man therefore rarely felt alone, as he was an integral part of the environment in which he lived. Played by him social role provided for a complete "scenario" of his behavior, leaving little room for initiative and non-standard. "As a result, a person revolved in a strictly observed circle of what is permitted and forbidden, outlined by the unwritten norms of corporate ethics. Along with the commonality of a medieval person, a high degree of religiosity and superstition is inherent in him. Truly not there was a place and a moment in a person's life when he would feel safe, in a dream and in reality, not only on the road, in the forest, but also in his native village and his own home.In addition to the visible enemies, "invisible enemies" lay in wait for him everywhere: spirits, demons etc. Feudal anarchy and lawlessness created for everyone who was deprived of a castle and weapons a constant threat of becoming a victim of oppression, terror, death. add the degree of isolation of villages, the pristine state of roads and, finally, the predominantly oral method of transmitting information and, giving rise to the most incredible fictions, it is not surprising that "the people of that era were constantly in a state of increased excitability, that they were characterized by a quick change of mood, unexpected affects, superstitions." So, in a word, a medieval person at the same time lived not even in a double, but, as it were, in a triple dimension: with pious thoughts - about God, about paradise in another world; imagination and superstition - in the world of witchcraft and practical mind - in the world of harsh feudal reality.

The medieval image of the surrounding world and the mood of a person conditioned by it, its features begin to collapse as early as the 14th century. In the Renaissance, culture and man acquire a new meaning. The world ceases to be "creature" and becomes "nature"; human work ceases to be a service to the Creator, and itself becomes a "creation", a person, formerly a servant and slave, becomes a "creator". The desire for knowledge makes a person of the Renaissance turn to the immediate reality of things. The process of individualization of the personality put an end to the anonymity so characteristic of the Middle Ages: the Renaissance endowed a person with individual traits. From the active person who developed at that time, the titan of thought, "accurate calculation, wisdom, prudence, foresight" were required - in a word, constant self-control. The man of the Renaissance revealed not only creative, positive forces, but also the darkest sides of the personality. It was a time when the looseness of a person, his emotions often grew into frivolity, irrepressible joy coexisted with hysteria, secular interests seriously pressed religious ones, and the study of liberal arts was more attractive than the study of theology. All these changes, as well as the "intermediate position of man" in the world, cause a person to have an internal inconsistency, an ambivalent attitude towards everything. The world of albeit narrow but stable social ties, human actions was replaced by a world in which traditional foundations collapsed, old values ​​\u200b\u200bmixed with new ones, and which, finally, demanded an individual choice from a person, that is, when he was left alone with himself in his decisions. himself - such was the price of the formula "man is the blacksmith of his own destiny." Freedom of movement and personal activity deprives a person of the objective point of support that he had in the former world, and a feeling of abandonment, loneliness and even threat arises. Individualism, self-reliance entailed the risk of the unknown. Hence the enormous role of fortune in the Renaissance mentality. It was the only way available to the consciousness of that era to explain everything that happens in a person's life outside of his calculations and will. Man began to treat his biological constitution and his natural needs in a completely different way. For example, human beauty, as in Greece, was perceived as equal to divine. In general, the Renaissance man is distinguished by a vivid manifestation of the inconsistency of character: "two forces beat in a person: one tense, painful - the power of a semi-savage barbarian; the other is the subtle, inquisitive power of washing a man - a creator."

The richer and more multifaceted personality of the New Time needs to isolate others and already voluntarily seeks solitude, but at the same time, it experiences loneliness more acutely as a result of a lack of communication and an inability to express the richness of its experiences. For this era, a person is no longer under the gaze of God: a person is now autonomous, free to do what he wants, to go where he pleases, but he is no longer the crown of creation, having become only one of the parts of the universe. A person in the new conditions of historical reality is deprived of the opportunity to achieve "agreement with himself to cope with his being, which was previously provided by the reliability of the old traditional state of the world." The person is shocked, unsettled, vulnerable to doubts and questions. When this happens in an age of change, the deepest parts of the human being awaken. Primitive affects wake up with a previously unknown force: fear, violence, greed; in the words and deeds of people something spontaneous, wild appears, religious forces also come into play.

A person of Enlightenment is, first of all, a person-citizen of the state, a bearer of legal rights and obligations, the main features of which are reasonableness, enterprise, increased individualism, personal independence, faith in science, high life expectancy, etc. In connection with the industrialization of life, the attitude towards nature and on the part of man has changed - the desire to conquer nature has become a priority. This entailed the growth of self-consciousness of the individual, the awareness of the finiteness of personal existence, and, consequently, the individual of the capitalist era began to strive to realize his needs throughout his life. A person is in a hurry not because he wants to, but because he is afraid of not having time to lag behind others. He must constantly prove to others and to himself his right to respect. A heightened sense of the irreversibility of time has changed man's view of the problem of life and death. Awareness of the inevitability of death encourages a person to think about the meaning and purpose of life. A person strives to be in time for everything in this single life. Thus, not only human activity became more complex, but also his inner world was enriched, became more diverse. In modern times, the consumer nature of society had an alienating effect on a person, which depersonalized him, making him aware of the limitations of his forces, acute dissatisfaction with himself and the world around him. That is why the person of the XIX-beginning. XX centuries suffers from an acute deficit of stability, warmth and intimacy. Lack of intimate communication, loneliness gives rise to a feeling of inner emptiness and meaninglessness of life. Daily worries about daily bread hinder the development of people's higher spiritual needs. In society, a process of gradual leveling of the individual is developing. A person feels replaceable, unnecessary and lonely among people. The reduction of "I" to the material "mine" becomes a necessary condition for the self-affirmation of a capitalist person, which in turn means the "reification" of a person, the impoverishment of his life, the realization of this fact makes him psychologically unhappy. Simultaneously with these negative phenomena, a person began to understand his wide possibilities for asserting himself as a highly developed personality. In conditions of constant competition, the desire to achieve a high social status in society for a person importance started playing like this social institution like education.

In general, the so-called human the capitalist era is distinguished by inconsistency, changeability, inconstancy, which is due to the time in which he lived.

Human activity in the 20th century has become more global. Man in our century has become the owner of many scientific discoveries and technical means, the use of which was the reason environmental issues. An increase in the radioactive background, environmental pollution and other factors pose a threat to human life. Having overcome some illnesses and vices, a man of the 20th century learned new ones, born of the conditions of a modern civilized society. Modern man lives in an era when there is a reassessment of the human measure of reasonableness, a person must be responsible to nature and future generations. New scientific discoveries threatened the very idea of ​​the uniqueness and uniqueness of the human person. The process of gradual degradation of the individual at the end of the 20th century is intensifying. In this, an essential role is played by the establishment of a materialistic worldview in the world.

As a result of the social and other changes taking place in the world in general, and in Russian society in particular, attention to the individual remains minimal. Modern society focused not on the individual, but on the masses. This type of person begins to predominate, which is characterized by an orientation towards other people, the absence of stable life goals and ideals, the desire to adapt one's behavior so as not to stand out, to be like everyone else. common features such a person can be called uncritical acceptance and adherence to the prevailing standards, stereotypes of mass consciousness, lack of individuality, manipulability, conservatism, etc. There are several types of a person of a conformist nature inherent in modern consumer civilization: "mass person", "man of organization", "authoritarian personality ", "automatically conforming personality" - some of the studied psychological types more or less close to the type of "one-dimensional man". The spread of a mass, one-dimensional man or "man of the crowd" in society is primarily due to the phenomenon of alienation of the individual. a decisive role in strengthening this process plays such a phenomenon of modernity as mass culture. "Mass culture, focused primarily on blurring, erasing, eliminating the personal principle in a person, contributes to the alienation and self-alienation of the individual." The modern world is dominated by such a type of person, whose characteristic features are alienation, an uncritical attitude to the existing reality, lack of individuality, conformism, the desire to satisfy material needs, marginality, stereotyped thinking, spiritual degradation, etc.

Thus:

Each historical epoch develops a certain image of a person, his traits and qualities as a person, therefore, the study of a particular person must be based, first of all, on the basis of the idea that a person is a product of an era, culture, society;

For a human being of the primitive era, it is characteristic - dependence and dissolution in nature, the most difficult living conditions, the lack of personal freedom, ideas about the future, about morality in the modern sense of the word; constant threat to life, its low duration, etc.;

The ancient personality is characterized by such features as dissolution in the policy, the community, the emergence of citizenship, dependence on nature, on belonging to a certain class, syncretic consciousness, a high degree of superstition; an important role is played by a man-citizen of the policy, and in Rome - a man-warrior, etc.;

For a medieval person, specific qualities can be called such as strict regulation of life, class affiliation, high religiosity, lack of a sense of loneliness, uselessness, which are so inherent in the individual of the New Age;

The modern man is characterized by the realization of legal equality, the abolition of caste regulations of life, personal independence, increased individualism, rational perception of the world, reification of man, high life expectancy, etc.;

For modern man, in general, many features of previous eras are characteristic, only they are more pronounced, but you can also point out the following qualities: high quality life, the existence of an open society, the comprehensiveness and freedom of human development, the security of all rights and freedoms of the individual (in most countries), but at the same time, now a person is inherent in loss, fear of environmental and other threats to his existence. A negative factor of modern civilization is the priority of material values ​​over spiritual ones in all spheres of an individual's life. As a result, consumer orientation, the race for material goods deprives a person of a socio-critical dimension, contributes to the alienation of the personality, the development of the process of deindividualization and the transformation of a person into a one-dimensional, mass, "man of the crowd."

The main goal of education inevitably reflects the level of development of society, its productive forces and industrial relations, economic and legal relations, as well as history and social traditions. The younger generation and every person is under the powerful influence of many factors. So, even L.N. Tolstoy noted that in the existing upbringing (which he considered violence in education), there are 4 reasons: family, religion, state and society. But even the goal, formulated in the same way, has different content in different historical epochs.

The system of education in Sparta and Athens (7th-4th centuries BC) has been sufficiently studied. The goal of Spartan education was the formation of a physically strong, brave and disciplined warrior, a law-abiding citizen, devoted to the state. And from the girls they prepared a physically strong future mother, a skillful and economical hostess. Slaves, in no educational institutions didn't study. This situation was quite consistent with the social structure of Sparta.

The system of Athenian education aimed to combine mental and moral (musical) and physical (gymnastic) education.

The idea of ​​the harmonious development of personality originated among the thinkers Ancient Greece, then varied at different times by humanist educators, utopian socialists, and Marxist educators.

The era of the Middle Ages is characterized by the dominance of the church and feudal lords. The purpose of education was different for knights, peasants and artisans. During the Renaissance, the utopian socialist Thomas More (1478-1535) dreamed of equal education for all and participation in the work of all citizens. By setting such a goal of education, he was far ahead of his era. In modern times, the great Slavic teacher Ya.A. Comenius (1592-1670) considered the goal of education to be general education and preparation for the afterlife. In the education of a gentleman, D. Locke (1632-1704) saw the goal of education. Free education is typical for J.-J. Rousseau (1712-1778). According to A. Diesterweg (1790-1866), the goal of education is to prepare young people for happy life- a good wish, but very vague.

The goals of education in Russian pedagogy

From domestic teachers we will name N.I. Pirogov (1810-1881), who saw the goal in educating a citizen of the Fatherland. According to K.D. Ushinsky (1823-1870), the goal is to educate a worker and a patriot. L.N. Tolstoy (1828-1910) believed the most important task development of the creative talents of peasant children, he dreamed of "About a university in bast shoes". The utopian socialists K. Marx and F. Engels (nineteenth century) dreamed of developing all human abilities and combining learning with productive labor.

The CPSU proclaimed the goal of educating "a generation capable of finally establishing communism", "training comprehensively developed members of communist society." In practice, this idea of ​​the comprehensive development of youth has not been implemented. Of interest are the views of modern teachers-researchers on the formulation of the goals of education. Prof. A.A. Radugin takes the principle of humanism as the ideological basis of the entire system of education. From the position of humanism, in his opinion, the ultimate goal of education is that each person can become a full-fledged subject of activity, cognition and communication; free and independent, responsible for everything that happens in this world.

B.T. Likhachev also believes that in addition to the universal democratic goals and ideals of education, there really are others that have a negative, undesirable character. These are authoritarian, petty-bourgeois, nationalist, bourgeois-cosmopolitan, religious, anarchist-destructive, monarchist, criminal-romantic, neo-fascist goals. Analyzing them, the author believes that they generate in the children's environment "confusion, skepticism, indifference to universal ideals, cynicism, alienation from true culture"". Communist education as a means of achieving the ideal of the personality of Soviet society did not justify the hopes that were placed on it. Consequently, the definition and formulation of the goal is a very significant initial element in the beginning of pedagogical activity, but not the only and not decisive one. In addition to the goal, as already mentioned, there are also means to achieve it, which either provide the desired result (expected product) or not. Based overview and analysis of setting the goals of education in various historical periods of the development of society I.P. The mean one concludes:

Quote

“There is no reasonable alternative to comprehensive and harmonious education. It still remains an ideal, the achievement of which, taking into account the mistakes made (in Soviet period) will strive for a new domestic school in Russia. This is not a distant ideal, but a goal that is quite achievable with a reasonable organization and support of the whole society.”

In the United States and some countries of Western Europe, the concept of education is traditionally adhered to as “adaptation of the individual to life”. For example, in the USA this concept, influenced by the philosophy and pedagogy of pragmatism (instrumentalism) by D. Dewey (1857-1952), has existed from the 1920s to the present, although in a modified form. His ideas are also supported by other figures in psychology and pedagogy - A. Maslow, L. Combs, E. Colley, K. Rogers and others. According to this concept, the goals of education are reduced to ensuring that the graduate high school was an efficient producer, a responsible citizen, a reasonable consumer and a good family man. These ideas had a significant impact on the pedagogy of many foreign countries. On the ideas of pragmatist teachers (E. Hurst, R. Finley, M. Warnock, etc.), the main goal of education was determined: the formation of a citizen's self-esteem and self-affirmation of the personality of each (USA).

The school fulfills another task of preparing a citizen: the education of a law-abiding patriot who is proud of his country. Recently, in most countries of the world, another concept and goal of education has been approved - the humanization of the educational system. This is manifested in the approval of the idea of ​​pedocentrism, the cult of the child, in the protection of his rights. (The idea of ​​pedocentrism, as you know, has a long history, its prominent representatives were, for example, J.-J. Rousseau, I.G. Pestalozzi and others. In accordance with the neobehaviorist concept in psychology and pedagogy, the task of forming a “managed individual” is put forward. It is known that the basis of the teachings of behaviorists is the idea of ​​a person's response to appropriate stimuli.By organizing a series of stimuli, one can achieve the behavior of an individual according to a given program.But the authors of this concept do not at all take into account that a person is a conscious, self-active being and is unlikely to agree to be only an object manipulating it, except perhaps in a state of suggestion.For example, we ourselves are looking for the things we need in an online perfumery store, no one can impose their will.

It should also be said about the goals of education, based on various religious philosophical teachings. In accordance with the teachings of neo-Thomist educators, the task is to educate a God-fearing personality. Through Christian ethics, a truly virtuous person is formed. So, the ideal of education in England is a gentleman, physically strong and seasoned, responsible, with high culture behavior. in Germany and northern countries In Europe, it has become a tradition to educate accuracy, discipline, diligence. In Japan and China, special attention is paid to the development of group spirit, cooperation, and obedience to elders. The United States is characterized by the development of self-reliance, independence, efficiency, and individualism. These are the features of the goals of education in some foreign countries.

Throughout the history of philosophical science, a number of different theories about man have arisen, the significant differences of which are due to the peculiarities of the historical era, as well as personal qualities, worldview attitudes of thinkers who lived at the time in question. These concepts are currently generalized and largely studied, but their consideration is not enough to recreate the real image of a person in each era. If earlier the image of a person of a certain historical period was built on the basis of the views of thinkers of the past, then at the present stage of development of philosophical anthropology, it becomes obvious to study a particular person, based on the fact that each cultural and historical era forms a specific image of a person as a person, which reflects the individuality of this era . Due to the fact that a person is a product of the society, era, culture and type of civilization in which he lives, the reconstruction of the specific features of a person, his lifestyle and living conditions, social status, norms of behavior plays an important role for a holistic understanding of the essence of the human personality. For the first time, researchers of socio-philosophical anthropology, the leading direction of modern anthropological thought, drew attention to the significance of the problem of man in various historical eras.

At present, there is a need to overcome shortcomings in determining the main characteristics of a person in different eras. Such shortcomings can be explained primarily by the fact that many philosophical researchers did not take into account the following fact when describing the image of a person in previous centuries, each historical epoch imposes uniqueness on the development of a particular person, whose individual features are determined by a given cultural and historical epoch, type of civilization. Socio-philosophical anthropologists consider a person as a being that combines the general and the specific, generic and specific. Thus, a person is, first of all, a product of an era, society, culture, while the fact of preserving the attributive, so-called generic characteristics of a human being, regardless of which historical era a person belongs to, is pointed out. Each historical and cultural era endows a person with special, unique features that are unique to a given time, therefore, if "you want to judge an individual, then delve into his social position", lifestyle, etc.

A person in relationship with a certain type of society to which he belongs, whether it be an ancient or a medieval person, has properties, interests, aspirations that are determined by the specifics of the historical period under consideration. Only under the condition of studying the main characteristics of the personality in different historical epochs is it possible to form the most complete idea of ​​the real individual. For this reason, the deepening of knowledge about the characteristic features of a person in various periods of the history of human society, their analysis become necessary and obvious at the present stage of development of anthropological thought. Such a need is also explained by the fact that only after studying a thoroughly real-life person of a particular individual, his inherent qualities; problems that are more disturbing to a person in a given era and which he is interested in resolving, the social reality surrounding him, his attitude to it, to nature and, finally, to himself - only after a detailed consideration of these issues can we talk about more large-scale philosophical problems with an anthropological orientation. Only on the basis of studying a person as a subject and object of social relations, considering in the unity of his attributive, essential and individual, personal traits, it is possible to recreate the image of a person who really lived once. It is the social reality of the time under consideration that makes the personality unique, determines its distinctive features.

Before proceeding to the study of the man of antiquity, it should be noted that each historical era has not one, but several images of man, in addition, we must not forget that the individual was constantly changing, therefore there is no man of the primitive era as a single, unchanging being. , to the same extent there is no single "ancient man". For these reasons, in this study we will only talk about the most characteristic, one way or another, present throughout the entire era, the properties of the human personality.

So, the historical conditions of a particular period determine the main features of a person, his way of life, norms and patterns of his behavior.

Primitive man is characterized by complete submission to the "hostilely opposing and incomprehensible surrounding nature", which is reflected in the naive religious ideas of the primitive era. The undeveloped production characteristic of this period and, consequently, the extremely rare population over a vast area, placed man in conditions of dependence on nature and the need for survival, in this sense, primitive man was "completely immersed in nature" and did not go far from the animal world. The guarantor of the preservation of life in this situation was the unification of people, the creation of tribes. Primitive man did not think of himself outside the tribe and did not separate himself from other people. The symbol of the unity of people is also the fact that the primitives identified themselves with some animal, finding in it certain features inherent in their tribe. The association of an individual person with an animal also indicates the dissolution of man in nature. Man, in the full sense of the word, waged a struggle for existence, achieving through incredible labor some kind of security in life. The constant threat to human life from predators, various natural disasters led to the perception of death as a typical, natural phenomenon. The man of the primitive era, struggling with nature, at the same time learned from her how to survive. The man looked closely at everything that surrounded him and all this amazed him. A man in the lower stages of development makes a lot of the greatest discoveries and often endows them with supernatural properties.

An infinite number of ages have elapsed, during which an infinite number of people have been born; they have contributed to the development of the human personality. The degree of this development and the surrounding conditions, in turn, influenced the speed of transition from one historical period to another. The division of labor between agriculture and crafts, the development of shipping and trade, "the struggle for the best land, the growth of buying and selling led to the birth and formation of the ancient slave era." The era of antiquity lasted for more than a thousand years and passed through several different eras. With the passage of time, people changed, their way of life, their psychology, became different. Thus, it makes no sense to speak of ancient man as unchanged over a millennium. As I. D. Rozhansky notes, "there is too great a difference between a man of the so-called archaic Greece and Greece of a developed polis or a Hellenistic man." Therefore, we will try to describe some features of the ancient Greek, especially the Athenian.

Personality at that time did not resist society as something special and unique, it was a part of it and did not realize that it was more than just a part. The personality of a person, that is, his individuality, according to the ideas of the ancient Greeks, lies in the soul, is determined by it. In the ancient consciousness of the Greek, there is still no clear distinction between the body and the soul. The ancient Greeks understood the harmony of body and soul in a completely different way than for the everyday consciousness of modern times, which was due to the peculiarities of ancient culture. To this consciousness, the body seems to be something inanimate, purely physical, and the psyche - something ideally incorporeal, and they are so dissimilar to each other that they cannot be confused. In the everyday consciousness of the Greeks, the soul and body were not separated from each other with subsequent clarity; their fusion was syncretic, undivided; the harmony of soul and body was their complete dissolution in each other. A person in the classical period of Greece already distinguishes between his intentions, motives for his actions and the conditions and results of actions that are independent of him, nevertheless, the belief that a person’s life is completely dependent on the will of chance still prevails in the worldview and psychology of ancient Greek man. good luck, gods and destiny. Moreover, in contrast to Christian predestination, which has a higher meaning, ancient Greek fate is conceived as blind, dark, powerful. For the Greeks of that era, life is full of secrets, and its clearest engine is the will of the gods. Such a dependence of man on fate, the gods, can be explained by the fact that people were still "completely immersed in nature and it is in them." Man explained the inexplicable phenomena of nature by the actions of divine forces. The ancient Greeks knew the fear and horror of existence and in order to "be able to live, the Greeks had to create gods." The man of the ancient era was convinced that there is nothing more beautiful than a man, his bodies and gods can only be like him.

The way of life of ancient Greek man, his attitude to nature, society, to himself changes with the beginning of the decay of ancient syncretism, the first steps of this decay could be seen in the classical era. The underdevelopment of the individual, the narrowness of human ties are gradually fading into history. The division of labor is growing, society is increasingly divided into layers, social and private life is becoming more complicated, the competitiveness of people, their struggle between them is growing. Unlike the ancient warrior, the classical Greek, living in an atmosphere of constant rivalry, already knows the feeling of loneliness, his experiences have become much more subtle, causing the need to share them with someone else, to find a soul related to his own. The centrifugal forces tearing society apart are growing more and more. And along with this isolation, such relationships between people as love and friendship sharply deepen and become more valuable. But instead of friendship based on a common interest, there comes friendship-partnership, when like-minded people are called friends, so it did not satisfy the growing need for intimacy. The private life of the individual is made sovereign. In the polis of a person, the personality of a person was suppressed by the citizen of the polis. This was the time of the greatest political power of Athens.

At the same time, it was the heyday of Athenian culture. The establishment of the principles of the democratic structure of the policy, such as equality before the law, freedom of speech, equal participation in government, had a significant impact on the personality of the Athenian. The positive side of this system was an increase in the sense of responsibility among ordinary citizens, because any of them could participate in state-important affairs. The Athenian citizen, as such, received certain rights and new legal protection also in the new territory where he was a foreigner. The prerequisite for political success in Athens, as well as in any other policy, was the ability to speak well and convincingly, i.e. have the art of oratory. "The Athenians of this time are characterized by all-round talent, energy, mobility. One of the most remarkable features of the Athenian character is patriotism, love for the native polis." This feeling was inherent in all Greeks, it was especially pronounced during the years of the Greco-Persian wars. A special role in the life of any Greek was played by the spirit of competition. "The fear of shame, the fear of appearing stupid or ridiculous in front of fellow citizens were among the most important motives that determined the behavior ... of a Greek in society"; the other side of this was the desire for superiority in order to become the best among many.

Thus, in the classical period, the type of person was dominant - a citizen, for whom the interests of the policy were higher than personal ones. In the era of Hellenism (IV-I centuries BC), a person ceased to be a citizen. "In the conditions of the huge Hellenistic monarchies that laid down the former policies, state life no longer depended on the ordinary person. Such a person was forced to withdraw into his private life, closed on purely interpersonal relationships. The socio-political cataclysms of the era put the individual before the need for self-determination, choosing his life path, searching for the meaning of life. The world of Hellenistic man is no longer limited to the framework of the policy. "His civic activity and his" personal "life coincide only partially.

The historical changes that resulted in the formation and collapse of Ancient Rome could not but bring about significant changes in human personalities. The absolute power of the father in every family gave birth to the same absolute power in the state. The custom of the ancestors was the main guide of political life, any innovation was perceived, unlike the ancient Greek, with displeasure. "In Rome, courage, courage, cruelty, that is, all those qualities inherent in a warrior man, were valued a citizen of only military virtues, which were the ideal of all virtues. The cruelty of the Roman character was manifested in all areas of the life period. This is especially clearly illustrated by the attitude towards slaves. If in Greece, as already noted earlier, this attitude can be described as humane, then in Rome the position of slaves was extremely difficult. In the early days in Rome, a slave was considered almost a member of the family, but subsequently the power of Rome developed cruelty. Various Roman games were permeated with incomprehensible cruelty among the Romans. Historical conditions have developed in such a way that the Greek Olympic competitions have acquired an immoral character from them. One of the most beloved forms of entertainment was the so-called iatorial spectacles, where the fate of the gladiator depended on the mood of the audience. The view of the Romans on the gods was completely different from the religious views of the Greek. "Hellin embodied the gods in human images; his gods fought, reconciled, married," even lived among mortals. The attitude of the ancient Roman to his deities is not devoid of a practical utilitarian spirit, that is, prayer to God was a kind of bribe, for which God was obliged to help a person.

Comparing the image of a resident of Ancient Rome with an ancient Greek man, it can be noted that the character of the Roman was too cruel, he was distinguished by high superstition, a certain decline in morality, at the same time he had such qualities as military prowess, patriotism, courage. Rome and its society, based on military power, held firm in their adherence to the traditional obedience of once worked out principles, until the Christian element shook the foundations of the ancient Roman state.

The change of historical epochs - the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages - began, in fact, even in the chronological framework of ancient society itself. Feudal elements, the spread of Christianity and, finally, the change of man himself were a symptom of the beginning of the decomposition of the slave-owning economy system. The spread of Christianity in regions outside the former Roman Empire went in parallel with the processes of their feudalization. Feudal fragmentation gave way to the rise of royal power, and in the end, a feudal form of ideology emerged, the classic expression of which was the idea of ​​class, corporatism. A characteristic feature of the feudal Middle Ages is the inextricable link between the individual and the community. All human life was regulated from birth to death. Medieval man was inseparable from his Environment. Each individual had to know his place in society. From the moment of his birth, a person was influenced not only by his parents, but by the whole extended family. Then follows a period of apprenticeship; becoming an adult, the individual automatically acquired membership in the parish, became a vassal or citizen of a free city. This imposed numerous material and spiritual restrictions on a person, but at the same time gave a certain position in society and a sense of belonging, belonging.

Medieval man therefore rarely felt alone, as he was an integral part of the environment in which he lived. The social role he played provided for a complete "scenario" of his behavior, leaving little room for initiative and originality. "As a result, a person revolved in a strictly observed circle of what is permitted and forbidden, outlined by the unwritten norms of corporate ethics. Along with the commonality of a medieval person, he is characterized by a high degree of religiosity and superstition. Truly, there was no place and moment in a person's life when he would feel safe, in a dream and in reality, not only on the road, in the forest, but also in his native village and his own home. : spirits, demons, etc. No less and even more real danger lurked for a person in everyday forms of social communication Feudal anarchy, lawlessness created for everyone who was deprived of a castle and weapons, a constant threat of becoming a victim of oppression, terror, death If we add to this the degree of isolation of the villages, the pristine state of the roads, and, finally, the oral Vu method of transmitting information, which gave rise to the most incredible fiction, it is not surprising that "the people of that era were constantly in a state of increased excitability, that they were characterized by a quick change of mood, unexpected affects, superstition." So, in a word, a medieval person at the same time lived not even in a double, but, as it were, in a triple dimension: with pious thoughts - about God, about paradise in another world; imagination and superstition - in the world of witchcraft and practical mind - in the world of harsh feudal reality.

The medieval image of the surrounding world and the mood of a person conditioned by it, its features begin to collapse as early as the 14th century. In the Renaissance, culture and man acquire a new meaning. The world ceases to be "creature" and becomes "nature"; human work ceases to be a service to the Creator, and itself becomes a "creation", a person, formerly a servant and slave, becomes a "creator". The desire for knowledge makes a person of the Renaissance turn to the immediate reality of things. The process of individualization of the personality put an end to the anonymity so characteristic of the Middle Ages: the Renaissance endowed a person with individual traits. From the active person who developed at that time, the titan of thought, "accurate calculation, wisdom, prudence, foresight" were required - in a word, constant self-control. The man of the Renaissance revealed not only creative, positive forces, but also the darkest sides of the personality. It was a time when the looseness of a person, his emotions often grew into frivolity, irrepressible joy coexisted with hysteria, secular interests seriously pressed religious ones, and the study of liberal arts was more attractive than the study of theology.

All these changes, as well as the "intermediate position of man" in the world, cause a person to have an internal inconsistency, an ambivalent attitude towards everything. The world of albeit narrow but stable social ties, human actions was replaced by a world in which traditional foundations collapsed, old values ​​\u200b\u200bmixed with new ones, and which, finally, demanded an individual choice from a person, that is, when he was left alone with himself in his decisions. himself - such was the price of the formula "man is the blacksmith of his own destiny." Freedom of movement and personal activity deprives a person of the objective point of support that he had in the former world, and a feeling of abandonment, loneliness and even threat arises. Individualism, self-reliance entailed the risk of the unknown. Hence the enormous role of fortune in the Renaissance mentality. It was the only way available to the consciousness of that era to explain everything that happens in a person's life outside of his calculations and will. Man began to treat his biological constitution and his natural needs in a completely different way. For example, human beauty, as in Greece, was perceived as equal to divine. In general, the Renaissance man is distinguished by a vivid manifestation of the inconsistency of character: "two forces beat in a person: one tense, painful - the power of a semi-savage barbarian; the other is the subtle, inquisitive power of washing a man - a creator."

The richer and more multifaceted personality of the New Time needs to isolate others and already voluntarily seeks solitude, but at the same time, it experiences loneliness more acutely as a result of a lack of communication and an inability to express the richness of its experiences. For this era, a person is no longer under the gaze of God: a person is now autonomous, free to do what he wants, to go where he pleases, but he is no longer the crown of creation, having become only one of the parts of the universe. A person in the new conditions of historical reality is deprived of the opportunity to achieve "agreement with himself to cope with his being, which was previously provided by the reliability of the old traditional state of the world." The person is shocked, unsettled, vulnerable to doubts and questions. When this happens in an age of change, the deepest parts of the human being awaken. Primitive affects wake up with a previously unknown force: fear, violence, greed; in the words and deeds of people something spontaneous, wild appears, religious forces also come into play.

A person of Enlightenment is, first of all, a person-citizen of the state, a bearer of legal rights and obligations, the main features of which are reasonableness, enterprise, increased individualism, personal independence, faith in science, high life expectancy, etc. In connection with the industrialization of life, the attitude towards nature and on the part of man has changed - the desire to conquer nature has become a priority. This entailed the growth of self-consciousness of the individual, the awareness of the finiteness of personal existence, and, consequently, the individual of the capitalist era began to strive to realize his needs throughout his life. A person is in a hurry not because he wants to, but because he is afraid of not having time to lag behind others. He must constantly prove to others and to himself his right to respect. A heightened sense of the irreversibility of time has changed man's view of the problem of life and death. Awareness of the inevitability of death encourages a person to think about the meaning and purpose of life. A person strives to be in time for everything in this single life. Thus, not only human activity became more complex, but also his inner world was enriched, became more diverse.

In modern times, the consumer nature of society had an alienating effect on a person, which depersonalized him, making him aware of the limitations of his forces, acute dissatisfaction with himself and the world around him. That is why the person of the XIX-beginning. XX centuries suffers from an acute deficit of stability, warmth and intimacy. Lack of intimate communication, loneliness gives rise to a feeling of inner emptiness and meaninglessness of life. Daily worries about daily bread hinder the development of people's higher spiritual needs. In society, a process of gradual leveling of the individual is developing. A person feels replaceable, unnecessary and lonely among people. The reduction of "I" to the material "mine" becomes a necessary condition for the self-affirmation of a capitalist person, which in turn means the "reification" of a person, the impoverishment of his life, the realization of this fact makes him psychologically unhappy. Simultaneously with these negative phenomena, a person began to understand his wide possibilities for asserting himself as a highly developed personality. In the conditions of constant competition, the desire to achieve a high social status in society, such a social institution as education began to play an important role for a person.

In general, the so-called human the capitalist era is distinguished by inconsistency, changeability, inconstancy, which is due to the time in which he lived.

Human activity in the 20th century has become more global. Man in our century has become the owner of many scientific discoveries and technical means, the use of which has caused environmental problems. An increase in the radioactive background, environmental pollution and other factors pose a threat to human life. Having overcome some illnesses and vices, a man of the 20th century learned new ones, born of the conditions of a modern civilized society. Modern man lives in an era when there is a reassessment of the human measure of reasonableness, a person must be responsible to nature and future generations. New scientific discoveries have threatened the very idea of ​​the uniqueness and originality of the human person. The process of gradual degradation of the individual at the end of the 20th century is intensifying. In this, an essential role is played by the establishment of a materialistic worldview in the world.

As a result of the social and other changes taking place in the world in general, and in Russian society in particular, attention to the individual remains minimal. Modern society is focused not on the individual, but on the masses. This type of person begins to predominate, which is characterized by an orientation towards other people, the absence of stable life goals and ideals, the desire to adapt one's behavior so as not to stand out, to be like everyone else. The common features of such a person include uncritical acceptance and adherence to the prevailing standards, stereotypes of mass consciousness, lack of individuality, manipulability, conservatism, etc. There are several types of a person of a conformist nature inherent in modern consumer civilization: "mass man", "man of organization", " authoritarian personality", "automatically conforming personality" - some of the studied psychological types are more or less close to the type of "one-dimensional person". The spread of a mass, one-dimensional man or "man of the crowd" in society is primarily due to the phenomenon of alienation of the individual. A decisive role in strengthening this process is played by such a modern phenomenon as mass culture. "Mass culture, focused primarily on blurring, erasing, eliminating the personal principle in a person, contributes to the alienation and self-alienation of the individual." The modern world is dominated by such a type of person, whose characteristic features are alienation, an uncritical attitude to the existing reality, lack of individuality, conformism, the desire to satisfy material needs, marginality, stereotyped thinking, spiritual degradation, etc.

Thus:

- each historical epoch develops a certain image of a person, his features and qualities as a person, therefore, the study of a particular person must be based, first of all, on the basis of the idea that a person is a product of an era, culture, society;

- for a human being of the primitive era, it is characteristic - dependence and dissolution in nature, the most difficult living conditions, the lack of personal freedom, ideas about the future, about morality in the modern sense of the word; constant threat to life, its low duration, etc.;

- for the ancient personality, such features are characteristic as dissolution in the policy, the community, the emergence of citizenship, dependence on nature, on belonging to a certain class, syncretic consciousness, a high degree of superstition; an important role is played by a man-citizen of the policy, and in Rome - a man-warrior, etc.;

The modern man is characterized by the realization of legal equality, the abolition of caste regulations of life, personal independence, increased individualism, rational perception of the world, reification of man, high life expectancy, etc.;

- for modern man, in general, many features of previous eras are characteristic, only they are more pronounced, but you can also point out the following qualities: high quality of life, the presence of an open society, comprehensiveness and freedom of human development, security of all rights and freedoms of the individual (in most countries), but at the same time, now a person is characterized by loss, fear of environmental and other threats to his existence. A negative factor of modern civilization is the priority of material values ​​over spiritual ones in all spheres of an individual's life. As a result, consumer orientation, the race for material goods deprives a person of a socially critical dimension, contributes to the alienation of the personality, the development of the process of deindividualization and the transformation of a person into a one-dimensional, mass, "man of the crowd."



Depending on the point of view on the object of study and the ongoing processes, the historical epochs may not be in the same sequence as the ordinary people are used to. Moreover, even the zero reference point can be placed in a very unusual place.

Countdown start

What is "History"? History is what is recorded. If any event is not recorded, but is transmitted orally, then this is a tradition. Accordingly, it would be reasonable to assume that historical epochs concern only that period of existence human civilization when writing was invented. This is one of important factors that separate historical epochs from geological ones.

Following these arguments, the beginning of the countdown of historical eras will start from the moment of the invention of writing. But at the same time, the tradition of writing should not be interrupted.

In particular, there are samples of writing that date back to the age of 8 and 7.5 thousand years. But they did not continue, but were just local manifestations of the power of the human intellect. And these letters have not yet been deciphered.

The first records deciphered to date appeared in Egypt, approximately 5.5 thousand years ago. These are clay tablets that were in burial places. The names of the dead were written on them.

This writing has not been interrupted in time.

From this moment, the order of counting historical epochs begins.

Historical eras in chronological order

In each isolated region of the Earth, writing appeared in its own historical period. We will analyze the closest culture to us - European. And its origins, through the Cretan civilization, go back to Ancient Egypt.

Please note that considering Ancient Egypt as an ancestral home European culture, we are isolated from geographical landmarks. According to the "Theory of Civilizations" prof. A. D. Toynbee, these structures have the ability to develop, give life to other civilizations, in some cases fade away or be reborn into other cultures.

This means that the beginning of the chronology of historical eras will be the middle of the Eneolithic.

1. Ancient world, with a total duration of approximately 3,000 years, including:

· The Copper Age ended approximately 3700 years ago.

The Bronze Age. Ended 3100 years ago.

The Iron Age. Lasted until 340 BC.

· Antiquity. With the fall of Rome in 476, the era of the Ancient World ended.

2. Middle Ages. It continued until approximately 1500 (duration ≈1000 years). The beginning of the end of the Middle Ages was marked by:

· Massive migration of the educated part of the population from Byzantium to Europe.

The fall of Tsargrad in 1453.

· Emergence of the Renaissance. Perhaps it was this factor that was the foundation on which the modern capitalist civilization was formed, with its vices.

3. New time. This era lasted for about 400 years, and ended at the end of 1917 with the October Socialist Revolution. During this time, the cultural and moral state of society has undergone incredible metamorphoses.

If at the beginning of the New Age in the center of the worldview ordinary person there was a God who created man, the whole world, and in general, was the measure of all things. That passing the era

· Renaissance, the works of Thomas Aquinas, theology began to be perceived as an ordinary scientific discipline, not tied to God. Then, the champion of Rationalism, Descartes, proclaimed the postulate: "I think, therefore I am." And in the final, G. Cherbury concluded that Christianity is a common philosophical doctrine. This was the beginning of Deism. Then followed

A drop of oil in the fire of reformatting consciousness was added by Voltaire, who argued that it was not God who created man, but man invented God. This marked the beginning of a schizoid split in the minds of an entire civilization. After all, on Sundays everyone went to church, and there they confessed that they were sinful and unworthy. But the rest of the days, they were equal to God.

And although now people began to be considered the measure of all things, people began to feel the lack of a spiritual and mystical component in their lives. And appeared on the threshold

The era of Romanticism. The mind was pushed to the sidelines, and feelings and emotions began to dominate, which replaced spirituality. Hence the irresistibility, the desire for risk. Duels were almost legalized. The image of a "noble savage" was formed.

Feerbach ended this period with the postulate: "Feelings are nothing, the main thing is to eat tasty and satisfying." And then it was the turn of the emancipation of women. Meanwhile, ontologically they are the keepers of traditional values.

4. The latest time. This period continues to this day, almost a hundred years.

Curious patterns

According to the calculations of prominent scientists, during each of the above epochs, ≈ 10 billion people managed to live on the planet. But the phenomenon of compression of historical time, with each epoch, reduced its duration by 2.5-3 times.

There are suggestions that for the transition of mankind to a new formation, a certain amount of knowledge and technological innovations must accumulate, which in turn lead to a qualitative leap.

Prof. S. Kapitsa, derived the population growth formula for the entire planet: N(t)=200 billion /(2025-t). Where N is the population in this moment time, and t is the given time. Two constants: 2025 and 200 billion people, were obtained by several scientists independently of each other.

This formula allows you to build such a graph of population growth on Earth:

And it coincides with the data on the population, which historians provide with varying accuracy.

According to this concept, S. Kapitsa argued that approximately in 2025, there should be a certain phase transition in the development of human civilization, which will be accompanied by global changes in all spheres of life.

Ancient Greece gave rise to the Western European philosophical tradition in general and philosophical anthropology in particular.

In the philosophy of Ancient Greece, initially a person does not exist on his own, but only in a system of certain relations that are perceived as absolute order and space. With everything in his natural and social environment, neighbors and polis, inanimate and animate objects, animals and gods, a person lives in a single, inseparable world.

The concept of the cosmos had a human meaning, at the same time, a person was thought of as a part of the cosmos, as a microcosm, which is a reflection of the macrocosm, understood as a living organism. Such views on man existed among the representatives of the Milesian school, who stood on the positions of hylozoism, i.e., they denied the boundary between the living and the inanimate and assumed the universal animation of the universe.

Appeal to anthropological problems is associated with the critical and educational activities of the sophists and the creation of philosophical ethics by Socrates.

In the concept of the sophists, three main points can be traced:

Relativism and subjectivism in the understanding of such ethical phenomena as goodness, virtue, justice, etc.;

The introduction of man into being as the main character;

Filling the process of cognition with existential meaning and substantiation of the existential nature of truth.

In the Middle Ages, man is studied as part of the world order, which is established by God. And the idea of ​​a person, expressed in Christianity, boils down to the fact that he is "the image and likeness of God."

From a social point of view, in the Middle Ages, a person is proclaimed a passive participant in the divine order and is a creature created and insignificant in relation to God. The main task of people is to join God and find salvation on the day of the Last Judgment. Therefore, all human life, its metaphysical content is expressed in the paradigm: fall into sin - redemption.

Outstanding representatives of medieval Christian philosophical anthropology were:

- Augustine the Blessed;

- Thomas Aquinas.

Augustine the Blessed believed that a person is the opposite of soul and body, which are independent.

According to Thomas Aquinas, man is an intermediate being between animals and angels.

In modern times, philosophical anthropology is formed under the influence of emerging capitalist relations, scientific knowledge and a new culture, which was called humanism.

The philosophy of the Renaissance (Renaissance) put a person on an earthly basis and on this basis tried to solve his problems. She affirmed the natural human desire for goodness, happiness and harmony. It is characterized by humanism and anthropocentrism. In the philosophy of this period, God is not completely denied, but the whole philosophy is imbued with the pathos of humanism, the autonomy of man, faith in his limitless possibilities.