Social progress is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. For the first time they started talking seriously about him in the second half of the 18th century. The initial development of the concept of social progress belongs to the French researchers Turgot and Condorcet. It was they who first tried to identify the criteria for social progress. Defining these criteria, however, is a rather difficult task.
The concept and structure of social progress
Progress in the first place is a development that is characterized by a transition from less perfect forms to more perfect, from lower to higher. All world history is characterized by this forward movement.
The concept of social progress includes one important feature. It consists in the fact that changes in society are characterized not so much by quantitative as by qualitative changes. In addition, changes in society are diverse, which determines the criteria for social progress. The determination of the moment at which a qualitative leap in the development of society should take place is prepared by the entire previous course of history.
The structure of social progress includes subjective and objective elements. The objective component represents the material relations of people, production forces and relations. The subjective element is the activity of people aimed at achieving consciously set goals.
Approaches to defining criteria for social progress
How to define criteria for social progress? This is the least definite question in social philosophy. This situation is determined, first of all, by the complexity of society. Different points of view existed and exist regarding what constitute the criteria of social progress. Hegel tried to give a definition, which identified progress with the development of consciousness and freedom. The whole history, in his opinion, is the progressive, progressive development of society.
Another point of view belongs to Karl Marx, who brought to the fore the objective element of social progress, that is, the growth of the productive forces of society, labor productivity. In contrast to this view, N.A. Berdyaev considered religious aspects to be the criterion for the progress of society. Progress, in his opinion, takes place in higher spheres and is peculiar only to human society, but in nature only evolution takes place.
Modern look
Today, there are several basic criteria for social progress, depending on the scientific approach. First of all, the development of material production is included in the criteria of social progress. The definition of this aspect characterizes changes in all other areas of society.
But there is another approach, according to which the personality and its position in society are put at the forefront. The progress of society, therefore, is determined by the degree of economic, social and political liberation of a person. This also includes the satisfaction of the individual with his financial situation, the state of physical and social health. One of the most indicative indicators of the progress of society is the average human life expectancy. And finally, the criterion for the progress of society is also called the degree of social freedom, that is, satisfaction from legal norms.
