Condorcet (like other French enlighteners) considered the development of reason as a criterion for progress. Utopian socialists advanced the moral criterion of progress. Saint-Simon believed, for example, that society should take such a form of organization that would lead to the implementation of the moral principle: all people should relate to each other like brothers. A contemporary of Utopian socialists, the German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling (1775-1854) wrote that the decision of the survey on historical progress was complicated by the fact that supporters and opponents of the belief in the improvement of mankind were completely entangled in disputes about the criteria for progress. Some talk about the progress of mankind in the field of morality, others - about the progress of science and technology, which, as Schelling wrote, from a historical point of view is more a regression, and proposed his own solution to the problem: the criterion in establishing the historical progress of the human race can only be a gradual approach to legal device.

Another point of view on social progress belongs to G. Hegel. He saw the criterion of progress in the consciousness of freedom. As the consciousness of freedom grows, the progressive development of society takes place.

As you can see, the question of the criteria of progress occupied the great minds of the new time, but could not find a solution. The drawback of all attempts to overcome this problem was that in all cases only one line (or one side, or one sphere) of social development was considered as a criterion. And reason, and morality, and science, and technology, and the legal order, and the consciousness of freedom - all these indicators are very important, but not universal, not covering the life of a person and society as a whole.

In our time, philosophers also hold different views on the criterion of social progress. Let's consider some of them.

One of the existing points of view is that the highest and universal objective criterion for social progress is the development of productive forces, including the development of man himself. It is argued by the fact that the orientation of the historical process is determined by the growth and improvement of the productive forces of society, including the means of labor, the degree to which man possesses the forces of nature, and the possibility of their use as the basis of human life. In social production lie the origins of all human activity. According to this criterion, those social relations are recognized as progressive, which. correspond to the level of productive forces and open up the greatest scope for their development, for the growth of labor productivity, for human development. Man is considered here as the main thing in the productive forces, therefore their development is understood from this point of view and as the development of the wealth of human nature.

This position is criticized from a different perspective. Just as it is impossible to find a universal criterion for progress only in social consciousness (in the development of reason, morality, the consciousness of freedom), it cannot be found only in the sphere of material production (technology, economic relations). History gave examples of countries where a high level of material production was combined with the degradation of spiritual culture. To overcome the one-sidedness of criteria reflecting the state of only one sphere of society, it is necessary to find a concept that would characterize the essence of human life and activity. In this capacity, philosophers propose the concept of freedom.

Freedom, as you already know, is characterized not only by knowledge (the absence of which makes a person subjectively not free), but also by the presence of conditions for its realization. A decision based on free choice is also needed. Finally, it also requires funds, as well as actions aimed at implementing the decision. Recall also that the freedom of one person should not be achieved by infringing on the freedom of another person. Such a restriction of freedom is of a social and moral nature.

The meaning of human life lies in self-realization, self-realization of the individual. So, freedom acts as a necessary condition for self-realization. In fact, self-realization is possible if a person has knowledge of his abilities, the opportunities that society gives him, about the ways in which he can realize himself. The wider the possibilities created by society, the freer a person is, the more options for activity in which his potentialities are revealed. But in the process of multifaceted activity, the multilateral development of man himself takes place, and the spiritual wealth of the individual grows.

So, according to this point of view, the criterion of social progress is the measure of freedom that society is able to provide to the individual, the degree of individual freedom guaranteed by society. The free development of man in a free society also means the disclosure of his truly human qualities - intellectual, creative, moral. This statement leads us to consider another point of view on social progress.

As we have seen, one cannot limit oneself to the characterization of man as an active being. He is also a rational and social being. Only with this in mind can we talk about the human in man, about humanity. But the development of human qualities depends on the living conditions of people. The more fully satisfied the person’s various needs for food, clothing, housing, transportation services, his needs in the spiritual field, the more moral relations between people become, the more accessible the person becomes the most diverse types of economic and political, spiritual and material activities. The more favorable the conditions for the development of the physical, intellectual, mental forces of a person, his moral principles, the wider the scope for the development of individual qualities inherent in each individual person. In short, the more humane the conditions of life, the more opportunities there are for the development of the human in man: reason, morality, and creative forces.

Humanity, recognition of man as the highest value is expressed by the word "humanism". From the foregoing, we can conclude that there is a universal criterion for social progress: progressively that contributes to the rise of humanism.

Criteria of social progress.

In the vast literature on social progress, there is currently no single answer to the main question: what is the general sociological criterion for social progress?

A relatively small number of authors argue that raising the question of a single criterion of social progress is meaningless, since human society is a complex organism, the development of which is carried out in different lines, which makes it impossible to formulate a single criterion. Most authors consider it possible to formulate a single sociological criterion of social progress. However, even with the very formulation of such a criterion, significant discrepancies are evident ...

The most difficult problem in the theory of progress is the question of the main objective criteria. Indeed, is there an accurate measure of the level of social progress? What are the indicators that collectively reflect the main source of social progress? In determining the main criterion for social progress, the interests of various classes clash. Each social class seeks to justify a criterion that meets the interests of this class.

For example, some modern foreign philosophers and sociologists oppose the objective nature of the criterion of social progress. They seek to prove that the solution of the question of progress in the history of society is subjective in nature, since it depends on the choice of the criterion of social progress. And the choice of this criterion is determined by the scale of values, which is chosen by the one who judges the progress. And he does it according to personal views, sympathies, ideals, etc. With one criterion, one can recognize the presence of progress in history; with another, one can deny it. All points of view here are equitable, since they are all equally subjective.

So, A.D. Todd in his book Theories of Social Progress writes: "Progress is a human concept. So human that everyone thinks in his own way." In the French philosophical dictionary edited by A. Lalande, it is said that progress "is a concept but essence is relative, since it depends on what scale of values \u200b\u200bthe one who speaks about progress adheres to."

Materialism rejects the subjective and relativistic position of philosophers and sociologists about social progress. The study shows that progress in society is an objective regularity, available strictly to scientific research. Therefore, the main criterion for social progress should be objective. In accordance with it, it is precisely the productive forces that are the determining cause of the progressive development of the whole history of mankind and therefore serve as an objective indicator of the level of resolution of contradictions between society and nature.

In this way, the main objective criterion for social progress is the development of productive forces.   It is it that forms the basis of unity and communication in world history, represents that continuous line of ascent that passes through all social processes. In the change of productive forces, ultimately, all human activity is focused, in whatever sphere of the social organism it may be carried out. This criterion is of a general historical (general sociological) nature and applies to all social formations that existed in history. It makes it possible to determine for each formation its historical place in the progressive movement of mankind.

As the study shows, the question of the main objective criterion of social progress comes down to clarifying what is the beginning of the progressive development of society, or what element of the social organism changes first? Indeed, those objective criteria by which one can determine whether a given phenomenon is progressive or reactionary and to what extent depend on the level and nature of the development of productive forces. What are the productive forces, such, in the final analysis, is the whole of society. It must also be emphasized that socio-economic formations “settled down” in history precisely in accordance with the level and nature of the development of productive forces.

Consequently, the social system (socio-economic system, politics, ideology, morality, etc.), which most stimulates the development of productive forces, creates the greatest scope for them, is the most progressive. Therefore, everything that is in production relations, in the content of ideas, views, theories, moral standards, etc. contributes to the further development of productive forces, works on the idea of \u200b\u200bprogress. On the contrary, everything that inhibits this development is connected with regression. Another thing is that there is no automatic dependency.

Progress in production does not always directly affect progress in spiritual life, for example, in art or morality. The connection between the development of various phenomena of the spiritual life of society, on the one hand, and the needs of the development of productive forces, on the other, is mediated by the diversity and complexity of social relations, and it is sometimes difficult to establish this connection. There are many facts in the history of exploiter formations when the progress of productive forces was ensured by brutal violent methods associated with violating the elementary norms of humanity. According to K. Marx, this kind of progress was likened to a "disgusting pagan idol who did not want to drink nectar except from the skulls of those killed."

Modern foreign sociologists quite often absolutize the role of technology, especially computers, in the development of society and consider it the main criterion for their own progress. However, this is not true. Technology, computers, in general, the means of production - this is only one of the elements of the productive forces. Their other element is people, direct producers of material and spiritual goods. Moreover, the working masses are the main element in the composition of the productive forces of society. Therefore, the most important indicator of the progressiveness of the socio-economic system are the opportunities that it creates for the comprehensive development of the abilities and creative activity of workers, the satisfaction of their material and spiritual needs.

Therefore, in determining the superiority of a particular social system, it is necessary to compare, first of all, the possibilities that it provides for the development of productive forces as a whole. These opportunities are usually realized at a higher rate of development of social production, the widespread dissemination of culture among the masses of workers, their full involvement in managing the affairs of society, etc.

Despite the complexity of social development, its main line is the progressive movement, and the process of ascending from the lowest to the highest is not just steadily continuing, but from formation to formation it is accelerating. This can already be seen from the very duration of the formations: the primitive communal system - 40-50 thousand years, and the entire written history - a little more than 5 thousand years. Of these: slavery - 3–3.5 thousand years; feudalism - 1.5 thousand years; capitalism - several centuries; socialism - several decades.

The most generalized indicator of the development of productive forces, or an objective criterion of social progress, is the rate of growth of labor productivity.   By itself, labor productivity reflects only the level of development of the productive forces of society. And the growth rate of labor productivity also reflects the nature of productive forces, i.e. the specifics of the relationship of direct producers with the means of production.

Every new socio-economic formation has a higher growth rate of labor productivity compared to the previous one. For example, labor productivity under capitalism develops 20–40 thousand times faster than under the primitive communal system, 100–150 times faster than in a slave-owning society, 50–60 times faster than in the era of feudalism.

It should also be borne in mind that one cannot limit oneself to a simple comparison of the levels of development of production achieved at the moment by countries with different social systems. Indeed, many countries that affirm the democratic system have had or have to overcome the techno-economic backwardness inherited from the past, as well as difficulties caused by the resistance of reactionary forces imposed by wars, etc. That is why it takes some time for them to catch up with countries that have industrialized and computerized much earlier. After all, progress usually appears as the cumulative result of the upward development of all aspects of social life. It is measured by a whole system of criteria, each of which has its own place and purpose in determining the level of progressive development of society. In this system there is a hierarchy, subordination. There are basic and non-basic criteria, determining and conditional.

In the hierarchy of criteria for social progress, the development of productive forces is crucial. Other criteria operating in the field of morality, science, philosophy, etc., only reflect the phenomena that arise on the basis of a certain level and nature of the development of productive forces. For example, the criterion of moral progress is the growth of individual freedom, the criterion of progress in science can be the process of turning science into a direct productive force, the criterion of progress in philosophy is the formation of a democratic worldview, etc.

Social progress is a multifaceted phenomenon. It includes the progressive development in all areas of the social organism. The stage of progressively developing human history as a whole corresponds to a certain socio-economic formation. While maintaining a qualitative state, a formation, as a living, developing organism, goes through the stages of nucleation, development and decay. The section between the ascending and descending stages of the formation is formed by the violation of the correspondence of the parties to social production and its influence on the entire system of social relations.

However, historical development takes place continuously. In the bowels of the old socio-economic formation, the prerequisites of another, higher formation (in the form of new productive forces, changes in the socio-economic structure, etc.) are emerging. The full disclosure of these premises is hindered by the old social system. A jump in the progressive movement of society means a revolutionary transition to a new, higher socio-economic formation.

Each new formation is born, formed and replaces the old only on the "shoulders" of this last, on the basis of its achievements. K. Marx wrote: “Not a single social formation will perish before all the productive forces have developed, for which it gives ample room, and new higher production relations never manifest themselves before the material conditions of their existence in the bowels of the oldest society mature” . As long as this formation develops in an ascending line, everything that contributes to its strengthening is progressive. When the formation enters a period of stagnation and decay, it is progressive that it breaks down its foundations, and all kinds of attempts to slow down this process are regressive.

The progressive nature of social development cannot be understood simplistically. The history of human society is complex and contradictory. Social progress is its general line, general orientation. And within the framework of historical progress, there were epochs of restoration, and tragic catastrophes, sometimes leading to the death of entire civilizations, and the deepest errors of human thought.

• Marx K., Engels F.   Op. T. 23. S. 731. Note.
• Marx K., Engels F.   Op. T. 13.P. 7.

Lecture:

  The concepts of progress, regression, stagnation

The individual and society as a whole tend to strive for the best. Our fathers and grandfathers worked so that we could live better than them. In turn, we must take care of the future of our children. This desire of people contributes to social development, but it can proceed both in a progressive and in a regressive direction.

Social progress   - this is the direction of social development from lower to higher, from less perfect to more perfect.

The term "social progress" is associated with the terms "innovation" and "modernization". Innovation is an innovation in any field, leading to its qualitative growth. And modernization is updating machines, equipment, and technical processes to bring them into line with the requirements of the times.

Public regression   - This is the opposite direction to progress of social development from higher to lower, less perfect.

For example, population growth is progress, and the opposite, population decline is regression. But there can be a period in the development of society when there are no shifts or recessions. This period is called stagnation.

Stagnation   - stagnant phenomenon in the development of society.

Criteria for Social Progress

In order to assess the existence of social progress and its effectiveness, there are criteria. The most important of them are:

• Education and literacy of people.

The degree of their morality and tolerance.

Democratic society and the quality of the implementation of the rights and freedoms of citizens.

The level of scientific and technical innovation.

The level of labor productivity and the well-being of the people.

The level of life expectancy, the state of health of the population.

  Ways of social progress

In what ways can social progress be realized? There are three such paths: evolution, revolution, reform. The word evolution, translated from Latin, means “deployment,” revolution means “coup,” and reform means “transformation."

Revolutionary way   involves rapid fundamental changes in social and state foundations. This is the path of violence, destruction and sacrifice.

Reform is an integral part of social development.   - legal transformations in any sphere of the life of the society, carried out at the initiative of the authorities without affecting the existing foundations. Reforms can be both evolutionary and revolutionary. For example, reformPeter I were revolutionary in nature (remember the decree on cutting beards in the boyars). And the transition of Russia from 2003 to the Bologna system of education, for example, the introduction of the FSES in schools, undergraduate and graduate levels at universities, is an evolutionary reform.

The inconsistency of social progress

The above areas of social development (progress, regression) in history proceed interconnected. Often, progress in one area may be accompanied by regression in another, progress in one country - regression in others. P the consistency of social progress is illustrated by the following examples:

The second half of the 20th century is marked by rapid progress in science - automation and computerization of production (progress). The development of this and other branches of science requires huge expenditures of electricity, thermal and nuclear energy. NTR has put all of modern mankind on the brink of environmental disaster (regression).

The invention of technical devices certainly facilitates a person’s life (progress), but adversely affects his health (regression).

The power of Macedonia - the country of Alexander the Great (progress) was based on the destruction of other countries (regression).

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Progress is the progressive movement of mankind towards one higher rational goal, towards the ideal of good, worthy of universal desire.

The idea of \u200b\u200bsocial progress is a product of the New Age. This means that it was at this time that the idea of \u200b\u200bthe progressive, upward development of society took root in the minds of people and began to form their worldview. In antiquity there was no such representation. The ancient worldview, as you know, was cosmocentric in nature. And this means that the man of antiquity was coordinated in relation to nature, space. And man had to find his place in this eternal space, and not in history.

The idea of \u200b\u200bsocial progress is affirmed in the Enlightenment. This era raises the shield of reason, knowledge, science, human freedom and from this angle evaluates history, contrasting itself with previous eras, where, in the view of the enlighteners, ignorance and despotism prevailed. Enlighteners in a certain way understood their contemporary era (as the era of "enlightenment"), its role and significance for man, and through the prism of so-understood modernity, they examined the past of mankind. The contrast of modernity, interpreted as the onset of the era of reason, with the past of mankind, of course, contained a gap between the present and the past, but as soon as an attempt was made to restore the historical connection between them on the basis of reason and knowledge, the idea of \u200b\u200ban upward movement in history arose immediately, about progress. The development and dissemination of knowledge was seen as a gradual and cumulative process. The undeniable model for such a reconstruction of the historical process was enlightenment accumulation of scientific knowledge that took place in modern times. The model also served them as the mental formation and development of an individual person, an individual: being transferred to humanity as a whole, it gave the historical progress of the human mind.

Progress (from the Latin. Progressus - movement forward) is such a direction of development, which is characterized by a transition from lower to higher, from less perfect to more perfect. The merit of the idea and development of the theory of social progress belongs to the philosophers of the second half of the 18th century, and the formation of capitalism and the maturation of European bourgeois revolutions served as the socio-economic basis for the very emergence of the idea of \u200b\u200bsocial progress. By the way, both creators of the initial concepts of social progress - TURGO   and CONDORCE   - were active public figures of pre-revolutionary and revolutionary France. And this is understandable: the idea of \u200b\u200bsocial progress, the recognition of the fact that humanity as a whole, is mainly moving forward, is an expression of historical optimism inherent in advanced social forces.

Three distinctive features distinguished the original progressive concepts.

FIRSTLY, this is idealism, i.e. an attempt to find the reasons for the progressive development of history in the spiritual beginning - in the infinite ability to perfect human intelligence (the same Turgot and Condorcet) or in the spontaneous self-development of the absolute spirit (Hegel). Accordingly, the criterion of progress was also seen in the phenomena of the spiritual order, in the level of development of one form or another of public consciousness: science, morality, law, religion. Incidentally, progress was noticed primarily in the field of scientific knowledge (Bacon, Descartes), and then the corresponding idea was extended to social relations in general.

SECONDLYA significant drawback of many early concepts of social progress was the non-dialectical consideration of social life. In such cases, social progress is understood as a smooth evolutionary development, without revolutionary leaps, without backward movements, as a continuous ascent in a straight line (Comte, Spencer).

THIRD, upward development in form was limited to the achievement of any one chosen social order. Very distinctly, this rejection of the idea of \u200b\u200bunlimited progress was reflected in Hegel's statements. The top and end of world progress, he proclaimed the Christian-German world, asserting freedom and equality in their traditional interpretation.

If you try to define in general terms REASONS FOR PUBLIC PROGRESSthen they will be the needs of man, which are the product and expression of his nature as a living and no less as a social being. These needs are diverse in nature, nature, duration of action, but in any case they determine the motives of human activity. In the process of real life, people are driven by the needs generated by their biological and social nature; and in the process of realizing their vital needs, people change the conditions of their existence and themselves, for each satisfied need creates a new one, its satisfaction, in turn, requires new actions, the result of which is the development of society.

PROGRESS CRITERIA

The direction of development, which is characterized by a transition from lower to higher, from less perfect to more perfect, is called in science PROGRESS   (a word of Latin origin meaning literally moving forward). The opposite of the concept of progress REGRESS. The regression is characterized by a movement from higher to lower, degradation processes, and a return to obsolete forms and structures.

Condorcet   (like other French enlighteners) considered a criterion for progress mind development. Utopian Socialists   put forward moral criterion   progress. Saint-Simon   believed, for example, that society should take such a form of organization that would lead to the implementation of moral principle: all people should relate to each other like brothers. Utopian socialist German philosopher Frederick WILHELM SCHELLING   He wrote that the decision of the survey on historical progress is complicated by the fact that supporters and opponents of the belief in the improvement of mankind are completely entangled in disputes about the criteria for progress. Some talk about the progress of mankind in the field of morality, others - about the progress of science and technology, which, as Schelling wrote, from a historical point of view is rather a regression, and proposed his own solution to the problem: the criterion in establishing the historical progress of the human race can only be a gradual approach to legal device. Another point of view on social progress belongs Hegel. He saw the criterion of progress in consciousness of freedom. As the consciousness of freedom grows, the progressive development of society takes place.

As you can see, the question of the criteria of progress occupied the great minds of the new time, but could not find a solution. The drawback of all attempts to overcome this problem was that in all cases only one line (or one side, or one sphere) of social development was considered as a criterion. And reason, and morality, and science, and technology, and the legal order, and the consciousness of freedom - all these indicators are very important, but not universal, not covering the life of a person and society as a whole.

In our time, philosophers also hold different views on the criterion of social progress. One of the existing points of view is that the highest and universal objective criterion for social progress is the development of productive forces, including the development of man himself. Conclusion on the universal criterion of social progress: progressively what contributes to the rise of humanism.

The most important criterion for progress is the level of humanism in society, i.e. personality position in it: the degree of its economic, political and social liberation; the level of satisfaction of her material and spiritual needs; the state of her psychophysical and social health. According to this point of view, the criterion of social progress is the measure of freedom that society is able to provide to the individual, the degree of individual freedom guaranteed by society. The free development of man in a free society also means the disclosure of his truly human qualities - intellectual, creative, moral. The development of human qualities depends on the living conditions of people. The more fully the person’s various needs for food, clothing, housing, transportation services, his spiritual needs are met, the more moral the relationship between people becomes, the more diverse the types of economic and political, spiritual and material activities become more accessible for a person. The more favorable the conditions for the development of the physical, intellectual, mental forces of a person, his moral principles, the wider the scope for the development of individual qualities inherent in each individual person. In short, the more humane the conditions of life, the more opportunities there are for the development of the human in man: reason, morality, and creative forces.

The subject of social change is closely related social progress.

One of the first scientific concepts social development as consistent progress of societies on rising levels of progresswhich is determined knowledge gain, belongs to A. Saint-Simon.

His ideas were developed by the founder O. Comte. The Kont law of the intellectual evolution of mankind directly points to the direction and criterion of social progress - the degree of advancement to the highest in its concept, scientific (positive) stage of development. G. Spencer, sharing the idea of \u200b\u200bthe nonlinear nature of evolution, suggested measure social progress achieved by the degree of complexity of societies. Social evolution is similar to biological and gradually leads to the fact that the world is getting better. In the theory of K. Marx, the question of social progress was resolved almost unambiguously. The achievement of the highest stage of human development — the building of a classless communist society where free labor of free people will dominate — is inevitable, although distant in time.

If O. Comte, G. Spencer and E. Durkheim designed concept of progress   as a two-way process of differentiation and integration regardless of its beneficial effectsthen L. Ward, N. Mikhailovsky   and others believed that progress is to increase human happinessor reducing human suffering. In one of his first works P. Sorokin   indicated that both of these currents are insufficient   and they need to be synthesized. Otherwise, the theory of progress risks giving a stagnation formula instead of a progress formula.

Most supporters social evolutionism   convinced intellectual and technological progresshowever about moral progress opinions differ. Those who believe that moral progress exists belong to the course of evolutionary ethics. . They proceed from the fact that the very existence of morality as the basis for the interaction and mutual assistance of people is already an important factor in the survival of society. Moral evolution   does not cancel struggle for existence but humanizes   her, forcing to find increasingly softer methods of struggle.

For a long time, evolutionists have been dominated by the notion of one-pointed evolution for all societies, when each of them goes through successively the same stages of development on the path to progress. In the twentieth century. this view was found to be invalid on the basis of anthropological research. It turned out that not only non-Western, but also many European countries did not develop according to one, but according to different scenarios, including a different number and sequence of stages.

On a new basis, the evolutionary approach has revived in recent years: evolution is not unidirectional, but can go in many directions. According to the theory of evolutionary changes in the structural functionalist T. Parsons, societies tend to become more and more differentiated in their structures and functions, and new structures should be more functionally adapted than the old ones.

The position of the supporters of cyclical development differs significantly. and periodic economic crises have raised doubts about the overall progressive development of mankind. Thus, the German scientist Oswald Spengler in his book “The Sunset of Europe” (1918) substantiated the periodization of the development and decline of cultures by analogy with the stages of the human life cycle, including sunset and death. In his opinion, each of the eight cultures he studied existed for about 1000 years. Therefore, if we assume that Western European culture originated about 900 years ago, then its end is already near.

The English historian Arnold Toynbee also believed that the development of civilizations follows a single path, improving and progressing to decline along similar stages. Arising as an answer to any challenge of natural or human factors, civilization reaches its peak, while its elite is able to provide a response to this challenge. Otherwise, there is a split and disintegration of civilization and, as a result of the growth of internal conflicts, a movement to decline.

Cyclic theories also include the sociocultural dynamics of P. Sorokin, which contains a very pessimistic assessment of the prospects for the development of modern Western society.

Another example of cyclic theories is the concept of "world-economy" by I. Wallerstein, according to which third world countries will not be able to repeat the waypassed by states - leaders   modern economy; capitalist world economy, which originated more than 500 years ago, in 1967-1973. entered into the inevitable   the final phase of the life cycle - crisis phase.

Social progress and forecasting in philosophy

Modern is carried out in the framework of scientific and technological progress, which in turn acts as a party social progress.

D. Vico, I.G. paid attention to questions of social progress. Herder, A. Turgot, J. Condorss, O. Comte, C. Marx, F. Engels, etc.

Social progress   - this is an objective trend of the upward development of mankind, expressed in the improvement of human life forms, needs, and the ability to satisfy them, in the development of science, technology, technology, the media, medicine, etc.

The question of the criteria of social progress is debatable. Some researchers in as a criterion of social progress they call the level of development of the production method, others in this capacity highlight the level of development of the productive forces of society, others reduce it to labor productivity. It is thought that one can take as the most representative point of view, according to which the level of development of productive forces, expressed in labor productivity, can be taken as a criterion of social progress.

In the philosophical explanation of the social process   two points of view have long fought evolutionary   and revolutionary.

Some philosophers preferred the evolutionary development of society, and others saw great appeal in revolutionary changes in public life. Obviously, one should carefully consider the ways and means of social progress. The course of the latter does not exclude the combination of revolutionary and evolutionary transformations of social life. In carrying out progressive transformations and reforms, one should focus on the fact that their implementation would not result in a decline in the economy, a decrease in the level of development of productive forces and a decrease, but, on the contrary, an increase in the economic wealth of society based on an increase in the level of development of productive forces and labor productivity.

Anticipation of the future in various forms has always played an important role in society.. The importance of foresight grew especially during the turning periods of history, during the period of acute social conflicts. This is especially true for the modern era, when it becomes apparent that the distant and near future of humanity will be radically different from its present and recent past.

Foresight   Is knowledge about the future, i.e. about what is not yet in reality, but what is potentially contained in the present in the form of objective and subjective prerequisites for the expected course of development. Scientific foresight and social forecasting must contain not only the answer to the question of what may happen in the future, but also the answers to such questions, when to expect it, what forms the future will take and what is the measure of the probability of this forecast.

• extrapolation;
• modeling;
• expertise.

The most reliable method of social forecasting is examination.. Any social forecast combines a scientific and ideological purpose. There are four types of forecasts: search; normative; analytical; forecast caution. Anticipation of the future is an interdisciplinary study, and it is fruitful only in the process of integrating humanitarian, natural-scientific and technical knowledge.