Social Philosophy

The Problem of Values in Philosophy: The Fundamental Values of Society

The values of humanity are a reflection of the prevailing attitudes of a particular historical epoch, possessing a socio-historical nature.

In its simplest understanding, a value can be defined as the significance of the results of one’s pursuits in any dimension. Values are intricately linked to the inner spiritual life of individuals and form the foundation of their existence. To navigate reality, individuals are compelled to evaluate their surroundings and seek to understand the meaning of their existence through various approaches—scientific, aesthetic, ethical—while mastering the world around them. For example, one may:

— Establish
— Be captivated by
— Differentiate between
— Distinguish the truth from falsehood;
the beautiful from the grotesque;
good from evil;
the just from the unjust.

The criteria for the spiritual development and social progress of humanity are, in essence, values themselves. Since values are social phenomena, both the essence of humanity and the quality of society are determined by their content. The philosophical study of values is known as “axiology” (from the Greek axios, meaning value).

Values within society reflect fundamental social needs that are shaped in accordance with the objectives and tasks emerging during specific historical periods.

All primary social values are interrelated and inherent to each social community to varying degrees. For instance, the category of Truth was pivotal in societies of religious epochs (such as the Middle Ages) and among the so-called spiritual aristocracy. The high level of abstraction associated with the social value of Truth does not directly regulate actions and behaviors within society; it pertains more to the understanding of humanity and its capacity for thought, the comprehension of human existence, thereby linking Truth to Knowledge and Faith. Justice, as a social value, became emblematic of the bourgeois epoch (the Modern Age) and resonated with the aspirations of the "third estate." The essence of Justice is intrinsically associated with Equality and pertains to the distribution of material and spiritual goods.

Wealth serves as a prerequisite for the survival of the species and the continuation of lineage, encompassing self-preservation and the provision of necessities for life. This category is typically regulated by production and consumption, which allows for the assessment of opportunities for the continuous enhancement of welfare, or for merely achieving a certain minimum standard. The sources of wealth in different nations may vary in origin, such as the conquest of the riches of other peoples, domestic production, or even parasitism.

In contemporary society, Wealth is associated with expressions of Freedom, characterized by the exercise of one's will towards the maximum possible satisfaction of human needs; yet, Knowledge emerges as the paramount value of modern society.

Human knowledge, which has enabled the creation of the steam engine, mechanized transport, and the discovery of electricity, facilitated humanity’s transition from an agrarian to an industrial society. This technological revolution, culminating in the conquest of outer space, has reached its limits, as the development of highly advanced technologies was balanced by the Earth’s finite energy resources, the depletion of which could lead not only to crises but to a true collapse.

By the end of the 20th century, there arose an urgent need to formulate new approaches and introduce fundamentally new knowledge to avert such a prospect. It is on the foundation of this new knowledge that the information society emerges, bringing into scientific discourse the concepts of post-industrial society by D. Bell, global society by I. Wallerstein, communicative society by N. Luhmann, and network society by M. Castells, among others.

The transition of society into a post-industrial stage of development has significantly altered and expanded the system of relationships between individuals and the economy. The concepts of "knowledge society" and "knowledge economy" emerged, indicating a change in societal conditions and civilization as a whole. Knowledge began to play a leading role in the "social construction of reality."

The concepts of the information society can be classified, according to German researcher Gotthardt Bechmann, as follows:

— Information society as an information economy;
— Information society as "post-industrial society";
— Information society as a knowledge society;
— Information society as the end of mass production society.

The knowledge society has become the most advanced form of the information society, emerging as a result of the globalization of knowledge and scientific achievements during a phase of human development that corresponds to a fundamentally new paradigm of world organization. From this point onward, knowledge has become the most critical factor in societal development. The economic progress of developed countries is driven by a global knowledge base that is constantly expanding. The concept of the "knowledge society" is viewed as an alternative to the well-known "market economy model" (founded on the principles of market development, private ownership, and competition) and as a safeguard against recognizing any singular model of societal development as universal or ideal.

Today, in a context where the economy is wholly dependent on knowledge, the term "knowledge economy," increasingly encountered in scholarly works, is defined as the core content of the "knowledge society," with science at its nucleus. This approach once again raises questions about a new mode of thinking that must align with contemporary trends of societal transformation. Thus, in the knowledge society, the primary production factor becomes knowledge itself. Alongside high-tech production, knowledge creates a fundamentally new type of economic relationships.

In summary, in post-industrial society, information and knowledge become the defining production resources, and the most vital social values of our time are recognized as readiness for change and the capacity for innovation.

When social philosophy examines the interactions among different societies, its subject encompasses the historical process in its entirety, analyzing both the objective and subjective dimensions of its development in their interplay.