Culture as An Object of Philosophical Analysis

The Structure and Functions of Culture

The concept of culture reflects the entire internal structure of social life, which distinguishes two primary spheres: the material and the spiritual. These spheres primarily embody the fundamental levels of culture's real existence and infuse it with specific content. Thus, it is appropriate to speak of material culture and spiritual culture as relatively autonomous forms of culture, each defining the unique modes by which humanity engages with both the external and internal worlds of its being.

Material culture encompasses the achievements that primarily express the extent to which humanity has mastered the forces of nature, a crucial indicator of which is the tools of labor and the productive forces of society—now materialized embodiments of science in the contemporary age. The level of development of material culture is also indicated by the skills and knowledge applied in the realm of material production. Therefore, we may refer to “the culture of agriculture,” “the culture of viticulture,” “the culture of resource utilization,” or more broadly, “the culture of labor,” “the culture of population reproduction,” among others, which vary across different historical epochs and among different peoples.

Spiritual culture is interpreted in two senses. First, it serves as a synonym for spiritual life. Historically, the emergence of language, art, scientific knowledge, and similar phenomena marked crucial indicators of societal development, symbolizing the formation of spiritual culture. Consequently, in earlier literature, the terms “spiritual life” and “spiritual culture” were often conflated. It remains impossible to entirely abandon the identification of spiritual culture with spiritual life even today. The identification reflects a lasting tradition, carrying significant meaning as it indicates their close genetic connection.

Secondly, spiritual culture is viewed as a systematic quality of the spiritual sphere. It is clear that all sectors of the spiritual sphere evolve and improve. Therefore, it is justifiable to discuss the culture of spiritual production, education, upbringing, as well as political, aesthetic, and economic cultures. Yet all these characteristics pertain to specific aspects of spiritual life. Spiritual culture, however, accumulates changes across all manifestations of the spiritual sphere and presents a qualitative characteristic of spiritual life as a cohesive entity. By uniting individually considered qualitative characteristics—such as the culture of scientific activity, aesthetic culture, moral culture, etc.—it expresses the general essence inherent in spiritual life as a system. Thus, it manifests as a systemic quality. The essence of spiritual culture, as a systemic quality, is predominantly revealed through its typological characteristics. From this perspective, we can delineate national (Ukrainian, German, Chinese), regional (Slavic, African, Asian) cultures, and the cultures of specific social subjects. Furthermore, distinctions are made regarding the spiritual cultures of historical epochs, socio-political systems, and particular societies. Literature also identifies specific cultural strata and subdivisions, such as mass culture, elite culture, youth culture, the culture of certain social classes or strata, subcultures, and official culture.

From the previous material, it becomes evident that, depending on the philosophical and worldview notions of thinkers shaped by historical contexts, the specificity of particular socio-cultural processes, and the characteristics of the social environment, preference has often been given to one sphere or another as definitive in understanding the essence of culture, frequently leading to the undervaluation of the opposing sphere. An illustrative example is the theory and social practice of Soviet times, where the material sphere was viewed as paramount, while the spiritual sphere was considered secondary. This perspective resulted in serious miscalculations in organizing social life and the formation of disproportions in the development of its critical elements. To some extent, this tendency persists in contemporary Ukraine, where insufficient attention is afforded to the spiritual culture of society, adversely affecting the dynamic development of the material sphere as an indicator of its material culture.

Clearly, it is appropriate to consider the dialectical unity of material and spiritual culture within a specific culture as a certain integrity. In doing so, one must take into account the specific historical socio-cultural circumstances of society's functioning. There is no doubt that material culture embodies and defines the level of mastery over the tangible reality that constitutes the material foundation of existence and development for any society. The significance of this foundation assumes particularly pivotal importance during the early stages of humanity's historical evolution. Historical experience demonstrates that material culture cannot stand as a wholly self-sufficient essence: its development is inextricably linked to the level of spiritual and intellectual advancement among people, and this dependence has historically continued to grow. Thus, the state of material culture, its absolute achievements, becomes an indicator of the state and development of society's spiritual potential. As spiritual culture increasingly imparts meaning to all spheres of human activity, including material production, it is perceived in current conditions as the highest manifestation and guiding factor within the system of holistic human culture.

Culture is a complex socio-dynamic process of development and functioning of the multifaceted processes and phenomena of social life, which directly or indirectly influence its establishment and functioning. Socio-dynamics signifies a transition from static existence to dynamic processes, as well as from unidimensionality to multidimensionality, plurality, and alternativeness. In this respect, both material and spiritual culture can be viewed in the context of dialectical unity, intertwining the national and the universal. Cultural values are directly linked to national existence and manifest in nationally specific forms. This national specificity constitutes the most stable part of culture, yet it cannot be considered as something absolutely unchanging. Indeed, national existence gradually acquires new traits under the influence of various internal and external, objective and subjective factors, which are then reflected in culture. At the same time, every culture is a relatively open system that, through interaction with other cultural systems, enhances and enriches itself with elements from other nations, as well as values generated by humanity throughout history. Therefore, any culture is impossible without both specifically national and universal human values.

One of the fundamental elements of culture can be regarded as cultural values. These serve as socially significant orientations for the activities of subjects and are one of the factors in unfolding political history. Values form the foundation of culture, and in turn, culture is the ground upon which values directly “grow.” These values are closely interrelated: by creating a certain system, they define the essence of culture.

The existence of cultural values characterizes the very essence of human life, the extent to which humanity differentiates itself from nature. Their formation is associated with the existence of societal needs that permeate all areas of social life. Thus, the realm of cultural values encompasses both material and spiritual existence.

Cultural values—both material and spiritual—are formed gradually. While they create a certain unity, they also possess distinct characteristics. The formation of spiritual values occurs through the selection of specific types of behavior and human experiences. Initially, they appear as a collection of habits, practices of human life, and specific forms of behavior passed down from generation to generation. Subsequently, these practices are solidified into traditions, rituals, customs, and rites, encoding standards of socially approved human behavior. The culmination and aim of the prolonged instillation of spiritual values is the formation of societal psychology, mentality, and the mode of spiritual life among individuals in a manner characteristic of a particular societal type.

The process of forming material values is linked to humanity's mastery over the forces of nature, the specificity and enhancement of forms of everyday and social existence, the development of specialized knowledge, technology, and production, as documented in the products of various forms of material activity. However, material values become cultural values only when they embody certain qualities—uniqueness, originality, distinctiveness, mastery, and so forth.

Thus, an essential point in understanding the essence of cultural value is that, while it exists as an objectively significant phenomenon, it only becomes such when it is consciously recognized and experienced by the subject as value. This explains the complex dual subject-object nature of cultural values.

Therefore, cultural value can be defined as the objective significance of phenomena, ideas, and objects, conditioned by the needs and interests of the social subject. However, this value encompasses not only the subject's relation to specific objects but also the object that the subject requires for its satisfaction. Hence, cultural value embodies the function of a particular object to meet human needs.

Alongside values, certain norms of aesthetic, moral, political, legal, religious, and cognitive culture exist within society. These norms form a hidden framework that grants coherence to the social organism.

Cultural norms manifest as specific models, rules of behavior or action. They are constituted and solidified at the level of everyday consciousness within society. At this stage, traditional and subconscious elements exert influence. Customs and modes of reproduction develop over millennia, passed down from generation to generation. In a transformed state, cultural norms are embodied in ideologies, ethical doctrines, and religious concepts.

A significant role in shaping the norms of culture, characteristic of a given society, is played by the support or condemnation prevalent in public opinion, the power of personal and collective example, and observable patterns of behavior. The normative nature of culture is maintained through interpersonal and mass relationships among people and through the functioning of various social institutions. A considerable part in transmitting spiritual experience belongs to the education system. An individual entering life acquires not only knowledge but also principles, norms of behavior, perception, understanding, and attitudes toward the surrounding reality.

Cultural norms are mutable, and culture possesses an open character, reflecting the transformations occurring within society. For instance, the 20th century witnessed fundamental shifts in humanity’s relation to the family. This is an extraordinarily significant factor, as it is within the family that personality is formed and cultural norms are internalized.

A vital aspect for comprehending the internal essence of culture is its property of continuity. This continuity represents the process of reproducing generational integrity in culture, which involves the creation, accumulation, transmission, and utilization of all material and spiritual outcomes of human activity in the form of cultural heritage, both at the level of individual persons and society as a whole. In other words, continuity encompasses the entire process of materializing and dematerializing culture.

The content of continuity in both material and spiritual culture consists of social and historical experience. Experience and culture are dialectically interrelated and cannot exist independently of one another. It is noteworthy that experience correlates with culture as word does with language. Without knowledge of words, language cannot exist. However, does all experience serve as content for continuity? It is well-known that, despite relative stability, some elements of individual and societal experience may be temporarily or permanently lost due to various objective and subjective circumstances. Thus, social and historical experience constitutes the essence of continuity in its entirety, except for irretrievably lost moments.

The most prevalent forms of continuity are closely interrelated traditions, customs, innovations, rituals, stereotypes, laws, language, and so forth. Among these, tradition holds a special place. The term “tradition” derives from the Latin “tradere,” equivalent to the concept of “transmission,” referring to what passes from one generation to another, what is “behind” (trans); furthermore, it is related to the concepts of “transmission,” “transition,” and “transfer.” Tradition facilitates the accumulation and transmission of human experience for the regulation of social life, serving as a means of preserving what exists. While tradition possesses the quality of maintaining relative stability, it is not something rigid; it undergoes three stages of development: formation, an intensive development phase, and decline.

Over time, tradition may lose its ability to adapt to new conditions of sociocultural development, transforming into a stereotype. A stereotype represents a petrified tradition that has lost its capacity for self-development (I. Dziuba). Its role in the continuity of spiritual culture is dual: on one hand, it aids in the consolidation and further dissemination of certain spiritual values, while on the other, it impedes their renewal or the formation of spiritual values more attuned to new societal conditions. Stereotypes of cultural perception and stereotypes of culture itself can emerge due to insufficient dynamism.

The next form of continuity is innovation, embodying the variability of culture. Typically, innovation is viewed as a change to established tradition, creating new forms of spiritual mastery over the world, which subsequently solidify and transform into a new tradition. Thus, innovation represents a constant element within the existence of tradition. When tradition is regarded as the internal form of continuity, innovation serves as the external form of the tradition itself.

The unity of tradition and renewal is a universal characteristic of any culture. The individual is a subject of creative activity within culture. It is known that not every novelty becomes a cultural fact. Novelty for its own sake does not inherently bear creative content. The creation of cultural values always possesses a social character. Scientific discoveries or artistic works must circulate within society, resonating in the minds and hearts of individuals. It occurs that not all newness is immediately recognized and accurately assessed. However, history ultimately sorts everything into its rightful place. Any cultural innovation with profound meaning and value is tested by time and re-evaluated by each succeeding generation.

Depending on the balance of tradition and innovation within a culture, societies can be categorized as traditional or contemporary. In traditional societies, tradition dominates creativity. Cultural exemplars are reproduced in their "pristine" form. Changes made within the confines of tradition are typically unsystematic and arbitrary. Deviations from norms are usually unsupported and condemned.

In contemporary society, renewal and innovation serve as leading values. Here, the principle of prohibition against plagiarism operates. Any innovation—scientific, artistic, technological—must have its individual author. Repetition and copying hold little value within society. A true artist is always a creator of the new. Each cultural value possesses a unique and singular character, yielding significant effects. Experimental science, over 300 years of its existence in countries affected by the scientific and technological revolution, has enabled a rise in living standards by 15 to 20 times.

Culture develops as a contradictory phenomenon, comprising both progressive and regressive elements. Thus, the type of scientific and technological culture that initially formed in Europe and then spread throughout the world actively contributed to the advancement of human freedom. At the same time, it had its shortcomings. Technological civilization is grounded in a mode of interaction between humanity and nature that regards nature as an object of human activity. Here, nature is perceived as something inexhaustible, existing solely as an object of human exploitation. A profound understanding of the economic crisis compelled a reevaluation of this perception. Hence, there emerged ideological and scientific-theoretical movements in recent decades aimed at creating a new ecological culture.

Considering that the proposed educational manual is intended for students and cadets of law-oriented institutions, it is prudent to separately delineate and examine the element of legal culture within the structure of culture. Legal culture not only reflects the subjective side of an individual's legal behavior but also embodies the materialization of ideas, feelings, and perceptions as a conscious necessity and internal demand. In its most general form, legal culture represents a system of diverse legal relations, as well as the processes of producing and reproducing its elements, renewing themselves through generations of individuals. The peculiarity of legal culture lies in the fact that it constitutes not law or its realization, but a complex of representations held by a given community regarding law, its realization, and the activities of governmental bodies and officials.

The concept of legal culture encompasses a high standard of the legislative process and the implementation of law; a sufficient level of legal reasoning and psychological perception of legal reality; an awareness of the specific tools employed by law enforcement agencies; and the results of implementing the demands of legality manifesting as a stable and enduring rule of law.

Legal culture is intrinsically linked to legal consciousness, resting upon it, yet it represents a distinct category, as it encompasses not only social-psychological processes enshrined in pertinent legal norms but also legally significant behavior exhibited by individuals, and legal activity in the form of law-making and its outcomes. It includes elements of social consciousness related to legal institutions and the practices of their functioning, as well as the formation of particular variants of legal behavior within society and communities.

Just as national culture imparts coherence and integration to societal life as a whole, legal culture prescribes principles of legal conduct to each individual, and to society, it offers a system of legal values, ideals, and norms that ensure the unity and interaction of legal institutions and organizations. Integral components of legal culture include legal beliefs and attitudes that guide the perception of the society's legal system.

Legal culture can be regarded as a unifying link between the socio-economic interests and needs of individuals and various social groups, as reflected in legal norms, and their legal behaviors. In other words, it fosters the development of certain types of legal conduct overall, although this reality depends on a multitude of other factors (illusions, social arrangements, behavioral stereotypes, specific circumstances, and conditions, among others). Thus, legal culture implies a requisite level of legal thinking and sensory perception of legal reality; a qualitative state of the processes of law-making and law implementation; specific means of legal activity; and the results of legal activity in the form of spiritual and material goods created by individuals (laws, systems of legislation, judicial practices, etc.).

Culture performs a range of social functions. Among the primary of these are the cognitive, prognostic, integrative, communicative, value-oriented, educational, regulatory functions, and the function of social and historical memory.

The cognitive function is rooted in culture as a sphere for the accumulation, preservation, and transmission of knowledge acquired throughout the existence and development of society. It is through culture that the social subject realizes its cognitive interests, contributing elements of all cognitive experience to the cultural tapestry. This function of culture is primarily realized in two forms: as a direct process of grasping the world through generalization and systematization of empirical experience and knowledge, and as a process of purposeful, specialized, professional knowledge acquisition aligned with the demands of socio-historical practice, represented through scientific inquiry.

The prognostic function is tied to culture's capacity to form representations of the future. Engagement with culture enables individuals to perceive potential prospects for their practical and cultural activities, directing them in a manner that aligns with the nature, interests of their professional endeavors, and the needs of the state and their own people.

The integrative-communicative function of culture lies in its ability to unite individuals, creating conditions for their interaction. Culture has been, and remains, one of the pivotal factors for social cohesion, as the recognition of a shared cultural life facilitates an individual's integration into specific social circles and their self-identification with particular social environments. It is no coincidence that culture is seen as a leading factor in the formation of historical and social communities, including ethnic groups and nations. Thus, one can speak of social creation and nation-building as a specific function of culture, particularly relevant during historical periods of forging new societal horizons or national unity. Furthermore, it is within culture that individuals fulfill their innate need for communication, which is viewed as one of the essential traits of humanity, while simultaneously serving as the binding foundation of social ties and relationships.

As culture encompasses a system of values and norms, it plays a crucial role in providing value orientation necessary for both the existence of society and the individual. Indeed, culture invariably crystallizes and concentrates within itself a collection of norms, values, motives, and orientations that are established in society as certain benchmarks, which individuals acquire voluntarily or through compulsion. This collection takes the form of a cohesive system that dictates a relatively stable mechanism for regulating behavior, relationships, and activities of social subjects within a specific society. The state of this value orientation system, its structure, dynamics, and direction of change determine the viability of both the society as a whole and its individual social elements. The more extensive the social space that a particular value system encompasses, and the more stable it is, the more stable the social system becomes. Conversely, the deformation of the value orientation system characteristic of a specific social subject signifies its internal instability, which may lead to its disintegration and transformation into something else.

The educational function of culture manifests through its ability to actively influence the process of individual formation via a system of knowledge. Engagement with cultural heritage and contemporary culture shapes worldviews, aesthetic sensibilities and tastes, professional orientations, and moral and civic positions. It is the cultural environment and the spiritual values that dominate within it that endow individuals with specific traits, either elevating them to the heights of humanity or reducing them to soulless, beast-like entities.

The function of social and historical memory within culture relates to its capacity to reflect the entirety of human social and historical experience. Of particular significance is historical memory, which allows for a glimpse into the historical experiences of past generations, enriching one’s understanding of their existence and enabling the lived experience of significant historical events in the lives of one’s own and other peoples. The re-examination of this experience has the potential to link the past with the present, and the present with the future, revealing certain patterns in the unfolding of historical processes. Historical memory plays a vital role in the self-awareness of social subjects, providing them with the opportunity to comprehend their place within the system of social and ethno-national connections. By recreating the unique vibrancy of folk life, historical memory fosters respect and pride in one’s nation, strengthening patriotic feelings towards one’s homeland and engendering love and loyalty to one’s state.

The mechanisms through which these functions are realized across various realms of culture exhibit both commonalities and distinctions. Moral values guide individuals within a system centered around the opposition of “good vs. evil”; art provides value orientation within the dichotomies of “the beautiful vs. the ugly,” “the tragic vs. the comic”; while science establishes orientations grounded in the pursuit of truth, contrasting it with delusion. The same applies to the regulatory function of culture: morality and art appeal to emotions, the highest manifestations of which are love and conscience; religion leans more on faith, hope, and love. Science operates with concepts, art with artistic imagery, and morality with norms.