Abstract
The issue of studying culture within the system of being is preconditioned by ambiguous approaches to understanding these universal notions throughout the history of philosophic ideas. Such approaches frequently limit the parameters of these notions. The goal of this article is to reveal unique features of the culture and complex system of its interaction with the system of being. This article covers the ontologic status of culture, correlation of the material, ideal, and social in its universe. System, structural and functional methods, as well as the developing modeling method, exemplified by the philosophic concept of M. S. Kagan, is applied to study this issue more thoroughly. In addition, some provisions of his theory, as well as the modeling methods, can be further developed and complemented, while certain assumptions can be reconsidered allowing to make additional adjustments to the formation of objective knowledge about culture. This article analyzes the structural components of the ontologic system, including the being of the objective and individualized ideality, which was not specified by M.S. Kagan. It showed that this structural subdivision of the being produces ideas, ideals, and goals of a person and the society, being the main source of culture origins and development, the characteristic of its above-biological status in the universe, and the source of intelligent and value-oriented development. This article also reveals the culture as a complex system characterized by diversity of existence and the structure of being. However, culture is not only a part of the system of being; it also determines its diversity through the unique specifics of its forms and functional processes. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s4p289
Highlights
Each cognitive process becomes more productive if the studied object is considered not separately, but in the context of all constituent parts of being, stipulating and predetermining its essence in one way or another.The notion of “being” designates the past, current, and future existence, reflecting the reality in the infinite manifold of its manifestations
The content of his theory resides in the following assumptions: nature is the first form of existence; the second form of being appears at a certain stage of its development. This form is society, as the beyond-nature means of communication between people in the course of their life and activity; the third form of being is the human—the central element among all main forms of being; and the fourth form of being is the culture, as the beyond-nature means of transferring behavior programs, and the mechanism of social inheritance
Description of this concept was followed by the scheme illustrating three intersect circles representing the being of nature, society, and culture
Summary
Each cognitive process becomes more productive if the studied object is considered not separately, but in the context of all constituent parts of being, stipulating and predetermining its essence in one way or another.The notion of “being” designates the past, current, and future existence, reflecting the reality in the infinite manifold of its manifestations. A particular feature of this inexhaustible universe was considered by various representatives of philosophic knowledge as the fundamental characteristic resulting in varying interpretations of the semantic content of this notion. Idealistic philosophy considered the being as the true origin of the universe (Plato et al.), materialistic philosophy considered it as the nature in consistent development of intrinsic physical, organic, and other elements (Democritus, Marxist philosophy). In case of such unidirectional understanding, an analysis of culture in the system of being could show it in a limited format, or it might become impossible, since the culture is syncretic, polymodal, and cross-functional phenomenon that cannot be reduced to spirit or matter. Hartmann who said that we should avoid a single-sided approach to this issue, when one definition “sticks to the sense, spirit, ideas, and God, and the other –to the matter, laws of nature, and causality; one spiritualizes the matter and nature, and the other relegates the spirit to an appendix of matter
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