The World History. Functions of historical science in the modern world

The article deals with the main aspects of the educational function of history. The authors prove the thesis about the comprehensive meaning of history, the universality of historical knowledge. Particular attention is paid to one of the most important tasks of history

History teaches even those who do not learn from it.

At different times, history has been used by people in different ways, but one thing has been common from century to century: history has acted and continues to act as the basis of morality and education, lays down character traits, motivates, shapes a personality.

In our opinion, it is important to rely on the fair opinion of V.I. Vernadsky: “To educate does not mean only to feed and nurse, but also to give direction to the heart and mind - and for this, doesn’t the mother need character, science, development, accessibility to all human interests?” Therefore, first of all, you need to start with yourself, study and comprehend, educate yourself with the help of its lessons, and only then demand their assimilation from children. If we talk about antiquity, then it was mythologized, transmitted in the form of legends for the guidance and education of the younger generation.

In the Middle Ages, history acquires a religious image. New time, using the example of history, sought to prove that it had entered a qualitatively new stage of historical development. In modern times, different countries have been used to establish and strengthen the political regimes they create (Bolshevik Russia, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, etc.). Today, within the framework of universal humanization and democratization, as well as relying on the criticism of the Soviet period in the history of Russia, which unfolded in post-Soviet historiography, the Russian government is pursuing a course towards the de-ideologization of education, history remains one of the most important structural elements in the formation of morality.

History fills the space that ideology has left at the moment. Ideology gives direction to life, that is, in addition to its other, often criticized functions, it also performs educational. The practice of recent decades shows that a complete rejection of the educational process involves the exclusion of the educational function, which entailed many negative consequences.

This confuses the immature minds of young people who, not yet having any attitudes in life, do not know what to take as a guide in life, what to rely on. The ground has been taken from under their feet, they are swimming with the current, which has blurred the very concept of morality. The modern global world proves the need to return to such formulas that would accumulate all the contradictory historical experience of Russia. In this regard, M. Mamardashvili expressed an important thought: “Young people who lived not this life and not like that ... in a historical sense, are superfluous.

Therefore, A.S. Pushkin, almost with his own hand, single-handedly, wanted to create in Russia, trying in practice to prove his antithesis to some of the thoughts of P.A. Chaadaev. For example, to approve the tradition of the family as a special case of the house, the walls of the settled culture, the “small homeland”. As an autonomous and inviolable historical structure in which no one can interfere, neither the king, nor the church, nor the people ... ". At the same time, a return to the full ideologization of society is hardly possible, since it leads to dogmatism. In such a situation, the very concept of morality fades into the background, leading, in fact, to a synonymization of the concept of morality and morality. In such a society, morality as a product dominates morality, and history becomes the servant of politics and power.

Morality does not disappear, but is forced to obey the norms of morality. It is the universality of historical knowledge that makes it a powerful weapon in the hands of the authorities, and it is this universality that can serve as a tool for the education of any individual. The story is all-encompassing; using this property, she is able to satisfy anyone who knows her, regardless of national, religious, gender or other differences. Every person who has touched the historical past can find those examples that will correspond to his moral development. However, for this, at the initial stage, it is necessary to lay the basic foundations of morality.

Many do not even realize how often they have to turn to history, if not at the scientific, then at the everyday level. There are two levels of historical knowledge - macro and micro, however, with a more detailed division, international, national, regional, generic levels can be distinguished (here we will focus on a simplified classification). The macro level includes international (history of the whole world as a whole), national (history of a particular country), regional (history of one subject of a particular country) components and represents the most scientifically substantiated layer of historical knowledge.

The micro level is the history of one kind, which is the initial step in the formation of morality, since the history of the family gives rise to the most significant and respected authorities for each of its members. This is what people are proud of, which they prefer to keep, even if they tear out the stained pages from it. In the formation of each personality, this story is of paramount importance. According to V. Semenkov, it is important for the process of education to take into account an important thesis: “The paradigm of modernity, in turn, forms a discourse. Within the framework of such a paradigm, we distance ourselves from the generality of experience, since in the private sphere we should not be carriers of beliefs, but we should be in agreement with ourselves, adequate to the world around us.

In addition, the axiological problems of the modern education system are determined by the fact that the propaganda campaign under the slogan “for the truth of history” has given rise to a new mythology aimed at spiritual and value orientation, disorientation of public consciousness. Further development is given by the macro level, most often the history of one's Motherland, since this is what a person first of all respects and loves.

Moreover, it forms a national memory: young people who themselves have not seen the war, but representing a country that has had a large number of wars, will be afraid of military conflicts much more than the people who have not seen them in their history. The history of the native country makes a person feel like a part of the whole, bound by one past, and hence the future. The bright pages of history teach you to love your country, and the dark ones teach you not to make the same mistakes.

Even someone who claims to be not interested in history always wants to be proud of his country, because at the same time he is proud of himself. Thus, through his own ego, he still touches history. At the same time, it is important to remember the words of T. Roosevelt: “Fools learn from their mistakes, and smart ones learn from others”, i.e. study the world and draw lessons from it. Moreover, it is important not only to draw lessons from a differentiated history, but also from an integrated one.

Thus, it is necessary that a person feel involved not only in a particular nation, but in the entire world community; in order to learn from history, you need to feel part of its wholeness, and not just one particular section. Returning to the question of the universality of history, it should be noted that you can always find your mirror image in the past, but you need to remember that "history teaches not how to live by it, but how to learn from it" . Each life and destiny is unique, therefore the upbringing of a moral personality must pass through the uniqueness of being. It is impossible to completely copy someone's life, therefore, when making associations between yourself and historical personalities, you need to approach this carefully.

In our opinion, history is one of those subjects that should be studied with a warning: "Do not try to repeat!". Indeed, it won't work. And above all, because each fate develops in one way or another depending on the time in which a person lives, because not only character, ambitions and abilities influence his life, but also the era. Analyzing the educational function of history, many historians and philosophers make a common mistake: they judge people according to the laws of their time. Such studies are obviously false, because it would not occur to us to say, for example, about the Parisian fashionista of the 18th century, that she was dressed tastelessly. For the same reason, we have no right to talk about the excessive cruelty of the wars of the 16th century. or about dynastic fratricide as an immoral phenomenon, since for those times it was the norm, which is a tool to achieve certain goals.

However, transferring such standards to the present, we must certainly emphasize that at the present time these qualities or techniques should not find a place for themselves. Using the previous example, it is important to emphasize that you can admire the outfits of Elizabeth Petrovna for a long time, but a modern girl is unlikely to dare to wear such a thing. Only taking into account the fact that each time has its own heroes, we can extrapolate to ourselves. In addition, it is necessary to remember the irreversibility of the historical process. Every life, despite its uniqueness and uniqueness, is finite. History objectively proves this.

Having learned this, one of the most important lessons of history, you take the rest much more seriously. Thus, life should not be perceived as a draft in which much can be corrected, since it cannot be started from a new leaf, but can only be continued. The irreversibility of the historical process teaches a more balanced attitude towards all one's steps in life. So, the education of morality with the help of history has a number of features:

Education should be carried out through the prism of the uniqueness and originality of life;

It is not necessary and cannot be copied; it makes no sense to imitate, but you can learn from it;

History puts morality at the forefront, but due to the universality of historical knowledge, it can be formed in different ways. From this thesis follows the demand for ideological attitudes that can act as moral guidelines for the formation of morality; . history should set the axiological orientation of the personality;

History is meant to build patriotism in the same way that family history builds family pride. History should revive the attitude towards itself as a teacher of life and arouse the interest of the younger generation, which will then pass it on to their children.

After all, the main problem of poor assimilation of historical lessons is by no means in the children's weak interest in the events of the past, but in the insufficiently serious attitude towards history among the parents themselves. As M.P. Yatsenko, "the transformation of the historical past, acting as a justification for globalization, preceded the falsification of history under the conditions of Eurocentrism" . This problem becomes cyclical, and it will not be possible to completely eradicate it, however, it is quite possible to reduce the degree of its severity.

Thus, in today's controversial globalizing world, it is important to develop a new attitude to education, which should not only meet the physical needs of the student, but also set goals and guidelines in life, as well as form appropriate moral attitudes.

Literature

1. Mogilnitsky B.G. Introduction to the nature of historical knowledge. - Tomsk, 1978.

2. Mamardashvili M.K. As I understand philosophy. - M.: Progress, 1990. - S. 185.

3. Semenkov V.E. Philosophy as an ideology: on the possible modes of the ideological projection of philosophical knowledge // Credonew. - 2006. - No. 3 (47). - S. 56.

4. Klyuchevsky V.O. Letters. Diaries. Aphorisms and thoughts about history. - M., 1968. - S. 265-266.

5. Yatsenko M.P. Historical aspects of globalization as a controlled process. Izvestiya of the Russian State Pedagogical University A.I. Herzen. - No. 110: scientific journal. - 2009. - S. 102.

A.A. Evstratchik, M.P. Yatsenko

It is no secret that without knowledge of the past, which gives the necessary experience, human society would stop in its development. Over time, such a sphere of knowledge as historical science was formed. Functions, methods and stages of its development will be considered in this article.

The concept of historical science

History or historical science is a sphere of social knowledge, the object of study of which is the past of mankind. As scientists like to say: "History is the social memory of man." This is a whole complex of sciences that considers history both in a broad sense, for example, universal, and in a narrower sense - the ancient world, modern Russia, military, and so on.

Despite the fact that historical science, the subject and functions of which is the study of the past, is not at all static, because the base of sources is constantly changing - new ones appear, old ones are criticized. The economic and political situation in the state is changing, which also has a huge impact on historical science (as an example, the assessment of historical events in tsarist Russia and the Soviet government that replaced it differ radically).

How it all began

It is officially believed that historical science originated in the 5th century BC. Everyone remembers from the school curriculum the philosopher Herodotus, who is still considered Thucydides and his work "History of the Peloponnesian War", Xenophon and Polybius. The ancient Greeks preferred to describe the events of which they were contemporaries - the priority was wars, biographies of politicians and politics itself, as well as other peoples and religion.

The works "Annals" and "History" of the Roman historian Publius made a great contribution to the development of historical science. Guided by the motto - "Without anger and predilection" (that is, objectively and with the aim of establishing the truth), he studied the biography of Roman emperors.

Over time, the principles and functions of the historical science of ancient times found their continuation in the works of Byzantine scholars. Chronicles appear in Europe in the Middle Ages - a description of events over the years, everything that happens is explained by "divine providence", and the history of the church becomes a priority for study. The most famous thinker of this time is St. Augustine the Blessed.

Renaissance and Enlightenment

The Renaissance (Renaissance) era brought such innovations to the methods and functions of historical science as source criticism. Scientists in their works had to refer to sources, and the more references and citations, the better. Famous thinkers of this time are Benedict Spinoza, Francis Bacon (the work "New Organon", which was written using the method of induction developed by him - from the particular to the general).

The Age of Enlightenment was a great leap forward for the development of all sciences, including history. New sources are opened, they are systematized, deciphered. For the first time, the idea is put forward that the development of the functions of historical science is influenced by such a factor as the form of government. In addition to the above, he also identified the following factors:

• physical (geographical location, climate);
• social (religion, population) factors.

The outstanding French thinker Voltaire believed that people should study "the achievements of the human mind and morality", thereby laying the foundations for the study of culture.

Further development

In the 19th century, within the framework of the philosophy of positivism, the functions of historical science consisted in a significant increase in the role of historical sources, source study began to develop as an independent discipline, and the written source as the only reliable one.

The following works deserve special attention:

• Spengler's "The Decline of Europe" (history - cyclical cultures that are born, flourish and then die);
• Arnold Toynbee "Civilization", the scientist singled out five existing civilizations and twenty since their inception, which are also born, grow, decline and die.

The twentieth century is a time when the historical scope of research is expanding geographically, covering more countries and peoples, as well as chronologically - from primitive man to the present. This is the time of the dominance of the formational approach in history, the founders of which were Karl Marx and They believed that the determining factor in the life of society was material conditions, both social aspects and the worldview of people depended on them. Thus, history is a process of changing socio-economic formations.

The twentieth and twenty-first centuries are the times when the main functions of historical science are blurred, the lines between history and other social sciences - sociology, psychology - are erased. Scientists conduct new research and experiments, develop new directions, for example, counterfactual history (studies alternatives to historical events and processes).

Cognitive and social functions

Another name for the cognitive function is informational. Its essence is to consider and analyze the past of mankind, to understand the essence of the phenomena that took place and the impact they had on the further course of history, that is, the laws of historical development.

The social function of historical science or the function of social memory is the study of the experience of previous generations, their preservation in the memory of the people. It aims to ensure the promotion of the national self-identification of peoples. The formation of historical memory is extremely important; the stability of society and the ability to survive in critical situations depend on it. As scientists say: "A people dies when it becomes a population, when it forgets its history."

A classic example of why social memory is extremely important for the people - the rejection of the outcome and results of the First World War in Germany led to the unleashing of the Second World War in just two decades.

Methods of historical science

The subject, principles and functions of historical science include both general methods of cognition - analysis, induction, synthesis, deduction (since almost any science uses them, it is not worth dwelling on them in detail), and special methods inherent only to it. These methods include:

1. Retrospective - in order to identify the true cause of the event, the scientist penetrates into the past with the help of successive actions.
2. Historical-comparative - comparison of historical objects by comparing them in time and space, identifying similarities and differences.
3. Historical and typological - consists in compiling classifications of events and phenomena, identifying common features and differences in the objects under consideration.
4. Historical and genetic - consideration of the phenomenon under study in dynamics, from birth to death, that is, in development.

It should be said separately that the functions of historical science exclude the method of experiment - it is impossible to accurately recreate the phenomena and processes that once occurred.

Principles of Science

Principles in general are ideas, fundamental rules. The main principles of historical science are:

1. Historicism. Any fact, phenomenon or event is considered in the context of the historical situation, in dynamics, in time and space.
2. Objectivity. It assumes, firstly, reliance on genuine facts, taking into account both positive and negative aspects of the phenomenon under consideration. Secondly, the historian must be independent of his desires and preferences, which may distort historical research.
3. Alternative. It assumes the existence of a different path of development, in addition to the one that occurred. Using this principle allows you to see unaccounted for resources and unrealized opportunities, allows you to learn lessons for the future.
4. social approach. It means that social interests play a significant role in the development of certain processes. It is important to be guided by it when evaluating the programs of political parties, in the domestic and foreign policy of the state.

Auxiliary historical disciplines

Speaking about the functions of historical science in the modern world, it is necessary to touch upon those disciplines that go hand in hand with it in their research and are divided into special and auxiliary. The main ones are the following sciences:

1. Historiography. In a broad sense, it is an auxiliary (special) historical discipline that studies the history of historical science. In a narrower sense, these are studies carried out by historians in a certain area of ​​historical science or a set of scientific works.
2. Source study. This is an auxiliary historical discipline that comprehensively studies historical sources, uses the analysis of phenomena and events. Source science is theoretical, deals with determining the origin of sources and their reliability, as well as applied (concrete) - studies individual branches and periods of history.

Special historical sciences

There are several special historical disciplines that help historical science to most fully reveal and study the event or phenomenon in question. These are numismatics (studies coins), heraldry (coats of arms), paleography (writing). But the most significant of them are archeology and ethnography:

1. The term "archaeology" is derived from the ancient Greek words "archeo" - ancient and "logos" - science. This is a discipline that studies the history of mankind on material monuments (buildings, structures, weapons, tools, household items). The role of this discipline especially increases in the study of those periods of history when there was no written language, or those peoples who did not have a written language at all.
2. The term "ethnography" is also ancient Greek, "ethnos" - people, "grapho" - I write. From here one can understand the essence of this historical discipline - it studies the origin of peoples (ethnic groups), their composition, resettlement and resettlement, as well as culture and way of life.

historical sources

Historical source - any thing, a document that contains information about the past and can be used to study historical processes. There are several classifications of these documents, dividing them into groups (according to the purpose of creation, according to the degree of proximity to historical fact).

The most common is the division of sources into:

• Material - buildings, structures, clothing, weapons, tools and household items - in a word, everything that is created by human hands.
• Ethnographic - customs, traditions, all kinds of rituals, beliefs.
• Linguistic - speech, dialect inherent in a person, people.
• Oral (folklore) - songs, fairy tales, legends.
• Written - all kinds of manuscripts, archival documents, letters, regulations, memoirs. They may be originals or copies.

Science, history

The functions of historical knowledge that predetermine the human concept of historical events are as follows:

• intellectual-developing, cognitive - knowledge of historical processes as a social branch of scientific knowledge and theoretical generalization of the facts of history;
• practical-political - helps in the development of a scientifically based political course by identifying patterns in the development of society and options for managing the masses;
• ideological - influences the formation of scientific worldviews by providing accurate, documented, data on the events of the past;
• educational - knowledge of historical facts has an impact on the formation of a civic position.

The subject and functions of historical science is the study of the development of human society in time and space, that is, the historical process. Without this knowledge, society would not be able to develop and move forward.

History performs several socially significant functions. The first is cognitive, intellectually developing, consisting in the very study of the historical path of countries, peoples and in the objectively true, from the standpoint of historicism, the reflection of all the phenomena and processes that make up the history of mankind.

The second function is practical-political. Its essence lies in the fact that history as a science, by revealing the patterns of development of society on the basis of theoretical understanding of historical facts, helps to develop a scientifically based political course and avoid subjective decisions. In the unity of the past, present and future are the roots of people's interest in their history.

Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky (1841-1911), defining the practical significance of knowledge of history, historical consciousness, noted: “History gives each nation a two-sided cultural work - on the nature of the country in which it is destined to live, and on its own nature, on its spiritual forces and social relations ".

The third function is ideological. History creates documentary accurate stories about outstanding events of the past, about thinkers to whom society owes its development. A worldview - a view of the world, society, the laws of its development - can be scientific if it is based on objective reality.

In social development, the objective reality is historical facts. History, its factual side, is the foundation on which the science of society is based. In order for the conclusions from history to become scientific, it is necessary to study all the facts related to this process in their entirety, only then can an objective picture be obtained and the scientific nature of knowledge ensured.

History has a huge educational impact. This is the fourth function of history. Knowledge of the history of one's people and world history forms civic qualities - patriotism and internationalism; shows the role of the people and individuals in the development of society; allows you to know the moral and ethical values ​​of mankind in their development, to understand such categories as honor, duty to society, to see the vices of society and people, their impact on human destinies.

The study of history teaches one to think in historical categories, to see society in development, to evaluate the phenomena of social life in relation to their past and to correlate with the subsequent course of events.

This approach creates the need to comprehend reality not in statics, but in the historical process, in chronological connection, in the dialectic of development.

All the humanities are called upon to educate people, to make them more humane. So, the main thing in the ethical teaching of I. Kant is the categorical imperative, that is, the unconditional command to fulfill one's moral duty (“... from the first moment to the last,” R. Rozhdestvensky will say later); Pushkin’s Tatyana Dmitrievna Gremina remembered her duty (“... I have been given to another and will be faithful to him for a century”), and L. N. Tolstoy “repaid” her wife and mother, Anna Arkadievna Karenina, who had forgotten her duty, throwing her under the wheels of a train.

The educational task of “humanizing humanity” has always been present in History, although the nuances have changed. In ancient times, this was a direct call to follow specific positive examples, for example, the feat of the warriors of Leonidas who fought to the death at Thermopylae:

Wanderer, you came to Sparta, to build up to the people, That, fulfilling your duty, here we perished with bones.

Voltaire saw the moral meaning of his "History of Charles XII" in the cure of sovereigns from the "madness of conquest." Later, the task of History in a broad sense began to be interpreted as the education of historical optimism.

In the work “On our vocation”, G. Ya. Baklanov proves that “the vocation of the writer is to promote humanity”, and V. A. Kaverin in “Illuminated Windows” reasonably convinces us that it is necessary to teach not literature, but literature and equally not as much history as history. One cannot but agree with the history teacher of the 39th Moscow school A. E. Timofeev: “The general goal of school education and upbringing ... is not so much in the transfer of knowledge, but in teaching humanism, in inculcating the humanistic imperative, the humanistic ideal as a life concept” 1 .

Mankind is threatened with dehumanization as a result of the fall of morality, as a result of the deepening gap-chasm between scientific and technological progress and the state of morality.

I. Ehrenburg in the journal version of his memoirs “People, Years, Life” cites the thought of V. Mayakovsky: you need to put a humanistic muzzle on technology, otherwise it will bite a person (remember: the Nazis were close to creating an atomic bomb, and modern terrorists).

The powerful educational charge inherent in history is obvious, but it is important to determine what and how to educate. What should be educated? Patriotism is love and respect for one's homeland, for great people and ordinary workers who contributed to its prosperity, created material and cultural values ​​and protected it from enemy invasions; universal values ​​- humanism (humanity), tolerance (tolerance) towards peoples and individuals who hold different views. It is necessary to educate on love for progressive phenomena and hatred for the dark manifestations of the past. It is impossible, out of imaginary patriotism, to hush up the negative moments of one's history, like a five-year-old boy picking raisins from a roll (K. M. Simonov's example).

But in order for the historian who tells about the past to really sow the rational, the good, the eternal, he himself must be honest. The need for "moral access" to the study of history should be an axiom (perhaps the most convincing considerations about this we find in the 18th-century educator Mably).

History is a science that studies the past of different countries and peoples.

Accounting for the guilt of the victim and the property status of the person who caused the harm.

Active or passive actions are possible when harm is caused.

Damage that arose as a result of the intent of the victim is not subject to compensation.

If the degree of guilt of the victim contributed to the increase in harm. Then, depending on the degree of his guilt, the amount of compensation can be reduced.

If there was a gross negligence of the victim and there was no fault of the victim, if there is liability without fault, then the amount of compensation may be reduced or compensation for harm may be denied altogether.

If harm is caused to the life or health of a citizen, refusal or exemption from compensation for harm is not allowed.

If the tortfeasor is a citizen, then the court may reduce the amount of harm based on his property status, except in cases where the harm was caused intentionally.

The subject of history as a science is the need for knowledge of historical reality. The need to know the past, in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past. And here scientists - historians, who are trying to cognize historical reality, come to the fore.

The task of the historian, like any other scientist, is the search for truth. The process of comprehending the truth is extraordinarily complex and difficult. On this path, the scientist may encounter failures. Due to the complexity of the problem, the lack of facts, etc. he, wishing to come to the truth, without noticing it himself, can fall into error. But in addition to purely cognitive difficulties, the scientist faces other dangers, the sources of which are outside of science.

To know the history of few facts, you need information about them. The historical past is recreated by scientists on the basis of material culture, written sources, or some other reason.

History is a multifaceted science. Archeology was once an auxiliary discipline, and now it has become a science that studies objects of material culture, which is important for the reconstruction of real events. In addition to archeology, there are other auxiliary disciplines within the framework of historical science - numismatics (the study of coins and monetary systems), heraldry (the science of generic signs), linguistics (the study of languages) and a number of other disciplines. Historical science does not close in on itself, but it opens doors for cooperation with those scientists who help history.

First - cognitive , intellectually developing, consisting in the very study of the historical path of countries, peoples and in objectively true, from the position of historicism, a reflection of all the phenomena and processes that make up the history of mankind.
Second function-practical political. Its essence lies in the fact that history as a science, by revealing the patterns of development of society on the basis of theoretical understanding of historical facts, helps to develop a scientifically based political course and avoid subjective decisions.
Third function – worldview. History creates documentary accurate stories about outstanding events of the past, about thinkers to whom society owes its development. A worldview - a view of the world, society, the laws of its development - can be scientific if it is based on objective reality.