The relative independence of
social consciousness
Social consciousness is
determined by social existence, but it has its relative independence. The
development of social consciousness and social existence is inconsistent or
unbalanced.
(1) The development of
social consciousness and social existence is not completely synchronized. On
the one hand, social consciousness often lags behind the development of social
existence; On the other hand, some social consciousness (such as scientific prediction)
is ahead of the development of social existence.
(2) There is imbalance
between social consciousness and social and economic development. The social
consciousness of economically developed areas is not necessarily advanced, and
the social consciousness of economically backward areas is not necessarily
backward.
(3) Social consciousness
has historical inheritance. In a certain period, social consciousness always
has some relation with the previous social consciousness, and it comes into
being and develops on the basis of inheriting the ideological achievements of
predecessors.
(4) Various forms of
social consciousness influence and interact with each other.
(5) Social consciousness
actively reacts on social existence, which is the most prominent manifestation
of the relative independence of social consciousness. Advanced social
consciousness promotes the development of social existence, while backward
social consciousness hinders the development of social existence.
The new scientific and
technological revolution
Science and technology
serve as a great lever for economic and social development and an important
symbol of human progress. So-called new scientific technology revolution, it is
relative to the case of before the revolution of science and technology, means
that the 20th century, in microelectronics and electronic computer as the main
mark, including biological engineering, laser communication, space technology,
ocean development and new material, new energy, new science and technology revolution,
the human society in various fields has a great and profound influence.
(1) Profound influence on
the mode of production. It has changed the composition of social productive
forces, the form of people's labor and the structure of social economy.
(2) It has a huge impact
on life style. It changed people's way of work and rest, communication,
learning, consumption and entertainment.
(3) Brought a change in
the way of thinking.
The basic contradictions of
society
The basic contradiction
of society is the contradiction between the productive forces and the relations
of production, the economic foundation and the superstructure. These two pairs
of contradictions are the basic social contradictions. The reasons are as
follows:
(1) they
include and reflect the basic structure of social processes;
(2) They run through the
whole process of human social development and define the basic nature of social
process;
(3) they
are the fundamental driving force of social development and determine the
general course of social history;
(4) The law running
through the two pairs of contradictory movements, that is, the relationship of
production suits the productive forces and the superstructure suits the
economic base, is the basic law of social development.
The essence of man
The essence of human
being includes two aspects: (1) the fundamental attribute that human being is
different from natural animals, that is, the kind essence of human being; (2)
The fundamental attribute that distinguishes people in the real society, that
is, the realistic nature of people. Materialist historical theory firstly
investigates the difference between human and animals from labor and reveals
the nature of human beings. Then it further investigates the difference of
social attributes between people in the society from the perspective of social
relations and reveals the realistic nature of human beings.
Materialist view of history advocates to understand
the essence of human beings from the concrete social relations, that the
essence of human beings is the sum of social relations. (1) The essential
attributes of human beings are social attributes rather than natural
attributes. This social attribute is determined by a variety of social
relations. (2) The essence of human beings should be manifested through various
social relations. Economic relation is the most basic social relation. In class
society, the nature of human beings is also manifested as a certain class
nature. (3) Because social relations are changing and developing, human nature
is historical and changing. People in different times have different social
attributes, and there is no human nature that is timeless and beyond history.
The abstract theory of human nature is wrong.
