In the article we will talk about the main functions of culture. We will analyze the most important of them, and also pay attention to the secondary ones in order to understand the essence and importance of the phenomenon itself in society.
What is this about?
We will talk about the main functions of culture, since it is impossible to deny the fact that it plays a huge role in the life of the whole society. Culture is a kind of means of storing, transmitting and accumulating human experience. It performs all its roles thanks to the many functions that we will consider below.
Education and upbringing
The main functions of culture relate to education and upbringing, therefore it is on these two concepts that the future of society is built. In a sense, this is what a person can make of a person. A person acquires his special features by becoming a member of society, that is, by socializing, thus gaining new knowledge, understanding the language of symbols, customs and traditions.
He learns to adapt within his social group. It cannot be denied that the level of culture is determined by how much a person is socialized, that is, how much he has joined the common heritage and how developed his individual abilities are. Personal culture is erudition, intellectual abilities, creative self-realization, mastery of foreign and native languages, politeness, morality, self-control, and so on. But all this can be understood and acquired only thanks to the upbringing and educational function of culture.
Integration
The main functions of culture include integration and disintegration. Note that these functions were studied in great detail by E. Durkheim. According to him, the development of something high forms in a person a sense of his community with others and belonging to one nation, people, social group, religion, etc. Thus, culture acts as a kind of unifying factor that integrates the actions of people and forms an integral society.
But at the same time, there is another side of the coin, namely the disintegrative function, which lies in the fact that, by uniting a group, culture opposes it to other groups, thus shaking broad communities. It is no secret that inside both small and large there are various conflicts that also arise from this function.
Regulation
One of the main functions of culture in society is regulatory. We said above that in the process of socialization a person acquires certain values, accepts norms, ideals and higher goals, thus becoming a unique personality. All of the above is formed by culture, so it is the regulator of human behavior. Speaking on a larger scale, it can be noted that it, in a sense, sets the framework for what is permitted for a person.
And also limits the boundaries of possible behavior in the family, team, at home, at school, and so on. It is characterized not only by these prescriptions, but also by certain prohibitions. Violation of some norms leads to the fact that a person becomes an outcast of society and bears serious responsibility at the state level. As a control lever, public opinion is sometimes used, which can greatly influence a person.
Here we will consider the normative function, the purpose of which is to regulate certain aspects of social and personal activity. This means the regulation of interpersonal relationships, work, life, and so on. That is, culture can, on a large scale, influence people's actions and their choice of certain values. The main support of this function lies in such concepts as morality and law.
Transfer of social experience
The main functions of spiritual culture are to broadcast or transmit social experience. But also often this function is called the function of historical continuity. We know that culture is a rather complex and voluminous sign system, through which experience is transferred from generation to generation through epochs. At the same time, society has no other mechanism that could concentrate all the wealth of accumulated experience.
Epistemology
The main functions of culture are those without which the life of society is impossible. Next, consider the epistemological function, which is very closely related to the previous one, and some properties are even its proposal. Culture is a kind of focus of all the accumulated knowledge and values of mankind, which are not only transmitted, but can also be known or studied by people. The intelligence of a society directly depends on how often and actively it uses the wealth of its community.
Signs
We have considered the main elements and functions of culture, now let's talk about less important elements that are not so influential, but it is also very difficult to imagine the whole system without them. The sign function is the key to the culture itself. It represents the presence of a certain system, thanks to which culture is possible at all. As we understand it, it is impossible to comprehend culture without the adoption of sign systems.
For example, let's take an oral or written language, which is a necessary means of communication in human society. But at the same time, the national culture is known thanks to the literary language, which is able to “show” much more. The world also has specific languages or signs that are necessary for understanding the world of painting, music, theater. The natural sciences also have certain sign systems.
Axiological function
We discussed the essence and main functions of culture above, and now let's talk about the importance of culture as a value. The axiological function determines the quality. It forms a person's orientations and needs. The degree of upbringing of both a person and the whole people largely depends on their level and quality. The main criterion of the value function is the intellectual and moral level.
Basic social functions of culture
Social functions allow people to carry out collective activities together and satisfy their needs through interaction. This is a basic function, without which the existence of society is impossible. It includes social integration, which is manifested in the unity of the human race and the commonality of the worldview, which are manifested in religion, myths and philosophy.
It also implies the general organization and regulation of the joint activities of people. This is ensured through politics, customs, law, ideology, etc. It also includes the provision of certain means for the normal functioning and interaction of people. These are knowledge, education, upbringing, value sets, accumulation and transfer of knowledge.
Not the last element of the social function is the regulation of certain areas of activity. Here we can include a special culture and way of life, culture of work, nutrition, etc. Thus, we understand that this whole system is not only very diverse, but dynamic. It never stands still, but is constantly in the process of development.
Adaptation
How deep is the concept of culture? The main functions of culture are not only theoretical, but in many ways they are manifested in practice. Consider an adaptive function that helps a person adapt to the environment in every sense. As we know, adaptation is a necessary condition for an organism to survive.
In nature, all this happens due to the mechanism of natural selection, variability and heredity, which regulate the survival of individuals that are most adapted to a particular environment. In the human world, everything happens in a completely different way, contrary to many misconceptions. A person does not adapt to his environment, but changes it.
Of course, we understand that there are cases when an individual deliberately adjusts to his environment, but this indicates that he is either not yet ready to transform his environment, or is weak and not spiritually developed enough for this. A wise or developing person will change the environment for himself. And this is a key feature of the whole society.
The fact is that in the process of this transformation, a person creates some kind of new world, which is culture. Since we understand that a person cannot see survival as the goal of his existence, he needs an environment and communication to develop his personal qualities. By changing his environment, a person changes a little and himself, which develops absolutely all participants in the process.
At the same time, let's note the fact that over time, a person becomes more and more independent of various conditions and nature. While an animal is directly dependent on some kind of ecological niche, a person is able to adapt and survive, forming an artificial world.
Of course, he cannot be completely separated from nature, since this contradicts the very fact of his existence. But at the same time, the very life of a person, that is, his rites, beliefs, economy, rituals, etc., largely depends on natural conditions. These differences are very signs in the example of peoples who lead a nomadic way of life or whose fishing depends on natural conditions, etc. That is, it is clear that their culture is shaped by the conditions of their life.
Communications
The structure and basic functions of culture are dynamic only when there is a place for communication, that is, communication. The communicative function is one of the most important, since in principle a person alone cannot solve almost any problem. Interaction is necessary for people in labor relations, to express their personal qualities, to implement projects, to develop something.
At the same time, it has been proven that a long stay of a person without society, simply in solitude, leads to mental and spiritual degradation, as well as complete exhaustion. The person literally turns into an animal. That is, we understand that culture is the conditions that form people out of us. Communication arose rather as a necessity, because initially a person was not endowed with the ability to exchange information or contact other people without any sounds, writing, facial expressions, etc.
Ways of communication have evolved along with society. As we know, information can be transmitted verbally, that is, verbally, and non-verbally, that is, through gestures, facial expressions, posture, distance. There is also a paraverbal way, which consists in the pace of speech, articulation, voice volume, intonation, and so on.
Stages
The concept of culture and the basic functions of culture are impossible without communications, which in themselves are also quite complex. They consist of several stages. The first is that information is encoded that will be transmitted to another person. We understand that coding means the transformation of information into a certain sign system.
After that, information is transmitted, which may be accompanied by misunderstanding, which leads to the loss of part of the meaning. And the third stage consists in decoding the received material, which can very often occur with large errors due to different points of view of the world and the cultural development of people. That is why communication can never be one hundred percent, since it depends on two people, at least.
Recreative function
It is completely opposite to the normative function, and consists in psychological relaxation, which is necessary for every person. The main function of physical culture is just recreation, which allows you to live strong emotions, as if positive or negative, with maximum safety for the body. While the regulatory function sets limits for a person, the recreational function allows you to get rid of the accumulated bag of repressed emotions that, for one reason or another, were not manifested.
Because of this, tension or hidden conflicts can develop. As a result, a person may experience serious problems in various areas of life due to the fact that he will suppress internal urges. It is one thing when these urges are normal, but another thing is when they are unsafe, harmful to the health and lives of other people. It is not always possible to solve problems rationally. That is why we need such methods of detente that would not violate the boundaries of social stability.
The main function of physical culture is to enable a person to properly deal with his own and external or insufficient emotions. Only secondarily is the importance of physical activity for the health of the body considered. In ordinary life, a person can show his emotions through such means of discharge as laughter, anger, crying, frank conversation, confession, confession of feelings. There are also specific methods of detente, which are fixed at the collective level. These are holidays and collective leisure.
On such days, people can forget about work and some restrictions. They arrange a feast, carnivals, are in a solemn atmosphere. During the holiday, a person is saturated with positive energy, because of which he experiences great joy and some relief. But at the same time, even holidays have some formalities that limit behavior within reasonable limits. A normal healthy person will understand this, and he will not need to cross certain boundaries to relax. This discharge, which he receives without violating the rights of other people, will be enough for him.
But for some, this is not enough, and they aim to receive such and such pleasure. These are weak people who can become alcoholics or drug addicts, and also develop other vices in themselves.
Rituals and games
The main functions of culture in society are the ability to build family relationships and establish relationships. For this, forms such as ritual and games can be used. Ritual is the oldest way of collective relaxation, which belongs to the sphere of something sacred. Such events include birth, death, marriage, initiation.
Currently, there are no primitive rituals, but they are in a more modern form. So, people celebrate and perform the rites of growing up, celebrating their birthday. Marriage is also an important event, which is prepared for, and which is accompanied by a mass party. The importance of such a general detente was remembered even in primitive cultures. Then the rituals were built mainly around religious themes. They were characterized by special solemnity and cultural richness.
The modern world is increasingly moving away from rituals and is addicted to such a way of collective relaxation as a game. It can help express hidden emotions, as well as improve the psychological state of a person using symbolic means. The game creates such a psychological atmosphere during which a person reveals his fears and desires as much as possible, as he understands that everything is happening as if not for real.
Thanks to the game, he can express his unconscious impulses, which in another culture are prohibited or simply unclaimed. Note that the main human motives are competition and sex. That is why all games in one form or another have such elements. This includes sports, contests, dances, lotteries. Through collecting, a person can realize his desires, which in ordinary life would be classified as greed. There are also more aggressive games that allow a person to express their hidden emotions of death. These are gladiatorial fights and bullfighting.
Note that over time, there is a humanization of games. If earlier public executions and fisticuffs were popular, now people are more interested in sports, cinema, and television. But at the same time, even cinematography is oversaturated with scenes of violence and murders, which negatively affects people, and even traumatizes children.
We examined the main functions and forms of culture in order to understand how important it is in modern society. Its manifestations are inimitable and unique. The characterization of the main functions of culture could take a little longer, but we have tried to briefly and succinctly describe the importance of their significance. However, it is the parents who instill in a person the understanding of all this to a greater extent.
The main functions of organizational culture are that if this stage was missed by parents or educators, it can be overtaken by other social institutions that form a mature healthy personality. That is why many teenagers now develop through contact with youth organizations or their idols. However, it must be understood that this influence must be positive.
You have covered almost all the main functions of culture. Philosophy has many more.
Culture is a multifunctional system. The functional analysis of culture assumes the presence in any society of similar phenomena that perform certain functions (norms, rituals, communication, production, etc.).
Cognitive(epistemological) function is associated with the ability of culture to concentrate the social experience of many generations of people. Thus she immanently acquires the ability to accumulate the richest knowledge about the world, thereby creating favorable opportunities for its knowledge and development. This knowledge can exist both at the level of ordinary-emotional - psychological consciousness, and at the level of theoretical. N. A. Berdyaev on this occasion he wrote: “It (culture) realizes only truth in knowledge, in philosophical and scientific books, goodness in morals, being and social institutions; beauty - in books, poems and paintings, in statues and architectural monuments, in concerts and theatrical performances.
The process of cognition is characterized by the reflection and reproduction of reality in human thinking. Cognition is a necessary element of both labor and communication activities. They exist as theoretical ones. So are practical forms of knowledge, as a result of which a person receives new knowledge about the world and himself.
Informational function culture ensures the process of cultural continuity and various forms of historical progress. Culture in human society is a large information field. It includes machine language, memory, information processing programs. Culture gives society languages - sign systems. Its necessary element is social memory, which stores the spiritual achievements of mankind. It contains programs of human behavior that reflect the experience of many generations.
Therefore, culture acts as a kind of information support for society, and society itself creates its own information support. The world of culture is presented in three main aspects: as the world of artifacts, the world of meanings and the world of signs. cultural phenomenon- these are any artifacts (artificial objects and phenomena created by people) that carry meanings, i.e. act as signs with meanings. Sets of signs form texts that contain social information.
This function is also called the function of translation (transfer) of social experience. It is manifested in the consolidation of the results of socio-cultural activities, the accumulation, storage and systematization of information. Culture is considered the social memory of mankind. It is objectified in sign systems: oral traditions, monuments of literature and art, "languages" of science, philosophy, religion, etc. In the modern era, information is doubling every 15 years.
Culture is not inherited or almost not inherited genetically and biologically. The channel for transmitting information in time and space is not only spiritual, but also material culture. Any instrument of production or consumer item, representing only another link in an inextricable chain of related products or phenomena, according to the laws of semiotics, carries certain information about a person, about the social relations of his era and his country.
The communicative function of culture. Culture is the condition and result of human communication. Thanks to the assimilation of culture, truly human forms of communication are established between people; culture gives them means of communication - sign systems, languages. The result is that people can create, preserve and develop culture only through communication: in communication they learned to use sign systems, fix their thoughts in them and assimilate the fixed thoughts of other people. Communication is the process of exchanging information between people using signs or sign systems. Without studying the corresponding sign systems, it is impossible to master the achievements of culture. Man, as a social being, needs to communicate with other people in order to achieve various goals.
Thus, language (oral or written) is a means of communication between people. The literary language is the most important means of mastering the national culture. Specific languages are needed for understanding the world of music, painting, theater. The natural sciences (physics, mathematics, biology, chemistry) also have their own language systems. It is with the help of communication that complex actions are coordinated. The main channels of communication are visual, verbal, tactile. Culture produces specific rules and methods of communication that are adequate to the conditions of people's life. The essence of the communication process is to achieve a cultural and social community while maintaining the individuality of each of its elements.
Development of forms and methods of communication- the most important aspect of the cultural history of mankind. In the earliest stages of anthropogenesis, people could come into contact with each other only through the direct perception of gestures and sounds. Articulate human speech has become a fundamentally new means of communication. The next stage begins with the advent of special means of communication. The invention of writing created the basis for widespread communication in time and space; distances and years cease to be an insurmountable obstacle to communication. However, the lack of communication with a huge mass of contacts has become a paradox of modern culture.
Normative (regulatory) function of culture associated with the definition (regulation) of various aspects, types of social and personal activities of people. Let's remember what else T. Parsons along with symbolism and voluntarism, he considered normativity to be one of the most important features of culture. This function is due to the need to maintain balance and order in society, to bring the actions of various social groups and individuals into line with social needs and interests. In the sphere of work, life, interpersonal relations, culture, one way or another, influences the behavior of people and regulates their actions, actions, and even the choice of certain material and spiritual values.
We have considered only the main functions of culture. Particular attention should be paid to the fact that each element of culture (science, art, morality, law, economics, etc.) may have different functions. So, morality, realizing human behavior, permeates almost all spheres of human life, the moral aspect is present in every element of culture. For example, art, along with the artistic, aesthetic, hedonistic, also performs a spiritual, moral, educational role. Morality becomes a system for building religious systems. Economic culture, entrepreneurship, politics also have their own "moral precepts".
However, not everything in culture can be explained by functional analysis. Functional interpretation shows only how culture serves the individual and society.
1. Culture as a concept of cultural studies
The concept of "culture" is interpreted in domestic and foreign scientific literature ambiguously. Understanding its many semantic shades and definitions, as well as understanding what culture is after all, will help us to know the possible options for using this concept in history.
More than 2 thousand years have passed since the Latin word "colere" was used to denote the cultivation of the soil, land. But the memory of this is still preserved in the language in numerous agricultural terms - agriculture, potato culture, cultivated pastures, etc.
Already in the 1st century BC. Cicero applied this concept to a person, after which culture began to be understood as the upbringing and education of a person, an ideal citizen. At the same time, it was believed that the signs of a cultured person are a voluntary restriction of their desires, spontaneous actions and bad inclinations. Therefore, the term "culture" then denoted the intellectual, spiritual, aesthetic development of man and society, emphasizing its specificity, highlighting the world created by man from the world of nature.
In everyday life, we usually attach approval to the word "culture", understanding this word as a certain ideal or ideal state with which we compare the evaluated facts or phenomena. Therefore, we often talk about professional culture, about the culture of performing a certain thing. From the same positions we evaluate the behavior of people. Therefore, it has become customary to hear about a cultured or uncultured person, although in fact most often we mean educated or ill-educated, from our point of view, people. Entire societies are sometimes evaluated in the same way, if they are based on law, order, gentleness of morals, as opposed to the state of barbarism. Do not forget also that in everyday consciousness the concept of "culture" is mainly associated with works of literature and art. Therefore, this term refers to the forms and products of intellectual and, above all, artistic activity.
And finally, we use the word "culture" when we talk about different peoples in certain historical epochs, we point out the specifics of the mode of existence or way of life of a society, group of people or a certain historical period. Therefore, very often you can find phrases - the culture of Ancient Egypt, the culture of the Renaissance, Russian culture, etc.
In modern domestic cultural studies, it is customary to distinguish three approaches to the definition of culture - anthropological, sociological and philosophical.
essence anthropological approach is to recognize the inherent value of the culture of each people, which underlies the lifestyle of both an individual and entire societies. This means that culture is a way of existence of mankind in the form of numerous local cultures. This approach puts an equal sign between the culture and history of the whole society.
Sociological approach considers culture as a factor in the formation and organization of society. The organizing principle is the value system of each society. Cultural values are created by the society itself, but then they also determine the development of this society. Man begins to dominate what he himself has created.
Philosophical the approach seeks to identify patterns in the life of society, to establish the causes of the origin and features of the development of culture. In line with this approach, not just a description or enumeration of cultural phenomena is given, but an attempt is made to penetrate into their essence. As a rule, the essence of culture is seen in the conscious activity of transforming the surrounding world to meet human needs.
Also allocate functional definitions of culture that characterize it through the functions that it performs in society, and also consider the unity and interconnection of these functions. For example, among specialists in intercultural communication, a short but capacious definition is very popular E. Hall: culture is communication, communication is culture. Russian culturologists have similar definitions. Among them one should name one of the largest Russian philosophers MM. bakhtin, the author of the dialogue concept of culture. It proceeds from the fundamental idea that culture never exists on its own, but manifests itself only in interaction with other cultures. Any culture has a viewer, or a researcher, and this is not some kind of abstract subject who observes culture from the standpoint of a dispassionate automaton that captures any of its manifestations.
Thus, in all the considered definitions there is a rational kernel, each pointing to some more or less essential features of culture. At the same time, one can also point out the shortcomings of each definition, its fundamental incompleteness. As a rule, these definitions cannot be called mutually exclusive, but a simple summation of them will not give any positive result.
Culture is an essential characteristic of a person, something that distinguishes him from animals that adapt to the environment, and do not purposefully change it, like a person.
There is also no doubt that as a result of this transformation an artificial world is formed, an essential part of which are ideas, values and symbols. He opposes the natural world. And finally, culture is not inherited biologically, but is acquired only as a result of upbringing and education that takes place in society, among other people.
2. Functions of culture
The complex and multilevel structure of culture determines the diversity of its functions in the life of society and man. But there is no complete unanimity among culturologists on the question of the number of functions of culture. Nevertheless, they all agree with the idea of multifunctionality of culture, with the fact that each of its components can perform different functions. A comparison of different points of view on this issue allows us to conclude that the main functions of culture include adaptive, sign (significative), cognitive, informational, communicative, integrative, regulatory, axiological and etc.
2.1 The adaptive function of culture
The most important function of culture is adaptive, allowing a person to adapt to the environment, which is a necessary condition for the survival of all living organisms in the process of evolution. But a person does not adapt to changes in the environment, as other living organisms do, but changes the environment in accordance with his needs, adapting it to himself. This creates a new, artificial world - culture. In other words, a person cannot lead a natural way of life, like animals, and in order to survive, he creates an artificial habitat around himself.
Of course, a person cannot achieve complete independence from the environment, since each specific form of culture is largely due to natural conditions. The type of economy, dwellings, traditions and customs, beliefs, rites and rituals of peoples will depend on natural and climatic conditions.
As culture develops, humanity provides itself with ever greater security and comfort. But, having got rid of the old fears and dangers, a person stands face to face with new threats that he creates for himself. So, today you can not be afraid of such formidable diseases of the past as plague or smallpox, but new diseases have appeared, such as AIDS, for which no cure has yet been found, and other deadly diseases created by man themselves are waiting in the military laboratories. Thus, a person needs to protect himself not only from the natural environment, but also from the world of culture.
The adaptive function has a dual nature. On the one hand, it manifests itself in the creation of the means of protection necessary for a person from the outside world. These are all the products of culture that help primitive, and later civilized man, survive and feel confident in the world: the use of fire, the creation of productive agriculture, medicine, etc. These are the so-called specific means of protection person. These include not only objects of material culture, but also those specific means that a person develops to adapt to life in society, keeping him from mutual extermination and death. These are state structures, laws, customs, traditions, moral standards, etc.
There are also non-specific means of protection of a person is a culture as a whole, existing as a picture of the world. Understanding culture as a "second nature", a world created by man, we emphasize the most important property of human activity and culture - the ability to "doubling" the world, highlighting in it sensory-objective and ideal-figurative layers. Culture as a picture of the world makes it possible to see the world not as a continuous flow of information, but to receive this information in an orderly and structured form.
2.2 Significative ffunction
Culture as a picture of the world is connected with another function of culture - symbolic, significative, those. naming function. The formation of names and titles is very important for a person. If some object or phenomenon is not named, does not have a name, is not designated by a person, it does not exist for us. By assigning a name to an object or phenomenon and evaluating it, for example, as threatening, we simultaneously receive the necessary information that allows us to act in order to avoid danger. Indeed, when marking a threat, we do not just give it a name, but enter it into the hierarchy of being.
Thus, culture as an image and picture of the world is an ordered and balanced scheme of the cosmos, serving as the prism through which a person looks at the world. This scheme is expressed through philosophy, literature, mythology, ideology, as well as in the actions of people. Its content is realized fragmentarily by the majority of members of the ethnos; it is fully accessible only to a small number of cultural experts. The basis of this picture of the world are ethnic constants - the values and norms of ethnic culture.
Culture as an integral phenomenon performs certain functions in relation to society.
Adaptive function - culture ensures the adaptation of a person to the environment. The term adaptation means adaptation. Animals and plants develop adaptation mechanisms in the process of biological evolution. The mechanism of human adaptation is fundamentally different; it does not adapt to the environment, but adapts the environment to itself, creating a new artificial environment. Man as a biological species remains the same in a very wide range of conditions, and culture (forms of economy, customs, social institutions) differ depending on what nature requires in each particular region. A significant part of cultural traditions has rational grounds associated with some useful adaptive effect. The other side of the adaptive functions of culture is that its development increasingly provides people with safety and comfort, labor efficiency increases, new opportunities for spiritual self-realization of a person appear, culture allows a person to fully reveal himself.
Communicative function - culture forms the conditions and means of human communication. Culture is created by people together; it is the condition and result of people's communication. The condition is because only through the assimilation of culture between people are established truly human forms of communication, culture gives them the means of communication - sign systems, languages. The result is because only through communication can people create, store and develop culture; in communication, people learn to use sign systems, fix their thoughts in them and assimilate the thoughts of other people fixed in them. Thus, culture connects and unites people.
Integrative function - culture unites the peoples of the social groups of the state. Any social community that develops its own culture is held together by this culture. Because among the members of the community, a single set of views, beliefs, values, ideals characteristic of a given culture is spreading. These phenomena determine the consciousness and behavior of people, they form a sense of belonging to one culture. The preservation of the cultural heritage of national traditions, historical memory creates a link between generations. This is the basis for the historical unity of the nation and the self-consciousness of the people as a community of people that has existed for a long time. A broad framework of cultural community is created by world religions. One faith closely binds representatives of various peoples that make up the world of Islam or the Christian world.
The function of socialization - culture is the most important means of including individuals in social life, their assimilation of social experience, knowledge of values, norms of behavior that correspond to a given society, social group and social role. The process of socialization allows the individual to become a full-fledged member of society, take a certain position in it, and live as required by customs and traditions. At the same time, this process ensures the preservation of society, its structure, the forms of life that have developed in it. Culture determines the content of the means and methods of socialization. In the course of socialization, people master the programs of behavior stored in culture, learn to live, think and act in accordance with them.
The information function of culture - with the emergence of culture, people have a special “suprabiological” form of information transmission and storage that differs from animals. In culture, information is encoded by structures external to the person. Information acquires its own life and the ability to develop on its own. Unlike biological information, social information does not disappear with the death of the individual who obtained it. Thanks to this, in society, it is possible that something that will never be possible in the animal world is the historical multiplication and accumulation of information that is at the disposal of man as a generic being.
The cognitive function of culture is determined by a certain criterion of knowledge, mastery of the human forces of nature and society, as well as the degree of development of the "human" in man himself. Encompassing all forms of social consciousness, taken in their unity, culture gives a complete picture of the knowledge and development of the world. Of course, culture is not reduced to the totality of knowledge about the world, but systematized scientific knowledge is one of its most important elements.
However, culture not only characterizes the degree of human knowledge of the surrounding world. At the same time, culture reveals not only the degree of development of forms of social consciousness in their unity, but also the level of skills and abilities of people manifested in their practical activities. Life is extraordinarily complicated and all the time it poses more and more new problems for people. This causes the need for knowledge of the processes taking place in society, their awareness both from scientific and artistic and aesthetic positions.
Culture also contributes to the realization of man's heuristic goals, his search for the most productive forms of learning new things, the discovery of new ways and methods of social life, and the strengthening of man's power over the elemental forces of nature.
As follows from what has been said, the role of culture in this case was reduced to something specific and not much, but important.
In today's ideas about the functions of culture, the most important place, as a rule, is given to the human-creative function.
So the efforts of great thinkers, who called to see in culture only a condition for the development of human qualities, were not in vain. But the real life of culture is still not limited to the human-creative function. The variety of human needs served as the basis for the emergence of a variety of functions. Culture is a kind of self-knowledge of a person, since it shows him not only the world around him, but also himself. This is a kind of mirror where a person sees himself both as he should become and as he was and is. The results of knowledge and self-knowledge are transmitted in the form of experience, worldly wisdom, through signs, symbols from generation to generation, from one people to another.
The axiological (value) function of culture, it captures the ability of the accumulation of artistic values in culture and their influence on the way of thinking and human behavior. The whole variety of material and spiritual culture can act as material and spiritual values, which are evaluated in terms of truth or untruth, beautiful or ugly, permissible or forbidden, fair or unfair, etc.
The totality of the established, well-established value orientations of the individual form a kind of axis of his consciousness, providing a certain continuity of culture and motivation for his behavior. Because of this, orientations are the most important factor regulating and determining human actions. Developed value orientations are a sign of a person's maturity, an indicator of the measure of his sociality. This is the prism of perception not only of the external, but also of the inner world of the individual. Thus, the axiological or value function of culture is manifested not only in the assessment of culture, its achievements, but also in the socialization of the individual, in the formation of social relations, and people's behavior.
The aesthetic function of culture, first of all, is manifested in art, in artistic creativity. As you know, in culture there is a certain sphere of "aesthetic". It is here that the essence of the beautiful and the ugly, the sublime and the base, the tragic and the comic is revealed. This sphere is closely connected with the aesthetic attitude to reality, to nature. V. Solovyov noted that “beauty, spilled in nature in its forms and colors, is concentrated, condensed, emphasized in the picture”, and the aesthetic connection between art and nature “does not consist in repetition, but in the continuation of that artistic work that was started by nature ".
Related to the aesthetic function is the hedonic function. Hedonism in Greek means pleasure. People enjoy reading a book, visiting architectural ensembles, museums, visiting theaters, concert halls, etc. Pleasure contributes to the formation of needs and interests, affects the lifestyle of people.
The main synthesizing function of culture, reflecting its social meaning, is the humanistic function. All the functions mentioned above are somehow connected with the formation of personality, human behavior in society, with the expansion of his cognitive activity, the development of intellectual, professional and other abilities.
The humanistic function is manifested in the unity of opposite, but organically interconnected processes: the socialization and individualization of the individual. In the process of socialization, a person masters social relations, spiritual values, turning them into the inner essence of his personality, into his social qualities. But a person masters these relations, values in his own way, uniquely, in an individual form. Culture is a special social mechanism that implements socialization and ensures the acquisition of individuality.
