Samarskaya, E. A. Human and History (Philosophical Polemics in Early Industrial Societies)

Abstract: The purpose of the present article is to prove the point of view based on which the industrial world initially has two opposite yet interconnected development trends. One of them is shown as global processes including socio-economic transformations and phenomena of social massification and the other one is presented as the growth of individual role in social activities. The author of the article tries to describe the two poles of the industrial world through antithesis of the two types of philosophical and historical vision. The author offers a classification of concepts of history typical for industrial societies. One of them includes Auguste Comte’s and Karl Marx’ concepts of history. Comte was against metaphysical abstraction of individuals and offered to focus on the phenomenon of the mankind and human experience. He described a major cycle of European history from the stage of feudal religious society to the stage when individual was the priority and, finally, the third stage of the industrial society and social solidarity which are only starting to form now. Marx also introduced the idea that European history had a triad structure. The second type of concepts of history in industrial societies is base on the principle of individualism. Max Weber presented the most founded concept. Weber admitted the role of science in history, however, he believed that individual had a priority in determination of purposes of human activities. Unlike historical optimism of triad concepts, followers of individualism talked about the relative character of history. At the end of the article the author puts forward arguments for bipolarity of the industrial world.

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