For its model of spiritual development the Republic of Uzbekistan has reviewed the direction taken by many countries. But an understanding of the modern historical events of our own country, at both the theoretical and the practical levels, is now urgent and decisive. This is due to a number of causes.

Second, the broad dissemination of the theory and practice of social development must integrate spiritual culture, which is based on particular systems of values, with technocratic reason and a world outlook.

Third, one sector of scholars reduces culture to literature and art, another sector sees this as grounded in religion. In any case, it is necessary to overcome the menace to culture and society in fundamentalist and extremist tendencies which would subjugate all of culture, policy and education.

Fourth, research on contemporary life needs to re-conceptualize some problems about the foundation and development of society, and the role of spiritual culture in social progress.

Fifth, exploration of the interaction of spiritual culture and social progress must analyze such issues as the relationship of modern society: to its historical and spiritual-cultural legacy; to the modes, tendencies, objective laws and criteria of social progress; to the direction of the development of culture and the administration of society; and to the organization, functions and achievement of a common national culture.

In the theory elaborated by the President and its practical realization in domestic and foreign policy, social progress is both an ideal and a goal for independent Uzbekistan. It must find its foundation in a theory of civilization oriented toward the evolutionary development of society and based on shared values of life and culture.

What is meant by a theory of spiritual culture; what are its driving forces, essence and criteria? The content of one’s culture constitutes one’s "social nature". But a methodical approach would note that the contradictions between society and nature are increasing and that the contents of culture and society are not identical. Any society has many phenomena opposed to culture, and many philosophers have considered such "anti-cultural" phenomena to be products of civilization.

The modern situation is the result of interactive processes between man, society and nature. Society and nature are objects of expedient, rational and changeable spiritual practice which constitutes, as it were, a "second nature." Culture was a created by man for the development, prosperity and happiness of life and reflects the best of human creative forces. The contradictions between culture and "anti-culture" are at the heart of society and culture. Different phenomena at the various levels of social structure influence the characteristics, rate and direction of social development, which in turn depends upon the resolution of such contradictions in the sphere of social relations. All elements in the structure of a culture are interconnected, interact and constitute a single whole.

The characteristics, measure and results of the purposeful activity of people are shaped by historical, cultural and social events. Although material production is a foundation of existence and a motive power in the development of society, it could not exist without spiritual culture. These then are two sides to social progress. Production was emphasized by the theory of socio-economic formation because of its principles of class and party, the destruction of private property and the inevitability of the Socialist Revolution. For those times in the Soviet regions the theory of the socio-economic formation answered the needs of Communist ideology. But the development of the information-production stage of technological civilizations rendered the principle of class obsolete and a great changes have taken place in the spheres of production, society and culture.

Modern civilization does not deny the contribution of production to social progress, but adds new relationships with different kinds of culture, such as international communication and contact between classes, nations, societies and states. Relationships of production were only one factor and society founded thereupon cannot be permanent but must be situated in its historical and sociocultural context. Even the measure and quantity of the influence of productive forces depended upon the connections with the culture of the spheres of production, agriculture and economy. Culture and society are always mutually interconnected in their development.

Culture is so central a source of society that without it stability and progress are impossible, for all social existence and activities are marked by cultural characteristics. But these relations go in two directions, on the one hand between society and persons, on the other side between society and nature.

What is meant by culture as a "second nature"? The components of culture are: science, technology, politics, art and religion; world outlook, ideology and legal norms; social and personal ideals, common national values, all human activities; man as a subject and the highest values; relationships to nature as transformed by man (environment); all kinds of relations between people: interpersonal, intergroup, international and others; organizations and establishments with responsibility for the development of medical and educational systems, traditions, customs, rituals, information systems, etc. In all these areas culture fulfills educational, communication, predictive, informational, axiological and regulative functions.

Some scholars divide culture into two parts: material and spiritual, but no component of material culture could be created and employed without such components of spiritual culture as aims, means, knowledge, etc. Hence, there are many reasons for exploring spiritual culture.

First, because some see spiritual culture as having a religious dimension or roots.

Second, because now we have great interest in our cultural heritage, especially that of the Middle Ages Central Asia.

Third, because technocratic views threaten the stability of society and its development.

Fourth, because it is necessary and important for education, for the improvement of relations within society, for all kinds of human activity and for social progress.

Spiritual culture reflects, expresses and incorporates the values of human society and humankind with their needs, wishes, interests, hopes, beliefs and persuasions. This is the world of emotions, sensations, aspirations, views, wills, impulses and actions found in the internal world of man. It is realized through the context of the interaction between society and nature, but man is the subject of these common national values. Man is the highest value and his life, goodness, interests, harmony, happiness are the goals of society. Through all this one overcomes estrangement from other peoples and from society, and thereby improves both oneself and one’s relations.

Spiritual culture, therefore, is the most successful and purposeful expression of man and society, and the most important factor for social progress. It provides the principles for philosophy, law, science, morality, politics, art, religion, different forms of activity and social relations in all aspects and at all levels; it reproduces and realizes national and common values.

At the same time, the division of culture between the material and the spiritual is really between correlatives because the different forms of social relations and levels of communication which express the internal spiritual world could not exist without such technology, industry and agriculture. These are regarded as material culture, not only by tradition, but because they incarnate rationality, morality and humanism.

This is important for the relation of spiritual culture and social progress, especially as the modern development of technology relates to the spiritual improvement of man and the progress of society.

At the present time the life of humankind depends upon nature as the objective bases of culture and society. The basic manifestation of social progress must be the activity of man and society according to the objective laws of nature and society, law and moral-ethical norms, rules and so on, which is to say that it is also cultural activity. This makes the content of industrial culture of wider and deeper importance because the subject of industry has to form itself as a subject of culture, that is to say, as an active, creative and responsible person.

Unfortunately, this understanding of the subject of industrial activity in theory and practice is seen as opposed to the universalization of the industrial system of values, and the insertion of technocratic mentality and relationships into the world. On the contrary, automatization, computerization and the information industry suppose not just intellectually creative subjects, but morality, humanity and responsibility.

At the present time there are many examples of contradictions between culture and society:

- some components of culture (for example, some branches of science, technics, technology) are opposed to society and injure society, the planet, culture and civilization;

- some aspects of society (for example, the administrative-command method, totalitarian regimes) are opposed to culture.

- single elements of culture (for example, religion, technology, the scientific and technocratic world outlook and so on) would force out other elements, and subordinate culture and society to themselves.

- some would reduce the concept of culture to art, which losses touch with real life and underestimates the potential of culture for the development of society.

These are dangerous for culture, society and social progress; they show that culture and society do not have intentional unity and that the contradictions between them threaten the stability and development of both. Overcoming the contradictions and developing harmony between society and culture is an important condition for their development and for social progress.

The main problem of interaction between spiritual culture and social progress at the level of humankind is that of creating a modern social picture of the world. Modern scholars must research the interests of people and of their governmental and social organizations in order to find mutual understanding, contacts and collaboration. That is the reason for the present importance of the elaboration of a new world outlook, a new philosophy and psychology, able to express the reality of modern life.

Where the former approach meant conflict of social systems, the civilizational approach is orientated to such values of life and culture as interrelated and interdependent collaboration, and the evolutionary development of all human society. At the present time it is possible to undertake such important tasks as building human society, achieving tolerance, mutual understanding and international friendship and as a result to promote social progress founded on historical traditions and common national values. The present world outlook and its methodology prove convincingly that humanistic spiritual-cultural factors play a very important role in social progress. Moreover, due to their spiritual-cultural direction modern industry, science and technology contribute to human society, nature, culture and civilization.

The actual problems of the present time are those of knowledge, objective laws, values and spiritual culture for the benefit and development of society. The problem of understanding the relation of spiritual culture and social progress, its ways, means, tendencies, objective laws and criteria, requires decisions on two problems: (1) the direction of cultural development and (2) the organization of society, its functions and development according to the progress of culture.

A comparison of such common definitions of culture as an open system of values and a determined method of human relations to the world, nature, society and to oneself testifies to the historical changeableness of culture, its dynamism and tendency toward stability. Theoretical analyses reveal such characteristics of culture and society as self-organization and self-development. There are many scientific definitions of culture, of which we have chosen the following: culture is the content and form of knowledge, values and theoretical and practical activity, along with the method of organization, function and development of educational systems, social awareness and social-historical practice. In essence, culture contradicts chaos and creates a regulated system with norms, rules, values, organizations and the realization of individual and collective actions, communication, socio-cultural institutes, structures and so on.

Spiritual culture includes world outlook, ideology, methodology, knowledge, awareness of the person and of society, value orientations and social action. The interconnection and interaction between spiritual culture and social progress is central to directing the development of the historical process. We cannot understand the goals of the development of society without spiritual culture.

The direction of the development of culture must be founded on:

- recognition of the human person as the essence of culture;

- understanding the problems of culture as those of society: the character of relationships between people, and dependence of everyone’s life and fate upon the character of these relations;

- careful attention to culture in the past and at present not only of the state, but of the society and people who, in order to create their history and their future, must know their historical and cultural past;

- consideration of spiritual-cultural values as one of the most important conditions for the formation and development of the creative abilities and humane relations between people;

- care for the blossoming of culture and society;

- consideration of the activity of organizing and establishing culture: the systems of education and information based upon the deepest understanding of social progress as a long socio-cultural revolution;

- development of the creative work of the mass formation of interests and abilities for creative work based on traditions and human values;

- finding possibilities and resources for resolving difficulties and problems of cultural development, and overcoming negative tendencies and promoting those which are positive;

- remembering that the main aim of culture is to promote the humanization of social relations for the future of our civilization.

The problems of culture are those of society which lives, functions and develops through the cultural activity of people. The most important factor of social progress at the present time and for the future must be the humanization of scientific-technical progress, education and other social organizations. As the promotion of social progress requires promoting the development of culture, an important goal in the administration of culture is the realization of its humanistic or spiritual essence.

1. I.A. Karimov, Uzbekistan on the Threshold of XXI Century: Threat of Security, Conditions and Guarantee of Progress (Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 1997), p. 313.

2. Ibid., p. 131.

3. Ibid., p. 143.