PREFACE
This volume of studies in the series, "Uzbek Philosophical Studies," is by a group of philosophers of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It concerns the present problems of the Role of Spiritual Culture in Social Progress.
In the relationship between nature and human society the phenomena of culture and especially of spiritual culture are of very great significance. Having through consciousness broken beyond the limits of physical nature, the human mind and hands have created a "second nature" of material and spiritual culture. No sphere of human and social activity escapes this cultural influence.
Now, at the entrance into the 21st century humankind has greatly developed not only its material but also its spiritual culture: philosophical, physical, political, international communications, economic, moral, ecological, aesthetic, humanistic, national, language, religious, scientific, and so on.
The authors of this volume have taken as the object of their research some of these dimensions of spiritual culture which contribute to social progress: without culture there could be no social progress, and without social progress the development of culture would be impossible. Since the independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan the state and particularly its President, Islam Karimov, recognized spiritual culture as the most important factor in social progress. The goal of the authors of this volume is to bring this to light.
An important task for philosophers is to research deeply and in detail the aspects of spiritual culture in order to promote further progress and to support society and humankind in their development. Unfortunately, in the different periods of the development of society, especially in recent years, one can observe a trend toward the simplification of culture, propaganda and the cult of violence, pornography, immorality in the cinema, belles-lettres, the fine arts and other kinds of spiritual culture.
This weakening of culture leads to personal immorality, which in turn lowers society to animal conditions. Therefore, we see acts of vandalism and terrorism, interpersonal, inter-ethnic and religious.
The most important task of philosophers and students of culture
is to provide a very strict critique of such activity because the main function of culture in general, and particularly of spiritual culture, must be the re-humanization of life: the content and essence of every kind of culture must be humanized. In that connection it is necessary to renounce the Marxist-Leninist division of humanity into bourgeois and proletarian. There are no different kinds of humans, but only one humanism, namely, that of respect, love and relationship of one to another, of society to persons, and of humankind to peoples. This must be treated as sacred, that is, at a level of spiritual culture. Only thus can we enter the 21st century with a culture which promotes the social progress of humankind.Said Shermukhamedov