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15Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 1 (2008) 77-90
УДК 301
The Theoretical-methodological Foundations of Post-non-classical Approaches in the Contemporary Russian Sociology
Valentin G. Nemirovskiy*
Siberian Federal University, Svobodny av., 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041 Russia 1
Received 1.09.2007, received in revised form 1.12.2007, accepted 15.01.2008
The paper deals with the theoretical-methodological foundations of post-non-classical approaches in contemporary Russian sociology. At the end ofthe 20th /beginning ofthe 21st century, Russian sociology began shifting to the post-non-classical stage of its development. A significant number of monographs, textbooks and articles, published in leading scientific journals, deal with different aspects of these new approaches in sociology. The school ofpost-non-classical sociology emerged in Russia at the end of the 1980s. Since then more than 25 doctoral theses have been written on this subject. The genesis of post-non-classical approaches in sociology is concerned with the formation of a new scientific worldview. It no longer sees an individual as an exceptionally rational being, but considers him in the unity of his conscious and unconscious, his rational and emotional manifestations. The socio-engineering function ofsociology also increases. Post-non-classical sociology pays attention to qualitative research methods and applies methods of mathematical statistics for quantitive data analysis. New original methods of analysis have been developed on the basis of post-non-classical sociology as well. Post-non-classical approaches in contemporary sociology allow unknown tendencies in social development to be revealed and efficient social forecasts to be formulated.
Keywords: theoretical sociology, post-non-classical sociology, synergetics, diatropics, the methodological principle of minimum universum.
The development of the modern theoretical sociology in Russia is significantly influenced not only by such recognized scientific centers as Moscow and St. Petersburg but also by the regional sociological schools, whose activity is a peculiarity of the development of the sociological conception [1] and where new scientific schools are being formed. At the same time, the non-classical sociology with the classical one is widely spread in the regions [2]. Moreover, there is a diverse range of evidence which prove that
the modern science of society, or sociology, is crisis-ridden.
Firstly, the sociological theory doesn't develop. In fact, you can find certain categories, notions and terms in any modern textbook of sociology. Meanwhile any science appears only when it can explain and forecast processes happening in a society. But there are some difficulties. If we raise some questions we will find out that the answers to them are not so obvious as it seems: What are the reasons of the mass unemployment? - It can be said here that
* E-mail address: nemirov@ktk.ru
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economic forces are not so influential. What are the reasons of the demographic crisis and the high death rate? - It is obvious that the reasons are not only the low standard of living and poor ecology. Why did the population, especially young people and teenagers, turn out to be unprotected from the serious problem- drug addiction? - Without any doubt, the main reasons are not intrigues of the mafia and non-proper work of the law machinery.
The number of such questions is endless. But the answers to these questions can not be found in the majority of traditional textbooks of sociology which nowadays students use to study this science. Instead of this, there are detailed analyses of different sociological categories and definitions in these textbooks.
Secondly, the popularity of sociology is skidding in the society. The results of sociological researchers are being perceived to a greater extent by the modern Russian society as one of the forms of RP actions during an ordinary election campaign. Regular publications of the results of public-opinion polls in mass media (answers to such questions: "Has your life improved during the last year?", "How strongly do you trust the authority?", "How are you going to spend your summer holidays?" etc.) attract readers. In reality, summed up answers of the interviewed people do not correspond to their real opinions, intentions and actions. It resembles a response of a little known person to one of the civil questions like "How do you do?". For example, one of the latest public-opinion polls showed that "94% of the population worry about a growth of some infectious diseases and epidemics in Russia". This information was made public. So what will happen? Will people get rid of diseases? Will they become more concerned about their hygiene and choose healthy lifestyle? Will the publication of these figures make the state and municipal officials and deputies of different ranks suddenly increase allocations to the public health service?
Or will epidemics stop? No! Everything will stay the same.
It is quite another matter that in the modern Russian society sociology (as well as statistics) is often used as one of the forms of magic or rituals of shamans. Information for publication is collected in a strange way. After all we hope that our life will become better. But it will only lead to ordinary myths and the nousphere, cluttered with mental parasites. It is clear that many sociologists are now consultants in the managerial authority and commercial organizations. Without any doubt, they are of benefit. However, having experience of such a job and communicating with such consultants we can say that successful consultants rely not only on the results of researches but first of all on their knowledge, talent and intuition.
Thirdly, the modern sociological theory, as well as its methods, can not always explain and analyze real reasons of the processes happening in the country. Nowadays sociologists use the traditional system of public-opinion polls which is not often fruitful. It is not accidental that qualitative methods of researches (for example, a focused group interview so called "focus groups") are becoming more popular among scientists. However, they are not also fruitful.
Fourthly, sociology was virtually divided. On one hand, it is particularly an academic science with its representatives who give courses in universities, sit in academies, get different grants and publish monographs. On the other hand, sociology is a group of business men who use sociological methods (first of all, public-opinion polls) in order to raise money with the help of marketing and election researches. The results of such research are often published in the form of ulterior commercial and political advertising.
Obviously, there can be mentioned more evidence of crisis of the sociological theory. We believe that the reason of the crisis and decomposition of sociology is a crisis of the
conceptual apparatus as well. But the main thing is not only to accentuate the juncture of things. The major task is to find ways for further development of the Russian science of society.
At the end of the XXth and at the beginning of the XXIst century, Russian theoretical sociology had a tendency of transition from classical stages of development to nonclassical and post-nonclassical stages of development. That is why, a study called "Wave processes in the social development" should be mentioned due to the fact that it contains information about social dynamics which is analyzed according to the synergic approach [3]. Modern approaches of studying the society ("nonclassical" sociology) are based on the recent scientific view of the world and are evolving in the context of vitalistic sociology. The system sociogenetics [4] evolves on the basis of the analysis of social self-organization according to synergetics [5]. Also it is essential to mention the elaboration of system dynamics, catastrophe theories, synergetics in the characterization of mathematical models of the dynamics of social processes [6], theories of cycles and sociogenetics [7], theories of measuring structural integrity and disharmony of social systems [8]. The advanced paradigm of sociological studies of spiritual life is formed up on the basis of Russian cosmic consciousness [9], the concepts of Christian sociology and anthropology [10], the principles and regulations of Integral sociology based on "spiritual materialism" [11].
It is accepted to believe that sociology has passed three main stages of its development and during these stages scientists changed the conception of sociology several times [12]. As a result, three original sociological cultures were formed. These cultures are also called the styles of professional thought of sociologists: the classics, the moderne and the post-moderne. It would be better to expand this scheme so it would contain: 1) the protoclassics, 2) the
classics and the neoclassics, 3) the moderne, 4) the post-moderne, 5) the universum approach. The conception of the first four stages is well-known, but the fifth stage should be considered in more details. It should be mentioned here that the scientific picture of the world is not directly connected with the sociological paradigm, but by means of cognitive models. These models are methods which scientists of different professions use to organize and explain their specific ideas and similar outlooks. Contemporary science employs 5 cognitive models: the scholastic model (which interprets the nature as a text or a code), the mechanistic model (the nature is a mechanism or a clock), the statistic model (the nature is a balance of averages), the system model (the nature is an organism), the diatropic model (the nature is a garden or a fair) [13].
These cognitive models dominated during different periods of time and in different countries, but in fact all these models can always be found in the science. During the last decade the statistic cognitive model is changing to the system one. But the system model does not completely correspond to the new scientific picture of the world. The diatropic model is formed on the basis of this picture. Moreover, the diatropic model does not substitute preceding models; it is rather a continuation of their development and interaction. So G. Galilei and J .Kepler interpreted the world as a book, I. Newton and P. Laplace - as a clock, Ch. Darwin and J. Maxwell - as a balance of chances, V.I. Vernadsky and E. Yanch - as an organism. Following G. Leibniz who easily used all five models, scientists of the near future will probably interpret the world as a garden.
Nowadays a new picture of the world is being formed. It is based on connection between oriental and western ideas, on the unity of rational perception and a flight of free imagination and intuition. The line ideology is being replaced by the discrete one. It is perfectly shown in
videos: an incoherent and instantaneous picture. Evolutionism, which explains everything by categories of need and chance, and an automatic perception of causality give way to self-organization. The monocentrism is being replaced by polycentrism and the uniform motion - by the principle of pulsation.
Today the theoretical sociology in Russia develops due to taking the western sociological theories as the most modern and, at the same time, classical theories. But under such positive conditions we should remember that not every conception of foreign sociology can sufficiently reflect ever-changing social reality. Now the situation in the world is different than it was when the materialism was rising and flourishing. The capitalism with its bourgeois and proletarian materialism gives way to the post-capitalism with a new class structure and post-materialistic ideology. At the same time, they naturally give rise to new sociological theories (it must be said that in the framework of a new scientific picture of the world there is a well-known sociohumanitarian theory elaborated by L.N. Gumilev, and this theory is called ethnology). Sociology is not a congealed science, it is constantly developing. As S.G. Kirdina says "during the preceding decade there was a rise of new sociology which had given up former conceptions, this new sociology develops new approaches, conceptions and paradigms on the basis of free study of ever-changing social reality" [14].
The nonclassical sociology in Russia is derived from two main trends: "firstly, there is an obvious tendency of setting new sociological paradigms; secondly, there is a nonclassical modernization of the great classical sociological theories" [15]. This process is examined in the studies of A.I. Subetto in terms of sociogenetics [16]. This author also came to the conclusion about the transition of sociology to the nonclassical stage of its development. According to his opinion,
"nowadays, a category of nonclassicalism is undergoing a great evolution of its content. Having appeared as a symbol of revolution in the foundations of physics, first of all - because of the N. Bohr complementarity principle, and then having evolved in terms of cosmological and anthropical principles with the developing synergetics and system genetics contributed to the new nonclassical creationism without God in the foundations of modern science - science analysing the laws of "selfcreating nature" (for instance, according to I. Prigozhins "physics of arising"), the category of nonclassicalism is increasingly getting the content of revolution in the foundations of civilizational development, and as a result, in the foundations of human and social being in itself' [17].
In our present view, Russian sociology (and overall - the world sociology) is about to make a breakthrough to the new possibilities caused by the formation of the new scientific view of the world. The prediction of this breakthrough takes place in the studies of native and foreign historians of sociology. Sociogenetics is the foundation of the internal line of development of the nonclassical sociology. Precisely, sociogenetics permits one to get an insight into the unity of organization and development of social medium, to understand the role of an individual in this development and realize the correlation of his vitality and his vital space. New matters are updated by the nonclassical stage of development. Sociology is represented as "the sociology of noosphere". In his studies of the noosphere, V.I. Vernadskii payed attention to the noosphere epoch's cooperative type motivated by the necessity for the control of progress related to the new global integrity called "humanity -biosphere".
Apart from nonclassical approaches, there are also post-nonclassical approaches [18] in the Russian modern social cognition. In Russian sociology, they were notified for the first time in
the studies of V.G. Nemirovskiy in terms of the universum sociology [19].
Nowadays there are different notions about the specific features of the nonclassical sociological theories in the Russian sociological literature and in the sociophilosophical literature. Thus, according to the V.N. Turchenko's opinion [20], in contrast with the classical science, the nonclassical science admits the need for combining rational and conceptual ways of cognition and experimental and intuitive ways of cognition; it admits the appropriateness of using nominally correct solutions being beyond the scope of classical conditions of correctness; it admits the objective type of uncertainty and principal unpredictability of systems' development being in state of chaos and vicinity to bifurcational points; it admits the necessity to take into consideration the complementarity principle and the cross impact of object and subject in the cognitive activities; it admits the possibility of self-organizing material systems and extemporaneous appearance of peace from chaos and vice versa - the statistically distributed type of knowledge about nonlinear and chaotical processes; it admits the need for overcoming interdisciplinary barriers and integration of scientific knowledge; it admits the necessity to make allowances for defining, solving and interpreting scientific, moral and ideological factors.
Incidentally, Turchenko points out that it doesn't mean that the classical science is denied by the nonclassical science. Principles of both sciences should be used in solving specified types of cognitive problems. In accordance to the correspondence principle formed up by N. Bohr, the old theory may be included into the new and more fundamental theory as a particular or utmost case. Though, due to our conviction, Turchenko unappropriately combines the characteristics of the nonclassical stage of development of sociology and the post-nonclassical stage of development of
sociology, groundlessly interfusing the essential features of each of them.
We consider M.Y. Reznik's approach to be conceptually more valuable. He uses some sort of relations between the cognizing subject and the object of cognizing as a foundation for distinguishing specific features of different stages of the development of social knowledge. It is impossible to deny the fact that there is a linear connection between the subject and the object of cognition on the classical stage in the social science which eliminates the direct examination of inverse impact of object on the cognitive process. The nonclassical stage is characterized by including one more element - other subject in the correlation of subject and object. Specifically, scientists are interested in the social context of cognitive activities, they take into account limitations and errors caused by the belonging of a researcher to different social groups and institutions. The methods of "mild" methodology are more often used making it possible to fix qualitative parameters and characteristics of an object (biographical method, questionary and test methodics). The distinctive peculiarity of the new post-nonclassical stage of the development of socioscientific knowledge is a complex interdisciplinary and problematically-referable type of research. Thus, the social science rejects monosubjectiveness and narrow-disciplinarity; it confirms ontological pluralism and gnoseological relativism [21].
A number of philosophers are supporting the views of V.S. Stepin [22]. They similarly define specific features of post-nonclassical approaches. For instance, V.I. Arshinov and V.G. Budanov consider the process of derivation of post-nonclassical science as a self-organization of interdisciplinary knowledge. According to their opinion, the post-nonclassical science not only designates the boundary of deterministic view of the world referable to the potential hierarchy
of laws of being but also organically includes practical wisdom of tradition in its discourse. The anthropical observer is immersed in the process of communication in the post-nonclassicalism involving culturally-historical dimension of event - the act of observation in the context, delocalizing the event not in the physical but in the historical or conceivable time with the help of reflection on the previous experience and hermeneutical reading the text of nature.
The authors introduce the conception oft post-nonclassical epistemological space which contains synergetical subject. In addition, the need for introducing the conception is caused by the very circumstance that synergetics as an interdisciplinary trend also includes the philosophical dimension and the communication of philosophical tradition correlating it somehow with the advanced postmodernistic paradigm which does not contain the subject beforehand, but the subject appears and does not establish, it is established in a diversity of self-transcendences and communication practices. According to their opinion, post-nonclassical epistemological space is formed up by a situation of interdiscipline in which "synergetical" subject [23] is self-actualized.
Without making a detailed discussion about the differences between nonclassical and post-nonclassical approaches, let us pay attention to the next significant moment: many people consider synergetics to be the essential part of both the nonclassical and post-nonclassical science. Obviously, this problem should be examined more carefully, because synergetics has already come firm in daily "use" of sociological and sociophilosophical research [24]. "Compromise" approach is considered to be identical. Synergetics becomes the main link of scientific analysis of social world exactly on the nonclassical stage of the development of social knowledge. It does not become less significant as a methodological pivot
of social science on the next post-nonclassical stage. However, at this stage the emphasis is placed now upon the consequences of synergetical approach and its further development. For example, the notion of world as a hologram in the fractal approach.
Apart from synergetics, the N. Bohr's complementarity principle is the basic principle which unites the nonclassical and post-nonclassical sociology. It is based on the using of interdependent classical concepts in terms of so-called complementary pairs. Such an approach of the research of human psychics in the unity of its conscious and unconscious elements is exactly originated from the ancient Chinese model of Yin-Yang and the Buddhistic unambivalence principle. Both of structurizing elements as different states of the same thing are found out in Mahayana Buddhism; they can be called point (corpuscular) and linear (wave). Consciousness is an instantaneous, point display of the ocean of unconscious. Each moment of consciousness contains the past, the present and the future; the moment (kshana) is also an eternity as a point is a compressed Universe. They are the essence of the same "me", they are just in different states of: phenomenal and unphenomenal world [25].
Hence, there is a conclusion about the correlation of human consciousness with a substance and the correlation of unconsciousness with a field. In other words, a man is a unity of protein-nuclein form of life and field form of life. Such conclusions were made by V.P. Kaznacheev - the academician of the Academy of Medical Science of the USSR, who proved that so-called "weak ecological connections" [26] are realized with the help of field foundations of biosystems.
The researches of American psychologist S. Grof are based on the N. Bohr's complementarity principle. Consciousness used to be defined as a product of physiological processes of brain. In the light of new research it has become obvious that
the traditional image of a man as a biomachine has become obsolete. As for the modern view of a man, it absolutely coincides with the ancient mystical tradition: a man can function as an infinite field of consciousness under specified circumstances. This consciousness overcomes the bounds of body, space, time, cause-and-effect relations. Such a conception about a man quite coincides with the opinion of contemporary physicists, who found out "particle and wave paradox" while examining the properties of light and materia.
From the positions of classical logic, it appears to be absurd. However, according to Grof's opinion, there are all reasons for speaking about ambivalent human nature. Sometimes, it can be explained mechanistically, when a human being functions as a physical body. But sometimes, a quite another image appears as if a man can function as an infinite field of consciousness being able to exist beyond substance, time, space, causation. Consequently, the paradox defined in accordance with substance in physics is important for complete explaining of the phenomenon of human being: a man is simultaneously a material object (biomachine) and an infinite field of consciousness.
A Leningrad sociologist N.K. Serov also speaks about field structures of personality drawing a parallel between similar contemporary terms and ancient notions like "soul" and "spirit". Moreover, he thinks that physical medium of overconsciousness - superconsciousness (which "is responsible" for creative intuition) is some collective force field which is created in involuntary physical communication of people and perceived by brain at the unconscious level [27].
Furthermore, it is necessary to point out specific peculiarities of post-nonclassical sociology. Specifically, it is wrong to define synergetics as some comprehensive metatheory. There are a lot of limitations for using it while
describing processes of natural and especially social development [28].
Another peculiarity of post-nonclassical science is distinguished by V.S. Egorov. According to his opinion, monomaterialism (materialism of K. Marx and F. Engels with the principle of determinism inherent in them, i.e. causal dependence of the present on the past and causal dependence of the future on the present, and the principle of reductionism) is completed itself as an outlook conception. Overcoming outlook conception about materiality of the world means complete changing not only of mathematical and physical notions but also of the very principles of these sciences. As a result, in the XXIst century, humanity would face the need not only for integration of sciences but also for integration of different ways of cognizing the world: a myth, a religion, a philosophy, mathematics, science, literature, art [29].
Due to this fact, let us pay attention to the Russian cultural philosophical tradition. It is typical for this tradition to put an emphasis on the spiritual and moral world of a man, and on existential, religious and moral problematics. The tradition defines both a man and a society as an essential part of the nature and the cosmos; it tries to go beyond the scope of daily existence to the infinite world of transcendence. First of all, it is a matter of Russian anthropocentrism and integration philosophy. They mostly predicted the formation of the new scientific view of the world. Nowadays, similar principles and approaches are developed in the West in terms of cybernetics, synergetics and other trends of system analysis.
It is necessary to say that the concepts of Russiancosmicconsciousnessarealsocorroborated and examined in the studies of contemporary western scientists. For instance, it can be found in the studies of I. Prigozhin and representatives of his school of dissipative structures, in the studies of F. Daison (considering himself as a follower
of K.E. Tseolkovski) about cosmic conditions of life existence, etc. The model of astrophysicist and system theoretician E. Yanch is considered to be interesting, reproducing some regulations of Prigozhin's theory. Yanch strove for making regular succession in self-organization of the universum from the moment of Great explosion (according to the views of many contemporary scientists, it made the beginning of our Universe) to the moment of appearing and evolving life on the Earth and the following developing of humanity.
Diatropics (from the Greek word diatropos - various, diverse) takes a particular place in post-nonclassical perception. It is the science about variety, in other words, the science about common properties of resemblance and distinction that may be found in great aggregates of the objects. The new scientific view of the world begets diatropic. It is very important to emphasize, that this picture is connected with the social paradigm not in a direct way, but via cognitive models. The last ones represent the methods of accumulating and interpretation of concrete material by the scientists of different professions and similar world outlook. As it was previously said, there are five cognitive models that are typical for the contemporary science: scholastic, mechanistic, statistic, system and diatropic model.
Diatropic cognitive model attracts attention to common properties of varieties irrespective of the nature of elements, which form the multitude. According to U.V. Tchaicovski, the main notion of diatropics is a range as well as for experimental and observant sciences it is a fact. The fact is not reasonable beyond the illustrating scheme in the same way, a range is not reasonable for diatropics without comparison with another range but the ranges for comparison may be taken from different areas of knowledge. Such a comparison is an elementary procedure of diatropics, and the range may not be an integral system - quite
often it represents a simple ordination of the studied multitude. Based on such an operation an archetype may be marked out, it is a generalized image of the studied object that is a structure of a bird, a tree, a society or a social institution (the very generalizing archetype is the diatropic principle of minimal universum [30] which was elaborated by us in 1991). At the moment a new school of post-nonclassical sociology - the universum sociology is being developed on its basis [31]. It has a lot of followers.
Contemporary sociology becomes more and more interdisciplinary and deideologized not by chance. The understanding of the complex, multivariate and multilayer character of human existence becomes deeper. For instance, thanks to the successess of social biology, zoo psychology and ethology, the distinction between animal's and human being's social life is being elaborated in the science. Many social needs are common not only among people but also among animals. The same thing may be said about elements of abstract thinking as well. It means that a human being's distinguishing feature as a tribal creature is not just a social aspect (animals, even insects, for example, bees, ants, termites form quite complexly organized societies), but a spiritual aspect, which means a talent for creation, an aspiration for supreme values.
So the society is the integral part of the highly organized Universe that is connected with its other parts. Social reality is the reflection of spiritual reality, where the sources of social life are contained in. Our society is a self-organizing system and it is evolving in compliance with moral rules. The rules are conveyed in the diatropic principle of minimal universum. The last one conveys the smallest number of peculiarities that are necessary for the description of any developing system. We used the diatropic principle for "the comparison of ranges" and the ranges are taken from different areas of the scientific knowledge.
The archetype appears as a result of such comparison. It is a special matrix which reflects the rules of the development of the material objects. In short terms, it may be described in such a way: two elements, three levels, five conditions, seven layers, twelve qualities. The described matrix may be "put on" any society or its element for the definition of its structure or dynamics.
As everybody knows, sociology is connected with psychology to a great extent. They are connected in the studying of motivation, mass behavior, mechanisms of socialization and in many others aspects. That is why it is significant that the similar situation exists in the humanitarian branch of science which resembles sociology. With the preservation of different branches of classical psychology, transpersonal approaches, that reflect the development of the nonclassical stage of this science, become more popular. It is a known fact the founders of transpersonal psychology are a Swiss scientist K.G. Jung and the originator of the humanistic psychology A. Maslow. Their ideas were developed in the works of S. Grof, R. Assagioly, Ch. Toich, K. Wilber, and L. deMause etc. In Russia the ideas of transpersonal psychology are developed by V. Maikov, V. Kozlov, E. Faidysh. The books of A. Nalimov, M. Sherbakov are also well-known.
This school of psychology studies transpersonal feelings (i.e. feelings when the sense of self-identity exceeds the bounds of personality and involves the humanity as a whole, the life, the spirit and the space) and things that are connected with them [32].
Unfortunately, the followers of nonclassical sociology as a rule do not mention the fact that classical psychology does not correspond with nonclassical sociology. But it should be emphasized that according to nonclassical sociology the problems of "sociology of faith", the social unconsciousness, socio-psychological archaeology are brought up in a new way. In fact,
the methodological approaches that are incarnated in nonclassical sociology correspond to the approaches of transpersonal psychology.
In recent years a number of considerable changes have appeared in the great diversity of the theories of "the transpersonal project". A striking example is the work of H. Ferrer. The author criticizes intrasubjective empiricismthat came from empiricism science, influenced the transpersonal theory and deluged it with inappropriate demands of reproducibility, verifiability and falsifability. These demands connected the transpersonal theory with the Age of Enlightenment, which produced the classical science. The attempts to confirm the scientific status of transpersonal approaches as classical ones did not correspond to the logic of inner development of these branches of science. Ferrer proved that "transpersonal and spiritual phenomena represent not individual, inner feelings but the events of participation (i.e. the beginning of the transpersonal being which may happen in a man, a correlation, a community, auto identification or a place)". The author suggests "to transfer the whole transpersonal project from the intrasubjective basis, fit for the subject-object model of perception, to the basis of participation, free from rusty Cartesian chains" [33].
As we see, such interpretations bring together the aspect of transpersonal psychology analysis and the modern post-nonclassical (universum) sociology to a great extent. They concentrate the attention to different forms of subject - subject relations, the participations the investigator in the studying being.
Moreover there is an obvious transfer of transpersonal approach to the diatropic model of perception. Particularly, there is a refusal of the conceptions about spiritual liberation as a comprehension of some Common Truth or a supreme spiritual reality. Some kind of "The ocean of Liberation" is offered. Ferrer gives the following picture: "every spiritual bank has an
independent status. To reach it, it is necessary to use an appropriate boat" [34]. In other words, the matter concerns the diatropic search of the unity in the variety.
So, the post-nonclassical sociology, based on the modern scientific view of the world, has the following characteristics: the development of interdisciplinary and complex approach to the analysis of social reality; synthesis of socio-humanitarian and natural-science knowledge; applying polyparadigmatic approaches; extension of the subject of sociology and elimination of the distinction between sociology and other socio-humanitarian sciences; applying contemporary research areas of system analysis (synergetics, diatropics, fractal approach etc); analysis of the effect of natural and cosmic factors on social dynamics. Post-nonclassical sociology pays attention to qualitative research methods and applies methods of mathematical statistics for quantity data analysis. It overcomes the concept of an individual as an exceptionally rational being, considering an individual in the unity of conscious and unconscious, rational and emotional manifestations. The socio-engineering function of sociology also increases. New original methods of analysis have been developed on the basis of post-non classical sociology [35]. Moreover, the post-nonclassical sociology is the universum sociology which studies the society as a unity of natural cosmic connections and dimensions.
The post-nonclassical sociology pays great attention to qualitative methods. For a long period, in the modern Russian sociology there was an idea about a man as about a particularly rational human being. The post-nonclassical sociology considers a man in the unity of conscious and unconscious, rational and emotional manifestations. In particular, in the end of 1980s we introduced an impression "value feelings" in sociology. Its relevance and effectiveness were defended in my Ph.D. thesis in 1990 in Vilnius [36]. The fact is
that there are orientations toward rational values (like "clear conscience", "wealth", "comfort", "health" etc.) and also there are orientations toward the complexes of value feelings. The first ones exist only at the verbal level, the second play a very important part in the motivation of people's social activity. We developed a special test "Emotional direction of a person", that helped to question dozens of thousands of respondents for 15 years [37].
Animportantdirectionofthepost-nonclassical (universum) sociology is the study of unconscious levels of the mass consciousness. Different methods are used for it: traditional methods of mathematical statistics as, for example, factor analysis and special methods which are taken from physiology: project methods, associative tests, group meditations. The method of research which is known as self ethnography is also very important. The application of transpersonal approaches would bring good prospects for the development of the society perception from the direction of post-nonclassical sociology. W. Braud and R. Anderson give a wide diversity of research methods which make not only for the analysis of feelings, values, senses, transcendence but also for the development of most important human qualities [38].
As a matter of fact the post-nonclassical (universum) sociology is turning from investigating into constructing sociology. At this step its socioconstructing, socially transforming function is becoming stronger. There is a transfer from the development of "practical recommendation for the customer" to the participation in its realization, social accompaniment social changers. Special trainings play a more important part in the work of a sociologist. They combine the analysis of a social situation and its special changing, the rise of activity of a social subject, the support with a social harmony. For example, we developed and held a number of trainings of corporate culture
development and trainings of the analyzis and forming of the orientations of the meaning of life.
It is widely known that any social theory is proved after a time and mainly with the help of a concrete social practice. It may be truly said that post-nonclassical soicology passed the tests successfully [39]. D.D. Nevirko elaborated the integral model of person socialization on the basis of the principle of minimal universum. It takes into account the rhythmics of the process and the influence of external and internal factors. By means of this model a great number of extended empirical research were conducted. This model has been using in the system of training of specialists for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for ten years [40].
The universum approach is efficient for the social analysis of mass consciousness, because it lets investigate value feelings, the conceptions of the meaning of life and the attitudes towards the death, the sin as a social phenomenon [41]. This principle reflects both stable and transitive structure of the society. That is why it may be effectively used for the analysis of modern Russian society. For example, S.V. Grishaev offered new theoretical methodological ideas about the social structure of the society on the basis of the universum approach. He showed special functions of the kernel and the periphery of social groups,
proved the importance of marginal groups in the transformation of the social structure, exposed real processes existing in modern Russian society [42].
It is very important to show look-ahead capability of the universum approach in sociology. According to Belarusian sociologist V.I. Kudryavtseva, if this approach is applied for social prognosis, it may be connected with the general tendency of globalization and cosmization of the social reality and sociological knowledge, and also it may develop the conception of the unity of social and space sphere. On the basis of the universum approach she created the model of social prognosis. This model is an informational system of description and prognosis of social behavior, that may be applied to the concrete social objects with specific character of social, historical and cultural development [43].
So, on the post-nonclassical (universum) stage of its development, the contemporary sociology overcomes disintegration and the loss of subject of sociology which is peculiar to the postmodern epoch [44]. Undoubtedly, in the nearest future Russian sociology still will be a multiparadigmatic science. The intense development of different schools and theoretical branches will continue. And we will be the witnesses of the "competition" between them.
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