M.S. Kagan’s Vector Concept of History in the Context of World and Russian Historiography

Western historiography of the mo­dern and contemporary period is characterized by a search for common grounds and logic of world history. At the turn of the 20th—21st centuries, Russia is also actively searching for a new historical pa­radigm. The article is devoted to this topical issue. Its novelty lies in consideration of the original concept of historical and cultural process developed by the famous Soviet and Russian scientist Moisei Samoilovich Kagan (1921—2006). In his theory, humankind is presented as a single social subject, whose history of formation and development is analyzed under the system-synergetic approach allowing to present and substantiate the historical logic within the framework of vector multiva­riate development. M.S. Kagan distinguished three vectors of human development, based on diffe­rent types of economic management: cattle breeding, agricultural and “personalistic” (i.e. trade and craft in traditional society, turned into trade and industry in the modern period). The type of activity to form the basis for different types of culture was predetermined by the natural conditions in which one or ano­ther people lived. Different cultures follow the three development vectors, but can move from one vector to another. In the historical long-term retrospective, the agricultural type of economic management proved to be more rewarding than cattle breeding, but even it, despite the millennia of its stable existence, yielded the “palm” to the “personalistic” type of culture, which characterizes today the majority of countries. The article considers M.S. Kagan’s concept in the context of foreign and Russian theories of historical-cultural and civilizational development. It shows the positive and ne­gative assessments of this concept that caused lively scientific debates and discussions.

M.S. Kagan, system approach, synergetics, history, philosophy of history, philosophy of culture, history of culture, concepts of civilizations development, Russian theories of world history, M.S. Kagan’s vector theory

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