The so-called economy refers to the activities of production, exchange, distribution and consumption on the basis of a certain ownership of the means of production, and the relationship between people formed in these activities;

The so-called politics means that people realize and safeguard the requirements of specific classes and social interests by seizing or using public power on a specific economic basis, and handle and coordinate social relations of various social interests. The basic contents of Marxist political view are as follows: First, politics is a public social relationship. Second, politics is the concentrated expression of economy. Third, the fundamental issue of politics is the issue of political power, that is, the issue of state power.

Culture is divided into broad sense and narrow sense, including thoughts, theories, beliefs, beliefs, morality, education, science, literature, art and so on.

Economy, politics and culture constitute three basic fields of social life.

2. The relationship between economy, politics and culture

Economy is the foundation, politics is the concentrated expression of economy, and culture is the reflection of economy and politics. A certain culture is determined by a certain economy and politics.

(1) Politics is the concentrated expression of economy.

Politics belongs to the superstructure, rooted in the economy, determined by the economic base, and counterproductive to the economic base. The political activities of any class or social group are, in the final analysis, aimed at realizing and safeguarding the fundamental economic interests of that class or group.

For example, the economic basis of China's socialist public ownership of the means of production determines that the essence of China's political system is that the people are the masters of their own affairs, and all political systems in China serve the fundamental economic interests of the broad masses of the people in the final analysis. Political relations change with economic relations. For example, with the deepening of economic system reform and the development of market economy in China, the political system reform is also deepening, and social and political relations are undergoing profound changes and adjustments.

Economic base and superstructure.

There are three basic levels of human society: productivity, relations of production (economic base) and superstructure. The economic base is the sum of social relations of production, that is, the ownership form of the means of production, the status of various social groups in production and their mutual relations, and the way of product distribution. Economic base and relations of production are two terms with the same content, which are called relations of production relative to productivity and economic base relative to superstructure.

Superstructure is a category corresponding to the economic base, which refers to the sum of social political, legal, literary, moral, religious, philosophical and other ideologies and the political and legal systems and facilities adapted to these ideologies. Superstructure includes political superstructure and conceptual superstructure. The political superstructure, also known as the physical superstructure, refers to the political and legal system, military, police, courts, prisons, government agencies and other facilities, as well as a set of corresponding organizations. The conceptual superstructure, also known as the ideological superstructure, includes political, legal, literary, moral, religious, philosophical and other ideological systems serving the ruling class. Among the various factors of superstructure, politics is dominant; In class society, the state power and the political party leading the state power are the main components of the superstructure.

The economic base determines the superstructure. First, the economic base determines the emergence and nature of the superstructure. The economic base is the material source of the superstructure. Superstructure is produced to meet the needs of economic base. A certain superstructure is the reflection and expression of a certain economic base. The nature of the economic base determines the nature of the superstructure. What kind of economic foundation there is, what kind of superstructure should be adapted to it.

Second. The change of economic base determines the change of superstructure. When some local changes occur in the economic base of a society, the superstructure determined by it will also change accordingly; When the economic base is fundamentally changed, that is, the old economic base is replaced by the new economic base, the old superstructure will inevitably be replaced by the new superstructure.

Superstructure reacts on the economic base. The superstructure is determined by the economic base, but it does not negatively reflect the economic base. On the contrary, once the superstructure is established, it will have a huge reaction to the economic base. This reaction is concentrated in the following aspects: a certain superstructure always serves to consolidate and develop a certain economic foundation.

(2) Culture is determined and reflected by economy and politics.

On the one hand, economy is the foundation, which lays material conditions for political and cultural development. In the final analysis, the development of political civilization and culture is restricted by the development level of material civilization. Without economic foundation, material civilization will not go up, and political civilization and cultural construction will become empty talk because they lose their foundation. In economy, politics and culture, economy is in a fundamental and central position. On the other hand, a certain social culture reflects the economic and political development of a certain society, which determines the nature and development direction of culture.

For example. At present, China's socialist culture is determined by China's economic system based on socialist public ownership of the means of production and the political system in which the people are the masters of the country, which reflects China's socialist economic system and political system.

Note: Economic development is the foundation of cultural development. But this does not mean that the development of culture always keeps pace with the development of economy. Just as we can't simply regard spiritual civilization as the derivative and accessory of material civilization, we can't simply regard culture as the derivative and accessory of economy and politics. Culture has its own inheritance and independence. The view that as long as material conditions are good, spiritual culture will naturally become better. If material conditions cover a little, spiritual culture will not be done well. It is incorrect that it does not conform to the facts of historical development.

3. Culture reacts on politics and economy, which has a great influence on them.

A philosopher once made such a metaphor: politics is the skeleton, economy is the flesh and blood, and culture is the soul. This metaphor vividly illustrates the important role of culture in social development. Turning over the picture of history, culture can be divided into present and regional, advanced and backward, decadent. Different cultures have different influences on economy and politics, and have different effects on social development.

(1) The cultures of different nationalities have influenced the development paths of different nationalities and countries.

For example, the development of China was deeply influenced by Confucian culture, and the development of the West was deeply influenced by the Renaissance. Today, the socialist culture with leisure features provides powerful spiritual motivation and intellectual support for the development of China's socialist cause.

(2) Different cultures have different influences on social development.

Advanced and healthy culture will promote social development, while backward and decadent culture will hinder social development. As an advanced culture, Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture plays a great role in promoting the development of China's socialist cause.

"Socialism with Chinese characteristics culture is an important force to unite and inspire people of all ethnic groups throughout the country and an important symbol of comprehensive national strength. It originated from the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization, rooted in the practice of Socialism with Chinese characteristics, and has distinctive characteristics of the times. It reflects the basic characteristics of China's socialist economy and politics, and righteousness plays a huge role in promoting economic and political development. "

Hugging: The "expert comments" in the textbook explain the following truth: different social forms (such as feudal society and capitalist society) have different social production modes, and on this basis, different social cultures (such as feudal culture and capitalist culture) have been formed, which has had a great impact on the development of social production modes (productivity and production relations).

◇ Classroom exercise: Guan Zi said, "You know the etiquette of a warehouse. Only when you are full and warm can you know the honor and disgrace. " On this basis, some people think that when the economy goes up, social culture will develop and the degree of social civilization will inevitably increase. Please give your opinion on this.

A: Generally speaking, economy is the foundation, and the development of economy will determine or drive the development of culture. However, we can't think that the development of culture and economy is absolutely synchronous, and the development of both is synchronous and asynchronous.

(1) On the one hand, economy is the foundation of cultural development, emphasizing that socio-economic development determines the level of cultural development. In this sense. This view has some truth.

(2) On the other hand, economic development is the foundation of cultural development, which does not mean that cultural development always keeps pace with economic development. Culture has its own inheritance and relative independence. It is incorrect to think that as long as the material conditions are good, the spiritual culture will naturally improve, but the material conditions are almost the same, so it is impossible to do a good job in spiritual culture.

Analysis: the content of culture is multi-level, some are greatly restricted by the economy, and some are slightly restricted by the economy. For example, the scale and coverage of education and medical and health undertakings should be based on economic development and depend on the level of economic development. However, the emergence of outstanding educators, thinkers and doctors can transcend economic restrictions. Therefore, the relationship between cultural development and economic development needs to be analyzed in detail and cannot be absolute.