Sociology of values :

Dr. Radhakamal Mukerjee is a leading figure in the field of sociology. He created an unprecedented balance between mythological Indian and Western ideas. His value theory brought a revolution in social thought. Bogardus called him ‘an Eastern sociologist and social philosopher’. Mukerjee believed that values are the foundation of society and that they shape both individual behavior and social order. He developed a unique value theory combining Western materialism and Eastern spiritualism. His theory emphasizes the close relationship of personal, social and spiritual values. He advocated a model of progress that focused on both economic growth and social welfare. Mookerjee’s value theory is an important milestone in sociology and still shapes the field today.

Concept of values :

Dr. Radhakamal Mukerjee’s contribution in the field of social values is unique and important compared to other contemporary thinkers. The main reason for this is that he has clarified the concept of values in a comprehensive and unique way. The fundamental characteristic of Dr. Mukerjee is his attempt to present values on a mystical basis.

He believes that mysticism is the power that develops unbiased moral viewpoint. Additionally, values are of utmost importance for self-analysis and self-discipline. Values provide the power to individuals to transform from narrow humanity to universal humanity. When values are developed, the individual does not see any difference between nature, society and self. He realizes that whatever is within him is also present in nature and society. Thus, a bond of world unity is formed, and this is the true value of human life.

According to Dr. Mukerjee, development of values provides us with several important benefits: – It guides us in taking moral decisions. – It helps us control our desires and impulses. – It gives us meaning and purpose to our lives. – It enables us to form meaningful relationships with others. – It helps us live a more fulfilling and successful life. Dr. Mukerjee believes that values are an essential part of our life. They provide us with the framework by which we live our lives and inspire us to pursue goals and ideals that give our lives meaning and purpose.

The ideas propounded by Radhakamal Mukerjee regarding these values can be divided into the following parts –

1. Emergence of values

Dr. Radhakamal Mukerjee believes that all values are social. He argues that social values can be discovered only in social life. According to him, social values are created and developed by humans only. According to Dr. Mukerjee, man has some needs, and he tries to fulfill these needs. In the process, he faces many social problems. In an effort to satisfy his needs and solve his problems, he goes through many social experiences. For social development and progress, it is necessary to create order in the society, and in this way values are born in the society.

Human existence is a bipolar state in which reality and aspirations are interconnected. In real life, people provide mutual cooperation, which leads to the emergence of social values. Values are those human capacities that control human tendencies and desires. These shape individual social behavior ideals. When a person molds his behavior according to high ideals and works keeping in mind the end as a means, then values are born. These values govern our conduct, shape our aspirations and ultimately create the fabric of our society. The emergence of values is a complex process that arises from a continuous interaction between reality and aspirations. Through cooperation and social interaction, individuals develop shared ideals that guide their behavior. As their social roles and responsibilities develop, they adopt higher ideals and adapt their actions to them. In this process, individual motivations and collective norms interact, creating a moral framework. This system of values guides our decisions and actions, shapes our character and defines our legacy.

In conclusion, values in human life are the result of a dynamic interaction between reality and aspirations. They emerge through cooperation and social interaction, motivating individuals to conform their actions to higher ideals. This system of values forms the foundation of our society, guides our character and shapes our heritage.

2. Regional basis of prices

Dr. Radhakamal Mukerjee is an ecologist. For this reason, they view every social phenomenon in the context of a particular ecology. He believes that social values emerge due to ecological characteristics. According to him, even though values are universal, their nature is not universal. That is, values are found in all societies, but their definition is region specific. For example, marriage is a social value. Although marriage is universal, the values related to marriage are not universal. Marriage is a religious sacrament in Indian life, but in other countries marriage is not considered religious. Thus, although values are prevalent in social life, their nature is influenced by circumstances. Therefore, Dr. Mukerjee believed that ecology provides an important approach to understanding social values. It helps us understand how values are shaped by social context and ecological factors. His insights are valuable for understanding social change and the evolution of value systems.

From the above discussion it becomes clear that values are related to the area in which they are prevalent. This is why there are different interpretations of values. As mentioned earlier, Dr. Mukerjee’s value theory is based on mysticism. Therefore, they accept that nature itself is intelligent. It is because of this natural intelligence that man maintains balance with natural resources, population and institutions. This is why Mukerjee wrote, “Man should not disturb the balance established by nature.”

3. Levels of social organization and values

Dr. Mukerjee believes that value principles depend on different levels of social organization. Social structures and patterns are determined through values. There is sociality in every society, which has many levels. Therefore, the development of values at each level of social organization is consistent with that level. Dr. Mukherjee has divided social organization into four levels. Early stage organizations lack ethics. Gradually, morality develops in these organizations, due to which high morality is seen in the present organizations. Dr. Mukerjee has divided the stages from low morality to high morality into the following parts –

• Crowd
• Interest group
• Society
• Collectiveness

i). Crowd – Dr. Mukerjee considers crowd as the initial stage of social organization. In this, individuals and groups are not opposed, but complement each other. Man is an active being who, through his activities, performs useful functions for the society and in the process himself is influenced by social values. The social organization of this initial stage is of permanent nature. The level of intelligence and morality of the people involved is low. They are driven more by emotions than logic. As a result, there is a qualitative change in the behavior, actions and reasoning power of the person involved in the crowd. The people in the crowd have low moral standards and lack values. Crowds gather because of imitation.

ii). Interest group – Interest groups are groups of people united to pursue self-interests such as trade associations, clubs and political parties. It teaches us to cooperate with others. Interest groups create social consciousness and self-confidence. This leads to trade and exchanges, which makes individuals develop the habit of caring for others. Due to this the person becomes busy in business and ego develops, which causes personal conflicts.

iii). Society – The journey from selfish groups to society is a sign of selfless cooperation and development of morality. Society can be seen as an extension of groups, where individuals come together to achieve shared goals. In society, individuals act with each other in mind, thereby putting collective interests above individual interests. As social creatures, we shape our behavior based on logic, morality, and emotions. By accepting equality and justice as social values, society converts individual interests into shared interests, thereby creating a prosperous and moral society.

iv). Collectiveness – Dr. Mukerjee has used the word ‘community’ for collectivity. He believes that community human society is the best organization from the moral point of view. Community social organization is extremely strong and universal. Under this, man accepts universal values. Collectivism means a society of humans in which the highest moral beliefs are inherent. It is extremely robust and universal. Under this, universal values are accepted beyond individual desires. These values include love, equality and brotherhood. Collectivism is the highest level of morality. This is achieved not through selfishness or emotion, but through consciousness and logic. People of ideal collectivism are above selfishness and regionalism. They have a feeling of worldwide brotherhood, which leads to the development of world brotherhood.

Dr. Mukerjee has said that just as values are found in every area of social behavior, similarly valuelessness is also found in the society. Examining a person’s behavior reveals that the person violates values and also behaves against them. Due to this, a person’s self-esteem is lost and criminal tendencies develop.

4. Personality and values

According to Dr. Mukerjee, moral values play a very important role in the development of a person’s character. The system of moral values plays a very important role in shaping the character of a person and giving him direction. A person continuously refines these values through his behavior. This refinement results in enhancement and modification of moral values. Due to this modification and refinement, the individual takes the values to such a height that the individual becomes unable to establish unity with himself and the society for those moral values. Therefore, individual and moral values are interconnected with each other. Interrelated moral values are constantly changing and evolving.

According to Dr. Mukerjee, a person passes through different stages in life. In these levels, the individual develops his social relationships, morals and values. Dr. Mukherjee has described three levels of human behavior –

i). Biosocial level – The bio-social behavioral level of a human being is where he cares about social rules and norms and follows these rules. Their biological needs are fulfilled on this basis. Here too man is inspired by biological instincts, but he is guided and controlled by social values. This is the main difference between human and animal behavior. While animals act without knowledge of values, humans determine, modify and direct their motivations related to the fulfillment of needs according to values.

ii). level of mental integration – Mental unity is an important stage in the development of society. This is the stage where people’s brains become so developed that they seek help from each other to fulfill their needs. At this level, the feeling of living together develops among the people. Since humans are social animals, they want to engage in social activities. They establish relationships with other members of the society and adopt the values of unity and cooperation.

iii). Spiritual level – According to Dr. Mukerjee, the spiritual level is the final stage of human development, which is interpreted as “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” in Indian philosophy. The individual adopts values that promote world unity. Dr. Mukerjee mentioned that values and personality levels are interrelated. The level of personality is in accordance with the level of social values. Values and personality develop at the same level.

Dr. Mukerjee believes that if society and individuals want to survive, they have to develop the most important values of the society. These values are goodness, love, beauty and peace. These are spiritual values that shape social institutions. If we do not protect these values, it will be impossible to protect social unity, beauty, truth and love.

5. Values and Social Problems

Many social problems keep arising in the society, these problems arise from the behavior of the individual. A person’s behavior can be both conscious and unconscious. Behaviors are influenced and driven by values. The purpose of social institutions is to work according to values. There are some people in the society who are unaware of social values. Additionally, some people have such a personality that they have a dismissive attitude towards values. Due to this, the collective spirit is destroyed and the person becomes selfish. In such a situation, the person behaves in such a way which creates many problems. Therefore, to deal with social problems, it is necessary that we create awareness about social values among individuals. Also, we should develop such personality of individuals so that they respect the values. This can strengthen the collective spirit and individuals can improve their behaviour. Thus, we can reduce social problems and build a harmonious society.

Values help a person to behave in socially accepted manner by analyzing social life and events. In simple words, values explain how one should and how not to behave. These are based on truth and morality. This develops the habit of ethical behavior in individuals. Overall, values bring harmony in the society by solving various social problems.