Definition of lifestyle
The way of life is the stable way in which people live under certain socio-economic conditions。
The way of life is broad and narrow
Broadly speaking, it refers to the forms of material and spiritual activity that are specific to a society, the nature of human relations, the psychosocial, ethos, values, thoughts and ethos that dominate society. It is a specific human activity that combines mastery and objectivity。
In a narrow sense, it refers to access to material, consumer goods for labour and the use of personal free time。
The evolution and formation of lifestyles are influenced by a number of factors. Above all, the way and conditions in which people produce the necessary means of subsistence determine their way of life. Different countries and nationalities, different geographical environments, historical traditions, customs and religious beliefs can make a difference in the way of life. In class societies, different classes have different lifestyles. The way of life of the landowners is the product of the feudal methods of production, and that of the bourgeois ones. In socialist society, people organize their lives in accordance with the principles of socialism。
The content and form of a lifestyle are constantly changing with the development of social productivity and advances in science and technology culture. Changes in the way of life have been brought about by the policy and economic system, the scientific and technological system, the educational system, the cultural system and the political system, which are open to the outside world. The promotion of a civilized and healthy way of life, overcoming the legacy of ignorance and feudalism and the corrupt ideas of capitalism are important elements in building a socialist spiritual civilization。
The philosophical interpretation of lifestyle
The way of life is the typical form of people's living activities under certain social and historical conditions. It depicts the basic characteristics of socio-political, economic, scientific and technological development。
Thus, a way of life can serve as a scientific knowledge tool through which people can understand and grasp the basic activities of society, social groups and individuals, and thus the patterns of human and social development. This category reflects and summarizes the whole range of people's activities, i. E. Material production and consumption activities, political activities, spiritual and cultural activities, social interaction activities, family life activities and the behaviour of people in their daily lives。
The way of life is determined by the method of production and is guided by the values and values of the subjects of life。
The way of life is relatively stable and, as a whole, it cannot advance ahead of the way of production, but it can, for a long time and stubbornly, retain its old patterns of behaviour, especially those that enter life practice, as a deterrent to its own transformation。
The way of life also has a distinct class, age, ethnicity and geography。
The class nature of the lifestyle means that there is and cannot be a uniform lifestyle of the various classes in the class society, because of the differences in the way in which the means of living are obtained and the diversity of the lifestyle is apparent within the same class. In the socialist society, where class rivalry has been eradicated, although the socio-economic basis for the fundamental antagonism of the way of life has been eradicated, there is still a greater heterogeneity in the way of life due to differences between workers and farmers, between rural and urban areas, between manual and intellectual labour, between regions with different degrees of development and among workers of various economic components。
The chronology of lifestyles means that the level of development of production patterns at a given time, in particular the level of productivity and of scientific and technological development, as well as changes in social attitudes, are reflected in people's lifestyles。
The ethnic character of the way of life is defined as the national identity which is shaped by factors such as national history, culture, traditions, psychology, customs, etc. The nationality of the way of life is continuous and variable. With the development of science and technology and the proximity of peoples, the national nature of the way of life will also change as a result of its impact on the level of development closer to that of the advanced peoples。
The geographic nature of the way of life means that different natural geographic and cultural environments have created different lifestyles with distinct geographical characteristics。
The lifestyle structure is also extremely complex. The social lifestyle, the group lifestyle and the personal lifestyle can be divided into different subjects; the working lifestyle, the consumer lifestyle, the political lifestyle, the leisure lifestyle, the social lifestyle, the family lifestyle, the religious lifestyle can also be divided into the lifestyle of the former capitalist society (original society, the slave society, the feudal society), the social lifestyle of capitalist society and the socialist lifestyle, depending on the socio-economic pattern; it can, of course, be classified as a traditional lifestyle, a modern lifestyle based on the characteristics of the times。
