What does "ideology" mean

Ideology (English: ideology) refers to a collection of ideas. The English word Ideology was coined by Count Destutt de Tracy at the end of 18th century, and it was used to define a kind of "science of ideas". Ideology can be understood as a comprehensible imagination, a way of looking at things (comparative worldview), existing in * * * knowledge (see the section on ideology in daily society) and some philosophical trends (see the section on political ideology), or a set of ideas put forward by the ruling class in society to all members of society (this is an ideology defined by Marxism, see the section on ideology as a tool for social reconstruction).

contemporary definition

(1) refers to ideas, ideals, beliefs, enthusiasm, values, world outlook, religion, political philosophy and moral proof.

(2) The explanatory framework used by social groups to make the world more favorable to their understanding.

(3) Social consciousness constitutes the superstructure of social concepts, including artistic ideas, moral concepts, political and legal ideas, religious views and philosophy (Principle of Argumentation and Experience).

(4) Ideological system with certain political inclination and political choice. Specifically, it refers to political thoughts such as liberalism, socialism, conservatism and * * * productism (Modern Sociology p292).

representative definition

Marx's definition of ideology

G. Marcuse pointed out that in Marx's view, there are three definitions of ideology: (1) it is a denial and revelation of historical idealism; (2) it is a systematic explanation of social existence; (3) it is a certain culture on the whole; this culture is a reflection of social existence. Constrained by social existence, individuals or collectives should be influenced by this culture consciously or unconsciously.

Mannheim's distinction between two kinds of ideology

Mannheim regards ideology as a "way of thinking" in his book Ideology and Utopia, and analyzes two kinds of ideologies accordingly. One is a "special" ideology, which refers to the cover-up of the truth of a social scene because the truth is not in its interest. Including conscious lying, semi-conscious or careless cover-up, intentional deception or self-deception. This actually reflects the self-interest of special groups. The other is "comprehensive" ideology, which refers to a world outlook or a complete belief in a way of life.

Ideology is the reproduction of the imaginary relationship between individuals and their real living conditions.

in order to illustrate my central topic about the structure and function of ideology, I will first put forward two themes, one is negative and the other is positive. The first theme involves "reappearing" the object in the form of ideological imagination; The second theme concerns the materiality of ideology.

ideology in daily society

every society has ideology, which is the basis of forming "popular ideas" or * * * knowledge, but most people in society usually can't see it. The dominant ideology is presented in a "neutral" posture, while all other ideologies different from this standard are often regarded as extreme, no matter what the real situation is. The philosopher Foucault once wrote about this concept of ideological neutrality.

Organizations that strive for power will influence the ideology in society and turn it into what they want. Political organizations (including the government) and other groups (for example, groups lobbying for bills outside parliament) try to influence people by spreading their opinions, which is why many people in society usually seem to have "think alike".

When most people in the society have similar ideas about certain things, they even forget that there are other options for current affairs, which becomes what the philosopher Antonio Gramsci called Hegemony. The much smaller concept of groupthink is also partly attributed to his works.

When modern linguists study the mechanism of conceptual metaphor, this "similar idea" is thought to be conveyed through this mechanism.

political ideology

there are many different kinds of ideology, including political, social, epistemological, ethical and so on.

In social research, political ideology is a set of concepts and principles used to explain how society should operate, and provides a blueprint for some social order. Political ideology pays much attention to how to divide power and what purposes these powers should be used for. For example, one of the most influential and clearly defined political ideologies in the 2th century is * * * materialism, which is based on the theories of Marx and Engels. Other examples are anarchism, capitalism, communitarianism, corporate liberalism, christian-democracy, fascism, monarchy, nationalism, Nazism, conservatism, liberalism, socialism and social-democracy. "systematic ideology" refers to the study of ideology as ideology (rather than individual ideology). (See entry Capitalism # Capitalism as an ideology. )

The popularity of ideology is partly due to the influence of moral entrepreneur, who often act for their own interests. Political ideology refers to social movements, institutions, classes or large groups that put forward a certain political and cultural plan as a reference, and their overall concepts, principles, dogmas, myths or symbols. It can also be a whole political and ideological structure that is usually used to define a political party and its policies.

Usually, some moral concepts shape the ideological foundation.

ideology as a tool of social reconstruction

Marx put forward a "base/superstruture" social model. Foundation refers to the means of production of a society, on which the superstructure is formed and constitutes the ideology of that society, or its legal system, political system and religion. For Marx, the foundation determines the superstructure, because the ruling class controls the means of production in society, and the superstructure of society depends on what is most beneficial to the ruling class. Therefore, the ideology of a society is of great importance, because it confuses alienated groups with false consciousness, such as commodity fetishism. Critics of Marxism believe that it gives great importance to the influence of economic factors on society.

the ideology of the main class in society is put forward to all members of society, making the interests of the ruling class look like the interests of all people. Gyorgy Lukacs described this as the projection of the class consciousness of the unified class, while Gramsci promoted the theory of cultural hegemony to explain why people in the working class can have a wrong concept of their own interests.