Family as the Foundation of Traditional Values

Abstract

The article analyzes family relations from the perspective of the formation, preservation, and reproduction of rules of conduct and systems of values. The author proceeds from the premise that the family reflects broader trends in social development and serves as a repository of moral and ethical principles. The preservation and transmission of such normative commitments occur at the level of family relations. Family relations are governed by a variety of social regulators, and the use in contemporary legislation of such terms as «traditional values» and «traditional family values» confirms both the significance and the regulatory force of unwritten norms. Against this background, the author examines a number of categories, including tradition and morality, through the lens of family relations. The article argues that social regulators should be divided into basic (or fundamental) and derivative regulators, with tradition and morality understood as foundational regulators that serve as the basis for the development of the regulatory system. Changes in attitudes toward the institution of the family may lead to a transformation of these basic regulators, and such transformation may be either evolutionary or destructive for the system of values. Particular attention is paid to traditional family values and to their defining characteristics. The article substantiates the importance of family relations for the formation of social regulators, assesses the role of custom in the sphere of family relations as the oldest form of regulation, and emphasizes that the emergence of the family gave rise to the need to regulate social relations. In conclusion, the author identifies the moral and ethical functions of the family.