p Historical materialism distinguishes between the material and intellectual sides of culture which are dialectically interrelated and interdependent. Material culture embraces qualitative achievements identifying the extent to which man has mastered nature, the level of the instruments of labour, the technical level of production, people’s technical skills, the scientific organisation of 174 labour, ministering to man’s material and everyday needs, etc. Instruments of labour are the core of material culture which are nowadays increasingly becoming the materialised achievements of science. The level of culture is also expressed in the skills and knowhow applied in material production. In this sense we may speak of the "labour culture" of any definite historical epoch. The level of culture is seen in other material elements of the life of society, namely, in the objects of nature worked by man (e. g. cultivated soil), in objects man uses in his everyday life (clothing, furniture, utensils-for culture implies that man uses them), scientific, academic, and medical equipment, and so on.

p Intellectual culture embraces qualitative achievements expressing the scope and level of natural and social knowledge, the breadth of vision, and the extent to which progressive ideas and positive knowledge have been assimilated by society; that is to say, intellectual culture is the sum total of qualitative achievements reached in science, education, ethics, literature, and art. It also embraces political ideas, political education, and legal relations. Intellectual culture is also embodied in language, speech, thought (logic) and standards of behaviour.

p Historical materialism believes in the organic unity of material and intellectual cultures, the latter being secondary and relatively indepen- 175 dent, but, on the whole, developing in organic unity with material culture. In his work "On Cooperation”, Lenin wrote that "to be cultured we must achieve a certain development of the material means of production, must have a certain material base.”   [175•1  While reposing on this material base, intellectual culture, which is an integral process, at the same time exerts a certain influence upon it.

p As any social phenomenon that is of "validity to all epochs”,  [175•2  as Marx said, culture is a product of definite historical conditions. Thanks to these it has sense and content. This explains why every socio-economic formation is characterised by a culture peculiar to it. When a socio-economic formation is replaced by another, more progressive one, more progressive culture takes the place of the old culture. Marx wrote: "In order to examine the connection between spiritual production and material production, it is above all necessary to grasp the latter itself not as a general category but in definite historical form. Thus for example different kinds of spiritual production correspond to the capitalist mode of production 176 and to the mode of production of the Middle Ages.”   [176•1 

p Historical materialism approaches the wealth of culture that has been created throughout the various stages of class society’s historical development from a specific historical position. Nevertheless it admits that there are cultural values that are acceptable to people regardless of class and retain their significance for subsequent generations. Similarity of cultural traditions, values, and practices are observed in various periods and in many nations. There are elements of culture that are not of a class character, Lenin said. He stressed that all the valuable elements of what has been created in capitalist society, notably, the technological and cultural gains of large-scale capitalism, should be properly used for building socialism.  [176•2 

p In antagonistic societies, the growth of the universal element of culture proceeds within the narrow confines of class-limited intellectual production. Hence, there is no such thing as the culture of all the people in an antagonistic society, in spite of general elements. Even these elements, being a reflection of the interests of the ruling class, are often distorted. The correlation between 177 the class elements of culture and the general, nonclass, elements changes with the course of historydue to the changing type of prevailing production relations.

p Nowadays, cultural ties and the range of cultural intercourse among nations are so great as to involve many hundreds of millions of people. In many respects, that is due to the mass media: the press, radio, and television.

The socio-philosophical content of culture is being enriched by the ever new forms of man’s activity, which has produced such concepts as "ecological culture”, "space exploration culture”, etc. The principal features of culture are determined by the economic, socio-political, and intellectual requirements of our day, as well as the interests of definite classes.