What is good and how to achieve it. The meaning of the word “good” In Russian Orthodox theological literature

Goodgood(Greek άγαθον, Latin bonum, French bien, German Gut, English good) - a concept that has long occupied philosophers and thinkers, playing a vital role in the field of public, economic and social, and therefore included in the sphere of public policy, causing certain aspirations and activities of the political union - the state.

I) Understanding good in a broad sense, the satisfaction of a human need or aspiration, and therefore the goal of each aspiration, the thinkers of the ancient classical world (Plato, Aristotle and many different schools that developed their teachings) explained: firstly, that the very understanding of good is subjective, and therefore the aspirations of people very different; secondly, that, nevertheless, every good is a goal to achieve which is human aspiration, activity, human enterprise; thirdly, that, despite the subjective understanding, human goods in general can be represented by three categories: 1) material goods, the achievement of which gives a person sensual pleasure, pleasure; 2) spiritual benefits - understanding of beauty and truth, delivering spiritual pleasure and satisfaction to a person’s rational aspirations; 3) peace of mind, born from the consciousness of fulfilling a duty, is a moral good, virtue; 4) the highest good - εύδαιμονία, well-being (see this next), which consists in achieving all the benefits that a person strives for, is the most important goal of human life, which corresponds to the highest political activity, possible only in the state, why the ancient thinkers and was seen as a means to achieving well-being.

The Christian religion has significantly expanded views on the good, greatly raising man's ideas about the goals and objectives of human aspirations. Christ's great sermon about all-forgiving Christian love and love for one's neighbor radically changes the idea of ​​good: not only satisfaction of one's own interests and benefits, but also the delivery of benefits to others, is considered good. The principle of egoism, which had dominated until then, is placed next to the new, firmly and majestically established principle of altruism: not only one’s own good, but also the good of another constitutes the real good of a person. The lofty Christian teaching about brotherhood and brotherly love is only gradually becoming the property of humanity. A long period of barbarism and distorting interpreters moved humanity away from the correct understanding of the concept of all-round good indicated by Christianity. But the closer we get to our time, the more this simple yet majestic truth about altruism grows, which strives to constantly moderate egoism and can lead forward, to a new flourishing, all types and forms of human unity.

When, after medieval oppression and grave misunderstandings, thirsty thoughts turned to the works of ancient thinkers, the ethics of the latter, their views on good and well-being, had a charming effect for the first time, and in the 16th and 17th centuries. a number of eudaimonic theories(see this next), who explained and interpreted more or less successfully the teachings of Aristotle and continued his school. But there also came criticism of the views on the state as a means to ensure well-being, and at the same time criticism of the views on the good. Something new compared to philosophers imitating the ancients, says the famous Bacon(see this next):

Ethics, which must analyze in a positive way the manner of action of the human will, indicates the ideals of good and the way in which a person can achieve it. The ideal of good follows from the twofold natural desire of man: to become an independent person and, moreover, to become a particle of some large (social) whole; the first constitutes a private good, the second a public good. The thinker of the 17th century showed a particular breadth of views in the field of studying the principles of ethics. Locke(see this next), who cleared the paradoxical teaching of Hobbes (see this next) about egoism and became the favorite teacher of the English. Arguing about the good, he considers the pursuit of happiness to be the moral principle of human activity and completely defeats Hobbes, who believed that in a state of nature a person has the opportunity to act completely according to his own will, and in a state a person can act and strive only in complete obedience. Locke argues that both in the state of nature and in the state, man enjoys and should enjoy freedom, limited only by the good of others. These ideas of his were developed by many English people. thinkers in so-called systems goodwill. I came to approximately the same conclusions earlier Descartes, from whose ideas came the interpretations of Pufendorf and Thomasius. Ethics had a particularly strong influence on German scientists by explaining altruism as a person’s love for his neighbors as a result of his love for God. Spinoza(see this next). French thinkers of the late 18th century, who prepared the ground for the theory of utilitarianism, which he so brilliantly developed Bentham(see this next), who set the goal of the state as great happiness for the greatest possible number of people, and the critical philosophy of Kant, which clarified the legal tasks of the state, led the thinkers of the 19th century. to views, although differing in details regarding good and well-being, but increasingly approaching the correct understanding of the Gospel teaching about good, which consists in Christian love for one’s neighbor.

II. In economic and social terms, a good means everything that, having value, can have a market price, therefore, in a broad sense, all property benefits are understood. In German Gut and in French bien have a special meaning of real estate. Property benefits are created, acquired, changed, distributed on the basis of internal ones that govern economic life economic laws, studied political economy. The acquisition of values ​​or things, both individual and the totality of such property benefits, property, affects the social status of each person, gives rise to various social classes, depending on the amount of property benefits that each person achieves and uses. The difference between such classes, their mutual relationship and mutual influence, the transition of people from one class to another in connection with the creation of various kinds of human unities, the movement of property goods and the movement of the classes themselves, ascending and descending, occurs on the basis of internal, social or social ones that govern social life. social laws studied sociology, or social science(see this next).

III. The quantity of all kinds of goods and methods of distributing them among members of the society constituting a political union - state, predetermines the power and political significance of the latter. Therefore, the task of the state and the subject of its special political or police activities (see this next) should be the creation of such general and identical conditions for all under which the legitimate aspirations of citizens to achieve benefits would be possible for everyone. Such state activity is based on the ability to harmonize the norms of positive law with the requirement of the natural law of development and the laws of economic and social. The methods of such an agreement and the reasons for the different achievements of such a political goal by different states are studied by the science of “Police Law” (see this next).

Prof. I. Andreevsky.

Article about the word " Good" in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron was read 2161 times

What is the good of man?

Whoever wants to be saved from evil must protect, as if from enemies, his honor, his abstinence, his understanding. Whoever gives this fortress to the enemy will be captured and die.

Living your life as a real person is not at all as easy and simple as it seems at first glance. We know that man differs from wild animals and livestock in his intelligence. This means that if we want to be real people, we must not resemble either animals or cattle.

And when does a person look like a beast?

Then, when he lives in his belly: recklessly, carelessly...

And when does he look like a wild animal?

Then, when he lives by violence: when he acts with stubbornness, anger, malice.

Get your inner spiritual life in order; do not give way to sadness, fear, envy, selfishness, greed, unfriendliness and unbridledness... If you don’t want this, then you will have to drag yourself moaning and crying behind those who are stronger than you. You will begin to look for happiness outside of yourself and will never find it, because instead of looking for it where it is, you will look for it where it is not.

Epictetus (c. 50 – c. 140 AD) - ancient Greek philosopher

How, according to the author, can a person be saved from evil? What makes a person like a livestock? How does a person differ from wild animals and livestock? What general concept does the author use to unite such qualities as stubbornness, anger and malice? Write out from the text the qualities that the author considers unworthy of a person, select the opposite qualities to them. If you have any difficulties, use a dictionary of antonyms. What gives a person happiness? After reading the text of Epictetus, 6th grade students were asked to answer the question: “How, in your opinion, are human happiness and goodness related?

In what ways do the guys’ answers coincide? How are they different? Which of the guys answered the question posed more accurately? Give reasons for your opinion.

Live in order, and everything will be as it should. Order was invented for good, not handicrafts out of idleness. Wait, and God will give. Have you ever seen someone pray for something and it immediately fell from the ceiling in the church? Time is needed for the Lord to sort everything out and lead you to what you ask for. And when you rush through life like a mad hare, you only confuse God’s plan! Don't rock the boat, don't complain! Be in your place, yours will still be yours!

A.V. Ivanov. Riot gold
or Down the River Gorges

“What is the will of God and how to know it?” - sooner or later this question is born in the heart of every person who strives to follow the Christian path. But as soon as he thinks about this, a number of other equally important and complex dilemmas immediately fall upon him: “How can I submit myself to God and remain free at the same time?”, “What path has God prepared for me, which of the proposed ones is mine?” ?”, “How to choose what you need, and most importantly: how to overcome unnecessary doubts?” The holy fathers write about this, many theological articles and books have been published on this topic, and the pastors of the Church speak about this in their sermons. However, questions remain, and often it seems to a person that everything is clear to everyone and that he alone suffers from his perplexities, only his life is the most complex and confusing tangle of obstacles, blocking his path to a bright life in Christ. How to learn to deal with this tangle without letting it get even more entangled, says a teacher at the Missionary Institute in Yekaterinburg, author and presenter of a series of programs on the Soyuz TV channel.

Konstantin Vladilenovich, in one of your video lectures you quote the words of Anthony the Great that a pious person is one who knows God, who does His will. “He is pious who does what God has called him to do, and not what he himself wants,” you comment on the words of the holy father. Does following the Divine will mean completely abandoning one’s desires?

The very formulation of the question, the amazement and anxiety that is heard in it, clearly reveals the eternal truth about us: we are afraid of God’s intervention in our lives. This is both the cause of all the ugliness of our lives and the consequence of the original fall. After all, Adam knew the will of God quite clearly, distinctly, definitely - but he thought (believed the slander) that suddenly God was really hiding some good from man. This is the source of our sins, and this is the consequence of our unbelief.

For example, when we see our neighbor’s new car, we begin to think that our own car is not so good, powerful, roomy, comfortable and modern. This is not objective data, because before the neighbor’s car appeared, everything suited us. Everything we have at the moment is the fullness of God’s blessings available to us. But our desires, the thirst for possessing something else, conflict with Providence and the manifestation of Divine love and care. Precisely because we imagine God to be unjust, ungenerous, partial and not omnipotent.

The will of God is what I would choose for myself if I had perfect knowledge

This is a perfect benefit for every single person. We can say this: this is the same thing that I would choose for myself if I had perfect knowledge. But you have to believe it. ; as the Monk Seraphim of Sarov said: “I surrendered myself to God as I forge iron.” But we don’t trust Him, we are afraid that He will hurt us, force us to do unpleasant things, interfere and push our “I” aside. We think of Him not as Father, not as Love, not as Beloved and Desired, but as a tyrant, dictator, whose main task is to make us do as He wants.

- Where do we get this feeling, since everyone knows that God is Love?..

You see, he creates a different image of God - envious and jealous. Is it worth obeying “such a God”? Is it worth depriving us of the good, if it exists, and even if it grows in the garden, within our reach? If it were truly harmful, would God have planted it in paradise?.. In the same way, we believe in a distorted image of God and become unable to even think about doing the will of God. That is, we are already thinking that God’s demands, His will, may indeed pose some kind of threat to our freedom and our well-being.

- Can you give an example of how this happens in our lives?

We say: “I want to do THIS”, “I love THIS girl”, “I want to listen to THIS music”, “I want to go there and watch THIS”... We feel at the same time, we ourselves feel that God does not approve of our choice , that’s why we so boldly, defiantly, declare our rights, but... lightning or bricks don’t fall on us from the sky (in exceptional cases this happens, but it’s either exceptional people, or exceptional circumstances). God allows us to do what we choose and does not leave us in this case either, but His ability to interact with us is narrowed by our own will - we do not want the fullness of this interaction. Since it was our own choice, the consequences will not be good, for anything outside the will of God is still death!

Let us recall, for example, the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment". Raskolnikov does not seek the will of God. Based only on his satanically proud logical constructs, he does a terrible act - he kills a person (from his point of view, a worthless “louse”) - and a hellish abyss opens up in Raskolnikov’s soul, driving him almost to madness, and thoughts of suicide do not even leave him in hard labor... Raskolnikov’s condition is the punishment awaiting every person who rejects the will of God, considering himself the right to dictate his will to the world and people. And this is not because God is “angry,” but because self-will, sin, is death. The world has no life in itself, the world was created by the will of God, and only by this will the world retains the possibility of existence, and an existence filled with good, overflowing with bliss.

- Sometimes believers worry about what exactly pleases God.

These questions are double-minded: a person seems to be saying to God: let me do what is pleasant and profitable, but promise me that you won’t get angry

Yes, it seems that man is seriously seeking the will of God. But this is most often a misconception, however, quite sincere. Which girl is better to choose: “this” or “that”? This translates as: “to know which of them I will be happy with.” Where is it better to go to work: to a temple or to a bank? It is translated as follows: “I would like to work in the temple, but I cannot feed my family.” It is obvious that a person is looking for his, not God's. And to such questions a person most often does not receive any answers, unless he is lucky and comes across a spirit-bearing father with the gift of foresight. Because in these questions there is double-mindedness: a person seems to be saying to God: let me do what is pleasant and profitable, but promise me that You will not be angry with it.

- But sometimes it really is not easy for a person to recognize the will of God.

It's really very difficult. But the difficulty stems from the fact that internally we are not really ready to accept it. It turns out that there is a certain law: when a person fulfills what he recognizes as the will of God, then the mind is enlightened and most questions disappear by themselves, and the remaining questions are gradually resolved through prayer.

Here's another example. I really like the modern children's film Puppy. The hero of the film story did not know anything about God, because he grew up in Soviet times, but one day he took pity on an orphan, giving him the most valuable thing he had - and at that moment he felt the touch of God, with whom he never parted anymore, becoming over time clergyman.

But we usually want to find out the will of God without doing anything, so nothing works out. As Psalm 18 says, “The commandment of the Lord is bright, it enlightens the eyes.” Let's say, if we know and accept the commandment that we need to forgive everyone, but we ourselves do not consciously forgive for reasons that are significant to us, then there is no point in asking the Lord regarding other things that are significant to us: Lord, reveal to me how you want me to did... Go with the person, forgive him, and you will immediately receive permission for your bewilderment.

Give yourself completely to God - but without gritting your teeth (this sacrifice will neither be accepted nor sanctified), but with trepidation and joy

The entire complex ascetic task consists in subordinating oneself to God of one’s own will, subduing oneself to Him (see: Rom. 6:13; Rom. 8:7), collecting oneself all together and giving oneself to God entirely, without clenching this is teeth (this sacrifice will neither be accepted nor sanctified), but with trepidation and joy, as brides once gave themselves into the hands of their grooms: going into the unknown, in obedience to another will, but the will of the beloved, the will of the one who has loved.

- “Without gritting your teeth, but with trepidation and joy” - it’s not so simple...

This is the work of our whole life. The struggle is not only with my own “wants” (passions and lusts), with the confidence that I, on my own, with my mind and strength, can do what I consider good (there are a number of spiritual errors in this expression), but also the struggle with unbelief in God, mistrust of Him.

There is an interesting example in the Old Testament. The most amazing judge in terms of his physical qualities, Samson, who received grace from the Lord, despite the testimony of the Law, the advice of his parents, and the obvious evidence from God Himself, wants to live with a woman who is not destined for him, does not love him and will destroy him. Samson, with amazing tenacity, insists on his will, receives Delilah as his wife - and ultimately loses grace, and in fact (from a social and spiritual point of view) life: he, blind, is forced to stay in the temple of Dagon... And it was Samson who was able to accept this is the state of “not gritting your teeth.” And therefore, when strength returns to him, he does not seek tempting freedom, in which there are so many temptations of self-will, but accepts the determination designated by God - to die where the shackles entangled him.

That is, again and again you need to affirm yourself in faith, standing before God with an open face, doing what He commands: not to judge, to endure, to pray for enemies, to forgive and to believe that, despite the sea of ​​life raging around us, there is no force capable of overcome the power of God who loved me.

- Is such a task feasible for us, worldly people living in modern society?

Such a task, apparently, is beyond the capabilities of anyone. Not today, not a thousand years ago. Even the apostles once exclaimed: “So who can be saved?!” And, as we see from the Gospel, until the descent of the Holy Spirit they were unable to follow the will of God. But with God everything is possible. And the power of the Spirit in man acts in such a way that impulses, desires, and aspirations are born within the man himself, completely in agreement with the will of God. A person perceives them as his own desires, and not as external pressure. He perceives the will of God as his own.

A woman who has lost her husband is not at all obliged to carry out the feat of Blessed Xenia, and an Orthodox priest is not at all obliged to deprive himself and his wife of marital communion, like Saint John of Kronstadt. But these saints, reflecting in prayer on how they should serve God, felt a decisive desire (determination of the will plus the desire of the heart) to serve precisely So. It was their own desire, but this was also the will of God, because everything in this matter was successful from a spiritual point of view.

Modern believers have another problem - misunderstanding on the part of others. They live as if in a spiritual vacuum...

Indeed, the problem of our time is that a baby, even a baptized one, is taught from the cradle by parents, teachers, friends and cultural phenomena to live according to his own will. Everyone around him lives like this and he is taught the same. God moves to the periphery of life: He exists, you need to remember this, but you yourself are the master of your life, and no one can control it.

I have always been amazed by some of the testimonies from the lives of saints. For example, Prokhor Moshnin (the future Venerable Seraphim of Sarov) had friends and peers (six to eight people) who, from their youth, desired monastic ascetic feats. Four of them walked to Kyiv to find out which monastery they should go to. And they left. There are a great many such cases in the history of Russian (and any other) holiness: around there were comrades-in-arms, like-minded people, spirit-bearing fathers, righteous wives who suggested and showed, supported and inspired.

There is no such social environment now. And a person, in whose heart the thought comes to live not according to the teachings of human wisdom, but according to the commandments, seeking the will of God, indeed, immediately meets not comrades-in-arms, but critics and scoffers. Feeling his loneliness, he quite naturally falls into doubt: perhaps I really don’t understand something, because everyone around me is Christian, but they don’t torment themselves with such questions...

A spiritually inexperienced person may have a question: what about the freedom that is talked about so much in the Church? How can one compare human freedom and following the will of God, which involves submission?

Following the will of God is the acquisition of freedom. Theologically speaking, God is completely free. Not free from something or someone - freedom is a property of the Divine nature. Actually, He is the only free Being in existence. Everything else depends on Him and is not free, even from corruption and death. A person hesitates, not knowing what to choose, he wants both, he sees benefit and joy in both. This fluctuation of will emphasizes its weakness, uncertainty, and dependence. Freedom does not hesitate in goodness, it always abides in life, always creates life, always brings life, light and goodness.

Everything that God created is “very good,” but we ourselves created this ugly world.

The enemy instilled in us another idea: to be free means to act as You do you think is correct? do what You consider it a good thing. Look: everything around - wars, abortions, divorces, drunkenness, theft, murder, poverty - are the fruits of such freedom. Often atheists, justifying their disbelief, say that there is a lot of evil, suffering and death in the world, and a “normal god” could not create such a world. So the Lord did not create the world in the form in which we see it now! Everything that God created is “very good,” but we ourselves created this ugly world, inextricably linked with pain, suffering, slavery and death, by our own will. And precisely those people who care so much about human freedom should rejoice: the modern world clearly testifies that man is free, otherwise such a world simply could not exist!

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh in one of his radio interviews said that a person is not immediately given the ability “not to ask God for anything, but simply to rejoice in God,” before that you need to go through a certain period... When you understand that ideally you need to trust so much God, His will, that you don’t ask for anything, you realize how spiritually weak and inexperienced you are. How, in your opinion, is it better to go through this period that the Bishop is talking about? This feeling of complete trust - it will not come on its own...

You just have to live your life with God the way it is lived. And in all your needs, turn to Him in prayer - for loved ones, in difficult circumstances, in illness. The more often and more heartily a person does this, the more fully he gets used to life with God, the more clearly he sees, as another bishop said, “God’s Providence in his life,” and from this he begins to give thanks more and more often. At first, thanksgiving reaches the same quantitative measure as petitions for benefits; then thanksgiving enters more and more fully into a person’s life, crowding out petitions from life. This is a certain measure of holiness, perfect trust in God.

Even in extreme circumstances, we must remember: God never leaves anyone

Enduring sorrows with turning to God in prayer helps a person become experienced. Experience lies in the fact that a person, even in emergency circumstances, even in the darkness of the Gulag, does not fall into despair, does not hesitate, knowing (namely knowing!) that God does not leave anyone anywhere; and such boldness regenerates the heart by the grace of the Holy Spirit, making it capable of perfect love. What more can you ask for?

But the path to this is not close. And it begins with patiently asking Him for mercy in difficult circumstances with undoubted faith and trust in God. Ask patiently and persistently.

After reading this article, you will learn:

• How human needs are satisfied
• What is the role of nature in meeting your needs?
• How does social production provide you with everything you need?
• What are the differences in the goods that satisfy your needs for food and education?
• Can the same need be satisfied in different ways?
• There is a certain connection between things that satisfy your needs.

When you feel thirsty, you drink tea, coffee, water. When you are cold, you put on warm clothes. Economists say: “Everything that satisfies our needs is a good.”

She takes part of the benefits necessary for human life from nature. This air and sun rays, water sources and ponds, wild berries and nuts, mushrooms and fish, flowers and medicinal plants. All these are economic (free) benefits.

People do not create non-economic (free) benefits, but find them in nature in a ready-to-use form. The free nature of such goods is relative. It only means that these benefits are a product of human labor, and received from nature. If a person “adds” his labor to natural benefits, such benefits are sold for money (delivery of mineral drinking water, collection of plants by a doctor). They turn into economic ones.

However, man needs much more benefits than nature can provide. People have learned to extract and create the goods they need. However, those goods that a person specifically creates and produces in order to satisfy his needs are called economic. Looking at the things you use in life, you will agree that they are all made in different factories and factories to meet your needs. These are the economic benefits you need in life. Examples of economic goods can be bread, a car, a TV, skis, a pen, a bicycle.

Economic goods differ from non-economic (free) ones in that they are the result of conscious human labor aimed at producing certain goods to satisfy certain needs. The creation of economic benefits is carried out consciously, that is, in accordance with the previous intention or plan. The process of human creation of goods differs from the instinctive actions of bees, which create cells from wax, or beavers, building fountains, and in that human actions are aimed at realizing a predetermined goal.

Economic benefits are always quantitatively limited.

Limited is a relative characteristic. One snake that happens on your way in the forest is “a lot”, considering the threat to your life. However, a hundred snakes as carriers of poison for the pharmaceutical industry is not enough.

Limitation- this is a measure of satisfying the need for a certain good that exists under specific conditions. The same benefit under different conditions can be both limited and unlimited (sand in the desert, sand as a building material; nuts in the taiga, nuts as raw materials for the production of cedar oil).

Finally, to create economic goods, a person must use other goods. After all, your sweater is knitted from wool, and your shoes are made from leather.

Nowadays, humanity produces tens of millions of economic goods, and all of them, as well as free goods, designed to satisfy human needs. The economic benefits that people can enjoy are very diverse. Some of them can be used for many years (furniture, refrigerator, car). Such economic benefits are called long-term, i.e. durable items.

A person uses other economic benefits only once. These are short-lived economic goods (for example, bread, sugar, ham, ice cream). The famous cartoon character Winnie the Pooh claimed that honey is such a thing that it’s here and then it’s not there.

Thus, the criterion for dividing economic benefits into long-term and short-term is the period of their use by a person.
However, much more often in our daily lives we deal with a different classification of economic goods. These are goods and services.

Information about sources.

Any means that satisfies human needs is good. To fulfill this function, goods must have utility. Utility is the suitability of an object to serve the satisfaction of human needs. Ignorance of the useful properties of things excludes them from the composition of goods. For example, coalXVIIIcenturies was practically not used in the economy and, therefore, was not a benefit.

The usefulness of goods can manifest itself in both material and intangible forms. Thus, potatoes on our dinner table are a purely material thing, while at the same time books, newspapers, and television bring us benefits of an intangible nature.

The benefits used by humans are divided into economic and non-economic. Economic goods include benefits, the possibilities of obtaining which in relation to human demands are limited. In other words, economic goods are rare.

Non-economic goods are present in the world around us in unlimited quantities. Therefore, their needs are fully satisfied. These include freely reproduced natural goods: air, light, water.

Non-economic benefits become economic if there is either an increase in the need for them or a reduction in the sources of their supply. For example, water flowing from a spring in the forest is a non-economic good. The water supplied to our apartment through the water supply is an economic benefit, since its quantity is limited in relation to our needs.

With regard to economic goods, the problem of determining their value is of fundamental importance. At one time, A. Smith formulated the famous paradox about diamond and water. “There is nothing more useful than water,” Smith noted, “but almost nothing can be bought with it, almost nothing can be obtained in exchange for it. On the contrary, a diamond has almost no use value, but often a very large quantity of goods can be obtained in exchange for it.” The resolution of the paradox was given within the framework of the Austrian economic school. In their opinion, the value of goods directly depends on their rarity in relation to human needs.

Economic benefits are divided into tangible and intangible. In turn, material goods are divided into consumer goods (direct goods), means of production (indirect or production goods) and services.

Direct benefits go to the final consumer (the population) directly in the form of food, clothing, shoes, etc. There are short-term consumer goods, the service life of which is less than a year (for example, food, medicine, this also includes clothing) and durable goods (furniture, cars, televisions, etc.).

Indirect benefits mediate the process of obtaining consumer goods. They are necessary not for their own sake, but for the sake of consumer goods that are produced with their help. According to the method of participation in the production process, they are divided into two groups:

1. Instruments of labor that are used repeatedly in the production process and do not become part of the finished product. This includes buildings, machinery, equipment.

2. Raw materials and materials that are fully used in one production act and become part of the finished product (iron ore in the production of iron and steel, materials in the manufacture of clothing, etc.).

Between production and consumption there is a sphere of material services. It provides, for example, the transportation of produced goods from producers to consumers, storage, packaging, sale of products, etc.

Intangible benefits are associated with the satisfaction of human social and spiritual needs. They are divided into internal and external. Internal intangible benefits include the entire set of physical, moral, cultural, business and professional data of a person. In other words, internal intangible benefits are, first of all, the spiritual baggage that every person has.

External intangible benefits include benefits that other people provide to a given person in intangible form (services of a lawyer, teacher, priest, etc.).

In addition, economic benefits can be classified according to forms of consumption into individual and club (public).