Culture as the Subject Matter and Horizon of Philosophical Thought in Post-Soviet Russia (St. Petersburg Approaches)

Abstract

The article considers the emergence, variants of justification and critique of cul­turology, a new science which appeared in Russia in the 1990s. The main atten­tion is given to the analysis of discussions of St. Petersburg philosophers around culturology, its problem field and methodology. The positions of the leading cul­turologists of St. Petersburg M.S. Kagan, Yu.N. Solonin, E.G. Sokolov, and oth­ers are discussed. The authors are of the opinion that culturology was the most notable and interesting phenomenon of the post-Soviet philosophy; therefore, the study of its history provides a better understanding of the essence of the era as a whole. The authors argue that the post-Soviet period in the development of Russian philosophy can now be considered completed, and this sets appropri­ate tasks for historians of Russian thought, among which the task of understand­ing the causes of the exhaustion of the ideological-theoretical and creative poten­tial of post-Soviet thought is the most important. Equally important is the task of comprehending the positive content of post-Soviet philosophy, because it is likely to determine the prospects and problems of Russian philosophical culture in future. The article shows that, since the establishment of culturology, a critical attitude towards its project has prevailed among St. Petersburg philosophers and culturologists, nevertheless there have been made attempts to justify culturology and to prove its importance for Russian culture. The conclusion is made that the post-Soviet stage of the history of Russian philosophy, despite its characteristic “Europeanization”, has managed to become an organic link in the progressive development of Russian philosophical culture.