Culture vs civilization (I. Kant's paradoxes)

The article clarifies the circumstances of the origin of culture, connected with forming the ideal motives in human behavior. The transformation of ideas about culture and civilization is examined, starting with the ancient way of life and philosophy. The emphasis is on the position of the Enlightenment, which is radically different from the tradition leading to O. Spengler’s teaching. The phenomenon of Russoism, which influenced the ethical position of Leo Tolstoy, is analyzed separately. The focus is on the paradoxical understanding of culture and civilization by I. Kant as applied to the inner world of man, in which there is an insoluble contradiction between moral requirements and animal inclinations. Thus, Kant’s methodological dualism drives the artificial and the formal, and therefore civilization, into the base of the human soul, and there it is opposed with the natural principle.