Mikhail Lifshits on classical culture and “conservative revolutions”

The article characterizes the position of the philosopher Mikh. Lifshits, according to which the classics arise in the “historical gaps” between social formations. At the same time, the material basis of classical spiritual production is the flourishing of the activity of “masters” as independent workers (K. Marx). The author shows, based on the work of Lifshits, that each period of the classics in spiritual culture is preceded by a revolution (the reforms of Solon in Athens, “communal wars” in the Middle Ages, the reforms of Peter the Great in Russia), which indicates the connection between revolutions and classics in culture. In this context, the “mystery of Lenin” is analyzed, which expresses the conservative aesthetic views of social and political revolutionaries. Such an external paradox is explained by the fact that the social revolution presupposes the striving for the ideal of justice, which, due to the unity of being, is organically connected with the classical ideals of beauty and truth. Moreover, in its source, this unity is already represented in folk culture.