The Concept of Civilizational Identity in Western Philosophy

The article examines the leading Western concepts of civilizational identity of G. Ruckert, O. Spengler, P. Sorokin, A. Toynbee, S. Huntington. In the concept of local civilizations, G. Rückert considers civilizational identity as the simultaneous residence of typologically different cultures - historical and cultural “organisms”, but he failed to overcome the Eurocentric view of civilizations. The concept of cultures about Spengler’s original view of culture reflects the author’s view of culture as a unique phenomenon of society’s identity: the soul of the people becomes the key to culture, defining its cultural code; culture strives for spiritual values, and civilization is aimed at material achievements, therefore, there are more signs of civilization in the European Western world than signs of culture. P. Sorokin’s cyclical concept of the historical development of society and culture expresses the author’s view on the consistent and inevitable change of cultural supersystems. Sorokin elaborates in detail the criteria of cultural identity of the main stages of fluctuation of original historical subjects. In the concept of the “clash of civilizations”, S. Huntington uniquely examines the idea that civilization is a level of cultural identity of people, reflected in language, history, religion, customs, institutions and subjective self-identification. Huntington points out that globalization is the driving force behind the history of the entire world and humanity. The authors of the article conclude that Western thinkers have failed to convincingly solve the problem of the unity and diversity of world history, and their views cannot be uncritically applied to the analysis of the civilizational identity of Russian civilization, to the multipolar world that is emerging today.