Secularization as a spiritual phenomenon of European culture

The article studies the secularization as a spiritual phenomenon and develops a definition of this social phenomenon. The authors review the views of Western and Russian sociologists of religion on the content of secularization processes. The paper considers philosophy, science, and various forms of art as the main sources of worldview formation in a secularized society. The authors believe that the secularization can be defined as a complex process of religion exclusion from personal and public life, and replacement of its functions with new structures of ideological matrix.