Ideal in the age of triumphant philistinism. Historical and Cultural Context and the Relevance of the Evald Ilyenkov’s philosophy

The article is dedicated to the philosophy of Evald Ilyenkov, its historical and cultural context and its relevance today. Ilyenkov is known for his original solution to the problem of the ideal within the framework of Marxism. The concept of the ideal is the center of his philosophical teaching, from which he draws pedagogical, psychological, and aesthetic conclusions. In Soviet times, the concept of the ideal by Ilyenkov caused a discussion, in which David Dubrovsky opposed the philosopher and his school, defending the “subjectivity of the ideal.” In our opinion, this dispute reflected the opposition of two value systems in the Soviet civilization, one of which dominated in the era of the “thaw,” the other — in the “era of stagnation.”

The “thaw” was ambivalent, along with elements of liberal Marxism, from which “perestroika” later grew, there was a tradition in it that went through Lenin to classical culture. “Stagnation” marked the victory of philistinism, the ideology of the black market, huckstering, cynicism, disappointment in ideals under the cover of hypocritical recognition of dogmatic officialdom. This correlated with the positivist denial of the universal Truth, the assertion of relativism, “the subjectivity of the ideal.” The long shadow of “stagnation” in the form of value relativism and cynicism also lies on modern, post-Soviet, peripheral capitalist Russian culture, and therefore the Ilyenkov’s philosophy of the ideal does not lose its relevance.