THE PHENOMENON OF SECULARISATION: A REEXAMINATION OF THE TOPIC WITHIN PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

This article aims to provide a general overview of the main issues associated with the philosophical dimension of the cultural phenomenon known as “secularisation”. It focuses on the factors that have brought this issue to the fore over the course of the last few centuries of cultural and historical development. An examination of C. Taylor’s work on this subject has made it possible to highlight the approaches to analysing processes of secularisation that are most prevalent today. The article emphasises the profound connection between various elements of the secular cultural sphere and the dynamics of worldviews and trends. It is pointed out that it is problematic to consider processes of secularisation in isolation from a holistic understanding of culture itself and its historical development. The problem of the subjective attitude of the knowing subject towards both the consideration of the processes of secularisation themselves and the assessment of their consequences for the present and future existence of the world is highlighted. The need to re-examine uncritical attempts at philosophical visions concerning the desacralisation of the spiritual sphere is emphasised. A philosophical understanding of the secular allows us to incorporate into the field of research other complex aspects of contemporary human existence in the era of postmodernism and post-truth. These include the issues of desacralisation and the devaluation of tradition, as well as the resurgence of nihilism, which do not merely accompany the process of secularisation but are, in fact, its products. It is noted that it is a mistaken approach to consider the processes of secularisation in isolation from the entire history of culture and to link them solely to the global changes of the last two centuries. Emphasis is placed on the need for a substantial refinement of methodological approaches in the study not only of the processes of secularisation, but also of the phenomenon of secular culture itself. The attempts by contemporary researchers, including the Canadian thinker C. Taylor, to develop a philosophical glossary of terms and concepts and to delineate the substantive boundaries of the secular cultural space are viewed positively; this will enable a deeper understanding of the essence of such a phenomenon as the “secular age”.