Abstract

Introduction. The article analyzes the process of secularization of Western European society as a source of world secularism from the point of view of a Russian modern philosopher Grigory Borisovich Gutner and a Canadian philosopher, cultural historian Charles Margrave Taylor. Theoretical analysis. The purpose of this article, first of all, is not only the analysis of secularism as such, but also an attempt to understand the ways out of its coordinate system, which has driven itself into its own trap. The works of scientists help us to comprehend the reasons for the origin of this ideological concept, to understand in detail the pre-secular period, and to assess the current stage of public consciousness. What contributed to the cardinal change of the dominant in the ratio of the importance of the secular and spiritual? How did it happen that the centuries-old scale, on which the fundamental postulate of the idea of Divine design lay unshakably, suddenly gave way to the rationalism of scientifi c knowledge and experimental research? Why did the separation of science from theology, as a result, disintegrate all spheres of life, transforming it from a parallel area into the area of God-denial and God-fi ghting? What are the prospects for the development of the inner man, the formation of his mental and spiritual and moral qualities against the background of the rapid development of technological progress? Conclusion. In conclusion, the assessment of today’s time, relative to secular and post-secular processes, based on the research performed by G.B. Gutner and Ch. Taylor and their detailed analysis of the turning stages of human civilization, is given.