PHILOSOPHICAL INTERPRETATION OF A. J. TOYNBEE’S THEORY OF CIVILIZATION

Abstract

In order to provide scientifi c and methodological support for mastering the essence of the theory of civilization, we continue to examine the contributions of Russian and foreign researchers to the development of this issue. British researcher A. Toynbee made a signifi cant contribution to the development of 20th-century historiography by introducing a unique approach to understanding the progressive development of humanity. He presented civilizations as living social systems that evolve through phases of birth, growth, crisis, decline, and rebirth in response to challenges. The world scientifi c community emphasized the priority and importance of spiritual and religious principles in Toynbee’s concept as an innovative approach to the progressive development of the human race. It seems that the priority of this argument belongs to our compatriot N. Y. Danilevsky, who put forward four foundations for the development of the cultural and historical type a century earlier. The priority of spiritual, religious, and cultural principles in Danilevsky N.Ya. and Toynbee A. V.