Personal Values in Russian and Other Civilizations

This article examines the dominant patterns of moral behavior and thinking in Russia and the West. It argues that, in terms of the Golden Rule of morality, Russians are guided more by Jesus' principles of social activism than by the distancing found in the Old Testament, unlike Western morality. In terms of understanding the good of others, most Russians choose empathy and humanism, whereas in the West, the dictates of Thanatos, the death drive, prevail. The article substantiates the thesis that there are fundamental differences in the attitude towards social hygiene between Russian and Islamic civilizations, on the one hand, and Western and Mongolian civilizations, on the other. The evolution of the assessment of cleanliness in the West across different eras is shown. The authors identify eras in which the assessment of beauty as a social phenomenon coincided, manifesting itself in the recognition of the need for Harmony based on tradition, proportionality (“the golden ratio”), and the functionality of the object of analysis. In addition, the empathetic, humanistic essence of the culture of Western and Eastern Europe in ancient times is substantiated. The article traces the rejection of western culture from tradition, proportionality, and functionality, as well as from love as a value preached by Jesus, and the shift towards distorting reality, anti humanism, horror films, and the aesthetics of the grotesque. It shows that the values of antiquity and Jesus have been preserved in the culture of Russian civilization.