This study examines A. A. Blok’s report, «The Collapse of Humanism,» which served as the catalyst for the Free Philosophical Association’s activities. The distinguished poet’s reflections on the revolution provoked a range of responses from his contemporaries. The inquiry into the sources and ideas that may have inspired the original text has persisted 143 «КРУШЕНИЕ ГУМАНИЗМА». ДОКЛАД АЛЕКСАНДРА БЛОКА В ИСТОРИКО-КУЛЬТУРНОМ КОНТЕКСТЕ for many years. Academic literature has identified an external similarity between this report and the book «Against Civilization» by E. Poletaev and N. Punin. However, this similarity is deemed insignificant in understanding the report’s original content. It is maintained that Blok, having read the book twice, left numerous marginal notes to signify his dissent from the authors, who were ideologically sympathetic to the Proletkult and futurist movements. Indeed, the fundamental concepts of this book regarding «mechanization» as the ultimate goal of the future were not aligned with Blok’s views. The textual analysis of both the report and the book shows that Blok, while not endorsing the Futurists’ utopian vision, followed a similar path in distinguishing «culture» from «civilization». This study highlights an ideological connection, including direct textual evidence, in the argumentation for the «collapse of humanism» in world history.
Free Philosophical Association (VOLFILA); A. A. Blok; M. Gorky; A.V. Lunacharsky; modernism; Scythianism; Russian Revolution.