Abstract

The author of the article puts a question about the limits of the 20th century individualism. He expresses a hypothesis about the cyclic nature of the cultural and political theory. In particular, he draws attention to the rhythm of changes of the hedonistic and ascetic ep- ochs, spiritualist and materialist epochs, individualist and holist epochs. The author ana- lyzes holistic doctrines of the 19th century: philosophies of Fabre d’Olivet, Auguste Comte, Pierre Leroux. Although today almost forgotten, the ideas of these authors can be revived again in the 21st century, he says. Based upon the analysis of the 19th century holism which the author did in his book Liquid ideologies, the author makes a hypothesis that the 21st century is becoming much less individualistic and much less materialistic than the 20th century. The metaphors of the “collective body” and “absolute spirit” are coming back in the 21st century, in the new form of the digital reality.