Initially, the notion of "philistinism" had a purelysocio-economic meaning. In pre-revolutionary Russia, the so-called small urban bourgeoisie was called that. Since the middle of the XIX century, after the release of the comedy Zh.B. Moliere "The Bourgeois in the Nobility", in this term began to invest moral-aesthetic and political-ideological meaning.
In a broad sense, philistinism is a moralquality, which characterizes not only the way of life, but also the thinking of man. Such personalities are inherent in the limitations of life views to narrow-minded interests, cowardice and vulgarity in tastes.
The world view and behavior of the petty bourgeois arethat he looks at the lowest strata with contempt, and on higher society with a blessing. He struggles to get close to the elite caste, but unfortunately, this is not very successful. In the end, he remains an average proportional member of society, who never jumps "above the head."
The petty bourgeois always strives to organize his life,adapting to the circumstances. Often such a person, not having his own personal opinion, tries blindly to imitate all that is considered prestigious and fashionable.
Philistinism is a class with very vagueboundaries that arose in the process of urbanization. In cultural terms, this social mass layer embodies the stages of adaptation of traditionalism to urban culture. As a rule, this class included small urban artisans, traders, homeowners and clerks. This social stratum did not show any political activity in the life of the country and was not at all interested in culture.
In fact, philistinism is the lack of spirituality,the desire to live in comfort only by receiving material goods. In Russian literature, the attitude towards philistinism is mostly negative. However, there is an opinion that philistinism is not the worst variant of social development, because this numerous caste supports conservative views and highly appreciates the material benefits of society.
In modern conditions, philistines are not uncommon.They include people who are limited to stereotypical judgments, live on a scenario imposed by society, afraid even to deviate from this course even by a centimeter. In other words, philistinism is narrow-mindedness, lack of breadth and flexibility of thinking. This is life without any priorities or beliefs. Such a person thinks only of the material, as a result of which such a person usually becomes very petty and mean. In addition, in our time, a petty bourgeois may not be necessarily only a poor man, he may be a millionaire. The worldview of such a person rarely changes, even if he became rich.
Bourgeois - these are gossips who, when they meetfirst of all they will seek out a person about his personal life (married / he / she is married, when there will be a wedding, children, etc.). Limitations of views and lack of goals are the main criteria of the petty bourgeois.
Unfortunately, philistinism is a quality that most of the inhabitants of our planet have. If you notice that this property is present in you, it is necessary to fight and suppress it.
