Initially, the concept of "philistinism" had a purely socio-economic meaning. In pre-revolutionary Russia they called the petty urban bourgeoisie. Since the middle of the XIX century, after the comedy J.B. Moliere, “The Tradesman in the Nobility,” began to invest in this term a moral, aesthetic, and political and ideological meaning.
In a broad sense, philistinism is a moral quality that characterizes not only a way of life, but also a person’s thinking. Such personalities are characterized by limited life views to narrow interests, cowardice and vulgarity in tastes.
Philistinism is the middle
The world view and behavior of the tradesman is that he looks at the lower strata with contempt, and at high society with blessing. He is struggling to get closer to the elite caste, but this, unfortunately, he manages to do poorly. As a result, he remains an average proportional member of society, who will never jump “above his head”.
The tradesman always seeks to arrange his life, adapting to circumstances. Often such a person, having no personal opinion, tries to blindly imitate everything that is considered prestigious and fashionable.
The history of philistinism
Petty bourgeoisie is an estate with very vague borders that arose in the process of urbanization. In cultural terms, this social mass layer embodies the stages of adaptation of traditionalism to urban culture. This class, as a rule, 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 completely not interested in culture.
In essence, philistinism is the lack of spirituality, the desire to live in comfort only by obtaining material wealth. In Russian literature, the attitude towards philistinism is mostly negative. However, there is an opinion that philistinism is not the worst option for social development, because this numerous caste supports conservative views and highly values the material benefits of society.
Philistinism: personality traits
In modern conditions, philistines are not uncommon. These include people who are limited by stereotyped judgments, who live according to a scenario imposed by society, fearing even a centimeter to deviate from this course. In other words, philistinism is narrow-mindedness, the lack of breadth and flexibility of thinking. This is a life without any priorities and 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 tradesman may not only be a poor person, he may also be a millionaire. The worldview of such a person is rarely amenable to change, even if he has become rich.
Petty bourgeoisie is gossip, who, when meeting, will first of all find out from a person about his personal life (he / she is married / married when there will be a wedding, children, etc.). Limited views and lack of purpose - these are the main criteria of the tradesman.
Unfortunately, philistinism is a quality that most people on our planet have. If you notice that you have this property, you must definitely fight and suppress it.