Home – Home – Jornals – "Philosophy of Education" 2026 number 2

Introduction. The system of secondary and higher education that took shape in the second half of the nineteenth century was oriented toward an ideological and axiological framework grounded in the study of classical languages. This framework became the methodological foundation that enabled the emergence of the entire culture of the “Silver Age”. The research methodology, taking into account the functioning of the pre-revolutionary educational system and the predominance of cultural and artistic development, employs a comparative-historical approach incorporating methods of analogy and interpretation, as well as the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the mechanisms by which the education system influenced the formation of the «Silver Age» phenomenon. Discussion. The reform of secondary education carried out by the government of Alexander II in the 1870s aimed to create a model of education that would minimize radical and revolutionary sentiments within the academic environment. To this end, all secondary educational institutions were divided into two types: gymnasia and real schools. The former had a humanities orientation, while the latter focused on the natural sciences. Emperor Alexander II and the Minister of Public Education, Count D. A. Tolstoy, believed that the most effective antidote to revolutionary ideas was a classical education based on the study of Greek and Latin, logic, and mathematics. Individuals with such an education would possess a deep understanding of historical and socio-political issues, as well as a disposition toward critical thinking and rigorous argumentation. All of this, it was assumed, would render graduates resistant to socially destructive doctrines. Conclusion. The trajectory of secondary education established by the reform largely predetermined the emergence of the «Silver Age» phenomenon, as the broad spectrum of knowledge acquired already at the gymnasium level enabled graduates to realize themselves in a wide range of fields, including music, history, philosophy, theology, literature, and others.