Akopov Sergey
The article focuses on the analysis of political and philosophical ideas of M.N. Ep- stein, and particularly on his concept of “trans-culture”. The purpose of the article is to explore ways to overcome the crisis of national identity by the principles of “trans-culture” and “critical universality”, developed by philosopher M.N. Epstein. The article examines such topics as criticism of totalitarian culture in the USSR, critique of multiculturalism, Russian regionalism, selfidentity of the Russian Diaspora in the USA, etc. The article is based on the texts of M.N. Epstein and on the interview taken by the author in 2011. The author concludes that the principles of “trans-culture” and “critical universality” developed by Epstein may be considered as a “bridge”, which leads from national-civilizational identity towards building global civil society.
Keywords: national identity crisis; trans-culture; critical universality, critical analysis of multiculturalism, M.N. Epstein.