The proposed book is devoted to little-studied figures in the history of Russian and European thought, as well as a philosophical understanding of the main milestones in the history of culture - from primitiveness through the Ancient East, Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to our days. National and world cultural heritage is presented to the reader in the form of a lively story about people who differ greatly in centuries, countries, political views and occupation, but united by greater or less scientific thinking, which the author puts at the head of any philosophical search. Only science, in contrast to blind ideology, explains what economics, morality, art, religion are, and thereby includes disparate facts in the overall picture of the world, always explaining them in a new way. The book also contains a thorough analysis of the most significant philosophical work in Russia at the beginning of our century - "Introduction to the Science of Philosophy" by Yu.I. Semenov. The publication is addressed to students, graduate students, researchers and all readers interested in the history of philosophy and world history, not indifferent to the most acute problems of modern culture, their moral and civic sound.