Abstract. The author analyses the principle criteria that distinguish cultural history as a separate and self consistent field of research within the culturological domain and considers its subject, problematics, particular features and patterns, which produce its specificity. The cultural history is compared to the history of culture as a part of historical research in the meantime demonstrating essentials of the former which distinguish cultural history among other approaches to cultural research.

Key words: culture, history, history of culture, cultural history, artistic culture, masterpieces, everyday life, social functioning, social and cultural development tendencies

Flier Andrei Yakovlevich,
Doctor in Philosophy, Professor,
Professor of the Department for Philosophy, Culturology and Politology,
Moscow University for the Humanities (Moscow)
e-mail: andrey.flier@yandex.ru