The object of the attention is cognition in its different forms (special attitude is paid to spiritual one), the relation between metaphysics, policy and morality. The present-day global challenges, the profound causes of the crisis can be found in the destruction of the basic principles of morality, which must have ontological and metaphysical foundations. Extensively involving vast culturological, historical, and philosophical materials, the author tends to demonstrate and prove the necessity of transcendental foundations for morality, which were discovered already in the «Axial Age» and which almost have been lost by modern man and society. The author examines the problem of correlation between policy and morality, different variants of it (from machiavellism - «the aim justifies any means» up to pacifistic - «nonresistance to evil by force»). Investigates the principles of a humanistic policy («the virtue aim can be achieved only by virtue methods») and its collisions on an example of I. Il\'in, L. Tolstoy, F. Dostoevsky, other thinkers’ creativity. The course is taught within the specialization «History» of International relations». It also addresses to graduate and postgraduate students in the humanities and everyone interested in understanding specificity of science, spiritual cognition and foundation of humanistic policy.