The paper concerns an ambivalent attitude towards democratic values expressed by some of the critics of Western culture: Friedrich Nietzsche, Theodor Lessing, José Ortega y Gasset, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. It is demonstrated that the values indicated as the basic ideals of Western culture and democracy may be perceived also as a menace, either when being improperly understood and accomplished or because of their delusive nature. The paper analyses and confronts the democratic values with the arguments of those critics of Western culture who accused democratic ideals of hypocrisy or wanted to warn against the dystopian future that their improper accomplishment may lead to.

Keywords: Western culture, values, democracy, dystopia