The article substantiates the thesis about the central role of the phenomenon of ethical in the Kantian and Freudian culture genesis reconstructions. Comparative and hermeneutic methods of research are used. Ethical conception of psychoanalysis contains a clear and hidden polemic with Kant's ethical apriorism. In this connection, a comparative analysis of the two versions of culture genesis is carried out. Similarity and difference of these interpretations of the role of ethical are revealed. According to Freud and Kant the moral collision associated with the act of freedom, which, however, is interpreted differently, is forming the culture origin. It is asserted that the model of "transgression", which marks the beginning of culture, is of timeless nature. At the same time, the article shows significant differences between Kantian and Freudian interpretations of the ethical phenomenon, which are related to the difference between classical and non-classical paradigms of philosophy thinking. Kant does not raise the question of the genesis of ethical: moral law is initially present in the structure of the individual and precedes any act of freedom. According to Freud act of freedom as a manifestation of the instinct of aggression leads to the formation of the Super Ego, identified with conscience; the genesis of ethical and the culture genesis coincide. Despite the ethical pessimism of both thinkers and the difference in philosophical foundations for the interpretation of ethical, they are characterized by the pathos of "consciousness enlargement" to cultural forms of freedom.