The article attempts to identify and analyze the main factors of occurrence, systemic components, and the purpose of the political correctness as a new phenomenon of recent decades in the socio-political life of many Western countries. The author focuses on substantiating the thesis that political correctness is generated by the crisis of liberalism with its values of human rights and freedoms. The article shows that this phenomenon, which, at first glance, has the goal of proving the need for replacing words, terms, expressions in communication between people that can offend feelings, dignity and identity of each other with their more acceptable analogues, goes far beyond linguistic considerations. According to the author, the supporters of political correctness are concerned, first of all, with the imposition on the general public of new social, philosophical, moral and ethical values that undermine traditional values.