Abstract: Russian philosophy. Russian philosophy and its features Comparison of Western European and Russian philosophy
The development of world philosophy is a single process, the patterns of which are determined by the course of history and are associated with the identification of more and more new problems that require philosophical understanding. The history of philosophy in this sense also has significant heterogeneity. Hence the need to determine the specific features of a particular national philosophical school. This problem is of particular importance for Russia, because its historical and cultural development has always been characterized by significant unpredictability and did not fit into traditional patterns and patterns: very often long periods of decline and stagnation in its history were followed by periods of economic, political and cultural prosperity. This, of course, was reflected in the development of philosophy.
However, where to start identifying these features? Obviously, we should start with an answer to the question of how Russian philosophy relates to Western and Eastern traditions within world philosophy. The general answer in this case is obvious: Russian philosophy, of course, fits into the Western philosophical tradition, and all its development is associated with the active assimilation and processing of Western philosophy (which, of course, does not exclude mutual influence and mutual enrichment). Eastern philosophy had a much less direct impact on Russian thought than Western philosophy. Its influence was mainly limited to the occasional borrowing of individual ideas. Russian philosophers most readily accepted the extreme mysticism of some Eastern systems, but for them the denial of the significance of the personal principle in man, his individuality, was completely unacceptable. Only at the beginning of the 20th century. fascination with Eastern culture was accompanied by the formation of philosophical concepts entirely focused on Eastern mystical systems (E. Blavatsky, N. Roerich).
This general answer cannot satisfy us. To understand the most important thing, we must take the second step: to establish serious, deep differences between the traditions of Western and Russian philosophizing. He will allow us to general view formulate the main characteristic features of our national philosophy:
1. First and main feature Russian philosophy is PRIMARILY RELIGIOUS, AND SOMETIMES RELIGIOUS-MYSTICAL, RELIGIOUS-SYMBOLIC CHARACTER, i.e. LONG-TERM DOMINATION IN IT OF RELIGIOUS FORMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS, CONSTANT SEARCH FOR THE MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIAN IDEAS FOR AN INDIVIDUAL LOVEKA, SOCIETY AND CULTURE. This was due to a number of reasons:
Firstly, the orientation towards Western culture was decisively determined only with the adoption of Christianity by Russia. Therefore, Russian philosophy, unlike Western European philosophy, did not have a pre-Christian period and, therefore, could not rely on the cultural heritage of antiquity. Without having time to take shape in pagan forms, it immediately found itself captive of theology.
Secondly, Christianity came to Rus' from Byzantium in its eastern version, in the form of Orthodoxy. This act manifested a desire to maintain a certain distance in relation to the cultural and religious traditions characteristic of Western Europe. We should not forget that for several centuries Russia was fenced off from Western European countries by religious intolerance between the Western and Eastern churches. The deepening of diverse ties with the West was also hampered by the almost 300-year-old Tatar-Mongol yoke and its negative consequences.
As a result, Russian thought until the 17th century. developed in isolation, except for the archaic influence of Athonite (from Athos - “Holy Mountain” in northern Greece, the center of Orthodox monasticism) monks. Even theological scholasticism penetrated into Russian theological educational institutions only in the 17th century, when the West already had full-fledged philosophical systems. In Russia, unlike advanced European countries, the emergence of secular culture, natural science and philosophy, free from religion, was 200-300 years late. However, religious forms of consciousness made themselves felt in the subsequent XI-XVII centuries. time, at least throughout the entire 18th century.
Thirdly, the rather late introduction of Orthodoxy in Rus' and the unusual way of its adoption (“from above”) prevented the unambiguous dominance of Christian ideas. In the process of assimilation, they intricately combined with the deeply rooted and original pagan beliefs of the ancient Slavs, that is, they were significantly modified (this was especially typical for spheres of culture not controlled by the church; Orthodoxy excluded the existence of other views).
2. The second characteristic feature of Russian philosophy: ULTIMATE DUALISM, ANTINOMISM (antinomy is a contradiction between two mutually exclusive positions, equally convincingly proven by logic) IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD, MAN AND HISTORY as a consequence of the confrontation between the pagan and Christian sources of Russian culture that has not been overcome to the end. Ancient pagan admiration for nature, attachment to fluid material existence, combined with the Christian sense of the reality of the other, upper world, with the desire for immediate and direct union with him. Apparently, this explains the opposite aspirations in the Russian spiritual character: admiration natural world, an extremely sensitive attitude towards him and at the same time an “insight” of a higher, divine reality that determines what is authentic in a person and his life.
Something similar was observed in human understanding. Russian man, on the one hand, directly belongs to temporary, material existence, on the other hand, he is just as directly and intimately connected with God, that is, he is rooted in eternal, spiritual existence.
The same feature characterizes the perception of history in Russian philosophy. History in it is recognized not only in its empirical, visible embodiment as a process of comprehensive social development, but also in its mystical, divine dimension as the implementation of a certain divine plan.
Moreover, awareness of the contradictions rooted in the world, man and history does not lead to their resolution or at least smoothing out, but only more acutely reveals the tragedy human existence. Contradiction in Russian philosophy, therefore, is perceived as absolute, incapable of harmonious resolution, “removal.” This is the peculiarity of its dialectics.
3. As a third distinctive feature Russian philosophy needs to note the SPECIFICITY OF THE STYLE OF PHILOSOPHY ITSELF. in Western philosophy since the 17th century. The purely rationalistic, “scientific” method of presentation became dominant, reaching its apotheosis among representatives of the German classical philosophy. In Russian philosophy, the rationalistic method has never been the main one; moreover, for many thinkers it seemed false, not making it possible to get to the essence of the main philosophical problems. In it, in accordance with the Russian spiritual character, the leading one was the emotional-figurative, artistic style of philosophizing, giving preference to vivid artistic images and analogies, intuitive insights, rather than strict logical reasoning. Even among those major Russian philosophers who fully fit into the classical rationalist tradition, logic and rational consistency were always naturally combined with artistic imagery and an appeal to intuition, going beyond the limits of what is possible for rational thinking. This is especially characteristic of V. S. Solovyov and his philosophical heirs - N. Berdyaev, S. Frank, I. Ilyin, P. Florensky and others.
4. From the third follows another, fourth, feature of Russian philosophy: it was the PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE in the full sense of the word. Philosophy, detached from life and locked in speculative constructions, could not count on success in Russia. Therefore, it was in Russia - earlier than anywhere else - that she consciously submitted to solving the pressing problems facing society. Of course, there were inclinations towards speculative speculation and general philosophical problems, but not in the same form and not on the same scale as it was, for example, in Germany. It is more characterized by a certain sociality: communal consciousness, conciliarity, sophia (“word-wisdom-deed”, which presupposes the posing of completely earthly, human questions).
5. In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Russia, due to its backwardness, maintained feudal relations and autocratic despotism, while many European countries established bourgeois orders, and some of them established a republican system. The prolonged dominance of serfdom and autocracy gave rise to SPECIAL FORMS OF IDEOLOGY, either unfamiliar to other states or not received similar development in them: the ideology of noble revolutionaries, revolutionary peasant democracy, including populism, Slavophilism and Westernism, Tolstoyism.
6. A comparison of the conditions of Russian life with the life of advanced European countries inevitably gave rise in our philosophy to one of the most acute problems of social thought - THE PROBLEM OF RUSSIA AND THE WEST. Since the end of the 18th century, it has not left the pages of the Russian press and has excited the minds of people belonging to the most diverse movements. This topic was substantiated most fully, philosophically, historically and factually, by N.A. Berdyaev in his famous work “The Russian Idea. The main problems of Russian thought of the 19th and early 20th centuries.”
Russian philosophy is distinctive, quite original, pluralistic and relevant. From the 11th to the 20th centuries. in it one can distinguish a number of periods within which it was characterized by a certain stability and a certain uniformity:
1. The formation of Russian philosophy, the gradual accumulation of material to transform it into an independent science. (XI-XVII centuries). Its first experiments date back to ancient times and are associated with the Christianization of Rus', with the justification of the need to include the “Russian land” in the global process of the triumph of divine “light” (i.e. Christ, called “grace” and “truth”) over the “darkness” of paganism . Further, Russian philosophical thought developed in line with moral and practical instructions and substantiation of the special role of Orthodox Rus' in the formation of world civilization (the teaching of the monk of the Pskov Elizarov Monastery Philotheus about “Moscow the Third Rome”).
2. Separation of philosophy from religion and its establishment as a theoretical science (XVIII century), thanks to the scientific achievements of M. V. Lomonosov (1711-1765), the founder of the materialist tradition in Russian philosophy, and the peculiar philosophical talent of G. V. Skovoroda (1722 -1794). It is no coincidence that Moscow University opened in 1755, where secular teaching of philosophy began and it was separated from religion.
3. fundamental development of problems in the methodology of scientific and social transformation of Russia (since the 19th century). It was during this period that the question of “the real essence of the people” (F. M. Dostoevsky), about the Russian national ideal was raised with all its urgency. The attempt to solve it reached its peak in Slavophilism, which was “organized” under the influence of the historiosophy of P. Ya. Chaadaev (1794-1856) and gave birth first to religious reformism, and the latter, in turn, to the Russian search for God, or the “spiritual renaissance” of the end XIX - early XX centuries.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. criticism of historical Christianity, already dilapidated in the service of despotic power, no longer satisfied many people. A new revelation about man, a new religious consciousness was required.
V. S. Solovyov is the founder of a new religious consciousness.
The founder of the new religious consciousness was the greatest Russian philosopher Vladimir Sergeevich SOLOVIEV. He was put on a par with Aurelius Augustine, F. Schelling, and compared with A. Schopenhauer, F. Nietzsche. He really did not fit into any one trend or direction, synthesizing the most diverse trends in world philosophy.
Soloviev tried to create a holistic worldview system that, on the basis of Christianity, would unite the needs of a person’s religious and social life. Moreover, unlike some of his predecessors and followers, by Christianity he did not mean just one of its confessions, but their unification, and his teaching is characterized by interfaithism.
The central idea of Solovyov's philosophy is the IDEA OF UNITY. Its ontological basis is the divine Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in its connection with all divine creations and, most importantly, with man. The basic principle of unity is “All is one in God.” All-unity is, first of all, the unity of the creator and creation. Solovyov’s God is not likened to man, but appears as a “cosmic mind,” as a “superpersonal being,” as a “special organizing force.”
“Cosmic mind,” according to the philosopher, consists of many elementary entities that underlie any phenomenon or object and are called atoms. Atoms, by their movements and vibrations, form real world. Soloviev interprets the atoms themselves as special outflows of the Divine, “living elementary beings” or IDEAS, each of which has a certain power.
The immediate subject of all changes for the Russian thinker is the WORLD SOUL, which has a special energy that spiritualizes everything that exists. However, she does not act independently; she needs a divine impulse. Such an impulse given to the world soul from God is the IDEA OF UNITY as the determining form of all its activity.
This eternal divine idea in Solovyov’s system was called SOPHIA (Greek, sophia - skill, knowledge, wisdom) - WISDOM. Sofia is in it - key concept. Therefore, the teaching of the Russian thinker is also called SOPHIOLOGY. In it, he considered the world soul-Sophia as a connecting link between the creator and creation, which gives community to God, the world and humanity.
Solovyov reveals the mechanism of bringing God, the world and humanity closer together through the concept of GOD-HUMANITY, the real and perfect embodiment of which is Jesus Christ, who unites two principles - the divine and the human. His image serves not only as an ideal for each individual, but also as the highest goal for the development of all humanity.
The primary condition on the path to God-manhood is Christian conversion, that is, the acceptance of Christian doctrine. Natural man, not enlightened by divine truth, confronts people as an alien and hostile force. Christ revealed universal moral values to man and created conditions for his moral improvement. Communicating to the teachings of Christ, man walking along the path of his spirituality. This communion constitutes the content of Solovyov’s historiosophy.
In the epistemological aspect, the principle of unity is realized through the concept of INTEGRATED KNOWLEDGE. It represents the inextricable interconnection of three varieties of this knowledge: empirical (scientific), rational (philosophical) and mystical (contemplative-religious). As a prerequisite, a fundamental principle, integral knowledge provides FAITH IN THE EXISTENCE OF AN ABSOLUTE BEGINNING - GOD. Complete knowledge, according to Solovyov, cannot be obtained only by empirical and rational means. Empirical knowledge reveals only the external side of phenomena, and the rational reveals the features of thinking itself. However, truth or existence is not given to man either in experience or in thinking. Truth is comprehended through direct contemplation and intuition. Thus, Soloviev, in his concept, tried to combine the principle of autonomy of reason, on which rationalism is based, with the principle of divine revelation of Christian doctrine, which is the basis of theology. In other words: the Russian thinker came to the conclusion about the need for the unity of science, philosophy and religion. Such unity, which he called “free theosophy,” made it possible to view the world as a complete system, conditioned by unity or God.
“Philosophy of the Common Cause” by N. F. Fedorov.
In contrast to Solovyov and his followers, who viewed the world from the point of view of the predominantly planetary unity of humanity, in the depths of Russian philosophy already at the end of the 19th century. A different view on the path of development of modern civilization began to take shape. He went beyond planetary thinking and called for looking at the destinies of humanity from the POSITION OF THE COSMIC DIMENSION OF ITS EXISTENCE. This trend is most clearly represented by Russian COSMISM (N. F. Fedorov, K. E. Tsiolkovsky, V. V. Vernadsky). THE CENTRAL IDEA OF THE COSMOCENTRIC APPROACH IS THE UNITY OF MAN WITH THE SPACE, THE COSMIC NATURE OF MAN AND THE SPACE SCALE OF HIS ACTIVITY.
This idea is presented especially clearly in the “Philosophy of the Common Cause” by Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov (1828-1903), who tried to synthesize two methodological approaches to man: anthropologism and cosmism, to unite the destinies of man and the destinies of universal existence. Man in his space project received an unprecedentedly wide field for his self-realization and became a guarantor of the preservation and perpetuation of life. At the same time, he extended the moral criterion of human actions not only to the relationship of man to man, but also to the entire area of man’s relationship to nature. The “philosophy of the common cause” is focused both on the victory of the human spirit on Earth and on the widespread, in line with the ancient tradition, transformation of Chaos into Cosmos.
Fedorov substantiated this idea from the standpoint of a religious worldview. However, he was not captive to any narrow confessional tradition. Fedorov rejected dogmatized religion that preached human inactivity, submission to fate, and humility. He has quite strongly expressed deistic and pathetic tendencies. He understood God not as an otherworldly universal force that creates everything “out of nothing,” but as the supreme Reason inherent in being, the universal world-unifying Love. Irreducible to nature, but also inseparable from it, God acts through the will and mind of people. He understands the Incarnation as humanization, that is, the introduction of human principles and feelings into nature. “The Word of God,” according to Fedorov, is the world itself, the very interconnection of everything in this world.
The IDEA OF OVERCOMING DEATH played a key role in Fedorov’s teachings. He considered the real antipode of death to be the re-creation of life, the resurrection of the dead. In contrast to orthodox Christian beliefs, the RESURRECTION OF MAN, in his opinion, WILL HAPPEN NOT IN THE OTHER WORLD, BUT IN THE THIS WORLD, AND NOT SPIRITUALLY, BUT PHYSICALLY, IN THE SUBSTANTIAL RESURRECTION OF THE SOUL AND TEMPERA, IN THEIR UNITY. Resurrection, according to Fedorov, is not an individual act, not the destiny of the chosen, but a calling and heritage not only of all people, regardless of their rank and class, but also of all peoples, i.e., a nationwide, worldwide cause. Resurrection does not mean expecting a miracle, but presupposes active human activity in this direction. Consequently, Man is not only an object, but also a subject of resurrection: some people resurrect others, and the resurrected can themselves become resurrectors. Fedorov's concept of resurrection covers two aspects. The first involves revitalization in the truest sense of the word, an awakening to authentic life, which includes nature's ability to recreate itself; the second is the idea of “revitalizing” the living, i.e., revealing and using their creative potential, inspiration for the “common cause” of life affirmation and life creativity. The complex of ideas covered by the problem of resurrection also includes the “sanitary issue”: environmental measures aimed at healing the Earth, preserving the life existing on it (eliminating diseases, epidemics, hunger, senility).
The most fantastic and utopian part of his philosophical system: the development of a project for the resurrection of ancestors, which provided for the identification and collection of all atoms and molecules that were once part of deceased organisms. Fedorov believed that the waves arising as a result of the vibration of molecules and carrying within them the ray image of the ancestors would respond consonantly in living beings, related to the dead. As a result, there will be a union in the ashes of what is related and a separation of the alien. Fedorov called this process telluro-solar or telluro-cosmic. To implement the project, he proposed creating special scientific centers, which, along with physicists, chemists, astrologers, physiologists, and archaeologists, would include representatives of the science of infinitesimal molecular movements.
This concept, in essence, denied the line between living and nonliving, between soul and body. He viewed the body as a machine, and thought as a type of substance. “Assemble the machine,” he said, “and consciousness will return to it.” Therefore, the task of complete bodily resurrection ultimately came down to the collection of all the constituent parts of the human body.
Although Fedorov especially insisted on a literal, naturalistic understanding of resurrection, this idea is not confined to a purely technical framework. It had cosmic parameters. Fedorov saw the connection between the projects of resurrection and space travel in the overpopulation of the Earth: resurrected generations will inevitably face an acute shortage of housing and food. To survive, they. will have to take care of populating space and thus ensure the harmonization of the Universe.
Fedorov did not reduce the concept of a “common cause” to the resurrection of ancestors. THE COMMON CASE IS MAINLY THE UNIVERSAL REGULATION OF NATURE, THE CONTROL OF ITS FORCES. It, according to the philosopher, has internal and external aspects. The internal aspect implied psychophysiological regulation, that is, the control of blind forces in a person. External regulation extends from the Earth to the entire holistic world - the Cosmos. It has three steps:
meteorological, the object of which is the Earth,
· planetary (solar system),
· universal cosmic (infinite Universe).
At the last stage, Fedorov considered it quite possible to shift the Earth from a constant orbit and send it into outer space along a deliberately plotted course, i.e., to turn our planet into a spaceship - the “Earth Rover”.
With the development of regulation, all nature, according to Fedorov, will become a sphere of human habitation, an object of reason and labor, a unified cosmic economic system. Man, going beyond the earth's limits, will unite all the worlds of the Universe and turn the "Amerch Rover" into a "Planet Rover".
Certainly, to modern man the way out of the problem proposed by the Russian thinker global problems seems very fantastic, utopian. However, the general pathos of Fedorov’s philosophy of “common cause”, his passionate desire to restore the broken unity of the universe, the disintegrated connection of times, the value of the human soul, to bridge the gap between man and nature, to raise its spontaneous development to the level of controlled evolution, to revive the dead and awaken interest in genuine life living people plunged into spiritual hibernation seems to be very fruitful and requires deep, comprehensive understanding, taking into account the realities of modern civilization.
“If we now undertake to briefly formulate the general formal features of Russian philosophy, then we can highlight the following points:
1. Russian philosophy, unlike European, and most of all German philosophy, is alien to the desire for an abstract, purely intellectual systematization of views. It represents a purely internal, intuitive, purely mystical knowledge of existence, its hidden depths, which can be comprehended not through reduction to logical concepts and definitions, but only in a symbol, in an image through the power of imagination and inner vital mobility (Lebens Dynamik).
2. Russian philosophy is inextricably linked with real life, therefore it often appears in the form of journalism, which originates in the general spirit of the time, with all its positive and negative sides, with all its joys and sufferings, with all its order and chaos. Therefore, among Russians there are very few philosophers of par excellence: they exist, they are geniuses, but often they have to be looked for among feuilletonists, literary critics and theorists of individual parties.
3. In connection with this “liveness” of Russian philosophical thought is the fact that fiction is a treasure trove of original Russian philosophy. In prose writings Zhukovsky and Gogol, in the works of Tyutchev. Feta. Lev Tolstoy. Dostoevsky, Maxim Gorky, the main philosophical problems, of course in their specifically Russian, exclusively practical, life-oriented form. And these problems are resolved here in such a way that an unbiased and knowledgeable judge will call these solutions not just “literary” or “artistic,” but philosophical and ingenious.”
Losev A.F., Russian philosophy, in Collection: Vvedensky A.I., Losev A.F., Radlov E.L., Shpet G.G., Essays on the history of Russian philosophy, Sverdlovsk, “Ural”, 1991 ., With. 70-71.
Speaking about Russian philosophy, we should first of all note its heterogeneity. Throughout the development of philosophical thought in Russia, there is a certain correlation with the history of Western European philosophy, and many influences of Western philosophers are found in Russian thinkers. However, in Russian thought there are also completely independent, original ideas that largely determine its originality.
The largest researcher in the history of Russian philosophy V.V. Zenkovsky divides it into the following periods:
1. PROLOGUE to Russian philosophy:
a) before Peter the Great,
c) XVIII century.
2. The first period - before the emergence of systems (nineteenth century - until the 70s
3. The second period - the emergence of systems (end of the 19th century -
first two decades of the twentieth century).
4. Third period - twentieth century (after 1917).
He refers to the prologue as the first awakenings of spiritual culture in its introspection. This time in Russia, as in the West, was the era of the dominance of Christian ideology, but unlike Western Europe, Russia adopted a completely different point of view on the development of religion as such. The famous thesis “Moscow is the third Rome” largely determined all further searches and discoveries of Russian philosophers. After the fall of first the Western and then the Eastern Roman Empires, Rus' is perceived as the last stronghold and refuge true faith; its preservation becomes the main task. Therefore, the first spiritual discoveries are inextricably linked with the unique Russian religious traditions. Philosophy proper does not yet exist at this moment; this is the main difference between Russian philosophical thought and European thought. In Europe, religious Christian consciousness came to the ground prepared ancient thinkers, in Russia, Christianity, on the contrary, serves as the source of philosophical thought.
A huge role in the formation of early philosophy is played by a tradition that had practically no analogues in the West - eldership. The elders were neither high-ranking nor priests chosen to serve in a certain field; it was simply that when a person felt the need for spiritual self-development, he retired not even to monasteries, but to the so-called “deserts,” where he spent time trying to mystical comprehend God and the world . It is not surprising, therefore, that in the field of epistemology, Russian philosophy does not create any independent systems (like Kant’s or Hegel’s), but follows the path of mysticism. But if in Europe, starting from late patristics, and especially by the end of the 10th century. mysticism is recognized as dangerous for the official doctrine and is persecuted, then in Russia the elders enjoy authority from both church and secular authorities, and the most outstanding elders are canonized as saints, as was the case, for example, with Sergius of Radonezh. European Catholic Church feared the loss of power of the clergy, who played the role of intermediaries between man and God - the mystical tradition destroyed the need for such mediation. The Papal Church, represented by the Inquisition, brutally persecuted such mentalities as heresies. An example is the “Brothers of the Free Spirit”, who preached knowledge through the inner divine light (“Illuminism”, by this term they were also called the Illuminati).
The Russian elders directed their mystical impulses not to fight official doctrine, but, on the contrary, to strengthen ties between church, state and society.
In the XV111th century. in Russia there is a process of secularization, i.e. relative distinction between church and secular society. It should be noted, however, that unlike the West, where secular rulers sought complete independence from papal throne(English King James 1 even established a new church for this purpose - the Anglican - according to the charter of which the supreme power in it belongs to the monarch), in Russia this process was never completed until 1917. The Orthodox Church and the autocracy went hand in hand. The reforms of Peter 1, who sought to turn the country to the west, although they influenced the emergence of new philosophical schools, nevertheless could not destroy the ancient fusion of religious and philosophical traditions. The first philosopher who can be considered such in the full sense of the word - Grigory Skovoroda - is an example of a religious thinker who directed the spiritual potential of a deeply religious person to create a philosophical system (we encountered something similar when talking about the works of the church fathers).
At the same time, another direction in the spiritual life of Russia is clearly visible - the penetration into it of those same philosophical schools of the West. First of all, this concerns the works of Voltaire and other enlighteners; many researchers talk about Russian Voltairianism, implying by this a certain freethinking in relation to supreme power and churches. Catherine 11, who corresponded with Voltaire, initially encouraged the reading of his works, but after the French Revolution she ordered the destruction of all his works in Russia. V. Klyuchevsky notes the peculiarity of the Russian perception of Voltaire: “Having lost his God, the ordinary Russian Voltairean not only left His temple as a person who had become superfluous in it, but, like a rebellious servant, strove to riot before leaving, to interrupt, distort, and dirty everything.”
The influence of enlighteners - both French and German - can be traced in the book by A.N. Radishchev’s “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” after reading which Catherine, according to legend, exclaimed: “The author is a rebel, worse than Pugachev!” Radishchev poses a problem that will long remain fundamental in the entire social philosophy of Russia. Often they try to reduce the content of his work only to a description of the difficult situation of the peasantry and the fight against serfdom; this is certainly not true. Radishchev considers the problem much more broadly, speaking about the need to restructure the state according to the principles of natural law, i.e. in fact, he is a conductor of the ideas of not only Voltaire, but also Rousseau in Russia.
Х1Х century marked by the emergence of a number of schools and trends - both imitative and original. First of all, it is necessary to say about the explosion of popularity of Schelling, a German philosopher who belongs to the galaxy of classic idealists. Schelling's ideas are spreading among such dissimilar philosophers as Chaadaev, Odoevsky, Vellansky and others.
In addition to the “university” way of disseminating Western philosophy, it should be noted the influence of the Patriotic War of 1812, as a result of which the philosophical thought of the second third of the 19th century. turns out to be primarily a debate between Westerners and Slavophiles.
The opportunity to directly touch the life of Western society, which many received as a result of the Russian army’s campaign in Paris, combined with the popularity of Schelling (and other German philosophers - Kant, Fichte) led to the emergence in the 40s of the 19th century. movements of Westerners, the forerunners of which can be considered Odoevsky, Venevitinov, Chaadaev. In the proper sense, Westerners - Herzen, Ogarev, Korsh and others - defended the need for social transformations in Russia in the image and likeness of the most developed Western countries. They saw in the political structure of autocracy and serfdom the source of all the problems of Russia at that time. The Slavophiles - Aksakov, Khomyakov, Kireevsky - saw him in the reforms of Peter, and called for a return to the patriarchal pre-reform society. The Russian community was recognized as almost the embodiment of Thomas More's Utopia...
The last third of the 19th century – the beginning of the 20th centuries. characterized both by the emergence of completely original philosophical systems and the widespread spread of Marxism, which ultimately led to the revolution of 1917. Marxists - Plekhanov, Lenin and others - completed the development of Marx's philosophy with the creation of a proletarian state. After the seventeenth year, all official philosophy becomes a reflection of the dominant ideology. Significant is the expulsion of philosophers who disagreed with this doctrine - the famous “ship of philosophers” - in 1920. Representatives of non-Marxist philosophy - Trubetskoy, Solovyov, Frank, Lossky, Berdyaev and others - belonged to different movements, but one can identify something common that united them philosophical systems. These are, first of all, the ideas of conciliarity and unity. The concept of conciliarity is already revealed in the teachings of the Slavophiles; in Khomyakov it expresses the general metaphysical principle of the structure of existence, affirming the power of love as the basis of the existence of the one (as opposed to association - the formal collection of many disparate elements). It is conciliarity that should be the basis of society, as it was, according to the ideas of Khomyakov and his followers, in the Russian peasant community. The concept of conciliarity, transferred to ontology, gives an idea of unity: Vl. Soloviev puts forward this principle as a metaphysical community of God (the absolute), the existence of the world and the existence of man.
In the 20th century Russian philosophy in the USSR is represented by such names as V.I. Vernadsky, A.F. Losev, M. Mamardashvili, E.V. Ilyenkov and many others. Being in the general mainstream of Marxist ideology, these philosophers were, nevertheless, completely original thinkers. In parallel, emigrant philosophy is developing in the West, represented by I.P. Ilyin, P. Sorokin and others.
SECTION 111. SYSTEMATIC PHILOSOPHY.
The peculiarities of the formation and development of Russian philosophy in the context of the unique historical path of Russia determined a number of its characteristic features.
1)anthropocentrism. The theme of man, his fate, calling and purpose is key in Russian philosophy.
2) Moral aspect. Problems of morality have always constituted the main content of Russian philosophical thinking, which gave rise to V.V. Zenkovsky to talk about the panmoralism of Russian philosophy. It should be noted that Russian philosophers considered morality not just as a special sphere of spiritual life, that is, the realm of the ideal, but as a special reality. A classic example in this regard is the category of Good in the system moral philosophy V.S. Solovyov, where Good is interpreted as a certain ontological essence, the highest foundation on which the life of all humanity rests.
3) Deep interest in social issues. Russian philosophy has always developed in conditions of acute social, political, and economic processes in Russia. The philosophical concepts of Russian religious thinkers have always been associated with the specific socio-political situation in the country.
4) The idea of patriotism. The theme of the Motherland, the fate of Russia, its place and purpose in the world community is one of the central ones for Russian philosophical thought.
5) Religious character. The religious direction in Russian philosophy throughout the history of its development was the richest and most significant ideologically.
6) Synthesis of philosophical and literary-artistic creativity. Fiction played a huge role in the expression philosophical ideas in Russia, was a sphere of philosophical reflection and consolidation philosophical traditions. In this regard, it reached its heights in the 19th century in the works of A.S. Pushkina, N.V. Gogol, F.I. Tyutchev, and the names of F.M. Dostoevsky and L.N. Tolstoy is considered one of the founders of classical religious philosophy in Russia. It must be added that the treasury of the “golden” age of Russian culture included not only the philosophical heritage of the great Russian thinker V.S. Solovyov, but also his poetic creativity, which had a huge influence on a whole generation of poets.
7) Striving for integrity, universality. Russian thinkers view the fate of man in its inextricable connection with society, with humanity as a whole, and humanity as a component of the world as a whole, the Universe. This tendency found its most vivid expression in the philosophy of unity of V.S. Solovyov and his followers, which served as a natural expression of the ideals and values of Russian philosophy.
8) this feature became the basis cosmic worldview Russian philosophical thought in general and the formation of its peculiar movement, called "Russian cosmism". The task of cosmology is to study the world as a whole, to find an answer to the question of the place of humanity in the world.
3. P.Ya. Chaadaev is the first Russian philosopher.
Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev (1794 – 1856) – philosopher and public figure, participant in the War of 1812, friend of Pushkin. Chaadaev was the first in the history of Russian thought to create a system of philosophical knowledge. His ideas are most fully expressed in " Philosophical letters».
Chaadaev developed religious and philosophical line. He argued that only under the influence of religion can humanity fulfill its destiny.
Ontology Chaadaev is also of a religious nature. At the heart of the world lies the great “ALL,” which is a manifestation of the divine hypostases. “EVERYTHING” is objective, i.e. does not depend on a person and manifests itself in the forms of the physical and spiritual world. He interprets movement mechanistically and shares the idea of the “primordial impulse.”
main idea epistemology Chaadaev – objective conditioning of consciousness. The mind that cognizes the world is itself subject to the laws of this world. The main means of understanding the physical world are experience, reasoning and intuition. The laws spiritual world unknowable by ordinary means, because the movement of the human spirit is a reflection of God's continuous action on the world. Therefore, the laws of the spiritual world can only be understood through Divine revelation.
In area anthropology Chaadaev substantiated the concept of the generic essence of man. The human spirit is the spirit of the human race, and in the world of consciousness there is nothing completely separate. A person becomes a person only through inclusion in human culture. The generic essence of a person is realized in a community with specific people, within nations and peoples. A person belongs to humanity through belonging to a nation, therefore patriotism is a general law, a natural state of human feelings.
The main themes of Chaadaev’s works are: the fate of Russia and the philosophy of history. Chaadaev develops the idea of history as the creation of the “Kingdom of God” in the world. The philosopher is looking for answers to the questions: are there general laws for the development of human communities? What determines the unity of human history?
Chaadaev considers religion to be the main condition for the development of culture. He puts forward the idea of religious unity of humanity and considers Christianity to be the source of true spirituality and morality. However, Chaadaev sharply contrasted the Catholic and Orthodox Church, giving preference to Catholicism, which, in his opinion, determined the superiority west European culture over the domestic one. He accuses the Orthodox Church of preserving serfdom in Russia and protests against the monarchy, which also relies on Orthodoxy. He characterizes Russia as a country of missing traditions, because it belongs neither to the West nor to the East. However, it is precisely because of its backwardness and immaturity that Russia can avoid the mistakes of Europe. Having mastered everything valuable that the West has, Russia can become a center of religious synthesis and cultural life. Thus, he sets the task of realizing the enormous, but not yet in demand moral and intellectual potential of the Russian people.
For the ideas expressed by Chaadaev in his 1st “Philosophical Letter”, he was declared insane and imprisoned in a fortress. In his work “Apology for a Madman,” he wrote that he could not love his Motherland with his eyes closed, his head bowed and his lips closed.
4. Westerners and Slavophiles: a dispute about the paths of development of Russia.
Chaadaev's ideas marked the beginning of the dispute between Westerners and Slavophiles.
Westernism was represented by the names of A.I. Herzen. N.P. Ogareva, T.N. Granovsky and others; V.G. also adhered to Westernist views. Belinsky, N.G. Chernyshevsky, I.S. Turgenev.
Westernism as a whole is characterized by a European orientation of thought, interest in Western European philosophy, and the desire to transfer Russia to the path of European civilization. Westerners were concerned about Russia's lag behind Western civilization in the economic, political, and cultural fields. In an effort to determine the reasons for this lag, they turned to the study of trends in the development of Western culture. They saw an opportunity for Russia's development in repeating the path of Europe. They viewed national traditions as a manifestation of inertia and cultural regression; They associated the idea of progress with the development of capitalist relations. The ideal personality for Westerners is an independent, rationally thinking individualist.
Slavophiles(P.V. Kireevsky, A.S. Khomyakov, K.S. Aksakov and others) concentrated their attention on the national uniqueness of Russian culture, defended the nationally distinctive path of Russia in world history. They were not opposed to the development of ties with other countries in the field of industry and trade, but they considered the political culture of the West unacceptable for Russia. They idealized the communal form of organizing the life of society, considering it the implementation of the Christian principles of love, goodness, and brotherhood. According to the Slavophiles, the Russian people have preserved spiritual integrity, which was lost in the West due to the worship of rationality and empiricism. The spirituality of the Russian people is inseparable from religious faith. The source of the Russian faith was Byzantine Orthodoxy, and, since no one except the Slavs followed the Byzantine path, then the Russian people can be considered the chosen ones. They considered the main principle of the national consciousness and existence of the Russian people conciliarity. The term “conciliarity” was introduced by A.S. Khomyakov. The idea of conciliarity is central to his teaching and denoted the free association of people based on love for God and for each other. In this category we can distinguish socio-anthropological, epistemological and moral-axiological aspects. For A. S. Khomyakov, conciliarity is the inclination of the Russian people to a communal organization of life based on the principles of mutual assistance, it is also the harmony of faith and reason in the search for truth, and finally, it is the idea of combining the unity and freedom of people in the Church based on their common love for absolute values. Sobornost, according to the Slavophiles, found its expression in communal peasant agriculture. Orthodoxy and community form the basis of the Slavic soul. This has no analogues in the world, and therefore the path of development of the Russian people does not coincide with the general trends in the development of world civilization.
13. Specifics of Russian philosophical thought.
Russian philosophy dates back a thousand years of its existence, ten centuries - from the tenth to the twentieth.
The development of world philosophy is a single process, the patterns of which are determined by the course of history and are associated with the identification of new problems that require philosophical understanding.
The historical and cultural development of Russia has always been characterized by unpredictability and did not fit into traditional patterns and patterns: very often long periods of decline and stagnation in its history were followed by periods of economic, political and cultural prosperity.
This was also reflected in the development of philosophy.
On the development of Russian social and philosophical thought . (article by S. Frank “The Essence and Leading Motives of Russian Philosophy”, published for the first time in Germany in 1925.):
Russian philosophy is a “super-scientific intuitive teaching and worldview.”
Therefore, Russian philosophy is also fiction, permeated with a deep philosophical perception of life (Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Tyutchev, Gogol), it is also a freely written article devoted to a philosophical topic,
Truth can be comprehended quite optionally in “logical connections and beautiful systematicity.”
Frank said directly: “Philosophy of history and social philosophy... are the main themes of Russian philosophy.”
Features of the national identity of Russian philosophical thought:
Interest in society and the person in it is organically inherent in Russian philosophy, moreover, in the very essence of the people's worldview.
In Russian philosophy, neither abstract-logical constructions nor individualism were widely developed.
A very important distinctive feature of Russian philosophy is the promotion of the moral assessment of people, their actions, as well as events, including social and political ones, to the fore.
It is characteristic of Russian thinkers that, in addition to the concept of “truth”, which exists in all languages, they also use such an untranslatable word as “truth”. It contains the secret and meaning of national Russian philosophy.
The Russian thinker is always looking for the “truth”. After all, “truth” is not only the truth, a theoretically correct image of the world. “Truth” is the moral foundations of life, it is the spiritual essence of existence. “Truth” is sought not for the sake of abstract knowledge, but in order to “transform the world, be cleansed and saved.”
The search for “truth” also determined the forms in which Russian philosophical thought was expressed. It is always an argument, a dialogue. “Truth-truth” was born in them. Indeed - non-acquisitives and freemasons, materialists, Pushkin and Chaadaev, Slavophiles and Westerners, Marxists and populists - there was no end to the disputes in Russian socio-philosophical thought.
Features of Russian philosophy
The main feature of Russian philosophy is its religious-mystical character, the interweaving and confrontation of the pagan and Christian sources of Russian culture.
Russian philosophy, unlike Western European philosophy, did not have a pre-Christian period and, therefore, could not rely on the cultural heritage of antiquity. It took shape in pagan forms. (Orientation towards Western culture was determined only with the adoption of Christianity by Russia).
The ancient pagan admiration for nature and attachment to current material existence were combined with the Christian sense of a higher (other) world, with the desire for direct unity with God.
A similar thing was observed in human understanding. Russian man: on the one hand, directly belongs to material existence; on the other hand, it is directly, spiritually connected with God (rooted in eternal, spiritual existence).
The awareness of the inevitability of death prompted us to think about the “meaning” of life, about what is important and essential in it, about what will happen “after death” or “after life.”
Russian Philosophy is the desire of man, as a rational, thinking being, to overcome his finitude, his limitations and mortality, his imperfection, and to comprehend the absolute, the “divine,” the perfect, the eternal and the infinite.
In Russia, unlike advanced European countries, the emergence of philosophy free from religion was 200-300 years late. Philosophy penetrated into Russian educational institutions only in the 17th century, when the West already had full-fledged philosophical systems.
The separation of philosophy from religion and its establishment as a theoretical science began in the 18th century, thanks to the scientific achievements of M. V. Lomonosov (1711-1765), the founder of the materialist tradition in Russian philosophy. Russian philosophy separated from religion in 1755, when Moscow University opened, where secular teaching of philosophy began.
As a second distinctive feature of Russian philosophy, it is necessary to note the specificity of the Russian style of philosophizing.
Christianity came to Rus' from Byzantium in its eastern version, in the form of Orthodoxy. (This act showed a desire to maintain a certain distance from Western Europe, from its cultural and religious traditions).
For several centuries, Russia was separated from Western European countries by religious intolerance between the Western and Eastern churches.
The deepening of ties with the West was also hampered by the almost 300-year-old Tatar-Mongol yoke and its negative consequences.
As a result, Russian thought until the 17th century. developed in isolation.
In Western philosophy since the 17th century. The purely rationalistic, “scientific” method of presentation became dominant, reaching its apotheosis among representatives of German classical philosophy.
In Russian philosophy, the rationalistic method has never been the main one; moreover, for many thinkers it seemed false, not making it possible to get to the essence of the main philosophical problems.
In Russian philosophy, the leading one turned out to be an emotional-imaginative, artistic style of philosophizing, giving preference to vivid artistic images, intuitive insights, rather than strict logical reasoning.
Third, feature of Russian philosophy:
Russian philosophy is more characterized by communal consciousness, conciliarity, “sophia” (“word-wisdom” is action”), which presupposes the posing of completely earthly, human questions.
In Russia, philosophy, detached from life and locked in speculative constructions, could not count on success.
Therefore, it was in Russia - earlier than anywhere else - that philosophy was subordinated to the solution of practical problems facing society.
The comparison of the conditions of Russian life with the life of advanced European countries gave rise in our philosophy to one of the most acute problems of social thought - the relationship between Russia and the West.
Contrast between Russia and the West. The search for Russian philosophical thought took place in the confrontation of two directions: 1) Slavophiles , 2) Westerners .Slavophiles focused attention on the originality of Russian thought and connected this originality with the unique originality of Russian spiritual life. Westerners expressed a desire to integrate Russia into the process of development of Western (European) culture. They believed that since Russia embarked on the path of development later than other European countries, it should learn from the West.
Russian philosophers persistently overcame the “inferiority complex” - a false belief about the lack of independence of Russian philosophical thought, and defended its originality.
Russian philosophy - not a distant page of the distant past, which has already been absorbed by the stream of time. This philosophy is a living thought. We find in the works of Hilarion of Kiev, Lomonosov, Slavophiles and Westerners, in the philosophical quests of F. M. Dostoevsky and L. N. Tolstoy, in the philosophical and historical concept of N. Ya. Danilevsky, in the social and philosophical views of I. A. Ilyin, in the philosophical works of E. V. Ilyenkov, answers to many modern questions.
Philosophy - This is what distinguishes a person from an animal. Animals don't philosophize. Like humans, they are mortal, their idea of the world is also imperfect, but they are not aware of it. They are unaware of their existence and their finitude. The ability to recognize one’s existence, one’s finitude and one’s imperfection is the basis and source of Russian philosophy.
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