Famous and outstanding philosophers of Russia. Features and traits of Russian philosophy Russian philosophers

Russian philosophy is one of the original directions of world philosophy. Among its features, one should, first of all, mention ontologism - close attention to the study of the foundations of being and the aspects of life that are essential for humans.

Categories of Russian philosophy such as pochvennichestvo, pan-unity and conciliarity are associated with ontologism. From ontologism follows such a feature of Russian philosophy as universalism, “common humanity” (F. M. Dostoevsky), the desire for a synthesis of different aspects of life, overcoming the division of spiritual and material, individual and society, power and freedom. Russian philosophy is also predominantly value-based: moral, aesthetic and religious. The next difference between Russian philosophy is historicism. Already in Ancient Rus' we find works devoted to the study of the history of the Slavic tribes: Nestor the Chronicler, Hilarion of Kiev and others wrote about Russian history and the customs of the Slavic tribes. Finally, we should name such a feature of Russian philosophy as its focus on social practice - “concretism” (B.V. Yakovenko). Regardless of their ideological principles, Russian philosophers often drew practical conclusions from general discussions about man and society, developed projects for the reconstruction of society and the state and the improvement of the life of an individual, his education and spiritual improvement. At the same time, abstract philosophical reasoning was concretized by Russian philosophers largely based on the principle of truth and justice, which in a sense strengthens the role and significance of moral principles in the social constructions of Russian thoughts and bodies.

In the 19th century the theoretical dependence of Russian philosophy on Western philosophical doctrines is significantly reduced. This is the heyday of original Russian culture, which began as the “golden age” of Russian literature by A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, N. Gogol, I. Turgenev, L. Tolstoy and F. Dostoevsky and ended with the “silver age” of Russian culture and art and philosophy, the century of A. Chekhov and A. Blok, S. Frank and N. Berdyaev. In the 19th century new universities and new cultural centers are appearing, domestic science and the economy are developing successfully, although not without contradictions. A period of most complex processes of transition from serf Russia and traditional society to a new classless statehood is beginning.

It is of greatest importance for understanding the philosophy of the 19th century. religious philosophy, presented most clearly in the concepts of P. Ya. Chaadaev, the teachings of the Slavophiles and the views of V. S. Solovyov.

The historiosophy of Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev (1794-1856) significantly influenced many Russian thinkers and continues to influence at the present time. Regardless of their views, philosophers in the past and present are forced to resolve the “painful” questions posed by Chaadaev about the specifics of Russian culture, state and law, to accept or reject his thesis from “Philosophical Letters” that “ideas of duty, order and law are alien to Russian reality " The main philosophical problem that interested Chaadaev was the comparison of Russia and Europe in their historical, cultural and religious-spiritual foundations.

The progressive course of history, according to Chaadaev, represents a consistent change in the forms of monotheism: Old Testament Israel - the teachings of Plato - European Christianity (Catholicism).

The Muslim East is close to this process and Japan, China and India are very far away. The study of Russia occupied a special place in Chaadaev’s philosophy. He writes that the West, under the influence of Catholicism, represents a triple unity: religion, culture, morality, and therefore here the ideals of the Kingdom of God on earth have been largely achieved. From this point of view, all other forms of civilization represent dead-end forms of development of world culture. Russia, after its adoption of Christianity from Byzantium, found itself between civilizational paths of development, becoming neither a European nor an Asian civilization. Thus, in Russia, according to Chaadaev, there is potentially any possibility of further cultural development, and it has some “advantage of backwardness”, since it may not repeat the mistakes of Western civilization.

Slavophilism is represented by the names of Alexei Stenanovich Khomyakov (1804-1860), Ivan Vasilyevich Kireevsky (1800-1856), Konstantin Sergeevich Aksakov (1817-1860), Yuri Fedorovich Samarin (1819-1876). In Slavophilism, the category of conciliarity is key, which allows us to define this movement as the philosophy of conciliarity. Accordingly, in Slavophilism the following criteria of conciliarity are defined: internal - religious-ethical and external - socio-political. The difference between the Slavophil concept of conciliarity is the combination of three points: the Orthodox faith, personal freedom and love. The basis of the epistemology of the Slavophiles is the idea of ​​faith. Khomyakov calls faith combined with empirical knowledge “knowledge of life”; knowledge from faith and knowledge from reason together create an integral mind. Thus, in the collective consciousness of the individual there is a unity of reason, freedom and moral feeling of love. The valuable side of the philosophy of the Slavophiles was in identifying the moral and religious foundations of politics and law, conditioned by the entire spiritual culture of the Russian people. From the point of view of the Slavophiles, state policy should take into account the financial situation of individual classes, the rich should share their wealth with the poor. Based on this, the state cannot be built on formal law, but presupposes the existence of moral law.

Slavophil philosophy received its further development in the second half of the 19th century. This is connected with the activities and creativity of representatives of the so-called neo-Slavophilism: Nikolai Yakovlevich Danilevsky (1822-1885), Konstantin Nikolaevich Leontyev (1831-1891), Nikolai Nikolaevich Strakhov (1828-1896).

The most systematic and consistent in its theoretical foundations is the philosophy of Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov (1853-1900) - the greatest philosopher of Russia. His religious views can be qualified as Christian universalism, which became the ideological prerequisite for the corresponding philosophical system of the thinker. It was called the philosophy of all-unity, and accordingly Solovyov’s followers belong to the “all-unity” people. In the philosophy of unity, the task was set to reveal the unity of existence and culture in the context of Christian moral and religious values.

According to Solovyov, every social union arises on the basis of the moral principle of the union that precedes it. Good or the highest good, absolutely existing, are the guiding principles of the historical process. The subject of human will is the public good, the moments of which are formal (material) good, absolute existence and justice. All forms of social unions arise from man’s striving for good. Thus, from the desire for formal benefits the state arises, from the desire for eternal life - spiritual society, and from the desire for justice - law. Soloviev identifies three stages of human development. The first - economic - begins with the family, where material needs prevail. The next one is political: communication between all individuals. And the highest level is spiritual communication, that is, the church.

Solovyov's philosophy is based on the affirmation of the value of a free personality and its dignity. The essence of freedom lies in man's voluntary choice of a divine goal, in relation to which even freedom plays a subordinate role. “The highest moral ideal requires that we love all people as ourselves, but since people do not exist outside of nationalities (just as nationalities do not exist outside of individual people) and this connection has already become moral, internal, and not only physical, then direct The logical conclusion from here is that we must love all nations as our own nationality.” Solovyov believed that Christianity does not abolish nationalities, but only in accomplishing a great work - the creation of pan-humanity - do people preserve their soul. Solovyov’s ideal is a free theocracy - the highest goal of the development of a Christian state and a normal society, where the unity of spiritual and secular power, the individual and the state has been achieved.

Solovyov's ideas received their concretization in the philosophy of law. He identifies the following grounds in law: force, reason and freedom. Contrasting the law of grace and legal legality, Solovyov reproduces the collision of law and grace, characteristic of Russian thought, and sees the dignity of the Russian people in their “inability to elevate their imperfection into law.”

Along with religious philosophy in Russia in the 19th century. Rational metaphysics also developed creatively, closely connected with the development of the philosophy of Kant and Hegel. In this regard, in Russian philosophy

Neo-Hegelianism and Neo-Kantianism arise, which, in particular, are represented in the philosophy of B. N. Chicherin and A. I. Vvedensky.

Boris Nikolaevich Chicherin (1828-1904) is one of the largest Russian Hegelian metaphysicians; his philosophical method continued the traditions of metaphysics dating back to Aristotle, Descartes, Caitus and Hegel, and can be called metaphysical universalism. Chicherin believed that science is the highest teacher of life, and in this regard, he explored the logical foundations of science and metaphysics.

The empirical school, but in his opinion, in the pursuit of reality, abandons all actual ground. The thoughts of the subject, who is in fact an active force, the source of thinking itself, turn into an “empty box” in which various impressions collide and combine. Chicherin called for the unification of the efforts of philosophy, science and theology in understanding the world and in revealing the rational and moral nature of man, since the integrity of his spiritual substance corresponds to the unity of the transcendental divine principle in the world.

Kantianism was also important for understanding the peculiarities of Russian philosophy. Kant's ideas attracted the attention of a number of Russian thinkers. A. I. Vvedensky, I. I. Lapshin, G. I. Chelnanov, B. V. Yakovenko and F. A. Stepun can be classified as neo-Kantians. Of these, Alexander Ivanovich Vvedensky (1856-1925) was, by all accounts, the most consistent adherent of Kant's philosophy.

A. I. Vvedensky, since 1887 - professor at St. Petersburg University, lectured on logic, psychology and history of philosophy. He was one of the initiators of the creation of the Philosophical Society at the St. Petersburg University in 1897 and until 1921 was its chairman.

The essence of Vvedensky's philosophical system can be defined as criticism. This term has become a characteristic of a whole trend in Russian philosophy in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is Vvedensky who is credited with developing the logical-theoretical foundations of critical philosophy. divided as criticism. This term has become a characteristic of a whole trend in Russian philosophy in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is Vvedensky who is credited with developing the logical-theoretical foundations of critical philosophy. Within the framework of logical teaching, Vvedensky develops the “Russian method” of proving metaphysics in the form of logicism, which reduces the theory of knowledge to formal logic, declares it epistemology and makes it the basis for the construction of philosophical knowledge.

Among the important trends in Russian philosophy of the 19th century. it is also necessary to name positivism, presented in the concepts of K. D. Kavelin, V. V. Lesevich, M. M. Kovalevsky, N. I. Kareev. Positivism was adjacent to the philosophy of natural science, within which I. M. Sechenov, D. I. Mendeleev, L. I. Mechnikov, and A. A. Ukhtomsky worked. In the 20th century the philosophy of science was successfully developed by V. I. Vernadsky, K. E. Tsiolkovsky and A. L. Chizhevsky.

From the main currents of Russian philosophy of the 19th - early 20th centuries. One should also mention philosophical anthropology, the concepts of A. I. Galich, N. G. Chernyshevsky, P. L. Lavrov, V. I. Nesmelov, I. I. Lapshin. It is also clearly represented in the personalism of A. A. Kozlov, the intuitionism of N. O. Lossky, the existentialism of L. I. Shestov and others.

Russian philosophers continued their work in the 20th century. In this century, which can rightfully be called revolutionary, it is worth highlighting two main directions in the development of Russian philosophy. The first is the philosophy of the Russian diaspora, which absorbed the ideas and concepts of thinkers, many of whom worked intensively in the field of philosophy even before the revolution in Russia, but due to emigration and deportation from the country they ended up abroad. Among them are such brilliant names as

N. A. Berdyaev, S. N. Bulgakov, S. L. Frank, I. A. Ilyin. They became forced emigrants to various European countries and there they wrote fundamental philosophical works that revealed the facets of their scientific talent from a new perspective.

Among the most interesting concepts of this direction, the philosophy of Sergei Nikolaevich Bulgakov (1871-1944) should be mentioned. It is built on the basis of an ontological synthesis of the Christian worldview and natural philosophy. A feature of his philosophical quest was the transition from a meaningful analysis of economic relations to the subsequent religious-metaphysical study of the economy as a universal category of culture and then to the original justification of Orthodox teaching. Already in the early, Marxist period of his work, Bulgakov published chain studies: “On markets in capitalist production”, “Capitalism and agriculture”. Bulgakov's concept is ongological, since he strives to reveal the natural philosophical foundations of economic and practical life. In this context, his appeal to Schelling’s natural philosophy, his philosophy of identity, is completely justified. The economy expands the space of life and freedom, it conquers and humanizes nature, “revives dead matter,” the economy reflects the natural human right to self-preservation, “the economy is the self-defense of life.”

Bulgakov does not deny the need for farming to provide people with food and human self-preservation. At the same time, labor incentives are seen both in the economy, where it is a prerequisite and means for overcoming poverty, and in the moral sphere. In this regard, Bulgakov also mentions Puritan morality, which influenced the formation of capitalism, and also talks about asceticism, which could serve as a religious motivation for work. An ascetic attitude towards work as obedience was cultivated in the monasteries of Western Europe and Russia. The moral motivation for economic activity may be different for the puritanical culture of the West, which is based on the ethics of multiplying property and wealth, and for Russia, where the basis for a positive attitude towards the economy may be the ethics of serving society and the state. Subsequently, this idea will be developed in Eurasianism.

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Berdyaev (1874-1948) is one of the most famous and prolific philosophers in Russia. His philosophical style is distinguished by the lack of desire for consistent proof of a certain thesis and the building of a consistent theoretical system. This style

V.V. Rozanov called “utterance”, it is associated with emotional, figurative and artistic self-expression, the desire to convey personal spiritual experience, and in this sense it has an existential character, characteristic of all Russian philosophy. In his philosophy, Berdyaev is openly biased and subjective, does not strive for exact facts, but he is very convincing, since he has the ability to intellectually infect his readers, captivating them not with logic, but with general spiritual and cultural argumentation. He is undoubtedly one of the most prominent representatives of European and Russian existentialism, he is close to Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Rozanov and Shestov. The main philosophical problem that always worried Berdyaev was the problem of man, the meaning of his existence and fate. His concept of man, personality, differs from the empirical human being, which, on the one hand, is part of Nature, and on the other, an element of the social whole. The problem of the meaning of human existence lies in the fact that he is at the intersection of two worlds and recognizes himself as simultaneously belonging to the Divine and natural worlds. The most important characteristic of a person’s true existence is freedom as a “baseless” reality. To be more specific, he divides freedom into negative and positive. The first freedom is freedom in sin, this is the devilish freedom of denial. The second is divine freedom, which manifests itself in creativity. The content of positive freedom is love and truth, embodied in the image of Christ. Love is also the content of existential existence, for those who love are most free in their relationship to each other. Berdyaev does not deny the need for a state, which is needed to establish elementary social order, but believes that true society is possible only under the condition of a free union of people. The ideal of a true society is a spiritual union of people, where individualism and freedom are present.

The philosopher also builds a unique philosophy of history, according to which humanity in its spiritual development passes through three stages, eons. The first, corresponding to the Old Testament, is the phase of legalistic consciousness, the second stage corresponds to the New Testament. According to Berdyaev, only in the era of Christianity was the irrational element of true freedom discovered, and with it is associated the dogma of the Fall, that is, the recognition that the world is based on the first irrational freedom. The third eon, on the threshold of which humanity is located, is the era of creative consciousness, corresponding to anthropological revelation in the spirit. In this regard, Berdyaev in a number of works examines Russian history and culture and also raises the topic of Russian messianism. He is convinced that Russia is fatally predisposed to solving eschatological problems. Spatially, it is placed in the world as the great “East-West”, constituting a node of world history, containing the possibility of solving all world problems.

The original movement of Russian philosophy of the 20th century. there was Eurasianism. It was a rather rare example of interdisciplinary scientific synthesis, since it united specialists from different fields of knowledge; philosophers, historians, lawyers, linguists, economists and geographers.

The most important ideas of Eurasianism are already contained in the work of Nikolai Sergeevich Trubetskoy (1890-1938) “Europe and Humanity” (1920). The main motive of his book is a criticism of the absolutization of the advantages of European culture. He wrote that “the culture that was offered. . . It is a form of universal human civilization, but in fact there is a culture of only a certain ethnic group of Roman and Germanic peoples.” For Eurasians, Russia is neither the West nor the East, but rather Eurasia - a special geographical and cultural world with its specific subject - a symphonic personality. In culture, Eurasians identified “two orders” of values: some are associated with establishing the direction and goals of people’s life, others - with the means of achieving them - technology and empirical knowledge. From this followed the conclusion about the superiority of the spiritual culture of Russia-Eurasia.

The leading place in the ideology of Eurasianism is occupied by the doctrine of Pyotr Nikolaevich Savitsky (1895-1968) about place development, which means the unity of geographical, ethnic, economic and historical principles in the development of certain peoples. Savitsky emphasizes that the concept of place development is fully compatible with the recognition of the multivariate nature of human history and with the identification, along with the geographical, of the original spiritual principle of life. Developing his thought, he defined Russia both by its spatial scale and by its geographical nature, uniform in many respects throughout its entire space and at the same time different from the nature of the adjacent countries. This continent, bordering between “Europe” and “Asia”, but at the same time unlike either one, deserves the name “Eurasia”. Eurasians drew attention to the fact that the historical borders of Eurasia coincided with the historical borders of the Russian Empire, which testified to their naturalness and stability. Bounded from the north by a strip of tundra and from the south by a mountain strip, Eurasia has little contact with the World Ocean, and it is excluded from active participation in the oceanic (regional) economy characteristic of Europe. At the same time, the enormous size and presence of natural resources of Eurasia constantly pushed it towards the idea and awareness of economic independence, turning into an “ocean continent”. All rivers of Russia flow in a meridian direction, and a continuous strip of steppes unites and penetrates it from west to east. The unifier of Eurasia could not be a state that arose and remained motionless in one or another river basin. The concept of “border” turns out to be an important definition for the essence of the culture that Eurasia represented. The above provisions on the special relationship of continental states to the world oceanic market served as a justification for the inevitability of government intervention in the economy. Clearly aware of the connection with state intervention in the economy of such shortcomings as bureaucracy, red tape and mismanagement, the Eurasians considered competition from private enterprise as a means of eliminating them, along with the conscious struggle of the state bodies themselves against them. For Eurasians, the acquisitive nature of Western civilization, the subordination of man to the pursuit of profit, the replacement of human relations with rigid economic calculation, the spirit of rationalism and competition were unacceptable. In their opinion, a third way is necessary, establishing a connection between the material and the spiritual and skillfully combining what should be nationalized with what should remain private (land), because “the economic value of the economy begins with a religious root.”

Thus, Nikolai Nikolaevich Alekseev (1879-1964) believed that the general direction of the path that the transformation of property should follow can be expressed in the formula: “neither capitalism nor socialism.”

The Eurasian model of a mixed economy was, in their opinion, most adequate to the geographical, economic and historical conditions of Russia. A planned economy and the freedom given to individuals to choose economic forms, according to Savitsky, are two outwardly contradictory, but in essence, completely compatible principles. In this regard, Alekseev developed the concept of a “righteous state”. Right should not be divorced from duty; duty should justify authority and merge in the legal relationship into one organic whole, as this corresponds to the spirit of truly Christian doctrine. Thus, Eurasianism developed a special philosophy of culture, closely connected in its origins with Slavophilism. It continued subsequently in the philosophy of L.N. Gumilyov.

Of particular significance for Russian philosophy of the 20th century. presents the work of Ivan Aleksandrovich Ilyin (1883-1954) - an original scientist who made a great contribution to the development of Russian philosophical and legal thought.

His philosophy is largely devoted to the study of the moral and religious foundations of law. During the period when positivist tendencies dominated in the philosophy of law, he showed the need to appeal to human spirituality in solving philosophical and legal issues, and set out to highlight the contradiction between the state and the individual, private and public interest, natural and positive law, external and internal freedom of the individual.

In Ilyin’s work, the problem of resisting evil receives comprehensive and deep coverage. Solving it, he criticizes the theory of “non-resistance to evil through violence” by L. Tolstoy, believing that non-resistance is indulgence in evil. According to Ilyin, “good is the loving power of the spirit, evil is the blind power of hatred.” Therefore, in the fight against evil, it is necessary to use, first of all, mental and spiritual influence on a person.

Development of Russian philosophy of the 20th century. is also closely connected with the works of philosophers who continued to live and work on the territory of the USSR. G. G. Shpet, P. A. Florensky, A. F. Losev, M. M. Bakhtin, L. P. Karsavin, without having the opportunity for free philosophical creativity, nevertheless continued to write and create the most interesting works. Some of them: P. A. Florensky, L. P. Karsavin, G. G. Shpet - died in Stalin’s camps. Their works are the most important component of Russian philosophy in its national and universal significance.

In the context of Russian philosophy of the 20th century. It is also necessary to name Soviet philosophers who sought to identify the humanistic sides of Marxism. The works of A. A. Bogdanov, E. V. Ilyenkov, M. K. Mamardashvili, M. S. Kagan, V. P. Tugarinov and others revealed the “human” content of Marxism.

It must also be said that, despite some initial lag in its development from Western European philosophy, Russian philosophy managed to overcome it. In the 19th century it demonstrated an amazing ability for accelerated progress, and the relationship between Russian and Western European philosophy ceased to be one-sided. At this time, philosophical culture flourished and a “blooming complexity” emerged in Russia, and many original and deep philosophical concepts were created.

INTRODUCTION

Philosophy- a special area of ​​creativity. It deeply and organically combines a scientific-theoretical and value-spiritual attitude to the world. The latter circumstance is connected with the intimate, personal, confessional nature of philosophical teachings. The philosopher refracts the world historical experience through the experience of his people, his nation, through the characteristics of his individual worldview.

Philosophical knowledge is knowledge not only about what exists, but also about what should be - it encourages a certain action. Philosophy has never acted as an apologetics for existing social orders. On the contrary, she was their criticism. Criticism of existing existence and existing consciousness is the central function of philosophy, the eternal “troublemaker” in the human world. Here lies the source of the authorities’ “dislike” for philosophy and philosophers, the source of many life tragedies of those who have taken upon themselves the heavy burden of telling people the truth, whatever it may be.

Philosophy does not tolerate dictatorship (of the church, the state, the dominant ideology). Nothing is more disgusting to her spirit than a dull uniformity of thought. Each philosopher has his own world, his own universe.

But there are also general laws of life, laws of spiritual production. In the real context of culture, historical types of philosophizing are formed. Ancient philosophy is contemplative, just as the entire social consciousness of the distant but always close era of humanity is contemplative. The philosophy of medieval society is speculative. New times introduce a different pathos and imperative of philosophical thought - an active attack on nature, a purposeful transformation of the surrounding world. But these days, too, it is giving way to another paradigm - the socio-ecological one, which orients the human race towards a more cautious and balanced strategy in life: towards the harmonious entry of our civilization into the rhythms of the Earth and space.

Philosophy is divided into natural, rational and moral. The first deals with the cause of being and therefore leads to the omnipotence of the Father; the second deals with the order of life and therefore leads to the wisdom of the Word; the third deals with the order of life and therefore for the good of the Holy Spirit.

Russian philosophers

Chaadaev Petr Yakovlevich (1794-1856) – thinker, publicist, author of the sensational “Philosophical Letter”, which marked the beginning of the dispute between Slavophiles and Westerners about the place of Russia in world culture. This letter was written during the period of the reign of Nicholas I, when, caused by the victory of Russian weapons over the French army in the Patriotic War and the Russian-Turkish War of 1828-1829. The patriotic upsurge within the country coincided with a sharp increase in its European prestige. In it, Chaadaev was the first in Russian philosophy to give a pessimistic assessment of the interpretation of the Russian idea. For which he was declared crazy. Seven years later, in “Apology of a Madman,” Chaadaev, who denied Russia history, supplemented the chronological series “past – present” with such a link as “present – ​​future,” predicting a worthy future for Russia.

Russian idea. One of the saddest features of our peculiar civilization is that we are still discovering truths that have become hackneyed in other countries and even among peoples who are in some respects more backward than us. The fact is that we never walked together with other peoples, we did not belong to any of the known families of the human race, neither to the West nor to the East, and we have no traditions of either one. We stand, as it were, outside of time; the universal education of the human race has not extended to us. First wild barbarism, then crude superstition, then foreign dominion, cruel, humiliating, the spirit of which the national government subsequently inherited - this is the sad story of our youth.

Stretched between two great divisions of the world, between two great divisions of the world, between East and West, leaning with one elbow on China, the other on Germany, we would have to combine two great foundations of spiritual nature - imagination and reason - and unite in our enlightenment historical destinies of the entire globe. The experience of time does not exist for us. Centuries and generations have passed without a trace for us. Observing us, we can say that the universal law of humanity is nullified here. Alone in the world, we gave nothing to the world, took nothing from the world, we did not contribute a single thought to the mass of human ideas, we did not contribute in any way to the forward movement of the human mind, and we distorted everything that we got from this movement . We have been relegated to the number of peoples who are destined to use the influence of Christianity in full force only indirectly and with great delay, it is necessary to strive by all means to revive our beliefs and give us a truly Christian impulse, for after all, Christianity accomplished everything there.

Kireevsky Ivan Vasilievich(1806-1856) - Russian philosopher and literary critic, founder of the “Society of Philosophers”, one of the leading theorists of Slavophilism, who attempted to create an original Russian philosophy on his own foundation of Orthodoxy and the “communal” spirit of the Russian person in contrast to Western man - the bearer of the spirit of negation, selfishness and individualism.

Philosophy and life. We need philosophy: the whole development of our mind requires it. Our poetry lives and breathes by it alone; she alone can give soul and integrity to our infant sciences, and our very life may take from her the grace of harmony. Our philosophy must develop from our life, be created from current issues, from the dominant interests of our national and private life. The desire for German philosophy, which is beginning to spread among us, is already an important step towards this goal.

Knowledge and faith. Old Russian, Orthodox Christian education, which lay at the basis of the entire public and private life of Russia, laid the foundation for a special mindset of the Russian mind, striving for internal integrity of thinking, and created the special character of indigenous Russian morals, imbued with the constant memory of the relationship of everything temporal to the eternal and the human to the divine , - this education, of which traces are still preserved among the people, was stopped in its development before it could bear lasting fruit in life or even reveal its prosperity in the mind. The surface of Russian life is dominated by borrowed education, grown from a different root. The contradiction of the fundamental principles of the educations arguing among themselves is the most important, the cause of all the evils and shortcomings that can be noticed in the Russian land. Therefore, the reconciliation of both educations in such thinking, the basis of which would contain the very root of ancient Russian education, and the development would consist in the consciousness of all Western education and in the subordination of its conclusions to the dominant spirit of Orthodox Christian philosophy - such conciliatory thinking could be the beginning of a new mental life in Russia. The image of the spread of external foreign education among the Russian people already determines the nature of its moral influence. For this spread is accomplished not by the power of internal conviction, but by the power of external temptation or external necessity. In the customs and morals of their fathers, Russian people see something sacred; in the customs and mores of the incoming education, he sees only what is tempting or profitable, or simply forcibly unreasonable.

Faith is a living connection, a harmonious consonance between abstract and essential convictions. Such faith is not a blind trust in someone else’s assurance, but a real and reasonable event of inner life, through which a person enters into essential communication with the highest truth.

Chernyshevsky Nikolai Gavrilovich(1828-1889) - materialist philosopher, radical public figure, editor of the Sovremennik magazine, revolutionary. Formed under the influence of the views of Schelling, Hegel, L. Feuerbach; Bentham and Mill; Belinsky and Herzen. He argued that art is a substitute for reality, and true beauty is inherent in real life. Professing “anthropologism,” he built the concept of man as a single organism with a “spiritual” dimension. He considered the principle of causality to be the central law, which he developed in the fight against the doctrine of free will. Favorite ethical theory was the theory of rational egoism with the idea of ​​utility. Radical social views and collaboration with members of the secret society “Land and Freedom” led him to arrest and exile in Siberia, only just before his death he was allowed to return to his native Saratov.

Main philosophical works: “Aesthetic relationship of art to reality” (1855), “Essays on the Gogol period of Russian literature” (1855-1856), “Anthropological principle in philosophy” (1860).

The doctrine of man. The principle of the philosophical view of human life with all its phenomena is the idea of ​​the unity of the human body, developed by the natural sciences. The philosophy in it is that if a person had, in addition to his real nature, another nature, then this nature would certainly be revealed in something, and since it is not revealed in anything, since everything that happens and manifests itself in a person occurs according to his real nature alone, then there is no other nature in him.

In the motives of man, as in all aspects of his life, there are no two different natures, two fundamental laws, different or opposite to each other, and all the diversity of phenomena in the sphere of human motives for action, as in all human life, comes from one and the same the same nature, according to the same law.

If there is any difference between good and benefit, it lies only in the fact that the concept of good very strongly exposes the trait of constancy, strength, fruitfulness, abundance of good, long-term and numerous results, which, however, is in the concept of benefit; It is precisely this feature that distinguishes it from the concepts of pleasure and enjoyment. The goal of all human endeavors is to obtain pleasure. Good means very durable sources of long-term, constant, very numerous pleasures. Ascribed to goodness by all judicious men who have spoken of human affairs. Good is a superlative degree of benefit.

1. Kurt Vonnegut(11/11/1922 – 04/11/2007) - American satirist writer, creator of the fictional religion Bokonism. According to this teaching, humanity is divided into groups that do God's work and at the same time do not know what they are doing.

If a scientist cannot explain to an eight-year-old boy what he does, he is a charlatan.

Our consciousness is precisely that living, and perhaps sacred, that is in each of us. Everything else about us is dead mechanics.

There is so much love in this world that there is enough for everyone, you just need to be able to look for it.

Those who neglect the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.

Absolutely everything you need to know about life is in the book “The Brothers Karamazov” by the writer Dostoevsky.

2. Dalai Lama XIV(07/06/1935 – present) – spiritual leader of Buddhists, Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

The world is imperfect because we are imperfect.

Patience protects us from despondency and despair.

If you have achieved inner peace, you can find happiness even in the most difficult conditions.

We cannot build peace on Earth if we do not first build it in our soul, in our heart.

Silence is sometimes the best answer to questions.

3. Steve Jobs(02/24/1955 – 10/5/2011) – one of the founders of the Apple Corporation. Guru in the world of information technology and an idol for a whole generation of the smartphone era.

We are here to make a contribution to this world. Otherwise why are we here? - You know that we eat food that other people grow. We wear clothes that other people have made. We speak languages ​​that were invented by other people. We use mathematics, but other people developed it too... I think we all say this all the time. This is a great reason to create something that could be useful to humanity.

There is no such thing as a successful person who has never stumbled or made a mistake. There are only successful people who made mistakes, but then changed their plans based on those same mistakes.

Remembering death is the best way to avoid thinking that you have something to lose. You are already naked. You no longer have any reason not to follow your heart.

I would trade all my technology for a meeting with Socrates.

4. Banksy– (born 1974 or 1975, exact date unknown) is the pseudonym of an English street artist, graffiti artist and political activist. Banksy's real name is unknown.

There are four basic human needs; food, sleep, sex and revenge.

The most heinous crimes on the planet are committed not by people who rebel against the rules, but by those who follow them.

Only when the last tree is cut down and when the last river is poisoned, only then will a person understand that the eternal quotation of Indian proverbs makes him look like a doll.

The Holy Grail balance is when you spend less time making a painting than people spend looking at it.

There is nothing more common in the world than unsuccessful but talented people. Therefore, try to leave the house before you discover something that will force you to stay in it.

A fool and money are quickly parted. I would pay a lot to anyone who could explain this pattern to me.

I don't see any point in leaving the house. We still come back every time.

When will I finally understand that the answers to life's questions are not at the bottom of a bottle? They're on TV!

Nobel Peace Prize... I would kill for it!

Understand that there is a little Homer Simpson in all of us.

Stages development of Russian philosophy :

1) period origins Old Russian philosophy and early Christian philosophy of Rus' (IX - XIII centuries), representative Hilarion, tried to comprehend Christianity, its role in the present and future of Rus';

2) philosophy of the period Tatar-Mongol yoke, the origin, formation and development of the centralized Russian state (XIII - XVII centuries), prominent philosophers: Sergius of Radonezh, Maximilian the Greek, Andrei Kurbsky. The focus is on issues of Christian theology and the structure of the state;

3) philosophy of the 18th century, the largest philosopher – M.V. Lomonosov, founder materialist tradition in Russian philosophy;

4) Russian philosophy of the 19th century, where philosophy of history. Directions are being formed "Westerners" And "Slavophiles": "Westerners" ( A.I. Herzen, V.G. Belinsky, P.Ya. Chaadaev) considered the history of Russia as part of the global historical process; "Slavophiles" ( A.S. Khomyakov, Aksakov brothers, K.N. Leontyev) advocated for the identity of Russia and Russian culture, where the basis of the historical existence of Russia is Orthodoxy and a communal way of life.

TO directions Russian philosophy includes the following:

revolutionary-democratic direction(XIX century), critically rethinks the existing socio-political and economic system: representatives– N.G. Chernyshevsky, N.K. Mikhailovsky, M.A. Bakunin, P.A. Kropotkin; G.V. Plekhanov;

Russian religious philosophy(late 19th-20th centuries): understanding of the world as a single interconnected whole, the idea of ​​unifying Christian Christian churches (Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism), ideas of “all-unity”, “divine humanity”, synthesis of knowledge about the world, progress as a universal connection of generations, prominent representatives: Vl. Soloviev, N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, Trubetskoy brothers, P.A. Florensky and others;

philosophy of cosmism: space and man are understood as a single interconnected whole (V.I. Vernadsky, K.E. Tsiolkovsky, A.L. Chizhevsky);

natural science philosophy: materialistic and socio-political ideas of natural scientists (I.M. Sechenov, D.I. Mendeleev, K.A. Timiryazev);

Soviet philosophy(IX-XX centuries) represented by the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism : problems of man, history and society, dialectical and historical materialism (V.I. Lenin, N.I. Bukharin, A.A. Bogdanov); rethinking of man, history, creative understanding of materialism, ethnogenesis, morality and ethics (A.F. Losev, L.N. Gumilev, M.K. Mamardashvili, V. Asmus, Y. Lotman).

The most prominent figures in Russian philosophy are B.C. Soloviev, N.A. Berdyaev, A.F. Losev . V.S. Soloviev almost unanimously recognized as the most outstanding Russian philosopher of the 19th century, but now his ideas are being vigorously revived. ON THE. Berdyaev, perhaps the most famous of all Russian philosophers of the 20th century who lived outside of Russia. A.F.Losev - the largest philosophical figure of the 20th century on a domestic Russian scale.

In philosophy V.S. Solovyova the main features of Russian philosophy are presented especially clearly. Soloviev is dissatisfied with positivism, the abstract principles of the rationalists, and the one-sidedness of the empiricists. He is attracted by the philosophical principles of integral knowledge, he justifies goodness, and develops the ideals of God-humanity.

But what is absolutely existing, absolutely one? For V. Solovyov, it is obvious that only God can lay claim to this role. The very fullness of being requires that existence be a person - all-good, loving, merciful, strong-willed. But this is God, who personifies positive unity. This is what Solovyov’s philosophy is called: philosophy of positive unity, according to which all diversity is held together by divine unity, the wisdom of God, Sofia. Sofia is the soul of the world. The meaning of human existence is the completion of Sophia to organic integrity with the absolute, with God. Such restoration may take place in the process of human evolution. In this case, humanity becomes God-humanity.

In God and the things involved in him, there are contained in unity (good as a realized will), truth (as a realized reflection) and beauty (as a realized feeling). Hence follows Solovyov’s formula: “The Absolute realizes good through truth in beauty.” Three absolute values ​​- goodness, truth and beauty - always form a unity, the meaning of which is love. Love is the force that undermines the roots of all egoism, all individuality. Physiological love that unites creatures of different sexes is already beneficial. But true love is a reunion in God. This is true spirituality. Although love is primarily a platonic feeling, Solovyov recognized feminine charm in it. It is no coincidence that Solovyov’s philosophy is often called the philosophy of Eternal Femininity.

For Solovyov, the guarantors of the salvation of humanity are love and morality. The truth is obtained by a highly moral person. Immoral science serves the forces of destruction, including war. The same applies to art if it is not filled with moral meaning. The life of every person should be creativity, a free movement towards goodness, a feat of spirituality. All personal and social conflicts are resolved in the pursuit of perfect goodness. Morality takes precedence over law, politics, and economics. Destructive forces are not omnipotent; on the path to God-manhood one can cope with any tasks, including wars, the division of churches, and the division of people into nations.

Central theme of philosophy ON THE. Berdyaev is a person, a free, creative person, and such he appears only in the light of the divine, or rather, the divine “nothing”. God created the world from Nothing Therefore, God is preceded by a primary principle that does not imply any differentiation, any being. This is Nothing. God is free and man is free. God helps man to become good, but he is unable to control Nothing , principle of freedom. Therefore, in his true freedom, man is divine... Being free, man creates, the justification of man is in his freedom, his creativity, his revelation. For Berdyaev, the main thing is the justification of man, so his philosophy is clearly personalistic. And that is why Berdyaev is an opponent of totalitarian regimes, lies, evil, violence and terror. The general resurrection is achieved not in technology, not in revolutions, but in divine spiritual life. And in this regard, the philosopher believes, much can be expected from the Russian soul and the Russian idea.

Philosophy A.F. Loseva – this is a world of liveliness, wisdom, simplicity, a certain sharpness, aesthetic grace and extraordinary philological learning. Losev, like no one else, connected our culture with ancient culture: he translated from Greek, because he believed that this was one of the most radical ways of developing Russian philosophy.

Losev combined four components in his philosophy: philology, phenomenology, dialectics And symbolism. The philosopher is primarily interested in the living existence of an object imbued with meaning. The concept does not “grasp” the essence of living concreteness; this can only be done eidos. However, the world does not consist of motionless eidos and their expressions in words. In accordance with this, true philosophy acquires a dialectical, mobile character. The movement of eidos and words leads to connection with something else; interconnected realities testify to each other; in this sense, they are symbols. Losev considers language, myth, religion, art, and philosophy as spheres of existence of eidos, words, and symbols. He managed to create a very unique philosophical system, the merits of which have not yet been sufficiently studied. It can be called the philosophy of the vitality of eidos, words and symbols.

KEY CONCEPTS OF THE TOPIC conciliarity; “Westerners”, “Slavophiles”; unity, Sophia, cosmism; symbolism.

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Philosophy in Russia, compared to science, is in principle young, but not inexperienced. Against the backdrop of a powerful breakthrough in the development of the state in the 19th century, a sensational number of intelligent, literate thinkers grew.

Russian philosophers lead the new generation of Russian people. The world community no longer makes fun of the ignorance and simplicity of the “uncouth peasant.” Writers, poets, politicians, cultural figures who make up Russian philosophy, with the power of thought, force scoffers to quiet down and listen to their opinions. Increasingly, in the foreign press you can read quotes from Russian sages.

With the emergence of a galaxy of thinkers, there is a diversity of their views, which is quite logical. The society of that time was undergoing enormous changes and transformations. External processes have left their mark on the difference in judgments and bipolarity of views. Domestic philosophers are becoming supporters of various directions.

The diversity of Russian philosophers

In the 19th-20th centuries, Russia began to emerge as a major influential state in the world. The process of restructuring social life, political structure, economic revolution, scientific and technological progress lead to the division of representatives of philosophical thought.

Westerners: Belinsky, Stankevich, Chaadaev, Herzen.

Slavophiles: Dostoevsky, Ilyin, Tyutchev, Khomyakov, Aksakov, Samarin. And also: Danilevsky, Odoevsky, Leontyev, Pobedonostsev, Strakhov.

Enlightenmentists: Shcherbatov, Radishchev, Tatishchev, Bolotov.

Symbolists: Balmont, Ivanov, Sologub, Merezhkovsky, Bryusov, Voloshin. Also Annensky, Blok, Gippius, Meyerhold, Bely.

Positivists: De Roberti, Troitsky, Korkunov, Lavrov, Mikhailovsky, Vyrubov, Kavelin and Kareev.

Adherents of cosmism: Vernadsky, Chizhevsky, Roerich, Skumin, Tsiolkovsky, Fedorov.

Supporters of the occult: Gurdjieff, Novikov, Blavatsky, Ouspensky.

Logisticians: Bakunin, Chicherin, Trubetskoy, Grot, Karinsky, Debolsky.

Anarchists: Kropotkin, Tolstoy, Bakunin.

Nihilists: Sechenov, Chernyshevsky, Pisarev.

Marxists: Bogdanov, Zinoviev, Ilyenkov, Plekhanov, Yanovskaya, Troitsky, Lenin.

Philosophers of Christian religious teaching: Solovyov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Berdyaev, Rozanov, Bulgakov, Kudryavtsev-Platonov, Yurkevich.

Adherents of Orthodox theology: Schmemann, Lossky, Florensky, Florovsky, Pomazansky, Meyendorff.

Intuitive personalists: Lopatin, Kozhevnikov, Frank, Boldyrev, Lossky, Losev.

Intuitive realists: Popov, Ognev.

Existentialists: Berdyaev, Dostoevsky, Shestov.

Aestheticians: Bakhtev, Losin.

Globalists: Chumakov.

Enlightenment through the eyes of Russian philosophers

Since Peter I “cut a window to Europe” in the 18th century, a “cultural revolution” began in Russia. The influence of European culture was imprinted on all spheres of activity: science, crafts, education.

The first philosophy department was opened at Moscow University. Philosophy, under the influence of French and German movements, acquired secular manners - that is, it became a reflection of European thinking of that time.

The Enlightenment was carried out by scientists, philosophers, and writers. An outstanding educator was A.N. Radishchev. By his convictions he was a materialist. The philosopher viewed man as a creation of nature. He believed that nature exists without depending on him. In the process of evolution, all creatures improve; man has achieved the highest form of improvement - he has acquired intelligence. The writer assigns further development to human labor, and the soul is reborn after death in a new body.

Radishchev has a negative attitude towards the slave system, which in tsarist Russia was serfdom. In the book “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” the writer criticizes the oppression of man by man, considers slavery inhuman, unnatural, ineffective, and contrary to progress. The philosopher explains that initially all people are the same, and the people have the right to express their point of view, even by overthrowing the government. For his revolutionary sentiments, Radishchev was sent into exile and executed.

Representatives of Slavophilism and Pochvennichestvo

Pochvennichestvo and Slavophilism, similar trends in Russian philosophical thought of the mid-19th century. To understand why they are not identical, you need to consider their features.

Slavophilism is a philosophical literary movement, the foundation of which is the identification of the fundamental difference between Russia and European countries.

Ilyin believed that Russia should develop according to its own characteristic model, without focusing on Western models. According to Slavophiles, European minds assign a leading role to demagoguery and do not observe moral principles. The basis of Russian prosperity was considered to be its culture, spirituality, traditions, and historical values.

Soilism is also a philosophical doctrine created for Russia to implement its own development plan, different from the Western one. The main idea was the special purpose of the Russians - to save the world by bringing the masses closer to the elite on the basis of religious motives.

The term was introduced into use by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. The famous soil scientist believed that we need to return to “our roots,” that is, the “soil.” He believed that, despite the difference in worldviews, it was necessary to reconcile with Westerners without creating an interethnic conflict.

These two trends pursue a common goal, but soil scientists do not reject some of the correct methods of European development.

Representatives of the directions are the personification of ardent patriotism for their homeland.

Symbolism of Russian philosophy

Following the example of Western symbolism, Russian symbolism was born in the 19th century. The teaching is based on the replacement of moral norms and logical conclusions with aesthetic beauty. Armed with the motto “Beauty will save the world,” symbolists are trying to adopt the achievements of world culture.

The first symbolists believe that the primordial is not perfect; art completes what nature has missed. This interpretation met with discontent among wide sections of society; the ideas of the Symbolists remained misunderstood.

Subsequent adherents of the movement declared themselves more convincingly by turning to Russian customs. They earned especially strong approval from the public for their research and popularization of Russian folk songs. Symbolists shed new light on the works of famous “classics” (Pushkin, Tyutchev, Dostoevsky, Gogol), interpreting them as predecessors of symbolism.

Westernism

The opposing force between the Slavophiles and the Pochvenniks are the Westerners. Philosophers, in their exorbitant love for the fatherland, believe that the best path for the homeland will be to imitate Western ideals. Although they, just like opponents, opposed slavery. Herzen noted that serfdom in Russia is an interpretation of arbitrariness. The intelligentsia, as the scientist believed, became hostage to despotism.

If the Slavophiles thought that the “old West” had outlived its usefulness, then Westerners did not see the future of modern Russia, assessing Slavic spirituality as a backwardness that had fallen outside the boundaries of history. What the former considered a strength, the latter considered a weakness.

Westerners welcomed the reforms of Peter the Great, which marked the beginning of the progress of the tsarist power. But they could not help but recognize the cruelty of the ruler’s bloody methods.

The main idea of ​​the adherents was the creation of a free, equal society. To implement the task, representatives of Westernism believed that Russia must adopt European experience.

In the 40-60s of the 19th century, a revolutionary democratic movement of Westerners was formed, the founders of which were A.I. Herzen, V.G. Belinsky. Philosophers of pre-Soviet Russia rejected the “recognized nationality”, arguing that Russia has a common path of development with Europe and should take advantage of the latest “fruits” of science and technology. In the future the state was to become socialist. Later, Herzen lost faith in Europe and came to the conclusion that the beginnings of socialism are in the village community and handicrafts. He became a harbinger of Soviet society.

Positivism of Russian philosophy

Russian positivism is a research movement of philosophy aimed at introducing a scientific research method of studying social life, accepting scientific and technological progress, obtaining “positive” knowledge, implying the interaction of facts and events.

Positivists differed in their political orientations. Their common feature was the dissolution of philosophy in natural science by reducing it either to empiricism or epistemology. Lenin wrote about this: “Marxism despises the similarities of the positivists, not their differences.” The Marxist figure condemns positivists for idle talk, an attempt to degenerate the basic directions of philosophy (materialism, idealism) by psychophysical parallelism, the meaning of which boils down to the incineration of materialism, the formation of idealism.

Cosmism of Russian philosophers

Russian cosmism is a philosophical movement that unites philosophers, religious figures, writers, and artists. This trend is very popular in the past and present, because many of the predictions of cosmists have come true, others continue to be fulfilled.

The leading cosmist was Pavel Aleksandrovich Florensky. He believed that there was such a close connection between man and the cosmos that they could be considered constituent parts of each other. If a person is considered a prototype of the Universe, then everything that he represents exists in the world.

According to Solovyov’s interpretation, the unity of word and body determines the symbiosis of personality. God is infinite in each of us, and people are the main component of existence.

Vernadsky believes that life consists of atoms. According to the thinker, simultaneously with the appearance of a planet, life begins on it. He is guided by the principle of the substantial unity of the universe.

Nikolai Fedorov unites the universal goals of the era; control of nature is given to reason and the power of thought. The sage proposes to regulate natural phenomena, natural disasters that provoke excessive mortality of the world's population by using the achievements of scientific progress. Such processes include the use of alternative energy sources and the impact of magnetic forces on earth cycles. Fedorov sees that the development of civilization and the military-industrial complex leads to the inevitable universal End, and explains that human vices are to blame. In his project, he teaches how to put things in order in your head and life.

Christian-religious current of Russian philosophical thought

The famous Russian polymath Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov developed his own philosophical system of knowledge of the world, at the head of which is religion, the Lord. God personifies good unity. All living things, by God's will, have meaning, which lies in the combination of the beautiful, the true and the good. Love is the final summing force that defeats evil. The thinker considers other currents of science to be abstract, one-sided or going to extremes, which confuses the individual and prevents an adequate assessment of reality.

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Berdyaev continues the importance of the religiosity of the Christian trend with the theory of the completeness of creation and revelation. He thinks that they are unfinished, but must continue through the creative activity of the individual, that is, anthropodicy. Creativity is the personification of religion, since it is a spiritual uplift.

Theologians of Orthodox Christianity

Hearing the name of Vladimir Lossky, one is introduced to the theologian of Christian Orthodoxy in Russia. He believed that Orthodoxy is not just a type of Christianity, but an immutable truth of knowledge. The philosopher's main idea was to preserve Orthodoxy in dialogue with the Christian West. By theology he represented the contemplation of the Most High and the expression of the inexpressible.