Russian philosophy of the 19-20th century (or rather, his verybeginnings) is a very significant phenomenon both in the context of culture and the history of Russia. No wonder this period is called the "Silver Age". Interestingly, the exceptional importance of this cultural turning point was not immediately realized by his contemporaries, and this name is of a late nature. This epoch itself is distinguished by the fact that practically the entire cultural and creative life was in full bloom, despite the crisis in the economy and the growing chaos of political life. The feeling of an upcoming revolutionary coup seemed to spur philosophical creativity on an unprecedented bloom. For the first time in the history of Russian philosophy, original and unique philosophical systems were created.
It's hard to say exactly when the era began,The main achievement of which is the Russian philosophy of the Silver Age, however, many cultural scientists attribute its beginning to the time of the formation of the Philosophical Society at St. Petersburg University in 1897. The end of this period is considered to be 1917, a time of revolutionary upheaval. The members of this society were precisely those representatives of the intellectual elite of Russia who made the greatest contribution to the development of the philosophical ideas of their time, namely A. Losev, N. Berdyaev, S. Frank, D. Merezhkovsky, N. Lossky and other outstanding minds who were the authors such high-profile philosophical collections as Milestones, Logos, Russian Thought. At the same time with the creation of this society, one of the most powerful Russian philosophers, Vladimir Solovyov, wrote his book “Justification of Good”, which sums up his philosophical views and summarizes the main ideas of the Silver Age.
The search for the symbol and the truth, attempts to penetrate the world“On the other side” and the search for how to equip the world in which we live - these are just a few touches to the portrait of various philosophical trends that characterize Russian philosophy of the 19th and 20th centuries at the time of its highest apogee. The ideological sources of this philosophy were the most diverse, sometimes completely unpredictable elements of the philosophical heritage - the ancient Gnosticism and German mystics, Nietzsche and Kant. Moreover, representatives of the philosophical schools created in Russia did not simply transfer to their native soil these original ideas, but based on them, pushing off from them, made their own creative take-off.
Most interesting in terms of wealth andThe diversity of ideas of the described era is the Russian religious philosophy of the 19th and 20th centuries. Vladimir Soloviev himself, S. Bulgakov, P. Florensky, L. Karsavin, N. Berdyaev and many others constituted the peculiar core of this philosophy. But Nikolai Berdyaev and Vladimir Soloviev were able to create the most complete and orderly systems. Their work is even called philosophical and religious Renaissance. As a matter of fact, the rise of religious philosophy is connected with the “backlash” on the spread of atheistic and positivistic ideas, as well as with the huge popularity of mystical and esoteric teachings of various kinds and the expectation of the end of the “old world”. “God-seeking” and “god-building” penetrated even into the Marxist and revolutionary camp, which caused fierce controversy in it.
At the turn of the epochs, Russian philosophy of the 19th and 20th centuriesoften referred to such a concept as a new religious consciousness and the requirement of renewal for Orthodoxy in general and the church institution in particular. The non-dogmatic vision of Christianity, and especially Orthodox Christianity, was annoyed by the official Church in philosophers of that time. The "aesthetic" philosophers of the Silver Age often criticized the Church for the fact that, instead of influencing the improvement of society, it is simply in the service of the state. In particular, Vladimir Solovyov spoke out quite sharply against the rupture of Christianity and public affairs, who reproached Orthodoxy for retiring from life, in connection with which all social progress passed into the hands of non-believers. The basis of Solovyov's philosophy - Sophiology - was that God and man should go towards each other, doing good things together.
Disagreeing with many conceptualthe provisions of Solovyov, Nikolai Berdyaev, nevertheless, also believed that the contemporary Christian culture was inauthentic. He believed that in addition to the Old and New Testaments, the “Third Testament” is also needed when the Holy Spirit appears in the guise of Sophia, and then the Christian culture will fulfill its true purpose. The Russian philosophy of the 19th and 20th centuries, and especially Berdyaev’s philosophy, often positions the main goal of mankind - the perfection of God's creation, complementing and enriching it. However, Berdyaev, and other religious philosophers, nevertheless, tried through a rethinking of ancient and Christian ideas to solve pressing social problems.
