/ 
Anthropological Principles of the Philosophy of Religion in the Early Work of Nikolay Berdyaev (1900–1910)
Abstract
This article deals with the anthropological principles of the philosophy of religion which served as the basis of the early thought of N. A. Berdyaev. The author’s aim is to investigate this little known period in the work of Berdyaev during the decade from 1900 to 1910. Several problems are resolved through a study of the source material examined by the author of this article: 1) The principle phases of the evolution of Berdyaev’s thought are traced which brought the philosopher from Marxism to becoming a follower of Kant, and from idealistic metaphysics to religious philosophy; 2) This early period is examined to determine its importance in the formation of Berdyaev as an independent and original thinker; 3) The problem of the rapport between universality and individuality is studied in all of its aspects (both social and aesthetic) in the early thought of Berdyaev as well as Berdyaev’s understanding of the chuvstvo lichnosti (sense of personality?). As a result we can demarcate several phases of the thought of Berdyaev during his early period which differ from one another in their thematic outlook: an enthusiasm for Marxism and later Neo-Kantism, a transition to spiritualism, a conversion to a new religious consciousness, and a finally a more moderate view of all these perceptions. The author concludes that it is necessary to question the accepted theses of the relevant literature which irrevocably claims that Berdyaev rejected Orthodox asceticism and was thus the creator of an anthropocentric and amoral philosophy.
Keywords
Nikolay Berdyaev, Philosophy of Religion, Anthropology, Individuality, Universality, P. P. Gaydenko, Personality
References
1. Berdjaev N. A. Sub specie aeternitatis. Opyty filosofskie, social’nye i literaturnye (Sub specie aeternitatis. Philosophical, social and literary experiences). Saint Petersburg, 1907
2. Berdjaev N. A. Duhovnyj krizis intelligencii (Spiritual crisis of the intellectuals). Saint Petersburg, 1909
3. Berdjaev N. A. Novoe religioznoe soznanie i obshhestvennost’ (Nee religious consciousness and comunity). Saint Petersburg, 1907
4. Berdjaev N. A. 1910. Russkij soblazn (Po povodu «Serebrjanogo golubja» A. Belogo) (Russian Temptation (For the A. Bely’s «Silver Dove»)). Russkaja mysl’, no. 11, pp. 104–115.
5. Berdjaev N. A. Sub’ektivizm i individualizm v obshhestvennoj filosofii (Subjectivity and individualism in social philosophy). Saint Petersburg, 1901
6. Bulgakov S. N. Religij a chelovekobozhestva u L. Fejerbaha (L. Feierbach’s Religion of the Human-Divine). Мoscow, 1906.
7. Vzyskujushhie grada: hronika chastnoj zhizni russkih religioznyh filosofov v pis’mah i dnevnikah (Seekings for a city: the Chronicle of the life of Russian philosophers of religion according to their letters and diaries). Мoscow, 1997.
8. Evlampiev I. I. Istorija russkoj metafiziki v XIX–XX vekah. Russkaja filosofija v poiskah Absoljuta (The History of the Russian Metaphysics in XIX–XX centyrie. The Russian Philosophy in search of Absolut). Saint Petersburg, 2000
9. Maslin M. A. (Ed.). Istorija russkoj filosofii (The History of the Russian Philosophy). Moscow, 2001.
10. Losskij N. O. Istorija russkoj filosofii (The History of the Russian Philosophy). Moscow, 2007.
11. Motroshilova N. V. Mysliteli Rossii i filosofija Zapada (Russian Thinkers and Western Philosophy). Moscow, 2007.
12. Poltoracky N. P. Berdjaev i Rossija (Filosofija istorii Rossii u N. A. Berdjaeva) (Berdjaev’s views of Russian history). New York, 1987.
13. Tareev M. M. 1909. Novoe religioznoe soznanie i obshhestvennost' (The New Religious Consciousness and the Public). Bogoslovskij vestnik, no. 2. 6, pp. 229–259; no. 2. 7, pp. 424–461.
14. Titarenko S. A. Specifika religioznoj filosofii N. A. Berdjaeva (Specifi cs of Berdyaev’s philosophy of Religion). Rostov-on-Don, 2006
15. Shestov L. 2002. Sub specie aeternitatis. Opyty filosofskie, social’nye i literaturnye (Sub specie aeternitatis. Philosophical, social and literary experiences). pp. 491–586.