Aesthetic “sense of the world” of Nikolai Berdyaev: origins and approaches to the philosophy of beauty

Abstract

This article analyzes the origins of one of the core problems of philosophical-aesthetic thought of N. Berdyaev – the philosophy of beauty. Importance of the phenomenon of beauty for the formation of its aesthetic concepts and worldview overall is demonstrated. The author determines the main sources that determines the heightened interests towards the phenomenon of beauty, which affected the peculiarities of solution of this problem. Considering the defining character of Berdyaev’s personal and emotional attitude to the surrounding beauty, major attention is given to revelation of this source as most significant for understanding the entire further evolution of his philosophical-aesthetical thought as a whole, as well as establishment of the philosophy of beauty in particular. Therefore, the article reviews a number of life circumstances that defined his aesthetic development, which in the end leads to the fact that the aesthetic component becomes paramount in his worldview, and beauty turns into a universal criteria of assessing other diverse phenomena. The study carries a holistic character, being at the intersection of aesthetics, philosophy, culturology, biographical genre, which determines the applied complex historical-philosophical and philosophical-culturological methodology. This article is first attempt within the national literature to examine and reconstruct the origins of Berdyaev’s aesthetic evolution. The author reveals the key role of the problematic of beauty not only on formation of his aesthetic concept, but philosophical thought overall. Analysis is conducted on the source of Berdyaev’s aesthetic views that drastically affected the development of his philosophy of beauty.