“Sobornost”: On the Question of the Meaning of the Concept in the 19th – 30-ies 20th Centuries

Abstract

The article examines the formation and understanding of the term “sobornostʼ” in the public circles of Russia from the 19th to the 1st quarter of the 20th century. Usually, this term is interpreted as specifically Russian and fundamentally crucial for church teaching, philosophy, culture, as well as politics and ideology. The study of this problem was carried out within the “history of concepts” framework. The term “sobornostʼ” is traditionally associated with the works of A.S. Khomyakov, although he never used it. Meanwhile, in the opinion of the author of the article, this word quite adequately conveys the line of thought of an Orthodox theologian: “sobornostʼ” as the church unity of all, all-embracing, directly connected with the Holy Spirit. The article concludes that the concept of “sobornostʼ”, introduced into circulation in the 1840s since the end of the century gradually acquired several meanings that are little related to each other: free unity (Yu.F. Samarin, O.F. Miller, V.V. Rozanov, A.S. Glinka-Volzhsky), conciliarity of consciousness (S.N. Trubetskoy, N.A. Berdyaev), cathedral administration (A.A. Kireev, V.S. Soloviev, V.P. Sventsitsky, M.O. Menshikov, S.N. Bulgakov), collectivism (S.N. Bulgakov), the public (Viach. Ivanov), national unity (S. Petlyura). The very use of the word “sobornostʼ” became an objective marker of involvement in various directions: late Slavophilism (collegiality), total unity (conciliarity of consciousness), socialism (collectivism), Ukrainian nationalism (national unity). The return to Khomyakov's understanding of the “sobornostʼ” (as catholic) and the development based on this understanding of the mystical concept of “sobornostʼ” began only in the 1920s. (G.V. Florovsky).