Soteriological problems of personality in the Russian Spiritual Tradition

Abstract

The subject of the study is the problem of personality in the context of Russian spiritual thought. The study of such a phenomenon as personality has been actively conducted in Western European philosophy and has always been associated with a person and his unique personality. However, in the history of Russian philosophy, other subjects related to personality arise, since they are rooted in the spiritual tradition of Orthodoxy. One of the most important such grounds is the trinitarian problematic in the perception of the Russian philosophers of the doctrine of personality. Using historical and philosophical material, we will make a comparative study of how the phenomenon of personality is represented in Western European and Russian thought. At the same time, we will also attract the works of contemporary authors who are actively developing this issue. In the course of studying the phenomenon of personality in Russian culture, we came to the following conclusions. The original concept of personality, which appeared in the pre—Petrine tradition, was not only an integral part of folk culture, but also played an important role as an anthropological marker of "friend-foe" at the level of behavioral or ethical practice. The personal reference point here is the saint, although such a role model is an unattainable goal of imitative practice of oneself. The essence of such self-forgetful service is revealed only in the personal experience of faith, which is achieved by a whole group of people who share similar views and who are aware of themselves as Orthodox Christians. Imitation of the saint as a spiritualized person becomes an important ethical and pedagogical dominant, and the personality of man is understood precisely in connection with the personality of God, which turns out to be a spiritual guide for every single person and at the same time the goal of his life on earth. It is through this that the phenomenon of conciliarity acquires its transcendent meaning.