The problem of the social ideal in the philosophy of Boris Chicherin

Abstract

The article analyzes the concept of the ideal of social life, developed by B.N. Chicherin. The first part of the article examines his criticism of various representations of the social ideal in the history of thought and in socio-economic and political concepts contemporary to Chicherin. Special attention is paid to his analysis and criticism of the social ideal of socialist doctrines. The second part of the article is devoted to the analysis of tendencies in liberal thought, controversial from Chicherin's point of view. It provides Chicherin's criticism of the notions of social liberalism emerging at the end of the 19th century. In the third part, an analysis of his own concept is given, Chicherin's ideas about the ways of forming a society based on individual freedom are considered, and the social role of ideas about the social ideal is analyzed.