Religious-philosophical views of G. Skovoroda in the context of russian non-academic theology

Abstract

Analysis of the typological similarity of God-seeking motives of G.Skovoroda’s philosophy with representatives of Russian non-academic theology allows to assert the aesthetic and philosophical heritage of Ukrainian thinker as the foundation of Russian non-academic theology as well as to conduct the vectors of further comparative study of Ukrainian philosopher heritage. The authors argue that the philosophical and aesthetic views of G. Skovoroda resonate with the aspects of religious and philosophical thought. The metaphysical basis of G. Skovoroda's philosophical doctrine from the beginning of its publication served as an impetus for the search for mystical elements in its formal and semantic core and its comparisons with the teachings of European and, above all, German mysticism. The authors outline the prospects for studying some striking coincidences in the views of Russian «Martinists» (whose favorite form of expression was also «dialogues») and the Ukrainian philosopher in matters of attitude to science, which «without Christianity turns into evil and deadly poison» (I. Schwartz). The program of the order, the main task of the first three stages of which proclaimed the need to «know oneself», «delay evil», «seek good» and «seek the truth in oneself» is also corresponds with G.Skovoroda views. On the question of the primacy of the religious and philosophical doctrine of G. Skovoroda and the Russian Rosicrucian Freemasons, we agree with V. Ern, who rightly considered the thinker «the ancestor of Russian philosophical thought», «the spiritual originator and founder of all major subsequent currents in Russian society».
Skovoroda’s teachings were admired by such prominent figures of the early twentieth century as L. Tolstoy, Andrei Bely, S. Solovyov, V. Ern, M. Kostomarov, and others, and there are many typological parallels in the legacy of nineteenth-century publicists. The authors analyze the connection of G. Skovoroda's ideas with Masonic doctrines, which indirectly influenced the formation of future God-seeking theories, reflected in the doctrines of «sighted mind» and «life science» of n Slavophiles (O. Khomyakov, I. Kireevsky, K. Aksakov, etc.), on the «holistic knowledge» Vol. Solovyov, «metaphysics of the heart» by P. Yurkevich, «intuitionism» by N. Lossky, «logism» by V. Ern, the ontological status of truth by E. Trubetsky, P. Florensky, «philosophy of the name» by O. Losev, S. Bulgakov. The authors prove, that Gregory Skvoroda's philosophical observations preceded the emergence of the n version of the Masonic doctrine.