(1883 - 1954) - Russian philosopher, lawyer and public figure. Initially, he was an adherent of radical views, but after 1906 he became interested in the ideas of the Slavophiles and monarchists. In 1918 he defended his dissertation on the topic "Hegel's philosophy as a doctrine of the concreteness of God and man", built a scientific career in Russia, but four years later he was expelled from the country by Lenin's decree on the famous "philosophical ship".

After emigrating, Ilyin settled in Germany, taught in Russian scientific institute in Berlin, but after the Nazis came to power, he was fired and persecuted by the Gestapo. Last years Ivan Alexandrovich spent his life in Switzerland, where he wrote several books, including the work "Axioms of Religious Experience", on which he worked for more than thirty years.

Ilyin's ideas influenced many conservative intellectuals of the 20th century, including Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

We have selected 15 quotes from the works of this famous philosopher:

Ivan Alexandrovich Ilyin (1883-1954), the great Russian thinker, religious philosopher and publicist of the last century, occupies a special place among the figures of the Russian religious and philosophical renaissance. He lived and worked in the era of tragic upheavals that befell our state. Steadfastly not accepting the revolution in Russia, Ilyin always remained true to his ideas, was convinced of his spiritual rightness. For this, in 1922, the Bolsheviks expelled him from Russia, and he could not return to his homeland until the end of his days. Nevertheless, Ilyin, like no one else, was faithful to his duty all his life, which he saw in selfless service to Russia and the cause national revival Russian people.

In emigration, he wrote and published dozens of works, among which the most significant were "On Resistance to Evil by Force" (1925), "Axioms of Religious Experience" (1953), "The Path to Evidence" (1954), "Our Tasks" ( 1948-1954), etc.
The philosophical concept of Ilyin in its nature, sources and method, qualitatively differs from the philosophical concepts of the Russian revival of the early twentieth century. As noted by A.V. Gulyga, “Ilyin never indulged in philosophy for the sake of philosophy, he thought and wrote first of all about how the Russian public lived”1. His ideas are based not on abstract theorizing or intellectualism, but on the direct spiritual experience of life. Ilyin believed that true philosophy should not be built from the rational systematization of speculative philosophical categories, - a method that was adopted by Russian thinkers from German philosophy. On the contrary, he based his reasoning on the experience of living religiosity and spirituality, noting more than once that his philosophy is “simple, quiet, accessible to everyone, born from the main organ of Orthodox Christianity - the contemplative heart”2.
It is from this vantage point that Ivan Aleksandrovich examines the meaning of the Russian idea. This concept, however, is not his innovation. For the first time, F.M. Dostoevsky, highlighting it as a national idea, but at the same time universal and objectively valuable for all peoples. Subsequently, a certain contribution to the development of the Russian idea was made by the largest Russian philosophers V.S. Solovyov, N.F. Fedorov, N.A. Berdyaev, S.L. Frank, A.F. Losev and others. The result of their work was the understanding of the Russian idea as an integral part of the universal Christian idea, which has deep national characteristics and expressed in terms of dialectical philosophy. In essence, all Russian philosophy has become a theoretical formulation of various aspects of the Russian idea. This is how one can evaluate creative heritage Ilyin. The Russian idea was for him, first of all, a creative idea, an idea that the Russian people already possessed, which constituted its strength and originality among all other peoples. At the same time, it reflected the vocation of the Russian people, their high historical task and spiritual path. The Russian idea in Ilyin's philosophy was never an empty speculative definition, but served as the main guideline on the path to the liberation of the Russian people from godless totalitarianism and the revival of its traditional spiritual values.
The Russian idea is presented by Ilyin as the idea of ​​“a heart contemplating freely and objectively, and transmitting its vision to the will for action and thought, for awareness and word”3. The concept of "heart" acts here as a philosophical and anthropological concept of the human soul and its innermost world. The Russian idea, therefore, is the "idea of ​​the heart", which asserts that the main thing in life is love, on the basis of which all living together on earth and the “culture of the spirit”. The Russian soul was originally predisposed to feeling, and this feature was historically developed in our Orthodoxy. Faith has always been characteristic of Russia “not by the will and mind, but by the fire of the heart”; and this, as Ivan Ilyin believed, determined the root of the Russian idea, which was expressed in the desire for perfect quality, for an objective ideal. The desire to see true perfection manifested itself in the spirit of Russian life, Russian art, Russian science. Ilyin is convinced that without this aspiration, without faith and without love, “the Russian person becomes an empty being, without an ideal and without a goal”4.
The main manifestation of love and faith in Russian life is “living contemplation”. This term is directly related to religiosity and is central to Ilyin's philosophy. Life in "heart contemplation" means, first of all, being in spirituality, which fills the human soul and underlies all human existence. “Heart contemplation” is a special existential category, a kind of inner “vision”, directed towards perfection and revealing spiritual objects to a person. This is a characteristic Russian trait, which is expressed in the need to “see the beloved live and in reality and then express what he saw - with an act, song, drawing or word. That is why the whole of Russian culture is based on the living evidence of the heart, and Russian art has always been a sensual depiction of insensibly perceived circumstances. This is the manifestation of the Russian idea in folk life. Brought up by the infinite breadth and beauty of Russian nature, "cordial contemplation" was embodied both in the spiritual and creative power of the people, and in the notorious Russian mentality and "contemplating laziness."
However, heartfelt love and contemplation inevitably disappear in the absence of freedom. In Ilyin's philosophy, two types of freedom can be distinguished - internal and external. The latter is only a necessary condition for the development of the former, which, in turn, is embodied in a heartfelt striving for objective perfection. According to Ilyin, the desire for freedom, both external and internal, is “a primordially Russian phenomenon, which also corresponded to the Orthodox concept of Christianity: not formal, not legalistic, not moralizing, but freeing a person to living love and living conscience. contemplation"6. Freedom has always been the most important component of the Russian idea, historically reflected in the “organic love of freedom” that the Russian people showed in the era of foreign-tribal enslavement and serfdom. Nevertheless, the possession of freedom should not turn into self-will and self-restraint, therefore contemplation should be not only free, but also objective. Objectivity in human life, according to Ilyin, is a “beautiful and sacred” spiritual goal of life, significant both objectively and subjectively, for which it is worth “living, fighting and dying.” Objectivity instills in a person a sense of joyful service, spiritual dignity and supreme responsibility. In Russia, substantive service to God, the Tsar and the Fatherland was reflected in many areas of public life, from religious traditions to the idea of ​​righteous patriotism in the Russian army.
Thus, Ilyin developed a whole complex of existential categories of human being, characteristic of the original Russian mentality. The Russian national idea appears here as an idea of ​​contemplative love and free objectivity, delving into which we can ascend to God. In this regard, Ilyin subdivides all categories of existentials of human existence into “primary forces” (heart, contemplation, freedom, conscience) and “secondary forces” (will, thought, form, organization). From this position, the meaning of the Russian idea can be expressed differently - as the subordination and formation of secondary forces on the basis of primary ones, i.e. creation of spiritual culture. This also determined the nature of Russian religiosity, based on contemplation, freedom and conscience, which manifested itself in Orthodox discipline and organization, in Russian art, where a deep ideological content, in Russian science, revealing the subject in its entirety thanks to free creative research.
In the sphere of the socio-political organization of the state, according to Ilyin, the most acceptable form of government for Russia is a monarchy. “Russia grew and grew in the form of a monarchy, not because the Russian people gravitated toward dependence or political slavery,” the thinker wrote, “but because the state, in his understanding, should be artistically and religiously embodied in a single person, selflessly loved and strengthened by universal love. The power of the monarch in Russia has always played the role of a consolidating force, a symbol of the power and independence of the Russian state. Like many other philosophers of the Russian Renaissance, Ivan Ilyin believed that the monarchy in Russia has purely existential foundations, which were expressed primarily in the "living evidence of the heart." This was a reflection of the essence of the Russian idea in the sphere of the historically established socio-political system of Russia. According to the fair remark of many researchers, in the work of Ilyin, along with the works of I.L. Solonevich, M.V. Nazarova and L.V. Tikhomirova, the theory of the monarchical state structure found the most complete reflection.
The historically established identity of the spiritual culture of the Russian people is our inalienable vocation and historical task. Ilyin defined its meaning as the need for the Russian people "to be so with all possible fullness and creative power, to observe their spiritual nature and not be tempted by other people's ways"9. Everything that is given to Russia as a national identity, whether it is a feature of the state system, prayer, everyday life, art or science - all this is a gift from God and our calling. Ivan Aleksandrovich was convinced that borrowing Western culture destroys Russia, that “we are not students of the West and not teachers. We are disciples of God and teachers to ourselves,” and in this he saw the meaning of the Russian idea.
Without a doubt, Ilyin left a deep mark on the history of Russian religious philosophy. “In the 20th century, there was no more sober and profound political thinker in Russia than Ivan Alexandrovich Ilyin”10. In his work, the features of Russian spiritual and political identity not only received a clear design and understanding, but, above all, were designated as the path of the national revival of Russia. This idea does not lose its relevance in our time, the time when the Russian people are losing the continuity of their true culture and mentality, when we especially need a national spiritual renewal. And in this regard, the creative heritage of I.A. Ilyin and his ideas are a guideline for us on the way to the revival of Russia.

Notes
1 Gulyga A.V. Creators of the Russian idea. M., 2006. S. 230.
2 Quot. by: Gulyga A.V. Decree. op. S. 229.
3 Ilyin I.A. About Russian nationalism. Digest of articles. M., 2007. S. 110.
4 Ibid. S. 111.
5 Ibid. S. 112.
6 Ibid. S. 113.
7 Ibid. S. 112.
8 Vladimirov V.V. The meaning of Russian life. M., 2006. S. 244.
9 Ilyin I.A. Decree. op. S. 115.
10 Gulyga A.V. Decree. op. S. 239.

Russian thinker, philosopher, publicist and public figure. He graduated from the law faculty of Moscow University, where in 1918 he became a professor. At the end of 1922 he was expelled from Russia. He lived in Berlin, where he taught at the Russian Scientific Institute. In 1927-30 he published a "journal of strong-willed ideas" - "Russian Bell". After Hitler came to power, he was forced to leave Germany and settle in Switzerland, where he lived until the end of his days.

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EDITOR'S NOTE

Ilyin Ivan Alexandrovich (03/16/28/1882 - 12/21/1954)

At the beginning of the 21st century, the grave of Ivan Alexandrovich and his wife was threatened with destruction . It is not clear who promoted the idea of ​​reburial, because in this is said very vaguely. The ceremony of reburial of the ashes of the philosopher Ivan Ilyin and his wife took place on October 3, 2005 in the necropolis of the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow.

With the return of the intellectual heritage of Ivan Alexandrovich, the situation is as follows.

The archive was deposited at Michigan State University in 1965 from Zurich after the death of Ivan Ilyin in 1954. "Ivan Alexandrovich bequeathed to keep his archive abroad until the end of the Bolshevik regime in Russia," Professor Yury Lisitsa, expert of the Russian Cultural Foundation, explained to the newspaper. The custodian of the archive, professor at the University of Michigan and student of Ivan Ilyin, Nikolai Poltoratsky was in no hurry to transfer the archive to Russia even after the collapse of the USSR. With the coming to power of Vladimir Putin, the attitude towards Russia in the Poltoratsky family changed, however, by this time the professor himself was no longer alive, and the rights to the archive were transferred to his widow Tamara Mikhailovna. The return of the Ilyin archive took place as part of the presidential program "For Reconciliation and Accord" (the program is designed to overcome the historical division in society that occurred in 1917. Within its framework, Anton Denikin and Ivan Ilyin were reburied in 2005), supervised by Georgy Poltavchenko, presidential envoy and carried out with the active participation of the Russian Cultural Foundation and government agencies. The return of the archive cost $60,000. financial assistance authorities have contacted famous businessman Viktor Vekselberg, who provided it through the Link of Times Foundation.

1. Russian people! In 2002, the TV channel "Russia" showed the film "Russian Exodus" by Alexei Dinisov. In this film, its author says that in 2005 the grave of the Russian thinker Ivan Alexandrovich Ilyin, which is located in the Zollikon cemetery near Zurich, will be destroyed, because the land in the cemetery is paid, and contributions ceased with the death of prof. Poltoratsky. The author of the film considers that the most reliable way to save the ashes of Ilyin is to transport him to Russia, but there is no money for this. When I watched this film and heard these words, I could not believe my ears: are there really no people in Russia who love the Russian national thinker and Russian patriot, who was Ivan Aleksandrovich Ilyin, who hold dear his huge legacy and who are ready to sacrifice part of their money, to save the ashes of the thinker from destruction and what kind of Russian patriotism can we talk about if Russian people are able to calmly observe the destruction of the grave of the real son of Russia, Ilyin, without trying to do anything to prevent this terrible event, not wanting to part with at least a small part of their savings, and maybe the situation has already changed, and someone is paying contributions. But if this is not so, then I turn to you, Russian people! It is necessary to clarify the situation, and if Ilyin's grave is still threatened with destruction, then organize the collection of donations and transport the ashes of the Russian philosopher to his native land. There are many Russian people in Russia who sincerely love their Motherland, and I am sure that we will be able to accomplish this God-pleasing deed and save the ashes of Ilyin, having fulfilled our duty as a Russian person and giving strength to the people's memory. 12/12/04 Russian House Forum

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The article "On the Russian idea" in the old orthography, see Im Werden Verlag

I. A. Ilyin

About the Russian idea

If it befalls our generation to live in the most difficult and dangerous epoch of Russian history, then this cannot and must not shake our understanding, our will and our service to Russia. The struggle of the Russian people for freedom and decent life on earth continues. And now, more than ever, it is fitting for us to believe in Russia, to see her spiritual strength and originality, and to pronounce for her, on her behalf and for her future generations, her creative idea.

We have no one to borrow this creative idea from and for what: it can only be Russian, national. It must express Russian historical originality and, at the same time, Russian historical vocation. This idea formulates what is already inherent in the Russian people, what constitutes its good strength, in what it is right in the face of God and original among all other peoples. And at the same time this idea shows us our historical task and our spiritual path; this is what we must cherish and grow in ourselves, educate in our children and future generations and bring to real purity and fullness of being in everything: in our culture and in our way of life, in our souls and in our faith, in our institutions and laws. The Russian idea is something living, simple and creative. Russia lived by it in all her inspired hours, in all her good days, in all her great people. About this idea we can say: it was so, and when it happened, then the beautiful was realized; and so it will be, and the more fully and strongly it is carried out, the better it will be ...

What is the essence of this idea?

The Russian idea is the idea of ​​the heart. the idea of ​​a contemplative heart. The heart that contemplates freely and objectively and transmits its vision to the will for action and thought for awareness and speech. Here main source Russian faith and Russian culture. Here main force Russia and Russian identity. This is the path of our rebirth and renewal. This is what other peoples vaguely feel in the Russian spirit, and when they correctly recognize this, they bow down and begin to love and honor Russia. In the meantime, they do not know how or do not want to find out, they turn away, judge Russia from above and say words of untruth, envy and enmity about it.

1. So, the Russian idea is the idea of ​​the heart.

She claims that the main thing in life is love, and that it is love that builds a common life on earth, because faith and the whole culture of the spirit are born from love. The Russian-Slavic soul, since ancient times and organically predisposed to feeling, sympathy and kindness, historically accepted this idea from Christianity: it responded with its heart to the gospel of God, to the main commandment of God, and believed that "God is Love." Russian Orthodoxy there is Christianity not so much from Paul as from John, James and Peter. It perceives God not by imagination, which needs fears and miracles in order to be afraid and bow before the "power" (primitive religions); not by a greedy and domineering earthly will, which at best dogmatically accepts a moral rule, obeys the law, and itself demands obedience from others (Judaism and Catholicism), not by a thought that seeks understanding and interpretation and then tends to reject what seems incomprehensible to it (Protestantism). ). Russian Orthodoxy perceives God with love, sends up a prayer of love to Him, and addresses the world and people with love. This spirit determined the act Orthodox faith, Orthodox worship, our church hymns and church architecture. The Russian people accepted Christianity not by the sword, not by calculation, not by fear and not by intellect, but by feeling, kindness, conscience and contemplation of the heart. When a Russian person believes, he believes not with his will and not with his mind, but with the fire of his heart. When his faith contemplates, it does not indulge in seductive hallucinations, but strives to see true perfection. When his faith desires, it desires not power over the universe (under the pretext of its orthodoxy), but a perfect quality. this is the root of the Russian idea. this is its creative power for centuries.

And all this is not an idealization and not a myth, but the living force of the Russian soul and Russian history. The kindness, tenderness and hospitality, as well as the love of freedom of the Russian Slavs, are unanimously testified by ancient sources - both Byzantine and Arabic. The Russian folk tale is all imbued with melodious good nature. The Russian song is a direct outpouring of heartfelt feeling in all its modifications. Russian dance is an improvisation that springs from an overflowing feeling. The first historical Russian princes are heroes of heart and conscience (Vladimir, Yaroslav, Monomakh). The first Russian saint (Theodosius) is a manifestation of sheer kindness. Russian chronicles and instructive writings are imbued with the spirit of heartfelt and conscientious contemplation. This spirit lives in Russian poetry and literature, in Russian painting and in Russian music. The history of Russian legal consciousness testifies to its gradual penetration by this spirit, the spirit of fraternal sympathy and individualizing justice. And the Russian medical school is its direct product (diagnostic intuition of a living suffering person).

So, love is the main spiritual and creative force of the Russian soul. Without love, a Russian person is a failed being. Civilizing substitutes for love (duty, discipline, formal loyalty, the hypnosis of outward law-abidingness) are not very characteristic of him in and of themselves. Without love - he either lazily vegetates, or tends to permissiveness. Not believing in anything, the Russian person becomes an empty being Without an ideal and Without a goal. The mind and will of the Russian people are brought into spiritual and creative movement precisely by love and faith.

2. And for all that, the first manifestation of Russian love and Russian faith is living contemplation.

We were taught contemplation first of all by our plain space, our nature with its distances and clouds, with its rivers, forests, thunderstorms and snowstorms. Hence our unquenchable gaze, our daydreaming, our “contemplative laziness” (Pushkin), behind which lies the power of creative imagination. Russian contemplation was given beauty that captivated the heart, and this beauty was introduced into everything - from fabric and lace to housing and fortifications. From this, the souls became more tender, more refined and deeper; contemplation was also introduced into internal culture - into faith, into prayer, into art, into science, and into philosophy. A Russian person has an inherent need to see his beloved live and in reality and then express what he saw - with an act, song, drawing or word. That is why all Russian culture is based on the living evidence of the heart, and Russian art has always been a sensual depiction of insensibly perceived circumstances. It is this living evidence of the heart that underlies Russian historical monarchism. Russia grew and grew in the form of a monarchy, not because the Russian person gravitated toward dependence or political slavery, as many in the West think, but because the State, in his understanding, should be artistically and religiously embodied in a single person, a living, contemplated, selflessly loved and popularly “created” and strengthened by this universal love.

3. But the heart and contemplation breathe freely. They demand freedom, and their creativity fades without it. The heart cannot be commanded to love, it can only be kindled with love. Contemplation cannot be prescribed what it should see and what it should create. The spirit of man is a personal, organic and independent being: he loves and creates himself, according to his inner needs. This corresponded to the primordial Slavic love of freedom and the Russian-Slavic commitment to national-religious originality. The Orthodox concept of Christianity also corresponded to this: not formal, not legalistic, not moralizing, but freeing a person to living love and living conscientious contemplation. This was also consistent with the ancient Russian (both ecclesiastical and state) tolerance for any heterodoxy and for any foreign tribe, which opened the way for Russia to an imperial (not “imperialist”) understanding of its tasks (see the wonderful article by Prof. Rozov: “Christian Freedom and Ancient Russia ” in No. 10 of the yearbook “Day of Russian Glory”, 1940, Belgrade).

Russian people have freedom, as it were, by nature. It is expressed in that organic naturalness and simplicity, in that improvisational ease and ease that distinguishes the Eastern Slav from Western peoples in general and even from some Western Slavs. This inner freedom is felt in everything: in the slow smoothness and melodiousness of Russian speech, in Russian gait and gestures, in Russian clothes and dance, in Russian food and in Russian life. The Russian world lived and grew up in spatial expanses and itself gravitated toward spacious unconstrainedness. The natural temperament of the soul attracted a Russian person to straightforwardness and openness (Svyatoslavovo “I’m going to you” ...), turned his passion into sincerity and raised this sincerity to confession and martyrdom ...

Even at the first invasion of the Tatars, the Russian people preferred death to slavery and knew how to fight to the last. It has remained this way throughout its history. And it is no coincidence that for the war of 1914-1917. out of 1,400,000 Russian prisoners in Germany, 260,000 people (18.5%) tried to escape from captivity. "No other nation has given such a percentage of attempts." (N. N. Golovin). And if we, taking into account this organic love of freedom of the Russian people, take a mental look at its history with its endless wars and long-term enslavement, then we will not have to be indignant at the relatively rare (albeit cruel) Russian riots, but bow before the power of the state instinct, spiritual loyalty and Christian patience, which the Russian people have shown throughout their history.

So, the Russian idea is the idea of ​​a freely contemplating heart. However, this contemplation is called upon to be not only free, but also objective. For freedom, fundamentally speaking, is given to a person not for self-restraint, but for organically creative self-shaping, not for objectless wandering and arbitrariness, but for independent finding of an object and staying in it. This is the only way spiritual culture arises and matures. That is what she is.

The whole life of the Russian people could be expressed and depicted in this way: a freely contemplating heart sought and found its true and worthy Object. In its own way, the heart of the holy fool found him, in its own way - the heart of a wanderer and pilgrim; in their own way, Russian hermitism and eldership indulged in religious object-vision; in its own way, the Russian Old Believers held on to the sacred traditions of Orthodoxy; in its own way, in a completely special way, the Russian army nurtured its glorious traditions; in its own way, the Russian peasantry carried out the draft service and, in its own way, nurtured Russian boyars traditions of Russian Orthodox statehood; in their own way, those Russian righteous people who held the Russian land, and whose appearances were artistically shown by N. S. Leskov, asserted their objective vision. The whole history of Russian wars is the history of selfless substantive service to God, the Tsar and the fatherland; and, for example, the Russian Cossacks first sought freedom, and then learned the subject state patriotism. Russia has always been built by the spirit of freedom and objectivity, and has always staggered and disintegrated as soon as this spirit weakened - as soon as freedom was perverted into arbitrariness and encroachment, into tyranny and violence, as soon as the contemplative heart of a Russian person clung to non-objective or anti-objective contents ...

Such is the Russian idea: freely and objectively contemplating love and life and culture determined by this. Where a Russian person lived and created from this act, he spiritually realized his national identity and produced his best creations in everything: in law and in the state, in solitary prayer, in public organization, in art and science, in the household and in family life, in the church altar and on the royal throne. God's gifts- history and nature - made the Russian man just like that. this is not his merit, but this determines his precious originality in the host of other peoples. This also determines the task of the Russian people: to be such with all possible fullness and creative force; observe your spiritual nature, do not be tempted by other people's way of life, do not distort your spiritual face with artificially transplanted features and create your life and culture precisely by this spiritual act.

Based on the Russian way of the soul, we should remember one thing and take care of one thing: how can we fill the free and loving contemplation given to us with real objective content; how can we correctly perceive and express the Divine - in our own way; how can we sing God's songs and grow God's flowers in our fields... We are called not to borrow from other peoples, but to create our own in our own way; but in such a way that what is ours and created in our own way is actually true and beautiful, that is, objectively.

So, we are not called to borrow the spiritual culture of other nations or imitate them. We are called to create our own and in our own way: Russian in Russian.

From ancient times, other peoples had a different character and a different creative way: their own special - among the Jews, their own - among the Greeks, special among the Romans, different among the Germans, different among the Gauls, different among the British. They have a different faith, a different "blood in their veins", a different heredity, a different nature, a different history. They have their own advantages and disadvantages. Who among us would want to borrow their shortcomings? Nobody. And the merits are given to us and our own are given. And when we are able to overcome our national shortcomings - by conscience, prayer, labor and education - then our virtues will flourish so that none of us even wants to think about strangers ...

So, for example, all attempts to borrow from the Catholics their strong-willed and mental culture would be hopeless for us. Their culture grew historically from the predominance of the will over the heart, analysis over contemplation, reason in all its practical sobriety over conscience, power and coercion over freedom. How could we borrow this culture from them if the ratio of these forces is reversed in our country? After all, we would have to extinguish in ourselves the forces of the heart, contemplation, conscience and freedom, or, in any case, renounce their predominance. And are there really naive people who imagine that we could achieve this by stifling Slavism in ourselves, uprooting in ourselves the age-old influence of our nature and history, suppressing our organic love of freedom, spewing out of ourselves the natural Orthodoxy of the soul and the immediate - sincerity of the spirit? And for what? In order to artificially instill in ourselves the spirit of Judaism, alien to us, which permeates Catholic culture, and further - the spirit of Roman law, the spirit of mental and volitional formalism, and, finally, the spirit of world power, so characteristic of Catholics? .. But in essence, in order to renounce our own, historically and religiously given culture of spirit, will and mind: for in the future we will not have to stay exclusively in the life of the heart, contemplation and freedom and do without will, without thought, without life form, without discipline and without organization. On the contrary, we have to grow out of free contemplation of the heart - our own special, new Russian culture of will, thought and organization. Russia is not an empty receptacle into which one can mechanically, arbitrarily, invest anything, regardless of the laws of her spiritual organism. Russia is a living spiritual system with its historical gifts and tasks. Moreover, behind it stands a certain divine historical plan, from which we do not dare to renounce and which we would not be able to renounce even if we even wanted to ... And all this is articulated by the Russian idea.

This Russian idea of ​​contemplative love and free objectivity does not in itself judge or condemn foreign cultures. She just does not prefer them and does not make them her law. Each nation does what it can, based on what is given to it. But that people is bad, which does not see what is given to them, and therefore goes to beg under other people's windows. Russia has its own spiritual and historical gifts and is called upon to create its own special spiritual culture: the culture of the heart, contemplation, freedom and objectivity: there is no single universally binding “Western culture”, in front of which everything else is “darkness” or “barbarism”. The West is not a decree or a prison for us. His culture is not an ideal of perfection. The structure of his spiritual act (or rather, his spiritual acts) may correspond to his abilities and his needs, but it does not correspond and does not satisfy our forces, our tasks, our historical vocation and mental structure. And there is no need for us to chase him and make a model out of him. The West has its own delusions, ailments, weaknesses and dangers. we have no salvation in Westernism. We have our own paths and our tasks. And this is the meaning of the Russian idea.

However, this is not pride or self-exaltation. For, wishing to go our own ways, we by no means assert that we have gone very far on these paths or that we have outstripped everyone. Similarly, we do not at all assert that everything that happens and is created in Russia is perfect, that the Russian character does not have its shortcomings, that our culture is free from errors, dangers, ailments and temptations. In fact, we claim otherwise: we are good at this moment our history or bad, we are called and obliged to go our own way - to purify our heart, strengthen our contemplation, exercise our freedom and educate ourselves for objectivity. No matter how great our historical misfortunes and downfalls, we are called to be on our own, and not to crawl before others; create, not borrow; turn to God, and not imitate neighbors; look for a Russian vision, Russian content and Russian form, and not go “in pieces”, collecting for imaginary poverty. We are not students or teachers of the West. We are disciples of God and teachers to ourselves. Before us is the task: to create a Russian original spiritual culture - from the Russian heart, with Russian contemplation, in Russian freedom, revealing Russian objectivity. And this is the meaning of the Russian idea.

We must correctly understand this national task of ours, without distorting it or exaggerating it. We must take care not about our originality, but about the objectivity of our soul and our culture; originality will “apply” itself, blossoming unintentionally and directly. It's not about being different; the requirement "be like no one else" is wrong, ridiculous and not feasible. In order to grow and flourish, one should not look askance at others, trying not to imitate them in anything and not to learn anything from them. We must not start from other peoples, but go into our own depths and ascend from it to God; one must not be original, but strive for God's truth; one must not indulge in the East Slavic megalomania, but seek with the Russian soul for substantive service. And this is the meaning of the Russian idea.

That is why it is so important to imagine our national vocation with all possible vivacity and concreteness. If Russian spiritual culture proceeds from the heart, contemplation, freedom and conscience, this does not mean at all that it "denies" will, thought, form and organization. The originality of the Russian people is not at all in being in lack of will and thoughtlessness, enjoying formlessness and vegetating in chaos; but in growing the secondary forces of Russian culture (will, thought, form and organization) from its primary forces (from the heart, from contemplation, from freedom and conscience). The originality of the Russian soul and Russian culture is expressed precisely in this distribution of its forces into primary and secondary: primary forces determine and lead, and secondary grow out of them and accept their law from them. This has already happened in the history of Russia. And it was true and wonderful. So it should be in the future, but even better, fuller and more perfect.

1. According to this, Russian religiosity must, as before, be affirmed on heartfelt contemplation and freedom, and always observe its act of conscience. Russian Orthodoxy must honor and protect the freedom of faith, both its own and others. On the basis of heartfelt contemplation, it must build its own special Orthodox theology, free from the rational, formal, deadly, skeptically blind reasoning of Western theologians; it should not adopt moral casuistry and moral pedantry from the West, it should proceed from a living and creative Christian conscience (“you are called to freedom, brethren”, Gal. 5, 13), and on these foundations it should work out the Eastern Orthodox discipline of the will and organizations.

2. Russian art- is called upon to observe and develop that spirit of loving contemplation and objective freedom, by which it has been guided hitherto. We should not be embarrassed by the fact that the West does not know the Russian folk song at all, is barely beginning to appreciate Russian music, and has not yet found access to our marvelous Russian painting. It is not the business of Russian artists (of all arts and all directions) to take care of success on the international stage and on the international market - and adapt to their tastes and needs; it is not fitting for them to "learn" from the West - neither its decadent modernism, nor its aesthetic lack of wings, nor its artistic objectlessness and snobbery. Russian art has its precepts and traditions, its own national creative act: there is no Russian art Without a burning heart; there is no Russian art Without contemplation of the heart; there is none Without free inspiration; there is not and will not be without responsible, substantive and conscientious service. And if this is all, then it will continue to be visual arts in Russia, with its lively and deep content, form and rhythm.

3. Russian science is not intended to imitate Western scholarship either in the field of research or in the field of worldview. It is called upon to develop its own worldview, its own research. This does not mean at all that a single universal human logic is “optional” for a Russian person, or that his science can have a goal other than objective truth. It would be in vain to interpret this call as the right of a Russian person to scientific lack of evidence, irresponsibility, subjective arbitrariness or other destructive disgrace. But the Russian scientist is called upon to introduce into his research the principles of the heart, contemplation, creative freedom and living responsibility of conscience. The Russian scientist is called upon to love his subject with inspiration the way Lomonosov, Pirogov, Mendeleev, Sergei Solovyov, Gedeonov, Zabelin, Lebedev, and Prince Sergei Trubetskoy loved him. Russian science cannot and must not be a dead craft, a burden of information, indifferent material for arbitrary combinations, a technical workshop, a school of shameless skill.

The Russian scientist is called upon to saturate his observation and his thought with living contemplation - both in natural science, and in higher mathematics, and in history, and in jurisprudence, and in economics, and in philology, and in medicine. Rational science, which leads nothing but sensory observation, experiment and analysis, is a spiritually blind science: it does not see the object, but observes only its shells; touch kills her live content subject; it gets stuck in parts and pieces and is powerless to rise to the contemplation of the whole. The Russian scientist is called upon to contemplate the life of a natural organism; see a mathematical subject; to see in every detail of Russian history the spirit and fate of their people; grow and strengthen your legal intuition; to see the integral economic organism of one's country; to contemplate the integral life of the language he is studying; to comprehend the suffering of his patient with medical vision.

To this must be added creative freedom in research. scientific method there is no dead system of tricks, schemes and combinations. Every real, creative researcher always develops his own, new method. For the method is a living, seeking movement towards an object, a creative adaptation to it, "research", "invention", getting used to, empathizing with the object, often improvisation, sometimes reincarnation. The Russian scientist, in his entire disposition, is called upon to be not a craftsman and not an accountant of a phenomenon, but an artist in research; responsible improviser, free pioneer of knowledge. Far from falling into comical pretentiousness or into the amateurish swagger of self-taught, the Russian scientist must stand on his own feet. His science must become the science of creative contemplation - not to abolish logic, but to fill it with living objectivity; not in trampling the fact and the law, but in seeing the integral object hidden behind them.

4. Russian law and jurisprudence must protect itself from Western formalism, from self-sufficing legal dogma, from legal unscrupulousness, from relativism and servility. Russia needs a new sense of justice, national in its roots, Christian-Orthodox in its spirit, and creatively meaningful in its purpose. In order to create such a sense of justice, the Russian heart must see spiritual freedom as the objective goal of law and the state and be convinced that a free person with a worthy character and objective will must be brought up in a Russian person. Russia needs a new political system in which freedom would open hardened and weary hearts, so that hearts would cleave anew to their homeland and turn anew to national authority with respect and trust. This would open the way for us to seek and find new justice and real Russian brotherhood. But all this can be realized only through heartfelt and conscientious contemplation, through legal freedom and objective legal awareness.

Wherever we look, no matter what side of life we ​​turn to - education or school, the family or the army, the economy or our multi-tribe - we see the same thing everywhere: Russia can be renewed and will be renewed in its Russian national structure precisely by this spirit - the spirit of heartfelt contemplation and objective freedom. What is Russian upbringing without a heart and without an intuitive perception of a child's personality? How is it possible in Russia to have a heartless school that does not educate children for material freedom? Is a Russian family possible Without love and conscientious contemplation? Where will the new rational economic doctrine lead us, blind and unnatural in the communist way? How shall we solve the problem of our multinational composition, if not with heart and freedom? And the Russian army will never forget the Suvorov tradition, which asserted that a soldier is a person, a living center of faith and patriotism, spiritual freedom and immortality...

This is the basic meaning of the Russian idea I have formulated. She was not invented by me. Her age is the age of Russia itself. And if we turn to its religious source, we will see that this is the idea of ​​Orthodox Christianity. Russia took over its national task a thousand years ago - from Christianity: to realize its national earthly culture, imbued with the Christian spirit of love and contemplation, freedom and objectivity. The future Russia will also be true to this idea.

1948

This text is an excerpt from the work "Education as part of Russian culture".

For a more accurate definition of the characteristics of the Russian people and the designation of its special national idea, consider the work of the famous philosopher I. A. Ilyin “On the Russian Idea” (1948).

Ilyin speaks of a creative idea that "should express Russian historical originality and at the same time - Russian historical vocation." And further, “We have no one to borrow this creative idea from and for what: it can only be Russian, national.” In these phrases lies the idea that the idea should be based on folk features, and only this can ensure a decent life for the people on earth, make it possible to fulfill their historical vocation.

The colossal significance of the idea in the upbringing, culture and whole life of the people is also considered: the national idea is “this is what we must cherish and grow in ourselves, educate in our children and in future generations and bring to real purity and fullness of being in everything: in our culture and in our way of life, in our souls and in our faith, in our institutions and laws.”

If we talk about the essence itself, then Ilyin asserts: "The Russian idea is the idea of ​​the heart." Russian originality, Russian spirit and soul are all in this idea of ​​the heart. “She claims that the main thing in life is love, and that it is love that builds life on earth, because faith and the whole culture of the spirit are born from love.”

This idea, of course, is rooted in Orthodox Christianity, which “a Russian person accepted ... not by the sword, not by calculation, not by fear and not by intellect, but by feeling, kindness, conscience and heartfelt contemplation.”

Byzantine and Arab sources speak of the kindness and love of freedom of the Russian Slavs, the originality of Russian folk tales(and other written monuments), songs, dances. There are also examples of personalities in which this idea was vividly expressed: Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir Monomakh, the first Russian Saint Theodosius.

Drawing a certain conclusion, Ilyin writes: “Believing in nothing, the Russian person becomes an empty being without an ideal and without a goal. The mind and will of a Russian person is brought into spiritual and creative movement precisely by love and faith.

Living contemplation is the first manifestation of the Russian idea. Dreaming and contemplation "we were taught first of all by our flat space, our nature with its distances and clouds, with its rivers, forests, thunderstorms and snowstorms." Hence the tenderness of the soul, the need to see the beloved in reality and then creatively express what he saw. Even monarchical power is not so much a gravitation towards political slavery as it expresses the desire to embody the state (contemplated) in a single person (the creative result of contemplation).

Moreover, without freedom, contemplation is impossible, as well as creativity. And in free contemplation - the spirit of the Russian people. Freedom, along with contemplation, is felt in everything: “in the slow smoothness and melodiousness of Russian speech, in Russian gait and gestures, in Russian clothes and dances, in Russian food and in Russian life”, in sincerity and broad soul Russian man, in his tolerance for foreign cultures.

Thus, the Russian idea is the idea of ​​a freely contemplating heart. However, contemplation must be not only free, but also objective, otherwise freedom leads to unbridledness and tyranny. “Based on the Russian way of the soul, we should remember one thing and take care of one thing: how can we fill the free and loving contemplation given to us with real objective content; how can we truly perceive and express the Divine in our own way.<…>We are called not to borrow from other peoples, but to create our own in our own way; but in such a way that what is ours and created in our own way is in fact true and beautiful, that is, objectively.

Ilyin writes that other peoples have had a different character, a different nature, a different history, their own advantages and disadvantages since ancient times. “So, for example, all attempts to borrow from the Catholics their strong-willed and mental culture would be hopeless for us. Their culture grew historically from the predominance of the will over the heart, analysis over contemplation, reason in all its practical sobriety over conscience, power and coercion over freedom.

Earlier it was said in the words of Ushinsky that the people's idea changes over time. One might think that Ilyin has contradictions in this regard. But then he quite rightly asserts that “... we will not have to remain in the future exclusively in the life of the heart, contemplation and freedom and do without will, without thought, without life form, without discipline and without organization. On the contrary, we have to grow out of free contemplation of the heart - our own special, new Russian culture of will, thought and organization. Russia is not an empty receptacle into which, purely mechanically, at will, you can put whatever you like, regardless of the laws of its spiritual organism.

Thus, Ilyin affirms the forthcoming and necessary evolution of the Russian idea, perceptively notes the requirements of the modern historical situation.

At the same time, the Russian idea and words about originality are not an expression of pride. Western culture is not a model for other peoples, but the Russian vocation is not to consider yourself an ideal. “In reality, we affirm otherwise: whether we are good at this moment in our history or bad, we are called and obliged to go our own way ...<…>We are not students or teachers of the West.”

According to this, art should “develop that spirit of loving contemplation and objective freedom that it has hitherto been guided by”, there is no need to learn from the West “neither its decadent modernism, nor its aesthetic winglessness, nor its artistic non-objectivity and snobbery”; art for the sake of art is not characteristic of the Russian spirit.
Our science must also be original and have the beginnings of a living contemplation, heart, conscience, filling the universal human logic with this and striving for objective truth.
Russian law must "protect itself from Western formalism, from self-sufficing legal dogma, from legal unscrupulousness, from relativism and servility."

"ABOUT THE RUSSIAN IDEA"

“The Russian idea is the idea of ​​the heart. The idea of ​​a contemplative heart. A heart that contemplates freely and objectively and transmits its vision to the will for action and thought, for awareness and speech. Here is the main source of Russian faith and Russian culture. This is the main strength of Russia and Russian identity. This is the path of our rebirth and renewal. This is what other peoples vaguely feel in the Russian spirit, and when they correctly recognize this, they bow down and begin to love and honor Russia. In the meantime, they do not know how or do not want to find out, they turn away, judge Russia from above and say words of untruth, envy and enmity about it.

1. So, the Russian idea is the idea of ​​the heart.

She claims that the main thing in life is love, and that it is love that builds a common life on earth, because faith and the whole culture of the spirit are born from love. The Russian-Slavic soul, since ancient times and organically predisposed to feeling, sympathy and kindness, historically accepted this idea from Christianity: it responded with its heart to the gospel of God, to the main commandment of God, and believed that "God is Love." Russian Orthodoxy is Christianity not so much from Paul as from John, James and Peter. It perceives God not by imagination, which needs fears and miracles in order to be afraid and bow before “power” (primitive religions); not by a greedy and domineering earthly will, which at best dogmatically accepts a moral rule, obeys the law, and itself demands obedience from others (Judaism and Catholicism), not by a thought that seeks understanding and interpretation and then tends to reject what seems incomprehensible to it (Protestantism). ). Russian Orthodoxy perceives God with love, sends up a prayer of love to Him, and addresses the world and people with love. This spirit determined the act of the Orthodox faith, Orthodox worship, our church hymns and church architecture. The Russian people accepted Christianity not by the sword, not by calculation, not by fear and not by intellect, but by feeling, kindness, conscience and contemplation of the heart. When a Russian person believes, he believes not with his will and not with his mind, but with the fire of his heart. When his faith contemplates, it does not indulge in seductive hallucinations, but strives to see true perfection. When his faith desires, it desires not power over the universe (under the pretext of its orthodoxy), but a perfect quality. This is the root of the Russian idea. This is her creative power for centuries.

2. And for all that, the first manifestation of Russian love and Russian faith is living contemplation.

We were taught contemplation primarily by our flat expanse, our nature with its distances and clouds, with its rivers, forests, thunderstorms and snowstorms. Hence our unquenchable gaze, our daydreaming, our contemplating "laziness" (Pushkin), behind which lies strength creative imagination. Russian contemplation was given beauty that captivated the heart, and this beauty was introduced into everything - from fabric and lace to housing and fortifications. From this, the souls became more tender, more refined and deeper; contemplation was also introduced into internal culture - into faith, into prayer, into art, into science, and into philosophy. A Russian person has an inherent need to see his beloved live and in reality, and then express what he sees - with an act, song, drawing or word. That is why all Russian culture is based on the living evidence of the heart, and Russian art has always been a sensual depiction of insensibly perceived circumstances. It is this living evidence of the heart that underlies Russian historical monarchism. Russia grew and grew in the form of a monarchy, not because the Russian person gravitated toward dependence or political slavery, as many in the West think, but because the state, in his understanding, should be artistically and religiously embodied in a single person, a living, contemplated, selflessly loved and popularly “created” and strengthened by this universal love.

3. But the heart and contemplation breathe freely. They demand freedom, and their creativity dies out without it. The heart cannot be commanded to love, it can only be kindled with love. Contemplation cannot be prescribed what it should see and what it should create. The spirit of man is a personal, organic and self-active being: he loves and creates himself, according to stratified inner necessities. This corresponded to the primordial Slavic love of freedom and the Russian-Slavic commitment to national-religious originality. The Orthodox concept of Christianity also corresponded to this: not formal, not legalistic, not “moralizing”, but freeing a person to living love and living conscientious contemplation. This was also consistent with the ancient Russian (both ecclesiastical and state) tolerance for any heterodoxy and for any foreign tribe. which opened the way for Russia to an imperial (not “imperialist”) understanding of its tasks (see the wonderful article by Prof. Rozov: “Christian Freedom and Ancient Russia” in No. 10 of the yearbook “The Day of Russian Glory”, 1940, Belgrade).

This Russian idea of ​​contemplative love and free objectivity does not in itself judge or condemn foreign cultures. She just does not prefer them and does not make them her law. Each nation does what it can, based on what is given to it. But that people is bad, which does not see what is given to them, and therefore goes to beg under other people's windows. Russia has its own spiritual and historical gifts and is called upon to create its own special spiritual culture: the culture of the heart, contemplation, freedom and objectivity. There is no single obligatory "Western culture" in front of which everything else is "darkness" or "barbarism". The West is not a decree or a prison for us. His culture is not an ideal of perfection. The structure of his spiritual act (or rather, his spiritual acts) may correspond to his abilities and his needs, but it does not correspond and does not satisfy our forces, our tasks, our historical vocation and mental structure. And there is no need for us to chase him and make a model out of him. The West has its own delusions, ailments, weaknesses and dangers. We have no salvation in Westernism. We have our own ways, and the originality of the Russian soul and Russian culture is expressed precisely in this distribution of its forces into primary and secondary: primary forces determine and lead, while secondary ones grow out of them and accept their law from them. This has already happened in the history of Russia. And it was true and wonderful. So it should be in the future, but even better, fuller and more perfect.

1. According to this, Russian religiosity must, as before, be affirmed on heartfelt contemplation and freedom, and always observe its act of conscience. Russian Orthodoxy must honor and protect the freedom of faith, both its own and others. On the basis of heartfelt contemplation, it must build its own special Orthodox theology, free from the rational, formal, lifeless, skeptically blind reasoning of Western theologians; it should not adopt the moral casuistry and moral pedantry of the West, it should proceed from a living and creative Christian conscience (“you are called to freedom, brethren” [Gal. 5:13]), and on these foundations it should develop Eastern Orthodox discipline will and organization.

2. Russian art - it is recognized to observe and develop the spirit of loving contemplation and objective freedom, which it has been guided hitherto. We should not be embarrassed by the fact that the West does not know the Russian folk song at all, is barely beginning to appreciate Russian music, and has not yet found access to our marvelous Russian painting. It is not the business of Russian artists (of all arts and all directions) to take care of success on the international stage and on the international market - and adapt to their tastes and needs; it is not fitting for them to "learn" from the West - neither its decadent modernism, nor its aesthetic lack of wings, nor its artistic pointlessness and snobbery. Russian art has its precepts and traditions, its own national creative act: there is no Russian art without a burning heart; there is no Russian art without contemplation of the heart; it does not exist without free inspiration; it does not and will not exist without responsible, substantive and conscientious service. And if this is all, then there will continue to be art in Russia, with its lively and deep content, form and rhythm.

3. Russian science is not called upon to imitate Western scholarship, either in the field of research or in the field of worldview. It is called upon to develop its own worldview, its own research. This does not mean at all that a single universal human logic is “optional” for a Russian person, or that his science can have another goal besides objective truth. It would be in vain to interpret this call as the right of a Russian person to scientific lack of evidence, irresponsibility, subjective arbitrariness or other destructive disgrace. But the Russian scientist is called upon to introduce into his research the principles of the heart, contemplation, creative freedom and the living responsibility of conscience. The Russian scientist is called upon to love his subject with inspiration the way Lomonosov, Pirogov, Mendeleev loved him. Sergei Solovyov, Gedeonov. Zabelin, Lebedev, Prince Sergei Trubetskoy. Russian science cannot and must not be a dead craft, a burden of information, indifferent material for arbitrary combinations, a technical workshop, a school of unscrupulous skill.

4. Russian law and jurisprudence must protect itself from Western formalism, from self-sufficing legal dogma, from legal unscrupulousness, from relativism and servility. Russia needs a new sense of justice, national in its roots, Christian-Orthodox in its spirit, and creatively meaningful in its purpose. In order to create such a sense of justice, the Russian heart must see spiritual freedom as the objective goal of law and the state and be convinced that a free person with a worthy character and objective will must be brought up in a Russian person. Russia needs a new state system in which freedom would open hardened and weary hearts, so that hearts would cling to their homeland in a new way and turn to the national authorities in a new way with respect and trust. This would open the way for us to seek and find new justice and true Russian brotherhood. But all this can be realized only through heartfelt and conscientious contemplation, through legal freedom and objective legal awareness.