Uciekinierzy z Aten. Rosyjska filozofia XIX i XX wieku wobec 'niepoznawalności Boga'
Abstract
REFUGEES FROM ATHENS.
Russian philosophy of the turn of the XIX and XX century and the
'unknowableness of God'
When we analyze the turn of the XXth and XIXth century in the Russian
philosophy we often use the term „silver age” to emphasize its rapid
development during that time. It is well know that the Orthodox Church
with its principles remained independent from philosophy for a long
time. It is only during the „silver age” that the efforts were taken to
properly recognise the type of relations combining faith and science.
However, it turned out that, regarding this matter, the experience of the
East cannot be translated into the language of Western philosophy. This
is why the greatest thinkers of this period, such as Pavel Florensky and
Vladimir Solovyov, had to undertake a tremendous task of constructing
the intellectual foundations for their spiritual tradition.
When it comes to summarizing this era, Lev Shestov wrote that in the
European philosophy one can distinguish between two currents of
thoughts. The first is the rational one that originates from Athens and is
characteristic to the philosophy of the West. The second one comes from
Jerusalem and is based on the Revelation, specifically – the miracles. It is
characteristic to the thinking of the East. The question is whether
Shestov properly grasped the core of the problem, and whether it is the
Orthodox Church that is in fact closer to the Ancient Greek
understanding of the philosophical reality.