Alexey Khomyakov, Russian philosopher and poet: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

Aleksey Khomyakov, whose biography and work are the subject of this review, was the largest representative of the Slavophile trend in science and philosophy. His literary heritage marks a whole stage in the development of social and political thought in Russia in the 19th century. His poetic works are distinguished by the depth of thought and philosophical understanding of the ways of development of our country in comparison with Western European states.

Biography in Brief

Alexey Khomyakov was born in Moscow in 1804, into a hereditary noble family. He was educated at home, passed the exam for a candidate of mathematical sciences at Moscow University. Subsequently, the future philosopher and publicist entered the military service, was in the troops in Astrakhan, then transferred to the capital. After some time, he left the service and took up journalism. He traveled, studied painting and literature. In the first half of the 19th century, the thinker became the ideologist of the emergence of the Slavophile movement in social and political thought. He was married to the sister of the poet Yazykov. Alexei Khomyakov fell ill while treating peasants during an epidemic, and he died from this. His son was the chairman of the III State Duma.

Peculiarities of the era

The literary activity of the scientist proceeded in an atmosphere of revival of socio-political thought. It was a time when among the educated circles of society there were lively disputes about the ways of Russia's development, its comparison with the history of Western European countries. In the 19th century, there was an interest not only in the past, but also in the present political position of the state in the international arena. Indeed, at that time our country took an active part in European affairs, mastering the cultural space of Western Europe. Naturally, under such conditions, the intelligentsia arose an interest in determining the national, original path of development of our country. Many have tried to comprehend the country's past in the context of its new geopolitical position. These were the prerequisites that determined the views of the scientist.

Philosophy

Alexey Khomyakov created his own unique system of philosophical views, which, in essence, has not lost its significance to this day. His articles and works are still being actively studied at historical faculties, and even at school, students are introduced to his thoughts on the peculiarities of the historical path of Russia's development.

The thinker's system of ideas on this topic is indeed original. However, first it should be noted what were his views on the world-historical process in general. His unfinished work Notes on World History is devoted to this. Alexey Khomyakovbelieved that it was based on the principle of revealing the principles of the people. Each people, in his opinion, is the bearer of a certain beginning, which is revealed in the course of its historical development. In ancient times, according to the philosopher, there was a struggle between two orders: freedom and necessity. At first, European countries developed along the path of freedom, but in the 18-19 centuries they deviated from this direction due to revolutionary upheavals.

About Russia

Khomyakov Aleksey Stepanovich approached the analysis of Russian history from the same general philosophical position. In his opinion, the people's beginning of our country is the community. He understood this social institution not so much as a social organism, but as an ethical community of people connected by moral collectivism, a sense of inner freedom and truth. The thinker put moral content into this concept, believing that it was the community that became the material expression of the conciliarity inherent in the Russian people. Khomyakov Aleksey Stepanovich believed that the path of development of Russia differs from that of Western Europe. At the same time, he assigned the main importance to the Orthodox religion, which determines the history of our country, while the West moved away from this dogma.

On the beginning of states

He saw another difference in the ways of formation of political systems in society. In the Western European states the conquest of territories took place, while in our country the dynasty was established by calling. Lastthe author attached fundamental importance to the circumstance. Khomiakov Alexei Stepanovich, whose philosophy laid the foundation for the Slavophile trend, believed that this fact largely determined the peaceful development of Russia. However, he did not believe that ancient Russian history was devoid of any contradictions.

Discussion

In this regard, he disagreed with another well-known and prominent representative of Slavophilism, I. Kireevsky. The latter, in one of his articles, wrote that pre-Petrine Russia was devoid of any social contradictions. Khomyakov Aleksey Stepanovich, whose books at that time determined the development of the Slavophile movement, objected to him in his work "Regarding Kireevsky's article "On the Enlightenment of Europe"". The author believed that even in ancient Russia, a contradiction arose between the zemstvo, communal, regional world and the princely, state principle, which was personified by the squad. These parties did not reach a final consensus, in the end the state principle triumphed, however, collectivism was preserved and manifested itself in the convocation of Zemsky Sobors, the significance of which, in the author's opinion, was that they expressed the will of the whole earth. The researcher believed that it was this institution, as well as the community, that would subsequently determine the development of Russia.

Literary creativity

In addition to philosophical and historiosophical research, Khomyakov was also engaged in artistic creativity. He owns the poetic works "Ermak", "Dmitry the Pretender". Of particular note are his poems of philosophical content. In them, the author clearly expressed his thoughts aboutways of development of Russia and Western European states. He expressed the idea of a special, nationally original way of development of our country. Therefore, his poetic works are distinguished by a patriotic orientation. Many of them have a religious theme (for example, the poem "Night"). While praising Russia, he also noted the shortcomings in its socio-political structure (the poem "About Russia"). In his lyrical works, there is also a motive for comparing the development paths of Russia and the West (“Dream”). Aleksey Khomyakov's poems make it possible to better understand his historiosophical concept of historical development.

The Meaning of Creativity

The role of this philosopher in the social and political life of Russia in the 19th century is enormous. It was he who became the founder of the Slavophile movement in our country. His article "On the Old and the New" laid the foundation for the reflections of a number of thinkers on the features of the development of history. Following him, many philosophers turned to the development of the theme of the national characteristics of Russia (the Aksakov brothers, Pogodin and others). Khomyakov's contribution to historiosophical thought is enormous. He raised the problem of the peculiarities of Russia's historical path to a philosophical level. Before, none of the scientists made such broad generalizations, although the author cannot be called a historian in the full sense, since he was interested in general concepts and generalizations, and not in specific material. Nevertheless, his findings and conclusions are very interesting for understanding the socio-political thought of the time in question.