“The Russian Idea” by Vladimir Solovyov and “On the Russian Idea” by Vyacheslav Ivanov: the Rhetoric of Prophetic Word and the Thesaurus of Thought

The paper examines the significance of the philosophy of all-unity and moral philosophy of Vladimir Solovyov based on the little-studied problem of comparative analysis of his essay “The Russian Idea” (1888) and Vyacheslav Ivanov’s essay “On the Russian Idea” (1909). Ivanov's essay was supplemented and published in Germany in German language under the title “The Russian Idea” (“Die Russische Idee”) (1930). Both essays address the issues of overcoming the crisis of humanistic and religious consciousness in Russia and Europe. The cultural-philosophical ideas and thesaurus of the essays are analyzed. The thesaurus approach, as a basis for comparative analysis, allows for the identification of constants in the thinking of Solovyov and Ivanov, which are based on the concepts of “the Russian idea”, “Russia and Europe”, “national idea and nationalism”, “religious consciousness”, “religious culture and all-world unity” and “Christian revival”. It is shown that in Ivanov's understanding, the concept of “the Russian idea” represents the ideal of a revived Christian self-consciousness, similar to that of Solovyov and his predecessor F.M. Dostoevsky. It serves as “the first principle” of religious and national self-determination and stands in opposition to the notion of “nationalism”. These issues are also addressed in Ivanov's essay “The Religious Case of Vladimir Solovyov” (1916), his collection of essays “Native and Universal” (1917), and his book “Dostoevsky: Tragedy – Myth – Mysticism” (1932). Analyzing the thesaurus of Solovyov's and Ivanov's essays leads to the conclusion that they are characterized by rhetoric based on universal words, which are united by the symbolic significance of the concept of “the Russian idea”. Its meaning is determined by the humanistic and religious mission of Russia, which is important for preserving a space of cultural and religious unity between Russia and Europe, overcoming enmity among nations, nationalism, and authoritarianism. A comparative analysis is conducted between the ideas of Solovyov and Ivanov and the problematic aspects of Oswald Spengler's book “The Decline of the West” (1918–1922). The cultural-philosophical prophecy of Spengler regarding the cyclicality and “decline” of European culture is considered. The problem of the revival of Christian culture on the basis of the “Russian idea”, which represents the direction of thought of Solovyov, Ivanov, Dostoevsky, is of interest for understanding the meaning of Solovyov's Christian universalism, the ideas of which are relevant today.