“Metaphysics of the heart” in Russian philosophy: origins and foundations of the position

The aim of the paper is to analyze the “metaphysics of the heart” in Russian thought, to identify its preconditions and origins. The article considers two types of cognition of being: the “metaphysics of reason” and the “metaphysics of the heart”, which appeal to rational-judgmental, reflexive and existential-imaginative, intuitive ways of comprehending being. It is noted that the idea of the “heart” as a deep symbol of spiritual culture and the fundamental beginning of man came to Russia together with Orthodoxy, through the assimilation of Byzantine holy theological texts. The Russian medieval philosophy developed the doctrine of cardiognosy – a special vision of the heart as the center of spiritual, soul and bodily life of people. Scientific novelty is associated with the analysis of the main conceptual models and doctrines of the domestic cardiognosis. As a result, it has been established that the “metaphysics of heart” in interrelation with the “metaphysics of light and love” is a spiritual and mental comprehension of being, through which reflections on the ultimate foundations of the world and man are realized. It encompasses the phenomena of spiritual, mental, and physical life of people, and also contains solutions to the most important philosophical problems.