Apriorism as the basis of spirituality in the philosophical heritage of Europe and Russia: an ethical aspect

The article aims to establish the meaning of the moral component of apriorism in the philosophical heritage of Immanuel Kant, Vladimir Solovyov, and Мax Scheler, and to determine the possibility of using appropriate conceptions when choosing the moral position of a person in modern culture. The research material was writings by the mentioned thinkers and research analysing their heritage by modern scholars. The methodology is based on the principles of philosophical comparative studies and an axiological approach, which allowed comparing the values and ideas inherent in the conceptions of the three philosophers. The author examines Kant's heritage in the aspect of the analysis of ideas related to a priori forms and pays special attention to Kant's theses related to the practical activities of a person as basic apriorism and the importance of moral law in this activity. The author next turns to the philosophical heritage of Solovyov and identifies his views on the elements of an ethical nature that make up the ontological basis of the philosopher's personality. She further analyses works by Scheler, which allowed comparing his view with Kant's ethical ideas by the criterion of revealing a person's attitude to the surrounding world. The value of pure a priori categories and sensory experience in moral choice is established for each of the considered conceptions. The author concludes that the comprehension of the meaning of a priori forms in the European and domestic philosophical heritage during almost three centuries demonstrates a sufficiently clear evolution based on Kant's formal law of duty, which later received a critical assessment in the works of Russian and foreign thinkers. The main content of this evolution was a departure from Kant's formalism towards understanding apriorism as a holistic attitude, which determines a person's preference for some values to others and thus contributes to the formation of a hierarchy of personal values. The three thinkers emphasised the importance of apriorism and a priori forms as fundamental foundations of human morality; however, the philosophical meaning and specific characteristics of the forms changed noticeably throughout the three centuries. Based on her research, the author emphasises the relevance of the examined works for modern moral practice. The individual must be not only a subject of cognitive activity but also a person, whose moral and a priori foundations are actualised through the sensual and emotional experience of ethical values.