The phenomenon of national and spiritual identity in Russian and German classical philosophy

The paper deals with the problem of spiritual identity in the works of Russian and German thinkers of the 19th - early 20th centuries. The author concludes that European philosophical experience of understanding the national and spiritual identity makes it easier to realize the development of the spiritual and national identity of the Russian people since Russian philosophical thought has emerged as a continuation of classical European philosophy and has come under its influence for a long time. The study presents the traditional Russian national character traits identified in the works of the following Russian philosophers: P.Ya. Chaadaev, M.P. Pogodin, N.N. Strakhov, F.M. Dostoevsky, N.Ya. Danilevsky, V.S. Solovyov, N.S. Trubetskoy, P.N. Savitsky, N.A. Berdyaev, and S.L. Frank. The research investigates the concept of the spiritual identity of the German people by J.G. Fichte. For him, all nations are divided into the Romance peoples and the German nation. The latter has priority over other people because it has retained its original national language. The German nation possesses the one-of-the-kind character traits: diligence, law-abiding, seriousness, consistency, and ability to create original things. I.G. Fichte, like Russian philosophers, offers us his ways to revive the German nation. In particular, he proposes that the nation’s moral improvement can be achieved through national education.