Philosophy of “Russian Idea” in the Work of N.A. Berdyaev

In his book “Russian Idea” N.A. Berdyaev argued not only about the real historical path of Russia, but also about God’s plan for Russia, about the “ideal image of the Russian people”, about the very idea of “Russianness”. The fundamental concept of the Russian idea, according to Berdyaev, is “commonality” in religious (“conciliarity”) and secular (“community”) terms. The Russian idea is reflection of the peculiarities of the Russian religious spirit: it manifests itself both in extremes in the Orthodox faith and in God-fighting moods. The Russian idea is in “deep conflict” with Russian history. Russian history is “dualistic” therefore its development is contradictory and not progressive. This dual-ism is characteristic of the spiritual life of Russia and the Russian people. The methodology of the study is based on the application of socio-philosophical analysis aimed at studying the spiritual determinants of social development, analytical method to analyze the key ideas of N.A. Berdyaev’s philosophy of the “Russian idea” and dialectical method to study the contradictions and interactions between different aspects of the “Russian idea” in the philosopher’s work.