Philosophical evolution of Genrikh Batishchev: activity and asceticism as essential dimensions of the practice of I

The article examines the change in the philosophical views of Genrikh Batishchev, which is connected with the problems of activity he developed. It is argued that in his famous article, the thinking through of the revolutionary social-historical experience of the twentieth century was realized and this was done with a turn into anthropological problems: the principle of activity made it possible, in the conditions of ideological secrecy and the obligatory nature of Marxism, to substantiate the freedom and openness of human existence. Any philosophical position can be viewed in the light of the relationship that is established with the Absolute as a given of the primary all-embracing foundation. The all-encompassing absolute for the activity concept is society, culture, action, objectivity, which sets the “upper limit” of a person's capabilities and this threatens the subordination of a person to established social structures and institutions, if the cultural-historical act is understood utilitarian. Further refinement of the activity approach is associated with overcoming the closed horizon of activity. The focus of attention is shifted to such a self-change of the subject, which would not be an epiphenomenon of activity to transform the world, but presupposes non-activity layers of the subject's being. The closeness of philosophy and asceticism is traced: the purpose of both practices is to do something with the person himself. This happens especially expressively in the focus on working with the “inner” structure of the mind. If asceticism is called “our philosophy” by Christian ascetics, then in the system of worldly scientific knowledge philosophy is “worldly asceticism” that wants to be in the world, but be free from the world.