“Formal” and “real” education in the Russian philosophy

This paper is devoted to some approaches to understanding of the education, developed in the Russian philosophy. The considered approaches do not limit all variety of a Russian discourse with reference to a parity of value-target orientations of teaching and educational activity. The significant ideas on the philosophy of education by such philosophers as S.I. Giessen, V.V. Zenkovsky, N.O. Lossky, A.N. Radishchev, V.V. Rozanov, L.N. Tolstoy, A.S. Khomyakov, P.D.Yurkevich, are presented. The author opposes with such approaches to understanding of education and its purposes, as “formal” and “real”. “Real education” is divided in “polimathic” and “utilitarian” (“instrumental” or “pragmatic”). “Formal education” is divided in “target” (assuming adaptation to a social life) and “personal” (assuming orientation to individual values). The positions of the presented philosophers are basically reduced to some balance between “formal” and “real” education, and, at this, the priority of personal development of the person during training and education is considered as the main thing of. The author also declares that learning the key ideas of education notion is not initially predetermined and depends on concrete social and cultural conditions.