How the Russian idea can get out of the captivity of intellectual irrationalism

The authors consider the problem of the cultural heritage of the Russian idea from the standpoint of mental structures that have historically developed and are currently relevant for the Russian society. The Russian model of cognition is shown to be irrational and go back to Plato’s model of eidos, i.e. cognition as moral ascension rather than rationalization and abstraction. Striving for Alethea (the spirit of truth and sincerity), which acts as one of the markers of Russian culture, the spiritual self-determination of the people is still based on idealized mythologemes of a unique path, which devalues both its own rational and borrowed ideal.