The concept of the heart: the reflections of St. Theophan the Recluse in the context of Russian religious philosophy of the 19th century

The paper presents the author’s study of the concept of the Heart in the philosophical and theological thought of the largest figure in Russian culture of the 19th century - St. Theophan the Recluse (G.V. Govorov). Pointing to the broad semantic context of religious and philosophical thought, in which the thoughts of St. Theophan are immersed, the author refers to the works of I.V. Kireevsky, A.S. Khomyakov, I.A. Ilyin, P.A. Florensky, B.P. Vysheslavtseva et al. dedicated to the philosophy of the Heart. The position of St. Theophan is distinguished by a consistent practical appeal to the Christian mystical-ascetic tradition of the seeker. According to St. Theophan, the conceptual and philosophical recognition of the Heart is a symbol of the innermost being of the Russian soul and also the instance of self-knowledge (“human self-awareness”); the retention of this instance in the horizon of self-knowledge allows us to avoid the dualism of a rationalistic and/or sensualistic understanding of human nature. St. Theophan prefers not theoretical or modeling approaches to human research but a holistic, practical understanding of the vital completeness of human experience, the fundamental openness of real human existence up to the dialogical appeal to the Primary Image, in the sympathetic equality of faith and truth and in the hope of finding answers to eternal questions related to the purpose and meanings of human being. The work concludes that the practical conceptualization of the Heart, outlined by St. Theophan, remains relevant for modern philosophical and anthropological research, in the era after postmodernism, when the processes of a return understanding of historically different anthropological paradigms are really activated.