Contemporaries’ criticism of V.S. Soloviev's economic views

The article explores the views of V.S. Soloviev on the economy and their contemporaries. It is noted that V.S. Soloviev made the first attempt in Russian philosophy to change the classical economic liberalism to the modern concept of a human-oriented economy (socially-oriented economy). It is established that the economic views of V.S. Soloviev were met with criticism from contemporaries who defended the principle of free trade in its understanding, characteristic of the 19th century. Thus, B.N. Chicherin negativelyreacted to V.S. Soloviev’s attempt to correlate the economic and moral spheres, deriving from this the need for state regulation of prices, a progressive scale of taxation, limitation of working hours, etc., thereby giving all people the right to a decent existence.B.N. Chicherin considered these measures a violation of the principle of the free will of people. And B.N. Chicherin and G.F. Shershenevich rightly reproached V.S. Soloviev for the arbitrariness of handling economic laws and the inconsistency of the proposed solutions to economic theory. It was established that the economic views ofV.S. Soloviev are close to socialist, but the philosopher himself saw the difference in the fact that the socialists, being in materialistic positions, subjugated the need for economic reform to material tasks. V.S. Soloviev saw such a need that the economy is immoral, so it is necessary to reform it in accordance with the principle of the right of people to a decent existence. V.S. Soloviev believed that it was necessary not only to protect the right of people to a decent existence, but also to protect nature from immoral attitude towards it, taking out the principles of careful attitude to nature and rational use of its wealth relevant to our time.