Prerequisites for emergence and polemical nature of St. Innocent Borisov’s teachings about intellect as human soul’s highest cognitive contemplative ability by the example of the author’s early works

The article is devoted to analyzing St. Innocent Borisov’s early works: “A look at Greek philosophy”, “On the signs of human damage in human nature itself”, which focus on the saint’s epistemology. The reason why young Ivan Borisov divides Greek philosophers into two camps and at the same time points to the followers of these directions in contemporary philosophical thought is highlighted. The analysis of the author’s second work, in fact, complements the views that are found in his first work, in particular, it concerns the opposition of such cognitive tools inherent in man as reason and understanding. I. Borisov examines the consistency of these abilities in the matter of knowing God and comes to the conclusion about the inconsistency of understanding in this matter, and also points to the highest component of man, intellect (reason), which, in his opinion, is capable of rising to the knowledge of the divine. These works having been analyzed, it turned out that the author’s views are not new; they largely echo the philosophical views of the German philosopher F. H. Jacobi. The works under consideration are polemical in nature, in particular I. Borisov polemicizes with I. Kant, with whom F. Jacobi also polemicized on the pages of his works. The formation of St. Innocent’s views, which were developed in his subsequent writings, is traced, in particular, it concerns the saint’s teaching about the highest cognitive abilities of man - intellect and “inner feeling”.