The problem of anthropological minimalism in the works of G.V. Florovsky (notes by V.V. Zenkovsky and N.O. Lossky)

The paper discusses the notes of Russian thinkers V.V. Zenkovsky and N.O. Lossky on the works of Russian historian, philosopher and theologian George Vasilievich Florovsky. Studying these notes identified the key aspects and specified the hermeneutic nature of the problem of anthropological minimalism which was delivered by G.V. Florovsky in relation to the history of Christian intellectual culture. This is an opportunity to clarify the value-semantic dominants of Christian anthropology, their manifestation in the works of G.V. Florovsky in the social and ideological, scientific and philosophical contexts of the first half of the 20th century. The research elaborates on his anthropological views of philosophy and theology developed during his studies on Christian tradition in the active period of rethinking the basis of Russian philosophical understanding of “life in freedom”. The author analyzes the reviews of such Florovsky’s fundamental works as “The Paths of Russian Theology”, “Eastern Fathers of the 4th Century”, “Byzantine Fathers of the 5th-8th Centuries” made by N.O. Lossky and V.V. Zenkovsky. Each review contains the conceptual characteristics of the anthropological minimalism in response to the works of G.V. Florovsky. The full hermeneutic components of such a dialogue between G.V. Florovsky and his reviewers are still relevant in the domestic philosophical anthropology of the early 21st century which renews the lost conceptual basics and reveals new research prospects.