The problem of the Russian spiritual identity in the works of P.Ya. Chaadaev and N.Ya. Danilevsky

The article is devoted to the social, historical and philosophical analysis of the problem of the Russian spiritual identity in the works of P.Ya. Chaadaev and N.Ya. Danilevsky. These philosophers considered the issue of spiritual identification through a number of following factors: cultural, religious, geographic, and national ones. Both authors concluded that Russia is a special civilization, which is identified neither with Europe nor with Asia. P.Ya. Chaadaev noted the special messianic role of the Russian state bringing together two worlds of the West and the East. N.Ya. Danilevsky defined Russia as a new cultural and historical type separating from Europe. The thinkers saw the way out of the spiritual crisis in the revival of the Christian faith, rethinking the past and those best ideas and values of the West that can be used to recover the spirituality of the Russian personality.