The way of the fool in Christ as an ideal

The article examines the phenomenon of the fool in Christ way within the context of his definition as the ideal of an austere way of life. The relevance of the study lies in the comprehension of foolishness as an ideal of religious, ascetic life, demonstrating patterns of self-limitation of the utmost level, preventing further development. Issues relating to the forms of austerity by fools in Christ are analyzed from the evidence of their lives and activities. A philosophical study of the phenomenon of foolishness in the context of understanding it as the highest manifestation of holiness (in its ideal sense) is of academic interest today, both in its philosophical understanding of this phenomenon and in its idealization of the austere way of life. The boundaries of the study presuppose an understanding of the special path of the fool in Christ as essentially protestant, involving self-renouncement and an unconscious exit to a metaphysical (transcendent) level of existence. An attempt was made to classify the foolishness from the position of ascesis. Conclusion is drawn that the quality of austerity in the fool in Christ obtains an ideal dimension that can be used to understand the philosophical (phenomenological) and religious meanings of austerity.