N.A. Berdyaev about war

Concepts about war of the Russian outstanding religious thinker N.A. Berdyaev (1874-1948) are considered in the article. The article actuality provided by an insufficient research of the theme in spite of researchers' permanently exalted interest to Berdyaev's works is substantiated. In a general way his concepts about war were formed the realization of World War I. In his social phenomenon study he relied on religious symbolism as the cognition method assuming historical event analysis in the light of religious ideas. Berdyaev's views of war surd cradles, providential character, war as divine justice were difficult combined with its historical analysis that allowed him to form the variety of subjects and problems keeping scientific importance so far. The substantial place in Berdyaev's historical religious concepts about war is taken by his thoughts of European civilization crisis as one of world war reasons and international integration as its foregone conclusion. Like other Russian religious thinkers in XX century he emphasized the determinant role of Russia in the future international synthesis that in particular religious moral qualities of the Russian people must have promoted. During the World War I Berdyaev came to the conclusion about the war dual nature. The war showed true genuine values first of all nationality ones. However extreme nationalism forms were showed during the war. They are the best human nature traits such as sacrificial one and heroism. At the same time the war revealed the depth of a human crisis. A new human type, «militarized» man, lost concepts about evangelic morality, went out of the war. During the World War I the problem of war transformation in the technogeneous civilization formation became important for Berdyaev. The distinctive features of a modern war were not only its magnitude and the army being equipped by the latest scientific technical achievements, not only increased state possibilities for massive people consciousness manipulation. It meant the edge tailing between such notions as «front-line forces» and «rear», growing involvement into the war of all national resources in Berdyaev's version. He turned to the Russian mentality problem differently in view of his beliefs about people crucial role in the war. Berdyaev pointed out the ambiguous role of the Russian government and Orthodox Church objectively in the formation of strengths and weakness of the Russian people mentality showed during the war. Berdyaev's historical religious concepts about war formed generally during the World War I include a full material promoting war advanced study as a complicated social phenomenon.

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