The human dimension in the Russian historical thought in the early 20th century (by G.P. Fedotov's works)

The article is devoted to Fedotov's anthropological approach, to the learning of the Russian religious mind. The article shows the process of forming his views on the issue, the theoretical and methodological principles. His views are presented as affecting the topical study problems of the early 20th century. G.P. Fedotov was a Russian historian, a religious thinker, who made a contribution to the understanding of the Russian culture destiny, to the learning of the Russian mind. The research interest to the human can be traced in his early works. It was the result of Professor I.M. Graves's influence. G.P. Fedotov studied the individual in history. He pointed out how the whole epoch or a short period of time was reflected in the consciousness of the person, and at the same time how the person could reflect the era. The defining feature of the historical process study was focused in the field of spiritual culture. Fedotov's research intentions reflected the general trends of the historical science of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. The problem of the human in culture in G.P. Fedotov's works took the form of the Russian religious mind study. This study direction was determined by the Christian foundation of his historiosofic concept. G.P. Fedotov studied spiritual values which determined the person's behavior. He saw that the specificity of the religious mind in Russia was characterized by ethical dualism (monastic and laity ethics). So he considered the Russian religious mind in two planes - the consciousness of the spiritual elite and clergy and the consciousness of the other people. Fedotov's study of the religious mind shows not only his views, ideological and theoretical orientations, but also the content of his methodological principles. He used the history observation principle of the plurality of social time speeds developed by F. Braudel. Fedotov used the term "average Christian", which could be compared with L.P. Karsavin's "average religious person". Both thinkers suggested the existence of different groups in society and noted the possibility of allocating the "average person" in each group. However, Fedotov, unlike Karsavin, stopped on duality in the reduction process. The dualistic nation formula is a conscious setting in its cultural and historical concept. Fedotov analyzed the subject in statics and in dynamics. He identified the historical formations of the Russian soul. Research of the country's past in the historical perspective helped to "grasp" individual characteristics of the Russian mind and the holistic spiritual image. The anthropology of religion is developing in modern Russian studies in the key set in the early 20th century. In this context the study of G.P. Fedotov's anthropological approach becomes relevant.

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