Фил и Соф: диалоги о вечном и преходящем. Размышления о вере и неверии

В статье в диалогической форме полемически обсуждаются проблемы веры и неверия и соответствующие им мировоззренческие типы. Вера рассматривается как фундаментальная и неискоренимая сущностная черта человеческого бытия. Показано, что атеизм и материализм также являются формами веры. Рассматривается связь различных философских концепций с моралью и политикой.

Phil and Soph: Dialogues of the Eternal and the Transient. Reflections on Faith and Unbelief

The article reveals fundamental problems of modern man's consciousness associated with its fundamental characteristics such as faith, disbelief, and atheism, presented as a question-and-answer dialogue. Concerned about the demoralization and dehumanization of the modern society, the authors ponder over the significance of the fundamental world-view values related to the culture of Christianity. They seek to answer the question: why does it happen, and why does the modern man reject the two-thousand-year-old purports which represent the basis for European culture and the axial age in general? The dialogue participants discuss the way Christianity can convert its values in the modern world and what is required for that purpose. The problem of the mutual relations between the church and the state is being discussed on the basis of the ideas suggested by Vl. Solovyev, V.V. Zenkovsky, F.M. Dostoevsky, etc. Besides, criticism of the pagan perception of Christianity is presented on the basis of the works by A. Schmemann: pantheistic magicism is opposed to transcendent faith. The term and notion of atheism are analyzed from the points of view of the world outlook and ontological approach; its inanity which results in its incapability to act as a coherent worldview is revealed. Materialism is considered as one of the possible positive fundamentals of atheism. The metaphysical rather than scientific nature of materialism is revealed on the basis of historical and philosophical analysis. Its inadequacy in explaining the spiritual needs of man, incapability of substantiating morality, and the possibility of using it as an ideological doctrine for establishing totalitarian regimes are demonstrated.