The Great Russian Revolution and Socialism in the Works of N.A. Berdyaev and B.V. Yakovenko of the Mid-1910s–1920s

Abstract

This article attempts a comparative analysis of the problems of revolution and socialism in the philosophical work of Nikolai Berdyaev and Boris Yakovenko. The author aims to compare the key philosophical and political concepts of the two thinkers to identify the commonalities and differences in their views. The subject of consideration are the works of Berdyaev and Yakovenko of the period of the mid-1910s – 1920s. The article shows that from the historical-philosophical point of view it is this period of work of both thinkers that provides the basis for a comparative analysis of their revolutionary analytics. After writing “The History of the Great Russian Revolution” Yakovenko did not return to the comprehension of the event of the revolution in Russia, while Berdyaev after 1924 begins to use other approaches in the discussion of philosophical-historical and socio-political problems. The closeness of the positions of the two philosophers is manifested in the similarity of their conceptual apparatus, while the differences are in the initial philosophical intuitions and metaphysical views that define their philosophical horizon. The article concludes that Berdyaev and Yakovenko have a certain convergence of views, discussing the question of freedom and various forms of unfreedom, viewing it through the prism of the philosophical and political program of socialism and the events of the revolution and revealing their religious and spiritual nature.