N.А. Berdyaev’s Concept of Person’s Supreme Value in Context of Personalism in France in the First Half of the 20th Century
Keywords:
metaphysical personalism, existentialism, spiritual universalism, Christian eschatology, neo-thomism, religious creative act, freedomAbstract
The paper examines the intellectual heritage of a remarkable Russian philosopher Nicholas Berdyaev’s (1874–1948), known as personalist according to his religious metaphysics, who dwelled on
the concept of God-Man and humane society. His communitarian personalism, developed in texts
of emigration period, had profound influence on the philosophical search of French intellectuals,
existential thinkers and catholic modernists. The article reveals religious-philosophical sources of
Berdyaev’s and his European associates’ thought, their fruitful discussions and interaction. The author tries to reconstruct the philosophical context of this period. One of the major aims is showing
the ways of philosophical dialogue between Berdyaev, as the most recognized Russian thinker in the
West, and the catholic philosophers-personalists. The article also considers ontological distinguishing features of Berdyaev’s personalism and its social projections.
