A. Kireyev: “Russian Culture will be Based neither upon Metaphysics nor Law, but upon Ethics”

Abstract

General Alexander Kireyev (1833-1910) was a Slavophile leader, theologian and political writer who took part in a series of religious and philosophical meetings in the early 20th century St. Petersburg. The article refers to his report on dogmatic development that was presented at one of the meetings. Kireyev expressed his views on several problems regarded as vital in the Russian society: interaction between the Church and intelligentsia, criticism of Western Christian denominations, scopes for ecumenical dialogue, relations between universal dogma and local tradition, impact of ethnic mentality on the development of religion, prospects and conditions needed to develop new foundations for an original Russian culture. The article examines Kireyev’s endeavor to put an ethical doctrine over the church’s dogmatic teaching. Kireyev’s works and diaries are quoted to help the reader to conceive the cultural context and the mindset of the Slavophile religious thinkers in the age of the debate over a renewal of the Russian Church and reform of her polities. The author stresses the influence of idealistic philosophy and liberal Western theology (mainly Old Catholic) on the development of Kireyev’s ideas, mentioning also his connections with Solovyov and Dostoevsky and evaluating Kireyev’s views on the special role of religious philosophy and literature in developing new foundations for an original Russian culture.