The insatiable need of modern man for classification attempted to place the Russian intellectual Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev into one of the clearly defined sociological categories, so he was often labeled as Christian or Marxist, although he himself clearly claimed in his autobiography that he considered himself “incapable of being part of any organization” and that he had disappointed everyone’s expectations because he always returned to himself. Berdyaev claimed to be a philosopher, but not as a follower of any school of thought or in an academic sense, but as a philosopher in the deep and intimate sense of the call to examine oneself as a human being:
“As a child, I felt called to philosophy. By the philosophical calling, I in no way meant to specialize in any scientific discipline, write a dissertation, become a professor… When I became aware of the call to be a philosopher, I became aware of myself as a person who needs to devote himself to the search for truth and the discovery of meaning.” of the world. In doing so, ‘this world’ is not perceived as original, primal, or final. There exists ‘another world’, more real and original. And the depth of the ‘self’ belongs to it.” His entire existence, he claimed, was marked by a longing for that “other”, more original, more real, transcendent world. “It is strange how this world did not seem infinite or limitless to me, but on the contrary, it seemed limited compared to the infinity and infiniteness that unfolded within me… Philosophy, for me, was a struggle with finiteness in the name of infinity.” Below are excerpts from the work “I and the World of Objects” where Berdyaev examines the position and role of philosophy and philosopher. Throughout the history of culture, there has been hostility towards philosophy, coming from various directions. Philosophy is the most vulnerable aspect of culture. Its very possibility is constantly doubted, so every philosopher I am forced to begin my job by defending philosophy, justifying its possibility and productivity…
A true philosopher, when called upon, not only seeks to understand the world but also its transformation, improvement, and rebirth. It cannot be any different if philosophy is primarily the study of the meaning of human existence, of human destiny. Philosophy has always strived to be not only a love of wisdom but wisdom itself. To renounce wisdom is to renounce philosophy, to replace it with science.
A philosopher is above all a knower, but their knowledge is totalitarian, it encompasses all aspects of human beings and human existence, it inevitably teaches about the paths to realizing Meaning. Philosophers have sometimes descended to the rough gods of empiricism and materialism, but true philosophers possess a taste for the transcendental, for transcending the boundaries of the world, they are not satisfied with the carnal. Philosophy has always been a breakthrough from the senseless, empirical, illusory, and violently imposed world from all sides into the transcendent world. Philosophy is not science, it is not even the study of essence, but rather a creative understanding of the meaning of human existence… because the criterion of truth is not in reason, not in intellect, but in the holistic spirit. The heart and conscience remain supreme organs for judgment and understanding of the meaning of things.
And this assumes that the philosopher, as a knower, carries within themselves the experience of the contradictions of human existence, and that the philosopher’s own tragedy is the path to understanding. A philosopher who does not know this tragedy is impoverished and diminished in their knowledge. Philosophical understanding depends on the extent of lived experience, the experience of all contradictions of human existence, the experience of the tragic.
There is no person who is completely free from philosophy, even if it is primitive, childish, naive, or unconscious. Because everyone thinks, speaks, uses concepts, categories or symbols, myths, and evaluates.
Philosophy is foreign to most people, and yet every person, without even being aware of it, is in some sense a philosopher. The technical apparatus of philosophy is foreign. The majority of people are more inclined to use the word “philosopher” in a mocking and contemptuous sense. The word “metaphysics” is almost a joke in everyday life. They have turned “metaphysics” into a funny figure, and it is truly funny. But every person, even if they don’t realize it, is dealing with questions of a “metaphysical” order. Questions of mathematics or natural sciences are much further away from the majority of people than philosophical questions, which are not foreign to any individual…
1 See: Husserl, Philosophy as a Rigorous Science