Alexey Khomyakov, biography and creativity of whichare the subject of this review, was the largest representative of the Slavophile trend in science and philosophy. His literary heritage marks a whole stage in the development of Russia's socio-political thought in the 19th century. His poetic works are distinguished by the depth of thought and philosophical comprehension of the ways of development of our country in comparison with the Western European states.
Alexey Khomyakov was born in Moscow in 1804, inhereditary noble family. He received a home education, passed the exam for a candidate of mathematical sciences at Moscow University. Subsequently, the future philosopher and publicist entered the military service, was in the troops in Astrakhan, then transferred to the capital. After a while he left the service and began to write journalism. He traveled, studied painting and literature. In the first half of the 19th century, the thinker became the ideologist of the emergence of the Slavophil movement in social and political thought. He was married to the sister of the poet Yazykov. Alexei Khomyakov fell ill, dealing with the treatment of peasants during the epidemic, from which he died. His son was the chairman of the III State Duma.
The literary activity of the scientist proceeded inthe situation of revival of socio-political thought. It was a time when among the educated circles of society there were lively disputes about the ways of development of Russia, its comparison with the history of Western European countries. In the 19th century there was an interest not only in the past, but also in the present political situation of the state in the international arena. After all, at that time our country took an active part in European affairs, mastering the cultural space of Western Europe. Naturally, in such conditions the intelligentsia had an interest in determining the national, original way of development of our country. Many tried to comprehend the past of the country in the context of its new geopolitical situation. These were the prerequisites that determined the views of the scientist.
Alexey Khomyakov created his own unique systemphilosophical views, which, in essence, has not lost its significance to this day. His articles and works are still actively studied at historical faculties, and even at school pupils are introduced to his thoughts on the peculiarities of the historical path of Russia's development.
The system of representations of the thinker on this topic andreally different originality. However, first we should note what his views were on the world-historical process in general. This is his unfinished work "Notes on World History". Alexei Khomyakov believed that it was based on the principle of disclosure of people's principles. Each people, in his opinion, is the bearer of a certain beginning, which is revealed in the course of its historical development. In ancient times, according to the philosopher, there was a struggle between two orders: freedom and necessity. Initially, the European countries developed along the path of freedom, but in the 18-19th centuries they deviated from this direction due to revolutionary upheavals.
With the same philosophical position, Alexei KhomyakovStepanovich approached the analysis of the history of Russia. In his opinion, the people's beginning of our country is the community. He understood this social institution not so much as a social organism, but as an ethical community of people connected by moral collectivism, a sense of inner freedom and truth. In this concept, the thinker invested moral content, believing that it was the community that became the material expression of the conciliarity inherent in the Russian people. Khomyakov Alexey Stepanovich believed that the way of development of Russia differs from the West-European one. He attached the main importance to the Orthodox religion, which determines the history of our country, while the West moved away from this doctrine.
Another difference he saw in the ways of educationpolitical systems in society. In the West European states, the conquest of territories took place, while in our country the dynasty was established by calling. The latter circumstance the author attached fundamental importance. Khomyakov Alexei Stepanovich, whose philosophy marked the beginning of the Slavophile direction, believed that this fact largely determined the peaceful development of Russia. However, he did not believe that ancient Russian history was devoid of any contradictions.
In this regard, he disagreed withanother well-known and prominent representative of Slavophilism I. Kireevsky. The latter, in one of his articles, wrote that pre-Petrine Russia was devoid of any social contradictions. Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov, whose books at that time determined the development of the Slavophil movement, objected to him in his work “On the article by Kireyevsky on the Enlightenment of Europe”. The author believed that even in ancient Russia, a contradiction arose between the rural, communal, regional world and the princely, state principle, which personified the squad. These parties did not come to a final consensus, in the end the state principle triumphed, but collectivism was preserved and manifested in the convocation of Zemsky Sobor, the significance of which, according to the author, was that they expressed the will of the whole earth. The researcher believed that it was this institution, as well as the community, that would later determine the development of Russia.
In addition to philosophical and historiosophical research,Khomyakov and engaged in artistic creativity. He owns the poetic works "Yermak", "Dmitry the Pretender." Of particular note are his poems of philosophical content. In them, the author clearly expressed his thoughts about the development of Russia and Western European states. He expressed the idea of a special, national-original way of development of our country. Therefore, his poetic works are distinguished by a patriotic orientation. Many of them have religious themes (for example, the poem "Night"). Praising Russia, he also noted the shortcomings in her social and political structure (poem “About Russia”). In his works, lyrical in content, there is also a motive for comparing the paths of development of Russia and the West (“The Dream”). Poems by Alexei Khomyakov allow a better understanding of his historiosophical concept of historical development.
The role of this philosopher in the socio-politicallife of Russia in the 19th century is huge. It was he who became the founder of the Slavophil trend in our country. His article “On the Old and the New” laid the foundation for the reflections of a number of thinkers on the peculiarities of the development of history. Following him, many philosophers turned to the development of the theme of the national peculiarities of Russia (the Aksakov brothers, Pogodin, and others). The contribution to Khomyakov’s historiosophical thought is enormous. He put the problem of the peculiarities of the historical path of Russia on a philosophical level. Before, none of the scientists made such general generalizations, although the author cannot be called a historian in the full sense, since he was interested in general concepts and generalizations, and not in concrete material. Nevertheless, his conclusions and conclusions are very interesting for understanding the socio-political thought of the time in question.
