Dialectics of Sobornost in the Works of S.N. Bulgakov and V.N. Lossky

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the philosophical debate on the notion of sobornost in the Russian religious philosophy of Sergei Nikolaevich Bulgakov and Vladimir Nikolaevich Lossky. As a universal concept it grasps the state-of-being-joined, the unity in both religious and civil, societal aspects. Both these forms of sociality are also rooted in personal attitudes and are manifested in the sphere of reflection and in the spiritual. The extent to which both views on sobornost differ lies on the level of individual and group aspirations, in various schemes of the sobornost formation, in the religious—secular dichotomy. In this way the concept of dialectics arises. All the aforenamed controversies and the historical development of collective forms (e.g. a conflict of sobornost in the social field of a secular society) (see Bulgakov) can be seen as the dialectical self-development of sobornost as the very being, being mediated by the essence (Lossky). It is found that the dialectics inevitably lead to personal, social and divine integrity, thus illustrating the inherent unity of sobornost as essence and as being. Conflicts and misunderstandings are only due to personal misinterpretations and sacred quest. Only in a threefold form can sobornost thrive, which is more profoundly reflected in the works of Bulgakov.

Keywords

• s. n. bulgakov
• v. n. lossky
• sobornost
• sociality
• personality
• dialectics
• being
• essence
• concept