Концепт: философия, религия, культура (Jul 2022)
The Phenomenon of Love in the Context of a Civilization Crisis . Commentary on Chapter 15 of The Ways and Power of Love by Pitirim Sorokin
Abstract
The object of this study is the work of the outstanding sociologist and philosopher of the 20th century Pitirim A. Sorokin as is evident from his work The Ways and Power of Love: Types, Factors, and Techniques of Moral Transformation [Sorokin, 1954]. Herein Sorokin provided his elaborate scientific analysis of the crisis state of contemporary society and considered the causes of this phenomenon. To put the above-mentioned ideas into the context of Sorokin’s scientific and philosophical theories means to organize into a system his approaches to crisis phenomena of the contemporary society. Moreover, the solutions suggested by P. Sorokin need to be compared across his various works. Still The Ways... with its analysis of philosophical and religious understanding of love, its functioning, and versatility, makes up the heart of the research. According to the philosopher, love is an ultimate cure for societal maladies and evils. It is love that is capable of turning societies over in the times of crisis and collapse of sensual culture. Sensual culture is stated as one of three cultural supersystems evolving in cycles. That said, love is a real social process that determines the minimal level of consensus in a society. It should be noted that despite having no translation into the Russian language, Sorokin’s book has been widely introduced into the scholarly discourse and those concerned are well aware of its importance. My translation of Chapter 15 of the work presented in this issue of the journal Concept: Philosophy, Religion, Culture can be considered as a vast quotation of Pitirim Sorokin’s writings and will let Russian-speaking readers learn more about the key ideas of the philosopher on understanding the factors and techniques of moral education in different sociocultural contexts in connection with peculiarities of religious self-consciousness.
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