Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev (Николай Александрович Бердяев) (March 18 [O.S. March 6] 1874 – March 24, 1948) was a Russian religious and political philosopher. Some refer to him a Theosopher, one who studies a Theology and Philosophy blend. is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Old Style redirects here. ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 83rd day of the year (84th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ...

Biography

Early Life and Education

Berdyaev was born in Kiev into an aristocratic military family. He spent a solitary childhood at home, where his father's library allowed him to read widely. He read Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Kant when only fourteen years old and excelled at languages. Map of Ukraine with Kiev highlighted Coordinates: , Country Ukraine Oblast Kiev City Municipality Raion Municipality Government  - Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi Elevation 179 m (587 ft) Population (2006)  - City 4,450,968  - Density 3,299/km² (8,544. ... Aristocrat redirects here. ... Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (IPA: ) (August 27, 1770 – November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher and, with Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, one of the representatives of German idealism. ... Arthur Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788 – September 21, 1860) was a German philosopher best known for his work The World as Will and Representation. ... Kant redirects here. ...

Revolutionary Activities

Berdyaev decided on an intellectual career and entered the Kiev University in 1894. This was a time of revolutionary fervor among the students and the intelligentsia. Berdyaev became a Marxist and in 1898 was arrested in a student demonstration and expelled from the University. Later his involvement in illegal activities led to three years of internal exile in central Russia – a mild sentence compared to that faced by many other revolutionaries. For other uses, see Kiev University (disambiguation). ... The notion of an intellectual elite as a distinguished social stratum can be traced far back in history. ... Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... Exile (band) may refer to: Exile - The American country music band Exile - The Japanese pop music band Category: ...

In 1904 Berdyaev married Lydia Trusheff and the couple moved to St. Petersburg, the Russian capital and centre of intellectual and revolutionary activity. Berdyaev participated fully in intellectual and spiritual debate, eventually departing from radical Marxism to focus his attention on philosophy and spirituality. Berdyaev and Trusheff remained deeply committed to each other until the latter's death in 1945. Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland...

Berdyaev was a believer in orthodox Christianity, but was often critical of the institutional church. A fiery 1913 article criticising the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church caused him to be charged with the crime of blasphemy, the punishment for which was exile to Siberia for life. The World War and the Bolshevik Revolution prevented the matter coming to trial. Orthodox icon of Pentecost. ... In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. ... The Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (Russian: ), also known as the Orthodox Christian Church of Russia, is a body of Christians who are united under the Patriarch of Moscow, who in turn is in communion with the other patriarchs and primates of the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... For the black metal band, see Blasphemy (band). ... This article is about Siberia as a whole. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was the second phase of the Russian Revolution, the first having been instigated by the events around the February Revolution. ...

He was a Christian universalist.^[1][2] Berdyaev writes with approval that Origen, a 3rd century proponent of universal reconciliation In Christian theology, universal reconciliation or universal salvation, is the doctrine or belief that all will eventually find salvation and reconciliation with God. ...

The greater part of Eastern teachers of the Church, from Clement of Alexandria to Maximus the Confessor, were supporters of Apokatastasis, of universal salvation and resurrection. ... Orthodox thought has never been suppressed by the idea of Divine justice and it never forgot the idea of Divine love. Chiefly - it did not define man from the point of view of Divine justice but from the idea of transfiguration and Deification of man and cosmos.^[3] Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ... Saint Maximus the Confessor (also known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople) (c. ... External Links Article on Theandros - Eschatology and final restoration (apokatastasis) in Origen, Gregory of Nyssa and Maximos the Confessor Stoic/Astrological conception of apokatastasis ... Origen, a 3rd century proponent of universal reconciliation In Christian theology, universal reconciliation or universal salvation, is the doctrine or belief that all will eventually find salvation and reconciliation with God. ...

Expulsion from Russia

Berdyaev could not accept the Bolshevik regime, because of its authoritarianism and the domination of the state over the freedom of the individual. Yet, he accepted the hardships of the revolutionary period, as he was permitted for the time being to continue to lecture and write. For other uses, see Bolshevik (disambiguation). ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      This article applies to political and organizational ideologies. ...

His philosophy has been characterized as Christian existentialist. He was preoccupied with creativity and in particular freedom from anything that inhibited said creativity, whence his opposition against a "collectivized and mechanized society". Christian existentialism as a school of thought founded by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. ... For other uses of Creativity, see Creativity (disambiguation). ...

In September, 1922, the Bolshevik government expelled a carefully selected group of some 160 prominent writers, intellectuals and scholars whose ideas the Bolshevik regime found objectionable, Berdyaev among them on the so-called "philosophers' ship" . Overall, they were supporters neither of the Czarist régime nor of the Bolsheviks, preferring less autocratic forms of government. They included those who argued for personal liberty, spiritual development, Christian ethics, and a pathway informed by reason and guided by faith. Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Philosophers ship - collective name of two German boats, which transported more than 160 expelled Russian intellectuals in September and November 1922 from Petrograd to Stettin, Germany. ... Philosophers ship - collective name of two German boats, which transported more than 160 expelled Russian intellectuals in September and November 1922 from Petrograd to Stettin, Germany. ... Tsar, (Bulgarian цар�, Russian царь; often spelled Czar or Tzar in English), was the title used for the autocratic rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires since 913, in Serbia in the middle of the 14th century, and in Russia from 1547 to 1917. ...

Exile in France

At first Berdyaev and other émigrés went to Berlin, but economic and political conditions in Germany caused him and his wife to move to Paris in 1923. There he founded an Academy, taught, lectured, and wrote, working for an exchange of ideas with the French intellectual community. This article is about the capital of Germany. ... This article is about the capital of France. ...

During the German occupation of France, Berdyaev continued to write books that were published after the war - some after his death. In years that he spent in France, Berdyaev wrote fifteen books, including most of his most important works. He died at his writing desk in his home in Clamart, near Paris, in March 1948. Clamart is a city and commune in France, in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, on the left bank of the Seine. ...

He influenced many thinkers, but his work was also very often a subject of controversial discussions. His work has been read mostly in the circles of existential philosophy and orthodox theology. Out of Berdyaev's understanding of freedom and creativity, Davor Dzalto has developed his understanding of contemporary art production and its importance for the human being. Existentialism is a philosophical movement emphasizing individualism, individual freedom, and subjectivity. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... in Christianity: Eastern Christianity Oriental Orthodoxy Orthodox Christianity Orthodoxy by country in Judaism: Orthodox Judaism Modern Orthodox Judaism Jewish organisations: Orthodox Union Categories: ... Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... For other uses, see Freedom. ... For other uses of Creativity, see Creativity (disambiguation). ... Davor Dzalto (Davor Džalto, Давор Џалто) is an artist, art historian and theoretician, born in Travnik (Bosnia and Herzegovina) on May 17th 1980. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ...

Works

The first date is of the Russian edition, the second date is of the first English edition The list is compiled from '"Bibliographie des Oeuvres de Nicolas Berdiaev" établie par Tamara Klépinine' published by the Institut d'études Slaves, Paris 1978

• The Meaning of the Creative Act (1916) 1955
• Dostoevsky (1923) 1934
• The Meaning of History (1923) 1936
• The End of Our Time (1924) 1933
• Leontiev (1926) 1940
• Freedom and the Spirit (1927-8) 1935
• The Russian Revolution (1931)(anthology)
• The Destiny of Man 1931 (1937)
• Christianity and Class War 1931 (1933)
• The Fate of Man in the Modern World (1934) 1938
• Solitude and Society (1934) 1938
• The Bourgeois Mind 1934 (anthology)
• The Origin of Russian Communism (1937) 1955
• Christianity and Anti-semitism (1938) 1952
• Slavery and Freedom (1939)
• The Russian Idea (1946) 1947
• Spirit and Reality (1946) 1957
• The Beginning and the End(1947) 1952
• Towards a New Epoch" (1949) (anthology)
• Dream and Reality: An Essay in Autobiography (1949) 1950
• The Realm of Spirit and the Realm of Caesar (1949) 1952
• The Divine and the Human (1949) 1952
• Truth and Revelation (n.p.) 1953

References

1. ^ Apokatastasis at Theandros, The Online Journal of Orthodox Christian Theology and Philosophy. Accessed Aug. 12, 2007
2. ^ Sergeev, Mikhail."Post-Modern themes in the philosophy of Nicolas Berdyaev". Religion in Eastern Europe. Accessed Aug. 12, 2007
3. ^ Berdyaev, Nikolai. "The Truth of Orthodoxy". Accessed Aug. 12, 2007.

Works cited

• N. Berdyaev. Dream and reality: An essay in autobiography. Bles, London, 1950.
• M. A. Vallon. An apostle of freedom: Life and teachings of Nicolas Berdyaev. Philosophical Library, New York, 1960.
• Lesley Chamberlain. Lenin's Private War: The Voyage of the Philosophy Steamer and the Exile of the Intelligentsia. St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2007.

See also

• Christian existentialism
• Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Nikolai Lossky
• sobornost
• Russian philosophy
• Philosophers' ship

Christian existentialism describes a group of writings that take a philosophically existentialist approach to Christian theology. ... Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (Russian: , Russian pronunciation: , sometimes transliterated Dostoyevsky, Dostoievsky, Dostojevskij or Dostoevski  ) (November 11 [O.S. October 30] 1821 – February 9 [O.S. January 28] 1881) was a Russian novelist and writer of fiction whose works, including Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, have had a profound and... From the bookcover Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical by C.M. Sciabarra Nikolai Onufriyevich Lossky Николай Онуфриевич Лосский, (November 24 N.S. December 6, 1870–January 24, 1965) was a Russian philosopher, representative of Russian idealism, intuitionism, personalism, ethics and his intuitivism. ... Sobornost is a Russian word for co-operation between multiple forces. ... Russian philosophy is a broad field, little known to most non-Russians, dominated by religious and humanistic figures such as Vladimir Soloviev and social or political philosophers such as Mikhail Bakunin. ... Philosophers ship - collective name of two German boats, which transported more than 160 expelled Russian intellectuals in September and November 1922 from Petrograd to Stettin, Germany. ...

External links

• Bibliographical information and many English translations of Berdyaev's articles
• Overview
• Fr.Men on Berdyaev
• PHILOSOPHER OF FREEDOM by Dimitri Lisin
• Nikolai Lossky's bio on Berdyaev
• New York Times: Russia’s Castaway Intellectuals in Revolution’s Wake
• Russian idea of Nikolai Berdyaev Rus.