N.A. Berdyaev and His German Contemporaries on the Method of Philosophy of History

— the subject of the study includes the methods of philosophical-historical knowledge developed in the works of N.A. Berdyaev, as well as his contemporaries, German thinkers W. Dilthey, E. Troeltsch and H.G. Gadamer. The author is not limited to a comparative analysis of the above methods – they become complementary elements of the method of this study. The essence of this method, which in this case can be seen as a result of the study, is that in order to penetrate the mystery of “historical”, we shall first of all; understand the history as our own to its depth, as our history and destiny. The life experience of the cognizing subject is not just a means; it always constitutes the initial prerequisite for the interpretation of past events. Thus, the creature of a historical phenomenon can open itself only when we understand the history as something that is still happening, and moreover, which is happening with us. Such an approach makes it possible to present the relations of the two leading lines of philosophical-historical knowledge – Russian and German – in the form of a relevant dialogue, which constitutes a relative novelty of the study. At the same time, the problem of forming the common one is transferred from the field of theoretical-methodological, to the practical, existential, ontological field, thus contributing to going beyond the current consideration of the issue of modern, rather difficult relations between Russia and the West, which is the practical importance of the study.