Speaking (about) Substance: The Metaphysics of Rowan Williams and some Russian Philosophers

Russian religious culture has been a constant and prominent element of Rowan Williams’ work. This article demonstrates the affinity of Williams’ metaphysics with the work of two Russian philosopher-theologians, whose influence on Williams is explicit: Sergii Bulgakov and Aleksei Losev. This affinity is drawn out by a close attention to the significance of the concept of substance in Williams’ metaphysics. The concept of substance brings together language, metaphysics, and the doctrine of God in Williams’ work, in ways that converge strongly with the thought of Bulgakov and Losev. Via a scrutiny of language, these thinkers eschew an understanding of substance and transcendence that privileges isolated interiority, with substance instead taking a Trinitarian shape. To think metaphysically thus becomes a spiritual practice, as the metaphysician renounces an understanding of substance in the image of the isolated ego, conforming instead to the triune pattern of created being.