Between Philosophical Theory and Religious Dogma: Philosophical Views of Father Sergius Bulgakov

Abstract:We investigate the correlation of Sergius Bulgakov's views on the inescapable tragedy of philosophy with contradictions rooted in Bulgakov's philosophy itself. Based on comparative analyses of Bulgakov's views on the evolution of philosophy and peculiarities of Bulgakov's philosophizing, we conclude that the meaning created by his mental image of "the tragedy of philosophy" is much broader and more versatile than he himself intended. The tragedy of philosophical thinking is expressed in contradictions that arise between system-creating aspirations for philosophy and the need for the free movement of thought; between the passionate desire to affirm human individuality and the desire to substantiate the absolute basis of Being; between the will to live and the search for the meaning of life; between the philosophical search for truth and religious dogma; between the claims of reason and the ocean of the overmind or macrocosmic; and finally, the awareness of the acuteness of these contradictions and of the impossibility of going beyond their tragic circle. We conclude that Bulgakov's philosophical quest is the ultimate expression of the tragedy of philosophy. This is inevitable: immersion in the mythic is a natural result of the evolution of philosophy, striving for the Absolute.