Slavophiles and Westerners

The fortieth years of the nineteenth century went down in history as a "remarkable decade" - a time of sharpened ideological disputes and incessant spiritual quest. The Russian intelligentsia seemed to be "awakened from a dream", enabling the active development of social and philosophical thought.

The whole intellectual life was concentrated in the capital, Moscow, where the leading figures of the era A. Herzen, P. Chaadaev, A. Khomiakov expressed their liberal-idealistic views on society, argued and debated. A great role in the life of Russia was played by the students of the Moscow University. They expressed new views on the nature of the history of Russia's development and its relationship with Europe. Gradually the participants in the discussions divided into two circles, which had polemical names: the Slavophils and Westerners.

These two currents constantly polemicized among themselves. The subject of their debates was the past and future of the Russian state. Slavophiles and Westerners in Russian philosophy were close in interpretation of the past times of their fatherland, considering them different from European ones. The first praised the bright ideals of the Old Russian state. The Westerners expressed the opinion that in the old European powers the story unfolded completely opposite to ours, having long since formed certain positive results. They completely denied even the idea of comparing the Russian past with the great Middle Ages in Western countries. Some of them idealized the past, while others painted it only in dark colors.

Slavophiles and Westerners. What united these two philosophical trends?

Both those and others were very critical of the present. They refused to understand and accept the current Nicholas system: serfdom, foreign and domestic policy, revolutionary transformation. All their words and actions were aimed at trying to defend the freedom of the press, words, conscience, public opinion in the current political situation.

The dispute between the Westernizers and the Slavophiles concerned the future. The first, admiring the actions of Peter 1, hoped for the development of the Russian state on the European model. The main task of the authorities and society, in their opinion, was to perceive the country already ready progressive forms of social and economic life peculiar to the West European powers. To achieve these goals, it was necessary to eliminate the serf system, abolish legal class distinctions, give greater freedom to entrepreneurship, streamline local self-government and democratize the judicial system.

The Slavophils condemned Peter for the violence and strife that he brought into the life of society. Solving social problems and getting rid of proletariat they saw in the establishment of the communal system. To implement their ideas, the Slavophiles were ready to go to revolution. Relying on the idea of a categorical distinction between Russia and Europe, they criticized the Western individualistic principle, placing high hopes on the establishment of community principles for the life of the Russian people.

Idealizing Orthodoxy, the Slavophiles criticized Protestantism and Catholicism. They believed that the task of Russia is to build their lives on true Christian principles and bring the basic principles of their being to the believers of the whole earth. The country must open to all mankind the road to true unity and brotherhood - conciliarity, or, as Khomyakov said: "freedom in unity through the Orthodox faith."

Slavophiles and Westerners - having emerged in serfdom during the crisis, these two trends reflected the desire of the liberally targeted sections of society to develop holistic theories of the transformation of the Russian state.