Internal visions, external changes: Russian religious philosophy 1905-1940

This thesis tests the hypothesis that between 1905 and 1940 Russian religious philosophy changed, and that this can be gauged by looking at how the meanings of four ideas (all-unity, sobornost', Sophia and Godmanhood) changed in that time. By looking at religious philosophy through these ideas we can better understand the intellectual climate of the period. The proposal that Russian religious philosophy should be considered a coherent school of thought and the hypothesis that it would be useful to look at its four central ideas are raised and challenged. The theory that a 'discourse' of religious philosophy united texts in this period is examined, and it is concluded that discourse theory can act as an aid in analysis of religious philosophy. Religious philosophy before the Revolution, the history of the Revolution and its influence on philosophy are examined and its productivity is explored. Post-revolutionary Russian religious thought focusing on the experience of exile is also examined, concluding that the political and social upheaval that Russians were subjected to in the first half of the twentieth century added to and complicated the meaning of the Revolution. Themes of isolation and exclusion become more prevalent in emigration, and religious philosophy also becomes more theological. The findings of this research are (1) that changes within religious philosophy took place and can be detected through the careful study of the ideas that make up this philosophy; (2) that these changes can only partially be attributed to external circumstances because internal constraints also affected the capacity of these ideas to change; (3) that these changes were part of a decline in production, popularity or relevance of religious philosophy; and (4) that it is possible to explain why certain areas of their use remained relevant while others became obsolete