Features of sociological analysis of religion in Russia during the imperial period of its history (Continued)

The article deals with the features of sociological analysis of religion in Russia during the imperial period of its history. The national sociological tradition of studying religion as a socio-cultural phenomenon and a social institution, which was developed during this period, had its own unique and peculiar appearance and was just begun to revive again in post-Soviet Russia, contrasts with the tradition that took place in the West. In this context, the appeal to unfortunately undeservedly forgotten works of classics of Russian religious and socio-political though is very promising area of modern sociological research.

When studying this problem, the author emphasizes the study of the works of representatives of three ideological areas of Russian religious and socio-political thought: conservatism, liberalism and socialism, as well as the peculiarities of the historical development of Russian society and the state and those events that had a significant impact on the formation and development of scientific understanding of religion in Russia. Among such features, the author, in particular, refers to the formation of an “antisystem” (systemic integrity of people who take a dim view of their homeland, hate their own nation, its values and culture, history, traditional religious, political and social systems) among the Russian intelligentsia, bureaucracy and part of the elite of Russian society, under a certain influence of Westernism, as a consequence of the spiritual schism of the 18th century, which occurred in the educated strata and elite of Russian society.

When studying the features of understanding religious issues by representatives of Russian liberalism, the author of the article analyzes the views of representatives of both radical and moderate (classical) liberalism: M.M. Kovalevsky, N.I. Kareev, P.N. Milyukov, V.S. Solovyov, B.N. Chicherin, P.B. Struve. He notes that the understanding of this issue was carried out by these authors from a “Westernist” position. Liberal thinkers generally negatively assessed the religious situation, as well as state-confessional relations in imperial Russia. They proposed a number of reforms in this area and, in particular, spoke of the need to separate the church from the state.

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