Negative Ontology by Nikolai Berdyaev and Arseniy Chanyshev: Social-epistemological retrospective

Abstract

The comparative analysis of N. Berdyaev’s and A. Chanyshev’s “negative ontologies” is
representing. Berdyaev’s “Nonbeing” is allocated with positive sense as it is an ontological basis
of freedom. His “negative ontology” is a philosophical reaction on cultural crisis in Russia at
the beginnings of XXth century. It was an reflection of readiness for the change of cultural
epoch, characteristic for this period in Russia. The Chanyshev’s “negative ontology” is shown
as a reaction to an aggravation of the next cultural crisis of 60th years in Soviet Union. Both
ontologies are shown as illustrations of contextual dependence of metaphysical searches