Metaphysics of the Heart as a Worldview Subject in Russian Philosophy

Abstract

The paper gives a summary of the views of various researchers on the meta­physics of the heart in Russian philosophy, and an analysis of the concept of the heart in Russian culture. The conceptual difference between the knowl­edge of heart and the knowledge of mind, included in the circle of problems of professional European philosophy only in the second half of 19th century, be­comes of essential character in the works of Russian thinkers. It allows to clear up the fundamental issue of human nature and the position of a human being in the world. Russian philosophers consider the truths of the heart as universal truths. This gives us the opportunity to bring the concept of the heart closer to worldview issues. This allows us to bring the concept of the heart closer to worldview issues, offering a new perspective on the acute dilemma of the rea­son and the heart discussed in contemporary philosophical anthropology and Christian philosophy. In addition to the classical statement of the heart as a cog­nitive alternative to reason, the worldview interpretation of the heart must also reveal the activity aspect of its nature. The peculiarity of a worldview as a cog­nitive phenomenon consists in a person’s constant openness to the Other, which results in a reconciliation of “rational” and “heart” ways of comprehension of the world. Such openness allows a person to regain their personal wholeness and bring it to cosmic completeness in the perception of the world. The cosmic nature of personality is revealed in overcoming the problem of solipsism and substantiating “conciliar consciousness” (sobornoe soznanie) as a special way of supraindividual thinking. Thus, the heart appears as the worldview center of a human being and can be the object of educational practice, hence, the world­view as a matter of the heart serves as the basis for moral guidance in life.