Linguistic and Mystical Motives in Philosophy by P. Florensky

Abstract

The article is devoted to the consideration of linguistic and mystical motives in the philosophical constructions by P. Florensky. The author reveals that the dis­closure of this problem is possible through the thematization of such concepts as language and religious experience. The article puts forward the thesis that the leit­motif of Florensky’s onto-epistemology has become a Christian-colored philoso­phy of the name, which makes it possible to bring the study of the linguistic and mystical motives of Florensky’s views to the fore. The philosophy of language by Florensky is based on the idea of a symbol as a synergistic action of its noumenal and phenomenal sides. Discussing this problem, the author analyzes Florensky’s texts, in which he interprets a symbol greater than itself. The article reveals the meaning of linguistic motives in the issue of establishing a human connection with the transcendent. The ways to restore this connection are outlined by Floren­sky in the philosophy of cult, the core of which is religious praxis. Prayer is con­sidered as a mandatory part of ritual practices. Thus, the realization of religious experience through verbal service as a form of interaction between the human and the divine problem is put forward. Linguomistic motives in this aspect represent the foundation on which the entire Orthodox religious praxis is built as it is pre­sented in Florensky’s philosophy. This praxis is indispensable for the formation of a whole worldview and for the future salvation of mankind in the bosom of the church. The article reconstructs the concept of prayer as an important struc­tural element of Florensky’s onto-epistemological concept, which can be repre­sented at the level of the philosophy of language as a form of lived through lin­guistic experience expressed in the synergy of man, language and God.