The main object of this paper is to present the investigations that have been made during recent years in OBI on the problems of the science-faith relationships. The methodology of this investigation is described, and some of the most important results mentioned.
Siemion Frank (1877-1950) considered the Universe as an 'all-unity'. According to him, everything is a part of the all-unity which has a divine character. God is present in the world but his nature is incomprehensible. In this article the author analyzes two consequences of Frank's panentheistic view concerning the relation between science and theology. Firstly, limits of scientific knowledge allow to emphasize the mystery of the world and the transcendence of God. Secondly, Frank claims that the nature is a 'trace' of God and the manifestation of the absolute reality, i.e., all-unity. As a result, both science and theology lead to the knowledge of God, although his essence remains inaccessible.
In this article I will present and analyze the concept of all-unity of the two most famous Russian philosophers—Vladimir Soloviev (1853–1900) and Semyon Frank (1877–1958). As will be argued, the concept of all-unity is part of an old philosophical tradition. At the same time, it is an original idea of the Russian thought of the Silver Age (the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries).
Generally speaking, one can distinguish the following approaches to the question of the mutual relationship between physics and metaphysics: (1) both these domains are on equal footing, (2) physics is subordinated to metaphysics, (3) metaphysics is subordinated to physics. In the second half of the 19th century the fourth approach appears, namely an attempt to create a metaphysical system based on scientific results. The system created by the Russian philosopher N. Losski belongs to the latter category. In his view, the so-called substantial agents are fundamental building-blocks of the entire reality: from elementary particles to living organisms. Losski believed that his system could help solving some scientific problems. His ideas are similar to those of Leibniz and Whitehead. Generally speaking, one can distinguish the following approaches to the question of the mutual relationship between physics and metaphysics: (1) both these domains are on equal footing, (2) physics is subordinated to metaphysics, (3) metaphysics is subordinated to physics. In the second half of the 19th century the fourth approach appears, namely an attempt to create a metaphysical system based on scientific results. The system created by the Russian philosopher N. Losski belongs to the latter category. In his view, the so-called substantial agents are fundamental building-blocks of the entire reality: from elementary particles to living organisms. Losski believed that his system could help solving some scientific problems. His ideas are similar to those of Leibniz and Whitehead.
In this article the author considers an attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church towards the theory of evolution beginning with the year of publication of Darwin 'The Evolution of Species' until contemporary times. The orthodox theology relies upon the thought of Greek Fathers of the Church who emphasized a difference between the incomprehensible essence of God and His actions (energies), by which He reveals Himself in the created world. In the light of the above conception the Orthodox Church acknowledges every scientific theory as an reflexion of this revelation, if only it doesn't trespass its relevant boundaries. Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church has never condemned the evolution theory itself, although some of her theologians have been criticizing some of its aspects. In the last part the author presents contemporary polemics between orthodox evolutionists and creationists. He also suggests some insight into their arguments exposing their limitations. In this article the author considers an attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church towards the theory of evolution beginning with the year of publication of Darwin 'The Evolution of Species' until contemporary times. The orthodox theology relies upon the thought of Greek Fathers of the Church who emphasized a difference between the incomprehensible essence of God and His actions (energies), by which He reveals Himself in the created world. In the light of the above conception the Orthodox Church acknowledges every scientific theory as an reflexion of this revelation, if only it doesn't trespass its relevant boundaries. Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church has never condemned the evolution theory itself, although some of her theologians have been criticizing some of its aspects. In the last part the author presents contemporary polemics between orthodox evolutionists and creationists. He also suggests some insight into their arguments exposing their limitations.
The article reviews the book The Holy Mystery of the Church: Introduction to the History and Problems in the Debates on the Onomatodoxy, by Hilarion Alfeyev.
This article is dedicated to the problem of philosophical development of famous Russian philosopher Semen Frank (1877-1950) at his early stage of creativity. To begin with, Frank shared the conception of so- called legal Marxism which was very popular in Russia in the end of the 20th century. Gradually, he gave up this view and started publishing at first on Neo-Kantian topics and, later on, as religious thinker. Nevertheless, Frank continued interest in Marxism, even if he criticized it.
Artykuł jest poświęcony przedstawieniu filozoficznych kontaktów Andrzeja Walickiego ze współczesnymi mu filozofami rosyjskimi. Na podstawie już opublikowanych tekstów, jak też archiwalnej korespondencji pokrótce ukazano relacje Walickiego z Sergiuszem Hessenem i Dymitrem Czyżewskim, a szczególnie z o. Gieorgijem Fłorowskim. Początek znajomości Walickiego z o. Fłorowskim datuje się na 1960 r. Polski i rosyjski myśliciel dyskutowali na temat historiozofii, dziejów filozofii rosyjskiej, a nawet teologii. Pomimo odmiennych perspektyw (Fłorowski był założycielem tzw. syntezy neopatrystycznej, która miała dla Walickiego wyłącznie historyczne znaczenie), obydwaj odegrali znaczną rolę w popularyzacji myśli rosyjskiej na Zachodzie, zwłaszcza w USA.
In the present paper I present a project of Neopatristic synthesis by prominent Russian thinker Fr. George Florovsky, as well as the main reasons for which he criticised the existing style and direction of development of Russian thought in the form of religious-philosophical renaissance, or “the Silver Age.” By engaging in polemics with Florovsky’s approach, I advance four remarks. First, Florovsky himself was under the influence of the Russian religious-philosophical renaissance. Second, it was not Florovsky who initiated the Patristic studies in Russia, since they had been conducted from the 18th century. Third, the Neopatristic synthesis and the “Silver Age” philosophy could have been perceived as complementary projects rather than contrary in their tenor. Fourth, Florovsky left his own postulate uncompleted. In the concluding part of the paper I compare Florovsky’s and Zenkovsky’s approaches, arguing in favour of the latter thinker.
Recenzja książki: Efthymios Nicolaidis, Science and Eastern Orthodox from the Greek Fathers to the Age of Globalization, trans. by Susan Emanuel, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2011, ss. xii + 252.
Between the Orthodox Russian Church and modern science were not any serious conflicts. For examples, in XVII century students of Academy of Kiev-Mohyla studied heliocentric system of Copernic and doctrine of Galileo. In 1724 According to the project of Leibniz Tsar Peter I founded Russian Academy of Science in St-Petersburg. There worked D. Bernoulli and L. Euler. The Russian philosophical though presents an attempt of accord of science and theology.
The article presents Fr. Georgy Florovsky’s conception of a neo-patristic synthesis (developed by other orthodox theologians) and discusses some polemical aspects of this project. The neo-patristic synthesis is an approach to development of the patristic thought in the contemporary world and application it to the different branches of knowledge, including science. According to Florovsky science has an imperfect character, because to know the empirical world is possible only from the theological point of view. This position is shared by Alexei Nesteruk who claims that the patristic solutions can be treated as a model for the issues of relationship between science and religion. In this way a postulate of the methodological independency of science is breached. We show that this position is also is not accordance with the patristic thought because the Fathers of the Church were very open towards to the intellectual heritage of their time. Although they stressed that secular knowledge is inferior to theology, nevertheless this statement should be taken in the broad historical context of the defense of Christianity. Eastern Christian attitude to science is very sensitive for the transcendence and takes into account the anthropological dimension. In the conclusion we admit that these aspects of the patristic approach can be useful for the reflection about relationship between science and religion, under the condition that they will not break the principle of the methodological naturalism.
Artykuł zawiera analizę porównawczą myśli rosyjskiego emigracyjnego filozofia Siemiona Franka i jednego z najwybitniejszych przedstawicieli filozofii i teologii procesu Charlesa Hartshorne’a. Wśród punktów zbieżnych wskazano na ich integralną wizję rzeczywistości. Rozważono podejście Franka i Hartshorne’a w kwestii poznania Boga, szczególną uwagę poświęcając ich interpretacji dowodu ontologicznego. Hartshorne był zaznajomiony z myślą rosyjską i nawet napisał recenzje na klasyczne książki Zieńkowskiego i Łosskiego na temat historii filozofii rosyjskiej, gdzie niejednokrotnie wspominał o Franku. Nie można mówić o wpływach obydwóch myślicieli na siebie, ale raczej o wspólnym dziedzictwie filozoficznym sięgającym Platona.
EN
The article contains a comparative analysis of the thought of Russian émigré philosopher Semen Frank and one of the most prominent representatives of process philosophy and theology Charles Hartshorne. Among the points of convergence, their integral vision of reality was pointed out. Frank’s and Hartshorne’s approaches to the question of cognition of God were considered, with special attention paid to their interpretation of the ontological proof. Hartshorne was familiar with Russian thought and even wrote reviews on Zenkovsky and Lossky’s classic books on the history of Russian philosophy, where he mentioned Frank more than once. One cannot speak of the two thinkers’ influence on each other, but rather of a common philosophical heritage going back to Plato.
The material contains Andrzej Walicki’s personal account about his teacher, prominent Russian philosopher and educator Sergei Hessen. The preface characterizes both scholars, tells how they met each other and discusses all texts Walicki dedicated to his master. The publication is based on a typescript found in the archives of Warsaw and Prague. It is provided with explanatory comments.