Chaadaev's philosophical letters and their role in the development of Russian thought

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RELEVANCE. The subject of our research is the problem of the influence Of p. ya. Chaadaev's philosophical views on the development of Russian thought. The work Of p. ya. Chaadaev is a huge legacy, because, as you know, it was this author who was one of the first to raise the question of the meaning of Russia, its place in the world and its fate, in connection with which, by and large, the currents of Slavophiles and Westerners arose. These questions do not lose their relevance even now. It is in this regard that we decided to study in more detail and try to reveal the chosen topic.  
The PURPOSE of this research is to study the views of p. ya.Chaadaev in his philosophical letters, to determine their role in the development of Russian thought. 
METHODS. Analysis of the scientific literature on this issue. The study also used the dialectical method and the system analysis method. 
Russian Russian philosopher and publicist Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev. N. N. Strakhov spoke of him as "the first consistent Westerner". G. V. Plekhanov believed that P. ya. Chaadaev was a mystic who belonged to the "ideological" liberation movement of Westerners.N. A. Rozhkov, on the contrary, noted that Chaadaev was characterized by "no less than the Slavophiles Russian messianism". Modern researchers refer to this author as the first religious philosopher in Russia, an oppositionist. This contrast of opinions is particularly emphasized by the fact that P. Ya. Chaadaev is a rather ambiguous figure in Russian philosophy, a special phenomenon whose views are of serious importance. 
The main work of this author is his "Philosophical letters", written in 1828-1830 under the impression of a foreign trip, during which he "imbued with the spirit of Europe". There are eight emails in total. They were written in French and addressed to Ekaterina Dmitrievna Panova, who in their context is referred to as"Madame". The first letter was published in 1836 by the magazine "Telescope". After this event, the magazine was immediately closed, and its owner, N. I. Nadezhdin, was sent to exile [1]. Chaadaev was declared insane, and for a long time he was under medical supervision and under the supervision of the police.  
Chaadaev's letters have a special philosophical meaning, as they raise such important issues as the historical development of Russia and the West, their differences, the essence of serfdom, the place of history in society, questions of faith, the fate of Orthodoxy (in one of the first letters), the development of different peoples, and many others [2]. 
Speaking about the historical development of Russia and the West, it is impossible not to mention That p. ya. Chaadaev to a certain extent idealized the West, believing that it has such characteristic features as constant, dynamic development, the creation of an education system, a special culture, rights and freedoms; the welfare of the people, achievements of science and technology, high art, the continuous movement of ideas, the formation of humanistic spiritual values [3]. The author considered Russia to be less developed in these aspects, and therefore historically backward. Even of Westerners, he spoke as those who" with their mother's milk " absorb the ideas of duty, justice, law and order, and contrast them with the negative qualities of their countrymen and themselves. Chaadaev also talks about the specifics of the geographical location of his country. He's writing: "...Standing between the two main parts of the world, the East and the West, resting one elbow on China, the other on Germany, we would have to combine both great principles of spiritual nature: imagination and reason, and combine in our civilization the history of the entire globe" [4: p.47]. But it must be said that this was to some extent the historical purpose of Russia: after all, it protected Europe from the onslaughts of its neighbors, including Europe. 
As for the problem of the essence of serfdom, it should be said that Peter Yakovlevich was of the opinion that this is slavery for people, a completely negative phenomenon. He speaks about the terrible results of the influence of serfdom on both serfs and free people, focusing on the fact that the existence of serfdom in society suppresses all its efforts, tarnishes its virtues [4: p.60]. 
On the issue of the place of history in the life of society, Chaadaev says that it (history as a science) should be inseparable from philosophy, become its main part. According to the author, historical data should be studied rationally: this is the only way to make the process more productive [4: p. 105]. 
Questions of faith in the letters of Peter Yakovlevich have a special place. He noted that Orthodoxy has lost the main idea for Christianity, namely the idea of freedom of the human person. According to the philosopher, Protestantism is associated with destruction, and Catholicism is creation. That is why the reason for "falling out of Russia" from Europe lies in the wrong choice of religion. If Catholicism were in the upper hand, Russia would be a European country. In his first letter, Chaadaev concludes: "... we took knowledge from a poisoned source-Byzantium, despised by all other peoples... " so Chaadaev touches on the Christian problem of Russia, based on the cult of attraction, born in Byzantium. He defines Byzantium as a nation mired in petty vanity and detached from the biblical views. "Despite the title of Christians," Chaadaev wrote,"we did not move, while Western Christianity majestically followed the path drawn by its divine founder." the people became a part of world history and had a chance for further advancement. according to Chaadaev, they should discard all their past associated with Orthodoxy, accept Catholicism and the values of the Western world. Only in this scenario of development of Russia, the philosopher is sure that there is a way out of the social crisis, liberation from slavery, hypocrisy and despotism, and also leaves it the right to continue to exist [5]. 
RESULTS. According to the results of the study, we can say that the above questions raised By p. ya. Chaadaev in his letters, in our opinion, are eternal, their relevance can be noted even now, after almost two centuries. You can definitely agree with his opinion or try to challenge it, but you can't deny his unlimited influence. Thus, it was the thoughts of Peter Yakovlevich that became one of the main "stumbling blocks" between Slavophiles (A. S. Khomyakov, brothers K. S. and I. S. Aksakov, I. V. and P. V. Kireevsky, Yu. f. Samarin, etc.) and Westerners ( P. V. Annenkov, B. N. Chicherin, T. G. Also, the ideas Of p. ya. Chaadaev were reflected in the philosophy of soil scientists, conservatives and liberals. It should be mentioned that some of his theses so strongly influenced V. S. Solovyov that in his works he quite actively developed and systematized them. It is also worth noting the influence Of p. ya. Chaadaev's ideas on his contemporaries. This was reflected in many works (images, ideas and motives) by such authors as A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, F. M. Dostoevsky, A. p. Chekhov, A. p. Platonov and many others. Also, the "echoes of Chaadaev" are quite clearly traced in N. G. Chernyshevsky - editor of the magazine "Sovremennik". Critically evaluating the ideas of Peter Yakovlevich, he came to understand and systematize his own thoughts, social priorities and philosophical positions. But it should be noted that people who were influenced by P. ya. Chaadaev did not become his followers, but came to the final formalization of their own beliefs under the influence of Chaadaev's powerful philosophy.  
DISCUSSION. As a result of our research, we studied the personality of p. ya. Chaadaev, his main works, and were convinced of the power of his philosophical thought, the desire to make Russia a great power, and the boundless influence both on contemporaries and on the development of Russian society in General. It became possible to draw these conclusions after analyzing a number of literary sources, such as scientific articles about p. ya. Chaadaev by Yu. m. Mikityuk, E. L. Sarayeva, S. A. Nizhnikov, and I. V. Suchkov, as well as studying the "Philosophical letters"themselves. 
CONCLUSION. Chaadaev's philosophical letters are a special combination of his views on the world, a certain analysis of a complex set of philosophical and historical problems of that time, as well as problems of the development of Russian society. The role of p. ya. Chaadaev's philosophical letters is really huge, because they determined the further course of Russian culture, reflected in it.

About the authors

Alina A. Solodovnikova

Author for correspondence.
Email: solodovnikovaalina@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9068-9037
SPIN-code: 9643-7161
Russian Federation, 394036, г. Воронеж, ул. Студенческая, д. 10

Anna I. Plekhanova

Email: plehanovanya13@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1120-6701

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