UDC

930.1/2

Authors

Sergey V. Rybakov
Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin; ul. Mira 19, Yekaterinburg, 620002, Russian Federation; e-mail: istoric-ek@mail.ru

Abstract

The article discusses the improvement of theoretical and methodological approaches to studying history. According to the author, such an improvement could be facilitated by leaving out rigid doctrinal schemes. Both research and practice proves these schemes to be unable to cover half of all the diversity, all the sides and nuances of real history, full of contradictions and paradoxes. However, the author admits that certain theoretical groundwork, methods and techniques can be rightly used in the approaches to understanding historical development patterns. One need only consider that conceptual and theoretical categories are inefficient if they are separated from the moral and ethical issues, or worse, deny its theoretical and practical significance. History is a semantic field where people search for the means to overcome chaotic trends using criteria tested by the centuries-old practice. Among these criteria, the leading role is played by moral norms. The author provides insights into the above points by comparing two approaches to the understanding of the historical process. One of them is represented by unilinear, schematized interpretations of history generated by the Western philosophical thought. The second approach is based on the understanding of history that was formed in Russia under the influence of Byzantine Orthodoxy. It had long been traditional for Russian philosophy of history, but in the 20th century was unfairly forgotten by researchers. Today, its rehabilitation could help expand methodological and conceptual horizons of Russian historical science.

Keywords

theoretical models of history, theoretical and methodological approaches to studying history, Western philosophy of history, traditional Russian philosophy of history

References

1. Gulyga A.V. Russkaya ideya i ee tvortsy [The Russian Idea and Its Creators]. Moscow, 1995. 310 p.
   
2. Zamaleev A.F. Idei i napravleniya otechestvennogo lyubomudriya [The Ideas and the Direction of National Wisdom]. St. Petersburg, 2003. 212 p.
   
3. Kozhinov V.V. Istoriya Rusi i russkogo slova [The History of Rus’ and of the Russian Word]. Moscow, 2001. 512 p.
   
4. Kolesov V.V. Filosofiya russkogo slova [Philosophy of the Russian Word]. Moscow, 2002. 512 p.
   
5. Narochnitskaya N.A. Rossiya i russkie v mirovoy istorii [Russia and Russians in World History]. Moscow, 2003. 536 p.
   
6. Perevezentsev S.V. Smysl russkoy istorii [The Meaning of Russian History]. Moscow, 2004. 496 p.
   
7. Novikova L.I., Sizemskaya I.N. Russkaya filosofiya istorii [Russian Philosophy of History]. Moscow, 1997. 328 p.
   
8. Florenskiy P.A. Zapiska o pravoslavii [Notes on Orthodoxy]. Florenskiy P.A. Sochineniya: v 4 t. [Works: In 4 Vols.]. Moscow, 1996. Vol. 2, pp. 537–546.
   
9. Lomonosov M.V. O sokhranenii russkogo naroda [On the Preservation of the Russian People]. Moscow, 2011. 848 p.
   
10. Tatishchev V.N. Istoriya Rossiyskaya: v 3 t. [Russian History: In 3 Vols.]. Moscow, 2003.
    
11. Boltin I.N. Otvet na pis’mo knyazya Shcherbatova [A Reply to the Letter of Prince Shcherbatov]. St. Petersburg, 1789. 181 p.
    
12. Lappo-Danilevskiy A.S. Istoriya russkoy obshchestvennoy mysli i kul’tury XVII–XVIII vv. [The History of Russian Social Thought and Culture of the 17th and 18th Centuries]. Moscow, 1990. 293 p.
    
13. Vernadskiy G.V. Russkaya istoriya [Russian History]. Moscow, 1997. 544 p.