Course module FTR-OTR739 Credits (ECTS) 5 Category - Language of instruction English Offered by Radboud University; Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies; Opleiding Religiestudies; Lecturer(s) Examiner prof. dr. A. Brüning Other course modules lecturer Contactperson for the course prof. dr. A. Brüning Other course modules lecturer Lecturer prof. dr. A. Brüning Other course modules lecturer Lecturer dr. J.H.J. van Kessel Other course modules lecturer Academic year 2022 Period SEM2   (30/01/2023 to 03/09/2023) Starting block SEM2 Course mode full-time Remarks - Registration using OSIRIS Yes Course open to students from other faculties Yes Pre-registration No Waiting list No Placement procedure -

	Aims After competing this cours, you: will have an overview of the history of Russian Religious Thought with an emphasis on its historical, social and political dimensions during the so-called Silver Age (1890-1920), with repercussions in later times until nowadays; are able to interpret original texts in translation in their social, political and historical contexts, and you will understand their social and political implications; are able to formulate his/her own point of view, criticism or position concerning the theme of the course, and you can give arguments for and against this view; will subsequently be familiarized with a philosophical tradition partly distinct from mainstream Western models and traditions, and will be introduced into handling these differences adequately; are able to write a well-structured, well-formulated and well-informed paper on a specific subject concerning a theme. Content Historical roots, social and political implications Russian Religious philosophy of the "Silver Age" (around 1890 till around 1950) has often been described as "the other branch of Russian tradition". We focus in this course on the specifically Russian phenomenon of Religious Philosophy in the period that is known as the Russian Silver Age (1890-1920) and the first phase of Russian emigration and diaspora (ca. 1920-1940), and in particular on the social and political dimensions of the thought of six famous and influential representatives: Vladimir Solovyov, Sergey Bulgakov, Nikolay Berdyayev, Ivan Ilyin, Georgii Florovsky (Neopatristic synthesis), Vladimir Losskii. We also address some more recent representatives from Soviet times, like Andrei Sakharov, or Aleksandr Solzhenicyn. Historical Background is the final phase of Tsarist Russia with its tendencies towards reform and new ways of reflecting social, political and religious issues in a way relevant for social and political reform efforts. These impulses, although deprived of possibilities for direct realization after the victory of Bolshevism and protagonists driven into exile, where nonetheless further developed in the first phase of Russian exile and diaspora, now in close interaction with innovative philosophical tendencies in the West. Centers of such interaction were Prague, Berlin and, in particular, interwar Paris. Central themes in the course are the relation between religion, /theology and philosophy, and the relation between the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘secular’. We focus in this course on the specifically Russian phenomenon of Religious Philosophy in the named period and the first phase of Russian emigration and diaspora (ca. 1920-1940), and in particular on the social and political dimensions of the thought of its main representatives. Historical Background is the final phase of Tsarist Russia with its tendencies towards reform and new ways of reflecting social, political and religious issues in a way relevant for social and political reform efforts. These impulses, although deprived of possibilities for direct realization after the victory of Bolshevism and protagonists driven into exile, where nonetheless further developed in the first phase of Russian exile and diaspora, now in close interaction with innovative philosophical tendencies in the West. Centers of such interaction were Prague, Berlin and, in particular, interwar Paris. Central themes in the course are the relation between religion, /theology and philosophy, and the relation between the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘secular’.   Level B2 Philosophy, Religious Studies, Theology, History   Presumed foreknowledge BA1     Test information Final paper and presentation Specifics
	Recommended materials Literature Recommended literature: Encyclopaedic texts on Russian religious philosophy (Edwards or Routledge) Andrzej Walicki, A History of Russian Thought from the Enlightenment to Marxism, 1979 William van den Bercken, Christian Thinking and the end of communism in Russia, IIMO Research Publication 34, 1993 Kristina Stoeckl, Community after Totalitarianism. The Russian Orthodox Intellectual Tradition and the Philosophical Discourse of Political Modernity, Peter Lang, 2008 Russische Filosofie na de Perestrojka, Ed. E. van der Zweerde, Krisis Parresia 1995 – selected texts in Dutch translation Frederick Copleston, Russian Religious Philosophy: Selected Aspects Hardcover 1988 Paul L. Gavrilyuk, Georges Florovsky and the Neo-Patristic Renaissance, Oxford 2014. Andrew Louth, Modern Orthodox Thinkers. From Philokalia to the Present, London 2015. Wilhelm Goerdt, Russische Philosophie. Zugänge und Durchblicke, Münster 1984. Ulrich Schmid, Russische Religionsphilosophen des 20. Jahrhunderts Instructional modes Lecture and seminar Tests Paper Test weight 1 Test type Paper Opportunities Block SEM2, Block SEM2