Nikolay Aleksandrovich Berdyaev

Russian religious philosopher. Born into a military aristocratic family in the suburbs of Kiev. While studying at Kiev University, he came into contact with Marxism, and although he was critical of philosophical materialism, he participated in the revolutionary movement from the perspective of apocalyptic messianism. He was expelled from the university in 1898, and then exiled to Vologda in 1900. From this time on, he struggled ideologically with the aim of integrating Marxism with German idealist philosophy, and gradually became more inclined toward religious philosophy.

After studying at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, he returned to Russia and went to St. Petersburg in 1904. There he was immersed in the religious and cultural renaissance that Russia experienced in the early 20th century, and interacted with a variety of thinkers. He visited Western Europe again in 1907, and after returning to Russia he participated in the establishment of the Religious and Philosophical Society. He criticized the worldview of the left-wing intelligentsia in works such as the collection of essays Signpost (1909), while also fiercely attacking the clerical ideology of the Russian Orthodox Church in his book The Meaning of Creation (1916).

After the revolution, he was appointed professor of philosophy at Moscow University in 1922, but he did not agree with the revolutionary government ideologically and was exiled from the former Soviet Union for "ideological reasons." After that, he lived in Berlin for a time, but from 1924 he settled in Clamart near Paris, where he taught the "Russian Institute of Philosophy and Religion" and presided over the magazine "The Way."

He developed his own philosophy of Christian existentialism, which places emphasis on human subjectivity and creativity. After the disappearance of humanism, he viewed the modern era, a transitional period in which a new worldview had not yet been established, as the "new Middle Ages." His 30 books, including "The Meaning of History" (1923), "Slavery and Freedom" (1944), and "A History of Russian Thought" (1948), were written in Russian and other Western languages, but most of them have been translated into various European languages, making it clear how important he was in the Western intellectual world.

[Ozaki Heiwa]

"Complete Works of Berdyaev, edited by Hidehiro Hikami et al., 8 volumes (1960-1966, Hakusuisha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ロシアの宗教哲学者。キエフ郊外の軍人貴族の家に生まれる。キエフ大学に学ぶうち、マルクス主義に接し、哲学的な唯物論には批判的であったものの、終末論的メシアニズムの観点から革命運動に参加。1898年大学から追放され、ついで1900年ボログダに流刑される。このころよりマルクス主義とドイツ観念論哲学との統合を目ざして思想的に格闘、しだいに宗教哲学への傾斜を深めていく。

　ドイツのハイデルベルク大学に学んだのち、帰国して1904年ペテルブルグに出る。ここで20世紀初めのロシアが経験した宗教的、文化的ルネサンスの渦に身を投じ、さまざまな思想家と交わった。1907年ふたたび西ヨーロッパを訪れ、帰国後「宗教哲学協会」の設立に参画する。文集『道標』（1909）などによって左翼インテリゲンチャの世界観を批判する一方、ロシア正教会の教権主義を激しく攻撃し『創造の意味』（1916）を著した。

　革命後、1922年モスクワ大学の哲学教授に任ぜられたが、思想的に革命政府と折り合わず、「イデオロギー上の理由から」旧ソ連国外へ追放される。その後、一時ベルリンに住んだが、1924年よりパリ近郊のクラマールに居を定め、ここで「哲学宗教ロシア学院」を指導するとともに、雑誌『道』を主宰した。

　人間の主体性、創造性に重きを置く独自のキリスト教的実存主義の哲学を展開。ヒューマニズムなきあと、新たな世界観がまだ確立しない過渡期たる現代を「新しい中世」ととらえた。『歴史の意味』（1923）、『隷属と自由』（1944）、『ロシア思想史』（1948）など、30冊に及ぶ著書はロシア語その他の西欧語で書かれているが、大部分はヨーロッパの各国語に翻訳されており、著者が西洋の思想界でいかに重きをなしたかを瞭然(りょうぜん)とさせる。

［尾崎ヘイワ］

『氷上英広他編『ベルジャーエフ著作集』全8巻（1960～1966・白水社）』

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