The influence of the ideas of F. Nietzsche and L. Feuerbach on the phenomenon of God-building in Russia
Abstract
The article is aimed at reconstruction and analysis of the process of the formation of the God-building theory in Russia of the early 20th century. The significant role that German philosophy, primarily the ideas of L. Feuerbach and F. Nietzsche, played in this process is also under study. The author stresses that the Russian intellectuals who are known to have contributed to the theory of God-building, first of all Maksim Gorky, Anatoly Lunacharsky, Aleksandr Bogdanov, and Vladimir Bazarov, creatively interpreted the teachings of German philosophers to find grounds for their own position. The historical, philosophical, and anthropological contexts of the formation of the God-building theory are described and examined. The author shows why this theory appeared, what ideological niche it found to be an element of the political discourse of Bolshevism. It is proved that Gorky’s worldview was directly or indirectly influenced by German philosophers, mainly Nietzsche. This could be both the result of direct reception of their ideas, and the product of indirect assimilation due to the impact on the writer of his environment. In addition, revolutionary rhetoric and a large-scale transformation of the socio-cultural context had a great influence on the formation of Gorky’s worldview and the theory of God-building. It is noted that the origins of Gorky’s cultural experience, which is regarded in the article as the basis of the God-building theory, cannot be comprehensively reconstructed, since such a reconstruction would require turning to the sources that have been lost. Nevertheless, it is obvious that to gain a philosophical comprehension of the cultural experience of God-building is necessary in view of the crisis of ideology in modern Russia.
