Sobornost as a Non-Sociological Category

Sobornost as a Non-Sociological Category


Shmerlina I.A.

Cand. Sci. (Philos.), Leading Researcher, Institute of Sociology of FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia shmerlina@yandex.ru

ID of the Article:


For citation:

Shmerlina I.A. Sobornost as a Non-Sociological Category. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2024. No 4. P. 26-36




Abstract

The article is devoted to the reconstruction of the concept “conciliarity” (“sobornost”) and is motivated by its incorrect, in the author’s opinion, use in modern sociological literature. Having put forward the understanding of sobornost as a transcendent / socially loaded category as the main dilemma, the author gives an ambiguous solution to it. It is shown that the concept of sobornost, the appearance of which in Russian religious philosophy and, more broadly, Russian culture, is traditionally associated with the name of A.S. Khomyakov, is deeply rooted in the religious-mystical experience of the latter and requires careful handling. Sobornost, in its authentic understanding, is the divine grace that descended upon the meeting of believers and mystically transformed it. This concept belongs to the theological picture of the world; bringing it into sociological analysis is incorrect, and its use in socio-political discourse is unwholesome, since it sets false guidelines and values. At the same time, the vulgarization of the notion of “sobornost” present in many works can be explained not only by a superficial and / or tendentious reading, but also by the inherent deep ambivalence of this concept, the obvious gaps between its authentic content and latent mental constructs embedded in it and analytically revealed by a certain research perspective. “Sobornost” was born as a social, in its basic intuitions, category, and in its historical development it returns to these intuitions. The presence of a certain connection between the deeply mystical authentic content of “conciliarity” and its social projections, as well as its subsequent sociologically inevitable secularization, turns the concept under consideration into an extremely curious object of terminological analysis.


Keywords
conciliarity (sobornost); conciliar (soborny); Church, unity; systemic whole; rural community; Slavophiles; A.S. Khomyakov; Yu.F. Samarin

References

Aksakov K.S. (1861) A brief historical sketch of the Zemsky Councils. In: The Complete works of K.S. Aksa kov. Vol. I. Moscow: V tip. P. Bakhmeteva: 291–306. (In Russ.)

Alaev L.B. (2017) “Theses submitted for defense”. In: The Middle Ages: studies on the history of the Middle Ages and early Modern Times. Iss. 78. Moscow: Nauka: 15–17. (In Russ.)

Aleynikov O.N. (2017) “The experience of the catechetical exposition of the doctrine of the Church” (or “The Church is one”) by A.S. Khomyakov as an integral expression of the idea of conciliarity. In: Collection of works of the Tula Theological Seminary. Iss. 3: 21–30. (In Russ.)

Anisin A.L. (2009) Sobornost: phenomenon, concept and principle. Vestnik Chelyabinskogo gosun-ta. № 33. Filosofiya. Sociologiya. Kul’turologiya [Bulletin of the Chelyabinsk State University. No. 33. Philosophy. Sociology. Cultural studies]. Iss. 14: 5–11. (In Russ.)

Artamonova T.A. (2018) Communal way of life of Russian society: philosophical and historical analysis. In: Russian peasantry and agriculture in the context of regional history. Yoshkar-Ola: MarGU: 668–676. (In Russ.)

Babich V.V. (2009) The concept of conciliarity in Russian religious philosophy. Vestnik TGU. Sotsiologiches kiye nauki [Bulletin of Tomsk State University. Sociological Sciences]. No. 324: 63–66. (In Russ.)

Barmashova T.I., Lomanov P.V. (2020) The concept of “sobornost” in Russian philosophy. Vestnik BGU. Filoso fiya [Bulletin of Buryat State University. Philosophy]. Iss. 1: 73–80. DOI:10.18101/1994-0866-2020-1-73-80-(In Russ.)

Belyaev I.D. (1856) Review of the historical development of rural communities in Russia. Moscow: tip. A. Se mena. (In Russ.)

Berdyaev N.A. (1912) Alexey Stepanovich Khomyakov. Moscow: Put’. (In Russ.)

Biryukov N., Sergeev V. (1995) Democracy and conciliarity: representative power in traditional Russian and Soviet political culture. Obshchestvennyye nauki i sovremennost’ [Social Sciences and Modernity]. No. 6: 53–68. (In Russ.)

Disputes about the community; Invitation to discussion: communities and their functions. In: The Middle Ages: studies on the history of the Middle Ages and early Modern Times. Iss. 78. Moscow: Nauka: 14–40; 41–93. (In Russ.)

Fateev V.A. (2006) In the debate about the original path of Russia. In: Slavophilism: PRO ET CONTRA. St. Petersburg: RHGA: 1–48. (In Russ.)

Florovsky G.V. (2009) Paths of Russian theology. Moscow: IRC. (In Russ.)

Golovic R. (2020) The ‘sobornost’: from the history of Russian religious and social thought Sotsiologiches kiye issledovanya [Sociological Studies]. No. 5: 121–25. DOI: 10.31857/S0132162500093890 (In Russ.)

Gorelov A.A. (2017) A.S. Khomyakov: doctrine on «sobornost» (collegiality) and Russian community. Kul’tura i obshchestvo [Culture and Society]. No. 2: 78–97. DOI: 10.17805/zpu.2017.2.6 (In Russ.)

Gulyga A.V. (1992) Russian philosophical renaissance. In: Russian idea and modernity. Moscow: 79–83. (In Russ.)

Gurevich A. Ya. (2007) Problems of the genesis of feudalism in Western Europe. In: Selected works. Ancient Germans. Vikings. St. Petersburg: SPbGU: 186–342. (In Russ.)

Herzen A.I. (1956) About the rural community in Russia. In: Collected works in 30 vol. V. VII. Moscow: AN SSSR: 259–263. (In Russ.)

Ivanov V.I. Legion and conciliarity. In: Native and universal. Moscow: Respublika: 96–101. (In Russ.)

Khomyakov A.S. (1900) The Complete Works. V. 3. Moscow: Universitetskaya tip. na Strastnom bul’vare. (In Russ.)

Khomyakov A.S. (1994) Works in two volumes. V.2. Works on theology. Moscow: Medium. (In Russ.)

Khoruzhy S.S. (1994) After the break. Paths of Russian philosophy. St. Petersburg: Alteyya. URL: https://www.synergia-isa.ru/lib/lib.htm#H (accessed 15.02.2024). (In Russ.)

Khoruzhy S.S. (2002-a) Alexey Khomyakov: The doctrine of conciliarity and the Church. Bogoslovskiye trudy[Theological works]. Vol. 37: 153–179. (In Russ.)

Khoruzhy S.S. (2002-б) Modern problems of the Orthodox worldview. URL: https://www.eparhia-saratov.ru/Content/Books/91/problems.pdf (accessed 13.02.2024). (In Russ.)

Khoruzhy S.S. (2012) The idea of conciliarity: its Orthodox-Slavophile origins and its prospects in the modern post-secular world. URL: https://synergia-isa.ru/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/horuzhy_sobornost_2012.pdf (accessed 15.02.2024). (In Russ.)

Kireev V.K. (2009) The phenomenon of conciliarity and its role in the sociocultural development of Russian society: dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Philosophical sciences: 24.00.01 Voronezh. (In Russ.)

Kostyleva V. Yu. (2007) Sobornost as a form of appearance of social interrelations: a retrospective analysis. Vestnik AGTU [Bulletin of Astrakhan State Technical University]. No. 5: 49–55. (In Russ.)

Lazarev V.V. Sobornost. URL: https://iphlib.ru/library/collection/newphilenc/document/HASH0178c c6530a5c64973161178 (accessed 03.02.2024). (In Russ.)

Lourie B. (2020) “Conciliarity”: the emergence of a term and concept in the writings of Pseudo-Khomyakov”. Studia Religiosa Rossica. No. 1: 72–88. DOI: 10.28995/2658-4158-2020-1-72-88. (In Russ.)

Medushevskaya N.F. (2010) Intellectual and spiritual foundations of Russian law: abstract of the diss. …Moscow. (In Russ.)

Mishchenko A.V. (2011) On conciliarity as a spiritual, religious and philosophical concept. Vestnik MGTU [Herald of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University]. Vol. 14. No. 2: 319–324. (In Russ.)

Monina Ya. Ya. (2010) Category of conciliarity in Russian culture. In: Positions of philosophy in modern soci ety. Ekaterinburg: Ural’sk. un-t. Vol. 2: 47–52. (In Russ.)

Moroz V.V., Rymarovich S.N. (2016) The models of the alternative society in socio-philosophical utopian projects of XIX – beginning of XX centuries. Nauchnyye vedomosti. Seriya Filosofiya. Sotsiologiya. Pra vo [Scientific bulletins. Series Philosophy. Sociology. Law]. No. 10. Iss. 36: 5–14 (In Russ.)

Osipov I.D. (2015) Category of conciliarity in Russian philosophy. Rossiya v global’nom mire [Russia in the global world]. No. 7: 403–410. (In Russ.)

Pestretsov A.F. (2008) Sobornost as a constant value in Russian national moral. Vestnik NNGU im. N.I. Lobachevskogo. Ser. Sotsial’nyye nauki [Bulletin of Lobachevsky University. Series Social Sciences]. No. 1: 176–182. (In Russ.)\

Rashkovskii E.B. (2018) Social myth and development. Mirovaya ekonomika i mezhdunarodnyye otnosheniya [World Economy and International Relations]. Vol. 62. No. 4: 103–108. DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2018-62-4-103-108. (In Russ.)

Sagatovsky V.N. (1994) Russian idea: shall we continue the interrupted path? St. Petersburg: Petropolis. (In Russ.)

Scott J. (1992) The moral economy of the peasantry as an ethic of survival. In: The Great Stranger. M.: Prog ress–Progress-Akademiya: 202–210.

Teplykh N.V. (2021) Sobornost and patriotism as the value of the Russian world. Kontekst i refleksiya: filoso fiya o mire i cheloveke [Context and Reflection: Philosophy of the World and Human Being]. Vol. 10. No. 3А: 202–208. DOI: 10.34670/AR.2021.22.58.031. (In Russ.)

Valitsky A. (2019) In the circle of conservative utopia. Structure and metamorphoses of Russian Slavophilism. Moscow: NLO. (In Russ.)

Yerofeeva I.V. (2010) The concept «conciliarism» in the sphere of modern mediatext: representation prob lems. Vestnnik Volgogradskogo gosun-ta. Ser. 7. Filosofoya [Bulletin of Volgograd State University. Ser. 7 Philosophy]. No. 2: 18–25. (In Russ.)

Content No 4, 2024