“Dynamic Eschaton”: expectation of new era in the Russian metaphysics in the beginning of the XX century

The paper considers the impact of apocalyptic sentiments in the eschatological ideas of Russian metaphysicians that were growing in society in the early XX century. It is shown that assessment of the catastrophic events of that period led them to the need to search for the historiosophical views being an alternative to philosophical determinism and religious fatalism. The work of E.N. Trubetskoy “The Meaning of Life” was analyzed, in which the philosopher argued for the expediency of dynamic understanding of the “end of history”. Unlike the fatalistic understanding, it introduces a new vision of events, according to which the eschaton onset depends not only on the providence of God, but also on the creative activity of a free person. Dynamic eschatology of E.N. Trubetskoy and active eschatology of N.A. Berdyaev are compared. Their fundamental difference is shown, which consists in the fact that active eschatology does not involve preparation of cardinal transformation of the created world, but denial of this world as a result of objectification, denial that proceeds the new metahistorical eon. On the example of conclusions made by S.L. Frank, V.V. Zenkovsky, G.P. Fedotov and S.N. Bulgakov, the point of view is substantiated, according to which the mindsets combining eschatologism and evolutionism were characteristic not only for N.A. Berdyaev, but also for many representatives of the Russian metaphysics. They formed eschatological concepts in the troubled times for Russia and the world, on the one hand, based on the traditional Christian worldview, on the other hand, they were philosophically interpreting those concepts and supplementing them with chiliastic expectations of a new era. The Russian philosophers were not seeing “beginning of the end” in the revolution and sought to justify the importance for the whole world of the individual creative activity required in continuation of history as a condition for this activity.

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