Existential experience vs. mystical experience: Leontiev and Dostoyevsky

Abstract

On the basis of the comparative method the differences in the religious experiences of F.M. Dostoevsky and K.N. Leontiev are explored. The author defends the thesis that it was this difference that first of all caused ideological contradictions between these thinkers, in particular, a sharp disagreement on the problem of the attainability of “universal harmony” in the world. It is shown that the basis of Dostoevsky's religious faith was a kind of mystical experience – the experience of self-transcendence and unity with the eternal sources of being, with Christ and with mankind. The author maintains that the peculiarity of Dostoevsky's mystical experience lies in the fact that it is based mainly on moral intuitions – the intuition of respect for every human person and the intuition of love for Christ – which, due to their extreme intensity, acquire the character of a religious revelation. It is proved that Dostoevsky's most important ideas, such as the possibility of universal harmony, the necessity to transform the human heart by means of sacrificial love and compassion, every man’s responsibility for all humanity, have mystical origins. The author shows that, on the contrary, Leontiev's religious worldview, which the philosopher himself called “mysticism”, was based not on mystic, but on existential experience. The author comes to the conclusion that existential philosophizing, based on the experience of boundary situations of dread and despair, was for Leontiev a way of obtaining the peace in faith and of developing his Christian worldview.