On the Hesychast Turn Achieved by Sergey Horujy in the Field of Russian Philosophy

Abstract

Sergey Sergeevich Horujy, one of the most original philosophers in today’s Russia, graduated from the Department of Physics and Mathematics at Moscow University and spent the majority of his life working in mathematical physics. His path into philosophy began with studies in Russian religious philosophy. Unlike many religious philosophers, he maintained a critical stance toward his own object of study – Russian religious philosophy. That attitude eventually led him to the ascetic tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy, i.e., hesychasm. He argued that hesychasm contains a complete anthropological doctrine and that a philosophical investigation of hesychasm amounts to reconstructing its anthropology. In the field of Russian philosophy, only Horujy has achieved a hesychast turn. This turn has opened a promising new path for Russian philosophy and for philosophy worldwide.