Sdudy On Nicholas Berdyaev’s Divine Understangding Of Freedom

Nicholas Berdyaev, once believing in Marxism, according to what he said, is not an orthodox Marxist. He held that certain views of Marxism are very similar to the bible’s phuket, and that Marxism’s sharp criticism of the capitalist system and all sorts of alienation in capitalist society, its revelations of the possibilities of victory in revolution, and the glorious vision of Communism greatly appeal to him. He appreciated the socialism, because that he held Socialism is basically impartial in terms of its social organization and economy.Owing to his deep love for freedom, Nicholas Berdyaev, is still a critical Marxist. He was against Marxist materialism and its theory of class struggles, and criticized collective socialist and totalitarian Communism. All this prompted him to shift his convention from Marxism to Christian idealism.Nicholas Berdyaev dedicated his life to exploring people’s freedom, mission and fate, and revealing the mystery and significance of existence. People’s survival predicament and crisis of philosophy itself in real life initiated Nicholas Berdyaev’s life ideal, namely fundamentally transforming the world and removing all sins and evils out of the world. In seeking the theoretical fusion of the Christian faith and socialist ideals, Nicholas Berdyaev constructed the unique and rich philosophy of "free spirit", and tried to construct a "paradise on earth"-the socialist society based on personality dominated by God human, which characterized mental freedom, independent and complete personality, and sound personality. Ought to say, Nicholas Berdyaev dedicated his entire philosophy career to unremittingly struggling for the ideal society.This essay thoroughly elucidates Nicholas Berdyaev’s divine understanding of freedom from three dimensions, namely theoretical background, theoretical essence and connotation and theoretical criticism. Generation background Nicholas Berdyaev’s views of freedom refer to subjective and objective factors, including Russian national cultural psychology, such as universalism, mysticism and collectivism, Russian philosophy of religion, the German philosophy of mysticism and idealism, and the solemn mission as an advanced philosopher, etc. Among them, the former three are of founding significance. Freedom is Nicholas Berdyaev’s first instinct. Issues related to freedom are the pivot of Nicholas Berdyaev’s philosophy. In the context of Nicholas Berdyaev’s philosophy, freedom has unique and wholly new meanings. Based on in-depth analyses of Nicholas Berdyaev’s theory of three kinds of freedom and their respective fate, he reveals the essence of Nicholas Berdyaev’s understanding of freedom-spiritual freedom. Spiritual freedom without foundation is original, complete, absolute and beyond reason. Connotations of freedom are extremely rich. Freedom precedes being, and being depends on freedom. Spirit is absolutely free, and freedom can’t do without living and complete spirit. Freedom is god’s requirement for man, and for man, freedom is a sacred mission. God is the embodiment of freedom; also, an advocate and defender for freedom. Freedom leads to evils and sufferings, nevertheless, man shall not reject and escape from freedom. Freedom can’t be realized without struggles and revolutions, and Freedom endows them with truthfulness. Creating is free, and creating is the way to freedom. Freedom exists in the end of the objective world, and it is born for active doomsday arguments. How to realize freedom? Based on two perspectives, that is, revolution of personality and the path of God man, Berdyaev expounds the realization of freedom, aimed at constructing a socialist society of personality dominated by God human. Revolution of personality refers to the spiritual revolution happening in the survival time and centered on remolding man’s ideological structure, overcoming people’s inner slavery and restoring man’s mental outlook. The path of God man is the path of the spiritual revolution, of religious belief, of creation, and after all, is the road to freedom. Nicholas Berdyaev’s understanding of freedom is profound and unique, which undoubtedly adds luster for the later generations in history of free-thinking, and in the long history of human pursuing freedom. Berdyaev’s philosophy of freedom is after all based on Christian idealism. In consequence, some of his ideas tend to subjectivism and detach from reality, which is inevitable.