Logical and Historical Aspects of the Genesis of Russian Sociology (on the Example of N.Ya. Danilevsky and N.K. Mikhailovsky)

Introduction. In the article, the actual problem of the nationalization of modern Russian sociology is associated with the clarification of the logical and historical aspects of the genesis of Russian sociology. Methodology and sources. The theoretical sources of the study were the works of representatives of the Russian tradition of the historiography of sociological doctrines (N.I. Kareev, M.M. Kovalevsky, P.A. Sorokin) and modern Russian historians of sociology (A.I. Golosenko, Yu.N. Davydov). For a comparative analysis of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of Russian sociology, the potential of the biographical method is used and the works of N.Ya. Danilevsky and N.K. Mikhailovsky are involved. The empirical base was made up of materials of public discussions in the Russian media on the nationalization of science and education, and expert assessments. The methodology of socio-cultural analysis, social constructivism, typological approach is used. Results and discussion. The article deals with the connection of the theoretical constructions of the first Russian sociologists with their historical vision and axiological consciousness. In the “paradigm personalities” of Mikhailovsky and Danilevsky, the splitting of the emancipating social thought into science and managerial activity and moral and pedagogical practice was expressed. Criticism of the evolutionist-progressive reading of the formula “Russia and Europe” by Mikhailovsky is expressed in the theoretical distinction between types and stages of social evolution. The non-religious moral and dogmatic attitude of subjective sociology laid at the foundation reduces the content of these categories to the combinatorics of indicators of division/integration, homogeneity/heterogeneity. Her declared orientation towards the moral ideal aroused the sympathy of the Russian intelligentsia, in contrast to the ideas of Danilevsky, a social thinker, an advanced official, and a macroeconomist. The relevance of the typological approach to world history developed by him and the method of modeling comparative types are substantiated. Cultural-historical types are de-ideologized concepts designed to analyze historical events, build models and scenarios for the interaction of “historical individuals” and highlight the essential elements of the potential for their future development. Conclusion. A new stage in the interaction between Russia and Europe is characterized by a crisis of Europe's political subjectivity, a decrease in its role in world economic relations. Turning to the origins of Russian sociology allows us to identify points of divergence in the formulation of the question of the type of subjectivity in Russia, commensurate with its natural and cultural potential, and in the directions of the search for an answer.

Authors: Alexandra V. Shcherbina

Direction: Sociology

Keywords: Russia and Europe, N.Ya. Danilevsky, N.K. Mikhailovsky, types and stages of social evolution, historical individuality, cultural-historical type, subjective method, moral ideal

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