Tatjana A. KOSHEMCHUK Saint Petersburg State Agrarian University
2., Peterburgskoe Highway, Pushkin, Russian Federation, 196605
Head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Culture of Speech
Doctor of Science in Philology
Professor
e-mail: koshemchukt@mail.ru
ORCID: 0000-0003-4606-2525
Koshemchuk, T. (2025) Andrey Bely’s Anthropology as the Basis of a Cultural Concept (Based on the Materials of the Two-Volume Edition of the History of the Formation of the Self-Conscious Soul)Abstract: The article examines the historiosophy of Andrei Bely in its relation to his anthropological concept. Anthroposophical in its origins, it was embodied in the thinker's supreme creation, the two–volume History of the Formation of the Self-Conscious Soul. The material for analysis in the article is the first volume of "History...", first published in 2020. Along the way, this publication also receives a detailed description in the article during a parallel analysis of Andrei Bely's ideas and comments on them in this publication. The article characterizes the anthroposophical anthropological terminology related to the concept of the triple human soul, in which the "I" acts: the sentient soul, the rational soul, the self-conscious soul. The formation of a self-conscious "I" is the essence of the historical process, as it is shown by Andrei Bely: a person in its transformations implements higher and higher mental layers, realizing the eternal anthropological plan, embodying step by step its tasks – the formation of a triune soul, the core of which is the "I" of man. Each new mental ability corresponds to an integral cultural epoch, and the new capacity developed in one of them becomes the seed for development in the next cultural period, while it penetrates the underlying mental layers. Thus, the rational soul, with its new principles, personality and conceptual thinking, was transforming the sentient soul (the soul of imaginative consciousness) and, in turn, was transformed further in the era of the self-conscious soul into individuality and self-awareness. Each epoch has its own structure and style of thought, and Andrei Bely's most important method is to analyze the style of thinking. Describing briefly the previous epochs, Andrei Bely places the last historical stage – the formation of a self-conscious soul in the center of his attention. It was born in Christianity in the era of the rational soul (in the thousand-year-old ancient era). The early stage of its formation is explored in detail by Andrei Bely in the first volume of his "History ...": in accordance with the law of advanced development, some souls embody a new kind of mental structure long before its period begins (such are, for example, the Apostle Paul, the first man of self-awareness, or Augustine, described in detail by Andrei Bely). Further, the frequency of such phenomena increases, they become normal by the Renaissance. The soul of self-awareness reaches maturity by the twentieth century. This process is shown in the light of the most important principle: what is created in history is determined by the very structure of man. Anthropology is not only the foundation of Andrei Bely's historiosophical concept, this is the conclusion of the article, but its very content and its meaning: a person who creates history creates himself.
Key words: Andrey Bely, "The history of the formation of the self-conscious soul," R. Steiner's anthroposophy, cultural history, consciousness, self-awareness, anthropology, sentient soul, rational soul, self-conscious soul, cultural epochs.
References:
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For Citation: Koshemchuk, T. (2025) Andrey Bely’s Anthropology as the Basis of a Cultural Concept (Based on the Materials of the Two-Volume Edition of the History of the Formation of the Self-Conscious Soul). International Journal of Cultural Research, 3 (60). 41–57. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2025_3_41
DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2025_3_41
