European conservatism and the study of nature: From sacralization of nature to nihilism
- Authors: Tagirov P.V.1
-
Affiliations:
- RUDN University
- Issue: Vol 22, No 4 (2022)
- Pages: 764-781
- Section: Theory, Methodology and History of Sociological Research
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/2313-2272/article/view/323049
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-2272-2022-22-4-764-781
- ID: 323049
Cite item
Full Text
Abstract
The issue of how we understand nature and operate with it goes beyond the scope of ecology or economics and directly affects the ontological-anthropological foundations of culture. The subject-object model that dominates today claims universal validity, but many thinkers challenge its universality. Representatives of the European continental conservative thought of the 20th - early 21st centuries focus on the already accepted forms of natural knowledge and nature relations, which do not imply the objectification of nature or its reduction to an economic resource. These cultural forms belong to the historical past, which raises the question of the possible return to them by the contemporary man or of their possible return to his life. The article starts with the analysis of the nature-knowledge that dominated, according to the mentioned conservative thinkers, before the modern ‘objectification’ of nature. The author considers two related but non-identical approaches to the ‘traditional’ understanding of nature developed by these thinkers. The first approach claims the ‘sanctification of nature’, i.e., the natural world is not objectified but understood as a single reality that includes the man and has a sacred status. The second approach is represented by the metaphysically oriented conservatists and considers the natural world primarily through its function of symbolizing the transcendent supernatural world. Then the author considers the conservative thinkers’ views on the ‘nihilism’ of the last centuries, which led to the current subjectobject relationship with nature, and focuses on their perception of the Christian understanding of nature. The article concludes with the hypothesis that the recognition of each culture’s ‘right to its own nature’ (the essence of the contemporary cultural pluralism) can help to overcome the universalization of a specific understanding of nature by choosing a different model known to this culture in past epochs.
Keywords
About the authors
Ph. V. Tagirov
RUDN University
Author for correspondence.
Email: tagirov-fv@rudn.ru
кандидат философских наук, доцент кафедры социальной философии Miklukho-Maklaya St., 6, Moscow; 117198, Russia
References
- Bondar O.Ju. Antropologicheskie i kosmologicheskie aspekty neoliberalnoj globalizatsii (k voprosu kontseptualizatsii) [Anthropological and cosmological aspects of neoliberal globalization (on its conceptualization)]. Vestnik Voronezhskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. Serija: Filosofija. 2017; 1. (In Russ.).
- Bruckner P. Tiranija pokajanija. Esse o zapadnom mazokhizme [The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism]. Saint Petersburg; 2009. (In Russ.).
- Venner D. Istorija i traditsija evropejtsev. 30000 let identichnosti [History and Tradition of Europeans. 30,000 Years of Identity]. Moscow; 2018. (In Russ.).
- Venner D. Samuraj Zapada [Samurai of the West]. Moscow; 2017. (In Russ.).
- Venner D. Shok istorii. Religija, pamjat, identichnost [The Shock of History. Religion, Memory, Identity]. Moscow; 2019. (In Russ.).
- Guardini R. Gospod [The Lord]. Moscow; 2015. (In Russ.).
- Guenon R. Velikaja triada [The Great Triad]. Moscow; 2010. (In Russ.).
- Guenon R. Simvoly svjashchennoj nauki [Symbols of Sacred Science]. Moscow; 2002. (In Russ.).
- Guenon R. Tsarstvo kolichestva i znamenija vremeni [The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times]. Moscow; 1994. (In Russ.).
- De Benoist A. Vpered, k prekrashcheniju rosta! Ekologo-filosofsky traktat [Forward, to the Cessation of Growth! An Ecological-Philosophical Treatise]. Moscow; 2007. (In Russ.).
- De Benoist A. Kak mozhno byt jazychnikom [On Being a Pagan]. Moscow; 2013. (In Russ.).
- De Benoist A. Po tu storonu prav cheloveka. V zashchitu svobod [Beyond Human Rights. In Defense of Freedoms]. Moscow; 2015. (In Russ.).
- De Benoist A. Protiv liberalizma (k Chetvertoj politicheskoj teorii) [Against Liberalism (Towards the Fourth Political Theory)]. Saint Petersburg; 2009. (In Russ.).
- Sombart W. Sobranie sochinenij v 3 tt. T. 1 [Collected Works in 3 vols. Vol. 1]. Saint Petersburg; 2005. (In Russ.).
- Sombart W. Sobranie sochinenij v 3 tt. T. 2 [Collected Works in 3 vols. Vol. 2]. Saint Petersburg; 2005. (In Russ.).
- Sombart W. Sobranie sochinenij v 3 tt. T. 3 [Collected Works in 3 vol. Vol. 3]. Saint Petersburg; 2005. (In Russ.).
- Kaltenbrunner G.K. Trudny konservatizm [Difficult Conservatism]. Moscow; 2020. (In Russ.).
- Mohler A. Konservativnaja revoljutsija v Germanii 1918–1932 [Conservative Revolution in Germany 1918–1932]. Moscow; 2017. (In Russ.).
- Maurras Сh. Fragmenty. Ob Anglii, Germanii, Frantsii i monarkhii [Fragments. About England, Germany, France and the Monarchy]. Moscow; 2018. (In Russ.).
- Rutkevich A.M. Werner Sombart — istorik kapitalizma [Werner Sombart, historian of capitalism]. Sobranie sochinenij v 3 tt. T. 1. Saint Petersburg; 2005. (In Russ.).
- Rutkevich A.M. Teorija institutov A. Gehlena [A. Gehlens theory of institutions]. Konservatory XX veka. Moscow; 2006. (In Russ.).
- Tagirov Ph.V. Evropejsky konservatizm i prirodopoznanie: “faustovskaja” identichnost [European conservatism and nature science: A “Faustian” identity]. Problemy Sovremennogo Obrazovanija. 2022; 1. (In Russ.).
- Tagirov Ph.V. Krizis evropejskoj identichnosti i traditsija: tri konservativnyh otveta kontinentalnoj mysli XX — nachala XXI vv. [The crisis of the European identity and tradition: Three conservative answers of the continental thought of the 20th — early 21st centuries]. Gumanitarny Vestnik. 2020; 5. (In Russ.).
- Heidegger M. Istok khudozhestvennogo tvorenija [The origin of the work of art]. Istok khudozhestvennogo tvorenija. Izbrannye raboty raznyh let. Moscow; 2008. (In Russ.).
- Heidegger M. Slova Nietzsche “Bog mertv” [Nietzsche’s words: “God is dead”]. Raboty i razmyshlenija raznyh let. Moscow; 1993. (In Russ.).
- Schmitt C. Zemlja i more. Rasskaz dlja moej docheri [Land and sea. A story for my daughter]. Nomos Zemli v prave narodov jus publicum Europaeum. Saint Petersburg; 2008. (In Russ.).
- Spengler O. Zakat Evropy. Ocherki morfologii mirovoj istorii. V 2 tt. T. 1. Geshtalt i dejstvitelnost’ [The Decline of the West: Outlines of the Morphology of World History. In 2 vols. Vol. 1: Form and Actuality]. Moscow; 1993. (In Russ.).
- Spengler O. Zakat Evropy. Ocherki morfologii mirovoj istorii. V 2 tt. T. 2. Vsemirnoistoricheskie perspektivy [The Decline of the West: Outlines of the Morphology of World History. In 2 vols. Vol. 2: Perspectives of World History]. Moscow; 1998. (In Russ.).
- Evola J. Vosstanie protiv sovremennogo mira [Revolt Against the Modern World]. Moscow; 2016. (In Russ.).
- Eliade M. Aspekty mifa [Aspects of Myth]. Moscow; 2000. (In Russ.).
- Eliade M. Mif o vechnom vozvrashchenii (Arkhetipy i povtorenie) [The myth of the eternal return: cosmos and history]. Kosmos i istorija. Moscow; 1987. (In Russ.).
- Eliade M. Mify, snovidenija, misterii [Myths, Dreams and Mysteries]. Kiev, 1996. (In Russ.).
- Eliade M. Svjashchennoe i mirskoe [The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion]. Moscow; 1994. (In Russ.).
- Eliade M. Traktat po istorii religij [Patterns in Comparative Religion]. Moscow; 2015. (In Russ.).
- Jünger E. O dukhe [On the spirit]. Jünger E. Natsionalisticheskaja revoljutsija. Moscow; 2008. (In Russ.).
- Jünger E. Ukhod v les [The Forest Passage]. Moscow; 2020. (In Russ.).
- Jünger E. Evmesvil [Eumeswil]. Moscow; 2013. (In Russ.).
- Lings M. The symbol. The Underlying Religion: An Introduction to the Perennial Philosophy. World Wisdom; 2007.
Supplementary files
