Atheism and spirituality in the USSR: Can atheists be spiritual? | Intellect Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Empedocles: European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication
  4. Volume 14, Issue 1
  5. Article
Volume 14, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1757-1952
  • E-ISSN: 1757-1960

Abstract

Is atheist spirituality an oxymoron and, if so, did Soviet citizens brought up in a definitively atheist environment have no spiritual pursuits? The author asks this question, drawing on Dostoyevsky’s dark prophecy and interrogating Yuri Levada’s model of a Soviet simple person as a distinct anthropological type. Taking on board Riegel’s concept of political religion and testing Marxism–Leninism as a source of wisdom for the Soviet nonbelievers, the author seeks to uncover a version of spirituality compatible with Soviet-style atheism. The discussion also involves the examination of Russian literary tradition and Borodina’s philosophical theory of spirituality, which accords with Sharafutdinova accounting for the phenomenon of inner exile in the late Soviet period and Bekmetov’s reminder that Buddhist world-view had a significant influence on Russian cultural metalanguage.

© 2023 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/ejpc_00052_1
2023-08-01
2024-05-01
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Anekdoti.ru ( 2022;), ‘ Анекдоты и шутки про Брежнева. ’, Anekdoti.ru , 25 August, https://anekdoty.ru/pro-brezhneva/. Accessed 6 February 2022.
  2. Anon. ( 2010), Vospominaniya i diskussii o Yurii Aleksandroviche Levade, Moscow:: Izdatel’ Karpov E.V;.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Arnason, Johann P.. ( 2002;). ‘ Communism and modernity. ’, in S. Eisenstadt. (ed.), Multiple Modernities, London:: Transaction Publications;, pp. 61–69.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bekmetov, Rinat. ( 2015;), ‘ About the “Buddhist view” on Russian literature. ’, Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6:3 S3, pp. 9–18, https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s3p9, https://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/view/6648. Accessed 4 February 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Borodina, Natalia. ( 2000;), ‘ Диссертация на тему “нтология духовности: Сущность и понимание”, скачать бесплатно автореферат по специальности ВАК РФ 09.00.01 – Онтология и теория познания’ (‘Ontologia dukhovnosti: Suchnost’ i ponimanije. Avtoreferat dissertaczii na soiskanie uchenoj stepeni doktora filosofskikh nauk: Volgograd. ’), Научная электронная библиотека диссертаций и авторефератов (‘Academic electronic library of dissertations and abstracts’), dissercat.com, Accessed 6 February 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. biblestudytools.com ( 2022;), ‘ John Gill’s exposition of the Bible Proverbs 31:30: Meaning and commentary on Bible Verse. ’, https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/proverbs-31-30.html. Accessed 19 June 2023.
  7. Collins, Steven. ( 1998), Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities: Utopias of the Pali Imaginaire, Cambridge:: Cambridge University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Crocker, Geoff. ( 2015;), ‘ On atheist spirituality. ’, Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 5:2, pp. 178–84, https://doi.org/10.1179/2044024315Z.00000000050A.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. ( [1912] 2009), The Brothers Karamazov (trans. C. Garnett), New York:: Dover Giant Thrift Editions, Macmillan and Dover Publications Inc;.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Fell, Elena. ( 2017;), ‘ Macro-reasoning and cognitive gaps: Understanding post-Soviet Russians’ communication styles. ’, ESSACHESS – Journal for Communication Studies, 10:1, pp. 91–110, http://www.essachess.com/index.php/jcs/article/view/367. Accessed 5 January 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Fell, Elena. ( 2020;), ‘ Uncovering Russian communication style preferences: Monological sequencing versus dialogical engagement. ’, Empedocles: European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication, 11:1, pp. 43–59, https://doi.org/10.1386/ejpc_00011_1.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Gorokhov, Egor. ( 1957;), ‘ Крокодил 1957 номер 5 (1475), стр 8–9’ (. ‘Krokodil 5 (1475), pp. 8–9. ’ ). , МОСКВА ИЗДАНИЕ ГАЗЕТЫ «ПРАВДА (Moscow, Pravda), 20 February, nozdr.ru. Accessed 5 January 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. gramota.ru ( 2022;), ‘ Проверка слова’ (‘Word check’), Справочно-информационный портал ГРАМОТА.РУ – русский язык для всех (‘Reference and information portal gramota.ru – Russian language for everyone’). , http://www.gramota.ru/slovari/dic/?word=%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B9&all=x&lop=x&bts=x&ro=x&zar=x&ag=x&ab=x&sin=x&lv=x&az=x&pe=x. Accessed 31 December 2021.
  14. Gudkov, Lev. ( 2011), Abortivnaya modernizatsiya, Moscow:: ROSSPEN;.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Lermontov, Mikhail. ( 1841;), ‘ Parus. ’, Otechestvennye zapiski, 18:10, p. 161.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Levada, Yuri. ( 1993), Sovetskii prostoi chelovek: Opyt sotsialnogo portreta na rubezhe 90kh, Moscow:: Mirovoj okean;.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Levada, Yuri. ( 1996;), ‘ Homo Soveticus five years later: 1989–1994. ’, Sociological Research, 35:1, pp. 6–19, https://doi.org/10.2753/sor1061-015435016.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Marx, Karl. ( 1845;), ‘ Eleven theses on Feuerbach. ’, Marx/Engels Works Archive , https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/theses/. Accessed 22 April 2023.
  19. Maslovskii, Mikhail. ( 2015;), ‘ The Soviet model of modernity and Russia’s post-communist political transformation. ’, Historická Sociologie, 7:2, pp. 45–60, https://doi.org/10.14712/23363525.2015.11.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Molchanova, Vera. ( 1976;), ‘ Usklike kaasahaaramine töösse ja ühiskondlikku ellu. ’, in N. A.. (ed.), Individuaalne lähenemine ateistlikus selgitustöös, Tallinn:: Eesti Raamat;, pp. 15–20.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. onlinedic.net ( 2019a;), ‘ Духовность это... Что такое Духовность, Значение слова Духовность’ (‘Spirituality is … What is spirituality? The meaning of the word spirituality’). , Толковый Словарь Ожегова , onlinedic.net. Accessed 31 December 2021.
  22. onlinedic.net ( 2019b;), ‘ Tolkovy’j Slovar’ Dalya. ’, onlinedic.net , https://onlinedic.net/dalya/page/word7580.php. Accessed 31 December 2021.
  23. Peter 3:3 ( n.d.;), ‘ Holy Bible, New International Version. ’, Biblica , https://www.biblica.com/bible/. Accessed 5 January 2022.
  24. Proverbs 31:30 ( n.d.;), ‘ Holy Bible, New International Version. ’, Biblica , https://www.biblica.com/bible/. Accessed 5 January 2022.
  25. Pushkin, Aleksandr. ( [1830] 1959), ‘ Geroi’, Sobranie sochinenij: V desyati tomah, vol. 2. Stihotvoreniya 1823–1836, Moscow:: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo Hudozhestvennoj Literatury;, pp. 319–21.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Remmel, Atko, and Sillfors, Mikko. ( 2018;), ‘ Crossbreeding atheism with spirituality: Notes on Soviet and Western attempts. ’, Secularism and Nonreligion, 7:8, pp. 1–13, https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.94.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Riegel, Klaus-Georg. ( 2005;), ‘ Marxism–Leninism as a political religion. ’, Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, 6:1, pp. 97–126, https://doi.org/10.1080/14690760500099788.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Sharafutdinova, Gulnaz. ( 2019;), ‘ Was there a “simple Soviet” person? Debating the politics and sociology of “homo sovieticus”. ’, Slavic Review, 78:1, pp. 173–95, https://doi.org/10.1017/slr.2019.13.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Skabichevskiy, Aleksandr. ( 1891), M.Yu. Lermontov. Ego zhizn’ i literaturnaya deyatel’nost’, St. Petersburg:: IQ Publishing Solutions LLC;.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Sovetskij prostoj chelovek ( 2017;), ‘ “Советский простой человек” – кинохроника 30-х г. ’, YouTube , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PaisLlhThw. Accessed 5 January 2022.
  31. ‘spirituality’ ( 2022), Merriam-Webster , https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/spirituality. Accessed 19 July 2023.
  32. Thrower, James. ( 1983;), ‘ The study of religion in the USSR. ’, Religion, 13:2, pp. 113–26, https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-721X(83)90033-7.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Tolstoy, Leo. ( 1894), ‘ The Kingdom of God Is Within You’: Christianity Not as a Mystic Religion But as a New Theory of Life (trans. C. Garnett), New York:: Cassell Publishing Company;.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Turgenev, Ivan. ( [1856] 1980), ‘ Perepiska’, Polnoe sobranie sochinenij i pisem v tridcati tomah, vol. 5, Moscow:: Nauka;, pp. 18–48.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Ushakov, Dmitrij. ( 1935), Tolkovyj slovar’ v chetyrekh tomah, vol. 1, B. M. Volin, and D. N. Ushakov. (eds), Moscow:: Gosudarstvennyj institut ‘Sovetskaya enciklopediya’;.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Varlamov, Aleksandr. ( 2014;), ‘ А. Варламов – “Белеет парус одинокий” – Руслан Бабаев. ’ (‘A. Varlamov: “The sail is lonely and white” – Ruslan Babaev’), YouTube , 3 November, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MipXOgxcfJw. Accessed 5 January 2022.
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/ejpc_00052_1
Loading
Atheism and spirituality in the USSR: Can atheists be spiritual?
Empedocles: European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication 14, 43 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1386/ejpc_00052_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ejpc_00052_1
/content/journals/10.1386/ejpc_00052_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Christianity; Dostoyevsky; Marxism–Leninism; political religion; Russia; secular society; Soviet person; Yuri Levada

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error