History of Russian enlightenment thought of the 18th century about man and his essence

Skopa V. A.

Starting from the second half of the 17th century, a trend of a new interpretation of man and his activity is outlined in Russian thought. Considerable attention is paid to the problem of human nature. It is associated with numerous social transformations that have caused the intensification of people's activities in various spheres of public life - production, trade, science, politics, culture. A new criterion for evaluating human activity appears. The problem of man, his morality was one of the main themes in the works of many Russian enlighteners. The basis of the solution to the problem of man, proposed by enlightenment thought, was the self-worth of the individual; the understanding that an unchanging, "natural" nature is inherent in man from the very beginning; faith in the power of reason, which affirms society on a fair, reasonable basis. The fixation of the uniqueness of a person was accompanied by the Russian enlighteners with the desire not to leave the soil of scientificity in the process of studying him and was associated with a decisive rejection of all sorts of mystical insights and irrational principles.

Keywords:history, Enlightenment, anthropology, absolutism, history of philosophical thought.