Renunciation of the Numinous (review on the book “Expulsion of God. Problem of Sacred in the Philosophy of Man” by N. Rostova)

Abstract

The monograph “Expulsion of God. Problem of Sacred in the Philosophy of Man” by N. Rostova [14] covers a wide range of philosophical problems. In ancient civilizations the Sacred embraced all levels of life, from rites and cults to politics, housekeeping and everyday life. It is because the ancient people had a significant big soul – universal and immense World-Soul – honored it, tried to live life in ontological wakefulness and intense perception of existence. The Sacred looked at the ancient man from all sides – by starry eyes of night sky, by the waters of creeks and springs, by herbs and trees, beasts and birds, other people, objects of cult and everyday life (“an angel of ordinary human affairs” of N. Kluev). The Sacred inspired a terror and delight, awe and tenderness, carried a man away in multidimensional worlds of intense interior life, with bends and precipices, with rising and falling. The Sacred never was univocal, it was not measured by the scale “good-bad”, “pleasant-unpleasant”, “profitable-unprofitable”; it is obviously beyond the opposites: movement to Paradise exposes the Hell, interest in the Hell makes you think of Paradise.
The author of the study widely uses the presentation of philosophical texts, not only of Western, but also of Russian thinkers. In this respect, the book is encyclopedic. In line with the theme the well-known and rare materials are introduced. However, the study is remarkable for the apparent originality. Deviating from stereotypes widespread in Russian literature, N. Rostova finds in the Sacred the focus of many acute problems, which are present in the field of contemporary ideological division. In this context, the Sacred is not a private subject, caracteristic of transformation of social consciousness, but full-scale philosopho-anthropological teaching. Despite the desire of some authors to ridicule the Sacred, to equate it to prejudice, N. Rostova finds in this theme the necessary philosophical depth. In the light of the Sacred many themes of philosophical anthropology get a completely different interpretation. This allows N. Rostova deal not only with theological issues, but to think over destiny of philosophy on the modern level of reflection. By including in the monograph previously published fragments, N. Rostova maintains the integrity of her conception and opens the possibility of later discourses about man. The monograph is a significant event for modern understanding of philosopho-anthropological topic.