Malinkin A.N. Sociology and Metaphysics of Technology According to N. A. Berdyayev. In Commemoration of the Russian Thinker’s 150th Birthday Anniversary. Social Sciences. 2024. Vol. 55. No. 3. Pp. 93-105. https: ...

Abstract

In this article, I examine N. A. Berdyayev’s social philosophy of technology, which he positions as Christian-personalistic-socialistic. I reconstruct its main provisions and identify its “metaphysical” and “sociological” aspects. I show, first, that according to Berdyayev, metaphysics of technology is the critique of the modern idea of man about himself as homo faber or a toolmaking animal, which is the result of his violation of the eternal order of values and the creation of an idol from technology; second, that according to Berdyayev, technology creates an ontologically “new reality,” which in turn determines the specifics of the modern “technical and economic” epoch; and third, that a Christian and spiritual attitude of man toward technology is an indispensable element of Berdyayev’s apocalyptic eschatology. The Russian thinker sees the sociology of technology as social philosophy and philosophy of history. In their light, I reveal, on the one hand, the cultural and real, historical prerequisites of the advent of the “technological” – Berdyayev considers them to be humanism and capitalism – and on the other hand, propose ways to overcome its essential flaws in light of the personalistic-socialistic ideal of society. I emphasize the relevance of Berdyayev’s social and philosophical ideas in the context of recent historical realities.

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