Religious Values in Modern Russian Society: A Philosophical Explication

Abstract

This article analyses the results of sociological research on value orientations in modern Russian society, based on the philosophical explication of the concept of ‘value’. The analysis allows us to recognize that the significance of religious values in the value system of modern society depends on both – the goals of research and their methodological foundations. A philosophical understanding of the essence and nature of values is, therefore, central. Values are principles of a meaningful human life that give ideas about what is significant and important in one’s life, legitimising one’s activities as the realisation of one’s being. This article emphasises that the majority of respondents to the study, who belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, do not separate the confessional values from the moral values of traditional society. This tendency is also seen in the documents defining the social activities of the Church, although the division between confessional and moral values exists in the theology and religious philosophy of the Russian Orthodox Church. The authors of the article consider the essence and nature of values presented in Russian religious philosophy relevant to a religious worldview and assert the ontological, not moral, nature of values.