Christian motives in the philosophical work of Merab Mamardashvili

Abstract

This article presents a conceptualization of the main themes of Merab Mamardashvili’s philosophy: the phenomenon of thinking and consciousness, the role of philosophy in the formation of a person’s personality, the problem of “effort”, and the philosophical concept of time. The hypothesis of the article is that this issue is based on an implicit “religious soteriology”, which is manifested by Mamardashvili in his special understanding of the role and tasks of philosophy in culture. In this context, the traditional themes of Mamardashvili’s work receive a new, original reading. The topic of “effort” is approaching the understanding of faith as a religious act, and philosophy itself becomes a secular version of the Christian religion, called upon through thinking to realize the “salvation” of man and the highest justification of culture. This view also makes it possible to explain Mamardashvili’s rejection of any “national” traditions of philosophizing, since, apparently, in his criticism of nationalism he relies precisely on Christian ideas about the unity of Christian humanity and European culture. Attention to these aspects of Mamardashvili’s philosophy clarifies and gives additional meaning to many of the classic plots of his philosophy and allows redefining the basic concepts anew.

Keywords:

religion, philosophy, soteriology, effort, thinking, Christianity, salvation, culture