Nicolas Berdyaev and Russian Philosophy in the West / Krakow Meetings • Krakow Conferences on Russian Philosophy

Nicolas Berdyaev and Russian Philosophy in the West

	2024 will mark the 150th year since Nicolas Berdyaev’s birth. On 12–14 June 2024 the Krakow Meetings on Russian Philosophy and the Northwestern University Research Initiative for the Study of Russian Philosophy and Religious Thought will sponsor a conference commemorating Berdyaev and assessing his philosophical legacy in Russia and the West. The conference will be held at the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland. Among the most influential of Russian philosophers, Berdyaev had an exceptional role in promoting the development of Russian philosophy, both in Russia and in the West after his exile in 1922. In Russia, having travelled the path “from Marxism to idealism”, he became one of the main organizers of the Russian religious renaissance. In 1916, he published The Meaning of the Creative Act, which he regarded as his most important work. In European exile, he led the “Paris school” of Russian émigré religious thought and edited its journal, The Way (1925–1940). His international fame spread with a whole series of books, beginning with The New Middle Ages (1924). Subsequent works, such as The Destiny of Man (1931) and Slavery and Freedom (1939), established Berdyaev as a leading European philosopher of Christian existentialism and personalism. In works like The Origin of Russian Communism (1937) and The Russian Idea (1946), he deepened Western understanding of Russian culture and intellectual history. Through his friendship with Jacques Maritain, he played a part in the twentieth-century history of human rights. This conference will explore Berdyaev’s multifaceted importance as one of the major philosophical thinkers of the twentieth century.

Dates

June 12–14, 2024

Venue

The Library of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, ul. Bobrzyńskiego 10, 30-348 Kraków, Poland

Key Information Meeting link Meeting number: 2732 702 7749 Password: Nicolas

Organizers

Faculty of Philosophy, Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland
Northwestern University Research Initiative for the Study of Russian Philosophy and Religious Thought

Academic board

Prof. Sr Teresa Obolevitch (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland)
Prof. Randall Poole (College of St. Scholastica, USA)
Prof. Ana Siljak (University of Florida, USA)

Advisory board

Dr. Paweł Rojek (Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland)
Prof. Gennadii Aliaiev (Poltava, Ukraine)
Prof. Daniela Steila (University of Turin, Italy)
Prof. Marina F. Bykova (North Carolina State University, USA)

Honorary patronage

“Studies in East European Thought” (SEET)

Conference secretary

Julia Kuznetsova (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland)
Ilias Stanekzai (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland)

Working languages
English and Russian

Application/CFP

Please complete this Application Form before December 15, 2023

Publication

Following the conference, presenters will be invited to submit their papers for consideration for publication in an edited volume in the series Ex Oriente Lux: New Perspectives on Russian Religious Philosophers.

Accommodation

Participants are asked to make their own hotel reservations in Krakow

Fee

The conference fee is 200 €EUR or PLN 800 (see bank transfer details below, with the mandatory annotation: “Berdyaev” and you last name in latinized form)

BANK TRANSFER DETAILS

In PLN: Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II w Krakowie, ul. Kanonicza 25, 31-002 Krakow, ALIOR BANK SA. BIC or SWIFT: ALBPPLPW, account number 41 2490 0005 0000 4600 5727 1204
In EUR: Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II w Krakowie, ul. Kanonicza 25, 31-002 Krakow, ALIOR BANK SA. BIC or SWIFT: ALBPPLPW, account number PL97 2490 0005 0000 4600 7410 1054
In USD: Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II w Krakowie, ul. Kanonicza 25, 31-002 Krakow, ALIOR BANK SA. BIC or SWIFT: ALBPPLPW, account number PL86 2490 0005 0000 4530 1988 5668

Invoice is issued on demand, please contact Mrs Ewelina Uryć to provide the VAT identification number of your institution, e-mail ewelina.uryc@upjp2.edu.pl

Abstracts

Program (PDF)

June 12, 2024 (Wednesday)
9:30	Opening of the Conference (Conference Hall) Sr. Teresa Obolevitch (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow), Head of the Organizing Committee Randall Poole (College of St. Scholastica, USA)
	Section 1 (Conference Hall, chair: Randall A. Poole)
9:40	Ana Siljak (University of Florida, USA) The Hidden Russia in Continental Philosophy: Preliminary Sketches for Future Research
10:20	Rev. Panteleimon Pavlinciuc (Holy Trinity Theological School in Paris, France) The house of Berdyaev as a croissance between the cultures, religious practices and philosophical ideas
11:00–11:30	Discussion
11:30	The Official Photo Shoot
11:40–12:00	Coffee break
SECTION 2a (Conference Hall, chair: Ana Siljak)
12:00	Christos Veskoukis (University of Exeter, The United Kingdom) “Homo Mysticus”: An Exploration of Nikolai Berdyaev’s Concept of Intuition
12:30	Victor Chernyshov (National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”, Ukraine) (online) Nicolas Berdyaev’s Reception and Criticism of Thomism
13:00	Paweł Rojek (Jagiellonian University, Poland) Hope and Eschatology. August Cieszkowski, Nikolai Berdyaev and John Paul II
13:30–14:00	Discussion
14:00–15:00	Lunch
SECTION 2b (Room 211, chair: Irina Danilova)
12:00	Nataliia Shelkovaia (Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, Ukraine, USERN) Erotology of Nikolai Berdyaev and Mikhail Epstein
12:30	Rev. Aleksander Posacki SJ (Collegium Verum, Poland) Николай Бердяев как критик теософии Елены Блаватской, антропософии Рудольфа Штайнера и различных форм оккультизма и эзотеризма в России
13:00	Paulina Czoska (University of Warsaw, Poland) Важность понятия Ungrund в философии Николая Александровича Бердяева
13:30–14:00	Discussion
14:00–15:00	Lunch
SECTION 3 (Conference Hall, chair: Christos Veskoukis)
15:00	Elizabeth Blake (Saint Louis University, USA) The Former Prisoners Nikolai Berdyaev and Fedor Dostoevsky on Confinement, Personality, and Revolutionaries
15:30	Maciej Wołkow (University of Warsaw, Poland) Nikolai Berdyaev on Death penalty
16:00	Aleksandra Berdnikova (FINO Consortium, University of Turin, Italy) (online) “New Middle Ages” of N.A. Berdyaev in European theology
16:30–17:00	Discussion
17:00–17:20	Coffee break
SECTON 4a (Conference Hall, chair: Hanuš Nykl)
17:20	Anna Reznichenko (Russian State University for the Humanities, Russia) (online) Н.А. Бердяев о рабстве и свободе и проблема “moral qualia”: С.Н. Булгаков и Эллис
17:50	Elena Tverdislova (Independent scholar, Israel) Aктуальность процесса самопознания у Н.А. Бердяева и идеи экзистенциализма и феноменологии
18:20–18:50	Discussion
18:50	Dinner
SECTION 4b (Room 211, chair: James Roberts)
17:20	Romilo Aleksandar Knežević (University of Niš, Serbia) Nikolai Berdyaev: A Third Kind of Non-being and a New Ontology
17:50	Tomasz Herbich (Warsaw University, Poland) Ontological philosophy and the phenomenology of spiritual experience. On Nicolay Berdyaev’s two philosophies
18:20–18:50	Discussion
18:50	Dinner

June 13, 2024 (Thursday)
SECTION 5 (Conference Hall, chair: Larisa Oldyreva)
9:30	Randall Poole (College of St. Scholastica, USA) Nicolas Berdyaev and the Twentieth-Century History of Human Rights
10:00	Sławomir Mazurek (Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland) True and False Religious Transformation in Berdyaev’s Philosophy of History
10:30	Kåre Johan Mjør (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences) Nikolai Berdiaev and the Meanings of History
11:00–11:30	Discussion
11:30–12:00	Coffee break
SECTION 6 (Conference Hall, chair: Paweł Rojek)
12:00	Ekaterina Shashlova (Charles University, Czech Republic) Бердяев и Кожев о свободе, праве на насилие и борьбе за признание
12:30	Iuliia Kuznetsova (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków, Poland) (online) Бердяев о кризисе искусства: дематериализация и развоплощение живописи
13:00–13:30	Discussion
13:30–14:30	Lunch
SECTION 7a (Conference Hall, chair: Romilo Aleksandar Knežević)
14:30	Yuki Fukui (Waseda University, Japan) Thinking about Science and Religion in Russian Religious Thought from Berdyaev’s Viewpoint
15:00	Frederick Matern (Saint Paul University, Canada) (online) “Escape from the Last Judgment”: Berdyaev’s Reception of Cosmism
15:30–16:00	Discussion
16:00–16:30	Coffee break
SECTION 7b (Room 211, chair: Elena Tverdislova)
14:30	Kamil Wojtowicz (University of Zielona Góra, Poland) Nicolas Berdyaev in Polish philosophical research from 2008 to 2023
15:00	Vadzim Antsipau (University of Zielona Góra, Poland) За пределами утопии: Бердяев об анархизме Кропоткина и иллюзиях коллективизма
15:30–16:00	Discussion
16:00–16:30	Coffee break
SECTION 8a (Conference Hall, chair: Kåre Johan Mjør)
16:30	James Roberts (Independent scholar, The United Kingdom) Birth, Freedom and Creativity: Mother Maria Skobtsova’s engagement with Nikolai Berdyaev
17:00	Raul-Ovidiu Bodea (University of Oradea, Romania) The Question of Ethical Knowledge in Nikolai Berdyaev and the Wider Context of Existential Philosophy
17:30	Emmanuel Ehinon Arikhan (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland) (online) Edith Stein’s Unrepeatable Singularity and Nikolai Berdyaev’s Personality as Corrective Framework for Social Media Engagement
18:00–18:30	Discussion
18:30	Dinner
SECTION 8b (Room 211, chair: Gennadii Aliaiev)
16:30	Hanuš Nykl (Charles University, Czech Republic) Николай Бердяев и Чехия: связи и восприятие
17:00	Larisa Oldyreva and Irina Danilova (University in Gothenburg, Sweden) Интерпретация идей Бердяева современными скандинавскими исследователями
17:30	Svetlana Panich (Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, Canada) Архиепископ Кентерберийский Роуэн Уильямс как читатель Николая Бердяева
18:00–18:30	Discussion
18:30	Dinner

June 14, 2024 (Friday)
SECTION 9a (Conference Hall, chair: Bradley Underwood)
9:30	Daniel Kisliakov (University of Divinity, Australia) Consideration of Nikolai Berdyaev from an Anthropological Point of View
10:00	Vladimir Alexander Smith-Mesa (UCL SSEES (School of Slavonic and East European Studies)), Library, The United Kingdom) (online) Berdyaev & Us. Nikolai Alexandrovich in the Hispanic World
10:30–11:00	Discussion
SECTION 9b (Room 211, chair: Svetlana Panich)
9:30	Gennadii Aliaiev (Independent scholar, Ukraine) «Я признаю основные Ваши утверждения, и расхожусь с Вами только в том, что не разделяю Ваших отрицаний». О переписке между С. Франком и Н. Бердяевым
10:00	Pylyp Bilyi (University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland) Диалог философов об интуиции. Николай Бердяев и Николай Лосский
10:30	Nikolai Kostin (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland) Концепция личности у Н.А. Бердяева и Л.П. Карсавина
11:00–11:30	Discussion
11:30–11:50	Coffee break
SECTION 10 (Conference Hall, chair: Daniel Kisliakov)
11:50	Nataliya Petreshak (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland) (online) Nikolas Berdyaev’s: The Personality of the Philosopher in Memories
12:20	Bradley Underwood (Northwestern University, USA) Nothing From Nothing: The Underground in Sergei Bulgakov and Nikolai Berdiaev
12:50–13:20	Discussion
13:20–13:30	Closing remarks of the conference (Conference Hall) Bradley Underwood (Northwestern University, USA) Sr. Teresa Obolevitch (The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow)
13:30–14:30	Lunch

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