Methodological principles of I. A. Ilyin as a philosophy of action

The axiological aspects of the ethics of religious-moral choice are more often used as a subject of philosophical analysis. The religious components are not rejected for ideological reasons, but interact variously with the resulting epistemological synthesis. Russian philosopher Ivan Aleksandrovich Ilyin not only discovers a basic religious component in contemporary philosophy, but he also clearly demonstrates the non-rigidity of this component from the process of making a grounded decision as a whole. The significance of religious-philosophical reasoning is particularly great for the emerging system of civilizational identity. This explains the choice of the subject of our research, which became the iconic work of I. A. Ilyin «On resistance to evil by force», as well as its evaluation in modern scientific discourse. Demonstrating the need for continuity of religious-philosophical understanding is the aim of this study. We believe that such a succession could become an effective force, applicable, for example, within the educational process. Systematic and interdisciplinary approaches form the basis of this work. The main methods, used in this research, are: the comparative-historical method, the method of hermeneutic and phenomenological analysis. The combination of these methods makes it possible to sufficiently reconstruct reliable connections between the epistemology and methodology of I. A. Ilyin’s philosophical system and the large-scale religious-moral and cultural-historical tradition. The results of the analysis of relevant scientific materials, which typically reflect the main discursive tendencies of the humanitarian consideration of I. A. Ilyin’s work «On resistance to evil by force», showed that modern assessments of his work are generally positive and are not intended to stimulate a purely philosophical opposing discussion. In our study, we describe the work of I. A. Ilyin as a purposeful component of an advanced philosophical system that can be briefly described as a «philosophy of action». Understanding the philosophical approach of I. A. Ilyin (and the moral potentialities found in this approach) allows us to talk about its possible application in modern religious life, that under certain conditions can become a significant factor in the initiability of the process of canonization of Christian Orthodox saints. We believe that modern researchers can find in the works of I. A. Ilyin motivation to search for criteria of validity of personal ethical choices within the framework of traditional value system.