Russian View on Conservatism

Objective of the study is the analysis of the types of conservatism, comparison of the development of conservative thought in the West and Russia, the possibility and forms of application of the conservative worldview both in the context of Western societies and in the conditions of modern Russia.   The methodological basis of the research is presented by a generalization of the theoretical sources of Western conservative thinkers, as well as Russian conservatives, both from the period of the 19th – early 20th century, and conservative thinkers of our time, who took as a basis the intellectual developments of Western, primarily European, conservatism.   Research results. Russian and Western conservative thoughts do not develop synchronously, are based on completely different ontological premises and move in different directions, in fact, towards opposite goals. Starting initially from Western conservative studies that arose in Europe as a response to the formation of liberalism and Modern in general, Russian conservative thought mainly focused on a more systematic description of what already initially constitutes the basis of Russian society – fundamental conservatism, based on such categories as Eternity, God, Spirit, and insisting on a return to originality, separating the spiritual and the material. While Western conservatism is gradually retreating under the onslaught of Modern, each time fixing itself on the next line of retreat, again taking it as a starting point, thereby gradually abandoning the spiritual in favor of the material. Prospects of the study. The conclusions made in the course of this study can form the basis for further ideological developments describing the paths of development of the modern Russian state, but based on the basic values of fundamental conservatism inherent in Russian society. Also, on the basis of this study, one can single out and discard some Western ideological surrogates, defined in terms of conservatism, but leading Russian society to completely false, destructive goals for it.