Archpriest Sergiy Bulgakov. (№ 433137)

Herzen is Prometheus, chained or, rather, chained himself to the barren rock of positivism, and his every mental flight, vague attraction to transcendental spheres will only make one feel more the chains of common sense, through which Herzen wanted to solve all questions of being. Herzen's philosophy is below his personality; a mental tradesman, a reasoner of common sense, strangles Prometheus, who is constantly being burned by that inner fire that he had stolen from heaven. This inconsistency of the worldview with the spiritual needs of the individual, who, however, cannot overcome it from the inside, is Herzen's spiritual drama. Where does Herzen point the way, where does he lead, if not with his opinions, then with his searches, his struggles and mental wounds, falls and disappointments? To that which is a radical denial of positivism and a spiritual victory over it - to an idealistic and religious worldview, to the recognition that behind the world of phenomena there is a realm of truly existing being, an ideal world, a kingdom of absolute Truth, Good and Beauty; in striving for it, in religious "contact with other worlds" (as Dostoevsky liked to express himself) is the life of the spirit, and this living connection with the ideal world gives strength, support and consolation in the struggle of life in the name of this ideal beginning.