The Meaning of the Creative Act

324 Pages·2009·50.44 MB·English

by  Nicolas Berdyaev

BiOi
The Meaning o
the Creative Aci

"The Meaning of the Creative Act . . . was written at a
time of well-nigh intoxicating ecstasy, a book in which my
thoughts and the normal course of philosophical argument
seemed to dissolve into vision. It is an impulsive, unpremedi-
ated, and unfinished work . . . but it contains in that raw
form all my dominant and formative ideas and insights. . . .
"The Meaning of the Creative Act was written when an
irresistible reaction against the Orthodox circles of Moscow
began to grow withinme. Ileft not only the Novoselov group
but also the Religious-Philosophical Society and no longer at-
tended theirmeetings; I also ceasedtowork inthe pubUshing-
house *Put' ... I withdrew into complete solitude. This
period coincidedwithmyfirstvisittoItaly. . . .
"Italy made a powerful impression on me. The pages in
The Meaning of the Creative Act devoted to the Renaissance
were entirelywritten in Italy. Italyrevealed tomethe Renais-
sance as the dawn of a new age in which the Christian soul
became conscious for the first time of a will to creation; and,
though I knew that the Renaissance was a failure, I realized
that this was the most sublime, significant and tragic failure
ever experienced by European man. I felt completely carried
away, tothe point ofre-living the creative urge of the Renais-
sance man and the affirmation of his power to make freely
and out of freedom. . . .
"I left Italy with a feeling of sorrow, as if Iwere abandon-
ing a spiritual homeland. When I came back it was to a very
different Italy, anItalyunder the shadow of Fascism."
—
^Nicolas Berdyaev from Dream and Reality, Chapter 8,
Pages 206-7 (CoUier Books BS64)

mm
NICOLAS BERDYAEV
TranslatedbyDonaldA.Lowrie
COLLIER BOOKS
NEW YORK, N.Y.
This CoUier Books edition is published by arrangement with
Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.
Collier Books is a division of The Crowell-Collier Publishing
Company
First Collier Books Edition 1962
All Rights Reserved
Hecho en los E.E.U.U.
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
Translator's Preface 7
Author's Preface for the GermanEdition 9
Introduction 11
1 Philosophy as a Creative Act 23
1 Man, Microcosm and Macrocosm 56
3 Creativity and Redemption 89
4 Creativity and Gnosseology 106
5 Creativity and Being 119
6 Creativity and Freedom: Individualism
and Universalism 134
7 Creativity and Asceticism: The Genius
and the Saint 149
8 Creativity and Sex: Male and Female:
Race and Personality 168
9 Creativity and Love: Marriage and the Family 191
10 Creativity and Beauty: Art and Theurgy 209
11 Creativity and Morals: The New Ethic
of Creativity 233
12 Creativity and the Structure of Society 253
13 Creativity and Mysticism: Occultism and Magic 273
14 Three Epochs: Creativity and Culture;
Creativity and the Church; Creativity
and Christian Renaissance 295
Index 312

Translator's Preface
Although he was frequently asked to permit a reissue in
Russianof TheMeaningof the CreativeAct, Berdyaev always
refused, saying that he wished to revise it before it was re-
published. Completed in 1914, the book naturally reflects
the atmosphere of the philosophy current at the time, and
certain of its details would probably have been altered had
Berdyaev been writing it in the later years of his life. But, as
he has often said, the basic ideas in this book remained, to
the end, the foundation of his philosophical convictions. It
has therefore been decided to publish the present edition, de-
spite the fact that the author never accomplished the revisioB
he projected.
Berdyaev made one revision, however, for the German
translation, published in 1927. Collation with that text has
enabled the reproduction in the present version, of what
Berdyaev authorized for publication at that time. In this
connection, his Preface for the German edition deserves
special attention,
I am indebted to Madame T. F. Klepmine and the late
Miss Ahssa A. Sezemann for generous counsel about this
work. Special gratitude is due my wife for typing the manu-
script
D. A. L.
New York.
May, 1954.