On the way to the Kingdom of Reason: Irrational Rationality of the Early Soviet Period

Olga F.  Rusakova; Vasiliy M.  Rusakov; Yan Yu.  Moiseenko

doi:10.6000/2817-2310.2024.03.07

Authors

Olga F. Rusakova Dr. Habil. In Political Sciences, Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Law, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 16, Kovalevsky Str., Yekaterinburg, 620108, Russia
Vasiliy M. Rusakov Dr. Habil. Philosophy, Professor at Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, 51, Lenin Av., Yekaterinburg, 620000, Russia
Yan Yu. Moiseenko Junior Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Law, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 16, Kovalevsky Str., Yekaterinburg, 620108, Russia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6000/2817-2310.2024.03.07

Keywords:

Early Soviet period, Enlightenment rationalism, mass consciousness, irrational, rational

Abstract

The authors take a deep dive into the correlation between rational and irrational in both Enlightenment philosophy and classical Marxism, which is embodied in Russia in the form of Marxism-Leninism. The cult of Rationalism prevailed during the first years of Soviet power, which was expressed in V.I. Lenin’s academic works and was implemented into political practice. However, the established rationality resulted in the Mythology of Reason and mystification of science, which, like magic, “is capable of everything”. This kind of rationalism penetrated deeply into different forms of mass consciousness and gave birth to the irrational Kingdom of Reason, based on which all spheres of life within Soviet society were supposed to be transformed.

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