THE SYNTHESIS OF MYSTICISM AND RATIONALISM AS A PARADOX OF RUSSIAN RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY

. Aim. To carry out a comparative analysis of the rationalistic, phenomenological and mystical methods of knowledge practiced by Russian religious philosophy in their synthesis. Methodology. The study is based on the fundamental principles of historical and philosophical research: the principle of historicism, which makes it possible to obtain a truly scientific assessment of the phenomena under study only when they are analyzed in the context of a certain era and theoretical system; the principle of ideological and theoretical continuity, which makes it possible to consider the development of the methodological process within the framework of Russian religious philosophy as an integral phenomenon, a consistent, coordinated connection between different stages of the theoretical development of religious and philosophical thought; the principle of concreteness, which requires trac-ing the refraction of the methodological trends of different stages of Russian philosophy in the concepts of individual philosophers. Results. Though Russian religious philosophers interpreted mystical experience as the experience of the transcendent, as a method of understanding the highest truth, they did not only oppose this method to rational thinking but combined and synthesized both into a paradoxical unity. Such authors as V. Solovyov, P. Florensky, S. Bulgakov and N. Lossky argued that rational and empirical knowledge, which forms the basis of science, is insufficient and, based on the idea of total unity (vseedinstvo), they proposed to obtain pure, undifferentiated and existentially reliable knowledge through religious experience. Research implications. The study of the methodological layer of Russian religious thought can expand a conceptual framework for further development of religious and philosophical knowledge, and the conclusions drawn from the research can help in understanding the ways of modern science development.