Berdyaev Nikolai, On Social Inequality, transl. E. D. Nianios, P. Pournaras Publ., Thessaloniki, 1984, pp. 382.
The book constitutes a collection of 14 letters in which Berdyaev unfolds his ideas about social philosophy. The work is apologetic and at the same time a polemic. Initially he expresses criticism about the violent, equalizing nature of the Russian revolution, declaring that only a religious and spiritual revolution could be authentic. He declares himself against sociologism, claiming that society in all its forms is founded on religious and spiritual principles. In contrast to anarchy theories he defends the ontological nature of power and the state, which however must not be elevated to absolute or god-like status.
In the fourth letter he rejects internationalism and recognises an ontological nucleus to the nation. In the fifth, he objects to radicalism, and stands in defense of conservatism, to which he attributes religious importance as a declaration of the hypostasis of the Father. He defends the aristocratic idea which calls for the dominance of the best ones, while the democracy calls for a perfunctory domination of all. Liberalism misses the mark by replicating the spiritual aims of life with material needs. He proposes the true freedom of the brotherhood of Christ, the Church. In the eighth letter he expresses criticism about the tendency for uniformity and the loss of creative and spiritual elements in democratic regimes.
The material and totalitarian nature of socialism hinders recognition of social problems as spiritual and religious. Also, if socialism comes to naught because of its desire for equality, anarchism comes to the same end because of its desire for freedom devoid of depth.
The eleventh letter refers to thoughts on war, while the twelfth seeks the spiritualization of economic life. He attributes a sacred quality to culture and differentiates it from civilization, which is of rationalistic and utilitarian nature. The aims of culture do not represent the higher purpose of life, which is to seek the Kingdom of God. But this search will not be the result of an evolution or a revolution, but a miraculous transformation of the world. The final chapter, written 5 years after the rest of the book, the author explains the historical conditions of the time of the writing, which had influenced his demeanor.