THE CONCEPT OF “REVERSIBILITY” AS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THE ANTROPO-ONTOLOGICAL THEORY (BASED ON THE MATERIAL OF JOSEPH DE MAISTRE’S WORK “ST. PETERSBURG EVENINGS”)

This article deals with the most important concept of the philosophical and political doctrine of the French-speaking writer Joseph de Maistre (born in Chambery, Savoy), which includes an anthropo-ontological theory that explains the suffering of people living on earth. The doctrine is embodied in a unique in style work, "St. Petersburg Evenings or Conversations on the Supreme Authority of Providence" (1821), written by the philosopher in Russia. The term "reversibility", in Maistre's understanding, means the transfer of payment for sins from one person, the guilty, to another, the innocent. On the basis of the dogma of "reversibility" in ancient people, according to the "Savoy thinker", there were rites of sacrifice. Also according to the Maistrovian concept, the highest form of sacrifice is the fate of Jesus Christ. The author's research objectives include the consideration of the work of 19th century writers in order to identify the influence of the idea of the reversibility of suffering on them, as well as the study of religious and philosophical theories of ancient authors and mystics of subsequent centuries in order to fill in the missing fragments of the ontological picture. Presenting the evidence one by one, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that the theosophical (mystical) theories of L.-K. de Saint-Martin, whose follower the "Savoy thinker" was in the first half of his life, as well as the Swedish scientist and visionary E. Swedenborg, whose adherents were Honoré de Balzac and Charles Baudelaire, turned out to be the most consonant with the concept of J. de Maistre. Swedenborg's logically organized system helps to create an almost complete vision of the prospects of human regeneration, and his "theory of correspondences" sheds light on certain statements of the "Savoy thinker" regarding the principle of the unity of the world. Maistre shares the fundamental idea of the mystics that all, including sinful creatures, are one with God. Thus, in order to atone for sins, the author of "St. Petersburg Evenings" introduces the dogma of "reversibility", which became a key element of his anthropo-ontological theory. And taking as a basis the unity, Maistre builds this concept into his religious-philosophical system.