Department of the Philosophy of Religion

Head of the Department – Professor Vladimir K. Shokhin

The Department of Philosophy of Religion is a division of the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences, devoted to researches in History of Philosophy of Religion, History of Theology, Religious Studies. The Department provides education in Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies at the State University for Humanities.

The Department was found at 1994 based on the Departments of Philosophy of Culture and Philosophical Classics and modernity.

Faculty:

Professor Vladimir K. Shokhin, DSc in Philosophy, Head of the Department of Philosophy of Religion
Alexey R. Fokin, DSc in Philosophy, Leading Research Fellow
Kirill V. Karpov, PhD in Philosophy, Senior Research Fellow
Andrey K. Sudakov, DSc in Philosophy, Leading Research Fellow
Valeriya V. Sleptsova, PhD in Philosophy, Research Fellow
Andrey A. Polyakov, Junior Research Fellow
Ioann A. Ryzhakov, PhD in Philosophy, Junior Research Fellow
Mikhail V. Shpakovskiy, PhD in Philosophy, Research Fellow
Tatiana N. Vysotskaya, assistant

Selected publications (2024-2025):

Shokhin V. Is Religious Plurality in the Way of Theism? In Philosophy of Religion: Analytic Researches. 2025. Vol. 9. No. 1. P. 47–61.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Theology of Religions: Initial Period. In St. Tikhon’s University Review . Series I: Theology. Philosophy. Religious Studies. 2025. Vol. 118. P. 31–52.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Buddhist Idealism and Brahmanist Realism: the Initial Stage of the Controversy. In Voprosy Filosofii. 2025. Vol.7. P. 109–122.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Kant, Berkeley and “Copernican upheaval”: a new format of the old standing issue. In Philosophy Journal.2025. Vol. 18 (2). P. 122–134.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Kant's Legacy and the Discussion of Philosophical Realism in the 19th Century. In Kant and Philosophy Today. Ed., comp. by A.A. Guseinov. Moscow-St. Petersburg: Center for Humanitarian Initiatives, 2025. P. 253-284.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Preface to the second edition. In Shcherbatskoy F.I. Selected works on Buddhism. Ed. and comp. by V.K. Shokhin; transl. from English by V.I.Rudy, B.V.Semichev, A.N.Zelinsky; comment. by V.N.Toporov. 2nd ed., rev. and additional. M.: Foundation for the Promotion of Buddhist Education and Research. M., 2024. P. 7-18.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Philosophy of Interreligious Dialogue: Main Milestones, Categories, and Polemical Field. In Collection of materials from the scientific conference "Actual Problems of Philosophy". Abstracts. Reports. Articles. Moscow: Knizhny Mir, 2025. P. 15-30.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Analytic Philosophy: Has It Finally Been Defined? In LOGOS. 2024. Vol. 34. Iss. 6. P. 297-322.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Аrguments contra Divine atemporality in today’s analytic theology and some new counterarguments against them. In Issues of Theology. 2024. Vol. 6. No. 1. P. 31–44.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. The Incipient Version of the Buddhist Anātmavāda and its Philosophical and Spiritual Dimensions. In Pushkin Leningrad State University Journal. No. 1. P. 8–31.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Which Type of Reality is Being Described by the Conception of the Postsecular World? In Philosophy of Religion: Analytic Researches. 2024. Vol. 8 No. 1. P. 58–82.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. The Catalogues of the Virtues and Strategic Immorality: Bipolar Ethics in Kāmandaki’s Nītisāra. In Voprosy Filosofii. 2024. Iss. 12. P. 159-170.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. “Megadeposit” of Jaina Philosophy in Russian. In History of Philosophy. 2024. Vol. 29(2). P. 145–152.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Philosophical realism: the pinafore stage of existence. In Philosophy Journal. 2024. Vol. 17 (1). P. 102–122.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. On the structure of practical philosophy. In Practical and Applied Philosophy. Ed. by A.A. Guseinov, compl. by N.B. Afanasov. Moscow; St. Petersburg: TsGI, 2024. P. 57-76.(in Russian)
Shokhin V. Practical Philosophy and Comparative Aretalogy. In Practical and Applied Philosophy. Ed.by A.A. Guseinov, compl. by N.B. Afanasov. Moscow; St. Petersburg: TsGI, 2024. P. 29-45.(in Russian)
Fokin A. The Concept of “the Unity of the Three Religions” (sanjiao heyi):Historical Survey of its Formation up to the Yuan Dynastyand its Place in Chinese Religious Tradition. In Philosophy of Religion: Analytic Researches. 2025. Vol. 9. No. 2. P. 71-119.(in Russian)
Fokin A. The Concept of “Divine Inspiration of the Bible” and Various Approaches to its Understanding in the Early Church Fathers (1-3 A.D.). In Cultural China (Wenhua Zhongguo, 文化中国). 2025. 3 (124). P. 59-72 (in Chinese with English annotation)
Fokin A. Terminology Referring to “Religion” in Chinese Tradition: Linguistic-Semantic and Historical-Philosophical Analysis. In Philosophy of Religion: Analytic Researches. 2024. Vol. 8. No. 2. P. 5–23.(in Russian)
Fokin A. Tertullian’s doctrine of the “original vice” (vitium originis) and its contradictory nature. In “Inherited sin?” Erbsünde? Forscher aus dem Osten und Westen Europas an den Quellen des gemeinsamen Glaubens Studientagung, Wien, 15 – 19 September 2021 Herausg. von Theresia Hainthaler, Franz Mali, Gregor Emmenegger und Alexey Morozov (Wiener Patristische Tagungen X). Innsbruck-Wien. 2024 P. 177-195.
Fokin A. Marius Victorinus and the Message of Candidus the Arian “On the Divine Birth”: the History of the Text and Its Theological Context. In Aspiratio. 2024. Vol. 1. No. 1. P. 110–141.(in Russian)
Fokin A. Fulgentius. In Orthodox Encyclopedia. Vol. LXXIII Thomas - Christopher. Moscow, 2024. P. 300-309.(in Russian)
Sudakov A. Christian Ethics and Theological Morals as Conceived by Kant. In Voprosy Filosofii. 2025. No. 7. P. 97–108. (in Russian)
Sudakov A. Immanuel Kant and the Problem of Euthanasia. In Chelovek. 2025. Vol. 36. No. 6. P. 7-26. (in Russian)
Sudakov A. The Fact of Reason and the Practical Reality in Kant's Philosophy. In Gumanitarnye vedomosti TGPU im. L.N. Tolstogo. 2025. Vol. 1(53). P. 15-36. (in Russian)
Sudakov A. Myth and Truth about Kant’s “Formalism”, or This Obscure Form of a Maxim. In Eticheskaya Mysl’ / Ethical Thought. 2025. Vol. 25(2). P. 68–82. (in Russian)
Sudakov A. Kant’s Philosophical Modesty. Toward a Typology of Philosophical Theology. In St. Tikhon's University Review. Series I: Theology. Philosophy. Religious Studies. 2024. Iss. 115. P. 9-23. (in Russian)
Sudakov A. "A Change in Mentality" as a Critical Point of Transition from Morality to Religion in Kant’s Teachings. In Immanuel Kant and Philosophical Theology. Ed. by P. Rezvykh. Kaliningrad: Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Publ. 2024. P. 56-97. (in Russian)
Sudakov A. Kant's idea of the metaphysics of morals and the question of the boundaries of ethics. In Practical and Applied Philosophy. Ed. by A.A. Guseinov, compl. by N.B. Afanasov. Moscow; St. Petersburg: TsGI, 2024. P. 189-211. (in Russian)
Sudakov A. Three Roads to the Realm of Ends: Foundations of the Ideal of Community in Kant’s Pure Ethics. In Immanuel Kant and Moral Philosophy: Monograph. Ed. by A.V. Razin. Kaliningrad: Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Publishing House. 2024. P. 97–136. (in Russian)
Sudakov A. Review of Morality and Religion in Philosophy of German Enlightenment: from Christian Thomasius to Immanuel Kant, by Ludmila E. Kryshtop. In History of Philosophy Yearbook /Istoriko-filosofskii ezhegodnik. 2024. Iss. 39. P. 449–460. (in Russian)
Karpov K. The modal critique of the ontological argument. Thomas Aquinas vs Anselm of Canterbury. In Studia Religiosa Rossica: Russian Journal of Religion. 2025.Vol. 4. P. 86-101. (in Russian)
Karpov K. The “Hic Homo Intelligit” Controversy: Averroes versus Aquinas A Review of: Ogden, S. Averroes on Intellect. From Aristotelian Origins to Aquinas’s Critique. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022, 281 pp. In Ishraq. Islamic Philosophy Journal. 2025. Vol. 3. No. 2. P. 103-117. (in Russian)
Karpov K. Walter Berschin. Griechisch-lateinisches Mittelalter. Von Hieronymus zu Nikolaus von Kues: Translated into Russian by A. Vinogradov. Мoscow: AST Publ., 2024. 416 pp. ISBN 978-5-17-165601-0. In History of Philosophy Yearbook Istoriko-Filosofskii Ezhegodnik. 2025. Vol. 40. P. 48–53. (in Russian)
Karpov K. V.D. Kudryavtsev-Platonov’s Anti-Skepticism in the Treatise “On the Basic Principles of Philo-sophical Knowledge” and Evidentialist Objection to Religious Beliefs. In Otechestvennaya filosofia[National Philosophy]. 2024. Vol. 2. No. 4. P. 7–25. (in Russian)
Karpov K. On normativity of Clifford’s Principle. In Philosophy Journal. 2024. Vol. 17. No. 4. P. 23–39. (in Russian)
Karpov K. Falsafah and Evidentialism. A Review of: Booth, A. Analytic Islamic Philosophy. New York & London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, 222 pp. In Ishraq. Islamic Philosophy Journal. 2024. Vol. 2. No. 1. P. 101–116. (in Russian)
Karpov K.V. Review: Wisdom in Christian Tradition: The Patristic Roots of Modern Russian Sophiology. By MARCUS PLESTED. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022 Pp. xiv + 288 $105.00 (hardcover). ISBN: 978-0-19-286322-5. In The Thomist. 2024 Oct. P. 699-702.
Sleptsova V.V. Philosophical Interpretation of Bereshit (Ralbag on Creation of the Universe). Concept: philosophy, religion, culture. 2025. Vol. 9(3). P. 66-82. (In Russian)
Sleptsova V.The sights of Jewish mysticism: a guide to the Zohar.In Filosofskii zhurnal /Philosophy Journal. 2025. Vol. 18. No. 3. P. 186–194. (In Russian)
Ralbag Wars of the Lord. [On Miracles.] Book VI, Part 2, Chapters 9–12. Introd., transl., comments by Valeriya V. Sleptsova. In Ishraq. Islamic Philosophy Journal 2025, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 91–121. (in Russian)
Sleptsova V. Maimonides, Gersonides and Crescas on Prophets and Prophecy. In Voprosy Filosofii. 2024. Iss. 7. P. 172–183. (in Russian)
Shpakovskiy M. Vospriyatiya, eidosy i bozhestvennye idei: opyt analiticheskogoprochteniya epistemologii, filosofii vospriyatiya i metafiziki arhiepiskopa Nikanora (Brovkovicha) [Perceptions, Eidos, and Divine Ideas: an Experience of Analytic Reading of Archbishop Nikanor (Brovkovich)’s Epistemology, Philosophy of Perception and Metaphysics]. In Otechestvennaya filosofia [National Philosophy]. 2024. Vol. 2. No. 4. P. 84–129. (in Russian)
Shpakovskiy M. The defence of the A. Plantinga’s Free will defence. In Philosophy Journal. 2024. Vol. 17. No. 1. P. 50–72. (in Russian)
Shpakovskiy M. A Common Avicennism. A Review of: Zarepour, M.S. Necessary Existence and Monotheism. An Avicennian Account of the Islamic Conception of Divine Unity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022, 70 pp. In Ishraq. Islamic Philosophy Journal. 2024. Vol. 2 No. 2. P. 78-117. (in Russian)
Ryzhakov I. The Threefold Typology of Exclusivism, Inclusivism and Pluralism in John Hick’s Theology of Religions. In Philosophy of Religion: Analytic Researches. 2025. Vol. 9. No. 2. P. 5–26. (in Russian)
Ryzhakov I. Early John Hick on Theistic Religion and His Type of Theodicy. In Philosophy of Religion: Analytic Researches. 2024. Vol. 8. No. 1. P.97–117. (in Russian)
Polyakov A. Deism: on the issue of rethinking the term. In Philosophical Thought. 2025. No. 9. P. 72-91. (in Russian)
Polyakov A. Diego Lucci on John Lock’s Christianity. In Philosophy of Religion: Analytic Researches. 2024. Vol. 8. No. 2. P. 127–139. (in Russian)

Books

Karpov K. (transl., introd., comment.) Bonaventure. Breviloquium. Sergiyev Posad: Moscow Theological Academy Publishing House. 2025. (in Russian)
Sleptsova V. Theism and Atheism in the Debates of Contemporary Analytical Philosophers. M.: IF RAS. 2024. 232 p. (in Russian)
Shokhin V. Ishvaravada: Philosophical Theism in India: Research and Translations.Moscow: Direct Media Publ. 2023. 336 p. (in Russian)
Karpov K. (transl.) Alston W.P. Vospriyatie Boga. Epistemologiya religioznogo opyta. Transl. by K. V. Karpov; ed. by A. M. Gaginskiy. Moscow: Akademicheskii proekt, 2022. 471 p. (in Russian)
Shokhin V. Philosophical theology: Quirks, Moments, Impromptus. 2022. 512 p. (in Russian)
Shokhin V. Philosophy of Practical Reason: an agatological dimention. 2020. 421 p. (in Russian)
Samarina T.S. Phenomenology, Noumenology and Post-Phenomenology of Religion. Moscow: IPh RAS, 2019. 296 p. (in Russian)
Shokhin V. Philosophical theology: the Canon and the Variability. Moscow, 2018. (in Russian)
Sudakov K (transl.) Lask E. Logika Filosofii i uchenie o kategoriyah (The Logic of Philosophy and the Doctrine of Categories). Moscow, 2017. (in Russian)
Shokhin V. Philosophical theology: design facets. Moscow, 2016. (in Russian)
Shokhin V. Agathology: Contemporaneity and Classics. Moscow, 2014. (in Russian)
Fokin A. The Formation of Trinitarian Doctrine in Latin Patristics. Moscow, 2014. (in Russian)
Malevich T. Theories of Mystical Experience: Historiography and Prospects. Moscow, 2014. (in Russian)
Balagushkin E. Mysticism in Modern-Day Russia: Theory and Main Persons. Moscow, 2013. (in Russian)
Sudakov A.K. The wholeness of Live. Religious and philosophical thought of I.V. Kireevsky. Moscow: IPh RAS, 2011. (in Russian)
Shokhin V. Philosophy of religion and its historical forms (from Antiquity to the end of the Eighteenth Century). Moscow, 2010. (in Russian)
Fokin A. St. Jerome of Stridon. Biblical Scholar, Exegete, Theologian. Moscow, 2010. (in Russian)
Fokin A. Christian Platonism of Marius Victorinus. Moscow, 2007. (in Russian)
Shokhin V. The philosophy of values and axiological early thought. Moscow, 2006. (in Russian)
Balagushkin E. The Problem of Morphological Analisys of Religion. Moscow, 2003. (in Russian)
Balagushkin E. The Problem of Morphological Analisys of Religion (2nd half). Moscow, 2002. (in Russian)

Periodicals:

Philosophy of Religion: Analytic Researches

Philosophy of Religion. An Almanac (2006-2015)

Philosophy of Religion. An Almanac 2014-2015. Moscow, 2015.
Philosophy of Religion. An Almanac 2012-2013. Moscow, 2013.
Philosophy of Religion. An Almanac 2010-2011. Moscow, 2011
Philosophy of Religion. An Almanac 2008-2009. Moscow, 2010.
Philosophy of Religion. An Almanac 2006-2007. Moscow, 2007.

Contacts:

Adress: Goncharnaya 12/1, Moscow, 109240, Russian Federation

Telephone: (495) 697-93-78.

E-mail: phrelig@gmail.com