Humility in the Economic Ethics of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Use of Max Weber’s Sociology of Religion for the Analysis of Contemporary Russian Orthodoxy

Abstract

Using a number of concepts from the Weberian sociology of religion (economic ethics/ethos, typology “asceticism/mysticism”, Weber’s reception of the Nietzschean idea of ressentiment) the author analyzes the economic ethos of contemporary Russian Orthodoxy. The article analyzes “humility” (smirenie) - one of the key virtues of the contemporary economic ethics of the Russian Orthodox Church. The author builds a typology of various understandings of humility in today’s Russian Orthodoxy in connection with economic practices of Orthodox actors. The article distinguishes seven types of humility, each of which may be associated with its vision of economy and social relations. They are grouped into two main clusters - humility associated with obedience to another person and humility that is not related to such an obedience. The author makes a conclusion that this key ethical category of Orthodoxy can denote quite different types of relations and economic motivations. This, in turn, means that quite different types can be preached at the same time, from more productive to even possibly destructive. The article provides examples showing that under the name of humility there may be ethical ideas in the discourse, the accentuation and development of which in public life can lead to ambiguous or problematic consequences.