Sacred semantics of concepts designating traditional spiritual and moral values of Russia

The article is devoted to the theolinguistic analysis of the concepts approved as traditional spiritual and moral values by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 809 dated November 9, 2022. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that at present, the spiritual and moral education of the younger generation, the formation of a national idea are a priority of the domestic policy of the state, but it is necessary to form a unified conceptual understanding of traditional values. In this regard, it is important to determine the definitions and disclose the sacred semantics of words denoting traditional spiritual and moral values, as well as the differentiation of these concepts by functional and semantic features, which is the purpose of this work.

The article traces the historical semantic transformation of the term “sacred” from the meaning of “holy”, “dedicated to God” to the complete leveling of this meaning, up to the opposite: “forbidden, damned, unholy”. The necessity of preserving the original spiritual meaning of this term, corresponding to the ideal of holiness, characteristic of the Russian mentality, is substantiated. The author classified the concepts identified in the “Fundamentals of State Policy for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values” into three categories: civic values, social ideals and moral values. By means of semantic, discursive and hermeneutic analysis, an interpretation of these value categories is given from the standpoint of the Orthodox understanding of spirituality, definitions corresponding to liberal value attitudes and requiring adjustment are identified.

As a result of the study, the sacred meaning of most concepts included in the list of approved spiritual and moral values of Russia, which correlate with the Gospel commandments, was revealed, and principles were formulated that promote the perception and assimilation of spiritual and moral values by an individual and society.

traditional spiritual and moral values, Orthodoxy, Gospel commandments, sacred semantics