Introduction. The article examines the process of transformation of the traditional religious ethical ideal rooted in Russian Orthodox philosophy into the moral system of Soviet society. The phenomenon of the «substantial morality» of the early USSR is analyzed, a morality based on the direct subordination of the individual to an overarching state goal. The internal contradiction of this system is revealed, consisting in the suppression of subjective freedom and moral reflection, which ultimately led to its crisis and disintegration. Theoretical analysis. The study employs the methodology of classical dialectics (the universal dialectics of thought and being within the paradigm of Hegelian absolute idealism and its reception in Russian and Soviet philosophy) as an experience of the logical historical conceptualization of the phenomenon under study. The dialectical interrelation between Soviet collectivism and the Christian idea of sobornost (conciliarity) is examined, as well as the role of Russian religious philosophy in interpreting this historical phenomenon. Conclusion. An analysis of the process by which the Russian historical religious ethical ideal was transformed within Soviet society reveals the dialectics of the movement of the concept of the «national spirit» from Orthodox sobornost to substantial morality, and then – through the profanation of this ideal in the ideology of atheistic socialism and communism, through the moral crisis and disintegration of this ideal – toward a universal, «conciliar integral» statehood of Russia in the twenty first century.