Philosophy: the history of Russian philosophy from ancient times to the 19th century

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

Disputes about the existence of pure Russian philosophy and its meaning continue endlessly. More and more opening, new, translated into modern language sources are being analyzed. Did the Slavs have philosophy at all? The history of Russian philosophy begins with Ancient Russia, and its heyday came at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

The origins of Russian philosophy

Philosophy in ancient Russia in its pure form as such was not, because Russia was totally religious. They took Greek and Byzantine philosophy and translated into the language of that time, the language of Cyril and Methodius, primarily that part that was connected with Christianity, with the lives of the saints. Philosophy came here as a kind of secondary context. But she still was. And it is no coincidence that one of the brothers who were considered enlighteners, Cyril, was called a philosopher. This title was very high. Above him was only the title of theologian.

The first Russian philosophical document is considered to be the "Sermon on Law and Grace", written by Metropolitan Hilarion. The "Word" was created in the tradition of Byzantine homiletics. This is a sermon delivered inchurch, over the tomb of Prince Vladimir, the Baptist of Russia. It begins with a parable from the Old Testament, then turns to the New, and then follows a moral about what Christianity gave Russia in general.

Of course, for the Russians it was important how Byzantium lived until it fell in 1453. Although the relationship was not that close.

Mainly from the need to explain the world order and relations with God and the state, philosophy arises in Russia. The history of Russian philosophy is further complex.

The best books on the history of Russian philosophy

The history of Russian philosophy is more complicated, because philosophers in Russia were often persecuted, of course, by the government. Nikolai Onufrievich Lossky wrote about this. The History of Russian Philosophy, his book, tells that the persecution ended only by 1860. But only in 1909 did Russian philosophy "breathe" with renewed vigor, and even then the revolution of 1917 destroyed all the works. Lossky's book reflects the entire path that Russian philosophy has traveled. The History of Russian Philosophy was the first book of its kind. However, it was banned in her native country. It was first published in English in 1951, then translated into other languages, and in Russia it was published only in 1991. There were, of course, copies in Russian even before that - the members of the Central Committee of the CPSU, but the works of Nikolai Onufrievich were inaccessible to ordinary people.

Another work on this topic was written by Vasily Vasilyevich Zenkovsky. His History of Russian Philosophy was published in two volumes in 1948-1950. The first volume was a doctoral thesischurch sciences, which was successfully defended. This monograph brought him international fame, it was immediately translated into English.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Maslin wrote the book "The History of Russian Philosophy". Maslin was the head of the group of authors, which also included Myslivchenko, Medvedeva, Polyakov, Popov and Pustarnakov. The book covers the domestic history of philosophy from the 11th century to the present. Maslov calls the times of philosophy in Kievan Rus a period of apprenticeship. And he characterizes the 17th century as a time of irresistible craving for ethics and aesthetics, as well as a special interest in historiosophical problems and a period of publicism in Russian philosophy.

Domestic philosophy: history of Russian philosophy of the 18th century

XVIII century was marked by reforms. This period was the time of the reign of Peter the Great - a time of close contact with Western culture, great reforms and achievements.

Outstanding representatives of the philosophy of that time were Antioch Dmitrievich Kantemir, Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev and Archbishop Feofan Prokopovich. The latter stood up for the benefit of education and science. Cantemir ridiculed human and social vices. He introduced many terms into Russian philosophy. Tatishchev was for the idea of morality and religion, set the goal of a human being to balance spiritual forces. The contribution to the philosophy of Russia of that era, Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, was enormous. He founded the Russian materialistic tradition.

Enrichment of Russian Philosophy – G. S. Skovoroda

XVIII century gavethe world of another famous philosopher - Grigory Savvich Skovoroda, a Ukrainian born in 1722. He is a Ukrainian hero to this day.

Grigory Savvich kept celibacy, being a monk in the world, and did not start a family. Vladimir Franzevich Ern, also a Russian philosopher, updated Skovoroda's legacy in the 20th century. He wrote and published the book “Grigory Skovoroda. Life and Teaching.”

Skovoroda had a doctrine about three worlds - a large coenobitic world, or a macrocosm, as philosophers say, a small world, or a little world - this is a person, and about the symbolic world - the Bible, to which Skovoroda was very ambivalent. He then scolded her, then said that the images of the Bible are such “vehicles carrying the treasures of eternity.”

Skovoroda wrote 33 dialogues and carried them with him in a knapsack behind his shoulders, wandering. He was called the Russian Socrates.

Nineteenth century

20s of the 19th century - the time of the appearance of circles of amateurs who considered philosophy as their life's work. These are university graduates. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin called them "archival youths".

". "Lubomudria" - translated from Greek - is philosophy, love of wisdom. They generally liked to play with foreign philosophical terms, translating them into Russian.

Lubomudry believedthat it is necessary to replace the predilection for French ideas (meaning the philosophy of the Enlightenment) with German idealism, because this is the philosophy of the identity of spirit, intelligentsia and nature. They neglected social philosophy, but studied the natural sciences, the physiology of the brain. The Wise Ones wanted to find the soul in the human body.

The circle ceased its activities in 1825. And two philosophical currents appeared - Westerners and Slavophiles.