(Russian philosophy) A brief discussion about "RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHY" by Mr.Lalit Rao.

Russian philosophy began in the reign of Catherine the great (from 1762 until 1796) when enlightenment ideas began to make their presence felt in Russia. Philosophy didn’t flourish as an academic discipline but progressed in the form of passionate debates which focused on the liberation of humanity and the destiny of Russia. These debates were conducted in political and religious writings and in the works of literature by great writers such as Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Russian philosophy refers to the philosophy produced by Russian thinkers from mid 18th century to the present in Russia and also in the countries to which they emigrated. Russian philosophers focused on philosophical anthropology, ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of history and philosophy of religion. In general terms, the content of Russian philosophy seemed to be drifting towards utopianism, maximalism, moralism and Soteriology. There have been many differences regarding how the western philosophy has been considered by Russian thinkers. To give one example, for many Russian philosophers, Cartesian-Humean problem of other minds was a non problem. Most Russian philosophers viewed important formulations and positions of western philosophy as overtly individualistic and intellectualistic as they failed to take into account the wholeness of human person from Socratic know thyself to the Cartesian cogito. There has been agreement in Russian philosophy circle about the unacceptability of the “Western” dichotomy between action and thought. The admirers of the west in Russia urged the modernization of economic and political institutions and the appropriation of western ideas of scientific progress and political liberty. They included great literary figures namely Alexander Herzen, Mikhail Bakunin and Vissarion Belinsky. Russian nihilists such as Nikolai Chernyshevsky denounced religion and traditional morality and shared positivistic reverence for natural sciences and utilitarian ethics. Lenin’s theory of revolutions and Gregory Plekhanov’s “Dialectical Materialism” formed the core of official soviet philosophy wherein atheism and scientific optimism of the Russian radical tradition mingled with a Slavophile belief in Russia’s pre-eminent role in human emancipation. Due to the influence of westernization, Russian philosophy has been primarily the creation of critics and writers who derived their ideals and values from European sources. They focused on ethics, philosophy of history and social theory. The principal contribution of Russian thinkers was not in systems but in experiments in theory and practice of human emancipation. The main impetus of Russian philosophy has always been towards the future. The nihilists who rejected metaphysics and everything else which could not be proven by empirical and rational methods fervently believed that progress would inevitably lead to the restoration of a natural state of harmony between the individual and the society. In the 1960s soviet philosophers such as Evald Ilyenkov helped to revive an interest in ethics with their emphasis on the individual as the centre of moral agency. Lastly, some of Russia’s important philosophers include Alexander Bogdanov : Science fiction writer and philosopher whose work can be classified into five categories: Political Economy; Historical Materialism; Philosophy; Management; and Proletarian Culture. Alexander Herzen : Russian radical writer and philosopher. He was called the “Father of Russian socialism”. Alexander Radishchev : poet and political philosopher (serfdom as a violation of human rights). Alexei Khomyakov : The philosopher who cofounded Slavophile movement. He was a theologian, poet and philosopher. Gregory Skovorda : The philosopher who aspired to be Socrates of Russia. Konstantin Leonytev : The philosopher who advocated closer ties with the east. Mikhail Bakhtin : The most famous philosopher of language. Mikhail Bakunin : The intellectual founding father of anarchism. Nikolai Berdyaev : The religious and political philosopher. He wrote about Freedom, objectivization, truth, spirit, personality, creativity and eighth day of creation. Pyotr Chaadayev : The philosopher who wrote eight philosophical letters. He was the leader of the “Occidentalists”. Vasily Rozanov : Philosopher of the pre-revolutionary epoch. Vladimir Solovyov : The Russian philosopher who wrote on sexual love and evolution and freedom and evil. He was the founder of modern Russian philosophy.

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