Culture, contexts, and directions in Russian post-Soviet philosophy

Studies in East European Thought

Volumn 50, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 283-328

  Swiderski, Edward M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF FRIBOURG   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

Akhiezer; Categories of post Soviet thinking; Categories of Soviet philosophy; Culture of crisis; Philosophical culture; Philosophizing; Reflexivity; Renaissance of philosophy; Russian philosophy

Indexed keywords

EID: 0041633665     PISSN: 09259392     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1023/A:1008608004393     Document Type: Article

References (86)

1. Voprosy filosofii, 1992, 2, pp. 123-140. [Henceforth abbreviated VF].
2. At a minimum, one would have to consult, among the Russian classics, Losev, Losskij, Zenkovskij, proceed to Goerdt for the German view, Copleston for the recent English version, and include along the way works by Pierre Pascal and Papadoupolous, to have the French flavor.
3. Berdjaev, H.A. Russkaja idea. Osnovny problemy russkoj mysli XIX veka i nachala XX veka. 1946 (For the sake of the present text, the edition is the one cited in VF, namely that published for the first time in Russia in 1990 in VF 1990 1, 2, pp. 148-149 (in the second installment). M.N.Gromov ("Vechnye cennosti russkoj kul'tury: k interpretacii otechestvennoj filosofii," VF 94, 1, pp. 54-61), while ackhowledging that the Russia of Berdjaev is not that of today, declares that Russian religious philosophy remains a 'spiritual value' of the highest order. The immanent trait from which this tradition draws its value is identified by Gromov as the concentration on 'sofijnost', i.e., the vision of Christian universalism founded on the realization of divino-humanity.
4. Berdjaev, H.A. Russkaja idea. Osnovny problemy russkoj mysli XIX veka i nachala XX veka. 1946 (For the sake of the present text, the edition is the one cited in VF, namely that published for the first time in Russia in 1990 in VF 1990 1, 2, pp. 148-149 (in the second installment). M.N.Gromov ("Vechnye cennosti russkoj kul'tury: k interpretacii otechestvennoj filosofii," VF 94, 1, pp. 54-61), while ackhowledging that the Russia of Berdjaev is not that of today, declares that Russian religious philosophy remains a 'spiritual value' of the highest order. The immanent trait from which this tradition draws its value is identified by Gromov as the concentration on 'sofijnost', i.e., the vision of Christian universalism founded on the realization of divino-humanity.
5. For the state of philosophy in the Soviet Union in general in the last years, the reader will do well to consult Evert van der Zweerde, Soviet Historiography of Philosophy, Istoriko-filosofskaj nauka, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997, in particular chapter two, entitled "Soviet Philosophical Culture." Cf, by the same author, "Der Ausgang der sowjetischen philosophischen Kultur (1986-1993)," in K. Eimermacher, D. Kretzschmar, K. Waschik (Hrsg.), Russland, wohin eilst Du? Perestrojka und Kultur. Dokumente und Analysen zur russischen und sowjetischen Kultur, Bd 5/II. Dortmund: Projekt Verlag, 1996, Ss. 699-744, and "Philosophie und Philosophieren in der Sowjetzeit und danach. Die Kultur der russischen Philosophie" in K.D. Eichler, U.J. Schneider (Hrsg.), Russische Philosophie im 20. Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag, 1996, Ss. 13-22. In addition, cf. E.M. Swiderski, "The Crisis of Continuity in Post-Soviet Philosophy," Philosophy and Political Change in Eastern Europe, The Monist Library of Philosophy (I), La Salle, Ill.: The Hegeler Institute, pp. 135-164, 186- 191; "La Culture de la crise et l'imaginaire postsoviétique," Voies et impasses de la démocratisation, Hermès 19, Paris: Editions CNRS, 1996, pp. 81-102; Carl Friedrich Gethmann und Nikolaj Plotnikov, Philosophie in Rußland. Tendenzen und Perspektiven, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler GmbH, 1998.
6. For the state of philosophy in the Soviet Union in general in the last years, the reader will do well to consult Evert van der Zweerde, Soviet Historiography of Philosophy, Istoriko-filosofskaj nauka, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997, in particular chapter two, entitled "Soviet Philosophical Culture." Cf, by the same author, "Der Ausgang der sowjetischen philosophischen Kultur (1986-1993)," in K. Eimermacher, D. Kretzschmar, K. Waschik (Hrsg.), Russland, wohin eilst Du? Perestrojka und Kultur. Dokumente und Analysen zur russischen und sowjetischen Kultur, Bd 5/II. Dortmund: Projekt Verlag, 1996, Ss. 699-744, and "Philosophie und Philosophieren in der Sowjetzeit und danach. Die Kultur der russischen Philosophie" in K.D. Eichler, U.J. Schneider (Hrsg.), Russische Philosophie im 20. Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag, 1996, Ss. 13-22. In addition, cf. E.M. Swiderski, "The Crisis of Continuity in Post-Soviet Philosophy," Philosophy and Political Change in Eastern Europe, The Monist Library of Philosophy (I), La Salle, Ill.: The Hegeler Institute, pp. 135-164, 186- 191; "La Culture de la crise et l'imaginaire postsoviétique," Voies et impasses de la démocratisation, Hermès 19, Paris: Editions CNRS, 1996, pp. 81-102; Carl Friedrich Gethmann und Nikolaj Plotnikov, Philosophie in Rußland. Tendenzen und Perspektiven, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler GmbH, 1998.
7. For the state of philosophy in the Soviet Union in general in the last years, the reader will do well to consult Evert van der Zweerde, Soviet Historiography of Philosophy, Istoriko-filosofskaj nauka, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997, in particular chapter two, entitled "Soviet Philosophical Culture." Cf, by the same author, "Der Ausgang der sowjetischen philosophischen Kultur (1986-1993)," in K. Eimermacher, D. Kretzschmar, K. Waschik (Hrsg.), Russland, wohin eilst Du? Perestrojka und Kultur. Dokumente und Analysen zur russischen und sowjetischen Kultur, Bd 5/II. Dortmund: Projekt Verlag, 1996, Ss. 699-744, and "Philosophie und Philosophieren in der Sowjetzeit und danach. Die Kultur der russischen Philosophie" in K.D. Eichler, U.J. Schneider (Hrsg.), Russische Philosophie im 20. Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag, 1996, Ss. 13-22. In addition, cf. E.M. Swiderski, "The Crisis of Continuity in Post-Soviet Philosophy," Philosophy and Political Change in Eastern Europe, The Monist Library of Philosophy (I), La Salle, Ill.: The Hegeler Institute, pp. 135-164, 186- 191; "La Culture de la crise et l'imaginaire postsoviétique," Voies et impasses de la démocratisation, Hermès 19, Paris: Editions CNRS, 1996, pp. 81-102; Carl Friedrich Gethmann und Nikolaj Plotnikov, Philosophie in Rußland. Tendenzen und Perspektiven, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler GmbH, 1998.
8. For the state of philosophy in the Soviet Union in general in the last years, the reader will do well to consult Evert van der Zweerde, Soviet Historiography of Philosophy, Istoriko-filosofskaj nauka, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997, in particular chapter two, entitled "Soviet Philosophical Culture." Cf, by the same author, "Der Ausgang der sowjetischen philosophischen Kultur (1986-1993)," in K. Eimermacher, D. Kretzschmar, K. Waschik (Hrsg.), Russland, wohin eilst Du? Perestrojka und Kultur. Dokumente und Analysen zur russischen und sowjetischen Kultur, Bd 5/II. Dortmund: Projekt Verlag, 1996, Ss. 699-744, and "Philosophie und Philosophieren in der Sowjetzeit und danach. Die Kultur der russischen Philosophie" in K.D. Eichler, U.J. Schneider (Hrsg.), Russische Philosophie im 20. Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag, 1996, Ss. 13-22. In addition, cf. E.M. Swiderski, "The Crisis of Continuity in Post-Soviet Philosophy," Philosophy and Political Change in Eastern Europe, The Monist Library of Philosophy (I), La Salle, Ill.: The Hegeler Institute, pp. 135-164, 186- 191; "La Culture de la crise et l'imaginaire postsoviétique," Voies et impasses de la démocratisation, Hermès 19, Paris: Editions CNRS, 1996, pp. 81-102; Carl Friedrich Gethmann und Nikolaj Plotnikov, Philosophie in Rußland. Tendenzen und Perspektiven, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler GmbH, 1998.
9. For the state of philosophy in the Soviet Union in general in the last years, the reader will do well to consult Evert van der Zweerde, Soviet Historiography of Philosophy, Istoriko-filosofskaj nauka, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997, in particular chapter two, entitled "Soviet Philosophical Culture." Cf, by the same author, "Der Ausgang der sowjetischen philosophischen Kultur (1986-1993)," in K. Eimermacher, D. Kretzschmar, K. Waschik (Hrsg.), Russland, wohin eilst Du? Perestrojka und Kultur. Dokumente und Analysen zur russischen und sowjetischen Kultur, Bd 5/II. Dortmund: Projekt Verlag, 1996, Ss. 699-744, and "Philosophie und Philosophieren in der Sowjetzeit und danach. Die Kultur der russischen Philosophie" in K.D. Eichler, U.J. Schneider (Hrsg.), Russische Philosophie im 20. Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag, 1996, Ss. 13-22. In addition, cf. E.M. Swiderski, "The Crisis of Continuity in Post-Soviet Philosophy," Philosophy and Political Change in Eastern Europe, The Monist Library of Philosophy (I), La Salle, Ill.: The Hegeler Institute, pp. 135-164, 186-191; "La Culture de la crise et l'imaginaire postsoviétique," Voies et impasses de la démocratisation, Hermès 19, Paris: Editions CNRS, 1996, pp. 81-102; Carl Friedrich Gethmann und Nikolaj Plotnikov, Philosophie in Rußland. Tendenzen und Perspektiven, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler GmbH, 1998.
10. For the state of philosophy in the Soviet Union in general in the last years, the reader will do well to consult Evert van der Zweerde, Soviet Historiography of Philosophy, Istoriko-filosofskaj nauka, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997, in particular chapter two, entitled "Soviet Philosophical Culture." Cf, by the same author, "Der Ausgang der sowjetischen philosophischen Kultur (1986-1993)," in K. Eimermacher, D. Kretzschmar, K. Waschik (Hrsg.), Russland, wohin eilst Du? Perestrojka und Kultur. Dokumente und Analysen zur russischen und sowjetischen Kultur, Bd 5/II. Dortmund: Projekt Verlag, 1996, Ss. 699-744, and "Philosophie und Philosophieren in der Sowjetzeit und danach. Die Kultur der russischen Philosophie" in K.D. Eichler, U.J. Schneider (Hrsg.), Russische Philosophie im 20. Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag, 1996, Ss. 13-22. In addition, cf. E.M. Swiderski, "The Crisis of Continuity in Post-Soviet Philosophy," Philosophy and Political Change in Eastern Europe, The Monist Library of Philosophy (I), La Salle, Ill.: The Hegeler Institute, pp. 135-164, 186- 191; "La Culture de la crise et l'imaginaire postsoviétique," Voies et impasses de la démocratisation, Hermès 19, Paris: Editions CNRS, 1996, pp. 81-102; Carl Friedrich Gethmann und Nikolaj Plotnikov, Philosophie in Rußland. Tendenzen und Perspektiven, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler GmbH, 1998.
11. For the state of philosophy in the Soviet Union in general in the last years, the reader will do well to consult Evert van der Zweerde, Soviet Historiography of Philosophy, Istoriko-filosofskaj nauka, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997, in particular chapter two, entitled "Soviet Philosophical Culture." Cf, by the same author, "Der Ausgang der sowjetischen philosophischen Kultur (1986-1993)," in K. Eimermacher, D. Kretzschmar, K. Waschik (Hrsg.), Russland, wohin eilst Du? Perestrojka und Kultur. Dokumente und Analysen zur russischen und sowjetischen Kultur, Bd 5/II. Dortmund: Projekt Verlag, 1996, Ss. 699-744, and "Philosophie und Philosophieren in der Sowjetzeit und danach. Die Kultur der russischen Philosophie" in K.D. Eichler, U.J. Schneider (Hrsg.), Russische Philosophie im 20. Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Universitätsverlag, 1996, Ss. 13-22. In addition, cf. E.M. Swiderski, "The Crisis of Continuity in Post-Soviet Philosophy," Philosophy and Political Change in Eastern Europe, The Monist Library of Philosophy (I), La Salle, Ill.: The Hegeler Institute, pp. 135-164, 186- 191; "La Culture de la crise et l'imaginaire postsoviétique," Voies et impasses de la démocratisation, Hermès 19, Paris: Editions CNRS, 1996, pp. 81-102; Carl Friedrich Gethmann und Nikolaj Plotnikov, Philosophie in Rußland. Tendenzen und Perspektiven, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler GmbH, 1998.
12. S.S. Khoruzhyj, Posle pereryva. Puti russkoj filosofii. St-Peterburg: Russ. Khristianskij gumanitarnyj Institut Sankt-Peterburg, 1994, p. 12.
13. V. Vanchugov, Ocherk istorii filosofii "samobytno-russkoj," Moskva: RIC "Piligrim", 1994, pp. 326-348.
14. An example is work being done by several Russian philosophers with close contacts in Western Europe, Germany in particular, for instance Nikolaj Plotnikov and Modest Kolerov. In a recent text, Plotnikov writes, "The sole serious result of scientific and, to a great extent, publicistic activity has been the fact, not of a 'return', but of a long overdue historization (istorizacii) of what has passed (izvlechennoj) as 'Russian religious philosophy'. Reprints of century-old texts continue to appear by dint of inertia, although enthusiastic paraphraises of sophiology or 'Vekhovstvo' no longer attract attention. Scholars have moved on to elucidate the historical material, or, to use Ranke's expression, 'what really happened'. And in the framework of these historical and philological investigations it has turned out that within the compex of ideas, which we have inherited from the beginning of the twentieth century, it is virtually impossible to separate the de facto world views of the 'actors' from the later mythological accretions created by them." "K voprosu ob aktualizacii vekhovskoj filosofii: sbornik Russlands politische Seele," in Issledovanija po istorii russkoj mysli. Ezhegodnik za 1997 god, St-Peterburg: Aleteija, pp. 69-70. A by far more critical, not to say condemnatory, tone runs through a commentary by the historian and political scientist, Aleksandr Janov, written just as the Soviet Union was disintegrating. "Is is true that Russian religious philosophy . . . has 'profoundly resolved' all the questions which have risen up before us today? Is it true that all that is left for us is to draw on it in handfuls? And how to face up to the fact that in this entire philosophy there was precisely nothing which could help reverse the catastrophe of Russia's previous attempts to break through to political modernization? How to account for the shattering defeat it suffered when confronted with the practical realities of the twentieth century? What to make of the fact that it speak to us only now - after decades of deafening silence? In other words, what about its striking non-practicality, which condemns it to utter defeat? Can we really take it on now as a pathmarker, in our present attempt to break out, when our own lives and the future of our childern are at stake?" Aleksandr Janov, "Filosofija pobezhdennych," Strannik: Literatura, Iskusstvo, Politika 1, 1991, p. 81. A less strident 'sceptical' position is put forward by James Scanlan in a statement to a largely Russian audience in Moscow. Answering the question he set himself, does Russia today need any kind of philosophy at all, Scanlan answers ". . .yes, but only on the condition that this philosophy be orientated to Russia's real needs today - moral, social, economic, and political needs. Much, even a great deal of what relates to such needs is found in the heritage of Russian philosophy, but much also depends on the ability to overcome certain traits of this heritage." One such trait, according to Scanlan, is the 'maximalism' of Russian thought. "Nuzhna li Rossii russkaja filosofija," VF 94, 1, p. 64.
15. An example is work being done by several Russian philosophers with close contacts in Western Europe, Germany in particular, for instance Nikolaj Plotnikov and Modest Kolerov. In a recent text, Plotnikov writes, "The sole serious result of scientific and, to a great extent, publicistic activity has been the fact, not of a 'return', but of a long overdue historization (istorizacii) of what has passed (izvlechennoj) as 'Russian religious philosophy'. Reprints of century-old texts continue to appear by dint of inertia, although enthusiastic paraphraises of sophiology or 'Vekhovstvo' no longer attract attention. Scholars have moved on to elucidate the historical material, or, to use Ranke's expression, 'what really happened'. And in the framework of these historical and philological investigations it has turned out that within the compex of ideas, which we have inherited from the beginning of the twentieth century, it is virtually impossible to separate the de facto world views of the 'actors' from the later mythological accretions created by them." "K voprosu ob aktualizacii vekhovskoj filosofii: sbornik Russlands politische Seele," in Issledovanija po istorii russkoj mysli. Ezhegodnik za 1997 god, St-Peterburg: Aleteija, pp. 69-70. A by far more critical, not to say condemnatory, tone runs through a commentary by the historian and political scientist, Aleksandr Janov, written just as the Soviet Union was disintegrating. "Is is true that Russian religious philosophy . . . has 'profoundly resolved' all the questions which have risen up before us today? Is it true that all that is left for us is to draw on it in handfuls? And how to face up to the fact that in this entire philosophy there was precisely nothing which could help reverse the catastrophe of Russia's previous attempts to break through to political modernization? How to account for the shattering defeat it suffered when confronted with the practical realities of the twentieth century? What to make of the fact that it speak to us only now - after decades of deafening silence? In other words, what about its striking non-practicality, which condemns it to utter defeat? Can we really take it on now as a pathmarker, in our present attempt to break out, when our own lives and the future of our childern are at stake?" Aleksandr Janov, "Filosofija pobezhdennych," Strannik: Literatura, Iskusstvo, Politika 1, 1991, p. 81. A less strident 'sceptical' position is put forward by James Scanlan in a statement to a largely Russian audience in Moscow. Answering the question he set himself, does Russia today need any kind of philosophy at all, Scanlan answers ". . .yes, but only on the condition that this philosophy be orientated to Russia's real needs today - moral, social, economic, and political needs. Much, even a great deal of what relates to such needs is found in the heritage of Russian philosophy, but much also depends on the ability to overcome certain traits of this heritage." One such trait, according to Scanlan, is the 'maximalism' of Russian thought. "Nuzhna li Rossii russkaja filosofija," VF 94, 1, p. 64.
16. An example is work being done by several Russian philosophers with close contacts in Western Europe, Germany in particular, for instance Nikolaj Plotnikov and Modest Kolerov. In a recent text, Plotnikov writes, "The sole serious result of scientific and, to a great extent, publicistic activity has been the fact, not of a 'return', but of a long overdue historization (istorizacii) of what has passed (izvlechennoj) as 'Russian religious philosophy'. Reprints of century-old texts continue to appear by dint of inertia, although enthusiastic paraphraises of sophiology or 'Vekhovstvo' no longer attract attention. Scholars have moved on to elucidate the historical material, or, to use Ranke's expression, 'what really happened'. And in the framework of these historical and philological investigations it has turned out that within the compex of ideas, which we have inherited from the beginning of the twentieth century, it is virtually impossible to separate the de facto world views of the 'actors' from the later mythological accretions created by them." "K voprosu ob aktualizacii vekhovskoj filosofii: sbornik Russlands politische Seele," in Issledovanija po istorii russkoj mysli. Ezhegodnik za 1997 god, St-Peterburg: Aleteija, pp. 69-70. A by far more critical, not to say condemnatory, tone runs through a commentary by the historian and political scientist, Aleksandr Janov, written just as the Soviet Union was disintegrating. "Is is true that Russian religious philosophy . . . has 'profoundly resolved' all the questions which have risen up before us today? Is it true that all that is left for us is to draw on it in handfuls? And how to face up to the fact that in this entire philosophy there was precisely nothing which could help reverse the catastrophe of Russia's previous attempts to break through to political modernization? How to account for the shattering defeat it suffered when confronted with the practical realities of the twentieth century? What to make of the fact that it speak to us only now - after decades of deafening silence? In other words, what about its striking non-practicality, which condemns it to utter defeat? Can we really take it on now as a pathmarker, in our present attempt to break out, when our own lives and the future of our childern are at stake?" Aleksandr Janov, "Filosofija pobezhdennych," Strannik: Literatura, Iskusstvo, Politika 1, 1991, p. 81. A less strident 'sceptical' position is put forward by James Scanlan in a statement to a largely Russian audience in Moscow. Answering the question he set himself, does Russia today need any kind of philosophy at all, Scanlan answers ". . .yes, but only on the condition that this philosophy be orientated to Russia's real needs today - moral, social, economic, and political needs. Much, even a great deal of what relates to such needs is found in the heritage of Russian philosophy, but much also depends on the ability to overcome certain traits of this heritage." One such trait, according to Scanlan, is the 'maximalism' of Russian thought. "Nuzhna li Rossii russkaja filosofija," VF 94, 1, p. 64.
17. At least Khoruzhij thinks so. In the text cited above, he comments laconically that Russian philosophy, as he understands the essence of the tradition, is not just something allegedly belonging to the 'noumenon', the sophiological aspect, the 'eidos' of Russian culture, which one must enter into irrespective of the circumstances. Ibid., p. 12.
18. The expression occurs in such classic Russian thinkers as Vladimir Solov'ëv, notably in his three articles gathered under the title "Teoreticheskaja filosofija" (1897-1899).
19. The texts gathered in Merab Mamardashvili, Kak ja ponimaju filosofiju, Moskva: Progress, 1990; among the flow of publications appearing after his death (1990), Kartezianskie razmyshlenija, Moskva: Progress, provides a good example of Mamardashvili's style, more accessible, on the whole, than "Metatheoretische Einführung in das Bewusstsein" (together with Aleksandr Pjatigorskij) in Arne Ackermann, Harry Raiser, Dirk Ufflemann (Hrsg.), Orte des Denkens. Neue russische Philosophie, Wien: Passagen Verl., 1995, Ss. 63-78.
20. The texts gathered in Merab Mamardashvili, Kak ja ponimaju filosofiju, Moskva: Progress, 1990; among the flow of publications appearing after his death (1990), Kartezianskie razmyshlenija, Moskva: Progress, provides a good example of Mamardashvili's style, more accessible, on the whole, than "Metatheoretische Einführung in das Bewusstsein" (together with Aleksandr Pjatigorskij) in Arne Ackermann, Harry Raiser, Dirk Ufflemann (Hrsg.), Orte des Denkens. Neue russische Philosophie, Wien: Passagen Verl., 1995, Ss. 63-78.
21. The texts gathered in Merab Mamardashvili, Kak ja ponimaju filosofiju, Moskva: Progress, 1990; among the flow of publications appearing after his death (1990), Kartezianskie razmyshlenija, Moskva: Progress, provides a good example of Mamardashvili's style, more accessible, on the whole, than "Metatheoretische Einführung in das Bewusstsein" (together with Aleksandr Pjatigorskij) in Arne Ackermann, Harry Raiser, Dirk Ufflemann (Hrsg.), Orte des Denkens. Neue russische Philosophie, Wien: Passagen Verl., 1995, Ss. 63-78.
22. Cf., for example, M. Mamardashvili, 'K prostranstvenno-vremennoj fenomenologii sobytij znanija," in Strela poznanija. Nabrosok estestvennoistoricheskoj gnoseologii, M.: Shkola "Jazyki russkoj kul'tury," 1996, pp. 281-298. There is an echo of Solov'ëv from Teoreticheskaja filosofija: "poskol'ku myslimoe est' po neobkhodimosti ne v etom tol'ko sluchae, a vo vsjakom-myshlenie imeet prirodu universal'nuju, ili vselenskuju." "Forma razumnosti i razum istiny" [Teoreticheskaja filosofija], Sochinenija v dvuch tomakh, 2e izd., Moskva: Mysl', 1990, Tom 2, p. 816.
23. Cf., for example, M. Mamardashvili, 'K prostranstvenno-vremennoj fenomenologii sobytij znanija," in Strela poznanija. Nabrosok estestvennoistoricheskoj gnoseologii, M.: Shkola "Jazyki russkoj kul'tury," 1996, pp. 281-298. There is an echo of Solov'ëv from Teoreticheskaja filosofija: "poskol'ku myslimoe est' po neobkhodimosti ne v etom tol'ko sluchae, a vo vsjakom-myshlenie imeet prirodu universal'nuju, ili vselenskuju." "Forma razumnosti i razum istiny" [Teoreticheskaja filosofija], Sochinenija v dvuch tomakh, 2e izd., Moskva: Mysl', 1990, Tom 2, p. 816.
24. Of the many texts by Bibler appearing around and after the fall of the Soviet Union, good examples of the style are found in "Kultura, dialog kul'tur: opyt opredelenija," VF 1989, 6; Ot naukouchenija k logike kul'tury. Dva filosofskich vvedeniju v dvacatpervyj vek. Moskva: Politizdat, 1991; Mikhail Mikahijlovic Bakhtin ili poetika kul'tury, Moskva: Progress 1991.
25. Of the many texts by Bibler appearing around and after the fall of the Soviet Union, good examples of the style are found in "Kultura, dialog kul'tur: opyt opredelenija," VF 1989, 6; Ot naukouchenija k logike kul'tury. Dva filosofskich vvedeniju v dvacatpervyj vek. Moskva: Politizdat, 1991; Mikhail Mikahijlovic Bakhtin ili poetika kul'tury, Moskva: Progress 1991.
26. Of the many texts by Bibler appearing around and after the fall of the Soviet Union, good examples of the style are found in "Kultura, dialog kul'tur: opyt opredelenija," VF 1989, 6; Ot naukouchenija k logike kul'tury. Dva filosofskich vvedeniju v dvacatpervyj vek. Moskva: Politizdat, 1991; Mikhail Mikahijlovic Bakhtin ili poetika kul'tury, Moskva: Progress 1991.
27. Cf. N.I. Lapin (ed.), Filosofskoe soznanie: dramatizm obnovlenija, Moskva: Politizdat, 1991; Marksizm: Pro i Kontra, Moskva: Respublika, 1992 [see the special issue of Studies in East European Thought, 43 (1-2), 1993, consisting of extracts from this volume]; Osvobozhdenie dukha, Moskva: Politizdat, 1991.
28. Cf. N.I. Lapin (ed.), Filosofskoe soznanie: dramatizm obnovlenija, Moskva: Politizdat, 1991; Marksizm: Pro i Kontra, Moskva: Respublika, 1992 [see the special issue of Studies in East European Thought, 43 (1-2), 1993, consisting of extracts from this volume]; Osvobozhdenie dukha, Moskva: Politizdat, 1991.
29. Cf. N.I. Lapin (ed.), Filosofskoe soznanie: dramatizm obnovlenija, Moskva: Politizdat, 1991; Marksizm: Pro i Kontra, Moskva: Respublika, 1992 [see the special issue of Studies in East European Thought, 43 (1-2), 1993, consisting of extracts from this volume]; Osvobozhdenie dukha, Moskva: Politizdat, 1991.
30. Cf. N.I. Lapin (ed.), Filosofskoe soznanie: dramatizm obnovlenija, Moskva: Politizdat, 1991; Marksizm: Pro i Kontra, Moskva: Respublika, 1992 [see the special issue of Studies in East European Thought, 43 (1-2), 1993, consisting of extracts from this volume]; Osvobozhdenie dukha, Moskva: Politizdat, 1991.
31. Cf. E.M. Swiderski, "Erziehung zur Kultur. Reformpolitik in Russland", Civitas 1993, 11, pp. 241-250; Frances Nethercott, "Eine vernachlässigte Dimension des Transformationsprozesses: Lehre und Forschung im postsowjetischen Rußland", SOWI (Sozialwissenschaftliche Informationen), 1997, (27), 3, Ss. 189-194.; an interesting compendium of materials is found in Otto Latcis, Transformacija gumanitarnogo obrazovanija v Rossii. Na puti novoj shkole. Moskva: Interpraks, 1995.
32. Cf. E.M. Swiderski, "Erziehung zur Kultur. Reformpolitik in Russland", Civitas 1993, 11, pp. 241-250; Frances Nethercott, "Eine vernachlässigte Dimension des Transformationsprozesses: Lehre und Forschung im postsowjetischen Rußland", SOWI (Sozialwissenschaftliche Informationen), 1997, (27), 3, Ss. 189-194.; an interesting compendium of materials is found in Otto Latcis, Transformacija gumanitarnogo obrazovanija v Rossii. Na puti novoj shkole. Moskva: Interpraks, 1995.
33. Cf. E.M. Swiderski, "Erziehung zur Kultur. Reformpolitik in Russland", Civitas 1993, 11, pp. 241-250; Frances Nethercott, "Eine vernachlässigte Dimension des Transformationsprozesses: Lehre und Forschung im postsowjetischen Rußland", SOWI (Sozialwissenschaftliche Informationen), 1997, (27), 3, Ss. 189-194.; an interesting compendium of materials is found in Otto Latcis, Transformacija gumanitarnogo obrazovanija v Rossii. Na puti novoj shkole. Moskva: Interpraks, 1995.
34. Thus, a typical characterization reads: "Its [kul'turologija] object is the genesis, functioning, and development of culture as the specifically human mode of life, which unfolds historically as the process of cultural transmission, externally similar to, but nonetheless distinct from, life in nature. The task of kul'turologija [is] to constitute a 'genetics of culture', which would not only explain the historico-cultural process . . . but could likewise prognosticate and manage it." G.V. Dracha (ed.) Kul'turologja (Textbook), Rostov-on-Don: "Feniks", 1995, pp. 14-15. Cf. the roundtable discussion "Kul'tura. Kul'turologija o obrazovanie," VF 1997, 2, pp. 3-57.
35. Thus, a typical characterization reads: "Its [kul'turologija] object is the genesis, functioning, and development of culture as the specifically human mode of life, which unfolds historically as the process of cultural transmission, externally similar to, but nonetheless distinct from, life in nature. The task of kul'turologija [is] to constitute a 'genetics of culture', which would not only explain the historico-cultural process . . . but could likewise prognosticate and manage it." G.V. Dracha (ed.) Kul'turologja (Textbook), Rostov-on-Don: "Feniks", 1995, pp. 14-15. Cf. the roundtable discussion "Kul'tura. Kul'turologija o obrazovanie," VF 1997, 2, pp. 3-57.
36. V.I. Arnol'dov, Chelovek i mir kul'tury, Moskva: MGIK, 1992, p. 10.
37. Ju.M. Lotman, Kul'tura i vzryv, Moskva: Progress, 1992.
38. M.S. Kagan, Filosofija kul'tury, St-Petersburg: Petropolis, 1996.
39. I have examined some part of the background and contents of proposals for 'integrative ideologies' in "La Russie postsoviétique en quête des constantes et des continuités culturelles," in Pawel Dembinski (éd.), Ethique de la privatisation dans les pays postcommunistes, Paris, Editions de la Caisses des Depots et Consignatures, forthcoming.
40. Ernst Cassirer, "Die Tragödie der Kultur," reprinted in Ralf Konersmann (Hrsg.), Kulturphilosophie, Reclam Verlag Leipzig, 1996, p. 118.
41. Ibid.
42. The text as a whole is an answer to Georg Simmel's much earlier essay on the 'tragedy of culture' ["Der Begriff und die Tragödie der Kultur," 1911] in which Simmel sets culture off against personality in the search for spiritual growth and fulfillment, a process which he believes necessarily goes awry, that is, results in tragedy for the person.
43. Ibid., p. 114.
44. "We call . . . sign sets discourses if they meet two conditions. First, they must not only communicate information, structuring reality in a cognitive or expressive way, they must also perform a forceful evaluative task." [Jeffrey Alexander, "The Discourse of American Civil Society: A New Proposal for Cultural Studies," Los Angeles: UCLA (Mimeo), 1989, cited in Piotr Sztompka, "Civilizational Incompetence. The Trap of Post-Communist Societies, Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 1993(22), 2, pp. 85-95, p. 90. My views in this respect remain certainly 'naive' if read in light of the astonishing 'discourse' industry that has arisen out of neo-structuralism, deconstructivism, and the many currents grouped under the 'postmodernist' label. There are approaches, however, which are germane to my interests, for instance those which have gained popularity among 'cultural historians'. Cf. Hardtwig, W., Wehler, H. (Hg.), Kulturgeschichte Heute, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1996 (Geschichte und Gesellschaft: Sonderheft 16).
45. "We call . . . sign sets discourses if they meet two conditions. First, they must not only communicate information, structuring reality in a cognitive or expressive way, they must also perform a forceful evaluative task." [Jeffrey Alexander, "The Discourse of American Civil Society: A New Proposal for Cultural Studies," Los Angeles: UCLA (Mimeo), 1989, cited in Piotr Sztompka, "Civilizational Incompetence. The Trap of Post-Communist Societies, Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 1993(22), 2, pp. 85-95, p. 90. My views in this respect remain certainly 'naive' if read in light of the astonishing 'discourse' industry that has arisen out of neo-structuralism, deconstructivism, and the many currents grouped under the 'postmodernist' label. There are approaches, however, which are germane to my interests, for instance those which have gained popularity among 'cultural historians'. Cf. Hardtwig, W., Wehler, H. (Hg.), Kulturgeschichte Heute, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1996 (Geschichte und Gesellschaft: Sonderheft 16).
46. "We call . . . sign sets discourses if they meet two conditions. First, they must not only communicate information, structuring reality in a cognitive or expressive way, they must also perform a forceful evaluative task." [Jeffrey Alexander, "The Discourse of American Civil Society: A New Proposal for Cultural Studies," Los Angeles: UCLA (Mimeo), 1989, cited in Piotr Sztompka, "Civilizational Incompetence. The Trap of Post-Communist Societies, Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 1993(22), 2, pp. 85-95, p. 90. My views in this respect remain certainly 'naive' if read in light of the astonishing 'discourse' industry that has arisen out of neo-structuralism, deconstructivism, and the many currents grouped under the 'postmodernist' label. There are approaches, however, which are germane to my interests, for instance those which have gained popularity among 'cultural historians'. Cf. Hardtwig, W., Wehler, H. (Hg.), Kulturgeschichte Heute, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1996 (Geschichte und Gesellschaft: Sonderheft 16).
47. For a view of philosophical culture in great part complementary to the one presented here see Evert van der Zweerde, Soviet Historiography . . . , op. cit. Perhaps one of the best reconstructions of 'classical' Soviet philosophical culture remains T.J. Blakeley's Soviet Scholasticism, Dordrecht: Reidel, 1961.
48. For a view of philosophical culture in great part complementary to the one presented here see Evert van der Zweerde, Soviet Historiography . . . , op. cit. Perhaps one of the best reconstructions of 'classical' Soviet philosophical culture remains T.J. Blakeley's Soviet Scholasticism, Dordrecht: Reidel, 1961.
49. In the analytic tradition, the example of Gustav Bergman is especially instructive in these regards. Not only was he an exponent of an ideal language for philosophy and its proper objects, he consistently warned his readers that the terms in philosophical use, however much they may recall ordinary English, had nothing to do with common usage.
50. I have mind the work of the so-called Poznan School in Poland, originally the product of a non-Marxist philosopher of science, Jerzy Giedymin, whose work, along with that of Znaniecki, the sociologist and philosopher of culture, was somewhat eclectically read into Marx's 'logic of capital' to yield an idealizational, anti-positivist theory of science. Its main representatives into the Solidarity period were Leszek Nowak and Jerzy Kmita. Interested readers can consult the many volumes of the series "Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of Science and the Humanities," published by Rodopi, Amsterdam.
51. It may be objected that I am giving to the concept of philosophical culture a by far too monolithic interpretation, as if there could be but one philosophical culture at a time. What about the evident plurality of philosophical schools, yesterday and today? The objection actually relates to a point yet to be raised explicitly, viz., the influence of the wider social-cultural context on philosophy. From that point of view, the philosophical culture does not preclude considerable internal diversity; but in the wider socio-cultural context there is a recognition, explicit or implicit as it may be, of what can count as, typically be identified as, philosophizing discourse. In other words, plurality does not preclude common boundaries and presupposes a common 'public space'.
52. We all know, Rorty avers, that tables and chairs - and selves - are not what they seem, that physical science is the better judge of what they are. That does not mean, however, that we will stop talking about them in the manner we have talked about them for so long. And no doubt, this kind of talk will continue to serve philosophers as an example of talking about the world.
53. See the free exchange among Habermas, Rorty, Kolakowski, and members of the philosophy faculty at the University of Warsaw. J. Niznik, J.T. Sanders (eds.), Debating the State of Philosophy. Habermas, Rorty, Kolakowski, Westport: Praeger, 1996.
54. I have dwelt on these question in my "La culture de la crise . . . ," op. cit.
55. Cited by A.I. Volodin, "Tri 'P', ili O sovremmennykh versjakh istorii otechestvennoj filosofii sovetskogo perioda," in "Filosofija v SSSR: versii i realii," Roundtable discussion published in VF 1997, 11, p. 4.
56. Sentiments about what has been lost have sometimes been expressed in Chadaaevian language, in terms of 'civilization', and 'culture'. For instance, Bibler isolates the issue of civil society and, having carried out an analysis of the concept and its conditions of application, affirms that its loss (utrata, razrushenie) in Russia "is one of our most terrifying deficits." V. Bibler, "O grazhdanskom obshchestve i obshchestvennom dogovore," Cherez ternii. Prolog. Chto dalshe?, Moskva: Progress, 1990, pp. 335-361.
57. For instance, the reversal of 'semantic direction' which has occurred with respect to the relationship between 'Russian religious philosophy' and 'Marxism-Leninism'. Previously, the discursive field was structured in such a way that, for instance, the term 'Marxist materialism' immediately signified a negative connotation of the term 'religious philosophy'. Today, the direction has become, by and large, the reverse.
58. The recently published roundtable in VF, "Filosofija v SSSR: versii i realii," VF 1997, 11, is one of the very few documents of its kind till date.
59. Few at the time were concerned with the clutch of questions associated with Diamat, unless these are identified with methodology and the philosophy of science in a more or less strict sense. Interestingly, today there are philosophers, who not long ago counted themselves among Soviet philosphers, who contend that what was really of interest in Soviet philosophy, and that should not be allowed to languish and expire, is the philosophy of science and related subjects. Not surprisingly, these persons count among the 'modernizers', those who hold on to the values of the 'scientific-technological revolution' and the 'technotronic civilization'.
60. The agonies of the exit out of communism and the culture syndrome have been theorized, with East and Central Europe in mind, by Piotr Sztompka, op. cit. and, to cite another Polish source, Jadwiga Staniszkis., "W poszukiwaniu paradygmatu transformacji. Wprowadzenie," and "Ontologija, kultura, przypadek - trzy sciezki wychodzenia z kommunizmu," both in J. Staniszkis (ed.), W poszukiwaniu paradygmatu transformacji, Warszawa: PAN ISP, 1994.
61. The roundtable discussion cited above - in VF 1997, 2 - provides a good idea of what is at stake.
62. For instance L.G. Ionin, Sociologija kul'tury, Moskva: Logos 1996, also lonin's collection in German, Russische Metamorphosen. Aufsätze zu Politik, Alltag und Kultur. Hrsg. von Jan Wieglohs, Berlin: Berliner Debatte, 1995, pp. 160-255; also A. Ju. Sogomonov, "Sociologija kul'tury: Teoreticheskij aspekt," Sociologija v Rossii, Moskva: Izd. "Na Vorob'evykh"/ISRAN, 1996, 401-422.
63. For instance L.G. Ionin, Sociologija kul'tury, Moskva: Logos 1996, also lonin's collection in German, Russische Metamorphosen. Aufsätze zu Politik, Alltag und Kultur. Hrsg. von Jan Wieglohs, Berlin: Berliner Debatte, 1995, pp. 160-255; also A. Ju. Sogomonov, "Sociologija kul'tury: Teoreticheskij aspekt," Sociologija v Rossii, Moskva: Izd. "Na Vorob'evykh"/ISRAN, 1996, 401-422.
64. For instance L.G. Ionin, Sociologija kul'tury, Moskva: Logos 1996, also lonin's collection in German, Russische Metamorphosen. Aufsätze zu Politik, Alltag und Kultur. Hrsg. von Jan Wieglohs, Berlin: Berliner Debatte, 1995, pp. 160-255; also A. Ju. Sogomonov, "Sociologija kul'tury: Teoreticheskij aspekt," Sociologija v Rossii, Moskva: Izd. "Na Vorob'evykh"/ISRAN, 1996, 401-422.
65. Vadim Mezhuev, "Kul'turologija kak nauka," VF 2, 1997, 11. Contrast Mezhuev's affirmation with the remarkable plea by Mikahil Rozov ("Proshloe kak cennost'," Put' 1, 1992, p. 143) "Social templates [obrazcy], that is to say, all of past human activity, taken in its function as experience, [is] the 'genetic fund' of society in which are fixed the successes and failures, the errors and recognitions [prozrenija] of thousands of years of our history. [. . . ] From the very first steps in our social existence we begin to assimilate this millenial experience thanks to which we become men. [. . . ] The idea comes naturally to mind that our social 'genetic fund' [is] this indubitable absolute value that we must try constantly to preserve and reproduce. [. . . ] we propose the principle of reverence to Culture, understanding the latter as the Past in its role as template, that is to say, as humanity's 'genetic fund'. For this reason, we propose considering the Past as the absolute value and as the fundamental ethical category."
66. Vadim Mezhuev, "Kul'turologija kak nauka," VF 2, 1997, 11. Contrast Mezhuev's affirmation with the remarkable plea by Mikahil Rozov ("Proshloe kak cennost'," Put' 1, 1992, p. 143) "Social templates [obrazcy], that is to say, all of past human activity, taken in its function as experience, [is] the 'genetic fund' of society in which are fixed the successes and failures, the errors and recognitions [prozrenija] of thousands of years of our history. [. . . ] From the very first steps in our social existence we begin to assimilate this millenial experience thanks to which we become men. [. . . ] The idea comes naturally to mind that our social 'genetic fund' [is] this indubitable absolute value that we must try constantly to preserve and reproduce. [. . . ] we propose the principle of reverence to Culture, understanding the latter as the Past in its role as template, that is to say, as humanity's 'genetic fund'. For this reason, we propose considering the Past as the absolute value and as the fundamental ethical category."
67. A.S. Akhiezer, Rossija: Kritika istoricheskogo opyta, Moskva, 1991 (a badly printed, limited edition; a new edition has reportedly appeared, 1997, published by "Gospodin Narod"). This massive work, in three volumes, can be accessed by way of a summary Akhiezer produced for INION in 1992 under the title Social'no-kulturnye problemy razvitija rossii, a brochure of some 82 pp. His work today ranges over a wide spectrum of issues, including modernization theory, normative-ethical considerations in social change, social ontology, and prognosticating Russia's development.
68. "Ob osobennostjakh sovremennogo filosofstvovanija (Vzgliad iz Rossii)," VF 1995, 12, pp. 3-20. Here I rely on the English translation in Russian Studies in Philosophy, 1997, 36, 3, pp. 27-53. Since I wrote this essay, a second, final installment of this text has been published in VF 1998, 2.
69. "Ob osobennostjakh sovremennogo filosofstvovanija (Vzgliad iz Rossii)," VF 1995, 12, pp. 3-20. Here I rely on the English translation in Russian Studies in Philosophy, 1997, 36, 3, pp. 27-53. Since I wrote this essay, a second, final installment of this text has been published in VF 1998, 2.
70. "Ob osobennostjakh sovremennogo filosofstvovanija (Vzgliad iz Rossii)," VF 1995, 12, pp. 3-20. Here I rely on the English translation in Russian Studies in Philosophy, 1997, 36, 3, pp. 27-53. Since I wrote this essay, a second, final installment of this text has been published in VF 1998, 2.
71. Ibid., p. 27.
72. Ibid., p. 29.
73. Ibid., p. 33.
74. Ot naukouchenija k logike kul'tury. Dvafilosofskich vvedeniju v dvacatpervyj veh. op. cit., p. 261; "O grazhdanskom obshchestve i obschestvennom dogovore," op. cit., p. 350.
75. Ot naukouchenija k logike kul'tury. Dvafilosofskich vvedeniju v dvacatpervyj veh. op. cit., p. 261; "O grazhdanskom obshchestve i obschestvennom dogovore," op. cit., p. 350.
76. Akhiezer, op. cit., p. 43.
77. Ibid.
78. The term 'inversion' is a terminus technicus in Akhiezer's conceptual arsenal; interpretation (osmyslenie) and dia-logue owe their dynamism to the pairs of opposites continually emerging out of the socio-cultural magma (as Cornelius Castoriadis would say); the move from one to the other, in the search for a 'universal', the substance, and from there to higher mediations (synthesis), goes through a series of 'inversions'. Akhiezer makes several passing positive references to Kant, but only one, rather negative, observation about Hegel. No doubt, some kind of inversion is involved.
79. Ibid., p. 44.
80. Ibid., p. 45.
81. Ibid., p. 47.
82. Ibid. The passage continues, ". . . and to cultivate philosophizing on the basis of the belief that destruction is creation and that murder affirms life." Taken as it stands, the passage refers first of all to Soviet philosophy, the consequences to thought of a Manichean mentality. In the context, however, it is ambiguous, given that Akhiezer does not doubt the 'cultural being' of Soviet philosophy, recognizes that the pattern it exemplified is not impossible today, and knows, finally, that Russian religious philosophy, to be an effective partner in dialogue and mediation today, has to pass through the 'inversion' without which Soviet culture will remain something of 'black hole' in the social consciousness. In this respect, simply reverting to Russian religious philosophy is certainly to adopt a 'moral hybrid' rather than a set of values emerging directly out of the critical assimilation of the Soviet heritage as the culture the society gave itself, and from the perspective of which it must understand its prospects for 'meaning synthesis'.
83. Ibid., p. 51.
84. Ibid., p. 48. Exactly how philosophy does this is not said. Too bad, for, after all, in its present 'reflexive modality', which presumably has arisen in a series of dialogical inversions and mediations of such forms of philosophizing as 'transcendental analysis', 'the 'dialectical method', 'phenomenological description', the 'linguistic turn', 'deconstruction' and postmodernist 'genealogy' as well as 'archeology', we must have some kind of philosophizing technique, practice to rely on.
85. Ibid., pp. 50-51.
86. Ibid., p. 49.