The First Complete
History of
Russian Philosophy in Any Language
Russian Philosophy in Any Language
V. V. Zenkovsky
Note by the
Editors of the 1953 Edition
This two-volume
work, which represents the first complete history of Russian philosophy in any
language, is the fruit of nearly forty years of research and reflection on the
author’s part. When it was first published in Paris in 1948 and 1950, the
Russian edition was widely acclaimed as the most readable, as well as the most
reliable, history of Russian philosophic thought yet written.
This English translation, which incorporates the
author’s latest revisions and additions, will take its place as a standard
work, a source of fascinating information and illuminating insights, for every
student of Russian intellectual history. Written in a clear and direct style, with
a minimum of technical terminology, Professor Zenkovsky’s work traces the
development of Russian philosophy from its beginnings, as a product of
religious experience and theological speculation, through the long process of
secularization, and the successive impacts of intellectual currents from
Europe, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The author, who is particularly well qualified for
this task by virtue of his thorough knowledge of both Russian and Western
cultural history, shows how these foreign intellectual currents were redirected
and modified to fit the pattern, and satisfy the demands, of Russian historical
experience.
The author’s sensitive yet dispassionate treatment of
the views of Russian philosophers from Skovoroda and Radishchev in the
eighteenth century to Nicholas Lossky, who is currently active, is based on an
exhaustive study of sources which are generally unavailable in Western
languages. His fresh and vigorous presentation of such widely misunderstood
thinkers as Skovoroda, Chaadayev, Herzen and Leontyev is especially valuable,
as is his discussion of the role of Marxism in the development of Russian
thought, and his concise exposition of the philosophic views of such Marxists
as Plekhanov, Bogdanov and Lenin.
Readers who are primarily interested in the broad
proliferation of religious thought among recent Russian philosophers, will find
a full treatment of the views of Vladimir Solovyov and his distinguished
followers in the second volume of this richly rewarding book.
(The 1953 Editors)
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See the other volume
of this work by clicking here:
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“A History of Russian Philosophy, Volume One” and “A
History of Russian Philosophy, Volume Two” were published in websites of
the Independent Lodge of Theosophists on 31 December 2022.
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Vasily
Vasilyevich Zenkovsky (photo) was born in Russia in 1881 and lived up to 1962.
He left Russia in 1919.
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Read more:
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On 14 September
2016, after examining the state of the esoteric movement worldwide, a group of
students decided to found the Independent
Lodge of Theosophists. Two of the priorities adopted by the ILT are learning
from the past and building a better future.
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Helena Blavatsky
(photo) wrote these revealing words: “Deserve,
then desire”.
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