Antihistoricism of Lev Shestov

Abstract

Lev Shestov did not belong to those philosophers for whom philosophy of history was the central theme. However, the very time he lived in did not allow him to remain completely apart from reflecting on historical events. History, according to Shestov, should be understood as what is dealt with personal relations between man and God. In this situation, man ought to constantly make a free moral choice, which is not determined by the reason. Thus, the Russian thinker demonstrates the approach to understanding history, which became widespread several decades later when philosophers had to take into consideration the tragic phenomena of totalitarian regimes and two world wars to conclude that any conception of rationalized history implies, on the one hand, the annihilation of man as a subject of history, and, on the other hand, the destruction of many thousands of human lives. It is the permanent moral choice that, according to Shestov, determines not only the fate of a man, but also the fate of the mankind, and even the fate of God. In Shestov’s philosophy, God is described as something incomprehensible for man rather than the almighty power that predestines all the events in the world history by means of endowing them with definite meanings. Shestov believed that man can become absolutely free only if he relies on God completely, without any rational justifications. The author shows that Shestov’s criticism of any methodology in historical research which aims at interpreting history in a rational way was an attempt to protect man and his freedom from the curse of rationalism. It is this protection that should be considered, in the author’s opinion, the core value of his existential philosophy of history.