Abstract
In his search for the meaning of life, Tolstoy turned to Spinoza’s rationalist teaching about freedom, reason, morality, and religious faith. Spinoza created a philosophy where beliefs are in union with deeds, logic unites with ethics, and knowledge joins faith. According to Tolstoy, it is art that makes a synthesis of all the best attempts of the real, true philosophy. I argue that Tolstoy’s artistic method of linkage (stseplenie) was probably borrowed from Spinoza. Inspired by Spinoza’s “theorems of reason,” Tolstoy created his own “axiom of life” and elaborates on the concept of the “power of life” as a core of religious faith. Tolstoy endorsed Spinoza’s rationalistic critique of religion which helped to liberate true faith from the power of superstition and church dogmatics, but he criticised the geometric form in which Spinoza put the truths he discovered.
Highlights
Lev Tolstoy is well-known as a person with vast knowledge; all the main streams of scientific, religious, and philosophical thought were of interest to him
It is interesting that we find the notion of linkage in Spinoza’s Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, which Tolstoy studied thoroughly in its French edition
Writings of Spinoza helped Tolstoy to clarify his views of truth, reason, and consciousness and power on life, the latter being understood as the religious feeling pertaining to all human beings
Summary
Lev Tolstoy is well-known as a person with vast knowledge; all the main streams of scientific, religious, and philosophical thought were of interest to him. Philosophy, or theology, there should be like-minded thinkers for Tolstoy to look for, there should be those who proceeded, towards the true knowledge of the meaning of life. Taking ground in Spinoza’s ideas, Tolstoy looked for the meaning of the concepts of necessity and freedom, moral life, rational and religious understanding of God, ethics, and religion as a whole.
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