Philosophy, Modernity and National Identity: The Quest for a Russian Philosophy at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This article explores the huge interest among Russian philosophers and intellectuals at the turn of the twentieth century in the history of Russian philosophy, an interest that was, it is argued, new. In the early twentieth century, a Russian philosophical past was created not so much by means of comprehensive narratives, but rather in works on individual thinkers. This article analyses the studies of Vladimir Solov'ev, Hryhorii Skovoroda, Petr Chaadaev and the Slavophiles, whose writings were presented as the foundational texts of Russian philosophy. At the same time, these thinkers were evaluated in varying ways and celebrated for different reasons, with interpretations of the past often serving as starting points for the interpreters' own philosophical projects. While Russian philosophy was conceived of as a fact of the past, it was also perceived as a task for the future. Thus, the material analysed in this article presents us with different and competing ideas not just of what Russian philosophy really is, but also of Russia, of Russian national identity and of Russian modernity.