Solov’ev’s Critique of Progress in “Three Conversations”

Abstract

Vladimir Solov'ev dated the completion of Three Conversations Easter Sunday, 1900. This final work is the culmination of a lifetime of thought and stands apart from the rest of his oeuvre. The philosopher treats the problem of evil with a particular sense of urgency here. Rather than the theoretical, gnostic inquiry characteristic of his earlier works (What is the origin of evil?), Solov'ev is concerned with a more practical, concrete question: How can we recognize evil in order to make correct moral judgements? To understand why Three Conversations deals chiefly with the problem of evil, one must examine the work's related themes and, in particular, Solov'ev' s final ideas on the philosophy of history. For him history is teleological and assumes the notion of a process i.e., a series of acts aimed at a single end. The sole object of historical development, in his view, is the realization of the unconditional moral good.1 The end of human history and the ultimate goal of humanity is union with God who exists beyond time and, hence, beyond history. But the union of humanity with God cannot be accomplished in history, for the historical process cannot be logically aimed at an ahistorical goal. Rather, the denouement of the historical process will be the historical condition of this ultimate goal, the union with God. For Solov'ev the realisation of the unconditional moral good is in the union of the Christian people, i.e., the three Churches (Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant), which is to occur in time as the result of an historical process. The movement toward this goal involves the concept of progress which may be defined loosely as forward motion or advancement. The rate of increase in the development of the historical process corresponds to the rate of progress. In Three Conversations, Solov'ev examines the ideas of moral, political, and religious progress. That is to say, he questions whether historical progress in