Soviet and Post-Soviet Generations of Russian Philosophers: Framing the Problem

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article proposes a generational approach to the study of the formation of the philosophical tradition. A philosophical generation is a powerful intellectual pattern with its own optics, sets of problems, and methods of research. The author distinguishes six generations of philosophers living and working in Russia today. The specific nature of each philosophical generation is determined by its existential contribution to the philosophy of those close to each other in terms of their experience of discipleship and integration into formal and informal philosophical institutions, and by the commonality of their intellectual foundations. In the case of philosophical generations, this refers not only to the age of those “doing philosophy” but also to the emergence of a new attitude toward philosophy itself, to the production or mastery of new ideas and meanings, to new trends in the discussion of already familiar issues and phenomena, to a new social and cultural role for philosophy, to new general understanding of the world and of man, to a change in what is called “the philosophical way of life.” Studying philosophical generations is important for restoring the human context of philosophical development. The path of cognition from generational type to texts is no less important than the usual path from texts. Reading the history of philosophy as the history of generations of philosophy focuses scholars’ attention on personal connections within the philosophical community (both horizontal and vertical), which clarifies both the individual contribution of thinkers and the mutual influences that determine the birth and development of philosophical ideas.