The Greatness of Vladimir Solov’ëv: A Review Essay

Abstract

In 1950, Semen Frank, himself no mean Russian philosopher, wrote that is unquestionably greatest of Russian philosophers and systematic religious thinkers.2 With appearance over last decade or so of a series of translations, new editions, and scholarly works on Solov'ev, we have never been in a better position to assess his greatness. In this essay I shall argue that Solov'ev's reputation as Russia's greatest philosopher rests on essential humanism of his core concept, Godmanhood (bogochelovechestvo). This thesis is not new. Berdiaev wrote that humanism is a constituent part of Godmanhood, realization of which depends on free human activity.3 Frank contended that truth of humanism is a religious truth, namely, universal principle of Godmanhood-in his words, divinity of humanity and even creation-and that the significance of Solovyov is to have once more faced this decisive problem in its depth and importance.4 More recently Paul Valliere, whose work will figure prominently here, has written that the concept of bogochelovechestvo was vehicle for a principled and profound Orthodox Christian humanism.5 Valliere and scholars, including Richard Gustafson, Judith Deutsch Komblatt and Marina Kostalevsky, have, however, explored Solov'ev's humanism in greater depth than earlier writers.6 They have demonstrated that it gives his thought an overall impressive continuity, revising traditional interpretations such as Trubetskoi's and Mochul'skii's, which stressed discontinuities across philosopher's main intellectual periods, especially in case of his last, apocalyptic phase.7 In what follows I will consider these new directions in Solov'ev scholarship, while developing further three main elements of his humanism-human autonomy, dignity and perfectibility-concentrating for this latter purpose on Lectures on Godmanhood and Justification of Good, both of which are available in new editions and which are most important works of philosopher's earlier and later periods, respectively.LIFE, WORKS, CONCEPTSVladimir Sergeevich Solov'ev was bom in Moscow in 1853, son of Sergei M. Solov'ev, leading Russian historian of his generation. After receiving a classical gymnasium education, Vladimir graduated from Moscow University in 1873. In November of following year he defended his master's thesis, Crisis of Western Philosophy: Against Posilivists, his first book.8 It anticipated broader Russian revolt against positivism by about twenty years and made Solov'ev into something of a celebrity. He began lecturing at Moscow University and Moscow Higher Courses for Women, but in June 1875 went abroad for research on gnosticism and mysticism at British Museum. There he had a mystical experience of Sophia, Divine Wisdom, who directed him to travel to Egypt. In desert he saw her again.9 Returning to Moscow in summer of 1876, he resumed teaching and wrote his second book, Philosophical Principles of Integral Knowledge (1877).10 Within a year he moved to St. Petersburg to take a position in Ministry of Public Education. In early 1878 he delivered his famous Lectures on Godmanhood to audiences of nearly a thousand that included Dostoevsky.11 In April 1880 young philosopher defended a brilliant doctoral dissertation, Critique of Abstract Principles, and then began teaching at St. Petersburg University.12 The author of four books in six years was twenty-seven years old, as Valliere observes.13These early works, highly theoretical, advance main outlines of Solov'ev's philosophical system. It was a metaphysics of of all (vseedinstvo), which conceived cosmos as manifestation or other of divine absolute in process of its own becoming or self-realization.14 unity of all, return of (perfected) creation to creator, was to be achieved through Godmanhood, which refers to humanity's divine potential and vocation, ideal of our divine self-realization in and union with God. …