The Political Philosophy of Russian Liberalism

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The history of Russian liberalism reflects the transformation of intellectual and political culture that took place in Russia from the eighteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century. The legacy of the Russian liberal thinkers requires close attention and study because it allows us to formulate the most important and relevant question: is the liberal project even possible in Russia? This chapter attempts to analyze the main ideas of the political philosophy of Russian liberalism and considers different national models of liberalism, such as those allowing for traditional cultural values, among other things. This analysis proposes a new intellectual tradition of Russian liberalism, as distinct from the Soviet version, and also introduces the reader to the historical-philosophical tradition of research on Russian liberalism from the eighteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century.