List of Russian philosophers

Russian philosophy includes a variety of philosophical movements. Authors who developed them are listed below sorted by movement.

While most authors listed below are primarily philosophers, also included here are some Russian fiction writers, such as Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, who are also known as philosophers.

Russian philosophy as a separate entity started its development in the 19th century, defined initially by the opposition of Westernizers, advocating Russia's following the Western political and economical models, and Slavophiles, insisting on developing Russia as a unique civilization. The latter group included Nikolai Danilevsky and Konstantin Leontiev, the early founders of eurasianism. The discussion of Russia's place in the world has since become the most characteristic feature of Russian philosophy.

In its further development, Russian philosophy was also marked by deep connection to literature and interest in creativity, society, politics and nationalism; cosmos and religion were other notable subjects.

Notable philosophers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries include Vladimir Solovyev, Vasily Rozanov, Lev Shestov, Leo Tolstoy, Sergei Bulgakov, Pavel Florensky, Nikolai Berdyaev, Pitirim Sorokin, and Vladimir Vernadsky.

From the early 1920s to late 1980s, Russian philosophy was dominated by Marxism.

A handful of dissident philosophers survived through the Soviet period, among them Aleksei Losev. Stalin's death in 1953 gave way for new schools of thought to spring up, among them Moscow Logic Circle, and Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School.

Major Thinkers

Russian Enlightenment

Vasily Tatishchev (1686–1750)
Gregory Skovoroda (1722–1794)
Mikhail Shcherbatov (1733–1790)
Andrey Bolotov (1738–1833)
Alexander Radishchev (1749–1802)

Slavophiles and pochvennichestvo

Ivan Kireyevsky (1806–1856)
Aleksey Khomyakov (1804–1860)
Vladimir Odoyevsky (1803–1869)
Konstantin Aksakov (1817–1860)
Yuri Samarin (1819–1876)
Fyodor Tyutchev (1803–1873)
Nikolay Danilevsky (1822–1885)
Nikolay Strakhov (1828–1896)
Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881) Religious philosopher artist (see Nikolai Berdyaev)
Konstantin Pobedonostsev (1827–1907)
Konstantin Leontiev (1831–1891)
Ivan Ilyin (1883–1954)

Russian symbolists

Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1866–1941)
Zinaida Gippius (1869–1945)
Valery Bryusov (1873–1924)
Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942)
Max Voloshin (1877–1932)
Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874–1940)
Alexander Blok (1880–1921)
Andrei Bely (1880–1934)
Vyacheslav Ivanov (1866–1949)
Innokenty Annensky (1855–1909)
Fyodor Sologub (1863–1927)
Georgy Chulkov (1879–1939)

Westernizers

Pyotr Chaadayev (1794–1856)
Nikolai Stankevich (1813–1840)
Vissarion Belinsky (1811–1848)
Alexander Herzen (1812–1870) Father of Russian Socialism

Russian Schellingians

Pyotr Chaadayev (1794–1856)
Dmitry Venevitinov (1805–1827)
Vissarion Belinsky (1811–1848)
Vladimir Solovyov (1853–1900)

Russian positivists

Peter Lavrovich Lavrov (1823–1900)
Grigory Vyrubov (1843–1913)
Nikolay Mikhaylovsky (1842–1910)
Konstantin Kavelin (1818–1885)
Vladimir Lesevich (1837–1905)
Nikolai Korkunov (1853–1904)

Russian Machists

Russian cosmists

The cover of the book *The Will of the Universe. Intellect Unknown. Mind and Passions* by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, 1928

Nikolay Fyodorov (1829–1903) N O Lossky lists Fyodorov as primarily a Christian philosopher.
Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947)
Vladimir Vernadsky (1863–1945)
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935)
Alexander Chizhevsky (1897–1964)
Evald Ilyenkov (1924–1979)^[1]
Victor Skumin (1948–)

Occultists

Nikolay Novikov (1744–1818)
Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891)
G. I. Gurdjieff (1872–1949)
P. D. Ouspensky (1878–1947)

Epistemologists, logicians and metaphysicians

Boris Chicherin (1828–1904)
S. N. Trubetskoy (1862–1905)

Narodniks

Alexander Herzen (1812–1870) Father of Russian Socialism
Nikolai Tchaikovsky (1851–1926)
Pyotr Lavrov (1823–1900)
Nikolay Mikhaylovsky (1842–1904)
Lev Tikhomirov (1852–1923) (later prominent conservative thinker)
Razumnik Ivanov-Razumnik (1878–1946)

Anarchists

Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876), also listed among the materialist and nihilist theorists^[2]
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), whom some consider the greatest of Russian novelists
Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921), known as the 'Anarchist Prince' or 'Father of Anarchism'

Materialists and nihilists

N. G. Chernyshevsky (1828–1889)
Dimitri Pisarev (1840–1868)
Ivan Sechenov (1829–1905)

Socialists and Marxists

George Plekhanov (1856–1918) The first major Russian Marxist thinker
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) The founder of Leninism
Alexandra Kollontai (1872–1952)
Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)
Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) The founder of Trotskyism
Nikolai Bukharin (1888–1938)
Sofya Yanovskaya (1896–1966)
Aleksandr Zinovyev (1922–2006)
Evald Ilyenkov (1924–1979)
Aleksandr Voronsky (1884–1937)^[3]^[4]

Christian philosophers

Pre-Solovyov

Pamfil Yurkevich (1826–1874)
Vladimir Solovyov (1853–1900) noted to have created the first complete encompassing system of Russian philosophy^[5]
Anna Schmidt (1851-1905)
Vasily Rozanov (1856–1919)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) also listed as an existentialist
Sergei Bulgakov (1871–1944)
Nikolai Berdyaev (1874–1948) also listed as an existentialist
Semyon Frank (1877–1955)
Count Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) also listed as the greatest of novelists and an anarchist

Orthodox Christian theologians

Aleksey Khomyakov (1804–1860)
Pavel Florensky (1882–1937)
Vladimir Lossky (1903–1958)
Georges Florovsky (1893–1979)
Michael Pomazansky (1888–1988)
Alexander Schmemann (1921–1983)
John Meyendorff (1926–1992)

Intuitivist-personalists

Aleksei Kozlov (1831–1901)
Leo Lopatin (1855–1920)
Nikolai Lossky (1870–1965)
Semyon Frank (1877–1950)
Aleksei Losev (1893–1988)

Existentialists

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881)
Lev Shestov (1866–1938)
Nikolai Berdyaev (1874–1948)

Aestheticians

Alexei Losev (1893–1988)
Mikhail Bakhtin (1895–1975)
Mikhail Epstein (Epshtein) (1950–)

Historians of thought

Isaiah Berlin (1909–1997)
Razumnik Ivanov-Razumnik (1878–1946)

Globalists

Alexander Chumakov (1950–)

References

^ Ilyenkov, Evald. "Cosmology of the Spirit". Stasis. 5 (2).
^ History of Russian Philosophy p. 59 by N. O. Lossky
^ Eastman, Max. Artists in Uniform.
^ "Introduction". Art as the Cognition of Life. Mehring Books.
^ History of Russian Philosophy p. 81 by N. O. Lossky

Bibliography

History of Russian Philosophy (История российской Философии) (1951) by N. O. Lossky. Publisher: Allen & Unwin, London. International Universities Press Inc NY, NY sponsored by Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary.
A History of Philosophy, Volume 10: Russian Philosophy (1986) by Frederick Copleston. Publisher: Continuum, London.
A history of Russian Philosophy (2 vols.) by Vasilii Vasilevich Zenkovsky; translator George L. Kline Publisher: Routledge & Kegan Paul (1953).
Russian Philosophy. English-Russian Dictionary (ed. Vasily Vanchugov). Moscow, People's Friendship University of Russia, 2005.

External links

Books on Russian philosophy at Runivers.ru
Brief overview of Russian philosophy
PHILTAR—Comprehensive web site with links to texts and resources
Gallery of Russian Thinkers edited by Dmitry Olshansky
Russian philosophy—entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Directory of links to Russian philosophers, mostly in Russian
Routledge entry
Konstantin Leontiev
Sergius Bulgakov Society at the Wayback Machine (archived October 26, 2009)—Extensive collection of links to Bulgakov resources
Russia's Wisdom by Daniel H. Shubin; a compendium of Russia's philosophers and selections. ISBN 978-0966275766

[1] Ilyenkov, Evald. "Cosmology of the Spirit". Stasis. 5 (2).

[2] History of Russian Philosophy p. 59 by N. O. Lossky

[3] Eastman, Max. Artists in Uniform.

[4] "Introduction". Art as the Cognition of Life. Mehring Books.

[5] History of Russian Philosophy p. 81 by N. O. Lossky

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