Series Philosophy of Russia of the 20th Century: in Search of the Russian Idea

In: Voprosy Filosofii, Heft 6, S. 5-16

Abstract

On September 29–30, 1922, a tragic event for the culture of Russia happened – the expulsion of its intellectual elite from the country began. The execution was replaced by exile. It was a heavy blow to the national culture. And when in the early 1990s this event was described and comprehended in the philosophi­cal literature, the formula "interrupted flight" became the leitmotif. In that time it was experienced and comprehended in this way. Today, however, after another two decades, we can say: yes, it was a terrible blow to Russian humanitarian thought, but its deep traditions still did not disappear without a trace. What did it cost to those who kept the threads of Russian philosophical thought – is a special topic – and we must also remember about them – about the fate of G.G. Shpet, P.A. Florensky, A.F. Losev, I.V. Popov and many others… But, one way or an­other, thanks to them, philosophical thought and intellectual domestic culture, de­spite all their seeming ephemerality and fragility, were preserved. They managed to preserve the tradition – despite external circumstances, despite attempts to in­terrupt it, destroy it, and passed it on to the next generations of humanitarians. To­day, to the assessments of this tragic event that took place a century ago, we want to add that efforts aimed at reviving in its entirety and updating the tradition of Russian philosophy continue. And reflections on these efforts, their philosophi­cal understanding is the topic of our article