Introduction

All-unity is a philosophical doctrine (idea, principle) that reveals the internal organic unity of being as a universe in the form of interpenetration and separateness of its constituent elements, their identity with each other and the whole while maintaining their quality and specificity.

All-unity has been presented in various philosophical concepts, starting with ancient Greek natural philosophy. This problem found its most vivid expression in Russian philosophy, where, starting with V.S. Solovyov, a distinctive direction emerged - the philosophy of unity. The date of its origin is considered to be 1874 - the year of V.S. Solovyov’s defense of his master’s thesis “The Crisis of Western Philosophy (against the Positivists).”

This direction includes the systems of Florensky, Bulgakov, Karsavin, Frank, N.O. Lossky, for a number of reasons, the views of S.N. Trubetskoy, E.N. Trubetskoy, Losev and others.

The idea of unity expresses the organic unity of world existence, the interpenetration of its constituent elements while maintaining their individuality.

In the ontological aspect, all-unity represents the indissoluble unity of the Creator and the creature; in epistemological terms, all-unity acts as “whole knowledge”, representing an inextricable relationship between empirical (scientific), rational (philosophical) and mystical (religious-contemplative) knowledge, achieved not only and not so much as a result of cognitive activity, but by faith and intuition.

In the axiology of unity, the central place is occupied by the absolute value of Truth, Goodness and Beauty, corresponding to the three Hypostases of the Divine Trinity. The whole world, as a system, is conditioned by unity, that is, by God.

V. Solovyov defines all-unity as follows: “I call true, or positive, all-unity one in which the one exists not at the expense of all or to the detriment of them, but for the benefit of all... true unity preserves and strengthens its elements, realizing in them as the fullness of being " Solovyov V.S. Justification of the Good: Moral Philosophy / V.S. Solovyov. - M.: Republic, 1996. - 479 p.

Purpose of the work: to briefly characterize the main provisions of V. Solovyov’s philosophy of unity.

Outstanding Russian philosopher Soloviev Vladimir Sergeevich

V.S. Solove (1853-1900) - philosopher, poet, publicist, critic, one of the most original and profound thinkers of the late 19th century. Solovyov's philosophical and poetic creativity became the spiritual basis of subsequent Russian religious metaphysics and the artistic experience of Russian symbolism.

Born in Moscow in the family of the famous historian S.M. Solovyov, who wrote the history of Russia in 29 volumes. On the maternal side, he is a distant relative of the Ukrainian philosopher G.S. Skovoroda. From the moment of his birth, Soloviev was surrounded by highly moral and highly intelligent people. His grandfather, Mikhail Vasilyevich Solovyov, was an archpriest. A legend has been preserved about him as a person who was both lofty-minded and at the same time very prone to humor, who loved to make witty jokes and behave very naturally. His grandchildren gathered with him on Sundays, and everyone was convinced that the good grandfather was talking with God and God was also talking with him. And if V.S. Soloviev, perhaps, owes his intellectual start to his father, then his grandfather, of course, influenced the religious beginning.

Having brilliantly graduated from high school, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, where he studied for two years. He entered the third year of the Faculty of History and Philology and attended lectures at the Theological Academy as a volunteer student. “Being occupied with religious subjects since childhood, I passed through various phases of theoretical and practical denial between the ages of 14 and 18,” he wrote.

After graduating from the university in 1873, by special request he was retained at the department of philosophy to prepare for a professorship. In 1874 he defended his master's thesis at St. Petersburg University, and in 1880 - his doctoral dissertation. Soloviev’s dissertation “The Crisis of Western Philosophy. Against the Positivists” was devoted primarily to criticism of positivism, which was popular at that time in the West and in Russia. Criticizing the “complacent” denial of the significance of philosophical and religious experience, Solovyov recognized positivism as a natural and, in this sense, justified consequence of the development of Western philosophy. European rationalism, having reached its highest, but also final stage in German classical philosophy, according to the Russian philosopher, itself provoked the need to search for new paths in philosophy. Soloviev, however, considered the materialistic and positivist paths to be dead ends, as well as the path of philosophical irrationalism (A. Schopenhauer, E. Hartmann). Soloviev saw a way out of the crisis in the development of a “new” religious metaphysics - “a universal synthesis of science, philosophy and religion.”

1877-1881 Solovyov spent most of his time in St. Petersburg, giving courses of lectures at the university and at the Higher Women's Courses and preparing for publication his programmatic philosophical and theological works: Philosophical Foundations of Whole Knowledge (1877), Criticism of Abstract Principles (1877-1880) (he defended the latter as a doctoral dissertation) and Readings on Divine Humanity (1878-1881).

B.S. Solovyov’s academic career was interrupted in 1881 after his public appeal to the Tsar to save the lives of the Narodnaya Volya, the organizers of the assassination of Alexander II.

In the 1880s, dreaming of restoring the unity of the Christian world, Soloviev advocated the reunification of churches. IN last years life, the philosopher developed a system of religious ethics (“Justification of the Good”), developed problems of the theory of knowledge (“Theoretical Philosophy”) and the history of philosophy (“The Life Drama of Plato”, etc.), translated the works of Plato, summing up his own historiosophical quests (“Three Conversations ").

In his spiritual evolution, Solovyov experienced the influence of the mystical traditions of the East and West, Platonism, German classical philosophy, and adopted the ideas of a variety of thinkers: Spinoza, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Slavophiles, P.D. Yurkevich, F.M. Dostoevsky and many others. But, as A.F. Losev wrote, Solovyov was always characterized by “independence and subtle criticism”, “bringing the philosophers he studied to his own worldview.”

The unity of everything - this formula in Solovyov’s religious ontology means, first of all, the connection between God and the world, divine and human existence.

( - ), the largest Russian religious philosopher, poet, publicist.

His paternal grandfather was a priest. Solovyov told S. M. Martynova that before his death, his grandfather led him into the altar and before the throne blessed him to serve the church.

Childhood. First apparition of Sophia

"...Lamps in front of icons; strict execution of rituals; going to church on Sundays; reading the Lives of the Saints; Russian poems and fairy tales - these were the early impressions of his childhood.<...>Having read the Lives of the Saints, the boy imagined himself as an ascetic in the desert, at night he threw off his blanket and froze “for the glory of God”“- this is how K.V. Mochulsky describes religious life in the family of S.M. Solovyov.

Studying at the gymnasium. Religious crisis

year - enters the 5th Moscow gymnasium.

At the age of 13, he confesses to N.I. Kareev that he no longer believes in the relics. At the age of 14 he stops going to church; for four years he indulges in the most extreme denial, the most furious atheism. He subsequently wrote (in 1896): “ Having been occupied with religious subjects since childhood, between the ages of 14 and 18 I passed through various phases of theoretical and practical denial».

Student years. Philosophical quests. Religious conversion

After graduating from the gymnasium in Soloviev with a gold medal, he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, in the department of natural sciences.

He rarely attended lectures and did not maintain contact with students. " Soloviev did not exist as a student,– his fellow student N.I. Kareev later recalled, – and he had no friends at the university».

At the same time, he met the passionate spiritualist A. N. Aksakov and for some time turned into a “writing medium.” He subsequently became interested in the occult and theosophy.

By the age of 16, he is already beginning to understand the failure of materialism and is looking for a more integral worldview. In his philosophical development, Spinoza plays a decisive role.

The young philosopher finally frees himself from dogmatism and, through Kantian epistemology, comes to the conclusion that knowledge does not contradict faith and that science is compatible with religion. The study of Kant was for Solovyov a school of philosophical discipline of thought, but the theory of knowledge, while formally allowing him to search for God, could not satisfy these searches. Kant's God was not a living God, but an abstract concept, a “postulate of practical reason.” And Soloviev quickly “fell in love” with Schopenhauer. From him he found, according to Lopatin, “satisfaction of the religious need that never ceased in him, religious understanding and religious attitude towards life.” Schopenhauer opened his eyes: this truth is nirvana. For some time, Solovyov becomes a Buddhist and passionately devotes himself to the study of Eastern religions.

Then new searches. Soloviev studies the systems of German idealists: Fichte, Schelling, Hegel. He was poisoned by Hegel for life, without noticing it.

Finally, Solovyov becomes acquainted with the positivism of Auguste Comte. In him he sees the completion of all Western philosophy. Refusal to know the essence of being, limiting the field of knowledge to the world of phenomena - this is how, in his opinion, the centuries-old development of European thought ends.

Studies in natural science and philosophy lead Solovyov to a pessimistic conclusion: neither experimental knowledge nor abstract thought are capable of satisfying the metaphysical demands of the human spirit.

He came to the realization that “true life” is revealed in Christianity and became an “ardently believing Christian.”

This internal change was expressed in the fact that in the year, from the 3rd year of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, he transferred to the undergraduate Faculty of History and Philology and in June of the year he passed the candidate exam.

And again Soloviev the Christian follows the path leading to delusion. In May of this year, he travels to Kharkov and accidentally meets a young lady in a carriage, experiences a flash of passion, and then a mystical experience (“only now I realized that there is God in man”).

"Unhappy young man Soloviev!- exclaims Prof. THEM. Andreev - No one told him that behind the poetic, fragrant and radiant romantic eroticism was hidden the dark and stinking face of Satan!" And adds: " Solovyov, having become a Christian, did not come to the Orthodox Church".

The mental struggle that took place at that time in Solovyov was also reflected in his physical condition. He complains in letters about a “neuralgic disorder”, avoids society, leads a “hermit’s life”: he attends few lectures; works, locked in his monastery hotel. To “understand” Christianity, he needed to study the history of ancient religions, the Eastern and Western Fathers of the Church.

In the preface, the author defines his understanding of “abstract principles”: “ These are particular ideas (special aspects and elements of a unified idea), which, being abstracted from the whole and affirmed in their exclusivity, lose their true character and plunge the human world into the state of mental discord in which it has hitherto found itself." Soloviev contrasted these “abstract principles” with the idea of “positive unity” in life, knowledge and creativity.

After receiving his doctorate, Soloviev lectured at St. Petersburg University and at the Bestuzhev courses as a private assistant professor.

A turning point in life: talking about the death penalty

After the assassination of Alexander II (March 1), Solovyov gave a speech at the Higher Women's Courses (March 13), which he ended with a decisive condemnation of the Russian revolutionary movement. " If a person- he finished his speech - is not destined to return to a brutal state, then a revolution based on violence has no future».

On March 26 and 28, Soloviev gave two lectures in the hall of the Credit Society. The second - on the topic: “Criticism of modern enlightenment and the crisis of the world process” - played a decisive role in his fate. In it, Soloviev expressed the idea that the emperor should be imbued with the Christian principle of pity for insane villains and forgive them.

After reading the lecture, the St. Petersburg mayor wanted to punish him severely. The Minister of Internal Affairs, M. T. Loris-Melikov, wrote a memo to Alexander III, in which he pointed out the inappropriateness of punishing Vladimir Solovyov in view of his well-known deep religiosity and in view of the fact that he is the son of a major Russian historian, the former rector of Moscow University. Alexander III considered Vladimir Solovyov “the purest psychopath,” wondering where his “dearest” father, S. M. Solovyov, had such a son, whom K. P. Pobedonostsev called “mad.” And the matter remained without serious consequences.

In 1885, Soloviev corresponded with the Catholic Bishop Strossmayer, who “blessed” him to serve the cause of “unification of the Churches.” " From this connection,- writes Soloviev, - the fate of Russia, the Slavs and the whole world depends"He believes that the keeper of the Ecumenical idea is the Catholic Church.

Memoirs of contemporaries, characteristics

"Soloviev was an unusually complex and rich person; he walked along different paths with freedom, often bordering on self-will, constantly changing, sometimes slowly, sometimes sharply and unexpectedly. It seemed that his true face was never revealed to anyone.<...>...Disharmony comes from the depths; it was in Solovyov’s very nature, in all his work, and tormented him all his life. He did not know how to find a real language for his mystical experience, since until the end of his life he did not trust it."

Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov(1853 - 1900) - the largest Russian philosopher, poet, publicist and critic. He was born in Moscow in the family of the famous historian Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov, who wrote the history of Russia in 29 volumes. Vladimir's family upbringing developed a strong religious feeling, but at the age of 13 he experienced a religious crisis. Having thrown icons into the garden, he became a passionate follower of the materialist Buchner and a supporter of the ideas of socialism and communism. Soloviev studied natural sciences, history and philosophy at Moscow University, and after graduation he studied at the Moscow Theological Academy for a year. Having overcome a spiritual crisis and studied the works of Hartmann, Schopenhauer, Schelling and Hegel, Solovyov creates his own philosophical system.

Being an ascetic, Soloviev looked haggard. Thick curls that fell to his shoulders made him look like an icon. He was often mistaken for a clergyman, and children, grabbing the skirts of their fur coats, exclaimed “My God, my God!” Solovyov's exhausted appearance spoke of his extremely disorderly lifestyle. He was not married and did not have a permanent home. He distributed the money he earned without hesitation to everyone who asked him. If there was no money, he gave away his things. He had close friends and acquaintances from all walks of life. The depth of thought, breadth of interests, enormous erudition and especially wit attracted people from all classes to him.

The time of the emergence of Solovyov’s philosophy coincides with the time of the establishment of capitalist relations in Russia. His philosophy of all-unity was one of the directions of Russian social thought, reflecting the changes associated with the abolition of serfdom and transformations in social, economic and cultural development. The formation of V. Solovyov’s religious worldview in its social aspect was determined by the search for ways to overcome the deep crisis, the beginning of which was experienced in the 60s and 70s of the 19th century by the official church of Russia, which had not yet adapted to the rapid progress of scientific knowledge, to the growing influence on public thought “secular” philosophy. This crisis was also caused by the fact that Orthodoxy, pursuing a policy of “preserving the foundations,” was one of the main carriers of feudal ideology, which sharply contradicted the establishment of new socio-economic relations inherent in the capitalist formation. The crisis of the church, which caused the need to update its socio-political and ideological course, turned out to be one of the main prerequisites for the formation of Solovyov’s religious and philosophical worldview. Solovyov was not satisfied with the fact that in traditional theology, man and the world appear one-dimensional, addressed only to God, and the other dimension - the actual earthly life of man with its socio-economic, political and cultural contradictions - remained outside the interests of Orthodox orthodoxies, who considered any attempts to adapt theology to the changing world destructive for Orthodoxy. Solovyov saw his life’s task in reforming Christianity, revealing its true, humanistic essence, putting it in a modern form, making it a universal property.

Solovyov laid the foundations of Russian religious philosophy. He tried to create a holistic worldview system that would link together the needs of a person’s religious and social life. The basis of such a worldview, according to Solovyov’s plans, should be Christianity, and he advocated the unification of all Christian denominations: Orthodoxy, Catalystism and Protestantism. Clearly aware of the presence of certain differences in the Western and Russian traditions, he first tried to comprehend the place of Russian philosophical thought in the cultural system.

Solovyov’s philosophical positions were clearly outlined already in his master’s thesis “ The crisis of Western philosophy. Against positivism” (1874). Western philosophy is at a dead end. Disbelief in God devastates the human soul. Based on the data of the positive sciences, Western philosophy, in the form of rationalism, affirms the same truths that are proclaimed by the theological teachings of the East in the form of faith and spiritual content. Believing that Russian philosophy is a connecting link between Western and Eastern culture, Soloviev advocated the implementation of “ universal synthesis of science, philosophy and religion " This meant the creation of “free theosophy, or integral knowledge,” not simply rejecting all previous philosophy, which was characteristic of the positivists, but elevating it to a new “higher state.” The subject of holistic knowledge is “truly existing”, i.e. Absolute or God. Soloviev outlined his system in detail in his doctoral dissertation “ Criticism of abstract principles” (1880). By abstract principles he understands all the philosophical one-sidednesses that arose in the history of philosophy, fought with one another, replaced one another and still have not yet reached a complete synthesis.

The central idea of Solovyov's philosophy is the idea of unity. When developing this idea, Solovyov starts from the Slavophil idea of conciliarity, but gives this idea an ontological coloring, an all-encompassing, cosmic meaning. The ontological basis of unity is the divine Trinity in its connection with all divine creations and, most importantly, with man. The basic principle of unity: “Everything is one in God.” All-unity is, first of all, the unity of the creator and creation. Solovyov's God is devoid of anthropomorphic features. The philosopher characterizes God as a “cosmic mind,” “a super-personal being,” “a special organizing force operating in the world.” Based on the idea of unity, Soloviev develops ontology, epistemology and social philosophy.

Taking as the basis of being the being that can be everything and in everything, it remained at the same time an absolute singularity, the unconditional beginning of being. Existence is the substance of being, the highest Absolute or God. But for a correct understanding of God, it is not enough to recognize an absolute being. It is necessary to recognize its internal contradictions. Therefore, Soloviev, following the Neoplatonic tradition, introduces the concept into his system “ideas” and “world soul”. The “Divine mind” breaks down into many elementary essences or eternal and unchangeable causes that lie at the basis of every object or phenomenon. He calls these elementary entities atoms, which form the real world with their movements and vibrations. Soloviev interprets the atoms themselves as special emanations of the Divine, “living elementary beings” or ideas. Every idea has a certain power that turns it into an active being.

To substantiate the continuous variability of existence, Soloviev, along with ideas, introduces such an active principle as the world soul, which acts as the subject of all changes in the world. Its main feature is a special energy that spiritualizes everything that exists. However, the world soul does not act independently. Its activity needs a divine impulse. This impulse is manifested in the fact that God gives the world soul the idea of unity as the determining form of all its activity.

Any thing is known in its relation to the whole. This whole should be understood not as an indefinite multiplicity of things, but as a total unity. It is impossible to divide nature into parts; there must be a background of unity. Hence the conclusion: God is needed to explain nature, just as nature is needed to explain God. If we consider a part of wholeness, then we must represent this wholeness. This unity is most fully manifested in man. It is in man that God has the opportunity to unite with nature, and nature through man can commune with God. It follows that the central category of any ontological consideration should be the concept God-man. This means that any reasoning about existence cannot be non-religious. Neither science nor philosophy is able to embrace integrity. Ontology as a part of philosophy can only be religious.

Thus, the basis and essence of the world is the world soul, which, on the one hand, contains the divine unity as its eternal potency, and, on the other hand, carries the natural, material principle, due to which it is not all-unity, but only “becoming unity”, i.e. specific, singular. The divine and eternal idea of unity in Solovyov’s system was called Sophia-wisdom. Sophia is the key concept of Solovyov’s philosophical system. Therefore, his teaching is also called sophilology. The concept of Sophia was borrowed by Solovyov from Neoplatonism. But he gives this concept a unique interpretation. The concept of Sophia is introduced by Solovyov in order to declare that the world is not only the creation of God, but certainly foreign to him. The basis and being of the world is the “soul of the world” - Sophia, which should be considered as a connecting link between the creator and creation, giving community to God, the world and humanity.

The mechanism of bringing God, the world and man closer together is revealed in Solovyov’s philosophical teachings through the concept God-manhood. The real and perfect embodiment of God-manhood, according to Solovyov, is Jesus Christ, who, according to Christian dogma, is both complete God and complete man. His image serves not only as an ideal to which every individual should strive, but also as the highest goal for the development of the entire historical process. Solovyov's sociology is based on this goal. The goal and meaning of the entire historical process is the spiritualization of humanity, the union of man with God, the embodiment of God-manhood.

The initial act of world development, according to Solovyov, was the free falling away of Sophia as the soul of the world from the Absolute. Having acquired its own existence, the world soul develops in the direction of a new gathering of multiplicity into unity. However, “in itself it is only a definite desire for unity, an indefinite passive possibility (potency) of unity.” The world soul receives the idea of unity as its defining form from the deity. With the completion of the cosmic process and the appearance of man, the world soul is revealed in its new meaning - as “ideal humanity” or Sophia. In man, the world soul for the first time internally unites with the divine Logos in consciousness as a pure form of unity. Since in man the world soul, or Sophia, becomes conscious of itself for the first time, the spontaneous movement towards unity, characteristic of cosmic evolution, is replaced by a conscious desire to realize the universal process of unity. In this case humanity becomes God-manhood and realizes the unity of goodness, truth and beauty.

In existence and the things involved in it, goodness, truth and beauty are contained in unity. Hence follows Solovyov’s “formula”: “ The Absolute realizes goodness through truth in beauty.” Three absolute values - goodness, truth and beauty - always form a unity, the meaning of which is love. Love is the force that undermines the roots of all egoism, all individuality . Physiological love that unites creatures of different sexes is already beneficial. But true love is reunification in God, this is platonic love par excellence, this is true spirituality, which, in fact, will ensure salvation, reunification of a person and at the same time his introduction to eternity, that is, his overcoming of death. For Solovyov, the guarantor of the salvation of humanity is love, the unity of goodness, truth and beauty.

It is not enough, Soloviev believes, for the coincidence of the divine with the human to occur only in the person of Jesus Christ, i.e. through the medium of the “divine word.” It is necessary for the union to take place in a real and practical way and, moreover, not in individual people (in “saints”), but on the scale of all humanity. The primary condition on the path to God-manhood is Christian teaching, that is, the acceptance of the doctrine of Christianity. Natural man, that is, a man not enlightened by divine truth, confronts people as an alien and hostile force. Christ revealed universal moral values to man and created conditions for his moral improvement. By joining the teachings of Christ, a person follows the path of spiritualization. This process occupies the entire historical period of human life. Humanity will come to the triumph of peace and justice, truth and virtue, when its unifying principle will be God embodied in man, who has moved from the center of eternity to the center of the historical process. Thus, man turns out to be necessary for God to complete the creation of the world. With this position, Soloviev emphasizes the constructive power of the human spirit, due to the genetic relationship with Sophia - the world soul.

The Russian people, according to Solovyov, only thanks to the state they created preserved the greatness and originality of Russia, which he called “holy Russia.” This “holiness” is a feature of Solovyov’s national ideal. But the fullness of the ideal requires that Holy Rus' desire a “holy cause,” namely: the unification of churches, the spiritual reconciliation of East and West in the divine-human unity of universal Christianity. This is a sacred deed, this is the real word that Russia must say to the world.

In the epistemological aspect, the principle of unity is realized through the concept of holistic knowledge. Soloviev believes that to solve the problem of knowledge and truth, two categories that were central to Western European philosophy are not enough : feeling and reason. Complete knowledge cannot be obtained by empirical or rational means alone. Empirical knowledge can reveal only the external side of phenomena, while rational knowledge can reveal the features of thinking itself. However, truth or existence is not given to man either in experience or in thinking. Truth is comprehended through direct contemplation and intuition. That's why The third concept of epistemology should be the concept of faith. Thus, true knowledge is the result of empirical, rational and mystical knowledge in their interrelation. At the same time, the rational form of knowledge does not lose its meaning, but is only supplemented by the introduction of a vital principle. However, rational thinking, and even intellectual intuition, do not provide knowledge of the entire richness of reality. To penetrate into the hidden depths of existence, a special cognitive ability is required, providing a breakthrough into the sphere of the otherworldly, transcendental, and transcendental. This ability is a state of possession determined by the capabilities of a transcendental being. Soloviev calls this state ecstasy, eros, inspiration.

Solovyov's statement about true knowledge as a synthesis of empirical, rational and mystical knowledge is the basis for the conclusion about the need for the unity of science, philosophy and religion. Such unity, which he calls “free theosophy,” allows us to consider the world as a complete system, conditioned by unity or God.

Thus, Solovyov’s philosophy absorbed the main trends of Russian religious philosophyXIXcentury and naturally turned out to be its final synthesis. Solovyov’s system developed a classical conceptual apparatus, and he used Russian Orthodox terms, filling them with philosophical content. None of Solovyov's predecessors presented their views in a systematic form. Over the course of 20 years, Soloviev wrote a number of large philosophical works. His collected works contain 16 volumes, but our entire works have not been published. Soloviev is more accessible to the West than to us. Vl. Solovyov is the only Russian philosopher - a classic.

Russian religious thinker, mystic, poet, publicist, literary critic

Vladimir Solovyov

short biography

Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov(January 28, 1853, Moscow - August 13, 1900, Uzkoe estate, Moscow province) - Russian religious thinker, mystic, poet, publicist, literary critic; honorary academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the category of fine literature (1900). He stood at the origins of the Russian “spiritual revival” of the early 20th century. He influenced the religious philosophy of Nikolai Berdyaev, Sergei Bulgakov, Sergei and Evgeniy Trubetskoy, Pavel Florensky, Semyon Frank, as well as the work of symbolist poets - Andrei Bely, Alexander Blok and others.

Vladimir Solovyov is one of the central figures in Russian philosophy of the 19th century, both for his scientific contributions and for the influence he had on the views of scientists and other representatives of the creative intelligentsia. He founded the movement known as Christian philosophy. Vladimir Solovyov objected to the division of Christianity into Catholicism and Orthodoxy and defended the ideas of ecumenism. He developed new approach to the study of man, which became dominant in Russian philosophy and psychology of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.

early years

Vladimir Solovyov was born in Moscow on January 16, 1853, in the family of the Russian historian Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov (1820-1879). Mother, Polixena Vladimirovna, belonged to the noble Romanov family, which had Polish and Cossack roots. Among the Romanov ancestors was the famous Russian and Ukrainian philosopher G. S. Skovoroda, who was Vladimir Solovyov’s great-great-grandfather. The younger brother of the future novelist Vsevolod Solovyov (1849-1903).

Education

Solovyov studied at the First Moscow Gymnasium, where teaching was divided into general and special, and completed his studies at the Fifth Moscow Gymnasium.

After graduating from high school in 1869, he entered the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, two years later moving to the historical and philological department. In 1872, he had a stormy affair on a train to Kharkov with a random fellow traveler, Julie, after which he experienced a mystical vision of Sophia. During his student years, Soloviev became interested in spiritualism. After graduating from the university in 1873, by special request he was retained at the department of philosophy to prepare for a professorship. At the beginning of September 1873, Solovyov moved to Sergiev Posad and for a year attended lectures at the Theological Academy.

21-year-old Solovyov wrote his master’s thesis “The Crisis of Western Philosophy,” in which he opposed positivism and the division (dichotomy) of “speculative” (theoretical) and “empirical” knowledge. The defense took place on November 24, 1874 in St. Petersburg state university, after which he received the title of full-time associate professor of philosophy and lectured at Moscow University for one semester.

Trip abroad

On May 31, 1875, he went on a business trip to London to work at the British Museum. for the purpose of studying Indian, Gnostic and medieval philosophy" He reached his destination through Warsaw and Berlin. In London, Soloviev became acquainted with spiritualism and studied Kabbalah. On October 16, 1875, he undertook an unexpected voyage to Egypt, associated with a mystical vision of Sophia. His path ran through France and Italy. From Brindisi, Soloviev headed by steamer to Alexandria. In November he arrived in Cairo, where he remained until March 1876, traveling to the vicinity of Thebaid. Then he returned to Italy, lived in Sorrento, Naples and Paris, from where he returned to Moscow.

Career

In June 1876 he again began teaching at Moscow University, in March 1877 he left Moscow and moved to St. Petersburg, where he became a member of the Academic Committee under the Ministry of Public Education and at the same time taught at the university. In St. Petersburg, Solovyov became friends with Dostoevsky. During the Russian-Turkish War, he experienced a surge of patriotism and almost went to the front. By this time, Solovyov’s philosophical views were finally formed.

V. S. Solovyov. Portrait by I. E. Repin 1891

On April 6, 1880, he defended his doctoral dissertation “Critique of Abstract Principles.” M. I. Vladislavlev, who played an influential role at St. Petersburg University, who had previously positively assessed Solovyov’s master’s thesis, began to treat him rather coldly, so Vladimir Solovyov remained in the position of associate professor, but not professor. On March 28, 1881, he gave a lecture in which he called for pardoning the murderers of Alexander II, after which he left the university.

Had no family. He lived mostly on the estates of his friends or abroad.

Death

Researchers are convinced that he undermined his body with significant periods of fasting and intense exercise, and in addition, he was gradually poisoned by turpentine, which has a destructive effect on the kidneys.

The room where he lived was usually saturated with the smell of turpentine. He attached either a mystical or healing significance to this liquid. He said that turpentine protected against all diseases, he sprinkled it on his bed, clothes, beard, hair, floor and walls of the room, and when he was going to visit, he wet his hands with turpentine and cologne and jokingly called it “Bouquet Solovieff”.<…>Friends repeatedly tried to warn him about the dangers of abusing turpentine, but until very recently he showed extraordinary stubbornness in this matter.
- Velichko V. L. Vladimir Solovyov. Life and creations.

For “turpentine that cleanses demons” he<…>paid with his life, gradually poisoned himself with turpentine
- Makovsky S.K. On Parnassus of the Silver Age. - M.: XXI century-Consent, 2000. - P. 560.

V. S. Solovyov. Portrait by N. A. Yaroshenko, 1892

By the end of the 1890s, his health began to deteriorate noticeably. In the summer of 1900, Solovyov came to Moscow to submit his translation of Plato for printing. Already on July 15, on my name day, I felt very bad. On the same day, he asked his friend Davydov to take him to the Uzkoye estate near Moscow (now within the boundaries of Moscow, Profsoyuznaya St., 123a), which then belonged to Prince Pyotr Nikolaevich Trubetskoy, in which a friend and student of Vladimir Solovyov, a famous professor, then lived with his family Moscow University Sergei Trubetskoy, half-brother of the owner of the estate. Solovyov arrived at the estate already seriously ill. Doctors diagnosed him with atherosclerosis, cirrhosis of the kidneys and uremia, as well as complete exhaustion of the body, but they could not help. Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov died in Uzkoy after a two-week illness, in the office of P. N. Trubetskoy on July 31 (August 13, new style) 1900. He was buried in the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent next to his father's grave.

Doctrine of law

Morality - always strives to build an ideal; prescribes proper behavior, addressed only to inside the will of the individual.

Law is conditional in nature and involves restrictions, because in the legal field the action and its result are important; considers the external manifestation of will - property, action, result of action.

The task of law is not to create the Kingdom of God on earth, but not to turn people's lives into Hell.

The purpose of law is to balance two moral interests: personal freedom and the common good. The “common good” must limit the private interests of people, but it cannot replace them. Therefore, Solovyov opposed the death penalty and life imprisonment, which, in his opinion, contradict the essence of law.

Law is “the limitation of personal freedom by the requirements of the common good.”

Features of the law: 1) publicity; 2) specificity; 3) real applicability.

Signs of power: 1) publication of laws; 2) fair trial; 3) execution of laws.

State- protects the interests of citizens.

Christian state- protects the interests of citizens and strives to improve the conditions of human existence in society; takes care of economically weak persons.

State progress- consists in “constraining the inner moral world of a person as little as possible and providing external conditions for the dignified existence and improvement of people as accurately and broadly as possible.”

“Legal coercion does not force anyone to be virtuous. His task is to prevent an evil person from becoming a villain (dangerous to society).” Society cannot live solely according to the moral law. Legal laws and the state are needed to protect all interests.

Philosophy of Vladimir Solovyov

The main idea of his religious philosophy was Sophia - the Soul of the World, understood as a mystical cosmic being that unites God with the earthly world. Sophia represents the eternal feminine in God and, at the same time, God's plan for the world. This image is found in the Bible. It was revealed to Solovyov in a mystical vision, which is narrated in his poem “Three Dates.” The idea of Sophia is realized in three ways: in theosophy the idea of it is formed, in theurgy it is acquired, and in theocracy it is embodied.

Theosophy- verbatim Divine wisdom. It represents a synthesis of scientific discoveries and revelations of the Christian religion within the framework of integral knowledge. Faith does not contradict reason, but complements it. Solovyov recognizes the idea of evolution, but considers it an attempt to overcome the Fall through a breakthrough to God. Evolution passes through five stages or “kingdoms”: mineral, plant, animal, human and divine.
Theurgy- verbatim idolatry. Solovyov strongly opposed the moral neutrality of science. Theurgy is a purifying practice, without which it is impossible to obtain truth. It is based on the cultivation of Christian love as a renunciation of self-affirmation for the sake of unity with others.
Theocracy- verbatim the power of God, what Chaadaev called a perfect system. Soloviev assigned a “theocratic mission” to Russia, while maintaining sympathies for Catholicism. Theocracy consists of "true solidarity of all nations and classes" and also of "Christianity realized in public life"

Solovyov's philosophy was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Russian religious thinker Nikolai Fedorov. Soloviev considered Fedorov his “teacher and spiritual father” and called him a brilliant thinker.

Influence on art

Soloviev saw the meaning of art in the embodiment of the “absolute ideal” and in the “transubstantiation of our reality.” He criticized the position that the artist should create only appearances and mirages. In art, he distinguished between epic, tragedy and comedy. The influence of V. Solovyov is noticeable in Russian symbolism and modernism of the early 20th century. In many ways, Alexander Blok and Vyacheslav Ivanov were guided by him. It is interesting that when in 1894-1895 Valery Bryusov came out with the collections “Russian Symbolists”, Solovyov came up with evil and apt parodies of their style.

Cultural influence

Vladimir Solovyov inspired F. Dostoevsky to create the image of Alyosha Karamazov in the novel “The Brothers Karamazov”. His influence can also be seen in the work of the symbolists and neo-idealists of the late Soviet era. The influence of his series of articles, “The Meaning of Love,” can be traced in Leo Tolstoy’s story “The Kreutzer Sonata” (1889).

The short story “Three Conversations” became the basis for a rock opera Beloved Antichrist Swedish symphonic metal band Therion.

Attitude to Catholicism

There is a version that Vladimir Solovyov joined the Catholic Church in February 1896 in Moscow, receiving communion from the hands of the Greek Catholic priest Father Nikolai Tolstoy. Solovyov justified his sympathies for Catholicism by his adherence to the “Universal Church,” where Orthodoxy only expresses the “Eastern Church.” He calls the act of Baptism of Rus' the acceptance of the Gospel pearl, covered with “Byzantine dust.” Solovyov considered the “papacy” itself a “positive beginning”, and the “apostolic see” in Rome - “ miraculous icon universal Christianity" ("Russia and the Universal Church", 1889). Among the advantages of Catholicism, Solovyov considered its supranational character and continuity from the Apostle Peter. The schism of the Churches, according to Solovyov, is the result of the “particular” activities of the “party of Orthodox anti-Catholics” (IX-XI centuries). Defending the “Orthodox papacy” of the ancient Church, he spoke of the “imaginary Orthodoxy” of Byzantium, where Caesaropapism represented “political Arianism.” Among the features of anti-Catholic Orthodoxy, Solovyov considered the denial of the role of the Logos in the procession of the Holy Spirit, the denial of the purity of the Virgin Mary, and the denial of the jurisdiction of the Roman high priest.

However, Vasily Rozanov, in the article “The spat between Dostoevsky and Solovyov” (1906), wrote: “At the end of his life, in a deep moment of powerlessness, he expressed that he abandoned attempts at conciliation between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, and died a strong Orthodox man. Thus, the suspicion of its strong Catholic overtones falls by itself.”

Attitude towards Jews

Solovyov's attitude towards the Jews was a consistent expression of his Christian universalism, ethical principles prescribing to love all peoples as one's own. The rejection of Jesus by the Jews seemed to Solovyov to be the greatest tragedy that predetermined the entire future history of the Jewish people, but the philosopher laid the blame for the stubborn rejection of Christianity by the Jews not on the Jews, but on the Christians themselves.

The mutual relations of Judaism and Christianity during many centuries of their life together represent one remarkable circumstance. The Jews always and everywhere looked at Christianity and acted regarding it according to the prescriptions of their religion, according to their faith and according to their law. The Jews have always treated us like Jews; We Christians, on the contrary, have not yet learned to relate to Judaism in a Christian way. They never violated their religious law regarding us, but we constantly violated and are violating the commandments of the Christian religion regarding them. If the Jewish law is bad, then their stubborn adherence to this bad law is, of course, a sad phenomenon. But if it is bad to be faithful to a bad law, then it is even worse to be unfaithful to a good law, an absolutely perfect commandment.
- “Jewishness and the Christian Question”

In 1890, censorship did not allow publication of a declaration against anti-Semitism, written by Solovyov and signed by a number of writers and scientists. It was published abroad.

Solovyov spoke out against the persecution of Jews in Russia. In letters to F. Getz, Solovyov denounced the pogroms and assured that his pen was always ready to defend distressed Israel. At the same time, Solovyov not only was not a philo-Semite, but he himself was not free from anti-Semitism:

The Jewish people, showing the worst sides of human nature, a “stiff-necked people” and with a heart of stone, this same people is the people of the saints and prophets of God

The philosopher believed that the solution to the “Jewish question” was ecumenism - the unification of Judaism with Orthodoxy and Catholicism on a common religious basis. On his deathbed, Solovyov prayed for the Jewish people and read a psalm in Hebrew. After Solovyov’s death, prayers were read in synagogues for the repose of his soul.

Pan-Mongolism

Solovyov coined the term pan-Mongolism, which in Solovyov’s historiosophical concept expressed the idea of historical retribution to Europe on the part of the peoples of the East and was compared with the conquest of Constantinople by Muslims.

If I consider the cessation of war in general impossible before the final catastrophe, then in the closest rapprochement and peaceful cooperation of all Christian peoples and states I see not only a possible, but a necessary and morally obligatory way of salvation for the Christian world from being absorbed by the lower elements.

It seems to me that the success of pan-Mongolism will be facilitated in advance by the stubborn and exhausting struggle that some European states will have to endure against the awakened Islam in Western Asia, North and Central Africa.

The World History

Soloviev accepts the idea of progress. Savagery is replaced by civilization, and national monarchies are replaced by worldwide monarchies. The Assyrian-Babylonian monarchy is replaced by the Medo-Persian monarchy, and that by the Macedonian monarchy. Soloviev calls the Roman Empire the first true universal monarchy. The goal of history is God-manhood.

The concept of the “end of world history” is discussed by Vladimir Solovyov in the book “Three Conversations about War, Progress and the End of World History,” by which he means the second coming of Christ, God’s judgment and the end of the struggle between good and evil on Earth.

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(1820 - 1879) - the largest historian of pre-revolutionary Russia.

His outstanding contribution to the development of historical thought was recognized by scientists of various schools and directions. Soloviev left a huge legacy - 300 works. The “History of Russia since Ancient Times” is especially striking in its wealth of factual material; its 29 volumes are published regularly, from 1851 to 1879. came out into the world. By the age of 27, S.M. Soloviev defended two dissertations and became a professor. His whole life is connected with Moscow University. For many years he headed the department of Russian history and was elected to the position of dean of the Faculty of History and Philology and rector. In 1872, he became a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and headed the Council of the Moscow Higher Women's Courses. In 1870 - director of the Armory Chamber. One of the main ideas of the historical works of S.M. Solovyov’s idea of the history of Russia as a single, naturally developing process. The scientist not only introduced a huge number of archival documents into scientific circulation, but also presented many aspects of Russian history in a new way.

Philosophy of V. Solovyov

Outstanding Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov (1853 - 1900).

The evolution of Solovyov's philosophical views includes three main periods. The first period is the beginning of the 80s. - devoted to research in the field of theosophy, the main works are “Readings on God-Humanity” (1877 - 1881), “Religious Foundations of Life” (1882 - 1884). In the second period (up to approximately 1890), Solovyov explores the problem of theocracy, the creation of a just state that will implement Christian ideas in public life (“History and Future of Theocracy” (1885 - 1887), “Russia and the Universal Church” (1889). Third period - a study of the problems of theurgy associated with mystical art, which, guided by divine truth, creates new life. The main works of the period are “The Meaning of Love” (1892 - 1894), “The Justification of Good” (1895). It should be noted that throughout Solovyov's work always occupied one of the central places for him with the problem of Sofia.

Solovyov's philosophical system is one of the first in Russia to consider all reality as a whole, based on the principle of the unity of the world, based on the recognition of God as an absolute supernatural ideal principle.

In his work, Soloviev is guided by “organic” thinking, which can be called the method of idealistic dialectics.

According to Solovyov, as a result of the synthesis of science, philosophy and religion, knowledge acquires objective meaning, and God gives the world the character of a complete system, therefore, knowledge of reality leads to a Christian worldview based on the doctrine of God-manhood, the deity and man embodied in Christ. He believes that the most complete philosophy is mystical. According to Solovyov’s natural philosophy, diversity in nature repeats the original diversity in the sphere of ideas, in the image of which God creates the material world, nature. The unity of nature is realized thanks to the world soul; it occupies an intermediate place between the plurality of living beings and the unconditional unity of the deity. Being free, the world soul separated from the Absolute, but thereby began to belong to the created world and lost power over it, as a result of which the universal organism disintegrated into many warring elements.

Overcoming discord in existence is facilitated by a long cosmo-evolutionary process. Above the cosmic process that was going on in the world before, the historical process now rises, the source of development of which is the world soul, called Solovyov Sophia.

At all, the principle of Sophia occupies an important place in the philosophy of V. Solovyov and has several interpretations. “Sophia is... the matter of the Divine, imbued with the beginning of divine unity,” one of the sides of the integral unity, the other of which is the Logos. This is the eternal, perfect Femininity, a spiritual being that receives its form from God, the process of realization of which is a world historical process. Sophia is also the soul of the world as the center of the embodiment of the divine idea of the world.

In his cosmology, Solovyov also emphasizes the importance of matter. This is the first substratum, belonging to existence. The philosopher develops the dynamic theory of the atom: “Atoms are active, or active, forces, and everything that exists is the product of their interaction.”

Soloviev develops his doctrine of the evolution of nature, based on the premise that everything in the world strives for the absolute, that the world is a unity in a state of becoming. In total, Soloviev identifies five stages of evolution, or, as he calls them, kingdoms: the mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human kingdom, and the kingdom of God. The five kingdoms clearly represent the development of being from the point of view of what Solovyov calls the moral meaning realized in the divine-material process: in order to achieve its highest goal, a being must first of all be (mineral kingdom), then it must be living (vegetative), conscious (animal), then rational (human), and finally perfect (kingdom of God).

In his work, Soloviev pays great attention to the ethics of unity, the main provisions of which he put forward in his work “The Justification of Good.” It is based on the proposition that goodness exists in the world as a certain ideal essence, a prerequisite for human morality. Good, according to Solovyov, is inextricably linked with the cosmo-evolutionary process. Its essential features are disinterest, which requires formal unconditional will from a person, and unity, which determines the completeness of moral norms for all basic relations of practical life. Good is the highest category of Solovyov’s ethics, it is the formative and guiding principle of all history. It is unconditional and determines the meaning of a person’s life. The moral principle is also decisive for economic, political, legal and other social relations.

Everyday human morality is based on three basic concepts: shame (determines the attitude towards the natural, material principle), pity (attitude towards other people) and reverence (attitude towards the higher, divine principle). The moral goal for a person is unity as an absolute state. This goal must be freely chosen. The essence of freedom, according to Solovyov, is the voluntary assimilation by man of the divine will. In the empirical world, man is determined by mechanical necessity and cannot be free, therefore we must come to God as the basis of freedom, for the absolute is free from external determination.

On the path to the fullness of existence, the kingdom of God on Earth, people must create a society based on the principles of justice - a free theocracy, a society where moral authority belongs to the church, power to the king, and the right of living council with God to the prophets. A Christian state must pursue Christian policies and promote the peaceful rapprochement of peoples. The only historical mission of every people is to participate in the life of the Universal Church, in the development of Christian civilization, which must be created on the basis of an organic combination of the positive elements of Western and Eastern cultures, first of all, on the basis of the reunification of churches - Eastern Orthodoxy, which has a wealth of mystical contemplation, and Western Catholicism, which established a supranational spiritual power independent of the state.

Soloviev talks about three forces that determine the fate of human civilization. These are the West, the East and the Slavic world with Russia at its head. The first two have already exhausted themselves; Russia is called upon to give life and renewal to the world. The divine power, which gives the development of humanity its unconditional content, manifests itself through that people who can give integrity to humanity, unite it with the eternal divine principle. This people must be free from any one-sidedness, attachment to narrow interests, even indifferent to life with its desire to establish itself in a private lower sphere of activity, but must be filled with faith in the positive reality of the higher world. This property, according to Solovyov, is possessed by the Slavic peoples, and especially the Russian people. External wealth, comfort of life, order have no meaning, the great historical calling of Russia is a religious calling in the highest sense of the word, a readiness to renounce patriotism rather than conscience.