Philosophical Thought in Russia in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century - by Vladislav Lektorsky & Marina F Bykova (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Philosophical Thought in Russia in the Second Half of the 20th Century is the first book of its kind that offers a systematic overview of an often misrepresented period in Russia's philosophy. Focusing on philosophical ideas produced during the late 1950s - early 1990s, it reconstructs the development of genuine philosophical thought in the Soviet period and introduces those non-dogmatic Russian thinkers who saw in philosophy a means of reforming social and intellectual life.

Covering such areas of philosophical inquiry as philosophy of science, philosophical anthropology, the history of philosophy, activity approach as well as communication and dialogue studies, the volume presents and thoroughly discusses central topics and concepts developed by Soviet thinkers in that particular fields. Written by a team of internationally recognized scholars from Russia and abroad, it examines the work of well-known Soviet philosophers (such as Mikhail Bakhtin, Evald Ilyenkov and Merab Mamardashvili) as well as those important figures (such as Vladimir Bibler, Alexander Zinoviev, Yury Lotman, Georgy Shchedrovitsky, Genrich Batishchev, Sergey Rubinstein, and others) who have often been overlooked. By introducing and examining original philosophical ideas that evolved in the Soviet period, the book confirms that not all Soviet philosophy was dogmatic and tied to orthodox Marxism and the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. It shows Russian philosophical development of the Soviet period in a new light, as a philosophy defined by a genuine discourse of exploration and intellectual progress, rather than stagnation and dogmatism.

In addition to providing the historical and cultural background that explains the development of the 20th-century Russian philosophy, the book also puts the discussed ideas and theories in the context of contemporary philosophical discussions showing their relevance to nowadays debates in Western philosophy. With short biographies of key thinkers, an extensive current bibliography and a detailed chronology of Soviet philosophy, this research resource provides a new understanding of the Soviet period and its intellectual legacy 100 years after the Russian Revolution.

Review Quotes

[A] ground-breaking book combining recent Russian archival research with inspiring contributions from key thinkers from around the world. Lektorsky and Bykova's volume has a Tolstoyan breadth of action. This, together with Dostoevskian reflection, makes the volume an epic and absorbing account of philosophy in the Soviet era and beyond.
Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

This comprehensive and wide-ranging volume makes available in English translation important work originally published in Russian in 2014. The editors' introduction and their decision to include Evald Ilyenkov and Valentin Korovikov's theses, as well as other seminal research material, render this collection even more valuable; it should become a major reference point in the field.
Galin Tihanov, George Steiner Professor of Comparative Literature, Queen Mary University of London, UK

Three decades ago, the edifice of "Soviet philosophy" crumbled: the Marxist-Leninist ideology that it was supposedly underpinned and its alleged philosophical basis, historical and dialectical materialism, disappeared almost overnight. The result was a major crisis of academic philosophy in (post-)Soviet Russia. This volume, jointly written by some of the best scholars in the field, both Russian and non-Russian, could hardly be more timely: finally, we can look at what reallyhappened in the field of philosophy in the former USSR.
Evert van der Zweerde, Professor of Social and Political Philosophy, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands

About the Author

Vladislav A. Lektorsky is: Professor and Principle Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia; full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia; titular member of the International Institute of Philosophy, Paris, France; and full member of the International Academy of Philosophy of Science, Brussels, Belgium. His research interests lie in Epistemology, philosophy of consciousness and philosophy of cognitive science. He has authored 6 books and over 500 articles. His works have been published in English, German, French, Chinese, Turkish, Bulgarian, Polish, and Czech.

Marina F. Bykova is Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina State University, USA and the Editor of the journal Russian Studies in Philosophy. Her research interests lay in the history of nineteenth century continental philosophy, with a special focus on German idealism and theories of subject and subjectivity developed by Kant, Fichte, and Hegel. She has authored three books and numerous articles on classic German philosophy and edited a new Russian edition of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit (2000) with a new commentary. Her works have been published in Russian, German, and English.