(2014) Studies in East European Thought 66 (3-4).
Seeing as how Russia is “neither a Western, nor an Eastern nation, but some trifling thing in between—and an artful trifling thing at that,” according to Vassily Rozanov, its comprehension requires the thinker to be an artist at the same time. The concept of a Russian philosopher as an artist is fully congruent to the topological prospect of thought. When Alexander Herzen says that we are “on the one hand, more artistic in everyday life; on the other hand, we are much more simplistic than the Westerners and lack their specialisation, compensating it by being more multifaceted,” we are faced by at least one uncommon concept—the association of specialisation with complexity, whereas a multifaceted nature and artisticexpression are perceived as something simple. If we resist the temptation of easy criticism and refrain from pointing out the logical contradiction, opting instead for historical and cultural self-awareness in our approach, we shall find it very likely that it is much...
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/s11212-014-9218-x
Full citation:
Savchuk, V. V. (2014). Reply. Studies in East European Thought 66 (3-4), pp. 305-307.
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