Description: Peter Chaadaev (1794-1856) is rightfully considered to be one of the forerunners of modern Russian philosophy. There is a famous scene from his life that may help us to understand both his own thought as well as the whole subsequent tradition of Russian religious philosophy. When Chaadaev finished his studies of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, he crossed out the title on the cover and wrote beneath it Apologete adamitischer Vernunft (An Apology for Adamic Reason). Russian religious philosophy was supposed to be a critique of such secular reason. In this book we seek a contemporary interpretation of Chaadaev's thought and its influence. Our authors, including such scholars as Andrzej Walicki and Boris Tarasov, investigate his views on religion, society, history, politics, and Russian fate. Chaadaev turns out to be a crucial figure who continues to influence Russian religious philosophy to this day.
Brief description:
Artur Mrowczynski Van-Allen (Poland, 1968) is director of the Slavic Department at the International Center for the Study of the Christian Orient (ICSCO) in Granada, Spain. He is currently Collaborator Professor at the Instituto de Filosofia "Edith Stein" and the Instituto de Teologia "Lumen Gentium," where he teaches Philosophy of History and Political Philosophy. He also serves as Research Professor of the Faculty of Filosophy at the Pontifical University of John Paul II in KraKow, Poland and as Consulter of the Episcopal Interreligious and Interconfessional Relations Commission of the Spanish Episcopal Conference in Madrid, Spain. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Centro Studi Vita e Destina, Vasilij Grossman (Turin, Italy), and of the Scientific Council of the Krakow Meetings on Russian Philosophy at the Pontifical University of John Paul II. His essays, articles, and conferences have been published in Spanish, Polish, Russian, English, and Italian. He is author of Between the Icon and the Idol: Man and State in Russian Thought and Literature, (Cascade, 2013); and co-editor of La Idea Rusa. Entre el anticristo y la Iglesia. Una antologia introductoria (2009); Apology of Culture: Religion and Culture in Russian Thought (Pickwick, 2015); and Beyond Modernity: Russian Religious Philosophy and Post-Secularism (Pickwick, 2016).