VLADIMIR SOLOVYOV (PHILOSOPHER)

'Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov' () (1853 - 1900) was a Russian philosopher, poet, pamphleteer, literary critic, who played a significant role in the development of Russian philosophy and poetry at the end of the 19th century. Solovyov (the last name derives from "соловей", "solovey", Nightingale in Russian) played a significant role in the Russian spiritual renaissance in the beginning of the 20th century. Solovyov is said to have died a pauper, homeless.

Contents

Life and work

Influence

Bibliography

Further reading

See also

References

External links

Life and work

Vladimir Solovyov was born in Moscow on 16 January, 1853, in the family of well-known Russian historian Sergey Mikhaylovich Solovyov (1820 - 1879). His mother, Polixena Vladimirovna, belonged to the Ukrainian-Polish family, having among her ancestors a remarkable thinker the 18th century Hryhori Skovoroda (1722 - 1794).
In his teens Solovyov renounced Orthodox Christianity for nihilism though later Solovyov changed his earlier convictions and began expressing views in line again with the Russian Orthodox Church. Vladimir Solovyov was also known to be a very close friend and confidant of Fyodor Dostoevsky. In opposition to Dostoevsky's apparent views of the Roman Catholic church, Solovyov has been rumoured to have converted to Roman Catholicism four years before his death. It could be suggested he did this to engage in the reconciliation between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, a reconciliation that Solovyov outspokenly favoured. Though Solovyov himself stated that he was still an Russian Orthodox believer and had never left the Orthodox faith. ^[1] Solovyov believed that his mission in life was to move people toward reconciliation or absolute unity or sobornost.

Influence

It is widely held that Solovyov is the basis of the character Alyosha Karamazov from The Brothers Karamazov ^[2]. Solovyov's influence can also be seen in the writings of the Symbolist and Neo-Idealist of the later Russian Soviet era. His book ''The Meaning of Love'' can be seen as one of the philosophical sources of Leo Tolstoy's 1880s works, ''The Kreutzer Sonata'' (1889).
He influenced the religious philosophy of Nicolas Berdyaev, Sergey Bulgakov, Pavel Florensky, Semen L. Frank, the ideas of Rudolf Steiner and also on the poetry and theory of Russian symbolism, viz. Andrei Belyi, Alexander Blok Solovyov's nephew, and others.

Bibliography

★ ''The Crisis of Western Philosophy: Against the Postivists'' by V Solovyov Lindisfarne Press 1996 ISBN 0-940262-73-8

★ ''The Justification of the Good''

★ ''The Meaning of Love''

★ ''War, Progress, and the End of History''

★ ''Russia and the Universal Church''

Further reading

★ Kristi Groberg, ‘Vladimir Sergeevich Solov’ev: a bibliography’, ''Modern Greek Studies Yearbook'', vol.14-15, 1998

★ Judith Deutsch Kornblatt, ‘Vladimir Sergeevich Solov’ev’, ''Dictionary of Literary Bibliography'', v295 (2004), pp377-386

★ Dimitrii N.Stremooukhoff,'' Vladimir Soloviev and his messianic work'' (Paris, 1935; English translation: Belmont, MA: Nordland, 1980)

★ Jonathan Sutton, ''The religious philosophy of Vladimir Solovyov: towards a reassessment'' (Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan, 1988)

★ Nicholas Zernov, ''Three Russian prophets'' (London: SCM Press, 1944)

See also

★ Russian philosophy

★ Vladimir Lossky

★ Apophatic theology

★ Mikhail Epstein

★ Sophiology

★ Phronesis

★ List of Christian mystics

References

External links

★ Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900) - entry on Solovyov at ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''

★ http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1888992298/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/104-6300569-7325509?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155

★ http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=0300060963

★ http://aatseel.org/dissertations/literature/kostalevskym.html

★ http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/readings/end/antichrist.shtml

★ http://www.emich.edu/public/history/moss/

★ http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/s/solovyov.htm

★ http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/soloviev/soloviev.html

★ http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/soloviev/biffi.html (address by Cardinal Giacomo Biffi)

★ http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9068629/Vladimir-Sergeyevich-Solovyov

★ http://www.valley.net/~transnat/solsoc.html

★ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/solovyov/

★ http://tcrnews2.com/tcrmore.html

★ Tale of the Anti-Christ - excerpt from ''Three Conversations'' by Solovyov

★ Civil Society and National Religion: Problems of Church, State, and Society in the Philosophy of Vladimir Solov'ëv (1853-1900) - research project at Centre for Russian Humanities Studies, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen