To live and think within the limits of the possible. On M. N. Epstein’s “Projective Dictionary”

Abstract

The idea of ​​a “projective dictionary” and the way it was realized in the philosophical work of M. N. Epstein are analyzed. Special attention is paid to the proposed rationale for the possibility of creati­vity, the relevant concepts introduced by M. N. Epstein are critically examined. It is claimed that the main purpose of writing the “Projective Dictionary” was to make it obvious and to solve the problem of freedom. The basic concepts of freedom created in the history of Russian thought are described, the tendency of interpreting freedom through necessity pre­vailing both in the religious-metaphysical and Soviet-Marxist philosophical traditions is ana­lyzed. It is stressed that such interpretation re­sulted in the removal of freedom from the real life, on the one hand, and in the fact that freedom was never regarded as a problem by most of Russian philosophers, on the other. Instead of it freedom was replaced with the concept of freedom, or a rational-metaphysical construct, and it is this concept that was de­veloped in Russian philosophical culture, or more exactly, in its main trends. No wonder that such a freedom was used to legitimize the corresponding views and prevent dissent. Criti­cism of metaphysics, which began in Russia in the mid-nineteenth century, led to a “natural” interpretation of freedom. However, this under­standing was not generally acknowledged. It is concluded that the philosophical value of the “Projective Dictionary” is determined by the attempt to actualize and develop the “natural”, non-metaphysical concept of freedom.