On the formation of the image of Plato as a symbol of Russian philosophy in the works of V. N. Karpov
Abstract
Vasily Nikolayevich Karpov (1798–1867) is known as the translator of the works of Plato and as a philosopher of the theological academy. However, up to now, insufficient attention has been paid to the question: how does Karpov connect Orthodox Christianity with the legacy of Plato? It should be noted that Plato has borrowed many pagan elements, and therefore Karpov, in the face of the difficulty of Christianizing Plato, had to overcome the gap between pagan philosophy and Christian faith for acquiring the virtues of Plato in the soil of Russian culture. This work is aimed at revealing the process of formation of the image of Plato as a symbol of Russian philosophy by the analysis of the process of changing the image of Plato in Karpov’s texts in the context of contemporary conjunctures around the policy of philosophical education. The analysis revealed that Karpov represented the image of Plato as a symbol of Russian philosophy, in which universal moral values are combined with the historical and cultural elements of their own people. For him, this symbolism of Plato means that philosophizing in Russia should cease to imitate the European philosophy, that it, drawing its material from its own historical source, must form an original philosophy in its native language by assimilating Plato’s philosophical heritage as an all-human treasure which is valuable regardless of its attitude to Christianity, that Russian philosophy as practical wisdom, connecting mind and heart with faith in human life and proceeding from the philosophy of Plato, should become an original part of the philosophical movement of all human beings.
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