Philosophical characters of L. P. Karsavin
Abstract
The article discusses the philosophical works of the famous medievalist historian, follower of the philosophy of all-unity L. P. Karsavin. The peculiarity of the research approach used in the article is determined by the attention the author pays to those philosophical characters whom Karsavin himself addressed in his works. It is the first time when the methodology used by Karsavin in studying the history of a spiritual culture was applied to study the philosophical heritage of Karsavin. This methodology was based on the belief that to understand the historical period under study was possible by means of examining a personality considered typical of the period, manely his mental properties, behavior and creativity motives. Karsavin regarded Apollinaris Sidonius, Francis of Assisi, Giordano Bruno, and A. S. Khomyakov as such typical personalities and studied them to grasp the spirit of the time. It is noted that the the main trait of the personality of Apollinaris Sidonius, to Karsavin’s mind, was “literary interests”, that of the God’s jester Francis of Assisi was “the religiosity of his nature”, that of Giordano Bruno was “the suffering of intellect”, finally, the main trait of the personality of A. S. Khomyakov was claimed to be “the wholeness of the spiritual nature”. When studying his “philosophical characters” Karsavin demonstrated the unity of the subject and method. The author concludes that all the characters are consonant with the symphonic personality, which Karsavin himself was – a poet, theologian-philosopher and jester of the Silver Age.
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