Kantian Journal

2013 Issue №4(46)

Schopenhauer and I. Kant in A. A. Fet’s philosophical and political worldview (conclusion)

Abstract

The concluding part of the work focuses on the independence of A. A. Fet’s philosophical worldview strongly emphasised by the poet himself and his close friends. Although he quotes Schopenhauer and Kant, he criticised them and demonstrates an independent worldview. The author analyses the critique of Schopenhauer given in A. A. Fet’s letters. Three aspects are criticised: firstly, A. Schopenhauer’s idealism, secondly, agnosticism, and, thirdly, inconsistency, contradictions in the philosopher’s reasoning. A special section of the work is dedicated to the analysis of the poetic triptych consisting of three poems written in 1879—1880: “Nothingness”, “That is not why the Lord is mighty…”, and “Never”. Fet dedicated the triptych to criticising the principles of A. Schopenhauer’s philosophy. It is demonstrated that, although A. Schopenhauer finds mistakes in Kant’s works, A. A. Fet does not accept this criticism and criticises Schopenhauer from the perspective of critical philosophy. The author makes a conclusion that A. A. Fet was closer to Kantianism than Schopenhauerism.

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