The Emergence of Onto-Gnoseology among Russian Intuitivists as Criticism of Neo-Kantianism
- DOI
- 10.5922/0207-6918-2020-4-4
- Pages
- 95-123
Abstract
At the beginning of the twentieth century in the Russian-speaking philosophical space philosophical projects emerged which brought ontology and gnoseology closer together. One can observe this process, for example, in the philosophical doctrines of the Russian intuitivists Nikolay Lossky and Semyon Frank. I demonstrate that the emergence of these doctrines and the development of their onto-gnoseological categorial apparatus were mainly connected with the criticism of the Neo-Kantian theory of cognition and the possibility of transcendent knowledge as such. The main sources of my study are The Intuitive Basis of Knowledge and The World as an Organic Whole by N. O. Lossky and The Object of Knowledge and The Unknowable by S. L. Frank. My investigation makes it possible to treat Lossky’s categorial framework as the representation of a system of levels of the universe each of which is characterised by two aspects: the ontological, i.e. it is part of the unity of the world, and the gnoseological, i.e. it has an independent cognitive significance. Frank considers categories to be an organic part of the ontological proof of intuitivism. A common trend in the construction of categorial schemes by Lossky and Frank is their striving to combine gnoseological and ontological descriptions of categories. The key difference is the way an onto-gnoseological system as a whole is justified. In revealing the contradictions in Lossky’s conception, I proceed from the critical remarks of S. A. Askoldov (Alexeyev), pointing out that these contradictions stem from an absolutisation of intuition in cognition, the renunciation of the idea of gnoseological transcendence, incompleteness of the theory of immanence and discordance between onto-gnoseological categories. Askoldov’s critical comments clarify the substantive features of Lossky’s theory and the essence of the transformations carried out in Frank’s absolute ideal-realism.
Reference
Alekseyev (Askoldov), S. A., 1914. Mysl i deistvitelnost’ [The Thought and the Reality]. Moscow: Put’. (In Rus.)
Berdnikova, A. Yu., 2017. ‘Back To Kant’ or ‘Back To Leibnitz’? A Critical View from the History of Russian Metaphysical Personalism. Kantian Journal, 36(2), pp. 33-45. (In Rus.)
Beshkareva, I. Yu., 2016. Intuitionism in Russian philosophy: Lossky and Frank. In: V. P. Filatov, ed., 2016. Nikolai Onufrievich Lossky. Moscow: Politicheskaya enciklopediya, pp. 147-155. (In Rus.)
Cohen, H., 1922. Logik der reinen Erkenntnis. Berlin: Bruno Cassirer.
Dmitrieva, N. А., 2007. Russkoe neokantianstvo: “Marburg” v Rossii. Istoriko-filosofskie ocherki [Russian Neo-Kantianism: “Marburg” in Russia. Historical and Philosophical Essays]. Moscow: ROSSPEN. (In Rus.)
Dmitrieva, N. А., 2016. The Conception of History by Nikolai Boldyrev: Neo-Kantian Perspectives. History of Philosophy, 21(2), pp. 45-58. (In Rus.)
Frank, S. L., 1983. The Unknowable: An Ontological Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. Translated by Boris Jakim. London & Athens & Ohio: Ohio University Press.
Frank, S. L., 1995. Obekt znaniya: ob osnovakh i predelakh otvlechennogo znaniya [The Object of Knowledge: Principles and Limitations of Conceptual Knowledge]. Saint Petersburg: Nauka. (In Rus.)
Kolerov, M. A., 2020. Sergey Askoldov’s Reviews concerning Kant and Others Published in the Russian Press in Early Twentieth Century. Kantian Journal, 39(2), pp. 80-93.
Kornilaev, L. Yu., 2019a. “The Turn towards Ontology” in Russian Neo-Kantianism in the Late 1910s and Early 1920s (Lev Salagov and Nikolai Boldyrev). Kantian Journal, 38(4), pp. 81-100.
Kornilaev, L. Yu., 2019b. The Specifics of Criticism on E. Lask’s Philosophy in Russia, Voprosy Filosofii, 12, pp. 132-144. (In Rus.)
Lossky, N. O., 1919. The Intuitive Basis of Knowledge. Translated by N. A. Duddington, with a preface by G. D. Hickes. London: Macmillan & Co.
Lossky, N. O., 1928. The World as an Organic Whole. Translated by N. Duddington. Oxford: Humphrey Milford.
Lossky, N. O., 1935. Value and Existence. Translated by S. Vinokooroff. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Lossky, N. O., 1952. History of Russian Philosophy. London: Allen & Unwin.
Lossky, N. O., 1954. About the Creation of the World by God. Put’, 54, pp. 3-22. (In Rus.)
Lossky, N. O., 1968. Vospominaniya [Memories]. Munich: Wilhelm Fink. (In Rus.)
Lossky, N. O., 1971. An Outline of My Own Philosophy. Le Messager périodique de l’Action Chrétienne des Etudiants Russes, 2(100), pp. 98-115. (In Rus.)
Lossky, N. O., 1995. Ideal-Realism (From Public Introduction to Philosophy). In: Chuvstvennaya, intellektualnaya i misticheskaya intuiciya [Sensual, Intellectual and Mystical Intuition]. 1995. Moscow: Respublika, pp. 290-348. (In Rus.)
Obolevitch, T., 2012. W stronę ontologizmu. Ewolucja twórcza Siemiona Franka. Estetyka i Krytyka, 4(26), pp. 259-274.
Obolevitch, T., 2014. From Neo-Kantianism to Ontologism. Thought, 16, pp. 62-69. (In Rus.)
Prokhorov, M. M., 2018. From Ontology and Gnoseology to Ontognoseology. In: M. Prokhorov, ed., 2018. World Outlook Paradigm in Philosophy: the Fundamentals of Ontognoseology. Nizhny Novgorod: NNGASU, pp. 16-34. (In Rus.)
Rickert, H., 1896–1902. Die Grenzen der naturwissenschaftlichen Begriffsbildung. Eine logische Einleitung in die historischen Wissenschaften. Freiburg im Breisgau und Leipzig: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck).
Savincev, V. I. and Popova, V. S. 2019. Transformation of the Concept of “Conciliarity” / “All-Unity” in Intuitivism of N. O. Lossky (Gnoseological Aspect). Philosophical Thought, 10, pp. 41-48. (In Rus.)
Semenyuk, A. P., 2012. Ontognoseology of S. L. Frank. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 154(1), pp. 153-165. (In Rus.)