Stud East Eur Thought (2014) 66:303–304 DOI 10.1007/s11212-014-9217-y

Reply Vladimir N. Porus

Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

I believe this question needs to be twofold and has to pertain to both the state of philosophical research and the state of philosophical education in present-day Russia. Our researchers have advanced far enough in their studies to be able to claim a noticeable position in world philosophy. There are two factors that hamper this—the language barrier, which makes the Russian philosophical publications less known in the West, as well as the rest of the world, and the ‘‘apprenticeship syndrome,’’ arguably an inversion of the dogmatic arrogance of the Soviet epoch, which is still very much present in the general attitude. The echoes of this dogmatism are still occasionally felt, but they no longer bother anyone; however, the habit of fawning before the European philosophical celebrities and catching crumbs of their intellectual feasts is still very prominent and frequently manifested. What modern Russian philosophy obviously lacks is self-confidence, assertiveness, a respectful attitude towards its own traditions, and courage in defining its place in the context of its native as well as global culture. Today it has to content itself with the dubious freedom of choice of a master, be it science, politics, religion, art, common sense or the whirlwind of life, cultural conformism or counter-cultural frenzy. However, the course of history is so precipitate that philosophers fail to catch up with their own reflective activity, which is experienced as an inferiority complex. They keep searching for free niches in intellectual environments and urge each other to model acceptable ‘‘ways of life,’’ endeavouring to integrate themselves in political, economic, and cultural processes, regardless of the fact that the parties that play key roles (as opposed to supporting roles) in such processes are usually reluctant to engage them in this capacity. Philosophy par excellence has V. N. Porus (&) Faculty of Humanities, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia e-mail: [email protected]

123

304

V. N. Porus

been relegated to the outskirts of the Russian culture from the central position it had formerly occupied, and its attempts to make a comeback excite pity at best. Russian philosophers of today have been the witnesses and participants of several tectonic shifts in Russian history. If the old Chinese saying about there being nothing worse than living in a time of changes is true in general, it has a special meaning to us here—the time of changes is the time of making the choice between eking out a miserable existence and self-sacrifice for a greater cause. The choice is personal, but each time it is made, the general mood and atmosphere of the philosophical life in general are invariably affected. Philosophy in Russia finds it very hard to find a common ground with science, literature, art, or religion, and constantly finds itself either too deeply enmeshed in academic debate, or, on the contrary, degenerating into pop philosophising in its attempts to find popularity or political support. These ‘‘teething troubles’’ cannot be overcome without fundamental changes in philosophical education, which is where we run into several serious problems, the most important of them being the absence of a clearly defined system of aims: what does a modern educated person need philosophy for, and what kind of philosophy do we need to make this issue less poignant? Seeing as how no satisfactory answer can be given to either question so far, contemporary philosophy does not fit the bill of an academic discipline very well and has to stoop to advertising itself by promising students to teach them how to think, explain to them the logic of history, help them develop their worldview etc. What it does de facto is narrate the former glories of world philosophy. The majority of students dislike these accounts, failing to see their relevance to their own experience, and remain indifferent to what they hear at such lectures. Philosophy may regain its dignity and cultural significance by going back to its original purpose—namely, critical analysis of the foundations of human (cultural, to be more precise) existence and the development of the synthetic projects thereof as goals for the development of the society and the individual set deliberately and with awareness. It appears to be the most relevant task for Russia today, and one that is being approached too timidly, which results in our inability to meet the challenges of time.

123