Solovievs: Father and Son. Two Geniuses

Abstract

There are families where, from generation to generation, outstanding people were born who later became signifi cant fi gures in their countries. In Russia of the 19th century, these are the Aksakovs, Samarins, Mechnikovs, Trubetskoys, Chekhovs and, of course, the Solovyovs. The author examines two Russian thinkers — the great historian Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov and his son, philosopher Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov. Sergei Mikhailovich himself thought about creating a Christian philosophy of history, a part of which, in his opinion, the philosophy of Russian history should become. Of all the children, the closest to the great historian was his son Vladimir. And the father wisely forgave the antics of the young puberty, even when he threw all the icons into the garden. As if he knew that his son would become the largest religious thinker in Russia. Later, Vladimir Sergeevich explained his boyish rebellion this way: “...it doesn’t take much intelligence to reject faith — I rejected it at the age of 13.” As contemporaries wrote, V. S. Solovyov was the fi rst Russian truly original philosopher, just as Pushkin was the fi rst Russian folk poet. Before Solovyov, one could talk about German philosophy, French philosophy, English philosophy, but in relation to our country — only about philosophy in Russia. After Solovyov, Russian philosophy emerged and was established as a result of his work.