Motherland: A Philosophical History of RussiaThis landmark book, by the acclaimed author of Nietzsche in Turin, offers a unique interpretation of Russian history and thought. Lesley Chamberlain, novelist, traveller and historian of ideas, has been pondering the enigma of Russia for over thirty years. She finds that during the last two centuries Russian intellectuals have asked two fundamental questions: 'what makes a good man?' and 'what is the right way to live?' In their attempts to answer these questions, Chamberlain shows how these thinkers neglected the role of the individual, prioritising instead the need to end injustice and autocracy. Motherland is an invaluable introduction to the key Russian thinkers and an eloquently narrated journey in the history of ideas from a highly individual writer. |
From inside the book
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Page 100
... moral imagination , who could see that love mattered more than self- interest . To hypothetical Utilitarian questions like ' why should I aim to be morally fit in the longer term , when in the short term I can at least be rich ? ' and ...
... moral imagination , who could see that love mattered more than self- interest . To hypothetical Utilitarian questions like ' why should I aim to be morally fit in the longer term , when in the short term I can at least be rich ? ' and ...
Page 172
... moral value to put the current state of Russian society in perspective . Their metaphysics of morals began with a ... moral imagination at our disposal , and moral imagination is a good thing , we should use it . Rational egoism can ...
... moral value to put the current state of Russian society in perspective . Their metaphysics of morals began with a ... moral imagination at our disposal , and moral imagination is a good thing , we should use it . Rational egoism can ...
Page 256
... moral life , these gestures show the need for moral territory to be mapped . The overt experience of repressive societies like the Soviet Union ought to make Western weaknesses apparent . Kojève saw them immediately . Because the West ...
... moral life , these gestures show the need for moral territory to be mapped . The overt experience of repressive societies like the Soviet Union ought to make Western weaknesses apparent . Kojève saw them immediately . Because the West ...
Contents
The Men of the 1820s | 5 |
The Beautiful Souls | 20 |
The New Men | 47 |
Copyright | |
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Alexandre Kojève anarchism anarchist Bakhtin Bakunin beautiful soul believed Belinsky Berdyaev Berlin Bulgakov Cartesian Chaadaev Chernyshevsky Communist concept creative critical Descartes dialectical materialism Dostoevsky Edie educated epistemic epistemic virtue ethical European existence faith Feuerbach Frank freedom German German Idealism Goethe Hegel Hegelian Heidegger Herzen hope human idea ideal idealist imagination individual individualistic integrity intellectual intelligentsia Isaiah Berlin Kant Khomiakov Kireevsky knowledge labour Lavrov Lenin liberal living London lyubomudry Marx Marxism meaning metaphysics Mikhail Bakunin Mikhailovsky mind modern moral Moscow mystical nature Nikolai nineteenth century objective Oblomov obshchina Odoevsky Odoevsky's Pascal peasant Pisarev Plekhanov poetic political progress rational reality reason rejected Revolution revolutionary Romantic Russian philosophy Russian religious Russian thinkers Russian thought Schelling Schiller scientific sense Sergei Bulgakov Shestov Slavophiles social society Solovyov Soviet spiritual St Petersburg theory things Tolstoy tradition truth Utilitarian values vision Walicki wanted West Western wrote