Jonathan Sutton

The Life and Career of Vladimir Solovyov

Where Vladimir Solovyov is concerned, I cannot begin to provide the wealth of biographical information and insights offered by Konstantin Mochulsky or Sergey Solovyov, the philosopher’s own nephew,1 and those who do not have access to these Russian-language biographies are unfortunate. Mine, however, is not primarily a biographical study. Msgr Michel d’Herbigny’s frequently quoted book Vladimir Soloviev: Un Newman russe (1918) is not reliable either in factual detail or in emphasis.2 Some pertinent observations about Solovyov’s personal character are included in the chapter which N. O. Lossky devotes to his thought in History of Russian Philosophy (1952).3 More critical views are presented by Georgiy Chulkov and Alexey Remizov, and by Thomas G. Masaryk in his celebrated work The Spirit of Russia (1919).4 Masaryk actually goes so far as to call Solovyov ‘a decadent struggling for regeneration’.5 Paul Allen’s book Vladimir Soloviev: Russian Mystic (1978) places much weight on the philosopher’s biography, but errs on the side of uncritical adulation.6 Here, however, the text is supplemented by numerous interesting illustrations that are not easy to find elsewhere: of Solovyov’s parents, figures who influenced him, places where he studied or visited, and several which depict the philosopher at various stages in his life.

Tradition, Scholarship and Practical Wisdom

Whatever their fundamental premises may be (monotheistic, polytheistic, Deist, mechanistic or pantheistic), cosmological accounts of our world at some point assign a certain status to man, indicative of his place in the overall pattern of events and growth-processes. These accounts vary widely, since they depend on differing conceptions of man, but in particular they vary according to the degree of active participation that they envisage for man in the ‘world process’.

The Central Teachings of Solovyov—II

Vladimir Solovyov aimed to restate traditional Christian teaching in a form accessible and appealing to the educated Orthodox laity of his time. Wide-ranging though his writings on Christianity are, it is plain that he could not give equal emphasis to all branches of Christian thought and tradition. His understanding of the New Testament was valuable in many senses, and his writings stress some centrally important features of Christian spirituality. He stressed, for instance, that Christ preached a message of universal salvation and freedom for man; he taught that Christian values should be implemented throughout society, but in such a way as to preserve the worth and autonomy of the individual; he further taught that Christian teaching is concerned with active love (deyatel’naya lyubov’)1 and with awakening in man the aspiration to ‘be perfect’. Here, and in the following chapter, it is my purpose to clarify the central terms in Solovyov’s religious vocabulary and to mention those questions which most preoccupied him and led him to his affirmation of spiritual values.

Justification of the Good: Goal and Precept

The religious philosophy offered in Vladimir Solovyov’s writings is the fruit of a wide-ranging and particularly ambitious enquiry concerning human goals, creativity and values. This enquiry was undertaken by a man singularly well versed in Biblical studies, in Church history, West European philosophy, Platonism, Neo-Platonism, and in the mystical literature of various religious Traditions. His vast erudition was supported by a strong conviction that his work in these major fields would yield beneficial and important results. He valued both mystical apprehension and rational thought as means of acquiring knowledge, while prophetic insight and mystical visions (when accompanied by the requisite degree of moral preparation and discipline) also found a place in his scheme. His writings testify that he regarded Christianity as the truest and most complete revelation of the nature of God and of His Will that men have received, a revelation that affirms the reality of God’s intimate relationship with His creation and that fully provides for human freedom.

Solovyov’s Conception of Christian Culture

In previous chapters I have directed considerable attention to Solovyov’s views on Judaic and Christian schemes for a theocratic society. I have also underlined the point that the notion of theocracy became closely bound, in Solovyov’s mind, with the attempt to define as fully and lucidly as possible the features of a spiritual community.

A Vision of Conflict and Decline

In Chapter 8 I examined the central themes in two of Vladimir Solovyov’s later works, and that analysis was intended to help characterise his historically-based comparative method for evaluating non-Christian, nominally Christian and actually Christian societies respectively. In The Drama of Plato’s Life and On the Decline of the Mediaeval Worldview Solovyov delineated certain features of the non-Christian society (in this case, pre-Christian) and of the nominally Christian society; then, by stressing the shortcomings of their organisation of human affairs, Solovyov hoped to direct his readers towards an increasingly fine appreciation of the society that most adequately exemplifies the Christian social ideal. In other words, Solovyov employed a negative process of elimination and contrast to help him clarify the salient features of an authentically Christian society or culture.

Scripture and Reason: A Dual Allegiance

From the exposition and examination of Vladimir Solovyov’s religious philosophy in the previous three chapters it will be apparent that he sought to lead his readers towards a very profound reappraisal of Christian values. Although he maintained that the Church guides us in these matters, and that it provides safeguards against misunderstanding and false belief, he also saw the need for independent enquiry on the part of individual philosophers.1 Solovyov explicitly criticised ‘blind faith’ and the wholly unquestioning acceptance of what we receive through tradition: Faith, when it is only fact accepted through tradition, is an extremely insubstantial and unsteady thing.… Exclusively factual, blind faith does not conform with the dignity of man.2

The Study of Mystical Thought — Methodology

A considerable number of problematic issues beset any attempt to examine the writings of a religious philosopher with an acknowledged reputation as a ‘mystic’ or in whose works and thought ‘mystical apprehension’ is assigned a central or at least prominent function.