Philosophy as de-anthropologized knowledge: a contribution of Russian empiriocriticism

Abstract

The article provides an analysis of the “problem” approach to understanding a human being. This approach was a characteristic feature of the followers of empiriocriticism in Russia at the turn of the 20th century. It is shown that this approach suggests the possibility of a procedural understanding of the objectness of philosophical knowledge which in turn requires the metaphysical rationality to be critically overcome. Russian positivism is discussed by means of analyzing the two main “irritants” of the philosophical tradition: antimetaphysical pathos and a new model of knowledge. Metaphysics, as an object of criticism of the Russian positivists, was considered to be a special strategy of comprehending absolute truth, or such a system of knowledge that was based on ignorance, that is, on a whole series of assumptions accepted on faith and never verified. It is shown that the criticism of metaphysics led the empiriocritics to develop their own alternative projects to prove the possibility of monistic philosophy. The most interesting experiments of constructing a system of “non-metaphysical all-unity” were the theories of empiriomonism and tektology of Aleksandr Bogdanov, scientific philosophy of Vladimir Lesevich, empiriosymbolism of Pavel Yushkevich, philosophy of life of Sergey Suvorov, as well as positive aesthetics of Aleksandr Lunacharsky. These theories are considered in the context of modelling a system of new, non-classical, or de-anthropologized, philosophical knowledge. The problem of man is described by means of both destruction and actualization of its main historical interpretations. The thesis of the Russian positivists that philosophy can exist only in the form of a historico-philosophical discourse which is held to create a possible reality rather than to reconstruct the existing philosophical doctrines is corroborated.