Born in revolution (Eurasian intuition in philosophical journalism the early 1920s)

Abstract

Over the past century in the social sciences much has been done toward finding out and understanding the shocks experienced by mankind during the early 1920s. However, the intellectual experience of the direct participants of the most dramatic developments of the modern history of mankind has intrinsic value. It not only conveys the intimate certainty of what happened, but also reveals its irrefutable logic. It is clear that immersion in the turmoil of revolution is not conducive to the establishment of voluminous philosophical treatises. The intuition which illumines the mind of the thinker of this era, most certainly can be transmitted in the works of a different genre: articles or essays. From this point of view, philosophical writing can be considered the most appropriate form of presentation of ideas about the catastrophic unpredictability of the flow of the present from the past to the future. Perhaps there is none among the Russian thinkers of the revolutionary era, who did not write about Russia’s future. However, among the large number of authors N. S. Trubetskoi, and P. N. Sawicki occupy a special place. This was not just because they were alone among those of the Russian emigrés who critically referred to the Soviet authorities with an assessment of the justice of Bolshevik victories and recognized their achievements in socialist construction. More significantly, Trubetskoy and Savitsky suggested an original methodological strategy that contributed to an adequate description and interpretation of the principles of the development of Russian civilization. Their innovation was so revolutionary that even today they are the source of much academic bewilderment. And yet, even a cursory but unbiased look at the teaching of Trubetskoy and Savitsky is enough to appreciate the fruitfulness of their approach to understanding the essence Russian philosophy of history. Refs 5.