On the Merits and Contradictions of Nikolay Ilyin’s Alternative Philosophy

This article is devoted to the recently deceased St. Petersburg scholar Nikolay P. Ilyin (1947–2023), a Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Professor of the Polytechnical Institute (later Polytechnical University), who is more known for his numerous works on the history of Russian philosophy. The article provides a brief survey of Ilyin’s unusual path to philosophical creativity and reveals a connection between his independent mastery of philosophical knowledge and his daring approach to investigated subjects. Ilyin showed himself not only as a historian of national thought, but also as an independent philosopher with a clearly conveyed credo of his own, which claims to be a new word in the history of Russian metaphysical thinking. This article outlines the basic features of Ilyin’s metaphysical system, which is based on the unity of the principles of personality and nationality, treated as the main components of distinctly Russian philosophical thinking. Ilyin emphatically separates the sphere of metaphysical philosophy as an independent and basic field of self-cognition from adjacent branches of the humanities — from theology, journalism, fiction, literary criticism, etc. The focal point of Ilyin’s unusual approach to the history of Russian philosophy is a total rejection of the “universal unity” doctrine suggested by the most popular Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, as well as a critical approach to the ideas of his predecessors and numerous followers or “epigones”. Instead, Ilyin promotes to the rank of major authorities in Russian philosophy some other, usually lesser known thinkers who emphasized the principles of personalism and nationality. The article shows that it is with this new axiological approach that all the positive and negative features of Ilyin’s alternative philosophical credo are associated. The principal merit of Ilyin’s works is that he introduced into scientific parlance a whole group of underestimated or half-forgotten Russian thinkers, from Apollon Grigoryev to Pyotr Astafyev. Ilyin’s original point of view also allowed him to disclose a lot of doubtful notions, false ideas and exaggerated authorities. He provided a convincingly grounded criticism of popular “gnostic chimeras” (Ilyin’s term), such as “universal unity”, “united humanity”, “Sophia”, “theurgy”, “world soul”, etc., which go back to Solovyov and became widespread in the so-called “religious philosophy” of the Silver Age. It is shown that Ilyin’s philosophical system contains a number of inner contradictions. Although Ilyin advocates a metaphysical approach to the history of national philosophy, he sometimes definitely tends to an emotional, journalistic manner of expression. The polemical spirit predominant in Ilyin’s writings, is often too harsh and categorical. For example, the Slavophiles ((except for Ivan Kireevsky) have been sharply and often unjustly criticized by Ilyin as Solovyov’s mere predecessors. While pointing out some truly doubtful Slavophile concepts, Ilyin’s arguments sometimes seem to be too biased and not quite objective. Hence his absolute and therefore contradictory denial of the Orthodox principle of spiritual unity (sobornost’) introduced by Alexey Khomiakov, his skeptical attitude to the concept of a wholesome knowledge, his underestimation of the Slavophile criticism of Western rationalism, and his crude and disrespectful attacks on Ivan Aksakov, especially for his alleged participation in the closing down of the Vremya magazine. Ilyin’s indubitable contribution to contemporary Russian philosophy is the introduction of a fresh wind into the somewhat stale atmosphere of academic discourse.