Jona Than - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Jona Than

Religion, State and Society, 1992

As has been the case for decades now, YMCA Press continues to make available works by Russian thi... more As has been the case for decades now, YMCA Press continues to make available works by Russian thinkers whose contribution can be judged only when the full range of their writings is properly accessible. In the relatively near future, and if the economic situation allows, we may see Russian publishing houses in Moscow, St Petersburg and elsewhere assuming this crucially important task, especially if they manage to publish materials that have been locked away in the archival holdings of Soviet research libraries. In any case, even if scholars and editors on Russian soil do succeed in restoring their heritage, we should still recognise the enormously valuable role played by YMCA Press from its base in Paris. This article has been prompted by the recent publication by YMCA Press of a collection of writings on Jewish nationhood and the situation of the Jewish people by Fr Sergi Bulgakov, the prominent Orthodox theologian and philosopher (1871-1944).1 The articles in the collection span the years 1915 to 1942, the most substantial of these belonging to 1941 and 1942, the very height of the Second World War. Particular features of Bulgakov's reflections upon Jewish identity and the Christian world will be treated here. However, first it is necessary to consider the way in which Russian thought has tended to focus upon cultural comparisons, surveying European, Asian and other societies and setting features of those societies in contrast to 'Russian' structures and values. This endeavour has taken Russian philosophers into the realms of social history, anthropology and theology, excursions that have impressed non-Russian readers by their very ambitiousness, but also caused doubts as to the objectivity of the project and of the eventual findings put forward. If it is indeed the case that the writings of one or another Russian philosopher in the field of historical-cultural comparisons are flawed, the fundamental reasons for this need to be studied, and these writings then set properly in the context of the more wellfounded and positive in sights of the philosopher in question. Over the years many scholars and other commentators have expressed a profoundly negative view of Russian philosophy, dismissing it as largely derivative and lacking in fully developed theories of knowledge. It has even been common practice to deny the Russian tradition the name of 'philosophy' altogether, on the grounds that it appears to lack the rigour and critical discipline that feature so prominently in Western European philosophy. In important respects Russian philosophy is indeed different in kind from Western European types of philosophy. It has tended to place less emphasis upon theories of knowledge than do other traditions, and has been shaped by different preoccupations.

Religion, State and Society, 1992

As has been the case for decades now, YMCA Press continues to make available works by Russian thi... more As has been the case for decades now, YMCA Press continues to make available works by Russian thinkers whose contribution can be judged only when the full range of their writings is properly accessible. In the relatively near future, and if the economic situation allows, we may see Russian publishing houses in Moscow, St Petersburg and elsewhere assuming this crucially important task, especially if they manage to publish materials that have been locked away in the archival holdings of Soviet research libraries. In any case, even if scholars and editors on Russian soil do succeed in restoring their heritage, we should still recognise the enormously valuable role played by YMCA Press from its base in Paris. This article has been prompted by the recent publication by YMCA Press of a collection of writings on Jewish nationhood and the situation of the Jewish people by Fr Sergi Bulgakov, the prominent Orthodox theologian and philosopher (1871-1944).1 The articles in the collection span the years 1915 to 1942, the most substantial of these belonging to 1941 and 1942, the very height of the Second World War. Particular features of Bulgakov's reflections upon Jewish identity and the Christian world will be treated here. However, first it is necessary to consider the way in which Russian thought has tended to focus upon cultural comparisons, surveying European, Asian and other societies and setting features of those societies in contrast to 'Russian' structures and values. This endeavour has taken Russian philosophers into the realms of social history, anthropology and theology, excursions that have impressed non-Russian readers by their very ambitiousness, but also caused doubts as to the objectivity of the project and of the eventual findings put forward. If it is indeed the case that the writings of one or another Russian philosopher in the field of historical-cultural comparisons are flawed, the fundamental reasons for this need to be studied, and these writings then set properly in the context of the more wellfounded and positive in sights of the philosopher in question. Over the years many scholars and other commentators have expressed a profoundly negative view of Russian philosophy, dismissing it as largely derivative and lacking in fully developed theories of knowledge. It has even been common practice to deny the Russian tradition the name of 'philosophy' altogether, on the grounds that it appears to lack the rigour and critical discipline that feature so prominently in Western European philosophy. In important respects Russian philosophy is indeed different in kind from Western European types of philosophy. It has tended to place less emphasis upon theories of knowledge than do other traditions, and has been shaped by different preoccupations.