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Leontiev on Nationalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

H. Handley Cloutier
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Extract

In the intellectual history of Russia, Konstantin Leontiev (1831–1891) emerges as a singular and enigmatic figure. Generous and benevolent in his personal relations and a scintillating conversationalist, he encountered antagonism or indifference where his writings and theories were concerned. The extremely unique and even esoteric quality of his thought caused him to exert virtually no influence either in his own day or in more recent periods. He was not a representative member of the Russian intelligentsia; indeed, he beggars assignment to any particular school. Perhaps the best description one can make of him is that of heir to the emotional strain of German philosophical romanticism. His predilection for naturalism and aestheticism are typical of early nineteenth century German anti-rationalist philosophy, as is his emphasis on tradition and organic development. Leontiev lacked utterly the humanistic qualities of the earlier Slavophiles who first appropriated German philosophic influence, and this quality of severity divorces him from the Russian romantic tradition. At the same time, his idealism caused him to be wholly out of tune with the nihilist, revolutionary, and populist tendencies of his own day. A prophet without honour, he was not without merit; his views are most provocative and reward attention. Not the least interesting aspect of Leontiev lies in his attitude towards nationalism; and it is with this facet of his thought that we shall be concerned.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , April 1955 , pp. 262 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1955

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References

1 For a thorough study, cf. Chizhevsky, D. I., Gegel' v Rossii (Paris, 1937)Google Scholar, which devotes several chapters to the Slavophiles.

2 Quoted in Milyukov, P. N., “Razlozheniye Slavyanofil'stva” in Iz Istorii Russkoy Intelligentsii (St. Petersburg, 1903), p. 293.Google Scholar

3 Pan-Slavism is summarized from the historical, but not intellectual, viewpoint in Sumner, B. H., Russia and the Balkans, 1870–1880 (Oxford, 1937), pp. 56–80.Google Scholar

4 Danilevsky, N. Ya., Rossiya i Evropa (St. Petersburg, 1869).Google Scholar There is a truncated German translation, Russland und Europa (Berlin, 1920)Google Scholar, and a French précis in Skupiewski, J. J., La Doctrine Panslaviste d'après N. J. Danilevsky (Bucharest, 1890)Google Scholar, which also contains a violently inimical introductions revealing the Balkan attitude towards Pan-Slavism.

5 The theory was borrowed from the German, Heinrich Rücker; cf. Solov'yov, V. S., “Nemetsky Podlinnik i Russky Spisok” in Natsional'ny VoprosGoogle Scholar, reprinted in Sobraniye Sochinenij (St. Petersburg, 2nd. edition, v. 5), pp. 320–351.Google Scholar

6 Although he did not know of Spencer until after he had formulated his own theory, Leontiev approved very highly of the former's work. Cf. Berdyaev, N., Konstantin Leontiev (London, 1940), p. 80.Google Scholar There is also a similarity between Leontiev and Auguste Comte, but no evidence that Leontiev knew Comte's work.

7 Cf. Koplyantsev, A. in Russky Biografichesky Slovar' (St. Petersburg, 1914), v. 10, p. 232.Google Scholar

8 Quoted in Berdyaev, , op. cit., pp. 205–206.Google Scholar

9 Leont'yev, K., Vostok, Rossiya, i Slavyanstvo, v. 2, pp. 38, 300Google Scholar, reprinted Sobraniye Sochinenij (Moscow, 1912), v. 5–7.Google Scholar

10 Cf. Leont'yev, , op. cit., v. 2, pp. 135, 297.Google Scholar

11 Quoted in Berdyaev, , op. cit., p. 47.Google Scholar

12 Cf. Leont'yev, , op. cit., v. 2, p. 51.Google Scholar

13 A reference to the trial of Vera Zasulich for the assassination of Trepov. Although the evidence and her own confession weighed against her, the jury acquitted her as a move of defiance against the government.

14 Cf. Leont'yev, , op. cit., v. 2, p. 96.Google Scholar

15 Later events justified his suspicion. Many of the members of the later Dumas cut their parliamentary teeth in zemstvo debates, and in zemstvo administrative procedures.

16 Leont'yev, , op. cit., v. 2, p. 157.Google Scholar

17 Cf. Koplyantsev, , loc. cit., pp. 234, 245.Google Scholar

18 On the authoritarian nature of Byzantium, cf. Kohn, Hans, The Idea of Nationalism (New York, 1944), p. 75.Google Scholar

19 Leont'yev, , op. cit., v. 1, p. 81.Google Scholar

20 Quoted in Berdyaev, , op. cit., pp. 165–166.Google Scholar

21 Leont'yev, , op. cit., v. 2, p. 86.Google Scholar

22 Cf. Karpovich, Michael, “Vladimir Soloviev on Nationalism,” in The Review of Politics, VIII (1946), No. 2, pp. 183–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar