Lopatin, Lev Mikhailovich

Early years

Lev Mikhailovich Lopatin was born on June 1, 1855 in Moscow, in the family of the well-known judicial figure Mikhail Nikolayevich Lopatin and his wife Ekaterina Lvovna, nee Chebysheva. The father of the philosopher, Mikhail Nikolaevich, was descended from an old noble family of the Tula province , known since the beginning of the 16th century ^[4] . Senior Lopatin graduated from the law faculty of Moscow University and served on the judicial department in various institutions in Moscow; at the end of his life he headed one of the departments of the Moscow Court of Justice . He was a moderate liberal, a supporter of the reforms of Alexander II and the author of journalistic articles. Co-workers knew him as an honest, fair and incorruptible judge ^[5] . The mother of the philosopher, Ekaterina Lvovna, was the sister of the famous mathematician P. L. Chebyshev . M. N. and E. L. Lopatins had five children: Nikolay, Lev, Alexander, Vladimir, and Catherine (the last son, Michael, died in childhood). All the Lopatins children became famous creative people. The eldest son, Nikolai Mikhailovich, became a famous folklorist, collector and publisher of Russian folk songs. Younger brothers, Alexander and Vladimir Mikhailovich, became judicial figures, and Vladimir - also an outstanding actor who played in the Moscow Art Theater . Their sister, Ekaterina Mikhailovna, gained fame as a writer who wrote under the pseudonym K. Eltsova ^[4] .

Lev Mikhailovich was the second son in the family and received a name in honor of his maternal grandfather L. P. Chebyshev. According to the metric books, Leo was baptized on June 11, 1855, and his godfather was the uncle-mathematician P. L. Chebyshev ^[4] . The childhood of the future philosopher was spent in Moscow, in the house of a merchant Yakovlev in Nashchokinsky Lane, where his parents rented an apartment. Lev grew up a weak, thin, sickly teenager; its hallmark was the combination of physical helplessness with a clear and subtle mind. In 1868, he entered the 3rd class of the newly founded L.I. Polivanov private gymnasium , which he successfully completed in 1875, but he passed the test for the certificate of maturity in the 3rd Moscow gymnasium ^[6] . The outstanding teacher, L. I. Polivanov, was able to instill in his students an interest in literature and art ^[7] . The pupils of the Polivanovsky gymnasium created a dramatic "Shakespeare Club", in the productions of which young Lopatin took an active part. According to contemporaries, Leo had an extraordinary stage talent: he played the roles of Polonius, Lorenzo, Malvolio, Meneni Agrippa, Henry IV, Miserly Knight ^[8] and was especially good in the role of Iago ^[9] . The philosopher preserved his love for the theater for the rest of his life and already in his declining years he was a member of the editorial committee of the Moscow Maly Theater . Of the other teachers in the gymnasium, the greatest influence on Lopatin was NI Shishkin, a teacher of physics and mathematics. The original thinker himself, Shishkin, was able to clearly and simply explain the most complex scientific problems; from him Lopatin learned the love of the exact sciences ^[10] .

In 1872, the Lopatins family settled in their own two-story house on the corner of Khrushchev and Gagarinsky lanes. This house gained great fame in Moscow thanks to the private collections that took place in it, the so-called Lopatin “environments” ^[11] . The head of the family, M. N. Lopatin, maintained friendly relations with many outstanding people of his time. Every Wednesday, representatives of the scientific and creative intelligentsia gathered at his house for dinner in the evening: professors, writers, actors, judicial and public figures. They came here to exchange news, opinions, listen to new literary and musical works, argue on scientific and socio-political topics ^[4] . Here you could meet such people as S. M. Solovyov , I. E. Zabelin , I. S. Aksakov , D. F. Samarin , A. F. Pisemsky , A. I. Koshelev , N. P. Gilyarov- Platonov , S.A. Yuriev , L.I. Polivanov, V.I. Ger'e , V.O. Klyuchevsky , A.A. Fet , F.I. Tyutchev , L.N. Tolstoy and many others ^[5] . These collections had a great influence on the children of M. N. Lopatin, especially on Leo. In this old-Moscow, Slavophil environment, the formation of his views and life ideals took place. Young Lopatin gave a great deal of communication with S. A. Yuryev, in conversations with whom he learned his first philosophical lessons ^[12] .

A great influence on the fate of Lopatin had his friendship with Vladimir Solovyov . The families of their fathers, M. N. Lopatin and S. M. Solovyov, lived next door and maintained close relationships, and in the summer they relaxed together in the Pokrovskoe-Streshnevo estate near Moscow. Lev met Vladimir when the first was 7 and the second was 9 years old. Subsequently, philosophers recalled how teenagers staged entertainment in Pokrovsky-Streshnev Park, depicting ghosts and scaring the locals ^[13] . Lopatin and Solovyov soon began to be interested in philosophical questions, and their mental development went in parallel. Lopatin recalled that when he was 12 years old, Solovyov, who was a materialist at that time, “shook his children’s beliefs to the ground ^[14] . Since that time, he began to painfully develop his own worldview in the constant struggle with Solovyov. The views of the young Solovyov experienced a rapid evolution: after being carried away by materialism, he became a follower of Schopenhauer , and then returned to the Christian church faith . According to the memoirs of Lopatin, by his 15 years he met Solovyov on philosophical idealism , and at the age of 17 he became his complete like-minded person ^[14] . However, later on, their philosophical paths diverged: despite the influence of Solovyov, Lopatin did not become his follower and developed his own teaching, which he defended until the end of his life. The friendship of the two philosophers, however, remained unchanged; Lopatin devoted many poems Solovyov ^[15] .

At Moscow University

At the end of the gymnasium in 1875, Lopatin entered the faculty of history and philology at Moscow University . In that year, after the death of P. D. Yurkevich , the philosophical department at the university was taken by two: V. Solovyov, who had just defended his master's thesis, and Professor M. M. Troitsky, who had arrived from Warsaw ^[16] . Solovyov, however, soon left the university, and Professor Troitsky remained the only representative of philosophy at the department. Troitsky was a positivist , a follower of the English empiricism in the spirit of J. S. Mill and G. Spencer, and he was negative about any metaphysics . Lopatin, whose views were already formed by that time, did not meet with any sympathy. In 1879, he graduated from the university with the degree of candidate and expressed a desire to continue his scientific activities; however, Trinity resisted his remaining at the department, and Lev Mikhailovich was forced to look for another job ^[16] . At one time he taught Russian in a real school (in the 1879/80 school year), and then got a job as a teacher of literature and history at the L. L. Polivanov native school and at the S. A. Arseneva female school . The philosopher retained the connection with these educational institutions to the end of his life. In 1880, Lopatin, as an assistant to Polivanov, took part in organizing celebrations on the occasion of the opening of the monument to A. Pushkin ; here he met the writer Fyodor M. Dostoevsky , who, in a letter to his wife, described him as “an extremely intelligent, very thinking, extremely decent and highly convincing person” ^[17] .

In 1881 , at the invitation of V. I. Ger'e , Lopatin began teaching at the Faculty of History and Philosophy of the Higher Women's Courses ^[18] . During these years, his literary activity began: in 1881, his first article, Experimental Knowledge and Philosophy, was published in Russian Thought , and in 1883, the article Faith and Knowledge. Both articles subsequently became part of the first volume of his main work “The Positive Tasks of Philosophy” ^[19] . Soon, at the insistence and patronage of V. I. Ger'e, Lopatin was able to return to Moscow University. In 1884, he successfully passed the master's exam, and the following year, after reading trial lectures on Kant's theory of causality, he began teaching as a privat-docent ^[18] . In the spring of 1886, he defended his master's thesis, the text of which, under the title “Field of speculative questions”, was published in the same year as volume 1 of “Positive tasks of philosophy” ^[20] . Professor Troitsky spoke at the defense of his thesis against Lopatin, but the dean of the faculty who favored the author of the faculty read his caustic review so skillfully that no one noticed his causticity ^[16] . In the same year, Troitsky resigned, and Professor N. Ya. Groth, who arrived from Novorossiysk, occupied the philosophical department. Lopatin established friendly relations with the Grotto, and his further professional growth did not encounter any obstacles ^[18] . In 1891, he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “The Law of Causal Relations as the Basis of Speculative Knowledge of Reality”, and published it in the same year as 2 volumes of “Positive Tasks of Philosophy” ^[2] . Since 1892, Lopatin has been extraordinary, and since 1897 he has been an ordinary professor at Moscow University . Distinguished Professor of Moscow University (1910). The whole future life of Lopatin was associated with Moscow University, where he worked for a total of 35 years - more than any other of the pre-revolutionary teachers of philosophy ^[18] . At the same time, he continued to lecture in two gymnasiums and at the Higher Women's Courses.

Over the years of his teaching activity, Lopatin has read many lecture courses, some of which were published as separate publications. These include, above all, courses on the history of ancient and new philosophy, published in the form of lithographed editions in different years. Numerous editions of these courses testify to the constant creative processing that the author has subjected them ^[21] . The philosopher also taught courses on ancient culture, on Plato and Aristotle , special courses “European Philosophy in the Current Century”, “Philosophy of Kant”, “Ethics”, course “Basic Problems of Knowledge”; in 1894, he began to read the new course “Introduction to Philosophy”, and from 1899 - the course of psychology ^[22] . According to the recollections of the listeners, Lopatin’s lectures were immersed in the living element of philosophical creativity and taught the students to independent thought ^[23] . A special impression was made by his course “Introduction to Psychology”. So, the philosopher and theologian N. S. Arsenyev recalled:

“Convincingly, clearly, with strong argumentation and - with inspiration - he spoke about the rights of the spirit, about reality, the primordial decisive reality of the spirit. In mental communication with Lopatin at these lectures, the young man entered into communication with a passionate and conscientious and deeply convincing for thought and fascinating by the power of moral ascent evidence of the true existence of the spiritual world ” ^[24] .

- N. S. Arsenyev. Gifts and encounters of life.

However, not all students of the philosopher’s courses were popular: many found them boring, and some believed that Lopatin’s printed publications were more impressive than his lectures ^[25] . Over the years of teaching, thousands of students took his courses, many of whom later became major thinkers; among them were, for example, the philosophers P. A. Florensky , V. F. Ern , V. P. Sventsitsky , G. G. Shpet , A. F. Losev , psychologist P. P. Blonsky , poets V. Ya. Bryusov and A. White and many others ^[18] . Despite this, Lopatin failed to create his school of philosophy, and only at the end of his life did he have several students, in particular, the son of his friend Professor A.I. Ognev ^[26] and later known as literary critic P.S. Popov ^{[ 27]} .

In the Moscow Psychological Society

In 1885, the Psychological Society was established at Moscow University, uniting in its ranks many philosophers, psychologists and representatives of other sciences. Society was conceived not only as psychological , but also as philosophical ; The initiator of its creation and the first chairman was Professor M. M. Troitsky ^[28] . According to the charter, the Society had the goal of developing and disseminating psychological knowledge ^[29] ; it had its own publication, the Proceedings of the Moscow Psychological Society, which was published every few years, and carried out scientific translations. From the very beginning of the creation of the Society, Lopatin took an active part in his activities; he invariably attended his meetings, made presentations, and participated in the debate. In 1887 , after the resignation of Trinity, Professor N. Ya. Grotto became the new chairman of the Society. With the advent of the Grotto, the activities of the Society took a broader character ^[30] : in 1889, on his initiative, the Society began to publish the journal Issues of Philosophy and Psychology , which was published 4-6 times a year. In a short time, Questions of Philosophy and Psychology became the largest Russian philosophical journal and the unifying center of Russian philosophical thought ^[23] . The grotto was able to make friends with people of different convictions; under his leadership, the Psychological Society has become a close circle of people united by common goals. According to Lopatin, during the presidency of the Grotto the Psychological Society became one of the most popular centers of Russian education ^[31] .

Since the end of the 1880s, Lopatin’s life has been closely associated with the work of the Psychological Society. His articles were published in the Proceedings of the Moscow Psychological Society, and with the advent of the journal Issues of Philosophy and Psychology, he became one of its main authors. Already in 1890, the journal published a cycle of his articles on moral philosophy, in which he formulated his ethical views ^[32] . Then, during the 1890s and the early 1900s, the philosopher placed in the journal articles on psychology that formed the basis of his psychology course, which was read at the Higher Women's Courses and published as a lithographic publication in 1903 ^[33] . Finally, from the beginning of the 1900s, Lopatin began to publish articles of a general philosophical content in the journal, developing the ideas of his main work, Positive Philosophy Tasks. To this should be added the articles published in different years - obituaries and articles devoted to the characteristics of the thinkers of the past. The articles of this cycle were published in 1911 as a separate book, Philosophical Characteristics and Speeches ^[34] . Over the years of his collaboration, Lopatin published over 50 articles in the journal Issues of Philosophy and Psychology ^[35] . From 1894, he took part in editing the journal, and in 1896 , during Groth's illness, became one of its co -editors .

In 1899 , after the death of N. Ya. Grot, Lopatin was elected the new chairman of the Psychological Society and from that moment headed the Society until his own death in 1920. At the same time, he continued to edit the journal Questions of Philosophy and Psychology, first with V.P. Preobrazhensky , and after the death of the latter, together with Prince S. N. Trubetskoy ^[30] . Prince S. N. Trubetskoy was one of Lopatin's closest friends; in 1902, he organized at the Moscow University a student Historical and Philosophical Society, to which Lopatin was also invited, who headed the philosophical section. However, in September 1905, Trubetskoy, elected rector of Moscow University, died of apoplexy. After his death, the leadership of the journal Issues of Philosophy and Psychology was entirely passed into the hands of Lopatin, who remained its sole editor until the closure of the publication in 1918 ^[16] . At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, the Psychological Society suffered a number of significant losses: one after another, its active members died MM Trinity, N. Ya. Grot, V. P. Preobrazhensky, S. S. Korsakov , V. S. Solovyov, A. A. Tokarsky , N. V. Bugaev , S. N. Trubetskoy, which could not but affect the quality of his work. The revolutionary events of 1905-1906 also negatively affected the work of the Society ^[30] . Despite this, by the beginning of the 1910s, the Society managed to emerge from the crisis; the journal Voprosy filosofii i psikhologii continued to publish large editions and acquaint the reader with the latest philosophical ideas. By this time, Lopatin, who concentrated in his hands the post of chairman of the Society and the editor of the journal, became the main representative of philosophy in Moscow ^[9] .

In 1911, the Psychological Society solemnly celebrated the 30th anniversary of Lopatin's scientific activity. Representatives of almost all scientists, educational and literary societies of Moscow attended the solemn meeting held on December 11 ^[7] . Welcoming addresses from the Moscow Psychological Society, Moscow University, Moscow Higher Women's Courses, the Society of Russian Language Amateurs, Moscow Societies: nature testers, neuropathologists and psychiatrists, mathematical, legal, religious-philosophical, Moscow Literary and Art Circle, women's gymnasium S. were read out. A. Arsenyeva and the men's gymnasium of L. I. Polivanov, as well as from comrades in the faculty, students and trainees ^[23] . Speeches were made by professors G.I. Chelpanov , P.I. Novgorodtsev , V.M. Khvostov and others. In his speeches, Lopatin was called "one of the most significant representatives of philosophical thought in Russia", "an outstanding national thinker" and "knight of philosophy." It was indicated that he was one of the creators of Russian idealistic philosophy, laid a solid foundation of philosophical psychology and contributed to the development of the Russian philosophical language. The writings of Lopatin were spoken of as "a living and brilliant discovery of independent Russian thought," and of his jubilee, as "a celebration of Russian philosophy." The philosopher was touched by the appreciation of his works and, in his response, confessed that he had never counted on the lifetime triumph of his ideas and worked mainly for future generations ^[23] . The anniversary edition of the Philosophical Collection dedicated to Lopatin ^[36] was published; The first volume of his “Positive Tasks of Philosophy” was republished and a collection of articles “Philosophical Characteristics and Speeches” was published.

Last years of life and death

Lopatin's life was the typical life of a philosopher: not rich in external events, it was filled mainly with inner mental work. The philosopher never married and spent his whole life as a bachelor. He always lived in the same house - in the parent house in Gagarinsky Lane, from which he never moved and in which he died ^[8] . In the house itself, he occupied a room on the top floor - the so-called “nursery”, the ceiling in which was so low that V.S. Solovyov, entering, had to bend down so as not to hit his head against the lintel. It was said that when Lopatins settled in this house, Lev Mikhailovich, having examined the room, said: “Well, I will somehow reach the spring,” and it remained in it for the rest of their lives ^[7] . The father and mother of the philosopher died, the sister sold the house, but Lev Mikhailovich nevertheless got his room from the new owners, not knowing where and how to move out of it ^[11] . Over the years, the philosopher’s lifestyle also remained unchanged: he worked at night, slept during the day, and got up in the afternoon, which is why he was constantly late for various meetings. He was also late for the lectures he gave, and the lessons he taught, and this habit was the subject of good-natured jokes by his colleagues. In the evenings, Lev Mikhailovich went to private meetings, the so-called journal fixes , or just to visit, where he sat for conversation and a cup of tea until late at night. Here he often told his scary stories , which was a great master. In the summer, he usually went abroad or to the Caucasus , most often to Yessentuki , or stayed at the cottage with one of his friends ^[37] .

In his work in the Psychological Society and the journal "Questions of Philosophy and Psychology" Lev Mikhailovich also loved the usual immutability. He chaired the meetings, spoke at the debate, looked at the manuscripts received in the journal, gave his apt comments ^[37] . All technical editorial work was carried out by his assistant, the widow of the historian M. S. Korelina , and the secretary of the journal N. P. Korelina . As a leader, Lopatin was very conservative: he did not like innovations and tried to avoid everything that required him a lot of energy. When the well-known French philosopher A. Bergson decided to come to Moscow, Lopatin resisted his arrival, as he did not want to take the trouble associated with his reception ^[9] . For this, his colleagues and acquaintances greatly annoyed him. Lopatin had a negative attitude towards the latest trends in philosophy and did not want to study the works of new European authors, being convinced that the old are still better ^[11] . “Old means good work,” Lev Mikhailovich loved to say ^[7] . In particular, he did not like the schools of neo-Kantians that had spread at the beginning of the 20th century — G. Cohen , G. Rickert, and P. G. Nadorp , whose teachings seemed dark and incomprehensible to him. When a group of young neo-Kantians decided to publish the philosophical journal Logos in Russia, Lopatin refused to give them any support, and the magazine began to appear without his participation ^[38] . At the same time, Lopatin reacted very sensitively to those new directions in philosophy that were consonant with his own ideas. He, in particular, was one of the first to highly appreciate the pragmatism of B. James ^[7] , who defended his ideas of the existence of God and free will ^[39] .

On January 12, 1917 , on Tatiana's Day , Lopatin spoke at the ceremonial meeting of Moscow University with an apt speech "Urgent tasks of modern thought." In his speech, he pointed out the crisis of European culture, gave a brief presentation of his philosophical system, and particularly focused on questions about the origin of evil and the immortality of the soul ^[40] . In essence, Lopatin summed up his philosophical activity and pointed out new ways of the development of philosophy. Lopatin's speech, published as a separate booklet ^[41] , made a great impression and elicited many responses. According to S. A. Askoldov , she became the “swan song” of the philosopher ^[17] .

In 1917, the philosopher’s habitual way of life was destroyed first by the February and then the October Revolution . Socio-political upheavals experienced by the country, and affected the scientific world. In 1918, the journal Issues of Philosophy and Psychology ceased to be published. The Psychological Society experienced a crisis and worked intermittently ^[29] . Many members of the Society, persecuted by the Bolsheviks , found themselves in the White movement or in emigration; hunger and devastation reigned in Moscow. Poor health, Lev Mikhailovich struggled to cope with the difficult conditions of life ^[9] . At this point, the philosopher felt in his vocation to fight for raising the religious level of Russian society. In 1918, he made a presentation on the Theses on the creation of the World Union for the Revival of Christianity, preserved in the papers of Fr. Pavel Florensky ^[42] . These theses spoke of the need to unite Christians of all confessions "to combat religious unbelief and rude worship of material culture and their practical consequences in the political, social, economic life and in the entire structure and lifestyle of individuals." In the last months of his life, the philosopher was cheerful and optimistic about the future; to his acquaintances, he said that a man would not die until he completed his mission on earth ^[37] . In November 1919, Lopatin wrote N. P. Korelina: “I am convinced that everything that is happening is necessary, that it represents the painful and painful process of the rebirth of mankind (yes, mankind, and not Russia alone) from all kinds of untruths that crushed him and good, bright and very new " ^[37] . However, the philosopher’s physical strength was weaker; in March 1920, he fell ill with the flu , which was complicated by pneumonia, and on March 21 died quietly in his room in the presence of a few students and acquaintances. According to the memoirs of A. I. Ognev, the last words of the philosopher were: “We will understand everything there” ^[32] .

The philosopher was buried in the territory of the Novodevichy Monastery near the grave of his brother and not far from the grave of V.S. Solovyov ^[16] . Several obituaries ^{[7] [43]} and the book “Lev Mikhailovich Lopatin” by A.I. Ognev published in 1922 ^[32] were devoted to him.

According to contemporaries, a characteristic feature of Lopatin was a combination of physical weakness and spiritual power. He was short, thin, puny, with thin limbs and weak muscles, and was unsuitable for any physical activity ^[8] . In his figure, in his gestures, there was something helpless and childish in his walk; he walked slouched and never straightened up to his full height ^[38] . The health of the philosopher was also unimportant: he was often sick and was very afraid of colds, because of which he dressed warmly in any weather; in winter, he was so wrapped up that only his eyes were visible from under his thumb cap, and his whole face was wrapped in a long knitted scarf ^[9] . They also said that in the summer he walked in warm winter galoshes, which is why he was known as a great eccentric and original. He did not understand practical matters and constantly needed someone's help. With him, until the end of his life, his old servant Sergey was hired by his parents and performing the role of a kind of nanny with the philosopher ^[17] . According to the stories, Lopatin had a pleasant face with a high, prominent forehead, blond hair pulled back and large, expressive, intelligent eyes. These eyes lit up with a peculiar brilliance when the philosopher argued about something or told his horror stories; according to E. N. Trubetskoy , they possessed the power of some kind and gentle hypnosis ^[11] .

In the weak, weak body of the philosopher, however, there lived a large and kind soul. Lev Mikhailovich sincerely loved people, knew how to get in their needs, share their sorrows and joys ^[32] . As a Christian believer, he sought to embody the gospel ideal in his life by actively helping people in need and in need. According to the younger brother, it was not the case that Lev Mikhailovich denied spiritual or material assistance to anyone ^[8] . He was often asked for advice and support, and he always found the right words for the suffering person. Demanding of himself, Lopatin was forgiving of others, did not hold onto anyone and easily forgive resentment. He was organically alien to pride, self-conceit, ambition and envy ^[8] . Meek and gentle by nature, he was unable to hurt or offend another person. According to the memoirs of M. K. Morozova , when teaching at the gymnasium, Lopatin put five to all students, and if someone did not answer the lesson, he would get angry and threaten to put the four or ask next time ^[9] . Lev Mikhailovich easily converged with people and found a common language with them, regardless of their age and social status. It was especially easy for him to get along with children, whom he willingly made gifts and who loved him very much ^[37] .

The philosopher lived very modestly. The whole decor of his small room was a bed, two tables and several chairs. Lopatin did not start electricity, and the philosopher worked with a kerosene lamp until the end of his life. Here, on a table lined with books, on a piece of paper, in pencil, he wrote his small writings in small hand ^[7] . According to the testimony of his brother, Lopatin was a staunch ascetic : he looked at his body as if it were a burden and burden, he was afraid of the dependence of the spirit on the body and in every way fought against the physical shackles ^[8] . From the life situation, he demanded the little that relieved him of bodily oppression and gave a sense of independence from material conditions. He looked at everything else as an exaggeration, which he avoided in every possible way and with which he was forced. He was a knight of women, with many of them he was in intimate friendship, but he did not want to tie the knot in fear of losing the usual freedom and independence ^[8] .

As a scientist, Lopatin was distinguished by extreme autonomy of thinking ^[23] . In philosophy, he was no one's student. He did not join any school of philosophy, did not look at authorities, and consistently developed his own original worldview. Lopatin was one of the few Russian thinkers who remained outside of any influence of Kant . He considered Kantianism to be a dead-end branch of philosophy and preferred to rely on thinkers of the pre-Kantian era, which is why he received reproaches of “philosophical backwardness” ^[11] . Being an insightful critic , he evaluated every teaching according to its inner strength and consistency and rejected everything that did not meet these criteria. Gentle and compliant in nature, he became dogmatic and intolerant when it came to philosophical questions, and often fiercely argued, arguing that he was right ^[9] . Lopatin's own thinking was distinguished by exceptional clarity ^[43] . He was characterized by a desire for precise formulations and simplicity of presentation. To any person not versed in philosophy, he was able to explain the most difficult philosophical concepts with accessible language. When preparing his articles, he read them to the editor-in-chief, N. P. Korelina, and if that was unclear, rewrote the work several times, until he achieved complete clarity ^[37] . Works Lopatin different extreme forethought; according to the testimony of P. S. Popov, the philosopher long nurtured his thoughts, clothed them in clear wording and memorized, and only after that he sat down and wrote down on paper. Even preparing for discussion, he thought over and wrote down his arguments in advance, outlining possible adversary responses and his objections to them. This made him an invincible debater ^[17] .

Of particular interest to the characteristics of Lopatin are his scary stories . These stories were very popular, especially among young people, and Lev Mikhailovich was often specially invited to dinner to listen to his stories. He told them masterfully, expressively playing with his eyes and voice intonation, so that everyone present was creepy and many after that were afraid to go through the dark room ^[37] . The peculiarity of these stories was that they all contained within them a mystical element; their usual plot consisted in the manifestation of the soul of the deceased ^[9] . These stories were closely related to Lopatin's fundamental conviction - the conviction of the immortality of the human person. The strength of their artistic impact was determined by the belief in their reality, which is transmitted from the narrator to the listener: the person does not die, she lives behind the coffin , and on occasion she “naughty” if she did not find comfort for herself - this is the main motive of the Lopatinsky stories ^[11] . Lopatin was a staunch mystic, believed in the communion of the living and the dead, and saw mystical meaning in everything real. He was serious about spiritualism and valued the results of his penetration into the spiritualist field, although he never publicized it ^[8] . The real realm and the mystical realm were for him two sides of the same reality, and this conviction left an imprint on his philosophy.

The general nature of the exercise

According to his philosophical views, Lopatin belonged to the direction that is called Spiritualism ^[44] or metaphysical personalism ^[45] . The essence of this teaching is that in it the spirit ( lat. Spiritus ) or person ( lat. Persona ) is accepted as the main, primary essence . In this way, it differs both from materialism , which sees the essence of things in matter , and from Plato's idealism , which establishes the beginning of things in abstract ideas ^[46] . The founder of this trend is traditionally considered to be René Descartes , although his roots go back to ancient philosophy. The largest representatives of spiritualism after Descartes were GV Leibniz , J. Berkeley and Men de Biran ^[47] . The term “spiritualism” was first applied to his teaching by the follower of Men de Biran, the French philosopher W. Cousin ^[48] . In Germany, the spiritualist ideas were developed by the followers of Leibniz I. F. Herbart , R. G. Lotze , I. G. Fichte Jr. and G. Teichmüller . The latter, who called his teaching "personalism", taught at Yuriev University , where he created a special school of followers; the supporters of his ideas were the Russian philosophers A. A. Kozlov , E. A. Bobrov , S. A. Askoldov, and N. O. Lossky ^[49] . The original version of Leibnician monadology was also developed by Lopatin's senior colleagues in the Psychological Society N. V. Bugaev and P. E. Astafiev ^[50] .

Of the thinkers who influenced Lopatin, Descartes and Leibnitz are most often called, the philosopher himself emphasizing the great importance of the ideas ^{[51] [52]} . However, Lopatin’s definition in the literature as “Russian Leibnitzian” is incorrect; Leibniz was only one of many thinkers who influenced the formation of his ideas ^[53] . Significant was also the influence of Berkeley, whose Treatise on the Principles of Human Knowledge became the first philosophical book read by Lopatin ^[32] and Men de Biran, whose ideas formed the basis of Lopatinsky psychology ^[54] . Some researchers also note the influence of the ideas of I. G. Fichte ^[3] , A. Schopenhauer ^[55], and Lotze ^[56] . Of particular note is the influence of the early Vladimir Solovyov, who in his youth adhered to spiritualistic ideas. His metaphysics, set forth in The Readings on God-Manhood , was the original development of Leibniz’s monadology . However, later Solovyov withdrew from Leibnitsianstva and often criticized Lopatin spiritualism from the standpoint of his "metaphysics of the Unity " ^[57] . In general, researchers note Lopatin's great independence in the development of philosophical ideas and the originality of his teaching, which does not allow him to be ranked among the pupils of any other thinker. Spiritualism Lopatin was one of the first creations of original Russian philosophy ^{[1] [3]} .

The philosopher himself called his teaching concrete Spiritualism, contrasting it with Hegel ’s abstract teaching on the World Spirit . The spirit in Lopatin's teaching is not an abstract idea, but a living, effective force that exists before every incarnation in the life of nature and humanity ^[58] . The main provisions of Lopatino spiritualism: self-confidence of internal experience; substantial unity of consciousness; personal identity; creative activity of the human spirit; free will; creative causality as a universal law of reality; principle of correlation of phenomena and substances; the inner spirituality of all things; the existence of God and the moral world order; the immortality of the soul ^[53] . In the work “Urgent Tasks of Modern Thought” the philosopher formulated the essence of his teaching in the following way:

“All reality, both in us and outside of us, is spiritual in its inner being; in all phenomena around us spiritual, ideal forces are realized, they are only closed from us by the forms of our external sensory perception of them; on the contrary, in our soul, in the immediate experiences and acts of our inner self , in its properties and definitions, we see the real reality, which is no longer covered by anything. And the fact that in this reality there is a core and from it is inseparable under any conditions, it should be basic in any other reality, if only in the world there is an internal unity and if it is not composed of elements that deny each other. ”

- Lopatin L.M. Urgent tasks of modern thought // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1917. - Prince. 136. - p. 1-80.

Major Works

The main work, expounding the philosophical doctrine of Lopatin, was a two-volume monograph “The Positive Tasks of Philosophy”. By definition of the author, the monograph was devoted to the substantiation of the necessity and possibility of metaphysics; the name of the work itself indicated the presence of positive tasks in philosophy, that is, metaphysical knowledge ^[21] . In the first part of the monograph, the philosopher criticized the empirical theory of knowledge and argued the need for metaphysics as a special science; in the second, he expounded his theory of creative causality and gave a brief sketch of the system of spiritualistic metaphysics. “Positive tasks of philosophy” were a kind of program, in line with which the further creativity of the thinker developed ^[21] . The following articles by Lopatin in “Questions of Philosophy and Psychology” were devoted to the explanation, development and deepening of the key ideas of “Positive Tasks”. It was here, in these articles, that Lopatin's philosophical talent was revealed with full force.

All Lopatin's articles fall into five cycles devoted respectively to psychology , metaphysics, ethics , analysis of the philosophies of the past and criticism of the latest philosophical trends ^[21] . The most important is the series of articles on psychology, which formed the basis of the course “Introduction to Psychology”. Of these, the following articles should be highlighted: “Phenomenon and Essence in the Life of Consciousness”, “Concept of the Soul According to Internal Experience”, “Spiritualism as a Psychological Hypothesis”, “Question of Real Unity of Consciousness” and “Method of Self-Observation in Psychology”. According to Professor V. V. Zenkovsky , “Lopatin can be called, without exaggeration, the most prominent Russian psychologist; his articles on general and specific questions of psychology still retain their high significance ” ^[55] .

Of considerable importance is also the cycle of articles on the theory of knowledge and metaphysics, the reason for the writing of which was the controversy with Professor V.I. Vernadsky . The cycle includes articles: “Scientific worldview and philosophy”, “Axioms of philosophy”, “Typical systems of philosophy” and “Spiritualism as a monistic system of philosophy”. The final work of the cycle was the article “Urgent Tasks of Modern Thought”, containing in brief the presentation of the main ideas of the thinker. From the works of ethical content it should be noted the article "Criticism of the empirical principles of morality", "Theoretical foundations of conscious moral life" and two articles on free will attached to the second volume of "Positive Tasks". Of considerable interest are also the historical-philosophical and critical articles of the thinker and his three-volume course on the history of philosophy. According to S. L. Frank , written in 1930, "the works of Lopatin must be without reservation included in the best and highest achievements of philosophical thought of the last half-century" ^[1] .

From Brockhaus and Efron

In all his works, Lopatin vigorously insists on the need for a speculative beginning in any integral worldview. The empirical principle , uncovered to the end, not based on speculation, leads to the inevitable denial of knowledge and skepticism. It is impossible to look for the foundations for the development of a world view and in faith alone, since, refusing to speculate in principle, it constantly emanates from it in reality. Speculative philosophy is knowledge of real things in their beginnings and ultimate purpose. For the possibility of metaphysical constructions, the question of the law of causality must be decisive. This law, precisely in the fundamental meaning that it has for any direct activity of the mind, that is, as a requirement of productive, or creative, causality, receives real satisfaction only in the spiritualistic world view.

A review of speculative concepts of reality thus leads Lopatin to the system of a particular spiritualism or to psychological metaphysics. Assuming a substance for properties of the spirit, the properties of which are significantly different from what is directly given in these phenomena, that is, a transcendental substance, we create the concept of fruitless and contradictory. If, having rejected any substance, we begin to look at spiritual life as a pure sequence of absolute states (the point of view of “ phenomenism ”), we get an idea of ​​the soul that is deeply at variance with its most basic features and disintegrates into incurable internal contradictions.

There is only one way out: the substance of the soul is not transcendental, but immanent to its phenomena, that is, it reveals or manifests itself and its nature in our mental states. Phenomena of the spirit must be not only indicators, but also a direct realization of his being.

Based on the concept of the soul as a producing cause, Lopatin is trying to defend the principle of free will on a psychological basis (moderate indeterminism ). On the question of the essence of the world order, Lopatin adjoins Leibniz monadology, which brings him closer to representatives of the Moscow School of Mathematics and Philosophy .

• Moscow, Gagarinsky lane , 15

Books

• Positive tasks of philosophy. Part I. Area of ​​speculative questions. - M., 1886. - 2nd ed .: M .: Tipo-lithography by I. N. Kushnerov and K °, 1911. - 462 p.
• Positive tasks of philosophy. Part II. The law of causation, as the basis of speculative knowledge of reality. - M .: Typography of E. Messner and Y. Roman, 1891. - 392 p.
• Philosophical characteristics and speech. - M .: "The Way", 1911. - 396 p.
• Lectures on the history of the new philosophy. Issue I. Kant and his closest followers. - Prague, Berlin, 1923.

Lithographed editions

• The history of ancient philosophy. Lectures at the Higher Women's Courses in 1884–85 - M., 1885.
• The history of ancient philosophy. Lectures read at the Imperial Moscow University in 1895–96 - Moscow: Lithograph of the Society for the distribution of useful books, 1896. - 350 p.
• The history of ancient philosophy. Lectures read at the Imperial Moscow University in 1897–98 - Moscow: Lithograph of the Society for the distribution of useful books, 1898. - 422 p.
• The history of ancient philosophy. Lectures read at the Imperial Moscow University in 1900-1901 - Moscow: Richter's Lithograph, 1901. - 407 p.
• Psychology. Lectures of ordinary professor L. M. Lopatin. 1901-1902 ac. year. - M .: Richter's lithograph, 1902. - 349 p.
• The course of psychology. Lectures delivered at the Faculty of History and Philology of the Imperial Moscow University and at the Higher Women's Courses in 1903-1904 ac. year - M .: Tipo-lithograph by Y. Vener, 1903. - 230 p.
• History of new philosophy. Lectures delivered at the Faculty of History and Philology of the Imperial Moscow University. - M .: Richter's lithograph, 1902. - 448 p.

Reprints of articles

• The question of free will. - M .: Typography A. Gattsuk, 1889. - 100 p.
• Nikolai Yakovlevich Grotto. - M., 1900.
• Prince S. N. Trubetskoy and his general philosophical outlook. - M .: Tipo-lithograph of the tv Island I. N. Kushnerev and K °, 1906. - 103 p.
• The idealist physicist (in memory of N. I. Shishkin). - M .: Tipo-lithograph of the tv Islands I.N. Kushnerev and K °, 1908. - 113 p.
• The present and the future of philosophy. - M .: Tipo-lithograph of the tv Islands I.N. Kushnerev and K °, 1910. - 45 p.
• Urgent tasks of modern thought. - M .: Printed by A.I. Snegireva, 1917. - 83 p.

Articles

• Experienced knowledge and philosophy // Russian thought. - M., 1881. - № 5. - p. 201-260. - № 8. - p. 202-219.
• Faith and knowledge // Russian thought. - M., 1883. - № 9. - P. 127—168.
• The moral doctrine of Schopenhauer // Proceedings of the Moscow Psychological Society. - M., 1888. - Issue I.
• The question of free will // Proceedings of the Moscow Psychological Society. - M., 1889. - Vol. III.
• The position of the ethical problem in modern philosophy // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1890. - Prince. 2. - pp. 61-72.
• Criticism of the empirical principles of morality // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1890. - Prince. 3. - p. 64-104.
• The moral doctrine of Kant // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1890. - Prince. 4. - p. 65-82.
• Theoretical foundations of conscious moral life // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1890. - Prince. 5. - p. 34-83.
• Sergey Andreevich Yuriev as a thinker // Collection in memory of S. A. Yuriev, published by the friends of the deceased. - M., 1891.
• On the question of mathematical truths (Answer N. A. Ivantsov) // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - 1892. - Vol. 14. - p. 55-70.
• Patient sincerity (Note on the article by V. Preobrazhensky “Friedrich Nietzsche”) // Problems of Philosophy and Psychology. - M., 1893. - Prince. 16. - pp. 109-114.
• On the Question of the World Outlook of Blessed Augustine // Questions of Philosophy and Psychology. - M., 1893. - Prince. 18. - p. 26-40.
• Mobile associations of ideas // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1893. - Prince. 19. - pp. 1–53.
• The new psychophysiological law of Mr. Vvedensky (A note on his “Secondary challenge to the dispute about the law of animation”) // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1893. - Prince. 19 - p. 60-81.
• Parallelistic theory of mental life // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1895. - Prince. 28. - p. 358-389.
• Phenomenon and essence in the life of consciousness // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1895. - Prince. 30. - p. 619-652.
• The concept of the soul according to internal experience / / Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1896. - Prince. 32. - p. 264-298.
• Descartes, as the founder of a new philosophical and scientific outlook // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1896. - Prince. 34. - p. 609-642.
• Spiritualism, as a psychological hypothesis // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1897. - Prince. 38. - p. 486-534.
• Nikolay Yakovlevich Grotto (May 23, 1899) // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1899. - Prince. 48. - p. IX — XX.
• The question of the real unity of consciousness. Part I // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1899. - Prince. 49. - pp. 600-623.
• The question of the real unity of consciousness. Part II // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1899. - Prince. 50. - p. 861-880.
• Vasily Petrovich Preobrazhensky (April 11, 1900) // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1900. - Prince. 52. - p. VII — IX.
• In memory of S. S. Korsakov (Speech delivered at the tomb of S. S. Korsakov on May 4, 1900) // Philosophy and Psychology Issues. - M., 1900. - Prince. 53. - p. VIII — X.
• On the question of unconscious mental life // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1900. - Prince. 54. - pp. 741-757.
• Philosophical outlook BC Solovyov // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1901. - KN 56. - p. 45-91.
• In memory of A. A. Tokarsky // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1901. - Prince. 59. - S. XII — XIV.
• Personality and outlook of S. S. Korsakov // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1901. - Prince. 60. - p. XXXIX — XLIX.
• The method of self-observation in psychology // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1902. - Prince. 62. — pp. 1031-1090.
• Scientific worldview and philosophy (Regarding the article by Prof. V.I. Vernadsky “On the scientific worldview”). Part I // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1903. - Prince. 69. - p. 404-430.
• Scientific worldview and philosophy (Regarding the article by Prof. V.I. Vernadsky “On the scientific worldview”). Part II // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1903. - Prince. 70. - p. 475-496.
• Scientific worldview and philosophy (Regarding the article by Prof. V.I. Vernadsky “On the scientific worldview”). Part III // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1903. - Prince. 71. - p. 84-128.
• Philosophical worldview N. V. Bugaeva // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1903. - Prince. 72. - p. 172-195.
• The teachings of Kant's knowledge // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1904. - Prince. 76. - p. 1-19.
• In memory of Prince S. N. Trubetskoy // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1905. - Prince. 79. - p. I — VI.
• Axioms of philosophy (Scientific worldview and philosophy) // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1905. - Prince. 80. - pp. 335—352.
• Prince S. N. Trubetskoy and his general philosophical outlook // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1906. - Prince. 81. - pp. 29-129.
• Typical systems of philosophy (Scientific worldview and philosophy) // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1906. - Prince. 83. - p. 262-293.
• Book review: N. D. Vinogradov. Philosophy of David Hume. Part I. Theoretical philosophy of D. Hume. Moscow, 1996 // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1906. - Prince. 83. - p. 251-260.
• A new theory of knowledge (Regarding the book of N. O. Lossky "Justification of intuitivism". SPb., 1906) // Problems of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1907. - Prince. 87. - p. 185-205.
• The idealist physicist (in memory of N. I. Shishkin). Part I // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1907. - Prince. 89. - p. 324-366.
• The idealist physicist (in memory of N. I. Shishkin). Part II // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1908. - Prince. 90. — pp. 492-527.
• The idealist physicist (in memory of N. I. Shishkin). Part III // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1908. - Prince. 92. - p. 186-218.
• Book review: A.D. Gulyaev. Ethical teachings in Pascal's “Thoughts” // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1907. - Prince. 89. - p. 545-551.
• Philosophical views V. Ya. Zinger // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1908. - Prince. 93. - p. 219-227.
• Personality and views of L. I. Polivanov // Collection of memory of L. I. Polivanov (on the 10th anniversary of his death). - M., 1909.
• The present and the future of philosophy // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1910. - Prince. 103. - p. 263-305.
• In memory of Vl. S. Solovyov // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1910. - Prince. 105. - From 625-636.
• Two response speech of L. M. Lopatin // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1912. - Prince. 111. - pp. 185-189, 209-211.
• Book review: N. D. Vinogradov. Philosophy of David Hume. Part II. The ethics of David Hume, in connection with the most important areas of British morality XVII-XVIII centuries. Moscow, 1911 // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1912. - Prince. 113. - p. 517-520.
• Spiritualism as a monistic system of philosophy // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1912. - Prince. 115. - p. 435-471.
• Monism and pluralism // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1913. - Prince. 116. - pp. 68-92.
• Vl. S. Soloviev and Prince E. N. Trubetskoy. Part I // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1913. - Prince. 119. - p. 339-374.
• Vl. S. Soloviev and Prince E. N. Trubetskoy. Part II // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1913. - Prince. 120. - p. 375-419.
• Vl. S. Soloviev and Prince E. N. Trubetskoy. Part III // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1914. - Prince. 123. - p. 477-526.
• Concerning the new book by S. A. Alekseev (Askoldov) “Thought and Reality” // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1914. - Prince. 125. - p. 519-531.
• Concerning the work of V.F. Ern “Rozmini and his theory of knowledge. Research on the history of Italian philosophy of the XIX century " // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1915. - Prince. 127. - p. 268-282.
• The modern value of the philosophical ideas of Prince S. N. Trubetskoy // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1916. - Prince. 131. - P. 1—39.
• Urgent tasks of modern thought // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1917. - Prince. 136. - p. 1-80.
• Strange end of a forgotten dispute // Questions of philosophy and psychology. - M., 1917. - Prince. 137–138. - p. 174-177.

• Kolubovsky Ya. N. Lopatin, Lev Mikhailovich // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extras). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Lopatin Lev Mikhailovich // Lombard - Mezitol. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1974. - ( Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 t.] / Ch. Ed. AM Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, v. 15).

Memories

• Askoldov S. A. In memory of L. M. Lopatin // Thought. - M., 1922. - № 1. - p. 150-151.
• Lopatin V. M. From the memories. 1. Lev Mikhailovich Lopatin // Studies on the history of Russian thought. Yearbook for 1997 - St. Petersburg., 1997. - P. 169-189.
• E. Trubetskoy Moscow in the late eighties and early nineties. Lopatinsky circle // Lopatin L. M. Axioms of philosophy. Fav. articles. - M., 1996. - p. 455-463.
• Morozova MK My memories // Our heritage. - 1991. - № 6. - p. 103-104.
• Korelina N. P. Fifty years (Memories of L. M. Lopatin) // Questions of philosophy. - 1993. - № 9. - pp. 115-121.
• Popov P.S.L.M. Lopatin (March 21/8, 1920) // Voice of the Past. - 1920/1921. - p. 159-164.
• Popov P.S. Images of the past (Memories from university, gymnasium and childhood) // AI I. Semenov. The legacy of P. S. Popov is a professor at Moscow State University. Historical and philosophical analysis. - M., 2009. - P. 149-209.

Research

• Frank S. L. In memory of L. M. Lopatin // Path. - Paris: 1930. - № 24. - p. 111—114.
• Rubinstein M.M. Sketch of a specific spiritualism of L. M. Lopatin // Logos. - M., 1911/1912. - № 2/3. - p. 243-280.
• Ognev A. I. Lev Mikhailovich Lopatin. - PG: Kolos, 1922. - 64 p.
• Ermishin O. T. L. M. Lopatin vs. V. S. Solovyov (On the History of One Dispute) // History of Philosophy. - M., 1999. - № 4. - p. 44-56.
• Ilyin N.P. Spirit as an ally of the soul. On the 150th anniversary of the birth of L. M. Lopatin // Philosophical Culture. Journal of the Russian intelligentsia. - SPb., 2005. - № 2.
• Gromov A.V. Spiritualistic Monism by L. M. Lopatin // Summa Filosofiya. - Ekaterinburg, 2005. - № 3. - p. 42-60.
• Prasolov M. A. Subject and Existence in Russian Metaphysical Personalism. - SPb .: Asterion, 2007. - 354 p.
• Pavlov A. T. One of the best philosophical writers in Russia // Lev Mikhailovich Lopatin / Collected papers, ed. O. T. Ermishina. - M .: ROSSPEN, 2013. - P. 11-28.
• Ermishin O. T. Metaphysics of L. M. Lopatin // Lev Mikhailovich Lopatin / Collected papers, ed. O. T. Ermishina. - M .: ROSSPEN, 2013. - P. 29-79.

• Lopatin Lev Mikhailovich (Neopr.) . Chronicle of Moscow University . The appeal date is October 14, 2017.
• Lopatin, Lev Mikhailovich: a selection of articles on the site Chronos (Verified October 26, 2009)