Ideas Against Ideocracy: Non-Marxist Thought of the Late Soviet Period (1953-1991)

Mikhail Epstein's book "Russian Philosophy in the Age of Stalin" is a groundbreaking examination of the development of Russian philosophy during the late Soviet period. It challenges the traditional view of an intellectual wilderness and provides new insights into previously ignored areas such as late-Soviet Russian nationalism, Eurasianism, religious thought, cosmism and esoterism, and postmodernism and conceptualism. Epstein shows how Russian philosophy has been trapped in an intellectual prison of its own making, but now freed from the bonds of Soviet totalitarianism and ideocracy, it is engaged in new nationalist aspirations and metaphysical radicalism.

Format: Hardback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 07 October 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Winner of the prestigious Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Studies in Slavic Languages and Literatures (awarded by the Modern Languages Association), this groundbreaking work by one of the world's foremost theoreticians of culture and scholars of Russian philosophy offers a comprehensive examination of the development of Russian philosophy during the late Soviet period. Challenging the traditional view of an intellectual wilderness under the Soviet regime, Mikhail Epstein provides a highly sophisticated account of Russian thought in the second half of the 20th century that remains clear and accessible. Through his exploration of previously mostly ignored areas such as late-Soviet Russian nationalism, Eurasianism, religious thought, cosmism and esoterism, postmodernism, and conceptualism, Epstein offers fresh insights into these previously understudied domains. He demonstrates how Russian philosophy has long been confined within an intellectual prison of its own creation, as it sought to establish its own utopia. However, he also shows that it is time to reassess Russian thought, now liberated from the constraints of Soviet totalitarianism and ideocracy but nevertheless dangerously engaged in new nationalist aspirations and metaphysical radicalism. This book not only presents a new and exciting interpretation of recent Russian intellectual history but also provides an opportunity to reevaluate our own philosophical heritage.

Weight: 556g
Dimension: 159 x 236 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501350597