Philosopher Frank is known to a greater degree as a follower of the Russian thinker Vladimir Solovyov. The contribution of this religious person to Russian philosophy is difficult to overestimate. Literary figures who lived and worked in the same era with Semyon Ludwigovich said that even in his youth he was wise and reasonable beyond his years.
Role in Russian Philosophy
They spoke of Frank as a man who was leisurely and a little slow in words, requiring a thorough approach in judgments and opinions, calm and completely unperturbed with amazing radiant eyes, from which light and kindness poured. The eyes of the philosopher Semyon Ludwigovich recall those who knew him during his lifetime.
This is a famous Russian philosopher, psychologist, religious thinker. His biography and career are an actual subject of scientific articles, abstracts and reports. All the works of the Russian philosopher Frank are translated into many languages of the world. The main essence of his works consists in the search and analysis of the unity of spiritual life with the body shell. Man, in his opinion, is an inseparable mysterious and incomprehensible substrate. Semyon Ludwigovich Frank had a sharply negative attitude to collectivism, considered him to be “bonds” for the individual. Any dictate is the opposite of freedom, without which unity with the Supreme is impossible.
Biography: childhood
Semyon Ludwigovich Frank (1877-1950) was born into a Jewish family. The father of the philosopher was a doctor who graduated from Moscow University in 1872 (1872). Ludwig Semenovich spent all his youth in Poland, but during the Polish uprising of 1863 he decided to move to Moscow, where he met his future wife, the mother of the philosopher Frank Rosalia Moiseevna Rossiyanskaya.
When the boy was born, his father participated in the Russian-Turkish war, and five years later he died. Almost nine years after the death of her husband, Rosalia Moiseevna married a second time. Father S.L. Frank was replaced by stepfather V.I. Zak, who worked as a pharmacist. Shortly before the marriage, Zack returned from Siberian exile.
Education Frank received at home. His maternal grandfather, Moses Mironovich Rossiyansky, approached the issue of home schooling in all seriousness. This man in the 60s of the century before last led the Jewish community in Moscow. From him, Frank took interest in the philosophical problems of religion. Russian taught his grandson the Hebrew language, together they read the Bible, the history of the Jewish people.
The second person who had a significant impact on the worldview of Semyon Frank was his stepfather V.I. Zak. The man spent all his young years in a revolutionary populist environment. Under the leadership of Zack, Frank learned about the works of the democrats of that time N.K. Mikhailovsky, D.I. Pisarev, P.L. Lavrov and sought to understand the conflicting political trends and views that reflected on public life.
Studying at the University
In 1892, the family left Moscow for Nizhny Novgorod, where the future philosopher S. L. Frank was educated at the gymnasium. During his studies, he joined the Marxist movement and became close to a group of revolutionaries.
In 1894, the thinker entered the law faculty of Moscow University. Frank often missed lectures, carried away by visiting political economy circles. The seventeen-year-old was obsessed with issues of socialism and propaganda. He personally participated in the agitation of the workers for the revolution.
This continued for some time, until Semyon Ludwigovich concluded that Marxism was scientifically untenable. At the age of 19, Frank refused revolutionary activity, but to fill the knowledge gap he needed time. In 1898, having received a certificate of completion of eight semesters of the university, he decided to postpone the exam to next year.
However, due to student unrest, which began in the spring of 1899 throughout the country, he failed to pass exams. In the biography of Semyon Ludwigovich Frank, a new stage began: for participating in the protest movement he was arrested, and then expelled from Moscow with the deprivation of the right to reside in university cities. The young philosopher had no choice but to return to his mother in Nizhny Novgorod. But there he did not stay long. He decided to go to Berlin to take a course of lectures on philosophy and political economy.
“Years of learning and wandering”
That is what the philosopher himself called the period in his biography from 1905 to 1906. At the end of the expulsion in 1901, Frank was able to return to Russia, where he successfully passed the final exams in Kazan and received a Ph.D. The main way to earn money for Frank was transfers. Frequent trips abroad were triggered by interest in the French magazine Liberation, edited by his friend Peter Struve. The thinker published his first works in this edition.
In 1905, after the revolution, Frank moved to St. Petersburg, where he served as editor in the weekly Polar Star, Freedom and Culture, and The New Way. There have been changes in the political views of the author. Now he took a more conservative position in relation to the state-political system of the Russian Empire, began to criticize socialist ideas, considering them utopian.
Personal life, family, children
In 1906, his pedagogical activity and academic career began. At the gymnasium, M. N. Stoyunina, Frank gave lectures on social psychology, among the students of which he met his future wife, Tatyana Bartseva. In 1908, young people got married. Frank himself believed that from the moment of marriage in his life ended the "era of youth and learning." Having created a family, he stopped looking for his internal and external ways, calling. In a marriage with Tatyana Sergeevna, four heirs were born: Victor (1909), Natalya (1910), Alexey (1912), and in 1920 the son Vasily Semenovich Frank was born.
Semyon Ludwigovich Frank, having created a family, reconsidered his attitude to life and religious values, as a result of which he decided to adopt the Orthodox faith in 1912. In the same year, he took the position of privat-docent at St. Petersburg University, and a year later he was sent to Germany, where he wrote the first work, “The Subject of Knowledge,” which glorified him as a thinker. By the way, this same work formed the basis of the master's thesis, which Frank successfully defended in the spring of 1916. Semen Ludwigovich did not succeed in obtaining a doctor’s degree, despite the fact that the dissertation was ready. The reason for everything was the 1917 revolution.
Dean of the Saratov University
In the period from 1917 to 1921, Frank took the post of dean of the historical and philosophical faculty of Saratov University. And although he did not consider this work profitable or promising, there was no choice: in Moscow it was almost impossible to continue to engage in scientific activities. But even in Saratov, living conditions during the Civil War seemed unbearable to Frank. The philosopher returned to Moscow, where he was elected a member of the Philosophical Institute. In the same place, together with Berdyaev, he creates the Academy of Spiritual Culture, in which he gives lectures, covering general cultural, humanistic, religious and philosophical issues. In the period 1921-1922 saw the light of the book of Frank Semyon Ludwigovich, "An Essay on the Methodology of Social Sciences" and "Introduction to Philosophy in a Concise Presentation."
Leaving the Motherland ...
The political situation in Russia did not become more stable. In 1922, by decision of the Soviet government, representatives of the intelligentsia were massively expelled from Russia. Scientists, writers, philosophers, among whom was Frank, left Petersburg in late autumn on German ships. "Prussia" and "Oberburgomaster Haken" left St. Petersburg harbor. This event was a turning point in the biography of Semyon Ludwigovich Frank, who in the future, alas, will not have the opportunity to return to his homeland.
He was 45 years old at the time of expulsion. At first glance, it seems that the continuation of his work is impossible. However, as the son of Semyon Ludwigovich Frank writes, Vasily Semyonovich Frank, his father created his best works in forced emigration. He was pushed to write new treatises by the pain he experienced in a foreign land, and complete spiritual loneliness.
... What should I and others do to save the world and thereby justify my life for the first time? Before the disaster of 1917, there was only one answer - to improve the social and political conditions of the people. Now - the overthrow of the Bolsheviks, the restoration of past forms of life of the people. Along with this type of answer, there is another in Russia that is related to it - Tolstoyism, preaching "moral perfection," educational work on oneself ...
Together with his family, the philosopher arrived in Germany. The Franks couple settled in Berlin. Fluency in the German language provided many benefits, but still making a living in a foreign land was not easy. At first, the philosopher worked at the Religious and Philosophical Academy, which later, becoming one of the centers of Russian migrants, was transferred from Berlin to Paris. In addition, Frank gave lectures at the Russian Scientific Institute, where visitors from Russia attended the university program.
The Hermit Life of a Jew
With the advent of Hitler, many Jews were left without work. The family of the Russian philosopher Frank was also in distress. In addition, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, he was repeatedly summoned for talks in the Gestapo. Anticipating the danger, he hurriedly left Nazi Germany to France, and after a while his wife and children came to him.
Throughout the entire period while Frank lived in Germany, he had to hide, be a recluse, which could not but be reflected in his work. For the years 1924-1926. The philosopher wrote several treatises for Russian students. Among the works of that period, the most popular books were The Crash of the Idols, The Fundamentals of Marxism, The Meaning of Life. Semyon Ludwigovich Frank tried to convey his state of confusion and misunderstanding, pain for the defeat of Russian people. His books excited the mind, leading to legitimate questions.
In general, the author openly demonstrates his skepticism about all the changes taking place in Russia of that period. The plan of salvation, outlined by the Bolsheviks, he calls utopian, erroneous and completely unsuitable. The failures of the social upheaval make him think of the need to save his life.
About the book "The Meaning of Life"
The philosopher Frank in this work tries to argue his opinion about the meaninglessness of life as such. The minimum condition for achieving meaning in life is the presence of freedom. Only being free, a person has the opportunity to live as he wants, to act meaningfully, to strive for a specific goal. But each member of modern society is shrouded in duty, necessity, traditions, customs, responsibility.
In addition, a person cannot be free because of his physicality. All people, without exception, are subject to the mechanical laws of matter. In the book The Meaning of Life, S. L. Frank describes the paradox of being. While some spend the time allotted to them for revelry and entertainment, others refrain from pleasures and lead an ascetic lifestyle. Someone, bogged down in domestic problems, regrets that he did not save his freedom and got married, while someone is not in a hurry to start a family, but in old age he suffers from loneliness and lack of love, family warmth, comfort. But one way or another, at the end of life, all of them come to the understanding that life was not lived correctly, not as they see it now.
In his book, Frank concludes that human addictions are deceiving. What seems important and precious does not really matter. People are often disappointed when they realize their mistakes, but nothing can be fixed. The philosopher approaches the question of finding the meaning of life more globally, assuming that it can be hidden somewhere in the Universe. But after a series of conclusions, he comes to the conclusion that the life of mankind as a whole is just a set of meaningless accidents, a chaotic string of circumstances, facts and events that lead to nothing, do not pursue any purpose.
In his philosophy, Semyon Ludwigovich Frank perceives history as an attempt to present humanistic ideals. Technological progress is an illusion of success that has inspired many generations. He did not lead to a happy life of people, but turned into the invention of deadly weapons and terrible wars. According to the author, humanity does not evolve. On the contrary, it goes back in its development and at the moment it is even further from the goal than millennia ago. Thus, the life of each person only illusory seems happy against the background of the existence and development of all mankind.
Further, Semyon Ludwigovich writes that the meaning of life as a perfect object cannot be found once and for all. It is not given to man from outside, but is inside himself, laid in life itself. But even if it were possible to find a ready and understandable meaning of life, a person would not accept it as a gift from above or would remain unsatisfied with it. The meaning of life must be worked out by the efforts of each of us, which is a kind of justification for our own existence.
Philosophizing on this topic, Frank addresses the issue of religion. By the definition of the thinker, man is a creature that belongs to the divine and earthly worlds, and his heart is at the intersection of these two worlds. Each person should strive for God, but constantly and inevitably sin due to his spiritual weakness and limitation. In this context, the meaning of life is the search for a way to overcome one's personal sinfulness.
The position of the philosopher Frank in this matter is unequivocal: a person is structured in such a way that a priori cannot be sinless, but he can live a less sinful life. The shortest way to overcome sinfulness is chosen by hermits and monks who renounce the outside world and devote themselves to God. However, this is not the only way available.
The Russian philosopher S. L. Frank supports the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche, who allowed participation in the affairs of the sinful world, but to the extent that actions were aimed at overcoming or at least reducing not only personal, but also world sinfulness.
As an example, Frank cites the situation with the war, because it is undoubtedly a sinful business. A believer, renounced from the outside world and refraining from participating in the war, does everything right: he does not use the fruits of war and does not accept anything from the state conducting the war. If we consider ordinary people, then the position of the one who, taking part in the war, shares responsibility for the deed with the state will be less sinful. In turn, a person who does not take a direct part in battles, but at the same time uses the fruits of war, is more sinful.
Good is created only by good. The philosophy of Semyon Ludwigovich Frank says that the real good is invisible, it is always quietly hidden in the souls of people, hidden from noise and fuss. Thus, the meaning of life, a person should seek to limit evil in the world and to show good.
The Spiritual Foundations of Society
A few years later, in 1930, Frank wrote on social philosophy, which today is considered one of his most significant works - The Spiritual Foundations of Society. In this work, for the first time, Frank included the term "all-unity", which he used to study the social life of Russians. The philosopher argued that the state of society equally reflects the relationship of each individual with God.
In the first half of the last century, many authors attempted to revise the foundations of political liberalism. One of those who supported liberal ideas was S. L. Frank. The "spiritual foundations of society" contain more than a philosophical interpretation. The author believed that spiritual values were of paramount importance, and freedom and law should serve them. Frank wanted to bring together the ideas of personal freedom and the unity of religion with the state. Such a trilogy was to form the basis of a diverse interpretation of the world.
During the war
The most famous work of Frank is the book "The Incomprehensible." He devoted a lot of time to writing it, began work on it while in Germany, but in the current political conditions he could not complete the book. For a long time Frank could not find a publisher who would publish his work, and in the end translated it into Russian. The work was published in Paris in 1939.
By the way, since 1938, the Russian philosopher lived in France. His wife also migrated here from Germany. Frank's children were in England. At first, the Franks settled in the south of France in the resort town of Lavier, but soon moved to the capital, settling in the area where mainly Russian migrants lived. When World War II was in full swing, the thinker's family again had to move to the southern part of France, to the small village of Saint-Pierre-d'Aleuvard, not far from Grenoble. But even there, it would seem, in a quiet and remote place, Gestapo raids on Jews often occurred. Then Frank and his wife had to hide in the forest for several days.
In 1945, when Soviet troops liberated the world from the Brown Plague, the family moved to Grenoble, and in the fall they left for England, where they reunited with their children. The entire period of his stay in France, the Russian philosopher Frank conducted painstaking work on the book "God is with us" and "Light in the Dark." Both of these works were published in 1949.
last years of life
Since 1945, Frank lived in London with his daughter Natalia. A woman raised two children without a husband - he died in the war. Also living with them was Frank's son Alex, who was seriously injured at the front. During this period, the philosopher worked on a book, which later would be his last. The work "Reality and Man" was completed in 1947, but it was published much later - almost 10 years later.
It is worth noting that Semyon Ludwigovich was never distinguished by good health. In addition, in the mid-30s he suffered a heart attack. The hardships of the war and the persecution of the Jews could not but affect his health. And in August 1950, doctors discovered he had a malignant tumor of the lung. Four months later, on December 10, 1950, Frank passed away.
During the illness, accompanied by unbearable physical torment, the philosopher experienced deep religious experiences. Semyon Ludwigovich perceived his suffering as a feeling of oneness with God. Frank shared his thoughts with stepbrother Leo Zach. In particular, he talked about the fact that comparing his torment and suffering of Christ, he could bear pain more easily.
The ideology followed by the philosopher
Frank is considered a follower of the Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov. The main idea of the philosophy of Semyon Ludwigovich is also the idea of unity. But unlike Solovyov, Frank considers her external environment and the inner experience of the individual. In his work, one can see the criticism of materialistic ideas and the philosophical justification of alternative views on the world and social order. The Russian philosopher considered this creation of such a justification to be the work of his whole life.
The main conclusions of the thinker are present in three books conceived as a trilogy: “The Subject of Knowledge”, “Spiritual Foundations of Society” and “The Soul of Man”. Semyon Ludwigovich Frank considered his most difficult work the blade “Subject of knowledge”. In it, he tried to prove the existence of two types of knowledge - rational theoretical and direct practical. For absolute being, both types have a right to exist. In the work “The Soul of Man,” Frank strove to distinguish between the soul and the body shell, while he positioned the man as a creature with a deep inner world formed as a result of the influence of the surrounding material environment.
Semyon Ludwigovich managed to prove that not only individuals, but also entire nations have a soul. Moreover, this argument was used to further interpret the Bolshevik movement. The philosopher believed that his cause was the spiritual decay of self-awareness of Russians, the loss of national unity. How Semyon Ludwigovich Frank understands nihilism can be understood from his statements:
... The Russian intellectual does not know any absolute values, no criteria, no orientation in life, except for the moral distinction of people, actions, conditions for the good and the bad, the good and the evil. The moralism of the Russian intelligentsia is only an expression and reflection of its nihilism. By nihilism, I mean the denial or non-recognition of absolute (objective) values ...
Frank criticized liberalism of the time. This concept was embedded in the interpretation of the Bolshevik revolution, which a thinker believed to have arisen because of the spiritual limitations of conservative and liberal oppositionists. Both conservatives and liberals were supposed to unite in the fight against the Bolsheviks, but instead they all abandoned their religious origins. And even the availability of technical knowledge and experience did not allow resisting the social democrats of the Russian people's party.
At the same time, democracy, according to Frank, is far from ideal political regime. First of all, democracy implies the possibility of making mistakes, but at the same time, it provides an opportunity to correct them, and makes the choice in favor of another option. Frank explains this by saying that you can only know the truth within yourself. Outside of people and outside of collective self-knowledge, it is impossible to determine the truth, therefore, the imperfection of the human nature is an undoubted argument in favor of democratic views. This political regime implies the freedom of the people from people who, according to Frank, "imagined themselves the saviors of mankind." It is wrong to consider democracy a belief in justice, but it is a kind of guarantee of the denial of all kinds of infallibility, the recognition of the rights of minorities and everyone to take part in matters of national importance.
The passivity of Russian religious culture also negatively affected the state of the political system, according to Frank. In his works, he complained about the decline of humanistic traditions in Europe and Russia, which led to the decomposition of the national mood and patriotism.
The revolutionary experience and emigration forced Frank to seek answers to his questions in religion. Increasingly, he turned to the Bible. This can explain why the work of a mature period acquired confessional features. Frank argued that Jesus is incomprehensible if you do not keep in touch with religion. The philosopher was convinced that compassion was a direct opportunity to draw near to God.
Describing his own philosophy, Frank writes about his religious and social views, defined by them as manifestations of Christian realism. The philosopher recognized the divine basis and positive religious value of everything that exists and is combined with empirical experience.
Completion
Summing up, we will try to determine the main directions of the philosophical thought of Frank. The works of the philosopher are based on the desire to comprehend the unknown, to combine the personal and the public, religious and state. The main theoretical problem that the thinker is trying to solve in his works is to know himself, the meaning of life and sinfulness, minimizing which a person has the opportunity to become happy.
He said that in the world it is necessary to focus on the ongoing changes in the social order, even if these changes are paradoxical. In this sense, the substantiation of the objectivity of the subject of knowledge is an important result of Frank's theory.