The theme of our article will be the life and work of one of the most prominent thinkers of Russia. A man who became the ancestor of a kind of revolution in the consciousness of society, in the spiritual quest of the Russian intelligentsia, in understanding what Russia is in the world and what its place is. A man who at one time will catch completely unique events. Today we will talk about P. Ya. Chaadaev and his philosophical letters.
Chaadaev’s figure is truly unique. He is the first of the philosophers who seriously thinks about what Russia is and national identity. Speaking about the philosophical letters of Chaadayev, one cannot but recall the basic facts of his biography.
Biography of P. Ya. Chaadayev
Peter Yakovlevich was born in a noble family. He received a brilliant education. After graduating from Moscow University, he enters the Life Guards of the Semenovsky Regiment. In 1817, Chaadaev was an adjutant to the commander of the guard corps. In other words, at age 23, incredible opportunities open up before him. An important role in the fate of the future famous philosopher was played by the Decembrist uprising. Exactly 5 years before this event, Chaadaev, being at the peak of his career, unexpectedly resigned for everyone. In 1821 he will join the Decembrists, and after 2 years he will leave Russia.
Homecoming
At the time of the uprising, Chaadayev was not in the country, and later he would express misunderstanding about the events of December 14, 1825. He is sure that the actions of the Decembrists were absolutely not justified. In the end, he will return to Russia and fall under the supervision of the police. Friendship with the Decembrists will not go unnoticed and will make Nicholas I closely monitor the figure of Chaadayev. And then there will be an explosion. In September 1836, the Philosophical Letter will be published in the journal Telescope.
The author will not name himself, but the entire educated public will know that this is Chaadayev’s work, because the philosophical letters that he will write in the period from the 29th to the 31st years will “walk around” among the remaining Russian intelligentsia. This letter will produce the effect of an exploding bomb, because its contents were completely unthinkable for Nikolaev Russia. The result of this act will be that the magazine will be instantly closed, and the author of the letter will be declared insane by the highest decree of Nicholas I.
The content of the letters of Chaadayev
What was so terrible in the first philosophical writing? Chaadaev begins his argument with a question that he asks himself: “What is the main question of life, what is its meaning and what is its essence?”. It is worth noting here that Chaadaev is a true Christian, a deeply religious thinker who believes that without God, outside of Christianity, the further development of neither man nor Russia is possible. This idea will be a red thread through the whole work of Chaadayev. In philosophical letters he, answering his own questions, discusses what the human mind should obey. This, at first glance, paradoxical thought, when examined in more detail, seems quite logical and natural.
“The more the mind is able to subjugate itself, the more free it becomes,” the thinker writes. It is about the idea of submission that the philosopher discusses. People obey the laws, higher power. At the same time, Chaadaev in no case does not deny freedom, but focuses on the other. He says that the sooner we understand and recognize dependence as a condition for further development, the better. The highest step of perfection according to Chaadayev is precisely the subordination of oneself, one's mind to a state of absolute imprisonment of oneself.
Idea of submission to the mind
Chaadaev believes that this situation is expressed in the following: every action of a person, every action and thought is dictated or caused by the very beginning that carries out the entire world movement. According to the author of philosophical letters, the more a person controls and subjugates himself, the more perfect he becomes. This is a control brought to a natural state. This is the main idea of the author of the letters.
He reinforces it with this example: if a person ever managed to get to this state of complete subordination of his mind to himself, then people could quite easily lead the very life that Adam had led in his time. When all the actions of Adam were imbued with a sense of unity of the human spirit and the spirit of God. “Returning to such a life is the highest goal,” Chaadaev believes. This is the essence of the philosophical letters of Chaadayev.