Anton Chekhov Through the Eyes of Russian Thinkers Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- List of Names
- List of Russian Cultural Concepts
- Three Brief Biographies – Rozanov, Merezhkovskii and Shestov
- Part One Vasilii Rozanov
- Part Two Dmitrii Merezhkovskii
- Part Three Lev Shestov
- 9 Lev Shestov on Chekhov
- 10 Between Tragedy and Aesthetics: Shestov's Reading of Chekhov – a Gaze Directed Within
- 11 Shestov–Chekhov, Chekhov–Shestov
- 12 Philosophy's Enemies: Chekhov and Shestov
- Notes on Contributors
12 - Philosophy's Enemies: Chekhov and Shestov
from Part Three - Lev Shestov
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- List of Names
- List of Russian Cultural Concepts
- Three Brief Biographies – Rozanov, Merezhkovskii and Shestov
- Part One Vasilii Rozanov
- Part Two Dmitrii Merezhkovskii
- Part Three Lev Shestov
- 9 Lev Shestov on Chekhov
- 10 Between Tragedy and Aesthetics: Shestov's Reading of Chekhov – a Gaze Directed Within
- 11 Shestov–Chekhov, Chekhov–Shestov
- 12 Philosophy's Enemies: Chekhov and Shestov
- Notes on Contributors
Summary
Birds of passage, cranes, for instance, fly on and on, and whatever thought, lofty or petty, may drift in their heads, they will keep on flying and will never know what for or where to. They fly and will keep on flying, whatever philosopher may emerge among them; and let them philosophize as they wish, so long as they keep on flying …
Chekhov, The Three SistersCompared to such Russian classics as Pushkin, Tolstoi and Dostoevskii who are perceived not only as great writers but as thinkers and philosophers, Chekhov appears to be strangely ‘unphilosophical’. This perception is partially shaped by Chekhov himself. At times he appears to be distinctly militant in his attack on philosophers and philosophizing and in his attempt to dissociate himself from every ideological and philosophical movement of his time. This refusal to choose sides and adhere to an ideology is why Chekhov stands out as a lonely figure in the context of Russian culture. Reacting against Tolstoi's ‘Afterword to the Kreutzer Sonata’ (‘Posleslovie k “Kreitserovoi sonate”’, 1891), Chekhov writes to Suvorin (8 September 1891):
The Devil take the philosophy of the great ones of this world! All the great sages are as despotic as generals, and as impolite and as indelicate as generals, because they are convinced they are safe from punishment. Diogenes spat into people's beards, knowing that he won't suffer for it. […]
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- Anton Chekhov Through the Eyes of Russian ThinkersVasilii Rozanov, Dmitrii Merezhkovskii and Lev Shestov, pp. 219 - 246Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2010