On Characterising the Slavophiles’ Political Theory: About Ivan Kireyevsky’s Beliefs

Abstract

Over recent decades, the Slavophiles’ political theory has been relatively seldom made the subject of a special analysis. It has been customary to reproduce traditional historiographic judgments, which cover neither new sources on the topic, introduced over the years, nor the results of developing related topics. The article aims at considering some subjects to characterise more accurately the political beliefs of Ivan Vasilyevich Kireyevsky (1806–1856). As one of the most prominent figures among the Slavophiles, he attracts attention mainly for his philosophical and some of his theological views. By no means rebutting this view, the author provides a brief description of his political beliefs of his mature period (late 1830s). In his writings of that time, Ivan Kireyevsky appears as a political theorist, attentive to the conceptual row, who assumed in 1855 the conservative-liberal nationalist position oriented towards the Anglophile tradition. Of particular interest is Kireyevsky’s position in relation to “law” and “legality”. In contrast to the prevailing interpretation of Slavophilism by Aksakov, disregarding formal legality and almost opposing it to justice (within the dichotomy of an “outer truth” versus an “inner” one), Kireyevsky advocates the unity of justice and legality.

Keywords

• history of russian social thought
• nationalism
• political theory
• russian liberalism
• slavophilism
• история русской общественной мысли
• национализм
• политическая теория
• русский либерализм
• славянофильство