Становление советской философии: Случай В.Ф. Асмуса

Диалог со временем. 2023. Т. 84. С. 127–143.

Klimova S.

The article shows the process of formation of Soviet philosophy in the 20s through the
analysis of Valentin Ferdinandovich Asmus’s first book, published in 1924, and its reviews
in the émigré and Soviet press. The central point was a discussion of the theory of
cognition, clarifying its subject and method in Marxist philosophy. The dialectical method,
as the main object of analysis, was examined by Asmus through a historical and philosophical
reconstruction of ideas from Kant and Hegel towards Marx and Lenin. Lenin’s
name featured in the book’s title turns out to be essentially absent from the study itself. In
passing, he touched upon the problems of primitive thinking, ancient dialectics and modern
times. Asmus argues that only thinking taken in its dialectic development can be the
true subject of philosophy (30 years later, Evald Ilienkov will assume this stance as well).
The second part of the article considers critical responses to Asmus’s first books in both
émigré and Soviet press. These data make it possible to reconstruct the course of intellectual
thought that shaped the formation of Soviet philosophy.

Keywords: marxism, марксизм, Valentin Asmus, Асмус, dialectical method, диалектический метод