I.G. Fichte’s Philosophy and the Romantic Worldview in the Works of L.N. Tolstoy

Abstract

The article provides the detailed analysis of L.N. Tolstoy’s youthful philosophical fragments dating from 1847–1849; The author proves that they reflected the young Tolstoy’s fascination with the philosophy of I.G. Fichte, under whose influence he accepted the romantic concept of higher (outstanding, great) personalities. The inclusion of Tolstoy’s later works (a draft of the comedy “A Noble Family”, the story “Boyhood”, and a handwritten sketch for an unrealized sequel to the story “Youth”) in the consideration helps to determine that the aforementioned philosophical fragments provide a brief summary of the contents of Fichte’s treatise “The Destiny of Man”. Following Fichte Tolstoy recognizes the will as the foundation of each personality and the manifestation of the absolute beginning of being in each person. The romantic image of the higher personality was most consistently depicted by young Tolstoy in the story “Albert”, which shows the tragic fate of a brilliant musician. The article traces the genesis of Tolstoy’s worldview throughout his entire career: from his early fascination with Fichte’s philosophy and romanticism he moved in 1857–1868 to antiromantic views based on the ideas of the French Enlightenment, however a careful reading of A. Schopenhauer’s works in 1869–1870 forced him to return to a certain version of the romantic worldview. In particular, the romantic concept of higher personalities can be found in Tolstoy’s later works, and it is especially clearly manifested in his philosophical treatises, where a small group of “the best people of our time”, “advanced people” who understood the teachings of Christ and lived in accordance with them, are contrasted with the “crude majority of humanity” who does not want to know the truth of Christ.