Abstract

This chapter discusses the crucial ideas of Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov, one of the most original thinkers and the central figure in Russian philosophy of the nineteenth century. The founder of a tradition of Russian spirituality that brought together ideas of philosophy, mysticism, and theology combining them with a powerful social message, he was instrumental in the development of Russian philosophy, as well as in the Russian spiritual renaissance of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century. Solovyov was the first Russian thinker who attempted to develop a philosophical system which would offer solutions to core issues in such varying fields as the history of philosophy, ontology, epistemology, scientific cognition, theology, ethics, and politics, thus changing the direction and central discourse of Russian philosophy.