Magnet Magazine

Magnet is about attracting things that are close to it and developing a kinship between varying fields of thoughts.

THE RUSSIA ISSUE

Russian thinkers defined themselves against a Western perspective that, in their view, simply could not comprehend the culture and society of Russia. The progression toward totalitarianism is subtle but clear in hindsight, a result of Russia's precarious position on the physical and moral outskirts of the Western world. While Russia did not have a strong academic philosophical tradition during the nineteenth century, a vibrant philosophical culture did emerge then from the 'overcoat' of a well-established Russian literary tradition, rather than from the Western philosophical tradition. Russian philosophy developed in the context of an ongoing conversation with literature, radical social writing, and theology. The result was a tradition that passionately debated a wide range of issues, including metaphysical, aesthetic, and ethical questions.