A. A. Kara-Murza Italian travel of Pyotr Chaadayev (1824‒1825)

Abstract

In the review of the book Pyotr Chaadayev’s Journey to Italy (1824‒1825) by A. A. Kara-Murza, P. Ya. Chaadayev is described as a founder of national philosophy of history. The book also shows the meaning of his European journey, especially to Italy, and how it in­fluenced the formation of his mindset. Even though Russian philosophy of history begins with Philosophical letters of Chaadayev (if we see philosophy as a systematic and logi­cally verified exposition of ideas), Chaadayev remains a person by himself in the space of Russian culture. His criticism of Russia and its historical fate was not entirely understood by his contemporaries. The criticism is derived from Chaadayev’s basic ideas with reli­gious perception of historical process at their core. Chaadayev was a christian philoso­pher, that is what he called himself. Therefore, to understand how his philosophical sys­tem was being formed it is particularly important to take into account the facts of his bi­ogrpahy that are shedding light on his impressions from the Italian journey. Italy is a country where catholic faith has traditionally prevailed, while Rome has been the center of western christianity for centuries. In the remarkable book A. A. Kara-Murza, drawing on a rich factual evidence, presents the circumstances, events and encounters that had contributed to the emergence of P. Ya. Chaadayev’s philosophy.