This volume explores the influence of the Socratic legacy on philosophy and literature in the Russian, East European, and Soviet contexts, including the work of Skovoroda, Radishchev, Herzen, Dostoevsky, Rozanov, Bely, Narbut, Bulgakov, and many others.

This is an in-depth investigation into the life and work of one of the most prominent philosophers of Russian and Russian-Soviet history, Merab Mamardashvili, all of whose ideas are collected here in one book. However, each of his ideas leads much further - deep into philosophy itself, its cultural origins, and to the basis and roots of all human thought.

Socrates, the great Athenian philosopher, was born during the Golden Age of Greece, one of the most glorious periods in human history. He grew up during the exciting days of Pericles in Athens, in the midst of the flowering of drama and poetry, the creation of magnificent architecture and sculpture, the writing of literature that has inspired mankind for 2,500 years. The glory of Athens, inspired by the Athenians’ victory over the Persians against great odds, lasted less than 50 years. Socrates lived to see his city conquered by the Spartans from without and by a terrible plague from within. He tried to convince his fellow citizens to examine their own beliefs and behavior. The Athenians, looking for someone to blame for their troubles, arrested Socrates. They accused him of corrupting the young men who were his students. He refused to run away to save his life and was tried and executed.

In nineteenth-century Tsarist Russia an orphaned child born of Jewish and Cossack blood grows up in a land of wealthy aristocrats, struggling peasants, and growing discontent. Sent to an elite military academy at the tender age of four, Sergei Ivanov (Socrates) comes of age training to protect a way of life he doesn't understand. When a sudden death forces Sergei to flee, he escapes into the wilderness. With nothing to cling to but a memory of his grandfather and the promise of a gift buried near St. Petersburg, Sergei journeys across a harsh land to seek his place in the world. The adventure that unfolds is not about the revolutions of history, but about the revolution in one man's heart. A stirring story of tragedy and triumph emerges as Sergei encounters mentors and masters who reveal secrets about the arts of war and, ultimately, the path to peace. From the heights of love to the depths of despair, from the threat of a mortal enemy to the search for a child he has never met, Sergei Ivanov's odyssey unlocks hidden wisdom at the heart of life. He could never have imagined that from the moment of his birth he was destined to become the peaceful warrior who would change the lives of millions worldwide.

Since its inception, philosophy has struggled to perfect individual understanding through discussion and dialogue based in personal, poetic, or dramatic investigation. The positions of such philosophers as Socrates, Spinoza, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Foucault, and Derrida differ in almost every respect, yet these thinkers all share a common method of practicing philosophy--not as a detached, intellectual discipline, but as a worldly art. What is the love that turns into knowledge and how is the knowledge we seek already a form of love? Reading key texts from Socrates to Derrida, this book addresses the fundamental tension between love and knowledge that informs the history of Western philosophy. LoveKnowledge returns to the long tradition of philosophy as an exercise not only of the mind but also of the soul, asking whether philosophy can shape and inform our lives and communities.

An inspirational tale that tells the incredible life story of Sergei Ivanov, affectionately known as Socrates, a sage whose wisdom was destined to change the lives of not only author Dan Millman but also the countless readers of his first book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior.In the heart of Tsarist Russia in 1872, an orphaned boy of Jewish and Cossack descent seeks to find his place in the world. The Journeys of Socrates is an odyssey of courage and love, revealing how a boy became a man, a man became a warrior, and how a warrior found peace.Dan Millman first described the wise enigmatic man he called Socrates in Way of the Peaceful Warrior. Now, in telling the life story of that old service station mechanic, Dan reveals universal truths about all our lives and reminds us of a courage and love as strong and ancient as the roots of the world. From tales of life at a Russian military school to the flight of a fugitive, survival in the wilderness to marriage and the search for family, The Journeys of Socrates is full of tragedy, triumph and hard-earned wisdom from the soul of a peaceful warrior.

This book, authored by an international group of scholars, focuses on a vibrant central current within the history of Russian legal thought: how Christianity, and theistic belief generally, has inspired the aspiration to the rule of law in Russia, informed Russian philosophies of law, and shaped legal practices. Following a substantial introduction to the phenomenon of Russian legal consciousness, the volume presents twelve concise, non-technical portraits of modern Russian jurists and philosophers of law whose thought was shaped significantly by Orthodox Christian faith or theistic belief. Also included are chapters on the role the Orthodox Church has played in the legal culture of Russia and on the contribution of modern Russian scholars to the critical investigation of Orthodox canon law. The collection embraces the most creative period of Russian legal thought—the century and a half from the later Enlightenment to the Russian emigration following the Bolshevik Revolution. This book will merit the attention of anyone interested in the connections between law and religion in modern times.