UDC

111.7

DOI

10.17238/issn2227-6564.2019.5.125

Authors

Konstantin Yu. Kazachenko
Russian State University for the Humanities; Miusskaya pl. 6, Moscow, 125993, Russian Federation; e-mail: infirmus100@yahoo.com

Abstract

This article considers the questions about the metaphysical evil and the meaning of world history. The concept of metaphysical evil was first introduced by Leibniz in his work Theodicy: Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man, and the Origin of Evil. This kind of evil lies in the imperfection of the creature. At the same time, metaphysical evil, according to Leibniz, is necessary, since there is always an insurmountable ontological abyss between the Creator and his creation. It is shown that both the metaphysical evil and the meaning of world history are the problems of eschatological metaphysics. The need for an eschatological overcoming of metaphysical evil arises not least because without this there can be no final victory over all other varieties of world evil, which are a consequence of metaphysical evil. According to Vladimir Solovyov’s doctrine, world evil as a result of the disunited, “non-brotherly” state of the world, in which the will of all world essences ceases to be united, arose from the fact that the world soul (Sophia) desired to have the fullness of being not from the God, but from herself. As a result, Sophia lost her power over the creation, after which all the essences began to lead a scattered egoistic existence. At the same time, each essence asserts its will, which is different from the will of other essences. World history is nothing but a free path for the world soul to achieve the original all-unity. Since the world soul does not possess the idea of all-unity, but is only a material for the realization of this idea, the Deity in the role of God-Logos appears as the formative principle. Proceeding from this, as well as from some other propositions of Solovyov’s philosophy, it can be concluded that there is no spiritual profitability in world history. Thus, the questions indicated in the title of the article are insoluble within Solovyov’s metaphysics.

Keywords

Vladimir Solovyov, metaphysical evil, meaning of world history, eschatological metaphysics, the world soul, all-unity

References

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