This monograph is on Vladimir Solov'ëv's middle years, basically the 1880s, as he polemically combated those who understood Slavophilism as a nationalism and/or rejected his belief in ecumenicalism. Nemeth first traces the emergence of Slavophilism, followed then by successive studies of Solov'ëv's polemical engagement with other prominent figures in Russian intellectual life, such as Ivan Aksakov and Aleksandr Kireev. The thesis behind the book -- apart from filling in the biographical gap left by the author’s previous two books (early and late Solov'ëv) -- is that original Slavophilism transformed after the first generation into advocating a form of nationalism that one can say was even a chauvinism. Although the proponents of this "Late Slavophilism" were still personally deeply committed to Russian Orthodoxy, the emphasis here was on the word "Russian," not Orthodoxy. Solov'ëv took a different view emphasizing the Orthodoxy of original Slavophilism, largely at the expense of nationalism, which he took to be a form of national egoism. Whereas many of the "Late Slavophiles" viewed Russia as a civilization quite distinct, even in instances, hostile to the West, Solov'ëv retained the view that Russia had a distinct, even prominent, role yet to play in world history, namely by helping to usher into the world the Kingdom of God. Regrettably, Solov'ëv did not elaborate very clearly what this Kingdom would look like were it realized. This volume will appeal to researchers and students working in the history, philosophy, and religion of 19th century Russian thought.

Thomas Nemeth is a former associate editor of Studies in East European Thought and presently on its International Advisory Board. He is the author of five works on the history of Russian philosophy including two on Solov’ëv. He has produced the first critical translation of Solov’ëv’s Justification of the Moral Good, two book-length translations of works by the philosopher Gustav Shpet, and most recently a volume on the history of Italian Neo-Kantianism. He has additionally authored numerous peer-reviewed articles on Husserl, Kant, Italian Idealism, and Marxism. He holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Louvain, Belgium and was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Melbourne as well as a recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship.