G.G. SHPET’S PLATONISM AND ON THE ESSENCE AND TASKS OF PHILOSOPHY (TO THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PUBLICATION OF THE ARTICLE “WISDOM OR REASON?”)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the work of the Russian philosopher Gustav Shpet “Wisdom or Reason?” (1917) which investigated the issue of the essence of philosophy and its relation to scientific problems. The theme is examined through the prism of logic and philosophical dialectics of Platonism. The views of the Russian philosopher are revealed on the essence of philosophy and the place of logic in it. Logic was understood by Shpet as a means of revealing the sense of self-evident truths for subsequent construction of logics. G.G. Shpet considered the essence of philosophy as a strictly conducted interpretation according to the canons of logic. The author of the article highlights the idea of Shpet’s original vision of philosophy as a search for truth and validity and highly estimates the thinker’s contribution to the history of Russian philosophy and the history of logic. It is concluded that Shpet sympathized with critical rationalism, a positive philosophy that he believed was closer to the true ideal of pure philosophy.