Abstract

This chapter surveys the short and remarkable philosophical career of Nikolai Grot, best known as Professor of Philosophy at Moscow University since 1886 and Chairman of the Moscow Psychological Society since 1888 to the final year of his life, and, most importantly, the founder in 1889 and editor for many years of Russia’s first professional philosophical journal, Voprosy Filosofii i Psikhologii. The entry engages with Grot’s entire oeuvre, published and archival, focusing on his most important and original work on logic, ethics, idealism, and history of philosophy. Grot cannot rival major philosophers of his time, but he is a major figure in the history of the beginning of professional Russian philosophy and its pedagogy. Based where necessary on the study of previously unexamined archival writings, the essay explains Grot’s role in the making of the discipline, its curricula, and the functioning of its venues and institutions in Russia. The discussion of Grot’s life and career would be incomplete without an examination of his most momentous friendships and feuds in this connection, with Tolstoy, Solovyov, Tsertelev, the Trubetskoi brothers, Strakhov, Vladislavlev, Archbishop Nikanor, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Kozlov, et al. The essay further establishes bridges and cross-referencing opportunities with many prominent intellectuals and cultural and political figures and trends in Russia and the West that Grot was preoccupied with for the duration of his meteoric life. The essay also touches upon the career of Grot the educator, an innovator and pioneer in matters of the theory and practice of philosophical pedagogy, and it includes a summary of memoirs about Grot by his students, colleagues, and those who have known and appreciated his dedication to philosophy and its vocations.