Abstract

If the philosophy of history is preoccupied solely with historical knowledge about the past and present without imaging a desired future, it cannot fulfill its purpose—to provide an understanding of man’s place in history. However, a futurological approach is not sufficient to achieve this. It is necessary to turn to the philosophy of art. Although the philosophical literature considered in this chapter does not produce specific representations of the future, it judges the past and the present, thereby telling us what ought to be included in and excluded from future human existence. In this chapter, I use the concept of negative knowledge about the future to analyze Russian history. I will focus on three constants that are inherent to Russian life and social consciousness. These are the constants of empire, autocracy, and property/propertilessness. I will consider the manifestation of these constants in Mikhail Sholokhov’s epic novel, And Quiet Flows the Don, Andrei Platonov’s phantasmagoric novels and stories, and Varlam Shalamov’s stories of witness, The Kolyma Tales.