Abstract

Perhaps in no other European culture have philosophy and literature existed in such close symbiosis as in Russia. Virtually without exception the great Russian writers have had strong philosophical interests, and that circumstance, coupled with the relatively weak development of academic or "professional" philosophy in Russia, worked to produce a national philosophical culture in which literary figures loom large. Whether or not we agree with some Russian commentators that true Russian philosophy can be found only in literary works, we must admit at least that Russian philosophy and literature have been bound together in an intimate and mutually enriching relationship. Various aspects of that relationship are explored in the four essays in this issue.