(ANDREI BELYI WORKING ON THE TREATISE ISTORIIA STANOVLENIIA SAMOSOZNAIUSHCHEI DUSHI)

(MONIKA SPIVAK)

AbstractThe bulk of Istoriia stanovleniia samosoznaiushchei dushi (ISSD) was written in 1926, while the genesis of the idea dates back to 1925. That summer, Belyi moved from Moscow to Kuchino, where he was able to live quietly and had the opportunity to think, walk and work. In October, he delivered a course of lectures on the history of self-consciousness to the actors of the theatre MKhAT-2. This course of lectures became the impulse for writing ISSD. Belyi wrote the 600-page book very quickly: between January and May of 1926 he drafted the text, while from May to July he read through his work, adding some examples and correcting the text. Until the end of his life, Belyi maintained that ISSD was unfinished. However, it is possible that he did not want to write the last chapter of ISSD “Dukhovnaia nauka” since “Dukhovnaia nauka” for Belyi was not an ordinary chapter title, but his motto for the future. Keywords: Belyi; Istoriia stanovleniia samosoznaiushchei dushi; Philosophy

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