Lev Shestov’s Creativity as Philosophical Ethics

Abstract

The article attempts to interpret Lev Shestov’s ideas as philosophical ethics. The purpose of the article is to show that the theoretical core of the Shestov’s philosophy is the super-moral perspective and the idea of a moral subject. Starting from the definition of philosophical ethics given by A. Guseinov, the author distinguishes the two-level structure of the ethical and philosophical thought of Lev Shestov. This two-level structure represents distinction between faith, that is super-moral perspective, and moral reason. The super-moral perspective of morality and the very morality cannot be perceived beyond this distinction. The author analyses the substance of morality subjected to the Shestov’s critical attacks. For Shestov, morality serves as a correlate of the constraining reason incarnated in regulations and laws. This constraint of morality and reason can be surmounted by faith – which is the second dimension of thought and the sphere of freedom. The analyzed key issues of Shestov’s philosophy are the substitution of God by Good and its comprehension by a human being. Within the first theme, morality is interpreted and rejected as an idol preoccupying the living God’s place in human consciousness. Shestov’s conception of a human being is comprehended through such characters as the underground man, Job and Abraham. These dramatic figures of Shestov’s philosophy incarnate non-rational inner substance of human Ego that rejects its reason by moral faith. Faith or super-moral perspective of Shestov’s philosophy contains the idea of a moral subject: believer becomes like God, takes the world as his own and has the power to abrogate erstwhile Evil. The article envisages faith perceived as a paradoxical “ecstatic and personalized” action that is in equal measure personal and at the same time surpassing any personal efforts. Thus, existence of the super-moral perspective and the idea of a moral subject in Shestov’s philosophy allows us to attribute his work to philosophical ethics.