Sukhov, A. D. Nikolay Karamzin’s Philosophizing

Abstract: The author of the present research article analyzes Nikolay Karamzin’s attitude to philosophy. In the academic community and for general readers Nikolay Karamzin is well known as a historian, a writer and a journalist. He is not so well known as a philosopher. Meanwhile, Karamzin had a very serious education in philosophy. He dealt with philosophy in Schaden’s boarding school and Friendly Academic Community and also studied it himself. He traveled around Europe and met many famous philosophers while traveling. He used his knowledge in philosophy to develop his own world view, to describe principles of cogitation and to study the historical process. Describing Karamzin’s philosophy, the author of the present article draws our attention to the historical environment at the turn of the XIXth and the XXth centuries in Russia and in the West as well as the influence of the Enlightenment and Enlightened Absolutism on the philosophical community of that time. Philosophy is an essential element of Karamzin’s creative work. It is impossible to understand his contribution without taking into account his philosophical views. Russian philosophy has certain peculiarities. One of these peculiarities is its openness and interaction with other spheres such as literature, literary criticism, natural sciences and history. According to the author, Karamzin should be necessarily viewed as a philosophizing historian.

Keywords: