In the broad sense the words "Russian philosophy" refer to all schools of philosophical thought pursued in Russia, regardless of differences among them. In the narrower sense the terms describe the religious-philosophical trend that flourished in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Both uses have value: The first embraces the variety of interests among Russian philosophers, whereas the second points to their most distinctive contribution to philosophy in general. But even on the broadest level, the common preoccupations that were typical of major Russian thinkers shaped the physiognomy of Russian philosophy as a whole.

Philosophy in Russia developed in a variety of forms. Philosophical ideas permeated religious, political, and literary debates throughout the country's history. For a long time they were not articulated in what counted as philosophical parlance in the West, largely because of unfavorable historical conditions. But when these conditions changed, as they...