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Section 11. Philosophy
Section 11. Philosophy Секция 11. Философия
Egorov Anatoly Grigorjevich, candidate of philosophical sciences, associate professor of the Department of Philosophy, Political sciences and Sociology of the Faculty of Economics and Management, Alexander Is Saint-Petersburg
State University of Railway Transport E-mail: anatolijegor@yandex.ru
The main ideas of V. A. Shmakov’s pneumatology
Abstract: The main objective of this article is to introduce European thinkers to the deepest ideas of the esoteric philosopher V. A. Shmakov who is not very well-known not only in Europe but also in Russia. In this paper we made an attempt to present a brief review of the main ideas of pneumatology — the doctrine about the laws of the Spirit formation.
Keywords: Pneumatology, mysticism, mind, will, V. A. Shmakov.
It is possible to assume that the absolute majority of European thinkers, probably, do not know not only the content of the works created by the Russian philosopher Vladimir Alexeevich Shmakov but also his name in general. However, he was the brightest thinker, one of the most profound, mysterious and esoteric philosophers of Russia in the first third of the 20th century, who possessed tremendous erudition and who knew many different European and ancient languages. Shmakov’s works are saturated with great spiritual energy, intellectual intuition and erudition of the highest level. The main task of the given article is to introduce European scientists to the basic ideas of this unusual Russian philosopher.
In view of the events that have befallen Russia just in the first third of the 20th century, we know very a little about V. A. Shmakov’s life and work (thankfully, with the exception of his philosophical works, almost all of which have been preserved till our time). However, some information about his life and work is still familiar to us as well.
Vladimir Shmakov was born in Moscow, approximately in the 1880-ies (according to a version suggested by one of the researchers of his life the year of his birth was 1887; however, by this moment we have not found any official evidence confirming that date). He was the son of A. S. Shmakov, a well-known lawyer and publicist, who was also a public figure of the right direction.
By education V. A. Shmakov was a railway engineer. Most part of his life, V. A. Shmakov was occupied with developing the system ofesoteric philosophy. He was able to gather around himself a lot of talented representatives of different philosophical trends, — mainly the mystical ones.
Under the pressure of well-known circumstances which arouse in Russia after 1917, — and especially in the fall of 1922, — he emigrated abroad together with his family. At first he moved to Germany and then — to Czechoslovakia. However, soon after that he moved to Argentina (or, according to another version, to Switzerland). V. A. Shmakov died in October 1929 because of a stroke.
Generally speaking, during his rather short life, V. A. Shmakov managed to write and publish only two major works: «The Sacred Book of Thoth. Great Arcana Tarot» (Moscow, 1916) and «Fundamentals of Pneumatology» (Moscow, 1922). It was only after more than 70 years when his works were published again, — first in Kiev, Ukraine and later in Russia. In addition, he wrote (but not polished them as he did it with his previous two major works) another important work entitled «The Law of Synergia and the Doctrine of the Dual Hierarchy of Monads and Sets». It was first published in Kiev in 1994 [See. 10; 11; 12]. There is also a supposition that V A. Shmakov managed to write or make an outline of another major work — «The Basic Laws of the Architectonics of the World. Unity — a
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Biner, Turner and Quaternion». However, until now the text of this work has been never detected. However, there is an evidence showing that the basic ideas of this work were presented by him in the German philosophical journals in German, which were published in Germany before 1916.
Despite the fact that all available V. A. Shmakov’s works were repeatedly published during last twenty years, until nowadays his philosophical concept has not been widely studied. In Russia, there are only a few researchers investigating the system of philosophy developed by V A. Shmakov. They have published a series of articles dedicated to the basic ideas of V A. Shmakov’s philosophy [1-9]. No monographs dedicated to V. A. Shmakov’s philosophy are available by now. Probably, it is not surprising, as the study of V. A. Shmakov’s philosophical views requires very serious preliminary training and preparation in the area of philosophy as well as undertaking long-term effort in general.
In V. A. Shmakov’s philosophy, first of all, two basic ideas can attract our attention. One of them is the idea of pneumatology, or the so-called theoretical mechanics of the spirit formation in which he tried to make a synthesis of philosophy, religion, archaic mythological and poetic knowledge and the idea of the Law of Sinergia. The subject of pneumatology is both transcendent and immanent (that is empirical) reality. Pneumatology itself includes statics, or the doctrine ofthe three basic pneumatological categories — will, spirit and mind, and kinematics (V A. Shmakov’s terminology is sometimes clearly affected by his engineering and technical education), which is the doctrine of the dialectic nature of the processes that take place both in human consciousness and in its interactions with the world surrounding people.
In the given article we are going to consider the basic ideas of V. A. Shmakov’s pneumatology.
Pneumatology is the doctrine about the ontological nature of the formation of monads; in other words, the task of pneumatology is to reveal the ontological nature of becoming reality. The pneumatological process is the essence, carrier and mechanism of life. It is in this process where the essence of any creativity is expressed.
The pneumatological process is not only noumenal or just phenomenal, but it includes both of these components in their organic and dialectic pairing. The pneumatological dialectic process is not a metaphysical cycle of successive emanations and not a chain of logical deployment of the primary concepts but the speculative
nature of organic life [11, 123].
The general formula of cosmic dialectic process is as follows: primordial unity (thesis), contrasting with multiplicity (antithesis), creates a set of hierarchies and, opening in them, restores unity, — that is asserts its specificity [11, 122]. In other words, it is the creative pairing of active potentially specific subjectivity and passive potentially discrete objectivity leading to the birth of an actual specific subject-object. This is the introduction of spirit into matter and the elevation of its hierarchical potential to the spiritual world.
Mystery, mind and will — these are the three pneumatological categories that have organic modes spirit manifested in our phenomenal world. In accordance with the principle of biner or binary these three basic categories unfold in two subsystems of pneumatological categories: the transzendent system in which “the potentiality of transzendent pneumatological categories is the lack of awareness in their deep interconnection and community life with the plastic flow" [11, 535] and the inherent system, which is a kind of quasi-independent system of pneumatological categories. For the existence to be relevant, it needs to become modified and reveal itself in all three of these categories [11, 96].
Mystic is the natural phenomenon creating an organic unity of the cosmos. It is the essence and content of any being. The category of mystic is disclosed in the given consciousness in such a degree that it can be imbued with a sense of cosmic being. In the category of mystic all the stages of perceiving sinergia of the cosmos are connected with each other; at the same time, there happens merging with the noumenal and phenomenal in the category of mystic as well. The direct sense of reality and the feeling of substantiality of being as well as penetrating into the nature of “Ding an sich” are realized in mystic [11, 86]. In the category of mystic the actual consciousness perceives the inner content of all forms of being [11, 94]. The idea of love is a dynamic expression of the nature of mystic [11, 214].
The category of mystic has a centering nature, while the category of reason is peripheral. As a thesis biner (mystic — mind) mystic itself does not undergo any changes, but it is creatively revealed in the evolutionary ascending number of its modes with the help of the mind controlling one’s actions [11, 107]. Mystic and mind function in polar-opposite directions. If in case of the unilateral action of the mind special identity of the given monad is approved and the characteristics ofpersonality and its essence are objectified, when dealing with the unilateral action of the human mind in the category of
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mystic all distinctions and objectification which were
earlier made by the mind disappear. The Infinite and Timeless entirely dissolve in themselves an individual
world, which becomes tiny and pathetic then. Man merges with the pulsed cosmic Being, and the last thing that the fading mind still may catch is a sense of ineffable bliss" [11, 280].
Mystic is the basis of the idea of unity, while the mind is the basis of the idea of plurality. As an example of the sense of unity and integrity mystic immediately perceives the movement as a continuous phenomenon, while the mind regarded as the separating and multiple
beginning perceives the whole as a combination of different components [11, 155].
From the ontological point of view, the mind is an actor creating the hierarchical perspective of space, claiming the subjective identity and shape of every single being; it “... is a source and implementer of the differentiation of the content of the absolute being and returned organization of the multiplicity of its modes in the form of integrated sinergia [11,86-87]. From the pneumatological point of view, the reason is the actual initiation of consciousness to the cosmic hierarchy, creative distribution of the content ofbeing according to the steps of various private hierarchies and articulation of the global sinergia. “It is in the categories of reason where the process of hierarchical self-consciousness of the actual consciousness with respect to both the noumenal and the phenomenal is taking place” [11, 87].
From the ontological point of view, “the will is the creative discovery of substance, primarily causing cosmos into being, and specifically accomplishing the cosmic dialectical process” [11, 87]. The will is the source and engine for life.
From the pneumatological point of view, “the category of the will is disclosed in the mind of every concrete creature insofar, as it implements in itself a kind of cosmic attraction to self-consciousness in creativity” [11, 88]. “The will is the area of specific detection of the spirit in the creative differentiation of the modes ofbeing and their creative organization in sinergia [11, 88]. The will is revealed through the ontological biner Mystic — Mind. The will is the external identity of the spirit. People control their will to the same extent to which they realize their own spirit [See 12, 76].
V. A. Shmakov’s pneumatology describes and reveals two global crises of cosmogony very deeply.
The first crisis is connected with the hierarchization of pneumatological categories: “In the tranzscedent dialectic process of being there is accomplished pairing and mutual co-subordination of the poles of the major biner: unity — multiplicity; hence a potentially concrete idea of the hierarchical structure appears in terms of being. This is the act of potential inclusion of the idea of otherness by being, making it the central point of the idea of its periphery “ [11, 149].
In the second crisis the hierarchical system of pneumatological categories includes the synthetic category ofsequence: “ This is an act ofthe actual inclusion of otherness by being as a prospective discovery of its speculative concreteness, transferring the subjectivity of monads from the center to the periphery, from the genetic unity into multiplicity and, as a result of the process, returning back to the unity, — but this time already to the synthetic unity “ [11, 150].
Thus, even in these brief notes we can see the depth and scale of thinking and intellectual vision shown by V. A. Shmakov. Some traces of Hegel’s philosophy can be clearly seen here, including the dialectical approach to the categories of consciousness and the analysis of the triad nature of the processes taking place in the world and in the mind. At the same time, it possible to find here a serious attempt to reach a higher level of synthesis than it was shown by the great German philosopher. True philosophy means thinking clairvoyance, or mystical thinking. In such philosophy, the mind becomes a form of spiritually meaningful intuition.
It is also necessary to mention here quite noticeable influence of the ideas of A. Schopenhauer and V. Solovyov on the concept of V. A. Shmakov. V. A. Shmakov’s philosophy is also close to the ideas of existentialism, as in his concept being has a pronounced existential nature. In general, the cosmogonic method of V. A. Shmakov’s philosophy is very close to the philosophy of Russian cosmism. Philosophical anthropology also plays a significant role in V. A. Shnakov’s philosophy. Therefore, in his concept man is considered a complex, contradictory and binary-ternary creature; he is both the creation and the creator at the same time.
References:
1. Геворкян А. Р. Проблема Диониса и Аполлона у Ф. Ницше и В. Шмакова//Вопросы философии. - 1999.6. с. 121-132.
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2. Егоров А. Г. Владимир Шмаков - инженер и философ/Сборник научных трудов SWorld. Материалы международной научно-практической конференции «Современные направления теоретических и прикладных исследований ‘2014». - Выпуск 1. Том 31. - Одесса: КУПРИЕНКО, 2014. - С. 17-21. ЦИТ: 114-735.
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Egorov Anatoly Grigorjevich, candidate of philosophical sciences, associate professor of the Department of Philosophy, Political science and Sociology of the Faculty of Economics and Management, Alexander Is Saint-Petersburg
State University of Railway Transport E-mail: anatolijegor@yandex.ru
The law of sinergia
Abstract: The main objective of this article is to acquaint European thinkers with the deepest ideas of Russian esoteric philosopher V. A. Shmakov who is little-known not only in Europe but also in Russia. In this paper we give a brief analysis of the law of sinergia, which is the key notion of V. A. Shmakov’s conception. It opens new horizons in our understanding of universal evolution and involution processes.
Keywords: sinergia, evolution, involution, V. Shmakov.
Vladimir Alexeevich Shmakov was the brightest and one of the most proficient Russian philosophers who is not well-known not only to European but also Russian thinkers as well. There are many reasons for that. One of them is connected with different epoch-making events which took place in Russia in the first third of the 20 th century; the other reason for that is the fact that on the whole V. A. Shmakov is a really esoteric philosopher. Even professional philosophers faced many difficulties when trying to master his ideas and conceptions, especially at the time when totalitarianism dominated in Russia in the Soviet period of its history.
Vladimir Shmakov was born in Moscow approximately in the 1880-ies (according to a version
suggested by one of the researchers of his life the year of his birth was 1887; however, by this moment we have not found any official evidence confirming that date). He was the son of A. S. Shmakov, a well-known lawyer and publicist, who was also a public figure of the right direction.
By education V. A. Shmakov was a railway engineer. Most part of his life, V. A. Shmakov was occupied with developing the system ofesoteric philosophy. He was able to gather around himself a lot of talented representatives of different philosophical trends, — mainly the mystical ones.
Under the pressure of well-known circumstances which arouse in Russia after 1917, — and especially in
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