The Nizhny Novgorod Stage in the Philosophical Development of Alexey Losev

Author: korolevaNV / Date: 27-06-2026 /
Publication Title: 
The Nizhny Novgorod Stage in the Philosophical Development of Alexey Losev
Publication author(s): 
Maksim Viktorovich Medovarov
Abstract: 

The article examines the Nizhny Novgorod stage in the life and work of Alexey F. Losev (1919–1921). It offers not only a factual description of this stage but also its qualitative characterization as a distinctive period in the development of the thinker's philosophical views. An extensive review of the history of Losev's work at Nizhny Novgorod State University and the Nizhny Novgorod Institute for Educational Development is provided. The contributions of historians and document publishers (N.Yu. Stoyukhina, E.A. Takho-Godi) to the current state of research on this topic are highlighted. A corpus of Losev's texts that can be classified as belonging to the Nizhny Novgorod period is identified. It includes four articles and reports, one note, four curricula, one autobiography, and a number of lost works known only by title. Several stylistic features of these Losev works are highlighted. The conclusion is made that some previous themes (experimental psychology, musicology, Platonism, and direct political statements) disappeared from the philosopher's work during this period, while his research methods expanded and new areas of interest emerged. Using specific works as examples, it is shown how certain motifs first appeared in Losev's writings during his Nizhny Novgorod period, which would later become central to his works in the 1920s and even the 1960s. Three areas of Losev's work during 1919–1921 are identified: the philosophy of religion and mythology; the philosophical foundations of pedagogy; and the philosophy of language and literature in ancient Greece and Rome. The content of the works in each of the three blocks and their place in Losev's development as a philosopher are explored separately.

 

References: 

(Sources)

  1. Losev, A.F. Na rubezhe epokh: Raboty 1910-kh – nachala 1920-kh godov [At the Turn of Epochs: Works from the 1910s – Early 1920s]. Moscow: Progress-Traditsiya, 2015. 1088 p.
  2.  Losev, A.F. Vysshiy sintez: neizvestnyy Losev [Higher Synthesis: The Unknown Losev]. Moscow: CheRo, 2005. 264 p.
  3.  Losev, A.F. O zakonakh slozhnogo predlozheniya v drevnegrecheskom yazyke [On the Laws of Complex Sentences in Ancient Greek], in Stat′i i issledovaniya po yazykoznaniyu i klassicheskoy filologii [Articles and Research in Linguistics and Classical Philology]. Moscow: Lenin Moscow State Pedagogical Institute, 1965, pp. 38–130.
  4.  Losev, A.F. O zakonakh slozhnogo predlozheniya v latinskom yazyke [On the Laws of Complex Sentences in Latin], in Stat′i i issledovaniya po yazykoznaniyu i klassicheskoy filologii [Articles and Research in Linguistics and Classical Philology]. Moscow: Lenin Moscow State Pedagogical Institute, 1965, pp. 131–195.
  5.  Losev, A.F., Loseva, V.M. «Radost′ na veki». Perepiska lagernykh vremen [“Joy Forever”. Correspondence from the Camp Era]. Moscow: Russkiy Put, 2005. 264 p.

 (Articles from Scientific Journals)

  1.  Medovarov, M.V. Nizhegorodskie adresa A.F. Loseva [A.F. Losev’s Nizhny Novgorod Addresses], in Byulleten′ Biblioteki istorii russkoy filosofii i kul′tury «Dom A.F. Loseva» [Bulletin of the Library of the History of Russian Philosophy and Culture “A.F. Losev’s House”]. Moscow: Vodoley, 2009, issue 9, pp. 89–90.
  2.  Stoyukhina, N.Yu. Stanovlenie gumanitarnogo obrazovaniya v Nizhegorodskom universitete: 1919–1921 gg. [The Development of Humanities Education at Nizhny Novgorod University: 1919–1921], in Vestnik Nizhegorodskogo universiteta, 2009, no. 3, pp. 294–301.
  3.  Stoyukhina, N.Yu. A.F. Losev i Nizhegorodskiy universitet: 1919–1921 gody [A.F. Losev and Nizhny Novgorod University: 1919–1921], in Byulleten′ Biblioteki istorii russkoy filosofii i kul′tury «Dom A.F. Loseva» [Bulletin of the Library of the History of Russian Philosophy and Culture “A.F. Losev House”]. Moscow: Vodoley, 2010, issue 12, pp. 48–81.
  4.  Takho-Godi, E.A. A.F. Losev – professor Nizhegorodskogo universiteta: k 125-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya myslitelya [A.F. Losev – Professor of the Nizhny Novgorod University: On the 125th Anniversary of the Thinker’s Birth], in The Digital Scholar: Philosopher’s Lab, 2018, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 55–65.

 (Articles from Proceedings and Collections of Research Papers)

  1. Chernov, A.P. Ucheniki G.I. Chelpanova na pedagogicheskoy rabote v Nizhegorodskom universitete [G.I. Chelpanov’s Students Teaching at Nizhny Novgorod University], in Aktual′nye problemy psikhologii i obrazovaniya: materialy II regional′noy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii [Current Issues in Psychology and Education: Proceedings of the Second Regional Scientific-Practical Conference]. Nizhny Novgorod: Nizhegorodskiy gumanitarnyy tsentr, 2001, pp. 252–255.

(Monographs)

  1. Stoyukhina, N.Yu. Gumanitarnoe obrazovanie v provintsii. Nizhegorodskiy universitet v pervye gody Sovetskoy vlasti [Humanities Education in the Provinces: Nizhny Novgorod University in the First Years of Soviet Power]. Saint-Petersburg: Lyubavich, 2011. 232 p.
  2. Stoyukhina, N.Yu. Vydayushchiesya psikhologi i pedagogi v Nizhegorodskom universitete (1918–1921 gg.) [Outstanding Psychologists and Educators at Nizhny Novgorod University (1918–1921)]. Nizhniy Novgorod: Izdatel′stvo Nizhegorodskogo gosuniversiteta, 2013. 307 p.
  3. Takho-Godi, A.A. Losev. Мoscow: Molodaya Gvardiya, 2007.
  4. Takho-Godi, E.A. Aleksey Losev v prostranstve russkoy revolyutsii: 1917–1919 [Aleksey Losev in the Space of the Russian Revolution: 1917–1919]. Moscow: Modest Kolerov, 2014. 368 p.

 

 

Key words: 
Alexey Losev’s pedagogical views, Alexey Losev’s philosophy of language, Alexey Losev’s philosophy of myth, history of Nizhny Novgorod State University
2026. Issue 2 (90)
The DOI index: 
10.17588/2076-9210.2026.2.180-193
Publication file: 
str.180-193_90.pdf