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Philosophy Through Its History: The Intellectual Legacy of Nelly V. Motroshilova
Series: - Contemporary Russian Philosophy, Volume: 10
Volume Editor:
This volume celebrates the life and philosophical legacy of Nelly Motroshilova (1934–2021), one of Russia’s most original and influential thinkers. Bringing together leading international scholars, it explores her pioneering contributions to philosophy, her role in bridging Russian and Western traditions, and her efforts to reinvigorate philosophical thought in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. Readers will encounter essays revealing Motroshilova’s profound insights into the history of philosophy and social ontology, alongside personal recollections capturing her warmth, courage, and moral integrity. Combining intellectual depth with heartfelt remembrance, this collection offers both a scholarly tribute and an inspiring portrait of a remarkable thinker, colleague, and friend.
"This superb volume illustrates and illuminates not only Motroshilova’s own thought but also her pivotal position in the late Soviet philosophical scene and into the post-Soviet period. The essays, all by distinguished scholars in the field, reveal Motroshilova’s expansive interests, her humanism, both theoretical and personal, and her remarkable impact on the continuing conversation that characterizes philosophy today." – Thomas Nemeth, author of Kant in Imperial Russia
"This superb volume illustrates and illuminates not only Motroshilova’s own thought but also her pivotal position in the late Soviet philosophical scene and into the post-Soviet period. The essays, all by distinguished scholars in the field, reveal Motroshilova’s expansive interests, her humanism, both theoretical and personal, and her remarkable impact on the continuing conversation that characterizes philosophy today." – Thomas Nemeth, author of Kant in Imperial Russia
Marina F. Bykova is Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina State University and Editor-in-Chief of the international scholarly journal Studies in East European Thought. Her research focuses on nineteenth-century German philosophy, with particular emphasis on Fichte and Hegel, as well as the philosophical and intellectual tradition of Russia, especially in the late Soviet period. Her most recent publications include Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature: A Critical Guide (Cambridge University Press, 2024) and At the Vanishing Point in History: Critical Perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine War (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025)
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors XI
Introduction: Nelly Motroshilova’s Philosophical Journey
Marina F. Bykova
Part 1 Reading Motroshilova Anew
Introduction to Part 1
Marina F. Bykova
1 A Kantian Community: Russia, Europe, and the World in Nelly Motroshilova’s Philosophical Vision
Randall A. Poole
2 “Let the Caesars vanish …”: Lev Shestov, Shakespeare, and the Challenges of History
Alexander L. Dobrokhotov
3 A Timely Reflection on Barbarism
Yulia Sineokaya
4 Nelly Motroshilova as a Historian of Philosophy: “West—Russia—East”
Julia B. Mehlich
5 History of Philosophy as an Insightful Reading
Marietta T. Stepanyants
6 The Cunning of Reason in Hegel’s Philosophy of History
Marina F. Bykova
Part 2 In the Orbit of Motroshilova’s Thought: Carrying the Inquiry Forward
Introduction to Part 2
Marina F. Bykova
7 The Question Answered: What Is Kant’s “Critical Philosophy”?
Kenneth R. Westphal
8 The Concept of Providence in Kant’s Philosophy of History
Herta Nagl-Docekal
9 Kant’s Transcendental Idealism: the Argument from Geometry
Michael N. Forster
10 Of Eternal Peace
Hans-Dieter Klein
11 Husserl’s Transcendental Phenomenological Approach to Understanding History: the Problem of Generativity
Natalia Artemenko
12 Heidegger and Husserl on Time
Jürgen Stolzenberg
13 Are We on the Way to a New, Third, Enlightenment—an Enlightenment Which Is Enlightened about Itself?
Ludwig Nagl
Part 3 Influence and Personal Reflections
Introduction to Part 3
Marina F. Bykova
14 The Phenomenological Teaching of Nelly Motroshilova in the Context of the Awakening of the Spirit of Freedom in the Baltic Countries
Maija Kūle
15 Recollections of Philosophical Conversations in the Institute of Philosophy of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1990, Especially with Nelly Motroshilova
Vittorio Hösle
16 Nelly Vasilievna Motroshilova—a Personal Recollection
Evert van der Zweerde
17 Reflections on a Magnanimous Friendship
Kenneth R. Westphal
18 Recollections on Nelly Motroshilova
Hans-Dieter Klein
19 In Nelly Motroshilova’s Department as a Fulbright Scholar, Winter–Spring 2009
Alyssa DeBlasio
20 Nelly Motroshilova—Grande Dame of the Russian–German Philosophical Dialogue: My Memories of an Award Winner of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Steffen H. Mehlich
Index
Notes on Contributors XI
Introduction: Nelly Motroshilova’s Philosophical Journey
Marina F. Bykova
Part 1 Reading Motroshilova Anew
Introduction to Part 1
Marina F. Bykova
1 A Kantian Community: Russia, Europe, and the World in Nelly Motroshilova’s Philosophical Vision
Randall A. Poole
2 “Let the Caesars vanish …”: Lev Shestov, Shakespeare, and the Challenges of History
Alexander L. Dobrokhotov
3 A Timely Reflection on Barbarism
Yulia Sineokaya
4 Nelly Motroshilova as a Historian of Philosophy: “West—Russia—East”
Julia B. Mehlich
5 History of Philosophy as an Insightful Reading
Marietta T. Stepanyants
6 The Cunning of Reason in Hegel’s Philosophy of History
Marina F. Bykova
Part 2 In the Orbit of Motroshilova’s Thought: Carrying the Inquiry Forward
Introduction to Part 2
Marina F. Bykova
7 The Question Answered: What Is Kant’s “Critical Philosophy”?
Kenneth R. Westphal
8 The Concept of Providence in Kant’s Philosophy of History
Herta Nagl-Docekal
9 Kant’s Transcendental Idealism: the Argument from Geometry
Michael N. Forster
10 Of Eternal Peace
Hans-Dieter Klein
11 Husserl’s Transcendental Phenomenological Approach to Understanding History: the Problem of Generativity
Natalia Artemenko
12 Heidegger and Husserl on Time
Jürgen Stolzenberg
13 Are We on the Way to a New, Third, Enlightenment—an Enlightenment Which Is Enlightened about Itself?
Ludwig Nagl
Part 3 Influence and Personal Reflections
Introduction to Part 3
Marina F. Bykova
14 The Phenomenological Teaching of Nelly Motroshilova in the Context of the Awakening of the Spirit of Freedom in the Baltic Countries
Maija Kūle
15 Recollections of Philosophical Conversations in the Institute of Philosophy of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1990, Especially with Nelly Motroshilova
Vittorio Hösle
16 Nelly Vasilievna Motroshilova—a Personal Recollection
Evert van der Zweerde
17 Reflections on a Magnanimous Friendship
Kenneth R. Westphal
18 Recollections on Nelly Motroshilova
Hans-Dieter Klein
19 In Nelly Motroshilova’s Department as a Fulbright Scholar, Winter–Spring 2009
Alyssa DeBlasio
20 Nelly Motroshilova—Grande Dame of the Russian–German Philosophical Dialogue: My Memories of an Award Winner of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Steffen H. Mehlich
Index
This volume will interest scholars and students in philosophy, intellectual history, Russian studies, and gender studies, especially those exploring twentieth-century and philosophical thought in late-Soviet and post-Soviet Russia.