THE IDEA OF POTENTIALITY IN V. V. ROZANOV’S PHILOSOPHY

Annotation

The article is devoted to the reconstruction of V. V. Rozanov’s doctrine of potentiality. Its sources are revealed, which were the metaphysical constructions of Aristotle and Leibniz. It is shown as a category of potential/possible revealed at different stages of Rozanov’s work. In an early treatise on the category of understanding, the latter is described as a process of actualization of the potential unconscious mind. It is further shown that the genre of “Solitary” and “Fallen Leaves” allowed Rozanov to express the essence of these early theories in the most optimal way. It is explained why and how the problem of the possible is connected with Rozanov’s dreaminess. The reason for this is the avoidance of final actualization, which determines the similarity of the philosopher with the Underground Hero of F. M. Dostoevsky and I. A. Goncharov’s Oblomov. It is traced how the concept of potentiality develops in Rozanov’s works devoted to the problems of sex. Sex is seen here as infinite potentiation. In this context, a comparison is made with S. Freud’s idea of the unconscious mind. In conclusion, the system- forming significance of possibilist metaphysics for the whole of Rozanov’s philosophy is revealed.

Keywords

V. V. Rozanov, potentiality, possibility, Russian philosophy, metaphysics, dreaminess, unconscious, the problem of gender

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