Александр Зиновьев: Жизнь и творчество мыслителя

Russian writer (1922–2006)

Alexander Alexandrovich Zinoviev (Russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Зино́вьев; October 29, 1922 – May 10, 2006) was a Soviet philosopher, writer, sociologist, and journalist. Coming from a poor peasant family, a participant in World War II, Alexander Zinoviev in the 1950s and 1960s was one of the symbols of the rebirth of philosophical thought in the Soviet Union. After the publication in the West of the screening book Yawning Heights, which brought Zinoviev world fame, in 1978 he was expelled from the country and deprived of Soviet citizenship. He returned to Russia in 1999. The creative heritage of Zinoviev includes about 40 books, covering a number of areas of knowledge: sociology, social philosophy, mathematical logic, ethics, political thought. Most of his work is difficult to attribute to any tendency or to put in any framework, including academic. Having gained fame in the 1960s as a researcher of non classical logic, in exile, Zinoviev was forced to become a professional writer, considering himself primarily a sociologist. Works in the original genre of the 'sociological novel' brought international recognition to Zinoviev. Often he is characterized as an independent Russian thinker, one of the greatest, most original and controversial figures of Russian social thought of the second half of the 20th century. An anti Stalinist in his youth, Zinoviev throughout his life held strong views on society, criticizing at first the Soviet system, then the Russian political system and the Western world, and at the end of his life, the processes of globalization. Zinoviev's worldview was distinguished by tragedy and pessimism. In the West, as in Russia, his non conformist views were harshly criticized.

Alexander Alexandrovich Zinoviev was born in the village of Pakhtino in the Chukhlomsky District of Kostroma Province in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (now the Chukhlomsky District of the Kostroma Oblast). He was the sixth child of Alexander Yakovlevich Zinoviev, a worker, and Apollinaria Vasilyevna (born Smirnova). The ancestors of Zinoviev, first mentioned in mid 18th century documents, were state peasants. Zinoviev's father spent most of his time working in Moscow while living in the countryside. This gave him a Moscow residence permit, which probably saved his family from reprisals during the time of dekulakization. Before the revolution, Alexander Yakovlevich was an artist who decorated churches and painted icons, later expanding into finishing work and stencilling. Zinoviev somewhat disdainfully dismissed his father's profession as "painter." Alexander Yakovlevich had a keen interest in art. He provided his children with art supplies, illustrated magazines, and books. Zinoviev's mother came from a wealthy family who owned property in Saint Petersburg. The Zinovievs, whose house stood in the center of the village, were respected in the district and often hosted guests. Biographers highlight the role of the mother in shaping Alexander's personality: Zinoviev recalled with love and respect her worldly wisdom and religious convictions, which determined the rules of behavior in the house. As biographers noted, in his youth, Zinoviev was seized with the desire to "build a new world" and faith in a "bright future", he was fascinated by dreams of social justice, the ideas of equality and collectivism, material asceticism; his idols were Spartacus, Robespierre, Decembrists and Populists. As Konstantin Krylov wrote, the ideas corresponded to his personal experience: Zinoviev recalled that "he was a beggar among beggars", emphasizing that the communist utopia was the idea of beggars. On the one hand, the social, cultural and economic changes that occurred in the 1930s contributed to optimism; on the other hand, Alexander noticed an increasing inequality, saw how families of party and state officials live; drew attention to the fact that in the advancement of the social scale the most successful were activists, demagogues, talkers and scammers; observed the discrimination of the peasants in comparison with the working class, the degradation of the village and the formation of the new "serfdom" of the collective farms, which he witnessed when he came on holidays in Pakhtino. Among his fellow students were later well known philosophers Arseny Gulyga, Igor Narsky, Dmitry Gorsky, and Pavel Kopnin. The atmosphere at the institute, the forge of the "fighters of the ideological front", was heavy. Zinoviev was almost without funds, the meager scholarship was not enough, his father stopped helping him. As Pavel Fokin writes, Zinoviev was in a state of physical and nervous exhaustion. In search of an answer to the question of why the bright ideals of communism proclaimed were at variance with reality, Zinoviev thought about the figure of Stalin: "The Father of Nations" became the cause of the perversion of communist ideals. Konstantin Krylov noted that sincerity and lack of heroism in the descriptions of events testify in favor of their authenticity. Zinoviev spent most of the war at the Ulyanovsk Aviation School. Initially, he served in the Primorsky Territory as part of the cavalry division. In the spring of 1941, the troops were transferred to the west, he was credited with a tank gunner in a tank regiment. On the eve of June 22, the advanced unit was sent to a flight school in Orsha, which was soon evacuated to Gorky, and in early 1942 to the Ulyanovsk military aviation school of pilots. At the aviation school, Zinoviev spent almost three years, mostly in reserve. He learned to fly a biplane, later – on the Il 2. In Ulyanovsk, he had a son, named Valery (1944). He graduated from the aviation school at the end of 1944 and received the title of "junior lieutenant". As Alexander Pyatigorsky recalled, Zinoviev "was not afraid of anything"; he was one of the few who continued to communicate with Karl Kantor in the midst of the struggle against cosmopolitanism, demonstratively releasing "anti Semitic" jokes about his friend. Georgy Shchedrovitsky recalled that Zinoviev hated Soviet socialism, in which socialist principles superimposed on archaic social structures (mass bonded labor and camps), but which corresponded to the national character and cultural traditions. Pessimism was intensified by the fact that socialism was considered as the inevitable and unalternative future of mankind. In future society, Zinoviev did not see a place for himself, because he did not consider himself to be in any class and believed that he had survived by a miracle. Konstantin Krylov, commenting on Shchedrovitsky's memories, referred Zinoviev to the victims of the Russian Revolution and contrasted him in this sense to Shchedrovitsky, who recognized that his personal prospects were more optimistic because of social status. in September 1954. The opposition of the "old men" was counterbalanced by the support of the Minister of Culture Academician George Alexandrov, which he managed to get through Karl Kantor. The opponents were Teodor Oizerman and Pavel Kopnin, the post graduate students Mamardashvili and Grushin and Schedrovitsky supported the defense of Zinoviev. The text of the dissertation was later distributed in numerous reprints in samizdat and was published only in 2002. The peripetias of those events Zinoviev grotesque described in the novel "On the Eve of Paradise". textbooks, collections, collective monographs were published, and methodological seminars were held.

In scientific and teaching activities, Zinoviev openly ignored the official ideology, in the late 1960s his position in the scientific community deteriorated. As Pavel Fokin writes, he declined the proposal of the vice president of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, Pyotr Fedoseyev, to write a "Marxist–Leninist" article for the journal Kommunist, although he was promised his own department and election as a corresponding member. The scientist was in conflict with representatives of the "liberal" wing of the Soviet intelligentsia, and, as biographers believe, their attitude towards Zinoviev was worse than that of the orthodox communists. In the "liberal" composition of the editorial board of the journal Problems of Philosophy (Merab Mamardashvili, Bonifaty Kedrov, Theodor Oizerman, Yuri Zamoshkin, Vladislav Kelle) took an extremely sharp position on the quality of the reviewed works, indignant at the authors raid over Leonid Brezhnev; Zinoviev noted " " – " " – to texts that could not be criticized. After the suspension of his publications, Zinoviev left the editorial board. In the fall of 1968, he was fired from the post of head of the department of logic at Moscow State University. He openly made friends with the well known dissident Alexander Esenin Volpin, inviting him to seminars on logic, and with Ernst Neizvestny, who he often visited. He continued his scientific activities, preparing graduate students. In 1973 he was not re elected to the Academic Council of the institute, a year later he was not allowed to speak at the All Union Symposium on the theory of logical inference; they were not allowed to travel abroad, in particular, to Finland and Canada; problems arose with his graduate students. At the same time, Zinoviev was elected a foreign member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences (1974) after a visit to the Soviet Union by the famous Finnish logician Georg von Wright. Zinoviev was proud of this fact, Finnish logic had a high scientific authority. Zinoviev was called the heir to the satirical tradition – from Aristophanes and Apuleius through François Rabelais and Jonathan Swift to Saltykov Shchedrin, Anatole France, Franz Kafka and George Orwell. Among dissidents, the reaction was more heterogeneous, there were also negative opinions, for example, among Andrei Sakharov, who called the book decadent, or Alexander Solzhenitsyn. In the Soviet Union, the book was immediately declared anti Soviet, its reading was equated with anti Soviet activity; "Yawning Heights" were actively distributed in samizdat. As Lev Mitrokhin recalled, despite the flaws, the book made a strong impression by "author's ingenuity, imagery, accuracy of social diagnosis, and violent black humor". Many intellectuals, for example, mocked in the novel Mamardashvili, considered the book a libel or even a denunciation. discussed "anti Soviet actions", gave "slanderous information" to correspondents of capitalist countries to "attract attention to his person". Zinoviev continued to write, soon finishing the story "The Night Watchman's Notes", the novel "On the Eve of Paradise" and the novel "A Bright Future", published in Switzerland in early 1978. In the first half of the 1980s, Zinoviev led an active public activities, enjoyed great popularity in the media, especially in France, Germany and Italy. He was almost the main newsmaker of Russian emigration. Publications of his books in different countries were published quarterly, Zinoviev participated in presentations, attended various congresses and symposia, where he gave reports, participated in conversations, gave interviews. Zinoviev tried to avoid the emigrant community, close relations were formed only with Vladimir Maximov; European intellectuals were friends with Friedrich Dürrenmatt. The language barrier was also a problem Zinoviev mastered professional vocabulary, but on the whole, he did not know German well, spoke mainly in English. The expression of loneliness became the oil painting "Self portrait", according to Pavel Fokin, the image of suffering, pain, truth and hopelessness. In the essay "Why I will never return to the Soviet Union" (1984), nostalgia and the desire to return to Russia were combined with the realization that "there is nowhere to return, there is no need to return, there is no one to return"; in 1988, in an interview with Radio Liberty, he stated that he considered his emigration a punishment, and his principle was "always to write the truth and only the truth". he denied the possibility of success of Russian reforms, believing that they would only lead to a catastrophe. At the same time, he called Stalin the only great politician in the history of Russia, which, Konstantin Krylov notes, was not at all praise, but shocked the public. In 2000, the publishing house "Centrpoligraf" published 5 volumes of collected works; director Viktor Vasilyev made the documentary film "I am a sovereign state", which was not released on the screens. In 2002, to the anniversary of Zinoviev, under the auspices of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, the anthology "The Phenomenon of Zinoviev" was published. His latest novel was the "Russian Tragedy" (2002). He kept radical rhetoric, giving account of the indifference and opportunism of the majority of the population; and attached importance to any protest and resistance, speaking, for example, in support of Eduard Limonov. He was carried away by the anti scientific theory of Anatoly Fomenko, and wrote a preface to his book. The New Chronology was consonant with Zinoviev's thoughts about modern falsification of Soviet history, he was impressed by her boldness and originality. In 2016, on the eve of the 95th anniversary of Zinoviev, a new species of butterflies was named in his honor – "Zinoviev's Fan Wing" (Alucita zinovievi).

The Newest Philosophical Dictionary identifies three periods in the work of Zinoviev. The first, "academic", period (1957–1977) – from the first publications of scientific works to the publication of "Yawning Heights" and expulsion from the Soviet Union: works on the logic and methodology of science. The second period (1978–1985) was the study, description and criticism of "real communism" in various genres: journalism, social satire and sociological essay. The third period, after the beginning of perestroika, was a period of critic of the collapse of the Soviet system and a critic of modern Western society. British scientists Michael Kirkwood noted the first period (1960–1972); the anti communist period of "sociological novels" (1976–1986), the "Gorbachev Yeltsin" gradual transition from anti communism to criticism of the West (1986–1991), the post Soviet period of analysis of modern Russia, criticism of the West and globalization (1991–2006).

In the 1950s, Zinoviev outlined the general principles of the "meaningful logic" program. Formally, being within the framework of the Soviet "dialectical logic", he limited the applicability of the analysis of Marx's "Capital" to a special kind of objects (historical or social), which are an "organic whole" with a complex functional structure. In his version, the dialectic turned out to be "a method for studying complex systems of empirical relationships". Substantive logic claimed the expression of both the linguistic aspect (formal logic) and logical ontological, as well as procedural; considered thinking as a historical activity; affirmed the status of logic as an empirical science, the material of which are scientific texts, and the subject matter is the techniques of thinking; considered the instrumental function of logic for scientific thinking. In 1959, Zinoviev considered his concept contradictory, making a choice in favor of mathematical logic. In the monograph "The Philosophical Problems of Multivalued Logic" (1960), Zinoviev reviewed almost all multivalued logical systems, analyzed the place, main results and applicability of multivalued logic in the logic and methodology of science. In subsequent works, he developed his own concept of logic, which he called "complex logic". The problem of logic, according to Zinoviev, was not in formal mathematical calculus, but in the development of "methods of reasoning, proof, methods of scientific knowledge". Zinoviev tried, firstly, to overcome the classical and intuitionistic versions of logic and, secondly, to expand the field of logic research based on the methodology of empirical sciences. The subject of logic is language, it does not discover, but invents specific rules of language — logical rules — and introduces them into language practices as artificial means of systematization. Zinoviev insisted on the universality of logic, claiming the independence of logical rules from the empirical areas of their application. In a more popular form, his concept, including a discussion of the methodology of physics, was presented in the works "The Logic of Science" and "Logical Physics". Zinoviev, proceeding from the thesis about the universality of logic, criticized the point of view that a special or quantum logic is necessary for the microworld, different from the methodological formalism of the macroworld. In his opinion, many problems in the philosophy of physics or ontologies were terminological and were not related to physics proper, such as, for example, the problem of the reversibility of time. In Zinoviev's analysis, many of the statements traditionally understood as physical and empirical hypotheses were considered as implicit consequences of the definitions of terms; at least these statements can be presented without contradiction or empirical refutation. An example is the phrase "the physical body cannot be in different places at the same time". In contrast to the anti Soviet dissident literature exposing the actions of individuals (Lenin, Stalin, etc.) or the "Party" or "bureaucracy" based on the dichotomy of "Power" and "People", Zinoviev describes society at the level of microsociology, his works echo with the "ironic sociological treatise" – the laws of Parkinson and Murphy. Zinoviev's genre was understood as a menippea in the terms of Mikhail Bakhtin (Peter Weil and Alexander Genis), a sociological treatise, even a textbook, an analog of the medieval "Sum of Knowledge" (Maxim Kantor), a parody of a scientific treatise (Dmitry Bykov). As Pavel Fokin believes, a sociological novel is closer to literature than to science, because it uses imagery. The fragmentary manner of writing, breaking the narration into laconic phrases and short paragraphs bring Zinoviev closer to Vasily Rozanov, however Zinoviev's language is much more artless, he is deprived of Swift or Saltykov Shchedrin's sophistication. Maxim Kantor believes that the basis of Zinoviev's style was the language of folk tales, an unusual mixture of Mikhail Zoshchenko and Alexander Herzen. The rage of the Zinoviev language is aimed at a breakthrough to truth through lies and the hypocrisy of the established rules, by analogy with the miracle of "getting rid of the trouble" in a folk tale. The key philosophical device (or method) of Zinoviev was a detailed logical analysis of the specific content extracted from the original abstract premise. Abstractions, such as communism or democracy, are not a generalized representation, but an incomplete, one sided knowledge of the subject. Incomplete knowledge, as a rule, ideological, arises through the chaotic assimilation of ideas or images in which a person takes the connection between himself and the object (his own sensations or experiences) as properties of an object. The Zinoviev method allowed to deconstruct practically any general statements and was used in them primarily for the destruction of ideology, initially in the analysis of Soviet society, then the post Soviet and Western ones. which in the "Bright Future" was associated with the principle of individual resistance. According to Konstantin Krylov, the early Zinoviev saw two possible regulators limiting the "element of communality" – economy (economic competition) and spirituality. In real communism, both restrictions were lifted, and the natural tendency toward selfish behavior inherent in all societies and, ultimately, human nature, was realized. The Soviet social system did not flow out of national peculiarities and was not imposed from above, but, on the contrary, was an example of democracy by the people, assumed the complicity of the governed: "The Ibanian system of power is a product of the goodwill of the population" ("Yawning Heights"). Homo Sovieticus is "man as it is". The naturalness or normality of communal relations is similar to the classical social thought – the ideas of Machiavelli, Bernard de Mandeville, Thomas Hobbes. The domination of communality brings to the top of the social hierarchy of mediocrity and mediocrity ("false idols"), clinging to power and feeling natural in it (for example, Stalin), really talented people experience collective envy and hatred. Being a talented careerist means being exceptional mediocrity. Periodic ritual exile and punishment of external enemies ("renegades") in the course of mass harassment demonstrate the cohesion of social cells and reproduce the mechanisms of subordination, these collective actions relieve the psychological burden of individual responsibility. As Oleg Kharkhordin noted, tight control by higher authorities, as well as total transparency of the collective's internal life, mutual control and violence protect cells from degenerating into a mafia or gang, which would have happened if they were given freedom of self organization. The cell structure leaves no room for law and politics: there are no parties or political competition, as well as political power. As Vladimir Berelovich wrote, Zinoviev consistently reduces the political to power, the power to the state apparatus, the apparatus to society. The state is not a political institution, but diluted socially, its only function is the reproduction of social relations. Since there are no social classes or interest groups in real communism, the ruling caste is not a social stratum or institution. The communist leadership is a "specific group" of several individuals. At the macro level, power turns into a dictatorship, but the supreme power is helpless in wanting to control everything.

In the 1990s, Zinoviev turned to the study of Western society – "Westernism" and the modern tendencies of the social evolution of mankind. A systematic exposition of sociological theory is presented in the monographs "Towards a Super Society" and "Logical Sociology". In the controversy with the Marxist and post industrial approaches, Zinoviev, proceeding from the principle of anti historicism, did not consider human associations in terms of their progressiveness – the level of development of science, technology, economics, etc., but depending on the type of social organization and their adequacy to the "human material". Human material is a combination of the character traits of a people, unevenly distributed among its individual representatives; type of social organization and specific human material are closely related. Soviet society Zinoviev considered the first fully subordinate ideology. It was contained not only in the official doctrine, but primarily in daily activities, turning people into active, active participants in ideological performances (Michael Kirkwood). Belief in ideology is not required, it is accepted on the basis of rational calculation (Claude Schwab). Ideology reduces a person to a function, social morality turns into a pseudo moral or false moral, in a completely conformist communist society there is no trust. In Yawning Heights, most of society is made up of hypocrites, cynics, and lackeys, out of which emerges a "new person" constructed by ideology, a "normal individual", deprived of all human (conscience, individuality, etc.). Zinoviev's ethics has the following features: simplicity and unconditionality (Kant and Albert Schweitzer), despite the fragility, weakness and complexity of its implementation; Responsibility (Antoine de Saint Exupéry), ethics are based on responsible individual judgment.

Zinoviev gained fame primarily as the author of "Yawning Heights", a dissident writer, becoming probably the most famous representative of the third wave emigration after Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Interest in Zinoviev expressed in the collective collection "Alexander Zinoviev: a Writer and Thinker" (1988). Commentators Philip Hanson and Michael Kirkwood noted that the format of the interview, in which Zinoviev usually spoke, simplified and exaggerated his ideas, exacerbating the negative attitude in the English speaking world. His social determinism and idolatry before sociology excluded the possibility of free action or resistance. Hence the critical attitude of Zinoviev to dissidents, to their position of "personal feat". Zinoviev was accused of apologizing for Stalin and justifying collectivization under the guise of objectivity. text=I immediately felt in Zinoviev an intellectual who is prone to paradoxes, who seeks to refute all established opinions and considers himself able to show that this fragmented, atomized society ultimately wants only to maintain a system that guarantees the advantages of inertness and corruption. I have never agreed with his interpretation. Events deny it. According to Philip Hanson, the turn of the late Zinoviev to criticism of the West resembles the evolution of Herzen and Solzhenitsyn, who, like Nikolai Berdyaev, retained a deep affection for Russia. Unlike Berdyaev and Solzhenitsyn, Zinoviev was guided by communism, rationality and society. who combined philosophy, logic, sociology, ethics, literature in a holistic worldview. His works, especially of the late period, are often characterized as philosophical or sociological journalism. The philosopher Vadim Mezhuyev noted the extreme complexity and contradictory views of Zinoviev, the amplitude of his paradoxical thought. Having written, perhaps, "the worst satire on the Soviet system", he then called the Soviet period the best in the history of Russia, the best that Russia was able to create. The figure of Zinoviev is tragic, he was distinguished by pessimism and, probably, an extremely "tragic view of history". With good reason, he rejected Western society ("Westernism"), but he perceived Russia ambiguously, combining love for Russia with a desire to understand it scientifically. However, Zinoviev was not an apologist for real communism and did not at all consider him an ideal. Finally, his vision of the world was deeply personal, created "out of himself" – many of his books did not contain footnotes. Therefore, Mezhuev concludes, it is difficult for Zinoviev to compare with someone, to understand to whom he inherited, including in Russian thought. Russian American philosopher and sociologist Oleg Kharkhordin considered "Communism as Reality" the best introduction to the sociology of Soviet life, noting the exceptional "clarity and power" of Zinoviev's conceptualization of informal activity. Kharkhordin saw the proximity of his model to the analysis of traditionalist communities by Pierre Bourdieu and found advantages in the Zinoviev model. According to another point of view (Andrei Fursov), Zinoviev's uncompromising and polemic position was based on "truth – the truth of the people, history, generation", which in the Russian tradition brought the thinker closer to Avvakum. If Fursov called Zinoviev a "great contrarian", then Maxim Kantor believed that the thinker was a "great affirmator" who dreamed of the epic of utopia, overcoming tradition, about a holistic, free from the lie of human being. According to Konstantin Krylov, Zinoviev perceived himself as a lone "fighter" acting according to the situation and considering his activities to be useful service to the society rejected by him. Zinoviev was characterized by Dmitry Bykov as a person with a "clinical complete lack of fear", a conflicting egocentric and nonconformist. From the point of view of Maxim Cantor,
text=Zinoviev was a dissident twice: he opposed the socialist system, then – against what came to replace it. He criticized Russia, then the West [Zinoviev] fought not with socialism – but with social evil, not for Western civilization – but for humanism, not for progress – but for truth. More precisely: he defended concrete humanism – and this at the time when abstract humanism became the public password. Zinoviev abhorred abstraction: if you want to do good – come on, do it now Zinoviev will take a place in history next to Chaadaev, Herzen, Chernyshevsky. He posed questions of their magnitude, suffered the same pain.