WHAT DOES ‘UNDERSTAND’ MEAN? PART ONE. VASSILY VASILIEVICH ROZANOV ON THE UNDERSTANDING

Abstract

The article opens a series of studies about the formulation and solution for the issue of understanding in the Russian philosophical tradition. The article considers the concept understanding proposed by V.V. Rozanov. It task is to show what Rozanov understands by understanding himself and not his numerous elucidators. The dependence of Rozanov’s optics on Aristotelian ontologism and realism is noted, as well as its relationship with the philosophical systems of his era: V.S. Solovyov and N.N. Strakhov. Understanding for Rozanov is a process based on the fundamentally unified nature of the world and the mind. The world is understandable because it is initially true. And, at the same time, the world and the understanding are not static constructions. Contrary to the usual usage of words, Rozanov’s understanding does not grasp, does not appropriate, does not constitute, and does not describe the world at all