Lev Shestov

Andrea Oppo is Professor of Contemporary Philosophy at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Sardinia (Italy). He is the editor of Shapes of Apocalypse: Arts and Philosophy in Slavic Thought (Boston, 2013), and the author of Philosophical Aesthetics and Samuel Beckett (Oxford, 2008) and of numerous articles on the relationship between philosophy and the arts in the twentieth century.

• AcknowledgmentsEditorial NotesIntroductionPart One: Shestov in RussiaChapter I: The Philosophy of Tragedy (1898-1905)1.1 Introduction: The Birth of a Tragic Conscience1.2 Shestov before Shestov: Shakespeare and Pushkin1.3 Tolstoi's Struggle between "Yasnaya Polyana" and "Astapovo"1.4 Friedrich Nietzsche: Truth against Morality1.5 Dostoevskii and Nietzsche as "Philosophers of the Underground"1.6 Apotheosis of "Bespochvennost'": Towards a Philosophy of Tragedy Chapter II: Art as Negativity-The Literary Criticism Years (1901-1910)2.1 Introduction: Shestov and the Philosophical Problem of Art2.2 Aestheticism and Ideology: On Merezhkovskii and Turgenev2.3 Creatio ex Nihilo: Chekhov's Aesthetics2.4 The "Oracular" Gratuity of Sologub's Prose and Poetry2.5 Ibsen and the Destiny of Art2.6 Retracting Tragedy: Dostoevskii as an Essayist2.7 The "Magnificent" Vyacheslav Ivanov Part Two: Shestov in France Chapter III: Wandering Through the Souls (1914-1929)3.1 Introduction: The Events of History-Shestov's Political Views3.2 The Power of Keys: Faith and Church in Martin Luther3.3 The Two Histories of Western Philosophy3.4 The Fight against Self-Evidences: Dostoevskii, Pascal, and Spinoza3.5 Philosophy's Revolt against Itself: Plotinus's Ecstasies3.6 Audacities and Submissions: Shestov's Intellectual World3.7 Shestov and the Russian Philosophers Chapter IV: Athens and Jerusalem-The Logic and the Thunder (1930-1938)4.1 Introduction: Shestov as a "Jewish Philosopher"4.2 The Bible and the Original Sin: In Dialogue with Martin Buber4.3 The Last Encounter: Kierkegaard4.4 Étienne Gilson and the Spirit of Medieval Philosophy4.5 Philosophers in Chains: At the Sources of Metaphysics Conclusion1. Reception and Legacy of Shestov's Philosophy2. The Question of Irrationalism and of "Antiphilosophy"3. The (Neo-)Platonic Paradigm: Shestov's "Third Sailing"4. Afterword: Reading between the LinesAppendices1. Shestov and Husserl2. Shestov and Berdyaev3. Shestov and FondaneBibliography and Works Cited1. Shestov's WorksA.1 BooksA.2 Articles and Correspondence2. Selected Studies on ShestovB.1 Biographies, Memoirs, Specific Journals, and BibliographiesB.2 Books on ShestovB.3 Articles and Book Chapters on Shestov3. Further ReferencesIndex

“Andrea Oppo’s new monograph on Lev Shestov is a remarkable achievement. The author has managed to write a clear, coherent and focused narrative of Shestov’s development, readable and comprehensible to those who are interested in familiarizing themselves with this paradoxical figure. Meanwhile, the book is also heavily footnoted, for which Oppo reserves discussions about issues that are mainly for the specialists, which means that both groups will find this book rewarding. Oppo’s book is a combination of philosophy, that is a discussion of philosophical claims and arguments, and intellectual history, that is the broader contexts in which they were put forward. The book is broadly researched – Oppo has not only studied Shestov’s major works, but also his minor ones as well as texts and thinkers that make up Shestov’s contexts.” – Kåre Johan Mjør, Dostoevsky Studies