Lev Shestov

1866 - 1938

photo credits: Wikimedia Commons

movement: Christian existentialism, Western philosophy

country of citizenship: Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Switzerland, France

languages spoken, written or signed: Russian

educated at: Imperial Moscow University, Imperial University of St. Vladimir

occupation: philosopher, university teacher, writer, literary historian

influenced by: Friedrich Nietzsche, Søren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Lermontov, Anton Chekhov, William Shakespeare, Benedictus de Spinoza, Heinrich Heine, Martin Luther, Blaise Pascal, Plotinus

Lev Isaakovich Shestov (Russian: Лев Исаакович Шестов; 31 January [O.S. 13 February] 1866 – 19 November 1938; born Yeguda Leib Shvartsman) was a Jewish-Russian existentialist and religious philosopher. He is best known for his critiques of both philosophic rationalism and positivism. His work advocated a movement beyond reason and metaphysics, arguing that these are incapable of conclusively establishing truth about ultimate problems, including the nature of God or existence. Contemporary scholars have associated his work with the label "anti-philosophy."Shestov wrote extensively on philosophers such as Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, as well as Russian writers such as Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov. His published books include Apotheosis of Groundlessness (1905) and his magnum opus Athens and Jerusalem (1930-37). After emigrating to France in 1921, he befriended and influenced thinkers such as Edmund Husserl, Benjamin Fondane, Rachel Bespaloff, and Georges Bataille. He lived in Paris until his death in 1938. Source: Wikipedia (en)