Lazarev, V. V. Can the Tragedy be Overcome?

Abstract: The article covers the questions raised by the bright philosopher who lived in the period of after-October immigration, Boris Petrovich Vysheslavtsev (1877-1954). These questions are devoted to the role of tragedy in a personal and social life. The author studied the ethical meaning of a human free will, antinomic nature of freedom and moral law and the Russian philosopher’s criticism of the so called ‘law ethics’. The author described both the negative and the positive sides of freedom, arbitrary behavior, failures and misfortunes. Special attention is given to the dialectics of tragedy, sublimation acts and ‘tragic’ optimism (particularly, in Orthodoxy). The article contains an analysis of very difficult questions for a Christian philosopher, the questions of arousal and overcoming a personal tragedy as well as God’s and the human’s role in dealing with tragic situations.

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