Konstantin Leontiev: The Russian Orthodox Nietzsche - The Sower Episode 50 (audio)

Episode 50 • September 07, 2025 • 00:59:45
Konstantin Leontiev: The Russian Orthodox Nietzsche - The Sower Episode 50 (audio)
The Sower
Konstantin Leontiev: The Russian Orthodox Nietzsche - The Sower Episode 50 (audio)

Sep 07 2025 | 00:59:45

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Show Notes

Ethan Alexander-Davey and Glenn Cronin discuss the penetrating insights of the 19th century Russian Orthodox writer Konstantin Leontiev, an aristocratic voice who has become an important figure in Russian intellectual and political life since 1991, but remains unknown in the West. The conversation focuses on Dr. Cronin’s recent book, Disenchanted Wanderer: The Apocalyptic Vision of Konstantin Leontiev. Leontiev’s political philosophy combines a Nietzschean aestheticism with Orthodox Christian culture, which he called “Byzantinism.”

Works by Glenn Cronin

Disenchanted Wanderer: The Apocalyptic Vision of Konstantin Leontiev
https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501760181/disenchanted-wanderer/
 
The Enduring Enigma of Lev Tikhomirov
https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501783456/the-enduring-enigma-of-lev-tikhomirov/#bookTabs=1
 

Works by Ethan Alexander-Davey

Aristocratic Souls in Democratic Times
https://www.amazon.com/Aristocratic-Souls-Democratic-Political-Theory/dp/1498553265/
 
Aristocracy and the Καλλίπολις: Konstantin Leontiev and the Politics of ‘Flourishing Complexity'
https://www.academia.edu/44382561/Aristocracy_and_the_%CE%9A%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%AF%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%B9%CF%82_Konstantin_Leontiev_and_the_Politics_of_Flourishing_Complexity
 

Konstantin Leontiev in English

Byzantinism and Slavdom
https://www.amazon.com/Byzantinism-Slavdom-Konstantin-Leontiev/dp/B08LNLCLCL/
 

Lev Tikhomirov in English

Why I Ceased to be a Revolutionary
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Ceased-Revolutionary-Beginnings-Ends/dp/B08LNJKZ96/

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0:00 Introduction
2:09 Who is KL?
6:48 Why read KL?
11:26 Two Stories About KL
17:57 Aestheticism
24:48 Orthodoxy
31:01 Theory of Civilizational Development
36:49 Nationalist, but Against Ethnic Nationalism
41:25 Criticisms of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy
48:45 Augustine's Influence
54:42 Next Book

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