EPISODE 50 - Konstantin Leontiev: The Russian Orthodox Nietzsche

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/

The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Panel and paper proposals are due September 1, 2025.

To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/

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

(00:00:00) - Introduction
(00:02:09) - Who is Konstantin Leontiev?
(00:06:48) - Why Read Leontiev?
(00:11:26) - Two Stories About Leontiev
(00:17:57) - Aestheticism
(00:24:48) - Orthodoxy
(00:31:01) - Theory of Civilizational Development
(00:36:49) - Nationalism but not Ethnic Nationalism
(00:41:25) - Criticism of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy
(00:48:45) - Influence of Augustine
(00:54:04) - Preview of Next Book

Show Notes

Works by Glenn Cronin

Works by Ethan Alexander-Davey

Konstantin Leontiev in English

Lev Tikhomirov in English

Chapters

Other Episodes

Episode

EPISODE 10, PART I - Harmel Academy, a Catholic Trade School

Episode 2

EPISODE 2 - Black Liberation Through the Marketplace with Rachel Ferguson

Episode 55

EPISODE 55 - Robert Nisbet's The Social Philosophers