Valentin asked:

Why in the West don't philosophers know Russian philosophy and don't study it at their universities?

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Let me first describe a prejudice that is widely held amongst the Western philosophers. The feeling is
that the only philosophers who managed to keep their jobs in Russian universities up until the early
80's fell into two distinct categories. The first category comprised of those who were dedicated to the
principles of Marxism-Leninism. The second category comprised of those who were prepared to
compromise with the prevailing political orthodoxy in order to continue pursuing their philosophical
work. The latter became very adept at avoiding the controversial issues, while at the same time giving
the superficial impression of carrying out their work with full intellectual rigour.

It would be fair to say that Russian philosophers belonging to the first category were held in awe in
the West rather than contempt. Marxism continues to be a major interest amongst Western
philosophers (I realize that it is questionable to describe Marx as a 'Russian' philosopher!) What is
awe-inspiring about the dedicated Marxist-Leninists was (and is) their loyalty to the theory in the face
of all the atrocities that were committed in its name.

The Russian philosophers falling under the second category, the one's who survived by 'ducking and
diving', by subterfuge, are admired for their survival instincts but not for their philosophy. How can you
study a philosophical work hoping to learn something valuable from it when you know that every
paragraph, every line and word, has been subject to self-censorship? It is an impossibility.

Apart from the well broadcasted work of dissidents, two exceptions that I am aware of to this
summary Western judgement of philosophy from the former Eastern Bloc is Polish logic, which has
always been held in very high regard, and the religious philosophy of Nicholas Berdyaev, who has
continued to attract a small but dedicated following.

Geoffrey Klempner