Engaging the Difference. Multiperspectivist Themes in the Soviet History of Ideas

ABSTRACT The goal of the present paper is to trace a line between different authors of the Soviet history of ideas in order to show how they can be seen as all contributing to the development of a new epistemological approach which I will call “multiperspectivist,” a notion elaborated to describe the epistemological approach of G. W. Leibniz. By analysing the decolonial critique of Eurocentrism and Eurocentric science, I will try to show how similar themes, albeit from a different origin and with different intent, can nonetheless be found within the “Soviet semiosphere.” In particular, I will trace a line from the Russian Cosmists to V. I. Vernadskij, to N. I. Konrad to Ju. M. Lotman, to show how the multiperspectivist themes were in each author elaborated, adapted to their research needs, and ultimately developed towards a more and more integrated approach.