Lev Shestov and the Crisis of Modernity

The iconoclastic Russian philosopher Lev Shestov (1866-1938) is well known as one of the founding fathers of twentieth century Christian existentialism. His celebration of faith in a God who obeys no rules was grounded in a violent rejection of Reason, expressed through idiosyncratic readings of famous philosophers, theologians, and writers. Despite his reputation as a religious thinker, Shestov did not develop his philosophy of faith until after a misreading of Martin Luther’s work just prior to the First World War. Focusing on Shestov’s early literary production, this paper shows that between 1898 and 1911, God was effectively dead for Shestov the philosopher. Embracing the chaotic and nihilistic world of Nietzsche and Dostoevskii’s Underground Man, during this period Shestov’s thought was more akin to that of European Modernism than to religious existentialism