Lektsii po istorii novoi filosofii. Do Kanta i Kant (Lectures on the History of Modern Philosophy. Up to and Including Kant)

S. l. (St. Petersburg): lit. Bogdanova Ertelev, 1899. Hardcover. First edition presumed, n. d. (ca 1899 - the National Library of Russia has a record of a similar title, but with a shorter text); 11 1/2 x 7 1/2; pp. [1], 2-169, [9], 3-160; 1/4 polished brown calf and textured paper over boards; gilt title to spine; 1"- piece of leather to head of spine chipped; a few rubbed spots along edges; text typed and lithographed; several manuscript notes and underlined passages in black, blue, and red pencil; very good condition.Aleksandr Ivanovich Vvedenskii (1856 - 1925) was one of the most prominent neo-Kantian and Platonist philosophers of his time in Russia and was also the Chair of the Philosophical Society of St. Petersburg and a Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy at the St. Petersburg University. Interestingly enough, his name has stirred quite a controversy in connection with Ayn Rand's "The Russian Radical." Although another Platonist and himself a former student of Vvedenskii, Nikolai Losskii (1870 - 1965), graced the cover of the book and was acknowledged as her philosophy professor at Petrograd (St. Petersburg) University, it has been, allegedly, Vvedenskii she described as her teacher. A passage in the book read: "He was a famous Platonist...He was an old man by that time, white hair...And he had a reputation of, to begin with, being contemptuous of all students, but particularly women students. And he despised the fact that women were now admitted." Although Losskii was in fact teaching at the time, he was not very old and did not have white hair. He was also never known to be a male chauvinist and did not terrorize his students. Furthermore, he had been sick and missed most of the two semesters in 1921-1922 (the time Ayn took the class). On the other hand, the description of the obnoxious professor fit Vvedenskii perfectly. Even Losskii in his memoirs wrote Vvedenskii hated him as much as he hated all his other students, disagreed with his master's thesis, and had tried to prevent his advance to a full professorship. (Mayhew, R. (2012). Essays on Ayn Rand's "We the Living" (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books). No copies in OCLC or in the trade (as of March 2016).