The Justification of the Good

After passing through deism, pantheism, and sundry atheistic visions of life, Vladimir Solovyov emerged as a Christian thinker of irrepressible conviction and uncommon genius. The Justification of the Good, one of Solovyov’s last and most mature works, presents a profound argument for human morality based on the world’s longing for and participation in God’s goodness.

In the first part of the book Solovyov explores humanity’s inner virtues and their full reality in Christ, weaving his moral philosophy with threads drawn from Orthodox theology. In the second part Solovyov discusses the practical implications of Christian goodness for such areas as nationalism, war, economics, legal justice, and family.

This edition of The Justification of the Good reproduces the English edition of 1918 and is the only new publication of this work since that date. The book includes explanatory footnotes by esteemed scholar Boris Jakim and a bibliography, compiled by Jakim, of Solovyov’s major philosophical and religious works.

PART I
The Good in Human Nature
CHAPTER I The Primary Data of Morality
CHAPTER II The Ascetic Principle in Morality
CHAPTER III Pity and Altruism
CHAPTER IV The Religious Principle in Morality
CHAPTER V Virtues
CHAPTER VI The Spurious Basis of Practical Philosophy
(A Critique of Abstract Hedonism in Its Different Forms)

PART II
The Good Is from God
CHAPTER I The Unity of Moral Principles
CHAPTER II The Unconditional Principle of Morality
CHAPTER III The Reality of the Moral Order

PART III
The Good through Human History
CHAPTER I The Individual and Society
CHAPTER II The Chief Moments in the Historical Development of the Individual-Social Consciousness
CHAPTER III Abstract Subjectivism in Morality
CHAPTER IV The Moral Norm of Social Life
CHAPTER V The National Question from the Moral Point of View
CHAPTER VI The Penal Question from the Moral Point of View
CHAPTER VII The Economic Question from the Moral Point of View
CHAPTER VIII Morality and Legal Justice
CHAPTER IX The Meaning of War
CHAPTER X The Moral Organisation of Humanity as a Whole
CONCLUSION The Final Definition of the Moral Meaning of Life and the Transition to Theoretical Philosophy

Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), one of Russia’s leading intellectuals and a close friend of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, taught philosophy at Moscow University.