Grigorh Vyrubov

Vyrubov, Grigorh Nikolaevich

 

Born Oct. 31 (Nov. 12) 1843, in Moscow; died Nov. 30, 1913, in Paris. Russian positivist philosopher; chemist.

After 1864, Vyrubov lived in Paris, where with E. Littré he published the international organ of positivism, the magazine La Philosophic positive (1867-83). From 1875 to 1879, under Vyrubov’s editorship, the first collected works of A. I. Herzen were published in ten volumes in Geneva. After 1903, Vyrubov held the chair of history of science in the College de France. Following A. Comte, he tried to overcome materialism and idealism, declaring them to be manifestations of ’’metaphysical” phenomena, and actively opposed materialism. Vyrubov considered the highest goal of philosophy to be the registration, study, and description of empirical facts and the synthesis of the conclusions of separate sciences. Vyrubov did not recognize gnoseology to be a part of philosophy and dissolved it in the totality of actual methods of research.

WORKS

“Les Modernes theories du neant—Schopenhauer, Leopardi, Hart-mann.” Philosophic positive, 1881, vol. 26, no. 5.
Le Certain et le probable, 1’absolu et le relatif.” 1867, vol. 1, no. 2.
“Voennye vospominaniia.” VestnikEvropy, 1911, no. 1.
“Revoliutsionnye vospominaniia.” VestnikEvropy, 1913, nos. 1-2; 1917, no. 1.

REFERENCES

Herzen, A. I. Poln. sobr. soch. i pisem, vol. 22. Edited by M. K. Lemke. Leningrad-Moscow, 1925. (See alphabetical index.)
Timiriazev, K. A.“Grigorii Nikolaevich Vyrubov.” Soch., vol. 9. [Moscow] 1939. Pages 81-97.
Istoriiafilosofii v SSSR, vol. 3. Moscow, 1968. Pages 394-95.