The Moscow Pythagoreans : Mathematics, Mysticism, and Anti-Semitism in Russian Symbolism

In Russia at the turn of the twentieth century, mysticism, anti-Semitism, and mathematical theory fused into a distinctive intellectual movement. Through analyses of such seemingly disparate subjects as Moscow mathematical circles and the 1913 novel Petersburg, this book illuminates a forgotten aspect of Russian cultural and intellectual history. In the nineteenth century, the traditional Christian hostility to the Jews evolved into an often arcane system of scientific and historical theories that served as intellectual cover for darker ideological sentiments. Around the turn of the twentieth century, Russia was the scene for one of the more peculiar instances of this phenomenon, whereby politics, mysticism, anti-Semitism, and mathematical theory fused into a distinctive intellectual movement. Through analyses of such seemingly disparate subjects as the philosophy of August Comte, Moscow mathematical circles, and Andrei Belyi's classic 1913 novel "Petersburg", this remarkable interdisciplinary study illuminates a forgotten aspect of Russian cultural and intellectual history Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction: Belyĭ’s Petersburg and Moscow Mathematicians....Pages 1-13 Origins of the Moscow “School”: N. V. Bugaev....Pages 14-49 The Moscow “School”: P. A. Nekrasov....Pages 50-89 P. A. Nekrasov: Theory of Probability (1912)....Pages 90-113 Some Other Members of the “School”....Pages 114-133 The Pythagoreanism of the Moscow “School”....Pages 134-160 Conclusion....Pages 161-164 Back Matter....Pages 165-184