Anichkov, Dmitrii Sergeevich

Anichkov, Dmitrii Sergeevich 

Born 1733; died May 1, 1788. Russian philosopher and enlightener.

Anichkov graduated from Moscow University in 1761 and became a professor there in 1771. Appearing in works published in 1761 and 1767 as a follower of C. Wolff’s philosophy, Anichkov attempted to overcome Wolff’s dualistic treatment of the process of cognition; however, while denying the existence of innate ideas, Anichkov remained a dualist regarding the interrelationship between the soul and the body. His dissertation On the Origin and Event of the Natural Worship of God (1769) was written from a deistic point of view and provoked persecution from the clergy as well as from the reactionary professoriat. In this work Anichkov explained the origin of religion as stemming from man’s fear and ignorance in the face of natural forces.

WORKS

In Izbrannye proizvedeniia russkikh myslitelei vtoroi poloviny XVIII veka, vol. 1. Moscow, 1952.

REFERENCES

Petrovskii, A. V. “Ateisticheskaiadissertatsiia v XVIII v.” Voprosy filosofii, 1950, no. 1.
Istoriia filosofii v SSSR, vol. 2. Moscow, 1968. (See index of names.)

E. G. PLIMAK