ABSTRACT
In the late 1830s and early 1840s Comte labored mightily to create Henri de Saint-Simon “positive philosophy.” Yet while the young Samarin was giving attention to practical matters of politics, economics, and social questions at the turn of the 1830s, his major effort was directed at his master’s dissertation, its work proceeding in conjunction with new friendships and associations. Reading the works of Stefan Iavorsky and Feofan Prokopovich and other Orthodox theological writings by way of preparation for his dissertation was Samarin’s primary occupation during the year 1840. True to the religious and moral, concerns that were making their way into the rapidly evolving Slavophil doctrine of the early 1840s, young Samarin made his weighty contribution by way of his dissertation. Throughout the dissertation the problem of Christian ecclesiology remained for him the most sustained single theme. Although the point of view is strongly pro-Orthodox, the dissertation, has a fresh, vibrant quality.
