ABSTRACT
The degree to which Russian nineteenth-century idealist philosophy was imbued with the spirit of Platonism may be suggested by tracing the genealogy of a cluster of interrelated notions derived from the leitmotif of 'integral knowledge'. Endeavours to find a solution to what was generally acknowledged as a crisis in philosophy after the collapse of Absolute Idealism, and which Vladimir Solov'ev had singled out for criticism, underscored quite a number of nineteenth-century 'histories of philosophy'. As the guardian of philosophical idealism — both ancient and modern — the role played by the theological academy throughout the nineteenth century was a highly important one. By the end of the nineteenth century a confrontation between Kant and Plato in Russian philosophical studies was, arguably, just as much the consequence of the overall growth in philosophical production as it was a sign of the need to do battle with secular philosophy in the name of Russian spirituality.
