The Society of Fellows hosts the Thursday Lecture Series (TLS), which runs regularly throughout the academic year. The Fall Semester TLS, our Fellows present their own work, chaired by Columbia faculty.

True Science: Leo Tolstoy and Popular Science in Late Imperial Russia

Lecture by Valeriia Mutc
Chaired by Gareth Williams

This talk examines Leo Tolstoy’s philosophy of science in his non-fiction essays and literary works. Tolstoy methodically rejected an exclusively positivist worldview, arguing that it was detrimental to Russia’s social development. Instead, the writer formulated an idea of socially functional science—a “true” science—whose goal was to promote ethical and moral values for popular audiences. This instrumentalized vision of science was adopted by prominent popular science journals, such as the empire’s most successful outlet, Around the World, which used Tolstoy’s ideas in order to marry public perceptions of scientific progress with Russian imperialism and exceptionalism. In this way, Tolstoy’s vision of science as capable of pursuing humanistic and socially conservative ends fueled the emergence of radicalized popular science and the development of scientific exceptionalism in Russia.

This event also will be recorded. By being electronically present, you consent to the SOF/Heyman using such video for promotional purposes.

Please email [email protected] to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.