Philosophical and Ethical Intensions of the Category of Heroic in L.N. Tolstoy’s Early Works

Texts of culture, which act as “generators of meaning”, are associated by Yu.M. Lotman, in his work “The History and Typology of Culture”, with the problem of memory that makes possible the reconstruction of the history of culture from its synchronic slices. The study of L.N. Tolstoy’s early works allows to judge the figurative character of the philosophical ethical intentions of the category of heroic that were embodied in the topic of “man and war”. The category of heroic is reflected in the concept of ancient philosophers — Plato (“Dialogues”), Aristotle (“Ethics”, “Poetics”), in the treatise by G. Bruno (“The Heroic Frenzies”), in the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel (“Aesthetics”), and others. In the context of developing the idea of “man and war” and revealing Leo Tolstoy’s interest in ancient philosophy, the article aims to explore the embodiment of these intentions in the works of the great writer and to note the peculiar “echoes” of his thoughts about justice, courage or cowardice in battle by the examples of his works (the story “Raid”, “Caucasian Stories”, and others). Special attention should be paid to “Sevastopol Stories” created during the Crimean (Eastern) War by L.N. Tolstoy, an artillery officer who served in the most dangerous place of the Sevastopol defense (the 4th bastion). They reveal the essence of “true” and “false” courage, the relations between artillery soldiers and junior officers, the theme of the feat and other problems, which was later developed in the epic novel “War and Peace”. The article actualizes the issue of traditions (from Plato to Hegel), the development of Leo Tolstoy’s ideas, the analysis of human behavior in a situation of mortal danger, the problem of the heroic and the tragic, reflected in the “military” prose of writers — participants of the Great Patriotic War: Yu.V. Bondarev, V.V. Bykov, G.Ya. Baklanov, V.O. Bogomolov, K.D. Vorobyov, K.M. Simonov, and others.