Ivan Ilyin & Hegel - Matthew Raphael Johnson

Dr Matthew Raphael Johnson presents a podcast on Russian nationalist and royalist philosopher Ivan Alexandrovich Ilyin, refuting the Council on Foreign Relations defamation of him in their article “Putin’s Philosopher Ivan Ilyin and the Ideology of Moscow’s Rule“, while exploring some of his ideas about the relationship between the nation and the state. The CFR claim that Ilyin was a “Eurasianist“ and that he admired Hitler, when it was really the National Socialist economic and social theories that he admired, he did not care much for his anti-Slavic ideas. The authors of the article have clearly never read anything by him and neither has Putin, who they say quotes him all the time. Ilyin was a “right Hegelian“ and a nationalist. Freedom was a central concept to his writings and it was always an inner fact - it was freedom from self-interests and appetites, and freedom as the ability to act arbitrarily.