Philosophy of history l n tolstoy. Philosophy of war: essence, definition, concept, history and modernity

Literature

Grade 10

Lesson #47

Philosophy of the history of Tolstoy. True and false patriotism

List of issues covered in the topic

The purpose of the lesson:

1. The unity between Tolstoy's philosophy of history and the artistic depiction of historical events in the novel;
2. Features of Tolstoy's creation of the image of the people as the leading force in historical events;
3. Tolstoy's concept of "folk thought" in the novel.

Glossary

Author's digression (lyrical digression) - extra-plot element of the work; a special form of the author's speech, the author's deviation from the direct course of the plot narrative; the author's assessment of the characters or the plot situation, the author's reasoning on philosophical, journalistic, aesthetic, moral and other topics, the author's memories of the events of his own life, and so on.

The idea of ​​the work- the main idea about the range of phenomena that are depicted in the work; expressed by the writer in artistic images.

Concept - a system of views on something, the main idea of ​​something.

Philosophy of history - views on the origin, essence and change of historical events.

Bibliography

Basic literature on the topic of the lesson

Lebedev Yu. V. Russian language and literature. Literature. Grade 10. Textbook for educational organizations. A basic level of. At 2 h. Part 2. M .: Education, 2016. - 368 p.

Additional literature on the topic of the lesson

Bilinkis Ya. S. Russian classics and the study of literature at school. M.: Enlightenment, 1986. - 208 p.

Linkov V. Ya. War and peace of L. Tolstoy. M.: Publishing house of Moscow State University, 2003. - 104 p.

Lyssy Yu. I. Russian literature of the 19th century: Grade 10: Practicum. Aut.-stat. G. I. Belenky, E. A. Krasnovsky and others. M .: Education, 1997. - 380 p.

Theoretical material for self-study

The 60s of the XIX century in Russia is an amazing time: after a long silence (1825-1855), it becomes possible, albeit under the supervision of censorship, to express publicly political views through magazines. In just four years, from 1856 to 1860, 145 publications appeared in Russia. A new era is coming in the development of society and the country.

In literature, the decisive question is who and how should manage the course of history, who will lead the country to a happy future. All the literary heroes of this era (Bazarov, Oblomov, Stolz, Rakhmetov, Rudin) are inseparable from the temporal context.

The concept of history in War and Peace is clearly polemical. The writer wants to show his contemporaries what are its driving forces and who governs them. Lev Nikolaevich believes that in order for a historical event to take place, “billions of reasons” must coincide. History, according to Tolstoy, is made not by individuals, but by the people. The most striking illustration of this thought is the description of the abandonment of Moscow by its inhabitants. People leave the city not by order, but of their own free will, not thinking about glory, heroism, or greatness. They "left each for themselves, and at the same time only because they left, and that majestic event took place, which will forever remain the best glory of the Russian people."

Prominent figures - commanders, sovereigns - are the least free in their decisions: "The king is a slave of history." Following this concept gives a peculiar coloring to the images of Kutuzov, Napoleon, Alexander I, Rostopchin. There are episodes in the epic novel when Alexander I appoints Kutuzov as commander-in-chief against his will, fulfilling the will of the people.

But there are examples in "War and Peace" when a fateful decision depends on the will of one person. This, for example, is Kutuzov's order to leave Moscow without a fight.

The historical movement, according to the writer, follows from "an innumerable number of human arbitrariness." Here one can also recall the comparison of the course of history with the work of a clock mechanism, when dozens of small gears spin and transmit impulse to each other, but the main action occurs unexpectedly, as if by itself and in no way connected with the independent rotation of each detail. The human mind "is inaccessible to the totality of the causes of phenomena," and therefore fatalism in history is inevitable.

That is why the writer chooses for his work the era of a real patriotic upsurge: at such a time, in the face of a common misfortune, the people unite en masse, the differences between classes and estates are erased.

It is not by chance that the author depicted two wars in the novel: in the first, the Russians were defeated, because the struggle as part of the allied army on the territory of Austria had no moral purpose. The Patriotic War of 1812 is a just battle, "the cudgel of the people's war rose with all its formidable and majestic strength and ... nailed the French until the entire invasion died."

The writer portrays the will to win both in mass scenes (the surrender of Smolensk, preparations for the Battle of Borodino, and others), and in vivid individual images of real folk heroes: captains Tushin and Timokhin, partisan Tikhon Shcherbaty. Their names are associated in the novel with the concept of true heroism, modest, inconspicuous, devoid of solemnity and loudness. These "little heroes" of the great war are the most important characters in the novel for Tolstoy.

How unpleasant compared to them are the staff officers who strive only to "get a cross or a ribbon"! How insignificant are the representatives of the highest nobility, pompously ranting that the Fatherland is in danger, and imposing fines for French words.

All heroes, all their thoughts and actions are tested by the nationwide cause - the Patriotic War: for example, Prince Andrei feels an unprecedented upsurge before the battle of Borodino. The highest praise given to Bolkonsky is the nickname "our prince" given to him by the soldiers.

All Pierre's thoughts are aimed at helping to expel the invaders. At his own expense, he equips a thousand militias, develops a plan to assassinate Napoleon, and during the Battle of Borodino is on the Raevsky battery.

Natasha Rostova, seized with a sense of unity with the people, gives up carts for the wounded, and her younger brother Petya dies in a fight with the enemy. This is how all the beloved heroes go their way of unity with the people, which for Tolstoy is the highest measure of a real personality.

So, in the epic novel "War and Peace" Tolstoy expresses his own, special view on the development of history, arguing that it happens spontaneously. In fact, many small events eventually led to the expulsion of Napoleon's troops. But the majority of Russian people acted on the basis of the same feeling that lay in the soul of each of them - "the hidden warmth of patriotism." The idea of ​​unity, which is clearly visible at all levels of brilliant creation, was the decisive factor in such a large-scale historical achievement - the victory of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812.

Examples and analysis of the solution of tasks of the training module

1. Single choice.

Continue the statement of L. N. Tolstoy: “In War and Peace, I loved thought ...”

• folk
• family
• philosophical
• historical

Correct answer: folk.

Hint: Tolstoy mentions “family thought” in connection with the novel “Anna Karenina”.

“In the epic, the writer built a huge artistic pyramid, placed on a solid foundation, whose name is the people. The image of the people in Tolstoy's epic is not only and not so much an object of the image as an artistic conception of the world,” notes literary critic Nikolai Gay. Tolstoy wrote "War and Peace" for the sake of one simple thought that permeates all of his creation - this is "the thought of the people."

1. Sort items by category.

Read the statements. Which of them reflect the main provisions of Tolstoy's philosophy of history, and which contradict it?

Correct answer.

teacher's word

Before proceeding directly to the analysis of volume III, I would like to draw attention to the fact that volumes III and IV were written by L.N. Tolstoy later than the first ones (in 1867-1869). By this time, there had been changes in the writer's worldview, which were reflected in the work we are analyzing. Do you remember that just at that time L.N. Tolstoy is interested in people's life, takes steps towards rapprochement with the patriarchal peasants. Therefore, it is natural that more and more people appear on the pages of the novel. Tolstoy's new views were also reflected in the views of individual heroes.

Changes in the writer's worldview somewhat changed the structure of the novel. It includes journalistic chapters that anticipate and explain the artistic description of events, leading to their understanding.

In order to get closer to understanding the work of L.N. Tolstoy, it is necessary to understand some concepts inherent directly to him. In particular, Tolstoy had his own understanding of the philosophy of history. Let us turn to the text (volume III, part I, chapter I, and then part III, ch. I). Let's read and answer the question: what are the reasons for the Patriotic War of 1812 according to Tolstoy?

Answer

"An event contrary to human reason and all human nature has taken place."

What brought about this extraordinary event? What were the reasons for it?

1. It is impossible to explain the origin of historical events by individual actions of individual people. The will of an individual historical person can be paralyzed by the desires or unwillingness of a mass of people.

2. For a historical event to take place, “billions of causes” must coincide, i.e. the interests of individual people who make up the mass of the people, as the movement of a swarm of bees coincides, when a general movement is born from the movement of individual quantities. This means that history is made not by individuals, but by their totality, the people. Thus, historical events occur when the interests of the masses coincide.

3. And why do the infinitesimal values ​​of individual human desires coincide? “Nothing is the reason. All this is only a coincidence of the conditions under which every vital, organic, spontaneous event takes place. “Man inevitably fulfills the laws prescribed for him.” “... The event had to take place only because it had to take place,” writes Tolstoy. "Fatalism in history", in his opinion, is inevitable.

4. Tolstoy's fatalism is connected with his understanding of spontaneity. History, he writes, is "the unconscious, common, swarming life of mankind." Any seemingly unconscious act that is committed spontaneously "becomes the property of history." And the more unconsciously a person lives, the more, according to Tolstoy, he will participate in the commission of historical events. The preaching of spontaneity, the rejection of conscious, rational participation in events is one of the features of Tolstoy.

5. Tolstoy claims that the individual does not and cannot play any role in history. According to Tolstoy, the spontaneity of the movement of the masses is not amenable to control, and therefore the historical personality can only obey the direction of events prescribed from above. "The king is the slave of history." So Tolstoy comes to the idea of ​​submission to fate and sees the task of a historical personality in following events. Do you agree with this point of view?

When analyzing the third volume of the novel War and Peace, we will need to prove that the Patriotic War of 1812 raised the entire Russian people to fight the enemy. It will be important for us to see a nationwide patriotic upsurge and the unity of the bulk of Russian society, the people and most of the nobles in the fight against the invaders.

Exercise

Let us analyze the episode of the crossing of the Napoleonic army across the Neman (Part I, Chapter II).

Answer

Tolstoy in the scene of crossing the Neman draws Napoleon and his army at the very beginning of the campaign in Russia. In the French army, too, there is unity - both among the soldiers themselves, and between them and their emperor. “On all the faces of these people there was one general expression of joy at the start of the long-awaited campaign and delight and devotion to the man in the gray frock coat standing on the mountain.”

Question

What is the basis of this unity?

Answer

The glory of the conqueror of the world led Napoleon. Somewhat earlier, Tolstoy noted that here there was “the love and habit of the French emperor for war, which coincided with the disposition of his people, the fascination with the grandeur of preparations, and the costs of preparation, and the need for such benefits that would pay for these costs ...” (Part I, Chapter I).

But this unity is fragile. Then Tolstoy will show how it will disintegrate at the decisive moment. This unity is expressed in the soldiers' blind love for Napoleon and Napoleon's acceptance of it for granted. Not finding a ford, the uhlans plunged into the water, drowned, and yet “tried to swim forward to the other side and, despite the fact that there was a crossing half a verst away, they were proud that they were swimming and drowning in this river under the gaze of a man sitting on a log and didn't even look at what they were doing."

The unity of the Russian people is based on something else - on hatred for the invaders, causing them grief and ruin, on love and affection for their native land and the people living on it.

Literature

T.G. Brazhe. The system of lessons for the holistic study of the novel "War and Peace". // L.N. Tolstoy at school M., 1965. - S. 301-323.

G.Ya. Galagan. L.N. Tolstoy. // History of Russian literature. Volume three. Leningrad: Nauka, 1982.

Andrew Ranchin. Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. // Encyclopedia for children "Avanta +". Volume 9. Russian literature. Part one. M., 1999.

Let us note a number of Tolstoy's statements that convey the main provisions of his philosophy of history:

“On June 12, the forces of Western Europe crossed the borders of Russia, ... - What caused this extraordinary event? What were the reasons for it?

(The writer is convinced that the origin of historical events cannot be explained by individual actions of individual people. The will of an individual historical person can be paralyzed by the desires or unwillingness of a mass of people.)

For a historical event to take place, "billions of causes" must coincide, i.e., the interests of individual people who make up the mass of the people, just as the movement of a swarm of bees coincides when a general movement is born from the movement of individual quantities. This means that history is made not by individuals, but by the people.

“In order to study the laws of history, we must completely change the subject of observation, ... - which guide the masses” (vol. III, part III, ch. 1). (Tolstoy argues that historical events occur when the interests of the masses coincide.)

And why do the small values ​​of individual human desires coincide? Tolstoy was unable to answer this question: “Nothing is the reason. All this is just a coincidence of the conditions under which any vital, organic, spontaneous event takes place", "a person inevitably fulfills the laws prescribed for him", "... an event had to take place only because it had to take place", "fatalism in history » is inevitable. This shows the weakness of Tolstoy's views.

Tolstoy's fatalism is connected with his understanding of spontaneity. History, he writes, is "the unconscious, common, swarming life of mankind." Any perfect unconscious act "becomes the property of history." And the more unconsciously a person lives, the more, according to Tolstoy, he will participate in the commission of historical events. The preaching of spontaneity, the rejection of conscious, rational participation in events is the weakness of Tolstoy's views.

Correctly considering that a person, and even a historical one, that is, one that stands high "on the social ladder", does not play a leading role in history, that it is connected with the interests of all who stand below it and next to it, Tolstoy is wrong asserts that the individual does not and cannot play any role in history. According to Tolstoy, the spontaneity of the movements of the masses is not amenable to guidance, and therefore the historical personality can only obey the direction of events prescribed from above. So Tolstoy comes to the idea of ​​submission to fate and reduces the task of a historical personality to following events.

When studying Vol. III, one should see a nationwide patriotic upsurge and the unity of the bulk of Russian society in the struggle against the invaders. If, in the analysis of vol. II, the focus was on an individual person with his individual, sometimes separated from others, fate, then in the analysis of vols. III-IV, we will see a person as a particle of the mass. Tolstoy's main idea is that only then does an individual find his final, real place in life when he becomes a particle of the people.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a great Russian writer, by origin - a count from a famous noble family. He was born on August 28, 1828 in the Yasnaya Polyana estate located in the Tula province, and died on October 7, 1910 at the Astapovo station.

Writer's childhood

Lev Nikolaevich was a representative of a large noble family, the fourth child in it. His mother, Princess Volkonskaya, died early. At this time, Tolstoy was not yet two years old, but he formed an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bhis parent from the stories of various family members. In the novel "War and Peace" the image of the mother is represented by Princess Marya Nikolaevna Bolkonskaya.

Biography of Leo Tolstoy in the early years is marked by another death. Because of her, the boy was left an orphan. The father of Leo Tolstoy, a participant in the war of 1812, like his mother, died early. This happened in 1837. At that time the boy was only nine years old. The brothers of Leo Tolstoy, he and his sister were transferred to the upbringing of T. A. Ergolskaya, a distant relative who had a huge influence on the future writer. Childhood memories have always been the happiest for Lev Nikolayevich: family traditions and impressions from life in the estate became rich material for his works, reflected, in particular, in the autobiographical story "Childhood".

Studying at Kazan University

The biography of Leo Tolstoy in his youth was marked by such an important event as studying at the university. When the future writer was thirteen years old, his family moved to Kazan, to the house of the children's guardian, a relative of Lev Nikolaevich P.I. Yushkova. In 1844, the future writer was enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy of Kazan University, after which he transferred to the Faculty of Law, where he studied for about two years: the young man did not arouse keen interest in studying, so he indulged in various secular entertainments with passion. Having filed a letter of resignation in the spring of 1847, due to poor health and "domestic circumstances", Lev Nikolayevich left for Yasnaya Polyana with the intention of studying the full course of legal sciences and passing an external exam, as well as learning languages, "practical medicine", history, rural economy, geographical statistics, painting, music and writing a dissertation.

Youth years

In the autumn of 1847, Tolstoy left for Moscow, and then for St. Petersburg in order to pass the candidate's exams at the university. During this period, his lifestyle often changed: he studied various subjects all day long, then he devoted himself to music, but wanted to start a career as an official, then he dreamed of becoming a cadet in a regiment. Religious moods that reached asceticism alternated with cards, carousing, trips to the gypsies. The biography of Leo Tolstoy in his youth is colored by the struggle with himself and introspection, reflected in the diary that the writer kept throughout his life. In the same period, interest in literature arose, the first artistic sketches appeared.

Participation in the war

In 1851, Nikolai, the elder brother of Lev Nikolaevich, an officer, persuaded Tolstoy to go to the Caucasus with him. Lev Nikolaevich lived for almost three years on the banks of the Terek, in a Cossack village, leaving for Vladikavkaz, Tiflis, Kizlyar, participating in hostilities (as a volunteer, and then was hired). The patriarchal simplicity of the life of the Cossacks and the Caucasian nature struck the writer with their contrast with the painful reflection of the representatives of an educated society and the life of the noble circle, gave extensive material for the story "Cossacks", written in the period from 1852 to 1863 on autobiographical material. The stories "Raid" (1853) and "Cutting down the forest" (1855) also reflected his Caucasian impressions. They left a mark in his story "Hadji Murad", written in the period from 1896 to 1904, published in 1912.

Returning to his homeland, Lev Nikolaevich wrote in his diary that he fell in love with this wild land, in which "war and freedom" are combined, things that are so opposite in their essence. Tolstoy in the Caucasus began to create his story "Childhood" and anonymously sent it to the journal "Contemporary". This work appeared on its pages in 1852 under the initials L. N. and, along with the later "Boyhood" (1852-1854) and "Youth" (1855-1857), made up the famous autobiographical trilogy. The creative debut immediately brought real recognition to Tolstoy.

Crimean campaign

In 1854, the writer went to Bucharest, to the Danube army, where the work and biography of Leo Tolstoy were further developed. However, soon a boring staff life forced him to transfer to the besieged Sevastopol, to the Crimean army, where he was a battery commander, having shown courage (he was awarded medals and the Order of St. Anna). Lev Nikolaevich during this period was captured by new literary plans and impressions. He began to write "Sevastopol stories", which were a great success. Some of the ideas that arose even at that time make it possible to guess in the artillery officer Tolstoy the preacher of later years: he dreamed of a new "religion of Christ", cleansed of mystery and faith, a "practical religion".

Petersburg and abroad

Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich arrived in St. Petersburg in November 1855 and immediately became a member of the Sovremennik circle (which included N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Ostrovsky, I. S. Turgenev, I. A. Goncharov and others). He took part in the creation of the Literary Fund at that time, and at the same time became involved in the conflicts and disputes of writers, but he felt like a stranger in this environment, which he conveyed in "Confession" (1879-1882). Having retired, in the autumn of 1856 the writer left for Yasnaya Polyana, and then, at the beginning of the next, in 1857, he went abroad, visiting Italy, France, Switzerland (impressions from visiting this country are described in the story "Lucerne"), and also visited Germany. In the same year, in the autumn, Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich returned first to Moscow, and then to Yasnaya Polyana.

Opening of a public school

Tolstoy in 1859 opened a school for the children of peasants in the village, and also helped set up more than twenty such educational institutions in the Krasnaya Polyana region. In order to get acquainted with the European experience in this area and apply it in practice, the writer Leo Tolstoy again went abroad, visited London (where he met with A. I. Herzen), Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium. However, European schools somewhat disappoint him, and he decides to create his own pedagogical system based on the freedom of the individual, publishes teaching aids and works on pedagogy, and puts them into practice.

"War and Peace"

In September 1862, Lev Nikolaevich married Sofya Andreevna Bers, the 18-year-old daughter of a doctor, and immediately after the wedding he left Moscow for Yasnaya Polyana, where he devoted himself entirely to household chores and family life. However, already in 1863, he was again captured by a literary plan, this time creating a novel about the war, which was supposed to reflect Russian history. Leo Tolstoy was interested in the period of our country's struggle with Napoleon in the early 19th century.

In 1865, the first part of the work "War and Peace" was published in the Russian Messenger. The novel immediately drew a lot of responses. The subsequent parts provoked heated debates, in particular, the fatalistic philosophy of history developed by Tolstoy.

"Anna Karenina"

This work was created in the period from 1873 to 1877. Living in Yasnaya Polyana, continuing to teach peasant children and publish his pedagogical views, in the 70s Lev Nikolayevich worked on a work about the life of contemporary high society, building his novel on the contrast of two storylines: Anna Karenina's family drama and Konstantin Levin's home idyll , close both in psychological drawing, and in convictions, and in the way of life to the writer himself.

Tolstoy strove for an outward nonjudgmental tone of his work, thereby paving the way for a new style of the 80s, in particular, folk stories. The truth of peasant life and the meaning of the existence of representatives of the "educated class" - this is the circle of questions that interested the writer. "Family thought" (according to Tolstoy, the main one in the novel) is translated into a social channel in his creation, and Levin's self-exposures, numerous and merciless, his thoughts about suicide are an illustration of the author's spiritual crisis experienced in the 1880s, which matured while working on it. novel.

1880s

In the 1880s, the work of Leo Tolstoy underwent a transformation. The upheaval in the mind of the writer was also reflected in his works, primarily in the experiences of the characters, in that spiritual insight that changes their lives. Such heroes occupy a central place in such works as "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" (years of creation - 1884-1886), "Kreutzer Sonata" (a story written in 1887-1889), "Father Sergius" (1890-1898), drama "The Living Corpse" (left unfinished, begun in 1900), as well as the story "After the Ball" (1903).

Publicism of Tolstoy

Tolstoy's journalism reflects his spiritual drama: depicting pictures of the idleness of the intelligentsia and social inequality, Lev Nikolayevich posed questions of faith and life to society and himself, criticized the institutions of the state, reaching the denial of art, science, marriage, court, achievements of civilization.

The new worldview is presented in "Confession" (1884), in the articles "So what shall we do?", "On the famine", "What is art?", "I can't be silent" and others. The ethical ideas of Christianity are understood in these works as the foundation of the brotherhood of man.

Within the framework of the new worldview and humanistic idea of ​​the teachings of Christ, Lev Nikolayevich spoke out, in particular, against the dogma of the church and criticized its rapprochement with the state, which led to the fact that he was officially excommunicated from the church in 1901. This caused a huge uproar.

Novel "Sunday"

Tolstoy wrote his last novel between 1889 and 1899. It embodies the whole range of problems that worried the writer during the years of the spiritual turning point. Dmitry Nekhlyudov, the main character, is a person who is internally close to Tolstoy, who goes through the path of moral purification in the work, eventually leading him to comprehend the need for active goodness. The novel is built on a system of evaluative oppositions that reveal the unreasonableness of the structure of society (the falsity of the social world and the beauty of nature, the falsity of the educated population and the truth of the peasant world).

last years of life

The life of Leo Tolstoy in recent years was not easy. The spiritual break turned into a break with his environment and family discord. The refusal to own private property, for example, caused dissatisfaction among the writer's family members, especially his wife. The personal drama experienced by Lev Nikolayevich was reflected in his diary entries.

In the autumn of 1910, at night, secretly from everyone, 82-year-old Leo Tolstoy, whose dates of life were presented in this article, accompanied only by his attending physician D.P. Makovitsky, left the estate. The journey turned out to be unbearable for him: on the way, the writer fell ill and was forced to disembark at the Astapovo railway station. In the house that belonged to her boss, Lev Nikolaevich spent the last week of his life. Reports about his health at that time were followed by the whole country. Tolstoy was buried in Yasnaya Polyana, his death caused a huge public outcry.

Many contemporaries arrived to say goodbye to this great Russian writer.

"War and Peace" is an extremely complex, multifaceted work: a historical, philosophical, family, psychological epic novel of modern times. The peculiarity of this epic novel lies in the fact that Tolstoy not only describes the history of Russia in the first quarter of the 19th century, talking about the Napoleonic Wars and the Patriotic War of 1812, but also tries to convey the spiritual, intellectual content of this era. The writer offers his philosophical understanding of both global - world and national - historical events, as well as the life of an individual. For Tolstoy, events from the history of a nation and the "trifles" of private life are equalized, since they equally manifest the general and eternal laws of being.

Tolstoy's philosophical reasoning about the patterns of history is scattered throughout the novel, but in the epilogue they are summarized once again. The author examines the most important questions about the driving forces of history and the role of the so-called "great people" in the historical process.

In "War and Peace" there are arguments about the goals of historical events and the role of human will in them: "Why there is a war or a revolution, we do not know; we only know that in order to perform this or that action, people form a certain combination and everyone participates, and we say that such is the nature of people, that this is a law ”(epilogue, 2, VII). Further, Tolstoy continues: “In real life, every historical event, every human action is understood very clearly, without feeling the slightest contradiction, despite the fact that each event appears partly free, partly necessary” (epilogue, 2, IX).

A historical event, according to the writer, is made up of the contradictory and diverse aspirations of millions of people living in the era of this historical event. Consequently, history does not depend on the will of one or several people, but on the will of all mankind, that is, it is an objective (non-conscious, “swarm”) process. You compare Tolstoy’s historical process with a clockwork: “Just as in a clock the result of the complex movement of countless different wheels and blocks is only the slow and even movement of the hand indicating the time, so is the result of all complex human movements ... - all passions, desires, remorse, humiliation, suffering, outbursts of pride, fear, the delight of people - there was only the loss of the battle of Austerlitz .., that is, the slow movement of the world-historical hand on the dial of the history of mankind" (1,3, XI). In the novel, in addition to theoretical considerations, artistic illustrations of historical laws are given, which, according to Tolstoy, govern people's lives. For example, the mass departure of Muscovites before the surrender of the city: “They left and did not think about the majestic significance of this huge, rich capital, abandoned by the inhabitants and given up as a sacrifice to fire (a large abandoned wooden city had to burn down); they left each for themselves, and at the same time, only because they left, that majestic event took place, which will forever remain the best glory of the Russian people ”(3, 3, V). In other words, the reasonable and correct action of an individual, according to Tolstoy, is the embodiment of the will of the whole (history), each act of the individual is determined by the will of mankind.

Human society, according to Tolstoy, can be depicted as a cone (epilogue, 2, VI), at the base of which is the people, and at the top is the ruler. The paradox of history is presented to the author as follows: the higher a person stands on the social ladder, the less he can influence historical events: "The king is a slave of history." The proof of this idea is, for example, the election of Kutuzov to the post of commander in chief in the Patriotic War. Kutuzov was personally unpleasant to Alexander the First, but when a serious danger loomed over Russia, Kutuzov was called not by order of the authorities, but by the will of the people. The king, contrary to his personal desire, was forced to fulfill the will of the people. In other words, the people, according to Tolstoy, are the maker of history. That is why there are many heroes from the people in the novel - peasants, soldiers, courtyards. This is how the democratic convictions of the author are manifested.

The people are not only the main driving force of history, but also the main judge of the so-called "great people". A person who has earned the respect of the people will, according to Tolstoy, be great. Such a person does not make his own will in history, but perceives and fulfills the will of his people. Based on this position, the writer considers Kutuzov great (he understood the meaning and liberating nature of the Patriotic War) and denies greatness to Napoleon (this lover of power cared exclusively about personal glory, which he based on wars, on the blood of European peoples). Thus, Tolstoy's philosophical views are not only democratic, but also humanistic. The writer condemns the war, which coincides with the popular assessment of this event.

“War and Peace” also sets out the philosophical understanding of a separate human life, that is, Tolstoy poses “eternal” moral problems and gives answers to them, offering his own criteria for a correct life. The author describes the personal quests and interests of the characters, intertwines them with the quests, interests, clashes of peoples. If the hero correctly understands his place in history (Kutuzov, Prince Andrei, Pierre), then his personal spiritual development goes in the same direction as human history. If the hero wants to slow down or push the historical process with his will, then he looks naive and ridiculous. This is how the author characterizes the behavior of Count Rostopchin on the eve of the surrender of Moscow, listing the contradictory orders and actions of this statesman: “... this man did not understand the significance of the ongoing event, but only wanted to do something himself, surprise someone, accomplish something patriotically heroic and, like a boy, frolicked over the majestic and inevitable event of the abandonment and burning of Moscow and tried with his small hand either to encourage or to delay the course of the huge stream of people that carried him along with it ”(3, 3, V).

Inner freedom, according to the writer, is at least a partial rejection of the egoistic desire for personal good, because it obscures the common and undoubted good of life as such from a person. Tolstoy very simply formulates his understanding of morality: there is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth. The author applies these moral criteria to all the heroes of the novel, starting with emperors and generals and ending with simple Russian peasants. As a result, the heroes are divided into loved ones and unloved ones, depending on how much their behavior in life corresponds to the principles of simplicity, goodness and truth.

And in the time of Tolstoy, and still there is an opinion that a statesman can behave differently from a private person. What for a private person is considered a fraud, for a statesman - statesmanship; what in a public figure would be an unacceptable weakness, in a private person it is revered as humanity or gentleness of soul. Such a morality, therefore, allows for one and the same person two justices, two prudences. Tolstoy renounces double morality and proves that a historical figure and a simple person should be measured by the same standard, that simple justice is always the wisest and most profitable policy. For the author, the life and feelings of a private person against the backdrop of historical upheavals acquire the same importance as the lives and actions of historical figures.

Tolstoy gives his own assessment of all famous figures of the described historical era. This concerns, first of all, Napoleon, who, both in Russian and especially in European historiography, is presented as the greatest commander and statesman. But for Tolstoy, Napoleon is an aggressor who attacked Russia, giving orders to burn cities and villages, exterminate Russian people, rob and destroy cultural values. Alexander the First, the reformer Speransky, Count Rostopchin, German military strategists - all these historical figures are described by the author as empty and conceited people who only imagine that they are making history.

The author applies the same criteria of simplicity, goodness and truth to evaluate fictional characters. Drawing the court aristocracy (the Kuragin family, the maid of honor Anna Pavlovna Sherer, the careerists Drubetskoy, Berg, numerous adjutants), Tolstoy emphasizes their immorality, false patriotism. They live with empty interests, far from the true, according to the author, life. On the eve of the Battle of Borodino, when soldiers from the regiment of Prince Andrei are preparing to win or die, secular careerists “are busy only with their small interests. ... for them, this is just such a minute in which you can undermine the enemy and get an extra cross or ribbon ”(3, 2, XXV). The patriotism of secular society during World War II is manifested in the fact that the noble nobility does not go to the French theater and tries to speak Russian.

Tolstoy's favorite heroes embody his life ideal. Prince Andrei and Pierre, after long moral searches, come to the same conclusion: one must live for people, in truth and conscience. This, however, does not mean the rejection of a different opinion, from the intense mental work characteristic of both.

So, "War and Peace" reflects the author's philosophical views on the world and man. In the time of Tolstoy, history was usually presented as a chain of deeds of kings and generals, while the people did not play any role in the historical arena, their mission was to fulfill the will of “great people”. Such a view of history was clearly reflected in Russian and European battle painting: “... in the foreground, a huge general is sitting on a horse and waving some kind of drecole; then clouds of dust or smoke - you can't make out; then, behind the clubs, tiny soldiers, put on the picture only to show how great the commander is and how small the lower ranks are in comparison with him ”(D.I. Pisarev).

Tolstoy, reflecting on the historical process, analyzing the critical moments of Russian history, comes to the conclusion that the people are not two or three peanuts in the background of a battle picture, the people are the creator of history. So the writer abandoned one extreme point of view (history is the deeds of “great people”), but began to defend the other extreme (history is impersonal): “The actions of Napoleon and Alexander, on whose words it seemed that the event took place or not took place, were just as little arbitrary as the actions of each soldier who went on a campaign by lot or recruitment” (3, 1, I). It seems that the correct point of view is in the middle between the extremes - the whole nation creates history: the tsar, and generals, and senior and junior officers, and ordinary soldiers, and partisans, and civilians - in a word, all those who do at least something useful to the common cause, and even those who oppose the common cause. In other words, the historical process is carried out according to the well-known Latin proverb: fate leads the smart, but drags the stupid.

The philosophical concept in Tolstoy's novel is expressed not only in special digressions, not only in the images of Napoleon and Kutuzov, but also in each hero of the work, since each image in one way or another illustrates the ideas of the author's moral philosophy. Tolstoy, like all Russian writers of the middle of the 19th century, tried to solve the problem of a positive hero and looked for him among the nobility. In contemporary Russian life, the writer did not see such heroes, but, turning to history, he found positive images - these are the nobles of 1812 and 1825. They were ahead of their time, their moral character turned out to be closer to the advanced Russian people of the 60s of the 19th century than to their contemporaries of the first quarter of the 19th century.

Evaluating all the characters according to the same moral criteria (simplicity, goodness, truth), Tolstoy brings a universal (philosophical) meaning to the historical novel about the Patriotic War of 1812, which makes the work deeper in content and allows us to call it an epic. The moral ideal of the writer is, beyond any doubt, the people's ideal of moral life. The rejection of egoism, vanity, idleness, the desire to rise to universal human interests, to elevate one's feelings above the ordinary - this is what Tolstoy calls for in his moral teaching presented in War and Peace.