Labor and Communication in the Practical Philosophy of E.V. Ilyenkov

Abstract

This year is the year of I. Kant’s 300th anniversary and E.V. Ilyenkov’s 100th an­niversary. Such commemorative anniversaries make it necessary to turn the thought to the reflection of the very process of addressing commemorative dates, revealing the problematic content of the concept of “communication” in connec­tion with the abstract formality of official congratulations. The article attempts to reveal the essential meanings immanent to the movement of the content of re­ality itself, behind this formality, and to connect them with the central issues of Ilyenkov’s philosophy, whose life is a living embodiment of the principle of the identity of being and thinking, which he defended. This principle closes on the question of the beginning and the objective role of man in the substantive movement, which permeates the entire work of the Soviet thinker. The solution to this question is impossible without a practical comprehension of the formation of human subjectivity and the foundation on which it grows. Therefore, the sub­ject of special consideration in the article is the polemic about word and action, labor and communication, which E.V. Ilyenkov conducts in person and in absen­tia not only with his direct opponents, but also with his closest adherents: F.T. Mikhailov and L.S. Vygotsky. The methodological foundations of the posi­tions clashing here are considered, the dialectic of labor and communication in the process of human formation is shown.