Philosopher who called the mind–brain problem a pseudo-problem and stood with Ilyenkov against Dubrovsky
Born in 1930 at Chimkent in Kazakhstan, he graduated from Moscow University's philosophy faculty in 1954 and taught philosophy at the Second Moscow Medical Institute, heading its department from 1961 to 1971. In The Riddle of the Self (1964) he sought to identify individual self-consciousness with social consciousness and called the question of how mind relates to brain a pseudo-problem of vulgar materialism. When David Dubrovsky's 'Brain and Mind' (1968) criticised him together with Evald Ilyenkov, who had backed him, he became a party to the debate over the ideal. From 1972 he worked in the institutes of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences alongside Vasily Davydov, and in 1984 moved to the Institute of Philosophy. After the Soviet Union he became a member of the Russian Academy of Education.
Also known as: Feliks Mikhailov
Activities and affiliations
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1957–1971
Soviet Union state institutionsHead of the philosophy department, Second Moscow Medical Institute
Education -
1972–1991
Soviet Union state institutionsLaboratory head (Pedagogical Sciences); chief researcher (Philosophy)Main
Scholarship and theory -
2004–2006
Russian Federation state institutionsProfessor, psychology faculty, Moscow University
Education
Career Timeline
- 1954Graduated from Moscow University's philosophy faculty
- 1957Philosophy teacher at the Second Moscow Medical Institute
- 1961–1971Head of philosophy at the Second Moscow Medical Institute
- 1963Candidate degree (epistemological roots of Freudianism)
- 1964The Riddle of the Self
- 1968Criticised in Dubrovsky's "Brain and Mind"
- 1972–1984Laboratory head in Academy of Pedagogical Sciences institutes
- 1984Chief researcher, Institute of Philosophy
- 1988Doctor of philosophy
- 1993Full member of the Russian Academy of Education
- 2004Professor in Moscow University's psychology faculty