Major milestones. Meaning of the word milestones

The word “milestone” can be used both literally and figuratively. In the first case, it denotes a completely concrete, really existing material object, in the second, it is an abstract allegory.

The meaning of "milestone" in the literal sense

Etymologically, the word "milestone" is related to the word "branch". Initially, branches were used to mark the boundaries of property or set up signs indicating the path. This is what the direct “milestone” is associated with.

Milestones were called milestones in Russia. Currently, poles (i.e. small milestones) are small posts that are used to fence dangerous sections of the road. Vertical poles, which mark points during topographic surveys, are also milestones.

There are also floating poles - these are poles mounted vertically on special floats - sprit tanks, to which a chain with an anchor is attached. Such milestones are installed on rivers and seas as warning signs. Depending on the coloring, they can indicate dangerous places, indicate fairways, places where diving work is going on, and places where quarantined ships are moored. To make floating poles more visible, light-optical equipment or radar reflectors are placed on them.

"Milestone" in a figurative sense

The word “milestone” can also have an allegorical meaning. But even then this concept is associated with movement towards some goal.

Milestones are decisive moments, significant events on the way to achieving a goal, in the process of developing something. For example, you can say: “The work of J. Haydn became a decisive milestone in the formation of the symphony genre.” We can talk about the main milestones in the biography of a famous person, in the development of scientific theory, a political party and other phenomena, considering their history.

It is in this sense that the word “milestone” is used (usually in the plural) when it comes to summing up historical results. For example, it was the name of the collection of articles published at the beginning of the 20th century by N.A. Berdyaeva, B.A. Kistyakovsky, S.N. Bulgakov and others, dedicated to the Russian intelligentsia and the role they played in Russian history. The name of the collection is associated with the term “Vekhi” - the name of a socio-political movement associated with the ideas that were expressed by philosophers in “Vekhi”.

All people want to live well, happily, fully, with pleasure, stably. But life is not static and monotonous; changes and challenges constantly occur in it, obstacles arise that require overcoming, through which there is constant growth and development.

At the end of the article you will find out how to change your life for the better.

Each person has his own path in life. It is divided into time periods, peculiar milestones or life cycles. There is a certain breakdown in psychological, physiological and astrological format.

First comes infancy or the period of the Moon, when the baby develops Consciousness– he realizes himself as a separate unit, learns to understand his needs and looks for ways to express them. At the same time, he gets acquainted with the surrounding environment, objects and people, so that he can also realize their roles and functions and learn to interact with them.

This period enters the childhood phase, the period of Mercury, when it begins to develop Mind and Thinking. A person learns to build associative and logical chains and builds up his memory bank, that is, he learns to remember and retain information, analyze and synthesize, learn new skills and abilities, master new and more complex movements of the hands, body, and ways of moving in space.

Then come the periods of Venus and Mars, which fall on adolescence and youth. Here a person learns his feelings and emotions, experiences, experiences sexual attraction and shows interest in the opposite sex, learns to interact with society, determines your value based on relationships with other people and society. In adolescence, a person goes to his first conquest and conquest of the world and receives his first achievements or trophies. This is the most productive and active period with maximum energy.

Around the age of thirty, the period of Saturn begins or beginning of adulthood when a person fails results of your achievements and determines its future path, work is underway to structuring life and outlines the path to success, goals for the benefit of society and one’s highest self-realization.

At about age 42, the Uranus period begins, a crisis middle aged, the time of a second chance, a second birth, this is a time of crisis when a turning point, an important change occurs. The established path of life requires a transition to new rails, updates, solving new problems. Time to “change your skin” and finally “”. This is the symbolic middle of life, the corner of the triangle, which you need to go around and begin your straight path in a different direction. If earlier they went up towards achievements, now people begin to descend from the mountain, to the final point or death. And again there is an acquaintance with oneself renewed, a lot of rethinking and insights.

Mikhail Weller in the book “Everything about Life” wrote that people make their main achievements and discoveries at a young age - from about 19 to 36 (in the periods of Mars and Saturn), and then they can only use the accumulated resources and pass on experience to the young, as well as engage in public life and take an active part in collective events. The periods of the higher planets (Uranus, then Neptune and Pluto) covering the end of life no longer require such rapid development and formation of personality; usually wisdom comes here and a worldview is formed, which is difficult to change as is possible in youth.

In the next period, Neptune, people seek peace and spend a lot of time in reflection, memories, rest a lot and sleep. They dive inside and the task of this period is to turn to the spiritual side, reflect on the soul and prepare for departure.

Life ends with the period of Pluto or the death of the physical body, when all attachments in life are released. When a person is ready, he leaves.

Watch this transformation video:

This article listed the main milestones in a person’s life, each of which has its own tasks. In accordance with the requirements of the times, a person thinks about his path and makes the necessary adjustments. His main desire is to constantly change life for the better.

How to change your life for the better? The answer is quite simple - become conscious, live consciously!

1. If I am aware, then I feel myself. Part of my focus is on tracking myself. Your thoughts, sensations, feelings.

2. If I am conscious, then I clearly understand the reasons that prompt me to act, think and feel this way and not otherwise.

3. If I am aware, I can control my thoughts. Stop the unwanted train of thought and direct it in the right direction.

4. If I am aware, I can control my emotions.

5. If I am aware, then I understand the reasons for my negative mood and can neutralize it using various methods.

6. If I am aware, then I know what ego state I am in at the moment and can change it at my discretion.

7. If I am aware, then I identify false, destructive beliefs in myself that prevent me from living and change them to those beliefs that will help me in life.

8. If I am aware, then I can foresee what consequences my actions will have.

9. If I am aware, then I understand why I speak in this particular tone, with such intonation. And I understand the impact this tone and intonation has on another person.

10. If I am aware, then I monitor scripted behavior and the beginning of games. And I understand that games lead to karmic retribution. I know how to resist and not get drawn into the game, I know how to help another person get closer to awareness.

Read about that in the next article.

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People tend to remember dates that are significant for society: over time, if the date is joyful, cities or even countries make it a national holiday. For example, this number is the date of liberation from German troops of Odessa - April 10, and Nikolaev - March 28. And although these numbers remain common throughout the world, for the residents of these cities they are memorable and are so-called milestones. There are more global events. Let's look at what milestones are, what they are like in history using the example of Kievan Rus, and later Russia, and what else this word can be applied to.

The key is in the meaning

This word is described in more detail in the dictionaries of Ozhegov, Ushakov and Efremova. The most common definition is as follows: “Milestones of history are significant incidents, events and decisions in a person’s life, the development of an enterprise or the history of an entire country.” Their number can be varied depending on the density of events in a single year or over the entire history of the existence of a person, enterprise, or country.

Upon a superficial examination of the question, without delving particularly into what milestones are, one can be satisfied with the answer that these are dates that are important to someone. And if we talk about global history, then such dates can be considered moments that influenced further history.

It is best to understand this concept using the example of your own country. Before the formation of the Russian Federation, the USSR and Tsarist Russia, there was one more state, from which we must begin counting milestones. Naturally, this means Kievan Rus. Here are some dates that best illustrate what milestones are:

• IX century - formation of a state with a set of laws, borders and a prince at its head.
• X century - the reign of Oleg until Olga, her reforms in the state, the adoption of Christianity, religious reform.
• XI century - the throne of Vladimir, Yaroslav, the formation of a code of laws as a written document (“Russian Truth”).
• XII-XIII centuries - from the beginning of Monomakh’s reign to the end, “Teachings to Children”, the division of Kievan Rus into principalities and internecine wars.
• XV-XVI centuries - continuation of the feudal war, annexation of the khanates, reforms and the introduction of the oprichnina.
• 17th century - the reign of Shuisky, the beginning of the uprising and its defeat, the abolition of copper coins and the split of the church due to the disagreement of their members with politics.
• XVIII century - the reign of Peter I, Catherine, Peter II, Elizabeth, Peter III, palace coups, Northern War.
• 19th century - the reign of Alexander I, Nicholas I, the Decembrists, the reforms of Alexander II, the end of serfdom by order of Nicholas II, the October Revolution
• 20th century - the formation of the USSR, wars (civil, Great Patriotic War, World War I, World War II), the reign of Stalin, Lenin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, the collapse of the USSR, the formation of the Russian Federation.
• 21st century - the reign of Medvedev, Putin, the annexation of Crimea.

Life is also a milestone

The years of the beginning of the reign and its end of the above-mentioned people can also be counted as milestones. But you don’t need to be a famous astronaut, writer, or ruler for years to be counted among the milestones of life. For a grandmother, special moments can be those when her grandson said the first word, went to school, and later to college.

For some people, milestones may include the date they met their significant other for the first time, got promoted at work, graduated from school, or moved to another country. Also, no one forgets the dates of their birth and the birth of relatives - these are also milestones in certain circles, but these dates mean nothing for all of humanity.

It is interesting that the works of writers can serve as milestones in literature. Thus, the writing of “Eugene Onegin”, “Tales of Belkin”, “Ruslan and Lyudmila” can be considered similar events in the life and work of Pushkin, since they subsequently became the most recognizable works of the author.

Remembering your milestones is important

Knowing what milestones are and the role they play in everyday life will give you an edge over those who ignore them and act on their own. Why? First of all, important events influence the course of history, and future generations would do well to take into account the sad experiences of past ones. In addition, those who remember important events in the lives of loved ones gain a reputation for being more empathetic and caring than those who do not focus on this.

To summarize, we can also say that it depends on the person whether he will “change the milestones” of his life (that is, radically transform something) and, in the end, change the milestones of history with his life or leave everything to discretion of other heroes.

"Vekhi" is a collection of articles about the Russian intelligentsia, published in 1909 in Moscow, by a group of religious philosophers (Berdyaev, Bulgakov, Struve, Frank, Gershenzon, Izgoev, Kistyakovsky), who criticized the ideology and practical attitudes of the revolutionary, socialist-minded intelligentsia , political radicalism, idealization of the people (proletariat).

While exploring the problem of the intelligentsia from different angles, the participants in Vekhi were united in the fundamental principle of recognizing the “theoretical and practical primacy of spiritual life over external forms of community life.” The authors proved the existence of absolute moral values, the priority of the search for values ​​in the national philosophical and cultural tradition over Western borrowings.

Criticism, firstly, of the unprofessionalism of the intelligentsia and, secondly, the predominant importance of extreme elements in any area of ​​​​human life. (A striking example of this is the downplaying of law as a cultural value and the denial of the idea of ​​compromise).

The authors of "Vekhi" called on the intelligentsia to a kind of repentance, awareness of their role in the present and past of Russian history, to deepen into the inner world and move towards religious humanism. “The world revolves not around the creators of new noise, but around the creators of new values!” - in these words Nietzsche characterized the peculiarity of the current moment in the development of the intelligentsia, its further existence, S. Frank.

The resonance of "Vekhi" was great. The reason for this lies in a meaning disproportionately greater than the meaning of the historical events that inspired the collection. The basis of his problematics concerned the eternal questions of correlation " spirituality"—in history and in the person who expresses this spirituality.

At the same time, many representatives of a secular, educated society preferred to interpret the “Vekhi” platform as a call for the intelligentsia to withdraw from the political struggle and focus on the task of religious improvement.

G. V. Plekhanov gave brief references to “Vekhi” in a series of articles in the magazine “Modern World” for 1909. He characterized the state of the collection’s authors, as well as a number of intellectuals who were opposite to them in their worldview, as an “irresistible inclination towards religious dogmatism” - A Lunacharsky, D. Merezhkovsky, N. Minsky and others. Plekhanov emphasized that “religion does not create morality,” but only sanctifies its rules, which grow on the basis of a specific historical social system.

D. Merezhkovsky took a negative position, who in the article “Seven Humble”, published in the newspaper “Rech” on April 26, 1909, called the collection an excommunication of the Russian intelligentsia, and its authors “seven humble, seven colors of the rainbow, merged into one white color in the name of a common cause - hatred." He contrasted the idea of ​​internal self-improvement with conciliarity, community, and the Church, outside of which there is no salvation.

A. Bely in the magazine "Scales" called the collection "a wonderful book", the purpose of which is "not judgment, but a call to self-deepening."

V. Rozanov believed that the authors of “Vekhi” contributed to the spiritual uplift of the Russian intelligentsia through self-denial and self-absorption into the essence of the inner world: “This is the saddest and most noble book that has appeared in recent years.”

Sources:

1. Solovyov A. A. The path of faith and knowledge: the antinomies of “Veh” // Intelligentsia and the World, Ivanovo State University Publishing House, 2010.

"MILESTONES" AND VEKHOVTS.“Milestones” collection of articles, published in 1909 with the subtitle Collection of articles about the Russian intelligentsia.

Russian culture of the early 20th century. In many ways it developed in contradiction with the traditions of the Second World War. floor. 19th century The revolutionary, democratic, atheistic ideas of the people of the sixties and seventies, of course, were preserved and developed to some extent and led to the first Russian revolution. During these same years, artists began to perceive art not as a source of benefit or a tool for achieving the public good, but as a path to creating beauty, to understanding the spiritual foundations of the world.

The searches of people of art largely echoed the thoughts of those who were concerned about the religious problems of existence. Rethinking the world and their place in it in a new way, the thinkers of that time not only turned to God, but also tried to take a fresh look at the place of the intelligentsia in the world, at its relationship with the church, religion, society, and government. Already in 1901–1903, in St. Petersburg, with a large crowd of both secular public and representatives of the clergy, “Religious and Philosophical Meetings” were held, organized by the outstanding thinker and writer D.N. Merezhkovsky. At them, the secular and church intelligentsia made their first attempt to understand each other, but the experience was not very successful. Writers and philosophers were irritated by representatives of the official church, who seemed to them the embodiment of a bureaucratic machine capable of suppressing any free religious feeling. The churchmen were shocked by many speeches in which views on religion and Christianity were expressed that were quite unexpected for that time.

The interest of the intelligentsia in philosophical and religious problems was not far-fetched, but lively and acute. The disdainful attitude towards religion and the church, which had been widespread by that time for half a century, going back to Belinsky and Chernyshevsky, did not suit many thinking people at the beginning of the century. For them, the atheism of the Russian intelligentsia was only one, albeit very significant, manifestation of the characteristic features of the thinking of this layer of people. The intelligentsia was increasingly reproached for intolerance, lack of true internal culture, real spiritual aspirations...

In the early years of the twentieth century, thinkers who shared both an interest in religion and a critical attitude towards the Russian intelligentsia made several attempts to clearly formulate and publicly express their thoughts. This first happened in 1902, when philosophers, most of whom had gone through a passion for Marxism and then renounced it for liberal values ​​and religious beliefs, published a collection Problems of idealism. Among its authors were the future creators of "Vekhi". Here, for the first time, the intellectuals themselves dared to criticize their predecessors, attacking first of all the populist revolutionaries and public figures of the second half of the 19th century. The irreligion of the revolutionaries, their conviction that the intelligentsia owes an unpayable debt to the people, their desire primarily for benefit, and not for achieving spiritual ideals - all this irritated many philosophers of the early 20th century.

N.A. Berdyaev later wrote: “Our Renaissance had several origins and related to different aspects of culture. But along all lines it was necessary to overcome materialism, positivism, utilitarianism, from which the left-leaning intelligentsia could not free itself. At the same time, this was a return to the creative heights of 19th-century culture. But the trouble was that the people of the Renaissance, in the heat of struggle, out of a natural reaction against an outdated worldview, often did not sufficiently appreciate the social truth that was in the left intelligentsia and which remained in force.”

Collection Problems of idealism didn't attract much attention. However, several years passed, and the problems posed in it became especially acute. The role of the intelligentsia in the revolution of 1905 was exceptionally great. It was during these turbulent events that many of her positive and negative traits emerged. In addition, the uniqueness of that social layer, which for several decades, with the light hand of the writer P. Boborykin, was called the intelligentsia, was very clearly revealed. The conviction grew that there is no such social group anywhere in the world, and that simple definitions of “educated person” or “intellectual” do not exhaust the fullness and complexity of this concept. In a word, the best representatives of the Russian intelligentsia felt the need to comprehend their own position in the world, their relationship with the authorities, God, their good and bad qualities. This is how the idea of ​​creating the collection “Milestones” arose.

The authors of “Vekhi” were outstanding minds of their time. The idea of ​​creating a collection belonged to the remarkable historian, literary critic and philosopher Mikhail Osipovich Gershenzon (1869–1925). He managed to attract his like-minded people to work on it and became the editor of the book. It is interesting that Gershenzon set one condition for the authors. They were asked not to read or discuss each other's articles. It would seem that this is a rather strange requirement for the collective preparation of a collection of articles. However, when the work was completed, it became clear that all the participants, using different materials and in different forms, expressed surprisingly similar thoughts. “Vekhi” turned out to be entirely the creation of like-minded people, despite the fact that some of the authors clearly gravitated towards the Slavophile philosophical tradition, while others were focused primarily on the Western European cultural heritage.

Gershenzon himself was one of the greatest experts of his time on literature and social thought of the nineteenth century. From his pen came such wonderful books as Griboedovskaya Moscow, The history of young Russia. The scientist wrote a lot about Pushkin, Herzen, Chaadaev, and Slavophiles. He knew all the subtleties of the development of Russian spiritual life. And already in the preface to “Vekhi” he was not afraid to declare that “the revolution of 1905-1906 and the events that followed it were, as it were, a nationwide test of those values ​​that for more than half a century, as the highest shrine, have been cherished by our social life” and to say that “ideology Russian intelligentsia...seems to the participants of the book to be internally erroneous...and practically fruitless.” These words alone crossed out all those sacred things that several generations of Russian intellectuals prayed for - selfless service to the people, devotion to revolutionary ideals, etc. Each subsequent article in Vekhi dealt more and more blows, debunking former idols.

The collection opened with an article by N.A. Berdyaev (18741948) Philosophical truth and intellectual truth.

In the article, Berdyaev attacked the Russian intelligentsia for its excessive commitment to politics and public service, which forced them to forget about any other problems, and most importantly, deprived people of internal moral guidelines, replacing them with generally accepted opinions. “With the Russian intelligentsia, due to its historical position, this kind of misfortune happened: the love for equalizing justice, for the public good, for the people’s welfare paralyzed the love for truth, almost destroyed interest in the truth.” It would seem that what could be better than the desire for justice and goodness, but, elevated to an absolute, these noble feelings, according to Berdyaev, deprived intellectuals of spiritual independence, made them slaves of established “progressive” opinions, forcing them to turn away with contempt from any judgment, in in which the desire for the benefit of the people is not visible. The Russian intelligentsia practically deified the people and the revolution; the fight against autocracy became the criterion by which any phenomena were assessed. “But it is unworthy of free beings to always blame external forces for everything and justify themselves with their guilt... We will be freed from external oppression only when we are freed from internal slavery, i.e. Let's take responsibility and stop blaming external forces for everything. Then a new soul of the intelligentsia will be born.” These words conclude Berdyaev's article. For a society in which the struggle against autocracy had turned into a kind of holy war with its “icons”, martyrs and saints, such a thought was not just unexpected, but clearly shocking.

The next article was no less harsh - the work of Father S.N. Bulgakov Heroism and asceticism.(from reflections on the religious nature of the Russian intelligentsia).

The subtitle of Bulgakov’s article in Vekhi “from reflections on the religious nature of the Russian intelligentsia” spoke volumes. Bulgakov subjected the intelligentsia to completely devastating criticism. He accused her of unconditional maximalism, turning into cruel intolerance and narrowness of thinking, saw the childish underdevelopment and lack of culture of her consciousness, an immature admiration for the romance of death, and isolation from her folk roots. The source of all troubles, according to the philosopher, is atheism and contempt for religion, which have already been widespread among several generations of Russian people. What kind of religious nature of the Russian intelligentsia can we talk about? However, in the unselfishness and purity of thoughts of these people, Bulgakov sees similarities with religious feelings, which is why he ends his article with an expression of hope for the future revival of the intelligentsia, which for him meant, first of all, a return to religion. “The soul of the Russian intelligentsia, like all Russian life, is woven from contradictions, and it arouses contradictory feelings within itself. You can’t help but love her, and you can’t help but be repulsed by her. Along with negative traits, which are a symptom of lack of culture, historical immaturity and force us to strive to overcome the intelligentsia, in its suffering appearance, traits of spiritual beauty shine through, which make it look like some very special, expensive and delicate flower, nurtured by our harsh history ... " .

M.O.Gershenzon in the article Creative self-awareness as if picking up the baton, taking it over from the first two authors. He also criticizes the intelligentsia, and, like Berdyaev and Bulgakov, leaves hope for its spiritual revival. For Gershenzon, the most serious sin of intellectuals is complete irresponsibility, which he associates with excessive, reckless concentration on the problems of political struggle. This situation, in his opinion, destroyed any personal responsibility and deprived people of the need to make moral choices, since the main and only task was to serve the people. “What has our intellectual thought been doing for the last half century? I'm talking, of course, about the intellectual masses. A bunch of revolutionaries went from house to house and knocked on every door: “Everyone out into the street! It’s a shame to sit at home!” and that’s it... poured out into the square... For half a century they milled about in the square, shouting and quarreling. At home there is dirt, poverty, disorder, but the owner has no time for that. He is in public, he saves people, and it is easier and more entertaining than menial work at home.”

Gershenzon denies the Russian intelligentsia even the possibility of true unity with the people. Atheist revolutionaries and deeply religious masses are unlikely to be able to understand each other. It was in this article that perhaps the most famous words of the entire collection were uttered. “There is a different discord between us and our people. For him, we are not robbers, like our brother the village kulak, we are not even just strangers to him, like a Turk or a Frenchman: he sees our human and precisely Russian appearance, but does not feel the human soul in us, and therefore he hates us passionately, probably with unconscious mystical horror, the more deeply he hates that we are his own. As we are, we not only cannot dream of merging with the people, but we must fear them more than all the executions of the government and bless this government, which alone, with its bayonets and prisons, still protects us from the wrath of the people.” The outburst of indignation caused by these words was so strong that even some participants in the collection later tried to declare that they did not share this shocking opinion. Praising bayonets and prisons was too much even for those who could afford to sharply and uncompromisingly criticize Belinsky, Chernyshevsky and their followers. Gershenzon himself, in the second edition of Vekhi, was forced to make a note and explain that he did not at all intend to welcome the “execution of the authorities.” “The meaning of my phrase is that with all its past, the intelligentsia is placed in an unheard of, terrible position: the people for whom it fought hates it, and the power against which it fought turns out to be its protector, whether it wants it or not.”

Next two articles About intelligent youth A.S. Izgoeva and In defense of the right B.A. Kistyakovsky to some extent continues and develops Gershenzon’s idea about the internal irresponsibility of Russian intellectuals.

The life of Aron Solomonovich Lande, who wrote under the pseudonym Alexander Izgoev (1872-1935), resembles the fate of his co-authors on “Vekhi”. It evolved from Marxism to the liberal ideas of the Cadet Party. Before the revolution, he survived the Jewish pogrom in Odessa, after the revolution he was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks in a camp, then expelled from the country. Bogdan Aleksandrovich Kistyakovsky (1868-1920) grew up in a completely different circle he was the son of a law professor and one of the leaders of the national Ukrainian movement however, his life experienced similar upheavals. Kistyakovsky was repeatedly persecuted for his national beliefs. He was expelled from the university, arrested, expelled. He was also a Marxist for some time, and, like other authors of Vekhi, he became disillusioned with this teaching and began to seek the truth along completely different paths.

The articles of Izgoev and Kistyakovsky are formally completely different: the first wrote about the life of student youth, the second about the legal consciousness of the Russian intelligentsia. At the same time, the main ideas of the authors clearly overlap with each other. We are talking about the same internal immaturity and spiritual irresponsibility of the Russian intelligentsia, no matter whether we mean their personal and family lives and weak desire to study or respect for laws and courts. The conclusion is the same: any intellectual activity is dictated only by external conditions, and not by internal need, or, in the words of Kistyakovsky, “in a legal norm, our intelligentsia sees not a legal conviction, but only a rule that has received external expression.”

The next author Peter Berngardovich Struve (1870-1949) went through the same stages of spiritual development as other Vekhovites, but, perhaps, he rushed from side to side more sharply and stronger than others. In his youth, this son of the Perm governor was not just interested in Marxism, but was one of the spiritual leaders of the socialists. All revolutionary-minded youth read his books, Lenin argued with him, he was one of the most authoritative Russian socialist thinkers. His “record” includes arrests, deportations, emigration, underground activities, then a departure from Marxism and joining the Cadet Party. After 1917, Struve did not give up the political struggle. Participates in underground organizations, becomes an active member of the white movement, and eventually ends up in exile, where he begins to defend extreme monarchical and nationalist views.

In the article Intelligentsia and revolution Struve posed essentially the same problem of the internal emptiness of Russian intellectuals. For him, this emptiness manifests itself primarily in “disengagement... alienation from the state and hostility towards it.” The origins of renegade are in the irreligion of intellectuals, and this in turn gave rise to the turmoil of the Russian revolution and “gullibility without faith, struggle without creativity, fanaticism without enthusiasm, intolerance without reverence...”. Despite such a disappointing assessment of the situation, he remains hopeful for a successful outcome. True, unlike his colleagues, he does not predict a spiritual revival of the intelligentsia and its turning to God. According to Struve, most likely it will “cease to exist as a certain cultural category”, having become bourgeois and abandoning socialist ideas.

Semyon Ludwigovich Frank (1877–1950) also evolved from Marxism to liberalism and Orthodoxy, also went through persecution by both the tsarist authorities and the Bolsheviks, and later, in exile, was forced to hide from the Nazis. His article The ethics of nihilism It is no coincidence that it ended up being the final one in the collection. Having expressed complaints about the Russian intelligentsia, more or less similar to those formulated in previous articles, Frank tried to create a kind of generalized image of an intellectual. His definition of an intellectual as “a militant monk of a nihilistic religion of earthly well-being” sums up all the numerous thoughts about the irreligion and maximalism of Russian educated society. Frank develops this idea in detail, emphasizing that the intellectual “shuns reality, runs away from the world, lives outside of genuine historical everyday life, in a world of ghosts, dreams and pious faith.” But his faith is not a real religion, which does not prevent the intelligentsia from creating “a special little world with its own strictest and strongest traditions, with its own etiquette, with its own morals, customs, almost with its own culture...”. It is monastic asceticism and isolation from real life that give rise to “all the attitudes of the intelligentsia towards politics, its fanaticism and intolerance, its impracticality and ineptitude in political activity, its unbearable tendency to factional strife, its lack of sense of state.”

This is the final, perhaps the most merciless judgment made about the intelligentsia by one of its best representatives. However, the last phrase of “Vekhi”, like all the articles in the collection, leaves hope for transformation. “We must move from unproductive, countercultural nihilistic moralism to creative, culture-building religious humanism.”

The publication of “Vekhi” had the effect of a bomb exploding. On the one hand, the book aroused unprecedented interest. The collection was reprinted several times, its circulation amounted to many thousands of copies. Special meetings were held in many cities to discuss the ideas of the “Vekhi people”; the number of articles that responded to the publication of “Vekhi” exceeded two hundred. At the same time, most of the Russian intelligentsia indignantly rejected the accusations brought against them. The revolutionaries saw in “Vekhi” not reflections on the Russian intelligentsia, but a condemnation of the revolutionary movement and interpreted the book as a simple call to abandon the revolutionary struggle. Gershenzon’s “terrible phrase” was indignantly repeated and commented on. Lenin's famous phrase “encyclopedia of liberal renegadery” clearly shows the attitude of revolutionaries towards their former brothers. However, the Vekhi liberals were no less outraged. For all their differences with the revolutionaries, the populist tradition meant no less to them, and they, too, for the most part saw in “Vekhi” simply a criticism of the social struggle, and not at all a harsh moral indictment brought against several generations of Russian people. Even P.N. Milyukov, the leader of the Cadets, tried to draw a clear line between the interesting and bright thoughts of famous philosophers and the political program of the party to which they belonged. The few laudatory reviews that belonged to the philosophers V. Rozanov, E. Trubetskoy, and the poet Andrei Bely simply drowned in a sea of ​​general indignation.

Andrei Bely, who himself created a prophetic book about the revolution novel Petersburg, subtly felt the grandiose significance of “Vekhi”:

“A wonderful book “Milestones” has been published. Several Russian intellectuals said bitter words about themselves, about us; their words are imbued with living fire and love for the truth. ...But through the mouths of their heralds, the intelligentsia shifted the center of accusation from themselves as a whole to the seven ill-fated authors. ...By the unfair trial of Vekhi, the Russian press proved that it is unacceptably biased; the authors of “Vekhi” did not even think of judging the intelligentsia; they only pointed out what prevents the Russian intellectual from becoming a slave to abstract dreams of freedom to become its creator...” "Vekhi" was subjected to severe reprisals from Russian critics; Everything outstanding that appeared in Russia was subjected to this reprisal. The noise generated by “Vekhi” will not subside soon; this is an indication that the book has hit the mark.”

The events of 1917 showed how right the “Vekhi people” were in their assessment of the Russian intelligentsia and its role in the history of the country. After the fall of the monarchy and the Bolsheviks coming to power, philosophers naturally had a desire to comprehend the dramatic changes taking place before their eyes. Thus, in difficult conditions, during the beginning of the persecution of the Cadet Party and the destruction of freedom of speech, the collection “From the Depths” was created, in which many Vekhites took part - Berdyaev, Bulgakov, Izgoev, Struve, Frank. The deep assessment of the Russian revolution it contained, as well as the “Vekhi” warnings, were never truly heard and appreciated.

Tamara Eidelman