Translation of: Smyslʹ li︠u︡bvi.

Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), one of the greatest philosophers of the nineteenth century, was the founder of a tradition of Russian spirituality that brought together philosophy, mysticism, and theology with a powerful social message. A close friend of Dostoevski, a Platonist, and a gnostic visionary in the tradition of Boehme and Swedenborg, Solovyov was a mystical prophet (he was grated tree visions of Sophia, or Divine Wisdom), a poet and, above all, a profoundly Christian metaphysician. His most important works include: Lectures on Godmanhood (1887-81), The Meaning of Love (1892-94), The Justification of the Good (1895), and Tree Conversation (1900). What is the true meaning of love's intense emotion? Our author points to spark of divinity that we see in another human being and shows how this "living ideal of Divine love, antecedent to our love, contains in itself the secret of the idealization of our love". According to Solovyou, love between men and women has a key role to play in the mystical transfiguration of the world. Love, which allows one person to find find unconditional completion in another, becomes an evolutionary strategy for overcoming cosmic disintegration.