Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov (1853-1900) was a Russian philosopher. He was born in Moscow as a son of acclaimed historian Sergey Solovyov. At the age of 13 he became an atheist. At the age of 16 he enrolled at university to study biology, but he did poorly, perhaps because of losing interest in the topic. Later he started studying history and philosophy, and received his degree at age 20. At the same time he returned to Orthodox Christianity. In 1876 he started teaching philosophy himself. He never married, but had strong romantic feelings for several women, all named Sofia.
Solovyov wrote a lot about mysticism, religion, social issues and the role of Russia in world history, and only in the 1890s he turned to core philosophical issues. Some scholars analyze him as having two sides, with "day Solovyov" being a Platonic idealist influenced by the intellectual fashions of the late 19th century, and "night Solovyov" being a mystic who described his deeply personal religious experiences using poetry.
Perhaps his most accessible work is Spiritual Foundations of Life, also known as God, Man and the Church. In this book the author outlines his views of Christianity as the fulfilment of human evolution and more broadly, the evolution of the Cosmos, leading to a meeting between mankind and its Creator and establishing harmony ("all-unity") between the three levels of reality: God, Man and Nature. His other, more difficult works, include The Justification of the Good (an ethical treatise), Philosophical Principles of Integral Knowledge, Critique of Abstract Principles and Theoretical Philosophy, aiming at a comprehensive Christian philosophical system. His philosophy was often criticized for a rigid "architectonic" structure, for example thinking in triads.
In political terms, Solovyov hoped for a revival of united Christendom under the dual leadership of the Tsar and the Pope, and in 1896 he personally accepted the Roman Catholic creed. He supported the concept of sobornost, as a synthesis between "Western" individualism and "Eastern" collectivism. He disliked "blind faith" and argued for harmony between the heart and reason. He was also a forerunner of the social gospel movement, describing a type of government which he called "free theocracy". He also promoted nationalistic views, seeing the "tribal character" of Slavs and especially Russians as anticipating truly Christian civilization of the future, and warning against "yellow peril" of Chinese and Japanese invasion. During the Soviet Union many anti-communist Russian Christians considered him to be their intellectual and spiritual guide.