Merab Mamardashvili and the deconstruction of Soviet ideology: intellectual resistance from within

Abstract The call for the desovietization of Russian philosophy necessitates a critical reassessment of the ideological structures that shaped Soviet-era thought and their lingering effects. This paper explores Merab Mamardashvili’s philosophical method as an act of intellectual resistance against Soviet ideological constraints. Advocating for direct engagement with philosophical texts, he emphasized the necessity of free, independent thought over dogmatic interpretations. His reconstruction of ideology extends beyond political critique, presenting ideology as an inherent cognitive structure that shapes and limits human understanding. Through his readings of Hegel and Marx, he demonstrated how forms of understanding emerge from the complex interrelations in which we are immersed and how ideology obscures this complexity through simplification. Furthermore, he underscored the individual’s responsibility in the act of knowledge, asserting that true understanding must be actively and personally undertaken. By dismantling the epistemological mechanisms of ideology, Mamardashvili’s philosophy provides not only a historical critique of Soviet thought, but also a broader framework for resisting ideological distortions in any intellectual context. His work thus remains a vital reference for contemporary discussions on philosophical freedom, ideology, and the conditions of authentic thinking.