Symbolism and Vivid Depiction ([Rev. of:] Troitskiy, V.P. Tropa i Put', ili Onomatodoksiya [The Path and the Way or the Onomatodoxy]. Saint Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2024. 420 p.)

The review of V.P. Troitsky's book “The Trail and the Way, or the Onomatodoxy” and its conception and main ideas are considered. In terms of content, the book is a philosophical diary, which the author wrote for several decades. In his ideas, the author reflects on the concepts of both Russian religious thinkers of the “Soloviev” line (primarily Vyach I. Ivanov, Fr.P. Florensky, and A.F. Losev) and contemporary researchers and philosophers (e.g., A.N. Parshin). The review notes that the genre diversity of the book (academic articles, memoirs, letters, artistic sketches) is subordinated to a certain goal – to introduce the reader into the chronotope of the thinker with subsequent involvement in the intellectual subjects he explores. The main philosophical motive of Troitsky's book is to reveal the symbolic basis of reality in its numerous “visible” forms, from mystical and metaphysical to everyday life. It is shown that the most important philosophical problem of the book is the problem of the symbol in the formulation of domestic symbol theorists. In this perspective, the author's ideas are considered in the review in the context of chronologically similar studies of Russian Symbolism (S.S. Khoruzh, V.V. Bibikhin, L.A. Gogotishvili). Separately, this review pays attention to the author's description of the relationship between sign, symbol, and myth. A significant part of the book is also devoted to the philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of informatics. It is shown that the author solves a number of contemporary problems in these fields using symbolist methodology.