“Self-Testament”

The text published below is handwritten notes on three standard sheets of paper made after one of the author’s numerous conversations with writer Vladimit Tendryakov, his younger friend and neighbor by the country residence (Writers’ settlement, Krasnaya Pakhra, Moscow region). These conversations have been described in Tendryakov’s recollections of A.N. Leontiev (Tendryakov, V.F. (1983). Proselochnye besedy (Country road talks). In: A.V. Zaporozhets et al. (eds.) A.N. Leontiev i sovremennaya psikhologiya (A.N. Leontiev and contemporary psychology). (pp. 266–274). Moscow: Moscow University Press.These notes are being published for the first and not for the first time. This text, prepared for publication by Alexander Asmolov, was included into the first posthumous edition of A.N. Leontiev’s works — “Selected psychological writings” in 2 volumes, ed. by V.V. Davydov et al., Moscow: Pedagogika, 1983 — and is rather often referred to. The title “from the journal notes” was given by the editors of the 1983 book. However, in course of that publication this text, like other works included into the book, underwent substantial editing which was not marked in the book; about 15% of the text has been cut. Hence we decided to restore and publish for the first time the initial author’s text in line with the manuscript. One editorial correction should be mentioned specially. 1983 publication says: “Personality (…), its Copernican understanding: I find/have my “self ” not in myself (others see it in me) but rather in that exists outside me” (p. 241). In the original manuscript it was articulated differently: Personality (I=I), its Ptolemean understanding: I find/have my “self ” not in myself (others see it in me) but rather in others, in the other that exists outside me”. Copernican heliocentric understanding is the opposite of the Ptolemean one, which puts the Earth to the center of the Universe. The substitution of the word for the one with the opposite meaning is probably due to wrong reading of the whole sentence. Most likely, the words “Ptolemean understanding” on the manuscript refer to the traditional, common ideas of personality (“I=I”), to which A.N. Leontiev contrasted another one, articulated after the colon (“I find/have my “self ” not in myself ”…), and which would be correct to call a Copernican one. “The bishop phenomenon”, mentioned in the last sentence, refers to a historical anecdote, which A.N. Leontiev used to recollect. A respected elderly bishop, as he was getting older, started to worry whether his mind was as clear as before, and asked his servant to tell him if he start saying something inappropriate. This happened during one of the sermons, and the servant said it to the bishop. The bishop got angry, said that it was one of his best sermons ever, and fired the servant. The manuscript was prepared for publication by D. Leontiev. His are also the additions in angle brackets. Numbered footnotes belong to the author.