Florensky Paul, priest. On style, language and words

Introduction and preparation for publication by hegumen Andronicus (Trubachev)

Abstract

This is a publication of a diary entry from the archives of priest Paul Florensky,in which he talks about verbal style. Father Paul, whose diary entry falls on the year 1918 – a time of profound change in the political system, culture, and language – notes how many monumental “simpletons–words” have gone by the way side, being very commonly used and so seemingly simple and meaningless. According to Father Paul, in losing words language becomes poorer, as is illustrated by avoidance of the use of the words “good” and “bad” in relation to man, which leads to a loss of the most primary and in-depth judgments.