"One of the most important and interesting manifestations 

 in nature," Yakushkin wrote in the treatise, "is of course 

 life phenomena in general' and the life phenomena of man in 

 particular" (pp. 156 - 157). Por the investigation of life 

 phenomena, it is necessary to determine the features of 

 similarity and variation between man and other living 

 creatures. "What distinguishes man from other animals? The 

 answer to this simple question can be heard from all sides. 

 The child, learning a short catechism by heart, and even 

 those who did not learn it and cannot read, know that man 

 has a non-dying root which is not present in any other animal" 

 (p. 154). "The legend or tradition from old times is deep," 

 and ironical, in the words of Pushkin. Yakushkin concluded with 

 a narrow statement based on religious dogma. In brief but 

 meaningful words, he gave the history of philosophical views 

 on the nature of man, starting with Descartes, who said that 

 "not under force can medieval wisdom be washed off the face 

 of the earth" (p. 154), and Kant, with his agnostic criticism 

 of the human capacity for knowledge. 



Yakushkin suggested that "if man is convinced that he 

 constitutes only a link of an endless chain of creation . . . 

 then it is not difficult to trace from all the manifestations 

 of nature, by studying nature's manifestations and trying to 

 determine their interrelationships, their relation to man and 

 the relation of man to nature, and in this way to clarify 

 what man is" (p. 156). 



The way to a materialistic understanding of human nature 

 and the relation of man to other animals Yakushkin saw in the 

 features of development. He made an interesting excursion 

 into embryology, demonstrating his diverse education. 



All life (Yakushkin wrote of the chick) goes out from 

 the egg . . . which itself is formed from a small 



(Footnote No. 67, contd) 



manuscript, with corrections of inaccuracies in the 

 previous publication in the book SELECTED SOCIOPOLITI- 

 CAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS OF THE DECEMBRISTS, 

 Vol. 1, Gospolitizdat (1951), pp. 153 - 170. In this last 

 edition is the article called "What Is Life?". 



191 



