Review Notes: Larуsa Dovga. The Value System of Ukrainian Culture in the second half of the 17th century (after the Example of the Innokentiy Gizel’s Theoretical Heritage). Kyiv, 2012, 344 p.

Abstract

The article proves crucial significance of Larysa Dovga’s monograph to the new understanding the heritage of Kiev-Mohyla Academy and Ukrainian spiritual culture of the 17^th century. This is because Dovga’s monograph is the first to  (1) use Hildebrand’s and Scheler’s personal ethics and Buber’s dialog concept for analyzing early modern Ukrainian axiology; (2) reconstruct Ukrainian baroque culture value system by analyzing the treatises of Innokentiy Gizel and theological texts of Petro Mohyla, Lazar Baranovych, Yoanykiy Galyatovskyi and Antoniy Radyvilovskyi. Also the monograph (3) clarifies how this value system helped the intellectuals of that epoch to develop a new, understanding of human being as a living, acting world player, social and natural being at the same time, responsible for its actions before God and society. In addition, the monograph (4) uses the methodology that rigorously analyses the processes of birth, existence and modification of semantic content of different value categories, such as honor, conscience, free will, virtue, knowledge, homeland, etc.

The article states that L. Dovga was the first to (1) make structural and comparative analysis of such moral and theological works as “Peace with God to a Man” and “The Science of the mystery of holy confession”, specifying their social, intellectual and ecclesiastical contexts and (2) substantially specify Innokentiy Gizel’s biography. In conclusion the author draws attention to considerable potential of further analysis of such baroque manuscript heritage with up-to-date methodology that will bring up Ukrainian humanities to the global level and deepen the understanding of our identity roots.