FLORIAN ZNANIECKI'S PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE (AN ATTEMPT TO ACTUALISE)

Abstract

The publication outlines the key theses of Florian Znaniecki's (1882–1958) philosophy of culture. In the West, Znaniecki is considered one of the most famous Polish scholars. His scientific heritage in the field of sociology is widely recognised, but Znaniecki defined himself as a philosopher of culture and left behind several fundamental monographs of theoretical content. In Ukraine, Florian Znaniecki is almost unknown to the broader cultural studies community, and his works have not been translated even partially.The article focuses on the originality of Florian Znaniecki's concept of culture, who did not share the general catastrophism of European thinkers who survived the First World War. Agreeing with the thesis of the crisis of civilisation, the Polish philosopher nevertheless considered this crisis to be only the beginning of a new stage of human development. The culmination of Znaniecki's research in cultural studies was his works “Cultural Reality” and “Cultural Sciences”, which were first published in the United States. F. Znaniecki was an advocate of a broad definition of the concept of ‘culture’, as he considered cultural studies to be one of the sciences of society, like sociology. Thus, according to Znaniecki, culture included science, economics, technology, etc.The article also examines Florian Znaniecki's concept of culturalism, which remains relevant today. Under culturalism, the scholar understood a separate type of worldview that is formed as a result of creative reflection on cultural phenomena. According to Znaniecki, the human mind is also part of culture. Using the definition of “cultural system”, Znaniecki explained it as a cycle of individual actions of an individual who is only one component of the system and whose actions depend on the ultimate goal that the cultural system is supposed to achieve. The conclusions emphasise the need for a deeper study of the creative heritage of the Polish-American philosopher, and the preparation of an academic edition of his selected works translated into Ukrainian.