Tatyana Korneeva - Matseiniene. "THE PATH OF PHILOSOPHY"[1]

It is generally accepted that professional philosophy in Lithuania appeared at the end of the 16th century. It was brought by the Jesuits, who arrived in Lithuania in the second half of the sixteenth century from Rome, Vienna, Prague and Poland, at the invitation of the Catholic clergy of Lithuania to overcome the influence of the Reformation, which at that time swept many Western countries, including Lithuania. The Jesuits successfully coped with the task entrusted to them, using all possible means in the struggle against the Reformation and taking over education. A year after their appearance in Lithuania (1569), they established a secondary educational school in Vilnius - a collegium and soon significantly expanded the network of their educational schools throughout Lithuania. In 1579, the Vilnius Jesuit College was transformed into the Vilnius Academy or University, which had two permanent faculties - the Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Theology. The Faculty of Theology was dominant. It is appropriate to recall the following detail: a professor of philosophy at the Academy could not be a scientist who did not have the appropriate theological training. The educational attitude of the Jesuits was strict -- all sciences are subordinate to and serve theology. No progressive ideas of the West were allowed within the walls of the University (or Academy), not to mention the practice of familiarizing students with these ideas. Teaching was subject to strict censorship and was carried out according to textbooks approved by the leadership of the order.

Scholastic philosophy was destined to prevail in Lithuania for about 200 years, until the middle of the eighteenth century. Thus, the development of philosophical thought in Lithuania could not be compared with the development of philosophical thought in the West, where the influence of scholastic schools was successfully overcome, new ideas were put forward, and various philosophical schools appeared. Lithuania in this respect, as in many others, was clearly lagging behind. The Lithuanian public, primarily the clergy and the feudal high society, was quite satisfied with medieval scholasticism. However, it cannot be categorically asserted that during the reign of scholastic philosophy in Lithuania, nothing was known about new philosophical trends and schools in Lithuanian educational institutions. The philosophical ideas of the Renaissance and the philosophy of the Modern Age of the Western world had such a wide resonance that, despite the strict restrictions of the Jesuit leadership, they penetrated into Lithuania and exerted their positive cleansing influence. Be that as it may, during the Lithuanian-Polish state (the second half of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century), Vilnius was the center of Jesuit activity, despite the fact that other monastic orders (Franciscans, Bernardines, Carmelites, Dominicans, Trinitarians, etc.) were also active in Lithuania, which also attached great importance to education. However, the organization of the educational process and programs in all educational schools in Lithuania were very similar, although each monastic order relied on its own authorities and theorists. Nevertheless, in the field of education, the Jesuits in Lithuania enjoyed exclusive rights and privileges.

The scholastics of Lithuania did not create an original school, however, the same can be said about the scholastic philosophy of other countries. Of course, it cannot be said that this philosophy did not have its own development, it developed naturally, but the scholastic philosophy in Lithuania in the period of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries differed from the scholastic philosophy of the West only in some insignificant details, such as, for example, the order of teaching. All the main things -- the method of teaching, the problems -- were the same. As is known, Jesuit scholasticism has always been characterized by probabilism, which is a whole system whose goal was to affirm Jesuit aspirations and the principle of action, in philosophy probabilism opened the door to both dogmatism and eclecticism.

It is assumed that in the second half of the eighteenth century, the period of the death of scholastic philosophy began in Lithuania. However, some historians, in particular the well-known Polish historian of philosophy W. Tatarkevich (Tatarkevich taught at the University of Vilnius in 1919-1921) believe that scholastic philosophy existed in Lithuania until the beginning of the nineteenth century. However, be that as it may, it is quite obvious that the philosophical thought of Lithuania developed on the solid basis of scholastic philosophy, and later, from the beginning of the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, when scholastic philosophy was no longer able to resist the penetration of progressive ideas into Lithuania, under the strong influence of philosophical currents of the East and West. The weakening of the influence of scholastic philosophy was due to historical reasons and, to a large extent, the weakening of the influence of the Church on the life of Lithuania. The historical development of the Lithuanian state, the small experience of political independence, all kinds of cataclysms (fires, epidemics, wars), the dominant influence of the Catholic Church on the life of Lithuania – all this left an indelible imprint on the development of Lithuanian philosophical thought and even determined the corresponding range of topics and problems that worried the intellectual community of Lithuania and prompted it to develop and comprehend them. The limited experience of Lithuania's political independence (Lithuania has always been "with someone" or "under someone") and other circumstances that have already been mentioned formed a certain way of thinking, influenced the development of national identity, developed and strengthened the special religiosity of the Lithuanian people (a small nation must believe strongly in someone or something in order to survive). Thus, the existence of Lithuania "with someone" or "under someone" contributed to the penetration into all life of the Lithuanian people (social, political, cultural) of all kinds of influences, which were strengthened in the consciousness and, we emphasize, formed a certain type of thinking, a special type.

Lithuania is often referred to as a crossroads of cultures. And this is fair. Lithuania has been multinational since ancient times - Tatars, Karaites, Jews, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Russians, not to mention the Lithuanians and Poles themselves lived and still live here. The multinationality of Lithuania is explained by historical reasons and is associated with the formation of statehood. The combination of different cultures gives Lithuania a special charm and attractiveness to outsiders, emphasizes its historical and cultural uniqueness. Nevertheless, we have to state the fact that, for the reasons already mentioned, it is difficult to talk about Lithuania as a country in which its own original philosophical school has already been created. However, attempts to create it have existed and still exist. These attempts were initially reflected in the works of famous Lithuanian writers, publicists, historians, and clergymen, and they laid the foundations for the development of an original philosophy in Lithuania.

Antanas Maceina is one of the few professional philosophers in Lithuania who has created his own method and his own system. Maciejna himself never considered philosophy to be a profession. In a letter to his son dated December 4, 1978, he wrote: "Philosophy is combined with every profession, because it is not a profession in itself. Only the ancient sophists and "professors" of modern philosophy turned philosophy into a profession. In fact, philosophy is a human condition." Having noted this one of the main attitudes of A. Maceina in relation to philosophy, we will nevertheless use the term "professional philosophy" familiar to everyone and allow ourselves to classify the Lithuanian philosopher Antanas Maceina as a professional philosopher, who never "frivolously" squeezed "his thoughts into the framework of some 'ism'", because, in his opinion, "every 'ism' means a dead end".

So what was the Lithuanian philosopher Antanas Maceina like? Naturally, in order to answer this question sufficiently completely, at least a monograph is needed. The purpose of this article is to acquaint the Russian reader with the most significant, in our opinion, philosopher who has ever existed and exists in Lithuania, interest in whom has recently increased in Lithuania, and the assessment of his philosophical heritage for certain reasons, which will be discussed below, becomes very ambiguous.

"My life is governed by some kind of contradiction: not to become what I wanted, but to become what I did not even think of becoming. He entered the theological seminary and was expelled from it, returned there again (1929-1930), striving to become a priest. He did not. Inwardly gravitating towards literature, he studied pedagogy, and became a philosopher...", wrote A. Maceina in his essay "The Way of Philosophy"[3].

The biography of A. Maceina is similar to the biography of many people who came out of peasant families. The future philosopher was born on January 27, 1908 in the village of Bagrenai, Prienai district (not far from the second largest city in Lithuania, then the temporary capital, Kaunas). After graduating from the Prienai Gymnasium, he entered the Gižai Theological Seminary, but after studying at the seminary for two years, he left it on the advice of the seminary leadership. "The seminarian philosophy of my time was strictly Thomistic in content. We have not encountered any other views. It is true that the author of the textbook often mentioned Kant, especially when he spoke of the theory of knowledge and theodicy, reducing his criticism to the constantly repeated phrase "insipiens Cantius" -- "the fool Kant." It seemed that in the history of human thought there was no wiser philosopher than Thomas Aquinas, and no more stupid than Kant. All the others aligned themselves with these two poles. The history of philosophy was not taught at the Gizhai seminary. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why philosophy did not attract me at all at that time. I studied it diligently (ore), but it did not stir my heart and mind (mente) at all... philosophical questions did not bother anyone." In 1928, A. Maceina entered the Kaunas University named after Vytautas the Great and began to diligently study literature, but, apparently, at that time he had not yet finally decided and therefore returned to the seminary, where he studied for two years (1929-1930). This period became the period of the final determination that he would not be a priest. In this regard, he wrote: "After all, the task of the priest is not to ask questions, but to proclaim through the Church the answer received from God. Therefore, a seminarian who is inclined to philosophize, that is, to ask questions, is not in the right place..." Matseina has been asking questions all his life and looking for answers to them. "Philosophy is always a question waiting to be answered," he wrote. Thus, in the summer of 1930, A. Maceina finally said goodbye to the seminary and returned to the university, where he continued his studies of literature. In 1931, at the suggestion of his supervisor, the famous Lithuanian pedagogue and philosopher Stasys Šalkauskis[4], he began to study theoretical pedagogy and philosophy. Pedagogy, according to Šalkauskis, is based on philosophy, and philosophy ends with pedagogy, so the education of new generations is impossible without philosophical comprehension, and philosophical comprehension remains fruitless without a system of education. A. Matseina noted that Šalkauskis found a vivid confirmation of these ideas in Plato's worldview and activity, and therefore "directed me to philosophy, so that I would be thoroughly prepared for pedagogy, which in the future I was to represent at his department. So I gave up the study of the two literatures (meaning Lithuanian and German - T. M.), which I had studied until now, and moved on to philosophy, although this transition was to some extent only formal." A. Maceina draws attention to the fact that at the university, with the exception of the history of philosophy, he received no more than what he had already learned during his studies at the seminary - "at best, he repeated in Lithuanian what he had already studied in Latin, because the level of university teaching of all philosophical disciplines (for example, philosophy of nature, theodicy, ethics) did not exceed the level of teaching in the seminary." And here he adds: "Of course, the re-study of Thomistic philosophy has left a deep mark on my worldview, so Dr. I. L. Navickas is right when he notes that all my writings testify to the indelible influence and impact of scholastic philosophy on me."

In 1932, A. Maceina went abroad, where he continued his studies at the universities of Leuven, Freiburg (Switzerland), Strasbourg and Brussels and prepared for his dissertation, which he was supposed to defend at the University of Kaunas under the guidance of Professor St. Šalkauskis. In 1934, he defended his dissertation entitled "National Education" and became a Doctor of Philosophy. After defending her dissertation, Maciejna began to teach methods of scientific work, philosophy of culture and, a little later, the history of pedagogy at her own university. The first major works of A. Macieina - "Introduction to the Philosophy of Culture" (1936), the first part of "History of Pedagogy" (1940) are directly related to the reading of these courses. It should be noted that Art. Šalkauskis and A. Maceina were perhaps the first not only in Lithuania, but also in Europe, to single out the philosophy of culture as an independent philosophical discipline. The connection between the Teacher-Shalkauskis and the Student-Macieina was very close. And the influence exerted by Šalkauskis on Maciejna in his time is hardly indisputable. While still a student, Maceina even inherited the philosophical preferences of Šalkauskis -- the interest and enthusiasm of the Russian philosophers Vl. It should be noted that later this youthful enthusiasm of A. Maceina for Russian Christian philosophers grew into a kindred affinity with them in spirit and philosophical views. After all, it is no coincidence that it is the works of Russian thinkers F. Dostoevsky and Vl. Solovyov formed the basis of two significant works by the Catholic philosopher A. Maceina - "The Grand Inquisitor" and "Secrets of Lawlessness", which the publishing house offers to the Russian reader.

In independent Lithuania, A. Maceina had a chance to teach at the University of Kaunas for only five years, but during this short time he wrote nine books: five of them were published (two in journals, without waiting for a separate publication), and two of them did not have to see the light of day at all. It should be noted that at that time A. Maceina was mainly engaged in the problems of philosophy of culture, philosophical pedagogy and social philosophy. He was purposefully following the path marked out for him by his Teacher. Their close cooperation actually served as the beginning of the birth of the Lithuanian philosophical school, which, alas, did not have a chance to wait for worthy successors, and therefore did not have a chance to develop.

Two books by A. Maceina are devoted to the problems of social philosophy - "The Fall of the Bourgeoisie" (1940), which was written on the basis of the course "Bourgeoisie, Prometheism and Christianity" and "Social Justice" (1938), which at one time caused acute discontent among the hierarchs of the Catholic Church. In it, Matseina is an active advocate of social justice and says that it is the Church that should first of all set an example of social justice and abandon earthly goods. As the philosopher A. Sverdiolas[6] rightly remarked, the book contains an attempt to replace the traditional Catholic understanding of charity with the demand for justice. It should be noted that A. Maceina always associated the solution of the problems of social justice with the moral perfection of the individual, and moral revival with the strengthening of faith, although the radicalism characteristic of him at that time, the sharpness and peremptory nature of his statements led and still lead to a very ambiguous assessment of his social philosophy, in which recently in Lithuania there are even trends that are dangerous for the Lithuanian developing democracy, and at the same time completely his moral attitudes are taken into account.