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.

"To live according to one's conscience is the only way to be saved" – these words of the teacher of the Gižai Theological Seminary, Professor of Theology Ražaitis Maceina always remembered and always followed them. It seems that its relevance is not subject to time at all.

Fleeing from the Soviet terror, A. Maceina left for Germany in 1940, but a little more than a year later he returned (this happened during the German occupation) and continued to work at the university, reading the course "Introduction to Philosophy". At this time, his attention was riveted on the main problems of philosophy and, presumably, it was at this time, having completed a long preparatory period, that A. Maceina firmly entered the path of philosophy. But he was destined to follow this path and complete it no longer in his homeland. In 1944, A. Maceina left his homeland, this time forever. Matseina regarded the forced emigration as a forced exile, calling himself an exile. "How else can we call a person who was forcibly deprived of his homeland, if not an exile... Exiles should be called all those who were pushed out of their country - not necessarily by physical force, as, say, A. Solzhenitsyn, but by moral force, all those who could not stand the new social order..." (Personality and History, 1981). One can interpret this step of A. Matseina as one likes, but one should not forget about the thousands and thousands of exiles whose paths went not only to the West, but also to the East - to Siberia, to the camps of Komi, etc. -- -- to the Russian philosopher L. Karsavin[8].

The path of an emigrant is difficult and difficult. A. Maceina had to go through many trials before he finally established himself in a foreign land. However, his inherent striving for the goal, inexhaustible diligence, and endless work of thought did not allow him to indulge in despondency. He constantly worked, wrote a lot, and again delved into the problems of fundamental and dogmatic theology. And only in 1956 did he return to pedagogical work, starting to teach Russian philosophy and spiritual history of Eastern Europe at the University of Freiburg (Germany). He taught at the University of Freiburg until 1959, and then settled as a visiting professor at the University of Münster, where in 1961 he was appointed scientific adviser and awarded the title of professor for life. At the University of Münster, A. Maceina taught courses in Russian and Soviet philosophy, and in 1962 he began to teach philosophy of religion. In 1970, A. Maceina was forced to retire for health reasons, but even his obviously undermined health (in 1967 he suffered a heart attack) did not prevent him from actively engaging in philosophy in the next seventeen years of his life. A. Matseina died on the same day in January as he was born - January 27, 1987, without waiting for the hour when Lithuania regained its more than once lost independence.

As already noted, and as the philosopher himself confirmed in his philosophical essay, he firmly embarked on the path of philosophy in 1944. A. Matseina even established with extreme accuracy the time and place of this entry - Würzburg, autumn 1944, the library of the local university, in which he spent whole days and which was empty (all students were mobilized); And unread books seemed to cry out for reading: "So I spent whole days with them... So he embarked on the path of philosophy, not being interested in pedagogy at all, and turning literature into an amateur occupation," A. Maceina shared his memories of that distant time on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. Firmly embarking on the path of philosophy, Maceina wrote book after book. Already in 1946, his "Grand Inquisitor" was published (in German - in 1952) - a philosophical interpretation of the legend of F. Dostoevsky; in 1950, The Drama of Job, which, in the author's own words, is "an attempt to give the basic tenets of theistic existentialism"; in 1964, "The Mystery of Lawlessness" appeared in the press (in German - in 1955), in which the traditional problem of theodicy - the nature of evil - was investigated. This study was based on the famous work of Vl. Solovyov "A Short Story of the Antichrist". In all these three works, A. Maceina explores the problems of human existence in the light of Christianity. These three books are considered to be the first trilogy by A. Maciejna. The second trilogy consists of purely theological works - "The Song of the Sun" (1954), dedicated to the life and work of Francis of Assisi[9]; "The Great Helper" (1958), which comprehends the life and work of the Virgin Mary, and "The Lamb of God" (1966). The last book, but in the words of the author himself, was written "with a loving heart". In it, the author turns to the Orthodox concept of Christ, turns to the Eastern Church. "That I chose the Christology of the Eastern Church for the 'Lamb of God' was by no means accidental: it was an inner conviction and confession. Latin Christology... I have never been in my heart, like the entire Latin order with its code of laws, with rules and instructions at every step... Therefore, I must frankly admit: although I was brought up by the Latin Church, although I love its language and its music, I am a Christian of the East in my heart and feelings, my theological thoughts and views," said A. Maceina in an interview on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. [10] It seems that the above confession of A. Maceina can clarify a lot not only in his life and work, but also the very philosophical orientation of his thought, his philosophical orientation, his philosophical approach to the problems of being, his theology. It is unlikely that A. Maceina can be attributed to the category of orthodox theologians. His relationship with orthodox theology had been quite complicated since his seminary days. Matseina himself wrote in this regard that if theology is traditionally understood as a teaching about God, essentially connected with the authority of the Church, then in this sense he has never been a theologian, but if theology is understood as "talking about God", then he is a theologian and will remain so until the very end of his life, for God was and remains a constant object of his thinking. and in exile (in emigration) God even became for him the main, primary object of his thinking. However, A. Maceina repeatedly repeated that God stood and still stands in the center of his existence, and therefore in his thinking...

The third trilogy consists of books that explore the issues raised at the Second Vatican Council. These include "The Church and the World" (1970), which examines the life of the Church undergoing changes; "The Great Questions of Modernity" (1971), which deals with the secularization of the world and the evolutionism of Teilhard de Chardin, and, finally, "The Christian in the World" (1973-1974), where A. Maceina sets himself the task of revealing to the reader "the theology of the cultural activity of the Christian, or even the theology of culture itself." The most significant works of A. Maceina also include the first volume of "Philosophy of Religion" (1976). The second volume was never published) and "The Origin and Meaning of Philosophy" (1978), which Kęstutis Girnius called one of the most significant works in the history of Lithuanian philosophy. As already mentioned, in 1962 at the University of Münster, A. Maceina began to teach the philosophy of religion, gradually establishing himself as a religious philosopher, developing his own concept of the philosophy of religion. For a relatively long time, he taught, as he himself wrote in his creative biography, "not his own, but someone else's philosophy of religion - F. Dostoevsky, Vl. Solovyov, N. Berdyaev..." We find the explanation for this in his confession that for a long time he did not know, could not find the "philosophical path to God", he believed in God, but could not reveal Him with his mind, did not know how. This confession explains a lot both in his creative or, more precisely, intellectual biography and in his rather complex, internally extremely saturated life. His path of cognition of God with the mind, or, as he himself said, his "philosophical path to God" was quite complex and, perhaps, to some extent contradictory. Acquaintance with the life and work of A. Maceina allows us to assume that two people were constantly fighting in him - a philosopher who cognizes God with his mind, and just a believer who loves God with all his heart and therefore does not require proof of His existence at all. This peculiar inner splitting, presumably, caused him not a little suffering and to some extent determined the character of his entire philosophy. It seems that it was for these reasons that A. Maceina could not find his own philosophical approach to God for a long time. Quite rightly in his philosophical essay, Maceina asserts that a philosophy that is based on faith and not on knowledge becomes a hidden theology that wears the mask of philosophy. Maceina began teaching his philosophy of religion in 1966, establishing himself more and more as a religious philosopher. The author's idea of The Origin and Meaning of Philosophy, which we have already mentioned as the main work of A. Maceina, was supposed to be the foundation of the philosophy of religion, but in essence it became a consistent exposition of the author's own philosophy.

The mature Maciejna wrote twenty books, countless articles that he published both at home and abroad, two collections of poetry - "Frost" (1965) and "And Never Home" (1981). [13] In A. Maceina, the philosopher and the poet are merged into one. Therefore, it seems that when we talk about the philosopher Maceina, we should not forget about the poet Maceina. This is extremely important for understanding his philosophy. "The thirst to write poetry awoke in me just at the time when I began to philosophize a little on my own... And if now I assert that there is a deep inner connection between philosophy and poetry, then this statement is not an abstract theory, but a living personal experience... I am grateful to poetry for protecting my thinking from dogmatism. Maybe that's why I came to the conclusion that philosophy is an interpretation...", wrote A. Matseina. He never considered philosophy to be a science and therefore did not consider himself to belong to any of the philosophical schools or trends, he always defended the independence of his philosophical thought. "Philosophy is an interpretation, not an investigation or a doctrine, for these methods of knowledge are based on dogma: research on the structure of the nature of an object, and doctrine on the free acceptance of something as truth. In interpretation, however, there are no dogmas and there cannot be: interpretation admits even its opposite, which neither research nor doctrine allows", "... interpretation... is the very essence of philosophy," Maceina summarizes. Where there is no understanding of philosophy as interpretation, there is no philosophy itself, but only research, science. Just as there is no art in the history of art, so there is no philosophy in the study of philosophical work. By the way, Macejna attributed his teaching activity - teaching "foreign" philosophy - to research activities.

Who did Maceina consider himself, who did not consider philosophy to be a science and did not consider it a profession? A. Maceina did not consider himself to be any type of thinker and did not consider himself a philosopher-scientist. Without denying the existence of a science that investigates philosophy, nor denying the sciences that investigate the arts, he saw the essential difference between a scientist engaged in philosophy and a philosopher in the true sense of the word. This is how he himself explains it: "The philosopher of philosophy... while the scientist examines it, which has already been created. To create, if we are talking about philosophy, means to think in a new way or, in my opinion, to interpret existence in a new way. To investigate means to analyze a philosophical phenomenon as it is or was. My philosophy is always my views, and not someone else's theory or system... The personal character of philosophy always makes the philosopher subjective, and this is fundamentally contrary to research, since research rests on the fact that it is as explanatory as possible, and consequently says what the object under study itself says." Thus, the super-task of A. Maceina, his true vocation was to create his own philosophy - "whether good or bad, deep or shallow, but - his own". Not considering philosophy to be a science, Maceina did not see the possibility of talking about the method of philosophy: "Interpretation, like philosophy itself, is never the only one. Only philosophy as a science can and does have a method, where research is the main method of cognition, as in any other science. To talk about the method of philosophy is -- - the same as to talk about the method of poetry, painting, music... That would be teaching to be a philosopher, for every method can be learned. And to teach philosophy would mean the same as to teach to be a poet, an artist, a composer..." Considering philosophy to be the interpretation of man's thought as a single and unrepeatable being, A. Maceina, as we can see, believed that the interpretation of the being of every philosophizing person is unique and original, although it may be somewhat similar to the interpretations of other interpreters of existence. Tracing the philosophical path of A. Maceina, we can find not only his obvious interest in the philosophy of existentialism, but also his ideological closeness to some of its brightest representatives, in particular to K. Jaspers, N. Berdyaev and even in some aspects to M. Heidegger. However, while agreeing with one of the basic propositions of existentialism, namely, that man's being is not fundamental, that man always exists in the face of non-being, A. Maceina cannot agree that existence is only on this side, as atheistic existentialism asserts. At one time, A. Maceina was considered the founder of Christian existentialism in Lithuania. Today, however, apparently taking into account his own justifications for his philosophical path, which he repeatedly emphasizes, he is called a more modest thinker who "combined Christian philosophy with existentialism"[14]. But as already noted, he did not consider himself to belong to any philosophical trend or school, defending the independence of his own thought and setting himself the main task of "discovering transcendence in existence," for the whole of man's being "to its very depths is so constituted that it expresses God, seeks Him, asks Him..." This task was formulated by him as early as 1950. Without a doubt, A. Maceina was first of all a religious philosopher, a theologian in the sense that he designated for himself, that is, he spent his whole life "talking about God" as the Founder of human existence. Matsejna put an equal sign between existence and God. He considered the question of being to be the main question of philosophy, and since he put an equal sign between being and God, it follows that God, according to Maceina, is the main question of human philosophy. However, we do not encounter being as such anywhere, that is, we do not encounter God, so we cannot comprehend Him as an object. Directly, openly, we encounter only various "existing" objects, creatures, the basis of which is God, Whom we are not able to comprehend, but Whom we strive to comprehend. Therefore, philosophy is always a question waiting to be answered. In the answers that man tries to give himself, his interpretation of existence is contained, but these answers never satisfy man and he, not being satisfied with his own answers, suffers. In man's attempts to answer the question of existence for himself, more and more new questions are born, and this process is endless. Only God can answer man, so the determination of man in relation to God is essential for everyone, for his whole life depends on this determination. Man's desire to receive an answer already in this reality, and the impossibility of this, constitutes man's great suffering. It is as if a person is constantly in a borderline situation, in suffering, and goes to another borderline situation, to death. And only union with God saves him from suffering and death and leads him to eternal joy and to complete perfection...