Essays on the History of Philosophy in Ukraine: Prague, Ukrainian Public Publishing Fund, 1931, 175 p.

«Essays…» are a study of the development of historical and philosophical knowledge in Ukraine from the time of Christianity to the twentieth century. According to Chyzhevskyi's plan, this work was to become a pretext for further research into the history of Ukrainian philosophy.

In the first chapters, the author outlines the problems of definition and nature of national philosophy. He contrasts two approaches to these problems: 1) rationalist, which relies exclusively on «objective» principles, excluding what has no universal value; 2) romantic, which focuses on the diversity of manifestations of worldview phenomena, such as art and philosophy. Chyzhevskyi emphasises the existence of various movements within national philosophy and calls for the rejection of the view that one movement can offer «absolute truth». He makes extensive use of the concept of «national worldview», which he sees as the basis for the formation of a national philosophical tradition. This concept encompasses the norms, views, traditions and inclinations of a particular people, i.e. it is «a combination of historical and supra-historical elements» (p. 16). Chyzhevskyi studies the «national worldview» through 1) the study of national art; 2) the characterization of important historical epochs; 3) the characterization of prominent figures. Starting with the third chapter, he uses this order of presentation to present a particular historical epoch. 

The manuscript of the first - more academic - version of «Essays...» of 1927 was lost. The 1931 edition was the second attempt to publish this text, but with significant changes and in a more popular format. The work was written in collaboration with Chyzhevskyi's student L. Mykolaenko, who, in particular, authored some chapters.

CONTENTS

Preface

I. Philosophy and nationality

II. The Ukrainian national character

III. Philosophy in Old Ukraine

IV. Hryhorii Skovoroda

V. Contemporaries of Skovoroda

VI. Acquaintance with German idealism

VII. Mykola Gogol

VIII. Cyryl and Methodius Brotherhood

IX. Pamphil Yurkevych

X. Philosophy in the service of science

Explanations of illustrations

Index of names