Guidelines of Ukrainian Culture: Munich, Vydavnytstvo Ukrainskoho Vilnoho Universytetu [Ukrainian Free University Publishing], 1946, 20 p.

Ivan Mirchuk's manuscript is a study of the psychological structures and tendencies of the Ukrainian people. In this work, the philosopher, similar to his earlier article “The Worldview of the Ukrainian People,” characterizes the key features of Ukrainians, evaluating and criticizing them. The characteristics are as follows:

1) Orientation toward Western Europe. Reconstructing historical events, Mirchuk highlights aspects that emphasize this feature in the political and spiritual life of Ukrainians. As a result, a problem arises: the crossroads between the West and the East.

2) Strong connection of Ukrainian culture with the land. All intellectual activity of Ukrainians was reduced to practical aspects and reflected the agricultural reality. This feature, according to the author, makes it impossible to develop higher forms of thought and art.

3) Dispersion of spiritual energy into various activities. As an example, the author mentions the life of I. Franko and suggests that he might have achieved more if he had worked in one field.

4) Lack of tradition. The loss of connection between the past and the present leads to the loss of the future. This characteristic is driven by the individualistic nature of Ukrainians, which the author describes as: "In his egocentric orientation, every Ukrainian begins history from his own self" (p. 18).

Kateryna Levchuk