Considering the Issue of the Ukrainian Modern: Concept of Early Enlightenment

Abstract

The subject of the article is the concept of "Early Enlightenment", its genealogy and functioning in modern studies of the history of Ukrainian philosophy. On the basis of this analysis, the problems and possible applications of this concept to the study of early modern Ukrainian philosophy are clarified. In the author's opinion, it is the "linearity" or "non-linearity" of the view of the early modern era that determines the current understanding of the phenomenon of "early enlightenment". A characteristic feature of the Enlightenment as an era of European history and as a separate ideology or project is the transformation of the ideas of "enlightenment", which in other periods coexist with other ideologies or projects, into the defining ones for this era. The author concludes that the central problem for understanding the phenomenon of Ukrainian Modernity in the chosen perspective is the role of religion in human life and the modern state.