HRYHORII SKOVORODA ABOUT PERFECTION OF MAN AND SOCIAL SYSTEM

Abstract

Thoughts of Skovoroda on the improvement of human and society were considered in this article. Skovoroda, like the European enlighteners, considered the contemporary society and human to be imperfect. French enlighteners sought to improve a person through education and scientific knowledge, believed that an educated person could create a perfect society and linked the progress of society with the activity of the mind. Skovoroda chose his own path - he believed that scientific knowledge and education cannot make a person happy and perfect. He called a person to self-discovery, to reveal the true divine nature in oneself, which will determine a person’s related work. Only a related occupation can make a person happy, therefore perfect, and such a person will create a perfect society. In Skovoroda, knowledge and education are associated with material goods and honors, which give rise to envy and enmity between people. Skovoroda considered people who strive for material goods and fame to be a crowd, who is not capable of thinking and improving, unable to create a progressive and perfect society. The thoughts of the Ukrainian philosopher look utopian, but they help to understand the current state of consumerist society, where aggression, hatred and envy prevail.