Even in the Sumerian civilization (more than 45 centuries ago) we find the first written record of the aporia of beautiful and useful, and therefore of aesthetics and pragmatism. In my opinion it is also the first written violation of one of the fundamental laws of logic as well as the oldest and most enduring fallacy of mankind. More than 20 centuries later, Socrates tried to harmonize this contradiction based on a third concept, morality. This also agrees with the ancient idea of kalokagathia. But ancient culture does not associate the beauty of things, nature and soul with the spiritual Absolute, asceticism, and humility.
This change of the emphasis first appears in the Christian outlook. As for the interpretation of the beautiful as a neutral, unselfish perception, it also appears in the Buddhist worldview (Shankara, IX century), and in the doctrine of I. Kant (ХVІІІ century), and then in the territory of Ukraine, in philosophy and works of H. Skovoroda, P. Tychyna, Yuriy Klen and other neoclassicists.
The article examines Valery Shevchuk’s adaptation for schoolchildren of Hryhorii Skovoroda’s 28th song and polemically denies the replacement of “soul” with “interior” and Glagol (that is, archaic for “Word,” as in “God’s Word”) with “knowledge” as well as the ancient anonymous hybrid “work to which an individual
is naturally inclined” in the context of the worldview concept of the poetphilosopher: in both cases, wisdom of the philosopher was narrowed at the level of language and the essence of his teaching was changed.
In the article it is also shown how social pragmatics affect the artistry of M. Rylskyi’s “Roses and Grapes”: the final aphoristic maxim of the poem does not come out of the artistic logic of its three plots. It shows the necessity to illustrate a predefined sociological notion.
An attempt was made to reveal the relevance of the problem of breaking the harmony between beautiful and useful in favor of pragmatics on the example of the cornflower theme and its artistic realization in the poetry of P. Tychyna, A. Malyshko, I. Drach. Thus the tension between the beautiful/useful/moral – and artistry – is eternally relevant.
Keywords: Hryhorii Skovoroda, intertext, beautiful-useful-moral, cardiocentrism, left-hemisphere ratiocentrism, related activity, artistic idea, artistry.
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DownloadDOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2520-6346.2(63).147-158