THE AESTHETIC MEANING OF CATHOLICISM AND ORTHODOXY
THE AESTHETIC MEANING OF CATHOLICISM AND ORTHODOXY

Summary/Abstract: The article considers the aesthetic meaning of Catholic and Orthodox cultural phe-nomena. According to the author, Catholicism is closely related to the notion of the tragic, which is manifested in the contrast between the Heavenly (spirit) and the Earthly (body). Therefore Catholicism, generating an important aesthetic notion, gave rise to Romanticism. The author regards Orthodoxy as the foundation of the Russian Sym-bolism (i.e. neo-Romanticism). Its essence is the proclamation of the Beauty of the man, which is revealed in the synergy of the Spiritual (i.e. heavenly) and the Earthly (i.e. bodily). In the aesthetic aspect Catholicism and Orthodoxy rather complement than oppose each other.

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