Nikolajaus Berdiajevo ir Antano Maceinos kulturos krizes filosofija
The Philosophy of Cultural Crisis of Nikolay Berdyayev and Antanas Maceina

Summary/Abstract: In his early period Maceina was under great influence of Berdyayev's philosophy of culture. Later on Lithuanian thinker remained faithful to Berdyayev's conception of culture as simbolic reality in which human being realizes his or her creative (and created) nature. Both philosophers were convinced that cultural crisis is the result of tragic inadequacy between man's aspiration to create new life and new being on the one hand and symbolical nature of culture on the other hand. However, mature Maceina's philosophy of culture is much more independent from his Russian colleague's influence. Contrary to Maceina, who without a doubt might be described as the philosopher of culture, Berdyayev's philosophy of culture is covered with his apocalyptic philosophy of history. According to Berdyayev, the crisis of culture can be overcome only beyond culture - in the Kingdom of God and in the creative acts, in which human being transcends the "world of objects" and completes it. Contrary to Berdyayev, Maceina thinks that cultural crisis can be overcome in culture. Human being should assume the tragedy of culture and reconcile with this tragedy, in which one could see the dawn of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps, a different status of those two philosophers that they had in their emigration could serve us the explanation for Maceina's "cultural optimism". Maceina felt responsibility for the cultural destiny of Lithuanians much more than his Russian colleague, who was a representative of a much larger nation.

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