Gabrielės Petkevičaitės moralinė laikysena XIX–XX amžių sandūros Lietuvos politiniame kontekste
The Moral Attitude of Gabrielė Petkevičaitė in the Lithuanian Political Context of the Late 19th and early 20th Century

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the complicated configuration of Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė’s moral attitudes and reflected problems in the Lithuanian cultural and political context in the late 19th and early 20th century. In a period of the coexistence of distinct world-views and intellectual cultures, Petkevičaitė-Bitė’s moral attitude as reflected in her epistolary, journalistic, and fiction writings, reveals problems which arise in the formation of a new progressive society. First, the article presents the historical, political, and cultural context of Lithuania in the late 19th and early 20th century. The moral attitude of Petkevičaitė-Bitė is analyzed revealing the sources and factors that determined her ethical decisions. The texts of G. Petkevičaitė-Bitė show us that she understands morality as the sum of responsibilities of which human beings must be made aware early in their family life. The basis of such a morality is a human being’s categorical duty to his nation and to humanity as a whole. Petkevičaitė-Bitė often refers to the moral conception of Immanuel Kant in her view on firm character formation, the individual’s moral purity, and his or her perception of responsibility. Kant’s unconditional moral law plays the central role in the whole of Petkevičaitė-Bitė’s moral conceptions and writings.

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