THE THINKER V. LYPYNSKY ON THE SOCIO-CULTURAL INTERACTION OF THE ELITE, CHURCH, AND RELIGION IN THE CONTEXT OF MORAL AND ETHICAL VALUES

Abstract

The relevance of the study is conditioned by the necessity of a deep rethinking of the sources of Ukrainian conservative thought against the background of modern challenges related to the search for moral and ethical foundations for the consolidation of the nation and the formation of a new leading stratum in the conditions of Ukraine’s War for Independence. Ukrainian historiosophical thought of the first half of the 20th century, against the backdrop of the formation of a modern nation and the crisis of statehood, required the development of ideological models to overcome “national chaos.” Among the key thinkers of this period, Viacheslav Lypynsky stands out, whose classocratic and historiosophical concept aimed at establishing new moral and ethical foundations and reforming social institutes. The aim is to analyze V. Lypynsky’s conceptual views on the socio-cultural interaction of the elite, the Church, and religious-moral values as a fundamental, system-forming element in the context of building an organic Ukrainian state. V. Lypynsky considered religious-moral values not as an auxiliary, but as an important, system-forming element for the consolidation of a new classocratic elite, which is based on the ethics of duty and opposes the “reign of gold and the boor.” His philosophy, formed under the influence of the Roman Catholic tradition, perceived religion as the meaning-creating core of the nation and an all-encompassing Divine Cosmos that ensures internal moral discipline and prevents degradation and constant rebellion against state institutions. V. Lypynsky distinguished, but inextricably linked, the functions of the State (material power) and the Church (spiritual power). In his views, the Church acts as an institutional guarantor of values, providing transcendent legitimacy to the ethical norms of the elite (honor, loyalty, patriotism) and performing the function of a moral arbiter. Classocracy, unlike the Marxist understanding of class, was defined as an organic collective united by a common tradition and religious ethics. Analyzing the defeat of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921, the thinker viewed it as a consequence of the value collapse of the elite, expressed in the allegory of “Don Quixotes without Faith” – leaders who lost the "knightly tradition" and their own faith, preferring the class bias of the Central Council and destructive populist mechanisms, for which he criticized democracy. V. Lypynsky's concept is a deeply ethical construction called upon to ensure the necessary moral sanction and “spiritual power” for the state. His ideal of classocracy proposed the only effective mechanism for ensuring stable and constructive relations between religion, the church, and the state. V. Lypynsky insisted that to preserve the spiritual equilibrium and political resistance of the nation, the state must ensure equal authority and organizational independence of all Christian churches in Ukraine. Turning to V. Lypynsky’s legacy is timely, as his concept contains valuable lessons regarding the necessity of ethical political leadership and the search for moral and ethical foundations for the formation of a new leading stratum in modern Ukrainian state-building.