To memory of Volodymyr Andriyovych Romenets

Kseniya ABULKHANOVA                                                               Copyright © 2016

УДК 159.9 : 165.9

Ксенія Абульханова

Пам’яті Володимира Андрійовича Роменця

Стаття опублікована у ж. ПСИХОЛОГІЯ І СУСПІЛЬСТВО. – 2016. – №2. – С. 6-9.

Copyright © Мар’яна ЛИПКА, переклад, 2016.

Український текст статті в перекладі Петра М’ясоїда див. на сторінці журналу в Інтернеті.

The emergence of new modern approaches and methods of analysis of the history society, science, culture leaves unchanged the best examples of the historical research, to the number of which, on the basis of their objectivity and perfection, belongs the creativity of Volodymyr Andri­yovych Romenets. It’s appears not only important but also fundamental, transforming from actually historical into theoretical-methodo­logical provided the level, scale and depth of its imple­mentation. The history of the science is not only its past, it discloses general strategy of its building and thus brings to the future of the science, enabling the forecasting the deve­lopment of its priority directions.

Designed by V. A. Romenets the direction of the cognition is unique and truly fundamental, covering great historical periods of development psychological knowledge, disclosing regularities of this development concerning scale of world psychology, context of world culture. A special place of this research in a series of many other historical-psychological domestic works is de­termined by that fact that they usually do not go beyond the limits of studying the  history of psychology as a science while searching of           V. A. Romenets cover almost whole process of the development of different, historically con­ditioned forms of psychological knowledge.

The most important feature of this direction of researches is in the essence of methodological approach which altogether unites the analysis of the history of knowledge development with the history of the subject development of the science: the author offers his own concept of transformation of this subject. The exceptional feature of indicated research that allows to compare it with works of O. F. Losyev, lies in the breadth of coverage of the studied context, in considering the history of psychological ideas and itself phenomena of spiritual-psychological plan in the development of the whole culture of mankind, the history of human creativity. And we should agree with the expression of the author that exactly during achieving of such cultural of approach and method of cognition, are destroyed the frames of narrowly scientistic interpretation approach to psychology, opens certain uni­versalism of its ideas and their unconditional humanistic value.

Understanding and disclosure the line of for­mation the psychological knowledge is impossible without disclosure of psychological problems in the methodology, religion, law, art, artistic literature, folklore, temper, habits and so on. Such wide context of studied content fillings, allows to find continuity in the process of creative forma­tion of ideas, to detect varied ways of interaction between the scientific, philosophical and artistic reproduction of human psychology.

Traditional paradigm, according to which creativity in certain aspects becomes the subject of special psychological research, re-interpreted by integrating of V. A. Romenets on the highest level of analyzing the history of psychology and the psychology of creativity: history of psycho­logy emerged as a creative process of appearance new ideas and the historical-psychological process itself – as an important part of the general cultural creativity of mankind.

Outlined fundamental methodological coor­dinates of research, characterizing its uniqueness, enabled to the author give a system of principles of cognition and totality of solved by him methodological, historical-psychological and actually source-known tasks. For system-creative V. A. Romenets chooses category of the deed as that capacious core which covering problems of human culture, theory and history of psychology and is the epicenter of the system of psychology and its history itself. The deed as a category of culture has ancient history: in particular it was used by activists of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy       (S. Kalynovskyi, G. Konyskyi) and of course  J. W. Goethe and G. W. F. Hegel (the last one especially productively in “Phenomenology of spirit”). In Soviet psychology on the deed as logical core of psychology paid captiously analytical attention S. L. Rubinstein, represen­tatives of his school and also successors of other schools. V. A. Romenets substantiates this principle of the core as the most productive due to the cultural approach. The leading thread of his considerations is such: the deed focuses in its meaning-semantic certainty the most essential features of the human psyche – character, personality etc. The psyche is expressed and formed in actions. The author proposes and during decades proves heuristic of the hypothesis: every epoch in human culture in its own interprets the main core – the deed of human-personality. This peculiarity is in the special emphasis which put on that or another com­ponent of structure of the deed.

From here obviously that in his theory of displacement structural accents of the deed in the history of psychology has great opening meaning. It concerns mainly the problems of psychological determinism, scilicet such question which quite sharply from time to time discussed in the scientific psychological literature. Let’s say, M. G. Yaroshevsky in his historical-psycho­logical concept, the problem of determinism put forward to the forefront. Its not hard to see that in historical-psychological developments of        V. A. Romenets this problem is still leading. However, he complements it with that form of causal connections which he successfully calls “determinism of self-creation”. This contradic­tory expression is ostensibly circumlocution of great philosophical idea about dialectic of free­dom and necessity in human life.

S. L. Rubinstein in his publications of 20th of the last century this idea was formulated as the principle of “creative self-activity” and in the last work “Man and the world” – as the principle of “self-cause”. Namely the deed appears as the the embodiment of personal determination and self-realization in his concept. At the same time namely to the deed M. M. Ba­khtin grants the character of explanatory cate­gory. And with this unanimity each of them give to the deed different place in proposed concept, considering its different function and role in culture and its most important dimensions – philosophical-psychological, personal-exis­tential, culturological.

The originality of historical-psychological concept of V. A. Romenets is not in that fact that he completely departs from his predecessors or controversy with contemporaries but in that fact that finds new unexplored aspects in the formu­lation and solution of the eternal problems of psychology, grants to them a modern sounding so these new verge of historical-psychological vision give an opportunity to reveal and qualify the facts that previously remained on the road­side of historical-scientific researches.

Accepting the deed as output category of historical-psychological process, V. A. Romenets repeatedly discloses the structure of the deed itself in its four components, consistently filling the subject content the situational, motivational components and also components of action and after action. This model transforming by him into the key to disclosure the historical consis­tency of psychological vision into every culture-historical epoch: situational principle dominates in early periods when it changes by the mo­tivational principle then man himself takes as a starting point and undertakes on himself the responsibility for his destiny (specific problem of Renaissance psychology – fighting of motives as the basis of self-determination of human). The author deploys the entire historical pano­rama to prove this principle, revealing that the attention of such thinkers like B. Spinoza, Jean de La Bruyиre, Franзois de La Rochefoucauld was confined to various forms of motivation (impulsive, emotional, mentally-emotional, mental, etc.). Proved that logically final link of this period, is revealing a decision-making as a way out of the struggle of motives and achie­ving of unity of mind and will.

The deed appears as the most relevant to the specifics of psychological knowledge way and category of its theorizing that interestingly and convincingly demonstrated through the analysis of different directions of psychological science (humanistic psychology, Soviet psychology as humanistic for its orientation, etc.). Committing principle allows from completely different, in fact original, view to review traditionally catego­rized psychological problems, concepts, to reveal new meanings in the development of psycholo­gical knowledge themselves. Especially impor­tant to note the relationship of psychological and moral origins of human that actually disclosing by this principle because these origins artificially disconnected by scientistic tendencies in the development of relevant sciences and fields of knowledge.

The richest specifics of the history and forms of culture is saturated that direction of historical-psychological author’s research which based on comparative-historical method and disclose historical change of the subject of psychology in different regions of the world due to the culture of that or another nation. Talked about the panoramic research of problems of totem and commonality in primitive lifestyle and worldview, ritual as the deed in ancient China, Nirvana-Kama in Indian psychology (as a way to overcome the rampant sensuality) and also a number of other world outlook psychological forms in which are implemented those or other abstractions, putting semantic accents in spi­ritual-existential parameters of human existence, solving its contradictions (universal and indi­vidual, anguished and released, intellec­tual and moral, etc.).

V. A. Romenets not only argues methodolo­gical bases of his many years researches but also creates the history of psychology itself, conceptualizing it in reflexive light of his own hypothesis of the deed. Language of this hypothesis (structure of the deed as a model) is translated into specific concepts, expressing historically caused certain problems. Revealed by author a totality of these problems in their con­sistent disclosure creates the basic composi­tion of history of world psychology. Conceptu­ally, he is tracking the regularity of emergence namely these problems into that or another epoch that is indisputable proof of the hypothesis. Here it is rightly to note that deep level of ge­neralization that reveals itself in determining leading problems of the history of psychology in continuity of classical epochs of phylogenesis. Before the reader in historical sequence appear also such nodular problems of psychology, as ancestors and descendants, the deed and custom, human and entire human, microcosmos and macrocosmos, the soul and God, I and other, anguishing and self-sufficiency, theoretical mind and practical intellect (using philosophical terminology in particular – Kant), natural and cultural (or the biological and social).

The last range of questions that is discussed in the multivolume publications of V. A. Ro­menets of the history of world psychology, concerning general bases of mental and how it is interpreted relatively to these bases. Accor­ding to the periodization of history of world psychology, the first period was called by the author as the period of substantial when the psychic is interpreted in relation to the essential foundations of life, particularly as an oppor­tunity of its preservation in the eternity; the second period (according to the stage of motiva­tion) called phenomenological, scilicet which reflecting the internal motivation of human strug­gles, confrontation of motives for the possibility of domination; and the third related to the character of mastering the world which covering components of the deed – action and after action, was called by him as a period of mastering.

Cycle of researches of V. A. Romenets com­pleterd with the problem of the subject and the principles of historical-psychological research. Leaving aside separate questions of this me­thodology, although they play a significant role in building a history of world psychology, let’s note that this schematic presentation of the author’s methodology is not yet fully reveals the fundamental creative contribution of V. A. Ro­menets into the history of psychology. It is about creating the history of world psychology as such. Built a huge historical-scientific basis which covers the history namely world psychology. Firstly introduced in the scientific circulation new layers of psychological heritage, for example psychology of mythological period which arose mainly as a subject of ethnic or historical psychology, raised problems of psychology patristic, in addition in the treatment of it not only by foreign but also domestic outstanding person. For the first time with such fullness in publica­tions of V. A. Romenets are presented Eastern and Middle Eastern psychology. Again for the first time with such depth and fundamentality presented whole history of psychology from the ancient world to the XX century inclusively. In addition, the Ukrainian thinker newly created general theory of historical-psychological pro­cess, scilicet carried out consistent implemen­tation of the principle of the deed through the whole history of psychology. It is noteworthy that in the first book (History of psychology. – K., 1978), this principle was included only in the psychology of the XIX and XX centuries. In the end, history of psychology (in six parts) is not only extremely broad compendium to comprehend the treasury of world psychological thought but also, what is no less important, awaken creative considerations of psychologist.

Separately, we point out the practical value of works of V. A. Romenets in the history of psychology. His publications today contribute the deeper study of the history of psychology, especially that the author intellectually embra­ced a large number of sources, inaccessible for study and before him has not processed. Unfortunately, during the life the scale and at the same time depth of the concept extremely talented psychologist of the twentieth century was neither properly assessed, nor even achieved by mind (as it often happens in the history of great discoveries of great artists). That’s why there is no opportunity to ask him about some un­fil­led gaps of his concept. For example, why the author of psychological books not always paid attention to theories which implemented natural-scientific basis of explanation mental phenomena (this applies mainly the history of psychology of XX century.) Why remained disclosed per­sonal approach, though his essence obviously fully present in the category of the deed.

The reader who accustomed to attribute cultural period of Kyivan Rus, classical Arabic culture, including science, to the Middle Ages, would be surprised, if he finds the relevant sections in the book, devoted to the Renaissance epoch (though in the scientific literature some­times we find the term “Muslim Renaissance” (M. Metz) and M. Conrad (known orientalist) expanded interpret East Renaissance and does not connect it directly with the emergence of bourgeois relations). But just appearence of questions, desire to continue considerations and studies show deep and stimulating thought of contemporaries and perhaps researchers of the next generation, character of scientific heritage of V. A. Romenets.

V. A. Romenets by his many years researches fulfilled truly titanic work. These works are created, usually by a group of authors, but then there is lack of uniformity of interpretations and difficulty of docking positions. Truthfully will be said that he created the original operating model of history of world psychology, giving it culturological character and meaning. The con­cept of the history of defining the subject and principles of historical-psychological research reveal today the methodology of the highest degree of integrity, values and fertility.

Надійшла до редакції 4.04.2016.