PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF FRENCH HUMANISTICS : EXPERIENCE OF THE END OF THE 19 th CENTURY – THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20 th CENTURY

Abstract

French humanistics status at the turn of the 20^th century is reconstructed. It was the period when the country faced the changes of a paradigm within the logic of humanitarian knowledge development: gradual adoption of intuitivism, neo-thomism, personalism, existentialism in contrast to positivism; distinctiveness of impressionism and active involvement of fauvism and cubism into creative process of that time. It is demonstrated that artistic and creative modifications, as it turned out later, occurred with intervention of different philosophical orientations which served as a peculiar theoretical basis for historical and cultural changes at that stage of culture shaping..

It is noted that philosophical foundations which became clearly evident at the turn of the 20^th century and its first half influenced significantly the artistic practice while shaping the creative dialogue between philosophy, art history and art and deepening the creator’s awareness of creative process essence. Potential of culturological analysis of that time period is emphasized. Its unique characteristics as inter-science, dialogue and personalization enhance understanding of causes and consequences of the processes going on in French humanistics in the time period described in the article.