The Positivist Principles of D. Ovsyaniko-Kulikovskyi’s Philosophy of Language

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of D. Ovsyaniko-Kulikovskyi’s philosophical and linguistic views in the context of positivist thinking and the psychological school of linguistics at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The study reveals the intellectual prerequisites for the emergence of the philosophy of language in Ukraine, which developed under the influence of German classical philosophy, positivism, and the psychological school. It is substantiated that D. Ovsyaniko-Kulikovskyi’s philosophical and linguistic ideas represent an original synthesis of O. Potebnya’s psychological method and the positivist pursuit of scientific objectivity and empiricism. The scholar viewed language as a living phenomenon of human spiritual activity, combining cognitive, aesthetic, and communicative functions. Special attention is paid to the concept of the inner form of the word, which the thinker interpreted as an expression of the poetic nature of speech and a mechanism for the formation of meaning. It is shown that within the positivist paradigm, D. Ovsyaniko-Kulikovskyi sought to move the study of language beyond purely philological analysis, turning it into an object of philosophical inquiry. The article also highlights the influence of his teaching on the further development of Ukrainian psycholinguistics and literary studies, particularly within the Kharkiv school.

It is concluded that D. Ovsyaniko-Kulikovskyi’s concept integrates the positivist principles of precision, empiricism, and rational justification with a humanistic understanding of language as a creative process that unites psychological, aesthetic, and national-cultural dimensions. It is proven that his philosophy of language represents an important link in the evolution of Ukrainian humanistic thought and embodies the transition from classical positivism to psychologism and cultural-anthropological interpretations of linguistic phenomena.