The specificity of the Ukrainian positivist tradition through the prism of Ivan Franko’s philosophical views

Abstract

The significance of this study stems from the necessity to reconsider the positivist foundations of the Ukrainian philosophical tradition of the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the prism of philosophical receptions of Ivan Franko’s oeuvre. The objective of the research is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the positivist methodology within the epistemological framework of the Ukrainian thinker and to elucidate the distinctive features of Ukrainian positivism as a unique philosophical phenomenon. The study employs methods of historical-philosophical analysis, comparative research, hermeneutic interpretation of texts, epistemological reconstruction, and critical examination of philosophical concepts. It has been established that Frank's positivist methodology represents an original synthesis of European philosophy of science with the demands of the Ukrainian intellectual and national revival, integrating methodological rationalism with social activism and national liberation aspirations. Elements of scientific realism and instrumentalism have been identified in the thinker’s epistemological perspectives, alongside a substantiated critical stance towards the extremes of positivism, particularly physicalist reductions within the humanities.