VIRTUE AND ITS HISTORICAL PROTOTYPES (BASED ON THE SPIRITUAL PRODUCTION IN SLOBOZHANSHCHYNA OF THE 19TH CENTURY)

This article is devoted to the study of historical prototypes and cultural-anthropological aspects of the formation of virtue. Particular attention is paid to analyzing the concept of virtue within the framework of a culture of freedom, whose unique experience of formation—at the intersection of the traditional and modern worlds – is exemplified by Slobozhanshchyna in the early 19th century. The purpose of this study is to expound the meaning of the concept of integrity in the context of the culture of freedom, the unique experience of its formation at the intersection of the traditional and modern worlds is demonstrated by the Slobozhanshchyna region of the early 19th century. That is why it is proposed to carry out a cultural and anthropological analysis of historical prototypes of academic integrity, using the example of spiritual production in the Slobozhanshchyna region of the 19th century.The concept of virtue is considered in historical retrospect, which made it possible to clarify the sociocultural parameters and historical-national specificity of how a culture of virtue takes shape. Taking these aspects into account in contemporary educational projects aimed at fostering a culture of academic integrity helps avoid reducing the meaning of the term exclusively to a legal-regulatory interpretation, thereby shifting it from a public-state level to a subject-existential level of understanding. Focusing on the axiological dimension of human existence makes it possible to delve more deeply into the existential, cultural, and social factors that play a significant role in shaping a culture of virtue. The article analyzes the main configurations of external and internal factors as a reliable mechanism for cultivating a culture of virtue in society, along with the ways these factors can be institutionally secured. It is shown that the structural consolidation of external and internal levels in shaping a culture of virtue is characteristic of both premodern and modern worldviews. In the postmodern era of digital technologies, which offers multiple avenues and temptations for quickly achieving personal, communal, and state-level goals through unethical means, there is a growing need not only to strengthen external control over compliance with codes of virtue in all spheres of human life but also to cultivate within individuals an internal need to be virtuous. Such an experience of self-education—conceptually articulated by Hryhorii Skovoroda as the self-didactics of a noble individual – was practiced in the Slobozhanshchyna of the 19th century and merits attention in contemporary contexts.