AXIOLOGICAL INSPIRATIONS IN THE POLISH MAINSTREAM OF PEDAGOGICAL AESTHETICISM IN THE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES

The direction of the development of the European educational thought in the nine-teenth century was largely influenced by the philosophy that created the basis of modern pedagogical theories. This is also visible in the works of Polish scientists (among others B. Trentowski, K. Libelt and H. Struve) who proposed new aesthetic and pedagogical concepts, and discussed the social and educational values of art. Bronisław Trentowski (1808-1869) created an original pedagogical system based on the integration of tradition, culture, personality development and the formation of na-tional consciousness. He treated art in terms of a socio-moral mission. In his opin-ion, beauty is the unveiling of truth for the senses, and the educational power of beauty should be perceived according to this approach. In his speculative theory of aesthetic education he argued that the development of this kind of feeling in students was an im-portant duty of educators. Karol Libelt (1807-1875) who proclaimed the national charac-ter and social function of art in which beauty was an autonomous goal had a significant impact on the aesthetics of Polish romanticism. His systematization of art introduced cri-teria associated with the ideals of beauty, truth and good. He also pointed to the close relationship between aesthetic education and intellectual education. Henryk Struve’s (1840-1912) aesthetic views were a polemic against the Polish aesthetics of positivism and the aesthetics of naturalism. He argued that art closely reflected the phi-losophical concept of ideorealism. In addition to exposed socio-educational aspects of the impact of art, the strongly emphasized theme of ethics as well as the universal and humanistic values of art can be seen in his writings