Dualistic explications in the works of Georg Henrik von Wright

The article studies the works of Georg Henrik von Wright revealing the duality of his ideological orientations. The author of the article attempts to substantiate the thesis that the dualism inherent in von Wright’s works manifested itself in his understanding of such urgent problems as the relationship between philosophy and science, the origins and essence of humanism, and the specifics of humanitarian knowledge in general or historical studies in particular. The set goal is achieved through the qualitative analysis of the statements credited to von Wright himself and to some researchers of his works. The article examines the main stages of von Wright’s interest in humanistic problems and shows which of them led to his rejection of ideological monism in favor of a worldview based on the idea of dualism of the principles of determinism and freedom. The results of the analysis brought the conclusion that von Wright’s dualism is most noticeable in his recognition of the normative nature of social processes that determined the intentional understanding of the subject of the humanities, with reality itself being the subject of natural sciences. It is noted that in his understanding of the specifics of historical knowledge von Wright also proceeds from the principle of the parallel existence of humanities and natural sciences. On this basis, von Wright defines historical causality as quasi-causality which is formed as an explanatory principle under the influence of cultural, political, religious and other traditions.