Philosophy of Law

Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophical knowledge that describes the essence of legal phenomena, revealing the causes of the origin and development of legal norms and institutions, assessing the appropriateness or inexpediency of the norms of law.

Philosophy and law since the ancient states were inseparable. Heraclitus, Thales, Aristotle in their writings said that the concept of "right" is associated with "truth", which is a philosophical category. But the separation of this discipline into an independent made Hegel. The philosophy of law, in his opinion, can be studied with the help of two approaches: legist and purely legal. Legists assert that the law is a product of state activity, norms are orders of those who have power. This identification of law with the position of the law is characteristic of glossators and positivists. The scientific interest of the supporter of legality is concentrated exclusively on studying the current legislation. The nature of natural law, not backed by the laws, is uninteresting to him. Positivistic epistemology does not recognize the theory of law as such. Positivists show an increased interest in the text of the law, the language of law. In this case, the very meaning of the law for them is a derivative of the form, and therefore less attention is paid to it. Supporters of the legal approach, on the contrary, urge to study not the texts of codes, but the nature of law, the dynamics of its development, its evolution over time. They argue that the right is given to man from birth, and not granted by the ruler. The first in history such ideas were expressed by the Sophists. The postulates of natural international law were laid by Hugo Grotius at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

A separate issue, to which many publications are devoted, is the philosophy of animal rights. Do animals have the right? Do they obey the norms? The philosophy of law studied the phenomenon of totemism. In ancient times, the Nenets before the kill of the bear, conducted a special procedure of "negotiations", which agreed that the killed will not be avenged by his native beasts. Jean Jacques Rousseau believed that animals are subjects of law, since they know how to feel. The French educator concludes that a person has responsibilities not only to people, but also to animals. Immanuel Kant, on the contrary, was convinced that people do not have any responsibilities to animals. The Australian P. Singer found a similarity between the movement for animal rights and the feminist movement.

The subject of the philosophy of law today can not be defined unambiguously. Legal axiology studies the value of law and law, ontology deals with issues of legal idealism and legal nihilism, develops the idea of law. Teleology explores the goal of adopting normative acts, the role of law and law in society. Phenomenology views law as a phenomenon, as a self-sufficient system. Legal epistemology teaches us to distinguish this right from false, imaginary. The social philosophy of law examines the interdependence of the norms of law and morality and morality, questions of the legitimate interest of a single individual, the problem of genesis and globalization of law, its harmonization and hermeneutics.

Today, the philosophy of law is at the stage of revival after a break in the development of this science, which occurred during the Soviet era. Interest in this field of knowledge is shown by scientists of various fields and specializations: lawyers, philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, historians, psychologists. The discipline of the same name is studied at the philosophical and law faculties of the country's universities, in specialized institutes and academies. It is a kind of a kind of synthesis of legal and general humanitarian knowledge.