Concept of law: history and theory (on the 300th anniversary of Immanuel Kant)

Abstract

The conference review offers views on law that are widespread in our theoretical and legal science. It points out the outstanding role of the founder of German classical philosophy I. Kant in the formation of the philosophy of law. His idea of the categorical imperative is aimed at creating a model of a legal state, where a person is declared not only a means, but also an end. Kant is one of those who formed the metaphysical philosophy of law, i. e. a branch of knowledge that creates semantic models in the world of political and legal reality. The review discusses Kant’s influence on Russian and European philosophy of law, the significance of his ideas for modern times. In the second half of the 19th century, five or six neo-Kantian schools appeared (the largest are Baden and Marburg), where original concepts of the philosophy of law were created on the basis of Kant’s epistemology and ethics. In the 90s of the 19th century in Germany and in Russia, under the slogan “Back to Kant!” a school of revived natural law was formed, the purpose of which was to proclaim the eternal value of the individual and thus put an obstacle to class struggle and the coming revolution. Revolutionary Marxism was opposed by ethical socialism and the idea of a legal social state, which seems relevant in our historical era. The appeal to the ideas of Kant also meant a turn towards idealism and religion, which gave a new impetus to the development of the philosophy of law.