M.A. Kalashyan

The article analyzes the influence of classical and romantic cultural trends on the processes of genesis and interpretation of law. It is stated that a purely rational-classical perception of the phenomenon of law is an echo of Hegelianism that left a deep imprint on the perception of law and is not sufficiently justified. The classicist interpretation of legal reality is not sufficient to ensure proper personal autonomy and can hinder the manifestation of all the diversity of spiritual life. This, in turn, can lead to apathy, lack of will — the rules of law begin to be observed mechanically and are torn away from their moral source. It is argued that the conceptual justification of law as related to the sphere of a romantic, rather than scientific and rationalist worldview, will enrich the understanding of legal phenomena in terms of recognizing the creative component of legal reality. The idea that the development of the romantic component of law will help to develop a system legal thinking is upheld. This, in turn, will realize the potential of law in the cultivation of personal autonomy by deautomatizing “acquired” models of thinking and behavior in favor of a creatively critical attitude to a purely positivistic interpretation of law. Ultimately, legal romanticism, as opposed to formally standardized interpretations of freedom, is intended to provide a harmonious combination of individualism and creative activity of subjects with collective and inert-passive ones.