Dostoevsky's Social Ideal and “Revived School of Natural Law”

Abstract

This article deals with the influence of the ideas raised in Dostoevsky’s works on some representatives of the “revived school of natural law” in Russia. The author analyzes the ethical aspects of the Russian writer’s creative work, which are closely connected with the social and legal sphere of society. The article presents the interpretation of Dostoevsky's social ideal in the philosophical and legal works of P.I. Novgorodtsev, V.S. Solovyov, E.N. Trubetskoy and I.A. Ilyin. The author analyzes the origins of the idea of moral interconnectedness of the individual and society found in the works of one or other philosopher of law. It is emphasized that the work of F.M. Dostoevsky was most in demand with Russian thinkers during the periods of the greatest social upheavals, such as war or revolution. The author comes to the conclusion that the reflections on the moral interconnectedness of individual and society, found in the works of the writer, became the foundation of the idealistic philosophical and legal theory in Russia.