Law as a socio-cultural phenomenon: the formulation of the problem

Abstract

Purpose of the article is to define the characteristic features that are projected into the need and the main aspects of the study of law as a socio-cultural phenomenon. The methodology of the research is based on an interdisciplinary combination of general scientific (system-functional, historical-logical, analysis and synthesis) and special-legal methods of cognition, focusing on the methodological principles of sociocultural and legal approaches. Scientific novelty of the research is to justify the need to study and further understand the law as a socio-cultural phenomenon using an inclusive combination of methodological positions of legal and socio-humanitarian approaches with an emphasis on sociocultural and legal analysis. Conclusions. The study of law as a socio-cultural phenomenon requires the application of an interdisciplinary methodology based on an inclusive combination of methods and principles of some social and human sciences (sociology, law, psychology, cultural studies, anthropology, history). Such a methodology is designed to overcome certain research limitations of traditional approaches to understanding the law as a social formation and to develop a universal strategy to its interpretation since it, first of all, allows us to appreciate its socio-humanitarian sources, which are partly identical for the international legal system. The definition of universal humanitarian principles of the functioning of law as a public institution facilitates the search for points of civilizational intersection of legal systems of different countries, making possible the interaction of not only individual social groups but also various theoretical concepts in determining its essence, taking into account cultural and civilizational differences.