Russian Classical Literature in Search of Harmony between Morality and Law

Abstract

The paper deals with the problem of the correlation of law, morality and morals in a number of works of Russian classical literature. It is shown that this problem is characteristic of Russian literature, which is unconditionally recognized as one of the highest achievements of world literature. The peculiarity of Russian and then Soviet literature is that it pays increased attention to the inner world of a person, the motives of their behavior. This is how the phenomenon that has been called the «Russian psychological novel» arose. Russian writers have repeatedly raised the problem of the discrepancy between the content of laws and generally accepted ideas about morals, especially morality. The paper talks about the continuity of Soviet and Russian literature, which was often denied both in domestic and foreign literary studies. Sociological, philosophical, and often legal problems were initially raised in the literature. And only then they became the subject of discussion in special branches of knowledge. Many pre-revolutionary jurists have established themselves as writers. Such examples took place in the Soviet period. The discrepancy between moral and legal assessments remains one of the urgent problems. The author justifies his belief that literature should educate. Without morality, the law loses its value, as Russian writers have repeatedly drawn attention to. The return of the habit of reading classical (and not only) literature, which will make it possible to regain the status of the most reading country of the world, will resolve the conflict of law and morality; the author proves a similar position in the framework of this paper.