The Russian School of Philosophy of Law in the Context of Pavel I. Novgorodtsev’s Work

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article is devoted to the work of the eminent Russian legal scholar and thinker Pavel I. Novgorodtsev. This is nearly the first time that Novgorodtsev’s philosophy of law is considered as the central link in the formation of the Russian school of philosophy of law (late nineteenth–early twentieth century). The thinker’s doctrine of natural law, which closely binds law and morality, serves as the basis of his philosophical–legal conception. This article draws attention to the fact that his natural law can be considered a socio-ethical theory of law, or as social ethics. It also identifies the normative theory in Novgorodtsev’s work that the thinker considers not only within the legal field of relationships but also in the social reality of interpersonal communication. The article provides the definition of “law” as formulated by the legal scholar. Philosophical–legal discourses are also of interest: between the philosopher Vladimir S. Solovyov and the legal scholar Boris N. Chicherin and between Leon I. Petrażycki and Pavel I. Novgorodtsev, in particular, on the issues of correlating law and morality in social life. The article also provides a comparative analysis of interest in issues related to philosophy of law on the part of both Russian thinkers and Western European experts in the field of juridical sciences.