Unity in diversity: Legal and political ideas of Dzhenevra I. Lukovskaya

Abstract

The article covers the political and legal ideas of the Doctor of Law, Professor of St. Petersburg State University Dzhenevra Igorevna Lukovskaya. Her studies reflect a wide variety of topics: issues related to the history of legal and political doctrines, theoretical and methodological problems, theory and history of human rights, and types of legal consciousness. The authors apply in their research the methodological tools developed and presented by Lukovskaya in her monograph “Legal and political doctrines: historical and theoretical aspect” and in her doctoral thesis “Theoretical and methodological problems of the history of legal and political doctrines”. The portrait research method is used by the authors to outline her background. The interpretation method developed by Lukovskaya is actively used by the authors as well. The article touches upon Lukovskaya’s criticism, made at the beginning of her research career, of the positivist theories. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the problems of political and legal thought formation in Ancient Greece, examined by Lukovskaya. In her opinion, all the beginnings of the European understanding of law and state policy are rooted there. The article points out that in the classical theme, Lukovskaya brings to the fore the categories of freedom, justice and equality in law. From a current perspective, the studies of Lukovskaya on human rights are highly appreciated. More than relevant for today is her conclusion that human rights are subjective rights possessing first of all the quality of reality, not potentiality. For Lukovskaya human rights are universal and inalienable. An important conclusion follows from her position — the self-value of human rights is fixed in their definition as natural, inalienable rights. Human rights appear to be the fundamental principle of law, and the idea of law is positioned as the idea of human rights. As a result of the analysis of Lukovskaya’s views on modern problems of legal consciousness, the article highlights criteria, proposed by her, for evaluating legal theories: the desire of their representatives for an integrative (integral) conceptual, as well as methodological overcoming of pluralism of theoretical views on law. The article concludes that the main area of Lukovskaya’s scientific works is the search of a way to such a Right, where a Human prevails, his rights and freedoms.