V.S. Nersesyants as a philosopher of law: from Soviet to Post-Soviet

Abstract

The article analyzes the philosophical and legal ideas and ideas of the famous scientist, thinker, jurist of the last quarter of the XX - beginning of the XXI century, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.S. Nersesyants. The ideas of ancient philosophers and representatives of the German transcendental-idealistic philosophy had a great influence on the formation and evolution of his legal views, the concept of jurisprudence formulated by him. In this regard, the comparison of his legal views with the ideas of Hegel’s Philosophy of Law, taking into account both dissertations of V.S. Nersesyants, is quite traditional for connoisseurs of the concept of jurisprudence of our contemporary. However, as the experience of a more detailed and in-depth analysis shows, interesting points of similarity of his legal ideas and the nature of their justification are also connected with other representatives of the German intellectual and philosophical culture of discussing the main problems of law and jurisprudence. Understanding the nature of successive and new aspects in the system of legal views of V.S. Nersesyants can serve as a basis for the development of his legal views in modern topical and prospective studies. The article offers some significant clarifications of the content and nature of the philosophical and legal heritage of V.S. Nersesyants, traces the connections of his concept of jurisprudence with the ideas of not only Hegelian philosophy, but also the teachings of other legal philosophers, as well as the later ideas of the neo-Kantian lawyer R. Stammler, the interpretation of law in the “Pure Doctrine of Law” of the Kantian G. Memel, and not only G. Kelsen, which allows us to present the theory of law of V.S. Nersesyants as an original version of this doctrine. The study also demonstrates that the concept of justice in the Philosophy of Law of V.S. Nersesyants has remained one of the unexplained, and promising studies of the foundations of social theory in the doctrine of civilization are also indicated.